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Obama Pushes Forward With Economic Package; California's Budget Deficit Causes Massive Layoffs; Common Cold Cure; Rough Open For Markets; Distressed Homeowners Look to Obama Housing Plan; GM Looking to Turn It All Around; Secretary of State Warns North Korea; U.S. Military Ramps Up Offensive Against Talliban; High Price of Marine One

Aired February 17, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: "ISSUE #1," the economy on our radar. President Obama about to sign a bill aimed at creating jobs.

Time to turn in their turnaround plan. GM and Chrysler on deadlines. One already set to get $4 billion of your money.

And the clock running out in California. State jobs in jeopardy unless lawmakers break a log jam.

It's Tuesday, February 17th, I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Day 29 of the Obama presidency and a big day on tap. At the top of the hour, the president goes on the road. First stop, Denver. There, President Obama will sign the much debated stimulus bill into law. Then he travels on to Phoenix. His focus there, helping homeowners who face foreclosure.

The stakes are huge for every American. Billions of dollars of your money and an economy that seems to sink deeper by the day.

Let's get the very latest now from CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian.

Dan, that's right. A big day for the president today.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It really is. And you know the president is not going to take a lot of time to sort of celebrate this victory. He really is pushing forward. But he is signing this stimulus bill, not here in Washington, but, rather, out in Denver, Colorado. And the reason he wanted to go on the road is because the White House says that the president feels that he can better sell his ideas when he's out there on the road in front of the American people.

We saw that over the last week or so as the president went to Illinois, and Dana, we saw him at town hall meetings in Fort Myers, Florida as well. And they felt that he was really able to get that message across in terms of job creation from the stimulus plan. So they focused on Denver because they say this is a region that really fits in with the portfolio of what the president says will create some of these green jobs, these 3.5 to 4 million jobs, part of that green jobs.

And one of the people who will be at the signing today, we are told, is the CEO of a solar company. So, again, highlighting the kinds of -- kinds of jobs that people can benefit from with the stimulus plan -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Well, Dan, we also understand, of course, another huge issue in all of this is the issue of foreclosures and that's where the president...

LOTHIAN: That's right.

COLLINS: ... is going to turn his attention tomorrow?

LOTHIAN: That's right. Phoenix, Arizona. This is an area around Phoenix where they've seen the median home prices drop by more than 35 percent over the last year or so.

COLLINS: Yes.

LOTHIAN: So they've really been hammered by this downturn in the mortgage crisis. And so the president is going there. He's going to unveil a plan. We don't have a lot of details about it, but we know that the White House wants to pump about $40 to $50 billion from the bailout plan that was approved last fall into stemming foreclosures and trying to lower mortgage payments -- Heidi.

COLLINS: That's right. We're actually going to look at that issue a little bit later in the show. Great segment on different snapshots from across the country, one of them, Arizona, so we'll be talking more about that.

Dan Lothian, sure do appreciate it, in the White House this morning.

Let's take a closer look now at what is in this final stimulus package for you. It contains more than $290 billion in tax provisions. That could put money back in your pocket in several different ways. There's a $400 tax break for most individual workers and $800 for couples.

Many first-time home buyers can also claim a credit worth $8,000 and there are smaller items to look for, too, like $300 million set aside for rebates on energy-efficient appliances.

Your money, his stroke of the pen. We'll have live coverage of President Obama signing the stimulus bill. It's scheduled for 2:40 Eastern, 11:40 Pacific.

Also today, a critical deadline for General Motors and Chrysler. The trouble automakers have to turn in their survival plan and show how they can repay billions of dollars in bailout money.

CNN business correspondent Stephanie Elam has the very latest now from New York on that.

So, yes, that seems to be the question, Stephanie. First of all, can they pay it back and how are they going to do that?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I don't even know for most of the automakers right now if they can think about the paying it back part. But today is the day of reckoning for General Motors and Chrysler. We're expecting to hear the details of their turnaround plans later on today.

Now if those plans don't prove viability, the U.S. government could recall the loans. So far, Chrysler has gotten $4 billion, General Motors, well, they received $13.4 billion but will get an additional $4 billion from the U.S. government today. That will fulfill the Bush administration's agreement to help GM's restructuring efforts.

Now in a letter to the heads of GM and Chrysler, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, said they want to know how the car companies plan for long-term viability. They also want to know how they are insuring stakeholder share equally in the industry's turnaround as well as their commitment to protecting benefits.

Beyond that, the House wants to see a plan to protect taxpayers while ensuring that they benefit as conditions improve. And lastly, Pelosi and Frank want the automakers to commit to meeting or beating fuel efficiency requirements as well -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, another big question, too, Stephanie, I think is people are wondering how much more money the car companies will need, because, obviously, this is the third installment. We kind of knew this was coming. But there are certain carmakers who are saying, you know, we're going to need more.

ELAM: Yes. That's a huge part of it. GM and Chrysler actually asked for $34 billion originally but many experts believe that is going to take more, like, something between $75 billion and $125 billion to really help these companies restructure, get back on their feet, and start adding jobs back into the market and staying viable.

Now, one thing I do want to mention, too, Heidi, before we wrap up here, is that Ford, if you're wondering how come we're not talking about all three of the U.S. automakers.

COLLINS: Right.

ELAM: That's because Ford has said hey, we're OK. We don't need any government money. However, we'd like to have $9 billion, a line of credit just in case things worsen but right now they're saying that they are OK. So we'll be looking out for mainly GM and Chrysler today -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, that's right. The found the line that they have told all along here regarding Ford.

All right, Stephanie Elam. Sure do appreciate that. Thank you.

ELAM: Thanks. COLLINS: Buckle up. It could be a bumpy day for your stocks. Asian markets tanked overnight as global recession fears deepen. Benchmarks in Hong Kong and South Korea closed down about 4 percent. In Europe concerns about the banks have weighed down stocks and kept markets in the negative all morning.

Pessimism also seems to hang over Wall Street. Futures for both the Dow and NASDAQ are down.

We're going to take you to the New York Stock Exchange for the opening bell at the bottom of the hour.

Layoff notices are going out today to about 20,000 California state workers. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the action after state legislators failed to pass a budget during a marathon session yesterday.

CNN's Dan Simon is joining us now live from San Francisco to talk a little bit more about this.

So, Dan, you've been following this story. It's been a couple of really late nights. No deal, huh?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No deal, Heidi. And this is a full-blown crisis and it keeps getting worse. You know the kind of layoffs we see in corporate America almost daily, now we could possibly see those kind of layoffs in state government in Sacramento.

And how did we get to this point? Well, you know, we're looking at a $42 billion deficit in California. Lawmakers have been unable to come up with a budget compromise. At this point all they need is one vote but that has to come from a Republican.

The problem is this budget compromise contains $14 billion in tax increases and Republicans, at least most Republicans there in Sacramento, are opposed to those tax increases. They've signed anti- tax pledges and they fear that if they vote for this budget compromise, that when re-election time comes around that it could cost them at the polls.

Now when you hear this 20,000 number, we should put this in context. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to have 20,000 state employees suddenly out of work. What it means is that this is the first step, that they should prepare for that eventuality.

COLLINS: Right.

SIMON: The target number at this point is, say, 10,000 workers but as a precautionary move they've sent out these pink slips to 20,000 workers.

COLLINS: Exactly. Well, because a lot of times when, unfortunately, things like this happen, people complain that they just had no warning. So great distinction to make there.

Dan, also wondering kind of about the approval rating for Governor Schwarzenegger at this point.

SIMON: Well, we can tell you he's a lot more popular across the country than he is in his own state. Right now his approval rating is well below 50 percent. It's actually at 40 percent. This is a year and a half ago it was around 60 percent, so this is really bogging him down. But right now, he doesn't have a whole lot to lose because he's not up for re-election. He's going to be done in 2010 when term limits kick in. Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. Certainly hoping that this same situation doesn't happen to many other states across the country.

Dan Simon, sure do appreciate that. Thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. STEVE MORRIS, KANSAS SENATE PRESIDENT: We have to make absolutely sure that we're doing everything that needs to be done to protect the state's financial stability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A budget standoff in Kansas could leave state workers without paychecks. The state is also suspending income tax refunds. Republican lawmakers blocked efforts by Kansas governor to shift funds to other state accounts. Instead, they want the governor to approve a new budget amendment. About 42,000 state workers could miss payday on Friday.

Even the Donald cannot escape the recession. His casino group, Trump Entertainment Resorts has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company which owns three Atlantic City casinos have been trying to work out a deal with its bondholders. On Friday Trump announced he was quitting the group's board of directors saying he disagreed with their actions.

Winter piling on seven feet of snow already down in parts of the Sierra Nevada's and now more fear of falling. We'll get an update in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It could be the biggest storm of the season for California. A system stretching from the Mexican border to Washington is pounding the west coast with heavy rain, snow and gusty winds. There are concerns for possible flooding in the San Francisco Bay Area, the central coast and Southern California.

The heavy rains are raising fears of mudslides in areas hit by wildfires last year. And heavy snow closed a portion of Interstate 5 in the mountains north of L.A. Heavy snow also slowing traffic in the Sierra Nevada.

Rob Marciano is in the weather center now keeping an eye on all of this.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: The Army is investigating the death of a teenage girl at Fort Lewis, Washington. The 16-year-old was found dead in the barracks compound along with another teenage girl who was unresponsive. The second girl was taken to the hospital and is now in stable condition.

A Fort Lewis spokesman says there was no outward sign of physical trauma on either girl. He said both teens were not related to anyone on the base. And a soldier who allegedly knew the girls has been questioned but no arrests have been made.

He founded a TV station aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes. Now authorities say Muzzammil Hassan has confessed to beheading his wife. Her body was found decapitated at the Bridges TV station in a Buffalo suburb. Hassan has been charged with second-degree murder.

Police say the victim had filed for divorce last month and officers had responded to several domestic violence calls at the couple's home. Hassan launched Bridges TV five years ago billing it as the first cable channel targeting Muslims in the United States.

It has been a week since a 5-year-old Florida girl disappeared. Now Putnam County sheriff's deputies are scaling back the search for Haleigh Cummings. They promise to follow any new leads but not asking volunteers to help look for her anymore.

Haleigh was last seen at home in bed. Her father's girlfriend was watching her. Investigators do believe someone abducted her.

Hillary Clinton in Asia this morning with tough words for North Korea warning about the fallout from a rumored missile launch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The salmonella outbreak is now taking a toll on the nation's food banks. Thousands of pounds of donated food is being thrown out and staff members are forced to spend a lot of their time now going through shelves to find recalled peanut products. That's on top of food banks already dealing with shortages due to the struggling economy. We're actually going to have another segment on that a little bit later in the day here.

Sniffling and sneezing got you down? Well, there is new hope today for stopping the spread of the common cold.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here now with the story.

Sanjay, have they finally found a cure to the common cold? I mean everybody gets a cold now and then.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, they do. And it's amazing all the medical advances that we've made, the common cold is one tough nut.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: They've not been able to crack it but in order to best beat it you really have to truly understand it. That's where scientists have been focusing their attention.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): You're looking at the human rhino virus. You probably know it as the common cold. For decades, scientists have tried to find a cure to this illness that infects billions of people worldwide every year.

DR. STEPHEN LIGGETT, UNIV. OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: As we step back and look at the public health costs in terms of suffering and dollars, this is not a small player. We calculated somewhere between $60 and $100 billion in costs, including unnecessary antibiotics, loss of work and school days.

GUPTA: The problem is the common cold is pretty complex. Made up of at least 99 different viral strains, it can cause different symptoms in different people. But now after three years of using the latest in DNA technology, researchers from the University of Maryland and the University of Wisconsin-Madison say they've taken the first step in treating the common cold by mapping its entire genome.

LIGGETT: At least now, we have an understanding of which virus one might have.

GUPTA: By assembling the results into what they call a family tree, scientists can see how the virus strains are related and more importantly, what their differences are.

So what does this all mean for you and me? Well, plenty. By putting the genome puzzle pieces together, researchers say drug companies may be able to develop new treatments that could weaken the virus before it can spread.

LIGGETT: Our mindset right now is to consider more along the antiviral drug treatment rather than vaccine, but always keep an open mind to the new technologies of vaccine development.

GUPTA: Investigators are so optimistic about their findings they predict a development of new drugs within the next two to five years. They hope one day, soon, this and this will be a thing of the past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: You know it's really amazing. You think about the impact, the public health impact that the common cold has. Half of all asthma attacks, bronchitis, sinusitis, pneumonia, a lot of those things start with the common cold so this would be a huge advance if they can take that...

COLLINS: Sure.

GUPTA: ... information and do something with it. COLLINS: But I got to look at it as just a layperson here. You know, like, when you do those flu vaccine. I mean everybody is very interested in that.

GUPTA: Right.

COLLINS: A lot of people take it. But there are so many strains of the flu.

GUPTA: That's right.

COLLINS: You know, it's like the cold. Is there really going to be one day, many, many years from now, a pill you can take and then you won't get a cold?

GUPTA: You know, it might be a series of pills. And here's why I say that. A little bit of an insight in exactly what you're saying, you have 99 at least different strains of this particular cold virus and what happens is they got to find the common elements in all of these various strains and attack that common element without causing any other problems in the rest of the body. So it may not be just one pill that does that but a series...

COLLINS: Ninety-nine pills?

GUPTA: Hopefully not 99 either, but a series of pills. But just think about the impact if we didn't have to suffer.

COLLINS: Yes, that's right.

GUPTA: (INAUDIBLE) people do.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, appreciate that. Thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: A new look at what's making America fat. I hope there's a pill for that, too. But a finger being pointed at home cooked. One study looked at portion sizes and calorie count in the respected cookbook, "The Joy of Cooking."

Sanjay, you have one of those?

Researchers looked at 18 recipes that were in the first printing back in 1936 and are still in the book today. Now in 1936 a serving had an average of 196 calories. Today, there's 273. Some of the rise is blamed on the change of ingredients but a change in portion sizes is also a major factor in fattening up the bottom line.

A pair of major automakers trying to convince the government they aren't asleep at the wheel. Will it be enough, though, to keep those massive loans?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: We are awaiting the opening bell. The stock market was closed yesterday for Presidents' Day holiday. Stocks are poised, though, for a sharp pull back after that three-day weekend.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange now to run down some of the factors that are expected to drag on the market today.

Hi there, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. And fasten your seat belt because it does look like it's going to be a rough open. Investors are returning from the long Presidents' Day weekend but they're not coming back with any sort of optimism.

Stocks poised for a sharply lower open as an array of economic fears pushed the market lower. Futures tumbled about an hour ago after New York manufacturing activity report exacerbated worries about the deepening recession. That report shows it hit a new low for New York manufacturing.

Meanwhile, of course, there is stimulus. The Obama -- President Obama expected to sign that massive stimulus plan into law today. There's lots of concern here on Wall Street that the $787 billion program will not work quickly enough to pull the economy out of the deepening recession.

Of course, the street is also focusing on earnings. Today, from the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, reported profits, fell more than 7 percent of the last quarter partly due to the strong dollar overseas. However, sales did climb at the retailer. Wal-Mart said it created more than 60,000 jobs last year. That's an aberration.

And then, of course, today is the day, 5:00 p.m., the deadline for General Motors and Chrysler to submit their financial survival plans to the Treasury Department and prove that, given enough bailout money, they can become viable again.

Meanwhile, Liberty Media has come to the rescue of Sirius XM saving the satellite radio company from a likely bankruptcy filing. Liberty will invest $530 million in exchange for both stock and board seat from Sirius.

And another troubled company, Trump Entertainment Resort filing for bankruptcy protection for a third time. Donald Trump resigned from the Atlantic City Casino Firms Board late last week after growing frustrated with bondholders. Bondholders, Trump in typical fashion said the company represents less than one percent of his net worth and that his investment in it is, quote, "worthless to me now."

Let's take a look at the early numbers. Well, unfortunately, your investments are worth a little bit less than the first 45 seconds of trading. Triple digit losses for the Dow. Today, if we see these losses escalate, we're going to be watching the bear markets closing lows. For the Dow, it would be 7552. We hope we don't get there.

COLLINS: No.

LISOVICZ: It reached that in November.

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: And a lot of traders are saying that we could test the lows today. And so those are just some numbers to look for and hopefully we won't be seeing them on the big board anytime soon.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: Yes. Hopefully, not. All right, Susan, thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Day number 29 in office, and it's shaping up to be a major one for President Obama. In about half hour or so, he'll take off for Denver. That's where he will sign the economic recovery package that he thought so hard for. Later President Obama flies to Phoenix, a city hit hard by foreclosure.

After spending the night there, the president will finally announce his plan to deal with the mortgage crisis. And you can see the (OFF-MIKE) live on CNN. We'll bring it to you around 2:40 p.m. That's Eastern Time.

We already know some of the details, though, about the president's housing plan. It will include tens of billions of dollars to keep people in their homes. CNN's Jim Acosta introduces us to one woman who could really use that help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): School bus driver and mother of two, Minta Garcia got the letter every homeowner dreads, your mortgage is in jeopardy of going into foreclosure.

MINTA GARCIA, DISTRESSED HOMEOWNER: We're going to be losing the house. We're going to lose everything.

ACOSTA (on camera): You think you're going to lose everything?

GARCIA: Yes.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Her message to the president...

GARCIA: Stop with the foreclosure.

ACOSTA (on camera): Stop the foreclosures?

GARCIA: Yes. Right now, because if people are losing houses, losing jobs, what are we going to do?

ACOSTA (voice-over): The White House says its housing plan will be one leg of a multi-legged stool that includes the stimulus and fixing the banks, with more legs to come to prop up the ailing economy.

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: This crisis in housing has had devastating consequences, and our government should have moved more forcefully to help contain the damage.

ACOSTA: Expected to cost $50 billion to $100 billion, the housing plan targets foreclosures by modifying loans for troubled borrowers. Some economists question whether the plan is big enough.

PETER MORICI, ECONOMIST, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: We are likely looking at a trillion dollars in mortgage losses before this is all over, and putting $50 billion or $100 billion in is not going to solve the problem.

ACOSTA: Like countless other Americans, Garcia admits she and her husband bought more house than they could afford, but she says the lender made the purchase all too easy. Now her mortgage is worth more than her house.

(on camera): How much was the house when you bought it?

GARCIA: Eight hundred.

ACOSTA: Eight hundred thousand dollars?. And how much is the house worth?

GARCIA: Right now, it's like $675,000 on the market.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Foreclosure experts say America's home buying culture must change the president's plan to work.

PHILLIP ROBINSON, FORECLOSURE ATTORNEY: We lived in a culture in the last ten years where mortgage originators said that you could use your house as a credit card to pay off your cars, to pay your credit card bills. Well, that doesn't exist anymore.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now, the White House is trying to lower expectations for its housing plan. Keeping in mind the stock market tank when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner released his ideas for bailing out the banks. The administration says its housing plan is aimed at helping homeowners, not the Dow Jones. And we know, Heidi, that the president is traveling to Phoenix to unveil this housing plan. That's one of the hardest hit areas in this foreclosure crisis.

COLLINS: Yes. I think it's number six of the top ten areas in the country.

All right, Jim Acosta, thank you.

ACOSTA: You bet.

COLLINS: The government gave them billions in bailout money and now it's time for two major carmakers to prove they deserve it. Chrysler and General Motors have to share their turn around plans today. If they miss the mark, they might have to give back those massive loans.

In New York now, CNN's Richard Roth is at a spot where everyone is hoping for a smooth ride today.

But Richard, what are the chances of that?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the plans from General Motors (OFF-MIKE) hours from now. We're here at a General Motors car dealership in Manhattan. General Motors has already received $9 billion in loans from the government.

I'm here with John Bruno, the president of Potamkin Cadillac. You have a lot of other models here. What has that meant to the car image and your ability to sell cars? What's happening when the auto industry and the plans that the General Motors has to deliver today?

JOHN BRUNO, POTAMKIN CADILLAC: Well, some people -- customers are concerned with that because they really don't understand what's going on. And it has an adverse effect to our business.

ROTH: What is going on?

BRUNO: They have to come up with a plan to figure out how they are going to stay in business and be profitable.

ROTH: You said you had a good presidents' day weekend here, so maybe not as much of an impact or was that due to mark downs, discounts?

BRUNO: We had a great Presidents' Day weekend. We exceeded last year's sales. Our issues are financing and leasing. You know, the dealers need more financing and more flexible financing and we need leasing on a lot of vehicles.

ROTH: So your customers are having problems while getting -- getting approved for credit for the leasing.

BRUNO: Good people are having problems getting approved.

ROTH: From General Motors?

BRUNO: Well, from GMAC and some other banks as well.

ROTH: And do you think that this is going to turn around soon for the car industry? What's the future?

BRUNO: It better turn around soon for the car industry, because we lose about between 20 percent and 30 percent of our business monthly because people with -- I would say pretty good credit cannot get approved for financing.

ROTH: Do you agree with the restructuring proposals General Motors has made so far or does much more have to be done? BRUNO: Much more has to be done but they are working diligently. They are really trying to get this thing done.

ROTH: All right, John Bruno, president of Potamkin Cadillac. A lot of other brands here. General Motors may dump some of those lines that has been manufactured over the years as part of the streamlining.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: All right, Richard Roth for us there at a GM dealership in Manhattan. Richard, thank you.

TV stations have until mid-June to shutdown their analog broadcast and go digital. But more than a quarter of the country's major stations start pulling the plug today as originally scheduled. Congress has given stations the option to wait because the government has run out of money to subsidize converter boxes.

Head on over to Rob Marciano now standing by in the severe weather center to talk a little bit more about the nation's weather today, focusing specifically on California, I bet, yes?

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: More troops needed. The White House preparing to beef up efforts in Afghanistan while they deal with the potential problem from a neighbor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Hillary Clinton in Asia this week. Her first overseas trip as secretary of state. Today in Tokyo offering a warning to North Korea. CNN foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A picture of serenity as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pays an early morning visit to Tokyo's Meiji Shrine. But in Asia, nerves are dangling with indications that North Korea may be preparing to test fire a long-range missile, and that threat is overshadowing her week- long visit to Asia.

At a news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone, Secretary Clinton warns North Korea any possible missile launch would be very unhelpful in moving the north's relationship with the U.S. forward.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The North Koreans should in no way be mistaken. President Obama, on his inauguration during his address made it clear that the United States will reach out a hand to those with whom we have differences so long as they unclench their fists. But the decision as to whether North Korea will cooperate in the six-party talks and provocative language and actions is up to them. And we are watching very closely. DOUGHERTY: The U.S. says it's ready to normalize relations and provide aid if the north ends its nuclear program. But the north's recent provocative action may in reality be a sign that its ailing leader Kim Jong-Il wants to talk with the U.S. That's the opinion of one American professor just back from a trip to North Korea.

GERALD CURTIS, PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: They're trying to set themselves up for negotiation with the U.S. Their approach to the negotiation is brinkmanship. Take a very hard line, threaten disaster, and then walk away from it as you can see how much concessions you can extract from the other side.

DOUGHERTY: Secretary Clinton took time to meet with the families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s. The north has never fully accounted for the fate of the abductees and the issue is highly emotional in Japan.

Leaving the meeting with Clinton, one mother said she felt the secretary understood. Sakie Yokota saying "We feel sure that she is a mother herself, and she should recognize such a clear and cruel fact and fight for us." The families want the U.S. to reverse the Bush administration's decision to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

(on camera): At that news conference, Secretary Clinton was asked, was that decision by the Bush administration a mistake? She said she's not going to go into any analysis of the past. Jill Dougherty, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The U.S. military awaiting a key vote this week in the former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Lawmakers there are expected to close a U.S. airbase that supports troops in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the top U.S. commander for the region General David Petraeus toured neighboring Uzbekistan in search of new supply routes. The scramble comes as the U.S. military is ramping up its offensive against Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

Part of those plans also include sending in more troops. That order could come at any time. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us now with the very latest.

Barbara, we have been talking about this a while. Just wondering what the next step is?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, you know, we're waiting. Every day now we hear from administration officials, from officials here at the Pentagon that this announcement for more troops for Afghanistan could come at any time. By all accounts, the military is pretty much organized and ready to go as soon as they get the thumb's up from the White House. They've identified the troops, both in the Army and the Marine Corps, that they would put into training to be ready to go as soon as the White House says yes. That is now expected at any time, but there's some complications. It's not always quite that easy. The White House still engaged in this strategy review of Afghanistan, trying to look ahead, determine what the strategy is, what exactly are they going to have these troops do? What's the way ahead in Afghanistan? What do they want to accomplish? And perhaps, most importantly, what's the real goal here? When will they know they've achieved that goal? When will victory be at hand, if you will.

All of that coming down the road. Another several weeks of that strategy review, but they have to get some to the troops there ahead of time. The Taliban are consolidating their positions every day and it was, you know, it's been since last November that top U.S. commander said they were desperate for more troops -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes. We do remember that, of course. And we also think every time we talk about deployment of the families. So I wonder, you know, with more troops possibly heading out now, what kind of notification are the families getting?

STARR: You know that is so important for American military families. They want to know from the military first, not hear from the news media, not hear it on TV.

COLLINS: Right.

STARR: If their loved one's unit is headed off for the war zone. What we do know is that the Pentagon has given a quiet heads-up to some units that they should be ready, that they should get their affairs in order that it is most likely they will be part of that plus.

Inside the military, troops really know when they are next in line to go, but until the official announcement comes, no exact word on the specific units yet.

Heidi?

COLLINS: All right, Barbara. Keep us posted. Thank you.

Heavy price tag for short runs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is basically a niche machine, 15 minutes here to 30 minutes there.

COLLINS (voice-over): President Obama in the market for a new Marine One? And you won't believe the sticker price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: President Obama getting ready to leave the White House for a trip out west. First stop, Denver, where he will sign the economic recovery plan at 2:40 Eastern. So stay with CNN for that. We'll bring it to you live when it happens.

So the deal is done. But at what cost? When the stimulus bill was first proposed, there was all of this talk about bipartisanship. Instead, there's a huge political divide now. Here's our senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): It's gotten so bad bipartisanship is now a partisan issue.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank the members of Congress who came together in common purpose to make it happen.

SCHNEIDER: Came together?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this is going to be bipartisanship the country is screwed.

SCHNEIDER: The economic stimulus plan passed the House with no Republican support and only three Republican votes in the Senate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a bad beginning.

SCHNEIDER: Why isn't bipartisanship working? There's real urgency out there.

OBAMA: When you start seeing an economic crisis of this magnitude, everybody's got to chip in; everybody's got to pull together. Politics has to stop.

SCHNEIDER: But it hasn't. The red versus blue divide is still very much alive in Congress. When President Obama allowed House Democrats to shape the initial stimulus plan, it ran right into the buzz saw of old political divisions.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I think the president should have gotten more involved in trying to bring Republicans and Democrats together to find common ground.

SCHNEIDER: But the plan passed. What difference does it make that it got so little Republican support? It means the stimulus will be a continuing issue of partisan controversy. President Obama is betting it will work.

OBAMA: It will save or create more than 3.5 million jobs over the next two years.

SCHNEIDER: Republicans sound like they're invested in failure.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: A lot of this package will not create jobs.

SCHNEIDER: They say they're just concerned. REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: Well I hope this bill works; I really do, for the good of our country. But my concern is, is that the plan that's outlined will not do what we want it to do.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): The stimulus has become partisan. If the economy does not improve, Democrats will be held accountable. If things do get better, Republicans could face serious political backlash. In either case, we will hear those dreaded words, "I told you so.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: It's your money, his stroke of the pen. We have live coverage of President Obama's signing the stimulus bill scheduled for 2:40 Eastern, 11:40 Pacific.

It could be months before we see the effects of the stimulus bill in our economy, but what's happening right now? Watch our 10:00 a.m. hour. We're going to take you live to three major cities. Give you a snapshot of how workers, real people like you and me are coping with the money crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Like anyone buying a new vehicle during tight economic times, President Obama has to consider the price tag, especially when that price is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Here's CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama may have to put a price tag on his own safety. The current fleet of presidential helicopters is old. The replacements will be safer, fly farther and faster. But the new fleet is years behind schedule, and the cost has nearly doubled to $11 billion.

RICHARD ABOULAFIA, TEAL GROUP: This helicopter assumes that money is no object in ensuring the safety of the president.

LAWRENCE: It has to be more up to date than this current equipment, shot inside the cockpit by "National Geographic." It has to jam tracking devices and deflect missiles. It's got to have Internet, phones, and faxes, the kind that still work despite low- level radiation or after an electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast. Sixty-four feet of armored technology for relatively short flights.

ABOULAFIA: This is basically a niche machine: 15 minutes here to 30 minutes there.

LAWRENCE: The new helicopters cost $400 million each. That makes Marine One, one of the most expensive aircraft in the world. And President Obama must decide if the high price is worth the political cost.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Concerns that in terms of what that means for the taxpayers, as well as what that means for the military. And I think those are many questions that have to be addressed.

LAWRENCE: Critics say during the Bush administration, the Pentagon rushed to give the contract to Lockheed Martin. The company had never built helicopters before and having to add all those features sent the price soaring.

(on camera): It's possible these helicopters could save his life. But after President Obama criticized corporate executives for flying such high-priced jets, buying such a pricy fleet of his own may not fly.

(voice-over): The contract's been frozen while the Pentagon reviews it. And "Keeping Them Honest," some Connecticut Democrats see a chance to move the project to a company in their state.

REP. ROSA L. DELAURIO (D), CONNECTICUT: What are the alternatives? What's more cost-effective and still maintaining national security?

LAWRENCE: During the campaign, candidate Obama said, "We should be spending a lot more money trying to figure out how to get our energy policy right than we should on helicopters for the president."

Well, now they're his helicopters. Better watch the overhead.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Putting the economic rescue plan to work. President Obama signs the bill today. What crisis he's turning to next.

And twittering in the O.R. How surgeons are using a social networking site as a teaching Tool. It is Tuesday, February 17th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

President Obama on his way to Denver right now. There he will sign the economic stimulus bill. A massive spending offensive aimed at shoring up the sinking economy. By any measure, we have a lot riding on today's action. This is day 29 of the Obama presidency and a big day for his economic agenda. The president's first stop as we said Denver.