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CNN Saturday Morning News
White House, Capitol Hill Discuss Measures to Revive Economy
Aired July 20, 2002 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Right near the World Trade Center, Wall Street got a harsh reminder of the power of a bear market in the worst close in almost four years. The Dow dropped 390 points, the Nasdaq was down almost 38 points, the S&P, Standard and Poor's 500, slipped 33.
Negative numbers, red ink are the trend. The Dow has only closed in positive territory three times this month. Friday's sell-off was triggered by news of an accounting investigation at Johnson and Johnson, opening the door for more tough talk from the White House.
For more on all this, we turn to our White House correspondent, Kelly Wallace. Good morning, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
More tough talk, because there is concern here and on Capitol Hill about the decline in investor confidence, about what impact that could have on the economy, and what impact that could have on the party in power in November.
And so that is why the president will use his weekly radio address to demand that lawmakers finish up work on a corporate responsibility bill before they leave for their recess in August. The thinking here and on Capitol Hill is that the American people need to have some concrete evidence that steps are being taken to fix and stop the string of corporate accounting scandals.
I'm also told the president will continue delivering speeches like the one he gave on Monday in Birmingham, Alabama. There the president was trying to boost consumer confidence. He said the fundamentals of the American economy are strong. He said inflation is low, interest rates are low, first quarter economic growth was very strong.
The question is, are the American people getting that message?
There is another number, though, that is making people here at the White House very happy, and that is that the president's approval rating continues to be sky-high. In the latest Gallup poll, 73 percent said they approved of the job the president is doing. That is just down a couple of points from earlier this month. The big question, though, is, what impact will this all have on Republicans in the congressional elections? Because Democrats believe that they have a winning issue to use. They are looking at right now, you see that poll, how is the president doing when it comes to handling the economy? Fifty-eight percent approve, 36 percent disapprove.
The White House certainly happy that more than a majority of Americans believe that the president is doing a good job, but again, the key question, what impact would this all have on Republicans? Democrats think they have an issue to use. And that is why, Miles, we are seeing some Republicans who have been very much against new government regulations, new accounting standards, rushing to support this bill and get it to the president's desk very soon -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Very interesting. Let's bring Kelly back. Kelly, you still there? We kind of covered her face over there. There she is.
WALLACE: I think I'm here.
O'BRIEN: Ah, good, good, good, good. Question for you, I can't -- it's hard to think of an administration that has closer ties to business, given the previous jobs on both the president, vice president's resumes. Does this put the White House in a difficult position as it tries to grapple with this corporate responsibility issue?
WALLACE: Miles, it's interesting, I was talking to a senior aide who said, Look, before the president got into the White House, people thought he had strong ties to big business. When he leaves the White House, people will think he has strong ties to big business. But they're looking at other numbers, such as that approval rating, looking at, Do you trust the president? Do you think he will do something to stop the problem?
And so far, right now, they are happy with what they are seeing, so they don't believe right at this moment the president is being hurt by these scandals.
But Miles, they know if the economy really sags, if investor confidence continues to decline, so many people have money in the stock market. If that market continues to go down, they know the president and Republicans could really suffer in November -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Kelly Wallace, don't go far, now.
WALLACE: I will not.
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