Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Toyota Damage Control; Americans Charged in Haiti; More Job Losses

Aired February 05, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is time right now for your top- of-the hour reset. I'm Don Lemon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is noon in Lanham, Maryland, where President Barack Obama talks jobs this hour and bigger loan limits for small businesses. Live coverage right here on CNN.

2:00 a.m., Saturday morning, in Tokyo, where Toyota's president apologizes. Here at home, dealers scramble to fix millions of recalled cars.

And it's 11:00 a.m. in New Orleans, a city visited by tragedy hopes for triumph this weekend in Super Bowl XLIV.

So, let's get started.

An apology from the head of Toyota this morning. Company president Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the founder, made his first public appearance since the Toyota recalls began to grow and dominate U.S. headlines two weeks ago. He apologized and promised to beef up quality control by setting up a special committee that he will head himself.

He did not announce any recalls for Toyota's Prius hybrid. Problems have been reported with the software that controls the 2012 model's anti-lock braking system. Meantime, the company is working to fix gas pedal-related problems on millions of recalled cars.

So how much is this hurting Toyota? CNN's Kyung Lah tells us about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCKEE, TOYOTA OWNER: I'm hoping they're being honest about the fix, and I'm going to give them an opportunity to prove themselves.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many loyal Toyota owners battered by headlines of recalls and run-arounds now wary of a company they've trusted for decades. And here's why.

Number one, accusations the auto giant failed to come clean with customers about serious safety issues. According to the folks at CNNmoney.com, Toyota knew and didn't tell you, at least not right away with the flaw in its braking system on the hot selling Prius hybrid. The automaker knew about the problem at least a month ago and claims it made repairs on the assembly line at the end of January. Little comfort for people who bought a Prius before this week.

Number two, the safety concerns keep mounting. Toyota confirming it's now checking for possible problems with the brakes on its upscale Lexus Hybrid HS 250h.

Number three, many Toyota service centers are swamped staying open 24 hours to begin fixing those sticking accelerator pedals that prompted last month's recall of millions of vehicles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It causes you to be anxious. You know, you can't just jump in your car and expect it to do what it's supposed to do now.

LAH: But now many auto experts claim an electrical malfunction may be the problem, not those pedals. And the big picture, Toyota will almost certainly have a credibility problem long after all the repairs are complete.

LAUREN FIX, CAR COACH: Every car manufacturer has issues.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

FIX: And the secret is they do build a quality product. And I think it's going to cause a lot of customers to go elsewhere. And it's very hard and very expensive to earn their loyalty back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Kyung Lah joins us now from Nagoya, Japan.

Kyung, it is the top story here in the United States. So how is it playing out there in Japan?

LAH: Well, it's playing out here more as an economic story, because Toyota, in this export-driven economy, is the company of record. This is the company that Japan aligns its identity to.

Products that are made in Japan, what they want to pop into your head is a quality product. Whether it be Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Sony, Panasonic, any of these companies, you want to think of quality.

So, if the biggest of these companies has something like this happen to it, there is concern that it's going to have a spillover effect to the other companies, and generally to the made in Japan brand. So, there is that concern.

There is something else that's happening in the blogosphere that we do find interesting. Some people are starting to wonder if some of this criticism that we're hearing around the world, especially in the United States, might be from glee on the part of American companies and specifically the American automakers that, finally, the world's largest automaker, a Japanese automaker, might now be slipping, and it might be an American company that might regain that number one spot -- Don.

LEMON: Ah, very interesting. Thank you very much, Kyung.

And if you have a Toyota and still have some questions, go to CNN.com/toyota. The latest information on the problem and the recall all there for you.

And there seems to be a new wrinkle in this story every single day, really, and we've been telling you about it. If you check in from moment to moment, it changes. So make sure you check for updates.

The overall jobs picture for January a matter of interpretation. The Labor Department says the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent. It had been at 10 percent for November and December. But, still, the economy failed to create jobs last month. In fact, 20,000 jobs were cut.

President Barack Obama meets with small business leaders in Lanham, Maryland, this hour. And he'll have live remarks around 12:30, just about 27 minutes from now.

He's expected to talk about higher limits on loans from the Small Business Administration. Officials say loan caps would increase from $350,000 to $1 million. If small businesses are able to borrow more to expand, they'd need to hire, or at least that's the thinking from the administration.

The president, live for you shortly, right here on CNN.

Now to the situation in Haiti.

Former President Bill Clinton is back in Haiti today. At this hour he is meeting with Haitian government and U.N. officials at the judicial police headquarters. His foundation says he'll also visit a medical clinic and deliver supplies.

Haiti's prime minister told CNN's Larry King last night that the death toll from last month's earthquake is at least 212,000.

Now to those 10 Americans detained last week while trying to take 33 Haitian children out of the country. They say they were just trying to help the children leave the earthquake-ravaged island. But now they've been charged with kidnapping. The judge in the case has three months to decide whether to prosecute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN-MAX BELLERIVE, HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER: It's clear that those people violated the law. What we have to understand, did they do it in good faith, or if they were linked to other traffic. I'm not in a position to decide that since it's the job of the judge or the jury.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And the Idaho woman leading the group charged in Haiti, Laura Silsby, faced deep problems before she left.

More on that now from CNN's Dan Simon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's been described as the consummate go-getter, a single mother who started her own business and helped disadvantaged children around the world.

BRYAN JACK, FMR. SILSBY EMPLOYEE: She has a way of kind of getting what she asks for.

SIMON: But Bryan Jack, a manager at Laura Silsby's Idaho company, says she also has another reputation with several employees.

JACK: It mainly comes down to promising a bill of goods that were never delivered.

SIMON: Silsby is facing deep financial problems. The bank foreclosed on her home. And her business, an online retailer once thriving, has been the target of numerous lawsuits which have alleged she's been delinquent with payments. Employee Bryan Jack filed suit just this week, complaining he'd been told repeatedly he'd be paid for back wages but wasn't.

(on camera): Silsby's world was closing in as she left Idaho for Haiti, and that may help explain why the mission was so disorganized. Many had wondered why for such an ambition mission, she and the group failed to clear the most basic hurdles, such as paperwork to transport Haitian children and registration as an adoption agency.

JACK: Well, in my heart, I think she probably went down there with good intention to help people that were in trouble, but it's a lack of foresight and planning. Once again, she did that in her business life, and it seems to follow her in her personal life.

SIMON (voice-over): This is what Silsby told CNN shortly after being taken into custody.

LAURA SILSBY, NEW LIFE CHILDREN'S REFUGE: We know that the truth ultimately is that we came here to help the children, and we know that God will reveal truth. And we're just praying for that and trusting him, because we came here knowing this was his mission, not ours.

SIMON: As the questions began to mount in recent days, her church pastor came to her defense. I asked whether he had any concerns about Silsby never running an orphanage.

(on camera): Is that problematic?

CLINT HENRY, PASTOR, CENTRAL VALLEY BAPTIST CHURCH: Well, you know, we're talking about a mom, for one thing, and she's raised children. We're also talking about a woman who has been a businesswoman. So the idea of knowing how to run a business, all of that was already in place.

SILSBY: It is such an honor to be here.

SIMON (voice-over): In 2006, Silsby won an award from a national women's business group. The committee made work of her charitable work, saying she'd given hope to countless families around the world. She is also a respected member of her church, and that's why several members jumped at the chance to join her in establishing an orphanage.

SEAN LANKFORD, WIFE AND DAUGHTER CHARGED: They actually were asked if they'd like to help. When they were asked, they both said yes.

SIMON: Sean Lankford's wife and daughter volunteered to go with Silsby just a few days before leaving.

LANKFORD: I know their character. I know that they did not believe that they were doing anything that was illegal. I absolutely know that. I mean, I'd stake my life on that.

SIMON: Now the question is whether their leader led them down an illegal path.

Dan Simon, CNN, Meridian, Idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We will be following that story.

How bad will it get? We're going to get an update on the building winter storm from the severe weather experts in just moments.

First, though, our "Random Moment" in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Let's talk now about Toyota, because owners of recalled Toyota models are venting their frustration through CNN iReports. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANNY DORADO, IREPORTER: Without a vehicle, especially here in southern California, you're pretty much paralyzed. You're immobile. There's nothing you really can do.

So it's tough. It's tough to decide whether get work done, get school done, or take care of this problem that can possibly do you damage by getting you into a car accident. We just haven't found the time of day into which we can just go into the dealer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMEKONGO DIBINGA, IREPORTER: I find myself asking, did they really know all along? Did they find out later, after they did the research, that was indeed a problem?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EGBERTO WILLIES, IREPORTER: This incident, as bad as it is, I hope is capitalized on by American companies to promote their products, because I think they're probably just as good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Great comments from our iReporters. We really appreciate our iReporters.

And there you see the two experts right there.

Joining me to talk about Toyota and the recalls and all of the problems, the image, that's analyst -- auto analyst, Lauren Fix, and then Peter Valdes-Dapena of CNNMoney.com.

Thank you, guys. We've seen a lot of you on television, and as well we should. This is a huge problem.

We have finally though heard from the president of Toyota. He apologized today, saying it is his responsibility to fix this.

Now, we can assume that he is talking, number one, about the physical repairs to the cars, but there's also going to be some image repair.

Lauren, how tough is this going to be?

FIX: Oh, it's going to take some time, Don. I mean, you think about how long it took for Toyota to come around as just a little Japanese auto manufacturer and build that brand image, that reliability, the quality, consumers walk in there knowing that they're going to have a great car, great resale value. And now we don't know what impact this is going to be.

Sales are down, so obviously this black eye, if you want to call it that, is going to affect the resale value and the leasing value also of these cars. Consumers are going to start looking elsewhere, and it's very expensive to draw those consumers back because it's always cheaper to keep the existing customer.

LEMON: OK. Hold on to that thought. You were talking about the value of the cars. There's something else I wanted to talk about. But I want to get to peter right now.

The problem seems to keep growing, the latest developments there. So, the transportation secretary said that he feels Toyota didn't act quickly enough, and there are those who say that they kept quiet about this problem, especially the brake problem.

So how does this latest brake problem -- what does this latest revelation look like to consumers? PETER VALDES-DAPENA, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, I don't think it looks very good, and I think it's a problem that's going to cause people a lot of concern. I mean, Toyota tried to put people's minds at ease by saying, hey, we've had a fix on these cars at the factory since January, but the flip side of that is, wait a minute, doesn't that mean you were investigating this for a while and you kind of knew there was a problem?

I mean, I haven't gotten a lot of information from Toyota about this. Perhaps it might be the case they didn't realize how serious of a safety issue was. To give them the benefit of the doubt there, they might not have known how serious it was. But, still, it doesn't seem to look very good when you have a fix out there, and they're still working on how to get that fix to the cars that are in consumers' hands. I would have hoped that Toyota would have realized right away how serious of an issue, a loss, even momentary loss of braking power could potentially be.

LEMON: So, Peter, I was reading you from CNNMoney.com, and you and someone else who wrote this article. This is a thing that caught my eye. Standard & Poor's believes that the latest developments may affect the company's reputation for quality, weakening its competitive position, which means if they need to borrow money, if they need some sort of credit, or what have you, they need something to hold them during this process.

It's going to be very difficult. They may have problems in the future.

VALDES-DAPENA: Yes. I mean, I think it's going to be -- as someone -- I read someone somewhere said a new normal for Toyota. Toyota's always had this image of being just about perfect for reliability and dependability.

Toyota has shown that, no, they've never been perfect, but now they've shown it very publicly, that they are not perfect in dependability and reliability. They are going to have somewhat of a tougher time competing for those customers, especially as companies like Ford, for example, and GM have improved their quality greatly, and now can make a better case to say, hey, you know what? There's really not that much of a difference between us and Toyota anymore.

LEMON: Peter and Lauren, thank you very much. We could talk about this all day. And I'm sure we'll see you on the network throughout the evening, and then the weekend until this lasts -- until this is completed.

Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

(NEWSBREAK)

LEMON: It's almost more than some people in New Orleans can stand. Mardi Gras is here, and the Saints are in the Super Bowl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: As the president prepares to tout job creation, new numbers are casting doubt on whether his efforts are working.

CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in New York.

Hello, Poppy.

Americans are still losing their jobs and having a hard time finding a new one. I mean, obviously.

So what gives here? What's going on?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Bottom line, economists thought that this economy would gain jobs last month, and it didn't. Twenty thousand more American jobs were lost, Don.

The good side of it, I suppose, is that the unemployment rate fell from 10 percent to 9.7 percent. But to be honest, people that give up looking for a job, they're not even included in the unemployment rate, so take that number with a relative grain of salt. The bottom line, 20,000 jobs were lost last month.

Let's take a look at where the jobs were lost. No shocker here.

The construction industry so far one of the hardest hit during the recession. Another 75,000 jobs lost. Also job losses in transportation and the struggling financial sector. And even government, mainly state and local governments, though. They shed about 8,000 jobs as well.

And showing that the picture is not fair when it comes to by race who is losing jobs, African-American, once again, hit the hardest. They are the only sector in terms of race that saw job losses increase last month. Their unemployment rate up to 16.5 percent, Don, well above the national average. Hispanics, again, well above the national average here.

The bottom line, the job market is still reeling. People are really feeling it.

Take a listen to what they told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't believe any progress has been made.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There would be steps in the right direction, but he talked about those things two years ago when he was running. I haven't seen anything.

We have a daughter who's in her 40s, and she's still paying off her student loans. Nobody's come to her and said, here, take a break, yet they give hundreds of billions dollars to the banks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he could turn his attention to jobs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to see jobs. I would like to see jobs that have benefits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about giving some middle class people a stimulus just that will help the middle class rather than big business?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And you can expect the president to address all of that in a few minutes. He's expected to come out and speak about, what else, Don? Jobs.

LEMON: Jobs.

HARLOW: Jobs.

LEMON: You know what? Here's the thing, though. The jobs picture during the recession we now know is even worse than we thought. So, that's what makes these new numbers that come out -- like, OK, what's really going on here.

It's worse than we thought, right?

HARLOW: It's a lot worse. What the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- they crunch all these numbers -- they came out today and said, well, actually, in 2009, during sort of the height of the recession, 600,000 more jobs were lost than we previously estimated.

So you add that all up, and that shows us that 8.4 million jobs have been lost in this recession alone, Don. That means from the December, 2007, when the recession technically began, until now, 8.4 million American jobs lost. They always revise this number, Don, but that's just a shocking number to the upside -- Don.

LEMON: Poppy, thank you. Have a fantastic weekend.

HARLOW: You got it.

LEMON: The spirit of the Saints boosting a recovery in New Orleans.

CNN's John Zarrella reports crime is down, business is up, right ahead of the Super Bowl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You hear it in the music, in the tone of the song. The people of New Orleans are feeling good.

IRVIN MAYFIELD, JAZZ MUSICIAN: New Orleans is such a thoroughly authentic American city. And the American story is always triumph over tragedy.

ZARRELLA: It seems everyone is celebrating their Saints -- a flag flying, the cravings of a sweet tooth. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we've got our Saints special party tray which, of course, you see I've got lots of black and gold on there, and our fleur-de-lis.

It's been a big pick-me-up all across the city, no matter who you talk to.

ZARRELLA (on camera): So you've got the candy store right here where you can get all your Saints game day chocolates. And right across the street here on Magazine Street is Dirty Coast, where you can get your Saints' T-shirts.

BLAKE HANEY, DIRTY COAST T-SHIRTS: It's really true. People on Sunday basically do treat going to the Saints' game as a religious experience.

ZARRELLA: This is the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. The building behind me still boarded up, the grass overgrown, the house over here still completely gutted on the inside. It's a neighborhood that's been slow to come back, but city officials say even here the Saints have had an impact.

So how much water was here?

ASST. SUPT. MARLON DEFILLO, NEW ORLEANS POLICE: Eight feet. Eight feet of water that came into this area.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): New Orleans Assistant Police Superintendent Marlon Defillo has never seen anything quite like it.

DEFILLO: What we're seeing, we're seeing a reduction in crime.

ZARRELLA (on camera): Really?

DEFILLO: We're seeing a reduction in violent crime. We're seeing a reduction in property crime.

ZARRELLA: And since the Saints have been winning?

DEFILLO: Yes. Yes.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): The Saints' success has refocused attention on New Orleans -- the pain it still feels, the pride it always had, the resolve to move forward.

It feels good now, but what about after Sunday?

HOWARD OSOFSKY, PSYCHIATRY DEPT. CHAIRMAN, LSU: It's a very good thing for people to celebrate and know that they have had the strength and they can have fun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah!

ZARRELLA: Vendors selling black and gold on every corner.

(on camera): They've thought of everything. Look at this. Even a Saints Snuggie. Fits good, too.

MAYFIELD: It's not about win or lose. We've got to win. It's called the Super Bowl for a reason.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): John Zarrella, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Who dat? That's what they said. Man, I wish I was there.

So, the frustration of years and years of following the New Orleans Saints, all of it wiped away by the celebrations as the team gets ready for its first Super Bowl. And one man who knows all about the highs and lows, Xavier University president, Norman Francis. He was the first and apparently the only African-American to own any interest in the Saints. His story is one that matters and he joins us now from New Orleans.

You know, I wish I was there in New Orleans where you are. You must be really excited about this. How you feeling today?

NORMAN FRANCIS, PRESIDENT, XAVIER UNIVERSITY: Well, I am. And one little correction there. There were two of us who were on that -- on that -- what we called minority interest of the Saints. But I'm feeling good today and I'll be feeling better, I'm sure, Monday morning, if not late Sunday night. This is a great time for me personally. Have been involved with the franchise before it was a franchise. So I'm happy.

LEMON: Yes. When people used to call them the ain't before they Saints, right?

FRANCIS: Well, yes.

LEMON: Yes.

FRANCIS: Yes. That's over with now.

LEMON: Listen, who was the other African-American who had interest, just so we know?

FRANCIS: It was a man by the name of CC Dejuar Jr. (ph), who owned the weekly African-American newspaper. He and I joined the small group of men, about 10 of us. We were a part of helping to get the franchise to New Orleans and to the state of Louisiana. I was privileged to be standing next to John McKiffin (ph), the governor, when we met with all the owners in the Sherman Hotel in Washington, D.C., and made our pitch to the owners.

LEMON: Wow.

FRANCIS: To ask them to bring a franchise to New Orleans. Quite a scene.

LEMON: Thanks for telling us that. That's good information to know. So, I grew up in Baton Rouge, right?

FRANCIS: OK. Good.

LEMON: And my uncle, he was a huge, huge New Orleans Saints fan. Every weekend he watched. He wore his jersey. They started this, you know, the Saints fan club. And, you know, they would joke with him about the ain't, as we said. You said that's over.

But I mean this really -- this story really goes beyond football and beyond the Saints. This is about something much, much more, isn't it?

FRANCIS: Yes. Yes, no question about it. And let me just say, because I was present (ph) at all, but not a lot of this is being talked about. And there has been some work on it. But, you know, right before we made that pitch to bring a franchise, the FL (ph) was going to play its pro bowl game there and the players boycotted New Orleans because of the segregated practices that were still there even after just passing a civil rights accommodations act. But we pledged that New Orleans was ready, that we were going to put that behind us. We were going to be focused on making it a great franchise. And it made a lot of good things for the city, economically, race relations. I'm not going to say it wiped out the problems of race. No, but it made . . .

LEMON: But it did help bring people together and put them in one arena.

FRANCIS: Absolutely.

LEMON: And it put them on the field together, but also in the stands.

Listen, really quickly, we want to talk about Xavier University, because I remember driving, you know, on the interstate and just seeing Xavier University demolished.

FRANCIS: Sure.

LEMON: Much of the city was demolished, as was Xavier afterwards. So again, you know, I'll ask you -- and there you are walking with our Soledad O'Brien there. Again, what does this mean, Xavier University, people of New Orleans and people who are looking at New Orleans now, thinking about maybe coming there, traveling, the game? As I said, this is much more than a Super Bowl, a sports game. This is about New Orleans and its recovery.

FRANCIS: Yes. Yes. It's no question about it. And that's what you're seeing. You're seeing the resilience of the people. The willingness to make this a great city. And as we said in all of our recovery efforts, it's true of Xavier, it's true of the city. We're not working to come back to where we were. You know, people say of the good old days. Well, not all of the days -- old days were good old days. We wanted to come back to where we should have been.

And maybe it's significant that on Sunday we will say to the world, as we are now saying, we are in the big time. We're playing in the Super Bowl. And this means a lot for telling our people that when you work together, you focus, you forget about what the color of somebody is or their race, their gender, you can do great things. And so that celebration of who dat is who dat for everything I think going forward. And I would say to anybody who knows New Orleans and loves the city, that care (ph) forgot, we are coming back strong and we would invite you to come and enjoy all of the quality of life issues, many of which issues we're dealing with now.

LEMON: Norman Francis, thank you so much. All eyes are going to be on New Orleans, not only Mardi Gras, during the Super Bowl.

Hey, best of luck to you. Thank you so much.

FRANCIS: Thank you.

LEMON: And good luck on Sunday. Sure, we've (ph) already won.

FRANCIS: Thank you. Thank you. We've won already.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

FRANCIS: Thank you. Bye-bye.

LEMON: Thank you.

To read more stories that matter to all of us, pick up the latest issue of "Essence" magazine on newsstands now or go online to cnn.com/whatmatters.

And, you know, can you really call it a stimulus if you were going to spend the money anyway? Our Josh Levs at the stimulus desk is digging into that question and much, much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Stocks are falling yet again today. The Dow trading below the 10,000 mark. There you see the Dow down 38 points. So let's go to our Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange for more.

Stephanie, the jobs report, how's it factoring into all of this? We see the Dow is down now.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, we were -- you know, Wall Street was expecting to see a slight gain, but we got a loss of 20,000 jobs instead. Granted 20,000 is a drastic improvement from last year where we lost almost 800,000 jobs in the month of January, but still it's a reminder that the labor market is still extremely weak. After all, there are still nearly 15 million people who don't have a job. And that's roughly the population of North Carolina and Colorado combined, just to put that into perspective there.

Most analysts think the unemployment rate will stay around 10 percent this year, even though it surprisingly dropped to 9.7 percent in January. All of this pushing the Dow back below 10,000. And we're not seeing a huge decline because a lot of that was priced in yesterday when the Dow fell nearly 300 points. So it just shows you that a lot of the pain was felt yesterday.

Also, a sell-off overseas is coming into play. Asia and European markets fell by as much as 3 percent today, so there are concerns that some of what's going on in Europe could be factored into the market here. Just to give you an idea as well, the Nasdaq is on the downside just fractionally right now at 2,125, while the Dow is off 40 points 9,961.

Don, that's the latest from here. And one other thing, Don.

LEMON: Yes.

ELAM: Go Saints.

LEMON: You're supposed to say who dat. Come on, girl.

ELAM: OK, I'm not from there like you, but I will just say, I'm rooting for them as well.

LEMON: We thank you very much. I appreciate that.

ELAM: Sure.

LEMON: Thanks, Steph.

ELAM: Sure.

LEMON: Checking our top stories right now.

The latest numbers show a lower jobless rate, but many more jobs lost in this recession than we thought. The president wants to get people back to work. We're waiting for him to speak in Lanham, Maryland, where he has been meeting this hour with small business owners. He's going to speak in just a little bit. That was scheduled for the bottom of the hour, 12:30. The president running a little bit late. See him in just a bit.

An apology, but no word of a new recall. For the first time since Toyota's problems began piling up two weeks ago, the automaker's president speaks out. Akio Toyoda calls it a moment of crisis for the company. He says it is focused on fixing the problems and restoring customer confidence.

A dangerous winter storm bears down on the Mid Atlantic and parts of the Northeast. Some areas could get up to two feet of snow. And you heard our Chad Myers, it's going to be that big, thick, dangerous snow. Not the fluffy stuff. So be careful. Schools are already shutting down. Airlines are canceling flights. And crews are spreading salt and sand on roads and highways. They are preparing. More on that and much, much more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: All right. Live pictures now. We are standing by for the president in Lanham, Maryland, where he's going to speak about small businesses. He's meeting right now with small business owners in Maryland. And in just a few minutes, live coverage. We're hearing he's going to talk about job creation and small business initiatives. The president coming out very shortly. As soon as that happens, you'll hear it live right here on CNN.

Oh, there he is. There is the president. Can we get back to that live shot? We'll get to the stimulus desk in just a little bit. But I just want to show you these pictures of the president walking in here, just as we were about to go. The president, again, expecting to talk about small businesses and how he's going to help them in this hurting economy. What he's going to do, including, you know, maybe some tax breaks or what have you. A little bit about the company that he met with this morning. It's called the Oasis Mechanical Contractors where he met. And let's listen in to the president, see what he has to say.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I appreciate the warm welcome from Rick Cummings and Dennis Bean and all the folks at Oasis. Thank you so much. These guys are experts in heating and cooling systems. So having spent some time in Washington, I actually am already very familiar with hot air, I have to say. That, by the way, does not apply to the head of the Small Business Administration, Karen Mills, who is here today. And Karen has focused like on laser on helping small businesses not only survive, but to thrive amidst the economic storm of the past two years.

We're also joined here by Ruth Gresser, who's the owner and chef at Pizzeria Paradiso. And I'm a little upset with Ruth because she did not bring samples. But Reggie Love has testified that the pizza's outstanding. She's got restaurants in Washington. And also Will Pollack (ph), who's the owner and operator of the Potomac Riverboat Company in Alexandria, Virginia. There's Will.

These folks know, as every living soul in America does, that these have been a rough couple of years for our economy and for our country. The deepest downturn since the Great Depression ripped through our economy, costing more than 8 million jobs and rocking businesses, large and small. And that's why we took some very tough steps, in some cases some unpopular steps, when I took office to break the back of this recession. And today we received additional news suggesting that we are climbing out of the huge hole that we found ourselves in.

Last January, the month I took office, almost 800,000 Americans lost their jobs. Today, we learned the job losses for this January were 20,000. The unemployment rate dropped below 10 percent for the first time since the summer. Manufacturing employment grew last month for the first time in three years, led by increased activity and the production of cars and trucks and auto parts.

Now, these numbers, while positive, are a cause for hope, but not celebration, because far too many of our neighbors and friends and family are still out of work. We can't be satisfied when another 20,000 have joined their ranks and millions more Americans are underemployed, picking up what work they can. It is encouraging the job loss in January was a small fraction of what it was a year ago and that the unemployment rate last month went down and not up. Understanding that these numbers will continue to fluctuate for months to come, these are welcome, if modest, signs of progress along the road to recovery.

Now, even as we take additional steps to hasten that recovery, we know that there are limits to what government can do to create jobs. The true engine of job creation will always be businesses. What government can do is fuel that engine by giving entrepreneurs and companies the support to open their doors and to expand and to hire more workers. That's exactly what this administration intends to do and what we've been doing working with the SBA and Karen Mills. We're starting with small businesses, because that's where most of the new jobs do.

Over the past 15 years, small businesses have created roughly 65 percent of new jobs in America. These are companies formed around kitchen tables, in family meetings. Formed when an entrepreneur takes a chance on a dream. Formed when a worker decides it's time she became her own boss. And it's worth remembering, every once in a while, a small business becomes a big business and then changes the world. And that's why last week I proposed a new small business tax credit, $5,000 for every new employee you hire this year. And a couple of these folks here, small business owners that I talked to, said they'd be interested in using that tax credit.

This week, I proposed a new small business lending fund that would take $30 billion of the fund originally used to rescue big banks on Wall Street and use it to provide lending capital to community banks on main street. And I know that we've got Capital One bank here that's been a lender to Oasis and -- Capital Bank, excuse me. And we appreciate the good work that you've done supporting this company.

Under Karen Mills, SBA has increased loan guarantees and reduced fees. Steps that have increased SBA lending by 86 percent. We've called for legislation to increase SBA loan limits to allow us to guarantee loans of up to $5 million, compared with $2 million now.

And today I'm taking yet another step to assist small business owners get the capital that they need to grow and to hire. I'm proposing legislation that allows firms to refinance their commercial real estate loans, their mortgages, under the SBA.

Right now, even companies with great credit histories are facing challenging refinancing at what are historically low rates. Property values have fallen and lending has dropped. As a result, many businesses that would otherwise survive this downturn are at risk of defaulting, which in turn will lead to even lower property values and less lending, not to mention lost jobs.

In addition, I'm also proposing that we increase the limits for SBA loans used for lines of credit and working capital. Something that I know could benefit Ruth's business and countless others. The truth is, the economy can be growing like gangbusters for years on end, and it's still not easy to run a small business. It's not easy to stay ahead of your competitors. It's not easy to keep your costs down, to do right by your employees, to constantly innovate and to adapt in the changing world.

Talking to Ruth, she reminds me, it's not easy keeping up with health care costs. And so Ruth is very anxious to see health reform passed so that small businesses can pick up the costs for their employees.

And in this deep and lasting recession, a hard job has been that much harder. Because for much of the last year, people weren't buying, and customers weren't calling, and banks were not lending. But even in the face of these obstacles, even in these tough times, all across the country, there are people like Rick and Dennis and Ruth and Will who haven't given up. You guys wake up every day and seek a way to safely navigate these troubled waters, to fulfill your obligations to your families, and to your employees, and to your customers. And in that determination, that resolve, you embody what's best in America and you keep making America stronger.

Next week, Congress will start debating many of the jobs proposals I've outlined today and in recent days. Many of the proposals to benefit small business. Many of the proposals to spur hiring. If there are additional ideas, from either party, I'm happy to consider them as well. But what I hope, what I strongly urge, is that we work quickly and we work together to get this done. America's small businesses are counting on us.

So, thank you very much, everybody. And thank you, guys.

LEMON: There you see President Barack Obama speaking on small business owners in Lanham, Maryland.

Here's what he's saying. He is proposing that Congress pass two temporary expansions of critical Small Business Administration, or SBA, lending programs. Both legislative proposals designed to help small businesses through what continues to be a difficult period in the credit markets. And then also saying he wants to expand SBA's existing program to temporarily support refinancing for owner-occupied commercial real estate loans. And then a temporary increase on the cap on SBA express loans from $350,000 to $1 million. Hoping that this will help small businesses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Paying off your house. What about closing credit cards? Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, gathers "The Help Desk" team for some tips on managing your money.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Time now for "The Help Desk" where we get you answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Greg McBride is the senior financial analyst with bankrate.com. Manisha Thakor is a personal finance author.

All right, guys, let's get to work.

Shelby asks, he's from Illinois, "we're planning on buying a new home. Is it best to pay cash or carry a mortgage?"

Manisha, I wish I could pay cash for a house. I'm not sure I'd do it. But wouldn't that be great?

MANISHA THAKOR, PERSONAL FINANCE AUTHOR: Well, so this is maybe slightly nontraditional advice, but I feel if you have the cash, you should use the cash. And a lot of people will say, oh, my gosh, but you're going to miss out on this great tax deduction and you can invest the money and blah, blah, blah. But I am guessing that this couple, if you've got that kind of cash, is a little bit on in years and, in that case, they're heading into retirement. Too many Americans are heading into retirement with a mortgage. And if you can pay it off, pay it off.

WILLIS: Do you agree, Greg?

GREG MCBRIDE, SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST, BANKRATE.COM: There's not one right answer for everyone. And the point is well taken. I think the main thing is, don't limit your financial flexibility. If you're going to pour all your cash into that house, you know, maybe it is better to take a mortgage, preserve that financial flexibility, because you just don't know what's coming down the road.

WILLIS: Yes, great ideas, both of you.

Ray asks, "what is the best thing to do with a credit card I don't use at all? Should I cancel the one not in use or just let it sit until the company cancels it? I don't owe a dime to any card and my credit score is 795." Congratulations. "And I want to keep it that way."

Greg.

MCBRIDE: The key was, when Ray said he wants to keep that credit score at 795. In that case, do not close out the credit card. When you close out a credit card, it can have a short term negative impact on the credit score. Instead, use it occasionally every month or so. Just make a token purchase. Pay it off in full. That will keep the card active and keep that trade line active on your credit report.

WILLIS: Of course, he may be facing some kind of annual fee. These days a lot of companies are instituting those. Would your advice be the same if that were the case?

MCBRIDE: It depends upon if you're going to be in the market for credit in the next six to 12 months or not. If not, then you can cancel out the card and weather the storm of whatever happens to your credit score in the short term. But if you're going to be in the market for a mortgage, pay the annual fee. You don't want to end up paying much more than that in terms of a higher mortgage rate down the road.

WILLIS: Fantastic. Great job, guys. "The Help Desk" is all about getting you answers. Send me an e- mail to gerri@cnn.com or log on to cnn.com/helpdesk to see more of our financial solutions. You can also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine on newsstands now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Just before the top of the hour. Some developing news just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. A cargo plane on approach to a runway at Miami International Airport lost a panel just a short time ago. Look at the size of this. It fell into the parking lot of the Dolphin Mall. No word of injuries or property damage or just how big this is. But you can see it almost fits into one of those parking lanes right there. The plane is an Atlas Air flight. It was arriving from Santiago, Chile. It did land safely. More on this to come on CNN. You're looking at live pictures now at the Miami International Airport.

Our Ali Velshi's coming up next. He will update you on this story. So make sure you stay tuned. I'm Don Lemon. Here's Ali Velshi.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Look at the size of that thing, Don. That thing is the size of a car. We're going to find out how it is exactly that a piece that big falls off of a plane into a parking lot.