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Labor Protest: Laid-Off Workers Take Over Factory; Deal in the Works for Automakers; Obama's Economic Recovery Plan

Aired December 06, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us now.
It is the top of the hour, and the economy has become a dire situation people looking for or are in danger of losing their livelihoods. As we go on the air tonight, right now workers in Chicago are staging a sit-in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELVIN MACLIN, LAID-OFF WORKER: We don't make business decisions. We only make windows. But yet, because of bad decisions, we suffer, our families suffer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, their plant is closing down without notice, and workers are demanding money to take care of their families. Their union is standing behind them.

Also right now, congressional staffers are working to keep U.S. automakers alive. We are hearing lawmakers and the White House are making progress on some kind of bailout loan deal, and there could be some movement this evening. We're on top of it for you.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

We want to start in Chicago with the emotional reaction by a group of laid-off workers. About 200 employees laid off at Chicago's Republic Windows & Doors have taken over the factory and they're demanding assurances that they'll get severance and vacation pay. The plant was shut down yesterday, and some workers say they are angry about how they've been treated by management.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL FLORES, LAID-OFF WORKER: It's really, really hard for everybody. And not just because we are losing our jobs, it's because we are losing our insurance, too.

LEAH FRIED, UNITED ELECTRICAL WORKERS: We want to hear that this bank, which got billions in the bailout, is ready to do what's right by these workers and make sure that they get their vacation pay and their compensation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Some people say that's all you can ask, is to get a little bit money if you're going to get laid off.

Let's find out more about what's going on at this plant. We have tried to contact company officials. We have left voicemails for the company CFO. His name is Barry Dubin. And we hope that he'll give us a call back this evening.

Meantime, you just heard briefly from Leah Fried. She is an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, the UEW, and she joins us now by phone.

Thank you very much for joining us, Leah.

FRIED: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Tell us about this. Why is this sit-in -- we are hearing that they want severance and they want vacation pay, they want to be able to take care of their families. Two days. Peaceful, we hope?

FRIED: Absolutely. We are on day two of a very peaceful occupation of Republic Windows & Doors. Workers decided to stay in the factory and not leave when they learned that the company was not (INAUDIBLE) Bank of America, their main creditor, to make payments of vacation and any severance they're owned for the federal WARN Act. The workers have been here and it's very calm and peaceful.

LEMON: Well, it's very interesting, because you said by Bank of America. And we have been hearing about of this, about the loan that federal authorities or the federal government provided some lubrication so that loans can be made, that people can make payrolls. And this is a trickle-down effect of that.

So you're feeling this real time in the Chicago area?

FRIED: Absolutely. It's actually shameful that Bank of America, after getting billions of dollars of free taxpayer money, turns around, cuts off credit to this company. Actually, 300 people are losing their jobs because of this, and now they are being sent out on the streets penniless.

LEMON: OK, 300 people are losing their jobs. We are hearing 200 people are inside of that plant, right?

FRIED: Well, there's about 200 people participating in the sit-down. About 240 are union members. And of course management is also losing their jobs, supervisors and other non-union employees. So this is actually impacting more people, yes.

LEMON: OK, Leah, I have to ask you this, because U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez is trying to negotiate between the bank and the company. Have you heard anything from him?

FRIED: Yes. Congressman Gutierrez has been really instrumental in bringing all sides to the table. And actually, we have a meeting scheduled with Bank of America, the company, Republic Windows, and, of course, the union, with the congressmen, Monday at 4:00. Workers have said that if there's not a settlement made at that time, they will continue to stay in the factory until such time as they get what they have been promised and owed.

LEMON: OK. This just coming across the wire. We're also hearing that tomorrow, Operation Push, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, is going to be bringing turkeys and food to the workers inside of the plant so that they can be fed.

FRIED: Yes, it's wonderful. The outpour of community support has been tremendous. We have been hearing from all across the country, and, of course, our friends in Chicago have really come through for us.

LEMON: All right, Leah. We appreciate it. Thank you. Please keep us updated on this.

And you see how the economy is affecting everyone there. Bank of America there, and now this plant and workers are staging a sit-in. A dire situation when it comes to jobs in the country.

Meantime, we want to talk more about the struggling auto industry, hoping for some life support. It may not be enough in the long run, but it looks like the big three are going to get some help from Washington.

The White House and congressional Democrats are working on a deal that would provide loans to the auto industry worth about $15 billion. The potential agreement got a big boost when yesterday's ugly jobs report came out. Unemployment has climbed to 6.7 percent, and more than half a million jobs disappeared just in November.

CNN's Kate Bolduan is tracking the work in progress right now, and she joins us from Washington.

Any movement, Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There seems to be a lot of work going on this weekend, Don. It may be a turning point in the ongoing debate over whether to rescue the struggling auto industry, the startling November jobs report, as you just said. And one official said it changed everything in terms of a bailout.

Following a second round of testimony from the top executives of GM, Ford and Chrysler, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, late Friday, backed off her strong opposition to using funds from an existing loan program to help the big three. The money was originally intended to help automakers produce more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Pelosi's reversal comes after weeks of deadlock between congressional Democrats, Republicans and the White House over where an emergency loan would come from. In a statement, Speaker Pelosi did caution that no money would be released from that green program "... unless there's a guarantee that those funds will be replenished in a matter of weeks."

Now, sources familiar with the compromised talks tell CNN they are working with a total of between $15 billion and $17 billion to help automakers survive through March. That's less than the big three requested. Both Pelosi and Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid say they hope to have legislation ready by next week, and to pass and send to the president. And while it's not a done deal yet, Don, what was once a stalemate, a clear stalemate, is making some significant strides towards reaching an agreement now.

LEMON: All right, Kate. Thank you very much for that.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

LEMON: So will the deal be enough to save the industry, or is it, as critics say, just delaying the inevitable?

Let's bring in Peter Valdes Dapena. And he's a senior writer for cnnmoney.com.

Did I say that right? Is it Dapena?

PETER VALDES DAPENA, SR. WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Absolutely correct. Thank you.

LEMON: OK. So will this be enough, or is it just -- are we just holding off the inevitable here?

DAPENA: Well, first of all, holding off the inevitable would actually not be such a bad thing. I mean, look at how many jobs we lost last month.

If these automakers, let's say, were eventually to go under, this would be the worst possible time to have it happen. And inevitable doesn't need to mean right now. We may want to wait until there's a better time, when there are more -- other jobs out there, when there's a better credit environment so that there's maybe even some possibility they could get financing, possibly even to get through a bankruptcy, or that the supplier companies who would also be affected by this might be able to get financing to get through a bankruptcy. Right now would be the worst possible time for this to happen.

That said, it is not clear that these companies are inevitably going to go out of business. They have actually been transforming their business operations -- Ford, in particular, I think, is in much better shape than most people understand. There has been a problem, they may need financing if things get worse, but these companies are already going through a transformation plan and they have been for a long time. So it's not clear that they could not make it through if this current economic crisis had not happened.

LEMON: All right, Peter. Thank you very much. Will you stick around just a little bit? Because we want to get some other news in and bring you back.

I'm going to ask you about why the American public really isn't supporting this and, really, can it work, what are the possibilities? We'll talk to you in just a little bit on that.

Well, you know what's complicating matters for lawmakers right now? Most of you don't think Congress should be handing over any money to the auto industry.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll taken after the first round of hearings on Capitol Hill finds that more than 60 percent of Americans oppose this idea, only 36 percent say they are in favor of the government help. So why don't Americans support government help for the automakers?

All right, Peter. Why don't they?

DAPENA: Well, bottom line, first of all, there's a lot of people out there, and I hear this and I see this in the e-mails that I get all the time, that, quite frankly, hate General Motors' guts. They hate them.

And I think part of that is experience with products from back in the '70s and the '80s. They had cars that broke down.

I mean, General Motors is a company that's very public-facing, unlike, for example, the big finance company that you never hear of. We have had experience with them.

Also, as Americans, I think there's just a general distrust of large corporations. You know, look at films by Michael Moore, films like "Who Killed the Electric Car?" We pick on General Motors a lot, and I think part of that is that they are just a big American corporation and, you know...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Well, Peter, I've got to be real, because some of the people who don't support this bailout -- you know, I'm not one way or the other on it...

DAPENA: Right.

LEMON: ... but they were the same people buying these SUVs and these gas-guzzlers, and really didn't push for the automakers to transform themselves or to evolve into companies that would be sustainable in this type of economy.

DAPENA: Yes, I think you're absolutely right. I mean, as Americans, as consumers, we need to take some responsibilities here. I hear the expression all the time that Ford and GM pushed big SUVs down our throats.

LEMON: We bought them.

DAPENA: I'm sorry, nobody pushed big SUVs down -- right. They didn't park it in your driveway and just walk away and leave it there. We bought these vehicles. They made them because we wanted them. So, if we're going to blame them for not making more fuel-efficient cars, we should look at ourselves for not buying more fuel-efficient cars and making it clear to them that that's what we wanted before gas prices went to $4 a gallon.

LEMON: So this assessment you think that the American public has of the auto industry, do you think it's fair? DAPENA: No, I actually don't think it's fair. I get e-mails all the time from people saying things like, "Oh, I'm never buying another Ford because I had this horrible Tempo back in the '80s," or, "I had a GM car back in the '70s."

You know, a lot of this is based on impressions from decades ago. These companies have changed a lot since that time. Ford, in particular, has improved the quality of its cars up to Japanese levels among its non-truck-based vehicles.

They are quite a bit different. They are more streamlined than they were. And, you know, basically, a lot of it was just unfair to begin with, as I said. I think there's a culture. There's just sort of a distrust that we don't apply towards companies from other countries because they are not our companies.

LEMON: Well, and, you know, most people who have owned both, I, myself, I know that I have problems with one certain brand and don't have problems with another. So, you know, the truth is the truth.

DAPENA: Yes, there is some reality out there. It's changing, but, unfortunately, it takes a long time to turn that kind of impression around. It's going to be a long time before people start to trust the quality of their products again and trust the companies again. But I think they are on the way.

LEMON: Yes. I had a foreign-made car. In four years, the only thing I had to do with it was change the oil. That was it.

All right. Thank you very much, Peter. We appreciate you tonight for this.

Also, we want to know what is on your mind tonight. Log on to Twitter, to Facebook, to MySpace, or ireport.com. Tell me what you're thinking and we'll get your responses on the air.

Buy one, get one free. That is a deal one Miami car dealership is offering in these hard times. Details straight ahead.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I was doing wasn't working. When you are doing something and it doesn't work, you have to do something different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Talk about different, one New York man pounds the pavement for a job. We are talking literally here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President-elect Barack Obama says his administration will create or save a ton of jobs, and he explains how they are going to do it in this video posted on change.com.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We'll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways. And we'll set a simple rule: use it or lose it. If a state doesn't act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they will lose the money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. I want to bring in our Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.

Hi, Candy. Good to see you.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don. How are you?

LEMON: I'm doing very well. You hear him there, and what's very interesting to me, he's looking very presidential, right? He's sitting there and he's talking about what he's going to do. But he doesn't take office for almost two months now, just under two months. And President Bush is a lame duck, so we are at a vacuum of power here.

What is going to happen? The economy is in trouble.

CROWLEY: You know, absolutely. But remembering that we always have this period of time. We haven't always had it, but certainly in recent history we have always had this transition period.

What's different now is what's going on in the country. The stakes are so high. There's such an urgency to what's going on. They are trying to bail out the auto industry, they're trying to bail out the financial industry.

So it does leave this sort of period of uncertainty. And what Obama has been trying to do -- and make no mistake, his economic team understands fully what the Treasury Department is doing. There is daily contact with the Treasury Department and the Obama economic dream. There's daily contact on Capitol Hill with members of the Obama economic team and other staff members, as well as Barack Obama.

So there are behind-the-scenes things that he is doing and discussions that are going on about some of these economic problems. But right now they have seen his major role in public, at least, to be that kind of soother-in-chief, saying I am on the game here. I am getting ready so that on the 20th of January I can do something for you. And I think that's what you saw in this radio address, and I think it's what you have seen in news conferences when he's tried to sort of push it out there and say, here's what I'm working on.

LEMON: Yes. Well, point well taken. And I understand that -- when I take office on January 20th. And maybe this is a question for the person in charge now, but people need help on December 6th, you know, 2008, what's happening right now.

Let's -- you know, we may hear more from Barack Obama tomorrow on this issue because he has a big announcement at 2:45 Eastern, correct?

CROWLEY: He does, absolutely. Pearl Harbor Day tomorrow, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day.

As you well know, Barack Obama is from Hawaii. And that is always a very impactful day over there.

And what we are told he is going to do is he wanted to hold a news conference to salute those who have served in the military and who are still serving in the military. But we are also told now by a high- level source that Obama will, indeed, tap the person that he wants to head the cabinet level Veterans Administration, the Department of Veterans Assistance. So, we will get that name tomorrow.

As he continues to add on, I have been told recently that inside the transition camp, they think mostly the Obama cabinet will be put together by the end of this month. He will have most of those people out there, his nominees.

LEMON: I've got to ask you, is this really fast, or is this usual for the timing of putting together a staff, a cabinet?

CROWLEY: It's pretty fast. We've had presidents that were in office before they made some of their nominations. I think this is the fastest it has been in some time.

The exception was George Bush, the father, 41. But he was already sort of in office, so he knew some people he wanted in November.

LEMON: Right.

CROWLEY: But no, this is very quick, and purposefully so, because that's another one of those signals -- we're on the case, we've got it together, we're moving.

LEMON: Candy, we always appreciate it. And I'm glad you're inside in Chicago today, because it is cold.

CROWLEY: Me, too.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

LEMON: 2:45 Eastern Time tomorrow. We will carry Barack Obama's live announcement tomorrow for another member of his cabinet.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: OK. So we've got "Ebony" magazine right here, the Person of the Year that we are going to reveal live. This is the back of the magazine, so if you see something, don't think you're seeing it.

I want to bring in Bryan Monroe. He is the vice president and editorial director for "Ebony" and "JET."

Thank you, sir, for joining us.

BRYAN MONROE, VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "EBONY," "JET": My pleasure.

LEMON: So before I start talking to you, I'm going to reveal it.

Are you ready? Are you ready to come in on this camera?

There we go. Was that a surprise or shock to anyone?

Do you think it was surprising and shocking, Bryan? I had bets going on in the NEWSROOM.

By the way, there are two. There's a traditional red "Ebony," and then there's a gold because these are collectors' editions. Right?

MONROE: Right. We did the gold for home subscribers.

LEMON: OK. Real quickly, I'm not surprised, because I said I was there on election night in Grant Park and then walked by the "Ebony" magazine office. And, I mean, there were hoards of people inside just having their pictures taken next to the magazines and the placards and the life-size billboards of Barack Obama.

How did you come to this decision? I know it's a stupid question, but go ahead.

MONROE: Well, in a weird way, it wasn't that difficult this year. You know, President-elect Obama has just excited the nation and really the world. And we have been covering this story really for the last several years. In fact, our first big cover we shot in 2006 with he and Michelle.

And so this has been an ongoing story for us and really for black America. And so we're honored to be here.

LEMON: Yes. And this is something -- you know, I don't know if I've ever -- have you ever put out something with the intention of it becoming a collectors' item? Because my family has "Ebony" magazines that we have had for years and years. And they, you know, sort of become accidental collectors' items. But this one -- come over here. I want to look at some of these things.

As we are looking at here, we are talking about Grant Park and people going inside of the building. You start off with a very interesting story about Grant Park. There's Linda Johnson Rice who is the owner. Her dad was the founder. And there's Barack Obama there. But you talked about an interesting story about someone being in Grant Park -- fist bump there -- that night, a woman who starts the story off. Tell me about that.

MONROE: Yes. Her name was Ida White. She's a 63 years old woman from Evergreen Park who I was standing next to in Grant Park. And just as they announced that he had gone over the top, she started crying, and really started weeping.

And I asked her why -- what the emotion was there. And her and her friend broke out in song, the old Gospel spiritual, "I know there's a change gonna come."

LEMON: Right. Right.

MONROE: And that change really just hit not just her, but really the country at an emotional core.

LEMON: So this -- you took the pictures right after the election at your office. And this -- you're talking about the moment. This is the moment here, partially part of it in Grant Park. You talked about -- I think you said at your office, right across from Grant Park, on Michigan Avenue, you did the photo shoot and it was very quick.

MONROE: Yes. We had about a half-hour for the interview and the photo shoot itself. Dudley Brooks (ph), our director of photography, did the shoot.

And one of the things that was really interesting, when President- elect Obama came into the room -- you know, we had been covering him for years and been around him many times, but he had a real, certain gravitas to him. He was the president. It felt like it.

LEMON: He was different.

MONROE: And I don't know -- yes. I don't know if he was different or the way we saw him was different, but there was definitely a bearing in a lot of weight there.

LEMON: I think that he was different. I remember when he was state senator, and then I went back to interview him about a story -- he had just become senator -- a story on bird flu. And it was a different reaction, and he seemed to be a different person even after becoming state senator to U.S. senator.

So I can imagine. I have not seen him since he's become president, but I can imagine what you are talking about.

Is there one moment in this, Bryan, or something about this issue, coming up with this issue during the photo shoot, or whatever, that you would like to share with our viewers?

MONROE: Well, one of the conversations we had at the first print interview with him after the election that we did the next week, and one of the conversations we talked about was he really excited and galvanized a nation and brought millions and millions of new voters to the table, and millions of black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Native- American voters that pulled the lever or punched the button for him. And I asked him, "OK, now that you have these folks, now that you have this movement, now what? What are you going to do with them?"

And he was very clear that this was just the beginning, that, you know, great change in America doesn't happen from the top down, but from the bottom up. And so, for instance, they have got an e-mail list of 10 million folks that they are continuing to tap.

They've got a Web site up that went up the day after the election. And you are going to see the access to the people who have been excited about the movement continue on through certainly the first 100 days. And it's going to be interesting to watch. And so that's one of the things we helped to show in this issue of "Ebony," is how the campaign and then the election has changed America.

LEMON: Hey, Bryan, before you go, I'm just getting some breaking news.

Is this for us or am I attributing this to someone, guys?

OK.

CNN has confirmed that Democratic officials say Barack Obama has selected General Eric K. Shinseki to be the VA secretary. And he's going to make that announcement tomorrow from Chicago.

It will be 1:00 your time, Bryan.

MONROE: Right.

LEMON: 2:00 p.m. our time here in the East.

And one more thing before I let you go. I have to say, I wonder what the founder, Mr. Johnson, would have thought of all of this, because I haven't heard -- I've seen Linda since, his daughter, but I wonder what he would have thought of all of this and how proud he would have been of Barack Obama, our nation and then this "Ebony" magazine as well.

MONROE: Well, you know, we are all very honored to be continuing the legacy of John H. Johnson and the work that he did in creating "Ebony" magazine and "Jet" magazine to chronicle the lives of black America. This really hits the pinnacle with this election, but now we've got even more of a story to tell. You're going to see us with more coverage of the inauguration and throughout the next four years covering the story like no other.

LEMON: Bryan Monroe is the vice president and the editorial director for "Ebony" and "Jet" magazines.

We appreciate it. Happy holidays to you, sir. Thank you.

MONROE: You, too.

LEMON: All right. We want to know what's on your mind tonight here at CNN as well. Make sure you log on to Twitter, to Facebook, MySpace or ireport.com. Tell us what you are thinking. We'll get some of your responses on the air. As a matter of fact, I'm looking through them right now.

Also, it sounds like an offer that's too good to be true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been fielding phone calls, an e-mail increase, from every state in the country looking to get this buy one, get one deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A car dealer goes to extremes to make a sale.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI AHMED, ROB LAMBDIN'S UNIVERSITY DODGE: We've been fielding phone calls. And emails increased from every state in the country looking to get this buy-one, get-one free deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: A car dealer goes to extremes to make a sale.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN SAVAGE, IREPORTER: After listening to the Chrysler CEO talk today, I realized all the automobile CEOs are only out for themselves. They are not really out for the people. and they have really lost my faith for a long time.

FRED THORNE, IREPORTER: I, for one, am for the auto industry bailout. I believe the auto industry needs the bailout and I believe the American industry needs the auto industry. We want somebody held responsible. My question is this, whose fault is this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That's a good question. A good question that a lot of folks, probably all of the folks are thinking, we are all in this together.

You can see our iReporters. They're sounding off on the proposed bailout loan to the big three automakers.

Tonight, congressional sources tell CNN that staffers are now drafting legislation to give an emergency loan to the auto industry. The heads of Ford, G.M. and Chrysler this week asked for $34 billion. It looks like they might get about half of that. A vote could come early next week. The story is not over. So continue watching. Adding to the urgency is the worst monthly job loss since the mid- 1970s. More than half -- a half a million Americans lost their jobs in November. And that puts the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent. Sorry to bring you that bad news, but that's just the way it is right now.

For the big three, it is all about pairing down. That means some well-known brand names could go away. What's on the chopping block for General Motors? It looks like GMC is safe, one of G.M.'s four brands. That's because light trucks are a key part of the U.S. auto market. Buick is another core brand, along with Cadillac and Chevrolet. That could mean an expanded Buick line. Pontiac is likely play for of a support with its role with its line being paired down. It still appeals to young buyers though. G.M. says Saturn sales are below expectations, but the newest line-up has received good reviews and G.M. recently made a huge investment in upgrading dealerships.

We'll look at the brands that may be on the chopping block for Ford and Chrysler just ahead in this broadcast.

First, speaking of dealerships, dealers across the country are facing the lowest car sales in decades. So to attract you and to move inventory, some of them are practically giving cars away. I want you to take a listen to this next report. Nothing is free. But listen to this.

CNN's Alina Cho checked out one very attractive pitch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AHMED: The first thing people think is it is a fake ad, a gimmick, but it is not.

ALINA CHO, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Buy one, get one free -- the type of ad you normally see at a grocery store, but at a Dodge dealership in Miami?

AHMED: We have been fielding phone calls and e-mail inquiries from every state in the country looking to get this buy-one, get-one deal.

CHO: Desperate times, desperate measures. This year, 700 car dealers shut their doors. That number is expected to top 900 by the end of the year. and the majority of the dealers sell American cars.

AHMED: It is definitely a tough climb right now. People are saying it is the perfect storm of gas prices and financing and consumer confidence.

CHO: The biggest problem? The trickle-down effect of the credit crunch. Can't get a loan, can't buy a car.

This Chrysler dealership in New York used to sell 150 cars a month. Today, they say it is half that.

(on camera): A year ago you would have had 15 to 20 sales men on the floor. Today it is what? MATT LEE, MAJOR WORLD AUTO: Eight to ten. Salesmen just walk out because they are not making enough money to support their families.

CHO (voice-over): They have even stopped bringing in new models because the cars they have aren't moving.

JAMIE KRINSKY, MAJOR WORLD AUTO: You would see five people a day coming to look at a car. Per salesman, you are getting one person a day or two people a day.

CHO: They are offering deals, too.

(on camera): Fire package included).

(voice-over): Zero-percent financing for 72 months and $7500 rebates. Even that's not enough.

In the two hours we have been combing the lot, only one customer, who was just browsing.

So could a buy one, get one free offer help this dealership?

(on camera): You have to admit, it is pretty catchy.

MATT: If it works for them -- What can we do? Maybe we'll try it?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: In the interest of full disclosure, we should tell you that buy one, get one free means buy the first dodge truck at full retail, get the second one free, excluding tax, tags and dealer fees. That will cost you about $3,000. Still a good deal, but, as always, there's a catch.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: There's always a catch. Nothing in life is free.

OK, we've already showed you some of the brands that could go on the chopping block as General Motors looks to cut costs. What about Ford and what about Chrysler, Ford and Chrysler? CNNmoney.com says Ford plans to hold on to its Mercury division. They are going to keep Mercury. But the brand has long suffered an identity crisis and now has only a three-vehicle lineup.

Volvo engineering has been good for Ford. It has a global reputation for safety and the brand could be an attractive buy.

Now to Chrysler. It may survive the money crisis, but will the cars that bear the name survive? Sales have been slipping badly in the wake of poor liability scores and products panned by critics. Chrysler also has very little brand identity with consumer. The companies Dodge division may have a better chance of surviving. It has an identifiable brand image with their pickup trucks. All they had was one another, and somehow that was enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHRYN MCINTOSH: DAUGHTER OF DEPRESSION: We never had a lot, but she always made sure we had something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Decades later, a daughter of depression faces uncertain times with uncommon faith.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is just into CNN. We know that Barack Obama needs a Veterans Affairs secretary. He plans on announcing that tomorrow, 2:00 p.m. eastern time. He'll do that in Chicago. It will be 1:00 central time when he does that there. Here's what the press is reporting. They are saying that it's retired General Eric K. Shinseki, that he is going to be nominated as Veterans Affairs secretary. You might remember him. Back in 2003, his civilian bosses, some of them got upset with him because he said it was going to take several hundreds of thousands of troops in order to get the situation under control in Iraq. Immediately, not long after, he was removed from his job -- within months. But saying that he was wildly off the mark, his words proved to be prophetic though with the surge because it appears that in some way that is helping. That's to be announced tomorrow, 2:00 p.m. eastern time. We'll carry it for you here on CNN.

Onto other news now. Little children may not understand microeconomics, even some big children, even some adults, maybe even me, but they certainly sense money is tight. It is a heartbreaking sign of the times that this holiday many letters to Santa are not asking for toys. Instead they are appealing for basic necessities -- diapers for a big sister, a pair of slippers, rent money. Some even include school report cards so Santa knows they have been good. Known as Operation Santa, certain post offices let the public pick through the Santa letters, so some of the wishes can come true.

To learn more about the program and find out how you can help, make sure you go to beanelf.org, beanelf.org, if you want to help those kids.

Also, we have been taking some of your responses. We've been asking you for them. And here's what some of you had to say.

This one is a computer face book reporter. It says, "The people are tired of being last on the help list. Corporations are getting help, but the taxpayers are getting the shaft." That's from Dock Remy.

Bloominglater says, "Well, not my job" -- I asked if people were worried about losing their job. "Well, not my job, but my husband's that I'm worried about. Economy troubles have finally hit home at Hampton Rose. Jobs being cut, hiring freezes." Yeesh, Eric Thomas, "Luckily, my province of Manitoba gained jobs. Having trouble getting one? Well, ours have been cut harder to pay off student loan."

And Atcat says, "I have worried about getting laid off. I suppose I would join the military again. I hope Obama doesn't downsize."

Percy Miracles, Percy Miracles, "I'm not worried about keeping one. I'm worried about getting one. I've been out of college almost seven months and haven't had one promising prospect. It's rough."

Prettylady83, "I'm worried about not finding a job at all. What did I go to college for? I have been bamboozled and the government owes me money."

People also weighing in on the big three as well.

"Guess what, on the big three, not just the automakers fault. We were complacent as well because we bought up all the vehicles."

Make sure you send us your responses there, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or iReport.com. We'll get them on the air. At 11:00 p. m. eastern, we even have them scrolling in the crawl for you. We'll read much, much more then.

And a sign of the tough times for you again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL NAWROCKI, UNEMPLOYED: Pride doesn't mean anything. You need to find work. I have to take care of my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He's a walking billboard. One man takes his job search to the streets.

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LEMON: Desperate times call for desperate measures. An unemployed man is taking his plea for a job to the streets of New York.

CNN's Richard Roth caught up with him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He looks like a typical commuter wearing a suit and tie in the crowds of workers pouring into Manhattan. Paul Nawrocki doesn't have to go far to go to his office. It's right on the corner. His job these days is to look for a job. And he's making sure people know he is available by wearing the large advertising board.

NAWROCKI: What I was doing wasn't working. When you are doing something and it doesn't work, you have to do something different.

ROTH: Nawrocki worked in the toy industry in operations for 36 years. He was laid off in February shortly before his company went bankrupt.

NAWROCKI: My daughter said to me, she said, you know, take resumes and hand them out on the street.

ROTH: Paul's unemployment insurance will soon run out. His wife is partially disabled and his daughter has student loans.

(on camera): How humiliating is it to walking on the streets of Manhattan with a sign like this?

NAWROCKI: When you're out of work and you're faced with having nothing, I mean having no income, there is -- pride doesn't mean anything. You need to find work. I have to take care of my family.

ROTH: Nawrocki stands in the cold for hours. New Yorkers, used to the homeless and sidewalk pitchmen, look but don't often stop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel sorry for him. I wish I could help him.

ROTH: A passerby offers a suggestion to try down the street at the United Nations. And he becomes a photo on for international media.

At Paul's favorite corners, some competition from charity groups and then from a young man searching for a girl he liked whose phone number his roommate threw away.

There was one hopeful moment...

STEVE WARREN, EXECUTIVE RECRUITER: I'm the head of an executive search firm in New York so why don't you give me your resume and...

ROTH: Nawrocki takes a break in a nearby park to check e-mails.

NAWROCKI: Nothing so far. A lot of junk mail.

ROTH: It's a sign of the times.

Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: It is a sign of the times. And when you don't have a job, he is right, nothing is embarrassing.

Paul Nawrocki, the guy you saw with the walking billboard, is going to join us at 11:00 p.m. eastern as we take a deeper look here. You want to pay attention to this show tonight, 11:00 p.m. eastern. We take a close look at the realities of unemployment. You saw those job numbers. They're bleak. So many people are getting laid off. So many people can't find work.

Plus, we'll talk to some other people who know the reality first hand. And we will try to get some information that can help sustain you during these tough times.

So we'll hear some personal story, provide some personal career counseling for you. And make sure you join us tonight at 11:00 p.m. We say news you can use, this news you can use.

And send us, on those platforms, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, iReport, send us what you want to know from these people and what information you'd like us to talk about and we'll get that on the air for you.

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(FIT NATION)

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LEMON: As the world slips into a recession, it's hard to put one person's face on such a calamity. But during the depression and decades after, one woman and her family became a symbol of struggle and also dignity. They became the face of the depression.

And our Thelma Gutierrez talked to one of them in Modesto, California.

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THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kathryn McIntosh lived through the worst of economic times.

MCINTOSH: Many of times, people went hungry.

GUTIERREZ: It was the 1930s. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression.

She picked cotton at the age of 4. She spent her childhood in migrant camps with her mother, step-father and six brothers and sisters.

MCINTOSH: She'd lay them on the back of her cotton sack and pull them around. And we would walk in front of her, I remember. We never had a lot, but she always made sure we had something. She didn't eat sometimes, but she made sure us children ate.

GUTIERREZ: Life was tough and people were cruel.

MCINTOSH: They'd tell you to go home and take a bath.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): What did that feel like?

MCINTOSH: Terrible. Terrible. We'd go home and cry.

(SINGING)

MCINTOSH: This song that this Dolly Parton sings, "This Coat of Many Colors," OK, mother made me a coat one time. The coat was too big for me, so mother cut it down for me and fixed it for me. I wore it to school. And of course, the kids made fun of me, but I had a coat to wear.

GUTIERREZ: One day, when the pea crop had frozen and there was no work and people were starving, a woman showed up at the migrant camp in California. MCINTOSH: She asked my mother if she could take her picture, that it would never be published. Her name would never be mentioned. But it was to help the people in the plight.

GUTIERREZ: That woman turned out to be a famed photographer Dorothea Lang. The picture she took that day of Florence Thompson and her three daughters, titled "Migrant Mother, "would become the iconic symbol of the Great Depression.

MCINTOSH: Right here, this is Ruthie and this is Norma. She was 32 years old there. Someone thought she posed us. She didn't.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): She didn't?

MCINTOSH: No, no. She just set us down and us kids, we were holding on to Mama.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): The photograph was published the next day in a local paper.

(on camera): What was your mother's reaction when she saw her photograph?

MCINTOSH: She didn't like it. We were ashamed of it. We didn't want no one to know who we were.

GUTIERREZ: The picture was forgotten until Dorothea Lang died some 30 years later.

MCINTOSH: My sister-in-law was looking in a camera magazine and that picture come up and she showed it to my brother, and she told my brother, "Who does that look like?" It was my mom.

GUTIERREZ: By that time, their lives had changed. All three girls had married. Florence Thompson's sons had bought her a mobile home.

(on camera): Did that photograph change your life, do you think?

MCINTOSH: Oh, yeah, it sure did. I wanted to make sure I never lived that life again.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Florence died in 1983. And even though she had always been embarrassed by the photograph, her children made sure she was honored by a U.S. postage stamp.

MCINTOSH: We all were very grateful to her because she didn't give us away. Looking at her, there was a lot of women that was just like she was. They was just trying to keep their family together. But we just happened to be the ones that she photographed.

GUTIERREZ: Kathryn had had a lifetime of labor. She will be 77 years old Saturday and still cleans homes for a living. She said all 10 children learned life lessons from their mother, to work hard, save and not live beyond their means.

(on camera): So even if things start to get much worse, you think that you'll make out OK?

MCINTOSH: Yes.

GUTIERREZ: You'll be all right?

MCINTOSH: Yes, I believe I will. Yes. I've got confidence in myself and I'll make it.

GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Modesto, California

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Join us tonight, 11:00 p.m. eastern here in the "CNN NEWSROOM." We'll hear from some personal stories and we'll give you practical advice on how to help yourself in this economy. We'll see you then.