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American Morning
Obama & An Economy in Crisis/Obama Inherits Mideast Crisis/Obama & Immigration/Who Else Dropped the Ball?/Charles Barkley DUI?/2009 Surprises
Aired January 01, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're at 57 and 58 minutes after the hour right now with the top stories this morning.
As the New Year began U.S. forces in Iraq ended up handing over control of the fortified green zone in Baghdad to the Iraqi government. Not just a symbolic but also a physical gesture.
It's seems a U.S. -- U.N. mandate for foreign troops presence expire and that's been replaced by a new pact between Baghdad and Washington and this hand-over of the green zone part of that. It allows U.S. troops also to stay in the country until the end of 2011.
A terrifying start of the new year at a Bangkok nightclub. Thai police say that at least 58 people died from a fire and resulting stampede in one of the city's most upscale clubs where at least 1,000 people were ringing in 2009. At least 100 others were hurt in the chaos.
And Roland Burris, the man picked by Illinois governor Blagojevich to take Barack Obama's Senate seat, is turning to Illinois secretary of state to force the certification of his appointment. Democrats on the Hill have been threatening to fight the appointment.
Governor Blagojevich is facing a firestorm of controversy for making any appointment at all in the midst of this scandal.
It's a new year and in just 19 days a new president will occupy the White House. Barack Obama is facing an urgent to-do-list on his desk starting day one. With fighting raging between Hamas and Israel, the chaos in the Middle East is now more pressing than ever.
And at home the president-elect faces a broken immigration system and an electorate bitterly divided on the issue. And of course, everything takes a back seat to the economy. Massive job layoffs, a ballooning federal deficit and an extremely tight credit market.
Ed Henry is tracking "ISSUE #1" for us.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kiran and Joe, after a quiet New Year's here with family and friends in Hawaii the president-elect is jumping right into trying to sell his plan to fix the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice over): While keeping one eye on the crisis in Gaza, President-elect Obama is now returning to the mainland to focus on the issue that propelled him to the office, the economy, which is why the transition team is kicking off the New Year by sending the Congress a recovery plan in the neighborhood of $775 billion.
JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: Economists rarely agree but on this score, there is overwhelming agreement that we need a robust and sustained economic recovery package. The greater threat to our economy lies in doing too little rather than in not doing enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Transition aides say the goal is to get the bill signed into law as quickly after the inaugural as possible -- to get the new president a quick victory while also giving the economy a shot in the arm. The emerging plan includes billions for backlogged transportation projects to beef up construction jobs and improve the nation's infrastructure, as well as modernizing crumbling public schools to create jobs while also investing in education.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS, CHAIRMAN, FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE: And if we don't do this, it will cost us even more. This economy is now in the worst 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.
HENRY: But Republicans are making noise about slowing the stimulus plan down because they're wary about the price tag -- especially on top of a series of government bailouts.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), VIRGINIA: I think most American taxpayers now are sort of scratching their head and wondering when all this bailout stuff is going to end and probably thinking, you know, when is my bailout coming?
HENRY: To overcome the opposition, aides say Mr. Obama is considering plans to travel the country to sell the economic plan, quickly after being sworn into office.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HENRY: Mr. Obama is moving quickly to sell the plan because there's no time to waste. This will be the first real test of the new president's clout -- Kiran, Joe.
JOHNS: Second on our list for the president-elect -- the Middle East. Even with mounting diplomatic pressure, Israel is broadening its attacks on Hamas. Israeli jets bombed a Palestinian parliament building during morning hours and Israel's Navy ships opened fire on supposed Hamas positions along the coast.
Palestinian medical sources say 400 people have been killed and roughly 2,000 wounded.
Barack Obama was hoping to work on a peace deal between Palestinians and Israel. It's a task that now seems insurmountable.
So what's Obama's plan?
Our Paula Hancocks is live from Sderot this morning -- good morning, Paula.
How are you?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Joe.
Well, thanks.
This is actually the town that President-To-Be Obama came to probably about a few months ago. He came down with all the Israeli officials. He came down to see what the Kassam rockets are like and what the effect is on these people. These rockets obviously coming from just about one-and-a-half miles away, which is the border with Gaza.
Now, he actually went to a house just down the road from where I am in the ambulance center. These guys are on 24 hour call waiting for the next Kassam rocket to hit. And he talked to the people in that house, who had had a Kassam go straight through their roof whilst they were in that house.
And he said to them, if I had rockets falling on my house where my two daughters were sleeping, then I would do everything in my power to stop them.
So, this is being brought up over here. This is what people assume is Obama's stance on the matter.
Of course, it is winning him friends in Israel. It's not winning him friends when it comes to the Palestinians and the Arab countries. But many Palestinians are still hopeful for him. They think that he can't be as bad as President George W. Bush. He was not good for the Palestinians, in their opinion. And they believe that he was too pro- Israeli.
So there is a wait and see stance here for Obama. But people would like to hear him say something about what's going on here at the moment.
JOHNS: Well, that's something we can talk about just a bit. He really has been pretty much silent throughout this.
Are there people actually calling on him to sort of step into the fray, even though he's got a couple of weeks before he takes office?
HANCOCKS: There is surprise that he hasn't said anything at this point -- and, obviously, saying there's only one president at a time for this particular incident, as opposed to, say, domestic issues, where he's happy to comment. That's been noticed.
Obviously, there is so much going on here at the moment that people are really focusing on what's happening on the ground and the fact that there is no ceasefire. But they would like to hear what Obama thinks about it. Many experts, though, those in the know think that it's probably quite wise that he's steering clear of it, because it is a very delicate situation. Foreign policy is delicate. This foreign policy is like a political mine field. So it's probably best for him to wait.
JOHNS: So right there.
Thank you so much, Paula Hancocks.
CHETRY: Well, another major issue for the president-elect right now, the system remains broken, bogged down with court cases and executive orders -- just another problem waiting on the oval desk for Barack Obama.
Chris Lawrence reports on the details of this huge challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: When Congress rejected an immigration reform plan, President Bush scaled back and signed several executive orders to curb illegal immigration.
ALI MOORANI, NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM: The Obama administration, from day one, needs to be reviewing the effectiveness and the efficiency of those -- of those actions.
LAWRENCE: Immigrant rights advocates say the "no match" rule is one that hurts workers and businesses. It requires employers to take action when workers' names don't match the information in the Social Security database and they can't resolve the discrepancy. A court ruling is expected within Obama's first 100 days.
MOORANI: The Obama administration has an opportunity and the authority to look at that rule, and say, you know what, this is not -- this is not going to help anybody.
LAWRENCE: Another issue, E-Verify -- an Internet-based system that allows employers to voluntarily verify their workers' employment eligibility. But one week before Obama takes office, an executive order takes effect -- one that requires federal contractors and subcontractors to use the system.
JESSICA VAUGHN, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: I'm hard-pressed to think of any good reason why any federal contractors would be excused from having to use E-Verify.
LAWRENCE: Advocates of immigration enforcement will be pressuring the new administration to keep the Bush executive orders in place. And Homeland Security officials say the orders were necessary when Congress could not pass comprehensive reform
"We have ramped up enforcement at work sites and expanded arrests of fugitives, while also giving employers better tools to maintain a legal workforce." LAWRENCE: Beyond what Obama decides on those individual issues, some advocates for immigrant rights say they will expect him to have a comprehensive immigration reform plan by Thanksgiving.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
JOHNS: His rescue is being called a miracle -- a snowboarder missing for three days and feared dead. Details of the rescue that almost never happened.
The man who once famously said, "I'm not a role model" is true to his word. Sir Charles busted for DUI -- his bad start to 2009.
It is seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, there it was just in case you were asleep and you missed it. All right. All right. Kind of a shock there. OK.
(VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Aw. That's better. A hug in public.
JOHNS: There you go. That's cute.
CHETRY: To make out in public?
JOHNS: Get a room.
CHETRY: Oh, goodness.
All right. Well, this is -- these are the brave people that braved the bitter, bitter cold. It was one degree -- at least that's what it felt like out on Times Square overnight.
It was 18 degrees, but factor in the wind and it quite chilly. But million -- a million people packed into tents and shared the body heat, as you see, as the wind chill dipped into the single digits.
And then, of course, the street sweepers came right through like they do every year and took care of that mess. The Department of Sanitation pulling off a New Year's miracle. And each year they do it -- cleaning up 40 tons of trash that a million people leave behind -- all of it gone in just the few hours between then and dawn.
JOHNS: Well, it's a city that works.
CHETRY: It sure is. It sure is.
JOHNS: But not all of them are working these day.
CHETRY: Yes, we were just talking about how cold must it be out there.
JOHNS: Right.
CHETRY: I mean, last year I was out there -- we got lucky. I think it was in the 30s or 40s. This year, 18 degrees. And the winds made it feel like nothing.
JOHNS: Yes. And the shared body heat is the deal. That's obviously the deal. If you're standing right next to, say, Jabba the Hutt, you're going to be warm.
CHETRY: Or (INAUDIBLE) Beyonce.
JOHNS: Yes. Or Beyonce, right -- on your left.
CHETRY: Well, speaking of dropping the ball, but not in a good way, the top five in the financial world who dropped the ball in 2008. We're not talking about the beautifully adorned Swarovski crystal ball, right -- Christine?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Exactly. And, you know, that was a big ball. But there were big balls that were dropped in 2008.
And, you know, let's start at the top.
Number one, the financial industry. These are the guys that got billions of bonuses in recent years for the awful decisions -- utter lack of risk management -- that took the financial system to the brink. Wall Street bankers and unregulated mortgage lenders clearly dropped the ball.
Number two, the regulators -- so many to choose from. But let's focus on the SEC and the alleged $50 billion fraud by once respected Wall Street veteran Bernie Madoff. The SEC now admits it had specific tips about Madoff for years and did nothing. The list of Madoff investors now grows by the day -- Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, the charities and foundations run by Steven Spielberg, Yeshiva University, publisher Mort Zuckerman. I could go on and on.
Number three, the Treasury secretary who for months insisted that the housing crisis would not infect the rest of the financial system.
Listen to what he said in March.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Our financial institutions, the banks and investment banks, are strong.
Our capital markets are resilient. They're efficient. They're flexible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Or not. Investment banking as we know it is gone. Many of our banks are now wards of the government, the taxpayer -- you. History will judge how this Treasury secretary confronted the crisis, whether he prevented something far worse. But for now, from failing to anticipate the weaknesses in banks, the extent of the bad mortgage debt, he dropped the ball.
So did Congress. They scream about a lack of oversight of the bailout of the financial industry, but don't forget, these were the people who gave Treasury Department broad powers -- broad powers to spend $700 billion of your money.
They were also happy recipients of campaign contributions from the financial industry. And some of the very people castigating the industry today have for years -- years -- been sitting on powerful committees with oversight of the banking system that has crumbled.
And who else dropped the ball?
You're not going to like to hear this one -- us. We all dropped the ball. Any of us who thought that housing prices could only go up, that somehow it made sense to consistently spend more money than we earned, to somehow think that the laws of economics don't apply to our country, that for us, we're special, that it doesn't matter that we have a negative savings rate, huge deficits and a consumer appetite that we could no longer afford.
Kiran and Joe, there's -- there are more. There is the debt rating agencies, predatory lenders. I could go on and on about all the people who dropped the ball over the past few years. And we're going to be picking up the wreckage of it from now on. But for here we go, the top five, I would say.
CHETRY: Hopefully learning a few lessons along the way for 2009.
ROMANS: Hopefully.
And we're still asking for your emails about what we're going to call this debacle. Is it going to be -- somebody called it the great awakening about the financial system.
CHETRY: Sure.
ROMANS: You know, I've been calling it the year of the bailout -- 2008 -- or the great recession. We won know. But any -- any kind of insight, email us at am@CNN.com. We'd like to know what you think.
JOHNS: Cataclysmic correction.
ROMANS: Ooh. I like that one.
CHETRY: Ooh, John.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: He's been practicing for the past hour.
(CROSSTALK) JOHNS: OK. Well, thanks.
From Obama mania to Palin power, politics in 2008 was unpredictable. This year we look into the crystal ball to see what lies ahead in '09.
It's 14 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Hi.
Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
A 21-year-old snowboarder has been found alive after spending three days, at least, trapped in the Vancouver Mountains in the extreme cold. Jim Martin was airlifted to safety. He was rushed to the hospital, where he is reportedly being treated for frostbite. He says that he didn't have any extra food or anywhere to take shelter. Martin's cousin says he used a snowboard to keep moving down the hill and try to stay warm.
He also, at one point, did see search helicopters and tried to get their attention, but they did see him in their first pass.
The miracle of life mid-flight -- a woman went into labor on a transatlantic bound flight bound for Boston yesterday. And just pure luck, there were two doctors were on board -- one of them experienced at delivering babies. Well, the new mom and the baby girl are said to be in great health. The mom is from Uganda. But Customs officials say that the baby was born in Canadian air space, so she is a Canadian citizen.
How about that?
JOHNS: Wow!
CHETRY: And it's New Year's Day. And that means footballs and flower power in Pasadena. The last minute preparations are underway for the annual Tournament of Roses parade. People are in campers lining up along the parade route, businesses boarding up windows and the city is removing traffic lights at 14 major intersections so that they can lift -- they can fit the floats through.
How about that?
And coming up in our next hour, Jack Hannah is going to be joining us live from the Rain Bird float. And, of course, he'll have some animals to introduce us to, as well.
JOHNS: Excellent. All right. And we were just talking about sports. Charles Barkley starting off this new year with a morning apology, after being arrested on the suspicion of drunk driving. New details are coming out about the basketball icon's run-in with the cops.
Here's CNN's Brooke Baldwin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Sir Charles Barkley busted in Scottsdale, Arizona. TMZ cameras captured these photograph of the former basketball powerhouse early Wednesday morning, after police say they pulled him over for running a stop sign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY KTVK)
LT. ERIC SHUHANDLER, GILBERT POLICE: On contacting Mr. Barkley, our officer noticed the odor of intoxicating beverages coming from his person. Our officer then had Mr. Barkley step out of the vehicle, in which he performed the field sobriety tests.
BALDWIN: Police say those tests revealed probable cause. Barkley was then arrested for a DUI. He declined to take a Breathalyzer test, but did agree to a routine blood test at a nearby DUI command post. Barkley, a commentator for TNT, which, like CNN, is owned by Time Warner, has since released this statement through Turner Sports: "I am disappointed that I put myself in that situation. The Scottsdale police were fantastic. I will not comment any further, as it is a legal matter."
This isn't the first time Barkley has been in trouble. In 1991, the NBA fined him $10,000 for spitting on a fan. Later that year, Barkley was arrested and later acquitted after breaking a man's nose in a bar.
Fast forward to July of '96 -- Barkley was arrested after getting into a fight in a Cleveland dance bar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM 1996, COURTESY WFTV)
CHARLES BARKLEY, FORMER NBA STAR: If somebody throws ice at my party, that's just wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And October, 1997 -- he was charged with throwing a man through a glass window in a club in Orlando. In the past, Barkley said he isn't a role model. The 16 year NBA veteran and U.S. Olympian may need to be more mindful of his behavior. In October of this year, the Alabama native announced his gubernatorial goals to CNN's Campbell Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "CAMPBELL BROWN
NO BIAS, NO BULL")
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: So, are you going to run for governor?
BARKLEY: I'm planning on it in 2014.
BROWN: You are? BARKLEY: I am.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: So police say Barkley was cooperative and disrespect -- I'm sorry -- respectful during his arrest. Results from his blood tests should be back within a week.
I'm sitting here just thinking, at the very end of that piece, I talked to Charles Barkley, at the convention, about the possibility of him running for office. You have to wonder now whether this might affect that.
CHETRY: Right.
What did he say at that time?
You want to do (INAUDIBLE)?
JOHNS: Yes. I got the impression he really wanted to do it.
And who knows, though?
He was one of the NBA's great rebounders, so maybe he'll rebound.
CHETRY: Yes. Exactly. And we certainly, unfortunately, know of some other politicians who've dealt with worse and moved on.
JOHNS: That's for sure.
CHETRY: All right.
JOHNS: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, depending on how you spent your New Year's Eve, you might have already broken some of your resolutions. Fear not, though. We have some advice to help you keep them for the next 12 months.
It's 22 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. There's a look right now of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton helping New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg lower the ball atop One Times Square last night. And, of course, last year, Hillary Clinton was in Iowa campaigning for the presidency. Now she's expected to be secretary of State in President- Elect Barack Obama's administration.
Could we have predicted that?
Well, we're going to look into our political crystal ball to see if we can predict a little bit more about what we can look for in 2009 and also some of last year's cliff hangers that are still yet to be resolved. For that, I'm joined now by CNN political contributors, Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman here in New York and Republican analyst Leslie Sanchez -- wow -- with a bright tiara on.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) and, you know, Robert left his at home.
(CROSSTALK)
LESLIE SANCHEZ, FORMER BUSH WHITE HOUSE ADVISER, SPANISH EDUCATION ISSUES: Well, you know...
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm a Democrat. We don't -- we don't have tiaras. I mean you know...
(LAUGHTER)
ZIMMERMAN: Probably not...
SANCHEZ: Well, look...
ZIMMERMAN: ...(INAUDIBLE) that's a real one in the closet, I'm sure.
SANCHEZ: Right. This one's made of paper. It's a tough economy. I call it a piara.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: You know, but let's be real. You know, they're celebrating in Alaska. They're still out there celebrating. We can't forget them like we did last year.
CHETRY: That's true.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: All right. So you wanted to start with Alaska. So what -- we're making predictions. You brought it up. Sarah Palin, of course, the governor of Alaska, the V.P....
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I'm going to lose my little hat here.
CHETRY: Yes. Go for it.
What is her political future?
I mean she was one of the most talked about political figures of 2008.
What happens coming up in 2009 and beyond for Sarah Palin?
SANCHEZ: I think there's tremendous opportunity. Looking at the fact that she was one of the highest rated searches in 2008 on Google, right up there with Barack Obama. She's continuing to build a base and has a resounding voice in the conservative movement.
And it really is incumbent upon her how well she does in her own state and whether or not she's going to continue to be a leader.
But one thing we know for sure, she'd be a frontrunner regardless of how she did in 2008 -- she's a natural frontrunner in 2012.
ZIMMERMAN: And let me begin the new year by saying, Leslie, I so hope you're correct about Sarah Palin remaining front and center in the national discussion and in the national debate. We -- it gives us Democrats a lot of hope.
SANCHEZ: There you go.
CHETRY: At the same time, I mean, while she was somebody who the conservatives did rally around, she also was fodder for, you know, mainstream media. She was...
SANCHEZ: Oh...
CHETRY: She raised a lot of questions, let's say, among Independent voters...
ZIMMERMAN: Sure.
CHETRY: ...as to whether or not they could go with the GOP.
So moving forward, Robert, if you were giving the GOP advice, what would you say for whom they should start putting forward as some of their leaders?
ZIMMERMAN: Well, you know, I think they've got -- they've been just fine without my advice. But I think, realistically, you have an individual like Governor Mike Huckabee. He's an important person to watch because he demonstrated when he was in Arkansas, he was able to win crossover and Independent voters, both in the minority communities and also amongst some Democrats, as well. So he's an interesting person to watch this year, as is Mitt Romney, primarily as the economic crisis develops.
CHETRY: Something else we're...
SANCHEZ: You know, I think...
CHETRY: Go ahead.
SANCHEZ: Real quickly, I think there's going to be, probably, people whose service that we're not thinking about. That was the case that you saw with Bill Clinton when he surged. A lot of people -- you never really know, for a couple of years, actually, what the political environment is going to look like. They're going to look at 2010 and start making, you know, determinations for...
(CROSSTALK) ZIMMERMAN: And we do know one thing that counts. Anyone who -- anyone who predicts a frontrunner today is engaging in obsolete political thinking. The reason I say this is...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes, you're right.
ZIMMERMAN: ...political frontrunner...
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: But -- and it's interesting -- and a case in point, though...
SANCHEZ: (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: A case in point, though, a year ago we -- Hillary Clinton was in Iowa. And it was interesting because I saw a clip of one of their debates when Obama jokingly said maybe I'll be using you as an adviser, hopefully, in my administration.
ZIMMERMAN: That's exactly right.
CHETRY: Well, how prescient. Here we are and she is going to be one of his big advisers as the secretary of State. She's got some big challenges ahead, as we've evidenced with the mid-East situation right now.
Where do you think her role will be in this 2009 in the Obama administration, as we talk about things like Iraq and the Middle East, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Well, I think, as he is -- as he's going to be consumed with the domestic agenda and the economic crisis, Hillary Clinton gives his foreign policy international credibility almost immediately. Her presence throughout the world, her credibility throughout the world helps carry our message forward.
And I think one of the real issues to watch in 2009 is going to be the way America regains its status as a -- in terms of international diplomacy, how we regain our stature. Because, ultimately, the nations of the world know that the United States provides the best opportunity for building diplomatic approaches.
CHETRY: And Leslie...
SANCHEZ: I bet...
CHETRY: Go ahead.
SANCHEZ: No. I think there's also tremendous vulnerabilities with that, as well. I think there's a couple of different things. You know, while Barack Obama has put together this "team of rivals," a lot of them just look like, you know, redos (ph) from the Clinton administration. It is a question of how harmoniously they all get along. I think some of the stories that will be written in 2009 is this disharmony, this conflict of ideas. You saw it historically and I think you expect to see it again, especially with Bill and Hillary.
CHETRY: All right, you guys, before we leave, I want to ask you about the Rod Blagojevich situation.
What do you think is going to happen with Roland Burris?
He says he's going to Washington and that he -- that he does not think that the Senate Democrats are going to block him from being seated as a senator.
How do you think this one is going to end?
ZIMMERMAN: I must tell you, I think, one, Roy Blagojevich -- Roy Bla -- Governor Blagojevich -- that's one of my resolutions is to pronounce his name correctly -- is ultimately engaging in just nothing more than a plea bargaining status. That's what his -- that's what all his maneuvers and tactics are all about.
And as far as the Senate designee that he's put forward, ultimately, I believe the issue bigger than him. He's got a very distinguished record of public service, but it's about the process. And for that reason, I don't believe he'll be seated.
CHETRY: Leslie?
SANCHEZ: It puts them in a very difficult situation. I think there's a lot of debate right now over whether or not you can actually prevent him from being seated. And it's another reason Republicans were calling for that special elections and not have this tainted cloud over any candidate.
But it puts -- you know, it does continue to tether Barack Obama to kind of shady Chicago politics.
CHETRY: Well, we have to leave it there.
(CROSSTALK)
ZIMMERMAN: They keep trying.
CHETRY: I know. She threw -- she threw one (INAUDIBLE) in there. But we've got to go. We're out of time.
Leslie Sanchez and Robert Zimmerman.
ZIMMERMAN: Happy New Year!
CHETRY: Happy new year to both of you.
SANCHEZ: Happy New Year!
CHETRY: To be continued in 2009.
ZIMMERMAN: OK. CHETRY: Thanks.
JOHNS: And Kiran, it's 29 minutes past the hour.
Here are the morning's top stories. Just hours ago the U.S. military gave Baghdad control of the fortified green zone. It's both a symbolic gesture and a real one as a U.N. mandate for foreign troop presence expires, replaced by a new pact between Baghdad and Washington.
That agreement allows U.S. troops to stay until the end of 2011. And the new year has brought freezing temperatures and blustery winds across the midwest. Thousands of homes and businesses are without power because of strong winds. Temperatures across much of the country into the northeast are in the teens with wind chills below zero.
And Nancy Pelosi's message to her colleagues in this new year, get ready to work. In an email sent Tuesday, Pelosi told her democratic colleagues to hit the ground running when the 111th Congress opens for business next week. Already on the to do list an economic stimulus and recovery package and a slew of committee appointments for new members.
Another person anxiously looking forward to his first day back on the job in Washington is Barack Obama. It's just 19 days until the president-elect takes the oath of office. Meanwhile Washington is rapidly preparing for that big day. Here's a look at the platform on Capitol Hill. Pretty impressive there. D.C. police and Secret Service are also preparing for the millions of people who will be in town on inauguration day.
Among those millions, some A-list celebrities from tinsel town, Obama's inaugural donor list is more like a who's who of Hollywood. Our Jim Acosta is taking a look and joins us live now from Washington. Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Joe. You don't need to be a celebrity gossip columnist with sources all over town here in Washington, to know who is giving money to Barack Obama's inaugural.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): It could be the title of Steven Spielberg's next "Indiana Jones" movie, Barack Obama and the quest for inaugural gold.
Take a scroll through the inauguration's official website, pic2009.org and you'll find Spielberg is just one of the rich and famous contributors to the incoming president's swearing in. Many of the celebrity donations right at the $50,000 limit set by inaugural planners. Spielberg along with Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx and Sharon Stone each gave 50,000 to the fund. Basketball great Magic Johnson shipped in 25,000. All that California cash further proof -
ANNOUNCER: He's the biggest celebrity in the world.
ACOSTA: This is a president with star power.
KEN VOGEL, SENIOR REPORTER, POLITICO: We have a celebrity president. There's a lot of electricity in the air in Washington around this inauguration and these folks who give a lot of money are going to get greater access to all of these fun things.
ACOSTA: One thing all that big money won't buy is privacy. Inauguration spokeswoman Linda Douglass says there are "no exceptions. Everybody who has given more than $200 is on-line, and they know that." A continuation, she insists of the campaign's commitment to transparency.
VOGEL: Even if they supported Barack Obama and his presidential campaign they can only give up to $4,600 each. Here the limit is $50,000 and we're seeing a lot more wealthy folks giving that.
ACOSTA: Wealthy people like billionaire investor and activist George Soros. He and four members of his family have given $50,000 each, a quarter million dollars all from one family. The site allows also allows users to see which states are giving most. As of our last check of the donor list there was just one contribution from Hawaii, Mr. Obama's home state. Joe Biden's native Delaware fared only slightly better with three donors.
OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: South Carolina, do believe he's the one.
ACOSTA: You can also find out who is not on the list. Oprah. Noprah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: That's right. Noprah. The inaugural committee is trying to offset all of this big money access with something that can only be described as a sweepstakes. Donate five bucks and have a shot at a ticket to the swearing in, Joe. So, get your $5 in now.
JOHNS: Jim Acosta in Washington, thanks for that.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Well, you promised to give up smoking, stop biting your nails, lose weight, try to spend less money. But how are you going to keep all of those New Year's resolutions. We'll talk with somebody who can give us some advice how. Also we work the graveyard shift. And sometimes we get a little loopy. At least it makes for entertaining blooper really. That's for sure. One that we have to split into two shows. Part one is coming up on "the most news in the morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to "the most news in the morning." You know, year after year we make that list of resolutions, some in our minds, sometimes you write them down and many times we break them. Why is it so hard to stick with it and what can you do to make a difference in '09.
Jeff Gardere is a clinical psychologist in New York and he joins us for some advice right now. Dr. Jeff, let me ask you about this --
JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes.
CHETRY: Because making resolutions seems to be part of what we do.
GARDERE: Yes.
CHETRY: You know everybody -
JOHNS: Part of what we don't follow through on.
GARDERE: Exactly.
CHETRY: Everybody wants to better themselves. It's just actually doing it that turn out to be really a colossal challenge for most people. So how do you do it right?
GARDERE: Absolutely. There are a couple of things you can do. First of all, you need to be specific. You need to be realistic. And you need to make a plan. So if you say you're going to lose weight, whatever you do, be specific as to how much weight you want to lose. Be realistic as to whether you can actually lose it by a certain amount of time. And, of course, make that plan, write it down and follow it.
JOHNS: The planning thing is a thing that just doesn't hit it with me. You know, because I see all these different situations in my life and I feel like I have to adapt to them. So, any plan I make I'm prone to change immediately.
GARDERE: Well, Joe, that's the great thing. You can you go back to your plan and you can tweak it, especially if you don't think that it's working for you. So what you're saying is a great thing. Go back and look at it and see how you can improve it so you can follow through. The other thing that you got to do is you've got to write down your goals. Put them up on the fridge so you can remind yourself as to what it is that you pledge yourself to do. Of course, chart your progress. Look at every success that you have and document that.
CHETRY: Wait. So, this works both - OK so if you're trying to lose weight, let's say. You write down what you eat every day and you look back at that. Do you write down what your weight loss goals are -
GARDERE: Exactly.
CHETRY: If you're hitting them.
GARDERE: Exactly.
CHETRY: What if you're trying to do something like quit smoking. Do you sort of put up a calendar and x off every day that you go without cigarette smoking.
GARDERE: No, that is a great plan. Because then what you do is you go back and you look at that calendar and you see all of those x's. And you know what, even if you don't quit completely the fact that you quit for maybe 20 days is 20 more days than when you started on January 1st. So that's really important.
And finally I think it's OK to slip. That's what we're talking about with smoking. You go back and have that little cigarette outside of your workplace but just get back on that horse and, you know, quit that smoking. Follow through.
JOHNS: This other thing about getting your family and your friends -
GARDERE: Oh, yes.
JOHNS: Involved.
GARDERE: Yes.
JOHNS: So that kind of cuts both ways though because, you know, you do not want your mom or whatever haranguing you about not keeping that resolution because it seems it would be counter productive or would it?
GARDERE: No, I don't think so. Because certainly mom is going to do it out of love. And you can say to mom, thank you for the reminder, I'm on top of this.
JOHNS: Mom keeping it in check.
GARDERE: Exactly. Family and friend, no-no, but family and friends, family and friends being there for you -
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: Right.
GARDERE: That's a great reinforcement. And yet remember the buddy system. Maybe you can find family and friends who have the same kind of resolution and you can do it together and be an informal support for one another. It's not perfect. The important thing is you have to have the tenacity, move forward and follow through.
CHETRY: I got to say he's right on one thing. The time when I finally going to the gym is when my best friend and I decided we're going to to do it. And we went together and so on the days that you don't want to, she's dragging you in there and vice versa.
GARDERE: That's right. And girl, it's working for you.
CHETRY: Oh, you're so sweet.
GARDERE: OK. She's in great shape.
JOHNS: Actually, you look great.
GARDERE: Yes.
CHETRY: I'm not telling you my resolution.
(LAUGHTER) JOHNS: Stop it.
CHETRY: I don't want you calling me and saying -
JOHNS: Now, stop it. But when you fail, when you fail, what you really should do then is get back up on the horse. Let that friend that goes to the gym with you or that mom who is, you know, or mother- in-law that's in your ear -
GARDERE: Yes, all the time.
JOHNS: To tighten you back up.
GARDERE: Well listen, we have medication for that especially when it's in your ear. But the important thing is look, don't look at it as a failure. Look at it as a temporary setback. Because if we see it as a failure, chances are we're going give it up. We're not perfect. That's part of the picture. We do good on some days. Some days we do a little less well on it. But the important thing is to follow through and at the end of the day, even if you accomplish 50 percent of the goal, it's 50 percent more than what you started with. So just stick at it. You're not going to be perfect. But just keep doing it.
CHETRY: Sounds good.
JOHNS: Jeff Gardere, thanks so much.
GARDERE: Thank you.
JOHNS: And happy new year to you. All right. I'll be on the phone talking about my resolution.
GARDERE: You know what my resolution is?
JOHNS: I'm going to call you at 5:00 a.m.
GARDERE: To watch you guys every morning.
CHETRY: I love that resolution.
JOHNS: Hold that thought. Well, I won't be here but -
GARDERE: But you're here sometimes.
JOHNS: That's true. You got it right. All right, thanks.
GARDERE: Thank you.
JOHNS: It is 42 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): The most bloopers in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice melons behind you there. JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: Oh, no.
JOHNS: We're opening up the video vault.
ROBERTS: I can't - I'm awake.
JOHNS: Looking back at our not so greatest moments.
CHETRY: We're recovering - we're back.
JOHNS: A farewell to 2008. You don't want to miss. You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: (inaudible) bushy tail showing up. Ready to play ball. I love it. Well, you know when you get up when most people go to sleep sometimes it feels like you're working in a twilight zone. And sometimes it even looks that way. Here's some of AMERICAN MORNING's wackiest moments, intentional and unintentional of 2008.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You unlock this door with a key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound. A dimension of sight. A dimension of mind. You're moving into at that land of both shadow and substance of things and ideas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just crossed over into the blooper zone.
ROBERTS: We're back on this AMERICAN MORNING, Thursday the 13th of March. And more breaking news to tell you about. Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: Good morning, John. All right. We'll get to the breaking news in just a second.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sort of interlock the fingers. And you get right in what's called the intermammary line, right between the nipples.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you try to do is come up with an image that reminds you of name. For instance, John, I may think of a toilet bowl because that's a nickname. John is a nickname.
ROBERTS: Score one for me.
CHETRY: If you're one of the millions of American who is about to head out the door this morning. Odds are - excuse me.
ROBERTS: See, you're thinking so much about it you're tongue-tied.
CHETRY: Thanks for trying to save me with Doritos.
GUPTA: We're talking about blood pressure. Excuse me. The theory was this. Excuse me.
ROBERTS: Pardon me.
CHETRY: Trouble in American Airlines as well. Excuse me. Had to cancel close to 600 flights.
ROBERTS: You all right?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: You sure?
CHETRY: Today.
ROBERTS: Gerri Willis joins us now. What did the senate come up with because there's a lot of negotiating back and forth on this one?
GERRI WILLIS: Well they promised - pardon me. They promised and we finally delivered. Pardon me, John.
ROBERTS: Are we all right? Should we come back to you.
WILLIS: Can you come back to me. Pardon me.
ROBERTS: We'll come back to you. No problem.
GUPTA: Recovering - we're back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of the best political team on TV. Just imagine me sitting between Bill Bennett and Carl Bernstein. Like somebody sitting up for a hot dog eating contest, hard core.
CHETRY: What do you think of John McCain's decision to suspend the campaign.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: About twice as many campaign offices throughout the state than republicans.
ROBERTS: Iran may be looking favorably upon this latest proposal from the EU. What can you tell us about that?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hold on one second, John.
CHETRY: Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin get their big chance to define themselves to the public. Sorry about that, folks. You know we're so worried about the sound, there could actually be a fire but let's quickly instead go to Jason Carroll.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: folks, this is the reason why we tell you never to drive in any type of area where you can't see. Pardon me, folks.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know who likes chocolate. Our Zain Verjee loves chocolate. Oh, nice melons behind you there.
ROBERTS: Oh, no. Whoa.
PHILLIPS: Oh, I'm sorry.
VERJEE: Oh, Kyra.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee with the most melons in the morning. Greet to see you.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: This the only time we've seen five major hurricanes in consecutive months. July, what's the next one, John? Help me out.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: August.
MARCIANO: Thank you.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Good early morning to you. And yes, we want to looking at the balance of power now. It is safe to say democrats have done very well on election night. But the American people haven't exactly given him the keys to the castle. He won big in the state of Virginia, Mark Warner, the former governor there, campaigned in places in that state when he ran for governor that democrats don't normally venture into. But Mark Warner very much victorious there in the state of Virginia.
CHETRY: This is usually our legal analyst and our business guru. They are shaking it like a Polaroid. Look at Sunny. Oh, my. There' something about Ali that takes it to a different level.
GUPTA: It was one of the more memorable segments I think -
PHILLIPS; This is why bald men should not dance on live television. Give the little hula hoop here. He's our floor director. He's going to show us how it's done. Give us a hula hoop. Louder. That's how we roll on AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks for joining us this morning.
CHETRY: Does this carving by hand. that's a gorgeous one as well. The first was a New York skyline and it's an AMERICAN MORNING. Oh, my goodness. Uncle Fester. This is unbelievable. That's our stage manager. I always knew he bore a striking resemblance to Uncle Fester but now it's been confirmed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: We're so busy watching that.
JOHNS: That's hilarious.
CHETRY: Hats off to everyone who put that together. Because it was so rare that we ever have a blooper. I'm surprised they could find those.
JOHNS: Yes. You get the impression -
CHETRY: You can search long and hard.
JOHNS: It certainly doesn't happen every minute.
CHETRY: Right, exactly. So we have four and a half more minutes to show you in the second installment in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING. Wow. All right. A little bit more coffee and we're ready to go. 52 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Inaugural gold.
ANNOUNCER: He's the biggest celebrity in the world.
CHETRY: Spielberg, Hanks and Magic. The A-list shelling out for Barack Obama's presidential party.
Plus, flower power. We're live in Pasadena with the legend Jack Hannah. An exclusive look at the Parade of Roses. You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It was certainly one rough year for the republican party. They lost the White House, deeper in the hole in Capitol Hill. And a party once feared and revered for it's unity now appears to be deeply divided. So how can the GOP regroup in 2009?
Joining us from Indianapolis is Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee, James Bop, Jr. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. You also by the way draft an antibailout resolution that you want to bring before the RNC. But first of all, let's talk about this year of turmoil for the GOP, losing control of the White House, as we said, deeper in the hole in terms of Congress. Who is to blame, if you had to assign blame for what went wrong?
JAMES BOPP JR., VICE CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I don't think it's a matter of blaming people, I think it's a matter of principle. You know, we lost our way on economic issues. We failed to reign in excess government spending. We failed to rein in earmarks and then we - some people in the republican party supported the biggest bailouts in our history. These are not conservative policies and programs. And so, we need to admit where we are wrong and that's the way to correct it. And that's the way that the American people will have faith again in the republican party. That we are a conservative party and that way we can get be let out of the wilderness.
CHETRY: So you're saying you need to be more conservative. That the biggest error in this general election was not being conservative enough but it was really independent voters who helped put Barack Obama into the Oval Office. So how does that square with your argument moving forward about becoming more conservative as a party?
BOPP: Well, when the republican party has been successful, it's been because of conservative politics. When we lost support of the American people is when we left a message. On the economic front, we failed. And ultimately, we had a nominee supporting the biggest bailout in history and proposing more bailouts during the campaign. And of course, we got now bailout mania coming here in just a few weeks in Congress and a new president.
While cities and states are all lined up, wanting to be bailed out by public works projects. You know, Washington is being flooded with lobbyists trying to get a piece of the action for every special interest group in this what trillion dollar economic stimulus package, big bailout, earmark, pork barrel project coming down the pipe. This is all wrong and the republicans in Congress fought this and were successful in stopping the automobile bailout. But still, you know, it's gone forward. Our message is mudded. We need to make it clear we are the conservative party.
CHETRY: You know, a recent CNN opinion research poll found that 63 percent of the people actually supported the recent $13 billion loan the White House approved to the big three autos. They don't necessarily want to see more bailouts, but they did approve of this. And you know, a large majority. There seems to be a feeling among people that while this isn't our comfort zone in terms of the government, you know, taking control and controlling stakes in our banks, and in the largest insurer, that we got ourselves into such a mess that this was inevitable. So moving forward, how does the GOP prove that they are the party after being in the White House for eight years to take us through this mess and then somehow find a solution in the future?
BOPP: Well, we have to recognize how the mess occurred. You know, community redevelopment act that forced mortgage companies into doing subprime loans, on the expectation that real estate always, you know, goes up. And of course, when it goes down, then we have millions of people who cannot afford their mortgages that caused the crisis.
You have to establish what caused these problems and that is how you can solve them. The automobile industry, it's their excessive labor costs. $80 per hour as opposed to $48 per hour for foreign automobile companies producing cars in the United States. And of course, the bailout will do nothing to solve the UAWs labor costs. It will simply throw taxpayer money at this. The UAW has made it absolutely clear, we are not going to allow anymore reductions in our excess labor costs and they are going to the Obama administration right now to make sure that doesn't happen.
CHETRY: Well, it remains to be seen but the White House, I mean, the Bush administration was also giving speeches and applauding homeownership and saying we have seen the largest number of people that are able to, you know, afford homes and live in homes. And for so long, we didn't even get a straight answer as to whether or not things were good. I mean, people were saying the fundamentals of the economy were strong a year ago, and now, we're supposedly in the worst mess since the great depression. All of that did happen on GOP watch.
BOPP: There's a lot of blame to go around in this. And that is what we are saying. We are saying there's a lot of blame, and to the extent that republicans share in that blame. We recognize that. We admit that blame. And we're going to correct ourselves. But we're not going to support anymore bailouts. We're not going to support excess government spending. We're not going to support earmarks. We're not going to want to bail out cities and states because they don't have their financial situation in order.
This is not the responsibility of federal taxpayers. We're going to now go forward, admitting our error and re-establishing ourselves as the conservative party that will fight for free enterprise, fight for the American taxpayer and not for bloated government.
CHETRY: All right, James Bopp Jr., Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee, thanks for joining us this morning.
BOPP JR.: Thank you.
