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Obama Engages With Leaders in Middle East; Confirming the Cabinet; Advice on Tackling Terrorism
Aired January 21, 2009 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
REV. DR. SHARON E. WATKINS, GENERAL MINISTER AND PRESIDENT OF CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF THE UNITED STATES: Especially now. From the center of our deepest shared values, let us pray.
In the words of James Weldon Johnson, "Thou who hast by Thy might, let us into the light, keep us in the path." We pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places our God where we met Thee. Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee. Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand true to our God, true to our native land.
(APPLAUSE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And President Barack Obama beginning his first full day of the White House by attending the national prayer service at the National Cathedral. The message delivered there by a woman for the first time, Reverend Dr. Sharon E. Watkins. Watkins serves as the general minister and president of the Christian Church of the United States and in Canada.
Let's get started. A lot to get to on this Wednesday, January 21st.
And here are the top stories we're following for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The new president starts his day in prayer. The struggling economy and two unfinished wars at the top of his agenda today.
The markets trying to bounce back this morning. The Dow sees its biggest Inauguration Day sell-off in history. The markets opening flat, as you can see.
And President Obama gets advice on the terror fight. It comes from people who live with al Qaeda in their back yard.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A jam-packed agenda for his first full day on the job. President Barack Obama gets down to business, tackling the enormous challenges facing his administration.
The president's day started with a prayer service that got under way at Washington National Cathedral last hour. He also has a meeting with his economic team, and he sits down with top Pentagon brass. White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us.
And Suzanne, all of that. But first, let's start with some breaking news.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, we just learned from a senior administration official that Barack Obama has wasted no time in engaging with leaders in the Middle East. He has put out calls, he made calls and talked to the following leaders: the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas; Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; also Jordan's King Abdullah; and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Reaching out to those four leaders, obviously a sign that he is very serious about getting involved in the Middle East process from jump.
These are the first calls that he has made to world leaders since becoming president. And he is obviously trying to show people that he's taking this very seriously. There is a real serious consideration of actually getting a special envoy -- appointing a special envoy to be directly involved in those talks. So obviously, he is reaching out today to try to make an opening there.
Also, later today, he is meeting with his top economic team, his advisers, to try and push forward, Tony, as you know, that $825 billion economic stimulus package. He says it will create lots and lots of jobs, it will offer tax cuts, that these are things that are necessary to turn this economic crisis, financial crisis around.
And we also expect that he's going to be meeting with top military brass in the afternoon to essentially give them a new mission. Sitting down with the Joint Chiefs, with Secretary of Defense Gates and General David Petraeus to say, look, I want those U.S. troops out of Iraq in 16 months. He's looking to put troops in Afghanistan, where things are quite messy, so he's looking at all kinds of things, moving pretty fast.
And Tony, I have to tell you as well, we are expecting possibly some executive orders to be issued within hours or so. What are the possibilities for essentially closing Guantanamo Bay detention center, banning torture? White House ethics reform, you name it, there's a lot that's on his plate, a lot on his agenda.
And starting at 8:30 this morning, he was in the West Wing, in the Oval Office. He read that note. You know, that tradition where the past president sends a little note to the next one. Well, we are told that he actually read that note that was delivered to him from former President Bush, saying, "To number 44 from number 43."
So whatever the message is, we don't know what that message is. It's a private one. But we know that he's actually gotten it.
HARRIS: Well, the president promised that he would hit the ground running day one. And it looks like, at least so far, he is true to his word.
White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux for us.
Suzanne, thank you.
And soon after he took office, the Senate confirmed six members of President Obama's cabinet. On a single voice vote, senators approved Steven Chu as energy secretary; Arnie Duncan as education secretary; Janet Napolitano as head of Homeland Security; Ken Salazar as interior secretary; Eric Shinseki as secretary of foreign affairs; and Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary. Peter Orszag was also approved as director of Office of Management and Budget.
Senators are considering four more of President Obama's cabinet choices today. Votes are expected on the nominations of Hillary Clinton for secretary of state and Eric Holder for attorney general. Hearings are taking place for transportation secretary nominee Ray LaHood and treasury secretary nominee Timothy Geithner.
Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar joining us live.
And Brianna, good morning to you. Of a lot of interest this morning, the hearing under way now for treasury secretary nominee Timothy Geithner.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're certainly keeping an eye on this, Tony. And the ranking Republican on the committee really putting Geithner on the spot, right off the bat here, for an issue that we knew would be brought up, which is that Geithner failed to pay some of his income taxes throughout a few years over the last several years.
So Chuck Grassley is that ranking Republican. And basically, what he brought up and put on the record was his concern because of an IRS audit of Geithner that took place in 2006 that showed he didn't pay his self-employment taxes for when he worked for the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, for 2003 and 2004.
And Geithner went ahead, because of that audit, took care of those taxes. But what Grassley said really bothered him was that during that audit, it was shown that there was a tax liability for the same reason for 2001 and 2002. But the IRS couldn't collect that money because the statute of limitations had run out on it.
And then he pointed out that as Geithner learned he was going to be nominated, he was being considered, under the advice of Barack Obama's transition team, he went ahead and took care of those taxes in 2001, 2002, paying them only recently. Because of this, and because this is a tax issue, and this is the person, the secretary of the treasury, who is the main person in charge of tax collection, Grassley said it really puts a lot of people in a tricky spot.
Here's how he summed it up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: To some, he isn't merely the best choice. To some, he is the only choice.
On the other hand, we need to consider how much the nominee's tax history could reflect on a secretary of treasury. As secretary, the nominee would be in charge of the IRS. If confirmed, would the nominee be effectively leading his department?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, for his part, Geithner said he should have been more careful, this was his fault. But he said it was unintentional.
And what we heard from Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who introduced Geithner, he said that, really, echoing what we heard Grassley said, Geithner is the man for the job. He's someone who has dealt with international financial crises that for the last six years, where he was president of the Fed bank in New York, the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, he was a leader when it came to calling for financial regulatory reform. And this is really someone who was cut out exactly for this position.
Tony, as you know, things like this have scuttled past confirmations.
HARRIS: Yes.
KEILAR: But the sense is, it will not here. The sense is that, with support from some Republicans and some Democrats, Geithner will ultimately be confirmed. But it's going to be a bit of a rocky road, as we can see already.
HARRIS: An important hearing. It feels like an important hearing to me.
All right. Our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, for us.
Brianna, thank you.
President Obama has left no doubt the economy is issue #1 for him and the entire country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper along when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity, on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: CNN's Christine Romans is at the New York business desk.
Christine, good morning to you.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.
HARRIS: Hey, let's start with Tim Geithner. I think this is -- I mentioned just a moment ago, I think this is a very important confirmation hearing. For a lot of people, the question is going to be, how can Tim Geithner be the right person to move us forward, to reform the financial industry when, in many people's eyes, he did not do enough to head off this crisis?
ROMANS: And he just -- in response to a senator's question just a few moments ago -- said that he too believes the response has been sort of ad hoc and there needs to be better oversight and management of the response to the financial crisis. And he also said, Tony, that this is just the beginning. He wanted to be very clear that what the government has to do to be able to stabilize the economy, the financial system, and then try to heal the economy, that we're just at the beginning stages there.
So on the one hand, he has been inside this whole process all fall. On the other hand, he too is saying that he would like to see better oversight of this whole thing. So I'm sure we'll keep watching and see what senators might have to say about his role and what got us here so far.
The only kind of criticism or questions about his integrity or his ability to lead us in this crisis have been about the tax issues, as Brianna was pointing out. It sounds as though they're trying to move beyond that. And he was quite clear and contrite very early on.
You know, he said, this is my fault. This was an oversight. It will never happen again. It shouldn't have happened in the first place, and I'm sorry that you have had to spend any kind of time with your valuable time, in this time in the economy, even worrying about it.
But we'll see if there is more questions along those lines later on.
HARRIS: I want some contrition on the mess that we're in now.
What is the most pressing issue, in your view, Christine, in the economy that President Obama faces today?
ROMANS: It's the bank's right now. I mean, it's, Tony, we're back, you know, to late September, October again in the banking system. I mean, there are responsible people...
HARRIS: We're back to late September?
ROMANS: Or early October. I mean, I won't say we're at square one, Tony, but I would say maybe we're at square two again.
I mean, there are responsible people looking at these bank earnings and looking at how much money we have already plowed into the financial sector who are saying, is there a risk here that some of these banks are fundamentally insolvent? I mean, one of the -- one of the sort analogies I've been seeing is that you've got a feeding tube in the patient here, but how long can you just artificially feed this patient? I mean, what is going on with the banks, and what kind of restructuring are we going to see?
Timothy Geithner himself said that we are at the beginning of this. And Paul Volcker, former Fed chairman, he was also at this hearing earlier, saying it's going to take a lot more money. I mean, we are seeing policymakers and people who are very close to the situation and close to the economy using words like "critical juncture," it's going to take hundreds of billions more, you know, the economy is at this critical point.
I mean, again and again, I've been listing them. "It's a critical moment in our nation's history."
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: That's Timothy Geithner. You know, "A serious recession with no end in sight," that's from Paul Volcker. "The financial system is broken," that is from Paul Volcker.
I mean, they're clearly laying it out here that the Obama administration has got great challenges, and they're just laying it out there.
HARRIS: Well, there was a lot of focus on this idea of the first 100 days moving forward with this administration. But it's worth remembering that we're more than 100 days into this current crisis, if you're talking about the middle of September and early October, when this really started to spiral downward.
ROMANS: Well, and Timothy Geithner is talking about the last 18 months. This is something that within the Fed and the New York Fed and in the banking system, people have been watching for some time now.
It was last February that things really started to get dicey, and you started to see jobs lost in the financial sector, and you started to see some real -- it was way back in March, it was Bear Stearns. So, I mean we're coming up.
And remember, the first big batch of economic stimulus checks? That was last February. That was almost a year ago, Tony. This has been going on -- I mean, the American consumer has been aware of all of this for now almost a year.
HARRIS: Yes. All right. Christine, appreciate it. Thank you.
ROMANS: Sure.
HARRIS: You know, the economy is your number one concern. Coming up next hour, the results from the latest CNN/Opinion Research poll. What do you think the president should do to jump-start the economy?
And people around the world watched as Barack Obama became the 44th U.S. president. Now some of them are offering him advice on communication and control.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Speaking to the world, President Obama sending a clear message that he plans decisive changes in U.S. global policies. Many in the international community also have messages for the new president. Our Reza Sayah gets advice on tackling terrorism from people in Pakistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Obama, greetings from Pakistan, a country in a region where you have a lot of work to do. You've said you welcome advice, so we found you some from journalist Imtiaz Gul...
IMTIAZ GUL, JOURNALIST: Hello, Mr. President.
SAYAH: ... professor and political analyst, Dr. Maria Sutan...
DR. MARIA SUTAN, PROFESSOR AND POLITICAL ANALYST: First of all, I would like to congratulate you.
SAYAH: ... former government official, Mahmood Sha...
BRIG. GEN. MAHMOOD SHAH (RET.), FMR. SECRETARY OF TRIBAL AREAS: Hello, Mr. President.
SAYAH: ... and some Pakistani citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Obama, sir.
SAYAH: One of your most complicated problems is Pakistan's tribal region. Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda are believed to be hiding there. U.S. missile strikes from unmanned drones have killed some al Qaeda leaders, but they also fuel anti-Americanism.
Our panel says fewer strikes, more economic development.
SUTAN: I think the first thing would be to stop the predator strikes.
SHAH: This problem is the key problem, getting increased. Until this, you have a development strategy.
GUL: Empower the community. Reassure them that the United States is not all about the drones, but it's also about social development.
SAYAH: And what should be your policy in Pakistan? The young democratically-elected government is fragile and overwhelmed with its own fight against militants. Our advisers say, change U.S. rhetoric and take off the pressure.
SUTAN: The doctrine of compliance or carrot and stick approach is counterproductive in this region. It does not win you friends.
OMAR RASHEED, ENGINEER: We are suffering the most, and, again, we are getting attacked again and again that we are the terrorists, we are the terrorist nation. How come we are the terrorist nation? We are supporting you.
SAYAH: And then, Mr. Obama, you have the Mumbai attacks that escalated attentions between nuclear neighbors India and Pakistan. The answer here, says our panel, is revolving the dispute over Kashmir, a territory India and Pakistan has fought three wars over.
SHAH: When this issue is resolved, I think there is no other issue between India and Pakistan.
SAYAH: You also have to fix Afghanistan, where the Taliban have made a comeback. More U.S. soldiers died in 2008 than in any year since the invasion in '01. Civilians are dying, too. Our panel says adding more soldiers is not enough.
SUTAN: It's not the military strategy that is going to give you the ultimate victory here. It needs a political solution. It needs an economic solution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Afghanistan, I think, also requires a lot of investment in the social sector. There has been too much emphasis, unrealistic emphasis on the military solution.
SAYAH: And if that's not enough, Mr. Obama, a lot of people here say they don't like the U.S. government. They have lost trust. The good news is, many are willing to give you a chance.
SHAH: We want you to succeed.
ADEEBA AHTESHAM, STUDENT: It feels great that somebody new has come up and taken a huge step to bring about new changes in the country.
RASHEED: Please, please, please, think about the humanity. Don't go (ph) for yourself. Please think about this humanity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wish you all of the best for the future.
SAYAH: And so do a lot of other people in the region.
Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: So let's broaden this conversation. Tackling terrorism, a top job from day one for President Barack Obama.
CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour joining me live from New York.
Christiane, great to see you. Thanks for your time this morning.
We have just learned from our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, that the president has called leaders in the Middle East. Is that what you expected from President Obama, and how important an early signal of involvement is this?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you know, it's a massively important signal, because, of course, he has had this issue just before his inauguration, where in the waning days of the Bush administration, Israel had that huge conflict in Gaza over Hamas and the rockets. It lasted more than three weeks, and so many people have been killed. But beyond that, it also shows how intractable this situation will be unless a proper peace solution, a proper political solution, is found. And, you know, after eight years of what's been perceived as a handoff -- hands-off policy by the Bush administration, to see Barack Obama as president, on his first day, call all of the major leaders of the region, Israeli, Palestinian, Jordan and Egyptian, is a really big signal. And there is some word, although, I haven't confirmed it, and CNN hasn't yet, that there will be a Middle East envoy named and possibly sent there very quickly.
HARRIS: Well, Christine, as we talk here, we're going to see some pictures of President Obama leaving the prayer service this morning.
You know, your comments last night on global challenges for the new president, as always, very interesting. Let me start with Iran.
We know Iran was willing to help the United States after 9/11, then came the "axis of evil" speech and both sides sort of went to their corners, seemingly waiting for the bell to come out and fight. So the United States has a new president now. Both sides are waiting for that first signal.
Who makes that first call in that relationship?
AMANPOUR: Well, again, interestingly, the Iranians could say they made the first call, because President Ahmadinejad sent a letter directly after President Barack Obama was elected in November. And he has apparently sent another message in the wake of the inauguration.
Also, the Obama administration, in the last days, certainly during Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearings, talked about a new relationship with Iran trying engagement. Obama himself, as president, says that that is what he wants to do, as well.
And they've talked about, you know, having the U.S. bottom line in terms of all of the things they want to deal with Iran, but try to switch from what the Bush administration had, which was isolate Iran, load it with sanctions, give Iran the silent treatment, and expect it to do what you want it to do. The Obama administration is signaling that it wants to try engagement, while trying for those similar objectives, but to try to do it in a different way.
And from my reporting over the last -- certainly the last months, weeks, and even couple of years before the election, there is a long view being taken in it Iran by senior top officials right up to the top religious leadership there, the supreme leader, which is looking to change its relationship with the United States. And to that end, what President Obama said on the podium yesterday was really fascinating. He directly spoke to the Muslim world, and he talked about a different way forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sew conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
(APPLAUSE)
To those who claim to power through corruption and deceit, and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand, if you are willing to unclench your fist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: So, Tony, he again stated what many Americans and many American presidents have stated, that they are on the side of people around the world who choose freedom and democracy and justice. And there was an implicit warning to the leaders, perhaps the authoritarian leaders, the dictatorships in any part of the world, including the Islamic world, that they will be on the wrong side of history.
That has been the theme before, but what is different is that Barack Obama said that he would look for a new way forward, specifically with the Muslim world, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. In other words, not trying to dictate to that part of the world what it should do.
And, of course, that went a long way to sort of allaying the kind of feelings that have been in that part of the world during the so-called war on terror which was viewed as a war on Islam. But, of course, Obama, as well, very conscious of terrorism and how it must continue to be fought and defeated, and made direct mention of that, as well, in his inaugural address.
HARRIS: CNN Chief International Correspondent Christine Amanpour with us.
Christiane, great to see you. Thank you.
Your job, your money and your new president. Our Ali Velshi is on the airwaves right now, helping you cope in these difficult economic times.
We will talk to Ali in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: The economy is tumbling, but college tuition is on a rocket ride to new heights. Listen to this, up 268 percent over the last three decades. Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here.
Gerri, I think we all knew college was getting more expense, but 268 percent over the last few decades. The new administration's stimulus plan could - underline - could help students?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right, Tony.
Some good news coming here -- possibly, keep your fingers crossed - if this bill were to pass. First off, the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit, this is very important to parents, could be raised temporarily. Just to clarify, so you understand, a tax credit lowers your tax bill dollar for dollar. While a deduction shaves money off your taxable income, so a credit is far more valuable.
Now this bill would raise that credit from 1,800 bucks to 2,500 bucks, and you can use these credits not only toward tuition, but course materials like textbooks. You should know, income phase outs are being lifted, made higher, so more folks will qualify. That can be a very big difference.
HARRIS: What about making college more affordable for lower-income families?
WILLIS: There's also good news here. The Pell Grant, which you may be familiar with.
HARRIS: Oh, yeah.
WILLILS: It's a need-based grant that goes into low-income undergraduate students, and this bill would increases the amount a student could qualify for by up to 500 bucks. So in total, the student would be eligible for a maximum grant of $5,350. And it's estimated at 88,000 kids would be helped by this. So that's a very big number there.
HARRIS: What about Stafford loans?
WILLIS: Stafford loans, this is important.
HARRIS: Yeah.
WILLIS: This bill would increase the unsubsidized Stafford loan limits. And this isn't a grant. It's a loan, remember. A lot of people are having trouble getting loans right now. This is a government loan for dependent freshmen. The new limits are 7,500 bucks, for sophomores it is $8,500 and juniors and seniors it is now $9,500. These changes would be effective for loans on or after January of 2009. And look the fact that the unsubsidized Stafford may be increased is good news for students out there who don't have to rely on the private student loan market to supplement their loans, because the private market has virtually gone away.
What's more, the federal loans have cheaper interest rates. So to the degree that Staffords are made more available, that's a good thing for college students.
HARRIS: Well, and Gerri, it is a bill, which means it has to be passed.
WILLIS: That's right. It's not here yet.
HARRIS: Will Congress buy the president's plan? What do you think? WILLIS: Well, it is part of the stimulus bill, proposed by President Obama. Experts say that it's likely there will be a lot of pressure on Congress to act on this sooner, rather than later. Considering Congress is still in its honeymoon phase, expectation from experts we talked to is that the bill could be passed in a few weeks. Of course, we're going to follow it, let you know what happens, because kids out there are filing those faxes right now, and filling them out.
If you have any questions about student loans or any other money topic, e-mail me at Gerri @ cnn.com. We love to hear from you.
HARRIS: Outstanding. Greats tips as always. Thanks for the advice, Gerri.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
HARRIS: See you tomorrow.
WILLIS: Thank you.
HARRIS: And as the most serious credit crisis in decades rocks your finances, CNNmoney.com has some advice and answers. Check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis". That is at CNNmoney.com.
Shivering in the crowd, but living for the moment. A boy's letter puts him in the spotlight and gives him the chance of a lifetime.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Renewed concerns about the state of the economy took the market down big time in the worst inauguration day performance ever for the Dow industrials. Those fears are very much still in the marketplace today, and there is a lot of concern about one company in particular. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details about a company that is no longer king of the road.
Susan, good morning.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. We know this company well, GM, which held the title of world's number one automaker for nearly eight decades. Well, Toyota is now top dog, because it sold more vehicles than GM last year.
Keep in mind, though, that the Japanese carmaker says it's on track to post its first operating loss ever. It's rough out there. And it's not just automakers that are under pressure. Nearly 20,000 job cuts have been announced between yesterday and today. Some are from big names like Clear Channel, the communications business, United Airlines, and the world's largest miner, BH Billiton.
GM shares down 7.5 percent, over all, the Dow industrials are rebounding, but just modestly after yesterday's plunge. Right now, the blue chip average is up 51 points, about two-thirds of a percent. The Nasdaq is up 1 percent. But we saw the Nasdaq down 5 percent yesterday. Nowhere making up for what we lost yesterday, Tony.
HARRIS: That's a long way back.
LISOVICZ: Oh, yeah.
HARRIS: So, Susan, GM had to go begging hat in hand on those corporate jets the first time around. They got slapped around pretty good for that.
LISOVICZ: Yes, they did.
HARRIS: Yeah for money, for that government bailout. And it needs to get some of that money pretty quickly, here, I understand.
LISOVICZ: Oh, yes, top GM executives, Tony, warning that the company could run out of money before March 31st if it doesn't get the government's next cash injection. The Treasury giving GM more than $13 billion in three installments, the automaker expects the second installment within days. GM hoping - and confident that it will be able to present a plan for viability by the February 17th deadline. We'll see. The clock is ticking.
Tony, back to you.
All right, Susan, appreciate it. Thank you.
HARRIS: Here is the question. Will a second stimulus package revive the oh, so fragile economy? Find out what the nation is saying. CNN's latest economic poll releases in less than 30 minutes.
You wanted to mark your moment in history, and boy, did you. Thousands and thousands of inaugural iReports came into CNN. This is just one. Lynn Jones took this picture of her grandson, Merrick Dotson (ph) in Dallas, Texas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The parade of job cuts rolls on today. United Airlines, auto parts maker Eaton, Bose Electronics and Swedish telecom Erickson will cut a total of 10,000 jobs. Man! Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi is on CNN Radio today.
Let's see if we've got our wires. Ah, they're perfectly aligned!
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I got you.
Perfectly aligned.
HARRIS: Good to talk to you.
VELSHI: Welcome to the show.
HARRIS: Thank you. Thank you. I've got to ask you. The layoffs continue.
VELSHI: Yeah.
HARRIS: How concerned are your listeners about the worsening jobs picture, and are many wondering if their job could be next?
VELSHI: Yeah. That fear is there. And, you know, people speak with their wallet on this, Tony. People don't have to call in to tell me they're worried about it, what they do is they just don't spend.
HARRIS: Yeah.
VELSHI: The way they used to spend. That's the way we see it. So there is a combination of people not spending, because they're worried about their job and people not spending because they don't have the access to credit that they used to have.
Now, you take that together, and the question becomes, OK, I get we're in a bad situation. How much worse does it get? When does it start getting better? But ultimately, with Timothy Geithner, who you talked to Christine Romans about, at Congress right now at the Senate Finance Committee getting grilled for his nomination for Treasury secretary. What I would like an answer to is what do you do to create a job? What does the government do to create a job, what is the most efficient way of spending money to create jobs?
And there are a couple schools of thought on this, Tony. One is you cut taxes to companies, and they use that money to create jobs. The other one is you invest in things like infrastructure and create jobs directly. And the third one, is you get business to do what you're -- to carry out your priorities. So if you want more energy, alternative energy, you give them a credit if they create jobs in that industry, or they build a factory to, you know, create solar panels or wind turbines.
HARRIS: You subsidize the research there.
VELSHI: You subsidize the research and development of something you want to achieve, as opposed to a general tax cut. All of that is on the table.
HARRIS: I've got to tell you, I think this Geithner, you just mentioned him, I think this is an important confirmation hearing. If you want to know where your tax dollars are going to be spent moving forward with this administration. Now, one of the questions -- I hope it's asked and I need the answer to, and I believe maybe it has already. And we'll turn around some of the sound on it.
What do you think, Ali? Is he the right person to lead reform and police this financial industry when -- to be fair here, he was one of the regulators who should have headed off some of this mess?
VELSHI: He was on the inside.
HARRIS: Yeah.
VELSHI: In fact, I just got off a call with somebody who doesn't think he's the right guy for the job. Do you want the right guy -- is he the right guy, because he was inside and understands every last detail about this? Or does the fact that he was on the inside make him part of the problem, as opposed to part of the solution? I'll tell you, you're asking me, I think the learning curve on this one would be too great to have somebody who didn't fundamentally understand it.
So, you know, I've got some hope that he is the right guy for the job. He does seem to be very, very smart. I've heard him speak several times. But, you know, this is a drama that is unfolding by the day, and there is no script for this one, Tony. So I don't know.
HARRIS: There you go. I think you said it, no script. And, you know, it really feels like the clock is ticking on this.
VELSHI: Yeah, it really is. And that's the one thing to remember, Tony. We have to be careful to understand that this is serious. But we have rushed into some decisions, maybe they have been right, maybe they have been wrong. Let's let this play out a little bit, and let's get the right decision. Let's spend the money the right way.
HARRIS: And the former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said to me last week, if anyone tells you they know exactly what they're doing, don't believe them.
VELSHI: I agree. And when people ask me that, I say, I don't know. This thing changes every day.
HARRIS: OK, Ali, appreciate it.
VELSHI: Here is an interesting point to leave you with.
HARRIS: Sure.
VELSHI: Somebody said will Obama stick to his - one of my callers says, will Obama stick to his promises? Will he stick to what said he said he was going to do? And I wonder do you want somebody who sticks to what he going to do, or do you want somebody who can handle a story with no script. Who could ad lib through it? I don't know?
HARRIS: The pragmatic approach.
VELSHI: Yeah.
HARRIS: That's a good question. All right, Ali.
VELSHI: Lots of good questions coming in. Tony, good to talk to you, buddy.
HARRIS: Good to talk to you, man.
And back to CNN Radio, for Ali Velshi. And for us here on CNN, more than 9,000 of you - wow - shared your inaugural experience with CNN. Let us take a trip to CNN.com. The iReport desk there. And check in with Tyson Wheatley, "Tyson's Corner".
TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM, TYSON'S CORNER: Hey, Tony.
HARRIS: Tysons Corner is in Virginia, which I think was probably over -- overrun with people over the last few days.
Tyson, good to see you. WHEATLEY: Hello, Tony.
HARRIS: Why don't you sort through some of these iReports for us?
WHEATLEY: Yeah, let's start there. You know, it was a banner day, really, for CNN.com in a lot of ways yesterday. I got some figures here. CNN.com served up 26 million live video streams, pretty much making it the single largest live video event in Internet history.
One of the coolest features yesterday was, of course, this Facebook/cnn.com live mash-up, which allowed our readers to watch the inauguration on CNN.com and while interacting in real time with their online Facebook community.
Now, we heard from a blogger, his name is C.C. Chapman from Milford, Massachusetts. He was one of the millions yesterday doing this. And he shared his iReport -- he shared his experience with us on iReport.com and he called the event game-changing. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
C.C. CHAPMAN, IREPORTER: Pay attention. This changes television. This is a new day in the world. You know Barack talks about change? Well, guess what? CNN and Facebook heard. I'm impressed. Well done, guys, to everyone who figured it out.
And hey, to everybody. The last time I get to ever wear this shirt. 1/20/09. When I got it, it meant Bush's last day. Now it means something totally different. It's because of that guy. Right there! The Man, the president. I love it! He's president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHEATLEY: Now, Tony, Chapman's iReport was part of a record-breaking response yesterday on the site. More than 11,000 photos and videos were uploaded to the site yesterday. That pretty much smashes the previous record, which was election day. You know, many of these were images that came in from mobile devices as people were watching Barack Obama swear in from around the world. Now, rather than show you just one or two, I'm going to play this video --
HARRIS: Oh, how nice?
WHEATLEY: Yeah, let's just go ahead and listen to this, actually.
HARRIS: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA (voice over): To choose our better history, to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation. The God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
(APPLAUSE, CHEERING) (END VIDEO CLIP)
WHEATLEY: Tony, that was actually just a small fraction of the many we got yesterday. Rather than just point to one or two, we wanted to put them together in a video as a humble way to say thank you to our incredible, incredible viewers.
HARRIS: And more of those iReports are available if you go to CNN.com, correct?
WHEATLEY: IReport.com, yeah.
HARRIS: Awesome. That's good stuff. Tyson, appreciate it. Thank you.
WHEATLEY: Take care, Tony.
HARRIS: When we come back, Jacqui Jeras is going to join me. And we're going to talk fashion and weather together.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get a quick check of weather now. Jacqui Jeras is in the Severe Weather Center.
And, Jacqui, I think a lot of us around -particularly, the Northeast, Southeast, other parts of the country, know exactly what our friends in Washington, D.C. were feeling yesterday, because it was cold yesterday, it is cold again today.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is! It will be cold tomorrow.
HARRIS: Yes! It's winter! Get used to it.
JERAS: It was brutal, though. You know, people had hypothermia and frostbite on The Mall yesterday because it was so cold. Still feeling like 15 in Washington, D.C.
If you feel like you can complain about the cold in the South, you definitely have the right to do that, because the Arctic air is moving all the way down, even through South Florida.
The wind chill factor in Minneapolis and Atlanta had been about the same throughout the day. This is the biggest spread I've seen so far, but at one time they both said 6. Really cold. Not a lot of fun for a whole lot of people.
The jet stream has taken a nice dip on down to the South, that is allowing all that cold air to spill on in here. It is so cold that we're worried about it in South Florida. In fact, officials have opened up extra shelters because of the cold air. We've got frost advisories in place for late tonight and tomorrow morning, freeze warnings in place as well; worried about the citrus crops and the strawberries. They've been watering them trying to protect them early this morning, but high pressure is gripping this area. We've got clear skies and calm winds, that just allows all of the heat that's absorbed throughout the day to radiate back into space. And you got a whole lot of cold. That's what you're left with.
Across parts of the East, you can see the highs today of 20s up North, still some 40s here down to the South. We're lucky to even push 60 in Miami. Wind chill, by the way, this morning in Miami -- 37. Yeah! That is cold for those folks.
Now in contrast, it is still the story of the haves and have-nots. Check out the highs today in places like Dallas, Houston, even Denver, the Mile-High City today could even each 70 degrees. There is a beautiful picture for you in Denver. Could see that record high, the record is 70. I think we'll get really close to it. Staying nice and warm for you tomorrow in Denver, but we will watch the temperatures cool down. You'll see some snow believe it or not probably by the end of the week, probably by Friday.
Also out West, in terms of storm systems, man, is it quiet on the map today. This is the only one we've got, it is still offshore into the Pacific, starting to bring showers across parts of California. We expect to see snow push into the Sierras late tonight. This is going to stick around for the a couple of days, so that's will be our next storm system to watch. Everyone else across the East, Tony, can expect for the most part clear skies. So, at least it looks good. Even if it feels cold.
HARRIS: Right.
Jacqui will you help me here? I got into a little trouble in our NEWSROOM meeting this morning. We were talking about the first lady's dress yesterday.
JERAS: Yes.
HARRIS: Then day side events. Then the wonderful dress for the evening events. You know, the men in our meeting, ah, it's not big deal. And the women just slapped us up around the head and neck, because apparently this is a really big deal, what the first lady wore last night and yesterday.
JERAS: Yes.
HARRIS: So take a look here. We can describe some of these dresses here. Although I had a difficult time trying to figure out -- what was the color, Jacqui, of the day side dress? What was that color?
JERAS: Yes, there's been a little controversy about that one. Actually when I looked on different television screens when I was watching this across the newsroom yesterday, it looked much more gold on some, and then others had a little greenish hue.
HARRIS: Wait a second. Don't we have pictures of her moving in the dress? Why are we with still pictures?
JERAS: I don't know. I think you either loved it or you hated it. You know, we chatted a lot, Heidi Collins and I, earlier today.
HARRIS: Yeah. JERAS: You know, she loved it?
HARRIS: She loved it?
JERAS: I didn't so much. But I was a minority.
HARRIS: All right. I guess I should pay off a designer here. This is Isabel Toledo, who designed the daytime dress. And then there's the evening dress which I thought was absolutely fabulous, sort of off-the-shoulder gown.
JERAS: Yeah, I loved that one as well.
HARRIS: Hot.
JERAS: I think it's a great cut. It's very, very classic and looks very nice on her, I think.
HARRIS: OK, I guess the back story here is, this is -- I don't know anything about these designers. I guess it is a hot designer, he's really young, 26 years old, Jason Wu. Are you familiar with Jason?
JERAS: He's only been in the business for three years. So he's relatively new. Surprised to see somebody get that kind of attention. But, yeah, it's great.
HARRIS: Well, thank you for helping me through that.
JERAS: Sure.
HARRIS: I think I escaped without doing any further damage to my family name and reputation.
Jacqui, thank you.
JERAS: All right.
HARRIS: Still to come on the other side of the break here, nearly one week after US Airways Flight 1549 went down, divers hope to find that missing left engine. An update on the search and the investigation in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
