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CNN Newsroom
Westroads Mall Reopens; Oprah for Obama; More Capitol Page Scandal
Aired December 08, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is Saturday December 8th and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hello everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for joining us.
HOLMES: Yes, thank you for being here. Sorry to cut you off there, just trying to welcome the people.
NGUYEN: That's all I'm doing around here.
HOLMES: Hello there folks, I'm T.J. Holmes. We've got a whole lot going on today.
NGUYEN: Yes, we do. Holiday shoppers, they are returning to this Nebraska mall just three days after a gunman went on a deadly rampage there.
HOLMES: Also, we're in the O-zone. Oprah, Obama. Yes, we're in the campaign trail with the presidential hopeful. We're live at the source.
NGUYEN: And how would you like to help U.S. troops get in touch with their loved ones for the holidays? We're going to show you how, and that's coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: But first, it's back to business, but certainly not business as usual. Omaha's West Roads Mall reopened this morning, three days after a gunman's shooting spree turned holiday shopping into a holiday horror. Extra security officers are on duty to guard against any possibility of a copycat attack. Omaha's mayor was there as well to reassure those shoppers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE FAHEY, MAYOR, OMAHA: Welcome back. Thank you for coming here to support. Several of the ladies who came in early on were saying, "You know, we didn't know what to do, how can we support our community? Because we love our city." So the best thing to do is to show up here and be part of this opening, which I thought was absolutely perfect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well the mall gunman left behind a three-page suicide note filled with swear words, frustration and some contempt. Nineteen-year-old Robert Hawkins told his friends they'd be better off without him, but also predicted he'd become famous. In a page to his family, he addressed his parents as mommy and dad and told them that he loved them. He apologized for quote, "What's I've put you through." He said he'd snapped because of what he termed "this meaningless existence." A third page contained a will. Hawkins said he was giving his car back to his mother and he said his friends could have everything else.
HOLMES: Some of the mall gunman's friends are talking now. They said Robert Hawkins had problems, but they never expected anything like this. CNN's Dan Simon reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The image of a killer, still photos of the surveillance video inside the Omaha shopping mall where 19-year-old Robert Hawkins killed eight people before turning the gun on himself.
The first picture shows the teen just after walking into the mall. He's wearing a T-shirt with a Jack Daniels logo. There are questions about why he chose this store, considered the most upscale in Omaha.
JANAE JONES, FRIEND OF HAWKINS: I think in Robbie's eyes, it was because the people at Von Maur, he probably thought they were better off than him because it's kind of - a lot of the stuff there is expensive and people who make more money than him would be shopping there. And I think that he just thought they were better off than he was and didn't want it to be that way.
SIMON: That doesn't square with the Robert Hawkins these three women call their close friend. They were enrolled in the same program for troubled teens.
(on camera): When you first learned it was Robbie who did this, what went through your mind?
SYDNEY GOODMAN, FRIEND OF HAWKINS: I didn't believe it until I saw the picture. You know, I said there was no way that could be Robbie, no way.
SARAH RAMMAHA, FRIEND OF HAWKINS: I couldn't believe it either. I really couldn't. I just was trying to imagine what was going through his head, if he thought it was a joke or I don't know.
SIMON: Hawkins, they say, had a good sense of humor, made a lot of friends, definitely not a loner - a quality often associated with teenage shooters. But there were some problems. Janae Jones says she left Hawkins live at her apartment when he needed a place to stay. But when he refused to chip in for rent, she told him to leave.
JONES: He never came back and got his stuff. We kept calling him and telling him, you know, you need to get your stuff and he just never came around and got it. But he still kept calling trying to ask my boyfriend to buy him alcohol all the time. And we told him no, you need to come get your stuff, we're not here for you to just get alcohol, you know. We thought we were being your friends. SIMON: But it doesn't add up to the single worst shooting in Nebraska history.
GOODMAN: If more people would have genuinely cared about him like they should have, this would have never happened.
SIMON: The West Roads will be open this weekend as the mall and the community try to move on. Von Maur, however, will remain closed. Store managers say they are not sure when it will reopen.
The shooters' friends meanwhile ask themselves what would have happened had they come face to face with him inside of the store.
JONES: I kind of wonder, like, if any of us were there that day if he would have shot us too or not.
RAMMAHA: I wonder, too.
SIMON: Like nearly all the other questions in this case, there are no answers. Dan Simon, CNN, Omaha, Nebraska.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The first funerals for the Omaha mall shooting victims will start Monday. Robert Hawkins killed eight people at the mall, ranging in age from 24 to 66. Six of them were store employees. The other two were shoppers.
NGUYEN: Well listen to this story. Tragedy at a Christmas parade in Florida. A 9-year-old has died after he was being run over by a parade float, of all things. Police say the boy was walking alongside the float. He was tossing beads and candy to the crowd when his foot caught by a wheel and he was dragged under. The boy was rushed to the hospital, but he later died. That accident happened last night near Tampa.
HOLMES: Not that this fire needed any more fuel, but there is new fuel to that growing controversy over the CIA's destruction of some sensitive videotapes. Sources say then-White House counsel Harriet Miers and the CIA's top lawyer warned against destroying those tapes. One source says the lawyer wasn't informed of the plan until the tapes had already been destroyed. These tapes show the questioning of two terrorism suspects using controversial methods approved by President Bush. The CIA says the tapes were destroyed because they posed an intelligence risk. But Congressional Democrats are demanding an investigation.
NGUYEN: A year ago, Congressman Mark Foley resigned in a scandal over sexual messages to congressional pages. Do you remember that? Now, some pages are in a new scandal involving sexual activity among themselves. CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Yellin has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Representative Ginny Brown-Waite says inappropriate sexual activity has been going on in this dorm for congressional pages for months.
REP. GINNY BROWN-WAITE (R), FLORIDA: It wasn't kissing and hugging, let me put it that way.
YELLIN (on camera): It went beyond that?
BROWN-WAITE: It went -- it did go beyond that. And there were not only young male and female involved in the incident, but there also were observers and other page participants who were, let's say, enablers.
YELLIN: Brown-Waite says no members of Congress were involved and the two pages who engaged in the activity were expelled this week.
Still, she and Representative Shelley Capito -- the two Republican members of the Page Board -- resigned, saying the program suffers from mismanagement and lack of supervision and that Democrats who run it have not learned lessons of the Mark Foley scandal.
Brown-Waite contends that for too long the clerk of the House who oversees the program, and was appointed by Nancy Pelosi, was unaware of the public sexual activity going on between the pages.
BROWN-WAITE: This had been going on for months. Almost all of the pages knew about it.
YELLIN: Brown-Waite and Capito also say the clerks failed to notify the Republican board members when two pages were expelled for shoplifting earlier this year. The clerk, Lorraine Miller, insists that Democrats have made significant reforms to the page program, including expanded safety measures and a monitoring, and a zero- tolerance policy for pages who break the rules.
Still, Speaker Pelosi is calling for a review of the page program.
REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD), MAJORITY LEADER: We also need to make sure that there's oversight of the conduct of the pages, as well as the conduct of anybody that deals with the pages.
YELLIN: But Brown-Waite contends that response is too slow.
BROWN-WAITE: One parent dubbed it "kids gone wild." That's a shame.
YELLIN: According to Brown-Waite, new cameras are being installed to monitor the kids, but she says the program requires a new supervisor whose sole responsibility is to oversee the pages. Jessica Yellin, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, either it's a dream or a nightmare, depending on whether or not you like to ski. Let's take you to Colorado here and show you plenty of snow falling in the mountains. Skiers, they're so happy. Some areas getting as much as two feet of snow. Heavy snowfall is blamed for shutting down roads and causing several accidents, which is something the travelers aren't appreciative of. Take a look at these trees near here Sacramento, California. The storm that went through yesterday dumped two feet in the sierras.
NGUYEN: Reynolds Wolf has been watching all of this. And yes Reynolds, if you are a skier, you're in heaven right about now. But if you're trying to travel somewhere, boy, you may just want to stay home.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: OK we're talking about destroying tapes this morning. We need to destroy this one.
NGUYEN: Immediately.
HOLMES: Well we've got another powerful Republican congressman calling it quits. Guess who's making the decision to step down. Stick around for that.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Candy Crowley. The Oprahbama, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama, on a three- day, two-state tour. It begins right here this afternoon in Des Moines. Betty?
NGUYEN: Also, the shuttle launch. It is scrubbed, but plans for a Sunday liftoff are still on. We're going to tell you what NASA needs to do to make that happen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: all right, mixing politics and a superstar on the campaign trail this weekend. The queen of daytime TV, Oprah Winfrey. Did we need to even say her name? You know who she was, appears with Barack Obama today and tomorrow in three key states. No one knows more about how important this could be for Obama than CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. She joins us live from Des Moines. Candy, when it comes to star power, do you get any better than this?
CROWLEY: No, it really doesn't. When you mix show biz and politics, you always get something kind of fun. And of course that's exactly what they're intending as they take this two-day tour through Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. The big question, of course, is, is this going to help Obama? And the answer is, it probably already has.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): They are calling it the Oprahbama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oprah is a girl. She's a woman and Obama is a man.
CROWLEY: From Iowa to South Carolina to New Hampshire, presidential candidate Barack Obama will campaign this weekend with the woman of daytime TV. It's a programming trifecta that's selling out tickets in South Carolina and lighting up the gray winter of New Hampshire and Iowa. JODI PLUMERT, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: One of the secretaries was just so excited about the fact that Oprah was coming, and she said, who would have thought? Oprah coming to little old Iowa.
CROWLEY: Oprah speaks daily to almost nine million viewers, turns books into best-sellers, makes experts into household names. Can she boost Barack? Oh, how this campaign hopes so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that having Oprah here on Saturday will definitely pull women out and I think it will just show that women in Iowa are Barack Obama supporters.
CROWLEY: Operative word, women, the crux the '08 election. Did we mention that Oprah's audience is 75 percent female; 44 percent make less than $40,000; a quarter have no more than a high school education; more than half are women over 50. It is a profile of the female Clinton voter and this is a direct pitch for that demographic. Linda Peterson from North liberty, Iowa, is leaning Obama.
LINDA PETERSON: I think it's going to help him with the women my age because she's very popular, very respected among my age group.
CROWLEY: While Oprah's support is unlikely to translate directly into a significant number of Obama votes, we are talking loads of free media and if they come to see her, they'll hear him.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you stand up in this caucus for me, then I promise you that I will stand up for you.
CROWLEY: Like all Obama precinct captains in Iowa, Monique Washington got as many tickets as she wanted. She's dispensing them to supporters and waiverers (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I make phone calls, a lot of people say they're undecided. And I say, would you like to come see Oprah and Obama and Michelle? They go, yeah, I want to come out.
CROWLEY: Obama workers also handed out tickets to anyone who volunteered four hours to the campaign or signed up for a caucus seminar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: And there were public tickets left over. All you had to do to get one was go to an Obama campaign headquarters and give them your name and address. So this event hasn't even happened yet and already the Obama campaign has used it as an organizational tool.
NGUYEN: We'll see if it lives up to the hype. In the meantime, he's not the only one bringing out star power. Hillary is trying to do a little bit of that on her own.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. She is in Iowa today. She has brought her mother. But her husband has been dispatched to South Carolina. So you have a superpower, if you will, in the political arena and another one in the entertainment arena. But I have to tell you, as we sort of discussed before, the fact is, in Iowa and South Carolina, they're pretty used to politicians so if you had to bet on who's the biggest draw, I'd still go for Oprah.
NGUYEN: So you're saying former President Clinton may take a back seat to Oprah?
CROWLEY: I'm thinking certainly on this particular day, but, you know, nonetheless, obviously he's a draw. That's why they send him out there.
NGUYEN: But it's Oprah, Candy.
CROWLEY: That's right. And, you know, in the end I think the other campaigns are right, that people are going to decide this election on who they think the best leader is. But nonetheless, if you're Oprah Winfrey and you're supporting Barack Obama, you're bringing in a ton of people for these next two days to listen to.
NGUYEN: Yes, and it will be interesting to see if they're coming out to see her or are they really interested in hearing from Obama as well. So we'll see how that turns out. Candy, we do want to thank you for that and let our viewers know that former President Bill Clinton will be speaking in South Carolina next hour. We'll be taking a little bit of that when it happens live.
In the meantime, turn to CNN for live coverage of the Oprah/Obama appearance. We'll bring that you at 4:30 Eastern, 1:30 Pacific time.
HOLMES: All right, don't know if they're exactly gloating over Mike Huckabee's campaign just yet. Might be a little giddy at least because of a new "Newsweek" poll. It shows the former Arkansas governor has doubled his lead over Mitt Romney in Iowa. Look at those numbers. These numbers come among voters who say they are likely to attend the Republican caucus.
But slow down. Just about every other poll that's out there, such as this recent one by the American Research Group shows Huckabee and Romney are statistically tied in Iowa. So I don't know who was on the take on that other poll. No, I'm not saying anybody is. But it might be a blip, might be an anomaly. We'll see when future surveys come out.
NGUYEN: We'll see which it is, that's for sure.
Well another Republican congressman is calling it quits. Louisiana's Jim McCrery says he won't run for reelection next year. McCrery isn't just any congressman, though, he is the top-ranking Republican on one of the most influential committees. He is also the 19th House Republican leaving Congress at the end of the current terms.
HOLMES: Man, what a mess here. Huge oil spill hits the beach in South Korea.
NGUYEN: And another no-go at the Kennedy Space Center. John Zarrella is going to tell us what this is all about. JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NASA managers will decide later today whether Sunday is going to be a day of rest or a day to fly. I'll have that story, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, this story just coming in to us about a missing pregnant woman who a lot of people were concerned about. She's missing from Ohio. Attorney Karyn McConnell-Hancock has now been found alive. She's six months pregnant. Police in Toledo aren't giving a whole lot of details, only that the woman is alive and there will be a news conference later. Again, six months pregnant, was last seen Wednesday at her law office in Toledo. But the reports from the wire is that she has, in fact, been found near Atlanta, here in Mapleton, Georgia actually which is just about 10 miles to the west of downtown Atlanta, found walking around. She flagged down a motorist. She apparently says she had been abducted by two men and a woman in Ohio. That is the story right now. A lot of details to be filled in. But we are expecting that press conference. But again, said to be found alive and doing well, in fine health, again, six months pregnant. Her name is Karyn McConnell-Hancock. Found now in Georgia just outside of Atlanta after going missing this past week in Toledo, Ohio. Strange story, weird circumstances. A lot more to come about that, but she's alive and well, and that's got to be good news.
NGUYEN: Absolutely, interested though to find out the details of exactly what happened.
In the meantime, we want to tell you about this. An oily mess on one of South Korea's most popular beaches. Hundreds of people are struggling to clean up more than 2 million gallons of oil that spilled from a supertanker after it collided with a barge. You can smell the oil slick a half mile away. That's how much is in the water. The area is an important rest stop for migrating birds.
HOLMES: All right, we've got another day here of wait and see for shuttle Atlantis. It's been waiting to blast off since Thursday, but there's a technical glitch with some fuel tank sensors. CNN's John Zarrella is at the Kennedy Space Center. And when we're talking about the shuttle taking off, the last thing you want is any kind of a technical glitch. So we need to get this worked out.
ZARRELLA: That's exactly right, T.J. Wouldn't you know it the weather has been just absolutely spectacular down here on the space coast. Again, beautiful weather today. They expect good weather again tomorrow. That seems to always be the case. You get the good weather and then you have something else go wrong.
The vehicle sitting out on the launch pad, Atlantis ready to go. Later today NASA's top scientists and mission managers getting together to make a final decision on whether they are going to go ahead and try to fly tomorrow at 3:21 p.m.
Now, the problem that cropped up on Thursday that forced them to scrub the launch is with what they are calling ecosensors. They're located down here in the bottom of the giant external tank which has half a million gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, fuels the shuttle's main engine during assent into orbit.
Two of those sensors failed so they had to scrub the launch. Now they don't know if it's the sensors themselves that failed or some wiring connection that is the problem, but NASA was kind enough to provide us with this. This is what we're looking at. These are the four sensors. Two of these are the ones that would have failed, two of four sensors.
This is a shock mount so that the vibration on assent is absorbed. What they do is they register how much fuel is in the giant external tank.
If it falls below these sensors, then they would command the shuttle's brain to say, OK, time to shut down the main engines. Well, if there's something prematurely going wrong there, there could be fuel in there, they're shutting it down too soon, that would make for a very bad day on the way to orbit. So you don't want that to happen. Now, part of the problem that they have with all of this is that they really don't know what's causing the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE HALE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: If you've ever had an intermittent electrical problem, say, with your car or something, you will recognize that that is very difficult to troubleshoot. I think we've all had the experience of having a problem on our automobile and taking it to the mechanic and by the time you get it to the shop it's working just fine and they can't find anything. That's kind of the situation we're in right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: So what they're going to do tomorrow is they're going to start to fill that tank. If any of those four sensors fail, they're going to scrub the launch and then take it from there. If they get past that point, then they're going to have a one-minute launch window instead of ten minutes. That will maximize their ability to get to space using as little fuel as possible so that the fuel won't drop, necessarily, below where those sensors would be triggered. That's the plan right now if the managers sign off on it this afternoon. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right man, we appreciate it. It's too bad. The weather is nice, and that's usually causing the problem. We can tell the weather is nice, hence his short-sleeved shirt and a couple of buttons undone. You look good. We'll see you later, John.
NGUYEN: As the rest of the nation is freezing and digging out from snow.
HOLMES: Well, the rest of the nation has their eyes on the skies lately. Some people worried about safety in the skies. Some air traffic controllers say you should be worried and they say there could be more close calls in the future. Also checking in with Josh Levs this morning.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. You know what, the mortgage meltdown. A federal agency is admitting it could have done more sooner to prevent this crisis, a crisis that now could affect literally every American. I'll explain, coming up. Betty?
NGUYEN: Soldiers surviving the holidays without family, but a young brother and sister are trying to help bring them closer. We're going to tell you how you can help. Stay with us, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 11:32 now on the East Coast. "Happening Now" across this country, Omaha's Westroads Mall reopens three days after a 19- year-old gunman, Robert Hawkins, killed eight people and then killed himself.
NGUYEN: There is new star power for the presidential campaign as Democratic hopeful Barack Obama brings TV's Oprah Winfrey to Iowa.
HOLMES: And there is new controversy over the congressional page program amid reports of sexual activity at the pages dorm, and this is among the pages themselves.
Well, a close call for two airliners at a New York-area airport. A Continental jet landing in Newark came within 300 feet of a Continental Express plane that was getting ready to take off. The FAA says the plane on the ground acknowledged an instruction to hold short of the runway, but continued forward anyway.
NGUYEN: That is frightening. OK. So despite such incidents, the FAA says we're in the safest period in aviation history. But air traffic controllers say that as more of their colleagues retire, flying could get more dangerous.
Here to break it down is CNN's Susan Roesgen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Passengers on a plane flying toward Chicago recently never knew they had been seconds away from a disaster. On November 14th, an air traffic controller at a busy regional control center made a mistake sending a Midwest Airlines jet into the path of a United Express jet.
(on camera): But on the Midwest jet, the computer alert system in the cockpit warned the pilot, stopping a possible midair collision.
BOB RICHARDS, FORMER AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: It said pull up, pull up. And of course, the aircraft pull up just before it could go to the altitude of the other aircraft.
ROESGEN (voice-over): Bob Richards spent 22 years as an air traffic controller at Chicago's O'Hare Airport before he retired this year. And he has come out with a book called "Secrets from the Tower," his account of why air traffic controllers are fed up.
RICHARDS: Controllers have nothing to gain at this point but retirement.
ROESGEN: A record number of air traffic controllers, 828, retired last year. To fill the gaps, some air traffic controllers at the busiest airports, like O'Hare, are working longer shifts and six- day weeks. Bryon Zilonis is a leader for the Air Traffic Controllers Union in the Great Lakes area.
He says it takes years to train new controllers who can handle the high demands of the jobs.
BRYON ZILONIS, CONTROLLERS UNION: An air traffic controller is not hired on day one. It took me five years to become an air traffic controller from the day I walked into the control room to the day I became a full performance level controller. It was about 18 months before I was even allowed to talk to an airplane.
ROESGEN: The union says fewer controllers means potentially more close calls in the air. And they say, fewer eyes on the sky adds to the growing number of flight delays. The Federal Aviation Administration told CNN in e-mails that control tower staffing varies but that "staffing today is determined by actual traffic and need."
The FAA also says that 1,800 new controllers were hired last year. But only 40 are fully trained and actually working full time. Bob Richards says that's not enough controllers and it's only going to get worse with all the retirements.
RICHARDS: They don't need that stress anymore. They've had it enough.
ROESGEN: And when they leave, the fear is they'll leave too many planes flying too close for comfort.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: The controllers want the FAA to negotiate a new contract that would give controllers more time off and would raise the pay of new controllers.
HOLMES: Well, certainly no secret the U.S. mortgage market in a bit of trouble. This week the Bush administration stepped in with an offer that could provide some relief from foreclosure.
NGUYEN: Yes, our own Josh Levs has been looking into the plan in today's "Keeping Them Honest." Relief? Bring it on, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's amazing, isn't it? I'm just starting to realize how huge this is. It can literally affect everybody.
NGUYEN: It affects everyone.
LEVS: Everyone. Because it's reaching into the crux of the economy. And because President Bush jumped in this week and announced this plan, what we want to do is focus in on the role of the federal government in dealing with this issue. And we also want to break down for you how this crisis can affect every American.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Inflation is low.
LEVS (voice-over): This was a staple of President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign.
BUSH: Homeownership is at the highest rate ever.
LEVS: Some of that came from a rise in subprime lending, loans to borrowers with weaker credit. Now foreclosures are at a record high, an estimated 1.8 million filings so far this year.
Some Democrats complain the White House failed to act.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The administration was asleep at the switch, but we can't wait until we have a new president.
LEVS: The White House says President Bush has taken steps, such as pushing legislation that could offer Americans lower down payments and more pricing flexibility through the Federal Housing Administration. Together with the private group Hope Now, the president is pushing a plan to freeze some people's interest rates for five years.
BUSH: Hope Now estimates there are up to 1.2 million American homeowners who could be eligible for this assistance.
LEVS: The Center for Responsible Lending says because of the plan's requirements, it will only help about 145,000 families. The Federal Reserve also plans to help by announcing stricter lending standards. Regulators have admitted they didn't do all they could.
ROGER COLE, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD: Given what we know now, yes, we could have done more sooner.
LEVS: Also named in the blame game are lenders, brokers, borrowers, Wall Street, but everyone in America stands to lose. Foreclosures hurt property values for neighborhoods. Lost value next year could total...
DOUGLAS PALMER, PRES. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS: One-point-two trillion dollars. That's trillion, with a T. As a result, our economy will produce over 524,000 fewer jobs next year, and grow a full percentage point less in GDP.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: So, you can see, this doesn't just affect homeowners, it really hits the whole economy. And now some people looking to buy a home might have a tougher time getting a loan, Betty, T.J., even if they have good credit, because of this overall squeeze on the markets.
NGUYEN: OK. So as people watch this new plan, how do they know if it will actually help them?
LEVS: You know what the best thing is to do is a Web site that you can take a look at right now. I want to show this to you. It is a -- we mentioned it quickly in there, it is www.995.org and -- that wasn't it. But that's OK -- 995hope.org. It is 995hope.org. There you go. That's it.
What I like about this site -- you know, there's a phone number you can call, 888-995-HOPE. But if you go to this site, 995hope.org, you can actually do an online consultation and you can get information there that might save you some time trying to get through to that crowded phone number right now.
And you can get someone online with you who will tell you if this applies to you or not. And if you're one of the lucky ones, in a sense, lucky, who might actually be helped by the plan, then you can decide whether you want to go ahead and do it.
NGUYEN: Gotcha. All right, 995hope.org.
LEVS: You got it.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks.
HOLMES: All right. Saturday night here, a big party night for some people, but some people like to stay home with the remote, watch TV. A big night for television. So if you're home cruising with the remote control tonight, you know what you're going to see, reruns, because talks between writers and studios broke down again last night. Each side blaming who, Betty? The other.
NGUYEN: The other, yes. I was going to say, us, a lot of people do blame us, the media. That was the first thing on my mind.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: No, Betty, it's not your fault this time.
NGUYEN: This time. Thank goodness.
HOLMES: Yes, the strike now in its fifth week and it's not Betty's doing.
NGUYEN: Not this time around.
So what's the next best thing when you can't be home for the holidays? Well, a couple of teens are helping soldiers reach out and touch the ones they love this season. Stick around. We'll show you how you can help.
HOLMES: And you know, daughters call their dads all the time. This was not your normal daughter-to-dad phone call. Jenna Bush phones home, surprise call. Don't know if you saw it. If you didn't, you'll want to check this out.
HOLMES: Less time in the war zone. That may be the case for American soldiers in Iraq by late next summer. Deployments have been extended from 12 to 15 months because of this year's so-called troop surge. But an Army general says the troops may go back to 12-month tours. How soon would depend on the success on the ground there in Iraq.
NGUYEN: Thousands of troops will not be home for the holidays, but a couple of teens are helping them keep in touch with their loved ones. Brittany Bergquist and her brother Robbie founded cellphonesforsoldiers.com. They collect old cell phones, they sell them and use the money to buy prepaid calling cards for the troops, 400,000 cards have been purchased so far. They join us from Boston.
Thanks so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate you being here.
BRITTANY BERGQUIST, CELLPHONESFORSOLDIERS.COM: Thank you very much.
ROBBIE BERGQUIST, CELLPHONESFORSOLDIERS.COM: Thank you.
NGUYEN: All right. Brittany, let me start with you. With when you and Robbie started this program back in 2004, let me make sure I got it right, you only had $21 and you didn't even own a cell phone. So why did you come up with this? What made you want to do this?
B. BERGQUIST: Well, we were actually motivated to start Cell Phones for Soldiers when we saw a story about a soldier from our local area who had an almost $8,000 cell phone bill that he couldn't pay for.
And we also had a cousin who is going to be deployed into Iraq relatively soon after we saw that story, and so we knew we actually had to do something to change the way that the troops called home, because we were going to know firsthand what it's like to not be able to speak to a loved one who's deployed.
NGUYEN: Yes, and boy, have you done something. Robbie, you know, it's one thing to have an idea and really want to make a difference, but it's another thing to do what you've done.
Tell us, how many cell phones have been donated and what that means when it comes to calling cards that you've been able to purchase?
R. BERGQUIST: Well, we don't know actually how many exact number of phones we've gotten so far, but we know that we get about anywhere from 40,000 to 50,000 phones a month. And these are either sent through the drop-off sites or through directly to the recycler.
And so we actually have 1,800 more drop-off sites, 7,000 now across the country, and 1,800 of them are AT&T -- we just joined up with AT&T and so now 1,800 of their company-owned drop-off sites are -- of their businesses are a drop-off site.
NGUYEN: That is fantastic. And you know, if you do the math, I think I read somewhere that you've collected over a million cell phones from people who have been donating. Brittany, I've got to get your reaction, though. What are soldiers saying about this? Obviously they've got to be very thankful.
B. BERGQUIST: They are extremely thankful. And we had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of the troops that we've been able to help. We receive e-mails from them every single day, and, honestly, it's incredible to hear from them.
They're so appreciative of the fact they get to speak to their loved ones while they're deployed. And we think that it's absolutely our payment. This is how we're getting paid back, is by being able to speak to the troops who are truly our heroes. And so it's like hearing from your heroes every single day.
NGUYEN: Oh, that is fantastic. And, Robbie, if you would, tell us, when you talk about the drop-off locations, folks watching this and who want to donate a cell phone, where can they go? Where are these locations? I mean, is there a Web site where they can find one near them?
R. BERGQUIST: Well, on cellphonesforsoldiers.com there is a link to -- there is a section of our Web site that is drop-off locations. And so there is a whole list of all 7,000 drop-off sites across the country.
And if you have -- even if you don't know -- if you know where an AT&T store is, that's where you can go to drop off your old phone. So any of those AT&T stores, or go onto our Web site, cellphonesforsoldiers.com, and there you can find any drop-off site you want to.
NGUYEN: I can see in your face, Brittany, that this is a project that's near and dear to your heart. You take a lot of pride in it. You have worked very hard for it. So what is next? Where do you go from this? This has been such a success.
B. BERGQUIST: Well, we have so much coming up. We've had the opportunity to really expand the program during the holiday season. And we're going to the Cotton Bowl and the Alamo Bowl and people can drop off their phones there if they're going to the games.
And we also are actually going to be making a huge announcement on December 16th when we're at a holiday concert for John McDermott, he's a singer. And we have a big announcement on December the 16th in Canada.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, that is fantastic. You are taking it to the next level and providing many ways for people to help this holiday season. Brittany and Robbie, thanks so much for what you're doing and thanks for your time today.
B. BERGQUIST: Thank you very much. R. BERGQUIST: Thank you very much.
HOLMES: Yes, you're right. She had a big old smile on her face.
NGUYEN: Didn't she?
HOLMES: You could tell...
NGUYEN: Very cute.
HOLMES: ... she's very into it.
Well, speaking of phone calls, an unusual call to President Bush that's attracting a lot of attention this week. We'll dial that number, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Yes, that's just a taste of "CNN Heroes." That's Norah Jones, Wyclef Jean performing. If you missed a second of it, you're going to have plenty of opportunity to see this again. CNN's all-star salute to ordinary people doing extraordinary things, you can see it again, an encore presentation, "CNN Heroes," that is coming your way tonight at 8:00 Eastern.
NGUYEN: Grab your tissues, though. These are some heartfelt stories, such good stories that show you that one person can make a difference.
HOLMES: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: Great show.
HOLMES: And they make you want to get up and do something.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it makes you look at yourself saying, I'm not doing any...
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Anything. I'm such an underachiever.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: You guys, hi. We've got a lot straight ahead. We're going to begin with what's taking place in Omaha. You all have been talking about it all morning. Sadly, this is a day of many funerals as a result of that deadly shooting taking place at the mall there, Westroads Mall, there in Omaha. And as well today, that is the place where shoppers are being asked to return. Will they after many days after that deadly shooting?
And also, we're going to be joined by a very favorite newsman here in America, Tom Brokaw. He's out with a new book called "Boom." He and I sit down, we talk about a whole range of issues, not just the '60s, which is exactly what his book is based on, the tumultuous and pivotal '60s, but he also reflects on what the '60s were for him. He was in his 20s at the time. And how it shaped...
NGUYEN: Did he give you the good stuff? Did he give you the juice?
WHITFIELD: He did. He did. You'll have to stay tuned and watch. A lot of revealing stuff. And he also talks about kind of the comparisons of politics, covering the White House in the early '70s compared to politics today with this upcoming election.
HOLMES: A little different.
WHITFIELD: And he talks about the evolution of television news as well.
NGUYEN: Oh, wow. You cover it all.
WHITFIELD: So -- yes. So he is, of course, charming, very engaging. You'll want to listen to that.
HOLMES: And that voice.
WHITFIELD: And that voice -- the booming voice to go with the book "Boom."
NGUYEN: Only Brokaw can give. All right. Fred, thanks, looking forward to that.
HOLMES: See you soon.
WHITFIELD: All right.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, a daughter calls her parents. No big deal, right? Well, unless it's the first daughter who's calling home, and a national television audience is listening in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So most dads love when their daughter calls home, just to talk, you know, say hello.
HOLMES: Yes. But when it's the first daughter calling home unexpectedly while on live television, our Jeanne Moos just had to listen in to this one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's normal for a daughter to call home to daddy, but not when this is home and this is daddy.
ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST, "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW": Couldn't you just pick up the phone like right now and call him?
JENNA BUSH, FIRST DAUGHTER: Sure.
DEGENERES: OK. (LAUGHTER)
J. BUSH: He's going to kill me, though.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: So at 7:30 the other night, a phone rang in the White House.
J. BUSH: I'm not going to get anything I asked for for Christmas.
MOOS: Ellen DeGeneres is always surprising regular folks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh.
DEGENERES: Somebody's there.
MOOS: At least she didn't send Jenna Bush with a camera crew unannounced to the door of the White House.
DEGENERES: We're not barging in and they're in their pajamas or something.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS (on camera): No, no, no. We're sure the Bushes were fully dressed, visiting with a friend in the Treaty Room when their daughter called.
DEGENERES: Just to say hello.
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: Hey, Jenna.
J. BUSH: Hi, mom.
L. BUSH: I'm just sitting here with daddy.
DEGENERES: Oh, hey, it's Ellen and I wanted to say hi to daddy.
L. BUSH: Yes, daddy wants to (INAUDIBLE)...
MOOS: And to think that just a few hours earlier, daddy was answering questions about Iran's nuclear program.
G. BUSH: Where are you going?
J. BUSH: I'm not going anywhere. Hi, dad.
G. BUSH: I love you.
DEGENERES: Hello, President Bush. How are you?
J. BUSH: This is "The Ellen DeGeneres Show".
G. BUSH: Well, that's great. (LAUGHTER)
J. BUSH: Dad?
G. BUSH: Yes, baby?
J. BUSH: Are you mad?
G. BUSH: No, not at all. I'm glad to talk to you.
J. BUSH: OK, good. See?
G. BUSH: And I'm glad to talk to Ellen.
DEGENERES: All right. Look, we're showing a picture of you holding your daughters when they were just born. That's beautiful.
J. BUSH: The best day of your life, remember, dad?
MOOS: Although Ellen doesn't always get through on the first try, there's the time she tried to call CNN's Wolf Blitzer but got a producer...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He'd love to talk to you as soon as the show is over, and that's in 25 minutes.
DEGENERES: I'll be at home having a drink by then.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: And sometimes when a call comes in at an inopportune time, for instance, when Rudy Giuliani's wife called during a speech, it ends up as fodder for comedians like Bill Maher.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rudy? Osama. What are you doing?
(LAUGHTER)
GIULIANI: I'm talking to the members of the NRA right now. Would you like to say hello?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Tell them "Death To America!"
MOOS: Watch out, Mr. President.
G. BUSH: I want to tell my little girl I love her.
J. BUSH: I love you, too, daddy.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
J. BUSH: OK. I love you, daddy.
MOOS: Those comedy writers sure know how to turn sweet nothings into nothing sweet.
GIULIANI: I love you and I'll give you a call as soon as I'm finished, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rudy, where do we keep the coffee filters?
GIULIANI: OK. Have a safe trip. Bye-bye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the coffee filters...
GIULIANI: Talk to you later, dear. I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rudy...
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Why must we torture ourselves every year with the elf dance?
HOLMES: It is good stuff. What people don't actually know is that we actually do have a routine that we do together.
NGUYEN: We do. And we practice this every other weekend on the third month of the year.
HOLMES: And again, we're trying to get Josh and Reynolds Wolf up to speed. They're a little behind, a little Macarena action. But I want...
NGUYEN: I've got some hip action coming up.
HOLMES: People need to focus on Betty on the left side of the screen. There it is!
NGUYEN: Look at that! Whoa! Oh, man.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: I taught that elf everything she knows.
LEVS: America, welcome to the real Betty. Now that was enjoyable.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I threw out my back doing that one.
NGUYEN: Yes, my back still hurts just watching it.
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Wait, bring it back, bring it back.
HOLMES: Because people don't know, we actually...
NGUYEN: No, don't bring it back.
LEVS: I want to learn my Elvis/John Travolta moves, no?
HOLMES: Well, good stuff, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, you know. I learned everything from my mom.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: I hope not. Do you love your mom?
NGUYEN: She got moves!
WOLF: Goodness gracious.
HOLMES: We will get mom up on the next one.
NGUYEN: Oh, my poor mother, yes.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: Shouldn't even have brought her into it.
HOLMES: Fellows, we appreciate your participating in the dance routine. And, mom, we appreciate you for all the moves...
NGUYEN: All the moves.
HOLMES: ... you gave Betty here. Let's hand this off to Fredricka, please.
NGUYEN: Shall we? Very quickly.
Fred, Please help us.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that was cute. Was that one of those kind of watch and learn moments?
NGUYEN: Well, actually we could go...
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Huh?
WHITFIELD: You were kind of leading the pack there.
NGUYEN: Well, I thought I was leading. T.J. likes to argue, saying that he was, but my moves were way better.
WHITFIELD: Oh, I thought it was...
HOLMES: Yes, they were.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Great choreography... HOLMES: I didn't have the hip thing.
WHITFIELD: ... whoever is responsible.
All right. You all have a great day.
HOLMES: We'll see you.
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