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American Morning
The Stimulus Fight; Wall Street Bonuses Upsets America; Obama's Millionaire Cabinet; Exxon Mobil's Huge Profits; Obama Blasts Wall Street; Big Stink Over Cheese
Aired January 30, 2009 - 08:00 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 top of the hour and breaking news this morning. Tensions right now on the rise as North Korea announces that its scrapping all military and political agreements with South Korea. Pyongyang is accusing South Korea pursuing of policies that are pushing the two nations to, "the brink of war." South Korea is expressing, "deep regret at the decision," and urging the communist nation to the north to return to the negotiating table.
This morning, massive losses in job cuts being announced in almost every sector of the Japanese economy. Industrial production there down more than nine percent last month and the once lucrative auto industry announcing output plunging 25 percent from a year ago. The bad news is having an impact on America because many of those companies employ workers here in the United States.
When those octuplets born in California go home, it's going to really be a full house. Reports say that the mother who lives there, lives with her parents and has six other children already ranging in age from two to seven. So far, the mother's identity has not been released. Doctors say the babies are all breathing on their own and doing well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MANDHIR GUPTA, KAISER PERMANENTE BELFLOWER CENTER: They seem to be very happy and content and when the mom came, that's what I mentioned, when the mom came and she touches the baby, you can definitely see the expression on their face, expression on their body, that they are very happy about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You can imagine the expression on the mother's face, she now has 14 kids. The babies are expected to remain in the hospital for maybe as much as a couple of months.
Well, topping the news this morning. President Obama ripping a shameful Wall Street over those huge bonuses that former Mayor Giuliani was talking about a couple of minutes ago. A new report shows employees of financial companies in New York collected more than $18 billion in bonuses last year. At the same time, the banks were drowning in debt and asking the government for your tax dollars to bail them out.
CNN's Christine Romans joins us now.
You know, the Mayor makes a case on a local basis for those bonuses, but nationwide, all of these American taxpayers putting money in this pot to give the bonuses to these people, a lot of outrage today.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORESPONDENT: And Roland Martin, our colleague here, I was just on his radio show with him, and he said it's like your sister asks for ten grand to save her house and then throws a huge house party and says, oh no, I didn't use your money to pay for anything. You know? I mean, that's what it feels like.
It feels like, wait, we gave you this money - we gave you this money and now you're paying out big bonuses. You're paying out bonuses at the same level of 2004. In 2004, it wasn't a recession. The Dow was above 10,000. I mean, there were a lot of jobs. You had, I think, peak employment in the financial sector in New York at that time.
So look at this. It's still the sixth largest bonus pool on record. Yes, it's down 44 percent from last year, boo-hoo. But last year, the economy was still weak, frankly. In 2007, we were starting to see some of this happening and, now, the decisions that were made over those past four or five years are decisions that have led to global economy to the brink.
There are a lot of people who think there should have been no bonuses whatsoever. Part of the problem here is - or the reason here, I won't say problem - is that this is a way that the - that it's structured, the people are paid on Wall Street, and frankly, in other parts of the world, too. I think London they do this too. You're paid a certain salary and then most of your compensation usually comes from bonuses and that could be all the way down the line to a lot of people who don't make as much money as people were thinking of in the corner offices. So tens of thousands of people also paid a share of this $18.6 billion pot.
But come on! You take tens of billions of dollars from Uncle Sam and then at the end of the year, pay out bonuses? It just doesn't make any sense. It just doesn't make any sense.
ROBERTS: It's like somebody ruining the inside your house and then give them a bunch of money to renovate it. It's just incredible.
ROMANS: There's a new set of rules here. Yes, you're absolutely right. And there's a new set of rules here. This is a whole new world. We have unprecedented intervention in the financial system. You just - you can't do this anymore.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks, Christine.
CHETRY: Well, while President Obama called the Wall Street bonuses shameful, Vice President Biden even went a step further. Check out what he said on CNBC yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I promise you, there aren't going to be any more $40 million jets being bought. There's not going to be expenditures of bonuses going - I mean, it's been outrageous. I mean, it's just offensive.
JOHN HARWOOD, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: Bad for rehabilitations?
BIDEN: I mean - yeah, it just offends the sensibilities. I mean, I'd like to throw these guys in the brig!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux is live outside the White House.
A lot of outrage which we're hearing both from the President and Vice President and from all different corners. Is there any teeth in this? Can Washington really do anything about it?
SUSAN MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's big question, whether or not they are going to do anything about it. They say they're going to back it up with action.
But it was interesting to note, yesterday, we saw the President exhibiting some emotion, some real frustration, even anger. A flash of emotion we hadn't even seen in the campaign. Obviously, he campaigned on holding accountable these corporate executives with their bonuses. He signed legislation as a senator, demanding that this happen. Well, all of this has failed. None of it has worked. So the question is here, what can he do as president? Well, A, he can show some emotion, yes, gets, he understands the frustration of Americans; and also, he's to follow it up with some concrete steps.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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)
MALVEAUX: So we are going to see some steps that the President is going to take. Today, he is reversing four executive orders from the Bush Administration. They are all considered to be pro labor. As you know, the unions were big supporters of Barack Obama, very important. So this is going to strengthen their hand when you take a look at these executive orders. And also, he's going to reintroduce this Middle Class Task Force that is going to be headed by the Vice President Joe Biden. He is obviously trying to show the American people, trying to show labor that this is something that he is interested in, that's important, that he gets it, that people are suffering and that he wants to hold those executives accountable.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House, we'll see what the rest of the fallout is today. Thanks so much.
John?
ROBERTS: Well, this morning, some people are starting to notice a bit of a trend in President Obama's administration. They may not be in line for those generous Wall Street bonuses, but more than half of the President's cabinet apparently are living the good life.
CNN's Carol Costello is following this story for us. She's live in Washington this morning.
Just how good a life are they leading, Carol?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The thought of having a lot of money certainly complicates things. Well, certainly it played a big part in the general election. Who can forget the enormous faux pas uttered by John McCain. When asked by politico how many homes he owned, McCain could not answer the question. Comedians like the "Tonight Show's" Jay Leno pounced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Tropical Storm Faye has soaked Florida, ruining thousands of home. Ruining thousands of homes. Most of them belonging to John McCain, actually.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And Barack Obama pounced on that, too, using that faux pas to prove that Senator McCain was too rich to understand what ordinary people were going through in our tanking economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: There is just a fundamental gap of understanding between John McCain's world and what people are going through every single day here in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, depending on how you define an ordinary person, there are not many ordinary people in President Obama's cabinet. According to "USA Today" at least eight of 14 cabinet secretaries are millionaires. The government's financial disclosure forms only require that assets be revealed in broad ranges, so here's what I have for you.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is at the head of the class. CNN is actually reporting, during her run for president, she reported her assets at between ten and fifty million. That includes her husband's earnings as well. As secretary of state, by the way, she will earn $186,000,600.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, according to "USA Today," has between 785 and $1.8 million in personal assets. Geithner made $411,000 as president of the Federal Reserve, on top of that, he received $435,000 in severance pay. According to the Center for Response of Politics, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's assets total between $1.3 to $1.6 million. He owns a home, according to "USA Today," worth more than $1 million. As does Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle.
Now, keep in mind only about one percent of Americans are millionaires. Of course, how much money you make doesn't necessarily mean you can't understand an ordinary person or know how to deal with their problems or really even forget where you came from when he didn't make a lot of money. But there is one cabinet member who is more, shall we say, monetarily humble than the rest. That would be Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The former governor of Arizona has a condo she bought in 2004 in Phoenix for $165,000, and that's fairly close to the median price of all existing homes in the United States, which, according to the National Association of Realtors, is $175,400. She also has between 186,000 and 740,000, but all of that is in her retirement accounts. "USA Today" also reporting she has an art collection worth between $15,000 and $50,000.
So there you have it, John. Make of it what you will.
ROBERTS: Well, you know, as they say, sometimes people who go into public service - good people who go into public service have to be financially independent so that might explain a lot of that.
Carol Costello - yes, sorry. Go ahead.
COSTELLO: No, no, I was just going to mention Ted Kennedy. I mean, the Kennedys made a lot of money and they're long known as champions of the poor.
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: So, there you go.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks. It just takes a little understanding, that's all. Carol, thanks so much.
KIRAN?
CHETRY: We have breaking news this morning. While employers are laying off in record numbers, Exxon Mobile is raking in record profits. The numbers are just in and coming up, we'll have them for you after the break.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
`CHETRY: We're coming up on 14 minutes past the hour and just in to CNN, a new record for Exxon-Mobil. Christine Romans joins us now with earnings news.
Hi, there.
ROMANS: Hi, there.
You hear from so many companies I come on here and tell you how horribly they did last year in the fourth quarter, but not Exxon- Mobil. Exxon-Mobil shattered it's U.S. record with a $45.2 billion profit last year, that's despite a lot of trouble in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, its profit fell some 30 percent because of disruptions from Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike. Also, as you know, tumbling gas and oil prices.
But remember, for the first three quarters of the year this is a company that was able to set records because of high, high oil and gas prices. So, wow. A really big number there. Exxon-Mobil shattering record for profit in this - for this company rather. Forty-five point two billion dollars it made and that's despite the declines in energy prices in the late part of last year and a couple of hurricanes that disrupted its gulf operations.
So, pretty big numbers there. That profit is up. They returned more money to shareholders, continued its dividend, making some investments, it says, in refining in the United States. Gosh! It's a big long release, of course. Those are the highlights for you, but a record there - $45.2 billion for Exxon-Mobil.
CHETRY: And even, as we said, we saw gas prices drop down to lows we hadn't since 2003. At the same time, they also said global demand was dropping for oil and for gas and that people were driving a little bit less.
ROMANS: That's right. And we do - they do note in here that there's a growing global economic slowdown. But they say that they have disciplined capital investment and that's helping them weather the storm as well. So, we'll see if they can keep up these kind of numbers heading into the beginning of next year. I mean, it's an awful lot of money.
And remember, we had - sorry - oil prices at $144 a barrel just in the end of July. So for the first half of the year, they had, you know, rising, rising, rising oil prices for much of the year, so...
ROBERTS: It's not going to happen this year.
ROMANS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
Well, President Obama unloading on Wall Street over those $18 billion in bonuses. But can the President really do anything about the way that Wall Street spends its money? Joining me now is democratic strategist and CNN Political Contributor James Carville.
James, great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning. Yes, sir.
ROBERTS: Let's listen to what President Obama said yesterday regarding these bonuses. He was awfully hot. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful. And part of what we're going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So a real populous message there, James. Some calculated anger, would you think?
CARVILLE: I think so. But you know, as president of the United States and a lot of these have received government money and have these kind of bonuses, people losing their jobs, I think it's pretty well justified. And I think people are in arms about this.
And by the way, according to most people, this financial crisis was, by and large, caused by people on Wall Street. So, it does seem a little bit disconnected to the average American that they are walking away with $18 billion in bonuses when they're losing their jobs. They expect the President to speak up there. And I think probably he's probably being heard.
ROBERTS: I guess a lot of the outrage too are the fact that taxpayers had to step in and rescue the financial houses and then they're giving away all of these bonuses. But really is there anything the President can do about it, other than try to cajole them, if you will, into changing their behavior?
CARVILLE: Well, if they accept government money, there certainly can be conditions attached to that money. By pointing this out, I think it sure does - it causes some pain, believe me, to the people who issued these bonuses. They feel the wrath of this. I don't think Wall Street quite understands just yet how the public feels about what happened here. Memo to Wall Street is that a lot of people are losing their jobs, a lot of people on Wall Street.
But a lot of these people have laid off a lot of people and this is causing consternation. You know, the President is the leader of the country, he's elected and the people out in the country are very angry about this and I think he has every right to express that anger.
ROBERTS; James, the stimulus bill now moving to the Senate to be considered next week. Of course, it passed with no Republican support in the House. Is that a failure for the President, who really wanted to change the tone in Washington and forge at least some measure of bipartisan support for this bill?
CARVILLE: Right. Well, it was certainly a triumph of the talk radio leaders in the Republican Party, which seem the most influential part of that party and the southern base, if you will.
I think the President looked actually sort of gracious. He tried, and my sense is that he will continue to try. And truth of the matter is, the Republican Party is addicted to its talk radio constituency and unable - lacks the courage to move from beyond that. I think that that's the real story here. Now, they'll make some changes in the Senate. I think the President is going to continue to meet with them and, you know, if they want to give them back their hand, that's their business. They will suffer the consequences of that at some point in the future.
ROBERTS: James, on the topic of conservative talk radio, do you think that the President was wrong to engage Rush Limbaugh?
CARVILLE: Well, I don't know. You know, if he was wrong, he made a glancing reference to something like that. But the truth of the matter is is that the talk radio people are the intellectual force of the modern Republican Party. They have the power of the Republican Party and they are able to, in effect, force the Republicans and the Congress to do what they want to do. You know, they are a pretty powerful force and I don't know if the President probably was smart to make a reference to that.
ROBERTS: I mean is it the first rule of politics, never punch down. And when you're the President, as powerful as Rush Limbaugh might as a talk radio host, isn't that kind of punching down?
CARVILLE: I guess, but I think he was trying to make a point. Look, if I were a presidential adviser, would I say this is something that you should do? Perhaps not. But I think it's very important for the public to understand that the Republican Party can't move away from its talk radio base. One guy said something mildly critical from Georgia and I thought, the poor man was going - he groveled so much, I felt sorry for him. But that is - that's just the nature of politics. That their constituency and it's fair to bring it out.
ROBERTS: Yes, Gingry (ph) really did a 180!
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: Yes, he did. Man, I thought they'd grown them a little stronger out there in west Georgia! That poor man, somebody had to peel him off the floor!
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: All right. James Carville, great to see you. Thanks for dropping by this morning.
CARVILLE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Always a pleasure.
CARVILLE: Appreciate it.
ROBERTS: Wow.
CHETRY: I was covering my ears. He gets fired up, you know?
ROBERTS: He does.
CHETRY: Covering my kids' ears.
ROBERTS: Gingry (ph) - wow!
CHETRY: Well, how about this one? It's a big stink over a cheese. Why president bush's tax increase on a French cheese is leaving a bad taste in Paris. A look at the biggest upset since freedom fries.
It's 21 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Looking at the most top viewer videos on CNN.com right now.
Pole dancing in gym class? Well, some 14-year-old students in the U.K. are learning pole dancing as part of fitness week. Not a good idea, kids. It's causing quite a stir on campus. Students keep watching it back on their mobile phones during class and the teachers are complaining.
Mittens, the flying feline, taking to the slopes in snowy Pittsburgh. Mittens is a seven-year-old cat. iReporter Fred Shankle says the kitty puts up with it only because he gets a treat at the end. See? Dogs do it because they love it; the cats do it for the food. Whose smarter?
Well, that's what's most popular on cnn.com right now.
Well, one last snub to the French. President Bush dropped a 300 percent tax on a Roquefort cheese on his way out the door. You could say it was one way of getting even for the E.U.'s ban on imports of U.S. beef containing hormones. And as expected, the cheese tax is raising quite a big stink in France.
Our Becky Anderson joins us now live from London with details.
I love how they describe the smell as wet sheep, but oh, it tastes so good going down?
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Does it? Fine. They can eat - keep eating their rubbish and we'll keep the best food for ourselves, said one blogger in one of the French newspapers.
This story creating a right old stink in France right across the country, it's got to be said. The outgoing Bush Administration, namely, a Madam Susan Schwab with the flick of her cheap big battle effectively eradicating what is a thousand-year tradition of cheese making in one of the areas in France from the American diet. The gastronomic delights, as you say, of Roquefort cheese. You're absolutely right. At least the flap over freedom fries and freedom toast didn't effectively wipe out the import of one of the French products that hits the shelves in the U.S. every year. A 300 percent juicy on the price of Roquefort cheese. This is tit for tat, as you say. After all, it's a retaliation for the ban on the import of beef from the U.S. Quite an extraordinary story, it's going to be said.
This is what a couple of people on the streets of Paris had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FRENCH FEMALE: It's always sort of other meaning that is implied. And I suppose it was, because President Bush left office in a quite bad mood.
UNIDENTIFIED FRENCH FEMALE: I don't like Roquefort, so I can't understand this kind of cheese, it's - I don't know. I don't like it and it's disgusting and it's like disgusting and it's too pure like cheese, you know? And I understand American people that they don't want to...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Not even all of the French actually like what is actually a very smelly cheese after all. It's two and a half percent of the Roquefort exports that actually go into the U.S. So the four and a half thousand farmers in that part of the country in France are not going to be unduly hurt and the end of the day, but it is a big story and it's one that just sort of, you know, builds up that sort of antagonism once again between the French and, indeed, the U.S.
CHETRY: So, can't our new President Obama with the stroke of a pen eliminate this big stink?
ANDERSON: Yeah. Well, you know what? He was actually sent, by the French, a package, a big package. When it arrived, they realized apparently at the White House, it was a fairly smelly package. It was full of Roquefort cheese. So, the guys in France are trying their best to convince Obama that if he wants to get on, he wants to, you know, extend the hand of friendship as it were to the French once again, that perhaps he might look to change this.
They've also, it's got to be said, the outgoing Bush Administration upset the French truffle makers, the Irish oatmeal makers and the Italian sparkling water industry. So, it's not just, as I say, these French farmers who are upset, but let's see what Obama does about it.
CHETRY: You never know.
All right. Thanks so much, Becky Anderson. Great to see you this morning.
ROBERTS: Well, another sign of the tough economic times, zoos are facing major budget cuts. What about the animals? Don't they matter in all of this? That story ahead.
And with thousands of job cuts this week, where has all of the work gone? Our Gerri Willis is here to tell you whose hiring ahead just ahead. You not going to want to miss this
It's 28 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: All this week the job cuts just keep on coming but if you're good at caring for others, there is a job out there for you. Our Gerri Willis is looking at who is hiring and, today, we turn to the health care industry. Good morning to you.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, good morning, John. Great to see you.
You know, we talked a lot about health care on this network and it is definitely one of the fastest growing industries out there. If you're looking for a job, you're desperate, right now, health care is 10 percent of all jobs out there and it's only growing.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be 22 percent more jobs by 2016. That is the fastest growing industry of all industries, period, and twice as fast as all industries combined. Let's take a look at some of the jobs that are in demand out there. Home health aides. The demand is going to increase 48 - 49 percent between now and 2016.
You can see all of these really in demand. Medical assistants, registered nurses, nursing aides. Boomers are aging and they need more health care. And there will be 13.6 million more jobs, that's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. John.
ROBERTS: OK. So, we see that, obviously, if you want to be a nurse, you want to be a doctor you got to go to school for that.
WILLIS: For a long time.
ROBERTS: But what about a couple of these other jobs like the home health aides, medical assistants, what sort of education do you need there?
WILLIS: They don't require as much education as, say, being a doctor. Let's take a look at that, pharmacists, for example. You do need a four-year degree but you don't need anything beyond that. Physician assistants, an accredited two-year program is all you really need. Social workers, you need a bachelor's degree. Look at lab technicians, an undergraduate degree will suffice. Home health aides, they get training on the job. Medical transcriptions, if you're doing that kind of work. Vocational school will do.
Orderlies, you can train on the job. Again, there are lots of jobs in health care that don't require a ton of work and a ton of time in school. You can actually do a two-year program at a community college or maybe just train on the job.
ROBERTS: My son is studying for his MCATS right now.
WILLIS: Oh, really.
ROBERTS: A good reason to buckle down and study. All right.
WILLIS: Excellent.
ROBERTS: Gerri, thanks so much for that.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN. Breaking news.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: 32 minutes past the hour right now. And we have an important indicator on the economy that's just in to us, released just moments ago. Our Christine Romans is getting this information up to the second, literally.
Do you need someone to hand you something right now?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Bill is going to hand me the information.
CHETRY: Come on. We're getting information right. It doesn't look good though in the meantime. Thanks, Bill.
ROMANS: OK. So we've got GDP for the fourth quarter down 3.8 percent. It was expected to be worse than that. It was expected to be down five percent but what this means is that the economy in the last three months of last year was the worse since the first quarter of 1982. The economy slowing, you know? Slow and kind of rapidly. Consumption down 3.5 percent. That's ugly. That means people are pulling back.
CHETRY: Not much of a shock there. I mean, we've known people are curbing in spending.
ROMANS: Exactly.
CHETRY: And we saw it throughout the holidays.
ROMANS: Exactly. It is not a big shock. It is confirmation of what we all knew that the fourth quarter was going to be ugly and it was kind of going to fall off a cliff. The third quarter you know was down just half a percent growth strength, just half a percent and then to see it kind of slam on the brakes like that. The way it has been described to me by a lot of different economists is parts of the economy kind of shutting down in the fourth quarter.
The big question is what happens in the first quarter? A lot of times when you see a big decline of like five percent in GDP, you see the growth return the next quarter and no economist is expecting that growth return in the first quarter of this year.
So it's rearview mirror, it's the first read of the last three months of last year but it kind of confirms what we all thought which is that it was a pretty tough go. Not as bad, however, a lot of people had thought it would be down five percent, maybe even six percent. It wasn't as bad as some people have thought.
So you know take that with a grain of salt. It still was a big slow down.
ROBERTS: So, Gerri, out there where the rubber meets the road, what does it mean for, you know, rank and file Americans?
WILLIS: Well, it means it's still hard to get jobs and that the economy is still slowing down. You know, I think the good news is the silver lining here is it's not as bad as it could have been. There were lots of forecasts out there from economists all over the country that were negative growth, five percent, four percent.
So you know, it's not as bad as it could be. It is not good news for consumers out there. You're still going to do the things we've been talking about for months now which is curbing your spending, making sure you hang on to any job you've got and if you are in the job market, you got to make sure that you're looking as hard as you can and in industries that are actually expanding, not contracting.
ROBERTS: Like you just said, health care industry.
WILLIS: Absolutely.
ROMANS: For one thing, as you want people to save their money and protect themselves. At the same time, if people save their money, it doesn't help the economy. I keep saying you want to save your money and take care of yourself and you want everyone else to go out there and buy something. That would be the best thing for the economy.
WILLIS: Micro versus macro. Christine, thank you. Gerri, thank you.
35 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): The president's speeches, a best-seller in Japan.
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: The world is paying attention.
ROBERTS: And a new learning tool.
OBAMA: We say, we hope, we believe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we can!
ROBERTS: Words transcending a generation on the other side of the world. Ahead on the most news in the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then, of course, there is - settle down! Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu, already the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
STEPHEN CHU, SECRETARY OF ENERGY: Now we are getting to science. I love this!
STEWART: Nerd! Of course, I'd be remiss not to mention our esteemed lawmakers. John Tester is here, Democrat, Montana, great guy. By the way, Johnny Unitas called. He wants his haircut back!
After the hearing he is going to come down here and we are all going to use his head between our golf shoes! He's a good sport! And here we have Richard Shelby, Republican, Alabama. Ew. Richard Shelby, is there a Mrs. Potatohead?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: This morning it appears that more and more people outside the United States are turning to President Obama and his soaring rhetoric to help them learn English. CNN's Kyung Lah explains from Tokyo.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran. We know that President Obama's speeches have inspired millions of Americans, but they are also inspiring people who don't even speak English.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): In this high school English class in suburban Tokyo, the teacher is relying on an outside voice.
OBAMA: The world is watching what we do here.
LAH: You may have heard of him.
OBAMA: The world is paying attention.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is paying attention.
OBAMA: We say. We hope. We believe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we can!
LAH: Their textbook is an English language book and CD set featuring the speeches of Barack Obama. The students mimic his speaking style and take grammar quizzes from the president's election night victory speech in Chicago's Grant Park.
OBAMA: It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
ASATO MAEJIMA, STUDENT (through translator): The way he speaks is different from us says Asato Maejima. Their teacher says that difference is inspiring them to learn English.
OBAMA: The book isn't just a hit in high school.
OBAMA: With my words.
LAH: It's a best-seller across Japan, a nation that embraced guides on learning English with gusto but never like this.
LAH (on-camera): This book has sold so well that the publisher has followed it up with a sequel. This one featuring the inaugural address of Barack Obama. This is number one on Japan's version of Amazon. This one number two based on book reservations alone.
OBAMA: Today, I say to you that the challenges we face are real.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator) People wrote us letters saying they were moved and they cried said the publisher.
LAH: Obama is giving Americans hope and the Japanese people feel it as well. As far as a book on President Bush?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really best-selling potential says the publisher and Japan's own lawmakers quite a bit more subdued than the American president.
Most readers don't understand all the words but the publisher says the speeches still manage to capture the Japanese's imagination.
OBAMA: Yes, we can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translator): it's not just English says this teacher. It's communication and beyond language and proving beyond borders.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: And the religious are even getting on board. The publisher says Buddhist monks are now reciting portions of Obama's speech to their faithful. John, Kiran.
CHETRY: That was Kyung Lah reporting from Tokyo for us. Thanks.
Well, you're not the only one feeling the economic pinch. Zoos getting squeezed, too. So what happens to the animals? That story ahead.
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(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Jungle love. We could use more of it this morning. Welcome back to the most news in the morning. The recession is hitting hard at the state level. They are having a slash budgets, it's all across the country and it also means some big cuts for zoos and aquariums. Christine Romans is following that for us. Obviously, not the top the of the priority list but something that most of us wouldn't even want to see go away either.
ROMANS: Not the top of the food chain. Is that what you meant to say? You're right, the recession coming to an aquarium or a zoo near you. And John and Kiran, the stimulus bill is very clear. None of the $819 billion in that stimulus will go to zoos and aquariums or casinos, golf courses or swimming pools. Taxpayer watch dogs say there are more important uses for your money. So no pork for porcupines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): There is just no job security anywhere, even for sea lions. Here at the Bronx Zoo, a state budget crisis means cuts are coming. More than $3 million in state funding will disappear here. $9 million altogether for the state's 76 zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums. STEVEN SANDERSON, CEO, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: We're faced with this very difficult problem of firing the animals, as it were.
ROMANS: Firing the animals? They've made a little video to illustrate and maybe rally support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's disastrous. So there is no easy way to say this, even though you bring record numbers of people to New York and help the economy, we're going to have to let you go.
ROMANS: So just who is next are on the line.
SANDERSON: Two-thirds of our budget is people, and so two-thirds of the cuts will come in cutting positions, and we'll also cut back what we provide in the way of education and entertainment and nature experiences for people, so it affects everything.
ROMANS: It might mean no new animals, sending some away, and some collections will not be replaced when they die. Sanderson questioned New York state's priorities, but Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for the New York State Budget Office, tells CNN the cuts are regrettable, but necessary.
"Given the dramatic reduction in revenue, we're seeing at the state level, every entity that receives state funds must do what the state has done which is to review it's operations and identify ways to operate at lower cost."
It's happening everywhere. The Los Angeles zoo stopped work on its $42 million elephant exhibit last year. Big budget cuts, too, for zoos in North Carolina, Missouri, Maryland and Florida. Hard realities of a tough economy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Oh, I like that little frog.
CHETRY: He's so cute.
ROMANS: The little frog getting fired. The Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium only get about three percent of their funding from the state. It's just three percent. But every penny they say counts because they have state budget cuts, the loss of value of their endowment and then fewer people in this economy are renewing their memberships. So they say they might have to lay off up to a hundred and thirty people. So you'll notice. I mean, across the country, you might be noticing this at your zoo.
ROBERTS: Bad times hitting everywhere. Christine, thanks.
Breaking news this morning. A 4.6 earthquake hits near Seattle just about 20 minutes ago. We are getting the latest information in right now and we'll be right back with that. Don't go away.
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ROBERTS: Ten minutes now to the top of the hour. Just in to CNN, reports of an earthquake near Seattle. Rob Marciano in our weather center down there in Atlanta, tracking it all and Rob this is what about 20 miles west of Seattle up there near Kingston? Any reports of any damage in the area?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: No reports of damage. On the phone with our affiliates. Folks did feel some rumbling in spots but it's a 4.6 as you mentioned. We will go into this part of the world, well, you know, we've been so focused on this volcano in Alaska that may very well erupt in the next few days and now we've got a little bit of action underground, here just northwest of Seattle. There it is about 16 miles across the Puget sound.
There is Bainbridge Island and the whole canal now. This is about 25 miles deep. So fairly deep and now maybe very well be revised that at that depth, you're not probably going to get a whole lot of damage. So trying to get the reports in that.
But talking to sheriff's offices and some ials down there. They are getting calls from people who did feel it. It's just a matter if that feeling actually resulted in any sort of damage. So 4.6 magnitude quake. Only 16 miles from Seattle. So major metropolitan area, John. Certainly any time you get a quake over 4 or 4.5 that gets our ears poking up. So as we go through the morning, we'll look for more reports but right now, my guess is it shouldn't have done a whole lot of damage and no tsunami reports which easily have been fired off by a larger quake.
ROBERTS: It's a rather dramatic alarm clock, anytime you hear that rumbling. Rob, we've got that volcano up in Alaska that whole area that surrounds the pacific known as the rim of fire. Is there any kind of direct linkage between the fault line that this earthquake was on and where that volcano is?
MARCIANO: I doubt that. It's a whole other range, John, although it's connected to that ring of fire as you mentioned. We'll continue to watch that volcano. If this was closer, if this was in the Alaska range, then, we say yes it has something to do with what's percolating under Mt. But my guess is it has nothing to do with that.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob Marciano for us this morning with the latest. Keep watching it, Rob. Thanks, we'll get back to you.
MARCIANO: All right.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Four-time Academy Award nominated actress, children's book author and mother Julianne Moore is teaming up with Save the Children this Valentine's Day. Moore is an artist ambassador for Save the Children. This Save the Children organization has programs that benefit more than 35,000 children here in the U.S. alone providing them with the tools and the support they need to break the cycle of poverty. We are very pleased right now to welcome Julianne to the show.
Thanks so much for being with us.
JULIANNE MOORE, ACTRESS: Hi.
CHETRY: Tell us what your initiative is with Save the Children this Valentine's day?
MOORE: Well, when I first became involved with them, they sort of asked me where would I like to go, where would I like to focus my energy? And the more I talked to them, the more I realized that my interests and passions really lie here in the United States because I kind of grew up moving all over the United States with lots and lots like eight different schools before I graduate from high school.
And the thing that you know is there's a huge disparity in the way that children live. You know, I saw it as a kid. So what I wanted to do with these Valentines is create an opportunity to talk about U.S. poverty, to children and to parents and to aid these kids, to have kids be able to buy Valentines to help kids just like themselves in this country.
CHETRY: And these are your adorable little illustrations. One of them actually is the character from your own book "Freckleface Strawberry" which is everyone reads about it, by the way.
MOORE: Yes.
CHETRY: And so how do these work though?
MOORE: Well, you know, there is a website, savethechildren.org. Go there and you can click on the Valentine's Day icon. You can buy a box of 28 Valentins'e for $25. But basically what I did this year, last year, we used children's art. This year I kind of e-mailed, cold e-mailed illustrators that I really, really admired and asked them to donate a piece of their work. And they did. Here is Kevin Henkes from you know Lilly - "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse" and Marla Frazee and we have - that's Brian Selznick "Hugo Cabret" which a lot of kids are familiar with.
CHETRY: I mean, That's what they do. All the kids give out Valentines at their school so why not have go to an organization.
MOORE: So here's the thing, as a parent, as a `mother, we buy these Valentine's anyway. So rather than going and buying box of cartoon Valentine's why not buy some Valentines that - and you can talk to your kids about it too and you can say you know there are children who don't have what we have and this is a way of helping them, loving them, kids loving kids.
I'd really love it if Valentine's Day can also become synonymous with children helping other children having a difficult time in this country. You know, one in six kids in America lives in poverty and in rural America, it's one in five. Like 13 million children go to bed hungry or skip meals. I mean, these statistics are abominable. You know, so and when you say these stuff to kids they're like, what can I do? You know, what can I do? This is very, I think, simple, easy fun way to do something for kids who are just like them. CHETRY: You know, you have two kids. You have an 11-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.
MOORE: Yes.
CHETRY: How do you instill in them a sense of values, a sense of empathy for others and also understanding that not everybody has it as good as you.
MOORE: I think it's actually easier than you think with children. I think kids are tremendously empathetic and that literally all you have to do is tell them and then they do see it. They do know that they are fortunate. I mean we talk about that. Sometimes they will say what kind of, you know, how much is enough? And I'll say to them, well, you know, you want enough to feed your family and take care of your family and enough to give away.
CHETRY: Well, this is certainly a worthwhile organization, savethechildren.org. and this is a very cute idea and I might take you upon it.
MOORE: Please, please, order them!
CHETRY: The moms are the ones that make these out anyway.
MOORE: I can see you have to go to the drug store and buy the Valentine's. So yes.
CHETRY: Julianne Moore, a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
MOORE: Thanks for having me. Thank you.
CHETRY: Sure.
ROBERTS: It's four minutes now to the top of the hour. We will be right back after this.
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ROBERTS: Too racy for the Super Bowl. A commercial touting the benefits of a vegetarian diet get squashed by NBC but viewers are eating it up. Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Normally you tell kids to eat their vegetables but now kids are being warned to hide from them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please let me forewarn you might want to send the kids out of the room.
MOOS: Women molesting vegetables. It's the pro vegetarian commercial banned from the Super Bowl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "THE LATE, LATE SHOW": How can a vegetable be suggestive? Do we have a picture of any normal vegetable? There you are!
MOOS: The people from PETA, people from the ethical treatment of animals submitted the commercial to NBC and got a shot-by-shot rejection memo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking about things as ridiculous as licking a pumpkin.
MOOS (on-camera): But PETA doesn't really mind that its commercial got squashed. Its commercials always get squashed. They have what I call their squash strategy.
Do you know how many times you've been rejected by the Super Bowl?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this makes the third time.
MOOS: There was the anti-meat commercial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With extra sausage.
MOOS: There was the milk gone wild commercial.
Don't freak out, you're only going to get a glimpse. Only pretend cow udders. Take that, Janet Jackson. Every time PETA gets its Super Bowl commercials rejected they get a ton of free publicity. On "The View" Whoopi made out with a head of lettuce. Talk shows debated the issue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you eat a lot of vegetables, Jim?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well not after this. I mean it's very discouraging.
MOOS: This seems to be an intentional strategy to get ads rejected.
MICHAEL MCGRAW, DIRECTOR OF MEDIA RELATIONS, PETA: you know, you will never seen an ad from PETA that isn't provocative.
MOOS: Or funny. Take the recent campaign to rename fish, sea kittens. So people realize fish have feelings too. PETA says the Super Bowl controversy has led to over a million hits on its website with a banned commercial leaves viewers to a serious video on the evils of meat. Move over, Paris Hilton with your hamburger commercial!
Time for the R-rated vegetables.
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I hope those vegetables were of legal age.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I want to see a beautiful woman get it on with a vegetable, I'll look through the window at Hugh Hefner's house. I don't need...
MOSS: I hope all this doesn't set up People for the Ethical Treatment of Vegetables. Bottom line, PETA like to get shot down.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Lovely gourd, Jeanne.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: Where did she get that?
CHETRY: The butternut squash.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: That's going to do it for us.
ROBERTS: Right now here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.
