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CNN Sunday Morning
Pope Leads Mass in Angola; Oakland Police Officers Killed in Shootings; Bank-Rescue Plan To Come This Week; AIG, Connecticut Attorney General Feud Over Bonus Tab
Aired March 22, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center right here in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, March 22. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hey there. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could start your Sunday morning off right here with us. Six o'clock say here along the East Coast, 11 a.m. in Angola, Africa. And we're telling you that for a reason.
NGUYEN: Yes. Pope Benedict XVI is holding an open-air mass this morning. Look at these live pictures coming to us right now. Hundreds of thousands are there.
Now the pope is wrapping up a weeklong tour of Africa, and he is expected to pay tribute to the victims of a deadly stampede who were killed in Angola yesterday.
HOLMES: Also, he is the man with another plan now. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, he is putting the finishing touches on a plan to remove toxic assets from the nation's failing banks.
So what are these toxic assets exactly, and what does that mean for your wallet? Stay with us; we'll be breaking all of this down for you.
But first, a developing story this morning. A sad one out of Oakland, where a city and a whole police force is really mourning. Three Oakland police officers dead, another one in grave condition, after a shooting there. Two different shooting incidents.
This started at first as pretty much a routine traffic stop by two motorcycle officers. They ended up shot by a suspect. One of those officers then died. And what you're seeing here now is where the suspect fled, according to police. He then hold up in -- in an apartment. SWAT officers went in, and the officers -- a couple more were shot and killed there.
The suspect is dead as well. A fifth officer was actually grazed by a bullet. We will have a lot more details, again, on this sad and still-developing story in just a moment.
NGUYEN: And also this: British reality TV star Jade Goody is dead at the young age of 27. Goody suffered from cervical cancer and died in her sleep at home. Her stint on the British version of "Big Brother" led to fame and controversy at times. She got married last month knowing she was going to die.
Goody leaves behind two sons and her new husband.
Well, CIA Director Leon Panetta is in Pakistan this morning. Pakistani media say that he has been discussing suspected U.S. drone air strikes with the country's leadership. Pakistan's government has been angered by the attacks and warned the U.S. to stop shooting missiles at insurgents along the Afghan border.
The U.S. military in Afghanistan routinely offers no comment on reported cross-border air strikes.
HOLMES: And we are expecting to hear from the Treasury secretary, possibly tomorrow even, about the new plan to get those toxic assets off the banks. Administration officials say that Geithner will lay out his long-awaited plan. You hear a lot about these toxic assets, so this is what this new plan is aimed at.
Part of the plan calls for the FDIC to set up investment partnerships and then lend them most of the money they would need to buy up all of these assets.
Our chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi, talked with Geithner last week. "AIG FACTS & FURY" airs tonight, and you can hear from Ali and the Treasury secretary.
NGUYEN: As we mentioned, Oakland, California, is a community on edge this morning. A shootout leaves three officers dead, one in grave condition, another wounded, and the gunman dead.
Here's the first of two crime scenes. The pictures are graphic, and you can see officers -- two motorcycles still parked behind a 1995 Buick that they pulled over. Well, we're trying to get that video to you there.
Apparently, this all started as a routine traffic stop. Shots are fired at some point. Now, one officer is wounded; another is killed. And then the gunman takes off. He makes it about a block to a nearby apartment building, where he hides. Police begin their search and get an anonymous call, telling them where to find the suspect.
Well, a SWAT team then surrounds the building, and a second shooting ensues. Three more officers are shot, and so is the gunman.
Want to give you the names of those officers. The first shooting took the life of motorcycle Officer Sgt. Mark Dunakin. Killed in the second standoff, SWAT Sgt. Ervin Romans and SWAT Sgt. Daniel Sakai.
We're told Officer John Hege remains in grave condition on life support.
Now, the suspect, 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon, was killed in the second shootout with police. Authorities say Mixon was wanted for a parole violation.
And Oakland is just across the bridge from San Francisco. Tensions there -- well, they've been escalating between police and residents ever since January. That's when an unarmed man was shot and killed by transit people.
The mayor of Oakland tried to console the community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DELLUMS, MAYOR OF OAKLAND, CALIF: It's in these moments that words are extraordinarily inadequate. We come together in shock, in grief, in sadness and sorrow, at a set of tragic incidences that have caused the death of several of our police officers. The details -- the chief, as I said, will get into.
This -- our hearts go out to the families that at this very moment are experiencing a level of tragedy and loss beyond our ability to comprehend nor to express in words. It speaks to the fact that these men every single day -- men and women, get up and come to work and put their lives on the line. And -- and these folks, I'm sure, left their homes with great expectation of returning. But they did not.
But we thank them. We feel tremendous sense of loss, and at the end of the day, it is my genuine hope and belief that we will come together as a community, as we sort these matters out and attempt to heal in the aftermath of this incredible, shocking and horrifying and tragic set of events.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, several community ministers went straight to Highland Hospital to meet the officers' friends and family as they arrived. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to fly to Oakland today to meet with the police chief and mayor.
HOLMES: All right. Somebody's got their numbers a little off. Some fishy math happening right now.
You know, we've been talking all week -- all last week at least -- about that $165 million in bonuses that AIG paid out. Well, apparently that number is wrong, at least according to the Connecticut attorney general, who is now saying that instead of the $165 million, that AIG actually paid out $218 million in bonuses, and he's basing that on documents he says he got from the company.
What you're looking at here is a map of some 20 states that are now going after that AIG bonus money. But again, somebody's numbers are a little off.
Now, CNN previously reported that AIG paid out $55 million in bonuses in December. Now, you add that to the $165 million number we're talking about, and that kind of is where the AIG may be getting his number, at least according to AG. Now -- to the -- to AIG. A total of $450 million expected to be paid out to employees of AIG's financial productions unit. That's the one that many say are responsible for bringing down the company.
Well, AIG released this official statement. And they say that Mr. Blumenthal -- that's the attorney general -- "Mr. Blumenthal's claim that he has discovered additional AIG FP retention payments is incorrect. The payments he appears to be referring to were made months ago, and have been widely reported on and were specifically disclosed to the Treasury."
Blumenthal says, 'Uh-uh.' He's got his numbers right. And he spoke with our Don Lemon by phone last night.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CONNECTICUT: We've heard a few explanations, but quite honestly, none of the apparent justifications hold water with me, because whether the payments were made in December or March, I want to know how much they were. Because we deserve back every dollar of those $218 million apparently now that they acknowledge -- the company acknowledges were paid in bonuses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, Blumenthal also says he plans to pursue that bonus money.
NGUYEN: Well, President Obama wants to leave the AIG matter behind him and focus on the budget this week, and he says the spending plans are essential to grow the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out of thin air. They're a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long: the high cost of health care and our dependence on foreign oil; our education deficit and our fiscal deficit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Let's give you a closer look at the president's schedule this week.
He returns from Camp David tomorrow. It's more budget talks. And on Tuesday, he meets with Australia's prime minister. That night, he's going to hold a news conference in the East Room.
On Wednesday, he meets with Senate Democrats over -- you guessed it -- the budget. And that evening, the president attends a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee.
HOLMES: All right. We want to know what you this morning. Send us your comments. Please, sound off about anything in particular.
Of course, a lot of people still talking about AIG this morning. But by all means, participate in our newscast. We'll be sharing your comments. Again, you can hit Betty and I up at Twitter. You can also hit us up at Facebook. We will be logging on.
We see a lot of your comments we got about AIG yesterday. We'll be sharing some of those. But by all means, continue bringing those into us. We'll continue to share them with you on the newscast this morning. So...
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
HOLMES: All right. Well, we got a city that is scrambling now to prepare for what could be record flooding.
Reynolds Wolf....
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right.
HOLMES: ...tracking all the water.
Good morning to you, sir.
WOLF: Hey, good morning, guys.
Wish I could say it was a good morning in parts of the Dakotas, especially in Fargo, where the Red River is expected to crest between 37 and 40 feet as we get towards the end of the month and starting off April. We're talking about water that could be 22 feet above flood stage.
At the same time, watching the possibility of severe weather. We're going to talk about that coming up in mere moments.
NGUYEN: And Reynolds, you have a story for us coming up about some women who found success in this economy. Like some good news.
WOLF: Absolutely. It's a great story about three individuals that came together back in 2006, and their business has been just smoking despite the bad economy.
That's coming up.
HOLMES: All right. We will see you shortly, kind sir. We appreciate you.
And we will show our viewers now live pictures of Pope Benedict celebrating Mass in Angola's capital city of Luanda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE BENEDICT XVI: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. I'm over here getting educated now. I guess you can get the viewers up on this as well.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: This flooding situation -- yes.
WOLF: That is a terrifying statement to say you're getting educated from me.
HOLMES: I am, because of this flooding and what's happening in North Dakota and how it's going to happen and when it's going to happen.
We just talked about this flooding and this record we could see, but this is kind of a process that's going to be happening here.
WOLF: Absolutely. And -- and T.J., you're seeing the video here.
The way all this adds up is you had a lot of snowfall, tons of snow up in this part of the country. So you had the snow; it's really stacked up. Then you have warmer temperatures. What happens? The snow begins to melt.
HOLMES: Of course.
WOLF: That water has to go into those tributaries and into those rivers, and as that happens and we have rain in the forecast, all that stuff you see there is going to melt, though not the trucks and the vehicle, but obviously the snowfall.
HOLMES: Understood.
WOLF: Yes, and they're looking at the water levels, the river levels, the Red River right through Fargo, going 22 feet above normal as we get into the end of the month. So (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: ...should they expect that? And -- and we've been seeing video here of the National Guard helping out, and they really are preparing for this. And they say it's going to be historic...
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: ...here. But, I mean, when can they expect -- how much time do they have, I should say, to (INAUDIBLE)
WOLF: They have -- well, let's see -- they -- they're expecting the river to -- to really crest as we get towards the end of March, I'd say anywhere from the 30th to about April 2.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: So that's when it's going to come up. And that may speed up or slow down, depending on the forecast.
HOLMES: It's strange like that, how people have that much -- it just doesn't seem like you have time to -- to -- a warning before you get that kind of flooding.
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: But it's amazing that they will get that heads-up.
WOLF: It -- you know, it's happened there before; 1997 they had some rough stuff. So they know what's capable; they know what can happen. And now they're taking action. So it's good to see.
HOLMES: See, you educated me. That was good stuff.
WOLF: Hey, again, a scary prospect.
Let's show you what's happening right now. You're the smart one, not me.
Let's show you what's happening. We're going to zoom up in parts of the northern Plains and show you that this morning, we do have some scattered showers and a few thunderstorms that are developing. Nothing severe at this time.
But, you know, you don't need severe weather to be nervous in this part of the world. You just need some rain, and then we're -- we're seeing it fall in buckets near Bellcourt (ph) south into Rugby (ph).
We're going to change from those colors to these. We're going to paint it green for you, and where you see it at its darkest, that's where you have the biggest threat of some flooding.
Now I'll tell you something else, too: yesterday we had just some splotches along parts of the I-29 corridor in parts of the southwest corner of the state. Now, nearly the entire state is covered up with watches and warnings, including parts of Minnesota and South Dakota. So they're certainly going to keep things -- a sharp eye on parts of the Red River.
Now your temperatures today -- take a look what we have. Fifty- five degrees up in Minneapolis. Same conditions like that, those warm, mild conditions for -- in terms of your highs, can be expected in the Dakotas. So that snow is going to continue to melt.
Meanwhile, in Dallas, 80 degrees; 81 in Houston; and Kansas City with 71.
Also very mild conditions expected today in spots like Oklahoma City. Let's show you a great image that we have right now out of Oklahoma City, compliments of KWTV. Notice that camera shaking. Now that's not poor camera work; it's not even -- coffee's not even in play there. It's just the strong wind, and we're going to have that wind coming in out of the south. It's going to be muggy; it's going to be -- at the same time, the humidity is going to increase, and that's going to be in play for Monday and Tuesday.
And as that happens, all that muggy air comes through, and you have this frontal boundary that's going to sweep across the northern Plains -- this is going to create a lot of lift, so it's going to cause that moist, muggy air to go higher up in the atmosphere, where it's going to interact with cold air aloft. That's where you're going to take your chance of thunderstorms, possibly large hail, damaging winds, maybe even some tornadoes into Monday and then into Tuesday.
Monday, mainly central and southern Plains, but then as we get into Tuesday, it becomes a problem for parts of Arkansas and Tennessee.
That's a wrap. Let's send it back to you guys.
NGUYEN: All right. Before you go, Reynolds, ever heard of the Foxy Lady?
WOLF: It -- it's the story of my life. Of course. Absolutely.
HOLMES: Wait. You sure about that?
WOLF: Well, I mean, not me personally. Boy, that was bad for me to say.
NGUYEN: Because this Foxy Lady that we're talking about is a strip club, in fact. And they were holding -- what? -- a job fair yesterday ...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...at this strip joint, as we like to point out at the bottom of the screen.
Yes, and so -- get this: 35 positions open for dancers, masseuses, bartenders, bounces, right? A lot of different positions. This, of course, being in Rhode Island; it has a 10.3 percent unemployment rate. Very, very high.
But as you can see right there, the guy was shaking the other guy's hands. Most of the applicants? Men.
WOLF: House moms? I saw something for house moms. What's a house mom do in these places?
HOLMES: Wow.
NGUYEN: You know, honest to goodness..
WOLF: Spooky stuff, I know.
NGUYEN: ...I've never been into one of those places, so I couldn't even tell you.
Josh Levs is looking at me like, 'Really?' No, honest to goodness, I never have been into one of those places. WOLF: Well, me or T.J. haven't either. We haven't been in one spot like that. There's no way.
HOLMES: Honest to goodness, as you say Betty.
NGUYEN: Oh, whatever. Speak for yourself, Reynolds.
HOLMES: No, but these -- they say most people that showed up here, Reynolds, did not show up for a job to actually strip. They were trying to get other jobs. But they're trying to really dip into a -- a broader pool of potential employees because so many people are out of work.
NGUYEN: Hey, it may turn into a male strip club, with all those male applicants, you know?
HOLMES: Then you'll honest to goodness go?
NGUYEN: No.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: I'm leaving this conversation. I'm going to just step off the screen.
NGUYEN: Yes, I think we're done with this conversation.
WOLF: You guys deal with this yourself. This is spooky territory you're getting (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: Thanks, Renny.
NGUYEN: Hey, the jobs are needed.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: They're out there.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: They may not be what you want to do, and, you know, there are other opportunities, because there are bartenders and masseuses.
HOLMES: Yes. Yes. Thank you.
NGUYEN: What are masseuses doing in strip -- I don't even want to know. I don't even want to know.
HOLMES: Just keep going there, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right.
HOLMES: Just keep talking, you know?
(LAUGHTER) NGUYEN: Let's get to this story. IReporters, they are sounding off about President Obama's remarks -- remember this? -- about the Special Olympics. Well, they were pretty controversial.
HOLMES: And also, we're tracking the president's promises. There are several hundred of them.
Josh trying to keep up.
Good morning, sir.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. I'm so glad you had another story between strip clubs and this. You guys steered it back to politics for me.
NGUYEN: Why? You have a confession to make or something?
LEVS: Not so much, no.
NGUYEN: OK.
LEVS: I don't think people are going to believe I'm the only one here who's been to one. All right. All right.
NGUYEN: Oh wow.
LEVS: Politics -- what is up?
Here's the thing -- so this is actually pretty cool. It's interesting, this Obamater has tracked more than 500 promises that the president made. And now they're saying that they know which one is which controversial, and that it's one that they say he broke.
We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. President Obama had a pretty memorable appearance on Jay Leno. For many...
NGUYEN: For many reasons.
HOLMES: Some of the wrong reasons. During some damage control after that appearance we saw last week.
NGUYEN: Yes, and even before the show ended, he called the chairman of the Special Olympics to apologize for this comment:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "TONIGHT SHOW": Are they going to put a basketball -- I imagine the bowling alley has been just burned and closed down.
OBAMA: No. No. I've been practicing.
LENO: Oh, you kept it?
OBAMA: I have been practicing.
LENO: Really? Really?
OBAMA: I -- I bowled a 129.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Yes -- I have...
LENO: Oh no, that's very good. Yes. No, that's very good.
OBAMA: I threw like Special Olympics or something.
LENO: Oh, that's -- that's -- no, that's very good.
OBAMA: The -- no -- no, listen. I -- I -- I'm -- I'm making progress on -- on the bowling. Yes.
LENO: And how about a -- a
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. So the Special Olympics chairman accepted the president's apology, calling it sincere and heartfelt. And the White House has invited Special athletes to come and play, bowl even, at the White House. So the invitation is now out there.
And now we are also hearing from some of CNN's IReporters about the president's comments on Leno. One IReporter from New Jersey, who has taken part in Special Olympics, says he made a mistake. Let's get over it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD GASKIN, CNN IREPORTER: He made a mistake. He made an error. He said something that people were offended by, that some people aren't. I'm paralyzed. I've gone to the ParaOlympics. And his comment didn't make any offense, didn't hurt. He said nothing bad.
I just think we're looking for something to talk about to bring down the person's character. And it's all about the hat you wear. The only hat he wore that night was the human hat. And he made a mistake. So let's move on and deal with some other issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, if you have any pictures or videos that you'd like to share, you can send them to IReport@cnn.com.
More than 500 promises -- that is how many President Obama made when he was running for office. But now, he's being accused of breaking a big one.
HOLMES: If he made 500, surely he was going to break one or two maybe.
NGUYEN: One, yes.
HOLMES: But this one in particular is a big one. Talking about lobbyists here.
Josh Levs along to explain.
Good morning again, sir.
LEVS: Yes, good morning to you guys.
It's interesting -- this is Obamater from Poltifact.com. And they're saying that this is the most controversial one of us.
We have joining us right now, the editor of Politifact.com, Bill Adair.
Hey there, Bill. Bill, you with us?
BILL ADAIR, EDITOR, POLITIFACT.COM: I am. Can you hear me?
LEVS: Yes, I can hear you now. Great. Thanks for being here.
All right. Talk to us -- we're going to show a screen that summarizes what this promise is. Tell me about this and what makes it so controversial.
ADAIR: You bet.
This was a cornerstone of Obama's campaign, that his point was that lobbyists would not run an Obama administration. And he made some very strong language about that. He -- he said no political appointees in the Obama-Biden administration would be permitted to work on regulations or contracts substantially related to their prior employer for two years.
So that was an important promise. We counted it as Promise No. 240 of our 513. And so once he got in office, one of his first things was to issue an executive order the day -- his first full day in office, January 21. And so initially, we rated it a promise kept./
But ...
LEVS: But then you found out about waivers, right? And we have a -- a quote here from what you guys say about waivers, that he basically has created these waivers under which he can kind of put aside his own rule himself, right?
ADAIR: Exactly. (INAUDIBLE)
LEVS: Show that. The second graphic. There you go.
ADAIR: The -- the waivers were -- were essentially the administration saying, 'It's OK; he's with the band.' You know, it -- it's just a -- a way that the administration could grant exceptions to people that it -- that it really wanted.
And it was at that point that we moved the -- the Obamater to compromise. And then last week, we moved it to "Promise broken," because we concluded that he really has broken this promise.
LEVS: All right. So talk to me about that.
What made it happen -- you're seeing there the -- the quote from you guys. And you're saying, 'Look, these waivers, we don't know how they're given out, and in the end it seems to be kind of random.'
What, A, makes this so controversial? And B, why did you finally decide, 'Do you know what? It's not compromised; it's officially broken.'
ADAIR: It -- it's so controversial because this was such an important promise for him, and we heard from many readers who just believed and even Obama supporters who believed that he had gone back on his word.
The -- the key word for us was the nomination and -- and later confirmation of William Lynn to be deputy secretary of Defense. Lynn had been a lobbyist for Raytheon, and as deputy secretary of Defense will be very involved with lots of things, really the broad scope of everything at the Pentagon.
And that one alone, because of the nature of his waiver, which basically gives a one-year exemption that he won't be involved with some things that he was involved for one year -- that alone broke the promise.
LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) what you're saying. Yes.
ADAIR: But there were others, too.
LEVS: Yes, I know. And we just flashed the screen there showing four people that you have listed who are former lobbyists, now part of the administration.
Let me just show everybody really quickly -- we'll zoom in on the screen. If you check out Politifact.com -- obviously a great reality- checking Web site.
To be fair to the president, you do say that of the top 10 that you guys think are the most important, he's doing pretty well overall, that he has a pretty good track record at this point.
But...
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: It was just that one that was the most controversial.
ADAIR: He -- he -- of the top 10, yes, he has...
LEVS: Right. OK. ADAIR: He has kept one. He has...
LEVS: So he's doing OK.
ADAIR: Most in the works, OK.
LEVS: All right. Well, Bill, listen, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I always encourage people to check out Politifact.com. See the promises; see how they played out on the ground.
We'll check in with you again.
ADAIR: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: All right -- Betty, T.J.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh.
You know, there is growing outrage over those AIG bonuses. And there are claims, as well as counterclaims, over just how much money was handed out.
HOLMES: Yes, we didn't think it could get more outrageous, and now the outrage continues. It's going to be another long week for this stuff, isn't it?
NGUYEN: It's not over yet.
HOLMES: It's not.
Well, the Treasury secretary as well, he's talking about who knew what, when did they know it. He sits down with our Ali Velshi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And good morning again and welcome back to the CNN SUNDAY MORNING, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, hello, everybody. Thanks for joining us.
You know, new this morning, we want to tell you about this story -- it's an unfortunate one. Three Oakland police officers are dead; a fourth is in grave condition this hour. Police say yesterday's incident started in what seemed to be a routine traffic stop. But then it quickly escalated into two deadly shootings between police and a single gunman.
Community ministers met with the officers' friends, family and fellow officers as they arrived at the hospital. The gunman was also killed.
Well, CIA Director Leon Panetta is in Pakistan. Pakistani media says that he's been discussing suspected U.S. drone airstrikes, with the country's leadership. Pakistan's government has been angered, though, by the attacks and warned the U.S. to stop shooting missiles at insurgents along the Afghan border. Now the U.S. military in Afghanistan routinely offers no comment on reported cross border strikes.
And in the next few days Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will layout his plan to get those toxic assets off the books of the nation's banks. Administration officials say part of the plan calls for the Treasury working with the Federal Reserve to expand lending to make it easier for consumers to get mortgages. Our Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi talk with Geithner, "AIG: Facts & Fury", that airs tonight, 8 Eastern, right here on CNN.
HOLMES: All right. Now, let's see what the president will be up to this week. He will be returning from Camp David tomorrow, and it will be all about the budget this week. On Tuesday, he will meet with Australia's prime minister, Tuesday night he will hold a news conference in the East Room, with his budget as the main topic. Wednesday he meets with the Senate Democrats over -- the budget. Then that evening the president attends a fundraiser, not for the budget, for the Democratic National Committee.
Well, passing that budget could prove to be a little difficult for the president. He's getting some help, not necessarily from the folks up on Capitol Hill, but from some of those same folks in the neighborhoods who knocked on the doors, and handed out bumper stickers, while he was running for office. Our Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser, and a friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY & SUNDAY MORNING,
Joining us from Washington, good morning, kind sir. Sounds like the commander in chief will be the salesman in chief coming up. What's he got planned?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, you got it, T.J.
He is going grassroots again, I guess you could say. Remember the presidential campaign, it's over. The campaign for the budget is now underway full force. President Obama sent a video message out to his supporters over the last week. And he urged them, this weekend to go out and knock on doors, and try to sign people up to get them involved in this push to pass the budget. That is exactly what happened this weekend.
The old campaign is gone, but it is now called "Organizing For America". And remember they had about 14 million people on that e-mail list. President Obama sent that video message out to these people, and yesterday that's what they did. They went to what they say were about 1,200 locations across the country. And they were at a couple of them, to make sure it actually happened, and it did at the few we were at. And they were out there to sign people up, to get them involved to reach out to their members of Congress, their lawmakers, and tell them to pass President Obama's budget.
This was the first test, T.J., but it won't be the last, because this fight for the budget is going to be a fierce one. If you think the battle for the stimulus was big, just wait for this one. HOLMES: Yeah, we did think the battle for the stimulus was big. And you talked about how he is trying to go grassroots. He is still a popular president. Has some pretty good approval ratings. And has a lot of -- you know, just public support and goodwill. So does he feel like he needs to make this pitch directly to the people, and then they will put the pressure on the folks that he needs on Capitol Hill to vote for this thing?
STEINHAUSER: Yeah, I guess you could call it a multi-pronged attack. And that is one of them, going grassroots, putting the pressure from the people on lawmakers. But also, he's got the media pitch, as well. You saw it. He did two town halls out there in California, one with Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was on "The Tonight Show". He's on "60 minutes" tonight. And then, Tuesday, you've got that prime time news conference. So that's the other part of this, as well. Getting the message out to the people via television and speaking directly to the lawmakers as well, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. We'll keep an eye on this sales job, which we will see a lot of this week. Paul Steinhauser, always good to have you here, sir. We will see you here again shortly.
CNN is your place, of course, to catch the president's primetime news conference. Again, on Tuesday night coverage begins with the best political team on television, at 7:45 Eastern Time, the president then begins his marks at 8:00 p.m.
Betty.
NGUYEN: Let's turn now to Reynolds Wolf, as he's been looking at weather across the nation, and it has been severe in many parts.
Reynolds, what are you seeing?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.
We are looking at a setup that is really going to start springing up as we get into Monday and Tuesday. We have all the elements coming together, Betty. Really high humidity, a lot of wind coming in from parts of the Gulf of Mexico, creating a pretty unstable atmosphere as we get into Monday and Tuesday. We're going to talk more about that coming up. Plus, all eyes are going to be on the Northern Plains, where you could see some major flooding. That moments away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It is spring-time, and you know what that often means? Severe weather outside.
HOLMES: Severe weather. I thought you were about to talk about allergies or something.
NGUYEN: Yeah, that too. But we do have some severe weather to tell you about this morning. Reynolds Wolf is all over it.
Good morning. WOLF: Good morning. Well, you see guys, you see right there, the big matrix sign showing the warning that flooding is going to be in the picture. We are talking major flooding, we're not just talking about something that is just going knockout maybe a few houses. We're talking widespread flooding for a big region.
We are also taking a looking at the potential of severe weather and maybe flash flooding into Monday and Tuesday for parts of the Central Southern Plains, and into the Mid-Mississippi Valley, including most of Arkansas, and into extreme western Tennessee. That's what is going to happen as we get into the workweek.
What will happen today, we will see the heavy rain continue to fall in the Northern Plains. Our big trouble spot, again, North Dakota, right along parts of I-29, from Grath (ph), and southward to Grand Forks, and even into Fargo. That waterway, that Red River is really where we are focusing because a lot of that snowfall that we have had, just over the winter is beginning to melt. As it melts it will runoff into that river, and with that we're going to have some widespread flooding.
Everything that you see on this map, that is green, in either shade, is going to show you, that's the areas where you had the biggest flood threat.
And we have video to show you, too. Let's go right to that. Where they have activated the National Guar and everyone pitching in, doing what they can. They are not waiting on it. They're trying to act way ahead of the time before this really begins to pile up. And you see this video compliments of KXJB.
And there you see. It is a lot of elbow grease, it is working hard to tie up these sand bags. Done that a few times myself and I can tell you that is some rough work. And they will stay at it around the clock as the water continues to rise. Expect it to crest out at 37 to 44 feet as you get towards the end of the month and into early April.
Let's go back to the weather computer and show you another big thing that is causing this. Not just the snowpack melting, but you have to have something to cause it to melt, and that's would be, of course, the rain as well as the mild conditions, where in the upper Midwest today we expect temperatures to be well above the freezing point. A high of 55 degrees in Minneapolis, 71 in Kansas City, 80 in Dallas, 69 in Denver, Salt Lake City with 49 degrees. And 69 in Nashville, 69 also in Atlanta; Boston, New York, mainly in the 50s now. And out West, San Francisco and LA, mainly temperatures in the 50s in terms of your highs today. But up in the High Sierra, today, we area going to talk about this later on this morning. Potential of a very heavy snowfall, possibly several feet of snow near Yosemite into the High Sierra, Nevada.
Let's wrap it up and send it back to you guys.
HOLMES: Yeah, but we're going to send it right back to you, Reynolds. NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Because you have a lot going on this morning. You are just a talented individual. You have a lot of stuff going on. This not weather related.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: But you found a success story. You are bringing us some good news.
NGUYEN: Finally.
WOLF: You know, it is a diamond in the rough story. We're talking about the economy. I mean, how can you miss it. It has been affecting everyone across the nation. We have had a great story, right here, close to home here in Atlanta of three individuals, with very different skill sets, who came together, and they came up with a great idea. And that idea is turning into a lot of cash. A great, very successful business; we are going to talk about their story coming up in a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, Connecticut's Democratic Senator Chris Dodd has told CNN, Treasury Department officials misled him on the issues of bonuses to AIG executives. Now, Dodd admits that was responsible for language added to the stimulus bill to make sure existing contracts for bonuses, at companies receiving bailout money, were ere honored. Dodd is the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and he said he would not have drafted legislative changes allowing the bonuses if he had known the purpose of the changes. In an interview with Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended Dodd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: Let me just start by saying that Chairman Dodd has played an enormously important leadership role in this. And he's doing the right thing and trying to make sure that the assistance we provide don't go to benefit people that shouldn't benefit from these things. And I am enormously impressed by the importance of what he's trying to do in this case.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: But did somebody -- did we figure out who told him to put this on -
GEITHNER: This specific provision?
VELSHI: Yes.
GEITHNER: We expressed concern about this specific provision, because we wanted to make sure it was strong enough to survive legal challenge. But we also worked with him to strengthen the over all framework. And his bill has this very important provision we are relying on now, to go back and see if we can recoup payments that were made, that there was no legal ability to block.
VELSHI: But you -- 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, no. 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 is 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 are going to explore that, but in any case we are going to make sure 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: Treasury staff were working with Senator Dodd's staff throughout this process. Again, that is part of the legislative process.
VELSHI: But you were not involved in that directly?
GEITHNER: 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 was not you telling Senator Dodd something?
GEITHNER: No, but I'm not sure that's irrelevant, because Treasury staff did express concern about whether this provision was vulnerable to legal challenge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, "AIG: Facts & Fury" with Ali Velshi. The bailout, the money, the outrage, who is to blame? Ali and his CNNMoney team search for truth inside the AIG scandal.
HOLMES: Well, the president is a busy man these days, dealing with a whole lot of stuff, including this AIG mess. But is he taking on too much other stuff?
NGUYEN: And the growing outrage over those AIG bonuses. We are going to dig deeper into this with some popular radio show hosts. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Here is something that you just don't hear about these days, or at least enough of, a mom & pop shop that is actually doing well.
HOLMES: And this store, is more about mom than the pop. This is a mom & mom store, if you will. WOLF: That's right.
NGUYEN: Peace, Love & Mom, right?
WOLF: They know their clientele. I mean, they are zoomed in like a laser beam. The coolest thing about this company is you have three individuals that could not be more different as people, and they focus on each individual strength. One is a great sales person, and the other happens to be really great with numbers, and the other is creative. And they came together and put together a great product and they are doing just fine. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice over): It began in 2006. Three friends abandoned their corporate jobs with one simple business idea, to create an apparel company that celebrates motherhood. Drawing on their separate strengths Peace, Love, Mom was born. And now three years later, amidst a grim recession, their company is not only staying afloat, it's flourishing.
LORI POYNER, OWNER, PEACE, LOVE, MOM: You know, we have gone from like zero customers to over, I guess, 350 retails from coast-to- coast.
WOLF: They say that kind of growth comes from a belief in their message and their product.
SUZANNE SIMKIN, OWNER, PEACE, LOVE, MOM: Besides developing a great product, that everyone wants, I think that we know who our customer is, and what they want. And we are going after that customer, and matching our product with their needs.
WOLF (On camera): You have to have something that is creative, you have to have something that is very neat. Where do you get your ideas?
KAREN EDELBERG GOLD, OWNER, PEACE, LOVE, MOM: You know, we have looked for what is trendy, what's interesting, and just also try and put a unique spin on it, too.
WOLF (voice over): And they credit that unique spin to their diverse opinions.
SIMKIN: I think that's what makes us successful, because we can all look at the business differently, and then put all the pieces together, and then make the best decision we can to be a successful business.
WOLF: A professional transformation was a voluntary option for these three entrepreneurs. But with jobless rates approaching record highs, it is a must for many.
(On camera): If someone is thinking about starting their own business, are there any warnings that you would give them? SIMKIN: You have to absolutely be a strong time manager. You have to make sure that you are highly organized, and you have to be able to handle stress. At the end of the day, if the cash didn't come in, you are not getting paid.
WOLF (voice over): Perhaps the most important thing, Simkin says, is to love what you do.
SIMKIN: I used to get up and think, this is the greatest thing ever. I get up every morning and say, Oh, Peace, Love, Mom. I love Peace, Love, Mom. I might have a bad moment, but I never have a moment where I say don't like what I do.
WOLF: And it's that mindset, they say, that allows them, even in these tough economic times, to keep the orders coming in, and the products going out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: That's what it's about. I mean, it is finding something that you love, being motivated about it, and the teamwork. The three individuals -- the three individuals, coming together.
NGUYEN: We could start our own business, right?
WOLF: I know, it's like a super friends kind of thing. You know, the power of friendship.
(CROSS TALK)
WOLF: In that case, wonder triplets power.
HOLMES: Where are you heading next? What is going to be your next big adventure? You have been giving us all kinds of stuff lately.
WOLF: You know, there is one story we have been following about a person, a great individual, who you might meet in a couple of weeks, this is one that we're going with, who is the groundskeeper at the busiest airport in the world. One person in charge of this huge responsibility, and she does most of her -- notice I said she, in the middle of the night.
NGUYEN: Really?
WOLF: Really, it's an incredible story, we are going to bring it to you. Just neat individual people, you know, great jobs. Things that they're doing to stay afloat in this wonderful economy.
HOLMES: Great stuff.
NGUYEN: That's a cool one. Looking forward to that. Thank you.
(CROSS TALK)
NGUYEN: Back to this, though, reality, the AIG bonus controversy, bringing out the signs and the protesters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are going to clear the debt (ph), and hear the protesters going on today (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: These protesters are jumping on the bus and taking their protests to the neighborhoods of the AIG officials.
HOLMES: Also, a sad story developed overnight. Three police officers dead, a city now in shock.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: With AIG hijacking the headlines, there has been no shortage of opinions about who is to blame. Well, last night, CNN's Don Lemon spoke with four of the most outspoken voices in America, from across the political spectrum. And here is what they thought.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID SIROTA, INDEPENDENT RADIO HOST: I don't think you can trust anything coming from AIG. I mean, they are trying to clean up their image. Look, this is an issue of what is the government prepared to do to stop this moving forward. Frankly, if there is one point that Neal and the Right has made -and again, I think Neil and the Right complaining about executive bonuses is about as credible as Bill Clinton saying that he did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky. But one thing that I think there has been credibility on here, is that these are unacceptable bonuses, and that the entire bailout culture, the whole bailout culture has created this.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about the whole culture, the Wall Street culture. Because we are saying who is going to be the next AIG, who is the next AIG, because a lot of these companies, many of these companies are paying out bonuses. They are just not reporting it and we have not heard about it. Who is the next AIG in all of this?
RICK NEWMAN, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Don, we already know the answer to that question with regard to bonuses. It's Merrill Lynch. We know their bonus pool was $3.6 billion, that 20 times the amount that we are talking about with regard to AIG. And Cuomo, the New York attorney general, has the list of 1200 recipients there.
LEMON: Citigroup, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, all of them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And others.
ROY SEKOFF, EDITOR, THE HUFFINGTON POST: Rick, Rick, that's the problem with the tax bill that the House just passed. It only starts in January. And don't forget, Merrill lynch rushed through $2.5 billion in December. So, if we let that go down the way it's going to go down, then John Thain will be rewarded for the tricky of giving the bonuses before January. LEMON: OK, hang on because -
SIROTA: The broader point is that we need -is that going forward, we can't keep dumping money on corporations, like AIG and like other banks. We need actual structural reform. If we are going to nationalize the banks, which I support, let's nationalize it. Let's stop throwing taxpayer money at them.
LEMON: I'm sitting here, just reading Neal's face. Because I can see him in the monitor the whole -he's like, ah, ah,
NEAL BOORTZ, HOST, THE NEAL BOORTZ SHOW: Are you listening to this language?
LEMON: I'm listening to it.
BOORTZ: Listen, to this language, that when a company pays a bonus pursuant to a contract, it's trickery. I can't wait to see that little blog on The Huffington Post.
SEKOFF: Neal, Neal, they were supposed to be paid in January. They were supposed to be paid in January, but when they knew they were going to merge with B of A, he rushed them out. That was the trickery. That's what the trickery was.
LEMON: You know, Neal, I see the points on both sides here, because you don't -I mean, is it setting a bad precedent? We are going to be talking about that a little bit later.
BOORTZ: Let me -- can I say something about Rick real quick? I think it was Rick that said, and I want to approve -- I want to support his stance. I think from now on -- and we have learned this through practice in this country, everything that the private sector says is a lie. And everything that government tells us, it's the truth. Let's just go on that policy from now on.
LEMON: Rick, did you say that?
NEWMAN: No one saying that, Neal. No one is saying that.
SIROTA: I don't think I said that.
BOORTZ: Yeah.
SEKOFF: No. And we saw that Chris Dodd just proved that that was not true, and we saw that Tim Geithner said that wasn't true. No one is sitting here saying that everything the government says is true and all business is bad.
(CROSS TALK)
BOORTZ: Let me ask you a question --
(CROSS TALK)
LEMON: Hang on, hang on. You will have to ask him a little more -hey, real quickly, how much time do we have, Emily? We have 30 seconds. And we want to get some of the responses in here. One which I thought was really important. Why are AIG bonuses causing outrage? We loosened this shadow banking credit default, swap FIN system on the world. Why such controversy then? David?
SIROTA: That's the whole point. Is that we've created a culture that says it's completely OK to turn the financial industry into a big casino that pays out huge bonuses, paid for by taxpayers, to the people that caused the problem. And Neal is laughing -- you want to talk about these contracts --
BOORTZ: I am laughing because you are asinine, OK, David. That's why I am laughing.
SIROTA: These contracts were fraudulent. These contracts -
LEMON: I mean, Neal -
SIROTA: We are expected to believe that the government can't invalidate these contracts, but can go into GM and Chrysler and invalidate contracts for union workers?
LEMON: David and Neal, hang on. Both of you, Neal -- I mean, you can disagree with his argument. I don't know if you can call the man asinine or call him names in public.
BOORTZ: Oh, I can. I mean, you can disagree with me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, tonight, that's on 8:00 p.m. Eastern, "AIG: Facts & Fury" with Ali Velshi. The bailout, the money, the outrage, who is to blame? Ali and the CNNMoney team search for truth inside the AIG scandal. Don't miss it.
Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, March 22nd. Good morning, and hopefully it's feeling a little bit like spring where you are. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Hello, to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 7 o'clock Eastern, and 4 o'clock out in San Luis Obispo, California. Glad you could be here.
You know, some people, sometimes you just need to vent.
NGUYEN: Yeah, get it out.
HOLMES: Get it out. And these folks are getting it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do we want?
PROTESTERS CHANTING: Health care!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When do we want it? PROTESTERS CHANTING: Now!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yeah, they are venting a bit. Some folks actually showed up at the homes of two AIG executives in Connecticut. We will show you what went down.
Also, the economy is down right now. People can't take any chances, you know, of taking on any more bills.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Sometimes you just got to go all out and get a vasectomy.
NGUYEN: Wow, wasn't expecting that.
HOLMES: Yes, vasectomies are actually --you know where I am going with that?
NGUYEN: Yeah, I know exactly where you are going with that.
HOLMES: I had to set you up.
NGUYEN: You want to explain that a little bit later?
HOLMES: We will, but vasectomies are up right now, in a down economy. OK, we will explain that.
NGUYEN: Yeah, we will get into the nitty-gritty of that throughout the show.
HOLMES: If that's what you want to call it.
NGUYEN: And astronauts on a space walk make a little boo-boo. Now they have to correct the mistake that they've made. Oh, no. We are going to delve into this one as well.
But, first, this morning, what started as a routine traffic stop turned deadly in Oakland, California. Three police officers are dead and a fourth is in grave condition after a confrontation with a single gunman. Officials say the gunman killed one officer and wound another at the initial traffic stop, and then he later shot and killed two SWAT team officers when he was pinned down in an apartment building. The gunman was killed when officers returned fire.
HOLMES: Now, a major announcement is expected from the treasury secretary in a couple of days, maybe even as early as tomorrow, possibly. Two senior administration officials are confirming that he will reveal his plan to get those so-called toxic assets off the books of the nation's banks. Part of this plan will call for the FDIC to set up investment partnerships then they will lend them also the money to buy up all those assets.
You see our chief correspondent there -- chief business correspondent Ali Velshi was there, talking to the treasury secretary. You can see more of that interview as our money team delves into this whole AIG mess. "Facts & Fury," that's tonight, 8:00 o'clock Eastern, right here.
NGUYEN: Well, the Democratic National Committee pays up $1.7 million, in fact, to the city of Chicago for the president's election night rally. More than 100,000 people were in Grant Park that night to celebrate the victory. I am sure you remember these pictures. About $1 million of the money will go to pay for police.
HOLMES: And the president is spending the weekend in Camp David, ahead of a pretty busy week. As soon as he gets back from Washington or to Washington tomorrow, he will be talking budget. All he'll have on his brain pretty much this week.
Tuesday: He will be meeting with Australia's prime minister, and then Tuesday night, he will be holding a news conference in the East Room with the primary focus on his budget plans. Wednesday: He's going to be talking to the Senate Democrats. What is he going to be talking about, Betty?
NGUYEN: Budget.
HOLMES: Yes. And then, that evening, the president will attend a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. He'll probably get asked about the budget in there somewhere as well. Well, you just heard about the president's week. That's just through Wednesday.
What else does he have going on? Is he really taking on too much right now? So many big issues -- is he doing this stuff too quickly?
Our deputy political director and friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING, Paul Steinhauser, joins us again from Washington.
Paul, we have been hearing this complaint a lot, this steady drumbeat that, hey, right now, we are pretty much in economic crisis, crisis mode, that's all he should be focused on. So, is there a growing drumbeat? Are these just critics? Or a lot of folks really think this is just a little too much right now, Mr. President?
STEINHAUSER: Well, maybe it's a little bit of both, T.J. You talk about the budget, budget, budget. I heard you say that word about 10 times just now.
Take a look at the budget. It's got health care reform and expansion. It's got education reform. It's got a search for alternative energy.
HOLMES: It sounds like a lot of money, Paul.
STEINHAUSER: That's right. That is a lot of money. He's got the stimulus package, he already did. You've got the Wall Street bailout, and the home foreclosure plan. And that's just the domestic stuff that the president is dealing with -- let's not even talk about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and the rest. It sounds like a lot and that's what critics are saying, it is a lot.
But the president says, you know what, this country has got a big -- it's in a big mess right now, and that really needs a big and bold plan.
Here's what he says to his critics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: I did not run for president to pass on our problems to the next generation. I ran for president to solve these problems for the next generation and for the next president.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: That's part of his message, there, T.J. You know what? There is so much we have to deal with right now, it's not like he asks for it, but he says I'm not going to let this lay, I'm not going to let it sit around for the next person who sits in the White House, T.J.
HOLMES: Yes, but he's not going to let it sit around for the first 100 days, it sounds like, while he is in office.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Walking and chewing gum is one thing, but this is on a whole another level. We're talking about some of the president's critics. No surprise we might see a Republican criticizing him. And here's a familiar Republican to a lot of folks criticizing the president.
Let's take a listen and I'll ask you about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He sat, you know, posing for the cover of magazines and doing a number of things. He's putting together a health care plan. And, frankly, if you are doing too many things, a couple important things can slip by, and one of them that slipped by was the AIG legislation that allowed AIG executives to get these bonuses. It was put in a specific bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes. So, he is suggesting that maybe the president is not just doing too much as far as a policy stance, but just, he's all over the place. And a lot of people are critical that he filled out a bracket for ESPN, he did Leno, he's -- and just -- he is doing so many things right now. So, it's not a policy stance, it's just -- he's a busy man.
Do you really have time to be stopping and filling out a bracket and doing all these other things when you should be focused on what's happening in the economy?
STEINHAUSER: And you saw a lot of Republicans jump on that when he did those brackets on ESPN, in the middle of last week. They're saying, you know what, just why you're doing that? You should be focusing all your time on the economy.
HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: Especially when you got all these vacancies still in your own administration.
What are the people think? Well, last week, this past week, we asked that, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll. Has President Obama tried to handle more issues than he should? Does he have basically too many balls in the area now? Does he try to juggle too much?
And you can see a majority right now say yes, 55 percent say he's handling too much. But, remember, T.J., the flip side to this is, his approval ratings are still pretty good. He's in -- very good, actually. He's still in the low 60s when you kind of take an average of all the national polls of his approval ratings. So, people think he's doing too much, but you know what -- they kind of still like what he's doing.
HOLMES: All right. Busy man, what day are we on now? We were in the 60s, we're keeping that, we were at 50 days not too long ago.
STEINHAUSER: We are in the 60s now.
HOLMES: We're in the 60s now.
STEINHAUSER: Yes.
HOLMES: All right. We'll get the official clock up here soon.
Paul, we appreciate you, as always, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: And CNN, of course, your place to catch the president's primetime news conference we were mentioning. That's coming up on Tuesday night. That coverage will begin here with the best political team on television at 7:45 Eastern, and then the president -- he starts up at 8:00 o'clock.
NGUYEN: Well, there are conflicting claims over the AIG bonus mess. The Connecticut attorney general says AIG has underreported its bonus payouts. Now, AIG says that is incorrect.
But Attorney General Richard Blumenthal tells CNN that he has documents showing the company paid $53 million more in bonuses than first thought. That is a total of $218 million instead of the $165 million. Well, Connecticut is one of at least 20 states, the ones seen here in blue, which they have announced that investigations are under way into the AIG bonuses. Now, CNN has previously reported that AIG paid $55 million in bonuses back in December. A total of $450 million is expected to be paid to employees of the financial products unit.
AIG released this statement saying, quote, "Mr. Richard Blumenthal's claim that he has discovered additional AIG retention payment is incorrect. The payments he appears to be referring to were made months ago, and have been widely reported on and were specifically disclosed to the treasury."
About 20 people took a bus ride Saturday to the homes of two AIG executives in Connecticut, to vent, in person, about huge bonuses to the, quote, "rich and shameless." CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti rode with them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seventy-three-year-old widow, Willy Hughley (ph) is a first time activist who says she is close to losing her home to foreclosure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why me? Why me?
CANDIOTTI: She joined about 40 protesters outside AIG offices in Wilton, Connecticut, bringing homemade signs reading "lifestyles of the rich and shameless," blasting the insurance giant for paying executives at least $165 million in bonuses after getting federal bailout money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really justifiable outrage at this growing gap between people who, in fact, you know, remain insulated from the meltdown in the economy, and those who, you know, are the ones struggling to save their home and avoid foreclosure.
CANDIOTTI: Connecticut's Working Families Party staged a bus tour passed some swanky AIG executive homes who got those bonuses.
(on camera): First stop, the home of Doug Poling right over here. Security guards are in the driveway. This is the man who gave back the single biggest bonus check, according to a spokesperson for AIG. He did it because it was, quote, "the correct thing to do."
(voice-over): Poling, if at home, was nowhere in sight. Private security guards keep protesters at the driveway's edge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to thank him for doing what he did.
CANDIOTTI: Unable to hand-deliver a letter, it was read out loud.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We applaud this step. Most of us will never know what it feels like to turn down millions of dollars.
CANDIOTTI: Mark Dziubek likely won't, a laid off skilled worker and father of five, the youngest is 14, he's hoping for better days at putting his faith in President Obama. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight years ago, this would have been a 20- second clip. And that would have been the end of it and nobody would have gave their money back. Nobody would have gave their money eight years ago.
CANDIOTTI: At the next waterfront estate, another symbolic letter read outside the home of former AIG executive, James Haas, nicknamed "Jackpot Jimmy" by one New York paper. He also gave back his bonus. It's almost too much to think about for the likes of Willy Hughley (ph), who can think of better things to do with all that corporate cash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's about people who don't have food in their homes and who can't do nothing themselves.
CANDIOTTI: By going on tour to follow money, these working class families want taxpayer-backed corporations to know from now on, they'll be watching every penny.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Wilton, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Information we're just getting in here, an airport in London, London's Gatwick. We are not talking about Heathrow, the busy one; a lot of people are familiar with; but another one -- Gatwick had to be shut down for a time this morning because of a suspicious device that was found on a plane. The plane has just come in from Dubai. And apparently, there was something onboard that essentially brought up some suspicion.
We don't exactly know what it was, if it was found, how it got there or anything else, but as airport spokesperson says, and I quote here, "There was something onboard that they were not happy about," end quote.
That pretty much sums it up. The airport has since reopened, but it had to be shut down for a short time. We want to pass that along to you. We're still working that story, just trying to find out exactly what that device might have been and what came of it. But now, we understand, the airport is back open.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, we're going to look back for just a minute because six years and more than 4,000 American troops dead, the anniversary of the Iraq war sparking protests this weekend.
HOLMES: Also, we'll have a live report from Pakistan, where the director of the CIA is paying a visit. He may have some explaining to do over some recent drone missile attacks in that country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched across the country yesterday to mark the sixth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. HOLMES: We have pictures here now to show you from Washington. This is the first protest to happen there since the inauguration. President Obama focused -- a good part of his campaign on ending the war in Iraq. Protesters say his newly-announced plan to pull all troops out by 2011 however is a letdown. They are calling for an end now.
Since the start of the war, 4,261 servicemen have been killed. At least 128,000 Iraqi civilians have died.
And for more on the progress, more on the obstacles we've encountered there in Iraq over the past six years, you can go to CNN.com/world for a comprehensive coverage. You can look back at the war and remember those who have sacrificed.
NGUYEN: Well, a major U.S. ally in the Middle East may have stepped back from the edge of disaster. We want to take a look at this.
Now, we've been showing you some of the massive anti-government demonstrations in Pakistan live starting last Sunday. Well, now, the country is vowing to protesters and agreeing to reinstate its fired chief justice and other judges.
We want to take you live now to CNN's Reza Sayah in Islamabad.
Reza, will this move be enough to quiet all the anger out there?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, the anger has been calmed down. In fact, there is celebration. And that's something that's very important to Washington. Washington wants political stability and calm in Pakistan because it wants Islamabad to keep its focus on the militancy.
But what a difference a week makes. Last week, of course, this country was on the verge of a political showdown. The opposition forces and the lawyers movement, demanding the reinstatement of the deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, against the government, who was reluctant and kept delaying the reinstatement.
But finally, under pressure, the judge, Iftikhar Chaudhry, reinstated on this Sunday. There was a flag-raising ceremony right outside of his house in Islamabad this morning, hundreds of people attended. He was not there. But this was a very emotional and festive ceremony.
Two flags were raised, the Pakistani flag and the flag of the Supreme Court, marking his return after a 17-month absence. There were 17 months of demonstrations and demands for his return. This is a man who's really emerged as a symbol of democracy and rule of law in Pakistan.
It was 2007 when then-President Pervez Musharraf sacked the chief justice. That ultimately led to the ousting of President Musharraf. He resigned, and then came a popularly elected, democratically-elected government, who promised the reinstatement of the chief justice back in 2008, but they kept delaying the pledge until last week, under tremendous pressure from these lawyers movement and opposition forces, the president signed an executive order reinstating the chief justice -- Betty?
NGUYEN: All right. Reza, you know, this does come, just as CIA director, Leon Panetta is visiting Pakistan. Quickly tell us, what is he doing there?
SAYAH: Well, the CIA Director Panetta is in town. And the subject that's being discussed are the drone attacks. Pakistani leaders are using this opportunity to protest those controversial U.S. missile attacks on Pakistani's tribal area right around the Afghan border. These are attacks that have been tremendously effective, they've taken out a number of al Qaeda leaders, and so effective that an article in the "L.A. Times" say they are going to expand them. But Pakistan government is protesting these attacks, saying that they work against the fight against militants -- Betty?
NGUYEN: All right. And Reza Sayah in Islamabad today -- thank you for that. We do appreciate it.
HOLMES: All right. You heard a lot of words, maybe you didn't understand so much over this whole economic crisis, the banking crisis -- toxic assets.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Something you have heard about a whole lot.
NGUYEN: A lot.
HOLMES: Sounds like nasty stuff, Josh. You're going to be here, you're going to lay this all out. Explain this to folks.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is pretty nasty, yes. And it's one of those terms that you keep hearing to the point that you think you should understand what you are hearing. I'll break it down for you. What makes an asset toxic, and ultimately, how does that affect you? I'm going to guide you to what you need to know.
NGUYEN: All right. We're looking forward to that.
And coming up in the next hour on CNN SUNDAY MORNING: the Pope's contentious comments about the use of condoms.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: There you go as well. In just days, we're going to get specifics on the plan to save our ailing banks. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will lay out his plan to get toxic assets off the banks' books. And part of that plan calls for the FDIC to set up investment partnerships and then lend them, most of the needed to buy the assets. Do you follow me? It can get very confusing.
Well, our Josh has been looking into this toxic asset usage -- or our usage of the word in fact. And he's going to explain exactly what that means. What is a toxic asset?
LEVS: Exactly, we're going to break it down. Well, all of us tongue-tied over this one. Check out this map behind me. This was pretty cool. I was looking for a map of bank failures around America. And our media coordinator, Nesta (ph), found this one for you, from Wall Street Nation.
Check this out. It traces you through some of the major ones going on. And toxic assets are at the core of it. So, I want to give you the basic idea of where this all comes from. Let's start up with this first screen I have for you.
The simplest definition of "toxic" -- an asset that's difficult to sale because the market has dried up. Now, the key there is that the market has dried up and there are two major markets that have led to toxic assets being in banks all over America.
Time for the next screen. And those two major markets that we're talking about are things that backed by mortgages and credit card loans. You see there, "Companies have struggled to sell many loans and asset-backed securities, like those backed by mortgage and credit card loans, because of worries that borrowers of the underlying loans will default."
And the basic idea here is -- banks like to invest their money in things called securities, which are combinations of things, and often, those are backed by either mortgages or credit cards. And in a lot of cases, people are defaulting, which makes them toxic for banks, suddenly, they lose their value.
That is the kind of thing President Obama is talking about when he says this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: Now, some of the nation's largest banks are holding so called toxic assets -- problematic debt that are dragging down the balance sheets of these institutions with no real market in which to sell them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Betty, that's the basic idea right there, these banks suddenly have these things on their books, can't get rid of them, and it hurts the banks.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's -- we've been talking about the banks. Let's talk about the average person and how these toxic assets affect the average American out there.
LEVS: Exactly. And that's what a map like this helps out, because, in order for a bank to work, basically, our economic system to work, you need money to keep going, right? Like all these banks will do business with each other. It's like a river, it needs to keep moving. They also do business with banks overseas. Well, when you have some that cease functioning, all of a sudden, it slows down the economy, and what that does is, it makes it difficult for anyone out there to get anything out of a bank, to get a mortgage, to get a car loan, whatever it is that you need from a bank to get a good deal from a bank, if you're looking for interest. Anything that you would need, you got a big purchase going on, it's going to be a lot tougher to get when the banks can't lend because they have those toxic assets that they have to get rid of.
NGUYEN: Got you. All right, thanks for laying it out there for us and helping us understand it, Josh Levs.
T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. Hey!
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: He's been telling me about his weekends and in-laws, all kinds of stuff over here.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Imagine your weekend ...
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: ... is up in parts of the Northern Plains.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: You know, you're not going to be dealing with ...
HOLMES: Not the best place.
WOLF: No, you're going to be getting your in-laws and you're going to be putting up sandbags because, especially along the Red River, we're talking about rivers cresting up -- that was scary, wasn't it? It sure was.
Take a look at what we have right here in Fargo. People are getting ready for the historic flood. T.J., this compares with 1997, which is the high point in the flooding history for parts of North Dakota.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: It doesn't -- yes, exactly. I mean, a lot of people are going to be able to remember when they see scenes similar like this. People out there it's a full scale operation, you got the National Guard out there, and everyone is getting in on the act and they're really stacking things up.
HOLMES: It was something that was fascinating to me. They get such a heads up, if you will.
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: They know this thing is coming. I mean, we're talking about, what, a few -- still a week or so out.
WOLF: A week or so out -- yes, and it's expected to crest at 37 to 40 feet, 22 feet above flood stage. I think March 30th or 31st and maybe April 1st and 2nd.
HOLMES: So, they still got some ways to get ready.
WOLF: Got some time on it.
Yes, let's get to weather, shall we?
HOLMES: All right. Please.
WOLF: Let's talk about this job. All right, let's get to it.
We are talking, of course, about that river flooding you see up there on the side. And I'll tell you what? The signs are not looking good this morning because of scattered showers and possibly some embedded thunderstorms. We're going to be seeing not too much in terms of severe storms, but still, any rainfall that you get in a flooding situation is not a welcome sight. I mean, it's going to continue to fall. And if you look the state from east to west and across, you got plenty of spots where you can see the floodwaters possibly piling up along the Red River, from Grafton southward to Grand Forks into Fargo, it is a dire situation.
Something else that could be a dire situation as we get into tomorrow's forecast is going to be the potential for severe weather. Not necessarily flooding like you're going to have way up in the Dakotas, but flash flooding is a possibility into the central and southern plains from Monday and even to Tuesday. The storm system is going to veer its way into portions of, say, Southern Missouri, back into Arkansas and into Texas.
I'll tell you, certainly, some rough times always seem to happen this time of year. I'll tell you what? We are going to be seeing today, it looks like a better day for much of the Great Lakes including places like Detroit. But when you get back over to New York, some scattered snow showers in the higher elevations, the Berkshires also in Massachusetts. It looks like we're going to be seeing a little bit of fog in parts of New York. We have a live inventory where it's currently 35 degrees in New York City, though. You see that misty condition there, well, it should be sunny, but then more clouds coming later on today, and possibly a few scattered showers.
That is a wrap on your forecast. OK, guys, let's send it back to you.
HOLMES: All right. We appreciate you soldiering through that thing.
WOLF: It's live TV, man -- you know, it's funny like that.
HOLMES: All right. We appreciate you, Reynolds.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: All right. Well, you don't want any more bills in these tough economic times.
NGUYEN: No, absolutely not.
HOLMES: You don't want to buy another car, you don't want anything else. Don't want any more kids, either.
NGUYEN: For a lot of folks, yes, because they ...
HOLMES: A lot of folks.
NGUYEN: They're just trying to make ends meet with the family that they have. To add additional mouths to that?
HOLMES: You don't want another mouth. So, a lot of people we've seen the condoms sales -- actually been up.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Also, vasectomies.
NGUYEN: You don't like saying that word at all, do you?
HOLMES: Yes. What?
NGUYEN: A little sensitive? What?
HOLMES: No, it's just -- men don't like to hear -- it's one of those things for guys. It's just one of those things. But we are going to be talking about -- what is it again?
NGUYEN: Vasectomies.
HOLMES: Yes, that's coming up. And why they're up right now. Stay with us.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: That's not funny.
NGUYEN: I even pulled out my ear plug, that was so funny.
HOLMES: That's not funny.
NGUYEN: Well, considering the story, why don't you tell them what it's about? HOLMES: OK. And you see that down in the bottom which says 'painful cut backs" -- that was Betty's idea, OK? She came up with that.
NGUYEN: They have something else that was even worse.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: We're talking about vasectomies, folks.
HOLMES: Why?
NGUYEN: In fact, they are up -- a lot. Some doctors in business say that they have 75 percent more patients than they normally have. So, that just shows that people are trying to cut back on the expenses, meaning they're not expanding their families and in order to do so, some folks are going to vasectomy route, which you don't like to talk about.
HOLMES: Well, there are just other routes to go. But, that's just one.
NGUYEN: Well, here's a deal. Women out there, you maybe able to, you know, say an "amen" to this. Vasectomies are typically reversible.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) amen?
NGUYEN: Yes, it's a Sunday.
HOLMES: OK.
NGUYEN: But for women, if you have hysterectomy or something of that sort, it's not reversible. So, there you go.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: That's why it's up.
HOLMES: OK. "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts now.
NGUYEN: You just want off this subject.
HOLMES: Yes. Let's go bye-bye.
NGUYEN: Stay tuned.
HOLMES: All right.
