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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Recovers: President Bush Meeting with Congress to Discuss What Federal Government Can Do to Try to Help U.S. Economy

Aired September 25, 2001 - 08:36   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Here in Washington this morning, the president meeting with leaders of Congress to discuss, among other things, just what might the federal government do to try to help the U.S. economy, struggling even more in the wake of these U.S. attacks. For more insight on that, we are joined this morning by the Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans. He joins us from the studio over at the Commerce Department.

Sir, we know your schedule is tight. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

DONALD EVANS, SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Sure, John.

KING: We wanted to get your sense, a very rough week on Wall Street last week, a good day on the markets yesterday. What lessons have we learned in the past week or so, and specifically, what do you think the administration will propose as part of an economic stimulus package.

EVANS: John, we haven't decided specifically what we will propose yet. We are working with Congress. We're going to continue to watch this economy very carefully, and watch it in the ensuing weeks and months, to try and monitor the kind of -- and understand the kind of damage that occurred in this economy because of the September 11th catastrophe. This economy had been slowing down prior to that. We knew that. We were taking measures to begin an economic recovery, with the tax cut that was moving into the economy, with bringing interest rates down. And so some steps had already been taken, and now we need to watch this economy for the next month or so, and work with Congress to decide if there is additional stimulus that's needed.

Obviously, the Fed has already reduced interest rates another 50 basis points. We're looking at a whole variety of options, and working with Congress very closely, haven't taken anything off of the table, haven't made any decisions yet.

KING: As the president does so, sir, is there any sense -- when we last spoke, you talked about potential sanctions overseas, that you could pull trade power for countries overseas that don't cooperate with the United States in this. The Treasury Secretary yesterday put on notice by the president that we should freeze the assets of any overseas banks that don't cooperate in the war on terrorism. Can you help us understand, where is the threshold, where is the deadline for deciding whether or not other nations are cooperating with this international coalition?

EVANS: Well, that will be a call the president will make. He will continue to watch the behaviors of countries around the world. He's made it very clear that he's looking for results, he's looking for action. Words are important, but action and results are more important, and so he'll continue to watch the behavior of other countries around the world and decide if any other measures or steps are necessary or needed.

KING: And on the debate here in Washington, obviously the Congress, in conjunction with the administration, moved quickly to help the airline industry. There has been rumbling since, what about the workers laid off? What about the tourism industry, the hotels and others who are struggling because of this? Are you concerned that there could be a long line now in front of the White House and on Capitol Hill, too, saying that we deserve to be bailed out, too?

EVANS: John, we're going to continue to listen to sectors of the economy. I am meeting with the travel and tourism industry and want to hear what impact they are feeling as a result of September 11th. We will continue to kind of monitor that industry, others, decide if we need to step in and be supportive. We are concerned about the layoffs. There obviously are already programs in place, to help mitigate those layoffs through the Labor Department. We'll be employing those, of course.

But, listen, I mean there are several industries, that have been seriously impacted, and obviously the airline industry I think most severely, but travel and tourism as well, and so we need to look at that. I mean, there are 19 million jobs in the travel and tourist industry, so we need to be very sensitive to the impact this has had on that industry.

KING: I want to close, sir, with a personal note. You are a close personal friend of the president, something we discussed. You were at Camp David over the weekend, trying get a sense of the time of testing for President Bush. Is he doing anything to get a break, relax and get away from all of this? You're thoughts on what you see in the president at this very difficult moment?

EVANS: Well, John, I see the same friend and extraordinary leader that I've had for 30 years. I really don't see a lot of change. He's incredibly well-balanced. He's very steady. He is very focused now on this goal that he's defined with great clarity to the American people. He has himself surrounded with extraordinary team of people. He is marshaling the resources necessary to accomplish the goal of wiping out terrorism around the world. When he told the American people that he would not relent, and he would not rest until this world is rid of terrorism, he meant it, and the American people knows that he meant it. I mean, they felt it, and the reason they were able to feel it is because it's true.

And So I am seeing the same friend, the same extraordinary leader that I have seen for over 30 years.

KING: Commerce Secretary Don Evans joining us this morning from his perch, the Commerce Department. Thank you very much for your time, sir. We know you are quite busy.

EVANS: Thank you, John.

KING: And as we track the economy their in our interview with Secretary Evans, the military buildup and conversations at the Pentagon a third element of this, the largest criminal investigation in United States history.

Joining us now here in Washington with the latest on that, Eileen O'Connor -- Eileen.

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, John.

Well, in fact, some people are calling it the biggest manhunt in world history. And French police have detained four more in connection with a plot to attack U.S. interests in Europe, including perhaps the U.S. embassy of Paris. These four in addition to eight they arrested last Friday. Their investigation began after a man being held in the United Arab Emirates was alleged to have confessed to the plot, causing French officials to open their investigation just one day before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Now in the United States, the attorney general John Ashcroft reported to Congress yesterday and will report again today on the extensive nature of this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I know that the investigation into the acts of September 11 is ongoing, moving aggressive forward. To date, the FBI and INS have arrested or detained 352 individuals, who remain. There are other individuals, 392, who remain at large, because we think they have information that could be helpful to the investigation.

The investigation process has yielded 324 searches, 103 court orders, 3,410 subpoenas, and the potential tips are still coming into the Web site and 1-800 hotline.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'CONNOR: Authorities say that many of those being sought, or even currently detained, may have no role in this, but you they do want to question and clear them. And the attorney general says that law enforcement has not ruled out the possibility of other attacks planned. He told Congress the goal of this investigation is prevention first, prosecution second. He says has advised law enforcement across this country, federal, state and local, to remain on a heightened state of alert -- John.

Eileen O'Connor, thank you very much for that. And we should note, the president will leave the White House to go to FBI headquarters to deliver firsthand a thank you to the many FBI agents working here in Washington and around the world on this investigation. And now for more, let's go back to Paula Zahn in New York.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, you were talking a little bit earlier on about the level of confidence consumers have right now. Well, Gallup has just finished a poll, along with "USA Today" and CNN, and it was taken over the weekend. The poll finds that 52 percent of the respondents believe that the economy is in a recession. A little more than four in 10 respondents think it isn't. Still, the poll finds more than 75 percent believe that the economy will be either very good or good a year from now. Only 15 percent believe it will be worse.

Let's right now go down to New York's financial district for more on the economy.

Once again, we are joined by our own Bill Hemmer, who is at the Nasdaq marketsite. Is it starting to rain out there yet?

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A little bit, Paula, drizzling just a touch out here. But for the most part, it's held off a little bit. Well, listen, you're looking at the front facade for the Nasdaq marketsite. It is this index that houses those large technology companies that help to fuel the bull market of the late 1990s, and this market took a hit last week. A bit better yesterday, up about 5 percent, but nobody knows at this point which direction that the Nasdaq will go today.

We have been talking to people here in Times Square, talking with business owners, trying to get their sense of how they feel about the current U.S. economy.

I want to broaden our discussion a little bit, take you across the country now. In Florida, CNN's John Zarrella is in North Miami Beach. John is there at a Home Depot. In Atlanta, Brian Cabell is stationed at an auto dealership, and in central, Texas, Plano, Texas, north of Dallas, CNN's Ed Lavendera is at a Target store there.

Gentlemen, good morning to all of you.

Let's begin this in Florida with, John.

John, good morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Bill. As you know, Home Depot a few months came out with their promotional campaign, which was, spend your tax rebates here when you've got them. Well, they've changed that since the September 11th event. They've told people to send those tax rebate checks to the fund, the September 11th fund, and if you didn't do that, well here, right as you walk through the front door, you can put donations in the box, and they will go to that September 11th fund. Now Home Depot has been telling us, like everybody else immediately after the events of September 11th, their business was hurt and hurt pretty badly, but they have begun to get back to normal with their business now. What people are telling us who have come into the store is what they are doing, is they're putting off some the big-spending items, like redoing a kitchen, or painting their house, the $10,000-$15, 000 items, $5,000 projects. But smaller projects they are doing.

What analysts have told us was that immediately after the September 11th events, what people had was kind of that Y2K mentality. They came in to Home Depot, and they bought items like emergency power failure lights. They even bought items which are sold out here, like these gas masks for painters or pesticides, and they even brought bigger ticket items like these gas-powered generators.

But the biggest selling items in Home Depot of course were American flags, and there are no American flags anywhere, at any Home Depots in South Florida to be found. Another thing that Home Depot has done is they donated a million dollars to that September 11th fund, and they have sent tons and tons of relief supplies up there, everything from hard hats, batteries, to flashlights, to rain gear, which as you know hasn't been there for a while, has been certainly needed.

And the other thing they are doing now is they're sending lots of lumber. It has been requested. They have already sent it to the Pentagon, and now at the World Trade Center site, Home Depot has been requested to send a lot of lumber. So Home Depot getting back to normal. That's how they hope things will stay -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, John, interesting perspective, a Y2K mentality, the phrase use there in Florida. Further north in Georgia, the city of Atlanta, here's Brian Cabell.

Brian, good morning to you. What are they saying where you are?

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. It's not a good time in the United States to be a new car or truck dealer. Sales have plummeted here about 33 percent the first week after September 11th. They've come back a little bit over the last week, but still sales, traffic throughout the dealerships very, very low. In fact, one investment bank says sales in September will be down about 20 percent. It's down about 15 percent next month, down about 10 percent in November, and JD Power says sales overall will be down about $200,000 from what we expected from this year. This, despite incentives being offered by a number of dealerships.

This one, this is Kelly Pontiac, Buick and GM. They are offering 0 percent financing. This as of four or five days ago here. Traffic is up a little bit here. In fact, let's bring in Jerry Jones here. He is the sales manager for Kelly.

Has traffic picked up in the last five days or so?

JERRY JONES, SALES MANAGER: In the past five days, they have, with 0 percent financing. After the tragic incident we had in New York, we had 12 people come in here that week.

CABELL: How many people do you have selling?

JONES: We have 12 people selling here.

CABELL: So they were kind of quiet.

But this last weekend, though, how many people came in?

JONES: Sure, after it was announced the 0 percent financing by GM, after a couple of days of the word to get out, we had a great Saturday. We had 25 people came in on Saturday alone. So traffic is picking up.

CABELL: Picking up, but still not going to be a good year?

JONES: No, it's going to be off. But I think with the incentives, we can turn it around a little bit.

CABELL: Thank you very much, .

JONES: You are more than welcome.

CABELL: And not everybody is hurting. Mercedes-Benz dealership in Southern California on September 11th, that dealership sold 12 Mercedes, and that weekend about three or four days later, they sold 50 cars. so Not everybody is hurting, but certainly most dealerships across the country are.

Back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Brian, thank you.

Further west, Central Texas, Plano, north of Dallas, here's Ed Lavandera checking in there.

Ed, hello to you.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. You know, this is just the kind of store, this Super Target, 32 checkout lines, 179,000 square feet of shopping ability here, and retail experts, and retail people who have been monitoring the retail situation in the country say, this is just the type of store that has been able to weather the economic storm that we are witnessing and experiencing since the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. This is just the kind of store that has been able to handle this really well.

And joining us now to talk about this is the manager of this Super Target, Kevin McMullen.

Kevin, tell me, since the attacks, what have you seen from your customers and what is the situation now?

KEVIN MCMULLEN, TARGET ASST. MANAGER: Initially, with the first couple of days, everybody kind of slowed down their purchasing obviously, because everyone was concerned with what was going on. At the end of the first week, obviously sales started to come back a little bit and we are still starting to see double-digit growth, which is what the store was doing prior to the attack, so everything is starting to rebound pretty strongly.

LAVANDERA: What kinds of things are people buying? Are they laying off just the luxury items and just focusing on necessities?

MCMULLEN: We are seeing mostly your consumables and your smaller commodity items obviously selling a little better. The first week we saw a small rush on your consumables, and your smaller commodity items obviously are selling a little better. The first couple of days we saw a small rush on small portable TVs. Obviously, people that were out working wanted to see what was going on and keep informed, but primarily, certain consumables.

LAVANDERA: All right, Kevin, thank you very much. And as I said, these mass retailers, the Targets, the Wal-Marts of this country seem to be doing very well. Some say that it's the department stores, the Foley's, the Diller's, that seem to be having the hardest problem with the situation right now.

MCMULLEN: Bill, back to you.

LAVANDERA: All right, Ed, the consumer he is the engine for the U.S. Economy, and always good to check in with the mood and feeling there.

Ed Lavandera in Texas, Brian Cabell in Atlanta, and John Zarrella from Florida with us this morning, gentlemen, thanks to all of you.

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