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More Unemployment Money; GM Workers Concerned About Pensions; Obama Aides: Hillary Clinton on Track for Secretary Job

Aired November 21, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning. It is Friday, November 21st, and here are the top stories we're following for you this hour in the NEWSROOM.
No bailout for GM. Retired autoworkers ask, what about us? They're worrying about their pensions.

And somebody takes a peek at Barack Obama's cell phone records. Well, now they're in trouble.

And a new intelligence report points to America's waning stature in the 21st century. I'll ask my guests about that.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Tony Harris.

And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, help is on the way for millions of Americans who are out of work and running out of money. This morning, President Bush signed a bill extending unemployment benefits before leaving for a summit in Peru.

White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano joins us live with more on both fronts -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka.

Well, President Bush's decision to sign that bill, and the move to sign it this morning, came on the heels of the government's own report yesterday that last week, 542,000 Americans applied for jobless benefits. That is the highest level in 16 years, Fredricka.

Now, this extension gives people an additional seven weeks of unemployment insurance, and more if they live in a state with what's considered high unemployment. Now, the president signed that legislation, as I said, before he left for the annual APEC Summit taking place this year in Lima, Peru.

APEC stands for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum. The nations of APEC, we should tell you, together make up almost half of the world's trade, a significant amount.

Now, this year's meeting is coming, of course, on the heels of last weekend's international financial summit here in Washington. That is where we saw the leaders of the so-called G-20 nations, the leaders of the world's 20 developed and developing nations, come together. And in the end, what they came up with was a statement of broad principles, principles to guide not only how their countries will deal with the current financial crisis, but also to guide any reforms that they make on a financial front in the future.

Now, the president said in an interview yesterday that the APEC Summit this weekend will really be an opportunity now for those APEC countries to either get behind that statement of principles they arrived at here in Washington last weekend, or if they have disagreements, Fredricka, this will be an opportunity for those countries to go ahead and express their views at that time.

So the president now on his way, Fredricka, to Lima, Peru. He returns to Washington Sunday -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Elaine Quijano at the White House.

Thanks so much for the update.

Meantime, Congress, well, they tell auto executives to go back to Detroit and draw up plans to retool their companies. Lawmaker say they'll reconsider a bailout package in early December. Democratic leaders say that a plan to pull $25 billion from the $700 billion federal bailout would have gone down in defeat.

Well, Congress wants GM, Ford and Chrysler to show how taxpayer loans will help turn the companies around for the long term.

GM workers worrying about their jobs, meantime. Well, what about GM retirees? They have many of the same concerns.

Here now is Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The General Motors factory where George Hall worked 33 years is gone, recently bulldozed. George hopes the same fate doesn't lie ahead for the entire company, especially since his health insurance and pensions still rely upon GM.

GEORGE HALL, FMR. GM EMPLOYEE: Mostly everybody that's ever worked here, you worked on the promise that your pension was going to be secure. Now you're finding out that possibly that promise was a lie, and that it's not going to be secure.

CHERNOFF: Not only is George worried about his financial security, he's angry, believing the auto chief executives did an awful job asking Washington for help.

HALL: And they didn't present themselves in a humble way. They presented themselves as, you know, we're these fat cats and we need the money, give it to us.

CHERNOFF: Avery Hall (ph) is a high school junior with plans to attend college, a major expense confronting George and his wife, Garnette (ph), a telecom salesperson.

Today, George works construction, doing home improvements, but it doesn't pay like his old job, a material handler at the factory, where he earned about $60,000 a year.

(on camera): About a million people in the United States rely on General Motors for health care insurance -- active employees, their families, and retirees, thousands and thousands of whom used to work right here.

(voice-over): If GM were to go bankrupt, those health benefits would be in jeopardy. GM's pension plan is safer. It's overfunded for salaried retirees, slightly underfunded for hourly retirees.

HALL: If I lose it right now, I'm going to be in terrible trouble, and my family is going to be in terrible trouble.

CHERNOFF: George's dad, Eddie (ph), worked at the factory for 42 years and believed the job with GM was as stable as America offered. Now George fears if Washington doesn't lend a hand, the hall family will lose its final support from the American icon that employed them for decades.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, Linden, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Picking his team. Aides say President-elect Barack Obama is on track to nominate Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state. A source says the process is moving forward.

Our Jessica Yellin is covering the Obama transition team, joining us now from Chicago.

Good to see you.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Good to see you.

That's right, Barack Obama's transition team says that Senator Clinton has cleared key hurdles in the vetting process, and that is why this is on track right now. The aides we connected with say that it could come as early as late November, after Thanksgiving, that we could see her nominated by Barack Obama. But the language they're using, I should caution, is not -- makes it clear this is not yet a done deal.

What has evolved is this week, former President Bill Clinton made key concessions, agreeing that if she should become secretary of state, if his wife does take that post, he would be willing to give up day-to-day responsibility of his foundation and reveal some of his donors, submit key speeches for ethics review, all that sort of thing, which has clearly helped make this process go smoothly and put Senator Clinton in a position to accept an offer, if it's formally made.

The question is, is this what Senator Clinton wants to do? And at the same time, we're learning from Democratic aides on Capitol Hill that leadership there is proposing Senator Clinton take a new job in the Senate, that she could be another member of leadership. So she has some choices to make, and it does seem the ball is in her court at this time.

There's one other little bit of news I can share with you, Fredricka. CNN's Ed Henry has confirmed that -- and was actually the first to report -- that General Jim Jones, a man with many decades of service, military service, is also a leading candidate to run the National Security Council inside the White House. He has strong relationships with current Secretary Gates, who, it's rumored, could stay on, and also strong relationships with Senator Hillary Clinton.

So if the cabinet should shape up to include those two folks, General Jim Jones, somebody who has good relationships with all those people. All of this, though, as you can tell, is a game of musical chairs at this point. We can't be certain. A lot of speculation, a lot of talk right now. Nothing's done until they make the final announcement -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And in the meantime, Jessica, talking about security, let's talk about the security of the president-elect's cell phone records. Tell me the story on that.

YELLIN: That's right. We've learned that Barack Obama's cell phone records were breached, that employees of the Verizon company looked at his cell phone records. That means they got a glimpse at the numbers of the people he's called, phone numbers of his friends and contacts. But we're told by the Obama team that this was an old phone number, not a phone that he currently uses, that there was no listening in on his calls, no listening to his voice mail.

But it clearly is a breach, and Verizon says that they are investigating. They've put everybody on leave that looked at these records, and they're determining which of these people did it improperly, and they will be fired, they say -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. Jessica Yellin in Chicago.

Thanks so much for that update.

Meantime, we're going to update you on the nation's top legal man and his collapse overnight. We'll get a live update from Washington at George Washington University Hospital on the attorney general's condition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some pretty frightening moments last night for Attorney General Michael Mukasey. In Washington, he collapsed while giving a speech to a legal group at a hotel there in Washington, D.C. And of course he was taken to the hospital, George Washington University Hospital, where we understand from the Justice Department spokesperson that he seems to have suffered from a fainting spell, but it's unclear any more than that. We're waiting. An update, again, from the Justice Department there, at that live shot location right there outside of George Washington University Hospital there in the nation's capital, to get an update on his condition. We do understand that he is to be in good spirits, he is coherent at this juncture. But the U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey being hospitalized right now, still, at George Washington University Hospital.

When that live update takes place from the Department of Justice, we'll be able to bring that to you.

Meantime, our own neurosurgeon, Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, will also be reviewing some of the video of Mukasey, because that collapse was captured on videotape. You've probably seen it all morning long. It's pretty unsettling, but in about 15 minutes, we'll see if Dr. Gupta has spotted anything that we can glean from what may have caused this collapse, other than the so-called fainting spell now coming from the Justice Department.

Meantime, let's talk about President Bush. He's on his way to Peru this hour, in perhaps the final overseas trip on his presidential schedule.

Mr. Bush will attend a summit of Pacific Rim leaders. The focus is expected to be the global money crisis.

The president will try to convince leaders to sign on to the G-20 recovery plan announced last weekend while he hosted the G-20 nations last weekend in Washington. He'll also hold side meetings with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev . Relations with Russia have deteriorated since the two met briefly back in April. And President Bush will also sit down with leaders from Japan, South Korea, as well as China.

So as world leaders try to find solutions to the economic crisis, a newly released U.S. intelligence report envisions what the world might be like in the year 2025 when it comes to terrorism and the balance of power. As for the U.S., well, both good and bad news.

Joining me now is international security analyst Jim Walsh.

Good to see you

JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So I guess what's surprising and maybe a little troubling, too, that the U.S. influence around the world might be waning, according to this report.

Do you buy that? I mean, 2025 is pretty far off to look into, but this is a report that comes out about every year for the last four years. Is there much credence in this kind of forecast?

WALSH: Well, you know, as the authors will tell you themselves, it's not a hard prediction. History does not move in a straight line. And it depends on what we do. You know, whether we're successful, whether we make mistakes.

But it does look at broad trends. And on the trend that you identified, which, of course, for all Americans is not particularly good news, that is a trend that I think most of my colleagues take to be true, which is the U.S. will increasingly over time...

WHITFIELD: Hold that thought for a second, Jim. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but we're now going to go to George Washington University Hospital. I'll get back to you, Jim, in a moment.

We want to hear now from Gina Talamona -- she's the spokesperson for the Justice Department -- on the condition of Mukasey.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GINA TALAMONA, SPOKESPERSON, JUSTICE DEPT.: .. which can be associated with stroke.

He had a stress test. It was completely normal. The doctors said he's in good shape and basically that he beat the machine.

He also had a stress echocardiogram which was also completely normal. He's been basically given a clean bill of health. We expect him to be released in the next couple of hours, and we also anticipate that he will be back at the department later today.

Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So short and sweet. The attorney general, Michael Mukasey, said to be in good spirits.

His stress tests were normal, according to the spokesperson there, Gina Talamona, with the Justice Department, and he was given a clean bill of health, even though he had that very public collapse taking place at that black tie dinner engagement there in Washington, D.C., overnight. He will, however, be released from the hospital, George Washington University Hospital, in Washington just within the next couple of hours, according to the spokesperson there.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be joining us momentarily to give us a little bit more about what this clean bill of health might mean, what that sudden fainting spell might mean as well.

Meantime, let's pick up from where we left off with Jim Walsh, talking about 2025 and where the U.S. stands in terms of economic and social and political power -- before I had to interrupt you.

Let's pick up on looking ahead, why the U.S., I guess, importance or relevance might be waning that far off in advance.

WALSH: Well, it's because some of the countries behind us are growing in power. It's not so much that we're diminishing. And the report is careful to say that we will still exert a lot of influence, we'll still be a dominant military power. I think that that's likely.

But when you think about growth rates in China, growth rates in India, the fact that China and India make up about half the planet's population, they're going to be making more money over time, those economies are growing. China is already the number two economy, and as they go up, our relative power, compared to these other countries, is going to decline.

It will no longer be, in the words of political science, a unipolar moment. It's going to be multipolar. There will be several countries at the top of that food chain that have political and economic influence.

WHITFIELD: So that economic wealth shifting from West to East, meaning the U.S. is going to rely a lot more on China and India, even though already seemingly we do.

WALSH: Yes, that's right, because that's where the demand is. That's going to be the demand for products. That's going to be the demand for commodities like oil. But the report also points out that there are other trends that sort of favor the United States, as opposed to some of these other countries, particularly when it comes to age.

A lot of the countries, Japan, China, others, they have aging populations. The U.S. has, relative to those countries, a younger population. That is in the U.S. favor. So it's not all black, it's not all white.

WHITFIELD: All right. When we talk about national security, our greatest threat has been from al Qaeda and very similar terrorist groups. However, according to this report, al Qaeda's influence, their stock, might be waning as well, and perhaps over time, may not be as great a threat regardless of who is in power here in the United States.

WALSH: Yes, absolutely. And in some ways, that may come as a shock to people, it shouldn't be too surprising.

Very few terrorist groups last forever. You know, like a lot of small businesses, they start up and then they peter out after a while. But more particularly, the reasons for al Qaeda is there are internal and there are external reasons.

Internally, the more you get to know al Qaeda, the less you like them. We saw this famously in Iraq, where the Sons of Iraq were previously people who collaborated with al Qaeda. Al Qaeda came in and posed extreme Islamic law, enforced it with extreme violence, and these people pulled back and were disaffected and joined the other side.

You saw it in polling numbers in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. After attacks in those countries, al Qaeda's popularity began to decline.

So again, the more you know them, the less you like them. And so there are internal reasons and there are other reasons as well. You know, as hopefully economies grow and people find employment, there will be less of a pool for al Qaeda to recruit from. But, finally, let me say, Fredricka, what is important here is this is a general line. It's partly up to us. If we go and make a big mistake and arouse -- you know, if we bomb Iran and suddenly all the Muslim and Arab world is mad at us again, well, that's going to help al Qaeda. So these are general predictions, but the ball is still in our court. We still have to make wise policy choices.

WHITFIELD: All right. Predictions made by the National Intelligence Council report on global trends, 2025.

Jim Walsh, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

WALSH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: The ups and downs of the market. And you're wondering, should I stay or run? CNN Personal finance Editor Gerri Willis answers your e-mail questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A clean bill of health for U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, following that collapse last night.

Our Jeanne Meserve is at George Washington University Hospital.

And Jeanne, we heard from the spokesperson with the Department of Justice issuing what she -- what really sounds like pretty comforting news for the attorney general.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very positive news. They said he should be out of the hospital in the next couple of hours and expects to be back at the department, back on the job, sometime later this afternoon.

They did a series of tests on the attorney general, and thus far, they haven't turned up anything. She mentioned a CT scan, a clear MRI. They've ruled out a transient eschemic attack, which is something associated with a stroke.

She said they've done a stress test, that he did well on that, even beat the machine. And they've done a stress echocardiogram, and that also looked normal.

So it may be what they said earlier, that it may just have been a case of fainting. They said that perhaps the long hours, the late hour, and the heat of the light, had some affect on him as he was giving that speech last night to the Federalist Society.

It certainly was a frightening scene for the attorney general, I'm sure, and for people in the audience. You saw him speaking at the podium, and he began to slur his words and then lean forward. He fell on to the rostrum and then to the floor. He was treated by his FBI security detail and a doctor in the room before the emergency crews got here and swept him off to George Washington University Hospital.

He was described last night as being quite alert, feisty, even, but they kept him here overnight as a precaution, did these additional tests this morning. And as you've heard, thus far they haven't turned up anything disturbing or unusual.

Back to you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Jeanne, it's so unsettling to see the video. You know, it is painful to actually watch, but it is so good to hear at this juncture, too, that he's getting that clean bill of health and the spokeswoman saying that he's going to be back to work. Wow. What a workaholic.

All right. Jeanne Meserve, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Glad to know that all is well.

A reminder. Just in case you didn't know, it is Friday, which means it's time for Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis to answer some of your e-mail questions.

And what great questions, Gerri, we've got.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: A good host of questions that really addresses so many concerns that so many people have.

So, first question, "I have nine years left to retirement. I'm not hurting for cash. Both my wife and I work and make a pretty good income. I'm still optimistic about the stock market coming back by retirement. I don't want to bail out and sell, but should I continue to invest my $600 a month?"

That's from Alan in New York.

What do you think?

WILLIS: Well, Alan, you know, if you're not hurting for cash, then it makes sense to keep your money in the stock market, especially since you're close to a decade until retirement. Remember, even when you're in retirement you'll still have some of your portfolio in stocks to prevent you from outliving your money.

Look, historically, stocks have turned in one direction. That's up, but over time. However -- and this is a big "however" -- if you're thinking about investing in mutual funds outside of a retirement plan, you might want to hold off until the first of the year to sidestep some really ugly tax consequences.

WHITFIELD: OK.

And this next question, "What are your thoughts about going through a debt relief program to settle credit card debt?"

WILLIS: You know, we get this question a lot, Fredricka. As the economy weakens, more and more folks are using these debt settlement companies, paying them a lot of money. Frankly, we don't advise it. Look, these companies may tell to you stop paying your debt immediately. That's a really bad thing.

This will not only continue to damage your credit report, but you'll still be accruing debt, late fees, interest from your creditor. Plus, with some of these debt settlement companies, you have to pay fees.

Your best bet here, go to a legitimate credit counseling organization. Go to NFCC.org to find some help, but be careful with those debt settlement guys.

WHITFIELD: Yes, because you don't want to end up owing more.

WILLIS: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: All right. And this one I think really applies to everybody. "Should I pay off low-interest credit cards every month versus saving the extra money in a savings account for that rainy day, and not pay the credit card off full every month, especially in this market?"

That's from Lori (ph) in Pennsylvania.

WILLIS: Well, Lori (ph), who hasn't tried to figure this one out, right? I think the best thing you can do right now, pay off those credit cards in full each month. If you don't pay the full amount off each month, you're just digging yourself deeper into very expensive debt.

Now, while your interest rate may be low, you'll get a better value for your money than if you put it into a savings account which generally has low yields. You've got to compare the two interest rates.

That said, if you have any money left over after you pay your bills, sock it away into an emergency fund that you can tap. You know, this is a tough economy right now. You may need that money. The sooner you do this, the better off you'll be.

And of course, if you have any questions, send them to me at gerri@cnn.com. Love to hear from you. We are getting a flood of e- mail, and love to be able to talk with the viewers.

WHITFIELD: Good. And we love to hear your answers, Gerri. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

WILLIS: Thank you, Fred. Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you as well.

And as the most serious credit crisis in decades does rock your finances, my finances, everybody's finances, CNNMoney.com has some advice and answers. Check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis." That's at CNNMoney.com. All right. Well, did you listen to what Barack Obama was saying during the campaign? Forget red and blue states. He wants America all one color.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Congress tells auto executives go back to Detroit and draw up plans to retool their companies. Lawmakers say they'll reconsider a bailout package then. CNN's Kate Bolduan is on Capitol Hill this morning.

How is it going there?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, you summed it up right there.

The bailout, the auto industry bailout is back in the hands of Detroit. Democratic leaders came out yesterday to say there will be no emergency loan to help the auto industry until automakers come back with a detailed plan of how they're going to use the money. They say the hearings this past week did not offer any justification for that in the words of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and so they are postponing a decision. They have postponed the decision on whether or not to offer this help to the auto industry.

Now, the Senate minority leader, the Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, he came out just a few short minutes ago to give his view on the Democratic leaders' move with the auto industry. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MICTH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: My advice would be do you want to play games, or do you want to make a law. It strikes me that the Bond/Voinovich proposal, which is basically rewriting the terms of money that we have already appropriated would be a way to get a law.

All of these other versions are not going to be signed by the current president, so the majority is going to have to decide whether it wants to actually accomplish something before the current president leaves office or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: You see there Senator McConnell skeptical that there will be any kind of legislation being passed before this session -- this president leaves office.

Now the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she just held her weekly press conference a few short minutes ago as well. And she did say that she, and the Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are preparing a letter to send to the Big Three, Fredricka. And in the letter they're offering more specifics on what they're looking for in what they're asking when they have been using the buzzwords of viability and accountability. She says they're going to give them some more specifics of what they want to see when the Big Three send back their plan, which they have a deadline of December 2nd.

WHITFIELD: As in, answer some of the questions, because they failed to do a lot of that.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Quite simply put.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Very basically, what are you going to do with the money and how is it going to lead to financial stability? A big question that they are going to have to answer.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right. Kate Bolduan on the Hill, thanks so much.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

WHITFIELD: All right, just down the street on Pennsylvania Avenue, Barack Obama may arrive at the White House with a totally different style of politics. At least that's what he's been saying. CNN's Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice over): President-Elect Obama reaches out to Hillary Clinton for his Cabinet. He meets with John McCain.

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Just going to have a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country.

SCHNEIDER: He advises Senate Democrats not to be too harsh on Joe Lieberman. He sends his new chief of staff to meet with Republican leaders of Congress.

REP. RAHM EMANUEL, CHIEF OF STAFF, OBAMA WHITE HOUSE: There is enough area and enough goodwill for ideas from both parties to solve those challenges.

SCHNEIDER: A new kind of politics?

OBAMA: If we want to meet the challenges of this moment, we're going to get beyond the old ideological debates, the old divides between left and right.

SCHNEIDER: Obama is not the first president to set out to end the red versus blue divide that has defined American politics since the 1960s. Bill Clinton promised "a third way." George W. Bush said he would be a "uniter, not a divider", but the two baby boomer presidents ended up being defined by the cultural divide.

The generation Obama brings to power, some are calling it Generation "O", does not identify with the left/right battles of the '60s. In his book "The Audacity of Hope", Obama writes about moving beyond "the psychodrama of the Baby Boom generation, a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago." It was Hillary Clinton who ran as the tough partisan fighter.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: If I tell you I will fight for you, that is exactly what I intend to do.

SCHNEIDER: Obama's style is not partisan or ideological. It's casual, cool, connected, like Generation "O." You could call it the "Whassup, dude?" approach to politics.

(on camera): All this reaching out does have some progressives worried. They don't want the new president to reach too far.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was classic just to hear Bill say "whassup."

All right. Well, times are tough as we approach the year and holiday gift-giving season. Lots of pressure on. Looking for a bargain? We found some, in five minutes we'll detail them for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a little bit of good news. Stocks on Wall Street are seeing some gains today. But over the past few days the market has lost more than $1 trillion in value and now, there are concerns that another big bank is in trouble.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details. Do tell?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fred.

Overall we're seeing a calm after the storm. The Dow plunged more than 10 percent over the past two days. That is the biggest percentage drop since the crash of 1987. Today stocks overall, attempting to rally, and perhaps find a bottom. Right now the Dow industrials are up 65 points. Make that 66, or nearly 1 percent. The Nasdaq is up 0.5 percent. The broader S&P 500 is up two-thirds of a percent after closing at a level we haven't seen since 1997.

Citigroup is the company you were referring to, Fred. Citi shares, once again, getting crushed, right now down 15 percent. By far the biggest loser of the Dow 30. Reports say Citigroup management told employees today, in a worldwide conference call, it will not break up the company. Shares were rallying before open on reports that was one of the options that Citi was taking, and reversed course on these newer reports, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So, this is not very encouraging if Citigroup is one of those that actually received -- or is receiving -- billions of government dollars, why isn't this helping?

LISOVICZ: It boils down to confidence, Fredricka. There is a crushing lack of confidence. It's really psychology at this point. One analyst saying it's not balance sheets, bad balance sheets. It's not fundamentals. It's fear and confidence. And you know, there are a lot of unanswered questions. We've been talking about for days now we're at a terribly sensitive time. We have a transition in power. We don't know what happening with Detroit's Big Three. Banks are hording money.

What is happening is you're seeing investors flee financials. Citi shares, right now, are going for less than $4. They traded for $57, a record high less than two years ago. Analysts say Citi needs to raise more dough. Despite that, it's CEO says - reportedly says, Citi's liquidity is strong. The problem is rumor mongering. What we can't deny that financials remain under tremendous pressure.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Tight times, scary times for everybody. Thanks so much, Susan. Appreciate it.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome, Fred.

WHITFIELD: The holidays are indeed here. And for some, instead of spending, it means cutting back. Veronica De La Cruz has been watching the web this morning to see what kind of activity you've been finding -- Veronica.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fred.

We were just listening to Susan. There definitely are tough times. I wanted to go ahead and tell you about some Web sites, I wanted to show you. They're going to help you save some dough this holiday season. The first one is called Ebates.com. And most people don't know that retailers send kickbacks to Web sites that send shoppers their site, Fred. So if you actually access their store through Ebates, Ebates is going to share a portion of that kickback with you. Now, an added bonus if you sign up on Ebates.com right now they actually going to give you a free holiday gift card. So there is a bonus for you. That's Ebates.com.

Another great way to save, Fredricka, is by clip coupons. You can do that online virtually at Retailmenot.com. The site is user friendly if you want to shop at specific store, let's just say maybe Target, enter in the name of the store. All of the coupon codes for that specific store appear. You can also read user reviews. That is going to tell you whether or not the coupon code works, how much money you are going to be able to save.

If you're shopping for something specific this year, you can use Dealalerter.com to browse several online stores. You can compare prices, set a target price on that item, so when there is a price drop you receive an e-mail.

You know, many people put off shopping online, Fred, because they don't want to spend money on shipping charges. And Freeshipping.org tells you which stores are offering free shipping, provide shipping codes. So that way when you check out you can save yourself some cash.

Now industry analysts, of course, forecasting a bleak holiday shopping season. We have been asking on our Facebook group, will you be curbing your holiday spending? John Robinson says, "This year, if it's not paid in cash, it's not going to be bought. With the economy the way it is, I can't see any good reason to increase my debt. Besides, I'm worried that some places I tend to shop may not be around for long after Christmas. I don't want to get hung out to dry on expensive item returns, gift cards or warranty issues."

Of course, you can join discussion online, just search Veronica De La Cruz in the CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris on Facebook. You can also find me on Twitter at VeronicaDLCruz -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Veronica, I think it is going to be a very thin holiday shopping season for everyone. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Let's check in with Reynolds Wolf in the Weather Center. All kinds of things going on, including snow.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

WHITFIELD: We are counting your votes, more than 1 million of you logged on to CNN.com to pick who should be CNN's Hero of the Year. The announcement comes on Thanksgiving night. Meanwhile, we've asked some celebrities to tell us who their heroes now. Here is musician John Legend on his African hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.

JOHN LEGEND, MUSICIAN: Last year, in October, I visited Mbola, Tanzania. Folks in Mbola are starting with supreme disadvantage. Most of them are living on less than $1 a day. It's difficult for them to even survive. And that's where I met Mama.

MWADAWA RUZIGA, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: My name is Mwadawa Ruziga. I am the leader of a group that uses local fruit to make jam, wine and juice.

Before I joined the group, my life was at an all-time low. But slowly my life changed for the better. We sell our products at different trade shows. Now the members are more educated, and the money they make helps them to take care of their basic needs.

LEGEND: I was really inspired by a willingness to not just kind of wait for a handout, but really take an active role in helping to uplift her community.

RUZIGA: The group has really lifted my life, and give me hope.

LEGEND: Mama Ruziga, she is a leader. She's inspirational and she's one of my heroes.

ANNOUNCER: CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute, Thanksgiving night on CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Hey, you don't want to miss that tribute. Be sure to watch CNN's all-star tribute to find out who will become CNN's Hero of the Year. It's live with Anderson Cooper there, Thanksgiving night, 9:00 Eastern, just a reminder right here on CNN.

All right. Now, our Doctor Sanjay Gupta joins us next with a closer look at what happened to Attorney General Mukasey when he collapsed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Within the hour the Justice Department released a statement outside George Washington University Hospital that the U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is in good condition and will be released from the hospital in a matter of hours, after collapsing last night during a speech there in the nation's capitol.

Now we have an official written statement from Michael Mukasey himself. I'm going read it to you saying: "Dear colleagues, as you may have heard, I chanced briefly last night at the conclusion of a speech. All tests at the hospital have come back with good results and I feel fine. Accordingly, I plan to report to the department this afternoon, and to continue doing the work I swore to do last November, and which it has been an honor to do with you ever since. Thank you for your good wishes and your good work. It has been and remains an honor to serve with you."

This statement coming from the Attorney General Michael Mukasey, after collapsing last night during a speaking engagement and being hospitalized at George Washington University Hospital.

Now we're joined by our Chief Medical Correspondent Doctor Sanjay Gupta to help us understand how it is you get a clean bill of health after this kind of sudden collapse, pretty unsettling, unnerving, but they did a number of tests, and the spokesperson says he seems to be OK, and has a clean bill of health.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They did a lot of those tests and they did a lot of those quickly, which is sort of the key here.

One of the things people have been paying attention to is exactly what was the nature of this collapse? And we want to show this video to you. It is a little bit hard to watch, I will warn you. Take a look. I can sort of break it down for you here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MUKASEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL: And then -- the country is -- as was -- as a result - as a result - as a result --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: There is some loss of words there, some word finding difficulties, repeating of words. You can see he fell to his right side a little bit and then slumped down to the floor. All of these are sort of clues that, they are clues to look for, for doctors are private investigating this over the last several hours to find out was this some sort of interruption of blood flow to the brain? When you look at the brain here, sometimes you can get blood clots that can form within some of these small blood vessels. You can also get bleeding that can sometimes occur in this area, and blockages in some of the blood vessels that lead to the brain itself.

He had a bunch of tests. Which is exactly what they're looking for. CAT scan to find out of there is any bleeding in the brain. They looked in his heart, to see if there are any clots within the heart, and the function of the heart was OK. Check his blood to make sure his blood sugar, for example wasn't too low. What they concluded it looked like everything was fine. Very good news for the 67-year-old. This is exactly what happens and it's a good reminder, I think, as well, Fred, that if people have these sort of symptoms, sudden loss of speech or sudden weakness or numbness, they should get it checked out, just like the attorney general did.

WHITFIELD: Gosh, but in that case it seems like it just happened so suddenly. That he wouldn't even have time to react. Are we saying possibly he could have felt something much earlier in the evening before it all kind of came tumbling down like that?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, it's a little bit hard to say, because if someone's feeling dehydrated they may start to get a little bit of a headache, start to feel uncomfortable. Who knows if he was feeling that way ahead of time. That's quite possible. But, again, getting the blood pressure checked and getting those tests, that's the key. We show these sorts of stories so it is a good message for people to remember at home, in case they experience any of these things.

WHITFIELD: Right. Listen to your body.

GUPTA: Good advice, always.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, appreciate it very much. We're glad to hear that Michael Mukasey will be heading back to work, and that he feels fine enough to do so.

A lavish party spot for the rich and recession-proof. Is there such a thing? It is opening as economies around the world are struggling. See for yourself as we take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Considering it lifestyles of the rich and recession- proof? Sure, the economy's around the world are struggling but you'd never know it at the grand opening party for a fancy new resort in Dubai.

CNN's Tim Lister takes it all in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The numbers tell the story. A $20-million launch party for a $1.5 billion project. One of the most luxurious resorts the world has ever seen. Featuring a breathtaking sound and light show and a fireworks display seven times more extravagant than the opening ceremony to the Beijing Olympics; 100,000 specially designed fireworks up in smoke illuminating 40 kilometers of coastline and an archipelago of reclaimed land stretching into the Gulf.

Quite a debut for Atlantis, the Palm, in Dubai, where the facilities and 1,500 rooms marks the ultimate in opulence and where the top suite will set you back $35,000 a night. And 65,000 fish swim in an aquarium of 11 million liters of water. It's the latest luxury destination developed by Sol Kerzner, whose company owns resorts and casinos around the world. But he admits the party could have been better timed and says his one and only group of resorts is hurting.

One hotel (ph), the Mirage, here in Dubai is operating pretty well, but it's under pressure, there's no question. I think it's certainly part of the global downturn. And I think Dubai is one of the last places to begin to feel it.

LISTER: And the other numbers tell a different story. Just last week, Kerzner's company fired 800 staff at his Bahamas Atlantis flagship and put others developments around the world on hold.

Opening his new property, Kerzner is confident in the long run the Atlantis in Dubai will be a great investment. But right now, the horizon isn't too bright. Worldwide hotel demand is falling, occupancy in Dubai in recent months has hovered around 50 percent. After years of heady growth fed by wild speculation, Dubai is feeling the pressure.

Too much property, a banking crisis, high debt loads. Not the most auspicious time for Kerzner and his Dubai partners to throw such a lavish party, but for one night, at least, his guests can forget the world's larger troubles.

Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)