Hotline After Dark -- Singin' The Bailout Blues

The bailout the Big 3 auto companies are asking for from Congress was the talk of TV, with Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli sitting down with CBS' Katie Couric on "Evening News."

Nardelli, on how he thinks he can convince Americans opposed to the deal that the bailout should go through: "I think part of today and hopefully through our discussion here we can provide a differing perspective. A million people count on Chrysler's success if you look more broadly about one out of 10 Americans here either work for or support the auto industry. So if the auto industry collapsed, it would be a cataclysmic collapse of between 2 million and 3.5 million jobs."

Nardelli, on whether the companies will come back next year to ask for more money, even if this bailout is approved: "We did not present a plan today with the expectations that we would come back in six months or one year. They asked us to present a plan that had viability for the long term, and that's what we submitted."

More, on whether Chrysler can survive bankruptcy: "If we went into bankruptcy it would cause tremendous dislocation in health care, pension cost. It would cost us in bankruptcy two to three times more than what we're asking for up front."

Couric: "You came from Home Depot to run Chrysler. You had to be a quick study, but from what you've learned, what was the U.S. auto industry's biggest mistake?"

Nardelli: Well look, we've all made mistakes. I've been in business for 38 years and whether I was at GE, Home Depot or Chrysler. I think the important thing now is to look at this crisis. How do we make sure that we are reposition ourselves that we break from some of those old paradigms that we are making new products that we are delivering service to customers, the kinds of cars and trucks they want to drive and will tell their friends about it" (CBS, 12/4).

After the jump, more on the bailout, and questions about AG-designate/ex-Dep. AG Eric Holder's nomination.

(RACHELLE DOUILLARD-PROULX)

GIMME GIMME GIMME

Politico's Javers: "It looked to me like a lot of people are playing Russian roulette up on Capitol Hill today, as Chairman Dodd pointed out this morning, but not everybody's going to win this game of Russian roulette. And the question is, who? ... It's a very, very tough road for these automakers right now" ("No Bias, No Bull," CNN, 12/4).

CNBC's LeBeau: "At the end of the day, this is Detroit putting a gun to the head of Congress and saying, one way or the other, if something doesn't happen in three weeks, you're looking at a couple of these automakers going into bankruptcy court" ("1600," MSNBC, 12/4).

NPR's Liasson: "I do think the Obama administration is inclined to do something for them and to make sure the big three don't disappear. But there may not be three of them when they're done, and they will look a lot different and they will be smaller and they will have to have lower labor costs" ("Special Report," FNC, 12/4).

Weekly Standard's Hayes, on he auto companies having more difficulty getting a bailout than Wall Street: "The reason for the bailout of the banks, if you believe the people who argued for it, was because we needed to unfreeze credit, you know, among other things. We needed to keep sort of the circulation of the body going. And otherwise we would be facing potentially the collapse of the financial system. The automakers are a different deal together. It would be more akin as one person put it to me as losing a foot. You don't want to do it, but it's not like the patient would die without the circulation flowing" ("No Bias, No Bull," CNN, 12/4).

Newsweek's Fineman: "The auto industry is unlucky in the sense [that] timing is everything in politics. And as one Senate Democrat told me tonight, you know, there's bailouts fatigue up on the Hill. The bankers got there first. The big banks got there first. AIG got there first. They were too big to fail."

More, on Congress considering imposing restrictions on the Big 3 in order to get the bailout through, such as demanding more hybrid car production: "At a time when gasoline is now suddenly cheap again, there's all the more incentive for them to still to want to produce and sell cars that are not all that fuel efficient. So, if the Congress tries to impose too many restrictions, they'll end up killing the very industries they are trying to save. It's a terrible conundrum that the Congress faces, but I got to say, the mood is still not favorable to the auto companies up on the Hill" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 12/4).

Ex-Clinton Labor Sec. Robert Reich: "my reading is that if Congress really is worried that GM, for example, might go down over the next month before the inauguration of the president-elect, well, Congress may provide a little bit of a bridge loan. Nobody wants to see GM go down, or Ford or Chrysler. But I think the big question is, what is so wrong with Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code?" ("1600," MSNBC, 12/4).

IF I WAS A RICH MAN

There was also talk on FNC about a Politico report stating that Holder will face opposition during his nomination hearings.

Roll Call's Kondracke: "First of all, his nomination is not in trouble. I think we should just say that. I think the Obama camp made sure, they went up to Capitol Hill and made sure he could get through. But I would say of all the cabinet members, his is going to be the most contentious. And it is not just Eric Holder who is going to be on the hot seat up there, it will be Bill Clinton, because this will be a chance for the Republicans to reveal the Marc Rich pardon. And if Democrats want to help Eric Holder get confirmed, they will have to put the blame on Bill Clinton."

Weekly Standard's Barnes, in response: "I think this nomination could be in trouble, because hearings are going to bring all this out. And they're going to be well publicized, because these are the biggest ones, because he is the most controversial nominee so far, at least, and it is a big job being attorney general."

Fox's Wallace: "In the interests of being fair and balanced, briefly tell us why Eric Holder is a good choice for attorney general."

Liasson: "As somebody said to me, everybody has the right to make one mistake. Other than this blot on his record, Eric Holder has been a stellar member of the legal community, and he's been a prosecutor and ... former judge. The guy is otherwise eminently qualified to be the attorney general. I disagree with Fred. I think that the Senate is inclined to give deference to a president on his cabinet appointments, and they will. Again, I'm not saying the hearings won't rake him over the coals, but in the end he will be the attorney general."

Weekly Standard's Barnes: "I think he will get confirmed, but these will be very embarrassing hearings for Holder and for the president-elect, not Bill Clinton" ("Special Report," FNC, 12/4).