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Obama Administration Announcement; Outrage in Mumbai
Aired November 30, 2008 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In the CNN NEWSROOM, President-elect Barack Obama prepares to make a major announcement in his historic administration taking shape.
Plus, outrage in Mumbai over what some call a bungled rescue operation.
And then take a look at this. A father right there in the mix risking his life to go back inside the Mumbai Hotel under siege to save his infant girl.
Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. This is the CNN NEWSROOM where we're watching two major stories unfold. Detroit's big three automakers are putting the final touches on a new appeal for billions of dollars of your money and as early as tomorrow, big announcements on big appointments in the president-elect's administration.
Let's begin with Barack Obama's transition. Sources say that he will introduce his national security team tomorrow. CNN's Ed Henry is in Chicago with more on this. A very rainy Chicago. Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good afternoon, Fred. It's interesting, President-elect Obama about to roll out some big names to deal with big problems all around the world. We're hearing from two democratic officials he will make it official tomorrow here in Chicago that Hillary Clinton will be Secretary of State, Robert Gates, the current defense secretary will stay on, and we're also hearing that Retired Marine General Jim Jones is in line to be the national security adviser within the White House.
What's fascinating to see all of these play out is that we're hearing from both democrats and republicans on the Sunday talk shows today really saying that this is going to be a very talented, almost an all- star national security team. But on the flip side, you have to wonder how it's going to all come together when you have so many high powered, high profiled players. I mean you look at Hillary Clinton, for example, who clashed a lot with Barack Obama during those democratic presidential primaries about issues like the war in Iraq, how quickly to pull out U.S. troops. You also have the fact that she ran that 3:00 a.m. ad basically saying that Barack Obama was not ready to handle a middle of the night crisis in the White House. Now she's going to essentially be secretary of state. And when you look at all of this, though, it's certainly going to be a very interesting roll-out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HENRY (voice-over): Fresh terrorist attacks in India. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All soon landing on the desk of President-elect Barack Obama, who is assembling a cabinet already winning rave reviews.
DAN BENHAMIN, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: This is not about playing small ball. This is really about going at just the most daunting agenda I think any new president has confronted in at least half a century.
HENRY: On Monday, Mr. Obama will unveil a high powered national security team that two democratic officials tell CNN will include Senator Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Robert Gates staying as defense secretary, and Retired Marine General Jim Jones expected as national security adviser.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Obama will send out reassuring signals not only to the United States, but around the world, that American foreign policy is going to be in good, sound, experienced hands on January 20th.
HENRY: Even republicans are expressing admiration for a group that democratic officials confirm will also include Susan Rice as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security Secretary, and Eric Holder as attorney general.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Extraordinary talent. And I think the interesting thing is even though I'm on the opposite party, these are people that are widely respected by republicans on the hill. You've not heard anybody pointing fingers and saying is this a bunch of light weights.
HENRY: But some critics are raising questions about whether a so- called team of rivals modeled on Abraham Lincoln's administration, will be dysfunctional. Historian Matthew Pinsker wrote Sunday in the "Los Angeles Times", "Lincoln was a political genius, but his model for cabinet building should stand more as a cautionary tale than as a leadership manual." Plus, many of the heavy weights are Washington insider, which may run counter to the theme of Mr. Obama's campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say to your supporters who were looking for change?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking. But understand where the vision for change comes from first and foremost. It comes from me. That's my job is to provide a vision in terms of where we are going and to make sure then that my team is implementing it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, senior Obama aides say that principle to the president- elect's vow to remove all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months. Liberals however will be watching very closely to see whether this more centrist cabinet will push the eventual commander-in-chief to be a little more flexible with that campaign promise. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ed Henry in a very rainy Chicago. Thanks so much.
Meantime you'll notice on the screen there we're keeping an eye on the kind of delays that you might be experiencing this holiday weekend weather-related, air travel, we'll be delving into that a little bit later just in case you're wondering all that activity there on the screen.
Meantime, Detroit auto executives have been working all weekend as well. This week they are scheduled to be back on Capitol Hill with a revised request for $25 billion in federal loans. We'll be delving into that a lot who are with Susan Candiotti reporting from New York.
Meantime, we've been hearing a lot about the economy, the slowing economy on so many levels, from automobiles to homes. The slowing economy, how does it affecting Americans? Well, on many different levels, are you facing foreclosure perhaps, or are you worried about the number of foreclosures in your neighborhood? Share some of your thoughts by e-mailing us at weekends@cnn.com. We'll put some of your questions to people who have answers about surviving the mortgage mess. That's in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.
And on to our political ticker. Former republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, back on the campaign trail, not pushing her campaign, but someone else's. She is scheduled to make an appearance in Georgia tonight as well as tomorrow with Senator Saxby Chambliss. Neither Chambliss nor his democratic opponent Jim Martin won a majority in the November election, so under Georgia law, they face a runoff and that is Tuesday.
With Thanksgiving weekend ending, can Christmas be very far away? Not at the White House where First Lady Laura Bush took delivery of this year's Christmas tree right there, a 20 foot Frazier fur from North Carolina. The White House Christmas tree tradition dates back to 1889 when Benjamin Harrison was president.
So you want to keep up with the political ticker? For all the latest campaign news, just logon to cnnpolitics.com, your source for all things political.
All right. Let's check on all those weather delays. Folks who are traveling, hitting the roads, hitting the airways. Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center. A lot of things that folks are going to be encountering.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's a big yuck, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: A big yuck.
JERAS: Yes. It really is you know. It's kind of overwhelming, because it's impacting so many people and it's covering so much real estate. So it's not just one small area of the country. It's you know we're talking like the Mississippi River eastward. And everybody's having problems for that chunk of the country.
We're starting now with this importance of a tornado threat and we've already had a little bit of ground truth on this with some damage earlier today near the Orlando area, still a watch in effect and that's in effect until 8:00 tonight with the severe squall line, some severe thunderstorm warnings that were along the 75 corridor there, and up towards Port Saint Lucy. Look at how large the storm is. Very extreme from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast and the delays are extreme as well.
Take a look at that, find your city, and I guarantee you just about everybody's well over an hour here. A little bit lesser in West Palm Beach, Toronto, about 25 minutes there, but we're talking over two hours for New York City, over an hour in Atlanta. And delays in Chicago. So these are major hubs being impacted with major weather. The good news is the snow accumulations is not too heavy into the northeast, but we'll see heavier accumulations in parts of the midwest. Milwaukee in particular will probably be the biggest metropolitan area receiving maybe a good half a foot of snow. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. That's kind of good if you're going to stay inside.
JERAS: That's right.
WHITFIELD: Terrible if you need get out.
JERAS: Stay inside and decorate the tree. Good day for you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Jacqui. Appreciate it.
All right. And coming up we're going to have live coverage of the shuttle making its landing after spending time in space. Miles O'Brien will be joining us for a little talk about. No longer going to make its landing in Florida because of weather but instead this time in California.
Meantime, the investigation intensifies in India, just who carried out the terror attacks in Mumbai? New information about that investigation next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: You're watching outrage right here in the streets of Mumbai, India. Protestors march at the Taj Mahal Hotel today expressing anger that the Indian government didn't do more to prevent the terror attacks that left at least 183 people dead. So still perplexing who is behind the attacks? CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Mumbai.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Could this gunman hold the balance of regional peace in his hands? He is the only attacker to be captured alive. Indian police say he is Pakistani and what he tells investigators could shape the rising tensions between these two nuclear neighbors.
ROBERTSON (on-camera): Government officials here are quick to blame Pakistan. Pakistan's ministers deny their country's involvement. They've offered to help with the investigation, but are now considering bolstering their troops along the border. The two countries have fought three wars in the past 60 years. Getting this investigation right could not be more critical.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): At a commemoration ceremony, the police killed in the terror attacks, Mumbai police commissioner wanted to cool speculation. How are you doing? Sir, how is the investigation going at the moment?
HASAN GAFOOR, MUMBAI POLICE COMMISSIONER: This is a condolence meeting. I can't talk right now. Please (inaudible).
ROBERTSON: Absolutely.
It is indeed a tough time for the city. But India's maze of new independent media outlets have a steady stream of leaks from investigators. They vary widely. Few can agree on the captured gun man's name. Our sister network CNN IBM has sources inside India's intelligence community. They're being told the gunman was trained and helped by Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Pakistan based Al Qaeda terror group. Indian officials alleged in the 1990s, Lashkar-e-Toiba is a state sponsored terror group, used by the Pakistani government to get control of the disputed northern Kashmir region as well as being responsible for many more recent attacks here. Pakistan banned Lashkar-e-Toiba in 2002.
CNN IBN has also been told the captured gunman says he and his fellow attackers were told to memorize google earth maps of Mumbai's streets so they could find their targets.
ROBERTSON (on-camera): As a measure of how seriously the attack and rising tensions are being taken in western capitals, the FBI is sending a team to help. British investigators also expected and Interpol, the international policing group, are also in negotiations with Indian authorities to send in their teams.
While the country mourns its fallen hero, an undercurrent of anti- Pakistan sentiment is growing. Managing that while conducting a thorough and open investigation may be this country's biggest challenge in the coming weeks. Nic Robertson, CNN, Mumbai, India.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And now that report simply underscores the tension between India and Pakistan and how it now may increase following these attacks. And it certainly complicates the U.S. role in the region. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now live from Washington with more on that. In what way?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, honestly the United States has many strategic interests in that region. Economic interests, military interests, the long term search for Osama Bin Laden. So in this crisis as in others recently, the Bush administration is pushing hard for calm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (voice-over): Less than 24 hours after returning from his Thanksgiving holiday, President Bush was on the phone for the second time with India's prime minister. Mr. Bush promised U.S. help in going after the extremists responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks. The fact that the lone surviving gunman says he's with a Pakistani militant group is rationing tensions between that country and India. Pakistan warns it maybe forced to pull its terrorist hunting troops from the border with Afghanistan and move them closer to India.
HUSAIN HAQQANI, PAKISTAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: If there is any troop buildup on our eastern border, we will certainly have to take defensive positions and unfortunately that may mean bringing troops from the western border.
KOCH: Not only could such actions threaten peace between two U.S. allies. Both nuclear arms democracies, it could jeopardize the situation in Afghanistan.
SEN. RICHARD LUGAS (R), INDIANA: We're going to have to move very rapidly ourselves and the United States of America to make certain that our forces in Afghanistan quite apart from whatever we're doing in Iraq are protected while the rest of this goes on with two very high level countries.
KOCH: One intelligence expert believes Al Qaeda might encourage a Mumbai-like attack precisely to draw troops away from the Afghan border.
But Al Qaeda has the sanctuary now up there along that border. It is under some pressure both from the United States and from Pakistan. And this would be one way to relieve that pressure.
KOCH: Pakistan's government denies any involvement in the Mumbai attacks and is promising to work with India in the investigation. One senator hopes it's a sign that the region could see new alliances grow.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Out of this collaboration and partnerships we haven't seen before between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to have a joint vision, strategic vision, and tactical operations to go after terrorists that reside in the region who wish all of these young democracies harm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: The Bush administration has already deployed an FBI team to India to assist in the investigation into the deaths of the six Americans in the attacks. And it continues briefing the Obama team which will inherit this unexpected international crisis. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kathleen Koch in Washington thanks so much.
KOCH: You bet.
WHITFIELD: Later on this hour, pictures you need to see and the Italian chef at a Mumbai hotel in a desperate attempt putting his life on the line to help save his infant daughter. He is a father and husband of the year. You will see why.
And a deadly stampede at Walmart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're savages. What they did this morning, they're savages. That's not right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So what makes some people go off the deep end when it comes to shopping?
And live pictures right now, the space shuttle "Endeavour" on its way back to earth after 17 days in space. And doing some work at the International Space Station. It's making a landing at Edwards Air Force base because the weather is terrible in Florida. We'll have a live update coming up. Miles O'Brien will be joining us as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Live pictures right now. Space shuttle "Endeavour" making its way to earth. Is that not a beautiful picture? Miles O'Brien is watching it along with us and can do a much better job describing things than I can. It was supposed to be on its way to Florida as it naturally does, but weather is horrible, so it's taken a detour, right?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a little detour. A couple thousand miles across the country, but to them, that doesn't make much difference. Yes, I'm trying to think of the technical reaction to a shot like that. Wow maybe? Cool?
WHITFIELD: Gorgeous. Oh my god. Oh, my gosh.
O'BRIEN: Oh, my gosh. That's good. I like that. See, Fred, you can do this. How hard can it be? It's a beautiful shot. Obviously the weather at Edwards is spectacular. There you see the space shuttle "Endeavour," it's gone through the hardest part of its re-entry, the high temperatures having occurred about 15, 20 minutes ago as it streaked across the Pacific and is now in is what's called a heading alignment cone or cylinder turn. It's about a 320 degree left turn as they bleed speed and altitude and get lined up for their landing on runway four left there at Edwards Air Force Base.
WHITFIELD: So that cork screw kind of helps slow it down to the slide, right?
O'BRIEN: Yes, the theory is what you do is you come into - it's like you're arriving at the airport with a little bit of extra energy than you would need to get there. You want to have a little buffer. And then the computer sort of figures out exactly how wide and steep to make that turn in order to bleed off that excess at just the right moment so when you land, you have the right amount of speed. You got to remember, this is a $2 billion glider. This is a one shot deal. These are the best pilots in the world. Chris Ferguson is doing this, however for the first time in his career.
WHITFIELD: Oh my god.
O'BRIEN: An experienced Navy pilot. I mean they do it thousands of times with simulators. They have an airline that's rigged up to fly like a shuttle, but the truth is the commander doesn't actually fly the shuttle until this moment, really just a couple of, a minute or so before landing as they go sub sonic. And there they are lining up right now in this runway. You can see -
WHITFIELD: Interesting. And you know, Miles, we welcome our CNN International viewers as well who are now getting a bird's eye view of things going on here because this is fascinating no matter where you are around the globe.
O'BRIEN: Well, we're glad they're all watching. They've actually been around the globe 250 times, a journey of 5.5 million miles. Went to the International Space Station. Did sort of an extreme homemade over. Now as you see them come down, they're coming down, Fred, about five times steeper than a typical airliner would. It's hard to see in this picture, but it's kind of like a dive bomb. I've actually flown a couple of simulator runs and did OK myself. But -
WHITFIELD: Neat. You did well because you're a pilot. I mean, come on.
O'BRIEN: Yes. You look down, you're like there's no way, I'm too high to make this runway. And you do, you do show up there. So what we're going to watch for now - you can see they have the - if you look up from the tail, you can see -- let's see if we can point out those two things, you see the kind of speed, the two (elevants) there, those two vertical stabilizers out there to kind of slow things down. In any case, as they get closer - they line up in the runway.
WHITFIELD: OK. Like a (inaudible) would work on an airplane.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Exactly but you know it's not like you don't have an engine, so you're doing it all by air surfaces, angle of attack, all these fancy stuff. In any cases, they come down, unfortunately, we're not going to be able to say see inside the cockpit because we don't have that capability when they land at Edwards. But when they come down, they just kind of line up, two little balls on their left display which will get them on the right glide cell and then we'll see here is about 15 seconds before landing, there they go. Now you can count it down 15 seconds, but the -
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, what timing.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Eric Bow, the pilot of the "Endeavour." That's the most important job he does is push the switch to bring that landing gear down. Spring loaded for touchdown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touchdown.
O'BRIEN: After a 5.5 million mile journey there at Edwards Air Force Base, in this spectacular day, out comes the drag chute expected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drag chute up, slowing down.
O'BRIEN: By the way, Fredricka, you're listening to Kelly Humphreys. He is the public affairs (inaudible) from Houston as he helps their rate us through this. And this is infinitely better weather condition than they faced in Florida where the clouds were low, the wind was strong, thunderstorms in the area. Just not a good day for shuttle flying at all.
WHITFIELD: Well, thanks for that California backup because it doesn't always seem to be the case when the weather is bad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and to have this backup at Edwards, it almost seems like nine times on you of ten, the weather is good here.
O'BRIEN: Yes, you know, there's a good reason that that's like the home of test piloting. It's the high desert is the perfect place to be flying. Let's listen as Chris Ferguson says hello as they stop the wheels there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy, wheel stop "Endeavour." Welcome back. It was a great way to finish a fantastic flight. Fergie.
FERGUSON: We're happy to be here in California.
O'BRIEN: There they are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good afternoon. We have no immediate post landing deltas.
O'BRIEN: Let me show you one thing here Fred. Look at that. You wonder what that's all about there?
WHITFIELD: Tell me.
O'BRIEN: That is the exhaust from the auxiliary power units. They actually burn hydrosene in these pumps which actually you know keep the orbiter powered up as it comes in for a landing. And it's kind of - seems almost like an antiquated thing that you'd think they could up with a battery system, but it's the lightest, most efficient way. Of course this is 1970s technology we're looking at, but at night, when you see it in the infrared light, it almost looks like a little steam engine chugging away there. But that nothing to be worried about. That's the way it's supposed to be.
WHITFIELD: That's normal.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Wow, even though you know from the untrained eye that seems very abnormal, but reassuring that you're telling us that's what's supposed to happen.
O'BRIEN: Well, what's normal about traveling mock 25 around the planet for a you know coming in like that? It really is normal. NASA tries to make it look kind of ho-hum sometimes it seems, but it is an amazing thing.
WHITFIELD: Wow, pretty extraordinary stuff. It's always good to see - fabulous to see it live. The space shuttle "Endeavour" making or coming to an end of its 17-day journey there at the International Space Station and beyond and making this beautiful landing right there in the Mojave desert. Always good weather in the desert, right.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: For a landing like this at Edwards Air Force base as opposed to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Miles O'Brien, we enjoyed the ride. Thanks so much.
O'BRIEN: Always a pleasure, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Good to see you. Have a great rest of the holiday weekend. What's left of it that is.
O'BRIEN: All right.
WHITFIELD: Well, despite this economic downturn that much of America has been experiencing, a hopeful start, perhaps, for the shopping season. Shopper track is weighing in. A market research firm estimates that the day after Thanksgiving, shoppers spent three percent more this year. Retailers call the day after Thanksgiving black Friday traditionally because it also the day of the year when many stores cross over to profitability.
So the slowing economy is certainly affecting many Americans who are at risk of losing their homes. Are you facing foreclosure or perhaps you're just worried about the number of foreclosures in your neighborhood? Worried about saving your home? Share your thoughts by e-mailing us at weekends@cnn.com, we'll put some of your questions to people who have answers throughout the next hour of the NEWSROOM about surviving this mortgage mess. Something everyone in some way is impacted by.
A union that has been trying to organize Walmart workers is accusing the retailer of blatant irresponsibility. The charge stems from the death of a temporary worker at a Walmart store on New York's Long Island. The worker was trampled by shoppers surging into the store on black Friday and officials from the Food and Commercial Workers Union says Walmart should have taken more advanced precautions to head off that stampede. Well Walmart declined comment on the union's charges. The father, meantime, of the dead worker was shocked by the account of his son's death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OGERA CHARLES, VICTIM'S FATHER: That's a brutality. People just walking on a human being like that, you don't feel that, you don't feel nothing?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: It is tragic. As police continue their investigation into the Walmart death, psychologists, too, are trying to make sense of that stampede and who is to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: (voice-over): The headline from this year's black Friday was not about dismal sales or empty stores, rather, the frenzied actions of a crowd out of control. 34-year temp worker Jdymitai Damour lost his life in a stampede of early morning shoppers at a Walmart in Long Island New York.
LT. MICHAEL FLEMMING, NASSAU COUNTY POLICE: I was able to see several dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out from the store out into the vestibule to try to render aid. And those workers were getting trampled as they were trying to go out into the vestibule. The shoppers that were rushing forward were actually breaking stride and they were going to full out run into the store. This was utter chaos. As these men tried to open the store this morning.
WHITFIELD: One clinical psychologist blamed the mob mentality for Friday's tragedy. As shoppers rushed to buy products like laptops and HD televisions.
DR. GLORIA MORROW, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Our society has put so much value on these kinds of items until people will lose all decency and their good sense to get in a line and to stay in a line for hours upon hours to get those items.
WHITFIELD: Police say as many as 2,000 people were waiting outside to get into the store. The crowd surged, breaking the doors and knocking down about a dozen people. But witnesses say once the crowd passed the entrance, the atmosphere changed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the time we got inside, it was just crazy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people hurt in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, one else was hurt. It was the only person.
MORROW: Sometimes we will try to separate something that's so horrendous and horrible from our psyche in order to cope with it and I think people did not want to deal with the fact that their behavior caused someone to lose their life.
WHITFIELD: In a statement, Wal-Mart says the store put in additional security, barricades, and worked with police in anticipation of the heavy crowds. The company is promising to work with law enforcement and reach out to those involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And police are now reviewing video from the Wal-Mart store surveillance cameras. They say criminal charges are possible, but admit that it may be difficult to identify anybody.
Well, the U.S. auto industry has certainly taken a lot of heat recently, but have they been on the right road at least some of the time? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Detroit auto executives have been working all weekend long. This week they're scheduled to be back on Capitol Hill with a revised request for $25 billion in federal loans. More now from CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For 38 years, yes, 38 years, Jared Fowler has been the epitome of an enthusiastic GM salesman. He's ready for another day at this Saturn Dealership in New Jersey.
JARED FOWLER, SATURN SALESMAN: Yeah, do I a decent job. Not the greatest salesperson in the world. I just like what I do. Never been down in this business.
CANDIOTTI: He may not be down, but the industry is. GM, Ford and Chrysler all begging Congress for a $25 billion plus bailout.
FOWLER: The consumer has no confidence especially to buy new cars. What can government do to perhaps instill confidence?
CANDIOTTI: Fowler's boss who owns Saturn, Chevy and Nissan dealerships says something's got to give.
How badly have you taken a hit?
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Well, we were down almost 50 percent from last year which is unheard of. It's never been like it before. I can't even sugarcoat it.
CANDIOTTI: We shadowed Fowler for a day as he tried to cut into the sales slump. He had a good start. A previous customer swung into finish off an order. Then Fowler hit the phones for some customer call backs. Then Fowler watched and waited around the showroom looking for walk-ins.
How do you manage to stay so upbeat?
FOWLER: That's me.
CANDIOTTI: But what to do to get more customers back in the buying seat? Congress may consider a new bill that revives making sales tax and interest payments on car loans deductible again at least through next year.
JIM APPLETON, N.J. AUTOMOTIVE DEALERS ASSN: The federal government needs to get into this game to get consumers buying cars again.
CANDIOTTI: At day's end, Fowler gets one more crack at closing a deal. But this couple isn't quite ready.
FOWLER: I'll clean it for you, fill up the gas. Do we have a deal?
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Not yet. I think we still have to talk.
CANDIOTTI: Fowler shrugs it off and calls it a good day.
FOWLER: Sold one car. Met a couple that will probably buy a car from me. And I have two appointments for tomorrow.
CANDIOTTI: At a young age, 63, Jared Fowler says he intends to keep on working as long as he can unless a failing industry in essence shoves him out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK, so Susan you know the dealer that you spoke with said sales are down 50 percent. How in the world can dealers as a whole survive this?
CANDIOTTI: Well, a lot of them aren't as I'm sure you've heard. The industry expects maybe 700 dealerships to close in the United States by the end of this year and in fact if they are not closing they are consolidating. So all of this has a trickled down effect. Although they say it's the best time to buy a car if you can get the loan.
WHITFIELD: That is another big problem. And it really is a catch 22 and a rock between a heart place, all of those little adages. Thanks so much. Susan Candiotti joining us from New York.
Well, also joining us from New York, auto expert Lauren Fix. Lauren I have lots of questions for you. These auto CEOs, back on Capitol Hill. They're going to be asking for everything and the kitchen sink, but I wonder as they ask for that money, are they thinking about those car dealers, and is there anything in their plan to help bail out the auto dealers who are closing down because they can't move these cars?
LAUREN FIX, AUTO EXPERT: Well that's all part of the big picture. Their finance arm is what finances the dealerships, the cars they put on the lot and the consumers and what they buy. So if the finance companies are in trouble, it affects the corporations, it affects the sales. It's a death triangle so you have to figure out a way to make this work. And like I said, giving the money is not the answer, but there's going to have to be a lot of restructuring.
WHITFIELD: And that is exactly what Congress said to these CEOs, wait a minute, we want to hear more than just you've got $25 billion that you want. We want to know where it's going, how it's being spent, we want to know how much does it take to keep your operation, keep the plants going.
FIX: Right. And there's positives and negatives.
WHITFIELD: Are we going to see them answer those questions?
FIX: I think there's going to be a lot of questions to their statements. I know that the Ford CEO has been carrying around a list with him of exactly what he thinks needs to be done. And he actually carries it on a 3 by 5 card in his coat pocket. But I think that's a lot more. My biggest concern is we do not want a federal car czar, someone who tells us how to build our cars. It happen that had way in England and it was a disaster. It's not going it happen here.
We have to come away from financing. Like I suggested in the past, someone like the oil companies will have to work out low interest loans. They're the ones with the money. We have to find out ways where everyone will have to get a haircut and that may mean that the CEOs get a dollar per year, that may mean that every single employee will do what they do with Iacocca, everybody cuts back 10 percent off their salary, you get stock in the company, at least you'll get something back rather than no job.
WHITFIELD: Oh interesting. The other assignment was these CEOs have to talk about vie ability. Congress wants to hear what's in the plan, what's in that crystal ball, how do we know that these American cars can offer something to consumers? If there's a way of looking in to the past, what have these automakers done right in terms of showing that American autos can be attractive to consumers?
FIX: They've done some great things. We'll start with Ford, for example. They've got the new 2010 Mustang. I was there at the launch. There was over 1,000 people ready to put a deposit down and the car looks great. They've done an amazing job with the design. The Ford Fusion has done well. Ford trucks always do well. The F-150 series. And the first hybrid SUV was the Escape. And that's exactly what Obama drives. So president-elect is driving a Ford Escape hybrid.
So Ford's done some good products. Shift to General Motors. Everybody loves the Corvette, it's a beautiful car. They've got the new Volt coming out, first one for an all-electric car for a domestic. Even Buick, they did a great job with the Enclave. They may have to let Saab and Pontiac and Saturn sell off the franchises. That may be one of the options, that doesn't mean it is the option, but, again, you have to sit down financially and see what works. Chrysler has done a great job. They had seven product lines that are very successful starting with the minivan. And then, of course, you're looking at the Jeep line. Jeep has got an amazing brand following. People that have Jeeps will always love their jeep. So everyone's put together good products.
WHITFIELD: And I guess a lot of people have applauded Cadillac as another one saying they reinvent the product, making it more appealing to go the younger crowd, maintaining some staying power there. We're going to see what's on tap for Capitol Hill and the CEOs of the American automotive to see if they're going to get a life line.
FIX: I hope so. This will be a very exciting week with what is going to happen.
WHITFIELD: All right. Appreciate your insight. Thanks so much.
FIX: Thank you Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Perhaps you are planning to travel this weekend. Just look at the screen there. We're kind of updating you on how weather is impacting things, what the air delays might be. Jacqui what do you have? JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A lot of delays Fredricka. In fact, hours long. The worst one right now, Chicago O'Hare, looking at a ground stop about so that that means nobody's taking off to get to Chicago, but, hey, look at the traffic moving along for all those holiday shoppers on Michigan Avenue. We'll have the latest on the travel delays coming up.
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WHITFIELD: Jacqui Jeras in the Weather Center and she has bad news.
JERAS: Traveling, right? A lot of people, millions of people being impacted today by the storm whether you're on the highways or in the airways. And it's really covering about the eastern half of the country. Check out all that moisture up and down the eastern seaboard. We've got snow across the Great Lakes and into the Midwest, some rain mixing in in some areas. And anytime, all you really need is a little cloud cover and that causes problems at the airports.
We mentioned Chicago. Looks like that ground stop has been lifted, but the delays are three hours if you're trying to get there. Boston, over an hour pushing two over an hour in Atlanta. LaGuardia, over two, over two in New York, Newark looking at delays over three hours, Philadelphia, White Plain, New York and Toronto, all looking at significant delays. The snow will be accumulating, the heaviest we think north of Chicago around Milwaukee and then also across northern parts of Lower Michigan. Use a lot of caution on I-90, I-80, I-70, I- 75, and a whole lot of others.
WHITFIELD: It goes on and on. Thanks so much Jacqui. I think. Appreciate it.
Well, it's one of the most compelling images of the Mumbai terror attacks. A father reunited with his little baby there, six months old. The baby was trapped inside the hotel.
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WHITFIELD: Impact your world by saving lives in Haiti. CNN Jim Clancy looks at a new way to treat malnourishment.
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JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The cries of the hungry are heard all too often in Haiti. About one out of every 12 children in the poverty stricken nation will die before the age of five, many of them from malnutrition. A few weeks ago doctors expected this three-year-old orphan would become the latest casualty in the struggle against starvation. But thanks to a new mal nourishment therapy called medic mambo (ph), she was brought back from the death.
NICOLE ETIENNE, CHILD CARE WORKER: In one week, she went from death back to life. It's a miracle product.
CLANCY: A miracle to some, medic mambo (ph) it's actual hey blend of peanut butter and a mixture of proteins, vitamins and minerals. Translated, it means peanut butter medicine. Nearly all malnourished children treated with it do recover. The charity producing the substance, meds and food for kids, buys its peanuts from Haitian farmers, which provides the added benefit of aiding the local economy. Project director Tom Stehl says the group also works with the farmers to improve their agricultural practices.
TOM STEHL, MEDS & FOOD FOR KIDS: I don't know if medic mambo (ph) is the answer, with you this model that we're promoting where we go and buy agricultural products from Haitians and use Haitian products to produce Haitian products is part of the answer.
CLANCY: Stehl says each one of these bags can keep a child alive and well for a week and costs about $6 a piece. Peanuts to some but a lifesaver for these children. For Impact your World, Jim Clancy, CNN.
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WHITFIELD: Perhaps you would like to help these hungry children in Haiti and perhaps in other places around the world. Please visit our Impact your World web page. You'll find more information on meds and food for kids as well as other hunger relief organizations at CNN.com/impact.
All right, so imagine this. Finding $7,500 that someone lost and then actually giving it back. One of the topics in the chat room coming up.
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WHITFIELD: As we wrap up this holiday weekend, we have a lot of stories that Jacqui and I want to talk about in the chat room. Kind of sad, sobering, but at the same time, there's something uplifting in the mix as well.
JERAS: So much bad news this week.
WHITFIELD: I know beginning with what took place in Mumbai, terror there, 183 people killed. But this glimmer of hope of a story of this Italian chef working at the Oberoi Hotel, one of the hotels that was seized by the terrorist. He goes down stairs, he makes his way out and then remembers, wait a minute, my wife and my 6 month old are in the building. Two days it takes, pretty remarkable for him to persuade soldiers to let him back into the building to bring his baby milk.
He's been communicating to find out now she's run out of milk for the baby but how do I get back in there and amazingly, we have great pictures there showing the chef, the dad, in the end, getting a chance to cradle his baby because the soldiers cooperated.
JERAS: Amazing. When your baby and wife is in there, I couldn't imagine what some of these people go through.
WHITFIELD: They've been through a lot. But that was a little uplifting in the end even though it's on going, a nice little glimmer of hope kind of story.
JERAS: So really uplifting on this one, a Good Will worker in Carbon, Illinois received an anonymous check for $7,500. Why, you may ask? Well, the worker was going through donations and finds a shoe box with $7,500. He turned it in and they were able to track down the rightful owner and get them their money back. Somebody else said, hey, that's a great thing, and they just donated an anonymous $7,500.
WHITFIELD: Even that employee apparently got a nice little reward. We don't know how much.
JERAS: He should for being honest like that.
WHITFIELD: In the mean time, talking about shopping, Good Will store, that was very encouraging. Not so encouraging what happened on Black Friday.
JERAS: Yeah, a lot of people maybe getting those bargains on Friday because the economy, they want to go out and they're very determined to get a good deal.
WHITFIELD: Losing their minds. Come on.
JERAS: What happened in Long Island is just amazing that an employee at a Wal-Mart was trampled to death as shoppers, you know, surged in to the store when they opened it up. So doesn't it make everybody one wonder, wait a minute, at what point do you just think, hold on a minute, I realize great bargains, but are you in complete disregard of the lives around you? Is it that competitive; is it that important these material things?
JERAS: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: Against the entire spirit of the holiday.
JERAS: Yeah, it really is. Tough stuff. But a lot to ponder.
WHITFIELD: A lot.
All right Jacqui thanks so much. Always good chatting with you in the chat room.
All right. In our next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
Topping the headline this is weekend, the transition to power. Barack Obama getting ready to nominate top members of his national security team. And outrage in India, protestors demanding answers after deadly terror attacks. And survivors describe in vivid details their terrifying ordeal.
And surviving the mortgage meltdown. Millions of you facing foreclosure, your questions and your concerns and expert advice this hour.
Hello again everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Big announcement from the president-elect just hours away. Barack Obama is expected to name the key members of his national security team.
