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President Obama Holds Talks with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah; Monthly Job Loses Down; Shooting Suspect in Soldier's Death in Arkansas May Have Been Planning More; Former Chinese Protest Leader Recounts Her Life After Tiananmen Square Massacre; Goldman Continues To Fight Custody Battle With Brazilian Government
Aired June 03, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. Four men are due in court today accused of plotting to bomb two Bronx synagogues and shoot down military planes. They'll be arraigned one day after they were indicted on federal charges. The FAA used an informant to set up a sting on the suspects last month.
A memorial at Paris's famed Notre Dame Cathedral getting under way for the 228 people aboard Air France 447 when it went down in the Atlantic. French President Nicholas Sarkozy is expected to be there. The plane disappeared Monday. Searchers found the wreckage yesterday. Officials say no one survived.
President Obama meeting with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. It is the first stop on his trip to the Middle East with the goal of kick starting the peace process there. Tomorrow, he'll make an appeal to the Muslim world during a speech in Egypt.
President Obama in the Middle East and on a mission. His goal, open a new dialogue with Muslims. And that effort already underway in Saudi Arabia. He's meeting with the king and discussing some tough issues. Oil prices, peace efforts and Iran's nuclear program.
Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is traveling with the president. He's joining us now from the Saudi Arabia capital of Riyadh.
Ed, good morning to you.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. A really big trip for this president. Still early on in this new administration. His first real crack at high stakes Mideast diplomacy. As you said, he wants to try to start those stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but also wants to start a broader dialogue with the Muslim world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): The president's outreach to the Muslim world began week one when he gave his first television interview in office to al Arabiya.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My job is to communicate, the fact that the United States has a stake in the world being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be language of respect. I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries.
HENRY: On a later visit to Turkey, he took his shoes off to show respect before entering a mosque. And in a speech to the Turkish Parliament, tried to make a clean break from the rhetoric of the Bush years.
OBAMA: So let me say this as clearly as I can. The United States is not and will never be at war with Islam.
HENRY: Top aides say the president plans to build on that theme in Cairo where expectations are building, perhaps too high.
Everybody's looking for him as the magical man.
HENRY: Ibrahim El Muellum (ph), a media mogul and influential cultural figure in Egypt, says years of frustration has built up on the Arab street.
EL MUELLUM (PH): We think if he can handle the problem of the Arab-Israel conflict, not in a bias, not in a double standard way, and if he can really begin to reach and overall comprehensive just peace, this will immediately win the heart and minds of the Arabs and the Muslims.
HENRY: That's one reason in advance of his trip, the president has been getting tough on Israel, pushing a two-state solution in meetings with the resistant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And he used a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week to issue a warning to Israel.
OBAMA: In my conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu, I was very clear about the need to stop settlements, to make sure that we are stopping the building of outposts, to work with the Palestinian authority in order to alleviate some of the pressures that the Palestinian people are under.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, some pro-Israel Democrats back in the U.S. Congress have expressed that maybe the president is pushing Israel too hard. The president trying to calm those concerns in some interviews before this trip telling the BBC, for example, he thinks that all of this could benefit Israel if there's a two-state solution, Palestinian state living side by side with Israel. That could quell some of the violence in this region. Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, also, hearing this too, Ed, lining your piece about breaking from the Bush rhetoric. And then President Obama mentioned a war on Islam. Did he not mean a war on terrorism?
HENRY: Well, he has used that term sometimes, but not as frequently as the former president. I think clearly what he's trying to do is have a delineation and say that while some of the rhetoric from former President Bush may have been interpreted in this region as suggesting the U.S. was at war with Islam that there's a whole new day here and he wants to reinforce that tomorrow in Cairo.
COLLINS: OK. Ed Henry for us live out of Riyadh this morning. Ed, thank you.
And we'll have live coverage of President Obama's speech to the Muslim world that is now scheduled for tomorrow morning, 6:00 Eastern, 3:00 Pacific. You can see it live right here on CNN.
President Obama speaks, will the Muslim world listen? At the bottom of the hour, I should say, CNN's Zain Verjee is going to be looking at the weight of those expectations.
As soon as the president arrives in the Middle East, a new audio tape surfaced. It is believed to be from al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. If confirmed, it would be the first indication we've had in a while that Bin Laden is alive. The taped message criticizes President Obama's policies toward Pakistan and blames the U.S. for the crackdown on Taliban militants there. The tape was aired by the Arabic language network Al-Jazeera.
Your money, his measurement. This morning Ben Bernanke testifies on the health of the economy. The Federal Reserve chairman is on Capitol Hill. And Christine Romans is listening to what he has to say. She's joining us now from New York. So, Christine, what's he saying?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's saying what we've heard before the last time. You know, we continue to think that economic activity will bottom out this year, then turn around later this year. That's pretty consistent with what he has said before, Heidi. But this Fed chairman walks a tough line, because when he talks about areas where he sees signs of life in housing and the financial markets and in consumer activity, he's always very careful to say, however, but nonetheless, there's always a counter to that because it is still a fragile situation.
We just got the texts of his remarks, which he's just begun to deliver right now. So just going through this text, he talks about taxes, he talks about financial stability, he talks about taking a look at the size of our spending in relation to the size of our economy and what kind of level is going to be in the medium and long- term, the best for this country. That is something that has to do with the dollar, it has to do with how much money we're borrowing, and whether we're going to be able to continue along those paths.
I suspect that there will be House members who are going to grill him on just how much money we're borrowing, and whether all of this borrowing is being put to good use as the administration thinks it is.
So this is the economy from the perspective of the fed, but also the federal budget, this is the House budget committee. So he's going to be talking about the budget. And as you know, Heidi, the budget is an awful lot of red ink. We are borrowing money. We are borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of money to subsidize the auto sector, to get the economy growing, to stimulate the economy...
COLLINS: Yes.
ROMANS: ... to bail out homeowners, to loan money to banks. So all of this wrapped up into one big hearing today, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, one big hearing, might take a while. All right. Christine Romans...
ROMANS: We'll monitor it for you.
COLLINS: ... thank you. Appreciate that.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Also on Capitol Hill this morning, the nation's two bankrupt automakers. Executives from General Motors and Chrysler will face tough questions about plans to close hundreds of car dealerships. Are customers being protected in all of this?
Well, some lawmakers say Chrysler may be treating its dealerships unfairly. Some have been given less than a month's notice that they will be shutting down.
And later today, lawmakers get an update on mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Last year, the government pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the companies as they buckled under the weight of bad loans.
The economic hard times for GM and Chrysler could mean great savings for you, but would you buy a GM or Chrysler right now? You might be surprised to find there are some pretty amazing deals out there. We're blogging about it. And you can too. Just log on to cnn.com/newsroom and click on Heidi to send us your comments and find out about some of those deals.
Right now, checking the big board for you, New York Stock Exchange, Dow Jones industrial average is down by just under 100 points there. We did expect a lower open today, but we will continue to watch those numbers throughout the day here. Dow Jones industrial average resting at about 8,642 as you can see for yourself.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor is back on Capitol Hill today for day two of her meet and greets with senators. Yesterday, she met with several members of the Judiciary Committee, including Chairman Patrick Leahy. Leahy said they talked about her judicial philosophy. Sotomayor also met with the top Republican senator on the committee. That's Alabama's Jeff Sessions. After their meeting, Sessions promised a "fair hearing." And during her meeting, Sotomayor also talked about controversial comments that some have termed racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DIANE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: She said, "Obviously, it's a poor choice of words. If you went on and read the rest of my speech, you wouldn't be concerned about it." But it was just a poor choice of words.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Today, Sotomayor has more meetings with other members of the judiciary committee, and that includes South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, who had said Sotomayor should apologize for her so-called racist comments. All that while the debate heats up over a confirmation time table. CNN's congressional correspondent Dana Bash joining us live from Capitol Hill this morning with more on that. Yes, everybody wondering when is this thing going to happen.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well that is a big question. In fact, as we speak, the top Republican and Democrat on the Judiciary Committee are meeting to try to hash that out. But while they're doing that, Sonia Sotomayor, as you said, is making the rounds. She's got another flurry of meetings. She's meeting with Robert Mikulski of Maryland, and Patty Murray of Washington and with Lindsey Graham, the senator who as you mentioned said publicly that the wants to hear an apology for the comments that she made. But I'm told by one of his spoke spokespeople that he isn't planning on asking her that directly in their private meeting.
But meanwhile as this is going on, Heidi, what is quickly overshadowing that is comments by the former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
COLLINS: Right.
BASH: Remember, he caused quite a stir and he really changed the nature of the debate by calling Sonia Sotomayor racist for comments that she made suggesting that as a Latina woman she would be better suited because of her experience to make a decision than a white male. Well, guess what, Newt Gingrich is now backing off of that. He wrote an op-ed in the conservative publication "Human Events," and let me read to you what he said.
He said, "My initial reaction was strong and direct, perhaps too strong and too direct. The sentiment struck me as racist and I said so. Since then, some who want to have an open and honest consideration of Judge Sotomayor's fitness to serve on the nation's highest court have been critical of my word choice. With these critics who want to have an honest conversation, I agree the word racist should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person even if her words themselves are unacceptable. A fact which both President Obama and his press secretary Robert Gibbs have since admitted."
Well, I happen to have gotten an e-mail, Heidi, about this while I was interviewing Jeff Sessions.
COLLINS: OK.
BASH: So I asked him about it. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I haven't sensed this kind of hostile -- I just haven't felt it's appropriate to make those kind of strong statements about her.
BASH (on camera): You're glad he backed off?
SESSIONS: I'm very glad he backed off. I think that's unusual that commentators do that. And I think it was very good that he did. I think that'll help us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Jeff Sessions is one of many Republicans who actually get a vote. Republicans who are on, in the Senate and not just that but also in the Judiciary Committee. Many who have said from the beginning that it was not the right thing for Newt Gingrich to do, to use those remarks. Because what they have been trying to do strategically, politically, ever since Judge Sotomayor was nominated is to say, look, we're going to try to make this fair, try to not raise the volume too much with regard to, you know, personal attacks and try to stay on issues.
And there are very distinct philosophical issues about what she may or may not -- what approach she may or may not take on the bench. Whether or not she's an activist and whether or not those comments suggest she is. But it is very interesting that Newt Gingrich is backing off this. He is somebody who keeps in touch with a lot of these senators, and I know that, you know, he e-mails with many of them quite frequently, and again, it was pretty clear from Jeff Sessions' remark there, they were unhappy that he said it and very happy that he backed off.
COLLINS: All right. Well, we are watching these developments obviously. Thanks so much, our congressional correspondent Dana Bash.
BASH: Thank you.
COLLINS: Now the very latest on the crash of Air France Flight 447. French investigators say there is no hope anyone survived Monday's crash in the Atlantic Ocean. And they are not optimistic the flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder will be found. But military planes and ships from Brazil and France are finding wreckage. A debris field was actually spotted yesterday off the coast of Brazil not far from the flight path.
Today in Paris, an inter-religious ceremony is being held at Notre Dame Cathedral for family and friends of the victims. French investigators say finding the cause of the crash will be a long and difficult process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL LOUIS ARSLANIAN, FRENCH ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS BUREAU: It's impossible. It's the beginning of an investigation to say whether we will -- what we will find and when, and to which extent the investigation will lead us. The only thing I can guarantee is that we will do what we can do to go as fast as possible and as deep as possible in the understanding of this accident, its causes, and hopefully what can be done to improve safety. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Flight 447 was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
Rob Marciano joining us now to talk a little bit more about the geography that they had to deal with in all of this, especially while trying to get a hold of those black boxes, if you will, trying to get more information about may had happened.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and you know, you've heard a lot of experts talk about how deep the water is there. You get out to just a few hundred miles off into the Atlantic and it drops off precipitously. And even deeper out there, further out there it gets even deeper than that.
One of the problems that they're having to deal with is this is just getting close to as across the equator, just getting close to what's called the mid-Atlantic ridge, which is basically the separation of the Eurasian and north American plates, at least in the northern hemisphere. And at that spot, which is drawn by this line, I mean, things get really deep. You can go from, you know, 9,000 to 25,000 feet deep.
COLLINS: Almost like mountains.
MARCIANO: Yes and it's very rugged, it can go from high to low in a hurry. Some equate it to, like, the Rocky Mountains underneath the water.
COLLINS: Yes.
MARCIANO: Just to give you an idea, water temperature there is 77 degrees, 77, 85 degrees, winds 20 to 30 miles an hour there, and you got some swells along with that. As far as what's happening underneath it. This kind of estimates the top of the water down to some of the ground. And some of the estimates here, 9,000 to 10,000 feet, again and it gets a little bit more rugged. This doesn't quite have the resolution that would map out all those mountains and peaks we would see underneath the water. But it's definitely a big headache for these guys who have to deal with that.
When you think about even diving a couple of thousand feet underwater and the pressure and the amount of equipment that they have to have and the risk they're taking just to go that deep and then you're talking about potentially over 10,000 feet, over 20,000 feet just to find some of the wreckage and obviously the black box is one of the main things that they're looking for. So quite a number of obstacles to overcome.
COLLINS: Yes. No question about it. All right. Rob, thanks for that. Sure do appreciate it.
MARCIANO: You got it.
COLLINS: Ethnicity on the bench. And questions of whether Judge Sotomayor will let her heritage influence her judgment. Soledad O'Brien taking a look at the difference between backgrounds and bias.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has a colorful background from Bronx housing projects to Princeton. Does it mean it's going to color her opinions as a judge? Here to examine the issues, CNN special correspondent Soledad O'Brien.
So, Soledad, we know what got a lot of people talking was Judge Sotomayor's speech at Berkeley, one of them where she talked about her experience growing up Latina and making her a better judge. This is the first time a justice has openly talked about ethnic identity.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: No, absolutely right, or even identity as a whole. We heard that from Justice Ginsburg who spoke about what it's like to be a woman on the Supreme Court. We heard it from Clarence Thomas, who used the words "walking in the shoes," referring to others, meaning he could be empathetic to people whose background matched his own background. And this is what Justice O'Connor has said. She said "I think the important fact about my appointment is not that I will decide cases as a woman, but that I'm a woman who will get to decide cases." And listen to what Justice Alito said back in 2006 when he was in the middle of his confirmation hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Bottom line, of course, Heidi, is where you come from. Your experience matters. And what you heard from Justice Alito is, it has value, there's an upside to it. Having a working class background, understanding discrimination adds value to the decisions you're able to make whether you're a justice or you know, you work in an office building. It gives an empathy, understanding, and ability to connect court decisions to real human beings. So yes, I think, clearly this is not the first time that you've heard somebody talk about their identity in a speech.
COLLINS: Yes, of course, keeping the idea of complete and total impartiality as close to real as possible. What if the people that you've spoken with for this special told you about this difference between background and then bias?
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, the difference between background and bias is all the difference in the world. Everybody has a background, experience that they bring to the table. Again, whether you're going to be a Supreme Court justice or you're going to go work at the Burger King. Interesting thing that I noticed was this. First of all, the papers were the ones who talked about them. The headlines in the papers was not Princeton grad named as nominee to the Supreme Court, it was Hispanic nominated to Supreme Court. So the idea that in this country race and ethnic identity is irrelevant is just not true. But the second thing I would say as we travel around the country talking to Latinos, doing Latino in America, our upcoming documentary. The bottom line is, what does it mean to be Latino? I talked to incredibly conservative Cubans in Miami, I've talked to liberal Nicaraguans, I've talked to Puerto Ricans who covered the scale and have all kinds of ideology when it comes to politics.
So you know, there is no sort of homogeneous group of Latinos in this country. That is a ridiculous concept. I think what's interesting and where you do see Latinos united is this. You heard the words from Dana a minute ago talking about with Jeff Sessions about hostility is the word he first used. And when he was talking about Newt Gingrich, and that does unite Latinos, this perceived hostility.
In this country, people love to talk about diversity and embracing diversity. In theory. In theory. When it comes to actual practice of diversity, you can see the human cry that it raises. The bottom line is different people have different experience and you bring it to the table. She will do that as the Supreme Court justice that doesn't inherently mean bias. You have to look at decisions and rulings to see that.
COLLINS: Absolutely. All right. So we'll be watching. We sure do appreciate it. Soledad O'Brien comes to us from New York today. Thanks, Soledad.
Ever wonder what our resident doctor does when he's not dispensing medical news? Well, we're going to go inside Dr. Sanjay Gupta's operating room in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You always see him here on CNN helping you out with your medical concerns. But the one question Dr. Sanjay Gupta gets the most, what does he do when he's not on the air? Today our resident neurosurgeon takes us from the NEWSROOM to the operating room.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Pretty early morning. Two big cases today. Two of the biggest cases that we do in neurosurgery for the most part. Ruptured aneurysm and a sad story of a high school student who dove into a pool and broke his neck. He was supposed to graduate this weekend. So we're going to see what we can do for him. Let's go and find out where everybody is. Still on three or where he is? Okay. See you in a few minutes.
Dr. Chabra is my resident. He's going to be doing the case with me today.
DR. VINNI CHABRA, CHIEF RESIDENT, GRADY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: She's got some old stroke there. OK. Let me show you that.
GUPTA: This is I think probably the biggest trauma centers in the Southeast. We've seen more trauma here than any given day than I think just about anywhere else. They were doing cases here last night, the other team, and obviously it's 6:00 a.m. now, we're getting started with a new case. We'll be operating till late into the evening tonight.
Six-minute scrub.
Can I have some irrigation please?
Everything now is three dimensional at the base of the skull. And you're dealing with a sort of time bomb here because the aneurysm itself could rapture.
Give me a temporary clip please. Come on, come on, come on. I would have blood ready. We lost a fair amount there. OK, hang on. Let's just take a second OK, look around, see what we've got.
Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
99 percent of the operation goes exactly as you expect and then one percent can be a bit of an extravaganza and so, but you know, the patient's going to be great. All of the blood is out of her brain. The aneurysm is clipped. She's never going to have this problem again. So...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And that was all by 10:00 a.m. Sanjay then operated on the high school student who had broken his neck. He told us the spinal fusion was a success.
President Obama, he says he wants to open a new dialogue with Muslims. Are they listening? And what do they have to say?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: Time now to check stories making headlines this hour. Brazilian Air Force planes have spotted more debris from the Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic. French officials fear the plane's recorders may never be found.
Also this today, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, pictures now of him walking into Notre Dame Cathedral. You see his wife there, Carla Bruni, as well, for an inter-religious ceremony for family and friends of the victims.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of car dealerships and tens of thousands of jobs at stake now. GM and Chrysler's top brass face questions on Capitol Hill today about cutback plans.
And President Obama is in Saudi Arabia holding talks with that country's King Abdullah. The president says he's confident the two countries can make progress on a range of issues. The Obama administration is heavily promoting the President's speech in Cairo tomorrow. But does the Muslim world have much interest in hearing it? Before the first word is spoken, the reviews may be mixed. CNN's Zain Verjee (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ZAIN VERGEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (ph): America's next big ad campaign in the Muslim world. President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo. He's had a warm-up...
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation.
VERGEE: ... and is now gearing up for the big moment.
OBAMA: We are a nation of citizens.
VERGEE: His message. The U.S. is not at war with the Islamic world. Some Muslims are excited about the speech...
HIBA AL-HAJJAR, BEIRUT RESIDENT: I like Obama a lot because -- he's, like, usually diversified. He likes all people from all cultures. So I hope that his visit to the Middle East would improve and change the situation.
VERGEE: ... others skeptical.
EHAB JUHABI, PALESTINIAN: Nothing would be changed because, I think, the Americans would keep supporting the Israeli states forever.
VERGEE: Mr. Obama has already gained ground in the Muslim world because he's not George Bush. But Mamoun Fandy, a Mideast expert, says Muslims want more than just talk. They want action.
MAMOUN FANDY, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: That he's very serious about solving the Arab-Israeli problem, that he's really serious about engaging the Muslim world on the basis of recognizing the equality.
VERGEE: According to many estimates, there are more than one billion Muslims in the world, and the vast majority are moderates who want to hear that they are part of the solution to world security.
ISMAIL YUSANTO, JAKARTA, INDONESIA: We do not want anything from Obama except the realization of what he said, mutual respect, mutual understanding, and mutual interest between U.S.A. and the Muslim world.
VERGEE: Fandy says on this trip, looks will matter.
FANDY: Obama looks like half of the Muslims. His wife looks like probably half of the Egyptians and the Saudis, so he's a familiar face. That would be inspiring to the young Muslims who look like Obama that they can be global leaders. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So the president is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia right now. Tonight he leaves Saudi Arabia and flies to Cairo, Egypt. That is where he'll give the speech we've been telling you about, then he travels on to Germany and eventually France where he'll take in part in ceremonies honoring the anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
And we will have live coverage of the President's speech. It is scheduled for tomorrow morning, 6:00 Eastern, 3:00 Pacific. You can see it live here on CNN, if you don't see it live, we will replay much of it in the 11:00 hour, Eastern time.
When an American president visits Saudi Arabia, you can bet oil is on the agenda, but has the discussion changed much? CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" now from New York. Good morning to you, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Good morning there, Heidi. Not exactly a cause for celebration in Saudi Arabia. President Obama has made clean energy and U.S. energy independence a key priority. Right now, Saudi Arabia's the fourth biggest oil exporter to the United States. And if you look at the numbers here, folks, look how much we're importing -- 944,000 barrels a day from the Saudis. We'll show you the numbers there in a minute if we can. There you go. Oil right now is around $68 a barrel. If you do the math that, is more than $64 million a day that we are paying to the Saudis for oil over a year. That's about $23 billion.
Now, energy analysts we spoke with said the Saudis, of course, are concerned because the shift here to cleaner energy is going to hurt demand on their side. Another concern, though, is that carbon emission legislation that is in Congress right now -- that could raise our oil prices with more taxes in this country. But Heidi, the Saudis won't get any piece of that pie, even if prices go up here for that reason. Heidi
COLLINS: Yes, so President Obama wants alternative energy in the mix, obviously, but no doubt we're still going to need oil. What's the long-term outlook?
HARLOW: Yes, no doubt we will still need oil. We're not going to end our oil imports anytime soon. But analysts are saying that's why this discussion we're going to see with the President and King Abdullah is going to be more long-term. Not about oil today, but what about oil prices in five years? They say the President really wants some insurances from Saudi Arabia that it is going to continue its exploration for future sources of oil down the road. Without that, what we'll see is a spike in oil prices. And that's something the President says doesn't benefit us, obviously, and it actually doesn't benefit Saudi Arabia because that affects the demand side. Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, oil prices already up, though.
HARLOW: Oh, they're way up right now, just about $68 a barrel. This week alone, what we saw was oil hitting a seven-month high. Investors betting on some or the of economic recovery and therefore an increased demand for oil products.
Take a look at this chart here that we're going to pull up for you. What you're going to see, that is the price of oil this year alone. A huge rise, especially in the last month. That means your gas prices are up today for 36th straight day in a row. $2.55 a gallon. That's national average. As for the long-term outlook, we actually spoke to an analyst this morning that said in four or five years, we could see it above of where we saw it last summer, which is when it topped one-forty a barrel. So we're watching it closely, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yeah, who can forget that? Poppy Harlow with our "Energy Fix" this morning. Thank you.
HARLOW: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Tough news on the state of the job market. More than half a million jobs were lost last month. But there is some hope in today's numbers. Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange now with details on that.
All right, Susan, we're ready for the good news.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm not -- I think -- good news -- I think that -
COLLINS: A little strong?
LISOVICZ: There's some encouragement in this number. And that is the trend, Heidi. Because as you mentioned, half a million people lost their jobs. More than half a million -- 532,000 people lost their jobs in May, but that is the smallest number we've seen this year from ADP, which is a company that would know. It's a payroll processing firm.
Keep in mind, January through March, the monthly job losses were totaling around 700,000. The chairman of the company says the free fall in the economy seems to be over, but you can still expect job losses ahead. And Ben Bernanke, who is testifying right now on Capitol Hill, said the most recent information available says that sizable job losses and an increase in unemployment should be expected over the next few months.
But he does, again, state his belief that economic activity, growth, will return later this year. We're not seeing growth in the three major averages. The DOW industrials close to triple-digit losses, but down 95 points after four days of gains. And, you know, you want some hope, Heidi Collins? I'll give it to you. You look at that level there, 8645. The DOW has jumped 2,000 points...
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: ... in three months since March.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes.
LISOVICZ: That's a big move. COLLINS: That is a big move. Undeniable. But again, you've got to be cautious because we continue to see cuts, obviously, in the auto sector. How is that going to work into the future?
LISOVICZ: That's exactly right. We say it time and again. It bears repeating. The jobless rate lags over all economic growth. And so we can expect the unemployment rate, unfortunately, to continue to go higher.
The big government jobs report comes out on Friday. We're expecting up to 550,000 jobs lost. And with all of these new plant closings, more than a dozen, GM says you can expect an additional 20,000 people out of work. So there is more pain to come. But we are seeing signs of hope, and we're happy to tell you about it. Whatever we can.
COLLINS: All right. We'll be listening. Susan Lisovicz, sure do appreciate that. Thank you.
He's an 11-year-old who doesn't mind a bit of a stroll. Like going from Atlanta to Washington. Why this boy is on his way to the White House.
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COLLINS: First Lady Michelle Obama is delivering -- or getting ready to -- a commencement speech live this hour. She is speaking to high school graduates of a math and science charter school in D.C. Looks like they're presenting the colors right now. What a treat for them, huh? It's not often a First Lady delivers a high school address. We'll keep our eye on that for you.
Due in court today, the four men accused of plotting to bomb two Bronx synagogues. They'll be arraigned one day after they were indicted on federal charges. The men are also accused of trying to get missiles to shoot down military planes. The FBI used an informant to set up a sting on the suspects last month. They could get up to life in prison.
He allegedly killed a soldier at an Arkansas recruiting station, and court documents show Abdul Hakim (ph) Bledsoe may have been planning more. David Mattingly tells us Bledsoe was on the FBI's radar before all of this happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here's what we know. Twenty three-year-old Abdul Hakim Bledsoe, formally of Tennessee, stands accused of killing an American soldier on American soil. He told police he would've killed more if he had the chance, according to court documents.
SCOTT DUNCAN, DEPUTY PROSECUTOR, PULASKI COUNTY: He stated that he was a practicing Muslim, mad at the United States military because of what they had done to Muslims in the past. MATTINGLY: Bledsoe is accused in a drive-by shooting at this Little Rock Army recruiting office, wielding an assault rifle to kill one young soldier and wounding another. Court documents say he told police he was moved to kill after watching a video on subversive activity. His attorney declined comment. A federal law enforcement source tells CNN Bledsoe had already caught the attention of the FBI after an unexplained trip to Yemen, an al Qaeda hub, and a magnet for Muslim extremists. Experts say that raises red flags.
DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT: He could've sought training in weapons or other sorts of military tactics. A second thing he could've done is linked up with established terrorist groups.
MATTINGLY: Police found three weapons, including an assault rifle in his car, and believe Bledsoe acted independently. Just days before the Little Rock shooting, the suspect was working out of his hotel in a family business, driving tourists around in a sightseeing van. A neighbor said he lived in this apartment just two months. She said his own visitors were his parents.
JACQYLN DILLARD, LITTLE ROCK NEIGHBOR: He wasn't loud like a normal 20-something-year-old.
MATTINGLY: Back in Memphis where he grew up as Carlos Bledsoe, a former neighborhood remembers an easygoing, all-American type.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (off camera): He was a good kid. He was a happy-go-lucky kid. You see him and he spoke to you and waved at you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Bledsoe pleaded not guilty in court yesterday. He is now being held without bail.
So close, but so far. A Brazilian supreme court justice rules and now another setback in a New Jersey man's five-year battle for custody of his own son.
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COLLINS: Well, we are trying desperately to get some brand new pictures into you that we just received here at CNN. We are following, of course, President Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East. And we do know -- and we're looking at them right now --just about to pull them up for you that he met moments ago with King Abdullah, so we want to bring those -- here we go. Now we have some of these pictures.
This is basically all raw footage, as we call it here. And we continue to follow President Barack Obama as he makes this tour. Focusing on Iran and oil and Middle East peace, and we will continue to look at that. You see the pictures now. Once again, just in to the CNN NEWSROOM of President Barack Obama and Saudi Arabia -- there we go, rewinding again. That sometimes happens when we bringing you new video off the cuff like that. Again, President Barack Obama and King Abdullah. We'll keep our eye on it for you.
Meanwhile, tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square and of the uprising there. And China is once again cracking down on dissidents. Internet forums are being shut down along with social sites like Twitter. CNN's Richard Roth catches up to one pro- democracy leader who escaped China and now lives in the U.S.
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CHI LING, PROTEST LEADER: Oh, hi, how are you?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protest leader Chi Ling hasn't lost her people skills.
LING: How's the news (INAUDIBLE)?
ROTH (voice-over): The students she's concerned about these days are part of her U.S.-based technology business. Twenty years ago this week, Chi led thousands of students in demanding economic reform in China's pro-democracy rallies.
LING: It's really amazing. When I hear the word twenty, it just seems to be such a shock.
ROTH (voice-over): She was called the commander in chief but preached nonviolence.
LING: I cherish those moments, and that was the most gorgeous time of Beijing. It was a beautiful time.
ROTH (voice-over): Her hopes were crushed when the Chinese government ordered in the tanks. Hundreds, maybe thousands were killed. Chi Ling rejects suggestions that the students should have disbanded as early reports of military action spread.
LING: Based on the information we had, we made the best judgment we could.
ROTH (voice-over): She became a fugitive in hiding for months unable to see her parents.
LING: The 21 most wanted list, I was No. 4 on that list. So it wasn't a pleasant way to see your daughter on TV.
ROTH (voice-over): Nearly a year after Tiananmen, a videotape announcing she was free after a dramatic escape from China in a cargo container. Then the press conferences and speeches and a new life in America, university, and job hunting.
ROTH (on camera): When you were on your job resume, did you put commander in chief? Did that help or hurt?
LING: I -- it hurt.
ROTH (voice-over): So, Chi Ling did what she says she's good at, starting new enterprises. With her American husband, they founded Jenzebar (ph), an education software company.
LING: As you all know, (INAUDIBLE) is one of our flagship product lines.
ROTH (voice-over): Even at this Washington conference, the capitalist Chi Ling can't escape those who were there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was the leader before now, she's still my leader because we bought her software (ph).
ROTH (on camera): How often does that happen that you meet someone in the square?
LING: Sometimes. And I do get to meet people in the most unexpected occasions. It's very sweet when that happens.
ROTH: Nice memories?
LING: Wonderful memories, yes. Wonderful memories.
ROTH: A touch of sadness, of course.
LING: Totally, yes.
ROTH (voice-over): A wave of sadness when she greets Fon Jing (ph), who just got out of China. He lost his legs, run over by a tank while lifting a woman protestor out of the way.
LING: I feel a great deal of responsibility to help him because I felt like -- I see myself in him.
ROTH (voice-over): Chi Ling's message to Chinese students today?
LING: The message would be don't give up. The hope will continue for free China, to study well, to be prepared, and try also to do some good things.
ROTH (voice-over): But Chi Ling will not be returning to China any time soon. She is still a wanted woman.
Richard Roth, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Very quickly, want to bring you more live pictures. What you're looking at right there is a large crowd that has gathered, getting ready to unveil the newest statue for the National Statuary Hall. This is live pictures coming to us from the Capitol rotunda there. Over to the right, you can barely see, right next to that large portrait in front, is actually, we are told, President Ronald Reagan's statues. They're getting ready to unveil that, take the sheet off, and we understand that Nancy Reagan is there. This unveiling will happen just minutes from now. Again, adding it to National Statuary Hall. We're back in a moment, right here in CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Quickly, let's listen in to President Barack Obama coming to us from Riyadh with his meeting with Saudi Arabian King Abdullah. Listen in.
OBAMA: And I am confident that working together with the United States and Saudi Arabia can make progress on a whole host of mutual interests.
KING ABDULLAH: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
COLLINS: Well, unfortunately, obviously, we are not able to understand this particular portion of the tape that has just come into us here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We will continue to look at this and bring you all of the portions that we can understand a little bit later on. But just to remind you, of course, President Barack Obama -- we saw him land earlier today -- this morning, Ridyah, Saudia Arabia. He's meeting there with King Abdullah. So, we'll keep our eye on that and all of the events that surround his trip.
Another round in a five-year cross-country custody battle. David Goldman is in brazil today. Yesterday we told you he was about to get his son back, but then the supreme court justice blocked a lower court judge's order. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is following this story and joining us now from New York with more details on this.
Boy, we could go on and on about this story. The twists and turns have really been incredible over the past five years. We know that the boy's mother died a while ago. So his natural father wants him back, has wanted him back since the day he left. But there are many complications here.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The answers seem simple. But after the mom's death, a Brazilian family court gave the stepdad custody of Sean Goldman, an American-born child, even though David Goldman never gave up any of his parental rights.
What's more, David Goldman who you see there with his estranged wife, doesn't even believe their divorce was ever legal because he never signed any papers ending the marriage. His wife did it all independently in Brazil. And he says that's really what makes this so outrageous.
COLLINS: So, why doesn't the Brazilian supreme court judge suspend the lower court order that would've reunited him and his dad today? I mean, this isn't even the first time he's gone over to try to get Sean back.
FEYERICK: That's exactly right. The judge felt that taking the child abruptly, in his words, could harm Sean psychologically. The kid is in school, he has a stepsister, he spent the ages between four and nine in Brazil. And it wasn't until he saw his dad for the first time last year that he even understood that his dad had been trying to contact him. So, it has to be confusing on so many levels.
COLLINS: Yes, how much of the truth of the young boy even knows about all of this. We don't have that information at this point. This case has reached some of the highest levels, both in the U.S. and Brazil and also complicating things, the stepfather, the fact that he's an attorney, too.
FEYERICK: Well, absolutely. He knows his Brazilian law very, very well. The State Department is actively involved. As a matter of fact, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to this case on Monday saying her office would continue to work with the Brazilian government to make sure the child returns to America. But again, it's been a really hard press by the family of the wife to keep Sean Goldman in Brazil.
COLLINS: All right, Deb Feyerick, we appreciate you following this. Very interested in the story. We'll continue to do this on CNN.
Backing down, Newt Gingrich admits to a poor choice of words to describe Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. I'm Heidi Collins. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Tony Harris.
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