i'm poppy harlow. this is the show that saves you money. how to i vid paying taxes legally and easy ways to save $500 a month. plus the true cost of unorganized paper oshg. how to clean house and save money. "your bottom line" starts right now. >>> of course, top of mind across the country, historic health care reform. the most dramatic changes since medicare and medicaid signed into law by the president this week. it's been a long road filled with compromises, challenges and, of course, your questions about how the bill will affect you. now, before the house approved the bill last weekend we asked in a cnn. research poll how respondents thought their families would be affected by the bill. take a look here at the results. just 19%. 19%. said they'd be better off. 47% worse off and 33% said they think they'll stay about the same. you've been sending your questions, through ireport.com. one of the concerns we're hearing over and over again. >> i'm not really sure how this health care reform affects me. >> great question. john is not alone in

poppy harlow of cnnmoney.com is here with the breakdown for us. poppy? >> hi, fred.uite a day in detroit. it's a city with the school system in the worse shape of any in this country. i want to outline for you what exactly is coming today. it's a $1 billion plan, extremely aggressive and what they're going to announce today is they're closing more than 40 schools within detroit proper by this summer and more to follow after that. their graduation rate golan astonishing 98% and when you look at the city right now their graduation rate is an abysmal 58%. the idea here is if you close these schools where there aren't enough kids to fill the class rooms you can folk the $1 billion in funding on the schools that need to be performing. the school system is telling us teachers will get laid off as a result, but they hope in the end you will have kids in classrooms and the class sizes won't be too big, but they're actually going to get the facilities and the money that they need for the school system to improve dramatically. they're facing a $219 million deficit right now an

poppy harlow has been following it. she joins me now from cnnmoney.com. she sat down and talked with the boss at starbucks about health care. poppy? >> it's interesting because this is isn't i didn't know about starbucks before i prepared for the interview with ceo. his name is howard shultz. he's been the head for decades. he sat down with the president and talked to him about this. starbucks gives health insurance, offering it to any employees, including the baristas behind the counter as long as they work there three months and 20 hours a week. that's unlike a lot of companies in their sector. why do they do it? you've got to go back decades to when howard was a kid growing up in brooklyn. as he puts it, on the wrong side of the tracks. he said everyone should be treated equally. he takes issue with the fact there are millions of americans about health care. despite the company's hard times over the last two years, he would not give up health care for his employees. ali, it costs $300 million for starbucks every year to provide this. $300 million more t

cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow is in new york. what do we know about this thing, poppy? >> it's interest, we test drove this chevy volt yesterday and this could be you know what the future of this company and we talk to the vice chairman of general motors all about the volt. it's not going to be mass produced until 2012 but the first one has rolled off the assembly line. some people can buy it later this year. it goes 40 miles on just the battery charge and then it kicks over to gasoline. but the question is this the car that people and americans around the world want to buy? we took a test drive. take a look. ♪ >> reporter: all right, so, i have no key. >> get some acceleration. >> this is all new technology. this is something that nobody has ever done before. in that, many of our competitors said wouldn't be possible, and gm will never do it. >> reporter: will all of the volts this year be assembled in michigan? >> every volt for the foreseeable future will be built in michigan. >> reporter: why do that? it costs you more than assemb assembling them in mexico or elsewh

. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. here is what we'll be tracking this week on cnn money.e all-important monthly jobs report is due out on friday and investors are lacking for any signs that the job market is improving. and also coming up, we'll get a key reading on consumer confidence and the auto industry will be back in the spotlight with the latest sales numbers. and the new york auto show also gets under way. we'll be following it all. >> i'm "showbiz tonight's" a.j. hammer. we are expecting big news from usher this week. now, reportedly, he's going to reveal why his marriage fell apart. we're also expecting more fallout in the sandra bullock cheating scandal. will more of jesse james' alleged mistresses come forward? perhaps most importantly, though, i am excited to tell you that beginning on monday, "showbiz tonight" is going to be live every day 5:00 p.m. eastern, monday through friday on hln, and we are still, of course, tv's most provocative entertainment news show at 11:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. >>> all right. so what's happening domestically and internationa

. >>> i'm poppy harlow in new york.here's some of the big stories we'll bring your way on cnn money. closely following the all important health care vote and focus on economic recovery with reports on new and existing home sales expected. we'll get the latest reading on consumer sentiment. for coffee lovers out there, starbucks holds its annual meeting on wednesday. we sat down before that one-on-one with a strategy talk with the ceo. >>> "showbiz tonight's" a.j. hammer. we're expecting big news breaking regarding sandra bullock's marriage. her husband jesse james cheated on her with a tattoo model. whose mistress is the most outrageous? jesse james, john edwards or tiger woods' many mistresses? look for dennis hopper to get his star on the hollywood walk of fame. he wish him the best as he battles prostate cancer. >>> also happening this week, wednesday, national urban league releases report on issues affecting black america. topics include education, health care and home ownership. >>> saturday, tea party express laun

. >> reporter: i'm poppy harlow in new york. here's what we'll be tracking this week on cnn money. the all-important jobs report is friday. investors are gearing up for that. the street's expecting that our economy shed 20,000 jobs in february. and there will be another hearing on toyota's recalls on capitol hill. we'll also find out this week just how bad the damage is. toyota will report its february sales figures. a lot coming up, and it's all ahead this week. >> reporter: i'm "showbiz tonight's" brooke anderson. and it is oscars, oscars, oscars in hollywood. the preparations are under way for the 82nd academy awards, march 7th. big showdowns this year. especially "avatar" versus "the hurt locker." "showbiz tonight" will be live on oscar night, 7:00 p.m. on cnn and 11:00 p.m. on hln. hey, and you may also want to check out johnny depp's "alice in wonderland." it's out on friday. >> all right. thank you very much, everyone. hey, let's turn now to see what's going to happen here at our domestic desk. so what do you have for us, chris friedman? i know that secretary hillary clinton

well, our very own poppy harlow is at the help desk toake it on. re is poppy. >> all right, time now for the help desk. we are here to get you answers to your financial questions. joining me this hour, greg mcbride, a senior financial analyst and beth kobler. dave said i have been unemployed for over a year and have a small retirement pension and unemployment coming in. i owe about $75,000 in credit card and other debt which i haven't been able to pay. i consulted an attorney about filing bankruptcy. his fee though is $1,100. it includes the filing and court fee. he wants to know is there any way that he ca getelp from an agency and not have to pay for it? >> well, over 1 million people filed bankruptcy last year. that's up 40% from the year before. so it's a big prblem, and you absolutely need a lawyer and the price he's getting is about average. however, if he's really desperate, he can try a local bar association or bankruptcy court clerk or legal aid society. also, for that fee thatou have for processing a bankruptcy, he may be able to pay it in

cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow is in new york. boy, that's an image, poppy. >> reporter: yeah, it's hard to believe that starbucks spends more on the health care than the coffee they sell but it is the case. they spend $300 million a year providing health care. part of that is because it is a company unlike a lot of others that gives and offers health care insurance to its employees as after they've been there 90 days and if they work at least 20 hours a month. that's something you don't see in some other places, but the reason for it is interesting. we went to seattle. we sat down with the ceo, you see him there, howard schultz. one of the things that we talked about is health care reform. take a listen to his story. >> i grew up in brooklyn in the projects, which is sunset housing. my parents were great, work-class people, but at the same time you know as we grew up, i think realize that we were not the privileged few. we were on the other side of the tracks. and i think what i felt as a kid anwhat -- and what stayed with me as i

cnn.com's poppy harlow is in new york. y, you got more on starbucks and health care, don't you? >> who would guess that they spend more on health care than on coffee beans. the reason behind that is they spend $300 million a year on health care for their employees. why? they give it to their employees, anyone who works there, even behind the counter, the clerks, if they work 20 hours or more a week. we went to seattle where starbucks is founded. we sat down with this man, the ceo there, to ask 60 him a lot of questions and one of them is, why do you provide this health care for the company. what we found out is it goes back many decades and it's pretty personal to him. take a listen to what he told us. >> i grew up in brooklyn in the projects with subsidized housing. my parents were great working class people. but at the same time, you know, as we grew up, i think realized that we were not the privileged few. we were on the other side of the tracks. i think what i felt as a kid and what stayed with me as i was trying to bui

check in with poppy harlow from cnnmoney.com. she's been looking carefully into this story. it can be very attractive at times when people are short of money to put it into a pouch and send it off and get a check in return. >> it can, especially if you're the pitchman, ali. you did a good job there enticing people. but, yeah, a few months ago we hit the streets trying to sell our gold jewelry in different stores. we saw it's easy to get ripped off. a lot of people are mailing in their gold. you've seen the commercials. some cia, hsay, hey, it's a gre opportunity. others say take a look at it carefully first because it's not necessarily a quick financial fix. take a look at what we found out. >> i can get cash for this gold medallion of me wearing a gold me dad i don't know. >> reporter: their adds are pervasive but some cash 4 gold customers are saying they are getting a raw deal. >> they slap you in the face with an absurd amount. >> a golden opportunity to be fleeced. >> reporter: there are just a lot of people selling their gold right now. and there are some people that s

cnnmoney.com poppy harlow's in new york and tell us more about stars bucks and this connection. >> aa lot of people say it's too expensive, but this is something that's admirable about star bucks. we went to seattle to sit down with the ceo howard schulz and what struck me most and you can see there is what the company spends and their dedication to health care and it goes back 30-plus years to his childhood and what health care meant to him and his family. i want you to take a listen to part of our interview. >> i grew up in brooklyn, in the projects which was subsidized housing. my parents were great, working-class people, but at the same time as we grew up i think realized that we were not the privileged few. we were on the other side of the tracks and i think what i -- what i felt as a kid and what -- and what stayed with me as i was trying to build starbucks is to ensure the fact that any insecurity or lack of respect that someone would feel as a result of where they came from should somehow be refined by how the company would treat its employees, and i just felt very strongly t

you probably saw poppy harlow at the chevy auto show looking at the volt and nissan leaf electric cars. two sides to the issues. conservation and more oil drilling. okay. that's just the plan. this isn't even the politics. we're going to take a break. when we come back on the other side, mark preston is going to join me to talk about the politics of this. i'll also be joined by michael brune, he doesn't love this idea. he'll tell us why. slippery slope for politics. if you support it constituents sound the alarm about environmental impact. if you oppose it you get complaints about sky high gas prices. who can forget those calls to drill, baby drill, from the 2008 presidential election. we're hearing echo of that. let's get perspective on the energy debate. i'm here with mark preston, cnn political editor. we have traveled across the country at a time when gas prices were going up and hearing people's frustrations. michael brune from the sierra club in san francisco. michael, thank you for being with us. mark, first of all, drill, baby drill was a refrain uttered by republicans to say a

if you are worried about losing your benefits, poppy harlow of cnnmoney.com has tips on what you should> well, we are, of course, covering the unemployment crisis that is affecting more and more people in this country. nearly 1 out of 10 americans out of work right now. that is roughly 11.5 million people counts on this unemployment checks from the government. when you look at how long people are unemployed on average right now in this country, it's a record. near eight months. but there's help out there. we want you to know about all the resources you can tap if you are looking for work. goodwill.org is a site. you can go to your local goodwill store as well. a number of resources including job placement, child care help, counseling and life skills programs all there, all at your fingertips. also usajobs.gov. find all the government jobs out there. there are actually a lot of them. i checked it out myself. search by the type of job you're looking for, specific city, it'll tell you exactly the salary that's available as well. keep this in mind. if you're unemployed and when it comes to