GWEN IFILL: President-elect Obama unveiled his national security team today. The group includes veterans of administrations past and present.
Mr. Obama's one-time rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, is his pick for secretary of state.
The current defense secretary, Robert Gates, has agreed to stay on.
Retired Marine General James Jones was tapped as the next national security adviser.
And Susan Rice is the nominee for U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Other nominees include: Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to head the Department of Homeland Security; and Eric Holder for attorney general. We'll have much more on President-elect Obama's emerging cabinet after this news summary.
There's word tonight the U.S. is officially in recession, and it started in December of 2007. The National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of academic economists, made that determination.
In Austin, Texas, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, warned economic conditions would probably remain weak for a time.
And in Washington, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson admitted there have been problems with the economy, but he resisted using the word "recession."
HENRY PAULSON, U.S. Treasury secretary: The thing that we've known and I've known is that we are in an economy that has slowed down significantly. The American people know that, and I think the American people have known that for some time.
So I don't think that this is going to be big news. I think they've known the economy has slowed down. We've focused on it. And everything I'm doing is to address that slowdown the best way I know how.
GWEN IFILL: The recession news did not help the bottom line on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 680 points to close at 8,149. The Nasdaq fell more than 137 points to close at 1,398.
For more on this, I spoke moments ago with Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Economy.com.
Mark, we have heard for months now about whether there is a recession or whether there isn't a recession. If so many people saw it coming, what is this that's new today?
MARK ZANDI, chief economist, Moody's Economy.com: Well, it's official. The National Bureau of Economic Research says we're in recession for about a year. And it confirms what many of us have felt for quite some time.
And it also paves the way for policymakers to become more aggressive. They can now say, "We're in recession, and we need to act aggressively," and I think this will help them do that.
GWEN IFILL: Usually in the past when we've heard talk of recession, they don't declare it a recession until it's actually over. Why different -- what's different now?
MARK ZANDI: Well, I think it's because it's so obvious. You know, the economy is struggling very significantly. Employment is falling rapidly. Unemployment is rising. All the economic data are very bad. And everyone knows we're in a recession. I think they're just confirming it.
GWEN IFILL: Yet Secretary Paulson today would not use the "r" word. He talked about a slowdown.
MARK ZANDI: Well, you know, everyone knows it's a recession. I think he's nervous about making people even more nervous. I'm not sure how you do that, but that must be in his thinking.
GWEN IFILL: Well, speaking of making people even more nervous, we saw the Dow take another big plunge today. Was it because of this declaration or are there other factors at work?
MARK ZANDI: No, you know, I think market participants know this. You know, it was bad economic news across the globe.
Chinese reported bad numbers, in the U.K., South America, and of course here in the United States. And I think all of that just was too much for investors to bear. And, of course, we did see a big gain last week, so I'm sure there are people out there taking profits.
GWEN IFILL: So now that we have this declaration of a recession officially being on, what does this tell policymakers?
MARK ZANDI: Well, it tells them that we're in the soup. I mean, a recession is a broad-based persistent decline in economic activity. And certainly this is very broad-based; 30 states are in recession; lots of industries are in recession.
And it's persistent. It's over a year, and things are intensifying, so policymakers have a green light to become very aggressive and try to stem further declines in economic activity as we make our way into '09.
GWEN IFILL: Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com, thank you.
MARK ZANDI: Thank you.
GWEN IFILL: The market downturn also sent oil prices tumbling. In New York trading, oil fell more than 9 percent to settle below $50 a barrel.
India summoned Pakistan's high commissioner today and demanded strong action to find who was behind last week's terror attacks. An investigation is underway to determine whether the 10 known gunmen had links to Pakistan.
The siege in Mumbai, the city once known as Bombay, killed 172 people, including six Americans.
We have a report from Bill Neely of Independent Television News.
BILL NEELY: Captured alive, one of the Mumbai murderers, police beating him as he lies shot on the ground. It's film footage of the only gunman to survive who has told police he was trained for a year in Pakistan for this attack by Islamist militants.
The police here are happy to reassure an anxious India that, based on the militant's confession, they have killed the other nine gunmen responsible for these massacres. But many here will not accept that 10 men launched 10 attacks, then defended two hotels for three days.
The police are mourning their dead, 16 officers. I asked their chief how he could reassure India.
HASAN GAFOOR, Mumbai police commissioner: I can assure the citizens of India that our fight against terrorism is as strong as it has always been, and now it shall be strengthened even more.
RESTAURANT CUSTOMER: They were warned. They were definitely warned.
BILL NEELY: Authorities were warned of an attack, but failed to act. The cafe where eight people died bears the scars of that failure. India tonight still anxious.
GWEN IFILL: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to India later this week. During a stop in London today, she called on Pakistan to fully cooperate in the investigation. She spoke at a joint news conference with the British foreign secretary.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. secretary of state: We will be working with India. We intend to work with Pakistan, as well. The people who perpetrated this must be brought to justice.
And ultimately the terrorists have to be stopped, because they will keep trying to bring down the civilized values and the civilized world as long as they are not challenged.
GWEN IFILL: President-elect Obama expressed sympathy for the victims of the siege today. He stopped short of offering advice on how the U.S. should act now, but said his administration would work to bring all terrorists to justice.
PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK OBAMA: What I can say unequivocally is that both myself and the team that stands beside me are absolutely committed to eliminating the threat of terrorism, and that is true wherever it is found.
We cannot have -- we cannot tolerate a world in which innocents are being killed by extremists based on twisted ideologies.
GWEN IFILL: We'll have more on India later in the program tonight.
A string of bombings around Iraq left at least 32 people dead today. A car bomb and a suicide bomber detonated almost simultaneously near a police academy in eastern Baghdad. Sixteen people died.
And in Mosul, a suicide bomber blew up near a joint U.S.-Iraqi convoy, killing at least 15.
Also today, South Korean troops in Iraq headed home after a five-year reconstruction mission. Troops from 13 countries must leave Iraq before a U.N. mandate expires at the end of December.
The FBI arrested the mayor of Birmingham, Ala., on criminal charges today. It's part of a case involving a multibillion-dollar sewer bond deal. Larry Langford was charged with conspiracy, money laundering, fraud, and accepting personal bribes of more than $200,000. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
