BRIAN WILLIAMS: Let's get right to our top story; the California food riots.
As we've been covering, thousands of unemployed people in Bakersfield, California have been rioting for the past week. Many of the houses in the city were foreclosed after President Rand Paul removed all restrictions on foreclosure proceedings during his first week in office. The unemployment rate in Bakersfield exceeds 50%, with many families being homeless.
Last Friday, the looting began. People started breaking into grocery stores, especially the large warehouse stores like Sam's Club and Costco, ostensibly because the people were hungry. Governor Meg Whitman declared a state of emergency in Bakersfield the same day and warned the rioters that she would use deadly force to stop the riots.
This morning, Governor Whitman ordered the National Guard to establish order in the city. The exact details are sketchy, and we are not sure of the triggering event, but it appears that the troops opened fire with automatic weapons. 57 people were killed and 113 were injured, many seriously.
At the press conference, Governor Whitman, CEO and president of eBay from 1998-2008, was asked about the situation, especially the oppressive unemployment rate in many California cities. Here's the video.
GOVERNOR WHITMAN: "All of those people should have created a business on eBay. There is plenty of money to be made reselling Chinese imports. You don't even need a house, you can sell out of the trunk of your car."
BRIAN WILLIAMS: In Washington, California Senator and the controversial former CEO of HP, Carly Fiorina, was asked about the casualties. Here's the video.
SENATOR FIORINA: "Only Christian conservatives in America have a God-given right to life anymore!"
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Let me bring in CNBC reporter Maria Bartiromo. Maria, what do you think of Bakersfield residents' claims that there are no jobs or opportunities?
MARIA BARTIROMO: I don't know about that, Brian. Here in New York, I eat mainly at Indian and Chinese restaurants. I see lots of Indian and Chinese workers, but I never see white or black workers. Maybe they are just lazy. Why don't they just get a job?
BRIAN WILLIAMS: On a different subject, the dollar dropped again against the euro. Now each euro is worth two dollars. Shouldn't that result in stronger exports for the US?
MARIA BARTIROMO: Yes, Brian, a weak dollar makes American-made products more attractive to other countries. I agree with Vice President Palin and Speaker Boehner on this subject. They want to create free trade agreements with all other countries; we think that will create lots of jobs here.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: But what do you say to critics like Alan Tonelson of the U.S. Business & Industrial Council Educational Foundation who say that free trade agreements have been responsible for the lion's share of outsourcing and that free trade agreements are really just a vehicle for a race to the bottom?
MARIA BARTIROMO: If he was correct, the important people in Washington would have recognized it long ago. Trust me, I've interviewed everyone that matters.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Changing the subject, as you know President Rand Paul started the process to return us to the gold standard during his first week in office. As soon as that became effective, on March 1, China demanded to exchange its large holdings of dollars for gold. Today, Fort Knox is expected to be emptied of its entire stock of gold. The line of rented Chinese trucks was quite long, as we saw yesterday in our video reports. What do you think of this development?
MARIA BARTIROMO: Well, that's what a gold standard means, that paper money is guaranteed by gold and can be exchanged for it at any time. That's just capitalism.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Maria, as usual, thanks for your expert advice
In other news, the US Navy reported that the third submarine in as many months has been lost. All three submarines have disappeared without a trace. I spoke to Senator Chelsea Clinton a short time ago on the subject.
Senator Clinton, thanks for being on the program. What can you tell us regarding the three lost submarines?
SENATOR CLINTON: Hello Brian. Yes, we have lost three submarines either near or west of Guam. At least one of the subs was lost over the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world's oceans. There are rumors that China was involved because all three subs communicated shortly before their disappearance that a Chinese sub was in the area. I want to state categorically that this was just coincidence. As the leader of the China Lobby, I want to make sure that slanderous rumors are not spread regarding China.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Senator Clinton, these three submarines just happened to be the first three that were fully integrated with women and gays. Do you think this fact is relevant?
SENATOR CLINTON: As you know, the previous president, Barack Obama, ordered women to be allowed to serve on submarines during his first two years in office. During his last two years in office, he completely dismantled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and ordered that gays be allowed to openly serve on all US Navy ships and subs. All ships and subs were retrofitted to add gay bath houses similar to the ones described in the book And the Band Played On, with holes drilled into the walls into which gay sailors could insert their, um, torpedo, for relief from an anonymous benefactor. From what I understand, this really improved morale among gay sailors and avoided the problem of creating permanent relationships between personnel who worked together on long voyages. And let me be quite clear on this: there is no truth to the vicious innuendo that gay sailors accidentally drilled a hole in the outer hull, causing the sub to take on water and sink.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Thank you for your time, Senator Clinton.
That gives "hot-bunking" an entirely new dimension, not to mention "scuttlebutt."
Speaking of holes, former Senator Phil Gramm and his wife Wendy were found dead today. As of yet unknown persons drilled holes into both of their heads and dripped Mad Dog 20/20, a extra-potent wine popular with skid-row alcoholics, into those holes until they died. Local authorities suspect a connection to Senator Gramm's comments while still in office, that the perpetrators were making a political joke about "mental recession" and "a nation of winers."
We'll be right back with Secretary of the Interior Heidi Fleiss and her plan to create jobs.
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