New RNC Chairman; Tunisia Protests
WHITFIELD: President Obama is urging calm in Tunisia the close U.S. ally in North Africa is having to form a new government and after weeks of street protests, its president of 23 years has fled to Saudi Arabia with his family. Tunisia's parliament speaker has been sworn in as interim president and he's calling for new elections in 60 days. Our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman is in the capital of Tunis and he joins us right now by phone. So, what is happening on the streets there today -- Ben.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, at the moment, Fredricka, very little, because the dusk to dawn curfew went into place about an hour and 15 minutes ago. During the day, I saw people were going out to stock up on supplies, but many of the bakeries in the capital are closed. Many of the stores are closed, so they, some of them went back empty handed. In the main boulevards of the capital, there are tanks and armored personnel carriers on almost every corner. There have been instances of looting in some parts of the city. The army and police are trying to maintain or restore order and calm. A lot of people are simply staying at home because the situation is so unpredictable. Now, we do have what appears to be the formation of a new government, but it's not clear really who is running the show, the army, the police or is it the civilian politicians. Not clear at this point.</s>WHITFIELD: And Ben, I know you said most residents are staying indoors, but I don't know if you've had a chance to talk with many residents, those not been out on the streets protesting, and whether they like the idea, they support the idea of the new government or if it makes them nervous.</s>WEDEMAN: I didn't find anybody who was unhappy with the fact that the old autocratic ruler of the country, Ben Ami has left. Everybody was happy with that. They blamed him for widespread corruption, unemployment and a variety of other issues. The new government people are not sure, as I said, they are not sure whether the civilians are really in charge or it's the army, the police who have simply just brushed aside an unpopular dictator and will appoint somebody in his place. Yesterday we saw there was quite a lot of excitement and joy over the fact the old president was gone. But what I saw today and speaking with people, it has to some extent been replaced by the worry about potential for chaos spreading throughout the country.</s>WHITFIELD: Ben Wedeman, thanks so much for that update. Meantime it's time to cross-country, here. Looking at some of the stories our affiliates are covering, now. A substitute teacher in Florida faces child abuse charges after an incident in a classroom. William Amory is accused of hurting a group of second graders. A police report says he got angry while trying to operate some equipment, then threw the remote and cursed and punched and pushed the students. Amory's attorney says his client was the target of out of control students and was trying to maintain order. Also in Florida, a fugitive is back in custody after 30 years on the run. Authorities say Ian McDonald faked a heart attack in 1980 while being held in south Florida. At the time he was awaiting extradition to Canada on drugs charges. Chaotic scenes in Aurora, Colorado now, after a bank robbery, there. Police say two heavily armed men walked into the bank and disarmed the security guard. Someone in the bank alerted police and as the men were leaving, officers chased them down an alley. One of the suspects was shot, the other was arrested a few blocks away. All right, now more on that change of leadership on the Republican National Committee. Michael Steele, he's out, voluntarily and Reince Priebus is in. Priebus is the head of the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Joining us right now to tell us why Steele decided to boot himself, before being booted, I guess, and what Priebus brings to the table, political analyst Jason Johnson is here with us. First let's talk about Steele. I mean, he felt the heat that he was not going to get the numbers and then he said, you know what, I dismiss myself.</s>JASON JOHNSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, Michael Steele has this really interesting relationship with the RNC, like all he's done is win. I mean, since he came into office, they have won governor's mansions, they did well in the 2010 midterms, but there have always been people who were unhappy with them, so rather than go through the embarrassment of being kicked out, he decided to take himself out of the race and leave whatever problems the RNC has to the new guy.</s>WHITFIELD: Should I be surprised, though, because doesn't he seem quite steely, so to speak. Now, you know, he is like Teflon, he has been taking it whether it's criticism or whether it's accolades for a long time, now, and that he would acquiesce and step down, that doesn't seem like his character, or the character of the man that we've gotten to know over the past few years.</s>JOHNSON: It's not that surprising. You know, Michael Steele has always been surprising people and that's why the RNC was so unhappy with him. You saw right after the midterm elections his first interview, he said, look, you know, this wasn't really a victory for us, this was the public being angry. There's no more honest man in America than the man who knows he's losing his job. So Michael Steele recognized this a long time ago, and backed out. I think, but he does have a future, maybe not in the Republican Party, but certainly in Washington.</s>WHITFIELD: And what do we know about Priebus?</s>JOHNSON: What we know about Priebus is he's got the two things that the RNC really wants, right now. He is an insider, he's been part of the 168 committee and he turned a blue state red. And that's what the Republicans are going to need to win in 2012, I mean, he got rid of Russ Feingold and that's the kind of thing Republicans hope will project whatever their candidates are in 2012 into the White House.</s>WHITFIELD: And so, I wonder if we can look ahead, even to the week, because now we hear the Republicans are saying we're ready to get back to business and Congress. Boehner, who had been leading the effort to say let's vote for this repeal of health care, but because of the Tucson tragedy, put that on the back burner. But, now many Republicans are saying next week it's time to get back to business.</s>JOHNSON: Priebus will be much more low profile when this is going on in Washington, D.C. The Republicans have $20 million in debt. He's not even doing interviews. He's answering the phone right now trying to get to more money. So, I think Republicans are going to move forward with their agenda, they're going to try and reform and get rid of health care reform and push to improve jobs in this country, but Priebus has to get the finances great or they're not going to be good for next year.</s>WHITFIELD: He's talking about retiring of the $20 million debt.</s>JOHNSON: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: Interesting terminology.</s>JOHNSON: Yeah, you know, that's the term that you use when you don't know how to pay it and they've got bills due in February.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Jason Johnson, good to see you. Hopefully we'll see you more on the weekends, joining us, right?</s>JOHNSON: Most definitely.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, good to see you, thanks so much. All right, December's unemployment rate, well, it was at its lowest level in more than 18 months, so who is getting hired and where? Christine Romans reports, now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, good afternoon, everyone.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here at the January meeting of the Job Success Club, job seekers aren't feeling a recovery just yet.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's a start.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good experience.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.</s>LEN GARRISON, CAREER COACH, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: A lot of people talk about how the market's getting better, but really, what happens is for each person, it's very personal.</s>ROMANS: Members of this group at Rutgers include a business analyst with 15 years of experience, a dual engineering major laid off last spring, a recently graduated geography major. (on camera): People are getting hired. We're not -- we're not creating enough jobs. But people are getting hired. Who's getting hired?</s>TIG GILLIAM, CEO, ADECCO: The more education you have, the better. And that's true in this job market, even more so than it was only five years ago. So, it's the finance and accounting skills, the IT, skills, the engineering skills, which greatly improve your chances of finding a job.</s>ROMANS (voice-over): It's leisure and hospitality and health care, too. Those fields saw the biggest growth last month, but regardless of field, many job seekers say the toughest part is just getting a foot in the door.</s>SAM CHACKO, JOB SEEKER: The challenge for me, at least, it's been -- I know I have the skills but it's kind of frustrating because I don't know how to market myself to get employers to notice me.</s>ROMANS: And that's just what the members of the Job Success Club hope to figure out.</s>GARRISON: I mean, the goal of the Job Club is I'm the only person left. That would be the ideal dream that I'm the only person sitting in the room. Be really -- be really focused.</s>ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.</s>WHITFIELD: The outlook is pretty good for the member of the job success club. The unemployment rate among college graduates with a bachelor's degree or higher is just about five percent as compared to 9.4 percent, overall. He is 22 years old and behind bars possibly for the rest of his life. Our legal guys are ready to weigh in about the case against the Tucson shooting suspect.