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Obama Announces Salary Cap for Bailed-Out CEOs; Making Sense of a Trillion Dollars; Obama Speaks Out about Daschle Nomination, Economy, Security

Aired February 04, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM continues right now with my friend Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: All right. Thanks, Don. Have a great day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What gets people upset -- and rightfully so -- are executives being rewarded for failure.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Enough is enough says President Obama, and a half-million dollars for big wigs at bailed-out banks is enough.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: 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.

WHITFIELD: All right. Now we're talking real money. So why does it seem to unreal? Stimulus proposals reach biblical proportions this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The president says it's an outrage: top executives of taxpayer- rescued companies living, in Mr. Obama's words, high on the hog. As you may have seen live here on CNN, the president and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner got together this morning to rein in the salaries and bonuses of bailed-out bosses.

All the while senators are trying to figure out how much to spend and how many taxes to cut to get the economy moving again.

Stimulating home sales is a top priority of Republicans and both sides want to rev up car sales. They passed a measure last night to make sales taxes on new car purchases and interest payments on new car loans tax deductible.

More now on executive compensation and other White House orders of business, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has the bottom line on the caps and crunch time for the stimulus -- Suzanne. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, we heard earlier today from President Obama and the treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, that they're taking on the fat cats. At least that was part of the message.

They want to make it very clear to the American taxpayers that our money, essentially, going to these big institutions, that they are going to be held accountable, that their dollars are going to be tracked and that they will be responsible in terms of spending.

So what did we hear earlier today? Well, the president announcing that there would be a salary cap for the CEOs of those big financial institutions. A salary cap in the tune of $500,000 for those banks and institutions that have essentially been -- borrowed billions and billions of dollars.

All of this, Fred, is part of an effort, a campaign from this White House, to put forward an economic stimulus package and to convince the American people that this administration is going to be more responsible with our dollars. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This is America. We don't disparage wealth. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success. We certainly believe that success should be rewarded. But what gets people upset -- and rightfully so -- are executives being rewarded for failure, especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, many of whom are having a tough time themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Fred, what you're hearing is really this rather aggressive campaign from the White House to convince people that that $900 billion economic stimulus package is something that is necessary to fix the economy. He wants to see lawmakers move forward on that as quickly as possible, so he needs to address the whole issue of accountability and responsibility. So that's why you see this announcement today.

We are also seeing, as well, not only earlier in the week, Republican governors saying, "We support your plan, Mr. President," but today nearly two dozen mayors here at the White House also coming out to the cameras, saying they support it, as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This is America. We don't disparage wealth. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success. We certainly believe that success should be rewarded. But what gets people upset...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Fred, this is all a part of a campaign and, obviously, it's going to be still a tough one, because we're not necessarily seeing the kind of support that the president would like from the Republicans, and even some Democrats. But he is still expressing some confidence here, some optimism, that he's going to get that legislation on his desk in a couple of weeks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And the president also trying to tackle the issue of health coverage for uninsured children. How?

MALVEAUX: He's going to be signing legislation that's called SCHIP legislation. Obviously, it was quite controversial under the Bush administration.

But this essentially would expand coverage, not only for children, but for poor when it comes to health care. This is one of the things that has been on his agenda, that he talked about during the campaign. It's something that he's going to sign later this afternoon, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much from the White House.

All right. Well, it's been a hectic 16 days for the Obama administration. And the president took a few minutes to reflect in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. If you missed that conversation last night, catch it here in the NEWSROOM, start to finish, just a few minutes from now.

And what would you ask the president? In keeping with his pledge to have the most open and accessible administration in American history, Mr. Obama welcomes your comments at the White House Web site, WhiteHouse.gov. But you can also e-mail us -- AskThePresident@CNN.com -- your questions. We'll pass those questions on to the White House and read some of your questions on the air, as well.

And don't forget, the Q&A will likely get pretty involved at the White House briefing media today. that starts at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, and you'll see it right here live, here on CNN.

All right. Well, as lawmakers struggle with the high cost of economic stimulus, President Obama has a not-so-subtle suggestion. Remember November? Sticker shock has hit the Senate this week. Even more than the House last week, threatening initiatives the president campaigned on. But that may not spur the economy right away.

In this morning's floor debate, November was also on the mind of the president's former opponent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I just would like to say a word to my own side of the aisle. We just lost an election, and I'll take the responsibility for that. But I can assure my colleagues on this side of the aisle that one of the reasons why Republicans lost the last election is because the -- our base, who are concerned about our stewardship of their tax dollars, believe that we got on a spending spree which has mortgaged our children's futures.

If there is a future on this side of the aisle, then we've got to clean up our act on spending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, even as the measure hit $900 billion, look for a vote today on a Republican bid to increase tax incentives for home purchases. Last night senators also approved a boost in funding for the National Institutes of Health.

All right. Stimulating jobs is issue No. 1 for both parties. And the White House says the president's plan delivers as many as 4 million jobs over the next two years. Well, today aides are breaking those numbers down state by state.

California theoretically would pick up 421,000 jobs; Texas, 286,000; New York, 228,000; Florida, 218,000; and Illinois, 158,000. You'll note that this list closely tracks state population sizes.

Well, if you add the stimulus funds to the bailout money, you're well beyond $1 trillion. Well, try to get your arms around all of that. Christine Romans has some interesting facts about that incredible trillion-dollar figure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A little gut check on just how big $1 trillion is. It's got 12 zeros. That's easy to understand. Or think of it this way: one trillion $1 bills stacked high would reach nearly 68,000 miles into space, one-third of the way to the moon.

Republicans are hardly over the moon.

MCCONNELL: 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.

ROMANS: We checked the senator's numbers with noted mathematician Joe Allen Paulos.

JOHN ALLEN PAULOS, MATHEMATICS PROFESSOR, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: A million dollars a day for 2,000 years. That's only about three- quarters of a trillion dollars. It is a big number, no matter how you slice it.

ROMANS: So let's slice it another way.

PAULOS: A million seconds is about 11 1/2 days. A billion seconds is about 32 years, and a trillion seconds is 32,000 years. People tend to lump them together, perhaps because they rhyme.

ROMANS: Million, billion, the national debt tops 10 trillion. After a $700 billion bank rescue, and proposed $800 billion stimulus, are we numb?

PAULOS: The number itself can be parsed number or numb-er. And maybe in this case the latter is a better quotation. MIKE MYERS, ACTOR: One million dollars!

ROMANS: Just like Dr. Evil discovered in the movie "Austin Powers," times have changed. Back in 1993...

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The immediate package of jobs investments of over $30 billion...

ROMANS: He didn't get it. Just last year...

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The whole purpose of a stimulus package is to have something robust enough to make a difference.

ROMANS: ... President Bush signed emergency economic stimulus of a now-paltry $168 billion. And now...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A trillion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A trillion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A trillion dollars.

ROMANS: Can we afford it?

PAULOS: The Gross National Product is, you know, $12 billion, whatever it is. Wee do have a big economy that may not be as vibrant as it was but it's still a powerful economic engine. So, knock on wood, we'll see what happens.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was CNN's Christine Romans reporting.

Here's another tidbit about the number 1 trillion. NASA's Web site points out that 1 trillion seconds adds up to well over 31,000 years.

President Obama, in an interview with CNN, minces no words in response to the Tom Daschle fiasco. And that's just one of the issues he talked about with Anderson Cooper. We've got it for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, moments ago, we -- Suzanne Malveaux at the White House told us that, among the orders of business the White House was looking for today, was to sign the SCHIP bill.

Well, now we understand the House has actually passed that bill, apparently, 290-135. Next stop now, the White House. President Obama will be signing it.

What it means is government health-care insurance will be extended now to children, four million children who are currently uninsured, expanding government health care now to four million uninsured children, thanks to now this SCHIP. The president will be signing that legislation a little bit later on today.

Meantime, his words, "I screwed up." That's President Obama's response to the debacle of Tom Daschle's nomination as secretary of health and human services withdrawn.

Mr. Obama spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper after Daschle withdrew his nomination yesterday because of an uproar over unpaid taxes. Here's part of what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much for sitting down with us. Explain what happened today. Tom Daschle, you've let one of the most important domestic issues, which is health care, get caught up in what looks to many Americans like politics as usual.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think what happened was that Tom made an assessment that having made a mistake on his taxes that he took responsibility for, and indicated was a mistake, made the assessment that he was going to be too much of a distraction in trying to lead what is going to be a very heavy lift, trying to deliver health care. And...

COOPER: Do you feel you messed up in letting it get this far?

OBAMA: Yes. I think I made a mistake. And I told Tom that. I take responsibility for the appointees and...

COOPER: What was your mistake, letting it get this far? You should have pulled it earlier?

OBAMA: Well, I think my mistake is not in selecting Tom originally, because I think nobody was better equipped to deal both with the substance and policy of health care. He understands it as well as anybody, but also the politics, which is going to be required to actually get it done.

But I think that, look, ultimately, I campaigned on changing Washington and bottom-up politics. And I don't want to send a message to the American people that there are two sets of standards, one for powerful people, and one for ordinary folks who are working every day and paying their taxes.

COOPER: Do you feel you've lost some of that moral high ground which you set for yourself on day one with the...

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Well, you know, I think this was a mistake. I think I screwed up. And, you know, I take responsibility for it, and we're going to make sure we fix it so it doesn't happen again.

COOPER: Let's talk about the economy, the stimulus. Every day you get an economic briefing, along with an intelligence briefing. Which to you is more sobering? The economic news you get or the national intelligence?

OBAMA: Well, look, the national security briefing is always sobering, because my most important job is obviously keeping the American people safe. And we have to remain vigilant; the threats are still out there. But I will tell you in terms of what is alarming right now is how fast the economy has been deteriorating. I think even two or three months ago, most economists would not have predicted us being in as bad of a situation as we are in right now. And...

COOPER: It keeps a lot of Americans right now up at night. Does it keep you up at night?

OBAMA: It keeps me up at night and it gets me up...

COOPER: Literally?

OBAMA: Literally, because we've got a range of different problems, and there's no silver bullet. We're just going to have to work our way through the problem.

So, No. 1, we've got to have a recovery package that puts people back to work and ensures that states that are dealing with rising unemployment can deal with unemployment insurance, can provide health care for people who have lost their jobs. So that's one set of problems.

Then you've got a banking system that has undergone close to a meltdown. And we've got to figure out how do we intelligently get credit flowing again so that small businesses and large businesses can hire people and keep their doors open and sell their products.

And you know, part of the problem, unfortunately, is that the first round of TARP, I think, drew a lot of scorn. You know, we learned -- you know, we've now learned that people are still getting huge bonuses, despite the fact that they're getting taxpayer money, which I think infuriates the public. So we also have to set in place some rules of the road. And tomorrow I'm going to be talking about executive compensation and changes we're going to be making there.

Even after we get that done, we still have to get a financial regulatory system in place that assures this crisis never happens again. And we've got to do this in the context of a world economy that is declining, because in some ways the Europeans are actually doing at least as badly as we are. You've even seen China, which has been growing in leaps and bounds over the last two decades, starting to decline.

So trying to do all of those things on parallel tracks at a time when people are scared and legitimately so, I think is going to be a big challenge. I think we're up to the challenge. But it's going to take some time and I think the American people recognize that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: On a lighter, but still serious note, President Obama talks with Anderson Cooper about the habit he would like to break. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Have you had a cigarette since you've been to the White House?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That's what you call a tease. In just a minute, more of Anderson Cooper's interview with the president, speaking out on fighting terrorists, as well, and other key issues facing his administration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Earlier today you saw these images. A West Memphis, Arkansas, doctor was critically wounded when his car right outside his home exploded.

Well, now police are saying the explosion of Dr. Trent Pierce's hybrid Lexus SUV was the result of a bomb actually placed in that vehicle. Here now is the West Memphis police chief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF BOB PAUDERT, WEST MEMPHIS, ARKANSAS, POLICE: It was a device of some type of explosive device. We're not sure what it was at this point, but someone did put some explosive device on Dr. Pierce's car. That's what caused the explosion.

We don't have any more information at this point, except that it's turned criminal, and we are now turning the investigation over to ATF out of Little Rock. We'll let them continue with the investigation. I will be the spokesperson for ATF on this, and any new information, we'll keep you briefed on what's going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it was a bomb?

PAUDERT: It was a bomb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So again, this is out of West Memphis, Arkansas. Dr. Trent Pierce is a family practitioner who actually specializes in asthma. And again, he is listed in extremely critical condition as a result of what now police are saying was a bomb placed in his vehicle right there outside of his home when it exploded.

All right. More now on Anderson Cooper's interview with President Obama. Anderson asked the president about his plan to impose a $500,000 pay cap on executives. Mr. Obama unveiled the measure earlier today. It applies to those firms receiving government bailout funds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: On executive compensation, Paul Krugman suggested in "The Times" on Sunday that your tough talk may be just for show. What can you really do?

OBAMA: Well, I think, you know, we'll talk about it tomorrow, but we're going to be laying down some very clear conditions in terms of where...

COOPER: Do you support Claire McCaskill's idea of capping...

OBAMA: Well, I -- again, I don't want to completely preempt my announcement tomorrow.

COOPER: You could here.

OBAMA: But the -- but I think there are ways -- there are mechanisms in place to make sure that institutions that are taking taxpayer money are not using that money for excessive executive compensation. And I think that when you see the announcement that we make, people will say, this is a reasonable approach. It's not a government takeover. Private enterprise will still be taking place. But people will be accountable and responsible. And that's what we have to restore in the financial system generally.

COOPER: On the stimulus plan for you, what is non-negotiable with Republicans?

OBAMA: The unemployment insurance, health care for people who have lost their jobs, you know, providing some relief to the states on those fronts, and providing families relief, that's very important.

Infrastructure investments that lay the groundwork for long-term economic growth, I think, is critical. You know, so, for example, when we say we're going to weatherize two million homes, that's not just make-work. First of all, you can employ people weatherizing those homes. We are also then saving families -- individual families on their energy bills, but the third thing is, it's making this country less dependent on foreign oil.

So the same is true for health IT; the same is true when it comes to education. We want to train thousands of teachers in math and science, and invest in science and technology research. All of those things will make us more competitive over the long-term.

What I do think is negotiable is some programs that I think are good, good policy, but may not really stimulate the economy right now.

COOPER: How did they even get into the bill in the first place? I mean, why did they get this far?

OBAMA: Well, I understood -- you know, there are 535 members of Congress who have their own opinions.

COOPER: Do you think some of the House Democrats went too far?

OBAMA: You know, I think that if you look at -- first of all, I think, in fairness to the House Democrats, and this hasn't been talked about enough, if you tally up all of the programs that have been criticized on "AC 360" or anywhere else, that amounts to less than one percent of the total package. So they actually were remarkably disciplined considering the size of this package.

We've -- they left out, at my request, all earmarks, so there aren't private pet projects. And by the way, many of the critics of the current package can't say that about any of the budgets they passed over the previous six or eight years.

COOPER: But this is what American people are hearing about, whether rightly or wrongly. And I mean, did the Republicans beat you on selling this? On selling the message? Did you lose the message?

OBAMA: Well, no, no. I don't think we've lost the message. That's why I'm here with you. Everybody is going to be watching me talk to you today.

But I think that the American people understand something has to be done. They want to make sure that we're serious about it, and that we're not using this to promote politics as usual. And that's what I'm insisting on.

You asked earlier, do I lose sleep? Look, the only measure of my success as president when people look back five years from now or nine years from now is going to be, did I get this economy fixed? I have no interest in promoting a package that doesn't work. Because I'm not going to be judged on whether or not I got a pet project here or there. I'm going to be judged on, have we pulled ourselves out of recession?

I think the members of Congress understand that, as well. I don't question the sincerity of some Republican critics who may think that they can do better on this. And I'm happy to negotiate with them. If they've got better ideas, I'm happy to do it.

What I won't do is in some cases, some of the criticism has suggested that the better approach would be to do exactly what we did over the last eight years that got us into this problem in the first place. There is going to be some differences ideologically or in terms of, you know, recipes for how to fix the economy. And, you know, those differences we can live with. But I think -- I still think we can arrive at a package that works for the American people.

COOPER: So, five years or nine years, which one are you hoping for right now? Based on what you've seen so far?

OBAMA: You know, listen, you want to be president when times are tough, because, you know, I didn't do all of this just to occupy this fancy office. I did -- I came here to change things.

COOPER: I've noticed you don't use the term "war on terror," I think I read an article that you've only used it once since inauguration. Is that conscious? Is there something about that term you find objectionable or not useful?

OBAMA: Well, you know, I think it is very important for us to recognize that we have a battle or a war against some terrorist organizations. But that those organizations aren't representative of a broader Arab community, Muslim community. I think we have to -- you know, words matter in this situation, because one of the ways we're going to win this struggle is through the battle of hearts and minds.

COOPER: So that's not a term you're going to be using much in the future?

OBAMA: You know, what I want to do is make sure that I'm constantly talking about al Qaeda and other affiliated organizations, because we, I believe, can win over moderate Muslims to recognize that that kind of destruction and nihilism ultimately leads to a dead end, and that we should be working together to make sure that everybody has got a better life.

COOPER: Final questions, just a quick lightning round, just a couple of fun questions. What's the latest on the dog search?

OBAMA: We are going to get it in the spring. I think the theory was that the girls might be less inclined to do the walking when it was cold outside.

COOPER: Portuguese Water Dog? You don't know yet?

OBAMA: You know, we're still experimenting.

COOPER: Coolest thing about your new car?

OBAMA: You know, I thought it was the phones until I realized that I didn't know which button to press. That was a little embarrassing.

COOPER: Have you had a cigarette since you've been to the White House?

OBAMA: No, I haven't had one on these grounds. And I -- you know, sometimes it's hard, but, you know, I'm sticking to -- sticking to it.

COOPER: You said, on these grounds, I'll let you pass on that. And final question, you've read a lot about Abraham Lincoln. What is the greatest thing that you've learned from your studies of Lincoln that you're bringing to the office right now?

OBAMA: You know, when I think about Abraham Lincoln, what I'm struck by is the fact that he constantly learned on the job. He got better. You know, he wasn't defensive. He wasn't arrogant about his tasks. He was very systematic in saying, "I'm going to master the job, and I understand it's going to take some time."

But in his case, obviously, the Civil War was the central issue, and he spent a lot of time learning about military matters, even though that wasn't his area of experience.

Right now, I'm learning an awful lot about the economy. I'm not a trained economist, but I'm spending a lot of time thinking about that so that I can make the very best decisions possible for the American people.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Mr. President, thank you very much.

OBAMA: Thank you. Appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, a White House briefing on this day 16 of the Obama administration. You can you see it live right here about an hour from now. A look at the exterior of the White House. The presser will be taking place inside, of course. And expect questions about the stimulus plan, executive pay caps and maybe Tom Daschle the day after.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: After losing three high-ranking job candidates, the vetting process used by President Obama's team is now under fire. There are two steps to that process. First, identify any potential problems. And second, decide how damaging those problems could be. Here's CNN's Jessica Yellin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): They say bad news comes in threes. President Obama must be hoping that's true. He's had one...

BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER COMMERCE SECRETARY NOMINEE: Mr. President-elect, this is a great honor.

YELLIN: ... two...

TOM DASCHLE, FORMER SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES NOMINEE: It is a great honor to be nominated.

YELLIN: ... three nominees withdraw because of legal or tax problems. The White House spokesman insists their vetting process works.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has confidence in the system.

YELLIN: So then, how did these nominees with flaws serious enough to withdraw make it so far?

JENNIFER PALMIERI, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: The vetting process does not create -- a successful vet doesn't create perfect nominees. It just identifies the problems.

YELLIN: Teams of lawyers read every public document on the nominee -- tax forms, court cases. But documents don't reveal everything. A good vet depends on a nominee being very revealing. Recall that 63-question ethics form asking for everything from embarrassing e-mails and diary entries to the financial history. Well, in the case of Daschle, it was up to him to reveal the issue of his car taxes.

PALMIERI: There was not a record that he did not pay taxes on the car and driver, because there was no record of the car and driver.

YELLIN: Senator Daschle brought it to the Obama team's attention after he was nominated. In the case of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, vetters were apparently caught off guard when it became public that the governor and his office were being investigated by federal prosecutors.

RICHARDSON: I made the decision to withdraw --

YELLIN: Experienced vetters say Obama's legal team would have no way to know this except from the nominee himself. But it was a different story with Nancy Killefer, the woman who dropped out Tuesday. One source tells CNN she did reveal her tax issues to the Obama team of vetters, but the transition team decided her issues were not politically damaging enough to derail her nomination.

In the current political atmosphere, that was no longer true.

(on camera): So, a vetting process is only as good as a nominee is honest. And that a lot of this comes down to the political climate at the moment. Maybe Daschle would have survived if Nancy Killefer's tax problems had not come out, or maybe they'd both be in if Timothy Geithner the treasury secretary had not had tax problems of his own.

Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, a limit on executive pay for companies taking bailout money. The pay cap announced by President Obama is a half billion -- half million dollars. So how is Wall Street taking the news? Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on that.

Susan, I'm having a little time -- a difficult time. I'm very nasally, so, you know, it's tough hearing my words, sometimes, isn't it?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I understand you loud and clear, and what you're saying certainly resonates. Half a million dollars would be fantastic for most people. But, yet it would be a cap for a very big pay cut for many executives because Wall Street has a history of paying itself very well.

JP Morgan Chase paid its CEO $30 million in 2007. Goldman Sachs gave nearly $70 million in that year to its CEO. Wall Street paid out $18 billion in bonuses last year which was, as we all know, not a good year. And even though that was half the amount from the year before, it is still too much for many of us, especially when some of those financial institutions are being propped up with taxpayer money.

But that's not the view of many people here on Wall Street. Many folks who work in the financial industry say if the government gets too involved in running the nuts and bolts of their business, it will make a bad situation worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDDY WEISBERG, SEAPORT SECURITIES: It becomes more of a philosophical issue, I think, than a practical issue. And for me, the philosophical issue is a government that is heavy-handed and basically fiddling with the capitalistic system and trying to control it, and put a lid on it, if you will, and deinsentivize people from working hard and hopefully being compensated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LISOVICZ: Weisberg says the most important capital of any financial firm is human capital and that the government's reach is too intrusive. Talented, productive people who have deep institutional knowledge that can help solve the financial crisis will leave for other industries.

But President Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner say the restrictions are needed to restore trust in our financial system and that they only apply to companies receiving exceptional aid, so just a few companies. As for the money being made on Wall Street today, well, right now, stocks are mixed amid concerns about weak corporate earnings and the government's stimulus package.

The Dow right now is off 51 points. That's because Time -- excuse me, Kraft and Disney shares are each down 8 percent on weak quarterly earnings. Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, says the worst economy of our lifetime. Even the Magic Kingdom can't save it. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is up 11 points. Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Yes, everyone in agreement, it's bad. And very painful. All right, thanks so much, Susan. Appreciate it.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor dark of night, nothing stops the mailmen. Right? Well, cutbacks may be in order, with the Postal Service losing nearly $8 billion over the last two years. A new Gallup poll shows most people support cutting back service rather than raising stamp prices or using taxpayer money for a bailout. The recession isn't the only problem. Increasingly, it's the Internet. E-mail, Evites, online checking and bill paying helped create the financial crisis.

All right, Denny's really hit an inside-the-recession home run with its breakfast giveaway. During the Super Bowl, the company promised a free Grand Slam breakfast to anyone and everyone. And yesterday they served it up, and America showed up. Here's an iReport from the table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL SPADACCINI, IREPORTER: My Grand Slam is delicious. My Grand Slam has two fluffy buttermilk pancakes, two strips of bacon, two eggs over medium, and we all know how famous Denny's syrup and coffee is together. So, my grand slam is out of this ballpark.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: He is happy. Well, that's about a $6 breakfast, for free. Obviously during a recession, it was too good of a deal to pass up. And as we saw the lines, we couldn't help but think these scenes look vaguely familiar. Quite different but a little familiar. The images they conjured up were in black and white as yesteryear and the giveaways lasted more than just one day.

All right, a medical first for kidney transplants. It could change the way donor kidneys are removed. And it might change the way you think about donating your organs.

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WHITFIELD: All right, more trouble for the peanut company linked to the nationwide salmonella outbreak. The Peanut Corporation of America operated a plant in Plainview, Texas. For years it apparently was not licensed and never inspected, until recently. Health inspectors didn't find any salmonella there.

The outbreak, which has sickened more than 500 people, has -- and has led to eight deaths, has been led to a sister plant in Blakely, Georgia. One lawmaker says this new revelation underscores the need for changes at the FDA.

High school wrestlers in southeastern Pennsylvania are being sidelined by a contagious skin infection. School officials in Chester and Montgomery counties are taking extra precautions now to stop the spread of what's being called mat herpes. They've suspended intraleague matches for more than a week while equipment and lockers are scow -- scoured, that is. The virus is spread through skin-to- skin contact, and it doesn't actually live long, they say, on wrestling mats or gear.

All right, important medical tranplant news now. Doctors at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have pioneered a new method for removing a donor kidney, and they hope that this might increase organ donations overall. Let's get the details from our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. Boy, this is really unusual.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Very unusual. But you know what? Maybe it will start being the usual way that they get kidneys out of people. Well, not people, out of women. I should add that. Because what they did is this surgical team at Johns Hopkins, they took a kidney from a woman -- she was donating it to her niece, who needed it -- they took it through her vagina.

Now, the reason why this can be a helpful thing is that even though people of course are a little squeamish is -- and there you see them, there are the kidneys -- is because right now the way that it's done, doctors make a five-inch incision in the abdomen to get that kidney out. The kidney is about the size of your fist. It weighs about a pound.

But if you take it through the vagina, you don't have to have that five-inch cut. So, this woman who had the surgery done on her, instead of spending two to three days in the hospital, which is kind of the norm, she was out the next day! She said she felt great.

You see right there, the woman in pink in the middle, that is the 23-year-old woman who was born with a kidney disease, and she now has her aunt's kidney. That's her aunt sitting there in the green sweatshirt. And that's the surgical team. The guy in the back there with the interesting looking mustache and beard, that's Dr. Robert montgomery. He headed up the team.

WHITFIELD: OK, so what are the concerns? Because there are always some potential side effects or just real big concerns that folks may have and the medical community may have about this.

COHEN: Sure. Whenever you come up with a new way of doing a surgery, it's supposed to be something that's really new...

WHITFIELD: Radical.

COHEN: ... like this, right? Radical, you might say. There are always going to be concerns. The concern here is that the vagina is not sterile, so you're bringing in an organ that needs to remain sterile because it is going into somebody else's body, you're taking it through something that is not sterile.

So the Hopkins doctors sort of engineered this apparatus, shall we say. They put a tube in the woman's vagina. Inside the tube was a bag. Now, if you can follow this, the bag then went in, wrapped itself -- they wrapped it around the kidney and took the kidney out through the bag. So the kidney never actually touched the woman's skin. And they hope that that will keep it sterile.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, what's the future of this? I mean, this was a breakthrough kind of thing, but are we saying that we're going to see more of these procedures?

COHEN: It could be possible, because the hope is is that for female donors, that they would say, well, maybe I'll be more willing to donate an organ while still alive because the recovery time will be shorter. Now, we did talk to some other doctors who had some concerns. They said, OK, you did it in one patient. Is it really going to work for everyone?

And even Dr. Montgomery at Hopkins, who engineered this whole thing, he's not going to start doing this on all of his female patients. He's going to sort of slow down, do it one at a time. This woman, I should say, had had a hysterectomy, the woman who they took the kidney from. And that made it easier. So, it would be a little bit different. They said they could do it, but it would be different doing this on a woman who had a uterus intact.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's some alarming stuff.

COHEN: It certainly is.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. COHEN: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Thanks for bringing it to us.

All right, well, in parts of the South now, another round of snow and brutal cold is making matters worse in Kentucky, WHere tens of thousands of people are already without power after last week's ice storm.

But first, reading the front page over a cup of coffee might be headed in a digital direction. Fred Plightkin has the story of the paperless morning paper on the "Edge of Discovery."

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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Four billion. That's an estimate of how many trees are cut down every year to make paper products. Gentlemen, put down your chain saws because a Plastic Logic e-reader is almost here.

RICHARD ARCHULETA, CEO, PLASTIC LOGIC: The device is kind of very thin, very light. It is about the size and weight of a pad of paper.

PLEITGEN: Due out next year, the e-readers says so long to all those piles of paper.

ARCHULETA: It works by taking anything that you would normally print out or read on paper, like a newspaper or magazine, and transfers them from either computer or wirelessly, you know, to the device so that you can read them.

PLEITGEN: At this one-of-a-kind production facility in Dresden, Germany, nanotech is saving Mother Nature where an environmentally friendly process creates the e-paper's unique flexible plastic design. And with the swipe of a thumb, Plastic Logic hopes to usher in a green reading revolution.

ARCHULETA: No more cutting down trees. Mass production of paper. No big printing presses. And of course, no big trucks distributing the paper.

PLEITGEN: An estimated 1.7 billion people read one of these every day. If Plastic Logic has its way, selling a few e-readers might just save a few of these.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

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WHITFIELD: All right, it's just what parts of the South didn't need, another round of cold, snowy weather. In western North Carolina, slick roads are blamed for multiple accidents, and schools are closed there. Snow and ice also covered parts of South Carolina and Tennessee. And Kentucky also got slammed, one week after a paralyzing ice storm.

Right now, more than 200,000 people in Kentucky still don't have power, and around 3,700 are still in shelters. Chad Myer is in the severe weather center. I don't know how in the world folks are managing.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the windchill factor in all of Kentucky is at single digits and below. Some spots below zero. So, not only is it cold, like in Cincinnati, 17, but that wind is blowing right through the house. I mean, the house is cracking, you move them back and forth, winds are 30, 40 miles per hour with gusts there, and it feels very cold out there. So, maybe that number in shelters may go up tonight for sure. I hope everybody else is just staying with friends.

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WHITFIELD: That is nearly unbearable if you're used to that area.

MYERS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Chad, appreciate it.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right, a tough economy pushes some people to find new ways to market their homes. It can result in unbelievable bargains for a lucky few.

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WHITFIELD: All right, a pretty tough market for home sellers. And it's not just a problem in the U.S. That's forcing some sellers to get really creative. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has more.

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PLEITGEN: For sale, this house near Munich in Germany. With three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big living room, and the price? Nineteen Euros. That's about $24. And Volker Stiny, the man behind the seemingly ridiculous offer says it's no joke.

VOLKER STINY: I couldn't sell it in a normal way. The market is really down, and so I have to give it away for a very low price.

PLEITGEN: Stiny says he's raffling off the house so he can move his 86-year-old mother to a retirement home. He says he hopes he'll get something like the market value of about $400,000, and here's how it works.

Stiny is currently selling 48,000 raffle tickets online for 19 euros apiece. Contestants need to go through a round of quiz questions, and the 100 finalists will then enter into a lottery, and one will win the house. Seems a little complicated, but with housing prices both in the U.S. and large parts of Europe in the dumpster, the real estate raffle model is catching on. This mansion was just raffled off in Austria. The winner only paid 99 euros, or about $120. But the owner made about 600,000 euros. That's more than $750,000.

I was really nervous at first, the owner says. But now I feel wonderful.

Now some house raffle agencies have started popping up across Europe. But if you think this could be an easy way to cash in, Volker Stiny says, think again. He's fighting German authorities, who accuse him of breaching anti-gambling laws.

STINY: I like to say to other people, don't do this in the same way. It's really very hard. And I have a lot of trouble, and a lot of work.

PLEITGEN: So far, Stiny says he has sold about 30,000 tickets for his house raffle, and that by now, all he wants to do is get it all over with.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Munich, Germany.

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