NBC Nightly News - 2009-03-23 - 1 of 2

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] On our broadcast tonight, toxic cleanup.

[0:04] The Obama administration rolls out its

[0:07] big bank rescue plan. The stock market

[0:10] cheers, but will it work? The terrible

[0:12] toll. A family ski vacation turns tragic

[0:15] as a plane goes down. Many children

[0:18] among the dead paying up. A lot of

[0:20] Americans hooked on plastic are getting

[0:22] a rude awakening. As their cards are

[0:24] yanked, their credit dries up. But can

[0:26] the companies do that? and Life and

[0:29] Limb, a special place that's making a

[0:31] difference in the lives of those who

[0:33] have given a lot for their country.

[0:34] Nightly News begins now.

[0:40] From NBC News World Headquarters in New

[0:43] York, this is NBC Nightly News with

[0:46] Brian Williams.

[0:47] >> Good evening. You can almost hear Wall

[0:49] Street letting off some steam today. The

[0:52] analysts have been saying for a while

[0:54] now, all they need is a little good news

[0:56] for stocks to start up. and they did

[0:58] today. And here's what passes for good

[1:00] news. The federal government is hoping

[1:02] investors buy up packages of bad loans,

[1:05] hoping to profit from it. The Feds will

[1:07] back up the investment with a ton of

[1:09] cash. And that was all it took to send

[1:12] stocks up almost 500 points on the Dow

[1:14] today. Strong gains on the NASDAQ, S&P

[1:18] as well. An upday really based on a huge

[1:21] and expensive plan to help fix these

[1:23] terrible times. It's also where we begin

[1:26] here tonight with our own Savannah

[1:27] Guthrie at the White House. Savannah,

[1:29] good evening.

[1:30] >> Good evening, Brian. As you said, Wall

[1:32] Street had been waiting for this day.

[1:33] The White House unveiling its plan to

[1:35] help banks get rid of those toxic

[1:37] assets, which many people believe will

[1:39] be the key to finally stabilizing the

[1:42] financial system.

[1:43] >> Businesses being able to get credit

[1:44] again.

[1:45] >> Aware of great expectations, the

[1:47] president simultaneously trumpeted the

[1:49] Treasury's new plan and downplayed it.

[1:52] The good news is that we have one more

[1:55] critical element in uh our recovery, but

[2:00] we've still got a long way to go and

[2:02] we've got a lot of work to do.

[2:03] >> The plan aims to fix one of the most

[2:05] stubborn problems of the financial

[2:07] crisis. Banks and investors stuck with

[2:09] trillions of dollars in bad real estate

[2:12] loans whose value plummeted when housing

[2:14] prices tanked. To help cleanse the

[2:16] bank's books and free up lending, the

[2:19] Treasury will spend up to a hundred

[2:20] billion dollars to partner with private

[2:23] investors to buy the bad assets from the

[2:25] banks. For example, in a transaction to

[2:28] buy $100 in bad loans, private investors

[2:30] would put up $7. The government would

[2:33] match it and the remaining would be

[2:34] covered by a governmentbacked loan. The

[2:37] private market helps ensure a more

[2:39] accurate price, but some worry about the

[2:41] government's risk. The government's

[2:43] taking the risk of the really deep

[2:44] losses. So, the taxpayers being very

[2:47] exposed.

[2:48] >> But Wall Street's verdict was immediate

[2:50] and unequivocal, up nearly 500 points, a

[2:54] needed boost of confidence for embattled

[2:56] Treasury Secretary Tim Gener, who's

[2:58] faced intense criticism and calls for

[3:00] his resignation over the AIG bonus

[3:02] scandal. Gener took questions at a forum

[3:05] in Washington tonight. their chance.

[3:07] >> We are and this president is moving

[3:10] uh with as much speed and force as he

[3:12] can across comprehensively a broad

[3:14] economic agenda which we think is

[3:16] necessary for recovery.

[3:18] >> Here in Washington, there was some

[3:20] Republican criticism, but it was muted.

[3:22] Republicans apparently holding their

[3:24] fire, Brian, as they saw the Dow sore.

[3:27] >> All right, Savannah Guthrie at the White

[3:28] House for us tonight. Savannah, thanks.

[3:30] And for more on Wall Street's reaction

[3:32] to what happened today, we turn to

[3:34] CNBC's senior economics reporter Steve

[3:37] Leeman. Steve, did we get this about

[3:38] right that what made the difference was

[3:41] knowing, as we like to say, the full

[3:43] faith and credit of the federal

[3:44] government was behind this move.

[3:46] >> Yeah, I think that's pretty critical

[3:48] right here. Wall Street's been waiting

[3:49] for this plan for a long time. You

[3:50] remember uh Treasury Secretary Tim Gner

[3:52] came out with it, announced it uh over a

[3:54] month ago, but didn't really give us

[3:56] details. So, we're waiting for those

[3:57] details. Uh this is the equivalent,

[3:59] Brian, of Wall Street getting up on its

[4:01] chair at the concert and applauding and

[4:03] flicking its lighter essentially. The

[4:05] bank, one of the banking index indices

[4:07] had its best day since 1993. But it also

[4:10] spilled over to places like the NASDAQ,

[4:11] the tech tech heavy NASDAQ along with

[4:14] even some retailers seem to benefit

[4:16] here. So they were waiting for this

[4:17] plan. They like the plan and they're

[4:18] glad it's behind them.

[4:19] >> And Steve, what is the status of the

[4:22] criticism of the bank bailout program?

[4:24] Well, the idea is that it just really

[4:26] asks taxpayers to take on too much risk.

[4:28] Now, we asked that of the Treasury and

[4:30] the FDI today. And what they told us is

[4:32] a the alternative is even worse. It's

[4:34] the government owning these assets

[4:36] outright, but also the idea that

[4:39] ultimately the taxpayer could benefit on

[4:42] the upside when it comes to these assets

[4:44] profiting.

[4:45] >> All right, Steve Leeman at CNBC Global

[4:47] Headquarters tonight. Thanks. New York

[4:49] State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo

[4:52] reports tonight that of all those

[4:53] bonuses handed out to AIG senior

[4:56] executives, nine of the top 10

[4:59] executives have given the money back. So

[5:02] far, $30 million has been returned by

[5:04] the top 20 employees. About half of

[5:07] those who got bonuses are American

[5:09] employees of AIG. The publicity

[5:12] surrounding the bailout and bonuses at

[5:14] the insurance conglomerate has been so

[5:17] bad the company took its name off its

[5:19] Manhattan headquarters building this

[5:21] weekend. They were already forced to add

[5:24] security at the building and at the

[5:25] homes of several senior executives. The

[5:28] news out of Montana last night was sad,

[5:31] even before we learned