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American Morning
Obama Vows to Jolt the Economy; Wall Street Rallies; Obama Plans to Create 2.5 Million Jobs; Education System Needs an SOS; What Really Happened in Roswell?
Aired November 25, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on two minutes before the top of the hour. A look at your top stories this morning. Three people are dead after a car blew up near a subway station. It was in Russia's second largest city, St. Petersburg. The victims include a 3-year-old child. We don't know yet what cause this explosion, but officials suspected it could have been a grenade.
Markets in Asia up overnight during the overnight hours. Japan and Australia both making some gains of more than five percent. It follows back-to-back rallies on Wall Street with the Dow having its best two-day performance since 1987, trading so far in Europe a little more cautious with main indices up slightly. And right now, Dow futures are also up just slightly about 15 points.
Treasury secretary Henry Paulson will hold a press conference. It's set for 10:00 today. This morning, actually, the "New York Times", the "Wall Street Journal" both reporting that he will announce a new lending facility. The report says that between $25 to $100 billion will be spent out of that $700 billion bailout making it easier for you to get things like car loans, student loans, credit card. Meanwhile, President Bush is stressing the cooperation with President- elect Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Secretary Paulson is working closely with President- elect's transition team. It's important for the American people to know that there is close cooperation. It's important for the American people to know that we will safeguard the financial system as the first step necessary for financial economic recovery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There are just 56 days by the way until the transfer of power between President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama. And now that Obama has his economic team in place, they are showing that they are ready to work finding where cuts can be made from the federal budget and also promising historic job-creating projects but for now it seems Obama is keeping his cards close to his chest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We need a big stimulus package that will jolt the economy back into shape and that is focused on the 2.5 million jobs that I intend to create during the first part of my administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So our Suzanne Malveaux joins us from Washington this morning. And a lot of people have been asking when are we going to hear specifics about what this plan would look like, both the stimulus and the job creation?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, we may be waiting a little bit longer. Obama said that his economic team would start today in crafting a recovery plan. But we don't really expect to get a lot of these details for some weeks.
We do know, however, what is central to his plan. First and foremost, it's this huge economic stimulus package. Obviously, it's got to be passed by Congress but it's meant to jumpstart the economy. He wants to create 2.5 million new jobs in two years.
Second, this plan, he's got to figure out how to best allocate the rest of the $700 billion bailout to shore up the markets. And finally, third, a way to start cutting the budget where there is wasteful spending. So we do have a general sense of where he's going with this.
CHETRY: Also, Suzanne, Obama is expected to announce another key appointment at this news conference taking place at noon Eastern. What are some of the names that we could expect to hear today?
MALVEAUX: Well, yesterday, we heard some familiar names. These not so familiar in all circles. Peter Orszag is going to be named director of Office of Management and Budget. He's head of the Congressional Budget Office, and he's another one who comes out of the Clinton White House.
Of course, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a lot of talk about him, another former rival turned friend now. He is expected to be named commerce secretary.
And what's important in looking at these appointments is that there are some key themes that are emerging. One, the need for consistency. That's why you've got Tim Geithner as the treasury secretary. As New York's Fed chair, he was intimately involved in the $700 billion bailout deal and he really is a link between what is happening in the Bush administration and what's going to take place in the Obama administration.
And, Kiran, the other theme here is accountability. Yesterday, we heard Barack Obama slamming the big three automakers for not having a plan themselves to get out of their own financial mess when they approached Congress last week for money. So accountability and consistency.
CHETRY: You know, and the other thing that seemed a little bit surreal, Suzanne, and I know you've covered this for years, is Barack Obama as president-elect is holding press conferences. I mean, really, he's stepping up his visibility and so we're seeing from him, meantime, there's still technically someone else in charge.
MALVEAUX: Yes. And they're trying very careful not to actually step on the president's message. But we do expect to hear a lot more from Barack Obama in the coming days to see him more. He's obviously, he's rolling out his full economic team this week after the thanksgiving holiday. We expect to hear about Hillary Clinton's role very likely as secretary of state. And then, of course, he's going to be working on his national security team.
CHETRY: Boy, a lot of work ahead and just 56 days, as you said. Suzanne, thanks.
And we want to remind you, you can watch the live coverage of Barack Obama's second news conference. It will be live on CNN. If you're away from your TV, you can also see it on CNN.com. It starts at noon Eastern.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: And breaking news on your money this morning. A second rally on Wall Street makes history.
Friday and Monday combined to give the Dow its biggest two-day gain in 21 years and its largest two-day point gain ever. Taking a looking at the numbers, the Dow soared nearly 400 points on top of Friday's 500- point gain.
Many wonder what will today bring. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." She joins us now.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: If history is any guide, it's going to bring a lot of different things by the time the closing bell rings at 4:00 Eastern time, that's for sure. But we do know we have two days of monster rallies on Wall Street and, I'm hoarse just thinking about it again.
The Dow up 4.7 percent. The Nasdaq up 6.3 percent yesterday, folks. These are the kinds of numbers you don't in normal times you just don't see these kind of numbers. But we don't live in normal times any more, right?
The S&P 500 now up 6.5 percent. That's a market gain of $600 billion in market value which is a great, great performance yesterday. A great performance for two days. But keep in mind we still lost seven trillion, almost eight trillion in market value from your 401(k)s, you're your retirement, from your stock investments over the past year. So it's been pretty tough.
What happened here? You heard Suzanne talking about all of these plans underway and this visibility of the incoming administration and all the things that they're talking about in terms of stimulus, in terms of the new economic team. Wall Street liked it all.
Wall Street really liked Tim Geithner, the New York Fed president, somebody who they see as somebody who's been very key to a lot that's been happening this year already. He's already worked with Secretary Paulson. He knows intimately what's happening in terms of the financial system. They feel like it's not like you're waiting until January 20th for Tim Geithner to take over. He's in there right now helping, and they like it.
They also like Larry Summers. He's a grownup. He's a professional. He's been a treasury secretary. He'll be directing the overall sort of economic message and economic direction of this new president. They like that.
They like the Citibank bailout. Frankly, they like the idea that this humongous bank is not going to go down and they like the fact that the financial infrastructure though very creaky here, they like the fact that this government is going to do everything it can to keep things from going off the rails.
Treasury Secretary Paulson speaks at 10:00 this morning. We'll find out what kind of new plan, new spending, new money, new help for consumer lending and how Wall Street will react to that.
JOHNS: Sounds like a little bit of optimism all of a sudden.
ROMANS: Yes. Dare I be optimistic. Whenever I get optimistic, something terrible happens. So I hate to be too optimistic. But listen, this yesterday and the day before, seriously, investors were voting that things at least in the very near term there's some reason to look forward for a little bit into next year.
JOHNS: Christine, thanks.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
Well, when it comes to jobs, who's got the ethics? There's a new Gallup poll showing that Americans rank nurses at the top of the list. This is the seventh straight year. Pharmacists, high school teachers and doctors also rank high. At the bottom of the list, the worst ethics, well, this is according to this ranking, lobbyists, telemarketers, car salesman. They share the low end with members of Congress...
JOHNS: No.
CHETRY: ... stock brokers and lawyers.
JOHNS: Another $700 billion, a promise of 2.5 million jobs. Swift, bold and ambitious plans to turn the economy around. But can Barack Obama deliver? When does the money run out? We'll ask one of his top economic advisers.
It's six minutes past the hour.
"In Search of Aliens."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON SCHMITT, ROSWELL INCIDENT RESEARCHER: I remain convinced that it is still a cover up of ignorance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Beyond the tourist trap, Miles O'Brien digs up the real story behind the Roswell Incident.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We do not have a minute to waste. Right now, our economy is trapped in a vicious cycle. The turmoil on Wall Street means a new round of belt tightening for families and businesses on Main Street. These extraordinary stresses on our financial system require extraordinary policy responses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That's President-elect Barack Obama vowing to jolt the economy, create 2.5 million jobs. Obama and Democrats in Congress are planning a financial rescue package that could rival the $700 billion bailout or at least match this. That's more than the nation spent over the past six years in Iraq.
I'm joined by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine who is an informal adviser to the president-elect.
Governor, great to have you with us this morning.
GOV. JON CORZINE (D), NEW JERSEY: Good to be here.
CHETRY: Because there are a lot of questions. One is the push for this major economic stimulus. He's holding another meeting, Barack Obama is today. And hopefully, we're going to get some more specifics. But how would, first of all, a stimulus plan take shape? What would it look like?
CORZINE: Well, first of all, it will be about creating jobs and stopping the loss of jobs. The president-elect talked in his campaign about an infrastructure program. That's roads, bridges, spoke about it yesterday.
Every billion dollars puts to work 20,000 people, 25,000 people in construction. He wants to make sure that we're putting together our long term interests, building up our infrastructure, and creating jobs now. So, a lot of resources will go at refitting our economy, have long term benefits as well as short term job creation. Then he'll try to create situations where people stop laying off people at state and local governments like the state of New Jersey. We're all under balance budget requirements in the states and locales.
CHETRY: Right.
CORZINE: And so we have to fit into the revenues we take so there will be help whether it is Medicaid, whether it's unemployment benefits, maybe even in special education. There'll be things that allow us to keep going. And then, he's talked about giving middle class tax cuts, which will put money in the pocket of vast majority of Americans and, therefore, they'll be in a lot stronger position and otherwise.
And the last thing he's talked about is restructuring our energy sector. And I think he spoke about that yesterday if I'm not mistaken, and the goal is to move us to a more green economy, making sure that while we're doing that we're creating jobs as we go forth.
I think it's right. It's the right program. And I think that it's going to take more rather than less, so I think the kind of number that you were talking about more towards that $700 billion kind of number to make sure that we're able to get this economy jumpstart. That would be about 5.5, six percent of GDP. That's why a lot of people think we're shrinking right now.
CHETRY: Right.
CORZINE: So you want to match those.
CHETRY: Just practically speaking, so someone who let's say is an IT Tech or they work in a restaurant, or even a banker and they're watching their job go away because of what's happened, are they going to be retrained to be road builders and to work on infrastructure? I mean, how would that work?
CORZINE: Well, first of all, one of the biggest industries that is suffering right now is housing. That's the construction jobs. So, a lot of the fill in that would come from infrastructure actually does line up.
I doubt very seriously bankers are going to go right to building the New Jersey turnpike. On the other hand, a lot of people who had been in the housing industry or had a million eight starts, we're down in the 700,000 range in the country, I think a lot of those jobs can transition. There will have to be workforce retraining. People will have to be refit.
Most of the people who are in the financial industry are well educated. Some of them become teachers. Some of them can go into other fields.
CHETRY: Right.
CORZINE: And there's a restarting of small banks across the country. I know in New Jersey we have three or four dynamite smaller organizations that are building from the bottom up community banks. And a lot of that will happen so people will find their niche in the economy. We'll have to offer workforce training, but I'm optimistic about that. It takes time though.
This is the one thing that I think we have to emphasize. President- elect Obama and his new team needs some time to be able to unfold a strong economic plan, and it takes a while for that to actually take hold. CHETRY: Right. I want to ask you about this because Barack Obama yesterday was evasive about the numbers. He said he didn't want to get into specifics with the numbers of the plan right now.
You, Larry Summers, others have raised the possibility, I think Charles Schumer as well, that it could be $700 billion in new spending. How does that work at this time? It feels like every time we open the paper we're spending more money. The government is spending more money.
CORZINE: Well, Kiran, we can spend it on unemployment compensation. We can have tax hikes at local levels because we have to balance our budget so that we keep people. Or we can, at a time of slack demand in the economy fill that with the government.
You know, consumers spend money, businesses invest, and government can spend money. This is one of those periods in time where you need to have the government step in and fill the gap.
CHETRY: Yet there are concerns though, there are some who are concerned that this is the exact wrong approach. Many Republicans have been saying this. But one is Arthur Laffer who is a member of Ronald Reagan's economic team.
CORZINE: Sure.
CHETRY: He said that, "The government can only transfer resources. It can't create resources. There is no tooth fairy. Every dollar given to someone comes from someone else. The government can't bail some people out of trouble without putting other people in trouble."
What are the after-effects of this bailout?
CORZINE: This is the one of the things that I think that the president-elect has done very well. He has tried to look at how you spend money in the long term that will generate returns to society, not just for the jobs that it creates today, which is that were all it was doing would be transferring. But if you rebuild the air traffic control system, that will be here for years and decades as we go forward, as were a lot of the projects that we built like the Hoover Dam or the Lincoln tunnel or a lot of the things that were produced during the depression...
CHETRY: Right.
CORZINE: ... created jobs but they also serve society for a long time going forward. I think that President-elect Obama has done a great job of trying to align whether its on energy or its infrastructure, making investments today that will help create jobs but also not just transferring income but creating a foundation for the success of the American economy going forward.
CHETRY: We certainly hope so.
Governor Jon Corzine, always great to talk to you.
CORZINE: Great (ph) for being here.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us this morning.
CORZINE: Thank you.
CHETRY: Seventeen minutes after the hour.
JOHNS: "Memo to the President."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL PETRELLI, FMR. BUSH EDUCATION OFFICIAL: If we do not make investments and make reforms, we're going to get to the point where we simply cannot compete with other countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Fixing our schools. The three things the president-elect needs to do before it's too late.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Across the country, parents, students, teachers are issuing an SOS to President- elect Barack Obama, save our schools. America's education systems are overcrowded, under-funded and understaffed. In our ongoing series looking at the issues facing the Obama administration, Jason Carroll has today's "Memo to the President."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mr. President, before you hear from the experts on how to improve education, listen to what New York City public high school students have to say.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Obama, I think that the security needs to be better in the schools.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we need more teachers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't get as much funding, and there really (ph) is like bad students coming to our schools.
CARROLL: Lack of funding, overcrowded classrooms, that's just for starters.
PEDRO NOGUERA, NYU STEINHARDT SCHOOL: It's a big mess because our economic crisis is directly related to our educational challenges.
CARROLL: Education experts say three areas need immediate attention. Early education. A dozen states still don't fund preschool. College costs. One survey found 66 percent of adults say tuition is too much. And what to do about the No Child Left Behind program?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the big elephant in the room. Politically, people don't know what to do with it.
CARROLL: It is the Bush initiative requiring schools to test students annually in reading and math. Under the law, all children must be proficient in those subjects by 2014 or their schools face sanctions. The problem, too many schools aren't on schedule. And a recent study shows students haven't improved much in reading since the program started.
MICHAEL PETRELLI, FMR. BUSH EDUCATION OFFICIAL: If we do not make investments and make reforms to our system, we're going to get to the point where we simply cannot compete with other countries.
CARROLL: In education, U.S. students rank 18th amongst 36 nations. Experts argue over the value of accountability through testing, but few debate the need for more money. New study shows two-thirds of school administrators say their districts are inadequately funded and are forced to cutback anywhere they can.
Superintendent Judith Johnson may cut staff but says for other schools, nothing is off limit, even kindergarten.
JUDITH JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT, PEEKSKILL, N.Y. CITY SCHOOLS: Kindergarten is an integral part of a public education system. Guys (ph), kindergarten pick up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: That's a scary warning there. So much for early education. Bottom line, even though the country is dealing with two wars and an economic crisis, education is not something this country can afford to put on the back burner.
Look at it this way. If we have an educated workforce, it's like investing in our economic future. I mean, maybe if you put it in those terms you can get more people to pay attention to. But education seems to be one of those areas that just, you know, people just don't want to pay attention to very much.
JOHNS: Sure. And the school's issue is one of those issues that have been around for so long. It's hard to see how one president could unravel it in one administration.
CARROLL: Well, he's going to have to tackle some of these issues.
JOHNS: You bet. Thanks, Jason.
Tomorrow in our "Memo to the President" series, now that Barack Obama has announced the members of his economic team, our Christine Romans looks at what will it actually take to fix the economy. That's tomorrow's "Memo to the President" here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: The Roswell Incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKIE ROWE, HANDLED ALLEGED UFO DEBRIS: When you wadded this up in your hand, you could not feel it in your hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The woman who said she touched a UFO. Miles O'Brien investigates what could be the biggest cover up in history.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you believe in this kind of things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's just say I want to believe.
CHETRY: I get goose bumps every time I hear that music. All this week we're bringing you a special series "In Search of Aliens." And today, we turn to one of the most famous sites across the globe for conspiracy theorists. That's Roswell, New Mexico. Sixty-one years and the mystery hasn't faded. So what really happened at Roswell?
Our space correspondent Miles O'Brien is here with us this morning with more details. I can't wait to see this.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know what they say, the truth is out there, Kiran. Roswell is the granddaddy of all suspected UFO sightings. And while the government says it can all be explained by some secret military testing, those who insist an alien spaceship crashed there may never be convinced otherwise.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE SHUSTER, FATHER STARTED ROSWELL INCIDENT: We are in the vicinity of the debris field.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): So there I am on hallowed ground for the alien nation, Mecca for Martians, site of the crash we now know as the Roswell Incident.
SHUSTER: It's a good overlook...
O'BRIEN (on camera): Yes.
SHUSTER: ... of where the space and also the debris field where the crash allegedly impacted and broke up.
O'BRIEN: All right. Allegedly. What do you mean allegedly?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We use alleged a lot.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): They sure do. That's Julie Shuster whose late dad started the whole thing 61 years ago. While serving as the Roswell Air Base public affairs officer, he wrote the press release announcing the U.S. military had found a crashed flying saucer here on this ranch in Corona. Yes, the Roswell Incident didn't happen in Roswell.
(on camera): It couldn't have happened in a more remote place, could it?
SHUSTER: Could have tried but I'm not sure if it would succeed.
O'BRIEN: There's no question that something very weird crashed here. Everyone agrees on that point, right, Julie?
SHUSTER: Right.
O'BRIEN: That's pretty much in a body of fact, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. The (INAUDIBLE).
O'BRIEN: All right. Take that allegedly, are we ever going to know for sure what happened here?
SHUSTER: Good question. I'd love to know.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): So would I. So would you. So would this guy.
DON SCHMITT, ROSWELL INCIDENT RESEARCHER: I'm 99 percent convinced -- convinced, it's not a belief.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I forgot, Don Schmitt knows what happened. He's gumshoed Roswell for years, turning out three best sellers with a made for TV plot. A thunderstorm, a crash, alien spacecraft, four diminutive alien bodies. Everything brought to this hangar then spirited away in the dark and, of course, a massive government cover- up.
O'BRIEN: What's your theory why the government doesn't come clean?
SCHMITT: I remain convinced that it is still a cover up of ignorance.
O'BRIEN: Our government ignorant? I guess that's not an alien concept. I saw "Independence Day."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "INDEPENDENCE DAY" FROM 20th CENTURY FOX)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no recovered spaceship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, excuse me, Mr. President, that's not entirely accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Truth be told over the years, the Pentagon has provided a case study of how not to put out a brush fire on the grassy knoll. First they said it was a saucer, then a weather balloon, then a secret nuclear explosion detector, then finally a parachute test using crash dummies.
COL. DOUG KENNETT, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: The Air Force we searched did not locate or develop any information that the Roswell Incident was a UFO event or any indication of a cover-up.
O'BRIEN: They called that one the "Roswell Report Case Closed." SCHMITT: Case closed.
O'BRIEN: Case closed?
SCHMITT: No. Clearly not. Just don't spend 20 years talking to, you know, eyewitnesses, describing everything contrary to the official explanation and say you're all lying.
FRANKIE ROWE, HANDLED ALLEGED UFO DEBRIS: This looks more like --
O'BRIEN: Frankie Rowe was 12 when it happened and got a chance to play with the piece of the wreckage. She remembers some, well, out of this world properties.
How big was it? Like tin foil thickness?
FRANKIE ROWE, HANDLED ALLEGED UFO DEBRIS: Not that thick. Thinner than a hand. When you wadded this up in your hand you could not feel it in your hand. Then you take it and you drop it on the table before it ever hit there it's flat.
O'BRIEN: Frankie said a soldier came to her house a few days later and threatened her.
ROWE: He said don't talk about it. I didn't talk about it. Now kids in '47 are total different, I think they are from a different planet than kids today are.
O'BRIEN: So to speak, right Frankie?
ROWE: Because if we were told not to do something we didn't do it.
O'BRIEN:: Whatever you think about flying saucers, there is one thing that is certain, one thing that everyone can agree on in this story, this 61-year-old mystery has been awfully good for business here in Roswell, New Mexico.
And Julie Shuster should know. She runs the UFO museum which her dad started in '92. 160,000 now beat a path here every year. There's a 25 million dollar new building in the works.
So a skeptic watching this would say of course you don't want to accept the air force explanation. If the case is closed the tourists stop coming.
JULIE SHUSTER, DIR., INT'L UFO MUSEUM: I don't think even if it's proven one way or the other, I don't believe it's going to make a difference. It hasn't so far.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: So where it stands is really where it all began. For more than 60 years we've been kind of running in circles in the New Mexico desert. And in Roswell they've been laughing all the way to the bank. Maybe one of these days someone will find a piece of that magic metal. Kiran. KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Yes, it's hard to believe though the way the woman described it is fascinating. But there aren't any other ones out there, any pieces of this wreckage. I mean -
O'BRIEN: Yes, what they say the government came along and collected most of it. But the hope is that maybe somebody will find something in an attic someday or potentially they will find a piece of it on that ranch ground. They've actually done some digging there.
CHETRY: So they have not been able to even find the smallest piece to test?
O'BRIEN:: No. There's no evidence. No smoking gun proof. Lots of witness testimony. Lots of weird things happened there but no smoking gun proof.
CHETRY: It's still fodder 60 years later. We still talk about it. Still fascinating.
O'BRIEN: When we talk about it 60 years from now we'll still be doing this.
CHETRY: Exactly. Miles, thank you. And by the way tomorrow "Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's glowing so brightly that I can make out the figure. I'm really scared. It climbs up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now we're talk about alien abductions. You will meet one man who talked to hundreds of people all of them claiming they were kidnapped by extraterrestrials. Tomorrow you'll hear some of those stories here on AMERICAN MORNING. And if you've seen funny in the sky or you're convinced that aliens exist or you think it's all just science-fiction, we want to know, send us your pictures, video at cnn.com/am. Just click on the I-report link. Joe.
JOHNS: Kiran, the New York Mets will play their home games in brand new city field next season. Before they even lay the sod, giant orange Citi signs were visible from every major highway surrounding the ballpark in Queens.
The company says it plans to go ahead with a $400 million naming rights deal despite a government bailout and plans to layoff more than 50,000 workers. My next guest is a democratic congressman livid that taxpayer dollars should be used for such a massive advertising project.
Representative Elijah Cummings of the house oversight and government reform committee now joins me live from Baltimore. Congressman Cummings thanks for coming in again today.
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, SENIOR MEMBER OVERSIGHT & GOV'T REFORM CMTE. : Good morning. Good to be with you.
JOHNS: One of the things you said about this deal is that it's indefensible. Why do you say that?
CUMMINGS: Well I say that because we got Citigroup coming to the Congress, begging for money to stay afloat. They've got 25 billion a few months ago. Now getting another 20 billion and all kind of other sweeteners to keep them afloat.
They come to us saying, look, Congress, we're on a respirator, we are about to die. Yet and still and at the same time they are saying they are going to let go some 52,000 employees, but they want to hold on to, they are adamant about holding on to a deal whereby they can plaster their name on the front of a stadium in New York for $400 million over the course of the next 20 years. I have a problem with that and my constituents do too.
JOHNS: Got you. So Citi doesn't seem to be backing down. In fact, they issued a statement which essentially says "Citi remains committed to its relationship with the New York Mets. The sponsorship of Citi Field is an important marketing priority for the company." Now, one of the things that you have to ask though is, is whether it would be better for this company to stay in the deal than to back out of it? After all, a lot of people say naming rights deal, for example, bring money in. And don't we want Citi to make some money?
CUMMINGS: I would love for Citi to make some money but Citi is in a unique position. It's dying. It was literally on it's death bed. And the problem is that they didn't need - I mean they did very well, as the number one bank without naming rights to the Met Stadium before all these years. So suddenly now they need. Come on, give me a break.
And I think the American people are saying give me a break. Here's another piece of this that I'm very concerned about and that is that the folks that are ling up, the companies that are lining up wanting to get government money while my constituents are losing their jobs, losing their homes, going through difficult times, not knowing how they're going to make it, yet they basically see their tax dollars, their tax dollars being used for things like this.
The other thing is that part of the deal that was made with regard to Citigroup was for them to help people with their foreclosures. Well the fact is that that was sort of last on the list and Citigroup seems to be kind of, you know, moseying around exactly how they are going to make that happen.
What I'm saying is that the taxpayer dollars are paying for this. They need to understand that this is a new day. They got a new owner, the United States government. And the citizens of this country.
JOHNS: Now Barack Obama has said already that he does support this Citibank deal. On the other hand he's a little bit skeptical about the deal that people are talking about for the automakers. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We can't just write a blank check to the auto industry. Taxpayers can't be expected to pony up more money for an auto industry that has been resistant to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: He pretty much said that he was really wondering why the automakers didn't come to Congress with a more detailed plan for how they are going to get themselves out of this fix. Do you agree with that?
CUMMINGS: I agree with President-elect Obama completely. I said the same thing. I would like to see the automobile industry get some type of a funding. But the fact is, I mean keep in mind that one out of every ten jobs is associated with the automobile industry and we don't want to lose those jobs.
But, at the same time the leadership as they come flying in on their nice three private planes land in Washington and basically say give us the money. And that's the very thing I'm going against. They don't get it. This is a new day. And they don't get that they've come in begging the government for money. And this is taxpayers money. And so, I agree. They ought to have a plan for years, the automobile industry said no, we don't, don't worry about cafe standards, we don't have to make these energy efficient cars, we'll make the big cars and the trucks so that we can make lot of money.
Well this, is a new day and as the president said, yes President-elect said yesterday we don't have time to waste. I have another one for you. We don't have a dime to waste. This is a new - we've got to deal with this economy as it is and that's in a thrift manner so we can get back on our feet.
JOHNS: Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland, thanks so much. Good seeing you again.
CUMMINGS: Good seeing you too.
CHETRY: Well he's filling up his cabinet at a rapid pace. So the vetting needs to be going much faster too. So how does Team Obama know these high-profile picks don't have skeletons in the closet. The risks of speeding up the vetting. Also the new age of TV paranoia. Just like Jim Carrey's character in "The Truman Show." People who believe they are being watched. A new psychiatric report about people deluded to believe that their lives are really just playing out before an audience. It's 39 minutes after the hour.
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PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Talked to President- elect Obama about the decision we made. I've told the American people, and I've told the President-elect when I first met him that any time we were to make a big decision during this transition he will be informed as will his team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That's President Bush talking about the transition of power in a time of crisis. Barack Obama is moving fast to fill cabinet positions saying that we need quick and bold action. AMERICAN MORNING's Jim Acosta joins us from Washington with more on why he's moving so fast and of course some of the pitfalls of that. Hey, Jim, good to see you this morning.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran. It's all about necessity. After all of that talk about how this vetting process was driving people away, Barack Obama's cabinet is filling up faster than a Thanksgiving table. Sure the vetting is tough but the times are tougher.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: Good morning.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Barack Obama is already making presidential history by naming or leaking his cabinet picks faster than nearly all of his recent predecessors.
OBAMA: And if we do not act swiftly and boldly most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year.
ACOSTA: With an economic crisis spiraling out of control and a lame duck in the Oval Office, presidential scholars say the next commander in chief simply had no choice.
LARRY SABATO, PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: This is really unprecedented. But it's an unprecedented situation. Obama is doing what the public and the markets demand be done. And that is to show that the next president is in charge even before he takes the oath of office.
ACOSTA: The conventional wisdom was that the Obama's transition team vigorous vetting requirements including a probing seven-page questionnaire will slow down the selection process or scare away talent altogether. But potential cabinet and high level White House posts are filling up fast from health and human services to Homeland Security.
SABATO: Nobody believes that these individuals, Larry Summers, for example, has produced every email that might have been embarrassing to the President-elect or to the new administration. There simply wasn't enough time.
ACOSTA: In recent times only President Bush Sr. move more quickly. But that was to name confidante James Baker Secretary of State just days after the election. The second President Bush and Bill Clinton waited until December for their first picks. And two of Mr. Clinton's choices for attorney general were scuttled over revelations they had hired undocumented workers. The Obama team started early to avoid getting blind sided by unexpected problems. KENNETH GROSS, VETTING ATTORNEY FOR POLITICAL APPOINTEES: There's no question that plenty of work was done in anticipation of victory.
ACOSTA: it's a delicate balancing act. Vetting experts say the early roll out of Mr. Obama's economic team could calm markets as long as there aren't any surprises.
GROSS: I think they are pulling a high wire act is a good term because this is high stakes. These are high-profile positions and the last thing you need is something to blow up in your face.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Barack Obama is not out of the woods yet. There are confirmation hearings coming and one prominent republican is promising a good old-fashioned Capitol Hill grilling. Saying in times of crisis the public deserves nothing less -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Very interesting. All right. Jim Acosta, thanks.
ACOSTA: You bet.
JOHNS: Have you ever thought you were being watched? Apparently you're not alone. The new disorder where people can't shake the thought that they are secretly on a reality TV show. That's up next. It's 45 minutes past the hour.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMAN: Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.
TRUMAN: Oh and in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First position, right? Cue the site.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: A clip from "The Truman Show," the story of a man who found his world really was a stage for a hit TV show. Now doctors say there's actually something called the Truman syndrome. An actual mental condition where people convince themselves they are being followed around like they are in a reality TV show. Let's bring in medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, live for us at CNN Center. Elizabeth, tell us about this condition.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Joe. This is called by some psychiatrists the Truman syndrome. And what they mean is that some of their paranoid and delusional patients think that they are in a reality TV show. They think like Truman in this 1998 movie that they are being followed around, that their every move is being televised, that there are paparazzi that want to follow them and that everyone wants to know what they are doing.
Now, there are no big studies on this. This is just sort of a bunch of psychiatrists talking and publishing small studies. But the "Associated Press" today really has a fascinating article, psychiatrists basically trading stories about patients who think that they are in a reality TV show. And they say it's an interesting sort of combination of what happens when someone has a mental illness and they spend a lot of time watching TV. Joe.
JOHNS: So where does this come from? Who do you blame? Is it pop culture? Is it reality TV itself?
COHEN: You know the psychiatrists have been very quick to say look these are people who are definitely mentally ill. You can't blame the television.
Maybe in another era they might have been paranoid or delusional about something else but these are people who have mental illness who are watching television and they imagine that they are seeing - they imagine that that woman in the dress who's being followed. They imagine everyone wants to know what they're thinking and what they're doing. So it's a combination of pre-existing mental illness and popular culture.
JOHNS: Thanks so much, Elizabeth Cohen.
COHEN: Thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): First Lady, mom in chief, changing the game.
We're either, you know, single mothers with a bunch of children or drug addicts or street walkers.
CHETRY: Michelle Obama smashing stereotypes.
Plus, who's first to go in an economic crisis? They are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their families can't afford to take care of them, buy them food.
CHETRY: Pet surrender, but now a silver lining. Timing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You going to crawl on my lap.
CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: Well, just 56 days until the transition of power and the president-elect is revealing one of the newest members of his team, the White House social secretary. It will be Desiree Rogers. Here's a picture of her. She's a prominent Chicago businesswoman. She's also a longtime member of Obama's inner circle and will soon be responsible for every event or ceremony that takes place at the White House.
Joining me now to talk more about this role and the challenges ahead for the Obamas, "Washington Post" writer, and Washington insider Sally Quinn.
Sally, good to see you this morning. You know, looking through Desiree Rogers' resume, boy, she seems to be overqualified for the job as the social secretary. She has an MBA from Harvard and she also is currently working at All-state Financial. What exactly will she bring to the role?
SALLY QUINN, SELF PROCLAIMED WASHINGTON INSIDER: Oh I think it's interesting that she is clearly overqualified for the job, because I think it means that Michelle Obama plans to do more with the social side of the White House than, certainly than the Bushes.
As I understand it, the Bushes have had only six state dinners in eight years, which is just astounding. The Reagan administration had a state dinner every month. And right now we are not doing well abroad. The image of this country is not very good and it seems to me that one of the roles of this social secretary is going to be reaching out diplomatically in a way that hasn't been done for a long time.
And I think she's probably going to be doing more state dinners, which will have a political implication. And I also think that there's going to be a real effort to bring more kinds of people to the White House than have ever been brought before, to really mix it up, to reach out to people who haven't been included.
CHETRY: I want to ask you about that, Sally. This is interesting. She's said to be close friends with Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as well, somebody from Chicago. And you know Washington. It's a town where, you know, you work on your networking skills. So how is she going to sort of know the ins and outs, as well as somebody who, let's say, from Washington, and used to the social circle of Washington, D.C.?
QUINN: Well first of all, it is crucial that she has the confidence of the president and the first lady. It's also crucial that she has the confidence of the chief of staff and she, from Chicago, is obviously friendly with Rahm Emanuel, so that's key.
But she has already made a statement that she wants to get out and about in the community. And believe me, that she'll have plenty of opportunities. Because everybody here wants access to the White House and access to the president. And she will have a thousand invitations on her desk by this morning.
And I suspect she will go out a lot and she'll meet people and she's obviously very bright and a quick study. And she's going to have a lot of people who were in the White House now are people who have been around Washington for a long time. So I don't think it's going to take her very long to figure out how the system works. CHETRY: You're right. She's certainly not going to have been banging on doors for people, asking them to please come. But how does it work? Because of course there's a protocol right and there's a proper way of all this working. Who gets invited first? I mean how are these first state dinners going to be taking shape in terms of the guest list and who is around the table?
QUINN: Well, first of all, there are a lot of paybacks. This was a big campaign and the Obamas owe a lot of people so that the guest list will take care of itself in that way. I mean there are plenty of people who are dying to be invited.
And the people who were the most supportive are going to be on the guest list. As for the state dinners, I don't think there's going to be any dearth of countries to celebrate here. I mean, you could start right away with people like Gordon Brown, if you wanted, or Sarkozy or some of the Europeans or some of the Asians, Chinese, the Indians, I mean, whatever, in countries that we're going to need the support from.
CHETRY: And that's the other interesting thing. It's more than just sitting around, sipping wine, and eating a seven or eight-course meal. What do these dinners do in terms of solidifying relationships and also helping you know the White House and the president get things done?
QUINN: I don't think anybody really understands the importance of entertaining in Washington. This is not about play. This is about really, serious diplomacy. And it's about making friendships.
I mean, you can have a really contentious relationship with some leader, foreign leader, or even somebody on the hill, but if you sit down at a table with somebody and share a meal and drink, it's breaking bread. I mean, they've been doing it for thousands of years. You just establish a different kind of relationship. And it's very important, when you bring somebody into the White House, you are honoring them and they feel honored and they feel respected.
And I think that's one of the huge problems that we've had, particularly in the last eight years, is that we have dissed every country in the world. I mean, everyone feels disrespected by the United States. And I think one of the first things that Barack Obama needs to do is to make other countries feel as though we respect them and we care about them.
CHETRY: All right. Well Desiree Rogers certainly has her work cut out for her, but I'm sure it's a fun job and a rewarding job as well. Sally Quinn, thanks so much for your time this morning.
QUINN: Thank you.
