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The President's Aggressive Week Ahead; Unraveling What Went Wrong With Flight 3470; British, French Submarines Crash in the Atlantic; Examining the Verbage of White House Communications; Stimulating Schools With New Bill
Aired February 16, 2009 - ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: New week, new challenges for President Obama. The collapsing auto industry, the housing crisis. We're covering all the angles of the president's agenda.
It happened under water nearly two weeks ago. Two nuclear submarines collide. So why are they making headlines now?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROLAND BURRIS (D), ILLINOIS: I did not donate one single dollar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: U.S. Senator Roland Burris accused of not coming clean. Now many people are calling for his resignation.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Today is Monday, February 16th. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Bad times get even worse for General Motors and Chrysler and you may pay the price. They've reached billions of dollars -- excuse me, received billions of dollars of your money and with the deadline looming now, the White House is expecting them to ask for even more.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president and joins us from Chicago this morning.
Hi there, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi.
You know there's a lot of anticipation over what GM and Chrysler actually are going to give the government in terms of a report about their own restructuring. Essentially, they have to tell us how they're going to repay back the billions and billions of federal dollars in loan money back to all of us here.
And so the Obama Administration reacting by establishing a presidential task force. It is not going to consist of a car czar like many people had thought but, rather a whole bunch of agencies working together. It's going to be headed by the treasury secretary Tim Geithner as well as a top economic adviser for Obama, Larry Summers. Over the next couple of weeks, they're going to sit down with the automakers and their shareholders and they expect some progress to be made.
Now, Heidi, this is all about the president's very aggressive week, very busy week in putting the economy first.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): A quick list of the first couple leaving a Chicago restaurant after sharing a Valentine's dinner but the private weekend at home will give way to a very public PR campaign this week, as President Obama hits the road -- first to Denver on Tuesday to sign the $787 billion economic stimulus legislation.
The point -- to put the president in front of real people, to convince them the jobs will eventually return.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Things have not yet bottomed out. They are probably going to get worse before they improve. But this is a big step forward toward making that improvement and putting people back to work.
MALVEAUX: Not everyone is buying that. Only three Republican senators supported the massive stimulus plan.
Wednesday, Mr. Obama is heading to McCain's home state of Arizona to lay out his plan to address the housing crisis. McCain will be in Arizona that day, but says he's made other previous plans.
The state has the third highest home foreclosure rate in the country. The administration's housing plan is aimed at stemming foreclosures and driving down mortgage rates.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We got to get back to stabilizing the housing crisis, buy up these bad mortgages, give it to people that can afford the housing so they can stay in their homes.
MALVEAUX: Also on the president's urgent agenda, filling two Cabinet positions recently rocked by scandal. Aides say that's going to take some time.
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: Choosing Cabinet members isn't like "American Idol." You don't throw contestants out there and let the American people vote.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Heidi, not like the "American Idol," aides say that that vetting process will continue in the weeks to come, and also on the president's plate this week, his first international trip that is right next door, neighboring Canada, but, clearly, the issues are going to be very important tying into the economy. They are going to be focusing on trade, the environment, as well as energy -- Heidi?
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux for us live this morning in Chicago.
Suzanne, thanks for that.
The stimulus package, a test of salesmanship now for the White House and Republican critics as well on Capitol Hill. So who's done better at convincing the American public? The former White House insider weighs in just a few moments. We'll bring that to you.
Meanwhile, let's see how your money is faring in the markets now. Trading fell across Asia after new figures showed Japan's economy is sinking deeper into recession. Markets in Europe opened down and have mostly stayed there. No trading, of course, today in the United States. Wall Street is closed for the President's Day holiday.
More details emerging on the commuter plane crash near Buffalo. Information from the flight's data recorder paints a grim picture of the passengers' final moments before the crash.
CNN's senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is live now with us this morning from Buffalo.
Allan, good morning to you. They really did learn a lot already from the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Heidi, and those final seconds must have been absolutely horrifying for the passengers on board. We do know from the flight data recorder what happened.
As the pilots pushed down the landing gear and extended the wing flaps, all of a sudden, the nose pitched up 31 degrees and then slammed down 45 degrees. There was an incredible roll as well. Rolling to the left 46 degrees and then, have a look at that animation, rolling to the right 105 degrees. That is beyond vertical.
Inside the cabin, the passengers were slammed down by twice the normal force of gravity. Absolutely horrifying final moments. It just must have been just a terrible, terrible situation inside of that plane. Everybody knew there was deep, deep trouble.
Now what exactly caused all of this? Of course, there's been lots of speculation about icing. The National Transportation Safety Board is saying it is just too early to make the conclusion that icing actually did cause this crash.
We do know that 11 minutes after takeoff from Newark Airport, the deicer was put on. We also know that the auto pilot was put on. Now, there's some debate about that.
In fact, on "AMERICAN MORNING" earlier today, an experienced pilot raised questions as to whether the auto pilot should be on when you're confronting potentially icy conditions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN LUCICH, LICENSED COMMERCIAL PILOT: When an airplane is on auto pilot, the pilot sometimes gets a sense that the airplane is more stable than that, OK? The problem is, though, the pilot does not get to feel what's going on with the airplane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Now, the National Transportation Safety Board is saying, look, there is no reason to think that was a problem necessarily and in fact, the NTSB board member here, Steve Chealander, is saying that is standard operating procedure.
COLLINS: Right.
CHERNOFF: Let's have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE CHEALANDER, NTSB: Is that normal to be flying on auto pilot when you're coming into a weather situation and the answer I gave was yes. Because it is normal and you're encouraged to use the auto pilot to help you with the workloads of these intense -- high intense weather situations that we fly into all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: The NTSB recommends to the FAA that when you have severe, severe icing conditions, that the auto pilot be turned off but the NTSB is saying there's no evidence that the conditions here were severe, that the icing was very severe -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, certainly a lot more questions to be asked as they continue their investigation.
Allan Chernoff for us this morning live from Buffalo.
Thank you, Allan.
Skiers in California rejoicing in the snow after the state got slammed with the white stuff over the weekend. The Sierra Nevada Mountains got hit with about 3 inches. More snow showers expected later today. Yes, that's just where you want the snow.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIKA HERRERA, DAUGHTER: He told me look, look up to the sky. I'm like, there's nothing there. He told me there was a ball of fire but when I looked up in the fire there was nothing there already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe him?
HERRERA: No. No, I didn't at first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Wow. Just what was that crashing from the skies in Texas? Many people from Dallas south of Austin reported seeing a fireball fall from the sky yesterday morning. That's what it looks like. The FAA has ruled out the possibility that the object was falling debris from a collision between two satellites and police searched the area using helicopters but didn't find anything. The FAA says they have no idea what it was.
In just a few minutes I'm going to be talking with the photographer who shot the video of that fireball in the next hour.
A collision deep in the Atlantic Ocean. Two submarines loaded with volatile material slamming into each other. Just how close did they come to nuclear disaster?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Two submarines reportedly crashing into each other in the Atlantic. An embarrassing moment for British and French forces, but it could have been worse considering what was on board.
Phil Black is live in London now following the story for us.
Phil, how serious was this?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, potentially, it could be have been very serious as you say. The British Ministry of Defense behind me was initially reluctant to comment in any way but it has now, along with French authorities, confirmed that this collision did take place.
They're not specific on the timeframe, but they say that recently, a British nuclear-powered, nuclear armed submarine, came in contact with a French nuclear powered and nuclear submarine in the middle of the Atlantic while they were both on what they say were routine patrols.
They say they were submerged at the time, traveling slowly. Both submarines have since been damaged and returned to port. They said there were no injuries. About 250 crew members across both submarines. Nobody, it seems, was hurt. So it is certainly very embarrassing, but could have been far more serious.
Just simply given what these submarines were carrying. They're both powered by nuclear reactors. They are both carry up to 16 ballistic missiles with multiple nuclear warheads.
Inquiries are now under way in both countries to determine just how this was possible, how these ships failed to detect each other when that is one of their primary functions while operating at sea -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. All right, Phil, we'll continue to check back with you should there be anymore developments here. Thanks so much.
Phil Black live from London this morning. COLLINS: At least 15 people dead in a missile strike in western Pakistan and U.S. forces in Afghanistan may have carried it out with drones, according to a Pakistani official. At least seven others were hurt. It looks like the target was the militant hideout. No comment from the U.S. military, but it's the only force in the area that could launch an attack like this.
Conflicting reports this morning on the fate of an American being held hostage in Pakistan. Some agencies are reporting a deadline set on John Solecki's life may have been extended but the U.N. is unsure when the deadline initially started, or who his captors are.
Solecki, who works with the U.N., was abducted on February 2nd near the Afghan border. His captors aired a 20-hostage video and have threatened to kill him.
The massive stimulus plan. Billions of dollars will go toward public schools. Critics say it's a lesson in wasteful spending. We'll tell you why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tomorrow, President Obama is due to sign the massive stimulus plan. $787 billion and countless criticisms from Republican lawmakers. So the public has been bombarded with conflicting messages. Who's driving, who's been driving home a better point?
We turn to an expert now. Kevin Sullivan served as White House communications director for George W. Bush.
Kevin, nice to see you. It is a good question because I think that even though the stimulus plan has been signed, it's now time, and they are kind of writing about it in some of the papers this morning, to go on this PR trip, if you will.
What does the White House need to be doing in order to make people understand the decisions they have made and make it feel good?
KEVIN SULLIVAN, FMR. WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIR.: Well, I think what you'll see is President Obama will be out explaining to people how this is going to benefit them personally and, you know, I don't know that this is exactly what he had in mind at the outset. I don't know that Congress did him many favors when they turned it more into a bipartisan -- partisan thing.
He, at the outset, said this was going to be -- we're going to behave like citizens, not partisans. That's not the way it turned out. I think people out there who believe Washington is broken, want to hear from him how this is going to work and how it's going to affect them and why it couldn't have been done in a more partisan way perhaps.
COLLINS: Yes, because now this next phase that I'm talking about, the public relations effort, if you will, sort of kicks off this two-day swing through the west. They're going to start that tomorrow. There has been some pretty hot talk over the weekend from Republicans. In fact, take a listen to just a couple.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: This is going to be bipartisanship. The country is screwed. I know bipartisanship when I see it. I participated in it. I've gone back home and gotten primary opponents because I wanted to be bipartisan. There is nothing about this process that's been bipartisan.
MCCAIN: It was a bad beginning. It was a bad beginning because it wasn't what we promised the American people, what President Obama promised the American people that we would sit down together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: All right. So you were communications director. What do they do now? Some people might be saying it really doesn't matter. The thing is passed and so there you have it. And then others will say well, it matters gravely because there's this thing, it's called an election. It's going to happen in four years from now, in 2010, so -- what is going to be the deal?
SULLIVAN: Well, I think you saw the president's team over the weekend resetting expectations, cautioning that this is not going to help right away, not getting people's hopes up too much. And I think you'll see them back in campaign mode.
You know it's tougher to govern than it is to campaign. This is one of the great campaigns in the history of campaigns. And, obviously, the president is a great communicator. I think you're going to see him on the trail selling this to the American people and taking -- you know, changing the story off of the lack of bipartisan work on this and getting the focus now back on fixing the economy.
COLLINS: Yes, but to be fair, of course, there are people who, including Robert Gibbs, obviously, the White House press secretary, who fired back at Republicans. Listen to what he had to say here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIBBS: I think what you saw from this president was an unprecedented effort to reach out to Republicans. Not just in meetings at the White House, but you had the president drive up to Capitol Hill to meet with Republicans where they work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So have Republicans really done a good job of explaining not only that they are not in line with this bill, but why, in making it make sense, to the people at home?
SULLIVAN: I think the spending -- putting the focus on spending has been what you've seen in the Republicans' message has been the last few days. You know, the -- and that's a good thing for Republicans to be talking about, you know, how the spending got out of control. And again, at the outset, I think President Obama wanted a balance, to be more 50/50, tax cuts which, under President Bush were shown to work and propelled 52 straight months of job creation, an all-time record, and not so much on the spending side.
But, you know, to say that it was bipartisan when the -- you know, Senator McCain and others, Senator Graham, are saying they were locked out of the process, you know, having a few photo-ops up on Capitol Hill and a couple of cocktail parties at the White House is not the same thing as actually including them in on the process so they're going to have to keep explaining that.
COLLINS: Very, very quickly, before we let you go. Education has certainly been at the height of some of the controversy over this bill but it appears when Republicans say, you know, we're going to decrease the funding with regard to education, that I mean they look like they want to get rid of something that could potentially be good.
What's the argument here?
SULLIVAN: Well, I'll tell you. There's a real opportunity here. The last five years under No Child Left Behind there has been more progress for black and Hispanic kids in this country than in the previous 28 years combined. Arne Duncan, the new education secretary, as part of the stimulus, was handed $5 billion to continue to drive those reforms.
President Obama is a reform-run education. Secretary Duncan is sort of a kindred spirit of Margaret Spellings, the -- President Bush's most recent education secretary. No time to roll back the gains that have been made under No Child Left Behind so hopefully they'll use that money to continue to make improvements, help teachers and do the things that we need to do to help those kids that used to be left behind.
Even if they don't call it No Child Left Behind anymore, let's keep the reforms going and keep those -- keep the gains continuing that have been made the last five years.
COLLINS: Well, we will all be watching very closely as our money funnels into Washington, that's for sure.
Kevin Sullivan, former White House communications director, thank you.
SULLIVAN: Thank you, Heidi.
COLLINS: One element of the stimulus package will help struggling school systems as they feel the pinch of local budget crisis.
Let's go ahead and take a look at this now from Kate Bolduan with both the needs and criticism involved.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new secretary of education, Arne Duncan, toured an Arlington, Virginia high school to make the pitch for why education dollars matter in the stimulus package.
ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY: There's nothing more important we can do than create facilities that our students need to learn and reach their full potential.
BOLDUAN: About $80 billion of the total $787 billion package goes toward K through 12 public education. We went to Arlington School superintendent, Rob Smith, to find out what that money means to his district.
(on camera): What, in this school, as an example, could you use with stimulus -- do with stimulus dollars?
ROBERT SMITH, ARLINGTON CO., VIRGINIA SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: We know we need to do some work with the roof system.
BOLDUAN: OK.
SMITH: We know we need to put in a sprinkler system.
BOLDUAN: OK.
SMITH: And we know we need to rework the entire heating/ventilation/air- conditioning system. And that's the work that needs to be done. We know what need to do so we're ready to spend the money.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Smith say even without considering construction cost, Arlington schools are facing an $11 to $18 million budget shortfall this year and they are looking at cutting everything from school books, to buses, to staff, to make ends meet.
Education leaders say our school districts across the country are making the same painful decisions.
ANNE BRYANT, EXEC. DIRECTOR NATL., SCHOOL BOARD ASSN.: Our school boards tell us that they are facing shortages in terms of teacher layoffs, cutting programs. It's not just, you know, nice to do programs. It's the very core of teaching. It's the very core of raising student achieve.
BOLDUAN: And the very core of the argument for education stimulus dollars but some experts like Frederick Hess of the conservative think-thank, American Enterprise Institute, says without reform, any additional funding is throwing good money at a broken system.
FREDERICK HESS, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Unfortunately, what we see in this package is what we've done for 40 years in education, which is more of everything. More technology, no guarantees that we're even going to think about how to use it to increase productivity. BOLDUAN: Superintendent Smith disagrees. He says long-term change can't begin if they don't survive the short term.
(on camera): Arlington public schools, like districts across the country, is still waiting to hear how much money it might get from the stimulus. This is one of the district's 34 schools you can be sure is fighting for its own piece of the pie.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: It's not unusual to see a politician stick his foot in his mouth but in the case of Senator Roland Burris, it's what he didn't say that could land him in a whole lot of trouble.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: Just a few minutes from now, President Obama climbs back aboard Air Force One in Chicago and heads back into Washington...
