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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Nationalizing Banks; President's Poll; Tax by the Mile; Big Brother; Octomom Obsession; This is Hope?
Aired February 20, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Wolf. Tonight, the Obama administration declares it has no plans to nationalize banks. But many investors remain convinced President Obama is pursuing a socialist agenda.
Also tonight, outrage over proposals over a new tax on motorists, a tax on the number of miles they drive. We'll have a special report on that.
And tonight what has become a national obsession the rising controversy over the mother of newborn octuplets and six other children. We'll have all that, all the day's news, much more straight ahead here tonight.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: news, debate, and opinion for Friday, February 20th. Live from New York, sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Kitty Pilgrim.
PILGRIM: Good evening, everybody. The Obama administration today tried to end speculation that it is planning to nationalize some of our biggest banks. The White House declaring a privately held banking system is quote, "the correct way to go" as it put it and that assertion coming after a sharp sell-off on Wall Street led by banking stocks. Now, investors are increasingly concerned that the federal government may be preparing to nationalize Citigroup and Bank of America. Dan Lothian reports from the White House. Dan?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, as you know the big banks have received billions of dollars in bailout money, but they do continue to struggle and as you pointed out, the two banks, Citigroup and Bank of America, today, their stocks just hammered over concerns as to whether or not they would be nationalized. The stocks did recover later on in the day. But here at the White House, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was pressed about whether or not the White House was supporting some kind of nationalization for those banks. He did not rule it out, but he said that option was not on the table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This administration continues to strongly believe that a privately held banking system is the correct way to go, ensuring that they are regulated sufficiently by this government. That's -- that's been our belief for quite some time and we continue to have that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Of course, the president continues to focus on the economy. He had that -- he signed that bill into law, $787 billion stimulus bill. Now it is time to start spending some of that money. Today, some of the nation's mayors were here at the White House, they were talking about how they have shovel-ready projects to go. All they need to do is get their hands on some of that money, but a stern warning from the president saying that as that money goes out, any fraud or any kind of mismanagement will not be tolerated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it and put a stop to it. I want everybody here to be on notice that if a local government does the same, I will call them out on it and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: The mayors said they were not rattled at all by that warning because they get called out all the time by their constituents. Now the president next week continues at a very rapid pace. Next week he will be addressing the joint session of Congress. He unveils the federal budget and also he'll hold a fiscal responsibility summit. And, of course, Kitty, he hits the road again for another day trip.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much, Dan Lothian, busy week for the president.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
PILGRIM: Well the stock market recovered some lost ground after those comments by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Right now the Dow Industrials ended the day 100 points lower, stocks of two banks at the center of the discussion over nationalization falling today as we mentioned, Citigroup plunging 22 percent. Bank of America down nearly four percent.
Now, in the four weeks since President Obama's inauguration, the Dow has fallen almost 600 points and this despite the Obama administration's efforts to restore confidence in our economy. A new CNN poll says two-thirds of Americans approve of the way President Obama is handling his job. But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll also reveals there are sharp partisan divisions over the president's so-called stimulus plan. Bill Schneider has that report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): President Obama is a month into his honeymoon, is the love still there? Yes, it is. Mr. Obama's approval rating is still very high, 67 percent. When is the last time President Bush had an approval rating that high? You have to go all the way back to March 2003 when the initial fighting ended in Iraq. Still, 67 percent approval is nine points lower than two weeks ago. Two-thirds of that decline came among Republicans. For them, it's over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country is screwed.
SCHNEIDER: It is the stimulus plan, isn't it? Overall, public support for the plan is strong. Sixty percent of Americans favor it, but the stimulus plan has become a real cause of contention, nearly a quarter of Republicans support it, but more than three-quarters of them don't. It won't work they say.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: It has hundreds of billions of dollars in projects which will not yield in jobs.
SCHNEIDER: Will too say Democrats, nearly 90 percent of whom support it.
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: It is going to stimulate the economy. It is going to create jobs. In the state of California, we're going to get almost 400,000 jobs.
SCHNEIDER: Is there anything people think President Obama can't do? Yes. The public is not sure he can end the partisan gridlock in Washington. Do they really want him to? Yes. Most Americans say they would rather see Mr. Obama try to reach a bipartisan compromise rather than pass laws he thinks are right for the country that are not supported by Republicans. In other words, they want to see more love.
(on camera): Has the Republican Party taken a hit because they opposed the stimulus plan? The Republican Party is still nearly 20 points behind the Democratic Party in popularity. Now that was true in December. It doesn't look like the Republicans have paid a price for opposing the stimulus plan. But they haven't made any gains either -- Kitty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Thanks, Bill -- Bill Schneider reporting. Now rising pressure tonight for the resignation of embattled Illinois Senator Roland Burris, Illinois' Governor Pat Quinn today said Burris should quit for the good of the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. PAT QUINN (D), ILLINOIS: I would ask my good friend, Senator Roland Burris, to put the interests of the people of the land of Lincoln first and foremost, ahead of his own, and step aside and resign from his office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Burris is under fire for changing his story about his links with former Governor Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich appointed Burris to the U.S. Senate, the seat formerly held by President Obama. It has been a very difficult issue for President Obama, and today his press secretary struggled to answer questions about the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIBBS: The president is supportive of an investigation that would get some full story out. And I think it might be important for Senator Burris to take some time this weekend to either correct what has been said and certainly think of what lays in his future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Now Burris himself says he's done nothing wrong and he is not quitting.
Members of Congress tonight are raising new questions about the role of defense contractor KBR in Iraq. Now KBR is at the center of an investigation into the electrocution deaths of at least one of our troops in Iraq. Eighteen troops and civilians have been electrocuted and killed at bases in Iraq and some of them because of faulty electrical work. Lawmakers are now saying the Pentagon should review a new contract awarded to KBR for a base in southern Iraq. Now, KBR denies any wrongdoing.
Turning overseas, the Israeli president has asked Benjamin Netanyahu to form Israel's next government. President Shimon Peres has given Netanyahu six weeks to form a coalition after last week's election. Netanyahu, a conservative, immediately declared that Iran is the biggest threat to Israel. U.N. officials say Iran now has enough nuclear material to build an atomic weapon.
Still to come, new moves put surveillance cameras on our streets and there are rising concerns about the threat to our civil liberties. Also, motorists are already paying gasoline taxes and now they could be taxed by the mile as well. We'll tell you all about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Prosecutors tonight are demanding that Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis (ph) answer questions about billions of dollars of bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch staff just before the two companies merged on January 1st. The New York attorney general is investigating whether Lewis (ph) withheld information from investors about the bonuses and Merrill Lynch's finances. Investigators have already questioned former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain. Bank of America has received $45 billion in government bailout money.
More controversy over Merrill Lynch tonight and this time over junkets for staff at a luxury hotel in Orlando, Florida, "The Orlando Sentinel" reporting that Merrill employees stayed at The Ritz-Carlton hotel in the fall and early this year. And this as Merrill Lynch was seeking $10 billion in bailout money. Merrill Lynch declined to comment on the trips specifically, but told "The Sentinel" that employees attended two training seminars funded by quote, "business partners."
In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger late this afternoon signed the state's emergency budget into law. Now this agreement to end the state's budget crisis was reached Thursday by lawmakers, a special session of the legislature was convened 107 days ago to deal with the state's $42 billion budget deficit. The budget compromise includes cuts in state spending and increases in sales and income taxes.
Controversy tonight over an idea to place computers in cars, this is with the purpose of taxing our mileage. President Obama today shot down the idea of taxing motorist miles but it is gaining ground in several states. And as you can imagine, drivers are not happy. Louise Schiavone reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The more fuel efficient the car, the lower the gasoline bill and by extension the gasoline tax. But the people counting on those gasoline taxes to improve roads are looking at new ways to raise money, one option, taxation by the mile. Calculated through a global positioning device in your car that keeps track of your journeys and tallies your tax payment. The state of Oregon has already undertaken a test pilot; advocates say it is for a good cause.
ROBERT ATKINSON, CHMN., INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING COMM.: We simply don't have a way to pay for using roads. We will get more and more deterioration on the roadway system, unsafe bridges, roads that are crumbling.
SCHIAVONE: The idea seemed to appeal to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for a brief period of time, very brief.
GIBBS: Is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking out of turn here?
GIBBS: I would direct you to Secretary LaHood on that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
GIBBS: Well call him back. Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHIAVONE: But the notion was snuffed out by howls of protest across the nation, especially on privacy grounds. Massachusetts is one state that's considered such a tax.
SCOTT BROWN, MASS. STATE SENATE: It is a little bit Orwellian and big brotherish and to note that you can be driving alone but in reality you're not alone. You have the government you know riding with you, determining where you go, how far you go.
SCHIAVONE: Besides Massachusetts and Oregon, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Idaho are also looking into the mileage tax. The idea is even more advanced in parts of Europe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Kitty, even if Congress and the president went forward with a mileage tax, it could take 10 years to outfit vehicles and gas pumps with the technology to make it work, at the state level though it might be more simple -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: All right, thanks very much. Louise Schiavone.
Regulators in the Caribbean have taken over a bank in Antigua. It was owned by a Texas billionaire who's been charged in a massive fraud scheme. Now Allen Stanford is accused of running an $8 billion scheme in this country. Officials say Stanford used the bank in Antigua to lure investors into the scheme. Yesterday the FBI in Virginia served Stanford with civil papers in the case. He was not arrested.
Well the story of the Madoff swindle becomes even more incredible by the day, today new disclosures that disgraced financier Bernard Madoff made no investments for his clients in more than a decade. The trustee overseeing liquidation of Madoff's assets said they found quote, "no evidence to indicate securities were purchased for customer accounts."
Madoff is accused of swindling investors of $50 billion. This could be the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Madoff remains under house arrest in his Manhattan penthouse.
Tonight, the mayor of Chicago is vowing to put a surveillance camera on every street corner in his city. It is a plan that was once unthinkable, harkening back to George Orwell's (ph) 1984. But now public surveillance seems to be part of an ever increasing trend. Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We are a culture on public display. We Twitter our thoughts. We post our lives on Facebook, blog our opinions all over the Internet, often with little to no thought about who sees what we do. But something about cameras in public places touches a nerve. The way for public surveillance in the United States was cleared in 1983 in a Supreme Court case, U.S. versus Knot (ph) where the court essentially ruled that when a person is in a public place, there should be no expectation of privacy. So, like them or not, cameras are everywhere. Ports, traffic lights, toll booths, city streets, parks, in dozens of cities like New York, in Chicago, where Mayor Daley (ph) wants to expand the city's surveillance network to put cameras on every street corner.
MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, CHICAGO: The more cameras you put on the street, the idea you prevent more crime. That is the whole issue.
TUCKER: Security consulting firm J.P. Freeman calls the cameras invaluable saying quote, "cameras in public spaces are the most cost effective crime-fighting tool in cities today." However, Freeman notes they are limited tools as criminals tend to move away from highly surveilled (ph) areas to ones where there are no cameras. Fighting crime is not the only use for the cameras. In Chicago, they're also seen as important tools for first responders.
JODY WEIS, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: If we can warn our officers of any dangers they're facing ahead of time it's a tremendous advantage for the men who are the first responders, both us and fire.
TUCKER: And it's not always first responders or security forces watching the video. At this mall in St. Louis, Missouri, a company is putting cameras inside ads to give advertisers information on who is stopping to watch the ads and for how long.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: Now in this case the company says they're not storing data, they're just looking for shopping patterns and whether an ad attracts more men than women. As for how many cameras are actually watching us, well, Kitty, no one really knows. If they do know, they're not saying.
PILGRIM: Well these days, people say what did the surveillance camera have? You know it's a given that there is one there.
TUCKER: Well of course and if you don't want people seeing you, well then don't leave your house, because when you walk out of your house, someone is going to see you, even if they're not a camera, so...
PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Bill Tucker.
Well we'd like to know what you think. And here is tonight's poll. How would you characterize the government's use of cameras in public places? Is it necessary security or unnecessary spying? We're really interested in your response. Cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll bring you the results a little bit later in the broadcast.
Threats by Mexican drug cartels today forced a top police official to step down. The police chief in the border city of Juarez resigned after his life was threatened. Threats and attacks against policemen are a common tactic of violent drug cartels. At least five officers in Juarez were killed this week. More than 500 police officers were killed across Mexico this year -- last year.
U.S. Border Patrol agents today shot a suspected drug smuggler after he allegedly ran down another agent. The agent was run over in the New Mexico desert when he tried to stop the alleged smuggler's truck. His wounds were not life threatening. Other agents opened fire, wounding the truck's driver and agents found a large quantity of what they believe to be marijuana in the truck.
Straight ahead, the unwitting celebrity of the octuplet mom, how the nation has become obsessed with Nadya Suleman, plus Los Angeles police say it is a case of serious misconduct and they want to know who leased a disturbing photo of a battered pop star. We'll have that next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Los Angeles police are trying to determine who leaked a photo of badly bruised singer Rihanna. Now this photo of the singer was posted on the entertainment Web site TMZ on Thursday. Rihanna was allegedly attacked by her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, earlier this month. He is now under investigation.
Police in Connecticut tonight are considering bringing criminal charges against Sandra Herold (ph), the owner of Travis the chimp. Now this chimp was shot and killed by police after brutally attacking a woman in Connecticut. The woman suffered severe injuries to her face and hands. After seven hours of surgery, she was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. The clinic released a statement today saying she remains in critical but stable condition. Doctors say it will take up to a week to determine the full extent of her injuries.
Nadya Suleman, the mother of newborn octuplets has received a lot of attention and is stirring up a lot of controversy. Crowds follow the mother of now 14 children everywhere she goes and her story has drawn both donations and death threats. Ted Rowlands has the report from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Eight is enough, more than enough, a birth that will take your breath away.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Next Thursday it will be a month since the story broke that a California woman gave birth to octuplets. Since then, the saga of Nadya Suleman, her 14 kids and her fertility treatments, has become an international obsession. Cameras now follow the octomom's every move and millions of people are weighing in online at places like MomLogic.com.
GILLIAN SHELDON, MANAGING EDITOR: Some of our moms are absolutely furious that it was allowed to get to this point, that this woman's doctor even implanted eight more embryos in a woman who already had six other children. They have also been sympathetic. They feel really sorry for her.
ROWLANDS: At celebrity Web site TMZ.com, they say a Nadya Suleman story gets instant attention.
MIKE WALTERS, ASSIGNMENT MANAGER: The moment we put it up, our hits are going (INAUDIBLE) you know people are just diving into the story. They want to know why. They want to know how. They want to know where. They want to know everything about this lady.
ROWLANDS: Many people are concerned about how Suleman plans to care for 14 children. Her father, according to Harpo Productions, told Oprah in an interview scheduled to air next week, he has concerns about his daughter's quote, "mental situation." Celebrity attorney Gloria Allred has even jumped in to the story. She wants Suleman to let a nonprofit agency called Angels in Waiting (ph) to care for the children, using donation money. GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY: Not one cent would go to Nadya or anyone else in her family.
ROWLANDS: Suleman didn't seem to go for the idea while plowing through cameras outside her home.
NADYA SULEMAN, OCTUPLETS' MOM: I think whoever wants to do that just wants publicity.
ROWLANDS: Publicity is something Nadya Suleman is likely to have lots of for a very long time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: And as always is the case in a story like this, a lot of the reporting is inaccurate. There was a report out the other day that she was looking at a $1.2 million house. We've talked to the realtor, nothing to that one. One thing we can tell you, Kitty, the hospital says all eight of those babies are doing just fine.
PILGRIM: Well that's the good news. Thanks very much. Ted Rowlands. Thanks Ted.
Time now for some of your thoughts, Mike in Kansas wrote to us, "Members of both Houses of Congress remain out of touch with reality. We need a complete house cleaning up there."
And Ken in Virginia wrote to us. "I think that the Speaker of the House and all of the others should line up in front of a panel of Americans and answer the questions we have about travel and pay."
Patsy in Indiana, "I can't afford to go to my neighboring state to see my family. So I can't see why I should help pay for members of Congress to go globe-trotting."
We love hearing from you. Send us your thoughts. Go to loudobbs.com.
Coming up, one leading congressman says it is a slap in the face to blacks for states to reject stimulus money. Now is this congressman playing the race card?
And former Bill Clinton -- former President Bill Clinton has some advice for President Obama on hope, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tonight arrived in the communist Chinese capital of Beijing on the last stop of her tour in Asia. Speaking to CNN, Clinton indicated that concerns about human rights should not dominate U.S. relations with China. She says it is important to have a cooperative relationship with Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Of course. You know you have competition with all kinds of countries. That's nothing new. But we also hope for cooperation in a peaceful and productive manner on a range of issues where we think that, you know, China and the United States have comparable interests, whether it be global climate change and clean energy, the economic challenges we face and shared security issues like Afghanistan and Pakistan and so much else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Now Clinton's remarks today are very different from comments she made in Beijing in 1995 when she strongly criticized human rights abuses by communist China. Former President Bill Clinton today called on President Obama to be more optimistic about the prospects for our economy. President Clinton in effect telling the president not to talk down the economy and that's something we have been suggesting here for weeks. Lisa Sylvester reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Clinton, the man from Hope, Arkansas, says President Obama could pass along a little hope.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The last thing that you want to do when you take office in a time like this is give people a lot of inane happy talk and false promises about how quickly we can get out of this. Now, the only thing I would like him to do, I just would like him to end by saying that he is hopeful and completely convinced we're going to come through this.
SYLVESTER: Former President Clinton is referring to proclamations like this one made by President Obama as he urged congress to approve the recently passed stimulus package. Without it, he predicted dire consequences.
BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: Our nation will sink into a crisis that at some point we may be unable to reverse.
SYLVESTER: Press Secretary Robert Gibbs when asked about Mr. Clinton's comments said President Obama wants to tell it like it is.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY: It's important to be straightforward with the American people about those challenges, to underscore the path that we're taking as being one that he feels will get us on a path towards sustained long-term economic growth.
SYLVESTER: But one economist says there is a dang we aer with talking down the economy, that it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
PETER MORICI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: President Obama's basic problem is he hasn't stopped campaigning. He's got to stop knocking the situation, Bush is gone. Start fixing the situation, communicating the solutions with clarity and with confidence.
SYLVESTER: Since President Obama took office one month ago, the Dow Jones has fallen more than seven percent, despite the passage of the nearly $800 billion stimulus package, a new initiative to back the financial industry, and a major new housing plan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And that suggests a confidence problem, at least on Wall Street. President Clinton said that it is a mistake to bet against the United States over the long run and that President Obama should embody that message -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: That makes perfect sense to me. Thanks very much, Lisa Sylvester.
Now, President Obama, today, advised the nation's mayors to spend federal stimulus money wisely. The president saying the American people are watching.
Joining me is now Amity Shlaes, senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations and she's also the author of a best-selling book "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression." And what a time to be talking about it. Thanks for being with us, Amity.
AMITY SHLAES, AUTHOR, "THE FORGOTTEN MAN": Thank you.
PILGRIM: You know, there's a lot of uncertainty out there. We just heard Lisa Sylvester's report about talking up or talking down the economy. How much does this count and what are your parallels to the 1930s? Everyone's drawing parallels these days.
SHLAES: Well, until now we talked about the beginning of the crisis, the early '30s, but now we want to ask ourselves, what happened in the second half of the 1930s, what made that depression great? And it was uncertainty emanating also from Washington because you couldn't predict what Washington would do in a new deal, one day for big business, one day against it, one day helping a company, another day attacking it in court. And that's also the feeling you get today. Oh, what's the next bailout? Market doesn't like that.
PILGRIM: Yeah, certainly doesn't. The auto industry says it needs $100 billion. Where do we stand on this sort of bailout? And what about auto parts and how much ripple does this have?
SHLAES: Well, what economists call this is picking losers. And it sounds a little mean, because we all love the people who have the jobs, but it is not the best way to create new jobs if you always help the one that they can't make it. I heard an economist say Columbia's conference today, at the Center for Capitalism conference, say: we speak of survival of the fittest but now we have survival of the fattest -- that is we're rescuing only the big guys.
PILGRIM: But, really, should we -- the flip side of this argument is compelling. Should we let banks and auto companies to fail? Banks especially, and banks are very much under discussion this week.
SHLAES: Well, sometimes you to fail to move ahead. And we have even seen that in our own experience. You recall the last recession we had, unemployment went up really sharply. And the speed with which it went up made it able to go down pretty fast too. So, sometimes you have to get through bad stuff, what they call creative destruction. It's not pretty, but if you bail and bail and bail, well, then, the real recovery is postponed.
PILGRIM: Given the parallels with the 1930s, do you think that would help in this situation more, to let it just ripple through the way it is supposed to ripple through?
SHLAES: It's a nasty thing to say. The most important thing that we learned from the 1930s, and I learned in writing "The Forgotten Man," is the government needs to make what it's doing clear -- I will help here, I'll help there, but just so much. Not a call for crisis and crisis can be perpetual. You get the feeling now that the president is talking down in order to justify the big plans that he's putting forward, the big social plans, the big spending plans. That's crazy. The kind of confidence we need is that the private sector will have the freedom to get back on it's feet when it can.
PILGRIM: What about the housing crisis. And we just had the proposal this week. What do you make of that?
SHLAES: Well, too, again, it's the question, are you only helping those who are in trouble? We all wish them well. You know, we saw this famous Santelli explosion in Chicago on CNBC...
PILGRIM: Well, let's show, for the benefit of our viewers; let's just run this Santelli explosion. It's a rant that's been played on television. So, let's listen to it first and then we'll show what the White House had to say about it. So, for the benefit of our viewers, let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTELLI, CNBC BUSINESS NEWS: How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills? Raise their hand.
CROWD: (booing)
SANTELLI: President Obama, are you listening?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: OK, pretty dramatic. Here is what the White House press secretary had to say in response to this.
ROBERT GATES, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY: But I also think it is tremendously important that for people who rant on cable television to be responsible and understand what it is they're talking about. I'm -- I feel assured that Mr. Santelli doesn't know what he's talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: Now, in the interest of responsible discussion, what is your opinion about the substance of what he said, which certainly I think he probably assumed he was tapping into a popular sentiment.
SHLAES: Well, it's not just plain populism, it's also the market speaking, the market spake as it went down this week. The market doesn't like what's go on. When you say, oh, don't help the other guy, you're not just being cold and cruel, you're also saying, again, who's the forgotten man, who's the one who's maybe going to pay the taxes that even though he did pay his mortgage and then maybe won't be able to create jobs himself.
So, I'm not -- I'm worried about Senator Burris from -- Roland Burris from Illinois and I'm for Santelli. Senator Santelli, go to Washington and speak and talk to the White House. It's not crazy, maybe certain components were, but not crazy what Santelli says. The market needs to have a stable environment to move forward.
PILGRIM: Given what's happened this week, have you changed your mind at all about, you know, the banks are now under great scrutiny? As things evolved do you find yourself shifting your opinions or do they become more entrenched?
SHLAES: Well, unfortunately what I saw looking at the new deal was perpetual crisis was perpetual crisis. Crisis begets crisis. So, we want to throw out the world stimulus, maybe the word crisis and say we lost a lot, let's acknowledge it and move forward. Which is different from we'll doctor a crisis.
PILGRIM: That's great and language is important at this point. Thanks very much. Amity Shlaes, thank you.
SHLAES: Oh, thank you.
PILGRIM: And coming up the "New York Post" apologizing, sort of. And a new call tonight, for Senator Burris to resign. Our political panel will join me here next for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: The "New York Post" is apologizing for a controversial cartoon. Well, sort of apologizing. On Wednesday, the paper published a cartoon that some critics and many members of the national media claimed was racist. Last night, the paper issued a statement that includes some harsh words for its critics. the "Post" is saying, "To those who were offended by the image, we apologize. However, there are some in the media and the public life who have had differences with the Post in the past and they see the incident as an opportunity for payback. To them, no apology is due."
So, the "Post" is making a clear reference to this man, the Reverend Al Sharpton. He has led several protests at "New York Post" headquarters and Sharpton says the apology is inadequate and he vows to continue protesting.
Joining me now are three of the best political analysts in the country, Republican strategist and former White House political director CNN contributor Ed Rollins; Democratic strategist, CNN contributor Robert Zimmerman; and in Washington, former adviser for the Bush administration, Ron Christie.
Gentlemen, we might as well start with this cartoon. We spent the entire week with all the different episodes. What is your view by the end of this week on how this played out, and what the importance of this is?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The "New York Post" statement truly put this in a proper perspective. This whole incident was a contrived incident by New York politicians who are trying to make, trying to find a way to make themselves relevant. And unfortunately what they did was, ultimately, detract from the very meaningful serious issues that confront race in America.
And we saw them being addressed by Attorney General Eric Holder several days ago, on Wednesday, and then today by Congressman Jim Clyburn. He spoke very, very powerfully about this issue and what the stimulus package means for addressing issues of poverty and addressing the issues of race in America.
PILGRIM: Although, Eric Holder's comments also generated their own controversy in themselves.
ZIMMERMAN: Controversy is not the issue. Controversy can be a very healthy thing. But in the situation with the "New York Post," these were people who are local politicians trying to use, trying to exploit racial tensions for their own agenda and they ultimately tried to misuse the "New York Post" political cartoon.
PILGRIM: Ron, I'd like to get your thoughts on this.
RON CHRISTIE, FMR ADVISER FOR BUSH ADMIN: Well, I think my two colleagues are right on this. I think when you look at the "Post" controversy, the "Post" did not intend to offend anybody by that cartoon. It was unintentional. The recognized that there were those in the public, even though it wasn't their intent to offend anybody, that were offended. They said, "we apologize to those who were offended," let's move on.
And issue such as race, Kitty, we need to recognize. We can't always cry wolf or cry fire in a movie theater. There's a time and a place for a serious discussion about race in this country and this just wasn't one of them.
PILGRIM: Yes.
Let me -- since Robert Zimmerman brought this up, let me just play for you the comments by Democratic congressman, James Clyburn. He's the highest ranking black congressman and he's -- I'll read the comments, because I guess -- he said, there's been an interesting confluence of racial events this week. And Eric Holder's comments about America being a nation of cowards, the "New York Post" cartoon, where some claimed depicted the president as a monkey, and now this. And he said that it is a slap in the face to African-Americans that Southern governors are in opposition to the federal stimulus bill" -- Ed. ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, with all due respect to the congressman, who is a very able man, to say that this Southern governor -- it is a very significant people that they have concerns and they didn't want the stimulus bill, has nothing to do with racism or has nothing to do with the rest of them unless he's arguing the stimulus bill is all about welfare programs, which some Republicans would argue that there's a lot of it that's that way.
My sense today is that we need to just tone this down. Political cartoons are always meant to basically draw a little bit of blood and a little bit of humor. Sometimes they miss their mark. I think that the intent of the "Post" was not to attack any way, shape or form the president. But at the end of the day, some people were offended and I think you just got to move on.
But, political cartoons are tough. The rhetoric is going to be tough and it's not all about the president or David Paterson or the congressman. We've got to be able to have dialogue about various subjects and I think Holder's comment about a debate on racism, I think it would be important if we could have an honest discussion about it.
PILGRIM: I think that would be very constructive.
Let's move on to President Obama met with the U.S. city mayors in Washington, D.C., today. He was talking about responsibility and accountability and spending the stimulus money. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it and put a stop to it. I want everybody here to be on notice that if a local government does the same, I will call them out on it and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PILGRIM: That certainly is the tone of the times. I think many people are quite concerned about how this money gets spent. This is tough talk, isn't it, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: It's tough talk and has a very receptive audience. You see, the most recent CNN Opinion Research Poll showed President Obama at 67 percent approval ratings. He's regarded as a man who is tough, tough leader and very difficult time. And I think the test for the stimulus package will be, one of the tests, will be how clearly we can monitor how the funds are spent and also safeguard them.
PILGRIM: You know, the tone of talking, at this point, and I spoke about this with our previous guest, the tone of the rhetoric right now is very important for the psychology of the country. You know, we had former president, Bill Clinton, who is telling President Obama to tone down the doom and gloom. Let's listen to that comment. I'd like to get your thoughts -- Ed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FMR US PRESIDENT: I just would like him to end by saying that he is hopeful and completely convinced we're going to come through this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROLLINS: That's good counsel. I mean, the truth of the matter is, the president has to lead us through tough times and words are very important. No one knows better than that than Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton.
PILGRIM: Ron, this whole question about tone and the feeling of the country, how would you score the Obama administration at this point? Do you think we're hitting the right tone?
CHRISTIE: No, I'd give him about a "C" right now, Kitty. I mean, there are two points here. First of all, when the president was talking to the mayors earlier today, for goodness sakes, I only wish he called out the speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader who put a lot of the pork projects in there. It's one thing for him to say to the mayor, I'm going call you out if you're irresponsible in the way that you spend the money. Why didn't he call out the leaders in the Congress?
But perhaps most importantly, look at what FDR did with the "Fireside Chats." We were in the midst of a very deep economic recession and crisis. FDR didn't use crisis. He was very inspiring, he was very candid to the American people and he laid out what the challenges that we faced as a nation. But he sought to inspire and lead the country.
ZIMMERMAN: And Ron...
CHRISTIE: That's what President Obama needs to do. He needs to lead and inspire and to stop saying "crisis" and stop saying that things are bad
ZIMMERMAN: And Ron, if you look at the record support President Obama is receiving from Independents and throughout this country, it's 67 percent. He's clearly inspiring and motivating the American people. And I think, unfortunately, the Rush Limbaugh talking points you're using, they didn't work in the campaign and they're not working now.
CHRISTIE: I don't use talking points. I'm only talking as one who worked in the White House and worked for the president after 9/11 and recognize that the most powerful voice that a president of the United States has is to inspire and to lead the American people.
I come at this from personal leadership and experience, myself. I only hope that President Obama would recognize the American people seek and they need his leadership. They don't need him to be pessimistic and rather they need him to be optimistic rather than pessimistic.
PILGRIM: Ron, we're going to hold it there. Ron Christie, Ed Rollins, Robert Zimmerman, gentlemen, thank you very much.
CHRISTIE: Thank you.
PILGRIM: Coming up, which of these Hollywood stars will be a winner on Oscar night? Well, we will have that story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: The 81st annual Academy Awards is just 48 hours away. And this year it's Brad Pitt, a blockbuster, against an unlikely independent film from India. Brooke Anderson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you nervous?
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Will slumdog millionaire win the jackpot at the Oscars. Or does "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" have the weekend sewn up with its leading 13 nominations?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven, but I look a lot older.
ANDERSON: The two critical favorites square off against "Frost/Nixon," "The Reader" and "Milk" for Best Motion Picture, but momentum seems to favor "Slumdog" as well as its nominated director, Danny Boyle
DANNY BOYLE, DIRECTOR: When you start a film, there's always what I call "the bathroom moment," where you stand in your bathroom, alone, look in the mirror and you think, "this is the one, this is the one." But it never is, of course, normally.
ANDERSON: In Best Actress category, "Rachel Getting Married's" Anne Hathaway goes head to head with "Changeling's" Angelina Jolie and "Frozen River's" Melissa Leo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's 12 years old, what could be private?
ANDERSON: But, the smart money is on either Meryl Streep for her work as the cantankerous nun in "Doubt" or Kate Winslet who played a tutor with a secret Nazi past in the "The Reader." Some have even dubbed Winslet "the new Meryl Streep."
KATE WINSLET, ACTRESS: To be mentioned in the same breath as Meryl Streep, you know somebody who I have admired sine I was a child...
ANDERSON: Despite strong performances by Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor," Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" and Brad Pitt in "Benjamin Button," talk for Best Actor has centered on Sean Penn as gay rights activist Harvey Milk in "Milk" and Mickey Rourke as a down and out competitor who stages a comeback in "The Wrestler." It's a scenario Rourke knows all too well.
MICKEY ROURKE, ACTOR: I was out of the game for so many years and it was all about having people trust me after, you know, raising hell for 15 years.
ANDERSON: And while Best Supporting Actress is a wide open field for Amy Addles, Pennelope Cruz, Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson or Marisa Tomei; best Supporting actor seems to be already belong to the late Heath Ledger for his haunting turn as "The Joker" in the "Dark Knight."
STEVE POND, OSCAR HISTORIAN: He would have been the favorite if he had still been alive. I think everybody in the Kodak Theater will be astonished if he doesn't win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're tonight's entertainment.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Well, the Oscars will air live at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Coming up at the top of the hour, CAMPBELL BROWN: NO BIAS, NO BULL. Campbell, what are you working on?
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hey there, Kitty. Tonight, the Obama administration trying to calm fears that the government might take control of crippled banks including two of the biggest banks in the country. It's not doing much to reassure Wall Street. We're going to have the very latest from the White House, tonight.
Also, the president lays out his new zero-tolerance policy when it comes to wasteful spending. He's promising to name and shame anybody who uses stimulus money for frivolous projects. In a minute, we'll get reaction from some of those mayors and find out just where that cash is going. All of that coming up at top of the hour -- Kitty.
PILGRIM: All right, thanks very much. Campbell Brown.
Up next, "Heroes," the story of an Army sergeant who became an inspiration to others.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PILGRIM: In "Heroes," we introduce you to a Sergeant Dan Metzdorf, who lost a left in Iraq. That did not stop him from joining the U.S. Army parachute team.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then he'll face into the wind for a final approach. PHILIPPA HOLLAND, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On November 1, 2008, Sergeant Dan Metzdorf became a member of the U.S. Army's parachute team, the Golden Knights. But, when he first got the call to try out, Sergeant Metzdorf had his doubts.
SGT DANIEL METZDORF, US ARMY: You guys know that I'm -- I don't have my right leg, you know, I'm an above the knee amputee and you want me to jump out of planes for over two miles above the earth's surface and land like a feather?
HOLLAND: Metzdorf joined the Army in 1995, he was sent to fight the war in Afghanistan in 2003 and did a second tour in Iraq in 2004
METZDORF: We go to this place, Camp Kalsu, and it is -- it is horrible. It is like -- I was like, oh, my gosh, we are -- we are in like bad guy territory.
HOLLAND: On January 27th, after only ten days in country, a routine patrol went terribly wrong.
METZDORF: This roadside bomb is triggered somehow and goes off, kills my lieutenant, killed a staff sergeant and our fort observer.
HOLLAND: Metzdorf was also wounded.
METZDORF: I got concussion of this energy throws me backward. I start to feel pieces of my flesh, pieces of muscle and tissue that's kind of laying on top of my gear and so I think to myself, something that's bad has happened right now.
HOLLAND: Metzdorf lost his leg but not his determination. In fact, he was recruited by the Golden Knights because of that determination and courage.
METZDORF: When I was six years old I had the dream of being a soldier. It always excited me. I was like, jump out of planes? Drive a tank, drive a Humvee, you know, shoot a gun, you know, go out there and fight for her country and just really live -- live that dream.
HOLLAND: Sergeant Metzdorf is the first above the knee amputee to serve on the Golden Knight pai parachute team.
METZDORF: The most satisfying part of being on the parachute team, when you get down there and you take your helmet off and you get to interact with the American public, and then when you walk up to the kids that have the exact same dream that you've and you get to look at them and just basically tell them, hey, you know, really dreams come true.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Secretary Metzdorf is currently training with the Golden Knights in Yuma, Arizona. And the team is preparing for the upcoming show season, which starts next month in Florida. We wish them all the best. In our poll results tonight, 54 percent of you characterized the government's use of cameras in public places as unnecessary spying. Thanks for being with us tonight. For all of us here, thanks for watching. Have a great weekend. Goodnight from New York. CAMPBELL BROWN: NO BIAS, NO BULL starts right now -- Campbell.
