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Shoe Video is YouTube Sensation; Caroline Kennedy Eying Clinton's Senate Seat; Obama to Introduce Education Secretary

Aired December 16, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Lessons learned and critical tests still ahead. Barack Obama making a major announcement next hour. Why you and your kids should care.
Your money and the nation's economy. New numbers, new measures and new action that could put cash back in your pocket.

Good morning everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Today Tuesday December 16th. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Your money, their decision. It's taking shape this hour inside the Federal Reserve. A few hours from now, we're expected to learn of a new cut in a key interest rate. So how is that playing on Wall Street? A live look at the big board right now shows to the positive still double digits there, about 77 points or so. So we'll be keeping our eye on that as soon as this interest rate is actually announced.

We're also talking about new measures of the economy as well this morning. The latest snapshots of the nation's financial crisis. Here to break it all down for us is CNN's Christine Romans in New York this morning.

Hi there, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi.

Well there's no doubt that the Fed officials are talking about these new measures in the economy and all of the different things that we've been seeing. The Consumer Price Index. This is inflation. The consumer price index fell sharply in November, largely driven by gasoline and energy price drops.

But look at that, down 1.7 percent. This is the biggest drop in prices since record keeping began back in February 1947. This is a number that we usually measure in tenths of a percentage point. Down 1.7 percent. That's a record decline after a record decline, frankly, the month before. It's a sign of just how weak the economy is. That demand is evaporating for something and that's driving the prices lower.

Housing starts, demand for housing we know has plummeted. Housing construction, new home construction is following suit. Another huge decline there, down almost 19 percent in November. You know, we know there's a real problem in the housing market now. We know that there's a big supply of homes already for sale. It's natural that you would see home construction dry up like this. But there's jobs tied to that industry. And so this is pretty reflective of a lot of people out of work, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely. What about this Fed meeting that we're going to see a little bit later on today? A lot of people pretty certain that we're going to see an interest rate cut.

ROMANS: You know, the closest thing to free money that there is, right? The Federal Reserve expected to lower interest rates dramatically again. Right now they say at one percent. They could cut them in half. It's what they say outside of that, too, that many people are interested in. You know they've been cutting rates for some time now. They've cut it more than 4.25 percentage points over the past year. And the economy is still very weak. The banking system is still very weak.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: So it might be it's what they announce outside of that that could get a lot of people's attention. They've already done a whole lot of things. I mean, they've injected money into the system. They've been cutting interest rates. They bought short-term debt. They've backed the commercial paper market vis-a-vis debts the company have very short term loans that they take. I mean they've done just an extraordinary amount of easing, if you will, and so it will be very interesting to see what they decide to do beyond just lowering interest rates but this will be a historic afternoon most likely.

COLLINS: No question. We'll be watching it all happen right here on CNN as well.

CNN's Christine Romans. Thank you.

The man tasked new hope for the nation's troubled automakers? The Bush administration assuring GM and Chrysler a bailout loan is being worked out but it's too early to reveal details. The clock is ticking though. Both automakers have said they're only weeks away from running out of cash. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the rescue package needs to be delivered imminently.

This morning, CNN's Candy Crowley is conducting an extended exit interview with President Bush. You can see it this afternoon in "THE SITUATION ROOM" and that begins 4:00 Eastern, 1:00 Pacific.

His name alone opened doors on Wall Street, and his sterling reputation may have sealed the fate of those who trusted him. Former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff accused of a $50 billion scam. Today he is due in court. He is seeking bail. His alleged victims are seeking answers and help. Yesterday a federal judge said Madoff's customers may be entitled to at least partial reimbursement from an investor protection fund.

Education was a major part of President-elect Barack Obama's campaign and this is the man expected to be his choice to keep those promises. CNN's Brianna Keilar is joining us live this morning from Chicago.

So tell us more about them. BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Heidi, here in a couple of hours, President-elect Obama as you said expected to announce his pick for education secretary, Arne Duncan. This is going to take place at a school here in Chicago that has really turned around in the last few years.

So a little bit about Duncan. He is in charge of Chicago public schools, which is the third largest school district in the country. He's also someone who is very palatable, not only to teachers unions but also to people who are focused on education reform. And he's got a bit of a personal connection to the president-elect as well. They're actually basketball buddies. In fact, Duncan played professional basketball in Australia. So you can tell he has a varied resume, I guess you could say.

COLLINS: He's probably tall, too.

So Brianna, I understand there could be at least one other cabinet announcement made a little bit later this week?

KEILAR: Yes. And actually President-elect Obama said in his news conference yesterday he'd be announcing his interior secretary designate. We do understand from two transition sources that his pick will be Senator Ken Salazar from Colorado. This is a position that we heard the President-elect say yesterday is really integral to his energy, environment and natural resources team as they push for energy independence and what he described as an all-hands-on-deck approach. So we should be hearing that sometime later this week, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. We'll be watching certainly. Brianna Keilar for us in Chicago this morning.

Thanks, Brianna.

And you can see the Obama cabinet announcement right here on CNN. We're going to be bringing it to you live 11:45 Eastern time.

Rod Blagojevich isn't going anywhere yet. His attorney says the embattled Illinois governor is staying in office. But the state legislature may have the final say on that. They came up with a special commission to look at the scandal. Hearings begin today. They could recommend impeachment. Democrats in the state Senate decided against a special election to fill Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat, leaving the decision to Blagojevich for now.

Word of a possible bomb sent shoppers scurrying in the middle of the day in the middle of Paris.

CNN's Jim Bitterman on the scene now with the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police evacuated the store at the height of the holiday shopping period just after 11:00 this morning. This is one of the oldest department stores in Paris. It was crowded with shoppers. Get everybody told they had to leave after the French news agency received a letter this morning that warned that there was an explosive device on the third floor of this store. When police searched they found five sticks of dynamite on a toilet on the third floor although there was no detonator. According to the interior ministry the device was not rigged to go off.

However, in the letter that was sent to the news agency, there was a warning that if French troops, about 3,000 French troops, not out of Afghanistan by the end of February, the perpetrators of this morning's event would be back, and this time there would be no warning.

Jim Bitterman, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A London jury finds an Iraqi doctor guilty for his role in a car bombing at the Glasgow International Airport last year. The jury found Bilal Abdulla guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiring to cause explosions. Abdulla and another man allegedly drove a jeep filled with propane gas into a terminal in Glasgow, Scotland. It exploded into a huge fireball. The other man setting himself on fire and died in the hospital.

Flooding puts parts of the west under water leaving behind a muddy mess and the worst may not be over.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: People in the aloha state still mopping up after the worst flood in decades. After days of heavy rain in Hawaii, water flooded many roads there making it near impossible for people to get around.

In California, pretty much the same soggy stories. Check out these pictures from L.A. Heavy rains forced a mandatory evacuation of hundreds of homes in Southern California. Authorities are concerned the rains could trigger mudslides.

Rob Marciano is standing by now in the severe weather center as we look at these pictures.

Wow, a whole lot of water to deal with there, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We were showing it to you on the radar and even had choppers in the air yesterday around this time showing all that rain just piling up there in southern California. It has tapered off a little bit. But there's still a fair amount of energy that's pouring into the west coast. You see the curly cue right here. That's the center of the upper low (ph). A lot of cold air driving in. But the bulk of the moisture has moved into the inner mountain west although we will see some moisture from time to time, all the way from Seattle down to San Diego. The heaviest amounts that we've seen as of yet has ended.

A quick shot -- did I mention cold air?

COLLINS: Yes.

MARCIANO: Cold enough for this in Vegas. I-Report yesterday -- there's a live shot.

COLLINS: It doesn't look too cold right now.

MARCIANO: Yes. What's the temperature there? 41. You're right. But that's what it looked like yesterday. Daniella Geraghty sent that in. And that's the west -- what are you laughing at, Heidi?

COLLINS: Oh, nothing.

MARCIANO: That's the west side of Vegas. There's a palm tree and there's snow on it, OK. That's a big nuance.

COLLINS: Yes. That looks cool.

MARCIANO: You've never even stepped outside of a casino when you're in Vegas. You're like palm trees in Vegas. Goodness.

COLLINS: OK.

MARCIANO: 63 in Atlanta right now or for a high today. So obviously this little sliver southeast of the country is where you're going to get your most bearable weather there. Everyone else is pretty miserable, 88 degrees in Minneapolis, 7 if you live in Billings, 39 degrees in New York. A little bit of snow heading across the I-95 corridor here but this won't amount to a whole lot. It's just not very organized.

And temperatures at least in the bigger cities are a little bit above freezing. So it shouldn't be too big of an issue. Sticking a little more south of Cincinnati and then a pretty good swath of moisture from Kansas City to Omaha. And then this moisture band which is all snow is heading to Chicago. And this will start to pile up by this afternoon and tonight and by tomorrow it will have ended but there could be two to three maybe four inches of snow around Chicago before the next round of precipitation rolls in during the day on Thursday.

And it's coming from the mountains, give me a little red. Thank you. Snow 12-24 inches potentially across parts of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. And you know, we had that avalanche issues over the weekend. An avalanche danger will remain high as the snow continues to pile up. Good for the ski resorts. But you see too much of a good thing can be rather dangerous. We'll keep you posted on that front.

COLLINS: Sure, no question.

Hey, you know I have a labradoodle for you a little bit in case you missed it. Some people -- this is a labradoodle, it's a deliberately bred, a cross between a Labrador retriever and then a standard or a miniature poodle. Very cute. Just so you know, this is one of the suggestions people are writing in about for President- elect Barack Obama to have as the White House dog for his kids. MARCIANO: Can't we just stop messing with the dogs, you know, all the breeding with the different things you know. Just get them from the pound and give them some love.

COLLINS: Do you even have a dog?

MARCIANO: No.

COLLINS: All right. Rob.

MARCIANO: When they go in a box, I'll get a dog.

COLLINS: Wow. That's kind. OK.

MARCIANO: I need some help. I need a house with some help. If you walk the dog, I'll get one.

COLLINS: All right. Actually, it's a deal. Rob, will check back later on.

MARCIANO: OK.

COLLINS: Barricades are put up for a reason and posted signs reading "stay out" mean just that. Yet every time there's a downpour, emergency crews are called to rescue drivers who think they can cross a swollen creek or river. You hear it all the time here on CNN. We tell you don't drive through it if you can't see the road. From Southern California, one rescuer's advice to anyone caught in floodwaters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. TROY KEACH, SAN DIEGO LIFEGUARD SERVICE: Don't get out of your car. Don't try to get in the water. Please don't get in the water. It might be deep. It's very, very dangerous. We'll come and get you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: These drivers said they knew how lucky they were when the rescuers came early and helped them out. Thank goodness for that.

Rescue crews are searching for a plane carrying 11 people that went missing 35 minutes after take off. Officials in the Dominican Republic say it took off from Santa Domingo yesterday. It was headed to New York. The plane sent out an emergency signal before disappearing off the radar. The U.S. Coast Guard helping now with that search.

The Canadian government says two of their diplomats have gone missing in Niger. Both men are reportedly specialists and experts in United Nations field work. The Canadian government is not saying if they believe the men were kidnapped. But they say kidnappings are not typical in Niger. There is no Canadian embassy in Niger but the embassy in Ivory Coast services three African nations including Niger.

Doctors putting away that old prescription pad, getting a little bonus for using the web instead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Next year when your doctor prescribes you a drug, you might not get the little slip of paper. It might all be done by a computer instead. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has more on this now.

Well, I say good because I can't even read it anyway and I don't know how the pharmacist does.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're right. If you can't read it, the pharmacist probably can't read it. I mean I don't know how they figure that out. I guess they call the doctor's office for clarification. But President-elect Barack Obama has said that it is time for medical offices to get into this century. If you ever notice they still have all the paper charts and they use all that paper?

Well, what's going to happen now starting next year is that Medicare is going to give doctors a two percent bonus if they use electronic prescriptions. The hope is that this will reduce medical errors because, as we discussed, it is sometimes hard to read that handwriting.

COLLINS: Yes. This is sort of a whole another level of medical mistakes or potential ones anyway. Because I imagine if a pharmacist isn't reading it properly, you can get the wrong drug or the wrong amounts or something.

COHEN: Sure. Absolutely. And so what they're hoping is that this will clarify things. Let's take a look at some of the things that are confusing that doctors write on those little pieces of paper. Goodness. Talk about hard to read. Well anyhow, HS in all capitals like that that a doctor writes on a prescription means half strength. But lower case it means at bedtime. OK.

COLLINS: I didn't know that.

COHEN: It's amazing, isn't? So half strength means it should be half the strength of the regular strength of the medicine. At bedtime, those are two different things. Q1D means take this medicine daily. Q.i.d. means take it four times daily. It's easy to see how those would get confused.

But of course, if it's on a computer, there is simply less room for confusion. So as you can imagine, a lot of people have been calling for this to happen. Now again, this is going to happen, the doctors will get a bonus if they use e-prescriptions for Medicare patients. But also what happens with Medicare patients happens for all of us eventually.

COLLINS: OK. So they get a two percent bonus. Does the consumer or the patient actually potentially save any money with this?

COHEN: Potentially, they absolutely do. And here's the reason why. If your doctor says Heidi Collins you need this prescription and they just hand it to you. They don't know what it's going to cost you, right? They don't know when you go to your drugstore what it's going to cost you. So here is what should happen.

If you go into a computer and say I'm going to give this to Heidi Collins. It will pop up, well this will cost her $50 a month. But if you give her this equivalent medication that will do the same thing, it will just cost her $10 a month. So right there in the doctor's office, you can do some price shopping that will hopefully bring prices down.

COLLINS: Quickly, when did you say this could potentially be happening?

COHEN: January, so next month for Medicare patients. But often things that happen for Medicare patients happen for the rest of us later.

COLLINS: All right. Cool. All right. We'll be watching that one.

Thanks so much, Elizabeth Cohen.

Colonoscopies are known to be an effective tool when it comes to cancer detection. Just how well do they work though? A new study by Canadian researches found colonoscopies are only good at detecting cancers on the left side of the colon, not necessarily on the right. Researchers say colonoscopies are still very effective and highly recommended. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer killer in the United States. But it is highly preventable.

Is this the next Senator Kennedy? JFK's daughter, Caroline. Many consider it a romantic notion but is she really ready for the job?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A heart breaker for one Utah couple. They've been forced to give up their adopted baby boy. Susan Wood of affiliate KTVX has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN WOOD, REPORTER KTVX: A crowd of supporters gathered to show their love.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We needed to give them support because this would be too hard to do alone.

WOOD: But really nothing can soften the pain when the life of a child is placed in jeopardy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just not fair that they took him.

WOOD: Tonight their baby named Talon is taken away. And their hearts are broken. After a legal adoption was finalized, the birth mother changed her mind. She's less than one quarter Native American, but that gives the tribe the right to intercede. Now the Larsons are forced to give the child back. Yet in this case, Talon's mother has been declared unfit to raise her other children. And Talon will likely go into foster care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like it's worth than death. Because at least if when they die you know they're going to be OK and they're in a safe place. This way you don't know where they're going.

WOOD: A friend and supporter says her adopted child was also taken away based on the Indian Welfare Child Act. It's designed to keep Native American children with Native American families.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a baby that you've loved and taken care of and raised since they were born.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The child is being put in foster care with two siblings. And the Larsons say they plan to appeal to either a tribal or federal court. This case falls under the Indian Child Welfare Act as passed by Congress in 1978. Its goal was to, "protect the stability and security of Indian tribes and families." It also gives recognized tribes broad rights to decide who qualifies as a member of their tribe.

If not a king of Wall Street, he was al least among the royal court. That's for sure. Bernard Madoff served as the chairman of Nasdaq. And now he's accused of a $50 billion scam that targeted the rich and even the famous.

CNN's Joe Johns has the latest details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The roll call of investors who may have lost millions in the Bernie Madoff scandal reads like an American society "A list." Movie director Steven Spielberg's charity, billionaire publisher Mort Zuckerman, Fred Wilpon, the owner of the New York Mets, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg's family foundation, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel's Foundation for Humanity. And it's not like all the charities and foundations affected were throwing money at Madoff to get quick returns.

The Jet Foundation of New York technically had nothing to do with him at all. The problem was that the Levy Church family that gave up to $30 million a year to the foundation used Madoff for their investments. After Madoff crashed, the foundation which supports justice issues and election reform, decided over the weekend to shut down by the end of next month.

ROBERT CRANE, JEHT FOUNDATION, CEO: I do view it as a tragedy, a tragedy obviously for the people that we support, the issues we care about and for the personal lives of everyone who is going to lose a job. JOHNS: But it wasn't all about the high rollers. On "Good Morning, America" Joan and Arnold Sinkin who had saved close to a million dollars from his job as a carpet salesman gave it to Madoff and may have lost everything.

JOAN SINKIN, LOST MONEY IN MADOFF SCHEME: If you can get in with Bernie Madoff, wow, you're lucky. And it's just gone in one telephone call.

ARNOLD SINKIN, LOST MONEY IN MADOFF SCHEME: This is what they referred to as the golden years, where you retire and try to enjoy life and then you get wiped out in 48 hours.

JOHNS: Another sign of the impact. Over the weekend, four multi-million dollar condos owned by Madoff investors in this Florida complex went up for sale when Madoff went down.

(on camera): Late Monday, a federal judge issued an order that may help investors get some of their money back through a fund that replaces missing stocks and securities. The total cost of the alleged fraud, in the billions of dollars.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Putting major players in the place. President-elect Obama set to name another cabinet hopeful today. His Secretary of Education choice expected in just about two hours. We're going to bring that to you live when the news conference gets under way. You're looking at a picture of the expected choice, Arne Duncan. He's currently the head of Chicago's public schools. And sources tell CNN Obama is expected to name Colorado Senator Ken Salazar as the Secretary of the Interior, as well. That official announcement could come a little bit later this week.

Nothing inappropriate. That was the finding by Obama's transition team. They've been looking into associations between the President-elect's staff and embattled Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Meanwhile, they're talking possible impeachment in Illinois now. The state legislature setting up a special committee to look at the Blagojevich scandal. The first hearings expected to get under way next hour.

JFK's daughter. Could she she become the next Senator Kennedy? She said she's interested in the New York seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton, the nominee for Secretary of State, as you know. But, is Caroline Kennedy qualified? Joining us with insights on all of this now, Jim Vandehei the executive editor of Politico.

Thanks so much for being with us.

JIM VANDEHEI, EXEC. EDITOR, POLITICO: Great to be here.

COLLINS: I guess that's the first question a lot of people seem to be asking. Is she qualified? And if so, on what basis? VANDEHEI: I mean, I guess it depends on how you define qualified.

COLLINS: Right.

She's not run for office before. But clearly, the star power of her name is powerful, especially in New York politics. We know who her father was. We know who her uncle is. We know that this is a family -- that name really resonates powerfully in that state.

And so she probably would be a pretty formidable candidate. And there's a lot of people who like her a lot. So, on -- does her resume look like that of most senators? No. But, there's certainly people that get into the Senate that don't have a lot of elected office experience. So, that's certainly not a disqualifier.

COLLINS: Yes. But, beyond getting elected, what does star power get you, especially when you're talking about the people who live in the state of New York?

VANDEHEI: The microphone. I mean, when you can command press attention and you can get people to pay attention to what you're saying, you can be a much more powerful player on the Senate stage.

We've seen that -- Hillary Clinton came in and obviously, she occupied a very powerful position despite the fact that she was a junior senator. Barack Obama, same thing. When he came into the Senate, he was a rock star. People pay attention to you when you're a familiar face and a name you recognize. So, that is something she would bring to the Senate.

What she would not bring is any legislative experience. And a lot of being an effective senator is understanding how the place works and understanding how to actually take a piece of legislation and then move it through that body and get it over to the president. That's what she would not bring to the table.

COLLINS: Yes. So obviously, that is a portion that I think that's giving some people pause. Is it not?

VANDEHEI: There's no doubt that there are some Democrats who have a lot of pause. They feel it's a little presumptuous for her to say, hey, I want the appointment.

Because remember, we're not talking about election, we're talking right now about an appointment by the governor. And she's basically put the governor in a pretty tight spot basically saying, now if you don't pick her, you've actually formerly rejected her because she's made it clear she wants the job, while other people have not made it so explicitly clear.

So, it does put him in a little bit of a jam. Doesn't mean he has to pick her. But certainly, politically it's probably a pretty smart move by her. Because now it's crystal clear she wants the job. And Harry Reid, here, who runs the Senate has said that hey, he likes her a lot. And everyone knows that she's very close to Barack Obama. So, that's a pretty powerful constituency to get the appointment. Then she'd have to run again in 2010. That's where her name really could help her because she could raise the type of money it takes to mount a serious campaign in New York, and probably raise it pretty quickly given her family ties to the money establishment of the Democratic Party.

COLLINS: And Quickly, Jim. I feel like we should be talking about some of the other contenders.

VANDEHEI: Right.

COLLINS: Because the minute her name came up, kind of all the attention went there. But there are certainly other people who are interested in that position.

VANDEHEI: No doubt.

COLLINS: Let's talk about them a little bit. We have a screen here that says, Andrew Cuomo, the New York Attorney General and also Representative Carolyn Maloney.

VANDEHEI: Yes. Two that people are talking about a lot. You know, Andrew Cuomo, again, that's a name that resonates pretty powerfully in New York, too. Democrats, in particular, loved his father. He's very popular as attorney general. I think that you know, he is definitely at the very, very top of that list.

Below him there's a grouping of different congressmen and women who very much would like to get the job. Carolyn Maloney is one that you mentioned. She's from the Upper East Side. She's somebody who you know, is not necessarily a celebrity in Washington. Most people probably aren't very familiar with her. But, she was a big active backer of Hillary Clinton, and she does have a following inside of New York politics.

There's Kristin Gilibrand, who also would like to be able to get the appointment. Thee's a bunch -- any congressperson would love to get the job. You always want to move up to the Senate. So, that's the batch. But, I think the bulk of the focus is going to be on those two big star names, Cuomo and Kennedy.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we will be watching closely. And we will talk with you once again, once that appointment is made.

VANDEHEI: Enjoy the day.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much.

Jim, Vandehei, executive editor of Politico.com. Thanks.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: A change of direction. Obama's choice for Energy Secretary could shake things up a bit, refocusing the government's attention on alternatives. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Gas prices tick up yet again, raising the concern that we may have seen them bottom out. According to AAA, the national average rose one tenth of a percent, to just over $1.66 a gallon. That's the third increase in four days. Before the weekend upswing though, prices had fallen for 86 straight days.

Change is coming to the Energy Department. And we're not just talking about a new secretary. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our Energy Fix now from New York.

Hi there, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi, Heidi. Well, you know, when you think about the Energy Department, you probably think of oil and gas and coal really at the top of the agenda. But, the focus is actually nuclear weapons.

Currently the Energy Department spends about $15 billion of its $24 billion budget on maintaining nuclear stockpiles, cleaning up production sites and dealing with nonproliferation issues. But, a new era is certainly come together the Energy Department. President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Steven Chu for Energy Secretary is proof of that.

He's a Nobel Prize winning physicist. He's been vocal -- very vocal about more research in alternative energy. He also believes a shift away from fossil fuels is really how we'll combat global warming. Now, if he's confirmed, look for the Energy Department to make a big push, Heidi, into renewable energy, something we heard a lot about of course, on the campaign trail.

COLLINS: Yes. The President-elect actually says he's going to make energy policy a leading priority. But, as you well know, oil prices going down. We're in this recession. It's a tough job.

HARLOW: It's a very tough job. It's hard to really justify it at this point. Obama does say though, he's sticking to his guns saying he wants to create five million clean energy jobs through a $150 billion investment over the next 10 years. There's no question the weak economy, those falling oil prices, they're going to make that difficult to fund and even difficult to justify. Obama, however, is not backing off.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT: This time has to be different. This time we cannot fail, nor can we be lulled into complacency simply because the price at the pump has, for now, gone down from $4.00 a gallon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: For now. You heard what he said. We did see gas prices tick up today, as you said, Heidi. And we know that researching and commercializing renewable energy technology, that is the main focus of Obama's energy plan. That's exactly what his proposed energy secretary has been working on for the last few years at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California. Certainly though, a lot of work ahead for Mr. Chu and Obama's entire energy team -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Poppy Harlow, for us. Our Energy Fix, today.

Thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: You're welcome.

COLLINS: That shoe business. President Bush side steps the sole. An Internet sensation is born. Now, some of you are sharing your iReports.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The Iraqi shoe chucker may be in police custody. But, this video is becoming a YouTube superstar. The Iraqi journalist who threw the shoes is being both condemned and celebrated not only in his home country, but all around the world.

Our iReporters are responding to the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE O., IREPORTER: The president's last visit to Iraq and the subsequent shoe heard around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So an Iraqi journalist throws a shoe at Bush, and now he's a national hero? A hero of the Arab world? How -- the irony of that. You know what? This is the problem in that part of the world. Symbolism is more important than dialogue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As much as I would like to brush it under the rug and let it go, I really can't right now, because I feel that there are a lot of angry people out there who feel really let down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As much as that scene of him getting the shoe thrown at him will be remembered in history, we should also take notice of what he did on his visit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And if you have any remarks or want to share your video, you can send your images to ireport.com.

The fact of the matter is many people in the United States find the shoe throwing incident a little bit funny and they're glad the shoes missed their target. But it is evoking some very powerful mixed emotions in Iraq.

Michael Ware has the story. .

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MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With world leaders at a Baghdad podium, in the blink of an eye, one Iraqi journalist both divided and united his country, calling the gesture a "farewell kiss" to the American president. His actions have split Iraqi opinion right down the middle.

This Baghdad accountant says the shoe-throwing was wrong and not the behavior of an educated man, while this mechanic calls it impolite.

But there are now just as many who now cheer the 28-year-old journalist who reported from Baghdad's Sadr City slum.

"Sure, I was very happy. I consider it a victory," says this young law student. "The Americans invaded and destroyed our civilization, our books, everything that was beautiful, with even Baghdad losing its smile."

Somehow the journalist is a national hero. His own network, Al Baghdadia, is running nationalist music clips haunted (ph) with the reporter's picture and calls for his immediate release from police custody. Along the bottom of the screen are the names of politicians who want him free, and endless text messages of support.

And in Sadr City, American flags were set ablaze in a large demonstration in the streets. Though many Iraqis found the insult offensive, it was not because it targeted U.S. president, George W. Bush.

"Bush deserves to have a shoe thrown at him, but it wasn't proper because he should show respect for the prime minister, Nouri al- Maliki," says a local photographer.

Many also agree that the journalist should not be punished.

"He does not deserve legal punishment. It was involuntarily behavior in a moment of rage and emotion," says this mechanic.

"I asked the government to release him," this law student says.

This accountant thinks the journalist should have to apologize on his own television network.

Whatever the reaction, it barely seems to matter. For this moment will surely become another iconic image of an unpopular war.

Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.

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COLLINS: Emphasis on education. President-elect Barack Obama expected to announce his choice for secretary of education. You can see it live right here coming up in our next hour.

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COLLINS: Quick reminder here now. Emphasis on education. President-elect Barack Obama expected to announce his choice for secretary of education. You can see live coming up next hour, 11:45.

Mac is back. We heard that a lot from the Republican presidential candidate the last days of the campaign. And we're seeing it now.

Samantha Hayes tells us we're likely to see more of John McCain in the future.

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CROWD: John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain!

SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you heard one thing from John McCain during his run for the White House, this was it.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I will veto every pork barrel earmark bill that comes across my desk.

HAYES: Back in the Senate, he can't veto, but he can try his old maverick trick, working with Democrats.

NORM ORNSTEIN, CONGRESSIONAL SCHOLAR: He has an ally in Russ Feingold, his old partner in arms on campaign finance reform. He has at least a declared ally in the president. And the movement now to try and reduce the kind of earmarking where members of Congress basically direct huge amounts of federal money is a ripe one.

HAYES: It also puts McCain in an unusual position of influence for a defeated candidate.

ORNSTEIN: Despite the fact that we had a pretty tough and even bitter campaign at times, we're going to see more John McCain going to the White House to meet with Barack Obama than we will perhaps for a whole lot of other Democrats who are Obama's natural allies.

HAYES: Republican strategist Phil Musser says McCain has outlined his new goals and will try to use his old reputation to accomplish them. PHIL MUSSER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: He's had a couple weeks off. He's had a chance to get his thoughts back together. I think what you probably saw was a little bit of the trademark straight talk, meaning that John McCain is probably going to call it just the way he sees it and probably won't be one who will hem to party ideology.

HAYES (on camera): Speaking of the future of the GOP, McCain was also asked in that interview if he would support his former running mate, Sarah Palin, if she ran for the White House in four years. And McCain said while he admired and respected Palin, he said there are other great young governors.

Samantha Hayes, CNN, Washington.

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COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. You can join me again tomorrow morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

For now, though, CNN NEWSROOM continues with Betty Nguyen.