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American Morning
Postponing the Presidential Debates?; First Lady Draws Fire for Palin Remarks; T. Boone Pickens Interview
Aired September 25, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a minute-and-a-half after the top of the hour, and here are this morning's top stories.
Developing this morning, more fallout from the financial crisis, one that could affect your job. Two giants of American industry including General Motors and Caterpillar are having -- are starting rather, to feel the fallout of the credit squeeze. That means that they are having difficulty funding day-to-day operations as access to credit chokes up in the latest crisis.
Meantime, there is word of a possible breakthrough at a plan to fix the worse financial disaster in decades. Congressional leaders have scheduled a meeting early this morning to draft a bill that is good for both sides. In a prime time address last night, President Bush asked for quick action on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout warning that the economy is in danger of slipping into a panic.
Barack Obama and John McCain heading to the White House today. They accepted the president's invitation to talk about the nation's financial crisis. Right now, they do agree on one thing. They say the current plan is flawed. And President Bush warned that we are running out of time.
CNN's Elaine Quijano live for us at the White House this morning.
Elaine, very, very stark language from the president last night. Uncharacteristically so, when talking about the markets. But one has to wonder if there is a potential deal here in Congress that they're going to start writing up as a piece of legislation today. What's this meeting going to do?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a good question. We'll wait to see. Obviously, a lot of fast-moving developments overnight or last night, I should say, as we were all waiting, you know, for the excerpts to come out. They never did.
But President Bush in his speech to the nation essentially was trying cut through all of the fancy economic speak and boil down why he thinks Americans should get behind his plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): Warning of a financial doomsday unless government intervenes --
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold.
QUIJANO: President Bush sounded the economic alarm. Laying out his case for a $700 billion bailout plan personalizing it for Americans.
G. BUSH: More banks could fail including some in your community. The stock market would drop even more which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet.
QUIJANO: The president framed a proposal as a national rescue plan for all Americans.
G. BUSH: Even if you have good credit history, it would be more difficult for you to get the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college. And ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession.
QUIJANO: And he defended the plan as a necessary step in extraordinary times.
G. BUSH: My natural instinct is to oppose government intervention. But these are not normal circumstances. The market is not functioning properly.
QUIJANO: Also unprecedented, the meeting the president called of both presidential candidates and congressional leaders of both parties.
G. BUSH: There is a spirit of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans, and between Congress and this administration. In that spirit, I've invited Senators McCain and Obama to join congressional leaders of both parties at the White House tomorrow to help speed our discussions toward a bipartisan bill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: And that meeting takes place this afternoon in the Cabinet Room here at the White House. A lot hanging in the balance, as you know, John, alluding to it there. Not just the economy but also the election -- John.
ROBERTS: And I would say also the investment of millions -- investment dollars of millions of Americans as well.
Elaine Quijano for us at the White House. Elaine, thanks so much.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, John McCain says that he will not be at tomorrow night's presidential debate if Congress doesn't have a bill by then. But Barack Obama says precisely because of the financial crisis, the debate is more important than ever.
Suzanne Malveaux joins us now live from the site of tomorrow's would be debate -- Oxford, Mississippi.
Hi, Suzanne. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
I spoke with the spokesman at Obama's campaign this morning who says that the plan is Obama is going to show up here tomorrow. That he's going to participate in this debate. Whether or not McCain shows up is a whole another story.
All of this, Kiran, as you know, comes as a day of high drama yesterday. The political stakes very high for both of these candidates. Barack Obama early in the day reached out to John McCain talking about the possibility of a joint statement about this bailout plan. Obama then says that McCain got back to him later in the afternoon and went a step further suggesting that they suspend their campaigns, that they delay the debate. And at least according to Obama's side, he said, well, let's let our staff get back to you on that. So let's just first put out the joint statement.
Well, it was just moments after that phone call, McCain issued a public challenge to Obama. Here's how it played out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Kiran, really the only thing that they agree on now is that it is a mess, that it's a flawed plan. That they're going to be both appearing with the president and congressional leaders in Washington to try to hash all of this out. But it really is a political gamble here.
Who comes out on top? We don't know. What happens tomorrow? We still don't know. This is all going to play out perhaps later in the afternoon, even early evening to see if they come up with a deal -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And, Suzanne, you said you spoke with the Obama camp and they told you that they are going to show, their candidate is going to show. What form would the debate take, I guess you could say, if it's only one guy there?
MALVEAUX: There's no way to even know how that could possibly even happen at this point if John McCain just doesn't participate or doesn't show up. At that point, you have to take a look. At least the debate commission would have to take a look at postponing or canceling it or moving it or something like that.
But I tell you, people here in Oxford, Mississippi, are very nervous about that possibility. They said there's $5 million invested in this debate happening tomorrow. So when you talk about a financial crisis, there are people here who are looking and saying, we're going to lose a lot of money if this doesn't happen tomorrow -- Kiran.
CHETRY: No doubt. All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning. Thank you.
Meanwhile, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' corruption trial starts today. Opening statements are set to get underway. The trial is a potential political liability for Governor Sarah Palin who Stevens helped in her political rise. She has not publicly backed him during his troubles. Stevens is charged with lying on Senate financial forms, about more than a quarter million dollars in home renovations, and other gifts he received from a powerful oil contractor.
ROBERTS: Coming up now on eight minutes after the hour. Of course, one of the big questions in this economic bailout is, where does the rubber meet the road in terms of how the financial crisis affects every day Americans?
Ali Velshi monitoring some news this morning among some companies that actually put a lot of rubber on the road.
Hey, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We have news both from General Motors and from Caterpillar about how this credit could start to affect American companies that employ so many of you out there. I'm going to bring you details about that when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're following breaking news this morning. Both presidential candidates are going to be at the White House later on today, the day after President Bush painted a dark picture of our economic future. His big address to the nation last night had a much different tone than his past few statements on the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
G. BUSH: Ours is a belief that one, we shouldn't bail out lenders. And so, we shouldn't be using taxpayers' money and say, OK, you made a lousy loan therefore we're going to subsidize you.
This economy rests in the hands of the American people not in the halls of our government.
Our financial institutions are strong and that our capital markets are functioning efficiently and effectively.
We can have confidence in the long-term foundation of our economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: So there it is. The president saying that taxpayers should not bail out banks. Now he's saying it's urgent that we do exactly the opposite. And saying that if we don't, we could send the financial markets into a panic.
CHETRY: Yes. A very different President Bush last night in that address.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: And you know, the other interesting thing as Ali Velshi joins us now, is he really seemed to be trying to explain the nuts and bolts of how we got into this. Do you think the average person was understanding exactly what was going on? Or is it still too hard to sort of grasp?
VELSHI: I think it's closer. First of all, the fact that we call it a Wall Street bailout makes most people who are watching say, what does it have to do with me if I'm not connected to the financial market?
Let me tell you a couple of places in which it has something to do with you. And I don't mean to overstate this or cause any sort of panic here but there are two companies that have, that will have need for capital. One of them was Caterpillar.
Caterpillar is a safe, stable, good, old company that shouldn't have trouble raising money. It raise...
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) machines it makes.
VELSHI: It really is. Now, they are the first company to have to go and raise money since this bailout was announced. And they raised money two days ago at a rate of six and seven percent in two different groupings. That's almost double what they would have paid prior to this crisis. So when a big company like that has trouble raising money, well, they sometimes need to raise short-term money in order to meet operating expenses. And some of those operating expenses not in Caterpillar's case, but in other companies' case, could be payroll. So that's one way that it affects you.
The other one is General Motors, which we all know is not a company that is in financial, great financial health. General Motors had a credit line. It has had that for several months. Earlier this week, it exhausted its credit line. It took out the last $3.5 billion, which means their credit card is maxed out.
Again, they have not failed to make any payments. But if something were to go wrong and though they weren't be able to get enough money in, what would they have to do? Might they have to close a plant? Might they have to lay people off on a short term?
So again, be careful when we think about this as only a Wall Street bailout. It means that money is not flowing to companies that might need it, and some of those companies might be your employers.
ROBERTS: You know, they've also gone to the government for $25 billion share of it, anyway.
VELSHI: Right. That's right. So, again, that may not be that problem but it's just to give you an example that there are companies that do use money. This is not Wall Street acquiring banks all over the place.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: These are real companies.
CHETRY: My other question, though, is they said that the language, just calling it a bailout in and of itself is not necessarily that accurate. And there's talk on Capitol Hill about maybe making an incentive for taxpayers. Meaning, that if they were able to make a profit off of these...
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: ... off of these securities that they have now acquired...
VELSHI: Could be an investment.
CHETRY: Right. Would we all see dividends?
VELSHI: Yes. And in part of what the Democrats are asking for is that like the Resolution Trust Corporation, after the savings and loan crisis, we actually buy a good piece of the companies that we're bailing out so that we get a piece of the good action and the bad action. The bad action could actually pay off in several years. The good action could pay off sooner than that. So, there are ways to make this possibly profitable for the taxpayer.
ROBERTS: The problem is, though, how do you value these illiquid assets?
VELSHI: That is exactly the problem. How much of a discount do you pay for them so that you know you're going to make some money?
Look, there will be some bad investments that the government makes. That's the way it goes. But are there going to be some that we can actually make some money off? There is a possibility that could happen.
CHETRY: All right. A lot to chew over this morning. We'll get some more of it. Thanks, Ali.
Well, the East Coast is getting ready for possible flooding even hurricane force winds. A storm that came as a total surprise. Well, probably not a surprise to our Rob Marciano who is warning us that there was something brewing in the Atlantic.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. Yes, and it's still brewing. Here it is. It's going to hit the Carolinas. And then we got something else that's brewing. Actually, they're going to combine forces.
It's been a while since the tropical storm or hurricane hit the northeast. That's a distinct possibility. We'll talk about it when the "Most News in the Morning" comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Lovely picture this morning of downtown Chicago. The sun not quite coming up, but will very soon. It's about 66 degrees and clear right now. It's going up to a high of 80 degrees. Brilliant sunshine there in Illinois. So, a beautiful time to be in the Windy City.
However, if you're on the Atlantic seaboard, it's going to be windy all right but not exactly a beautiful time. Our Rob Marciano here at the weather forecast.
Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Hi, John.
Yes, it's already been windy there, and we're watching the combination of things. This system just north of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico getting its act together. May very well combine or at least interact with this system which has already brought winds over 50 miles an hour to the North Carolina coastline. And it is tapping the warm waters of the gulf stream. It's starting to become a little bit more tropical. Either way you slice it, it is going to bring wind and rain to the coastline of the Carolinas.
All right. These are spaghetti models here. All these lines represent what the computers think these two storms are going to do. Obviously, one storm comes up towards the northeast. And another storm, the one near the Carolina coastline, actually swings to the northeast as well. So that kind of one-two punch regardless of any sort of direct hit towards the New York City area, which really isn't going to happen, the combination of these two storms is going to create some headaches beginning tonight and lasting right through Saturday.
So travelers beware. The New York City metropolitan airports, D.C., through Boston and Philly, as well, it's going to be a bit of a headache beginning as early as this evening and certainly peaking tomorrow and tomorrow night.
Sixty-six in New York for a high today. It will be 66 and breezy in D.C. There's your 80 in Chicago, 89 degrees in Dallas, 77 Atlanta, and 73 in San Francisco.
John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: I like those spaghetti models, Rob. You got it for follow (ph) models or something like that that we can look at? MARCIANO: Yes. We will try to get a penny (ph) one for you.
ROBERTS: ALL RIGHT. Appreciate it. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
CHETRY: President in crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A look at how leaders past and present have calmed our nerves in troubling times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
G. BUSH: The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, presidents who seize the moment in times of crisis go down in history. And in recent events, the ones that are happening with the market are reminding us of the commander in chief's central role at times not only as leader but as healer.
CNN's Frank Sesno joins us live from Washington.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
You know, words we heard last night were unbelievable from the president. Our entire economy is in danger. America is in danger of slipping into a financial panic. No doubt this is an iconic moment in this presidency.
The headlines show it today. "Washington Post", "Bush calls bailout vital to the economy," across the headlines. It's times like these that define a presidency both in what they say and in how they say it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROOSEVELT: That the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
SESNO (voice-over): A president said that to reassure and to explain a fireside chat presidency to bring frightened Americans through an economic meltdown when so many lost so much. Presidents have to deal with crises, talk us through them. Sometimes they connect and rally us, sometimes they don't.
Gas lines and stagflation were among Jimmy Carter's crises. He tried to use Roosevelt's fireplace. It didn't work. When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, Ronald Reagan became healer in chief. From the Oval Office, he said, "We'll keep going and we'll never forget those astronauts as they waved goodbye --"
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.
SESNO: This president had more than his share of crises to confront and communicate after 9/11 when he went to Ground Zero.
G. BUSH: And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.
SESNO: After Hurricane Katrina when he went to New Orleans.
G. BUSH: And this great city will rise again.
SESNO: Today, his handling of both Iraq and New Orleans are judged harshly. Neither war has been won. Both have been far more costly than imagined. His job approval numbers are dismal.
As the financial system nearly collapsed, the president kept a lower profile, was slower out of the gate. At first, just a statement in the Rose Garden.
G. BUSH: This is no time for partisanship. We must join to move urgently needed legislation as quickly as possible.
SESNO: Not likely to reassure a jumpy public or be remembered as soaring politics or prose.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESNO: Kiran, how the president leads now is going to contribute in large measure to his legacy later on. There's not a great reservoir of support for him or confidence in his job rating. But this has happened on his watch. He's still president. He's still expected to lead. And as Harry Truman once said, sort of, the bucks, all $700 billion of them stop there.
CHETRY: Very true. Frank Sesno for us this morning from Washington. Thank you.
SESNO: Sure. Thanks.
ROBERTS: One on one with the first lady.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Sarah Palin has now emerged as the choice. Do you have as much confidence in her? (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Laura Bush in a candid conversation about Sarah Palin's foreign policy credentials?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She doesn't have that. That's not been her role.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I'll suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I've spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision, and I've asked him to join me.
OBAMA: Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time. It's not necessary for us to think that we can only do one thing and suspend everything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
John McCain suspending his campaign to deal with the current financial crisis. He is back in Washington today. Arrives about 11:00 at National Airport for a meeting with President Bush and Barack Obama on the proposed bailout. Both of them will be there this afternoon.
Joining me now to talk more about this and where we go from here, Republican strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins and Democratic strategist Lisa Caputo.
Good morning to both of you.
LISA CAPUTO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
ROBERTS: So, you know, people were arguing whether it's a good idea for them to even come back to Washington. That argument would seem to be rendered moot because when the president calls, they come.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, the bottom line is, this is not a meeting where the negotiations are going to get done on the bill. I mean, it's sort of one of these feel good, if you can feel good about this crisis, all come together and go off and march together.
The difficulty here, McCain has made a very bold move. But he's now in charge of it. He now has taken from Bush the responsibility of getting Republicans in line. He made it very clear that he thought this bill was dead, and he's going to go save it. Now, getting Republicans in line is not going to be easy.
ROBERTS: Lisa, does it do either one of them any good to be there in Washington? Neither one of them is on the Banking Committee. They're not involved in the negotiations here, and it does bring presidential politics into the middle of this?
CAPUTO: Well, of course, it does. But it's important that they both look presidential. And we're only 40 some days out from Election Day and it's important that they look like they're being part of the solution.
I will say this. It's very clear to me that John McCain has thrown somewhat of a Hail Mary pass in the fourth quarter. And I say that because if you look at recent polls, ABC News, "Washington Post" poll, has Barack Obama ahead significantly on who do you trust most to handle economic issues. Only nine percent of the American public believe the economy is in good shape.
You heard the president last night use the word "panic." That's severe. And I think clearly McCain is trying to do a game changer here because he's behind.
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, Ed, Barney Frank has had some pretty charged language about this whole thing. In regard to Hail Mary passes, he said John McCain coming back is the biggest Hail Mary in the history of footballs and Marys. He also said last night after President Bush's speech that I thought we're trying to rescue the economy not the McCain campaign. He said, also said, "I don't see that this gives us any advantage unless Sarah Palin comes and helps us with the tough econometric questions." I mean, is that necessary?
ROLLINS: Barney can be pretty partisan. And I think to a certain extent, this is his first run on the big time. I mean, he's been chairman of the committee for a long time and probably should have hearings three or four months ago on this, but he didn't. I think the reality is the chance of getting this to be bipartisan with the presidential candidates and I totally agree with Lisa that they should be there, to try to make it bipartisan is going to be more difficult not (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: What about this idea of suspending the debate? Obviously, there are some people who think that, yes, it might be a good idea that John McCain shows himself to be presidential. Other people are saying they remember Tonya Harding putting her skate up like this and say my lace is loose. I can't go through with this right now.
ROLLINS: Well, one of them has to back off. They both have drawn a line in the sand. And I'm sure the president of the University of Mississippi has got $5 million invested. He's hoping that McCain comes through and shows up on Friday night. I don't know where to play, John.
CAPUTO: I have to tell you, I mean, if you saw the Sarah Palin interview last night on a competing network, boy oh, boy that was not you know her finest hour. She could not point to one economic regulation that Senator McCain has advocated for.
Instead, at the conclusion of the interview, well let me check I'm sure there's a list and I'll get back to you. So I would imagine this is a twofer for the McCain campaign. Not only are they trying to change the game on the economic issue which I think is a long battle for them, but also they want to delay putting Sarah Palin into a debate situation with Joe Biden.
ROBERTS: Yes, but they are not talking about delaying her debate.
CAPUTO: They are. They are going to delay the presidential debate until next week and then that would push the V.P. debate.
ROLLINS: No matter what occurs, they're going to talk about this economy, even if it's a foreign policy debate, the international arena, foreign policy will be the critical thing here. McCain allegedly has the knowledge level there, more than Obama. We'll see.
CAPUTO: But economic security relates to national security.
ROBERTS: Ed Rollins, Lisa Caputo we got to go. Thanks very much. We'll send it back to Kiran. I think I pulled a hamstring.
CAPUTO: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, one minute after 7:30 right now -- 7:31. A look at the top stories. Barack Obama and John McCain heading to the White House. They accepted the President's invitation to talk about the nation's financial crisis. Both candidates say the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout has its flaws.
Well gas lines are getting even longer in the southeast and now there's word that U.S. gasoline inventories are the lowest since 1967. The Bush administration is still resisting calls to request emergency supplies from Europe. Hurricane Ike caused the recent shortage when it shut down or damaged more than a dozen Gulf Coast refineries.
And seemingly out of nowhere, a tropical threat forming off the Atlantic coast that could hit the Carolinas. Forecasters say it could be strong enough to be named, a named storm today. Either way this storm could soak parts of the coast all the way up to New York. Our Rob Marciano is following that for us.
Meantime, First Lady Laura Bush may be in hot water with some Republicans this morning. Mrs. Bush made some very candid comments about Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin in an interview with our own Zain Verjee. And Zain joins me now with more on exactly what the First Lady said.
Hi, there.
VERJEE: Hi there, Kiran. Well, you know, the thoughts really running out on the Bush administration and one woman who has become a Washington insider over the past seven years, Laura Bush admits that she's changed. Now Mrs. Bush talked to me about a Washington outsider, and the question of Sarah Palin's experience.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: I spoke to you a while back, and you said at the time that Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State --
L. BUSH: Was my choice -
VERJEE: Was your choice for the female ticket, the vice presidential ticket.
L. BUSH: Or on the presidential ticket.
VERJEE: Exactly. Or on the presidential ticket. Sarah Palin is now, emerged as the choice.
L. BUSH: Right.
VERJEE: Do you have as much confidence in her as you did then?
L. BUSH: I have a lot of confidence in Sarah Palin. She's got a lot of really good common sense. And I think that's very important. She also has executive experience from being a governor and a mayor and I'm thrilled to have the chance to vote for Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket.
VERJEE: But do you think she has the kind of foreign policy experience?
L. BUSH: Well, obviously, of course she doesn't have that. She had, you know, that's not been her role. But I think she is a very quick study. And fortunately, John McCain does have that sort of experience.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Mrs. Bush added too that she feels there's a little bit of sexism going on with all the criticism about Palin. She said as well that Sarah Palin is plenty tough and would bring a whole new perspective to Washington. And Kiran, the First Lady really does continue at the same time to champion causes that are close to her heart like promoting global literacy as well as putting pressure on the regime in Burma.
CHETRY: What has she said about that? Because it has been a long time cause for her.
VERJEE: Right. It's something that's been really close to her heart. What she's saying is that international pressure needs to be stepped up on the really brutal oppressive military junta that controls Burma and has imprisoned the anti-democracy leader, Aung Sung Suu Kyi who put her under house arrest for so long. She wants India and China specifically to step up because they are the ones that prop up the regime. They have a lot of economic ties and wants sanctions or any kind of economic pressure to squeeze them.
CHETRY: All right. Good job speaking with the First Lady.
Zain, good to see you. Thanks.
ROBERTS: 35-and-a-half minutes now after the hour. Ali Velshi working the CNN "AM" blog this morning, answering questions and a lot of them coming over the transit this morning -- Ali.
VELSHI: Yes. Hundreds and hundreds of questions coming in. Some of them excellent. Some of them just people sort of venting and frustrated about this what they are calling this Wall Street bailout plan. I'm going to have questions and answers for you when we come back on AMERICAN MORNING. And if you want to pose some more questions, go to CNN.com/am.
We're coming right back after this break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back.
Well, what a bombshell in the political world yesterday after John McCain made the announcement that he was going to suspend his campaign for president, not running any ads and not campaigning out in the U.S. anywhere as he wants to wait until this financial bailout or some sort of agreement can be made in the halls of Congress on this bailout plan. In fact, here's what he said yesterday as he talked about suspending his campaign to try to deal with economic issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I'm directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign, and the Commission on Presidential Debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So what does the Obama campaign think of delaying Friday's debate. Joining me now is Robert Gibbs. He's senior adviser to Barack Obama's campaign and joins me live in Washington this morning.
Robert, good to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
ROBERT GIBBS, SENIOR ADVISER OBAMA CAMPAIGN: Good morning. How are you?
CHETRY: Great. So we hear at least Suzanne Malveaux is reporting that your campaign is saying that Barack Obama is going to go ahead with showing up in Mississippi and going ahead with this debate. How is that going to work if John McCain doesn't show up? GIBBS: Well, look, we got a presidential debate scheduled. We got a stage. We'll have an audience. My guess is we'll have a moderator and at least one of the presidential candidate. You know, what could be a more important topic for the American people to hear about than the global economic crisis in a debate where the questions are supposed to be about global affairs.
You know in 40 days one of these presidential candidates is going to be the president elect of the United States of America. They are going to inherit this amazing financial mess and have to put together a plan for getting our economy turn around again and making it strong.
CHETRY: Right. So if they're going to inherit that financial mess, shouldn't they have some role in shaping the conversation among their colleagues in the Senate?
GIBBS: Well, look, Barack Obama already has. Last Friday he walked out after speaking with his economic advisers and said that there were several principles in the Treasury proposal that he thought that needed to be improved. We couldn't give a $700 billion blank check to one person. There had to be transparency and oversight into how any of these financial transactions would be conducted. We had to have something for homeowners here on Main Street.
And most importantly we couldn't give big CEO bonuses to the very same people that got us into this mess as part of this financial package. Most of that has actually taken place and has been added to this agreement thus far and improved the agreement. So we're more than happy to lend our leadership to this agreement and to others. But, you know, look, presidents have to do more than one thing at a time.
CHETRY: Right.
GIBBS: I don't think there's any doubt that we can talk about this. We're going to be at the White House today to again lend our leadership to this problem. But, you know, I don't see any reason why Friday night at 9:00 p.m. and we couldn't also discuss in front of the American people the solution that we see going forward. You know, this is a short-term financial package. But we've also got long-term systemic problems. We got to figure out how to make sure that the regulation that was torn down and put the speculators in charge is put back up. So that this kind of thing never happens again.
CHETRY: Robert, let me just ask you on practical terms. There's a lot of preparation that goes into getting ready for these debates, right? You guys have run throughs with the candidates. I mean this is a very time consuming thing as well. At the same time you have the president of the United States coming out on national television with an address last night saying this has to happen sooner rather than later, somebody has to make a call.
GIBBS: Right.
CHETRY: And so as those two huge things converge is there harm playing devil's advocate in let's say moving the debate a couple of days and trying to make sure this bill gets shepherded through?
GIBBS: Look, I don't think - I think we can do both of these things at the same time. The next president is going to face multiple crises on the same day. But look we're making progress. We're happy to be at the White House. You know, John McCain a week ago said the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
CHETRY: Right.
GIBBS: A week later he suspended his campaign because the economy is in such a mess. We're glad he got briefed on the fact that people are hurting in America. And we're more than happy -
CHETRY: No, he said - you guys hammered this over and over. He said he was talking about the American worker. He stood to clarify. But I want to ask you because he said -
GIBBS: Kiran, he said it 16 times this summer. He said he meant the American worker the last time. I'll let the American people be the judge of whether John McCain believes this economy was fundamentally strong just a week ago.
CHETRY: All right. So, you guys are going to be showing up. You guys will be at that debate whether it's a debate or whether Barack Obama just gets to answer questions, right? You're going to be there.
GIBBS: Look, Senator Obama is going to be at the White House this afternoon to lend his leadership and then late tomorrow night he'll be in Mississippi ready to discuss the global financial crisis with John McCain because one of these two is going to be the next president of the United States of America.
CHETRY: All right. Robert Gibbs, great to see you. Thanks for being with us.
GIBBS: Thanks for having me.
ROBERTS: Breaking down the bailout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be a difficult, ugly time.
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ROBERTS: A look at what $700 billion can buy and what we could face without it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of getting our $100 out of the bank, it gives us a notice that says temporarily unavailable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 15 minutes now to the top of the hour. Ali Velshi has been blogging all morning on the "AM" web page, answering your questions about the bailout this morning. We're getting hundreds of great questions. A lot of people just venting as well. Ali joins us now with all that.
Good morning, Ali.
VELSHI: There is a lot of venting, John. And I appreciate that.
We're trying as much as possible this morning to answer questions that are going to help you make some decisions. But there's one major theme running through all of this, Steve from Oregon exemplifies this where he says "I understand that this is serious but I can't see this affecting everyone that quickly. My question is how imperative is it to have this whole bailout package in place by Friday."
I don't know if we're going to have it in place by Friday. But let me just explain to people who are complaining about Wall Street bailouts. This is not about suits on Wall Street making their salaries or getting their salary check. This is about moneys financial institutions that loan money to your bank so that you can get a loan or you can buy a car or you can get a mortgage, or you can get a credit card. It's also financial institutions that arrange financing for your own companies, the ones that you work for.
So please, either we agree or disagree with this, understand this Wall Street bailout is a misnomer. This is our financial system that's freezing up. Rick in Ohio says "who owns the bulk of the shares of Lehman Brothers that we're about to bailout. Is it a little guy like me or someone who stands to lose millions or billions?"
Again, another thing that we have to understand, Lehman Brothers is not being bailed out by the tax system. Lehman Brothers did not get sold. It had declared bankruptcy. Much of it was sold to Barclays. There is no taxpayer money involved in Lehman Brothers. So there is taxpayer money involved in Bear Stearns, in AIG and in other companies that might fail but Lehman Brothers isn't one of them.
Great questions, keep them coming at CNN.com/am.
ROBERTS: The problem is getting to them all this morning. Ali, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: And here's a look at what we're working on for you a little later this morning. Don't cry for him but Texas oil man, T. Boone Pickens may have lost nearly $300 billion. All right. What's a few billion among the billionaire. $300 million in all this turmoil in the market. We're going to hear what he thinks about the president's dire warnings for the economy if the bailout fails to pass.
And a bailout summit. Barack Obama and John McCain off the campaign trail at the White House meeting with President Bush. So what does this meeting mean for the economics and the election?
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Here's a breakthrough this morning on a plan to fix the worse financial disaster in decades. President Bush now calling on Congress to act quickly to avoid a long recession. And then there are those warning that it could be ugly either way. Allan Chernoff joins us now with more perspective on this.
Hi, Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
You know, for $700 billion, you would think that we would have assurance of economic recovery here, but unfortunately that's not the way things work. Let's think of this $700 billion as very expensive grease to keep the economic wheels turning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Can $700 billion buy good health for the economy? Unlikely, say some economists, who warned we're headed for trouble even with a bailout.
DONALD STRASZHEIM, VICE CHAIRMAN ROTH CAPITAL PARTNERS: This is going to be a difficult, ugly time. The difference is whether it's going to be a difficult, ugly time with this rescue package or whether it becomes dramatically worse without a package like this.
CHERNOFF: The point of bailing out banks is to restore confidence, the trust bankers and investors need to lend money, they lost it last week. Lending activity froze, virtually stopping the wheels of capitalism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The risk is you and I go to the ATM machine at our local bank and instead of getting our $100 out of the bank, it gives us a notice that says "temporarily unavailable."
CHERNOFF: Even if Congress were to approve a bailout today, it will take time to get the program going and rebuild confidence. Banks that sell their bad mortgage investments to the Treasury will have to take losses, which could make them even more cautious to lend new money.
And the bailout doesn't directly address what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says is the root cause of our crisis - the housing market collapse.
NARIMAN BEHRAVESH, CHIEF ECONOMIST, GLOBAL INSIGHT: The housing recession is the worst since the Great Depression. There's no debate about that part of it. It's a horrible housing recession.
HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: We must address this underlying problem and restore confidence in our financial markets and financial institutions so that they can perform their mission of supporting future prosperity and growth.
CHERNOFF: The best-case scenario, Secretary Paulson says, is that housing bottoms out in a matter of months. But he needs bank lending to recover much more quickly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: On top of the eye popping cost of this bailout, Paulson and also the Fed chief Ben Bernanke have been having some trouble selling the bailout because it's not apparent to many Americans that we're facing an imminent collapse here. Companies have still been operating, we haven't had bankruptcies left and right, but they fear that certainly could happen if we do get a real lending freeze that sticks for a number of weeks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. It doesn't seem good either way you slice it.
Allan Chernoff for us this morning, thank you.
Like a deck of cards --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
G. BUSH: Our entire economy is in danger.
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CHETRY: You think the crisis crippled your 401(k)? T. Boone Pickens just lost $1 billion. The billionaire, the bailout, the legendary oilman is here, live.
And she's here. She's there. But why won't Governor Palin talk to reporters?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have never seen a presidential or vice presidential nominee in my lifetime be so inaccessible to the national media.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Snubbed by Sarah.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
G. BUSH: The government's top economic experts warn that without immediate action by Congress America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: President Bush last night in a prime-time address talking about the stark realities facing the economy. Well, you hear about the rich getting richer. That has not happened to T. Boone Pickens. In recent weeks, the Texas oil billionaire may have lost a large fortune as part of the market meltdown. What does it mean for his clean energy crusade. T. Boone Pickens joins us now.
Good morning to you.
T. BOONE PICKENS, TEXAS OIL AND GAS EXECUTIVE: Good morning.
ROBERTS: By some estimates, your energy fund lost $1 billion. Personally you may have lost almost $300 million. A lot of people say, well T. Boone Pickens got a lot of money but by some accounts, that's 10 percent of your net worth. That's a real hit.
PICKENS: That's a good hit. That's right.
ROBERTS: What happened?
PICKENS: I turned the wrong direction, is what it was. You know, win some and lose some. Some are rained out. You know, you wish this one was rained out, but it wasn't.
ROBERTS: I'm sure that you saw the President's address last night or at the very least you heard about it. What did you think about what he said about the potential panic in the markets. That's not language that presidents usually use when they talk about the economy.
PICKENS: I can tell you that I think that was a good observation on his part. That can very well happen. We need to get this over with, is what we need to do.
ROBERTS: And how do question get it over with?
PICKERS: I think you've got a bipartisan situation here. I think they better pull up the table and take off the Democrat and Republican hats and go to work and turn it over to our leadership, Hank Paulson's the guy. And he's the quarterback, that's who you're going to go with. There's no other one.
ROBERTS: What do you think about this $700 billion plan? At least what you heard of it. The Treasury Department wants all the money up front. Congress wants to put some safeguards on it, some oversight. They want to make sure that there's protection for taxpayers. They want to limit executive compensation. Are you on board with all that?
PICKENS: Oh, I'm ready to go. I'd turn it - I'd give Paulson the money and tell him to get it fixed.
ROBERTS: right. You believe that his plan will work?
PICKENS: I do. I think it will work, yes. But I think it needs to work quickly. I think you've got to move on with it. And I liked Warren Buffett's play into Goldman Sachs. That showed -
ROBERTS: $5 billion the other day.
PICKENS: That's right. That showed good confidence and all. So those are - that's another leadership opportunity.
ROBERTS: In fact, you have said, Boone, that you would like to see Warren Buffett handle a lot of these ill liquid assets that the government buys up in terms of their dispersement.
PICKENS: Can you imagine anybody better? Sure, that'd be great if he'd do it. I don't know whether he would, or not. But you need to get somebody like Warren to do it.
ROBERTS: You don't think they have the expertise at the Treasury Department to do it?
PICKENS: Oh, day do have. They may need some help. And that kind of help, is you know, you can't pay for that kind of help.
ROBERTS: Let me turn to the energy issue. Because you've got some windmills behind your head there. And we've talked about your plan to wean America off of foreign oil, use natural gas, you know, get wind power going. You're also and correct me if I'm wrong, but you're also going to be launching another series of ads here encouraging the presidential candidates to come forward with the plan to wean energy - wean America off its dependence on foreign energy. Don't they already have a plan?
PICKENS: No. Neither one of them have a plan. The plan I want is to reduce imports of foreign oil. And we can do that one way. Natural gas is a resource we have in America. It is cleaner, it's cheaper, it's abundant, and it's ours. So every gallon of natural gas you put in a tank, you will reduce foreign oil by one gallon. So it's a 1 to 1 trade-off every time. We could reduce foreign oil by 30 percent. I think we could do it in five to ten years.
ROBERTS: So what you've heard from them so far doesn't go far enough down the road.
PICKENS: No.
ROBERTS: But also at the same time, Boone, you are heavily invested in natural gas and there are some people out there who say, you're just promoting your business here.
PICKENS: Well, actually, John, I don't have any natural gas production to speak of. I mean, it's small. It's very small. Now, when I was with Mesa, Mesa was a big natural gas producer. But Boone Pickens is not a big natural gas producer. But I am in natural gas fueling on the west coast. But all of that, every time you use a domestic fuel, you reduce foreign oil. It's that simple. And we can do it because - and this is cheaper. Can you imagine, cheaper, cleaner, abundant and ours. You couldn't pick a better description of what you want to use.
ROBERTS: A lot of people certainly do like your plan. Boone, it's good to see you again. Thanks for coming in this morning.
PICKENS: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: We'll see you again soon.
