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What's Next for Detroit?; White House to the Rescue?; Mugabe Denies Cholera Outbreak

Aired December 12, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is Friday, December 12th. And here are the top stories we're following for you in the NEWSROOM.
If you're one of 2.5 million people who depend on the auto industry for a living, it is a day of worry and hand-wringing.

Congress rejects Detroit's request for emergency loans. Will the White House step in?

We are covering the collapse of the auto bailout live with our correspondents in Washington, New York and Chicago.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: We are about three words, three words away from a deal.

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: This is a lame duck Senate, and they acted like a lame duck Senate.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Bailouts generally don't work, and this is a huge proposed bailout. And I fear it's just the down payment on more to come next year. So I'd vote no on this tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in America -- in America, if this goes down tonight, we are saying we don't care about the backbone of the economy, which has been and will continue to be manufacturing. Somebody, Mr. President, has to make something in this country.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Christmas is approaching. It's going to be a very, very bad Christmas for a lot of people as a result of what takes place here tonight. I dread, Mr. President, I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It's not going to be a pleasant sight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And that is where we begin this hour. Investors are selling the morning after. Congress turned down the auto industry's request for emergency loans.

A live look now at the Big Board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is slumping, right now down 66 points. But we should point out that is off of session lows. Major markets across Europe and Asia are off 3 to 5 percent today.

CNN's Stephanie Elam will be along at the half-hour with a look at the damage.

The Senate, in a 52-35 procedural vote last night, killed any chance of a bailout by this lame duck Congress. Republicans demanded wage concessions from the United Auto Workers by a said date. The UAW says it was an attempt by Republicans to undercut the union.

President-elect Barack Obama says an auto industry shutdown would have a devastating ripple effect on the economy.

CNN's Elaine Quijano covering the transition team in Chicago.

And Elaine, what is the president-elect saying about all of this?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you know, Tony, the president-elect has been monitoring the situation very closely. And just minutes ago, we did receive a written statement from Barack Obama saying, "I am disappointed that the Senate could not reach agreement on a short-term plan for the auto industry. I share the frustration of so many about the decades of mismanagement in this industry that has helped deliver the current crisis. Those bad practices cannot be rewarded or continued, but I also know that millions of American jobs rely directly or indirectly on a viable auto industry, and that the beginnings of reform are at hand."

It goes on to say in this statement, "The revival of our economy as a whole should not be a partisan issue. So I commend those in Congress, as well as the administration, who tried valiantly to forge a compromise. My hope is that the administration and the Congress will still find a way to give the industry the temporary assistance it needs while demanding the long-term restructuring that is absolutely required."

So there it is, a statement just minutes ago from President-elect Barack Obama, weighing in on the collapse of the auto bailout -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Elaine Quijano in Chicago for us.

Elaine, appreciate it. Thank you.

Any hope for an auto rescue is now riding on the White House.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is there.

And Kathleen, new word this morning that the Treasury Department may step in. What are you hearing?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're hearing basically, Tony, is both from the Treasury and from the White House -- and this in statements from both -- that the administration is now finally looking at going where it said it would not go before, and that's taking some of the money out of the Troubled asset Relief Program, the big financial bailout that was passed several months ago, $700 billion.

And I'll read from the statement put out by White House Press Secretary Dana Perino. She says, "A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy, and it would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time."

Now, there are some $15 billion left in TARP that the White hous House, the Treasury could put out there, loan to the automakers, without going back and asking for more permission from Congress, getting any action from Congress. But, again, it's long said this rescue plan, TARP, was designed for the financial services industry, not at all to help automakers.

So the White House has done a dramatic about-face. And this obviously after a number of fiscal conservatives in the Senate last night decided they just could not vote for the $14 billion package that was passed by the House on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORKER: If the White House just comes in and, on top of the $62 billion in debt that they have, piles additional indebtedness on it, it's like throwing money in a mud puddle. I mean, these things have got to be worked out and agreed to or we're going to be talking $50 billion, $100 billion, $125 billion. There's been all kinds of estimates of how many billions of dollars it will take to -- and by the way, then they'll still be weak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Press Secretary Dana Perino did say that the president was briefed late last night about the results of the vote. He's been in touch with his economic advisers this morning. She says they're looking at all the options. They don't have a time frame yet.

Now, when asked about what the other options were besides TARP though, Tony, she wouldn't elaborate.

HARRIS: OK. Kathleen Koch at the White House for us.

Kathleen, maybe one more quick question here. Any plans by the president to address this issue when he gives the commencement address to Texas A&M this morning?

KOCH: Excellent question, Tony. And reporters aboard Air Force One did not ask Dana Perino that. So we just don't know. But the president, obviously it is up to him. And if he wants to speak out on this, that would be the time.

HARRIS: Yes. All right. Kathleen Koch at the White House.

Kathleen, thank you.

KOCH: You bet.

HARRIS: Let's stick with the theme on what's next for Detroit.

Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff is in Detroit.

And Allan, what are the options here? OK. We're talking about the TARP. And that would mean, of course, the Treasury or perhaps the Federal Reserve is an option.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the auto companies right now are laying all their bets on the White House and the Treasury. And let's just consider the incredible irony here. Right?

Detroit, the auto companies, the UAW, core Democratic supporters, now entirely putting all their chips on the Bush White House. And as Kathleen just said, the White House saying it is prepared to come up with some money for Detroit to prevent the collapse of the auto industry.

GM put a statement out this morning. GM saying, "We are prepared to work closely with the administration on possible solutions that could prevent further damage to our nation's economy and also allow us to embark on an aggressive restructuring plan for long-term viability."

Long-term viability because they're saying that bankruptcy is just not an option. We've heard that repeatedly from the chief executive of General Motors. The fear that, if they were to declare bankruptcy, people just would not want to buy cars from the company.

And this morning, the head of the UAW reiterated that stance himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON GETTELFINGER, UNITED AUTO WORKERS PRESIDENT: If they go bankrupt, let me tell you, they won't just go bankrupt. They will go into liquidation.

We have said that. We have bankruptcy practitioners that have made that unequivocally clear to us. I think that's one thing that Senator Corker truly understands, that bankruptcy is not an option here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: GM told me this morning it is considering all its options. And I specifically asked, "Well, have you retained counsel for a possible bankruptcy filing?" The spokesperson there said, "We cannot comment on that."

Tony, the chips are all right now on the Bush White House.

HARRIS: Isn't that the truth?

CHERNOFF: Incredible.

HARRIS: It really is. It really is. All right. Allan Chernoff for us in New York.

We want to know what you think about all of this. Should President Bush tap funds from the Wall Street bailout to lend to the auto industry? E-mail us at newsroom@cnn.com.

It is also our "Quick Vote" question. Go to cnn.com to cast your vote.

And in just a couple of minutes -- maybe we have a live shot of him right now -- we will talk to Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn. We will ask him why the loan deal for the automakers went down to defeat in just a moment, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Senate Republicans pointing fingers at the union for the collapse of the auto bailout loan. The United Auto Workers blaming it on senators it claims want to break the union.

Joining us from Washington, Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

Senator, great to see you.

SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: Good morning, Tony. How are you?

HARRIS: I've got to tell you something, I have got a lot of respect for you. I really do. I've heard you speak on these issues and you're really smart. I really want you to sort of cut to the chase on a lot of these issues for us, would you, please?

COBURN: I will try.

HARRIS: Please. All right. I want to start with a bit of sound from the president of the United Auto Workers. His name is Ron Gettelfinger, as you know. This is what he had to say and his accusation last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GETTELFINGER: The union is the only instrument that gives working men and women any form of equity and justice in the workplace, gives them a voice at the table. And it's very clear that there are those who would do away with that tonight if they could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right, Senator Coburn, that's Ron Gettelfinger. He says the Senate vote last night -- in essence, what he is saying is this was about breaking the UAW. Is he correct in that?

COBURN: Not at all. You know, yesterday at noon, at our meeting, everybody was really excited. We had word that the bondholders were going to give, that the management was behind the Corker plan, that all the stakeholders, we were hopeful, would come together.

You know, all I can repeat to you is what we were told in our meetings and what Senator Corker, who worked tirelessly to try to get this compromise worked out, told us. The thing that hung it up was not parity, not trying to break the unions. When it got -- and you have to give the UAW some credit.

They did agree to some equitization of the VEBA, the retired health accounts.

HARRIS: Yes.

COBURN: So they didn't drag their feet completely.

But the one issue that stopped this thing -- and I will tell you, the Republicans wanted to get this through -- was over a competitive wage rate at some point in time. And what Senator Corker told us last night late in the evening, before this vote was ever had, is that they would never give a time certain at which they would have competitive wage rates. Well, if we're...

HARRIS: No, go ahead. Go ahead.

COBURN: And the issue is, is not that we want anybody to lose their job. It doesn't have anything -- unions -- organized labor has done a lot of positive things in this country. And the right to organize is something that I'll protect as long as I'm a U.S. senator.

But the issue is, is you have a broken, sick industry that has to -- if we're going to reform it, if we're going to get its debt down, if we're going to do all these things and we're going to take American tax mayor money, you have to have all three components of that.

HARRIS: All right. Senator, can I jump...

COBURN: And all that was asked for is a date certain of when you'll be competitive on your wage rate.

HARRIS: Well, what kind of a date certain were we talking about here? I mean, how far into the future were we talking about? Can you give us -- I just want some real specifics, if you would, please.

COBURN: What was asked for was 2009. They said no. Well, give us a time in 2010. They said no.

HARRIS: So let me just be clear. You're talking about time certain on closing the wage gap, right?

COBURN: Right.

HARRIS: By 2009, essentially next year or 2010.

COBURN: Or 2010.

HARRIS: And the union came back and said no.

COBURN: They would not move outside of what their contract is currently.

HARRIS: Why not have...

COBURN: And that's the problem.

HARRIS: Why not have the car czar work out those kinds of details if you believe...

COBURN: Because if you do not get that one vital component, you can reduce the debt of GM, you can cram down the bondholders, you can do all those other things. You still don't have a way to create a positive cash flow. And the only way the American public would ever get any money back from any of the auto companies is to generate a positive cash flow.

HARRIS: But when you're talking about wage competition, you're also talking about retirees, and you're talking about retirees' dependents and health care. It is a very complicated issue. And is it too much to ask -- it's just a question. Is it too much to ask for the kinds of concessions that would have made Republican senators happy by the end of 2009? I'm just asking.

COBURN: No. No. We were happy with that. Give us a time in 2009 or 2010.

There was no date certain at which time they would say we'll be competitive. So how do we as good -- trying to be protectors of the public's money, say we're going to put this in, but there's still no guarantee that they're ever going to come out of it until you get this one other component, equivalent and competitive within the American auto industry?

HARRIS: Not having that component is enough to trigger the kind of dire predictions and consequences that we've heard in the hearings over the last, well, two weeks now?

COBURN: Well, I thought it was very interesting, the clip you played prior to that on Ron Gettelfinger, that bankruptcy isn't an option, that it will be liquidity. I don't believe that. I had an 11-year career in business.

The fact is, is what we were trying to do is do everything inside bankruptcy but never call it bankruptcy, and give them all the tools with which to survive, and give them the money. So the fact is, what has to happen is you have to lower the debt on GM.

And what's going to happen now, if they use the TARP funds, is two things. One is you're going to put another $9 billion on GM's debt. You will have not solved the debt problem, which is their biggest problem. And number two is you'll never see the money back, and you will create an opportunity for us to spend a whole lot more money.

And the second point, if I could...

HARRIS: Sure. No, take your time. COBURN: ... is if you take the TARP money and use TARP money now for the auto industry, how can you dare say no to any other industry that's going to come and ask the federal government who is in tough times right now?

HARRIS: Are you absolutely convinced that the automakers can't turn this around given some time, some space, $14 billion?

COBURN: Yes, I'm absolutely convinced that unless they -- look, one of the largest components -- in 2007, GM and Toyota sold exactly the same number of cars. It's the second biggest year in GM's history in terms of total volume. They sold exactly the same number of cars.

GM lost $38.8 billion selling 9.73 million cars. Toyota sold 9.73 million cars and made $18 billion. You have to restructure every aspect in those companies to make them...

HARRIS: The foreign carmakers, as you know, don't have the obligations to retirees because they just don't have that many at this point.

COBURN: Well, but it's not the retirees. They did -- it wasn't about retirees. The UAW moved on the VEBA fund. It's about present employees.

HARRIS: Present employees?

COBURN: Present employees' wage rates is what hung this up. It didn't have anything to do with retirees.

HARRIS: All right. I've got information that suggests current employees, the wages are very close right now. But I guess you're suggesting that they just aren't?

COBURN: The total absorbed costs of the present wages are not close. There's 60 percent disadvantage to the other transplanted automakers in this country.

HARRIS: Senator Coburn, do you expect the president to order the Treasury to start cutting checks from the TARP to the automakers?

COBURN: Well, probably so. But my hope would be that, if they don't put in the same things that Senator Corker had in that amendment, we will be pouring money down our drain.

HARRIS: Senator, thanks for your time.

COBURN: You're welcome. Good to be with you.

HARRIS: I really appreciate that. Thank you.

COBURN: Thank you.

HARRIS: Detroit looking to the White House for help now that the bailout loan bill has failed. We want to know what you think. Should President Bush tap funds from the Wall Street bailout to lend to the auto industry? E-mail us at newsroom@cnn.com. It is also our cnn.com "Quick Vote" question.

And here's -- OK, I got you. I didn't know what we were doing.

Here's an update. With 74,000 votes, it is -- wow, are you kidding me? It is dead even?

Dead even right now. So please go to cnn.com and let's hear from you. We are back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Barack Obama says he is looking into Governor Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempt to sell his Senate seat. And he's confident no one on his staff was involved. But the president-elect is not willing to repeat what Blagojevich said about him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We were not I think perceived by the governor's office as amenable to any deal-making. And, you know, I won't quote back some of the things that were said about me. So -- this is a family program, I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, take a look at this profanity-laced quote allegedly from Governor Blagojevich with some choice words about Obama and his staff. Are you reading? Are you reading?

Talk about expletives deleted, this transcript from the charges filed against Blagojevich and aide John Harris.

New video here. Governor Blagojevich at the door of his Chicago home earlier today, a brief conversation, a wave and a good-bye.

Our Susan Roesgen is following the scandal and the push to remove him from office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to work, Governor?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Still going to work, as if nothing has changed. But, for Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, the options have dwindled to just two: Jump, or be pushed.

LT. GOV. PAT QUINN (D), ILLINOIS: I think that the governor has lost the confidence of the people of Illinois. And when you, in public life, at a statewide level, have no confidence from the people, in a democracy, there's nowhere else to go, but to resign and to step aside.

ROESGEN: That's Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, on deck to take over. And if Blagojevich won't step aside?

LISA MADIGAN, ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL: I am prepared to take action.

ROESGEN: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says, if the governor won't quit, she will take the standoff to court.

MADIGAN: I have the opportunity to actually go to our Illinois Supreme Court and ask them to declare, basically, that our governor is unable to serve, and to put in our lieutenant governor as the acting governor.

ROESGEN: The state legislature will hold a special session Monday and could begin the process of impeachment. Normally, impeaching a governor would be a tall order, but now even the neighbors want the governor to go.

JOHN POWELL, NEIGHBOR OF ILLINOIS GOVERNOR ROD BLAGOJEVICH: If I saw him walking down the street, I would tell him to his face, "You should resign."

ROESGEN: And with newspaper headlines screaming for the governor's head, Illinois lawmakers are under intense pressure to get him out as soon as possible.

(on camera): If the lieutenant governor does take over, he says he's going to move right away to fill the Senate seat left by President-elect Barack Obama. He says normally he would have Illinois voters make that choice, but he says he wants to do it right away because he says the position is too important to leave open.

Susan Roesgen, CNN Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Senator John McCain is poking fun at the governor's alleged foul language. McCain was on "Late Show With David Letterman" last night. Listen to how McCain responds to a question from Letterman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": After a campaign like this -- and it consumed two years and probably more, really -- what do you do? What has your life been like since? I mean, you go from going a thousand miles an hour to a much slower pace.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I don't want to talk about the bleeping campaign, understand?

(LAUGHTER)

MCCAIN: If you think I'm going to go back with the bleeping situation, then bleep you.

LETTERMAN: OK. Thank you. Whoa.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Good stuff. John McCain last night on "Late Show With David Letterman."

All right. Let's give you another look at the Big Board.

The New York Stock Exchange here. Markets reacting to the Senate rejecting the auto bailout money. But as you can see, we are off session lows now, down 87 points.

We're live from the New York Stock Exchange with a look at some economic numbers affecting your wallet. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And very quickly here, let's put up live pictures. Senator Bob Corker is talking to reporters about the scuttled automakers loan bailout plan. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CORKER: ... We would come in after the bankruptcy, help them after all the legacy issues were dealt with. I actually became concerned about them bankrupting and listened to the testimony of the companies and of Ron, and felt like if we could achieve the same thing that would have occurred in a bankruptcy, without the stigma of bankruptcy, it would be an awesome thing for our country, an awesome thing for the companies and the employees and something that was very, very good for the taxpayers.

So I laid out a very simple plan. It did three things. These three things were very complicated, but basically -- the first was that it calls the bondholders, those people who have debt to General Motors and to Chrysler, for them to immediately be what's called crammed down; the face value of their debt would be crammed down by two-thirds, so that the companies would have one-third of the debt that they have today.

General Motors has $62 billion in debt. And there is no way that the company can survive with the debt load that they now have. And then if you look at the U.S. government coming in on top of that $62 billion with additional debt, the company just cannot survive under that basis. And so we've been on the phone with bondholders throughout the country. We've been on the phone with the companies, and we devised a plan that said, first of all, if the bondholders did not take, in essence, about 30 cents on the dollar by March 15th, the companies had to file bankruptcy.

We got that agreed to. There were all kinds of nuances. The companies are owned in different ways. And I want you to think about one thing that occurs. When these bondholders are crammed down and they take equity, they essentially end up owning the economy. And so if you think about management, if you think about all the people that have shares in General Motors, which, by the way, those shares today are only worth about $2 billion -- so you think about $30 billion in debt being converted from the debt to equity, look at what it does to dilute the shareholders.

So believe me, there was going to be plenty of pain, plenty of pain by management --

HARRIS: OK. There you have Senator Bob Corker talking to reporters about the deal that fell through in the Senate last night.

The White House sending strong signals today it may actually -- it may actually step in here to save Detroit automakers from certain bankruptcy. Let's take the picture full here. President Bush set to deliver a commencement address at Texas A&M minutes from now, College Station, Texas. And we will be listening for any guidance from the president as to what he plans to do for the auto industry now that that package negotiated by the White House and Democrats has gone down to defeat by members of his own party.

Again, the Senate last night killed that deal. One big sticking point in the collapse of the auto deal, the union's resistance to Republican demands for aggressive pay cuts. In a news conference last hour, the UAW president said auto workers are being unfairly targeted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GETTELFINGER: We've already stepped forward and made enormous concessions. But as we made it clear last night, we were prepared to make further sacrifices. But we could not accept the effort by the Senate GOP caucus to single out workers and retirees for different treatment and to make them shoulder the entire burden of any restructuring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So the back and forth continues now. Gettelfinger blames the bill's defeat on senators he says are anti-union and anti- Detroit.

So how is the news about the bailout bill's collapse playing out on Wall Street? It is not nearly as bad as many people thought it would be. But we are still seeing some red arrows. Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with more.

Stephanie, good morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

I have to tell you, when I woke up this morning and looked at the overseas markets --

HARRIS: And the futures --

ELAM: -- all that, and the futures, yes, I was scared for what today was going to be like. And now we're about halfway through the trading day and it's already been a bumpy ride, but like you said, not nearly as bad as we expected. And that's because of the comments from the White House and the Treasury Department on possibly using T.A.R.P. funds to help out the carmakers to prevent the -- quote -- "eminent failure of the companies."

Nothing is solid yet. We do know that. So that is pretty much keeping stocks in neutral. Bankruptcy still remains a very real possibility for General Motors and Chrysler in particular as Detroit scrambles to decide what its next move is going to be.

At the moment, shares of GM -- they are off close to 5 percent. And if you take a look at Ford, it's off about 1.75 percent. It's healthier in terms of liquidity. So that's part of the reason why it's not as low.

Let's go ahead and look at the broader market here. The Dow off 87 points at 8477, well off of our lows that we saw right out at the open. Nasdaq, actually, turning into positive territory, up three points at 1510, Tony.

HARRIS: Hey and Stephanie, you know, the scariest thing about a possible bankruptcy is the ripple effect it potentially would have.

ELAM: Oh, no doubt about it. It's not just the automakers; it's the people who make -- the companies that make little plastic parts and steel parts. All of those companies will be feeling it as well.

Ford, as we said, is better off in terms of capital that it has. But a failure of its two rivals would likely lead to a major trouble for it as well. And already we've seen some jitters over the future of the auto supply industry. Shares of companies like Eaton, which makes electrical and power systems for the automakers and Dana Holding, which makes drive shafts, both are seeing their shares drop.

So Tony, it ripples all the way through. And even some of these towns where they just make parts, think about all the diners there, the stores there. It ripples all the way through these communities.

HARRIS: All right, Stephanie, good to see you. Thank you.

Quickly now we want to get everyone to College Station, Texas -- Texas A&M. President Bush is there to deliver the commencement address. We're listening for anything from the president as to what he plans to do for the auto industry. Listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... I hope you're walking out of here with a Ph.D.

I am grateful to the faculty and staff of Texas A&M for their devotion to learning and their example of scholarship. I appreciate your outstanding president, Dr. Elsa Murano. And I'm glad to be with -- there you go.

(APPLAUSE)

And I'm glad to have traveled from Washington today with three fine Aggies representing Texas in the United States Congress, Congressman Chet Edwards, Joe Barton and Jeff Hansou (ph). (APPLAUSE)

I am pleased to see so many of your families and loved ones here today. While you bled maroon, they bled a lot of green. So please join me in thanking all those whose support made it possible for you to reach this proud day.

(APPLAUSE)

There is one person who wishes he could be here today. That's your former president and America's Secretary of Defense, Bob Gates.

(APPLAUSE)

He's got an excused absence. It's not like he's over at the Dixie Chicken. He's traveling to the Middle East, consulting with our generals and showing his support for the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

(APPLAUSE)

When I asked Bob to be the secretary of defense, it was clear how much he loved Texas A&M. After all, he refused to come to Washington until after he attended the winter commencement. And I was even more impressed when he insisted on standing during the cabinet meetings, claiming he was the 12th man. One day he explained it all. He said, Mr. President, I'm red-assed (ph).

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: President Bush at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. We thought the president might say something, offer some kind of guidance to us, some kind of signal as to what he was planning to do for the auto industry now that the White House brokered agreement for a loan package failed, has failed, in the Senate, that happening last night. But nothing so far.

We will continue to monitor the president's remarks at Texas A&M and bring you that relevant sound if it happens.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, nearly 800 deaths, more than 16,000 sickened and Zimbabwe's leader say's there's no problem. A live report on the troubles in Southern Africa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The next generation is going to feel the economic pinch. No way around it. And they're angry about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL, 12TH GRADE: The way that the financial sector is functioning right now, and the way our entire government is functioning, is with such high levels of debt and such high levels of risk. It's so unsustainable. And I think that in the long term we will suffer the consequences of this. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Hear with these bright young people have to say about America's money crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, says there is no cholera. That despite reports of nearly 800 deaths and 16,000 people infected. Our Nkepile Mabuse is following developments from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Nkepile, good to see you.

I'm a little confused here. President Mugabe is saying there is no cholera outbreak. But the information minister is blaming Britain for the cholera outbreak. Sort through this for us, please.

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Tony, what Robert Mugabe said yesterday was there is no more cholera in Zimbabwe. Basically, what he meant was that it was under control.

Now, the World Health Organization has refuted that, saying that the death toll is rising. As you said earlier, nearly 800 people have died from the disease and over 16,000 are infected. And now the information minister in Zimbabwe, as you said, is blaming Britain, saying Britain is infecting Zimbabweans with cholera and he's called this a genocidal biological warforce (ph) attack.

What this is, Tony, is the government of Robert Mugabe refusing to take responsibility for the tragedy that is unfolding in that country.

HARRIS: Yes, it sounds like it.

But what are the neighbors -- the neighbor countries saying or more importantly, what are they doing about this?

MABUSE: Well there have been calls for Robert Mugabe to step down, from the United States, from Britain, from France. But here in the region, leaders are not saying anything about Robert Mugabe stepping down when they asked -- when the South African government was asked what -- if they're going to be putting any pressure on Robert Mugabe to step down because he's blamed for all of this mess, what is happening, in Zimbabwe.

The South African government said, well, the only pressure they will be applying on Robert Mugabe will be pressure for him to form a unity government with the opposition. And as you know, talks between the opposition and Robert Mugabe's party have stalled.

They still haven't formed a unity government after signing an agreement on the 15th of September. So three months later, there is still no credible government in that country. And the crisis is deepening on the other side of the border. HARRIS: Nkepile, the pictures that we're seeing of people digging through the rubbish is just heartbreaking. I'm just curious, are aid agencies able to do anything inside the country?

MABUSE: Well, aid agencies are saying that the outbreak is outpaced -- the treatment, rather, sorry, of the outbreak of cholera is outpaced by the outbreak itself.

They are doing everything that they can possibly do inside Zimbabwe. But of course, the health care system in that country has collapsed and people are depending on overcrowded clinics that are equipped by these aid agencies to get help. Hundreds of Zimbabweans have crossed the border into South Africa seeking medical attention. The hospital near the border has treated over 600 people who are desperate for help.

And health workers inside that country are worried that many more people are dying at home simply because hey cannot get help.

HARRIS: Nkepile Mabuse for us in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Nkepile, good to see you. Thank you.

Summing up 2008 in just 30 seconds, you're sending us your i- Reports.

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HARRIS: OK. We really need your help on this one. We really want you to weigh in on our e-mail question: Should President Bush tap funds from the Wall Street bailout to lend to the auto industry?

E-mail us at newsroom@cnn.com.

It is also our CNN quick vote question of the day. Our i- Reporters are summing up their year in 30 seconds. Could you do that?

Let's take a trip to CNN.com's i-Report desk and check in. Can we go faster? I'm dizzy here. One of the guys helping us run things down there at our i-Report operation, producer Tyson Wheatley -- Tyson's Corner.

You're looking good today. Wow.

TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM PRODUCER: Hey, all right.

HARRIS: All right. Summing up the year in 30 seconds --

WHEATLEY: Thanks, tony.

HARRIS: -- on your mark, get set, and go!

Good to see you, Tyson.

WHEATLEY: Right. Yes. You know, I'm not even going to attempt this. Actually, you know, some of us were sitting here yesterday afternoon and we actually tried it. And it's a lot harder than it seems.

HARRIS: That's what I'm thinking, yes.

WHEATLEY: Right. But this was the challenge that we gave our i- Report community. We thought, you know, this year is a time to look back. But instead of doing the typical year in review, let's ask people to tell us about their year, but you've only got 30 seconds to do it.

And I'm just going to show you some -- well, this is one example. This comes to us from JB Abiar (ph) of Quiescence, Philippines. And he apparently ate a lot of food in 2008, based on a lot of the photos that he shared with us.

But you know what, Tony, you're really going to get blown away by this next one that I'm going to show you.

HARRIS: OK.

WHEATLEY: And it comes to us from Chris Denny. He is a 26-year- old event coordinator from Santa Rosa, California. He had a really busy year, and let's go ahead and take a look at what he had to say.

HARRIS: Can't wait.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) New year -- I tried on dresses, wine tasting for Easter, rocked out birthday season, rocked out all of birthday season, bachelorettes danced in the city, bachelors sail at Lake Tahoe, wedding day arrived, Drea (ph) cried, you may kiss the bride, ate some cake, Martha smoke, danced all night. Honeymoon in Fiji, parents split up, dad got run over by a boat, say goodbye to Hanna (ph), Miller was born, got laid off, started a business, relearned a budget, got our first gig, fell back in love with thrift stores, girls got dressed up for Halloween, change one.

Now, we head into 2009 a little exhausted a lot grateful and optimistic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: That's terrific.

WHEATLEY: Not bad, right?

HARRIS: Yes, that was great.

WHEATLEY: Yes, really great job.

You got time for one more?

HARRIS: Yes, sure, sure.

WHEATLEY: OK, this next one comes to us from Fred Thorne (ph). He is from Washington Terrace City, Utah. Check out Fred. He did a lot of work this year with wood.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We went out to eat with both the girls, built a fort, built a mantle. Trashed the shop for all their cabinets, bamboo floor, my cousin's wedding. Fed the fish, made cat cry, put in bags senior ring, night of fire, pretty flower, redwood deck and thunder show. Installed windows, custom cabinets, custom casing, Mike (ph) on bike. Early snow fell on red apples, early voting at (INAUDIBLE). Gaze (ph) in ring, Mike for Obama, i-report for CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHEATLEY: OK. So that's what I got.

Pretty great. Right?

HARRIS: That's good. I love that. I love that, Tyson.

WHEATLEY: Right. So, you know, it's definitely a challenge, but if you are feeling up for it, we really want to see people summarize their year in 30 seconds. It's a lot of fun. And -- I don't know, it's a good way to look back.

HARRIS: Tyson, appreciate it. Thank you.

We got some breaking news we need to get to here. The attorney general, Illinois's attorney general, I'll just read it to you, is asking top -- the top state courts -- that would have to be the Illinois Supreme Court, to declare Governor Blagojevich unable to serve. We've got our people obviously on the ground in Chicago. We are continuing to follow this.

But this is from the Associated Press and I believe CNN has confirmed this. Illinois's attorney general has asked the state's top court, that would have to be the Illinois Supreme Court, to declare Governor Blagojevich unable to serve.

Where we go from there, we'll put that question to our correspondents in just a couple of minutes.

Still to come, billions upon billions going to shore up America's economy, but who is going to pay for it ultimately?

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HARRIS: Do any of you believe that the debt that has been accumulated in this country right now, that the responsibility for that debt is going to fall on your shoulders?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well I posed the question to the next generation. And boy, did they give me plenty of sharp comments. That's coming up next.

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