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American Morning
Rod Blagojevich Ousted From Office; Obama Goes After Wall Street Bonuses; Japan Announces Black Friday; Congresswoman Fights for Constituents to Squat in Their Own Homes; High Definition Flat Screen TVs for Prisoners Raises Questions; Fidel Castro's Fighting Words to Obama
Aired January 30, 2009 - 07:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a minute and a half after the hour, and here are this morning's top stories.
The Senate passed a bill authorizing another $32.8 billion extending government sponsored health care for about four million children. The money for the State Children's Health Insurance Program known as S-CHIP will be spent over four and a half years.
From Missouri to West Virginia, utility workers are scrambling to get the lights and heat back on after this week's crippling ice storm; 1.3 million people lost power and in some areas it could be the middle of February before service is restored. Since Monday, the storms have been blamed for 27 deaths.
And a California mother who just gave birth to octuplets is going to have an awfully crowded house. Reports say the woman lives with her parents and already has six other children ranging in age from 2 to 7. The mother's identity has yet to be released.
In Illinois, residents are waking up to a new governor this morning. The state's entire Senate voted to remove impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich. And in the state capital building, workers wasted no time pulling the ousted governor's picture down and replacing it with Governor Pat Quinn who is Blagojevich's lieutenant governor.
Our Susan Roesgen is following the story live from Springfield this morning. I mean, it was a case, Susan, of don't let the door hit you on the rear end on the way out there. My goodness.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. No kidding. One of the state senators said either you're going to walk out the door or we're going to shove you out. John, to give you an idea of how quickly this man's memory is being erased from the state, not only his state portrait been removed here but also his face and name is off the state Web site, and state workers are going to start going out and removing his name from the welcome to Illinois signs. He has worn out his welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are 59 senators voting yes and 0 senators not -- zero senators voting no.
ROESGEN (voice-over): In the end, every single Illinois state senator voted to kick Governor Rod Blagojevich out of office.
KWAME RAOUL, ILLINOIS STATE SENATE: It's not complicated, folks. All the evidence was overwhelming.
DAN CRONIN, ILLINOIS STATE SENATE: This man is without -- without a doubt, unfit to govern. I vote without hesitation for conviction and removal.
ROESGEN: The man they were ousting did not stick around to see them do it. But the ex-governor could not seem to let go of the limelight.
ROD BLAGOJEVICH, FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: So I -- if I guess you guys come and cover me if I want to say something, will you do it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, what are you going to do?
ROESGEN: He says he's in the private sector now. Just like thousands of other people, he says, he is just a man without a job.
BLAGOJEVICH: To the people of Illinois, God bless all of you. Thank you for giving me a chance to represent you. I want you to know I haven't let you down. We've done real things for you, real tangible, meaningful things that improved your lives.
ROESGEN: But in this story, the last word goes to the new man in charge, Governor Pat Quinn. Former Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn started as a county tax commissioner in the 1980s, worked his way up to state treasurer in the '90s and now he has the top job.
GOV. PAT QUINN (D), ILLINOIS: I want to say to the people of Illinois, the ordeal is over. I think the people of the land of Lincoln are very, very proud of our elected representatives who reflected the will of the people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: And John, I mentioned there that they are going to start taking Rod Blagojevich's name off the welcome to Illinois signs. They have actually decided not to put any governor's name on the toll way signs or the welcome signs anymore because, frankly, they've had to change it too many times.
The last governor, George Ryan, is sitting in prison right now. Ex-governor Rod Blagojevich is facing charges that could send him to prison, if he goes to a criminal court facing criminal charges.
ROBERTS: Well, that's Illinois politics, I guess. Many things are temporary. Susan Roesgen for us this morning. Susan, thanks so much.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Bankers who paid themselves, beware. President Obama says he's going after the Wall Street CEOs who walked away with $18 billion in bonuses last year. He said the people who were at the helm as the economy collapsed and retirement funds evaporated do not deserve a pat on the back and he didn't try to hide his outrage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I saw an article today indicating that Wall Street bankers had given themselves $20 billion worth of bonuses, the same amount of bonuses as they gave themselves in 2004, at a time when most of these institutions were teetering on collapse and they are asking for taxpayers to help sustain them, and when taxpayers find themselves in the difficult position that if they don't provide help, that the entire system could come down on top of our heads, that is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now banks may have even used some of the bailout money to pay those bonuses which means you got hit on both ends.
Christine Romans joins us now for more on this. It is a tough call, some say, though, in the banking industry because it's not just the CEOs, right?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, it's tens of thousands of people who share this bonus pool, of course.
CHETRY: People who share this money.
ROMANS: And let me write down the secretaries and a lot of people who really rely on a $50,000 bonus as part of their compensation. But, look, these, in many cases, are highly paid hotshots in the offices who made up some of these crazy complicated derivatives that have brought down, frankly, the global economy. And you're still paying out $18.4 billion in Wall Street bonuses?
I want to show you where this ranks over the past five years. This is still the biggest bonus pool since 2004. You got to go back to 2004. It's still the sixth biggest bonus pool in history at a time when the Wall Street broker/dealers have $35 billion in losses and had to go in and take $20 billion from the federal government. More than $20 billion. $200 billion from the federal government. I mean, just Bank of America took $20 billion.
CHETRY: We'll just stand here sort of with our mouth's gaping (ph). Is there something that Congress or Washington can do about it to get the money back?
ROMANS: I think the point here is they're very slowly starting to get it. They're starting get it on the corporate jets paid for after you have to take taxpayer money.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: They're starting to get it that there are new rules here. You can't take taxpayer money and be a partner with the federal government in a free market and then play by those old rules. It's not going to look good. I mean, the PR here is really, really important. And $18 billion is not a $50 million jet. You could argue the $50 million jet is just a small little piece of all the money that we're talking about.
Eighteen billion dollars is real money and it's money that part of the problem is that some of these firms say that we're not paying out our bonuses with taxpayer money. I don't know how you separate out the money. If you were going to go down the tubes about taxpayer money and then you can still turn around and pay bonuses, I don't know how you can separate out who got what money and the like. I mean, it's just a mess. But this is the new law of the land, you know?
And the president and this administration and Tim Geithner, the Treasury Department are very, very, very -- very, very strong about this. I mean, he was very irritated. It was the first time I've seen him that irritated.
CHETRY: Well, you want to talk about that PR just coming right before apparently. They're going to be asking for more bailout money for the banks.
ROMANS: Right. There could -- we know that the banks need more money. We know there needs to be a new plan, some kind of comprehensive plan to try to get stability back in the financial system. That's going to be coming out -- I don't know -- maybe any day from the White House. People certainly I know who are close to people who are setting all these things and trying to decide what to do say that there's something big that's coming down the pike some time soon.
So, you know, on the one hand, you have the White House that has to come out and say, look, we were smacking these guys on the back of the hand because they might have to get more money.
CHETRY: Wow.
ROMANS: I know. It is -- the whole thing is just -- I know why people are so outraged over their breakfast over this one because this one, you just really can't figure out how you possibly could pay out that kind of money.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: 2004 levels of compensation. This isn't 2004. I mean --
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROMANS: This is a whole new world.
CHETRY: Christine, thank you.
ROBERTS: We've got breaking news this morning. The world's second largest economy is sinking deeper into recession and the fallout will be felt here. Word of staggering losses and job cuts coming in to us today from Japan. CNN's Kyung Lah is following the situation for us this morning from Tokyo.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Kiran, the bad news came no matter where you looked at the world's second largest economy, whether you looked at the corporate data or job losses, or at the big picture.
Let's begin with the big picture. Industrial production. This is a number that tells you about all the products that Japan makes, the cars and the electronics.
Well, industrial production for the month of December fell and it fell by 9.6 percent. That percentage drop in December, the largest in Japan's recorded history, ever since they started keeping records for the past 50 years. If you look at some of the corporate data that came out today, also very bleak.
NEC Corporation says it is looking at serious weakening demand globally saying it will have to cut jobs; 20,000 jobs NEC says that it will be cutting. Those job cuts would be taking place worldwide.
Hitachi also announced job cuts, 7,000 job cuts. Again, those job cuts to be taking place worldwide. And the bad news spilled into the auto sector. Honda says its net profit, it wouldn't be reporting a net profit in the third quarter, expected to lose money and that net income to fall off a cliff by 90 percent.
What this all adds up to is that these corporations that are announcing these losses and these job cuts, they are based here in Tokyo, based in Japan, but these are big worldwide companies that employ Americans. Many of those job cuts will take place in the USA. All of this translating directly onto impacts on Main Street USA -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: Kyung Lah for us, thank you.
Well, with every job loss every week, mortgage payments across the country going unpaid. And now one member of Congress says that's no reason to leave your house.
It's 12 minutes after the hour.
Convicted killer. Watching the Steelers and Cardinals in high- def.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even have a plasma TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Why a prison got 80 grand for flat screens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are there to serve their time not hang out, relax, watch TV. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
As job cuts and the housing crisis catch more and more homeowners in the cross-fire, mortgages and defaults are skyrocketing. But one congresswoman says she's sick of bailouts for Wall Street and nothing for the folks who might soon be living on Main Street. She's telling her constituents to become squatters in their own homes. Drew Griffin has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The notices came to her home in April. Andrea Guice's bank foreclosed on her. Behind in payments, out of work, a husband sick, she had nowhere to go. So she decided to follow the advice of her congresswoman and go nowhere.
Guice is part of a new movement in the housing crisis -- squatters.
(on camera): For lack of a better term, you're kind of squatting in this house, aren't you?
ANDREA GUICE, FORECLOSED HOMEOWNER: Basically, yes.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): More than 4,000 properties were foreclosed on in Toledo's Lucas County last year. This year, it could be worse. Elected officials are saying Toledo is not in a recession, it is a depression.
It is this bleak backdrop that inspired Toledo Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur to take the floor of the House earlier this month to tell her constituents to stay put.
REP. MARCY KAPTUR (D), OHIO: So I say to the American people, you'll be squatters in your own homes. Don't you leave.
GRIFFIN: Kaptur says she has had it with government bailouts for Wall Street banks but nothing for homeowners. She is advocating for a legal revolution, a demand that not one of her constituents leaves their home without an attorney and a fight.
(on camera): Even if they've been foreclosed on, don't leave?
KAPTUR: If they've had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell them stay in their homes.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Kaptur is behind a strategy called "produce the note." Mortgages have been so divvied up on Wall Street that banks are having a hard time finding that original paper work, adding a delay to foreclosures. She is also pushing banks to re-work loans, especially those banks getting bailouts and holding mortgages of folks getting tossed out.
KAPTUR: They're vultures. They prey on our property assets, and I guess the reason I'm so adamant on this is because I know property law and its power to protect the individual homeowner. And I believe that 99.9 percent of our people have not had good legal representation in this.
GRIFFIN: Without a lawyer, Andrea Guice bought a $147,000 home with nearly $40,000 down.
GUICE: I should have had an attorney. I really should have had the attorney. I did not know.
GRIFFIN: She admits she didn't read the paper work, didn't learn until it was too late she had a subprime loan. Her payments of $883 a month jumped in a year to more than $1,500. When it did, she stopped paying. So they foreclosed on you?
GUICE: They have foreclosed on me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: So what do the banks say? Well, the law firm representing the bank in Guice's foreclosure declined comment. Another one of the banks Guice believes holds her note, Wells Fargo, Kiran, said it wouldn't count on individual cases but tries to work with homeowners. Well now that homeowner backed by her congressman, Kiran, is simply not budging.
CHETRY: It is and it's a situation that we see replayed all over the country. The other thing is people said they've been having trouble as they try to reach out and make contact and figure out if there's some way to re-work their loan.
GRIFFIN: Yes. In many cases, you just can't talk to the person. You get in these phone trees or you're dealing with brokers who are working for the loans. It's very, very difficult to get through the red tape.
CHETRY: Wow. Very interesting stuff. We'll see if the congresswoman gets other support from her colleagues as well. Drew Griffin, thanks so much.
GRIFFIN: All right.
ROBERTS: Well, do you have a high-def flat screen yet? Because some prisoners do and they didn't fall off a truck. Why some of the most hardened criminals in the state pen are getting to watch the Super Bowl in style.
Plus, its commercial has inspired all kinds of parodies online, but it has sold millions. It's a marketing success. Why are we so crazy for the Snuggie?
Eighteen minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: While some hard-working people will still be adjusting to coat hangers and rabbit ears to catch the big game on Sunday, many killers and rapists will get to watch the Super Bowl in crystal clear high-def on brand new flat screens.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has got the outrage story of the morning and she joins us.
Hello, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, John.
ROBERTS: This is pretty unusual.
FEYERICK: It definitely is. And, you know, given that Massachusetts is facing a $2.5 billion shortfall this year, any money spent on what you might call luxury goods like flat screens raising some serious questions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): Sure, flat screen TVs are all the rage, but in prison?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're in prison for a reason. They are there to serve their time, not hang out, relax, watch TV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even have a plasma TV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vocational training would probably be better for them than big screen TVs.
FEYERICK: Prison officials in Massachusetts gave inmates the green light to buy nearly 120 new high-definition flat screen TVs with money prisoners have spent at the prison canteen. The upgrade will cost as much as $80,000 for new flat screens in 18 facilities. Talking about state budget cuts, Governor Deval (ph) Patrick said he had bigger things to worry about.
GOV. DEVAL PATRICK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: DOC gets to make that decision together with the prisoners. They made that decision. I might have made a different decision.
FEYERICK: The DOC or Department of Corrections is already spending $175,000 to rewire its prisons, so television don't go black mid February when broadcasters are expected to switch from analog to digital signals.
A prison spokesman tells CNN "everyone is making a big deal that these are flat screen TVs but you cannot buy a new TV today that is not HD or flat screen."
And even though the state is not spending a dime on the new TVs, inmate advocates like Leslie Walker wonder if it's really in a prisoners' best interests.
LESLIE WALKER, MASSACHUSETTS LEGAL CORRECTIONS SERVICES: We don't get calls saying we wish we had flat screen TVs. What we get calls about are we need help with our health or mental health care. We need help with programming, treatment and education.
FEYERICK: Prison officials considered purchasing converter boxes but decided flat screens made more sense. And a number of people we asked didn't think buying the new TVs was such a bad idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you need to treat them like human beings. And I think that because otherwise they're going to come out and back into society feeling probably worse than they went in and commit even more crimes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't trade places with somebody in prison for all the flat panels TVs and stereos you've got.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Now, the Department of Corrections calls this matter "trivial." It's just a fact that TV signals are changing without sufficient working rehabilitation programs inside prison. Officials really feel it needs something to keep them busy and connect with the outside world at least in part. So, there you go.
ROBERTS: Boy, I wouldn't mind having a couple of those flat screens.
FEYERICK: Get a little rest. Yes, a little R&R.
ROBERTS: I don't think I want the R&R that goes along with it, but you know, the electronic gear is pretty good.
FEYERICK: Absolutely. They're getting it.
ROBERTS: Thanks for that.
FEYERICK: Of course.
CHETRY: Well, Fidel Castro with some harsh criticism for President Obama this morning. What the ailing former dictator is demanding our president do.
It's 24 and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: This just in to CNN. Fidel Castro taking the first swipe at President Obama, demanding the United States give Guantanamo Bay back to Cuba. Also, criticizing the U.S. defense of Israel.
CNN's Havana bureau chief, Morgan Neill, is live at the CNN Center for us this morning with more.
Morgan, good to see you this morning. So this is stark contrast to some of the words of praise that we heard from Castro for President Obama just last week. So why the change of heart?
MORGAN NEILL, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Kiran, The honeymoon is over, I suppose. Well, I think rather than see this as a change of heart, the way we should see it this is to welcome President Obama to the full complexities just why relations with Cuba are so difficult. After all, this is a relationship you're talking about that's gone years, decades as a very conflictual relationship. And there are some very good reasons for that.
So we did see these positive remarks both from Fidel Castro and his assets (ph) and from his brother, Cuban President Raul Castro but now we're seeing some of the sticking points that have made this relationship so hard for so long.
Now principally, that's the U.S. trade embargo but also this demand from Cuba that the U.S. withdraw from the space at Guantanamo, something that Cuba has been asking for, for decades now, Kiran.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing, you talked about possible points of contention. Raul Castro, Cuba's president, currently in Russia. Right now, he's visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. This is marking the first time that any Cuban leader has visited Russia's capital since Fidel Castro made the trip himself 22 years ago, right at the end of the Cold War. So what are the implications of that trip for the United States and the west?
NEILL: Well, I like the way you phrase that question because this is much more a Russian initiative, if you will. This trip has much more to do with Russia the way a lot of analysts see it than with Cuba.
Now, Russian President Medvedev visited Cuba in November. Among a lot of other visits to Latin America, this seems to be a way of saying to the United States we can also have interests in your traditional sphere of influence just like the United States had done in Russia's traditional sphere of influence with the proposed anti- missile shield. That's not to say there's nothing practical about this for Cuba. What this visit likely will mean is more trade and food aid. And Cuba desperately needs that food aid.
This has been a year that they've seen three major hurricanes pass through. So they are looking for some concrete results out of this trip, and it's also just a gradual improvement of relations that really went sour after the fall of the Soviet Union.
CHETRY: Morgan Neill for us at our CNN bureau in Atlanta headquarters there. Thank you so much.
ROBERTS: It's 29 minutes after the hour and time now to check our top stories.
A dramatic rescue at sea off the coast of the Dominican Republic. The U.S. Coast Guard plucked a crew of seven mariners from the deck of their freighter after it started taking on water. The crew radioed for help and the Coast Guard sent a helicopter crew who hoisted the men to safety. A Colorado man is appearing before a federal court today on charges that he threatened to kill President Obama just before the inauguration. And that he threatened to bomb cars outside of the Mall of America in Minnesota. Timothy Ryan Gutierrez was indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday.
And workers in Springfield, Illinois wasted no time taking down the picture of ousted governor Rod Blagojevich in the state capital. The Illinois Senate voted unanimously to remove the governor who's being replaced by former Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn.
So after weeks of will he or won't he, it appears that the president is getting to keep his favorite side kick, his blackberry. Mr. Obama was seen at the White House yesterday thumbing away but what happened to that super expensive, super secret spy phone that he was supposed to use?
Joining me now is the co-chair of the Obama transition team, John Podesta. John, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming in this morning. It's been a long time.
You are one of the foremost supporters of Barack Obama being able to keep his BlackBerry.
Why did you think he should keep it?
JOHN PODESTA, CO-CHAIR, OBAMA TRANSITION TEAM: Look, you have to get outside the bubble that you can get trapped in inside the White House. I learned that when I was Bill Clinton's chief of staff. I would think that you have to be able to reach out to your friends, to people that you trust to get information from them. When you screw up to hear from them. And so I was very much a proponent of him being able to keep his blackberry.
ROBERTS: But past presidents have not used e-mail. And this will be the first president to my knowledge that used e-mail while he was in office.
PODESTA: Right.
ROBERTS: There is security concerns but there's also a concern about public records, too.
PODESTA: Well, I think that you have to be knowledgeable about public records, but everybody has to do that who works in the White House have to understand their legal obligations to retain records but I don't think that's a big deal. And you know people fret about the fact that oh my god, historians might know what you said. Well, maybe it's a good thing that historians know what you said.
ROBERTS: And what happened to this idea of this super secret spy phone? This smart phone? It was not a blackberry but some other device.
PODESTA: Yes, well, I think you know, you want something that the president could use and that people on the outside might actually be able to communicate with.
ROBERTS: It looks like he is going to keep it for the time being.
PODESTA: I hope so.
ROBERTS: Let's move on this stuff, the stimulus package. It came in with a mantra to change America, you know, change that you can believe in. It seems like in terms of partisan politics, at least in the House, it's exactly the same old thing over the stimulus bill. Not one Republican -- is that President Obama's fault? Is it the Republicans fault? Is it the fault of democrats in Congress.
PODESTA: Well, America wants change and maybe Washington is hard to change. I think that President Obama has reached out to Republicans. He has gone out of his way. It's just amazing how much he has been open to talking to them, listening to them. They chose, I think, the path of opposition. I think the American people want to see cooperation, but, you know, that's their judgment.
But I think President Obama will continue to reach out to them and I think that he has gotten an enormous amount accomplished. He has passed the fair pay bill. He has closed Guantanamo and he is on his way of closing Guantanamo. He's got this bill that just passed the Senate that will add four million children with health insurance and this stimulus bill is going to pass and we need it because it's going to create four million jobs.
ROBERTS: Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker wrote today that something about the way that President Obama approached the stimulus bill smacked slightly of President Bush in 2004. When President Bush said after the election I've earned political capital and I'm going to spend it. In a meeting with Congressional leaders on Friday, Barack Obama said I won and I will trump you on this.
PODESTA: Well, look, I think conservatives have been whining I guess ever since the election. But I think that what is the reality is that he has sat down with him, he has been open to them, he has listened to their concerns. He has dropped a couple of things from the package that they opposed and they still voted no. So I don't know how much more he can do. I mean, he's been, I think, in that sense, really, I think, had his hand out. And I think he'll continue to do that.
And I think he's a guy who kind f lives in a grudge-free zone so I don't think all of this will cause him to operate any differently. He is going to continue to try to reach out across the political spectrum and get something done for the American people.
ROBERTS: And what about these laws or rules rather on lobbying? The Obama administration says we have very strict rules on lobbyists entering the administration and they turned around and William Lynn, the deputy secretary of defense nominee, a former lobbyist for Raytheon and Mark Patterson who is coming in as Tim Geithner's chief of staff at Treasury was a lobbyist as well. Did you just say well we got these rules but we are making exceptions to them? PODESTA: No. I think what he has been very clear and put the toughest anti-lobbying restrictions in place of any administration. The post-lobbying rules are the toughest in history. And he said I think right from the outset that there might be some exceptions, but I think if you look across the board, you see the fewest lobbyists perhaps of any administration coming into office, but there are a couple of exceptions that were made because people were uniquely qualified for those jobs.
And you know, for example, Bill Lynn who you mentioned at the defense department is eminently qualified to be the deputy secretary of defense. And needed someone -- that job in particular had statutory requirement that they come from industry and I think Bill will do a very good job there.
ROBERTS: John, great to catch up with you. Thanks for stopping by this morning.
PODESTA: Good to see you.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Republicans in the House are taking a stand against President Obama's stimulus plan as we were just talking about. Was it politics as usual? As we were just talking about.
And also what can we expect in the Senate? Former New York mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is going to join us with his view.
And disgraced megachurch founder Ted Haggard opening up about his sexual identity and about an encounter that almost cost him everything. It's 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED HAGGARD, FORMER EVANGELICAL LEADER: The worst days of my life. I embarrassed my wife and violated her and my children and everybody that trusted me and myself. I did some things that were contrary to the things that I believe. And I made a mess of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That was disgraced megachurch founder Ted Haggard, a man who preached against gays and now going public with his own struggles over sexual identity. Carol Costello has more of his interview with Larry King.
Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
You know, I don't know what Ted Haggard is doing. I mean I guess you could say he's on a forgiveness tour. He was on Larry King last night after giving many interviews. And he talked about new allegations, a relationship with a young man, a church volunteer.
That 20-year-old man, Grant Haas, told CNN of a sex act Haggard performed while he watched. He also told CNN Haggard's church paid him to keep quiet, although the church says it paid the young man to get counseling at an education. Haggard addressed these new allegations on Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAGGARD: Since that time I met with him and one of the church overseers and Gayle and asked for his forgiveness and all of our children, when he decided to come out and talk about that, as our kids came in the other night, I said, Grant Haas is going to go public, and every one of them knew about it and they said, oh, really? And then went on about their evening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And you know, it seems his family really has forgiven him. Back in 2006 when that male prostitute accused Haggard of improper relationships and buying drugs from him. Haggard talked about telling his wife that it was, indeed, true and this is what she told Larry King last night about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": How did you react when the story broke?
GAYLE HAGGARD, TED HAGGARD'S WIFE: I was shocked. Well, the first I heard of it, I didn't believe it and Ted was denying it. But when he finally told me, which was the second day that the story was out, I felt as though the carpet had been pulled out from under me.
I just didn't believe it. I felt as though Ted -- this could not be true of my husband. And so the first words out of my mouth were, "who are you?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Both of them have gone through extensive counseling, Kiran. and they, obviously, still love one another and the children have come to some sort of agreement with their father. I guess if you want to know more, you're going to have to watch the HBO special that is coming your way soon. You should check you listings.
CHETRY: It would be very interesting.
Ted said he told his wife to leave him that she should leave him and that she didn't want to leave and she said, you know, it's not part of her belief that she was going to stick with him.
The other interesting thing though when we talk about the sexuality is that when he was asked about it by Larry King, he said that counselors told him he is heterosexual but with homosexual attachments. Did he get into what he believes that means? COSTELLO: No, he also said that another counselor diagnosed him with -- no. He was a heterosexual with complications, whatever that means. He really believes he is a heterosexual but he has been fighting these feelings since he was in high school. He said he had homosexual tendencies back then but he says since he has gone to this counselor, he is completely satisfied with his wife.
CHETRY: All right. Carol Costello for us this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Who is number 44 backing in Super Bowl XLIII with the choice of the Steelers and the Cardinals? President Obama does have a favorite. We'll tell you which side, just ahead.
And when you curl up to watch the big game on Sunday, do you have a Snuggie to keep you warm? Half blanket, half robe. It's the latest craze and what's behind it. 41 minutes after the hour.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I wish the best to the Cardinals. They have been long suffering. It's a great Cinderella story, but other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that's closest to my heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: There you go. We hear the president plans to watch the big game at the White House with friends and a bipartisan group of lawmakers. So what can you expect for the big half time show? Two words. There he is right now.
The Boss. Bruce Springsteen performing at halftime on Sunday night says it's going to be a 12-minute party. Springsteen just performed in Washington in the leadup to President Obama's inauguration. So he says he's not too worried about the huge Super Bowl crowd. Also performing at the Super Bowl, Jennifer Hudson will be singing the national anthem.
ROBERTS: Forty-five minutes after the hour. A check on the weather forecast across the country and what it will be like in Tampa for the Super Bowl. Rob Marciano at the weather center down there in Atlanta. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, John. A bit of a mess down in Florida right now including Tampa with fog and rainfall. This is the left over from that storm that brought all the ice across the mid section of the country. Many thousands are still without power there.
The forecast for Tampa Bay does call for increase in sunshine with high temperatures in the lower to mid-60s during the game time festivities and with the Boss playing at halftime, you couldn't go more American than that.
All right. What do we have on the weather map today? Lake effect snows and windy and cold across the southeast and another blast of frigid air coming down from Canada. So this is pouring as we mentioned yesterday into an area that is still without power, so that poses a whole another round of problems on top of just trying to get the power back on.
Our lake-effect snows across parts of Erie, Ontario and also Lake Michigan. Buffalo getting a little bit, as is Pittsburgh. Good luck to you and to Phoenix. Same problem we had yesterday with Dallas and freezing fog. We got freezing fog advisories around Ft. Smith, Little Rock and over towards Memphis.
We did earlier had a ground stop at Memphis Airport because of the fog but that has since been lifted. We shouldn't see too many travel delays at the airports today. That is the good news. 64 for high in Dallas. It will be 52 degrees in Denver and 45 degrees in Kansas City. John, back up to you. Super Bowl Sunday coming up, a national holiday for everybody.
ROBERTS: Yes. Hey, how are you all going to warm up there in Atlanta, Rob? Pretty cool still.
MARCIANO: Yes. As a matter of fact, Monday, ground hog day, a pretty big storm wrapping up and we may very well see snow flakes as far south as New Orleans. So we'll keep you posted on what could be a nasty ground hog day storm for the eastern third of the country.
ROBERTS: Yikes. Thankfully it will met before Mardi Gras. Rob, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, President Obama's cabinet not only has the game on the basketball court. Also a lot of cash. We're going to find out just how many millionaires are helping him run the country.
And does former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani think House Republicans are right to reject President Obama's stimulus plan? The former New York mayor and GOP presidential candidate is going to be joining us. It's 47 minutes after the hour.
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ANNOUNCER: Want to keep warm when you're feeling child but you don't want to raise your heating bill. Blankets are OK, but they can slip and slide and when you need to reach for something, your hands are trapped inside. Now there's the Snuggie the blanket that has sleeves. The Snuggie keeps you totally warm and gives you the freedom to use your hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It sure does!
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She made me do this! She did! OK. I agreed. CHETRY: The reason we have this on. This is a phenomenon that we can't quite figure out. Even in my household they're popular. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. You've probably seen that commercial, by the way, on CNN. The Snuggie. It spawned all sorts of on-line imitators. It sold four million, the company that made these. So what is behind Snuggie-mania. Jason Carroll, Snuggie.
CARROLL: You actually own one of these.
CHETRY: This is mine, from home. Yes, that's right.
CARROLL: That scares me. That frightens me. Yes, you know, when I pitched this story, I did it because there seems to be so many people talking about it. You know even in the newsroom, everyone was calling me and e-mailing me I have the Snuggie. Mary Snow's producer said she got one for her family. You know, it's really unbelievable.
But you know, the big question is what made the Snuggie such a hit? First, obviously, the commercial which we are going to show you very soon. It is campy, intentionally. You can say what you want about it. The Snuggie is a business model of how to succeed in a bad economy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't worry. One size fits all. So creepy dads can lie in a seductive pose.
CARROLL: YouTube have been flooded with people imitating it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our mundane task like answering the phone impossibly difficult.
CARROLL: Ellen DeGeneres is making jokes about it.
ELLEN DEGENERES, TALK SHOW HOST: They give you a free light when you order it. What they should throw in is a pointy hat so you can look like a wizard or something like that.
CARROLL: Call it Obi-wan wear or monk chic. Many aren't sure what it is or why anyone would want it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's funny, but, hey, somebody invented it.
CARROLL: It's a Snuggie. It's an oversized fleece blanket with sleeves, and it's an economic gold mine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one knows why things take off, but the Snuggie just took off and people are talking about it and they're making fun of it but they are certainly buying it.
CARROLL: The company says four million Snuggies have sold since they started airing those quirky national commercials last October.
ANNOUNCER: Enjoy a snack while staying snuggly warm. CARROLL: Why is it so popular now? Snuggies says consumer have cozied up to the idea of staying home and saving money by turning down their heat during a troubled economy.
AILI MCCONNON, REPORTER, "BUSINESS WEEK": It really does appeal for that hunker down mentality that you see so many Americans have now. It's almost -- the Snuggie is almost like the comfort food of the clothing line.
CARROLL: Consumer experts also say the Snuggie came at the right time just when conventional advertisers were pulling TV spots to cut costs, leaving cheaper TV time for Snuggie's creators to buy.
ANNOUNCER: Call now and you'll get the ultra-soft, ultra-warm Snuggie for only $19.95.
CARROLL: That cheesy commercial. It's so bad, yet so good. Call it the Snuggie cult, now a pop culture hit with fans who dedicated a Facebook page to it.
SAMUEL CRAIG, PROFESSOR, NYU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: If you get a viral marketing buzz and word-of-mouth takes over and people just say I want to get that. because why? Because someone I know has it.
CARROLL: Out on the street, it's definitely an eye-catcher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels snuggly.
CARROLL: But consumer experts wonder if the fad will last. When it gets warm, who's really going to want a Snuggie when beach blankets go on sale?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Yes. Well, Snuggie has been betting a lot more people are going to want it so they are planning to expand the line with other items. Like Baby Snuggie. There have been other versions of the Snuggie out there like the Slanket and the Nuttle.
CHETRY: The Slanket. It's all in name.
CARROLL: It's all in the name. You know, what I'm trying to imagine is someone like our colleague Alina Cho in one of those things. Maybe if it came in cashmere.
CHETRY: That's right or -
CARROLL: Since it's fleece -
CHETRY: Or she can get Swarovski crystal. You know Chanel emblem.
CARROLL: It's not for me but you bought one, why did you end up getting one?
CHETRY: It was my Christmas present from my husband! I got other things, too, don't worry.
CARROLL: OK.
CHETRY: But now it has turned into a little bit of a situation in our house. People fight over this thing.
CARROLL: Yes, maybe --
CHETRY: The dog wants it, the baby wants it. I'm afraid to wash it personally because I don't know what will happen!
CARROLL: Maybe this is a new version of the pet rock or the Cabbage Patch doll or something.
CHETRY: I hear you.
CARROLL: It's hot now and a fad now but six or seven months from now, we'll see. But the creators of Snuggie say they think it will be around for a long, long time.
CHETRY: We have a picture of my daughter in hers.
CARROLL: I wish I had thought of it.
CHETRY: There it is.
CARROLL: Oh.
CHETRY: The Snuggie. I mean you can't get enough of it. You can eat comfortably and I'm afraid to cook with the sleeves.
CARROLL: Don't do that.
CHETRY: Let alone light myself on fire.
CARROLL: Don't do that.
CHETRY: You're right. An example of savvy marketing in a tough economy.
CARROLL: They are going to be fighting over that Snuggie we brought into the studio.
CHETRY: So glad to get it off. Thanks, Jason.
It's 55 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): A Cabinet full of millionaires, as President Obama cracks down on corporate greed.
OBAMA: That is the height of irresponsibility.
ROBERTS: We take a closer look at his closest advisers. You're watching the Most News in the Morning. (END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "'LATE NIGHT' WITH CONAN O'BRIEN" : This week on CNN, have you seen this? They've been showing a blueprint all week of the White House to help people to realize the layout of the West Wing. Yes, when he saw it, former President Bush, "So that's where the bathroom was."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, fresh from a Democrats-only stimulus victory in the House, President Barack Obama is desperate for a bipartisan support in the Senate. So what are the chances that he's going to get it? Joining us to now to talk about that as well as the other political news of the day is Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and Republican presidential candidate.
Thanks for being with us, Mr. Mayor.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: Thank you.
CHETRY: So the House Republicans really took a stand this time against President Obama's stimulus package. Not one single vote in favor of the bill and actually a few Democrats crossed over as well. But many believe that, you know, this is partisan politics alive and well.
GIULIANI: No, it -- it really isn't. I think -- I mean, I think if the President amends it, he'll have a chance at getting Republican votes in the Senate. The fact is the bill is way out there and it's not really a stimulus package. Maybe a hundred billion, 150 billion. You could argue...
CHETRY: He added tax cuts to get Republicans on board, took out some of the people thought was pork.
GIULIANI: But the reality is is a stimulus package is one that would immediately start dealing with, in an even more effective way, the problems that are happening in loaning money in banks having liquidity. I think they're going to eventually have to do it. They're going to eventually have to do what originally Paulson wanted to do, which is get the toxic assets off the bank's books with something like a resolution trust solution. And that's another 200, 300 -- I'm not even sure how much that would be -- that's going to have to be spent.
So, this is basically, a political agenda being satisfied. I understand that. I mean, Democrats got elected and they're now satisfying their political agenda. The price tag is way higher than I thought it would be though. It's, you know, 800 -- 850 billion, that's a lot of money at a time in which what you should be trying to do is get control over fiscal, you know, spending of money. CHETRY: Have Republicans been able to articulate what the alternative is to getting people back to work? We're hearing the lousy report, these job reports, these companies every day laying off thousands and thousands of more people.
GIULIANI: You know, the economy is so complicated that you end up with everybody having an opinion about anything. But even these bonuses we were just talking about -- I don't know if they're $19 billion, $20 billion -- those bonuses, if they're reversed is going to cause unemployment in New York. All right.
CHETRY: We talk about how New York City and New York State have a larger scale kept alive by that revenue.
GIULIANI: I remember, when I was mayor, one of the ways in which you determine New York City's tax budget -- tax revenues -- are Wall Street bonuses. Wall Street had a billion, $2 billion in bonuses; city had a deficit. Wall Street had 15 to 20 billion; New York City had a two, $3 billion surplus. And it's because that money gets spent. That money goes directly into the economy. It's not as if -- first of all, it gets taxed as income opinion. Secondly, it gets taxed again when somebody buys something with it.
CHETRY: Right, but as a fiscal conservative you can understand the outrage. These are the banks that went begging for money from the federal government and then they're giving out billions.
GIULIANI: No question about it. I was worried for the city long about Christmastime. I still think about it, even though it's eight years ago. I start thinking about, well, what are the tax receipts going to be? And I was worried for the city because I thought there would be no bonuses or they'd be five billion, six billion. I mean, there'd probably some bonuses, but down substantially. I'm surprised it's that high. But it does have a reverse effect on the economy if you somehow take that bonus out of the economy. It really will create unemployment. It means less spending in restaurants, less spending in department stores. So everything has an impact.
CHETRY: What is the GOP's role moving forward in terms of finding some consensus over -- some stimulus bill's going to pass in moving to the Senate.
GIULIANI: I think we've got to get to the stimulus and not pay the price of, you know, politics before we get to the stimulus. I see it as a maybe $500, $600 billion price tag that's been paid now in other things. Whether it's good things or bad things -- increasing Medicaid, increasing what are, in fact, payments to people who aren't paying taxes. Eighty-five billion is going in money that's going to go to people who aren't paying taxes. That's not stimulating the economy. That's solving some kind of social agenda that you have.
We're going to have to get down to dealing with this problem that the banks have. And it isn't the banks' problem alone, it's everyone's. If you're not having money flowing into the economy through loans and through borrowing, you slow down the economy tremendously. Hard for it to revive. CHETRY: Certainly it and we're facing unprecedented times.
GIULIANI: And they're going to eventually do it. And I think Republicans know that. They know there is another price tag coming up.
CHETRY: Right.
GIULIANI: But it just hasn't been put on the table yet. There's another going to be another two, 300 billion that's going to be needed.
CHETRY: Probably in the form of more help for banks, I'm sure.
Rudy Giuliani, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much for being with us, Mayor.
GIULIANI: Thank you.
