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Viewer Reaction on "Pork" Definition; Major Averages Rally Slightly on Wall Street; Civil Engineers Give American Roads and Infrastructures Failing Grades; Professor Morici Answers Questions on the Economy; President Meets With National Business Leaders
Aired January 28, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Facing his first test now, President Obama's stimulus package up for a vote in the House. We look at what the plan can do for you.
Wicked winter storms, accidents, widespread. 19 deaths and thousands of people may be in the dark for days. It is Wednesday, January 28th, I'm Heidi Collins, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Count down on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers just hours away now from voting on President Obama's stimulus package. The goal of the $825 billion plan is to shore up the sinking economy. The president calls the crisis urgent. Republicans say their rescue plan is bloated. CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar begins our coverage this morning. Hi, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi, if Barack Obama's visit here yesterday to visit House republicans and Senate republicans went over very well in terms of setting a bipartisan tone. You heard republicans saying they were grateful for the visit. That said, their being grateful, that sentiment, not expected to translate into votes tonight when the house votes on this economic stimulus package.
Here's what President Obama said after meeting with House republicans yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: I recognize that we're not going to get 100 percent of 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: You heard him say not expecting 100 percent support, but really today in the House, when it comes to republicans, we're hearing from republican aides that votes from republicans for this could rank in the single digits. So really not much support at all. We have seen democrats over the last two days leading up to this vote scrapping a couple of items that republicans said they didn't like.
$200 million for contraception for low-income Americans. $200 for grass for the National Mall. But when it comes to the big issues, making less spending overall, increasing tax cuts, changing the structure of the tax cuts, that's not happening. And those are the big hang ups for republicans. This is what John Boehner, the top republican in the House said after that meeting yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOH BOEHNER (R), OHIO: Clearly, there are some differences that were expressed with regard to the economic rescue package. I think we both share 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, House republicans are looking toward, not this vote today but farther into the future. This will go over to the Senate next, and they are hoping with this no vote today, that solid no vote today, to get some changes in the Senate, Heidi, because it's clear they're not going to get any of these big changes today.
COLLINS: All right. Yes, and I thought the "Washington Post" had a great headline that said the republicans are smiling but they're not buying.
KEILAR: Exactly.
COLLINS: Do appreciate that.
The proposed stimulus plan, yes it's a lot to digest. So is there anything you don't get? Well, later this hour, an economist is here to answer your questions. Just e-mail us at cnnnewsroom.com.
Sobering measures of the economy this hour on Capitol Hill. The Senate budget committee will be crunching numbers and hearing testimony. At the top of the list, the director of the Congressional Budget Office. He has told lawmakers that without action, the U.S. will enter, "the most severe downturn in a lifetime of anybody in this room." And one of the greatest hardships of the economy, of course, job losses.
Millions of Americans are struggling to get by without a paycheck now. And more companies are finding themselves sinking deeper into the red. Christine Romans is part of the CNN money team, she's joining us now from New York with some profound comments there.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's actually right. And you know, something so interesting here about the earnings season, this is when these companies come out and they report to their shareholders how they're doing, how their profits are, whether - you know, whether they see things doing better or worse in the quarters going forward.
And so with those reports, Heidi, they're coming out and they're saying we have to layoff workers. So as we go on the next few days and even the next couple of weeks, I think you're going to continue to see companies using this opportunity to tell people that they're laying off workers.
And we've heard from a lot of different kinds of companies, Corning, 3500 workers, Baker Hughes. This is an oil services company. You know, Target, which is up there in Minnesota, Best Buy also in Minnesota. Although they're not saying exactly how many jobs they're going to cut. But it was a tough day in the twin cities and Richfield and up there in Minnesota, where some good-paying jobs have been lost here in the past few days.
Nav Star International, Volvo, Weyerhaeuser, that's the company we told you about that has forest products mills. A couple of those mills will be closing. IBM also in the process of laying off workers, although they're not saying exactly how many. But they have been notifying workers yesterday. And today. Pretty much across the board, you're seeing these layoffs, and you're hearing different states start to tell us what their unemployment rates are, and how those unemployment rates are going up.
One thing, Heidi, I keep hearing from people is why is the stock market been up for five days if it is a blood bath in the labor market for the past few days? And it's a very, very good question. The reason is the stock market kind of looks forward. It's kind of a leading indicator, they say, and the labor market is a lagging indicator. The labor market is kind of slightly behind behind the scenes. You've got CEOs and people making those decisions who are watching what is happening real-time and then a little bit later is when they have to cut their workers.
And the stock market already knew that this was going to be a really bad fourth quarter. The stock market already kind of anticipated that things were going to be awful. And now it's kind of looking slightly ahead. So that's why there is that disconnect. Some people are saying, wait, is Wall Street sharing all these job cuts? They've kind of looked beyond it a little bit. And I think that's where the bottom line is there.
COLLINS: Great explaining there. All right. Very good.
ROMANS: Sure.
COLLINS: CNN's Christine Romans, thank you.
The nation's deep recession, the top concern for economic policy makers today. The Federal Reserve expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged, at its current record low. In fact, economists say the fed will probably leave rates at that level through the rest of this year.
Checking out the Dow now. Big board there, as you see, and somewhat to what Christine was saying, we are up by double digits. We are above the 8,000 mark, as well by about 268 points so we continue to follow those numbers for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Moving closer to having a full cabinet now, you're looking live at the Senate judiciary committee. They are getting ready to vote on the nomination of Eric Holder. This will be the final vote now. President Obama's choice for attorney general.
First up, the full Senate still has to vote on Holder's nomination. The same story though for Retired Admiral Dennis Blair. The Senate Intelligence Committee voting on his nomination for director of national intelligence.
The Obama administration, day nine, this hour the President is due to meet with business leaders. The topic, of course, the economy. That will also be the focus of his comments next hour. And then at 3:30 Eastern, the President turns to the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war and his promised withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Expected to be at the Pentagon meeting, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the president's senior uniformed military advisors.
Secretary Gates spent Tuesday on Capitol Hill answering questions from lawmakers on the efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. And CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us with more now on that topic. Hey there, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, again, Heidi. Well about 3:30 this afternoon, we expect President Obama to walk up the steps of the Pentagon. We think that the snow and ice will be swept away for him. Make a quick left turn inside the building, and be ushered into the Tank. The secure conference room where he, for the first time, will sit down with the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary Gates of very important photo op to show to the world a young new president meeting with his top military advisors.
But there will also be plenty of substance. The chiefs are set to brief the president on the latest updates in both the wars, as you say, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Afghanistan may well top the list, because just yesterday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said Afghanistan, "grows more perilous each day." And that is a very significant concern.
They're trying to find an additional total 30,000 troops to send to that war, doubling the size of the U.S. force, but that is going to take some time. And they're also trying, of course, to get NATO and the allies to also contribute more troops and billions of dollars in aid and reconstruction. But without security, that aid may not be forthcoming, and still with the worldwide economic worldwide downturn, the billions of dollars it's going to cost to fix Afghanistan is going to be very problematic. Heidi.
COLLINS: So where exactly do you think, Barbara, in looking at all of this, you have covered it for a very long time, will be the absolute first priority regarding these two situations in Iraq and Afghanistan?
STARR: Well, for the chiefs, let's be - you know, they understand the diplomatic side of the house. But they, of course, are the military. They are looking to tell the president when they can send more troops to Afghanistan, and when they can begin to feel comfortable having a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Many people here in this building are saying, that's all not set in stone. There's a lot of talk, there's a lot of chatter, but there is still quite a distance to go in trying to exactly come up with that construct.
Finding those additional troops to send to Afghanistan. They hope to do it fairly soon. But it still could be a long time before those troops are trained, ready, and on the ground in that war zone, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, thanks.
Shoring up a fragile cease-fire in Gaza, that is a priority for the new U.S. envoy to the Middle East. George Mitchell arrived in Israel just a few hours ago, and then yesterday he met with Egyptian leaders. Next he'll be talking with Palestinians. He is not expected to sit down with any members of Hamas which the U.S. government still considers a terrorist organization.
Iran's president says he would welcome change from a new administration, but never mentioned President Obama by name. President Ahmadinejad said, he says the change must be total and fundamental in policy and attitude. He also said, "if certain parties want to bring about change, change entails for them to apologize to the Iranian people and try to make amends for their blackened history."
Wow, not fun. We're seeing a lot of that, actually. Cars and trucks slipping and sliding from Texas to Pennsylvania. Roads caked in ice and power lines down. Chill factor, way up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a little treacherous, but I think you just sort of you deal with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So far, the bitter cold and icy conditions are blamed now for at least 19 deaths. And with schools and businesses closed, some communities are having to open shelters. CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano standing by now in the severe weather center with more on this. People just want to know, when is it going to warm up, and when can I get back to normal? But it sounds like because of the power outages, it could be a while.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: It takes a while. It takes a long time for the crews to get out there and for the ice to melt, and then for them to clean off the roadways and for them get to the actual power lines, because branches and in some cases whole trees are knocked down from the sheer weight of one, two, and in some cases three inches of ice accumulation.
All right. It's a big old mess east of the Mississippi, especially the good news with this system is that it is finally on the move. It kind of dragged its feet a little bit. You'll be dragging your feet if you're trying to get out of some of the airports. This updated incorrectly. There may be so many airports delays that the computer just can't keep up with. But I'll tell you this. Philly has been reporting over two and a half hour delays today. Newark just got into as did La Guardia. And if you're flying anywhere out of the northeast, you're going to get to run into that problem. All right. These are accurate, official freezing rain or ice totals. Piggott, Arkansas, two inches. Muskogee, Oklahoma, 1.3 inches, and cold air behind what was fairly warm yesterday. 23 in Dallas right now, 13 degree in Oklahoma City. And Dallas still seeing some problems with this - the ice that they got yesterday. Obviously it hasn't melted yet. They should eventually get above freezing.
All right. Here is the moisture on the move east of Memphis now, about to go east of Louisville. Columbus, Ohio, we got a live picture from there, where it's been snowing for a good chunk of today. WBNS, a winter storm warning in effect, and that roadway is covered with snow. Three to five inches expected, before this winds down. It will likely remain all snow.
All right, still pictured - we got an i-report coming in here. Let's show that if we could, Starlene Martinez, looking at - well, that's a car. In her house. This is in Neosho, Missouri, and apparently this car got out of control coming down a hill on the ice and then up in her house with her mother. So that's not a nice surprise that she reports that more damage done to the house than to the car.
Take it easy out there if you're on the roadways. Here it is, the big picture from all the way in Maine back through Mississippi even to southeast Texas, this thing continues to cause problems for literally millions of people, Heidi. And by this time tomorrow, we had hoped to have most of it off to the east.
COLLINS: I hope so. Yes. Boy, it's been nasty out there, certainly. All right. Rob, appreciate it. Thank you.
MARCIANO: All right. You got it.
COLLINS: Tackling climate change, former vice president Al Gore testifies before a Senate panel this hour. He is expected to tell the panel the significance of global warming and stress the steps the U.S. can take leading up to negotiations on a new international climate treaty. Those talks taking place in Denmark later on this year. The hearing comes amid a new U.S. commitment on the climate change under the Obama administration.
A new day in Washington, or politics as usual? President Obama reaching out to republicans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: President Obama will face his first real test when his $825 billion stimulus plan comes up for a vote today in the House. The President doesn't really need republican support for it to pass, but he sure wants it. Getting it, however, could be an uphill battle. We'll talk more about that is Jim Vanderhei, the executive director of politico.com. Thanks so much for being here, Jim.
JIM VANDERHEI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, POLITICO: Great to be here, Heidi. COLLINS: It's true, obviously, that the democrats have the majority of both the House and the Senate. The bill is going to pass. Why does President Obama feel like he needs, you know, republican backing on this? Is it about politics, is it about appearance?
VANDERHEI: I think it's about both, and it's probably a little bit about substance. You know, this is the biggest spending bill in the history of the United States.
COLLINS: Right.
VANDERHEI: The first stimulus bill. And I think he desperately would like to have republicans on board. Because he knows it's going to be a long process, probably a pretty painful process for the public. And if he can say, look, I've got republicans in the House and Senate that have bought into this notion, it makes his job a lot easier. The problem for him is that republicans particularly in the House tend to be very conservative and anti-big government spending.
They feel like they got pummeled the last six or seven years, because under George Bush, they allowed spending to go up so precipitously. So now they're trying to resist it at every turn. And I don't think he's going to get many votes and no matter how many meetings he has with them, I just don't think he can change their ideology. He might be able to change their perception of him, but changing their ideology, that's a tough sell.
COLLINS: And I want to point you towards this article, I'm sure you've probably seen in the "Washington Post." Dana Milbank actually wrote this. "As he tries to make nice with GOP lawmakers, Obama is in unmapped territory." We have talked about that a lot here. In fact, it was pretty clear, something interesting that happened in that meeting, at least one of them yesterday, where the congressman were starting to twitter, we were hearing.
VANDERHEI: Right.
COLLINS: We're talking to constituents, perhaps, and maybe friends, and, in fact, specifically one of them said this, it was Jeff Flake who said "President Obama is speaking to House republicans right now, and democratic stimulus bill. Good salesman, bad product." What do you think?
VANDERHEI: Why do I feel like an old fogy, because I think it's just weird that members of the Congress are sitting in their twittering while listening to the president. Excuse me. But I think that you know stylistically most republicans are saying we like what he is doing. We like the fact that he is reaching out to us and I think that Obama genuinely, probably does deserve praise for doing this. He is going above and beyond what other presidents have done in the first ten days of office in reaching out to them. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is in constant contact with republicans. They are trying to bring them over. The problem is, republicans just don't like as Flake said what they're selling. They just don't like the substance of it.
COLLINS: It seems like it would be politically, anyway, really poor form if you knew that you really didn't need their vote in order for this to pass, and you just kind of blew him off and said, well since I don't need your vote, I'm not going to come and talk with you and make nice.
VANDERHEI: Right. That's the republican argument right now. They're feeling like, listen, if you really want to do something in a bipartisan fashion, let us have more substantive input into the direction of this package.
COLLINS: Yes.
VANDERHEI: Give us more tax cuts. But Obama said, I've already given enough tax cuts, and the more tax cuts he puts into this package, the more unhappy democrats get. Legislating is tough. It's tough to put together a bipartisan coalition, particularly when you have the ideological extremes that we have in the modern house and less so in the senate, but certainly still in the Senate.
COLLINS: Yes. And let's talk about House democrats though, because it sounds like they're not completely really on board, either.
VANDERHEI: Well, they're on board in theory. They want to do a stimulus package. There are certainly disagreements about the component. There are some democrats who like more tax cuts. They are certainly geographical differences about, you know, what should be in the energy portion of this package. You know, whether you should be talking about alternative fuels or you should be talking about production or tax credits.
And that always happens. But for the most part, they all are on board. You do have a small component of what they call blue dog democrats -
COLLINS: Right.
VANDERHEI: Who are conservative, who are very worried about the impact on debt and deficit. Often lost in this debate about the $825 billion is that this is going to have a dramatic effect on the amount of debt that we're piling up, and it's really hard to pay off debt. And that's why you have the blue dogs raising concerns. But in the end, it seems like most democrats will probably go with Obama on this one.
COLLINS: Yes. We have actually talked quite a bit about that here on our program. So you can't talk with one without the other, the debt and the after effect of all of this.
VANDERHEI: Excellent.
COLLINS: Jim Vanderhei, sure do appreciate it. The executive director of politico.com.
VANDERHEI: Thank you much.
COLLINS: The proposed stimulus plan, yes, a lot to digest. So is there anything you don't get? Later this hour, an economist will be answering your questions, just go ahead and e-mail us at cnnnewsroom@cnn.com.
And we are just minutes away now from the start of day three of the Rod Blagojevich impeachment trial. Snippets of FBI wiretap tapes were played yesterday. The Illinois governor is still a no-show saying he won't attend because he's not allowed to defend himself, call witness in particular. Illinois state senators could vote whether to remove Blagojevich by the end of the week.
New alarming news about the Georgia peanut butter plant linked to a nationwide Salmonella outbreak.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: New developments to tell you about in the peanut butter Salmonella outbreak that we have been talking about here. Federal officials now say a Georgia peanut butter plant found Salmonella in its products and sent out the contaminated peanut butter anyway. Joining us now to talk more about it is Elizabeth Cohen, our senior medical correspondent.
So this is pretty disturbing news here. How can they do that? There's got to be more to it.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Actually, in a way, there is not. That is kind of what is so disturbing about it is that not only did they find Salmonella in their plant a couple of times, they found it a lot of times. In fact, in 2007 and 2008, the Peanut Corporation of America found Salmonella in its food 10 times. That's 10 times, and according to the FDA, the company took no steps to clean up the plant.
And they actually found the Salmonella in the food. We asked the Peanut Corporation of America for a response, and they said PCA has cooperated fully with the FDA from day one during the course of this investigation. Now, Heidi, I'm sure the question on your mind and everyone else's, is well, why did the FDA let them do that? And the answer, according to the FDA is that they never knew. That company does not have to share their internal testing results with the FDA.
COLLINS: What does the testing matter?
COHEN: Because if you're a responsible company, which of course most companies are, that makes you say, hold on, we're not shipping this stuff. But instead, PCA shipped it or in some cases they would find another lab that would say, don't worry, it's fine. So they get a positive and then a negative and say, we'll just ship it out.
COLLINS: Wow. So where did the peanut butter end up?
COHEN: In 43 states, they have found outbreaks, cases of Salmonella that are linked to this in all of those yellow states. So that's a lot of places. Nursing homes, schools, those kinds of places.
COLLINS: It really brings about obviously bigger issue which is food safety, and how do you know what you're eating and what do we do as consumers? COHEN: Right. In this particular case, there are certain things that you should do. And so the first thing you should do is go to cnnhealth.com, because we have all the health links that you need in order to make decisions about what you should buy and shouldn't buy.
So first of all, when you go to the supermarket and you see - also the mildew, that's another thing. When you see peanut butter in the supermarket in a jar, that's OK. You don't have to worry about that. That's not what we're talking about here. However, when your peanut butter is served at a restaurant, is served at a school, served at a nursing home, you need to be thinking, was this made by the Peanut Corporation of America? And you can ask that question.
And as far as products like crackers and things like that, you can go to our website, you'll see a link, there is a list of recalled items. And don't eat those.
COLLINS: Yes.
COHEN: And even if its - here's where it gets tricky, even if - let's say you're holding some peanut butter crackers and they're not on the recall list, you still shouldn't eat them, because they might end up on that list tomorrow. You should hold on to the product and wait a little bit.
COLLINS: Yes because we have really seen this story in particular it's developing change.
COHEN: This list is growing and growing. Absolutely.
COLLINS: All right. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. Thanks, Elizabeth.
President Obama's stimulus plan up for a vote today in the House of Representatives. How will it fare? We'll take a look in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Today is the day, President Obama's first big test. The House is set to vote today on his $825 billion economic stimulus package. The president was on Capitol Hill yesterday urging Republicans to support his plan, but some GOP members have criticized the bill for what they consider too much spending and inadequate tax cuts. President Obama says he doesn't expect 100 percent Republican support, but he is urging lawmakers to put politics aside in a bit to rescue the nation's ailing economy.
Depending on who you ask, the proposed stimulus plan includes pork. Last hour, we told you about funding for the national endowment for the arts and $650 million for helping people convert to analog to digital TV. We asked you what you think counts as pork.
Our Josh Levs is joining us now with some of your responses.
Hey, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there.
You know, it's interesting, people are picking up right up on what we were talking about. That some people see something as pork, but to someone else, that's a job, that's an opportunity to get in some really important stimulus going in their community.
Let's zoom in, cause I want you to see this first one right here. Check this out: "Stimulus is anything that benefits me, pork is what benefits others." That's what Brett writes.
And we have another one here, "Pork is anything that doesn't create a meaningful number of jobs," from Gigi.
Now hear from Adie, "Any money going to corporate welfare is pork. Take the stimulus money and put it directly into the hands of consumers, do not pass it through banks and hope they will lend us back our money."
We got some room for a couple more here. "The Republicans have overused the pork phrase. They need to get over it. President Obama's now in office and changes are happening at lightning speed, and that, folks, is a very good thing." That's from Bernadette.
But on the flip sight, "The Democrats purposely put completely bogus things in the bill to pretend they're going to work with Democrats. And then Democrats can say, okay, we hear your side, you know what, we will give in and take that out of the bill." That's from Eric whose in Ft. Meade, Florida - Maryland, rather.
And finally, let's do this. "The non-profit arts sector is a huge boost to local and state economies - To cal it pork is absurd." That's from Ben.
Let me show you a question here, we have a graphic for that. You can keep your responses coming; cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. We're asking you, "What do you think counts as 'pork'?" Particularly at this time in our economy, what would make spending legit and on the flip side, what would make it wasteful, in your view. Keep them coming, we're going to read more reactions in two hours; Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, very good. Josh, thank you.
LEVS: Thanks a lot.
COLLINS: The proposed stimulus plan, yep, a lot to digest. So, is there anything you don't quite understand? Well just about 10 minutes from now, an economist will be answering your questions about all of this. So go ahead, email us at cnnnewsroom.com.
To Wall Street now. Stocks have come jumped out to a strong start as shares of beaten down financial companies actually soar. Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange now with more on what's behind the at least the early rally, anyway.
Right, Steph? STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORREPSONDENT: We'll take it right now. Heidi, we're just a little over an hour into the trading day and we are seeing a nice little rally for the major averages. Financial chairs leading the charge. Right now, CitiGroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo are all jumping about 17 percent. So no doubt, that's lifting the market today.
Let's go ahead and take a look at the numbers so you can see the scene right now. The Dow on the upside by 133 points, 8307; that's up a about a little more than 1.5 percent. Well, NASDAQ is up more than two and a third percent right now, so we are seeing strong gains.
Now, much of the positive sentiment comes from reports that the FDIC may manage the bad bank, programmed that the Obama Administration is likely to set up. A lot of experts say that's critical to easing the credit crisis and getting money flowing again via consumer and business loans. The FDIC would essentially help banks by buying up their bad assets and could help finance the effort by usual issuing bonds that it guarantees, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yeah, and you know, the question, too, about the interest rate, by way of opening up credit or getting it free-flowing a little bit more, anyway. But some people would say, you know, because the Fed's going to make this announcement today, that they've kind of done everything that they can.
ELAM: Yeah, if you get down to zero, there's really no place else to go. You can't go into a negative, right? So the Central Bank is wrapping up its two-day meeting today. Everyone knows that. The announcement's going to come at about 2:15 Eastern time today. That's not really the suspense, though. I mean, everyone knows that the key bench mark lending rate is essentially at zero right now. But what analysts are expecting is that the Fed will take additional steps to help the economy and ease the credit crisis. So it will be more about the language within the statement. One such step might be to expand a program that increases the availability of consumer loans, another could be to buy long-term Treasury securities. So all of this is what we'll be looking for at 2:15, Heidi, to see exactly what language the Fed uses in their statement today.
COLLINS. Gotcha. OK, Stephanie Elam, thank you.
ELAM: Thanks.
COLLINS: Greeting the nation's roads bridges and more, the situation is dire, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, and they're issuing their national report in Washington this hour. CNN's Jeanne Meserve is joining us now from Washington with a bit of a preview.
Good morning to you, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
This is one of those report cards you would not want to show your parents.
COLLINS: No.
MESERVE: Put this one in the trash. The cumulative grade for the nation's infrastructure, D, according to the American Society for Civil Engineers. And this is how it breaks down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Roads, D-minus. Americans spend more than $4 billion a year stuck in traffic. One-third of the country's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
Drinking water, D-minus. Leaking pipes waste seven billion gallons of drinking water every day, and many aging facilities are near the end of their useful life, according to the civil engineers.
Wastewater, another D-minus. Billions of gallons of untreated wastewater are discharged each year.
Levees, D-minus again. More than 80 percent are locally owned and the reliability of many is unknown. Though increased development near levees has increased the number of lives at risk.
Inland waterways, D-minus. Of the 275 locks in use, 30 of them were built in the 1800's. Another 92 are more than 60 years old.
Getting the only slightly higher grade of D, aviation, dams, hazardous waste, schools and mass transit.
Energy infrastructure was the only sector to show improvement since the last ASCE report card in 2005. It now has a D-plus.
The highest grade from the civil engineers goes to solid waste with a C-plus due to recycling efforts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): Infrastructure is sapping the economy, and our way of life, but the price to fix it is high. ASCE estimates government and the private sector need to invest $2.2 trillion over five years. That is roughly three times the size of President Obama's entire stimulus plan. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right. Yeah, and just letting people know, Jeanne, that we were looking at some of those hearings going on right now, discussing this exact report card. So, thanks so much for that, definitely be thinking about that more when this package potentially goes through, as well.
Time may be running out, though, for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. You are looking now at live pictures of the State Senate floor, Springfield, Illinois. Lawmakers beginning the third day of the Blagojevich impeachment trial. Wednesday, they heard snippets of FBI wiretap tapes. And today, they are expected to hear claims the governor violated the state constitution. Blagojevich is boycotting the trial.
Moving now to Capitol Hill, looking at live pictures there of the House Military Personnel Subcommittee. They are hearing testimony today on sexual assaults in the military. Taking a closer look at victim support and advocacy.
Get your email questions into us. Everything you wanted to ask about the stimulus package, cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. And the guy in the bow tie, Peter Morici is answering your questions in a moment.
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COLLINS: The Obama Administration, day nine. Last hour, the President opened a meeting with business leaders. The topic, of course, the economy. That will also be the focus of his comments next hour. Then, at 3:30 Eastern, the President turns to the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war. Also, his promised withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Expected to be at the Pentagon meeting, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the President's senior uniformed military advisors.
The President's stimulus plan facing its first hurdle in the House a little later today and we are looking for what's in the package for you. And we have been taking your e-mail questions. Joining us this hour is Peter Morici, an economist and professor at the University of Maryland.
First, most importantly, go Terps. So, Peter, quickly, you know, we've been looking at all these emails coming in and really everybody just wants to know, what's in it for me? How is this going to hurt - help my own personal situation? In fact, from Amy in Michigan, she says something similar to that. "Are the taxpayers going to see a check from Obama's stimulus plan like we did with Bush?
PETER MORICI, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Well, the thinking is that they'll receive some reduction in the payroll deduction in their paychecks. That their actual paychecks will be a little bit bigger by the amount of the rebate. Maybe over ten paychecks, you get 1/10 each pay period.
COLLINS: All right, quickly, let's get to the second one here. Scott from Luthersberg, Pennsylvania says, "I am confused. How would this bill going to help the people in the U.S. get new jobs and keep on working?"
MORICI: Well, it depends on how the money is spent. If money is spent to build a bridge, well, it's going to put someone to work to build the bridge, buy concrete and steel here in the United States. That's real tangible. It's an open question whether these tax rebates will do any good. We had those last May and June. People saved a lot of the money and took a lot of the money to Wal-Mart where they bought Chinese goods. So the grip in terms of additional GDP was very small. That's part of the controversy of this bill. A lot of the money may be wasted.
COLLINS: All right. Gotcha. And then from Scott, again, a different Scott, I believe, he wants to know this, "Does the package call for reduced mortgage interest rates? Rates seem to be going up."
MORICI: No, this stimulus package is about taxes and government spending. Interest rates, you've got to go over to the Federal Reserve, the T.A.R.P.'s program, things like that. I bet the Treasury Department, the new Treasury Department, is going to be looking at ways to bring...
COLLINS: Hey, Peter. Forgive me, quickly I want to get to something that just came into us at CNN. President Obama now making some remarks after meeting with business leaders. Let's listen.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (joined in progress): ... and it has something has to do with Washington. My children's school was cancelled today. Because of what?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Ice.
OBAMA: Ice?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Chicago.
OBAMA: As my - as my children pointed out, in Chicago school is never cancelled. In fact, my seven-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess. You wouldn't even stay indoors. So it's - I don't know. We're going to have to try to apply some plenty Chicago toughness. I'm saying, when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things. But anyway.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Thank you.
OBAMA: All right, thank you, guys. Appreciate it.
COLLINS: Once again there, a quick few announcements or I should say comments from President Obama before meeting with business leaders today.
Obviously, Peter Morici still with us now. The economy and this package is on everyone's mind, whether it's Washington or far, far away. Clearly, we have been getting a ton of emails in here. Just people still trying to understand how big it is, and how it will affect them. In fact, I have one left for you, Peter, if you would. "With the U.S. having a trillion-dollar deficit, how can they spend more money to bail out banks and take in less money from taxpayers? Won't taxpayers have to recoup all of this eventually?" And that's from PJ and we are talking about the deficit here.
MORICI: We're talking about a huge deficit. It's over a trillion a year, plus the T.A.R.P., which is another $750 billion. We're borrowing all of that money and we're largely borrowing it from foreigners, the Chinese, the Middle East royals and so forth. We're either going to have to pay interest on the money or pay back. Likely a bit of both. So we need to be careful about how much we're spending and I think we're not, and that's a mistake. COLLINS: All right. Well, Peter, you're great. And thanks so much for being a good sport with all of the interruptions today. We sure do appreciate it. Peter Morici with the bowtie, of course, our economist and professor at the University of Maryland.
Want to take a moment now to get back to President Obama and some more of the comments that he made earlier today.
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OBAMA: Can I make a comment that is unrelated to the economy very quickly? And it has to do with Washington. My children's school was cancelled today. Because of? What?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Ice.
OBAMA: Ice?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Chicago.
OBAMA: As my - as my children pointed out, in Chicago school is never cancelled. In fact, my seven-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess. You wouldn't even stay indoors. So it's - I don't know. We're going to have to try to apply some plenty Chicago toughness. I'm saying, when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things. But anyway.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Thank you.
OBAMA: All right, thank you, guys. Appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, anything to say about the economy?
OBAMA: Well, I'm going to have a lot to say about this. I'm very grateful that all of these individuals have taken the time to come. These are some of the leading CEOs in the country. These are people who make things, who hire people. They are on the front lines in seeing the enormous problems in our economy right now. Their ideas and their concerns have helped to shape our recovery package, and I'm grateful that they're here today to talk about why it's so important that we act and act swiftly in order to get this economy back on track. All right, thanks, guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Very quickly, wanted to get back to that, because we didn't have the opportunity to play the whole sound bite after the cameras and the lights went off. There were someone who did ask him what he had to say about the economy, so we wanted to be sure we brought that to you. Once again, those were comments he made before meeting with business leaders across the country. And we were told by the White House that they will discuss the impact of the weakening economy on businesses, of course, and workers. Also, discuss their shared commitment to a plan that will both get the economy moving again and lay the ground work for the long-term strength of the economy. Again, according to the White House. That is what that meeting is all about.
It's hard to walk, let alone drive. One policeman's view of this wintry mess. Boy, to say the least. Look at what the states have been dealing with all across the country, and where the big storm is headed.
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HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Caked-in ice. Everything from the mailbox to the fence and trees. This is what CNN iReporter Jason Jeminor (ph) saw when he ventured outside in his Arkansas home -- ventured outside from there, I should say. He says everything is closed because of the storm.
Much the same in east central Missouri, where iReporter Jason Caldarera lives. He tells us all this ice is not at all normal. To share your storm scenes, all you have to do is click on ireport.com. Some of them are beautiful, Rob Marciano, but the picture from across the nation is not so beautiful, at least for a lot of people.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And who wants life to be normal? It's just -- you know, it's just no fun. And those are pretty pictures, and a lot of the iReports we're getting are from people who are actually just kind of looking through the window and taking the shot that way. And that's certainly the safest way. But we have to kind of weed through them and get the good ones on the air. Some are definitely dramatic.
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COLLINS: All right, well, less ugly is better, so we appreciate that. Thank you, Rob.
Family goes on eBay to sell all of their possessions, like every last one of them. Why they said everything must go and the surprising responses they got.
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COLLINS: In Georgia, a couple faced with their two young children's medical bills decided to put all of their belongings on eBay. Now, because of the kindness of strangers, that sales plan may be tweaked. Here is CNN's Alina Cho.
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ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Desperate times call for desperate measures, and for the Peters family, these are the most desperate of times.
BRITTINY PETERS, MOTHER: Life threw us a curveball so, you know, we're willing to sacrifice these things and put our children first.
CHO: The children. They're the reason why Brittiny and Greg Peters are selling everything they own on eBay. Their TV, kitchen table, washing machine, virtually everything, except the house itself. They're even throwing in their car. Why? The Peters have three children, and two of them now need constant medical care.
GREG PETERS, FATHER: Nothing's more precious than the kids. I mean, not a sofa, not a TV. I mean, that's -- it's as simple as that.
CHO: Last year, 2 1/2-year-old Noah was diagnosed with autism, his older sister, 7-year-old Ayla (ph) a rare form of arthritis called Stills disease, a one-two punch with bills to match. Greg is a tennis instructor, Brittiny, a stay-at-home mom.
G. PETERS: I am taking the kids to work with me, so I can just teach a few hours and not go a whole day without work.
B. PETERS: You know, there were days that Greg had to stay with the other two children full-time, because I was at the hospital with her.
CHO: The opening price of their eBay auction, all items included, $20,000, exactly the cost of their medical bills. The response has been -- well, through the roof. So much so, the Peters have their own Web site, everythingweown.org. They've gotten more than a million hits and 1,000 e-mails.
But the auction is not bringing out the bidders. It seems people don't want to buy or take the Peters' belongings. But they do want to help. So they're giving the Peters money. More than 800 donations have poured in, some just a dollar. But the total is staggering: $10,000 so far from people all over the world.
G. PETERS: Britain, Australia and I think a few other places. I really feel like it's made me stronger. It's made me a better person. I've learned more in the last few weeks than I have in my whole -- the rest of my whole life.
CHO (on camera): Even though the Peters' situation is dire, they are planning to donate 10 percent of whatever they make to two foundations that benefit autism and Stills disease. The Peters say, "We believe you help others, even through your own misfortunes." They add, these organizations are their children's hope for the future and perhaps their only hope for a cure.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
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COLLINS: Great story. I'm Heidi Collins. Join us again tomorrow morning, beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Tony Harris.
