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Democratic Senators Make Their Case, Republicans Express Concrens; React to How the Treasury Secretary's New Plan Will Help Homeowners; Ids Michigan Home to the New Hollywood? Israeli Voters Search For Their Own Obama

Aired February 10, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Stunning pictures out of Australia, killer fires, as fast as they are fierce.

Also, it's election day in Israel. And a mental condition that young voters there might have, Obama envy. We'll take you live there.

Also, a deal, only a recession, foreclosure crisis and credit crisis could love. Bet you 100 bucks you can't guess how much someone paid for this historic building.

As you know, the stimulus bill did finally get a vote. Let's listen to Harry Reid responding, right now, as it clears the Senate floor.

SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: Deal with the crisis at hand. It wasn't a crisis that we created. Every day tens of thousands of Americans lose their jobs. The American people are hurting. One option we do not have is to do nothing - is to do nothing. And the option that we have that is reasonable will create or save up to four million jobs, is what we're doing on the Senate floor now.

It's been a long, hard struggle to get where we are, but we're here. We're now going to go the next step with the conference. Conferees have been appointed. We're going to start working this afternoon. My first meeting is at 2:30 this afternoon, and we're going to continue throughout the night, if necessary, to see what we can do to work this out.

The legislation's fairly simple. It creates millions of jobs, cuts taxes for the middle class, and invests in America's future. I think the differences, really, are fairly minor, and we're going to work very hard to resolve those differences as soon as we can.

OK? Any questions you've thought up in the last little bit?

Yes?

QUESTION: This is so difficult for you to do in terms of finding compromise, and bring along those Republican votes that you need. Can you tell us about your discussions with the House speaker, and what you're trying to work out so that you don't lose those Republican votes? REID: The speaker and I met this morning very early in the White House with the president. It was an extremely good meeting and discussion. We have work already having been done by the White House, looking at the two bills, and giving us ideas what they think should be done.

The president has been really into this. He understands the language in both the finance part of the bill and the appropriations part of the bill. In our conversations, basically, we need to get this done as fast as we can.

QUESTION: Have you made clear to the speaker that the Republican senators are saying -- I assume they're saying to you what they're saying to us, if the spending goes back up, you'll lose their votes?

REID: Well, we started this, as you know, the bill was just voted on here, with 60 votes, has $840 billion in it. So we're going to work at a number that satisfies the House and the Senate. And when I say the Senate, of course, we have the three Republicans that we are working with all the time.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) president give you and the speaker guidance in terms of what he'd like to see in the final bill, and what he would not like to see in the final bill?

REID: Yes, he did.

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

REID: No. Because we're going to --this is something we're going to work on. The president has certain set ideas as to what he thinks should be done. And he expressed those to us. His differences with the bill we have here are very, very minimal.

QUESTION: Can you talk about areas where you would like to see changes in the bill. And also, (OFF MIKE) indicated today that it could be inflated (OFF MIKE)

REID: Well, you know, I don't know about that, all I know is that the speaker in my conversations with her certainly wants them much more quickly than that. We expect to have something done within the next 24 hours. At least headed in the right direction. I don't know what Steny is talking about.

There are changes that I think should be in the bill. But you guys, this isn't the time for me to negotiate what should be in the final conference report. I've got the House to worry about. I've got the president to worry about. And I've got three Republicans that I'm concerned about. So I'm not going to do any negotiating here.

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

REID: The question is, why did I decide to be one of the conferees?

This is an emergency. We have to move this quickly. And we have to do it with as much direction as we can. Normally what we do in conferences, now, remember, the Republicans, when they controlled the Congress, we've had no conferences. The few conferences were held were done in secret with only the Republicans being part of the conference. And then during the eight years of the Bush administration, there were absolutely none done. This is all new.

As I explained to my caucus today, the majority of senators who are Democrats have never been involved in a conference. So this is going to be -- so this is a conference. And in the future, I'm not going to skip over my cardinals or the more senior members in the Finance Committee, but they were all very understanding of why we have to do it now. A small conference will make it move more quickly.

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

REID: I have no deadlines. The only deadline I have is we're going to complete this legislation before we have our recess.

QUESTION: You said 24 hours. Do you expect to have something.

REID: No, what I said, in 24 hours we'll would have our first cut on this. I think we can get most of our work done in the next 24 hours.

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

REID: No, I'm talking about a conference.

David?

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

REID: Yeah, I think -- the speaker and I think we can get a lot of the work done in the first 24 hours. Now, there can be a few things that can stall things for a long time. But I think we can get through most of it in the next 24 hours.

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

REID: No.

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

REID: No.

No, just trying to inform you folks as to what is happening.

Last question? Last question by somebody who hasn't asked one? Yeah?

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)

REID: As President Obama said last night, the first benefits of this bill will be when the credit market eases up, when people start getting jobs and aren't laid off. That's the first sign of this turning around. And it's not going to happen overnight. Yeah?

QUESTION: (OFF MIKE) things you have to balance in this conference. What about the members of your own caucus who are concerned about the original House version? How much of a balancing act (OFF MIKE) Senators like Senator Nelson, of Nebraska, and the other members of your conference who (OFF MIKE).

REID: We've had really good cooperation with Senator Nelson. We could not be to the point where we are now without Nelson of Nebraska working with us. Senator Lieberman has been terrific. And a number of other Democratic moderates senators, McCaskill, Evan Bayh. A number of other senators have worked very hard to get us to the point where we are.

Thanks, everybody.

PHILLIPS: Harry Reid addressing reporters there right off the Senate floor. Bottom line, here's where we stand. I'll try to put it in simple terms for you.

The Senate has passed this $838-billion economic stimulus bill. Now it goes into negotiations. You heard Harry Reid right there, say, look, we've got to go into compromise. The Senate has to go into negotiations with the House version. They have to reconcile the differences. Then everybody will vote again and then hopefully it will make its way up to the president.

Now, we've heard the president speak. The Senate has voted. The stimulus has survived, but it just isn't over yet. For the second day in a row, President Obama is hitting the road, too, to highlight the real-world drama of the economic disaster. Today he visited the foreclosure capital of the nation, Fort Myers, Florida. You saw that live here on CNN. And then back in Washington, as you can just see, the Senate passed the Recovery & Reinvestment package that's worth $838 billion. Now the next step, as I mentioned, will be hammering out the differences with a somewhat smaller House bill, which is longer on spending and shorter on tax breaks.

Yet on another front, you've got Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, also today, unveiling what could become a $1-trillion effort to jump start the U.S. credit system. So at least $50 billion is set aside, within that, to fight foreclosures. So a lot going on right now.

Let's go ahead and get back to Fort Myers, Florida. That's where our Dan Lothian is. He's been traveling with the president.

So Dan, maybe we should talk about the goal there. Probably to comfort the number of economic casualties that we actually heard from, as they spoke out in the forum there. Or was this more about kind of turning up the heat on Congress to make a decision on this stimulus bill?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's both of those, Kyra. You saw the president in Elkhart, Indiana yesterday, today in Fort Myers, Florida. Part of the effort, obviously, is to turn up the heat on Congress. As the president pointed out today, and he's been doing so for the past few days, is that this is not a perfect bill, but that some action is necessary. And that was the message that he brought here to Fort Myers, to those who are attending this town hall meeting. But it was also a message to folks who are really going through a difficult time. The unemployment rate here over the last year rose from six percent ...

PHILLIPS: Dan, stay with me. Republicans now responding to the stimulus vote. Senator Mitch McConnell.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: We spend a lot of time talking about the trees here, let's talk about the forest. How much are we spending? And how unprecedented is it for our country?

For years, in civic club audiences, I've always talked about America this way, that typically around 20 percent of our gross domestic product has been government spending. Traditionally in recent years, in France, it's over 50 percent, in Italy and Germany it's about 45 percent. So a way of looking at what we're in the process of doing here is to look at what the percentage of our gross domestic product government spending will be if we take all of the steps that we now anticipate we're taking.

To put it in context, from 1983, during the first Reagan administration, down to 2000, where you had Republicans either in the White House, or for most of the time in control of Congress, we drove government spending as a percentage of gross domestic product from 23.5 percent down to 18.4 percent; again, roughly in this range of 20 percent. In 2008, after the Bush years, it had jagged back up some to 20.9 percent, of government - the GDP was government spending. You can see it had been relatively steady, around 20 percent, sometimes up a little bit, sometimes down a little bit.

It's anticipated, if all of these new spending items that we're in the process of considering go through, that government spending in this country as a percentage of gross domestic product in 2010 could well be just under 40 percent, just under 40 percent. If we do all of these -- take all of these measures that we're talking about. This paints a picture of the Europeanization of America. And I know there are many people on the other side who think the French and the Germans and the Italians have got it right. But by maintaining a percentage of GDP in government spending of roughly 20 percent , we continue to have a vibrant private sector.

And we all know this is an emergency. We're all in favor of taking some kinds of action. But I do think it's important to focus on the larger question of where are we going to leave the country in two years if we take all of these steps, we will have made a dramatic move in the direction of indeed turning America into Western Europe.

SEN. JOHN KYL (R), MINORITY WHIP: There's been a false choice presented that Republicans need to accept this bill, it's the only choice. In other words, it's either do nothing, or accept this bill. Of course, that's a false choice.

Republicans believe we need to do a lot. But that this legislation needs to be changed a lot in order, first of all, to avoid the problem that Senator McConnell spoke of, and secondly, to avoid spending billions of dollars in more wasteful Washington spending. The importance of what Senator McConnell talked about is what CBO designated as the crowd-out effect in the private sector. Where borrowing would become much more expensive and they predict in 10 years we would see declines in the gross domestic product. In other words, but for this legislation, CBO says we would be increasing our GDP. This legislation will cause a 0.1 to 0.3 reduction in the GDP because of the amount of spending.

The other aspect is what the money is spent on. President Obama said that all of the earmarks should be stripped from the legislation. Have they been? No. I'm just going to cite a few of them. Here's a $2 billion earmark for Future Gen Near Zero emissions power plant in Mattoon, Illinois. That's an earmark. And $200 million for workplace safety in USDA facilities; $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges and libraries.

Ask yourself with each of these, how many jobs do they create. The $650 million for the DTV transition coupon program. This is a good idea, by the way, $10 million to fight Mexican gun runners. But shouldn't it be in the regular appropriation process? And $10 million for urban canals; $198 million to design and furnish DHS headquarters; $500 million for state and local fire stations. I know folks out in Arizona would like to have some new fire stations. But is that the right expenditure for this so-called stimulus money?

And $160 million for volunteers at the Corporation for National and Community Service. These are volunteers, not paid folks. The point here is that there are a lot of earmarks, and a lot of wasteful Washington spending in this bill. And so because of the macro point that Senator McConnell made, and sort of the micro point I'm making here, please understand this is not a choice between doing nothing and doing the bill that's before us. It's a choice between doing something smart that will create jobs, and won't add a mountain of debt into this country, and won't waste taxpayer dollars on the one hand, and passing the wasteful, costly bill that the Democrats have passed.

We won the election, we'll write the bill, is not the kind of change that I think most Americans expected after the last election. And it's not the kind of attitude on the part of the majorities that will help solve the major problems facing our country. President Bush, technically, as commander in chief could wage the war in Iraq without congressional broad support for that. But it made for a difficult presidency, and it made the war harder.

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), TENNESSEE: This president can pass a few pieces of legislation with no real effort, and no real result in terms of getting Republican ideas into the legislation. But it is not the way to get the country moving again. This was the easy piece of legislation. And we saw almost no opportunity for the Democrats to take the Republican focus on housing, on tax cuts, on limiting spending only to those items that created jobs; very little opportunity to get that into the bill. And so we have the result we have.

But next we have banks, and next we have housing, and next we have entitlements, and next we have health care. And this is not a good beginning to try to begin to have the kind of bipartisan framework most of us want in order to move the country in the direction it needs to go.

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: I want to make a couple of points about transparency. This new president and the Democratic Congress have promised transparency and accountability. What we're challenging the Democrat Congress to do is to televise the conference meetings. When they're working out the difference between the House and the Senate, it should not be behind closed doors, it should be out in the open, where you all will have access. You'll be able to hold them accountable. You'll be able to find out if there are things being hidden in the bill at the last minute. You know, who's being done favors, if there are special things being put into a bill, that's what Americans want. They want transparency and accountability.

When you're spending $1 trillion, it's even more important to have this kind of transparency and accountability. So we're calling on the Democrats to let's televise these meetings so, you know, these things aren't done in some back room someplace, with very little input and accountability to the public.

Second point I'd make on transparency is Secretary Geithner came out with a new proposal today, and they're talking that they're not asking for any more money, but they're going to leverage the -- the Federal Reserve is going to leverage some of this money. Well, how much is the Federal Reserve going to leverage? That's unknown. Why is it unknown? Because there's no transparency or accountability with the Federal Reserve. The reports out there right now are somewhere $1 trillion, $2 trillion, $3 trillion that the Federal Reserve has already infused into this marketplace today.

And by the way, this is the American taxpayer. We have to hold -- if we're going to hold accountable the Federal Reserve, we have to have transparency. And so as we're going forward, I think it's a good idea to open up that process to say to the Federal Reserve, let's see what you are actually doing in the marketplace, so that the American people can share. Because the American people are the ones who are on the hook if the Federal Reserve causes inflation, causes credit problems for the United States. So these folks, who are unelected, at least should be transparent so that some accountability can be there in the process.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: Well, I think everything's been said. I just think that the argument that we made on the floor the last week, and this week, was that this spends too much and doesn't do enough. And I think the numbers bear that out. And the compromise that supposedly was agreed upon actually made the bill larger, not smaller. My guess is it gets even larger when it goes into the conference. And I think the thing the American people find most offensive about this is the wasteful spending. It's the pork, it's the things that John Kyl just mentioned that don't do anything to stimulate the economy. And secondly, a lot of these things are going to go on for a some time into the future. These are permanent things. These aren't one- time things. A lot of the mandatory spending, the entitlement spending in this bill, and new programs that are created, that should be done in the regular order, are going to create liabilities for years to come. Which is why I think the CBO found that this is going to have a dilutive effect on the GDP in the out years.

So, this was the wrong direction to go. Republicans presented what I thought were a number of good alternatives last week, which cut costs considerably less, were more focused, more targeted on the whole issue of job creation. Regrettably a lot of those amendments were defeated. We think this is a great debate to have. The American people, I think, are tuning in, and the more they learn about this bill, the more objections they're going to raise against it as well.

PHILLIPS: All right. Now, you've heard from Dems and Republicans, with regard to the fact that the Senate finally passed its $838-billion economic stimulus bill. As you can hear from both sides, now the tough negotiations begin incorporating the House version. Then once they reconcile their differences, hopefully everybody will vote again and then it will move on to the president. So, of all the differences between the House and Senate versions of that stimulus bill, here is the main sticking point. The Senate bill had three Republican supporters and the House bill had none.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is on the Hill.

So, Brianna, can they now come up with a bill that will to satisfy House Democrats and at least a couple of those Senate Republicans?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSSIONAL CORRESPONENT: They don't really have a choice, Kyra. They don't. Because those Senate Republicans really wielding a disproportionate amount of power, because their votes are crucial. And that press conference still going on right now, with Senate Republicans just highlighting the fact that the vast majority of Republicans are not onboard with this.

Again, the vote breakdown for passing the Senate version of the economic stimulus bill, 61-37. As you said, only those three Republicans, the two from Maine and Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania, the next step now as you mentioned reconciling the House bill and the Senate bill.

And even though it seems doubtful that there's going to be much Republican support for the final bill, we heard a short time ago, Chuck Schumer, senator from New York, a Democrat, talking about maybe trying to win over some Republicans in this negotiation process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: We will do our best to bring more Republicans over to our side. And I hope that happens this week. And we will be open to new suggestions, just as we were to $106 billion in suggestions that were added to the bill. But we will not, we will not sacrifice the focus of this bill, jobs, tax cuts for the middle class and infrastructure for anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And just taking a look at those two bills, the overall price tag really not that different. But the composition of the two bills is quite different. The Senate version, heavier on tax cuts. The House version, to the tune of about $100 billion, has more spending on things like education and aid to states to pay for health care. But the way this is shaping up, Kyra, is really about how do you make these Senate Republicans happy, and House Democrats happy. And in the end it seems like these Senate Republicans really are wielding a lot of power.

We understand that after this vote, Susan Collins, one of those Republicans told us, she was going to be meeting behind closed doors with those centrist Democrats and Republicans who worked out this deal in the Senate. So clearly, they're laying out their parameters for what they will and will not accept in this final bill.

PHILLIPS: All right. Brianna Keilar, thank you so much.

And while this is all going on I want to take you back to Wall Street, because stocks haven't had quite the reaction the Obama administration might have hoped for following such a big move by the government.

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange watching those numbers.

The Dow Industrials just tanking right now.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra.

We were seeing a rather moderate sell-off 90 minutes into the session. And just before the Treasury secretary started to speak, stocks pretty much went off a cliff. A couple factors, one is something we see quite often buy on the rumors, sell on the news. We had a big rally on Friday and that had a lot of people scratching their heads, because that was the day we got that terrible jobs report for January. And we still had a 200-point rally for the Dow.

Well, we were expecting the new and improved TARP on Monday, and passage of the stimulus package. So there was that anticipation that we were going to get this, and we got it. Well, the problem is that when the Treasury secretary gave his speech, we really didn't have a lot of details as to how to do some of the most difficult aspects of this financial stability plan. And that is, how do you get these toxic assets off the books, to improve bank balance sheets?

It's not a new question. We've been talking about it for months now. So there's going to be some sort of partnership with the private sector. But we're not sure how it's going to be priced. And I'm not sure exactly how much the government's going to back stop. So, just a lot of questions there, and what you're seeing is, triple-digit declines. Right now, as you check out the Big Board, the Dow industrials are down 359 points, or 4.33 percent. And financial stocks are absolutely getting creamed. Bank of America shares are down 18 percent. Citigroup down 12.5 percent, that kind of thing, so, you know.

And in then in the meantime you see the urgency of the situation. General Motors, for instance, cutting 10,000 salaried jobs. FedEx is also cutting jobs. We even have a report that Wal-Mart, which fared pretty well in this very challenging and severe recession, is cutting up to 1,400 jobs at its Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters.

So, you know, it's a tough situation. And the sense is the government hasn't quite figured it out yet, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, there's a lot to figure out, that's for sure.

Susan, thanks.

LISOVICZ: No question.

PHILLIPS: The TARP, so what's in it for you? Is the TARP big enough for homeowners? Well, CNN Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is going to join us in just a bit to explain.

And take a look at these companies to watch for signs of economic recovery. Target, Starbucks, CBS, Ford, and American Airlines. We'll show you the other five companies to watch later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Parts of the Central U.S. are cleaning up from line of severe thunderstorms. In Kansas, some areas reported wind gusts up to 70 miles an hour. In Topeka, the wind was so strong it picked up a trampoline and threw it up a tree. Along with that, snow is blamed for a number of accidents today on roads and highways in El Paso, Texas.

Well, the threat of severe storms has Southern Plains and the Mississippi Valley on alert today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: The bank-rescue plan, it's billions of dollars and countless questions. We're going to look at how big, or how your money, rather, is being spent.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures right now. You've got to give Americans credit, says Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, to the nation's banks and lenders. And that's the objective for the second phase of the so- called bailout, now called the financial stability plan.

It could mean $1 trillion in public and private infusions into the nation's credit pipeline. The Senate Banking Committee wants to hear more, a lot more. And Geithner, right now, is in the hot seat. We're going to listen in to things here if it gets hot and heavy.

All right, Mr. Geithner, got any cash in the package for people, namely homeowners? Let's bring in CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis. Gerri, let's talk about how this new bailout plan will address the housing crisis in particular?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, Kyra, I've got to tell you, it was a six-page speech this morning from the treasury secretary, but only six paragraphs really directly talked about the plans for homeowners, to help folks who are in trouble with those terrible mortgages we talked so much about. What I can tell you, though, is that from what the president has said in the past and what was said today, we know the Fed and the treasury will commit $50 billion, maybe as much as $100 billion to modify mortgage loans for folks who are in trouble.

They'll make those monthly payments smaller, and the interest rates will probably go down, too. Maybe lengthen the life of those loans. Now, Geithner also this morning made specific reference to homeowners caught on the forefront of this crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, SECRETARY OF THE U.S. TREASURY: Many of these families borrowed beyond their means, but many others fell victim to terrible lending practices that left them exposed, overextended and with no way to refinance. On top of that, homeowners around the country are seeing the value of their homes fall because of forces they did not create and cannot control. This crisis in housing has had devastating consequences, and our government should have moved for more forcefully to help contain the damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIS: All right. So, details of exactly what help homeowners in the crisis can expect were not really forthcoming today. But we expect details of a plan to address the housing crisis in the coming few weeks -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: (INAUDIBLE) about the stimulus bill, and how that proposes to help homeowners?

WILLIS: Yes, well, there are things in the stimulus bill. Details are still sort of being worked out here. But as it stands right now, the Senate provisions include a temporary homebuyer credit of $15,000, as much as $15,000. You wouldn't have to pay that back. There's a salary cap on that. If you make more than $75,000, you can't use it. But whether you're buying a new home, a second home, it would be available to you.

Also in the plan, neighborhood revitalization for areas that have been hard hit by foreclosures, dollars to help those areas recover, and weatherization and energy efficiency for homeowners. A big fat tax credit for that. We saw that last year. It sunseted. It's coming back. That would be good news for people who maybe want to add a little insulation, maybe upgrade the windows, something like that -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Gerri Willis. Appreciate the insight.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: And here's five more companies to watch for signs of economic recovery. Dell, Yahoo!, E*TRADE, Staples and Electronic Arts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: President Obama on the road again selling his recovery plan and taking questions. The Senate passed its version of the economic stimulus package just a short time ago. But the details aren't written in stone yet. This was the president earlier selling his plan at America's current foreclosure capital, Fort Myers, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Of course, there are some critics -- always critics -- who say we can't afford to take on these priorities. But we have postponed and neglected them for too long. And because we have, our health care still costs too much. Our schools still fail too many of our children. Our dependence on foreign oil has actually grown since the 1970s. Still threatens our economy and our security.

We've seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail. They say we can't afford to take on these tasks? Florida, you know we cannot afford not to.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Now, I'm not going to tell you that this plan is perfect. I mean, it was produced in Washington.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: No plan is perfect. I also can't tell you with 100 percent certainty that everything in this plan will work exactly as we had hoped. But I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act in the face of this crisis will only worsen our problems. Doing nothing is not an option. You didn't send me to Washington to do nothing.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So, we've had a good debate. We've had a good debate. That's part of what democracy's all about. But the time for talk is over. Folks here in Fort Myers and across America, they need help. They need action. And they need it now.

(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: Americans I've met understand that even with this plan, our economy will likely be measured in years, not weeks or months. You know...

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: ... for our TV audience, somebody said I had eight. Which we're not clear about yet.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Once again, Barack Obama there in Fort Myers, Florida. Well, hit by staggering job losses, the Rust Belt tries to invent itself. Could folks like Clint Eastwood actually lend a hand?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Displaced autoworkers might see good paydays again on film sets. Not on the West Coast, but in their own back yard. Our Carol Costello looks at how Michigan is trying to reinvent itself with the help of some top talent. Carol?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we know Michigan is bleeding jobs. But there are some there who say, stop crying in your beer. It's time to do something about it. And the solution just may be the stuff made in Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Dreams, they're made here, and if all goes well, here, too. Hollywood, Michigan, really?

(on camera): You hear things like Michigan, Hollywood of the north. Hollywood of the Midwest. And people go, oh, come on.

JEFF DANIELS, ACTOR: And your idea is what? What are you doing to, you know, make Michigan a better place? To make, you know, to create jobs? Oh, nothing? Then shut up.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Jeff Daniels is a believer. Raised in Michigan and the star of dozens of Hollywood films, he says Michigan can reinvent itself, turning auto factories into dream factories, auto workers into movie set makers.

DANIELS: I think people in the Midwest, in the Heartland understand what it means to do a good day's work, an honest's day's work. They're not afraid of work.

COSTELLO: Or of new kinds of creative work. Remember, before detroit meant the Big Three, it meant these three from Motown.

(MUSIC PLAYING) COSTELLO: Daniels is actively working with Michigan to lure Hollywood north. He pushed officials to grant an enormous rebate on the Michigan business tax, up to 42 percent for film companies. That means if you spend a million bucks making movies in Michigan, you could get $420,000 back. So far, it's worked. Thirty-two movies were shot in Michigan in 2008 alone.

(VIDEO CLIP -- "GRAN TORINO")

COSTELLO: Including Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino."

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: Michigan will be the next film capital of the world.

COSTELLO: Maybe. Michigan's governor just announced two huge projects to make that dream a reality.

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM, MICHIGAN: Wonderstruck Animation Studios will invest $86 million to build a new studio in Detroit.

COSTELLO: And a $54 million soundstage is also being built in a former GM plant in Pontiac. Critics say while it all sounds great, it does come with a price. That 42 percent tax rebate is overly generous, they say, and will cost Michigan in the long run. Daniels doesn't buy it, though, saying other states have done the same thing and are thriving.

DANIELS: I have yet to see a state to go backwards to go, whoa, whoa, whoa, what a huge, foolish mistake because we were desperate. I have yet to see a state do that. Show me where it's lost money or show me where a state has gone, man, it bankrupted us, and we're so sorry we did it.

COSTELLO: Maybe. Maybe dreams do come true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, action!

COSTELLO: Michigan is banking on it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: More than 3,000 jobs were created in 2008 because of the entertainment industry. And of course, Michigan is hoping for more. That's why in its university (ph) classes are now being offered to retrain workers to become entertainment workers -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Israelis voting in the general election. We're going to go live to Jerusalem for a look at its possible impact on the peace process.

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PHILLIPS: Less than an hour from now, polls close in Israel's crucial general elections. The probably outcome, either a hard-line former prime minister that would regain that post, or the job goes to the current foreign minister, who's a moderate but vows that she's tough enough to handle the volatile issues of the Middle East.

A big question for the candidates, though, do young Israeli voters care? Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, is following the election in Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Talk to Israeli voters, and you hear disillusionment, particularly among the young.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are the young people. We don't believe in politics. During the years, they disappointed us year after year.

SCHNEIDER: You hear longing for an Israeli Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think like now in the United States, you have Obama, which managed to carry away the people and give hope and faith. I think that's something that we need in Israel. And is missing.

SCHNEIDER: Israeli candidates get the message. Look at the young people dancing at a rally for Tzipi Livni. Her slogan, "Believe Me." Can any candidate be Israel's Obama? Not so easily.

Two candidates, Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu, have already been prime minister. They both got thrown out by the voters. Livni and her party are in power now.

DAVID HOROWITZ, "THE JERUSALEM POST": Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, is a fresher face. But she's been the foreign minister. She's been around.

SCHNEIDER: The far-right contender, Avigdor Lieberman, is creating a big stir in the Israeli campaign. But Lieberman is not exactly the candidate of hope.

ARI SHAVIT, "HA-ARETZ": What you see here is despair. You see here fear. And you see a wave of dangerous nationalism.

SCHNEIDER; Lieberman is more Israel's Ross Perot than Israel's Barack Obama.

CHEMI SHALEV, ISRAEL HAYDOM: It's a sort of vote against Israel politics and against Israeli politicians.

SCHNEIDER: Israelis use the Hebrew word mavreek (ph) to describe Obama. But it doesn't mean maverick, exactly.

GIL HOFFMAN, "THE JERUSALEM POST": Mavreek (ph) means brilliant. Not only in the smart sense of the word, but the cool sense of the word. In the sense of what Israelis see Americans as, what they want America to be.

SCHNEIDER: Do Israelis feel confident that President Obama will be a true friend to Israel? Here's what labor candidate and former prime minister Ehud Barack told CNN. EHUD BARAK, ISRAEL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My experience with all presidents since President Ford is that every -- each and every president becomes more friendly with Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, let's get straight to Rick Sanchez. He's back there working on the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

And you know, Rick, I know you're going to be following this, because you're going to have probably the results coming up in your hour. And it will be interesting to see this dynamic, hearing from the young people like this through Bill Schneider for the first time. You tend to wonder what they think about the fact that Obama wants to talk with Iran.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: For the Obama administration, as you probably know, if indeed someone like Bibi Netanyahu were elected, because certainly Bibi Netanyahu may be many things, but conciliatory is not one of them.

I've been reading the Arab newspapers, and they're saying in Israeli it's an election between the right and far right. So, I mean, that's the way they're positioning. So, yes, during our hour, we'll likely get some of the results from Israel. We're going to be reporting them. I'm going to have Jim Clancy sitting on the set right next to me as the results come in.

And most likely we'll probably break the news as a winner or a winning party is announced in this. You know, they have a very different system from what we have in this country. But we're going to take you along the process every step of the way.

And of course, Geithner is going to be speaking today to the Senate Finance Committee. That's huge, because he's going to be presenting to them during our hour for the very first time exactly what his new bailout, or I suppose bank rescue, is going to be. So, we're going to be dipping into that at the same time. And you've probably mentioned what is going on with the Dow today. It doesn't look pretty. And it will close during our hour. So, we'll be on top of that as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, it was down more than 350 points there as we were talking about the stimulus plan, the fact that there was still a vote, still a negotiation taking place. Just for a minute, Rick, since we have a second -- well, I want to mention, too, you're on Web cam, now coming to us there from the back, your new technology.

SANCHEZ: It's pretty cool, yes.

PHILLIPS: Yes, Web cam, Twitter, all your good stuff.

With regard to making sense of the Israeli elections for those sitting at home saying, OK, why do I want to follow this? Why do I care what's happening over there? And it's the fact that it's a whole new attitude and movement that's taking place over there, and that ties in with these elections. And it ties into the relations between the U.S., Israel and Iran. I mean, that is what is such a fascinating thing here is that the Bush administration said, we're not going to talk with Iran. That's the axis of evil.

Now you've got this new president that says, hmm, we may be able to begin conversations. That make not make Israel very happy, and Israel has been a tremendous ally of the United States for years.

SANCHEZ: Here's what's really interesting about what's going on today. I mean, for those folks who've been following it, it is important, because so much of our policy has to do with Middle Eastern policy, vis-a-vis with what's going on in Israel, and what they decide to do, and who's leading that country.

You've got Benjamin Netanyahu, Bibi Netanyahu as I referred to him a little while ago, I mean, Bibi and Tzipi, can you imagine an election with names like this? You've got Benjamin Netanyahu. He's probably always been considered one of the big hawks there. You've seen him on TV many times. He used to be on TV with Ted Koppel back in the old "Nightline" days.

Tzipi Livni, leader of the Kadema Party. They're more or less centrist. Ehud Barack, who's the Labor Party, they're kind of centered a little more to the left. And then you've got this new guy who's come out of nowhere. His name is Avigdor Lieberman. He's even more hawkish, or described as being more hawkish, than Bibi Netanyahu. They're saying he could actually pull this thing out.

So, that's why Americans are watching this to see exactly what happens and what direction it will take the Obama administration in. Because it's going to be totally different. I mean, look, during the Bush administration, you basically had a hawkish U.S. administration with a hawkish Israeli administration.

If you have a conciliatory U.S. administration on foreign policy, and you have a hawkish administration in Israel, how is that dichotomy going to work out? Maybe going back to, like, the Carter years. But it will be interesting to watch, and we'll see if it's reflected in policy.

PHILLIPS: See you in about seven minutes.

SANCHEZ: All right.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rick.

The deep freeze between the U.S. and Iran may be on the verge of warming up. As we mentioned, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that he welcomes talks with the Obama administration, as long as they were conducted, quote, in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect.

Well, those comments came after President Obama said yesterday that his team is looking into the possibility of talking with Iran. But the president says it wouldn't have overnight because a lot of mistrust has built up over the years.

Even historic buildings aren't spared in the foreclosure crisis. An auction's only bidder getting this Florida landmark on the cheap.

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PHILLIPS: Well, a historic building in Jacksonville, Florida, sells for less than Barbie's dream house. It's worth almost $3.5 million, but a foreclosure auction drew just the minimum bid of a hundred bucks. Several companies have offices in this building. It's not abandoned or anything. The owner got into serious debt and lost the place. But his loss isn't really the new buyer's gain. The builder's mortgage lender ponied up the cash to hold onto it.

Well, if your Valentine's Day plans haven't come together, and you're hoping for animal lust, well, then you can get thee to Battle Creek, Michigan. The zoo there is promising to teach y'all all about the birds and the bees and the giraffes and the gorillas, among other things.

Whoo! Zoorotica is what it's called. It's a new program teaching you all about the mating habits of wild animals. Also included, a little champagne and some treats to help the humans out. Only 21 and older, please. And sorry, folks, there's a waiting list.

Rick Sanchez, what you going to do?

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PHILLIPS: So, what would you ask the president? In keeping with his pledge to have the most open and accessible administration in American history, Mr. Obama's welcoming you to come to his Web site at whitehouse.gov and enter in some questions, sign up to get updates.

But you can also e-mail us, mailtothechief@CNN.com. What we've decided to do is collect up all your questions. We're going to sign up, enter them, send them to the White House and hopefully get some responses and read them on the air.

That does it for us. We'll be live on Thursday with our special coverage, "From Lincoln to Obama." We'll see you in Springfield, Illinois.

Meanwhile, Rick Sanchez takes it from here.