Tribute to Walter Cronkite; Bankruptcies Surge in 2009
HARRIS: Want to take you very quickly now to New York City and the memorial service under way right now, this hour, for broadcasting news legend Walter Cronkite. You're looking at Nick Clooney. He, of course, is the father of actor George Clooney. A long, long time ago, Nick Clooney was really a superstar news anchor in the Cincinnati market, also a columnist for one of the local papers there, as well. Nick Clooney remembers his friend, Walter Cronkite. We are waiting for the remarks from President Barack Obama. When those begin, of course we'll take you back to New York. Bankruptcy filings are surging this year, closing in on the one million mark. And it's -- wow, it's just September. Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here. And Gerri, you told us how many months now to keep an eye on this number? Because it's going to be big. And here we are, just about a million, September. What states have been hit the hardest so far?</s>GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, they're up 22 percent, which is a huge number, as you know. Let's drill down and look at those states with the highest filings. Look at Nevada. It's huge. And obviously it's the foreclosure problem there that is really driving these bankruptcies. You lose your home, you probably lost your job. It's just a swirl of problems.</s>HARRIS: Absolutely.</s>WILLIS: Tennessee, Georgia, Indiana -- of course, these are filings per 1,000 people. So, they basically get rid of the idea if you're a large state with a large population, therefore you have a lot of bankruptcies. Otherwise, California would probably lead that list. But, you know, a lot of people out there suffering. Those bankruptcies starting to get back to the levels of when bankruptcy law made it much easier to file bankruptcy, so we're seeing really coming up.</s>HARRIS: Well, what is it that people should consider before filing for bankruptcy? Because this is huge here.</s>WILLIS: Well, there are consequences.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>WILLIS: Big-time consequences. For example, it obviously is on your credit record for seven to 10 years. It's obviously a big black mark on your credit score. And of course it hurts you when you go to look for a job. If you have a job that requires a high level of security, you could be in big trouble. And you still have to make payments on your mortgage or your car loan in most cases. So, there are big-time consequences that follows you, dogs you, really, for a really long time.</s>HARRIS: And Gerri, how do you know if you really should consider this option of bankruptcy? How do you know?</s>WILLIS: Well, OK, I'm going to give you a rule of thumb, because people like that. You know, if you're wonder, should I be filing today? If you have more debt than it would take you to pay off in five years, then you should be thinking about bankruptcy. Really, this should be a last resort. This is not the first thing you want to do. Remember, there are some debts that are excluded from bankruptcy. So, if you have student loans, you're paying some kind of marital support, those things you're still going to have to pay. And, of course, if you have investments of any sort, CDs, stocks, mutual funds, you name it, that's all going to be available to creditors to help pay off your debt. But Tony, I should say that if you have a 401(k), an IRA, they usually don't break into that. So, that kind of thing is safe. But I really think the takeaway here is if you are in trouble right now, if you're really worried, you think you might have to go into bankruptcy, get a credit counselor first. Try to work out your debts. You can always call your creditors and say, hey, I really want to work out a plan here. Try to pay down this debt instead of going all of the way to bankruptcy, because that follows you for five to 10 years.</s>HARRIS: Right. And give everyone the address again if they want to send you e- mail questions.</s>WILLIS: Gerri@cnn.com. Make sure you send us your e-mails. We love to answer your questions every Friday right here with Tony.</s>HARRIS: Well, it is so cool to have you back here in Atlanta. I know you're working on something huge that we can't really talk about. Top secret...</s>WILLIS: I'm not telling you anything off the record ever again.</s>HARRIS: Because I work in front of a camera and I blab everything. But on Friday, more of your exclusive interview with Elmo right here...</s>WILLIS: Very exciting.</s>HARRIS: ... in the</s>CNN NEWSROOM. WILLIS: I'm telling you, fantastic.</s>HARRIS: I can't wait.</s>WILLIS: What a news source.</s>HARRIS: I can't wait for it. Thanks, Gerri. Appreciate it.</s>WILLIS: Thank you.</s>HARRIS: Other news we're following this morning. You know, U.S. Marshals are right now preparing Bernard Madoff's boats and homes in Florida and Manhattan for sale. CNNMoney takes a tour of the properties and the boat with an elevator. You can see it all at CNNMoney.com. Tom Brokaw speaking now at the memorial service for Walter Cronkite. Let's listen in for just a bit of the flavor of Tom Brokaw's remarks.</s>TOM BROKAW, FORMER NBC ANCHOR: I was personally a witness to that. As a teenager in the remote reaches of the Great Plains, I didn't see television until I was 15 years old, and it was a small black and white set in the corner of our dining room. But it changed my life, because in many ways, Walter Cronkite and all of those early pioneers lifted a lamp and showed us the wider world, and allowed us to understand it more clearly and coherently, and in some cases to leave those places and to come here. In the past several weeks there have been so many testimonials to Walter's long and storied career, his passion for the highest standards of journalism, his love of the sea and sailing, his enthusiasm for being Walter Cronkite, for having the good life that he earned and so richly deserved. There's little that I can add to all of that. Instead, today I would like to remember another character of this man who was born in Missouri, educated in Texas, who lived in the world and grew up to be the most trusted man in America by a vote of his countrymen. I would like to commemorate his capacity for friendship that transcended cultures, generations and, yes, even competitive lines. We're witness to that in this remarkable gathering today in this room and across the country, of course, not just in the famous faces and the big names. To the end of his life, Walter also had time for a call or even lunch with the foot soldiers of CBS News who were long removed from his daily needs. And of course there were those legendary friendships that went beyond the workday. His University of Texas classmate, Eli Wallach, the great actor, is with us here today.</s>HARRIS: All right. Why don't we do this -- because we want to squeeze in a little bit more of the day's news ahead of the remarks at this memorial service from President Obama. We'll break away for now as you take a look at Andy Rooney on the screen there now. We'll break away for just a few moments and get you back to the memorial service for Walter Cronkite when President Obama begins his remarks. And let's see if we -- and maybe sneak in a couple of top stories for you. The Supreme Court right now is rehearing what may turn out to be a landmark case on campaign finance law, specifically whether to ease restrictions on the ways corporations and unions spend money to sway voters. The case centers on a 90-minute film about then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. I told you, you need to watch this program every day, because I told you a week ago to keep this young woman on your radar. And now Melanie Oudin is moving to primetime. Our Larry Smith joins us with more on this rising tennis sensation. There he is. We're back in a moment.