Haiti

As search and rescue operations end, the people of Haiti are trying to put their lives back together. Many are suffering from crush injuries that require amputations. We'll hear from Heather Mills - who has a heartfelt appeal based on first-hand experience - and our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta on this growing problem and what can be done to help the amputees.

Reunited

You've read on this blog about Joe and Jill Wilkins, whose adopted son Samuel Chancelet was still in Haiti when the earthquake struck. They have finally reunited with their son and will join Larry tonight to talk about their desperate journey to bring Samuel Chancelet home.

The Economy, Stupid!

Rep. Ron Paul vs. former Labor Secretary Robert Reich square off on whether President Obama is doing enough about the economy. Is the stimulus plan working? Where are the jobs? Is the administration more concerned with bailing out Wall Street than bailing out Main Street?

That's all tonight at 9ET/6PT!

And we want to hear from you:

Is President Obama doing enough to help middle-class Americans?

To learn more about the organization Heather Mills discussed on Larry King click here or visit Heather Mills own site.

Filed under: Economy • Haiti Earthquake • Obama

via Chicago Sun Times

...There now are a record 15 Fortune 500 companies with a female CEO, seven of them megacorporations in the largest 100 as measured by annual revenue.

Women CEOs of giant firms remain too small a sample size to draw any conclusions, and it would be a stretch to attribute the 2009 outperformance to gender, says Susan Cabrera, whose study of gender, leadership and team performance was in the December issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly.

"Having said that, research shows that women on average tend to be more risk-averse," Cabrera says, which would give them an advantage in times when it's best to reduce debt, cut costs and conserve cash. There may be a backlash against male CEOs who "swung for the fences and got clobbered," she says.

(Read More)

Filed under: Economy • Larry King Live

'Fat Cats'

President Barack Obama is demanding action from so-called "fat cat Wall Street bankers". Obama's message to bank CEOs: it's time to help American taxpayers. Will the tough talk work? Donald Trump - who doesn't mince words himself - weighs in.

Tiger, Inc.

Four out of 10 Americans says they have an unfavorable view of the pro golfer, according to a new Washington Post poll. What are the rumors and his own admission of infidelity doing to his brand? Will more companies line up behind Accenture to drop him from their ads? Dennis Rodman is no stranger to controversy in the limelight and he'll join Larry tonight to give his take.

And we want to hear from you:

Will Obama's talk talk with Wall Street bankers help to rebuild the economy?

Filed under: Economy • Larry King Live • Obama

By Jennifer Liberto, CNNMoney.com senior writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - President Obama pressed Wall Street bankers at the White House on Monday, urging them to make more loans and modify mortgages to help taxpayers who propped their banks up with federal bailouts.

"My main message in today's meeting was very simple: America's banks received extraordinary assistance from American taxpayers to rebuild their industry," Obama said. "Now that they're back on their feet, we expect an extraordinary commitment from them to help rebuild our economy."

The president was expected to pressure the nation's top dozen bank chief executives to open up the lending spigots to help the economic recovery. He was also said to be urging execs to curb compensation, and to stop gouging customers with high credit card rates and hidden overdraft fees.

Obama said he also took bankers to task for lobbying "vigorously" against parts of the financial legislation to reshape the regulatory system and prevent future financial crises.

"Short-term gains are of little value to our banks if they lead to long-term chaos in the economy," he said. "I made very clear that I have no intention of letting their lobbyists thwart reforms necessary to protect the American people."

But critics question the impact of such a meeting, since the federal government has lost its leverage over the banks that repaid bailout money - $116 billion so far. Earlier today, Citigroup announced they struck a deal to repay their $20 billion TARP loan.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Economy • Larry King Live • Politics • President Obama

Note: Donald Trump joins Larry tonight. What does The Donald think of the President slamming "fat cat bankers"?

By Eamon Javers and Carol E. Lee via Politico

President Barack Obama’s plan to talk tough to bankers in a meeting at the White House Monday morning lost some of its punch when the executives at several top financial institutions could not make the sit-down due to bad weather.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack and Citigroup Chairman Richard Parsons were all stuck on the tarmac this morning as their airplanes waited out fog delays, an industry source said.

The executives were not in the room for Obama’s 11:10 a.m. meeting, but the White House said they would be piped in via conference call. Obama kicked off his meeting with the rest of the CEOs by telling them: "I appreciate you guys coming in." With JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett visible on camera, Obama spoke by speakerphone with Citigroup Chairman Richard Parsons.

"Dick, I had a good time at the Christmas celebration with your successor at Time Warner," Obama said, referring to Sunday night's "Christmas in Washington" event, where Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes was in attendance.

Ironically, Blankfein, Mack and Parsons’ decision to fly commercial, a move that would shield them from potential criticism that they are out of touch with the economic hardship experienced by average Americans, was the reason they couldn’t make the meeting. Dimon, for instance, flew by private jet and was expected to be there on time.

(READ MORE)

Filed under: Economy • Larry King Live • Obama • Politics

By Melanie Trottman and Ann Zimmerman via Wall Street Journal

Federal product-safety regulators are continuing to look into allegations by a little-known consumer group that one model of the hot-selling Zhu Zhu toy hamster contains excessive levels of a toxic chemical even as the group acknowledged an "error" in how it portrayed the results.

The product's maker, Cepia LLC, said Monday that the toy is completely safe and that the consumer group GoodGuide.com used an "inferior" testing methodology. GoodGuide.com on Monday said the testing methodology it used involved testing the product's surface rather than solubility, the amount of a chemical that dissolves in liquid, as used by federal test standards.

"While we accurately reported the chemical levels in the toys that we measured using our testing method, we should not have compared our results to federal standards. We regret this error," GoodGuide.com said in a prepared statement.

"Zhu Zhu Pets products are tested by our internal teams at the point of production, and reviewed by our independent third party testing agency," said Cepia Chief Executive Russ Hornsby, in a statement Monday. GoodGuide was unavailable to comment.

Retailer Toys "R" Us Inc. said test reports "clearly indicate that the Zhu Zhu Pets product meets all federal safety requirements, as well as safety requirements in other countries."

(READ MORE)

Filed under: Economy

(CNN) President Obama called on business leaders Thursday to help the administration kickstart hiring as policymakers contend with rising unemployment that's weighing down the economy.

Some 130 executives, economists, small business owners and non-profit officials gathered for the afternoon jobs summit at the White House on the eve of the government's November unemployment report. The nation is expected to have lost another 114,000 jobs, with unemployment remaining at 10.2%, the highest in 26 years, according to an economists' survey.

"While I believe that government has a critical role in creating the conditions for economic growth, ultimately true economic recovery is only going to come from the private sector," Obama said. "We don't have enough public dollars to fill the hole of private dollars that was created as a consequence of the crisis."

(Read More)

Filed under: Economy • Larry King Live • Politics • President Obama

"Last fall I was laid off from my position as marketing director at a Boulder, Colo.-based company. I feel I have a very strong resume, but after five months, I am still looking for my next job.

My wife is a genetic counselor working a part-time job, and her employer covers our health insurance. We just have a negative cash flow.

Thankfully, I do have my unemployment check, but at just over $400 per week, we're not making ends meet. In the years leading up to my layoff we did everything we were supposed to: We put away six months salary in savings; we bought a house within our means; and we had no credit card debt.

But as time ticks by, our savings account is disappearing. To slow the decline, we cut all unnecessary spending. Mortgage payment, food and gas. We're trying to keep our financial situation from harming my two kids as much as possible.

Our kids are our priority. Suzanne and I can, have, and will continue to make the sacrifices. We want to do the little things we can do to protect our children from the 'adult problems' of the current economic situation. We know we'll land on our feet. With our children at such a critical stage in their development, we just want to make sure they do, too." - as told to Julianne Pepitone

(Read More Stories from readers at CNNMoney.com)

Filed under: Economy • Larry King Live

What questions do you have about the president's plan for combating rising unemployment?

Is your job safe?  Are you looking for work?  Are you concerned about your ecomonic future?  Let us know...

Tonight, Larry will speak to Mitt Romney, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, motivational speaker Tony Robbins and Magic Johnson about today's White House Jobs Summit - and we're taking your questions.

What can these business leaders help you with?

Be sure to leave us your questions in the comments section and watch Larry King Live tonight at 9pm ET/6pm PT for the answers!

Filed under: Economy • Larry King Live • Mitt Romney • President Obama • White House

By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney.com senior writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - With rising unemployment stymying the president's economic revival plans, the Obama administration is huddling with business leaders, academics and other experts Thursday to find a way to jumpstart hiring.

Some 130 people will gather for the afternoon jobs summit at the White House on the eve of the government's November unemployment report. The nation is expected to have lost another 114,000 jobs, with unemployment remaining at 10.2%, the highest in 26 years, according to an economists' survey.

The employment picture is certainly grim. Nearly 16 million Americans are out of work, one-third of whom have been unemployed for more than six months. There are now six workers competing for every job vacancy.

President Obama and some lawmakers are searching for a way to stem this unrelenting loss of jobs, which is casting doubt on effectiveness of many of his economic programs, from his $787 billion stimulus plan to his $75 billion foreclosure prevention initiative.

"We are going to be bringing together people from all across the country ... to explore how we can jumpstart the hiring that typically lags behind economic growth, but we don't want to wait," Obama said last week.

Invited executives include Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Disney chief Bob Iger, Boeing head James McNerney and AT&T's Randall Stephenson. Also expected are United Steel Workers president Leo Gerard, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, former Fed vice chairman Alan Blinder and Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist.

(Read more…)

Filed under: Economy • Larry King Live • Politics • President Obama