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Obama Urges Lawmakers to Adopt Economic Plan; Major Florida Insurance Company to Cease Property Insurance; Some States Hit Harder by Jobless Numbers; Leaders to Meet for World Economic Forum; John Updike Dead at 76
Aired January 27, 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: And you know you've been hearing about the switch, ad nauseum, really, to digital TV for years now. It is supposed to happen February 17. Most likely it won't. The House expected to follow the Senate and vote today to delay the change until June.
An estimated six and a half million households still aren't ready, and the government ran out of money to help people buy those converter boxes.
In the meantime, stay tuned and do not adjust your set. Why? Because CNN NEWSROOM continues right now, with Betty Nguyen.
BETTY NGUYEN, HOST: Live and in living color.
HARRIS: You rock!
NGUYEN: All right. Here you go.
So how far will the president go, in fact, to win votes for his economic rescue? All the way to Capitol Hill for closed-door meetings with the measure's biggest critics. We are live with give and take.
And it turns out hiring, salaries and bonuses aren't the only things being frozen these days. Cars are sliding. Power lines, they are snapping, all the way from Texas to Maryland. It is the storm of the year so far. And our Chad Myers, plus Jacqui Jeras are watching every move.
Hello, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We do have a lot of ground to cover, from some bipartisan talks on the stimulus package to a stunning announcement from State Farm Insurance. Also to a seemingly innocent and respectful wave and nod to the new president on inauguration day. Well, that cost a drum major his place in the band.
But first, selling the GOP on R&R. That's recovery and re- investment. President Obama's label for his economic stimulus plan. Eight hundred twenty-five billion dollars, give or take, worth of new federal spending and tax cuts. As we speak, Mr. Obama is on Capitol Hill, meeting not with Democrats, but with Republicans, who want a lot more tax cuts and a lot less spending. CNN's Brianna Keilar and Dana Bash are following all the lobbying today.
Brianna, let's start with you. Doesn't the House plan on voting on this thing tomorrow?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The plan is for there to be a vote tomorrow, Betty. And I'm actually going to step out of the view of the camera to give you a sense where we are and also to get out of the way of some of my colleagues.
But we're outside of the building where President Obama is meeting with House Republicans right now. And as expected, he addressed them, stressing how dire the economic situation is, saying that it's not well and it's deteriorating and that economists say, in order to avoid a huge increase in unemployment, there really needs to be an economic stimulus package passed and passed soon.
So after this, Betty, of course there's actually a question-and- answer session going on right now between House Republicans. We're expecting it to be very candid. And we're getting more details as I seek about exactly what's being asked.
But after President Obama meets with House Republicans here, he will be heading over to the other side of the Capitol, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, Brianna Keilar. On top of that, we'll be checking in with you. In the meantime, though, Dana Bash is over on the Senate side. So Dana, how's the battle shaping up there?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're waiting for President Obama to come over here to meet, as Brianna said, with Senate Republicans. But I can tell you, before I came here, Betty, I was over where Brianna is on the House side, speaking to several Republican congressmen as they were going into the meeting.
And, you know, there was not a lot of idea that there would be actual -- actual deals made in there. I mean, there were a lot of people who said, "Look" -- in fact one Republican congressman, I said, "Are you excited for the meeting?"
He said without missing a beat, "You mean, the photo op?"
So certainly there is an appreciation of the fact that President Obama is coming to meet with them. He's crossing the aisle and coming up Pennsylvania Avenue to meet with Republicans.
But, in terms of the big picture here on the House side, we do not expect, in talking to many House Republicans, that they, at the end of the day, are going to go for this. Unless something magical happens in the meeting that's going on as we speak. That always could happen. But as of now, talking to Republican after Republican, they say this is, as you said earlier, this is too big and there are not enough tax cuts to support this -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Dana Bash, thank you for that. And of course, we will keep watching those bargaining sessions and take you back to Capitol Hill whenever something happens.
In the meantime, though, we all know the economy is issue No. 1. But, for President Obama, foreign relations are also a top priority, in particular foreign relations that have been strained to the breaking point.
His newly-hired Middle East envoy has just begun a listening tour of the region, and he just gave his first formal sit-down interview as president to Al Arabiya television. Mr. Obama tells the world's Arabs and Muslims, quote, "Americans are not your enemy," and he lays out his vision of a future Palestinian state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it is possible for us to see a Palestinian state -- I'm not going to put a time frame on it -- that is contiguous, that allows freedom of movement for its people, that allows for trade with other countries, that allows the creation of businesses and commerce so that people have a better life.
And, look. I think anybody who has studied the region recognizes that the situation for the ordinary Palestinian in many cases has not improved. And the bottom line, in all these talks and all these conversations is, is a child in the Palestinian territories going to be better off? Do they have a future for themselves? And, is the child in Israel going to feel confident about his or her safety and security?
And if we can keep our focus on making their lives better and look forward and not simply think about all the conflicts and tragedies of the past, then I think that we have an opportunity to make real progress.
But it is not going to be easy, and that's why we've got George Mitchell going there. This is somebody with extraordinary patience, as well as extraordinary skill and that's what's going to be necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. So here's what we know. How is the Muslim world reacting to the president's remarks? Actually, it's what we want to know. And we also can expect closer diplomatic ties with nations the Bush administration keeps at arm's length. Is that something that's on the table? Well, we're going to hear more from the Al Arabiya interview this hour and next.
And in just a few minutes, CNN's Cal Perry weighs in from Beirut.
There is a new treasurer in town. And he is making some new rules about how your money is spent. Timothy Geithner says the treasury is taking President Obama's reforms to the bailout program a few stops further. They include watering down the influence of lobbyists for firms that get bailout money, keeping politics out of the funding decisions, and giving out money based strictly on investment criteria and facts. The goal is more accountability, transparency and oversight. Maybe less outrage and profiteering when it comes to those billions of dollars.
Well, the bailout, the handouts and the stimulus packages. CNN's Lou Dobbs pulls them apart, line by line, to separate the pork from what might really fix the economy. Don't miss Lou's line item veto. It's a special segment tonight on "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" at 7 Eastern.
Well, keep in mind, though, that despite all the firings, some companies are actually hiring. There are even jobs out there where you can make six figures without having to go back to school.
Gerri Willis has the lowdown on that for us within the half hour.
Meantime, hurricane season doesn't start for months, but for about a million Florida residents, a surprise storm just hit. State Farm Florida all of a sudden now says that it is leaving the property insurance business. So where does that leave homeowners?
Well, CNN's Brooke Bolduan has been working this story. And I think a lot of us were shocked when we saw that news had come across the wire today.
BROOKE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. We saw the wire come down. What do you think when you have, you know, you have hurricanes...
NGUYEN: Right.
BOLDUAN: ... exactly as you said, in Florida. And what do you do if you're a homeowner, especially if State Farm Florida is your insurance. It's important to point out State Farm Florida is a separate entity than State Farm. But it is the state's largest private insurer. And they say they have lost billions of dollars after the series of storms back in 2004. So much so that they had to borrow $750 million from State Farm Mutual. That's a loan that they still have not been able to repay.
So what does the company say here? They say in July, State Farm Florida filed for an overall homeowners insurance rate increase of 47.1 percent. The company emphasized the importance of this step in stabilizing State Farm Florida's financial condition. This filing was disapproved just recently, January 12, by the state of Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation.
Now, as a result, the big news coming out this morning that they would be pulling the plug on property insurance. So properties like what? Well, that's not just homes here. It's businesses. It's renters, condos, even churches under that kind of property umbrella.
So it doesn't affect, though, automobile, life, health or other financial products. We do have a couple statements I want to get to you. This is from the state insurance commissioner, Kevin McCarty out of Florida. And he says, "Of course, will do everything within my power to protect Florida consumers from unnecessary destabilization of the insurance market that this might cause and to ensure that Florida consumers are protected and have access to insurance at rates that are not excessive or unfairly discriminatory."
He went on in the statement. He says, "To help ease the transition of policies, Florida already has new companies who are eagerly looking to grow their business, and we will welcome the opportunity to add more customers. I encourage everyone to work closely with their agent to choose a new company that will offer needed coverage at a price you can afford."
Of course, Floridians thinking, what, about the bottom line there.
Now, the state of Florida, they have 90 days. You were talking when might this take effect?
NGUYEN: Right.
BOLDUAN: They actually have 90 days to approve the State Farm plan. And if it's approved in the state, they must then provide 180 days' notice to customers before any policies can be non-renewed. So this whole thing not final right now.
NGUYEN: But in the meantime, people are getting their bills. They're having to pay their premiums not knowing if that insurance is going to be there, what, in a few months from now.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And it's important to mention, of course, State Farm Florida, different entity from State Farm. It was created after Hurricane Andrew. But another major insurer is the state of Florida, its citizens, and that is the largest -- that is the state of Florida. And so there are other insurance companies that folks could reach out to, you know, if State Farm Florida's withholding doesn't go through.
NGUYEN: Yes, there's a lot to be decided.
BOLDUAN: Scary, though.
NGUYEN: Especially for those folks who need insurance and now have the possibility of not having it.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: OK. Thank you so much for that, Brooke.
BOLDUAN: Sure.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about this, because slipping and sliding across Oklahoma to show you. It has been a tough day for travelers in that state, as ice coats roads and highways. At least two traffic deaths are blamed on the big storm, and all 77 counties in Oklahoma are under a state of emergency.
Nearly two dozen other states from Texas to the East Coast are also getting pounded by this big winter storm as it moves east. It's expected to dump heavy snow from Missouri to Maine. Parts of New England could get up to a foot.
So let's find out more about all of this. Chad Myers is tracking this big storm for us in the CNN severe winter center.
And Chad, you know, it is January. We do expect it, but it seems like it's been extra dose of freezing weather this time of year.
(WEATHER REPORT)
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right. Our iReporters have been in these areas when we haven't been able to get to some of them. So thanks for bringing in some beautiful shots.
This one is from Starlenhe Martinez from Neosho, Missouri. And she says that a car slid on a patchy spot of ice and slid into her home. Yes. Down the hillside. You can see quite a bit of damage there to the house. But believe it or not, the car is OK. Nobody was home except for the dog, which may have suffered a broken leg. We hope your dog is OK, Starlenhe.
Thank you very much for sending us those iReports. And hopefully, you will send us some iReports, as well: IReport.com -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes. Just stay safe doing it.
JERAS: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: OK. Thank you, Jacqui.
Well, cutting back on the glitz and glamour is a whole different theme this year as the World Economic Forum gets set to begin in Davos, Switzerland. And the global recession is to blame.
CNN's Richard Quest will check in from Davos.
And how would you like to be the proud mom or dad of eight new babies? Yes, you heard it right. A California woman has given birth to octuplets. We'll find out how the six boys and two girls are doing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: As you see there, there are companies out there that are actually hiring. Some of them even pay six figures. And you don't have to go back to school and add another degree to your resume. Gerri Willis has the scoop for us in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, it's no secret that December was a terrible month for workers in the U.S. But things may have been even worse than originally thought, when you look at individual states.
Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with more on this.
All right, so bring us the bad news.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're in the thick of it, Betty, unfortunately. In December in particular, we saw a spike in unemployment, every state of the union and the District of Columbia. Not only a spike from the month before, but also from the year before.
This according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They're the guys, the people, that keep these kind of statistics. And it's the first time, they say, since they began keeping records 30 years ago.
No surprise that Michigan and Rhode Island once again led the nation's jobless rates: 10.6 percent for Michigan, 10 percent for Rhode Island. And of course, December is the month...
NGUYEN: Hey, Susan, I'm going to have to interrupt you, because your microphone is not putting out a very good signal right now. It's kind of hard to understand you. We'll try to get back with you, try to get that cleared up.
LISOVICZ: OK.
NGUYEN: But in the meantime, no bonus this year? No Bono, no Angelina, either? A lot of things you're not getting. Well, you can forget the A-list celebrities and the glitz and glamour that goes with, sometimes, the World Economic Forum, as we've seen it as of late.
But it is opening today in Davos, Switzerland. With the world locked in a recession, the focus is on figuring out how to turn things around.
Well, CNN's Richard Quest is there.
And as we talked about, Richard, usually it's been a big celebrity affair. Not the case this year.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Betty. There is a totally different tone here. The mood is more somber. There's a much more frugal atmosphere. There aren't as many parties. One Swiss newspaper estimates that the spending on parties is down by at least 30 percent.
Now for regulars who come here to Davos, they will say that's a good thing. The Brangelinas of this world, if you like, hijacked this event. This event was always a little more low key. It was always about economics and great thinkers, the pragmatists, the philosophical.
And what people like Rick Goings of Tupperware told me when I saw them today, I wanted to know why were they here? If things were so bad, if the economy was so dreadful, weren't people better off being at their desks, not at Davos?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK GOINGS, CEO, TUPPERWARE: ... passport, but I've lived and worked in Europe. I've lived and worked in Hong Kong, and when I went back to the -- to the U.S., it was like a strange place for me. Most Americans don't get it on a global basis. But they're learning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: What, of course -- what, of course, he was saying there is what we're hearing time and again. Individual countries, people in individual parts of the world believe that they are the ones most affected, but the reality is, of course, this is an interconnected web, Betty. And what we'll be hearing in Davos is how what happens where you are affects me, what happens where I am affects them.
NGUYEN: Richard, let me ask you this. With all those minds meeting there in Davos, is there a sense of confidence that they can come up with some kind of answer to this financial mess that we're in?
QUEST: How I wish I could say yes. Unfortunately, I must say no. The word I hear again is "solutions," "solutions," "solutions," "solutions." it's all everybody talks about, is looking for "solutions."
And what that tells me is that nobody has the solutions. What they are saying to me and what I'm telling you, is that everybody says they are throwing everything, including the kitchen sink, at the problem. But nobody has yet come up with the answer, if you like, the magic bullet.
NGUYEN: So a lot of talk and very few answers. All right, Richard Quest. Hopefully, things will turn around and maybe in the next few days we'll see some answers come out of there. We can always be hopeful. Thank you.
Well, maybe you thought the "help wanted" sign was an endangered species? But there are some companies out there that really do need help and are willing to pay good money for it, even six figures. Gerri Willis will fill us in.
And a California mom goes in the hospital to deliver seven babies, but her labor of love doesn't end there. She makes history.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, CNN has just confirmed that author John Updike has died. He was 76 years old. Passed away this morning after battling lung cancer.
Many of you may remember him. He is a political -- or not a political, but a Pulitzer-Prize-winning author known for the "Rabbit" series, also "The Witches of Eastwick." In fact, some regard him as one of the greatest and more prolific writers in modern American letters. Again, the author John Updike dead at the age of 76 after battling lung cancer.
So we've been showing you some companies that are actually putting people on their payrolls right now. There are even places where you can earn six figures without having to go back to school.
Here's CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Some 71,000 jobs have been eliminated this year and thousands more just this morning. If you're looking for a job, you may be wondering which vocations pay well. PayScale.com came up with a list of six-figure jobs with education requirements that won't send you back to school for four years.
To be clear, you may not make 100 grand immediately, but you'll have a good shot at a six-figure income if you're a top performer.
Here they are. Air traffic controllers can earn up to $186,000 a year once you get through the FAA training, drug screening and background checks. This is a job for people with the steadiest of nerves.
Plumbers, pipe fitters, steam fitters can make up to $130,000 if you can put up with the late hours. You'll need an apprenticeship, technical college or community college training, but the good news is there will be shortages in the future.
Police detectives can earn up to $110,000, are required to log one to two years of college coursework. Now, the job is dangerous and stressful. \ Among the many health care jobs in the high-paying category are ultrasound technicians, who can earn up to $110,000. Better yet this vocation is recession-proof. Training is done in hospitals.
Another in-demand vocation, court reporters. These are government jobs that can pay up to $104,000. The down side: getting down testimony verbatim, well, it can be stressful. The job requires a minimum of two years of training.
Finding a new job that pays well is never easy, but if you're flexible and tailor your search to vocations that are in demand, you have a better shot at landing a job.
Gerri Willis, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And remember, Gerri shares her money secrets every weekend. Check out "YOUR BOTTOM LINE," Saturday morning at 9 Eastern right here on CNN. Saturdays and Sundays at 3:30 Eastern on HLN. Talk about sharing secrets. Listen to this. An MP3 player spilled a few about the American military. Yes, the kind of info that no one needs to see. So how does something like this end up in a thrift store?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Want to show you some live pictures right now as we talk about the $825 billion question: Can President Obama sell skeptical Republicans on his economic recovery and reinvestment plan? Well, as we've been reporting, the president is behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, lobbying House and Senate Republicans -- no Democrats -- for what will likely be the biggest single piece of legislation in U.S. history.
Ahead of those meetings though, Republicans in the House were closing ranks against the plan. They want a lot more tax cuts and a lot less new federal spending. And we are waiting for the president to emerge from those closed-door meetings, and we of course will be watching that closely, especially to see if he will step up to the microphone and make a statement.
In the meantime, though, the president is also reaching out to the Muslim world in his first one-on-one interview since taking office. Now Mr. Bush -- or Mr. Obama, I should say, tells Al Arabiya TV that he'll have a policy based on listening, respect and common ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well- being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be a language of respect. I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The largest one.
OBAMA: In the largest one, Indonesia. And so, what I want to communicate is the fact that --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right, we are going to break in because we are watching right now as President Obama steps out of those closed-door meetings. We hear him speaking. Let's take a listen if we can.
OBAMA: Obviously, the news over the last couple of days, the number of layoffs that are taking place all across the country has just underscored how severe this recession is, how urgent it is that we act. I recognize that we're not going to get 100 percent support, but I think everybody there felt good about, that I was willing to explain how we put the package together, how we were thinking about it and that we continue to welcome some good ideas. All right?
(CROSSTALK) NGUYEN: All right, there you have it, President Obama coming out of that closed-door meeting with House Republicans, talking about the fact that not everyone will have 100 percent support for this economic stimulus plan, but he did explain how they got to the roots of it. Republicans obviously are having some issues with it. Some of that dealing with they want more tax cuts and less spending in it.
And we have CNN's Dana Bash there on the Hill. Dana, he is headed toward Senate Republicans. You are outside some of those doors. What do you expect on that end?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I think it actually will be a little bit of a different dynamic from Senate Republicans and House Republicans. And here's why. This meeting that Barack Obama had just moments ago with House Republicans is certainly important in terms of the optics of what he promised in the campaign, and that is to meet with the Republicans in the House, and here's John boehner. Let's listen to what he has to say.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: Clearly, there are some differences that were expressed with regard to the economic rescue package. I think we both share A sincere belief that we have to have a plan that works, that will revive our economy, create jobs and help preserve jobs in our country.
But I think our members enjoyed the conversation. I think the president enjoyed the conversation and I look forward to continuing to work with him to improve this package in the coming days so that it is a package that will work for American families, small businesses and our overall economy.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), REPUBLICAN WHIP: The most encouraging statement I think the president made today was the fact that he had no pride of authorship in this bill. We take that to mean that tomorrow's vote is going the first step in the process, only the beginning, and we intend to take the president at his word and to continue to refine what it is that the House Republicans have put forth on Friday as our plan.
We are going to meet now as a working group just after this to do just that, as the leader said to produce ideas that actually begin to preserve the job that we have and create new ones. We're going to work very hard, obviously, on the spending issue as well, because we feel that so much of the spending that's in the bill, frankly, although may be laudable in and of itself, has no place in the stimulus bill, which ought to be focused like a razor on the preservation, protection and creation of jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: House Republicans sincerely appreciate the president coming and meeting with us. We are inspired and challenged to work harder. I think his biggest challenge to us is that he says it is most important that Republicans and Democrats are working together. This is an unprecedented time that we face in our economy, and that it really is going to take Republicans and Democrats working together. And the challenge, as we move forward really is to make sure that the House Democrats, the leadership in the House, is reaching out to us in a similar fashion. We have our ideas, we have solutions that will help homeowners, that will help the taxpayers of this country and really help the small businesses, which we know are the job creators in this country. And we are anxious to work with the house Democrats on a package that will really move this country forward.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN: Mike Pence, conference chairman. We just had a cordial, substantive and vigorous dialogue with the president of the United States. We are grateful that he would come in this kind of environment and respond to questions and listen to proposals by House Republicans. We are grateful for the outreach from the White House, and we take as genuine the president's desire to set partisan differences aside and draw on the best ideas in the Congress to deal with this very real crisis in our economy.
But as grateful as we are for the president's spirit, as I told him personally, House Democrats have completely ignored the president's call for bipartisan cooperation. The bill that is scheduled to come to the floor this week will come to the floor without any consultation among House Republicans and with categorical opposition to the kind of Republican solutions that we believe are necessary to truly get this economy moving again.
The bill that is coming to the floor tomorrow, rather than being a balanced and careful bipartisan measure, where all sides have brought their ideas forward, the bill that House Democrats will bring to the floor tomorrow will literally be a catch-all of traditional pet programs and more government. The only thing it will stimulate is more government and more debt, and the president heard that message today.
But he also heard a message from House Republicans that the door of our conference will stay open to this president. We are grateful for his outreach. We are grateful for the spirit of bipartisanship he is challenging this Congress to embrace. And we hope as this legislation and other legislation moves forward, that the president's rhetoric will become a reality in the way that we formulate the laws of this nation.
BOEHNER: We'll take up questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Boehner, did you find any common ground? Was there any common ground between you and the president?
BOEHNER: Well, I think the agreement over some of the tax cuts that are in the package, we're clearly in agreement with that. It's just that we don't think the tax package is large enough. And secondly, you know, the concern over spending. The president did say he has some concerns over some of the spending proposals that he sees in this bill. And so, those are the two areas where there was common ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you speak about the contraception problems that you had? BOEHNER: That issue was not brought up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Leader, when talking with him in this capacity, I mean, is it a point where -- I mean, you talk about matching word to deed here, but, I mean, was there anything that you saw in this meeting where you saw evidence of the deed at this point?
BOEHNER: The president is sincere in wanting to work with us, wanting to hear our ideas and trying to find some common ground. He said that he knows, and we know, that there are going to be some ideological differences. We certainly expect that. But I do think that the president is sincere in wanting to work with us to try to minimize those differences so that we can get a bill that works and help the American people. Thanks. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Boehner --
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: OK, we have been listening to Republican House leaders there speaking after meeting behind closed doors with President Obama dealing with this $825 billion economic stimulus plan. At issue are some of the tax cuts in it and some of the spending, as you just heard that there.
Now, from this area we will see President Obama move to Senate Republicans. They will have a closed-door meeting as well. And our Dana Bash is standing by outside of that. And Dana, do we expect to see some of the same issues, I guess bantered about, argued, in front of the president when it comes to that meeting?
BASH: Absolutely. I think that in terms of the philosophical or ideological differences that you just heard one of the Republican Congressman actually, the Republican leader, John Boehner, talk about, that is the same over here on the Senate side among Senate Republicans. I think the difference is that the bottom line is in terms of the kind of approach and the kind of message that Barack Obama wants to send in terms of having a bipartisan vote. I think he's much more likely to find it here on the Senate side.
In fact, he came in -- both Obama administration officials and Democrats here said that their goal, their goal at the end of the day was to have this about a 70-vote margin in this stimulus package in the Senate. That means that he would have to get at least a dozen Republicans. And right now, at this very moment, the way this bill is written, as you have been talking about, with a lot of spending, and not from the Republican point of view as much as they want on tax cuts, it's unclear if that's going to happen. But it is a long way from being done here in the Senate.
In fact, as we speak, Betty, they are in the key committee, Senate Finance Committee. They are currently going through this line by line and writing the bill over here. So, this is just the beginning of the process, but I think in terms of the tone and the tenor, you just heard the House Republican leadership come out and say how much they appreciate Barack Obama coming here. But at the end of the day when the votes are cast, unless something, again, magical happened in there, and it didn't sound like it did, those Republicans you just heard from are very likely to still vote no because they don't agree with it, despite the fact that Barack Obama is making an effort. And I think we are expecting the president to come here.
NGUYEN: Yes, we see him right now walking up, President Obama meeting very shortly with Senate Republicans. And as he does, Dana, let me ask you this. We heard this from House leaders there that they were very grateful to this meeting. And you talked about it just moments ago. Is this more just a show of goodwill? I mean, how much will get done? Actually...
OBAMA: Hello, everybody.
NGUYEN: ... hold up. Let's listen to the president here (INAUDIBLE).
OBAMA: We had a very constructive meeting with the House members, members of the Republican caucus. I'm a little bit late for my Senate colleagues, former Senate colleagues. And the main message I have is that the statistics every day underscore the urgency of the economic situation. The American people expect action.
They want us to put together a recovery package that puts people back to work, that creates investments that assure our long-term energy independence, an effective health care system, an education system that works. They want our infrastructure rebuilt, and they want it done wisely so that we're not wasting taxpayer money.
As I explained to the Republican House caucus and I will explain to my former Senate colleagues, the recovery package that we've proposed and is moving its way through Congress is just one leg in a multi-legged stool. We're still going to have to have much better financial regulation. We've got to get credit flowing again. We're going to have to deal with the troubled assets that many banks are still carrying and that make the -- that have locked up the credit system.
We're going to have to coordinate with other countries because we now have a global problem. I am absolutely confident that we can deal with these issues, but the key right now is to make sure that we keep politics to a minimum. There are some legitimate philosophical differences with parts of my plan that the Republicans have, and I respect that.
In some cases, they may just not be as familiar with what's in the package as I would like. I don't expect 100 percent agreement from my Republican colleagues, but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now. All right?
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: There we heard President Obama saying that the American people expect action, and while there are some philosophical differences, he does not expect a 100 percent agreement there. CNN's Dana Bash is standing outside as this closed-door meeting is about to begin. And Dana, as I was asking earlier and we've been listening to Republican leaders, many of them are saying this is a wonderful thing that he's doing. It is a goodwill gesture. But the big question here is, how much of a difference will it make, especially when these GOP leaders air their concerns? Is it really going to change the economic stimulus plan that much?
BASH: You know what? It is very -- to be honest with you, it is very unlikely. And forgive me, you see that where I am right now, I'm kind of in a sea of reporters, and they just finished up taking the pictures of Barack Obama coming here.
But Betty, you know, it is very unlikely at the end of the day, as of now, that it is going to make much of a change. And let me just give you a window into what happened before this meeting with House Republicans and Barack Obama. There was an earlier meeting of all House Republicans, and the leader, you just heard earlier, John Boehner, and others urged all of their colleagues to vote no.
Now, the reality is, they probably didn't have to push them very hard because most Republicans were already going to vote no. But that just kind of gives you a reality check as to what's going on here. You certainly have certainly a goodwill, you have, as one Republican Congressman told me earlier, a nice photo-op, and as President Obama just said, a nice exchange of ideas that, to be honest with you, didn't happen very much in the past between the Republican president and Democrats in the House.
So that is new in the terms of the tone and the tenor. But in terms of the hard votes, whether President Obama is going to be able to lure any Republican votes to vote for his stimulus package, at this point, doesn't seem very likely -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Dana Bash, thank you for that, Dana. We'll check in with you.
In the meantime, let's take you back to CNN's Brianna Keilar. She has been following this as well. And, Brianna, I understand in that meeting earlier with House Republicans, one of the issues of course was the tax cuts, and that was something that you got information from, one of the aides, that maybe Mr. Obama isn't going to budge on that.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. And Republicans, on one hand, they don't think there are enough tax cuts, but they also don't like the way President Obama and Democrats have structured this tax cut. And it is the tax cut that he campaigned on through -- or on the campaign trail, a promise that he made on the campaign trail.
Now, I want to tell you about a quote, and I have to tell you this is coming from a Republican aide who was inside of the meeting, so keep in mind we may hear kind of a different story from the Obama team on this. But this issue of, can we find common ground on how we structure this tax cut came up. And according to this Republican aide, President Obama said, "Feel free to whack me over the head because I probably will not compromise on that part."
So, on one hand, you have Republican leaders here on the House side of things, Betty, saying they're very grateful for this meeting. They're glad he's listening to their ideas. But obviously, as expected, certainly no breakthrough and no breakthrough we can tell at this point that will garner Republican votes when this issue comes to the floor tomorrow.
NGUYEN: Yes, there are some major differences still at hand. All right, Brianna Keilar joining us live. Thank you, Brianna. And of course, we're going to continue to follow the president as he pushes his economic stimulus plan on Capitol Hill. Stay right here. You're watching CNN.
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NGUYEN: Well, do you remember these little guys? They're the first set of living octuplets born in the U.S. in 1998. All but one of them survived. The seven turned 10 years old in December. And to no surprise, their mother says the delivery was not easy.
Well, we are sure a California mom can relate. Doctors say she delivered these second live set of octuplets ever born in the United States. The medical team had prepared for seven babies, and that came in handy yesterday when they discovered, oh, hey, there's one more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. KAREN MAPLES, KAISER PERMANENTE BELLFLOWER MEDICAL CENTER: We made sure that we were prepared by doing some drills, some preliminary dry rubs to make sure that we had everything in place for these seven babies. But lo and behold, after we got to baby g, which is what we expected, we were surprised by the discovery of a baby h. And that was the eighth baby that we delivered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And hWhat a surprise that had to be. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here. All right, Elizabeth, how is mom and all those babies?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're told that they're all doing very well.
NGUYEN: Good, good.
COHEN: Yes. We're told that they're all doing well. Eight babies. Three of them need breathing assistance. The other five are doing well, we're told, without breathing assistance. All of them are in the neonatal intensive care unit. We're also told they had 46 people in that delivery room to help with the birth and then to monitor the babies and get them to the NICU.
These babies were born ten weeks early. And let's take a look at their weights, because the range -- there's quite a range. Look at the boys. They were between 1.5 pounds and 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Three pounds, 4 ounces is a good size for a baby born ten weeks early with seven siblings in there with him. He probably sucked some of the nutrition from the siblings.
NGUYEN: I would think so.
COHEN: And then the two girls were -- there's a little bit less of a range there, one was 2 pounds 12 ounces and one was 2 pounds, 8 ounces.
NGUYEN: They held their own.
COHEN; They held their own. They did pretty well. They did pretty well. Now, the hospital is having another press conference at 2:00 today. We don't know what they're going to say, but they said they're going to update us. So, the medical team here at CNN will be monitoring that.
NGUYEN: All right. When you hear the story of multiple babies, you wondered, OK, especially I mean when you get up to the number eight, how does this happen? Is this a natural thing? Did they take drugs, you know, to have as many babies?
COHEN: It's entirely unnatural. Right. It's entirely a -- this is not a "mommy and a daddy love each other very much" situation. This is people using artificial -- using fertility assistance, we can say.
And I want to say this with great sensitivity. But we did talk to a lot of other fertility doctors who said, you know, we don't want this to happen. Of course, it's always joyful when there's a birth of any baby. But we want women to have one baby or two babies, or maybe at the most three babies.
It is risky for both mom and babies to have this order of multiples. And fertility doctors work very hard to not have eight babies. And they said that something didn't go quite right here, something -- that this shouldn't happen.
NGUYEN: Yes. And it can be risky, so that's another reason why they're very concerned, when women have so many babies at one time. Thank you for that. We do appreciate it.
All right, so she couldn't walk without being winded. It was a struggle just to tie her shoes. But that was two years ago. Now 200 pounds lighter, Karen Daniels is flying high and following her dreams. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at her weight-loss journey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Karen Daniels in a hot-air balloon thousands of feet in the air above the Arizona desert. Who would have thought? Certainly not her. KAREN DANIELS, LOST 200 POUNDS: I was 67 inches around on my butt, and 65 inches tall. So I was two inches wider around than tall. So I think -- I don't know. I think I'd be pretty -- I'd probably fill that.
GUPTA: Two years ago her fitness trainer, Bill Crawford, remembers seeing a woman in desperate need of help.
BILL CRAWFORD, FITNESS TRAINER: When Karen first walked in the door, she weighed 375 pounds, and she could barely make it from the car to the front door. And I knew that just making to the front door of a fitness center, someone that presented like Karen was a big deal.
GUPTA: After a strict diet and a grueling workout routine, she's now 200 pounds lighter. And it was time for Karen to live out her dream.
DANIELS: Oh, my God, this is awesome.
GUPTA: And she allowed us to come along for the ride.
DANIELS: Oh, it's so neat. It's so -- words can't even describe this. I dedicated and committed myself that I was going to change my life. And every ounce of sweat, every ounce of pain, every crying session is worth 100 times that.
GUPTA: A life-changing adventure in so many ways.
DANIELS: If they came out with a pill today, would I go back in time and take that pill? You know, to lose the weight? And I honestly don't think I would, because I've learned so much.
GUPTA: Karen hopes to lose 50 more pounds. And when she does, watch out. She'll be taking to the skies again, this time in a helicopter.
DANIELS: So worth it. So worth it.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: We're going to give you a close-up look at the president's new digs, take you inside the real West Wing next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, Boeing's long-delayed Dreamliner is ready for takeoff. Kind of. Flight tests are set to start in the next few months. But the six test planes will go up with some temporary or improperly installed parts. Seems some fasteners on the 787 are screwed up, but Boeing says they're too hard to get to right now and aren't a safety issue. As you'd hope, the planes will be refurbished and the fasteners replaced before any airlines take delivery.
Talk about a suspension of disbelief. An Ohio firefighter who nodded and gave President Obama a slight wave in the inaugural parade banned from his marching band for six months. A week after the incident, he still tears up but says he probably wouldn't do anything differently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF JOHN COLEMAN, OHIO FIREFIGHTER, DRUM MAJOR: I just had to glance over. Made eye contact with the president. And just gave a nod of, you know, that -- acknowledging him, and then just a slight wave. With the president, you know, I could not just ignore him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: His band leader, though, calls it conduct unbecoming that violated decorum required of a military parade.
Now, the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, well, that starts right now.
