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CNN Saturday Morning News
Possible Breakthrough for the Nation's Struggling Big Three Could Be in the Works; Pressure Being Put on Obama to Solve the Job Crisis; Caroline Kennedy Could Take a Seat in the Senate; O.J. Simpson to Serve At Least Nine Years in Prison; New Details About Controversial Police Interview of an Eight-Year-Old Boy Accused of Murder
Aired December 06, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, December 6th.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Look who's joining me.
RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Betty.
NGUYEN: Hello. Good morning.
LUI: I'm Richard Lui, in for T.J. Holmes. He's off today having some good times, I guess.
NGUYEN: Yes, a much deserved vacation.
LUI: Yes. And he does deserve it.
New this morning for you -- the auto bailout loans. Some are saying there's been a breakthrough in getting government money to the very troubled auto industry.
Hundreds of workers protest late into the night, refusing to leave their jobs after being told they were laid off. It's just one real example of what's happening every day around the country as the job losses increase.
NGUYEN: And take a look at this. It is sure to be a talker today. The president-elect's chief speechwriter caught on camera in a compromising position.
First up, though, a possible breakthrough for the nation's struggling Big Three automakers is in the works. A senior congressional source tells CNN that aides are working this weekend on a bailout loan legislation. And this comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi softened her position using $25 billion from a research program. That program provides loans to develop fuel-efficient cars.
Now, the CEOs of General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford pleaded with a House committee yesterday for $34 billion in loans.
CNN's Dana Bash has more on all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Auto executives returned minutes after news broke of the worst unemployment report in three decades. And the committee chairman called it evidence, why Washington cannot let Detroit fail.
REP. BARNEY FRANK, (D) FINANCIAL CHAIRMAN: In the midst of the worst economic situation since the Great Depression, it would be an unmitigated disaster.
BASH: Skepticism is still dominated about whether $34 billion taxpayer dollars can really put struggling auto companies on the road to profitability.
REP. DONALD MANZULLO, (R) ILLINOIS: We need to encourage Americans to start buying cars again and that is not in any of the plans.
BASH: Yet, a concern that an estimated 3 million more jobs could be lost if the Big Three collapse, yielded signs lawmakers may finally be ready to seriously look for compromise.
REP. PETER KING, (R) NEW YORK: But the fact is, I think, the time for posturing is gone. The partisanship is gone. We have to address this very, very seriously.
BASH: One idea gaining traction among Democrats, condition any loan on the government restructuring the auto companies by either an oversight board or individual appointed by the president.
But pleading Republicans say they'd only go for that if auto unions gave concessions on wages and benefits, and the United Auto Workers opened the door to that.
RON GETTELFINGER, UAW PRESIDENT: Yes, sir, we are willing to go back to the bargaining table, providing everybody else comes to the table as well.
BASH: But it could be near impossible for deeply divided lawmakers to quickly agree on major restructuring in Detroit. So, one veteran Democrat suggested a short-term bridge loan to G.M. and Chrysler to avoid collapse. But along with his idea, a lecture.
REP. PAUL KANHORSKI, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: And it almost looks to me like you hope that with that target that coming down on us, you're going to get us to do something and just throw the money out there and say, "Go ahead and do with it as you will."
BASH (on camera): And there is now a significant development that could open the door to compromise on an auto bailout. Two congressional sources tell CNN, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has backed down on her opposition to rescuing the auto industry by using money intended to make cars environmentally sound, which President Bush and congressional Republicans support. One official said that she reversed herself because the devastating job loss report changed everything and Washington simply cannot let Detroit collapse. Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LUI: OK. Now, let's look at some of those awful jobless numbers that Dana talked about. The Labor Department reporting 533,000 jobs lost in November. Look at those numbers. That's the most in a single month since 1974.
The nation's jobless rate is now 6.7 percent. That's up from 6.5 percent in October; 1.9 million people in the United States were put out of work just this year. And if you look at just the last three months alone, that's 1.3 million.
Now, the top tour categories for job losses: retail and manufacturing down 91,000, 85,000 respectively. Construction dropped 82,000 jobs. While the hotel and restaurant industry lost 54,000. We have bright spot, though, for you here -- health care. It gained 34,000 jobs in November, 369,000 for the year overall.
So, I got a question for you. The struggling economy is issue number one for most folks here in the United States. So, we're asking you, how are you affected by the news of record job losses last month? Are you concerned about losing your job? Do you know somebody? E- mail us at: Weekends@CNN.com. We'll read some of your responses very shortly.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, though, Barack Obama hasn't taken office just yet. We know that. But he is already being criticized for not doing more to solve the jobs crisis. Friday's report is just putting more pressure on the incoming administration to have a plan in place long before Inauguration Day.
And CNN deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, joins us now live from Washington this morning.
And, Paul, we want to get the response from Obama as to this criticism. What are you hearing?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, you know, minutes, just minutes after that report came out yesterday morning -- the jobs report, Barack Obama put out a statement saying that things would get worse before they get better and that urgent resolve is needed. But, Betty, this is the awkward situation he's in because as we say, he's president-elect, he's not president. He doesn't even take office for another six weeks.
Obama officials tell us that he has a plan ready to go, a plan that would hopefully create new jobs, stimulate the economy, increase the country's infrastructure. But as you mentioned, he's starting to hear some criticism, especially around this auto deal, these auto negotiations that are going on on Capitol Hill.
Barney Frank is one of the top Democrats in the House who's working on the deal with the automakers. Take a listen to what he had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK: It's probably the case that he's going to have to be more assertive than he's been. And I know what he says is, "Well, we only have one president at a time." My problem is, at a time of great crisis, with mortgage foreclosures and autos, he says we only have one president at a time. I am afraid that over states the number of presidents we have.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: You know, he's making fun there of course at the end. But it is a concern that you're starting to hear from some Democrats that if they want to get this -- if Democrats in Congress want to get this bill passed in Congress and the votes are going to be hard, they're going to need both the current president and, especially, the president-elect to weigh in.
But Barack Obama, do you really want to weigh in on a plan that you can't even control and you're not even part of yet? So, it's kind of a sticky situation. His incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who's a congressman, up on the Hill yesterday, dealing with members of Congress and top Democrats on the plan. So, they are getting involved and they're staying behind the scenes. They are doing quite a lot, you are just not seeing that publicly.
NGUYEN: All right. So, they're doing a lot, we're not seeing it. How is that affecting confidence when it comes to Americans? I know there's a new poll out.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. You know, this -- overall, Americans are very pessimistic about the economy. But what do they think about Barack Obama? Take a look at these numbers. They are very optimistic that Barack Obama can do something about the economy. Three out of four Americans, basically, at our CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, are confident he can improve economic conditions.
So, there's a lot of optimism there. They voted for Obama in the election because of the economy. But this also kind of raises expectations for him. So, when he does take office...
NGUYEN: I was going to say...
STEINHAUSER: Yes.
NGUYEN: ... because 74 percent, that's a large number right there.
STEINHAUSER: Exactly. Expectations are high. That is not always a good thing when you're about to take office, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Paul Steinhauser, of course, we're going to talk to you a little bit later this morning. And have you seen the pictures that we ran a little bit earlier, at least that one dealing with his speechwriting chief there?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, Jon Favreau, just saw that picture as well.
NGUYEN: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: And kind of shocking stuff, yes.
NGUYEN: All right. We'll delve into that a little bit later this morning. Thank you, Paul.
LUI: All right. We're going to stay on politics here, Betty. Keeping the family tradition, Caroline Kennedy could follow her father's and uncle's footsteps with a seat on the Senate. New York Governor David Paterson confirming Kennedy expressed interest filling the New York Senate vacancy, that is if Hillary Clinton is confirmed here as secretary of state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. DAVID PATERSON, (D) NEW YORK: We talked about a number of things. The seat did come up in the conversation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: Paterson declined to talk about any possible choices he had in mind to fill that position.
NGUYEN: Well, O.J. Simpson gets hard time. The former football great will serve at least nine years in prison for his role in the robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.
And CNN's Kara Finnstrom has the latest from the court sentencing in Las Vegas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Conspiracy to commit crime, one year in the county jail...
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former football great, O.J. Simpson, known for his remarkable agility on the field has just side stepped the threat of a life sentence in Las Vegas.
YALE GALANTER, SIMPSON ATTORNEY: We, you know, Gabe and I are pleased. You know, it could have been a lot worst. My expectations today were that it was going to be a much higher sentence.
FINNSTROM: We now know Simpson could face a maximum of 33 years behind bars. Courthouse officials originally figured that number at 15. But they say he will still be eligible for parole in as few as nine years. Clarence Stewart, one of Simpson's cohorts in the crime, was given a similar sentence. Both convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery for their role in staging a hold-up involving guns to recover sports memorabilia from a hotel room.
Simpson told the judge he was sorry. O.J. SIMPSON, FORMER NFL STAR: I am sorry. I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody, and I didn't know I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was confronting friends and retrieving my property. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it.
FINNSTROM: Judge Jackie Glass, who is known for issuing harsh sentences, lectured Simpson.
JUDGE JACKIE GLASS, LAS VEGAS DISTRICT COURT: I said to Mr. Simpson, I didn't know he was arrogant or ignorant or both. And during the trial and through this proceeding I got the answer, and it was both.
FINNSTROM: But Glass then stressed her sentence should in no way be tied to Simpson's acquittal in the 1994 slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Ronald Goldman's family was there as the sentences were read.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Count two, conspiracy to commit kidnapping...
FRED GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S FATHER: There's never closure. Ron is always gone, and what we have is satisfaction that this monster is where he belongs, behind bars.
KIM GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S SISTER: To watch him sit there in shackles, to watch him walk back through that door -- twice in our lifetime he's walked out the same door as our family and it was nice to see him walk through his door into his jail cell.
DAVID ROGER, CLARK COUNTY, NEV. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: She can give (ph) on these defendants and give them life sentences, but under the circumstances, I think she was well within her discretion.
FINNSTROM (on camera): Simpson is now in the process of being taken to a nearby prison where he'll undergo a psychological and a physical examination. And officials will determine where he'll serve his sentence. In the meantime, his defense attorneys are planning their appeal.
Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, it is a crime story that really shocked us all. An eight-year-old charged with killing two people, including his father.
LUI: Yes, the boy was interrogated by police. Now that interview is being called into question. Did police follow proper procedure?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: And thanks for staying with us.
Five Blackwater security guards have been indicted in the shooting death of 17 Iraqis. Another is negotiating a plea deal. That's according to CNN sources close to this case.
Here's a background for you. The private security guards are accused of indiscriminately opening fire on a busy Baghdad intersection in September of last year. Blackwater says this shooting happened after an insurgent ambush. Well, the case has been under investigation for more than one year. First by the State Department, and then, less than a month after the shooting, the FBI took over. And after a series of eyewitness interviews and evidence collection charges -- there were charges rather.
Our sources tell us the indictment is expected to be made public on Monday. Blackwater declined to comment until there's an official announcement.
Now, to a border supervisor under arrest for allegedly hiring illegal immigrants to clean her home. Lorraine Henderson is the Boston area port director. Investigators were tipped off by another border employee and put a wire on one of the cleaning women. Now, if convicted, Henderson could spend 10 years in prison.
NGUYEN: Well, today, there are new details that are emerging about controversial police interview of an eight-year-old Arizona boy who's accused of killing his dad and another man. Now, you have probably seen the tape. And we're going to show you a little bit of it. But the boy is being questioned by two officers without a guardian or an attorney present. Now, those officers are having to answer some really tough questions from the boy's defense team and what's revealed, well, that may surprise you.
Christine Boomer of affiliate KNXZ has the transcripts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I think either I shot my dad (ph)...
CHRISTINE BOOMER, KNXZ REPORTER: The woman on the right is Debra Neckel from the St. John's Police Department. This transcript reads the defense attorney, Benjamin Brewer, said, "Just so I know that you were a detective for a day before this happened, I mean, I just want to make sure." She says, "I wish I didn't have to admit that but, yes." Benjamin Brewer then says, "All right, I just heard that and I started thinking." "I know," she says, "Believe me, I wish it wasn't true. I wish that they would have waited a week."
Brewer later asked these questions: "Did you ever tell him that he could have someone in on the interview?" "I don't believe we -- no." "And again, you never Mirandized him prior to going into the interview?" "No." "Did you ever tell him that if he got concerned, or scared, or whatever, he would be able to leave, he was free to leave that room?" "No."
The woman on the left is Commander Matrese Avila of the Apache County Sheriff's Department. Brewer asked Detective Neckel about something the commander said. "And, what about, there was a comment by Commander Avila that she said someone had seen him do it? Do you recall that?" UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And people show off some things and that's what we're trying to be getting (ph).
BOOMER: Neckel responds, "I do recall that, and I remember thinking at the time she stated that she got it wrong." Brewer asked the commander, "Are there also ways that you can ask questions to determine whether or not he has an understanding of what is true and what is false?" The commander's reply, "We don't really go into a lot of that anymore in our forensic interviews."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, prosecutors have offered a plea deal, but the boy's attorney says he won't make a decision until he sees the forensic evidence and the results from a psychological exam.
LUI: One young child scarred by the tragedy of Mumbai, now learning to play again.
NGUYEN: His nanny actually staying by his side and talking about saving a toddler from terrorists.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Look at that. A Christmas tree from our iReporter. You know, it looks like every square inch of that house is covered in lights. What is the electricity bill on that thing? Can you imagine what that is adding up to? We're in a recession, folks, but those people don't care. It's the holidays. iReporter J.V. Abellar tells us the street is in the Philippines. And it must be quite a sight during the holiday season.
Check this out. Janie Lambert sent us another Christmas sight to see. Not a creature was stirring in this Knoxville, Tennessee home, not even the cat. It's kind of hard to see right there. Send us your holiday snapshots. All you do is just log on to iReporter.com and then send them in.
LUI: Lights are plenty there, right, Betty?
NGUYEN: Yes.
LUI: All right. Operation: Santa Claus is under way in New York.
Oh, yes, it's annual program to help underprivileged kids by answering their letters to Santa. There's plenty of them if you can see there. After all, he can't get to all of those letters. Volunteers are lining up to lend a hand at selected post offices in New York, California, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Great stuff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANTA CLAUS: We have a really great crew of people that do this. They've been doing this for years. It's all voluntary. And it's all about just making people's Christmas happen. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: Well, there he is, Santa, right there, right?
NGUYEN: And evidently, the weather might be good for him. The weather certainly good for some folks. Reynolds Wolf joins us right now.
I guess he likes clipper systems, is that what it is?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think so. I think it looks great. Although Santa's beard, I don't know, man. Something funky about that. I'm not so sure.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: It wasn't looking right, was it?
LUI: A little skewed, wasn't it?
WOLF: Just a little bit weird. Yes, I know he's going to feed himself and I would not trust that beard. But look at the beard, folks. Let's be honest. It's not going to withstand, you know, five- mile-per-hour winds. Come on.
NGUYEN: Not all. That thing is going to blow off.
WOLF: I mean, the dude looks like Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead more than Santa.
Let's go. Let's go to the weather. OK. (INAUDIBLE).
What we're expecting today in the Great Lakes, as Richard was talking about, this clipper system marching its way from the west to east. It's going to mean that we're going to see some snowfall. It could be heavy at times, up to a foot in locations mainly north of Grand Rapids, right along. Across the lake, you see some bands very intense near Kalamazoo.
We go over towards Chicago, same story. But when you go to Chicago southward to Indianapolis, you get a little bit of a break in the action. Problem is, this bulk of snow is going to come marching through, too. That's going to stack up in places like Indianapolis, up by the old dome.
And what we're going to see in Nashville? A possibility of seeing some rain and sleet but also we could see some flurries here and there. Not quite as cold in Florida. Some scattered showers along parts of I-95, I-75, even the I-4 corridor, mainly splash and dash showers. So, nothing too bad in terms of your precipitation there.
What will be bad is the brutal cold that's moving in right behind that clipper system. We're talking about temperatures this hour in Bismarck, 11 degrees. Current temperature in Fargo, seven. Not a lucky number for you, either. In Duluth, we're looking at 12. This morning in Minneapolis, that coffee is going to be just the thing to enjoy. Splash it all over you, you're going to need to warp at 20 degrees. Des Moines, not too bad with 34. Winnipeg, our neighbors to the north, this is in Fahrenheit, not Celsius, currently four degrees below zero.
Later on today, things are going to warm up but not so much. In fact, in Chicago, 29 degrees, the expected high. Minneapolis, 21. Dallas with 62, not a bad time there. Nashville with 48 degrees with that precipitation marching through the area. And 52 in Atlanta. San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, mainly to the 50s and 60s. It looks like L.A., a pretty nice day there with 71.
Let's go to a tower cam. This is going to be in Detroit compliments of WDIW. Great shot that you have there. On one side, you've got, let's see, you've got the Joe Louis Arena right in the middle, the Penobscot Building towards the middle of the screen, too, and then, on the other side you have the G.M. Building. A beautiful morning. This shot ironically enough taken south of Detroit in Canada. That's right. This part of Canada is taken from Windsor. And certainly a beautiful morning there in the Motor City.
OK. You're up to speed. Even I think Santa, Jerry Garcia- looking Santa with the shaky beard we enjoy talking there (ph).
NGUYEN: Maybe between now and Christmas, he can work on that beard, tweaking that just a little bit.
WOLF: We can only hope.
NGUYEN: OK.
LUI: Get the volume down just a little.
WOLF: Exactly.
NGUYEN: A lot of spray going on there.
LUI: Beard analyst, Reynolds Wolf, thank you so much.
WOLF: See you guys.
LUI: Keeping hope alive to find a new job -- that's right -- how some people are spending time to figuring out their next move.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello and welcome back, everybody, on this Saturday morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
LUI: And I'm Richard Lui, in for T.J. Holmes. Thanks for starting your day with us right here.
You know, the nation's bad job news could be good news for Detroit's Big Three. CNN has learned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is backing off opposition to using money from a research program to help General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford. Now, that $25 billion program is for research and fuel-efficient cars. Pelosi says the huge number of job losses last month led to her change of heart here. A congressional source says staffers are writing legislation to provide loans to the automakers right now.
Another bank has failed, meanwhile, this one in Georgia. Federal regulators have closed First Georgia Community Bank of Jackson. It is the 23rd bank failure just this year. Regulators say no depositors will lose their money.
And then, we take you to Chicago where a protest over lost jobs. Workers at Republic Windows & Doors are upset with Bank of America. The bank pulled funding for the company, forcing it to close. Company officials say they cannot give severance pay and unused vacation as required by law. Workers are blaming Bank of America.
NGUYEN: Well, with job loss comes anger, frustration, all of that. CNN's Jason Carroll tells us how some people are trying to move beyond their emotions to actually get a new job.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE AARON, JOB SEEKER: I was a columnist at the "Bergen Record."
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You've been out of work for how many months?
AARON: Since August, a little bit over 100 years.
BARBARA JACOBY, JOB SEEKER: I was considered documentation specialist.
CARROLL: Now, Barbara, how long have you been out of work?
JACOBY: Since right after Labor Day.
CHRISTINE DENNING, JOB SEEKER: My position at Panasonic was eliminated in 2005. I am the more seasoned of all of us.
CARROLL: I keep hearing that over and over. First, there's the hurt and the resentment over what happened, obviously. And then for some, it's the frustration of trying to figure out what's next.
AARON: Well, I think that you have to get the emotional part because obviously it's a bad economy. And one of the things that I've learned is that it's affecting so many different people.
DENNING: Not only the new economy but in this new technological age, I think it's a much more complicated process to find a position. Certainly, there's a lot of competition out there and there are a lot of companies that are cutting back.
JACOBY: The economy is so -- as it is and there are so many competition out there. I found that networking and groups like this are so important for people because the camaraderie and the understanding and the leads that come from there. CARROLL: So, at this point I'm wondering how optimistic are you about finding employment?
DENNING: I've even been networking at the dog park. And I'm seeing that it's going to be fruitful. I'm very optimistic. And I know something will work out. And it will probably work out for the best.
AARON: Personally, I'm very optimistic. I'm confident that something will come up.
JACOBY: I'm optimistic that between my (INAUDIBLE) set of people skills, soft skills, and technical skills...
CARROLL: You're on your way.
JACOBY: I'm looking forward to a new opportunity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, one of our iReporters is upset with the idea of bailing out banks and mortgage companies. He says, why give money to those who got us in this position in the first place? Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK MOORE, iREPORTER: Dear President-elect Obama and members of the House and Senate, can you please tell me where this bailout is supposed to help me? I'm always hearing the bailouts have to help the homeowners. The bailouts have to help the homeowners. Why I don't see the homeowners really getting any help?
The banks and the mortgage companies have gotten rich off the American people for years. And now all of a sudden, they've ran their companies into the ground and who do they come running to? The very people who they got rich off of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: And, Jack, thanks for that iReport.
You know, we've been asking you this morning how you've been affected by the news of record job losses this past month. It was over half a million. Here are some of the e-mails we've gotten so far. That's right. And I'll start with one right here for you.
This one comes from Alicia. She says, "The state we are in is just awful. I lost my job on November the 24th." She also says, along with seven others at her branch, "We are a two-income household, what will we do?" -- Alicia.
NGUYEN: A lot of people are asking questions today.
LUI: Yes.
NGUYEN: I got this one from Chuck. Here's what he says, "This job crisis is one of the single most devastating things I have ever seen thus far. Something that I personally thought would never happen in the United States. Seeing the unemployment rate spike the way it did and since I'm one of those thousands of people who lost their job, it really takes a toll on the mental aspect of trying to get a new job. It feels like you're fighting an uphill battle and it's only going to get worse."
LUI: You know, and this one, Betty, is from a person that is self-employed, an entrepreneur, it looks like. He says here. His name is Brian, by the way, from Connecticut. He says, "I'm self- employed and haven't had a dime in two years. And I'm having a hard time finding a job. The government doesn't seem to know I'm even alive."
NGUYEN: And Nelson writes this, "I've worked at one of the biggest hotel chains in Tampa as a bartender." So, he made about $3,000 a month, it's what he says. "After I lost that, it took me three months to find anything. Now, I'm doing dishes in a little mom and pop restaurant making $600 a month."
So, a lot of people feeling this at home. Losing their job, trying to find anything that they can out there...
LUI: Right.
NGUYEN: ... to sustain, you know, the bills and the kind of lifestyle that they had without it diminishing. But at this point, those jobs seem few and far between.
LUI: Yes, tough for so many certainly here.
OK. Let us know what you think. We want to get more e-mails from you if we can. Tell us what you think about these record job losses, how they're affecting you, Weekends@CNN.com. Give us all the stories you can. We'll be reading them today.
Expanding the investigation by looking closer to home. Indian authorities have arrested two people for selling cell phone information chips on the black market. Police believe it may give them insight into how the Mumbai attackers got their phones. It's part of the growing investigation that is now taking a look at a possible homegrown terror link. Police originally thought the attacks were carried out only by people from outside their borders, most likely Pakistan.
And we've told her story of bravery and love. Now here it is in her own words, the nanny who saved a toddler from terrorists in Mumbai spoke with CNN's Paula Hancocks in Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pure concentration on his latest work of art. Moshe Holtzberg draws and plays with the nanny who saved his life. It's a million miles from last week's Mumbai attack which killed both his parents.
SANDRA SAMUEL, NANNY: I was in the kitchen. I came running to stop them and I saw one man was shooting at me. He shot at me.
HANCOCKS: Sandra locked herself in the storeroom with another Chabad house worker Jacqui. When she heard baby Moshe calling her name 12 hours later, she didn't hesitate to unlock the door and risk her life to save his.
SAMUEL: When I hear gunshots, it's not one, two. It's like hundreds of gunshots, 10, 20 grenades, bombs in the Chabad. So, even I am a mother of two children. So, I just pick up the baby and I run. I don't think of fear. Does anybody think of dying at that moment when a small, precious baby's -- no.
HANCOCKS: Moshe is now learning to play again, but likes to know that Sandra is close by.
SAMUEL: For two, three days, he asked for his Ima continuously. And because she used to always give some special time to him.
HANCOCKS: Moshe plays in the garden of Rabbi Yitzhak David Grossman, a man who has spent 40 years looking after orphans in Israel, his own great nephew also now an orphan. But Moshe has dozens of loving relatives willing to give him a new home, and the Chabad movement has created a fund to secure his future.
RABBI YITZHAK DAVID GROSSMAN, PRESIDENT, MIGDAL OHR: Everybody thinks Sandra because she says she gives her life to save Moshe. She knows she can be killed and she's going and take him out.
HANCOCKS: A non-Jewish, Indian nanny welcomed as an Israeli hero. She has carte blanche to stay in Israel and says she will not leave as long as Moshe needs her. Even now, Sandra barely takes the time to think of herself.
(on camera): And how are you coping now?
SAMUEL: Me? Baby is there, Sandra is there. That's it.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Paula Hancocks, CNN, Northern Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So it seems like every day we have some bleak economic news.
LUI: Yes.
NGUYEN: I mean, just seems -- it's just that, you know, the turning mill of it all, we hear it every single day. Well, one of the latest stories is about the cost of college.
LUI: Yes, it's hurting everybody, even those folks that are in college. You know it's bad. There's a new report that finds it is getting even worse. Our Josh Levs joins us now with more on that.
And, Josh, we hate to hear this, don't we?
NGUYEN: Right.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. A way to wake up America, right?
LUI: Right.
LEVS: It's getting even worse. But it is a really important report. It's the national report on higher education. It's put out by a group called the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Let's zoom in on the screen, I want to show you a couple of things here. This is where you can see that their Website, "Measuring Up 2008: National Report Card on Higher Education." This is the key right here. Check it out.
Affordability, right there. Well, if you look under affordability, they look at every single state. See all those Fs? They gave every single state but one a failing grade. And look over here. Affordability, everything underneath is a down blue arrow, except in two states -- that means in every state but two it's getting worse.
Now, I pull out a couple of facts from this, I want to show you. Let's go to a graphic we have for you here. This first one shows you that one of the biggest reasons that that has been like this, working in poor families are paying now on average 40 percent of their income for someone to enroll in a public college, and that's after financial aid. Middle income families, 25 percent. Upper income, 13 percent.
And as we know, public colleges are generally less expensive than private colleges and one of the biggest reasons is this. Check this out. College tuition fees have gone up 439 percent since 1982. Median family income has gone up 147 percent. I know it's a lot of the numbers, what that boils down to is, tuition and fees went up three times as much as median income did, guys.
LUI: So, the issue is that, how can they keep up with this? Just that last statistic really tells the story here, Josh. And, therefore, if that income is not matching what the costs are...
LEVS: Right.
LUI: ... kids going for more loans?
LEVS: Yes, they're going for more loans big time. In fact, this report says that student borrowing has doubled just over the last 10 years. And, you know, we've reported that some of the private loan programs, particularly, are in real trouble now. I spoke with this one student here, Eric Hahn, who had to, basically at the last second, sell his savings when his loan fell through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HAHN, COLLEGE STUDENT: What's happening is students who don't have co-signers such as myself...
LEVS: Right.
HAHN: ... have to apply for private, unsubsidized loans. And when it falls through, as in my case, you pretty much apply for other loans, you start settling for more expensive debt. And, in my case, you pull out your savings, you got and sell your stock and pay for your short-term expenses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Yes, we talked to him on this program about a month ago. And I'll tell you, this study says cost is one factor that's adding to an education gap now between students in the U.S. and students in other countries, which, obviously, can cause us some long-term problems.
LUI: You know, your silver lining, Josh Levs. Tell us what's good about this report, Josh. I know you went through it, though.
LEVS: I did. I went through it. I learned some good points and it's good stuff.
OK. It does say that states are making some advances in preparing students for college and also increasing access to higher education. But, to the reality check guy, I've got to tell you, it says other nations are advancing even more quickly in those departments. So, even when it comes to that stuff, we're slipping behind. So, I don't, Richard. Slightly positive at it.
LUI: All right. We're working on it and certainly, education is so important. Those loan programs, as you are discussing, really the hearts of making sure this continues and is going to do well, despite these difficult times.
NGUYEN: Yes.
LUI: Yes.
NGUYEN: Right.
LEVS: We cannot build a better economy unless our young people are able to go to college.
LUI: Right.
LEVS: That's how crucial this is.
LUI: That's right.
NGUYEN: Yes, and join the workforce and those jobs are available.
OK. Thank you, Josh.
You know, something we're going to be talking about today and a lot of people may have on their radar is definitely a talker. Have you seen this picture? We're going to put it up for you. It is a picture of Obama's chief speechwriter, 27-year-old Jon Favreau. You see him there gripping a portion of Senator Hillary Clinton in a cutout, obviously.
But this is no frat picture at some kind of a party, a frat party. This is actually Obama's chief speechwriter. So, this showed up on Facebook. And it actually was up for two hours and it was taken down. And I understand that many other photos that had nothing to do with this but other photos of Favreau and just, you know, some other pictures. Those were taken down, too, except for, you know, his profile head shot. So, this is something that he may have to do a little explaining about.
LUI: I'm sure that his friends and those in the Obama campaign are going, "What were you thinking?"
NGUYEN: Yes.
LUI: Or you posed to that, not good. Certainly.
NGUYEN: I wonder what Senator Clinton thinks about it, too, since she is, you know, secretary of state in waiting. So, we'll see how this plays out. It's something that a lot of people are talking about today.
And this, you have a bad boss? I mean, if you do, hey, you're just lucky to have a job. But did you know that if you have a bad boss, that might be connected to bad health.
LUI: Yes, the concern here is, you know, if you are concerned about your boss or if you have concerns about your life overall, does that lead to some issues about your own health, if you will?
NGUYEN: I don't know. It stresses you out if you have a bad boss, right? Because you feel like that you're constantly worried about what the boss is going to do or say, whether you lose your job.
LUI: And so, Betty and I were talking before about this. I'm saying, you know, it could be that this is self selecting, too. Some folks, you know, they're always worried about things.
NGUYEN: Right.
LUI: So, that could be causing their health (ph)...
NGUYEN: Or they're not doing their job and they should be worried.
LUI: Right.
NGUYEN: But this is coming actually from a new study that is out and is in the issue of "Occupational and Environmental Medicine" which does say that bad bosses can be hazardous to your health. Keep that in mind. LUI: Yes. It also says that higher leadership scores are found to be associated with lower risk for heart disease. So, those who have good leadership skills, the less stressed.
NGUYEN: Yes.
LUI: They have less issues with heart disease. Of course, this is a study and these pieces of information...
NGUYEN: And I love how they end it. They end it by saying, "Training of managers about how to do their jobs better might be a good start." We'll see if that plays out.
LUI: That's right. So, keep happy at work. You will have a healthy heart, it's what they're saying there.
NGUYEN: Yes, in the meantime, though, "Sports Illustrated" has picked their Sportsman of the Year. Can you guess who that is going to be? It's no surprise. Michael Phelps.
LUI: He's got no future.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes, right.
LUI: (INAUDIBLE), no.
All right. Also for you, in this struggling economy, how much is this cover boy, though, really worth to advertisers?
NGUYEN: Wait until you hear this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: All right. Slow sales are sending Honda to the pits. The company announced it's getting out of Formula One racing. The exit from the worldwide racing series was partially brought on by a November sales slump of about 30 percent in the United States. The next victim may be the U.S.-based Open Wheel IndyCar series. All of the cars in that series use Honda engines.
NGUYEN: So, you're heartbroken out there? Well, don't let NHL officials hear how you really feel because we've got one for you this morning. It's quite a doozy.
Sports business analyst, Rick Horrow, joins us now live from West Palm Beach, Florida. Rick, how can we not talk about this morning? And you know who I'm about to speak of.
Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery suspended, in fact, for, what -- six games, for something that he said -- and I'm almost afraid to listen to it again. But let's go ahead and roll that tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN AVERY, DALLAS STARS FORWARD: I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: What in the world? That was a shot that was aimed at Calgary Flames players who's actually dating Avery's ex-girlfriend. But who says something like that especially with a camera and a microphone in front of you? That's just outrageous.
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: I covered my ears. I didn't hear. What did he say?
(LAUGHTER)
HORROW: No.
NGUYEN: I'm not even repeating that.
HORROW: Listen. We've been through the whole thing. And the bottom line is $12 billion in endorsement monies that corporations have spent over the last few years? Their contracts are shorter, smaller, and easier to terminate after the economy situation. But in something like this, the NHL says, "Yes, we got it on camera, we've got to take some action."
He's got a $14 million contract that can be terminated because of lack of sportsmanship. I think he's safe in this case. But the NHL sure sent a strong signal. You're not supposed to say that stuff.
NGUYEN: Yes, period.
HORROW: Period.
NGUYEN: Let's move on. Let's not give him any more air time. Michael Phelps, December issue of "Sports Illustrated." How much is that man worth?
HORROW: Oh, about $100 million today.
NGUYEN: Wow.
HORROW: Listen, he has eight golds.
NGUYEN: That's just today. I mean, he's still a young chap, you know?
HORROW: Yes, yes, yes. And he's also may compete again in four years, but eight gold medals, nine sponsors -- that's almost a gold medal per sponsor. Just signed a deal with Subway. Here's the deal. His dog Herman has received 13 sponsorship offers. If Michael Phelps says no, maybe Herman says yes. Yes, the guy's got it going.
NGUYEN: But, you know, I hear his agent gets calls all the time. Different offers. But they're really being very particular about it. They want to make sure it's a brand that he's behind, that he believes in. So, they're really looking at this in an intellectual way and not just on a monetary way. HORROW: Which is very important because Tiger, Michael Jordan, those athletes who are icons are in the rarified air where they can afford to turndown some stuff. Yes, Peter Carlisle's agent told "60 Minutes" and others that he gets over 300 calls a week.
NGUYEN: Yes, it's wild.
HORROW: So, he can afford to be selective.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HORROW: It's all about leverage. I only get about 100. You only get about 80 calls a week.
NGUYEN: And you are lucky just to get a call from us. Whatever, dude.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: OK. Let's talk about the Los Angeles Dodgers. OK. This is the deal. They can spend, what, $30 million and get some really good players or spend that same amount of money and pay for -- I don't know -- 50 or so youth baseball fields in L.A. County. So, which is the better option for the team?
HORROW: Well, unfortunately, that's the question that the public voted on and it shouldn't be that way, because they've got a dream foundation where money comes out and they come up with these dollars for the fields anyway. Major League Baseball has something called "Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities" where the budget comes. So, you don't have to make that choice.
But yes, $30 million would make them a little more competitive. By the way, the polls said, spend the money on the players.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes.
HORROW: It really shouldn't come to that, but that's what most of the people want. There's enough money to go around for the players and the field, a little bit of both.
NGUYEN: So, do you expect they're going to do a little bit of both then?
HORROW: Well, they're doing a little bit of both already. And I suspect that will be the case in the future because you certainly need these fields. There are programs all over North America, in all sports to try to get that done.
NGUYEN: Got you. And very quickly, did my Longhorns get robbed or what?
HORROW: Oh, you know what? That's such a loaded question.
(LAUGHTER) HORROW: We'll see what happens. I'm going to leave that one alone because I got a lot of fans from Oklahoma, and Florida, and Alabama, and Southern California. So, stop instigating.
NGUYEN: Oh, man, it's been a week.
HORROW: Stop instigating. See you next week.
NGUYEN: Look, I'm just saying, we beat Oklahoma but yet they beat us when it comes to the BCS. And now, they're going to the Big 12 -- all right, all right. I got to stop. I'm done. It's not over yet. We have an outside chance.
HORROW: Hey, go blog it, OK? Nobody wants to hear it.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: All right. Thanks. See you later.
LUI: It's like a 10-foot pole. I'm not going to touch that one.
NGUYEN: Nobody is going to touch it.
LUI: He knows Betty. He knows her well.
All right. They are not rich or powerful or even famous, but they're on the guest list for one of the biggest, most luxurious parties in Washington on Inauguration Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: And welcome back. The mayor of an Indiana town is teaching charity by example, hoping it will inspire others to give. Mayor Rob Thoman is donating his entire pay for 2008 to the United Way. And he says he ran for office to serve the people, not for the paycheck. The money is to be directed to an organization that helps seniors.
Hard times, drastic action. More than 150 Bridgeport, Connecticut city employees are giving up an entire week's pay, this to help close a multi-million dollar budget deficit and hopefully save some city jobs along the way. Now, these folks say they love their community and are afraid of the unknown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If this helps avoid more layoffs, then, you know, no one can afford to lose their job right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: While we're talking about sacrifice and generosity, just wait until you hear this story. For Barack Obama's inauguration next month, a Virginia businessman is shelling out more than $1 million for a posh balcony view. And his guest of honor -- the disadvantaged and the forgotten.
CNN's Samantha Hayes has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's $1 million dollar-view at the top of the J.W. Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue, and on Inauguration Day, William Stafford decided it should go to those who don't have a penny to spare.
EARL W. STAFFORD, BENEFACTOR: We hope that the balcony here, the terrace is filled with those who are disadvantaged, those who are distressed.
HAYES: Those who didn't think they would ever be able to see Barack Obama sworn in as president on these steps. Not only will they see it, but Stafford is making sure his guests experience history in style.
STAFFORD: Why not give them an experience that they can tell their children and their grandchildren about?
HAYES: The entire package includes 300 rooms and 4 suites under renovation just for the event.
ERICK SPEIGHT, SALES EXECUTIVE, J.W. MARRIOTT: Stunned, literally stunned. I mean, we hear about great benevolence all over the place. It's another story when this gentleman is in your face saying, "Hey, I'm going to do this. Here's the money."
HAYES: And an even better story if you are one of those selected. Stafford will be working with organizations like the Urban League.
LAVERN CHATMAN, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE, VIRGINIA: I can't imagine it. You know, you're sitting there and you've been seeing the election and you see what the ball's going to look like, and everything says, "Oh, they're sold out. Nobody's going to be able to get in town." And then you get a call saying, "You've been selected. We're going to fly you to Washington."
HAYES (on camera): While it may sound like a Cinderella story, Stafford hopes it's more than that. He says for those he is giving this historic opportunity, he hopes they go into their own communities and do something good.
Samantha Hayes, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
LUI: That's right. I'm Richard Lui. Almost cut you off. Sorry there.
NGUYEN: That's all right.
LUI: New to this gig. T.J. is off this weekend. Thanks for being with us here today.
The auto bailout loan, some are saying there's been a breakthrough in getting government money to the very troubled auto industry.
NGUYEN: And the numbers, they are so tough to stomach. Just take a look, though. Half a million jobs lost in one month alone. So, what is next? Well, everyone's looking to president-elect Obama and his team.
LUI: And also, Betty, the holiday season upon us, and many law enforcement officials are warning here, be careful.
NGUYEN: Yes, many are saying the recession and the holiday season could be the perfect storm for trouble.
LUI: First off for you right now: Help for the Big Three automakers could be on the way soon. A senior congressional source tells CNN, aides are working this weekend on bailout loan legislation. Now, this comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reversed her opposition to using $25 billion from a specific research program to develop fuel-efficient cars.
Now, the CEOs of General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford pleaded with a House committee yesterday for $34 billion in loans. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also is backing help for the industry.
Now, he issued a statement yesterday right here saying, quote, it should never have come to this. The auto companies dug themselves into this hole and for years did nothing to climb out of it. But we are not acting for executives' sake. We are acting on behalf of the workers and their families. This week's hearings have been made clear that we cannot let these companies fail.
Well, Pelosi's change of heart came after the CEOs of the big three went before the House Finance Committee yesterday. One idea gaining traction among of the Democrats, making a loan conditional on the government restructuring the companies. Some House members say the auto companies have not done enough to help themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL KANJORSKI (D), PENNSYLVANIA: This idea that it's late, guys and you've got to pass it, You've got to do it or nothing, I'm afraid a lot of people are overestimating the willingness of a goodly number of members of Congress to play chicken. And I think it would be a terrible game to experience that game of chicken and see the automotive industry go down because of it.
REP. DONALD MANZULLO (R), ILLINOIS: We need to encourage Americans to start buying cars again and that is not in the plans. We should give Americans tax incentives, tax credits to encourage them to buy cars. None of your plans has any statement, aside from one sentence on page 26 of GM's about how we get sales moving again.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Well, the nation's latest jobless numbers, they are out and they do not look good. The Labor Department reports 533,000 jobs lost in November, the most in a single month since 1974. The nation's jobless rate now 6.7 percent. That's up from 6.5 percent in October; 1.9 million Americans were put out of work this year, 1.3 million in the past three months alone. But we do have one bright spot for you. Health care, it gained 34,000 jobs in November, 369,000 for the year.
So we have seen the bad news, so what is next? That's the big question. Will it be more job losses or will Barack Obama be able to turn things around and quickly?
CNN's Mary Snow takes a look at that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the number of unemployed Americans climbing, job centers like this one are being flooded. People come not only to look for work but get coached on how to go about it.
At the Yonkers employment center, staffers say what is striking is people seeking jobs from a wide range of industries, such as financial services that haven't been as hard hit in the past.
LILLIAN MORALES, EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST: Everybody comes in and talks about the economy, how fearful they are and wanting to grab something before it becomes worse. So, we kind of try to manage the fear.
SNOW: A majority of Americans are confident the economy will improve as President-Elect Obama takes office, according to a CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll. Obama says he wants to create jobs by spending money on infrastructure projects such as building roads and bridges. His goal is to create 2.5 million jobs by the end of 2010. Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says that won't be enough and says Obama needs to double that number, five million jobs by the end of 2010?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ, ECONOMIST, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: That's right. That would seem to me the kind of level of aspirations. We may not make it, but clearly we need a more ambitious agenda if we're going to restore the economy to a strong situation.
SNOW: While economists expect conditions to get worse before they improve, some aren't spelling doom.
LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: The sharper the recession, the sharper the recovery. Now, in this very dire kind of circumstance, we are in this sharp recession, that may be a silver lining to take advantage of with the policy decisions that we're taking going forward.
SNOW: Economist Lakshman Achuthan says the timing of another stimulus package will be key. He says it will be more effective if it's not spent until we can see some signs that the economy is stabilizing.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So, this morning we are asking how are you affected by the news of record job losses last month? Have you been affected? Have you lost your job? Are you fearful of losing your job or are you just simply worried? How has this affected you? E-mail us at weekends@cnn.com and we're going to read some of your responses a little bit later this morning.
LUI: All right, let's turn now to the transition. President- elect Barack Obama has stocked the first couple shelves of his cabinet but there's still plenty of space, some space there and CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us live now from Washington. And Paul, there's still some space and even measuring that for him. What sort of czars and secretaries might you expect at this moment?
STEINHAUSER: He's doing a pretty good job, I guess you could say. He's slightly ahead of the pace of previous presidents at this time in the transition, but as you mentioned, yeah, still got some cabinet positions to fill definitely. Health and Human Services, we believe Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, is going to be named Health and Human Services secretary.
But there are a lot more to fill as well, Energy secretary, Interior secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Education, Transportation, Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs. And then he's got the national intelligence director, the CIA director, the EPA administrator and the U.S. trade representative. So, Richard, I think you can see -- probably expect to see Barack Obama have a couple more of those news conferences in Chicago with a lot of prospective nominees standing behind him this week coming up and the week after.
LUI: Paul, the one that I dig is CTO (ph). I know we haven't talked about that much, but that's going to be certainly a first for a U.S. presidential cabinet. Let's move on now to Senator Hillary Clinton. She needs more money and I understand she's even bringing her mom into this somehow.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, mom's getting into the act as well and here's why. Remember, Hillary Clinton, long run for the White House against Barack Obama in the Democratic primary. She still owes about $7.5 million from that campaign. She's got debts. She's in the red. She needs to get out of it because when she becomes secretary of State, if she's confirmed by the Senate, there are Federal laws that kind of prohibit and limit what she can do when it comes to fund-raising.
So, the clock's a-ticking and you've got Vice President-Elect Joe Biden out with a fund-raising e-mail to help Hillary Clinton out. Her own mother, as you mentioned. And a week from Monday, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and (INAUDIBLE) America Ferrara, who was a big supporter of Hillary Clinton in the primaries, are all going to team up at a fund-raiser in New York City to try to retire that debt. LUI: It looks pretty do-able, at least based on the progress since the election. She's already down you were saying, what $5, 6, 7 million since the end of that. Let's move now to 2012. Let's take a big step back and look at some of the GOP contenders. You have some poll data on that.
STEINHAUSER: We sure do. You know what, Barack Obama is not even president yet. He hasn't even been sworn in. We have three years to go until the Iowa caucuses the next time around. But all right, let's take a look, our brand-new CNN/Opinion Research poll. We put it out last night. And what we did is, this is not a horse race but we basically asked Republicans and independents who lean toward Republicans who would you be likely, very likely to support in 2012 in the race for the GOP nomination?
Take a look at that. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who, of course, won the Iowa caucuses, surprised a lot of people at 34 percent. Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate, the Alaska governor, pretty much a dead heat there, 32 percent. Mitt Romney, he ran for president this past time around. He's the former Massachusetts governor.
Newt Gingrich, flirting with the idea of running this past time, he never did. He at 27 percent, the former House speaker there and a couple others on the list, Rudy Giuliani, Bobby Jindal (ph) and Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida. So, yeah, I know it's early, Richard, but maybe it isn't that -- it's never too early, I guess, when you cover politics like I do to look ahead.
LUI: And it's always fun to talk about it certainly and we take a look at those numbers, you can see as you were telling us, neck and neck really at this early point.
STEINHAUSER: But again, none of these people said they want to run yet. We're just guessing about people maybe who maybe down the road will run.
LUI: Got it, fun stuff. Paul Steinhauser, thank you.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Other news we want to tell you about. O.J. Simpson will be spending a lot of time behind bars. The former football great was sentenced to 33 years in prison for his role in the robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.
Now, he has to serve at least nine years before he is eligible for parole. And there were mixed emotions in the Las Vegas courtroom, Simpson, visibly upset and apologetic. His attorney says he does plan to appeal, but the Goldman family, who still accuses Simpson in the 1995 murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, despite a criminal acquittal, found relief in yesterday's verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMPSON: I don't want to hurt Bruce. I didn't want to hurt any of these guys. I know these guys. These guys have eaten in my home. I've done book reports with their kids. I sung to their mothers when they were sick. I wasn't there to hurt anybody. I just wanted my personal things. And I realize I was stupid. I am sorry. I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody. And I didn't know I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was confronting friends and retrieving my property.
GALANTER: Obviously, he's upset at facing the possibility of doing nine years in prison. He is extremely hopeful that his appeal will free him from incarceration a lot sooner than that. So I think he was a little relieved that he didn't get a life sentence. I think he was certainly relieved that he got a sentence that was pretty close to the bottom end of the guideline range.
GOLDMAN: The time that he is not out causing havoc and reminding us of the pain that he caused us 14 years ago is an amazing feeling and to watch him sit there in shackles, to watch him walk back through that door -- twice in our lifetime he's walked out the same door as our family. And it was nice to see him walk back to the door of his jail cell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And that yesterday in Las Vegas, as we hear, this is up for appeal according to Simpson's attorney so may not be over.
LUI: And you can tell the media circus continued outside there, all that noise.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
LUI: We're all busy this time of year and distracted, too, right, Betty?
NGUYEN: Yes.
LUI: Well, that makes us more vulnerable though to crime. How to stay safe over the holidays.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES QUINCY TROUPE, ST. LOUIS ALDERMAN: If you have an emergency, you need to be able to protect your family, your property and your life until the police get there or until they answer the phone, whatever the case might be. So I'm telling people very clearly that you need to know how to protect yourself. You need to know how to protect your family. You need to know what the state laws are and how you can go about securing a weapon to be able to conceal and carry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That St. Louis city councilman Charles Quincy Troupe and part of his plan to cut back on crime is to arm everyone. Troupe says police have a poor response record in his county, so he's encouraging homeowners to buy a gun and learn how to use it. Well, the mayor of St. Louis suggests the councilman could do more by urging constituents to cooperate with police.
Let's talk more about this because really now more than ever, law enforcement officials are on guard to combat holiday crime. But many will tell you that they cannot do it alone. Thieves are eager to target the crowds of distracted shoppers. You may be one of them as you're going about and buying items for the holidays.
A former NYPD detective Gil Alba joins us now from our studios in New York. Gil, we got a little time and a lot to talk about, so let's get right to it. When it comes to the different tricks that thieves use and car jackers use during the holidays, explain what some of them are so we can keep an eye out and know what to do.
GIL ALBA, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: One of them, especially car jackers, one of them you were saying about having a ticket in the back or putting a flier in your back window, once you're backing up. You see the flyer, you get out of your car --
NGUYEN: And your car's exposed. You got your purse in the car and they can just take off, right?
ALBA: Right, that's one of the reasons. Another one is flatten your tires, put it low, you back out, you see it and they can get you that way. But another way is the mothers that tie their kids into their car seats in the back. They totally have their backs to wherever and they're easier for packages to be stolen, anything to be stolen at that time or even carjacked at that time.
NGUYEN: How can you get around that? You've got to put your child in the car. Obviously, in doing so, your back is exposed, you're not looking round. How do you protect yourself in that kind of a situation?
ALBA: This is the whole thing about going shopping during this period of time and everybody together is the fact that you have to have a plan. You have to have an awareness. So, go someplace where you're parking and there's not too many cars around. There's people driving around just looking for opportunities to steal something.
NGUYEN: Or maybe go in numbers?
ALBA: Go in numbers.
NGUYEN: Have a backup?
ALBA: Yes, go in numbers but be aware of where you are and what you're -- always look around. Even when you go to your car, look around. Maybe there's somebody in the back seat or something and we're talking about car jackers. But most of the crimes are really low-level crimes that we're talking about.
NGUYEN: Purse snatchers (INAUDIBLE) the items that you bought. Who's most at risk?
ALBA: As far as car jackings or as far as just taking -- you know, this is the time where --
NGUYEN: Would it be women, elderly, pregnant women?
ALBA: No, no. Anybody is at this point.
NGUYEN: Really, all of us. OK.
ALBA: We're talking about shopping, maybe shopping malls. You know, parking area is very susceptible to anything happening. So it could happen to anybody. But senior citizens should go with other senior citizens. You should always be -- don't park in a dark area. If you're in your car and you feel a little funny or feel a little suspicious, of course, don't get out of your car.
So, there's a lot of -- if you think ahead of time, have your keys ready when you go to your car. Sometimes you fumble, looking for your keys and all that. When you go shopping, don't open up your wallet and give out all kind of credit cards and looking for money and all that. Have everything ready. An awareness and a preparedness helps a lot in detracting a lot of this crime.
NGUYEN: We got some of the dos and don'ts on the screen there for our viewers. Do you expect there to be a rise in crimes like this, especially with this downturn in the economy?
ALBA: There could be. But, you know, and -- security, when the malls have -- they don't have the money for the security. So, they have to get more cameras. They have to -- of course, they have to make their place safe because you can sue them for not having enough security. So they're kind of aware that this is going to happen. So the security's getting much better nowadays.
NGUYEN: So if you had to say there was one mistake that was the biggest one that many of us make, especially during the holiday season when we're shopping around, what would that be?
ALBA: Is not being aware, just walking with our heads down, talking to our kids, talking to our -- just thinking of what you're going to do next. When you're doing that, you have your head down, you're thinking. You're not even looking around. The biggest thing is awareness that something could happen to you. Then you get a little nervous and then you start looking around. Not to be paranoid, but a little paranoid and a little education is worth while.
NGUYEN: All right. Gil Alba, former New York police department detective, we see why, got some good advice for us today. Thank you.
ALBA: Thanks for having me, appreciate it.
NGUYEN: Richard?
LUI: All right, thanks Betty. Santa Claus may be able to use a smaller sleigh this year. The economy is making it a little tougher to pile a lot of presents under the tree but what are parents telling their kids?
CNN's Ted Rowlands has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In malls across the country, kids are making their annual climb onto Santa's lap asking for Christmas presents. But what do you do if your child really wants something you just can't afford?
SANTA CLAUS: What would you like for Christmas this year young lady?
AMANDA BRENNER: A horse.
ROWLANDS: A horse unfortunately is probably not in the cards for Amanda Brenner. Her mother says the family business is a little off this year. So like many families, they plan to cut back on gifts. She says they've told the kids not to expect a lot.
COBIE BRENNER, MOTHER: We want our kids to understand that to be content if we have and if we have not. They know that they're loved, whether we have money or not.
SANTA CLAUS: What should Santa bring you this year for Christmas?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything that's at Target.
SANTA CLAUS: Everything that's at Target.
ROWLANDS: Many parents are talking to their kids now to avoid any disappointment on Christmas morning, like Ralphy felt here in "A Christmas Story."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've talked to the kids a little bit about what to expect. Hopefully, Santa brings everything, but everyone kind of knows that it might be a little lighter year this year.
ROWLANDS: Experts like momcentral.com founder Stacy Debroff says with older kids especially, be honest. It's the younger ones you may have to get a little creative with.
STACY DEBROFF, MOMCENTRAL.COM: The last thing anybody wants is to see a look of disappointment as kids open the presents and they say, oh, that's all you got me?
ROWLANDS: But they think Santa can do anything. How do you handle that?
DEBROFF: Well, I think that this year Santa is going to be on a bit of a budget.
ROWLANDS: Debroff says kids get it and if you bring them into the discussion, they'll help come up with something you can afford that will also hopefully make them as happy as the YouTube kid on Christmas morning.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: What happened to those days when no matter what you got, you were so excited? These days, good luck telling folks, especially kids, hey, Santa's on a budget this year. I don't know how well that's going to fly.
LUI: That was like nine fist pumps. Did you see that?
NGUYEN: Yes.
LUI: Good stuff. An earthquake in the California desert last night felt all the way to Arizona. The latest, plus a check of the weather.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: Parts of southern California, they're on shaky ground after a moderate earthquake struck last night. Officials say the quake hit near the Mojave Desert near San Bernardino County. That's about 120 miles from Los Angeles. No damage or injuries are reported as of yet. This is the second earthquake with a magnitude over five to hit southern California just this year.
NGUYEN: Well, Reynolds Wolf joins us now with more on the California quake and a look at some of the cold weather that folks are feeling today. Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: You got to hear this, speaking of chilly times. You have got to stick around for this story, Reynolds, frozen Fido, a portly pooch warming up this morning after a tough night actually stuck to the sidewalk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Yes. It's the water cooler and here's what we're talking about, drag queen robbers. Paris police are searching for four men accused of holding up this Harry Winston boutique and two of them dressed like women.
LUI: Oh, no, all right. The elaborate heist went down on Thursday and police say the men acted like customers. And once they got through the double security doors, they drew their weapons. The suspects made off with $108 million in rings, necklaces and luxury watches. But maybe they looked good.
NGUYEN: I was going to say, they must have been convincing to get past security.
This is a little too real. A Florida man taking part in a civil war re-enactment ended up with police guns in his face.
LUI: Seems here he went into a fast food joint and forgot he still had his replica pistol with him.
NGUYEN: Look at his outfit, right?
LUI: It kind of fits with the gig, doesn't it? Police evidently say they did the right thing and the man agreed. There's a gun. He's a marshal himself by the way and now he will remember.
NGUYEN: He should have known better.
LUI: He's going to remember that next time around.
NGUYEN: This is our favorite story. Just because it's a talker. It's kind of sad -- oh, it's kind of sad considering this. That's Jesse the dog. He may be moving a little slower, to a lighter tune today because he is really been through it. Oh. Yes, he spent the night stuck to the sidewalk.
LUI: Ouch.
NGUYEN: The border collie was actually frozen to the ground with temperatures in the single digits.
LUI: Don't show that hair again on the ground, please.
NGUYEN: Oh!
LUI: Now, shelter workers ...
NGUYEN: Ouch, ouch.
LUI: Oh, there it is. There's the Kelly Clarkson moment right there. That is tough. Shelter workers say his fat kept him from freezing to death, good thing.
NGUYEN: That is a good thing.
LUI: Yes, that's right, Betty. They used warm water to get him unstuck the next morning. Jeffy's owner was arrested for animal neglect, poor guy.
NGUYEN: Well, here's the problem. He took him outside and because he's so large, he just sat down instead of roaming around and doing his business ...
LUI: Right.
NGUYEN: And when he sat down, that's when he got stuck to the sidewalk and you know, the rest is history now.
LUI: Double dog dare you.
NGUYEN: Yikes, that's just painful, poor thing.
LUI: Yes. He's better now, so that's good.
NGUYEN: Yes, he's all right. Well, hundreds of thousands people, they actually lost their jobs in November. That is just -- in November, that one month alone. But, help is on the way because Gerri Willis has tips for finding a new job. That's coming up at 9:00 a.m.
LUI: Yes, but first, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, that starts right now for you.
