Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Obama Introduces Financial Team; Citigroup Gets Bailout Money
Aired November 24, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Coming at you right now: a bailout here, a bailout there. It seems like bailouts everywhere. A new $20 billion for Citigroup is the latest.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have made these kind of decisions in the past. Made one last night. And, if need be, we're going to make these kind of decisions to safeguard our financial system in the future.
HOLMES: Why do they get their money, but none for the carmakers? Who knows. We are going to try to figure it out anyway.
It's noon in San Diego, 3:00 in Miami. Connecting with you on the air and on the nets, our national conversation begins right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And good afternoon, everybody, T.J. Holmes here in the CNN NEWSROOM sitting in this week for Rick Sanchez, who is taking a much-deserved week off.
We need to introduce you to some folks right now. Or president- elect Obama wants us to introduce you to them, actually. He laid out his economic team. These are the folks who are in charge of getting this country back on the right economic track.
And let's introduce you to them now. You see them walking out. He had a press conference today at noon to really unveil this team, really four main members that he did trot out today. Had a few things to get used to. Hey, they can't find the right spot on the stage yet, but, hey, that's a small, minor detail compared to what they have in front of them right now.
Let's go with Timothy Geithner. This is the name we were hearing over the weekend. Let's tell you who he is. He is the president of the New York Federal Reserve. He helped craft bank bailouts. Now, he has no private banking business, no private business background. However, some would say that means he is well-qualified, uniquely qualified to do the kind of finagling and the kind of back-room dealing that is going to need to be done to bring people together to get this thing to work.
And Obama, as you see, mentioned there about Geithner, he is uniquely suited to do this job. The other main position -- again Geithner there going to be the treasury secretary. The other main position is from a man by the same of Lawrence Summers, a name that has been around for some time. There he is. He was for two years the secretary of the treasury for the Clinton administration.
Now, as you see there, he handled things, crises, in Russia, Asia, Mexico. Had a tough tenure maybe as the Harvard president. But still a prestigious role he did have there at Harvard. Also, Obama says of him he backs the middle class. Those are the two main positions. Lawrence Summers is actually going to be the director of the National Economic Council. That means he will coordinate policy- making and policy advice for the president.
Now, a couple other members I'm going to introduce you to here shortly. But let me tell you what we have got going on here at this 3:00 hour. I have to my right a man we have on this show oftentimes, Jeff Rosensweig here with us helping through a lot of these economic matters. We are going to be chatting with you. Good to see you as always.
But let me go to the other side of the studio here and show you who we have in studio with us, my man over there fixing his shirt. That's all right, man. Do what you need to do. We have got three regular folks we're going to be talking to. That's Garth Graham there on the left who has just adjusted that shirt. He's a former mortgage banker and was actually laid off from Citigroup. Citigroup, we have been hearing a lot about in the past couple of days.
Kim King there, a mother and a resident of this great state of Georgia, and also Marc Floriani -- hope I'm saying that right, sir -- an aircraft mechanic out of Raleigh, North Carolina. They're going to stick with us through this hour to chat with us about some of these big topics.
And we're going to get on the spot, instant feedback from them here in studio as we talk about some of these issues. Also as always we get the feedback from the Twitter board. Again, that's Twitter.com/ricksanchezCNN, that Twitter board, also his MySpace page, those still coming into his page even though I'm the one sitting up here today.
Jeff, I will turn to you about these announcements we heard today. Is he putting together obviously a pretty impressive team?
JEFFREY ROSENSWEIG, PROFESSOR, EMORY UNIVERSITY: It's the best team there could be. It's an all-star team.
I don't say this to name drop, but just coincidence that I know these people because many of them were my professors at MIT, which is the top economics department in the world on the rankings.
HOLMES: Wow. Really?
ROSENSWEIG: And Christina Romer, who is the other part of the team, was my classmate. And she's tremendous.
HOLMES: Oh, wow. ROSENSWEIG: One thing I would like to emphasize is not only are they A-plus intellectuals. They're very pragmatic. These are not radicals. These are very moderate people.
I think they will be able to communicate with Democrats and Republicans, just like I think the president-elect will. So, they're smart. They're pragmatic. They will work together well. I am very encouraged.
HOLMES: And like you said you don't mean to name drop there, but you know these people fairly well. Put in perspective for people who don't know these names, don't have an understanding of what they're going to try to do, but as complex as it is, are these the best economic minds on this planet, and respected as such among the folks like yourself?
ROSENSWEIG: There's a number of great economic minds on the planet.
What makes this group distinguished is a lot of them have been through it before in a more practical level. Those people are highly respected in the academic world, but they're not some ivory-tower pointy-heads.
For instance, not what we're facing now, but there was a major crisis in world financial markets 10 years ago, which the U.S. would have been intimately dragged into. And it was Larry Summers and Geithner who were kind of point men on that. So, they have been through that.
And they have -- Geithner of course has a very distinguished record the last few years going through this. So, we needed people that smart, but pragmatic.
HOLMES: But let's turn to now. Obama, like we mentioned, he had that press conference today, unveiling that team, introducing them essentially to the country, to the world, who is going to be helping him through this economic mess.
Let's take a listen as Obama talked about the urgency of the situation. Can't wait to get started in January. The work needs to start right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: It is my hope that the new Congress will begin work on an aggressive economic recovery plan when they convene in early January so that our administration can hit the ground running.
With our economy in distress, we cannot hesitate and we cannot delay. Our families can't afford to keep on waiting and hoping for a solution. They can't afford to watch another month of unpaid bills pile up, another semester of tuition slip out of reach, another month where, instead of saving for retirement, they're dipping into their savings just to get by. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: I want to diplomat over to our panel of folks we have gathered here in our studio, Garth, Kim, and Marc.
Let me ask you all and just quickly here, if I can get you all to just quickly respond, are you all encouraged by things you see like this today? These are three names most people don't know. Most regular folks don't know who these people are. You can talk about their great background and their credentials all day long, but to hear Obama today, to hear these names, is this just more of another politician at a podium and you're waiting for the meat of the matter, if you will?
So, just what do you feel? Are you encouraged by what you see or just, hey, I will wait until something happens?
Garth, you go ahead for him.
GARTH GRAHAM, FORMER MORTGAGE BANKER: Well, I think it's encouraging that at least the new president is beginning to articulate who his leadership team is going to be.
It's an awful lot better than what we went through the last two years as two presidential candidates trying to convince us how bad the economy is.
HOLMES: Kim, what do you think?
KIM KING, RESIDENT OF GEORGIA; Really, just time will tell for me.
HOLMES: Time will tell? The names really don't mean anything?
KING: Not really.
HOLMES: You want to see some action.
Marc, what about you?
MARC FLORIANI, AIRCRAFT MECHANIC: I feel the same way. I hope so.
HOLMES: Hope so. Everybody is a wing and a prayer and got the fingers crossed and hoping right now. Certainly going to be dipping back in and talking to you all.
Let's talk as well, still go you here Jeff here. Just introduce the other two people that we were talking about that he did introduce today, one, Christina Romer, which you said was a classmate of yours. She's going to be on the Council of Economic Advisers. She's going to be on that team. Now, that means she's going to be giving economic analysis and advice to the president. Again, that's Christina Romer. She's a Berkeley professor of economics and author of a book "What Ended the Great Depression," respected by conservatives and liberals alike. And also, Melody Barnes, she's going to be the director of the Domestic Policy Council, a transition team member as well, and a senior aide as well to Senator Ted Kennedy.
Something else Obama talked about today, and it's been a great debate, this auto industry bailout. We just saw another $20 billion go to Citigroup for a bailout of that major bank. But still, Congress has not agreed and no one has said for sure, including president-elect Obama, whether or not the auto industry should get a bailout.
Here's what he had to say about that today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I think Congress did the right thing, which is to say, "You guys need to come up with a plan and come back before you're getting any taxpayer money."
OBAMA: And my attitude is that we should help the auto industry, but what we should expect is that any additional money that we put into the auto industry, any help that we provide is designed to assure a long-term sustainable auto industry and not just kicking the can down the road.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So as we know right now, the auto industry, the Big Three, have a homework assignment. They were sent home by Congress to come up with a plan, to come back with that plan, and then Congress would decide whether or not that plan was good enough to therefore hand over some $25 billion plus for a bailout for them.
Bailouts seem to be all over the place these days. Everybody is getting bailed out, including Citigroup, another $20 billion injected into that company. Where is all this money coming from? Why was it necessary? The conversation continues. Don't you go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And yes. You see there how this show works. You can have a conversation with Rick Sanchez. This week, you will have to have it with me. Sorry. But Rick, he will be back next week.
But his Twitter is still functioning, his MySpace still functioning, his Facebook page still functioning. This is what we're getting so far. I got this comment from Batista2654, saying: "Why should we bail out another bank when our United States dollars is paying for it?"
We get a lot of that, a lot of that type of feedback from folks. Why do we keep bailing people out?
Jeff Rosensweig, again, economic from Emory University, why do we have to bail out Citi this time around? They keep bailing and keep bailing.
ROSENSWEIG: Yes.
HOLMES: Why do we have to bail this one out?
ROSENSWEIG: Well, in some sense, we're bailing ourselves out.
HOLMES: That's what we keep -- they keep telling us that.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSENSWEIG: I know. I will explain that.
Do you know that they have 200 million customers? And if they go down, a lot of these customers will be affected as well. They're in 100 countries. So, we have to think of a system that all fits together. And if someone that big goes down, then who is on the other side of all these contracts?
They might be stiffed with these contracts. So, what I mean all of us, it's probably going to cost people their houses, their jobs if the system collapses. There's a phrase, and probably none of us like the reality, but too big to fail. Same thing happened with AIG. We put money into AIG. We're pointing more money in. And it looks like a disaster, but they're too big to fail.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Garth, Kim, Marc, you all buying that? I know you have all been hearing this argument over and over. And folks like yourselves, regular folks, could use a bailout of their own. But these companies keep getting bailed out.
Marc, are you buying that argument -- I know you have heard it before -- these companies are too big to fail?
FLORIANI: I have heard it. But I want to know who's going to bail me out when my time comes.
HOLMES: Has your time come yet?
FLORIANI: No.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: It's not yet. It hasn't yet. So hopefully we won't get there.
Kim, are you buying it? Do you believe that when people say these companies are too big to fail and we have to do this, taxpayer dollars have to be taken towards these things?
KING: I do believe that they do need help, but maybe some kind of committee can be formed to watch where they are spending our money now, you know, as far as their retreats and their private jets and things like that.
HOLMES: Ah, that stuff. That stuff doesn't look good. Garth, you agree with that, that maybe there needs to be a little more oversight? Or are you OK with the bailouts?
GRAHAM: Yes, I think there definitely should be more oversight. It could have been good to have had the oversight prior to them all getting in trouble.
But, you know, at some point, they're going to do something to try to turn around the economy, especially for people who are out of work.
HOLMES: All right, we hear what you all think about the bailouts. What does the president-elect think about the bailouts? Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: My commitment is to do what's required so that our financial system works and credit flows. President Bush has indicated that he has the same approach, the same attitude.
A lot of authority has already been provided to the administration, to Secretary Paulson. Chairman Bernanke has authority, as well. And we need to make sure that that authority is used forcefully in the coming weeks to stabilize the current situation.
I will make further assessments about whether it's necessary to draw down additional TARP money, as the administration and Treasury Secretary Paulson and Bernanke provide me more real-time information.
But I think what's most important for the American people to understand is that we are united in making sure that the financial system works and operates the way it needs to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So kind of, sort of, maybe, a little bit, kind of support it, kind of don't. We will see. We will look into it later.
Why Citi and not the automakers? We're being told as well that it's just as important for the auto industry to continue to function. What is this, two, three million jobs people keep telling us are tied to these industries if they fail?
ROSENSWEIG: Yes.
I think Kim made a great point, which is we have to at least make sure there's accountability. And with the Citigroup deal, at least the executives' compensation will now be cut and capped off.
Whether they should be kept around, though, I think the whole panel is right, maybe just get rid of them. The difference is those 200 million customers and the linkages in the banking system. You know, I think, if the automakers can come back with a sensible plan, which they don't have yet, so we're just not throwing good taxpayer money after bad, we should probably consider that because of the suffering amongst people that would lose their job, suppliers to the auto industry, others in Michigan who would be affected, maybe restaurants.
But, again, it's the systemic risk to everyone if Citigroup goes under that your community banker could be hurt. Student loans would be brutalized if the financial system goes down. It goes way beyond two million people.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: And I'm going to have to get a commercial break in here, but before I let you go, I have to ask you if you can answer this quickly.
Over the weekend, there was some wavering from members of the Obama team about his tax cut plan, something he ran on, rolling back those Bush tax cuts. He might not be able to do that now. And they're starting to say that. This was a cornerstone of his campaign. You thought all along he wasn't going to be able to do it anyway.
ROSENSWEIG: Yes.
He's not going to be able to raise taxes, because where the economy is right now, people are too nervous. Even the word -- no, he will cut taxes. I mean, he will cut taxes on 95 percent. He won't raise it on the other.
HOLMES: The $250,000...
(CROSSTALK)
ROSENSWEIG: The idea of raising taxes is just scary.
Also, he's going to have to work with the Republicans. So he is going to have to kind of give them something. And I don't think he went back on his word because when he was saying -- he started that idea way before September 15, when all heck broke loose. He's smart enough to realize we're in a different world now. We have got to get everyone on the...
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: But what was in everybody's head that they heard from him? Everybody making over $250,000 going to get a tax increase. He might not be able to do that.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSENSWEIG: That's right. Two years from now he will do it.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: All right, we will see. Always good to have you here, our panelists still with us.
And, remember, the conversation continues on the Twitter board, on Rick's MySpace page and also his Facebook page.
But don't go away. We are going to switch gears here and talk about the story out of Arizona, that 8-year-old boy who was charged with shooting and killing his father and another man. Well, his mother -- that little boy's mother is now speaking out. Hear what she has to say.
The conversation continues right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Let's go back to what happened on Friday. I was here filling in for Rick and touched on an issue that I certainly found interesting. A lot of other people did, too. Sparked some debate, but eHarmony settling a lawsuit that forced to provide same- sex dating options.
Now, as we do, every day here, interstitials posted on the show's blog at CNN.com/Rick Sanchez. Now, a lot of you responded to that story in a big way about that eHarmony story.
So, let's see of the comments that you did have. And we got a lot of them. And, again, some people just wondering: "Where do you stop? Where does it end?"
There on the right board, there you go.
Somebody says: "This is completely ridiculous. Where will it end?"
Someone else: "Yes, the next thing you know, they will start banning whites-only dating sites. Oh, that's right. Those are illegal."
Another comment: "Gosh. Next thing you know, they will start banning interracial marriage, because it interferes with the beliefs of some religions, like -- oh, wait for it -- many Christian denominations. Oh, but that would be illegal as well."
One more we can give you: "Does eHarmony ban Jewish people, since they aren't with the owners' Christian values? What about Hindus?"
So, those are just some of the comments. We got plenty that you responded to. That story, that issue is not going anywhere anytime soon. Thank you all for your feedback. Got a lot of good feedback, a lot of people upset about it. Good and bad, we welcome them all.
Don't go away. We're going to continue again with that story, 8- year-old boy out in Arizona charged with killing his father and another man. His mother speaks.
Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS UPDATE) HOLMES: Let's head back over. Where do we want to go here?
Let's go over to our -- to the Facebook page over here, getting a comment from Alex talking about these big bailouts, says: "Why don't we stop these companies from getting so big in the first place? In a sense, these large banks and automakers and monopolizing the entire phase space of business. If we encouraged more smaller competition, this financial crisis would not be as severe. Maybe we would have better cars and fewer financial executives receiving exorbitant bonuses."
There's a point there.
I want to head back over to Garth, our panel we have put together of regular folks in the room.
Sir, you were laid off from Citigroup. This was last year; is that right? Do I have that right?
GRAHAM: Yes, April 23, 2007, to be exact.
HOLMES: You know exactly when that was.
GRAHAM: Absolutely.
HOLMES: Sir, did you get a sense that this company was going the wrong direction, that it was too big, that a lot of these -- this mortgage thing was all going to come to roost? What do you think now that it's going through what it's going through?
GRAHAM: Well, yes, we were involved in a mortgage company. We sold our company to Citigroup in the beginning of 2007, kind of before the market unraveled. So, our timing, I guess, was pretty good.
I have been in the mortgage business 20 years. I'm absolutely shocked, to tell you the truth. I don't think there were any naysayers, even in our industry, who could have predicted it would have been this bad.
Looking back, you get a better sense of the fact that maybe some of these loans were crazy, that maybe you ought to have a job and be able to afford it and put a down-payment down. It worked for 50 years in our country and we sort of got away from it.
HOLMES: And, Kim and Mark, I want to ask you all about something right quick I was talking to Jeff Rosensweig, our economist from Emory about.
Obama has kind of -- I'm not sure who you voted for. Won't even ask about that. But we did hear from Obama all throughout the campaign really, people making over $250,000 are going to see their taxes go up. We're going to go back to the old tax rates. Theirs are going to go up and we're going to get rid of these Bush tax cuts.
Word now that possibly he's not going to be able to do that and might just have to wait until 2010, when they were going to expire anyway.
Now, when you hear that, that possibly he is backing off what many people thought he was going to do, just tell me what your initial reactions are -- Go ahead, Kim.
KING: Well, I think that's changed several times.
I know the amount has changed from 250 to 150. And so honestly, I'm not really surprised it's changing again.
HOLMES: All right.
And, Mark, what do you think?
FLORIANI: I think the same thing. They have to get the money from somewhere. I just hope it doesn't affect all of us, no matter what your income range is.
HOLMES: All right.
Let's head back over to another Twitter comment we do have here from WMSJA50: "Who is going to stop these organizations from double- dipping? Our tax dollars bail them out and they jack up our rates" -- a lot of comments coming in. A lot of people have a lot to say, of course, about these -- the banks, the bailouts, and what's happening out there in the economy right now.
This conversation of course continues.
We will continue as well.
Again, that 8-year-old boy, a shocking story about the young man who killed his father and killed another man, shot and killed them. His mother is speaking out about that young man. We will tell you what is going on in that case. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Let's turn now to a story that has just shocked a lot people. An 8-year-old boy shot and killed his father and another man? This was out in Arizona. You have probably heard about this strategy by now.
The 8-year-old, his interrogation by police was actually leaked out, and video actually got out of it -- a lot of people questioning and wondering, how in the world could an 8-year-old do this? He was charged actually with premeditated murder at the beginning by police, which was even more shocking, as well.
Here's some of that video of the police interrogation that you're actually seeing here. Let's show now his mother is actually speaking out now, spoke out this morning on "Good Morning America." Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERYN BLOOMFIELD, MOTHER OF BOY CHARGED WITH MURDER: 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. Someone who is very afraid of what's going on.
DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS: 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?
BLOOMFIELD: It does.
SAWYER: Can you tell us about his relationship with his dad?
BLOOMFIELD: 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 -- he loved his dad.
SAWYER: So as far as you know, there was no anger there, there was no stress there?
BLOOMFIELD: No, not at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Let's turn to the Twitter board, a comment we just got in. "How can an eight-year-old cognitively murder someone? I fell like that interrogation was really bad."
I want to turn to you, too, Kim. I was watching your face as we watched the sound bite from the mother there. You have a couple of kids. Tell me the ages of yours. And just what does a mother think? When you think about your own child, how could a child that young be capable of something like that?
KING: I have a seven-year-old and a 10-year-old, both boys. The -- I don't think a child is capable of that unless something really horrific had happened to him that he would have acted out in some way. I just don't think ...
HOLMES: Don't see it? Something had to have triggered that. Let's turn to our security expert, Mike Brooks, that we often turn to on legal matters like this. Mike, good to talk to you, here, buddy. Let's get the update on this case. Prosecutors are saying they wanted to drop one of the charges, the charge that had to do with the murder of the father. Do we have any idea? They can't say why right now because of a gag order, but do we have any idea why they'd want to drop one of those charges?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, T.J., we really don't. The filing on Friday gave no explanation at all. They're saying basically the state believes the interest of justice will be served by such a dismissal. Again, it's the charge against the father , not against the other gentleman that was renting a room in the house. Just a very, very strange. For an eight-year-old boy, I think one murder charge instead of two, I think that will suffice. Maybe that's what they think, it's not going to be piling on if you will.
HOLMES: And a couple other things I want to hint at with you.
Do I have this right? He is - it is official. They have ruled he is going to be allowed to go home with his mother for Thanksgiving?
BROOKS: Yes. What they're going to do, is they're going to allow his mother to be with him for a 48-hour period over the Thanksgiving holiday. And, you know, they asked the mother what are you going to do? He is going to watch movies. In fact, the boy has already picked out a movie. He wants to see "Kung Fu Panda."
Again, this is an eight year old boy. And I don't really - as a former law enforcement officer, I really don't have a lot of heartburn with that, T.J., because he's in a juvenile detention facility right now by himself, segregated confinement, sitting in a room day in and day out, hour after hour by himself. His mother comes to visit him. There are times she's allowed and he comes and he just sits in her lap.
HOLMES: But is that the norm? That sounds so strange. He just killed -- at least we can say allegedly still, but it sound like he admitted it. It still sounds like everyone knows he killed these two. We're talking about "Kung Fu Panda" and going home for Thanksgiving? What is going on with this where he's capable of this, but he's going treated just like a normal child in some respects, Mike?
BROOKS: Well, with this visit, though, officials from the juvenile detention center and a court-appointed guardian will be in the house with them during - so it's not like he's going home with mom. It's like going home with an ankle bracelet on. But you are going to have people actually there with them who are law enforcement.
HOLMES: OK. Mike Brooks for us here on the line. Mike, we appreciate you. Talk to you soon. Again, everybody, we go back to our Twitter board. People have certainly commented on this story. Joey Lowe here saying, "should listen to his mother and let him go. The judicial system is no place for an eight-year-old."
A lot of people may think that. Like we just heard Kim saying, you know, it's not in an eight-year-old's spirit to be able to do that. So something else dramatic and awfully awful had to have happened to trigger that. But more to come on that story.
Another one out of Arizona we'll get into here in a moment. You often see people in major cities, you're driving down the street, homeless. People standing there with signs asking for money, asking for help, explaining sometimes on the sign their situation. Well, you don't often see someone out there begging with their children. That story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. So far we talked about the economy, talking about bailouts on this show, we talked about the story out in Arizona, the eight-year-old boy right now charged with killing his dad and another man. And right now, a confession we've seen on tape. Right now, a lot of questions from his attorneys, questions from all sides about that confession. Should he have had somebody in there representing them?
But certainly right now just charged. We'll see how the legal system plays out for that young man, that eight-year-old. So still, a lot more to cover in this hour as well.
You might have heard about this. Madonna, of course you know Madonna, but Madonna and Guy Ritchie, they are divorcing after eight years of marriage. And lucky for the material girl, she didn't marry a material guy. Reportedly, Guy Ritchie does not want to take a huge chunk of Madonna's estimated $450 million fortune. According to English law, he would be entitled to 50 percent of the money she earned during their eight year marriage. That's a lot of money. Madonna offered him about $30 million and he refused it.
Ritchie of course has his own money. He's a movie director. He's worth about $45 million. That ain't bad. But still nothing close to what she's worth. But I have had several conversations about this story in the past couple of days with women I know, and every one of them says the same thing. Ritchie doesn't deserve a dime of her money.
These women then follow up by saying if the roles were reversed and it was a man with $450 million, then the woman would absolutely deserve half the money. Huh? Juanita Jordan, you know her?
$150 million from Michael Jordan. Heather Mills, $45 million from Sir Paul McCartney, Amy Irvin, you might not know that name, but she got $100 million from Stephen Spielberg. The list goes on and on and on. So what do you think? Do all of these women deserve the money? And Ritchie doesn't deserve the money? Somebody please explain this one to me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gift cards, incredibly popular during the holidays. But this year more thane ever, a gift you should probably avoid.
TOD MARKS, "CONSUMER REPORTS": More than 60 percent of the 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: What I would suggest 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'd say run, don't walk, to that store and buy something quickly. Because you just don't know when the plug may be 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 gifts this year.
MARKS: I think you should forget the idea of the 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: That's this week's "Right on Your Money."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We knew somebody would have something to say about that Guy Ritchie/Madonna divorce. If you didn't hear, he's worth a lot of money. He could have gotten half of what she earned while they were married. He turned it down. A lot of women are saying he doesn't deserve a thing. Go figure. Let's see the Twitter board over here first. "It sounds like a double standard. Women get over all the time. Guy Ritchie deserves more money."
Let's go to the next comment here. "Guy Ritchie ought to have been paid to put up with Madonna for eight years. I am a woman and things should be equal."
This from a woman who calls herself Freaky Fran. We want to head over -- I'm sure it's just a screen name, Fran. I'm sure you're a lovely woman. Let's head over to our panel in the side there. What do you all think?
Marc, I'm going to put you on the spot here. Is there a double standard sometimes where, you know, some people say he's a man, he doesn't deserve any money but if he was a woman, they'd say yes, she deserves half.
FLORIANI: I think there is at times, but why should gender matter? Divorce is divorce. Each one is worth half. Fifty-50.
HOLMES: So he should be getting half? Half of that money.
FLORIANI: If he wants half, sure.
HOLMES: Kim, what do you think, ma'am?
KING: I think it's a partnership and shouldn't be a double standard. I think he should have taken the money. If he didn't want it, just given it to charity.
HOLMES: Garth, what do you think? It sounds almost unanimous there.
GRAHAM: I think he should have taken half the money so that at least he would have gotten paid more than A-Rod in his last contract. Sorry, couldn't resist.
HOLMES: Ah. We've got a comedian on the show. And that report is not confirmed, all right? Let's head over to the MySpace page here as well. Let's see here. One saying to us, "I think it's a great example that Guy Ritchie is setting. I am a screen writer businesswoman. The number one reason I don't want to get married because what's mine is mine. I don't want anyone getting 50 percent of what I earn."
Who is that from? Does she have a name? Blockbuster Hits. All right, Blockbuster Hits, you independent woman. I hope the dating is going well for you. Let's go to the big board right now and see what's happening on Wall Street. The Dow, look at this, 537 points up right now after we saw at noon President-Elect Obama announce his economic team. Came out with four pretty big power players. Timothy Geithner, among them, going to be the new Treasury Secretary of the treasury. Geithner is well respected and well thought of in the community and people seem to like that pick.
So we'll check in here at the close in just a minute. Even though that sounds like a comeback and things are looking up at least for the day, a lot of people aren't doing so well. Now a really heart-breaking story about what some people go through that leads them to bankruptcy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jen Palumbo is smiling now, but the last few years for her have been anything but joyful.
JEN PALUMBO, FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY: 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 by 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 $10,000 in medical bills and being 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 minimum and continue to drag 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: It reflects hand and glove the kind of economic crisis that households are facing. And we expect that number to continue to rise.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): So much so, analysts project the number of new filings this year will exceed 1 million. Experts including jinn'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're starting to cash in their retirement. They're doing everything they can and they just can't hold on.
BOLDUAN: Palumbo says filing for 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)
HOLMES: Yes. Tough time out there for a whole lot of folks. It doesn't seem like things are getting easier anytime soon. But we can only hope.
Well, up next, another heart-breaking story out of Arizona. A man on the street begging for money and he's begging along with his children.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we know it's been tough times for a lot of people in this country. More and more struggling to put food on the table. One man in Arizona is struggling and wants to illustrate the point that he's out on the street begging for help and he's doing that by bringing his children along with him on street to beg. Peter Bush of our affiliate out there with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER BUSCH, KPHO TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you pulled up next to Robert Bosson today, the first thing you notice probably wasn't the 47-year-old man with a cardboard sign.
ROBERT BOSSON, UNEMPLOYED FATHER: I realize when people see you by yourself, people think that you're just going to buy drugs or liquor.
BUSCH: So to put food on the table, Robert swallowed his pride.
BOSSON: People will help us out.
BUSCH: And brought his two sons to the street corner with him.
BOSSON: I love you guys very much.
BUSCH: James is 12. Matthew is only eight. Instead of learning in school.
BOSSON: God bless you guys, thank you.
BUSCH: Tey're begging for money in the middle of Phoenix.
It must be difficult asking your boys to come out here with you?
BUSCH: Yes, yes, it is, yes, it is very hard. I hate to see my kids suffer.
BOSSON: Robert lost his truck driving job two weeks ago. Next week, he could lose his apartment. At the Phoenix Rescue Mission, the dining hall is bursting at the seams. Filled with new faces.
NICOLE PENA, PHOENIX RESCUE MISSION: We're dealing with people that have never come to a shelter to a congregate feeding site. They've never need a food box before.
BOSSON: Speaking of food, the boys were treated to McDonald's for dinner, the first thing they've eaten since yesterday. Dad mostly sat and cried because he knows they'll probably be back tomorrow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: That is a tough story to see. Reaction certainly coming in from viewers and going to hear from our panelists over there in a second. Let's just see this one comment from Edgar saying "a man begging with his children for money? I wish there was something I could do to help."
Mark, Kim, Garth, Garth, I'll start with you. Just how does one react when you watch a story like that?
GRAHAM: It's heartbreaking. Generally you try to do anything to help your family and one of them is to try to protect them from that type of thing. It's a horrible situation that guy's in.
HOLMES: Kim you have a couple of kids, I think you said seven and 10. Everything we all go through, you had to be thinking about your kids and their future.
KING: Yes. I mean, how many people are one or two paychecks away from that if you lose your job? You don't know what you would do in that situation. It's very difficult.
HOLMES: Marc, as well, I know you're concerned, as well. You built a career and got a retirement savings you hope to hold on to, as well.
FLORIANI: Yes, it's very sad. I just hope that everything will work out for them. I hope to never be in that position.
HOLMES: Like Kim said, so many people are working and homeless. Some people are getting checks but still can't make ends meet. Just a check or two away from disaster. Thank you all. We will wrap this show up talking about the economy and the markets today. A bounce back after the announcement of the economic team by President-Elect Obama. We'll check in with Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, obviously, you've been watching CNN all day and you will continue do that the rest of the night, I'm sure. So, since you've been here with us all day, some things you missed on a few other shows of interest. We'll show you these tidbits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, "THE VIEW": Barack Obama has finished setting up his administration but some people are calling for President Bush to step down and let Obama take over.
BARBARA WALTERS, "THE VIEWS": You can't do that. I mean, you can't say would you mind leaving.
JOY BEHAR, "THE VIEW": No, because if he leaves, you're stuck with Cheney.
WALTERS: That's not what they're saying.
ELIZABETH HASSELBECK, "THE VIEW": This is something that legally has to happen. For people to say they could just jump in. They haven't even picked her dog or her inauguration dress. Things have to happen.
GOLDBERG: Do you think maybe they were a little tongue in cheek. Imagine what would happen if they did that. Hello, Barack, you're on. Like, whoa!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLEN DEGENERES, TALK SHOW HOST: Spend it with family at Thanksgiving?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes with, my mom, my brother and my dad and my mom.
DEGENERES: That's great. Boyfriend, husband?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With my boyfriend.
DEGENERES: And?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he's in the Air Force. He's in Florida. So I won't get to see him.
DEGENERES: That's a shame you're not going to be able to spend it with him. That's sad. Anyway, let's see what we're going to play for, and maybe this make you feel better for Thanksgiving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't believe it!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Nice moment there. Surprised her hubby got to come see her over the holidays. Every guy in the studio in tears after that moment. All of them. You don't want to get a shot of them? No, I'm kidding. Let's go to Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. Maybe no tears today.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tears of happiness, T.J.
HOLMES: Some cheers no, tears. Tell us what happened.
LISOVICZ: I mean, this may be, Bloomberg says this will be the best two-day rally since 1987. We've just had huge gains in the teeth of a bear market. And the reason why, T.J., is because we've got some answers to some very disturbing issues. One of them is the fate of Citigroup. We got an answer over the weekend that this massive financial company will be another recipient of Uncle Sam's largesse, $300 million back stopping by the U.S. government and a $20 billion injection.
The government will get preferred shares with an eight percent dividend in return, and we have some answers from President-Elect Obama on who will lead his economic team. That was the impetus for Friday's last hour of trading where we had an explosive hour for the Dow and for the three major averages. And today we got to meet them.
A lot of them are familiar here on Wall Street, Tim Geithner nominated as treasury secretary, a key player in the Citigroup rescue and bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he is the president of the Federal Reserve and Larry Summers, who has been undersecretary, deputy secretary and treasury secretary. What you're seeing, big gains across the board, the Dow, the NASDAQ, the S&P, all up at least 4.5 percent. That's tears of happiness for a lot of people, T.J.
HOLMES: We'll all take it and end on this happy note. Susan, thank you so much.
That wraps it up for us this hour.
I want to hand it over to Miles O'Brien in New York handling THE SITUATION ROOM today.
