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Obama Lifts Restriction on Stem-Cell Research; Midwest Sees Tornados; Young People Increasingly Uninsured; Home Builder Goes on Road to Sell Homes

Aired March 09, 2009 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The holy grail of medical research or a sin against life itself? Pushing forward on the science, promise and baggage of embryonic stem cells.

Pushing through an economic nightmare, to find the American dream. It's the upside of foreclosure.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It's about science and politics, life and death, faith and morals. Medical research on human embryonic stem cells is a new frontier and largely forbidden territory. President Obama lifting one, longstanding barrier today.

Let's get straight to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. She's at the White House.

Suzanne, let's talk about exactly what the president did and what it means now.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it certainly means a lot. This is a very controversial but also very significant, potentially significant. The National Institutes of Health essentially have 120 days, about four months or so, to re-establish, re-assert new guidelines regarding scientists, their abilities to ask for federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. It was limited to a small stem cell line under President Bush. This reversing the Bush administration decision to do that.

And essentially President Obama saying that it is a part of a wider, broader cause, if you will, and that is not allowed to put policy or politics above science. It is something that President Obama believes that President Bush was guilty of.

And he said today that it's a false choice to say that sound science and moral values cannot go hand in hand. Take a listen, Kyra.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITES STATES: But after much discussion, debate and reflection, the proper course has become clear. The majority of Americans from across the political spectrum and from all backgrounds and beliefs have come to a consensus that we should pursue this research, that the potential it offers is great and, with proper guidelines and strict oversight, the perils can be avoided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Kyra, as you know, the conflict, the controversy over the fact that this is embryonic stem cell research, that is the stem cells taken from a human embryo. Supporters say it's embryos that would be discarded anyway, but there are some who are very, very concerned about this. They believe it's the destruction of a human life.

We heard President Obama talking about that, specifically taking on his critics about the idea that this could lead to cloning for reproductive -- reproductive purposes. He said it's dangerous, that it's wrong, that his administration is not going to let that happen.

Also had a chance to talk to the congresswoman who wrote up the initial legislation that was vetoed twice by President Bush about this federal funding. She is going to be backing efforts here to try to codify this executive order, back up this executive order so it's written into law, so you don't have the next president potentially reversing it the next time around, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Suzanne. Thank you so much. We're going to continue to push forward. We're actually taking note of what the president's action does and doesn't do.

Follow along with me here. By itself it doesn't fund any new research or anything else. Congress still decides how federal dollars are spent. Now, it doesn't change a law that bars the use of federal funds for the creation of stem cell lines by creating and destroying embryos. However, it will allow federal funds for research using stem cell lines created privately.

And so much for the politics, but what about the science? Well, you've heard the amazing claims of stem-cell research supporters, and here with the facts is our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, where does the science stand right now with regard to embryonic stem cells?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Kyra, the research is in an embryonic stage, if you'll excuse the pun. It really is in the beginning. The first clinical trial is due to get underway later this year, where they'll bring in folks who have had some kind of a spinal cord injury and try to give them treatments that are made with embryonic stem cells.

So really, it is in the beginning, and part of the reason why it's in the beginning is that federal funding was so limited for the past eight years.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about it. Is it possible that this might not work?

COHEN: Sure, it is possible, and I think that's important to say. There are huge expectations for embryonic stem cell research, that it might treat diabetes one day and Parkinson's Disease, and spinal cord injuries, but I think it's important to say that it might not work. Once you go down that road and do the research, they may find that it is not as promising as they used to think.

PHILLIPS: Well, what progress have they made with animals?

COHEN: Interesting progress with animals. And I want to show you something. There have been experiments, for example, on rodents where they gave rodents some kind of a spinal cord injury. You can see this little guy is dragging his legs. He's had some kind of an injury.

Then they gave them a treatment made with embryonic stem cells, and those rodents were able to walk again. So there has been some very promising research indeed with animals.

PHILLIPS: All right. Elizabeth, thanks so much. In just a few minutes, we're actually going to meet a researcher who's about to launch the first human clinical trial of embryonic stem cell therapy. It could mean dramatic new treatment for spinal cord trauma.

And we're 30 minutes away from the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, his daily briefing. We'll probably get some questions about the limits on stem cell research being loosened. We're going to take part in that live, as soon as that happens.

And armed with a .45, he walks into an Illinois church, fatally shooting the pastor. Now, just minutes ago, first-degree murder charges filed against Terry Sedlacek. The 27-year-old is hospitalized in serious condition with stab wounds, and that's because one of the parishioners actually tried to help subdue him. And he tells us how it all went down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH MELTON, HELPED SUBDUE CHURCH SHOOTER: I just ran and got behind the guy, managed to get my arms around him and pull him off the pastor. That's -- you know. After we'd wrestled a bit, and he turned and I thought he was trying to get away from me. And I got my arms around his legs and tackled him down. And then the other men, they subdued him and held him. He tried to crawl up under the pew. But like I said, the guys had him on either side of the pew and, you know, pinned in. He wasn't going anywhere, and I think that's when he tried to do something to himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wow. Well, Illinois police haven't found any real connection between the gunman and his victim, only that Sedlacek knows some people who worship at that church.

All right. Some people in the Midwest cleaning up today after surviving a traumatic snow storm -- snow system, rather. One Indiana man actually described it as his house was literally coming apart. Let's get straight to meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. She's in the CNN weather center with more.

Hey, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kyra.

Yes, rough weekend with severe weather. We had more than 22 reports of tornadoes across the nation's midsection, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana amongst the hardest areas hit.

We've got pictures to show you out of Indiana from yesterday. More than a dozen homes were damaged or destroyed. This was in Lawrence County, if we have that video. We want to show you of some of the damage from that area. There you can see, this is from WANE- TV. A school bus was also thrown into a house in Lawrence county.

In Columbia City, an eyewitness explained that he was in that mobile home, and it just exploded all around him. He said it was jumping in the wind.

And we also had straight line winds, up to 90 miles per hour, causing damage in Illinois. Buildings were damaged, thousands of people left without power, and a handful-plus of people were injured. But nobody seriously injured. So that's some good news.

We do have a severe weather threat today again among us. In fact, we're watching Oklahoma right now. Some thunderstorms have been developing and intensifying a little bit here. The storm prediction center has highlighted this area across western Oklahoma and saying they might be issuing a watch in the next couple hours. The primary threat right now is hail. We could see some damaging wind and isolated tornado.

The main severe weather threat here in the plains through Oklahoma, Texas into Kansas, and then later on tonight we'll be watching places like Missouri and Illinois. In fact, some of the places that already got hit hard over the weekend could be seeing it again late today or possibly even tomorrow.

Now, another issue we've been dealing with, with these storms is that the rain amounts have been just incredible. One to 3 1/2 inches of rain in a very short period of time is causing rises on many rivers here. So all the dark green squares that you see there, those are flood warnings in place. This is going to be more of a flash flooding event, so we don't expect it to be prolonged. But unfortunately, that next wave of storms is going to bring additional rainfall into that area.

Now, the system that caused the tornadoes yesterday, this is what it looks like today. A big snow maker across parts of the northeast and rain for you: Boston, Hartford and into New York City.

If you've been trying to travel into the northeast today, you've had a bit of trouble because of that. Delays at La Guardia now over an hour. More than two hours at Newark. We also have delays in Atlanta, about 30 minutes there, and Las Vegas, some real strong gusty winds holding you up, and those are arrival delays. Our storm system in the plains today moves on up towards the Great Lakes, and there you can see the severe weather threat here once again. In addition to that, some incredibly cold air is coming in behind the system and some very strong winds. Yes, we see snow in the Midwest all the time. But when you couple that with winds up to 50 miles per hour, it's going to be a big blizzard mess for much of the Midwest both tonight and tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep tracking it with you. Thanks, Jacqui.

President Obama sides with science in the stem cell debate, combined with, quote, "humanity and conscience." We'll see where the research is headed and how fast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's a sign of the recession and a product of the recession. Pharmaceutical giant Merck is buying rival Schering-Plough for $41 billion, creating the world's second largest prescription drug-maker. Along with other big drug-makers, Merck and Schering- Plough had faced slumping sales, fierce generic competition and also intense pricing pressures. Both are slashing thousands of jobs in a bid to cut costs.

More than a dozen banks have collapsed this year and it seems that the government is preparing for more. Congress has introduced a new bill that's aimed at protecting your money. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, lawmakers want to provide the FDIC with more funds, and the FDIC, of course, is the agency that insures our savings accounts. It's backed 17 bank failures that have occurred this year and, certainly, we are expecting more banks to fail. So Congress introduced a new bill that will temporarily allow the FDIC to borrow up to $500 billion. Senator Chris Todd and Mike Crapo proposing the bill, because the FDIC, Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury all say the money is needed, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, is the FDIC close to running out of money?

LISOVICZ: Technically, no. In fact, it really won't ever run out of money, and our personal bank accounts are considered safe because the FDIC is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

But, FDIC chairman Sheila Bair says the agency does need a bigger cushion. She wants to prepare for all contingencies. The FDIC says bank failures could cost more than $65 billion over the next four years. That number could skyrocket if one of the biggest banks, well, let's say, something like Citigroup, were to fail. Let's not think about that right now. On Wall Street, Capital One financial trying to save cash by slashing its dividend by nearly 90 percent. Capital One shares are up 6 percent.

The rest of the market has been waffling back and forth. Right now we are in the red. The blue chips, in the red, that is. Down 66 points or about 1 percent. The NASDAQ is off 1.5 percent.

But one sector we have to note, stem cell stocks are rallying after President Obama lifted restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. Stem Cell Inc.'s, for instance -- that's one of the companies -- its shares are up 41 percent. I think they're going to benefit from this.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Susan. Thanks.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: With so many people looking for work, we're going to tell you how a group of college students may just beat the odds by hiring themselves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING: "I'm a Barbie Girl")

PHILLIPS: Barbie's 50 today. Can you believe it? You're actually looking at the original 1959 model. We've really seen a few changes over the years. She still looks great for her age, though. But there are signs of a mid-life crisis. Meet Totally Styling Tattoo Barbie, inked up and ready to go. But don't worry, Mom and Dad. These tats are hearts, flowers, butterflies. So far, no skulls or naked Ken.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tough times for many twentysomethings. They're caught in an insurance bind. Too old, making too much money or not enough. CNN's Kate Bolduan looks at what these young people can do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Maryland resident Bree Honey says all she can do for her chronic back pain is exercise at the gym where she works and take Tylenol PM, instead of other medicines she needs. Why? She has to put all of her money towards expensive drugs for her depression.

BREE HONEY, UNINSURED YOUNG ADULT: I am buying my own prescription drugs by myself, and I have to pay for that out of pocket every single month.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Honey doesn't have health insurance. At 20, she's too old to be covered by her parents' policy, since she's no longer in school. She makes too much to qualify for public health care but can't afford private insurance and doesn't yet qualify for coverage at this new job.

HONEY: I'm just a struggling student right out of college trying to make my way, and I can't -- I don't have the money right now for insurance.

BOLDUAN: Many other twentysomethings early in their careers don't have jobs that offer health benefits.

SARA COLLINS, COMMONWEALTH FUND: Only about half of young adults who are working get coverage -- are offered coverage through an employer, compared to about 75 percent of adults who are offered coverage through an employer over age 30.

BOLDUAN (on camera): It's a common problem. More than 13 million young adults are uninsured in the U.S. It's the fastest- growing group of the estimated 46 million uninsured Americans today.

(voice-over) And reducing those numbers is a top priority for President Obama.

OBAMA: Health care reform is no longer just a moral imperative, it's a fiscal imperative.

BOLDUAN: But what right now can young people do? Sara Collins, of a nonpartisan health care research group says, first, check with your state. About 25 have increased the age of dependency.

COLLINS: New Jersey extended their age of eligibility to age 30. Most states have clustered around increasing that age to about 24, 25, 26. So this is a big help to many young adults who had coverage through their parents' employer plan and lose that coverage.

BOLDUAN: As for Bree Honey, she'll just keep working and hope for the best. But it's never far from her mind.

HONEY: What about me? What about my health? What if I get hurt? I don't have that insurance. I'm strapped. I feel like I'm almost like a prisoner in my apartment right now.

BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well the government is running out of money. Old news, you say? Not really. The clock's ticking, and we're counting down to some make or break votes on Capitol Hill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Detroit is becoming like the Costco of real estate. People are actually buying up foreclosed homes in bulk. At least 1,800 homes are for sale for less than 10 grand that once were worth at least ten times more.

Buyers from the outside, as far away as Australia, are gobbling up the bargains. One buying snatched up 30 homes in a day.

This landlord boom is one reason was Detroit has the lowest ownership rate for single-family detached homes among the nation's biggest cities.

And sleeping on the job in a recession? Sounds pretty crazy, but that's just what one home builder is actually doing, his marketing strategy prompted by an avalanche of foreclosures.

He's here in Atlanta with our Brooke Baldwin.

Hey, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Yes, we have managed somehow to find a temporarily homeless home builder. His name is John Wieland. I'm hopping out of his brand-new Winnebago, because what he's planning on doing is taking this thing on a five-city tour. His new motto? Take a look Kyra. "Get housing moving!"

As the economy here in the Unites States depends on jobs, housing. It's what got us into the recession, and it's what's hoping, many people say, will get us out of it.

See these homes back here? These are the John Wieland homes. They are for sale. He is hoping to fill them by going to five different cities. Sixty different neighborhoods throughout the southeast. And he is vowing -- he's standing right here next to me. He's vowing that he will sell 101 homes, he hopes, by mid-April.

JOHN WIELAND, HOME BUILDER: He will, by mid-April.

BALDWIN: A lot of confidence here. Confidence here out of John Wieland. So this whole idea is that fact that you're sleeping on literally a mattress in your empty homes in an effort to get folks out and buying.

WIELAND: Right. Yes, I just want to point out the fact that housing is so important here in America. The fabric of America, how we live, but also the economy of America. And the history is that, in the major recessions, it's housing that leads the economy out. And that can happen again this time.

BALDWIN: It looks like you're having a lot of fun. You have the Winnebago. He actually has a scooter that he's scooting from home to home, as he's meeting these folks who are hopefully looking to buy. But being realistic, what if you don't meet your goal? What happens to your business?

WIELAND: Well, I'm going to meet my goal. In fact, you can track how I'm doing on GetHousingMoving.com. I'm blogging as I go down the road, and I'm going to be keeping track of the homes I sell. And we'll sell 101, and then I'll go home.

BALDWIN: You have 380 homes that are vacant. They need to be sold.

He's hoping to sell 101 by the beginning of April. And 39-year veteran home builder in all of the southeast, so I think it's important to point out the historic perspective. This is your fourth recession.

WIELAND: It's our fourth recession. And the principles for buying a home are better this time than they ever have been in history, because interest rates are lower than they ever have been for mortgages in the Unites States.

And housing prices are lower. Our housing prices are 5 to 25 percent lower than they were six months ago. And then there's choice. Builders are building, homes are selling, so to get your best choice, buy now.

WIELAND: I have to ask: last question. I mean, you have been really riding the top. This amazing career. Big name in the southeast. Did you ever think that you would see this point in the housing market? You'd be sleeping on a mattress to sell homes?

WIELAND: Definitely not. Not a part of my program, but I'm going to do it, and I'm going to be there till we sell 101.

BALDWIN: There you go. John Wieland getting creative here, trying to help inject a little consumer confidence into the American economy, hoping that sign, Kyra, goes from "for sale" to "sold," hoping that what got us in the recession will help us get right back out of it.

PHILLIPS: Yes. I've got to tell you, Brooke. I mean, you and I both live here in Atlanta, and I know the John Wieland homes. They're beautiful. They're expensive. And you would never think that somebody of that type of success or background would go to this extreme. But I guess that's why he continues to do so well, because he's got all these creative, I guess, techniques to try and drum up business.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. And the reality is he has a good friend who was in Indianapolis. Is that correct?

WIELAND: Indianapolis.

BALDWIN: Indianapolis, who just went, under home building business, as well. So I think the writing, metaphorically speaking, is on the wall here, and he knows desperate times call for desperate measures.

Right, John?

PHILLIPS: Interesting.

WIELAND: You have to do it.

PHILLIPS: See if he'll give us all a good deal on a home there, Brooke. BALDWIN: Yes, right.

PHILLIPS: They're pretty nice.

BALDWIN: I'll try to wrangle that deal.

PHILLIPS: All right, I'll talk to you later. Thanks, Brooke.

Well, are you worried about the dismal job outlook? Some Kansas college grads actually took matters into their own hands. Rather than looking for work, they designed their own. And among them, Craig McCullough (ph) of Topeka, who opened his own bar last December. Two other grads, twins Emily (ph) and Alex Acres (ph), well, they're opening their own dueling piano bar this month. We don't know if it's a growing trend or not, but it certainly takes a lot of initiative and guts. It actually sounds like a lot of fun, too.

We're keeping an eye out for White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and his daily briefing. He'll probably get some questions about the limits on stem cell research being loosened up today. We're going to take part in that, live, as soon as it happens.

And the president's auto task force is right where they need to be today, in and around Detroit, meeting with officials from GM, Chrysler and the autoworkers' union.

They're trying to decide if the companies should get the additional $21 billion in federal funds that they want, or if they should make a bee line toward bankruptcy. Some Republicans say Chapter 11 is the best solution.

Well, the group will also test drive GM's new electric car, the Volt, and tour one of Chrysler's pickup truck factories.

The auto industry, as all Mike Green and his son, Roland, know. They're a GM family that spans three generations. What would they say to an auto task force that has their livelihoods and their future in their hands? We're going to find out next hour.

And pushing forward to the end of September, with less than seven months left in the fiscal year, Congress is poised to vote on a catchall spending bill that the White House admits is ugly, not to mention way overdue. CNN's Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill. Brianna, what are the hangups?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a few different hangups, Kyra. The first one being the overall price tag on this, as well as earmarks. And then there's also a provision that's causing a bit of a hiccup for Senate Democratic leaders who want to get this thing through the Senate, and that is a provision on Cuba.

So, let's start with the overall price tag. It's a spending increase, 8 percent spending increase, and there's many people, many Republicans as well as some Democrats who have a problem with that. They say you shouldn't be increasing spending, you shouldn't be increasing all of this output in a time of fiscal crisis.

And there's of course the issue of earmarks, which, whenever the earmarks come up in an issue, in a spending bill like this, you have opponents. There's 8,500 earmarks in this spending bill. Some Republicans really hammering home that this isn't the time to be doing that.

And as well, that Cuba provision that I mentioned, this is something that would relax trade and travel restrictions with Cuba, and this is costing a couple of key Democratic votes. One, a Cuban- American senator, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, as well as Bill Nelson of Florida, who has a very strong Cuban-American constituency.

So, those are really the hangups. But what's going on now is the Senate is trying to work through this overdue assignment, as you put it, Kyra. They're going to be debating amendments today as well as tomorrow. They were hoping to get this thing wrapped up. Senate Democratic leaders were last week, but they had to basically give in to some Republican demands to propose some more changes that they want to see made. So, that's kind of prolonging the timeline here, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, tell us about the provision for lawmakers' pay raises.

KEILAR: Yes, this is an amendment being proposed by Louisiana Republican David Vitter. The way it works right now is that members of Congress get a pay raise, and they don't have to vote on it every year. It's automatic. And what this amendment would do, if it were to pass, would be to force them to vote on it every year.

You can see that that is a -- that's a hard thing to do, especially in the climate, the economic climate right now. So if -- basically the angling here is that if Republicans can force a change in the Senate, they may be calling the bluff of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

This omnibus spending bill has already passed the house. Nancy Pelosi has said that she wants a clean bill, and she's basically going to put all of this to the side and just move forward with the -- with funding the federal government as it has been funded before. She can't get a clean bill, so this would be kind of calling her bluff if this change could get through. Because it's a very difficult vote for Democrats and Republicans to make.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll track it. Thanks so much, Brianna.

Well now, an update on the college kid who messed with the wrong hockey mom, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. You'll recall the feds busted University of Tennessee student David Kernell for allegedly hacking into Palin's personal e-mail account. Well, that happened last fall, when Palin was the Republican V.P. candidate. Kernell, son of a longtime Democratic state representative, was arraigned today on a new four-count indictment. Among the charges, destroying evidence and identity theft.

First impressions, you know they're important. But do you know how you form them? We'll look at the science behind your snap judgments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Foreclosed homes on the auction block, but don't get pounded by a bad deal. Our Gerri Willis has some great tips for us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Scientists are closer to learning how we make first impressions. It's a new study by Harvard and New York universities. Volunteers were asked to judge the likability of fictional characters based on traits like nice, smart or impatient. Researchers actually tracked which brain circuitry lit up during these snap judgments.

Two areas were important. One is involved in opinion forming. The other is more analytical and helps in financial decisions. Scientists say that these regions process information instantaneously to create a first impression.

Well, new weather worries for the nation's heartland today, from high winds and possible flooding. Let's get back to our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras for more. Hey, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Foreclosures going up for auction.

(VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And we're actually with one New York family as they navigate the madhouse in search of their first home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Straight to Robert Gibbs and the White House briefing. We're going to listen in for a little bit and see what he has to say, probably about stem-cell research and the ban that was lifted today. We'll track it right now.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good afternoon. How's everyone today? I have no prerecorded announcements, so we're off.

QUESTION: Robert, the president's focus in his remarks about the manipulation and coercion of scientific research in the community, I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit on what he was referring to specifically.

GIBBS: Well, I think obviously we're -- we've all seen stories in the past few years where the political process overrode the scientific process on any number of issues. And I think the president was quite clear today in saying that politics should not drive science. That science and our values can exist hand in hand and not compete with each other, as has been posited in the past.

Today marks a step forward in what could be promising research to find cures to some of our -- to many tragic diseases. And the president not only is pleased to take that step forward, but to ensure that the decisions that are made surrounding this are based not on ideology and politics but instead on science.

QUESTION: But beyond issues like climate change and this one about stem-cell research, are there any other...

GIBBS: Well, I think those are the primary ones that have been the focus over the past number of years. But again, we've all seen where a decision comes up through a governmental agency to do one thing, and when it surfaces toward the top, politics takes hold. The president believes that on matters that are as important as the issues that you just outlined, that science be the determining factor, not politics or ideology. Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION: I have two questions on the economy. Can you talk about the meeting the president had this morning with Chairman Bernanke? And then separately, there are two stories, one in the "Financial Times" and one in "The Wall Street Journal," saying that the U.S. emphasis of the G-20 will be on economic stimulus. Is that going to be your message at that meeting, and is there a rift with the Europeans who want to emphasize regulatory reform?

GIBBS: Well, let me start with Chairman Bernanke. He was in the president's economic daily briefing. This was about -- let's see, I was in there, so it started about 10:00, lasted for about 45 minutes with -- also in there were Secretary Geithner, NEC Director Summers and CEA Director Romer.

In order to get an update on the economic situation and ideas for -- I'm sorry, an idea about where the Fed chair sees the economy going over the next several years and steps that can be taken to change the course that we're currently on. Again, the conversation lasted about 45 minutes with the president.

In terms of the G-20, I've seen some of these stories. I think this goes much to what I talked about, or have talked about up here, which is, there is not one single solution to the global economic challenges that we all face. And I think that's -- when you pick up the newspaper, that becomes even more readily apparent, reading about the global downturn.

And the efforts -- our efforts at the G-20 in London will focus on a number of subjects, both financial regulation and economic stimulus. Largely because there isn't one single solution to those problems that, quite frankly, unless we do both, as the president has started to do here, in addition to dealing in this country with home foreclosures and with financial stability, that only by addressing all of these different avenues are we going to be able to correct the economic downturn and get the economy moving again.

So, -- I think the...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) the Europeans?

GIBBS: I don't think so. I think the president would say this is a sort of classic not an either/or but a both/and moment. That I think many things will be on the table to discuss, and I think both regulation of the financial -- of our financial system to ensure that what didn't prevent this current crisis from happening, that we have regulations in place to ensure that there are steps in there to ensure that it doesn't.

As well as how we all work together to ensure a stimulus and a recovery plan that will get the economy moving again. So, I don't think there's any rift at all. Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Mr. Gibbs, I have two questions. First, Chinese vessels have been harassing U.S. ships with increasing aggressiveness. I know that the Chinese defense attache went to the Pentagon or is at the Pentagon right now to review a complaint. But is the president taking any other action regarding the Chinese government to tell them to stop doing this?

GIBBS: I know that our embassy in both Beijing and here protested the actions of the Chinese ships that have been reported. Our ships obviously operate fairly regularly in international waters where these incidents took place. We're going to continue to operate in those international waters, and we expect the Chinese to observe international law around that.

QUESTION: And the second question, Mr. Warren Buffett, who I guess you could say is an informal adviser to the president, was -- did an interview this morning. He had obviously many fine things to say about the president but did say two things that I was wondering about your reaction.

One, he referred to the cap and trade as a regressive tax that consumers would ultimately pay for. And then two, he said that the message, the economic message that the world was getting from this administration was, quote, "muddled." I was just wondering if you had a reaction to either of these.

GIBBS: Well, I think I'd point you back to the transcript of Mr. Buffett in terms of your second question. I'm not entirely sure that the message wasn't directed at Washington writ large. And I think...

QUESTION: Are you Washington writ large?

GIBBS: I think we dispensed with that several hundred years ago in a revolution. But, no, obviously there's 535, plus the administration, that regularly are asked and share their opinions related to the economy. You know, I think that many of the things that Mr. Buffett said, the administration would understand and agree with.

Particularly I think the story -- stories that I read this morning talked about the notion that Mr. Buffett said Democrats and Republicans are going to have to get along and work together in order to get the country out of this economic mess. That -- and I don't -- this is me saying this, not him. I don't want to paraphrase what he said. But I think the administration would believe that saying no isn't an economic policy. QUESTION: The cap and trade being one of those...

GIBBS: Let me finish this one first. I think Mr. Buffett also said we're not likely to fix this in five minutes. I don't think we're likely to fix this in six weeks and six days. That the depth of the challenges that we face as made even more apparent on Friday with rising unemployment figures denote the urgency of this problem and the urgency with which the president pursued a recovery plan.

In terms of cap and trade, the president and the administration look forward to working with Congress to put a solution together, a market-based solution that will drive us to energy independence and create a market for -- an even more robust market for alternative fuels and as I said, the steps that we need to become energy independent. You know, this is a process that rewards the innovation of the market, a principle that many previously have espoused. Yes, sir.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In terms of the timing of the president's executive order today, why did the president believe that it was so important to do that now, when there's so much pressing going on with unemployment, you talked about the unemployment numbers, the stock market, the economy in disarray. Why did he feel it was so important to do that today?

GIBBS: Well, Dan, I think again, I don't want to get ahead of where the science is on this, but obviously, stem-cell research has shown great promise in the capability of potentially solving many life-saving and dealing with life-saving cures for deadly and tragic diseases. I don't think that -- I don't think people that suffer from these diseases or have watched loved ones suffer from these diseases would believe that we should delay what the president did today. I'm not sure what kind of message that would send.

QUESTION: You don't have to delay it, but in this particular climate, you know, these last few weeks with the economy.

GIBBS: Well, if you didn't do it now, you're talking about this particular climate but you're not talking about delay, what, I mean, maybe I'm confused. I mean, you know, I think the president believes that it's tremendously important to take this step to open up the notion of funding potentially promising scientific research and more importantly, to put science back in charge of the scientific process and take politics out of it.

I think that obviously, I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure there's ever a bad time to do that. (AUDIO GAP) Friday in an interview, he would love the opportunity to only have to focus on one of those challenges at a time. I think given the many challenges that we face, that's a little bit of a flight of fancy. We have many things to deal with, certainly many things on our plate, but Washington has for many, many years postponed or put off dealing with the problems that we're now facing.

You know, let's step back for a second and understand, you know, health care. You've seen members of Congress talk about the fact that given what we're dealing with, why can this administration -- why is this administration contemplating dealing with things like Medicare and Medicaid and the rising cost of health care. The rising cost of health care is one of the principal drivers of our deficit and our debt.

You can't stand up and say, I'm horribly concerned that Washington is taking -- is spending money and handing the bill to our children and our grandchildren on one hand, and then talk about the fact that dealing with something like health care isn't a priority. Because if we do nothing with Medicare and Medicaid, by 2050, spending on Medicare and Medicaid alone will account for 20 percent, not of our budget, 20 percent of our gross domestic product.

These are problems that are going to have to be dealt with. We can either decide as Washington typically has, to kick the can down the road and hope that either the problem goes away or that somebody else will come and solve it, or we can address the challenges that face our country and undermine our long-term economic growth. Energy independence, you'll see the president talk about education tomorrow, and he'll certainly do that within this frame.

Obviously, health care, given the amount of spending that goes into our budget each year for Medicare and Medicaid and what we've watched families and businesses struggle with the skyrocketing costs over the past few years, means we can't walk away from addressing these problems right now. Yes, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: All right, if you want to continue to watch Robert Gibbs there at the White House briefing, you can go to CNN.com/live, and you can continue to follow it there. Meanwhile, we're going to follow the question answering with regard to stem-cell research and health care policy. Seems to be what he's focusing on at this point.

Foreclosed homes on the auction block, but don't get pounded by a bad deal. Our Gerri Willis has some tips for us. Stay with us.

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PHILLIPS: Well, with all the foreclosures out there, it's a good time to get in on buying a home, right? Personal finance editor Gerri Willis breaks it down for us. Gerri, it's amazing that story out of Detroit, people coming in and buying all these houses for $10,000.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes, it is amazing. And you've got to think wow, is this a good deal for me, but you know, if you're really buying at auction, you have to understand this isn't easy to do.

First, you have to be prequalified for financing and you need to have cold, hard cash or a check in hand. It can be hard to find a real deal at auctions because you're competing with really savvy investors who know the marketplace really well. I've seen these folks, Kyra. They come in with a handful of cashier's checks, and they're ready to throw them down.

Furthermore, you can't see the properties ahead of time. The fact is that people who are foreclosed on usually damage the property. Pipes may be ripped out of walls. Appliances are missing. Bottom line, it's likely the property is not in good condition.

What's more, many properties are mortgaged so steeply that the banks often ask for bids higher than what the properties are worth just to cover their costs. That said, it's better to buy a foreclosed home from a bank. Look for REO, real estate-owned houses. These are homes that fail to sell at auction, and then they are put on the market by the banks that own them. The process is less taxing and difficult.

PHILLIPS: All right. Great tips. Gerri, appreciate it so much. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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