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American Morning
Gibbs Gives Administration a B on Economy; Hillary Clinton Says America Committed to Africa's Future; Town Hall Shoutdowns; Lisa Ling Says Sister Treated Fairly and Humanely; July Unemployment Numbers at 9.4 Percent; Following Two Freshman Congressmen
Aired August 07, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, welcome back once again to AMERICAN MORNING. It is 8:00 on the nose here in New York and we have a lot going on this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry and Joe Johns is in for John Roberts. Great to see you this morning.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Glad to be here. And here are the top stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
This morning, the nation marks 200 days of the Obama White House. And since day one, President Obama has been talking about creating jobs. In 30 minutes, we'll learn if his efforts are paying off or if unemployment in July went even higher.
CHETRY: Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in South Africa this morning. She's been taking a tour of several countries in Africa, and she's also delivering a tough message. In a moment, we're going to take live to the State Department to find out what America's top diplomat is saying.
JOHNS: And Lisa Ling, Kiran just had an in-depth interview with her here on AMERICAN MORNING. And hear what she has to say about her sister's imprisonment in North Korea, her emotional homecoming and how she is adjusting to being back in America.
CHETRY: First, though, President Obama kicks off his 200th day in office. He's bracing for what could be grim news from the labor front. In fact, in less than 28 minutes now, we're going to learn the nation's unemployment rate for July and it is not expected to be pretty, especially when you look at how unemployment has soared from 6.2 percent last September to 9.5 percent in June.
Already, the White House is trying to get out in front of the jobless report. Here's what Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told Wolf Blitzer last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're going to get a jobs report tomorrow that's likely to show another several hundred thousand jobs lost. The recovery plan is working in cushioning the blow. I think you see that in the recently released economic output figures. But it's going to be many months before we can get people back to work. We're certainly working on that every day. The president is focused on that each and every day, but that's our long- term and short-term challenge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And CNN's Dan Lothian is live at the White House this morning.
So, the administration is bracing for the numbers that are coming out in about 30 minutes. And some economists are saying we could see unemployment creep into double digits. Politically, what does that mean for the administration?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the administration bracing for this. They have been preparing for it actually for quite some time. They have been saying that they fully expected that the employment rate would reach into the double digits.
What they're saying is that, "Listen, everything that we've been doing to stimulate the economy, to create these jobs, these jobs are being created," but that it will take some time before you can see the fruit of their labors. That one of the senior administration officials here, top economic adviser, describes it this way: that the economy -- and turning the economy around is like a large super tanker. You can turn the steering wheel, but it will take time for that ship, for that vessel to actually correct.
So, they believe they're in that process of actually, you know, they're turning the steering wheel, but it will be sometime before you feel or see that recovery and that Americans need to be patient, Kiran.
CHETRY: And America got to grade the president last night during CNN's "National Report Card."
LOTHIAN: That's right.
CHETRY: What grade would the administration give itself?
LOTHIAN: Right. Robert Gibbs is giving the administration a B on the economy. And here's how he settled that, that grade. He believes that because of everything that this administration has done, they've been able to pull the economy back from the brink of disaster, from a depression.
They also believe that the financial markets have stabilized because of a lot of the work that they've done, and also, they've seen some improvement in the housing market. No one here is, by any means, saying that a recovery has happened, but they believe, at least, that the trend lines are improving.
CHETRY: All right. Dan Lothian for us this morning at the White House -- thanks so much.
And one of the programs that we've been talking about here, "cash for clunkers" is now still alive. The Senate approving more money for the program, and President Obama praised the Senate for keeping the rebate running program running -- approving additional $2 billion in funding so customers can flock their car dealerships and get up to $4,500 by trading in their old cars.
"Cash for clunkers" also jumped started slumping car sales. In fact, July was the auto industry's best month in nearly a year.
JOHNS: This morning, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in South Africa, as the second leg of her seven-nation tour of Africa. She's meeting with government and business leaders, stressing America's commitment to the future of the continent.
Our foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is tracking Secretary Clinton's trip from the State Department. She joins us now live.
Good morning.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Joe.
You know, you take a look at that schedule of Secretary Clinton in South Africa today, it's really quite full of events. She starts out with a meeting with Nelson Mandela, the former president, and then delivers a speech to business and industrial groups, then she goes to events that are connected with health care and women's rights.
It's a very good, really, a perfect example of the breadth of issues that Secretary Clinton is getting into on this trip to Africa
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world, as partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children.
DOUGHERTY: Three weeks after President Barack Obama's trip to Africa, his chief diplomat is back, striking many of the same themes.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Many parts of Africa are rising to 21st century challenges and following a road map that will turn Africa into a regional and global hub for progress and prosperity.
DOUGHERTY: Parts of the continent still are racked with violence. But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's focus on Africa is not playing into long-held stereotypes of it as a basket case, but as a potential bread basket.
CLINTON: We believe in Africa's promise. We are committed to Africa's future, and we will be partners with Africa's people.
DOUGHERTY: And she's delivering some tough messages.
CLINTON: Government has to reform itself. If Kenya will be all it can be. That is the message that President Obama and I have delivered. It is tough but it's also lovingly presented.
DOUGHERTY: Tough love, David Lane, president of global anti- poverty organization One, calls it.
DAVID LANE, PRESIDENT, ONE CAMPAIGN: What we're hearing from Secretary Clinton is it's a two-way street and African leaders have to -- have to be responsive to their people, they have to govern justly and invest in their people. And that that's an implicit bargain as the U.S. provides resources for development.
DOUGHERTY: Secretary Clinton is highlighting some of Africa's many problems, too -- meeting with the president of Somalia, a country besieged by extremist movements tied to al Qaeda; visiting South Africa under severe economic pressure; in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, meeting with victims of mass rapes used as a tool of repression. Add to her travel agenda: Kenya, Nigeria, Angola, Liberia, Cape Verde -- seven countries, 11 days, her most ambitious trip yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY: And the trip also provides the opportunity to send a message to China, which has been very successful in gaining access to the natural resources of China and that translation would be the United States is putting Africa at -- on a high level in its priorities -- Joe?
JOHNS: That certainly is quite an itinerary. Thanks so much -- Jill Dougherty at the State Department this morning.
Meanwhile, Secretary Clinton is talking to CNN about her husband's big adventure this week. She spoke to Fareed Zakaria about the former president's rescue mission to North Korea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAREED ZAKARIA, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" HOST: So, President Clinton comes back. He spends three hours talking to the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il. What was his impression of him?
CLINTON: Well, we're going to get a full debriefing -- which we really haven't had a chance to get.
ZAKARIA: You must have spoken to him on the phone.
CLINTON: Well, I do. I had -- have spoke to him on the phone, but I have this policy, I never to talk about what I talk to my husband about, Fareed. But we're hoping is that maybe without it being part of the mission in any way, the fact that this was done will perhaps lead the North Koreans to recognize that they can have a positive relationship with us.
ZAKARIA: But the Bill Clinton mission -- it was unorthodox. I mean, here you have a former president going on what appeared to be a state visit from the way in which he was greeted, being received by North Korea's top nuclear negotiator.
CLINTON: This, as you know, came from the families. I mean, this was a message that Laura and Euna were given by the North Koreans which they passed on to their families and former Vice President Gore...
ZAKARIA: Naming him specifically.
CLINTON: Naming him specifically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: And you can see the entire interview with the secretary of state on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" at 1:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, many Democrats are heading back to their districts for their congressional recess, and they're holding some town hall meetings in their home turf, to talk about health care and try to answer some questions.
JOHNS: But for some, it doesn't exactly feel like home -- because some groups of conservatives are coming out in droves to protest the Obama administration new health care plan. Check out this scene last night in Florida, a little bit of pushing and shoving going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Now, that Tampa town meeting wasn't exactly an isolated incident. Events like this are happening across the country. In New York, Representative Tim Bishop had to be escorted to his car by police, when things got too heated.
A new ad from the Democratic National Committee says, quote, "Mob activity is straight from the playbook of high-level Republican operatives." And White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs claims conservative groups are prepping supporters on how to disrupt the meetings. Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele says, "We're not inciting anyone to go out and disrupt anything."
So, what do you think? Phony mob groups or legitimate grassroots outrage? Let us know at CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: And we're going to be talking about all of this, the town hall heckling, et cetera, the future of health care reform, with Democratic strategist Bob Shrum. He's going to be joining us in just a couple of minutes.
Stick around. It's now ten and a half minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
You know, President Obama failed to get a health care reform bill out of Congress by the summer recess. That was his original goal. But now, this month of August could be make or break for a system overhaul. Democrats are back home in their districts and they're out trying to sell the president's plan.
But then, there are these town hall disruptions, that we're seeing these protests around the country. The debate has become, in some cases, a shouting match. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. That's some of them.
Democratic strategist Robert Shrum says that the stakes are high and that in these cases, Republicans are stooping low. He joins us from Boston with more.
Thanks for being with us this morning, Bob.
ROBERT SHRUM, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Glad to be here.
CHETRY: So, as we talked about in our earlier hour, in some cases, people are being encouraged to go out and disrupt these. But, in other cases, people are legitimately questioning or want to, at least, try to find out some answers about how any types of changes in health care will affect them. So, how do you really separate what's been going on -- the so-called propaganda versus some real questions that constituents might have?
SHRUM: Yes. Well, as I said in my column in "The Week," people can ask these questions and come to the town hall meetings. They can have a dialogue. It's perfectly legitimate to oppose it.
But what's happening here is you have organized mobs paid for by organized money, standing there, screaming "just say no" so that not one question can be asked. I don't think that's going to help the Republican Party. What you're seeing is the party of no.
On the other side, you're going to have President Obama out there occupying the bully pulpit in August talking about health care. I think that the Republican tactics are going to backfire. When people hear Rush Limbaugh comparing the president of the United States to Adolf Hitler, comparing the Democratic Party to the Nazi party, when they see these kinds of tactics going on, I think that's only in the end going to build support for what the president wants to do.
CHETRY: House Minority Leader John Boehner is saying that the Democrats are, quote, "in denial instead of acknowledging the widespread anger." Is there also a danger of a backlash on the other side -- meaning, if we're dismissing these and if Democrats are dismissing these questions about health care reform and how much it's going to cost, that it could backfire on them?
SHRUM: No one's dismissing the questions. Everybody is willing to answer the questions. The Senate Finance Committee is working very hard on this. The Senate Health and Education Committee has already done this.
But you can't get any progress on this -- at least if you're on the other side -- by just standing there and screaming, or by trying to flood these meetings and making it impossible to hold them. When you do this, all you're doing is, I think, assembling a whole bunch of Joe the plumbers, the media's going to pay attention to it like the media paid a lot of attention to Joe the plumber during the election, and in the end, I think, it's not only going to have no effect, I think it's going to help pass health care.
Look, the real target for this is Democratic members of Congress. But I think they all remember in 1994 when so many of them walked away from the Clinton health care reform and they know what happened in that election. They lost seat after seat after seat, and it's the moderates, some blue dogs who would lose those seats.
They have to take a lesson from the Republicans of 20 or 30 years ago who stuck with Ronald Reagan as he put forward a very bold program that I didn't happen to agree with, they got through a very tough period in '81 and '82, and they got to the Reagan era. I think Democrats understand that, and I think the president's going to get a health reform bill.
CHETRY: That's interesting. There are polls after polls that are coming out, showing that people, while they think there needs to be changes, they sort of believe in that principle that, yes, there are some problems. When you ask them how they personally feel about their health care, by and large, they're satisfied with it.
The CNN poll shows that nearly 75 percent of people asked said they are satisfied and only 1/3 believe that President Obama's health care plan will actually help their individual family.
How do you sort of work against those numbers and push through something in a tough time that's going to be costly when the majority of people seem to think, "At least, I'm OK with what I have"?
SHRUM: You have to go out there and talk to them about the difference it's going to make. You have to answer the Republican scare tactics.
I mean, you referenced (INAUDIBLE) naturally-tan, John Boehner, the House Republican leader, a moment ago, he, last week, told a complete lie. He said, this bill opens the road to euthanasia.
You got to go out there and answer all that.
They're saying, for example, that the savings in Medicare come out of Medicare benefits. They don't and everybody knows it. They come out of a deal with the hospitals to cut costs by $155 billion, without cutting services for the elderly.
So, you have to go out and you have to tell people. If we don't fix this problem, we're going to have very serious economic consequences down the road.
General Motors now pays more money for health care than it does for steel in its cars. It's the reason why the American auto industry has had such great difficulty competing.
So, it's a fundamental issue of social justice. I mean, right now, today, a lot of people are getting sick, staying sick, and dying sooner because they don't have health care. And it's also a fundamental issue of economic health for this country for the long- term.
CHETRY: And so, then I want to ask you about this, though, because there are a lot of people who believe, especially on the Democratic side, that you need this public option, that the public option is really the only way to bring about out universal health care and to pave the way down the road for true reform and true cost- cutting.
Yet now, there's talk of Max Baucus, the Democrat in the Senate, who met with the White House yesterday, is saying that perhaps they need to throw public option off the table, that it's not going to be supported by Republicans and that some moderate Democrats are not going to do it.
Is it real health care reform the way the president envisioned it without this public system?
SHRUM: It depends what the alternative is. If the alternative, the cooperatives that Max Baucus and Kent Conrad are talking about provide real and effective competition to the insurance industry, then it's the kind of reform we need. And I think we could move forward with that and we will move forward with that.
If, on the other hand, you don't get that...
CHETRY: Right.
SHRUM: ... and you don't get some Republican support, there's always a backup. The Democrats can put this bill through the Senate by a process known as reconciliation, which is filibuster-proof and requires only 50 votes plus Vice President Biden.
CHETRY: All right. We'll have to see how it goes.
But, again, as we know, it's a hot topic for the month of August. You have a great article in "The Week." And we encourage people to read the article.
Bob Shrum, as always, great to talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
SHRUM: Thanks. Thank you.
JOHNS: And it's going to go on for months in all likelihood.
Also coming up later, just a fascinating interview this morning with Kiran and Lisa Ling, speaking to CNN right here on AMERICAN MORNING. Hear what she has to say about how her sister was treated in captivity.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
We witnessed their emotional, tear-filled homecoming from North Korea. But it is still a long road back for Laura Ling and Euna Lee, and two freed journalists.
And earlier, I had a chance to speak with Laura's sister, Lisa. And I asked her about the weeks leading up to the release of her sister and Euna Lee, and what it's been like for them since their plane touched down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA LING, LAURA LING'S SISTER (via telephone): In the nearly five months of their captivity, they were only able to make four calls to us. And we know that the calls were very closely monitored. And, in fact, messages were being communicated through Laura to me specifically. I mean, it was really pretty extraordinary that there was this sort of channel between Laura and me.
And on the last phone call, she said that in "her opinion," quote-unquote, it would have to be President Clinton, it could only be President Clinton who could secure the release of herself and Euna. And so, we immediately jumped into action and alerted Vice President Gore and the State Department. And Vice President Gore called President Clinton immediately and he graciously agreed to go. And we are just so, so grateful.
CHETRY: How are they physically?
LING: Well, Euna is so, so skinny, and my mom, who is a typical mom, was trying to basically force feed her last night because she's become so diminutive. My sister, she's doing well. They both went to doctors yesterday.
And Laura, you know, she would spend periods in relative isolation. She would sometimes go weeks without really talking to anyone despite the fact that there were two guards posted in her room at all times. So, you know, even communicating is challenging because she sometimes -- you know, yesterday was even having a hard time just getting full sentences out.
CHETRY: What else did they tell you about whether they were treated well, about whether or not, you know, they were -- they were ever mistreated while they were being held in North Korea?
LING: Well, my sister says that for the most part, they were treated fairly and humanely. And we were very surprised that she and Euna had not seen each other at all. They've just found out when they were reunited that they were in the same facility but on opposite ends. And we were told by President Clinton that as soon as they got on the plane, they wanted them to rest because they could tell they were so tired, but the two of them were chatting away and comparing their experiences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. And she also said that her sister is really eager to tell her story, that Laura wants to, you know, talk about what happened when they were captured, what was going on at the time, and also, what they -- what they went through. But that she just needs a little time, which is understandable.
JOHNS: Also talking about writing an op-ed, I hear -- which would be fascinating. But you don't think you get enough time in an op-ed to really do justice to it, so maybe a book.
CHETRY: Yes, definitely be talking about their experience.
JOHNS: All right. Also coming up: We'll be talking to former presidential candidate and former Republican senator from Tennessee, Fred Thompson, about health care, a variety of other issues, including the economy.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: All right. It is 27 minutes past the hour right now.
A look at the top stories.
Have we hit double digits? Those are the fears of some economists when new unemployment numbers for July come out. They are due out actually in three minutes, and we're going to have them for you.
Last month, unemployment hit 9.5 percent. Some are worried we could see that jump to 10 percent. And have stocks overseas on the skids right now and futures are down on Wall Street. We have Gerri Willis standing by with more on the numbers. We have John Avlon with more on the political impact. And we will bring those numbers to you as soon as we get them.
JOHNS: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in South Africa this morning. Earlier, she met with former South African president and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela. During her seven-nation tour, she's talking up some of the continent's biggest problems, including AIDS, war, and widespread and political corruption.
Plus, for the 17th day in a row, the price of gas has gone up.
CHETRY: That's right. AAA is reporting that the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is now $2.63. That's up more than a penny in the last 24 hours and we've seen gas prices up 17 days in a row now.
JOHNS: It is shaping up to be a make or break month for health care reform in this country. But so many town hall meetings on this key issue are turning into shouting matches. One in Florida, even, almost got violent. Some Democrats say it's all manufactured outrage from conservative groups.
So, what's really going on here?
Here to talk about that, former presidential candidate and host of "The Fred Thompson Show," former senator Fred Thompson.
How are you doing, sir?
FRED THOMPSON (R), FORMER TENNESSEE SENATOR: I'm doing good, Joe. How are you?
JOHNS: Thanks. Thank you so much for coming in.
We've been showing throughout this morning some pictures that came in from Tampa overnight, a lot of pushing and shoving inside a room. We've seen and heard people talking about a congressman being hung in effigy. We've heard about a congressman actually having to be walked to his car from authorities. And a lot of to and fro on this issue of health care heating up and people sort of coming to the brink.
What's your view of this? Have we sort of reached the stage where it's beyond civility?
THOMPSON: Well, perhaps in some cases. I've seen some clips like the ones that you're talking about. But I also know that meetings are being conducted all over the country and the overwhelming majority of them are not like that.
So, I hope that we don't get so caught up in the reasons behind the protests that we can't talk about the substance of the protest and the issues and the concern that a lot of people have over the health care legislation that's pending. Hopefully, we can have a civil conversation about that through the month of August.
And I think what you're seeing is that people are learning more and more about what's in the bill, and they're concerned about some of those provisions and they're also resentful about the process, that the attempt was made to speed it up and to kind of push it down people's throats before they had a chance to digest it, before they had congressional hearings on the final bills or anything like that. And it's -- and it's apparently overflowing in some places and that's unfortunate.
JOHNS: Now, we do know people get worked up. They got worked up when the Clintons were trying to push health care through, a lot of drama there. This time, perhaps the same thing. But there are some, particular over on the Democratic side saying it's the kind of thing that is manufactured and canned.
What's your view?
THOMPSON: Well, you know, the Republicans haven't been accused of being able to organize anything in a long time. So, they apparently are getting credit for being able to not only massively organize meetings that are conducted almost simultaneously across the country, but...
JOHNS: Senator, I'm sorry, just let me jump in for one minute. I ask you to stay right there, we just got the unemployment numbers, I'd like to go over to Gerri Willis. And what are you hearing?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well guys, yes, we just got the July unemployment numbers coming in at 9.4 percent. That is a positive surprise. The expectation is that we would get a 9.6 percent unemployment rate. Just in June we had a 9.5 percent rate. That was a 26-year high for unemployment.
This comes as good news. Expectations were that we would lose 325,000 jobs for the month. Still waiting to hear what that reality is for the month in my ear here.
But I have to tell you guys, you know we always see that jobs lag what's going on in the economy. We have that number now, the payrolls number dropping by 247,000. That is very, very good news when you consider in June we lost nearly 500,000 jobs, 467,000.
I think you've got to say this is a positive, a win-win. The market sold off this morning expecting bad news. They're going to get positive news. You're probably going to see a turnaround in what going on in the stock market.
Remember, employment is a lagging indicator. It follows everything else. And that's because hiring managers don't work in real time typically.
They have to wait to get data to decide if they're going to hire, if they're going to fire. Already we've seen that so many of those hiring managers have told workers you're going to have to take part- time work, we're going to cut your hours, we're going to have you take longer vacations.
And now those people will be added back in, and slowly we'll start to see that employment picture really, really improve for the better.
CHETRY: And this is the interesting thing when the unpredictable comes in. Most economists said they expected it to rise possibly to double digits but at least to jump up one-tenth of a point. So politically speaking it's one of those "whew" moments, right, because when you hit 10 percent unemployment, the game changes.
JONATHAN AVLON, AUTHOR, "INDEPENDENT NATION": It does in that you cross that psychological barrier. But this is very good news for the Obama administration. There are a lot of people in the West Wing doing just that right now. This is very good news not only for them politically, but for the country and for the people who have been unemployed.
It is a sign that some of the stimulus may be working, that the country may be pulling itself out of the trough we've been in.
Look, this is just one battle. The war is not over. But this is a great indicator and a positive surprise.
CHETRY: And just a point of an analysis here is that I think we have seen that what's going on here is the economy is healing itself. We're still waiting for a lot of those stimulus dollars. Those really haven't kicked in.
JOHNS: So now let's bring in former Senator Thompson. You're there, you just heard this news. You're looking at the economy, and you've be on Capitol Hill watching it very closely.
What's your view of these numbers? Do you think it's a good sign for the country? Do you think the Obama administration should get credit for that?
FRED THOMPSON, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I've never seen such euphoria over 9.4 percent unemployment.
(LAUGHTER)
But it's all about --
JOHNS: That's still high.
THOMPSON: Kind of like politics, I guess. It's all about somebody's expectation.
I do think that what you're seeing is the underlying strength of the economy struggling and trying to come back, as it always does, and as it will in this case too.
By I think about 10 percent of the stimulus money is out the door now. So if the economy's coming back or the recession is over, as some people have proclaimed, I guess we can save about 90 percent of that stimulus money and let the economy draw on its basic strength and bring us back the way it always does.
JOHNS: Got it. And while I have you there, if I can ask you one more question, where do you think this health care reform thing is going? You spend a lot of time on the hill, a lot of time talking about the health care reform. Do you think it's going in the right direction?
THOMPSON: Well, it's going in all different directions. I think that, you know, the Democrats are very much at odds with each other. They have tried to demonize the Republicans and the insurance companies and those who are protesting, and so forth. But ultimately you've got to talk about what's in the bill.
And a lot of these Democrats are having trouble when they go back home and people have read portions of the bill or in some cases all of the bill.
I think ultimately what will happen, something will be done about the uninsured in this country. If we remember, we started out, that was the goal, do something about the uninsured and do something to, as they say, bend down the long-term cost curve.
And if we could get back to those considerations, I think you could have bipartisan agreement on that. But you don't need to revamp the whole system, change one-sixth of the economy, put in jeopardy the kind of care that we get in this country, which is the best in the world, put in jeopardy the kind of insurance coverage that so many people get who are pleased and satisfied with their coverage in order to do those basic things.
JOHNS: All right, great. Thank you so much, former Senator Fred Thompson. We appreciate you're coming in this morning.
I think that was a pretty good line there, so much euphoria, and unemployment is still at 9.4 percent. It's pretty high, but it's a good sign for the administration because it wasn't what they thought it would be.
CHETRY: Right, we talk about it being about expectation and, we saw it drop. So that's the news they can bring to the table here, saying that payrolls dropped by 240,000, the jobless rate falling to 9.4 percent. Signs that the recession is ending, Gerri?
WILLIS: Absolutely. And I have to tell you, this will be a kick start with what goes on with consumers. Consumer spending is responsible for 66 percent of the spending in our economy generally. That's just the way the economy works.
When you make consumers feel more comfortable, when you and I feel comfortable spending because we think we might be able to stay in our jobs, that will help the economy.
CHETRY: All right. And quickly also, as Gerri said, some of the recovery seems to be happening when we're talking about nearly more than 80 percent of the stimulus money going out there. What does that do politically -- not out there yet.
AVLON: Well, I think it raises questions for folks, because there is a bailout backlash that's going on inside the country. There's real anger and frustration. They see Wall Street recovering, Main Street doesn't feel it yet.
Fred Thompson made a great point. This is still 9.4 percent. But it's the trend that matters for politics in the economy. Under Reagan in 1982 unemployment was 10.7 percent. It was 7 percent by the time he won 49 states for reelect in 1984.
So point of comparison, but the trend is in the right direction. We're not out of the woods yet, but it's a step in the right direction.
WILLIS: They say the trend is your friend on Wall Street. CHETRY: John Avlon, Gerri Willis, thanks so much for your analysis.
And meanwhile, we're going to be coming right back in just a moment with Alina Cho. She's been tracking the freshmen congressmen on CNN.com. They've been chronicling every moment of their freshmen year, and she brings us her behind the scenes report after the break.
It's 37 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." It's 40 minutes past the hour right now.
And there's the shot of the White House this morning. Mostly cloudy in D.C., 71 degrees. A little bit later it's going up to 85. And a partly cloudy day at the start of the weekend. But pretty pleasant outside all things considered.
JOHNS: Mild summer.
CHETRY: Yes, it hasn't been bad at all.
Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." We've been bringing you behind the scenes and firsthand reports. These are two young members of the freshmen Congress. We call it their freshman year. One's a Republican and one's a Democrat, and they're worlds apart in every way.
Alina Cho has been following them, updating them as they chronicle their day to day life of what it's like.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you can see, they shoot their own video as well.
CHETRY: You told them to zoom out and they listened to you, because last time we had eye and nose jobs.
JOHNS: So they figured their way around the tunnels and the basement there.
CHETRY: I know. You spent ten years as a congressional correspondent, so you've seen this behind the scenes stuff before, but a lot of people haven't. So it's great.
CHO: Good morning, everybody.
Congress, we should mention is about to begin its August recess -- wouldn't it be nice? So before they head out, we wanted to check in with our two freshmen congressmen.
CNN.com, as Kiran just said, has been following 42-year-old Republican Jason Chaffetz from Utah and 34-year-old Democrat Jared Polis from Colorado. Since the very beginning, these two colleagues from opposite sides of the aisle have been shooting footage for CNN.com, giving viewers a real behind the scenes look at life as a freshman congressman.
For Chaffetz, that includes a look at some sights we don't get to see. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, (R) UTAH: Figured out something new here. I didn't realize that we could come out on what's called the speaker's balcony. So we're here with a few other freshmen members.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not freshmen.
CHAFFETZ: We're veterans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wyoming sends your greetings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wyoming, New York, Kentucky.
CHAFFETZ: This right here is the Rayburn room. You come out here and turn to your right. Then you see the security guys. And if you turn left, that's in the floor on the House. That's where they say, "Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States."
Familiar faces, vice president, Senator Hatch, Senator Bradley. I kind of have a good seat here. It's nice
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An enormous amount of the institutional -- I know you have members of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: He didn't listen to me. I said zoom out, guys.
For Congressman Polis, by the way, he said goodbye to his summer interns who took a walk down memory lane, recalling their funniest moments on the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JARED POLIS, (D) COLORADO: Oh, this is so sad. It's the last day for all of our wonderful interns. We love you all so much. Thank you so much, our highly paid team of crack interns. Good job. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think my favorite part of being an intern in this office has been working with constituents and giving tours.
Actually today, earlier, I was giving a tour with a bunch of little kids. And one of them actually ran into the legs of Nancy Pelosi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The funniest thing in general is just constituent calls. We get a lot of really smart, informed people. But we also get a lot of people who call conspiracy theories. So, I think that was my favorite part.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've worked in this office for two months now, and one of the staffers still calls me Andrew despite the fact my name is Anthony. So, awesome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: We should mention that Congressman Polis' office wanted us to tell you that he was joking about the interns being highly paid because they are unpaid. Some of the interns on the Hill are paid.
By the way, you should watch this latest episode of freshman year, and all of the episodes of the reality series. And for that you can go to CNN.com/freshmanyear.
Kiran, I know your favorite part is watching Congressman Charetz eat pop tarts in his office where he lives.
CHETRY: He pays a grand a month or more?
CHO: He pays $1,500 a month on rent. He's a father of three, a Republican from Utah -- Utah, is that right?
CHETRY: Yes. And so he's saving money by living in his office.
CHO: That's right. That's right, on a cot. And I'm surprised he lasts this long in these small quarters.
CHETRY: Nobody's happier for the Congressional recess.
JOHNS: Absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: They don't have the video of smoke-filled rooms because they don't smoke in the capitol anymore. That's the way it works.
CHO: They're back on September 8th, and we'll be following them again.
CHETRY: Thanks so much.
JOHNS: Coming up the myth about exercise, is it the best thing to milk away those pounds? We're going to find out some surprising information when you come. I've been looking forward to this segment all morning.
CHETRY: You're hoping the next guest justifies you not having to go to the gym any more.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: Yes. No sit-ups. Just eat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. It is 47 minutes past the hour now.
If you think that hour you spent on the treadmill this morning will help you lose weight, think again, at least according to "Time's" cover story this week. It's saying that exercising regularly may actually make it harder for you to lose weight, which comes as a big shock to many people, the myth about exercise.
Well, John Cloud is a senior writer at "Time." He wrote the story. He joins us now with more. You're going to have hoard of gym rats ready to attack you the second you leave the set today.
But really, tell us about the whole premise of this. How is working out more or exercising more making it harder for people to stay in shape?
JOHN CLOUD, SENIOR WRITER, "TIME": Well, and I'm one of those gym rats. And by the way, I should start out by saying it's really important for your health in all kinds of ways.
But in terms of weight loss, the problem is exercise -- well, one problem is exercise makes you hungry. And we all know this intuitively, but, you know, when you work out, also you feel hungrier, and you also want to reward yourself. So people often get home from the gym and they say, well, you know, I can have that bag of potato chips because I worked out this morning.
CHETRY: Is it more about, the simple, you know, math or the simple way that biology works, you know, a calorie in a calorie out. And you need to take in less than you expend if you want to lose weight, and vice versa.
And so the question is, are we just not doing it smart anymore? Is the way that we expend activity and how much we consume just not matching up?
CLOUD: Well, one problem is we don't move very much in our day- to-day lives. People don't take the stairs, people -- when you do get out from in front of your computer finally and maybe you go to the mall, you're taking the escalator, the elevator, you know, we don't move very much in our day-to-day lives.
And then we go to the gym for 30 minutes or we try very hard to get to the gym, and then you're fiddling around with your iPod and maybe not actually doing much exercise.
There's also kind of a myth about, we think if you convert fat to muscle that you're going to be able burn more calories. And it is true that muscle burns more calories than fat, but it's not as much as people think.
CHETRY: A muscle would be six calories a minute and fat's two? CLOUD: Well, not a minute, it's per day. So a pound of muscle is going to burn about six calories in a resting body not per day, per hour, and then a pound of fat is going to burn about two calories.
So if you convert 10 pounds of fat to muscle, you're going to buy yourself about 40 calories a day.
CHETRY: Which is a half of spoon of peanut butter and you're done, right?
CLOUD: Exactly.
CHETRY: This is interesting, because they actually did studies on this. They did a six month study on a group of women who were not regular exercisers. They divided them into four groups.
And so they worked out for varying levels of time during the day, 72 minutes for some, 136 for others, 194 minutes for others per week.
CLOUD: More than three hours, yes.
CHETRY: And they ended up finding that some of the people who worked out the most weren't the ones that lost the most weight, or sometimes they actually gained more than the control group. How is that possible?
CLOUD: So particularly that very high exercise group, those -- there's something called -- the researcher who did the study, Dr. Tim Church at the Paddington Biomedical Research Center, he calls this compensation, basically.
And there's two ways you can compensate. You can eat more, or you can move around less, you know, when you get home from the gym. And he thinks it's probably mostly the eating, because they were measuring these people's steps.
But the shocking thing about that study was after six months -- and these people worked out with trainers, it was three or four times a week at the gym, you know. As a group the exercise people did not lose any more weight, any more body fat than the control group, and all the control group did was fill out a monthly medical form.
CHETRY: I guess you have to be more realistic about how much we're actually -- how much good we're actually doing in the gym and what we eat when we're outside of it.
CLOUD: Right.
And it is important to say exercise is very important for all kinds of things. It's important for your mental health, it's important for your heart. I mean, you should exercise. But this idea that it's going to make you really thin is kind of a myth.
CHETRY: All right. Well, you can read more about it on the cover of "Time" this month -- this week, rather. John Cloud, senior writer, thanks so much. CLOUD: Thank you.
CHETRY: We also have a link, by the way, CNN.com/am. You can get right to the article.
It's 51 minutes past the hour.
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JOHNS: Music city right there, Nashville, Tennessee. It's supposed to be clear and 73 right now, partly cloudy later, 92 degrees. That is one good town. "Music calls us home," that's what it says on their Web site.
CHETRY: Yes, Boston music hour.
JOHNS: It's fantastic. I love it so much.
And a couple hours from there, I hear, is Rob Marciano. Now, this guy has been out there going through this big yard sale that goes just about 600 miles all the way from Ohio right up here against the edge of Michigan there down through Gadsden, Alabama.
And you see that dot in the middle, that's just about where Rob is right now. He's been picking through all that good stuff and trying to get us some bargains here back in New York.
CHETRY: Now he's checking out decor for his bedroom.
(LAUGHTER)
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly.
JOHNS: That's very nice. I like the Barbie doll.
MARCIANO: Working Cinderella. This is about as lucky as I can get --
CHETRY: That's Aurora, Mr.
MARCIANO: Who is this? Barbie.
CHETRY: That's Princess Barbie, and then the one in front is Aurora.
MARCIANO: I should probably quit while I'm ahead.
All right, guys, as you know, the world's largest yard sale, people waking up here in Dunlap, Tennessee.
And we're just kind of going through stuff. As you know, some of it's junk, some of it's pretty good stuff. Some of it will take you back in time. You know, some nostalgia. Freddy Flintstone, Barney Rubble glasses. Remember you used to get jelly, and when you were done with jelly, it turned into a glass with your favorite cartoon on there. All sorts of China and lamp. I haven't found a leg lamp, that's on the list which happens to be growing. Figurines.
An authentic, genuine, 100 percent real turkey tail. That's from a turkey. How about that? It's nice and soft, and I'm sure it was a tasty thanksgiving. Dill pickles.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: I see a Village People costume. Halloween's around the corner.
JOHNS: I want a peacock tail.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: Green tomatoes. Come on, folks, don't let us get in your way.
And this is probably my favorite. I might have to bring home to you, Joe. I know you were looking for some fuzzy dice. I think the phone is ringing. Hold on, it's John Roberts on the phone.
JOHNS: Hey, John, come on back.
MARCIANO: John says you're doing a great job. Don't sit so close to Kiran.
You guys have a good weekend. We'll be here all day.
CHETRY: Josh, he's up the road at the other end of the yard sale up in Ohio.
MARCIANO: Guys, so we're going to do this every Friday. We're going to go on the road next week. The yo-yo championships are in Orlando. And our viewers can decide where we go after that. Go to atamfix.com and give us your ideas.
JOHNS: Burning man.
CHETRY: Well, I know Rob's hoping for somewhere with a beach.
All right, Rob. Good luck with the seasoned cast iron frying pan you brought yourself.
JOHNS: You can make omelets with that.
CHETRY: Have fun on that chair.
That's going to do it for us. We hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for being with us. We'll see you back here on Monday.
JOHNS: "CNN Newsroom" with Heidi Collins begins right after a break.
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