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Mortgage Remodeling; How to Save $40 Billion; British Prime Minister Addresses Congress; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Addresses Reporters; Military Recruiting Doing Well Thanks to Troubled Economy

Aired March 04, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is Wednesday, March 4th. And here are the top stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Do you qualify for a mortgage makeover? Team Obama unveils details of its modification program this morning. We'll magnify the fine print.

The president's new plan to weed out waste in federal contracts, he says it will save billions every year.

And when will Main Street get back in the stock market groove? CNN iReporters chime in on the confidence factor.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Tony Harris. And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. Let's start on Wall Street. And maybe, just maybe, a sliver of optimism.

Live pictures right now. The Dow up 117 points. That's some good news this morning, gaining well over one percent value since yesterday.

Blue chips have had just five winning days in the last month. The Dow is down about 20 percent for 2009 thus far.

All right. So hopefully, there might be some response on the markets. To the nitty-gritty of the president's mortgage modification program, which is out today.

It is one program, but two initiatives. One for homeowners who are under water because home values are down and they can't refinance. A second for those on the brink of foreclosure.

So here are the key points if you want to modify your mortgage.

The mortgage must have originated on or before January 1st, 2009. Principle balance cannot exceed $729,750. Homeowners who make on-time payments can get a thousand dollars shaved off their principle. Mortgages will be restructured so that home payments account for no more than 31 percent of a borrower's monthly income.

Well, there is more at this government Web site, financialstability.gov, if you want to delve into that. So this $75 billion plan could help as many as nine million homeowners who are in trouble right now.

CNN's Christine Romans is at the business desk in New York with more on this.

A bit of a shot in the arm, and some say it really is optimistic.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's the first, the biggest, widespread common guidelines for the lenders, for the services, for the people who you're writing the mortgage check and sending them into, and it's open for business today. We have seen ad hoc programs, we have seen some companies come out and say that they have a certain program. We have seen some public/private partnerships.

But this is the biggest effort so far. And two-pronged, as you pointed out, to help people refinance who might be under water in their loan, meaning they owe more on the mortgage than it's worth and they didn't qualify for a refinancing. Might be able to refinance those people who have a job, who have been paying their mortgage, were in a house that they could afford in the first place, and then there is also the second chunk, which is modifying.

And there you see that first one. That would be four to five million homeowners who could benefit from that, you know, refinancing into these lower monthly payments.

And then the other group of people are the people who are already behind. That could be three to four million people who fit in this category, already behind, unable to pay the mortgage. This would be, you know, the U.S. government subsidizing, helping lenders, you know, by paying them some fees and some bonuses to lower the interest rate, and maybe the principle to help people stay in a home and make it affordable.

The whole idea here is to make the mortgage payments more affordable, and the government says that it would like to get people to be able to pay their mortgage bills, because that's good for the economy. And that's what the bigger picture here is, the economy.

This happening, keep in mind, even as we're getting more details, Fredricka, about how weak the economy is, and the housing market in particular. Some 20 percent, Fredricka, of mortgages in this country at the end of last year were under water, meaning that people owed more on them than they were worth.

And I've got some statistics for you showing you the places. You know, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, California. Some of these states have just incredible levels, the percentage of homes that are under water, the people who are really, really up to their necks here and trying to figure out how to get out of it.

I've talked to some economists -- will this help the overall economy? And what they're telling me, basically, is this is going to help the seven to nine million people, if that's really how many people can be reached, seven to nine million people. It's going to help them. It's going to help them in the near term.

The overall economy though has a problem here that it's facing with joblessness, a problem with declining -- on all fronts, you have things that are kind of coming unglued here. So the concern here among some of the economists I'm talking to is that housing is where it began, but now we have moved on to joblessness. It will help the seven to nine million people who need to be helped, but we still have a jobs problem here. And for when people lose their income, they can't modify a loan to pay 31 percent of no income.

WHITFIELD: Right. Certainly one impacts the next.

ROMANS: Exactly. Exactly.

WHITFIELD: All right.

ROMANS: So still a tricky situation, but it is definitely moving on this front. The biggest movement we have seen yet.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, that's some encouragement there.

ROMANS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Christine Romans, thanks so much from New York. Appreciate it.

All right. So time now for our 90-second prescription. Today, we're asking financial experts how to fix the housing market. They get a minute and a half in which to do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY HILL, FINANCE PROFESSOR, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Here's my prescription for the housing crisis.

First of all, I'm not smart enough to have a solution, but I know one of the things we've got to do is, we have got to wait until we run off the stock of too many houses, so a lot of that is patience. And a lot of what we are doing is the right thing.

We are trying to get at much restructuring on mortgages as possible, and trying to standardize the terms of that. And when we standardize the terms, we're going to help out people that don't deserve it. You know, those speculators that President Obama talked about. It's unavoidable.

We've got to do as many restructurings as fast as we can, make that as broad as possible. And one thing I would like to see in those restructurings, that's that, you know, if we write somebody's mortgage down because the price of their house fell, they have the opportunity to have the house go up in value in the future. It would be great if taxpayers and the banks who are making those accommodations had a right to claw back some of that gain, as well. Make us all feel better about putting tax dollars into this rescue plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: All right. That's one way of looking at it.

Just some live pictures right now. There, Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown there, shaking hands there in Congress during this meeting with Congress. Soon to be in introduced, and then he'll also do something very special there on Capitol Hill. Actually knighting a certain someone, probably the most recognizable senator there on Capitol Hill. And really, frankly, the world.

And that will be something that we'll be dipping into momentarily as it happens. Not an ordinary sight to see a knighting bestowed upon by the queen, but carried out by the British prime minister here in America, but we will be seeing that momentarily, and then hearing more from Gordon Brown, as well.

All right. Meantime, Gordon Brown in town, of course, meeting with the president. And the president is focusing on cutting waste and government contracts overall.

President Obama says it could save $40 billion a year. The president has been under fire from critics over spending, and last hour he signed a memo to change the way federal contracts are actually awarded.

White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us now from the White House with details on that -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred.

Well, we heard from President Obama. In some ways, he is taking responsibility, obviously his administration, for getting rid of waste, he says. And another way he is squarely putting the blame on the previous administration, President Bush, saying that about half a trillion dollars over the last eight years really wasteful spending because of what's been happening, using private contractors for the jobs that essentially government employees could do. So we heard from President Obama making some very significant pledges.

First and foremost, he said that he would stop outsourcing services, services that could be done by government employees. Second, that he would end the process of no-bid contracts in situations that were not necessary. And third, he said that he believes that we could save up to $40 billion a year if the government implements this plan.

I want you to take a close listen, Fred, to how he outlined it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My budget reduces discretionary spending for non-defense programs as a share of the economy by more than 10 percent over the next decade. And it will take it to the lowest level in nearly half a century.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: And Fred, he said that twice, just to emphasize the point, to take on his critics. But it was really interesting, however, to see who he was actually with.

He had Senator Carl Levin on one side, a Democrat, Senator John McCain, as you know, his former rival -- the two of them. He congratulated them, saying they have been trying to reform this process, government waste.

But kind of the backstory here, Fred, if you will, there is currently this spending bill, left over from fiscal 2009, in the tune of $410 billion, that has 9,000 earmarks that is making its way through Congress and will be on his desk. And we have been told by various officials that the president will, in fact, sign that. He has gotten a lot of criticism about that, because as you know, he campaigned saying he was not going to put up with earmarks, and so that's kind of the backstory, if you will, of this wasteful government spending -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much from the White House.

Let's head down Pennsylvania Avenue, up the hill quite a bit, Capitol Hill. Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: ... is, and always will be an inspiration to me and to the whole world.

(APPLAUSE)

BROWN: Two centuries ago, (inaudible) creation of America was the boldest possible acclamation of faith in the future. It's a future every not just believed in, but a future you have built with your own hands.

And on the 20th of January, you, the American people, wrote the latest chapter in the American story with a transition of dignity in which both sides of the aisle should take great pride.

(APPLAUSE)

And on that day, billions of people truly looked to Washington, D.C. as a shining city upon the hill lighting up the whole of the world. I'd like to thank President Obama for his leadership, for his friendship, and for giving the whole world renewed hope in itself.

(APPLAUSE)

And I know he will allow me to single out for special mention today one of your most distinguished senators known in every continent and a great friend. Northern Ireland today is at peace. More Americans have health care. Children around the world are going to school. And for all those things, we owe a great debt to the life and courage of Senator Edward Kennedy.

(APPLAUSE)

And today, having talked him last night, I want to announce, awarded by Her Majesty the Queen, on behalf of the British people, an honorary knighthood for Sir Edward Kennedy.

(APPLAUSE)

Madam Speaker, Mr. Vice President, I come in friendship to renew for new times our special relationship that is founded on our shared history, our shared values, and I believe, our shared futures. I grew up in the 1960's as America, led by President Kennedy, looked to the heavens and saw not the endless void of the unknown but a new frontier to dare to discover and to explore.

People said it couldn't be done, but America did it. And 20 years later in the 1980's, America, led by President, refused to accept the fate of millions trapped behind the and insisted instead that the peoples of Eastern Europe be allowed to join the ranks of nations which live safe, strong, and free.

People said it would never happen in our lifetime, but it did. And the Berlin Wall was torn down brick by brick.

(APPLAUSE)

So early in my life, I came to understand that America is not just the indispensable nation, you are the irrepressible nation.

(APPLAUSE)

Throughout you're history, America has led insurrections in the human imagination. You've summoned revolutionary times through your belief that there is no such thing as an impossible endeavor.

And it's never possible to come here without having your faith in the future renewed. Now, I want to thank you on behalf of the British people because throughout a whole century, the America people stood liberty's ground not just in one world war but in two.

And I want you to know that we will never forget the sacrifice and the service of the American soldiers who gave their lives for people whose names they never knew and whose faces they never saw, yet people who have lived in freedom thanks to the bravery and valor of the Americans who gave that last full measure of devotion.

(APPLAUSE)

Cemetery after cemetery across Europe honors the memory of American soldiers, resting row upon row, often alongside comrades in arms from Britain. And there is no battlefield of liberty on which there is not a piece of land that is marked out as American, and there is no day of remembrance within Britain that is not also a commemoration of American courage and sacrifice far from home. In the hardest days of the last century, faith in the future kept America alive. And I tell you that America kept faith in the future alive for all the world.

And let me pay a tribute to the soldiers, yours and ours, who today fight side by side in the plains of Afghanistan, the streets of Iraq, just as their forefathers fought side by side in the sands of Tunisia, the beaches of Normandy, and then on the bridges over the Rhine.

(APPLAUSE)

Almost every family in Britain has a tie that binds them to America. So I want you to know that, whenever a young American soldier or Marine or sailor or airman is killed in conflict anywhere in the world, we, the people of Britain, grieve with you. We know that your loss is our loss, your family's sorrow is our family's sorrow, and your nation's determination is our nation's determination that they shall not have died in vain.

(APPLAUSE)

And after that -- and after that terrible September morning when your homeland was attacked, the Coldstream Guards at Buckingham Palace played the "Star-Spangled Banner," our own British tribute as we wept for our friends in the land of the free and home of the brave.

And let me, therefore, promise you our continued support to ensure that there is no hiding place for terrorists, no safe haven for terrorism. You should be proud that in the years after 2001, that while terrorists may destroy buildings and even, tragically, lives, they have not and will not ever destroy the American spirit.

(APPLAUSE)

So let it be said of the friendship between our two countries that it is in times of trial true, in face of fear faithful, and amidst the storms of change constant. And let it be said of our friendship, also, formed and forged over two tumultuous centuries, a friendship tested in war, strengthened in peace, that it has not just endured, but is renewed each generation to better serve our shared values and fulfill the hopes and dreams of the day. Not an alliance of convenience, it is a partnership of purpose.

Alliances can wither or be destroyed, but partnerships of purpose are indestructible. Friendships can be shaken, but our friendship is unshakable. Treaties can be broken, but our partnership is unbreakable. And I know that there is no power on Earth that can ever drive us apart.

(APPLAUSE)

We will work tirelessly with you as partners for peace in the Middle East, for a two-state solution proposed by President Clinton and driven forward by President Bush, that provides for nothing less than a secure Israel safe within its borders existing side by side with a viable Palestinian state.

(APPLAUSE)

And we will work tirelessly with you to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation and reduce the stockpile of nuclear weapons. And our shared message to Iran, it is simple. We are ready for you to rejoin the international community but, first, you must cease your threats and suspend your nuclear programs.

(APPLAUSE)

Past prime ministers are traveled to this Capitol building in time of war to talk of war. I come now to talk of new and different battles we must also fight together to speak of a global economy in crisis and a planet in peril.

These are new priorities for our new times. And let us be honest, tonight, too many parents, after they put their children to bed, will speak of their worries about losing their jobs or their need to sell the house. Too many will share stories of friends or neighbors already packing up their homes. Too many will talk about of a local store or business that has already gone to the wall.

For me, this global recession is not to be measured just in statistics or in graphs or on a balance sheet. Instead, I see one individual with one set of dreams and fears, then another and then another, each with their own stars to reach for, each part of a family, each at the heart of a community now in need of help and hope.

And when banks have failed and markets have faltered, we, the representatives of the people, have to be the people's last line of defense.

(APPLAUSE)

And that's why, for me, there is no financial orthodoxy so entrenched, there's no conventional thinking so ingrained, there's no special interest so strong that it should ever stand in the way of the change that hardworking families now need.

We have learned through this world downturn that markets should be free, but market should never be values free.

(APPLAUSE)

We have learned that the risks...

(APPLAUSE)

We have learned that the risks people take should never be separated from the responsibilities that they must meet.

(APPLAUSE)

And if, perhaps, someone thought it beyond our power to shape global markets to meet the needs of the people, we now know that that is our duty. We cannot and must not stand aside.

(APPLAUSE)

In our families and workplaces and in our places of worship, we celebrate men and women of integrity who work hard, treat people fairly, take responsibility, look out for others. And if these are the principles we live by in our families and neighborhoods, they should also be the principles that guide and govern our economic life.

(APPLAUSE)

And the world -- and the world has learned that what makes for the good society also now makes for the good economy, too. My father was a minister of the church. And I have learned again what I was taught by him that wealth should help more than the wealthy, that good fortune should serve more than the fortunate; and that riches must enrich not just some of our communities but all of our communities.

(APPLAUSE)

And these enduring values are, in my view, the values we need for these new times. We tend to think of the sweep of history as stretching across many months and years before culminating in decisive moments that we call history. But sometimes the reality is that defining moments of history come suddenly and without warning. And the task of leadership then is to define them, to shape them, and to move forward into the new world they demand.

An economic hurricane has swept the world, creating a crisis of credit and a crisis of confidence. History has brought us now to a point where change is essential, and we are summoned not just to manage our times, but to (inaudible) them.

And our task is to rebuild prosperity and security in a wholly different economic world, where competition is no longer just local, but it's global, and where banks are no longer national, but they're international. And we need to understand, therefore, what went wrong in this crisis, that the very financial instruments that were designed to diversify risk across the banking system instead spread contagion right across the globe.

And today's financial institutions, they're so interwoven that a bad bank anywhere is a threat to good banks everywhere. But should we succumb to a race to the bottom and to a protectionism that history tells us that in the end protects no one, no, we should have the confidence, America and Britain most of all, that we can seize the global opportunities ahead and make the future work for us.

And why? Because while today people are anxious and feel secure -- insecure, over the next two decades, literally billions of people in other continents will move from being simply producers of their goods to being consumers of our goods. And in this way, the world economy will double in size: twice as many opportunities for business, twice as much prosperity, the biggest expansion of middle- class incomes and jobs the world has seen.

So we win our future not by retreating from the world, but by engaging with it. And America and Britain will succeed and lead if we tap into the talents of our people, unleash the genius of our scientists, set free the drive of our entrepreneurs. We will win the race to the top if we can develop the new high-value-added products and services and the new green goods that the rising number of hardworking families across our globe will want to buy. So in these unprecedented times, we must educate our way out of the downturn. We must invest and invent our way out of the downturn. We must re-tool and re-skill our way out of the downturn.

And this is not blind optimism or synthetic confidence to console people. It's the practical affirmation for our times of a faith in a better future.

Every time we rebuild a school, we demonstrate our faith in the future. Every time we send more people to university, every time we invest more in our own digital infrastructure, every time we increase support for our scientists, we demonstrate our faith in the future.

And so I say to this Congress and this country something that runs deep in your character and is woven in your history: We conquer our fear of the future through our faith in the future.

And it is this faith in the future that means we must commit to protecting the planet for generations that will come long after us. The Greek proverb, what does it say? Why does anybody plant the seeds of a tree whose shade they will never see? The answer is: because they look to the future.

And I believe you, the nation that had the vision to put a man on the moon, are also the nation with a vision to protect and preserve our planet Earth.

(APPLAUSE)

And you know it's only by investing in environmental technology that we can end the dictatorship of oil and it's only by tackling climate change that we can create the millions of new green jobs that we need and can have.

For the lesson of this crisis is that we cannot just wait for tomorrow, we cannot just think of tomorrow today, we cannot merely plan for tomorrow today. Our task must be to build tomorrow today.

And America knows from its history that its reach goes far beyond its geography. For a century, you have carried upon your shoulders the greatest of responsibilities to work with and for the rest of the world. And let me tell you that now more than ever, the rest of the world wants to work with America.

If these times have shown us anything, it's that the major challenges we face are global. No matter where it starts, an economic crisis does not stop at the water's edge. It ripples across the world. Climate change does not own a passport (inaudible). Terrorism has no respect for borders.

Modern communication instantly spans every continent. The new frontier is that there is no frontier. And the new shared truth is that global problems now need global solutions.

(APPLAUSE)

And let me say to you directly you now have the most pro-American European leadership in living memory. It's a leadership that wants to cooperate more closely together in order to cooperate more closely with you.

There is no old Europe, no new Europe. There is only your friend, Europe.

(APPLAUSE)

So once again I say we should seize this moment because never before have I seen a world willing to come together so much, never before has that been more needed, and never before have the benefits of cooperation been so far reaching.

So when people hear -- and in other countries ask -- what more can we do to bring an end to this downturn, let me say this. We can achieve more by working together. And just think of what we can do if he combine, not just in a partnership for security but in a new partnership for prosperity.

On jobs, you, the American people, through your stimulus proposals, could create or save at least 3 million jobs. We, in Britain, are acting with similar determination, but how much nearer an end to this downturn would we all be in the whole of the world resolved to do the same?

And you are also restructuring your banks. So are we. But how much safer would everybody's savings be if the whole world finally came together to outlaw shadow banking systems and outlaw offshore tax havens?

(APPLAUSE)

So just think how each of our actions, if combined, could mean a whole much greater than the sum of its parts. All and not just some banks stabilized. Our fiscal stimulus, the impact multiplied because everybody is doing it. Rising demand in all our countries creating jobs in each of our countries.

And trade, once again, the engine of prosperity, the wealth of nations restored. No one should forget it was American visionaries who, over a half a century ago, coming out of the deepest of depressions and the worst of the wars, produced the boldest of plans for global economic cooperation.

They recognized that prosperity was indivisible. They concluded that to be sustained, it had to be shared. And I believe that ours, too, is a time for renewal, for a plan (inaudible) recession and building for the future, every continent playing their part in a global New Deal, a plan for prosperity that can benefit us all. And first, so that the whole of our worldwide banking system serves our prosperity rather than risks it, let us agree in our G-20 summit in London in April rules and standards for proper accountability, transparency, and reward that will mean an end to the excesses and will apply to every bank everywhere all the time.

(APPLAUSE)

Second, America and are a few others cannot be expected to bear all the burden of the fiscal and interest rate stimulus. We must share it globally. So let us work together for the worldwide reduction of interest rates and a scale of stimulus that is equal to the debt of the recession and round the world to the dimensions of recovery and, most of all, equal to the millions of jobs we must safeguard and create.

(APPLAUSE)

And, third, let us together renew our international economic cooperation. Help emerging markets rebuild the banks. Let us sign a world trade agreement to expand commerce. Let us work together, also, for a low-carbon recovery.

(APPLAUSE)

And I am confident that this president, this Congress, and the peoples of the world can come together in Copenhagen in December and reach a historic agreement to combat climate change.

(APPLAUSE)

And let us never forget in times of turmoil our duty to the least of these, the poorest of the world. In the Rwandan museum of genocide, there is a memorial to the countless children who were among those murdered in the massacres in Rwanda.

And there is one portrait of a child, David. The words beneath him are brief, yet they weigh on me heavily. It says, "Name, David. Age, 10. Favorite sport, football. Enjoyed making people laugh. Dreamed to become a doctor. Cause of death, tortured to death. Last words, 'The United Nations will come for us.'"

But we never did. That child believed the best of us, but he was wrong, as to our eternal discredit. We tend to think of a day of judgment as a moment to come, but our faith tells us, as the writer said, that judgment is more than that. It's a summary court in perpetual session.

And when I visit those bare, rundown, yet teeming classrooms across Africa, they're full of children like our children, desperate to learn. But because we've been unable as a world to keep our promises to help, more and more children, I tell you, are being lured to expensively funded madrassas, teaching innocent children to hate us.

So for our security and our children's security and these children's future, you know, the greatest gift of our generation, the greatest gift we could give to the world, the gift of America and Britain could be that every child in every country should have the chance 70 million children today do not have, the chance to go to school, to spell their names, to count their age, and perhaps learn of a great generation who are striving to make their freedom real.

(APPLAUSE)

For let us remember that there is a common bond that, across different beliefs, cultures and nationalities, unites us as human beings. It is at the core of my convictions; it's the essence of America's spirit; it's the heart of all our faiths; and it must be at the center of our response to this crisis, too.

Our values tell us we cannot be wholly comfortable while others go without comfort, that our communities can never be fully at ease if millions feel ill at ease, that our society cannot be truly strong when millions are left so weak. And this much we know: When the strong help the weak, it makes us all stronger.

And this, too, is true: All of us know that in a recession the wealthiest, the most powerful, and the most privileged can find a way through.

So we don't value the wealthy less when we say that our first duty is to help the not-so-wealthy. We don't value the powerful less when we say our first responsibility is to help the powerless. And we do not value those who are secure less when we say our first priority must be to help the insecure.

These recent events have forced us all to think anew. And while I've learned many things over these last few months, I keep returning to something I first learned in my father's church as a child. In these most modern of crises, I'm drawn to the most ancient of truths: Wherever there is hardship, wherever there is suffering, we cannot, we will not, we will never pass by on the other side.

(APPLAUSE)

But, you know, working together, there is no challenge to which we are not equal. There's no obstacle we cannot overcome. There's no aspiration so high it cannot be achieved. And the depths of the Depression, when Franklin Roosevelt did battle with fear itself, it was not simply by the power of his words, his personality, and his example that he triumphed.

Yet all these things mattered. But what mattered more was this enduring truth that you, the American people, at your core, where as you remain every bit as optimistic as your Roosevelts, your Reagans, and your Obamas...

(APPLAUSE)

... is the faith in the future that has always been the story and promise of America. So at this defining moment in history, let us renew our special relationship for our generation and our times. Let us work together to restore prosperity and protect this planet.

And with faith in the future, let us, together, build tomorrow today.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

WHITFIELD: All right, powerful words, powerful reception there on Capitol Hill. You're looking at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown there, talking about cementing the commitment between the U.S. and Great Britain as it pertains to the global economy, combating climate change and as well overall making the world safer, particularly for children.

Meantime, just down the street on Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House there, you can see right there, press conference already under way. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, along with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. They're talking about - responding to questions there by the reporters about pork projects.

TOM VILSACK, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: Well, I don't want to go into great deal about this particular contract other than to say that the career folks who watched this process unfold in the last waning days of this last administration were very concerned about the process, the connections and relationships between people receiving this $0.5 million contract and what they intended to do with the resource, which the career folks felt was unnecessary and inappropriate.

They made a very strong and powerful case to me that the process wasn't followed as it should have been. Their input was not valued as it should be.

We've put a lot of -- a lot of confidence in people who have been through this process before in terms of knowing precisely how best to use these tax dollars.

And this particular consulting contract, I've looked at the details. I didn't see any value to USDA from it.

I will tell you that it was rather startling to see that a substantial amount of money had already been spent on foreign travel, which, under the circumstances, we did not think was appropriate.

In terms of litigation...

(CROSSTALK)

VILSACK: In terms of litigation, I feel very confident on this one that we will prevail, and I would -- I'd be surprised if it's questioned.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... Mr. Secretary, who this involves, and more details? It sounds like a rather startling discovery that you've made, and the taxpayers probably would like to know more about it.

VILSACK: Well, I think what taxpayers need to know is that every single department of government has now been charged by the president to review in detail the nature of contracts that we've entered into in order to do what American families are doing.

American families are sitting down today and trying to decide how do we save money, how do we eliminate unnecessary spending. Their expectation is the government does the same.

I don't want to get into details about this, but I will tell you that I think it's appropriate for us to do this. I'm glad the president's instructed us to do this. And I think we'll probably continue to find savings.

QUESTION: But why (INAUDIBLE) details? This is government funds. The public has a right to know, with all due respect.

VILSACK: Well, I'm happy to share -- I don't want to step on protocol here. I'm happy to share, if -- if Mr. Gibbs expects it to be...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Transparent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay it out. I'm all for it.

VILSACK: It involves an individual, if I understand, Johnson who had a close connection with -- with the previous administration. It was a consulting contract for $500,000. A substantial amount of money was spent for foreign travel.

To be honest with you, we saw very little, if any, value to the USDA. And a number of career folks were very concerned about how the process unfolded. And had their input been valued, the contract would not have been entered into.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) favoritism thing, Mr. Secretary?

VILSACK: You know, I -- I don't know about that. I don't know. I just know that there was a -- there was a close connection. It was a contract that I think was unnecessary. And I know the career people were very concerned about the way in which it unfolded.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) what issue, sir? Consulting on what issue?

VILSACK: Well, that's a good question, and I can't answer it.

QUESTION: Can we get more details from your department later? ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, we'll fill you in on...

(CROSSTALK)

VILSACK: Yes (INAUDIBLE) be happy to.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Johnson have any connection to the Bush administration or the (INAUDIBLE)

VILSACK: I doubt that he did. Actually, he used to work at Iowa State University.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary...

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary? Mr. Secretary? Can you just say one thing as far as U.S. and India relations (INAUDIBLE) USDA and agriculture (INAUDIBLE). In the past -- there was a Green Revolution in the '60s and now they were talking about second revolution. What's going on with (INAUDIBLE) on agriculture?

VILSACK: Well, we're very familiar with the circumstances of the Green Revolution. Dr. Bullock (ph) and I were native, educated in Minnesota, and really a great American, and was the father of that green revolution. It helped to save hundreds of millions of lives. We are now challenged, as the world population continues to grow, and the amount of land available to plant continues to shrink with developing communities and cities. We are challenged to find the science that will allow us to continue...

WHITFIELD: All right, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack there, being peppered by questions from the reporters at the White House, along with the Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, as well as the Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano there. Being asked a lot about the types of spending that has happened in the past involving their departments and this point forward.

All right. How confident are you in the stock market? Our iReporters are weighing in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, stocks are in the tank, interest rates are low, so what are you doing with your savings? Jumping in to the market or taking your money and running? Let's take a trip to CNN.com's iReporter desk and check in with one of the guys helping run things down there. Our iReport operation producer Tyson Wheatley.

Good to see you, Tyson.

TYSON WHIEATLEY, CNN.COM PRODUCER: Hey, Fredericka. How are you? WHITFIELD: I'm doing pretty good.

WHEATLEY: So, you know, as you mentioned, stock market has taken quite a beating here in 2009 to say the least. I think earlier this week we had - what? - an 11-year low. And we thought this would be a great opportunity to sort of ask our iReport community for their true feelings on the stock market. Are you afraid to invest right now? Or, are you sticking with it? Or, are you pulling out like so many others that we're reading about?

WHITFIELD: And the consensus?

WHEATLEY: Well, the consensus is - well, it's actually really mixed. Some are saying that, yes, I'm afraid of it. Other people are saying that this is actually the right time to invest.

So one of our favorite iReporters, actually, Chris Morrow, she's from San Diego. She took it upon herself to grab her camera and go out to the streets of San Diego and asks some people this very question for us. Made this great video. And she started with her husband.

So let's take a look at this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Am I confident in the market? Do I think it's going to rebound. Bite my lip and say, yes, but the confidence is just weaning. I've been losing money and I'm not sure I'll stop losing money on this thing yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't really invest except for my 401(k) and in that case, I don't really look at it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Abdun (ph) Rasheed (ph) and I don't really think the stock market is going anywhere. I think it's always going to be there, it's going to be high and low. You know? For Christ's sake, we're all gamblers. I think we should put some money in there and try to win. And I think we can make the stock market go back up by investing in there and putting a little bit of confidence in the system. And Americans have a good system. Take a chance. I came from Jamaica. I came up here. It was a chance and I'm living in a good place. So I think this is a good opportunity for people who live here and people who work here and people who are here to take advantage of the system. It's good system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHEATLEY: All right. So there you have it, a small fraction of some of the great responses that we're getting. We're also hearing a lot of frustration, but a lot of - but also a lot of positive comments. You know, people who realize that, hey, we're all in this together. So, let's have this conversation.

And, of course, like we do every day, we invite our iReporters to weigh in on this subject and many more. So just go to iReport.com and tell us how you feel about the stock market.

WHITFIELD: And it's always good to hear what they're thinking, but I think the take away from that is it is a real mix of hot and cold there. Some are just all for it, just hang in there, and others as could you hear right there, are a little bit worried.

WHEATLEY: There's no doubt about that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tyson, appreciate it. Thanks so much.

WHEATLEY: All right, take care.

WHITFIELD: Well, this indeed has been a big focus if a lot of folks. The billions of dollars in earmarks, as well, and the huge spending bill before Congress. Didn't President Obama promise to end all of that? Our Josh Levs has a reality check now.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can tell you're ready for the answer.

WHITFIELD: I'm ready. I'm ready. People remember what they heard on the campaign trail and what's the comparison now.

LEVS: One of these times we have to reach back, right, into the archives and see, in fact, what was there. In fact, I'll tell you right now. We've pulled up the video of what then-candidate Barack Obama said in his first presidential debate. It was a promise that he made about how he would handle earmarks as president. The question now, a couple questions, is he keeping that promise and check this out, this is what time.com is asking, does Obama have a double standard on earmarks.

Fred, we're going to have answers on all of that. We'll kind of dig into it, give you that reality check next hour right here in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: All right. We look forward to that. Thanks so much, Josh.

LEVS: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, when you hear the word "caregiver," you probably think health care, right, not home care? Well, it's a whole new business that's breathing some life back into real estate.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, the economy is tanking, unemployment is rising - so where do you turn if you can't find a paycheck? More Americans are finding the answer in uniform.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRABARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the economy in shambles and unemployment on the rise, the Pentagon is finding many young people are making their way to the recruiting office. From 2005 to 2007, when violence in Iraq was at record levels, recruiters couldn't meet their goals and many troops were getting out of the service as fast as they could. Now it seems everybody wants in.

VICE ADMIRAL MARK FERGUESON, CHIEF OF NAVAL PERSONNEL: We see individuals reenlisting at greater than our required levels.

STARR: Already, the Army and Marine Corps have achieved a planned troop increase months ahead of schedule. But still there are problems.

CURTIS GILROY, U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT: As the economy continues to dip and unemployment rises, recruiting should be somewhat less difficult. We know this. But the economy is not the only driver of our attention and our recruiting programs.

STARR: Recruiters still find parents are much less likely these days to encourage their children to join the military. These commercials are an effort to change that.

(VIDEO CLIP, U.S. ARMY RECRUITMENT ADVERTISEMENT)

STARR: But finding enough young Americans really able to serve remains a challenge. The Pentagon says much of today's youth is simply unqualified. Obesity, drug and alcohol problems, and lack of education means only 25 percent of Americans aged 17 to 24 are qualified for military service.

(on camera): So many are signing up for repeat tours of duty that the Pentagon is eliminating some of those signing bonuses. They're just simply no longer needed.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)