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Obama Reveals Economic Team; Job Creation Is First Priority; Iraqi Parliament Comes To Blows Over Troop Withdrawal Plan; Al-Sadr Followers Protest in Streets
Aired November 24, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): Markets, mortgages, millions of jobs at risk. President-Elect Barack Obama inherits a titanic economic crisis. A look at the course he's charting and the crew that will help him along.
Avoiding presidential pitfalls; what Obama can learn from the men who came before him. Five history lessons from professor and Special Correspondent Frank Sesno.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so happy that I could give him this opportunity to, you know, not have to be on dialysis four days a week.
PHILLIPS: The gift of life. Not from a stranger or sibling, but someone who loves him heart, soul, and kidney. An engaged couple's now unbreakable bond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live in CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. And you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
So what do we do now? We all ask that questions sometimes. Presidents, maybe more than most. Today we learned who will be answering when Barack Obama asks about the economy. As you saw here live on CNN, the president-elect shared a stage in Chicago with his newly chosen economic brain trust. Our Susan Malveaux names the names in Washington.
Hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN PRESIDENTIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
Today, Barack Obama really stressed a sense of urgency. He outlined a dire economic situation saying there are no quick fixes here. The situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
Now, he said his new economic team would start working today to create what he hopes is going to address the crisis, turn things around. It includes pushing Congress to pass a new economic stimulus package, which Obama hopes will create 2.5 million new jobs over the next two years. Now, this is an ambitious plan, but Obama believes there are no other options.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I've asked my economic team to develop recommendations for this plan, and to consult with Congress, the current administration, and the Federal Reserve on immediate economic developments over the next two months. I've requested that they brief me on these matters on a daily basis. And in the coming weeks, I'll provide the American people and the incoming Congress with an overview of their initial recommendations.
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MALVEAUX: Kyra, you talked about the economic team. He announced them. There are some familiar faces as well as some fresh faces. New York Fed Chair Tim Geithner; he is going to take over at Treasury secretary. What makes him an important choice here is that as the New York Fed chair, he has been very involved in this federal bailout plan, so he really is going to be a link between what's happening now in the Bush administration and what's going to take place in the new Obama administration.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, he's going to be the director of the National Economic Council. He is going to be shaping economic policy in the early days.
He had another person, a Christina Romer. She's an economics professor at UC Berkeley. She'll chair the president's Council of Economic Advisers. She's very unique because she's an academic as well as a Washington outsider. She's got an expertise in the Great Depression that might be useful.
And finally, Melody Barnes; she joins the team. She is the director of Domestic Policy Council. And that's where she's actually going to coordinate all of the economic recovery effort.
Kyra, what was also notable in the press conference is that Obama slammed the Three Big automakers for not having a plan to get themselves out of their own financial mess when they approached Congress last week for money. Obama said that he agree would the lawmakers who demanded those guys come back with something more substantial before they get taxpayer dollars, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's supposed to happen within the next week or so. I'll tell you what, this new team, Suzanne, probably the most pressure, the scariest position, to take in the Cabinet right now.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely. I wouldn't envy any of them.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. Suzanne, thanks. >
For political stories and more news on the transition to power, check out cnnpolitics.com. We have analysis from the best political team anywhere.
Now another second chance for Citigroup. Just weeks after pocketing $25 billion from the $700 billion bailout package, Citi is on the receiving end of another $20 billion, plus government guarantees for more than $300 billion in mortgage-backed securities. Investors here, and in Europe, like what they heard and the news fell flat in Asia. Markets in Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai gave up between 1.6, about 3.65 percent . Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
President Bush says that we may not have seen the last of the Citigroup scenario. He visited the Treasury Department soon after getting back home from the economic summit in South America.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last night on Air Force One, coming back from Peru, I talked at length to the secretary about his recommendation. On the decisions made to -- to safeguard Citicorp. We have made these kind of decisions in the past; made one last night. And if need be, we'll make these kind of decisions to safeguard our financial system in the future.
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PHILLIPS: Wall Street has responded favorably to the announcements out of Washington and Chicago today. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on the market numbers and a look at Wall Street to see what they think of the president-elect's economic team.
We're starting to name names and find out what's going to happen next, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's huge, Kyra, because you -- you saw the markets swoon last week and one of the reasons why, is because of the power vacuum. You know, we had a president -- an out-going president who was quiet, an incoming president who was quiet, and the financial crisis was just unraveling with every single day. One of the epicenters was what was happening with Citigroup. So, we have some answers, on Citigroup, and we have some answers from the president-elect.
The market is responding favorably to both of them. In a Citigroup - they did get that $25 billion from the TARP program, but it was -- it needed a lot more. Citigroup has 3,000 bank branches in the U.S. and Canada; 2,000 additional locations in 100 other countries. You could make the argument that Citi, too, was just too big the fail. Its stock plummeted 60 percent last week, but the government stepped in with yet another unusual program, guaranteeing more than $300 billion in troubled assets, and the entire financial sector is riding Citi's coattails in this rally we're seeing today.
Citi shares are up 52 percent. Still, it is a stock that is trading under $6. It was $35 over the past year. Bank of America shares, for instance, Bank of America shares are up 20 percent. JPMorgan up 13 percent . Merrill lynch up 25 percent. The market was happy about that, but there's still negative news. This is why the economic team, the naming of names, was so important. The National Association of Realtors reporting a bigger-than-expected decline in sales of existing homes. The median price of existing home, falling to around $183,000. That is more than 11 percent lower than it was a year ago.
Nearly half of the homes that were sold in October were distressed sales. Those are sales made out of urgency under unfavorable conditions. And then, of course, we did have president- elect Barack Obama talking about all of these issues that his new economic team will need to address.
In the meantime, we're seeing a nice rally. The Dow now is up 241 points or 3 percent. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are up about 4 percent. So terrific way to start this holiday shortened week, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, real quickly, Wall Street, how is it responding to Geithner as Treasury secretary?
LISOVICZ: Well, we got the answer on Friday when the firs reports surfaced in the final hour of trading. It was huge. We had a nearly 500-point rally in the Dow. Geithner is a familiar name here. He's been a key player in all of these emergency situations that have gone down starting with Bear Stearns.
Larry Summers, very familiar to Wall Street, regarded as a great economic mind. He was an under secretary, deputy secretary, Treasury secretary. And as Suzanne was mentioned, you know, one of the other members of the team, Christina Romer, I mean, one of the things she's noted for is her work on getting out of the Great Depression. On the expansion that followed. And that is -- that is what's needed, we need to get this U.S. economy going and that's why a large part of the president-elect's comments were talking about an economic stimulus plan and the work that needs to be done to create jobs. Kyra.
Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Well, with the financial crisis dominating the news, it may be easy to pay little attention to the war in Iraq, but the car bombings and suicide attacks and other violence claim lives nearly every day. Today was no exception.
Three attacks in Baghdad alone killed at least 19 people. One was carried out by a female suicide bomber, who Iraqi military officials say was mentally disabled. Her explosives vest was triggered by remote control.
Well, today's violence comes as the Iraqi parliament prepares to vote on a security pact that spells out how much longer U.S. troops will remain in the country. That plan has sparked widespread protests as well. CNN's Arwa Damon is joining us from Baghdad with more -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN BAGHDAD CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
If you'll remember, last weekend when the cabinet signed off on this agreement, there was much optimism that it really wouldn't prove to be all that challenging to push it through the Iraqi parliament given that most of the political blocks are represented in cabinet.
But it has proven to be quite the opposite. Over the last week, we have seen Iraq's parliament, which is already notorious for its chaotic sessions, really out do itself. We had members of parliament banging their folders on tables, screaming and shouting; at one point, even storming the podium. A scuffle breaking out between members of parliament and security guards. These are things that we haven't really seen the parliament doing here before, especially given that they're debating something that is no critical.
We also saw that massive protest that took place on Friday, where thousands of supporters of radical Shia Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr converged on a Baghdad square. That is the very same square where Saddam Hussein's statue came infamously tumbling down in 2003. We saw the protesters hanging an effigy of President Bush in that very same spot, tearing it down, and then eventually setting it on fire. They did disburse peacefully, but all of this just shows you the political atmosphere that is existing here right now when they are debating something that is so critical and the clock is ticking. The U.N. mandate expires at the end of December, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Arwa Damon live from Baghdad, thanks.
Well, when Austan Goolsbee talks, Barack Obama listens. We'll talk with one of the president-elect's most trusted economic advisers about staggering problems, complex solutions, and hidden opportunities.
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PHILLIPS: Well, a south Florida city wants to give the president-elect his very own street. The city of Opa-Lacka may change Perviz Avenue to Barack Obama Avenue as a tribute to his historic White House run. The city commission voted on it last week. A final vote comes next month. And if it passes the street will renamed on President's Day next year.
It's a tough job, possibly the toughest, but somebody has got to do it. And now we know who those somebodies are. Barack Obama introduced his economic dream team today in Chicago and talked in general terms about a new economic stimulus plan. My next guest has been in the loop for all of those decisions. Austan Goolsbee is an economist at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He's had Obama 's ear, and his back, on money matters since Obama 's Senate run in 2004.
Good to see you, Austan.
AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, OBAMA ECONOMIC ADVISOR: Hey, great to see you.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what. I don't know if I'd want to be Tim Geithner right now. All eyes are going to be on this guy. You talk about a stressful position. Is he the guy? Did you recommend him? Tell us why this was the pick.
GOOLSBEE: Oh, I think the guy is great, as secretary of the Treasury, Larry Summers as head of the Economic Council, is an unbelievable dream team. There's probably never been a collection with more crisis experience. Then you've got Christina Romer, at the Council of Economic Advisers, perhaps the world's leading expert of how we got out of the Depression and how we get out of recession. It's quite a combination; and combined with Melody Barnes, there at the Domestic Policy Council. I thought it was quite a good day.
PHILLIPS: All right. So, Austin, he' got his so-called dream team in place now. So many people are saying, look, he can't wait until January. We can't wait for all of this inauguration stuff. He's got to get busy now, he's got to make decisions. We're in trouble. Can he do that? Will he do it? What will be his first move of action?
GOOLSBEE: Well, look, people are right. We need it right now. The president-elect has been very forth right about that, saying we ought to pass a stimulus and recovery package right now, but if the president won't do that, he wants to be ready on day one, as soon as he's inaugurated, we're coming in with a bang. I mean, we're going to reject the legacy of the last eight years, which is let's sit back and wait and maybe things will improve. We're going to start acting.
So I don't think there's much he can do. We've got one president at a time. But what you can do is get the people in place, which he did today. Get a program in place, which he did this weekend, calling for the 2.5 million new jobs, economic recovery package, and just be ready to go as soon as he's in office.
PHILLIPS: So what have you advised him? Is the top priority figuring out how to create jobs right now? Give me the top --
GOOLSBEE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: OK, job creation. What were your top three?
GOOLSBEE: Yes, number one. The number one priority that is trumping all other priorities is to prevent the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression from turning into the next Great Depression. So that's why he embraced such an aggressive, large economic recovery package. That's going to be the most dominant thing that he's going to have to do right off the bat.
And that's going to include substantial tax relief for 95 percent of workers, as he outlined in the campaign. It's also going to include putting a down payment to create jobs and to try to stave off very, very serious recession and downturn in the job market.
PHILLIPS: Should he bail out the auto industry?
GOOLSBEE: It depends what you mean by the word "bailout". If you mean, should we give them an allowance of money with no conditions, of course not. Nobody is for that. What you're facing in the auto industry is a situation where companies, in normal times, have to restructure. They get a little bridge financing. They come up with a viable business plan and they transform their businesses.
The credit market is dead, so you can't get bridge financing. They're threatened with liquidation and that would be really bad. But if you want bridge financing from the government, it has to be a bridge to somewhere, not a bridge to nowhere. The fact that the auto executives flew to Washington, in private jets, and then apparently had never crossed their mind that they ought to have a viable business plan, was really pretty shocking. They got to have a plan if they want bridge financing.
Austan Goolsbee, senior economic adviser to President-Elect Obama, my guess is you and I will be talking a lot. Thanks a lot, Austan.
GOOLSBEE: I hope so.
PHILLIPS: All right.
GOOLSBEE: Take care.
PHILLIPS: What's that? Jingling of bells? A little early for Santa, but something really big is going up in the nation's capital. Bet you can figure out what it is.
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PHILLIPS: Well, if you love tradition, you've got to love this, Christmas coming early to D.C... It's the capitol Christmas tree, all 70 feet of it, straight in from Montana. Before the lights are officially turned on December 2nd, it will be decorated with more than 5,000 ornaments, crafted by folks from Montana. The lighting of the Capitol Christmas tree is a D.C. tradition that dates back to 1964.
It's often called the busiest travel day of the year, and it's right around the corner. The dreaded Wednesday before Thanksgiving. However, new numbers from AAA show that a decline in airline and auto travelers projected this year. But it could all change. AAA says that the dip in gas prices could make a lot of drivers hit the highways. It's cautioning against driver fatigue, which can be caused by good old-fashioned Thanksgiving overeating.
AAA reminding drivers that Turkeys contain tryptophan, which can make you really tired after eating, by the way. Or tryptophan, rather. And you don't need AAA to tell you this, avoid driving if you've had a few drinks with your Thanksgiving dinner.
Frightful weather in parts of the country right now, especially for those of you starting your Thanksgiving travel early.
Jacqui Jeras' son is starting his Thanksgiving eating early, bragging to mama about his big turkey leg?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
PHILLIPS: I've got to admit, we've got the picture. Dad sent it in.
JERAS: He did. He e-mailed it to me this morning. Yeah, having a big turkey leg there.
PHILLIPS: Don't make him mad. He'll bonk you over the head with a turkey leg.
JERAS: He loves to eat. I'll tell you that.
PHILLIPS: He's a growing boy.
JERAS: And no dining and driving I guess, huh?
PHILLIPS: Yes, there you go. You have to watch out for the tryptophan. You'll fall asleep. You don't want to have a few cocktails when you're behind the wheel.
JERAS: That's right.
PHILLIPS:
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PHILLIPS: Well, for months now we've been introducing heroes, ordinary people who do extraordinary things, just because somebody needs to. CNN has brought their stories to the world, and on Thanksgiving night we'll air an all-star tribute. It was taped over the weekend, and our Brooke Anderson was there.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, and welcome to our Second Annual Tribute to CNN Heroes.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN HOLLYWOOD CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's an award show like no other.
TERRENCE HOWARD, CNN HEROES PRESENTER: I'm presenting on award to Liz McCartney, a woman who I think has the heart of 1,000 angels.
RICKI LAKE, CNN HEROES ATTENDEE: I mean, it feels like the Academy Awards, and I feel like she's winning the great honor. Go, Marie! Go, Marie!
ANDERSON: A night to honor 10 selfless individuals whose commitment and compassion for the less fortunate are making the world a better place.
COOPER: These are people not looking for fame.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Carolyn LaCroy started a project to connect kids to their incarcerated parents. Marie Da Silva founded a school in Malawi for AIDS orphans. And Tad Agoglia created the first-response team of America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CNN hero Ann Mahlum. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentlemen, CNN hero Viola Vaughn.
ANDERSON: Stars, like Christina Aguilera turned the spotlight on these ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
CHRISTINA AGUILERA, SINGING: I am beautiful...
ANDERSON: An evening of emotion, meaning, and hope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a day I will never forget.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, watch Thanksgiving night to see who voted -- or who you voted for as CNN's Hero of the Year. Anderson Cooper hosts "CNN Heroes, An All-Star Tribute". That's Thursday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
Huge problems and huge expectations await the president-elect. If he stumbles, he won't be the first. We'll recall some cases in point from the recent past.
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Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, and you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
2:30 Eastern time. Here's the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM right now. The Bush administration says it will prop up struggling Citigroup, with a massive rescue package. It includes taking on hundreds of billions of dollars in possible losses at the bank and plowing a fresh $20 billion into the company.
President Bush says the Citigroup rescue is necessary to safeguard the national financial system. He spoke after a morning meeting with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. And Mr. Bush says that he's ready to help other companies facing similar problems.
Barack Obama unveils the top members of his economic team and urges Congress to act quickly on a stimulus plan for getting the stalled economy back on track. Heading his team, his pick for Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, the current president of the New York Federal Reserve.
Right up there with the economic mess, national security will be one of the most pressing issues facing Barack Obama when he becomes president in two months. As our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports, Obama won't lack for advice, but the question may be whose advice will be the loudest?
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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack Obama's potential national security team looks like an all-star line up. Hillary Clinton on track to be secretary of state. Robert Gates may stay on as Secretary of Defense. Retired General Jim Jones is a leading candidate for national security advisor. And, according to the "New York Times," retired Admiral Dennis Blair may be named as director of national intelligence.
But can so much high-powered talent really get along?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANAYST: Are there down sides? Sure. When you have people of this much stature, there can be ego clashes. You know, everybody's ego has got to get into the same room. And at least one or two of those cases, I'm sure people think that their egos are big enough to fill the room all by themselves.
STARR: Senator Clinton has applauded Gates's cador. But early on, put him on notice.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: We need a strong secretary of defense, but that doesn't mean strong-headed.
STARR: And Gates?
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: One of the most important lessons of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is that military success is not sufficient to win.
STARR: Gates urgently needs the state department to contribute billions of dollars in aid for Iraq and Afghanistan. But the real power broker may be retired Marine Corps Four Star Jim Jones. A former Middle East advisor, Jones is known as a strong commander. As national security advisor, he would have to make sure President Obama not only gets the best advice, but that the team plays together nicely.
PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: There's nobody stronger than a four-star marine General. And he would be able to take this team of rivals and play the role of integrating everybody together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr now joining us from the Pentagon -- Barbara.
STARR: Yes. Kyra, what we've also learned, I wanted to tell everybody, is that on Friday, Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, flew to Chicago, secretly, not announced. Met with the President-elect for about 45 minutes to talk about national security issues.
And, of course, Admiral Mullen will be in office when Barack Obama is sworn in. He'll have about a year to go on his term in office as chairman. And one of the things people will also be watching, what about General David Petraeus? You know, he always had a direct line to President Bush. Now that he's running the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, another question, will he be on Barack Obama's speed dial -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: The answer is will he pick up? What do we know about Admiral Blair?
STARR: Well, you know, that's the quiet one that's awfully interesting. Those of us in the Pentagon Press Corps have covered Admiral Blair for a number of years when he was on active duty.
His last job, four-star head of the Pacific Command, very knowledgeable, incredibly smart. He knows China, Korea, all of those issues out in the Pacific. He also, though, did a tour of duty early on, a senior tour of duty, at the CIA. And his expertise there was clandestine operations, running things for the U.S. Military, and making sure the intelligence community could be responsive to military needs, what types of intelligence military commanders wanted to have in the field.
That's considered very crucial these days. And being able to run a large organization like the intelligence community. Admiral Blair is widely considered to be expert at all of that -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, thanks.
Presidential pitfalls as Barack Obama shapes his administration. Our Frank Sesno looks at some classic White House blunders to avoid.
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FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack Obama, student of presidential history.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I've been spending a lot of time reading Lincoln. There's a wisdom there and a humility about his approach to government.
SESNO: Obama might also find it helpful to study recent presidential experience, to avoid mistakes that can hurt a chief executive right out of the gate. Lesson one, don't overreach and don't be naive. That was a big part of young John Kennedy's problem, just three months after he was sworn in with the CIA's disastrous bay of pigs invasion of Cuba. Kennedy took the fall.
Lesson two, know your audience. Bill Clinton learned that the hard way when just a month on the job, he proposed a sweeping new energy tax.
BILL CLINTON, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: I recommend that we adopt a BTU tax on the heat content of energy.
SESNO: He had a democratic house and senate, but he miscalculated. After four months of lobbying, Clinton withdrew the proposal, politically bruised.
Lesson three, timing matters. Clinton again, this time gays in the military, don't ask, don't tell. It generated an angry controversy early on with the president's adversaries never forget.
Lesson four, people matter, especially here. Ronald Reagan saw that when his national security advisor Richard Allen became radioactive because of a few expensive gifts he accepted. Allen had to resign.
Lesson five, don't micro manage. Jimmy Carter comes to mind in the early days he would pour over budgets, read legislation all the way through and even review requests to use the White House tennis courts, he became known as a myopic micro manager.
Valuable history lessons for Barack Obama because if anything, the world he'll face is more complex and more inclined to rush to judgment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Sesno joining us live.
Frank, a number of lessons to learn from the current George Bush.
SESNO: Yes, the current George Bush. A couple of things. First of all, you never know what the world is going to dish out. 9/11 certainly came during that first year of office. No one could have imagined it and it totally, totally changed not just the presidency, but the world.
Also, the other lesson I think that comes from this presidency is credibility and competence matter most. That's what the public judges first and foremost. Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, behavior during Hurricane Katrina, undermine that credibility and competence or the image of it and it really hurt the president. We see it now, among other things in the approval ratings.
PHILLIPS: You know, in looking back at past presidencies, and just the issue of security, you know, we talked a little bit about this at the beginning of the campaign, some during the campaign. It came up again after Barack Obama won. But the issue of security and his security team.
Will it be different from other presidencies considering so much -- well, the history being made here?
SESNO: Well, there's a lot of concern within security circles that there is a greater threat to Barack Obama. He and his wife have talked about it and how ugly that is.
Every president faces threats. I remember when the snipers went up on the roof of the Reagan White House. Remember after the Reagan assassination attempt, he never again entered a building without a white tent around it. The car pulled into the tent. You never saw the president himself out on a street corner.
So, every one of these presidencies in a sense, has ratcheted up the security. I think it's a very safe bet that that's going to happen again here for reasons as you mentioned.
PHILLIPS: Frank Sesno, great to see you.
SESNO: Good to see you, Kyra. Thanks.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
The father of a shooting suspect is urging his son to surrender as a second victim dies from his wounds. The suspect is accused of tracking his wife from California to New Jersey, finding her yesterday in a church and opening fire. She died soon after. That man who died today had tried to help her. A third victim remains in critical condition.
A new interview giving some more insight into the Arizona boy accused of murder. The 8-year-old's mom appeared on "Good Morning America,"today.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has all the latest on this very controversial case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An 8-year-old boy accused of killing his father and a friend staying with the family, is interviewed by investigators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had the gun and I shot my dad and I kept the gun in my hand because I was so scared.
DORNIN: A scared little boy. That's what the suspect's mother said she saw. Appearing on a "Good Morning America" interview today, Erin Bloomfield described her son as an outgoing boy who loved animals and said there was no anger in her son's relationship with his father.
ERIN BLOOMFIELD, BOY'S MOTHER: He had a very good relationship with his father. He did a lot with him. He, you know -- they did everything together. He loved his dad.
DORNIN: The young boy has not entered a plea in the case and legal experts have criticized the methods used in the police interrogation.
The boy did not have a parent or lawyer with him when he was questioned. Friday, Apache County prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss one of two murder counts, the one involving his father. No reason given.
Last week, the court granted a 48-hour furlough for the boy to stay with his mother for Thanksgiving. An unusual move that angered both victims' families.
JOHN ANDREAS, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: The family is very distressed. They don't get Tim back. We don't get Vinny (ph) back. But this boy gets to go home as their lawyers put it -- get to have gravy, turkey, and do whatnot.
DORNIN: In this tape released by prosecutors, the boy tells investigators he was often in trouble for lying. But during the "Good Morning America" interview, the boy's mother describes him as a quote, "Very good little boy who had not been in trouble previously." Erin Bloomfield had joint legal custody of her son who was living with his father at the time of the murders. Bloomfield told Diane Sawyer, she sees her son every day through a glass partition. And every other day she can touch him.
BLOOMFIELD: I get two visits with him that are physical visits to where we sit in a room and he will come and sit on my lap pretty much the whole time and you know, just hold on to me through that half hour that I get with him.
DORNIN: Bloomfield said in the interview, they will plan to keep the Thanksgiving visit as normal as possible. But the mother and son will not be alone. That visit will also be attended by court- appointed officials.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, that was supposed to be a funeral for a baby. But it turned into a fist fight. Family from the baby's mother's side were so consumed with rage after gazing at the baby's open casket, they attacked the child's father. The baby's aunt is actually the one charged with murder. Police say the baby was beaten so severely some bones were broken.
In two Ohio cities, there are 1,000 fewer guns on the street and that's because of a unique buy-back program. It happened over the weekend in Cleveland and Akron. And it's an effort to stop accidental shootings at home.
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LT. THOMAS STACHO, CLEVELAND POLICE DEPT.: What happens here is that people bring their guns in that are functional weapons that work, handguns. We provide them with a gift certificate for either fuel or food. And two tickets to a (INAUDIBLE) and a chance in a raffle.
When we did this last year about 12 months ago, we brought in 423 handguns. This year, our goal was to bring in 300, 350. So that's about almost 800 handguns that people just voluntarily turned into us. That's amazing.
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PHILLIPS: Local businesses and crime stoppers groups joined with police to sponsor those events.
Well, how does General Motors get out of the fiscal woods? For a start, how about getting Tiger Woods out of the Buick? Well, a rich endorsement deal reaches the end of the road early. We'll explain.
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PHILLIPS: Well, Michael Jackson has settled a lawsuit brought by an Arab prince. The terms are being kept confidential, but the Sheik Abdulla Bahrain accused the pop star of backing out of a $7 million business deal. It included a new Jackson album and autobiography. The prince, who's the son of Bahrain's kind says that he wrote songs for Jackson to sing on the album.
Did you know the Buick guy by plays a little golf, too? But Tiger Woods days as a pitchman for General Motors are just about to be over. GM will end its endorsement deal with Woods at the end of this year. That's a year earlier than planned.
The company says that this has nothing to do with its bailout request, but cutting Woods loose will save GM $7 million next year. Woods' agent says the superstar golfer is OK with it so he can spend some more time with his family. His wife is expecting their second child, so they're going to need a bigger Buick.
Many health-conscious Americans check labels for carbs and fat. But what about checking for carbon? It's a new idea that's hitting the store shelves now and it goes beyond food. Now shoppers can learn how their shirts and shoes contribute to global warming.
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our Energy Fix from New York.
Hey, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey. I'm usually looking at the price tag at the store, but some people are now looking at these labels.
What it is, it's a new thing called carbon labeling. The idea here really, how much CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere when a product is made everywhere from the assembly line to when you see it on the store shelf. The info is put right there on the label.
We know shoe-maker Timberland, they're doing it. Take a look here at this boot. The rating it gets, in terms of carbon emissions, is 7.5. That's on a scale of 1 to 10. The number could be reduced if more recycled material was used in the shoe.
The Tesco, that's like the Wal-Mart of Britain, they're doing a similar thing on some of their food products. So is Patagonia, right here in the U.S. and around the world. Their web site actually shows where its jackets and shoes and others clothes are made. How they're transported. You see the footprint chronicles right there.
The big problem with this, there is no one standard. You can see the map of where the Patagonia items go. But again, Kyra, no one standard. So, it's hard to measure up just how accurate this reading is -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well if there's no industry-wide rating system, then how accurate is this?
HARLOW: It's a big question. It's a great question. There's no blanket standard. It's impossible to compare various products. Most companies don't even do this yet. There's one organization based in the UK, Carbon Trust. They're developing a rating system. So far though, just a few big names participating, (INAUDIBLE), Coca-Cola, Kimberly Clarke Corp. is among them. But, until a broader ratings standard is put in place, you can check out companies. Take a look at those web sites -- epa.gov/stateply. Or, cdproject.net. Also, carbonlabel.com.
You can find out there what kind of carbon footprint you're making every single time you go to the store -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Poppy, thanks.
Well, let's get a peek at the next hour of NEWSROOM. T.J. Holmes in the seat there for Rick Sanchez, this week.
What you working on T.J.?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of stuff. I'm not sure what, Kyra. There's a lot going on back here today. Yes. Rick's out this week. He's taking his Thanksgiving week.
But, we're certainly going to getting to who these folks are, the names. We're hearing the names. We'll be hearing them a lot over the next several years, really. The Obama economic team. Who they are, exactly what they're going to be doing. They have different titles. What do those titles mean? And also something else we're going to talk about, Kyra.
I'm curious to what you think. Does Guy Ritchie deserve more of Madonna's money?
PHILLIPS: Heck yes. He put up with her for how many years?
HOLMES: O. You're one of the few women that has given me that answer.
PHILLIPS: Look, she allegedly, you know, walked out on him for other reasons.
HOLMES: OK.
PHILLIPS: OK. So, yes. I mean, he was right there supporting her and her kids and her family.
HOLMES: OK, OK.
PHILLIPS: I mean, come on now.
HOLMES: Most women -- OK, you're the only woman who has given me that answer.
PHILLIPS: Who have you been talking to?
HOLMES: Every other woman I know not giving that answer. Most say he doesn't deserve a dime. But if course, if the roles were reversed and it was the man with all that money, these same women say, yes, she deserves half. So, let's talk about that in a little bit, get a conversation going.
PHILLIPS: Probably wasn't easy living with her. Come on, it's Madonna.
HOLMES: But still, it is Madonna. You should just be happy to be with Madonna, right?
PHILLIPS: Oh. Don't make me answer that.
All right, T.J.
HOLMES: Let's stop, please.
PHILLIPS: See you in a little bit.
HOLMES: See you shortly.
PHILLIPS: All right. Talk about true, unquestionable love. Here is a story about love. This blows away the Madonna story, OK? You'll be amazed by what this young woman did for her fiance. It's not a stretch to say that she gave her fiance the gift of life.
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PHILLIPS: Well, he wouldn't want you to be sad for him, but Brendan Foster would want you to help others.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save people's lives and inspire a lot of people. 'Tis the season to give.
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PHILLIPS: Well, we first told you about Brendan, a couple of weeks ago. The Seattle-area boy, wise far beyond his 11 years. He faced leukemia with a calm shown by few adults. He said, I should be gone in a week or so.
Well, Brendan died Friday. Before he died, he had one wish, that the homeless people that he saw on the way to the doctors could have sandwiches. So volunteers handed out 200 sandwiches and then Brendan's wish inspires food drives in several places around the country. A legacy for a young man gone far too soon.
If you'd like to help fulfill Brendan Foster's last wish, place a visit to Impact Your World. You'll find links to the food banks and charities accepting donations in his honor. That's at CNN.com/impact.
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PHILLIPS: Well, a Massachusetts woman and her fiance are well beyond joined at the hip now. She gave her man the gift of life. And now they share a bond that may be stronger than a wedding vow.
Dan Brown, from our affiliate WGGB in Springfield, has the story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN BROWN, WGGB REPORTER (voice-over): When Elizabeth found out she could help her fiance Matthew, by giving him a 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. 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 36 about 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 couple's 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, too. 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. You know, it's a bond -- we went through an operation together and having one of her organs, it's just like a bond -- 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 greatful.
HOUSE: There's not a lot of girls that will give you an organ to save your life, or make you feel better, you know? So, I'm pretty lucky. I know I have a girl part now. So that's kind of weird. You know? So, maybe I'll 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.
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PHILLIPS: Well, Elizabeth and Matthew plan to get married next year.
T.J. Holmes in for Rick Sanchez this week. He takes is from here at the top of the hour.
