PBS NewsHour - 2008-09-29
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:11] Good evening. I'm Jim Lara. On the
[0:13] NewsHour Tonight, the news of this
[0:15] Monday. Then the latest on why and what
[0:18] next for the financial rescue plan that
[0:20] was defeated in the House today. The
[0:23] first of three presidential campaign
[0:25] reports from the battleground named
[0:28] Florida. the details of appointing a
[0:30] special prosecutor to investigate the
[0:32] firings of nine US attorneys as reported
[0:35] by Irish Shapiro of National Public
[0:38] Radio. And in tribute to the art and
[0:41] legacy of the late Paul Newman, a scene
[0:44] from the movie Cool Hand Luke.
[0:48] Major funding for the NewsHour with Jim
[0:50] Ler is provided by
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[2:02] from viewers like you. Thank you.
[2:08] The massive financial rescue plan hit a
[2:10] major roadblock in Congress today and
[2:13] that sent Wall Street into a freef fall.
[2:15] The $700 billion bill was defeated in a
[2:18] vote of the US House of Representatives.
[2:21] Republican leader John Boehner accused
[2:23] House Speaker Pelosi of injecting
[2:25] partisan politics into the process at
[2:28] the last minute. Pelosi denied that and
[2:31] she said the jam-up could only be
[2:33] resolved with a bipartisan effort. At
[2:35] the White House, President Bush
[2:37] expressed disappointment.
[2:39] We put forth a plan that was uh big
[2:42] because we got a big problem. I'm going
[2:45] to be talking to my economic adviserss
[2:47] after my meeting here with the president
[2:50] and uh we'll be working with members of
[2:52] Congress, leaders of Congress on the way
[2:54] forward. Our strategy is to continue to
[2:58] address this u situ economic situation
[3:01] head on and we'll be working to develop
[3:03] a strategy that that will enable us to
[3:06] continue to move forward. Treasury
[3:08] Secretary Pollson met with the president
[3:11] after the House vote. He pledged to work
[3:13] with federal regulators to protect the
[3:15] financial markets, but stocks on Wall
[3:18] Street plunged even before the House
[3:20] action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
[3:23] suffered its largest point drop ever in
[3:25] a single day. It closed down more than
[3:28] 777 points at 10,365
[3:32] and the Nasdaq fell nearly 200 points to
[3:35] close at 1983.
[3:38] We'll have more on the financial rescue
[3:39] story right after this news summary.
[3:42] Earlier in the day, market jitters
[3:44] cascaded through Asia and Europe. On
[3:47] news, several European banks needed
[3:49] government bailouts. Belgium,
[3:51] Luxembourg, and the Netherlands
[3:53] announced plans to bail out the banking
[3:55] and insurance giant Fortis. And in
[3:57] Britain, the government nationalized the
[4:00] mortgage lender Bradford and Bingley. We
[4:02] have a report from Fisel Islam of
[4:05] Independent Television News. Bradford
[4:08] and Bingley's headquarters in West
[4:09] Yorkshire is today government's
[4:12] property. 3,000 staff feeling uncertain
[4:15] about the future.
[4:16] >> The majority of people affected here
[4:18] aren't uh big-time bankers. You know,
[4:20] many many people working here are on
[4:23] less than a national average wage. On
[4:26] Saturday, after a collapse in its share
[4:28] price, the first signs of deposits being
[4:30] withdrawn, a crucial downgrade of its
[4:32] credit rating, and dwindling buyer
[4:34] interest, the bank regulator struck
[4:36] preemptively. BNB no longer passed its
[4:39] key tests for fitness as a deposit taker
[4:42] despite being relatively well
[4:43] capitalized. Nearly 200 branches and 20
[4:46] billion pounds in savings deposits will
[4:49] be sold to the Spanish giant Santandere
[4:51] for 612 million. Bank shares tumbled in
[4:55] Britain today as it emerged that they
[4:57] would pick up a total bill for interest
[4:59] alone of half a billion pounds annually.
[5:01] But this was also driven by one of the
[5:03] blackest ever days in history for banks
[5:06] across the world.
[5:08] Across Europe, large financial
[5:10] institutions struggled with their
[5:12] funding in torid credit conditions. Fis
[5:15] has been saved by the Belgian, Dutch,
[5:17] and Luxembourg governments, injecting 9
[5:19] billion pounds into the group. The
[5:21] German lender Hypo Real Estate will
[5:23] receive 27 billion pounds in state
[5:26] support. The Franco Belgian financial
[5:28] group Dexia saw its share price drop by
[5:31] a third until both governments said they
[5:33] were ready to stand behind it and
[5:35] Iceland's number three bank Glitier was
[5:38] effectively nationalized as the
[5:40] government today took a 75% stake in the
[5:42] group. Back in the US, Cityroup agreed
[5:46] today to buy out Wacovia's banking
[5:48] operations. Federal regulators brokered
[5:51] the deal which will cost $2.1 billion.
[5:55] While Kovia's problems were triggered by
[5:57] the troubled mortgage market, in the
[6:00] presidential campaign today, both
[6:02] candidates urged Congress to keep
[6:04] working on the financial rescue plan. In
[6:06] West De Mo, Iowa, Republican John McCain
[6:09] said the legislation wasn't perfect, but
[6:11] the crisis needed action.
[6:15] Now is not the time to fix the blame.
[6:18] It's time to fix the problem.
[6:22] I would hope that all our leaders, all
[6:24] of them, can put aside short-term
[6:26] political goals and do what's in the
[6:28] best interest of the American people. In
[6:31] Westminster, Colorado, Democrat Barack
[6:34] Obama said he was still hopeful Congress
[6:36] would eventually approve the bailout,
[6:38] but in the meantime, he urged patience.
[6:41] >> There going to be some bumps and trials
[6:45] and tribulations and ups and downs
[6:46] before we get this reg uh this rescue
[6:48] package done. Uh it's important for the
[6:51] American public and for the markets to
[6:54] stay calm because uh things are never
[6:58] smooth in Congress and to understand
[7:00] that it will get done.
[7:02] >> Both candidates plan to return to
[7:04] Washington whenever the Senate votes on
[7:06] the rescue legislation. A special
[7:08] prosecutor will investigate the firings
[7:11] of nine US attorneys. Attorney General
[7:13] Mukesi made that announcement today. It
[7:16] followed a Justice Department Inspector
[7:18] General's finding that the 2006 firings
[7:22] process was fundamentally flawed. The
[7:24] primary blame was laid on former
[7:26] Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, but
[7:29] no unlawful conduct was alleged. We'll
[7:32] have more on this story later in the
[7:34] program. Two more Americans have died in
[7:36] Iraq and Afghanistan. A US soldier was
[7:39] gunned down while on patrol in Baghdad
[7:42] today. Yesterday, an Afghan police
[7:45] officer opened fire on US troops in
[7:48] Afghanistan, killing one. The separate
[7:50] US death tolls in September were the
[7:53] same. 23 in Iraq and in Afghanistan. And
[7:58] that's it for the news summary tonight.
[7:59] Now, down goes the rescue plan for now.
[8:02] Florida and the economy, politics in the
[8:05] firings of US attorneys, and farewell,
[8:08] Paul Newman.
[8:17] That surprising defeat of the financial
[8:19] rescue plan. NewsHour congressional
[8:21] correspondentWami Homeman begins our
[8:23] coverage.
[8:25] >> Members,
[8:26] >> the unexpected rejection came after the
[8:28] morning's cautious optimism that the
[8:30] bill would pass. As the no votes
[8:33] mounted, Wall Street underwent a drastic
[8:36] sell-off. And when the vote was declared
[8:38] final, leaders from both parties blamed
[8:41] each other, a sharp contrast to the
[8:43] bipartisan praise for the rescue plan
[8:45] when it was finalized over the weekend.
[8:48] House Republican leader John Boehner
[8:50] said a prevote speech by the Democrats
[8:52] leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, drove away
[8:55] Republicans.
[8:56] >> I do believe that uh we could have
[8:58] gotten there today had it not been uh
[9:01] for this partisan speech that the
[9:03] speaker gave on the floor of the House.
[9:05] I mean, we were we were we've put
[9:07] everything we had into getting the votes
[9:10] uh to get there today. Uh but uh the
[9:14] speaker had to give a partisan voice
[9:15] that that poisoned uh our conference,
[9:19] caused a number of members that we
[9:20] thought we could get to go south.
[9:22] >> Pelosi's speech had reiterated her
[9:25] previous support for the bailout bill,
[9:27] but also criticized President Bush's
[9:29] legacy on fiscal matters.
[9:31] $700
[9:33] billion. A staggering number, but only a
[9:38] part of the cost of the failed Bush
[9:42] economic policies to our country.
[9:45] Policies that were built on budget
[9:47] recklessness.
[9:49] When President Bush took office,
[9:52] he inherited President Clinton's
[9:53] surpluses. Four years in a row, budget
[9:57] surpluses on a trajectory of 5.6 6
[10:01] trillion in surplus.
[10:04] And with his reckless economic policies,
[10:06] within two years, he had turned that
[10:09] around. And now, eight years later, the
[10:12] foundation of that fiscal
[10:14] irresponsibility
[10:16] combined with an anything goes economic
[10:19] policy has taken us to where we are
[10:22] today.
[10:23] >> Deputy Whip Eric Caner was responsible
[10:25] for rounding up Republican votes. Right
[10:28] here is the reason I believe why this
[10:30] vote failed. And this is Speaker
[10:32] Pelosi's speech uh that frankly struck
[10:35] the tone of partisanship that frankly
[10:37] was inappropriate in this discussion. Uh
[10:40] there is there is and there were several
[10:43] meetings day in and day out of members
[10:46] on both side of the aisle trying to get
[10:48] up to speed on this issue um of the
[10:50] economy and of the capital markets and
[10:52] frankly a lot of agreement. In mid-after
[10:54] afternoon, the Democratic leadership
[10:56] told their side of the story. Speaker
[10:58] Pelosi,
[10:58] >> today when the legislation came to the
[11:00] floor, uh the Democratic side more than
[11:02] lived up to its side of the bargain.
[11:05] While the legislation may have failed,
[11:07] the crisis is still with us.
[11:09] >> 95 Democrats voted against the bill
[11:12] while 133 Republicans voted no. The bill
[11:16] fell 13 votes short of passage. we would
[11:19] have half the votes and they would have
[11:21] half the votes because we believe that
[11:23] this had to be bipartisan.
[11:25] >> Chief Democratic negotiator and House
[11:27] Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank
[11:29] said Pelosy's speech should not have
[11:31] affected Republicans commitment to the
[11:33] rescue.
[11:34] >> But think about this. Somebody hurt my
[11:36] feelings, so I will punish the country.
[11:39] I mean, that's hardly plausible. And
[11:41] there were 12 Republican members who
[11:43] were ready to stand up for the economic
[11:45] interests of America, but not of anybody
[11:48] in something. I'll make a I'll make an
[11:49] offer. Give me those 12 people's names
[11:52] and I will go talk uncharacteristically
[11:55] nicely to them.
[11:57] >> Majority leader Stenny Hoyer.
[11:59] >> No Democrat uh that we could get to vote
[12:03] for the bill didn't vote for the bill.
[12:05] It was controversial on our side. Uh
[12:07] this was not our administration's
[12:09] request. It was the Republican
[12:10] administration's request, but we tried
[12:13] to do everything in our power to to meet
[12:15] the administration request. Uh,
[12:18] President Bush was on the television in
[12:21] the Rose Garden at 7:35 this morning.
[12:25] >> That presidential statement came 2 hours
[12:27] before financial markets opened today as
[12:30] the House was preparing to debate. Now
[12:32] that this legislation has been agreed to
[12:33] by leaders of both parties, it must be
[12:36] passed by houses of both houses of
[12:39] Congress. I fully understand that this
[12:41] will be a difficult vote.
[12:43] >> A week and a half of intense negotiation
[12:45] produced the version of the rescue that
[12:47] came to the floor,
[12:49] >> but the bill's supporters acknowledged
[12:51] it was distasteful to many members and
[12:53] their constituents.
[12:54] >> Speaker, rarely have the members had so
[12:57] many reasons for wishing we weren't
[12:59] here. Financial Services Chairman Frank
[13:01] insisted the measure must pass.
[13:03] >> This is a tough vote. This is a vote
[13:06] where many of us feel that the national
[13:08] interest requires us to do something
[13:11] which is in many ways unpopular because
[13:16] what we are talking about to many of us
[13:19] is the need to act to avoid something
[13:22] worse. Even though a vote approving
[13:25] rules for debating the bailout was
[13:27] close, few thought it signaled the
[13:29] demise of the financial rescue, even as
[13:31] liberal Democrats and conservative
[13:33] Republicans lined up to criticize it.
[13:36] >> Finally,
[13:38] with only three months left of this
[13:41] current administration,
[13:42] why are we willing to even make
[13:45] available $700 billion to this
[13:49] administration? President Bush and
[13:51] Secretary Pollson have been wrong from
[13:54] the start on just about everything. If
[13:57] you think they'll be responsible with
[13:59] this money, think again.
[14:01] >> Michigan's Thaddius Mutter has led a
[14:04] chorus of Republicans who disdained the
[14:06] bill as a government giveaway.
[14:08] >> And it was no mistake that during the
[14:11] 1917 Bolevik Revolution, the slogan was
[14:13] peace, land, and bread. Today, you are
[14:16] being asked to choose between bread and
[14:17] freedom. This is not
[14:19] >> Texan Jeb Henserling heads the
[14:21] Republican Conservative Caucus.
[14:23] Republican Paul Brun of Georgia left
[14:25] little doubt about his feelings toward
[14:27] the bill.
[14:28] >> This is a huge cow patty with a piece of
[14:32] marshmallow stuck in the middle of it.
[14:34] And I'm not going to eat that cow patty.
[14:36] >> This afternoon, House leaders announced
[14:38] the chamber will reconvene on Thursday
[14:40] to try again on a financial bailout
[14:42] bill. and to Margaret Warner.
[14:47] >> After the markets closed after one of
[14:48] the worst days in Wall Street history,
[14:50] the architect of the bailout plan,
[14:52] Treasury Secretary Henry Pollson, spoke
[14:54] to reporters outside the White House. He
[14:57] vowed to try again.
[14:59] I will continue to work with
[15:00] congressional leaders to find a way
[15:03] forward to pass a comprehensive plan to
[15:06] stabilize our financial system and
[15:08] protect the American people by limiting
[15:10] the prospects of further deterioration
[15:13] in our economy. We've got much work to
[15:16] do and this is much too important to
[15:19] simply let fail. For a closer look at
[15:22] what happened on the Hill today, the
[15:24] reaction on Wall Street and what's next,
[15:26] we turn to four reporters who are
[15:28] covering different parts of this story.
[15:30] Gene Cummings covers Washington
[15:32] political and financial matters for
[15:33] politico.com.
[15:35] John Shaw covers Congress for Market
[15:37] News International, a global wire
[15:39] service that reports on financial
[15:41] markets. Krishna Guha is chief US
[15:44] economics correspondent for the
[15:45] Financial Times. and Jon Oera we hope to
[15:48] be joined by is a business columnist for
[15:50] the New York Times. He's also the editor
[15:52] of the papers executive suite blog.
[15:55] Welcome to all of you. John, let's begin
[15:57] with you because you were in the chamber
[15:58] watching this unfold. What was it like?
[16:00] >> It was a remarkable moment. I think
[16:02] going into the vote there was a general
[16:03] view that the the package would pass
[16:05] narrowly, but neither party was trusting
[16:08] the other. In fact, all eyes were up on
[16:10] the board. So, there was a very careful
[16:11] calculation going on as to how many
[16:13] Democrats and how many Republicans were
[16:15] were going to vote for it. And as the
[16:17] setup piece noted, there was the the
[16:19] view by the Democratic leadership that
[16:20] they were willing to do some of the
[16:22] heavy lifting, but not all of it. And
[16:23] they were looking for about half the
[16:24] votes from the Republicans. And so that
[16:27] was a very intense uh focus for the
[16:29] speaker.
[16:30] >> But what could you see looking down as
[16:32] the as the vote started to go down?
[16:34] >> Well, it was very interesting because
[16:35] it's hard to know really how each party
[16:37] does their whipping operations, getting
[16:38] votes, but the Democratic side was much
[16:40] more active. The speaker was right in
[16:42] the middle of it. There were swarms of
[16:44] people around her. They were feeding her
[16:45] notes. She was carefully monitoring the
[16:48] vote. She was sending emissaries over to
[16:50] the Republican side. On the Republican
[16:52] side, and again, they may do it
[16:53] differently, but uh the majority leader,
[16:55] John Boehner, was pretty much alone. It
[16:57] didn't seem like many people wanted to
[16:58] talk to him. Roy Blunt, the whip, was
[17:01] pretty much standing off by himself. The
[17:03] uh his his deputy, Mr. Caner, was also
[17:06] pretty quiet. So So visually, it looked
[17:08] like the the Democrats were working
[17:10] harder. And at one point, Pelosi looked
[17:12] over and saw that not a lot of movement
[17:14] was going on in that side. and she just
[17:15] said in a very loud voice, "We're
[17:17] finished." Which signaled that she was
[17:18] done trying to get more Democrats to
[17:20] vote for the package.
[17:21] >> And Jean, in fact, we only had
[17:25] 60% of the Democrats vote for it, 40%
[17:27] against, and only a third of the
[17:29] Republicans. That's a pretty wide
[17:30] repudiation. What do you think happened?
[17:33] What was behind this?
[17:34] >> Well, I think we had a combination of
[17:36] things going on. We had ideology was a
[17:39] problem. This was totally against where
[17:42] some of the free market Republicans
[17:44] would ever want to be. We had politics
[17:46] at play here. Many of these no votes
[17:49] came from members who are in tight races
[17:52] and they are really going to need the
[17:53] base to come out. And I was hearing that
[17:56] their calls were like 99% to one. You
[17:59] know, it was the local community bankers
[18:01] who were saying please do this cuz we're
[18:04] next. But otherwise, it was very
[18:06] negative public response to this. And
[18:08] then of course we had some partisan
[18:10] petulence. I mean it was sort of
[18:12] Washington at its worst. It was a really
[18:14] toxic mix.
[18:15] >> Now the question that that people keep
[18:17] asking is how could they have brought it
[18:19] to the floor without knowing they had
[18:21] the votes? What was the situation there?
[18:23] Did the Democratic leadership think it
[18:25] had the votes?
[18:26] >> Well, frankly, if you listen to the
[18:27] comments from these leaders afterwards,
[18:30] they would have had a reason to think
[18:31] they had the votes because John Boehner
[18:34] said he had the 12. He said he had the
[18:37] 12 and they went south on him and they
[18:39] only needed 12 more to pass it.
[18:41] >> Does your reporting suggest that's the
[18:42] case?
[18:43] >> Well, I'm not sure if he really had the
[18:45] 12, but I and Nancy Pelosi was asked
[18:48] about this and she said clearly if she
[18:50] had been told that was the number of
[18:51] Republicans who were going to vote for
[18:52] this, she would not have brought the
[18:53] bill to the floor.
[18:54] >> The one sort of small irony is just
[18:55] moments before the House vote, there was
[18:57] actually a little bit of a squabble on
[18:59] the Senate floor in which the majority
[19:01] leader Harry Reid said, "The House will
[19:02] pass this momentarily. We'll vote on it
[19:04] Wednesday." And Mitch McConnell, the
[19:06] Republican leader, said, "Let's vote on
[19:07] it tonight." And there was a back and
[19:09] forth in which McConnell was saying,
[19:10] "Let's not wait till Wednesday. Let's do
[19:12] it tonight." Then Pete Dominiche, a
[19:13] veteran, stepped in and said, "If this
[19:15] thing is out here too long, it might
[19:16] pass." You know, he was he was also
[19:18] urging an immediate vote. So the Senate
[19:20] leadership was very certain that they
[19:21] were going to be getting the bill this
[19:23] afternoon.
[19:24] >> Now, Krishna Guha, the uh US stock
[19:27] markets, the Dow was down 775 points or
[19:30] more.
[19:32] Does that is that an accurate reflection
[19:34] of how investors were feeling as they
[19:36] watched this unfold?
[19:38] >> I think it is. I mean, the investors
[19:41] around the world, not just here in the
[19:43] US, are frankly terrified at the thought
[19:46] that this bill or something like it
[19:48] might not get passed. The stock market,
[19:51] of course, isn't the core of this
[19:52] problem. The core is in the credit
[19:54] markets and the money markets that have
[19:56] completely seized up in recent days,
[19:58] putting enormous stress on banks and
[20:00] other financial institutions, but
[20:02] investors in the stock market know that
[20:04] if the financial system gets into even
[20:07] more severe trouble, the whole economy
[20:09] will follow it.
[20:10] >> Jonah Sarah, I I gather you've joined
[20:12] us.
[20:13] >> I I certainly have.
[20:15] >> Great. I'm glad to glad to see you. Uh
[20:17] what was the mood on Wall Street today
[20:20] as as you uh divined it? Well, I mean,
[20:23] it was shock. Um, people were stunned
[20:26] that it didn't pass. There had been an
[20:27] expectation that the fight was late last
[20:31] week and over the weekend as the House
[20:33] Republicans, you know, put their foot
[20:35] down and said, "We we we won't allow
[20:37] this to go forward in the way that it is
[20:40] currently conceived." So, they spend the
[20:41] weekend working on it. And there was a
[20:43] total expectation on Wall Street that
[20:45] maybe this isn't going to solve the
[20:46] problems, but we got to get this thing
[20:48] done. So when it did when it went down
[20:53] um just jaws were jaws were on the floor
[20:57] and that that's reflected in how much
[21:00] the market dropped just in the last 15
[21:02] or 20 minutes of trading when it went
[21:04] from about down 500 to about down 750.
[21:08] >> And Krishna, back to you. The thing is
[21:10] that the markets were down even before
[21:12] the vote and certainly the Asian and
[21:14] European markets had pretty much already
[21:16] closed and they were down. So, does that
[21:19] suggest there's also a deeper lack of
[21:21] confidence even in this proposed
[21:23] solution?
[21:24] >> Well, I think there, let's put it this
[21:26] way, there are deep deep concerns about
[21:28] the state of the financial system
[21:30] globally. And you saw five banks uh
[21:33] either nationalized or rescued in a
[21:36] government sponsored takeover today on
[21:39] both sides of the Atlantic. Four in
[21:41] Europe, one here in the US with the
[21:42] Wakovia City deal. The global financial
[21:45] system is under enormous stress. So that
[21:48] was panicking investors even before the
[21:50] news of the vote came through. But as
[21:53] you watch the boats the tally start to
[21:55] mount, you could watch the stock market
[21:57] tickers turned south. So there's no
[21:59] question that investors reacted very
[22:01] negatively to what happened in Congress
[22:03] today.
[22:04] >> So John Shaw, back to you. What is it
[22:07] going to take to fix it? What I mean
[22:08] Pollson was over at the White House
[22:10] today. He was meeting with the
[22:11] president. You heard the Democratic
[22:13] leadership say, "Well, we're happy to
[22:15] work with the White House and the
[22:17] Republicans, but it's kind of up to the
[22:20] White House to take the lead here, and
[22:21] we hope they'll come up with something
[22:22] the Republicans like." So, who moves
[22:25] next and in what direction?
[22:27] >> It's hard to imagine how this passes
[22:28] without a lot more Republican votes. I
[22:30] think that's sort of the bottom line.
[22:31] And it's interesting because this is not
[22:33] really a dispute over even legislative
[22:35] language where sometimes you pull out a
[22:36] provision and you get 10 or 20 votes.
[22:38] This is a fundamental difference on a
[22:40] concept of whether the federal
[22:41] government should be coming in this
[22:43] heavy and as Jean said it's very heavily
[22:45] laden with politics. So I I think
[22:47] there's going to be at least some slight
[22:48] change to the bill. So people will those
[22:51] who will end end up voting for it will
[22:53] have you know be able to say that it had
[22:55] changed a little bit but clearly they
[22:56] cannot do much to it. It's a very
[22:58] fragile compromise and they really can't
[23:00] make a lot of big adjustments to it.
[23:02] >> Do you agree Jeene that you don't think
[23:03] this is going to trigger a basic
[23:05] rethinking of the whole premise of the
[23:07] bill? Oh, no. I don't I agree that if
[23:09] there if there's a fix, it's small. I
[23:12] mean, if Nancy Pelosi can apologize to
[23:14] 12 pe people, maybe she'll do that and
[23:16] try to grab the votes. But I also we
[23:18] should note the wall the White House
[23:20] isn't alone here. The business
[23:22] community, the financial industry, they
[23:24] want this thing done and they're going
[23:26] to apply pressure on Congress until it
[23:28] gets done. And this evening, the Chamber
[23:31] of Commerce had activated all of its
[23:33] members. The business roundt was
[23:34] activating all of its members. and they
[23:37] have the greatest influence on the very
[23:40] Republicans who have held out. And so we
[23:42] will see a a stepped up effort by those
[23:46] communities to try to change this
[23:48] because there could be other banks that
[23:50] go down tomorrow based on this. I mean,
[23:52] this did not ease the credit crunch that
[23:54] we've been talking about and how many of
[23:57] those can happen. How many can Congress
[23:59] tolerate?
[24:00] >> Briefly, John, is it the case that the
[24:01] House isn't coming back till Thursday
[24:03] now?
[24:03] >> Right.
[24:04] >> So Jonah Sarah, what happens? I mean,
[24:06] the markets aren't closed for the next
[24:07] two days. What do you think's going to
[24:08] happen in the meantime?
[24:10] >> Well, nothing good.
[24:12] I mean, it's shocking. I mean, let's
[24:15] just be clear here. It is shocking even
[24:17] with an election this close that
[24:20] Congress is not willing to exercise some
[24:23] leadership and it gets broken down into
[24:25] partisan baloney. Um, I'm sorry to say
[24:29] it like that. So, you know, you people
[24:32] are going to wa wake up tomorrow and go
[24:34] to work in the markets and and worry
[24:37] that there'll be another bank failure
[24:38] that there'll be another drop in the
[24:40] stock market that the credit markets
[24:42] will continue to crater. I mean, the
[24:44] system just can't take that much more
[24:47] and that's where we are. and Krishna
[24:51] though if you if you listen to the
[24:54] members and they talk about at least the
[24:56] calls and emails they're getting and
[24:58] maybe it's just because the opponents
[24:59] are more exercised than those who
[25:01] reluctantly support it but uh it doesn't
[25:04] look like tinkering around the edges of
[25:06] this bill is going to change how the how
[25:08] the public feels about it. Uh as you
[25:12] said that it will take really more of a
[25:15] crunch on the credit markets where
[25:17] people feel it. How far away are we from
[25:19] that where everyday people really start
[25:22] feeling it?
[25:23] >> Well, we may not be that far away. I
[25:26] mean, in some of the some respects,
[25:28] we've already felt the credit crunch
[25:29] over the past year, but there's no
[25:31] question that what we're looking at now
[25:32] is a really severe intensification of
[25:35] this credit crunch if the financial
[25:37] system remains as dysfunctional as it is
[25:40] today. In terms of how this affects the
[25:42] political calculus, let's see. I mean,
[25:44] we've had a massive drop in the stock
[25:46] market today. And the general public
[25:48] seems to pay more attention to what's
[25:50] happening to stocks because they
[25:52] understand that better than what's
[25:53] happening in some of these complex
[25:55] credit markets. So, it's possible at
[25:57] least that the scare today could, if you
[26:00] like, bring out a silent majority that
[26:02] doesn't like having to do this one bit,
[26:05] but sees that perhaps it's better than
[26:07] the alternative of not doing anything at
[26:09] all. And Joe, is there no there's no
[26:12] real measure of the credit markets, is
[26:14] there? I mean that you can look at and
[26:15] say the Dow was up or down.
[26:17] >> Well, I mean they are, but there are
[26:19] measures, but they're complicated. So,
[26:22] one important measure is the widening of
[26:24] credit default spread swaps spreads. And
[26:28] that sounds ridiculously complex and it
[26:30] is, but the wider the spreads are that
[26:34] means between uh how much people are
[26:37] willing to pay for this kind of
[26:39] insurance, the more the market is saying
[26:43] that the firm that they're buying the
[26:44] swaps against is going to default. It's
[26:47] it's a signal of lack of confidence.
[26:50] >> But how does that affect mom and pop or
[26:52] the voters? Well, I mean it affects them
[26:55] because of, you know, how many banks are
[26:57] going to going to go out of business and
[26:59] then once the banks go out of business
[27:01] and they won't and other banks won't
[27:03] loan money to each other and then it
[27:06] becomes difficult to get a mortgage,
[27:09] credit card rates go up. I mean, it
[27:11] affects daily life and it already is
[27:14] starting to trickle down to companies
[27:16] and it affects employment because if
[27:18] they can't get loans to expand and grow
[27:21] and so on, they people lose their jobs.
[27:25] >> So, John Jim Moran, a congressman from
[27:27] Virginia said today on the floor was
[27:29] quoted as saying, you know, maybe the
[27:30] pain's going to just have to get really
[27:32] bad before these votes turn around. Do
[27:34] you think it will take that or do you
[27:35] think there's some fix that can be done
[27:37] here? I think there a possible um a
[27:40] possible way to get this moving is to
[27:42] make a slight change and then have the
[27:44] Senate take it up first. I think there's
[27:45] a much stronger vote there, much more
[27:47] bipartisanship. And actually, the Senate
[27:49] Republican leader Mitch McConnell at a
[27:51] late afternoon press conference clearly
[27:53] left the door open that the Senate might
[27:54] go first. A strong bipartisan vote might
[27:57] change the dynamic and kick it over to
[27:58] the House and get a little bit a little
[28:00] bit of momentum there.
[28:01] >> But if the issue, Gene, is reelection
[28:03] fears on the part of especially these
[28:05] House members, how do you get around
[28:06] that? Well, it it is a problem and
[28:08] you've got it in the Senate, too. And so
[28:11] I I talked um with uh some aids to
[28:14] Senator Reid this evening and I they may
[28:17] not go first for that very reason. I why
[28:20] would a senator risk taking this kind of
[28:22] vote on such an unpopular measure and
[28:25] then have the House just kill it again?
[28:27] So I wouldn't be surprised to see the
[28:29] Senate hold until the House finally does
[28:31] get the job done. and Krishna tonight uh
[28:34] Pollson Hank Pollson said he and the Fed
[28:38] would be working meanwhile continue to
[28:40] work on a case-by case basis as they
[28:41] have been to try to contain the damage
[28:43] but but he said our toolkit is
[28:46] substantial but insufficient.
[28:49] Is he absolutely right about that?
[28:51] >> Oh, you bet he is. I mean, look, so far
[28:54] the government has had to resort to a
[28:57] series of ad hoc firefighting measures
[29:00] to desperately try to contain crises at
[29:03] one financial institution after the
[29:05] other. It's going to have to do some
[29:07] more of that in all likelihood. But what
[29:09] Paulson's desperate to do is to pivot to
[29:12] a more systematic approach that gets at
[29:14] the underlying causes of this financial
[29:16] stress. He knows that if he can't, he's
[29:19] going to have to deal with more and more
[29:21] individual failures in the months ahead.
[29:23] >> All right, Krishna Guha, Jonas, Jean
[29:26] Cummings, and John Shaw. Thank you all.
[29:28] >> Thank you.
[29:28] >> Thank you.
[29:38] >> Next, today's developments on the firing
[29:40] of nine US attorneys. Ray Suarez has
[29:42] that story. And for more on that, we're
[29:45] joined by Ari Shapiro, who has been
[29:47] covering the story today for National
[29:49] Public Radio. Well, that big report
[29:52] landed on Washington's desk today.
[29:54] What's What is it?
[29:55] >> It's almost 400 pages looking back at
[29:58] this 18-month fiasco. It's basically a
[30:00] chronicle of one of the worst times in
[30:02] the Justice Department's history,
[30:04] examining in detail why each of these
[30:07] nine US attorneys was fired, who made
[30:09] the decisions, whether the
[30:10] justifications were in fact the
[30:12] justifications that people publicly gave
[30:15] to Congress and other investigators, and
[30:17] it just reads like an indictment of
[30:19] everybody who was in charge at the
[30:21] Justice Department during that period of
[30:22] time.
[30:23] >> There's a new attorney general at the
[30:24] Justice Department or a successor
[30:27] attorney general in charge. What was his
[30:29] reaction, Michael Muesy's reaction to
[30:31] what was in this report?
[30:32] >> The most significant thing he did today
[30:34] was to accept the number one
[30:35] recommendation of the report and that
[30:37] recommendation was to appoint a special
[30:39] prosecutor who would look into the
[30:41] allegations that the inspector general
[30:43] and the office of of professional
[30:44] responsibility who conducted this
[30:46] inquiry were unable to get to the bottom
[30:48] of the investigators in this report did
[30:51] not have cooperation from the White
[30:52] House. They did not have cooperation
[30:54] from some key members of Congress. And
[30:56] so at the end of this massive report,
[30:58] they say, you know, we've laid out
[30:59] everything we can here, but it's not
[31:01] everything there is to know. We can't
[31:03] reach a final conclusion on whether
[31:05] crimes were committed. So they
[31:06] recommended that a special prosecutor be
[31:08] appointed, and UKI chose a woman from
[31:10] Connecticut, Norah Denahi, and she's
[31:12] going to be looking into this going
[31:14] forward.
[31:14] >> Does a special prosecutor have the power
[31:18] to ask for things from the very people
[31:20] who wouldn't talk to the investigators
[31:22] who prepared this report? uh Carl Rove,
[31:24] Harriet Meyers, uh the former
[31:27] presidential counsel, uh and Attorney
[31:29] General Gonzalez uh himself.
[31:31] >> Prosecutors have the authority to ask
[31:33] for those things, but it's a very
[31:34] different context from the Inspector
[31:36] General's inquiry, which was always
[31:38] predicated on the notion that whatever
[31:40] they found out was going to be made
[31:41] public. When a prosecutor convenes a
[31:44] grand jury and calls witnesses in front
[31:45] of the grand jury and those witnesses
[31:47] testify, typically everything that
[31:49] happens there is secret. And unless
[31:51] anybody is indicted, the public may
[31:53] never know what happens before a grand
[31:54] jury. And so, as a prosecutor goes
[31:56] forward with this investigation, she may
[31:59] be able to compel Harriet Myers and Carl
[32:01] Rove and others to testify, but if it's
[32:03] grand jury testimony, we may never know
[32:05] what is said unless somebody gets
[32:07] indicted at the end of this. Of course,
[32:09] people still have their right to uh not
[32:11] testify against them, the the right
[32:13] against self-inccrimination, uh taking
[32:15] the fifth. uh and some of them may do
[32:17] that but um otherwise prosecutors can
[32:20] compel testimony from whomever.
[32:22] >> The firing of the federal prosecutors in
[32:24] question became the subject of um highly
[32:28] contentious hearings on Capitol Hill.
[32:31] But did one prosecutor more than any
[32:33] other in in these several firings uh
[32:36] sort of attract the attention of the
[32:38] people preparing the report?
[32:39] >> Yeah. The investigators come to the
[32:40] conclusion that the case of David
[32:42] Eglacius, who was the US attorney in New
[32:44] Mexico, was the most problematic of the
[32:46] nine that they looked into. And when I
[32:48] say problematic, what I mean is they
[32:50] concluded that it looks likely that they
[32:53] said there is substantial evidence to
[32:54] indicate that I glacius was fired for
[32:57] improper partisan political reasons. The
[33:00] way US attorney appointments work is you
[33:03] can fire them for a good reason, you can
[33:04] fire them for no reason, but you can't
[33:06] fire them for a bad reason. And the
[33:08] evidence suggests in this report that
[33:10] Eglacius was fired because he refused to
[33:13] indict Democrats before election day.
[33:15] Pete Demenei, who's the Republican
[33:17] senator from New Mexico, had complained
[33:19] to Eglacius about this. When Eglacius
[33:21] didn't indict those Democrats and didn't
[33:23] respond to Demeni's complaints, Demeni
[33:25] went to the White House, he went to
[33:26] Alberto Gonzalez, and then Eglacius was
[33:29] fired. So the question is, was Eglacius
[33:32] fired because he wouldn't prosecute
[33:33] Democrats before the election? If so,
[33:35] there's a potential obstruction of
[33:37] justice charge in there. But as I said,
[33:39] the investigators were unable to reach
[33:40] that conclusion. And so that's one thing
[33:42] the prosecutor will be looking forward
[33:43] looking into going forward.
[33:45] >> The investigators weren't able to talk
[33:46] to Pete Demenei either, were they?
[33:48] >> That's right. He refused to talk.
[33:49] Harriet Myers and Carl Rove, both of
[33:51] whom were involved in this process,
[33:53] refused to talk. And so, you know, the
[33:56] inspector general was really frustrated
[33:57] by this. In fact, they tell one story in
[33:59] this report about the White House
[34:01] creating a timeline of the US attorney
[34:03] firings. The White House shared that
[34:05] timeline with one of the offices in the
[34:07] Justice Department called the Office of
[34:09] Legal Counsel. And then when the
[34:10] investigators went and asked the Office
[34:12] of Legal Counsel for this timeline, the
[34:14] White House instructed the Office of
[34:16] Legal Counsel not to share the timeline
[34:18] with the investigators. So today in
[34:20] Congress, we had some Democratic
[34:22] senators saying, "Where was Attorney
[34:24] General Michael Muesy during all of
[34:25] this?" Uh the Democratic senator from
[34:27] Rhode Island, Sheldon White House said
[34:30] when Attorney General Muces heard that
[34:32] the White House was telling the Office
[34:33] of Legal Counsel not to cooperate with
[34:36] this, why didn't Mukesi go to the White
[34:38] House and say, "If you don't cooperate
[34:40] with this investigation, I'm no longer
[34:41] your attorney general." So, there was
[34:43] some criticism for the attorney general
[34:44] even as people applauded him for
[34:46] appointing this prosecutor.
[34:48] of all the personalities involved in
[34:51] this report, it looks like uh former
[34:53] attorney general Alberto Gonzalez
[34:55] himself came in for some very rough
[34:57] treatment.
[34:58] >> It is a blistering criticism of
[35:00] Gonzalez. I mean, as I said, everybody
[35:02] at the top of the Justice Department
[35:04] comes in for harsh criticism, but this
[35:06] report again and again says Gonzalez was
[35:09] not able to recall what happened, that
[35:11] he gave false and misleading statements
[35:13] to Congress, that he had poor judgment,
[35:15] that he was um just absent from this
[35:19] process. Um, and you know, his his
[35:22] lawyer today told me they're gratified
[35:24] that this report did not find any
[35:25] criminal wrongdoing on Gonzalez's part.
[35:28] But the fact is the report did not
[35:30] conclude that Gonzalez didn't break any
[35:32] laws. The report said, "We can't reach
[35:34] that conclusion because we don't have
[35:35] all the answers."
[35:37] >> Do they ever come right out and say that
[35:39] they don't believe what he told them
[35:41] about the events that took place? They
[35:43] never say that he lied, but there's one
[35:45] passage in here where they sound very
[35:46] dubious and they say the exact quote
[35:49] escapes you, but it's something like the
[35:50] the the the number of times that he was
[35:53] unable to recall and the extent of his
[35:55] uninvolvement in this seems hard to
[35:58] believe. That may not have been the
[35:59] exact words, but that's the direction in
[36:01] which they go.
[36:03] Does the fact that Michael Mucasey
[36:05] has gone this next step and appointed a
[36:08] career prosecutor to investigate this
[36:11] means mean that the Justice Department
[36:13] has concluded that there may have been
[36:15] criminal wrongdoing involved with these
[36:17] firings?
[36:18] >> Well, I hate to get picky, but it
[36:20] depends on what you mean by there may
[36:22] have been criminal wrongdoing. I think
[36:23] from the very beginning there were
[36:25] accusations that there may have been
[36:27] criminal wrongdoing. The Justice
[36:29] Department is now conducting a criminal
[36:31] inquiry to see whether there was in fact
[36:34] criminal wrongdoing, whether they can
[36:35] indict someone and accuse someone of
[36:38] breaking a law. And those laws could be
[36:40] obstruction of justice, it could be
[36:42] perjury, it could be false statements
[36:43] under oath to Congress. Uh so that's now
[36:46] in the hands of the prosecutor
[36:48] >> and
[36:50] the prosecutor herself, Miss Denah, has
[36:52] to report back to the attorney general
[36:54] while the Bush administration is still
[36:56] in office. Correct.
[36:57] >> That's right. Attorney General Mukesi
[36:58] instructed her to report back 60 days
[37:00] from now. And he didn't make clear
[37:02] whether that's going to be a public
[37:03] report or whether he'll keep it private.
[37:05] My sense of this is there is so much
[37:08] interest in this from Congress, from the
[37:11] public, from the prosecutorial and legal
[37:13] community that there's going to be a lot
[37:15] of pressure to make something public
[37:16] after 60 days whether or not we know
[37:19] everything that she tells the attorney
[37:20] general at the end of this
[37:21] >> and Ari almost a guarantee that this
[37:24] matter will have a life that extends
[37:26] into the term of the next president.
[37:27] >> Absolutely. These are not the sorts of
[37:29] things that get resolved in 2 months.
[37:31] And uh and so we can expect that this
[37:33] turmoil, this chaos that has royd the
[37:35] Justice Department for years now, for at
[37:37] least the last two years, is going to
[37:39] continue on into the next
[37:40] administration, whoever that is. Uh one
[37:42] former US attorney who was not fired in
[37:44] this mess, but who served under
[37:45] President Bush, who I spoke with today,
[37:47] told me he thinks it's going to take
[37:49] years and years and many, many more
[37:51] attorneys general before all of the
[37:53] damage that was caused by this debacle
[37:55] is fixed. Well, you've been covering
[37:57] this story all along and you've been
[37:59] through the report. Was there something
[38:01] there that just didn't come out in the
[38:03] hearings that when you saw it, you said,
[38:05] "Wow, I didn't know that." You know,
[38:07] there were impressions we got from the
[38:09] hearings that people were uninvolved,
[38:11] that people didn't necessarily look into
[38:12] the real reasons folks were being fired.
[38:14] But to see in this report that after
[38:16] examining tens of thousands of pages of
[38:19] documents, after conducting hundreds of
[38:20] hours of interviews, after talking with
[38:22] dozens and dozens of people, that they
[38:24] can definitively say no one made an
[38:27] effort to determine why any of these
[38:29] individuals was being replaced. That
[38:31] they can say nobody made an effort, not
[38:34] one person, to make sure there were no
[38:36] improper partisan political
[38:37] considerations. That was pretty stunning
[38:40] to me.
[38:41] >> NPR's Ari Shapiro, thanks for joining
[38:43] us.
[38:43] >> My pleasure.
[38:51] Now, the next in our series on the
[38:53] presidential campaigns in battleground
[38:55] states, Judy Woodruff spent last week in
[38:58] Florida, already one of the most
[39:00] familiar of all battlegrounds. Where, as
[39:03] elsewhere, the economy has been hurting.
[39:06] Tonight, in the first of three reports,
[39:08] Judy looks at how the economy could
[39:10] affect the way the state votes in
[39:11] November.
[39:14] Senator Obama has the most
[39:16] >> at Kasavana, a new and noisy Cuban
[39:18] restaurant in South Miami. Both
[39:21] Democratic and Republican diners sat
[39:23] rapidly watching last Friday night's
[39:26] debate. Straining to hear, especially
[39:28] when the candidate spoke about the
[39:30] country's financial crisis.
[39:32] >> It has to have accountability and
[39:34] oversight. It has to have options for
[39:36] loans to failing businesses rather than
[39:39] the government taking over those loans.
[39:41] We've got to make sure that none of that
[39:43] money is going to pad CEO bank accounts
[39:46] or to promote golden parachutes.
[39:49] >> Afterwards, supporters of both men said
[39:52] what they heard bolstered their opinion
[39:54] going in.
[39:55] >> I've really come supporting McCain and
[39:57] really, you know, with what he has to
[40:00] say.
[40:00] >> And what did you hear in the debate that
[40:02] reinforced that view?
[40:04] >> Well, his views on enriching the economy
[40:06] by cutting taxes for businesses and
[40:08] trying to, you know, spur growth. um
[40:11] through the businesses. It's really
[40:13] where I think um it can lead to to
[40:16] greater benefits for the economy.
[40:17] >> I see in Obama some flexibility mind
[40:21] that can understand complex problems and
[40:24] adapt to what is going on and make you
[40:27] know good common sense decisions and be
[40:30] pragmatic about problems. No minds
[40:33] changed at Casavana that we could find,
[40:37] nor the next morning among tailgators
[40:39] just before a University of Miami
[40:42] football game. But we did find anxiety.
[40:45] >> I'll be honest with you, like I am very
[40:47] unsure with this economy. I'm a finance
[40:49] major. Um, currently what's happening in
[40:51] the financial markets is very serious to
[40:52] me and that is going to play into my
[40:55] decision. I'm graduating in May, so I
[40:56] look to be getting a job
[40:59] >> this year. Obama's making the sunshine
[41:02] state a top priority. An independent
[41:04] pollster, Jim Kaine, who teaches at the
[41:07] University of Florida, says the top
[41:09] issue for voters here is the economy.
[41:12] >> We're one of three states that have been
[41:14] the hardest hit because of the housing
[41:16] uh crash. Uh and that's truly what it is
[41:18] here. Uh, I wish you could drive around
[41:21] with me and see in this South Florida
[41:23] area how many empty buildings that have
[41:25] been sold and nobody's living in them.
[41:27] That threequarters of which are
[41:28] foreclosure and it's only going to get
[41:30] worse. The inventory of empty units in
[41:32] this in this county alone is is
[41:35] incredible. It's thousands of units.
[41:37] They're just nobody can do anything with
[41:39] them and uh you can't give it away.
[41:43] Miami has been called ground zero in the
[41:46] nation's housing crisis and you can see
[41:48] some of the symptoms scarring the city's
[41:51] skyline and the crisis has hit
[41:53] statewide. Florida ranks third in the
[41:56] nation in foreclosures.
[41:58] University of Miami professor Andrea
[42:01] Houston says residents at all income
[42:03] levels have been hurt, especially those
[42:05] at the lower end of the scale. Well, we
[42:08] have a huge service sector of minimum
[42:11] wage or slightly above minimum wage jobs
[42:14] because they support not only tourism,
[42:16] but also some of the other industries
[42:18] here like healthcare. And for those
[42:21] people, especially those who are in
[42:24] homes or new home purchasers, for those
[42:27] people, the the downturn has obviously
[42:29] been very very strong. No place is that
[42:32] more clear than in Central Florida,
[42:35] which has seen an influx of young new
[42:37] families in recent years.
[42:39] >> You have to be on the phone every week
[42:42] with the banks and find out what the
[42:43] status is.
[42:44] >> In Pulk County between Tampa and
[42:47] Orlando, realtor Tammy Graham used to
[42:50] match eager buyers up with $150 to
[42:53] $200,000 homes. But a little over a year
[42:56] ago, she began showing more homes like
[42:59] this one. This is one of the many
[43:01] foreclosures or pre-forclosures that I
[43:03] have on the market. It was previously
[43:04] owned by a single mom and she got to the
[43:08] point where she really couldn't afford
[43:09] the mortgage anymore, so she's had to
[43:11] move out and move into an apartment.
[43:13] >> Graham says hearing the stories of
[43:15] homeowners can be painful.
[43:17] >> I'm dealing with people calling me and
[43:19] saying, "I've lost my job. My rate is
[43:22] about to adjust. My mortgage payment is
[43:23] going to go up $400 a month, and I can't
[43:25] afford it as it is." Um, and I've had
[43:29] people ask me, you know, I I'm having
[43:31] problems feeding my children. Should I
[43:33] stop paying my mortgage? And that's a
[43:36] sad state of affairs.
[43:39] >> It's a state of affairs that has led
[43:41] Pulk Works to have one of the busiest
[43:43] offices in town. Job seekers come here
[43:46] to search databases for employment
[43:49] opportunities and to get help brushing
[43:51] up their resumes and preparing for
[43:53] interviews. One of them is Lorie
[43:56] Phillips. Her job as a graphics artist
[43:59] at the local newspaper was outsourced,
[44:01] leaving her out of work after 29 years.
[44:05] >> There's no graphic arts design jobs out
[44:08] there. If you want to stay in the career
[44:10] I'm at, I have to go to Tampa or
[44:13] Orlando. So, the commute will be more,
[44:15] the gas will be more. A registered
[44:18] Republican who says she'll probably vote
[44:20] Democratic this year, Phillip says
[44:22] dipping into her savings just to get by
[44:25] has changed her attitude about the
[44:28] presidential election.
[44:29] >> Uh I have to admit I really never paid
[44:32] attention to any of campaigns before. So
[44:34] this year I've been watching the
[44:35] Republicans and the Democrats. So it's
[44:37] it's a yeah, it's going to make a big
[44:40] influence on me how the economy is, how
[44:41] I vote.
[44:43] Experts on Florida's business sector say
[44:46] there are plenty of bright spots around
[44:48] the state, including in the center in
[44:50] the stretch of land along I4, the
[44:53] interstate that runs between Orlando and
[44:55] Tampa. Mark Howard is executive director
[44:58] of business magazine Florida Trend.
[45:01] >> The whole I4 corridor in between Orlando
[45:04] and Tampa has become somewhat of a
[45:05] high-tech uh oriented center. There's a
[45:07] lot of medical manufacturing in in the
[45:09] northern part of Penllis County. We have
[45:11] uh within Penllis County uh uh what is
[45:14] now the the largest investment bank in
[45:16] the country, Raymond James. There was
[45:18] just a release that came out this past
[45:19] week that um for the fourth year in a
[45:21] row, Florida had uh export growth in
[45:24] tech uh to the tune of a billion dollars
[45:26] a year in the in the past year.
[45:29] >> But to the southeast in the agriculture
[45:31] dependent Tri Cities area, also called
[45:34] the Glades, what was already
[45:36] economically depressed is now even more
[45:39] so. The city of Belglade likes to claim
[45:42] that its fortune lies in its soil. The
[45:45] locals call it Muck City after the black
[45:48] earth in which the area's main crop,
[45:51] sugar, is grown. But much of this sugar
[45:54] cane will disappear after the state
[45:56] agreed to buy 300 square miles of
[45:59] farmland as part of a project aimed at
[46:02] restoring the Everglades. Towns that
[46:04] already show the signs of long-term
[46:06] economic blight are now bracing
[46:09] themselves for further job losses and
[46:12] economic dislocation.
[46:14] The former mayor of Pokei, Florida, JP
[46:17] Sasser, works at a body shop and reports
[46:20] a number of people who rent property
[46:22] from him are behind with their payments.
[46:26] >> They they've either lost their job or a
[46:28] member of their family has lost their
[46:30] job. and uh the safety net so to speak
[46:35] too was not there like it used to be
[46:37] used to if you lost your job you could
[46:39] go out and quickly find another one and
[46:42] that's not the case also the the real
[46:45] thing that's hurting us here is we're
[46:47] really only about 40 45 minutes from the
[46:50] from the east coast to west Palm Beach
[46:53] uh that was great
[46:55] uh when gasoline was cheap at $4 a
[46:59] gallon it's costing people money to
[47:01] drive over to the coast and work. When
[47:03] you're when you're talking about very
[47:06] just above uh base labor rates, uh when
[47:10] you're only making $10, $12 an hour, $8
[47:13] to 102 an hour, you can't afford to
[47:15] drive. And that's where it's really
[47:17] hurting us.
[47:18] >> Sasser says he was a lifelong
[47:20] Republican, but no longer.
[47:23] I I I just don't see how you how anybody
[47:26] in
[47:28] their right mind would put another
[47:30] Republican in the White House.
[47:32] >> He sees a huge voter turnout ahead
[47:35] benefiting Barack Obama.
[47:37] >> Even though everybody's saying he
[47:38] doesn't have any experience, look at all
[47:41] that experience that's in Washington now
[47:43] that got us where we're where we are.
[47:45] And I think as the economy worsens on a
[47:48] daily basis, we every time you open the
[47:50] paper in the morning and you and you um
[47:55] I think Wall Street's going to elect
[47:57] Obama president.
[47:59] I I mean he you he couldn't have asked
[48:02] for better timing.
[48:03] >> If Obama is going to be advantaged, it
[48:06] hasn't shown up yet in the polls. More
[48:08] voters here do say Obama is better able
[48:11] to improve the economy. And by 3 to one,
[48:14] voters say the economy is their main
[48:16] concern. But overall, Obama runs even or
[48:20] just behind John McCain.
[48:22] >> I think people are still looking for for
[48:24] which candidates is is going to step up
[48:26] with something that uh they they feel is
[48:28] is a better approach
[48:31] or better response to economic
[48:33] conditions. I don't think that there's a
[48:34] a
[48:37] so far that um to whatever degree people
[48:40] of Florida believe that the current
[48:42] administration
[48:44] uh caused this um that they they blame
[48:48] John McCain for it as well
[48:50] >> that they don't is that what you're
[48:51] saying?
[48:52] >> Yes. That they that they don't
[48:53] necessarily see John McCain is
[48:56] responsible for it.
[48:57] >> If so, it's not because Obama hasn't
[49:00] tried to make the connection. As
[49:02] difficult as change may be and as risky
[49:05] as it may seem to, you know, be hiring
[49:10] somebody new to help lead this country,
[49:14] that the biggest risk is doing the same
[49:16] things we've been doing over and over
[49:18] again and somehow expecting a different
[49:21] result. We can't afford four more years
[49:24] of the same policies that have gotten us
[49:25] in this mess.
[49:28] McCain, meanwhile, is working just as
[49:30] hard to distance himself from the Bush
[49:32] administration and the housing and
[49:34] financial debacle. Two years ago, I
[49:38] warned the administration and the
[49:39] Congress that Fanny May and Freddy Mack
[49:41] needed to be fixed. And it turns out
[49:45] that the problem was even bigger. They
[49:46] waited too long. And now we have a
[49:49] housing crisis. Three bailouts with
[49:51] taxpayers money and a financial crisis.
[49:55] The candidates have five more weeks to
[49:58] make their case. Pollster Jim Kaine
[50:00] thinks Obama has the edge.
[50:03] >> What's happened in the last few days,
[50:04] the last week, uh, regarding Wall Street
[50:07] and the financial meltdown, uh, that's
[50:09] only going to make it worse and it's
[50:11] going to make the voters far more
[50:12] nervous and that's going to drive more
[50:15] people to the polls in my opinion. And
[50:17] at this point, I'd have to say, if I had
[50:19] to look at crystal ball, I would have to
[50:21] say the Democrats will benefit from that
[50:22] more than the Republicans. The McCain
[50:25] campaign and Florida Republicans who
[50:28] have pulled off two wins in the last two
[50:30] elections are working to make sure
[50:33] Kane's forecast never comes true.
[50:36] >> Judy's next report is about new voters,
[50:39] registering them and getting them to the
[50:42] polls. On our website, Judy is taking
[50:44] questions in a live chat tomorrow from 1
[50:47] to 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. You can also
[50:49] explore our election map and find
[50:52] stories from local Florida television
[50:54] stations about the campaign. As always,
[50:57] just go to pbs.org and then scroll down
[51:01] to NewsHour Reports.
[51:09] Finally tonight, a tribute to Paul
[51:11] Newman and a form of a scene with the
[51:14] actor who died of cancer on Friday. He
[51:17] made his screen debut in the 1954 film
[51:20] The Silver Chalice and went on to act in
[51:23] more than 65 movies, winning an Oscar in
[51:26] 1987 for The Color of Money. Here is
[51:30] Paul Newman in one of among many
[51:32] memorable performances. It's from his
[51:35] 1967 film Cool Hand Luke with Newman as
[51:39] a prisoner who refuses to conform a role
[51:42] that earned him a best actor nomination.
[51:52] hate the job.
[51:55] Oh dear.
[52:00] Why would a liberal Democrat like me
[52:02] vote for Gordon Smith? Because I've seen
[52:05] Gordon stand by his principles many
[52:07] times against his own party, supporting
[52:10] funding for women's health clinics and
[52:12] gay rights, opposing oil drilling in
[52:14] Alaska, and so important to me, he was
[52:17] one of the first Republicans to break
[52:19] with George Bush and his party to end
[52:22] this awful war. His integrity and
[52:25] honesty are good for Oregon.
[52:27] >> I'm Gordon Smith and I approve this ad.
[52:30] >> Want to bring back the value of your
[52:31] home? Come to the Portland Fall Home and
[52:34] Garden Show and find the best home
[52:35] improvement ideas today that offer the
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[52:55] the value of your home this Thursday
[52:58] through Sunday at the Expo Center.
[53:01] didn't think much about it at the time.
[53:03] But now to a man earlier this evening
[53:05] seen putting a 100 pound turtle in his
[53:08] car. Here's Steve Dunn with tonight's
[53:10] circular file.
[53:12] >> Stuck my neck out on that one, didn't I?
[53:13] >> Oh.
[53:15] >> In tonight's circular file, let's go to
[53:16] New York City where Judge Miriam
[53:18] Cedarbalm is standing up for the women.
[53:20] Here's the deal. An attorney filed a
[53:21] lawsuit complaining about ladies nights
[53:23] at nightclubs, saying they discriminate
[53:25] against men. He said the clubs offer
[53:27] women free or discounted admission and
[53:29] drinks while the men pay a lot more.
[53:32] Well, the nightclubs fought back,
[53:33] arguing that male customers might
[53:35] actually benefit from ladies nights
[53:37] because so many women attend.
[53:39] >> I didn't think about that part.
[53:40] >> Anyway, the judge tossed it out. So,
[53:42] ladies night continues.
[53:44] >> Yeah, I think the guys look at this and
[53:45] go, "Oh, it's ladies night. I'm not
[53:47] going to go now.
[53:48] >> Discriminate against me. See you
[53:50] tomorrow.
[53:56] Fisher Communications.
[53:59] >> Wow, this is great. But the deal was you
[54:01] were supposed to make me breakfast this
[54:02] morning.
[54:12] >> It's what you cook if you cooked.
[54:16] Bunnies
[54:17] >> McDonald's McKillet Burrito, skillet
[54:19] potatoes, scrambled eggs, cheese,
[54:21] sausage, and zesty salsa, all wrapped up
[54:23] to go.
[54:24] >> This is the best breakfast you've ever
[54:25] made.
[54:28] >> It's never a good deal if it's a product
[54:31] nobody wants. So, Sleep Country put its
[54:34] most popular items on sale. But the
[54:36] bestseller sale is ending soon. Save on
[54:39] Sleep Country's bestselling Simmons
[54:40] Beauty Rest, the most popular seal
[54:42] postropedic and topselling Sleep Number
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[54:47] items, just the best deals on the
[54:50] bestselling models, but only for a short
[54:52] time. Guaranteed comfort, best
[54:53] selection, lowest price.
[54:58] >> There's a great reason at Wilsonville
[55:00] Toyota that we mark our lowest price,
[55:02] our best price on every single car. It's
[55:05] to save you time and save you money. And
[55:08] we do both at Wilsonville Toyota. I got
[55:10] like perfect car for the perfect price
[55:12] with the most amazing service ever.
[55:16] >> My time is valuable. You should just be
[55:18] able to walk in, buy it, and get out.
[55:20] >> And we didn't experience any out of the
[55:22] back pocket type thing. Oh, by the way,
[55:25] >> it was the first place I came and the
[55:26] last place I came.
[55:29] >> Why would a liberal Democrat like me
[55:31] vote for Gordon Smith? Because I've seen
[55:34] Gordon stand by his principles many
[55:36] times against his own party, supporting
[55:39] funding for women's health clinics and
[55:41] gay rights, opposing oil drilling in
[55:43] Alaska, and so important to me, he was
[55:46] one of the first Republicans to break
[55:48] with George Bush and his party to end
[55:50] this awful war. His integrity and
[55:54] honesty are good for Oregon.
[55:56] >> I'm Gordon Smith and I approve this ad.
[56:04] Broadway's most talked about new musical
[56:06] is Spring Awakening. The winner of eight
[56:09] Tony Awards, including best musical of
[56:12] the year.
[56:16] >> The Post calls it a groundbreaking jolt
[56:19] of genius. And the Times calls it
[56:21] electrifying.
[56:22] >> October 21st through 26th at Keller
[56:25] Auditorium. Welcome by Fred Meyer and
[56:27] K2.
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