[Tony Harris, Cnn Anchor:] Let's get going here. Time for your top-of-the-hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM. It is 12:00 in Michigan, where a ninth member of a militia group is set for arraignment today. The suspects charged in an alleged plot to kill police officers. In Washington, a young man sees immediate results of health care reform. He gets to stay on his parents' insurance plan. And high school seniors looking at college and a way to pay. We talk with Education Secretary Arne Duncan about brand new rules for federal student aid. Let's get going here. Let's get started. Signs of life in the economy. Dust off your resumes, post them, tweet them, do whatever you need to do, but get your job search engines going right now. We are getting more indications companies may start hiring soon, this time from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He says quoting now "The economy is getting stronger. We are probably just on the verge now of what we think will be a sustained period of job creation finally." Let's do this let's get straight to our Stephanie Elam in New York. So, Stephanie, good to see you. Yesterday, Christine Romans was reporting on the optimism among some economists over a possible pop in employment. Now we get this from the treasury secretary. What's going on here?
[Stephanie Elam, Cnn Business Correspondent:] Yes, Tony. You know, some pretty promising and powerful words from the treasury secretary. No doubt about that. In that same interview, Tim Geithner said the U.S. is coming out of this financial crisis "much more quickly and much stronger than what I believe is true for any other major economies." So that's a pretty strong way of putting it. The U.S. has lost more than eight million jobs since the start of the recession, so job creation could be the best sign that the economy is rebounding. And we're hoping to get some solid evidence of that on Friday. That's when the government will release its closely watched monthly jobs report, and there's a lot of positive anticipation as we head into that March reading. Even though the jobless rate is expected to hold steady, economists are forecasting that 150,000 to 200,000 jobs were created last month. No doubt about it, that is a huge number we're talking about. We haven't seen gains like that in about three years, Tony. So that's why everyone is sort of looking at this slow and steady rally that we've seen on the markets and saying that there's just sort of this movement towards the economy is looking stronger now.
[Harris:] And we're also getting some signs that the consumer that's you, that's me, that's all of us feeling a lot more optimistic.
[Elam:] Yes, exactly. And this is really key, too, Tony, because, keep in mind, the consumer is two-thirds of what drives the economy in this country. We need people to spend, so it's a really important part to the economic recovery. And a report this morning shows consumer confidence rose in March after falling sharply the month before. That signals that Americans are feeling at least a little less pessimistic about the state of the economy, even though the outlook for later this year still remains pretty weak at this point. But the survey did find a tiny bit more hope that jobs will be easier to find. And that's moving in the right direction even if it's not that fast, right?
[Harris:] Right.
[Elam:] But this confidence reading follows a government report on consumer spending that we got yesterday. And spending actually edged up.3 percent in February, so it's proving that people are feeling a bit more comfortable going out and spending some cash. But, you know, if you're in this situation where you don't have a job, you're probably not going to spend. And that's the reason why we care so much about the report on Friday. It's our barometer on how many people are out there looking for jobs Tony.
[Harris:] OK. So keep me honest as we go through this week here, and down the road, of course. If there is something really happening here, we're starting to get the signs. But if there is a real pop going on here, I don't want to miss it. Stephanie, thanks for your help on this. Thank you.
[Elam:] No problem.
[Harris:] An arraignment is scheduled today for ninth member of a self-proclaimed Christian militia group arrested for allegedly planning to kill police in Michigan. There is an alarming look at the group's training and planning sessions available on the group's own Web site. Our Drew Griffin reports from their rural neighborhood.
[Drew Griffin, Cnn Investigative Correspondent:] They are frightening videos: training for assaults, firing weapons. All the more scary to Jane and Bruce Holey, who found out about the Hutaree from news reports, went to a Web site to look them up and literally saw their neighbors practicing war on tape.
[Bruce Holey, Lived Near Alleged Militia Members:] There's things on the Web site showing all this training, it is obviously, we can pick out landmarks
[Jane Holey, Lived Near Alleged Militia Members:] Oh yes.
[B. Holey:] it was done in our neighborhood.
[Griffin:] So this training or military filming that they were doing, although you didn't know it was happening, it was happening right here.
[B. Holey:] It was happening right there.
[J. Holey:] And in one shot is them walking down the street with all their guns and everything. It's like, how did we not know? It was how did we not know?
[Griffin:] What they didn't know was that members of the Hutaree militia allegedly were preparing for a major battle against their own country, describing themselves as Christian warriors. They have used their Web site to declare war on law enforcement and all foot soldiers of the federal government. According to that Web site, they're driven by biblical teachings they believe command Christians to take up arms in defense of the one true church of Christ. How attacking the federal government fits into that plan is unclear. [on camera]: To understand why the neighbors or how the neighbors could not know what's going on here, take a look at the neighborhood. The closest true neighbor is about a quarter of a mile down a dirt road. We're at the intersection of two dirt roads, one very muddy, in fact. This is supposedly the base of operations for this group. [voice-over]: This weekend, authorities moved in on this set of trailers in a rural corner of Michigan and arrested 45-year-old David Brian Stone, the man identified as the group's leader also known as Captain Hutaree. Stone's wife, Tina, was also arrested, as was his 19-year-old son, David Brian Stone Jr. All told, eight members of the group were rounded up, the ninth tonight. Prosecutors allege the group was plotting to kill a police officer then set off bombs at the funeral in order to kill even more law enforcement agents. David Brian Stone's ex-wife was not surprised by his arrest.
[Donna Stone, Ex-wife Of Alleged Militia Leader:] Yes, he's got a temper. He can get radical and he wants thing done his way.
[Griffin:] But the younger Stone's fiancee said he had done nothing wrong.
[Brittany Bryant, Fiancee Of Alleged Militia Member:] My fiance hasn't been in it, because we had a baby together. And once we had a baby and we got engaged, he stopped doing it for a while.
[Griffin:] But according to their Web site, the group's members believe the end of days was coming, Armageddon, and were planning an all-out war. [on camera]: But according to the group's Web site, this group was planning for the end of days, Armageddon, and fully prepared to take part in that war. Drew Griffin, CNN, Adrian, Michigan.
[Harris:] You know, the arrests of those Hutaree militia members highlight a recent surge in homegrown militia groups. That's according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which keeps track of hate groups. SPLC's Mark Potok discussed the trend earlier on CNN.
[Mark Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center:] It's absolutely true that the militias basically peaked in 1996, declined over the next seven or eight years, and have been essentially quiescent ever since then, although there were a few still out there. And we just saw an enormous explosion in just the last 12 or 18 months.
[Rick Sanchez, Host, "rick's List":] So is this a resurgence? And why?
[Potok:] Well, I think the factors that are driving this are a non-white president in a country that is very unused to that, all that represents in terms of demographic change, real anger about the state of the economy, also real anger and frustration about the way the government has dealt with the state of economy. And in particular, things like, you know, multimillion-dollar bonuses for the same bankers who arguably drove the economy into the ground, and the rest of it. I think on top of that, it's really important to say that there's been a lot of mainstream pushing of very radical ideas by politicians and some commentators. So, you know, when politicians talk about Obama as a fascist, as a socialist, as a man who is setting up death panels, or political re-education camps for our children, you know, some people take that, that kind of rhetoric, literally and act.
[Harris:] Mark Potok's recent report, "Rage on the Right," say 363 new patriot groups were formed last year, bringing the total number to 512 nationwide. One hundred twenty-seven of them are militias. President Obama signs part two of the health care reform law. Will it help America's working poor?
[Unidentified Male:] If you want to see the general medical doctor or the women's health doctor, ask for a paper to see those specialist doctors.
[Harris:] That man, the man who brings free medical services to cities across America, tells us why he thinks reform will not be a quick cure. First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.