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AIG Bailout Coverup?; Apple's Newest Unveiling; Haiti Medical School In Ruins
Aired January 27, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And one last note. The cost to rebuild the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk was $5.5 million. The Delaware Department of Transportation says it created 31 full-time jobs and the West Rehoboth Weathering and Training project cost $130,000 and has created one full-time job.
OK. This hour on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner facing some tough questions about the taxpayer bailout on big banks. So why so many secret deals? Why trust someone who has raised so many questions of integrity already? Well, we don't have to issue with integrity when it comes to CNN's chief business correspondent Ali Velshi.
Bottom line, I think a lot of people are wondering as we're monitoring this live event right now on the hill -
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
PHILLIPS: First it was bad taxes.
VELSHI: Right.
PHILLIPS: Then it was, you know, alleged secret deals here and this is our money guy.
VELSHI: Right.
PHILLIPS: Could this be the chopping block.
VELSHI: Today is a serious day for Timothy Geithner. And his performance may help him but the reality is look the taxes issue is one where it didn't affect me or you much. But what happened is on September 16th of 2008, he was the head of the New York Fed. They oversee financial institutions.
That was the day, you'll remember this, it was right in the financial crisis, the government made a decision to give $85 billion to AIG, most of that money was used to pay banks that AIG had contracts with. Now, the Geithner at the time with the New York Fed apparently went and negotiated with some of these banks and said do you have to take all the money you're owed or can you take a bit of a haircut.
Most of them said no, one said yes. As a result they simply didn't negotiate with any of them and every bank that was owed money by AIG got fully paid. Now the rest of the country took a haircut and has been taking a haircut for a year and a half.
PHILLIPS: Everybody was so tough on us, right?
VELSHI: That's right.
PHILLIPS: On the public.
VELSHI: That's exactly the question.
PHILLIPS: So why wasn't he tough on the banks?
VELSHI: Why were you not that tough on the banks?
PHILLIPS: Right.
VELSHI: He's got two issues here. One is if he said that they misstepped back then, then it puts into question his abilities as Treasury secretary. If he doesn't say, if he said it was the right decision, then it makes you wonder whether he had the public interest at mind at the time and whether he does as Treasury secretary.
This is a very tough day for him. He's going to get some grillings. He's just walked in live. I think there will be a lot of fireworks today, even though we're all concentrated on other things, on stimulus, on state of the union. The bottom line is this could be very important to Timothy Geithner's future.
PHILLIPS: Yes, but you know, (INAUDIBLE) the stimulus and the stimulus - I mean, this is our money.
VELSHI: Right.
PHILLIPS: And we want -
VELSHI: He's the man in charge.
PHILLIPS: We want a - you know, a Treasury secretary who has integrity, who is honest and has our best interests at heart.
VELSHI: Right.
PHILLIPS: A lot of people are saying he did not have our best interests at heart.
VELSHI: What's interesting is we're not sure whose interest - if you believe the people who are accusing him, whose interests would he have had at heart. Because he didn't have any personal gain out of it getting AIG the money in the banks. So what they're trying to get at is why did you make that decision. Did you make the decisions? And if you did, why did you make that decision.
So again, a lot of questions are going to come out. We're going to stay on this and listen to what those questions are and more importantly what his answers are. PHILLIPS: Let us know and come back up here when you've got something. Thanks, Ali. OK. Great.
Well, we're going to head over to our stimulus desk in about 10 minutes. Don Lemon is working on a story about a $1.6 billion nuclear waste cleanup that's creating 3,000 jobs.
And more money for this, less money for that, not a dime for that other thing. That's just what some are expected to hear from President Obama tonight. It's the state of the union. And now it's just 11 hours away. White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has a preview for us. What do you think? What are we going to hear? What are we going to get tonight?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We're already starting that countdown to the speech, Kyra. I've been talking to some White House officials this morning and they tell me that it's meant to present on the one hand some hard, cold realities. The challenges that Americans are facing, namely the dire economic situation. But this is also a speech that is meant to give folks some hope.
That there is some help, particularly for the middle class. Things like reforming some practices for health insurance companies. That's something that the president is going to tell the American people he has not given up on. There's some rather non-controversial initiatives, tax credits for child care, limits on federal student loan payments, extended support for caring for the elderly, and a $4 billion increase in federal spending on education.
Now, the president is also at the same time trying to reach the fiscally conservative Democrats, the independents he lost, even some Republicans by proposing some things. One of them, a three-year spending freeze on discretionary expenses and no more bonuses for top White House officials. The message being that the president wants to show the American people that he gets it.
And I also asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs this morning if the president is going to acknowledge at some point some of the mistakes that he's made, some lessons learned, perhaps, going into this new year. Here's how he responded, Kyra.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If the president acknowledged and this team acknowledged all the mistakes we've made in the first year, we'd have to ask you guys for far more time than we've asked you for to deliver this speech.
What I think the president is going to spend about two-thirds of his time in the speech tonight is walking the American people through his plans to get our economy further back on track, to outline plans for small businesses, to begin hiring workers again, to make retirements more secure and college more affordable.
I think those are the topics that the president will spend the most time on tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And so, Kyra, while the president is going to acknowledge he has more work to do in bringing this country together than the change in Washington that he had promised, he's also squarely putting the onus on Republicans who now have more power to work with him, to try to get some significant legislation passed. Bottom line, Kyra, is he does need them.
PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much. We're going to talk about crafting this critical message. Every word counts, as you know. So what does it take to be a big-time political speech writer? We're actually going to talk to a couple of former top pen men about what we should hear tonight and how that message is put on paper and prompter.
Tune into CNN tonight for complete coverage of the president's "State of the Union" speech. Our special coverage kicks off at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
Maybe not since Moses has a tablet created so much buzz. Apple unveils its latest must have product. Is this newest computer really worth all the hype?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Usually about this time I like to check in with cnn.com and take a look at the news pulse web page. If you go straight to CNN.com, up on the left corner you'll see the news pulse and you just click onto that.
And basically what this is, these are the stories that all of you are clicking onto, the most popular stories at this time. And sometimes we don't have these stories in our newscasts, so we try to follow this with all of you and then let you know some of maybe the other stories you might be interested in at the moment that it comes up.
I just refreshed the page and here's the first story right now. Alleged daylight sex assault. If you click on that you'll get the whole segment Rick Sanchez did yesterday. He actually talks to police and witnesses about this alleged sex crime that was just committed in plain view. All types of controversy to whether the authorities did enough or not when it came to this crime.
Number two most popular story right now comes from cnnmoney.com. Toyota suspending sales after the recall of millions of dollars of eight models that had a problem with the accelerator pedal. It actually sticks. So if you want to find out if your favorite car, your favorite Toyota, is on that list, go to that.
And then this one, I love this story. How many of you - does it just drive you crazy? Oh now, we've got to show you this. You can see the video there. Can you see the saggy pants? I just don't understand. You know, if you've got a nice pair of pants, why wear them halfway down, you know, your back side.
Anyway Jeanne Moos takes a look at this new song "Pants on the Ground" that's become a huge hit online. You know, you can weigh in there. It's a great piece. We love our Jeanne Moos. All right. It's updated every 15 minutes, cnn.com, go to news pulse, you can find out the most popular stories right now as we're looking at them too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So when it comes to rolling out new product, few companies seem to harness the hype like Apple Computers. Remember this legendary commercial?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We shall prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. Well, fast forward 26 years. From 1984 to 2010, in just a few hours Apple's new tablet computer will be ready for its close-up. It's shrouded in mystery, but we do have some details. We always count on Errol Barnett for this. He joins us with a closer look. So Errol, what can you tell us? You always get excited about this stuff. Get us jazz.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know you're excited too, Kyra. Unfortunately because Apple is so secretive we can't confirm anything. We're going to get into all the details in just a moment but first, you should understand this is not the first time Apple has released a tablet device. We spoke via web cam to a man named Leo Laporte. He's a tech journalist, and he has the first time Apple tried this sort of thing. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEO LAPORTE, TECH JOURNALIST, TWIT.TV: There's one big difference between this and what we're going to see from Apple. Steve Jobs didn't have a hand in this. This was a Steve Jobs free production. I think that you can kind of tell, it's clunky, it's heavy, it wasn't really all that usable and in fact wasn't very much of a success.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: The companies hoping for a massive turn-around this time. Steve Jobs returned to Apple a few years later. Fast forward to today on Twitter and it is the top trending topic. Three of the top trends relate to Apple and its tablet release. Then you've got these social networking blogs like Mashable.
They have posted some pictures of what they believe to be leaked images of the device bolted down to a table. We believe it's about 10 inches in diameter, has a full touch screen and it shows here that it has some Wi-Fi capability and the ability to mark bookmarks as well.
They took a poll of their readers and they found that I-slate is the name they Apple should go with for this device.
PHILLIPS: Errol, looking at those pictures, it's like going into the "Situation Room" and seeing like high-powered, you know, intel, secret photos from the CIA.
BARNETT: You're absolutely right. Apple in fact has gotten patents to make sure people can't replicate this technology. (INAUDIBLE) gadget, for example, Kyra. They have posted a picture and the U.S. Patent Office announced this also what they call a proximity sensing touch screen. That sounds really high tech.
Basically it means the device may know where your hand is as it manipulates it. Why is this a big deal though? Well, we know there are a lot of people from Electronic Arts, EA, they make games. They are invited to today's announcement. Comes up in about three hours from now. So there could be a lot of gaming features as well in this device.
PHILLIPS: So OK, gaming features too. So big money for Apple? I mean, how many are they anticipating to sell.
BARNETT: Well, one of the other major features is its ability to run applications like e-books. We know this is very successful for Amazon this past Christmas when they sold more e-books than physical books. We reached out in fact to the editor-in-chief of pcmag.com to see if he could get a grasp on the price of this device.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANCE ULANOFF, "PC MAGAZINE": $800 is a price that a lot of people are talking about, but many are concerned that's too expensive. We don't know. I think it's anywhere from $500 to $1,000. Obviously if it's over $1,000, then I don't think anybody is going to be interested in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: So what we know, Kyra, is this device will possibly be able to play games, read any e-books, it's basically like an iPod, and iPhone without the calling function and a 10-inch device. So if it was under $1,000, do you think it's something you would be interested in looking at?
PHILLIPS: You're really asking me that question? Work had to force me to get a crackberry.
BARNETT: Right. Right.
PHILLIPS: No, you're talking to a non-techno geek. I'm the complete opposite of you, Errol.
BARNETT: But you know, Apple hopes is that you don't have to be too tech savvy to use these devices. The last time they rolled out the phone, the iPhone a lot of people seemed like it was overwhelming but it's so easy to use with that touch screen interface it has done very well. The same is true with their mp3 player, the iPod.
So we don't know yet what's going to happen. It's going to happen less than three hours from now and of course, we'll watch it closely, but this could be a game-changing device. Who knows, it might convince you to get one.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll see. Thank you, Errol.
BARNETT: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, follow the money, ask the questions. That's what our stimulus desk does, tracking the government projects that we're all paying for. This hour, the waste that pays, nuclear waste.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Government stimulus program, it's your money. You should know how it's spent, don't you think? And this week at CNN, we're bringing you answers. We're looking at where the $158 billion in stimulus funds, nearly 57,000 projects by the way, have gone or are going.
Our team is looking at projects that really stimulate the economy and those that might have you saying why don't they just burn it instead. Cleaning up nuclear waste. OK. That's not a job that you'll give to just anyone with the lowest bid, but are taxpayers getting their money's worth in a billion dollar cleanup in the southeast.
That's the question for our stimulus desk as it tracks the government spending in a wide range of projects. Don Lemon manning it for us. Don, what have you got?
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, every little bit counts as I stand here and talk to (INAUDIBLE) It's not just one billion, it's $1.6 billion. That's a lot of stimulus dollars that these guys got.
This is a nuclear facility which is located in Aiken, South Carolina. It's really right on the border, Kyra, of South Carolina and Georgia. And it's called the Savannah River Project. I'm going to get over here and talk to this young lady who knows everything about this project and she kind of hit me to it just a little bit ago.
Ines Ferre. 310 square miles, right, this facility.
INES FERRE, CNN STIMULUS DESK PRODUCER: Right.
LEMON: It's a nuclear facility but they want to clean it up, reduce the footprint so they can start doing other jobs, adding more jobs.
FERRE: Exactly. So basically the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is a company that's gotten $1.4 billion to accelerate the cleanup of this site. Now, they're saying on recovery.gov it's listed as 800 jobs, full-time jobs that have been saved or created but they're saying actually that number is higher because we have staff augmentation. They've got so much money that have hired companies to staff this site to accelerate this cleanup.
LEMON: And they said, what, 3,000 - they're saying 3,000 instead of 800.
FERRE: Exactly. It's 3,007 jobs - that means 3,007 people that are working on this project. It's a 30-month project. It started in April of last year and it's going to end in September of 2011.
LEMON: And it's owned by the Department of Energy?
FERRE: The Department of Energy owns this site but this company is in charge of operating and managing the site. They have been awarded this money to accelerate this cleanup. They also give out contracts for things like cement and all sorts of things because they're deactivating reactors and doing all sorts of stuff at the site.
LEMON: OK. Great. So what do we add to - Thank you very much, Ines. So we've added to our board here the number of - that we're looking at, so far two billion. There we go, $3 billion. This $1.6 billion obviously adds a billion dollars. That's what we're checking on and will get to the bottom of it.
Where are your taxpayer dollars going? How many jobs actually were created? That's what we're doing here. Kyra, we're back in a little bit with more information on this project and others.
PHILLIPS: Don, and we're monitoring the House government reform committee hearing that's under way this hour. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner expected to testify about the collapse and federal rescue of AIG. These are live pictures right now.
Plus, they are Haiti's future healers but right now their careers are on hold. Medical students without a school after the quake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: They are Haiti's medical hope. But in a country where doctors are already scarce, these students no longer have a school, the earthquake saw to that. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, from Port-au-Prince.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So you would have been in class that day but you weren't. If you'd been in class, I think everybody probably would have died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): But they very much lived and now they have all the vitality of youth. Ricardo and Paul Robert, they're best friends. They have matching bags, inseparable. Now they're on their way to being Haiti's future healers.
(on camera): The way it works you go to primary school, then you go to secondary school and then the very best students go to medical school for seven years. Paul Robert was in his fifth year. He was this close to being the first person in his family to ever becoming a doctor when this all happened.
That's where you used to sit? Right over there?
PAUL ROBERT DERENONCOURT, HAITIAN MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT: Over there on the other side.
GUPTA: When you look at your school now, what are you going to do? What is your plan?
DERENONCOURT: When I see my medical school collapse, it's a very bad thing for us.
GUPTA: What type of doctor do you want to be?
DERENONCOURT: I want to be a radiologist.
GUPTA (voice-over): He would be one of fewer than 2,000 doctors in the entire country of nine million people.
(on camera): So that's the only thing still standing is the front wall over there.
DERENONCOURT: Yes, the only thing standing.
GUPTA (voice-over): Many would look at Paul Robert and say he's lucky. His mother survived the earthquake, siblings as well. But now it is his very future that hangs in the balance.
(on camera): So what will you do? What are you going to do next year? What are you going to do the year after that?
DERENONCOURT: First of all, I will spend some of my time to search what can I do for other medical school in other country.
GUPTA: So you're saying many of the medical schools here in Haiti are destroyed or broken.
DERENONCOURT: Yes.
GUPTA: So you may have to leave your country?
DERENONCOURT: Maybe, I don't know.
GUPTA (voice-over): That's pretty bad news, considering how poor medicine was to begin with here in Haiti.
(on camera): Here's a number that sort of surprised me. Even under typical circumstances, Haiti only graduates 80 medical doctors a year. Every single year. Think about that, in a country of nine million people. Giving Haiti one of the lowest physician-to-patient ratios anywhere in the world.
With this, obviously those numbers get a lot worse.
(voice-over): But for the time being there is a lot of compassion here. Doctors from all over the world come to help.
(On camera): What happens when they leave?
DERENONCOURT: If they leave, I think it will be very difficult for us.
GUPTA (voice-over): But what we know is eventually Haiti's medical care and really Haiti's future will fall squarely on the shoulders of these kids, kids like Ricardo and Paul-Robert.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Those numbers are pretty surprising, but keep in mind that when we talk about Haiti, we're talking about a country that is an 80 percent poverty rate. We're also talking about the fact that only around two percent of people actually enter secondary school or high school. So going on to medical school is a very big deal here and a much more difficult one, given the destruction to these medical schools.
So as people build on the medical infrastructure here, building on the medical school, the medical education is going to need to be a big part of that. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Sanjay, thanks so much.
Almost time to step up and address the nation, folks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: President Obama with a message for the American people tonight. Talk about making every word count. We're going to ask a couple of big-time speech writers about crafting that critical message.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The foreclosure crisis hit nearly three million Americans last year but now Bank of America says it does have a plan to help people hang on to their homes. Susan Lisovicz, tell us about it.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know what, this is important, Kyra, because Bank of America says it's the first lender to agree to lower or eliminate payments on second mortgages. The plan will pay incentives to second mortgage holders to work closely with first mortgage holders who had typically been reluctant to lower payments when there was a second lien involved because they didn't want to take on losses while leaving payments on the second mortgages intact.
Second mortgages are often considered riskier to the lender. They often carry higher mortgage rates and they were big during the housing boom, so it could potentially ease the log jam for people to rework their first mortgages and that is something certainly that one would need in addressing this housing crisis, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And there's been a lot of criticism, right? For President Obama's housing programs because they haven't helped as many people as expected. So will this one be more successful, do you think?
LISOVICZ: Well, I mean, starting with Bank of America, it is a good start. Kyra, why is that? Because it's the nation's top mortgage lender. It has three million second loans outstanding. The idea is that other banks could follow B of A, sign up for this program. Certainly would help at a time when there's no question the housing market is still struggling with a 10 percent unemployment rate.
We just got news signs of that today. New home sales fell more than 7.5 percent in December to a nine month low and it follows the 17 percent drop we saw earlier in existing home sales.
And so what we're seeing on Wall Street, not surprising. We have a lot going on today and a lot of news yet to come. The Federal Reserve decision later today, State of the Union address tonight, Apple unveiling what could be an exciting new gadget. But what we're seeing in the mean time, the Dow, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 selling off but just modestly, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Susan.
LISOVICZ: Thank you.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEROLOGIST: Hi, I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. A powerful ice storm set to slam the Southern plains states, plus find out how the National Guard is helping people near Flagstaff, Arizona, still stranded from last week's storm.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Tell you what, the Steel City of Pittsburgh may need some (INAUDIBLE) today. Pennsylvania's D.O.T. was able to reopen a half-mile stretch of I-376 just in time for rush hour. Flooding from heavy rain coupled with all that melting snow prompted that road closure.
Then it's much cooler and a lot prettier in Pleasure County (ph), California. This is yesterday. Take a look at that snow. The storm is now tracking eastward, bringing a good bit of apprehension along with it. Right, Jacqui?
(WEATHER REPORT) PHILLIPS: We'll be tracking it with you, Jacqui. Thank you.
Popularity that's hurting. Health care reform on life support. President Obama seems to be in a bit of a rut right now, so how high are the stakes tonight for his State of the Union address? If you're the president's speechwriter, where the heck do you even begin?
Live from New York, Michael Cohen, former speech writer for Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd and author of the book "Live from the Campaign Trail." And from Washington, Matt Larimer, former speech writer for George W. Bush and author of "Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor."
Matthew, let's start with you. Matthew or Matt, which do you prefer?
MATT LARIMER, AUTHOR, "SPEECHLESS": Hey, either one.
PHILLIPS: OK. I'll call you ML.
If you're writing the speech tonight, where would you even begin? How would you kick it off?
LARIMER: Well, I think that President Obama needs to remember why he got elected. He was running both against the establishment of the Republican party and the establishment of the Democratic party, which is represented by Secretary Clinton. What I think he needs to do is recapture the magic that he had when he was running for president as somebody that's running against Washington and the system.
And the way I'd do that is just sort of acknowledging the problems that the country is facing, acknowledging in a way that he hasn't quite lived up to the expectations people had for him and then, you know, pursue an agenda much more in keeping with the campaign that he ran.
PHILLIPS: Michael, what about you? How would you devise that first line, that first thought knowing what you know about the pulse of the country right now?
MICHAEL COHEN, AUTHOR, "LIVE FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL": I think, you know, Obama needs to sort of channel his inner Bill Clinton and feel America's pain. I think there's been a real disconnect between what he's been trying to accomplish in Washington and the pain people are feeling out in the country.
I think any way possible that he can make the connection between the stimulus package, between health care reform, between all the different measures he's pushing and how it's going to affect Americans on a day-to-day basis. I think making that connection, that sort of -- showing the empathy that he needs to show I think would be really important.
PHILLIPS: People connect with transparency, with humor, with, look, this is how it is. Sometimes even taking a shot at yourself. How do you find that balance, Matt, of sort of being serious and also being humorous and maybe even taking a couple of stabs at yourself?
LARIMER: I think it's very important for the president to do that. He sometimes has an image of being a law school professor who doesn't really show a lot of emotion, and he does have emotion. I know that. I think it's very helpful to be self-deprecating. I think, you do that early on in the speech and make some sort of joke about I talked about change and I need to give you some more change of my own or something.
But humor is very important. People remember that. President Bush when I wrote for him used to love to make fun of himself, and people seemed to respond to that very well.
PHILLIPS: You bring up a good point. Michael, how much do presidents really put into their speeches? How much do they write their speeches? I mean, I can think of Abe Lincoln, right that wrote the Gettysburg Address on a train, but since then, do presidents really write these or do you guys hold the power?
COHEN: Well, I think every president is different. They have their own style. I think Obama is unique in the sense that he's a writer. He's written two books, so he knows how to write pretty well. I imagine a lot of what will go from tonight's speech will come from his pen.
But, you know, State of the Unions are kind of weird speeches because they're a lot more prose than poetry. And it's a laundry list of policy items than they are necessarily, you know, rhetorical flights of fancy. So, I imagine you'll see more of sort of a workman's type address than to see sort of the kind of speeches we associated with him during the campaign.
PHILLIPS: I want to ask both of you this. Matthew and Michael -- Matthew, let's start with you, how do you even become a speechwriter? I was reading that you said that you were basically a political geek with slightly mortified liberal parents because you wanted to work for a conservative president. You can't take speech writing 101 in college. How did it happen for you?
LARIMER: Well, sometimes it happens just in the luck of the draw, and I kind of moved up the ranks. I worked on Capitol Hill and then I went to the Pentagon and worked as a speechwriter for the Secretary of Defense, and then I just kind of got lucky and went to the White House. But, you know, there's a lot of wonderful writers who never make it and there are a lot who do make it that aren't that wonderful.
PHILLIPS: And Michael, I love that quote, well, Kyra, I kind of, quote, "fell back asswards into this career."
COHEN: Yes, that's kind of how it worked for me. And frankly, that's how it happens for most speechwriters. They can't find anything else to do. So, they say, "Hey, can you write a speech?". "Sure, I can do that."
PHILLIPS: And you know what? You guys are being far too humble because both of you are incredible writers. Matthew Latimer and Michael Cohen, thanks, guys. Look forward to seeing what you think of the speech too after tonight. Appreciate your time.
LARIMER: Thank you.
COHEN: Sure.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Tune into CNN tonight for complete coverage of the president's State of the Union speech. Our special coverage kicks off at 8:00 Eastern.
And there will be some tough sledding. Poppy Harlow there at the beautiful Swiss resort and, yes, what a setting. Up next, the world's top policymakers want to prevent another financial meltdown. Poppy is all over this story for us.
Then on Capitol Hill, no smooth skiing or sailing for the president's top money man. Just tough questions. Like why were billions of your tax dollars secretly funneled to some banks? We'll dip in and see what he's saying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Davos, Switzerland. Today, it's a crossroads of economics and politics. The World Economic Forum getting under way there. Decision makers from around the world squaring off. At issue whether to enact tougher financial reforms to prevent another global meltdown.
But the leaders of the top world banks say regulations would choke off an economic recovery. The passions of the debate underline the anxiety that still hangs over the world economies right now -- world's economy, rather, and the obstacles that still block a robust rebound.
Well, CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in Davos. So, Poppy, what are the bigwigs talking about?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, Kyra, it's very interesting. The focus here is three things. It is "rethink, rebuild and redesign." A year out from the depths of the financial crisis, how do we fix a global economy moving forward?
On the eve of the president's State of the Union address, the key topic here is clear, it is U.S. financial reform. What will that be? We'll have top banking officials I've spoken to who have said this is not the right reform, this is risky reform, this is not what we need. Essentially reenacting a majority of Glass-Stegall that separated commercial and investment banks and was repealed in the 1990s.
Remember the president last week pushing forward on that with Paul Volcker. A lot of bankers opposing that. However, House Financial Services chairman Barney Frank here, I saw him this morning, he will be pushing for that reform. But I talked to Nouriel Roubini. He's an economist known around the world as Dr. Doom, he's very pessimistic still about the state of the economy. He says, Kyra, honestly we don't have enough regulation and Wall Street is going back to its old ways. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOURIEL ROUBINI, CHAIRMAN, ROUBINI GLOBAL ECONOMICS: I fear that we're back to business as usual in the financial system on banks. They're taking risks. So we need to try to curb the excess in the financial system. I think that we're not doing enough. People are worried about the regulation...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Kyra, you can expect the president to address the banking system, morality, compensation, all of this tonight in his State of the Union address, that is certainly a hot topic when we talk about reform out here in Davos, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, the forum truly a global one, so what's the sense that you're actually getting the perception, you know, that the U.S. economy versus those around the world?
HARLOW: You know, it's a nervous perception. We're talking to business leaders here that run companies that operate around the world. The majority of them are telling me watch China, watch it very closely, because as the U.S. struggles to get out of this recession and as we grapple with all of these proposed new financial reforms, the East, China in particular, is moving full steam ahead. That's something that they're very wary of in terms of how the U.S. can compete.
We're just about an hour and a half away from the keynote opening speech here. It will be given by French president Nicolas Sarkozy. He is expected to talk critically and very focused on, what else, financial reform. That is certainly the hot topic here, Kyra, today. You can see all of our updates on Davos on CNN Money.
PHILLIPS: Sounds great. Beautiful background, Poppy. What a place to be.
Well, he was trapped under the rubble. He says he first thought of God, then it was his music.
(VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: This blind earthquake survivor played concertos in his mind while waiting for his rescue. You're going to meet him live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we've heard a lot of inspirational stories from Haiti, and this one is right up there, top of the list. A violinist trapped under the rubble of his music school humming concertos just to stay alive. Our John Zarrella got to meet him in a Miami hospital and brings us his remarkable story. Hey, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. That's right. Rammel Joseph is not only blind but is a world-class violinist and he spent a day and a half buried in the rubble in Haiti. He's recovering at a hospital, at Jackson Memorial Hospital here in Miami right now.
I spoke to him yesterday. Romel told me people survive these kinds of events in all kinds of different ways. His was through music.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Middle school students came to the hospital to play. They sensed music could ease his pain.
Romel Joseph's fingers on his left hand are shattered, his legs crushed. His grave is what he calls the rubble where he was entombed. When the quake hit he was on the third floor. Suddenly, there was no floor.
ROMEL JOSEPH, MUSIC TEACHER: I was just lying there very peacefully down there and like what happened? Okay. I always have bad dreams, let me wake up. And then I was trying to wake up and I couldn't wake up. I said it's real life.
ZARRELLA: Almost completely blind, Joseph a renowned violinist laid buried here in the fractured concrete, all that is left of his new Victorian school where Haitian children learned the joy of classical music.
None were there that Tuesday afternoon. But for 18 hours Joseph lay pinned. He talked first to God.
JOSEPH: If you're really here, I really hot. I need some cool air. And believe it, the next thing I knew some cool air got in.
ZARRELLA: Then he turned to music. As if detaching his mind from his broken body, Joseph began recounting every violin concerto he had ever performed. He could see the moment -- every symphony hall, every auditorium.
ROMEL JOSEPH: Walking on stage, everyone there, full hall, and you start playing.
ZARRELLA: First Tchaikovsky. Each hour he picked another, the longer the better.
ROMEL JOSEPH: I know I picked the Brahm's, I picked several.
ZARRELLA: I guess it is a good thing you knew a lot.
ROMEL JOSEPH: Yes, I know a lot of concertos for a violin. I look for the long one.
ZARRELLA: It's a good thing.
His spirits are just unbelievably high.
VICTORIA JOSEPH, DAUGHTER: Surprisingly considering what he's been through.
ZARRELLA: It was Thursday after the quake when Victoria found out her dad was alive. Victoria's stepmother has not been found.
VICTORIA JOSEPH: He's definitely not dealing with it until he sees firsthand whether or not because part of him truly believes she still might be out there.
ZARRELLA: Doctors are not sure Joseph will ever be able to play his violin again. He says he will.
ROMEL JOSEPH: I have to play so that they can hear what I want them to play.
ZARRELLA: How else can he teach the children when he rebuilds?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Romel was telling me that he's got feeling in his fingers on his left hand, so he's pretty convinced that he'll play again. But he really wants a keyboard so that he can start to exercise those fingers. You know, he's going to be in the hospital for another couple weeks at least. Several more surgeries to go. And, again, he's sure looking to get his hands on a keyboard so he can exercise those brilliant fingers he has.
PHILLIPS: Well, I tell you what. You told me about that, and as you know, I was very touched by Romel's story. John, hold on, just a second because I do have a bit of a surprise here that came through at the last minute. Romel Joseph joining me live now from the hospital.
Romel, how are you feeling?
R. JOSEPH: I'm fine, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Bless your heart. You really went through a lot. I heard that you wanted a keyboard and I have a special surprise for you. Are you a fan of Stevie Wonder?
R. JOSEPH: Yes. I like him. I like his music. You know, his music is -- I'm glad I'm not a singer because I couldn't sing. The music he wrote is very challenging -- I would say for any singer, but I love to hear his music.
PHILLIPS: I know you do. And that's why we have arranged something special for you. Joining us now, music great and the U.N.'s Messenger of Peace, Stevie Wonder. Stevie, I understand you have a surprise for Mr. Romel. Isn't that true?
STEVIE WONDER, SINGER/SONGWRITER (via telephone): What's up?
R. JOSEPH: Hey, I'm fine. Can you hear me?
WONDER: Yes, I can hear you.
R. JOSEPH: Yes, sir. I'm really fine.
WONDER: You know, God is mighty, and so I'm really excited to know that your spirits are high and so what I have for you is a Motif 88 keyboard, and I'll get it to you.
R. JOSEPH: Oh, my goodness. Thank you so very much.
WONDER: Because we know you're going to play...
R. JOSEPH: Yes, I play the keyboard too because I make musical arrangements, but that is so wonderful and exciting because I can't put my arm in the position of performing on the violin. But the keyboard -- I can do exercises (INAUDIBLE) so that the fingers start being active.
WONDER: What we're going to do, actually, is we're going to give you two keyboards. We'll give you the -- my motif that I have, I'll send you my personal one. And I was given the new keyboard by Carswell, and I'm going to give you that as well because they say, as you know, in the African proverb, anything that's special to you really is special, you pass it on.
So, I'll give you my keyboard that I've used a lot when I did "Songs for a Time to Love," and I'll give you the new keyboard that I just got, which is the keyboard -- the Carswell keyboard. I look forward to hearing you play violin as soon as your fingers get stronger. Because I know you will play again.
R. JOSEPH: Yes, I'm confident I will play, because I was told during my fascinating (INAUDIBLE) time under the ground with Jesus, which people may find strange, but, you know, sometimes you are in a situation for a specific reason.
WONDER: Yes.
R. JOSEPH: And I was assured that I would be able to play the violin again, even with my hand in that condition.
WONDER: I look forward to meeting you, I look forward to hearing you play, and my prayers go out to you and all the families and people in Haiti. And we're going to know that all things happen, even those things that are bad, we can turn them into good.
As you know, so many millions of people gave and came out just in making sure that we don't just talk about it, but we do about it. And so many people have done about it by their donations and contributions. So, we're excited. We're excited for you and others that are alive.
PHILLIPS: Stevie Wonder...
R. JOSEPH: I would like to say thank you to you. Yes, I would like to feel that I'm honored that I'll be playing on a keyboard that you play. And I would like to also say thank you to CNN and to you and to all those who care about the situation in Haiti and the situation -- all of us survivors, earthquake survivors who will be working towards improving lives in Haiti.
PHILLIPS: Amen. Romel, we lift you up and your strength and, Stevie, thank you so much. As you probably heard in the piece, Romel is Julliard trained. He went back to Haiti to start a music school for kids who can't afford it and has brought music to so many people there in Haiti and has become just an incredible mentor just like you.
Thank you so much for donating your keyboards to him. I believe this. I know both of you are big believers, and he's going to make beautiful music again, not only with your keyboards but with the violin.
WONDER: Thank you, and thanks to CNN for bringing this information to the world. You know, it's all good. I'll see you soon, Mr. Joseph.
R. JOSEPH: Yes, I hope to meet you soon, too. It will be a pleasure for wonderful musicians with great hearts to meet.
WONDER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Stevie wonder and Romel Joseph, I love it. We'll all make beautiful music together. Bless you both.
All right. We'll take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.
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PHILLIPS: Tony Harris, you ready for action?
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, the economy, we're talking to Bill Birden from the White House. It seems like the president and his agenda hit a brick wall last week with the results last week in Massachusetts.
If 85 percent of this State of the Union tonight isn't on the economy and jobs, I guarantee you the criticism tomorrow will be the president's tone deaf. But I'm sure it won't be the case.
PHILLIPS: We'll wait for it. Live coverage right here, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, on CNN. All the analysis afterwards.
HARRIS: You have a great day.
PHILLIPS: OK. Love you, Tony.
HARRIS: Let's rock.
