Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Can Obama Help the Middle Class?; More Executive Orders

Aired January 30, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

It is Friday, January 30th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Remembering the middle class. Later this hour, President Obama is making remarks on working families and their struggles in a sinking economy. We show you his comments coming up live at 10:45 right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, there's quite a bit going on at the White House, including a series of moves sure to fire up some debate. So let's get a preview now from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne, good morning once again.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi. Well, we expect that within the hour or so, he's going to be issuing those executive orders and all of this, really, before a group of labor leaders and union members to show that he is responsive to workers' needs.

I want to outline it for you. It's a little detailed here, but some of the things that he is going to be doing really opposing and reversing some Bush administration policies, include reversing an order that allowed unionized companies to post signs for employees, letting them know that they're allowed to de-unionize.

Another one, requiring service contractors at federal buildings to offer jobs to qualified current employees when those contracts change. Another one would require federal vendors with contracts, more of $100,000 to post workers rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

And finally, another one that he is going to be reversing. This would prevent federal company contractors from being reimbursed for expenses that were intended to influence workers' decisions regarding forming unions or engaging in collective bargaining.

All of these things, Heidi, essentially, trying to show that he is responsive to the -- to the needs and concerns of those unions and labor. This is a group, a key constituency, in the campaign that supported him. Obviously, he is reaching back, and saying I'm good on my promise in the campaign -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, do they all agree that these are some of the -- the main concerns for the labor policies? Are these the main issues that they are having? MALVEAUX: Well, these certainly are some of the things that they've talked about, they've debated, during the campaign. These labor leaders were approaching then candidate Obama saying that these are some of the things, some of the loopholes that they want to make sure that really bolsters the rights of workers and union workers in particular. It's been described to me as they're not major breaking huge, huge issues, but there's certainly some concerns that have been addressed.

And it's things that are important. And essentially what the president is trying to do is show that he is in tune with the workers, that he hears their concerns, and it is kind of a nod to that group, that particular group that put him in office, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux in front of the White House for us today.

Thanks, Suzanne.

And here is a look at some other things the president is doing today. Just a few minutes ago, he walked into his daily economic briefing. And as we mentioned, later this hour, he will make those remarks on the middle class working families task force. And then this afternoon, the president meets with senior enlisted officials of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Quick check of the big board now, as we look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down by double-digits there, about 38 points to the negative or so. We continue to watch those numbers, and, of course, keeping our eye on the Gross Domestic Product as that report came out a little bit early this morning, as well.

It is not your imagination, the recession really is getting worse. In fact, new proof of that, as I mentioned just a short time ago. The government says the Gross Domestic Product recorded its worst performance since 1982. The economy shrank at a pace of 3.8 percent last quarter as consumers and businesses cut their spending even further.

Now the GDP is considered the broadest barometer of the U.S. economy because it measures all of the goods and services produced right here and the U.S.

Want to get the very latest now from CNN Money team. Our Christine Romans joining us from New York.

We keep saying it, though, we're kind of prepared for a much bigger number here.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right. A lot of economists had told me they expected that the economy shrank in the last two months of the year by 5 percent or 6 percent.

I mean, that is a really big number. It was 3.8 percent. That is ugly. It shows that the economy really stalled out. In fact, some parts of the economy shrinking actually kind of shutting down. The biggest slow down in the economy in 26 years.

And got to go back to 1982, which was not a great time for the American people with how weak the economy was then. So the question is, through the rear-view mirror, what's the first quarter going to look like? A lot of people say that pace of the declines, Heidi, from the summer when we had actually growth into such a sharp reversal by the end of the year, they're concerned what that means for the first quarter.

We do have a number, though, I wanted to bring to you. Consumer Confidence number from the University of Michigan, which I think is really interesting here. It shows that consumers anticipate the deepest and longest recession in the post World War II era. But it says few consumers now expect the economy to shrink and sink into a 1930s-style depression.

COLLINS: Wow.

ROMANS: It says that people are saving more now and preparing to keep their living standards as they know it in the coming years. They're saving and doing things now, switching brands, finding new ways to shop, starting to become more defensive so they can keep their lifestyles, the American lifestyle as they go forward.

That means they're saving more and making some changes. That they're pessimistic about this recession, but they don't think it's going to become something worse. And I think that's a pretty interesting thing here, because overall the important thing that the Obama administration and the government is are trying to do, and banks, quite frankly, is to start to restore confidence.

And if you can start restoring confidence so people can start to come to grips with where we are now and how difficult the recession could be, but that it won't be something worse, that's just a very, very first step in sort of repairing things and getting back on a road to recovery.

COLLINS: Yes, that would be great, wouldn't it?

All right. Christine Romans, sure appreciate it.

ROMANS: Sure.

COLLINS: The workweek comes to an end, and there is another big week ahead on Capitol Hill. As early as Monday, the Senate will begin debate on President Obama's stimulus plan. The $819 billion proposal passed the House this week. Mostly along party lines, though. 11 Democrats did vote against it, along with every single Republican.

Less than two hours from now, New Yorkers will find out how many city jobs are being cut. At noon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils his plan to confront the city's growing budget deficit. Major layoffs are expected, and city unions will likely be asked to absorb more of the health care costs.

New York, like many American cities, faces a crisis from vastly reduced tax revenue.

In California, the budget crisis is statewide and the cuts run very deep. The state faces a $42 billion budget deficit now, and quite simply, it is running out of money.

State tax refunds are being delayed 30 days, and just yesterday, a judge signed off an order that would force state workers to take two days off each month without pay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE PATRICK MARLETTE, SACRAMENTO CO. SUPERIOR COURT: I cannot help but recognize, as I'm sure we all do, the huge impact this will have on state workers to take this kind of a hit in these economic times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The order for forced time off takes effect next Friday. It will effect nearly a quarter of a million workers.

Still shivering in the dark. More than a million homes and businesses from Texas to Maine are without power because of the latest winter storm. Most of them in Kentucky. The governor tells CNN at least eight deaths may be related to the icy conditions. There is very little power in the town of Litchfield, even the shelters have been operating by generator.

On the phone with us now to talk a little bit more about this is Bryan Hammons. He's with Emergency Management Services, and is actually coming to us from one of the shelters there in Litchfield.

Byian, tell us what you're seeing around you and what you need the most right now.

BRYAN HAMMONS, EMERGENCY MGMT., GRAVSON CO., KENTUCKY: Well, first of all, thank you for having us on this morning.

COLLINS: Sure.

HAMMONS: The big thing that we're needing right now is we're going to hopefully have the capacity to start showers this afternoon. And, of course, you know, our resources have been limited as far as getting supplies in. So, you know, like, we're trying to get towels and sanitary items, and things like that this morning.

COLLINS: Who are you trying to get all of this from, Bryan? Is FEMA helping you out? Are you not at that level yet? We've been hearing some reports about, you know, getting generators and so forth.

HAMMONS: Exactly. We have -- we've had some help as far as from some other counties and things like that. As far as being in contact with FEMA, at the shelter, I have not had any contact with FEMA. Now the emergency command center could possibly have had that. But as far as having any contact directly with FEMA at the shelter, no, I have not.

COLLINS: OK. So then who are you getting your help from? Because obviously you've got a serious communication problem when you don't have power.

HAMMONS: Exactly. Most of the things that we have gotten have actually been locally.

COLLINS: Sure.

HAMMONS: The Wal-Mart and various other stores throughout the county. We've had great support from the Board of Education and our school system. You know, they opened the high school for us, and the superintendent Barry Anderson has told us everything that the school system has is at our disposal to use. And they've great to us.

COLLINS: Well, it is dark where you are, it's cold where you are. What does it feel like? I mean, I imagine it's got to be kind of like a ghost town.

HAMMONS: It pretty much it is. You know, I -- left the shelter last night just briefly to go to the command center, and basically, like you said, it was like a ghost town, because I came through town and, you know, very little electricity on. You know, and nobody on the streets, which is just really highly unusual for, you know, the situation.

COLLINS: Well, you should be commended, because, obviously, you didn't just open the shelters now. I mean, I think it says here that you had them open by Wednesday morning, because everybody was pretty well aware, I imagine, that this storm was coming, and then the after effects. You went from like 30 people to more than 500?

HAMMONS: Yes. We -- when we initially opened the shelter, like you said on Wednesday at 9:00 in the morning, we had 30 people to show up then. And a shelter that was set up at a local church in Litchfield. They were the first shelter actually set up. And then they kind of lost all of their resources, and so everybody that they had at their shelter was brought to our shelter at the high school.

COLLINS: OK.

HAMMONS: So by 10:00 on Wednesday night, I had 500 people-plus at the shelter at the high school, and my resources were where I could handle about 175 people.

COLLINS: Well, we sure do appreciate your time with us. I know it's a busy time for you as incident commander there in Gravson County. They're at the high school theater actually.

Bryan Hammons, sure do appreciate it coming to us live from Litchfield, Kentucky and we wish you the very best.

Rob Marciano joining us now to talk a little bit more about this. And worth repeating. The worst of the storm, if my understanding is right, is probably over, but it's just this cold, cold weather that's making everything so hard.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Wow. All right, yes. We'll take that warning whenever we can get it.

All right. Rob, thank you, we'll check back later.

They are squatters in the homes they used to own, and it's a congresswoman who is actually telling them not to hand the keys over. A story of outrage and defiance in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the most trusted name in news. Now back to the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: A unanimous decision. The Illinois Senate voting to remove Governor Rod Blagojevich. They also voted to bar Blagojevich from ever holding elected office in Illinois again. The action need not come as a shock to the now former governor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD BLAGOJEVICH, FMR. ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: I'm, obviously, saddened and disappointed, but not at all surprised by what the state Senate did today. It was something that I knew they would do a long time ago pursuant to a variety of different dynamics than taking place since the world changed for us on December 9th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: That was the day Blagojevich was arrested. He is accused of, among other things, trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat. It didn't take long for workers to start removing traces of the disgraced governor from the state capitol.

Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn sworn in to take over as governor. He was in his second term as Blagojevich's number two. Quinn is scheduled to hold his first news conference as governor coming up at the top of the hour. Make sure you catch that right here on CNN.

The nation's mortgage crisis. Millions of Americans have lost their homes or at risk of losing them. One congresswoman is outraged and has some advice to those who are losing their homes refused to leave.

Drew Griffin of our special investigations unit has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT (voice over): The notices came to her home in April. Andrea Guice's bank foreclosed on her. Behind in payments, out of work, a husband sick, she had nowhere to go. So she decided to follow the advice of her congresswoman and go nowhere.

Guice is part of a new movement in the housing crisis. Squatters.

(On camera): For lack of a better term, you're kind of squatting in this house, aren't you?

ANDREA GUICE, FORECLOSED HOMEOWNER: Basically, yes. Yep.

GRIFFIN: Last resort?

GUICE: Last resort, yes.

GRIFFIN (voice over): More than 4,000 properties were foreclosed on in Toledo's Lucas County last year. This year, it could be worse. There is a county clerk whose full-time job is typing up and ending out foreclosure notices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tomorrow morning, these will be mailed out.

GRIFFIN: Elected officials are saying Toledo is not in a recession, it is a depression. It is this bleak back drop that inspired Toledo congresswoman Marcy Kaptur to take the floor of the House earlier this month to tell her constituents to stay put.

REP. MARCY KAPTUR (D), OHIO: So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes. Don't you leave.

GRIFFIN: Kaptur says she has had it with government bailouts for Wall Street banks but nothing for homeowners. She is advocating for a legal revolution. A demand that not one of her constituents leaves their home without an attorney and a fight.

(On camera): Even if they have been foreclosed on, don't leave?

KAPTUR: If they have had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell them stay in their homes.

GRIFFIN (voice over): Kaptur is behind a strategy called "produce the note." Mortgages have been so divied up on Wall Street that banks are having a hard time finding that original paperwork. Adding a delay to foreclosures.

She is also pushing banks to rework loans, especially those banks getting bailouts and holding mortgages of folks getting tossed out.

KAPTUR: They're vultures. They prey on our property assets. And I guess the reason I'm so adamant on this is because I know property law, and its power to protect the individual homeowner. And I believe that 99.9 percent of our people have not -- have not had good legal representation in this.

GRIFFIN: Without a lawyer, Andrea Guice bought a $147,000 home with nearly $40,000 down.

GUICE: I should have had an attorney. I really should have had the attorney. I did not know.

GRIFFIN: She admits, she didn't read the paperwork, didn't learn, until it was too late she had a subprime loan. Her payments of $883 a month jumped in a year to more than $1500. When it did, she stopped paying.

(On camera): So they foreclosed on you. GUICE: They have foreclosed on me, yep.

GRIFFIN (voice over): The law firm representing the bank in Guice's foreclosure declined comment to CNN. Another one of the banks Guice believes her note, Wells Fargo, said it wouldn't comment on individual cases but tries to work with homeowners.

Backed by her congresswoman, Guice simply is not budging.

Drew Griffin, Toledo, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Having eight babies at once. Some say it is a medical marvel, others worry about whether it's a good idea. Fertility at a cost. Up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We still don't know her identity, but we have learned the California woman who gave birth to eight babies on Monday has six other young children at home. That word coming from her parents. Doctors say the octuplets are doing well, and already aware of their mother's touch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MANDHIR GUPTA, NEONATALIST: They seem to be very happy and content, and when the mom came, that's what I mentioned, when the mom came and she touches the baby, you can definitely see the expression on their face, expression on their body, that they are very happy about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The babies will have to stay in the hospital for several more weeks. Their dead is a contract worker, and due to return to Iraq.

Well, some are oohing and aahing over the octuplets, others are questioning the ethics of the medical treatment that led to the multiple births.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is joining us now to talk a little bit more about this.

So why are some of these multiple births controversial even to begin with?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They're controversial because when -- when you get eight babies, a lot of reproductive endocrinologist that I've talked to, specialists in this field, say someone goofed. You're now supposed to have eight babies. You're supposed to give the right dose and some drugs. You're supposed to do everything right so you don't get eight.

Eight is dangerous for the babies and for the mom.

COLLINS: So it sounds like, though, when you use the word -- when they use the word goofed that it was completely unintentional. Because are you or are you not in control of how many embryos are implanted?

COHEN: It depends what technology you're using. And here's where it gets sticky. We know about all of this -- woman's situation from the "Los Angeles Times." They interviewed the grandmother, not the mother, but the grandmother of the octuplets, a woman named Angela Soulman, and she says that they used IDFs, that some doctor put eight embryos into this mom and that all of them happened to take.

COLLINS: How common is that?

COHEN: Not done. Not....

COLLINS: Never?

COHEN: Well, you never say never.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: But responsible reproductive endocrinologists do not put eight embryos into a mother, they put one, two, three, four, five at the most. As a matter of fact, I'm going to show you a chart. You sort of do it by the woman's age that if a woman is under age 35, you put in one.

And you can see the numbers get bigger, because the likelihood it's going to work goes down. So even if you're over age 40, you wouldn't put in more than five, and five even is controversial. So eight, forget it.

Responsible doctors don't do that so it's (INAUDIBLE).

COLLINS: (INAUDIBLE)

COHEN: Well -- who knows? Who knows? Who knows? I mean we know about all this from the grandmother. But what's really clear here is that, is that this is technology that can be -- needs to be in the right hands, because eight babies, that's, of course, any birth is a wonderful thing, but that's a big risk for the mom, and it's a big risk for the babies.

COLLINS: Yes, and, of course, we should be clear, I mean we are certainly not sitting here judging anybody, or certainly not judging this mother, but it is interesting to talk about the science behind it and what can happen and what -- you know, shouldn't be happening. So did anybody say to her, hey, you have six kids already? Now you've got 14..

COHEN: Do you really want fertility treatment?

COLLINS: Wow. COHEN: Well, I asked an expert in this area, is it -- would it have been OK, could the doctor have said to this woman, you've got six kids, I don't want to be a part of creating anymore? And this expert said to me, sure, a doctor can say that. A doctor can excuse...

COLLINS: Really?

COHEN: ... themselves and say, I don't want to be a part of this. But I know other people would say, well, why should the doctor make a judgment?

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: She's got six kids, she wants more, why not help her?

COLLINS: Yes. Who's anyway to say except for the family?

COHEN: Right. Exactly.

COLLINS: Yes, understood. All right. Interesting discussion. CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for that.

Well, they've got their minds on the middle class. The president and vice president looking to help working families hit hard by the recession. We'll take you to the White House in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Looking at a live picture now from the White House. We are waiting for remarks by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. They are talking about helping the middle class. The president is forming a task force to look at how the middle class is doing in these tough economic times. That event coming up right after his daily economic briefing.

It's all part of day 11 of the Obama administration. We already mentioned his upcoming remarks on the middle class, Working Families Task Force. And this afternoon, the president will meet with senior enlisted officials of the U.S. armed forces.

Showdown in the Senate. The Senate begins debate on the president's economic stimulus package next week. The $819 billion measure passed the House Wednesday with zero Republican support. That is expected to change, though, in the Senate, with projections the bill will pick up at least some GOP support. Some Republicans say the measure has too much wasteful spending and will not create the millions of jobs the president says it will.

As the Senate works to hammer out a stimulus package, we have new signs that the economy is sinking deeper into a recession. The report out this morning shows the economy is shrinking at a pace we haven't seen in decades. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with more details on this and the other numbers. So, we're talking about GDP here, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's the mother of all economic reports. It measures all economic goods, services, activities. We knew it was going to be bad. It wasn't as bad as we expected. That is, the world's greatest economy shrank 3.8 percent in the last quarter.

The consensus on Wall Street was that it was going to show a decline of about 5.5 percent. Why is it that the fourth quarter was so bad? Well, we had actually seen a decline of half a percent in the previous quarter. This one so much worse.

Home builders slashing their spending, businesses in general cutting their spending, whether it's technology, upgrades. Consumers, of course, continue to reign in their spending. And we're expecting bad things will be bad for this quarter, as well. Some of the estimates are a further contraction of 4 percent.

Remember that these numbers are revised, so they could go up or down. We'll get two more looks at fourth-quarter GDP before we get into the first-quarter GDP numbers. Wall Street, as I mentioned was expecting GDP to be worse. We opened to the up side, but quickly fell back after the 200-point decline we saw yesterday. One economist said, I mean, what you're looking at is a steep, broad-based recession with no easy fix, and that is why you see President Obama and his advisers talking about the economy on a daily basis.

Meantime, we're seeing a sell-off. The Dow right now is down 92 points. The Nasdaq is off 18 -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, but even despite that bad-looking report, some companies are making money. Even some of them more money than ever.

LISOVICZ: That's right. And it's one company that we keep going back to again and again. It is Exxonmobil. Exxonmobil reporting its annual earnings for all of 2008, $45 billion. This is in profit. This is profit for the year -- $45 billion. Yes.

No other company has ever earned that much in a single year. Oil, obviously, was close to $150 a barrel last summer, and that's the business that Exxonmobil is in. But fourth quarter was interesting, because we saw the quarter earnings down very sharply from a year earlier.

And one would have to say that the way it's looking right now, with oil prices right now at $41 a barrel, it's going to be a very different year for Exxonmobil for this quarter and the quarters coming up. And we'll be following that, as well. Exxonmobil shares are up just half a percent, Heidi. Back to you.

COLLINS: All right. Susan Lisovicz, thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Wall Street and Main Street will both feel the effects of today's troubles in Tokyo. Listen to this now from CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The bad news came no matter where you looked at the world's second-largest economy, whether you looked at the corporate data or job losses or at the big picture.

Let's begin with the big picture. Industrial production. This is a number that tells you about all of the products that Japan makes, the cars and the electronics. Well, industrial production for the month of December fell, and it fell by 9.6 percent. That percentage drop in December, the largest in Japan's recorded history, ever since they started keeping records for the past 50 years.

If you look at some of the corporate data that came out today, also very bleak. NEC Corporation says it is looking at serious weakening demand globally, saying it will have to cut jobs -- 20,000 jobs NEC says that it will be cutting. Those cuts will be taking place worldwide.

Hitachi also announced job cuts, 7,000 job cuts. Again, those job cuts to be taking place worldwide. And the bad news filled over into the auto sector. Honda says its net profit, it wouldn't be reporting a net profit in the third quarter, expected to lose money, and that net income to fall off a cliff by 90 percent.

What this all adds up to is that these corporations that are announcing these losses and these job cuts, they are based here in Tokyo, based in Japan. But these are big worldwide companies that employ Americans. Many of those job cuts will take place in the USA. All of this translating directly on to impacts on Main Street USA.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And there's little hope for Japan's economy in the near future, anyway. The government says production is expected to fall further through February.

An appeal for the poor at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. That message today from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Brown told the forum, despite the global economic crisis, nations like his own, the U.S., Russia and Germany cannot ignore the needs of developing countries. Brown hosts a meeting of the world's richest nations in April.

The Republican National Committee electing a new chairman today. It is happening now at its annual winter meeting, which just got under way. Some live pictures for you. There are six candidates. Among them is current Chairman Mike Duncan. Also, two African-Americans are vying for the position.

Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin going to Washington. She is attending the Alfalfa Club dinner, an elite political black-tie event tomorrow night. President Barack Obama will also be there. Governor Palin told reporters, quote, "How often will I get an opportunity to have dinner with the president?"

More than a million customers still without power days after a major winter storm spread ice and snow all the way from Texas to Maine. In West Virginia, 14,000 people are still in the dark. Hundreds of crews are working in the hardest-hit areas, struggling to remove fallen trees and downed power lines.

And in Kentucky, Governor Steve Beshear is touring cities and towns in his state, devastated by the storm. More than 100,000 Kentucky customers are without power, four days after the storm hit.

And the town of Leitchfield, Kentucky virtually in the dark. An emergency official just told us a few minutes ago it's like a ghost town there. Most residents are in shelters, in fact, Jewel Tomes is among them. She is on the phone with us right now. Jewel, if you can, just tell us a little bit about what this is all feeling like to you. Not being able to be in your home, and certainly in the dark and cold right now.

VOICE OF JEWEL TOMES, LOST ELECTRICAL POWER: Well, to me, I'm just thrilled to have a place to come to. The high school here was generous, and more than 500 people have been sheltered here. And we've had cots and blankets and three meals a day. And we had medication, Tylenol, if anybody needed medication.

COLLINS: Yes.

TOMES: We had a medic here from National Guard -- or the Army. But we've had help, lots of volunteers.

COLLINS: Well, that's terrific to hear. Because oftentimes, you know, it's really hard to get to everybody in a situation like this, when you just don't have great communication because of those power outages. So, you're feeling like you're pretty well cared for. Is there anything that you could think of that the people need where you are now?

TOMES: Not at this time. Several have left. They've been in and out, you know, during the time, driving home, if they could get home. Some have the power. Their electricity has come on, but...

COLLINS: Wow.

TOMES: ... our apartment complex, I live in an elderly complex, and the power is still off there. However, it never got down real, real cold.

COLLINS: OK. Well, it got real, real cold for you, though. Tell us a little bit about how you made it to the shelter, because the police had to come and get you, right?

TOMES: Yes, the police came and got us. In my apartment -- now, in some apartments, I've heard it was 39. It was not that cold. But Homeland, the landlords, were -- one of my friends called them, and they said -- they told us about the school being set up for shelter.

So, we told them we were ready, and the police came and got us and brought us over. And it was a surprise. I've never seen anything like it. Hundreds of people. But everybody done well. COLLINS: Good, good. Well, that is terrific news, and we certainly wish you the very best. Jewel Tomes, thanks so much. Coming to us today out of Grayson County, Kentucky, Leitchfield as well. We will keep our eye on that, because that certainly, Rob Marciano, is one of the areas that was hardest hit in all of this.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and you know, when you think about all of these people without power over several states like that, and the amount of warmth they're going to get from Mother Nature over the next couple days, it's not a whole lot. We will see a warmup tomorrow afternoon a little bit. More so I think on Sunday. And then Monday is a whole other ball game.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right, Rob. Thanks so much. That's right. Cardinals and Steelers, we will be watching.

Middle-class working families, the president has a message for you, and he's about to deliver it here on CNN. Well tell you about his plans for a new task force.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You're looking at a live picture now from the White House. We are waiting for remarks by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. They'll be talking about helping the middle class. The president is actually forming a task force to look at how the middle class is doing in these tough economic times.

Gas prices on the rise again, but they're nowhere near last summer's record highs that we all remember. And that is making hybrids a tough sell these days. Jen Rogers has our "Energy Fix" now this morning from New York. Hi there, Jen.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi. That's right. Right now, AAA says the national average is $1.85, up from where it was a few weeks ago, but still 55 percent below what we were paying last summer. Last year, hybrid sales fell 10 percent as the bottom fell out of the auto market. Still, it was the first decline since the gas/electric vehicles hit the U.S. market in 2000.

But automakers are confident their sales will rebound, and they're rolling out more models. Check out Toyota's redesigned Prius available this spring. It gets 50 miles to the gallon, four miles better than today's version. Honda's Insight Hybrid goes on sale this April. It's less fuel-efficient than the Prius, getting about 41 miles a gallon, but it will be cheaper. The Insight may sell for as little as $18,000, $4,000 less than the current Prius -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Eighteen thousand dollars is still, you know, kind of a lot of money. Now gas prices have come down. So, are the hybrids really even worth it? I've asked the question before, but, you know, I think it sort of depends, right?

ROGERS: Yes, it does depend. You know, hybrids can cost thousands more. That is definitely true. But if you think gas prices are going to go back up, it might be worth it. According to Edmunds.com, if you buy a 2009 Toyota Prius versus a Toyota Camry, you'll recoup your extra costs in six years based on today's gas prices, and if gas hits $4, you'll break even in less than three years.

But check out the numbers on this Lexus hybrid. It takes almost 182 years to recoup your investment at today's gas prices.

COLLINS: Wow.

ROGERS: Yes, that's a long time, right?

COLLINS: I don't think anybody's going to live that long.

ROGERS: Even if gas prices hit 4 bucks again, it will still take almost 84 years to break even. So, you know, if you're already middle age, you're probably not even going to live that long. So, bottom line from Edmunds, it doesn't make economic sense to pay thousands more for a car that only gets one or two miles better than the non- hybrid version. More energy fixes on CNN.com. Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: All right, Jen, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

All right. We are going to take a quick break here, but we are waiting once again for those remarks coming from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. You see the podium there. Going to be talking about the middle class, a new task force. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: All right. Real quickly, once again, we are waiting for the president and vice president to come out and get to the podium there. They're going to be talking about a new middle-class task force and some of the issues that they think will be helping the middle class. So we'll get to that, just as soon as it happens.

Meanwhile, Wall Street crackdown. President Obama planning to unveil a comprehensive plan to help fix the financial industry and stop sky- high executive bonuses. He's been talking a lot about it. Here's what he said, in fact, after finding out Wall Street execs accepted more than $18 billion in bonuses at the same time their companies were looking for government help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful. And part of what we're going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Despite the criticism, some companies aren't backing off. AIG, the biggest recipient of government rescue funds, is still planning to give its employees big-time bonuses. Here now, CNN's Mary Snow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's taken billions in government money to prevent collapse, but American International Group is paying bonuses to its financial products unit. That same unit racked up huge losses. A source familiar with the matter puts the figure at $450 million.

The company isn't saying exactly how the money will be paid out, but it's evenly distributed, it would average roughly $1 million per employee. AIG says it needs to retain workers. But it's a hard sell for this executive-compensation consultant.

JAMES REDA, EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION CONSULTANT: I don't buy the argument that they have to pay these bonuses for retention. Where are these people going to go? It just doesn't make any sense.

SNOW: With millions of Americans out of work, and thousands of jobs cut daily, retention bonuses have come under sharp scrutiny, especially of financial companies relying on the government to survive. AIG declined our interview request, but in a statement said it disclosed its retention programs months before the government gave aig money.

They explained the bonuses this way: "It was clear, given the market environment, that we would need to retain employees to manage the complex issues arising in our financial products business, which we are now unwinding."

Congressman Elijah Cummings calls it disturbing but not surprising. He's on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: My constituents are concerned...

SNOW: He's been a vocal critic of AIG, demanding answers for taxpayers as to how the $152 billion in bailout money AIG's received is being spent.

CUMMINGS: I don't know of any job or any employer in the world where, when you mess up, and basically do things that literally destroy the company, that not only do you get to keep your job, but you get a bonus.

SNOW: Asked to respond to the criticism, AIG said most of its senior employees at its financial-products unit will see total compensation down 57 percent below historic levels. Now, AIG is also making the case that it's in taxpayers' interests for the company to run businesses successfully in order to repay government loans.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Coming up any minute now, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden will be coming and making some remarks about the middle class. We will carry that for you live just as soon as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: All right. Very quickly, we understand that we have gotten the two-minute warning here, so we're going to try and stay on top of this for you and make sure we take all of this news conference. Actually, not a news conference. He's making remarks to a group of people gathered there regarding the middle class. And we're waiting for President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

I see some people walking out the door. Those are the two we're looking for. Let's go ahead and listen in. Once again, the middle class task force and remarks regarding the status of the middle class.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please, have a seat, everybody.

Thank you for joing us today. It is a privilege to be among the this diverse group representing labor unions and not-for-profit organizations, advocates for our business community. And I am pleased to be here with our outstanding vice president, Joe Biden.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I see some of my colleagues, got some senators here, we've got a governor, at least one of them I see over here. And members of Congress and a lot of good friends, some Cabinet members. So, this is an outstanding gathering.

Today we learned that our economy shrank in the last three months of 2008 by 3.8 percent. That's the worst contraction in close to three decades. This isn't just an economic concept. This is a continuing disaster for America's working families.

As worrying as these numbers are, it's what they mean for the American people that really matters. And that's so alarming. Families making fewer purchases, businesses making fewer investments, employers sustaining fewer jobs. The recession is deepening, and the urgency of our economic crisis is growing. Yesterday, we reached a new threshold, the highest number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits on record.

Every day, it seems there is another round of layoffs, another round of jobs lost and families' lives turned upside down. We lost 2.6 million jobs last year, and another 2.8 million who want and need work had to settle for part-time employment. So, this is a difficult moment.

But I believe if we act boldly and swiftly, it can be an American moment when we work through our differences together, and overcome our divisions to face this crisis.