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American Morning
President Obama Takes Aim at GOP Critics; Cockpit Tapes of US Airways Flight 1549 Released; Michael Phelps Banned from Competition and Loses Major Sponsorship; Jobs Report Numbers Expected to be Dismal; Obama's Tough Talk; Military Stimulus Plan; USS Cole Charges Dropped
Aired February 06, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): President Obama's serious stimulus pitch.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: An economy that is already in crisis...
ROBERTS: Calling out his critics.
OBAMA: ... will be faced with catastrophe.
ROBERTS: Challenging his own party.
OBAMA: Millions more Americans will lose their jobs. Homes will be lost. Families will go without health care.
ROBERTS: With the economy expected to hit another new low this morning.
OBAMA: That is the price of inaction.
ROBERTS: Plus, you've seen the amazing images. Now, we have the sound.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: OK, which runway one would you like at Teterboro?
CHESLEY B. "SULLY" SULLENBERGER, PILOT, US AIRWAYS FLIGHT 1549: We're going to be in the Hudson.
ROBERTS: A cool, calm and collected "Sully," seconds before he sticks the landing, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Yes, we'll be talking about that a lot this morning, how Captain Chesley Sullenberger managed to put the plane down there with no loss of life, just an incredible landing.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
ROBERTS: And the miracle of being able to remain calm, cool and collected under conditions like that, just amazing.
CHETRY: Exactly. The outward sign of calm. He said inside he was having some turmoil.
ROBERTS: Very much like this here every AMERICAN MORNING.
Hey, it's Friday, it's the sixth of February. Thanks very much for being with us today.
CHETRY: And we're starting off with the top stories this morning. And the latest government jobs report is coming out at 8:30 Eastern, so in about two and a half hours this morning and the outlook is grim.
Economists surveyed by briefing.com expect around 540,000 jobs will be lost in January alone. Now that could mean a 16-year high for the country's unemployment rate. From retail, banking, manufacturing, companies across the board shutting jobs and also putting a freeze on new hires.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recovering in a New York hospital after she had surgery for pancreatic cancer. Doctors discovered the surgery last month during a routine checkup. This is Ginsburg's second battle with cancer. She was treated for colon cancer back in 1999. Never missed a day on the bench though while she was being treated for that. Ginsburg is 75 years old and the only woman on the court.
Coming up a little later, we're going to ask our expert on all of this, Jeffrey Toobin, if the dynamic on the court will change and how if she retires.
Also, Olympian Michael Phelps has been suspended for three months by USA Swimming. They also revoked his training stipend after the infamous picture of him allegedly smoking pot made the rounds in tabloids across the world. The Olympian is also talking to the cameras about the ordeal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What were you thinking?
MICHAEL PHELPS, OLYMPIC CHAMPION: Obviously not much. And, you know, like I said, a bad judgment and, you know, I can learn from it and try to make my life better than it has been in fact (ph). Like I said, I made mistakes and, you know, I have to live with every mistake that I've learned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Jason Carroll is going to have a lot more on Phelps coming up in just about ten minutes.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, it's two minutes after the hour. We begin this morning with breaking news. The Senate ending debate late last night without a vote or compromise in the stimulus bill as the president slammed his GOP critics giving a sharp-edged, fiery speech to House Democrats. It's a side of the president not seen since his bitter clashes with John McCain on the campaign trail. The president telling his GOP critics the time to act is now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We're doing this because this is what the best minds tell us needs to be done. That's point number one.
Point number two, when they start talking about, well, we need more tax cuts, we started this package with a healthy amount of tax cuts in the mix, recognizing that some tax cuts can be very beneficial, particularly if they're going to middle class and working families that will spend that money.
That's not -- that's not me talking. That's the economists talking, who insisted that they're most likely to spend and get that money into circulation and stimulate the economy.
Now, in fact, when we announced the bill, you remember, this is only about, what? Two weeks ago, when we announced the framework and we were complimented by Republicans saying boy, you know, this is a balanced package. We're pleasantly surprised. And suddenly, what was a balanced package needs to be put out of balance? Don't buy those arguments.
Then there's the argument well, this is full of pet projects. When was the last time that we saw a bill of this magnitude move out with no earmarks in it? Not one. And, and when you start asking well, what is it exactly that is such a problem that you're seeing? Where is all this waste in spending?
Well, you know, you want to replace the federal fleet with hybrid cars. Well, why wouldn't we want to do that? That creates jobs for people who make those cars. It saves the federal government energy. It saves the taxpayers energy.
Well, then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill. What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point. No, seriously. That's the point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Suzanne Malveaux is the only network reporter live from the White House this early in the morning. And Suzanne, listening to some of that speech, did it make you feel like it was October all over again?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, it's really quite amazing because what you're seeing here and what we saw before was a candidate who was campaigning for change and now you see a president who is really struggling to actually make that happen. And what you're seeing is that he went after the Democrats, obviously saying look, I need your support. He was throwing red meat as well at something that worked in the campaign to rally his base, but there was a larger audience here. That's the reason why they opened up this originally closed affair to the cameras to all of us. He was trying to reach the American people and deliver this populist message, try to reclaim control of the debate that I've got this plan here. I know it's going to work.
And what it does there is it says, look, it's not my fault. It does give me some political cover if all of this blows up, John.
ROBERTS: Yes. And Suzanne, though, one of the benefits of being there so early is like the early bird gets the worm. You get to break some news this early in the morning and you've done that again this morning, two days in a row. Plans for the president to bring in some big names to help him clean up the economic mess. What's going on there?
MALVEAUX: Well, sure, he's going to be announcing an economic recovery advisory board. It's a group of advisers outside of the White House. We saw very similar faces. These ones during the campaign back in Florida.
He talked about some folks and we actually saw them. And they're going to meet regularly for about two years to give him outside independent voices and they are some heavy hitters, John. You're talking about the head of GE, Caterpillar, Oracle, as well as some folks from Yale, Harvard and UC Berkeley, all of them meeting with the president.
Essentially, the message here, John, and the reason why it's timed out this way is again, he is trying to show I've got some intellectual firepower behind my plan, get behind me. This is the right thing to do. That's what he's trying to convey to the American folks.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll hear more about that throughout the morning. Our early bird in Robin egg blue this morning.
Suzanne, it's good to see you today. Thanks.
MALVEAUX: Good to see you, John.
ROBERTS: And the White House announcing that President Obama will hold his first formal news conference since taking office. Monday, during prime time, he'll make remarks and take reporters questions Monday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And, of course, you can catch all the action right here on CNN.
CHETRY: And we're following another big story, one that you'll be talking about today no doubt. Newly released audio tapes take you right inside of the cockpit of that US Airways plane that had to splash land into the Hudson River. The tapes reveal just how close US Airways Flight 1549 came to disaster and also just how calm the captain was during that crisis. And CNN's Mary Snow is here to tell about those dramatic final moments. You know, all of us watched it unfold on live TV and we were all struck by how orderly it seemed. I mean, it could have been a plane that landed on a runway.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it really is amazing when you hear these tapes, and as you're about to hear, these audio tapes released by the FAA are dramatic not because of emotion but rather because of the lack of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): Facing a potential disaster over the skies of New York, Captain Sully Sullenberger kept calm. Roughly 90 seconds after takeoff, there's a problem.
SULLENBERGER: This is Cactus 1539. Hit birds. We lost thrust in both engines. We're turning back towards LaGuardia.
SNOW: Cactus is the sign for US Airways but the flight number is actually 1549, and air traffic controller at LaGuardia has an open runway.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: If we can get it for you, do you want to try to land runway 1-3?
SULLENBERGER: We're unable. We may end up in the Hudson.
SNOW: About 40 seconds later, Captain Sullenberger looks for another option in New Jersey.
SULLENBERGER: I'm not sure we can make any runway. What's over to our right? Anything in New Jersey, maybe Teterboro?
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Cactus 1529 turn right two eight zero, you can land runway one at Teterboro.
SULLENBERGER: We can't do it.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: OK, which runway would you like at Teterboro?
SULLENBERGER: We're going to be in the Hudson.
SNOW: His voice is strikingly calm, but now Captain Sully Sullenberger describes in his first TV interview with CBS's Katie Couric what those moments were like for him?
SULLENBERGER: It was the worst sickening pit of your stomach falling to the floor feeling I've ever felt in my life. I knew immediately it was very bad.
SNOW: The now famous miracle is that all 155 people on board made it safely from the Hudson's frigid waters. Survivors say hearing the tapes made them relive the ordeal. ALBERTO PANERO, US AIRWAYS FLIGHT 1549 PASSENGER: The one point that I did get a little bit of chills on my back was he says "unable" and that's all he said. And that was exactly the tone of voice and demeanor that he used when he said "brace for impact."
BRAD WENTZELL, US AIRWAYS FLIGHT 1549 PASSENGER: I think I'm doing the same thing that a lot of people were doing is, you try to listen to how cool and calculating this pilot was.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: It's really amazing and some of the passengers we spoke with say they've finally got a chance to meet with Captain Sullenberger and his crew this week. They described the meeting as emotional but say they were not surprised by the captain's cool demeanor. And when you think about it, this all happened within about a two-minute period.
ROBERTS: You know, if you listen to the overall recordings, too, the air traffic controllers reached out. They say any other aircraft in the area got eyes on this plane and there's two helicopter pilots who respond. And just the sense of incredulity in their voice as they're watching all of this happen, it's amazing.
CHETRY: It truly is. Yes. And he says, "We're not going to make it to Teter. We're going down in the Hudson. And again, in a completely calm voice as if it would be the most natural thing in the world to have to land this humongous plane in the river.
SNOW: So matter of fact.
CHETRY: It really is unbelievable. Wow.
ROBERTS: It's no more different than somebody saying I'll meet you at the corner of Madison and 58th.
CHETRY: Exactly. Exactly.
ROBERTS: That's where I'll be. Wow.
CHETRY: Exactly. And the way he describes it, by the way, he said that when he, the lack of sound, knowing those two engines went out, the silence of not hearing either engine was such a terrifying, terrifying thing.
Very interesting stuff. Thanks so much, Mary.
And by the way, we want to let you know that Captain Chesley Sullenberger is going to be with his crew and making their first prime time appearance. It's going to be on "LARRY KING LIVE" next Tuesday, and also Captain Sullenberger will be our guest right here on AMERICAN MORNING next Wednesday.
ROBERTS: Well, more fallout from the bong hit seen around the world. Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps banned from competition and losing a major sponsorship. We're following that story for you today.
Plus, big breaking news about the nation's job crisis coming out this morning. We'll break it down for you and tell you what it's going to mean straight ahead.
It's coming up now on 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We're expecting another dismal jobs report on top of the half a million jobs that were lost last month, on top of the half a million jobs that were lost the month before that, on top of the 2.6 million jobs that were lost last year. For you, these aren't just statistics. This is not a game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: New unemployment numbers for the month of January come out a little bit later this morning just after 8:30 Eastern time with forecasters predicting a worsening job market.
Our Christine Romans now "Minding Your Business" this morning. Yesterday, we had the weekly jobless claims.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right.
ROBERTS: They were horrible.
ROMANS: They were horrible.
ROBERTS: And now we're expecting the entire month of January to be bad. And what about this idea that as goes January, so goes the year?
ROMANS: Well, this is the big Kahuna of economics, of course. This is the one that really tells us -- we get 12 of them a year -- this is going to tell us what the job situation was in January. It's going to show us that even after a lot of companies were laying off workers at the end of the year, December, the traditional time to really lay off a lot of people, it looks like that continued in January.
And what we can't tell is if this is the worst of it, if we're, you know, really kind of like throwing in the towel in the labor market or if things are going to start to get better. But every economist I've talked to is expecting a really dismal, horrible number here.
The jobless rate -- there are two things that this report will show. It will show the number of people who lost their jobs in January. We know that's going to be hundreds of thousands of people, and it's going to show us the unemployment rate. That's the jobless rate. It was 7.2 percent. It's expected to go up. You've heard the president talking about, if he doesn't get the stimulus, if we don't get the economy under control here, we could be looking at double digit unemployment. Double digit unemployment is not good for a country. It is not good for an economy. It's not good for all kinds of different things. For a lot of reasons, we don't want to see that.
So this number today is incredibly important for telling us just how bad it is out there in the labor market and how quickly it has deteriorated.
In the stimulus package, there are some things that would help people who are newly unemployed. We're talking about $25 extra in your jobless check. Right now, the average jobless check in this country every week is about $297, so an awful lot of people are trying to live on a couple hundred dollars a week here. It would mean expanded coverage. More people would qualify and you could qualify for longer.
Also, a 65 percent subsidy on COBRA premiums. COBRA is that health insurance, if you've lost your job and also help for state agencies, more access to federal funds. A lot of the states are having trouble just with a lot of people asking for jobless benefits.
CHETRY: Absolutely. One of the keys you talked about is the extension, I mean, for people that are trying to get back in the workforce and it's so tight right now, you need those unemployment benefits extended.
ROMANS: That's right. And those weekly numbers are showing it. But the ones we talked about yesterday, those are showing. That's people having a hard time finding another job.
CHETRY: All right. Christine, thanks so much.
As we said, this jobless report officially is coming out in about two hours and 15 minutes and we are going to be all over it. We're going to have the latest and also the implications and how it could affect you.
Still ahead, it's been a bad week for Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. Of course, the photo showing him appearing to inhale from a bong, it has the swimming legend in an unfamiliar place, hot water. We're going to tell you how he's paying the price.
We're also following breaking news. Senators delay a vote on the president's economic stimulus plan. The president fires back, taking aim at lawmakers still not signing on to support it. We're going to have more on his animated speech from last night and also more on this gang of senators working together to try to hammer out an agreement that everybody can get on board with.
We're going to have much more on all of that coming up on the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHELPS: To be able to have support for times like this I think is the most important thing, and, you know, I'm really being able to find out who my true friends and family are, because they're supporting me through it all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you want to say today to your supporters, to your detractors and to all...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, for Michael Phelps, the hits just keep on coming and it's not a good thing.
ROBERTS: First the bong hit and then the fallout.
CHETRY: That's right. It's the scandal surrounding the bong photo and it's starting to cost him. Phelps was suspended from competitive swimming for three months, I believe, and lost a major sponsor in the interim as well.
Jason Carroll has been working this story for us. He's contrite about the situation.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
CHETRY: He was at a party, right?
CARROLL: Right. He's learning a valuable lesson here. No doubt about that. The fallout has begun and is hitting Phelps where it hurts, in the pool and in the wallet. The gold medal winner was dropped by Kellogg's, one of his key sponsors, and he's been temporarily suspended from swimming.
Phelps has yet to publicly respond to the suspension or the lost sponsorship, but he did speak out for the first time on camera yesterday, talking to a local TV station in his hometown of Baltimore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHELPS: I clearly made some bad judgments and mistakes in my life, and you know, I think the best thing is, you know, learn from your mistakes. And you know, it's already what I've done and what I continue to do, and you know, I'm going to do everything I can, you know, in the pool and I'm already back in the water training. Still deciding on a lot of things, but I'm happy to be back in the water, and that's a place where I feel at home and feel comfortable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Of course this all started when the photo surfaced over the weekend, that infamous photo which shows Phelps smoking from a bong. USA Swimming Association has now suspended Phelps from competition for three months, and cut his financial support. In a statement they said, "This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero."
Kellogg's also disappointed, saying it will not renew its sponsorship deal with Phelps. A spokeswoman saying his behavior was not consistent with the image of the cereal giant. Phelps talked about the pressure of trying to live up to the image of a sports hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHELPS: I think it's hard to really, you know, to be ready for any of this. You know, to understand anything that's going to happen, I think, it's impossible for anybody to really know the definite answer.
But you know, I've actually, I've been able to talk to a lot of people and you know, a lot of people that have been in my shoes in other sports and I've been able to get their perspective and just talk to them a little bit. And I think that's been helpful over the last few days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Phelps' three months suspension would expire in time for him to participate in the next big competition. The world championships in Rome, that's in July. Phelps hasn't said whether or not he'll participate even though Kellogg's obviously has decided to pull out. Some of his other sponsors like Speedo, Omega, Visa, Mazda, Hilton Hotels, they're all deciding at least so far to stick with him.
CHETRY: Phelps is getting a lot of online support. A lot of people saying come on, this is so hypocritical to be upset.
CARROLL: Yes. You know when you read the blog, you hear what people are saying. They're saying, look, he's 23 years old. He did what a lot of kids do. But you know, on the flipside of that you also want to say what others are saying, look, he also has a DUI in the background and he's not just any 23 year old.
ROBERTS: No.
CARROLL: He's a 23 years old making millions of dollars.
ROBERTS: It's pretty clear that he's not a stoner. I mean, you can't be in the physical condition that he is if you are...
CARROLL: A stoner?
ROBERTS: Regular user of marijuana?
(LAUGHTER)
So it's obvious that he's not at that level but he also does have to remember that a lot of people look at him, a lot of young people look at him and say I want to be just like him. CARROLL: That's right.
CHETRY: Exactly. The kids. It's the kids.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Jason.
Out of the hospital and on to network television, the California mother of octuplets is talking. We'll tell you why she wanted to have so many, many, many children, 14 of them, at last count.
And in front of a friendly crowd with some very unfriendly words, President Obama takes aim at his GOP critics, bucking his bipartisan trend when it comes to the stimulus. You'll hear just what he said ahead.
It's 23 and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning, and breaking news on day 18 of the Obama Administration.
The president's stimulus plan hangs by a few votes in the Senate, and the president ditching the bipartisan language sharpening his rhetoric and taking on his GOP critics.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If we do not move swiftly to sign the American recovery and reinvestment act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe.
This is not my assessment. This is not Nancy Pelosi's assessment. This is the assessment of the best economists in the country. This is the assessment of some of the former advisers of some of the same folks who are making these criticisms right now.
Millions more Americans will lose their jobs. Homes will be lost. Families will go without health care. Our crippling dependence on foreign oil will continue. That is the price of inaction.
This isn't some abstract debate. This is not a game. This is not a contest for who's in power and who's up and who's down. These are your constituents. These are families you know and you care about. I believe that it is important for us to set aside some of the gamesmanship in this town and get something done.
Now, I believe -- I just want to repeat because I don't want any confusion here. I believe that legislation of this enormous magnitude, that by necessity, we are moving quickly. We're not moving quickly because we're trying to jam something down people's throats. We're moving quickly because we're told that if we don't move quickly that the economy is going to keep on getting worse.
We'll have another two or three or four million jobs lost this year. I'd love to be leisurely about this. My staff is worn out, working around the clock. So is David Obey's staff. So is Nancy Pelosi's staff.
We're not doing this because we think this is a lark. We're doing this because people are counting on us. So legislation of this magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it's received, and all of you will get another chance to vote for this bill in the days to come. But I urge all of us, not to make the perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: More debate on the bill today in the Senate which could mean a vote before the end of the day.
Checking some of the other big stories this morning, the government's latest jobs report expected about two hours from now, and economists are expecting more bad news. A survey by briefing.com forecasts a net loss of 540,000 jobs just in January. That could push the country's unemployment rate to a 16-year high. Across the board, retail, banking, manufacturing companies shedding jobs and putting a freeze on new hires.
Russia has agreed to help the U.S. ship nonmilitary cargo to Afghanistan. Moscow says the Obama administration made the request several days ago to transport supplies through Russian territory. It comes after the Kyrgyzstan government decided to close a key military base that supported U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan.
The California mother who delivered octuplets last week is out of the hospital and talking about the births. Thirty-three-year-old Nadya Suleman tells NBC she wanted a huge family to make up for the isolation that she felt as an only child.
Suleman now has her wish, 14 children, all conceived through in vitro fertilization. She says it took seven years to get pregnant with her first child. The octuplets remain in the hospital and will be there for awhile.
CHETRY: Well, President Obama in a departure from bipartisanship had some harsh words for Republican critics of his stimulus plan. The president giving stern warnings about what will happen if the Senate fails to pass the bill. Again, the chamber picks up the debate again today. In fact in just a few hours, there's a bipartisan group of senators that are trying to broker a deal.
Joining me now with a libertarian take is Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron.
Thanks for being with us.
I read this great article that you just wrote about what a libertarian stimulus would look like and it really is fascinating. First of all, explain when you say the key rule of a stimulus plan should be "do no harm."
JEFFREY MIRON, ECONOMIST, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: I think that it's important that we don't adopt policies that are expensive, that are not going to be productive in terms of being useful infrastructure, that we change taxes in a way that gives people proper incentives, and we think about issues other than the short run that are very important, such as moderating the growth of entitlements like Medicare and social security, rather than only focusing on the current situation.
CHETRY: President Obama, again, as we said, had some harsh words for the GOP, saying that, don't try to stall on this, and don't try to say that parts of it don't work because of spending. Let's listen to what he said in addressing tax cuts and then I'd like to get your take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: When they start talking about, well, we need more tax cuts. We started this package with a healthy amount of tax cuts in the mix, recognizing that some tax cuts can be very beneficial, particularly if they're going to middle class and working families that will spend that money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So, he's talking about the -- about targeting the middle class and the working class with tax cuts. You argue that you should be repealing corporate income tax. Where do you get the most bang for your buck?
MIRON: Well, there's two aspects of the tax cuts. One is that it transfers income to the people who have their taxes cut. And that certainly makes those people better off, but it takes it away from someone else. So, it's not necessarily getting you very much beneficial effects on the economy overall.
Repealing the corporate income tax and other changes in taxes would lower tax rates. It would improve people's incentive to work, save and invest and make the economy more productive and more efficient, both now and in the future. And those kinds of tax cuts are really absent from the current stimulus package.
CHETRY: You also talk about something else interesting. You say the elephant in the room really is the imbalance in social security and Medicare when all of these baby boomers retire, and you argue maybe it's time to actually raise the rate of eligibility for social security and Medicare.
MIRON: Right. I think that a broad selection of economists from every part of the political spectrum would recognize that life expectancy is higher by about 10 years since we created social security. People's health in their older ages is now much better than it used to be, and so many more people can work productively well into their 60s and 70s. Why not gradually phase back that age? Not all at once, of course, but so that people who are currently receiving benefits would, of course, get their benefits, but people who are younger would simply expect to work an extra five or 10 years, and that would make those programs much more fiscally solvent.
CHETRY: We're bracing for another dismal job report coming out in about two hours right now. The U.S. economy lost 2.6 million jobs last year, 500,000 jobs a month for the last two months. And the argument is that we need spending programs. We need to make sure that we're taking care of job cuts.
Where do you stand on whether or not spending is going to translate into new jobs created in the near term?
MIRON: Well, a lot of the spending may, in fact, lead to jobs, but it's not necessarily going to lead to productive jobs. If you had the government engage in a completely useless project, digging ditches and filling them up, you could put some unemployed people to work. But that's not a good use of economy's resources.
So, to have productive jobs, infrastructure projects that we really need, schools that are actually going to be productive and all that, it takes time to plan those things. And yet, we're talking about spending huge amounts of money in a very short period of time. And also it covers up the fact that there are lots of projects we currently do which are not very productive. So we could be switching money from those rather than adding new amounts of the deficit in the debt going forward.
CHETRY: Interesting take this morning.
Jeffrey Miron, economist at Harvard University. Thanks so much.
MIRON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: As President Obama prepares to meet with the families of victims at the attack on the USS Cole, charges against the suspect in the terrorist bombing have been dropped. We're live at the Pentagon with reaction.
It's 34 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Green technology is now in tune with nature. One Nebraska-based company created a big hit with its line of wheat-based musical instruments. Musician Dan Shafer uses the biodegradable guitar pick made by the company Wheatware.
DAN SHAFER, MUSICIAN: The pick is your right hand. You know, it's very important. I like these picks. I mean, outside of the fact that it's biodegradable and it's made from wheat, I mean I love the attack of it. Almost have the same attack as a copper pick.
WOLF: The company has a whole line of other eco-friendly products including golf tees, hangers, chopsticks, even an eco yo-yo, but how the wheat is actually transformed remains an industry mystery.
KATHERINE PATTON, PRESIDENT, WHEATWARE: We were as a proprietary formula made from all parts of the wheat. We have a trade secret technology.
WOLF: Each year, there's a surplus of about 50 billion bushels of wheat which Wheatware manufactures into sustainable products. The company says the products can withstand temperatures of up to 210 degrees and take less than 90 days to decompose.
PATTON: So, Wheatware provides an answer to creating a green, sustainable future while saving millions of ancient forest trees and building green jobs in the U.S.
WOLF: Now that could be something to sing about.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
The Senate still locked in a battle over the economic stimulus package and looking to trim fat from the more than $900 billion plan. And there is also a lot of debate over how the money earmarked for military spending would be spent.
Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence has got that story for us.
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CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The U.S. military could get billions of dollars for barracks and buildings. The stimulus package would allocate an estimated $3 billion for housing and facilities, more than four billion for hospitals and clinics, and $360 million for child care centers.
The Pentagon says these projects fit the guidelines it was given by the White House.
REP. DOUG LAMBORN (R), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: There are defense projects that could be funded right now.
LAWRENCE: Republican Doug Lamborn says too much of the Pentagon share is going to renewable energy research and Corps of Engineer construction.
LAMBORN: Really nothing for the weapons and the tools that our troops on the front lines actually need.
LAWRENCE: Lamborn and others argue there's a backlog of repairs for equipment worn out in two wars.
GORDON ADAMS, NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT: Additional money there isn't really going to produce any impact. LAWRENCE: Gordon Adams advised the Obama administration during the transition and says those kinds of contractors are at full capacity.
ADAMS: They're already adding third shifts. They've already got full up on the production line. They can't go any faster. They can't go any bigger.
LAWRENCE: Adams says it would take years to ramp up production. And the rules of the stimulus package stipulate speed over actual need.
WINSLOW WHEELER, CENTER FOR DEFENSE INFORMATION: Just throwing money at the thing is a bad idea, both for economic stimulus, and it's a bad idea for defense.
LAWRENCE: Winslow Wheeler was a former executive at the government accountability office. He says the Pentagon is not a good fit in the stimulus package, because it's known for high overhead costs and money that gets paid out slowly.
WHEELER: If you're talking about stimulus, deal the -- if you're going to be smart, it's not the place to spend your money.
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CHETRY: When you think of John McCain (OFF-MIKE)
LAWRENCE: Will help a tremendous amount of military families, but these projects are not even required to be the most needed hospitals in housing, just the ones they can break ground on the fastest.
ROBERTS: Yes. Obviously, there's a huge need particularly in that area. And another story that's making news this morning from Guantanamo. The judge down there has dropped all charges against Abdul-Rahim Al-Nashiri, who is a -- one of the chief suspects in the "USS Cole Bombing.
What's that all about, Chris?
LAWRENCE: Yes, John. He was accused of masterminding that attack that killed 17 American sailors. Two things about this decision, one, it was -- they dropped the charges without prejudice, which means that they can reserve the right to prosecute him at a later date. Also, right now, it doesn't change his detainee status. Meaning, he's not going to be let go because of this decision.
And there was a lot of shock in the Pentagon last week because the Obama administration had asked all these trials to stop for about four months while it figured out what it wanted to do next. But the judge in this case said, no, his trial is going to go forward. And Al-Nashiri would have had an arraignment next week if these charges had not been dropped.
Still, a lot of people are very upset about some of these decisions regarding Guantanamo and this case. In fact, the old captain -- the retired captain of the "USS Cole" part of a group meeting with the Obama administration today to express some of their frustration.
ROBERTS: Yes, including the families of some of the victims as well. I wonder what they think about this whole thing, probably not too happy.
Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon this morning. Chris, thanks so much.
LAWRENCE: You're welcome. Well, there are record lows across the sunshine state. How cold could Florida get? And on the West Coast, you're going to need an umbrella today. Our Rob Marciano is coming up with a look at extreme weather across the country.
Also, soul legend Etta James slamming Beyonce for supposedly stealing her song at the inaugural ball. Jeanne Moos looks at that and other rants heard round the world.
It's 43 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Forty-five minutes after the hour right now.
Our Rob Marciano is checking on extreme weather for us this morning, as we look at -- hold on a second.
Don't you hear some music in here?
Let's take a look at what's going on besides the weather.
We got a little impromptu band session that -- how about it? That's John as well as, I don't know what Graham (ph) is doing. You're not just pointing to the floor. And Shimon (ph) also there with us this morning.
ROBERTS: What is that?
CHETRY: I love it. See that? You're multitalented.
ROBERTS: OK, weather.
CHETRY: How about that? Rob Marciano, what do you think? Pretty impressive, right? You didn't -- you didn't know --
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I mean, gosh, bring it to me, J.R. Are you kidding me? The crowd down here is going crazy. That's fantastic.
CHETRY: Isn't that great?
MARCIANO: I never knew.
CHETRY: He entertains us in the breaks. MARCIANO: All right. Between now and Monday, I want him to grow his hair back out like, you know, like it's the '80s again, you know.
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ROBERTS: Whoa! Oh, low blow, Robby.
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ROBERTS: Don't be talking about photos, Rob.
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CHETRY: Indoor concerts. So if we had to join his band, I mean, I'm not musically inclined at all. I guess I could play the triangle or maybe the -- maybe the cowbell. How about it?
MARCIANO: I think, yes, I think that would -- that would be good.
CHETRY: All right. And you'd have to be the front man, what would you do, sing?
MARCIANO: Yes. You know, I'd wear the headband. I could do a little -- I could do a little Van Halen split at some point. But either way, I don't think we're going to bring in a lot of money unless you and I just kind of faded into the background.
CHETRY: But think of all the fun we'd have touring the country.
MARCIANO: It would be fun. And who knows? Who knows what it will do for the show.
CHETRY: Exactly.
MARCIANO: I can -- you know, I can hear the ratings jumping right now. This is going to be a weekly, if not a daily event. I love it.
CHETRY: Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: OK.
CHETRY: We'll check in with you a little later.
MARCIANO: Sounds good.
CHETRY: Forty-eight minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
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ROBERTS: Well, Beyonce is one of the biggest names in the music industry, but legendary singer Etta James wasn't exactly impressed with her performance at the inaugural ball. And James is letting the world know with the rant that rivals Christian Bale for the week's greatest fit. Here's Jeanne Moos with more on that.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last things first...
BEYONCE, SINGER/ACTRESS (singing): At last...
MOOS: When Beyonce sang Etta James' signature song for the Obama's inaugural dance...
BEYONCE (singing): ... and here we are in heaven.
MOOS: ...she ended up getting hell from Etta. It figures it would be one of Beyonce's most admired features that Etta threatened, though whether it was to whoop her or whip her seemed up for debate.
ETTA JAMES, SINGER: But I'll tell you, that woman he had singing for him taking my song, she's going to get her (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) whipped.
NICOLE FREHSEE, ASSISTANT EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE": I think she might be just really crotchety. I mean, she's 71 years old and she's been replaced by this beautiful, energetic, youthful singer.
MOOS: Who even played Etta in the recent move "Cadillac Records."
To think that just a few months ago...
BEYONCE (singing): At last...
MOOS: Beyonce was paying homage to Etta at the Fashion Rock's concert.
BEYONCE: If it wasn't for you, Etta James, artists like me would not have this opportunity. I love you.
MOOS: But those days of love and hugs are over.
JAMES: And I can't stand Beyonce.
MOOS (on camera): The funny thing is that Etta James' son told the "New York Daily News" that he was on the phone with his mother, both of them watching TV as Beyonce sang for the president and that his mother was honored and got emotional to hear her song sung.
(voice-over): Now she's even dissing President Obama.
JAMES: And he ain't my president. He might be yours.
MOOS: It was quite the week for rants. Earlier, there was actor Christian Bale going off on his director of photography.
CHRISTIAN BALE, ACTOR: What the (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) are you doing?
Are you professional or not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I am.
MOOS: The next thing you know, someone's posted a mash-up of Bale's rant mixed with an old Bill O'Reilly rant.
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS: Yes, I can't read it. There's no -- there's no words on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What don't you (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) understand?
O'REILLY: Do it live. I can -- I'll write it and we'll do it live.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, good for you.
MOOS: Soon other classic rants were resurfacing. For instance, Lily Tomlin's director screaming at her.
He exited -- only to come rampaging back through another door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're a (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) grownup, act like a grownup.
MOOS: You know you've made it into the ranters Hall of Fame when your rant ends up on a t-shirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seriously, man, you and me (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) done professionally.
BEYONCE (singing): At last...
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What don't you (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) understand?
MOOS: ... New York.
BEYONCE (singing): ... my love has come along.
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ROBERTS: Olympic-size mistake -- Phelps, the tarnished champion talks.
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PHELPS: Bad judgment, and I can learn from it.
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ROBERTS: Plus, President Obama's relaxed the White House dress code, but has he taken the casual look too far? The former chief-of- staff, who says Mr. President, put on a jacket.
You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
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ROBERTS: We're back with our Friday edition of the Most News in the Morning
When it comes to the First Family, it's not just the president who always has a BlackBerry in his hand. It turns out the First Lady loves her crack berry, too.
With a look at that and other stories from inside the beltway this week, we turn now to CNN contributor and "Washington Post" columnist, Dana Milbank.
So, Dana, she seems to share the addiction. What's going on?
DANA MILBANK, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: She does. And I think it's admirable. First the President, then Joe Biden, now the First Lady. You know, you proved that you're an excellent musician. I also hear you're being inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame.
So you should appreciate that they are giving so much attention to a Canadian company. All this free publicity. You can't buy publicity like this.
I think the White House is being practical here. They're asking the president or he's trying to give up his cigarette smoking, let him and his family at least keep one addiction there. Won't hurt the lungs, might get a little carpal tunnel in the thumbs or some such. They can even get sort of matching his and hers "Hail to the Chief" ring tones perhaps if they like.
And the only -- the only real danger is they're going to have these, you know, little love notes with typos and weird texting symbols wind up in the national archives.
ROBERTS: Yes, exactly. You know, 25 years from now, people are going to have some interesting things to read when those are all made public.
Dana, what about Joe the Plumber? He was up on the Hill these past weeks, speaking to a group of Republican congressional aides. They brought him in as the headliner. Is there some word now that he may become an adviser to the RNC?
MILBANK: Very impressive. He is promising a do for the Republicans just what he did for John McCain's campaign. But first, he was out in Gaza as a correspondent for a conservative Web site. Now he's going to write a column for them on the economy called "Just Joe."
And he has indeed been sitting down to advise Congressional Republicans on messaging. One of his first messages is they should indeed be opposing the stimulus plan because, quote, "The government is kicking our butts left and right."
Now, Joe, I don't fix things, and I think you should stick with your day job.
ROBERTS: I don't know if he actually said this. I haven't seen a transcript, but according to some reports he was asked if he was going to run for public office and apparently said "I don't know if the American public deserves me"?
MILBANK: This has, in fact, been quoted. And I'm not sure it's whether we deserve him or he deserves us. But there may be a mutual feeling.
ROBERTS: What about Harry Markopolos. This is the Bernard Madoff whistleblower who is testifying before Congress for a couple of days this week. Very powerful stuff. Sort of almost portraying himself as a financial James Bond. Let's listen to what he said. Or let's not listen to what he said. Wow.
MILBANK: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY MARKOPOLOS, MADOFF WHISTLEBLOWER: I would have assumed a disguise, as I was trained to in the army, and gone under cover and led that team to a successful result very quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So he's saying that he would have gone under cover, he would have, you know, done the Rambo thing. It was very compelling testimony there, and you know, sort of presenting himself as he could have been the one to solve this whole mess.
MILBANK: Yes, I sort of dubbed him Dirty Harry after that. And he did crack the code there, just the S.E.C. didn't listen to him. But it was great. You know, maybe, you know, pick your detective movie, maybe it was "Lethal Weapon" or "Colombo," but he was going through. I was going to test the documents with gloves on, I was going to wear a disguise. I was worried about the Russian mob so I wasn't using my name.
And eventually members of the committee did ask him who was going to play him in the Hollywood version of this that's coming? He wants the Greek actor Michael Chiklis.
ROBERTS: Well, he did seem to be the one guy who head this thing nailed, though. Dana Milbank, it's always great to see you. We'll see you next week.
MILBANK: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Great weekend.
CHETRY: Coming up on top of the hour now, a look at the top stories this morning. The Senate ending debate last night -- late last night without a vote or compromise on the stimulus bill. As the president slammed his GOP critics, he gave some harsh warnings about what would happen if this bill is not passed. The side of the president that has not been seen since the campaign trail. He told his GOP critics, it's time for new strategies.
