[Phillips:] Well, just a month after he was elected, Barack Obama is making progress in filling his Cabinet. His latest pick announced today, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for Commerce secretary. He had been considered a contender for the job of secretary of State. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from Washington with more. Hi, Suzanne.
[Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, Kyra, This is somebody who has an incredible amount of experience. He has been a governor, a congressman, a diplomat, a U.N. ambassador, he even Energy secretary. And he has negotiated with countries like North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Iraq, gotten hostages out, peace agreements in, cease-fires. So, the big question, of course, is why Commerce secretary? It was widely viewed he would be logical pick for secretary of state. That is the job he wanted. But that big prize, as we know, went to Senator Hillary Clinton. So Obama, today, was asked why shouldn't this be seen, especially to Hispanics who supported his candidacy, why this was not a consolation prize?
[Barack Obama , President-elect:] I have appointed about half of my Cabinet so far. And I think that when people look back and see the entire slate, what they will say is not only in terms of my Cabinet but in terms of, but in terms of my White House staff, I think that people are going to say, this is one of the most diverse Cabinets and White House of all time. But more importantly, they are going to say, these are all people of outstanding qualifications and excellence.
[Malveaux:] Not surprising that Obama emphasized Richardson's role as an economic diplomat, one who had to deal with the global economic crisis, and as a governor he acted as the CEO of his state, basically, balancing budgets, increasing access to health care, those types of things, Kyra.
[Phillips:] Well, Suzanne, was the Obama transition team sensitive to the way this appointment would be perceived?
[Malveaux:] They certainly were. They were aware of this. They realize they had three big guns here, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Bill Richardson; all of them who have portfolios that kind of overlap. They wanted to bring them all under the umbrella, all under the tent. They had to figure out a way to do that. That is why you didn't see him, basically, with the economic team last week with the whole group of people. He got his own press conference, his own announcement. They really wanted to bolster this, because they knew it would be perceived that way. And they wanted to emphasize this was about global trade and that this was a match for his resume.
[Phillips:] Suzanne Malveaux, live from Washington, thanks. And of all the Cabinet picks and staff appointments, by the president-elect, only one comes with a spouse who used to be president. In an exclusive with CNN International, former President Bill Clinton says the junior senator from New York and last surviving rival for the Democratic nomination did not expect a spot in Obama's Cabinet.
[William Jefferson Clinton, Fmr. President Of The United States:] I think she was shocked. She first read about it in the newspaper, the speculation.
[Unidentified Female:] Really?
[Clinton:] Yes, and she it was I think a very wise decision by the president-elect, and I think she made the right decision.
[Phillips:] Well, Clinton spoke with CNN's I think it is Anjali Rao in Hong Kong, where he opened a meeting of his Clinton Global Initiative. Well, the parties, the glitz, the glamour, you know we see a lot of that on Inauguration Day, but in these tough times, will the party go on when Barack Obama takes the oath of office? Here is CNN's Jim Acosta.
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Correspondent:] Talk about pressure, less than 50 days the go and some 3 million people expected, and the stage is still being set. So, Obama Inauguration Spokeswoman Linda Douglass says they have to get creative.
[Linda Douglass, Spokeswoman, Presidential Inaugural Cmte:] One of things we are looking at is opening up the National Mall, for the first time, with a big screen TVs and an audio system.
[Acosta:] Another challenge? Striking the right tone. Past presidents have learned that glitzy inaugural balls can be a distraction in tough times.
[Larry Sabato, University Of Virginia:] It is not going to look particularly good for the president-elect and his team, if Americans see limousine after limousine and fur coat after fur coat, at a time when just about everybody else is suffering.
[Acosta:] These are tough times.
[Douglass:] These are tough times, and certainly we are mindful of the struggles that Americans are going through in their own lives right now.
[Acosta:] Douglass says that is why they set new limits on donations to the inaugural fun.
[Douglass:] No corporations, no union, no money from lobbyists; a limit of $50,000 for an individual. But there have been past inaugurations when that limit was $250,000.
[Acosta:] Obama supporters dismiss the idea of dialing it down.
[Unidentified Male:] I'm not sure that you do tone it down. Based upon the way this campaign was run, I think the president elect wants to open the inaugural events up to as many people as possible.
[Acosta:] A tone will be set when the president-elect selects his inaugural theme.
[Obama:] The time has come for a new beginning. A new dawn of American leadership.
[Acosta:] A new dawn? Sounds like FDR's New Deal. [on camera]: Are we seeing a theme emerge, perhaps?
[Douglass:] We are not going to be talking about themes. You will be hearing what the theme is when we roll it out.
[Acosta:] OK, and but it sounds like a theme that's
[Douglass:] Good try though.
[Acosta:] President Bush's inaugural in 2005 ran between $40 and $50 million, for now, Mr. Obama's inaugural planners won't talk about a price tag, except to say that private money should cover most of the costs. Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
[Phillips:] Extraordinary times for the auto industry. And a pretty much unprecedented meeting of its union leaders. What it is like knowing your industry, your family's industry, maybe even your nation's economy have so much riding on what you are doing.