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President Obama Tackles Economy; Banks on the Brink; Interview With Vermont Governor Jim Douglas; Lansing Autoworkers Watch Way of Life Disappear; Mubai Celebrates "Slumdog" Wins
Aired February 23, 2009 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here are the headlines from CNN for this Monday, the 23rd day of February.
The president and the nation's governors -- how to spend the states' part of the stimulus package.
Is the federal government about to pump up its investment in Citigroup? A reported plan would give taxpayers perhaps a 40 percent stake in the bank.
And we visit the real-life slums of India, inspiration for the film honored as best picture at last night's 81st annual Academy Awards.
Let's start at the White House, and the new president's focus on the country's financial funk.
Mr. Obama met with the nation's governors this morning. The topic, how to spend billions of stimulus dollars headed to the states. Some Republican governors say they won't take the money.
Next hour, the president opens a three-hour summit on fiscal responsibility. Politicians, academics and economists take a look at long-term strategies to get the country back on sound financial footing. The president closes the summit at 4:00 Eastern Time. That's the schedule.
Let's fill in the details with our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux.
And Suzanne, the governors, just moments ago, discussing the meeting with the president. I think I heard you get a question in there for Governor Jindal.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Tony. I just asked Governor Jindal if he took issue with President Obama's criticism of some of the Republicans who are turning away the federal dollars, and he's saying you're involved in all this debate on the cable television, and for the most part, we're all in agreement here. Jindal objected to that. He said, no, there are a lot of things that he didn't like about the economic stimulus package, but I'll get to that in a little bit.
The president did make some announcements. He said that April 1st, that's when this starts to kick in. Ninety-five percent of working families get a tax break.
He also talked about Wednesday as being a critical day. That is when $15 billion becomes available to the states for Medicaid, a very important priority for a lot of the governors that I was speaking to. And President Obama wanting to make the case here that this is a big economic stimulus package, but it is going to serve a purpose, it is going to kick in right away.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hear people say, well, there's a lot of waste in this program. Well, from my perspective, at least, keeping teachers in the classroom is not wasteful. From my perspective, tax cuts to 95 percent of working families is not wasteful. From my perspective, providing all of you additional resources to rebuild roads and bridges and levees and dams that will enhance the quality of life of your state, but also make it more economically competitive, that's not wasteful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Tony, obviously that is a message that he's sending to American taxpayers, but he also is trying to win over some moderate Republicans. We saw this debate spill out over the weekend, where you had Governor Jindal saying, I'm not taking some of this money. You had Governor schwarzenegger from California very much praising the president for this.
President Obama very smart, in a way, trying to take advantage of this political debate, if you will, this split between the Republicans, seeing an opening there to make a case for this stimulus package -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House.
Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.
And you know, I will talk with one of the governors who met with President Obama today, Republican governor from Vermont, Jim Douglas. We'll be live in the NEWSROOM. Oh, ,we've moved him up. OK, 12:10 Eastern Time. That's 9:10 Pacific time.
And join CNN and the best political team tomorrow night, when President Obama makes his first address on the state of the economy. Plus, CNN.com has a full day of special coverage leading up to the president's address. Watch with your Facebook friends -- OK -- at CNN.com/live all day Tuesday and Tuesday night for President Obama's address.
Well, President Obama will tell us what he thinks tomorrow, but what's the mood of the country going into Tuesday's speech? The CNN/Opinion Research poll found 79 percent believe things are going badly in the country. Less than a quarter think they're going well, but people are more optimistic about their personal situation. Seventy-seven percent said things are going well for them personally.
Uncle Sam reportedly looking at taking a much higher stake in Citigroup, "The Wall Street Journal" says the government could take up to 40 percent interest in the troubled bank.
CNN Business Correspondent Stephanie Elam in New York.
And Stephanie, I've got a couple of questions here. But first of all, how are investors reacting to this news?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, overseas, Tony, they reached quite well. We saw rallies in Asia and Europe today, but then we opened up higher here, and now we're in the red. So things have lost their luster, although Citigroup actually trading higher, by close to 10 percent. So I still think it's being read as a good thing for Citigroup here.
A couple points to point out, too.
The CEO of Citigroup coming out on Friday saying that, you know what? Our capital position is still strong, we think we'll be viable, things will be OK here.
The Obama administration reiterating a couple of times that they also believe that banks should remain in the private sector. So we've got a few points out there for people who are concerned about this idea of nationalization and how that's going to affect them.
Also, this fact that they could get more of a stake in Citigroup, some concerns about that. One thing to clear up is that the $45 billion that the federal government gave to Citigroup as part of the bailout last fall, that's where this money would come from. It's basically how the government took these preferred shares so that they could reap the benefits of when Citigroup's stock comes back.
What they would take is some of those shares and turn them into common shares. That's what we have in our 401(k)s, that's the basic average share that you can have in a company, and turn it into that. So those shares will be diluted a bit, so it does affect shareholders who individually hold the stock, and that's part of the reason why you saw this sort of debate on whether or not nationalization would be a good thing or not.
HARRIS: So it's not going to cost us any more money, at least not right now.
ELAM: Not from that part. Right, because there's a chance there could be more money going to Citigroup, but not out of that part.
HARRIS: Hey, what's happening with stocks right now? You've got that on your computer?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
HARRIS: All right, Stephanie. Appreciate it. Thank you.
ELAM: We'll get to this Wednesday when we get to it -- Tony.
HARRIS: Exactly.
All right. As the most serious credit crisis in decades rocks your finances, CNNMoney.com has some advice and some answers. Check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis." Again, that's at CNNMoney.com.
America's financial crisis changing family dynamics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My role is now, in addition to looking for a job, I'm a house dad. My wife is now, instead of being the house mom, she's now the breadwinner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You know, they used to be the head of the household. Now they're Mr. Moms.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, some Republican governors aren't so sure about the monster economic stimulus package. Others say, bring us the cheese, although they don't use that word.
Jim Douglas is the Republican governor of Vermont. He is for it, and he joins us from the north lawn of the White House.
Governor, thanks for your time. We appreciate it.
GOV. JIM DOUGLAS (R), VERMONT: My pleasure. And by the way, we have a great artisan cheese industry in Vermont.
HARRIS: So it absolutely worked. Oh, that's perfect.
All right. Governor, if you would, listen for just a moment to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal from just moments ago, and let's talk about it a bit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: I continue to say, as I've said before, that, certainly, I think there could have been a very different stimulus bill written. There could have been a stimulus bill that was truly targeted and temporary, focused on infrastructure, focused on the kinds of tax credits that would have gotten investment moving in the private sector.
So it is not just limited to those provisions that we identified on Friday. For example, $1 billion for the Census. For example, $300 million to buy cars for the federal government. For example, $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. And the list goes on and on. There are several, several spending -- there are several dollars included in the stimulus that it's not apparent to me why they necessarily had to be in this stimulus package, what they have to do with actually stimulating the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wow. OK. A lot there.
Governor Douglas, why are governors like Mark Stanford of South Carolina, and Bobby Jindal in Louisiana, opposed to the plan when everyone seems to agree that some combination of spending and tax cuts are needed to get the economy going again? Make sense of this for us.
DOUGLAS: Well, I don't know if I can do that, but the National Governors Association asked for two things in this package a couple months ago, help in Medicaid, because at a time of an economic recession, the safety net programs have a much greater demand. And that's a key part of the bill. We also asked for help in infrastructure to create jobs, to rebuild our roads, bridges, rails, and other types of infrastructure, and to put people back to work.
Now, those are the two important things, but obviously some other elements were added. I think everybody agrees, despite some difference of view on exactly how we do this, that we have to get this economy going again. We have to put people back to work. We have to rebuild our infrastructure. And now the package is law, so we all have the responsibility of implementing it.
HARRIS: Yes. Well, Governor, Mark Sanford, the governor -- you know him -- of South Carolina, says that the stimulus plan will be harmful to the economy, to taxpayers, and to the dollar.
Do you share even a portion of their concerns about this plan?
DOUGLAS: Well, if any one of us were to put the package together, it might well be different. I think the president said that himself. But here it is.
We have a responsibility now to make it work. Who knows if it will be successful? I think it will, at least to a significant degree. But we have to get the job done.
HARRIS: Do you believe that this plan will save or create four million jobs?
DOUGLAS: Well, I don't know, but it will certainly create some. We're already advertising for some construction projects through our transportation agency in Vermont, even before the bill was signed, because we have a fairly short construction season in our part of the country, and we want to be sure we get shovels in the ground as quickly as possible. So I think it's certainly going to create jobs.
HARRIS: Well, I'm curious, are you going for all of the money that could be available to your state, or are you going to sort of cherry-pick the parts of the plan you like? DOUGLAS: Well I think most of it, virtually every governor will accept. The one element that is still in question in some states is the extra unemployment insurance money, and the president acknowledged that in his remarks to the governors this morning.
He said, hey, you need to look at that individually for what it means to your state and make a decision. And I thought my colleague from Hawaii, Governor Lingle, made an important point, that we get overtures from the federal for grant opportunities all the time. We don't always accept the money. So this is not that unusual.
HARRIS: Yes. Are you concerned -- to that point of perhaps unfunded mandates, are you concerned that you are in fact going to be left with unfunded mandates once the stimulus money runs out?
DOUGLAS: Well, that's why we need to look very carefully, especially at that unemployment insurance money, and see if that's possible.
HARRIS: Yes.
DOUGLAS: The other thing is, this is temporary. We know it's only going to be available for a couple of fiscal years, and it's important that governors and legislatures across the country do the heavy lifting of balancing budgets, of making tough choices, of resisting the need to raise taxes, so that when this economy rebounds, we'll be on a strong, stable, fiscal footing.
HARRIS: One more here that perhaps cuts to the politics a little. Do you feel like you're being used in any way to sell the president's plan? I ask because I wonder if part of the opposition to the plan from Republicans is based on the fact that they are -- find themselves then in the position of selling a Democratic president's plan and investing in its success.
DOUGLAS: Well, this is the most serious recession we've experienced since the end of the Second World War. Thousands of homeowners, millions of Americans have lost their jobs. State fiscal conditions are deteriorating. The capital markets are in trouble.
We've got to do something. This may or may not prove to be the answer in the long run, but we have a responsibility now to try our best to make it work. And I think most governors are committed to doing that.
The president noted that this is the beginning of a four-year presidential term. There will be plenty of time for politics. We'll all go to our corners and support our candidates when the time comes, but right now we have a joint responsibility to come together and do what's best for the American people.
HARRIS: Governor Douglas, thanks for your time. We appreciate it.
DOUGLAS: My pleasure.
HARRIS: It was good talking to you.
DOUGLAS: Thank you.
HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM, the surprising new face of families on food stamps -- who they are and how they eat when the money runs out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Illinois Senator Roland Burris has been ignoring reporters' questions as calls for his resignation get louder. The Senate is scheduled to reconvene this afternoon at 2:00 Eastern, and if it is unclear if he'll be there.
"The Chicago Sun-Times" says Burris was questioned by the feds Sunday over corruption accusations against ousted governor Rod Blagojevich. Burris is facing calls to quit after revealing he spoke to Blagojevich aides. He failed to mention that during Blagojevich's impeachment trial.
With unemployment rising and the economy sinking, food stamps just aren't enough for many families.
Our Sean Callebs has the story of a growing family in rural Louisiana that struggles to put food on the table month after month, and he is in the kitchen to bring us this story.
Good to see you, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony. How you doing?
I've actually kind of been living the experiment myself as well all of February at $176 to start on food stamps. This is what they give people in Louisiana, this -- instead of food stamps, they have this debit card.
But as I get close to the end of the month, and I only have $16.10 left, I've got to tell you, I'm down to the stuff that I didn't want to eat early on, and that's what a lot of families face. The cupboard is getting more bare, and for a lot of families, it simply isn't enough to get through the month.
So what do they do? Well, we went to one small town called Houma, profiled a family living there, and see what they have to cope with.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice-over): For Jimmy Allen, it's backbreaking work, repairing tires for 18-wheelers, one of two jobs he holds down that brings in $500 a week. As the end of the month creeps up and the cupboard becomes bare, Jimmy and wife Karlena often worry about feeding their four children and two other children in their care.
KARLENA ALLEN, MOTHER: This is just mostly odds and ends and stuff and stuff that we just -- I just didn't use yet. CALLEBS: They've been depending on food stamps for years and receive about $580 each month.
K. ALLEN: It's never enough. By the third week of the month, I'm completely out. I run completely out.
JIMMY ALLEN, FATHER: I don't want to be on food stamps. You know, it's a putdown -- I say a putdown, but it's a letdown for me to know that I have to ask somebody else for help.
CALLEBS: They live in rural Louisiana near the town of Houma, where the economy is tied to the fortunes of the oil and gas industry.
J. ALLEN: Everybody's hurting. It's not just -- not just the lower class people. Everybody's hurting.
CALLEBS: To stretch a dollar even further, the Allens order from Angel Food Ministry. The Georgia-based nonprofit says about half a million families order food online through them each month.
In this area, the boxes of food are distributed through the Allens' church. For $30, they receive about $90 worth of groceries.
K. ALLEN: You know, this is pretty much a meal for, like, a stew or a gumbo, or something like that.
CALLEBS: Jimmy Allen says there is a fine line between feeding his family and not having enough to go around.
J. ALLEN: One bad month, and then I don't eat because my kids have got to eat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: And so Jimmy says he puts in about a 13-hour day. So when he comes home, usually dinner has been long finished. So he either has leftovers, a sandwich, cereal, something like that. So he really has to make it stretch.
Now, today, I had an omelet for breakfast. There's three eggs, Tony. It cost about 50 cents.
HARRIS: Yes.
CALLEBS: For lunch, a can of soup here I spent about 87 cents on. A little bit of rice, that little bag was about $2.50. So I'm probably going to get by on a buck for lunch. Later on this evening I'll have leftovers, a little jambalaya that I whipped up last night.
HARRIS: OK.
CALLEBS: So, just a taste of what people deal with every single day in this country.
HARRIS: You know, I'm thinking as you get to the end of the month and you don't have the resources, maybe you turn to those carbs, you know, just to get you through. I'm wondering, did you make any mistakes as you were making your purchases?
CALLEBS: Oh, man, I made a lot of mistakes.
HARRIS: Did you?
CALLEBS: Early on, yes, because I thought -- because it breaks down to $6.28 a day. And I thought, no way I'm going to be able to live on that.
HARRIS: Whoa.
CALLEBS: So I bought a lot of these, like, big prepackaged things, which, you know, I'll be honest, they're not the tastiest things in the word.
HARRIS: Right.
CALLEBS: And you can -- and I could have shopped better. And at the end, I realized I did have enough money for fresh fruits and vegetables, so now I'm only buying those at the very end of the month.
But we had this blog on CNN.com under the living section, getting hundreds and hundreds of comments there. And I've really learned a lot from people who are doing this. And the reason we started this program, Tony, I really should point out, 31 million Americans are now using food stamps. That's a big spike over the last year.
HARRIS: That is a big number.
CALLEBS: And with the economy the way it is, it's just going to get worse.
HARRIS: What could you do for meats? Could you -- meats and fish? Could you get much? Just wondering.
CALLEBS: Yes, I did OK. Let me look in the fridge here.
HARRIS: Yes.
CALLEBS: I have a bunch of chicken up here.
HARRIS: OK.
CALLEBS: Some chicken, some fresh ground beef, but not a lot of meat. Steaks, simply unheard of. No ribs.
But that Angel Food Ministries that we did talk about, that says it provides food for about a half million families each month, they do have meat in every single box that they sell. So those families who do get the supplement -- and they don't consider it a food bank because anybody can go. You don't have to be on food stamps to take advantage of that.
HARRIS: There's not much in that freezer, man.
CALLEBS: Come on, man. It's the end of the month. (CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Oh, Sean. Appreciate it.
Sean Callebs for us in New Orleans.
Sean, thank you.
Boy, you know, it's not just people suffering in this recession. After all, if you can't feed your family, you can't feed your pets.
To help, volunteers in Oregon have opened a food bank for dogs. It's one of the most popular stories at CNN.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have dogs at home that need to be fed and food stamps that don't cover pet food.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, the dog food bank in Clackamas County is set up primarily for dogs, but it also helps cats, and it provides a monthly supply of food, no matter what size the animal is.
A war story you probably haven't heard before. African-Americans played a very secret role during the Civil War. Some of them turned to espionage, becoming spies to help the war effort.
CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Manassas, Virginia, nearly 150 years ago. The Civil War Battle of Bull Run raged here.
The north's Union Army, almost shattered. But Abraham Lincoln's war effort was getting secret help from some remarkable spies -- African-American slaves (INAUDIBLE) spying on the confederacy, then telling the north what they knew.
William Jackson was a slave hired out to Jefferson Davis, president of the confederacy.
KEN DAGLER, AUTHOR, "BLACK DISPATCHES": He simply was ignored.
STARR: Retired CIA officer Ken Dagler authored the "Black Dispatches," a look at the little-known espionage African-Americans conducted during the Civil War. Dagler says Jackson, like most slaves, was treated as little more that be a piece of furniture. A critical mistake for his master.
DAGLER: So Jefferson Davis would hold conversations with military and confederate civilian officials in his presence.
STARR: In 1861, Jackson fled north and told union commanders about their enemy.
Slaves were forbidden to learn to read and write, so they often relied on the African storytelling tradition to memorize crucial details. It made them perfect spies.
No one was better at it than Robert Small (ph), a slave who guided vital supply ships in and out of Charleston Harbor. He finally escaped.
DAGLER: A debriefing with him gave basically the union forces the entire fortification scheme for the interior of the harbor.
STARR: And the iconic Harriet Tubman, she ran the under ground railroad bringing slaves north, but she went south many times just to spy.
DAGLER: Probably the height of her intelligence involvement occurred late in 1863, when she actually led a raid into South Carolina. In addition to the deinstruction of millions of dollars of property, she brought out over 800 slaves back into freedom in the north.
STARR (on camera): This was a stop on the underground railroad. Slaves were hidden inside here until their passage further north could be arranged. It was the espionage conducted by African-American spies that helped the north win the war and helped so many slaves make it to freedom.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Pretty amazing; huh?
Elderly people, trampled. Children, shoved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the most savage thing I have ever seen in my whole entire life for assistance. I need a bailout. OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A crowd of people desperate for housing help spirals out of control.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey, let's take you to the New York Stock Exchange right now for a look at the big board. As you can see, the Dow is down 108 points -- is that 108 or 109? It's 109 points. Just about squarely three hours into the trading day. And you take a look at those numbers for the Dow Industrial average, 7,256. Flirting now with multi year lows. The tech-heavy NASDAQ is down 30. We'll, of course, be following these numbers throughout the day for you in the NEWSROOM. The state of Michigan is known as the home of the American auto industry. And more recently as the state hardest hit by the recession. CNN's John King dropped in on a GM plant to see how the workers are holding up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The Lansing-Grand River assembly line. Modern, clean, and efficient. These Cadillacs among GM's best-selling models, and yet this plant is down from two shifts to one. New cars just aren't selling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's scary times right now, yes, for a lost people.
KING: Thousands already let go. Many on this line will be out of work in just a few weeks. Twelve years seniority protects Fred Efaw for now.
FRED EFAW, LANSING AUTOWORKER: I'm married. I have two daughters. And, you know, they want to do things and you can't commit to those things, not knowing if you're going to have a full income, you know, in the next months or weeks ahead. So it is hard. You've got to explain to your kids it may not be the way it's always been for you.
KING: Just one shift here, and just one at another GM plant across town. Mike Huerta remembers when it ran around the clock. He'll be out of work in a few more weeks.
MIKE HUERTA, LANSING AUTOWORKER: We haven't gone to see movies. You know, we eat at home. I pack lunches. Those types of things. You know, you don't really spend anything you don't have to.
KING: Huerta says a taxpayer funded GM bailout is his only hope of being called back some day and he fumes at those in Washington who say the company should take its lumps.
HUERTA: We had some senators from down south in particular with, you know, that have a lot of Nissan, or Honda or Toyota plants, basically come out and say that we should go bankrupt. And they're not talking about a -- somebody that you can't see. That means me. That takes away my family's livelihood.
KING: The pain is shared beyond the factory floor. This is one of two Saturn dealerships owned by Sherrill Freeborough .
SHERRILL FREEBOROUGH, OWNER, SATURN DEALERSHIPS: This is the biggest vehicle we've ever had.
KING: This SUV is made right here in Lansing, but GM is shedding the brand in three years as part of its restructuring. Saturn dealers, like Freeborough , are determined to stay in business, are now exploring partnerships with Indian and Chinese automakers.
That's risky. FREEBOROUGH: It's very risky.
KING: But a risk Freeborough says she has to take for her employees and for herself.
FREEBOROUGH: I'm a small business owner. Everything I have, I've put into the dealership. My home, everything, is in the company. My husband still can't breathe. I can't have a bad day and go home and tell him because everything we have is wrapped up in this company.
A cup of coffee or a cup of tea or anything?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No, thank you.
FREEBOROUGH: Nothing? OK.
KING: To listen and to look around is to hear and see a way of life fading.
FREEBOROUGH: My dad was an electrician for Ford Motor Company when I was growing up. I mean, I don't think there were any people in Michigan who don't have some sort of automotive touch to their lives.
KING: GM's roots in Lansing go back more than 100 years. "Generous Motors" was the favorite nickname when Brad Fredline was growing up. Both grandfathers retired from GM. His father, too.
BRAD FREDLINE, PRES., UAW 602: You graduated on a Friday. And by Monday, you were working at the factory. You knew you had a rock solid job for 30 years. You buy a little place up north and you retire. Those days are gone, I'm afraid.
There's no consumer confidence. There's no hope for the future. And that affects our communities, our homes and our families.
There's a lot of despair out there in Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: CNN's John King reporting. Michigan is struggling with the highest rate of unemployment in the country, creeping now toward 11 percent.
And faced with a rising debt, cities and towns everywhere are cutting back and laying off workers. But the entire health department? That's exactly what the town of Amesbury, Massachusetts, did. Doors closed, labs shuttered, because the town's in debt more than $800,000.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY ARSENAULT, MGR. (ph), PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE: I perform daily functions of disease control, access to immunizations and those functions are not covered as of Friday.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Amesbury officials say they are still working on a plan to cover some of the duties. Possibilities include a mutual aid agreement with surrounding areas and hiring contractors.
Many south Floridians hoping for a chance at subsidized housing went home disappointed over the weekend.
Here's Elena Echarri of CNN affiliate WPLG in Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENA ECHARRI, WPLG CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In a dramatic sign of the times, police had to surround this crowd of 5,000 people at the Ft. Lauderdale Housing Authority office. Many had slept here overnight for a chance to get a Section 8 application.
What did you see overnight in that line? People with . . .
SHEILA PELZER, WAITED FOR APPLICATION: Fighting, spraying mace, pregnant people out there. One lady just had a c-section, bleeding.
ECHARRI: Sheila Pelzer, a disabled woman, told us she joined the line at 6:00 last evening with her rheumatoid arthritis flaring up, her legs were swollen from standing all night. She's desperate for housing assistance. Police say the crowds got out of control, pushing and trampling the elderly, the disabled and children to get closer to the front of the line when the office would not even open until 7:00 a.m.
Even though a notice tells people not to arrive before 7:00 a.m., at least 5,000 people actually showed up here, formed a line, hoping for a chance to get on the waiting list, when only 2,500 of them will actually make the housing assistance waiting list.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is all I need.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go!
ECHARRI: Those who followed the time rules and did not line up earlier were told they were out of luck. And the problems only grew from there.
ALESIA WADE-BRYANT, NEEDS HOUSING ASSISTANCE: I really need assistance. And right about now, it's gotten to the point where I don't know what to do. I don't know who to turn to.
TAM ENGLISH, FORT LAUDERDALE HOUSING AUTHORITY: We worked with the police department to try and find a plan that would keep the crowds as small as possible before we opened the gates.
GABRIELLE WARREN, NEEDS HOUSING ASSISTANCE: This is the most savage thing that I have ever seen in my whole entire life for assistance. I need a bailout, OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: All right, let's explain this. Section 8 is a rental voucher program run by the federal government and administered on a state level.
There has been a break in one of Washington's most infamous cold cases, the murder of congressional intern Chandra Levy. According to her mom, police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a suspect. Sources say he is Ingmar Guandique, an El Salvadorian immigrant already behind bars for two assaults in the park where Levy was killed. Guandique has been involved in the case.
Here's reaction from the Levy family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN LEVY, CHANDRA LEVY'S MOTHER: We got the attention that may lead to an arrest and conviction.
ROBERT LEVY, CHANDRA LEVY'S FATHER: Yes, and keep the guy off the street.
S. LEVY: But it's a painful thing.
R. LEVY: Yes, it's too painful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And Guandique has denied any involvement in this case. You know when Chandra Levy was killed eight years ago, Washington was stunned, in part because much of the investigation at the time focused on her congressman and eventually led to his political demise. CNN's Susan Candiotti has a look back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Most Americans had no idea who Congressman Gary Condit was before Washington intern Chandra Levy disappeared. That quickly changed.
Gary Condit became a household name as whispers grew louder and louder that Miss Levy herself had talked about having an affair with the married politician from her home district. And for weeks after Levy vanished, news cameras followed Condit's comings and goings. The question kept coming, was the congressman holding back? Police never called him a suspect, but seemed to leave themselves an opening.
CHARLES RAMSEY, FORMER WASHINGTON POLICE CHIEF: We have nothing at this time to connect him with the disappearance of Chandra Levy.
CANDIOTTI: At first, the congressman sidestepped personal questions about the case.
LARRY KING, CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE": Did you have a relationship with Chandra Levy?
GARY CONDIT, FORMER CALIFORNIA REPRESENTATIVE: You know, we're not going to go into that. I had nothing to do with her disappearance. But all this attention on me and it takes away from the seriousness -- just the seriousness of this tragedy. It's about a missing person and somebody knows. And somebody knows what happened.
CANDIOTTI: Condit eventually admitted to an affair and the notoriety sank his political career. He lost in a Democratic primary.
CONDIT: I want to thank the voters of the 18th congressional district for allowing me to serve in Congress for 11 years. It will be 12 years when I finish.
CANDIOTTI: Police had also questioned Ingmar Guandique, who was already charged for attacking two other women in the same park not long after Levy vanished, but was never charged in her case. Nearly eight years later, a source tells CNN, Guandique is the key suspect. Some now question whether the early focus on Condit let the trail run cold.
HAROLD COPUS, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It wasn't proper, it wasn't fair, but that's what happened and it does happen in the case. And it happened really big time in this one.
CANDIOTTI: In a statement, the former congressman described, "an insatiable appetite for sensationalism," blocking what he called a "search for real answers." Now Condit says he plans to tell his side of the story.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy.
Celebration in the slums. We will take you to an impromptu Oscar party for the once improbable big winner, "Slumdog Millionaire."
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HARRIS: Microsoft gives some laid-off workers too much money in severance, then asks for it back. Talk about a PR nightmare. Microsoft says it happened because of an accounting glitch. Yes. It is unclear how many of the 1,400 employees laid off last month are affected or how much extra money was doled out. But that's not the only problem. Microsoft says other former workers were underpaid. It mailed letters to both groups informing them of the problem and asking for their help in resolving it.
Alternative energy is a major center piece of President Obama's plan to jump-start the economy. And right now some of the biggest names in energy, science and politics are gathering for the second annual National Clean Energy Policy Summit. Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow is back and has more in today's "Energy Fix."
Good to see you, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Good to see you too, Tony.
Yes, as you mentioned, a few of the big ideas that are being discussed at that summit that you mentioned in Washington, D.C., today, the second annual summit, include things like a modern electric grid, new lines to transmit renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, and also how to power trucks using natural gas instead of diesel. Right now there you see Senate Minority (ph) Leader Harry Reid talking at that panel. Former President Bill Clinton is also there. Former Vice President Al Gore, as well as billionaire, former oil man T. Boone Pickens, turned clean energy advocate. Earlier today T. Boone spoke to CNN's "American Morning." Take a listen.
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T. BOONE PICKENS, BP CAPITAL ENERGY: Last year it cost us about $500 billion to import oil. That doesn't have to happen. We can cut that in half rather easily and within five years it could happen. And that's going to create a lot of jobs right there.
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HARLOW: Of course, job creation a big focus right now for the Obama administration, as well as renewable energy. Pickens, you may know him best for his ambitious wind power and natural gas plan that was proposed last summer. That plan, though, to build a big wind farm in west Texas has been put on hold due to falling energy prices and also the state of the global economy.
Pickens says, though, listen, there is still time to fund this. He says the wind turbines for that farm aren't even slated for delivery until 2011. He says what we cannot afford, however, is complacency. He says the lower oil and gas prices, they're just temporary.
Tony, take a listen.
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PICKENS: You're going to see oil prices by the end of the year will be at $75. And that's going to happen. And, you know, OPEC has already told us that's going to happen. So listen to what they tell us because they have to have money and they are going to cut back on their production.
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HARLOW: This certainly is a man that knows the oil industry well. Today we see oil prices slightly lower, trading at about $39 a barrel. So $75 a barrel, Tony, is a big jump from that. But anything can happen. You remember what happened this summer.
So, back to you.
HARRIS: Where would that put the price of a gallon of gas at the pump if we get to $75 a barrel by the -- I don't even want to do the math on that.
HARLOW: It would put it higher, but not like what we saw this summer, that's for sure. HARRIS: Really? OK, Poppy, good to see you. Thank you.
HARLOW: You're welcome.
HARRIS: Recession role reversal. Moms becoming the breadwinner and dads becoming chief care givers at home.
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HARRIS: The nation's difficult economy is changing the dynamics of some families. More dads are staying home while moms become the key breadwinner. CNN's Mary Snow has that.
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MICHAEL SHELTON, FORMER DIRECTOR OF SALES: By, love.
SUSAN SCHWAB SHELTON, WINE TESTING ROOM MGR./ART TEACHER: Good- bye.
M. SHELTON: We'll see you.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The economic crisis has shifted the ground for Susan and Michael Shelton.
M. SHELTON: My role is now, in addition to looking for a job, I'm a house dad. My wife is now, instead of being the house mom, she's now the breadwinner.
I guess we should go ahead and feed the dogs.
SNOW: Michael Shelton lost his jobs as a sales manager in January.
S. SHELTON: How was your day?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was good.
SNOW: Susan, who used to work part-time, now works two jobs.
S. SHELTON: I'll be, you know, out of the house six to seven days every week. So that is very different. And getting home much later.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's . . .
M. SHELTON: That sounds good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's good.
SNOW: Michael is now running their home in Lusalivos (ph), California, taking care of their two children, and dogs.
M. SHELTON: All the things that, to be perfectly honest, I used to take for granted, is now, you know, my responsibility. So easing into that is proving challenging for me.
SNOW: Michael scourers job postings hoping to find work soon.
DR ELIZABETH NILSON, PHYSICIAN: Look. That's it. We're almost there.
SNOW: But ask another family in the same situation, and Adam Ostero (ph) can tell you, be prepared for the long haul.
ADAM OSTERO: It feels a little bit like I'm swimming very much upstream.
SNOW: Adam has been out of work for a year. An early casualty of the credit crunch in New York's financial industry. His primary job now is to take care of sons Isaac and William. And Elizabeth, who's a physician, is the sole breadwinner, changing life as they knew it.
OSTERO: I went in November once to pick up Isaac from school and the teacher didn't know who I was.
SNOW: The family is now moving to Massachusetts, where Elizabeth could get a new job and it will be more affordable to live. What's happened to the Ostero and Shelton families, says one economist, is likely to be happening to millions more.
HEATHER BOUSHEY, SR. ECONOMIST, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: You've seen more and more men lose their jobs, and you've seen some women lose their jobs, but not as many as men. And you've also seen that once those men get out of work, they've had a very difficult time getting back into the labor market.
SNOW: One reason men are harder hit? Male-dominated industries, like construction and manufacturing, have had big job losses because of the collapse in the housing bubble.
And economists point out that with more families depending on a woman's salary, they're also living on less money, since women, on average, lag behind men when it comes to pay.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, Chicago, living up to its nickname as the windy city. Check out this blowing snow in this i-Report from Thomas Nava of Chicago. He says more than four inches fell on the city's northwest side this weekend. Winds gusting up to 35 millions an hour. Boy, it kept it sort of blowing, drifting, swirling. Chad Myers in the severe weather center.
And, Chad, more snow in the forecast or a bit of a break for our friends in the northwest?
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HARRIS: Going wild in Mumbai. Literally. Cheers and jubilation over "Slumdog Millionaire's" Oscar success. We will get more reaction from the city that's home of two of the film's stars. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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STEVEN SPIELBERG, DIRECTOR: And the Oscar goes to "Slumdog Millionaire."
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HARRIS: Oh, boy, just one of many awards for Hollywood's underdog. An amazing achievement for a movie many expected would go straight to DVD. Cheers and dance broke out in Mumbai, India, today. People celebrating "Slumdog Millionaire" after the film swept eight Oscars last night. Two of the film's stars are from the poor neighborhoods of Mumbai. CNN's Mallika Kapur has reaction.
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MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): There was cheering in Hollywood. Lots in Mumbai too.
"It's unbelievable," says this woman, who joined an impromptu Oscar viewing party around a small TV set in a slum in north Mumbai. "Our children have made India proud. It's a dream."
Two of the child actors in the film "Slumdog Millionaire" live in this slum. Daniel Rolasarases (ph), who plays Salim (ph), and nine- year-old Rubiana, who plays young Latika. Both are living the dream in Hollywood. The film's producers flew them to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars.
"I don't really know what the Oscars are," says Rubiana's mother, watching it on TV. "I'm just glad my daughter looks happy." Though she told me she misses Indian food.
Across the vast and crowded slum, friends, family, neighbors of all kind showed their pride and blasted music in the streets when the film bagged eight Academy Awards. Its run away success and all the media frenzy accompanying it, a welcome distraction from the drudgery of their daily lives.
"Poverty, no schools, open drains, garbage everywhere, our children lead a dog's life," says Rubiana's mother. "I'm happy someone decided to make a movie on it. The rest of India and the world should know how we live."
After a life-changing trip to Hollywood, the child actors will return to Mumbai in just a day or two. Back to the slums here, back to home, back to reality.
Mallika Kapur, CNN, Mumbai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And, you know, you really can't talk about the Oscars without talking about the fashion. So, quickly, let's take a look at some of the stars shrowling (ph), working the red carpet. There's Brad and Angelina here in a second. There we go. Miley Cyrus. It's coming up here in a second. What is she wearing there? Kong (ph) shells? Beyonce is coming up here. There's Kevin Kline. You know, the -- Beyonce. My goodness. The number one stunner right there. There were a lot of these one-shoulder gowns. Lots of reds and nude tones. Lots of hits and, of course, a couple of misses.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.
