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Senators Reid and Dodd Hold Press Conference on Progress of the Bailout Plan
Aired September 26, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Presidential pep talk, just minutes ago President Bush at the podium underlining the urgency, the urgency for Washington to make it happen. But they are still just talking about the big bailout. Tonight's presidential debate in doubt, too. One candidate says he'll be there. The other says he'd like to be there, but the bailout is bigger. We are there. We are watching those two big stories all day right here on CNN. It's Friday, September 26th. I'm Heidi Collins. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The bailout and the first presidential debate, both in limbo at this hour. And we are following them closely. Let's start with the financial rescue plan. Now it is in peril. And just minutes ago we heard from President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There are disagreements over aspects of the rescue plan, but there is no disagreement that something substantial must be done. The legislative process is sometimes not very pretty. But we are going to get a package passed. We will rise to the occasion. Republicans and Democrats will come together and pass a substantial rescue plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Critical meetings pick up again this morning. President Bush tries to lead members of his own party refusing to follow. CNN's Kate Bolduan is on Capitol Hill for next hour's meeting. Nobody really following anybody in this whole thing, right, Kate?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it seems that no one really has a clear idea, to be honest, Heidi, where negotiations stand right now. Everyone seems to be wanting to get back to the negotiating table to really see where things stand this morning because things were not left on a good note last night. This has been a roller coaster since just yesterday. And it does not seem like it's about to end any time soon.
As we mentioned, negotiations hoping to continue, expected to continue this morning with another gathering of the key players to sit down and try to pick talks back up where they were. We also have just found out that we're going to hear from some democratic leaders, majority leaders, Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, for one of them to be speaking in a press conference in about half an hour. We will learn a little more there. But what we really saw from yesterday's meeting to the White House meeting is that sense of approaching, approving passage, approaching an agreement seems really to be gone. And what really has replaced that is deep divisions within members of Congress, specifically between Democrats and House Republicans, and that division is on the basic point of how to finance this bailout that we're talking about.
House Republicans now coming out saying they do not want to use taxpayer dollars to fund this bailout. They want it to be put on private money to do so. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JUDY BIGGERT (R), ILLINOIS: Unlike the Paulson plan, our plan makes Wall Street pay for Wall Street's mistakes. Unlike the Paulson plan, it calls for a workout, not a bailout by requiring owners of mortgage-backed securities to purchase insurance. We put the ball squarely where it belongs, with those who were responsible, not the innocent, hard working taxpayers.
REP. BARNEY FRANK, (D), MASSACHUSETTS: To wait until a day before, you know, the weekend to give us not even a full plan, just an outline, this is kind of an ambush plan that doesn't come out until yesterday afternoon. And I said, it's not a serious effort. We can't get Senator McCain to say whether he's for it or against it. The Republican party is in such a complete shambles, it's hard to do anything serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: That's democratic congressman Barney Frank, one of the key negotiators on the Democratic side. You can really sense his frustration there. And what he says is they were really surprised by this proposal and the mere fact that he says that the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, doesn't think that that proposal the House Republicans has put out is really workable. We'll see a little later where things stand, Heidi.
COLLINS: Well that's my question for you, Kate, quickly. Where is the Treasury Secretary and the Fed Chairman right now? Because they were asked to come to Capitol Hill to give their expertise. And I just wonder if anyone is talking about what that type of message is that is given to them about the importance of their position, their experience and their expertise?
BOLDUAN: Well, there are a couple of things at play. There are the fact that they did come here late last night to really plead, to get people on board and say this is what needs to work, we can talk about reform later. We can talk about new regulations later. Let's talk about getting this plan and getting this quick rescue out there and approved. That's what they did last night. But we're also hearing - you also hear some political posturing as well. Some people saying that they really don't have a lot of credibility, that coming from people who are opposed to the plan. So there are a lot of things at play, as there always are on Capitol Hill. And what that really is resulting in is a stalemate. These negotiations are stalled. And that is exactly what people did not want to happen when it came to this rescue.
COLLINS: Yes. CNN's Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill. Kate, thank you.
I-reporters sending in their opinions about the bailout. We'll hear their comments coming up in our next half hour.
Tonight's first presidential debate still in doubt. Will John McCain come or is he going to stick it out in Washington to debate the bailout? Barack Obama says he will be there and, if necessary, turn it into a town hall meeting. Either way, the wheels are in motion in Oxford, Mississippi, Ole Miss. Our Suzanne Malveaux is there.
Maybe not. We'll check in with Suzanne Malveaux just as soon as we can get her available to us.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama says he is ready for the showdown. So we are waiting to hear if John McCain will be showing up for the debate. You can join the best political team on television for your front-row seat to the first presidential debate. CNN tonight. You can debate right along with the candidates, follow along online at CNN.com/forum and let your voice be heard during the face-off.
In about 20 minutes from now we're going to be talking with some students at the University of Mississippi about what they hope to hear from the candidates tonight. If anything, so stick around for that.
You know what, we have Suzanne Malveaux standing by right there for us on campus. Hey there, Suzanne. Still waiting to hear whether or not the debate is going to be happening.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just got some new information from Gloria - sorry, a little echo in my ear here, but from Gloria (Kellum). She's the vice chancellor of university relations. There have been a series of meetings with debate commission this morning. And she tells us that they are getting good signs from both of the campaigns that this is coming from the debate commission. She says in her words they are simply waiting to find out when the candidates' planes take off. They should simply prepare as if both of these candidates will be here this evening in time for this debate.
We also have a senior adviser to the debate commission. He handed me the program, the official program. And Heidi, both names are on this program. Nobody is crossed off. John McCain, Barack Obama, on the program for this evening. So everyone is behaving as if this is going to go off this evening, 8:00 local time, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
I also had a chance to catch up with the university chancellor earlier today to ask about the possibility, the possibility of contingency plans if John McCain does not show up. And what he said to me simply was that, if John McCain doesn't show up, they'd like for some of the audience members to be able to submit their question to the host, Jim Lear, and he would pass those questions on to Barack Obama, kind of a town hall type of meeting, if you will. Now he doesn't have the power to do this as the university chancellor. It is all up to the debate commission to make those kinds of decisions. But that's his recommendation.
And Heidi, it's very telling that already university officials, they weren't talking this way yesterday or certainly didn't admit they had some alternative plans. But they want something to happen this evening. Hopefully it's going to be a debate between these two candidates. But if not, they're making a recommendation to at least allow some questions to Barack Obama, the one person they know for sure who is going to show up. But again, commission members also giving some pretty good signs that they believe this is going to happen this evening. Heidi.
COLLINS: Suzanne, you've been following this presidential campaign for a long time now. How does John McCain fare in all this? What if there is a bailout that comes through before the debate? He comes to the debate and then talks about it? I mean, how will all of it play if that, in fact, comes to fruition?
MALVEAUX: You know, I can tell you how it's going to play here. We talked to a lot of people yesterday and today in this community of Ole Miss and Oxford. There's a lot of excitement. There are a lot of republicans, a lot of McCain supporters. As you know, this state very much in John McCain's column here. So there's a lot of energy behind his candidacy. But they're frustrated, they're disappointed.
A lot of people, quite frankly, are confused about the decision that he has made to put this off if you will and to deal with the bailout crisis in Washington. We only spoke to a few people who were supporting him on this. A lot of people who just felt like, as one editorial page put it. That it was bad manners, that here in the south manners matter and it was bad manners, bad form. So they want him to show up this evening. It will be interesting if he does show up, how they respond, how they react to him, whether or not he will be successful and victorious, that they see him here or whether or not it's going to be a little cool reception because of some of the angst that we've been hearing and seeing from a lot of people that we've spoken to in the last 24 hours. Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux right there, where all the hammering and pounding is going on for tonight's potential debate at Ole Miss. Thanks, Suzanne.
The financial crisis shoving its way into your neighborhood. Washington Mutual one of the largest banks in the nation has collapsed. CNN's Christine Romans has the alarming headline and the reassuring news behind it. Good morning to you, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi. Well, first, the alarming news, that is that Washington Mutual, the largest bank failure in American history. The federal government last night had to go in and seize the assets of this company and then turn around and sell them to JPMorgan Chase. The good news is that you can go today to your Washington Mutual branch and you can get money out. This is the largest bank failure in history. Some $188 billion in deposits. Why now over the past ten days some $16 billion in deposits have been taken out. People were going to the bank and pulling their money out. And this bank was in trouble. JPMorgan Chase gets those deposits. And the FDIC, the federal government says no interruption to services is expected. Sheila Bair who runs the FDIC said, "people do not - people need to do absolutely nothing." Let me get it right. "People need to do absolutely nothing."
And that's from the person who heads the FDIC. So what this tells us is that the banking system as we know has had some serious problems. This is a big, big bank failure. But the federal government has stepped in and negotiated the transfer of all of these funds over to JPMorgan Chase. And uninsured and insured investments - sorry - assets there are fine. Your money there is fine. Now who are the winners and who are the losers? Well, if you bank there, you're OK. If you're JPMorgan Chase, you just got access to all of these branches and all of this capital. Who loses? It's the people who owns stock and the people who own subordinated debt. So you could in your 401(k) have some exposure to Washington Mutual that maybe could be some exposure there. But this went relatively smoothly, and there was a real feeling, Heidi, that the government wanted to do this before the bank had to shut its doors. They wanted to do this while the bank was still open so that people could wake up the next morning and there would be no real disruption. So it worked.
COLLINS: Yes. All right. Christine, we sure do appreciate you breaking it down for us.
ROMANS: Sure.
COLLINS: Christine Romans from New York this morning.
Terror suspects arrested in Germany at an airport in Cologne. Police say officers boarded the flight and shortly before take off to Amsterdam and took two suspects into custody. They are identified as a 23-year-old Somalian man and a 24-year-old German man born in Somalia. Investigators say the men were suspected of wanting to take part in holy war and possible terror attacks.
High stakes, big questions. What do you need to know about your money? CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis, here to answer your e-mails.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Two wig questions this morning. Will there be a bailout and will there be a debate? We're talking about the financial crisis and the presidential debate that may or may not happen tonight. You've got to keep up. There is a lot going on. Major stories, major developments right here in the NEWSROOM.
Let's begin with one of them now. The financial crisis. You have a lot of questions in this troubled economy. And CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here now with some answers. Because she has at least some of your e-mails because we could never begin to answer all of them. I know you guys have been inundated.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: There are a lot.
COLLINS: Let's go ahead and start with Jon Jerry from New York. He says this I am 21 years old with a pretty good job. They have an awesome benefits package. I just became eligible for the 401(k) benefits. Now I'm wondering if the current state of the economy, should I opt into the program, given my age?
WILLIS: Well, John, come on, you're in a great position. The sooner you start socking away money in your 401(k), the more you'll accumulate before you retire. And if your company offers a 401(k) match, well that's free money right there. While the economy is on shaky ground, it's absolutely true right now the fact that the stock market has been hitting lows means that stocks are on sale. It's a bargain time to buy. You definitely want to open up the 401(k). You've got a lot of time until retirement.
COLLINS: All right. And here is the next one. Tom in Texas wants to know this. "I just heard your advice about not tapping into our 401(k)s. I totally agree. But what about temporarily suspending our contributions to them? What are the pros and cons?" I know what you're going to say.
WILLIS: Well, it's another good question, isn't it? You know, I have to say stopping your contributions is rarely a good idea.
COLLINS: Yes.
WILLIS: And for many, many reasons. Look, one, you miss out on the free money we talked about before. That's the employer match. Two, people often forget, they forget about restarting their contributions and they don't get back into the market. Three, it's impossible to time the market in order to catch the up tick in stocks.
COLLINS: We could all be rich if we could do that?
WILLIS: And I wouldn't be sitting here right now. Believe me.
COLLINS: Come on. You'd stay. I know you would.
WILLIS: Yes, definitely. Look, if you miss the 20-best days in the market, your returns would crater 43 percent. You can't tell when the good times are coming. Finally, if you buy during a down market, you're lowering your overall cost of investing. Look, stocks are cheap, you wouldn't intentionally avoid a sale on other items like groceries or maybe shoes, Heidi.
COLLINS: Oh, come on.
WILLIS: People always want to back out of the stock market when it's weak. So stop your contributions only when if you're in real financial trouble right there, and there are a lot of people out there who fit this bill, maybe you got high medical bills, tuition payments. That's the time to start thinking about should I play with my contributions.
COLLINS: All right. Let's get out of this because we've been talking a lot about insurance today, in particular what is the difference between how your money is insured by a bank versus a credit union?
WILLIS: You know what, Jeff, there's not a lot of difference. You know, your bank accounts are insured up to certain limits by the FDIC. I'm hoping you're in an FDI insured bank. The money that you have in the credit union is also insured, up to the same limits by the insurance organization as the National credit Union's share insurance fund. Just want to make sure your credit union is a member of something called the National Credit Union Association. It's called NCUA.
Here are those limits. Heidi, we talk about these all the time, 100,000 for individual coverage, $200,000 for joint accounts, $250,000 for retirement accounts.
COLLINS: OK, the final one from Alexa in Oregon wants to know. I'm 25 years old and have yet to get into the investment game. With the market so low, is now a good time to get in? Where do I start?
WILLIS: Now is a good time. If you're a long-term investor meaning you want to keep your money in the market for years, you're not retiring tomorrow. You may consider investing in broad index funds, it will give you exposure to a wide range of investments. Fees are low. You may also consider investing in a life cycle or a target fund. These are funds that you can sort of sort of set and forget until retirement. Just pick the date you think you think you'll withdraw the funds. And it rebalances itself according to your age, your risk tolerance. For some low cost options, go to vanguard.com, fidelity.com, and of course, if you have any questions, send them to us at toptips@CNN.com. We love hearing from you. And we love talking with Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Gerri, appreciate that. As I said, you've got so many, you can hardly get to all of them. Appreciate it though.
WILLIS: Thank you.
COLLINS: You can follow your fortunes at CNNMoney.com. We got all the day's market news and numbers, expert analysis and much, much more there.
Meanwhile, a real life lesson on elections. Student government leaders at Ole Miss following tonight's debate, or non-debate. We're going to be talking to them in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Two big questions this morning. Will there be a bailout and will there be a debate? We're talking about the financial crisis and the presidential debate that may or may not happen tonight. You've got to keep up, because there's certainly a lot going on. And, of course, we have those major developments, major stories right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Want to take a moment now to check the big board. Dow Jones industrial average down about 57 points resting now just below 11,000. Continue to watch the Nasdaq which is down, S&P 500 down as well. And also watching that debate countdown clock. You see there in the right-hand corner of your screen. 10 hours and 35 minutes away.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin - she has stirred a lot of enthusiasm, but she sidestepped the media in the weeks since stepping onto the national stage. CNN's Jason Carroll takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The focus was the troubled economy as Sarah Palin sat down for an interview with CBS's Katie Couric.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There has got to be action taken, bipartisan effort, congress not pointing fingers at this point at one another. But finding the solution to this, taking action and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.
CARROLL: Whatever Palin says is sure to attract much attention. Partly because she has been virtually unresponsive to the press so far, says "Washington Post" and CNN media critic Howard Kurtz.
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN MEDIA CRITIC: I have never seen a vice presidential nominee in my lifetime be so inaccessible to the national media.
CARROLL: This week Palin met with several world leaders in New York. Photo opportunities, but no questions. Not after she met with the presidents of Ukraine, Georgia or Iraq. Only this response before a meeting with Pakistan's president.
PALIN: Meetings are very informative and helpful, and a lot of good people showing appreciation for America.
CARROLL: Palin's supporters say she doesn't need to field questions from a number of reporters.
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Are the media going to continue to put pressure on her? Yes. But they're the ones that seem to be frustrated, not the folks I think the folks in the states she's visiting.
CARROLL: Palin has given prepared speeches to thousands of enthusiastic supporters. Senator Joe Biden has hosted rallies, too. But he's also given dozens of media interviews. Palin has done three network interviews. Biden has held press conferences. Palin hasn't held any since becoming the vice presidential nominee.
MICHAEL CAREY, "ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS": She had a good relationship with the press here. Reporters got access to her when they needed to. CAREY: Michael Carey is a columnist for the "Anchorage Daily News" and has been covering Palin for the last two years.
CAREY: The "Anchorage Daily News" has not talked to her since August 30th. And we're the hometown newspaper. That ought to tell you something.
CARROLL: What it's telling some media observers is the McCain camp is being very cautious.
KURTZ: The McCain campaign says that she is entirely qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. If that's the case, surely she can handle the questions from mere journalists.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And Palin supporters say at the end of the day it's just the media that's complaining here, not the public and certainly not all of those who have come out to hear Palin speak. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
COLLINS: Atlantic slosh. The storm system moving up the east coast, it's got flooding concerns written all over it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Two big questions this morning. Will there be a bailout? will there be a debate? Talking about the financial crisis and the presidential debate that may or may not happen tonight. You've got to keep up because there is an awful lot going on. We are covering both of these major stories right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
So, the very first presidential debated in doubt. John McCain says he hopes to be there but says he is committed to getting an agreement on the financial bailout plan. Barack Obama says he will be at the University of Mississippi tonight and if McCain doesn't show up, he will hold a town hall meeting.
So, right now we're going to hear from a couple of students on the campus at Ole Miss. First, Artair Rogers is an Obama supporter and co-direct of Student Involvement.
Artair, I know there's a little bit of a delay, here. But I just want to ask you straight off the top, do you think this debate is going to happen?
ARTAIR ROGERS, CO-DIRECTOR, STUDENT INVOLVEMENT: Well, I hope it does. The university has put a lot of work and time into this debate. We do understand John McCain's position as being a senator. We respect that. He feels that he has a duty and he's responding to that duty. But we really hope that he is able to make it to Mississippi tonight. And we'll host this first presidential debate.
COLLINS: What do you want to hear from these candidates tonight? And I know obviously, you have an awful lot to do with the student body. So you and your fellow students, what do you hope to gain from what they have to say tonight?
ROGERS: Well, the presidential debate topic is focused on foreign affairs. But I guess because of this economic crisis, we would love to hear what they have to say about the economic state that our country's in today. So, that's something that I want to hear.
COLLINS: Sure. Do you think they can clear up any of those about this particular financial crisis that, quite frankly, the country hasn't experienced before?
ROGERS: Well, I guess with the foreign affairs policy aspect coming into the debate, I feel like the economy is connected to everything that we do. So I feel like there is a possibility that the economic question can arise in this debate. So it's just a matter of how the moderator spins it.
COLLINS: OK. Understanding that everyone is sort of tempering their feelings about this, trying to get word I guess, from Washington, whether or not it's going to happen.
Tell me quickly before we let you go here, the mood. I bet you guys are pretty excited.
ROGERS: Yes. We're definitely very excited. We have people waking up at 5:30 in the morning to be on TV. The University's really not had -- I guess they haven't had that much spotlight in a while. So, the students at the university are very excited. And like I said, we hope this debate really happens.
COLLINS: I'm sure you all are used to getting up at 5:30 in the morning. A lot of people have 6:00 a.m. classes they go to, right Artair? Thanks so much for joining us. We sure do appreciate it.
ROGERS: Thank you.
COLLINS: Artair Rogers, he is the co-director of the associated student body. Thank you, Artair.
There are plenty of McCain supporters on campus, as well. We are going to hear from that side of the student body coming up in just a few minutes right here.
The financial rescue plan. $700 billion reasons for some people to hit the streets in protest. Rallies held yesterday in about 130 cities and towns across the city. Here you see demonstrations in New York, Chicago, Pasadena and Portland, Oregon.
John McCain grabbed a lot of headlines when he said he had to rush back to Washington to work on the rescue plan. But since then we have heard very little. Even lawmakers inside the meetings say they're not sure where he stands. CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill this morning.
Now, so Dana, McCain is on the hill, too. What is he doing at this hour? DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he is basically racing between various offices. In fact, he just left his own office right here in the Senate Russell Office building where I am. We've been following him around pretty much all morning. He went to the Senate Republican Leaders office for a meeting. Then he went over to the House side, to the House Republican leader's office.
And basically what are told by several McCain sources is that he's trying to work on some kind of deal, basically, that would potentially bridge some of the concerns, very loud concerns as we now know from House Republicans. And what Henry Paulson at the White House and others had already been talking about in terms of how to deal with bailing out this economy so it doesn't reach total collapse.
Briefly what I'm told is that as we know, what they have been working on is the idea the government just buying this bad debt. And what the House Republicans wanted to do and what the leader actually mentioned in the White House yesterday, which has caused a big ruckus in the White House was, no, maybe the government should just buy insurance plans.
Well, what I'm told that McCain is talking about with these Republicans, his fellow Republicans only right now, is to basically split it in three. The government would in part buy some bad debt; in part back some insurance policies and plans; and in part also back some loans. So he's trying to sort of be the deal maker today.
Yesterday he was the listener. We watched him, we walked with him again, around to a couple of offices, to a couple of meetings. Today he is frantically -- I think that's a fair word to use now -- frantically, basically racing between these offices trying to figure out if there's a way that he can find a deal right now. And again though, he's really just talking to his fellow Republicans because that really is where the big rub is right now.
COLLINS: Yes. And then tonight also, sort of a big rub, the debate. What are you hearing? Do you have the inside scoop? Do you have the answer is for us whether or not he's going to appear?
BASH: I wish. And you know, the reality is, they don't have the answer. A lot depends on what developments, if any, we're going to see in the next couple of hours.
The next couple of hours are absolutely going to be crucial, absolutely going to be crucial to see if there's anything that can be done. I just talked to one of his top aides who said if, if, if they can get something done, that he hopes to get on a plane and get down to Mississippi, and do this debate. That is absolutely his goal, his desire.
But, he's said pretty clearly a couple days ago before he came back here, that he won't do that until it's clear that there is something real in the works to get through Congress, with regard to some kind of bailout. And it's not there yet. So he really, they say he can't officially say he's going. He can't officially go until it looks like there's some kind of deal. COLLINS: All right. Understood.
CNN's Dana Bash for us this morning. Thank you, Dana.
BASH: Thank you.
COLLINS: So, minutes from now we are going to be hearing from you. What do you think of the bailouts. Veronica de la Cruz is going to be joining us with your thoughts, your iReports, right here in the NEWSROOM.
For now though, on the campus of Ole Miss, one again. Home of tonight's presidential debate, that is, of course, if it happens.
With us McDaniel Wicker, a McCain supporter and Attorney General of the Associated Student Body. Mcdaniel, thanks for being with us.
Debate going to happen? And what if it doesn't? I want to hear your thoughts on that.
Mcdaniel, can you hear me? Just wondering if you can tell me whether or not you believe the debate will be happening? Can you hear, mcdaniel?
MCDANIEL WICKER, ASSOCIATED STUDENT BODY: Yes. Whether the debate will be happening?
COLLINS: Yes. Do you think it's going to happen?
WICKER: I feel it's going to happen. I sure hope it's going to happen. You know, in, Oxford we're really excited to have it here. I think Senator McCain is going to do some good work in Washington, and hopefully will have something worked out by this afternoon and will be able to continue as planned.
COLLINS: So, you think he's going to be able to get people to agree on the rescue plan and then he's going to fly there and he's going to appear as scheduled at Ole Miss?
WICKER: I'm sorry. Could you say that again.
COLLINS: That's OK. McDaniel, tell me what you want to learn from this the debate tonight.
You know what, guys, we are just having a terrible time with this. So, I'm going to cut it loose for now. We will try and make contact with McDaniel. Obviously want to provide you with both sides of this story. Formerly we had an Obama supporter on. And we were trying to get our McCain supporter on, as well. So, we will stay up to date on that and of course, up to date on whether or not the debate going to be happening. You see there our countdown clock, 10:21 away.
So, Senator Obama says he is ready for the debate. Will McCain show up? You can join the best political team on television, for your front row seat to the first presidential debates. CNN tonight, we think. You can debate right along with the candidates, too. Follow along online at CNN.com/forum and let your voice be heard during the face-off.
As the temperature drops, your heating bills are sure to go in the other direction. But there is some help out there. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our Energy Fix from New York.
Poppy, can you hear me?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Sorry, Heidi, what. I can hear you loud and clear, Heidi. I got you.
COLLINS: No, no, no! Tell us some of the fixes for this potential mess that people could be in with their heating bills this winter.
HARLOW: Yes. Especially in northeast where a lot of people rely on home heating oil, right? High oil prices mean high gas prices right now. Soon, we're all going to feel it in our winter heating bill, as well. It may be even a greater blow to the household budget.
One advocacy group says it will cost an average to cost $2,500 to heat a home with oil this winter. That is up 30 percent from last year. Because of that, many states are doling out more money to help low income families pay their bills. This month, New York increases energy subsidy to $800 per household. That's nearly 50 percent higher than last year. take a look at Connecticut. The plan was recently approved to allot $14 million in total to subsidize family's energy bills. Now, of course, this does not apply to everyone. It is really aimed, Heidi, of course at helping the people that need it the most this winter -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So, what about the federal government then? Does it have assistance programs? Surely it does.
HARLOW: Yes. It surely does. It's called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program. What it does is it distributes more than $2.5 billion to people in need each year. And what happened this week was on Wednesday, the House voted to boost that amount to more than $5 billion. The Senate is expected to pass that bill. They're obviously focusing on other things right now. But the White House has not said really whether President Bush will sign it or not. The extra money though, could help more people, Heidi. And it could help the people who need it the most, get a little more money this winter.
COLLINS: All right. So, any idea how many people then will be able to benefit from that type of help?
HARLOW: We're talking about a lot of people. Last year we saw six million people participate in the program. That was the most we've seen in 16 years. The average grant was about $355 per family. Unfortunately, an advocacy group says that with unemployment on the rise, an additional two million people are going to need help paying their bill this winter.
There's some really interesting stuff on our web site. It shows you how to cut your energy bill. Check it out at CNNmoney.com. It's called Knock $4,000 Off of Your Utility Bill. So, hope to help people a bit with that -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow.
Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: You're welcome.
Wall Street waiting on Washington. But many investors aren't waiting on the sidelines. We are watching financial shares during the financial crisis.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Two big questions this morning. Will there be a bailout? Will there be a debate? We are talking about the financial crisis and the presidential debate that may or may not happen tonight. You need to keep it right here on CNN because there's an awful lot going. Some major stories, some major developments.
In fact, I am just now hearing this. So, listen up everybody, Apparently Senator John McCain has departed the Capitol building. We do know this. He has gone to his campaign headquarters in Virginia. That is all we know at this point. We do not know of his final destination, which may not be in Virginia. We just don't know. Once again, we do know that Senator John McCain has left the Capitol building en route to his campaign headquarters there in Virginia.
Meanwhile, 10 hours, 15 minutes until the debate is supposed to begin on the campus at Ole Miss. Again, the home of tonight's first presidential debate. So, we want to try to get back to McDaniel Wicker, who is a McCain supporter and Attorney General of the Associated Student Body.
McDaniel, take two. We just heard that Senator McCain has apparently departed the Capitol building? Now, does that tell you that he's going to be at your school tonight, he's going to handle this debate?
WICKER: Well, I think that's a good sign. I think if he's out of the Capitol, I think some progress is being made and hopefully it means he's on his way to, Oxford.
COLLINS: OK. So, what do you expect to hear from him and from Senator Obama then tonight? What does everybody want to hear them say regarding tonight's issue -- tonight's topic, I should say, is foreign policy?
WICKER: Well, they want to hear how the candidates are going to relate to the world if they become president. For John McCain I think that means how he's going to use his experience to be that world leader. He's been in Washington a long time, always being the maverick, being the reformist. And I think it's going to be very important to hear how he's going to use that in his foreign policy.
COLLINS: I think I'd probably remiss if I didn't ask what you think when you talk to your fellow students there -- everybody's understanding is of the economic or financial crisis that we are in. The $700 billion potential bailout. Do people at your school have a good grasp of what we're talking about?
WICKER: The bailout. Really -- the tone in Mississippi, is that they're really not for the bailout. They don't know enough about it, they don't feel confident in it. And basically we're just going to see what happens in Washington, and hope that the politicians who we've elected serve America and vote for our best interests.
COLLINS: Do you think you're going to get those answers tonight? I know you're having trouble with the ear piece there, again. Do you think you're going to be able to get those answers tonight, the candidates will directly address the questions that students on your campus have?
WICKER: Do I think they'll address the issues about the economy tonight?
COLLINS: Yes.
WICKER: I think they have to. I think it's such a major issue in America right now that they couldn't afford to do otherwise. And in addition, this isn't an international relations debate. But at the same time in this world we live in, the economy is such a part of the world and such a part of everything we do, that it would be hard to avoid it.
COLLINS: All right. McDaniel Wicker. We sure do appreciate it. From the campus of Ole Miss, today.
Thank you, McDaniel.
WICKER: Thank you.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
COLLINS: Quickly, we are going to take a break here, and get back to talking more about this debate and whether or not it's going to happen. You see the countdown clock, about ten hours away, everybody.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: All right, everybody. We told you there were a whole lot of developments regarding tonight's first presidential debate. You see the stage right there, of Ole Miss. And we do have some information to share with you. Apparently some positive signs about both candidates attending. Want to get directly out to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, who is there on campus.
Suzanne we have heard from both the chancellor and the vice chancellor of now of Ole Miss. What are they saying?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN White House CORRESPONDENT: We've been in direct contact with both of them consistently throughout the day. And they have been speaking with the debate commissioners. Obviously, a lot of discussions taking place this morning. But the chancellor telling me just moments ago, there are very positive signs that both of the candidates are going to be here.
They say that Obama has obviously filed his flight plan. They say they fully expect that John McCain will also be here in time for the debate. They say that they are simply waiting for him to file his own flight plans. But that they are getting indications from the debate commission that both of these candidates are going to show up.
I also spoke with the vice chancellor, Gloria Kellum. She also being briefed by the debate commission. She says that the front people of both campaigns, that being McCain and Obama, have told commission members, the debate commission, that these candidates are expected to show up later today to the debate.
Now, there's going to be an update that is going to happen in about 10 minutes or so local time, that's 11:00. And then again in about an hour or so they should be getting more information. But so far, both of these officials involved in the talks with the debate commission saying they're getting very good, very positive signs that both of these candidates will arrive here today.
COLLINS: Well Suzanne, while we're at it, any positive signs on the bailout plan? I think I'm probably kind of pushing it there. But all right.
MALVEAUX: You'll have to check it on the Hill folks on that one. But I tell you, it looks pretty good on this end, that you're going to have both of these candidates here at least for the debate. We'll see how the bailout plan shakes out. That might take a little bit longer.
COLLINS: Yes. Obviously at this point we kind of can't talk about one without the other, though. Sure do appreciate it.
Suzanne Malveaux reporting for us on this interesting and very much developing news regarding the first presidential debate at Ole Miss.
Also want to let you know about this. As Washington struggles to find a way out of America's financial crisis, how are people around the world reacting? We asked our correspondents in China, Argentina and Kenya, to find out.
Let's start with china.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kyung Lah in the heart of Beijing's financial district where they're feasting on a spoonful of I told you so. Here at the People's Bank of China, where they they set monetary policy, they've resisted calls for deregulation. And from ---
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Quickly want to get to this. Senators Harry Reid and Chris Dodd.
Let's go ahead and listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SENATOR HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: I think it's fair to say we're making progress. I think it's very fair to say that. As you know, a meeting was convened last night at 8:00. And a few hours later Senator Dodd and I talked sometime around 11:00 last night. The staff meeting right now. And we hope to have a members meeting later today.
We're going to get this done and stay in session as long as it takes to get it done. We'll work with the president to modify his plan to make it better for taxpayers and homeowners. We want to make sure that there's oversight. Chairman Dodd will talk about some of the things that we feel are principles that must be in any legislation that we pass. Among them are of course, oversight. That the American taxpayers, not only, if they have to take the risk, they should get some of the rewards. And as I said, Chairman Dodd will outline some of the other principles that we believe are so important.
Senate Democrats, House Democrats and Senate Republicans agree those principles laid out by Senator Obama are the ones that must be in any plan for addressing the issue. They're what we call the principles of fairness. If we're asked to look at Wall Street and see -- look at their problems, we are also, because of what's been going on with the American public for these many months, have to recognize they also have some problems. And this legislation has to address those.
It's time -- the time is now for House Republicans to come to the negotiating table and for presidential politics to leave the negotiating table. The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful. I repeat, the insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful. It's been harmful.
A few days ago I called on Senator McCain to make a stand, let us know where he stands on the issue on this bailout. But all he has done is stand in front of the cameras. We still don't know where he stands on the issue. Chairman Dodd.
SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), BANKING CMTE. CHAIRMAN: Well, thank you, leader. Let me emphasize the point the leader has made. We worked until about 11:00 last night. The staff had been up until 5:00 yesterday morning. And so Barney Frank and I both decided they needed to get a decent night's sleep.
And so this morning they'll pick up where they would have picked up last evening. And that to take what we did last evening, the conversation last evening, where there was some agreement on one of the major points between the Treasury and the people in the room. There was still less than a full agreement on some of the other issues. But that's the way the process works.
And so the staff is going to be then drafting that language. They are doing it already, to make sure what they heard last evening is, in fact, what they've agreed to. This is the normal way you do this when you're writing up a bill of this magnitude.
I have with me and will distribute to all of you by way of copy, what is called a discussion draft. This is the product that we worked on over the last seven days. This is not three pages obviously that we received last Saturday from the administration. In responding to this situation which all of us find tragic. This should not have happened. This was an avoidable, preventable situation we're in today. This was not a Gustav or an Ike. This was a man-made problem, avoidable problem. But we are where we are and we need to respond to it. And so we'll continue working.
The staff will meet earlier today, to go over last evening's discussion. Then members will pick up from there and move forward. But this is a product not just of Democrats, and it's not a final bill. It's a discussion draft between Democrats and serious Republicans. And there are many who want to work on a product here that we can present to our colleagues and to the American people.
Let me just say briefly that there are two or three areas which are nonnegotiable. The language of them are negotiable, but nonnegotiable. Executive compensation. None of us are going to -- I'm certainly not going to support a plan that would allow in any way, an executive to take bonuses or excessive compensation at taxpayer expense. That will not happen. That's in this discussion draft.
Secondly, taxpayers are going to be covered. They're going to have an opportunity of benefit from this plan if they're going the finance it. And we're going to insist that be part of the plan. We're demanding accountability, as well. This is not turning over a check of $700 billion to a secretary of the Treasury for 40 days and an unnamed successor in the next administration for four years without accountability. And certainly trying to do something on foreclosures as well.
Those principles will be incorporated in any bill that we'll present to our colleagues. And with that I hope we can sit down again and have serious conversation and work with those who are truly interested in producing a result. There are, as I said a moment ago, serious Republicans who care about this and I'm grateful to them. They spent a long time with us over the last seven days in trying to get to this point. That's what this body of work here reflects and represents.
So we'll continue working off this over the next day or two. And I'm prepared to stay here as long as it takes, as we have been over the last seven days, to get this job done. But we're determined to get it done. The American people expect nothing less.
QUESTION: I understand in the meeting last night that Secretary Paulson was a bit contentious.
DODD: No.
QUESTION: I'm wondering if Secretary Paulson -- what are the points that he is pushing back hardest on?
DODD: Well, I don't want to negotiate in public in fairness to him or to us. But it was hardly contentious. I mean, there are points of few.
We sat and we discussed the issue of compensation, we discussed the tranches and how to have this money move forward. We discussed as well the issue of executive compensation. And those are all legitimate discussions, but hardly contentious.
I mean, you go back and forth to try and get a result if you can. That's what we've been doing with each other, those who care about getting the job done.
At this point here, having the staffs pick up on what we did last evening, and then members follow on. But I don't necessarily have members sitting around at every meeting to move forward.
QUESTION: Senator Dodd, you mentioned one area that you seem to feel there is some agreement between the -- which areas...
DODD: Well, I'm going to leave that. I'm not going to get into that. I want to start...
QUESTION: Mr. Reid...
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: ... is it fair to say that both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue failed to anticipate the fierce negative public reaction to this plan/ And can it now be overcome?
REID: The answer is, can it be overcome? Yes.
I think there's been some degree of amazement from the White House, and certainly Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, that people who run for elective office have constituencies that they have to take care of. We don't deal only with Wall Street. We deal with Wall Street, but we also deal with Main Street.
And Secretary Paulson, the fine man that he is, has learned a lot about how we serve our constituents. And so these obstacles can be overcome, but those appointed officials like Paulson and Bernanke, are going to have to become more realistic.
As Chairman Dodd outlined, we believe there's a financial crisis. We want to direct attention to that. But we have to keep in mind the problems people have.
I mean, where was the White House when we had to go through seven filibusters on the basic problem that everyone says is at the root of this, housing? Wouldn't it have been nice if they would have helped us?
We could have stopped 10,000 foreclosures a day. Well over 100,000 people, well over 100,000 people were dumped out of their houses during these seven filibusters, and also during the time the president was threatening vetoes. So yes, I think the White House has to realize, along with the people that President Bush has appointed, that we have responsibilities to Main Street.
QUESTION: Senator Reid, can I ask you about the timing? I know that there had been a desire to get this done before the markets open on Monday morning. How realistic is that now?
REID: There's no reason we can't do that if, frankly, we would be allowed to continue where we were yesterday -- remember, I got home last night and watched the national news. We have Senator Bennett, who is a high-ranking Republican senator, standing before all of you saying we've got a deal in principle. All we have to do is put it down in writing and this is almost over with.
And then guess who came to town? And that completely fell apart.
As we have learned from many different sources, people who constructively engaged in the process were castigated in the Republican Caucus by people who aren't here -- at least a person who isn't here a lot of time. And the vehicle came off the tracks. And we, in effect, had to put things back together at 8:00 last night.
Now, the Republican House has to decide what they want to do. Are they serious about one of the issues that has to be taken care of is lowering the capital gains tax? If that part of what this is all about? They're going to have to become realistic.
This is an issue that's important. And the answer to your question, sure, we can finish this. If people put their heads together, we could have an agreement as we have right here, as indicated.
We have certain principles we believe in. Are those principles negotiable? Of course they are.
We're legislators. Legislation, the art of compromise. But our basic principles are not going to be thrown out the window.
We could have this done by midnight tonight, they can start drafting it all day tomorrow. We could vote on it Sunday or Monday without any question. Of course we could get it done.
Now, tomorrow, we're going to be in session, we're going to vote on the continuing resolution and whatever else we can. There are a number of things -- I know we want to focus on this, but there are important things.
We have an Amtrak bill that we have to finish before we get out of here. There are a number of other things that we have to take care of. And I know it's hard to divert our attention from this issue, but there are other very important things that we have to do.
(CROSSTALK)
REID: Yes?
QUESTION: Senator, do you think that Senator McCain derailed what appeared to be an agreement... REID: Well, you know, we have said enough about this. I made my point clear. All you have to do is go back and have a look on your TiVo at what Senator Bennett said last night.
This thing was really headed toward a conclusion. And suddenly -- last night we struggled to get a House member to come to the meeting. They, in fact, wouldn't come to our meeting.
And finally, Bachus came and he said, "Well, I haven't been asked by the leader to come, but somebody from his office called me." It's not Senator Max Baucus, it's Spencer Bachus, the ranking banking guy over there.
So, you know, the House has been really -- since House Republicans since the arrival of the presidential -- they've been not involved in this. And I hope they become more engaged.
(CROSSTALK)
REID: Pardon me?
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
REID: We have been told, I have been told that the designee -- and also, we wanted to get the train back on the track. Secretary Paulson said it would be better if we start this with just one person from each office. And we think that's fine for last night, but we're not going to be -- I'm not going to be told who can attend meetings over here.
I certainly -- every meeting Senator Dodd will be involved in. I think we have to have Senator Max Baucus involved, Senator Conrad. We have other senators who have been heavily involved in this that will continue to be heavily involved in this.
But we were told this morning that Leader Blunt would be involved in some of the negotiations. That was the problem we had yesterday, frankly.
Bachus, the House guy, really a nice man, very sincere, intelligent, I like him. But he had no authority to do anything. And even though -- you'd have to ask him, I think he really liked how things were going. But he had to say, I don't know if I'm speaking for the House Republicans. And last night he left early.
QUESTION: Senator Reid, the House Republican proposal seems fundamentally different from Hank Paulson's.
REID: Yes.
QUESTION: Is there any way to meld part of them, or...
REID: Secretary Paulson has said that their proposal dealing with the insurance won't work. Now, whether he's going to say that publicly, you'll have to ask him. But that's what he told us, it won't work. And what we said last night is, fine, we're happy to start all over again. But we have to start all over again. This is -- we got a proposal from the White House, and this is our response to the proposal from the White House.
Are we going to get another proposal from the White House? We'll have to wait and see.
QUESTION: What about Senator McConnell, Senator? Do you think he should be more involved in...
REID: Pardon me?
QUESTION: Senator McConnell, did you try to bring him into the negotiations as well?
REID: You know, let's look at it realistically. Chairman Dodd is involved in the Banking Committee for his Senate career. The banking issues are complex and difficult.
Senator McConnell and I have talked on a number of occasions. He wants this thing to be completed. So do I. But I think realistically, Senator McConnell, Senator Harry Reid are not going to be much help in the delicate negotiations dealing with the warrants and all these other things that only people who understand the banking.
And in fact, what I'm saying is, let's let the people who have been set apart by their colleagues here in the Senate to do the work. Let them do it. Outsiders should stay out of it.
And I don't know how many more times I need to say, we don't need presidential politics involved in this. The two presidential aspirants are not members of the Banking Committee, never have been. And as you know, they've been engaged in other things. And I think we should just go forward as we were and try to get this done.
Now, if some new proposal comes, we will be happy to work. We're not going to say it's a killer, we're walking away from it.
We believe something should be done. We believe something should be done. But I repeat what Senator Dodd has said. We did not create the problem. This is a very difficult situation.
People in Searchlight, Nevada, I've got e-mails from Searchlight. Stan Colton, who his grandfather found the town of Searchlight, he wrote me an e-mail. He's formerly the treasurer of the state of Nevada and he knows what he's talking about.
He said, "This is the goofiest thing I ever heard. Why don't you guys get out of there and come back and just let the markets go?"
I disagree with him. But what I'm saying is it's very unpopular. And just because something at first glance seems unpopular, doesn't mean we shouldn't react to it. And we're going to do our very best we can. But is this pleasant work? No, it's not pleasant work. Look what's happening to the calls coming into our offices and our e-mails. People are very unhappy with what we're doing. But we believe we have an obligation to the country, and that is Wall Street and Main Street.
QUESTION: Are you calling on Chairman Bernanke to take a bigger role in the discussions?
REID: Chairman Bernanke has been very helpful. Senator Dodd can tell you more about that because he's met with him at lot more than I have.
And, you know, interestingly enough, do you know what his academic background is? Economic depression. He's written widely on it. That was his area of study. So he's -- I think he comes with a portfolio that's meaningful to these discussions. And he's always been available whenever he's been asked to come.
Isn't that right?
QUESTION: You and the speaker have said you don't want Democrats to have to supply most of the votes for this final package. What sign will it take...
(CROSSTALK)
REID: Well, listen, we're not in a numbers game here. This is a problem created by Republicans, by this administration.
We are willing to work on a bipartisan basis to get this done. But we're not here saying Democrats are going to supply X number of votes. We want this to be bipartisan. We want our negotiators to come out of the meeting and say we have an agreement, here is the best we can do.
Now, Senator Dodd will come to me and say this is the very best we can do. And he will bring with him Conrad and Max Baucus, and say this is the best we can do. Let's put it up for a vote and see what happens.
Now, as you know, constitutionally, this has to start in the House. It's a revenue measure. So we'll wait and see what they come up with. But we want this to be bipartisan, and we'll do our very best.
Remember, everybody, our margin has not -- we have a big hammer that we wield here as this vast majority. It's a very close majority.
One last question.
QUESTION: Senator Reid, you said you had a deal at 1:00 yesterday?
REID: I didn't say we had a deal at 1:00.
(CROSSTALK) QUESTION: At the same time, it seems like there's no support on either side in the House. Right now if you tear (ph) up votes for any of these plans, you're not going to find people -- how do you bridge the gap between what you're presenting as a close-to deal and the House members that are taking these calls and e-mails like you said you're getting?
REID: OK. Let me tell you how it works.
At probably 10:00 or 10:30 tomorrow morning, we're going to vote on a continuing resolution. How do we get there?
Somebody a month ago that would have told us we have a deal worked out on the -- compromise worked out on the continuing resolution, you'll never make that. We've made it.
You do it. It's what we do here. We're legislators.
We sit in rooms. We say this is what I think will work better, and somebody else says, that's not very good. Let's try this. And that's how we wind up with what you see. And that's how we'll wind up completing this.
People of good will meet together, recognizing that we have a serious problem, and come up with a solution. Is it a perfect solution? No matter what we do here, it will be imperfect. But we have to do something for the American people.
And we can't do it alone. We need the House Republicans to join us.
Thank you.
