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Hard Times Hit Home; Camped Out For a Job; London's Big Snow; Winter to Drag On

Aired February 02, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you.

On this Monday, February 2nd, Groundhog Day. Big numbers we'll be talking about, of course, the Senate getting to work on the economic stimulus package today. Some Republicans are grabbing that theme of President Obama's, change. They are demanding some change to curb a lot of wasteful spending.

Also facing the hard reality of a layoff. Talking to workers at the headquarters in peoria, Illinois where they are losing a lot of jobs, thousands, actually.

Also a rare snowstorm paralyzing London. The city's transportation system pretty much at a stand still today.

Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, President Obama has a meeting today with the governor of a tiny state, but this is a very big deal. This governor could help him out a lot in getting through that big stimulus package, a package he's hoping to get more Republican support than he did in the House. In the Senate -- and of course, he got zero support from Republicans in the House.

Our Suzanne Malveaux standing by for us in the White House.

I guess, Suzanne, any Republican support in the Senate is going to be better than what he got in the House, which was absolutely zero.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, T.J.

They're really trying to pluck away at least some Republican support. You mentioned Jim Douglas. Obviously, he is the vice chair of the National Governors Association. He's very influential, so the president sitting down with him here at the White House to make sure that he can lobby some of those Republican senators that have been quite dismissive about this plan.

Now, one thing they've learned, T.J., is that on the House side, when the House Democrats came up with the legislation, they largely did it without the input of Republicans or the president. Well, the president did get involved, pretty much at that last moment, asking for certain programs be taken out, a family planning program of $200 million, things like this. But what the president is doing now is that he wants to make sure on the Senate side, at least, he's involved from the very beginning, trying to take out programs that perhaps don't create jobs right away, and also looking at some Republican ideas.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The important thing is getting the thing passed. And I've done extraordinary outreach, I think, to Republicans, because they have some good ideas. And I want to make sure those ideas are incorporated. I am confident that by the time we actually have the final package on the floor, that we are going to see substantial support, and people are going to say this is a serious effort, it has no earmarks, we're going to be trimming out things that are not relevant to putting people back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So T.J., what is the president actually talking about? Well, there are some ideas, some Republican proposals that he does support, and he's going to let the Democrats know that this afternoon when he meets with them at the White House.

One of them, the alternative minimum tax patch. Essentially, it's a tax that would hit middle class taxpayers, but it was meant for really the most wealthy. So they're going to put that on hold. That's one thing that they believe will help taxpayers, particularly the middle class.

And then secondly, this idea of a tax credit for people who are buying their homes, first time homeowners. It goes from $7,500 to $15,000, doubling that number. That is something the president also supports. So what you're going to see here is really kind of some give and take here, and certainly the president putting some more political capital into trying to win over some Republicans -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, trying to win them over, and he might get the help of a Republican governor today. Thank you, Suzanne.

And that Republican governor will be our guest here in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. So stand by to hear from the governor of Vermont.

We will turn now from Suzanne, there at the White House, to Capitol Hill. Dana Bash standing by for us there.

Dana, they are working away on this package, a package which went from $819 billion, added a few more dollars to it. Could we possibly get up with all the changes? We're talking about $1 trillion package at some point?

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is entirely possible. But I've got to tell you, part of the push by many senators, Democrats and Republicans, to change this as the debate goes forward in the stimulus package is to change the spending and to change the costs. And in particular, lower the spending on many items like $75 million for anti-smoking programs that Democrats and Republicans tell us that they simply think have no business being in a bill that is supposed to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

And you heard Suzanne talking about housing, the housing issue. That is something that Republicans have been pushing and will likely offer an amendment on this week. But there are other ideas. In fact, a lot of ideas, and that is the issue that the president and the Democratic leadership are going to have to deal with. For example, the president's former rival, John McCain, he is getting together with several of his Republican colleagues, and they're coming up with yet another alternative in terms of how to deal with this.

Listen to what he said on "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: There's a number of things. We'd like to see payroll tax cuts, we'd like to see more incentives such as $15,000 tax credit for homeownership. We'd like to see elimination of these policy changes, which have nothing to do with jobs. We want the stimulus package to focus on jobs. I think we are clearly prepared to sit down, discuss, negotiate, a true stimulus package that will create jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, we are already hearing from Democratic leadership aides that they are going to offer a $20 billion amendment to add money, but to add money for infrastructure, and that is probably one of the few things that you have agreement on from some Republicans and some Democrats in terms of what really will create jobs. Of course, the question is going to be, what is going to be taken out in order to placate many senators who simply say a lot of that spending is just -- has no business in this bill? And that is what we're going to be watching and following as this debate goes on this week -- T.J.

HOLMES: Yes. Well, good luck keeping up with a lot of those zeros.

But on another note here, away from the stimulus package, Tom Daschle, of course the president's nominee for the HHS secretary, he's got some explaining to do up there on Capitol Hill.

BASH: He does, and he will have an opportunity to do that later this afternoon. In fact, at 5:00, he's going to have a meeting here on Capitol Hill with all members of the Senate Finance Committee, all of his former colleagues here in the Senate. And just this morning, we got a little bit of an indication that Democrats are rallying around him even more.

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, he released a statement and he said, "I remain convinced that Senator Daschle will be an invaluable and expert partner in this effort. I'm eager to move forward together."

So that is a very important statement for a couple of reasons. One is because he's the man in charge of that committee, but the other reason is because a subplot here, T.J., is that it's not a secret that there's actually no love loss between Max Baucus and Tom Daschle. They butted heads a lot when Tom Daschle was the leader over various issues.

So the fact that Max Baucus is putting out this statement, signaling that perhaps he will support Tom Daschle in the end, is certainly going to be pleasing to Senator Daschle. But still, it is not even close to over. You're still going to have to see what happens after that meeting this afternoon with Democrats and Republicans talking to Tom Daschle about what he was thinking or not thinking in not paying $128,000 in taxes.

HOLMES: Always some kind of a subplot going on up there with the personalities.

We appreciate you, Dana Bash, so much.

We want to turn now live, still there on Capitol Hill, I do believe. There he is, Mr. McConnell, the minority leader in the Senate, talking about the stimulus package.

Let's take a listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: ... where it needs to head and where it needs to end up.

Who would like to lead off?

Yes?

QUESTION: Senator McConnell (OFF-MIKE). Are you going to try to knock some of it out using your numbers (OFF-MIKE)?

MCCONNELL: Well, I'm not going to indicated what amendments we might offer or what procedural techniques we may employ, but just let me say, nobody that I know of is trying to keep a package from passing. You know, we're not trying to prevent a package from passing, we're trying to reform it, reformulate it, put it in a different place.

The package that most of my members would support would be dramatically different from what passed the House and, frankly, dramatically different from what we currently see out of the Finance Committee and the Appropriations Committee. And I've indicated where we think it ought to go -- fix housing first, tax relief for middle and low-income taxpayers that put money back in their pockets immediately.

Yes?

QUESTION: If you should get progress on housing, on tax relief, would you also require changes on the spending part, some of the entitlements? MCCONNELL: Well, look, I -- well, don't think it's a great idea to use a bill that's supposed to be timely, temporary, and targeted to actually make entitlement permanent spending worse. I mean, why in the world would we want to -- you know, the president's already been talking about the importance of getting a handle on the entitlements. We should not use this bill to make that problem more complicated, more difficult. We should not use it to increase permanent spending.

"Entitlement" is an inside-the-beltway word that we all understand. But for those who are not working here, we're talking about -- there's an attempt under way here to use this bill to increase permanent spending. I think that's a bad idea no matter how worthwhile the various proposals are.

John?

QUESTION: Senator McConnell, what do you think is the total price tag of this? It's pushing $1 trillion now in terms of the Senate version. Regardless of the specifics, what do you think of a top line number?

And also, I want (ph) to try Daschle, not specifically on Daschle, but the process. How is it that we -- it went so long before this became public, before you knew about it, even to the point of a first round confirmation hearing for Daschle for the health committee?

MCCONNELL: Let's go back to your first question. What was it again?

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Top line numbers.

MCCONELL: Yes. I mean, most of my members believe that we could pass a very robust stimulus for less than the amount currently before us. We've been throwing figures around like it was paper money. We're already looking, before we even do this, at over a $1 trillion deficit for this year.

We all agree that we need to do something, but I don't think we should just completely act like the amount is irrelevant. As someone mentioned the other day, one of my colleagues, just to put $1 trillion in context, if you started spending the day that Jesus was born, and you spent $1 million every single day, you still wouldn't have spent $1 trillion. This is a lot of money.

Now, we know we have a huge economy. We know we need to jump-start it. But most of my members feel we can do it for less than what is currently being proposed.

QUESTION: Senator...

(CROSSTALK)

MCCONELL: I'm going to skip the second question.

Yes? QUESTION: Have you had any contact with (OFF-MIKE) White House that gives you an indication of where Democratic leaders in the Senate or the White House now wants this bill (OFF-MIKE)?

MCCONELL: Well, I've just read you what the president said yesterday. I think I know where he wants it to go, and I hope that he's going to be able to put the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate in line.

He needs to talk to them. He needs to let them know that the measures that they are moving forward don't meet his own standard, which I just read to you. And maybe that's what the meeting at the White House is about tonight. I hope so.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

MCCONELL: Yes, not much. I don't think we ought to use a measure that is supposed to be timely, temporary, and targeted to set off trade wars when the entire world is experiencing a downturn in the economy. I think it's a very bad idea.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

MCCONELL: I think it's a bad idea to put it in a bill like this, which is supposed to be about jump-starting the economy.

Yes?

QUESTION: Senator McConnell, earlier in (OFF-MIKE) new Senate where there's an open debate process and amendments and things of that nature. But last week, some of your members indicated that based on what has happened in Finance and Appropriations, that those amendments that you were offering would likely be defeated on (OFF-MIKE).

Do you still have hope that that's possible? Or are you hoping that President Obama will instruct the Democrats to either go along with some of those votes (ph) or to return some of that language that you want (OFF-MIKE)?

MCCONELL: Well, first, it's a good idea that we're actually voting on amendments in the Senate again. That's a refreshing return to the traditional method of operating.

We can't anticipate that we're going to win them all. I mean, there are more of them than there are of us. But I can tell you this -- with regard to this measure that's on the floor this week, there is considerable -- and you're hearing it -- considerable Democratic senatorial unrest about this package. Considerable.

I think there is a bipartisan feeling that this is not the way to get the economy moving. And hopefully, we'll see that exhibited on various amendments where we may have some bipartisan success in modifying the bill and making it more in line with what I think the president was talking about yesterday.

HOLMES: All right. Again, listening in there to the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, talking about the GOP opposition to President Obama's stimulus package, saying it's just too big and, you know what? He said it sounds like they're throwing around paper money up there in Washington. It's supposed to be timely, targeted, and temporary, said it is none of those things, even some of the spending that is in there.

So we shall see. The debate continues. And again, once again, heard that $1 trillion figure thrown around. Possibly, this bill keeps getting more and more added to it. The debate continues in Washington today in the Senate.

Meanwhile, the president is meeting today with a Republican, but a governor this time, a governor who supports this stimulus plan. We're talking about the Vermont governor, Governor Jim Douglas, who is at the meeting with him today.

We're expecting to see the two men, expecting some video of it in just a few minutes. We will bring that to you as soon as we get it.

Also, we're expected to talk to the governor live, Governor Douglas, in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. So a lot going on. Stay tuned for that.

Also, New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg could be joining a couple of other Republicans in the Obama cabinet. He's now under consideration for commerce secretary. Republicans apparently have a deal with New Hampshire's Democratic governor.

Now, this is the way this is supposed to work. If he actually leaves his post, then the Democratic governor would name the replacement for Senator Gregg's seat there. Hopefully, that would be a Republican. The Republicans think that would keep the Democrats still shy of a filibuster-proof majority. Otherwise, a top GOP leader says Gregg would likely decline joining Obama's cabinet.

Are you like a lot of other folks who need a job? Get in line, literally. We are live in Miami, where they are camping out and waiting by the hundreds. Why? For a job, a shot at being a firefighter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Welcome back here. We're just getting a little video, hearing from the president, meeting with the governor of Vermont there today.

Let's listen in to this we're just getting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JIM DOUGLAS (R), VERMONT: Thank you for your time today. Thank you for your leadership on matters of great importance to the American people.

You were gracious in reaching out to the governors of our country in December before you took office. And we had an opportunity at that time to discuss the economic crisis, the fiscal crisis that's confronting most of our states. And we indicated that we needed some assistance from the federal government to stimulate the economy, to create jobs, to help us balance our budgets and preserve essential programs for the American people, and avoid the need to raise taxes at the state level.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill, and we look forward to working with your administration, with the senators and members of the House, to fashion the piece of legislation that fulfills the goals that we have articulated. I know there are some differences of opinion on some of the elements, and if I were writing it, it might be a little different. If you were writing it, it might be a little different. But the essence of a recovery package is essential to get our nation's economy moving.

And it's not just a matter of the bigger picture or numbers, it's really quite personal in many cases. On my floor alone, in the office building where I work, four relatives of employees had lost their jobs over the last couple of weeks. So this is a serious matter. It's the kind of recession that is deep, that appears to be long. And the only way we're going to get the country movering again is a partnership between the states and the federal government.

So we appreciate your hard work and look forward to coming to some conclusion in the very near future so we can get America moving again.

OBAMA: Well, I want to thank Governor Douglas for being here.

We met early on during the transition period with all of the governors from across the country. And very few exceptions.

I heard from Republicans and Democrats the need for action, and swift action. And that's what we've been trying to do in moving this package forward. And nobody understands this better than governors and mayors and county officials who are seeing the devastating effects on the ground of this distraction in the economy. People are being laid off, and that means that governors like Jim are having to not only deal with declining revenue, but increased social services to provide support for people who are unemployed as they're seeking work.

And the recovery package that we are moving forward is designed to provide states relief, to make sure the people who are laid off from their jobs are still able to get unemployment insurance, are still able to get health care, and that we are putting in place the infrastructure -- rebuilding roads, bridges, waterways, other projects -- at the state levels that allow us to put people back to work. And we want to create or save three million jobs, and we want to put the investments in place that are going to ensure long-term economic growth.

So as Jim indicated, there are still some differences between Democrats and Republicans on the Hill between the White House and some of the products that's been discussed on the Hill. But what we can't do is let very modest differences get in the way of the overall package moving forward quickly. And so I'm very gratified that Governor Douglas, along with many governors from across the country, are going to be weighing in, in these critical next few days, and we hope to be able to get a bill to you in the next couple of weeks so we can put America back to work and start digging ourselves out of this deep hole that we are in.

So thank you so much for taking the time to be here.

DOUGLAS: Thank you, Mr. President.

OBAMA: All right.

QUESTION: Mr. President, do you stand behind Tom Daschle? Do you still stand behind Tom Daschle?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. Again there, you just were hearing a question there about Tom Daschle, of course the nominee, the president's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary who is embroiled in a bit of an uproar, a little embarrassment about his taxes. The president was actually asked about it, and he says he absolutely supports Tom Daschle.

Also, you saw him there talking to the governor of Vermont, Jim Douglas. Now, you heard -- that is a Republican there talking quite favorably about the stimulus package, and you heard a Republican speaking favorably because that one does not serve in the U.S. House of Representatives or in the Senate, where there is major Republican opposition to it.

Governor Douglas will be with us next hour, and he will explain to us why he supports the president's stimulus package when so many other Republicans do not.

We will turn now to Pakistan right now though, where an American U.N. official has been kidnapped and his driver killed. This attack happened in the city of Quetta.. This was near the Afghan border.

We want to head now to Reza Sayah, who is in the Pakistani capital for us.

Reza, any word on why this official was targeted and taken, and where he might be now?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not yet, T.J., but what we can tell you, the victims of this attack/kidnapping were both in a large white Land Cruiser with that big blue U.N. logo. So it's very likely these militants knew what they were going after.

Let's tell you what we know.

Pakistani police tell CNN this happened at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning, local time. That's when they tell CNN that John Solecki, an American citizen, an official in the U.N., was heading to work with his driver, a Pakistani citizen, Sayed Hashemi (ph), when they were ambushed by gunmen. The gunmen opened fire, killing the driver, and subsequently kidnapping Mr. Solecki. Police still don't know who was behind this. Oftentimes, the fingers point to the Taliban, but it's important to notice where this happened, because it's not a Taliban stronghold.

The Taliban stronghold is the tribal region in northwestern Pakistan, along the Afghan border. This incident happened near Quetta, in Balochistan Province, which is south of that region. There's not a lot of Taliban activity there. There is an insurgency there led by militants who are demanding political autonomy.

So, at this hour, police still don't know who was behind this kidnapping Monday morning here in Pakistan -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Reza Sayah for us on the story there in the Pakistani capital.

We appreciate you today, Reza.

Of course, we have been seeing a lot the past couple of weeks, so many layoffs. One plant, so many lives. We're talking about your job and your money. It's our issue #1.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, Peoria, Illinois, certainly feeling the pain right now from the country's economic crisis. The town has been hit hard by job cuts at Caterpillar.

Chief National Correspondent John King talks with the laid-off workers there who are wondering now how they'll survive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Daybreak along the Illinois River. Peoria, one of the factory towns born of America's industrial heyday, now slapped suddenly by a recession it had bragged of escaping.

Caterpillar, the bedrock of the local economy, stunned workers last week by slashing 20,000 jobs worldwide, many here in the Peoria area. Then on Friday, more shock -- 2,100 more jobs cut just here in central Illinois.

MARIBETH FEAGIN, LAID-OFF WORKER: I don't want to be on unemployment. I've never been on unemployment before.

KING: For John and Maribeth Feagin, a double whammy. Both worked at Caterpillar, both out of work effective Friday. Three children, two cars, and a mortgage.

FEAGIN: You've got to budget, you've got cut back where you need to. Going to a secondhand store to, you know, make sure the kids are clothed. KING: John is going back to school using benefits from a tour in Iraq with the Illinois National Guard. But if Maribeth can't find work within a few months, the options turn drastic.

JOHN FEAGIN, LAID-OFF WORKER: If things really got that bad, I would probably volunteer to go back overseas, and that's pretty bad to say.

KING (on camera): You'd volunteer to go to -- that's Iraq or Afghanistan?

J. FEAGIN: For my family, I would, yes.

KING (voice-over): Confronting such stark choices is harder because these jobs were the gold standard. As automakers and other U.S. manufacturers suffered in recent years, Caterpillar thrived because of overseas exports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world knows we're the best. These people in here are all busting their butt.

KING: In a union shop, Jim Lyerle's (ph) 39-year seniority protects his job, but he worries a way of life is fading.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I made a good living here. The kids coming in now, I'm not for sure they're going to make the good living I made. It's bad. I really -- my heart goes out to the people, I tell you.

KING: It was that dream of a good middle class living that convinced Chris Guynn to move his family here from Las Vegas.

CHRIS GUYNN, LAID-OFF WORKER: I wanted to work with a company that's been around for 83 years and, you know, a Fortunate 500 company. And, I mean, how could you lose on something like that? It was just a company that you could just retire with, great pension, great retirement, 401(k) and so forth.

KING: Guynn was among more than 800 workers abruptly told Friday was their last day.

GUYNN: It's hard, you know, because now I have to look at my wife to be the breadwinner, and looking at my kids.

KING: Because his wife works, Guynn is enrolling full time at Central Illinois College.

Back to school isn't an option for Christi Williams.

CHRISTI WILLIAMS, LAID-OFF WORKER: Well, it's just me and my kids.

KING: There is no other breadwinner. A single mother, five young children, Williams left a job at a law firm for long-term stability and better benefits at Caterpillar. Her two-week notice came last month.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first I wasn't worried, I just -- I've never been laid off in my life. KING: She is worried now.

WILLIAMS: I think there's just so many people out there looking for the same position. There's a lot of very highly qualified people out there and people with degrees such as myself. And it's just been very hard.

KING: Williams said she'd love help from Washington, but isn't counting on it. Her unemployment benefits run 10 more weeks. Juggling the bills is hard. Hiding the toll at home, hardest.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I don't let them see that I'm stressed out about things. I'm very nervous. Every day on the news, there is more layoffs that are being shown.

KING: John King, CNN, Peoria, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And continuing on that theme, job loss, job losses, take a look at this video here. People actually camping out to get a job. This is what you're seeing. This is something you might see people waiting to get tickets to a game sometimes and things of that nature. Lining up to see the new Harry Potter movie we stuff like this. These are folks looking for a job. They're in sleeping bags, they're in lawn chairs, they're waiting to apply with Miami's Fire Department. The starting salary there about $47,000. Competition is all over the place; pretty fierce. The city says it's only accepting the first 750 applications.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How long have you been out here?

EDUARDO GARCIA, IN LINE TO APPLY FOR JOB: Since 4:00 or 5:00 yesterday. I don't think anybody suspected it to be the turnout it has been. I mean, there's like 500 people out here right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes, that was the count we saw yesterday. Today some are estimating maybe 1,000 people even in the line. On the phone with us now is the director of Miami Employee Relations, Hector Mirabile.

Sir, thank you for being with us. Tell us the status of that line right now. How many people do you still have lined up out there looking for a job?

HECTOR MIRABILE, DIRECTOR, MIAMI EMPLOYEE RELATIONS: We still have, approximately, about 1,000. We processed a little bit over 200 through here. Accepting the applications. We're - 35 positions that we have open for firefighter paramedics.

HOLMES: Wait a minute. Did I hear you right? You have 35 positions?

MIRABILE: That is correct. Thirty-five vacant positions that we're hoping to fill very soon, and we're excited that we have so many individuals out here that desire to become firefighter paramedics for the City of Miami.

HOLMES: Sir, what would this process normally be like if you do have an announcement saying you're hiring - I don't know how often you all might have blocks or chunks of jobs like this where you're hiring? But when you do, what kind of reaction have you normally seen? Anything close to this?

MIRABILE: Oh, no, no, no. This is definitely three or four times more than we would normally receive at any one time. It's usually, you know, a long term. Not everybody coming in at the same time. We usually get 300 or 400, you know, per day. We run it like a couple of days and then we get our 500. We extended it to 750 this time so we can get a greater applicant pool to meet our demographic needs. And this is definitely more than we were hoping for and we're excited that this many people want to work for, you know, our great fire department.

HOLMES: Well, and I know - no knock on the department there at all - but like you said, it's not what you're not used to seeing it. So is it no question in you all's mind and a lot of people's mind that really this is a result of a lot of people - the downturn in the economy and people right now looking for a job and you all are offering some?

MIRABILE: Oh, absolutely. This is definitely the economic condition, not only in Miami-Dade county, but nationwide. It's just a lot of people need their jobs. They deserve, you know, that they want to work and get paid, they deserve, you know, to have employment. And we're hoping to go ahead and satisfy at least 35 potential candidates to do this.

HOLMES: And last thing, here, sir. I know you got so many out there, you only have 35 positions, know you all extended it to 750 applications you're going to take. Was there any debate or talk about possibly just going ahead if these people camped out and lined up, just go ahead and what the harm might be in accepting everybody's application?

MIRABILE: Well, unfortunately, one of our wonderful fire and rescue are going by.

HOLMES: That's all right, I was asking - we can hear it in the background there, as well. Hope you can hear me a little better now. But my question was, is there any debate, I guess, among you all to possibly with all these folks lining up and camping out and given the economic times, just accepting every application that you can and give everybody a shot?

MIRABILE: Well, we normally - you know, we were toying with that idea and thinking about it, that's why we extended it from 500 to 750, but we advertised that and we're kind of like constrained. Because once you advertise it, it becomes a competitive playing field. So the wider the root those first 750 applicants will be competing for 35 positions versus 1,200, 1,400 and on that will be competing for those positions. So, in the rule of fairness, there is the cutoff of 750, to meet the city's needs, and then anything beyond that, we're terribly sorry, but you know, the competitive nature of this requires it to have at least the cutoff score.

HOLMES: Yes, understood there. Hector Mirabile, sir, again, director of the Miami Employee Relations. Sir, we appreciate you giving us some time and a little insight into what you got going on down there. Thank you so much and good luck wading through all of those applications.

MIRABILE: Thank you very much.

HOLMES: Well, turn back to the economy now. We're back - I'll go to Wall Street, I guess, the New York Stock Exchange is where we're going to turn our attention now. American's capping off the worst year for consumer spending since 1961. That's a troubling sign. Stephanie Elam keeping an eye on the New York Stock Exchange joining us now with more on that and what the stocks are doing.

And I know I heard you talk a little early about everybody showed and wanted to talk about the game last night, the Superbowl. But I guess once that euphoric feeling goes away for the Steelers fans, you've got to get back to the reality of this economy.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I guess so, but how does it feel to have the same name as the MVP? I was wondering that last night when I was watching the game.

HOLMES: Well, I don't like to tell people, but we are related.

ELAM: Are you really?

HOLMES: Not at all. I'm kidding.

ELAM: OK, I was going to say that "Holmes" is not going to - it's not like Elam, you know.

Anyway, you're right. That was a lot of chatter here, people still talking about the Superbowl, the commercials here. But still, when you take a look at what's going on, T.J., you look at these numbers, you see that most of us are pretty hesitant to open up our wallets at the end of last year and Wall Street has the numbers to prove it. The latest reading on personal spending shows a greater than expected one percent drop in December. And this actually marks the sixth month in a row that spending has declined. And during that time the pullback accelerated dramatically with spending falling a whopping nine percent in the final quarter of the year.

So, why is this all troubling? I hear you asking. That's because consumer spending accounts for about 2/3 of the nation's gross domestic product. We actually need people to go out, hit the stores, spend some money here and there in order for our economy to grow. Personal incomes, meanwhile, they inch down .2 percent. So essentially, while consumers are spending less, they are saving more as this recession wears on. HOLMES: OK, people will tell you that through all of this economic advice you get, this personal income advice, is you need to save. We don't really need that right now as long as people are hoarding their own money and scared to spend, we're going to end up continuing in this cycle.

ELAM: Yes, and, in fact, and this whole idea has a name, it's called the "Paradox of Thrift." It's basically the idea of people saving, and that's good for individuals, but it's bad for the overall economy, especially when everyone does it at the same time. One economist says we soon may be rivaling our depression era relatives who were conservative in their spending and aggressive in their savings because of the lack of faith that they had in their assets. So you can see that sentiment - it's taking, you know, it's here in today's market, as well.

Let's take a look at the numbers right now. The Dow off 79 points at 79.20, so off one percent. But NASDAQ back in the green up about 1/2 a percent at 1484. So another little ray of sunshine here besides those folks in Pittsburgh feeling really good today about a pretty darn good Superbowl.

All right, I just had to say that one more time because it was fun to watch.

HOLMES: And an impressive young man named Holmes.

ELAM: Holmes. Holmes did it. It was almost like ballet. It was almost like ballet, it was amazing. All right, I'm done.

HOLMES: All right. We're out of here. Stephanie, good to see you. Talk to you again soon.

We will turn to weather over in Great Britain. We're talking about snow that's causing some problems. And our CNN iReporter's helping us tell the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: London at a standstill right now trapped under its heaviest snowfall in almost two decades. CNN's Jim Boulden is snowed in at Heathrow Airport right now.

And I imagine this is causing havoc for travelers.

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDET: It is, T.J., and of course, you say snowed in, but it's only six inches. So I'm sure viewers in places like Denver, Chicago, Boston, New York - they're thinking, why is that a lot of snow? But it's a lot of snow for us here in London. And Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport. So, when things go bad here, they go bad all over the world. And they had disruptions to business people and travelers all the way around the world, including from the U.S.

And I have one of them here with me. Joining me is Craig Winters from New Jersey. He works for Johnson & Johnson. You flew in this morning from the U.S. Tell me what your morning was like.

CRAIG WINTERS, BUSINESS TRAVELER FROM NEW JERSEY: Oh, well, first on the plane, everybody was looking out the windows, looking at all of the other planes stacked up and we had about an hour delay. Then got into the airport, found out that my flight to Dusseldorf was canceled. Then everybody was scrambling for other flights and hotel rooms. Then the taxi driver bringing me to this hotel dropped me off at the wrong hotel, so then I had to take my luggage and slug it through the slush and the snow and we finally got here. But I'm in, and it's nice.

BOULDEN: Now, you, of course, are from New Jersey, you've flown in and out of Newark all the time. Does this surprise you that six inches has put us to a stop?

WINTERS: In Heathrow, yes. Absolutely. Chicago wouldn't surprise me; here, definitely a surprise.

BOULDEN: Yes, I mean, they are trying to get the second runway open. The first one was closed some of the day. Now, what do you think is going to happen to you tomorrow?

WINTERS: I have a 7:00 flight out, and I'm hoping the snow will stop and they'll clear the runways and we'll get out.

BOULDEN: OK, Craig, well, good luck.

WINTERS: Thank you.

BOULDEN: If not, you'll be heading back to Newark, I guess, in a couple of days.

WINTERS: Thank you very much.

BOULDEN: Thank you very much.

So, T.J., a lot of people looking for hotel rooms. And you know, I've got to say, I went into the terminals earlier today and people were pretty relaxed about it because what can you really do when your flights are canceled? British Airways canceled all of the flights until about 45 minutes they're going to be starting some of the long haul flights, if they can get the second runway open. And it could take days, of course, for things to get back to normal. And in fact, they're talking about more snow.

HOLEMS: Six inches? Come on, Jim. People don't even slow down in Chicago when it's six inches of snow out there.

All right, Jim Boulden for us. We appreciate you, buddy, thanks so much.

We will turn to some more weather-related news. The groundhog came out, made his prediction. We'll tell you what it was.

Also Rob Marciano making a few predictions of his own. He's tracking another winter storm. There he is in the CNN Weather Center. We'll check in with him in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. There he is. The world's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, he has seen his shadow. So, that means six more weeks of winter. Probably not what a lot of folks want to hear right now given that we just saw an ice storm go through a major part of this country.

Rob Marciano, can you tell me, is there any scientific evidence that this groundhog has any idea what he's talking about?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you this that Spring begins in about six weeks anyway.

(LAUGHTER)

So, I mean, it's just coincidentally around this time of year that he's going to make that call. By the way, T.J., from what we saw here, it was pretty cloudy in that area and they do it right at sun up.

HOLMES: Yeah.

MARCIANO: And you got all those television lights, you know, glaring. Of course, he's going to see his shadow.

HOLMES: Of course he is. Thank you for breaking that down for us, Rob.

MARCIANO: He's darn cute and I would think some good eaten too.

HOLMES: All right.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: We're going to head now down to CNN.com. And our Tyson Wheatley, our producer down there keeping up with some iReports from across the pond about that big - well, not big, it's the big snowstorm for them, but six inches doesn't sound like a whole lot to us, Tyson.

Hey there, buddy, how are you doing?

TYSON WHEATLEY, PRODUCER, CNN.COM: Hey there, T.J. I'm doing good, how are you?

HOLMES: I'm doing all right, man. What are they sending in to us? Is it that - again, six inches? Do they have impressive iReports there?

WHEATLEY: Well, you know they do. You know, our job is typically fun every day, but imagine how fun it was today to come into work and see these amazing snowy pictures from the United Kingdom. And I just wanted to show us a few of the best with you today. Let's start with the iconic images out of England. I'm talking about Stonehenge. And we call this one: Snowhenge. Let's go ahead and take a look at the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALUN HILL, iREPORTER, CNN.COM: This is Stonehenge, about a hundred miles from London. It's snowing like crazy here. London, a hundred miles away, is closed. The tombs are shut. The buses are shut down. But everything will be back to normal tomorrow. Meantime, we're got guests here all the way from china.

UNIDENTIFIED CHINESE TOURIST: Yes, Shanghai.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHEATLEY: So I love in this video how Alun Hill, he like points to the tourists there, you know. And he's a native Englander, of course, and he's at Stonehenge today, but he says he's probably the only one who actually lives there who's there. He says it's all tourists; no one else from England. So great video there.

And I've got also some other photos I want to show to you. This is a great view from a barge in London, and these photos come to us from Rhonda Blakie. And her husband, Ken, and her dog, Harry, they're retired New Zealanders docked at a London marina along the Thames River on a 70-foot barge. And you can see here, this is the view from the barge. That's their dog, Harry, that's a Maltese there.

And you know, we've been talking to people from London all day long and they've been just so delightful to talk to today. They're amazed all the snow is happening. Of course, not everyone is like excited. You know, it's obviously causing a lot of transportation delays too. So...

HOLMES: Right. Well, again, we appreciate the photos and the detail about even what kind of dog we were looking at down there. Tyson Wheatley for us out of CNN.com, buddy, we appreciate you.

WHEATLEY: Take care, T.J.

HOLMES: OK, now what in the world would cause somebody to miss the NFL championship game? They need a job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Coming up on the noon hour, just a quick look at Wall Street. The Dow down about 67 points right now. This comes amid reports that consumers are spending less and less. And last year was one of the worst years for consumer spending in over 40-plus years. We continue to watch what's happening on the markets.

We continue to watch this economy and what's happening to people and their jobs. About 1,000 people have been waiting in line, some of them for days, to apply for a job as a Miami firefighter. We're going to head now to Richard Jordan, he's with our affiliate WSVN, live.

And we see behind you that line is still behind you there. What's happening? RICHARD JORDAN, WSVN-TV REPORTER: Yeah, T.J., the line is still here. But believe it or not, this is a very small line compared to the number of people who were out here this morning. Many of them started camping out Saturday night. About 1,000 people who made this line, they're all applying for jobs to join Miami Fire Rescue either as a firefighter or paramedic.

But now, get this: They're only accepting the first 750 applications. So a lot of people will never even get inside. Of those 750, there are 35 jobs available. So a very small margin of the people who have camped out, sacrificed - some of them say it was pretty cold. I know that sounds strange to some people to hear South Florida cold, but temperatures did go down to about 50 degrees this weekend as we had a cold front move in.

But this is a sign of the times. The Florida unemployment rate is at a 16-year high. So a lot of people are coming out here, not only looking for jobs, but just better career opportunities here with the Fire Department.

T.J.?

HOLMES: All right. Richard Jordan, and again, that's amazing to hear. So many people lined up and only 35 positions available. Again, Richard Jordan with our affiliate WSVN, we appreciate you. We thank you so much.

We continue to keep an eye on America's money crisis. And millions of folks out there use food stamps every month, but now thousands more are learning about this program for the very first time.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hello there, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes in the CNN Newsroom, sitting in today for Tony Harris. Here's some of the headlines that we're keeping an eye on on this second day of February.

The plan to rescue the U.S. economy hitting the Senate today hitting a few snags as well. Republicans want changes before they'll back the Democrats stimulus bill.

Also, in Kentucky, they got time to defrost. Not a lot of time, though. More than a quarter billion customers still without heat, still without power after a huge ice storm.

Also, prescription drugs for sale, prescription not needed. The murky world of Internet pharmacies, a report from CNN's Special Investigation Unit coming your way in the CNN Newsroom.