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Trying to Read Blagojevich; Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. Speaks Out; Last Chance for Bailout?
Aired December 13, 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. It is the top of the hour, and I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
On this Saturday, a governor in trouble stands defiant. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is ignoring calls to step down as a controversy swirls over his arrest on corruption charges, including claims he tried to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
He's been identified as "Candidate Number Five," but he says he did absolutely nothing wrong in this whole controversy. We'll have my exclusive conversation with Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife.
Plus, we have another developing story for you. If there's going to be an auto bailout, it's all up to the president now. We'll get the latest from the White House.
And it is not winter yet, but look at this. A huge ice storm batters the Northeast and New England. More than a million homes lose power. It could be days before some areas get any relief.
Why don't we start in Illinois with the latest in the dramatic turn of events involving Governor Rod Blagojevich. He is still in office, rejecting calls from across the political spectrum to step down. We got a quick glimpse of him tonight, but he is still saying -- not saying anything publicly.
"The Chicago Tribune" reports Rahm Emanuel had discussions with the Blagojevich administration about Barack Obama's Senate successor. Emanuel, of course, is slated to be Obama's White House chief of staff. But the paper did not suggest that Emanuel's talk with the governor included any deal-making about Obama's potential Senate successor.
Our Drew Griffin caught up with the governor yesterday as he came out of his attorney's office, and Drew got an exclusive comment on the record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Drew Griffin with CNN. Can you say anything to the people of the state of Illinois, sir? Do you have anything to say?
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: I will at the appropriate time, absolutely.
GRIFFIN: Are you going to resign, sir?
BLAGOJEVICH: I'll have a lot to say at the appropriate time.
GRIFFIN: Governor, are the authorities right in their petition -- complaint? Did you do what they say you did? Governor -- just 30 seconds from anybody for the state of Illinois?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A valiant try from our Drew Griffin in Chicago yesterday.
The Illinois governor's words and actions, past and present, have caused some people to question his mental capacity. CNN's Gary Tuchman takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mind of Rod Blagojevich is being discussed in polite company.
The president-elect...
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I can't presume to know what was in the mind of the governor.
TUCHMAN: The Illinois attorney general...
LISA MADIGAN, ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL: And I'm not qualified, you know, to make any psychological diagnosis, but, you know, clearly something's wrong.
TUCHMAN: What do you say about a governor who knows he's been under investigation for years, yet says something like this just this week?
BLAGOJEVICH: I don't care whether you tape me privately or publicly. I can tell you that whatever I say is always lawful.
TUCHMAN: But then prosecutors say they caught the Democratic governor on tape saying this about his chance to appoint someone to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat: "I have got this thing, and it is bleeping golden. And I am just not giving it up for bleeping nothing."
Well, here's what another fellow Democratic, a state senator, says.
MIKE JACOBS, ILLINOIS STATE SENATOR: I think, at the very least, he's having some kind of mental breakdown.
TUCHMAN: And he exclaimed that before this all went down, when he was summoned into the governor's office and said he wouldn't support a bill that Blagojevich wanted.
JACOBS: The governor blew up at me and he began to make threats to me, including, you know: I will destroy you, I will destroy you personally, I will destroy your family, I will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) do whatever I have to do to make sure that you end up in a bad position in Illinois.
TUCHMAN: The governor, who has not commented to CNN, has had agreements with reporters in the past.
BLAGOJEVICH: And you're not just interested in sensationalizing something so you can do your big news story, you wouldn't even bother asking a question.
QUESTION: But, Governor...
TUCHMAN: Here is what other state politicians have said.
Representative Joe Lyons and other fellow Democrats said the governor was -- quote -- "insane." And Democratic Representative Jack Franks says Blagojevich has -- quote -- "delusions of grandeur."
But they're not psychologists.
Dr. Gail Saltz of New York Presbyterian Hospital is.
DR. GAIL SALTZ, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY, THE NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL AT WEILL-CORNELL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I would say it is highly likely there is some mental or emotional issue that this man is dealing with.
TUCHMAN: A true diagnosis needs a face-to-face assessment. But Dr. Saltz and Chicago psychologist Dr. Scott Ambers share the feeling the governor is no insane and does know right from wrong, but...
DR. SCOTT AMBERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: He probably does suffer from some form of psychopathology, some form of psychiatric disturbance, which I think is best captured by a diagnosis called narcissistic personality disorder.
TUCHMAN: Which, in plain English, they say, is exaggerated or grandiose fantasies of one's self, which isn't that uncommon of a condition. This "Chicago Tribune" reporter thinks it is much simpler, though.
JOHN KASS, "THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE": He's merely a Chicago politician who was caught on tape.
TUCHMAN: But recent comments like this...
BLAGOJEVICH: I'm not interested in the U.S. Senate. I like my job as governor.
TUCHMAN: ... and his own experiences make Senator Jacobs feel much differently.
JACOBS: Well, he got over the top of me and he doubled his fist this way. And, you know, I'm not a shrinking violet myself. I'm a good- sized man. I'm 6'3''. I played football at the University of Iowa. I know when someone is about to strike.
TUCHMAN: The governor did not strike, which indeed sounds like a most sane decision.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: I would like to hear more from John Kass in all of that, the voice of reason.
The governor's mental capacity is one of the things I talked about yesterday in Chicago when I sat down with Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife in an exclusive interview.
Here's what he had a to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JESSE JACKSON JR. (D), ILLINOIS: That the governor can't perform his functions under the constitution of the state of Illinois, but has clearly violated a number of statutes under our state statutes and potentially federal statutes. And there may be a capacity issue.
LEMON: What do you mean?
JACKSON: A capacity as in a mental capacity to complete the job. That he cannot function under the duress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Congressman Jackson, of course, has found himself in the middle of this huge controversy. He's identified in the criminal complaint against the governor as "Senate Candidate Five," but a law enforcement official close to the investigation tells CNN there's no evidence other than taped remarks by the governor that Jackson or others on his behalf have ever approached Blagojevich in an improper way.
Now, as you will see in more of our exclusive conversation, Congressman Jackson is eager to defend himself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): This is what Senate Candidate Number Five, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., woke up to, a "Chicago Tribune" investigation questioning whether two of his campaign contributors, along with Jackson's brother Jonathan, took part in a scheme to raise millions for Governor Rod Blagojevich. In return, he would appoint Jackson to Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat.
(on camera): Do you know these businessmen? Have you done business with them? And to your knowledge, were they emissaries at all to raise money for you in order to get you that Senate seat?
JACKSON: No, they were not. I made that perfectly clear. And Mr. Niak (ph) also happens to be a friend of the governor. Did I ask him to advocate on my behalf? No. Did I send him as an emissary to me on behalf of the Senate campaign? The answer is no, and that's unequivocal.
LEMON (voice-over): Jackson and his wife, Sandy, sat down with me and talked about what they say is the fight of their lives.
JACKSON: On this question of being in the United States Senate or not, let me be perfectly clear. While I would be honored to serve the people of the state, it is clear to me that I am in no capacity to serve them if there is a cloud over my head that seems to suggest I'm involved in some unscrupulous scheme to be a United States senator or to be anything else. And so it's very important for me to allow this process to play itself out. I need to find out and we all need to find out the truth.
LEMON: Your name is being dragged through the mud.
JACKSON: I've got a great name given to me by great parents. And I've got a great father who has a great legacy in public service.
LEMON: But (INAUDIBLE) when people see...
JACKSON: It's so great -- it's so great, that I named my daughter Jessica and I named my son Jesse. So I'm fighting now for my character and I'm also fighting for my life. And I'm very serious about that.
SANDY JACKSON, JESSE JACKSON JR.'S WIFE: Absolutely. Absolutely.
And let me tell you this, Don...
J. JACKSON: And I'm fighting for them. And I'm fighting for them. And I'm fighting for them. This is about my children being able to Google their name in five years and there's been nothing there associated with it that suggests anything wrong.
LEMON: Do you personally know the Blagojeviches, both of you?
S. JACKSON: Yes.
LEMON: Do you know them? Do you know them?
S. JACKSON: Yes, sure we do.
LEMON: Do you know Patty?
S. JACKSON: I do.
LEMON: What do you make of them?
S. JACKSON: Even that surprised me, because I had -- I just never saw that side of Patty. So I was shocked by it. I don't know why she said what she said. I can only think that, you know, she's under an immense amount of stress, whatever was going on in their lives had to be promoting some stress. And so maybe she was reacting to that. I don't know.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Much, much more on my exclusive conversation with Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife at the bottom of the hour, including who or what he says is to blame for all of this mess. Very interesting -- coming up.
Now to another developing story tonight. The White House may emerge as the white knight to rescue U.S. automakers from the collapse.
Looking at live pictures now of the White House and the Capitol.
The Bush administration now says it will consider an emergency plan to the big three by tapping into the $700 billion of your money set aside to help Wall Street. After a $14 billion package was shot down in the Senate, one car customer remarked that President Bush might be the only option left for the big three.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYLANDAR DAVIS, CAR CUSTOMER: I hope this day -- you know, Congress does what they are supposed to do. The Senate is not looking good right now, you know? And President Bush is saying that he'll do what he has to do. So I hope the White House steps up to the plate before he leaves. He only has like a month left, so I hope before he leaves he makes some great decisions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. Very interesting.
Well, tapping into the TARP funds would be an abrupt about-face for this president, and it puts him squarely on the side of congressional Democrats.
Our Chris Isidore of CNNMoney.com is in New York with the very latest.
How are you doing, sir, today?
CHRIS ISIDORE, CNNMONEY.COM SR. WRITER: Oh, fine. Thanks for having me.
LEMON: Is the president the last option?
ISIDORE: Pretty close to the last opoption. It's probably going to be a very short-term option. I would expect that if he does dip into the TARP money, it will only be for a matter of weeks until the new Congress is sworn in, and that he probably would want it to be repaid before he even leaves office at the end of January.
LEMON: All right. So how long does the White House have, then, Chris, to make a decision?
ISIDORE: All GM has said is that it will run out of the cash it needs to operate by the end of the month. So that's about three weeks. Whether or not they'll really take it down to the 11th hour or it will be somewhat early this week that we see something, I can't really say.
LEMON: To the end of the month? That means two weeks. What is it -- today is the 13th? He's got two weeks.
ISIDORE: Right, it's not a long time.
LEMON: Yes. And shorter than that, really, because it's holidays, right? So it's not a long time.
OK. Then what if the bailout -- what if this fails? Will there be any huge ripple effect here?
ISIDORE: If this fails, it will be a huge, huge ripple effect. GM owes its suppliers about $28 billion at the end of the third quarter.
LEMON: OK.
ISIDORE: If it cannot make those payments, there'll be widespread bankruptcies throughout the supplier base. That will affect every auto manufacturer around the globe, really, because a lot of the suppliers will not be able to make the parts crucial for all types of cars, not just GM, but Toyota's and everything else.
LEMON: All right, Chris. More on the ripple effect. Let's take a listen to what one dealership owner had to say about that. And then we'll talk more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK FITZGERALD, DEALERSHIP OWNER: So if two-thirds of the cars are made by Detroit, if something happens to Detroit, how are you going to get your car fixed? What's going to happen to the parts? Who is going to supply them? You know, I'm the guy that does that, so you should worry about me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All those warranties, those extended warranties, bumper to bumper, computer, everything, it may not be worth the paper it's written on without those guys.
ISIDORE: There's a lot of concern about warranties. There's a lot of concern just about being able to get replacement parts in the future. I mean, you can have a great warranty, and if you can't get the part you need, you're out of luck.
LEMON: OK. All right. Thank you, sir, for guiding us through this. We appreciate it.
Chris Isidore, senior writer, CNNMoney.com.
Have a great rest of the weekend. OK?
ISIDORE: Thank you. You too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT) LEMON: Meantime, police find a suspicious device outside an Oregon bank. And you won't believe what happens next. Now cops are hunting for what they call a "dangerous suspect."
A quickly developing story it is. We'll bring you all the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President-elect Barack Obama says keeping people in their homes will be one of his main priorities as president. He says one out of every 10 homeowners in America is in some form of distress, the most ever recorded.
Today in his radio address, he named the man who could help reverse that trend if he is confirmed as housing secretary. He is New York City's housing commissioner, Shaun Donovan. Obama says Donovan led the effort to create the largest housing plan in the nation helping hundreds of thousands of Americans buy or rent homes.
And finally, the conclusion to the Atlanta courthouse shootings case. Brian Nichols will likely die in prison. He was convicted last month in a shooting rampage in 2005 that left four people dead, including a judge and a sheriff's deputy. It began in Georgia, in a Georgia courthouse, where he was on trial for rape.
This week a jury couldn't agree on the death penalty, leaving the decision to the judge. And listen to the widow of one of Nichols' victims, and listen to Nichols himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBRA TEASLEY, WIFE OF VICTIM: On behalf of my daughters and I, and my close family members, we are deeply saddened with this verdict. We can't believe with all the overwhelming evidence that was presented by the prosecutors that he did not get the ultimate punishment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN NICHOLS, CONVICTED MURDERER: I know that the things that I have done caused a lot of pain and I am sorry. I just wanted to say that I will not bring dishonor to the decision to spare my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right.
We're going to put the words up for you at 11:00 tonight so you can understand what he said. It was kind of low there, but basically saying he was sorry.
Nichols will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. The judge offered advice for prison guards who will handle Nichols, saying, "Do not trust Mr. Nichols ever again. Ever again. And that's a quote -- "because he cannot be trusted." OK.
So take a look at this, a car chase in southern California. A suspect trying to outrun the cops, he loses his tires, but still, he proceeds to fly down the freeway -- sparks, fire and all. It looks like a -- right out of central casting. It looks like a movie, doesn't it.
Well, and then this happened. It was either surrender or be burned alive. And unlike the decision to run, I think this was a no-brainer.
This story out of Oregon is unbelievably tragic. Police were called to a bank where a suspicious device was reported outside. Officers evacuated the bank and allowed technicians to bring the device into the bank. Well, it blew up, killing a police officer and a bomb squad technician, and critically injuring two bank employees who weren't evacuated.
Law enforcement is hunting for the person responsible, calling that person dangerous and offering a $35,000 reward. No word on why officers took the bomb inside the bank in the first place. That's a good question.
Also, we want to know what's on your mind tonight. I want to know why they took it inside the bank. That's what I want to know.
Make sure you log on to Twitter, to Facebook, to MySpace, or ireport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. We'll get it on the air.
Jesse Jackson Jr. is talking tough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACKSON: I'm fighting now for my character, and I'm also fighting for my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: More from my exclusive interview with the Illinois congressman fighting for his political future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: There's Oscar (ph), our copy editor, hard at work there. He's checking the developing stories for us. He is giving them to me tonight so I can give to you.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is still in office. He is rejecting calls from across the political spectrum to step down. He got a quick glimpse of him -- we did, at least, but he is still not saying anything publicly.
The "Chicago Tribute" reports Rahm Emanuel did have discussions with Rod Blagojevich, the administration, at least, about Barack Obama's Senate successor. Emanuel is slated to be Barack Obama's next White House chief of staff, but the paper did not suggest that Emanuel's talks with the governor included any deal making about Obama's potential Senate successor.
Plus, they are used to the wintery weather in the northeast, right? But this is bad, even for them. Look at all the ice there. Scenes like this are being repeated all across New England tonight.
In Massachusetts, about 500 National Guardsmen have been mobilized to help clear the streets. Governor Duval Patrick says recovery from the storm will likely take several days. One utility official calls the storm among the worst he has ever seen.
The feds call him candidate number five. We now know candidate five is Jesse Jackson Jr. He and I talked in his Chicago home on the south side of Chicago. His wife by his side. He told me, in detail, about his meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich who is accused of trying to sell Barack Obama's empty Senate seat, a meeting the feds say they have on tape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. JESSE JACKSON JR., (D), ILLINOIS: I presented him my credentials, a notebook, which I'm prepared to give anybody a copy of, that has my bio in it, legislation I've passed, a Rasmussen polls, a Zogby poll, how I think I can win in 2010, and how a team of Democrats -- because this is about the top of the ticket in 2010 -- can win a re-election for Democrat in 2010. That's very, very important.
LEMON: No discussion at all of quid pro quo or anything like that? Was there a discussion?
JACKSON: I have nothing to offer, nothing to offer but my record of public service. That's how I have conducted myself for 13 and a half years. I did that day as well.
LEMON: That's all you discussed?
JACKSON: That's all we discussed.
LEMON: Do you think it is still possible for you to get the job that you want?
JACKSON: Let me tell you what I have been doing.
LEMON: Sometimes people...
JACKSON: Let me answer that. Let me say that -- because I respect my wife's opinion on this -- I have been fighting corruption in the state of Illinois from day one for 13 years. The "Sun Times" and their endorsement of me says, "Congressman Jackson is the rare official who -- Democratic officials have spoken out against with corruption in the state and in the city." I'm the same person I was when the "Sun Times" endorsed me for the November 4th general election against corruption. It has stopped businesses from coming to our state at a time when the economy needs help and people need help. Corruption in our state has been challenging.
So on this question of being in the United States Senate or not, let me be perfectly clear. While I would be honored to serve the people of the state, it is clear to me that I'm in no capacity to serve them if there is a cloud over my head that seems to suggest I'm involved in some unscrupulous scheme to be a United States Senator or to be anything else. So it is very important for me to allow this process to play itself out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: So here's a question I think everyone wants to know, wants answered, among other questions. I asked him if he still thought he had a chance at getting the Senate seat after having his name dragged through the mud. Here's his response in more of my exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACKSON: I've got a great name given to my by great parents and a great father who has a great legacy in public service.
LEMON: But it's painted clay (ph) what people see.
JACKSON: It is so great that I named my daughter Jessica, that I named my son Jesse. So I'm fighting now for my character and I'm also fighting for my life. And I'm fighting for them. And I'm fighting for them. And I'm fighting for them. This is about my children being able to Google their name in five years and there would be nothing there associated with it that suggests anything wrong.
So I'm very serious about this. So I'm operating under the best legal advice that I can. And I'm trying to honor that legal tradition as much as I can. But just sure as I'm sitting here, when my children look up my name, they have to see something positive in five years. And that's very important to me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: So who does he blame or what does he blame? He'll tell you for himself. But a lot of people, a lot of cities are looking at this across the city about corruption within the city and also within their state. So who does he blame? Maybe it is a culture? Maybe it's a particular person? More of my exclusive conversation with Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. In just a bit.
But first, we want to know what's on your mind. Log on to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or iReport.com to tell us what you're thinking about this or any of the stories you see on our air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: For those of you who follow me on CNN, know I've spent a number years as an anchor and reporter in Chicago covering Chicago politics. I have covered many a scandal involving politicians.
I just got back this morning, but last night, the talk of the town, obviously, is that Chicago is really now, they believe, the capital of the USA for now, since Barack Obama is there, the factory workers were there last week. You have the scandal now with Blago, as they call him, Blagojevich, in Chicago and Illinois. And you also have Jesse Jackson Jr. who is in the center of all of this.
Chicago knows corruption. Politics are very familiar there with corruption. So in my exclusive conversation with Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., I asked him who he thinks is to blame for the dirty politics that continues to plague Illinois and Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACKSON: I blame a culture in this state that -- when I mean culture, people who don't understand the Illinois culture, need to understand this, that's why I want to take this opportunity, wherever the chips may fall.
Our examples at the top are not right. And those who follow the examples seek to emulate and emulate and even imitate the examples at the top. And very seldom do we ever get an example at the top that allows a new generation of people to enter the process saying, I want to be like Barack. I want to be like this guy. I want to maybe be like Congressman Jackson, or at least the Congressman Jackson of a week ago that everyone knew.
And with that example, other people enter the process. Larry Rogers Jr., David Miller, a lot of other very young -- Sandy Jackson -- very capable people inspired to get into the process once they have a model. But in Illinois we have a very different model. We have a model that allows a process that allows insiders to pick and choose who succeeds them. We have a different process here. And the process...
WIFE OF JESSE JACKSON JR.: It's deeply flawed.
JACKSON: It imitates and emulates the past in such a way that it makes it difficult to break-away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That process now being gone over with a fine-tooth comb by Patrick Fitzgerald and other investigators now. Will it change? It could change. It could be a turning point for Illinois and especially Chicago.
OK, we have been asking you for your responses. Let's take a look at some of them.
Here's what Tennesseepatriot says. "Don, I don't believe J.J. I don't believe J.J. is telling the truth. I think he is just as crooked as his father."
That's your opinion, OK?
Another opinion is from Missfirecracker, who says, "Why do governors appoint Senate replacements? Doesn't that just set up these messes? Why not the state legislature?" And then TinainSteamboat says, "This is best, juiciest corruption scandal in years. Good old fashioned graft, but it's just Chicago. Can we get past this"?
That's a good question.
One more I'll read. "I think he should step down or be fired, if that's possible."
All right. You guys don't hold back. I can read more and more and more. Make sure to send us your thoughts, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. We're going to get your responses on the air.
Let's talk about being dressed for success, hopefully.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know people read shirts. I read everybody's.
UNIDENTIIED FEMALE: I did see somebody that had "I'm unemployed on it, so I decided to take it a step further and put everything on a shirt."
((END VIDEO CLIP))
LEMON: Kelly Kenny is wearing her job search on her sleeve. I hate this word but literally she really is. I should say on her chest or should I say t-shirt.
KELLY KENNY, UNEMPLOYED: Yeah, on my chest.
LEMON: Hi, there. Are you ready to talk to me?
KENNY: Hi, there. Yeah.
LEMON: All right. We'll going to go to a break, but did you find a job? Don't say anything. Tease them. Are you still looking?
What does she do? We don't even know what she does? We'll see you, Kelly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Look how cool our atrium is. A little basketball game going on down there, just before the Hawks tonight. They are going to play the Cleveland Cavaliers. That means Lebron James is in town. We'll see Lebron James go up against Zsa Zsa Julia (ph). We'll be watching.
Everybody is smiling here. I can hear you guys laughing in the P.L.
It is every job hunter's nightmare, your beautifully crafted resume lost in a huge pile of other resumes. To standout in the crowd, here's what Kelly Kenny did. She has been walking around L.A. with her resume plastered on a T-shirt. She says it was necessary to get her credentials in front of potential employers. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNY: Seriously, I'm applying for like 40 jobs a day on average. Mostly of the times, more than that. I would get email responses saying we got like 500 resumes for this and we're closing the position and they are going to go through them and you never hear anything else. You know, 500 resumes is a lot. Where am I in the stack?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Kenny says she has another gimmick in mind if this doesn't land her a job, but she is tight-lipped about it for now in case somebody steals her idea.
Kelly Kenny, I want to know what the idea is. You are not going to give it to me on national TV, are you?
KENNY: No, I'm not, I'm sorry.
LEMON: You are in Los Angeles. You were in Ohio and things got so bad that you left. Your employer kept you for remotely for a while but eventually you were laid off?
KENNY: Yeah, I was.
LEMON: Marketing manager?
KENNY: I was a marketing manager.
LEMON: Times are tough. Tell me about it.
KENNY: They really are tough. I have never had a problem getting a job before, so I was shocked when I got laid off. I have been looking for about a year. I was not in a rush because I was working remotely and it has just been really tough. There's a lot of positions available, but unless you know somebody, it is impossible to even get through the door.
LEMON: We had a job expert on the other day who said -- actually, it was one of the radio hosts who said you'll find a job in your own small community by word of mouth before you would find one by cold calling. Anything is possible. You have been doing this for a while. Is it expensive?
KENNY: It is not expensive. It could be if I went and actually tried to get shirts printed at a printer. I don't have the kind of money to do that, so I'm buying iron-ons at the local retailer and ironing them on to regular T-shirts because that's what I can afford to do. It is the same as printing out resumes all the time. It is pretty much the same.
LEMON: You still have resumes and send them out, right?
KENNY: I do. I walk around with them and e-mail them, I mail then, anything I can to get my name out. I have applied for jobs sometimes four times at a time just to see if maybe it got lost when I e-mailed it or sent it.
LEMON: Just to be clear, we told you about the Paul Nawrocki, the guy who has been walking around with the sandwich board, someone e-mailed you about him, but you were doing this before he was on.
KENNY: I did. I had a woman email me saying she saw me on TV and the guy was walking around New York with a sandwich board, and I hadn't heard about it.
LEMON: I think he has a job interview on Monday, as a matter of fact. We'll update him out of this. But have you gotten any leads? You have been doing this and walking around with your resume on your front and your back. Your e-mail information, which is summerx@juno.com -- summerx5@juno.com.
What kind of leads are you getting if any?
KENNY: A lot sales leads. A lot of people are asking me if I want to sell their merchandise or I should become a salesman with my marketing skills, but nothing really solid. That's surprising to me as well.
LEMON: OK. Good luck to you, Kelly.
KENNY: Thank you.
Let me know if you get a job. E-mail me here, OK.
KENNY: I will let you know.
LEMON: Talk to the producers. Don't hang up or go away when I go away. They will give you my e-mail address. Let me know if you find something.
KENNY: OK, thank you.
LEMON: It is really rough out there. You heard it. You heard it from Kelly Kenny and talking to your kids might be even rougher than that. The one and only Dr. Phil joins us tonight about how you can prepare your kids for what might be a blue Christmas. And with Dr. Phil, you never know what will come up. You never know what direction he's going to take it. So stick around. Join us at 11:00 for Dr. Phil and see what he's talking about. I'm sure he has a whole lot more besides just that subject too.
But first, helping the homeless get back to a home.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to help you get off the streets and put you into an apartment and just help you get the help you need.
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LEMON: A former jail in Atlanta becomes a halfway house for homeless people. We're going to take you there.
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LEMON: Despite this kind of compassion, one thing is clear, more and more people are joining the ranks of the homeless in the U.S. The United Way Homelessness Commission has a ten-year goal of ending chronic homelessness. They are at the halfway point right now.
CNN's Brook Bolduan, she teamed up with outreach coordinators to see what it takes to get someone off the streets and into a home of their own.
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BRIDGETTE MITCHELL, HOMELESS PERSON: This is my bedroom.
BROOK BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For many, a bed is simply a place to sleep. For Bridgette Mitchell, this mattress means much more than that.
MITCHELL: It's nice to get in bed and know my kids are safe and we're together. It's another one of those things we just take for granted.
BOLDUAN: Looking at this mother of five now, many might never have imagined this was once her reality.
MITCHELL: I was in a situation, it was do or die.
BOLDUAN: The National Coalition for the Homeless estimates there are 3.5 million homeless in the America. Mitchell was one of them. No money, no job, no bed of her own.
JONATHAN, UNITED WAY WORKER: My name is Jonathan. we're just here to help you, bro, OK?
BOLDUAN: But groups like the United Way are working to change that. They're taking their mission to the streets in an effort to end chronic homelessness through a Housing First program.
JONATHAN: We just want to help you get off the streets and put you into an apartment and just help you to get the help that you need.
BOLDUAN: The idea isn't to send someone to a shelter. Instead, thanks to donations, these workers place people, like Larry or Mary, in an actual apartment.
(on camera): When's the last time you had a hot meal?
UNIDENTIFIED HOMELESS FEMALE: About four days ago.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): After the cars are loaded up, often the first stop is here. Once Atlanta's old jail, now this facility functions as the largest homeless service center in the southeast.
PROTIP BISWAS, REGIONAL COMMISSION ON HOMELESSNESS: This used to be a place that used to hold people, now, it's a place that sets them free.
BOLDUAN: The message is simple -- this is not a shelter.
BISWAS: They're not being kicked out in the morning. They have a case manager who comes and visits them here and takes care of them. There's a nurse, a full time nurse, so their medical needs are being met. At the same time, we can address their barriers.
BOLDUAN: The goal, get these people treatment for the issues that put them on the street, help them get a job and eventually their own apartment.
But not everyone wants help.
(on camera): The reality of the situation is that with a lot of people you may come out here with a team and get them and take them to an apartment, but people like Larry could end up right back out here under the I-20 overpass.
BISWAS: Right. We understand that. We know not everybody is going to stay in the program. If we get 80 percent or if we can get eight people to stay out of ten, I think that's huge for us.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Larry is back on the streets, but Mary and ten others from this most recent outreach effort have remained in the program.
A program that Bridgette Mitchell says saved her life.
MITCHELL: I wish everyone would really pay attention to this stuff around you because it can be gone so fast. Illness, any life-changing event can just turn the tables on you so quickly. Just appreciate what you've got.
BOLDUAN: Bridgette does every night she turns into bed.
Brook Bolduan, CNN, Atlanta.
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LEMON: Gratitude, very important. This is the season for children, really. It's Christmas time, right? We're going to talk about children affected by homelessness in this recession. How do you talk to a child about grownup things like that? Dr. Phil's going to help us out with this and he's going to help you out as well, tonight at 11:00 eastern right here on CNN. And as I said earlier, you never know what he'll talk about. It could be anything so you want to make sure you tune in for that.
All right, "After Party, Where We Go from Here," it begins in just a moment here on CNN, but first, we'll give you some headlines before we get to that.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is rejecting calls from across the political spectrum to step down. He spent time today meeting with his lawyers. Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on bribery charges and accused of trying to sell the Senate seat once held by President-elect Barack Obama.
This case is chocked full of big names, among them, Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. I spoke to Jackson in Chicago in an exclusive and extremely candid interview. Make sure you join me tonight for the whole conversation. It is unfiltered. It is uncut. It is at 11:00 p.m. eastern, 8:00 pacific, right here on CNN.
You know, scenes like this are being repeated all across the northeast and New England tonight.
