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American Morning
Deal Imminent on President's Economic Stimulus Plan; A Conversation With Senator John McCain; CDC Says a Lot of Grownups Not Getting Vaccines They Need
Aired January 24, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Seeing little kids get shots, it still gets through me. Makes you cry every time. But, hey, if you're an adult, why you may want to think twice if you're not getting vaccinated.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: True.
CHETRY: Welcome. It's Thursday, January 24th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for joining us. We begin with news on the economy just in to AMERICAN MORNING.
We are learning that a deal is imminent on the president's economic stimulus plan and we're finding out some of the details of the plan now. Our Kathleen Koch is live at the White House.
Kathleen, first of all, the president had asked for about $145 billion in stimulus. Looks like the final tally is going to go beyond even that?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what we are hearing, John, from a variety of sources on Capitol Hill and also here at the White House. Something more in the range of $150 billion.
Now, as one senior Republican on the Hill says, quote, "They're trying to put a bow on it." Now again, the key is imminent. Not sure that something will be reached today. But what we're hearing, that it would include, two officials do tell us that Democrats have agreed to drop their insistence on increases in food stamps, on the extension of unemployment benefits and in return Republicans have said, yes, we will let these tax rebates go to people who are non-taxpayers.
Now, the original plan would have left out about 23 million Americans who just don't make enough to pay income tax. So they do pay payroll taxes. So this would mean, then, therefore say that seniors on fixed incomes, low-wage earners, would get these rebate checks.
Now as far as any meetings this morning between Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Hill leaders, those are on hold, we're told right now. While Democrats and Republicans go to their various caucuses and try to sell them on this plan that they believe will work. Now senior administration officials here at the White House are cautiously optimistic. One saying, quote, "Negotiators are working hard toward making progress." Another one told me this morning that Paulson is on the phone constantly with these guys.
So everyone is pushing very hard from all quarters, and again, John, we're hearing there is the possibility the deal could be reached and announced today, but nothing definite yet.
ROBERTS: All right, looking forward to that. Kathleen Koch for us at the White House this morning. Kathleen, thanks.
CHETRY: All right. So officials say this deal is possibly imminent on this $150 billion economic stimulus plan. Will it help the economy? Will it help with the volatile stock market? Worries over wages and fear of recession?
Diane Swonk is chief economist and senior managing editor at Mesirow Financial and she joins me live from Chicago this morning.
Thanks for being with us this morning, Diane.
DIANE SWONK, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MESIROW FINANCIAL: My pleasure.
CHETRY: Weigh in for us on what you think of this $150 billion stimulus plan that as we heard would include even non-tax paying people who are the lower income brackets.
SWONK: Well, you know, it's interesting. Election years make interesting bedfellows and everybody who couldn't agree on the AMT last year is jumping into bed with each other to disagree on this, because everybody knows they lose in November if the economy is still weak.
We do know, they have looked at the research and finally they seem to have learned. If you're going to do a stimulus plan, give it to those who have the least. Who are living closest to the edge, paycheck to paycheck, because they're most likely to spend money any money they get in the mail. Those people who are doing better, frankly, have more of an incentive to save it and not spend it. And if you're trying to get people out there to spend and stimulate the economy, give it to those who need it most.
CHETRY: For people who don't necessarily quite understand how it works. How does getting a check in the mail, then spending it helped overall, lift us out of the problems that we seem to be heading into?
SWONK: Well, by keeping spending going, you keep both the retailers ordering out there. This probably is the biggest windfall for Wal-Mart, because we're looking at lower income households and the targets of the world, discounters of the world. But it means you keep that production and merchandise flowing in those areas and the alternative is, you know, if people were to save it, they would maybe help their own financial situations but it could cause greater job loss, which would have the collateral damage of much larger mortgage foreclosures and losses on debt down the road, and that would be -- that just a risk we're not willing to take at this stage of the game.
Well, certainly, Washington isn't willing to take at this stage of the game.
CHETRY: It's interesting that you mention the mortgage problems. We asked last week, if you did get one of these refund checks, what would you do with it? Save it, spend it, or use it to pay off debt? And many people, the majority of people who wrote to us, said they would use it to pay off existing debt. Doesn't that, in some way, help as we deal with the mortgage crisis?
SWONK: You know, usually we want to say, absolutely, pay off debt, pay more. The economists are more into fiscal restraints than fiscal stimulus, but -- you know, frankly, if you're going to give this to a lot of people who don't make much income or who don't even report enough income to get pay income taxes, but they pay payroll taxes that means they're going to spend it.
They're living paycheck to paycheck as it is. They're not going to be paying down debt. They're going to be out there spending it. And if it is the stimulus plan, temporary, targeted, timely, these are the things that Ben Bernanke told us, that's what you want to do. It's a very odd time.
You know, it's not just giving checks to pay down debt. What's helping consumers more on the debt front is frankly the Federal Reserve. Anyone who has an adjustable rate, tied to the primary on their credit card, not only did that primary just go down by 75 basis points but I think the Fed is going to give them another quarter next week and those mortgage resets, they're now going down.
CHETRY: And before we leave, should people start calling their credit card companies and others, if they owe debt, to ask about this? Or does it happen automatically for you?
SWONK: It happens pretty much automatically. But if you're in a tight spot, there's a lot of banks willing to negotiate right now. And if you're in a tight spot, don't hesitate to call. The last thing a bank wants is a foreclosure.
CHETRY: All right. Good advice. Diane Swonk, chief economist and senior managing director of Mesirow Financial. Thanks for being with us this morning.
SWONK: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: And a real hot race for South Carolina, tensions have again reached a boiling point. While campaigning for his wife yesterday in South Carolina, Bill Clinton lashed out at CNN's Jessica Yellin after she asked about a charge made by an Obama supporter, the former South Carolina Democratic chairman. He compared Bill Clinton's campaign tactics with those of the infamous Republican operative Lee Atwater.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They're feeding you this because I know this is what you want to cover. This is what you live for. But this hurts the people of South Carolina, because the people of South Carolina come to these meetings and asking questions about what they care about and what they care about is not going to be in the news coverage tonight, because you don't care about it.
What you care about is this and the Obama people know that. So they just spin you up on this and you happily go along. The people don't care about this. They never ask about it. And you are determined to take this election away from them. That's not right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: In fact, Jessica Yellin did find several examples where the president had been asked about race in the campaign. The former president has been stumping in South Carolina while Hillary Clinton is focused on the Super Tuesday states. She's going to be back in South Carolina today just ahead of Saturday's Democratic primary.
From Hillary Clinton's husband to Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Obama weighing in, in the race issue in the race. Here's what she said to a local North Carolina reporter yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: Our belief is that the decision of who will be the next president will not be based solely on race or gender. You know? My deep hope is that people will base their decision on who they think they can trust. Who's got a vision for the country? Who's bringing a different, you know, tone to politics and who's going to really take this country in a different direction and, quite frankly, I think the only person that comes close to that is Barack. And he happens to be a black man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Yesterday was Michelle Obama's first day of a four-day campaign swing through South Carolina ahead of the voting on Saturday.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Also, new this morning. Police in New York are releasing some new details as they try to figure out what caused the death of actor Heath Ledger. Police commissioner Ray Kelly said an autopsy done yesterday was inconclusive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: The medical examiner said today there was no criminality. Of course, we have to wait for the toxicology report that could be as long as ten days. There was some issue about a $20 bill that was found. There was rolled up $20 bill found.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: However, tests revealed no drug residue on that bill found near Heath Ledger's bed. Police did say they found six types of prescription medications. Pills to treat insomnia and anxiety, as well as anti-histamine but no illegal drugs.
Also, the masseuse who found Ledger faced down in his bed reportedly used Ledger's cell phone and called actress Mary-Kate Olsen twice before calling 911. Olsen then sent over some private security people she knew in New York. Police said they do believe though that Ledger had died hours before being found by his masseuse.
The number of Americans with diabetes is growing and it's costing the country $174 billion a year in medical and other costs. That staggering number is from a new study funded by the American Diabetes Association. That's about as much as the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terror combined in terms of how much it's costing. It's also more than the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
According to the study, cases have doubled since 1995. They say it's because more Americans are obese. Most of the medical costs associated with diabetes come from treating complications, eye disease, amputations, kidney failure, heart failure. Some of the indirect costs include unemployment from disease-related disability.
ROBERTS: Well, heavy rain and snow slamming parts of Southern California. Nearly a foot of snow reported northwest of Los Angeles. Interstate 5 in the Grapevine area shut down, ice covering the freeway, stranding hundreds of drivers. A flood warning has been posted for the Malibu areas burned by recent wildfires.
Rob Marciano is at our weather update desk tracking all of the extreme weather.
They are just getting hammered out there, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: He doesn't like when you mention that. He gets testy. He says we should be patient.
Well, parents are usually the ones that get their kids vaccinated. But it look like, they're not taking care of themselves. Adult vaccines very often overlooked. Sanjay Gupta is going to join us in just a few minutes to tell us why it's important to stay ahead of your shots.
Also, it was a campaign that left for dead last summer and the national frontrunner today. Senator John McCain joins us live on the issues, the economy, immigration, and the fight for Florida. We're going to be speaking with the senator, live, coming up right after the break, here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 14 minutes now after the hour. For the Republicans, it is all about Florida right now. After one comeback candidate, the news looks pretty good. John McCain now leading the polls in Florida, even beating Rudy Giuliani in New York in some surveys.
The economy is the number issue in Florida as it is in much of the country. How would John McCain ensure that it keeps growing? He joins us now live from Deerfield Beach, Florida.
Senator, good to see you.
JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, John. Good to be with you.
ROBERTS: Good to be with you as well. We're hearing this morning about this economic stimulus plan. It seems that there's a deal in Congress very close. $150 billion and it would also include tax rebates for people who don't pay taxes presently. Income tax at least.
What would do you to stop the United States from sliding into a recession if were you president?
MCCAIN: Well, I would certainly stop the out of control spending, which causes us to borrow money from China. But this package, seems to me, the product of what you get when both sides sit down and negotiate. We're going to put some more money back into people's pockets. That's fine. But I really think that we've got to make the tax cuts permanent. We have to get rid of this Alternate Minimum Tax, which could attack 25 million American families. We need to cut the Corporate Income Tax. We pay the highest corporate taxes of any country in the world, besides Japan.
We need to give people a write-off on their investment and equipment in one year. We need to do a lot of things that would make sure that taxes stay low and spending stays low as well. And I think that's very important.
ROBERTS: On this issue of making the Bush tax cuts permanent. You originally opposed them, now you want to make them permanent. What led to your conversion?
MCCAIN: Well, it was no conversion. There was no restrain on spending. Unfortunately in 2001, we get spending went completely out of control. We got the bridge to nowhere and we laid a debt on next generation of Americans. It's terrible but we got to make them permanent now because the American family, if we didn't, would experience the impact of a tax increase at the worst possible time. We can't do that, John.
ROBERTS: Right. A new CNN poll, senator, finds you to be the strongest Republican to run against a Democratic opponent. You've got terrific national security credentials but some people wonder if you've got the same sort of credentials and what it takes to win with the economy now emerging as the number one issue.
Harold Myerson in yesterday's "Washington Post" in an op-ed wrote, quote, "As the economy continues to deflate, the prospects for a McCain presidency are deflating as well." What do you say to that?
MCCAIN: I've had long experience with the economy. That's why I have the support of people like Jack Kemp and Phil Gramm and noted economist. The majority of economist according to "Wall Street Journal," think that I'm best capable, in all due respect to whoever wrote that. But look, it's still national security as well.
And I noticed in the Democrat debates that Senator Clinton wants to declare surrender in Iraq. That she wants to wave the white flag. That after this surge has succeeded and after all the sacrifice and we're succeeding, she wants to declare surrender and come home. We do that, my friend and al Qaeda will declare victory and as General Petraeus said, this Iraq, it's a central battleground and the struggle against radical Islamic extremism. I look forward to that debate. We cannot surrender in Iraq as senator...
ROBERTS: We seem to have a little bit of a hiccup there in our satellite. We don't know if it's actually gone now. Senator, are you still there?
MCCAIN: Yes. Are you still there, John?
ROBERTS: Yes. Sorry. So on the issue of Iraq, just to pick up on a point you made about Senator Clinton, she has said that President Bush should not enter into any long term agreement with Iraq prior to leaving office. That he should not saddle the next president with any kind of long-term strategic partnership. What do you say to that?
MCCAIN: I say, look, you won't have to worry about it if you do what Senator Clinton wants to do, because in fact she wants to declare surrender and withdraw, after so much sacrifice. I've never heard of a major presidential candidate in history that wants to wave the white flag to the enemy.
This is a central front in the battleground against radical Islamic extremism. General Petraeus will tell you that. And after all this sacrifice and success of the surge, she wants to declare defeat and go home. My friend, that's going to be a big debating point, and I'm telling you, I'm sticking with the men and women who are succeeding and want to say, stay and see this thing through and I'm proud of them. And I'm very proud of them. And I'll tell you what their message is, they said, we're winning, don't declare defeat.
ROBERTS: Senator, you do very well among independents and moderates. Certainly, your victory in New Hampshire proved that. Elements of the party establishment are also gravitating towards you. But some conservatives are still skeptical of you, if not, outright hostile.
Rush Limbaugh said the other day, if either McCain or Huckabee get the nomination, it will destroy the Republican Party. Can you win those people over? Do you need to? And can you be the unifying candidate as long as you've got people like Rush Limbaugh with his huge megaphone out there dissing you?
MCCAIN: Well, John, the reason why we got the majority of more Republican votes than anybody else in New Hampshire and South Carolina, from all parts of the spectrum, including Upstate South Carolina's because the number one issue with most conservatives is the threat of radical Islamic extremism.
There's others who care very much about the state of our planet and climate change. There's others who care very much about the existence of the state of Israel, but majority of strong conservatives are very concerned about this struggle we're in against radical Islamic extremism and many of them believe I'm by far the best qualified. So I'm confident. I can secure the base of the party and win the nomination and win the election.
ROBERTS: On immigration, after what happened last year, you said you came to the realization that you've got to secure the border first before you do anything. Let's project ahead. So we've got a McCain presidency. You're in the White House. You have secured the border.
MCCAIN: Yes. I like that. I like that, John.
ROBERTS: Now what do you do, senator, about all of the undocumented aliens who are in the country and where would you go on this idea of a guest worker program, after the border is secure?
MCCAIN: Well, a biometric tamper-proof documents that anybody who hires someone without those documents is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. That means a whole lot of people will go home when they can't; when they find out they can't find jobs.
2 million people have committed crimes in this country and we have to round them up and deport them immediately. Then we reward no one for illegal behavior. In other words, people who waited legally, and are here legally, have to be at the head of the line, but we have to look at in a broad, compassionate and humane approach. I'm not going to send, call a soldier in Iraq and tell him I'm deporting his mother, but we can make sure the principle of no reward for illegal behavior and enforcing and securing the borders first is the principle that most Americans want. Then we can work this out.
ROBERTS: But would you still put these undocumented aliens on a path to citizenship? The ones who remain in the country?
MCCAIN: It depends. It depends on what they're behavior has been. How long they've been here. They must pay fine. They must go to the back of the line. They have to take tests. They have to do -- some may have to go back to the country they came from immediately. Some may have to go back to the country they came from before they would be eligible to come back.
There's a -- we can sit down and work this out. I mean, we can get this thing done, but no amnesty, and secure the borders first. We can -- we all know we can get this thing done, but we have to secure our borders so we're not faced with 12 million more people here illegally five or ten years from now.
ROBERTS: Senator, it's great to talk to you. And congratulations on your wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina and good luck next Tuesday there in Florida.
MCCAIN: Thank you very much. I just got Norman Schwarzkopf's endorsement and Sylvester Stallone. How can I miss?
ROBERTS: Well, if you can kick Sylvester Stallone on Chuck Norris.
MCCAIN: He'll get him. Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, senator.
And a reminder, our political coverage continues in primetime. Join Soledad O'Brien and me tonight for CNN's Election Center. I'll be in Charleston, South Carolina. It all starts at 8:00 Eastern Time.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, a little pinch that could save your life. A warning for kids from one to 92. Get vaccinated. Sanjay Gupta is going to be joining us just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A warning for adults to give it a shot. The CDC says a lot of grownups are not getting the vaccines they need. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at our medical update desk in Atlanta.
You know, you don't think about it much. We talk about vaccines for kids all the time. And I think the only time we talk about vaccines for adults is the flu shot and maybe if you needed a tetanus shot if you cut yourself.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. And you probably are very aware of the children's immunization shots because you have a young child, but a lot of adults don't pay attention to the vaccines they need. And the numbers are very, very low in terms of adults actually getting some of the shots.
As you mentioned, the well-known vaccines for adults that the people are better about include the influenza shot, the flu shot. Also, pneumococcal for pneumonia, more popular. And tetanus, something you need every 10 years.
And although, we make a strong effort to immunize our kids, only about 2 percent of adults are getting some of the other shots such as diphtheria, for example. Such as whooping cough, which is another thing that sort of made a resurgence. So these are some of the vaccines that the people need to think about. But there are about 17 different vaccines available now for children, young adults and adults. And adults really aren't getting everything that they need.
CHETRY: How about what are the ones that we're forgetting that we really need to think about?
GUPTA: Well, there are a few that are probably worth your time, at least looking into, depending on your particular area and depending whether you maybe at risk.
Whooping cough is one of the ones that I think, again, just 2 percent of people are getting it. MRR, as you know, Kiran, stands for measles, mumps, and rubella. If you've never had any of those diseases, and you got a shot as a child, some of that immunity may be warn off. And you may want to get a booster because if you get measles as an adult, that's can be much worse than as a child.
Tetanus, again, as we mentioned, every ten years. Also, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. Hepatitis can be a problem. A is the type that's often transmitted though shellfish, for example. B can be through a blood transfusion, but there are vaccines for these sorts of medications.
As you get older, there are some different vaccines which become a little bit more necessary and something you should look into. Again, the pneumococcal vaccine for people over the age of 50. Flu shots and also, there is the shingles vaccine, that's available as well for people over 60 typically. Shingles can be this awful, sort of skin rash and this sort of painful lesions on your skin if you get the shingles. So there's a vaccine out there. Again, it's not for everybody, but something you might want to talk to your doctor about.
CHETRY: It's good. Good reminders for us all. Thanks, Sanjay. We'll see you in a few minutes when we open up the mailbag.
GUPTA: All right, looking forward to it. Thanks.
ROBERTS: A scandal rocking the Detroit mayor's office. Newly revealed text messages of a romantic nature to one of his top aides. The love notes coming after both.
A bitter battle among the Democrats with South Carolina just two days away now. Just how much mud can the candidates possibly sling and can one of them come out looking clean? That story in today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Beautiful picture this morning of Central Park. You can see the reservoir back there in the background. It's 32 degrees right now. It feels like 26, though, but, hey, we'll take it after 15, a couple of days ago.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: That is going to look so much nicer in about three months. Isn't it?
CHETRY: I know. It's going to be so bright.
ROBERTS: The leaves will be back on the trees. It will be green and it will be warm.
CHETRY: Get your bike ready. It's Wednesday, January 23rd. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
New this morning. An autopsy will be conducted today on the body of Heath ledger to determine what caused the actor's death. He was found yesterday on the floor of his New York City apartment. The NYPD says they are looking at the possibility of a drug overdose. Throughout the night, Ledger's fans brought flowers to a makeshift memorial outside of his New York City apartment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't believe somebody so young and talented for this to happen. It's terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was at work. It was just right around the corner and there was a gasp shock throughout the office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ledger had just been shooting a new "Batman" movie called "The Dark Knight" in which he played the Joker. But he was probably best known for his role in "Brokeback Mountain," which earned him an Oscar nomination.
On the political scene, Fred Thompson is out of the republican race for president. Thompson entered the contest late, failed to raise enough money or voter interest to keep going. The South Carolina primary last Saturday was a make or break test for Thompson. He finished a disappointing third. He is not saying if he will endorse any other GOP candidate, though.
It's an ad campaign that helped make big profits for two major drug companies. Now it's off the air after a study that showed the drug may have missed the mark. American Schering-Plough say they are pulling ads for Vytorin. You may have seen the ads. They show food and people to show that cholesterol is related to diet and your genes. The decision comes after research that showed Vytorin, a combination drug works no better than one of its components alone which sells a generic for one-third the cost.
And a sushi scare in New York City and possibly elsewhere. Laboratory tests conducted for the "New York Times" found so much mercury in tuna that a regular diet of a few pieces a week could in fact be a health hazard. Levels were found to be so high in five out of 20 places that the FDA may sue to get sushi off the market. "The Times" says most of the tuna tested was blue fin. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, Ali Velshi on the road. He is meeting folks, talking to them this election season, gauging their concerns and fears about the economy issues that impact Americans and also the way they plan to vote. Ali actually left Atlanta this morning and is now headed towards Birmingham, Alabama and he joins us on the road from the CNN Election Express bus via broadband.
Hi there, Ali, we just got word, Dow futures are down more than 200 points so far, about an hour before the opening bell. The Fed emergency cut didn't allay any fears on Wall Street?
ALI VELSHI, CNN, BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, yesterday Kiran, about 24 hours ago when I was in Myrtle Beach before we started this road trip, the Fed announced that massive cut, even then the Dow opened more than 400 points lower and it recovered, only ending about 130 points lower. Right now, we got Dow futures down more than 200 points. European markets have turned down in London off 2 1/2 percent, in Frankfurt more than 4 percent, in Paris, almost 4 percent. These are major numbers and it just sort of underscores what's going on. The sort of fears that are going on in international markets, really translate right down into places like we're in right now. We're in Alabama. We've been talking to people through South Carolina and Georgia so far. We've been asking them specifically what about the economy? We spoke to a gentleman yesterday who said, health care is his biggest concern. Here's what he said to me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WAYNE BROWN, FLORENCE, SOUTH CAROLINA: There are too many people in one of the richest countries in the world, with no health insurance.
VELSHI: So that's the -
BROWN: That's the one thing I would like to tell them. Make sure you take care of health insurance and then you can go to social security. Make sure when everybody get out and retire, they get their fair share of what you put into through their work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: So, Kiran, while people are concerned about things like the stock market, and what the Fed is doing. The people we've spoken to around here are mostly concerned about jobs, obviously interest rates on their mortgages, and health care and gas prices. Those are the main things that are on people's minds as we cross -- [ no audio ]
CHETRY: All right. As we said, with broadband Ali, comes in and out. Sometimes you get the signal. Sometimes we don't. But I think we were able to get a good taste of what he was talking about.
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
Your financial security watch continues now with an important meeting on Capitol Hill later this morning. The treasury secretary will begin to hammer out the details of President Bush's economic stimulus package with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and republican leader John Boehner. Our Kathleen Koch is live at the White House this morning with a closer look of what we can expect from today's meeting.
And Kathleen, it sounds like they're prepared to cooperate on this, suggesting that they want to get it done in 30 days, which really would be light speed in Congress?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: It would indeed, John, but everyone is in agreement on a lot of the key points. One of the centerpieces that everyone does agree on is tax rebates. They're saying obviously because the wide range could be anywhere between 800 for individuals, up to perhaps $1,600 for families.
Now, the democrats are a little concerned because the administration have wanted to restrict that to taxpayers only. Democrats say that hey, that leaves out some 50 million working American whose don't make enough to pay income taxes. Now, we about a third of the stimulus package would go to stimulate businesses, expected in the form of tax breaks. The president met here at the White House yesterday with lawmakers and he made the point that everyone agrees this must happen soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES: All of us understand that we need to work together. All of us understand that we need to do something that will be effective and all of us understand that now's the time to work together and get a package done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Democratic leaders say the goal is to get a deal through within just three weeks. Now, that would be by February 15th, when Congress goes out on a break, a winter break. But it's expected to take at least six weeks after that before any checks arrived in the mail. So that would be, if you did the calculation, John, April 1st. April fool's day.
ROBERTS: And it sounds, Kathleen, like Ben Bernanke is willing to or I'm sorry, not Ben Bernanke but Paulson. He is willing to compromise a little bit on his economic security plan?
KOCH: That's what the White House is signaling. Yesterday in a speech that he made here in Washington, saying this stimulus package "must reach a large number of citizens" abandoning the previous usage of the word, taxpayers. So, I think they're listening to some of these economists who say you get the money to the lowest income Americans. Maybe they aren't paying income taxes but they're paying payroll taxes. They pump it right out into the economy. They spend it quickly and that's what this economy needs.
ROBERTS: All right. Kathleen Koch for us this morning at the White House. Kathleen, thanks very much. Kiran.
KOCH: You bet, John.
CHETRY: 37 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano at the CNN weather center with us tracking extreme weather for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kiran. Looking at another reinforcing shot of cold air that's coming down across the Great Lakes just to fire up a lake-effect snow machine once again, and also pretty rare storm moving in to southern California. Actually the entire California coastline, sitting and spinning out here tapping some sub-tropical moisture. This is going to turn into a pretty decent events, not only with rain but also with heavy mountain snow. So, we're watching this.
Here's the moisture plume now coming across i-5. San Francisco and Sacramento, churning snow across the northern Sierra. There you see across the bay area. Some of these air above the atmosphere, in the upper levels of the atmosphere. It's cold enough to maybe fire out off some thunderstorms. So, that could be interesting as well and some heavy rain moving into some of the burn areas across Ventura and Los Angeles counties. So, there have been flash flood warnings or watches posted for this area. We could see several inches of rainfall and a level above 4,000 feet, we could see several inches if not a couple of feet, of snowfall. Santa Barbara mountains and some of the mountains in Ventura and L.A. county as well, in our winter storm warning tomorrow and maybe even Friday morning with heavy snow expected in those areas.
Well, we do expect to see heavy snow across parts of upstate New York, east of Lake Erie, east of Lake Ontario. Also, downwind of Lake Michigan. Grand Rapids, seeing a tremendous amount of snow. Those bands will continue to fire off, as this next reinforcing shot of cold air drops in from Canada. These are actual temperatures. It does not include the wind. It's minus 7 right now in Green Bay, 3 in Milwaukee and 6 degrees in Chicago. And this is pushing off down to the south. You thought you're going to warm up to above normal temperatures? Not quite yet. I know you're looking for snow there, Kiran, but at least it's cold enough for snow in New York.
CHETRY: Yes. It's cold enough. We're waiting. It's cold enough but I haven't seen any flakes.
ROBERTS: Keep them handy. Winter's not over yet.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Rob.
ROBERTS: Coming up now on 20 minutes to the top of the hour.
Former Indonesian President Suharto's health is getting worse. Suharto has been in the hospital for the past 2 1/2 weeks getting treatment for a failing liver, heart and lungs. Doctors now say his blood pressure is stable but an infection has gotten worse and he is now on life support.
Gaza hospitals are up and the running today after Israel agreed to temporarily end its diesel fuel blockade. Israel made the decision under intense international criticism. The Israelis say they were trying to pressure Hamas into stopping militants from firing rockets into Israel.
Well, the 500 foot free fall didn't kill him. The 100 mile-an- hour impact with the New York City street didn't kill him either. Today, brand new details on the miracle window washer's progress. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has got them for you.
And Wall Street bracing for a rough day today. What's it like to be right in the middle of the turmoil? We'll spend the day way with a broker. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 43 minutes after the hour. The wild gyrations in the markets have a lot of investors feeling jittery. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho spent the day talking to them and finding out what kind of advice do experts have for people like you and me? A lot of Maalox consumed in the last 24 hours? I tell you.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey, you're absolutely right. And who knows what will happen today. It doesn't look good, John, Kiran. Good morning, everybody. The more than 450 point drop at the open on Wall Street yesterday was enough to make your stomach churn. So we wanted to know just how are the traders dealing with all of the calls they're getting from clients? What is their advice? Buy, sell, or hold?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Even before the opening bell, everyone sense a bloodbath is coming. By 9:33 a.m., the Dow was down more than 450 points.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't panic and sell into these things.
CHO: People were clearly were panicked, but by lunchtime, the Dow gained back more than three quarters of its losses. Now down 120 points.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been big reversals in the market.
CHO: Money manager Matt Levin spent most of his day reassuring his clients.
MATT LEVENS, ING FINANCIAL NETWORK: This is a 9/11-type response and there was a 9/11 today.
CHO: He sees opportunity.
LEVENS: They always tell you, buy when there's blood in the streets and it's the most difficult thing to do.
CHO: His advice, stick with brand names.
LEVENS: Philip Morris, Johnson and Johnson. You know, people aren't going to stop shaving when the market's going down.
CHO: Sounds good, but are investors listening? We're not even through the month of January yet and already many people with 401ks lost everything they gained last year. That had them really anxious, really worried about what happens next. Just ask 62-year-old Mary Chione.
CHO: When you look what's going on on Wall Street -
MARY CHIONE, INVESTOR: I'd be scared to death. I'd be scared to death.
CHO: Why? In a word - instability.
CHIONE: if I had the resources I'd go into gold. I swear I would.
CHO: By the 4:00 p.m. close, the Dow finished down 128 points. A 1 percent loss on the day.
JASON WEISBERG, FLOOR TRADER, SEAPORT SECURITIES: Some people might not be able to digest it as well as others.
CHO: How are you digesting it?
WEISBERG: I'd rather be up 450 than down 450.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Wouldn't that be nice? Well, we went to another brokerage firm, a trader there told me there's been a lot of holding of stocks and a lot of hand-holding. He says, holding, buying - all that is good, just don't sell now, but keep in mind, he's also a trader and of course stands to gain, guys, every time one of his clients buys up some stock.
ROBERTS: I tell you if you're an investor you wonder, should I get out now? Is it going lower? Should I stay in? It's a lot of anxiety?
CHO: It's on everybody's minds right now, and certainly not the least of which on the presidential candidates' minds as we move forward and talk about that.
CHETRY: Well, the markets open in 45 minutes. We'll see. A lot of people, if they're following that advice this morning. Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Meanwhile CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Tony Harris at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. Good morning, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: Kiran, good morning to you. Your money, in the NEWSROOM this morning. Boy, we're following "Your Money" all morning long. Markets in Asia and Europe settled down just a bit. We keep an eye on Wall Street, Nasdaq and S&P futures are down this morning. Hang on and we'll tell you how to recession-proof yourself.
Gaza under Israeli lockdown. Thousands of Palestinians bust a border fence and flood into Egypt for food and medicine.
And an autopsy today on the body of actor Heath Ledger, one of Hollywood's brightest new talents dead at the age of 28. Breaking news when it happens, you're in the NEWSROOM at the top of hour right here. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Tony, thanks.
ROBERTS: The miracle window washer takes another amazing step towards recovery. How could he fall 500 feet and live? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has got a details on that story. Hey, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a mind- boggling story for sure. You have gravity, you got height, you got the human body. He's alive. I'll show you what's in store for him next coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes now to the top of the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Your "Quick hits" now, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles forced to sell its headquarters for $31 million. The cash will help pay last year's $660 million settlement with more than 500 victims of sexual abuse. The church says some staffers will now be forced into office space located on the grounds of the cemetery and others will be consolidated into a couple of floors on the existing building that they're going to lease back from the new owner.
Hollywood goes to college and flunks math. The movie industry was blaming 44 percent of illegal downloading on college students, but now say it's only 15 percent. The Motion Picture Association says its research firm made an error but they still want colleges to crack down on illegal downloading.
CHETRY: Well, this next story is almost impossible to believe. A New York City window washer falling 47 stories, out of the hospital and now in rehab. () Moreno was in a coma. He survived 16 surgeries after the fall, and it's a recovery that continues to stun his doctors. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more of the exclusive details on this situation. This is a situation where you know that the fall was deadly, because it killed his own brother.
GUPTA: It killed his brother right and stunned the doctors, is a good way of describing it. It's pretty remarkable, the fact that he's even alive today. Exactly how he survived is hard to understand exactly. The theory is he may have actually surfed his way on this plank down to the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA (voice-over): It was hard for me to wrap my mind around just how far the Marino brothers fell. 500 feet. Almost two foot fields. From all the way up here. I'm on the roof of this 47-story building. They were roughly this high when the scaffolding gave way. One second, they were stable, the next second, they were falling and accelerating. It took them just 5.5 seconds to fall and to reach the speed of nearly 100 miles an hour. When they hit, they were all the way down there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Pretty markable. And you know, just getting a sense of just how high somebody was when they fall, that's what I was trying to show there. He broke his spine. He had a brain injury. He broke his right arm. He needed 24 units of blood.
Since we first reported on this, Kiran, he has had 16 different operations. But he's in rehab now. So, he's actually out of the hospital and into a rehab facility. He's going to survive all this. CHETRY: Wow. And just the physical, when you think about the physical recovery alone but how about brain function? Everything's going to be normal?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's hard to say. As far as the spinal cord, first of all. It looks like he's going to be able to walk again. We talked to his neurosurgeons specifically about that. And they say, he's going to be able to walk again. He still able to answer questions and do some simple commands. He's able to follow as far as brain function goes. We wanted to talk to him. But he said he's not quite ready for an interview as of yet. So, it's going to take a while. How long? Take up to a year in a situation like this.
ROBERTS: And what's the long-term prognosis for his recovery? Will he ever be back to the way he was?
GUPTA: You know, I think as far as cognizant ability, I think he's going to continue to improve. People can improve up to 18 months after an injury like this. So, it could be a slow going but it could happen. As far as his job, being able to go to work, the psychological sort of manifestations of falling from that may prohibit him from doing work like that again. That's very possible. I should point out as well, the neurosurgeon who interviewed was a former student of mine. I feel very old now. But he was the guy who actually took care of this guy. We talked to him and he say he's doing fine.
CHETRY: That is amazing. It was touching when you read a little bit how his wife said she touched his face every day as he was, you know, still in a coma telling him, you're going to be OK, and he touched the face of the neurosurgeon. It's the wrong person.
GUPTA: It was touching until that.
ROBERTS: You certainly couldn't blame the guy though for never wanting to get on one of those window washing scaffolds ever again.
GUPTA: I can't even imagine what was going through his mind, and it happen so fast. I mean, you could imagine I wanted to go show that because 5.5 seconds is what it took and you're accelerating constantly the way down. So, it's just, it's hard to imagine what that would be like.
ROBERTS: Was that scaffold in free fall or was it dragging a little bit on the lines?
GUPTA: I don't know. Both he and his brother were on that. Whether or not it was dragging or just the drag of having a sort of scaffold like that against the air and sort of surfing, if you will, down? That's what we hypothesize and they're taught actually taught, interestingly enough to sort of bunch up into a ball and get on that scaffolding. That sort of gives you the greatest resistance as you're falling. Not much, maybe enough to live.
CHETRY: And there was nothing. There are no awnings, nothing to sort of bounce of it. It was just a straight fall down. GUPTA: Exactly.
CHETRY: Sanjay, what do you have tomorrow?
GUPTA: We're talking about lots of interesting stories tomorrow. First of all, antidepressants, which ones work better than others? Fascinating study. They're not all the same as you might expect. Also, adult vaccinations. We talked about kids' vaccinations all the time, what about us? What vaccinations should we be getting and we're also going to be dipping into the mailbag. A lot of great questions this week and I'll answer some of those.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good. Thanks, Sanjay.
ROBERTS: See you tomorrow.
Quick look now with what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.
HARRIS: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
An autopsy today on the body of actor Heath Ledger. Asian markets rebound. We follow Wall Street. The White House and Congress working on tax rebates today. Palestinians break through a border wall and steam into Egypt for food and medicine. New health risks linked to red meat. And the man who lives with 50 poisonous snakes. NEWSROOM, just minutes away, at the top of the hour on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Two minutes to the top of the hour. Final check now of this morning's quick vote question, should the government do more to avert a recession? 75 percent of you say yes. 25 percent say no. To all of you who voted today, thanks very much. We'll do it again tomorrow. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Some of the bloggers reacting this morning over this picture. Is it a man on Mars or is it just rocks with clever lighting? You be the judge. It's sparking some new rumors about life on the red planet. The figure resembles maybe big foot, maybe walking in mid stride with its head tilted to the side or perhaps sitting with his elbow rested on his knee. Maybe it's a rock. The image taken in 2004 by NASA's roving robot Spirit. The pictures were only recently found on a Chinese website.
ROBERTS: That would explain why nobody's seen big foot in Tibet lately.
CHETRY: That's right. He made all the way up there.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: It looks like woman. I don't think it's a man. I think it's a woman directing traffic, looks like it.
GUPTA: Hey, new money for the space program --
ROBERTS: There you go.
GUPTA: The finest thing.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Rob, what do you think about all this?
MARCIANO: You know, the last couple of years has been reports of trace amounts of methane in the Mars' atmosphere. So, Sanjay, I don't know what this guy might be eating, but that's possibly the source of -
ROBERTS: Only Rob would go there.
MARCIANO: Yes. I did say that, Tony. I did. Well, it's science!
CHETRY: You know, Tony Harris just said now off to the side. I can hear him.
GUPTA: The looked for water and they found a woman up on Mars.
CHETRY: Sanjay maintains it's a woman as well. So, that would totally nix your theory, Rob.
MARCIANO: Caucus. Right. Gotcha.
ROBERTS: Wait till Rob starts talking about the trapper who -
CHETRY: Yes.
MARCIANO: Nice to see you guys.
ROBERTS: See you.
CHETRY: See you tomorrow, Rob. Thanks so much for joining us, by the way on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: We'll see you again tomorrow. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: I just want to say that I'm not in this at all.
HARRIS: Marciano, again.
Oh, hi. Good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday morning, January 23rd. Here's what's on the rundown. Thirty minutes to the opening bell, will sanity return to Wall Street.
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