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Stimulus Vote Countdown; Money Back Guarantee?; President Talks Economy; Obama Meets With CEOs, Corporate Leaders Who Endorse The Stimulus Package; Despite All Of The Many Layoff Announcements Some Companies Are Actually Planning To Hire

Aired January 28, 2009 - 10:59   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is Wednesday, January 28th. And here are the top stories we're following for you right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The House set to vote today on President Obama's stimulus package. Will the new president's charm offensive get Republicans on board?

Out of work? You may need a career makeover. Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis will show you how to reinvent yourself.

A dangerous ice storm glazing the countryside from the Ozarks to the Appalachians. Today, the Northeast gets zonked. Our iReporters show us the scene.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The economy and millions of your tax dollars front and center today from the White House to Capitol Hill. We are just minutes away from remarks from President Obama on the economy. You'll see that live right here in the NEWSROOM.

And we are just hours away from a vote, a House vote, on that massive $825 billion stimulus package. Here's where things stand.

The House vote is expected by this evening. With Democrats solidly in the majority, the bill is expected to pass largely along party lines. The Senate is working on a separate version of the bill. The stimulus could be the single-largest bill ever to go through Congress. We are talking $825 billion here.

Let's get right to Capitol Hill and CNN Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar.

OK, Brianna, debates and a vote on the stimulus package expected in the House later this afternoon, early evening, correct?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Actually, I believe it's already under way, Tony, although this vote, yes, is expected tonight. And although you hear from Republicans who were in this meeting yesterday with President Obama, they seem genuinely grateful, very happy that he came, and seemed to reach across the aisle and speak with them, at the same time, it's not expected to translate to Republican support when we see that vote later tonight, as we heard from the number three Republican in the House, Mike Pence, after yesterday's meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE PENCE (R), REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE CHAIR: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So this is actually the bill right here, Tony, HR1. And you can see, it's rather large, 647 pages.

HARRIS: Boy.

KEILAR: That's how many pages it takes, I guess, for $825 billion. And a third of that tax cut, two-thirds of it spending. And just to give you a sense of some of the spending items in this bill, $142 billion for education; $87 billion that will go to states to help their -- pay their Medicaid obligations; $54 billion for renewable energy.

Republicans, the big picture items, their big picture demands here, they want less spending, they want more tax cuts, they want to change the structure of the tax cuts. And we have seen Democrats have made some -- a couple of small concessions here in the last couple days, leading up to this vote. They have dropped funding for contraceptives for low-income Americans, funding to resod the National Mall, to redo the grass there. But these are really small items, Republicans will tell you, and when it comes to these big items, it seems very clear at this point the Democrats, President Obama not willing to bend on those tax cuts.

So what you have Republicans hoping for is that a solid "no" vote today will show the Senate they need to make changes so that they can make this more palatable to Republicans on this side of the Capitol when this is all final here.

HARRIS: OK. Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill for us.

Brianna, thank you.

Like their House colleagues, the Senate Republicans are calling for more tax cuts. They're also pushing a mortgage refinance program.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: In terms of the tax portion of the overall package, the president originally said he thought it ought to be 40 percent. We agree with that.

Unfortunately, it looks like in the House package, it's crammed down to about 20 percent. And much of that tax relief doesn't go to people who pay income taxes. So where we have differences with the House Democrats is that the package just doesn't seem to reflect our priorities, nor the president's.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I got you. Well, you know, it's interesting, a lot of people are saying, wait a minute, what about the foreclosure crisis, what about the toxic mortgages that many think got us into this mess in the first place? What are we doing to address that?

You talk about supporting this foreclosure prevention, a proposal that would address the housing problem. Explain how it would work, about cutting back these 30-year mortgages to a 4 percent credit rating for borrowers.

MCCONNELL: Yes. I mean, many people would refinance. It would deal with the leveraging problem that the whole country has, too much debt, both the government and individuals.

In addition to that, I mean, the president himself, of course, also indicates that the housing problem is important. We just approved a second tranche of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

He indicated yesterday he thought a substantial portion of that would be devoted to housing. I don't know whether that will happen or not, but it should. We believe that a part of this stimulus package, this 4 percent mortgage proposal, would go directly at the housing problem, which started the whole mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, two Senate committees have signed off on the stimulus after tinkering with it a bit. That opens the door to debate on the Senate floor in coming days.

Live pictures now from the Capitol. The director of the Congressional Budget Office is fielding stimulus questions. He is in front of the Senate Budget Committee today. Douglas Elmendorf says tax cuts will have an immediate payoff, but spending, he says, will bring a higher dollar-for-dollar return in the long run.

Elmendorf predicts two-thirds of the stimulus money would make it into the economy over the next 19 months. That's short of the 75 percent mark the president's team actually wants.

The bailout, the handouts and the stimulus packages -- CNN 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," a special segment starting tonight on "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" at 7:00 Eastern.

Boy, let's get a check of weather now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: So assuming the stimulus plan goes through, it is your hard- earned money the government is parsing out. That's what we're talking about here. So how much, if any, can you expect back?

Let's take this up with our chief business correspondent. There he is, Ali Velshi, doing his radio show right now.

Ali, as always, great to see you.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.

HARRIS: If you would, walk us through this. I know you're getting calls as well, and I would suspect there are a lot of people with a lot of concerns about this stimulus package as its working its way through the House and the Senate.

VELSHI: Yes, and the questions range from, "Where is my money? Where is my part of the stimulus? How much am I getting? Is this going to work?"

About 30 percent, or maybe a little more than 30 percent of the stimulus bill is going toward tax cuts or money that goes directly to individuals. And I wanted to run by some of that with you. I think we might have a graphic that I can show about how it divides up.

HARRIS: Yes, we do.

VELSHI: It's $275 billion of the $825 billion. About $450 a week will increase in these Social Security benefits that are specific to certain portions of the elderly, disabled. They'll get a little bit more money every week.

Unemployment will go up $25 a week, and the Emergency Unemployment Act will be extended until December of 2009.

About 16 million more children or the families of those children will qualify for the child tax credit. And I'm just going to jump to food stamps for a minute. There will be an increase in food stamps for about 30 million Americans.

But jump back to that second one. The administration says 95 percent of working Americans will get a tax break. I don't want to call it a tax break, but they'll get money back. They'll get $500 per working American, $1,000 per family. And that's up to a certain amount of money that you earn.

We're not sure what that is, but that's what they are saying is going to happen. So you'll get money right back. It will show up on your paycheck. You won't even get a rebate. You don't have to fill out a tax form or anything. HARRIS: Ali, I guess my follow-up question is, does the package, as it is being debated right now, in your view, does it have the right mix? Because that seems to be where we're coming down on this. Does it have the right mix of spending and tax cuts? And as you're trying to figure out this mix, how much of it is real science and how much of it is guesswork?

VELSHI: Yes. It's a lot of guesswork. There are economic philosophies on either side.

There are ideologies that say the best way to stimulate the economy is to cut taxes. Then wealthy people and businesses swill spend that money in a way that creates demand or creates jobs. Wealthy people will do it in a way that creates demand, or they will invest in companies. Those companies will then have money to expand, build factories, hire people.

Those people who are hired then have an income. They can pay taxes, and they will consume things in the economy. And that's the way you get an economy going. There's another philosophy altogether that says that, in a recession, the government can spend money and directly employee people, or employ contractors who will then employ people to build bridges and roads and things like that.

So this package is about two-thirds spending, about one-third tax cuts. Some say it might be the perfect mix, others say it's not enough of either. And, you know, if you don't have enough of either, then it's wasted.

So very unclear as to who's going to win this one, but this is not -- we haven't done this before. We've never spent this kind of money. We've never had stimulus this size before. So, figuring the mix out, I'm not sure anyone really knows.

HARRIS: That's a great point. All right, Ali. Appreciate it. Thank you, as always. Enjoy the show today.

Hey, we're just getting word that Eric Holder has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee as the next attorney general. And as you know, the next step is that this moves now to the full Senate for a full Senate vote.

And we are also awaiting President Obama. You are looking live at the East Room of the White House, where he is expected to talk about the economy in just a few minutes.

We will take a short break, and we're right back.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So just moments from now, we expect to hear from President Obama on the economy, as the House gets ready to vote on the stimulus package.

White House Correspondent Dan Lothian joining us now live.

Dan, good to see you.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, I'm sort of curious, is this likely to be part update for the public on the stimulus package and some leaning on Congress to, let's get this thing done?

LOTHIAN: Yes, a little bit of both, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes.

LOTHIAN: As you know, the president will make remarks about the economy. He'll also talk a little bit about the meetings that he's had this morning with some of the top CEOs.

He was meeting with the CEOs of Xerox, Motorola, JetBlue, IBM, and several other companies, as well. The White House saying that the president really wanted to get their input as he pushes for this $825 billion stimulus plan. They are the folks that are out there on the front lines, so he wants to hear how this economy is really impacting them, and then also listen to some of their ideas.

As you know, Tony, the president was up on Capitol Hill yesterday meeting with both House and Senate Republicans. It was very cordial, the environment that we saw up there and heard yesterday. But at the end of the day, it appeared that the president really had not swayed any minds at all. Nonetheless, this morning, the president said that he is confident that this will get passed.

Now, Tony, there was sort of a lighthearted moment this morning, prior to going in and meeting with those CEOs. The president joked about the weather here in D.C. and how it has impacted the public school system here.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 canceled today. Because of what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ice.

OBAMA: Some ice?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chicago.

OBAMA: As my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never canceled. In fact, my 7-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess. (LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: You wouldn't even stay indoors. So it's -- I don't know. We're going to have to try to apply some -- plenty of Chicago toughness to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: So, Tony, a little chance to laugh there. But really, a serious matter as the president is trying to drum up support for this stimulus plan. The president, though, doesn't really need Republicans to make this happen today, but the administration, a senior administration official, telling me that he really wants to get bipartisan support, because he believes that this can instill a the lot of confidence in the administration -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. Well, Dan, it's a good thing the White House isn't here in Atlanta. We shut this city down for hard rain. Are you kidding me? It's silly here.

LOTHIAN: That's right. And as you know, I come from Boston, so I'm watching all of this shutting down and it's like, come on, folks, this isn't snow.

HARRIS: Come on. Get it together.

All right, Dan.

Dan Lothian at the White House for us.

Dan, good to see you. Thank you.

LOTHIAN: OK, Tony.

HARRIS: Is that massive stimulus package what's best for the country? Why some Republicans have some serious reservations, and what Democrats are saying. Senators from both sides next hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And looking for another job? A better job? Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis says your first step is to look in the mirror. Reinventing yourself in today's "Top Tips."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A live look now at the East Room of the White House. Any moment now, we're expecting the president to make remarks on the economy, perhaps reflecting on his meeting this morning with senior economic advisers as part of his daily economic briefing. Perhaps some reflections from his meeting with business leaders from across the country just a short time ago. But when the president brings those remarks, we will bring them to you live, right here in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Do you think Israel was right in retaliating when it was hit with missiles every day to go into the Gaza?

JIMMY CARTER, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you have to remember something in perspective. Of course, it's bad the prime minister -- it's bad to kill civilians. But the year before the cease-fire went into effect last June the 19th, which I went over and helped to negotiate, there had been a total of one Israeli killed in an entire year. And on average, 49 Palestinians were killed every month.

So that kind of puts it into perspective. But I think it's best for all of us to condemn any violence on either side. And what we need is just two things right now.

One is to open up the gates going into Gaza so that people can have food and water and medicine and fuel. And on the other hand, stop all the firing of missiles, and also all the firing of dropping the bombs and so forth, ending violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Former President Jimmy Carter discussing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict with Larry King. Carter says he thinks President Obama will be evenhanded in his treatment of Israelis and Palestinians and that real progress will be made.

Pushing for progress, President Obama's Mideast envoy is crisscrossing the region right now. He is holding talks with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem today. Next stop, the West Bank for meeting with the Palestinian leadership.

But new violence is casting a shadow over Mitchell's mission. Israeli warplanes have been pounding smuggling tunnels in Gaza in retaliation for a Palestinian bombing that killed an Israeli soldier.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a big focus for President Obama today. About four hours from now, the president will meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs at the Pentagon. On the agenda, how to safely pull U.S. combat troops from Iraq and build up forces in Afghanistan.

Secretary Gates has been testifying about the urgent need for more troops on the Afghan front lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It is also clear that we have not had enough troops to provide a baseline level of security in some of the most dangerous areas; a vacuum that has increasingly been filled by the Taliban. And that is why the United States is considering an increase in our military presence in conjunction with a dramatic increase in the size of the Afghan security forces.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: And we're told the Obama administration expects stronger efforts from the Afghan government and NATO as the U.S. builds its troop presence in Afghanistan.

And don't miss our status report on U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. I will be talking to scholar, author and activist Rory Stewart of the Harvard Kennedy School. Plus, we will be joined from Kabul by CNN's Atia Abawi. That is tomorrow in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's take you back to the East Room of the White House now. Still waiting for the president to come forward and make remarks on the economy. When he does, we will take you there live.

Your job, your life, your iReports -- you are sending them and we are showing them in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Just about maybe less than two minutes away from the president. And of course we will keep an eye on this picture for you as we speak with Stephanie Elam.

Investors in the United States are keeping their focus on corporate earnings.

Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with more on who's reporting today.

Good to see you, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, too, Tony.

Well, as expected, it's been a really tough forth quarter earnings season for most companies. We're getting more of the same news this morning, but the overall pictures isn't quite as bad as it has been on other days. Let's talk about Wells Fargo first.

The bank posted a $2.6 billion loss, mostly tied to its acquisition of Wachovia. But when you eliminate the charges, the results actually beat expectations. And Wells Fargo says it has no plans to ask for additional government bailout money. So its shares on the upside by 25 percent.

Meanwhile, Boeing reported a $56 million quarterly loss due to a strike by its workers. That cut its plane deliveries, along with charges related to delays of its new 787 Dreamliner and a new version of its 747 jumbo jet.

In the last few minutes got some breaking news here. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that the company may be cutting 10,000 jobs.

So back to you -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Stephanie -- perfect, Stephanie. Thank you. Let's take you to the East Room of the White House and the president in just a couple of moments after, I guess, a couple of opening remarks.

SAMUEL PALMISANO, CHAIRMAN & CEO, IBM: Mr. President, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. And I think you'll agree that across all of America and around the world, in boardrooms and cabinet rooms and kitchen tables, people are fixated on what's necessary to address the economic emergency. There is a gathering global consensus that bold and aggressive steps are needed of both business and government working together to address what's required to move the worldwide economies.

In the past several years -- excuse me, the past several days, I've been in contact with many leaders in the corporate world -- actually, I could have said in the past several years I've been in contact with many leaders in the corporate world. but I think there is a unanimous commitment and support of the president. We all agree, we need to reignite growth in our country. We know we must create jobs for the 21st century. And therefore, we need to invest and to build the more moderate and the more competitive infrastructure in the future.

There is clearly no reason, we believe, to undertake projects just for the sake of activity. We need to undertake projects that actually will create jobs and make our infrastructure, make our country much more competitive for the long term. So it is a balancing act between the short-term crisis and what we need to do for the long term.

We really believe all this is possible today for many reasons, because there is a convergence of factors. One being the technology itself, as well as the economic need we find ourselves in, in the current situation.

As a country, we have to compete in the world. Yes, it is flatter. Yes, it is smaller. But we would argue it's also smarter. And today you'll see technology embedded in processes and systemic systems from everything from environmental clean water to energy conservation to basic supply chains for all of business. So the world does have a much smarter infrastructure, and therefore, the base to build for the future.

It's there. We are excited. I can't tell you how excited we are about the president's commitment to lead us to the future. And the support for health IT, the support in the area of smart grids, the support in the area of education, and broad band. All those things are essential. They're essential in the short-term, because in the research we have done, working with the transition team, we know that $30 billion could create a million jobs in the next 12 months.

But it's also every bit as important, because we touched so many factors of the ecosystem, that it will create jobs for decades to come. So we're honored to be here. I'm honored to be speaking on behalf of the business community. And I would just say that it's an imperative that business and government come together. We help the president get the package through, and we get to work. And we have a lot of work ahead of us. So thank you for your time. And now let me introduce my colleague and good friend, David Cody from Honeywell.

DAVID M. COTE, CHAIRMAN & CEO, HONEYWELL: Honeywell is a company with about $37 billion in sales, about 60,000 employees in the U.S. We have operations around the world. And you probably think of us as the thermostat business. Your little thermostat on the wall that hopefully is a Honeywell. That's probably the way you think of us.

But at the end of the day, that's a very small business for us, less than 1 percent of our sales, and you should think of us as jet engines, most sophisticated avionics in the world, turbo chargers that allow engines a third smaller than normal to produce the same power as a full size engine, using 25 percent less fuel, generating 25 percent less emissions; controls for all kinds of homes, buildings, factories, refineries. So we touch a lot of parts of the economy. We get to see a lot of things around the world.

And I would say the message has to be that the situation is dire. Economically, clearly, the situation is dire. With some small exceptions, you can always find a company not touched by it. No company is immune. Everybody is being touched by this. It's tough for everybody right now. There are few exceptions, even if you feel you're going to do fine weathering the downturn. You have to think about your customers and your suppliers. Everybody is being affected. The demand just isn't there, and there is incredible fear. Everybody is just so concerned about what is going to happen next that things are just locking up. And we need to do something to break that lock up.

You see companies doing all of the things they would do when they start to see demand fall, sales fall, hiring stops, layoffs begin, and expenses get cut everywhere. A bad dynamic for all of us. And all stemming from that lower demand.

We are very supportive of the reinvestment act. Our message would be -- needs to get done fast. We have to get this thing done quickly, and get it down -- get it out there. A lot people have said it, and I think it's absolutely right. We can't get the perfect be the enemy of the good, and we need to start investing for our future.

We very much appreciate an aggressive approach here, and think it makes a lot of sense. Getting money out fast to people who will spend it, and getting the velocity of the spend. And then the reinvestment, investment in the future of the country, whether it's infrastructure, energy efficiency, math and science, which is particularly important to us, all of these things need to happen. You look at energy efficiency, they're great strides that we can make in this country in energy efficiency. There are a number of solutions out there that are possible, and we just need to encourage people to do it. It improves our energy security and it just makes sense.

Math and science, we have to make math and science cool again in the U.S. It has to become cool. We need this -- we have a desperate need for engineers, as all math and science-based, we need to make that cool again, its one of the best investments we can make. And now is not a time for the country to be timid. We need to get this thing done. I have great confidence, the business community has great confidence, in our president to provide the direction and the leadership that is needed in these tough times to make it happen. But he can't do it alone.

The Congress, the American people, all of us as a business community, all of us have to help. And, Mr. President, I can say that for Honeywell, you can count on us and all of our employees to be there to help support this.

Now, it's my job at this point to introduce the president of the United States. And when I was asked to do it, I have to say, I thought, OK, so this guy has been watched for two years, every action, every hour, what can you possibly say? So what I thought would make sense to do is just to say, Mr. President, we appreciate your leadership, the vitality that you're bringing to these tough times that are needed, and I would have to say thank god you are not a timid man.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you!

Well, I want to thank Sam and David for their outstanding words. I want to thank all of you for being here today. A few moments ago, I met with some of the leading business executives in the country. And it was a sober meeting. Because these companies and the workers they employ are going through times more trying than any that we have seen in a long, long while.

Just the other day, seven of our largest corporations announced they were making major job cuts. Some of the business leaders in this room have had to do the same. And yet even as we discussed the seriousness of this challenge, we left our meeting confident that we can turn our economy around. But each of us, as Dave indicated, are going to have to do our share. Part of what led our economy to this perilous moment was a sense of irresponsibility that prevailed in Wall Street, and in Washington.

And that's why I called for a new era of responsibility, in my inaugural address last week. An era where each of us chips in, so that we can climb our way out of this crisis, executives and factory floor workers, educators and engineers, health care professionals, and legislated officials. As we discussed in our meeting a few minutes ago, corporate America will have to accept its own responsibilities to its workers and the American public. But these executives also understand that without wise leadership in Washington, even the best- run businesses can't do as well as they might. They understand that what makes an idea sound is not whether it's a Democrat or Republican, but whether it makes good economic sense for their workers and companies. And they understand that when it comes to rebuilding our economy, we don't have a moment to spare.

The businesses that are shedding jobs to stay afloat, they can't afford inaction or delay. The workers who are returning home to tell their husbands and wives and children that they no longer have a job. And all of those who live in fear that their job will be next on the cutting blocks, they need help now. They are looking to Washington for action, bold and swift. And that is why I hope to sign an American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan into law in the next few weeks.

Most of the money that we're investing as part of this plan will get out the door immediately. And go directly to job creation, generating or saving 3 to 4 million new jobs. And the vast majority of these jobs will be created in the private sector, because, as these CEOs well know, business, not government, is the engine of growth in this country. But even as this plan puts Americans back to work, it will also make the critical investments in alternative energy and safer roads, better health care and modern schools that will lay the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity. And it will invest in broadband and emerging technologies like the ones imagined and introduced to the world by people like Sam and so many of the CEOs here today, because that's how America will retain and regain its competitive edge in the 21st century.

I know that there are some who are skeptical of the size and scale of this recovery plan. And I understand that skepticism given some of the things that have happened in this town in the past. And that's why this recovery plan will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my administration accountable. Instead of just throwing money the our problems, we'll try something new in Washington. We will invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy decisions about where we invest will be made public on the Internet, and will be informed by independent experts whenever possible.

And we will launch a sweeping effort to root out waste, inefficiency and unnecessary spending in our government. And every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called Recovery.gov. Because I firmly believe what Justice Lewis Brandeis once said, that sunlight is the best disinfectant. And I know that restoring transparency is not only the surest way to achieve results, but also to earn back the trust in government without which we cannot deliver the changes the American people sent us here to make.

In the end, the answer to our economic troubles rests less in my hands or in the hands of our legislators than it does with America's workers, and the businesses that employ them. They are the ones whose efforts and ideas will determine our economic destiny, just as they always have. For in the end, it's businesses, large and small that generate the jobs, provide the salaries and serve as the foundation on which the American people's lives and dreams depend. All we can do, those of us here in Washington, is to help create a favorable climate in which workers can prosper, businesses can thrive, and our economy can grow. And that is exactly what the recovery plan I proposed is intended to do, and that's exactly what I intend to achieve soon.

Thank you very much for being here.

(END LIVE FEED)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: OK. We thought the president might take a couple questions, but apparently that's not the case. The president there sharing the stage with a couple of business leaders that he met with last hour, talking to him about their business and their business prospects. And then the president got about the job of pushing the Congress to get to work, particularly the House, to get to work on passing this huge stimulus package, $825 billion, and the House debate is under way. Of the vote on that package expected early this evening.

And the debate, as we have been telling you, continues, and it will hear next hour, to this question. Is that massive stimulus package really what is best for the country? Why some Republicans have some serious reservations, and what Democrats are saying. Senators from both sides, this should really be a great debate. Next hour right here on the CNN NEWSROOM.

Your job, your life, your iReports, you are sending them and we are showing them in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, clearly it is tough all over, lots of our iReporters struggling in this rough economy. Let's do this. Let's take a trip to CNN.com's iReport Desk and let's check in once again with "Tyson's Corner." We love our Tyson Wheatley. He is one of our producers helping us run things down there at our iReport operation.

Tyson, good to see you.

I think this is interesting what you're going to start with today, because I remember - I am old enough, I guess I should say, to remember a day and time when people didn't talk openly about their financial problems and the troubles they were going through with employment. And interesting that people are sending us iReports where they are openly sharing their problems and concerns.

TYSON WHEATLY, PRODUCER, IREPORT DESK: Yeah, well, layoffs have been such a big part of the news, we're hearing about them this week, and so many people are actually willing to share the story. And tell us, say, hey, I was laid off. I lost my job. And they've been sharing a lot of stories. I'm just going to share a few with you today. And we're going to start in Connecticut from John Stevens, and he was laid off -- he was a sales manager at a -- at a car dealership, and he got laid off back in October. Now he's searching for a way to, quote, "take care of his son, pay his bills, and return to the way things are.

Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN STEVENS, IREPORTER: Things are tough. I still haven't found a job. I've applied for over 80 jobs. And either the people don't call me back, and when you follow up with a phone call, they don't return your calls, or they tell you they have actually stopped hiring, and they have cut back themselves. So things are very, very tough on the job front.

And I mean, I've even applied at my local Wal-Mart and Target stores, and the answer I get is, we can't hire you. You have too much experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHEATLEY: That's pretty incredible.

Tony, check out this story from Detroit native Amber Easton. And she has gone from an $80,000 a year job to scrambling for work. Back in 2007, Amber was climbing the corporate ladder, she was a compliance officer. And then she decided to leave her job to pursue her law degree, thinking that would really help her career. A year into law school, she realized it wasn't her thing, but by then the job market has shrunk. Her old position was no longer available. At age 35, Amber is now having to make tough choices. She has lost her car. She now faces eviction from her apartment. She recently went to two job fairs with friends in the Detroit area and they stood in line for over three hours with hundreds of professionals of all types. And really there were all these applicants for really 35 jobs. That's a tough market.

HARRIS: It is.

WHEATLEY: And just one more I want to share with you. This is from Peter Kieselbach, he's a scientific engineer. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 14 years. He was a top performer, a key contributor. And then basically his company got bought up and all the jobs went away. Now he find's himself basically qualified in a field that is going away. So let's listen to what he had to say.

HARRIS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER KIESELBACH, IREPORTER: This August I was laid off, along with many of my colleagues from a drug discovery company in New Jersey. I saw it as unfortunate this is my first layoff in 30 years in research and development engineering. I have worked for just two companies in my career. But I'm finding that there are not many jobs and there is a lot of competition for the few there are.

Now, this video that Peter shared with us was made a month ago. I spoke to Peter this morning and asked him for an update. Two bits of good news. One, he says his wife and he were fortunate enough to put away some emergency cash to keep them afloat for now. And two, he has been interviewing with a company that he really wants to work with. He has already had five interviews, so it sounds like they're also very interested in him.

We're wishing you, Pete, all of the best today.

HARRIS: Absolutely. Tyson, appreciate that.

We had a young man on the air on Monday whose home -- he lost his home to the string of arson fires in Coatesville, Pennsylvania and it looks like he may be having some luck in finding a job. Boy, the fact that he lost his home, and then lost his job recently, adding to his stress. So keep us posted on some of our iReporters and how they're doing in landing new jobs and moving forward with their lives. WHEATLEY: Yeah, we would love to hear those stories. We want to know how you are surviving the economy. So please share your stories, iReport.com.

HARRIS: Tyson, appreciate it. Good to see you. See you again tomorrow.

WHEATLEY: Take care, Tony.

HARRIS: Thanks, man.

And 11 million people are out of a job nationwide. And that number is growing every day. So if you have been pink-slipped, Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis says you may actually need to reinvent yourself.

And, Gerri, we're getting a lot of iReports from folks who are losing their jobs.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: I know.

HARRIS: And, again, I'm old enough to remember when folks didn't really talk about that as openly as they are now. And if we're talking about reinventing ourselves, to be eligible for new jobs that means someone somewhere is actually hiring.

WILLIS: Well, that's right, Tony. That's the point today. I mean, there are companies that are actually hiring. Here are a few. T-Mobile is adding about 2,000 jobs throughout the country in retail and customer service. And a company called Safeguard Properties, now Tony, this is a firm that manages foreclosed properties for banks. That company is hiring about 1,400 in contracting, internal staff, IT professionals. A company called Banfield that is a veterinary hospital chain. They plan to add about 750 vets to their payroll and 2,000 other support folks, including pet nurses, believe it or not. Microsoft and Google are adding jobs despite laying off in other areas. For older workers, Walgreen's, Adecco (ph), Borders Books are adding more workers this year according to the AARP, Tony.

HARRIS: I meet need some training, or some retraining for some of these jobs. Is it available?

WILLIS: Yeah, absolutely. First off, go online. This is a great option for folks who don't have a way to get to campus or maybe you need really need flexible hours. You may use e-mails to communicate with your teachers, if you study online and return assignments. Make sure that college is accredited. Go to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, at CHEA.org, to find out what schools are legitimate.

Now, keep in mind that you really have to have vigorous study habits because distractions may be more frequent at home as we all know. You may also consider taking classes at your local community college.

HARRIS: My old saying, if it's free, it's for me. I'd like to do some of this retraining but - (LAUGHTER) WILLIS: I thought you were going to say you get what you pay for.

HARRIS: Well, there you go. You know, all of this retraining can be, frankly, it can be a little costly. Is there any free help out there, Gerri?

WILLS: Well, yeah, we're going to lower you price tag right now. If you want to figure out things like, what are the buzzwords you need on your resume. If you have questions about to do about an employment gap on your resume, that is a very common question. A great web site. Check it out, Careeronestop.org. You can view resume templates and samples for free. You may also consider getting some personal one-on- one advice if you still feel like you want extra help. Visit the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches. Yes, there is a professional association, PARW.com. We'll talk more about this and other issues affecting your wallet this Saturday on "Your Bottom Line," 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Be sure to join us.

HARRIS: Well, Gerri, there are some more people who may need to take your tips to heart this morning. We're just getting news from Boeing that in addition to the 4,500 job cuts that were announced on January 9th, Boeing is announcing today an additional 5,500 jobs will be cut across the Boeing commercial airplanes division. While some more job cuts for Boeing.

So as the most serious credit crisis, really in decades, continues to rock your finances, CNNMoney.com has some advice and some answers for you. We encourage you. We absolutely encourage you to check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis". That is at CNNMoney.com.

You've heard from the president and other politicians. Now hear what economists are saying about the stimulus plan. They explain it, in 90 seconds.

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ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. We certainly have a big storm that is rolling across the Eastern half of the country, Eastern third. But it is shrinking and it is picking up speed. That's the good news. But the bad news, it's already done the damage.

And if you're doing some travel today, boy, it's not good. Ground stop at Cincinnati, still at Dallas, they have increased that. Newark and LaGuardia and JFK all have lengthy delays, at least an hour, in some cases up to two and three. And Ft. Worth still closed because of the ice from yesterday. All right. Here's where some of the snow is. We're starting to see a bit of a change over across parts of New York City, changing over to rain now after significant snows this morning.

But places like D.C. are a little bit chillier, 30 in Baltimore, 31 degrees in D.C. A little bit farther away from the Atlantic Ocean, so less of a coastal influence, so we're still seeing freezing fog and freezing drizzle at Dulles Airport. And that continues to be a problem. It's 35 in Roanoke. So it damns up a little bit more there, towards the Appalachians. All right. Things are on the move here and also the snow and mixed line, the pink and white begin to shrink. Bad news is that we've got cold air behind this. Where we have seen the icing it will stick around for a couple of days. Those that are without power --and Tony, in some cases we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people, they'll likely remain without power until crews can get in there. The ice has to melt. They have to clear the branches of trees and go to work on those power lines. Could be several days and this some cases over a week.

HARRIS: That's right. OK, Rob. Thanks, man.

MARCIANO: You got it.

HARRIS: Politicians battling over the president's stimulus package, will it really help you? We talk to senators from both sides of the aisle in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

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