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Faces of Recession; Workers Take Over Factory; Big 3 Rescue Plan
Aired December 07, 2008 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, "Faces of Recession." Your voices heard in our totally interactive broadcast this hour. From politics to finance, from radio to faith -- what you're seeing, what you're hearing and what you're praying for right now.
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PROTESTORS: (INAUDIBLE)
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LEMON: Laid off workers unite. They have taken over their factory. People are taking notice, including a very noted name.
And there is always hope. Tonight, a young man with a difficult choice and a decision that will leave you inspired. The news starts now.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Don Lemon.
LEMON: Good evening, everyone. We start with a story that has empowered laid off workers and you can better believe it has caught the attention of employers around the world. At this moment, workers in Chicago have taken over the factory that laid them off and their protest is gaining ground. Even America's president-elect is taking note.
The 200 or so workers at the Republic Windows & Doors are quickly becoming a symbol of this country's deep and painful recession. With only three days' warning, they went from work to nothing. So now, they vow to stay put until they get severance and vacation pay.
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MELVIN MACLIN, LAID-OFF WORKER: It's been a wonderful place to work. I got married here. I went on two vacation, honeymoons here. Yes, it is a fantastic place to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to stay here as long as it is going to take to receive our money.
MACLIN: We had started to notice things like machines disappearing from the plant during the weekends, under the cover of darkness so we began asking questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got family. I got two kids. But now, another baby coming in three weeks. So, there's no insurance for my wife. There's no money. There's nothing. I lose everything right now.
MACLIN: I'm hoping to gain just what's owed to us -- our vacation, our last check and what's due us under the federal WARN Act. My fight now is for all of the other people that may not have pay, you know. That still have small children and medication that they need every day, you know? So, that's what my fight is about.
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LEMON: They are the symbol of the country's deep and painful recession. Politicians have visited, even the Reverend Jesse Jackson stopped by, but the standoff was put on the world stage today when President-elect Obama was asked about it.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they are absolutely right. And understand that what's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy.
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LEMON: Leah Fried is at the factory right now. She is with the United Electrical Workers Union.
Leah, what is the progress on this? You are expecting to talk to the company tomorrow?
VOICE OF LEAH FRIED, UNITED ELECTRICAL WORKER: That's right, Don. Well, we are day three of the peaceful worker occupation of Republic Windows & Doors. It has been a tremendous day, actually. As you mentioned, we had some visitors. Reverend Jesse Jackson came by and he brought a truckload of groceries for the workers. And that was wonderful. We had a visit by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. And we have just been hearing from all over the country and all over the world. Messages of support and solidarity. And it's been wonderful. So, we are very much in high spirits, looking forward to our negotiations tomorrow with Bank of America and the company.
LEMON: I spoke to some of the workers earlier today on our broadcast and they said that they were feeling empowered because of all the people who are dropping by and all of the support that they're getting from the community.
FRIED: Yes. You know, it's really become clear to everyone sitting around in this factory that a lot of people are feeling this pain and that we need to change. We need to see these huge corporations like Bank of America held to account, especially after receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout money, to make sure that they actually stimulate the economy and create and keep good jobs. These are jobs that, you know, are a living wage jobs. They produce a green building product. They are energy star windows. The kind of things that we need in this country.
LEMON: All right. Leah Fried is with the United Electrical Workers Union. And tomorrow, they talk to the company about meeting some sort of compromise or negotiations. Thank you very much for that, Leah.
Another major story that is developing this week, the bailout loan to the U.S. auto industry could come to a vote in Congress. That could happen within days. The price tag is expected to be 15 to $17 billion, and sources say congressional and White House negotiators are working on that right now -- as you look at live pictures of the White House and the Capitol.
It is about a half of what the big three, the CEOs had asked for last week. And to get the White House to sign off on this, Congress may have to take the money from a fund already set up to help GM, Ford and Chrysler make more energy-efficient cars. If the loan package goes through, a senior Democrat warns it could cost one auto executive his job.
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SEN. CHRIS DODD (D) BANKING CHAIRMAN: If you're going to really restructure this, you got to bring in a new team to do this in my view. And that's -- and these --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That being part of the condition of any bailout?
DODD: I think it is going to have to be part of it. And there are different positions. I think it's clear GM is in the worst shape. Chrysler is basically gone, probably ought to merge. Ford is fairly healthy. So, we don't want to brand all of these companies exactly the same way. But nonetheless, if you are going to restructure and have a viable manufacturing sector in our country.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So what you're saying about GM, is that Rick Wagoner, the chairman, has to go?
DODD: I think he has to move on.
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LEMON: CNN political editor Mark Preston joins us now. Mark, even though most of the public is against it, that's what the polls showed, it looks like Congress is getting ready to toss the auto industry a lifeline. Very difficult choice for them. But, Mark, this is my question.
It looks and feels like we have two presidents right now, I see Barack Obama holding news conferences and being questioned about the economy, but what about President Bush?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, no question. You know, President Bush has been very quiet, certainly not as loud, Don, as we heard Barack Obama has been. We have seen him hold these press conferences day after day. You know, he is always getting the question about the economy.
I will tell you, I think that President Bush and Barack Obama have really done this dance very well together. Barack Obama has been very careful to say that he is not the president and that for the next six weeks, the next seven weeks or so, President Bush is the one who's going to come forward with the plan. But the fact of the matter is, is that come January 20th, this is going to be Barack Obama's problem and that is why we've seen Barack Obama out there and he is the one who is really fielding all the tough questions.
LEMON: OK, you said come January 20th though. Like I said -- I said to you, we haven't heard a lot from President Bush. So then, are the American people, are we just on pause then? Is it a wait and see until January 20th, Mark?
PRESTON: Well, I don't think it is necessarily that we are on pause. And President Bush is actually doing some stuff. There are messages being sent from the White House up to Capitol Hill, and basically, telling Congress to not try to pass big bailout plans because we are not going to accept them. So, President Bush really is taking a stand. We just don't see him in these very loud news conferences.
However, if Congress is able to push through this bailout plan for the auto industry, what it's going to do, Don, is it is going to bridge them into the new year. It's going to bridge them for a couple months into the new year, and that is when Barack Obama can come in and really put his stamp on what is going on.
And look, these bridge loans are not only going to help Detroit, it is going to help all these other businesses that are affected by the auto industry.
LEMON: All right. Barack Obama's economy plan. Plan for jobs, Mark, I want to talk to you about that. Will you stick around for just a little bit and talk to me about that?
PRESTON: Sure.
LEMON: All right, thank you, sir.
Hitting the road.
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LEMON: And they are making their point as well. United Auto Workers, the members there, caravanning tonight, on their way to Washington, to lobby for a bailout plan. We will get a live update from them from the road. Also, we're answering your questions. We're taking your questions tonight. Join the interactive show tonight. Make sure you join our community. Logon to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or ireport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. It will be on the air. They are scrolling at the bottom of your screen right now.
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LEMON: Tonight, our interactive show to try to get you involved and also to try to help you out in this economy and to help you find a job. These are some of our responses and questions we are getting from Twitter. We are going to answer them with our experts in just a little bit. Let's continue to talk about this economy right now.
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LEMON: Many Detroit auto workers see the bailout loan as do or die. The UAW today organized a Caravan of Union Workers to drive to Washington to make their case in person. They are arriving in Breezewood, Pennsylvania, and then it's on to Washington tomorrow morning. The plan calls for a march to Capitol Hill with a news conference at 11 a.m. Eastern.
Well, one person driving to Washington tonight is Frank Hammer. He is a retired former president of UAW Local 909, and he joins us now by telephone. Where are you now, Mr. Hammer?
VOICE OF FRANK HAMMER, RETIRED FORMER PRESIDENT, UAW LOCAL 909: We are heading toward Breezewood on 76.
LEMON: So you are still in this caravan now? Are you going to drive straight through or you're going to overnight somewhere?
HAMMER: We are going to overnight in Breezewood.
LEMON: You are going to overnight in Breezewood? Why are you taking part in this caravan?
HAMMER: We're wanting to communicate the gravity of the situation with this question of the bridge loan. We think that it's important that it get approved to give the auto industry -- the domestic auto industry life so that we can go into the new administration under Obama, and hopefully, we come up with real solutions, long-term, for what will happen with the domestic auto industry and our union.
LEMON: When I spoke with you earlier, you said you had about four or five people in your caravan and that you expected to pick up some people in cities along the way. How many people do you have with you now?
HAMMER: We don't expect to -- we have -- we have the same four vehicles right now and we expect to pick up -- we picked up some folks here in Ohio and we expect maybe a couple more cars joining us in D.C.
LEMON: All right. And your plan tomorrow, 11 a.m., you have a news conference. You're going to march to Capitol Hill?
HAMMER: That's right.
LEMON: Tell us about your tomorrow real quickly.
HAMMER: We expected a press conference with media in D.C. at 11, and then from 1 to 4, we hope to be talking with congressional representatives to impress upon them our point of view as rank and file.
LEMON: All right. Mark Hammer, retired former president, UAW Local 909. Thank you very much and safe travels to you.
The auto workers are getting their voices heard. You heard that. But now, it is your turn. Make sure you Logon to Twitter, to Facebook, MySpace, ireport.com, any of those platforms, tell us what you're thinking and we are going to pose some of your questions and your comments to our experts tonight. They include Mark Preston and Poppy Harlow. They are both in the house. So break down the proposed bailout loan and they'll offer tips on how you can survive this tough job market.
All this hour, we are hoping you improve your economic reality. Now, here is a tidbit. If you are looking to start over, you might want to consider North Dakota, where home values and car sales continue to grow. And the unemployment rate is more than three points lower than the national average.
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LEMON: All right, check it out, your viewer responses tonight. And we are hearing your voices. Here is what Ms. Angelique said. She said, "The issue that I had with the economy is recent grads are competing with overqualified people for entry-level jobs."
I have been talking to some of our iReporters there saying the same thing. They are concerned about not being able to get loans to go to school. Make sure you logon to Twitter, to Facebook, MySpace or ireport.com. Tell us what you are thinking. We will get your responses on the air.
OK, right now, let's bring in Poppy Harlow, cnnmoney.com and CNN political editor Mark Preston.
Hello again, Mark.
Hello to you, Poppy.
Mark Preston, you know, to anybody outside of Obama's inner circle, right, no one really knows what his plan is about getting jobs and the economy. He has been pretty vague, right?
PRESTON: He has been very vague. Although, this weekend, during his radio address, Don, he did offer some bones, not very specific ideas but let's just go through them very quickly. He talked about energy. He brought up the issue of energy. He said that what he wants to do is try to modernize and update federal buildings, make them more energy efficient.
He talks about expanding broadband access. He talks about modernizing and upgrading the schools -- the crumbling schools. And really, the granddaddy of them all and perhaps the biggest part of it is he is talking about investing the most money in rebuilding the infrastructure of our roads and our bridges. Since the 1950s, when we had the Interstate Highway System created.
So what he is doing is he is taking all these key issues, Don, he's lumping them all together and he is saying that by investing and really upgrading all of our infrastructure across the country. We'll be creating jobs. He has talked about saving or creating 2.5 million jobs, Don, and this is how he says he is going to do it, but there is no price tag.
LEMON: Yes. But Paul and Poppy, in the short-term, it does nothing for a lot of people. And we are talking people like -- Poppy, I think you remember him from last night. Paul Nawrocki, unemployed for almost a year now, using a sandwich board to advertise his skills. Let's remind our viewers about him.
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PAUL NAWROCKI, UNEMPLOYED EXECUTIVE: When you're out of work and you face having nothing, I mean, having no income, pride doesn't mean anything. You need to find work. I have to take care of my family.
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LEMON: And Poppy, what can people like Paul Nawrocki do until this Obama plan kicks in?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: You know, it is interesting, Don. We showed the whole piece earlier. Paul is an executive of a toy company. He seems like he had a pretty high-paying good job. And so, he is not looking for an entry-level job. But he still can use the Internet. We just don't want him to post his resumes on those big sites like Monster and HotJobs. It could get lost. Use a site like indeed.com, that brings together newspaper ads and online ads. But only about 4 percent or 5 percent of all jobs in this country are posted online.
The key is to ask your friends and family. Tell them I'm looking for a job, can you help me, can put me in touch? Once you apply, you want to write a letter, a handwritten letter. No one does that anymore. Follow up with the company directly. Also, check out your college alumni directory. You never know what your old college roommate is doing. He may be running a big company and looking to hire someone just like you. Use a head hunter. No cost to you. They get paid if they get you a job, and they know every single industry. And finally, if you have time, volunteer. Do something that will be good for the community. Good on your resume. And in the meantime, it will fill some time and it may help you out in the end.
But if you are going to look online, follow up with a letter. You really have to push it. You can't just post it on a big site and expect the employer to call you these days.
LEMON: Yes. And Poppy -- and you know, Mark, I have a question for you, but Poppy, you bring up a very interesting point. And you know, good old-fashioned, you said, handwritten letters, or notes, or just a token of appreciation. I will do it after I meet with someone for a job or for interview.
HARLOW: I just finish doing it, Don, up at my desk in the mail.
LEMON: Yes. And it's amazing, because people will want to talk to you again and people will pick up the phone for you when you do things like that, right?
HARLOW: It's true. True.
LEMON: Good old-fashioned stuff. OK, so Mark, listen, a lot of people feel that they have -- that Barack Obama, they have invested a lot, have a lot riding on Barack Obama, and is he going to be able to deliver come January 20th or 21st? It's not going to change overnight, even with these plans that he put out today and this weekend.
PRESTON: No, a very timely question because, Don, I was out in San Francisco this past week, and I sat down with Marcos, who is the head of Dealey Coast. You know, this is arguably the most influential blogger, liberal blogger we have in the country, perhaps in the world.
And what he said to me is, look, Barack Obama, we are going to let him have some time to really try to get his plans together. You know, we have to have a little bit of a honeymoon period. But eventually, if Barack Obama doesn't start delivering on his promises, Don -- and let's not forget, Barack Obama is going to have at least 58 Democratic seats in the Senate. He has scores of seats in the House. If he is not able to deliver perhaps by the summer, or he starts waving off his commitments, that is when you're going to see the liberal left really go after Barack Obama.
LEMON: All right, Mark Preston, thank you very much. We appreciate you joining us tonight. And Poppy Harlow is going to stick around, because Poppy, you are going to answer some of our questions that we have.
Before we go to this Twitter thing, can we take our iReporters here? They've got a question for you, Poppy. They want to ask you their concerned about college and not being able to pay loans. These are two of our iReporters who join us now. We want to hear from you tonight. Tell us what is on your mind. Logon to Twitter, to Facebook, ireport.com or MySpace. Tell us what you are thinking and we will get it on.
Also, much of the U.S. could see some rough weather tomorrow. There is a major storm brewing that could mean lots of snow for the Midwest and lots of travel headaches for everyone. Our Jacqui Jeras, you see there, working hard on your forecast.
But first, if you're looking for a job, take a close look at the oil and gas industry -- the oil and gas industry. According to the Associated Press, it is an industry that is still growing.
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LEMON: OK, taking your comments tonight. I want to give you some of them and then we're going to read some of them to our money experts to try to help you out. Here is what Gtfourier says. He said the only way to get a better-paying job, maybe to move to a new city state. I hope not lost any of my skills -- I hope not lost any of my skills/knowledge."
Beautylogicblog says, "In regard to the Paul Nawrocki question, yes, I would go to those lengths, especially if I had a family to feed."
And ZEPROF says, "Hi, Don. I think people without jobs should be prepared for the new green economy. Maybe it's the right thing to go back to school."
Interesting comment. Log on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, ireport.com. Tell us what you're thinking and we will try to get some of your responses on the air.
OK, it is big, it is brewing and it is heading right for the Midwest. If you're anywhere in that area, you need to pay attention. Jacqui is tracking a big winter storm system. Jacqui, in the Midwest, but it is probably going to travel so a lot of folks need to pay attention?
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LEMON: All right. We are talking about the "Faces of Recession." People you might know or be related to. We will take a closer look at their stories. And our very own Poppy Harlow has tips to try to help them and all of you out in these tough economic times. You want to stick around, because we are going to help. We are going to answer questions right from our viewers.
But first, you know, one of our people who Twitter said, "I hope I don't have to move." Well, we hope not either. But if you are looking for a job, consider the railroad, the utility or logging and mining industries. According to the Associated Press, they are still growing markets. Good luck.
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LEMON: All right -- 500,000 jobs plus -- 500,000-plus jobs lost in just one month alone. And when you hear a number like that, it is hard to wrap your mind around it. But these stories, they really make it real for you. Mike Demeniuk. Well, his family lives in Michigan and they have worked in the auto industry for years. And if there is no big three bailout loan, they all maybe out of jobs.
Valerie Melrose is a woman. She is over 50 years old, who was recently laid off. She found herself trying to get back into the workforce. And our Gerri Willis caught up with her at a job placement center in Yonkers, New York, and guess what. Someone saw her story on our air on CNN and offered her a job.
And then there is Vicente Rangel. He's one of a couple hundred workers holed up in a Chicago plant. They say they only had three days' notice before that factory closed. Now they want their severance and vacation pay. And Rangel and his wife, who also worked at the plant, they're desperate.
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VICENTE RANGEL, LAID-OFF WORKER: My wife and myself work in the same plant. So now we don't have my insurance and that's very tough situation for us.
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LEMON: Well, I have been asking your questions and your comments on MySpace, on Facebook and on Twitter, and now I have cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow here to answer some of your questions.
OK, Poppy, let's see if we can answer this one.
This one is from John Parkas (ph). He says, "In what cases should a person consider going back to school, even when that person is over 40?"
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, it's a great question. Number one, what is his financial situation? Because if you've lost your job and you feel like you need more skills and you need to go to school, but you're going to go $40,000 into debt for just one year of training, what I would suggest is take a few classes in the area that you want to learn more about.
Maybe night classes, community colleges offer pretty good rates. See if you like it. See if you're learning enough or if you could possibly do some temp work at some different places and learn there, what skills you're most interested in, because it's better to test the waters out before you make a huge investment, especially right now.
LEMON: OK, Poppy, I want to turn now to two people who join us and watch us here on Webcam and also they're part of our iReporters. They actually won -- what did you win? The audience award for the iReport contest?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's right.
LEMON: OK. Zack and Franco (ph) join us, and they're in college there in Ohio?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
LEMON: What do you want to ask Poppy? What do you want to ask Poppy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a question pertaining to college students.
HARLOW: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to know like how the banks closing and everything, how that's going to affect students getting loans and how that's going to affect them getting loans to pay for their college tuition?
HARLOW: It's a huge question. The government, luckily, has a lot of student loans that you get right through the government, through Sallie Mae and some other organizations. And it's a little bit harder to get student loans these days. But they're still out there. It's not as hard as it is to get business loans or auto loans. So, there's some hope.
And also what I would say to you -- you guys is people need to look at state schools and community colleges, even if it's just for their first year. So, they don't need to be paying, again, as I was saying before, $40,000 a year. That is not necessary.
But in terms of the big Wall Street banks closing, it's not having a massive, massive effect on student loans. But again, it makes the situation certainly a lot harder.
LEMON: All right. Does that answer your question, Zack, Franco?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, pretty good.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, guys.
HARLOW: E-mail us with more.
LEMON: Yes. OK. I've got another one for you, Poppy. This one is -- that first one was from MySpace. This one is from Twitter.
HARLOW: OK.
LEMON: And this one is 4CE or Force, I would imagine. "What sector would you suggest I try to gain employment, ease of getting hired and long-term stability being the biggest factors here, what sectors?"
HARLOW: All right. So, Friday we got that dismal job reports and showed us pretty much across-the-board, there are jobs being cut but there were three areas of growth that have been pretty consistent this year, Don.
That is education, health care and government jobs. The reason is because those jobs can't be outsourced, right? They're not like technology jobs or banking jobs that are disappearing. Those are places to look. Here in New York City, not only are they looking to hire teachers but they're raising teacher's salaries every year. They've been doing that recently. Health care jobs can be really good, too.
LEMON: OK, Poppy, hey, we've got about 20 seconds here. I want to get one more.
HARLOW: OK.
LEMON: And this one is also from Twitter. Tanisha77 says, "You can always get a job, but for people to get a decent job, they need a higher education. How can that happen if you can't afford school?"
HARLOW: You know what? Again, try those community colleges, those state schools. There are great state schools out there. The tuition is much lower than the private schools. And you know what? Maybe this is time to put your entrepreneur hat on and try something on your own for a little bit until you can get enough money to go back to school.
LEMON: Good advice, Poppy Harlow. We appreciate it. And thanks to our iReporters who are joining us there -- Zack and Franco as well in Ohio. We hope they stay warm because a big snowstorm is headed towards them.
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: Thank you very much.
The economy, the bailout and the big job ahead for Barack Obama. You know, everyone has an opinion and they're sharing them, of course, on talk radio. There they are. I was waiting for you guys to come up. Martha Zoller, Warren Ballentine are in the house to tell us what they're hearing, and if they're helping out there. Some of their shows are trying to help people get jobs as well.
Also, all hour, we're taking a closer look at what you can do to get ahead. And if you're in the job market, make sure you check out the food, drink or tobacco industry. According to the Associated Press, they are still hiring.
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LEMON: Heard the viewers. You guys, you're all over this Twitter, MySpace and Facebook thing. And talk radio -- well, they will be, too, of course. Right, Martha? Right, Warren?
MARTHA ZOLLER, HOST, "MARTHA ZOLLER SHOW": Right. Especially if we get pushed off the air.
WARREN BALLENTINE, HOST, "WARREN BALLENTINE SHOW": I hope we ain't going nowhere.
LEMON: Are you talking about losing your jobs as well?
ZOLLER: We could be. LEMON: I've heard your shows. I think you guys both have job security. OK. Our drive-time radio hosts, Warren Ballentine and Martha Zoller. They join us tonight.
So, you know, I was talking to you, Martha. I'm getting a lot of responses about -- I'm looking at some of the things now -- about outsourcing, about outsourcing. People are concerned. They said there -- jobs are still being outsourced, yet Americans don't have jobs. Are you hearing that from your listeners?
ZOLLER: Not so much about the outsourcing, but you certainly hearing about a lot of layoffs. Almost every day, you're hearing about it. And they're smaller, you know -- they're smaller, 100 here, you know, 200 there. I'm hearing from a lot of people that need help.
And what I try to do is match them up. You know, one of my fill- in hosts is a guy that owns an employment agency. And so, you know, we put him over there. We try to help him as much we can. Because I think Poppy is right. You're going to hear about jobs from people you know, not necessarily from looking in the paper.
LEMON: OK. Very good, very good. And Warren, I know that you're all over this as well. As a matter of fact, we went to -- it was a bankruptcy summit or something together and I did a Don Cam on it. And you actually --- I hear you talking to people almost every day about jobs, gift cards, people are feeling so bad for folks.
BALLENTINE: Yes. Right now, what we're doing on my show, because it's so rough, we're posting jobs. But we're also asking listeners who can afford to spend $5, $10, $25 to purchase gift cards right off our Website to give to listeners who need help so Santa can be there for their children at Christmas. It's tough right now. And we, as Americans, need to all come together in order to get through this.
LEMON: Did you at some point, either of you, did the people at your radio station, because -- to be full transparency, we're talking about it in our meeting today, we have gotten -- I've gotten so many responses for this. People even asking me, saying, why don't you use the resources at CNN to try to get people a job?
And you know, we're not -- that's not the business that we're in but we're wondering, in some way, can we help out. The people higher up in your companies, Martha or Warren, you can take -- realize that people are desperate and they need help and maybe your company should be doing something to help?
ZOLLER: Well, it's all about networking. It's not necessarily the company. It is individuals doing what they can. I call it your sphere of influence, doing what you can in your sphere of influence. If you do that, help people get back to school, help people get through, and I know Warren is doing the same kind of things. We may disagree on a lot of political issues, but this kind of networking is what we all have to do.
LEMON: Warren? BALLENTINE: Yes, I totally agree with that. I think, you know, it's a blessing for us to be able to bring out news and information, but we also have to give solutions.
ZOLLER: Right.
BALLENTINE: And when you have a situation going on that we are in right now, because we are in a recession. We have to be viable and informative, but the same time, helpful in any way we can be.
LEMON: And what's very interesting, Martha, because listening to you -- I was listening to you one day. And I heard people saying, even before the government said that we're officially in a recession, they were saying, we're in a recession, I don't know what these people are thinking or why they won't call it, but everyone knew that we're in a recession, except for the folks who are in charge of the money.
ZOLLER: Well, I mean, there ought to be a lot of people changing at the top. You know, in one of your packages earlier, they're talking about some of the car execs changing at the top. But I'm not sure that a lot of people don't need to be moved around. You know, I'm not in favor of most of these bailouts and I don't think it's the right way to go. But we have to do -- you know, we can't control what the government does, except by mobilizing, but we can control what we do in our sphere of influence.
LEMON: OK. I'm going to say something that's probably going to be upsetting to both of your listeners. We talk about the auto makers being bailed out and people going, oh, you know, they shouldn't -- we shouldn't bail them out, blah, blah, blah. And I say they were making cars that weren't efficient.
But then also, they had to make cars for people to buy. And if people didn't want to buy what they were making, then they were in trouble. So, obviously, people wanted these big SUVs, you know, with the 40s, Warren, right?
BALLENTINE: Well...
LEMON: Hang on. And Martha, the soccer moms wanted their big SUVs, so they -- I call them grocery getters. Because you got a big SUV and all you're doing is getting groceries and you're burning a hole in the ozone. Both of you, go ahead, it's all of our fault.
BALLENTINE: You know what, Don. I totally agree with you, but at the same time, you know, I'm for the bailout. I think you have to have conditions on it. I think some heads need to roll. But even more than that, I think the oil companies should kick in some money on this. They've made billions, trillions of dollars off of the automotive industry by putting out these big SUVs, by putting out all these luxury cars and not efficient cars. We need to make American cars that have 100,000-mile warranties on them.
LEMON: OK.
BALLENTINE: We need to do things like that. I agree with you. LEMON: Martha, real quick, last word. I got to go.
ZOLLER: I got to say, I can't support the bailout. And the oil companies, I mean, they're not responsible for this. But we have to be responsible for what we're doing. And education's a part of it. And you've got to make sure that you are tapping out all the resources that you have.
LEMON: OK. We're all responsible, me included.
ZOLLER: That's right.
LEMON: I had a big Cadillac.
ZOLLER: Me, too. I'm still driving it.
LEMON: Yes. So, there you go. We're all learning our lesson.
BALLENTINE: I got a Pinto.
LEMON: Thank you very much, both of you. Have a great rest of the weekend. We're back at 10:00. Aren't you happy?
ZOLLER: Yes.
BALLENTINE: I'm ecstatic about being on at 10.
LEMON: All right. You know what? We're going to continue to talk about this. This is what you call being moved by the spirit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're in here today, if you would come to the altar. I don't want to just pray with you. I want to put you somewhere that we can help walk with you and to get you to where you need to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: This is what the faith-based community is experiencing now. The congregation at New Birth Church in the Atlanta area comes through in a big way to help people in financial trouble. We'll hear from Bishop Eddie Long about what happened this morning, a wakeup call to him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Whatever you're doing right now, if you're sitting on the couch, sitting at the computer, working on the bills tomorrow, sit down and listen to this story. We are committed here to showing you the faces of the recession, right? So those hit hardest by America's money crisis.
We are in a time when people are relying on their faith and when the faith-based community is reaching out, putting their money right now, where the crisis is. New Birth Church here in the Atlanta area is one to of those. I want you to watch what happened just this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BISHOP EDDIE LONG, SENIOR PASTOR, NEW BIRTH CHURCH: If you're in here today, if you would come to the altar, I don't want to just pray with you, I want to put you somewhere that we can help walk with you and to get you to where you need to be. We ain't gonna have you on the street. Just come stand down here in front of me. Come on. So, come, wherever you are. You see people are coming now. They want to bless you. You're not alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Bishop Long joins us now.
Bishop, this was -- when you made that altar call this morning for people who were, I guess, homeless, you call it the new face of homelessness?
LONG: Yes, sir.
LEMON: This was a wakeup call, even to you?
LONG: Yes, it was a challenge. Over the last few weeks, I've been staying at service, shaking hands as normal and I'm having mothers come up to me with little kids around and they're hugging me and saying, pastor, pray for me, my children and I are sleeping in the car, we're homeless. Never seen the righteous forsaken, nor seen begging bread.
LEMON: When you brought these people up, right, and then all of a sudden, the congregation started -- just -- you didn't even ask for...
LONG: I didn't have to ask. It was a spontaneous movement. Because, you know, there are some who do have, and yet in the fear of what's going to happen, they have been holding it. But when they find out that there is a real cause, and it starts a whole wakeup call kind of hit the congregation. We've been feeding people for a while. We've been doing things.
But now, when you see mothers walk down the aisle with their children, holding babies, et cetera, and have nowhere to go, it just really -- a rally call. And it's spontaneous. In a few moments, there was almost $50,000 on the altar to be able to help them.
LEMON: Can the church do that now? Is the church feeling it as well, even with the recession? Are you able to help all of those?
LONG: Well, you know what, one of the things that we have -- the mega churches have come under great criticism over time. But one of the great advantages of the mega churches is that they can come together, like today and spontaneous, have job fairs, spontaneous, have what you used to call rent parties.
LEMON: Are you doing that? LONG: We're doing that, we're doing that now. We are always doing that. We have a minister and some ministers out that constantly with our employment network, going out, beating the pavement, finding jobs. Companies are coming in, Delta Airlines, we're working with Home Depot, a lot of people, to find employment.
LEMON: If someone is watching this and is not a member of New Birth, do you encourage him to come and to help?
LONG: This is not an exclusive New Birth club only. We're here to help everybody. This is -- like with Hurricane Katrina and all. It is our God-given responsibility to open our arms in love and to do everything we possibly can to sustain the people and help them get on their feet during this time.
LEMON: Website for New Birth?
LONG: www.newbirth.org.
LEMON: newbirth.org. And it's also challenging other people, I would think, in the faith-based community to do the same thing.
LONG: The faith-based community and other churches are starting to step up and it is wonderful what's happening. But we got to stick it into the long haul.
LEMON: Thank you, bishop.
LONG: Thank you. Thank you very much.
LEMON: All right. An altar call for the homeless in the church. A wakeup call this morning for Bishop Eddie Long.
Also, this is a story we won't soon forget. A young man with a difficult choice and a decision that will leave you inspired.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, we have spent a lot of time tonight talking about the recession and it is not a fun or a happy topic, obviously. So, we want to leave you tonight with a story that will inspire you. It is about one of the best players and one of the most storied college football programs in the country. His name is Myron Rolle. But Myron Rolle is much more than a football player. And now, he has a big decision to make.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): The question many have been asking about Myron Rolle began with a call home to his mom.
MYRON ROLLE, FSU FOOTBALL PLAYER: I said, Mommy, I said, hey, you find anything? I won. Ha! Mommy, relax, relax. I got to tell you more.
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Ah, oh, my God. LEMON: That's how it started. That's when Myron Rolle learned he had a choice to make.
ROLLE: I like to set my goals for the stars, you know, and reach as high as I can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number 3, Myron Rolle.
LEMON: Rolle is a scholar athlete who in just two and a half years raced through Florida State to graduate near the top of his class, Premed. But what inspires so many and what made them cheer for Myron Rolle is his single-minded belief that anything, anything, really, is possible.
ROLLE: Barack Obama has done it; Oprah Winfrey has done it -- people who have succeeded with their academics, with their brain, with their mind, with their intellect and with their power of speech and their influence.
LEMON: Which is why it now seems all but certain his future would be decided on a big game day. It was Florida State at the University of Maryland, NFL scouts watching. The only question, which team would draft him and pay him millions?
But Rolle was 800 miles away. Instead of suiting up for the game, a private jet flew Rolle to Alabama. He was up for the prestigious Rhodes scholarship at Oxford University. His final interview was that morning.
On the football field in Maryland, fans watched the clock, fingers crossed he could get back in time. A police escort rushed him to the stadium in time to play the second half and a huge victory. But by then, he already called home. The Rhodes committee had selected him.
LEMON (on camera): Why were you so excited, mom?
BEVERLY ROLLE, MYRON'S MOTHER: Because my baby just won something that he dreamt about for, you know, for many years and he accomplished it, you know.
LEMON (voice-over): Myron's brother, Marvis.
MARVIS ROLLE, MYRON'S BROTHER: I almost lost my mind. I let go of the wheel, started screaming -- yah!
LEMON: Oxford, England or the NFL? The 22-year-old had already founded health classes for needy kids in Florida and had planned to eventually start a clinic in the Bahamas, dedicated to his family. So, what would Myron Rolle decide?
LEMON (on camera): You are going to go to Oxford, right?
ROLLE: Correct.
LEMON: You're going to do that? ROLLE: Yes, sir. I'm going to go to Oxford. You know, I have something that I wanted to do and that's why I chose the Rhodes scholarship to pursue because Oxford is a great university.
LEMON (voice-over): And after that, the NFL and then med school.
ROLLE: I want to be a doctor. I want to be great. I want to do some great things.
LEMON: It's why so many are cheering for Myron Rolle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And that story ran earlier in the week on AC360, 10 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN. Here's one of the notes about Myron Rolle. He is in rare company. A Rhodes scholarship is the most prestigious award an American student can receive. Previous winners include former President Clinton and former U.S. Senator and New York Knicks basketball player Bill Bradley. He is in some very high company there.
OK. Praying for the bailout. SUVs on the altar. That's it. Amazing video. That is an SUV on the altar. Auto workers in the pews. We'll take you to this church in Detroit. Unbelievable.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It was another roller coaster week for investors. The Dow tanked 700 points last Monday. Official word of a U.S. recession and mounting job cuts sparked a trillion dollar selloffs.
Meanwhile, auto chiefs from the Big 3 returned to Washington to ask for an even bigger bailout. This week, the Labor Department released its producer price index, which measures the price of wholesale goods. Analysts expect the Core PPI will be flat. But while inflation may not worry economists, the specter of deflation is beginning to.
We'll also get a look at the Commerce Department's monthly retail sales reports for November. According to Shopper Track, the boost from Black Friday and Saturday wasn't enough to give sales for the month much of a lift. Overall sales are seen rising by just 1.9 percent.
After Friday's shockingly weak jobs report, economists are predicting Federal Reserve policymakers will cut interest rates further when they meet later this month, pushing the key rate below 1 percent. Chairman Ben Bernanke has called the move, quote, "certainly feasible."
And there may be developments on a plan being considered by the U. S. Treasury to lower mortgage rates for new homeowners. Under the plan, the Treasury would underwrite fix mortgages at rates as low as 4.5 percent. An announcement could come this week.
That's this week's "Getting Down to Business." Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. We have been following the economy. We have been following jobs and also what's happening to the auto industry. Check this out. SUVs on the altar. This is a scene tonight at one of Detroit's biggest churches. Sports utility vehicles were placed on the altar while auto workers in the pews prayed for the recovery of their battered industry.
Local car dealers donated three hybrid vehicles for the service, one from each of the Big 3 automakers. And a minister says lives are hanging above an abyss of uncertainty.
I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you right back here next weekend, 5 and 11 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, 6 and 10 on Sunday. Have a good evening.
