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Child's Body Found in Florida; Obama on Governor Scandal; Obama & the Economy

Aired December 11, 2008 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM. And here are the headlines from CNN for this Thursday, the 11th day of December.
President-elect Barack Obama names his architect of health care reform. He wants a former Senate leader to overhaul the U.S. medical system.

A rescue plan for Detroit automakers moves to the Senate today. Will it run head-on into a roadblock?

Skeletal remains of a child found near the home of a 3-year-old Florida girl. After six months, has Caylee Anthony been found?

Breaking news out of Florida. The skeletal remains of a small child found near the home of a missing 3-year-old girl. Investigators are on the scene right now in Orlando. A spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office tells CNN a utility worker found the body about two hours ago. The sheriff's office says nothing immediately indicates the bones belong to little Caylee Anthony.

Her mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with murder. Here's what authorities said just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. ANGELO NIEVES, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA, SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Our forensics unit as well has responded to make a determination how best to proceed this morning. Obviously, a lot of rain, storms coming in. So we're going to go ahead and make a determination as to how to proceed. The FBI is also on scene as we continue to process the scene. The FBI, as well as their lab, will provide assistance in the coming days.

QUESTION: Is it just a skull? Is it a body? Is it a skull only?

NIEVES: I'm not at liberty at this point -- it's very early in this discovery -- to provide any additional information that can compromise our case. We want to proceed carefully, methodically, and allow our investigators and forensic teams to provide the information to our investigators that is necessary to proceed with this investigation.

QUESTION: Is there any idea how long the DNA test...

QUESTION: ... so close to the Anthony home.

NIEVES: At this point I cannot provide any additional information regarding the discovery, as, again, as I stated, it's very early. We have not even bothered the scene in order that we can do it properly.

QUESTION: Do you know how long DNA testing will take so that you can actually confirm whether -- excuse me -- whether you are you can confirm whether it's Caylee?

(CROSSTALK)

NIEVES: ... our forensic units for the FBI lab to continue to do their follow-up work.

QUESTION: Do you know how long that will take?

QUESTION: Do you know how long that will take?

QUESTION: Do you have this young child's dental records?

NIEVES: Again, we're going to deal with the situation right here. We have the discovery. I do not have any additional information due to the earliness and the quick information that we're providing. And we have not done any additional work on the scene, as we continue to prepare to do so in the coming hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. And, of course, we will bring you the very latest information as we get it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In just a couple of minutes we will be talking to our all- platform journalist John Couwels. And we will be bringing you his report, again, in just a couple of moments, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

President-elect Barack Obama trying hard to keep the focus on health care reform and the economy. But at his news conference last hour in Chicago, much of the attention was on the scandal surrounding Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Obama addressed it head-on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I was as appalled and disappointed as anybody by the revelations earlier this week. I have never spoken to the governor on this subject. I'm confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat. I think the materials released by the U.S. attorney reflect that fact. I've asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the governor's office about this vacancy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And our Elaine Quijano joining us now from Chicago.

And Elaine, let's cover as much of this as we can here.

The president-elect, it seemed to me, attempted, and maybe successfully -- I'll get your thoughts on this -- to put a little bit of space between himself and the Blagojevich scandal, but he didn't squash the story. Did he?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He didn't squash it. That is very true. In fact, as we heard him say there a moment ago, even as he was trying to put to rest some of these questions, certainly saying, look, my team is looking at this further. We'll be doing so over the next couple of days, pretty much ensured, as you've noted, that we'll be talking about this.

Now, at the same time, the president-elect reiterated a call urging the Illinois governor to step down, and he also said that he was absolutely certain that none of his aides were involved in any kind of deal-making with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich over the vacated Senate seat. He even mentioned with a smile on his face how in the federal complaint, his team is not portrayed as being particularly amenable to some of the alleged overtures from the governor's office. So we'll wait to see what happens in the coming days, but again, this was the president-elect's attempt to really try to put some of these questions to rest.

Now, the stated purpose, though, of course, as you know, of this news conference, was to talk about health care reform. And on that front, the president-elect, as expected, named Tom Daschle, former Senate majority leader, not only to be his Health and Human Services secretary, or his pick for Health and Human Services secretary, but also a person who will head up a new office within the White House, the Office of Health Care Reform.

The president noted, of course, how millions of Americans are affected by this issue, and he said that Daschle is someone who really understands how to reach across the aisle to bridge partisan divides. The president-elect also named his deputy for that office, Dr. Jeanne Lambrew. She is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

And finally, as talks are continuing in Washington, on Capitol Hill, wrangling over some help for the U.S. auto industry, the president-elect said that he does, in fact, back Congress' efforts to get some short-term help for Detroit -- Tony.

HARRIS: A lot there.

All right. Elaine Quijano for us in Chicago.

Elaine, good to see you. Thank you.

Resign or else, that's the resounding message this morning for disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Live now to our Susan Roesgen, in front of the governor's home in Chicago.

And Susan, has this story moved at all with respect to Blagojevich? I guess the question I wanted to ask you is, has he made any statement yet as to whether or not he intends to step down?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, he has not. No public statement, anyway, Tony.

We are outside the House. You know, we've got different places where he could have left today. And in some ways, Tony, it became like the search for Bigfoot, trying to get a sighting of Governor Blagojevich.

But he did leave. We did get a shot of him leaving his House. He went right out the front. They've got massive security. And reporters waiting for this now every day, Tony.

He did come out. We assume he went down to his office. And we have not heard anything.

He's got several options. You know, he could resign and really put to rest all the speculation, or he could temporarily step aside, or he will be possibly impeached by the Illinois state legislature, or the state attorney general could decide, Tony, that he is simply ineffective in his job, he can no longer continue, he is unable to be governor with this criminal cloud hanging over him. She could decide that that is the case and she could ask the Illinois State Supreme Court to rule it, and that would get him out.

So, Tony, I don't really understand, and I guess most people don't either, how the governor can continue with this steady drumbeat of move, move, move, resign, get out. Even the president-elect, I'm sure, as Elaine Quijano just mentioned, and as you saw, is saying this guy has got to go.

HARRIS: Yes.

All right. Susan Roesgen for us in Chicago.

Susan, good to see you. Thank you.

And new jobless claims shot up to their highest level since 1982 last week. Five hundred seventy-three thousand people applied for first-time unemployment benefits. That's 58,000 more than the previous week.

Laid-off workers, at least at this Chicago window factory, have a good resolution. They ended their six-day sit-in. Employees say they didn't get paychecks and benefits due them. Now banks will loan the company almost $2 million to cover the costs. That's about $6,000 per worker.

Jobs and the fate of the U.S. auto industry high on President- elect Barack Obama's agenda today. He is pushing for final passage of the bailout loan to provide short-term help for the automakers.

Christine Romans of our CNN money team live from New York with more on what you heard, Christine, from the president-elect last hour.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, what I heard him do was link three very important issues -- the auto issue, the health care issue and then, of course, the jobless claims. The very first thing he started talking about was the most recent statistics that you've just laid out, Tony, statistics that people across the country are feeling.

People know that pink slips and the layoff announcements have been coming fast and furious over recent days, scarily (ph) this morning its cutting 700 jobs. You know, there's, gosh, NPR, NFL...

HARRIS: That's right. That's right.

ROMANS: ... Principal Financial. That will be tough in Des Moines. A lot of jobs lost there.

Dow Chemical, 3M, Sony. I mean, even video game makers and hotels. So lots of different job cuts.

Even those folks at that Chicago window factory, Tony, who got resolution, got what is legally owed to them, they still are without a job. So they're out there in that labor market as well in a very tough time.

The president-elect today saying that these things go hand in hand. You can't put off health care reform simply because the economy is in a rough spot.

Health care is part of the problem. You have 45 million people who are uninsured in this country, but at the same time, people who do have insurance are still grappling with very difficult situations that are causing personal bankruptcies, skyrocketing health care costs in general. So how he fixes it will be very, very -- very, very critical. And there are a lot of parties to this whole process who are going to have competing interests, Tony, about how to get it fixed.

HARRIS: Five hundred and seventy-three thousand people.

ROMANS: Yes.

HARRIS: I mean, help me here. How do we -- or can we in any way -- project ahead, extrapolate anything out of this number as to what it might mean when we see the full December jobs report next month?

ROMANS: It's going to be -- it's going to be hard. It's going to be grim.

And each one of those numbers is a family, frankly. Each one of those numbers represents a family that now the most important part of their own personal economy, the job, is gone. When the jobs go, then the foreclosures go up, because people can't pay their rent.

There are already situations -- the surveys are showing that there are people, seniors, who are choosing between groceries and medical bills. Or heating oil and groceries, or heating oil and their prescriptions. I mean, these are all the things that go wrong when economies start to shrink. And that's why it is so critical to figure out what to do or how to at least -- there are cycles and economies that at least have to mitigate that pain.

One thing, Tony, I think is interesting is that the best and brightest minds have been trying to forecast these jobs numbers and have been undershooting for some time now. I mean, they keep catching people by surprise.

The leading economic indicators have, as many economists tell me, simply fallen off a cliff. So they're trying to project with not a great deal of certainty what it's going to look like in the beginning of next year.

The most important thing for viewers, I think, is this is not a time for risk-taking with your money or with your job. That's just the bottom line.

HARRIS: Hey, Christine, we just got this priority wire here and it's in red. You know, it's really important.

ROMANS: OK.

HARRIS: Saying the U.S. Fed reports households cut back on their debt levels for the first time on record.

Why don't we give awe moment or two to sort through that and maybe you can come back and explain why that's really significant. OK?

ROMANS: OK. I'll take a look at it.

HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: Sure.

HARRIS: Christine Romans in New York for us.

A rescue package for American automakers may hit a roadblock in the Senate today. A likely Republican filibuster.

Let's bring in CNN's Brianna Keilar at the Capitol.

And Brianna, are Senate Republicans "really," in quotes here, "really" going to defeat this package when it comes up for a vote today and tomorrow against the wishes of the president and the president-elect?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's very possible. It's definitely going to face a tough road here, and there is a lot of Senate Republican opposition to this.

As we speak, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate trying to work through some sort of changes that maybe can be made, changes in this plan that is supposed to basically stop these automakers from collapsing, from sending a ripple effect through the economy.

But again, a really tough road here. A lot of Republican opposition.

There's so much bailout fatigue here on the Hill, it's really palpable. And this plan basically was, yes, negotiated between Democrats and the White House, and includes $14 billion in loans for the automakers. And it also establishes this position of a car czar, someone who's supposed to oversee the restructuring of these automakers, make sure that they can be profitable in the future. But Republicans, like the top one here in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, saying there's not enough teeth and this car czar won't have enough power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: A lot of struggling Americans are asking where they're bailout is. They wonder why one business would get support over another. When it comes to the auto industry, many Republicans in Congress have asked these same questions.

There are many principled reasons to oppose this bill, but the simplest one is also the best. A government big enough to give us everything we want is a government big enough to take everything we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So it's possible there could be a vote later today on some Democratic and Republican changes to that proposal that went through the House yesterday. But, again, as Republicans are open to that, this is still facing really tough odds. Very unclear, Tony, if it would actually get through.

HARRIS: OK. Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill for us.

Senate Republicans hold the key, as you just heard, to any loan deal for the automakers. I will speak to one senator who has been very outspoken in this opposition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, one of the staunchest GOP opponents of the auto bailout is the junior senator from Louisiana, David Vitter. Yesterday on the Senate floor he asked, how can he vote on a loan without a detailed restructuring plan from the automakers?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVID VITTER (R), LOUISIANA: Isn't that putting the cart before the horse? Isn't that, to use a common phrase, just ass backwards?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Ass backwards? That's what he said.

And joining me to make the argument in person is the senator himself, David Vitter.

Senator, good to see you.

VITTER: Thanks, Tony. Good to be with you. Good to be with you.

HARRIS: Did you cause pause for a moment before you said that? Did you say, well, should I say it this way?

VITTER: I paused a moment, but maybe not long enough. Who knows?

HARRIS: Not long enough, because everybody...

VITTER: I guess made the point. It was pretty straightforward.

HARRIS: Yes. You absolutely made the point.

Help me understand this. Didn't the automakers provide a restructuring plan? Wasn't that the purpose for the hearings this week?

VITTER: They didn't provide any plan that's in this legislation. This legislation says we're going to send them $14 billion. And then after that, after the fact, later, they're going to sit down at a table and begin to work out the details with the UAW and others. Again, I think that's clearly putting the cart before the horse.

HARRIS: Well, are you prepared to vote against this package?

VITTER: Yes. I think it's a bad deal.

HARRIS: Tell me why.

VITTER: Because I think it's going to doom these companies to failure. Now is the moment, now it the time to demand fundamental restructuring. And if we don't get it now, I really don't think we ever will to the extent it takes for them to survive.

HARRIS: Well, what's your course? What should happen to the auto dealers, the automakers?

VITTER: Well, I was on the Senate floor today and said there are alternatives. It isn't this or bust. We can do other things.

Specifically, we can tie taxpayer help to nailing down up front some of the fundamental restructuring -- lowering labor costs so they're competitive with the Toyotas and Hondas of the world; making sure the bondholders sacrifice and reduce those companies' debt through writing down those bonds, and not letting taxpayer dollars inflate bond values to go directly to bondholders.

HARRIS: Now, I'm confused, because if I'm listening to Ron Gettelfinger, who heads up the UAW, what he is suggesting is that the wage gap with the foreign competitors has essentially closed, or will over the next couple of years. Am I mishearing him, or are you not buying it? Or do you want more?

VITTER: They've made progress over the last five years, but they haven't closed the gap. We basically need to close that gap immediately and we need to do other things. We need to lower these companies' debt immediately, in part through the bondholders taking a hit.

HARRIS: Do you want the automakers that are in trouble here, principally Chrysler and GM, to go into bankruptcy? And if so, is it Chapter 11 or Chapter 7?

VITTER: Well, certainly I don't want them to go under, for those jobs to be lost. No one wants that. But maybe another alternative, which I also outlined on the Senate floor today, is a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but with the government as a full participant, offering at least two things. Number one, guaranteeing the warrantees of these companies, putting the full faith and credit of the federal government behind that so consumers will know that will be there. And number two, providing financing for the bankruptcy process.

HARRIS: One final question for you, Senator. Some are suggesting that Senate Republicans are really pushing bankruptcy with the -- but the real not clearly stated goal of essentially eliminating the unions, eliminating the UAW, crushing the UAW.

How would you respond to that?

VITTER: I don't know anyone who wants these companies to fail, period. We all want them to survive. But to survive, there needs to be truly core, fundamental restructuring. And that's going to take real sacrifice from everybody, certainly including the UAW. But no one wants to crush anyone.

We want to preserve the maximum number of jobs. That's why I'm opposing this plan, because I think this plan is going to eventually -- maybe put off going under a few months, but eventually lead there.

HARRIS: Wow. Senator Vitter, appreciate your time. Thanks. Appreciate it.

VITTER: Thanks very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe denies there's still a cholera problem in his country as many world leaders urge him to leave.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, claims his country's cholera outbreak is under control, but people are dying, and infected refugees are spreading the epidemic across the border into South Africa.

CNN's Nkepile Mabuse reports from Johannesburg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Zimbabweans continue to die from a nationwide cholera outbreak, the president, Robert Mugabe, appears far removed from the nation's suffering.

PRES. ROBERT MUGABE, ZIMBABWE: But I'm happy to say doctors who are being assisted by others in the WHO have now arrested cholera.

MABUSE: Mugabe's claims delivered in a national speech come amid reports from the World Health Organization that nearly 800 have died from the disease and more than 16,000 have been infected. Doctors inside Zimbabwe say for as long as people do not have clean drinking water, more will perish.

Mugabe has accused Britain, France and the United States, who have called him to step down, of using the cholera outbreak as an excuse to invade Zimbabwe.

MUGABE: Because of cholera, Mr. Brown wants military intervention. Sarkozy wants military intervention. Bush wants military intervention. So now that there is no cholera, there is no cause for war anymore. Let's tell them that the cholera cause doesn't exist anymore.

MABUSE: Critics say there is no cholera in Mugabe's world because he does not have to drink the contaminated water that causes the disease. But the risk of the nation has no choice. And while Mugabe was telling fellow Zimbabweans that the outbreak was no longer a problem, the South African government declared a disaster in its province near the Zimbabwe border.

This is where hundreds of cholera-infected Zimbabweans come to seek medical care. That's because the public health care system in their country has collapsed. Now the South African hospital says it can no longer cope with a problem that has been exported into the country and has asked the national government to intervene.

Cholera is but one of many problems facing Zimbabwe. It is unknown how many have died from hunger.

According to the United Nations, half the population will need food assistance in the coming weeks. This, in a country that in the past exported food to its neighbors.

And then there is the crumbling economy. The local currency has depreciated to such levels that the few who have jobs prefer being paid in food and fuel, and most stores are trading in U.S. dollars.

The clashes in Zimbabwe is not only costing lives, it is putting a strain or neighboring countries who are dealing with thousands of refugees. There are calls for regional leaders to take firm action against Mugabe, who some revere as an African liberator. A man now accused of destroying a once proud nation.

Nkepile Mabuse, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Tough economic times here in the United States mean a lot of people are looking for cheaper gift ideas. One clever solution may be as close as your computer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's take a look at the big board, New York Stock Exchange right now. Just past three hours into the trading session. And as you can see, we are in positive territory, off of session highs. We were in negative territory just a moment ago. But right now, a nice little rebound here. We are positive eight. The Dow up eight points. The Nasdaq pretty flat right now. Again, just three hours into the trading session.

Moments ago we received a Fed report indicating U.S. households have cut back on their debt levels.

Christine Romans on what's called, Christine, the household debt report?

ROMANS: It's called the Fed Flow of Funds Report, Tony.

HARRIS: Whew, thank you.

ROMANS: Say that 10 times fast, you'll get in trouble.

HARRIS: Yes, really.

ROMANS: So the Fed in this third quarter report reporting something that we just honestly have never seen. In the 50 years since these records have been kept, the Fed is reporting that for the first time ever, Americans have cut their debt levels. Going all the way back, I think, as early as 1952, we've consistently seen American households add to their debt again and again. This is how household income and how the economy has grown by using credit. And this is the response to this credit crunch.

You have people, for the first time on record, paying off more of their mortgage debt than they are taking on in new mortgage debt. It looks like there's a small increase in credit card debt and some auto debt. But households paying off more of their mortgage debt as a response to this credit crisis.

HARRIS: And I think it makes sense. It absolutely makes sense.

OK, Christine, appreciate it. Thank you.

ROMANS: Sure.

HARRIS: So what do car experts think the government ought to do for the automakers, loan $14 billion of taxpayer money or let them go bankrupt and have a judge sort of force them to restructure? Csaba Csere is the editor in chief for "Car and Driver" magazine.

Csaba, good to see you. Thanks for your time today.

CSABA CSERE, "CAR & DRIVER" MAGAZINE: My pleasure.

HARRIS: Well, what happens, in your view, if the automakers don't get this bridge loan? What happens?

CSERE: It's a disaster. GM is basically out of money as we speak. They're right in the cash zone where they're at the minimum level they need to stay in business. And they sink a little lower, and they're looking at Chapter 11. Chrysler is apparently close behind. And if one or both of those companies go into Chapter 11, they drag down a bunch of suppliers and they probably drag down Ford, which otherwise has enough cash to last through the end of next year. So it's a huge problem if they go into a . . .

HARRIS: Well, wait a minute. Well then given what you said, Csaba, why do you think Senate Republicans are threatening to scuttle this deal? What's going on here?

CSERE: Well, I think there's two things going on. I think, on the one hand, some of them have a political philosophy that says the government should stay out of private enterprise and they're being true that. I think some of these Republicans represent southern states that have non-unionized transplant factories belonging to Toyota, Honda, Mercedes and the like and they're thinking, if the Big Three go down, it's simply good for the factories and their plants. So there's a little bit of philosophy and a little bit of self- interest there.

HARRIS: Is this, do you believe, it's been suggested that this is really about unions. It's about the UAW. And it is about crippling unions in this country, using the UAW as the example. Do you buy that?

CSERE: Well, the UAW is a Cadillac of unions. UAW workers have been very well paid. They've received superb benefits over the years. And certainly there's a lot of politicians who want to maintain as much of that as possible.

But the fact is, the unions themselves have recognized that they needed to do give backs. And a year ago, when new contracts were signed with the car companies, the unions gave back quite a bit. They allowed for a two tier weight structure with new employees starting in the year 2009 making half as much as the existing workers. And they also took on the health care costs at a discount from the car manufacturers for all the retirees. So the union is -- has already participated in this.

HARRIS: Does Chapter 11, which seems to be the suggestion from some Senate Republicans, does Chapter 11 guarantee you the ability to sort of rip up the contracts and start again?

CSERE: Well, I think it does legally, but it's not quite that simple. HARRIS: I didn't think so, yes.

CSERE: You know, I mean, the UAW guys can go out on strike. I mean it may not be legal. They may not be willing to work for reduced wages or if their retirements are taken away. I mean, on some level, you know, you've got work with your people. Similarly, you know, what it does with the dealers is a real problem because you may be able to rip up franchise agreements but there's all kinds of negative fallout from that. And furthermore, the biggest issue is, you know, there's a lot of car manufacturers and a lot of cars on the market that don't come out of the Big Three and a lot of customers would be very worried about buying a car from a manufacturer that's in Chapter 11.

HARRIS: Yes, I -- well, I don't know. We'll see what happens.

Csaba Csere, good to see you. Thanks for your time today.

CSERE: Glad to be here.

HARRIS: Thank you. Thanks for your time.

The next generation may inherit this economic crisis. With that in mind, I spoke with a group of high school kids in Atlanta recently who really had a lot of sharp comments on all of this. It's part of my Friday series, "Class in Session." Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAYLOR FULTON, GRADY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Our parents made these decisions. And our leaders, our past leaders, made these decisions. And it's not me blaming them. It's me taking what they've done and saying, I'm going to fix it.

CAROLINE MCKAY, GRADY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: America and the future is going to have to have a decreased standard of living. We're going to have to spend more carefully. Not spend as much. But I think that that's just the natural cycle of things.

HARRIS: Yes?

MICHAEL ROBINSON, GRADY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I feel like it's going to fall on us. And I feel like the previous generations of this country, especially the baby boomers, have really left us with a nasty pile of something to deal with.

HARRIS: Are you -- yes, a pile of poop.

ROBINSON: Yes.

HARRIS: A nasty pot?

ROBINSON: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: A nasty pile. OK. You can hear more of my conversation with these really smart kids tomorrow at noon. That's when "Class is in Session" Again, that's tomorrow at noon Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, the wait is almost over. We are counting down to tonight's documentary "Planet in Peril." This year, CNN heads to the front line in the ultimate battle for food, oil, land, water.

Our Josh Levs is here to show us how you can check out some amazing video and tell us what you are doing to save the planet -- Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, I've got the coolest video on this board behind me.

HARRIS: Can't wait.

LEVS: It's first person. So it kind of really brings you to the theme. Let's zoom in on it. I'm going to start off with this, which brings you to visit some sharks. If that's something you want to do. Let's make it big and let's start taking a look at it right here.

HARRIS: Whoa.

LEVS: This is what the team did. They paid a visit to this dangerous population, or endangered, rather, population of sharks. And they actually helped out, if they could, to make sure that this population doesn't disappear. If there's any problems in the future.

Let's also check out this one. I want you to take a look at what Sanjay Gupta did. We've got a sound bite for you right here. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's say you get really thirsty. Here's something you can do. Mosimac (ph) is going to show us. You can actually cut at a vine with a machete. You have to have a machete. Look at that. Some capillary action, just starts to dump water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: This adventure that they took. Took them all over the place. So he was in Cameroon there. And I was talking about this earlier. I know you'll be hearing about it. Pretty much anywhere, he tells me, you can grab a vine, get the water out of it and not dehydrate. They learn the most incredible thing.

One more thing I want to show you, if we can. This is Lisa Ling right here. She paid a visit to this area along the Niger Delta in Nigeria, in which she says that because of oil, and all these hundreds of billions of dollars to major companies made out of oil, these regions have been devastated. We're going to learn a lot more about that.

Let's show you the Web site here. I want you to take a look at it today, if you can. CNN.com/planet. And what you do there, while you're there, is you can learn about these areas all over the world. Check out the interactive map. Check out the video blogs and the blog.

And, Tony, one of my favorite postings up there talks about what James Bond and Dead Monkeys have in common. I bet you don't know that one. It's just a little tease. Check it out, cnn.com/planet.

HARRIS: That's an effective tease.

OK, Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.

LEVS: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: As you saw just a moment ago, chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a key player in tonight's documentary. We asked him what he got out of the experience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Well, making this documentary made me think about a lot of different things. One of them is, where do the products that we buy every single day, where do they come from? And what's the impact of making those products on local communities? We spent a lot of time in Peru, specifically in an area called La Oroya (ph), and we came to find out that smelters, the process of making metals, can sometimes have a disastrous impact on the local community. Ninety-eight percent of the children in this particular area have lead poisoning. And some of that is because of the smelter.

And is there a way to do this safer? Are these questions we should be asking as citizens around the world who buy these products. Who benefit in some way from these products. I think that was one of the things that really struck me.

Another thing is that, you know, when we started talking about global warming, you know, a couple years ago, before we did the first documentary, I remember thinking, you know, the EPA was formed in 1970. I remember the Bhopal incident in India in 1984. That was something that re-ignited interest in the environmental. Chernobyl, 1986. There was discussion about holes in the ozone layer and global warming overall.

The question that for me and a lot of people I think was, when was this going to happen? When were we going to start seeing the impact of all this? And I thought it was theoretical. I thought it would be my kids' kids' kids. I have two granddaughters, a third on the way. I thought they would never have to see some of this stuff.

But as I've traveled around the world, as I've seen environmental refugees, people being forced to leave their homes because of the impact of global warming, people who are starting to see the spread of viruses because the bush meat hunters are going further and further into the jungle because of food shortages. These are things that are happening now. These are things that are going to happen in our lifetime. That's one of the messages you'll see in this particular documentary.

But we're also not prescriptive. We're not preachy. You know that turning off your water when you're shaving can help. You know that turning off your computer at the end of the day can help. You know that recycling can help. But this is more about making you think. More about making you think about the impact.

Tony, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Sanjay, thank you.

Oil, land, food and water. We need them to survive. But is there enough to go around? Watch "Planet in Peril" tonight at 9:00 right here on CNN.

You know, according to a recent survey, U.S. employment agency Manpower says first quarter hiring plans are near a five-year low. Only 16 percent of employers surveyed plan to add jobs in the first quarter of the year. Thirteen percent will continue to make cuts. Five percent say they're not sure. So with unemployment numbers up and holiday spending down, what other alternatives are there?

Veronica De La Cruz joins us now to tell us about a few Web sites that might help us with our holiday gift-giving, with, if you count today, Veronica, 14 shopping days left.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fourteen shopping days left. And forget about shopping because you don't even like to shop, do you?

HARRIS: Well, that's true. That's so true.

DE LA CRUZ: All right. Well, I've got an alternative. Try swapping. Swapping. And I'm going to tell you about a couple Web sites to help you do this. The first one, Tony, is called swaptree.com. And the way it works is you join, you compile a list of items that you want. It can be everything from books, movies, DVDs, video games. And then afterwards, the site's going to match you up with potential partner.

And check this out, Tony, pretty cool. Swaptree allows you to print postage mailing labels directly off the site so you don't ever have to worry about going to the post office.

HARRIS: OK. I like that.

DE LA CRUZ: Really cool. There are about 200,000 users registered with Swaptree and there are currently about 78,000 items up for trade. And Swaptree is delivering to all military posts overseas for the holidays as well.

And, Tony, we spoke to Swaptree user Dave Donahue (ph). He thinks this is a great alternative to shopping, much like yourself. He says that "about half of my books stay on my bookshelves. I trade a lot of my vacation books and light reads. Why spends $15 at Barns & Noble, when I can get the same thing for $2.50 on swaptree.com?"

HARRIS: Yes, makes sense.

DE LA CRUZ: Yes. And then, check this out, Joanna Todd (ph) on our Facebook group. She agrees. She recommends one more site. It's called bookends.com. And like swaptree, you can recycle books and DVDs. So, there you go, you're saving the planet at the same time. It works on a point system. You gather points as you go. You pay the points. The shipping fee.

And like I was just saying, we were on our Facebook group asking people about other alternatives when it comes to gift buying for the holidays. And Julio Harmino Jr (ph) thinks the best alternative is time spent together. He writes, "whatever happened to spending time together around the fireplace and rejoicing for being together as a family? Is that not a good enough gift? There are some unfortunate people out there that do not even have a home or a family to come to for Christmas. It is those types of things that people nowadays forget and we should all be thankful and grateful for what we truly have."

So, of course, you can join in on the discussion. Give us more suggestions. Log on to Facebook. Search Veronica De La Cruz in the CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris. You can also follow me on Twitter at Veronicadlcruz.

So there you go, Tony. You don't have to shop this holiday season.

HARRIS: I love it.

DE LA CRUZ: I'm saving you.

HARRIS: Look, I love it. I'll sit in front of the television set and feed my face and watch the bowl games and everything else. That's my plan.

Thank you, Veronica.

DE LA CRUZ: Good to see you.

HARRIS: All right. Still to come, a company claims it has a new technology to eliminate the need for fossil fuels. Our "Energy Fix" team has been checking it out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, CNN is getting an exclusive look at a new power cell that could revolutionize the energy industry. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice over): Blacklight. The name conjures up a bad science fiction novel. But inside this laboratory, Dr. Randell Mills, who got his medical degree from Harvard, has toiled away for years on a new source of energy. A discovery he says on the scale of fire.

DR. RANDELL MILLS, BLACKLIGHT POWER FOUNDER: We think this will be the replacement for fossil fuel, gas, nuclear and other forms of energy. There's no nuclear radiation and there's no CO2 emission. So we've done that all on less than $60 million with under 30 people.

HARLOW: The process uses water, a form of salt and other common materials to create a chemical reaction they say is 200 times more powerful than gasoline or coal combustion. And it's cheap. Estimated to cost 1 cent to 2 cents per kilowatt hour versus 6 cents to 10 cents for coal or natural gas. The only problem, many scientists say the technology violates the basic laws of quantum physics.

PETER JANSSON, ROWAN UNIVERSITY: What we're seeing is significant bursts of heat.

HARLOW: Blacklight hired engineering Professor Peter Jansson of New Jersey's Rowan University to independently validate its claims.

JANSSON: The astounding part of this is, it's all coming out in about 15 to 20, 25 seconds.

HARLOW: He is one of very few in the scientific community who is convinced that Blacklight is on to something. So are a growing number of Wall Street and business executives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Mexico's Esticato (ph) Energy, the first utility company to sign on, announcing today that it's licensing the Blacklight process to engineer a power plant that could provide, Tony, electricity to 3,000 households and local businesses.

HARRIS: Whoa. Whoa. Poppy, Poppy, this almost sounds to good to be true. When will this plant be up and running?

HARLOW: That's exactly what I said. Blacklight, the company itself, says, listen, this will take at least five years of prototype you just saw. That's a 50 kilowatt thermal reactor. That's only enough to power a few home. Of course, power companies want to see a prototype that will deliver a minimum of 250 kilowatts before they put that technology to work in their own plants. Blacklight says they'll have that by the end of next year. We'll see, Tony. Cool idea.

HARRIS: It is. It really is.

All right, Poppy, appreciate it. Thank you.

HARLOW: You're welcome.

HARRIS: You know, a lot of weather making news today. Reynolds Wolf is up next with an update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Busy, busy day in the weather center. There he is, Reynolds Wolf.

And, Reynolds, it's been a day of tornado watches and warnings. What's the latest?

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Time for me to get out of here.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with this man, Don Lemon, in for Kyra Phillips.

Have a great show.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Tony, my mom called me at 6:00 this morning. She's in Baton Rouge. She goes, it's snowing.

HARRIS: It's snowing. Right. Right.

LEMON: I said, great. I'm sleeping.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, better there than here because we don't know how to act at all with snow or rain.

Hey, have a great show.

LEMON: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Yes, good to see you, man.

LEMON: Enjoy.