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American Morning
Automakers' Long-Term Viability Up For Debate on Hill; Even As One Senator Calls For Halt To Doling Out More Bailout Of The Funds To Paulson
Aired November 18, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Meantime, Democratic leaders here on the Hill trying to push through their plans for a vote as early as tomorrow on their plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice over): As Democrats try to push through their plan for bailing out the auto industry, they're warning the failure of even one of the Big Three automakers would send shock waves through an already reeling U.S. economy.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: We're seeing a potential meltdown in the auto industry. With consequences that could impact directly upon millions of American workers and cause further devastation to our economy.
KEILAR: But Republicans, like Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter facing constituents tired of taxpayer bailouts, don't want to hurry another rescue without asking tougher questions.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: I'm prepared to consider that, but only if there is an understanding of what are the facts. What is the evidence?
KEILAR: Senate Democrats have proposed legislation that imposes some conditions on automakers, but the White House says the Democrats demands don't go far enough. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino says the Big Three to show that a bailout wouldn't just be postponing an inevitable industry failure.
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We only think taxpayer dollars should go to companies that can show viability and a willingness to make tough decisions to restructure themselves so they can be successful for the long-term.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: The big sticking point remains. Republicans and the White House differ with Democrats on how to pay for an automaker bailout. Democratic leaders, what they want to do is break off that $700 billion Wall Street bailout, give that to automakers in the form of loans, but generally Republicans and the White House, what they want to do is take an existing $25 billion loan that was supposed to be given to automakers so they could retool plants, make more fuel- efficient cars. They want to take that money and use it for a rescue, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, AMERICAN MORNING: I know, Brianna, you'll be watch this closely for us today. Brianna Keilar up there on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much.
The cash crunch at General Motors has forced some real belt tightening. Here's more on that in an AM extra. Listen to this: Office supplies in company cabinets are down to the bare essential now, pens, pencils and inexpensive pads of paper no more. White collar workers are going without bonus, raises or matching funds in their 401(k) accounts. Company executives paying $100 more a month for their company car. But get this. This always seems to happen. Last year GM's Chairman and CEO Richard Wagoner took home $15.7 million that is up 64 percent from 2006.
Stay with AMERICAN MORNING because . In less than 20 minutes we'll be joined by Senator James Inhofe. The Republican is among those on Capitol Hill opposed to a Detroit bailout. And he is calling for Congress to freeze the $700-billion financial bailout altogether. Also at 40 minutes after the house we're going to talk about Allen Mullaly, he is the president and CEO of the Ford Motor Company. We'll ask him why he should get taxpayer taxpayers' money. That's all ahead on the most news in the morning.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: And turning now to the most politics in the morning; 63 days until the inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. He sat down yesterday with his election opponent, John McCain , and the two are trying to find issues that they can work together on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Just going to have a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Our Ed Henry joins us live from Chicago.
So, what are your sources saying about what they talked about behind closed doors, and if there really is a chance of them working together?
ED HENRY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
We're told that they talked about issues we expected, like climate change. Also lobbying and ethics reform on Capitol Hill, which were expected. But some unexpected topics also came up behind closed doors. I'm told that they also talked about immigration reform, which really split the Republican Party last year. Trying to revive that will reform bill in the coming new year. Also, they talked about trying to find a way to deal with that thorny issue of closing down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Very difficult hot button issues. It will be hard for them to come together. But I'm told in private they showed a lot of cooperation. There wasn't a lot of sharp words about the campaign. They both seem like they wanted to turn the page. And let's face it, there's an incentive (AUDIO GAP) together at least on some issues. John McCain can't go back for the Senate as a sore loser. And Barack Obama wants to show the American people he is serious about bipartisanship and that it wasn't just a bunch of rhetoric on the campaign trail.
So, t6hey both have an incentive to work together. Will they get a lot done? Unlikely. It looks like they'll pick off at least a couple of issues like global warming, maybe immigration reform to try to work together, Kiran.
CHETRY: Those two things that John McCain was in trouble with his GOP counterparts for pushing in the last Senate. Of course, it almost derailed his primary campaign, the immigration issue.
HENRY: That's true.
CHETRY: What about Barack Obama bringing in his former rival Hillary Clinton into the cap net? What are they saying about how likely this is that she will be secretary of State?
HENRY: Well, here's an interesting sign, which is that CNN confirmed that from two Obama transition official that is they are now digging in to the finances, some records of Bill Clinton in terms of trying to figure out who has been contributing money for to his charitable foundation, where he has been getting money from his presidential library, and very senior Democrats are saying they see that as a sign that Barack Obama, the president-elect is very serious about Hillary Clinton as a contender for secretary of State. That he wasn't just floating go out there.
That by digging in here, they want answers to figure out are there conflicts of interest that would make it more difficult for her to be secretary of State? The problem, potentially, for Hillary Clinton is that could be the biggest hurdle to this becoming a reality. The fact is there's a lot that the Obama campaign doesn't know. There's a lot the media doesn't know about just who has been contributing this money to Bill Clinton. So far he is sending signals that he is willing to cooperate. We still have to see if they turnover all these records, Kiran.
CHETRY: Ed Henry in Chicago for us this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: It looks like Hiroshima. That's how one resident described the after math in a mobile home park where one Southern California wildfire destroyed close to 500 homes. Many more are coming home this morning to nothing after a wall of flames forced them out. Firefighters continue to take advantage of the dying Santa Ana winds and cooler temperatures and hope to have the wildfires under control in the next few days.
Well, first they stole the forklift, but that was only a prelude because then they lifted an AMT machine. Police in Montgomery, Alabama, looking this morning for the thieves behind the stunt. Here's a look at happened from the poor innocent ATM's point of view. The forklift ripped it right out of the ground, loaded it onto the back of a white pickup, the one that you saw roll by. How would you like that coming at you? It's enough to instill fear in the heart of any ATM. Police found the stolen forklift, the engine still running. We still do not know how much cash was inside that ATM.
Dot.com billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is being sued for insider trading. The Securities and Exchange Commission says he received insider information before he selling all of his stock in search engine Mamma.com back in 2004. The move allegedly saved him $750,000. Cuban responded with a statement saying the government's claims are false and they will be proven to be so.
CHETRY: Well, this really made us laugh in the newsroom this morning. I don't know if it was sleep deprivation or if this is really funny. So, you guys judge for yourself. The holidays off to a rocky start in Milwaukee. Check out what happened on live TV when the crew cut down a 45-foot city Christmas tree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're on actually Iowa Street, so from Iowa Street. There it goes. Oh, that's not good. OK, well, now we've seen something really bad happen. The top of the tree just actually broke off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, they brought it still to the downtown. That is sad. I mean, they cut the poor thing down, and then I don't know what really caused the top to come off.
ROBERTS: It looks like they were holding the top of it by a crane.
CHETRY: Yes, with a pulley (ph)?
ROBERTS: So that it crash into the street, and, unfortunately --
CHETRY: What a waste. You know, you could actually -
(LAUIGHTER)
ROBERTS: But - but, here's where urban engineering comes into play. Right?
CHETRY: Well, the crews drilled holes in a section of the trunk, and they stuck a metal pipe in there, and put the tree back together again. How about it? The whole situation made us think of the movie character, in particular, paging Clark Griswold Jr. for some Christmas horror advice.
(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP)
CHEVY CHASE, ACTOR: I give you the Griswold family Christmas tree. A lot of sap in here.
(END MOVIE CLIP)
ROBERTS: Maybe Chevy Chase was driving the crane. What do you think?
CHETRY: I don't know. Or maybe he is the one that figured out how to run the metal pipe through it to put it all back together again.
ROBERTS: I'll tell you.
CHETRY: I love the reporter. She goes, something really just bad happened.
ROBERTS: When you got lemon, make some lemonade.
When elected, President Bush said he would be a uniter, not a divider. Now Barack Obama is making a similar promise, but with much of the country bitterly divided, can he actually make it happen?
CHETRY: And 104 retired admirals and generals all supporting an end to don't ask don't tell. The latest reaction live from the Pentagon still ahead at 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, some incredible images coming from our I-Reporters this morning. These are dramatic pictures from Scott and Tricia Taylor in Montecito, California. The two said they want to thank the firefighters for their bravery and exhausting work fighting the blazes.
Also, Jennifer Lemay joined thousands in Washington protesting California's ban on same-sex marriage. And she sent in some pictures of a peaceful march from the Capitol building down to the White House.
Also, this is Amy Gates, a stay-at-home mom of two in Colorado. She's giving her thoughts on America's economic crisis and how it's affecting her family. You can hear what she has to say on I- Report.com. You can become an I-Reporter, too. Find out how by going to I-Report.com. But please don't put yourself in danger to get any of your pictures or video.
ROBERTS: Yes, like if you are taking picture of the town Christmas tree being cut down?
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Something really bad has happened here folks.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Are taxpayers waking up part owners of 21 more banks this morning. Is it working? Christine Romans here to tell us more about it.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sure is working that we're, as taxpayers, are giving a lot of money to the banks. That's for sure. Another bunch of banks got money, $33.6 billion of your money spent by the Treasury yesterday, infused into some banks, U.S. Bankcorp, SunTrust, Regents Bank, Capital One, and Broadway Financial.
So that means that you, the American taxpayer, are now a shareholder in these banks. Now, there are no strings attached, of course. We get preferred shares in these banks, but there are no strings attached. And, of course, John and Kiran, what a lot of people in Congress, and a lot of watchdogs are asking is, are we getting what we want? What we paid for, from that money? Are the banks going to be hoarding the cash or are they going to be lending it out? We just don't quite know yet. And we'll be hearing more at hearings today. The Treasury secretary will be on the Hill, I'm sure, answering angry questions about why the banks aren't being made to do what we want them to do with it.
ROBERTS: We watch all these billions and billions of dollars flowing out of the Treasury Department, which brings us to the point of how long does all this recession stuff going to last?
ROMANS: That's right. I mean, there's a Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey of professional forecasters found that most expect a 14-month recession. And that it is already started. It started all the way back in April. They're expecting by the first quarter of next year, maybe a 7 percent unemployment rate. A 14-month recession would be long and ugly. It doesn't meet the peak of the 16 month recession in the '70s or the 16-month recession in the '80s. But 14 months would be painful.
Of course, we don't - we don't know yet. And we won't know maybe until long after it's begun, or even when it's over when the official arbiter of recessions declares that one started and stopped. But it just tells you what private forecasters are saying about the economy right now.
The thing that we all already know.
CHETRY: And feel.
ROMANS: And, feel, you know? We've got $25 billion to Citigroup of our money to Citigroup, and yesterday they laid off 50,000. And I will point out that company is not saying there won't be more layoffs going forward. I mean, they say their target is for 50,000 job cuts. I mean, no one is ruling out more job cuts for next year.
ROBERTS: Some people forecasting an even longer recession than that.
ROMANS: Yes.
ROBERTS: We'll see. Christine, thanks so much.
"Don't ask, don't tell" is the military's policy against coming out; heading to the history books, find out why dozens of generals now say it is time for a change.
And one of the Senate's biggest opponents of a Big Three bailout here, live. Should we let the American auto industry wither and die? It's coming up on 16 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 18 minutes after the hour. It's time to "Fast Forward" to stories that will be making news later on today. At 8:55 Eastern it is good, good morning to the Shuttle Endeavour crew. NASA Mission Control will give the astronauts their wake-up call. They've used that song to wake them up in the past. On the "To Do" list today, a space walk to clean and lubricate the starboard joint, which allows the International Space Station's solar panels to track the sun.
At 9:30 Eastern, a grilling on Capitol Hill for Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chief Ben Bernanke. The two top salesmen for the $700 billion bailout plan will be testifying to the House Financial Services Committee.
And 20 minutes later, at 9:50 Eastern, President Bush will announce efforts to ease holiday air traffic congestion in a speech to the Transportation Department. It's likely that the Pentagon will open up two corridors of airspace, their airspace, for commercial traffic usually used by the military. Triple-A also putting out its Thanksgiving travel forecast. That will be later on today.
And let the recount begin. At 1:00 p.m. Minnesota officials will meet to approve a plan for the Senate recount. Vote totals last week show that incumbent Republican Norm Coleman now holds a mere 206 vote lead over his Democratic challenger Al Franken. And that's what we are following for you this morning.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, more than 100 retired military generals and admirals have put pen to paper supporting the repeal of the military's controversial "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy. It would allow gay men and women to serve openly in uniform. The California group behind the push is now looking to President-Elect Obama and Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is tracking the story for us this morning.
Hi, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kiran.
This letter from more than 100 retired general officers getting an awful lot of attention, calling for the repeal of the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy, which 15 years ago went into effect. Many people thought it has simply been unworkable since then. It says you can be openly gay in the U.S. military. You just can't tell anybody about it. That policy has been a matter of great controversy since literally the opening days of the Clinton administration.
Now, this letter coming saying, in part, and let's read part of it, quote, "Repealing the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy would not harm and would indeed help our armed forces. Our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality."
Now, as you say, President-Elect Obama has given some indications he would favor repealing the ban, but it is the current law right now. And right now the top U.S. military officials say they will continue to enforce it until Congress makes them change it, Kiran.
CHETRY: Any read, Barbara, on what the likelihood of this actually changing is?
STARR: I think there are three elements. The president-elect, of course; would he spend the political capital early in his administration to try to push for a change? Would Congress embrace the change, and change the law? But really it all boils down to is the U.S. military ready for change? And there's two components there. There's the older general officers, some indications now, according to this letter, they are ready for change. And the younger troops serving on the frontline. The military today is much more diverse than it was 15 years ago. Many people say the time has really come to change this.
CHETRY: It would be a bit of irony since the political analysts say it's what caused President Clinton to fumble in the beginning of his presidency. So, to bring it back again right at the beginning of Obama's presidency would be interesting, to say the least.
Barbara Starr, thank you.
ROBERTS: He says his company and its two biggest rivals need billions of dollars from you. We'll ask the president, CEO of the Ford Motor Company why taxpayers should throw them a lifeline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The doctor dilemma.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if your family doctor wasn't there?
CHETRY: Sanjay Gupta on why the doctor's office may be closed when you need it the most.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly we're going to give insurance, or give access to health care to a whole bunch of people who haven't had it; without increasing the number of physicians, it's going to be a problem.
CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
There's a bailout battle that's simmering now to a boil on Capitol Hill. The lame-duck Congress divided over whether or not to give Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler a $25 billion bailout. Now, Republican senator is actually calling for a halt to the entire bailout until Congress can figure out where this money is actually going.
Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe joins us this morning with more on why.
Thanks for being with us. Yesterday you gave a speech about this, and are you also calling for legislation to say let's just take a second here and figure out where this money is going before we continue to give out more. What are your main concerns about the $700-billion bailout, Senator?
SEN. JAMES INHOFE, (R) OKLAHOMA: First of all, Kiran, I actually introduced a bill yesterday to do that very thing. My concern is this. First of all, this amount of money just isn't describable, $700 billion. The average is $5,000 for each tax return family in America. It's a huge thing. Paulson came to us, and said what he wanted to do with it. Said if you don't do this, then the bottom is going to drop out, and country is going to go into a deep depression.
Then as soon as he got the money, that's not what -- he didn't buy out troubled assets. He started buying positions in companies. And that's not what he was supposed to do. Now, I can't tell you, right now, as we're speaking, how much of that first $350 billion is left. "The Wall Street Journal" suggests around $60 billion. I don't know.
Now, isn't that something? That I'm the senior senator, and I don't know. There's no accountability. We're saying to a person do whatever you want with $700 billion. What I'm trying to do is stop the second $350 billion from being put in his hands, and freezing this spending right now. I think that's a very reasonable thing to do.
CHETRY: All right, let me ask you about this. This is what Henry Paulson said in today's "New York Times" about the situation. He is basically arguing that it would have been much worse if they had not gotten that bailout money to begin with. He says a troubled asset purchase program to be effective would require a huge commitment of money in mid-September, before economic conditions worsen. $700- billion in trouble asset purchases would have had a significant impact, but half of that sum in a worse economy simply isn't enough firepower."
So he is basically saying that if you freeze the rest of that $350 billion, we're in for tough times. Is it the boy who cried wolf at this point? Or are you guys going to take into consideration what the Treasury secretary is saying?
INHOFE: Well, first of all, let's take into consideration what the Treasury secretary is saying. Is he saying the financial markets have been stabilized. Now, that's his statement. If they have been stabilized, and he said this last Friday, then there is no need to be going into this second block of money.
I want a full accountability of what he has been doing, what he has spent money on, how much is left. We don't even know how much is left. I just -- this is unprecedented in the history of this country that one person -- and this is not even an elected person -- is given a blank check to do with whatever he wants to do. And it's not the way we're supposed to be doing business.
CHETRY: Meantime, you know, let's leave this $700 billion on the table and talk about the possibility of another $25 billion for the auto industry. They're saying the ripple effect would be unimaginable in terms of how many people in this country rely in one, way, shape, or form on the auto industry for work. And, number two, keeping the economy going in general if the Big Three were to collapse. You are against any type of breaking offer any of the $700 billion to go to the auto industry. What's the alternative?
INHOFE: Well, first of all, if they're going to be talking about that, do it on its own merits. Don't even use the -- talk about the $700 billion. That's something totally different. I am philosophically against the idea of government coming along and buying positions, as they're doing with the $700 billion, or bailing out an industry. I mean, how many people are in line right now just waiting to see? Would the auto industry have been here if it hadn't have been for the $700 billion bailout? I don't know that. But I do know there are -- but there are -
CHETRY: You said that you are philosophically opposed it, but you did vote initially for the $700-billion bailout. Do you regret that?
INHOFE: No, I did not vote for it. I voted against it.
CHETRY: You voted against the original $700 billion bailout?
INHOFE: Absolutely. I was one of the 24 votes that voted against the $700-billion bailout. Let's make that real clear.
CHETRY: So at this point do you believe that you're going to get enough people on your side to freeze the other half, this $350 that is subject to congressional approval?
INHOFE: I think that we really start with the 24 of us who voted against it in the first place, and then we have those that supported it, and I think there's been enough pressure from home listening to people for them to - for us to be able to do that. At least I'm hoping that's the case. In Senate bill 3683, introduced it yesterday, and now the administration is saying they're not going use that second $350 billion anyway. Well if that's the case, there's no reason not to go ahead and get this thing passed to make sure when we go into recess that something bad doesn't happen. That's what I would expect would happen.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see where it takes us this morning. Still a lot of debate about it, and, of course, bringing in the possibility sorry of trying to bailout the autos as well. You guys have a lot to go over. Sorry about that, senator. You did vote against the bailout originally. Thanks for joining us this morning.
INHOFE: Thank you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Well we just talked about the bailout plan and the president and CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally is going to be here to argue about why it is so vital for this infusion of cash for the big three autos.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: 31 minutes after the hour. And breaking right now, Saudi Arabia calling a pirate hijacking of one of its oil super tankers an outrageous act. It's on the move right now, spotted off the coast of Somalia. The ship, which is the size of a U.S. aircraft carrier, was hauling $100 million worth of crude oil.
Calmer winds aiding firefighters battling flames in southern California. Officials in that state starting to seek help for its victims. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the Bush administration to declare southern California a disaster area.
The mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa said that President- elect Barack Obama has already contacted him to offer what help he could.
Gasoline prices almost cut in half from the all-time high that was set over the summer. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular is down to about $2.07 now. Prices have dropped for 62 days in a row.
The campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain was filled with plenty of mud slinging. Congress is bitterly divided down party lines and a lot of Americans are simply fed up with partisan bickering. In his victory speech, election night, Barack Obama promised to be a president for republicans, democrats, and independents, but can he really do that? Carol Costello has today's "Memo to the President."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Don't know if you caught it, but a line in Barack Obama's victory speech was similar to a line uttered by George W. Bush after he won.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I may not have won your vote.
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I will need your support.
OBAMA: I will need your help.
BUSH: I will do all I can do to deserve your trust.
COSTELLO: Both men in victory promising to be president to everyone, democrat, independent, and republican, but today America is more partisan than ever. So Mr. President-elect, how to keep that promise?
BOB GRAHAM (D), FORMER SENATOR: I hope that President Obama has picked up the phone on more than one occasion and talked to John McCain.
COSTELLO: And President-elect Obama has reached out to John McCain, inviting him to talk face-to-face. But former Senator Graham says that's not enough. Interaction between the two ought to be consistent. That way McCain will be more willing to persuade republicans to work with Obama on issues like global warming and alternative energy ideas and, he says, reaching out consistently to McCain and other republican rivals will demonstrate respect for the other side. Something certainly not on display in today's Congress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a boneheaded idea.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENT ELECT: That is brain dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: standing here does not solve the problem.
BIDEN: Stop this. Stop this. Stop this.
COSTELLO: Both democrats and republicans say it's vital that civility returns to Capitol Hill. Some say the president-elect can do that if he finds a way to be centrist without alienating his liberal base.
SUSAN MOLINARI (R), FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN: He has to rule from the center and take leadership positions on the center, so he can make this nation and our elected officials feel comfortable that he can, in fact, bring parties together on some very difficult issues.
COSTELLO: Like what to do about Joe Lieberman.
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, INDEPENDENT: I know it's unusual for a democrat to be endorsing a republican.
COSTELLO: One of the first things democrats tried to do after the election was to strip the democrat turned independent of its powerful senate chairmanship for supporting John McCain for president. Both Graham and Molinari says forcing him to give up the top spot on the Homeland Security Committee would be a horrible partisan mistake.
GRAHAM: I don't think it's a sign of strength to hold grudges and be vindictive and take actions that are clearly contrary to the long-term interests that you want to advance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And it appears the democrats will not completely ostracize Lieberman. After President-elect Obama publicly said he holds no grudges against Lieberman, senators will vote later this morning, and word is they will allow Lieberman to hold his chairmanship. But there is still a long way to go. There is such acrimony among lawmakers that it will take more than symbolism to cool the partisanship. John.
ROBERTS: It certainly will. Carol Costello for us this morning. Carol, thanks so much.
And tomorrow's "Memo to the President" comes from CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. She is going to look at the next president and the line he must walk in dealing with Iran. That's tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: After years of churning out loads of gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs America's big three automakers are looking at Congress for a $25 billion bailout. After the break, Ford Motor's president and CEO will join us, and we'll ask him why.
Also, the death in the family doctor. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" to ask why are so many family practices looking so sick. It's 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning and we also want to welcome our international viewers watching on CNN-I. On one side you hear the fear that the collapse of America's big three automakers would be crushing for an already struggling economy. On the other side, you hear the argument that bankruptcy may be the best medicine for Detroit.
Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler are asking for $25 billion of the federal bailout money. Joining me to make the case for his industry is the president and CEO of the Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally. He is in Detroit this morning.
Mr. Mulally, tell us upfront here, why should taxpayers give you any of their hard-earned money?
ALAN MULALLY, PRESIDENT & CEO, FORD MOTORS COMPANY: Well, I think the compelling argument is that the automobile industry is just absolutely essential to the United States economy. We are in an economic situation now with the credit crisis and the financial and the banking issues that we really more than ever the automobile industry needs to be part of the solution, and the only thing that we're asking for is to set up a bridge loan mechanism so that the if the economy continues to deteriorate in the near term that we could access that so we could continue to invest in the products that people really do want and value and help be part of this economic recovery.
ROBERTS: But you know what the critics are saying. Critics are saying that your fought efforts as an industry to increase fuel economy standards, you promoted SUVs and pickups as demand for foreign oil increased and we're beginning to run out of oil. They're saying basically you failed to lead, and now you got your hand out saying help us.
MULALLY: No, I understand, and I think the past is the past, but what this discussion now is about the future, and last year during the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act that Congress put together, the auto industry and Ford in particular, we stood so tall for being part of the answer, and it was really neat because what came out of that was a commitment by all of us, and especially us, to improve our fuel mileage year after year forever in every vehicle that we make, and for that we also recognized the cost it would take to do that, and the Congress build into that legislation a mechanism that we could borrow at the Treasury rate so we could fund the acceleration of these vehicles and bring them to the market place and that is going very well.
We're applying for that today. I think the most important thing is that we continue as a country to work this as a partnership and clearly fuel efficiency, quality, safety are going to be - continue to be at the top of the customer's decision list when they purchase a car.
ROBERTS: At the same time, Mr. Mulally, the people who will be asking you questions this afternoon are looking for some guarantees. Chris Dodd is the chairman of the committee that you'll be sitting before. Here's what he said in terms of wanting some guarantees from the industry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), BANKING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Clearly, we shouldn't be writing checks without some clear conditionality of what's going happen with that industry if they're going to change and get back on their feet again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Mr. Mulally, can you guarantee to the American people that if you get that money, if the American taxpayers throw you a lifeline, you will change, you'll become more efficient, you'll produce cars that people want to buy, you'll increase fuel efficiency, you will, indeed, move into the future?
MULALLY: Absolutely. I don't think it's a promise. I think it's a promise that we are already delivering on today. When you look at the Ford line-up going forward, we have now cars, small, medium, and large cars, utilities, and trucks that are absolutely world class in their quality, in their fuel mileage, in their safety on par and competing and in many cases much better than Toyota and Honda. We have a business plan.
ROBERTS: One of the cars that you'll be introducing in 2009 is the Ford Fusion hybrid, and are you very excited about that -
MULALLY: Definitely.
ROBERTS: But it's being introduced 12 years after Toyota introduced the Prius. Why did it take so long?
MULALLY: Well, that's really one model of the vehicles. The very first hybrid was introduced by Ford with the Escape.
ROBERTS: Right. It was an SUV.
MULALLY: Absolutely, but we had been there on the fuel efficiency from day one, and it's been part of Bill Ford's original vision of sustainability and energy efficiency and being better environmentally concerned.
ROBERTS: But here's a question I had this morning. I think a lot of people are asking this same question as well. You are betting that because the price of gasoline is now down to an average of about $2.06 a gallon nationwide that that will rekindle interest in your Ford F- 150 pickup truck line, and I know that you are trying to improve the fuel efficiency. I think the latest model 15 city, 21 miles to the gallon on the highway. But some people are thinking, oh, my god, the price of gas is going down, and now you just want to repeat the mistakes of the past all over again.
MULALLY: That's absolutely incorrect because our plan is to have a full portfolio of small, medium, and larger vehicles that our consumers really want, and clearly the 150 that you have described has been the industry leader in the United States for 34 years, and the consumers love and need that vehicle. They absolutely love the 150. But we are complimenting that now just like you mentioned with small to medium size cars and utilities. All of which will be best in class on fuel efficiency. So we want to be there with a full portfolio that the consumers really do want.
ROBERTS: OK. So General Motors has got an electric car coming out. It's not going to come out until probably 2010, 2011. Does Ford have a fully plug-in hybrid vehicle coming?
MULALLY: We are working on that also, but let me just share with you the Ford plan about that. Our number one priority is to improve the internal combustion engine, and that's why the turbo charging, the direct fuel injection, we get a 20 percent improvement in fuel mileage and a 15 percent reduction in CO2, but we get that across all of the engines, across all the vehicles. Then we move to more electrification with the hybrids, as you mentioned and we are very excited that the next step after that will be full electrification. But now we're tied into the grid, and we really have moved to an energy independence solution.
ROBERTS: We'll be watching closely this afternoon when you and your colleagues appear before the Senate. Ford chairman and CEO Alan Mulally, good to be with you this morning. Appreciate your time, sir.
MULALLY: Thank you, John.
CHETRY: Well, when is free not free? When ticket scalpers are selling tickets to history. What you need to know about inauguration rip-offs. How to take in all the festivities without getting taken for a ride.
And the billionaire with the big mouth. Now facing insider trading charges. A deal that may have Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in some trouble. It's 44 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: We're starting early with the Christmas tunes here in AMERICAN MORNING. There's a shot this morning coming to us from WTAE in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But right now, it's cloudy 28 degrees, a bit later we will be looking for some flurries and our Rob Marciano joins us now from Atlanta this morning.
Are you in this Christmas spirit already or are we a little too early for that.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a little bit too early for me. I got to get through the bird first before we crank out the Christmas tunes. But certainly the weather across the northeast and especially the Great Lakes, it feels like it even down through the south. 31, 30 degrees in Atlanta, Nashville, freeze warnings out to the deep south. It is chilly, and actually even a little bit cooler than it is across parts of the northeast with temperatures there and some spots below the freezing mark. A couple of flurries possible across the New York metropolitan area. It won't add up to much. This is where most of the snow is added up. It's up to upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and into parts of Ohio and Indiana as well. Check out some of the totals.
Ellicottville, New York, 28 inches there. Stockton, New York, 20 inches. You got it. Napoli, New York, we're not talking Italy, 17 inches there. Some video out of Indiana, the (inaudible) county just to the west of South Bend. This is what it looked like yesterday afternoon. WGM, thanks for that shot. Obviously slick roadways there. And the snow continues to come down. Here it is on the satellite imagery. The plows and the sanders hard at work.
Here's Lake Michigan, north wind, long fetch. So there you go. Snow continues to pile up in that county, and temperatures today will be cold enough to make it stick around. 35 degrees in Chicago. 39, bundled up there, in New York City. Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: I love how you said that, you have to get through the bird first. I bet you could eat half a turkey.
MARCIANO: It's a good time of the year.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you later.
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ROBERTS (voice-over): Basketball's bad boy -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a public humiliation. That's what's really going on here. It's not unlike, say, Martha Stewart.
ROBERTS: Alina Cho on how Maverick owner Mark Cuban ran a foul with the S.E.C. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. In the medical field, some are seeing the end to the family doctor. Problems with insurance and thousands of physicians thinking about ditching their current practice. It's the number one story on cnn.com right now, and we are "Paging our Dr. Gupta" this morning, to get some answers.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a typical Friday at Dr. Alan Pocinki medical practice. Filled with forms, files and phones. But fewer and fewer patients.
DR. ALAN POCINKI, PHYSICIAN: I probably work 60 hours in a typical week. And I only see patients for 30 of those hours.
GUPTA: For 17 years, Pocinki has practiced medicine in Washington, D.C., he began his career at the same time insurance companies were turning into PPOs and HMOs. So he was a little shocked when he began spending more time on paperwork than patients. And found he was running a business instead of a practice.
POCINCKI: I had no business training as far as how to run a business, how to evaluate different plans. It was a whole brave new world, and I had to sort of learn on the fly.
GUPTA: In order to manage his day and give his patients the care they need, Pocinki made some changes. He no longer takes new patients on Medicare, and he honors only one insurance company. It's the best way, he says, to keep up with his practice without giving it up all together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about prior authorization -
GUPTA: According to a new survey by the physicians foundation, Pocinki is not alone. Thousands of primary care physicians are starting to re-think their careers. The survey, which questioned almost 12,000 doctors found half of them are looking to cut their patient load and/or, close their clinics over the next three years.
DR. WALKER RAY, VICE PRESIDENT, PHYSICIANS' FOUNDATION: We couldn't survive that. We are only producing in this country now a thousand to 2,000 primary care doctors to replace them. Medical students are not choosing primary care.
GUPTA: With poor reimbursement from insurance companies, and the cost of malpractice insurance skyrocketing, many primary care doctors say it's not worth running a practice any longer. Others say they're going into boutique medicine, where they charge patients a fee up front to take care of them on a yearly basis, and they don't take insurance. And some like Pocinki are limiting the type of insurance they will take. That can limit a lot of patients looking for a doctor.
RAY: This is your family doctor. What if your family doctor wasn't there?
GUPTA: For the moment, Pocinki says things are manageable, but is looking to the new administration when it comes to health care legislation. One of President-elect's Obama's healthcare promises is to provide all Americans with a primary care physician. Pocinki is skeptical.
POCINKI: People who have insurance can't find a doctor so suddenly we're going to give insurance or give access to healthcare to a whole bunch of people who haven't had it without increasing the number of physicians, it's going to be a problem.
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GUPTA: What a huge change in the landscape we're potentially talking about here when it comes to primary care physicians. You heard that John, over the next three years, they think about half the doctors, about 150,000 doctors will either significantly curtail their practice or stop practicing all together, unless things change.
ROBERTS: Right, might be good news for people like my son who wants to get into medical school and become a primary care physician. But he certainly wants to you know decide whether he wants to do that short of a job. But you mention that these doctor is no longer taking Medicare. Is this happening with a lot of doctors?
GUPTA: Well you know we investigated that, and a little bit and I think over a third of the doctors that were surveyed in this 12,000- person survey, they said over a third said it costs more to take care of a Medicare patient than it is to treat them. So they are simply losing money. Therefore, 33 percent have closed Medicaid, 12 percent Medicare, 82 percent say if these cuts, 10 percent cuts and overall Medicare reimbursement happen, their practice goes from being barely sustainable to unsustainable. So you know we talked a lot about these potential cuts, but now we hearing from some of the physicians themselves who say what the impact is going to be on their practice. Primary care docs don't make as much, as a lot of sub specialists -
ROBERTS: Right.
GUPTA: As it is and this makes it even more difficult.
ROBERTS: Interesting stuff. Sanjay, thanks so much.
GUPTA: Thanks, John.
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CHETRY (voice-over): From "Dancing with the stars" to court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rash, outspoken, a loud mouth.
CHETRY: Busted. The basketball billionaire with the big mouth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are people who don't like the guy. He rubs people the wrong way.
CHETRY: Plus, situation desperate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have gotten requests for over 100,000 tickets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: and how many do you have to give out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 393.
CHETRY: Scalpers for a presidential inauguration?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These tickets are supposed to be free for the people. No one should have to pay for them.
CHETRY: Witness history without getting ripped off. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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JAY LENO, HOST: Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks is facing federal charges for insider trading. This officially makes November 2008 the worse month ever for Mavericks, OK.
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ROBERTS: One of the outspoken bad boys of basketball is in trouble this morning, and this time it's not for something that he said. Our Alina Cho has been following this story. She joins us this morning. Hi.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, John. Good morning. You know many of you have heard of Mark Cuban. He is the brash billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He also owns HD NET.
So with all that going for him, why on earth would he sell stock illegally just to save $750,000, when he is worth billions? Well, the SEC says that's exactly what he did. That he broke the law. Cuban denies it.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my goodness.
CHO (voice-over): He's the bad boy of basketball, and a one-time star.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: King of the road -
CHO: of dancing with the stars. Mark Cuban, the 50-year-old billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, takes no prisoners.
MARK CUBAN, OWNER OF DALLAS MAVERICKS: Donald Trump, you're an idiot.
Mark Cuban is brash, outspoken, a loud mouth.
CHO: And now the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. An S.E.C. complaint filed Monday accuses Cuban of insider trading. The filing says Cuban in 2004 got some negative news about a company of which he was the largest shareholder, mamma.com. Cuban then allegedly sold his entire stake in the company before the bad news became public. The sale of 600,000 shares allegedly saved Cuban $750,000. Peanuts to a man worth $2.8 billion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The public humiliation, that's what's really going on here. It's not unlike, say, Martha Stewart, where you have a high- profile person who makes a little tiny mistake in the name of greed. And that's what gets him.
CHO: Cuban made his money by selling broadcast.com at the height of the tech boom for $5 billion. He bought the Mavericks, founded HDNet, and is a majority partner of sharesleuth.com, a website that, ironically, exposes securities fraud. On his own blog, Cuban answered the charges. Saying, "this matter has no merit, and is a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion." Others say the S.E.C. probe into Cuban is a giant waste of time and money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if they're right $750,000 is not material, when compared to the multiple billions of alleged fraud that's taken place on Wall Street --
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CHO: Well, that's one way of looking at it. You know, those who know Cuban say, he's not going to back down. He's potentially facing millions in penalties and what could be damage to his reputation, of course. Cuban says the SEC's process was result oriented and facts be damned. He went on to say, the government's claim, John, are false.
Now, important to note, this is a civil suit, not a criminal one. So, he's facing fines, but not jail time. The NBA not commenting on the matter. And you may have heard that Cuban is interested in buying the Chicago Cubs. Well, Major League Baseball, because of this news, could potentially say no. And that he's too hot to handle.
ROBERTS: We'll keep watching this story. It's a fascinating one.
Alina, thanks so much for that.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
