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Stocks Rally Despite Job Losses; Senate Leaders Talk Compromise on Stimulus Bill; Biden Economic Advisor Discusses Stimulus; California Begins Mandatory Furloughs; High School Grads Can Find Good Jobs
Aired February 06, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST (voice-over): Jobless in America. How many jobs did the U.S. economy shed in January alone? Imagine every man, woman and child in the city of Boston. That's how many.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The situation could not be more serious. These numbers demand action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a skunk! This bill stinks.
PHILLIPS: Time's running short on the stimulus front, and so are tempers. The president unveils a think tank, and he tries to keep his recovery plan from tanking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
All right. We'll update you on the stimulus here in just a second. A little later, the departed Bush administration and your money. It turns out Wall Street's bailout bucks just didn't stop where they should have. Would you ever pay $40 billion for something that was worth about $15 billion? Might want to be sitting down for that story.
And first ice storm victims, now your kid's lunch? What if that batch of bad peanut butter found its way into schools?
But first, the big three: your home, your wallet, your job. Today we're talking jobs, specifically job loss. If you're under the age of 34, today's news from the labor front is unprecedented in your lifetime.
The government says another 598,000 jobs were eliminated last month, the biggest one-month hemorrhage since 1974. Economists were bracing for the jobless rate to jump to 7.5 percent. Instead, it's 7.6.
You can bet those figures aren't lost on the senators still fighting over that stimulus plan. The top Senate Democrat says the world is waiting to see what the chamber comes up with or not in the next 24 hours. In the next few minutes, though, we'll be gauging the impact of the job news and the prospects for stimulus with Susan Lisovicz on Wall Street and Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill.
Let's go first to Susan Lisovicz with a look at how stocks are reacting right now to the report. Hi, Susan, not necessarily seeing what we might expect.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Kyra. Despite those landmark job losses, stocks are rallying big time. In fact, we've been solidly higher since the opening bell as hopes for the government's stimulus plan outweigh the brutal employment report.
Remember, the stock market is a forward-looking creature. Investors are hoping that the sheer pace of the job losses will be enough to put pressure on Washington, for lawmakers to find a compromise and push through a plan as quickly as possible.
Job cuts have topped half a million now for three straight months each. And that's the first time this happened since the government began keeping track in 1939 near the beginning of the Great Depression. But even if Congress acts quickly, many economists say the worst is yet to come. They expect to see another 2 to 3 million job losses this year.
Checking the numbers, the Dow Industrials right now up 172 points, or 2 percent. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 each up about 2 percent, as well.
Financial shares leading the charge for a second straight day. Bank of America shares right now, Kyra, up 27 percent. An influential analyst said fears about the bank's failing make no sense whatsoever, and other financial stocks are going along for the ride -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: There's a lot that's not making sense in this entire crisis, Susan. We tried to...
LISOVICZ: Buy on the rumor, sell on the news.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Susan, thanks.
Well, the day off is one thing; a day without pay is another. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, an unhappy holiday for 200,000 Californians, also unemployed and undereducated. Is there any hope for jobless Americans without college degrees?
Well, our people on Capitol Hill are reporting a mad scramble of closed-door meetings over the fine print and the bottom line of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus.
A group of mostly moderate Democratic and Republican senators are trying to hack as much as $100 billion out of a package that now tops $900 billion. That measure that passed the House without a single Republican vote came in at $819 billion. Democratic leaders are hopeful this may be the day.
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SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-MT), FINANCE CHAIRMAN: Abraham Lincoln appealed to, quote, "the better angels of our nature." I already knew that appeal today. Let's work together today in the spirit of comity and cooperation that reflects the better angels of the Senate, and let us finish this bill today.
SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: I think there is tremendous unease in this body with this package. I think there are a lot of people that are holding their nose and supporting it out of support for this president that we all want to lead our country and this world successfully. I would just urge people on both sides of the aisle to think about this, to vote their conscience, to not just go along.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, CNN's Brianna Keilar is watching the back and forth.
Brianna, where do things stand right now?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You called it a mad scramble, Kyra, of these meetings. And it certainly is. Your CNN Capitol Hill team is really all over the Capitol today, trying to follow all the different back and forth.
Some spin-off meetings of the bigger one we saw yesterday, which by our count, had about 17 senators, a handful of them Republicans, all of them trying to forge a compromise, trying to take that 900- plus-billion-dollar price tag on the stimulus package and whittle away, by some counts, $100 billion of spending that some moderates in the Senate think is not going to create jobs.
That discussion today now involving Democratic leaders, which it did involve yesterday. We've learned from Republican senators that they've handed over a list of some proposals for cuts to Democratic leaders. And so now Democratic leaders are considering that.
And we also heard from Susan Collins, one of those Republicans, when she came out of a meeting. And Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the Senate's office. She said we should have something later today. We hear something similar from Harry Reid.
So that's really the bottom line, Kyra. We could be looking at an agreement today, maybe a final vote today.
PHILLIPS: What do you think the main sticking point is right now at this junction?
KEILAR: You know, generally, we heard from Dick Durbin, the No. 1 Democrat in the Senate, education. One of the proposals is to make a very sizable cut on an education allotment in the stimulus package. This is something that you could really consider to be the baby of some of these Democrats. It's a really tough pill for Democrats to swallow, so they're going through that right now. But on the other hand, you have these jobless numbers that you mentioned, Kyra. You have the fact that this is such a huge priority for President Obama, and there's a lot of pressure on the Senate today.
PHILLIPS: Sure. And you remember Michelle Obama making her first really official news conference at the Department of Education talking about the importance of that within this administration. So it will be interesting to follow those two points specifically.
Brianna, thank you so much.
Well, if you were with us last hour you saw President Obama introduce his new economic advisory board. The timing couldn't have been better to spur leery senators in to action. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Thank you. Somewhere in America, a small business has shut its doors. Somewhere in America a family said good-bye to their home. Somewhere in America a young parent has lost their livelihood, and they don't know what's going to take its place. These Americans are counting on us, all of us in Washington. We have to remember that we're here to work for them, and if we drag our feet and fail to act, this crisis could turn into a catastrophe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Last night the president was even more fired up in a gathering of congressional Democrats. We're going to hear some of that later this hour.
And we're going to hear a lot more about the stimulus plan this afternoon. The White House briefing is tentatively scheduled to start at the half-hour. We're going to bring that to you live as soon as it happens.
Calm on the outside, turmoil on the inside. Mixed emotions from the hero pilot of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 just before he landed his plane in New York's Hudson River last month, saving everyone on board. In a CBS News "60 Minutes" interview, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger describes the moment when both his engines lost power.
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CAPTAIN CHESLEY "SULLY" SULLENBERGER, PILOT: It was the worst sickening, pit of your stomach, falling through the floor feeling I've ever felt in my life. I knew immediately it was very bad.
KATIE COURIC, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Did you think, "How are we going to get ourselves out of this?"
SULLENBERGER: No, my initial reaction was one of disbelief.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: The pilot, the crew, the story that stunned the nation. You're going to hear much more from Captain "Sully" Sullenberger on -- and his crew on "LARRY KING LIVE." That's coming up next Tuesday, 9 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
The pilot of this small plane has been dubbed "Sully"-like. He landed the company plane in the ocean off Australia's northern coast today. The pilot and all five passengers walked ashore, soaked but safe. The plane experienced an unspecified problem shortly after takeoff.
You think the congressman from New York was a little -- what's the word I'm looking for -- furious?
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REP. GARY ACKERMAN (D), NEW YORK: You couldn't figure it out. You couldn't find your back side with two hands if the lights were on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That's one livid lawmaker, rubbing the financial watchdog's nose in a big while of you-know-what.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the wheeling and dealing goes on in Washington. One of the guy's in the thick of it working to put money back in your wallet. Leaves the scrum for a minute to tell us where things stand.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Two things we're monitoring for you right now. Live from the White House we're expecting Robert Gibbs to step up to the podium. We'll take that news conference as soon as it happens.
Also the debate continues on the Senate floor over the stimulus bill. We'll keep you updated on that, hopefully, getting a decision by today. Word is it just might happen.
A college degree is supposed to be the ticket to success, but what if you never pursued higher education? Stick around. We have some tips on job openings and pay rates for people who don't have a college diploma.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, you can almost see the steam coming out of New York Congressman Gary Ackerman's bald head. He absolutely tore into SEC Officials over the Bernie Madoff investment scandal. Why did they basically blow off a whistle-blower? And why won't they answer certain questions?
It's some real D.C. theater. Call it "Hot Seat Story." Just take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACKERMAN: What the heck went on? Your mission, you said, was to -- was to protect investors and detect fraud quickly. How did that work out? What went wrong? It seems to me with all of your investigators and all of your agency and everything that you all describe, one guy with a few friends and helpers discovered this thing nearly a decade ago, led you to this pile of dung that is Bernie Madoff and stuck your nose in it, and you couldn't figure it out. You couldn't find your back side with two hands if the lights were on. Could you explain yourselves?
You have single-handedly diffused the American public of any sense of confidence in our financial markets if you are the watchdogs. You have totally and thoroughly failed in your mission. Don't you get it?
And now other people are investigating what you should have found out and you're hiding behind, "Well, maybe we can't talk about it, because someone else is looking at it." Well, you forfeited your right to investigate by not doing it, certainly not doing it properly or adequately. And now you're trying to tell us that, because other people were looking at it, you're not going to tell us what's going on? Like hell you won't!
What happened here? That's a question. Do we start with hear no evil, see no evil, or do no evil? Take your pick.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: No word from the Peanut Gallery, either.
So maybe you're saying, "Hey, who cares? The Madoff scandal isn't my problem." Well, here's an outrage that's totally your problem. Are you sitting down now?
The Bush administration paid about $78 billion too much for stocks and other assets to bail out the financial industry last year. That's the word now from the congressional oversight panel that did an investigation.
Here's an example. AIG got $40 billion from the treasury for assets worth just under $15 billion. Great deal for them, lousy deal for you as a taxpayer. Doesn't inspire much confidence, does it?
Will Uncle Sam and his curious math skills bungle the stimulus package, too, the one that's supposed to help you? Well, we want to ask a guy who's helping put it all together. Jared Bernstein is an economic policy advisor to Vice President Joe Biden. He joins me now, live from the White House.
I'll tell you what, Jared, I couldn't stop listening to Ackerman last night, wanted to replay it in its entirety today. You saw the way members of the SEC squirmed. You saw how he gave it to them. How do we know that you and the administration will do something to give us all confidence in the SEC -- or SEC, rather, so this won't happen again? JARED BERNSTEIN, ECONOMIC POLICY ADVISOR TO BIDEN: Well, listen, I think what Congressman Ackerman was expressing there was just a level of frustration that is very much what so many Americans feel when they look at that, and obviously, we're well aware of that. It's one of the factors that got us to where we are today, the view that these kinds of things have simply been run very badly over the past eight years.
Now the emotion in that discussion is something that we have to reflect in our new policies when it comes to financial markets. And I can tell you that we will and we are doing precisely that. Geithner and folks at the treasury are working hard at a package that's going to look, I think, very, very, very different than what you've seen so far, both in its substance, but probably more importantly in the context of this discussion, in its implementation.
PHILLIPS: So Jared, let me ask you: are you considering completely cleaning house at the SEC and saying, "Look, we're doing business differently this time around"?
BERNSTEIN: You know, I'm not going to talk about that right now. We're really focused on getting this stimulus package right. I'd rather have you talk to some of the folks from treasury and other parts of the administration on that.
PHILLIPS: All right. All right, let's get -- let's get down to something you said then. Obama back in January in his radio address, he actually cited your January 9 report, "The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan," that says the economic recovery plan will save or create 3 to 4 million jobs. How can you promise such big numbers, Jared?
BERNSTEIN: Well, first of all, it's not a promise; it's a pretty standard economic analysis. And actually, this part is not rocket science. I know there's lots of economic forecasting that's awfully tough to understand. This isn't it.
You let a federal contractor fix a bridge to repair a road, to weatherize a school, you're going to create some jobs. And the chair of our council of economic advisors, Christina Romer, and myself, were able to use very conventional arithmetic to back out those numbers, so we're quite confident in their accuracy.
As long as we're talking about jobs, let's reflect on the fact that we lost 600,000 jobs in January. That's the largest monthly loss in over 30 years. And it's not just January. December. November. Numbers almost that bad. That's almost 2 million jobs in the past three months.
The urgency that was going on in this labor market creates for this package is something that must not be missed.
PHILLIPS: Well, and we want -- I think we recognize how many jobs have been lost and the situation that we're in and that we need some sort of stimulus package, but I want exact examples. So I'm just going to get straight to e-mails. We've been flooded with e-mails from members of the 600,000 that you talk about, that have lost jobs.
Jim says that "The jobs that the stimulus plan creates will be minimum wage jobs. These jobs will go away once medical records are converted and ditches are dug for new cable lines. My question is shouldn't we be creating jobs that pay a living wage versus a minimum wage?"
BERNSTEIN: We should, and we do. Now I hate to give Jim a homework assignment, but he should look at the paper written by Christina Romer and myself, because we actually look at some of the wages we believe these jobs will pay. And they actually come in awfully close to the average for the economy, which is somewhere in the $17-an-hour range.
Now that's a range. There are jobs that pay less, some of those jobs in the retail sector. There's a lot of those jobs that pay a lot more in construction, in heavier manufacturing. But the jobs that we're creating are in many ways reflective of the very jobs out there in the economy that we're losing right now. Some are good; some are great; some are not going to pay as high.
PHILLIPS: You mentioned something interesting about retail jobs. Mandy Stites in Arizona said, "Why isn't money going to retailers like Home Depot, Starbucks and Macy's? There's a huge disconnect between what I read in the stimulus bill and what I see happening nationwide. The bill is mainly for infrastructure, not retail stores that are losing thousands of jobs."
BERNSTEIN: That's a great question. In fact, both of those are great questions. Your -- your e-mail writers...
PHILLIPS: We have smart viewers, Jared. They're going to hold you accountable.
BERNSTEIN: You've got great viewers. You've got great viewers.
Let me -- let me say this. It's -- the way you boost retail is to get people walking in the front door. We have over $200 billion in tax cuts, the biggest part of, which is making our work pay tax cut, something President Obama ran on. That gets money right into consumer -- right into workers' paychecks by lowering the rate of withholding on payroll taxes. So this is really direct delivery of stimulus to folks that are hard-pressed in meeting their family budget.
They go right out there to retailers and start buying again. What retailers need to see is people coming in the front door. And we think we can help with that.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, Jared. You're one of the main guys involved with all the decisions being made. I'm going to hold you accountable right now and ask you live on CNN, will you come back again and answer more e-mails with me and talk about this as it unravels in the next number of weeks?
BERNSTEIN: It would be my pleasure.
PHILLIPS: Jared Bernstein, sure appreciate your time.
So what would you ask the president? What would you ask Jared Bernstein? Keeping with the pledge of the administration, we have put together something to help make you more accessible to the administration.
Mr. Obama is actually welcoming your comments at the White House Web site. That's WhiteHouse.gov. But we decided to create something just for you: MailToTheChief@CNN.com. E-mail us. We're going to take those questions, log onto the site and see if we get an answer from the White House, and then read those responses on the air. You can e- mail us now.
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SEAN COCHRAN, IREPORTER: We were working at a trade in '05 and '06. Just once, in '06, I W-2'd $200,000 and some change by myself. My wife didn't have to work. She could, you know, stay at home with our newborn baby. She's almost 3 now. Everything was beautiful. But we have bit off more than we can chew, bought a $400,000 house, which is stupid. My taxes on this thing are like 9 grand. So I didn't think that the money would come to a screeching halt like it did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, familiar story and that's not the end of it. Sean tells us he's currently working seven days a week right now just to try and pay the bills.
So what's your story? Logon to iReport.com, tell us how the economy is affecting you.
Government employees aren't immune from the hard times. More than 200,000 California state workers are getting the day off, without pay. It's part of the fallout from the state's budget crisis.
Ted Rowlands standing by at the DMV office in Los Angeles. Normally a pretty busy place about right now. Ted, I'm shocked! Usually, the line is our there around the corner. I've actually been to that DMV.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, things are very calm today for what's at the DMV, Kyra, because it's closed. A hundred and sixty-eight field offices closed today, along with a number of other government agencies closed today.
A lot of employees who have the day off today, through this furlough program, showed up anyway because they're upset because of this day off that they didn't ask for.
In all, more than 200,000 Californians will be -- won't be working every other Friday until 2010, June of 2010. It is a cost- saving plan that has come through from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger via an executive order. The plan is to save $1.3 billion.
One of the folks that isn't too happy about the governor's plan is Frances Davis. She's a DMV employee.
It's your day off today. You're not getting paid but you came out anyway, why?
FRANCES DAVIS, DMV EMPLOYEE: Because to let the public know what's going on. They don't realize what we do for them, getting their driver's license and registrations.
ROWLANDS: The state is in a financial mess: 40-some billion- dollar projected deficit. The governor says, "Listen, tough times calls for desperate -- desperate times, desperate measures. And everybody's cutting back. State employees should take a little bit of this hit."
You're going to lose about 10 percent of your salary. But isn't it better than losing your job?
DAVIS: Yes, it is. I do have a job, and I'm happy that I have a job. But to us as employees, don't think it makes any sense to close two Fridays a month. One, because yesterday, just for example, I pulled in for the DMV about $5,000. I'm just one employee. Well, if you're looking at 168 offices with all those employees bringing in that money, how is that saving money?
ROWLANDS: Good point. They would argue that that money is coming in anyway from frustrated folks that are going to have to deal with the DMV.
But appreciate your time, Frances. And I know you are one of many people that are very upset by this.
Kyra, this is happening across the state today. The first Furlough Friday in a plan that is going to stretch through 2010. Exacerbating this whole thing is the fact that legislators up in Sacramento have failed to come up with a budget to deal with the budget problems in California.
You know from living here, Kyra, it happens all the time. There was a lot of hope that, given the financial crisis, that lawmakers would step up to the plate. They haven't been able to do it. And that is exacerbating this problem.
PHILLIPS: And we're even hearing stories now about the post office and the closing of certain post offices, as well. I think we're going to see a domino effect in a lot of government-held agencies. Ted, appreciate it.
So times are pretty tough, no doubt about it, even for people with lots of education experience. So is there hope for people who don't even have a college degree? For that, we turn to our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis.
What do you think, Gerri?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, there, Kyra. It's absolutely true that, if you have more education, you'll make more money, but you're going to be surprised by the numbers that I have here. First -- first let's talk a little bit about what proportion of jobs in the economy actually represent people with just a high school education. That's 44 percent. More than I expected, nearly half of the entire workforce.
Twenty-five percent of jobs require that you have a bachelor's degree. Let's look at how much these people make: $41,600 for the average high school graduates, $11,000 more for the bachelor's degree. As you can see here, the more education you have, the more money you make. But there are opportunities out there for high school students -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, what about the jobs out there for people with no college degree?
WILLIS: Right. Great question. Let's talk about some high- paying jobs out there. Right? Because you actually can make some pretty good change with just a high school degree, but you have to be a supervisor.
A margin department supervisor, for example, makes $83,000. And who is that? Well, that's somebody who's looking at payments coming into a business. They keep track of it. Because they're running the money, they make a pretty good chunk of change.
A service station manager, the same thing. You can see here, $72,000.
And you might be surprised to see a Web surfer making $70,000. But this is somebody who's integral to the workings of Web sites, because they figure out what really works for Web surfers and what doesn't.
Lead carpenters, people who run projects, building projects, they also do pretty well, $63,000.
Some more ideas here: chemical supervisor, home care aide supervisor. Check this out. Now we talk a lot about jobs in health care, obviously. Home care aide supervisor, that's somebody who supervises other aides. They make $66,000.
Bill collector supervisor. They're not out there pounding the pavements, but they're supervising people who do. They make $50,000. And you might wonder, what's a flight service manager? Well, they manage the flight attendants. They make $54,000.
Big demand right now, Kyra -- you're going to want to hear this -- on the economy for people who can do taxes. That doesn't require a bachelor's degree. And for people who put in place satellite TVs, because of the changeover to digital service. So there are jobs out there right now for people who do not have advanced degrees, and some of them pay pretty well.
PHILLIPS: Of course, we'll be tracking it all. Thanks, Gerri. WILLIS: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: Could your kids have come in contact with salmonella in their school cafeteria? A lot of parents want to know after a troubling new turn in the outbreak.
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PHILLIPS: You're seeing a live picture now of the White House briefing room. The daily brief is scheduled to start any minute now. We'll bring it to you as soon as it happens.
Meanwhile, our Dan Lothian is there. Dan, staggering job losses and a stimulus in limbo sure to top today's briefing, yes?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It really should, and you know, that's what you've been hearing from the president this morning, essentially pointing to these numbers and saying, listen, this is what you're going to see more of if we don't really move forward with the stimulus plan. The president has said that all along, that if this is not passed, you'll see more job losses. More people will continue to lose their homes.
And one of the things we've noticed over the last couple of days is the kind of language that the president has been using. I've been pointing out that he sounds more like candidate Obama than President Obama. Really using language like, if you don't support this, it will be irresponsible, that you need to act quickly, that you really can't look for something that will be a perfect bill, you just need to do what is right to turn this economy around.
So, that's the kind of, no doubt, line of questioning you'll hear at the press briefing today, pushing Robert Gibbs to find out, you know, is this sense of urgency that we're hearing here, is the president desperate? I mean, does he really want to get this done, and that's why he's using this kind of language.
PHILLIPS: And sticking points at this point, one of the main ones, cuts in education. I mean, something that Michelle Obama came out in her very first press conference, Dan, and talked about how it was going to be a priority and that means a lot to this administration, whether it's money for inner-city schools to Pell grants so everyone gets a chance to go to college. And now there's talks that major cuts are being proposed in education.
LOTHIAN: And that's right. And you know, the president last night speaking to Democrats talked about how in order for this to work, there are going to be some things that each side really wants to have inside this bill that you'll have to lose. And certainly, some people are digging in their heels and saying, listen, we're not going to give on this.
And that's making this whole debate so difficult. But indeed, there will be, as the president pointed out, there will be some things like education or some other points that will have to be taken out of this bill or scaled back in order to get all sides to get this bipartisan support that the president is looking for.
PHILLIPS: So, has anything -- have there been any decisions that have made already that have been easy for all of these senators? I mean, has at any point they all come together and said, yes, OK, that's good, we can move on from that point?
LOTHIAN: You know, I don't think "easy" fits in in this debate at all, Kyra. About the only thing that everyone agrees on is that you need some kind of stimulus bill, first of all. And everyone also agrees that the degree of the economic trouble that this country is in. No one is arguing with that. But when it comes to the fine points of figuring out exactly what should be in this bill or what should be taken out, that's where I think everyone goes in a different direction.
PHILLIPS: And I had a chance to talk with Jared Bernstein, who is, you know, one of the economic advisors to the vice president. And even President Obama had mentioned in his radio address that Jared Bernstein has said, OK, we're looking to create or save 3 million to 4 million jobs.
And I said how can you promise those types of numbers? he said, well, we're not promising, but let me tell you that that's a bit of a no-brainer when you talk about all the various jobs that can be created through infrastructure and programs across the United States. There at the White House, do you tend to agree or disagree with those numbers? Too high? Too low?
LOTHIAN: Those are the numbers that the administration has been putting out. And those numbers really have been moving all around. You've heard 3 to 4 million. Lately, the president has been saying more than 3 million jobs will be saved or created. So, perhaps creating a little bit of a buffer there.
But I think what's difficult in this whole debate is, how do you quantify the jobs that will be saved? But when pressed on this issue, what the administration will say is that they're using numbers from the best economists, from their advisers.
Those are the numbers they're getting, and they truly believe, according to the president as he again reiterated today, that if this bill is passed, that it will save or create more than 3 million jobs. That's the number that they're using right now, the number they're sticking to.
PHILLIPS: And of course critics are coming forward as well, Dan, saying -- for example, our Chris Lawrence reported on this yesterday and also this morning. For example, the Department of Defense. There's a certain amount of money that would be allotted to the Department of Defense, and folks would want to create jobs quickly.
But we know in government, nothing happens quickly. So if you get more money for barracks or you get more money for infrastructure or you get more money for hospitals that could create job opportunities, it's going to take a really long time to get those folks employed. LOTHIAN: It is. And you know, that's the point of the debate. Some people are arguing, how can this money get out there, and how can it get out there quickly? Can it really get out there as quickly an stimulate the economy as quickly as this administration is saying?
You know, what they're saying is that 75 percent of this money could actually get out the door and get to work within 18 months. You know, that's something that they're looking at from this side. It will be interesting though, once that money actually starts flowing, if indeed it can get to work that quickly. You know, this is uncharted territory. We've never been here before. They're hopeful that this can be done, but there's still a lot of people who have their doubts.
PHILLIPS: And you know, we're monitoring the debate that's happening right now live on the Senate floor. And John McCain spoke just a little bit ago. Dan, let's go ahead and take a listen to what he had to say and talk about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The president last night, speaking to the Democrats, said so then you get the argument this is not a stimulus bill, this is a --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: We'll get back to John McCain in a minute. Robert Gibbs at the mike.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good afternoon. Excellent, thank you. I'm good. I just need to get organized here for a second.
Before I take some questions today, let me just briefly give you a rundown of the vice president and the national security adviser's trip to the annual Munich security conference. The vice president left this afternoon to travel to Germany, where he will represent the United States at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy.
General Jim Jones, the assistant to the president for national security affairs, will also attend the conference. The Munich security conference is an annual gathering of government officials, foreign and defense policy experts and journalists to discuss transatlantic security issues.
Vice President Biden will deliver a message of support from the president for strong partnerships among allies, to confront our common security an economic challenges. The president -- the vice president will speak tomorrow and looks forward throughout the conference to listening to our allies. And with that (INAUDIBLE).
QUESTION: Thanks, Robert. I wanted to ask you a couple questions about the president's tone as he pushes for his economic plan. He said last night that the American people didn't vote for phony arguments and petty politics, and he warned about playing a game of nitpicking. And today warned about partisan posturing. Who specifically does he think is engaging in petty politics?
GIBBS: Well, let me describe for you what the president is thinking and what he's saying, which is, I think you see an energized president, fighting on behalf of 3.6 million Americans who have lost their jobs since this recession began in 2007. I think you've seen somebody who is warning of the consequences of not acting swiftly, not acting in the size and scope to meet the challenges that millions of Americans face. Any president facing the kind of economic crisis that we are had better be energized on behalf of the American people.
And, you know, let me -- I just want to go through for everybody a few of the numbers that we all saw this morning, if I can. In January, as you well know, the economy lost 598,000 jobs. With revisions from the past year, we lost 3 million jobs in this economy.
We've lost, as I mentioned a second ago, since the beginning of this recession, which is dated to December of 2007, the economy has lost 3.6 million jobs. That is the biggest 13-month change in employment since 1939, which is the first year these statistics were started. In the last three months alone, this economy has lost almost half, almost 1.8 million of the 3.6 million jobs that have been lost over the 13-month course of this recession. And if you look at these statistics, the rate of acceleration denotes quite clearly that our economy is getting more sick, that the job market is getting worse, and it is accelerating quickly.
Let me give you a few numbers behind those numbers. As I said, last month the economy lost 598,000 jobs. That is the equivalent of losing every job in the state of Maine. In the past two months, the economy lost 1.2 million jobs. That's basically losing every job in Pittsburgh or in Cleveland.
In the past three months, the economy has lost 1.8 million jobs, as I said. That's the equivalent of losing every job in Connecticut or South Carolina. And in the past four months, the economy has lost 2.2 million jobs, which is basically losing every job in the state of Louisiana. This president is energized on behalf of the millions of Americans that have lost their job or are facing getting that pink slip tomorrow or next week or next month.
QUESTION: I understand your point that he's energized. But what about this question of petty politics? How does that language help get a bill passed?
GIBBS: Well, I think it helps frame for the American people the argument that's being had in Washington right now, a Washington that is reminded, at least today, of the sobering statistics that its government prepared to note the pain that millions of Americans are feeling each an every day. I think we've seen arguments throughout the past few weeks, and certainly the past week, denoting maybe that we don't have to act as quickly as the president believes we should.
Maybe we shouldn't take on the challenges that our economy presents on the unemployment that are facing millions of Americans. Maybe we can either go slow or do nothing. Or maybe we can go back to completely using the failed policies of a different era that largely landed us where we sit today. I think that's what the president is talking about. And I think he'll continue to talk about this weekend and next week.
QUESTION: The president did make pretty clear his distress about the latest economic numbers. And now you've got U.S automotive suppliers are saying that they need emergency funding to the tune of up to $225 billion to keep themselves out of bankruptcy. Can you confirm that the administration is talking with automakers and their suppliers to -- about giving them access to a U.S. treasury rescue program?
GIBBS: I would -- I will check with Treasury about any additional assistance obviously automakers are receiving, are receiving some assistance approved by the previous administration. I talked yesterday about the desire obviously by this president to see an economy that's strong enough to get the automakers and the auto suppliers who are important in that chain back up on their feet an producing jobs.
We look forward obviously to the automakers' presentation of their plans on February 17th about going forward in that manufacturing industry. No doubt, one of the biggest hits in the unemployment figures announced today were those in manufacturing.
QUESTION: Does the deteriorating economic picture make it more likely that the administration will look favorably on the automakers?
GIBBS: Well, I think the deteriorating picture underscores the president's desire to meet those challenges with a robust recovery and reinvestment plan that will create the jobs that we've lost, save and create the jobs that we've lost and move our economy forward.
LOTHIAN: The president has talked about the sense of urgency. So I'm wondering in light of these new numbers, is there now a sense of desperation, something more urgent --
GIBBS: For millions of American people, no doubt.
LOTHIAN: The president. I mean is this a desperate situation where he really has to get this done?
GIBBS: The president believes that we are facing dire consequences, that our failure to act will likely result in, as he has said numerous times this week, economic catastrophe. I've said from this podium that our failure to act is likely to see 5 million more jobs lost than without a stimulus, that without an economic recovery reinvestment plan, the economy is likely to see in each of the next three years $3 trillion in total, trillion dollars each year, deficit in what this economy is producing and could produce.
Many of these statistics though, are not new to the American people. And I think there's absolutely no doubt that we must act quickly to get legislation moved forward in this process, to get a final piece of legislation to the president so that the assistance that the American people need can quickly get out the door and start creating jobs and putting millions of people that have lost those jobs back to work.
LOTHIAN: One second question. Last week, after we had -- or earlier this week, I guess -- boy, time moves by so quickly.
GIBBS: Tell me about it.
LOTHIAN: In the whole vetting process, you mentioned that the president was very happy with the vetting process. We saw in "The Washington Post" this morning that Greg Craig would be heading that up. Apparently a change, I would guess. Has there been a change made in the vetting process?
GIBBS: Not that I'm aware of. (INAUDIBLE)
QUESTION: The president later today is going to be meeting with a bunch of families of terrorist victims. A lot of the people he's going to be meeting with take issue with his decision to stop the military commissions. They say that it's been through an extensive an he legislative review, the Supreme Court has weighed in and they don't understand what concerns the president has in this process. Could you explain what are some of the concerns the president has specifically about the military commissions?
GIBBS: Well, I think the main concern that the president has is the military commissions' failure to bring those in detention to swift justice. The president invited family members, families of those that were killed in -- first in the U.S.S. Cole incident in 2000, and next in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. And wants to discuss his plan to bring about changes in Guantanamo that he believes will make this country safer and bring about the very same swift justice that they desire on behalf of those that they know that have been killed.
QUESTION: I'm sorry. How does delaying, or even renewing the trials make it any swifter?
GIBBS: Well, the act that the Cole families are disappointed -- the act that the Cole families were affected by happened in 2000. We've not yet seen justice brought now in 2009 to Mr. Al-Nashari. Judge Crawford withdrew the charges without prejudice to reinstatement of those charges. Mr. Al-Nashari remains in detention. And her decision brings all cases into compliance with the executive order that the president issued.
But I think if you look at the number of those awaiting justice and those that have gone through the process, I think you'll see quite clearly that very few have been brought to justice. The discussion that the president looks forward to having today is part of the ongoing process with how to move forward.
I don't believe that the families affected by the terrorist incident with the U.S.S. Cole have seen -- they certainly haven't seen this president, and I don't believe they saw the last president either, and the president thought it was important to listen to their very personal cares and their concerns about anything that's involved in this process. QUESTION: The arraignment of Al-Nashari was supposed to be Monday. But because of the executive order of the president, Crawford suspended the charges. I still don't understand, and -- how this is going to make the justice any swifter. I understand the cases that haven't been heard. That's justice delayed, but --
GIBBS: Without getting into some of the specific aspects of this case, I think the president believed that the best course of action going forward to bring about the justice that both he and the families seek in this case was to go through the very process that Judge Crawford has done, and the executive order that the president has signed. Chip?
QUESTION: Thank you. In days past when we asked you whether he was going to take this effort to sell the stimulus on the road, you told us there weren't any plans to do that. Now it appears he is going to do that early next week.
GIBBS: You're ruining my life. You're previewing my week ahead. I spent all this time doing --
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: But it now appears he's going to be hitting the road. And is that a change in strategy because there's a sense that you're kind of behind where you wanted to be at this point?
GIBBS: No. Let's move quickly to a couple of things on the week ahead...
(LAUGHTER)
GIBBS: Without objection from Mr. Feller. I'll describe a couple of places that he'll travel to next week. On Monday, the president will travel to Elkhart, Indiana and do a town hall meeting about the American recovery and reinvestment plan before doing a press conference on Monday night from the White House. Elkhart, Indiana has over the course of the past year watched its unemployment rate go from 4.7 percent to 15.3 percent.
On Tuesday, the president will travel to Fort Myers, Florida also for a town hall about the American recovery and reinvestment plan and return later that evening to Washington. Fort Myers, Florida's unemployment rate one year ago was 6 percent. Its unemployment rate, according to the latest statistics, is 10
And keep in mind that both of those unemployment rates are factored off of the previous month's unemployment rates. State and metropolitan areas aren't figured out until later than the national average. So, I doubt that it is likely that in either Elkhart, Indiana or in Fort Myers, Florida the unemployment rate has gotten better for citizens either in those areas or in those states.
I think this is another chance for the president to talk directly to the American people about what he thinks is at stake. Watching millions lose their jobs and having in front of Congress and hopefully in front of him soon a plan to save or create millions more jobs and get people back to work, putting money in people's pockets, getting help for state and local governments so they don't have to lay off firefighters or teachers or police officers. I think going directly to where the problems seem even more acute are important to the president, and important in his effort to convince Congress to move swiftly.
QUESTION: You've got that very -- I don't know if you'd agree with the characterization, but the campaign-style speech he gave last night. You've got a press conference Monday, you've got Elkhart, Indiana, you've got Fort Myers, Florida. As one Democrat...
GIBBS: Sounds like the good old days, doesn't it?
QUESTION: ... exactly. As one Democrat on the Hill described it to me, he's pulling out all the stops. And that's not all of it. Is that a fair characterization? And is that because you're not where you wanted to be on this?
GIBBS: No, I don't think we're where we want to be because there's not a bill that has the president's signature affixed to it and assistance out the door to help Elkhart, Indiana and Fort Myers and millions of other Americans that are affected by this. I think you'll see the president, as he has done even before he was sworn in, worked tirelessly to move this process step by step forward until we get a plan that will put people back to work.
The one number that he's concerned about in all this is, can we create 3 or 4 million jobs, save or create 3 million or 4 million jobs and put people back to work? That's the number that he's focused on, as I'm sure that's the number that people in Elkhart, Fort Myers and many other towns across America are focused in on each and every day. Chuck?
CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Based on the speech last night and sort of by the tone of the last 24 hours, does the White House and the president sort of feel like they allowed themselves, you allowed yourselves too get too bogged down in trying to win Republicans over and sort of forgot to just get the thing passed?
GIBBS: No. I think by math or calculus, whichever you want to use, it's going to take Republicans to get something passed.
QUESTION: Do you believe it does?
GIBBS: Well, if I believed that it takes 60 votes in the Senate, I would assume that --
TODD: If it doesn't take 60 in the Senate, then you don't need Republicans.
GIBBS: Well, I don't, you know, I, look, I long ago tried to stop understanding the ways of Congress. And I know, you know -- QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
GIBBS: (LAUGHTER) I don't know the specific answer. I've been left with the impression that the Republicans would like to see the other side produce 60 votes. And that's what we're working on and preparing to do. And to do that, obviously, is going to require the help of like-minded Republicans who understand the consequences of inaction and (INAUDIBLE).
QUESTION: Like-minded Republicans. So you're interested in Republicans that agree with this stimulus package, not necessarily changing the package so much that it gets (INAUDIBLE).
GIBBS: I think it's safe to assume that we would like like- minded Republicans to support the legislation in order to move the process forward to help millions of Americans. Whether -- I don't -- I'll leave the names to you. We're happy to talk to any of them. And the president continues to reach out to anybody that wants to move this process forward.
TODD: Who are the town halls open to?
GIBBS: The public.
TODD: So, first come, first served, or how's that going to work?
GIBBS: I don't know how the tickets will be distributed. But we've never -- I've watched the president do town halls in 2004 through 2008, and the audience has never been handpicked. And neither have the questions. And we're not going to start any of that on Monday. Yes, sir?
QUESTION: Robert, I've lost track what inning we're in, but does the...
GIBBS: We'll have more of that next week.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: ... does the president take any responsibility for the process not farther along than it is?
GIBBS: Well, let's understand where the process is without -- I will save the baseball metaphors for next week, even though it's Friday. We have a process that watched the president get sworn in on the 20th, watched a process that's gone through half of the legislative branch, and I think with a little hard work, likely to make it through the other part of the executive -- I'm sorry, the legislative branch maybe as early as today.
Then we're working on ironing out some differences and getting something that both sides can equally agree on and get something to the president's desk. Without telling you what inning it's in, I think the score is strong for the home team.
QUESTION: He's happy with everything he's (INAUDIBLE) up to now? GIBBS: Absolutely. Major.
