christine romans, host of cnn's "your bottom line" joins me along with chrystia freeland. if you saw the show last week, you saw my kvconversation with elizabeth warren about the steps she wants to take to protect consumers. this week, she came under attack by republicans. listen. >> it's gone beyond your advice to treasury. you're also providing advice to other governmental agencies? >> congressman -- >> you could use the word congressman a number of times. but i'm asking a very simple question. >> i believe an empowered consumer is a consumer who cannot only protect himself or herself but one who can change the market. >> mr. chairman, i give up. >> chrystia, elizabeth warren gets grilled like she's a wall street fat cat for wanting to set up the consumer financial protection bureau which will hopefully protect consumers from the great recession and the financial crisis that we have. what is it about elizabeth warren that gets republicans so fired up? >> i think it's probably three things. the first thing is wall street hates her. elizabeth warren really was the person w

he's the focus of this segment of "smart is the new rich" from cnn's christine romans. >> reporter: every freshman jordan lane palmer deposits at least $10 of his allowance and lunch money into one of his four, yes, four bank accounts. >> yes, it's cash. you can save up for something better, don't just spend it on something that really is worthless. just to spend money. >> reporter: sage advice for most adults, let alone teenagers. but jordan, he got started early. >> the very first savings account was at the credit union. >> reporter: and maybe it's that financial acumen that helped him win a contest sponsored by the nonprofit agency called the national foundation for credit counseling. jordan was one of 1,800 students across the country who submitted posters mapping out financial plans. this year's theme, be a super hero, save money. he traveled to washington, d.c. for the award and met fed chairman ben bernanke. hey, a big day for the 14-year-old who started out small. >> i saved up for action figures back then. >> reporter: now he's saving for an ipod and someday -- >> i know we're de

christine romans shows how to sell a home in a buyer's market. >> that will help out with that.g up the flower beds, and just cleaning up with mulch and simple flower plantings is not going to cost a lot of money, but the focal point of drawing you into the house is going to be key. >> forget the adage, it's on the inside that count. in real estate, it's what is outside. >> steven helps homeowners who want to sell. he helps them redesign the inside and outside in a buyer's market. >> people tend to notice things that are not quite nice -- as nice looking, like maybe it's a plant that's dying. i would get a nice new plant, a flowering plant, and stagger a few out here. >> plants won't break the bank, but a lot of sellers assume they need to make big renovations to sell their home. a report on remodeling projects annual growth and remodeling this year at only 0.2%. but some could be worth the investment. the best returns are outdoor improvements. the froont door, for example. it will cost you about $1,000. you'll get babbling 60% when you sell. make it a steel front door, you get

christine romans has some tips in today's edition of "smart at new rich". >> reporter: yvonne and herking to sell their home in western new york. >> it's been now a month. but last year we had it on for almost a whole year and we didn't sell it. >> is there anything you did in between to get the house into shape so that it would be ready for the new real estate market that you're -- >> oh, yes. when we redid the kitchen -- and we fenced in the whole back yard. >> reporter: but they priced it too high and have now lowered their asking price to $329,000. it's a buyer's market. that means number one, it has to be priced right. number two, it has to look good. enter steven, home and style designer and author "no place like home." >> my first thought was, i wish this was a mirror. i wish this was here to bounce light into the room a little bit more. >> reporter: we asked him how to help this house sell in a sea of homes for sale. >> you don't have a dining room. so that's one thing in this house that you have to sort of make people feel like they have a space to gather in. when i see the t

christine romans joins me now.last week, you caught my conversation with white house special advisor elizabeth warren about some of the steps she wants to take to protect consumers. this week she found herself under attack by republicans as she testified before the house oversight and government reform panel. listen. >> so it's gone beyond your advice to treasury. you are also providing advice to other governmental agencies. >> congressman -- >> i understand, you can use the word congressman a number of times, ms. warren. i'm simply asking a very simple question. is there a duty to educate yourself? yes or no. >> i believe that an empowered consumer is a consumer who cannot only protect himself or herself but one who can change the market. >> mr. chairman, i give up. >> elizabeth warren gets grilled like she's a wall street fat cat for wanting to set up the consumer financial protection bureau which will hopefully protect consumers from the great recession in the financial crisis that we have. what is it about eliz

that's really key. >> reporter: christine romans, cnn, new york. ♪ what do you see yourself doing after retire? client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize. "i better start doing something." we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. >>> surviving a tornado a massive flood doesn't mean the ordeal is over. for many the mental wounds can last long beyond the initial trauma. our human behavior expert dr. wendy walsh is here. i think we've even seen some of this already in joplin. survivors just walking around not knowing what to do. what do you do to pick up, do the work and carry on? >> this is really what you're talking about is the first stage of trauma which is kind of numbness and it's really crucial that people do a number of things in this stage to stave off potential for a full blown stress

>> christine romans, cnn, new york. ♪ what do you see yourself doing after you do retire?lient comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize. "i better start doing something." we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. kids today have superheroes that lift buildings. and superheroes that fly. but what if we could go to a place where real superheroes lived. ones who moved mountains. lifted an entire people. and taught the whole world how to fly. come see america's greatest history attraction, the henry ford. and ignite the spark of imagination in all of us. as we watch our heroes come alive in pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. coldwell banker. we never stop moving. >>> 70% of the people have packed up and gone already. >> it's going to be a ghost town pretty soon. >> yeah. >>

of the hour with more live news, right now we need to hand it over to "your bottom line" with christine romans. >>> the public school education you receive shouldn't depend on your zip code. but in some parts of the country, it does. welcome to "your bottom line." in a moment the extreme measures some parents and students take to try to get a quality education no matter where they live. but first let's begin with the conventional wisdom on education courtesy of "saturday night live." >> while simultaneously in china, over a billion kids were doing math. >> ouch. but true, l.z. granderson wrote an opinion piece this weekend. kids may should go to school year round in part because we're trying to compete with the rest of the world where they're pretty serious about education. hi, l.z. what prompted you to write this piece? >> oh, man, saturd"saturday nig live" skit is a good place. it really started with my own frustrations as a parent. i have taken my son to four different schools in about two years desperately trying to get him into a school that's going to push him and have him ready to compl

hear now from christine romans. >> reporter: college graduations happening today all across the country. i don't want to rain on your commencement day, grads, but the question we're asking this morning, is college really worth it? elsie granderson is a cnn contribut contributor. a lot of college graduates say, yes, graduation was worth it. they earn 20% more because of it, but a lot of people think college is no longer affordable. i think both of those assessments are right, but bottom line, you have to make sure your college degree is worth it, don't you? >> absolutely. i think we can safely say gone are the days we can go to college and study latin for the fun of it. we need to come out and still be able to pay our bills and student loans and things like that. >> this is a professor at the university of steinhart. you tell us college would not be a big deal if we were getting more for our money. >> that's right. i think one of the big problems facing american families is the fact that college tuition is going up quite a bit, almost every year at many colleges and universities, and it

. >>> flood gates, i'm christine romans. thousands on the run as the army corps of engineers opens a spillway for the first time in almost 40 years, choosing one flood to save new orleans from another nightmare on this "american morning." >>> good morning. it is monday, may 16th. big news story we're following right now. >> that's right. we've got the stunning arrest of the head of the international monetary fund, dominique strauss-kahn scheduled to be arraigned this morning in new york. he is charged with trying to rape a maid in an upscale manhattan hotel. >> strauss-kahn is accused of emerging from a bathroom naked, then dragging the 32-year-old housekeeper into the bedroom of his $3,000 a night suite and attacking her. >> before his arrest strauss-kahn was considered a front runner to become france's next president. richard roth is tracking the latest developments. strauss-kahn was supposed to be arraigned last night. why was that delayed? >> this was like a night court version. they are doing forensic tests and apparent

. >> i'm christine romans. five massive tornadoes, five people dead, as new wicked storms rip through oklahoma. even workers at the storm prediction center had to take cover during this one. >>> i'm kiran chetry. a busy day for president obama. he's at 10 downing street right now, a bit later he will be holding a news conference with britain's prime minister, coming up in about 90 minutes. he'll make history by addressing parliament. we'll have it all for you live on this "american morning." >>> and good morning to you. thanks so much for being with us on this wednesday. good to see everybody this morning. you know the pictures are coming in, new pictures, and the devastation, continues for the midwest. >> that's right. ali velshi in joplin, missouri, where they had a harrowing night. hi, ali. >> good morning, christine, kiran, it is a better morning here. people counting their blessings. a near miss last night in joplin, missouri. everyone taking shelter and bracing for another twister that thanchgfully never

christine romans joins us from new york. have you ever looked for a great plumber? to find and they made good money. welders make great money by the way. peel don't realize that. there is this big push by president obama and the rest of our lawmakers. go to college. get a college degree. how do you get beyond that? and how do you try to convince kids to go to vocational schools of which you don't have enough of in this country. >> we don't have enough vocational training and high schools have been deemphasizing it. my electrician did go to college and has a lot of other electricians that did work for him. i call it a ladder job. a lot of the jobs on the lower end of health care, they are not ladder jobs. you are not going to climb up them. the skilled labor jobs are ladder jobs. you can be a boss and hire other people. that's why they are such a great mobility tool in the xeconomy. the mean pay is in the 50s, $50,000. the top paid skilled tradesmen are making well over six figures. if you have got it up here and you got it in here and you are moving up the ladder, y

cleaning out the lawn is always key before a showing. >> christine romans, cnn, new york. >>> a deadlyng to take you back to joplin. >> we have no building. we have -- the chairs we used were something that was salvaged out of the building. as far as material things, they're gone. but we have the people. ♪ what do you see yourself doing after you do retire? client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize. "i better start doing something." we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a d

you can catch christine romans on "your bottom line" at 9:30 a.m. stay connected 24/7 on facebook and twitter. have a great weekend. >>> hello, we are in atlanta. we are following two big stories in the news room. mandatory evacuations as floodwaters pour through a spillway north of baton rouge. and a major figure jailed in new york on sex crime charges. first, the update on the flooding. thousands of people have a couple hours to pack up their things. floods from the mississippi river are heading their way. mandatory evacuations are in parishes. they are from the spillway. four flood gates are open to divert the mississippi floodwaters from baton rouge and new orleans. ed is joining us there. ed is at the scene for me. are a lot of people panic stricken? >> i think a lot of people knew it was coming, quite frankly. we are in the town cross springs, which is downstream from the spillway opened up yesterday afternoon. really, what's happening here is there's a massive levee system following the river down to morgan city. what happens is hundreds of t

if you're trying to sell your house, christine romans has got some advice on how to spruce it up. >> american house but it needs some attention. obviously the garage is chipping and needs to be painted. putting -- scraping and putting a fresh coat of paint will really help out with that. plantings, cleaning out the leaves with a leaf blower, cleaning out these flower beds and just with simple mulch. it won't cost a lot of money but that focal point is key. >> reporter: forget that old adage its what's on the inside that counts. this author helps homeowners who want to sell, helping them redesign the inside and outside in a buyer's market. >> people tend to notice things that are not quite nice -- as nice looking, like maybe it is a plant that's dying or something like that. i would just get a nice new flowering plant and maybe stagger a few out here. >> reporter: plants won't break the bank but a lot of sellers assume they need to make big expensive renovations to sell their home. in fact, a quarterly report on remodels released by harvard university projects annual growth and remode

i'm christine romans.alina cho. happy memorial day. kiran and ali have the morning off. though it is a holiday, we do have a lot going on this morning. coming up, we're going to pay tribute to the americans who have served our country. we're going to take you live to arlington national cemetery where every president does, president obama will lay a wreath later this morning. our chris lawrence will join us live with that story. >> also ahead, helping our veterans find jobs. we'll hear from some former service members struggling to find work in this economy. a little help for them on this memorial day. >> but first, the race is on. the republican field of presidential hopefuls will begin to take shape, starting this week. hard to believe, on thursday, former massachusetts governor mitt romney is scheduled to officially declare his candidacy. no surprise there. next week former pennsylvania senator rick santorum enters the race we're promised an announcement from michelle bachmann will come some time in june

. >>> i'm christine romans. protecting the queen on a historic visit to ireland. police say they defused one bomb and were forced to check out another suspicious device on this "american morning." >> good morning. >> good tuesday morning. >> great to be with you. ali is -- a little under the weather today. we'll see him tomorrow. >> for sure. a lot of news to follow including a story developing out of l.a. this morning. >> it was unbelievable to even hear this morning, but yes, according to the los angeles times, quite a bombshell this morning they're breaking a story out of california that the former governor, arnold schwarzenegger, admitted fathering a child with a former member of his household staff and that is why the marriage broke up. schwarzenegger says it happened over a decade ago, but that he only told his wife maria shriver, after he left office earlier this year. >> that's when shriver moved out of their brentwood mansion. she has not commented. schwarzenegger says he has no excuses for his behavior, he's sorry for the hurt he caused his wife and chil

christine romans joins me now, and lee gallagher.lk about gas prices, like everybody isn't already. when gas prices go up, people are quick to point out the profits of the oil industry. they're big. take a look at this. this is just for the first three months of this year. exxonmobil nearly $11 million. bp, $7 billion. shell, chevron, about 6 billion apiece. adds up to big dollars in just three months. ceos from the five major oil companies were grilled by senate democrats on whether their company should be getting billions of dollars a year in tax breaks and subsidies when they're looking at profits like this. testimony was sketchy. they said the tax changes under exploration are descriminatroy. >> you'd have an easier time explaining a unicorn just flew into this hearing room. >> slamming big oil have become a big thing on the hill. where do gas companies get off doing that? >> we saw this in 2008, there was a cry again to tax the oil companies, raise the taxes, tax their bonuses, things like that. the interesting thing to remember

. >> christine romans, cnn, new york. prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. so lily and i are back on the road again. ♪ ♪ membership rewards points from american express. they're a social currency with endless possibilities. >>> you sure is ugly. ha, ha! >> that was actually one of my favorite scenes from "the color purple." you remember that? that's fiction, but an article based on fact makes a similar statement that black women are uglier than other races. an evolutionary psychologist wrote the article that appeared on the website psychologytoday. a huge uproar follows. then the website pulled the piece. hmm, and now its author, a ph.d. at the london school of economics has been under atang. let's talk about this a lot more with dr. wendy walsh. she's here and she's going to break down how and why the study can't be right. we have talked about some of this. researcher researchers' previous word, specifically finding that better looking people have higher iqs. you say this study is f

you can catch christine romans on "your bottom line" at 9:30 a.m. a.m. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> you're in the cnn news loom, may 14th, i'm fredicka wit field. we're waiting for an expected announcement from the u.s. army corps of engineers that it's opening the morganza spillway to protect new orleans from the mississippi floodwaters. other areas could see disastrous flooding. we'll go live to the briefing. in areas like that, they could get major flooding once that spillway is indeed opened. morgan city is protected by flood walls. those walls could fail. the city's mayor talked about his concerns with our ed lavandera. >> are you worried about it flooding? this is the heart of the city right here. >> it is the heart of the city, primarily protected by that wall right there. it would take a failure of that wall before this would be at risk. what we're really concerned about is that high river stage raising the water level back where the lake is, and if that got topped, because that level of protection is not nearly

on "your money" this week, christine romans and ali velshi spoke about the numbers and the perceptionomy. >> look at this, bob, the cnn opinion research corporation poll. 8 out of 10 americans feel the economy is in poor shape. >> right. >> all right? only 18% think it's good. when we break down the most important issues, number one has been unemployment for a very long time. it's been years going on, where unemployment is the number one concern. number two concern is debt and deficit. number three concern is gas prices. that's relatively new because of the run-up in gas prices. we've had a recovery, been in a recovery for two years now. what's wrong with this picture? >> what's wrong with this picture, we tend not to focus enough in the media and the politicians on employment, which is the most critical factor. that's why people think that the economy is not doing well because so many people are unemployed. nearly 14 million people unemployed. a great number underemployed, working part-time because they can't find a full-time job. a lot of the jobs created in the co-called recovery h

catch christine romans on "your bottom line" saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m. eastern. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> it is sunday, may 22nd. welcome to the "cnn newsroom." i'm fredricka whitfield at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. our top story, president barack obama defended his stance on middle east peace negotiations today and he went in front of a tough audience to do it. he spoke to the american-israel public affairs committee on aipac. it describes itself as american's leading israel group. he insisted his stance is no threat to israel. >> by definition, it means that the parties themselves, israelis and palestinians, will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on june 4th, 1967. that's what mutually agreed upon swaps means. it is a well known formula to all who have worked on this issue for a generation. it allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last 44 years. >> cnn's senior u.s. state department producer elyse labben is in washington right now. how

christine romans, host of cnn's "your bottom line" joins me along with alfred edmond and leigh gallagher gas prices go up, people are quick to point out the profits of the oil industry. they're big. take a look at this. this is just for the first three months of this year. exxonmobil, nearly $11 billion. bp, $7 billion, shell and chevron, pbt $6 billion apiece. adds up to about $38 billion in just three months for big oil. this week, ceos from the five major oil companies were grilled by senate democrats on whether their companies should be getting billions of dollars a year in tax breaks and substance diswhen they're looking at profits like this. the testimony was testy. exxon's ceo rex tillerman said the tax changes under consideration are discriminatory and counterproductive. then there was this exchange. take a look. >> i have a chart depicting what i expect this hearing to turn into. >> who's the horse and who's the dog? >> well, you'd have an easier time convincing the american people that a unicorn just flew into this hearing room than that these big oil companies need taxpayer su

>>> i'm christine romans. nearly a week after a tornado leveled much of joplin, missouri, the desperate search for victims and growing frustration over the missing as the official number of those >>> and welcome to "american morning." it is friday, may 27th. the beginning of a long holiday weekend for many in this country. >> that's right. hopefully the beginning of some nice, calm, summer weather which we have not seen. >> we haven't seen. it's not going to be a great weekend for those in joplin, missouri. the search for the missing there continues. the state officials are releasing a list of 232 people who are still unaccounted for, a list they concede may not be entirely accurate. the death toll right now stands at 126. >> we're getting a look at some dramatic new video when just after the tornado struck. >> watch as aaron cox and his fiancee brook mckinsey watson race to find aaron's sister amid the destruction. let's take a look. >> look at this. oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh, aaron. oh, my gosh.

i'm christine romans. lawyers are fighting back, insisting federal prosecutors got it wrong about alleged campaign funds paid to his former mistress. >>> i'm kiran chetry. new tornado warnings overnight. severe weather stretching from new york to california spawning new and dangerous storms along the line. >>> i'm ali velshi. the former imf boss has a new home. dominique strauss-kahn just moved into a sprawling 6800-square-foot townhouse with a spa and gym. we'll take you inside on this "american morning." >>> good morning to you. thanks so much for being with us on this thursday, may 26th. welcome back. what a whirlwind few days it's been for you right there in the heart of what's going on joplin, missouri. >> it continues. and more bad weather. >> another night of meteorological mayhem as tornadoes wreaked through the region. from louisiana to the great lakes. oklahoma's governor declaring a state of emergency in 68 counties hit by tornadoes. this video taken by storm chasers is about as close as you can

christine romans is off today. a lot of big stories we are following right now. >> that's right.-kahn, could get out of rikers island released on bail. a judge agreed to free him on bail yesterday. that was the same day that the grand jury ruled to indict him. >> that wasn't easy. in order to be released, strauss-kahn will post bail of $1 million cash plus a $5 million insurance bond eel be forced to wear an electronic monitor bracelet and will be guarded around the clock by guards that he is paying for. susan candiotti is here. she is following this closely. when are we expecting him to get out? is he likely to get out? >> we expect him to get out today. as you indicated, the judge has to make sure everything is in place. he can't just let him out with a promise, don't worry, it will be ready. they have to be sure that all those armed guards are in place, that the cameras are ready, that he has a place to go. until that happens, he is not leaving rikers. >> what about the atmosphere in the court when this all went down? >> it was highly charged. it was quiet. you could hear a pi

i'm christine romans. tornadoes tear up towns in minnesota and missouri.ple are confirmed dead and the search for survivors is now under way. >>> there's some new sex claims against former imf chief dominick strauss khan. three more women now stepping forward, describing his unwanted attention on this "american morning." >>> good morning. it's monday, may 23rd. a lot of news this morning. weather news this morning. another very dangerous and devastating storm overnight. >> yeah, as we speak. they're conducting search and rescues, trying to find more survivors after a tornado tore through joplin, missouri, last night. up to 30% of the town destroyed. the governor has declared a state of emergency. at least 89 people are confirmed dead at this point. >> and there's no telling how many victims may be trapped beneath the debris. brian todd joins us live from joplin where search and rescue efforts are underway. dawn has broken, we know there's 89 confirmed dead, and there's a lot of work to do for search and rescue workers, isn't there? >> reporter: sure is, ch

i want to bring in christine romans to explain this. she's with our money team.xplain what we're talking about when we say we've got this deadline that we've hit. and what does it actually mean? >> it means that our national debt has now hit the level that congress said it wouldn't go above without raising it again. $14.3 trillion is where is that stands. the treasury department says he were hit it. now, going to take creative juggles by the treasury department and his team. that means august 2nd, the treasury thinks they can go to august 2nd. how longer? the treasury secretary said he's going to suspend investments into retirement funds. that's going to create some breathing room for the government to continue borrowing. why are they still borrowing? look at it this way, the u.s. spending $118 billion more than on average than it brings in. $118 billion more. that means we are to go into the open market and borrow money to fund that difference. so that's where we are here. we can't borrow more money if they raise that debt ceiling. the treasury secretary has got

christine romans looks at the updated list. >> carol, osama bin laden has topped the fbi's most wantedk who might become the fbi's new number one most wanted terrorist. number two is adam gadahn, an american, born in california and moved to pakistan in 1998 at the age of 20. he is charged with treason and supporting al qaeda. the fbi offers $1 million for his arrest. number 3, daniel andreas from san diego. number 4 on the list, ayman al zawahiri, al qaeda's second in command, said to be the intellectual and ideological force behind the terror group. a trained physician and bin laden's personal doctor. he is wanted in connection with the 1998 u.s. embassy bombings in africa and 9/11 attacks. he is charged with murder. for him, there's a $25 million reward for information leading to his arrest. number 5 on this list, fahd ahmed al quso, wanted in connection with the bombing of the "uss cole." >> this is a picture of ground zero. president obama took off from andrews air force base about an hour ago, arriving soon in new york city, laying a wreath at ground zero and some families joining

. >>> join christine romans for your bottom line saturday morning 9:30 eastern and savannah your moneyt 3:00. >>> let's update our top stories. key provisions of the patriot act could expire at midnight if congress doesn't pass a four-year extension. it is caught up in procedural wrangling right now in the senate and still has to go before the house if senators pass it. the expiring provisions of the antiterrorism law deal with roving wiretaps, tracking alleged lone wolf terrorists and allowing authorities to obtain any records they deem relevant to an investigation. >>> the supreme court sides with arizona on a law punishing businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. in a 5-3 ruling, the justices rejected arguments that the arizona law steps on traditional federal oversight over immigration. challenges to a more controversial law that would give police a greater role in arresting suspected illegal immigrants are working their way through lower courts. >>> former international monetary fund chief dominique strauss-khan is now living in a luxury town house in new york's trendy t

. >> be sure to join christine romans for "your bottom line" and ali velshi, "your money. >>> the internationaly's fund just been denied bail at his arraignment hearing for allegedly attacking a maid. the imf is foresponsible for handling hundreds of billions of money. he was supposed to meet with european leaders this week, instead he is in new york answering attempted rape charges. will his arrest really impact the imf and the global financial picture? joining me now, cnn's john dextrose in belgium. people are wondering how this is going to impact all of us. >> reporter: let's put it this way, randi. there's a noticeable absence here at the european headquarters of the european council where dominique strauss-khan is supposed to be. one man does not make an option but he was supposed to be at the table in discussions regarding the debt situation. the u.s. monetary fund that put up money and he was a key player to smooth out the edges. when there were bumps in the road in these closed door sessions taking place right now, just signed off on a $100 billion package for portugal. so the work goes

. >> join christine romans fonr "your bottom line" and "your money" with ali velshi. >>> we want youn the conversation on our social media question today. a new poll shows only 57% of americans use up all their vacation days. so we want to know, do you take vacations? and if you don't, why not? post your comments on our blog, cnn.com/ali. you can also post on ali's facebook and his twitter pages. >>> president obama attended a two-day economic summit in france and is now in poland where defense issues are expected to top the agenda. ed henry will tell us what the president has been able to accomplish. he'd after the break. hi, ed. ♪ what do you see yourself doing after you do retire? client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize. "i better start doing something." we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more wi

join christine romans for yt your bottom line" each saturday morning at 9:30 eastern and "your money"ali velshi saturdays at 1:00 p.m. eastern and sundays at 3:00. >>> resetting national security. president obama picks the final members of his new team. our ed henry will be along in a few minutes with more on the changes and what they're going to mean at the white house. >>> president obama is putting the final touches on his new national security team announcing his choice for joint chiefs chairman today to replace admiral mike mullen. cnn's senior white house correspondent ed henry joins us at this time every day. ed, tell us a little bit about the president's choice and what sounds like musical chairs over at the white house. >> reporter: you're right. general dempsey, army chief of staff now, is going to be moving up if confirmed to be joint chiefs. this is the president's top military advisor. admiral winifield. and general odierno. a commanding officer will wok army chief of staff. in june defense secretary robert gates is going to be stepping down. leon panetta moving over from

. >> join christine romans for your bottom line each saturday morning at 9:30 eastern. >>> 21 minutesur. time to update our top stories. dominique strauss-khan could leave rikers ilan jail any time now after being granted bail. the former head of the international monetary fund will have to remain at a manhattan apartment and where an electronic monitor. strauss-khan is charged with sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper. he posted a $5 million bond and $1 million cash. he denies any wrongdoing. we just got word the imf will give him a $250,000 separation payment and an annual pension following his resignation. >>> president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu are meeting at the white house today. this comes a day after president obama called for the borders of israel and a future palestinian state to be based on the 1967 lines, border lines, that is. netanyahu says that would leave israel indefensible. >>> astronauts aboard the space station completed their first spacewalk today. it was cut short though because of a glitch in one of the spate suits. a carbon dioxide

. >>> and be sure to join christine romans for "your bottom line" saturday morning 8:30 eastern and alidevelop see, sundays at 3:00. >>> updating our top stories, video shot today inside osama bin laden's pakistan compound. and we've learned that u.s. forces who stormed the building sunday may have grabbed valuable intel on their way out. a senior official tells cnn that computers, hard drives and dozens of krd cds, dvds were seized. >>> officials in alabama are still taking a toll of the devastation from last week's massive outbreak of weather. 400,000 people still without power. the state's governor, robert bentley, is planning a live, statewide address tonight. since saturday, the number of counties in alabama declared disaster areas has doubled to. >>> in california, a company is recalling grape tomatoes, because they may be contaminated with salmonellsalmonella. they were sold by six store chains in 13 western states. the salads carry expiration dates between april 27th and may t 9th. watching the op. >>> the president glued to the screens as navy s.e.a.l.s hunt down bin laden and

i'm christine romans.der targeting foreign hackers the good-old-fashioned way with bombs. >>> i'm kiran chetry. a congressman from new york now on the defensive as he explains how a lewd photo was sent to a young woman in seattle from his twitter account. how he was hacked ahead. >>. >> i'm ali velshi with mexican drug cartel shooting it up outside her school. she turns to barney and friends to keep people safe. now, the whole world is seeing this hero in action on this "american morning." >>> good morning, it is tuesday, may 31st. the last day of may. thankfully. >> we are dealing with a heat wave in many cities in the country. >> you could see record heat. >> hot all around after a long and dreary spring. with he begin this hour with breaking news. a deadly tour bus crash on interstate 95 in carolyn county, virginia. >>> four people are dead. cnn has confirmed it happened just shortly before 5:00 this morning at the 103 mile marker north of richmond. that is some of the first pictures we are getting cour

i'm christine romans. >> i'm kiran chetry. ali velshi has the morning off.t california's former first family in crisis after arnold schwarzenegger confession he fathered a child with a member of their long-time household staff more than a decade ago. today we have new details. in "the new york times" reports the child is a boy and yesterday it was unclear about the age, but now it's being reported that he is 14 years old. and that his mother was working in the schwarzenegger home while she was pregnant. the paper also says that schwarzenegger's wife maria shriver was pregnant at the same time with the couple's youngest of their four children. >> shriver released a statement saying, quote, this is a painful and heart breaking time. as a mother, my concern is for the children. i ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and i try to rebuild our lives and heal. i will have no further comment. shriver's not isolating herself. appearing last night at the taping of oprah winfrey's farewell show in chicago, cnn's jessica yellen talked to a source close

and done. [ all ] ♪ hey, hey, hey ♪ good-bye >> i'm christine romans. his bail hearing in new york. we will speak to the alleged victim's attorney. >>> i'm kiran chetry. pretty amazing pictures of a crash at a california naval base. it was a military jet, slid off the runway and burst into flames. it was hauls 150,000 pounds of jet fuel. >>> i'm ali velshi. the woman that broke up arnold schwarzenegger's marriage revealed. you are looking at the first pictures of the mother of his secret child. there are reports that maria shriver has made her first legal move on this american morning. >>> good morning, everybody. it is thursday, may 19th. welcome to the coach, velshi. >> you made it. you got your work-out in. >> first, the jailed head of the imf resigning. this news coming just hours before he plans to ask a judge to be released on bail. this is the first look at dominique strauss-kahn's mug shot, still in a prison cell at reicher's island right now. >> he said he stepped down so he can focus on grooming his innocence. he says he is not guilty. >> susa

i am christine romans. days after disaster struck, there could be more tornadoes today with joplin sitting squarely in the danger zone. >>> i'm kiran chetry. hundreds of firefighters, police, and even volunteers are searching through the rubble for victims and more survivors. there is so much devastation, so much recovering to do that the missouri national guard is putting additional units on alert on this american morning. >>> good morning, everybody. it is tuesday, may 24th. a lot to talk about today. this is the second sunrise for joplin, missouri. they are still trying to assess the damage. >> that's right. because yesterday's morning didn't really lend itself to a lot of favorable conditions when it came to searching. ali velshi is live in joplin, missouri. you were there yesterday when more severe weather went through and a lot of the search and rescue had to sort of be on hold. >> yep. i got here yesterday afternoon and it might as well have been nighttime. you couldn't see through the rain. it was h