NBC Nightly News - 2009-02-18 - 1 of 2

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] On our broadcast here tonight, the next

[0:03] front in the new president's effort to

[0:05] fix the economy. Today, it was the

[0:07] mortgage mess. Tonight, we'll look at

[0:09] his plan. Crew questions, the clues from

[0:11] the Buffalo plane crash that might point

[0:14] to midair mistakes by the crew. Also,

[0:16] how cockpit experience can vary so

[0:19] widely. About face, the social

[0:22] networking site Facebook gives in to a

[0:24] revolt over the rules of the site. And

[0:28] full circle remembering a pioneering job

[0:30] from a part of our American past.

[0:33] Nightly News begins now.

[0:39] >> From NBC News World Headquarters in New

[0:41] York, this is NBC Nightly News with

[0:44] Brian Williams.

[0:46] Good evening. Even when you consider the

[0:48] kind of numbers we've been throwing

[0:50] around here lately, $75 billion is still

[0:54] a lot of money. And President Obama is

[0:56] hoping it's enough money to save those

[0:59] Americans who are right now threatened

[1:00] with foreclosure. Remember, it was the

[1:03] home mortgage crisis that started this

[1:05] economic mess in the first place. Some

[1:07] of that damage is done and can't be

[1:09] fixed. A lot of people have lost their

[1:11] homes in the process. But the program

[1:13] announced today contains several firsts.

[1:16] Among them, a way to help people who

[1:18] aren't in trouble yet, but who are

[1:20] struggling to make their payments right

[1:22] now. We have two reports to start us off

[1:24] tonight, beginning with our chief White

[1:26] House correspondent, Chuck Todd,

[1:28] traveling with the president.

[1:30] >> The president came to one of America's

[1:32] home foreclosure capitals to unveil his

[1:34] plan to tackle what economists agree is

[1:37] the root cause of the economic slump,

[1:39] housing. In Phoenix and its surrounding

[1:42] suburbs, the American dream is being

[1:44] tested by a home mortgage crisis that

[1:47] not only threatens the stability of our

[1:50] economy, but also the stability of

[1:52] families and neighborhoods.

[1:54] >> The basic goal of the plan is to help

[1:56] homeowners who owe more than their house

[1:58] is worth, need to refinance, but can't

[2:01] get a new loan. This plan will not save

[2:03] every home, but it will give millions of

[2:07] families resigned to financial ruin a

[2:10] chance to rebuild.

[2:11] >> Aid will go to two groups of creditw

[2:13] worthy homeowners. Group one, four to 5

[2:15] million homeowners who have loans held

[2:17] or insured by Freddy Mack and Fanny May.

[2:20] The two mortgage giants will simply

[2:22] offer eligible borrowers a new lower

[2:24] interest rate. Group two, 3 to four

[2:27] million homeowners who are struggling

[2:28] with high debt and need a little help.

[2:31] The plan includes $75 billion to create

[2:34] incentives for lenders to modify those

[2:36] at risk loans. The government will pay

[2:38] some of the interest lost by the

[2:40] lenders. While the program is voluntary,

[2:42] any bank that receives bailout money

[2:44] must participate. Another $200 billion

[2:47] will be used to help Freddy and Fanny

[2:49] keep mortgage rates low.

[2:51] >> The plan I'm announcing focuses on

[2:53] rescuing families who played by the

[2:55] rules and acted responsibly.

[2:58] Translation: This plan does not help

[3:00] land speculators, folks who used a

[3:02] second mortgage to pull cash out of

[3:04] their house and spend it in other ways,

[3:06] or millionaire homeowners. So, will it

[3:08] work?

[3:08] >> You can say for certain that helping

[3:11] these 7 to9 million mortgage holders is

[3:14] going to take a very long time. This is

[3:16] not a quick