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Tornados Devestate Parts of Oklahoma; White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Daily Briefing; Sen. Harry Reid Announces Agreement on Stimulus Bill
Aired February 11, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama and Vice President Biden both on the road touring and touting shovel-ready stimulus projects.
And back home, Congress haggles over billions, and bank chiefs try to justify billions more. Plus, the aftermath along the twister's path. Death and destruction in Oklahoma.
Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Things are moving all over Washington this hour. The daily White House news briefing is due to begin any minute from now. On Capitol Hill, the treasury secretary is trying to sell senators on his trillion-dollar plans to fix the banking system. The bosses of the biggest bailed-out banks are defending their spending and lending before a House committee that fears taxpayers are getting short- changed.
Behind closed doors, some monumental numbers are getting crunched at the House and the Senate -- or rather as the House and Senate tries to smooth out a stimulus package both houses can actually pass.
A day after senators passed the combination of spending and tax breaks worth $838 billion, a compromise measure worth less than $800 billion seems close to final agreement. Our Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill. And she tells us that negotiators are restoring some school construction funding that the Senate actually cut out; and cutting tax incentives for homes and new car purchases, the Senate had added. One key senator reminds us that nothing is final until, it's final. But it may be final soon.
Cleanup is under way this hour in several parts of Oklahoma after a deadly tornado outbreak. In Lone Grove, south of Oklahoma City, a lot of work has to be done. At least eight people there were killed and dozens more hurt. Property damage is heavy and widespread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICKEY DAVIS, LONE GROVE RESIDENT: There was not a lot of -- there was a lot of warning on TV, on the radio. I was watching it. I was at my daughter's house and it was on TV. But it was moving so fast, that a lot of people that I talked to that was caught in it, even after they knew what was happening, they didn't have time to do anything, because it was moving fast. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Samantha Hayes is getting a firsthand look at the damage in Lone Grove.
What are you seeing, Samantha?
SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it did move fast. And the damage done by the tornadoes was swift.
I'm just off the main highway in Lone Grove, where there used to be a furniture store. This is it. And the tornado destroyed it. The folks here, this is a family-owned business. They've been here all day trying to salvage what they can from the business. But they've got a long way to go with the cleanup.
This area here, the properties are owned by the same family; a couple of businesses and a couple of homes in the back. One was demolished. And some search and rescue folks were there earlier this morning making sure that nobody was there, nobody was injured and needed help. That's what they've been doing all over this community.
In an area not far from here, Fredricka, there's a large mobile home community, about 60 mobile homes. And that was in the direct path of the tornado and may have been, we understand from Oklahoma emergency agency, that maybe where several of the fatalities occurred. Eight is the number as it stands right now and 14 serious injuries from this tornado, a very serious storm.
And a lot of people here, they're familiar with tornadoes, they know how to prepare. But they haven't seen this kind of destruction perhaps in a very long time. A lot of people said to me today, you know, I showed up here this afternoon. I thought maybe there would be some glass broken or some shingles off a roof. And I ended up seeing all of this. And it's just heart breaking for so many folks.
It is a small town, 5,000 people in this town. A lot of folks probably shopped at this furniture store or are familiar with the neighbors who may have lived behind it or around it. And they're comforting each other here today as they help clean up and look forward to trying to piece their lives back together.
The Red Cross and Salvation Army have set up shelters around town for people obviously displaced by that; other people probably making arrangements with neighbors and family right now. Fredricka back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Samantha Hayes in Lone Grove, Oklahoma, thanks so much.
The storm system that slammed Oklahoma has now moved east. Chad Myers is keeping track of which areas could be in danger today.
Hopefully it's lost a little steam.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It has, except it's got itself a little bigger. It's a wider storm with more square footage, or more miles covered, but the storms are not going to be quite as severe, if that makes sense.
It's kind of like we're spreading out some of the power into a bigger area, so it's not going to be as concentrated. So we're not going to see maybe the F2 or, F3 or F4 we saw yesterday. We don't know how big the storm was that Samantha was talking about yet; Weather Service out there taking a look at it. They'll fly over it, look at it. It's very difficult to tell how big a storm was when it hits a mobile home or metal fabricated build, because they fly apart with light winds. So, therefore, they look at the big heavy structures, the concrete, the frame houses, to see how much damage is done there, and if it's completely leveled. That's when you get up to the F5 scale. It's not that big, I don't think. But it was a pretty big storm.
Another tornado watch just issued here, to the east of Louisville, into all the coal fields of Kentucky, right into southern Ohio as well. Louisville, you are under the gun, right to your west, big storm now. No tornado warnings going on right now. This is all just tornado watches, which means some storms could spins.
But what we're seeing is -ah, one just popped up right there. Dave, do you have that piece of paper? Did that print off there? We have a brand new pink box. When the pink box pops up, we know there's a tornado warning that just goes there. So, we'll take a look for you. That would be just south and southeast of Nashville, moving to the northeast.
Most of these storms moving to the northeast at 40, 45 miles per hour. Farther south in Birmingham seeing the rain showers and thunderstorms as well.
Here's the wide spreadness, I'm talking about, Fred. All the way from New York down to the Gulf Coast. Just not as concentrated like in central Oklahoma. So maybe the energy of each storm won't be quite as severe.
WHITFIELD: That would be good. All right, Chad, appreciate it.
MYERS: You betcha.
WHITFIELD: Well, they showed up. But they refused to talk. Two executives from the Peanut Corporation of America appeared before a congressional committee today. It's their company being investigated in the nationwide salmonella outbreak. Neither was willing to comment on allegedly incriminating company e-mails, which suggests tainted products were shipped out, so the company wouldn't lose money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BART STUPAK, (D) MICHIGAN: Mr. Parnell, did you or any officials at the Peanut Corporation of America ever place food products into the interstate commerce that you knew to be contaminated with salmonella? STEWART PARNELL, OWNER, PEANUT CORP. OF AMERICA: Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question based on the protection afforded me under the United States Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The salmonella outbreak has claimed another life. The victim is an Ohio woman. That brings the death toll to nine. Nearly 600 people have gotten sick.
We're all on a stimulus watch, if you will. Some of us are a little bit closer to the maneuvering that's taking place on Capitol Hill. And that would be our Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash, who has her ear to the wall, so to speak, while both members of the House and Senate are trying to negotiate, come to some agreement.
What are you hearing, Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. Those negotiations are still going on. I'm just down the hall from them and they're taking place still in the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office.
We're hearing more even optimistic words from the negotiators in there. Senators and also aides, that they might have the framework of an agreement to announce at some point.
Let me tell you what we're hearing from our sources about what they're doing behind these closed doors. First of all, they seem to have agreed on an overall spending number. That is $789 billion. And we're told that 35 percent of that is tax cuts, 65 percent of that is spending. Now, that number is lower than what the House and Senate both passed. So what has been going on, for more than 24 hours now, is horse trading, trying to figure out what can come out and what can stay in it.
There's so many competing interests here in terms of what can be done, whether it's education, whether it's cuts, whether it's health care spending, unemployment spending. We can tell you one example of some of the changes our sources are telling us about. The president's tax cut that he campaigned on, that appears to be reduced. It was supposed to be $1,000 for families. It has now been reduced we're told to $800, $500 for individuals. We're told that the White House seems to have agreed to reduce that to $400. That's one area where they think they may be saving a little bit of money here.
Let me give you our examples of changes that we are told by our sources. (AUDIO GAP) here between the House and Senate Democrats, has been since slashed $20 billion in school construction. We're told they're actually cutting $6 to $9 billion back for school modernization and repairs.
Another interesting thing is that we're told that there probably will be about $44 billion in the package for aid to states. And that will be -- supposed to geared towards education and other services. That's about been a very big - a very important thing for many Democrats, especially those in the House, Fredricka. Those are just examples, again, that we're hearing about from our sources as they work through these details behind closed doors.
WHITFIELD: OK, Dana Bash, thanks so much for keeping us posted. We'll check back with you as you learn any more. Thank you.
Now to the banks, and the CEOs, who promised not to squander taxpayer money, or goodwill. Both are in short supply, especially in light of lavish bonuses and perks that prompted a public scolding from President Obama.
Today, the CEO of Citigroup insisted that he gets it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIKRAM PANDIT, CEO, CITIGROUP: I would also like to say something about the airplane that was in the news. We did not adjust quickly enough to this new world. And I take personal responsibility for that mistake. In the end, I canceled delivery. We need to do a better job of acknowledging and embracing the new realities. I may be clear with the committee, I get the new reality, and I will mark sure Citi gets it as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Among them, the banks represented today received $160 billion from the $700 billion bailout.
Let's go onto the White House now. Our Ed Henry is there. We know that the regular briefing is to take place momentarily.
I wonder if there's already going to be some reaction perhaps from the White House of what we just heard Dana Bash reporting, that possibly they're moving closer towards some compromise of a stimulus plan under $800 billion. It has to be good news for the White House.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right, Fred.
Obviously ,could be good news for this White House, but over the last few days they've been very cautious about not getting ahead of what's going on, on Capitol Hill. They realize that once they start patting themselves on the back saying, look, there's about to be a deal, there's going to be a deal, if it falls through, that will be bad for this president, obviously, politically.
So, they want to be very careful. They're following these negotiations very closely. As Dana has been reporting, the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, among other senior administration officials, have been right in the middle of these talks. The administration is not a passive observer here. We've seen at other stages in these talks, the administration has taken a hands-off approach, let the House and Senate work its will.
But in this case now, in the final stretch, we can see that the White House is really trying to push a deal along. So they're watching these talks very closely and in fact participating in these talks very closely. So Robert Gibbs, very likely to address that, of course.
But also, undoubtedly he'll get a lot of questions about what happened yesterday with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner rolling out what the president likes to call the second leg of this stool. That the stimulus plan is the first leg; that is trying to help bring recovery to the economy. But that there needs to be more legs to the stool and the second one being what they're calling a financial stability package, something that will eventually deal with the foreclosure crisis, something that will deal with buying up the toxic assets that are so troublesome for banks right now. Right down the line, all those issues.
But as you know, Wall Street was not very happy with this plan yesterday. Reacted violently to it, suggesting there was not enough specificity by the Treasury secretary. This is going to be our first chance at a White House briefing after that rollout to question Robert Gibbs about it. We're just getting the two-minute warning right now. So he'll be out in the next two minutes, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Great, Ed Henry, thanks so much. We expect we'll be going back to that location two minutes from now. Thank you.
All right a down-to-the-wire election. And still no declared winner. Sound familiar? Well, this time it's happening in Israel. And it's not stopping the two party leaders from declaring victory. We've got the latest for you. And what it may mean for Middle East peace talks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Momentarily we understand that the White House press briefing will be under way. You're looking at live pictures right now. Robert Gibbs soon to be making his way, given a warning of only a few seconds from now to actually begin. When he enters the room, and when that begins, we'll bring that to you right away.
In the meantime, let's talk about the election taking place in Israel. Two Israeli political leaders are both claiming victory in yesterday's general election. Neither the Kadima Party, lead by the moderate foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, or the Likud Party, of hard line former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won enough support to form a government. But now both are courting potential coalition partners. Analysts say if the hawks win, they would stall peace making with the Palestinians.
Likely reaction some reaction coming from the White House, or at least a question or two being posed to the spokesperson when that gets under way.
Meantime, Taliban suicide attackers struck the heart of Afghanistan's capital today killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens. The coordinated attacks in Kabul come just ahead of a visit by Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's newly appointed envoy to the region. The Taliban says the attacks on government buildings and a prison were in response to alleged mistreatment of Taliban prisoners. Holbrooke is now in neighboring Pakistan, and is expected in Afghanistan soon.
Now turning to Iraq, a day of carnage in Baghdad. The attacks apparently aimed at Shiite pilgrims killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens. The pilgrims had gathered for an upcoming holy day. In the first attack, twin car bombs exploded at a bus station killing 16 people. Roadside bombings in the capital killed two other people. The United Nations top envoy to Iraq says the attacks were clearly aimed at provoking sectarian tensions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING JOINED IN PROGRESS)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: ... go out of here all day.
And with that, let's take a few questions.
Yes, ma'am?
QUESTION: Thanks, Robert. Going back to Secretary Geithner 's announcement yesterday on the bailout, can you talk about why the administration didn't realize that the market reaction was going to be so bad, and why there weren't more details attached to it?
GIBBS: Well, let me -- I want to give a broader answer to -- sort of broader walk through of the plan. But one of the things I'll talk about is yesterday's speech and framework were not designed for a one-day market reaction. I think we can all go back in the both recent and not-so-recent history and see that one-day announcements have provided positive changes in the market for plans that ultimately turned out to be unsuccessful, just as negative reactions have sometimes been at the forefront of plans that worked. The plan that the secretary outlined is not designed, though, to take care of the market for one day.
Let me walk through just sort of a little bit broader answer on the plan, though. Obviously as many of you know, we've dealt with this for quite some time. This is an enormously complicated problem. And to date, the program that has dealt with many of these bad investments and bad assets has been flawed. It's important that as we move forward, that the government's able to follow through on the commitments that it makes.
Secretary Geithner understands that, again, as I said, this is not going to be judged on the one-day market reaction, but instead by what is best for the long-term economic health of America.
Let's understand a few things of what the secretary talked about yesterday. He outlined -- what he outlined was comprehensive. It addresses not simply the needs of banks, but also the financial system in general, as well as the need access to capital by America's businesses and families. It's based on transparency and integrity through a comprehensive scrub of the financial system and a rigorous evaluation of the need in the financial system. And it recognizes that the problem cannot be solved and will not be solved with taxpayer funding alone. That this must work with and for the private sector.
Some of that market reaction may be based on what the plan does not do, all right? I'm sure many in the banking sector had hoped, presumably, that bad assets would be paid for either in an unreasonable way or at an unreasonable value. Or that insurance that - whose cost is borne primarily by the taxpayers, but my primarily benefit shareholders isn't, in this case, part of that solution. I've counseled many times in my very brief tenure of standing up here not to always judge leaks in the newspaper as fact.
I have no doubt that at some point in this briefing today somebody's going to ask me about Secretary Gates and the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. A decision I have counseled that the president has yet to make, despite reading it many times in the newspaper. I have no doubt that what some people read in the newspaper charged their excitement and expectations up about something that wasn't ultimately in a plan. That's certainly one of them.
Yes?
QUESTION: If I could just push back to something. I understand you want to play down the implications of a one-day in the market. But markets thrive on certainty. A lot of the commentary yesterday was that there wasn't enough certainty. There wasn't enough detail in the plan for them to know what it would do. Maybe it is the right thing. But how do they know if they're not given a thorough --
GIBBS: Again, let's, again, go through -- obviously there are going to be twists and turns in all of this. But let's look at some of what the plan addresses and how it focuses on some of the greatest and biggest weaknesses of what we saw beforehand.
One, this is predicated on transparency and disclosure in an effort to restore market confidence, something that everybody criticized the previous plan for lacking. This puts private capital into the system and doesn't rely solely or completely on taxpayer funding. For the very first time, the response is coordinated across each agency in the federal government that regulates the financial system. We are -
Dialing somebody?
(LAUGHTER)
We are -- the plan evaluates the health and the condition of individual financial institutions, again, to understand what's needed, to understand their health, and to ultimately, again, restore that confidence.
And primarily, first and foremost, there's a dramatic expansion that provides -- that will provide, lending for the entities that we know need it most. We all hear horror stories about people with good credit, they're looking for a student loan, or for an auto loan, or for a housing or commercial real estate loan, that can't get access to that capital. The announcement yesterday expands a program that's happening right now at the Fed, at the rate of about $200 billion that expands to, with a fluctuation of - or with both public and private money, about $1 trillion worth of lending. So I would also say that in terms of detail, that's, again, a program that's working now, and will be expanded.
Secondly, some of the stress tests involved, and regulators looking at the health of institutions, is ongoing. So I think that the market certainty that will be provided ultimately is by a plan that is focused not just on yesterday or today, but how do we best stabilize that financial system in the long run. Again, this isn't something that happened last month, or that even took only a year to get us involved in. In pulling particularly one aspect of the plan that's talked about, is pulling bad assets off of balance sheets. Which hasn't been done, that I know of, with active institutions. We talked about RTC, which was set up largely to divide up bad assets for banks that were closed. So it's taken us awhile to get to this point. It's undoubtedly going to take us some time to get to a system of financial stability. But I think the beginnings of a framework to do just that were outlined yesterday by the secretary.
Yeah?
QUESTION: Robert, if I can follow up on Jennifer's question. Do you feel - I mean, the president said on Monday night, in his press conference, that Secretary Geithner would unveil detail the next day. Do you feel that it was ready? Was the plan ready? Does the president feel it was ready? And number two, if so, is he pleased with how it was communicated yesterday? And how it was rolled out?
GIBBS: I was going to say, you're not judging me already, are you?
Again, I think there's a -- I think there's a tendency to look at simply one measurement of this and by and large that measurement was a few stock markets. I don't believe --
QUESTION: Well, a few stock markets that people from all over the country are investing.
GIBBS: I understand. I understand. But what I'm saying is, the plan wasn't created, nor do I think it should be judged by a one-day reaction in any of those stock markets. The plan that was outlined was ready. Again, part of what this plan will do will be to consult with those private entities in -- not just the formation, but the execution of the plan. And those consultations are ongoing. But again, the -- again, I just hesitate to judge the breadth of this and the comprehensiveness of this based on one day's reaction. I don't think that's -- I don't think that's how we judge the health of the financial system. And I don't think it should be how one judges this plan.
QUESTION: Even if you disregard the fall in the market, there was widespread confusion about the plan, period. Is that a result of poor communication? Or is that a result of it not just -- all the details not being there?
GIBBS: I would ask you to go back and look at all of the news on this, read beyond the larger font and the bigger, bolder print, and dig deep into many of the things that I outlined that were pointed out as big weaknesses in the previous plan that are addressed by what Secretary Geithner said yesterday.
A plan that's based on transparency and disclosure, something that works with the private markets and understands that the taxpayers alone can't do all of this work. It coordinates among the agencies that are involved, that evaluates the financial health of the system and the individual banks, and does so by greatly expanding a program that we think will help provide credit to families and businesses and to people looking to buy homes right now.
I think if you look through this, you'll find - you'll undoubtedly find, as I said, some disappointment by people that had hoped that there would be some large big bank announced that would take up in one fell swoop everything that had been wrong with the system over the course of several years, and wipe it away overnight. But I think the president was very clear yesterday in saying there is no easy way out of this. There's no easy way out of this for the country, and there's also no easy way out of this for Wall Street.
QUESTION: Robert, the president this morning, Robert, talked about the fact that the CEO of Caterpillar had praised the idea of a stimulus package, and how the company had recently announced 20,000 layoffs, and if the stimulus package passes, he'll be able to rehire some of those people. And the CEO, according to the local press in Peoria, is going to deliver that message to the president tomorrow. Although, I guess the president already got it somehow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Text.
QUESTION: Texted?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: I guess two things. Caterpillar has also opposed the "buy American" provisions in the stimulus package. Recently a spokesman for Caterpillar said they were like snake oil. And I know that the final package is still being finalized, but I'm wondering, that, and the fact that Caterpillar, probably one of the companies that most supports the Columbia Free Trade Agreement and says that the stalling of that on Capitol Hill - and I believe the president also has expressed concerns about that free trade agreement. That stalling is basically sending a message to businesses in Columbia, please buy Canadian products, not American. Does Caterpillar support for the Columbia Free Trade Agreement and the opposition to the "buy American" provisions under the same idea for the good business, would that have any effect on the president's thinking?
GIBBS: On those two issues?
QUESTION: Yes. GIBBS: I'll certainly talk to the president about that. I think his concerns with the Columbian Free Trade Agreement, and, as it relates to labor and environmental standards being a core part of those agreements, I think have been laid out extensively in the campaign. Obviously, you heard the president speak about a week ago about ensuring that, while we have strong buy America laws on our books that should be-heeded as the law, they also have to be done in a way, in this bill, the provision has to be done in a way so as not to spark a larger trade disagreement at a time of economic peril.
And I think that's why the provisions that were in, I believe the Senate legislation, ultimately included those - a strong provision to buy America, but also to do that in a way that didn't violate the existing trade agreements. The president believed that that was a necessary and positive compromise that allowed those provisions to be in the bill. And I presume that, without speaking directly for Caterpillar, that they found that to be a positive development as well.
They did communicate to the White House a reevaluation of their employment situation based on what they see as a big investment that could be coming shortly to put Americans back to work, and to put, particularly, those workers in Peoria and down state Illinois area in particular back to work. We're encouraged by that development. You saw the president today, had an infrastructure project in northern Virginia, that with the right kind of plan, presumably something that can - phases three and four of that project can begin work, and put people back to work.
I think in many ways we are hopeful that businesses across this country, in particular, will evaluate the positive impacts of a recovery and reinvestment plan and hopefully plan their businesses accordingly. We've certainly seen alternative energy companies, wind developers that have taken positively to what potentially could be in a final ruling. We hope that that's also true for construction companies like Caterpillar. And it's why we believe that with the right plan, we can get this economy moving again by putting people back to work quickly.
QUESTION: Just a follow up, I'm sorry. Wouldn't the Columbia Free Trade Agreement, since that's not unlike some other past trade agreements, that's not one that American workers are worried about costing American jobs. Opposition to it has more to do with human rights in Columbia and environmental concerns. Wouldn't rethinking that free trade agreement, given the state of this economy, also be a logical step?
GIBBS: What I don't want to do is conflate the reinvestment and recovery plan directly with the president's thinking on an individual trade agreement. I think that the concerns that he and others have are still valid around that trade agreement. And certainly don't want discussions on that to get in the way of a recovery and reinvestment plan moving ahead quickly.
QUESTION: Robert, what - the reports on the Hill be suggesting that they're pretty close to a final deal. The president had Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi here yesterday; you haven't given us a read- out on that yet. How did that meeting go? What's the level of the president's involvement? Is he working the phones? What's he doing to push beyond his public speeches? And, are you encouraged by what you're hearing?
GIBBS: Yes. You know, I've watched some of the remarks from people involved directly in the negotiations, and I am, like them, reticent to read out minute by minute what is going on. I've said this, and I continue to say that the White House believes we're making - taking steps to make did progress toward a final solution on this recovery plan that will have a positive impact on our economy. We're certainly hopeful, as we have been throughout this process, to get it done quickly. I don't know whether that announcement is today, or soon, but we're certainly hopeful. It appears, again, we've got Republicans and Democrats working together to move it forward.
We've always been hopeful about this process. We think enormous progress in a very short period of time has been made. Getting it through the House and, as the president announced during the town hall meeting yesterday, getting through the United States Senate. I think that that progress continues. Obviously, you guys know that members of our budget team were up on Capitol Hill late last night, as was our chief of staff, hoping to get an agreement quickly for the American people.
QUESTION: Back on Geithner. You said before you've got to get past the headlines and bold type and look at the details. Barney Frank, a key democrat, is saying that he's disappointed that there was nothing on the housing crisis in this rollout. Where is your plan? I mean, every economist across the board said housing is at the root of this. Thousands of people every week are being thrown out of their homes. Where's your plan?
GIBBS: Thousands of people every day.
QUESTION: What is your plan?
GIBBS: Well, as the president said yesterday, in visiting the location that was - that had the highest rate of home foreclosure of any area in the country last year, that that likely was coming very soon, and I agree wholeheartedly with his timetable.
QUESTION: But you've been in office a few weeks now, I know it's still early...
GIBBS: Almost four.
QUESTION: OK. So, how - but how many times can you keep saying soon? I mean, this is at the root of the problem. Why was that not the top priority of the Geithner plan? You say people...
GIBBS: I wonder if Jennifer's question been phrased differently, had focused on one rather than the other. And I think you've heard the president speak.
If there was one thing, and only one thing we had to be worried about or involved in, the president would be involved in it. As he is right now. Unfortunately, we've got a recovery and reinvestment plan that has to put people back to work in order to get this economy moving. We have a financial stability package that has to be put in place so that the money that the taxpayers have given and appropriated to deal with this financial system and what's wrong with it can be spent differently now than it was before, and restore confidence, not just in consumers, I think, but in the way government acts.
Involved in that is also dealing with home foreclosures. There's also an entire series of re-regulation that the president has been working on, because most of all, you could certainly say regulation to ensure that we never find ourselves in this situation again, being reinstituted is tremendously important. There are many legs on this stool as the president has talked about. The president is working on each and every one of those.
QUESTION: Isn't housing one that the American people really the feel the most, more than...
GIBBS: If somebody has a house but not a job, my guess is they'd say a job. If somebody's has a job but not a house, they might say the home foreclosure. If somebody's lost their job because, or can't get a loan because of something that a CEO did in rigging the system, my sense is they might say regulation. Or my guess is that millions of people all across this country are struggling with a little bit of each one of these problems.
We feel very confident that in a very short period of time that the president has been here, that we've made remarkable progress on getting a recovery and reinvestment plan through a process that we believe will quickly get aid out to the American people. We'll announce a plan to deal with the rising number of foreclosures that are happening each and every day. We'll discuss a financial stability package. Not just to prevent or to be rated by the market in one day, but look toward long-term health. As well as begin the process with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to re-regulate the financial industry.
Again, if we only had to do one thing, we'd probably have lighter circles under our eyes and a little bit more of a spring in our step. But my sense is that we're working every day, morning, noon and night, to get those solutions through Congress, and on the president's desk and out quickly, more importantly, to the American people.
Chip?
QUESTION: Following up on Ed's first question. We're told that the stimulus deal that may be announced pretty soon up on Capitol Hill is unlikely to attract much more, if any, additional republican support. Is the president at the point now that he's saying, he won the election, American people are behind him, according to the polls and the republicans can either support his plan or get out of the way?
GIBBS: Well, he's clearly won the election. That's more based on the occupation of our current real estate. I don't want to get ahead of what an agreement might look like. You certainly saw members over the weekend, as the Senate struck an agreement, wanting time to evaluate whatever might be in that agreement in order to evaluate their support for it. So I don't want to - I certainly don't want to get ahead of an agreement and ahead of what others might do to look through that agreement to see whether it's something that they can support.
Our hope is that members of Congress from both parties will look through and find a balanced approach that provides some stimulus to the economy that will create jobs and get people working again. Put money directly into people's pockets. Make the necessary long-term investments to ensure our long-term economic growth. And to do so in a way that gives people confidence based on the transparency and accountability that's in that legislation. Without getting into, or knowing the exact levels of each of those specifics, I think it's hard to prejudge what support may or may not happen.
QUESTION: I'm asking more about his mindset. Have you seen a change as republicans have refused to respond to his overtures? Is he now saying, now it's my way or the highway?
GIBBS: No, I don't think so at all. I mean, we had a republican congressman with us on Monday. We met a republican governor in Florida on Tuesday.
QUESTION: Small numbers, though.
GIBBS: Florida's a pretty big state.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: One governor.
GIBBS: I - there are certainly many republican governors that support this. You know, I think that to look through - look, there's no doubt that people are going to look at who votes for what. The president, as I've said many times, and he has, too, is focused not on what the score is on the outcome, but how many jobs this plan can and will create to put people back to work.
I think that's how people in America are looking at this. I think that's - the people that came to the town hall meetings and asked the president questions, I think that's how they look at it, too.
Individual members of Congress will certainly make up their minds, and through an evaluation of the specifics of any final agreement. That's not going to change the president's reaching out to democrats and republicans. This isn't the first or the last issue that either this White House or Congress will deal with this year. And obviously that outreach is going to continue on any number of issues to ensure that we get - we hope to get their support on many things, particularly dealing with an economic recovery.
QUESTION: Are we in the seventh inning stretch now? GIBBS: You know, I fear we're now past the seventh inning stretch. I had hoped to use these fancy screens, have a little Harry Carrey going. But we may have zipped right by the seventh inning stretch. And just for your edification, well past last call. So...
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: I was struck but you - I guess you were implying about, you said some of us would ask about comments that Secretary Gates said. Or I guess you were saying they were leaked.
GIBBS: No, no. Let me make sure..
QUESTION: But Secretary Gates said the president's going to make a decision about troops in Afghanistan in a couple of days, and he said that in a couple of days ago.
GIBBS: No, I think he said it yesterday.
QUESTION: Well, OK. A couple of days. All right.
GIBBS: Let me be more clear on the point that I was trying to make. I think we've all read about the decisions that have already been made twice. Yet, I've already gotten emails today about when the president's going to make the decision he's already made twice. My counsel is just to...
QUESTION: The secretary of defense, a quote from him. This is not a leak, or an attribution of...
GIBBS: Let's probe this for a second. What is the secretary of defense saying? What did he precisely say?
QUESTION: The president's going to make a decision in a couple of days.
GIBBS: And that is completely accurate.
QUESTION: OK.
GIBBS: My admonition is, take heed in what he says, because many have asked about the ramifications of the decision that have already been made. But the secretary is saying, it's coming soon. I agree with him.
QUESTION: Fair enough. Is it possible that he will - the president will make this - will implement - that this decision gets implemented before he announces it to the American people?
GIBBS: Not that I'm aware of. Obviously, I think he would want to be in consultation with any families that might be involved in the decision that he makes, as well as members of Congress.
QUESTION: Will he make a public sort of speech, or say - explain why he needs to send more troops or something like that? GIBBS: I think you can be satisfied that when the president makes a decision and activates that decision, that you'll know about the decision as well as the reasoning behind it. I think the president believes that that's very, very important to do.
I talked yesterday on the plane about a review process that looks into our policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan that's ongoing, over the course of the next 60 days or so to reevaluate where we are. I think that's all accurate. I think that's all very much what the secretary is working on.
My last admonition, you know, if you'll look at last week's press guidance, you'll see Secretary Gates on the schedule. If you wait a week, you'll see him again. The secretary has a standing meeting. It normally happens on days - on Tuesdays. It happens today because we were out of town yesterday. So, I guess my only thing is that, I think you'll see Secretary Gates on the schedule throughout the year. It doesn't always mean...
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) ... assume that he is telling the secretary, this is my decision on Afghanistan...
GIBBS: Since I'm not in the meeting, I don't know what the president will say to him. It's likely the topic will come up. I'm saying the meeting isn't simply scheduled to deal with this, it's part of a standing meeting that the president and his secretary of defense have.
QUESTION: Totally off the topic, what was the decision behind having the first lady do a "Vogue" cover shoot? Can we read anything into her role?
GIBBS: You'll be surprised to know I'm not a subscriber.
QUESTION: What does it say about the role she wants to play as first lady?
GIBBS: I think many people, myself included, are enormously proud of the first lady. I think that throughout the campaign, she expressed interest in...
WHITFIELD: You're listening to Robert Gibbs right there talking about Michelle Obama, the first lady, will be on the cover of "Vogue." He's addressing that. But on to more important matters. Pressing matters on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: ... Certain fundamental principles. We need to create millions of jobs, including investments in renewable energy. We must have tax relief for middle-class families, vitally important. And it must be something that we do to invest in America's future. Every economic indicator and every passing day reminds us how we must act, and act robustly and quickly.
The difference between the Senate and House versions we've resolved. The bills were really quite similar. And I'm pleased to announce that we've been able to bridge those differences. Like any negotiation, this involves give and take, and if you don't mind my saying so, that's an understatement. But the agreement we've reached stays faithful to the principles I've outlined.
I'm really at a lack of words how to express my admiration, respect for the love of our country, the patriotism, and the courage of three brave Senators. Specter from Pennsylvania, Snowe and Collins from Maine - I don't think I need to say more than that.
The middle ground we've reached creates more jobs than the original Senate bill and spends less than the original House bill. This bill creates 3.5 million jobs. More than one-third of this bill is dedicated to providing tax relief for middle-class families, cutting taxes for 95 percent of American workers. We all agree we cannot shortchange our future, which is why we're giving states the critical help they need to strengthen education and invest in our communities.
This has been a give-and-take. The House is part of this arrangement. We met with them late into the evening. Actually, into the morning. The president has been, as I think a president should be, recognizing with his experience here in the Senate, his experience in the state legislature, that legislation is the art of compromise, consensus building. And that's what we did. So, it's my hope that when this conference report comes to the floor, and it will come within the next few days, maybe as early as tomorrow, we don't know for sure, I'm hopeful that more Senators and Congressmen will recognize the importance not just of creating jobs for today, but putting our country back on a step, first step into a glorious future for our wonderful country.
Susan Collins.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: Thank you. Thank you.
First, I want to thank all of my colleagues who have worked so hard. I particularly want to thank my colleagues on the republican side of the aisle. Senator Snowe and Senator Specter, without whose support we would not have reached this agreement. And I want to thank Senator Ben Nelson and Senator Joe Lieberman who helped bring together a bipartisan group.
Today, we have shown that working together, we can address the enormous economic crisis facing our country. I'm particularly pleased that we have produced an agreement that has the top line of $789 billion. That is less than either the house or the Senate passed bills. It is a fiscally responsible number that reflects our efforts to truly focus this bill on programs and policies and tax relief that will help turn our economy around, create jobs, and provide relief to the families of our country.
I'm also very pleased that we were able to increase the amount of funding for infrastructure. That is the most powerful component in this bill, to create jobs. Overall, there is about $150 billion in infrastructure in this bill, when you add together transportation, environmental, broadband and other projects. We've also provided significant tax relief. More than 35 percent of the funding of this bill goes for tax relief. And we were able to come up with a stabilization fund that will help the states close holes in their budgets.
Again, I want to thank all of my colleagues for their hard work. This was a good faith effort on both the House and the Senate's part. And it shows that working together, we can indeed accomplish great things.
REID: I'm going to call in Senator Inouye now, but I just want to say one thing. Not at this meeting we're holding with you is a person that had tremendous presence during all these proceedings, and it could not have been done without her guidance and leadership. That's the speaker of the house. I finished talking to her the last time, just a couple minutes before coming here. She has been terrific on this. And I will always - I mean, our working relationship is very, very close and I have such appreciation for her kindness to me and working with me, but these last few days has been remarkable. Her ability to legislate.
Chairman Inouye.
SEN. DANIEL INOUYE (D), HAWAII: We do not have the luxury of time. We must expeditiously face the facts and pass this measure. To delay this any further would lead to consequences that could be horrendous. And if we delay this, it could lead to a crisis worse than the Great Depression. Because today we're much more than just a nation, we're a super power. If we go down, there will be chaos on this globe. Thank you.
REID: Senator Arlen Specter.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: This is obviously a very difficult vote, in view of the large deficit and national debt which we have. But I believe it is indispensable that strong action be taken, because the serious economic conditions with millions of jobs lost and millions of people being foreclosed from their houses, poses a threat that cannot be ignored. The economists are virtually uniform in their prediction that if we do not act, we face the potential consequence of a catastrophe and depression the likes of 1929.
My preference would have been Senator McCain's bill of $450 billion in tax cuts. But in the legislature, you don't get everything you want. This bill has a very substantial component of tax cuts. The republican moderates were able to see to it that more than $100 billion was cut from this program.
Now, there are people who would like to spend less, some would like to spend nothing. I believe the position of the United States Chamber of Commerce is a solid position from the very conservative organization at a republican group, very concerned with fiscal restraint. They have endorsed this legislation enthusiastically, because of the seriousness of the economic situation, and because of what it will mean on highways and bridges and dams, and putting so many people to work. Lots of naysayers on all sides, but the republican moderates struck an agreement for eight - $780 billion; $780 billion. And the fact is that we hung tough. And it was modified only in the case of absolute necessity, to go to 789. And as I said, unless the bill remained virtually intact from what the agreement was last Friday, my support would be conditioned on that, and we got there.
