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While G.M. CEO Steps Down and Chrysler Explores Merger, Ford Benefits From Earlier Borrowing; Miami V.A. Suspends Colonoscopies After Discovery of Contaminated Equipment; GM Workers Mull Buyout Offers

Aired March 30, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN.com/live if you want to continue to watch Robert Gibbs there at the White House.

Meanwhile, we are pushing forward. Getting out and pushing forward. Can GM salvage its last "last chance" with somebody else in the driver's seat? Can Chrysler hook up with Fiat in 30 days? It's a hard turn on the road to rescue. And no turning back.

Pushing forward in Fargo. After the flood, the river's not the only thing that's falling. Here comes the snow and the wind. We're live in the Red River Valley.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

My way or the highway. President Obama's final warning to GM and Chrysler turning down their turn around plans but giving each a little more time and billions more taxpayer dollars to fix their businesses or else. One fix the White House insisted on was the ouster of GM's long time CEO. America's largest automaker now gets 60 more days of government support while it slashes its costs and debts or faces bankruptcy court.

Chrysler gets 30 days to finalize a merger with the Italian car- builder Fiat, and a deal is already in the works. Chrysler's announcing a framework for a global alliance, if not a final agreement.

Ford isn't affected by any of this, since it hasn't asked for a bailout. The president laid out the tough terms late this morning at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So today I'm announcing that my administration will offer GM and Chrysler a limited additional period of time to work with creditors, unions and other stakeholders to fundamentally restructure in a way that would justify an investment of additional taxpayer dollars. During this period, they must produce plans that would give the American people confidence in their long-term prospects for success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's get straight to CNN's Kate Bolduan at the White House.

Kate, is the auto industry being held to a tougher standard than the finance sector? Because that's what a lot of critics are saying right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a really good question, Kyra. A couple different answers. One thing we heard from Robert Gibbs, the press secretary there, is that they treat each circumstance as just that: a separate circumstance.

So in essence saying apples and oranges. You can't compare the banking industry and their situation to the auto industry and their situation.

We also heard from Jared Bernstein, the chief economist for the vice president who's on the auto task force. And he says, look, it's not a double standard. Other companies like AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, they've also had pressure from the administration to change at the leadership position. But it is a very good question that you can tell is being asked here in the briefing and all over the place.

Why now? Why this company? The senior officials say that this is part of the clean slate, the fresh page that this company needs in order to move towards that path of viability.

PHILLIPS: Well, we'll continue to talk about that fresh and complicated page throughout the afternoon.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Kate.

Well, the president says that he won't let the U.S. auto industry vanish, but it can't be a ward of the state. Let's hear what the workers have to say to our Susan Candiotti. She's in Detroit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just before President Obama announces what GM must do within the next 60 days, auto workers sent him this message: "Help us, please." And this is what they heard from the president.

OBAMA: I won't pretend that the tough times are over. I can't promise there isn't more difficulty to come. But what I can promise you is this. I will fight for you. You're the reason I'm here today.

CANDIOTTI: Are workers willing to make enough concessions? Well, one union activist says, "We've given enough. We don't need any more job cuts."

MICHAEL FERGUSON, UNITED AUTO WORKERS: We need customers. We need people with money in their pockets to buy products. We don't need any broke auto workers that can't buy their own products.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): but those job cuts do appear to be coming, as well as plant closings. The president's message in the end? There will be pain, but in the end there will be a payoff. It's called survival.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Detroit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP: Well, all this hour we're pushing forward on the auto bailout, going inside Detroit's problems and progress with analyst Jeb Buchetto (ph). We're also going to talk to our father and son auto workers, the Greens (ph), for their take on the government's latest life line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY KJONAAS, IREPORTER: Water is all the way up, just exactly like 1997. And over there is Fargo. I'm on the Moorhead side right now. And the water is all the way up here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Thank you. IReporter Emily Kjonaas showing us the historic flooding in the Moorhead, Minnesota, side of the Red River.

Wind and snow causing more big worries today. That strong gust generating waves that could challenge those fragile levees. National Guard troops are adding layers of plastic sheeting now to help to protect those levees.

Well, the Red River is beginning to recede a little built, but it's still quite dangerous. Army engineers used helicopters to drop sandbags to try and seal a leak after a steel wall protecting a high school actually gave way over the weekend.

Our Reynolds Wolf is in Fargo, North Dakota, at the school.

Reynolds, have they pumped all that water out yet?

REYNOLDS, WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Seems like they've pumped a great deal of it out. Certainly, better conditions there in this part of the Oak Grove (ph) community.

Kyra, I'm coming to you from, actually, a landscaping yard. Hoglund Landscaping, to be exact, here in Fargo, North Dakota. And if you're wondering why I've chosen this particular spot, let me show you. Let's take a walk over here.

I'm with photojournalist Steve Shorstein (ph).

Watch your step. All kinds of weird things over there.

And Kyra, if you and the rest of our viewers from across the country will look right down to my left, you can see some earth-moving equipment. Now Steve, you can pan over a little bit more to the right, right along this earthen levee, and you can see this span of houses. Not only, that but if you look right in the middle, right near a basketball goal, to our viewers that happen to be, say, tuning in from New York, maybe L.A., maybe Texas through to Kansas, this is not as it should be.

About two days ago, that basketball goal was nearly covered to the top with water. The top that's sticking out like a shark's fin. And if you look at those two roofs, those are garages. Those are all -- they were nearly covered completely just a short while ago. But since, as you mentioned, Kyra, the water has been dropping.

Another great reason why we chose this spot is all the stuff we can see a little bit off in the distance.

Steve, follow me over here for a moment. Folks, if you look along the ice and water line, you can actually see a building that's over in Moorhead, Minnesota. You follow a bit more and pan over in this direction, but here's Fargo. And you can see the skyline over here.

So again, we're covering all the cities. You've got some railroad tracks here. And despite the flooding, despite all the issues, commerce is still moving here. They're still using these tracks.

You know, Kyra, one of the big issues we've had here is not only just the heavy flooding. It's still a major flood, even though the water has been dropping down. But it's been the freezing conditions that we've had in this part of the word. When you have freezing conditions during a flood, a lot of those sandbags, they tend to freeze. So they're almost like bricks.

Well, you know, when you have bricks and you're trying to stack them up to stop the flow of water, well, take a look at this. I'll try to make a little bit of a dam-like structure. You see these bricks, you put them up, it's nothing solid. You see a lot of cracks there, so there's always a chance you can get a little bit of water through. And that's a reason why you see a lot of these dams are reinforced with a lot of that plastic tarp. Always a good reason.

Well, still, those water levels coming down. There's a lot of reason for confidence. But if you look back over my shoulder, you're going to notice the skies are going to be a little bit darker. With those darker skies, we've got some rough weather, a little bit farther to our south, in South Dakota, even into the central plains where you have the blizzard as we speak.

One of the best meteorologists on the planet, Chad Myers, is going to be coming up in just a few moments to let you know what that's going to mean further to the south and, of course, people here in the flood-watered area -- flood-ravaged area.

The battle's not over just yet.

Kyra, let's send it back to you in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: All right. You know, and I've got to ask you. First of all, Reynolds, you do an amazing job of just giving us a feel for what it's like and what everybody is dealing with there on the ground. Behind you, those guys working behind you, are they the ones that are getting ready to stack those bricks? And is that part of the relief effort there behind you?

WOLF: You know, it's funny. You're mentioning are they going to be some of the guys that are going to be stacking the bricks, stacking the sandbags. Everybody's doing everything. I mean, it's really not one specific job.

When everyone -- when have you the National Guard troops that are here, you have -- have some of the military that have been in the area. Anytime someone sees something that needs to be done, they pitch in.

I can tell you, in terms of these earthen dams that you see in this area, the National Guard has been coming by, ran twice an hour. Some places and some times a little bit more, just to keep a sharp eye on these things.

Remember, these are porous structures. So if you have water underneath, it's thin ice. Yes, it's working against us. If those winds pick up, as it's forecast to do, it's really going to test the strength of these earthen dams. It's a tall order to keep up with. And even though the waters are going down, we've got the wind. We've got additional snowfall. It's still a big mess and a major flood.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: You know, and Chad is joining us now, Reynolds.

Chad, that's what's amazing. I was reading over the weekend: 90 percent of the people there are -- almost the entire population of Fargo -- Fargo pitching in to help save their city.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, absolutely. I mean, they -- schools are all closed, and basically they said -- and thank you for the compliment. You just didn't say what planet, Reynolds.

Everybody was there. They all knew. They were saving their city. They were all working for the all general purpose. They were all worker bees, trying to save everything else, even though they could have been sandbagging their own house and, you know, putting bags around there so that, even if the water came in, at least their house wouldn't get hurt.

They didn't do that. People weren't working that way. They were all on those levees. They were all on those banks. We're still -- we are still in a flood.

You know, we are below what this line means, the old record. But where we are in this flood, we're still 22 feet above what is considered flood stage.

So yes, this wind that could come in that Reynolds was talking about because of this new blizzard that's coming in, this blizzard could move some of that water around and then push it up against those banks, push it up against those sandbags, and then maybe some of those sandbags could fail. We hope not. Right now it's doing great.

What has helped us so much is this very, very cold water, very, very cold air. Temperatures were in the teens and single digits. That's frozen the water in place. The water's not coming up anymore -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chad, thanks.

MYERS: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm alive. People die (ph). I'm alive. People die (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm alive. People die (ph). I'm alive. People die (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm alive. People die (ph). I'm alive. People die (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A summit of the world's biggest economies hasn't even started, but protesters are already in the streets of London. We're going to tell you why they're so upset.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRAPHIC: On this Date... 1981: President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John W. Hinckley Jr. Press Secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a police officer were also injured.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, what a difference eight months can make. Last summer during the presidential campaign, Barack Obama traveled to Europe and was greeted like a rock star.

Well, tomorrow, President Obama is off to London for the G-20 summit of the world's biggest economies, the start of a five-country trip. And while still popular among the people, he can expect a lot of resistance on multiple issues from European leaders.

Here's CNN's Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHANTING)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is not the welcome President Obama is used to seeing on the road. But the president will find more than protests when he meets with leaders of the world's biggest economies at the G-20 summit. The blame game over the financial crisis has gone global. LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL (through translator): It was a crisis that was created and spread throughout the world due to the irresponsible behavior of white people, blue-eyed people.

ACOSTA: From a racially-charged rant by Brazil's president to the outgoing Czech prime minister's fiery assessment of the Obama stimulus plan.

MIREK TOPOLANEK, CZECH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): All of these steps, that combination and permanency is a way to hell.

ACOSTA: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is rejecting Mr. Obama's calls for a global stimulus plan, telling the "Financial Times" newspaper, the economic "crisis did not take place because we issued too little money."

OBAMA: And thank you to the people of Germany.

ACOSTA: The world has changed since Mr. Obama stood before 200,000 people in Berlin during the campaign, when he vowed to repair America's damaged image around the world.

OBAMA: I know that I don't look like the Americans who have previously spoken in this great city.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's the biggest celebrity in the world.

ACOSTA: The outpouring of Euro love was mocked then by Republicans. Now, populist outrage has spread around the world.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Barack Obama is still very popular overseas. Public opinion polls show that. But he is more popular than his policies. It's kind of the same story back here. While Barack Obama is very popular, his policies, like the stimulus, the bailout of Wall Street and the banks, not nearly as popular.

ACOSTA: While the focus of the G-20 summit will be to solve the crisis, now much of Europe and the world are skeptical of Mr. Obama's plans, which is why Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is making a global appeal, that this is no time to pull back.

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: You know, the big mistake governments make in recessions is they put the brakes on too early. They see that first glimmer of light, and the impetus to policy fades, and people put on the brakes. And we're not going to do that.

ACOSTA (on camera): President Obama's trip overseas will be his longest journey outside the U.S. since he's been in the White House: eight days. The White House says the president will not only lead but listen. The challenge in this crisis is that there is no shortage of voices.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, one thing that President Obama can probably count on at the G-20 summit: opposition to his push for huge government spending to stimulate the world's economies.

European leaders believe that the first step should be a tougher regulatory system in the United States and more international oversight.

And you'll be hearing a lot about the G-20 this week, but what exactly is it? Well, the G-20 is made up of top financial officials from 19 nations and the European Union. On the G-20 agenda this week, a possible global stimulus package, finding ways to stop countries from limiting trade just to protect their own businesses, helping developing nations hit hard by the recession, and coming up with better ways to regulate the financial markets.

Well, did you miss the bus this morning? You're not alone. If you're in St. Louis and the alarm clock isn't to blame, why a life line may have made its last stop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Thousands of people who depend on the bus to get to work may be out of luck today in St. Louis. That city has eliminated 24 routes. The reason? A huge budget deficit that the stimulus package can't fix.

CNN's John King has more on that and a look at the lives of those most impacted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stuart Falk is first up the lift; wife Dianne next. Strapped in for a 45-minute three-day a week commute...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight dollars. Thank you.

DIANNE FALK, IMPACTED BY ST. LOUIS BUS CUTS: Oh, no problem.

KING: ... that takes them to the gym and a community theater group. It is their life line, and it is being eliminated, effective Monday.

STUART FALK, IMPACTED BY ST. LOUIS BUS CUTS: We'll be in prison. That's what it's going to do. It's going to feel like we're being -- being punished for something we didn't do, being held back from the things we love, and at no fault of our own. It's going to -- it's going to be suffocating.

JEAN MCPHERSON, IMPACTED BY ST. LOUIS BUS CUTS: A lot of people are going to be in a bad situation.

KING: For 20-year-old Jean McPherson, Monday morning means horrible choices, as she juggles work, an infant, and going back to school to get her high school diploma.

MCPHERSON: I'm not going to be able to get to my destination, so I might have to end up losing my job or not being able to take my daughter to day care.

KING: Money is short. So is her patience.

MCPHERSON: I'm trying to get a car, but a lot of people in St. Louis know, they can't afford it, especially with the recession that we're in. You can't afford a car. So that's why you use public transportation.

KING: Metro faces a more than $50 million budget gap. Two dozen bus routes are being eliminated. Others, shortened, or put on less frequent schedules.

Light rail is also being cut back, leaving riders in the working- class community surrounding St. Louis like Darron Berryl asking, why me?

DARRON BERRYL, IMPACTED BY ST. LOUIS BUS CUTS: Most definitely the little guy does get screwed in the deal.

KING (on camera): How do you get around losing this bus route, which is the direct route?

BERRYL: I really don't know yet. I really haven't came [SIC] up with a plan.

KING (voice-over): The funding gap has local roots. St. Louis County voters rejected the modest tax hike to help the Metro system. Local officials like county executive Charlie Dooley thought it would pass but say voters suddenly got stingy just before the November election as the stock market tumbled and Washington bailed out big financial firms.

CHARLIE DOOLEY, ST. LOUIS COUNTY EXECUTIVE: This entire community is going to be impacted, and I don't think we realized it at the time that we had this vote. It's about jobs. It's always about jobs. And if you dump our public transportation, how do you create jobs? How do you attract businesses that move to St. Louis to improve our workforce?

KING: To Dooley, the Metro shortfall is a perfect use of some of the $150 billion in transportation spending called for in the Obama stimulus plan.

DOOLEY: We asked for it. They told us we can't do it.

KING: The mass transit slice can be used to buy new buses or to build new rail lines. It cannot be used for operational expenses, like keeping existing routes in service.

DOOLEY: I don't think that that's right. Of course that's not right. At the end of the day is, it's about creating jobs and opportunity. That's what public transportation is. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just comes down to money.

KING: Sixteen years experience protects John Croslin from the 500 jobs metro is slashing, along with its services.

(on camera) That's got to be tough.

JOHN CROSLIN, BUS DRIVER: It is.

KING: In a bad economy to be...

CROSLIN: Yes. That is tough.

KING (voice-over): The Falks, confined to wheelchairs because of multiple sclerosis, say they worry about those jobs...

DIANNE FALK, IMPACTED BY ST. LOUIS BUS CUTS: That's just doesn't seem like what Obama wants.

KING: ... as much as losing their link to the city and the activities that ease their struggles.

S. FALK: It shouldn't be this way. I never realized before how delicate -- how delicate our lives were.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, you can catch more of John King's reports and interviews with political leaders every Sunday. His program, "State of the Union," airs at 9 a.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Want to buy a new car? The White House is sweetening the deal tightening the screws on GM and Chrysler.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This hour's top story is the final installment of the GM and Chrysler bailout. As you may have seen live here on CNN, President Obama today rejected, quote, "an unending flow of tax dollars for U.S. auto plants." He said neither GM nor Chrysler turned in a workable turnaround plan. So, here's his plan.

Resignation for the longtime GM chairman, Rick Wagoner, and new deadlines for both companies to cut their costs and debt to the bone with or without the help of bankruptcy courts. In Chrysler's case, the White House is offering a $6 billion incentive to merge with the Italian car builder Fiat, and it's already worked. Chrysler says a deal is in the works.

Speaking of incentives, consumers are getting government backing for U.S. auto warranties and tax breaks for buying new cars this year.

So, where's Ford in all of this? So far, it hasn't asked for a government bailout. So, I asked auto industry analyst Csaba Csere, what has Ford been doing that's so right?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CSABA CSERE, AUTO INDUSTRY ANALYST: Ford did one key thing. About three years ago, Ford mortgaged the whole company back when the bankers and the financial system were eager to give loans to anybody who was breathing. And they took on a huge line of credit, and that gives them a financial flexibility.

The other two car companies didn't do that. And by the time they need to borrow money, the climate had changed, and the financial community was unwilling to loan it. That was the fundamental difference between Ford and the other two car companies.

PHILLIPS: So, Ford did things right, GM in big trouble. What's going on with Chrysler? It seems it's getting some type of pass. Have people just written off Chrysler?

CSERE: Well, I think to some extent, people have looked at Chrysler and said, there's no way they're going to survive as an independent entity. Chrysler is the smallest of the Big Three, and they have no international footprint. So, they can't get the economic benefits of sharing platforms around the world.

And I think because of that, there's not a lot of focus on them, and also because there the smaller company, much smaller than General Motors. Whatever happens to Chrysler has a much smaller impact on the economy. So, you look at those two things, and because of that, I think they've been given a bit of a pass.

PHILLIPS: All right. Talk about giving a bit of a pass, you look at Wall Street executives and giving back bonuses. Of course, you know, we would expect that. Right? they make so much money. But then it seems like the guys in Detroit are being held to a totally different standard. It just doesn't seem right that they have to be giving back health benefits to help the struggling car industry.

CSERE: Well, it really is amazing. You know, everyone in Washington says that, you know, AIG people had legal contracts that couldn't be touched. Well, you know, the UAW, as you point out, they struggled very hard to get some of the benefits that they have. And those things can be ripped up. Bondholders have contracts about what sort of interest payments they're supposed to get and principal repayment. Those can be ripped up.

And meanwhile, the head of GM basically just gets fired by the administration. And meanwhile, the AIG guys are allowed to survive. I mean, whatever you think of the car company guys and the mistakes they've made, they're geniuses compared to the AIG people that basically just about brought down the whole economy.

PHILLIPS: Speaking of bringing down the whole economy, you know, a lot of concern here about the issue of bankruptcy. I mean, what would that mean for the auto industry if its plan does not work?

Well, if they actually start going bankrupt, there's some real issues. Because the whole supplier network that employs a huge number of people and is scattered all across the country is also, you know, not in very good shape. Those companies are not terribly profitable. And they really can't afford to have companies like GM and Chrysler not pay them for their accounts receivable. They don't have that kind of financial cushion.

And if they have trouble, then it starts hitting the Honda and Toyota plants in the United States as well, because those plants use the same suppliers. So, it really does start cascading through the business, and that's got to be avoided in some fashion.

PHILLIPS: Final question, ultimately affecting the consumer. If you read through Obama's plan and look at this warranty commitment program, do you think this is going to encourage people to buy American cars if there is this fear that these car companies are in danger of filing for bankruptcy?

CSERE: Well, I think it will help a little bit. But in a lot of ways, you know, the -- that day has passed already. There's been so much talk about bankruptcy and the survival of these companies that I think on the part of a lot of buyers, they've already assumed that they're going to go bankrupt and already might be making alternative choices. And whether they can be brought back with this guarantee is awfully hard to say.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the president vows to keep fighting for U.S. auto workers. We're going to hear from two generations later this hour.

And for the most part, the Red River area in Minnesota and North Dakota dodged a soggy bullet this weekend, but an approaching winter storm is posing a new threat. Even as the swollen river begins to recede, can the levees and sandbag dikes stand the test of driving snow and gusting winds? Well, let's get to the dangers from meteorologist Chad Myers. He's monitoring it all there in the severe weather center. What do you think, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think the trouble may be the wind more than the snow. Snow is just going to stay on the ground, but with this incoming blizzard, essentially, for the Dakotas, we're going to get winds that are going to be blowing in from the east. And these winds are going to be taking this water and sloshing it up against these levees. And there are many, many levees. Google Earth now just put out a list on their Google Earth 5.0 of where these levees actually are now.

And the ones I'm concerned about, obviously, would be on the Fargo side, because the wind would be blowing from Moorhead on toward the Fargo side and trying to break down these levees, these sandbags, so to speak. Now, I know the numbers have come down below record flood stage. But you must understand, the number is still 39 feet. Flood stage is 18 feet.

There is still 21 feet of water higher than it should be, so someone has 21 feet of water in a yard somewhere because this is still -- not a record anymore, but still a very significant flood event -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Chad. Thanks.

MYERS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Well, it happened in the unlikeliest of places, perhaps for the most familiar of motives. Yesterday's shooting rampage left seven residents and one employee dead, and police now say the suspect's estranged wife works at that facility. Witnesses say that Robert Stewart just walked in and opened fire, targeting elderly residents, most in their 80s and some in wheelchairs. A police officer finally cornered Stewart in a back hallway, shooting and wounding him. That officer also suffered gunshot wounds but will be OK. His boss obviously full of praise today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHRIS MCKENZIE, CARTHAGE, N.C., POLICE DEPT.: He has been the recipient of the officer of the year award for the town of Carthage. Exemplary in the past. However, I don't think you could classify anything yesterday other than heroic, absolutely nothing other than that. If that's not heroism, I don't know what is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Stewart's estranged wife was not listed as one of the victims. We hope to get more details at another police news conference set for 3:00 p.m. Eastern time.

And we've heard 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)

PHILLIPS: Well, a medical story that we're pushing forward with an update now about the veterans at risk of HIV and hepatitis through contaminated colonoscopies. Miami Veterans Hospital has suspended colonoscopies. We learned that today. A V.A. panel is investigating a potential lapse in cleaning procedures there for the equipment used in the procedure. The suspension follows an interview that I had with the chief of staff at Miami's V.A. Healthcare system on Friday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So, from this point forward, is anyone coming in for a colonoscopy? Are you giving them a colonoscopy, and do you believe in your process right now?

VOICE OF DR. JOHN VARA, CHIEF OF STAFF, MIAMI V.A. HEALTHCARE: We're checking everything. And so, we want to be able to absolutely say to people that, you know, we are in full compliance with everything. So, every piece from A to Z is being checked.

And what we want at the end of the day is to be able to provide the absolute best care. I think Secretary Shinseki has made it perfectly clear that we need to make sure our processes are standardized and that veterans are not put at any risk, which is the same mission that we share.

PHILLIPS: So, Dr. Vara, if a vet were to come in today needing that procedure, would you have 100 percent confidence in giving that vet that procedure today?

VARA: I would say that today, I -- you're putting me -- good, tough question. I would be very confident about the procedure today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And as we reported, they are no longer doing the colonoscopies at this time there that hospital. We still want to hear from you, too. If you are a vet that got a colonoscopy there at the Miami V.A., we ask you to e-mail us at CNNnewsroom@CNN.com. We still want to hear from you if you got your test results.

Meanwhile, if you're a vet, and you're still worried about being infected, and you haven't gone to get that test, you can actually call the Miami V.A. Healthcare system. We've got two phone numbers for you right now: 305-575-7256 or toll-free, 877-575-7256.

Well, the stimulus package was designed to improve the health of our economy, and as senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reports, some are hoping it can be used to 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.

DR. TODD WALDMAN, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Frankly, the last five or six years has been a bit of a downer for biomedical researchers like myself. 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 (ph). They have glioblastomas, a particularly deadly type of brain tumor.

WALDMAN: The more quickly we can identify these new genes, the more quickly we can target them with new anti-cancer medications. We will buy more of the specialized genetics free agents we need for research, many of which are quite expensive. And we can begin to re- equip 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.

DAVID STYLES (ph), BRAIN CANCER PATIENT: We just don't have that long, you know, unless they do something. You know, I have a family and such, and I really wanted to see my grandkids grow up and my daughters graduate from college.

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

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen joing us live. And it seems like it's been pretty difficult over the past several years to get the money that NIH needs, right?

COHEN: That's right. There's concern that not enough grants are being funded. For example, at the beginning of this decade, one out of three grants received funding. Now one out of five grants is receiving funding. That's according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. So, there's real concern here that the funding to the NIH hasn't kept up with the times.

PHILLIPS: So, what projects do they want to put stimulus money toward?

COHEN: The stimulus folks have done something really interesting. What they've said is, we want to put money toward things that are going to show some medical advancement in the next two years. So, they're looking to fund some relatively short-term projects, or projects that are sort of under way and just kind of need that last, extra oomph. They're not looking to fund things that are just starting and where you won't see any benefit for 30 years. That's not what they're looking for.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll look forward to the follow-up.

COHEN: OK, thanks.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.

Well, that steaming cup of tea may taste good, but you could be brewing up trouble for your health. Scientists say that people who drank hot tea -- that's anything above 156 degrees Fahrenheit -- actually doubled their risk of throat cancer. And people who frequently drank tea just two degrees hotter had eight times the risk of throat cancer. Researchers say that adding a bit of milk usually cools it enough to eliminate that risk.

Well, the crime scene, a hotel bathroom. The victim, an ex-cop. The perp? Possibly Pennsylvania's dumbest crook. The lowdown in just a sec.

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PHILLIPS: Well, you know, there are criminal masterminds, and then there's Jerome Marquis Blanchett. He's been dubbed probably the dumbest criminal in Pennsylvania. A little harsh, you say? Well, our friend Jerome got himself arrested for allegedly holding up an ex- police chief in a hotel bathroom during a police convention.

Yep, 300 cops were just steps away. A couple of them chased Jerome down as he ran for his getaway car, which happened to be a taxi.

A Michigan woman probably thought she was being smart, naming a police dog as one of the defendants in a lawsuit. She's seeking damages from her local police department after the canine allegedly bit her in the butt during a scuffle. But a judge has just fined her $500 for making a frivolous claim against the dog. Guess he didn't think her complaint had any teeth.

The Green family probably thought they'd see it all at General Motors. Four generations of Greens have worked in that industry, but what happened with the CEO? Well, they didn't see that one coming. We're going to get their take on all of it in just a minute.

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ADRIANNA MAXWELL (ph), IREPORTER: He did not lead the company through the right twists and turns to make it a company of the 21st century. It maintained a structure of being a company in the 1950s, and with today's competion and worldwide economy, can't maintain that pose. You have to move. You have to evolve. You have to change with the times. So he's gone. To paraphrase Emmitt Ashford, you're out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: IReporter Adrianna Maxwell (ph) from Marietta, Georgia, thanks for sending that in. She's not at all feeling bad for ousted GM chief Rick Wagoner. And you heard it here first. The last, last chance for GM and Chrysler to turn their companies around with government help.

President Obama's promising GM 60 more days of taxpayer support while it slashes its costs and obligations. Chrysler gets 30 days and a $6 billion incentive to merge with Fiat. That deal apparently is in the works. And in his comments about the bailout this morning, President Obama addressed some of the people who have been hurt most by the failures of the Big Three, the auto workers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Many of you have been going through tough times for longer than you care to remember, and I won't pretend that the tough times are over. I can't promise you there isn't more difficulty to come.

But what I can promise you is this. I will fight for you. You are the reason I'm here today. I got my start fighting for working families in the shadows of a shuttered steel plant. I wake up every single day asking myself what can I do to give you and working people all across this country a fair shot at the American dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, he might as well have been speaking right to Mike and Roland Green. We've had them here in the NEWSROOM a number of times before, both of them from a family of GM auto workers. Mike, let's start with you. You heard the president. What does he need to give you that continued shot at the American dream?

MIKE GREEN, GM AUTO WORKER: Well, I think, you know, right along, he's said the same thing, that he's here for working people. And as you said, he's going to give us another 60 days. He's looking for us to roll our sleeves up a little bit, along with everybody, all parties, and see what it takes to be viable.

PHILLIPS: Rollin, how about you? When you hear the president say that, if you had a chance to sit in front of him, what would you say this is what I need right now, Mr. President?

ROLLIN GREEN, LAID OFF FROM GM: I think exactly what he's doing is what we need. We need the time that he's giving us, and in return, we're going to prove that we can roll our sleeves up, and we can cut back and be a viable company.

PHILLIPS: All right. Wagoner's out. Fritz Henderson is in. What's the buzz? What have you heard about this guy? What do you know? How do you feel about him?

M. GREEN: Well, yes, Fritz is going to do a good job. That's the good thing about General Motors, it's very deep with people that are very capable of doing the job. And Fritz has been there right along, you know, along with Wagoner.

Wagoner's done a good job. He's been through good times and bad times. I wish him well, you know. I do. And if the task force sees fit for a changing of the guards, I guess that's what we need to do.

PHILLIPS: Well, the president says OK, Fritz Henderson, you've got 60 days to give me a leaner business plan. Mike, if you were sitting there with Fritz Henderson helping to advise him on what he should do, what would you tell him?

M. GREEN: I think I would remind him of the things that have already been done and how you can entwine that with the things that need to be done. One is, you know, the '07 agreement. They've already cut the wage in half. And you don't have 30 and out (ph), you don't have health care or pensions unless you pay into it, and somehow you're goiong to have to work that out until it's feasible for both the active people and people that have already retired.

Because if you just go out and take pensions away and you take health care away and stuff, that's going to fall back on government anyway. So, we need to come up with a plan that's going to be feasible for both sides. PHILLIPS: And let me ask you about that, Mike. I mean, a lot of people are saying, wow, there's a double standard here. Of course, we expect Wall Street fat cats to give back their million-dollar bonuses, but oh, my gosh, these auto workers like you, like your son, you shouldn't have to give back your health care benefits, your retirement benefits. I mean, are you seeing a double standard here?

M. GREEN: Absolutely. I mean, the people that you're talking about in the auto industry worked between 30 and 40 years to have their health care and their pensions. You know, when, I guess, the banking industry and the insurance companies come out with their hand out, doesn't seem like there's any strings attached to that.

The latest thing where they tried to give themselves bonuses, and you know, their excuse was, well, we have to do that because they have a contract. Well, what do you think we have? We have a contract also. I would say it's very much a double standard.

PHILLIPS: So, Rollin, final thoughts. You're the youngest one of the family. You're still hoping to get your job back. What are you and your friends saying, especially the friends that are still working there? Thinking about buying out?

R. GREEN: Some are, some aren't. It's a tough choice. You would hate to lose your job and end up with absolutely nothing in the end. And on the other hand, you would hate to take the buyout and have a chance to go back. Because once you take the buyout, you can no longer work for General Motors.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's see what Henderson does. Mike and Rollin Green, best to grandpa and your father, Mike. We always miss having him with you two. We'll keep tabs on you throughout all of this.

M. GREEN: Thank you.

R. GREEN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.