(CNN Student News) -- December 9, 2009



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• Baghdad, Iraq  • Kabul, Afghanistan • New Orleans, Louisiana



Transcript



THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.



CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz. You've landed on CNN Student News.



First Up: Job Creation



AZUZ: During a speech yesterday, President Obama offered some ideas on how to create new jobs and help out the country's economy: offering tax breaks to small businesses, expanding some of the government's stimulus programs, and spending more funds on infrastructure projects -- things like roads, bridges and water systems. The thing is, all of that costs money. And that's where the TARP comes in. That's the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the financial industry bailout passed last year. The bailout ended up not costing as much as expected, and President Obama thinks the extra could be used to help out in other ways.



U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The TARP program was flawed and we have worked hard to correct those flaws and manage it properly. And today, TARP has served its original purpose and at much lower cost than we expected. In fact, because of our stewardship of this program and the transparency and accountability that we put in place, TARP is expected to cost taxpayers at least $200 billion less than it was anticipated just this past summer.



AZUZ: Couple of things to keep in mind here, though. First, White House officials say that they can't just use TARP money to pay for infrastructure projects; the program just doesn't work like that. And second, some Republicans are outraged by the idea of spending any unused TARP funds because they say that money was supposed to help pay off the country's debt.



REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: This makes me so angry. I was there. I know all about TARP. First, it was never intended that all this money would ever have to be spent. But any money that wasn't spent was to go to the deficit. And the idea of taking this money and spending it is repulsive.



Health Care Debate



AZUZ: Senators are considering alternatives to part of their health care legislation. Specifically, the so-called public option: That's a government-run health insurance program. Senate Republicans, and some Democrats and Independents, are against that plan. A group of Democratic senators was working to come up with some other ideas that could replace the public option. Late last night, they said they had reached an agreement. If the Senate passes its health care bill, that doesn't make it law. It would still need to be combined with the House bill, and then that final version would need to pass both the House and the Senate.



Baghdad Bombings



AZUZ: The head of Iraq's government says that a series of suicide bombings is designed to create chaos in that country and prevent progress toward elections that are scheduled for next year. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called yesterday's terrorist attacks "cowardly." The five explosions killed more than 125 people and injured more than 440 others. The bombings all took place within minutes of each other Tuesday morning. They targeted several government buildings around the capital city of Baghdad, as well as a neighborhood and a business district.



Is this Legit?



TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? Hillary Clinton is the U.S. secretary of defense. Not legit! Robert Gates is the defense secretary. He was appointed by President George W. Bush, and President Obama asked him to stay on the job.



Defense Secretary Visit



AZUZ: It's Mr. Gates' job to advise the president on military issues like the war in Afghanistan. And that is where the defense secretary is right now, meeting with military officials and Afghan leaders following President Obama's announcement that he plans to send 30,000 additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan. Barbara Starr has more on Mr. Gates'
What kind of unused money is proposal causing controversy?
TARP funds
question: What kind of unused money is proposal causing controversy?, answer: TARP funds