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CNN Saturday Morning News
Roof Collapse Kills Three in Spain; Deadly Shooting in Miami; Extortion Plot Against John Travolta?; Debate About Economic Stimulus Package
Aired January 24, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everybody from the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, 8:00 a.m. Eastern, 5:00 a.m. Pacific.
Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes. We're glad you could be with us this morning.
A lot's happening this morning. Got a little breaking news to get to as well. But up first here certainly breaking news overnight, a shooting in Miami, nine people shot, two of them dead. Another in critical condition and several others as I said (ph) in the hospital. We'll try to get into what led to this shooting.
NGUYEN: Also this, remember the death of John Travolta's son? Now there is more news, talk of an extortion plot. Randi Kaye takes a closer look at what the suspects were demanding.
HOLMES: Also, there will be a lot of debate in the coming days and weeks about the economic stimulus package, what should go into it, what should not be in the $825 billion plus package. Will tax cuts do the trick? We'll get into that debate as well this morning.
NGUYEN: Let's get right to it. Three young people have been killed when a roof collapsed at a sports complex. It happened near Barcelona, Spain. More than a dozen others injured. CNN's Madrid bureau chief Allan (ph) Goodman joins us now on the phone. And Allan, as I understand it winds were blowing hurricane force, up to 100 miles per hour?
AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: Indeed. That's over in the Barcelona area and also in other parts of Spain. This incident happened, three boys ages nine to 12 are dead and somewhere between 12 and 16 others -- we're trying to confirm the numbers are injured. According to authorities, they were playing baseball outside. That is a popular game in the Barcelona area, outside at a sports field. This is in a suburb of Barcelona near the airport.
When they decided to take refuge in this building at that sports complex that building had a metal roof and cement siding but the metal roof came down on the boys. That resulted in the three dead and at least 12 injured, two of those seriously. Obviously, emergency officials rushed there. They say at this time they have pulled everybody out from that building -- Betty. NGUYEN: OK. So we have three young people killed. I'm also seeing reports here, Al, that a civil guard officer was killed as well as a woman in Barcelona who was crushed by a wall that came down.
GOODMAN: Indeed. That civil guard officer was trying to clear trees across a road that had fallen due to the high winds when another tree fell on him. That was clear across Spain in northwest Spain whereas Barcelona is over on the east coast and in that town, Barcelona, a woman in her 50s died when a wall came down due to the winds.
Now, authorities have been telling people to stay off the roads, stay off sidewalks. I am here in Madrid as I'm talking to you, the wind is blowing the trees back and forth. When I was on the street late last night, garbage containers were pushed down, so this is clearly a serious problem for the country, unusually high winds, about 100 miles an hour in some places. Some airports have been closed down or have had delays. Even train service has been delayed -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Al, is there a storm blowing through? What's causing winds to blow up to a hundred miles per hour and how common is this?
GOODMAN: It is not common. Spain has had a pretty hard winter. Just about a week ago it snowed in the capital of Madrid. It usually snows in the mountains outside of Madrid. Madrid is a high capital. But it doesn't usually snow right in the city. That caused incredible delays, shut down the airport.
Then, there was a pause a few days and the temperatures went back up and now, boom. The temperatures are dropping. So, these are some storm fronts that are just moving through with ferocity across this country -- Betty.
NGUYEN: CNN's Al Goodman, our Madrid bureau chief joining us with an update on the situation there in Spain. We'll keep on top of that for you -- T.J.
HOLMES: Want to turn now to that other breaking story overnight, shooting in Miami. Two people are dead. Another seven are in the hospital, shot as well. Police say the gunman is still on the loose. This happened in Liberty City. This is a residential area just northwest of Miami. Again, seven others still in the hospital right now, one of them in critical condition.
Still a lot of questions about exactly what led to this shooting. Police, again, are continuing to keep an eye out for a gunman. They don't have a description they put out just yet but anybody with information certainly being asked right now to call police. They are still looking for a suspect, still looking for a motive. So that's a lot of people shot and no answers right now. We will continue to follow this developing story throughout the morning.
Meanwhile, it seems that the state legislature in Illinois doesn't want him as their governor. It appears his attorney doesn't want him as a client now. Rod Blagojevich's attorney is saying, I'm out of here. Ed Genson is his name. He says he will not defend the embattled Illinois governor in the criminal case against him. Blagojevich is facing Federal corruption charges. There's no precise reason given for Genson's withdrawal but he did drop a few hints.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED GENSON, ATTORNEY: I never require a client to do what I say but I do require them to at least listen to what I say. I believe in this case it would be better off and I intend to withdraw as counsel in this case. I wish the governor good luck and God speed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Well, last week Genson said he wouldn't take part in Blagojevich's upcoming Senate impeachment trial. That is expected to start on Monday. Also on Monday Rod Blagojevich is scheduled to talk with our Larry King. "LARRY KING LIVE" comes your way Monday night, 9:00 Eastern, again an exclusive with the governor of Illinois.
NGUYEN: OK. So time to talk tax cuts now. Democrats in the Senate are pushing for a new plan as part of their economic recovery package. And among the proposals is what's called a make work pay credit, $500 for individuals. But you have to make less than $75,000 a year to qualify. Double the numbers for couples filing jointly. The plan also calls for the temporary suspension of taxes on unemployment benefits. The debate on the recovery program is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
In the meantime though, President Obama meets with his economic team this morning on his fourth full day in office. His 11:00 a.m. meeting is certain to center on taxes and the $825 billion stimulus package that he wants Congress to pass quickly.
White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is joining us now with developments on this. OK we are in a financial crisis, we understand that, but are these Saturday work sessions something that may be the new normal until there's a fix?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We'll have to wait and see but in his weekly radio and Internet address this week, President Obama is aiming his message directly at people who are skeptical of the massive $825 billion price tag.
Now, on the heels of his meeting yesterday with congressional leaders here at the White House, President Obama is stressing urgency, saying that if the United States does not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our economy could fall a trillion dollars short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential as more young Americans are forced to forego college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs in the future. (END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now President Obama is also spelling out more specifics of his economic plan. In particular, he says that it will double the nation's renewable energy capacity within three years. He says it will also add some 3,000 miles of electrical lines and increased security at 90 ports around the country.
But Republicans are still skeptical. They question whether some of these projects will actually stimulate the U.S. economy. The White House insists they will, saying that the plan they believe will create or save up to four million jobs over the next few years -- Betty.
NGUYEN: So let's talk about that plan for just a minute. We know that the president is trying to move quickly on these issues. He does have a lot of plans in the works, but is he making any real progress on this?
QUIJANO: It seems as if obviously the discussions that have been taking place are still somewhat early, but there seems to be some positive reaction coming out of these meetings, that there is actual debate that took place.
At the same time, though, interesting to note that at one point when Republican Eric Cantor presented his own alternative plan that President Obama said quite pointedly, look. I won, meaning I won the election here. And he believes that what his plan calls for is the right thing. Whether or not he makes progress, we'll have to see how things unfold over the next week or so -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you. Elaine Quijano joining us live in the White House.
We do want to hear from you. What issues would you like President Obama to tackle in his first 100 days in office? Already got some really good ones and they range from a variety of issues. What's your issue? Send us your thoughts to weekends@cnn.com and we're going to read some of your responses throughout the morning.
HOLMES: All right. As Elaine was just saying there, President Obama letting people know that he won. Don't have to tell Senator John McCain that. He knows who won. But still the guy President Obama defeated in the election, he's pledging to work with the new president where he can.
The former presidential candidate and Arizona Republican senator supported Mr. Obama's Secretary of State pick, Hillary Clinton. He told our Larry King, the Obama administration however does face some serious uphill battles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: With the challenges that country faces now, two wars, all of the other national security challenges and then the economy, I think this president faces greater challenges than, perhaps, you know, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to the presidency, it was economic challenges. We clearly faced the rise of Hitler and fascism but early on, it was mainly domestic issues.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: There was no war.
MCCAIN: Yeah. This president faces the domestic challenges and the national security challenges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And again, Senator McCain there did take to the Senate floor and actually urge his colleagues to support Hillary Clinton, asked for a swift vote. He also told them, hey, we got to get together. We got to work together. That is what the voters want. So we shall see.
NGUYEN: Listen to this story. This is something that is quite shocking. You know, if the death of John Travolta's son wasn't enough, listen to this. An investigation is actually underway into an extortion plot. We'll delve into that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: We understand five people have been killed in Spain, due to high winds, winds measuring up to 100 miles per hour. Three of those killed were some young boys that were at a sports center actually playing outside of that when the roof of that sports center blew off and caused those deaths.
Now, two other people killed throughout Spain, as well. One was a civil guard who was trying to clear some trees, some fallen trees, when one of the trees fell on him and then a woman in Barcelona was crushed by a wall that caved in due to these high winds. Again, hurricane force winds ranging up to 100 miles per hour. It's caused the deaths of at least five people in Spain. Warnings are also in effect at this hour.
HOLMES: We'll turn now to the story that had a lot of people just shaking their heads just was a shame about this stuff. A Brazilian model who is dead now at the age of 20 from a little known disease. You're taking a look at her there, Maryanna Brinni Decostis (ph) her name. Just a month ago, she was a healthy young woman. Dead today after a bacterial infection developed into what's called septicemia. That condition causes poor blood circulation and that leads to organ failure.
Now, this all started, however, this septicemia that got this way after a common thing that many women will know about, a urinary tract infection. That's how it started and began to worsen and led to the septicemia. Now as it got worse, doctors thought there was a chance they could save her. They were forced to amputate her hands and feet. Also, they had to cut out parts of her kidney and part of her stomach. They'd actually been removed so she went through all that in an attempt to save her life but at the end, this disease still took her life.
NGUYEN: Such a sad story there. We also have a health alert for parents. Minnesota health officials say one child has died, four others have been sickened by a rare bacterial infection. The infection is known as HIB. Now, vaccinations given to kids under the age of five normally prevent this infection, but three of the children were never vaccinated. There is a shortage of the vaccine right now and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say infants should take top priority.
This is another bit of news that we definitely want to tell you about, a lot of people are allergic to this. Peanut butter problems have millions of Americans taking a closer look at their kitchen cabinet today. You might want to do that as well. The recall is growing because of an ongoing salmonella scare. The agency now says 31 million pounds of peanut butter and paste are involved. It's traced to the outbreak, traced this outbreak to a processing plant in Georgia that ships its products in bulk.
So, your jars of peanut butter bought in grocery stores, they are fine. I'll say that once again. Your jars of peanut butter are just fine, no worries there. But check your cookies, your candies, protein bars, even dog food. Those may contain some of this peanut butter that we're talking about with salmonella. So for the latest list of products that you should avoid, please go to this Web site, fda.gov.
HOLMES: Well, during these tough economic times, a lot of people are having to do without a lot of stuff. One thing you don't need to be going without is your medicine, but some people are in fact doing that. Researchers have now found that many Americans are skipping their prescriptions because they simply can't afford them.
According to this nonprofit group, in 2007 one out of seven people under the age of 65 had to skip their meds. Now, it was one in 10. That was back in 2003. Researchers, who put out this data which was most recently from 2007, that's the most recent data we have, they say that the current numbers that we have right now in 2008-2009 probably are a whole lot worse now that the economic times have turned, again, a few months back, as bad as they are now.
We'll turn to Pennsylvania now. One local restaurant owner there is encouraging his customers to light up a smoke. Zed Smyth is his name. He runs what's called the Jellybean bar. I believe you frequented this place, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yeah, right.
HOLMES: What he's saying is that he's blaming the economy for it. He said he cannot afford to turn away anybody, smoker or nonsmoker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN WEAN, SMOKER: I usually eat out for lunch maybe three or four times a week and this is the first time I've been in here in about three months.
ZED SMYTH, JELLYBEANS BAR OWNER: Right now, unfortunately, with the economy the way it is, you know, the state crackdown just came at a bad time for everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: He says despite the state-ordered smoking ban, he'd rather have customers smoking than no customers at all. The state is sending warning letters to offenders and can end up with a fine of $1,000 for repeat violations. Now these letters are going out, this law went into effect back in September, to try to give people time to put out a campaign, let everybody know it's in effect, but now they say people are doing it like that blatantly so they sent out 300 letters.
NGUYEN: My question is this. If you could be fined a $1,000, is it worth it? Are you going to make that thousand dollars and you know in customers who come in and are smoking? Are they going to buy that much food or drinks or what not? So is it worth the fine? Obviously he's willing to take that chance. It shows you how tough times are out there.
HOLMES: Can't turn away anybody right about now.
Well, we will turn to the vice president. We all know he has a unique way with words.
NGUYEN: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now that was back in the day on the campaign trail and that certainly got a lot of flack, got him certainly a lot of criticism there. We're going to flip it up a bit. We're going to have a little fun with the vice president and some of his Freudian slips.
NGUYEN: Also, a chunk the size of Jamaica -- listen to this -- breaking away from Antarctica. Look at that. Is it a sign of global warming?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: How's that oatmeal today?
HOLMES: I didn't know the shot was coming.
NGUYEN: While you're having breakfast we are on the edge of collapse, folks. A major ice shelf in Antarctica is breaking away. It's also breaking apart. The cracks are blamed mostly on global climate change.
Let's take a listen to CNN's Tim Lister as he has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the size of Jamaica, 11,000 square kilometers, but not for much longer. The Wilkins ice shelf is now connected to the rest of Antarctica by a strip of ice just a few hundred meters wide. In the last year, a sequence of satellite photographs have shown enormous cracks opening in the ice and a jigsaw of icebergs floating away. A team from the British Antarctic survey has just seen those cracks close up.
VOICE OF PROF. DAVID VAUGHAN, BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY: Huge, absolutely huge. The cracks and chunks of ice that are splitting away from the ice shelf, they are kind of shopping mall sized chunks of ice and some of them are just floating off into the ocean.
LISTER: In just 50 years, average temperatures in the Antarctic peninsula have risen by more than five degrees Fahrenheit. Vaughan says that as Co2 emissions and greenhouse gases such as CFCs warm the climate, Antarctica's geography is changing dramatically.
VAUGHAN: This is not the only ice shelf that's done this. It's about the ninth in a series of ice shelves that's been lost. We know it's connected to climate. At least one of those ice shelves that has been lost before have been there continuously for 10,000 years.
LISTER: Other scientists say that's putting at risk an ecosystem that's evolved over thousands of years.
DEREK MUELLER, TRENT UNIVERSITY: A lot of people think of ice and snow as very sterile environments, that there's no life but in fact, these ice shelves have, harbor ecosystems that can tolerate the conditions there, the cold conditions and there are other environments created by ice shelves as well that are disappearing when the ice shelf disappears.
LISTER: Scientists don't expect Wilkins disintegration, which accelerated suddenly last year, to influence sea levels. But when ice shelves collapse, the glacier's behind them float toward the ocean faster.
VAUGHAN: The big ice sheets, Greenland and Antarctica are now the major sources of uncertainty in predicting sea level rise in the future. So what's happening on Wilkins and what's happening elsewhere, deeper into the Antarctic continent, are major concerns for us.
LISTER: Vaughan is on a U.N. climate panel that projected world sea levels would rise between 18 and 59 centimeters this century, enough to swallow much of coastal Louisiana but that estimate he says may have been conservative.
Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: We're hearing that it's being blamed on the climate conditions, global warming. You have a real issue with that don't you?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A little bit. I mean not a real issue. It's just that when you think of the concept of global warming or climate change you think about our planet. Our planet is 4.6 billion years old. It's a huge planet. That is a relatively small incident.
Could it be a clue that things are changing? It might be. But at the same time we're all seeing the ice shelf disband in the north pole. There are a lot of changes. Hard to just take one little element and pinpoint things. That is absolutely the reason why or that we do have climate change.
NGUYEN: Is this cyclical? We were talking about this a little bit earlier. Do we see this happen throughout the ages?
WOLF: You think about it. The planet has been a lot warmer. It's also been a. lot colder. A thousand years ago we didn't have cameras there able to take pictures. A million years ago we didn't have cameras there to record this.
NGUYEN: It might have happened. There's just no documentation.
WOLF: Absolutely. That being said though, this is a piece of ice the size of Jamaica. That's a big thing.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Sound familiar?
WOLF: It is a beautiful day. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? I need to be doing this in reverse order. I need to be putting the shoes on not taking them off. All I need is a cardigan and I'm good to go.
HOLMES: We know you have one. If you didn't catch it Reynolds earlier made a reference to the neighborhood and Mr. Rogers so we got that for you cued up this morning.
WOLF: It's always a special time when I hear this song. I always expect to see Mr. Choo choo train, the trolley going on through.
NGUYEN: Anything for you, my friend.
WOLF: There goes my credibility.
NGUYEN: Thanks. It's still early. We can earn it back.
WOLF: I'll earn it back next hour.
NGUYEN: Exactly.
WOLF: See you guys.
NGUYEN: All right. See you.
You know, speaking of credibility, we all trip up every now and then and we say things that we shouldn't and of course, hey, even the vice president is no exception. HOLMES: Yeah. We've said plenty of things already this morning.
NGUYEN: All the time.
HOLMES: But he's not the only one. And the family with loose lips apparently, what his wife has to say that's got people talking. It kind of caught her husband and all of us really off guard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody and welcome back on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. A lot of you are used to seeing not us right about now.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta used to air at this time slot. That's now at 7:30. We've changed things up a bit. We don't even know our new schedule yet really.
NGUYEN: Yes, we do. We're here at this hour.
HOLMES: At this hour now, from what, 8:00 to 9:30.
NGUYEN: 8:00 to 9:30 and then again from 10:00 till 11:00. So...
HOLMES: 10:00 to 11:00? I thought it was till 12:00?
NGUYEN: Yeah, that, too. See, we don't even know. I've tried to pull it off.
HOLMES: It's only to 11:00. OK.
NGUYEN: Yeah. Yeah, I'll leave you by yourself.
HOLMES: Right.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, can we get to more important news?
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: This breaking news in fact. High winds being blamed for five deaths in Spain right now. Now, the worst incident is near Barcelona, where three young people were killed when the roof of a sports complex collapsed.
CNN's Al Goodman reports that they were actually playing baseball outside the complex at the time. As many as 16 other people were injured at the complex. And winds in Spain, well, they've reached hurricane force, around 100 miles per hour. Warnings are in effect. Of course, we'll stay on top of this story for you.
HOLMES: Well, coalition forces shot and killed 15 armed militants during a raid to disrupt a suspected Taliban network. The U.S. military says coalition forces fired back after the militants shot at them with assault rifles and rocket launchers.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the military apologized for killing an Afghan civilian near the NATO base. Meanwhile, this controversy that continues surrounding President Obama's decision to shut down Guantanamo Bay. New Pentagon reports suggest many of the detainees return to the battlefield as soon as they are released. A new poll shows most people support closing down that facility, but there is also concern over what exactly to do with the detainees. No plan has been offered for that just yet.
And to learn more about the issues behind the controversy, CNN talked to former Chairman of Joint Chiefs, General Richard Meyers, to get a military perspective on what's happening at that prison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RICHARD MYERS, FMR. CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS: I think Guantanamo has come to be perceived as a blight on the United States. And so I would agree that it needs to be closed. I think the Bush administration agreed the same thing.
Unfortunately, you have to deal with the 250 some folks there that are either very, very dangerous, or who have committed crimes and need to be brought to trial. So how you handle that, how you handle these individuals will be the crux of the issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: President Barack Obama focusing on the economy right now. He's laying out more planks in his recovery plan. The need for immediate action, though, has prompted a Saturday meeting of his economic team. And everyone gathered at the White House at 11:00 a.m. We're following all of that.
In the meantime, though, we do want to hear from you. What issues would you like President Obama to tackle in his first 100 days in office? E-mail us at weekends@CNN.com. We'll be reading some of those responses throughout the morning.
Meantime, something we talked about a little bit earlier.
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: Interesting story here. Well, lots of them, in fact. Joe Biden hadn't even finished his first full day of office before once again his attempted humor has you laughing with him.
HOLMES: Yeah. He took a jab at Chief Justice John Roberts, who of course kind of fumbled a bit, mixed up a couple words in President Obama's oath of office. Now that gaffe was so bad, that it drew boos from the crowd. You know, and it didn't, you know, Obama didn't seem too pleased that he...
NGUYEN: Did you see the look on his face? HOLMES: Yeah. It wasn't good. But it gave us something to talk about and comedians like Jon Stewart a lot to talk about. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts.
JON STEWART: Oh, boom. Hey, everybody, we're all going to get sworn in! I'm all right, don't nobody worry about me. Yes, where we didn't know Dick, we may already know Joe too well. Where Cheney was this...
DARTH VADER, STAR WARS: If you only knew the power of the dark side.
STEWART: Biden seems to be a little more this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't breathe in this thing!
STEWART: By the way, in case anybody was wondering what Barack Obama's shut the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) face looks like, there you go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK. I forgot about the "Spaceballs." I forgot that movie was not "Spaceballs." Do you remember that?
NGUYEN: That was hilarious. But again, the look on Obama's face was not the time, Joe.
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: It's not funny.
HOLMES: You don't ever want to be scolded by the president, but you certainly don't want it to happen in front of everybody like that.
NGUYEN: It's kind of like that look when you say something wrong at the dinner table and your mom or dad just gives you that.
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: And you're like oh.
HOLMES: Don't have to say a word.
NGUYEN: Nothing.
HOLMES: Everybody knows what that means.
NGUYEN: Done.
HOLMES: All right. Well, I'm sure there will be more to come. And also, we're going to be talking about something that O'Biden -- ha...
NGUYEN: There we go again.
HOLMES: O'Biden, I'm getting it right. Biden's wife, Jill, actually said. Maybe this kind of runs in the family here, but she slipped up and said a little something that maybe shouldn't have come out and has a lot of people talking. You don't want to miss that.
NGUYEN: Yeah, she mentioned it to Oprah. A little extra shall we say.
There's a lot more to come here on CNN. And we're also going to be talking about more politics in fact, talking about the new New York senator.
HOLMES: Oh, yes.
NGUYEN: And how Governor Paterson came to that choice. And we'll give you the lowdown on who she is and what she brings to the table. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it appears to be the same old story, same old song for corporate America this week. General Electric reporting earnings last quarter tumbled 47 percent. GE Capital, the company's finance arm, reports a profit for 2008 of $8.6 billion.
Xerox posted a profit for the fourth quarter of a million dollars, but that fell short of analysts' expectations. Also, Harley Davidson plans to layoff 1100 workers by the end of next year. The motorcycle maker will close two plants as well in Milwaukee.
Well, no raises at Yahoo!. The Internet search engine is announcing it will keep salaries at their current level as part of a cost cutting plan, but the no raise plan may not be enough. Yahoo already announced about 1500 layoffs late last year. Analysts say more cuts could come after Yahoo announces its fourth quarter results. Do expect to get those next week, but again it has been the same old story, same old song for so many. And the -- in the community, the corporate community jobs continue to be cut.
NGUYEN: Well, bold action is needed and needed quickly. The Obama administration gets advice on helping struggling U.S. banks.
Here is CNN's Mary Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite the air of optimism in Washington, Wall Street is increasingly worried about the banking industry. With banks racking up billions in losses, many economists say the Obama administration needs to act quickly. But options are few. Britain is moving towards nationalizing some banks, leading to fears the same might happen in the U.S. CHRIS MAYER, COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL: That idea that the government just takes over the banks entirely, I think, is not only dangerous politically, that is we really don't want the U.S. government running our entire financial system, but also, I think it's likely to be ineffective.
SNOW: Some economists point to success in Sweden. Back in the 1990s, it nationalized banks to deal with its financial crisis. One former FDIC commissioner notes while it worked, Sweden had fewer banks to take over.
WILLIAM SEIDMAN, FORMER FDIC CHAIRMAN: We have, you know, a couple hundred big banks and thousands of small banks. And obviously, the government doesn't want to take all of those over.
SNOW: Another idea? Some economists say the government should create a so-called bad bank. Simply put, the government would buy toxic assets from struggling banks and segregate them.
SIMON JOHNSON, FORMER IMF CHIEF ECONOMIST: You want to take them out of the picture, so the government is buying those assets from the banks. It's giving them cash or Treasury securities in return.
SNOW: One major challenge, putting a price tag on those troubled assets. One economist doesn't see any of these options really working.
MAYER: I think we have to keep the banking system alive. And there really isn't much of an alternative to doing it, other than injecting capital and trying to generate some private capital, and then working to fix the housing market in a serious way.
SNOW (on camera): Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner was asked during his confirmation hearing about creating a so-called bad bank. He acknowledged the idea was under consideration, but also difficult to get right.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right, so you're trying to balance the budget? Well, New York Governor David Paterson is floating a whole lot of new ideas where to get some extra cash.
HOLMES: Yeah, including an 18 percent tax on your soda pop. Yeah. They're calling them non-nutritional drinks. Certainly soda is in that, but also any other sugary drink out there...
NGUYEN: Even fruit juices.
HOLMES: Some fruit juices.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: They have to be a certain percentage of fruit juice. NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: But yeah, they're trying to close the gap here. Now, a lot of people criticize this. If you're just going out to -- are you really doing this trying to fight obesity? If you're doing that, you should be taxing cake and ice cream and everything else out there that's unhealthy. Or are you just trying to target this and make some money?
NGUYEN: Yeah, that's what a lot of people are saying. I mean, you can't blame the soda for a person being overweight...
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: ...so why are you taxing it? Like you said, why don't you tax ice cream and all these other things? And so, we'll see where that money goes. But whatever they gained from that tax, they say it's going to go into education as well as fighting obesity education as well. So...
HOLMES: And also, some people won't like this, but they're going to tax beer and wine a little more, tax cigars. There is going to be a 50 cent tax there. Sales tax on movie tickets, digital downloads.
NGUYEN: Movie tickets are already what, $10...
HOLMES: Yes, they are.
NGUYEN: ...$12 a person?
HOLMES: And also sales tax on taxis and also the songs on the iPod.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: There are going to be taxes there as well.
NGUYEN: Taxes there. OK, so we're supposed to spend more money, right, to get this economy going?
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: And now we get all these taxes. Oh, that's going to be difficult, isn't it?
HOLMES: Don't move to New York.
NGUYEN: I'm trying to add it all up right now. OK, so back to those slip-ups that we were talking about a little bit earlier. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: A man who will be the next president of the United States, Barack America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Huh?
HOLMES: What? OK, there's more...
NGUYEN: There's more...
HOLMES: ...from the vice president.
NGUYEN: Unfortunately.
HOLMES: We've all said the wrong thing a time or two. Not often are we on the stage like Vice President Biden there. But what happens when you are the new Vice President? Well, the media is all over it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, we're just about a week away from the Superbowl. And that big game usually means big bank for the city that's hosting that event, but the NFL may be the one cashing in this time around. For the first time ever, selling $1,000 tickets to the game. Now of course, some scalpers out there are selling for more than that anyway, but the first time face value on tickets, $1,000.
The league apparently hasn't turned on the TV lately and seen that the economy has tanked a bit, but there could be a method to their madness. And continue with the theme of madness, we bring in business analyst Rick Horrow.
Rick, let us see them. There you go. How did you get tickets?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, it doesn't really matter because you're not going to have access to these anyway.
HOLMES: Tell us really, how did you get tickets?
HORROW: It doesn't matter how I got them.
HOLMES: Rick, tell us, how did you get those tickets?
HORROW: That madness line was great. Well...
HOLMES: Rick, how did you get tickets?
HORROW: The NFL and I have a really good relationship. I'm on the A list. I'm on the A list. You're on the F list.
HOLMES: Betty, I think he just said he's in bed with the NFL.
NGUYEN: Exactly. A little pale there.
HORROW: No, not in bed. No pale.
HOLMES: Yeah.
HORROW: It's just, you know, honoring people that need to be honored.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: Oh, my. For what though?
HORROW: $1,000 tickets, first time in face value. We'll forget that (INAUDIBLE) line. The important thing to remember is that they reduced the playoff ticket prices by 10 percent. Yet the big game, $3 million 30 second ads, big time premiums, everybody is willing to pay the big bucks for the big events. NFL just has some more stability. Steven Ross was just approved and finalized the deal as owner of the Miami Dolphin stability there. We have a good situation all over as far as the NFL heading into Tampa now.
HOLMES: OK, is this a game, though, that has always been, will it forever be recession proof, that people will continue to pay the big money for those 30 second ads? People will continue to go? Is this game just, you know, you can't be phased?
HORROW: Appointment viewing, my friend. And apparently, you'll be watching it on TV, right. So bottom line of it is that people will schedule their lives around the Superbowl. Seven of the biggest rated television programs, the top 10, last year, all NFL related. The last 10 all time. Superbowl, seven of them.
So the bottom line is this is something that people will watch. Now we're pushing the envelope. Some of the ratings have been down during the playoffs, but this is obviously the premium event. At a time, by the way, where the economy needs a jumpstart in spending. We talked about that earlier. How about the half a billion dollars of economic impact in Tampa Bay? We need mega events for people to spend money.
HOLMES: OK, well, this is a mega event. A few other things we want to get into you -- into it with here, but you seem a little bit, you know, a little upbeat and a little animated. And we're just going to go ahead and let you go now. OK?
(LAUGHTER)
HORROW: Animated and upbeat.
NGUYEN: We're going to end on a good note.
HORROW: I don't get -- that's it? I don't get to talk about...
NGUYEN: That is my...
HORROW: ...Obama, economic impact, AIG, all of those things?
HOLMES: Very nice spoken.
HORROW: How about I'll see you next week? I'll see you next week...
NGUYEN: If you're lucky. If you're lucky, OK? HORROW: I'll see you next week in Tampa.
NGUYEN: Cut his mike, we're out. No, I'm kidding. See you.
HOLMES: That's cold, man.
NGUYEN: He likes to give us a hard time. All right, enjoy those tickets. We'll be watching on the big screen.
HOLMES: We will be watching on the big screen.
A lot more to come up here. We will get back into the story. Really a sad story out of the Travolta family.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: You know, their son died. We heard about this not long ago. But actually, there were some insult added to the injury here. An extortion attempt. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Yes, we have breaking news out of Spain. Five people killed today due to high winds. This is some of the first video coming to us. Now three of the people killed were children, who were playing baseball outside of a sports center complex there when the roof was blown off due to these winds, ranging up to 99 to 100 miles per hour. That's hurricane force.
So when this roof blew off, three of those young people were killed. Many others injured. But across Spain in another area, we understand that a civil guard was trying to remove some fallen trees when another tree fell on him. And then a woman in Barcelona was crushed when a wall caved in on her due again to these high winds.
We're staying on top of this story, again, bringing the latest pictures as they're just coming into CNN from the roof collapse there near Barcelona, where three young people were killed, a total of five killed in these high winds in Spain.
HOLMES: Well, back to Vice President Joe Biden. Well, definitely he's got the gift of gab, but so do a lot of other politicians. Maybe attorneys as well. Even news anchors and reporters have the gift of gab. But some say the vice president has more than he needs, really.
He has grabbed many a headline for his verbal mistakes, but don't take my word for it. Take his.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I mean you got the first sort of mainstream African- American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.
And that's the America we'll continue to get if George, excuse me, if John McCain is elected president of the United States of America. Freudian slip.
Stand up, Chuck. Let them see you. Oh, God love you. What am I talking about? I tell you what. You're making everybody else stand up, though, pal. You can tell I'm new. Good to see you, buddy.
You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.
A man I'm proud to call my friend, a man who will be the next president of the United States, Barack America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Hey, oh, oh, wow.
NGUYEN: Cringe.
HOLMES: Some of them. A lot of people don't know, Paul, that one we were seeing where he was telling the guy to stand up, the guy was actually in a wheelchair and could not stand up.
So there are some of the gaffes. And we've got some new ones since he's been -- since he took the oath as vice president now. So what are they going to do with this guy? I mean, do you try to get him under control or do you just try to manage it after it happens? The inevitable.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: T.J., don't blame me if you get a call from the vice president's office. Hey, listen, no, and you showed that clip earlier this hour from earlier this week when Joe Biden took a little bit of a jab at Supreme Court Chief Justice there, John Roberts. And you could really see in Barack Obama's face not too much pleasure.
But nobody in the West Wing is saying anything that this is a problem. Nobody is talking about that at all. Barack Obama's team knew what they were getting when they picked Joe Biden back in August to be Barack Obama's running mate.
Yes, he's verbose. Yes, at times he says things that maybe get him in a little bit of trouble, but he brings so much else to the table. 36 years in the Senate. So much experiences, especially with foreign policy that, you know what? They knew what they were getting. And we're not hearing anything at all from any of Barack Obama's advisers right now and inner staff about Joe Biden about any pushback, but that facial expression from Barack Obama did -- was telling.
HOLMES: Yeah. And, you know, now I think a lot of people will say he means well, but the man he speaks honestly. And that's kind of refreshing at times as well, but does get him in a little bit of trouble.
Well, his wife, apparently he's not the only one in the house who can have a slip of the tongue every now and again. His wife, Jill Biden, they were on "Oprah." She said something maybe she shouldn't have said. And maybe she realized it as soon as she said it. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JILL BIDEN: Joe had the choice to be Secretary of State or Vice President. And I think Joe -- well, OK. He did. So, Joe...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK, Paul, help me with this. You could tell, she was blushing in a major way. And as soon as it came out of her mouth, she looked over like uh-oh, I'm in trouble now.
STEINHAUSER: Uh-huh.
HOLMES: Of course, what are they saying about this? And this goes a little deeper. Are you telling me he was not the first choice for -- or Hillary Clinton rather was not the first choice over at the State Department?
STEINHAUSER: Well, you know what, the vice president's office after this episode on "Oprah" put out a statement saying that the only job Joe Biden was offered was vice president of the United States. And they were saying what Jill Biden really was trying to say was that the Secretary of State's job, though he would be very qualified, would have him traveling all over the world away from the family and that the vice president's job much better fitted for Joe Biden. He could deal with so many more things and also be at home more with Jill. That's really what she meant to say.
HOLMES: That's what she meant to say. That's not what she said, Paul.
STEINHAUSER: Well, you know.
HOLMES: That says it all right there, Paul. Thank you so much. We'll be talking to you again here in just a little bit.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks.
NGUYEN: After all this talk about it, we may need to put out a statement, right? Might get that phone call from Mr. Biden. OK, and when we do, we'll deal with it.
HOLMES: We'll take it...
NGUYEN: All right, in the meantime, trying to take advantage of a grieving family. Can you believe this? With supposed pictures of their dying son. We're talking about the Travoltas.
And CNN's Randi Kaye has more on the investigation into an alleged extortion plot targeting John Travolta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Calloused and cold hearted, but police in the Bahamas say it's true. Bahamian police tell CNN they're investigating an attempt to extort money, possibly millions of dollars, from John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, as they mourned their teenage son.
Police would not confirm details of the alleged extortion plot. 16-year-old Jett Travolta died suddenly January 2nd while on vacation with his family in the Bahamas. He had a fatal seizure and struck his head on the bath tub. He suffered from seizures for years. Medication didn't help.
The Bahaman assistant police commissioner tells CNN they have two people in custody who are assisting them with the investigation. A source close to the investigation says the two are considered suspects. And a senior police official told reporters those in jail include a Bahamian senator and ambulance driver, Torino Liteborn (ph) shared Jett's final moments with the tabloids including personal details about how John Travolta was crying and praying as he fought to save his son's life.
He said Travolta performed CPR on his son and cradled him in his arms after he died.
(voice-over): Travolta's friend, former Bahamian minister of tourism Obie Wilchombe was reportedly also at the police station to help authorities determine what to charge the suspects with. After Jett's death, Wilchombe told CNN he escorted Travolta to the morgue.
OBIE WILCHOMBE, TRAVOLTA'S FRIEND: His words were, that is my son. And then he asked for some moments, he and his wife, to spend with Jett and stayed in the morgue for several hours.
LISA BLOOM, ATTORNEY: It can be hard to prove because usually what we're talking about are words just uttered verbally, there may be different witnesses conflicting as to what those words were.
KAYE: The actor's lawyers did not return calls but reportedly told a Bahamian newspaper "regrettably in a time of such terrible grief there are often a few individuals who attempt to make false claims in hopes of making millions of dollars. We will never let that happen."
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, good morning to you all from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Hi, I'm T.J. Holmes and this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for starting your day with us. Boy, we have a lot to tell you about starting with breaking news.
Three kids have been killed when a roof collapsed at a sports complex. This happened near Barcelona, Spain. More than a dozen others are injured. CNN's Madrid bureau chief Al Goodman joins us now on the phone. All right. We got a couple different areas where people have been killed.
The first area let's talk about, Al, where the three young boys were killed as that sports center roof blew off.
GOODMAN: Hello, Betty. Right now the death toll is three boys. They were aged 9 to 12 and 16 other people are injured that includes two boys who are seriously injured. There are some fears about whether they're going to make it or not. And in the 16 also there are two adults injured.
Now, we have just gotten the latest from a CNN police reporter. That's our partner station who is on the scene in Barcelona in this Barcelona suburb who says most of the boys and the two adults were -- took refuge after they were playing baseball outside. They took refuge inside this structure but the wind blew down the metal roof and also blew in some of the cement siding to the building upon them.
Also, the other boys who were still outside, they are also among the injured. So a tragedy in this Barcelona area out near the airport in a situation, Betty, where high winds are gripping the entire nation and have caused two other deaths -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, let's talk about those two other deaths. Because that was what I was alluding to at the top. So we've got the three boys who were killed but then two other people in another section of Spain that were killed. Tell me about that.
GOODMAN: Well, the most recent of those is a civil guard officer like a traffic highway police officer who was clearing a tree that was down on the road when another tree fell on him. That happened in the last hours, in the recent hours. And then on Friday night in Barcelona, not far from where these boys were killed after they were playing baseball, a woman was killed when a wall fell down upon her.
So these winds at about 100 miles an hour, 160 kilometers an hour, are really going across the north of Spain and they're linked to this weather pattern coming into France we're told -- Betty.
NGUYEN: These are hurricane force winds. What kind of warnings are out for people in Spain to just be aware of this and maybe seek shelter?
GOODMAN: Well, the whole -- the national government and the regional and local authorities have been sort of on alert for the last couple of weeks. A snowstorm a couple weeks ago hit the capital, an unusual snowstorm that ended up closing the airport. The government came under severe criticism for being under prepared.
Meteorologists had said this thing was coming. So since then the authorities have been telling people like in this wind situation to stay in. They have kept the northern fishing fleet that fishes at the north coast of Spain. They kept them in dock and they have taken a series of precautions but obviously the boys and those two adults over in the Barcelona area didn't get the message this morning -- Betty.
NGUYEN: It's a sad story there and obviously the situation is not over as those winds continue to blow. All right. Al Goodman, our Spain bureau chief, thanks so much for your information this morning. We'll be checking in with you.
HOLMES: Well, in Miami right now, police are searching for a person who opened fire on a crowd that was gathered on a neighborhood street. Two people were killed. Seven others were wounded. Most of those injuries are described as serious, at least one critical.
We have on the line with us right now Miami police chief John Timoney. Police chief, we appreciate you being here and it sounds like have you a killer on the loose. Did you think you are looking for one or more individuals out there? And any clues as to where that person might be?
VOICE OF CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY, MIAMI POLICE: Well, as you can imagine it's still quite confusing. There were a total of nine people shot, two are deceased and one is in critical condition and the other six have minor wounds and we are looking for either one or two. There are some conflicting statements at this point. The detectives and staff are canvassing the neighborhood and interviewing the injured at the hospital. And so hopefully we'll come up with something by early afternoon.
HOLMES: And sir, what do you know about this -- was this a targeted shooting or was this something where somebody just decided to go out and start opening fire?
TIMONEY: No, I believe there was a crap game on the street corner which we enforce on a regular basis but this one was going on and whether the guy was the guy that lost in the crap game or tried to rob the crap game, it's is not clear but he came up with an AK-47 and opened up on the individuals. That's all we have so far. Whether it was just one guy or there are indications there may have been a second individual.
HOLMES: And sir, how much -- I guess how much are you called to this neighborhood? This is an area that, an impoverished neighborhood that's known have I guess issues and crime over its history? It also has a history of not necessarily the people there being that trusting of the police? Are you getting a lot of cooperation from what you need there? And again, has this area given you certainly problems in the lot recent past?
TIMONEY: No. It's (INAUDIBLE) but I can tell you and I've been here now six years and the relations between the police and that community have improved greatly. So, we do get cooperation. Clearly, (INAUDIBLE) isn't going to go forward. So we do get anonymous tips. We have our neighborhood resource officers out there and so we do get cooperation. But as far as, you know, wouldn't expect somebody to come forward and give their name and address but we do get information and that's the expectation today.
HOLMES: And finally, sir, just tell me what you can tell your residents who are certainly worried if somebody is capable of doing this, you certainly have somebody out there on the streets you don't want on the streets. So what can you say? Go ahead. TIMONEY: If you have noticed anything, by all means just give us a call. We guarantee anonymity, number one. Number two, we enforce these quality of life violations which crap games are. People say it's no big deal. Well guess what, it is a big deal. These minor things, we see it time and time again, break into fights, sometimes stabbings and then like last night you end up having shootings. And so it may seem like a minor quality of life violation but those things can become very serious. This is the reason why we're very aggressive on the quality of life issues.
HOLMES: All right, again, the police chief of Miami, John Timoney. Sir, I appreciate you taking the time and giving us information, keeping us informed. And hopefully somebody down there will hear this and give you some information to help you find whoever is responsible. Sir, thank you for your time and good luck on the investigation.
TIMONEY: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
NGUYEN: Well, it's the fourth full day as president for Barack Obama and issue number one remains fixing the economy. President Obama is scheduled to meet with his economic advisers in about two hours to talk about his economic stimulus package.
So let's take you now live to CNN correspondent Elaine Quijano who is in Washington with more on this story. What do you expect to hear from this meeting today, Elaine?
QUIJANO: Well, it's closed to the press, Betty, so we'll have to wait and see what comes out of it. But in his first weekly radio and Internet address, the first of his presidency, Barack Obama is aiming his message directly at people who are skeptical of the $825 billion price tag on that economic plan.
Now, on the heels of that meeting yesterday with congressional leaders here at the White House, the president today is stressing urgency saying that if the United States does not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Our economy could fall a trillion dollars short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in loss of income for a family of four. We could lose a generation of potential. As more young Americans are forced to forego college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, the president this morning is also spelling out specifics on his economic plan. He says that it will double the nation's renewable energy capacity over the next three years. The president is also talking about adding 3,000 miles of electrical lines and also increasing security at 90 ports nationwide.
But Republicans remain skeptical. They question whether these projects will actually stimulate the U.S. economy. The White House, Betty, insists that this plan will create or save up to four million jobs over the next few years -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Elaine Quijano joining us live. Thank you, Elaine.
We also want to hear from you. What issues would you like President Obama to tackle in his first 100 days in office? E-mail us your thoughts, weekends@cnn.com. And we're going to read some of those responses throughout the morning.
HOLMES: And stick with us right here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. A lot more to talk about, the economy, of course, and also we'll introduce you to the woman who's going to replace Senator Clinton. So we go from a senator with a very famous last name to a new female senator you may have never heard of. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well all this morning we've been inviting you to tell us what you think the president should do, what he should tackle in the first 100 days?
NGUYEN: Oh, we got some really good ones and they really range the gamut, from taxes, to gasoline, to education. Well our Josh Levs joins us now to show us some of the many that have been pouring in. What do you have?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I know and you guys were just talking about that, right? It's incredible. The number of things people want Barack Obama to handle in his first 100 days. If you went by this list he'd be having a 100 days for about 10 years.
Let's zoom in. I'll show you some of the first ones people are talking about. "I would like to see President Obama pass legislation to have taxpayers deduct credit card interest paid from our tax filings." That's from A.N. Maccarone. And here "President Obama should immediately roll back all tax breaks for big oil and apply a large tax to use toward the new technology we will need to replace oil" from Sipe.
Let's go over here. This is interesting. "The cost of health care will never go down until there's turf reform. Physicians like me practice medicine defensively which drives the cost of a single visit up several hundred and in some cases several thousand dollars. I'd like President Obama to address this in his first 100 days." That's from a doctor, Vicki Sara Blumberg.
"I'd like President Obama to consider retooling the proposed stimulus into a plan the public could trust." That comes from Bobby.
We've got time for a couple more here. "The first thing is the economy. Everybody from supporters to talking heads said what a wonderful time it was in our nation during the week. What? We're facing a financial crisis and if Obama doesn't spend enough money creating new jobs to get people spending again his legacy will be a failure not a success. All the hoopla will fade and fast." That's from Tara.
And we'll end with this. "I'm very sure President Obama has a lot better insight on what issues are priority for the U.S. however, I wonder where our border issues with Mexico stand." That came from Miguel.
And you can keep them coming. We're going to keep taking a look at this and we'll share them all morning long and again in the afternoon. What's that, T.J.?
HOLMES: Well, I was asking the producer ...
LEVS: Oh, sorry.
HOLMES: About something in my microphone come up. So forgive me for interrupting your report there.
LEVS: No. It's all right.
NGUYEN: But you know something that most of them have in common was the economy. It related back to money and how you know people can survive this financial crisis and the ways that Obama -- that they're hoping that he'll make some changes that will hopefully get us back ontrack.
LEVS: Exactly. Strong opinions on what to do with all that public money. Got it.
HOLMES: Keep those responses coming. Thank you, Josh. And then we're going to be back with some more all morning. Keep those coming on to us. We'll share them right here on the air.
NGUYEN: You know she was basically a stranger to much of the nation until yesterday.
HOLMES: Yes. If you don't know her, there she is. Her name is Kirsten Gillibrand. Exactly how did she wind up as the new New York senator?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, you know, up until this week most people had never heard of Kirsten Gillibrand. We're even told that folks from her home state of New York had trouble placing the congresswoman. Well, that has now changed. Gillibrand has been named to succeed Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate and this blue dog Democrat seems ready for the challenge but also humbled by the shoes she is expected to fill.
Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), NEW YORK SEN. DESIGNATE: I'm so grateful to so many of you who are here for your leadership and service to our great state. Perhaps most significantly, I look to Secretary of State Clinton, whose seat with which Governor Paterson has now entrusted me with extraordinary appreciation and humility. I aspire to follow in her footsteps, knowing her shoes I can only hope to fill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. So let's dig deeper into the background of this new senator. You know, few people know New York politics better than Fred Dicker, an outspoken editor for "The New York Post." He joins us now live. Thanks for being with us this morning.
FRED DICKER, "THE NEW YORK POST": My pleasure. Greetings from Albany.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get right to it. Why Ms. Gillibrand? Why her?
DICKER: Well, Governor Paterson is not an elected governor. He hopes to run on his own next year. He is trying to broaden the Democratic ticket. And I think he was influenced by Senator Chuck Schumer who is a leader of the Senate Democrats nationally and has been known for trying to attract more moderate Democrats to the Democratic ticket.
And I think Schumer's influence on Governor Paterson led him to decide to pick an upstate woman congressman who has been endorsed by the NRA and has more moderate or conservative stands on issues that generally Democrats in New York don't have.
NGUYEN: Do you think he was pressured at all to fill the spot with another female?
DICKER: He wanted -- the governor made clear he thought that a female should replace female since Hillary Clinton is leaving obviously, he was looking around for a woman to put in, yes.
NGUYEN: Yes but Andrew Cuomo was a name that was floated around a lot. Some people even thought that he would be the one that Paterson would have picked. Why not him?
DICKER: Well, Andrew Cuomo, our attorney general and former federal HUD secretary is a very popular figure in New York and he is an efficient individual. A lot of people thought the governor would look to him or would go to him. It's not clear exactly why he wasn't picked.
The governor says he thought that Andrew Cuomo was too important as attorney general but he didn't even ask Andrew Cuomo if he wanted the job, from what we know. It could be that he was nervous about Cuomo because Cuomo has been talked about for governor.
Ironically, by not picking Andrew Cuomo he may make it more likely that Cuomo will challenge him.
NGUYEN: That's exactly what I was going to ask you. Wouldn't it have been more politically savvy to put Cuomo in the spot? DICKER: Let me say I think it would have been, absolutely. And because Governor Paterson appears to have mishandled this appointment so badly, and he really has given what's happened with Caroline Kennedy, people today in the Democratic party are saying it's far more likely that Andrew Cuomo now will challenge David Paterson next year than it would have been had Paterson picked him to be senator.
NGUYEN: Have you been able to get to the bottom of why exactly Caroline Kennedy withdrew?
DICKER: Well, I wish I could say I knew it 100 percent. I have a good sense of it. Obviously she said there was some kind of personal matter there. After she said it, an aide, someone very close to Governor Paterson, leaked the story that she had tax problems, nanny problems, and maybe some kind of marital problem.
We're told by people close to Caroline Kennedy that that's not the reason. We're trying to find out exactly what happened. But something went on in her personal life that at the very last minute led her to withdraw. That's for sure.
NGUYEN: It's interesting. I know if anyone is going to get to it, you will. Fred Dicker, the Albany bureau chief there. Thanks so much for your time today. Appreciate it.
Well, you know, we've seen some really frigid temperatures this week and Reynolds Wolf is going to have some more on that.
HOLMES: He's coming up right after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. We want to get you an update now with some breaking news we have been following. High winds being blamed for a deadly roof collapse in Spain. Three kids killed at a sports complex near Barcelona. At least two of them had run into the building seeking shelter from 100 miles an hour winds. Now, 16 other people were hurt. Two of them seriously. We have much more on the story throughout the morning right here on CNN.
HOLMES: And Reynolds, 100-mile-an-hour winds, those will do some damage.
WOLF: Absolutely. I mean, the equivalent of hurricane-force winds. I mean, this storm came across the English Channel now moving into parts of central Europe. The wind should die down later on today. This is Spain right here, of course, you get the Mediterranean, the English Channel. The latest storm now moving into parts of France. But still breezy conditions no doubt back in parts of Spain.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. the big story we have, not necessarily the wind but the heavy snow we may see out to the west. At the same time very rainy conditions in parts of the southeast and absolutely frigid temperatures in the single digits for parts of the twin cities. Also Chicago very cold day. You know, on a day like that it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a sweat shirt, a good one. By the way, I happen to have one. Very quickly, let me show you something. Had the great fortune of going into Alabama yesterday or I'm sorry, not yesterday but about a short time ago, went by Pleasant Valley Elementary School, got a chance to see their students and got this cool sweatshirt.
Great kids, wonderful questions. And certainly thankful to get the chance to go over there. Also went to Weaver High School. I'd like to thank Coach Michael Graven (ph) and their students. This is from the Weaver softball team. A bunch of great kids and, boy, they're smart. Let me tell you , we got some great future weather people and journalists over there. So, guys, we've been warned. Keep it ready. We've got some competition on the way.
All right. Let's send it back to you guys.
HOLMES: I'm glad you could show us that and bring that us to and get the names of those schools out there. Thank you so much, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
NGUYEN: Well, embattled financier Bernard Madoff assured his investors that he was using a special strategy to grow their money. But new documents suggest that a litany of fictional figures and a pattern of lying.
CNN's senior correspondent Allan Chernoff has more now from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN asked Wall Street veteran Michael Schwartz to review Madoff's client statements we obtained. Schwartz is an expert in the kind of strategy Madoff claimed he was using to generate spectacular returns for investors. His conclusion? The trades Madoff reported to his clients never happened.
MICHAEL SCHWARTZ, OPPENHEIMER & CO.: I believe that these statements are probably a fictional and pure imagination.
CHERNOFF: The client statements according to Schwartz indicate a conservative strategy. The return he says would be only a few percentage points, not even close to the 10 percent to 18 percent that Madoff reported to his clients each year. And today, adds Schwartz, the strategy would have been a loser
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're losing money right from the inception.
CHERNOFF: Investment pros also point out the market where Madoff would have had to execute his strategy, Chicago Board Options Exchange, never had the volume of trading Madoff would have required for the billions he was supposedly managing, which the CBOE confirms. It's been a devastating revelation for Larry Leif (ph), a Madoff customer for three decades, who read his investment statements every month and thought he was doing well.
They were all fakes. And basically everything I own is gone.
MADOFF: Leif could have known earlier because trades listed on his statements are inaccurate. Madoff reported buying Microsoft stock for Leif last November 12th at $21.80. In fact, Microsoft never traded above $21 that day. The same is true for other stocks like Coca-Cola and Apple that Madoff claimed to have bought.
The financial industry regulatory authority, which examined the books of Madoff's trading firm every two years found no evidence it ever executed trades for Madoff's investment advisory business, contradicting claims Madoff made. Some Wall Street investment experts say they had heard of Madoff's supposed returns and doubted he was legitimately doing as well as he claimed. But, they say, it wasn't their job to uncover a fraud.
SCHWARTZ: It's not our responsibility to call the SEC and tell them people are doing trades that don't make any sense.
CHERNOFF: The criminal complaint against Madoff says he admitted to two senior employees of his firm, identified by well placed sources as his sons that it's all just one big lie.
(on-camera): Perhaps in his early years of managing money in the '70s Madoff really did trade for clients. But experts like Michael Schwartz say it's clear that in the past dozen years when clients were told Madoff was using a special strategy to grow their money, the trades simply never occurred. The defense attorney Ira Sorkin had no comment on Madoff's trading activity.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, you know, in a time of financial crisis, President Obama is asking all of us to be socially responsible, but how do you about doing that? We're going to talk to Martin Luther King III.
HOLMES: All right, that's coming up. But right now, we're going to hand it back over to -- or hand it over to our personal finance editor Gerri Willis and "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."
