Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Obama Administration Claims Stimulus Package Saved or Created 1 Million Jobs; Obama Tries to Get Moderate Dems Onboard with Health Care Reform; Picking Up the Tab on $900 Billion Health Care Reform Still a Concern; Nation Torn Over Issues After 9/11
Aired September 11, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and thanks very much for being with us on this Friday. It is September 11th. I'm John Roberts.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello in for Kiran Chetry this morning. It's been eight years. I can't believe it and lots of stuff about them. The observation of 9/11 a little later this morning.
ROBERTS: And we should point out too, that for the very first time in the traditional 9/11 remembrances that were held in the pit, what was the World Trade Center, for the very first time, they will be held on the concrete plaza of the new museum and memorial which, by all accounts, is scheduled to be completed two years from now on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
COSTELLO: And I know you're going to be talking to Mayor Bloomberg so...
ROBERTS: He'll be coming up in our second hour, and in our third hour, of course, we'll take you down to Ground Zero. And the beginning of those remembrances, it's scheduled to last for a little more than three hours today.
COSTELLO: Here are the big stories we'll be breaking down in the next 15 minutes.
Economic rescue, the Obama administration claims its $787 billion stimulus package has saved or created about a million jobs since February, but Republicans beg to differ. We're live at the White House with developments. And Christine Romans will have an economic reality check.
ROBERTS: President Obama tried to bridge the Democratic divide over health care, meeting with moderates in his own party. Meantime, Democratic leaders in Congress appear ready to drop their demands for a government-run public insurance option as part of an overall reform bill.
COSTELLO: And they've been called the forgotten victims of 9/11. Hundreds of first responders have died from health problems caused by the toxic air that existed for months at Ground Zero. Now eight years after, hundreds more are still getting sick. We're digging deeper on that. ROBERTS: But we begin with President Obama. Even as health care is priority one for his administration, the White House keeping America's economic recovery front and center. Key members of the Obama team sending out the message and telling America what the administration has done to bring the economy, they say, back from the brink. But Republicans aren't standing by quietly, saying the White House is just using smoke and mirrors to mask how the stimulus has actually failed.
The White House now claiming the stimulus package they put into effect has created or saved about a million jobs, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner talked of the recovery at a town hall last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: For the first time most economists think we're actually growing. The world is now growing too. But because as a country we borrowed too much, built up too much leverage, really had too long of a period of living beyond our means, that it's going to be a slow recovery. It's going to take a while to fix this.
You're going to likely see unemployment stay unacceptably high for a longer period of time because of that, because of this transition we need to go through to get to a more stable, stronger foundation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We're digging deeper on this story this morning. Elaine Quijano is working her sources live from the White House. And Christine Romans here with a reality check of the White House's claims of a million job saved or created.
We begin with Elaine. And a pretty extraordinary moment there last night. The treasury secretary in a town hall meeting talking about the economy, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. You know, President Obama, as you said, obviously, still very much focused on health care. At the same time, though, he wants to continue sending the message that his administration is on top of the nation's economic recovery.
So on Monday, exactly one year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, that's, of course, the institution that helped spark the financial crisis, the president is going to be heading to Wall Street to deliver a speech highlighting what the administration has done and is doing to try to get the economy back on track.
Now, his speech is coming on the heels of the claim that you mentioned by the head -- this claim yesterday by the head of the Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer. She said that because of the administration's actions when it comes to the economic stimulus, one million jobs have been either created or saved since February.
Well, as you can imagine, that prompted some strong and immediate reaction from Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell noted that the country has lost 2.5 million jobs in that same period. And in a statement he said, "How can anyone tell the American people with a straight face that he more than two million jobs that have been lost since the stimulus was enacted is actually one million jobs saved or created?" And nevertheless, despite those kinds of criticisms, the president and his administration does deserve credit for starting at least to get the economy to turn around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A full and vibrant recovery is still many months away, but thanks to the bold and decisive action we've taken since January, I can stand here with confidence and say that we have pulled this economy back from the brink.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: So, John, that's one of the themes that we're expecting to hear from President Obama on Monday when we heads to Wall Street to deliver what the White House is billing as a major speech on the financial crisis -- John.
ROBERTS: Elaine Quijano at the White House this morning. Elaine, thanks.
COSTELLO: So who's right, the Democrats or the Republicans, or is it someplace in the middle? Christine Romans is here to give us a reality check.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're both right. They're both right that there have been a lot of jobs lost since the beginning of this recession and since the beginning of the year and since the stimulus passed. And the White House is right that they have probably saved or created jobs.
Quite frankly, I've met some of the people whose jobs have been saved, especially teachers, firefighters, thousands and thousands of those jobs. But the White House Council of Economic Advisers says in its report these numbers are "subject to considerable uncertainty." These are estimates. You can give the round number of a million, but these are estimates.
I will never be able to give you a list of what the jobs are, what the titles are, when they started and who holds those jobs. We never will be able to do that, and the White House won't be able to either. These are economic estimates. And we do know that when you look at how many jobs have been lost, many have been lost.
The treasury secretary says that the unemployment rate will stay unacceptably high. The White House Council of Economic Advisers says the stimulus is working. It is saving and creating jobs. Both of those things can be true. We will never, never know if it really is a million jobs. And I think that's very important for people to understand. I do know that when people support the White House and they maybe are teachers who has kept their job, they look at these numbers and they say, look, it's working. People who are out of a job right now look at those numbers and say how can the White House say this? I'm really hurting here.
I want to look at something here just to give you a perspective of what's happening in the labor market, though, even as they're saving or creating jobs as they say. When the recession began, you had hires as a percent of the overall labor market, something like 3.7 percent. Look at what's been happening. This is people getting hired in this labor market. It is still ticking down, it is still ticking down, it is still ticking down. It says (INAUDIBLE) that people are always being hired and fired, but the percentage of people being hired is much, much smaller now than it was in the past couple of years.
ROBERTS: Yes. As you say, it all depends on your perspective.
ROMANS: It really does, and these are estimates.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Brand-new trouble for the nonprofit housing group, ACORN, this morning. Two employees have been fired after they were caught on tape allegedly giving advice to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute.
The tape was actually made by a conservative filmmaker. On the tape, the ACORN employee tells the couple how they can cheat on their taxes, set up a brothel, and even suggests the woman should list her occupation as a performance artist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your business is a performing artist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A performing artist?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which you are. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're not lying. We'll play on words. But you're a performing artist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. So stop saying prostitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A spokesman at ACORN says the video was "gotcha journalism" and that undercover teams attempted similar stunts in at least three other ACORN offices. ROBERTS: Performing artist?
COSTELLO: Well, I guess she's right. She is. Just unbelievable.
ROBERTS: Some kind of a performance, isn't it?
Seven minutes after the hour now. More calls for South Carolina's embattled governor to quit. This morning, 31 out of 46 top Republican officials in the state have agreed to send a letter to Governor Mark Sanford calling for his resignation. They're upset with the governor after he disappeared back in June to see his mistress in Argentina and then later admitted to a year-long affair.
Meantime, Sanford says he will use legal action if necessary to block the release of an ethics report about his travel while in office.
COSTELLO: The space shuttle Discovery waiting for the OK to return home. NASA scrubbed two landings last night at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida because of a stormy weather. NASA will try again tonight to bring the shuttle and its seven crew members home. But if the weather doesn't cooperate, the shuttle may be diverted to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.
ROBERTS: How's this for a deal to get you into the showroom? General Motors putting its money where its mouth is. Starting on Monday, if you buy one of their cars and you don't like it -- I mean, this is like, you know, buying an appliance or something that you don't like, you can bring it back within 60 days for a full refund. No questions asked.
COSTELLO: Wow.
ROBERTS: The deal runs through November. GM says it's hoping that this will reverse its sinking market share.
COSTELLO: You got to do something to prove your product is good and we have enough faith that their product is right now, that they're allowing people to bring it back.
ROBERTS: I wonder if it's like shoes, you know? You have 60 days to bring them back, as long as you don't wear them.
COSTELLO: Can't drive the car, but I'm sure that's not true.
ROBERTS: Apparently you can drive the car which is really incredible.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROBERTS: May not be tough to rattle off some clunkers from the 1930s, or 1980s rather, and '90s. There are some in the 1930s as well. But what about this decade?
The editors of cars.com (ph) are already looking back at the ten worst cars, and some of them might surprise you. Some of the most memorable coming in at number 10, the Pontiac Aztec. The consumers calling the car design ugly.
COSTELLO: What?
ROBERTS: That would be putting it lightly actually. And number nine, anything by Daewoo. In fact the brand is not even sold in the United States anymore.
COSTELLO: At number five, the Cadillac Catera. I don't even remember this car. But remember? Maybe you remember it.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes.
COSTELLO: It was built as the caddy that zigged. Only it zagged in the wrong direction and failed to drive younger buyers to General Motors. Coming in at number three, the Jeep Compass. It apparently disappoints off-road lovers at every turn.
Go ahead, John. You can do the number one. I'll give the drum roll.
ROBERTS: All right. Number one, the smart car. Oh, the poor little smart car. It looks really cute, but there's a lot of questions about its safety.
COSTELLO: No kidding.
ROBERTS: And if you're claustrophobic or you need to pick up a few bags of groceries, you won't be smiling in this car.
COSTELLO: Especially being hit by a drunk in that car.
ROBERTS: You know, I worked with a guy who loved the Pontiac Aztec.
COSTELLO: Really?
ROBERTS: I always thought maybe there's, you know, there's a couple of little...
COSTELLO: Does he still have it?
ROBERTS: No.
COSTELLO: No.
ROBERTS: He would always -- he would rent it.
COSTELLO: He would rent it?
ROBERTS: Yes. You'd think if you had a choice, you wouldn't rent that, but he did.
COSTELLO: Hmmm, interesting.
ROBERTS: Oh, so did the president win over Democrats in his health care address to Congress the other night? Dana Bash on the hill this morning. She's going to be breaking that all down for us.
Ten minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. You're taking a live look at Ground Zero this morning. Eight years ago, the worst terrorist attacks happened on U.S. soil. 9/11 memorials are planned in New York and Washington and, of course, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Here in New York, at 8:46 Eastern, there will be a moment of silence at Ground Zero. Of course, that's to mark the time the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
And coming up this morning at 7:10 Eastern, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will join us live and we'll ask him if the city is safer today than it was eight years ago.
Also this morning, President Obama will take part in 9/11 remembrances, but his attention remains squarely focused on the make or break issue of health care reform. The president is pressing moderate Democrats for their support and there are signs party leaders in Congress are backing off their demand for a so-called public insurance option. Dana Bash is following that for us.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Carol, here in Capitol Hill, we're starting to see and hear new signals that some Democrats whose differences have slowed the president's health care plan are starting to climb out of their trenches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): If the president's speech was meant to bridge the health care divide in his own party, listen in, it may have had an effect.
REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: All the stars are aligned. I mean, if we can't do this now, then when the hell are we going to be able to do it? You know, I want to help this president make history.
BASH: Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern describes himself this way.
MCGOVERN: I'm a proud liberal Democrat.
BASH: He strongly supports a government-run health care option, but says the president's address helped convince him to be willing to compromise.
MCGOVERN: We need meaningful health care reform. And, you know, it may not be everything I want. I mean, I'm a single-payer person, but at the end of the day, if it moves the ball forward, then I think it's going to be worth supporting.
BASH: To be sure, some liberal Democrats are still firmly entrenched.
REP. LYNN WOOLSEY (D), CALIFORNIA: We don't have health care reform, unless we have a public option.
BASH: But the House speaker even softened her stance. This often repeated line in the sand...
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: There's no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option.
BASH: Now noticeably absent.
PELOSI: This is about a goal. It's not about provision. As long as our goal of affordability and accessibility and quality, then we will go forward with that bill.
BASH: That's a tell-tale sign that liberal Democrats are now more accepting of this reality. Any health care bill must be conservative enough to pass the much more moderate Senate. In fact, Pelosi even signaled the House now will not act until it's clear what the Senate Finance Committee will produce. Their proposal now has no public option. And on other issues, the Democratic chairman boasted the president's new plan tracks with theirs.
SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D), FINANCE CHAIRMAN: Very close to being in sync here. And that's (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: The president's health care plan still really depends on what a rather large group of moderate Senate Democrats can accept. That's why the president invited 17 of them to the White House.
We caught up with them as they returned back to the Senate by bus and one Democratic senator told us he pushed the president on the idea of a so-called trigger. That is a public plan would only take effect in several years, and only if other insurance reforms don't work. But several senators told us the president made abundantly clear he is willing to negotiate -- John and Carol.
ROBERTS: Dana Bash in Capitol Hill for us this morning. Dana, thanks so much.
So the president has got his health care plan out there, says it's going to cost you about $900 billion but won't add a penny to the deficit and that the majority of the money that he'll spend on that could be found in eliminating waste and fraud from Medicare and Medicaid.
COSTELLO: A lot of people are skeptical about that.
ROBERTS: Just a little bit. And we'll talk to one of them, coming up next. Stay with us.
Sixteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. As President Obama keeps pushing for a health care bill, some of the criticism is focused on the $900 billion price tag and who is going to pick up the tab. Here to help us break the cost down and whether or not it can be paid for is Paul Keckley. He's a health care economist and executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. He's in Dallas this morning. And Jill Schlesinger, editor-at-large for CBS moneywatch.com is with us here.
Paul, let's start with you. The president vowed that he could have health care reform without adding a dime to the deficit. People are asking where the money is going to come from. Let's listen to what the president said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We've estimated that most of the plan can be paying for by finding savings within the existing health care system. A system that is currently full of waste and abuse. Right now, too much of the hard-earned savings and tax dollars we spend on health care don't make us any healthier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Paul, the president says that by squeezing the waste and inefficiencies in fraud out of Medicare, Medicaid he can pay for most of it. Do the numbers add up?
PAUL KECKLEY, HEALTH CARE ECONOMIST: Not quite, John. The past, from the GAO and other studies, suggest that you can take $10 billion to $15 billion a year out on fraud, but beyond that, what he's really describing are some very significant cuts. And he also alludes, without being specific, to changing what's covered when he's referring to things that are wasteful in terms of overused or surgeries or tests or things that shouldn't be done. That's what the town halls have focused on as potentially the government intruding in decisions may be better made between the doctor and the patient.
ROBERTS: So, Jill, Paul is saying that the money just isn't there to come out. So, who then is going to pick up the tab? And one would also wonder that if there is all this waste and inefficiency and fraud in the system, why are we waiting until now to get rid of it?
JILL SCHLESINGER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, CBS MONEYWATCH.COM: I know. That's sort of the rational approach, but let's not go there. So where is he really going to get the money? He's going to tax people and he's saying the wealthy, or the rich, and that could be people -- he really wants to draw the line in the sand at the $250,000 income level, or $200,000 for individuals.
The original House plan said if you make more than $280,000 as an individual, $350,000 as a family, we are going to charge a surtax. And it's going to go up really, you know, based on income up to over five percent. That's going to hopefully drive a bunch of money. However, the Republicans are saying we're not into that. We don't like taxing the people who are making a lot of money because we're nervous that they are going to stop spending as much money. The other way they plan to raise money is to charge the employers who don't offer insurance.
Again, a little bit of a squeeze on the small business person. So you have a small company. If you don't offer insurance, there's going to maybe up to an eight percent penalty on your payroll.
ROBERTS: But here's the other question, though. Can you get the money you need by taxing the rich?
SCHLESINGER: Well, my fear is that given everything else, the $9 trillion projected deficit over the next ten years, that you come back from that and you say it's not just that this $900 billion in the health care debate, it's everything. And I come to the conclusion that everyone's taxes are going to have to go up because otherwise we are going to have this massive deficit. And to me the best way to prepare for that is to accept it. I don't see another way out of it.
ROBERTS: You know, Paul, one of the other thing that he has talked about too, when we're looking at overall health care is you got to get some of the cost out of the general system, not just out of Medicare and Medicaid. And people point to outfits like the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic, some other smaller hospitals. You've got doctors on salaries. There's a lot of vertical and horizontal integration in their facilities, electronic record-keeping, and there are models for efficiency in delivering health care. But can you get everybody out there to change the culture because it's just a handful of institutions that are doing this and there are so many out there that aren't?
KECKLEY: Well, John, you're exactly right. In my view, the discussion of health insurance reform without a he discussion of delivery system reform is really not a complete discussion of health reform. Our Deloitte surveys indicate people think 52 percent of the population believe half of what's done in health care maybe wasted. They just don't know which half.
So we've got a long way to go. You can't change that culture overnight. The system that we're in today is a system now that's about 90 years old. So it's not going to turn overnight. It's certainly not going to turn with an election cycle.
ROBERTS: And, Jill, I just want to switch gears just a little bit. We talked about health care but yesterday, Tim Geithner held this extraordinary town hall meeting. I mean, I can't imagine Paul O'Neill (ph) holding something like that, in which he said 1.1 million jobs have been created, that the banks are getting healthier. They're going to be able to pay back a lot of money and some of the rescue programs that the government instituted a year ago Monday, which marks the collapse of Lehman Brothers, are no longer necessary. But at the same time, Republicans are saying, wait a minute, you're saying 1.1 million jobs were created or saved. What about the two million that were lost? So, what do you make of what Geithner is saying? SCHLESINGER: Well, you know, again, as Christine said earlier in the program, there's a little bit of truth on the same side. Well, yes, there are certain jobs that have been saved because when you throw $3 trillion at a problem, and it's not just stimulus money and it's not just TARP, it's all the government money that's been used to buy bonds, mortgage-backed bonds, U.S. treasury bonds, total that up. Throwing $3 trillion at a problem is going to help. You know, it's an amazing thing how that works.
Now, on the other side, we were in the deepest recession that we have seen since the Great Depression. So the job loss is going to continue. He is right that new job loss is tapering off. That's good for the economy. But getting back to why do people still feel so rotten? It is really hard to get a job still.
If you look at the unemployment rate for all those people who either don't have jobs, looking for jobs, disgruntled, part time, we're talking at nearly 17 percent. That is a staggering number. We are still in the -- an economic downturn. We are starting to bottom out. But for real people who are watching, they're saying, oh, no wonder I feel so lousy. It's still not great yet.
ROBERTS: Jill Schlesinger, Paul Keckley, it's great to catch up with you this morning.
SCHLESINGER: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Good to see you. Have a great weekend - Carol.
COSTELLO: It is the eighth anniversary of 9/11 and in my segment, "Just Sayin'" this morning, remember the unity we all felt in the months and years, in the couple of years after 9/11? Remember that? How you couldn't do enough for your fellow American?
What happened to that, and will we ever get that back? We'll explore that issue, next.
It's 25 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Today marks eight years since the September 11th terrorist attacks. We remember the fear, and we remember the sadness. But we should also remember how 9/11 drew us together as a country.
As Americans, we were unified. So "Just Sayin'," what happened?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): It's not that we've forgotten what happened on that day. The lingering pain makes that impossible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Double the size of that building. That's how big one tower was.
COSTELLO: But some visiting the 9/11 memorial this week wondered if we remember enough.
CHARLOTTE HARRIS, TRIBUTE CENTER VISITOR: This was a terrible time in our lives, and we need to step back and remember and teach everyone what we thought.
COSTELLO: Not just the pain, but what we shared.
CONNIE SCHROCK, TRIBUTE CENTER VISITOR: Right after everyone had flown their American flag, their cars were plastered with the American flag, and it's a shame that has passed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From 9/11, it brought everybody together and this health care thing has got everything torn apart.
COSTELLO: Even in this place, the tone of the health care debate hurts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't just let our differences and opinions in what's going on in the government tear us apart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Nazi policy.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: On what planet do you spend most of your time?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sick of the lies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Angry mobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This kind of mob.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not a dumb person.
COSTELLO: "Just Sayin'," is unity still possible?
ED ROLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: The vast majority of Americans want good for all. But I think at the end of the day, they now have a lot in their face and there's a lot of uncertainty and a lot about their own lives that they don't control.
COSTELLO: It has had a chilling effect on compromise and civility. If you don't agree with me, you're unpatriotic. Drew Westen, a psychology professor and Obama supporter, says the president, as the nation's moral authority, needs to step up.
PROF. DREW WESTEN, EMORY UNIVERSITY: The problem with his approach has been when someone is uncivil, he's been quiet. And that's not leadership. That's actually failure of leadership.
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: You lie. COSTELLO: Westen says Mr. Obama lost an opportunity to lead during his speech to Congress by not addressing Representative Joe Wilson's heckling on the spot.
WESTEN: The president lost a real opportunity on Wednesday night. He could have said to the American people, this is an exact example of what I'm talking about. You know, this isn't how we solve our nation's problems.
COSTELLO: Others say the disunity is temporary. How will we know if we don't unify in the next great disaster?
TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: If we ever lose that, that in a time of great distress and challenge that we no longer regard the humanity of our fellow citizen, then I think we're in serious trouble.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: But wouldn't you hate to think that it will take a next big disaster to unify us as Americans again? I mean, shouldn't it be something smaller?
ROBERTS: You know, when you look at the way that things are going these days and how divided this country is, and not just the division in the country but the level of rancor between the two sides, it's really concerning.
COSTELLO: Yes. Some say we've become more partisan than ever in history and that's saying something.
So we want to know what you think.
Is unity possible in America? What can be done to restore the love of your fellow American? And who should -- who should be that moral authority? Who should return the civility to our country?
We want to know what you have to say. We want to hear what you think. So comment on the story by heading to our blog, cnn.com/amfix. Post your comments. We'll read them throughout the show.
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour now and checking our top stories.
Encouraging news about the vaccination against the H1H1 virus, the swine flu virus. New research now shows that a single low dose of the vaccine may in fact be enough to protect adults from the virus. There were concerns that three shots were going to be needed, one for regular flu and then two for the swine flu. The study also found the side effects were no worse than those found with seasonal flu vaccine. The vaccine expected to be available by late October.
COSTELLO: It's being called a game-changing play in the government's efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay. The Environmental Protection Agency is now planning to clamp down on pollution from farms, cities and suburbs. The agency also plans to hold states accountable if they don't heed specific regulations. Chemicals, sewage, fertilizers and farm wastes have made the nation's largest estuary deadly to fish and crops.
ROBERTS: And Congressman Joe Wilson again speaking out after calling President Obama a liar during his health care speech to a joint session of Congress. Here's what he told the South Carolina radio station last night about what sparked the shout heard around the world.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: When it was stated that it wouldn't apply to illegal aliens, I just -- I just -- I just couldn't -- I truly had to speak out.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wilson did apologize to the White House, saying the president accepted that apology.
Deep wounds heal slowly. Today marks eight years since the terror attacks on September the 11th.
You're looking now at some live pictures of Ground Zero here in New York City, where a 9/11 memorial will take place this morning. It's the annual remembrance.
Many first responders and residents near the World Trade Center site suffered health problems after 9/11 because of the toxic air. Now eight years later, people are still getting sick, doctors say as many as 200 a month.
Deborah Feyerick has got that part of the story for us.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Carol, nearly 2,800 people died on 9/11. What you might not know is that since then, 800 others, many of them first responders, have also died. And many more are getting sick every day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice over): New York City police detective James Zadroga, a first responder after the World Trade Center attacks, died in 2006 at age 34 of complications from a respiratory illness.
(on camera): How much time did he spend at the site?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He spent approximately 400 hours.
FEYERICK (voice over): Zandroga joined thousands of others in the weeks after the towers fell, searching for bodies amidst burning asbestos, lead and other cancer-causing agents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he died, he had the lungs of a 97-year- old man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a deep breath in.
FEYERICK: Doctors tracking 9/11 illnesses say they continue to see new patients -- 200 every month, and it's not only respiratory diseases. At New York City's Mount Sinai Medical Center, there's an emerging pattern.
DR. JACQUELINE MOLINE, WTC MEDICAL MONITORING & TREATMENT PGM.: What we found was that a number of younger folks developed a cancer that's normally associated with older age groups.
FEYERICK (on camera): By a show of hands, who here has a family history of the disease with which they are now affected?
None of you.
(voice-over): These men in their late 30s, early 40s, served with the NYPD. All worked the notorious pile (ph). Detective John Walcott, for seven months.
JOHN WALCOTT, RET. DETECTIVE, NYPD: We all sucked in the same air. And I think whether it's emotional or something, everybody walked away with some sort of problem.
FEYERICK: All are sick and getting sicker like Detective Ron Richards (ph) who seemed fine until a routine checkup just two years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's when my nightmare started. I was in kidney failure and that turned out to be because of multiple myeloma, stage three.
FEYERICK: And retired Vice Detective Ernest Vallebuona, who has lymphoma.
RNEST VALLEBUONA, RET. DETECTIVE, NYPD: I feel like half the man I was since 9/11.
FEYERICK (on camera): Is this just you four?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many people out there.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Where is the money coming from to treat all these people?
Nine thousand first responders and volunteers are suing New York City and building contractors, asking for $1 billion for medical testing and treatment.
The city says it's not at fault and supports a pending Senate bill that would potentially reopen the victim's compensation fund to provide for those too sick to work. But for these men, the fight has taken a toll. (on camera): How many of you feel that you've been a little bit abandoned?
REGGIE HILAIRE, NYPD: If we're sick, we're not being taken care of, what kind of message does this send to next responders?
FEYERICK (voice-over): As they wrestle with diseases almost certain to cut short their lives, their fear is for those left behind.
VALLEBUONA: What we really worry about is, you know, our families. You know, we want to make sure our families are taken care of.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Funding for medical programs runs out in 2010. Doctors fear they will not be able to track diseases that develop 20, even 30, years from now or that they will fully understand the ultimate death toll - John, Carol.
ROBERTS: Deb Feyerick for us this morning.
Coming up, by the way, it's 7:10 Eastern, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is going to join us live. We'll be talking about that, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act -- it's the Act that Deb was referring to, as well as plans for the museum and memorial and what's happening with the Freedom Tower that they've now got actually above ground a little bit, about 115, 150 feet above ground.
COSTELLO: There's even controversy over calling it the Freedom Tower.
ROBERTS: I think for a lot of people it's going to always be the Freedom Tower despite sensitivities from some of our overseas neighbors.
Thirty-eight minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Fridays are usually reserved for our weekly wingnuts on both sides of the political aisle. But this morning, something completely different. We're profiling two independent voices, leaders who are trying to unite rather than divide us.
John Avlon is a columnist from the DailyBeast.com and the author of "Independent Nation," and he joins us now.
I think this is a terrific idea because, you know, we concentrate on the extremes from both the liberal and conservative sides, but we never talk about the people in the middle.
JOHN AVLON, COLUMNIST, DAILYBEAST.COM: And this is a day to do that. This is a day to give out some profile and courage awards.
COSTELLO: It is a day to do that because, you know, it's the anniversary of 9/11. And you wrote a terrific column on why we should -- you know, how we should remember 9/11 and the elevens from it.
AVLON: That's right. And I think there's a danger this year, this eighth anniversary, that maybe there's a bit of 9/11 amnesia creeping into our debate, and partly it's because I think this is the first post-President Bush 9/11. That what should have been always an issue that unites us became a very divisive debate over the course especially at the second term. And so, this week's independent voices are people who's transcend those divides, maybe keep our eye on the ball when it comes to the wider war on terror. Reaffirming what used too be a very common-sense notion in American politics, which is that partisan politics ought to end at the water's edge.
COSTELLO: And there should be compromise.
AVLON: Yes,
COSTELLO: I think people have forgotten what that word means. Or if it's even achievable, so give us our first candidate, a candidate on the right with an independent voice.
AVLON: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. He was, of course, Butch's second secretary of Defense, reappointed by President Obama in a gutsy important team of rival's type move. Because it sent the message that we are a nation at war, and our obligations are so much bigger than partisan politics, our obligations to the men and women fighting on the ground. And that's the larger point here. We are still at war. This may be eight years later, but we are still at war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Osama Bin Laden is still uncaptured. And this conflict goes on. So as a matter of increased devotion and continued result, Secretary Gates' reappointment has sent a great message that I think has sent an exemplary.
COSTELLO: So what is in his personality that he's able to bridge this divide between Democrats and Republicans? And how will it help us go forward?
AVLON: I think largely because he is not ideological. He is a problem-solver like the vast majority of Americans. He is actually a registered independent. He has served six presidents in both parties, and he has a degree of bipartisan credibility because of that. When P comes to the table, people don't feel like he's going to be simply be pushing a partisan ideological agenda, but rather keeping an eye out for the national interests, not the special interests. That's what centrist can do in the best case scenario. That's what he's done, and that's really an important thing to do right now at a time when we are at war, when some of the supporters for Afghanistan is slipping, his support, his leadership helps bridged that partisan divide.
COSTELLO: So your candidate for independent voice on the left I think is pretty controversial, because Democrats are really angry at this candidate.
AVLON: They are, and that's a sign of I think how hyperpartisan the times have become. Joe Lieberman, independent Democrat from Connecticut, I think deserves this award perhaps more than anyone else, because he was the original 9/11 Democrat. Remember, that was the term that was going to be changing politics this decade. National security hawk democrats who took the lessons of 9/11 to heart. Well, Joe Lieberman did.
He was a steadfast supporter of the wider war on terror, even when it was deeply unpopular. And as a result, he lost to democratic primary in 2006 to Ned Lamont. A liberal protest candidate who disagreed with his support for the war in Iraq. But Joe Lieberman persevered, and to the anger of a lot of Democrats who felt, you know what, party politics matters more. He put his candidacy as independent, part of the people of Connecticut, one of the seven states where independents outnumber Democrats and Republicans, and he won.
He had the guts to support John McCain in 2008. He has taken a lot of profile in courage, tough positions and he continued to be a 9/11 democrat. That is worthy of a great deal of respect on a day like today.
COSTELLO: So you said he supported John McCain. I mean, is he still in there supporting Republicans more politically than perhaps Democrats?
And what is he doing in the health care reform debate?
Where is he in that?
AVLON: Well, you know, he really is -- he is now the Homeland Security chair, as he was before. He is a Democrat. He is an old- school John F. Kennedy, new frontier Democrat, in the way that some liberal Democrats are.
And when he came back from campaigning hard for John McCain, which was a matter of personal conviction for him, you know, President Obama sent a very important signal to Democrats who wanted to punish him by stripping him of his Homeland Security Committee chairmanship. He said don't do that. Let's not return to those petty partisan politics. And Sir Joe Lieberman was reappointed head of the Homeland Security chair. That's the kind of message we need to be heeding. That focus on what unites us rather than divides us. That's the lesson.
COSTELLO: OK.
Well, hopefully, there will be more voices you can nominate. Independent voices, on the right and the left.
AVLON: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Moderate voices.
AVLON: Centrist.
COSTELLO: Centrist.
Wow, John Avlon, many thanks to you.
AVLON: Thank you.
It's 45 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, you can tell it's getting later in the season. A month ago, it would have been light there now. Atlanta, where it's cloudy and 67 degrees. Sun hasn't quite come up yet. But a pretty picture.
Later on today, stormy with a high of 81 degrees. It's going to be a lot of storms up and down the East Coast today.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The tests results are in on South-African runner Caster Semenya, whose gender came into question after she easily won the 800 meter world title last month. The official result will not be released for two weeks. But one published report claims that the test show that Semenya has both male and female sex organs.
COSTELLO: The controversy goes on.
President Obama taking time out from the health care debate to honor the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins at the White House. The team gave him a number 44 Penguins jersey, because of course he's our 44th president.
And the president unknowingly violated a hockey superstition by lifting the fabled cup without having actually earned it on the ice.
ROBERTS: Wait a minute. Did he lift it over his head?
COSTELLO: I think he did.
ROBERTS: Or did he just hold it?
COSTELLO: I don't know. Maybe we'll delve into that further and watch the video. I think he just held it. But you're not supposed to lift it at all. Yes Mr. Canadian hockey person.
ROBERTS: I've held it.
COSTELLO: Did you lift it over your head?
ROBERTS: Well, you know, I actually did.
COSTELLO: So you're the reason.
Who is your favorite hockey team? ROBERTS: Toronto Maple Leafs, of course. That's where I grew up.
COSTELLO: OK.
ROBERTS: But I'm back in the years of Dave Keon, Frank Mahovlich, you know, Boom Boom Geoffrion.
COSTELLO: Because you lifted that cup, they don't have any great players anymore.
ROBERTS: It was only a year ago I lifted it.
And "Air" Jordan lands today in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, will be inducted during ceremonies at the hall of fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles. He enters the hall along with former NBA greats David Robinson and John Stockton.
Rob Marciano checking out the weather for us across the nation today. And we got some bad news from down south in the East Coast, all the way up into the northeast.
Rain and storms, Rob, what have you got for us?
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: That explains John's whole personality.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm not sure it explains at all, but maybe it gives us a little bit of a window.
ROBERTS: Well, you know, I'm an American now, but I was born in Canada, right? And as the saying goes, you know how a baby is born in Canada? The doctor grabs it by the skates and pulls it out.
MARCIANO: I believe it. I believe it.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks. We'll see you again soon.
MARCIANO: All right. See you later.
COSTELLO: It's 50 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
In this job market, how do you go from being unemployed and living in a Wal-Mart parking lot to being a fashion writer for a major magazine?
Our Ted Rowlands has the amazing story of a homeless woman with a dog, a laptop and a lot of guts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Most fairy tales start as a nightmare. For 24-year-old Brianna Karp, it began when she lost her job as an executive assistant and ended up living in this Los Angeles Wal-Mart parking lot in a trailer she inherited from her father who she barely knew and who'd recently committed suicide.
BRIANNA KARP, HOMELESS BLOGGER: I was left with a truck in this camper, which I was going to sell this, but then, coincidentally, this happened to me, and I was like, well, I have this.
ROWLANDS: Brianna had her dog, Fez, and an old laptop computer, which will prove to be her lifeline.
KARP: The first night, I think, being homeless, you know, in the Wal-Mart parking lot was the scariest and it was kind of panicking and just afraid.
ROWLANDS: For five months, Brianna lived at the Wal-Mart and used the free wi-fi at a Starbucks to look for jobs and send out resumes. She also started writing a blog.
KARP: I was trying to stay positive and cheerful. I started writing the blog originally in a kind of tongue-and-cheek way to laugh about my circumstances, keep them chronicled. I didn't think that anybody would actually read it.
ROWLANDS: But people did, including Mag Barnes (ph) who was in Scotland running a homeless web site. He asked her to write about her life on his site. He's now Brianna's boyfriend.
Then out of the blue, an opportunity. A reality show was looking for executive assistants.
The top prize? An internship with this woman -- advice columnist E. Jean Carol. Brianna was chosen for an audition, but she bombed.
KARP: Yes, I went back and I blogged about, you know, bombing the interview. And I laughed about it. I made fun of myself.
ROWLANDS: Instead of giving up, Brianna decided to take a chance and e-mail Carol's advice site.
KARP: I'm currently homeless and living in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I'm educated. I've never done drugs.
ROWLANDS: She asked for a second interview, signing her message...
KARP: Homeless but not hopeless.
E. JEAN CAROL, ADVICE COLUMNIST: And I thought she's so ready to work.
ROWLANDS: E. Jean's response to Brianna's e-mail appeared in the August edition of "Elle" magazine, saying in part, "Miss homeless, my dear, you knocked me out with your courage and spirit."
She offered Brianna an internship and a chance to write a fashion blog for "Elle."
CAROL: I think she's a new voice. I think she's a voice we haven't heard, and I'm excited for her future.
ROWLANDS: Brianna is now living in this trailer on a friend's property outside Los Angeles. She's hoping people will see her story and realize that with a lost job and a little bad luck, just about anyone one can end up living in a Wal-Mart parking lot. She's also still looking for a full-time job.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Just ahead on the Most News in the Morning -- are Democrats beginning to soften on this idea of having a public plan in the House version of the bill?
There seemed to be a little friction between Steny Hoyer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi earlier this week. But is Congressman Hoyer actually just looking a little further down the road? We'll be talking to him, by the way, in our 8:00 hour.
But Brianna Keilar will be on Capitol Hill this morning for more on the latest negotiations on the health care bill.
It's 55 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
This week we have seen the dangers of IEDs, improvised explosive devices, up close. You heard it just there. Almost too close when a roadside bomb almost blew up a truck carrying our correspondent Michael Ware.
The Pentagon says weapons like these now cause 75 percent of coalition casualties. Our Barbara Starr joins us now with new information about this hidden threat.
We saw its effect and it's all too well in Iraq and now Afghanistan. These insurgents sure employing it with deadly effect across the country, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. You know, the Taliban now have made IEDs the number one threat to U.S. troops. The Taliban are getting so good at it that U.S. commanders are seeing new tactics by them almost every week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice over): An IED was blocking this road in central Afghanistan a few days ago.
This time, U.S. troops blew it up before it could cause harm. But stopping roadside bombs is an uphill battle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're losing people as everybody knows.
STARR: The statistics are staggering. Since 2007, the number of IEDs in Afghanistan has jumped more than 300 percent. Many are found before they detonate. But the number of troops killed is up more than 400 percent, the number wounded, up more than 700 percent.
One U.S. military source tells CNN that in just the last year, the Taliban's capacity to manufacture bombs, train attackers and target U.S. troops has grown.
On September 8th near Kandahar, troops seized 5 tons of ammonium nitrate, more than twice what was used in the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
On August 27th, C-4 plastic explosives, believed manufactured in Iran, were found in Herat by Afghan troops.
Experts say the Taliban have a key advantage. Afghanistan's dirt roads make it easy to quickly hide IEDs.
GEN. MONTGOMERY MEIGS (RET.), FMR. DIR. DOD IED TASK FORCE: You have disturbed earth all the time. You still probably have junk around, especially close to villages and close to intersections that just makes the seeing and finding even by soldiers' eyes much more complicated.
STARR: Other worrisome Taliban tactics?
In flat areas like the southern Helmand Valley, detonation wires now may run for more than a mile, so the attacker can remain out of sight.
And the Taliban know that troops regularly stop ahead of culverts to search for bombs. Now, the Taliban are placing bombs where the convoys stop instead of in the culverts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: John, That's the military reality on the ground.
But here, on the morning of 9/11, the political reality in Washington, a good deal of opposition now emerging to escalating the war by sending more U.S. troops. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the all- powerful Democrat Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, both of them now expressing skepticism and possible opposition to the idea of sending a large number of additional U.S. combat forces to the war where the 9/11 attacks began -- John.
ROBERTS: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us this morning. Barbara, thanks so much.
