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Obama Addresses Accountability Of Banks Accepting Bailout Funds; Reporters Ask Press Secretary Robert Gibbs About Obama's Likely Reaction To A Budget Bill Filled With 9,000 Earmarks From Congress; South Carolina Student Inspired High Point Of Obama's Speech, 'We Are Not Quitters'

Aired February 25, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: We heard his words, but let's be real, his actions will speak to your wallet. We're taking the president's speech, his plans, his challenges, and pushing them forward.

And it got within a few hundred yards of its destination, it wasn't close enough. An Istanbul to Amsterdam flight ends in three pieces, nine deaths, and a lot of questions.

Hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Some other stories on tap this hour. A school girl tries to educate Congress and winds up there, sitting next to the first lady of the United States. She sits down with us to talk about it.

Plus -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I should be in the same shape as you, should I?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing to do with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just saying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing do to with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Seniors squaring off. A 71-year-old roller blader taken to court accused of being hell on wheels.

But first, no time to waste. President Obama says that we will rebuild, we will recover. But that's not enough. He's calling on the nation to push forward on crises and causes that both parties have long preferred to put off.

But first things, first. Bank bailouts are part of the recovery, the president says, but perks and privileges won't be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: This time, this time CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks, or buy fancy drapes, or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Last night's speech raised a lot of people's hopes, and just as many questions. And as you heard, a few of those last hour, aimed at the White House press secretary. CNN's Ed Henry joins me now with some answers.

Hi, Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, clearly one of the key moments last evening, as you played that sound bite about the banks, is when the president said, I get it. It infuriates people when they hear about more banks being bailed out after all that they've already been through. But he tried to make the point that if you don't bail out these banks, it can spill over to average people. Make this credit crisis worse, make it more difficult for average people to get home loans, car loans, college loans.

But yet we've got no more details yet from the president either in that speech last night, or from Robert Gibbs in the briefing that you just mentioned, about exactly what will happen with these banks.

A lot of it still being done very quietly. The president, though, meeting this afternoon with his Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. After that, about 3:45 Eastern Time, the president expected to make some remarks. Maybe, maybe we'll get more details there.

Meanwhile, we're waiting for the president's budget tomorrow. That's when we're expected to get more details about all those new initiatives he laid out on energy, education, and healthcare. But again, the devil will be in the details as to whether he can really follow through on that promise last night to cut the deficit, about $1.3 trillion in half, even though he wants to spend more money on all these initiatives. And even though, right now, the Congress has put together an omnibus spending bill, as you've been reporting on, that is over $400 billion with over 9,000 earmarks. Robert Gibbs was just asked, will the president veto a bill like that?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I know there's great concern in this building, and by the president, about earmarks, without having looked specifically at a piece of legislation I'm hesitant to throw out the word, that four-letter word, "veto."

QUESTION: Is he for - if there was a line item veto, that the president could use?

GIBBS: Oh, I can assure you he would love to take that for a test drive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: The president would like to test drive a line item veto where he could zero out individual pet projects. He does not have that power, obviously, however.

Meanwhile, what the president is trying to do is get the rest of his team in place. His Cabinet, yesterday, Labor Secretary Hilde Solis finally confirmed by the Senate. Today the president rolling out Gary Locke as his third pick, now, for Commerce secretary. Certainly hopes that he finally gets a Commerce secretary confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

But finally the president still has that opening for Health secretary since Tom Daschle dropped out. What's interesting about that is he has a health care summit on Monday. He spent so much last night talking about how health care will be a key priority. He has a summit here at the White House, next Monday, to lay out more details, but no Health secretary yet, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Henry, thanks so much.

And as you can imagine we got a flood of IReports in the wake of the president's address. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KRONMILLER, IREPORTER: I was inspired by Obama reminding all these politicians in this room that they are not just politicians, that they are people who are in a job of service to this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, it turns out that most people who watched the speech liked it. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll finds that eight out of 10 expect the president's plans to succeed. That's not a poll of the nation over all, just people who actually saw the address. This year that group was more Democratic than the general population.

Now we want to hear from you. E-mail us your economic questions at cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. Gerri Willis joins us later in the hour with some answers.

Hoping the third term is a charm. President Obama announced a new pick for Commerce secretary today. It's former Washington Governor Gary Locke, a Democrat, who was the nation's first Chinese American governor. He was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1982, where he later served as chairman of the appropriations committee.

President Obama's previous two picks for the job, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg withdrew from consideration.

Now the job cuts just keep coming on. Nortel announced today that it's shedding 3,200 positions world wide. The company already announced1,800 job cuts. Dow Corning is getting rid of 800 workers. That's about 8 percent of its global work force. And upscale retailer Neiman Marcus is trimming 450 more jobs in its second round of layoffs in just the last two months.

On Wall Street, the recession has ravaged the markets pushing the Dow and the S&P 500 to nearly 12-year lows earlier this week. When you look at some individual companies, you get a greater sense of the magnitude of those losses. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the details.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a real eye opener, Kyra. You have to play along with this. What costs more, a spark plug, or one share of GM? You have an idea?

PHILLIPS: Ooh. No. Actually I don't. My guess I'm supposed to say spark plug.

LISOVICZ: Yes. You would be right. Yes, GM shares closed yesterday at $2.22. America's largest automaker, spark plugs cost about 3 bucks. GM trading, well, it was trading at 30 bucks just two years ago.

Kyra, here's another one for you.

PHILLIPS: OK.

LISOVICZ: What costs more, ATM fee or share of Citigroup, one of the nation's largest financial companies?

PHILLIPS: What costs more?

LISOVICZ: Uh-huh.

PHILLIPS: OK, ATM.

LISOVICZ: Yes.

PHILLIPS: You set me up. I knew where you were going with these.

LISOVICZ: Yeah. You detected a theme here. It's a lot of pain, actually. I mean, ATM fees cost about 3 bucks. Citigroup closed yesterday at$2.60; compared to $55 a share two years ago. The bottom line here is share prices of many of our biggest companies are now cheaper than some of the inexpensive products they make.

And so many stocks that trade here at the NYSE are below $1, that the NYSE is considering relaxing the rules. For instance, AIG used to be the world's biggest insurance company, below a buck. Hovnanian, one of the nation's largest home builders, right now, trading around 87 cents. That's less than a set of spare of house keys.

I want to mention, we are seeing a sell-off today, Hovnanian shares are down nearly 10 percent. The sell-off today accelerated after we got a worse-than-expected report on existing home sales. We were actually expecting an uptick, instead we saw them decline in January by more than 5 percent, the lowest level in 12 years. Home prices falling, too, about 15 percent over the last year.

So the sell-off? We had a sell-off Monday, a nice rally yesterday, almost recouped everything. And today the sell off again, off the lows, the Dow right now down 90 points, or 1.25 percent. Ditto for the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

Kyra, you got an A in that exercise.

PHILLIPS: Whew. I'll tell you what. I usually never get an A in pop quizzes. I got lucky there. I know you too well.

LISOVICZ: Yes, you do.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Susan.

We'll go overseas now to the Netherlands and the crash of that Turkish Airlines plane. The Boeing 737 was on a flight from Istanbul when it slammed into a muddy field and broke into three parts, while trying to land in Amsterdam. Nine people were killed, more than 50 injured. Flight 1951 was carrying 134 people.

Now, in Mumbai, charges of waging war against India, and murder, filed today against the only gunman who survived that terrorist attack in November. Muhammad Kassad has been held by police since he was captured after the attacks. Nine other attackers were killed in the three-day siege, that targeted luxury hotels, a Jewish center and hospitals. More than 160 people were killed, including many foreigners.

Many grads are leaving college with a degree all right, a degree of debt they might be paying off until their kids go to college. We're going to look at the question, is that bachelor's really worth it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Higher education getting higher and higher in price. What's the president's plan to deal with that?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Because of this plan, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Well, have you seen how much it costs to put a kid through college? Parents need all the help they can get. The cost of a degree has some people wondering if it's worth it. Here's CNN's Alina Cho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ask Michelle Destruge the cost of college, she'll tell you, six figures.

(On camera): Staggering.

MICHELLE DESTRUGE, COLLEGE GRADUATE: Yes, it is.

CHO (voice over): Her four-year education at Fordham University has saddled her with $119,000 in student loans.

DESTRUGE: When you think about it, it's the largest sum, you start to feel, I don't know, you start to feel hopeless.

Hi there. How are you doing?

CHO: The 25-year-old works as an administrative assistant making about $40,000 a year. But more than half her salary goes toward paying down her college debt.

(On camera): You must lose sleep over this.

DESTRUGE: I did, for a little while. I did lose sleep. And then you start not paying your loans as well as you should, your companies make sure you lose sleep on it.

CHO: According to the College Board, two-thirds of four-year college grads have student debt, more than $22,000 on average. And salaries are not keeping pace. After adjusting for inflation, those with bachelor's degrees are actually making less than they were in the year 2000. Leaving many with debt they'll be paying off for decades. So is college worth the expense?

BEN KAUFMAN, BUSINESS OWNER: I learned more, a day, out of the classroom working in my business, than I could learn in an entire semester.

CHO: Ben Kaufman dropped out of college after one semester to start his own business selling iPod accessories. The 22-year-old is now starting a second business, with no regrets. Yet experts say college is still a good investment.

LAUREN ASHER, INST. FOR COLLEGE ACCESS & SUCCESS: College is more important than ever, for getting into and staying in the middle class in this country. In some ways it's replaced the high school degree even for entry level jobs.

CHO: Destruge admits she probably could have gotten her job with an associate's degree. She's living with her parents again, hoping to pay off her debt in 10 years. Her dreams like buying a home, starting a business, even marriage, are all on hold.

(On camera): Was it worth it?

DESTRUGE: I have to say yes.

CHO: What do you really feel, though?

DESTRUGE: I feel that it was a mistake to leverage myself, but I have to say it was worth it in the end.

CHO (on camera): Experts say now more than ever, it's important to shop around when you're looking for a college. Apply to a range of schools. And then once you've gotten your financial aid offer, compare it to the others, and then make a decision. Michelle Destruge says if she could do it all over again, she would take a year off. Looking back, she says she probably could have started at a community college, worked her way through, and then transferred to a four-year institution. She says she still would have gotten a great education, but with far less debt. Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: It's been almost a month since the start of the wildfire outbreak in Australia, and some of the blazes are still burning. We'll update the death toll and property damage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We've got some pretty amazing time-lapse video of a recent volcanic eruption in Chile. You remember us talking about this when it happened, right? Well, it actually spewed a ton of ash, erupting actually twice in less than a week. Fortunately no one was nearby. And no one got injured.

Now in Australia the death toll from wildfires has now reached 210; some of those victims still unidentified. Authorities are now saying at least 2,000 homes have been destroyed. Seven fires still burning, some of them actually still threatening residents here.

And here in the U.S. there's a wildfire danger in New Mexico and Texas and snow and rain a lot of other places. Chad Myers is watching it all for us.

What were you checking out? Were you making sure you had the right map?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I just had Australia up.

PHILLIPS: Oh, OK. You had the Google Earth.

MYERS: I was counting how many fires, there, on Google Earth; over 60 that I can find. Those are hot spots that the satellite can look down and say, hey, that's not a good thing. I can see it's hotter than the surrounding area. So they're figuring that those are all fires for sure.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

PHILLIPS: Well, a South Carolina 8th grader helped provide President Obama with his bottom line message in last night's speech to Congress, "We are not quitters." And she got to even sit by the first lady. Now the leaders and politicians say it was the best line of the night. We're actually going to hear what Ty'Sheoma Bethea has to say about her experience.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Alyce Dixon has seen a lot over the past century. She heard the call to duty during World War II and became part of the only African-American female battalion to head overseas. Their job? Making sure all those care packages and love letters made it to the soldiers in Europe. At 101-years-old, Dixon is the oldest living survivor of that group. Today the Army honored her and some other members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, at Arlington National Cemetery.

Later this week, we're going to celebrate the achievements of another group of African-Americans. The crew of Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 5202 made history earlier this month. It became the first all-female, African-American crew to fly a commercial jet. And Friday Captain Richelle Jones, First Officer Stephanie Grant, flight attendants Robin Rogers and Diana Galloway, all four of these barrier- breaking ladies will be our guests, right here, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A South Carolina girl shared the spotlight at the president's speech last night. Ty'Sheoma Bethea sat with the first lady as the president quoted a letter that she wrote a letter to Congress asking for help to save her crumbling school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We're just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself, and one day president. So we can make a change not just in the state of South Carolina, but also the world. We are not quitters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: I had a chance to speak with Ty'Sheoma earlier today. She's quite a girl. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TY'SHEOMA BETHEA, WROTE INSPIRING LETTER TO CONGRESS: There was a lot going on. And I thought it was very great for me to sit beside the first lady. I would also like to do it again.

PHILLIPS: My feeling is you probably will do it again. So tell me, what inspired you to write that letter in the first place?

BETHEA: After the stimulus bill was passed, a lot of money was being handed around and I thought more of it should go to students that are in need of help, because education is very important. PHILLIPS: And your school has been struggling for a long time, right? I mean, the president had visited your school in the past. That's where he played some basketball in your gym. Describe to us the conditions of your school.

BETHEA: The conditions in my school are very poor. Our mobiles shake when the train comes by, and teachers have to stop teaching. Usually, when it's time to catch up on the lesson, we forget what we're learning. So, it's very difficult to learn. But we have great teachers, and a great principal.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Well, you obviously were inspired to write the letter because of what you're dealing with, with regard to your school. And you wanted some of that stimulus money. And you know, you probably realize this, Ty'Sheoma, you've got the line of the year, my dear. We are not quitters. As a matter of fact, David Ignatius with "The Washington Post" wrote about your line. A number of politicians and leaders talking about it.

He wrote it was a moment Franklin D. Roosevelt would have savored in 1933 at the depth of the Great Depression, the president gesturing to the gallery of the House of Representatives and quoting a student from South Carolina, "We are not quitters."

Tell me why you are not a quitter.

BETHEA: We're not quitters, because anything is possible. And I don't think we should give up so easily. We should work harder for it.

PHILLIPS: What do you think about being a speechwriter for the president?

BETHEA: I think it was great to hear the president say my quote. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to say one of his one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wouldn't surprise any of us. So, President Obama speaking to Congress, and all Americans last night. But what were African-Americans hoping to hear from him? And what did they think? CNN's Soledad O'Brien joining us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We will recover, the president promises. But here's another three-word quote that sums up his 52-minute economic address to the nation, "I get it."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all other, and rightly so. If you haven't been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has - a friend, a neighbor, a member of your family. You don't need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis because you live it every day. It's the worry you wake up with, and the source of sleepless nights. It's the job you thought you'd retire from, but now have lost. The business you built your dreams upon that's now hanging by a thread. The college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope. The impact of this recession is real and it is everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We're taking the president's plans for the economy and pushing them forward with lots of help from you. CNN viewers want to know how and how soon these big ideas will affect them.

Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis here with some more of your emails.

Hey, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Kyra.

Yes, we're getting a lot of comments. A lot of them comments, not questions. Here's one, "Why has this become everyone's problem? I have sacrificed and done without to ensure my home payment is made in full and on time. Because of my tenacity, I am being punished. I am not eligible for any stimulus, yet those individuals who bought beyond their means and foregone their payments are now able to wait with their hands out for money from the government."

And that is from anonymous - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, well, Larry wants to know, "My wife and I have credit card debt of about $15,000. What can we do to get these dropped or lowered so we can pay them without all the interest on them which is 21 percent?"

Well, you've got to first of all, they're never going to drop money, right?

(LAUGHTER)

I mean, come on. Wouldn't that be nice if all our money could just be dropped?

WILLIS: Yes. You know, what about this 21 percent? That's way too much, Larry. At that rate it will take you years to get rid of that debt. Try to get those balances transferred to a credit card that has zero percent interest. Granted, it's getting harder and harder to find zero percent interest rate credit cards. And you need to watch the fine print here, because the window where you can use these introductory rates is getting shorter and shorter. The fees associated with transferring your balance, well, that's getting larger. So go to cardratings.com, or cardweb.com to find offers that would work for you.

PHILLIPS: All right, and this one from Nancy, "The stimulus has an $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers. How does this affect, if at all, the $7,500 credit passed last year? Is this a credit still a loan that needs to be paid back?"

WILLIS: All right, Nancy in New York, devil in the details here. Look, if you purchased a home in 2009, you can claim a tax credit of $8,000 on your '08 taxes, or file an amended return. If you bought a home in 2009, but already claimed that $7,500 credit, you can just amend your return or claim an additional credit up to $500. This $8,000 tax credit is not a loan you need to pay back. However, if you bought that home in '08, when the maximum credit was $7500, you'll need to pay back the government starting in 2010.

Very, very complicated stuff - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You help us on many levels to get through all that complicated stuff. Thanks, Gerri.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Our iReporters are also weighing in on what they think is ahead for the U.S. economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAIN DAPPER, CNN IREPORTER: If individual families do not make up the gap between what they have to pay out and what they're earning and increase that to the point where they have discretionary spending to buy a product off the shelf, it's going to be a long, hard haul. And I don't see this administration doing any of those things necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the president's words were meant to comfort, inspire and build confidence last night. That's a tall order in such tough economic times. So, how did he do? Our Jim Acosta checks out the Obama-meter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

INSERT ACOSTA 01CN.V11

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: America's energy future was a big part of President's Obama speech last night. We're going to find out more about his plans when we head live to New York for today's "Energy Fix."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I am now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars. And I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war. And with our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al-Qaeda and combat extremism. Because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens halfway around the world. We will not allow it.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: President Obama speaking last night, saying the White House is still reviewing plans for Iraq. And just hours ago, several U.S. Military officials told CNN they believe President Obama's expected to approve a proposal to withdraw most combat troops from Iraq within 19 months.

But what do people who live there actually think?

CNN's Arwa Damon got reaction from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Obama promising to end the Iraq war responsibly, and that is the word that is key. No one wants to see a premature U.S. troop withdrawal that would result in the loss of the current security gains.

The American military here has arguably been fighting to try to reverse the Bush administration's mistakes from entering Iraq without a proper post-war game plan to dismantling the Iraqi security forces that led to the bulk of the insurgency, rushing to seat an Iraqi government and rushing to establish Iraq's own security forces.

No one, not America, not the Iraqis themselves, are going to want to see a rush to pull U.S. troops out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And from troop withdrawals to deployment plans for Afghanistan are also a big part of the administration's agenda.

CNN's Atia Abawi has more now from Kabul, Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There hasn't been much of a reaction from Afghanistan just yet on President Obama's speech last night because many afghans weren't able to watch it. Those who have televisions will see clips tonight in their evening newscast.

President Obama has promised 17,000 additional troops into the country in 2009. Afghans are very skeptical of this decision saying it will lead to more civilian casualties. Two thousand eight was the deadliest year in the war on terror in Afghanistan, and 2009 is expected to be much worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, in his first address to Congress last night, President Obama named energy as one of three areas absolutely critical to America's economic future, laying out a bold agenda for energy reform. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has more in today's "Energy Fix."

Hey, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey there, Kyra.

That's right. President Obama making it clear he believes America's economic recovery is directly linked to clean energy innovation. Mainly because of the millions of jobs, he argues, it could create. He says, the time to invest, despite the recession, is now. Or, he says, the U.S. will be left in the dust.

Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient.

It is time for America to lead again.

We will double this nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right, that is a very lofty goal. Just so you know, right now, take a look at the pie chart, renewables create just about seven percent of the total U.S. energy consumption. Half - less than half of that comes from wind and solar power.

Last night, the president promised to spend $15 billion a year on clean energy development. That is on top of the roughly $50 billion allocated for green energy in the stimulus plan. Now, we could even see a government mandate to reach that goal. That is something that would require utility companies across the board to tap renewable, Kyra, for a certain portion of their energy production.

PHILLIPS: All right, you mentioned wind and solar power, and just as I came to you I was looking up because this massive fan just kicked up above me here. So, in case everything started blowing at the last minute - we were laughing, but I think we got by it.

HARLOW: We will know. We will know.

PHILLIPS: OK, yes, last night now, the president also called for a cap on carbon dioxide emissions. Tell us how that would work, Poppy.

HARLOW: We've heard so much about it, Kyra. It's simply a cap and trade system, but a lot of people don't know exactly what this is.

Just to explain it simply, the government would allow companies the right to emit only a certain amount of greenhouse gases. They would auction off credits to companies. But if a company exceed its limit, it would have to buy credits from other companies that polluted less than they were allowed to, essentially.

By getting cap and trade passed - but getting it passed, that's not going to be easy at all. Opponents argue that it's too expensive for companies. They insist it's going to mean higher energy costs for all of us. Some environmentalists, believe it or not, even say cap and trade could become a bureaucratic nightmare. They argue there are better ways, such as the carbon tax, another pretty complex thing.

Certainly not the last we're going to hear about this. It was one or two sentences in his speech, but critical.

PHILLIPS: All right. Poppy, appreciate it very much.

Remember the little old lady from Pasadena? She's got nothing on the rollerblading grandpa from South Port. The silver streak, and guess what, his rollerblading skills got him in some trouble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Rick Sanchez. What you working on back that for the next hour?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, did the American people like the president's speech last night? Do they feel better about the country as a result of listening to him? Do they think he's - do they have stronger feelings for him as a result now? Up and down on all of these questions on a new poll that we're going to be sharing with you.

Bobby Jindal is the guy who was chosen by the republicans last night. But interestingly enough, we found two republicans who are saying, not so good. As a matter of fact, one of them says, wasn't this supposed to be the smartest guy? We'll tell you who that is. And we'll go through the Bobby Jindal situation.

And then there's this story. This is interesting. It's about what's going on some border states like Arizona, for example. The rise in the heated rhetoric about undocumented immigrants is causing an increase in skinhead organizations and neo-Nazi organizations. Maybe some people have known that. But have you ever actually talked to somebody who led a double life? In one life he's a dad, he's a cop, he's a husband, and his other life he's a skinhead. And how he did that for an entire year. He's going to join us. Unbelievable story. Takes us really on the inside of this one.

PHILLIPS: Rick, sounds pretty interesting. Appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Washington's teed off, a bailed-out bank just shelled out big bucks to sponsor a golf tournament. Well, as part of the event, Northern Trust flew hundreds of clients and staff to Los Angeles and hosted swanky parties with big name entertainers to boot. Well, the company got $1.6 billion from the government, by the way. But execs want you to know that they didn't ask for that money. They also say no bailout funds were used for last week's festivities. Just FYI - North Trust said in December it was cutting about 450 jobs.

Well bad news for a tech company in Texas called Spansion. More than 3,000 workers were laid off over the weekend. The good news? Executives getting better paychecks. Well done. Well to be fair, the suits are not getting a raise per se, they're getting back the money they lost in a 10 percent pay cut last year. Spansion's PR peeps say it's important to keep the execs onboard so they can help create new jobs in the future.

In Southport, England, one of our favorite stories of the day. Home of beautiful beaches, championship golf, and the silver streak. A 71-year-old man who knows how to work his rollerblades. Poor guy was just trying to keep fit and doing a pretty bang-up job at that. But get this, he was found guilty of endangering pedestrians. So if you're in Southport, you won't see streak on the skates. No fair, he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEOFF DORNAN, ROLLERBLADER: In 7 1/2 years, every other day, I have never bumped into anybody. Now, that's not coincidence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But here's the accusation. You said so yourself, that at 71-years-old...

DORNAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... you need to grow up. That's what some people say.

DORNAN: Yes, right. Now, I'll grow up - I'm full of pain, I'm old. I want to go in the ground.

Of course, I don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You can tell Mr. Dornan isn't ready for the hoveround (ph) yet. He said he will keep skating somewhere, because you know what, it's life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, part of the celebration of Black History Month, President Obama hosting a gala for Stevie Wonder tonight. He'll present the singing legend with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize. Just the second handed out, by the way. And Stevie was nice enough to pop by and chat with us last hour. And I asked him, an early Obama supporter, what this all means to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEVIE WONDER, SINGER & SONGWRITER: Well, it's a magical moment in my life, obviously. Receiving from Barack Obama, president of the United States. This time when we are really predominantly, as all Americans, are attempting to create a new and greater America. Truly a united people of the United States of America, which is very exciting.

As well, obviously, the Gershwin Prize is special because of my appreciation and respect for the incredible amount of great music that they left behind. And obviously, being the second recipient next to a great songwriter as is Paul Simon, who received the first one, is truly an honor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, just to be clear, President Obama didn't pick who would get the Gershwin Prize. The Library of Congress announced the honor just before the election.

What a difference a day makes, partying with Stevie Wonder tonight, but yesterday it was all business for President Obama when he had to brief the nation on our grim economy. Soledad O'Brien joins us live from New York.

Soledad, President Obama was speaking to all Americans last night, of course, but how did he resonate in the black community?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think everybody's obviously watching his speech and the issues that affect the economy, affect all Americans, certainly. But when you look at some numbers, for example the jobless figure, generally speaking, it is 7.9 percent. But you look at African-Americans jobless figure is at 12.6 percent. So there's always that sense that it's just a little bit worse in the African-American community.

But what I thought was really interesting in his speech, and there's been a lot of focus by many groups about what's President Obama going to do about some of the failing schools that disproportionately affect African-American and Latino students. And I thought he had a really interesting moment when he talked about a young woman, and you saw the cut-away and she was sitting next to Michelle Obama in the audience.

And here's what he said; listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I think about Ty'Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina. The place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom.

She had been told that her school is hopeless. But the other day, after class, she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this chamber. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help and says, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourselves, and one day president. So we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina, but also the world. We are not quitters."

That's what she said, "We are not quitters."

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Kyra, really making a point through the eyes of this little girl who looked so nervous, didn't she, as she sat there and got to sit in on the address to Congress.

But also, I thought it was interesting, that he made it really clear throughout his speech, and he's done it in the past, you know, we're all in the same boat. We're in the same boat as Americans. That it matters to white Americans who are not impoverished, that the schools are failing. It matters to them. I thought that was a critical point to make.

PHILLIPS: Well, Ty'Sheoma, we had a chance to talk to her actually about an hour ago, Soledad. And I said, what do you think about the president using your line and now everybody's talking about that? That was like the line of the decade. And she said, well - and I asked her if she wanted to be a speechwriter, she said, well, no, but I'm sure I'll be quoting him in one of my speeches one of these days. She was so humble. It was great.

O'BRIEN: She was so cute. It was nice to see here.

PHILLIPS: And you can join Soledad again tonight. In honor of Black History Month, CNN will air an encore from our groundbreaking series, "BLACK IN AMERICA." That's tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

That does it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.