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Obama Expected to Announce Economic Team & Stimulus Plan; New Jersey Nets Offer Job Fair for Fans; Thanksgiving Bargain; Girl Gives Fiance Kidney

Aired November 24, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The rescue, your return. The government backs stopping bad loans and injecting more cash at Citigroup. What you're getting for the investment.
And he is hoping to kick up confidence in troubling times. Barack Obama unveils his economic team and more details on his repair plan.

It is Monday. Hello, everybody. November 24th. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Heidi Collins. And you are in the NEWSROOM.

OK. First up, shoring up and shelling out. The government has rushed to the rescue of a banking giant. The Feds are funneling $20 billion of new taxpayer cash into Citigroup. But that may only be the beginning.

The government has agreed to cover bad loans that could run into the hundreds of billions of dollars. The reasoning? Citigroup is simply too big and too vital to fail.

Now nervous investors may be comforted by the bold action. Markets, they are mostly up across Asia and Europe.

And CNN's money team up and awake this morning. In place to break it all down for you, CNN's Christine Romans looks at the big picture. Allan Chernoff narrows the focus to the thousands of employees who are simply in limbo at this hour.

So let's begin with Christine.

Christine, if you could, please explain how this money, how this new plan, is supposed to solve part of the financial crisis?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's supposed to stabilize things right here. We know that Citigroup has had its stock price absolutely decimated over the past week. A share of Citigroup's stock Friday got all the way down to $3.77 a share.

I mean think of that. A share price, a -- one piece of stock, one share of stock in Citi actually less than the fees you pay for using a Citi card outside of the network. I mean that is really phenomenal and the government, all over the weekend with these important meetings, coming in to backstop losses against toxic assets worth more than $300 billion and will purchase another $20 billion directly into this company, so injecting another $20 billion on top of the $25 billion that they've already put in there.

Remember under TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Plan, that $700 billion bailout, they've already put $25 billion in, putting another $20 billion in now. And in return, shareholders are going to get $27 billion of preferred stock. They get some warrants. That means they can buy more stock in the future.

I mean shareholders taking a stake in this company. The government taking a big stake in this company and then in return for that, there will be some -- interests that they'll pay to us, of course. But we just don't know how much the value will be, ultimately, of what the taxpayers are going to put forth.

I mean we're backstopping up to $306 billion in losses. I mean we just don't know what the prospects are here going forward. The company has said, of course, that it is solid, that it has good capitalization, but clearly, investors completely lacked confidence in this company.

The Treasury and the Fed said that they had to do this to -- it was necessary to strengthen the financial system and protect U.S. taxpayers and the U.S. economy. Clearly, an important move here, the most recent move in shoring up what has become a shaky financial system.

Citigroup, a huge company, a respected behemoth on Wall Street, that now, I mean, this is essentially a big, huge handout from taxpayers, you know, to -- give it a lifeline to keep it afloat -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Is it a smart investment? I mean we are paying for this. We are the taxpayers. Smart investment here? Because, you know, experts are saying it's just simply too big to fail.

ROMANS: Is it a smart investment or was there no other choice? That's the big question. And how did, how did they spend the first $25 billion that the United States government gave them? We just, we just don't know.

That's one of the things about these investments into these banks. The original capitalization of these banks came with no string. There are some strings attached to this most recent $20 billion. They can keep their CEO, but there will be limits to executive compensation.

They will not be allowed to give a dividend of more than a penny to their other shareholders and they'll also have to work on the mortgages that they own. They're going to have to use an FDIC model like the FDIC with Indymac and they're going to have to help people manage their mortgages and actually rewrite some of these mortgage terms so that it will help people.

So the government, this time, putting some more strings on that, that money that they gave them.

NGUYEN: Yes, it does make sense. OK. Christine Romans, joining us live, thank you for that.

ROMANS: Sure.

NGUYEN: You know these are tense times for Citigroup and its shareholders, but the people who work there, they really have been worried this morning. Tens of thousands already facing layoffs and more could follow.

Our Allan Chernoff is here with that part of the story. So is this good news for them?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is good news for the employees of Citigroup, not that people won't be losing their jobs, but for the company as a whole, most positives.

Indeed, I spoke with the chief financial officers of the company just a few minutes ago. He said not only is this very positive, he said, quote, "this is a huge amount of capital coming from the government," and he said this is money that stabilizes, gives Citigroup the strength to endure this very challenging environment right now.

Now one of the employees walking in early this morning said to me that the chief executive officer of the company had said to employees, we are going to make a lot of money. Now he said we're going to make that money once the world economy stabilizes.

Citigroup believes it's very well positioned to capitalize all around the globe once the economy does stabilize. This bailout is part of that effort.

Now customers of the company, they said to me, they think the government simply had to do this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCELO CABRAL, CITIBANK CUSTOMER: I think the bailout is positive. That's what the government should do. It's inevitable and as a customer, I'm -- feeling that my savings and my deposits will be fine.

JIM CONNOLLY, CITIBANK CUSTOMER: They have $2 trillion in assets. So they're too big to go down. If they go down, Bank of America, everyone else, I think they're too big.

CHERNOFF: Too big a domino.

CONNOLLY: Yes, absolutely. I think that this would be bigger than Lehman Brothers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: And, of course, when Lehman Brothers failed earlier this year that precipitated a huge snowballing effect in this financial crisis. Betty, right now, as you say, in spite of this good news, a lot of employees here are still very, very nervous. Last week the company announced plans to lay off 52,000 workers.

NGUYEN: Right. Goodness. All right. Allan Chernoff joining us live -- thank you, Allan, for that.

And investors seem to be in favor of the Citigroup bailout and the markets, well, they are headed for a positive open. Of course we're going to check on that, take you straight to Wall Street for the opening bell and check in with Susan Lisovicz at the bottom of the hour.

But in the meantime President-elect Barack Obama takes office in 57 days and when he does his aides say he will hit the ground running, starting with his plan to revitalize the economy.

Now he's looking to save or create 2.5 million jobs by January of 2011.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We'll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel efficient cars and the alternative energy technology that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: His economic team still has to work out those details and he's going to introduce the leaders of that team a little bit later today. The question right now is, who is on it?

Well, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is in the know as always, joining us from Washington.

Suzanne, some familiar names that we've been looking at.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. Obviously there's a lot of work to be done in the wake -- in the wake of the Citigroup bailout. Obama today is formally going to name his economic team at his news conference.

Now it includes New York Fed chair, Tim Geithner, who will take over as the treasury secretary, and what makes him an important choice is that, as the New York Fed chair, he's already been involved in the federal bailout plan. So he's really going to be a link between what's happening now in the Bush administration and what's going to take place in the Obama administration.

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, he's going to be a top economic adviser and he is seen as someone who can help shape the economic policy in the early days, while Geithner is going to get his head around running the Treasury Department, dealing with the bailout. So those are two different roles.

We also just got word that Christina Roamer, an economics professor at University of California Berkeley -- she's going to be chairing the President's Council of Economic Advisers. And what makes her unique is that she's an academic, she's also a Washington outsider, whose expertise -- she has expertise in the depression of the '30s -- really seen as an asset in trying to get a handle on what is taking place in the crisis now.

So Obama says he hopes to sign this two-year economic package very soon after he takes office and I'm sure, Betty, that we're going to be hearing more details about that. But, obviously, just trying to convince the American people that he is, in fact, on top of all of this.

NGUYEN: Yes. And you know, speaking of details, we've been hearing a lot of names, including Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton -- any news there?

MALVEAUX: Well, we expect Obama to name Richardson secretary of commerce. Richardson brings a lot of experience on the state level when it comes to this. He has already dealt with some of the issues that Obama is talking about as the governor of New Mexico.

He took state money and invested it in industries like solar companies and aviation companies, really a way to kind of create jobs to boost local businesses.

As for Hillary Clinton, and everybody is keeping a close eye on that, there are two sources close to her have told me that they fully expect her to accept the position of secretary of state. Other sources telling CNN that Obama is on track to nominate her as the secretary of state and that announcement could come during the Thanksgiving holidays. So we're all keeping our eye on that, Betty.

NGUYEN: You're not going to get any time off, are you?

MALVEAUX: No, I don't think I am.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: The story goes on...

NGUYEN: You are not only employee of the month, but the campaign and beyond. I've already nominated you.

MALVEAUX: Good. I'll take it.

NGUYEN: All right. Thanks, Suzanne.

Here is a closer look at Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers.

Now as president of the New York Fed, Geithner was involved in weekend talks to rescue Citigroup. Before the Fed, he was with the International Monetary Fund and served as under-secretary of the treasury for international affairs.

Let's get to Larry Summers now. Currently a professor and past president of Harvard, was treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. He also was a chief economist with the World Bank.

And, again, we do expect President-elect Obama to formally introduce them as part of his team at noon Eastern. Catch the news conference live right here on CNN.

Well, three about bombings we want to tell you about in Baghdad as Iraqi lawmakers take up the future of U.S. troops in their country. We have a live report on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. So can you feed a family of eight a traditional Thanksgiving meal for just $30? It is possible without cutting corners. You just have to cut coupons and we have a coupon mom right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, this just in to CNN. We understand that President Bush is meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today at 10:00 Eastern and about 45 minutes from now.

He's also going to join members of his Cabinet who are attending the U.S./China strategic economic dialogue meeting and then after that, we hope to hear from the president. He's going to be speaking and we'll bring that statement to you as soon as we get it.

But in the meantime, as we said, President Bush and -- minutes from now, about 45 minutes from now, will be meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. So stay with us for that.

In the meantime, though, the pirate saga around the Horn of Africa -- well, it's getting another twist today. Islamist fighters are vowing to get control of the Saudi oil tanker taken hostage last week and U.S. military officials say the militants may be affiliated with al Qaeda. And they are worried about Islamic extremists getting involved in piracy.

Well, the fighters told residents of the town that they would battle the pirates for the tanker because it is owned by a Muslim country and should not have been stolen.

To Baghdad now where officials say three separate bombings killed at least 19 people this morning. One of the bombs went off outside the heavily guarded Green Zone, home for many Iraqi government offices and U.S. headquarters in Iraq.

Well, the Iraqi parliament is expected to vote this week on a new security pack that sets a timetable for U.S. forces to leave Iraq.

So CNN's Arwa Damon joins us now from Baghdad and, Arwa, I want to talk to you about the timing of these attacks. Seems very curious. Any chance it's tied to the vote?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, any sort of attacks that we're seeing taking place here is sending out pretty much the same message, and that is that the insurgency, still, despite this relative calm that we're seeing, maintains an ability to attack and exploit weaknesses within Iraq's security apparatus and within the U.S. military security apparatus, as well to talk about the attacks that happened today, specifically the attack that was carried out by that female suicide bomber at the checkpoint just outside of the Green Zone.

The attack happened at one of the times during the day when the checkpoint would be at its busiest at about 8:20 in the morning and that's a checkpoint that according to people that work inside the Green Zone, is also used by members of parliament employees within the various ministries, institutions that exist there and one that at times used by the media.

And this is just underscoring how fragile the security situation here really is. And when it comes to that security agreement that parliament is debating, if it does pass, what it is going to do is pretty much hand over the entire security portfolio to the Iraqis and, in fact, some of the opponents of the agreement are saying that the timing on that is too soon, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. Arwa, let's talk about this security pact for just a second, because, want to know as the vote is coming up this week where does it stand now and what happens, say, if it doesn't pass?

DAMON: Well this is pretty much where we stand right now with that vote expected to take place Wednesday or Thursday. We have the United Iraqi Alliance, which is the largest Shia bloc that has come out and said that they are unanimously for the security agreement.

We have the Sadrists bloc that's loyal to radical Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, that are saying that they are opposed to any sort of agreement between the U.S. and Iraq. We have the Sunni parties that are saying that they will only vote for the agreement if the predominantly Shia government gives them certain guarantees. They do not entirely have a faith in the current government as it stands.

And then we have one of the other smaller Shia parties that quite simply is saying the timing on this is just too soon. If we look at the timeline in the security agreement, especially with that deadline of June 30th, 2009 for a U.S. combat troop withdrawal from all populated areas and then date of 2011. They're saying that that withdrawal timetable is just too fast and that's going to open up the country to even more Iranian influence.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Arwa Damon joining us live.

Thank you, Arwa. Do appreciate that.

Well, this is an odd description for a murder suspect -- loves skate boarding, dirt biking and the movie "Kung Fu Panda." He's only 8 years old.

A St. John's, Arizona boy was arrested and initially charged with the November 5th shooting deaths of his father and another man, but Friday the Apache County prosecutor filed a motion to dismiss the charge in the father's death.

The mom speaking today on ABC's "Good Morning America."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I tell him every day that I love him and I don't know how much more I can express that but I definitely plan on doing that just to let him know that I'm here for him and how much I do love him.

A scared little boy, that's what I hear. Somebody who's very afraid of what's going on.

DIANE SAWYER, HOST, GOOD MORNING AMERICA: Do you feel he was admitting something? Do you think he was trying to please them? Make you want to run in and be with him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does.

SAWYER: Can you tell us about his relationship with his dad?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had a very good relationship with his father. He did a lot with him. He, you know, they did everything together. He loved -- he loved his dad.

SAWYER: So as far as you know there was no anger there? There was no stress there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Not at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, police questioned the boy. This is a videotape of that. That questioning done without an attorney or a family member present. A judge has issued a gag order in the case.

Going bankrupt. The more common sign of our times and it's deeply personal. Often, humiliating and for many, painfully unavoidable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. You have to check out this story. It's really a stirring sign of the times.

Colorado farmers hoping to share a good harvest with people in need, check it out. Some 40,000 people descended on the fields and then stripped them clean. Yes. The potatoes, onions, beats, carrots -- they're expected to last all weekend at least. Instead, all gone within one hour. Well, bankruptcy, it is the bottom line of financial hopelessness, the point when debt becomes just overwhelming and it may not surprise you, personal bankruptcy is now soaring.

CNN's Kate Bolduan has one woman's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN PALUMBO, FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY: You're a good little baby, aren't you? Yes.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jen Palumbo is smiling now but the last few years for her have been anything but joyful.

PALUMBO: There's a lot of soul searching during that process of, you know, how much in debt am I and how much do I have in my account and have I depleted my savings. And it's ugly. It's ugly when you get to that point.

BOLDUAN: That point was the snowball effect of losing her health insurance, getting hit with more than $10,000 in medical bills, and being temporarily out of work in this foundering economy.

She downsized her car, moved in with a friend and found a job. But it all eventually led to bankruptcy.

PALUMBO: I was in a situation where it was either, you know, keep paying minimums and continue to drive my credit down each month because I wasn't paying the full bills on anything, or consider doing the bankruptcy.

BOLDUAN (on camera): More and more people are facing the same harsh reality. The American Bankruptcy Institute says last month personal bankruptcy filings nationwide jumped 40 percent from the same time a year ago.

SAMUEL GERDANO, AMERICAN BANKRUPTCY INSTITUTE: They reflect handed gloves the kind of economic crisis that households are facing and we expect that number to continue to rise.

BOLDUAN: So much so, analysts project the number of new filings this year will exceed 1 million. Experts, including Jen Palumbo's bankruptcy attorney, say the initial uptick in cases resulted from the foreclosure crisis.

But now...

NANCY O. RYAN, BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY: Now I'm seeing more people who are more probably higher income, who have gone through their savings, who have gone through - you know, they start to cash in their retirement, they're doing everything they can and they just can't hold on.

BOLDUAN: Palumbo says filing bankruptcy is still difficult to talk about. But now, with a clean slate, she'll tell you things are looking up as she can finally start looking long term.

PALUMBO: I think, ultimately, that's how I would like the story to end, would be to have my own farm. That's always been my dream.

BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Lovettsville, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: The government throwing a lifeline to Citigroup. Will that breathe new life, though, into the markets? Those big board numbers about to change.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Hello, everybody.

We are following a story just in to CNN and that is President Bush meeting today with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, looking at this video of him right now. That meeting is supposed to take place in about 15 minutes.

He's also going to join members of his Cabinet who are attending a U.S./China strategic economic dialogue meeting and then at 10:35 eastern, we will hear a statement from President Bush and, of course, we'll bring that to you. But again, the president meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Actually about 30 minutes from now.

Speaking of the time, though, like you see a little Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus right there, the opening bell on Wall Street today. A lot of people really watching very closely as government is really investing in a new portion of this bank bailout system.

We're going to get a check of that with, of course, CNN's Susan Lisovicz always at the New York Stock Exchange with a preview of tradings day.

It seems like so far, especially across the pond, people seem to be liking what the government is planning on doing.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. You know, Santa and Mrs. Claus were on the platform, but really they should have had Uncle Sam there because he's really the one bringing good cheer. And that's why you saw rally overseas and that's why we're seeing a rally in the first 30 seconds of trading.

Remember, the Dow is coming off a late 500-point rally to end last week. That was the expected nomination of New York Fed president Timothy Geithner as the next Treasury secretary. But now, today, it's all about Citigroup, the city that never sleeps. Well, perhaps its nightmare is ending.

Citigroup shares right now are up 57 percent. Nearly wiping out the 60 percent plunge it took last week to $3 a share. The government now guaranteeing more than $300 billion worth of Citi's troubled assets, injecting an additional $20 billion to keep Citi afloat. Citi, remember, had already received $25 billion from the government as part of the TARP program. Citi shares surged 40 percent in Europe and one of the reasons why we're seeing that rally over there. Market also paying close attention to what's happening in Washington. Betty, you were talking about what President Bush is going to be doing this morning. Well, also what President-elect Barack Obama is going to be doing, which is announcing his economic team today.

Not only Tim Geithner as his Fed -- his Treasury secretary, but also former Harvard University President Larry Summers. Obama is also working on a new stimulus plan and reports say $500 billion to $700 billion in additional stimulus could be ready for him to sign when he takes office January 20th.

All this news giving the market some upward momentum. Let's take a look at the big board. The Dow right now up 160 points, or two percent. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500, up two percent as well. Market likes what it's hearing so far, Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes. And so do we. Well, keep it going.

Thank you. Appreciate it, Susan.

Well, you know, Citigroup's reach extends far and wide with its diverse business holdings. But under the corporate umbrella, it's many retail banking operations, well, it's business for global transaction service and it has a brokerage firm Smith Barney.

And relief at the pump. We want to talk about that, because two months and counting for the 68 straight day, the nation's average price of gas has fallen. Today's figure just under $1.91. And that is a drop of more than 2 cents from the day before. Today's prices shows that they have fallen more than 53 percent since the July record.

Fixing the broken economy. Talking a lot about it today and President-elect Barack Obama, he's got a to-do list. He's actually put together a team of experts to help him. So, who is on that list? Well CNN's Ed Henry knows. He is on the phone with us from Chicago, where the president-elect is expected to introduce that team to all of us this morning.

So, Ed, you're in the know. What do you know?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Betty. Good morning.

President-elect Obama is obviously moving to try and help stabilize the markets to try to get this personnel in line. There's a bit of a leadership vacuum right now as President Bush is a lame duck. You mentioned he will be talking later this morning. There's some confusion in the markets, obviously, since President-elect Obama has not taken office yet.

He wants to kind of get the lineup going to say, look, on January 20th of next year, we'll hit the ground running. First at the top of the list, Timothy Geithner. He's in line to be Treasury secretary. We're going to have to see that announcement officially here at noon Eastern. He is the head of the New York Fed, a known quantity on Wall Street.

Lawrence Summers will be named to be chief of the National Economic Council within the White House. That will place him as the senior White House adviser on economic issues. He's a former Treasury secretary in the Clinton days. And we're now learning that Christina Romer, a Berkeley economist, will be in charge of the Council of Economic Advisers. That's sort of a different panel within the White House.

It's more of a kind of a research analysis arm, helps formulate economic policy by pulling together all the data, if you will. But Lawrence Summers at the National Economic Council, a separate entity, will actually be formulating a policy working with Tim Geithner.

You'll remember both of those men worked together in the Treasury Department under then Treasury secretary Robert Ruben. So, what we see broadly speaking is the president-elect during this transition period trying to put forward his economic security team first.

Normally in coming presidents put their national security team first, but given this financial crisis, he' laying out the lineup here first, and secondly over the weekend, we got a little bit of a tease of what he's thinking in terms of policy. We expect to hear more of that at this press conference in a couple of hours.

The broad brush is talking about a broad economic stimulus plan, something that could reach the neighborhood of $500 billion to $700 billion over the next two years, and the president-elect is also promising to create 2.5 million new jobs over the first two years of his administration. So, he's hoping that economic stimulus plan will go a long way towards achieving that. But as you know, 2.5 million jobs is heavy order given the fact we've already lost 1.2 million jobs just in the past year. So, we're still creating that many jobs. It's going to be very difficulty. He's going to try to start the work today -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. We'll see if that new team will be able to get it done and quickly.

Thank you, Ed. We do appreciate it. And looking forward to that today here on CNN.

Well, you know, Obama is also focusing on America's role in other countries. Afghanistan, among them. Its President Hamid Karzai says Obama has promised more aid and to pay more attention to Afghanistan once he takes office. They met earlier this year during the campaign and talked about phones -- talked by phone, I should say, on Saturday. Obama's aides would not go into details, reiterating that President Bush is still in charge.

And NBA team giving away tickets to jobless fans. And even better, giving them a chance to suit up with a new employer. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: A consumer expert has some advice that might surprise you about gift cards. It's good information to have before you head out to do your holiday shopping.

And CNN's Christine Romans has the story in today's "Right on Your Money."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): Gift cards are incredibly popular during the holidays. But this year, more than ever, a gift you should probably avoid.

TOD MARKS, CONSUMER REPORTS: More than 60 percent of people are going to be giving gift cards this year. That's an awful lot of money. And 25 percent of folks who receive a gift card for the holidays in 2007 have yet to use them.

ROMANS: And with retailers filing for Chapter 11 left and right, it's hard to know who will be the next to go.

MARKS: But I would suggest that what people do if they have a gift card from a Circuit City or another store that happens to be in Chapter 11 right now, I would say run, don't walk to that store and buy something quickly because just don't know when the plug maybe pulled.

ROMANS: For now, your Circuit City gift card is safe. A judge said the retailer could continue to accept them and even issue more cards while it reorganizes. But you can consider alternative gift ideas this year.

MARKS: I think you should either forget the idea of a gift card, give cash, or a check, or something else, or just simply give them a gift card from a company where you know it's not going to expire.

ROMANS: And that's this week's "Right on Your Money."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Serve a full course Thanksgiving dinner, but don't spend the full amount. The coupon mom is on the case and she's here with some secrets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Listen to this. The NBA's New Jersey Nets offering free tickets and tryouts. No, you can't tryout for the team, but you can tryout with potential employers.

CNN's Susan Candiotti reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rocco Supino has never been to a New Jersey Nets game, but that's not the main reason he's here. Before the Nets and L.A. Clippers hit the court, Supino and hundreds of others hit the arena looking for a job.

(on camera): Did you ever think you'd find yourself at this kind of job fair?

ROCCO SUPINO, JOB SEEKER: Absolutely not.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): The NBA team lined up hundreds of companies, registered resumes online, and threw in free tickets for applicants.

BRETT YOMARK, PRES., CEO N.J. NETS: Over 3,000 applicants have come to us. People really could careless about the tickets right now. They're looking for jobs.

CANDIOTTI: Supino who's been a carpenter, plumber, electrician and a karate instructor drove from Pennsylvania to see if he could find a sports management internship.

SUPINO: I've been on disability. Disability doesn't pay much and I have two kids that need a fair shake at life and I have to provide that for them.

CANDIOTTI: Sports franchises are also in a battle to fill seats.

YOMARK: We are now competing with anyone, any product and/or service that you can spend a dollar on.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): The Nets is not the only team trying to give back to the fans during these tough economic times.

(voice-over): The National Football League is cutting play-off ticket prices about 10 percent. St. Louis Blues hockey fans, when at every home game, can win $4,000 worth of mortgage payments.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: We want to be there for you that's why we are introducing a fan bailout plan that features --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dream job is to be a general manager of a sport team.

CANDIOTTI: Just starting out, Lamar Carter and Shanty Dixon are Nets fans who hope the job fair's database will pay off. And they wonder what player Josh Boone could offer. Boone is just a bit taller than this reporter.

JOSH BOONE, NEW JERSEY NETS FORWARD: Do something that you're passionate about and just, you know, make up your mind that you're going to do it.

CANDIOTTI: The Nets are putting job fair resumes into a database to share with their sponsors. And if those free tickets impress fans enough, the team hopes they'll come back when times are better. Susan Candiotti, CNN, East Rutherford, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, there is still time to get all the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner and save money. Stephanie Nelson is the coupon mom and she is here to tell us how to do this.

Now, Thanksgiving just days away and for folks who haven't already prepared, gotten the turkey and all of that, can they save a lot of money at this late time?

STEPHANIE NELSON, "THE COUPON MOM": Yes. And the good news is that the stores and the manufacturers know what we make for Thanksgiving, so all the traditional ingredients are on the front of the store advertising circulars and they're at rock bottom prices. So, as long as you spend a little bit of time at home, looking at a couple of the store circulars, you can pick the store with the lowest prices and really save.

NGUYEN: OK. So, if I go out today to buy the Thanksgiving dinner, how much am I going to save, or better yet, how much is it going to cost me?

NELSON: Well, you'll save half. It does depend on what your family has and what your total cost is. But I was able to take $75 at regular price and reduce it to $28 by combining not only the sale prices, but also by using coupons.

NGUYEN: So you have an entire Thanksgiving dinner for $28.

NELSON: That's right. And you know, big savings was, well, as I said, coupons. Coupons from the newspaper, but also coupons you can print on-line. So, I realize it is just a few days away from Thanksgiving. For folks who haven't done coupons, you can still go on-line to get printable coupons. They also have new electronic coupons that go right on your store discount card.

NGUYEN: OK, but where do you go for that? Because a lot of times when I go on-line to check this stuff out, you have to register for something to actually get the coupon.

NELSON: That's right. I think there are good sites where you don't have to register. At couponmom.com, we have those. You can also go to smartsource.com and coupons.com. You do have to download a printing device, but it's safe and you don't have to register to print coupons.

NGUYEN: Got you. Now, at this late stage of the game for Thanksgiving, would it save you even more, say if you waited until Wednesday night? Turkey may not thaw out in time, but --

NELSON: I would say no.

NGUYEN: No, OK. NELSON: The prices are as low as they're going to go. You will save half if you get a frozen turkey, instead of a fresh turkey. Big savings there. You still have time for a smaller turkey to thaw. And if you want to thaw it in the sink, if you get a larger turkey, you can go to butterball.com and find out the safe way to do that.

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: Let's move on to the day after Thanksgiving, when we're all up at the crack of dawn trying to get those sales. What's the best way of going about trying to get all the gifts that you want, but not spend a fortune? Because you know how the economy is these days.

NELSON: That's right. And because the economy is the way it is, we can expect to see even more competitive prices this holiday season. Retailers have to make the money now. They might not be in business in 2009. What you want to do is compare some price shop on-line before you go shopping and this is all in a month, not just the day after Thanksgiving to find good deals.

NGUYEN: Well, are there coupons for these items now?

NELSON: Yes.

NGUYEN: Yes?

NELSON: And that's the neat thing. You can find coupons in the newspaper and in the mail, but you can also go on-line and enter the name of the store and the term printable coupon in the search engine. You'll be amazed at what you'll find. And if you print a coupon for a store you're already planning to go to, that's like printing money.

NGUYEN: Exactly.

NELSON: But it's legal.

NGUYEN: I like the sound of that. Now, when we talk about these coupons, especially in this economy, are companies providing fewer of them? Because they're trying to make some money as well.

NELSON: I wouldn't say they are. I think we're seeing a lot of coupons. And we're also going to see competitive price matching. So, ask your store if they'll match competitor's prices and also stores will accept their competitor's coupons. So, even if you can't find a coupon for your store, you might find their competitor's coupon and see if they'll accept it.

NGUYEN: But you have to bring that in to make sure. You can't just say oh so and so has it for cheaper. They want to see the evidence.

NELSON: You need to bring the ad to show the price. And if you have the competitor coupon, obviously you would bring that in.

NGUYEN: See? That's why you're the coupon mom. Thanks so much for your information. A lot of these coupons on your Web site. What is that, again?

NELSON: Couponmom.com.

NGUYEN: Easy enough to remember. Thanks so much, Stephanie.

NELSON: Thanks for having me. Happy Thanksgiving.

NGUYEN: You, too.

You know, one lucky guy, I got to tell you about him because as he says, not a lot of girls would give you an organ. Yes, it's not a good pick-up line at the bar. But this couple is a perfect match in more ways than one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. So it's often called the busiest travel day of the year and it is right around the corner. The dreaded Wednesday before Thanksgiving. However, new numbers from AAA show a decline in airline and auto travelers projected this year. But that could all change. AAA says the dipping gas prices could make a lot of drivers hit the highways. They're also cautioning, though, against driver fatigue and there is the good old Thanksgiving overeating, folks.

AAA reminds us that turkeys contain Trytophan and that can make you really tired after eating, and you don't need AAA to tell you this, but avoid if you've had a drink at your Thanksgiving dinner.

So, how will the weather be during one of the busiest travel weeks? Well, meteorologist Rob Marciano is live in our weather center with the goods on that.

Boy, I can only begin to imagine, Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, a Massachusetts man and his fiancee are way beyond joined at the hip, because she gave her man the gift of life. And now they share a bond that may even be stronger than a wedding vow. Dan Brown from our affiliate WGGB in Springfield has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN BROWN, WGGB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Elizabeth found out she could help her fiance Matthew by giving him one of her kidneys, she never hesitated.

ELIZABETH KELLY, KIDNEY DONOR: I'm so happy that I could give him this opportunity to, you know, not have to be on dialysis four days a week and then work the other days. And he just -- I just love him so much.

BROWN: Matthew came down with pneumonia two years ago. Complications from that led to kidney failure. But now two days after surgery, he's doing great. DR. GEORGE LIPKOWITZ, BAY STATE MEDICAL CENTER: His kidney function is normal already, and it's only about 36 hours after the transplant.

BROWN: The couple has been dating for over eight years. And Elizabeth's act of selflessness is a true measure of the couples deep love for each other.

MATTHEW HOUSE, KIDNEY RECIPIENT: For her to do something like that for me, to make my life better is amazing, you know. And it's so selfless. She just wants to see me feel better.

BROWN: They may share the same hospital room today, but forever will share a bond that will be with them for the rest of their lives.

HOUSE: I love her. You know what I mean? She means so much to me. And now we have such a bond, because, you know. It's a bond by going through an operation together and having one of her organs. It's just like a bond I don't think you can get -- even being married, I don't think that's the same kind of bond you can get from this.

BROWN: As they both recuperate in their hospital beds, they both know how lucky they are to have each other. And Matt will forever be grateful.

HOUSE: And there's nothing a lot of girls that will give you an organ, you know, to save your life or make you feel better, you know. So, I'm pretty lucky. Now, I have -- now I have a girl part now. That's kind of weird, you know. So, we're going to start watching "Oprah."

BROWN: And according to doctors, Matt is expected to make a full recovery and should go on to lead a normal life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: What a great couple and a sense of humor, too. Elizabeth and Math plan to get married next year. Best of life to them.

Well, he had little time on this earth, but he did make the most of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I had a great time. And until it's time -- my time has come, I'm just going to keep having a good time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: You know, he wouldn't want you to be sad for him, but he would want you to help others.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRENDEN FOSTER, 11-YEAR-OLD WITH LEUKEMIA: Save peoples lives and inspired a lot of people. This is the season to give.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: We first told you about Brenden Foster a couple of weeks ago. Well, the Seattle area boy wise far beyond his 11 years, he faced leukemia with a calm shown by few adults. And he said, quote, "I should be gone in a week or so." Brenden did die on Friday. But before he did, he had one wish, and that was to help the homeless people that he saw on the way to the doctors and make sure that they had sandwiches. So, volunteers handed about 200 sandwiches out to them. And then Brenden's wish inspired food drives in several places all around the country. It is a legacy for a young man gone too soon.

And Brenden's story does show you what one person can do to help many. You know, on Thanksgiving night, we will honor other individuals who have made a huge difference. CNN's Heroes, an all- star tribute, was taped over the weekend and our Brooke Anderson was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN HEROES: Good evening, and welcome to our second annual tribute to CNN heroes.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an award show like no other.

TERRENCE HOWARD, CNN HEROES PRESENTER: I'm presenting an award to Liz McCartney, a woman who I think has the heart of a thousand angels.

RICKI LAKE, CNN HEROES ATTENDEE: I mean, it feels like the academy awards and I feel she's winning, you know, the great honor. Go Marie! Go Marie!

ANDERSON: A night to honor ten selfless individuals whose commitment and compassion for the less fortunate are making the world a better place.

COOPER: These are people who are not looking for fame.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Caroline LeCroy started a project to connect kids with their incarcerated parents. Marie De Silva founded a school in Malawi for AIDS orphans. Tad Agoglia created the first response team of America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CNN hero Anne Mahlum.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentlemen, CNN hero Viola Vaughn. ANDERSON: Stars like Christine Aguilera turned the spotlight on these everyday people doing extraordinary things.

An evening of emotion, meaning and hope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a day I will never forget.

ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: More than a million votes were cast for our ten honorees. And you can watch Thanksgiving night to see who won. Anderson Cooper hosts CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute. It is a fantastic show. You don't want to miss it, Thursday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

In the meantime, though, big rescue for a fallen giant. Uncle Sam steps in with the package to save Citigroup. What's in the plan now and what could be in it for you a little bit later?

Also, issue #1 on the minds our leaders. This hour, we hear from the president and later from the president-elect.

It is Monday, November 24th. Hello, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Heidi Collins. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.