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Automakers to Present Plans to Congress; Obama Meets with Governors; New Video Emerges of Mumbai Attacks; Was India Warned of Threats?; Runoff Race Today to Decide Georgia Senate Race

Aired December 02, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is where Mumbai's hell began, the minute it began. An unblinking eyewitness offers a fresh look at terror.

You've got to wonder if the Big Three execs pulled an all-nighter last night. They've got a big, big paper due today, and their future might be riding on it. Oh, and do you think GM's chief can get by on a dollar a year?

DANNY GLOVER, ACTOR: Because the pot's still empty, and the cupboard's still bare, and you can't build a bungalow out of air. Mr. Roosevelt, listen! What's the matter here?

And Danny Glover's latest role: keeping the voices of the past alive. Showing us how they still have something to say today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get right to it at the top of the hour.

Just think of Detroit as a big, squeaky wheel, and $25 billion as the grease. Today's the deadline for the Big Three automakers to tell Congress exactly how they'll spend any bailout funds so lawmakers will know it's not just money tossed down the tailpipe.

For today, also reported its November sales down more than 30 percent from last year. The automakers aren't the only ones hurting, of course. President-elect Obama has been meeting with the nation's governors, promising to be quick with a financial plan to help their states. Suzanne Malveaux is going to join us from Philadelphia, where that meeting is taking place.

And we're about to hit up chief business correspondent Ali Velshi, as well, for some insight on the impact of a Big Three bailout.

Ford was first to get in on the plan. So now what's next to earn Uncle Sam's help? It's promising more hybrids, more electric vehicles, more miles per gallon, maybe even a profit by 2011. No bonuses for management, by the way; no more corporate planes. And the CEO's new annual salary will barely buy him a bag of Doritos from the vending machine.

Ford CEO is taking an Escape hybrid from Detroit to D.C. for those hearings. GM's chief will drive a hybrid Chevy Malibu. A far cry from the private jets they took to Washington last month.

Ford's even saying that it doesn't expect to tap into the $9 billion it wants from Congress.

So what's up with all that, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kyra, you and I have talked about it over the years, where I've been in Detroit, where we've seen those layoffs.

And you'll remember one of the biggest, earliest layoffs was Ford. Ford made the decision. They saw the writing on the wall some years ago. In fact, Bill Ford, who was then the CEO and president of -- the chairman of the company, had said that they -- Ford had a philosophy that if they build it, they will come, and that just didn't turn out to be the case. They wanted to -- they needed to change into building cars that people wanted. So Ford started its changeover a little earlier.

So when we talk about the Detroit Three, we have to remember Ford is in relatively better health than the other two. As you said, Ford is asking, saying that they may have to access $9 billion of the $25 billion that the automakers are asking for, but they don't actually predict they're going to have to use it unless something happens in 2009, that it's substantially worse than we're predicting. So that's No. 1

No. 2, they're going to focus on smaller and medium-sized cars and sort of try and break their dependency on the big vehicles. Ford, the maker of the Ford F-150, the F series is the best-selling vehicle of all time, really. It's been the best-selling car in the United States for about 30 years. They're going to push that focus away.

You also mentioned fuel efficiency. They're going to put $14 billion into the technology to increase fuel efficiency in their cars. They are going to sell their five corporate jets, and as you said, the CEO has announced, with -- along with the CEOs of GM and Chrysler, that they will take $1 salary if they have to touch that bailout or if the bailout is granted, which as you said, won't buy a package of Doritos from the vending machine.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk more about Chrysler and GM.

VELSHI: Yes.

PHILLIPS: You touched on it a little bit. Can you give me more specifics?

VELSHI: Sure. Well, GM we know the most about, because it is in the greatest amount of financial trouble. There's a couple of things going on. One is they're a company in trouble and, two, people can't access credit to buy new cars. Three, we're in this recession that everybody knows about. So people aren't going out to spend that extra money.

GM could run out of money within the next couple of months. So they're in the closest danger of bankruptcy.

Chrysler, if you recall, was sold to Daimler, and it then was sold back to Cerberus Capital Management, a hedge fund, a couple years ago, and it went private. So we don't have access to Chrysler's books, which is kind of a little amazing, that a private company is going and asking for taxpayer money. They're going to have to come up with some really good reasons why taxpayers should be forking over money to a private company.

But they also are in tough shape, because they've been very dependent on trucks. They've got the minivan, which continues to be a leader in minivans. I mean, the -- the Dodge and Chrysler minivans really are top notch, but not enough to build a company on.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ali Velshi, we'll be talking a lot this afternoon. Thanks so much.

Let's take a quick look now at the Dow. It's made a rebound after yesterday's monster fall. Currently right now, up 224 points. We're going to talk to Susan Lisovicz, as well, later this hour.

Well, the nation's most populous state is in dire financial straights, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says without immediate action the state is headed for a financial disaster.

Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency, and he's called lawmakers into a special session to address the state's $11.2 billion deficit.

Schwarzenegger is in Philly today for a meeting of the National Governors Association.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: America has not done anything when it comes to real serious infrastructure building in the last four decades. I think it's time that we get our act together and do it. This is a good opportunity, not only because it will build infrastructure, but also it creates great jobs and gets the economy stimulated. So that's exactly what we need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, California is far from the only state with big revenue shortfalls. It's a nationwide problem. President-elect Barack Obama is in Philadelphia, where he's meeting with the nation's governors, and he's getting an earful about the financial crisis.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from Philadelphia.

Hey, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. You heard Governor Schwarzenegger. I actually had a chance to talk to him about that. And he said, essentially, that he doesn't want federal dollars yet, until he gets his own economic house in order.

It was very interesting to see these governors come out of this meeting with Barack Obama, many of them on the same page, saying, "Look, we need to at least get a piece of the pie," part that economic stimulus package, about $500 billion, that package. They're looking at about a third of that that they say needs to go to the states and how they spend this money.

Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, "Look, we have these ready-to-go projects, these projects that ultimately are going to create jobs."

A lot of different ideas that these governors had. Barack Obama sitting down for about 70 minutes or so in kind of a Q&A, a back and forth, with them. And one of the things that he made clear from the very beginning is that he wants to work with the governors, not just the Democrats, but also the Republicans. And there was a Republican in particular who was there, front and center. That is Sarah Palin. But both of them indicated today that they want to put those differences aside.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: A special message I want to deliver to my Republican colleagues who are here. I offer you the same hand of friendship, the same commitment to partnership as I do my Democratic colleagues.

There is a time for campaigning, and there is a time for governing, and one of the messages that Joe and I want to continually send is that we are not going to be hampered by ideology in trying to get this country back on track. We want to figure out what works.

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), ALASKA: Appreciated at this meeting that we had, and I'm quite optimistic about moving forward in a bipartisan manner, as we do forge this partnership between states and the federal government.

I appreciated that President-elect Obama recognizes -- first, that he recognizes how valuable it is to have governors in his cabinet. And we assumed that it all will go well and some of these governors will be in his cabinet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Kyra, he was referring to Janet Napolitano of Arizona being the homeland security secretary. One of those governors that's going to be in his cabinet.

Well, it was interesting to watch all of them together. Joe Biden specifically mentioned Sarah Palin in his opening remarks, making a joke, saying he's not getting all that much attention these days. He feels a little neglected. Perhaps they should go out for coffee, he and Sarah Palin, so he can get some of the attention back on him.

So obviously, they're trying to put all of that campaign rhetoric stuff behind. They're moving forward. And they're trying to look very seriously at how do they forge these different kinds of ideas from the governors, what they need in their states and what the federal government, essentially, is willing to give them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne, thanks.

And some tough news from the banking industry: 9,200 at Washington Mutual losing their jobs. JPMorgan Chase bought WaMu in September after it collapsed in the largest bank failure in U.S. history.

And straight ahead, terror on tape. We're going to show you some dramatic new video from the deadly attacks in Mumbai, India. It shows what happened when gunmen opened fire on a cafe at one of the city's train stations.

And in Texas, they were soaking in the sights and sounds of the holidays. Then danger for a group of Cub Scouts at a Christmas parade.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Actor Danny Glover, giving a performance to help you remember ordinary people who did extraordinary things. He'll join me live in the CNN NEWSROOM this hour.

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PHILLIPS: Mumbai terrorists shown at the very start of their rampage of death and destruction, captured in this dramatic new video, showing what it was like when gunfire ripped through a cafe at one of Mumbai's main train stations. Just one of several key developments in the attacks and aftermath unfolding this hour.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Mumbai.

Nic, I understand we have brand new video of the surviving terrorist being arrested. Is that right?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And he gets quite a beating. If you look at the video, it's kind of shaky and hard to see. It's shot at a distance from a cell phone. But if you look at it, you can see the focus of activity, grappling that gunman, getting him to the ground. There was a policeman injured as he's -- as he wrestled him to the ground. And you can see a lot of people coming in and punching him and trying to subdue him.

And as -- and as each day goes by from the attack, we're beginning to see little bits of more video coming out that people took and were afraid to sort of -- who were afraid to get out into public domain.

We're also seeing CCTV footage coming from the train station. That also was very revealing, what that shows, according to local TV channels here that are running it. You can see two policemen cowering behind pillars in the railway station as the gunman walk up the platform. The policemen don't have any weapons. They only have sticks. And that's why they were hiding from the gunmen.

But this clearly -- the one brave policeman goes in there on this new video, showing the arrest of the gunman. And this is the only gunman who was captured alive, and he was only captured because -- because the officer and the others who came to help him were brave enough to dive in and tackle him, tackle him to the ground, Kyra.

But he's the one that's providing all the information for the police here about who this group of gunmen were -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm sure they wanted to do a lot more than just punch him, but they need somebody to get the information from at this point.

What about the chief of police's first press conference? What did we learn from that, Nic?

ROBERTSON: You know, quite bit, Kyra. One of the big things to come out of that, the police chief described how the gunmen were operating. And they were operating in different locations, but they were all calling in, using cell phones or satellite phones, calling in to a coordinator, a controller, who the police say was in Pakistan.

They've also learned other details from the police chief about how these gunmen got their training. We've heard a lot of descriptions about how they sort of acted, as if they knew what they were doing, as if they'd had military training.

Well, the chief of police said they'd had a minimum -- a minimum -- of one year military training by former army officers. And he wouldn't say which country these army officers were from, but he was clearly implying Pakistan, because that's where he said these -- these men got their training. And he said some of the gunmen had been trained for over -- well over a year.

It was also -- the chief of police is also denying some of the reports out there saying -- and in fact, he was sort of defending his position. He was saying, "Look, we may have had tip-offs that there might have been some kind of seaboard attack, but they were just completely too vague for to us do anything in the city, really, to stop these attacks," that they were threatening, maybe, the Taj -- Taj Mahal Hotel but threatening other hotels, as well.

So -- so the chief of police defending his cops in the city, but also giving us more details about where the gunmen came from, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nic, we look forward to more of your reports as you investigate the story. Appreciate it. Ordinary people carrying out extraordinary -- extraordinary acts of heroism. That happened numerous times during those terror attacks in Mumbai, and one was an Indian nanny who risked her life to save a Jewish toddler that was in her care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The baby was standing there, screaming hysterical, crying. And she literally picked him up and made a dash for the exits, almost daring the terrorists to shoot her while carrying the baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And in our next hour, CNN's Drew Griffin tells the story of how one brave woman dared terrorists to shoot her and the little boy that she held in her arms.

And the wife and mother of two Mumbai victims are expected to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. Eastern. We're going to monitor that for you, as well.

Did India receive warnings from the U.S. of a possible terror attack? Well, that's exactly what happened according to a U.S. counterterrorism official who spoke to CNN. But Mumbai's -- Mumbai's police chief says that he never got any warning from anyone.

Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena has been working her sources, getting more information for us on the latest on this investigation in Washington.

Kelli, what can you tell us about the FBI being involved?

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry, Kyra. We had a technical issue right now with the microphone. And I'm hoping you can hear me. But can you reveal -- repeat the question?

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. We talking about the fact that the U.S., correct, might have warned Mumbai, or those in Mumbai, about an attack previously? You've been investigating that. What are your sources telling you?

ARENA: Kyra, U.S. intelligence officials tell me that there was advance intelligence, but they caution and say, "Look, this was not very specific." You know, there was intelligence that suggested Mumbai would be hit. There was intelligence suggesting that it may have something to do with a maritime-type attack.

But as far as specific targets, as far as any mode, any people involved, anything like that, I am being waved off and I'm being told, no, this wasn't -- it did not have the level of specificity that anyone would have liked. It was just general information that came in. That was indeed passed along.

PHILLIPS: So have you been able to confirm what it looked -- what group could be behind this, if you look at all the various figures that have been pointed? In addition to that, any investigative leads bringing this back to the U.S. in any way?

ARENAS: No. Not yet. I mean, there's nothing that leads back to any involvement in the United States. Or that any of the people that were involved in this attack were here at any time.

Still, though, very early, that this is a very fast-moving investigation, but it is still very early days.

Insofar as who may be responsible, U.S. officials are telling me that they haven't seen anything to contradict that this was Lakshar-e- Taiba. They say all leads continue to point in that direction. As you heard from Nic, Indian officials are saying flat out, you know, this was LeT. There's proof that the group's leaders in Pakistan were in touch with the team of militants in Mumbai.

But U.S. officials are being very careful. They're still cautiously trying to conduct a credible investigation, and they're just not going there yet definitively. They're saying, "Hey, it looks like this. It makes sense. But, you know, we've got -- we've got boots on the ground. We need to do more."

PHILLIPS: All right. Kelli Arena, appreciate your investigative work.

And tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," Larry has an exclusive interview with Pakistan's president. That's tonight, 9 Eastern, 6 Pacific, right here on CNN.

Democrats are just two seats away from dealing their Republican colleagues a big blow: a filibuster-proof Senate. Will they picked up one of those seats today in Georgia? We're going to have a live report on the runoff between Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss and his Democratic challenger, Jim Martin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Girls are everywhere. It's not hard to find a girl. The trick is, how do you find the right girl for you?

PHILLIPS: From the mouths of babes? A fourth-grader, now a published author, thanks to his insight on how to talk to girls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, one minute, a crowd of kids, parents and others enjoying a Christmas parade in a small town. The next minute, disaster. A car plows through barricades and into the onlookers, actually injuring two adults and nine Cub Scouts.

It happened yesterday in Overton, Texas. Police say that the elderly driver was arrested, but alcohol, apparently, was not a factor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a woman laying [SIC] on the ground kind of barely moving. And so I went to her, kept telling her, you know, "Just don't move," and waited on the paramedics to get there. I just don't think he saw them or anything, and he just ran into them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A 7-year-old boy remains in the hospital in serious condition. The others were treated and released.

Senate Democrats are, oh, so close to a huge goal if they pick up a seat in Georgia today. They needed just one more to make the Senate filibuster-proof. And today's runoff election pits Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss against Democratic challenger Jim Martin.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is joining us now from a polling place in Loganville, Georgia, just northeast of Atlanta.

What's the latest, Rusty?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you know, for runoff elections, you never really get that kind of voter turnout that you do in a general election.

However, averaging at this precinct, is about 225 people around this time. So far, they've had over 650 people. So about three times the number. So they are getting a lot more people coming out.

And part of that is because both sides -- Democrat Jim Martin, and incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss -- have really called in the headliners, as have the national parties, to come to Georgia, because this is such an important seat.

For Saxby Chambliss, of course, we had John McCain, fresh off his presidential bid. He came to Georgia campaigning for Chambliss. But the big crowd draw, of course, was for Sarah Palin. And she came to Georgia Sunday night for a fund-raiser and then gave four speeches around the state yesterday, drawing crowds of thousands of people to her rally, saying that this seat is important for the Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: ... than a year ago -- I want (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- the House and Senate and the White House. We need mow public servants who will think for themselves. And, faced with a steep, Democratic majority in Congress, Saxby isn't going to be an easy yes vote, or an automatic no vote. He's going to vote his conscience. He's going to do what's right for Georgia and what is right for the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Heavy headliners were -- included former president, Bill Clinton, and vice president, Al Gore, for the Democrat, Jim Martin. And kind of an unusual pairing in Atlanta last night. Rapper Ludacris appeared, trying to get the vote out for young people in Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUDACRIS, RAP STAR: I definitely feel like we need a senator who's going work with Mr. Obama, Mr. President Obama, to fix our economy, as opposed to someone who is -- his message is just to block Obama's agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Now of course, President-elect Obama has decided not come to Georgia. Apparently, a lot of analysts say it would be risky, because if the Democrats lose, that doesn't look very good for the new president.

Turnout usually in runoff elections tends to favor the Republicans. Of course, this is a very important race, because it's all about that filibuster-proof majority for the Democrats -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And let's just talk about what it means to the balance of power in the Senate.

DORNIN: Well, it really -- when you think about this, OK, they need 60 seats. Then there's two seats that are in question right now, here and in Minnesota. If they get those 60 seats, it means the Republicans are going to have a very tough time trying to filibuster to oppose any kind of legislation.

So that's going to make it a lot easier for the Democrats to put through whatever they want, unless the Republicans can convince some of the Democrats to come over to their side.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll track it with you, Rusty. Thanks.

A mother desperate to keep her baby fed adds water to his formula, with disastrous consequences.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: 1:30 Eastern time. Here are some of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM right now. The big three automakers are submitting their recovery plans on Capitol Hill today. Will they convince a skeptical Congress to extend them a cash lifeline? Chrysler's top execs are drumming up community support for their bailout bid. They held a town hall-style their rally earlier today, at the Port of Baltimore, in Maryland. More rallies are planned across the country.

And will it be a merger of airline equals? British Airways, exploring the possibility of a partnership with its Aussie rival, Qantas. (BUSINESS HEADLINES)

PHILLIPS: Well, you're going to be seeing them starting this week. Those Salvation Army folks with their little red kettles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Have a good day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: There you go. You can hear them. This year, the charity's adding some high-tech bells and whistles to hopefully raise more money. They've got a Twitter feed and Facebook widget and there's also a text message donation program. They're getting creative.

Maybe nurseries and tree lots need to go high-tech, too. Get your GPS or something. With the economy so bad they're expecting more Christmas trees to be stolen this year than usual. There is something very wrong with that. Lots of farms and stands operate on the honor system. And after all, leaving their evergreens out all night.

Well, it's clever, resourceful and totally illegal. A group called, Take Back the Land is matching up homeless people with empty homes in Miami. The houses belong to someone else and are in foreclosure so the homeless families can't stay. Still, they're happy to have a roof over their heads, even if it's temporary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They going to love this space. And it's big. There's a nice yard. It's you know, beyond being spacious, they will all each have their own room for the first time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the City of Miami is hands off here, saying it's up to the property owners to take action against those trespassers.

Getting enough Z's is important to your health. So, why are so many doctors not getting enough sleep? We're going to look at drowsy doctors and your medical care.

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PHILLIPS: Well, here's the latest on what we know about the Mumbai terror attacks. India is renewing its demands that Pakistan turn over wanted militants suspected in plotting the attacks on Mumbai. New Delhi says it's delivered a list of suspects to Pakistan and the Pakistani government insists it had no roll in the terror strike. The U.S. counterterrorism official tells CNN, that India was warned of a possible seaborne attack against Mumbai. The Mumbai police chief says he received no warning.

And in Israel, thousands of Orthodox Jewish mourners prays and wept today before the shrouded bodies of Israelis killed in those attacks. Six Jews died in the assault on a Jewish center in Mumbai.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Well, troubling economic times and a mother struggling to feed her baby triggered a desperate situation in Florida. To make ends meet, 23 year-old mom, Gerri Moss (ph), diluted her son's baby formula with water. And it nearly killed him. Doctors say it created a condition called water intoxication, in which a baby can literally drown from consuming too much water.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I would have known it was harmful, I would have never done it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Florida's Department of Children and Families is now helping Moss find additional sources of food for that baby.

China's toxic milk crisis is apparently larger than government officials originally revealed. Up to six babies may have died from drinking milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine. That's double the previous death toll.

Government officials also have dramatically revised their count of the total number of babies sickened to 300,000. That's six times the number reported in September. Chinese parents are outraged. They feel the government has breached their trust as it certified that formula was safe.

Well, you trust them to take care of you in the hospital. But how awake is your doctor? A new report from the Institute of Medicine is raising concerns about some doctors who work too much and sleep too little. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to talk about what the report did find.

You know, that's pretty scary. Because you know they have to be up many a times all night for surgeries, all day, all night.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. And you hope that when you get to the hospital, you're getting a doctor who's relatively well rested so they can make good decisions on your behalf and take good care and sometimes that happens.

But, you know what? Too often doctors are sleepy. We're talking specifically about medical residents. These are folks who are out of medical school and are still in a training period. They provide a lot of the staff in hospitals.

So, let's take a look. This is what's happening currently. These residents are working sometimes 30-hour shifts. I mean 30 hours, straight without sleeping. They're working 80 hours a week. And as a result, they're making 36 percent more medical errors than doctors who get plenty of sleep. So, as can you imagine this is a real cause for concern. PHILLIPS: Well, what kind of errors? I mean, are they big mistakes? Small mistakes? I guess any mistake is too big a mistake.

COHEN: Right. Exactly. We're talking about hospital. But, of these errors are really big. Some of them result in the deaths of patients.

Let's take a look at this statistic that comes out of the report. What it found is that 1 in 20 residents say that they made fatigue- related mistakes that killed a patient. That's according to the doctor you see there at Harvard. And that's just -- I mean, we all know it in any line of work, the sleepier you are the more likely you are to make a mistake.

PHILLIPS: So, what's being done about this?

COHEN: Well, two places have instituted some rules. New York and Puerto Rico have said you know what? We're going to make some rules about hours that people can work. And this Institute of Medicine group wants to make even more rules, and for everybody.

They say shifts should be limited to 16 hours. And they say, if you're going to work a longer shift, you ought to be able to get some rest in between, at least five hours. Also, they say that doctors ought to have more days off. And they ought to have transportation home. And the reason for that is that doctors who -- residents who are driving home when they've been working these 30-hour shifts. Studies have shown that they are much more likely to get into car accidents than the rest of us.

So, it's not just the damage that's being reaped at the hospital. It's also damage on the road.

PHILLIPS: Oh, say you roll in, your doctor looks tired. All doctors look tired. What do you do? How do you deal with that?

COHEN: Well, there's not a ton that you can do. But, we asked this doctor at Harvard who studied this and he said, look, you are allowed to ask. You know, doctor, you look a little sleepy. Is there someone else who I can see? You might not get the response that you want, but you can ask, can I see someone else.

There's lots of different tricks, as it were, and tips that we have for how to function when you're in the hospital. How to get the care that you need. If you go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient, we have other questions you need to ask when you're in the hospital to make sure that you leave healthier than when you came in.

PHILLIPS: You are your best advocate, that is for sure.

COHEN: That's right. That's right.

PHILLIPS: All right. Elizabeth, thanks.

COHEN: Thanks. PHILLIPS: Keeping the dream, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King alive. Actor Danny Glover, live in the NEWSROOM to talk about pretty exciting new project.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it was 60 years ago this week that Eleanor Roosevelt announced her universal declaration of human rights. What was the purpose? To live our lives with more passion for justice and dignity. And for decades we've been inspired to do just that, through song, dance, art and the spoken word. Actor Danny Glover is keeping Roosevelt's dream alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLOVER: Sway of (INAUDIBLE) difference. It's not just -- this business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of into the veins of people, normally humane. Of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields, physically handicapped, and psychologically deranged cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Martin Luther King's powerful words. It's all part of a documentary called, "The People Speak." A film inspired and by acclaimed historian Howard Zinn. And highlighted by a new center for civil and human rights, right here in Atlanta. Actor Danny Glover and I want to tell you about a project that we're both really excited about.

It's so good to see you here today.

GLOVER: Thank you very much, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I appreciate it.

You know, we're excited about this center being built in Atlanta, because it's so important to remember and protect so many issues tied to human and civil rights.

Why did you want to do this documentary?

GLOVER: Well, I had been involved from the outset with this project. Howard Zinn wrote, I think, probably one of the most important historical documents in our country. And that was the "People's History of the United States."

The very interesting -- because it looks at the history of the United States, not so much from famous people, but from the movement of people. And what we have and we've seen as evidenced by the Obama election is this movement of people that changes the course of history. And certainly they choose or select someone and identify someone such as President-elect Obama, as that person to voice their desires, their aspirations and everything else. But it's also -- it comes from this undercurrent of history. And when we look at history, when we look at the civil rights movement, the women's right movement, the abolition of slavery, the other moments that chart that platform in which we can define what democracy is and who we are as human beings and that's what happens.

PHILLIPS: And you know, sometimes you --

GLOVER: And I forgot also, workers, as well. Workers, Union organizers. All those played an important role in what we -- what has manifested itself into this democracy that we talk about.

PHILLIPS: And you know what's interesting is, we talk about the various movements. We learn about them in school. We visit certain museums around the country. We have documentaries like this that you're doing, and it comes up at certain times.

Now there's going to be this center in Atlanta, that -- where you can go and learn about these movements, remember these movements, interact, have conversations.

Why is that so important right now?

GLOVER: I can -- there are two reasons. First, we see the interrelationship, the movement. That's important to see. The women's rights movement in some sense gave -- got its voice in part, because of the civil rights movement. The workers' rights movement. All of these are important aspects.

But, a more important part of it is for us to understand is that we are the embodiment of the movement. We, as people, are the embodiment of the movement. And for us to see that and to understand that, and to understand the historic context in the movement.

I've been fortunate. I'm 62 years old. I was born, I'm a child of the civil rights movement. So when I watched the Montgomery bus boycott, when I was 9 years old, I watched that and watched that emerge. I wanted to identify with that movement. I wanted to be like the people in that movement. I wanted to emulate their passion and everything else.

So that's in another part of this legacy in terms of movement. They have their connectiveness. Obama's election is not inseparable from the other from the other movements that happened that preceded them.

PHILLIPS: And I want to get back to Obama in just a second. But, you're talking about all of these movements. If I remember correctly, it was this time in 1968, you were at San Francisco State.

GLOVER: I was there.

PHILLIPS: And you were involved in a movement.

GLOVER: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And it was to create a college, I believe, for ethnic studies, correct?

GLOVER: Ethnic studies.

PHILLIPS: OK, I found this picture. Do you remember this picture? Are you in this --

GLOVER: I am somewhere in that picture.

PHILLIPS: I think I spotted you. Did you wear glasses?

GLOVER: No, let me show you were I am.

PHILLIPS: Is that you right there?

GLOVER: Where am I in this picture? Am I in this picture?

PHILLIPS: I don't know. We were trying to find you.

GLOVER: I am not in this particular picture right here, I don't see me in this picture. But I see a lot of other people that were involved.

PHILLIPS: And you were never -- take me back to this time. Why was this important to you?

GLOVER: This one, this is Nathan (ph) here, Benny Stewart (ph), Jerry Bernardo (ph). We were part of the BSU. I was on the central committee.

PHILLIPS: This was the Black Student Union, right?

GLOVER: I was on the central committee of the Black Student Union.

There is Thomas Williams (ph). I remember him. And -- but this was during the strike of 1968, a strike in which brought about the first ethnic studies program on any major college in the United States.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

GLOVER: And it was -- what made the strike was so, so prominent was the fact that it was a combination of so many movements. You know, progressive white movement, and also Native American movement, Hispanic movement, the African-American movement, the Asian-American movement. This is what made the strike the success it was.

It is still an extraordinary landmark, this particular strike. This college was shut down for four-and-a-half months. The strike essentially -- the college was shut down for nine months, the strike actually lasted four and-a-half months.

PHILLIPS: And within all these movements we saw so many amazing things written. One of my favorite poets, Langston Hughes, the one -- I saw you recite his poem, "Ballad of Roosevelt" in the documentary. Let's have our viewers listen. GLOVER: OK, all right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLOVER: I am tired of waiting on Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Roosevelt. Damned tired of waiting on Roosevelt. And a lot of other folks was hungry and cold, done stopped believing what they had been told by Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Roosevelt. Because the pot is still empty and the cupboard is still bare and you cannot build a bungalow out of air.

Mr. Roosevelt, listen. What is the matter here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: I know. It is so powerful, and why I found this interesting, Danny, is because he is talking about the frustration with Roosevelt, and here -- and blacks struggling during the depression. They were getting -- it was even -- and now here you've got Obama saying, I am reading Roosevelt, I'm studying Roosevelt, I want to implement a lot of things that Roosevelt said.

GLOVER: Well, you know, Roosevelt's first budget when he came to be president in 1932 was a budget of austerity. Remember, it was not a budget -- it was that the depression took on such a drastic effect on people's lives, people in soup lines, out of work, removed from land, thrown off their property. All of this -- thrown out of their homes -- all this was happening right when Roosevelt decided upon the New Deal.

But most people didn't feel that Roosevelt went far enough in the New Deal. And as we -- most historians would tell you, it was World War II that brought the world out of the depression, not particularly the New Deal, even though the New Deal was in a sense a major, major step in terms of issues around social programs, issues around the government's accountability and responsibility, issues around the new ideas of about government spending, Keynesian economics. The idea of Maynard Keynes comes into view, the British economists who -- and basically, we live under Keynesian economics for almost 60 years now.

So in that idea, these ideas came and were very extraordinary ideas. The idea of fiscal -- when they talk about fiscal spending and monetary spending, it came out of ideas of the New Deal. When we talk about regulations on banks, when we talk about all of these things, Social Security, we talk about unemployment -- all of these things came out of the New Deal.

But this is Langston saying, as most people thought, that the New Deal was not enough.

PHILLIPS: Well, we have --

GLOVER: But he was pushed to the New Deal. Movements, people mobilizing and labor, artists mobilizing and men and women in various communities, poor people across the line, whether they were white, black, whether they were Asian, they were the ones that brought about Roosevelt -- brought him to the point where he had to pass -- enact some legislation called the New Deal.

PHILLIPS: Well, there is a new deal now, that is Barack Obama. He is in the White House, and it is going to take more than just that, it is going to take documentaries like you are doing, the Center for Civil and Human Rights.

GLOVER: It's going to take -- it's so important. People talk about, this a historic moment, everyone talking about, what a historic moment. We forget about makes this a historic moment and all of the history that preceded this. The history that proceeded this will provide lessons for us, lessons in terms of how we deal with foreign policy, lessons about how we deal with domestic policy, lessons about a lot of things.

But we have to feel that we are engaged in history, because we are the ones that make the history right this moment.

PHILLIPS: Danny Glover, great to see you.

GLOVER: All right. Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks so much.

Well we just talked a bit about Eleanor Roosevelt. And her grandson actually grew up in the White House, living with her and FDR. And now, Curtis Roosevelt has some advice for President-elect Barack Obama's daughters as they get ready to move in. He is going to actually join us live tomorrow to tell us how his grandmother managed to get monkey bars on the White House lawn and how he coped with the intense media attention that he drew as the first grandson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.