Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Obama Meets with McCain; Citigroup Slashes 50,000 Jobs; Protesters Object to Gay Marriage Ban How Food Companies Are Saving Money; A Local Coach's Battle With Cancer
Aired November 17, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: ... forge a strong relationship to get some things done.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Are yesterday's opponents tomorrow's partners? The president-elect and the man he defeated sit down in Chicago in search of common ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was about 1:30 in the morning. And I woke up to a police officer standing in my bedroom, telling me that we had to get out.
PHILLIPS: No rest for Southern California surrounded by fires, nor for the firefighters trying to hold back the flames and the wind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't advertise it at all, so really I didn't notice.
PHILLIPS: What doesn't your peanut butter want you to know? Does your favorite cereal have a secret? This hour, we blow the lid off the incredible shrinking food packages.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We start with this. No hard feelings. Really? Well, we may never really know, but we do know that Barack Obama is sitting down in Chicago as we speak. There's a little zoom in, zoom out there. We want you to see every moment.
It's the single biggest critic from that grueling and sometimes brutal campaign. I'm speaking of his Republican opponent, John McCain. The victor is hosting the runner-up at his transition headquarters in Chicago to talk about ways to work together.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is watching.
We were -- Tony and I were just saying, Suzanne, we'd love to see the little bubbles, you know, over each other's head. What's really going on in that...?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What are they thinking?
PHILLIPS: Yes. Exactly.
MALVEAUX: Well, it's part -- part good will and part good picture, Kyra, as you can imagine, seeing these two together. It is an important image to see them side by side. The last image we had of them was at the debate. It was rather contentious.
So obviously, Barack Obama has been saying for months and months he wants to work with Republicans, to reach across the aisle. This is a demonstration, at least certainly in picture. We'll find out if there's some substance behind it, at least in tone, if that is what he wants to do.
He talked about, at least his aides talked about things like climate change, as well as ethics reform. When we had that very quick little 90-second photo spray, not a lot out of it, but I want you to take a listen and look at their body language, as Barack Obama talks about the purpose of this meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
B. OBAMA: Hey, guys. What's up, Andy? Glad to see you. All right. You know, I haven't seen these guys in a while.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: They've missed you.
B. OBAMA: Yes, yes. The national press is tame compared to the Chicago press.
MCCAIN: Noticed it. I noticed it at yesterday's football game.
B. OBAMA: Oh, see there. They brought up the Bears.
I'll tell you what. Arizona's...
MCCAIN: Quite a performer.
B. OBAMA: They've got a -- Warner's turned out to be unbelievable.
MCCAIN: Quite a -- quite a performance.
B. OBAMA: Yes, I thought -- the outstanding service he's already done. All right, we're not going to -- we're not going to do a long one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks.
B. OBAMA: Thanks, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So, Kyra, he was talking about how John McCain, they're going to talk about -- thank him for his outstanding service, that they're going to work together to make the country better. And then also, you might have noticed, he called the reporters incorrigible. So they were trying to get some questions in to him, some real questions about the issues here. Maybe on the other end we'll get more information.
But just to give you a sense, a hint, at least, of what they can talk about that would be for both of their benefit, obviously is -- Barack Obama yesterday in his "60 Minutes" interview talked about that Republican and Democratic-leaning economists both are looking at some sort of consensus that's forming about how you get out of this global financial crisis.
He believes that it's about spending a lot of money, a lot of money not worrying about the deficit in the next couple of years, trying to make sure that the recession doesn't deepen.
So that's one of those things that they're going to talk about. But clearly, just really laying the groundwork, setting the groundwork for something -- something ahead. They need the Republicans. They don't have that filibuster-proof number that they need in the Senate, so he's going to reach out to John McCain and have him cooperate on a number of his issues, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, you could tell it was kind of hard to listen, and when things got really uncomfortable, what did the guys do? They started talking about sports.
MALVEAUX: They did.
PHILLIPS: I think Barack Obama said something about the Arizona game. All right.
MALVEAUX: Go Bears.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Da Bears. All right, Suzanne. We'll talk again. Thanks.
Well, while we want and wonder whom Obama likes for secretary of this or director of that, we know one thing for sure: his cabinet won't be a Democrats-only club. That's for sure.
In an interview that aired last night on "60 Minutes," the president-to-be answered one question directly and dodged a bunch of others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE KROFT, CBS CORRESPONDENT: How close are you to settling on -- on a cabinet?
B. OBAMA: Well, I think that I've got a pretty good idea of what I'd like to see, but it takes some time to work those things through.
KROFT: When are you going to make your first announcements?
B. OBAMA: Soon. KROFT: Next week?
B. OBAMA: Soon.
KROFT: You met with Senator Clinton this week.
B. OBAMA: I did.
KROFT: Is she on the short list for a cabinet position?
B. OBAMA: She is somebody who I needed advice and council from. She's one of the most thoughtful public officials that we have. Beyond that, you're not getting anything out of me, Steve.
KROFT: Will there be Republicans in the cabinet?
B. OBAMA: Yes.
KROFT: More than one?
B. OBAMA: You're not getting more out of me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Let's try and get some answers here. The bigger they are, the smaller they get in the run -- economy. Citigroup leads our coverage of issue No. 1 with new plans to cut more than 50,000 jobs now. And that's on top of 23,000 already lost this year.
The new cuts won't all come as layoffs. Citi does plan to keep selling off bits and pieces of its global empire.
A lame duck session of Congress is underway, and an auto industry bailout is the first order of business. Democrats want to step on it. Many Republicans -- not all -- want to kill it.
And in case you're wondering, well, the world's second largest economy is in a recession. Officials in Japan made it official this morning, citing two straight quarters of declining GDP. The European Union made the same announcement on Friday.
Let's get straight to Susan Lisovicz in the New York Stock Exchange for more on those Citigroup job cuts.
Susan, welcome back. We missed you.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I missed you, too. And I had my BlackBerry with me. So I really wasn't...
PHILLIPS: You were still working and monitoring all the good news.
LISOVICZ: And unfortunately, we saw a lot of job cuts last week, but Citi takes the cake. No question about it. We've grown accustomed to big numbers from Citi. They have been huge quarterly losses. And now, we're seeing the fallout from those quarterly losses: 50,000 jobs to be slashed, in addition, as you mentioned, to the 22,000 already announced this year.
Citi has lost $20 billion over the past year. It was a big player in mortgage debts. OK? Those bad mortgage debts, and then the ensuing credit crunch. Challenger Gray & Christmas says we haven't seen this many jobs lost since IBM slashed 60,000 jobs, and that was 15 years ago.
Roughly half of the job cuts will come because of results of recent division sales, including the sale of company's German retail banking division. But a Citi says no division within the company, both U.S. and international, will be spared.
By the way, Citi shares are down 2 percent, which is saying a lot. When a company makes these kind of dramatic moves, oftentimes you'll see a rally. Citi shares are down. And it is a Dow 30 stock. And right now we're seeing modest losses, the Dow, the NASDAQ and the S&P -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Susan. Thanks so much.
And all day long, we are going to focus on solutions in these tough economic times. Ways you can save and survive. Coming up this hour, our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, joins us with three ways that you can get out of debt.
And the sinking U.S. auto industry, will Congress step in to help? We'll go live to Washington for the latest.
Now, another bad air day in Southern California. Smoke from three raging wildfires forces dozens of schools to cancel classes today as evacuees return to see what's left of their homes, if anything.
Our Kara Finnstrom is live in L.A. -- Kara.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Kyra. The smoke has cleared somewhat here, not nearly as bad as it was yesterday. And that gives you a much better view of what's behind me.
This fire completely obliterated this mobile home park. You can see there is just nothing left. Home after home after home. There were 600 homes here, and about 500 of them were completely destroyed.
Now, today, we are told that the families of many of these homes are being brought back. We've seen some of them go in, in black vans. Those who still have homes standing here, and it's hard to believe that there are any homes left here at all. But about 100 remain. Will be allowed to go back into their homes, gather up a few things.
Everyone else is just going to be driven around the perimeter. They'll be able to see the lot where their house was. And we saw a couple of those families going in. You could see their faces pressed up to the glass. Some of them had cameras.
We spoke with some of them yesterday. And you know, while there's nothing there, they say just seeing the lot is very important for them, for closure.
What you see behind me is really the bulk of the devastation that was caused between all of these wildfires that have been ravaging across Southern California since Thursday.
Our crews have been speaking with families in different areas. We want to give you a little bit of what they've had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I woke up to a police officer standing in my bedroom, telling me that we had to get out. There were people running around in their pajamas. It was just pandemonium.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK, now. I'm alive. I've got my son; I've got my wife. So I'm a live and everything's good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a blessing in a strange way. You know? When you have everything just taken from you but you still have faith and you have each other, it's the most amazing thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINNSTROM: Many of these families just grateful for their lives, the lives of their loved ones.
There has been a search underway behind us, because for a while, they feared that not everyone may have been able to get out of this mobile park. That fire roared through here with such intensity, such speed, that they really feared especially some of the elderly residents, Kyra, may not have been able to get out. But as of late last night, they said that was 90 percent complete. No bodies have been found. And so some of the, I guess, just sheer joy that you hear from that lady there, kind of putting it back into perspective, that they got away with their lives. Really, it's nice to hear in the midst of all this, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Yes, we can always replace things. That's for sure. Kara Finnstrom, thanks.
California wildfires, well, you're helping us tell the story. We asked for your iReports and the images. And nothing short of breathtaking, that's for sure. This photo from Yorba Linda, California. iReporter says that the smoke was so thick that he had trouble breathing as he snapped the photo. He lives out of the immediate fire danger zone, about 10 miles away.
And this photo also from Yorba Linda. It was snapped by iReporter Josh Grier. He captured a homeowner who climbed onto his roof as the flames approached and sprayed it down with a garden hose.
Consumers taking it on the chin, these tough times. The next time that you're in the grocery store, well, check out some of your favorite products. They just might be smaller than you think. Are you getting what you pay for? And America's next first family. Can President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, be a model for marriage? We'll hear what a prominent columnist here in Atlanta has to say about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The global financial summit in Washington? Did it go far enough to get the world's economy moving again? We'll have a live report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the elections are over, a new administration's on the way and the 110th Congress is driving off into the sunset. But before it goes, Democrats want to try to pull the U.S. auto industry out of the ditch.
CNN's Kate Bolduan is watching both sides lay the groundwork for a pivotal Senate vote on Wednesday.
Hey, Kate, what's happening?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Kyra.
Well, you really hit it there. Remember, this is 110th Congress. The new -- the new members who were elected, the members who lost, that doesn't take effect until January. So we're still talking about the current Congress.
And you said it right there: they are taking on another bailout, this time, having to do with the auto industry. Senate Democrats are expected to unveil their bill sometime today. And in that bill, they're talking about $25 billion in loans to the big three.
The important part here is they're asking for the money to be carved out of the $700 billion financial bailout package, and that is a sticking point that's getting pushback from Republicans as well as the Bush administration. And that's also something that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed on the Senate floor a short time ago. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: The Treasury Department acknowledged that they could provide the auto companies the temporary assistance to keep automakers solvent by taking money out of the $700 billion we've already provided to the Treasury Department, but the Secretary of Treasury said that he chooses not to do that. Because all it would take is one stroke of the pen, and that problem would be solved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: The Treasury secretary, as well as the White House and Republicans here, they beg to differ on that point. They say that an auto bailout coming out of the financial bailout, that is just not what that big mega-package was intended for. And they also say that it would be a slippery slope. What industry would come next, saying, "We also need money from the bailout"?
To that point, they're offering an alternative plan, Kyra, one that would use an existing $25 billion loan package that was already passed and approved by Congress. But this money was intended to help auto makers retool their plans and produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. And this is where the debate is centering around this week.
PHILLIPS: All right, Kate. We might hear from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a few minutes, as well. We're monitoring that live stakeout. If it happens, we will take it. We'll get more from him. You heard a little bit from him there within Kate's piece.
Kate, thanks so much.
Also, we want to hear from you. Should Congress bail out the U.S. auto industry? You can e-mail us at CNNnewsroom@CNN. We'll be reading your comments over the next two hours.
Well, some financial analysts are worried that the weekend summit on the global financial crisis didn't go far enough. The meeting, hosted by President Bush, produced broad promises, but few concrete measures aimed at boosting economic growth.
The world leaders plan to meet again before the end of April to come up with agreements.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: These are extraordinary times. They do require extraordinary measures. And because this is a global problem, our solutions must be global.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And our Zain Verjee joins us live from Washington.
Zain, what was actually accomplished? I hear a lot of excitement about the summit being expressed by, for example, the French.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly. What this meeting did was make history. It increased the number of countries at the table, essentially on the world financial board of directors.
It may not have achieved a lot of real concrete things, but what it did was started a process that's going to transform the world order as we know it. It's now not just the rich countries that will make the key, critical decisions but powerful, emerging countries, too, like Brazil, Russia, India, China. They're going to be calling the shots, too.
Other agenda items, Kyra, that were set, things like plans for financial reform, giving more money to the IMF. And in general, just more global financial coordination. There was one person this weekend, Kyra, that put it this way, that the traffic jams in Washington were just worth it. It wasn't just a lot of empty rhetoric. And they did get somewhere.
PHILLIPS: Traffic jams being worth it? That's a first. Wow. That's a shocker.
All right. Well, what does this mean for President-elect Obama? I've got to ask you that question.
VERJEE: Right. Well, he wasn't there, personally, as you know, but he sent a couple of surrogates to go represent him.
Obviously, the world financial crisis is going to be the first thing he's got to tackle. And he's going to have to lead this coordinated, global effort and figure out how to deal with, you know, tensions between issues of regulation and the free global market.
There's a lot of stuff, though, Kyra, that's just being kicked down the road to the next meeting on the 30th of April.
But the key to understand here is that -- that all of this is really going to be a long period of adjusting for the U.S. I mean, it's still the superpower, but it's going to have to share decision- making with more economically-powerful countries or emerging like Brazil and Russia and India and China that are real powerhouses -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Speaking of powerhouses, that's you. Zain Verjee.
VERJEE: No, it's you.
PHILLIPS: Great to see you.
Straight ahead. It's not officially winter yet, but hey, you'll have a hard time convincing these folks.
And the vote was lost, but the fight goes on. Supporters of same-sex marriage take their campaign beyond California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Equal rights! Equal rights! Equal rights!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Equal rights! Equal rights! Equal rights!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Equal rights! Equal rights! Equal rights!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Thousands of people turned out across the country, vowing to overturn measures outlawing same-sex marriage. In California, the fight is especially heated, with protesters upset with religious groups, who say they say -- well, they say raised money to pass Proposition 8.
CNN's Susan Candiotti reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we will! Yes, we will!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we will! Yes, we will!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we will! Yes, we will!
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): During spirited rallies from Los Angeles to Orlando, from Boston to Oklahoma City, same-sex marriage supporters promise a reenergized movement, despite their defeat in California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to rest until we're all equal.
CANDIOTTI: Those are fighting words to some opposed to legalizing same-sex marriage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not a civil rights issue. It is an issue with morality.
CANDIOTTI: Feelings are raw, and accusations are flying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tax this church! Tax this church!
CANDIOTTI: Some protesters accuse Mormons and other religions of crossing the line by helping raise money to keep gays from marrying. Religious coalitions say protests are getting out of hand.
FRANK SCHUBERT, CHAIRMAN, COALITION FOR PROP 8: We're put off and we're offended that our voices are disrespected, that we're called bigots, we're analogized to Nazis.
CANDIOTTI: Even comedian Roseanne Barr is weighing in, taking aim on her Web site at a high percentage of African Americans in California who voted to ban same-sex marriage. She calls them, quote, "as bigoted and ignorant as their white, Christian, right-wing counterparts."
The NAACP, part of a legal challenge to overturn the California vote, insists the organization fully supports same-sex marriage as a civil right.
RON HASSAN, PRESIDENT, NAACP BEVERLY HILLS: I'm not sure to what extent people of color received a large amount of information on this proposition.
CANDIOTTI: A gay-rights advocate says everyone needs to take a deep breath.
EVAN WOLFSON, ATTORNEY/GAY RIGHTS ADVOCATE: This is not a question of blaming somebody or finding a racial group or an ethnic group or even an age group. It's really about having the conversation that moves people forward. There are fair people to be found everywhere.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Same-sex marriage supporters promise a long civil rights battle they intend to win. Their opponents are equally convinced a majority of Americans are on their side.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: To bail out or not bail out. Let's take it live now to -- oh, we just missed him. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid there, making comments.
Did he say anything, guys? All right, we're going to go ahead and re-rack it and bring you his comments. Doesn't sound like there was anything pivotal that was announced. But our Kate Bolduan is there on the Hill She'll bring us the latest on what's going to happen on that front. We're going to talk more about it, obviously, within the next hour and a half also.
Now, near white-out conditions in parts of the Great Lakes area. Check out the snow fall in Northeastern Ohio yesterday. As much as two feet of lake effect snow fell on some areas along the shorelines from Ohio to Pennsylvania and New York. The heavy downfall made simple tasks like walking the dog treacherous. The early season storm closed some schools today. And police say the slippery roads are creating lots of insurance seminars.
More snow falling today. Our meteorologist, Chad Myers, in the weather center, tracking it all for us.
It's sure beautiful, but boy.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I remember those days. It's beautiful as a child.
PHILLIPS: That's right. The days of Buffalo, right?
MYERS: When you're a parent, it's not so pretty anymore.
PHILLIPS: Except when you get a snow day. Remember those days? I used to love listening to the radio...
MYERS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... in Jacksonville, Illinois, just hoping school would be closed.
MYERS: And in West Seneca, New York, if you didn't have six inches on the ground by morning...
PHILLIPS: Forget about it.
MYERS: ... there was no chance you were going to have it canceled. Because I don't know how those school bus drivers did it, but they go us through nearly every day. If not, they would have canceled snow almost every day of the winter.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: With wind this direction, you can get flurries, but you want the wind to come in from the southwest to blow into the south towns of Buffalo and Lackawanna and South Buffalo. That's -- when you want snow, you want it to come in from the southwest, and that's when you really pile it up in the big cities there. Otherwise -- you know what? Hey, there are ski resorts down here. Have you been to Peek'n Peak?
PHILLIPS: I never have.
MYERS: Oh, I bet you they'd invite you in right in a minute. We both could go up there.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's work on that. Will you?
MYERS: All right. Sure.
PHILLIPS: OK. Sounds good.
MYERS: Stay in Jamestown.
PHILLIPS: Yes. You know I love to ski.
Well, people in Kenly, North Carolina are still picking up the pieces after a tornado ripped through the area early Saturday. It devastated everything in its path, reducing homes to rubble and burying lifetime possessions under tons of debris. Two people were reportedly killed. Survivors were faced with massive cleanup. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY EVANS, SURVIVED TORNADO: When you go through that and you come out of it alive... (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: North Carolina Governor Mike Easley is touring that area today and has vowed to help all those families that have been affected.
Well, it's unpacking day aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Astronauts are unloading the ship's cargo bay. Among the new deliveries for the International Space Station, well, new exercise equipment. That's good. A kitchenette, all right. Two new sleep chamber chambers and a second toilet. That's always good.
Live pictures now. There's also a new contraption that purifies urine and sweat into drinking water. You may remember our space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, even sampled it and told us what it tasted like.
The special delivery will allow the floating outpost to double its occupancy. Instead of just three crew members, up to six can stay at the space station now until next year.
Well, from soap to nuts, they're doing it: companies finding sneaky ways to give you less product for the same price. Talk about buyer beware.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: 1:31 Eastern time. Here are some of the stories we're working on for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
President-elect Barack Obama turned to former rival Senator John McCain to help him plot the country's future. McCain is in Chicago where he's meeting with Obama. The President-elect's aides say that the two men were expected to talk about these issues where they have common ground, including ethics reform and global warming.
And in Southern California, another day on the front lines for weary firefighters. Several big blazes still burning around Los Angeles. Hundreds of homes have now burned to the ground. And in some areas, the winds are lighter and people who evacuated can actually go back into their homes. And in Santa Barbara County, one of the blazes is thought to be the work of an arsonist now.
Well, Somali pirates causing more trouble off Africa's east coast. They've hijacked a crude oil tanker off Kenya and they are now heading toward a port in Somalia. The ship owned by a Saudi company has a crew of 25. They are all said to be safe right now.
Recession circles the globe. First the euro zone, now Japan, the world's second largest economy. And here at home, thousands of new job cuts. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with details.
Susan, lot of hard news -- well, you went on vacation, but you still were up on all of these changes that were taking place.
LISOVICZ: Yes, and really saving the worst for today, my first day back on the job, Kyra.
Job cuts are one of the easiest ways to measure the health of the economy. A survey of economists by a branch of the Fed shows all of them believe we're in a recession or will enter one very soon. Today, a whopper of town hall meeting for Citigroup employees. The fear last week was that Citi would cut 10,000 jobs. The reality today much worse -- more than 50,000 jobs.
Work force reductions typically send a stock higher because it's a money saving move, it's an effort by management to right the ship, to get things back together. But Citi shares are down nearly 2.5 percent. Some analysts are complaining too little, too late. The credit crunch and Wall Street's exposure to it really emerged last summer. And there are some critics who say that Citi should have been taking this painful medicine a long time ago.
Overall, stocks, well they are negative, too. But certainly off the lows of the session where we saw triple digit lows for the Dow. Blue chips right now down 34 points, or nearly half a percent. Ditto for the Nasdaq.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep talking, Susan. Thanks so much.
Well a sign of the troubled economy, the buying power of your paycheck shrinks, your bills pile up. All day, CNN's money team is looking for solutions, ways to save and survive. And our focus right now, three ways to get out of debt. Personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, joins me now, live from New York.
Gerri, how do you know --
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey there, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Hello, good to see you.
How do you know if you're really in trouble?
WILLIS: Well you know we've got a lot of debt out there, right -- $2.6 trillion for consumers. That's all of us, but not all of that debt is bad. So, mortgage debt is good debt. If you haven't overbought, you're paying less than one-third of your income. That's because you get a big fat tax deduction for owning the home.
But other debt, you know, Kyra, has no benefits. Primary culprit, credit card debt. At their essence, credit cards are 30-day loans. They should be paid back in full each and every month. Here are some warning signs, signals that you have too much credit card debt. If you have to use cards to make your monthly budget. Worse, if you have to borrow to pay off those credit cards, even if you're borrowing from yourself, like a 401(k), your spending is out of control -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, yes, get a handle on spending. That's the hardest part when you're in debt and you have to spend, especially with the holidays coming up, it's hard to do that.
WILLIS: Well you know, OK, let's talk about a simple way to think about whether you're spending too much money. Add a 0 to the price tag of whatever it is you're buying. That's what you'd have if, instead of purchasing the item, you save the money for 30 years and earned a decent return. So, Kyra, a $1,000 designer handbag is really $10,000 worth of retirement savings. A $40,000 car is $400,000 in retirement savings.
Now, if you're trying to get your arm around your debt, get a small notebook, write down everything you spend for a month. You can keep track of your spending, too, on software programs like Quicken, MSNMoney. Find places you can cut back, repair spending, keep new spending off those credit cards.
PHILLIPS: Well I know that when you do apply for those credit cards, or even on-going ones, you can negotiate those APRs if you say, hey, I'm going to cut the card, sometimes they give you a lower rate.
But what are others ways that you can start paying down your credit cards? What do you think is the best way to start?
WILLIS: Well, that is an absolutely great idea.
Get a lower rate, A. Get a better card, B. Go to cardweb.com, see some of the best cards available our there. If you're very far in debt, you might need professional help from a credit counseling agency. Check out nfcc.org to find a reputable counselor. And also, think about paying those high interest credit cards first. Work through them one by one and put all your effort towards that.
Remember, when you finally do pay off one of those credit cards, don't close the account, that can actually lower your credit score. Keep the account open.
And if you have questions about this, e-mail me directly -- gerri@cnn.com. I want to hear from you. What are your questions? Maybe you've got solutions out there for people with a lot of debt. We want to hear.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: Well in this financial crisis, one company is taking the lead on trying to trim costs by trimming pay for top executives. Goldman Sachs' CEO and six others execs at the investment bank will not be receiving cash or stock bonuses this year. The seven reportedly came up with the idea themselves and the Wall Street firm's compensation committee approved it yesterday.
Meanwhile, starting next year, Swiss banking giant, UBS, says that it will stop paying a bonus to its chairman and other top executives will be penalized if the bank doesn't perform well.
Let's talk about America's first couple, Barack and Michelle Obama. They make no secret of their close relationship, and they seem to be very happy together. Check this out from their appearance last night on "60 Minutes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B. OBAMA: There are still some things we're not adjusted to.
MICHELLE OBAMA, WIFE OF BARACK OBAMA: Like what? What do you want? What --
B. OBAMA: Me not being able to take a walk.
M. OBAMA: Oh, well, you know.
B. OBAMA: Those are things --
M. OBAMA: That's true.
B. OBAMA: Those are things that --
M. OBAMA: I don't walk as much as he does, so I guess I don't miss it.
You want to go for a walk?
B. OBAMA: I do. I'd love to take you for a walk, although it's cold today.
M. OBAMA: Yes, I wouldn't go with you.
B. OBAMA: I know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The Obamas are also the proud parents of two beautiful daughters. With so many American couples, including African- Americans, not bothering to get married, even after they have children, can the Obamas be a model for marriage? That's what Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor for the "Atlantic Journal-Constitution" focused on in her column yesterday. She joins me now live.
No doubt, you and I were talking about this, Michelle Obama is going to be a very different kind of First Lady. She's not going to sit back and support her man when he makes a mistake.
CYNTHIA TUCKER, "ATLANTIC JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": Absolutely not. I adore her.
She is an accomplished professional herself, let's remember. She is Princeton and Harvard educated. And so I think in addition to being a great symbol of motherhood, married motherhood, she'll also be a 21st century model for First Lady. She's not going to try to impose herself in White House policymaking, but I think she'll just be an equal partner in many, many ways.
PHILLIPS: And what got us talking -- and we do, we see their relationship, everybody talks about their relationship. And that's sort of what we're all surmising from this. But here is what's interesting about your article, you talked about this op-ed essay that was written by Joy Jones, and it was called "Marriage is for White People."
Well, what triggered that article -- she writes that she was exploring this class of sixth graders at an elementary school and she was writing down what they had to say about marriage, and she put, "I think I'll invite some couples in to talk about being married and rearing children," she told the class of sixth graders. "Oh no," objected on student, "we're not interested in that part of marriage, only about how to be good fathers." "And that's when the other boy chimed in, 'marriage is for white people.'"
TUCKER: It's astonishing. Astonishing.
When I told my mother that, she was just mystified by that.
PHILLIPS: Your mother who is still married, by the way.
TUCKER: My mother is widowed. She and my father were married until death did them part. And so I grew up in a very traditional family. And when I was growing up, there were many, many, many black, married couples with children. In fact, one of the things I think that many -- one of the myths that has been perpetuated by some is that the high rate of black out of wedlock births has to do with the effects of racism. I don't think that's true at all, because, in fact, black marriage was much stronger when racism was much more oppressive, much more harsh.
PHILLIPS: Why? Why was that?
TUCKER: Well, I think that in many ways black families were just like white families. We had the same traditional values. And there were shotgun marriages in black America too.
When a young man impregnated a young woman, her parents, and in many cases his parents, expected them to get married, and they did. Well, I think the same sort of social changes that began to affect all of America, probably affected black America first. Many social scientists say we're the canaries in the coma (ph). What is going to happen later to larger America happens to us first.
And so that when the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote a study about Negro families in crisis, way back in 1965, he wrote about a black, out of wedlock birthrate around 26 or 27 percent then. He said that's a crisis. Well it was very controversial.
Many black leaders didn't want the black family to be singled out for that kind of harsh description. Well, he was right. At that time, the out of wedlock birthrate among black families was only about 26 percent, excuse me, out of wedlock births for black children. Now, around 70 percent of black children are born outside wedlock.
PHILLIPS: And you said something interesting about black women and the feminist movement. Tell our viewers what you were explaining to me earlier today.
TUCKER: Well I think a few trends have hit black families much more harshly and more sharply as the greater changes begin to take effect. One is I think we have to look at black male employment. As factory jobs began to disappear, more and more black men were either unemployed or underemployed. And so they were less suitable as marriage partners if they couldn't take care of families well. Many black women didn't find them to be suitable partners.
In addition, many black women were already in the workplace. Black women have a long history, for economic reasons, of having to be in the workplace outside the home. And so we didn't need a feminist movement to say, oh, you can work. Black women were already working, both educated and uneducated black women.
Uneducated black women working as domestics. My mother was a teacher. She always worked, even though my father was there, an educator as well. They thought they needed both incomes to support their children well.
So many black women didn't have to get used to the idea of being breadwinners, they were already breadwinners. So, if black men didn't have good jobs, why bother to get married to a man who couldn't support the family well any way? And on top of all that, many -- not many -- but more black women have college degrees than black men. And that too has always been true throughout much of our history, not by high percentage rates, maybe a percentage or two more black women with college degrees than black men with college degrees. But the reverse is true in white America.
There are more white men with college degrees than white women with college degrees. And there is a tradition that has stuck. Even as many other things in society have changed, women are less likely to marry a man who is less educated.
PHILLIPS: Well I'll tell you what's going to be interesting, there's all kinds of changes going on, and now we have not only the first African-American president, but we have a very strong couple that the world is looking at and watching and I think they're going to break a lot of cultural expectations, I think. It will be interesting to watch. I'll be curious what your next column will be after writing about this.
TUCKER: Well I think they'll be great role models. I don't want to put too much of a burden on them. But I think just being there --
PHILLIPS: I think that comes already.
TUCKER: -- being a happy, married couple is -- they are great role models.
PHILLIPS: Cynthia, thanks.
Well it's a mysterious illness that has sparked raging debate between veterans and the government since the first Gulf War. And now, the debate is over. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A Gulf War illness, there's been a lot of speculation about a mysterious illness affecting almost a quarter of our veterans from the first Gulf War. And now a new report says it's real and not just wartime stress.
Medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, has been looking into the report.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Very interesting report. Because there are really two stunning things that come out of it.
The first one says that one out of four vets from the 1990-1991 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War Illness. The second stunning thing is that it had been thought that maybe this illness was because of something Saddam Hussein did, some biological weapon he unleashed. But no, this report names two things that were involved from our side, from the U.S. Military. First of all, it says that Gulf War Illness is linked to pesticides that some of the troops used in part of their work there. And also, to anti-nerve gas pills. In other words, pills that the Military gave soldiers in order to fight any possible nerve gas attacks. Those are the two big things Gulf War Illness has now been linked to according to this new report, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, so there are some of the links to what the report -- are there any mention -- is there any mention in the report that rules out causes?
COHEN: Yes, there were two important things that were ruled out. A lot of people thought, oh maybe this Gulf War Illness is linked somehow to the anthrax vaccine because that was something that people had thrown out. And they said, no, it wasn't anthrax.
And they also said it wasn't stress. Some people said, oh Gulf War veterans are coming home with stomach problems and headaches and pain and that kind of thing because of stress. And they said, uh-uh, it wasn't stress.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it, Elizabeth.
Well incredible shrinking groceries on store shelves from coast to coast. Why you're paying the same prices but getting less product.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, they look the same and cost the same. But a lot of things you're buying at the grocery store are giving you less bang for the buck. Chris Lawrence looks at the sneaky way that companies are shrinking their stuff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's a surprise underneath a jar of Skippy. It just developed a dimple. A curve in the jar that cuts out 10 percent of the peanut butter. Less product, same price.
JAN HUTCHESON, SHOPPER: I think they're trying to take advantage of people not paying attention.
LAWRENCE: Skippy, skimpy? Well, they're not alone. In the last year, a lot of your favorite products have gone on some heavy-duty diets. Dial soap is still $2.99, but it's five ounces lighter. There's less ice cream in the cartons. And the Cheerio's box is smaller.
BRIN ASHER, SHOPPER: And they don't advertise it at all. So, really I didn't notice.
LAWRENCE: From the front, these boxes look the same as always. Kellogg's just making them less deep.
JULIE HOLMES, SHOPPER: They'll want to tell you if it's the new bigger size or if it's the new better taste. But they obviously aren't going to tell you, we're skimping on you a little bit.
LAWRENCE: We contacted these companies to find out why. Kellogg pointed to a dramatic rise in the cost of grains. Dreyer says, "Our ingredient costs have risen by 30 to 60 percent." Skippy parent company Unilever says, "Manufacturing and transportation costs have also increased significantly."
So why not just raise prices? Even 10, 20 cents?
DREW CONRAD, SIMON-KUCHER & PARTNERS: Consumers tend to have these psychological price thresholds in their head. So, they say, I don't pay more than a dollar for a bar of chocolate.
LAWRENCE: Pricing consultant Drew Conrad says, when products break that threshold, sales suffer. So the old eight-ounce Hershey bar slims down as more companies keep the price the same and cut the quantity.
(on camera): When consumers figure all this out, are they just going to stop buying certain brands?
CONRAD: Most people don't. They're very brand-loyal. Do you change your breakfast cereal. I mean, people get into certain habits, they trust certain brands.
LAWRENCE: Experts say shoppers should be checking the small labels that tell you exactly what you're paying per ounce. Because ultimately, it is up to the consumer to be vigilant.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, he's devoted countless hours to coaching kids sports. Now the community is trying to pay that back, raising money to help with a coach's cancer fight..
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: For years coaching his kids' many sports teams have been a labor of love. So when Kirk Johnson's cancer came back, his grateful community teamed up to give back.
More now from Sloane Heller, of Kansas affiliate, KSHB.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready? All right.
SLOANE HELLER, KSHB REPORTER: Kirk Johnson loves a little competition. He coaches football, basketball and baseball. His four kids are all athletes. On the outside, Kirk looks healthy and full of energy. You'd never know he has stage four colon cancer.
KIRK JOHNSON, COACH BATTLING CANCER: Well, they basically have given me six months to a year if everything goes good. HELLER: Kirk was diagnosed in 2006. He went through on operation and chemo and seemed to be healing. But this summer, the cancer came back. The news has been tough on everyone.
JOHNSON: Yes. You know, I'm a fighter. And I just tell them, we're going to beat this. Some how, some way.
HELLER: That's where the Kirk Johnson Can-Do Support Group comes in. So far, the group has raised $10,000 through fundraisers like this one.
JOHNSON: It's just overwhelming what they've done.
HELLER: The goal is to cover the Johnsons' mortgage and bills so Kirk doesn't have to work.
JOHN PRUSS,VOLUNTEER: We want them to focus on what kind of memories do we want to make for our kids while he's still alive.
HELLER: Kirk's wife Barb is a stay-at-home mom. Kirk has a home improvement business and no life insurance. The future is uncertain, but for now, the coach plans to fight. Hard.
JOHNSON: OK. Well, good luck guys. I'll be back. Talk to you in a little bit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Volunteers hope to raise $200,000 to help the Johnson family.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
