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Issue Number One
Gas Prices Decrease Again; Taxpayers Bear Burden of Rescuing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; Major Oilman Talks to Senate
Aired July 22, 2008 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: Strong words from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, what he said and what it means to your economy.
We now know the price tag for a Fannie and Freddie rescue, and it is huge.
Gas prices go down again, but will they keep going down?
And why women seem to be leaving the workforce faster than ever.
Issue #1 is your economy. ISSUE #1 starts right now.
From the ISSUE #1 headquarters to the CNNMoney.com newsroom, we are all over the stories that matter to you.
Hello, everyone. I'm Gerri Willis.
Big words today from the Treasury secretary just this morning, as we're starting to get a clear picture on the taxpayer cost of rescuing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Gas prices go down as an oil giant heads to Capitol Hill to talk about his solution to America's fuel crisis. And we'll head down to Washington for the very latest.
And we'll take a look at black in America, what the African- American vote could mean in the presidential election.
T.J. Holmes in today for Ali Velshi, who is on the "Energy Hunt" -- T.J.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: The "Energy Hunt," as we speak of there, Ali Velshi's on.
Well, the Treasury secretary on a hunt of his own these days, right about now. He's hunting for money, a lot of it. He was speaking in New York, urging Congress to inject billions of dollars into Fannie and Freddie.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
WILLIS: Well, by now you probably know his name, T. Boone Pickens. He has a plan to cut our dependency on foreign oil. And that plan is all about wind energy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) T. BOONE PICKENS, OIL TYCOON: I'm T. Boone Pickens. I've been an oil man my whole life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: Pickens is taking his wind show on the road, stopping by Capitol Hill this morning.
And CNN's Brianna Keilar is keeping an eye on the story for us in Washington.
Hi, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Gerri.
Yes, T. Boone Pickens telling a Senate committee that they need to get involved in his plan, that the federal government would be integral to making his plan work by clearing the way for a development of a wind energy corridor that would stretch from Texas to the Canadian border. And to make this point, he brought a map along with him.
You can see that red area in the middle of the U.S. Well, that is where there is a lot of wind energy, and he says the U.S. needs to capitalize on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PICKENS: The Pickens Plan, it starts with harnessing wind and building out solar. We're blessed with some of the best wind and solar resources in the world. The Department of Energy estimates that we can produce 22 percent of our country's electrical energy needs just by utilizing the wind resource in the Great Plains.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, Pickens says that wind energy could actually account for not just 22 percent, but up to 80 percent of the country's electrical energy needs if you just build enough turbines. And he says that this explosion then of wind-generated electricity would free up natural gas that is currently being used to operate power plants that produce electricity. So that natural gas, he says, would increasingly be used for fueling transportation -- natural gas cars and public transit, government vehicles.
And then he says that his plan in the end would reduce dependency on foreign oil by 38 percent just in 10 years. But he said this 10- year plan is really just the beginning. He said this would be what he calls a bridge to the future, where alternative fuels like hydrogen, along with that solar and wind, would really rule, and then oil would just be used in very few specialized uses.
He says by 2050, the U.S. could be free of all hydrocarbons, no use of natural gas, no oil. But we should mention there are other energy experts testifying today. Some agreed with some of Pickens' ideas, but one said there is a fatal flaw in Pickens' plan, and that is that most of the world's natural gas is in the Middle East and Russia. So it would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire to use natural gas instead of oil to fuel transportation, and that it wouldn't ultimately achieve energy self-sufficiency in the U.S., anyway -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Well, Brianna Keilar, thank you for that report. We appreciate it.
The search for energy is a hot topic right now, so that's why CNN created the "Energy Hunt." It's a worldwide search for the future of your energy.
Ali Velshi is on his way back right now from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Ali tells us he's got a great story. Stay with ISSUE #1 for that report later this week. And you can see T. Boone Pickens today in "THE SITUATION ROOM" talking about his plan.
T. HOLMES: All right. And we now want to head to our "Quick Vote" question. This is the time for you to weigh in.
And we bring in CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow.
Today's question is?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: About ANWR and about oil drilling.
With oil prices really double what we've seen a year ago, despite falling a bit over the past few weeks, a lot of lawmakers say we should open up drilling in parts of the U.S. that are now strictly off limits. We're talking about places like where Ali just was, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
So, what do you think? Here's our question today: "I think expanded drilling is a way to bring down the price of oil quickly, nothing but political pandering, a smart step towards energy independence, or a waste of time?"
We'll see. Ali's hunting for an energy fix up in Alaska. We'll see.
Let us know what you think -- T.J.
T. HOLMES: All right. We appreciate that. I know people are going to be weighing in. Thank you, Poppy. We'll see you shortly for that.
Also, $4 a gallon for gasoline, does that still seem like a whole lot to you? Have you gotten used to that yet? Well, it makes a lot of you wonder maybe, just how did we get to this point? You're also wondering, who can we blame for this?
We will be checking that out.
Also, there's a new problem with foreclosed homes to tell you about. And also, what is exactly being done about it? We'll hear all of those answers to some of those issues.
Yes, and take a look at that. We'll explain some of this video you're seeing.
We're all over issue #1, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T. HOLMES: We want to share with you here a story we've been following.
What you're seeing is a man who has just been going through hell, if you will. He fell down a 40-foot shaft, a narrow shaft, about a 14 by 18 inch shaft he was stuck in. It took about three hours to get him out. This is in Cresson, Texas, a little outside the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
We're not exactly sure what was going on, if he was a worker, just a bystander, or somebody passing by there, as we say, but he fell down this shaft. Not sure exactly what kind of condition he is in at this point, but we've been keeping an eye on him for the past, really, several hours, as many fire officials, as you can see -- certainly a collection of them -- and emergency officials had to work to get him out. But at least five fire departments had to respond to this.
And again, we don't know what kind of condition he is at this point, but he fell some 40 feet down this narrow shaft, didn't have much space down there, a 14 by 18 inch spot that he was stuck in. But as we see there now, he has been brought out.
We'll try to get more details and see what kind of condition he possibly is in, but just wanted to pass along that he is, in fact, out of that gas well.
WILLIS: Well, some good news.
Oil prices holding steady as Tropical Storm Dolly slides across the Gulf of Mexico. She's expected to make landfall as a full-blown hurricane in the next day or so.
CNN Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is standing by on South Padre Island in Texas.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, for the time being, things look pretty good. Although, I've got to tell you, just moments ago we did have a lightning bolt that just came right off the coast here. And I'll tell you, that's just really just the tip of the iceberg. If you take a look at this combination of satellite and radar, you'll notice on this loop -- we're going to bring that up for you, give you an idea from high above, seeing the showers slowly making their way, and that big circular motion that's so typical of these tropical systems.
Now, as we fast forward to the path, you're going to see, Gerri, that we do anticipate the storm, with its maximum sustained winds right now right around 70 miles per hour, and current direction around northwest at 12, it is expected to strengthen, as you mentioned, going to a Category 1 storm. Already, its effects have been felt far and wide.
As you look at this video, we start off down in Cancun, where the wind was very strong. And, well, preparations? Yes, we've had them up and down for much of the Texas coastline.
These storms can be very fickle, they can really turn on a dime and affect a lot of places. And, of course, people are on guard in spots like, say, as far from Galveston, to Corpus Christi, and as far south here as South Padre Island, where you see them just getting together, going to the store, picking up that board, doing what they can to board up those windows.
It is going to be an interesting scenario to see here, but these people are ready. We have a lot of people here on South Padre Island, obviously, they're on their vacations. They've been planning coming here, but the problem is, it just so happens to coincide with the arrival of Dolly. The timing could not be worse for them.
Back to you, Gerri.
WILLIS: Couldn't be worse.
When was the last time there was a storm right in that specific area that you're in, Reynolds?
WOLF: Well, it's funny, South Padre Island was founded first by westerners back in 1590. And from that time, and even long before, this area's been affected by storms.
But most recently, back in 2005, Hurricane Emily landed about 100 miles south from this very point. But still, even though the eye didn't come close to this particular area, spots like Brownsville had well over a foot of rainfall and caused widespread flooding. Today it's sandbag day for them, they're getting ready for that possibility once again.
WILLIS: Well, Reynolds Wolf, thanks for that report. Stay safe.
WOLF: You bet.
T. HOLMES: Well, of course you see those record-high gas prices at the pump, and after you let out a little profanity, maybe you stop and you wonder, how in the world did we get here? Just how did we get to this place where oil is around $130, $140 a barrel, and you are paying more than $4 a gallon in most parts of the country?
Well, before heading out on his "Energy Hunt," our Ali Velshi checked it out for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The world doesn't produce much more oil every day than we consume. And with fast-growing economies like China and India using more and more of it every day, the search for more oil has become desperate.
JEFF SPITTEL, OIL ANALYST, NATIXIS BLEICHROEDER: There are issues, particularly on the supply side, where non-OPEC producers really can't keep up with oil demand, and they're having a hard time replacing what they're losing every year.
VELSHI: But some people, from Wall Street, all the way to Saudi Arabia and back to Washington, say it's not just supply and demand. Instead, they blame excessive speculation by large oil investors. And in this politically-charged environment, Democrats say they want that to end.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Oil speculators are making money by betting against the American consumer at the pump. We want to help the American people here and now.
VELSHI: Oil analyst Fadel Gheit agrees that while demand has surged, it's not the main culprit.
FADEL GHEIT, SR. OIL ANALYST, OPPENHEIMER: Well, oil prices have been inflated by excessive speculation. Speculation, everybody is betting that oil prices will go higher. Guess what? Oil price is higher.
VELSHI: The debate over the high price of oil doesn't end there. One of the reasons you need more dollars to pay for oil is that the dollar simply isn't worth as much. A series of interest rate cuts since last year has driven investors away from U.S. bonds and into those of countries which pay higher interest rates. When investors sell dollars to buy other currencies, the dollar drops.
Those who blame the dollar point to the steady rise in oil. A barrel costs seven times as much as it did just six years ago in 2002. Look what the dollar's done against other major currencies in the same time period. The relationship seems obvious.
So, is it demand outstripping supply? Is it excessive speculation? Is it the low dollar? Or is it all of the above? Maybe the only question you want answered is, how high will it go?
GHEIT: She's going to grow to the sky. And at the end of the day, her bubble will burst. And this is another bubble. The question is not if the bubble will burst, in my view, it's when the bubble will burst and what is going to cause the bubble to burst.
VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
T. HOLMES: And as many of you know have noticed, we're about a month away now from back to school time for kids across the country. And for the first time, many school districts might start to feel the weight of $4-a-gallon gas, but not for one district in San Antonio. They have found a way to get around that.
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow here to explain what they have come up with.
HARLOW: They are skirting the whole mess. But can you imagine? You think it costs a lot to fill up your car, imagine filling up a school bus.
T. HOLMES: A bus.
HARLOW: But a little relief today, folks. Oil down nearly $5 right now, but you never know when that can turn around. Here's what's going on.
High energy costs don't just hit us at the gas station. Local school districts, with their extensive bussing networks, are big consumers of fuel. They'll either stick taxpayers with the bill, or decide to cut back.
A large school district in San Antonio has another solution. It's the first to get buses that run completely on propane. The district had been converting diesel buses to propane for sometime, but now bus manufacturer Blue Bird is making propane-ready buses. Very cool.
The district says propane is better for the environment and it is a real energy fix.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN FOLKS, SUPERINTENDENT, NORTHSIDE IND. SCHOOL DIST.: And the end of school, we were paying about $1.73 for a gallon of propane versus almost $4 for a gallon of diesel. And with a bus, it gets about eight miles per gallon. Let me tell you, that's a tremendous cost savings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: It certainly is. The 16 new buses, T.J., will join more than 300 that have been converted from diesel to propane.
Wouldn't you like to do that with a car?
T. HOLMES: A car. But still, some of these conversions and that new technology sometimes cost money. Is this cost-effective? Is it costing a pretty penny to be converted?
HARLOW: It costs about $11,000 more.
T. HOLMES: All right.
HARLOW: These buses run about $83,000. But the district will make up some of that difference with state and federal grants, and of course they'll save a lot on fuel.
The district does expect about 3,000 more students to ride the bus to school this year, saying a lot of parents looking for any way to save on gas. They're going to stop giving their kids a ride to school. This may be your energy fix. I know it's nice to drive your son and daughter to school, but this might help them out, T.J. It might make a lot of sense when it comes down to your wallet.
T. HOLMES: Absolutely.
Sorry, kids. Take the bus.
HARLOW: I took the bus.
T. HOLMES: All right.
Well, Poppy, thank you so much for that "Energy Fix."
Gerri, I'll had it back over to you.
WILLIS: All right.
Well, we're learning more today about the financial health of some major U.S. airlines, which could, of course, affect ticket prices. We'll fill you in.
Plus, Paulson's strong remarks, T. Boone Pickens hits Capitol Hill, gas prices go down again. We have the CNN money team to break it all down for you. That's next.
This is ISSUE #1. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: John McCain speaking in Rochester, New Hampshire. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... our progress in Iraq.
Now, my friends, if we had failed in Iraq, you would have seen increased Iranian influence, you would have seen an increase in sectarian violence. We would have seen al Qaeda establishing another foothold.
And by the way, al Qaeda's on the run, but they're not defeated. And this success is fragile, and we cannot reverse it. And we cannot reverse it by doing what Senator Obama has said that he wants to do. He refuses to acknowledge the conditions on the ground.
Now, the benefits of success are very clear to me. And that is, we will have restrained Iranian influence in the region, who, by the way, is still sending the most lethal explosive devices into Iraq, killing young Americans.
We will have a stable and pro-American and pro-western government in Iraq. You will have seen -- we will see and are seeing economic, political, judicial progress in that country. Now, they have a long way to go, and it's very tough and long and hard, but we have seen the prospects of success and the enormous reduction in violence, in sectarian violence, as the government takes and maintains control of Mosul, Basra and Baghdad. So the benefits of this success are tangible, and we cannot let that all disappear by doing what Senator Obama wants to do. And this is a clear choice that the American people have.
I had the courage and the judgment to say that I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.
(APPLAUSE)
And by the way, my dear friends, the same strategy that has succeeded in Iraq will succeed in Afghanistan, as well. It's not just more troops.
Things are tough in Afghanistan, but the same strategy of clear and hold and build. But there's also other elements associated with it, including the poppy crop, including the Pakistan situation, and the situation on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
So we do need more troops there. But we also need our NATO allies and others to be of more assistance to us. And we're appreciative of their assistance, including the Canadians, including others who have been very helpful.
And by the way, Senator Obama just made his first trip to Afghanistan ever. So I hope -- I hope that he will have the courage to reverse his position. And I look forward to having town hall meetings with him -- with him. I've requested to have town hall meetings with him so that Americans can make their comments, ask their questions, and we can understand better and be a better representative to our party and our nation for having had the experience.
Now, my friends, I would like to say, again, thank you for being here. And I'd like to mention that in the audience is always -- is a wonderful organization of younger people and people who are more senior.
Is that a appropriate way of saying?
And that's Divided We Fail. This is an organization sponsored by AARP, which makes sure that we candidates are committed to fixing health care in America.
And I thank you for your involvement and your engagement.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. Thank you very much.
WILLIS: You've been watching Senator John McCain speak in New Hampshire today. He's responding to comments from Barack Obama, his opponent, talking about the successes, as he describes them, in Iraq.
We'll continue covering this as it warrants, and we'll be back right after this message.
Stay with us, ISSUE #1.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T. HOLMES: We will turn now to the mortgage meltdown.
More and more homes are just sitting empty these days. New home builders can't sell them and old homes were closed upon by troubled lenders. So, with no one to stand watch and no one to pay the alarm bill, burglaries of these vacant homes on the rise now.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has this story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Empty and boarded up, no one is supposed to be in these vacant houses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Atlanta Police.
DORNIN: When Atlanta police officers Brian Ernest (ph) and Barnett Collins (ph) get a burglary call to these houses, they know everything inside the house will be stripped, right down to what's inside the walls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every ounce of wire you could see, it's off. All the copper's completely ripped out of this entire house.
DORNIN: From Boston to Stockton, burglarized vacant homes are becoming more common as foreclosures climb and developers are unable to sell newly-built homes. Here, a stone's throw from the skyscrapers of downtown Atlanta, the all too familiar signs of the housing crisis. It's so bad here the Atlanta Police Department created a special burglary detail.
Ernest and Collins' main job is to watch over the empty homes.
BRIAN ERNEST, ATLANTA POLICE DEPT.: Especially recently it has really picked up. The neighbors have been calling and saying that they're hearing banging or they see a vehicle parked in a house that's supposed to be vacant and they're loading up the vehicle.
DORNIN: Across town, Wanda Vaughn and her mother Vera (ph) run a contracting service. They're hired to fix what has been broken and replace what has been stolen.
(on camera): How bad is it when you come upon a house like this that has been foreclosed and vacated?
WANDA VAUGHN, CONTRACTOR: You walk in and find the sheet rock has been ripped out, the hot water heaters have been stolen out for copper, the AC units are missing, and the windows are busted out, and they're doing thousands of dollars worth of damage, thousands, for just like $30 to $40 worth of copper.
DORNIN (voice-over): Rising copper prices are driving the thievery. But that's not all the burglars want. We followed Vaughn into a house where one room was nearly unrecognizable, the kitchen.
VAUGHN: They took everything.
DORNIN (on camera): So they took the stove, the cabinets, the sink.
VAUGHN: Everything including the kitchen sink.
VAUGHN (voice-over): Officers say bold is a polite word for these thieves who often march down the street in broad daylight with their booty.
BERNATT COLLINS, ATLANTA POLICE DEPT.: They have book bags full of copper, sometimes baby carriages, shopping carts, a little bit of everything. Whatever they can push, pull to get this stuff out, they use.
DORNIN: On patrol, Collins and Ernest notify the city's code enforcement when houses are vacant, the owners are ordered to board them up. But it's not always easy to figure out who exactly owns the house. And if it's repaired, the burglars often rip everything out again and again, making it less attractive for people to buy in these neighborhoods, keeping Ernest and Collins checking on houses that no one wants to call home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN: And here's an example of another one. This one is empty, it's scheduled to be auctioned off. And this is the house we've been showing you, the one that was missing even the kitchen sink. And here to tell us a little bit about it is community developer, one of the owners, Bob Forbes.
Bob, how difficult has this become on the houses that you've been buying?
BOB FORBES, COMMUNITY DEVELOPER: Well, as you can see, we put up steel covers over the doors and over the windows to stop them as best as we can. It has become a real problem because people are breaking in and the more determined they get, the harder they're going to try. We hope that this stops them.
DORNIN: Now you're trying to just get this fixed up, stop them from coming back in, and then how quickly -- you try to get somebody in and then they quit or...
FORBES: No, we're going to try to create an opportunity here for Atlanta workers, either the police force or firemen or anybody working downtown. It's a down market and we're trying to take advantage of it so people can afford to live in Atlanta.
DORNIN: Right. And the only way you can do it is to keep them out, from trashing the house, right?
FORBES: Exactly. We've got to keep it protected.
DORNIN: And, T.J., what's interesting is, they do all that, you know, it's $30 or $40 worth of copper and they're doing $15,000, $20,000 worth of damage. And this is happening in more than a 1,000 houses across Atlanta, just in the first six months of this year.
T. HOLMES: Oh, that is something else, Rusty. The whole mortgage mess leads to all kinds of other problems. Thank you so much for showing us this other issue that folks are dealing with down in Atlanta.
Thanks so much, Rusty -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Well, more trouble in the friendly skies of United Airlines. United's parent, UAL Corp., reported a loss of $2.7 billion for the second quarter. That compares with a profit of nearly $275 million a year earlier. Now a big part of the blame, you guessed it, soaring fuel costs. The company said it paid almost $2 billion for fuel, a jump of 53 percent. Another airline struggling with rising fuel prices, U.S. Airways, it reports a net loss of $101 million for the quarter. A sliver of news that's good. That was smaller than analysts expected.
Congress (INAUDIBLE) like the analyst says, the government's plan could cost you as much as $25 billion. Peter Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office also predicts there's a better than 50 percent chance the government won't have to prop up Fannie and Freddie by lending them money or buying stock. Congress is expected to vote on this week, that is, on the administration's proposals -- T.J.
T. HOLMES: All right, $25 billion to bail out Fannie and Freddie. You hear these numbers, but what do they really mean to you? Well, I can't explain it, so I'm going to bring in the CNNMoney team. Stephanie Elam, the CNN business correspondent here with us, Poppy Harlow and Paul La Monica, both covering all of these things at CNNMoney.com.
We will start with Paulson, this $25 billion bailout, as many are calling it. People out there who are watching this, who have a mortgage now, might be looking for a mortgage, tell them why it's so important that these companies, Fannie and Freddie, stay in business, and why this bailout can benefit them.
PAUL LA MONICA, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, CNNMONEY.COM: If you have a mortgage now, it's not as big of an issue. But if you're looking to buy a home, Fannie and Freddie kind of grease the wheels for the mortgage system in this country because they buy pools of loans that they can then sell as securities to banks. All that basically means is it makes it easier for banks to lend money to the average consumer by having the existence of Fannie and Freddie.
T. HOLMES: Do you think it's still not going to sit right with some folks that hear bailout and also some members of Congress? LA MONICA: Yes, yes, definitely. I mean, we've already had a lot of criticism of the quote-unquote "rescue" of Bear Stearns, which basically was the Fed helping JPMorgan Chase buy Bear Stearns at a discounted price. Fannie and Freddie though are very important companies and they do need to, probably, remain in existence and viable companies or else we could have a very drastic change in the mortgage-buying process.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: But you know, you're asking how this affects everyone. Even if you don't have a mortgage, if you don't own a house, not thinking about buying one anytime soon, this could affect you because if the government is paying for this, eventually taxpayers will be paying for this $25 billion. So it will impact people over the next two years they're saying.
HARLOW: But it's important to note that this may not happen. You know, the Congressional Budget Office says about a 50 percent chance it will happen, but 50 percent chance that it won't happen and taxpayers won't have to bear the burden at all. So keep that in mind too.
T. HOLMES: OK. So let's turn now to T. Boone, T. Boone Pickens, a big (INAUDIBLE). When he speaks, will people listen? Because he does have -- I mean, that name means a lot. And he's taking this so seriously, he's investing a lot of his own money into this. Is Congress going to listen? And are the American people starting to say, wait a minute, my -- these two candidates don't have a great idea, maybe I should be listening to this guy?
HARLOW: Right. T. Boone for president?
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: I'm not going to start anything here.
T. HOLMES: Please don't.
HARLOW: But T. Boone addressing Congress, yes, this morning, a lot of people listening, one of them, Senator Lieberman. He's all ears. He's backing the plan. T. Boone basically wants to build a whole lot more wind turbines. He wants to power a lot of our country on wind. He says we are the Saudi Arabia when it comes to wind, like Saudi is to oil. And what he wants to see is our cars run on natural gas instead of on oil-based gasoline.
It's pretty interesting, yesterday I drove a natural gas car by Honda, they are the only ones with one on the market, it has been on the market since 1998, 10 years, so this technology is there, whether we'll convert, I don't know. But that's his plan. And people are certainly listening.
T. HOLMES: All right. Well, I will turn now quickly -- we have about a minute here left. I will turn to you, Stephanie, on this one, oil, it's just dropping, isn't it?
(CROSSTALK) T. HOLMES: Plummeting.
ELAM: I went on vacation, I came back and oil was down $15.
T. HOLMES: Well, you should leave again -- no.
ELAM: I know, I am going to, actually, so we're good.
T. HOLMES: But now tell us here, is that something we're going to continue to see, and is that going to -- gasoline prices dropping...
(CROSSTALK)
ELAM: Dropping a little bit too over the last few days. Well, here's the thing, it got to that tipping point where people were like, wait a second, gas and oil, they're just going to keep going and going and going? But people's dollars, they actually have a limit. So there seems to be a fear there that the demand is going to come down because people are like, I just can't pay for that.
So that's trying to bring things down. Then we saw a little bit of a stabilization around $131 a barrel because of Dolly, which is probably going to turn into a hurricane, but looks like it's going to actually miss those rigs that are in the Gulf of Mexico. So because of that, oil was back down today.
T. HOLMES: All right. Where are we right now, around...
ELAM: Around $126 when I looked last.
T. HOLMES: One-twenty-six, my goodness.
(CROSSTALK)
T. HOLMES: All right. Well, appreciate you all, as always, the money team, who I couldn't explain any of this stuff without them, so thank you, guys so much.
Gerri, I'll hand it back over to you.
WILLIS: All right, T.J.
Well, this economy is changing the way Americans live their lives. Now find out why more and more women are choosing to stay home. And what's ISSUE #1 to the black community? And how do the presidential candidates plan to address it? We'll talk about it next on ISSUE #1.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: Chalk up another victim of the nation's slumping economy, women. A new report just out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that for the first time in decades the percentage of women at work has fallen. Women had surged into all kinds of jobs in growing numbers since the 1960s, but that stopped this decade. Women now face the same troubles as men: downturns, layoffs, outsourcing, stagnant wages, even wage cuts.
A congressional study says women are now leaving the workforce on a par with men either for good or for long stretches. The study says the result is potentially devastating for families. The reason, well, it's as simple as adding two plus two. Women bring home about one- third of the family income -- T.J.
T. HOLMES: All right. Gerri, I want to turn to some politics now. We talk a whole lot about issue #1, the economy, on this show, of course, and how it factors into this election year. But is the issue the economy, issue #1, to the black community and how do the presidential candidates plan to address this?
Well, Amy Holmes is a CNN political contributor, and an independent conservative, was a speechwriter for Republican Senator Bill Frist when he was majority leader. She has not endorsed any candidate for president. And also we Daniella Gibbs Leger, she is with the Center for American Progress, which is a non-partisan think tank.
Ladies, thank you for being here. But we're out of time since I had to do all of those introductions, I think -- no.
(LAUGHTER)
T. HOLMES: But I will start with this, we talk about what's issue #1 to the black community. But I have to ask this question first. And let's just be frank and be honest here. We have Barack Obama, who is polling about 90 percent, some even 90-plus percent with the black community, no matter what the issues are, are black Americans going to vote for Barack Obama no matter what issue we are talking about here? Does he have to do something just completely radical on these issues to lose the black vote?
Amy, I'll start with you.
AMY HOLMES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think you make a good point, but John McCain, he needs to reach out to the black community, we saw him speak in front of the NAACP. While The New York Times has him only getting 2 percent of the black, if he were to be president of the United States, he's president of all of the people. And for the sake of the Republican Party, I think they need to do a lot more to reach out to African-Americans because really there's actually a lot of overlap in terms of black public opinion and conservative positions. And I don't think the Republican Party has done enough to put those two things together.
T. HOLMES: And, Daniella, what do you think there? No matter how much -- if he reaches out -- and many people say it's great that he's doing that, but is it going to make a significant difference?
DANIELLA GIBBS LEGER, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: I don't think it'll make a significant difference unless he changes his policies. Because if you look at his economic plan, it does nothing to help middle class Americans and the majority of African-Americans are middle class. So I agree with Amy, I think it's a great thing that he went to the NAACP and Republicans need to do a much better job of reaching out to Democrats, but John McCain has a problem and the problem is what he stands for.
T. HOLMES: Well, he stands -- let's talk about now about what he does...
A. HOLMES: Well, hold on...
T. HOLMES: Hey, how are you doing?
(CROSSTALK)
A. HOLMES: Slipping in "Democrats" versus "African-Americans." African-Americans are a vote that could go Republican or Democrat depending on how talented the politician is at reaching them.
T. HOLMES: How talented that politician is. Well, as we know, the talents many have talked about, of Barack Obama. And also just let's get to the issues, aside from the talent. Let's talk about the issues here and let's talk about the health care plans. We've heard so much about Barack Obama and the universal health care.
But let's talk about John McCain. He is trying to encourage some competition out there, maybe bring some prices down and give more consumers choice.
Now, Daniella, what's wrong with that?
LEGER: Well, choice sounds good, but really what John McCain wants to do to the health care industry is what George Bush wanted to do to Social Security, he wants to privatize it. And you know, if you look at Senator Obama's plan, if you have health care under Senator Obama's plan, you like who your coverage is, you get to keep it.
But what Senator McCain wants to do is he wants to basically dismantle the employee-based health care system by taking away the tax credits that companies get for giving their employees health care coverage. And I think once people actually begin to understand that, they're going to realize that John McCain's plan is very radical.
T. HOLMES: And, Amy, a lot of people certainly will tell you that universal health care sounds great, it sounds wonderful, but is it really plausible? Can we really pull off this massive system? It would take a whole lot of money to even put the system in place.
A. HOLMES: Well, if you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it's free. And we saw that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had a very vigorous debate on this issue of whether or not Barack Obama's health care plan really does provide universal coverage. And what John McCain is proposing is that for those people who could be getting their health care in the private markets, that they should have more ability to do so with tax refunds for them to be able to cover their health care -- or rather tax credit for their health care.
And also to have more selection, more portability, because, T.J., most people don't have the same job for their entire lives. They're moving from job to job and there can also be time in between jobs where you should be able to keep your health care. So John McCain's plan is to allow -- to put the power in the hands of the individual to get the health care that's best for their situation and their family.
T. HOLMES: Let's turn to the other now that certainly is going to be a big issue to all Americans, really, certainly in the black community as well, education. Now, Senator John McCain -- I mean, both of these gentlemen, both candidates, I'll start with you here, Amy.
Both of these candidates certainly have talked about the No Child Left Behind Act. But they certainly differ. We've got some issues here of charter schools and vouchers. And you know what? Either one of you. I'll open it up, who has a better plan here?
LEGER: Well, if I can go first, I would argue that Senator Obama has the better plan here. Senator McCain follows a long tradition of Republicans when talking to the African-American community, saying vouchers is the way to go. I do think that there is some support among the African-American community for vouchers and charter schools.
But really what they want, and what all Americans want is to fix the public school system. That is where the majority of students in this country go to school. And instead of taking resources out of the public school system, they should be focusing on ways to make it better.
T. HOLMES: So, Amy, does McCain need to stop talking about vouchers here?
A. HOLMES: Well, Democrats would like him to and teachers unions would like him to. But in fact, the African-American community here in D.C. is lining up to get those vouchers. Our public schools have been failing our minority children for decades. And we hear the same talk, the same rhetoric, the same spiel, and meanwhile, test scores are at record bottom lows, particularly for kids in inner cities and in the urban community.
And vouchers, charter schools, it does have support among Democrats. The D.C. voucher bill, that passed with Democratic support. Charter schools, they were supported in the Clinton administration. So this is less a partisan issue than I think one that is driven by teachers unions and not putting the interests of children and their parents and their education first.
T. HOLMES: All right. Well, certainly, a lot of these issues are issues to the black community. They also should be issues to the entire American public. Amy Holmes and Daniella Gibbs Leger, thank you all both for being here. I won't get into both of your titles again, it would take just too long.
But thank you both so much for being here.
And what does it exactly mean to be "Black in America" today? CNN, we invite you to share your stories and reactions to our special television and online event, "Black in America," that is on Wednesday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, then join the discussion at ireport.com -- Gerri.
WILLIS: We look forward to that.
A massive recall of pacifiers, we'll have the latest details for you. And the help desk is standing by to answer your money questions. Send us your e-mails. You still have time, the address, issue1@cnn.com. You're watching ISSUE #1.
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T. HOLMES: Taking you back now live to Rochester, New Hampshire where we heard Senator John McCain in a town hall speaking about Iraq. Now he's taking a few questions. We want to listen in for a moment.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MCCAIN: ... The federal government is going to have to make a significant investment. But I believe we can bring down the costs of health care and keep inflation under control by taking a series of steps, and that will free up this money so that we can provide health insurance and health care to every single American because that's our obligation as a government.
And I thank you, I thank you for your comment.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: And I'll be glad -- I'll be glad to send her additional information if she needs it and tell her God bless.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: Senator, welcome back to New Hampshire, as always. We love you here and I'm sure I speak on behalf of my friend Brad, it has been an honor to work for your campaign, sir.
MCCAIN: I'm grateful.
QUESTION: A two-pronged question. First of all, in reading your books, one of the things I learned about you about you among your many enduring qualities, was your capacity to forgive. And I want to know if you've forgiven Mitt Romney?
And my second question...
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: My second question is just a single word with a question mark, Russia?
MCCAIN: Well, first of all, Mitt has been of tremendous help to my campaign. He has been on television, he does a better job for me than he did for himself, I told him. He has been great. He and the entire Romney family -- he and the entire Romney family have been wonderful. His wife Ann, as you know, is a woman of enormous courage. And we're very grateful. And I'm grateful. Our party is united now. We've got a lot of energizing work to do. But we are united.
I'm very concerned about Russia. I'm very concerned that just recently because the Czechs agreed with us on a missile defense system that they cut the gas supplies, the oil supplies to the Republic of Czechoslovakia -- excuse me, the Czech Republic. I used to call it and -- the Czech Republic, as you know, has been a very staunch ally and friend.
And as you know, the Czech Republic and Slovakia split years ago, and from time to time some of us misstate and Czechoslovakia, when the fact is, it's the Czech Republic. And so they are staunch allies and so the Russians in response to their agreement on missile defense, the Czechs have had their oil supplies reduced.
And that's not the way we expect Russia to behave. They're putting enormous pressures on Georgia. They have not agreed with us and helped us in trying to restrain the Iranian progress towards the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
So the Russian behavior is more and more autocratic, and the internal stifling of dissent is of grave concern. And by the way, our friends the Czechs have been our friends for a long time. They were behind the Iron Curtain, as you know. And both the Czech Republic and Slovakia have been good friends of ours since they split.
So we need to make sure that we can help them and particularly point out that the Russian behavior of basically blackmailing their neighbors is not something that's acceptable in the world today.
So I worry about Russia, I don't think there's going to be a return to the Cold War. That's not what I'm talking about. But Russian behavior becomes less and less in the interests of us throughout the world, frankly, than we had hoped and anticipated when the Berlin Wall came down. So that's basically the way that I feel.
Yes, ma'am? Here's the microphone.
QUESTION: Thank you. Senator, we entered the Iraq War illegally, immorally, and against international law. According to a poll in The Washington Post in May of this year, 81 percent of U.S. voters believe our country is on the wrong track. A majority of Americans support a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. And now the prime minister of Iraq, in response to pressure from the Iraqi people, is also calling for a timeline for withdrawal.
Given the $720 million a day we're spending in Iraq, the fact that neither Americans nor Iraqis support the occupation, that our presence there is, in fact, inflaming the Muslim world and creating more terrorists that our money, our, our tax dollars...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: Now, now, one at a -- wait, wait, please. One of the fundamental -- please, please, sir.
QUESTION: Don't I have a right to speak? MCCAIN: Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. That's what I'm trying to ensure right now.
QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.
MCCAIN: Please, could we all be respectful of everybody's point of view? And that's the important thing about a town hall meeting.
Please go ahead. Thank you, go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
QUESTION: Thank you.
As I said, our tax dollars are needed here for health care, quality education, infrastructure repairs, and real energy alternatives to combat real climate change. Isn't it time to end the occupation, Senator?
MCCAIN: Thank you very much, and you obviously represent a -- the views of many Americans and I respect those views. When I took the position that we needed to have 30,000 additional troops over there, those numbers were a lot worse than the ones you cite, because my first obligation is my country, not my political ambitions. That's my first obligation.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: And I tell you -- and I tell you I respect your view. And I respect the fact that you would come here and state your view because I think that's the important way we should have this discussion in America. And I thank you for that. It's far better, frankly, than some of the...
T. HOLMES: All right. Listening in to Senator John McCain there in Rochester, New Hampshire. Taking a question there about the Iraq War and saying that -- in fact, a lady there at that town hall meeting bringing her point of view directly to him and he appreciated that and he is now answering that question. Certainly we'll keep an eye on that town hall meeting and bring you anymore news that comes out of it.
But a massive recall to tell you about on a product that a lot of babies use. We'll have the latest details for you and results of today's quick vote (INAUDIBLE) issue -- ISSUE #1, right? Is that right?
It's ISSUE #1.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T. HOLMES: Again, this is ISSUE #1 right? All right.
This is our Quick Vote question today, asking people what they think about the whole drilling in ANWR. You see there, the results on your screen -- 42 percent think that it might be a step forward. So that was the majority of the people who voted. We appreciate all of you and your quick votes.
But a recall alert to tell you about here. The Consumer Products Safety Commission recalling 115,000 binkies. These are It's My Binkies, personalized pacifiers you see there because of a choking hazard. That's the last thing you want in a binky. The recalled items have JAPLO imprinted on the front of the pacifier shield at the bottom center. They were sold at Nordstrom and baby boutique retail stores nationwide from February 2006 through June of this year. They are also available, or were available, on line at www.itsmybinky.com.
So, the last thing you want in a binky is a choking hazard.
WILLIS: Yes, get rid of those for sure.
All right. Well time now to get you up to speed on other stories that are making headlines.
"CNN NEWSROOM" with Don Lemon and Kyra Phillips starts right now.
