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Detroit in Neutral; Scandal in Illinois; Obama Attacking Matters of National Security
Aired December 15, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday, December 15th, 10 days until Christmas, 36 days until inauguration.
Here are the top stories from the CNN NEWSROOM.
Detroit wants -- waits and wants a lot from Washington. Auto executives and the White House work on a rescue package.
(AUDIO GAP)
The Obama national security team meeting today, getting ready to roll on January 20th.
Whoa! talking about dodging and weaving in a news conference. President Bush shows that he's no lame ducker.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Tony Harris. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM...
So, a loan for Detroit? Is a deal going forward or stuck in neutral? Here's what we know right now.
President Bush indicates there will be some sort of rescue for the auto industry, but he's "not quite ready" to make an announcement. Automakers and the White House are said to be trying to agree on the size of this short-term loan program.
Meanwhile, mortgage giant Fannie Mae throws a lifeline to renters. It says it will sign new leases with people living in foreclosed properties that it owns.
And the Federal Reserve opens a two-day meeting. It's widely expected that the bankers will cut a key interest rate yet again.
And insurance giant AIG reportedly handing out retention bonuses to 2,000 senior executives. That's many more than AIG had disclosed to Congress.
So let's get started right now with Detroit's money crisis and CNN's Kathleen Koch, who is at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Treasury Department officials are poring over automakers' balance sheets this weekend. But a senior administration official says there will be "no news today" on a bailout for Detroit.
On the Sunday talk shows, senators from auto-producing states argued the White House needs to act immediately.
SEN. ROBERT CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I'm confident they will, but I think they must come through now and provide help from here to there, meaning get GM, especially GM, through December and January and then with the new administration, we can put in place a longer strategic approach to this.
SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D), MICHIGAN: We're in a situation where a short-term bridge loan makes sense. And then it's not just about continuing to give additional loans. It's about giving them time to be able to restructure.
SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: I'm optimistic they're going to do something significant. I don't think the White House wants some bankruptcy at one of the big three automakers as part of their legacy.
KOCH: But bankruptcy is precisely what some Republicans are advocating.
SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: I actually agreed that the federal government could do that bridge loan. But that bridge loan could be done in Chapter 11 reorganization.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: If they believe that the taxpayer is going to continue to bail them out, they're not going to make the fundamental changes that will make them truly competitive.
KOCH: One senator says the administration might have more leverage to force change on the automakers and unions than Congress did.
SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: Of course, the benefit they have, they don't have to negotiate. They can say, this money's available, but it's only available under these conditions.
KOCH: The autoworkers' union says it's made concessions before and will again, as long as it's not a loan.
RON GETTELFINGER, PRESIDENT, UNITED AUTO WORKERS: We have said we're ready to come forward, with all of the other stakeholders. And that means everybody from the board to the management to suppliers, the dealers, the bondholders, the creditors, the whole works. Let's get everybody in a room, let's work it out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And CNN's Kathleen Koch joins me now live.
OK, Kathleen, you're there at the White House. Any movement on a possible auto industry fix this morning?
KOCH: Betty, what we're hearing right now is that Treasury Department officials are doing what they did over the weekend. They're still going over the balance sheets of the automakers, looking at the bottom line, looking at the data, the cash that they have on hand.
The president, as we know, is right now on his way back from the surprise trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. Between those two visits, he did talk to reporters about the auto bailout. And he says while they're working with the stakeholders, they're not quite ready to announce a decision yet, though he did understand, obviously, that this is going to have to come quickly because of the fragility of the automakers, with GM and Chrysler saying that they could be out of cash in a matter of weeks -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Kathleen Koch.
And speaking of the auto industry, so, do you need a car for, say, I don't know, an hour or two? Well, Hertz is counting on it.
Connect by Hertz, that's what it's called, and it starts today, cars rented by the hour, gas included. Now, the program in two dozen locations, in New York, London, Paris and in Park Range, New Jersey.
Let's get more now. CNN's Jim Boulden asks the head of Hertz Europe how the plan impacts U.S. carmakers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does a lot of autos on the market at the moment that give you strength in negotiating cars with the big automakers?
MICHEL TARIDE, PRESIDENT, HERTZ EUROPE: It does, obviously. I mean, manufactures have to, you know, manage their capacities. So on one hand, they would like to sell us small cars. On the other hand, I think they're being careful. And rightfully so, I think, not to flood the used car market with even more cars so that the residual values don't depress too much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: OK. Here's how it works.
There is an annual membership fee, $50 to $125 a month. Plus, the rental costs, they can run from $10 to $14 an hour.
So, will he go or will he fight? Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's political future is on the line. The Illinois legislature meets this afternoon. And CNN, of course, will cover that for you. But in the meantime, CNN's Drew Griffin has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may be a cold day in Chicago, but the governor is feeling the heat.
PAT QUINN, ILLINOIS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: I hope the governor does resign. I think that's best for the people of Illinois as well as for himself and his family.
GRIFFIN: The Illinois legislature meets today to talk about stripping him of power or outright impeachment.
LISA MADIGAN, ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL: It is absolutely obvious that he is incapable of governing and the best thing to do is to move aside.
GRIFFIN: At the same time, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is trying to get the Supreme Court to declare Blagojevich...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. We're going to take you right now to Michigan live, where you see right there Democratic Senator Carl Levin is getting ready to hold and is holding right now a news conference on the big three bailout.
Let's take a listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: First, is that the president has said he knows the economy is fragile, he knows that a collapse is not an option. He also was aware of the fact when he was flying over to Iraq and pointed out that the majority of both houses of the Congress had voted for these loans, even though the filibuster in the Senate would derail it, because we had 53 votes and we needed 60.
He pointed out on Air Force One that Congress, by a majority in both houses, supports the loan. And so that was something which he thought was also going to be supportive of his decision. So the most important thing is the president has indicated there's going to be loans provided.
Secondly, the president made a deal with the House of Representatives. And that deal was entered into between the president personally and Speaker Pelosi. It passed the House of Representatives, and once the president makes a deal, he is not likely to walk away from it.
That's a very important fact in Washington. When we agree to something, we like to keep our word. The president made a -- had an understanding, call it a deal with the speaker. And I think it's very, very likely that he would not back away from something that he had agreed to.
Thirdly, the president is aware that every other auto-producing country in the world has had to step up and will step up to support its auto industry. While there's a lot of folks in this country that like to look back and point out mistakes that may have been made two decades ago in the auto industry in terms of the fuel economy and a few other issues, is a matter of fact. From China to Brazil to Europe, every auto industry is in trouble and every auto industry is getting the support of their government. And it would be unthinkable that our government not do what every other government is doing to support our auto industry.
We here in Michigan have a million reasons that we know why it's important in terms of our economy, in terms of the promises that were made, in terms of the work that was put in, to these jobs in exchange for commitments for wages, pensions. We know what our economy is like in Michigan and what the collapse of the big three would do to dig us into a deeper ditch.
Those reasons, of course, are the reasons why there should be loans. The impact on this economy, the failure of the big three, the impact nationally would be horrendous. But those are the reasons why there should be loans. What I've given you are the reasons why I believe there will be loans.
Yes?
QUESTION: Senator, do you know -- so currently right now, who all is negotiating?
LEVIN: The Treasury and the big three. The secretary of commerce I'm sure is in there. He was selected as the point person.
But under the program which is likely to be the program used, which is the so-called TARP program, where we appropriated $700 billion -- and only a small percentage of that would be needed for these loans, perhaps $15 billion -- under that program it's the secretary of the Treasury who, in effect, is the czar. And so the major negotiations are between -- or discussions. I don't know if they're negotiations. They're discussions and information which is being provided by the big three is being provided to the Department of the Treasury because we've switched from this 136 program, which we previously were going to use for these funds, to the so-called TARP program, which is an operation of the secretary of the treasury.
He's got the funds. He's got the authority. He's acknowledged he has the authority. And that's where the discussions are taking place.
QUESTION: Senator, can you talk about -- we heard a bunch of numbers thrown out, even this morning. Fox News reported something about a $40 billion rescue package. Have you heard any numbers thrown out there? Have you heard that?
LEVIN: There's been numbers that have changed throughout these discussions, for many reasons, by the way. The TARP program was a program which had $700 billion that was appropriated. About half of that was previously authorized to be used. If any more of it needed to be used, the Treasury would have to make an announcement and make sure there was not a disapproval by the Congress.
The program which we voted on, the so called 136 program, roughly was a $15 billion program. One of the issues is, how much money is left in the TARP program? I've heard there's $15 billion left.
However, the program was designed to stabilize the economy. And that can include two things. One would be financial institutions. And they've thrown hundreds of billions of dollars into financial institutions. I think dubiously, by the way, but that's a different story.
But the other part of TARP is the economy as a whole was intended to be stabilized by the program. And that's where the big three comes in, both on the economy as a whole, because of the millions of jobs which would be lost if the big three went under, but also on the financial side. The big three run financial institutions.
Their financing arms are financial institutions. And so how much money would be ultimately approved by the Department of the Treasury might depend on whether or not it's the money which would go directly to the companies for their operations or whether they, because of TARP's purpose, would add on the kind of funding which would be needed by the financial arms of the big three in order to finance the purchases for the customers who obviously need credit.
So I don't know exactly why those -- that number is -- speculation has gone up now to 40, but it could be, because what Treasury could be looking at is not just the funds that we're going to go for the operation side of the big three, which would have been $15 billion -- roughly $8 billion for General Motors through January and $7 billion for Chrysler -- but on top of that they may be looking at what has always known to be the need on the credit side for customers of the big three.
QUESTION: Is there anything that the Michigan congressional delegation can do now in these talks? Or are you just standing by, waiting to see what's going to happen?
LEVIN: Well, we weigh in with the officers that are involved. And we have conversations with a number of those offices, which we'll have to keep confidential because they ask that they do that.
QUESTION: How soon could we see the loans approved -- now, would these loans be...
LEVIN: Well, there's two questions. It depends what the Department of the Treasury decides, on whether it's GM, Chrysler, or just GM. That's their decision. I would think it would be both GM and Chrysler.
In terms of when, I'm 99 percent sure it won't be today. I think it's more likely to be the middle of the week, perhaps Tuesday and Wednesday -- or Wednesday.
As to how long that would take, that would depend upon the terms that the Treasury adopts, and as to how quickly those terms could be met. I expect that the terms would be similar to the ones that were in the House bill, perhaps with some additional provisions relative to warrants (ph), stock, and a few other items that the Treasury might be interested in.
So it's kind of hard to know how quickly except to say everyone knows it's urgent. The president uses the term "fragile." It's a matter of weeks before they absolutely must have the funds in hand. So I hope there's no misunderstanding in Washington, in the Treasury Department or in the White House about how urgent the situation is. And I think they understand the urgency.
QUESTION: So you don't expect them to put new demands on the table or new terms?
NGUYEN: All right. We have been listening to Democratic Senator Carl Levin talking about this plan to bail out the big three auto industry. And, you know, really, he said a couple of really important things, being, one, that the president has indicated that the loans will be provided. And two, that the president has made a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and that he's not going to walk away from the deal.
The question is, what indeed is that deal? What's in it? And how much money are we talking about?
Let's go to CNN's Kathleen Koch, who joins us now live from the White House.
You know, it's really imperative that they work this out very quickly, Kathleen, because GM has said, look, we need the money by the end of the month.
KOCH: Absolutely, Betty. And the White House is well aware of that. But at the same time, the White House is being very, very cautious here.
We, who are covering the administration, have been pummeling them with questions, asking for the very kind of details that we're hearing right now from Senator Levin. But the officials, to a person, have said -- and I have a quote here from one I spoke with this morning that, "We are not going to get in the business of a daily expectations outlook. When we have something to announce we'll announce it. Until then, no decisions have been made."
And the officials are basically saying they don't want to a telegraph exactly what the White House is thinking about. They said these are publicly traded companies. Any kind of indication as to what action the White House is going to take, what direction they're going, how much it might help one company or another, that obviously, traders, people can act on that, make a profit. That it's really not proper to do that kind of thing, to leak this sort of information out until a decision is ready to be made.
But again, Senator Levin is saying the White House has made a deal, the president is going to be following through what he said, he committed to with Speaker Pelosi. We'll just have to wait and see.
NGUYEN: All right. Kathleen Koch joining us live from the White House.
We have got more on the issues of politics today, including the transition team when it comes to President-elect Barack Obama. We'll show you what he's up to. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So, will he go or will he fight? Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's political future is on the line. And the Illinois legislature meets this afternoon, and of course CNN will cover that for you.
But in the meantime, here's some background information and some new details with our Drew Griffin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): It may be a cold day in Chicago, but the governor is feeling the heat.
PAT QUINN, ILLINOIS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: I hope the governor does resign. I think that's best for the people of Illinois as well as for himself and his family.
GRIFFIN: The Illinois legislature meets today to talk about stripping him of power or outright impeachment.
LISA MADIGAN, ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL: It is absolutely obvious that he is incapable of governing and the best thing to do is to move aside.
GRIFFIN: At the same time, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is trying to get the Supreme Court to declare Blagojevich unfit for office, but will Blagojevich give them a chance?
MADIGAN: We have heard that there is a possibility that tomorrow he will make an announcement that he will step aside.
GRIFFIN: His office denies it and there are signs he's preparing for a fight. He spent nearly eight hours Sunday talking to a high- priced Chicago attorney known for helping big shots in a bind, but gave little hint as to his next move on the way out.
BLAGOJEVICH: There'll be an appropriate time to talk about this. But let me just wish everybody happy holidays and things will work out just fine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rumor is you intend to resign. Is that true or false?
BLAGOJEVICH: I just think you should all have a great holiday season.
GRIFFIN: One issue could be money. The governor accused of trying to sell a Senate seat is said to be in a tough spot financially. One option could allow him to step aside but keep his salary.
MADIGAN: I have heard as well that that is one of his main concerns is his financial circumstances right now. GRIFFIN (on camera): And while Illinois waits to see if the governor resigns, the legislature meets in Springfield later today, possibly to pass a new bill. A bill that would strip the governor of his power to appoint the next U.S. senator. And instead, Illinois would hold a special election for the seat. Ironically, the sitting governor would still need to sign that bill into law.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And CNN's Ed Lavandera is at the Illinois State Capitol. Lawmakers, as we mentioned, they are going to be convening at 4:00 Eastern Time.
In the meantime though, Ed, lots of calls for the governor to resign from both Republicans and Democrats. What options do these lawmakers have?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you heard what Drew Griffin was mentioning, there's a lot of options on the table already. A lot of people pushing various different things.
It will be interesting to see what direction this takes once all of the lawmakers convene here in Springfield to begin these discussions. It will begin -- some groups meeting behind closed doors to begin this process of hatching out.
One of the things that seems to be gaining a lot of momentum is the sense of pushing this along as quickly as possible. Impeachment, of course, is a process that could take weeks, if not months, to complete. There's also the process by the attorney general here in Springfield asking the Supreme Court to find the governor as unfit to lead, essentially removing him from office as quickly as possible. But there is that growing sense that whatever is done, many people are pushing for this to be done as quickly as possible -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. So we're looking at them to convene at 4:00 Eastern Time. Any word -- I don't know if you would even know at this time -- if they may even come to a decision today?
LAVANDERA: I think anything getting done today doesn't seem likely. And the various people we've had a chance to speak with this morning here in Springfield seem to think that if there is any bill passed, it wouldn't be able to reach the governor's desk until tomorrow. And as Drew mentioned, the ironic thing is here, if lawmakers do vote to strip the governor of his ability to appoint the next U.S. senator from Illinois, right now, as it stands, it would be the governor who's under investigation to sign that bill, although there have been some reports this morning that the might be willing to sign that bill if lawmakers do indeed pass it.
NGUYEN: It's a tangled web, isn't it?
OK. Ed Lavandera, thank you for that. President-elect Barack Obama focusing on protecting the planet and the country. And he introduces his environmental and energy team later today. But first, he is tackling matters of national security.
So let's take you now to Brianna Keilar, live from Chicago.
All right. When it comes to that meeting on national security, any idea what's on the agenda?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to an Obama aide, it's going to be Iraq and Afghanistan and a range of other topics that the Obama camp is keeping close to the vest. But according to another aide, this is all about making sure this national security team is ready to hit the ground running when they come into the White House on January 20th.
So a number of folks going to be at this full national security team meeting. Of course, Vice President-elect Biden; as well as Defense Secretary Gates; as well as Hillary Clinton, who is the president-elect's pick for secretary of state; Governor Janet Napolitano, the president's pick for chief of homeland security; as well as Admiral Mike Mullen, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
So, as I said, Iraq and Afghanistan, but when it comes to the other topics, the Obama camp staying somewhat mum, repeating that refrain that we've heard before, that there is one president at a time. So obviously sensitive, Betty, to any appearance of undermining President Bush by talking about them discussing issues that there could be daylight and probably is daylight between President Bush and President-elect barack Obama on.
NGUYEN: Yes, he's been very careful about that. Also very busy as well. A news conference a little bit later today. What should we expect from that?
KEILAR: This news conference is all about energy and the environment and the president-elect's vision going forward on that. We're expecting some appointments here -- secretary of energy, as well as the president-elect's climate czar. That being Carol Browner. And the Energy Department secretary, we're expecting that, of course, to be Dr. Steven Chu.
These are announcements that were actually -- or not formal announcements, but these are picks that we reported here on CNN last week. So the cabinet filling up. We're still awaiting, though, Betty, to hear who the interior and labor secretaries are.
NGUYEN: OK. Thanks so much, Brianna Keilar. We'll be checking in with you throughout the day.
And you can see President-elect Obama's news conference announcing his energy team live right here on CNN, scheduled to start at 5:00 Eastern today.
All right. So you've seen the video. Now here -- there it goes again. One more. Here we go. Goodness.
All right. Now hear the story behind why a journalist threw shoes at President Bush.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Yes, take one more look because it is the shoe-throwing incident seen around the world. Now the most Googled video of the day. Iraqi police have the journalist in custody, the man who hurled his footwear at President Bush. In the Middle East, that gesture is a well recognized insult.
CNN's Michael Ware joins us now from Baghdad.
All right, Michael. What's been the Iraqi reaction to the shoe- throwing incident?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is extraordinary, isn't it, Betty? And the incident happened here overnight, local time. So this morning, people woke up and we started to hear what they were thinking.
Now, opinion appears to be largely divided down the middle. There are those people who condemn what the journalist did, and there are obviously those who support it.
However, those who condemn it do so on the grounds of etiquette. They say that it was impolite to throw the shoe while the Iraqi prime minister was there.
Plus, of course, President Bush was a guest of the prime minister. So it invokes that kind of guest obligation, host obligation in Arab culture.
Now, those who support it, and there's plenty of them, say President Bush deserved this. Now, where, again, there seems to be universal support is that the journalist, whether you think he was impolite or not, should not be punished by law. And mostly people agree that he should be released. And indeed, his own channel has spent much of the day just running nationalist music videos with the journalist's picture kept in frame and a ticker that lists local politicians who want him freed, and an endless stream of text messages from viewers calling him a national hero and wanting him let out of jail -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, Michael. But here's what's really interesting about that. And I'm reading reports here that the Iraqi judiciary is deciding whether the journalist is going to face charges of, what, assaulting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. That's talking about the Iraqi prime minister. It says nothing about the fact that the shoes were directed at President Bush.
WARE: Exactly. And that is a poignant point that proves this case. Even the law sees that the heart of this affront involves the Iraqi prime minister. Now, maybe that's just dancing around the Iraqi provisions of its legal statutes, but by and large, it's also a political reflection of local feeling. I mean, I have to tell you, yes, Iraqis like the American troops, thinks it's keeping warring factions apart. And no one wants to see it just deteriorate. But you know what? Almost every Iraqi, to a man or woman, is yearning for the end of a foreign occupation. So everyone sympathized with this guy's sentiment.
NGUYEN: Really?
WARE: They're just divided on his message -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Michael Ware joining us live from Baghdad.
Thank you, Michael.
The president is on his way back to the states this morning after a whirlwind Middle East farewell tour. After Iraq, he stopped in Afghanistan, on another surprise visit. President Bush met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. His visit happening as the U.S. plans more troop deployments to stop rising violence in that country.
Your issue #1 is paying for everything that you need. Well, Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis has her tips on what to do before you get laid off.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER KIESELBACH, IREPORTER: I just feel (ph) it's unfortunate. This is my first layoff in over 30 years in research and development engineering. I've worked for just two companies in my career. But I'm finding that there are not many jobs and there's a lot of competition for the few there are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A lot of people feeling just like that person. Well you know, more and more Americans, they are finding themselves without a job. Some for the very first time. So if you have a story that you'd like to share, send it to ireport.com.
In the meantime, though, almost 2 million jobs cut this year, and more to come in 2009. You can prepare, though, for that unfortunate possibility with CNN's personal finance editor, Gerri Willis.
And we don't like to think about preparing for the worst, but you really do in this time of economic problems, shall we say. What do you need to do right now if you are worried about a pink slip?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Right. If you haven't even gotten that pink slip, if you're just trying to get prepared, get some savings together. If you don't have six months worth of savings, that's enough to cover your mortgage, your rent, food, energy, transportation, you have to get it. In this environment, where there is more competition, as the fellow was just saying, and fewer jobs available, it may take even more time for you to find a job.
So, it's worth it to stop contributing to your 401(k) and sock that money into a savings account if you currently have no savings and you're reasonably certain you're going to be laid off. The key here is to have some money, some cash you can access easily -- Betty.
NGUYEN: One of those biggest worries is of course losing those health care benefits. Is there something that you can do in advance should you get that pink slip?
WILLIS: Well, you've got to think about using the benefits you have now if you have not been laid off. Get the annual checkup, the speciality exams, the shots, in short, everything because you don't know what sort of insurance coverage you're going to have after you lose your job. And the only thing you can pretty much count on is that it will cost you more.
Use up any money in a health savings account or transportation savings account. This goes for everybody because the money goes away, disappears at the end of the calendar year. So you want to be sure to use that money up. It's your dough, don't leave it on the table.
And now is the time, of course, to start reading up on Cobra coverage, that's health insurance coverage. That's what you'll probably end up opting for if you do lose your job. Go to the Department of Labor at dol.gov, search on the word Cobra -- C-O-B-R-A -- Betty.
NGUYEN: You know, it's kind of depressing to think that you have to go through all this just to prepare in case you lose your job. But you know, I guess the best bet is to have that money and all of your ducks in a row should it happen.
But as we look ahead to next year, how does the outlook -- how is it going to be? Are we going to see similar situations? Or any chance of it getting better?
WILLIS: Well, I have to say, Betty, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Let's take a look at the forecast from moodyseconomy.com.
They say that this year alone we will lose a total of 2.4 million jobs. We've already lost 1.9, so the next couple of weeks are going to be critical here. Next year we'll lose even more jobs according to them. 2009 we'll lose some 2.7 million jobs. In other words, it's getting worse. Although we've had a lot of layoffs announced, there are sure to be more to come.
For that reason, hey, you want to continue to push your star higher at work. Get yourself assigned to those critical company projects that everybody knows about, high priority. Find ways to save money for the company. That's what all the managers are trying to do. And reestablish connections with people in different parts of the company. Because you don't want to just be known in your little corner. You want to be known throughout the company. Reestablish contacts in the industry. Get on trade group lists. Reconnect with folks you know -- maybe you worked with a long time ago in other companies, so you really build up your network, you have people to call on if the worst happens.
And if you have questions or maybe you have comments -- I hear a lot of comments about this topic -- send me an e-mail at gerri@cnn.com. We want to hear from you. This is a critical topic. I know a lot of folks out there are worried about losing their jobs.
What are you doing to prepare? What are you expecting? We want to hear from you.
NGUYEN: Yes -- gerri@cnn.com.
Hey, you're a part of our network.
WILLIS: That's right.
NGUYEN: At least you will be mine, that's for sure.
All right, thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
NGUYEN: Log onto cnnmoney.com for advice and answers, check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis." That's at cnnmoney.com.
OK, so we're going to update the stock market when we come back. Plus, though, Americans aren't the only ones looking for good deals. We're going to show you a new way to barter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It was exactly three months that financial giant Lehman Brothers collapsed, triggering a global panic. And fast forward to today, will you? And now we're seeing the auto industry hanging in the balance, Wall Street waiting to see what the Federal Reserve will do tomorrow to actually help some consumers. Well Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with some details on this.
So, maybe some help is on the way?
Susan, you there?
All right. I'm being told that we will check in with Susan --
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here.
NGUYEN: There you are. All right.
LISOVICZ: We had a technical problem.
NGUYEN: The power of technology.
LISOVICZ: There we go. Now you can see and hear me.
NGUYEN: Which is a lovely thing. Let me tell you.
OK, so we've been talking about the situations -- we go from Lehman Brothers to the auto industry and the possibility that help may actually be on the way. What do you have?
LISOVICZ: Well basically, what President Bush said today is something that he said last week, Betty, that he might use money from the $700 billion bailout to help the American automakers. But Wall Street wants details, and we're running out of time.
So far, we don't have any other than knowing that if nothing is done, General Motors could run out of money shortly. And Chrysler is not far behind. Now the Big Three's biggest rivals are saying that what's going on in Detroit is their problem, too. Toyota says it, too, is a member of the American auto industry, and without a bailout chaos could come. That's because overseas automakers use the same suppliers that GM, Ford and Chrysler do.
Toyota and Honda sell most of their cars here in the U.S. And remember, they employ American workers. So it's sort of the same problem that Ford has been saying as well, Betty; you know, if one or two of the American automakers go under, it would affect them as well because of the infrastructure they all share, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. So what about the Fed? If interest rates are cut tomorrow, could that help revive car sales?
LISOVICZ: Well, a lower rate of borrowing is always a good thing. The Fed is expected to lower its key interest rate by half a point tomorrow, bringing it to half a percent. This is just an historic low. Some say it could go even go lower.
But remember that auto loans are harder to come by these days. And consumers are holding back on big-ticket items like cars. It's just that kind of environment that we're in. Nonetheless, GM and Ford shares are each up about 4 percent, at least 4 percent, in fact, because there is the hope that something will be done.
But the major averages are starting out the last full week of the year on a down note. The Dow Industrials right now off 77 points at 8552. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is down 33, or 2 percent.
Betty, you can hear me, you can see me, and I'm throwing it back to you.
NGUYEN: And you are done. Well, not really because we'll be talking with you shortly.
In the meantime, the markets not looking so good. But hey, we still have time. The day is not over and the week has just begun.
So if you're looking for a job, here's some advice, do not give up. You know that wise wisdom comes from a guy on a mission to do this -- 50 jobs in 50 states. The man who says he's well, he's gotten a whole lot of no's lately.
CNN's Jason Carroll -- or in fact, Carol Costello talked with him on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The employers are really hip to this idea? Why would they agree to allow you to work for just a week at these jobs?
DANIEL SEDDIQUI, LOOKING TO WORK 50 JOBS IN 50 STATES: Oh, no. It's -- my first -- my first couple of months setting this project up I got rejected thousands of times. So it wasn't just like hey, I'll hire you for the week. No, I had to find the right people and the right fit. And I was so persistent on setting this project up, I was not going to give up no matter what.
So -- because this is what I want to do. Because I couldn't find a job in anything related to economics or accounting or finance, and I said, well maybe this is what my calling is right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Good luck with that.
And you can follow Seddiqui's journey at livingthemap.com. He says he plans to write a book based on his experiences.
Utah Snowbird ski resort is open today, one day after an avalanche. The accident happened on Snowbird's Mount Baldy which is about 200 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. 27-year-old Heather Gross was buried under two feet of snow for almost an hour. Rescuers got her to a hospital, but she died. Gross' father says his daughter had been on skis since the age of 5. Snowbird had 93 inches of snow this season.
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DAVE FIELDS, SNOWBIRD RESORT SPOKESMAN: This is open terrain on the east side of our mountain. It's expert terrain that you have to hike to. It's about a 10-minute hike. And it is some of the more advanced terrain we have on the mountain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A second avalanche near the Red Pine Lake back country injured a second skier. He was rescued, though, by other skiers in his group.
Well you know, Utah is not the only place facing some severe weather. Rob Marciano joins us now with a look at the map today. And a lot of people really freezing this time of year.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, the cold air -- this is some of the coldest air -- this is the coldest air, Betty, of the season. And in some cases, the coldest air that they've seen in several years.
And the West Coast -- western two-thirds of the country, really almost western three-quarters is under the influence of this huge area of arctic air that is pouring down to the south. And snow is going to continue to pile up in places out West.
Also, the cold air, with the wind, dangerous levels of wind chill here. You get wind chills that are below 20 degrees, below zero, and your skin can pretty much freeze instantly, or at least within a minute's time your exposed skin will freeze. So Bismarck, to Minneapolis, to Des Moines, that is dangerous wind chills right now. And things aren't really going to warm up any time too soon.
We do have some moisture that is rolling over the top of this cold air as it dives down to the south. The pink in Arkansas indicates a mixture of winter precipitation. We have winter storm warnings that have been posted for this area and through Tennessee valley and up through the Ohio River Valley as well for the potential of seeing anywhere from one to three to four inches of a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. And that will be slick, especially as you go down the Mississippi where the winter storm warnings extend all the way down in through Memphis, Tennessee.
All right, we've got this big time tropics digging into parts of the entire West Coast. Now I'm just getting word that we've got some flooding in through Los Angeles. Here's some live pictures from you as they come in from our affiliate KTLA. Obviously some wet roadways there. But there have been flash-flood warnings that have been posted throughout the morning there. And no doubt that's the reason that this chopper is up in the sky. And there you see some of the spillways there filling up with some of that flood water. So big time rain. You see it there on the live picture from the chopper. You see it here on the radar scope as well.
And it continues to pour in off the Pacific Ocean, obviously turning to snow at the higher elevations. But there are also burn areas that saw the fires the last couple of months, they don't have vegetation. So we're worried about those potentially sliding as far as mudslides go.
And a brief look at some of the delays from Vegas to Houston, San Francisco, La Guardia and ATL, Atlanta, seeing a little bit of action as far as delays go.
And then look at this minus-6 in Minneapolis, Betty, and 61 degrees in New York. That's a cold front right there.
NGUYEN: Yes, I'd say. All right, Rob, thank you for that.
MARCIANO: You got it.
NGUYEN: You know this time of the year many people are being asked if they have been naughty or nice. So what about Barney? Do you remember this? He was in the news last month because of an incident with a reporter. Here it goes, one more time. Ouch. Watch out. Barney is not messing around. But this is what we like best about Barney. The Barney cam. His Christmas White House camera tour is next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And as we return to the summer Olympic games, it's all up to this final vault by Barney.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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NGUYEN: This is an interesting story, here. In the tech world, all abuzz this morning primarily with a story having to do with Senator John McCain and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. Veronica De La Cruz joins us now from New York to explain.
And Veronica, it seems members of their campaign, I don't know, failed to wipe the slate clean when it comes to these little things.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I guess you could say that, Betty.
This is a big story on the blogs this weekend. Our friends at Gizmodo have been calling this one, "Blackberry: $20, McCain-Palin Contacts, Priceless."
So, here's what happened. In an effort to get receive some cash spent on their campaign and also to get rid of a lot of items no longer being used, Betty, the McCain/Palin team decided to hold a fire sale. They got rid of tons of stuff including Blackberry's, which they were giving away for the low, low price of $20. A few local TV reporters stopped by the sale, they picked some up. And at the time, Betty, the Blackberry's were dead, they hadn't been charged.
So, they ran them back to their office, they plugged them in and what did they find? Well, not only did they score a BlackBerry for $20, but they also scored personal contact info like e-mails, cell phone numbers, home addresses for politicians, campaign leaders, lobbyists also journalists, Betty.
NGUYEN: Ut-oh!
DE LA CRUZ: Plus, hundreds of e-mails dating from September, all the way through to the last couple of days after the election.
So, Betty, I was curious to see how difficult it is to wipe a slate clean when it comes to your BlackBerry. I did this in the NEWSROOM earlier. It took me all of five minutes to figure out. And here's what to you do, just in case you're curious.
You click on options. You know, options, it's the little wrench icon on your BlackBerry. From there, you go to security options. And then you go to general settings. Once you're there, you scroll down to services. Then you click -- and then select wipe handheld. So, it take you all of five minutes. Yes. And of course, the moral of the story here, is if you're going to get rid of your BlackBerry, particularly if it has sensitive information on it, you want to take the five minutes and you want to delete the information, right?
NGUYEN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, you want all of that gone. I mean, I wouldn't want my friends and family getting a call from a stranger, going, hello, I've got your daughter's BlackBerry, you know. And my mom's going, who are you?
DE LA CRUZ: I know. Big, big BlackBerry oops there.
You know, supposedly these TV reporters did call one of the contacts they found and the contact were shocked --
NGUYEN: I would imagine.
DE LA CRUZ: And said that -- said a couple of things that I actually won't repeat on the air. Let's just put it that way. But listen, if you've a tech story for us, you want to pass it on, go ahead and log-on to Facebook. Search Veronica De La Cruz in the CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris. You can also follow us on Twitter at VeronicaDLCruz.
So, there you go, Betty. Lesson learned.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Wipe the slate clean before you have a fire sale. Pretty easy.
OK. Thanks.
So, did you know according to BlackBerry that users save an average of 47 minutes per day and respond to some 2,700 time sensitive e-mails a year? I believe it. Attached to that.
All right. So, if your holiday budget is a bit sparse, try what others are doing and get creative with your gift giving.
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NGUYEN: Well, with everyone pinching pennies this holiday, some people are actually turning back the clock and remembering what they did when they were young and didn't have a whole lot of money for gifts.
Here's CNN's Kate Bolduan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This the season to be shopping, or not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the fun of making things, at least for me. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a wonderful thing. I think we're going back to what they did many, many years ago. People have to be creative. I think it's great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just wrap it around.
BOLDUAN: Facing the demands of holiday gift giving and the pinch of shrinking budgets, many shoppers are buying less and making more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have six nieces and nephews and two brothers. It makes more sense just to make it myself. It could be cheaper.
BOLDUAN: With near limitless options ranging from ornaments and picture frames to baked goods and olive oils, homemade gifts may once again be a hot holiday trend.
ANGIE LEE, ASST. CULINARY COORDINATOR: We do see a lot of people are turning back to the kitchen as a source of holiday gifts. Everything from cookies to homemade breads. Anything home and cooking related. We'll see a lot of that.
BOLDUAN: In a resent survey commissioned by arts and crafts giant, Michaels stores, more than half of their respondents said they're more likely to make gifts this year than last.
BOLDUAN (on-camera): Meanwhile retailers continue to slash prices but experts say holiday retail sales could see the slowest growth in 17 years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They know it's going to be tough. They're expecting meager gains, if any. And they know it's going to take a lot to get people to stores and get them to buy.
BOLDUAN: And while home-made, it isn't for everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't do any crafts. Because I don't have the patience for that.
BOLDUAN: Tough economic times may mean good old creativity is making a big comeback this holiday season.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, it's not just the Big Three, European companies are also feeling the ripple effects.
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