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Analyzing President Bush News Conference; Senator John McCain Speaks on Health Care

Aired April 29, 2008 - 11:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And you have been listening to President Bush speaking there at the rose garden about a number of issues dealing with Zimbabwe, dealing with mainly -- he started out speaking about the situation with the economy here in the U.S.; that being issue #1, obviously. Talking about energy prices, rising food prices, mortgage payments, students loans, a number of issues. But it also got very testy with CNN's Kathleen Koch asked him whether the U.S. is winning in Afghanistan.
We're going to address that in just a little bit.

But did want to let you know a programming note here, that at 11:30 Eastern, Senator Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, will respond to the president's comments today, specifically on the economy and some of the other issues that he dealt with as well.

So you'll want to stay tuned for that. We will be bringing that to you live -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We have assembled our assets to analyze the president's news conference this morning. And there was a lot there.

Kathleen Koch was in the rose garden. She still is.

Susan Lisovicz was listening from the New York Stock Exchange. And she will talk us through foreclosures and some big numbers this morning, and the mortgage meltdown.

And Gerri Willis helps us drill down on the president's comments on the energy crisis.

Kathleen, let us start with you.

This was billed as a news conference focused on the economy, but you asked a question about Israel's strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor, and you were given as a response what I consider the "whoa" moment of the news conference.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president, as you know, Tony, in answering this question -- again, this was something that, as I pointed out in my question, the administration had not wanted to talk to -- talk about for quite some time. But the president said that the reason they had held off on answering any questions about what kind of facility this was in the desert, showing any evidence to anyone other than just some 22 lawmakers was the president said that they were concerned about -- the United States was concerned about the risk of confrontation or retaliation in the region.

HARRIS: Yes.

KOCH: But he also said -- and this was very much the suspicion of many on Capitol Hill who thought they should have been informed earlier -- said the administration had a lot of policy goals that it wanted to achieve by delaying -- you know, we wanted to send a message to the world about how destabilizing a nuclear facility in the region would be. We wanted to send a message to North Korea, the president said, that we know what you are up to. And then certainly, a message to Syria about the U.S.' continuing concerns about both its nuclear ambitions and potential meddling in the region.

HARRIS: And the answer to the question -- and it was asked several times about the energy supply in this country -- the president seemed to indicate at every opportunity here that exploring for oil in U.S. territories is the answer, short term and long term.

KOCH: That was indeed his response, because reporters asked, why not go to the Saudis? Why not press them?

HARRIS: Yes.

KOCH: And the president needed to make -- he felt that the United States is sending a signal, he said, to the world by saying let's do the drilling in ANWR, let's go ahead with this. Let's hear what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If the Congress is truly interested in solving the problem, this can send the right signal by saying we are going to explore for oil and gas in the U.S. territories, starting with ANWR. We can do so in an environmentally- friendly way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Well, the president, though, when it came down to it, said there is no magic wand that will lower oil prices, that will get the economy back on to a fast track. He said these are very difficult economic times. He wouldn't use the "R" word, recession. He said let's leave it to economists to define just what it is -- Tony.

HARRIS: That's right.

Kathleen Koch for us at the White House rose garden.

Kathleen, appreciate it. Thank you.

KOCH: You bet.

NGUYEN: Let's take to you Susan Lisovicz on Wall Street. And Susan, we want to talk to you about the mortgage meltdown. The president addressed it specifically. And in fact, he is calling on Congress to help Americans who are dealing with, you know, not only low housing prices, but also everything else is going up. So it just seems like it's a problem that keeps compiling on top of another.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a very complicated situation, and the president clearly was very frustrated. And one of the reasons, Betty, he may be frustrated is the deluge of terrible data that we got today.

I'm just going to give you a couple of snippets from home values. Home prices are going down. That is a primary asset for most Americans.

Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller said that home prices in February declined nearly 13 percent from a year earlier. Foreclosures, meanwhile, in a separate report show that they more than doubled from a year earlier.

Forty-six out of 50 U.S. states showed an increase in the same period of time. It is a very difficult situation, and it makes consumers very worried, to say the least.

We also got consumer confidence, which slipped to the lowest level in five years. You want consumers to be confident, because consumer spending, what we do, what we spend, accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity.

And this, as you mentioned, Betty, this is while prices are rising. It's just a very complex situation and not one that can be solved very easily.

NGUYEN: Absolutely not. I mean, it's staggering. When you look at those foreclosure numbers, it's jumped 112 percent in the first quarter compared just to last year. So that is a huge rise there.

All right. Susan Lisovicz joining us live from the New York Stock Exchange.

Thank you, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

HARRIS: Gerri Willis, CNN's personal finance editor, watching the president's remarks with keen interest.

Gerri, great to see you.

You know, let's talk a bit about energy here. The president's answer to the country's energy struggles seems to be drill more here in U.S. territories, explore more here in U.S. territories. That seems to be the answer.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, it's interesting, yes. And he's been say this for a long time, frankly. HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: You know, this is a problem at the top of the list of consumers out there. Gas at $3.60 a gallon now. It's been rising for 15 straight days. People are really concerned about it, and yet again, President Bush saying we need more drilling in the U.S.

He notes that we haven't had a refinery built in this country in 30 years. He says drilling right here in the U.S. would send a signal to international markets that we're serious about solving this oil and gas pricing problem for the American people, and would make a big difference.

Now, in response to an interesting question about the idea of a gas tax moratorium...

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: ... which would essentially save folks about 18.4 cents a gallon for every gallon by eliminating taxes, maybe for the summer -- that's what John McCain has suggested. He declined to take part on that conversation.

HARRIS: That's right.

WILLIS: He didn't want to say that was a good idea, that was a bad idea. He said that is for the candidates in the election, not for him to answer. But, you know, Kathleen Koch had it right. Bush here saying, you know, it's drilling here at home that is going to make the difference in the short term.

HARRIS: But I have to ask you, if people at home who are listening to the president's comments, the idea of imposing this summer moratorium on the federal gas tax feels immediate. Gerri, it feels immediate. Drilling for oil in ANWR does not feel immediate.

WILLIS: Well, very intelligent observation. You know, you can't start drilling today and expect gas...

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: ... you know, like four hours later, right? It does not work that way.

HARRIS: Right.

WILLIS: It would take some time. Even the president said this is an intermediate-term solution.

You know, he is putting the onus, the burden really here on Congress...

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely.

WILLIS: ... for not coming up with solutions. He says it's their fault. He says that the American people, all they are getting is delay on a host of economic issues, everything from what's going on with mortgages, to gas, to rising food prices. He'd say all you have to do is look to Capital Hill to see who is responsible for not coming up with solutions for the American wallet.

HARRIS: But you might be -- it might be curious to know whether or not the president is out of options himself.

Gerri Willis for us this morning.

Gerri, thanks for the time. Appreciate it.

WILLIS: Thank you.

HARRIS: And keep watching CNN. Our money team has you covered. Whether it's jobs, housing or savings, join Gerri Willis and Ali Velshi for a special report. It's called "ISSUE #1: THE ECONOMY," all this week, noon Eastern, only on CNN.

NGUYEN: Well, let's keep talking the economy for just a moment, because Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois spoke about what the president was going to be saying. In fact, he made these comments before the president's news conference. And they're really a reaction to the president's economic stance.

So take a listen to what Senator Durbin had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Wouldn't you expect a president of the United States to call in the major leaders of these oil companies and say to them, you are destroying the economy that we are counting on for America? By your profit-taking, you are making it impossible for this economy to grow. We are facing a recession over the housing crisis, and now you are compounding this misery with your greediness and selfishness and profit-taking from this economy.

That's a fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And that was Senator Dick Durbin speaking before the president held his news conference, and talked about the economy.

But now that that news conference has taken place, do want to let you know that any moment now, Senator Chuck Schumer, who is the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, is going to be responding to the president's stance on the economy. And that will take place at any moment. And when it does we will bring you the latest on that. And still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, a state of ruin. Virginia communities in shock over tornado damage. Look at this, just devastating pictures, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, let's talk politics, and specifically health care. Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, was speaking a little bit earlier today in Tampa on health care at a cancer center. And we want to take a little listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Health care in America should be affordable by all, not just the wealthy. It should be available too all, and not limited by where you work or how much you make. It should be fair to all, providing help where the need is greatest and protecting Americans from corporate abuses. And for all the strengths of the health care system we know that right now it falls short, far short, of this idea.

Some 47 million individuals, nearly a quarter of them children, have no health insurance at all. Roughly half of these families will receive coverage again with a mother or father's next job. But that doesn't help the other half, the other half who will remain uninsured. And it only draws attention to the basic problem that in any given moment there are tens of millions of Americans who lost their health insurance because they lost or left a job.

Another group is known to statisticians as the chronically uninsured. A better description would be that they have been locked out of our health insurance system. Some were simply denied coverage regardless of needs. Some were never offered coverage by their employer, or couldn't afford it. Some make too little on the job to pay for coverage, but too much to qualify for Medicaid or other public programs. There are many different reasons for their situation. What they all have in common, what they all have in common is if they become ill, or their condition gets worse, they will be on their own, something that no one wants to see in this country.

Underlying the many things trouble our health care system are the fundamental problems of cost and access, cost and access, cost and access. Rising costs hurt those who have insurance by making it more expensive to keep. They hurt those who don't have insurance by making it even harder to obtain. Rising health care costs hurt employers and the self-employed alike. And in the end, they threaten serious and lasting harm to the entire American economy. These rising costs are by no means always accompanied by better quality and care or coverage. In many respects, the system remained less reliable, less efficient, more disorganized and prone to error even, even as it becomes more expensive.

It's also become less transparent, in ways we would find unacceptable in any other industry in America. Most physician groups and medical providers don't publish their prices, leaving Americans to guess about the cost of care, or else to find out later, and they try to make sense of an endless series of, quote, "explanation of benefit" forms. Take a look at one of those.

There are those that are convinced that the solution is to move closer to a nationalized health care system. They urge, they urge universal coverage with all the tax increases, new mandates and government regulation that come along with that idea. In the end, this will accomplish one thing only. We will replace the inefficiency, irrationality and uncontrolled cost of the current system with the inefficiency, irrationality and uncontrolled cost of a government monopoly. We will have all the problems and more of private health care, rigid rules, long waits and lack of choices, and risk degrading its great strengths and advantages, including the innovation and self -- lifesaving technology that makes American medicine the most advanced in the world.

The key to real reform is to restore control over our health care system to the patients themselves. Right now, right now even those with access to health care often have no assurance that it is appropriate care. Too much of the system is built on getting paid, just for providing services regardless, regardless of whether those services are necessary or produce quality care and outcomes. American families should only pay for getting the right care, care that is intended to improve and safeguard their health.

When families are informed about medical choices they are more capable of making their own decisions, less likely to choose the most expensive and often unnecessary options, and they are more satisfied with their choices.

We took an important step in this direction with creating of health-savings accounts. As you know, they are tax-preferred accounts that are used to pay insurance premiums and other health care costs. These accounts put the family in charge of what they pay for. And as president I would seek tone courage and expand the benefits of these accounts to more American families.

Americans need new choices beyond those offered in employment- based coverage. Americans want a system built so that wherever you go and wherever you work, your health plan goes with you. And there's a very straightforward way to achieve this. Under current law, the federal government gives a tax benefit when employers provide health insurance coverage to American workers and their families. This benefit doesn't cover the total cost of the health plan. And in reality, each worker and family absorbs the rest of the cost in lower wages and diminished benefits. But it provides essential support for insurance coverage. Many workers are perfectly content with in arrangement, perfectly content, and under my reform plan they would be able to keep that coverage. Their employer-provided health plans would be largely untouched and unchanged.

But for every American who wanted it, another option would be available. Every year, they would receive a tax credit directly for the same cash value of the credits for employees in big companies and small business are self-employed. You simply choose the insurance provider that suits you best. By mail or online, you then inform the government of your selection.

And the money to help pay for your health care would be sent straight to that insurance provider. The health plan you choose would be as good as any an employer could choose for you. It would be yours and your family's health care plan and yours to keep. The value of that credit, $2,500 for individuals, $5,000 for families, would also be enhanced by the greater competition this reform would help create among insurance companies.

Millions of Americans would be making their own health care choices again. Insurance companies could no longer take your business for granted. Offering narrow plans with escalating costs. It would help change the whole dynamic of the current system, putting individuals and families back in charge, and forcing companies to respond with better service at lower costs.

(APPLAUSE)

NGUYEN: All right, so you have been listening to Senator John McCain speaking today in Tampa. That was from just a little bit earlier when he was at a cancer center there. Talking about health care and his support for tax credits to help people pay for coverage and that goal being increasing insurance company competition to help bring down the costs there. So, that was Senator McCain.

Now, we are expecting any moment now to hear from Senator Barack Obama at an event in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. You're looking at a live picture of the room right there. And as soon as he begins to speak, we'll bring that to you.

HARRIS: Another story we've been following the last few days here in the NEWSROOM, a father accused of horrible abuse in an Austrian court for the first time today. Police releasing new details a short time ago.

CNN's Phil Black is in Amstetten, Austria this morning. Phil, good to see you. What did we learn from the police this morning?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, essentially it appears that police have confirmed what they already suspected, Tony, and that is that this man Josef Fritzl is in fact the biological father of six children born by his own daughter.

It's an extraordinary situation. Police say the DNA tests have left this result in absolutely no doubt whatsoever. And in fact, goes along with what his own daughter has told them and what he himself has confessed to.

Let's just quickly recap on that confession. He admits that some 24 years ago, he locked up his then 18-year-old daughter in the cellar of the home behind me. She's been kept there pretty much ever since. She was beaten, raped, she bore him seven children. Six of those have survived. Three were forced to live in the cellar with her and have never seen the light of day until just recently. Three others he claims were his grandchildren who'd been abandoned by his runaway daughter and they were raised normally among this small town community here.

So now, police are saying that this investigation has a long way to go. But one small interesting point to come of this, that is something of extraordinary family reunion, those -- or the better part of those six siblings I should say have met now for the first time. The three or the two who were kept beneath those floorboards secretly for so long, the three who lived above, they have all met. And the scenes we are told, the police described them, as astonishing -- Tony.

HARRIS: Phil, I just -- I can't let you go without asking, are police taking at least a shot at the why question? Why this man did this?

BLACK: It is an extraordinary question, really. And it's one they say they haven't answered. They themselves seem as shocked as everyone around the world is by this.

HARRIS: Yes.

BLACK: How could this crime be allowed to go on for so long, for 24 years. They say the man himself, for all his admissions, confessing to so much, has not offered any justifications for his actions over that time, Tony.

HARRIS: OK, CNN's Phil Black for us. Phil, appreciate it. Thank you.

NGUYEN: Let's talk about some relief amid the wreckage. Staggering losses, heart pounding escapes, the latest on the Virginia tornadoes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, the new "Fortune" 500 list of top companies is out. We're highlighting some of the names behind the numbers. But before we tell you who they are, we'll give you a chance to guess.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a devoted mom and is this year's highest ranked woman CEO. A woman known for her commitment at work and at home. We'll tell you who it is after the break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's this year's top woman CEO? Angela Braly of health care giant WellPoint. After taking over WellPoint less than one year ago, Braly has helped the company move up two spots on the "Fortune" 500 list while still devoting herself to her family. Employees say that Braly sets the tone for WellPoint's family values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We're talking miles of wreckage, hundreds of injuries. Yet, an overwhelming sense of relief if you can believe it in Southern Virginia this morning. Three tornadoes ripped across the region with little warning and these twisters were really strong. At least 20 people hurt. Remarkably, most injuries are considered minor and no deaths so far reported.

Just can't believe the pictures here. That's a staggering thought, no deaths. But it comes as some consolation for folks, small consolation for those who are sharing their stories, amazing stories of survival with us. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED FANCHER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I thought it was all over, because it is -- it was overwhelming, the noise, the wind. Everything was being torn and fall down around us. The wind was tearing up the flooring, the -- everything, the metal structures. And we just stayed down, squat. And asked God to let us live and I wanted my son not to be hurt. That's all I cared about.

And he must have heard me, because my son's home and he walked away from it, both of us did. And then, when we came outside, I couldn't believe what I saw. I couldn't believe we had survived it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: It looks like his prayers were answered, no doubt. As I was saying, Virginia's governor has declared a state of emergency and plans to see the hardest hit areas today.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is on the scene in Suffolk this morning. And still, Rob, as much as we've spoken with you today, just looking at those pictures, it is truly remarkable that there were no deaths so far.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. It happened in the middle of the afternoon, late afternoon, actually. That gentleman was taking his son down to the Marine Recruitment Office just to have a conversation with the recruiters there. I talked to someone whose mother was in here in the shopping mall, just getting her nails done when this tornado hit. It's unbelievable to think that this didn't cause more human loss of life.

This was a brand-new spanking strip mall. It's torn out. I mean, that tornado came in through here at about 45 miles an hour. And just like a blender or drill bit, just drilled a core of destruction through that -- the middle of that thing.

Flipping cars, tossing them around like toys, smashing and pulverizing windshields. And then it got to right about here and then just took a right turn, flipped these cars on end. And then, went down into that area which is a neighborhood which saw a lot of damage. And residents there now are not allowed to get back in.

So, that's the struggle right now. Can folks get back into the neighborhoods that have seen the damage? 140 or so homes either just damaged or completely destroyed, deemed inhabitable. So, those folks are displaced. Now, there are shelters out of course, open. And folks are taking some refuge with their family members as well.

Fifty percent so far of the neighborhoods affected have been searched and still so far, zero fatalities, including this particular strip mall. Zero fatalities there. They've got eight canine crews going through the homes here. And they hope by the end of today, Betty, that they'll still have that zero, that number, zero fatalities. And the mayor and all the city officials just considered it (ph) now so far to be very, very blessed, considering the devastation and destruction that this community has seen, at least material-wise.

Betty, back up to you.

NGUYEN: No joke. And if that is the case, zero fatalities by the time this is all said and done, that is miraculous.

Rob Marciano joining us live. Thank you, Rob.

HARRIS: What you say we get to Jacqui Jeras now with the severe weather center. Jacqui, can you give us a look at just how quickly -- I know you're watching weather in the northeast, as well. But this system through Virginia yesterday ...

NGUYEN: Oh yes.

HARRIS: ...moved quickly with a lot of intensity.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It did. But you know, what you guys were just talking there about so far no fatalities reported. Really, it's a true testament to the great job from the folks of the Storm Prediction Center and also the National Weather Service for the heads-up on this.

You know, you see that red box behind me. This is a picture of the radar, what it looks like over the three-hour period when the storms were developing from when they moved through and just pushed off to the east. So, that red box means there was a tornado watch. So, they alerted people that conditions were favorable for tornadoes to develop. And then, a warning was put on that cell, right here as it moved through Suffolk.

And it was about 20 minutes ahead of time before the touchdown. So hopefully, that's what saved some lives. It got people inside, got them into the basement and kept them out of that area. And then, this is the other storm that we're talking about that moved through the Driver area, that was a little bit closer towards Newport News.

Now, this is the picture today. This is current time radar now. And there, you can see the area, just a little bit of moisture trying to develop here. An isolated shower is possible. But for the most part, weather will be cooperative.

We do have some airport delays in the Northeast because of the wet weather here. And fire danger continues to be critical across parts of the West. We'll be focusing in on New Mexico for tomorrow for extremely critical fire danger areas.

Tony, Betty, back to you.

NGUYEN: If it's not one thing, it's another.

HARRIS: Yes.

NGUYEN: Jacqui, OK.

JERAS: (INAUDIBLE) NGUYEN: Thank you.

HARRIS: Thanks, Jacqui.

Timing is everything. A firefighter rigs his helmet with a camera, then hours later, an inferno like he'd never seen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Forty-seven down I believe, 52, whoah.

NGUYEN: Fifty-two is the Dow right now, looking at the big boards. You know, the economy is issue No.1 and this is where your money stacks up.

HARRIS: Yes.

NGUYEN: And so far, the Dow not doing so good, in negative territory, minus 49 points.

Other news to tell you about. Former president Jimmy Carter is defending his recent meetings with Hamas leaders. Last night, he appeared on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE." The U.S. regards Hamas as a terrorist group but, does Carter agree?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FMR. PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: I think they do some terrorist acts, of which I condemn them. I was in the little town of Sudarack (ph) where they launched missiles, rudimentary rockets into the region (ph). I condemn that and urge them to stop it.

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Why did you meet with them?

CARTER: Because there is no way to have a peace agreement in the Holy Land without Hamas being involved in the final agreement. And since they had been a strong impediment to any progress in the past, I thought maybe I could convince them to be more accommodating.

And so, I met with the leaders of Hamas, both from Gaza and also the leaders, top leaders, in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Carter again denied the Bush administration ever warned him against the Hamas meeting.

HARRIS: Firefighters raced to an explosion at a sugar refinery with one wearing a new piece of gear, a helmet cam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look out, fellas!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just keep a visual of each other, all right? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all can go that way, we'll go this way. Just keep a visual of each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow, a Garden City, Georgia deputy fire chief Roy Howard (ph) just happened to mount a camera on to his helmet earlier in the day and he was able to capture a rare look from inside an inferno. Howard pulled out two victims from that February night. Neither survived. Howard and his team searched for other victims for five hours until the building was too unstable.

NGUYEN: Painting them pink. Makers of the famed Louisville slugger baseball bat, taking a swing at fighting breast cancer. Some 350 Major Leaguers will use -- oh, yes, they will, they will use these pink bats in games on Mother's Day, May 11th, in case you haven't got your mom anything. Then, the bats will be auctioned with all of the money going for breast cancer research.

HARRIS: A Kentucky Derby tradition. No, not the horses. It's the bed races, the 19th annual bed races. Thousands gathered -- really, thousands, come on -- to watch 50 teams compete pushing the beds and their pilots around the track. The event is part of the Derby Festival. The horses run Saturday, in case you were wondering. The best time was turned in by the team from the Ford assembly plant, makes sense ...

NGUYEN: Yes.

HARRIS: ...I suppose.

NGUYEN: They're in Louisville.

HARRIS: Louisville, yes.

NGUYEN: Well, looking at that, thousands did turn out ...

HARRIS: Really?

NGUYEN: ...for a bed race -- interesting, OK.

HARRIS: All right, OK. I'll take your word for it.

CNN NEWSROOM continues in one hour from now. I'm Tony Harris.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.

"ISSUE #1" with news on the economy, that begins after a check of the headlines.