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Campbell Brown
Interview With Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; Oprah's Economic Power
Aired March 19, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, everybody.
Tonight, a CNN exclusive: answers from President Obama's treasury secretary.
As we have been telling you this week, CNN is dedicated to coverage of the complicated economic crisis facing our nation. We're helping you make sense of what has been happening.
Hopefully, we're going to get a little closer to that goal with bullet point number one tonight. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the man at the very center of the financial storm on Wall Street and the political storm in Washington, gets some tough questions from our Ali Velshi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Are the distractions right now, are they impeding your ability to get your job done?
How do you deal with -- or do you deal with the criticisms that you face on a daily basis?
What about the calls for your to resign?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: You are going to hear his answers to those questions.
Plus, Secretary Geithner takes some responsibility for the AIG bonuses, as today Congress voted on a plan to get the money back. We will talk about that.
And bullet point number two tonight: a warning from President Obama about the recession and about health care. He said at a town hall in Los Angeles today -- quote -- "Nothing is free," telling the audience not to ask government to cut taxes at the same time it's trying to improve services.
As he pushes his massive budget plan, he also brought some good news, nearly $150 million to help clean up the mortgage meltdown in the Golden State, which has been among the hardest hit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Between December of last year and January of this year, this state lost more than 500,000 jobs; 1 out of every 10 Californians is now out of work. Housing prices here have fallen 20 percent in the past year. And you've got one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.
So your public servants are working double overtime to address these critical issues. And I know how tough times are in Los Angeles, in California, but also all across the country.
Here's what I want you to remember, though: We are going to meet these challenges. We will come out on the other side stronger and a more prosperous nation. That I can guarantee you.
I can't tell you how long it will take, what obstacles we'll face along the way, but I promise you this: There will be brighter days ahead.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: The president has also just wrapped up taping his appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
He's also been taking a little heat for talking to Leno. You are going to hear what he said to the late-night comedian and we will tell you what the controversy is about, also.
And bullet point number three tonight: the power to change with the help of Oprah. Tonight, a NO BIAS, NO BULL look at the real potential she has to help our economy, perhaps as much as any CEO or banker. It goes a lot further than giving away cars on her talk show. We will explain.
And you're shortly going to hear from the man who has been under siege at the center of this firestorm, the treasury secretary, Tim Geithner.
But we want to start with Congress delivering a little payback of its own on those AIG bonuses, which topped $165 million, even as the company takes more than $170 billion in bailout money. The House voted overwhelmingly to slap a 90 percent tax on big bonuses paid out by any company taking $5 billion or more in federal bailout money.
Employees with a family income than $250,000 or more this year would fall into that 90 percent category. The measure passed only after Republicans blasted the Obama administration for requesting language in the stimulus bill that allowed the bonuses in the first place. Here's a sample of some of the debate today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: I can see that the political circus continues here. REP. BARNEY FRANK (D-MA), FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I now am astounded to see a new and more compressed theory of when the world was created. It apparently was created at noon on January 20, 2009. You just heard someone say, it's Obama's fault.
REP. STEVEN LATOURETTE (R), OHIO: How did this paragraph get in the bill? This paragraph said that the government could not stop the $170 billion worth of bonuses, and today we're taxing these bonuses at 90 percent and we're calling these people traitors. Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, we are still trying to unravel this mystery.
And that brings us to the man under fire caught in the middle of the AIG fury, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. He was already fighting battles on many fronts to keep our economy from imploding, and now, as he faces new criticism over these AIG bonuses, he's sitting down with just one news organization. That is CNN tonight.
As part of our commitment to finding the truth in the road to America's "Road to Rescue," we bring you this interview.
Our chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi, in Washington, where he sat down for an exclusive with the treasury secretary -- Ali.
VELSHI: Campbell, we had set up this discussion with the treasury secretary some time ago and in fact last week spent a couple of days with him following him around to see what he does on a daily basis.
That was before this became as big as a story as it did. And, obviously, this became a big part of our discussion. I asked him about the details of AIG, about the timing of when he knew, and about what impact he had on Chris Dodd, including that amendment in the stimulus bill that has been the center of controversy.
Here's our discussion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: You have probably heard the expression many times about AIG, too big to fail. What do you think?
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, you know, this is a terribly damaging, frustrating position to be in.
Our country did not have in place a set of adequate constraints on risk in the financial -- across the financial system. And AIG was allowed to build up to the point where its future threatened the entire stability of the American financial system.
That should never have happened, should never happen again. And we're doing our best to work through this in a way that's going to, again, protect the people that brought these insurance products, average Americans, municipalities, from the consequences of distress in this case.
And we're going to work very actively to make sure we have a framework for dealing with these problems in the future, so it doesn't happen again.
VELSHI: One of the issues CNN and other news organizations have reported since late January, that AIG was going to pay about $450 million to about 400 employees of the AIG Financial Products unit, which is really at the heart of AIG's problems, an otherwise healthy company.
There's some dispute as to who knew when what. AIG's CEO said that you might have known about this earlier than you did.
When did you learn about this? And -- and what did you learn?
GEITHNER: I was informed by my staff of the full scale of these specific things on Tuesday, March 10.
And, as soon as I heard about the full scale of these things, we moved very actively to explore every possible avenue, legal avenue, to address this problem, to make sure that, again, the assistance we were providing was not going to unduly benefit these people.
And we moved very quickly. We made it clear that the payments going forward had to be renegotiated. And we're going to make sure the taxpayer is compensated for any payments we can recoup. And we're exploring all legal means to recoup those payments.
VELSHI: As far as you can remember, though, you did not know about this before March 10?
GEITHNER: On Tuesday, I was informed about the full scale and scope of these specific bonus problems.
And, again, as soon as I did -- but it's my responsibility. I was in a position where I didn't know about those sooner. I take full responsibility for that.
The people doing this, the Fed and the Treasury people, are working very closely together. They are doing -- dealing with an enormous set of complicated problems. They have enormous integrity and dedication. They're working very hard. And they are going to help us move forward and make sure that, again, we are protecting the interests of the American people.
VELSHI: Let's just talk a little moment again about the -- the -- the -- those payments and the legal ramifications of doing anything about it.
Senator Dodd said that he had a clause that was put into the stimulus bill that basically allowed these payments to be made to people at AIG in this particular unit. And he says that somebody at Treasury asked him to put it in.
GEITHNER: Let me just start by saying that Chairman Dodd has played an enormously important leadership role in this, as he's doing the right thing and trying to make sure that the assistance we provide don't go into benefit people who shouldn't benefit from these things.
And I'm enormously impressed by the importance of what he's tried to do this in this case.
VELSHI: But you're -- inadvertently, might somebody at Treasury have told Senator Dodd to do something that has now resulted in these payments not being able to taken back?
GEITHNER: No.
Again, what -- again, what we did is just express concern about the vulnerability of a specific part of this provision to legal challenge, as you would expect us to do. That's part of the legislative process.
But, again, his bill also has this very important provision that allows us to go back and see if we can recoup these payments. And we're going to explore that.
But, in any case, we're going to make sure that the American people are compensated for any payments we can recoup.
VELSHI: Do we know who in Treasury had this conversation with whomever on the Banking Committee?
GEITHNER: Oh, Treasury staff were working with Senator Dodd's staff throughout this process. Again, that's part of the legislative process.
VELSHI: So, you -- you weren't involved in that directly?
GEITHNER: Oh, I did have, with other officials, some conversations with Chairman Dodd, as he was going through this process, but about other provisions.
VELSHI: So, not about this particular one? It wasn't about you telling Senator Dodd...
(CROSSTALK)
GEITHNER: No, but I'm not sure that is relevant, because Treasury staff did express concern about whether this provision was vulnerable to legal challenge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Ali, let me follow up with you here. Secretary Geithner in a lot of trouble now, with several Republicans calling for his resignation. Did you ask him about that? What is he saying?
VELSHI: I did.
I asked him very specifically how he's dealing with the criticism and very specifically how he's dealing with the fact that people are calling for his resignation less than two months into the job. Here's what he's said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: What about your calls for you to resign?
GEITHNER: You know, I -- again, I think this just comes with the job.
If this was not challenging, it would not be consequential. And I feel this deep sense of personal responsibility and obligation and really opportunity to work with this president and this Congress to try to make this economy stronger and make sure our financial system never goes through this again.
People are going to disagree with some of the choices we make, but we have to act. We have no -- we have no choice but to move.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: To his credit, Campbell, we got a look at his schedule in the time that we spent with him last week. He hasn't really paid a lot of attention to that kind of stuff, because he really hasn't had a lot of time outside of the crises that he's been dealing with every hour of every day almost.
BROWN: All right, Ali, stick around. We're going to have a lot more from your exclusive interview with Tim Geithner, including when he thinks this recession will be over.
We have also got our expert panel weighing in on whether Geithner is going to be able to get through this to keep his job long enough to see his plan through.
Also coming up, we have new details to tell you about on the death of actress Natasha Richardson and why paramedics were turned away when they first tried to treat her, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: This is an especially tough week for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. He is battling populist rage over those AIG bonuses. His office is seriously short-staffed and a growing chorus of critics is calling for his head.
Chief business correspondent Ali Velshi asked him about that in a exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: What about the calls for you to resign?
GEITHNER: You know, I -- again, I think this just comes with the job.
If this was not challenging, it would not be consequential.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: We're going to have lots more to share from Ali's very revealing interview.
But, first, can the treasury secretary ride out the storm? Is he the right man for the job?
Let's bring in our panel, economist and author Stephen Leeb. His latest book is "Game Over: How You Can Prosper in a Shattered Economy." Also with us from Washington, CNN political contributor Hilary Rosen, and our senior political analyst Gloria Borger.
Hi, guys.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: So, Gloria, how much trouble is the treasury secretary in right now?
BORGER: Look, Tim Geithner has had to rehabilitate himself before he's even unpacked his boxes, Campbell.
And clearly he's in some trouble politically, but the president, who's the most important person of all in this, has expressed his confidence in him. And, by the way, politically, for Barack Obama to dump Tim Geithner right now would be a bad move.
So, I don't think his job is any jeopardy. But the big test is going to be that financial bank bailout plan that we're going to see within the next couple of weeks. We have to see how that's received on Wall Street and how it's received with the American people. That's the test for Tim Geithner.
Stephen, do you believe that Geithner is the right person for this job?
STEPHEN LEEB, ECONOMIST: If he can get that bill through Congress, he's the right person. The right person is someone, Campbell, who can actually get this legislation passed. We desperately need it.
We have to stop focusing on the past, and focus on the future. My feeling right now is, Geithner is tainted. If he can rescue himself, that would be great. But who is the right person right now? I can't think of anyone, save one person, that could be -- get through Congress...
BROWN: Who is the one person?
LEEB: Probably Paul Volcker.
If he wanted to take the job, interim, on an interim basis -- I think he's an octogenarian, but, wow, he looks great -- and he has the gravitas. If he wanted to take the job for the next six months, he's the guy that would have a chance.
Who do we appoint as secretary of the treasury? The head of GE? Who is not tainted in this world right now?
BROWN: Hilary, why do they seem to be having the problems they are having at Treasury? He has no staff there right now and has been unable to build a staff or attract the right people or convey to the American people right now that they have their act together in any way. It feels like something new is coming out every day.
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, they do have staff there. They obviously are...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: But his senior staff, he doesn't have any confirmed key people on the senior staff.
ROSEN: He doesn't have confirmed people, but there -- as many confirmed people. There are a few. And he's clearly got several counselors there and people that he's working with. And Paul Volcker is already an adviser in there working with the president and working with Geithner.
I think the issue that they're struggling with is that much of what they are doing right now is really behind closed doors. Remember, Geithner inherited this problem. And so what he's now doing is saying, before we give you, we, the Obama administration, give any of these financial institutions a red cent, we're going to make sure there's significant constraints on it, something the last administration didn't do.
This AIG bonus money was given out by the Bush administration with no conditions at all. And what Geithner is working through right now is how do we help these banks establish liquidity, do these work- arounds, and get to that point? But that is a bank-by-bank basis, and it's very tedious work.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Hilary, in fairness, he approved it in the second round of bailout money.
Go ahead, Stephen.
LEEB: He absolutely approved it, yes.
I mean, the issue right now is not so much what Tim Geithner is doing. Is he the right man to get this stuff through Congress?
ROSEN: Well, that's just...
(CROSSTALK)
GEITHNER: ... issue, because he's there.
LEEB: Wait a second.
Geithner -- there was a summit, a G-20 summit, I think, last weekend. And he said he would have bank plans this week. Where are they? Where are the plans?
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Hold on. Let her respond.
Go ahead, Hilary. Sorry.
ROSEN: As I said, one of the things that they are doing is working with individual banks, so that it's not a massive general bank bailout piece, like they had in the last administration.
And that requires individual working with banks. This is -- it's not even an issue whether Tim Geithner is the right guy for the job. He's in the job. He's the guy the president wants on that job. And, as Gloria said, that's not going to change. He's credible, he's thoughtful, and he's inherited a big mess.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: All right, Gloria, go ahead.
BORGER: No, I think that, if you step back from this, Campbell, the big problem for the administration right now is not so much Tim Geithner, per se, but it's the notion that they came to Washington to change the system.
And they have to be able to prove to the American public that they can change the system. And the AIG bonuses, no matter who is to blame, and there's plenty of blame to go around, just, you know, Congress, the administration, AIG, whatever, the bonus problem just brings up the sort of same old, same old.
ROSEN: I think there's one -- I think Gloria makes a really good point.
There's one issue here with the bonuses that people maybe are underestimating. I think that the Obama administration and Secretary Geithner in those discussions on the last legislation maybe underestimated how much support he could get from Congress and the American people to go back and do this legal challenge.
Their position was, they wanted to move on. They didn't think they would be successful in court. They didn't want to deal with old contracts. They wanted to move on. Maybe he could have gotten that...
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: ... and that support if they had asked for it.
BROWN: Very quickly, Stephen. LEEB: Look, we are in a very desperate situation right now, and you saw evidence of it yesterday. The Fed decided to put $1.1 trillion in the economy. From the time the Fed made that decision until the market closed today, gold rose 10 percent. Commodities zoomed. We're on the verge of massive inflation. And that's the only way out of this, unless we can get somebody before Congress and get some other legislation through.
BROWN: All right. So, we have got to give them a chance, but we have got more to talk about on this front, guys. Stay there. We have got to take a quick break.
We're going to move from the Treasury Department to the White House. President Obama hears praise from the Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, at today's town hall meeting. You will hear from both of them when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: As always, we are "Cutting Through The Bull," not about the AIG bonuses, but about something even bigger.
Thanks to President Obama's economic recovery plan, the federal government is busy shoveling money out the door as fast as it can. And every day, like today, the president reminds us that we have to spend every dime wisely with unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability.
We thought you might like to know how much trouble the government is already having keeping track of where the money is going. The Recovery.gov Web site, where people are supposed to report waste or fraud, or just follow the money, is getting about 4,000 hits a second. That's what Earl Devaney told Congress today. Devaney is the president's handpicked chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, the RAT Board for short. I'm not kidding. That's what it's actually called.
And listen to this. Devaney says the RAT Board isn't really running the Web site yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EARL DEVANEY, CHAIRMAN, RECOVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY BOARD: The board is still trying to acquire staff, get our equipment, phones, computers, trying to acquire space, which we haven't managed to get yet, and just trying to keep our heads above water and ensuring that the board fulfills its responsibilities under the Recovery Act.
Our first official board meeting will actually be held next week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Seven hundred and eighty-seven billion dollars to manage, and they don't even have phones, computer, or office space yet. No wonder Devaney followed up the revelation with this sobering prediction. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEVANEY: I'm concerned that there may be a naive impression that given the amount of transparency and accountability called for in this act, little or no fraud or waste will occur.
I'm afraid that my 38 years of federal enforcement experience informs me that some level of waste or fraud is, regrettably, inevitable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: But how much waste or fraud is inevitable? Well, Devaney told "The Wall Street Journal" said that, on average, fraud in business adds up to about 7 percent.
So, apply to the $787 billion Recovery Act, and that's a jaw- dropping $55 billion in waste and fraud -- $55 billion. It kind of makes those AIG bonuses pale in comparison.
The government has a good man at the wheel in Earl Devaney. He's given credit for, among other things, exposing and bringing down Jack Abramoff. And he's promising his staff will retool the recovery.gov Web site as soon as they can.
As far as we're concerned, can't be soon enough.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: And you are watching our "Road to Rescue" coverage. Here, all week, we are talking about how to get us out of this mess on the economy.
That's what President Obama was talking about today, and he didn't hold any political grudges at his town hall in Los Angeles. You see him here embracing California Governor, California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, even though Schwarzenegger mocked him during the presidential campaign.
The governor, for his part, was singing quite a different tune himself, praising the president's -- quote -- "courageous leadership."
Dispute all the sunshine, the president still weathering the political storm over those AIG bonuses. Sand he addressed it again. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Even though I didn't -- I didn't draw up these AIG contracts, my White House didn't, it is my responsibility to fix the system.
But fixing the system requires us understanding that, if banks are not solvent, if they are not lending, then businesses are not going to be able to invest, we are not going to be able to create jobs.
And we can be as mad as we want, but the fact of the matter is, we have got to work through this huge mess that was made in the financial system. It's going to cost some money. It's not going to be pretty. People are going to be frustrated. And we are going to get it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: President Obama on the stump again, this time pushing his policies against a populist tide and a lot of anger there.
Let's bring our panel back on this, economist Stephen Leeb, CNN political contributor Hilary Rosen, and CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger.
Gloria, the president's approval ratings still very high, but how much longer can he rely on that?
BORGER: As long as he can, Campbell.
And he's out there in California trying to build his approval ratings higher, because he's going to have to dip into them, not only for this bank bailout plan we were talking about, but also he's got a very controversial budget coming up on Capitol Hill. And the more popular he is, the more he is going to be able to sell it to folks who won't want to be against him, particularly those moderate Democrats, who are a little worried that he's spending too much money.
BROWN: Hilary, listen to what -- this is Democratic Senator Ron Wyden told our Dana Bash up on Capitol Hill today. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RON WYDEN (D), OREGON: The president, to his credit, has talked about bipartisanship. And I think, on this particular issue, he simply was not well-served by his economic team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, that's some harsh criticism coming not from moderate Democrats even. Did the president's team, in your view, let him down here?
ROSEN: Well, as I said before, I think what they underestimated was how much political support they would get from the Congress and the public if they were to take on the past.
They made a judgment that they wanted to move on. And that's why Secretary Geithner and the Treasury Department said, all right, you know what? We're not going to go back and try and take money out of pockets that have already been paid. Let's try and make sure that the money we give out is really given out properly.
And it -- it might have been the wrong calculation. Of course, it's expedient for Congress to say so now. Congress is doing the right thing. They are going to address it. The president expressed his outrage and helped build the support for that legislation over the last two days. So, I think, in the end, that's not the issue.
The issue in the end is...
BROWN: Right.
ROSEN: ... can you go forward with a plan that people get behind? And that's what the president is out on the road doing.
BROWN: Stephen, you have been very tough on Secretary Geithner. You were a moment ago. But, overall, look at this more big-picture. Do you think that President Obama has the right plan to get us out of this mess?
LEEB: I think he does. I think he has absolutely the right plan.
He's a lone warrior right now, Campbell. You just heard him say, yes, America is right to be angry at these bonuses. But that's the past. We have to go forward. If we can't fix this financial system, there's no future.
But he's the lone warrior. Congress, if they showed anywhere near the leadership that President Obama is showing, we wouldn't be having this discussion tonight. I mean, these guys in Washington, they are blind. I mean, their own children's future is at stake.
BORGER: Well...
BROWN: Go ahead, quickly.
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: But this is where presidential leadership comes in.
You know, on the one hand, he has to feel our pain and share our anger. On the other hand, he has to take a turn and convince us that we have to bail out the folks we don't like for our own good.
ROSEN: It's not exactly right. I'm so sickened and, no offense to Mr. Leeb, but I'm so sick of financial analysts and Wall Street types talking about how, you know, incompetent these people in Washington are, that they can't fix the mess that's been created for them by this very same people. It just doesn't make any sense.
LEEB: But they're making no attempt to fix the mess. I mean, they're focusing on $165 billion when they got over a trillion dollars of bad debt.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: Of course, they're making independent statistics.
If you and your friends in the investment community hadn't worked so hard to create financial instruments that were beyond comprehension and a sound market...
LEEB: Well, Hilary, hold on just a second. Hang on.
ROSEN: ... you wouldn't be in that situation.
LEEB: Just time out. The last book I wrote was informed by the inequalities that existed in the government and in this economy. I think it's great to get rid of them, so don't put me in that.
I'm basically speaking for my kids now and Congress is blowing it for my children. If we don't get this legislation passed, you, your children, et cetera, we're not going to have a decent life. It's that simple.
ROSEN: This legislation that Secretary Geithner is moving will have --
LEEB: How is he moving it?
BROWN: All right. Hold on.
LEEB: How is he moving it? Where is the effort moving it? There's been nothing moved.
BROWN: All right, guys.
ROSEN: If they start to move something, the best chance of fixing this is everybody rowing in the same direction.
BROWN: All right, guys.
(CROSSTALK)
You're all fighting over the same thing here, so we're going to wrap it up on that note. Yes, we would all like to see things move forward. I think we can agree on that.
Stephen, Hilary, Gloria, many thanks. Appreciate your time tonight.
Now going back a little bit to understand this plan and what is happening right now, we want to try to understand a little bit better the man who is under siege as we mentioned earlier, why Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's past is so important to solving our current crisis.
More of Ali Velshi's exclusive interview, all part of CNN's worldwide coverage of the people and issues, they're going to put us on the "Road to Rescue." That is when we come back. Thanks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: You're watching CNN's special "Road to Rescue" coverage of the economic crisis and the president's plan to lift us out of it.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is charged with crafting the administration's strategy. He is under enormous pressure right now and the challenges are only mounting. Chief business correspondent Ali Velshi has his exclusive look inside Geithner's world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 47- year-old Timothy Geithner looks younger than his years but the stress is starting to show. He says his eyebrows are turning gray.
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: We've got a very ambitious agenda we're trying to do in weeks and months what most governments do in years, and that's because we are completely committed doing what it takes.
VELSHI: On the job for less than two months, nothing is going as expected. The one-time president of the New York Federal Reserve bank is beating back charges that he's gone soft on his old Wall Street pals, turning a blind eye as culprits of the financial collapse continue to profit.
GEITHNER: I think the American people are just enormously frustrated and angry that they find themselves in this position. We're very focused on getting and making sure that the assistance we're providing doesn't a bit unduly benefit the executives that helped get us in this mess.
VELSHI (on camera): How do we deal with what seems to be tone deafness on Wall Street? How can these announcements come out? How are people so divorced from the reality of how angry Americans are about this?
GEITHNER: It is enormously damaging to everything we're trying to do. You know, all it does is feeding this great loss of confidence and the quality of judgments about individuals presiding over these financial institutions and, you know, they're going to have to demonstrate a greater sense of responsibility going forward if they're going to earn back the confidence of the American people. But you're right, it's very damaging and I completely share the basic frustration across America by what's gotten us to this place.
VELSHI: And the president has said that he'd like you to use either legal means or leverage. You've got leverage because in so many cases, these companies are still getting more money from the government.
GEITHNER: Right. We're very focused on getting them and making sure that the assistance we're providing doesn't a bit unduly benefit the executives that help get us in this mess.
VELSHI (voice-over): These days when Geithner is not on offense --
GEITHNER: It's time now for us to move together and to begin to act, and put in place a stronger framework (ph) of reforms.
VELSHI: He's playing defense. GEITHNER: I was not secretary of the treasury until about six weeks ago.
VELSHI: Constantly pitching his plan, selling it to business leaders here in the U.S. to world leaders last week in London. And twisting arms on Capitol Hill.
GEITHNER: And the most prudent thing to do in this case is to move aggressively. If you wait and risk doing too little, then the recession will be deeper and longer. We're going to face higher deficits in the future. The economy is going to be much weaker in the future and I think, again, most people across the political spectrum agree on that now.
VELSHI: Geithner is working 15-hour days, dawn to dusk. His wife and two teenagers staying back in New York. That's where he was born, but Tim Geithner grew up all over -- India, China, Thailand and Japan.
GEITHNER: My father was a Navy pilot, spent his life working on development issues. My mother is a teacher -- piano teacher. Because of them and their work, I grew up outside of the United States and I learned early on as a kid, really, the enormous important role that America played in the world and decided very early on watching America through the eyes of the world that I wanted to work for my country.
VELSHI: And right now, Tim Geithner's country is mad.
GEITHNER: You know that financial crises are brutal and indiscriminate in the pain they caused, and they have this very basic tragic unfairness, that people were careful and responsible in their personal professional judgments are being damaged by the actions of those who are less careful and less prudent.
VELSHI: Geithner is saddled with a big job and not enough staff. Several key positions remain empty at treasury including his deputy. That's slowing him down as he races to clean up the toxic assets infecting the nation's top banks.
GEITHNER: We've already started to make sure that the banks have access to the kind of capital they need to provide lending in a recession, and we're going to -- you'll see us move very quickly in the next few weeks to lay out a plan to help deal with these real estate-related assets that is the core of the financial system.
VELSHI (on camera): How much money do you think that's going to take? The number, two trillion is kind of out there.
GEITHNER: Yes, I wouldn't look at those numbers again. The important thing is that Congress has given us a substantial amount of resources, and we're going to direct that where it's going to be most effective in getting credit flowing again. And you're going to see us again move, continue to move very, very quickly.
This government has done more in weeks than you see most governments do in months and years, and that's because of the debts (ph) and severity of the problems we inherited and because, again, our judgment is the quicker we move, the more aggressive we are to quickly we're going to bring the recovery back on track.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And, Ali, I think that's the question that so many people want an answer to is when. When is this going to be over? When are we finally going to see a turn around? Did he give any indication on that front?
VELSHI: Well, I asked him very specifically. I said others have put ideas out there when this is going to end. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And when do you think we'll start to see recovery?
GEITHNER: Well, as we said just talking earlier, you know, most economists look at the path of this recession now and they expect to see the economy start to stabilize and start to -- growth start to come back later this year. And again, the important thing is that the government does what's necessary to achieve that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Campbell, so we did spend some good time with him. We got a sense of who Tim Geithner is as a man and his background, what equips him to be what Barack Obama said is somebody who is uniquely qualified for the job.
And he said people will disagree with what they're doing but he seems remarkably committed to whether on not he's on the right track or not.
BROWN: Right. All right. Ali Velshi for us tonight. A fascinating interview there. Ali, thanks. We appreciate it.
And we do want to let you know that this weekend Ali is going to host a CNN special. How is your money being spent on AIG? Who's responsible for the mess? Why so much outrage? Ali investigates it all on "AIG: Facts & Fury." That's this weekend, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
And new developments tonight we have to tell you about in the Natasha Richardson story. Paramedics in Canada say they were turned away when they tried to treat Liam Neeson's wife after the skiing accident that led to her death. We're going to have more on that coming up in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: As part of our special coverage of the "Road to Rescue," Anderson Cooper went back to college to see how students are weathering the economic crisis. But first, Gary Tuchman joins us with "The Briefing" -- Gary. GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Campbell. The New York City medical examiner says Natasha Richardson's death was an accident caused by a blunt impact to her head. The actress died last night in New York two days after she fell while skiing in Canada.
Meanwhile, paramedics who were dispatched to the ski slopes say they were turned away before they could check on Richardson. No word yet on exactly who sent them away.
Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer says that the AIG bonus scandal may be distracting us from a bigger problem -- the connection between AIG and the big investment banks. Spitzer who investigated AIG when he was New York's attorney general gave his first TV interview since his resignation to CNN's Fareed Zakaria. He also talked about the scandal that wrecked his career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, "GPS": You know, there are a number of people watching who are going to say, Eliot Spitzer doesn't have credibility to talk about these issues because of what happened over the last year with your own behavior. What would you say to them?
ELIOT SPITZER, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: I would say to them that I never held myself out as being anything other than human. I have flaws as we all do arguably. I failed and in a very important way in my personal life, and I have paid a price for that. I have spent a year with my family, with my wonderful and amazing and forgiving wife and three daughters, and we rebuild those relationships and hope to do that as time goes on.
I also feel that to the extent if I'm asked and I can contribute to a very important conversation, I will do that as well. That is our right, arguably our obligation as citizens. I will do what I can and with full awareness and heaviness of heart about what I did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: It's a very interesting interview. It airs this Sunday on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" at 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
A tsunami warning was briefly issued in the South Pacific today after a 7.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Tonga. The quake hit a few hours after an underwater volcano erupted about 125 miles away sending plumes of smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet into the air. Scientists aren't sure there's a connection between the eruption and the quake.
And, Campbell, I guess I don't have to tell you this country is experiencing a new baby boom. A record breaking 4.3 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2007, the most recent year for which records are available.
For those of you who don't know, Campbell is doing her part to participate. Her 1-year-old son will be a big brother in just a few weeks, right, Campbell? BROWN: Yes. Well, we'll see. We'll see. We'll see if this little one is on time or not. But a couple of weeks away.
TUCHMAN: Are you feeling OK? Are you feeling good?
BROWN: Never better, Gary.
TUCHMAN: That's very good.
BROWN: I'm so happy to be sitting here anchoring the show chatting with you right now.
TUCHMAN: That's great.
BROWN: No, I don't want to be at home in bed with my feet propped up or anything.
TUCHMAN: You will soon, though, Campbell.
BROWN: I will?
TUCHMAN: The day you deliver your feet will be propped up, I guarantee you.
BROWN: Gary Tuchman, more than we ever wanted to know. Thank you.
All right. Moving on, let's get back to the economy, please.
As part of CNN's "Road to Rescue" coverage of the economy this week, we are spotlighting people with the power to change things for the better. We have spotlighted a CEO from the auto industry, a banker, and a 24-year-old college dropout who started Facebook. Well, tonight, the choice comes from daytime TV. Find out why Oprah has the power to change.
And at the top of the hour, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney is on "LARRY KING LIVE" talking about how he would handle the AIG bailout mess. At the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: As Michelle Obama continues to find her voice in the new administration, she took time tonight to help some of D.C.'s poorest high school kids find theirs. About an hour ago, she hosted them at a White House dinner in honor of Women's History Month. And her mission, to inspire some future first ladies and presidents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You are each extraordinary in your own special ways.
Even you (INAUDIBLE) extraordinary people. And tonight, we just want to say, go for it. Don't hesitate. Don't act with fear. Just go for it. Because as we sit here tonight, so many of us -- I know I do -- I see a little bit of myself in all of you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, who knows? Maybe also the next Oprah Winfrey was in the room. Here's the first lady and the media mogul on the cover of "O" magazine that's out this week.
And we mention Oprah because as part of our "Road to Rescue" coverage this week, we have been telling you about people who have the power to change our economy. They are true innovators of business with the power to transform and transcend. And we've talked about Ford's CEO, a Nobel Prize-winning banker, and Facebook's founder. Tonight, we add Oprah to the list as her global reach gives her the power of change.
Ali Velshi back with us right now. And, Ali, obviously, everybody knows Oprah. And you say that is what gives her the extraordinary power that she has.
VELSHI: It's remarkable. It's so nice to talk about positive things with this power to change because we have so many people who've changed things for the worse. It's hard to believe but Oprah has had her television show for more than 20 years. In that time, her reach has grown with something called the "Oprah effect."
Now, you just showed her widely popular magazine, Campbell, with Michelle Obama on the cover of this week. Well, she programs an entire channel on satellite radio. Later this year, Oprah will be taking over Discovery Health Channel with the Oprah Winfrey network. When Oprah speaks, people listen.
Case in point, her book club, that was started back in 1996. It's made best sellers every time she names a book. When Oprah likes something or someone, you know about it.
She's turned ordinary people into stars. Take a look. Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, Bob Greene -- all of this, all Oprah favorites who have become TV stars and best-selling authors.
Oprah has made it her mission to give back. She wanted to make a difference in the lives of women and girls in Africa, so what did she do? She creates her own school, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa. She even handpicked the students.
So this is a woman, Campbell, who has moved well beyond the realm of media into education and philanthropy. She influences consumption on an absolutely unprecedented level -- Campbell.
BROWN: But, Ali, in a recession when people aren't buying as much, they're not spending money on books. They're cutting back on charitable giving. How does she influence these sorts of lifestyle and consumer choices?
VELSHI: And that's an interesting point because I talked about consumption. What if world consumes less? Well, that's the thing about Oprah, not only her ability to drive sales but it's being able to influence ideas. According to a study from the University of Maryland, we should all be so lucky that the University of Maryland does a study on us.
Oprah Winfrey's endorsement was responsible for an additional million votes, one million votes for President Obama in the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton. So people also looked to her for information and ideas, not just on what to buy but how to cope in a down economy, how to stretch your dollar further.
What do you do if you get laid off? Oprah has devoted entire shows and web space to giving people tips on how they can recession proof their lives. She's a trusted source of information, Campbell, for millions of people and she sees the need. When she sees a need, she fills it.
BROWN: All right. Ali Velshi for us. Curious to see who you've got tomorrow night. Ali, appreciate it.
VELSHI: OK.
BROWN: March Madness is here and one the biggest coaches in college basketball is not happy that President Obama is picking his team. We'll explain when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: All across the country, parents and students have been sitting down at the kitchen table trying to figure out how to pay for one of the biggest items in their budgets -- education. Last year, Americans college savings plans, so-called "529 plans," lost a combined $23.4 billion. Meanwhile, the average tuition at a four-year public college went up 5.7 percent.
The story is pretty much the same at private colleges. Tuition is up 5.6 percent. So with families feeling the squeeze, Anderson Cooper followed our "Road to Rescue" to New York's Hofstra University looking for answers to one of your major money dilemmas.
And, Anderson, what are you hearing from folks there?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": We've been talking to a lot of students on campus today who have really very strong and legitimate concerns about their own futures, about the kind of job market that they're soon going to be entering, looking to try to figure out what professions they should go into or maybe change their majors to kind of adapt to the changing times. Also, dealing with student debt. A lot of people deeply, deeply indebted, talking $60,000.
I talked to one person who is about $100,000 already in debt when they're going to graduate. So there's a lot of very legitimate suggestions about how to survive in this recession and how to enter this job market and this kind of recession, whether they should go back to school, maybe get a law degree or some sort of graduate education.
We'll be talking about that on "360" tonight. We'll all be talking about the latest on the AIG bonuses, as you have, Campbell, looking at who's responsible, who's to blame. And President Obama on the road again today at a town hall style meeting, trying to undo some of the damage his administration has done on this AIG bonus issue. We'll take a look at that.
And, Campbell, we'll have the latest on Bernie Madoff, what his life is like inside prison.
BROWN: All right, Anderson. We will see you at 10:00 tonight, "AC 360."
Anderson's travels all part of CNN's worldwide coverage of the "Road to Rescue," and, of course, he'll much more on the creative financing live from Hofstra University.
And we'll be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: In this money meltdown, knowledge is power. The more information you have, the more power you have over your family's future.
Well, tomorrow, our "Road to Rescue" coverage includes top financial expert Suze Orman. She's going to be with us. Record a question now, send it via the iReport link on CNN.com/campbell. And then be sure and watch NO BIAS, NO BULL tomorrow night. Suze is going to be answering your questions.
And we have just gotten in some new tape, part of his West Coast trip to sell his economic plan. President Obama appearing on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." He says he was stunned when he learned about the bonuses going to AIG executives. Listen to what he told Jay.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The immediate bonuses that went to AIG are a problem but the larger problem is we've got to get back to an attitude where people know enough is enough, and people have a sense of responsibility and they understand that their actions are going to have an impact on everybody. And if we can get back to those values that built America, then I think we're going to be OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: The president talked to Jay about other issues as well. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was mentioning earlier, we landed yesterday -- and this is an example of life in the bubble. We landed at the fairgrounds down in Costa Mesa and I see the fairgrounds where I think we're having this town hall. I say, well, why don't we walk over there. The secret service says, no, sir, it's 750 yards.
(LAUGHTER)
So I was trying to calculate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And that is it for us. We will see you tomorrow.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE" (voice-over): Tonight, autopsy results are in and we now know what killed Natasha Richardson. Blunt trauma to the head. The tragic death officially ruled an accident.
Plus, Mitt Romney, the man who wanted to be president and thinks Obama has got the economy all wrong. How would Romney make it right? And then --
