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American Morning
Investigation Begins on Continental Plane Crash; Obama Focuses on Job Creation; Calls for Cash for Obama's Inauguration; Toyota Warns of Record Losses
Aired December 22, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Jet plane, split in two. They were inside.
GABRIEL TREJOS, PASSENGER ON PLANE: The engine was on fire so I was worried, you know, about getting out of there. And then we had another guy yelling, "Oh, the plane's going to blow up, you know. The plane's going to explode".
CHETRY: Evacuation desperation. Pushing, shoving, what went wrong?
And when times are tough, the tough get praying and singing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as you have your faith, as long as you have hope, you can get another house. You can get another car.
CHETRY: Plus, halfway around the world, get a priceless souvenir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant. And she's just -- you can feel the tears through the phone.
CHETRY: The first in our special series, baby quest, the overseas baby creation vacation. But not the way you think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our dream.
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And welcome. Glad you're with us on this Monday, December 22nd. I'm Kiran Chetry along with Carol Costello. Good to see you this morning. John Roberts is taking some time off.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You know, the Lions lost.
CHETRY: The what?
COSTELLO: The Lions lost. The Detroit Lions.
CHETRY: Yes.
COSTELLO: We talked a lot about this on Friday.
CHETRY: So they're 0-16 now.
COSTELLO: No, 0-15.
CHETRY: OK.
COSTELLO: They have one more game.
CHETRY: So they've still broken a record, right? No other team has gone 0-15.
COSTELLO: Yes, Kiran, they've broken a record.
CHETRY: Just checking. This poor Lions. I'm sorry. There's always next year.
COSTELLO: Thank you. OK. I guess we should get to the news now, huh?
Topping the news this morning, serious news. Investigators resume the search for clues in a Continental Airline accident at Denver's expert this weekend. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered from the plane. That plane crashed and burned as it veered off a runway and into a ravine. Thirty-eight people were hurt.
The price of gas has not been this low in nearly five years. AAA reporting this morning the national average for regular unleaded is down to $1.66 a gallon. That's nearly 60 percent off the record high price of $4.11 back in July.
And snowstorms and bitter cold conditions are making life miserable for holiday travelers today. From the Pacific Northwest all the way to Maine, the storm dumping almost six inches of snow in the Seattle area. As much as a foot and a half of snow fell in parts of New England. The big chill is gripping almost the entire country.
In Atlanta, the wind chill making it feel like eight degrees. Oh and in Dallas, a wind chill of 18 and icy cold in Chicago. Wind chills making it feel like minus 23 degrees.
Oh, that makes Atlanta sound balmy. Rob Marciano is tracking this extreme weather for us.
What is going on?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, well, you know, just a few days ago, we're talking about how the eastern half, northern part of the country was under the cold, but it's pretty much the entire thing north of New Orleans. And you're looking at temperatures, this are actual temperatures. You show the wind chills, actual temperatures minus two in Chicago, minus 10 in Minneapolis.
Today's daytime high is 27 New York, 11 in Chicago. It will be 39 in Atlanta, 37 degrees in Dallas. So everybody getting into the act here and it will be a few days before we start seeing things warm up.
It feels like minus 28 right now in Minneapolis, minus 37 in and Bismarck. Dangerous wind chills and, of course, we've got the snow.
Roll you through some video, we also have out of Wisconsin from the weekend a number of interstate crashes. A treacherous travel here. I-43 across Wisconsin saw a pileup that involved over 40 cars. Also down the road in Michigan, I-94 saw a massive car pileup with 30 cars there, and a total of 100 cars along the interstate in different crashes.
So the Midwest certainly getting hammered in the travel. The biggest issue and, of course, a lot of people trying to get out on the roadways to get home.
All right, what's going on right now? We have some snow across parts of Michigan and upstate New York. This is just lake-effect snow, so it's not going to be as widespread as it has been. But another punch of winter weather from Seattle all the way down to San Diego heading into the intermountain west so this is what we expect to see here. More snow coming into areas that don't really see it this time of year. It's pretty nasty.
Carol, back up to you.
COSTELLO: Nasty. It's beginning to look like -- it's beginning -- well, it's beginning to look like Christmas, but not. It's too cold. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: Just try to get yourself into the spirit for it. All right.
COSTELLO: I'm trying.
CHETRY: Well now to that investigation in that terrifying runway accident at Denver's airport this weekend. Firefighters first on the scene say it was a miracle that no one was killed when Continental Flight 1404 headed to Houston, skidded off the runway during takeoff and caught fire. Now the NTSB is trying to determine how the flight went so horribly long.
CNN's Susan Roesgen is in Denver for us.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran and Carol, the National Transportation Safety Board investigators will be talking to a lot of people. They'll be talking to the pilots, of course, to the flight attendants and also the passengers. And some of the passengers say that they thought there must have been some kind of problem even before the plane took off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN (voice-over): The plane had just started to accelerate for takeoff, and among the passengers was a young couple with their 1- year-old baby. MARIA TREJOS, PASSENGER ON PLANE: We were looking out the window to show the baby the lights. And he was going ooh, ooh, you know, like they're looking at some pretty lights. And then all of a sudden, it was just too much light.
ROESGEN: The Boeing 737 was on fire and skidding off the runway. The wheels were disintegrating as the plane finally stopped belly down in the snow. That's when passengers seemed to forget the right way to evacuate.
G. TREJOS: Some people were trying to get luggage from their top and that the engine was on fire. So I was worried, you know, about getting out of there. And then, we had another guy yelling, "Oh, the plane's going to blow up, you know. The plane's going to explode."
ROESGEN: Passengers shoved each other and scrambled over each other as the overhead luggage bins started to melt from the heat. At daylight you can see how the plane cracked right down the middle like an eggshell and how incredible it was that everybody made it out alive. Nearly 40 people were injured, two critically.
ROBERT SUMWALT, NTSB: The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, they were located. They were secured and they were intact.
ROESGEN: National Transportation Safety Board investigators will pore over every piece of wreckage and interview the crew to try to find out what went wrong with the plane and the panicky evacuation. They'll also talk to passengers who say they knew there had been a problem before they got on.
G. TREJOS: I heard something over the intercom, you know, before you get on it they were having problems -- engine problems with the plane. And shortly after that they said everything's fine and that there's going to be an on-time flight.
ROESGEN: One more thing for investigators to explore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: As I'm sure you can tell, Kiran and Carol, it is bitterly cold here in Denver, and that's going to be one of the challenges for the investigators as they pore over that wreckage. We may have some preliminary results in a week or so, but they do say that the entire investigation may not be wrapped up for a year -- Carol, Kiran.
CHETRY: Susan Roesgen for us. Thank you.
Well this morning, the parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann are ramping up efforts to find their daughter. They've released a new web video featuring previously unseen footage of Madeleine at home with her family in England. The 4-year-old disappeared during a family vacation in Portugal back in May of 2007. So far, a number of leads have turned up nothing. Portuguese police officially closed their investigation in July. And with Christmas just days away, retailers are counting on deep discounts to get you in the door. Stores like Macy's slashing prices up to 65 percent. Others are now open 24 hours. And with nervous customers keeping a tight hold on their wallets, experts say this could be the worst holiday shopping season in decades.
COSTELLO: President-elect Barack Obama expanding his plan to turn around the economy and meltdown. Advisers say he's now focusing on creating an additional 500,000 jobs in the next two years. That's on top of the 2.5 million he promised last month.
Here's CNN's Ed Henry who's traveling with the president-elect who's on vacation in Hawaii.
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Aloha, Kiran and Carol. Call this a working vacation for the president-elect. He set a new goal of creating three million jobs after his advisers privately warned him this recession may be even worse than expected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): Home to Hawaii for President-elect Barack Obama and his family. Twelve days of relaxation to ring in the new year. But there's no rest for his economic team, which has been ordered to think bolder after the president-elect received dire private forecasts suggesting the nation could lose four million jobs next year without drastic action.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: What we have learned is the economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in. It is -- this is a spiraling effect there. There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking.
HENRY: So transition aides are now huddling with Democratic leaders in Congress to craft a stimulus plan of up to $775 billion to try and jolt the economy. Republicans are wary about the price tag on top of Friday's rescue of automakers, the latest in a string of taxpayer bailouts.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), MINORITY WHIP: What I'm concerned about when we hear these staggering numbers close to $1 trillion right now in spending, where is that going to take us over the long run?
HENRY: Team Obama argues the short-term spending will reap dividends long term. The emerging plan includes billions for backlogged transportation projects to beef up construction jobs and improve the nation's infrastructure. Modernizing crumbling public schools to create jobs while also investing in education and weatherizing one million homes, money to upgrade furnaces, fix windows and seal leaky air ducts to boost the industry while also cutting energy usage.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: If we don't do this, it will cost us even more. This economy is now in the worse shape since the Great Depression. And if we do not respond in a very firm way, it gets worse and worse and feeds on itself. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: There will be other business during this working vacation. The president-elect is getting daily intelligence briefings and this week, the transition team will release its internal investigation into contacts with the Illinois governor, a sensitive political matter -- Kiran, Carol.
COSTELLO: Pastor Rick Warren still trying to defend himself after the uproar he would carry out the invocation at President-elect Obama's inauguration. Warren is an outspoken critic of same-sex marriage and over the weekend said he loves everyone, no matter their sexuality.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PASTOR RICK WARREN, SADDLEBACK CHURCH: Let me just get this other real quickly. I love Muslims.
(APPLAUSE)
I also happen to love Hindus and Jews and Buddhists. Now, this one will shock you. I happen to love Democrats and Republicans. And for the media's purpose, I happen to love gays and straights.
We're all immigrants. And America is as much a Muslim, right for Muslim Americans as it is a Jewish right for Jewish Americans or Christian Americans or atheist Americans or anybody else. I love America and I love the idea. I love the idea stated by that great theologian Rodney King, "Can we all just get along?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Obama defended his choice of Warren saying it is impossible for all Americans to agree on everything except Mr. Warren loves everyone. Needs no argument.
CHETRY: See that? See that? He said as the great theologian Rodney King said.
All right. Well, the stage is being set for the president- elect's inauguration. And this morning, there are new calls for cash as the price tag to keep you and millions of other safe soars.
COSTELLO: Plus, Arnold Schwarzenegger says he wants to be president. Hear why the governator wants to run the country.
It's 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Oh, we're having a good time. They're bright, they're loud, and you can say they even glow. We're talking about these sweaters which seem to appear in the days leading up to Christmas.
Check this out from one of our i-Reporters. Brave, brave Luke Williams sent us this.
CHETRY: Love it.
COSTELLO: He says he made it for a Christmas sweater party. The lively sweater shows what he called the Jesus bear ascending into heaven and as I said, it even glows in the dark.
CHETRY: He inspired me. I'm switching. This is way too -- this is way to drab for Christmas week.
COSTELLO: Really?
CHETRY: I'm going to throw in some.
COSTELLO: I think he sent us one. You can put that on.
CHETRY: I love that sweater.
COSTELLO: Sure. We want you to send us your holiday i-Report. Just go to CNN.com/am and we'll show you the best ones every morning and declare a winner on Christmas day.
CHETRY: I tell you who's the winner today. It's Christine dressed like a peppermint stick, right? I like it.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I've only got a few days to really pull out the red crushed velvet, you know. And I'm going for it this week. You might see it everyday this week, as a matter of fact.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: (INAUDIBLE) green turtleneck tomorrow with it.
COSTELLO: No.
CHETRY: I know it wouldn't be very good.
ROMANS: Listen, today I'm talking about 401(k)s. And on this program several times we talked about the fact that you're going to see more companies pulling back on their 401(k) match. It is the building block of your personal finance, the free money we always talk about, right? When your company to reward you for investing in your future and your retirement matches up to a certain percentage of your 401(k).
Well, more companies are saying because of the economic crisis they're going to pull back on that. They're not going to be matching among them, FedEx. The most recent one, Eastman Kodak, General Motors, Motorola, also Ford, Cushman & Wakefield -- this is a real estate company. Frontier Airlines, Dollar Thrifty, that's the rental car group. There are a lot more than this frankly.
And back in October, we have reported to you that Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a human resources management firm, they had -- or a consulting firm -- they had said that about four percent of employers said they were going to stop matching at least in near term. Now it's seven percent of employers.
Among some of the other things, guys, that was interesting in here, 19 percent of companies are planning a salary freeze next year. And where you're talking about merit pay, it's been lowered about 2 1/2 percent. So if you've got your job and you're thinking about a merit pay increase next year, employers are saying, you know, 2 1/2 percent is about all they're going to be able to kick up with. And how are employees reacting to the recession and the financial crisis?
COSTELLO: They're crying.
ROMANS: They're crying. Right. Well, among other things, frankly.
COSTELLO: A lot of jitters, I'm sure.
ROMANS: Right. But 27 percent are now taking loans out of their 401(k) which is seen as a real kind of desperation move and something that personal finance experts don't recommend you do unless you're really in trouble. And more people are moving some of their balances out of stocks into other things, which I guess is not a surprise, but then as stocks are cheap now...
COSTELLO: Right.
ROMANS: ... and as they recover then, of course, then you shoot yourself in the foot because you miss it. So you can see that people are jittery and they are responding. Both managers and employees are responding.
CHETRY: Wow.
ROMANS: So I'm saying all of this in red crushed velvet because, you know, you've got to --
CHETRY: I've got something that will cheer you up with all the sad news. This music. What does this remind you of, Christine?
COSTELLO: Come on, you know. You know, Christine.
ROMANS: I don't even know. I have to ask her.
CHETRY: Anyway, this is what it means.
According to researchers, this is the season for sex.
COSTELLO: They remind you of sex, didn't they?
ROMANS: Yes. At 6:17 Eastern time, that's what I was (ph) thinking of.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Well, experts say that the Christmas-New Year's period produces a spike in sexual activity. They attribute to more alcohol, partying and leisure time and for some couples, a concrete decision to have a baby in the new year. So let's count forward -- let's come forward nine months. September birthdays, I guess they should be very popular.
ROMANS: There you go. Maybe.
CHETRY: How about it?
ROMANS: I like it.
CHETRY: Congratulations at least one bright spot.
It's 18 minutes after the hour.
COSTELLO: Out of work? Go to church.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as you have your faith, as long as you have hope, you can get another house. You can get another car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: They hope to pray their way to a paycheck. Why bad times have some churches booming.
You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past hour, a look at Monday's "Political Ticker."
The outgoing and incoming vice presidents doing a little verbal sparring on the Sunday talk shows. Dick Cheney mocked Joe Biden for citing the wrong part of the constitution during a campaign debate and for his plans to "diminish the role of vice president." Biden for his part said Cheney was dead wrong on his views about unchecked presidential powers during war times. Biden says he intends to restore the balance and power between the president and vice president.
The recount in Minnesota's Senate race is set to resume this week. State officials there still don't expect to name a winner in the Senate race until the end of the month. Between 1,000 and 2,000 ballots are still to be counted. Democrat Al Franken leads incumbent Republican Norm Coleman now by 251 votes, according to an unofficial running tally by the "Minneapolis Star Tribune" newspaper.
Well, the mother of Bristol Palin's fiance has been arrested in Alaska on drug charges. Authorities say that 42-year-old Sherry Johnston was nabbed in an undercover investigation, charged with six counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance. Johnston is the mother of 18-year-old Levi Johnston, who is the father of Bristol Palin's baby. The two have said they plan to get married. And don't forget you can get all of the updates from our "Political Ticker" any time even if you're away from your TV. Just go to CNN.com/ticker.
COSTELLO: Right now, Democrats are under pressure to pull off what could be the biggest bash Washington has ever seen. Millions of tourists are expected for the swearing in, a bright spot for businesses during these tough times but bad news for a cash strapped host city.
Here's CNN's Kate Bolduan.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, Carol, Washington, D.C. is a city that knows inaugurations. District officials say past experience will likely pale in comparison to the historic swearing in one month from now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Washington is preparing for 2 1/2 million people to descend upon the nation's capital to witness the start of the Obama presidency. Great news for local restaurants and retail, hotels are already near capacity.
MAYOR ADRIAN FENTY (D), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: In some way, this is somewhat of a stimulus package for the city, if you will.
BOLDUAN: But with the good comes the bad, the price tag. Officials are complaining Congress allotted only $15 million to help the city pay for all major events for the entire year. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton says they'll need double that amount.
REP. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Witness what the Congress did for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. $50 million to each of the jurisdictions to handle what were approximately 50,000 people, each.
BOLDUAN: While city officials are coordinating with federal agencies, much of the on the ground security and traffic control will fall on the district, a city that's financially strapped. Just recently announcing $130 million in budget cuts.
FENTY: Our police force is about 4,100, which is a lot. And we're going to double that police force, and most of them are going to be working huge overtime shifts.
BOLDUAN: No matter the price, D.C.'s mayor says they'll be ready.
FENTY: Whatever steps have to be taken to make sure that the police resources, fire resources, transportation resources, et cetera are available, we will make sure it happens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: Unlike in past inaugurations, the entire national mall running about two miles will be open to accommodate the huge crowd. But that demands extra help from first responders to clean up for their proof hosting history comes at a price -- Kiran, Carol.
CHETRY: Kate Bolduan for us. Thanks so much.
Well, their holiday flight turned into a living nightmare. A couple with their little baby on board the plane that skidded off of a runway and Denver and caught fire. They're going to tell us what it was like inside and how everybody managed to get out alive.
Also pumping up the manpower in Afghanistan, more U.S. troops being shipped out next year.
It's 25 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: To the Most News in the Morning as federal investigators searched for the cause of a runway accident at Denver's airport this weekend. We're learning more about what happened inside of the plane. That Continental Airlines jet sped off the runway during takeoff and landed in a 40-foot deep ravine, caught fire. All 115 people on board managed to escape but 38 people were injured, two critically. Firefighters say it really is a miracle that no one died in that accident.
Maria and Gabriel Trejos were on board that Continental flight to Houston. They were traveling with their 1-year-old son, Elijah, at the time, and they join us from their home in Pueblo, Colorado this morning to talk a little bit more about the ordeal.
Thanks for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.
MARIA TREJOS, PASSENGER ON PLANE: Sure.
GABRIEL TREJOS, PASSENGER ON PLANE: There's no problem.
CHETRY: And, Maria, first explain to me, you guys were seated in the 19th row as I understand it. You had your baby son. And you felt the seat start pushing back. When did you realize that this plane was skidding off the runway?
M. TREJOS: Actually, we felt the plane veer to the left and my husband was holding my son and we felt some bumpiness, and I thought it was just turbulence. And I looked to the side and all of a sudden, there was this giant fireball behind my husband's head and I still had the image of him just grabbing my son's head and just, you know, pulling him towards himself. And all of a sudden we felt this heat. You know, it was heat on our right side and there was a smell and it was like a mechanical smell.
That's when I knew something was wrong and we felt a bump and then it felt like we were airborne for a couple of seconds. And then we hit a really big, I guess it was when we hit the ravine, and then it just stopped. I mean, everything was a little quiet. I told my husband it was eerily quiet, you know. People weren't -- CHETRY: It was just ---
M. TREJOS: ... chaotic until --
CHETRY: It must have been terrifying, Gabriel. Explain what was going through your mind, Gabriel, at that time when you were trying to make sure that you got your son out and that you guys all got out safely.
G. TREJOS: Oh, man, there's so many things going on through my mind. I mean, it's -- so many thoughts when something like that is going on.
I was just trying to hold my son as hard as I could and making sure he wasn't going to get crushed by the seats. I braced myself up against a chair in front of me because the chairs were kind of getting squished towards my direction. And I thought any moment now I could get squashed with my son inside the seat. And --
CHETRY: How did you guys get out of the plane? What was that like?
G. TREJOS: Well, that was -- it was pretty hard because everybody was trying to scramble. From our section, everybody was going towards the rear of the plane. And there's luggage in the way because they had fallen and there were still some luggage falling when we were trying to get out.
And I just told them to -- I gave the baby to my wife because I thought she was going to get out before I was. And I ended up looking over towards the center of the plane and there was less people trying to get out that direction, so I yelled at my wife, hey, this way is a lot clearer.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Wow. I mean, you guys describe --
G. TREJOS: (INAUDIBLE) at the time.
CHETRY: You describe a lot of confusion and chaos. You say that some people were actually trying to reach for their overhead luggage at the time. And that there was -- it seemed to be a little bit hectic as people were trying to figure out what to do.
Maria, on top of all of this, you're four months pregnant as I understand. How were you feeling? And you were seen at the hospital afterward, are you OK?
M. TREJOS: Yes, initially, I was just, you know, sick from adrenaline, and as I was -- as we were bumping, one of the suitcases fell and hit me in the stomach, and I was worried, you know, for the baby. And I was just happy to get out of that plane. And once I got to the bottom of that wing, I knew that we were going to be OK.
CHETRY: And little Elijah looks no worse for the wear as well. He's gotten one sock off this morning, and I'm sure he's going to be trying to get the other one off. Thank goodness you guys were all OK, and that everybody on that plane at least made it out alive. Wow. I can't imagine how scary it must have been for you.
Well, Happy Holidays, Gabriel and Maria, and good luck.
M. TREJOS: Thank you.
CHETRY: I know that you guys are staying put now. You've decided that's enough for the air travel this holiday. So thanks for being with us this morning.
M. TREJOS: Thank you.
G. TREJOS: Thank you.
CHETRY: Carol?
COSTELLO: Don't blame them a bit. Just about 30 minutes past the hour now. Here's a check of the top stories.
President-elect Barack Obama could offer up new details as early as today about his staff's dealings with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich is facing a staggering array of federal charges for among other things putting Barack Obama's old Senate seat up for auction.
Authorities say near whiteout conditions are to blame for a deadly pileup involving nearly 100 cars and trucks, happened yesterday in southwest Michigan. One man was killed when he plowed into the back of a semi that was stopped in the left-hand lane. The crash shut down a portion of Interstate 94 for several hours.
The U.S. military planning to double its manpower in Afghanistan. Officials say up to 30,000 additional troops could be sent to the warzone by next year. The additional troops are needed to fight a rising Taliban insurgency. Barbara Starr live in Washington now to tell us more.
Good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know when Barack Obama called for more troops for Afghanistan, it's not clear he meant that he was thinking about doubling the force, but that is what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's top military officer is now talking about. Let's get right to it.
Listen to what Admiral Michael Mullen had to say over the weekend in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADMIRAL MIKE MULLEN, U.S. CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEF OF STAFF: Some 20,000 to 30,000 is the window of overall increase from where we are right now. I don't -- I actually don't have an exact number.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: 30,000. Well, there's 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan right now. Mullen now talking about adding another 30,000. As you just said, doubling the U.S. commitment to that war. But it's going to be problematic. They're not really thinking they're going to get any troops from NATO. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has actually warned against too big as U.S. footprint saying the Afghans may resent it.
And Afghanistan, the Pentagon will tell you, it won't be solved by troops, it still needs billions of dollars in aid. Something that may be very tough to come up with in these economic times -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You're not kidding. Barbara Starr live in Washington this morning. Thanks.
CHETRY: Well, he was the action hero who gave up a big screen for the governor's mansion in California. Now Arnold Schwarzenegger said if he were eligible, he would move to the White House. Schwarzenegger was interviewed on CBS's "60 Minutes," and asked point blank if he wanted to be president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Absolutely. I think that I am always a person that looks for the next big goal. And I love challenges. I always set goals that are so high that they are almost impossible to achieve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Right now, that goal is impossible. Schwarzenegger was born in Austria. And the constitution says the president must be a natural born citizen.
Is a bad economy good for Evangelical churches? We're going to look at how the congregations are growing while mainline churches are in decline. It's 34 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And breaking news this morning. Toyota, the biggest automaker on the planet warning it will likely post a loss of nearly $1.7 billion this financial year. That's the first such loss for the company ever. World markets are seeing red arrows in the news rather. Kyung Lah joins us live from Tokyo to tell us more.
Good morning.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Analysts are still trying to digest this because it is so unexpected and unprecedented. This is simply history making. For the first time in Toyota's modern history, it will post an operating loss. As you said, a $1.7 billion U.S. This is simply stunned analysts because Toyota is a company that was expected to at least weather this global storm better than some of the other companies.
So Toyota is doing badly. Certainly, this does not speak well of the rest of Japan's electronics and automakers. The primary reason for this says Toyota and many analysts is weakening U.S. consumer demand. If the U.S. consumer does not buy that Toyota vehicle, that certainly has an impact on Toyota's bottom line.
And we got a very clear picture of how grim U.S. exports have been. Exports to the U.S. have been from Japan. Japan's government said the exports in the U.S. plunged 33 percent last month. A very grim picture. It has sent a lot of gloom to the halls of Tokyo's government. And certainly, a lot of policy makers are saying at this point, they do not see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel. But if someone does turn that light on, it has to start with the U.S. economy -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, that's scary because Toyota is widely known as having pretty good cars. It scarce me for the American automakers who are trying to get out of a financial mess of their own, and they're not known for having good products. So what does that say that's going to happen to them?
You know, as far as Toyota is concerned, what can it do to make Americans start buying again? Anything?
LAH: Well, they're crossing their fingers. What we're hearing from Toyota's top executives is that they just have to keep doing what they've been doing, producing fuel efficient cars and hoping that somehow U.S. consumers really feel the need to start spending again. But certainly, as we were reporting on AMERICAN MORNING right now, there is a lot of gloom in the United States.
COSTELLO: Yes, I think that's an understatement. Thank you, Kyung. It is 40 minutes past the hour.
CHETRY: Standing in line. Waiting for jobs, for food.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These same people that donated to us, now they're coming here for help. Amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: See how one man's determination is feeding thousands of them every week.
Pause in shopping for a giving story. You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Vice President-elect Joe Biden will serve as Barack Obama's point man to help the middle class through difficult economic times. Biden telling ABC's "This Week" that an aggressive recovery program is a must.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The one thing that we use as a yardstick to economic success of our administration is the middle class growing? Is the middle class getting better? Is the middle class no longer being left behind? We will look at everything from college affordability to after-school program. The things that affect people's daily lives. I will be the guy honchoing that policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Biden will head up a task force that includes cabinet secretaries and other presidential advisers.
Well, throughout the presidential campaign, the candidates heard repeated calls to help bail out Main Street. In a special series this week, we're paying tribute to Americans who are going the extra mile to help others struggling to survive in this economy. We're calling them the "Guardians of Main Street".
CNN's John Zarrella tells us about the man behind a Florida Food Pantry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The line you see behind me is not for some holiday door buster special, it's for a bag of groceries. And the man responsible doesn't know the meaning of the word "overwhelmed".
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I got here at 6:35.
ZARRELLA: Rowena Bauer (ph) and Vlaniba Woods (ph) got here before the sun came up, they had a feeling the line would be long.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what the old saying says I'm from the old school. Mama says there will be days like this. And that's what you're saying now.
ZARRELLA: The people, some 300 deep wait for a sack of beans, rice, grits, bread. Maybe a couple of sweets if they're lucky.
PAUL SNOW, FOOD PANTRY DIRECTOR: Cut those off right there, will you?
ZARRELLA: For 19 years, Paul Snow has been serving these less fortunate in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
SNOW: I got milk from the freezer.
ZARRELLA: When he first opened his food pantry, there were 11 families. Today from the cramped room donated by a local church, Snow and the volunteers serve about 1,000 people a month.
SNOW: There was a time seven years ago that these same people were donating to us. And now they're coming here for help. Amazing.
ZARRELLA: With so many people on Main Street hurting and cutting back, donations are down. At one point, Snow put $3,000 of his own money in to keep the pantry open. He calls it emergency food. And he knows people are counting on it more than ever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless him. If you need help, Paul is the right man to deal with.
ZARRELLA: Many of the faces are new.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have some $100. That's all I have left to my name.
ZARRELLA: Steve Jones just lost his job.
STEVE JONES, RECENTLY LOST JOB: My spirits are high, and I'm hoping I get this -- I get some sort of job, man.
ZARRELLA: Jason Grabble, who repairs electric poles hasn't found work since he came from Texas two months ago.
JASON GRABBLE, IN SEARCH OF EMPLOYMENT: Never in my life have I ever done anything like this.
ZARRELLA: Grabble, his girlfriend and a neighbor, all unemployed. Snow says he's never seen the need greater, but there's no quit in him.
SNOW: Every time God shuts a door, he opens a window.
ZARRELLA: No one will be turned away.
(on camera): Paul Snow says he knows the lines will be getting longer in the months ahead. Is he worried, discouraged? Not Paul Snow. He says he'll just have to work harder, that much harder.
John Zarrella, CNN, Hallandale Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Good for him. A plane crashes and burns after it skids off the runway. Investigators face a lot of questions and a pile of wreckage. Hear from survivors in their own words. That's still ahead.
And how far would you go to have a baby? How about halfway around the world? In our special series "Baby Quest," meet couples going on overseas in vitro vacations, for a living souvenir. It's 47 minutes past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Yes, you are listening to M.C. Hammer in the 6:00 hour of AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome back to the Most News. No doubt the economy is bad, but these tough times are actually helping some churches spread the good word and grow their congregations.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has the story.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran and Carol, good morning. In churches big and small, tough times mean boom times for Evangelicals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): When the economy is sagging, so is the collection basket. But pews are packed at Evangelical churches, and membership is growing despite an economy on the brink. Preachers say it's easy to explain.
REV. A.R. BERNARD, CHRISTIAN CULTURAL CENTER: We focus on encouraging them, trusting, having faith in spite of the circumstances.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise to meet all of your needs according to my riches in glory, not the economy.
CANDIOTTI: At Brooklyn's Megawatt Christian Cultural Center, attendance is up about 20 percent, and Reverend A.R. Bernard's message tailored to tough times.
BERNARD: You lose your job, you lose your home, you lose your car because it's repossessed, but don't lose your faith.
CANDIOTTI: So you're saying trust in God?
BERNARD: As long as you have your faith, as long as you have hope, you can get another house. You can get another car.
CANDIOTTI: At the Life Christian Church and others, Evangelical growth also may be a matter of style, more contemporary than mainline Protestant churches.
REV. TERRY SMITH, LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: It's about a denomination. It's about a building. It's about history and tradition. All those things are good and fine, but that's not what meets people's needs.
CANDIOTTI: According to a Texas State University study, during every recession cycle between 1968 and 2004, Evangelicals have mushroomed.
PROF. DAVID BECKWORTH, TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY: If I'm someone who has lost my job, and I'm looking to feed my family, and I have a choice between a church that sells me that message or one that is more intellectual, more abstract about God, I'm going to go for the one with certainty.
CANDIOTTI: Debra Mills lost her accounting job this week after 34 years. An Evangelical, her trust is in God.
DEBRA MILLS, EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN: You never put your trust in man, you always put your trust in God. Even though God, per se is not going to literally put a meal on your table but God will provide.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): And with no economic salvation apparent in the near future, for many, spiritual salvation maybe the only path to better times -- Kiran and Carol.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: New quandary for Obama, nutrition regulation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's insulting to insist that government has to tell people what's good for them or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The food police -- one fry over the line?
Plus, halfway around the world, get a priceless souvenir.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant! And she's just, you can feel the tears through the phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The first in our special series, "Baby Quest," the overseas baby creation vacation, but not the way you think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most Politics in the Morning.
One weekend and another, half million jobs. On Friday, Barack Obama said he plans to create 2.5 million jobs over the next two years. By Sunday, that number ballooned to 3 million. So can Barack Obama actually fix this mess no matter what he does?
Joining me to discuss the president-elect's plan, Democratic strategist Lisa Caputo and Republican strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins.
Welcome to both of you. ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.
COSTELLO: So let's start with that. Barack Obama is going to now add 500,000 more jobs, and that's going to cost some $700 billion. So, is that even possible?
LISA CAPUTO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, $700 billion to $800 billion. And I think the Republicans were saying during the campaign, you know, it could get up as high as $1 trillion. I think he has to do this.
I mean, when you see unemployment rates being forecasted at 10 percent, 11 percent, there's no question that this economy needs a huge injection, and this is a must do for him right out of the box. I think he will be hitting the ground running. He's forming this plan while he's on vacation. Working very closely with Congress, and the hope is that he signs it right after he's inaugurated.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, he's coming into this big mess in. I mean, you know, he is working on it before he even becomes president. But is there any way he can really win? I mean, how could he possibly get us out of this mess?
ROLLINS: Well, he has four years to do it. And hopefully, he can do it a lot quicker than that. I think he has the goodwill of the country. He has great communication skills. He didn't get us into this mess, and no one is going to blame him for a substantial period of time.
I think his plans are aggressive. They need to be aggressive. He controls the Congress. I think he'll have good will in the country for a long, long time. And I think if he can start creating jobs, get us moving forward again. I think we have to be patient. It's important, he has to use those great communication skills he has to tell the country every day what he's doing.
COSTELLO: Yes. But it's one thing to have charisma, it's another thing to deliver.
ROLLINS: Well, I think the key thing here is that he has a plan. He has some very bright people around him. There really is no opposition. Republicans will be a quiet voice or if they're a loud voice, it won't matter. And I think to a certain extent, he gets what he wants. It's just he's in a very, very difficult task.
CAPUTO: You know, a lot of these jobs are public works jobs -- infrastructure jobs, and that's very important to the economy. A very smart move on his part. He'll be looking to education and health care.
COSTELLO: Well, the other thing he said he's going to do is he's going to try to like, you know, not allow any port to creep into this.
CAPUTO: Right. Right.
COSTELLO: But how can he possibly do that? No one has been able to do that so far?
CAPUTO: Well, as Ed said, I mean, he's got a Democratic- controlled Congress. And I think that he will work that Congress hard, and I think that he'll get them aligned.
I think it's also important as Ed remarked that he's got the will of the people. Let's remember, he's got this movement. And David Pluck (ph) has said that he's going to keep this movement alive. And I think that you're going to see Barack Obama govern by the will of the people. And he's also going to be very transparent. And I think that that's what he promised, and that's what the people deserve.
ROLLINS: The most important thing I think though is that we do this in a way that as Lisa said that's transparent. We also look for real solutions. I mean, I think the bottom line here is throwing more billions out every day. New plans is not the right way.
How deep is this problem? What's going to really work, even if it takes a little bit longer? What's really going to work, and what's going to get us down the road here?
COSTELLO: We'll see. Let's switch gears and talk about Caroline Kennedy, because Democratic Congressman Ackerman on CBS said something, well, not very kind about Miss Kennedy. Let's listen.
We don't have it. But I will read it to you. He said, "They basically Sarah Palinized her. If I could coin a phrase. They're answering questions that you have to submit in writing. Caroline Kennedy is not talking to reporters as she makes this grand tour. They're kind of building a mystique in an industry around her when we need somebody to fight."
And what he's talking about is, she really isn't talking to voters directly. She's going behind the scenes and talking to people that can actually get her into that seat.
CAPUTO: Well, with all due respect to Representative Ackerman, I respectfully disagree. Let me say this. Caroline Kennedy is a brilliant woman. She's an accomplished author. She's somebody who's been involved in public service for a long time. She's been a huge proponent and workhorse for New York City public schools. And I myself sit on a board that deals with New York public schools, and she sits on that board with me. And she's been heroic in what she's done for the city.
I will also say that it's not that she is working behind the scenes, quite the opposite. She's gone upstate and is talking to a lot of voters. She's also talking to those who are influentials, but she's talking to voters as well. And to say that she's being Palinized is really quite honestly, I think, just comparing apples to oranges here. It's not a fair comparison at all. And she did answer questions. And I think it's smart of her not to get out over her ski so to speak.
COSTELLO: But don't you think there's a sense when she talks to reporters, like they -- it's kind of like hands off Caroline Kennedy. ROLLINS: Well, she jumped in. She put herself on this list. She was not on top of Paterson's list. She went on lobbied for this job. She's boxed him. He either has to appoint her or reject the Kennedy in a very public way.
There were some very significant other Democrats in the state and Republicans left in New York. Democrats left in the state, who he was looking at. Some are very resentful of the fact that they did it the quiet way. This is a one vote election in which the governor makes the choice, and I think she's jumped in on the middle of it, and you know, she may get it or she may not.
COSTELLO: We'll see. Lisa Caputo, Ed Rollins, thanks for joining us this morning.
ROLLINS: Thank you.
CAPUTO: Nice seeing you.
