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Bush to Speak about Global Economy; Grim News on Economic Front; Jonestown Survivor Remembers Tragedy

Aired November 13, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST (voice-over): More lost jobs. More lost homes. More grim predictions of the same. Is more help from Washington the answer?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm afraid if we don't answer the question very soon, when does this stop? That it's going to stop when we run out of money.

WHITFIELD: The party never stops on Wall Street, but the fun sure does. This bash is serious business, and a pink slip is your invitation.

LESLIE WILSON, SURVIVOR OF JONESTOWN: We did not have a clue as to if we're going to make it to the next town, if we're going to live, if we're going to die. But we knew that we to leave.

WHITFIELD: Thirty years after Jonestown, one of the very few survivors remembers the nightmare and her harrowing escape. Our Soledad O'Brien previews a primetime "CNN PRESENTS."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Kyra Phillips is off today. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we start with issue No. 1 and the crisis on Main Street. Not since the aftermath of 9/11 have so many Americans applied for unemployment benefits, in a single week, in the latest official marker of this very morbid economy. Take a look.

The Labor Department says 516,000 of us filed first-time job-loss claims just last week alone. That's a jump of 32,000 from the week before, and a lot more than economists actually expected.

And the losses don't end there. The firm Reality Track, well, they report more than 84,000 homes were lost to foreclosure last month alone. Foreclosure proceedings got under way for almost 280,000 homes, a 5 percent jump from the month before. By year's end, one out of three properties for sale in America is expected to be a repo.

In the midst of these very dismal numbers, some dismal words from a big-city mayor. Just listen to Richard Daley of Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD DALEY, MAYOR OF CHICAGO: Huge layoffs are coming in November and December of next year. There's going to be huge layoffs, and all the corporation CEOs are coming to tell me, that's just the beginning. It's not their end result. This is a very -- this is a very frightening economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: It is frightening indeed. The crisis on Main Street is the subject of a presidential speech scheduled for this hour from Wall Street. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins me nor from the White House with a preview.

What do we expect?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, today's speech is not really to respond to any of the latest economic news like the jobless numbers, like the changing of financial rescue plans or even the current crisis on the part of U.S. automakers. The White House didn't release a transcript of what the president will say in advance. And it really reads more like a preview of the remarks he's going to be making this weekend at the international economic summit here in Washington to some 19 world leaders.

And in those remarks, the president is going to say that the U.S. and other countries are, quote, "taking the right steps to resolve the crisis" and that they are working. But he'll say, quote, "It will require more time for these improvements to fully take hold, and there will be more difficult days ahead."

In the speech the president will also call for some changes. Things like improving accounting rules for securities, improving rules government market manipulation and fraud, also better coordinating laws and regulations between countries. At the same time the president will say, quote, "Government intervention is not a cure- all."

And he'll insist that as world leaders come together and try to come up with some remedies for the current global financial crisis, that they basically mend it but don't end it so that they preserve the free-market system. He'll say, quote, "The crisis was not a failure of the free market system, and the answer is not to try and re-invent that system."

So no new initiatives today. No new announcements regarding ways to really tackle the global financial crisis. But the president really looking where it came from, insisting the U.S. isn't to blame and calling for all the countries of the world, really, to come together to resolve this and to prevent something like this from happening in the future -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Kathleen, you mentioned, you said government intervention will not be a cure-all. At least that's what he is expected to say sometime this hour. Does he also make any direct mention of the U.S. automakers? KOCH: No direct mention whatsoever of the U.S. automakers, Fredricka, but in speaking with a White House staffer earlier about whether this speech could change, could he bring that up? Could he bring up the jobless numbers, the very dismal numbers that came up this morning. And the aide pointed out, well, yes, he's the president. He can certainly add something in if he chooses. So we'll just have to listen when he speaks in just under an hour.

WHITFIELD: All right. Of course, we're going to be carrying that live. Thanks so much. Kathleen Koch from the White House there.

So once again, the president's address is set for 1:55 p.m. Eastern Time. You can see it live right here on CNN, from start to finish.

All right. Back to issue No. 1. It also tops the agenda on Capitol Hill, where top banking executives are promising they won't misuse money from the massive government bailout. They're telling the Senate Banking Committee today that the funds won't go toward executive bonuses or toward buying other banks. You're looking at live pictures of it taking place right now.

But lawmakers remain pretty skeptical.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D-CT), BANKING CHAIRMAN: Lenders who receive public funds should use though funds to lend. Many are failing to do that. CEOs have been directly quoted as saying they intend to use public dollars to acquire other financial firms and widen their capital cushion.

Let me say as clearly as I can this morning: hoarding capital, acquiring healthy banks, are not -- indeed not -- reasons why Congress authorized $700 billion in emergency funding. The core purpose of this law, and the purpose of virtually every other action taken during this crisis, is to get lenders back into the business of lending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Also today a House committee is looking into the role hedge funds played in the current financial mess. The funds make speculative, often risky bets on the market and often fall outside government supervision.

All right. Investors have a whole lot to digest today after a stomach-churning three days on Wall Street. Let's check in on the markets with our chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi -- Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, just move on to the next story. It will just be easier for everybody.

WHITFIELD: I know. No good news for me.

VELSHI: Yes. And I will one day, but look at that market. The bottom corner of your screen is the Dow. It's down 311 points. And I'm often one to say don't pay attention to that. We often talk about it, because it's a scoreboard and it's available. But in this particular instance, it is simply a measure of everything else that we are feeling.

You mentioned at the top of the hour, we have jobs, the weekly jobless claims, the worst we've seen in seven years. And when you actually, you know, you peel away the onion a little bit, it's even worse than that on some measures. But 516,000 new people lined up last week for unemployment benefits. And that is -- that is really indicative of the situation we've got. We have continued layoffs going on. We have a tough earnings picture.

And we -- you know, we've got this congressional committee meeting in Washington. We've got these hearings where they're saying, where is this money? Where is this $700 billion? Is it being lent out to people? Why are we not seeing it on the ground yet? So that -- the Dow right today is a -- sort of a thermometer of what's going on.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ali, thanks so much. We'll check back with you. Appreciate it.

VELSHI: OK.

WHITFIELD: Even if it is grim news. That we expect.

Well, after days of heavy rain -- not in the form of this dismal economic picture, but literally rain -- a dangerous situation in the Pacific Northwest. Rescue crews were called out as floodwaters swamped homes and covered roads and highways in Western Washington state. With flood crests still moving downstream, flood warnings are in place for about a half dozen rivers in the region.

And check out this dramatic scene in Oregon. Rescuers pulling seven people, including this young child, from a swollen river. They were in two vehicles that plunged into the water after a bridge simply washed out. Our Chad Myers is keeping track of what's happening right now. Pretty frightening moments there.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And I think you said it best a little bit earlier, Fred, when you said, it's not over. The water is still going downhill, still going downstream. So this bubble of flooding has not affected everybody yet, until it gets out into the Pacific Ocean.

Right now the rain is over. OK, some showers, and a little bit of snow in the mountains. Snow doesn't run off. And the showers really don't cause any more problems.

But the problem is, we have over five inches in many areas. And I'm suspecting in areas that are uphill from these cities, probably had ten inches of rainfall in the mountains. This was not a snowmaker. It would have been great if this was five feet of snow, because it would be slow to run off. Five inches of rain, eight inches of rain all running off, all at the same time. This has been a wet area for the past couple of weeks anyway. Rain showers, you saw Kathleen Koch in the rain there, Washington, D.C. There's the showers there. Not that far out to the west, though. If you can get, yes, about to Charlottesville, already the rain is stopping. All of Balfour (ph), Reston, as well. And then down to the south we are seeing the rain showers down to about Charlotte and Columbia.

Only two significant airport delays right now. That's Newark and Philadelphia. Hour and a half, and two hours. That's simply because the water is there, the clouds are there. The separation of the airplanes has to be a little bit farther. They have to allow a bigger separation between planes as they land and as they take off, because you don't have that much visibility. You can't see that plane once it gets up there into the sky above you. So that's why they do that. That's why they keep these planes farther and farther away from each other. Just a little bit, but enough to kind of keep things on the way, to be a little bit separated and a little bit slower.

Here's your D.C. forecast. You're headed there for the weekend. Showers Saturday. But pretty good for Sunday and into Monday.

And don't forget, we're going to head back out to L.A. Our Ted Rowlands is out here. And we're going to take you out and up-to-date you here on what's going on with the simulated 7.8 earthquake drill. So no earthquake out there, but they did have a little bit of a shaker earlier. They had a 1.4 earthquake east of L.A. But this is the drill that they did about nine minutes ago.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and folks there -- folks there very used to the real thing. But every now and then, it's good to get a little primmer on what to do, just in case.

MYERS: You've got 100,000 people or more moving into the valley every year that haven't experienced one. This is the best way to experience it.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Thanks so much. Very smart move. Chad, appreciate it.

All right. Remembering a tragedy. Thirty years later, survivors of the Jonestown massacre recalled that very horrific day back in 1978. We've got an exclusive interview with a woman who escaped the mass murder/suicide with her 3-year-old son.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Next week marks 30 years since the mass murder/suicides at Jonestown. More than 900 people died in the jungles of Guyana.

Well, a young mom named Leslie Wilson was very nearly one of them. Just hours before, she and a small group had fled the Jim Jones compound. Soledad O'Brien has her story in this piece from tonight's "CNN PRESENTS" documentary, "Escape from Jonestown."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leslie Wilson was waiting for the first chance to run away.

WILSON: I remember going to the kitchen and grabbing a butcher knife and sticking it down in the front of my pants.

O'BRIEN: A small group of black members hoped to walk out that morning to go on a picnic, so they said.

WILSON: And so to say I was panicked is, I was horrified. I was so, so scared.

O'BRIEN: Nine of them left. These five adults, plus three young daughters in one family, and Leslie's 3-year-old son.

WILSON: And I started carrying him tied to a sheet on my back.

O'BRIEN: They heard a truck approaching as they reached the thick jungle near the entrance to the compound.

WILSON: We dove in, and hid the kids. Diane, who worked in the pharmacy had made -- this is so ironic -- a cocktail of valium and Kool-Aid for the children to keep them calm.

O'BRIEN: The truck passed. Leslie's group found the railroad tracks nearby that led to another town almost 30 miles away.

WILSON: We did not have a clue as to if we're going to make it to the next town, if we're going to live, if we 're going to die. But we knew that we had to leave.

O'BRIEN: That railroad is now gone, ripped up, the jungle reclaiming the route. All that remains is this railway bridge, which Leslie remembers with dread.

WILSON: I recall a bridge. I have a horrible fear of heights, horrible, and there was an area that we had to cross, and I just had to get on my hands and knees and cross it. Because I just -- I couldn't stood up. I just couldn't.

O'BRIEN: Look closely and you'll understand her fears. You can see straight through the railroad ties to the river below.

(on camera) How difficult was the walk carrying a child on your back, three other little kids?

WILSON: It was a tough walk, but then, too, it was a freedom walk. It was a walk to freedom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Soledad O'Brien joining us now from New York.

So Soledad, how difficult was it to get her to participate, to recall these very tough memories? O'BRIEN: You know, I think to a large degree, when 30 years has passed, you get to the point where people really are willing to share their stories and have gotten past some of the shame and some of the horror and want to kind of remember a little bit, especially as, you know, she really was interested for her son. You know, kind of recounting history.

We had one survivor who asked us, "Can I come -- if you go to Guyana, may I come back to you? My mother died." Her mother died. Her name was Tracy Parks. Her mother died on the tarmac. She was shot when Jim Jones' gunmen opened fire on Congressman Leo Ryan and the NBC crew that was shooting the whole thing. Her mother was also killed.

And she went back to remember her mother, and also to go and see for herself that, in fact, there was nothing left there at Jonestown. That sort of the evil that the Jim Jones embodied was no longer alive.

WHITFIELD: Did she or even others reveal what attracted them to Reverend Jones in the first place?

O'BRIEN: Yes, you know, that is kind of the $64,000 question. I think it's the thing that makes us really interested in cults. I mean, how could it be that a mother would take the life of her child, because some moms just said, "Now's the time to be brave and kill yourselves."

And I think it's a combination of two things. One the people would describe him as absolutely mesmerizing. He just had them. He was a church leader. They believed them. He told them he was God, and people believed that.

And also Guyana was to represent this utopia. This place, this paradise where you could -- black people and white people could live together with equality and harmony, and work the fields and be away from all the entrenched problems of the United States.

When they actually got to the Jonestown settlement, Jerry Parks, one of the other survivors, said, "You know, I noticed the armed gunmen at the front of the settlement, the entrance." And he said, "Why do need armed gunman at the entrance to paradise?" And at that point it was very clear to him that he had made a terrible mistake in bringing his family, a terrible mistake.

WHITFIELD: And no way of turning back.

O'BRIEN: Yes. And they took your passport and they worked you in the fields 12 hours a day, whether you were a child or you were a senior citizen. There was no way out.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Fascinating story, even 30 years later. Even much more so, in fact. All right, Soledad, thanks so much.

The untold story of these survivors 30 years after the massacre. "CNN PRESENTS: Escape from Jonestown" tonight, 9 p.m. Eastern. You don't want to miss that. Well, meet the $6 million man. NBA star Alonzo Mourning has scored that much money for children's charity. Sorry about that. Wrong video. He's got a new book, and he's live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, this year has been a historic one for women. Hillary Clinton put up a strong fight against Barack Obama during the Democratic primary and Sarah Palin was on the Republican ticket. But has the gender gap narrowed?

Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with some interesting details on a very interesting twist. At the same time not so interesting numbers we're seeing at the bottom of our screen, the Dow down 200 points. Very close to that 8,000 mark. Not good.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not good, Fred. We actually slipped below that 8,000 mark.

But first, let's actually take a look at these Wall Street numbers first. Because the Dow did make that dip below 8,000. Right now it's at 8,075. But this comes as jobless claims soared to a seven-year high, and Intel and Wal-Mart cut their earnings forecasts. So take a look at where the Dow is today. You can see it's factoring in. It's off 2.5 percent, NASDAQ off 3 percent. If the Dow closes at this level, it will be the lowest in 5 1/2 years. So obviously, no one wants to see that happen.

Now, moving on to this report on the gender gap. The good news is that it's getting smaller. But according to a survey from the World Economic Forum, Norway, Finland and Sweden have made the biggest strides in closing the gap between men and women. The U.S. is further down at No. 27 out of 130 countries. Now, the study looks at the progress nations make in the areas of health, education, jobs and politics -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: So why is the U.S. not up there?

WHITFIELD: Well, if you take a look at education, for example. We actually rank No. 1 there, with more women receiving education than men. The U.S. is also above the global average in health and economics. We have more professional working women than anywhere else, but there's still a significant wage gap. And the U.S. isn't doing as well as others when it comes to closing it.

And despite the advancements that we see made by Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, our weakest area happens to be politics. Women are still an overwhelming minority in government jobs.

So it is an interesting study.

WHITFIELD: Yes. That's the quandary. That study needs to find out the "why" part. Why it's not happening.

ELAM: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Of course, we're not going to be happy with the answer, though, when they figure that out.

All right. Thanks so much, Stephanie. Appreciate it.

ELAM: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Of course we're continuing to watch the economy, and what the president has to say about it. He'll be speaking from Federal Hall on Wall Street at 1:55, less than 30 minutes from now. Actually, it's more like about 30 minutes from now. Isn't it? You can see it right here live in the NEWSROOM.

If you're looking for a job in the Obama administration, get ready for some pretty tough questions. We'll tell you about a job questionnaire that asks about everything, including your Facebook site and whether you own a gun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is 27 minutes after the hour. And here are some of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The economy may be issue No. 1, but President Bush says faith is what keeps him going. Ahead of his Wall Street speech this hour, Mr. Bush addressing the U.N. Conference on Religious Tolerance.

Another 84,000 homes have been lost to foreclosure. By the end of this year, the firm Reality Track expects one in three properties for sale in America will be a repo.

And will you be prepared when the bottom falls out? You will if you're taking part in the great Southern California shakeout, an earthquake drill on a sweeping scale. We'll take you so close, that you can actually feel it.

Little by little, job by job, the process of building a White House staff, a cabinet, a new administration, is being done behind closed doors in Chicago.

Today we're hearing, though not officially, that Al Gore's chief of staff when Al Gore was vice president will return to that post for Joe Biden. His name is Ron Klain.

So that leaves, by rough count, 8,000 positions to fill. And while the Obama team wants to move fast, it doesn't like surprises. Here now is our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack Obama made history, but as he puts together his cabinet, he doesn't want to repeat it.

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I want to meet with all deliberate haste, but I want to emphasize deliberate as well as haste.

CROWLEY: What is deliberate haste? This moment, said one Obama aide, the definition is, not this week.

It looks more like deliberate than haste, in part because the president-elect wants a clear runway taking off January 20, nothing messy. No drama Obama. That is, no Zoe Bairds, Bill Clinton's first choice for attorney general. No Kimba Woods, his second choice for the same job, both jettisoned for different reasons. And no Linda Chavezes. President Bush's top choice for labor secretary, she went down in flames over an undocumented immigrant who lived in her house.

It is history not to repeat, no mis-picks to send a fumbling first impression or taking up valuable time in the first all-important 100 days when new presidents began to brand their era.

OBAMA: I think it's very important in all these key positions, both on the economic team and the national security team to -- to get it right and not to be so rushed that you end up making mistakes.

CROWLEY: Another part of the deliberate side of deliberate haste, the Obama team sees the cabinet as an ensemble cast. And though it sounds like kindergarten to the top adviser, but you need people that can work together, not a collection of individuals.

Historical reference, 2001. George Bush taps Colin Powell at secretary of state and Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Their disagreements were the stuff of headlines. But holed up in Chicago transition headquarters, the President-elect is most concerned about this -- and this -- and this.

A close adviser noted the selection of the Treasury secretary nominee will send unbelievable signals throughout the economy. Others defend secretary of state and the national security team will send signals across the world. It is crucial they get it right.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So are you intrigued? Perhaps you want a place in the new administration? Well, if so, prepare to bear your soul. A lengthy questionnaire covers everything from an applicant's family to Facebook pages. CNN's Ed Henry joins us now from Chicago.

So, Ed, they not only want to know what you bring, but who you are and every meaning of those words. So, the questionnaire has some interesting things. For one, will asks briefly describe the most controversial matters which you have been involved in throughout your career.

Is this typical?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. I mean, I think that what we're hearing is that this is maybe a little more extensive than previous administration. But every administration has had some sort of questionnaire that they basically -- the point is they don't want surprises.

You don't want to name someone as your secretary of Treasury and then three days later turn on CNN and find out that that person was the, you know, a defendant in a sexual harassment suit when they were working in a Wall Street firm. You want to get everything on table. And find out, look, there may be something controversial. It wouldn't just be a sexual harassment suit, as an example. It could be some controversial writings. You know, if you were going to be the attorney general and you've had some controversial views about immigration policy or some other policy, they want everything on the table.

And obviously with search engines now, the transition team can go and look back and get all kinds of information about people. But as you said, there are thousands and thousands of jobs and only a few hundred employees sorting through all this. So, they need to get as much honesty from the individual perspective nominee as possible. And of course they may still find a surprise later. But the point is, they want to get everything they can on the table -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I'm reading this questionnaire. And other things, they want to know about e-mail, they want to know about speeches you may have made. They even want to know about your tax obligations over the past five years? Or last three years, rather?

HENRY: Well, look. They want to get every detail that they can. You know, obviously, they want to know who you're associating yourself with. What has the focus of your career been?

They're looking at -- they want to get want to get your resume for the last several years because they want to make sure someone didn't pad their resume, that something didn't change. That at one point in their career, maybe they were touting that they were a graduate of Harvard and it turns out they really weren't.

I mean, there have been so many embarrassments for Democratic and Republican administrations, that the last thing the Obama team wants is some massive surprise. You want to hit the ground running. And as Candy was reporting, you don't want a distraction. That's the point here -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: But, at the same time they're also asking for the applicant's honesty. SO, while you're answering all of these questions. They even ask about your diary and the contents of any information you may have in your diary that could potentially be embarrassing, they're hoping that you're going to answer these honestly, without bringing forth this kind of evidence, right?

I mean, you certainly don't have to submit your diary, in other words?

HENRY: Well, certainly. And there's always, as well, for high- profile nominees a separate FBI background search and background check once you're named to a high post. And you're right. There again, your veracity is on the line. It's dependent largely on that person being honest. But obviously, if you are not honest and then the administration does some digging later you're going to have a serious problem, because you've then embarrassed the President-elect and you're very likely to lose that job -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's going to take you a couple days to fill out this questionnaire and it's probably going to take a few days more for the person to read through it all as well.

It's going to be painstaking no matter how you look at it, Ed.

HENRY: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. From Chicago, appreciate it.

HENRY: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well, the Republican Party, well, they're doing a lot of soul searching after that pretty big Election Day loss. A key question for GOP governors holding their annual meeting in Florida. And you see right there, Sarah Palin among them. Where does the party go from here?

The party's defeated vice presidential candidate. Well, she spoke about that today, in fact. Alaska Governor Palin says the Republicans must address issues that Americans really care about, such as health care and the economy. And she had this to say about the party's defeat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), ALASKA: For us it was not our time. It was not our moment. But it is our country and the winner will be our president. And I wish Barack Obama well, as the 44th president of the United States. And if he governs with the skill and the grace and the greatness of which he is capable, we're going to be just fine. And as he prepares to fill the office of Washington and Lincoln, know that this is a shining moment in American history. Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Palin is making it clear that she wants to play a role in shaping the Republican Party's future. And she's not ruling out a run for the White House in 2012.

Nine days after his loss to Barack Obama, John McCain is back on the campaign trail. Sort of. He's in Georgia today, trying to help senator Saxby Chambliss hold onto his seat in a run-off election. CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us now from the site of today's rally, right outside of Atlanta.

Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, when the race is this close, you really want to call in the star power. And of course, that's what the incumbent Republican did. Saxby Chambliss and John McCain will be here, appearing before a number of V.I.P. dignitaries. The governor of Georgia will also be here. The secretary of state. A number of folks, of course, wanting to see if Saxby Chambliss is, of course, re-elected. And it is a squeaker.

In fact, the secretary of state still has not officially certified the election. Here it takes 50 percent, plus one in order to be a winner. And both candidates are already heading into a run- off as if they're fighting for their lives, really.

Jim Martin, the Democrat, of course, saying that he's going to be opening 25 campaign offices that have sort of been donated by the Obama campaign. He says there's going to be at least 100 Obama workers from other states who are going to come here. Really, amassing the ground troops in this battle.

Now, if the word is right now, nobody knows whether the big star, Barack Obama, the President-elect, is going to come here and stump for Jim Martin. But certainly Chambliss feels he scored a victory somewhat, being able to convince John McCain to come here and stump for him. And it's a little bit ironic because in the 2002 election, Chambliss had a campaign ad that really slammed his opponent.

Well, his opponent was a Vietnam War vet who had lost three limbs. He was a triple amputee and John McCain did not take kindly to that. And he ended up rebuking Chambliss after that campaign. So it's interesting to now see, he's here, fighting with the party, trying to get Chambliss re-elected -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rusty Dornin, thanks so much. Just outside of Atlanta.

Well, talk about star power. You can't get more brilliant than this guy. Alonzo Mourning. Of course you know him by NBA fame. But you know what? That's just the beginning. Meet the new $6 million man. That's how much he has scored for children's charities. Alonzo Mourning, live in the NEWSROOM next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Financial markets, down, unemployment going up. People are simply struggling to pay the bills. And charities are struggling to get donations. So, how do you get through these kinds of tough times? Well, my next guest has written a book about overcoming just about everything. It's called "Resilience: Faith, Focus, Triumph."

NBA all-star Alonzo Mourning has had to rely on his faith and focus to get himself through a tough childhood and life threatening kidney disease, at the peak of his career. And by the way, part of the proceeds from his book will go to kidney transplant programs. And that's just one of the charities that he's involved with. Alonzo Mourning joining me now from New York.

Good to see you.

ALONZO MOURNING, NBA ALLSTAR: Good to see you, too. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Well, you are involved in so much and you know, when you talk about these charities, there are many of them. You try to make sure that you're helping to beef up prospects of children's education, of health, of self-esteem. And at the same time, you're relying on a lot of donations from people to be very generous, to help you keep it going with these tough economic times.

Are you worried that you're not going to be able to kind of, meet the mark, as you usually do?

MOURNING: Well, if you do things with the right intentions, everything falls into place. And I feel like that without the contributions of other people, I wouldn't be here today. You wouldn't be here today without the contributions of others. You know?

So I created this foundation 12 years ago to try to provide educational opportunities for young kids to succeed. Which is one of the biggest challenges that our young kids face, from an educational perspective.

WHITFIELD: Are you concerned, though, because tough times are hitting so many in so many different ways? Losing jobs, unemployment rate is very high right now. People just simply don't have deep pockets to give?

What will you do in these tough times to kind of make up for donations that might be down this year?

MOURNING: Well, I'm very concerned. But, at the same time, I'll continue to solicit our efforts. I think people want to see young people do well. And I know that so many corporations continue to make it a vested interest in providing opportunities for young people.

So you're going to get turned away, but I can't give up continually trying to solicit the help we need to help young people to succeed. Again, I would not be here without the contributions of others, so I'll continue my efforts. And my staff is amazing and I have a lot of people that sit on my board that help with the fight to try to battle illiteracy and a lot of other obstacles that young people deal with.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about some of those obstacles. As a foster kid, by the way, by choice, you chose to be a foster kid. You've got to explain that. But, that maybe is in part why you have this connection with a lot of young kids to want to make sure that they get some support along the way.

MOURNING: Well, growing up I lived through difficult times with my family, personally. And like many families in the world today, you have different issues that you are dealing with. But I had to make a decision based on the separation of my mother and father whether or not I wanted to live with either my mom or dad. And I loved them dearly and I hated to be in a position to choose which side I wanted to be on. So I elected not to live with neither one of my parents at the age of 12 years old. And the courts placed me in the foster care system. And then I fell into the hands of a Ms. Fannie Thread (ph), who is an angelic woman who fostered over 49 kids in other lifetime.

And she planned so many positive seeds in my life, understanding the importance of faith and giving and putting an extreme emphasis on education s being a retired schoolteacher. So, all of those particular influences that she placed in my life. And at the same time, I kept in close contact with my biological parents. I loved them dearly. I still speak to them on a regular basis. So I realized the importance of giving.

WHITFIELD: So you talk about all of these peaks and valleys in your book. We mentioned proceeds going towards kidney transplant programs. And at the peak of your career, you're dealing with kidney transplant issues of your own.

How are you feeling these days? And I know you're out because of injury from last year's season. Health wise, where are you?

MOURNING: Well, I feel great. My body chemistries are where they need to be. My kidney is functioning extremely well. And just fortunate enough, I had somebody in my family to give me the gift of life. And that's through organ donation.

And by transplantation, I was able to get back out on the court and play the game that I know and love and I've been able to -- it's amazing how I've been able to touch more lives off the court than I have on the court, you know, throughout my overall experiences.

And this is why I wrote "Resilience." This is why I wrote my memoir because I wanted to embody my life's experiences on paper and share with the world and inspire them to encourage people to never give up and to give them a blueprint to overcoming different adversities and obstacles they may be dealing with in life.

WHITFIELD: Well, you really do epitomize triumph. Alonzo Mourning, "Resilience: Faith, Focus and Triumph," is the book.

We appreciate your time, thanks so much.

MOURNING: Thank you, Fredericka. I appreciate it. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Millions of people are hitting the deck this hour for the Great Southern California Shakeout, meant to be the biggest earthquake disaster drill in U.S. history. Live pictures right now. Those kids seem to be having fun. But, it is serious business.

Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Shaken, not stirred. You're looking at pictures right now of a drill. The Great Southern California Shakeout. Well, the name sounds fun. But, you can see these images hearken back to serious days. Well, it's actual lay very serious coordinated effort to make sure that everybody is prepared in the event of earthquakes there in California.

(WEATHER REPORT)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Basically, five-plus million people in California, are taking part in this. As you mentioned, the largest disaster drill in American history. And the reason is because of this prediction. That there's a very good percentage chance, 46 percent, in the next 30 years that a 7.5 or stronger's going to hit.

And as you mentioned, they're concentrating on the San Andreas. These kids have been going into an earthquake simulator. They've had it at about a 5.0. I'm going to get in it right now and we're going to crank it up to along 8.0. And one of those things that emergency operations folks all practice and what the organizers of this event are trying to have people stop and think is, getting your own homes and your spaces secure. Because when we start this thing up you're going to see that stuff is going to go flying, especially in a major earthquake. And people need to have their dressers strapped down, their furniture strapped down because that is a huge source of injury in a major earthquake.

Let's start this thing up. This going to be an 8.0 earthquake, what it would feel like. And watch the shelves, up on the shelves, just instantly comes flying off, as you see. And they are predicting, seismologists that there's a chance that a 7.5 could last between three and four minutes. And I can tell you, after three or four seconds you realize that the (INAUDIBLE) better be pretty secure if it's going to hold because that is quite a shake. And you saw all of those things falling down.

So, the goal today in California, is for everybody to take a few minutes, prepare themselves for what they would do in the event of an earthquake. Because, of course, it is a no warning event. It could happen just like that.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Ted, thank you.

I don't know. Was anybody else -- Fred, were you doing this when he was doing that, too?

WHITFIELD: Yes. I was.

MYERS: I know I was standing so maybe I had a different sensation. But, that was kind of --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And I was thinking, gosh Ted, that's pretty good. You're able to keep talking like that?

MYERS: He did a very good job, didn't he?

WHITFIELD: That was control.

MYERS: All right, Fred.

Good job, Ted.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much.

All right. Well, hanging out in a bar gets a whole new meaning. Instead of looking for love, some are just looking for a job.

Plus, live pictures right now of Federal Hall where the president will be addressing folks right there. He is going to be talking about the economy right from Wall Street. That takes place 1:55, roughly five minutes from now. We will of course take you there live right here in the NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: Another sign of the tough economic times. It is a party that you didn't really want to be invited to. Wall Street cast offs looking to get picked up in a bar. We will explain.

CNN's Richard Roth.

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RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Normally, a long line outside a New York bar means a hot party happening inside. But this was the shindig you really didn't want to be on the list for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been laid off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got laid off a couple of weeks ago. I had been working at Lehman Brothers.

ROTH: It was called the Wall Street pink slip party.

RACHEL PINE, PARTY ORGANIZER: Tonight's event is about putting Wall Streeters who were laid off or looking together with recruiters and HR people who have jobs, while we raise money for the Ronald McDonald House of New York.

ROTH: Good charity, but some of the newly unemployed may have to start eating more at McDonald's. Business recruiters who attended say it is tough out there.

PETER HUMPHREY, RECRUITER: Anybody who is involved in the bond market knows that this is, you know, 100-year storm.

ROTH: As the recruiters mingled with job seekers, what is your sign was replaced by how's my resume.

JANINE KELLY, RECRUITER: There's a lot of people out of work, and I think that people have to reinvent themselves.

ROTH: Striking out in a bar can be doubly tough in this economy.

WENDELL BERRY, LAID-OFF WORKER: I don't expect to find a real job here, but just to put my name out, get my face in front of people. And -- because that is the hardest thing.

ROTH: The only person getting good job tips, the bartender.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've gotten a tip on, I think, every drink so far. So I can't really complain.

ROTH: Some people get desperate at parties, these guests were desperate before they arrived.

Mike Najarian has a wife and two children.

MIKE NAJARIAN, LAID-OFF WORKER: If I don't find something by the end of '08, there is a good chance I'm going to have to pack up my family and sell the homestead and move on. That is the economic downfall. And I'm at that -- I'm close to that point.

ROTH: For one evening at least, those hit by the financial crisis felt they weren't in it alone.

Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And just in time, right there on Wall Street, live pictures right now. President Bush will soon be entering the room talking about the economic situation in this country right there from Federal Hall on Wall Street. You see folks applauding right now. I am not quite sure if that means we are getting very close to the president's arrival there, but of course, when he does arrive, and as he begins to speak, we will go there live.

Much more in the NEWSROOM right after this.

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