Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Cleveland Ford Plant Reopens; Japan's Worst Economic Slump in Decades; "Slumdog" Stars Come Home; Ending the Iraq War; Graduating in a Recession; Economy: Stop the Presses
Aired February 27, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Exit strategy. President Obama announcing plans to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq. We are live from the White House and from Baghdad.
No translation needed in this economy. GM autoworkers in Germany march for their jobs as the company considers a restructure.
And final edition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually hadn't stopped to think about it. I want to show the reaction of the staff hearing the news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The newspaper itself front page news. "Rocky Mountain" good-bye.
It is Friday, February 27th. I'm Heidi Collins. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We begin the hour with breaking news this morning on a broken economy. Just minutes ago, new evidence that the recession is deepening. The government says the U.S. economy shrank by 6.2 percent in the last three months of last year. That's a staggering jump from the 3.8 percent that had been predicted.
This is the biggest decline in more than a quarter century. The reason? Pretty simple. Worried Americans are holding on to their cash and not spending it. The news expected to hang over this hour's opening bell on Wall Street.
CNN's Susan Lisovicz, of course, will be along with more on this in just few minutes.
The Iraq war. And the beginning of the end. This morning, President Obama will announce a withdrawal date for all U.S. combat troops. We are covering the angles of this developing story this morning.
CNN's Arwa Damon is gauging the reaction in Baghdad and Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House.
Good morning, Suzanne. Let's begin with you. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
A White House official tells me that President Obama is going to say this. He is going to say, "Let me say this as plainly as I can. By August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end." That is the headline, of course, today. He is going to be traveling to Camp Lejeune before military families to deliver that new mission, that new message.
This, obviously, not what he said when he was candidate Obama. He said there was to be 16 months and then he'd be pulling out those combat troops. It is now extended to 19 months, just a three-month extension, but one of the other things that he's going to be highlighting is that there will be a contingency force that will stay in Iraq, some 35,000 to 50,000 troops, really a residual force.
They will have a new mission as well, essentially to equip and to train the Iraqi troops that are already on the ground to support civilian operations and also targeted counterterrorism efforts. Those are the kinds of things that they are going to be doing.
And Heidi, White House officials says look, he has met with civilian and military leaders since the beginning of his presidency. He has talked to them and they gave him a range, essentially, anywhere from pulling out those combat troops 16 months to 23 months. He felt that because of the situation, the state on the ground, that 19 months really was the best option. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right. Interesting. Suzanne Malveaux from the White House for us this morning.
Suzanne, thanks for that.
Now let's go ahead and get the view directly from Iraq. CNN's Arwa Damon is joining us now live from Baghdad.
Good morning to you, Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. And this really comes as no surprise to the Iraqi government that has, essentially, said that it does support a responsible U.S. withdrawal, as long as it is not being done unilaterally.
The Iraqi prime minister does believe that his own security forces are capable of protecting the country. That being said, they still have not been tested how they would perform in battle without the U.S. right there behind him. That is still an unknown, which is where President Obama's plan is going to include leaving behind that residual force.
The U.S. cannot afford to withdraw from Iraq and have that be a mistake that would somehow reverse the current security gains, which is what a premature withdrawal could cause. Because, effectively, the U.S. military here for the last six years has been fighting to try to reverse the mistakes of the Bush administration from coming into Iraq without a proper post-war plan in place to dismantling the Iraqi army which then ended up making up the bulk of the insurgency, paving the way for groups like al Qaeda and Iranian-backed militias to come into this country.
We saw a rush to draft to constitution to see the government to put Iraqi security forces back together. A U.S. withdrawal cannot be rushed and that is why the situation here is so delicate and even while we are talking about ending the war from an American perspective, we also have to remember that for Iraqis, it's many ways the battle is only just beginning. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Arwa Damon for us this morning live from Baghdad.
Arwa, thank you.
So how do Americans feel about the U.S. sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan? The new poll from the CNN Opinion Research Corporation shows strong support. 63 percent of those questioned in this poll say they support the president's plan to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan. 36 percent oppose the move.
But here is an interesting twist. Less than half of those polled actually favor the war in Afghanistan. 51 percent now oppose it.
And stay with us. We're going to have live coverage of President Obama's announcement from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It is scheduled for 11:45 Eastern. Of course, 8:45 Pacific.
A top executive at the investment firm headed by Texas financier Allen Stanford in handcuffs this morning as she appearance before a federal magistrate in Houston. Laura Pendergest-Holt, chief investment officer at Stanford Financial Group, was arrested and charged yesterday. She's accused of obstructing a federal brought into an alleged $8 billion investment scheme at the company.
We'll keep our eye on that story for you today.
Your money. Citigroup's future. The U.S. government will soon have more control over the troubled banking giant. The Feds will convert $25 billion worth of preferred stock, we all now own, to common shares. That means the government could end up with 30 to 40 percent of Citigroup's common stock. It is worth noting this third bailout effort will give Citigroup more money to operate without costing any additional taxpayer money.
Here's something rare for U.S. autoworkers. A bit of good news. A couple of hours ago, Ford announced it will reopen its Cleveland engine plant number one. The reason? It becomes the first site to build Ford's new fuel-efficient eco-boost engine. Well, the plan has been idle since 2007. Ford pumped $55 million to upgrade and bring back 250 workers.
General Motors is eyeing a big change. They're now looking at ways to restructure European operations after losses quadrupled there last quarter. That leading to protests at some of their overseas plants.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is joining us now live from Berlin, Germany this morning with more on that.
Frederik, good morning.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Yes. And GM Europe is set to announce its restructuring plan really in just a couple of minutes from now. Some of the things that appear to be in that restructuring plan is that GM's German subsidiary unit Opel will probably be setting jobs possibly closing one or the other plant and possibly selling one of its plants here in Europe, possibly here in Germany.
And the other thing that appears to be coming clearer and clearer is that Opel is going to need a government bailout from the German government. And one thing that the German government has been saying in the past is that, in order to get that government bailout, Opel will probably have to cut a substantial amount of its ties with General Motors as a prerequisite because the German government says if it is going to give German taxpayer money to Opel and it doesn't want that money ending up in Detroit, it wants that money to save jobs here in Germany.
So at the end of the day, you still could see a concept on the table here by GM Europe that could mean that GM would have a substantially lower stake in this company here in Europe than it did before -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen from the view in Berlin, German. Sure do appreciate that, Fredrik. Thank you.
A snowstorm in Minnesota leaves one person dead. Police say a man was hit and killed by a snowplow. Between 5 to 8 inches of snow fell in most central and southern Minnesota yesterday. The heaviest just before rush hour.
In Texas, raging wildfires keeping firefighters busy. A 1,200 acre fire that started in western Taylor County Tuesday flared up once again. People are being evacuated now. Ash is falling in Abilene. High, hot, dry air and steady winds are also feeding several other fires in the state.
Never a good thing.
Rob Marciano joining us now from the CNN Weather Center to talk a little bit more about that. Yes, it doesn't sound good.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, and the way the weather situation is setting up for today, dry thunderstorms potentially there and windy conditions. So hopefully they'll get through this one better than the last one and certainly the warning is out.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Yes. MARCIANO: Kind of a wild winter.
COLLINS: What do you care? You're going to Miami.
MARCIANO: You're right, I don't care. But I care about you and our viewers and for everybody else, for their safety here in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Yes, yes. OK, Rob. We'll check back later. Thank you.
MARCIANO: OK. See you.
COLLINS: The end of an era in Denver now a one paper town. One of the longest running staples losing the battle with the economy giving us one final headline.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN. The most trusted name in news. Now back to the CNN NEWSROOM.
In the end "Rocky" lost the fight. Not the boxer, the newspaper. Denver's 150-year-old "Rocky Mountain" news is the latest of the nation's newspaper to become a casualty of the economy and the Internet printing their final edition today.
Kyle Clark of affiliate KUSA has the story now from Denver.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We always look for what's the best news story of the day.
KYLE CLARK, KUSA REPORTER: And they look for that single photo that tells the story of our day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like on page one every day, trying to sum up in one picture the news of the day.
CLARK: For the final page one, they are looking through what might as well be a family album.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually hadn't stopped to think about it. We want to show the reaction of the staff hearing the news. That's what we're looking for.
BILL SCANLON, REPORTER: Hi, this is Bill Scanlon of the "Rocky Mountain" news. Won't be talking to you much anymore.
CLARK: Bill Scanlon typed out a live blog, an online obituary for the "Rocky" just as news was announced to the staff.
SCANLON: People could read it as an avenue. It helped, you know, the easiest way to deal with this the past six weeks is try to work hard and to -- and to forget that the end might be near. SUE LINDSAY, REPORTER: Your professionalism takes over and you don't think about the fact that you're about to lose your job. Well, now we have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You found the story.
CLARK: Newspapers just aren't hiring these days. A lot of these people are packing away their careers.
LINDSAY: I'll even miss the people that call and tell me what a terrible journalist I am.
TILLIE FONG, REPORTER: Well, that's interesting.
CLARK: Tillie Fong is waiting for a call on her final story.
FONG: I'll probably be one of the last people standing here.
CLARK: She works the night beat. She might just file the last story in "Rocky" history.
FONG: It feels like a death and to say, you know, this is it. No. This is -- that's it. It's really hard to have to, you know, finally come to grips with it.
CLARK: And yet there's pride. Pride in knowing the paper that told your great, great grandfather how to find the gold fields, survive long enough to tell you the Broncos won at all.
SCANLON: I'm proud that we put out a good product. It's going to be a good paper tomorrow. Everybody should buy one.
CLARK: Like every "Rocky," it will be the defining picture of our day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And tomorrow it's us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Award winning political cartoonist Ed Stein has been with "The Rocky Mountain News" for 31 years. Here's his last contribution. A woman asking, "Where is my 'Rocky'?" The "Denver Post" is now the only daily newspaper in the city. They each have a circulation of just over 200,000.
Is the daily staple on its last leg? Newspapers across the country are in danger of disappearing. We'll take a closer look at the state of the paper later this hour.
Pinching pennies. How can you cut costs and make the most of your money during these tough times? Get some expert advice right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Back to the slums from Hollywood. The stars of an Oscar-winning film return home and are hailed as heroes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNI REDD, CNN IREPORTER: Well, I knocked $90 off my cable bill per month. I just went down to the basic so like half my news channels and get TV reception. I also dropped the house phones and I knocked 70 bucks on my -- off of my bills. And I now just us my cell phone which I also streamlined by 50 bucks a month.
And in order to connect to people, what I've done is kept my Internet, very nice, so I can like talk to people in Google Talk, Google Chat, and Skype, which are three way to connect online. Plus social media sites like Facebook.
And the other thing I did was I moved closer to work. I was living an hour and 20 minutes away. Now I'm four miles from work so, here we go, monthly I saved myself $330 a month and yearly $3,960. That sounds like a nice principal mortgage payment to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So, all right. This is what we're hearing from a lot of people. Finding different ways to manage your money. It isn't always easy, that's for sure. But there are certainly things that you can do every day to make the most of your money.
CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here now with some tips.
So Gerri, I like that iReport because...
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes.
COLLINS: ... you can really see how even the smaller things add up. You really have to be thinking about everything that you're spending your money on these days.
WILLIS: That's right. It's all about the little things. At the end of the day, as you say they all add up. Even just bringing your lunch to work can save you big money instead of going to the cafeteria or ordering out.
Let's take a look at the numbers. First, if something can cost you about $7 a day to eat out, and about 3 bucks a day for a bagged lunch, in one year, you could save $960 by bagging your lunch. Bring your own lunch, for two years, you save over almost $2,000 here.
Take a look this. This is a vacation -- this is big savings for folks. Now managing your money daily is also being aware of where you stand financially. Look, we all want to hide our eyes from our 401(k) statements but as one expert told me you cannot hide your head in the sand right now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY OLSEN, PARTNER, LENOX ADVISORS: Be aware. I've heard so many stories from people recently. I don't even open the envelopes. I don't even look. That's the worst thing you could possibly do because there may be things that you're doing that are completely and totally wrong for this market.
You should be looking to rebalance. You should be looking -- if you can't continue to lose money, to be more conservative. And I really get upset when I find out that people are putting their head in the sand and not paying attention. So the first bit of advice that I would give to people is make sure you're opening up your statements and you understand what's going on with your portfolio.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: So no matter how painful it is, knowing where you stand is really half the battle. Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. And I do wonder, though. What's the main thing that really trips people up? Maybe the major mistake that everybody seems to be making when they manage their finances?
WILLIS: It's got to be misusing credit cards. Look, paying with plastic is one way that people tend to lose track of what they're spending. When you don't have to pay for something for a few weeks, you're more likely to make the purchase.
Now here are some situations where you may want to rethink using credit cards. Look, you shouldn't be paying your monthly bills with credit cards. That should come out of your cash flow. Impulse purchases, a great way to run up the bill and have it spiral out of control.
If you're paying other credit cards with credit cards, you are headed to the poor house. Paying your mortgage with a credit card, also bad news. There are times, however, when using credit cards really are the best strategy because you can dispute charges. You have proof of purchase and you have consumer protections if somebody steals your card.
So if you're making a big purchase, you have that protection for, let's say, the big flat panel TV. Just make sure you pay it off on time, certainly very quickly.
COLLINS: Yes.
WILLIS: Buying online, another time you definitely want to use a credit card, almost have to use a credit card. Even at gas stations. If you've got one of those credit cards, where, you know, you got money back, cash back, it makes sense to use your credit card.
So know when to use the credit card and when not to because that's the way families get in so much trouble out there. Average family has about $9,000 worth of credit card debt so you want to make sure not to be one of those.
COLLINS: Yes. Never mind the interest. Ouch.
WILLIS: Yes.
COLLINS: All right. Gerri, thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
COLLINS: The president laid out his health care push yesterday but how will that affect real people? We'll look at the effects from all sides next hour from a woman about to lose her health insurance to the doctors struggling with red tape. A "Snapshot Across America."
A bleak picture in Japan. Automakers turning out fewer cars, firing more workers. New numbers reveal an economic crisis that's getting worse.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: On Wall Street, the Dow and S&P 500 tumbled on Monday to their lowest levels in nearly 12 years. Who could forget that? And it looks like they could sink even lower this morning.
Susan Lisovicz is at New York Stock Exchange now with details that I don't know if we really want to hear even with all those people clapping their hands off at the opening there.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, that's one of the things about the opening bell. There's always a lot of optimism. And we hope that it will translate into gains but at least at the open looks like it's going to be rocky, Heidi.
Two big held headlines that are weighing on sentiments. First, the final look at the economy's fourth quarter far worse than estimated. The nation's Gross Domestic Product, the broadest look at economic goods and services, shrank in a staggering pace of 6.2 percent. The final three months of the year.
Just to put it in perspective, the previous estimate was 3.8 percent. So way off.
That's the worst showing in more than a quarter century. Consumer slashed spending by the most in 28 years, and what we do and spend is the key to economic growth.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I just wonder --
(CROSSTALK)
LISOVICZ: Yes?
COLLINS: I'm sorry to interrupt you. I just wonder, how often have we seen that in the past, such an incredibly, you know, off prediction, if you will?
LISOVICZ: Oh, I think we have seen because -- that's why there are, in fact, several revisions, you know? There are three, as I recall, numbers that come out on GDP. I mean, it's a huge report. And it's imperfect. And so you get the initial and then you get two others. But you also saw -- I mean, think of what happened in the fourth quarter where Lehman Brothers failed.
COLLINS: Absolutely.
LISOVICZ: Mid-September, and some of the things that occurred after that, where credit simply dried up and, in fact, so did our spending. So that was huge, but businesses cut back sharply as well.
And one other thing that's important to note, Heidi. I know you've been talking about it with Christine, the huge drop in exports which really propped up corporate profits. What we've seen also is that the global economy has worsened as well and very recently. And so exports slumped -- I should say slumped is too mild a word. Exports really declined, sharply declined in the fourth quarter.
Also another big headline today, the government, as we've been reporting, as we expected, increasing its stake in Citigroup from about 8 percent to nearly 40 percent. It doesn't involve any more taxpayer money. The Treasury will convert some of the existing preferred chairs. Even though it will help Citi's balance sheet. Well, its shares right now are down 31 percent.
There's a lot of concern about delusion, about what this deal will do to existing shareholders and we're seeing that translate into other banking stocks as well. Bank of America shares right now down 14 percent. JPMorgan down 5 percent. And overall, you know, those are all Dow 30 stocks so you see triple digit declines right at the open for the blue chips. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is down one percent.
Let me tell you something good.
COLLINS: All right. Please!
LISOVICZ: I'm not trying to do a Chaka Khan song here, but a move by an American automaker that will create jobs. OK? Ford will reopen, Miss Collins. Cleveland engine plant number one after it had been idle for nearly two years. The plant will be the first manufacturing site to build Ford's new fuel efficient engines. The move expected to create about 250 jobs.
COLLINS: We had the story right off the top of the show, Susan. Love that story. Remember, tell me the good news.
LISOVICZ: We're going to tell it frequently today.
COLLINS: Let's do that. All right, Susan, thanks so much.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
COLLINS: And as you heard Susan mentioned, the global economy certainly something that everybody is talking about. The hits keep on coming to Japan whose economy is driven by exports. It's going through its worse economic crisis in decades. The fallout from the economic downturn, of course, worldwide. The new numbers released today show just how bad it is. CNN's Kyung Lah reports now from Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This latest economic data provides a snapshot of the world's second largest economy from the big picture down to the individual. Let's begin with the big picture -- industrial output.
According to Japan's government in January as compared to the year before, industrial output fell 10 percent. That is a record. Industrial output tells us about all of the items Japan makes -- cars and electronics. When you zoom in on what is happening with cars, automobile production, according to Japan's automobile industry, fell 41 percent for the month of January as compared to the year prior. January is also the month that there were numerous cuts announced by Toyota, Nissan and Honda.
Household spending fell 5.9 percent in January, as compared to the year before. This is the highest fall, the biggest fall since Japan slipped into recession and this number tells us about the consumer, how reluctant the consumer is to go out there and spend any money as far as anything in the house.
Unemployment remained virtually unchanged from January to December. December it was 4.3. January, 4.1 percent. But analysts say it's not because more people are actually working.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Ed Rogers, CEO, Rogers Investment Advisors: People are starting to give up. In a place like Japan, people are thinking, we have the highest rate of bankruptcies we saw since 2001, 2002. There are no jobs. All my friends are getting fired. This is a terrible world. Forget it. I'm just not even going to bother. So I think that the numbers are distorted number. And that what you'll see is more people walking the streets literally as time goes by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH (voice-over): All this result of the global economic slowdown as the demand falls through Japan's exports. What happens is that companies have to react, cutting costs, slashing jobs. That is having a true impact overall on this export driven economy.
(on camera): Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Terrorists on tape. New surveillance video appears to show gunmen in Mumbai during a series of attacks last November. More than 160 people including several Americans were killed. CNN has been unable to authenticate the 20-second long video, but CNN's sister network, CNNIBN says it got the tape from police.
The video shows two gunmen walking through what may be a lobby at Mumbai's hotel trident. One gunman fires at what looks like an empty reception desk. The only shooter who survived a three-day long attack faces a host of charges including murder and attempted murder.
A car parked on a Gainesville, Florida, street for days, ticketed seven separate times. A resident finally called police who found more than just the BMW. The body of a 42-year-old man was inside. He had been reported missing two weeks before. Police say his autopsy revealed no cause of death. A city spokesman says ticket officers are not trained police officers, but work out of the City's Public Works Department.
A hero's welcome for the young stars of "Slumdog Millionaire." The kids returned to the band of slum area of Mumbai, India. They had been in Los Angeles for Sunday's academy award show where the movie won eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
There were even more well-wishers over there at the Mumbai airport, where the actors got a police escort.
An auction of the art collection of the late Yves Saint Laurent. It is being billed as the sale of the century. This arm chair with a snake design sold for nearly $28 million. A record for a piece of 20th century furniture. The entire collection brought in a total of more than 484 million bucks. But the auction has been touched by controversy. China is furious over the sale of two bronze sculptures which it considers stolen treasure. China has now ordered tighter inspections for the relics priestess wants to bring in or out of the country.
Rob Marciano coming to us now from the severe weather center because, Rob, we have a tornado warning -- is right? Mississippi?
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Oh, boy. All right, Rob, thank you. Keep us posted.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You got it.
COLLINS: Commencement just months away, but where are the jobs? College graduates looking for work in a recession.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A snapshot across America. Afraid of losing her coverage. One woman just a day away from being uninsured. Does the president's health care plan give her a way out? Talk about it next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: All right, very quickly. This just in to the CNN NEWSROOM now. Coming to us by way of our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. We are learning from two senior administration officials that President Obama is going to declare a very strong statement in his speech coming to us from Camp Lejeune today. We were telling you he would be there today. Apparently, he is going to say this, and it is a quote. "Let me say this as plainly as I can. By August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."
Once again, those words coming from the president via two senior administration officials. We will see him say these words coming up a little bit later today at Camp Lejeune. So we will bring that to you, of course, when it happens later today.
Meanwhile, mapping out the end of the Iraq war. Just about two hours from now, President Obama expected to announce that withdrawal date for U.S. combat troops. His plan once again August 31st, 2010. He had promised a slightly faster pace when he campaigned for president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Troops out in 19 months, sort of out, 30,000 to 50,000 remaining. What do you think?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's sort of a -- it's a middle-ground policy, isn't it? I mean, it's less -- it's more than the 16 months he promised on the campaign trail. It's less than the 23 months that the generals had asked for.
What I would say is that, as long as this is based upon what's happening on the ground, this is a relatively sound strategy. I mean, let's think about it. This is the candidate who went into the elections promising to end the war. And we're not talking about pulling any troops out of Iraq until virtually the end of next year, only two brigades out of 14. That's roughly 10,000.
COOPER: David Gergen, what do you think?
GERGEN: Anderson, what strikes me is that, in contrast to the way President Obama is -- is so bold and audacious on the domestic side, he's being quite cautious in foreign policy.
He was presented with three options by the Joint Chiefs for Iraq, to pull out most of the combat troops within 16 months, 19 months, or 23 months, as Michael suggested. And he chose the middle option, just as he's done in Afghanistan. Instead of going bold, he's gone with a more conservative 17,000 troops. The military wanted 30,000 in the beginning.
I think that the president is feeling his way along, and in contrast to the Democrats on the Hill, who can stand up and say pull everybody out, he, after all, at the end of the day, has to be the president who does not lose Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Here is how the war debate has shifted focus in Washington. The scrutiny no longer locked on the timing of the withdrawal, but the size. 35,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops will remain on the ground in Iraq.
Stay with us. We will have live coverage of President Obama's announcement from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It is scheduled from 11:45 Eastern, 8:45 Pacific.
In just a couple of months, the class of 2009 will be donning caps and gowns at colleges and universities all across the country. But what's a graduate to do when the nation is in the throes of recession? CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis with some answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): Two years ago, college senior, Jameel Merali would have been a prime candidate for a job on Wall Street, thanks to his top-tier education and international credentials. Not now.
JAMEEL MERALI, NYU STUDENT: I realize that the timing is not right right now for what I want to get into. And it's really just about timing, it's not any of our fault.
WILLIS: Jameel is part of a generation of graduating students, who may not get the position they want, because of the worst job market in 35 years.
MERALI: Yes, I've been pretty depressed usually. It's definitely been quite a challenge.
WILLIS: Fifty-seven percent of schools saw a decrease in job interviews on campus this year. And 31 percent say their campus career fairs are down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's definitely added pressure seeing what the recession the way it is.
WILLIS: Mounting challenges and declining opportunities have students changing plans.
TRUDY STEINFELD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NYU CAREER SERVICES: We have a lot of students who are saying, you know, I sort of feel like I have permission to do something I've always wanted to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I got here, the first thing I did was look at other options. Yes, I've spoken to them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like grad school might be my best option.
WILLIS: Non-profits are seeing increased interest. Teach for America, who trains graduates to teach in low-income areas, has seen a 50 percent application increase.
ELISSA CLAPP, V.P. OF RECRUITMENT, TEACH FOR AMERICA: Given that our competitors are banks, consulting firms, corporations, and given that those entities have started to pull back, I think we're just seeing less competition.
WILLIS: Jameel is deciding between working for a nonprofit in Kenya or going back to grad school. But he wonders about the $75,000 he's already racked up in student loans.
MERALI: It's not going to be, you know, making deals and making million-dollar bonuses. That's going to be more the slower pace. It's going to be basically working with governments, with organizations and helping with countries, I guess, you know, build stability in the economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: So the options for these students, more schools, working for charitable organizations, and we even heard a few folks talking about starting their own businesses.
Heidi?
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Gerri, thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
COLLINS: Also some good news for this college freshman that we told you about yesterday. Nicole Suissa is a pre-law student making As at the University of Hartford, but even with financial aid, she's had a hard time paying her tuition and firms. A South Carolina law firm was so moved by her story. It says it will provide her with a scholarship.
A question for your doctor. Could a mere cotton swab unlock the secrets of your health risks? We're going to take a closer look at that.
And condition critical. The newspaper industry teeters on the edge of disaster. Today, one long-standing paper falls into the abyss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It would have been unimaginable, even a decade ago. The newest weapon against heart disease may be a simple cotton swab. That's part of heart health month. CNN medical correspondent Judy Fortin wraps up her series, "Heartbeat."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A traditional stress test is one way to measure risk for heart disease. But now, some doctors are telling patients they'll get a more accurate, cutting-edge diagnosis by swabbing their cheek and testing their blood, offering clues to everything from heart attack risk to salt sensitivity.
DR. ROBERT SUPERKO, ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL, ATLANTA: It's the beginning of personalized medicine based on substantial scientific evidence.
FORTIN: Doctor Robert Superko, a metabolic and genetic specialist at St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta recommended genetic testing for Donna Mitchell.
DONNA MITCHELL, HEART PATIENT: Why not? You know, something is available to you that you can find out just a little bit more. You know, why not take advantage of it?
FORTIN: At the age of 54, Donna has tried lowering her cholesterol through diet and exercise. She is worried about a family history of heart disease. Doctors can test for millions of different genetic variations for all kinds of diseases. Donna paid about $150 to find out about two specific genes. The first one is referred to as the heart attack gene.
SUPERKO: And if you have it, it indicates that your risk of having a heart attack is higher than somebody else's, but it doesn't tell you specifically what to do. The second gene is called KIF6. And it has been nicknamed the statin-responsive gene.
FORTIN: Good news for Donna. She tested negative for the heart attack gene. And tested positive for the statin-responsive gene.
SUPERKO: If you have this genetic variant, and you take a statin drug, your benefit is greater than the average person.
FORTIN: Superko says genetic information helps doctors be more precise in determining the proper therapy such as medication. In this case, statin, used to lower cholesterol. But not everyone sees benefits of DNA testing, including the president of the American Heart Association.
DR. TIMOTHY GARDNER, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: At this point, we think it's not quite ready for routine use.
FORTIN: Gardener prefers more conventional testing for heart disease. Superko says he's still includes those measures in his practice. In fact, he ordered a stress test for Donna. But instead of relying solely on a standard approach, he says Donna now has a new prescription for change.
MICHELLE: I want to live. You know, I like living. I have grandchildren I want to see grow up. So it was a no-brainer for me.
FORTIN: Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Concerns over health care. What do doctors think about the president's plan? We'll talk to the self-proclaimed hip-hop doc and get his take on how the plan is playing in the trenches. Just part of our snapshot across America.
A newspaper that's been around since the civil war reports its own obituary today. How the Internet and the economy are bringing more grim news to your doorstep.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Sixteen broken schools from crumbling buildings to falling ceilings. President Obama is promising money and support to shore up public education.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: One newspaper man calls it playing the music at your own funeral. Today the "Rocky Mountain News" reports its own obituary after nearly 150 years. The newspaper, the last casualty of the economy and the Internet. And it's far from alone. CNN's Richard Roth explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sounds like newspaper reporter Pia Catton is on a deadline. Instead, she's at home. Pia got her news five months ago, she lost her job as arts editor, after the "New York Sun" shut down.
PIA CATTON, FORMER NEWSPAPER REPORTER: The feeling on that day was pure fear. What is going to happen? What is going to happen to me, to this newspaper, to this industry? Will I have a career? Will I ever work again?
ROTH: She is far from alone. Newspapers used to report other people's problems. Now, they are in a fight for their life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in a freefall. And nobody knows where the bottom is. It's kind of like - the water in the toilet, swirling around.
ROTH: The bad news arrives every day across America. Readers, especially younger readers, are shifting to the Internet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My children do not read the newspaper. My children get all of their news online.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even subscribe any more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's a story about...
ROTH: The morning meeting at the "New York Daily News" seventh- highest circulation in America. Mort Zuckerman is the publisher.
MORT ZUCKERMAN, PUBLISHER "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": All newspapers are under great difficulty. They'll survive -- they'll survive in different forms. Their cost base will have to be dramatically lowered.
ROTH (on-camera): Newspapers have been part of my life since my grandfather dropped off the "New York Daily News" at the front door with some bread. Now it's a hoarding problem. The way things are going though in the industry, I think these piles will be valuable one day, to a museum or collectors.
ROTH (voice-over): A dramatic decline in advertising and in a brutal economy has forced newspapers to cut costs by firing cartoonists, columnists and more. And sharing resources with former competitors.
ZUCKERMAN: So it is a hugely challenging time. We think that some newspapers will survive. And not all of them will.
CATTON: So you got my email about this story on savings.
ROTH: Pia, the reporter, took a short-term gig editing a book. But she's decided she may need a different career.
CATTON: I mean, there always will be a market for this. You always will need to know immediately what is happening. Will there be a market for newspapers? That's another question.
ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Timetable for a homecoming. President Obama sets a date for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq. The president has a plan for your health care, too. But how is it playing with the people who need help? We take a snapshot across America, and even the experts have a hard time getting a handle on this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the way, Jean, do you understand a trillion?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't understand a trillion dollars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: 13-digit budget. We'll try to make some sense out of all those dollars. It is Friday, February 27th, I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The Iraq War, and the beginning of the end. Next hour, President Obama will announce a withdrawal date for all U.S. Combat troops. It's a promise that helped sweep him into office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I will end this war in Iraq. End it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: But the devil, as they say, is in the details. Let's take a closer look at some of the broader points of the president's plan. Now, the U.S. combat troops will be withdrawn by August 31st, 2010. Some 35,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops will remain there in advisory roles. Their new missions? Help train Iraqi forces, protect the citizens, and combat terrorism. So how do Americans feel about the U.S. sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan?
Well, a new poll from the CNN opinion research corporation shows strong support here: 63 percent of those questioned in the poll say they support the president's plan to send more U.S. troops there -- 36 percent, though, opposed the move. But here is an interesting twist. Less than half of those polled actually favor the war in Afghanistan; 51 percent oppose it.
