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New Position to Audit Government Use of Money; What's Next Step for Illinois Appointee?; Israel Allows Aid into Gaza; How Should Obama Handle Mideast Crisis?; Police Shooting of Unarmed Man Investigated; Tunnels Might be Key to a Mid East Truce
Aired January 07, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time for me to run. Getaway time.
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Oh, no. We have to talk about Joe the plumber going to cover the Gaza story.
HARRIS: Is -- was that the...
PHILLIPS: You've got to be kidding me.
HARRIS: Was that the -- I saw it and didn't have an opportunity to open it up. Is that...
PHILLIPS: No, we confirmed. Hey, guys, Joe the plumber headed to Gaza to report.
HARRIS: CNN can't in, but he can get in? I don't think so.
PHILLIPS: You know what? I'm going to just become an astronaut. What do you think? What do you want to do?
HARRIS: You know what? I want to -- I want to see what Joe does. Can I follow Joe to Gaza?
PHILLIPS: You know what? I think he's got his plumber, and he's ready to go.
HARRIS: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now. Kyra Phillips. Have fun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Welcome to the club. Barack Obama hobnobs with the only people on earth who know what it's like to be president of the United States.
Beneath the surface, but no longer under the radar. The tunnels of Gaza are many things to many Palestinians. Israelis say they're a war machine.
And a Texas cop shoots an innocent man right in front of the young victim's parents. Now come the questions, the anguish, and the outrage.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: And hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarter in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get right to it at the top of the hour.
Add three new letters to the alphabet soup of government jobs and offices: CPO. Incoming President Barack Obama is giving the nation a chief performance officer in charge of bringing, quote, "efficiency, transparency, and accountability" to the ways that the government spends your money and conducts your business.
Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley has more about that. And a power lunch underway at the White House.
Candy, where should we start? The menu or explaining CPO?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's start with CPO, since I don't know the menu.
PHILLIPS: OK. Perfect.
CROWLEY: Listen, you know, it's interesting. And I think that right now, especially this week and next, we need to kind of look at things as part of the sales job. What Barack Obama needs to do, and do quickly, is get that stimulus bill passed and on his desk.
So what are the things that he's hearing? That's bubbling up in terms of concerns about it? Well, one of them is the government is over $1 trillion in debt. That's the forecast of the deficit.
And what he is doing, today, is not just saying, fulfilling a campaign promise. And he did talk about this CPO, this particular position. Not just fulfilling that, but of saying, "I'm looking at the deficit. It's OK. I've got things in place for midterm and long term, which will bring down government spending. And here is the head of my team."
So the timing is pretty interesting for the CPO. And I think we have to look at it as part of the sales job.
PHILLIPS: OK. And of course, the economy. What did Obama say about that today? I understand there was a news conference.
CROWLEY: Yes, I mean, you know, in addition to announcing his choice for CPO, he also talked an awful lot about -- and said it a couple of times -- "we're going to have over a $1 trillion deficit before I spend anything."
Also, he used the word "dire" to talk about the economic situation right now in the country. And I think over the past few days, we've seen a continuation of what, actually, we saw right after, in the speech that Obama gave when he won the presidency, which is a kind of lowering of expectations.
There's so much hope. So many people so excited. And he has for the past couple of days said, "You know, we're not going to be able to get this done right away." And today it was all about, "You understand that we have a deficit that is already going to be over $1 trillion."
So I think that there is an effort here, even as he is about to get inaugurated and bring 1 million, 1.5 million, however many people to Washington to watch it, to say, "OK, but let's be realistic about what can be done."
PHILLIPS: Let's be realistic about this lunch. Apparently Obama, he's huddling with President Bush and three other former presidents. What do you think he'll get out of this? Is it more ceremonial? Or do you think he'll be, say, picking Jimmy Carter's brain about Israel and Gaza, and picking the Bushes' brain about the war in Iraq? I mean...
CROWLEY: Well, you know, if we are to believe what we were told this was going to be about, it would be hard to believe that these men, certainly in the most exclusive, most powerful club in the world, would sit down and not talk about what was going on in Gaza and what is going on in this country, vis-a-vis the economy.
I think that, again, this is something, that, yes, substantively, these are people who have been there, done that. And they certainly can talk about things both large and small.
But let's remember another of Barack Obama's campaign promises, and that is "I will reach out wherever I can find ideas. I will work across the aisle."
And there he is, with the torch being passed from a conservative Republican president to Barack Obama, surrounded by both Republican and Democratic presidents. So I think you have to look at the political symbolism as well as what he might get out of it.
PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley. Happy new year. And you made my day, starting off the hour with you.
CROWLEY: Thanks, always fun. Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
Well, we at CNN are keenly interested in all the new president's staff and cabinet picks, of course, but one in particular. For surgeon general, the Obama team is said to favor our own chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. As you may know, on top of his media jobs, not only on CNN but with CBS and "TIME" magazine, Sanjay is a practicing neurosurgeon here in Atlanta. Yes, he's quite the underachiever.
He was actually a White House fellow, also, in 1997. And we're going to let you know his decision as soon as he lets us know what he's going to do.
Roland Burris getting closer to the seat in the U.S. Senate, literally and, it would seem, politically. Yesterday, the appointee from Illinois barely made it inside the door of the U.S. Capitol. And today he had a sit-down with the top two Senate Democrats in the majority leader's suite, just off the Senate floor. But he's still not a member.
Brianna Keilar looking ahead to his next move.
Brianna, should we actually look to the courts?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's not a member, but possibly a little closer. It appears to be a possibility, you can definitely say, at this point. Senate Democratic leaders, Kyra, who have been so adamant up until today that Roland Burris would not be seated, now appear to very much be opening up a door to this, laying out a couple of conditions that Burris would have to meet.
The first, basically, that the Illinois Supreme Court would have to rule in his favor in a motion that Roland Burris has filed, which is to basically force the secretary of state of Illinois to sign his certificate of appointment. Remember, one of the big hang-ups, Senate Democratic leaders said, was that it only came with one signature, that of embattled Governor Rod Blagojevich, and it was missing the signature of the secretary of state. So that's No. 1.
The second thing is, basically, is that he would have to have, if you will, a good performance before state lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, tomorrow when he talks to them about these circumstances surrounding his appointment by Rod Blagojevich to this Senate seat.
And here's what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Roland Burris, to me, appears to be candid and forthright. Without any hesitation, he prepared an affidavit that the impeachment committee for the Illinois state assembly already has. And he's going to go answer any other questions they might have. He's not trying to avoid any responsibility and trying to hide anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Those comments coming after a meeting between the top two Senate Democratic leaders and Roland Burris today on the Hill. A much difference scene than the chaos that we saw yesterday, as Roland Burris made his way to the Capitol.
Obviously, Senate Democratic leaders here have been under tremendous pressure by some people, including at least one Senate Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, who basically said they don't have a constitutional leg to stand on in blocking Burris.
And then the other issue, of course, here is that this has become a race issue. We've even heard from, you know, at least one member of the house, saying that this was a racist decision. Another one, Jesse Jackson Jr. from Illinois, who had thrown his hat into the ring for this very Senate seat. He said that, as his whole situation became more and more racialized, the chances of Democrats holding onto the seat in 2010 really were diminishing, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Brianna Keilar there on the Hill. Thanks so much.
And just to let all of you know, Brianna mentioned that, you know, this whole controversy about was that certificate signed by Rod Blagojevich and also the secretary of state for Illinois. And it was that signature that Harry Reid keeps talking about and members of the Senate.
Well, finally, Jesse White, the secretary of state for the state of Illinois, came forward this morning in an interview and said that he's been made the fall guy by the U.S. Senate, that they could have seated him without his signature. His signature is not required, that that signature is mostly ceremonial, rather than a point of law.
So, finally, all the players are starting to speak, and we are hearing more and more about the controversy -- controversy over this one signature. We'll talk about that more later in the hour.
And back in Springfield, the panel that may decide to impeach Rod Blagojevich is getting back to work. Members expect to learn tomorrow whether the U.S. attorney in Chicago will let them hear some of those bombastic wiretaps that led to the governor's arrest.
They also expect to hear from Roland Burris. The panel may report to the Illinois House by the end of the week.
And the speaker of the house is speaking up for an economic stimulus plan like none we've ever seen. Nancy Pelosi told her fellow Democrats today they've got to think big, and they've got to move fast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We must pass an economic recovery and jobs package no later than mid-February, in my view. Many will focus on the upfront cost of it. While we are not discussing small sums, the bill is fiscally responsible, because it will provide a fiscal dividend by returning 40 percent of the cost to the treasury, at least that much in increased revenues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Pelosi spoke as the Congressional Budget Office pegged the deficit for fiscal 2009. At one point $2 trillion. That's not counting the stimulus package, expected to cost around $800 billion over two years.
A dismal start to the new year for one major retailer in the south and Midwest. Goody's family clothing stores are going out of business. That chain, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last June. But it apparently couldn't reach a restructuring deal that would satisfy its creditors.
Goody's operates nearly 300 stores and has almost 10,000 employees.
Luxury furniture maker Ethan Allen is also feeling the pinch of the recession. It's consolidating operations of its upholstery manufacturing plant in Eldred, Pennsylvania, and several of its retail service centers. About 350 jobs will be lost.
Ethan Allen has struggled as the housing market tanked and consumers pulled back on spending.
It was probably the fastest 180 minutes Gaza has seen. Israel open a three-hour window of peace to let supplies get to civilians and to let medics take out the wounded.
Now the weapons are back at work. Israeli air strikes and Hamas rocket fire both started up soon after that window closed. Israel plans to have these humanitarian truces every other day, we're told.
So what about a ceasefire that sticks? Well, Israel plans to send a couple of diplomats to Egypt to get that ball rolling.
The latest numbers now from Gaza: at least 680 Palestinians killed. More than 3,000 hurt. That's from Palestinian medical sources.
The big question is, will the hours be enough? Let's get straight to CNN's Paula Hancocks. She's at Israel's border with Gaza -- Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, well, three hours wasn't nearly enough. Israel allowed in about 82 trucks of humanitarian aid today. And it says that over the past 12 days it's let in 500 trucks.
But the fact is, it is very difficult to distribute this aid while fighting is going on. And the aid agencies say that, while three hours is a first step, it's definitely not enough to be able to give out food, water, medical supplies, and fuel.
Now, according to the U.N., some 80 percent of 1.5 million residents in Gaza rely on outside help for humanitarian assistance. And the U.N. aid agency in Gaza says that some 750,000 people rely on it for food handouts. You can't give out that much food to that many people in three hours.
But it was a lull for some people for some people to try and go and buy food. And certainly, many of the shops were not open. Many of the shops had run out of food. But it was a first step, according to the aid agencies -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Paula Hancocks at Israel's border with Gaza. Paula, thanks.
It's hard to envy the work facing the incoming administration. The three major players -- Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton -- have their own ideas on how to handle the Middle East. What can we expect them to do as a team? We're going to ask an expert that very question in just a few minutes.
A cop stops two young guys, thinks their car might have been stolen. Well, it wasn't. And now one of the guys is in ICU. The profile of a police controversy in Texas.
And Oprah's very public admission about her weight gains. See her new plan for the new year to slim down and get healthy, plus tips from her trainer that can help you, too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Unless there's a major, mayor breakthrough in the next couple of weeks, the fighting between Hamas and Israel could be the Obama administration's first international headache. The vice president-elect saw something like this coming a while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE-PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. We're going to have an international crisis. A generating crisis to test the mettle of this guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: We're actually going to talk to Doug Brinkley, a presidential historian. He's going to join us from Austin, Texas, in just a little bit. We are good to go.
OK, we lost your shot for a second there, Doug. Good to see you.
DOUG BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Nice to see you.
PHILLIPS: So you know, here was Joe Biden actually saying, "Just wait. Barack Obama's going to be tested within six months, as soon as he's in office." Do you think he saw this international crisis coming, or he just was assuming there was something coming?
BRINKLEY: No, I think it was just a foot in his mouth on the political campaign trail.
PHILLIPS: Really? So no significance at all?
BRINKLEY: No, I wouldn't put significance...
PHILLIPS: So he got lucky?
BRINKLEY: Well, it's not...
PHILLIPS: Or we shouldn't say luck.
BRINKLEY: Maybe it's misfortune of the world. I mean, every six months there is a crisis. It's going to happen. And I think Biden was simply trying to make the point that it's very dangerous out there. You know, the problem in Israel and Gaza, it's always a tinderbox that's about to blow. And it could happen at any moment. And unfortunately, it's occurring right now.
PHILLIPS: All right. So let's move into what is going to happen very soon, come the 20th of January, when the new administration is in place. Meanwhile, things are going to hell in -- hell in a hand basket overseas. And everybody is wondering, who needs to do what? Is it Bush? Is it Obama? Why isn't Obama saying anything? Why isn't Bush doing enough? A lot of controversy.
So when it comes down to it, Obama and his team, they can't do anything right now. That's just how it is. But they can gather intelligence, correct? So as soon as they get into office, they can do something?
BRINKLEY: Gather as much as you can. Talk, today, for example, to President Carter and President Bush. Reach out. I know a couple weeks ago, Barack Obama spoke to Warren Christopher and James Baker. Reach out to the old foreign policy hands. Learn as much as he can.
And then use your inaugural speech to galvanize the world. It's going to be the most highly rated inaugural ever. There are going to be millions in Washington. But the whole world is going to be looking in.
And then, if I were Barack Obama, I would be using February and March to give a major foreign policy speech. I would try to do one abroad. I think he needs to go somewhere like Indonesia where you have the world's largest Muslim population, and talk about a "yes, we can" speech, a healing speech about Christians and Muslims and Jews working together.
Obama is a global president in many ways. He's the first we've ever had. And so his -- his administration won't know borders. Wherever Barack Obama goes around the world, people are going to be paying attention.
PHILLIPS: OK. All right. And two other players we've got to point out. Joe Biden, we know his international experience. But Hillary Clinton also, new secretary of state. She's got a great relationship with Israel. How do you see their two roles playing out?
BRINKLEY: Well, first off, neither of them could fill up squares the way Barack Obama does. So I don't think they're fully going to be surrogates in a -- for the president.
But Hillary Clinton, I think, is going to be crucial in the Middle East. She has micro-studied everything that's going on in Israel. She's very good on Iraq. I think that her role there is going to be intense.
You know, we've had secretaries of state in American history that have won Nobel Peace prizes while secretary of state. For example, Cordell Hull for FDR. So she might get deeply involved with that peace process. We've seen Condoleezza Rice trying to do that recently.
Biden, I think, has the advantage of being in Washington, having the ear of Barack Obama on a wide range of foreign policy and domestic issues, having that experience on Capitol Hill, being the former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He can go on the Hill and try to talk to the senators in a way that Hillary Clinton won't be able to when she's travels around.
PHILLIPS: Is there anything else that President Bush should be doing right now? I mean, this is it. His -- what will he be remembered for? What will his legacy be? What will be the, quote, "the moment," the peace deal? Is there anything that he should be doing?
BRINKLEY: Well, what we're waiting for, historians, will be -- and you usually have to wait at least 25 years, is for documents to be made available. Did the -- was the Bush administration in cahoots with Israel on this invasion of Gaza? Were we informed fully? Were we briefed? We were part in parcel to it all? We don't know that yet.
What we do know is that the United States, it's a very close relationship with Israel. And we seem to be supporting this military action right now. Whether it was we were caught off guard or surprised or not, I think only -- only the documents will be able to tell us years from now.
PHILLIPS: Now, that is interesting. I wish we didn't have to wait for years.
Doug Brinkley, always great talking to you.
BRINKLEY: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: If you're unsure about the stock market, banks give you squat for your savings, so how can you build a decent nest egg? Our Ali Velshi at the half hour with priceless advice about securing your future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: What the heck is going to happen to Roland Burris. Will he be able to take the Senate seat or not? The story keeps changing. More interesting twists and turns.
We actually heard for the first time from the -- Jesse White, the Illinois secretary of state. He said, "You don't need my signature for him to go ahead and take that seat." So what's all the fuss been about?
We're going to try and get more from Roland Burris when he steps up to the mike, to see what he's going to do. Possibly a lawsuit. We'll see.
Now, the stories that got us talking this morning, even outraged us in our morning meeting. This one is drawing a lot of protest and criticism.
A week after he was mistakenly stopped, then shot by a police officer, a 23-year-old Texas man is still hospitalized, amid cries of racial profiling. The D.A.'s office has launched an investigation now.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is live now with more.
Ed, what have you been able to find out?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we want to kind of backtrack and get everybody up to date on exactly what happened last week. But this is the story of 23-year-old Robert Tolan.
He is the son of a former, once prominent Major League Baseball player, and he lives with his family in the southeast suburb of Bellaire, just outside of Houston. His father played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds back in the '60s and '70s.
It was about 2 a.m. last week when he had come home with his cousin from a late-night meal when they were approached by Bellaire police officers, investigating reports that the car they were driving had been stolen.
They were essentially told to get down onto the ground. They were -- they say they were completely confused about what was going on. They couldn't tell that it was a police officer talking to them.
And when their parents heard the commotion, their mother had come outside to see what was going on. The police officers, according to the family, say they essentially pushed her up against the side of the house.
Tolan, protesting the way his mother was being handled, started to push himself up from the ground. And that's when he was shot, apparently, in the chest area.
He is recovering in the hospital there in Houston, but his cousin had said last week that the entire incident, the entire scene leading up to that shooting, was incredibly confusing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY COOPER, ROBBIE TOLAN'S COUSIN: He jumped out of the car and fled into the grass with the gun and a light shining in our face. We did not know it was a police officer. We just thought, you know, "Who was this guy with this gun and this flash light? Who is this?"
He didn't say, "Hey, let me see some I.D. Let me see some I.D." or anything. He didn't acknowledge the fact that he was a police officer or nothing.
DAVID BERG, TOLAN FAMILY ATTORNEY: There's no doubt in my mind that, if these had been white kids, this does not happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAVANDERA: This has clearly sparked a lot of outrage. The two young men were -- had not been drinking. The car was clearly not stolen. It was their family car. They had -- they were not armed in any way at that moment, as well.
So Bellaire Police Department says the officer involved in the shooting has been put on administrative leave. He is a 10-year veteran of the force, has an excellent record, no history of being a bad officer. And the allegations of racial profiling is something that, so far, they're denying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASST. CHIEF BYRON HOLLOWAY, BELLAIRE POLICE: I don't know what the officer saw, what they, you know, encountered. It's, you know, any time that someone is injured, we take it very seriously. And -- but as far as any allegations of racial profiling, I'd probably say that that's not really going to flow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: And Kyra, as you mentioned, Blair [SIC] police -- Bellaire Police Department not making any further comment. They say this case has now been turned over to the Harris County, which is the county there in Houston. The district attorney's office there is investigating the shooting to see if any charges will be filed against this police officer. And that is something that the family and some of their relatives and supporters are calling for right now.
So a heated situation down there in Houston.
PHILLIPS: And let me -- let's just lay it out one more time, Ed. I mean, this young man, no talk of alcohol of drugs. He was just driving home at 2 in the morning in a nice car, in a nice neighborhood. He's pulled over, and this is what happened.
They're not giving us access to the police report. They're not wanting to come on camera and give a statement today.
You know, have you, just working this beat, knowing this area, have you come across cases like this before? I mean, we've talked a lot about racial profiling with police officers, and we've covered it across the country. You just would hope at some point, it would come to an end.
LAVANDERA: Well, you know, this area of Houston, I know it relatively well. It's -- Bellaire is a prominent suburb there in the southwest area of Houston. It's a nice area.
There isn't, from what I've been able to gather so far, hasn't been a history of anything like this in this particular area.
In that general area of Houston, just in nearby neighborhoods, you know, there has been a history of conflict with some people with the Houston Police Department. But you know, that's a typical scene, from what we've seen, going on in major cities across the country. I wouldn't say it's anything out of the ordinary, from what we've been able to see so far.
But there has been a history in the Houston area: a lot of talk of the use of tasers and that sort of thing. But again, nothing different from what's been going on in major cities across the country.
PHILLIPS: We'll continue to follow it, for sure. Ed, I appreciate it.
And according to a new survey of E.R. doctors, listen to this. Most think that they've seen cases of excess force by police. The data was published in this month's "Emergency Medicine" journal.
Nearly 98 percent of the E.R. docs surveyed had treated patients who claimed excessive force or who, the doctors suspected, were victims of it, but they were too afraid to say anything.
Close to half felt that they and their colleagues should be legally required to report these types of cases to authorities.
Then who do you trust? And what do you do if they think you are being abused by the law? Law enforcement offers [SIC] that are supposed to protect you?
Well, here's what we found out. We did a little digging. If you'd like information on how to file complaints on excessive force, there are a couple places you can go. You can log on to ACLU.org or you can check out the Department of Justice's link. You can get there from USDOJ.gov.
And then here's a follow-up to a bizarre story that really ticked us off yesterday. Police are still searching for the body of a missing baby boy who was apparently -- get this -- tossed out with the trash of a New Jersey hospital.
A hospital spokeswoman says that the baby was still-born. Well, the mother says the baby was still alive, born alive, then died minutes later. She and a nurse took him to the morgue. Then he disappeared. Well, as you can imagine, the mom is heartbroken.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL ANISE, MOORES' ATTORNEY: How was it accidental that someone pulls out this baby, this baby's body, and dumps it into the trash? Mind you, it is not medical trash that they would be throwing him. It is the trash. The garbage.
KALYNN MOORE, MOTHER: My son is supposed to have been in the freezer, and nobody was supposed to have touched him until the funeral home came and got him. So please tell me, what really happened with my child?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Unbelievable. Whether he was alive or not, may play a role in any lawsuit since New Jersey law does not consider a still born a person.
The main weapon supply line for Hamas, hundreds of tunnels along the Gaza/Egyptian border. A look at what might be done to remove one of the biggest hurdles to a ceasefire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Roland Burris live. I say no more.
(LIVE EVENT)
ROLAND BURRIS (D), ILLINOIS SENATE APPOINTEE: I'd like to thank you all, the media, very much. You all have been very kind to me and my staff. And we really appreciate your professionalism.
This morning, I had a great meeting with majority leader Reid and majority whip Durbin. And in that meeting, we discussed quite a few things. But I had an important phone call before I went to that meeting, and that phone call was from my friend, Former President of the United States Jimmy Carter. And we chatted very briefly and he indicated to me to just tell everybody I said, when you're in the Senate, Roland, you will make a great senator. And I said, thank you very much, Mr. President.
And, of course, that gave me a little energy to go in and meet with my good friend and fellow colleague, Dick Durbin, who I've known for years. We've campaigned up and down Illinois for many, many years and marched in all those parades and stepped on each other's toes and got pushed over by a few anxious people.
And, of course, I met majority leader Harry Reid for the first time, and he's a very warm and charming gentleman. As a matter of fact, we have a lot in common. And we began to chat about that and about our families and, of course, he was glad to hear, you know, about some of my upbringing and my family, my education, and my experience, and most of all, Senator Reid was very glad to hear about my love for public service. My love for the 13 million people of the great state of Illinois.
And, therefore, when we get these two matters, as you heard in his press conference, out of the way, the signature of my good friend, and I say my good friend, Secretary Jesse White because we are good friends and of course, my testimony before the impeachment committee in Springfield, then we will proceed, then, to submit my documentation to the Senate.
And as you heard chairman -- president Reid say, this will go to the rules committee, and they will then assess it and let me know what the outcome is.
So I'm very pleased this afternoon. I'm happy. My whole interest in this experience has been to be prepared, Roland, to represent my great state, and that is my love. That is my desire. And very shortly, I will have the opportunity to do that as the junior senator from the fifth largest state in this great country of ours.
Isn't it great? Thank you so very much. Couple questions. Couple questions. That's all I'll take.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you think Senator Reid and Senator Durbin did a 180 degree turnaround here and went from totally opposing you to apparently supporting the idea of your filling this seat?
BURRIS: And Jack, that you'd have to ask them because all I know is when I sat down in that room with them, it was if I -- I've known durbin for 30 years, but as if I've known Senator Reid for 30 years. I mean, they were very warm; they were very charming. And so you have to ask them that question.
I don't know what pressure they were under. But they I guess -- they have to keep integrity of the Senate. And they did not want to rush into anything and make a decision where they have to then be trying to reverse that. And that would even be worse than what this situation presented before. Lesley (ph) --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Burris --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much. Towards that end, I know one of the things they were interested in is the testimony tomorrow in the House Impeachment Committee. Then I think, they do you want to know what kind of contacts, if any, you've had with Blagojevich.
I read the affidavit that you sent. But I haven't (INAUDIBLE) I was under the impression that when the report for Blagojevich, that you did want to put yourself in play for an appointment, and, if so, your affidavit said you had no contact with the governor.
How were you putting yourself in play? Who did you talk to specifically?
BURRIS: I've been myself in play land by friends from Illinois and across the nation. Said, Roland, you know, you want to be senator, or you ought to be senator, what can we do? My statement was, call the governor's office. Send an e-mail to the governor's office. Send in letters.
And they were doing that from all over the country. And so I thought, you know, that that would raise some level of interest on behalf of my interest in the Senate seat. And evidently it didn't, because they didn't even mention my name. I mean, I didn't show up anywhere. And I don't know what they were doing with the names of the people calling in, because one of my high school classmates, by the way, I was in the class of '55, Lynn, and one of them called into the governor's office, and she called back to my classmate in Centralia, my hometown, who had started this, and said -- this lady was the 1,000th person to call in for Roland Burris.
We know about Roland Burris. Somebody said that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think anyone on your behalf might have talked to -- this wasn't covered in the affidavit, I don't think. Do you think anyone (INAUDIBLE) talk to the governor? (INAUDIBLE) ...it might be with the wiretaps. You know, some conversations that might serve --
BURRIS: I have no knowledge of that, Lynn, and if they did, there was certainly no pay to play involved because I don't have no money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Burris?
BURRIS: Yes. Yes. And look, there's a gentleman, excuse me, I just saw him -- this gentleman is from -- Somerset. Dick Barber (ph) stand up. He's from Somerset, New Jersey. Dick, how many people did you e-mail across the country to say that Burris should be the senator?
DICK BARBER (ph): About 100. And I sent it to the press. Included Chicago, New York, L.A., the press didn't respond. I've known Roland for 30 years. 30 years.
BURRIS: Thank you, Dick. Thanks, Dick. Thank you, I'm sorry. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Burris? One of the things that some Democratic officials have brought up as a deal to seat you would be a commitment from you not to run in 2010.
Now, in your discussions with Mr. Reid and Durbin and their staffs and the Democratic leadership, did you make any sort of commitment concerning the 2010 election, and specifically did you make any commitment not to run for re-election?
BURRIS: That is very interesting. I want to know where these -- where this information comes from. This wasn't even on their radar screen. They hadn't even brought it up, and I was getting these rumors about conditions.
They weren't talking any conditions. What pres -- what majority leader Reid said at his press conference, that is exactly what took place. It didn't come up --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, would you run for re-election in 2010?
BURRIS: Well, now, let me get my Senate legs under me and get in and raise some money to pay for all this stuff we've been doing and figure out that once I get in and get settled and learn where the bathrooms are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You haven't made any commitment at all on that?
BURRIS: I'm sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You haven't made any commitment at all?
BURRIS: No, no commitment at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS: Thank you very much.
BURRIS: Thank you all, press. Thank you so much.
PHILLIPS: Well, he definitely knows how to work the cameras, work the media. And hold a news conference. It's like the perfect politician.
All right. Here's where we stand right now. Will Roland Burris actually take that Senate seat? Will he operate as a senator?
he says he's going to go forward doing what he needs to do as a junior senator. In the meantime, things have developed.
It started out with a call from Jimmy Carter giving Roland Burris support. And as Roland Burris said, energy to meet with Dick Durbin today, Harry Reid and talk about what is happening here with regard to this certificate that we've been talking about for a number of days.
A certificate we have been told needs to be signed by the governor Rob Blagojevich and also the secretary of state for Illinois, Jesse White. That has been the sticking point.
Harry Reid has said, look, we're not going to let him come into the Senate, he's tainted. Then he moved into the specifics of the certificate and said, well, it's not signed by the secretary of state. Rule number two, tell us, tells us here in the Senate, Senate rules that he cannot take that seat unless he's got both signatures.
So, here's a development that happened today. Finally we heard from Jesse White, the secretary of state for Illinois and he said, look, I've been made the fall guy, that's what he says, by the U.S. Senate. He went on to say they could have seated Roland Burris without my signature. My signature is not required. My signature is mostly ceremonial rather than a point of law. And he went on to say, I have been the fall guy. That is absolutely correct.
OK. So, here's what we're hearing now. It's in the courts. A decision has to be made whether or not that signature needs to go through. The secretary of state is saying, no, it doesn't. The Senate is still saying it's rule number two, a rule that's been in place since 1884, and we have to have it.
So, it's in the courts. We'll see what decision is made and see if indeed, Roland Burris will take that seat and actively conduct the next couple of years as U.S. senator.
I hope you all got that. It's a little confusing.
Well, CNN has learned that the Pakistani government has fired its national security adviser. Reports there claim that Mehmud Ali Duraani got in trouble for running his mouth about the one Mumbai terror suspect who's in custody and revealing that the suspect has ties to Pakistan.
Meanwhile in Gaza, today's three-hour truce is over, and it didn't take long for the attacks to begin again. Israel plans to have the temporary truces every other day so food and supplies can be trucked in for civilians. Aid agencies welcomed the move but they say that three hours isn't enough to get the food to people who need it.
Palestinian medical sources say at least 680 people have been killed, more than 3,000 now hurt.
Well, most of the rockets and other weapons used by Hamas are smuggled through hundreds of tunnels along the Gaza/Egyptian border. Israeli military says it's destroyed about half of the estimated 300 tunnels.
CNN'S John Roberts looks as possible solutions to a problem that's bedeviled Israel for years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Here a big question many people are asking is how could a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza be sustainable?
Some world leaders including Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair say the solution lies underground. And the hundreds of tunnels that connect Gaza to Egypt. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addressed the issues of the tunnels while speaking to the United Nations security council on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We must find a way with the consent and full cooperation of like-minded governments to prevent any arms or explosives from entering Gaza and the tunnel systems that have allowed rearmament of Hamas must be prevented from re-opening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And that is a very tricky task. Let's take a closer look at the border crossing connecting Gaza and Egypt.
It centers around the town of Rafah. The border crossing, some 300 yards ride. The section there is called the Philadelphi corridor. It's actually patrolled by Egyptian troops. It was patrolled by Israeli forces up until 2005 when the authority was then turned over to Egypt.
You have to go through three checkpoints. Two of them Egyptian, one Palestinians. To get around the checkpoints, though, there have been hundreds of tunnels dug deep into the earth, as deep as 50 feet in some cases, and up to a couple of thousand feet long, providing Gaza's 1.5 million people with everything from diapers, which would seem to be OK, to rocket propelled grenades, which certainly isn't.
Hamas uses these intricate tunnels as a way to smuggle in explosives, cement, guns, and ammunition. And Israeli military spokesman said Hamas used the tunnels to acquire 100 tons of explosives in the past years among other supplies.
And this is an norm source of revenue for Hamas as well, as many of those armaments are sold throughout Gaza.
The tunnels also provide a lifeline for thousands of Egyptians and Palestinians. Some Egyptians say they can make upwards of $50,000 a month smuggling goods underground. And for the Palestinians, the tunnels provide everything from basic necessities like potato chips to cigarettes, even American dollars, electronic equipment as well. There are some people who have even smuggled washing machines through these tunnels.
Now, Israeli military officials estimate that they have blown up half of the tunnels along the Gaza/Egyptian border since Israel began airstrikes. An operation between 2000 and 2004 called Operation Rainbow got rid of 90 tunnels. But it seems almost as soon as they closed them, they're redug again.
And Israeli leaders caution Hamas would likely dig a new network of tunnels just as soon as the Israeli military withdraws unless there's a sort of sustainable agreement.
Son then, how to stop the tunnels? Well, some ideas under consideration include construction of a giant underground barrier along the nine mile border between southern Gaza and Egypt. Think of an elaborate rabbit fence where if you have vegetable patch, you'll dig your fence down two or three feet so the rabbits can't get under it.
An international military patrol with the authority to search for and destroy any freshly built tunnels is another idea. One possible road block to that, as we've said along that Philadelphi Corridor, it's Egyptian military that controls that area and Egyptian officials have not said whether they would allow foreign troops or monitors on that side of the border.
And one of the bolder ideas being floated is an 80 foot deep mote to be filled with sea water along the entire southern border of Gaza. It would cost an estimated $250 million to build. Seems like it might be fairly simple. But the idea was nixed after fears of the sea water would contaminate Gaza's scarce underground water supplies.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Once again, that's our John Roberts.
And you're unsure about the stock markets? Banks give you squat for your savings, so how can you build a decent nest egg?
Our Ali Velshi at the half hour with priceless advice about securing your future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The recession, the volatile stock market, declining interest rates, Ali Velshi's done a number on nest eggs. We're going to help you get over all that shell shock.
Oh, and by the way, do we mention that he has a new book. He's also our financial expert. He's joining us to talk about building, rebuilding, may be doing something with the nest egg.
ALI VELSHI, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Do something with it.
PHILLIPS: Yes. You devoted a chapter specifically to that, right?
VELSHI: Yes, absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Keep those rules of investing?
VELSHI: Yes. I mean, look, you can read a book in four hours and you can devote maybe another two hours every three months to your investment. This is the rest of your life.
I mean if you go to a dentist, you don't have to understand dentistry, Kyra. But you need to understand when a person tells you that I've got to extract three teeth and you need a root canal. You're going ask enough questions until you're satisfied that you know what a root canal is, and if you don't understand it, you may go somewhere else to ask that question.
PHILLIPS: Well, that's what the economy feels like right now. Feels like a root canal.
VELSHI: It feels like a root canal. A root canal is less -- substantially less painful than what people have gone through I think in this economy, but this what this is about.
When things go bad with your money people tend to run away, they tend to hide, they tend to stash their money somewhere, whatever is left of it. And it is so the wrong thing to do right now. So, I'm trying to encourage folks to please, just follow a strategy and it will get better than it is right now.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, you talk about risk and returns go together. So, how should one evaluate their own personal risk?
VELSHI: Well, here's the thing. You cannot get a return -- the concept of a return, if our world were static you would not need to earn any money because everything would be the same. You'd earn the same amount of money and your lifestyle would stay the same.
But inflation eats away at our money. So, you have to beat inflation. Let's say three, three and a half percent a year on average. So, you have to do better than that. And a bank won't get you that.
So, you have to invest just to keep your money at the value it is. Never mind retiring and growing well. so, you have to take some risk. You can't get any return without some risk and that applies to everything in life.
But you can mitigate that risk by doing a few things. And they're not complicated. You can set your investments up and almost keep them on auto pilot, Kyra. But you'll mitigate your risk. And honestly, if you don't keep picking at it, after 20, 30, 40 years, you can retire comfortably.
PHILLIPS: All right. Sounds good to me. Do you want to plug the book? One more time?
VELSHI: "Gimme My Money Back"
PHILLIPS: ... shamelessly?
VELSHI: ... that's what people want, right? They want their money back. Now, if you don't read it, you don't get to bring it back and say, give me my money back.
PHILLIPS: Oh! Really?
VELSHI: That you can't do. Yes. I'm beginning to think I should have named it something else.
PHILLIPS: Yes, I was going to say, because if I don't get my money back, then I'm going to want to take the book back, get my money back for the book and then totally give you a hard time.
VELSHI: No refund. I tell you what, though, I'm going to give you something for free. On cnn.com/living or cnnmoney.com/ali, there are risk-tolerance tests right out of the book. I put them on the Internet...
PHILLIPS: Oh, that's a good idea.
VELSHI: ... free.
PHILLIPS: So then I know what kind of a risk-taker I am?
VELSHI: Yes. And if you go into -- all you do is, you -- it's seven simple questions. You will have it done, Kyra -- you, because you're extra speedy, will have it done in two minutes. But at the end of it, I'm going to give you a pie chart, and you are going to see how you can invest. It's as simple as that. Free.
PHILLIPS: All right, I have an idea. Actually, Tinesha (ph) has an idea.
VELSHI: All right.
PHILLIPS: I like her idea. We do that on the air tomorrow.
VELSHI: Let's do it. I'll run you right through it.
PHILLIPS: You'll put me through the test. And then I want you to do the test.
VELSHI: OK. Deal.
PHILLIPS: All right, great. I'll see you tomorrow.
VELSHI: And we'll see how we -- I think I'm very high-risk. We have to find out where you are. PHILLIPS: You know what? Depends on what we're talking about.
VELSHI: It depends on the circumstances.
PHILLIPS: You know me well enough. I love to take risks.
VELSHI: Kyra, what a pleasure to talk to you. And we're going to do this again tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: Show me the money, buddy.
VELSHI: All right.
PHILLIPS: All right, bye.
VELSHI: Kyra Phillips on CNN. Thank you for being with us.
VELSHI: Ali Velshi on CNN radio.
Well, Oprah is opening up. It turns out her new year's resolution is the same as a lot of ours. Our Alina Cho has the skinny.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh, there. Did she pull that out of the archives. Well, her wealth, her influence, her ratings, everything about Oprah Winfrey is big these days. Much to her chagrin, she puts her weight on that list. Oprah's always been open about her struggles, but this swing of the seesaw was way different. CNN's Alina Cho reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oprah says she hit bottom a year ago when she had to go onstage with Tina Turner and Cher.
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": I was embarrassed, and I wanted to be anyplace other than there. I wasn't going to do it. I wasn't going to do it.
CHO: And so she says she tried to keep it a secret.
WINFREY: Here I am, one of the most visible people in the world, trying not to be seen.
CHO: She says photo shoots for her magazine became embarrassing. The stylists trying to help her conceal the weight. But after months of hiding it, Oprah's putting it all out there, posing next to a smaller version of herself. And once again, opening up about a very painful and personal subject.
WINFREY: I am mad at myself. I am embarrassed. I can't believe I'm still talking about weight. CHO: It's been a public struggle for decades. Remember this? That was 20 years ago. Skinny, size 10 Calvin Kleins pulling 67 pounds of fat in a wagon. Just four years later, the pounds were back on, and Oprah tipped the scales at more than 230 pounds. She eventually got down to 160 pounds, but says she started feeling sick.
WINFREY: The moment I heard that I have a thyroid problem, I thought, I don't even know how you fight this. I felt completely defeated. And I think, OK, that's it, I give. I give.
CHO: Then it got worse. Oprah says she was put on medication that literally sucked the life out of her.
DR. MEHMET OZ, WINFREY'S MEDICAL ADVISER: Her obesity became an excuse that she could hide behind. Oprah took it one step deeper. She hid behind her hormones.
CHO: It got so bad, her longtime drainer asked if she was depressed.
WINFREY: What? me? depressed? I can't be depressed. I know what depression is. I'm not depressed.
CHO (on camera): Oprah said that conversation with her trainer and longtime friend, Bob Greene, was a turning point. She says 2009 will be the year hopes wins, that it's about finding balance, about putting yourself back on your own priority list. And Oprah, by the way, says she doesn't want to be thin anymore. She wants to be healthy, strong and fit.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Seriously, say it ain't so, Joe. The nation's most famous, sort of, plumber, hoping to unclog the crisis in the Middle East? Stay put for this one, next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.
