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Stimulus Money Healing Americans Health Problems; GM Workers React to CEO's Departure; North Dakota Faces More Bad Weather; Hacker Ring's Worldwide Targets Included Dalai Lama

Aired March 30, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama facing a new week and a jam-packed schedule. Next hour, he's going to talk about troubled automakers GM and Chrysler. His message comes with a warning if they want more taxpayer money, they need to reinvent themselves from top to bottom.

Tomorrow, he heads out on his first presidential trip to Europe. He'll visit five countries in eight days. The highlight, of course, will likely be the G-20 Summit in London. It gets under way on Thursday. Global recession will be a major focus there.

There's an awful lot at stake. And we're here to break it all down for you. Kate Bolduan has details of the plan and auto industry analyst Chad Ratchet (ph) looks at the big question. Is new direction needed?

Let's go ahead and begin with Kate at the White House.

Kate, give us the latest here.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're expecting and waiting to hear from the president in the next hour, just about an hour from now, Heidi. What we're expecting to here is really what we've heard from senior administration officials already today. Bottom line, the administration does not think that these companies have proven their viability and warrant more financial support on the taxpayer dollar.

They just have given them a failing grade, and so now they say they're going to have to prove their worth, show this viability that we keep talking about in a very short period of time and say they're going to need some very significant concessions. Perfect example, GMs top man, CEO and chairman Rick Wagoner has been asked to and says he's agreed to step down. So expect to hear more about that Heidi.

COLLINS: But they don't have much time. I know they're trying to decide whether or not they're going to survive in order to give them more money. But I guess, what is it, GM gets 60 days, Chrysler gets 30 days to completely turn things around?

BOLDUAN: Yeah. That is a short time frame. But what we're hearing from the administration is if they haven't proven it yet, why give them more time? What they're saying is that these two companies, the American auto industry is so important to the American economy and reaches out to so many different people from the manufacturer to the suppliers to the car dealers, that they do not want them to fail. So they're giving them one last chance. General Motors is getting 60 days, Chrysler getting 30 to see if they deserve additional money on top of the 17.4 billion dollars that was in loans that was approved in the first go around. So they want a little proof.

Interesting point though Heidi, among all of this tough talk that we're getting from the administration, senior administration officials are trying to offer a little bit of optimism saying that they are confident that GM can survive and thrive as a company. They're hoping to see that happen in this next short period of time. But Chrysler, it's a different company, a different situation, they don't think it can stand on its own or survive, and so it's going to need a partnership, Heidi.

COLLINS: Interesting. All right, well we want to talk more about it. Kate Bolduan, we appreciate that coming to us from outside the White House this morning.

Let's get the view now from a long-time analyst of the car industry. Csaba Csere is a former editor in chief of "Car & Driver" magazine, he's joining us from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

So Csaba, my first question for you, as we just sort of laid it out with Kate there. Let's see, GM has the 60 days and Chrysler has the 30 days.

Is that enough time to make a significant difference for these companies?

CSABA CSERE, AUTO ANALYST: Well, the administration is playing hard ball here. What they're basically signaling is that the various stakeholders haven't given enough. The bondholders haven't been flexible enough to take a financial haircut. The union hasn't given enough and the car companies haven't given enough. So they're really holding their feet to the fire. They're giving them one last chance and they're also, by lopping off Rick Wagoner's head, just showing how serious they are and again by hitting management that hard, they're going back to the union and the bond holders and saying, look, we're not kidding around. We just killed the chairman of GM, you guys are next if you don't come across.

COLLINS: In fact listen to this with me. This was the president on CBS's "Face the Nation" over the weekend. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everybody is going to have to come to the table and say it's important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I wonder, Csaba, what exactly has GM done for the last four months?

CSERE: Well, they've done quite a bit. Keep in mind that GM has been restructuring for some time. They've shed roughly half their workers in North America in the last five years, so they've done a tremendous amount. But these are also enormously complicated companies. They're planning products not six months out and a year out, but six years out. And you don't turn that stuff around very quickly. Also, they've had a moving target. The automotive task force wasn't even fully staffed until end of January, so they didn't necessarily know what was expected of them. It's very difficult to restructure these companies.

COLLINS: It sounds like you think they deserve another chance.

CSERE: Well, I think they absolutely deserve another chance. In fact, you know, GM was in a pretty good turn around mode before this huge recession hit. If they had had another few years of good economy, the company wouldn't be in this circumstance today. But the problem is, they ran out of time and you cannot fix this stuff very quickly. GM today is suffering for the sins of the past 30 years.

COLLINS: All right, we're going to watch this closely alongside you as well. Going to talk with you next time because I know (INAUDIBLE) for a little while here after we hear more about this. I want to talk about Fritz Henderson, the guy who's going to be taking over for Rick Wagoner. Thanks so much, Csaba. We'll talk with you in just a few minutes. In fact at the bottom of the hour, we're going to talk to rank and file workers in the heart of GM country. Our Susan Candiotti will be joining us from Warren Michigan for that.

We will have live coverage of President Obama's remarks on the auto industry and his plans to help it. He is scheduled to speak at the top of the hour.

President Obama is preparing for his debut on the world stage. He leaves on his first overseas trip as president tomorrow. He'll be meeting with world leaders at the G-20 summit in London. But he could be in for an earful. Protests, in fact, have been going on in major cities across Europe. The demonstrations are about the economic crisis, climate change and inequality.

Meanwhile, a quick check of the big board now. We've been watching this all morning long. Again, we're only about 35 minutes into the trading day and the Dow Jones Industrial Averages are down by 240 points. Resting just above that 7,500 mark so we will keep our eye on that for you.

The worst is not over yet in Fargo, North Dakota. A snow storm headed that way after a weekend of record flooding. A high school campus just swamped after flood waters breached a levee yesterday. Helicopters dropped off sandbags over the city and residents are now told to keep them handy just in case things get worse. Officials say temporary dikes have kept Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota safe from catastrophic flooding.

Now people are worried that winds from the snow storm will cause problems with the sandbag dikes along the Red River that are already in place of course. CNN's Susan Roesgen is in Moorhead right now. So Susan, give us the latest. How do things look to you? SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this is really the last line of defense for a lot of homeowners, Heidi. This is the sandbag dike. Also these black hoses that you see here, this one and a couple behind me, they're attached to sump pumps which pump water back out because even though the dikes are fairly secure, about as secure as they can be, some water will seep in. What you're looking at here used to be a backyard with the river, the Red River about a football field away. A football field away, Heidi, and look at it now. It's about 10 feet high, so it looks like lake front property.

And it's so close to the dikes, that, of course, it's going to seep in. So they need the pumps to try to pump it out as fast as it comes in. And I think it's pretty cool because this whole row of neighbors that lives here is really doing what neighbors all over Fargo and Moorhead are doing. And that's watching out for each other. Every couple of hours, different teams of them will go out and check and make sure that the pumps are still working, that the power hasn't been cut off.

In fact, last night, I was here pretty late and I saw a guy in the driveway of this house and I said, oh, are you the owner? He said, no, the owner is sleeping. I'm the person who is watching his pumps right now. So they're really looking out for each other, and as you mentioned, the wind, Heidi, not more snow, but the wind is what people are worried about because they think that will make waves that will actually batter the dikes and that could make them unstable.

COLLINS: The potential for those winds to be pretty ferocious later on is obviously high. We've been talking about it with Rob Marciano. Susan Roesgen staying on top of the situation for us there from Moorhead, Minnesota. Thank you, Susan.

You know, our iReporters have been able to catch compelling pictures of the flooding too. Take a look at this now. John Kenny took these pictures inside a home in Briarwood, North Dakota. The furniture is soaked and under water. Looks like the water is everywhere, in fact, stuff inside that home is floating around. Fargo isn't the only state dealing with blizzard conditions. Rob Marciano is keeping a close eye on warnings for several states out west too.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Heidi, check it out. The snow is slowly exiting the Colorado Rockies into the plains and it will be slowly making its way to Canada. This will be a couple of days storm and it will affect a lot of people. It's already affecting some air travel.

We'll run it down when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Flooding along the Red River isn't the only severe weather Rob Marciano is watching today. Also tracking blizzard conditions for some western states like Oklahoma, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri.

Rob, what do you have? It looks like a lot of states. (WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: And this too Rob, the big cleanup is on in Tennessee after a heavy storm slammed that state over the weekend. Powerful winds punched holes in the ceiling at this boys and girls club you're looking at, causing extensive rain damage in just about every room. Many other local businesses and stores also badly damaged. Right now people there are trying to board up broken windows and repair damaged roofs.

Meanwhile, the automotive bailout, billions of your dollars have already been spent, billions more are on the way. Next hour, President Obama will unveil his latest plans. Administration officials say the government will offer both Chrysler and General Motors enough money to stay afloat for several more weeks. As part of the deal, the White House requested and received the resignation of GM's top man, Rick Wagoner. Analysts say that delivers a chilly new message to troubled automakers and their workers.

We're going to get the view now from a long time analyst of the auto industry Csaba Csere is a former editor-in-chief for "Car & Driver" magazine joining us now once again from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

All right, so later on today Csaba, we're going to hear about more details here from the president as we just said. Talking about Rick Wagoner, the president asked him to resign, so he does. How does that change things, really?

CSERE: Well, I think it focuses everyone's attention. If you can take the long-time CEO of the country's largest car company and basically push him out of there, it shows everybody that the administration and the automotive task force is very, very serious. It's holding everyone's feet to the fire and I think that's probably the most important outcome of this move.

COLLINS: All right. And the name of the man who is stepping in, as I believe been right under Rick Wagoner, is Fritz Henderson. Who is that and what do you think, knowing the industry as you do, that his first move could be?

CSERE: Henderson has been at GM for a long time. He ran GM's Asian operations. He ran Europe for a while. He was chief financial officer. So he's a GM veteran. He knows the company. He's very well respected. He's a very hardnosed, numbers guy. I think what he's going to say is he's going to use this opportunity to go back to the bondholders and the unions and push them even harder to make more concessions so that they can make the numbers add up in this turnaround plan.

I mean, ultimately, he's been given a bully pulpit now saying, look, they've fired Wagoner, they'll fire me and they'll get rid of all you guys too, we won't get the money if you don't come across, because we have to make all these numbers add up. That's what he's going to do.

COLLINS: So it sounds a little bit like you know instilling the fear in them could actually have an effect?

CSERE: Well, no question about it. The only thing I -- and I think that's a good thing, actually. Because this is a very serious matter. The company is clearly -- clearly would have been bankrupt months ago without federal assistance and this is the deepest recession and the biggest drop in car sales we've seen in a very, very long time. The one concern I have is that Henderson isn't known as a strong product guy.

COLLINS: Uh-oh.

CSERE: And, you know, at some point, you can restructure the company, you can bring it into financial equilibrium, but if you don't have new product and at some point you don't grow revenues, then you're just going to be facing the same problem years down the road.

COLLINS: Yeah, because obviously that has been a criticism by a lot of people saying, well, give me a car that I really want to buy out of one of the big three and I'll buy it. Talking about product development. Quickly, do you think is the end or the beginning of the end of the big three?

CSERE: Well, it could be. Certainly, I think a lot of people don't think Chrysler is going to survive as an independent company. It's too small. It is too focused on the United States. It doesn't have the global footprint.

COLLINS: Yeah, they're supposed to merge with Fiat.

CSERE: Well, they're supposed to do a joint agreement with Fiat. Fiat is a little too smart to just merge with them because they know that's a big issue. This tie-up with Fiat is not going to be all that easy. Fiat has a lot of good small cars in Europe, but Fiat has demonstrated absolutely no ability to sell small cars in the United States. And all of those cars have to be converted to meet American requirements and standards. So they're not going to show up here in six months. They're years down the road and that's not as easy a solution as some people seem to think it is.

COLLINS: Yeah, especially because, just a reminder here, Chrysler has about 30 days to complete that agreement. So it's a great question that you bring up, you know, is Fiat going to want to do that so quickly.

CSERE: Well the Fiat guys have said all along, we'll do a tie-up with Chrysler, but we don't want to be responsible for any of Chrysler's debt. They don't want to take any risk because they don't want to hitch their star to a falling wagon here. COLLINS: Got it.

CSERE: They know it's an issue.

COLLINS: All right. Well, Csaba Csere, we sure do appreciate your time, as always. Former editor and chief of "Car & Driver" magazine, thanks so much. And I'm sure you'll be watching along with us, live coverage of President Obama's remarks on the auto industry and his plan to help it. He is scheduled to speak at the top of the hour. We, of course, will have it for you.

Possible changes coming for U.S. policy on handling illegal immigrants. According to the "Washington Post," homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano has delayed a series of proposed immigration raids and other enforcement actions at U.S. workplaces. She wants agents to scrutinize how potential immigrants are selected or targeted for investigation. The possible shift in policy would force agents to focus more on businesses and executives who hire illegal workers rather than focusing on the workers themselves.

We've heard plenty of arguments over whether the stimulus money is going to the right places, but is it worth setting some of those big bucks aside for work that just might save lives?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's going to cost smokers a whole lot more to light up. Starting Wednesday, the largest federal tobacco tax increase in history takes effect. The money will be used to finance a major expansion of health insurance for children. Congress is also considering legislation that would allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco.

The economic recovery plan was designed to improve the health of our economy. And as senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen finds out, some people are hoping it can improve our health in general.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Todd Waldman, a cancer researcher at Georgetown University, wants to make brain tumors disappear. But that costs money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frankly, the last five or six years has been a bit of a downer for biomedical researchers like myself. And there's virtually no money to go around.

COHEN: So Waldman is hoping for a piece of the stimulus pie, a chunk of the $8.2 billion in the stimulus bill for medical researchers. He wants the money to study the genes of people like Ted Kennedy and David Styles, they have geoblastomas, a particularly deadly type of brain tumor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The more quickly we can identify these new genes, the more quickly we can target them with the new anti cancer medications. We will buy more of the specialized genetics free agents we need for our research. Many which are quite expensive and we can begin to reequip this laboratory with state of the art equipment.

COHEN: Styles, who was diagnosed with the cancer last year, is hoping for new breakthroughs and soon. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just don't have that long, you know, unless they do something. I have family and I really want to see my grandkids grow up and my daughters graduate from college.

COHEN: Waldman has applied for some of the stimulus money and is crossing his fingers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just a great breath of fresh air for us, and not just for us, but I think for people who have diseases that could be treated by new discoveries and drugs, I think that they could feel excited, as well, because there's going to be much more research and, you know, more hope.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Elizabeth Cohen joining us now to talk a little bit more about this. So it seems like it's been really difficult over the past few years or so to actually get a grant from the NIH. Is this really going to change things?

COHEN: Well, the scientists certainly hope so because they say if you look at the beginning of this decade, they say the NIH was funding one out of three applications and they say now they're funding one out of five. That's according to the American Academy for Advancement of Science. That is a big difference and so they're hoping the stimulus money may get them sort of back where they used to be.

COLLINS: How do they decide which projects to go for? Obviously, they get many, many proposals. I shouldn't say projects. Which research to actually fund? How do they go about that process?

COHEN: There's a peer review process where people within the NIH will look at the different applications and decide which they think is the most meritorious.

Now, for the stimulus money it's interesting, because they're specifically looking to fund projects that will show big medical advancement in the next two years. That's somewhat unusual. Oftentimes, they'll fund projects where they know they're not going to see anything for many, many years. But this time they're like, we want to see something significant in two years. A relatively short timeline.

COLLINS: Yeah definitely. I'm glad you mentioned, a lot of these things take decades. Take time if they're really good studies and really good research we talk about that all the time.

COHEN: Right. But for this time they want to see stuff soon.

COLLINS: So they can show the results, I guess.

COHEN: That's right.

COLLINS: All right Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for that. Saving the auto industry, the White House sends a stern message and President Obama is about to explain it to the rest of us because it's your money after all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Next hour, President Obama getting ready to explain his latest plans for saving the U.S. auto industry. Administration officials say the government will offer both Chrysler and General Motors enough money to stay afloat several more weeks.

As part of the deal, the White House requested and received the resignation of GM's top man, Rick Wagoner. Analysts say that delivers a chilling message to troubled automakers and their workers. CNN's Susan Candiotti has the reaction now from the heart of GM country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the news broke, veteran GM worker Stan Ream was out with friends.

STAN REAM, GM WORKER: I can't believe that our country, our administration has the power to force a CEO out of his job.

CANDIOTTI: Ream is jittery enough as it is. He builds prototypes, cars of the future, like the new electric Volt. He's worried about his own future now that CEO Rick Wagoner is out.

REAM: We've been profitable for years with him at the helm. We did not cause the economy -- the auto market did not cause the poor economy right now.

CANDIOTTI: The fact is, GM, Chrysler and Ford sales have been plummeting. Analysts project the latest figures will drop as much as 49 percent since last March. Some union activists applaud change at the top, comparing it to a new football coach for a losing team. But not if it means even more devastating job cuts.

MICHAEL FERGUSON, UAW LOCAL 160: We need customers. We need people with money in their pockets to buy products. We don't need any broke autoworkers that can't buy their own products.

CANDIOTTI: Some analysts say unions have going to have to sacrifice jobs, health care and job benefits. And if the bankruptcy court has to get involved, so be it.

PROF. PETER MORICI, UNIVERISTY OF MARYLAND: At that point, a bankruptcy judge can evaluate the situation, impose a new labor contract, force the union to take a haircut on health care benefits, force the bondholders to convert to equity and zero out the shareholders and even make changes in the management.

CANDIOTTI: Stan Ream says he's willing to sacrifice his $30-plus hourly wage within reason. GM's all he knows.

REAM: It's a great place to work. It's given me a great living for 28 years. So, it really doesn't owe me anything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Susan Candiotti joining us now with more on this story. So, Susan, what about the option of forced bankruptcy here? Doesn't mean when you go into bankruptcy that the doors close automatically?

CANDIOTTI: That's right. It doesn't automatically mean that at all. But according to analysts, what it could mean is this. It could mean that a judge would take over, and it wouldn't necessarily last a very long time. But he would be the one to make the tough decisions, decisions that so far the industry has had a hard time making on its own.

And it's primarily having to deal with, for one thing, labor unions, getting them to take necessary pay cuts. There's been a lot of debate about it, negotiations, but they're going nowhere. The judge would say, here's how it's going to go. Then you have what to do with all the creditors. A judge would be the one to make the hard decision about, all right, you're going to have to give up so much debt, take a hit and just start over again. So, that's the kind of thing that some say could be helped by a bankruptcy court intervention.

COLLINS: Yes, sure, I understand.

Susan Candiotti for us there in Warren, Michigan, where it's obviously very, very windy. Susan, thanks so much for that.

So who is Fritz Henderson, after all, the man now at the helm of General Motors? Henderson already was considered the heir apparent to succeed Rick Wagoner. Henderson has been serving as the company's president and chief operating officer. In announcing his resignation, Wagoner praised Henderson as the ideal person for the job. Fritz Henderson began his career at GM back in 1984.

At the top of the hour, we are going to be having live coverage of President Obama's remarks on the auto industry and his plans to help it. Scheduled once again for 11:00 Eastern, 8:00 Pacific.

The fate of the auto industry is a big cloud hanging over Wall Street today. Certainly, that's for sure. Look at those numbers. No surprise that the stocks are selling off, I guess. Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange now with details. Susan, Dow Jones industrial average is down 260 points, only an hour into the trading day.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's a lot of questions. Susan Candiotti was talking about a lot of questions surrounding the automotive industry. And you know what? Questions don't play well on Wall Street, especially in this economy.

GM shares -- GM is still a Dow 30 stock. Shares are down 28 percent. It's under $3. To compare, this was a stock that was once approaching $80. And automotive parts suppliers, they're under tremendous pressure, too. Remember, this is not something that happens in a bubble. Lots of other companies will be impacted, whatever happens with the Big Three. And they are under -- they're down about 20 percent each.

As you know -- I'm sure Susan was talking to you about it -- GM has 60 days. Chrysler has 30 days to restructure. Lots of critics say that's not long enough to get it together in this economy. And, of course, we'll be getting more from the president at the top of the hour, but certainly a structured surgical bankruptcy is a real possibility.

In the meantime, check out the Big Board. The Dow industrials right now down 264 points. The Nasdaq's down 55. We're coming off of three weeks of gains, though, and so we were ripe for a pullback. But certainly I think the concerns about Detroit play into fears right now.

COLLINS: Yes. And I think I got my Susans mixed up there. Sorry if I called you Susan Candiotti, Susan Lisovicz. GM's chief was forced to resign, as we well know by now. It happened last night. So, why isn't Chrysler's CEO stepping down?

LISOVICZ: That would be Bob Nardelli.

COLLINS: Right.

LISOVICZ: Nardelli is an outsider. So he came...

COLLINS: Home Depot, yes?

LISOVICZ: ... he came -- Home Depot, and before that, he was at GE, was considered a real possibility to succeed Jack Welch. And now, of course, it's Jeffrey Immelt. To compare that with Rick Wagoner, he spent 30-some odd years at GM, about a third of that running the company.

He's had some successes. He's slashed jobs, no question about it, reached very important bargains with the UAW. But on the other hand, he made a big bet on SUVs and trucks because they made so much money for the company. And guess what? We all know that backfired, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, and everybody wants to know, obviously, the taxpayers, if they're going to get their money back.

LISOVICZ: Yes. That is a very important question.

COLLINS: Yes, they're going to?

LISOVICZ: $17 billion so far, Heidi. And you know what? The idea, the plan is for once these companies do turn around with the broader economy, we will get the money back.

But you know what? that is a big if. And in the meantime, GM, of course, and Chrysler owe lots of other enties money, as well, bondholders and retiree health pensions. So, there's a lot of red ink. And of course, that might be addressed in a bankruptcy, where you would retire some of these debts, but not to taxpayers.

COLLINS: OK. Well, clearly a very complicated issue from top to bottom. Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much for that...

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: ... live from the New York Stock Exchange. Now, after spending the day discussing the problems with the American economy, President Obama will do the same thing on a global scale this week. Christine Romans is joining us now live from New York with more on this.

Christine, the G-20 summit obviously coming up here. What are the president's goals when he goes overseas?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, his goals are to show international cooperation on this whole thing. I mean, the G-20, of course, is this huge confab in London. I mean, these are -- it's the G-7. It's the largest leading industrialized countries of the world. And then also a lot of developing countries like China, Russia, Brazil, big trading partners together representing some 85 percent of global output, 80 percent of trade, two-thirds of the world's population.

And there has at least been the fear of a little bit of a rift, Heidi, among the way the U.S. views how to get out of the financial crisis and the rest of the world. In fact, the European Union parliament, the president of the E.U. just last week said that the United States was paving on the road to hell with our policies.

And you'll remember that the Brazilian president basically said that -- he said that white-skinned, blue-eyed people caused this crisis. It wasn't his country or other crisis (sic). He didn't say the U.S. in particular, but the feeling there is that there could be some animosity for the United States.

COLLINS: Well, yes, not exactly on board, that's for sure. This is going to be a really interesting and phenomenally important G-20 with the current economic situation going on. How important is this summit specifically to the U.S.?

ROMANS: Well, many analysts have been saying this is quite possibly the most important summit gathering of heads of state since anytime after World War II, the Bretton Woods gathering up in New Hampshire in a resort, where basically the current financial system, financial infrastructure as we know it was designed. So, a big test to the way that we do business, quite frankly, and who leads the role in that, if it's the U.S. and the U.K. or whether kind of the way that things are done, western-style capitalism, has really been hobbled by this entire financial crisis.

Now, the president and his team are going to really want to stress a global cooperation on regulation, that we're going to regulate hedge funds and derivatives and that we're going to make sure that the financial system is well-capitalized so some of these problems don't happen again. There's also the idea of stimulus, whether there will be global stimulus to lead us out.

Some of our friends and allies are more interested in better regulation and not necessarily in spending more money. So, that will be all these things that will need to be ironed out at this event.

COLLINS: Yes, well, and they'll have several days to do it, thankfully, I guess. Christine Romans, thanks so much, live from New York this morning.

ROMANS: Sure.

COLLINS: More details about The G-20 we want to share with you now. The group is made up of top financial officials from 19 nations and the European Union. These items top the G-20 agenda now this year: discussing a possible global stimulus package, looking for way to stop countries from limiting trade just to protect their own businesses, helping developing nations where the recession is hitting hard and coming up with better ways to regulate the financial markets.

The Red River watch still on in North Dakota and Minnesota. But flooding is only part of the problem for the area. Rob Marciano in the weather center tracking a major snowstorm for the Northern Plains. Last thing they need.

MARCIANO: Yes, not only the moisture, but more importantly for them is the wind and the duration of the wind. It's going to be a slow-moving storm. I'm going to talk more about that. Blizzard warnings are up again, and we're almost into the month of april. Complete weather coming up when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Very quickly, just a reminder, we are waiting for President Obama. You see the little live box down there. Getting ready to come in and unveil his auto plan, details of it and what it means for you and your taxpayer dollars. Likely to begin in about 15 minutes or so. That shot coming to us from the grand foyer there at the White House.

Some states hoping it will start to look like spring after all that nasty weather. Look at those pictures. Fargo, North Dakota bracing for snow after a weekend of severe flooding. Residents are not letting their guard down yet and keeping sandbags close at hand.

In Oklahoma, a spring snowstorm dumped up to 25 inches in some areas. Officials say road-clearing crews from around the state that were sent to the region on Saturday are heading home today. Kansas also digging out from a snowstorm. A storm there dumped more than two feet of snow in parts of the state. Yes, that's lots of snow. Rob Marciano's standing by in the weather center now. You've got to get a big old snowblower.

MARCIANO: You do. That puts a nice little blanket on the wheat fields. I guess it's good to have a late-season snowstorm. Kind of gives a little bit more moisture for that winter wheat to pop up later on in the spring. COLLINS: I'm against the wheat, but just because of the celiac disease...

MARCIANO: I know you are, personally.

COLLINS: ... not the farmers themselves.

MARCIANO: I'm glad you clarified that, Heidi. If someone would work on a gluten-free wheat...

COLLINS: That's right.

MARCIANO: ... that would be money.

COLLINS: Boy, you are well-versed.

MARCIANO: Yes. I know -- listen, I know about all your problems, Heidi.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Thank God someone does.

MARICANO: Fargo, all right, here you go, better news ahead for you folks, although the receding waters are going to be dreadfully slow, and that's the problem here. And we're getting added moisture on top of that, although the snow that's coming is not going to add to the water that's trying to get north of the border right now. What it is going to do is obviously give you more in the way of wintry, miserable conditions even as we get towards April 1st.

But it's going to crank up some winds that are going to make some waves and choppy waters on those levees and give you that just extra pressure that some of those dikes and levees don't need. So, fingers crossed, and hopefully they'll hold here over the next few days until those floodwaters at least get back to a more moderate floodstage. But check out these numbers expected: 5 to 15 around the Red River, 15 to 30 inches of snow potentially across parts of western South Dakota.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Gas prices are up for 13 straight days now averaging nearly $2.05 a gallon, and U.S. automakers are struggling to stay in business. Now, proposed legislation could help you and Detroit at the same time. Want to hear more about it. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" now. Good morning to you, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Heidi. Well, yes, this bill taking on a whole new meaning today with the latest news out of GM and Chrysler. Folks, it's nicknamed "cash for clunkers." This could really help consumers out there as well as the beleaguered U.S. auto industry.

Here's what it is: a House bill that could give $3,000 to $5,000 for vouchers to people who want to trade in their old cars to buy a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. The idea is, the more fuel- efficient the vehicle, the bigger the voucher you get.

Now, the clunker you trade in has to be at least eight years old to qualify. The new car can't cost more than $35,000 -- Heidi.

COLLINS: OK, so what's the reaction from Detroit on this?

HARLOW: Yes. You know, we know from today's headlines, the Big Three, they need this as much as they can get any help. Last week, General Motors told us the legislation could really jump-start sales. We hear that Chrysler and Ford really like this, as well.

Foreign automakers, though, they take issue with this bill because there's a bigger voucher for cars that are built in this country than those that are made in Canada or Mexico. And keep this in mind: Cars made outside of North America, they wouldn't qualify at all, Heidi. Kind of ironic that you wouldn't be able to use a voucher for a Toyota Prius, one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the road, because, of course, it's made in Japan.

COLLINS: Yes. How much do you think this whole bill is going to cost? What are the projections?

HARLOW: A lot, and that's the big issue with it. No official price tag yet. A lot of estimates putting it at around $1 billion or $2 billion a year. That's tough to swallow right when our budget deficit is at an all-time high. This isn't the first, though. This is interesting. It's not the first "cash for clunkers" proposal we've seen out of Washington recently.

There was one included in the original stimulus bill. It of course got pulled with some other things. The situation for GM and Chrysler, though, even more dire now than it was just a few months ago. So, we'll see what happens with this, Heidi. Interesting, though, to talk about it on a day like today.

COLLINS: Yes, exactly, 10 minutes away from the president unveiling that new plan. Thanks so much, CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow.

Eight people shot and killed inside a North Carolina nursing home. The alleged gunman was not a disgruntled employee, but we are learning more about what his connection to those people may have been.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A news conference on the North Carolina nursing home killings has just ended. Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie confirmed the gunman's estranged wife was an employee at the nursing home, but would not confirm a report she was hiding there at the time of the shooting. The chief did speak about the crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHRIS MCKENZIE, CARTHAGE, NORTH CAROLINA POLICE: Unimaginable. I don't know what other words you can -- horrific. Everything that you could possibly imagine that is bad in this world. It's horrible. This doesn't happen, but it did, and I think I made it clear yesterday that our community is strong, faith-based, and I'm sincere when I say that, and that faith will get this community through this, and I believe that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I want to tell you what he is referring to here now. Reporter Dan Bowen from affiliate WRAL has more on the killings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN BOWENS, WRAL-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pinelake Health and Rehab Center turned into a homicide scene early Sunday. Carthage police say the heavily armed shooter entered the facility around 10:00 a.m. and started firing. Tammy Clark's mother was inside when it happened.

TAMMY CLARK, CARTHAGE RESIDENT: Started shooting. It's my understanding that he was shooting at the residents and the workers.

BOWENS (on camera): Shooting everywhere at anybody? I mean, just shooting at everything?

CLARK: Because he had -- to my understanding, he went into some of the rooms and shot some of the people right there in their bed.

BOWENS (voice-over): Her mother wasn't injured. Eleven people at the nursing home were shot. Eight are dead. Many of the victims were patients of the facility and were in their 80s and 90s. Family members of the victims hugged and cried after hearing the news at a nearby church.

HARRIS BLAKE, NORTH CAROLINA STATE SENATE: sIn the day in which we live, we hear about it everywhere else, and now it's here, and for this who happen in a nursing home is beyond description of how sad it is.

BOWENS: State Senator Harris Blake met with families afterwards. He said this small town of 2,000 people is still trying to understand exactly what's happened.

BLAKE: The gentleman, he had about four or five different weapons. He came in with a shotgun, a rifle and a couple other kinds of weapons, and he just went around shooting people, people in wheelchairs and this type of thing. This could not be any more barbaric.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The accused gunman, Robert Stewart, is hospitalized after being wounded in a shootout with an officer. That officer, being described as a hero, is expected to return to the force after recovering from his own wounds.

Again, also want to remind you, today we will have live coverage of President Obama's remarks on the auto industry and his plans to help. He's scheduled to speak at the top of the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A high-tech cyber espionage ring of hackers could be operating out of China. An investigation revealed the hackers' programs were so thorough, they could get any information they wanted. No one's information was sacred to these guys, not even the Dalai Lama's. Here now, our John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What began as an investigation into possible hacking of computers at the office of the Dalai Lama may have uncovered a vast network of cyber espionage, possibly originating from China and infiltrating so-called high-value targets, a computer at NATO, foreign ministries and embassies in more than 100 companies.

His Holiness says he doesn't know if the Chinese government is responsible. And while he called for a investigation, he told CNN there is no reason for anyone to spy on his office.

THE DALAI LAMA, EXILED TIBETAN LEADER: If you are open, transparent, there's no need to be spying these things. If you want to know, ask directly. That's much better.

VAUSE: Researchers at two universities, Toronto and Cambridge, discovered the global spy web and called it Ghostnet, and say for almost two years, it's been devastatingly effective.

RONALD DEIBERT, AUTHOR, "TRACKING GHOSTNET": They could extract any document they wanted. They could turn on Web cameras, turn on audio devices so that they could, in effect, use the computers as a listening device in the offices.

VAUSE: Ghostnet spread initially by e-mail, and its control servers were traced to three provinces in China, Hainan island, Guangdong and Sichuan. A fourth in southern California. Researchers in Canada have stopped short of blaming the Chinese government of outright involvement: "It is not inconceivable that this network of infected computers could have been targeted by a state other than China, but operated physically within China."

Another possibility they raise, Chinese hackers freelancing their skills. Recently, one of the country's most infamous alleged hackers, known as Top Fox (ph), was arrested in Beijing. Police say his Trojan program was made freely available on the Internet and at one point was used to hack more than 30,000 computers a day, emptying bank accounts, accessing stock details and e-mails.

(on camera): As for the Chinese government and Ghostnet, there's been no official comment from Beijing. Diplomats in Chinese embassies in London and Washington have played down the investigation while the foreign ministry here tells CNN there will be a formal response, quote, "when the time comes."

John Vause, CNN, Beijing. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Join us again tomorrow morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. For now, CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris.