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Obama's National Security Team
Aired November 30, 2008 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
All right. Big announcements from the president-elect just hours away -- Barack Obama is expected to name the key members of his national security team. CNN's Ed Henry has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fresh terrorist attacks in India, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- all soon landing on the desk of president-elect Barack Obama, who's assembling a cabinet already winning rave reviews.
DAN BENJAMIN, 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 advisor.
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 in the opposite party, these are people that are widely respected by Republicans on the Hill. You've not heard anybody pointing fingers and saying this is a bunch of lightweights.
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 heavyweights are Washington insiders, which may run counter to the theme of Mr. Obama's campaign.
(on camera): What do you say to, you know, say to your supporters who were looking for change?
BARACK OBAMA, 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)
WHITFIELD: And a closer look now at some of the President-elect Obama's expected choices: Besides being a U.S. senator and the former first lady, Hillary Clinton, is a former faculty member at the University of Arkansas Law School. She was born in Illinois, attended Wellesley College, and Yale Law School.
And Robert Gates -- well -- he's been defense secretary since 2006. He's a former CIA director and former president of Texas A&M University. Gates has deep roots in the Maryland /D.C. area as well as, attending the College of William and Mary and getting his PhD at Georgetown University.
And retired Marine General Jim Jones is president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber Institute for the 21st Century Energy. He's a former supreme allied commander in Europe, and was a 32nd commandant of the Marine Corps. He's a decorated combat veteran and serving more than 40 years in the military before retiring from active duty just last year.
All right. Let's talk about the weather in this holiday weekend, parts of the nation are getting hammered by severe weather today. Let's talk to Jacqui Jeras in the severe weather center once again.
Oh, it's going to be a nasty commute if you've got to be outside and get to a train station or a plane or hit the road.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really is a mess out there. You know, this isn't the strongest storm we've ever seen, but it covers as lot of real estate. We've seen a lot of rain and we're getting some snow mixing in some areas, so that makes the roadways slick and with all of the volume of people traveling today, it just really spills a big mess. And we're talking hours for delays at many of the big airports.
Here's the system as a whole. There you can see the snow across the Midwest and into the Great Lakes and a lot of rain in the northeastern corridor spreading all the way down into the state of Florida.
The delays are many. And here's a look at a few of them. Over an hour in Atlanta; over an hour in Boston; Chicago, over three hour delays to get into O'Hare. I guess you're doing OK at midway, though, so we're hearing. Over two hours at LaGuardia as well as JFK. Three hours-plus here in Newark; Philadelphia, three hours plus; Teterboro over two; over three in White Plains, New York; and Toronto, a measly 25 minutes. So, doing a little bit better up there in Canada.
Here's the heavy snow that's coming down particularly across northern and central parts of Illinois. Bloomington normal area already picking up a good five inches of snow. We've seen about four to five inches around La Crosse, in the Winona area, up in to Minnesota and Wisconsin, there you can see Milwaukee getting the heavy snow, a winter storm warning in effect for you, expecting maybe as much as four to eight-plus inches of snowfall. Chicago, you've just been seeing the rain so far, but we're expecting that to change over to some snowfall.
Let's go ahead and take a look at some of the tower cams that we have and give you a little ground truth and show what you it looks like outside. We don't have this? There we go. There we go. What are we looking at here, guys? That's Los Angeles, you said? All right. There's a nice look at Los Angeles where we have beautiful conditions actually. So, no real trouble there unless there's a lot of volume on some of the interstates.
Let's go ahead and go back to the map and show what's going on here with some of the warnings in place. We've got a watch right now across southern parts of Florida, for the threat of tornadoes. There was one reported around the Orlando area earlier today with a little bit of damage to a couple of cars there. No warnings right now for tornadoes, but a severe thunderstorm warning that includes you in Port St. Lucie, that watch in effect until 8:00 o'clock local time tonight.
There you can see the wet weather into the northeast. Heavy rain now into Philly and New York City. Boston, rain, but you get a little farther off to the west and get into the higher elevations and you're looking at some of the mix and the snow. For the most part, the snow accumulations will stay light into the northeastern corridor, but much heavier as you head into the Midwest -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. Poor Midwest, getting the brunt of that nasty weather again.
JERAS: They will. But the northeast tomorrow will be very windy and this is still going to linger for them tomorrow. So, things are going to be sticking around for a while in terms of delays.
WHITFIELD: Oh, man. All right, miserable, although, that one seems kind of fitting with Thanksgiving. I always remember Thanksgiving...
JERAS: You like it.
WHITFIELD: Well, it's kind of like it, it just seems like every Thanksgiving, growing up always seemed to be kind of misty or overcast, kind of yucky weather. You know, it means staying inside with your family, right? So kind of fitting.
JERAS: That time of year, whatever makes to bond.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Jacqui.
All right. Well, very similar to the scene that we saw at LAX there. It was fairly sunny, mild weather. Well, the same goes for the Mojave Desert after all. And that's where the crew of the Endeavour is now feeling the tug of gravity after the shuttle touched down last hour at the Edwards Air Force Base there. Stormy weather over Florida actually forced NASA to wave off earlier landing attempts at Kennedy Space Center.
So, using the alternate site, well, yes, it is kind of expensive. It costs about $1.7 million to ferry the shuttle home from California, making its way from California back to Florida, and it takes about a week. It also means a delay in the crew's reunion. Most of the families actually do live in Florida.
All right. A highly placed Indian official resigns and tensions may be rising with India's bitter rival now and neighbor of Pakistan. Here's what we know about what took place over the last three days during the siege there. India's top security official is resigning today. The home minister had already been unpopular during a long series of terror attacks across India.
And sources tell CNN, our sister network, CNN-IBN, that the Indian government is considering suspending its five-year old ceasefire agreement with Pakistan.
And President Bush today spoke by phone with India's prime minister. Mr. Bush is promising help to India's government as it investigates the attacks, and the FBI apparently has sent a team to India, as well.
All right. The chairman of the company that actually owns the Taj Mahal Hotel, one of the two hotels taken over by the terrorists, says the hotel had been warned of a possible terrorist attack before the rampage. Ratan Tata tells CNN's Fareed Zakaria, the hotel beefed up security right after receiving that warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FROM CNN'S FAREED ZAKARIA GPS)
RATAN TATA, CHAIRMAN, TATA GROUP: But we did have such a warning and we did have some measures to, you know, where people couldn't park their cars in the portico where you have it go through a metal detector, but if I look at what we had, which all of us complained about, it could not have stopped what took place.
They didn't come through that entrance. They came from somewhere in the back. They planned everything, I believe the first thing they did was they shot a sniffer dog and his handler. They went through the kitchen. They knew what they were doing and they did not go through the front.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Very frightening moments for everybody involved, including a Chicago family that was trapped in Mumbai's Taj Mahal Hotel, that hotel. Well, now, they're back home state side. Carol Mackoff used her international cell phone to talk with CNN while she was hold up in her hotel room. She and her family were rescued Friday.
And today, she and her husband Stan actually sat down with our Ed Lavandera to talk about their experience and Ed joins us now on the phone from Chicago.
What was said, Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (through phone): Hi, Fredricka. Well, it's been a whirlwind 24 hours since the Mackoff family has arrived back here, state side, in Chicago, back to their family. They spent the day yesterday after arriving at the airport with their grandchildren and children here in the city of Chicago, catching up and getting some rest. They spent close to 48 hours hold up in their room of the Taj Hotel in India where they barely slept.
Carol Mackoff says she did not sleep the entire time, was connected to her cell phone virtually the entire time, texting with family, with our CNN colleagues on the ground in India as well as in Atlanta. She said that that was the key for her to survive the whole ordeal was to make sure people knew where they were so that when time came for a rescue, they felt they put themselves in the best position to get rescued.
And as far as -- Benjamin Mackoff, they said, you know, throughout the entire thing, they actually didn't feel as fearful as they thought they should have. In fact, they say knowing what they know now about the situation, they said we probably should have been a little bit more scared of what was going on.
They said they didn't realize until the Indian army and the commando unit had come into the hotel to rescue them, had gone through the hotel, pulled them out of the rooms and started taking them to safety and that they got their first glimpse of the destruction inside the hotel, that's when everything started sinking in about just how dangerous and how chaotic the situation was inside that hotel room. We can play a little bit for you of parts of the interview that we conducted with them just a short while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL MACKOFF, MUMBAI SURVIVOR: That would seem to be very important to us, to make sure that people were aware of where we were and that we were there and that we were still OK. We felt very confident that a rescue -- probably more confident than we should have been at the time -- but we felt very confident that patience would, in the end, pay off.
BENJAMIN MACKOFF, MUMBAI SURVIVOR: Aside from that, that was our hope, but it was our only hope, because unless, you know, the military had killed them all, and there was an all clear, the only way for us to get out of there is to be rescued, as soon as the first two shots were fired.
C. MACKOFF: Ben said that's not firecracker, that's gunfire. And we immediately, we didn't though where it was coming, but we locked the door to our room.
B. MACKOFF: They didn't have a mustache or anything. They didn't look evil. They looked like young men probably in late teens, early 20s, slim, athletic-looking, talking to each other. One was talking on a cell phone after (INAUDIBLE) after that. So, you know, the face of evil isn't necessarily evil-looking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: And, Fredricka, one of the things that the Mackoffs did stress is that they were amazed by the friendliness and the attention that they got from the commandos of the Indian army and how thoughtful they were to their needs as soon as they were rescued. And they said despite this ordeal that they have been through over the last couple of days, they said they can't wait to keep traveling internationally as soon as possible -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Wow, what an incredibly brave couple. Ed Lavandera, thanks so much. I know we're going to be hearing more from the Mackoffs throughout the evening in the NEWSROOM. Thanks so much.
So, they survived the mayhem in Mumbai. We want you to survive the mortgage mess in this country. We've got experts standing by to answer your questions about how to protect your home, how to navigate this mortgage mess. We're also taking some of your e-mails as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. The mortgage crisis has put many Americans in a place that they never expected to be, facing foreclosure. Jeff Rosensweig is a professor of economics at Emory University, the business center there in Atlanta. We've asked him to share some advice about how you survive this very troubling economy, particularly the mortgage mess.
This is a terrible time of year, any time of year, but this is a really terrible time of year to find out that you are in default and you could potentially lose your home. But I guess the Christmas gift or the holiday gift a lot of people have received is Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, even Citigroup have said, you know what? We're going to put a moratorium on foreclosure this holiday season for a few, you know, 30 to 60 days.
So, there are things that I know you can advise a lot of folks who are facing foreclosure, thins you can do to maybe even save your home before it gets to that point, foreclosure, like what?
JEFF ROSENSWEIG, ECONOMIC PROFESSOR: That's right. One thing is, the moratorium is temporary, so they have to be doing something well before it ends. Most -- one thing is to get in touch with their lender and try to make a plan with them. Perhaps they can make some very partial payments just to show good faith, because the lender really doesn't want to foreclose and have a house, not in this market with so many houses already on the market. They don't want to be in the real estate business. Maybe you can make a small payment or if not, start to make a plan where maybe you could roll these payments off to the back of the mortgage, even if that's 30 years from now.
WHITFIELD: So, it's as simple as making a phone call.
ROSENSWEIG: That's right.
WHITFIELD: Calling your lender, and saying -- look, I want to stay in my home. But help me figure out a way that I can afford it.
ROSENSWEIG: That's right.
WHITFIELD: I mean, I realize I'm behind two months and maybe now, because that's about usually what it was when you start to go into default.
ROSENSWEIG: That's right.
WHITFIELD: But they can actually offer you some advice. Don't feel like you're really on your own.
ROSENSWEIG: Well, one thing that's interesting, Fredricka, is a lot of people don't call either out of shame maybe or they're afraid if they call they're going to be found. They're going to be found anyway. So, the most -- one thing is to be proactive. And here in the holiday season, people, you know, will have to cut back on their spending if they are in this position.
We hope someone spends or the retailers go under, but it's a time to be doing three things. One is, can you afford your house even in the long run? Number two, if you probably can, work with your lender to say -- when things get better in the economy, I'll be able to handle this better. And number three, very quickly, think about your financial planning. Can you get your savings up one way or another so you can at least make some payments?
The other thing, maybe a fourth thing, if you should maintain your house, what if the lender takes a look at your house and you're not even maintaining it.
WHITFIELD: Oh, really.
ROSENSWEIG: They don't want to give, you know, to work out some kind of moratorium with you.
WHITFIELD: Simple stuff like mowing the lawn.
ROSENSWEIG: That kind of thing.
WHITFIELD: Say, you know, just simple repairs around the home.
ROSENSWEIG: If you're going ask the lender to extend the loan out even further when you're not making payments, you have to convince them that you're staying in this home and eventually making payments, is a lot better for them to take it over as soon as the moratorium is over, and if they think this thing that they're going to own, if eventually you don't make your payments is going down because you're not maintaining it, they'll grab it right away.
WHITFIELD: OK, great. And so, Jeff, you're going to be sticking around with this for this hour because this mortgage mess isn't just the problem of the person who is in default, but say your credit is good, you're in your home, but a foreclosure on your street can affect you directly as well.
ROSENSWEIG: Yes, that's right.
WHITFIELD: We're going to delve into that a little bit later and we're continuing to get in e-mails, even questions that perhaps you're going to be able to answer for us as well. Jeff Rosensweig, thanks so much.
All right. The mortgage crisis hurting millions of Americans. So, are you facing foreclosure or are you perhaps worried about the number of foreclosures in your neighborhood? Josh Lev has been getting and fielding a lot of these e-mails.
What do they say?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you just mentioned this last hour, and all of the sudden, we're getting tons and tons of e-mails. All of this people with lots of questions, and this is going to be good. It's a great opportunity for people to get answers because Jeff is going to be providing answers this is hour.
And I just want to show you and give you a little taste of some of the things we're getting by showing you one that I think is just such a good story. I usually don't read something this long, but this is just such a good summary.
Check this out -- "I was stuck with an adjustable rate mortgage. It started at $2,200 and gradually jumped to more than $3,800. I struggled to make payments, piling on credit card debt." Then she goes on to say, she called her lender and they ended up working out a deal for her where her monthly payments are now $3,855. So, she's saying this makes no sense. "I couldn't afford $3,800. What makes them think I could afford $3,855?"
These are the kinds of things -- we love getting your questions today: Weekends@CNN.com. Your concerns about foreclosure, your concerns about your mortgage, and being able to make those payments.
And, Jeff, I know that's one of the questions we're going to be tossing to you later on. And, Fred, we'll be talking about that -- how do people get their lenders to give them deals that actually make sense for their income.
WHITFIELD: Right. OK. And perhaps Jeff is going to be able to answer directly that one e-mail.
LEVS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: You know, how can she go back maybe and say, "OK, $3,855 doesn't work if me, neither was $3,800, let's bring it down"?
LEVS: I mean, that's the thing. Everyone said call your lender, but how do you actually get them to give what you need. And that's one of the concerns.
WHITFIELD: Yes, there's an art to it.
LEVS: Yes. I mean, there's obviously (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: All right. We're going to ask Jeff. And, Jeff, be thinking about that answer for us. All right, Josh, thanks so much.
LEVS: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Many more of those and, of course, if you have anymore e-mail, bring them in to us. We'll try and get them answered.
All right. Black Friday is supposed to be a fun shopping day, right? Well, it didn't turn out that way in New York. One person was trampled to death allegedly. And now, a grieving father is commenting on his son's shocking death.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A union that's been trying to organize Wal-Mart workers is now accusing the retailer of blatant irresponsibility. The charge stems from the death of a temporary worker at a Wal-Mart store on New York's Long Island. The worker was trampled by shoppers surging in to the store on Black Friday. An official from the Food and Commercial Workers Union says Wal-Mart should have taken more advanced precautions to head off the stampede. Wal-Mart declined comment on the union's charges.
The father of the dead worker, well, he was shocked by the accounts of his son's death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OGERA CHARLES, VICTIM'S FATHER: It's a brutality. You know, people just walking a human being like that, you don't feel that? You don't feel nothing?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And to this other shocking investigation, trying an eight-year-old charged with double murder is rare to say the very least, but a prosecutor in Phoenix is offering a plea deal to the Arizona boy charged with the shooting death of his father and another man. The prosecutor says he made the offer amid concerns that the justice system isn't prepared to handle such a case against such a young defendant. The boy's defense attorney is considering the deal. It would keep the case from going to adult court.
More trouble for New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress. The "Associated Press" reports that he'll face a criminal gun possession charge. Burress shot himself in the right thigh Friday at a Manhattan night club. His lawyer tells the "Associated Press" that Burress will turn himself in tomorrow morning and plead not guilty to the weapons charge.
All right. Short on cash? Cash that is, but you don't want to look like a scrooge this holiday season? Well, the rebirth of a layaway. New offers in this new economy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Getting from point A to point B, a little messy today. Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Here's the severe weather that I mentioned, Fred. Just a sliver left of that tornado watch, but it does include Miami-Dade County. So if you hear those warnings and those sirens go off, make sure you seek shelter.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: All right, good advice. Thanks so much, Jacqui. Appreciate it.
Tension is increasing between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks. Reza Sayah looks at how Pakistan is responding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gunshots and explosions in Mumbai. Finally, silence. What may be heating up, a war of wars between India and Pakistan. The Indian government with accusations that the Mumbai attackers had links to Pakistan. Pakistan's response -- show us the proof.
SHAH MEHMOOD QURESHYI, PAKISTAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The Indian leadership has not blamed the government of Pakistan. Please be very clear on that. They are suspecting, at this stage suspecting perhaps groups or organizations that could have presence here to this act.
SAYAH: The Pakistani government's demand for evidence was an abrupt change from what they had previously agreed to. On Friday, India's prime minister summoned Pakistan's intelligence chief to India to help with the investigation. Initially, Pakistan agreed, a decision that drew some criticism.
AYESHA SIDDIQA, POLITICAL ANALYST: We shouldn't have just gotten up and said -- shot from the hip and said, all right, we're going to send the DGISI (ph).
NASEEM SEHRA, POLITICAL ANALYST: What is this? We are being accused and you're trying to send the ISI chief?
SAYAH: Early Saturday morning, Pakistan withdrew its offer to send its spy chief. The prime minister's office said the decision was in response to India's finger pointing. Pakistan's president offered a most of diplomatic explanation in an interview with CNN's sister station in India.
ASIF ALI ZARDARI, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: There was miscommunication. We had announced the director would come from our side because it's too early for the director generals to meet at the moment. Let the evidence come to light. let the investigation take its course.
SAYAH: So far, India has yet to pass on any evidence.
(on camera): Instead of sending their intelligence chief to India, Pakistan has instead offered to send a representative of its top intelligence agency. After a cabinet meeting on Saturday, officials once again denied Pakistan was involved in the Mumbai attacks.
(voice-over): Analysts say neither India's accusations, nor Pakistan's apparent indecisiveness bode well for what is a defining moment for these nuclear neighbors.
SIDDIQA: This is a really a slippery slope.
SEHRA: The time to be either smug or sly with each other is gone and the two countries and the two states must genuinely cooperate.
SAYAH: Cooperation that for now appears bogged down in decades' old mistrust.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Reza Sayah reporting there from Islamabad, Pakistan.
Well, despite the economic downturn, a hopeful start for the holiday shopping season. Just take a look at the frenzied shoppers rushing to find early bird bargains on Black Friday. Shopper Track, actually a market research firm, estimating that in this case, or in these cases it turned out pretty good. The day after Thanksgiving, shoppers spent 3 percent more this year. Retailers called the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday because it's the day of the year when many stores actually enjoy profitability.
Remember the term layaway? Well, it's back. Many of you are pretty worried about the credit crunch, so the older option of layaway, being able to spend a little bit at a time, cash wise, as opposed to putting it all on credit.
Well, Brianna Keilar explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This year, lavish gift giving is out. Staying on budget is in.
UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER: This is actually my first year of putting something on layaway. KEILAR: The practice of paying for a purchase in installments and leaving the store with it only when it's paid in full, is making a return.
ELLEN DAVIS, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION: Layaway this year is back. Many retailers who are still offering layaway have been promoting it go more this year for people who don't have access to credit or don't want to buy on credit.
KEILAR: This Kmart in Hyattsville, Maryland, has exceeded its layaway goal for the quarter. Nationally, Sears is offering layaway for the first time since 1989.
Online savings are luring shoppers.
UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER: Online is better because you don't have to pay sales tax.
KEILAR: And shipping is often free. Still, that's not enough for some budget conscious consumer, trolling for deals on the Internet and in stores but coming up empty.
UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER: I was expecting the prices to drop down a lot who are.
UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER: The sales are not as great as what I thought. There should be...
KEILAR: That has many Americans rethinking of the gifts they give. Instead of money, more people are spending time and effort.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It gives it kind of an antiquie-kind of look.
KEILAR: In a survey conducted by Michaels, the arts and crafts retail giant, 58 percent of respondents said they're more likely to make their own holiday gifts compared to last year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It saves money and something you can pass down through the family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably, I would do some Christmas cookies for my neighbors.
KEILAR (on camera): Make sure you don't get in over your head. If you're not an experienced do it yourselfer, stick with simple baking projects like cookies or basic handicrafts, like scarves or maybe some homemade earrings. The point is to be thoughtful, not overwhelm yourself or to give your loved ones something that they'll wear only grudgingly.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And some experts would say forget the layaway. If money is tight, maybe it means you don't want to spend any money on gifts this is holiday season.
John Hope Bryant is a personal finances expert joining us from Los Angeles.
Good to see you.
JOHN HOPE BRYANT, PERSONAL FINANCES EXPERT: Good to be with you.
WHITFIELD: And happy holiday weekend.
BRYANT: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: So what's your best advice? If money is tight -- a lot of folks facing foreclosure, jobs are disappearing by the minute. How did we approach this holiday season with a lot of pressure for people to spend money and buy?
BRYANT: Well, I believe in rainbows after storms. You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first.
WHITFIELD: What do you mean?
BRYANT: Maybe -- we'll start reassessing our values. Look, versus paying hundreds of dollars for tennis shoes or whatever else that your kid's going to throw away or put aside in a month, how about giving them one share of stock? That could cost you $20 or $40 in this marketplace. One stock certificate. Frame it. And give them a free course on financial literacy. Go on bankingarchive.org (ph) or operation.org or one of the other nonprofits who do it for free, and give them a course in financial literacy. Or give them him bank account, or her a bank account, and put $25 or $50 in it. And give them a course on financial literacy. Make it a teachable moment.
There are a lot of wonderful -- look, probably the only thing I'd suggest putting on a credit card is a computer because with that, you can do online banking. You can teach your kids financial literacy. You can empower yourself. So there are a lot of creative ways to add value this season.
WHITFIELD: So are you encouraging people to just feel swear off credit all together. and if do you have that extra cash, whether it's $20 or some kind of fee like that and open up an account for a young person, you know, you're thinking about the future, you're kind of paying forward.
BRYANT: Yeah, this is really a time to reset. We are -- our savings rate is abysmal. We need to get correct it. We'll living -- the whole word lives on debt so you can't get away from that. But there's responsible debt and irresponsible debt. The subprime mortgage crisis wasn't about all bad irresponsible debt. It was greed based and predatory based subprime loans that did all the damage. There's responsible subprime loans that actually lifted people out of poverty and gave people a chance for home ownership.
I think there's also, just beyond the holidays -- look, when this market bottoms -- and you'll know when you can put 20 percent down payment on a house and afford to rent out and it will pay the mortgage, we know we're at bottom. This will be an opportunity for people to become homeowners -- you know, police officer, firefighter, teachers, people who live in a big city will be able to buy a home for the first time.
So not all the news is bad news. Use it as an opportunity, as you say, to pay your future forward, reset your priorities, and spend time with your families versus shopping at a mall maybe.
WHITFIELD: And we're talking about the mortgage mess, too, in part this hour. If you're facing foreclosure, you're already in default, maybe you better think about -- forget about exchanges gifts all together. Just enjoy each other's company.
BRYANT: There's a gift you can give yourself, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: What's that?
BRYANT: The earned income tax credit. If you make less than $40,000 a year, the federal government owes you as much as $4,000. And if you haven't filed at all, it's $12,000 in some cases. That's enough money to cure your mortgage, to pay down your credit cards, to put a down payment on a house, start a small business, send your kid to college. So they can call Operation Hope or any other nonprofit that serves their community to try it get the EITC for them. We gave $9 billion back to the federal government in '07 because we did not even know to file if it. That's a massive level of financial illiteracy.
WHITFIELD: Excellent advice. John Hope Bryant, thanks so much, personal finances expert.
And now I get it. An advocate for financial literacy as well, teaching young people, people of all ages...
BRYANT: And civil rights.
WHITFIELD: And civil rights too. He's teaching people of all ages how to be responsible about finances.
Appreciate it, thanks so much, John.
BRYANT: All right.
WHITFIELD: And of course, we continue to receive a lot of your e-mails about what to do in this mortgage crisis, financial crisis. What's some of the best advice that we can offer you to kind of navigate and save yourself and save your home. And safe house hunting, too. If you have a little bit of cash on the side, actually it could be like bargain hunting. We'll take you to a foreclosure auction where some people are actually cashing in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Much more of the "NEWSROOM" straight ahead. We're not done with this hour, but there's more with Don Lemon. DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Suddenly, there's a co-anchor. Where did that guy come from?
WHITFIELD: Hello, poof.
LEMON: We're going to talking about, following the Mumbai story. I was off, but, man, it's just terrible to sit here and see it and now to report on it.
Fred, we'll continue our focus on the terror investigation in Mumbai. And we're learning more about the lone surviving gunman, where he was trained and the terror group he's associated with. Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, will have a report at the top of the hour for you.
Also, we're hearing from American survivors who have made it home here to the U.S. Some of them made it back last night, some today. We'll hear their incredible stories in their own words tonight.
And our viewers have a whole lot to say about these terror attacks. Let's look at a couple of their responses.
This is msproverbs. She says, "I am afraid of the terrorist attack." That's a question mark, am I afraid. "No, because we shouldn't walk in fear. Terrorists randomly attack. They are cowards."
And VibeMagazine says, "Yes, very nervous about it."
Pipercarter says, "Another attack is always in the U.S. And the question is, what can we do about it and what kind of attack will it be?"
We were sitting here talking about, are you concerned? It's in the back of my mind. I think I was a little bit concerned after 9/11, mostly flying.
Do you remember getting on those flights right after 9/11 and everybody was quiet and just sort of looking at each other?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: But as far as...
WHITFIELD: But I think a lot of people were reflecting, too, what it was like for people who were on the plane that were used in those attacks, once we were able to start flying again, immediately after that, you know.
LEMON: So some people are concerned, but as that one viewer said, you have to live and just have trust in the security people and in your leaders that they'll keep us safe. So we hope.
WHITFIELD: Well, we'll be tuning in later on in the "NEWSROOM" to see what else people are saying. LEMON: Absolutely. I need to give the address real quick. Go to twitter.com, Facebook, MySpace or ireport.com, tell us what you're thinking. We'll get your responses on the air as usual.
Thank you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Good. Good to see you.
LEMON: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: And we're also hearing from a lot of folks, their concerns about the mortgage mess and how to find the silver lining and what to do if you're in default. And, oh, boy, there's so many questions.
Cara Finstrom has been talking to go a lot of people who are actually trying to take advantage of the mortgage mess.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUCTIONEER: $75,000, $80,000, going once, twice.
CARA FINSTROM, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The real estate purge in southern California. At foreclosure auctions like this one, everyone wonders whether prices are at or near bottom.
AUCTIONEER: Previously valued at $340,000.
WALTER SKRZYNSHI, HOME AUCTION EXECUTIVE: I think in 2008, you probably saw almost a quadrupling of auctions since the year prior, and should see more in 2009.
CHRIS BLAND, POTENTIAL HOME BUYER: The prices are down now to where someone like me can come in and get a house pretty cheap.
UNIDENTIFIED POTENTIAL HOME BUYER: We're look at maybe turning out one or even possibly even two homes tonight.
FINSTROM: Among those hoping to cash in...
CHRIS DURAN, POTENTIAL HOME BUYER: I do think we'll get more home for our dollar.
FINSTROM: Chris and Anelle Duran, they're expecting baby number four and want to buy house, number one. But before coming to this huge auction...
DURAN: How much more would you go on this one?
FINSTROM: The Durans did their home work.
ANELLE DURAN, POTENTIAL HOME BUYER: I think our biggest fear, too, is to end up like a lot of these people that have lost their homes. We don't want to make the same mistakes.
DURAN: You can still overbuy in this market. FINSTROM: The Durans walked through each house they're considering, a great opportunity, because not all auctions show houses beforehand.
DURAN: The tile is old, but it goes with the home.
FINSTROM: They crunched the numbers.
DURAN: Starting at $119,000? I'd be willing to pay upwards into the low twos for this home.
FINSTROM: Comparing the value of near by homes and considering the cost of repairs and any liens against the home.
ANELLE DURAN: We need to know how much we'll pay for the house and that's it. If it goes over, let it go. It wasn't ours.
FINSTROM: And they reviewed all conditions of the auction.
DURAN: The thing is I hear a lot of people don't go in there pre-qualified.
FINSTROM (on camera): Finally, the Durans prepared themselves not buy. And on this house, the right house did not come up for the right price.
The Durans are still hoping to buy their house at auction. And most analysts say they have time. A barrage of federal help and state legislation is helping curb some foreclosure, but experts say this price is as far reaching and far from over.
Cara Finstrom, for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: We're fielding a lot of questions from you. You've sent in e-mail, kind of comments and questions about how to navigate this whole mortgage mess. And we've got an expert with us with the business school at Emory University, Jeff Rosensweig. And Josh Levs has also been fielding through a lot of your e-mails.
First let's begin with Jeff. You've got good credit, you're OK in your home, however, a couple homes on your block have a foreclosure sign. So that impacts you directly. In other words, this impacts everybody because property values are impacted. What do you do?
JEFF ROSENSWEIG, EMORY UNIVESITY BUSINESS SCHOOL: Well, one group of people it impacts are retirees. Let's say they live in the north and want to retire to the south, and all of a sudden they can't get the value for the home that they've always expected. And they may not be able to sell their home. So it does impact everyone.
That's why I think people should be a constituency to do something about the foreclosure mess. Josh and I saw a lot of questions that we might talk later about. The Federal Housing Administration, they have some new ideas. WHITFIELD: But that's long term. If I'm in my home now and I am one of those members of that couple that you described, you know, maybe I don't have a lot of income to add to my house and boost the value.
ROSENSWEIG: Sometimes you have to price it aggressively. I have real estate agents in my family, for instance, and they say, when they tell someone what to do, the person says, I want more for that. They insist they list it for higher than they will get in this market, and it never sells, and then it's becomes what is a stale house. Realtors don't come back to it.
You have to be realistic what the house is worth now. There's a saying that economists say doesn't make sense, like what I have in the house. That's the past. You have to be able to take your mind off what you have in it and say what can it sell for, because it could be less than a year from now.
Personally, I don't think things will turn around until a year from now, maybe even two years from now.
WHITFIELD: It's going to take a bit.
ROSENSWEIG: You'll have to be aggressive to move it.
WHITFIELD: Josh is taking some of these e-mails. Give us a taste of what people are saying and asking about because we'll get to more of them after the break.
JOSH LEVS, CNN ANALYST: Coming out the break, we'll toss some of them to you. We're hearing from a lot of people who don't know what you should say when you call your lender, whoever is supposed to help you. They say they tried and have not gotten any results. We love getting your questions at weekends@cnn.com.
Coming up, we'll have answers for some of you and your e-mail questions directly from the expert we have right here with us, Jeff.
WHITFIELD: All right, much more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: You have questions and we have answers to how to navigate through the mortgage mess.
Josh Levs has been going through your emails. And Jeff Rosensweig with Emory's Business School can answer some of them.
What do you have, Josh?
LEVS: We've been grabbing them and throwing them on the board. This is where we put them up here. One of the main questions that we're getting is this simple question and I'm going to toss it to Jeff.
And that is basically this, if you are calling your lender, Jeff, what are the top pointers you can give people to get what you need out of your lender?
ROSENSWEIG: I would do a little market analysis and tell them how bad things would be if they do foreclose. They're stuck with this house. The other thing is get on the fha.com and learn about the New Hope program. The government may be able to insure that mortgage. You can encourage the bank therefore to lower the interest rate. That's what the plan is about.
LEVS: It gives you a little leverage there.
ROSENSWEIG: You have to be pro-active.
LEVS: Let's zoom back to the board. I want to show you one more. This is, for example, from Jack who ends with this, "Is my focus on saving my house wise?"
A lot of people think similar things. They have credit card debts. They have other kinds of debt. Where do you value your house on that list?
Jeff, should saving your house be it first, last, where do you put it?
ROSENSWEIG: Sometimes the house is more house than you can afford and you can't ruin every other aspect of your life, including eating or medicine. Sometimes you have to let the house go if it's too much unless, again, the bank, you can really cram them down because they don't want the house.
LEVS: If you have a ton of credit card debt, you don't see yourself working out of it, does that out value your house? Do that first?
ROSENSWEIG: If you can work out a plan with the lender to stay in the house is a great thing. And credit card debt, because the rates are often so high, they're so usurious. It would be great to get the credit card debt off your back. Otherwise, walk away from the house and use whatever money you have to get the credit card debt off your back.
LEVS: That's very helpful. Thank you. And that actually answers about 30 of the questions that we've gotten in the last 10 minutes.
So thanks very much to Jeff for that. It's great.
WHITFIELD: It's great that we have gotten this kind of feedback because, in some way, the mortgage mess really impacts everybody, whether your credit is good, you can't get a loan to improve on your home, or maybe the value of your home has gone down. And if you're in default, you need help.
ROSENSWEIG: That's right.
WHITFIELD: Jeff Rosensweig with Emory's Business School, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Josh Levs, fielding all of these e-mails. We appreciate all of the input as well.
LEVS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield. I'll see you back here next weekend. Don Lemon is up next with more of the day's headlines in the "NEWSROOM."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANHCOR: Hello everyone. It is the top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon. We have several developing stories for you across the country and the world this hour.
Here in the U.S., the president-elect is poised to name his national security team tomorrow. He'll do that in Chicago. We'll tell you why Senator Hillary Clinton will be part of the Obama cabinet.
