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American Morning
GM, Chrysler Asking for More Bailout Money; Preview of the President's Housing Plan; Facebook Reverts Back to Old Policy; President Obama Approves Afghanistan Troop Increase; Are We in the New Great Depression?; Guatemala's Bay of Pigs Apology; $787 Stimulus Package: Separating Fact from Fiction; Clinton on Obama's Blackberry; Georgia's Sex Ed Showdown
Aired February 18, 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): Your money, your future. President Obama signs the largest recovery bill in history, and today, you get your bailout.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to help homeowners.
ROBERTS: Finally, details of a plan to dig homeowners out of the ditch.
Plus, Facebook backs down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What gives them the right to keep my stuff?
ROBERTS: Users get their privacy back. The story everyone will be writing about on your wall on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Good morning. Thanks very much for being with us on this Wednesday morning.
I logged onto my Facebook page this morning, and there was the notification from Facebook saying that they reverted back to their old policy.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, temporarily, though.
ROBERTS: Whatever that is.
CHETRY: Exactly. That's the interesting part. A real outrage among some in the blogosphere about Facebook's change in their privacy policy. So we're going to actually talk to the guy who's in charge of that for Facebook a little later on the show.
ROBERTS: Right. Looking forward to that.
CHETRY: And meanwhile, we start with the latest Detroit sticker shock. Chrysler and General Motors saying that they need more federal money to stay afloat. GM asking for an additional $16 billion. Chrysler says it needs $5 billion by March 31st.
The struggling automakers submitted survival plans to the government on Tuesday. GM expects to cut 20,000 jobs in the U.S. this year and close five more plants by 2012. Chrysler says it will cut about 3,000 jobs and produce 100,000 fewer diesels this year.
Also this morning, the pressure is on for Illinois Senator Roland Burris. The "Chicago Tribune" now calling for his resignation after Burris changed his story yesterday saying that he did, in fact, have conversations with impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich's brother about possibly raising some money for the governor. Burris maintains he did nothing wrong, but he may face a perjury investigation back home in an ethics inquiry on Capitol Hill.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Indonesia this morning. It's the second stop on her tour of Asia. Clinton's trip there is part of the administration's effort to improve relations with the Muslim world. The secretary is also discussing plans for an increased American presence in Southeast Asia.
ROBERTS: To the economy now and breaking news, overseas markets reacting right now to another dismal day on Wall Street. Investors shaving nearly 300 points from the Dow. And in just a few hours' time with the ink still fresh on the stimulus, the president will zero in on what sparked the current financial turmoil, the housing crisis.
And right now, many of you are feeling the brunt of it. One out of every six homeowners owe more than their house is worth. Their home is, as they say, under water that many Republicans are already skeptical of the administration's plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We understand the dire situation the economy in America is in. We need to address the housing crisis. That's what began this meltdown, and so far, the administration has not done so effectively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Stephanie Elam joins us now to preview the president's plan. How is it going to help out homeowners here, particularly the ones who are facing eminent foreclosure?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the difference with this, John, is that instead of just taking a look at how you're going to help people who have already lost their homes, this plan is supposed to target people who are in danger of losing their homes. We're talking about $50 billion here. It will be the remaining money from that TARP fund that we heard so much about last fall and earlier this winter.
He's set to unveil this plan in Arizona today, and it's going to target the surge in home foreclosures. And just to give you an idea of how dire the straits are right now, a million homes, more than that, already in foreclosure and more than two million are expected to fall into foreclosure this year as well.
So just to show you how bad it is, what they're looking to do is subsidize mortgage payments so that struggling homeowners are paying less whether the banks are still getting some of their money there. That's one of the things they're looking to do. Also getting bankruptcy lawyers more power so that they can actually -- judges, I mean, bankruptcy judges more power so that they can go in and actually help people who are in danger of losing their homes and help keep them in their homes.
CHETRY: This is something the Bush administration did not want to do, the bankruptcy judge. And the other question also is, how is the federal government going to regulate that? Who gets subsidized, how much and for how long? And how do they prove the income?
ELAM: Right. That's what they want, much more transparency on it. Obviously, one sector that really can't be helped with the loan modification are people who've lost their jobs. And so many people are out of jobs at this point. They're going to have a different work-around, obviously. But for people who are still in their homes, still have some income, that's who they're going to be targeting.
ROBERTS: Steph, thanks so much.
ELAM: Sure.
ROBERTS: We'll keep checking back with you throughout the morning.
CHETRY: Well, this morning an about-face by Facebook. The popular social Website reverting back to its old fine print at least for now. The Website sparking outrage among many of its users after it quietly changed its terms of service leaving many to believe Facebook would own anything you posted even if you wanted to delete it.
CNN's Jason Carroll is following this for us now.
And you know, you might have missed it. There's 100 million plus people that use Facebook. You might have missed this change but there were some who didn't.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.
CHETRY: And really, their outrage is what changed this.
CARROLL: There was very fine language in there, wasn't it? But you know, it takes just a few people to catch on to something like this, start blogging about it and then it's like wildfire, it spreads all over the place and that's exactly what happened this go-around.
However you want to qualify it, Facebook either listened or caved in to the outrage coming from tens of thousands of its users, angry after learning Facebook had changed its terms of service. The change meant once you uploaded content like pictures or information, Facebook still had a right to it even if you decided to close your account. Listen to how uncomfortable that made some users feel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I don't want to use them anymore, what gives them the right to keep my stuff?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does make me rethink my relationship with Facebook.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That really makes a lot of people think twice, if not three times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Well, early this morning, Facebook decided to go back to their original terms of service. So, when you sign up for Facebook, once again you'll see a line saying if you choose to remove your user content, the license granted above will automatically expire.
Overnight, Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted this response saying, "We concluded that returning to our previous terms was the right thing for now. As I said yesterday, we think that a lot of the language in our terms of service is overly formal and protective so we don't plan to leave it there for long."
Sounds like Facebook is reserving the right to revise its language again. Most experts say that Facebook is really just trying to protect itself because it's virtually powerless to wipe its online site clean of a user's content.
Still, the privacy expert I spoke to yesterday says Facebook's original terms of agreement is the right way to go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC ROTENBERG, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CTR.: The original terms of service, they're actually quite clear and quite reassuring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: So for now, chalk one up for the online user. It appears they battled the largest social networking site in the world and won temporarily.
CHETRY: That's right. Because they say that over the coming weeks, they're going to be taking input from Facebook users and then trying to craft some sort of policy from that. So maybe we'll find out more about what exactly that means.
CARROLL: Whatever they decide to do, you can bet a lot of people are going to be watching.
CHETRY: Be scrutinized. Jason Carroll... ROBERTS: You know, one of the most troubling things about Facebook is that when you try to remove your profile, it only ever goes dormant. You can't actually wipe it out. Now I've heard that you can phone them. You get them to wipe it out.
(CROSSTALK)
ELAM: They don't make that part (INAUDIBLE) a lot of people.
ROBERTS: Finding the phone number is difficult.
CARROLL: And it's not just Facebook either, right? I mean, there are a lot of these social networking sites and one of the things you've got to remember is once you put something out there, it just may end up staying out there.
ROBERTS: Yes. Absolutely.
ELAM: And also a lot of people can get access to it. So you see what happens if several people just this year and it's only February, just might want to be safe about what you put out on the Internet.
CHETRY: Exactly.
All right. Well, coming up in our next hour, and this has generated a lot of conversation obviously, we're going to talk about just how private the information you post on Facebook really is and if you choose to leave, what happens to your information and your account. We're going to talk to the Website's chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly.
ROBERTS: A Connecticut woman who was mauled by a friend's pet chimpanzee remains in critical condition this morning. The 200-pound chimp named Travis savagely attacked 55-year-old Charla Nash on Monday when she entered the home.
In a dramatic 911 call, the chimp's owner, Sandra Herold, says, "He's ripping her apart" and is pleading for help to arrive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDRA HEROLD, CHIMP'S OWNER: He's trying to attack me. Please, please hurry!
911 OPERATOR: OK. I need you to calm down a little bit. They're on the way.
HEROLD: They got to shoot him, please. Please hurry, hurry!
911 OPERATOR: If the monkey moves away from your friend, let me know, OK, so we can try to help your friend.
HEROLD: No, I can't. She's dead. She's dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Police shot and killed the chimpanzee. Herold says that he had never exhibited aggressive behavior before. The chimp was reportedly being treated for Lyme disease and was also given Xanax earlier in the day.
Chaos in the court, things got out of control, so to speak, at a high school basketball tournament in Montgomery, Alabama after a fight broke out between players on both teams. Fans then poured out of the stands and on to the court, throwing punches. Eleven people were reportedly detained by police, but no charges have been filed.
JetBlue trying to first reel in skittish flyers worried about losing their jobs. If you book your flight between February 1st and June 1st and you lose your full time job, you may be eligible for a full refund. Now to take advantage of the program, customers must notify JetBlue at least two weeks before the first day of travel.
CHETRY: Well, Chrysler and GM present their survival plans to the federal government. Saving them won't come cheap. The Detroit automakers say they need another multibillion-dollar bailout to see them through this recession.
Also, a troop surge in Afghanistan. President Obama responding to a resurgent Taliban and also new threats from al-Qaeda. We're live at the Pentagon ahead.
It's eight and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Should taxpayers be bailing out the automakers?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I strongly believe that America needs to produce cars, and that we don't want to have what would happen if General Motors and Chrysler then Ford went down, we'd lose two million jobs with all the suppliers and the dealers and everybody that depends on them.
So, if they have presented a good plan for restructuring that will give them a chance to succeed over the long run on their own merits, just by selling cars, and without any subsidy from the taxpayers, then I think to go one more time to help them is a good thing to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
That's former President Bill Clinton talking to Larry King about the government bailing out the auto industry.
General Motors and Chrysler have already taken billions of dollars of taxpayers' money. Now, the Detroit automakers have submitted a plan to save themselves and both need the same thing to survive, another multibillion-dollar bailout.
CNN's Joe Johns is following that for us this morning.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, the long- awaited day of truth for the automakers came and went. And while some of the critical questions got answered, possibly the most important element of the automakers' survival plans remain hidden from view.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): GM and Chrysler said they need $21 billion more of your money just to keep going. Chrysler said it needs $5 billion more. GM said it needs $16 billion more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our primary efforts continue to be on transforming our business and executing GM's viability plan outside of bankruptcy court.
JOHNS: And bankruptcy, the automakers say, would cost the government and taxpayers more than what they're asking for to stay afloat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bankruptcy would be a highly risky and very costly process.
JOHNS: They say they'll be more efficient but that means wiping out 50,000 jobs and cutting back sharply on the number and kinds of cars they produce.
JIM PRESS, CHRYSLER VICE CHAIRMAN: What we're going to do is, the Aspen and the Durango will not restart production, and the third model is the PT Cruiser.
JOHNS: Economist Peter Morici says GM and Chrysler are now saying the right thing. They're just not saying enough.
PETER MORICI, ECONOMIST: They're quite realistic about the number of brands they need, the capacity they're going to require, and the size of the market going forward. They have to tell us more about the labor agreement. How are they going to get their labor costs in line with Toyota, Nissan and Honda, operating right here in the United States?
JOHNS: Cutting the cost of their workforce is the key to the plan. Both companies have offered buyouts to all their hourly workers, and the automakers and the United Auto Workers Union say they've reached an understanding but neither will say what the deal is because the union members haven't had their vote on it yet.
MORICI: It's time that we get a plain stating of what the terms of the labor agreement are, so that the American taxpayer can make an adequate evaluation.
JOHNS: Secrecy over the labor deal, Morici says, just isn't acceptable when it's taxpayer's money on the line.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: So now it's up to the autoworkers and up to the White House to decide if it thinks the automakers are on the right track -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Joe Johns for us, thanks.
Let's bring in Stephanie Elam right now to talk more about the situation. So bankruptcy perhaps a smart move for the automakers?
ELAM: Probably not, and this is exactly what you're hearing Detroit argue. Because think about it, if it's only going to cost them, you know, all of this money, $21.6 billion more in loans for GM and Chrysler, that's what they say they need on top of what they've already received, but if they go into bankruptcy, they're arguing, and as you heard Joe Johns say in his piece, that is going to cost them hundreds of billions of dollars to do that.
You got to reorganize over two years, so that could take much longer and cost more to the taxpayer than just going ahead with this viability plan. So, you know, Chrysler, they're saying it would be like $20 billion to $25 billion more than they would need. So probably not the best option for them.
What's going to happen now with all of this looking into the viability plans that have come out, by March 31st, this new auto panel that President Obama has put together, we'll take a look, see what they think about their plans and get back to them to see if they are actually viable to move forward. You're going to see a lot of job cuts. You're going to see some brands go away. You're going to also see some concessions which they were able to work out some with the United Auto Workers Union. Also, some of the companies that hold some of their debt.
So that's what they're looking to do. It's going to be a rough road ahead. It's not like today, you know, yesterday's news makes today so much better.
ROBERTS: It also sort of buried the coverage is the fact that they're looking for another $6 billion from five foreign governments including Germany and Canada. But you talked about the UAW, some concessions apparently to bring wages and labor costs in line with foreign automakers. But then there's this legacy costs as well, taking care of all of these retirees. Any word on what the UAW is doing for them?
ELAM: And that's what they're still trying to figure out how they're going to address this. And that's one of the things that Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank said that they want. They want to see some protection for these pension benefits to make sure that the people who did work for these companies for years and years and years will be OK going forward. So a very thin line that they have to walk.
CHETRY: But what a time we're in that, you know, submitting their plans, these private companies to the federal government as they're asking for billions of dollars and say, does this work for you?
ELAM: Yes. We're in new territory right now. We're in uncharted territory at this point.
CHETRY: Stephanie Elam, thanks.
Well, stay with us. We're going to be talking to GM's president and chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson, coming at 7:54 Eastern time.
ROBERTS: It is just what military commanders in Afghanistan wanted, some 17,000 additional U.S. troops heading to the war zone. We're live at the Pentagon with details of the surge.
And President Obama has his stimulus bill. Does it mean that he has delivered on some key campaign promises. We're separating fact from fiction.
It's 16 1/2 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I am absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region solely through military means. We're going to have to use diplomacy. We're going to have to use development. And my hope is --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
President Obama in an interview talking about the need for peaceful progress in Afghanistan, but talk may be cheap. The president has approved sending 17,000 new troops to the Afghanistan war zone.
CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for us. While the message from the president is that diplomacy is necessary, of course, and ultimately may be how any conflicts are resolved, that the immediate focus right now is troops.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kiran. Troops and plenty of them. The president approving sending 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. It will start with about 8,000 Marines and 4,000 Army troops.
When you look at the map of Afghanistan, you begin to see exactly what is at stake here. Most of these troops, if not all of them, will head south to Afghanistan's southern border with Pakistan. Job number one, they will try to stop the flow of fighters coming across from Pakistan. They will also work to seize and hold territory inside Afghanistan, fighting against the Taliban that had been consolidating their positions there now for months.
This is basic 911 military security. They are going to go in and try and seize and hold ground.
CHETRY: How are America's allies reacting to the news of this infusion of troops there?
STARR: Well, what the allies want to see is a strategy, a way forward, because while the talk may be cheap, there's a pretty hefty price tag that comes with this. Afghanistan is going to need billions of dollars in aid and development.
The U.S. is going to the NATO allies saying put money in that pot, but the allies are saying we want to see a strategy. We want to see a goal. We want to know when there will be success in Afghanistan and what it's all going to look like - Kiran.
CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon this morning, thanks.
It's 22 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: The dreaded "D" word, talk of a Great Depression take two? And how did this country pull out of financial disaster last time?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN MITCHELL, CATO INSTITUTE: The new deal was a giant failure. I think Obama should learn from a different Democratic president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Lessons learned from presidents past. You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO")
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": President Obama signed the stimulus package into law. Do you feel stimulated, anybody? Are you getting that tingle? Yes!
No, they said the stimulus package will give people an extra $13 in their paycheck. So --
AUDIENCE: Ooh!
LENO: Next time the bank starts closing in, you go hey, hey, hey, I got 13 smackeroonies coming in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Very soon billions of dollars will be pumped back into an economy the likes of which have not been seen since the Great Depression. And recently there's been a lot of talk of that era. States are facing huge deficits unmatched since the 1930s, and last year the Dow had its worst showing since that decade. But is it really fair to compare today's economy to the Great Depression?
CNN's Jim Acosta is live in Washington. He's here to answer that question.
Well, Jim, should we be doing the comparison?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very depressing to talk about it, isn't it, John? Well, you know, President Obama has said that the current crisis is the worst since the Great Depression, and that has sparked a debate in Washington over whether FDR's new deal actually helped or hurt during those doom and gloom days of the 1930s. It's a debate that's far from over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: There you go.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Even before the signing of the stimulus --
OBAMA: We have begun the essential work of keeping the American dream alive.
ACOSTA: Democrats and Republicans began having flashbacks to a time most Americans don't remember.
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
ACOSTA: The great debate over the Great Depression was on.
OBAMA: We have inherited an economic crisis as deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression.
ACOSTA: With the Obama Administration looking at spending its way out of the current crisis, liberal and conservative economists were sparring over FDR's answer to the Great Depression, the new deal. The question? Did it work?
DEAN BAKER, CENTER FOR ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH: When I say why do I think the stimulus is a good idea, I look to the Great Depression. How did we get out? We spent lots of money.
DAN MITCHELL, CATO INSTITUTE: The new deal was a giant failure. I think Obama should learn from a different Democratic president. He should learn from JFK, lower tax rates, don't make government bigger.
BAKER: If you could tell a different story about the new deal, then you undermine the case for stimulus.
ACOSTA: One congressman even claimed FDR caused the Great Depression.
REP. STEVE AUSTRIA (R), OHIO: When Roosevelt did this, he put our country into a Great Depression.
ACOSTA: Congressman Steve Austria backed away from the statement noting Roosevelt became president in 1933, four years after the depression started.
SUZE ORMAN, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: Stop telling everybody that it's dire, it's this, it's that.
ACOSTA: Now there are calls to end the debate, in short, enough with the depression.
ORMAN: I wish everybody would stop saying it is dire, including the president.
ACOSTA: President Obama's hometown newspaper, the "Chicago Tribune" stated, "The parallels with the Great Depression are at the moment extremely far-fetched."
Mr. Obama is not the first to issue dire warnings on the economy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of us here in Washington, the president and the Congress, are responsible to confront the danger of an economic slowdown.
ACOSTA: President Bush was accused of talking down the economy in his push for tax cuts, nearly $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, larger than the Obama stimulus plan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And the FDR Presidential Library Website has it up as one of its frequently asked questions, did the new deal end the Great Depression? The answer? Not really.
According to Mr. Roosevelt's library, the new deal helped create jobs but it was World War II that brought that era to a close. And, John, I was looking at the numbers and you can get a little dizzy looking at the numbers.
When the Great Depression started, unemployment was at 25 percent. FDR through the new deal was able to bring that down to roughly 10 percent in 1937, then it started creeping back up, which is why conservative economists say it didn't really work. But compare those numbers to now, 7.6 unemployment, 7.6 percent unemployment. It is a stretch to say we're, you know, basically facing the next Great Depression.
We're not there yet. The point of all of this, the president says, is that we don't get there, that we stop it now.
ROBERTS: And many people are worried that talking about this idea of a depression might actually tip us into one. People might get so scared. It's also interesting to note that Congressmen Austria and Vice President Biden seem to be reading from the same history book when it comes to Roosevelt. ACOSTA: Yes, you know, it's tough. You know, we go back in time to FDR, and you know, those are some dark and gloomy days. And you know, Nancy Pelosi just the other day was saying, you know, these are dark times, perhaps the darkest of times. And I think Suze Orman and some of the other, you know, noted economists and financial experts out there said, you know, enough with all this talk. Let's try to move forward.
ROBERTS: And I guess maybe for Austria and Biden, too, Roosevelt was president for so long, who remembers quite when he took office.
Jim, thanks so much.
ACOSTA: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Just about 30 minutes past the hour now and here's a check of this morning's top stories.
Today, President Obama launching a new offensive to help homeowners facing foreclosure. He'll roll out his plan just outside of Phoenix. Ground zero for the nation's housing crisis. He's expected to propose at least $50 billion to help homeowners reduce mortgage payments and allow judges to modify mortgages for homeowners nearing foreclosure.
On the heels of the Bernard Madoff scandal, here's another one. The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Texas billionaire financier with massive fraud. The feds say R. Allen Stanford promised investors returns on their money that were too good to be true. They raided his offices yesterday and froze the assets of three companies that he controls. Stanford is accused of pulling off an $8 billion investment swindle.
And Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom apologizing to Cuba for his country's role in the Bay of Pigs invasion back in 1961. Guatemala allowed to the CIA to train about 1500 Cuban exiles for the operation in its Sierra Madre mountain range. Guatemala's president made the remark during his first official visit to the island.
CHETRY: Well, it's the biggest victory of President Obama's month-old administration, signing the $787 billion economic stimulus bill into law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: About a third of this package comes in the forms of tax cuts, by the way, the most progressive in our history, not only spurring job creation, but putting money in the pockets of 95 percent of hard-working families in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The devil of course is in the details. How much of the stimulus plan delivers on the president's campaign promises. Joining us from Washington to separate fact from fiction, Bill Adair. He's the founder of politifact.com. And then doing this weekly segment with you, the Obameter as we call it, you said 500 campaign promises made how many are being kept so far. And so we'll start with the promises to business bill.
And "During the campaign, President Obama made this promise during 2009 and 2010 existing businesses will receive a $3,000 refundable tax credit for each additional full-time employee hired."
This proposal didn't get a lot of widespread support. Even some congressional Democrats knocked it, but in the end did he deliver on this?
BILL ADAIR, FOUNDER, POLITIFACT.COM: No, he did not. He gets a promise broken for this one, and it just -- it never got the support as you said, and it was not included in the stimulus bill that moved through Congress and we see no sign that it's going to come back. So, promise broken on the Obameter for this one.
CHETRY: All right. On the campaign trail, President Obama said he would support increased funding for the national endowment for the arts. And it's interesting because this is one of the controversial spending projects in the stimulus bill. A lot of critics of the bill said you know what, this is a pet project. This isn't really stimulus. So what happened? Did the funding for the arts end up in the final version of the bill?
ADAIR: Yes, it did. And so he gets a promise kept for this one. It's $50 million in the bill and it gives the NEA the highest funding it's had since 1992.
CHETRY: All right. He also promised a tax credit and we heard him say that in the introduction to this segment as well. 95 percent of working families that would amount to $500 per worker or $1,000 per couple or family. So does the stimulus deliver on that promised bill?
ADAIR: Partly. We gave this one a compromise on the Obameter. It was originally at $500 in the first version of the bill as it came out of the House. But the Senate trimmed it to $400 per worker in an effort to reduce the overall size of the bill so we felt that one was more of a compromise for the Obameter.
CHETRY: Right. His intent was there, and then after it got worked on, that's what happens in Washington, right?
He also promised in the campaign more transparency and openness, saying this would be the most open and transparent administration in our modern history. He also pledged that the public would have five days to review legislation online before he signed it. And we had Congressmen Ron Paul on the show a few days ago. He complained that in the stimulus bill, which was over 1,000 plus pages, there were five copies provided to the House and five copies provided to the Senate. Did he keep his promise of transparency with this legislation?
ADAIR: No, and consistently I think pretty much every bill that he's signed and there have been three or four now, he has not kept it, so we've rated this one a promise broken. He has said, as you noted, that people would have five days and people could comment on the White House Website, and so far, they have -- they have not been consistent with that. So we've got that one rated as a promise broken. Now they've claimed that they're going to do better about that. They're going to be posting the bills, giving people more time to comment but so far, we're not seeing it.
CHETRY: Bill Adair, founder of Politifact.com. Great to talk to you. We'll check in with you next week and see how things are going. Thanks so much.
ADAIR: Thank you.
ROBERTS: The government borrowing big money to stimulate the economy. And Republicans argue it will be our children and grandchildren who will be forced to pay back the billions now on the line.
So what do younger Americans think about the stimulus? We'll find out.
It's 34 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tired of technology that only gives your fingers a workout?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning. Steelcase, this is Glenda.
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PHILLIPS: The $4,000 walk station is the brainchild of Dr. James Levine of the Mayo clinic.
LEVINE: What we found is that people with obesity have a tendency to be seated two and a half hours per day more than lean individuals.
PHILLIPS: It's a desk, a computer, and a slow-moving treadmill, all rolled into one. So you stay moving all day long, enough to burn about 150 calories an hour.
BUD KLIPA, PRESIDENT, DETAILS: This is not intended for you to get your heart rate up and start sweating.
PHILLIPS: But once you get going, there's no slowing down.
LEVINE: Once you start working and walking, what then happens is you go back to your desk and you start doing e-mails and you think to yourself, no, I'd rather be walking. PHILLIPS: Walk station is happy with its success so far. They've sold more than 600 units, but they'll have to take revolutionizing the way we work one step at a time. Kyra Phillips, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Do you want to know something? I asked our executive producer just this morning if I could get one of those, and she said, "what?"
Thirty-nine minutes now after the hour.
Time to fast forward to some of the stories you'll be hearing about on CNN today.
We'll be watching for a cruise ship full of stranded tourists to get back under way after it ran aground in Antarctica. Wasn't quite earn a (INAUDIBLE) and "The Endurance" though. The ocean novice is carrying a 105 people including 21 Americans. We're on a trip exploring the polar circle. The cruise company says the ship was pushed into rocks by high winds.
Right now, severe weather moving through the south capable of producing tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds also in the forecast. We'll be tracking all the action and we'll keep you posted if anything develops on it.
And emergency personnel who did Yeoman's work responding to US Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River being recognized today. They'll be honored in an afternoon ceremony attended by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and the head of the Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.
And Kiran, let's make a news later on today.
CHETRY: You don't really want one of those treadmills.
ROBERTS: I absolutely.
CHETRY: You can burn more calories walking back and forth in the set.
ROBERTS: I want a treadmill desk. I could -- I could burn calories walking back and forth in the center, climbing up and down one flight of stairs that we had access to in this building...
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: ...but you can't do work while you're doing that.
CHETRY: You had the BlackBerries.
ROBERTS: I want that treadmill.
CHETRY: You had your BlackBerry in your hand. ROBERTS: Can I -- can I have one, mom? Can I -- can I, please?
CHETRY: We'll have to see if you're a good boy. Maybe you'll get one for Christmas.
Well, former President Clinton is opening up about President Obama's much talked about BlackBerry addiction. And although Mr. Clinton is not one of the privileged few with President Obama's super secret e-mail address -- really - oh, well, he said he had it -- he told CNN's Larry King that he is glad the president has a way to keep in touch with close friends.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: The fact that he got one that is secure and sort of off the books is good, because every president needs some way of communicating with people who know you personally and are outside the loop who can say what my friends from Arkansas said, back in the Stone Age, when I became president, and the average cell phone weighed five pounds and there were 50 sites on the internet.
I got a separate zip code and gave it to 50 people from Arkansas and they would -- so they knew their letters would always get to me and they say, you look like an idiot doing this, that or the other thing. You know, people grew up with you and care about you, they don't have to pretend because you're president or very important.
So, I'm glad he's got some way of letting the people he cares about communicate directly with him. And I also think it speeds up and therefore his communication makes it more efficient.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: How times have changed. So he had his own separate zip code that he gave to a few trusted friends. Very interesting. And now our President Barack Obama has a BlackBerry.
ROBERTS: You know, he's got not only his own zip code but his own PIN, his own e-mail address, all of that. But it's really, you know, striking when President Clinton says average cell phone was five pounds. Remember those ones?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: With the big battery at the bottom.
CHETRY: It had a case that you carried with you.
ROBERTS: They worked really well, though, because they were powerful.
Brand new this morning. 911 tapes coming off of the chimp attack in Connecticut. We're going to have them and you'll hear just how scary it was for police and for the woman who owned the animal.
Plus, some eyebrow-raising lessons in Georgia's public universities, causing an uproar. Should taxpayer dollars go to classes about oral sex and male prostitution? The sex ads showdown just ahead. It's 42 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We are committing generational theft. We are laying a huge deficit on future generations of America. We are going to have inflation and debasement of the current seat and great problems that will directly affect the people we're trying to help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator John McCain there calling all of this borrowing and spending to stimulate the economy generational theft, but President Obama insisting the $787 billion stimulus, which is now law, will keep the American dream alive in our time.
So what do younger Americans think about all of this? Joining me is Alexander Heffner. He's a 19-year-old freshman at Harvard University who today launches Scoop44.com. It's a nonpartisan Web publication where young journalists will cover the new administration from their perspective.
Alexander, it's great to see you this morning.
ALEXANDER HEFFNER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SCOOP44.COM: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Congratulations on the launch of the new Website.
HEFFNER: Thank you.
ROBERTS: We'll get to that in just a second. But let me ask you, first of all, from a young person's perspective about what Senator McCain said regarding the stimulus package. He called it, as we said, generational theft. You're the generation that will be left holding the bag on all of this. Do you see it that way?
HEFFNER: Well, I was at the president's news conference and my sense after speaking with some colleagues at scoop44.com is that not acting could be generational theft, too, and if the Obama Administration could articulate this plan as generational investment in bridges, infrastructure, education, then I think it could be a very persuasive case not only to our generation, but to Republicans as well.
ROBERTS: The Bush administration wracked up $5 trillion in debt, which they're going to pass on to your generation and probably to your children and your children's children. Are we at the point here where another trillion doesn't matter all that much?
HEFFNER: Well, I think it does matter if the president can send the signal that that money has benchmarks and that policy that's being implemented has a time frame, and it's set so that my generation and future generations can pay off that debt over time.
It is, John, concerning that we are continuing to see this soaring deficit and national debt, but if it's a road to a sounder financial future, then I think it's what's necessary, and from our reporting at Scoop44, that seems to be the case.
ROBERTS: $100 billion in the stimulus package for colleges and schools. Is that enough, do you think?
HEFFNER: Well, if this bill was specifically, now legislation, targeted at education spending, then perhaps not, but because we're in these dire financial times and we've reached a point of no return potentially, I think that it's a good start, and it does send a message to our generation that the president cares about the Department of Education, his Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and that is really a chief priority for him.
ROBERTS: I want to talk a bit about your Website here, Scoop44.com, launching today. I guess this is an outgrowth of Scoop08.com, which is following the election. Your mantra is "a new generation, a new politics."
Would you put up the Website here so that folks at home can see it?
Got a great story here on Giaco Riggs who's our...
HEFFNER: Your colleague.
ROBERTS: ...our long-standing CNN cameraman there at the White House. What's the mission of the site and what kind of stories are you looking to cover and what kind of perspective will you bring to the whole dialogue with young journalists covering this administration?
HEFFNER: Well, what is "a new generation and a new politics?" It means, John, to us that we have a lens -- a unique lens through which we can view the new administration and that we, in a sense, are a demographic that was galvanized by this new president to engage in our democracy.
So we'll be following in a nonpartisan manner this new administration, national politics, public affairs, generally. It's an opportunity anyone can sign on now to Scoop44.com, get involved, submit an application to join the endeavor. But basically, we care about substantive reporting by young people. I think we can be treated as young, responsible, smart adults who finally take our civic responsibility seriously.
ROBERTS: Sounds good. I was looking through the website today. It looks fine. I love the article on Giaco. He's a good, old friend of mine.
HEFFNER: He's a great guy.
ROBERTS: Alexander Heffner, good to talk to you this morning. Congratulations and best of luck in the future. We'll check back with you.
HEFFNER: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Take care.
It's 48 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold it, hold it, hold it.
CHETRY: Cute baby or wild beast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make them a funny face.
CHETRY: Their commercial images funny and sweet, but what makes chimps turn on people?
LYNN MECCA, NEIGHBOR: She lived for this chimp. This chimp was like her child.
CHETRY: When domesticating wild animals goes wrong.
You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
They may be cute, but chimpanzees are still wild animals. And a Connecticut woman is in critical condition after being mauled by a friend's pet chimpanzee, Monday.
CNN's Jeanne Moos looks at the dangers of these primates can present when they're kept as pets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're adorable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stick out your tongue.
MOOS: They're cuddly. They love to play around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold it. Hold it. Hold it.
MOOS: We love to watch them do the things we do. But a good chimp can turn into a bad chimp and it doesn't take a zoologist to explain why.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a chimpanzee. It belongs out in the wild. MOOS: And so you get the story of Travis, seen here when he escaped from his owner's SUV back in 2003. This time, Travis used the house keys to let himself out, attacked a neighbor. His loving owner had to stab him. Police had to shoot him.
MECCA: She lived for this chimp. This chimp was like her child.
MOOS: And when chimps are children, they're wonderful. I fell for one named Chippy doing a story 10 years ago.
(on camera): And you'll have to excuse the decade old hairstyle.
(voice-over): Chippy acted like a Q-Tip grooming me.
(on camera): Did I say my ears needed cleaning?
That chimp story was one of the most memorable stories I've ever done -- namely because I'd never before been hugged by an animal.
(voice-over): But despite all the bonding, the Larry King suspenders, the clowning around...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make them a funny face.
MOOS: We learned that day that older chimps aren't nearly so funny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, all right, all right. She's trying to intimidate you.
MOOS: She succeeded. Frank and Janet Berger were animal trainers. They used to be regulars on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
Frank lost a finger and his big toe to a chimp named Tarzan.
FRANK BURGER, TRAINER: The one that got me didn't have no teeth. He got me with the gums.
MOOS: A chimp's jaws are so powerful, teeth aren't required.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he just literally tore the finger off. He didn't bite it off.
MOOS: But Chippy was four back then. He didn't bite, he kissed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give me a good morning kiss.
MOOS: The trainer said that in another couple of years, it wouldn't be safe for us to pal around with Chippy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a chimpanzee.
MOOS: Especially one that's been tased.
He tossed saw dust, but it could have been us getting tossed.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Scandal and the superstar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't avoid the topic.
ROBERTS (voice-over): The spring training side show that won't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here to say that I'm sorry.
ROBERTS: Plus, sex class on campus. Queer theory.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If my mother heard about there were classes about being queer here, she'd probably withdraw me.
ROBERTS: Male prostitution.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you heard right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're old enough to make our own decisions about classes that we want to take.
ROBERTS: See who wants to shut them down.
You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, in Georgia's state capital, it's a battle of taxpayer dollars versus morality. Some conservative lawmakers are livid over some state university class subjects including male prostitution and oral sex. So are these just legitimate life lessons? Sorry, stop being funny, or is this porn in the classroom? Well, it depends on who you ask.
Carol Costello is in for us this morning and she checked it out.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, a question. If your tax dollars in part pay professors to teach your kids, should you have a say in what classes they teach? Two Georgia state lawmakers think you should.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It's a hot topic at Georgia State University, sex, not among students, but among professors and politicians. CHARLICE BYRD, GEORGIA STATE ASSEMBLY: Did you know that the state universities offer special interest classes and expertise on male prostitution? Queer theory? And oral sex? Yes. You heard right.
COSTELLO: State Representative Charlice Byrd is outraged and says Georgia taxpayers are footing the bill for this. She and fellow Republican Calvin Hill along with a Christian coalition want the classes canceled and the instructors fired.
BYRD: Someone should have the freedom to learn whatever it is that they want, but these types of classes or experts that are in our university system should be taken out.
CALVIN HILL, GEORGE STATE ASSEMBLY: Teaching an entire semester on this my taxpayers, my constituents believe that is a total waste of their money.
COSTELLO: Their targets are listed on Georgia State's Website, Mindy Stombler, teaches sexuality and society, one area of her research, the social meaning of oral sex.
CLINTON: I did not...
COSTELLO: As in how oral sex is defined in our culture.
MINDY STOMBLER, LECTURER, GEORGE STATE UNIVERSITY: I would argue that ever since the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal it's been kind of unclear what actually counts as sex anymore for a lot of Americans.
COSTELLO: Another target the University of Georgia's course on queer theory. UGA defends the course saying "the study of queer theory, the representation of homosexuals in literature and the world is a respected course of study throughout the nation." And it's not like students aren't exposed to sex and gender issues.
Watch the afternoon soap "As the World Turns" lately? It recently broke taboo by showing gay intimacy on TV. And then there's Katie Perry and her inescapable hit song.
KATIE PERRY, SINGER (SINGING): I kissed a girl and I liked it.
COSTELLO: Still students' reactions to learning about such issues in class are mixed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's this kind of something that you learned. It's not something that you're taught.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're old enough to make our own decisions about classes that we want to take.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you would like to research on oral sex and male prostitution, you can go on google.com.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a great opportunity for students to get that in the classroom and not outside. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me, I'm a Christian. And if my mother heard about there are classes about being queer here, she'd probably withdraw me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Keep in mind that Georgia State lawmakers have no power whatsoever to fire professors or to cancel classes. They do, however, have control over the overall budget for Georgia colleges and universities and right now, there's a $2.2 billion shortfall -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Carol Costello this morning. Carol, thanks so much.
