First Vietnamese-American Elected to Congress
NGUYEN: Well the latest unemployment figures show just how the economic crisis is hitting home for millions of Americans.</s>LUI: Yes, in Washington, in Washington State specifically, a 211 phone system links people who have lost their jobs with government services. And use of the system, well it has skyrocketed. Chad Snell recently lost his job as a car salesman.</s>CHAD SNELL, UNEMPLOYED: But when it comes to trying to provide for my family, that's where it's affecting me. It's definitely the hardest thing I've ever experienced.</s>BILL BRAKIN, 211 REGIONAL DIRECTOR: The biggest needs tend to be rent mortgage assistance, emergency shelter, utility bill assistance.</s>LUI: Officials with the 211 system say the first step for people seeking assistance is to apply for unemployment benefits there.</s>NGUYEN: Well the economic crisis has many families turning to the state to help them actually put food on the table.</s>LUI: In Oregon, the growing demand for food stamps has forced the state to hire 60 more workers just to keep up there. And since last October there's been a 13 percent increase in demand for food stamps in Oregon. In some communities it's jumped 25 percent. That's overwhelming the Department of Human Services there.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a line out the door. There's only four desks here, so you know we can only do what we can do. But we have a lot of people. We need more workers.</s>LUI: The new positions will be funded with about $3 million in federal money allocated to the state.</s>NGUYEN: Well hard times, drastic action. Right?</s>LUI: That's right. Absolutely. And more than 150 Bridgeport, Connecticut city employees are giving up an entire week's pay here, Betty, to help close a multi-million dollar budget deficit to help save some city jobs.</s>NGUYEN: And these folks say they love their community and they are afraid though of the unknown.</s>CARMEN FEBLES, GAVE UP WEEK'S PAY: If it helps avoid more layoffs, then you know no one can afford to lose their job right now.</s>PRICILLA PABON, TAXPAYER: Wonderful. I believe that we have to do what we have to do.</s>ANDREW WADE, TAXPAYER: I think it is great. It will give the city added revenue that they needed and hopefully it will turn things around and other people will follow the same way.</s>NGUYEN: And despite kudos from the taxpayers, the employees who made the sacrifice have been honored with a full-page ad in the "Connecticut Post" newspaper thanking them.</s>LUI: All right.</s>NGUYEN: Well the lean economy has many in a do it yourself mode. I know I've taken on some of those projects.</s>LUI: I make more sandwiches myself. I have to tell you. Instead of paying someone else though to put up Christmas lights, some people here are climbing up on the roof, they're doing it themselves. Be careful of course.</s>NGUYEN: Yes.</s>LUI: Reporter Jack Penning of affiliate KGW gets up there and show us.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got my light. You know, safety first. If you're going to do it, you got to do it right.</s>JACK PENNING, REPORTER, KGW: And Mark Young is doing it right. Despite his wife's objection.</s>MARK YOUNG, PUTTING UP OWN LIGHTS: And she said, yes, you better not go up there. I was like, all right, yes, I'll see you a little bit.</s>PENNING: It is not an ideal time to be scaling a steep roof.</s>YOUNG: And I haven't fallen down. Yet.</s>PENNING: And there's plenty of other things that can go wrong.</s>YOUNG: Another light down. That's just my luck. Out of staples! That's just bad luck all around.</s>PENNING: This kind of frustration is why so many hire professionals to put up their lights.</s>YOUNG: That makes sense.</s>PENNING: So the roof is steep. It is difficult to climb on. It doesn't matter. People are still trying to save money by doing it themselves. And that means the companies that put up lights for you, they have seen a huge drop in business, as much as 50 percent less than last year.</s>YOUNG: If i had a lot of money to throw away I would definitely consider it.</s>PENNING: But if you want to spend that money this year. Mark decided he had no choice.</s>YOUNG: It is all for my kid. Because this year's the first year that he's noticed the lights.</s>PENNING: Lights many will avoid putting up to save a little money.</s>NGUYEN: That's so true. I mean especially in this economy, that's extra money that you could actually use to put food on the table. And a lot of people consider it a luxury and they are cutting out on all of those.</s>LUI: And of course again though. Be careful if you do that, trying to save a couple of bucks along the way.</s>NGUYEN: Yes.</s>LUI: It's slippery up there sometimes.</s>NGUYEN: Do some research. Maybe the Internet can help you a little bit.</s>LUI: That's right.</s>NGUYEN: But, yes, make sure there is a safety net somewhere so you don't fall in and bust your head open.</s>LUI: Absolutely.</s>NGUYEN: All right. And we are told, though, this -- that the light installation company in Oregon that usually has about, well, 200 customers, has only 12 so far this year. So, more proof the situations that we're facing with this economy. Next hour starts right now. From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is December 7th, 8:00 a.m. here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, 7:00 a.m. in the Heartland. Good morning, everybody, on a Sunday. I'm Betty Nguyen.</s>LUI: And I'm Richard Lui, in for T.J. Holmes on this Sunday. Thanks for being with us, by the way. History is made in Louisiana. A major turnaround in the heavily- Democratic district electing a Republican and first-time Vietnamese American to office.</s>LEAH FRIED, UNITED ELECTRICAL UNION: Three days notice, penniless on the street. That's just not acceptable.</s>NGUYEN: It's another day of protest at a Chicago factory where workers are refusing to leave after learning that they will be laid off. The workers are saying that they won't go until all of their demands are met.</s>LUI: Can you name any of the top buzzwords of 2008? Got any?</s>NGUYEN: A recession?</s>LUI: Bailout.</s>NGUYEN: Now, we just officially made recession a word.</s>LUI: That's right. Exactly.</s>NGUYEN: Let's say. Bailout. I'm seeing right here Phelpsian?</s>LUI: Yes, that</s>NGUYEN: It has to do with Michael Phelps? Yes, we'll get into that.</s>LUI: Josh Levs will tell us about that.</s>NGUYEN: A lot more of those on the table. OK. In the meantime, though, really, an upset in Louisiana. Listen to this story. Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao, a virtual unknown on the political scene beat incumbent and indicted Democratic representative, William Jefferson. He's in trouble after FBI agents -- they say they found $90,000 in marked bills inside his freezer. Jefferson pleaded not guilty and was considered almost a shoo-in for re-election but it did not happen that way. Cao becomes the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WWL) ANH "JOSEPH" CAO, (R) LOUISIANA REP.-ELECT: When I came over here when I was eight years old, I had absolutely nothing, did not speak any English. So never in my life would I be, I thought I could be a future congressman in the United States of America.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What does that say about the American Dream?</s>CAO: You know, the American Dream, I believe, is well and alive.</s>NGUYEN: What a remarkable story. Cao who is an attorney and community organizer clinched almost 50 percent of the vote compared to Jefferson's 47 percent. And there was another House race in Louisiana yesterday. So, let's go live to CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser. Paul, what else can you tell us about the races down in Louisiana? Boy, it was exciting in that state.</s>STEINHAUSER: Yes, a historic there as you can see, because, you know -- and also when Jefferson won office back in 1990, when he won that election, he was the first African-American to represent Louisiana since Reconstruction over 100 years earlier. So, history then, and again, history last night. Turnout was real low. It was one of these, you know, elections that wasn't held on Election Day because of Hurricane Gustav. That kind of delayed the process in Louisiana. So, turnout was really low. And may have been one of the reasons Jefferson lost. And you saw, it was just by 2 percent, because the district in New Orleans is heavily Democratic and also heavily African-American. So, that may have contributed to Jefferson losing, as well as his heavy baggage, as you mentioned all his legal troubles. But yes, he's gone. The other race in the northwestern part of the state, this one looks like the Republicans are going to hold on to this seat as well. Congressman McCrery, a Republican up there who was retiring and the Republican candidate to succeed him is ahead up by 356 votes. The Democrat hasn't conceded yet. They still have more absentees to count but it looks like they will hold on to that seat as well. So, two more victories for the Republicans. They did not have a good night on November 4th but they did win the Georgia runoff just the other day, and now, these two as well.</s>NGUYEN: All right. So, two victories for the Republicans as of yesterday. Where does this stand when we look at the balance of power in the House?</s>STEINHAUSER: Right now, the Democrats have 255 -- will have 255 seats in the new House that comes into effect next month. Republicans, 177. If they get that extra seat that we just talked about in Louisiana, if they win that, it will be 178. There are two House races left still that are still in dispute. A Republican congressman in Virginia is behind and he has called for a recount. And in Ohio, there was a Republican that retired in that seat, and it was so close. And now, the state Supreme Court is going to have to decide about all these provisional ballots. We're almost done. And then, of course, we got the Minnesota recount.</s>NGUYEN: I was going to ask you about that. We're still waiting on that one. What do you know?</s>STEINHAUSER: The initial recount is over. Now, it goes to the canvassing board and they've got a lot to hammer out because they've got to deal with all the votes that were thrown out during the recount. They got all the votes that weren't even counted.</s>NGUYEN: For how long is this going to take?</s>STEINHAUSER: You know what? It could go another two weeks. And then, whoever loses -- that's Coleman, the incumbent Republican on the right, versus Al Franken, the Democratic challenger, remember him from "Saturday Night Live" on the left -- whoever lose could take it to court and it could go all the way to next year. And the Senate itself could finally have to get involved.</s>NGUYEN: Really?</s>STEINHAUSER: This one is a mess.</s>NGUYEN: Oh, goodness. It was good thing that we have you here to help sort it out, right?</s>NGUYEN: OK. Paul Steinhauser, as always, we do appreciate it.</s>STEINHAUSER: Thanks.</s>NGUYEN: But you don't want to miss our interview with newly- elected congressman, Anh Joseph Cao. He is live right here on CNN next hour.</s>LUI: And now, the help for Detroit that could be just around the corner. Congressional aides are working this weekend on legislation to provide a short-term loan to the nation's struggling carmakers. The plan here would keep the companies out of bankruptcy court for the short-term, perhaps through the spring. The loan? $15 billion to $17 billion. General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford have asked, though, for $34 billion. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee says something has to be done.</s>SEN. CHRIS DODD, (D) FINANCE CHAIRMAN: It is a question about the condition of our economy and what's been going on. I don't think you can begin to calibrate the level of frustration people will feel if we -- in the midst of all this -- would end up losing a major manufacturing sector. And so, I'm determined to do what I can here to get us to the point. Not that we're going to resolve all of these issues in 72 hours, but get us to a point where we have the opportunity for resolving the issues. That's really what this amounts over the next couple of days.</s>LUI: Now, this is expected. Most of the loan -- that loan amount, rather, that it would come from a fuel efficiency research program that has already passed. People supporting the government loan to the Big Three, rallying yesterday in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Many of them were waving signs reading "Support the bridge loan" and "All I want for Christmas is a job." Well, more than 200 union workers refusing to leave the Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago. They were told there on Tuesday the plant would close Friday. No severance pay or earned holiday pay. And then yesterday, another blow. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CLTV) BICENTE RANGEL, LAID-OFF WORKER: The company had told us this morning that we had insurance since yesterday. So, I was going to take my kids to take his shots tomorrow, I can't do it. I've got no insurance.</s>LUI: The workers blame Bank of America for not letting the company pay benefits. Bank of America says it's not responsible for Republic's financial obligations.</s>NGUYEN: Well, sources tell CNN that Barack Obama has tapped a wounded veteran to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. That announcement is expected to come today which also happens to be the 67th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. The veteran is retired Army General Eric Shinseki. In 2003, Shinseki infuriated some Bush administration officials in the runup to the Iraq war when he told Congress it would take something on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers to achieve success in Iraq. And just a reminder, CNN will cover President-elect Obama's news conference on the Veterans Affairs announcement live at 2:00 o'clock Eastern this afternoon.</s>LUI: A former '60s radical speaks out about Barack Obama, the presidential campaign and what he calls guilt by association. Now, during the campaign, opponents questioned Obama's ties to William Ayers and accused him of being pals with a terrorist. Well, in a "New York Times" editorial, Ayers writes, quote, "Now that the election is over, I want to say as plainly as I can that the character invented to serve this drama wasn't me, not even close," end quote. Ayers says he and Obama sat on a board together, but, quote here, "We didn't pal around, and I had nothing to do with his positions. I knew him as well as thousands of others did, and like millions of others, I wish I knew him better," end quote.</s>NGUYEN: Well, Barack Obama's attorney general nominee, Eric Holder, isn't wasting any time. He's already been meeting with retired generals and admirals about the interrogation policy. CNN's justice correspondent Kelli Arena gives us a closer look at holder's background.</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's certainly got the resume. Supporters say as attorney, Eric Holder can hit the ground running.</s>ROSCOE HOWARD, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY: He knows where the nooks and crannies are. He knows who the people are.</s>ARENA: Currently, Holder is a partner at a D.C. law firm, Covington and Burling. Before that, he had a long career in public service -- as a judge, a U.S. attorney, and deputy attorney general. As the nation's top law enforcement officer, he's expected to push for more federal grant money for state and local police.</s>CHUCK WEXLER, POLICE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH FORUM: He recognizes the importance of partnerships, partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies. And that's what you really need. You need that working relationship.</s>ARENA: He'll also play a key role if Barack Obama makes good on his promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.</s>ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: A great nation should not detain people, military or civilian, in dark places beyond the reach of law.</s>ARENA: Appointed by both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, he's got fans on both sides of the aisle and is expected to win Senate approval.</s>TOM FITTON, JUDICIAL WATCH: If you want a sense of independence of the Justice Department, a Justice Department that abides by the rule of law rather than the "anything goes" attitude of the Clinton years, Eric Holder is not your man.</s>ARENA: But critics charge, Holder is too close to Obama to remain independent. He helped lead the search for Obama's running mate. As deputy attorney general, Holder did not stop President Clinton in 2001 from pardoning the future financier Marc Rich, whose ex-wife was a big Clinton donor. Holder later acknowledged that he made mistakes.</s>HOLDER: In hindsight, I wish that I'd done something differently with regard to the Marc Rich matters.</s>ARENA: Inside the Justice Department, the criticism seems to be falling on deaf ears. (on camera): Career employees there welcome Holder's return and say it will go a long way toward restoring credibility to a department accused of putting politics above the law. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.</s>NGUYEN: All right. So, man's best friend really came through for a toddler in trouble. The role three dogs played to help save this little one.