New York's Governor to Introduce Bill Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.</s>COLLINS: Quickly, we want to let you know what's happening right now. We are looking at transportation secretary Ray LaHood. Standing next to him, Vice President Joe Biden. And on the other side, President Barack Obama all speaking today about transportation in America, specifically going to be talking about traveling with the system of high-speed rail. An $8 million plan that the president is going to be discussing very shortly here. We'll bring that to you just as soon as he comes to the microphone. Meanwhile, for the third time in a week, a major bank says it earned billions of dollars in the last quarter, but will it be enough to lift the market? Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange now with a preview of the trading day. Hey, Susan.</s>SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi. And we had a late-session rally yesterday on signs that some bulls discern as perhaps indications that the worst of the recession may, emphasize may, may be behind us. Last week it was Wells Fargo. Monday it was Goldman Sachs. Today it's JPMorgan Chase. JP earning more than $2 billion in the first three months of the year. JPMorgan benefiting from a jump in mortgage refinancing and deposits, as well as low interest rates. But rising unemployment is boosting default and delinquency rates on credit card and other consumer loans. Obviously, one of the ramifications of the recession. And both problems are certainly hurting one of the nation's biggest mall operators. There we have the opening bell. General Gross properties filing for bankruptcy protection. The company owns 200 malls, including high-profile places like Watertower Place in Chicago, Daniel Hall in Boston, south street seaport here in New York. And Cumberland Mall by you, Heidi.</s>COLLINS: Yes.</s>LISOVICZ: Shoppers aren't shopping, Heidi. Get out there. Malls are seeing their vacancy rates skyrocketing. Everybody needs to do their part. Today's economic reports are mixed. New jobless claims took a huge drop last week but still remain at a high level above 600,000 and continuing claims top six million, another record high. The latest company to cut jobs is Harley Davidson, up to 400. Ticker symbol, HOG. Heidi, you knew that. I know you do.</s>COLLINS: I did know that. We've talked about it before.</s>LISOVICZ: Just want to say it.</s>COLLINS: All right.</s>LISOVICZ: And we have modest gains at the open. Can I just mention, quickly?</s>COLLINS: Yes.</s>LISOVICZ: Rosetta Stone, the language software specials rang the opening bell.</s>COLLINS: I was going to ask you about it. Yes.</s>LISOVICZ: It's a rare initial public offering. But even more rare, Heidi, it's the first IPO in about a year to price above its expected range.</s>COLLINS: Wow.</s>LISOVICZ: And that is a true sign of optimism. In a place that we haven't seen it very frequently.</s>COLLINS: I'm still working diligently on my French and Swedish.</s>LISOVICZ: Well, they have some software they'd love to sell you.</s>COLLINS: I've got it!</s>LISOVICZ: I'm talking to the CEO in the next hour so I'll put in a special request.</s>COLLINS: OK. "Swedish for Dummies" is good for me. All right. Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much for that.</s>LISOVICZ: You're welcome.</s>COLLINS: We'll check back with you later on. President Obama is about to leave for his first trip south of the border since taking office. He's set to meet with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon this afternoon. On the table -- trade, immigration and Mexico's deadly drug war. The City of Juarez has seen its share of the violence. Mexico's fourth largest city is located just across the border from El Paso, Texas. These days it's known more for its gangs and gun battles. CNN's Karl Penhaul brings us an extraordinary and exclusive look.</s>KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The police radio crackles. Shots are being fired downtown. A city cop asks these transvestite prostitutes if they heard. Six shots, they say, a few blocks away. It's midnight in Juarez, Mexico's most dangerous city. The gunmen seem to have faded away, so the patrol heads up into gangland, the hillside slums that ring Juarez. "We're arresting gang members before they get together, because then there will be killings," he says. Police say there are 1,000 gangs in the city. They go by names like the Skulls, the Sharks, the Aztecs and the Artist Assassins. They peddle cocaine, crack and heroin, and fight gun battles for turf. The gangs, too, have become a recruiting ground for narco- traffickers, looking to hire hit men. "Organized crime reports from these gangs. They come and choose the most dangerous members," the captain says. Captain Pinedo and his men on the anti-gang patrol know the labyrinth of alleyways by heart. They pull suspected gang members out of vehicles, even sniffing their fingers to see if they've been using drugs. "A lot of them don't have any I.D., and they looks like gang bangers," he says. For the last year Juarez's best-selling newspaper has been filled with gory photos of drug war hits. As the Sinaloa cartel battles for the Juarez mob's trafficking routes. Bodies hanging from a bridge, other victims stuffed into cooking pots, another murdered and his face covered with a pig mask. Police say many of the victims have been young gang members recruited as cartel foot soldiers. We head back into our Juarez neighborhood, this time without the police, to try and discover why young men have been lured by the drug mobs. This small gang calls itself Below 13. None of its members seem to know why. The few who say they work, earn less than $50 a week in assembly plants. The cartel war now raging, it offers a chance of quick money. "Some of the gang members here have joined organized crime groups and some are in prison because they were busted for selling drugs," this young man tells me. He knows working for the cartels can mean a short life expectancy. "Of course it's easy money, because you can earn serious cash, but it's dangerous, too. Like they say, it's easy money until they kill you," he says. Sixteen hundred people died in drug cartel killings last year in Juarez, but in this neighborhood, there's little sense the war will end. "Thank God we're alive. We're going to show all the hit men that Juarez is number one," he boasts. Fighting talk that bodes of more untimely deaths. Karl Penhaul, CNN, Juarez, Mexico.</s>COLLINS: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is back on the national scene. She is scheduled to speak tonight to a sold-out right to life fund-raising dinner in Evansville, Indiana. The Republican vice presidential candidate, Palin drew large crowds in the state. GOP national Chairman Michael Steele will give the keynote address at the dinner. The hot button issue of gay marriage is on the front burner in New York now. Governor David Paterson plans to introduce a bill today to legalize same-sex marriages. The measured died in 2007, and still faces strong opposition. Gays and lesbians can already marry across the border in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and later this year in Vermont. The right to bear arms. Is it coming under fire from the Obama White House? Many Americans aren't taking chances. They are rushing to buy guns now. And you put a lot of miles on your feet. Injury and aging can also impact your mobility, but there are ways to help those aching feet. CNN's Judy Fortin explains.</s>JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vincent Wall (ph) spends a lot of time on the treadmill, but this sweat on the machine has less to do with his waistline and more to do with his feet. Last winter, Wall was bounding up the stairs when his Achilles tendon snapped.</s>VINCENT WALL, PATIENT: I heard like a rip, and when I went to put weight on it, I couldn't stand on it.</s>FORTIN: After surgery, Wall's physical therapist recommended he get into rehab quickly to stretch out those tendons and muscles to keep him strong.</s>STEVEN PETTINEO, DIRECTOR, PHYSICAL THERAPY, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: We know that in our 30s, you know, we start to lose strength in our body at a very young age and that progresses, they say, about eight percent a year.</s>FORTIN: And as you get older, muscles and tendons begin to shrink, making them tight which is tough on your feet.</s>PETTINEO: When you have tightness in one area of the body, no matter where it is, you're normally going to make up for that loss of motion somewhere else, and that's especially true in the foot.</s>FORTIN: That means starting in your 30s you need to stretch, especially in your calves and feet. It can help you avoid a lot of overuse injuries.</s>PETTINEO: Certain things like tendinitis of the Achilles or tendinitis, which is more of a degenerative process of the tendon. You can get, you know, mid-foot pain or pain in your toes all because there is certain flexibility issues.</s>FORTIN: By the time you reach your 40s, your feet have taken a real pounding. Deterioration of bones and muscles may cause the arches in our feet to become lax and lose support, making it tough to walk. And with age, especially in women, can come osteoarthritis.</s>PETTINEO: You start to see degenerative changes in the joint space themselves. The way we try and combat those from a therapy standpoint as weight-bearing exercise.</s>FORTIN: Doctors recommend at any age, make sure you get a good fitting shoot.</s>PETTINEO: Shoe wear is definitely important and probably even more specific to whatever task it is that you're doing.</s>FORTIN: If you run, don't wear tennis shoes. Standing on your feet? Watch the size of the heel. The wrong footwear can cause shin splints and joint problems that could give you a lifetime of pain. As for Vincent Wall's Achilles tendon, it seems back to normal. Although rehab isn't the most exciting place to be, he knows it's the healthiest place for his foot. Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.</s>COLLINS: Quickly take you to President Barack Obama now making remarks on transportation in America.</s>OBAMA: I have worked on this extensively. I also want to acknowledge Jim Oberstar and Rob Andrews, two of our finest members of Congress, but people who understand that investing in our infrastructure, investing in our transportation system pays enormous dividends over the long term. So I'm grateful to them for being here.</s>COLLINS: President Barack Obama making comments about transportation in America, but specifically announcing this $8 billion plan for high-speed rail. It's going to be $8 billion right now, and then $5 billion more over the next five years, to do two things -- improving existing rail lines, and then, identify corridors where they could possibly build high-speed rail. We'll be back in just a moment right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.