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President Speaks at Lordstown GM Plant; Gang of Six Meets Again Today in the Name of Health Care Reform; Terror Task Force Raid In New York; Tradition of Child Brides Persists in Yemen; Tributes for Patrick Swayze

Aired September 15, 2009 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Good morning, everyone. It is Tuesday, September 15th. Here are the faces and the stories driving the headlines today in the CNN NEWSROOM.

President Obama talking to Ohio autoworkers this hour. GM says they got their jobs back thanks to Cash for Clunkers.

South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson facing rebuke by the House of Representatvies today for heckling the president.

Democratic Senator Max Baucus promising a health care bill this week with or without Republican support.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's quickly get you caught up on the day's hot headlines. Then take the time to break down the big issues to find out why they really matter.

Leading the way this hour, the economy making a comeback. That's the message minutes from now from President Obama. He's in hard-hit Ohio visiting a General Motors plant that had been shut down for nine weeks. The plant is rehiring now thanks, in part, to the Cash for Clunkers program.

The president's remarks to workers there set to begin in 10 minutes. We'll be bringing you those remarks live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

"Who was that nut that hollered out 'you lie?' " Those words straight from the mouth of Congressman Joe Wilson's own wife, after President Obama's speech last week. Wilson apologized to the president for the outburst, but congressional Democrats want more. They're demanding Wilson apologize to the full House. He says he won't be doing that. So, later today Wilson will face a drumming from his colleagues when they are expected to vote on a reprimand.

Police in New Haven, Connecticut, are questioning several people about the death of Yale student Annie Le. Her body found stuffed inside a wall in a building on the Yale campus. Police say a limited number of people had access to that particular area. Le's roommate, at a vigil last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATALIE POWERS, ANNIE LE'S ROOMATE: She was as good a human being as you would ever hope to meet. That this horrible tragedy happened at all is incomprehensible, but that it happened to her, I think, is infinitely more so. It seems completely senseless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Somalia says a senior Al Qaeda figure has been killed in a U.S. strike south of Mogadishu. He is identified as Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan. U.S. officials say special forces attacked Nabhan's car from a helicopter. Nabhan, a 28-year-old Kenyan, has been linked to U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa.

Argentina's Juan Martine del Potro emerges from the U.S. Open a force to be reckoned with in tennis. He did something no one has been able to do in five years at the U.S. Open. That's beat the world's top ranked player, Roger Federer. The brilliant Federer lost his cool a bit when a challenge of a line call didn't go his way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER FEDERER, U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: Don't tell me to be quite, OK? When I want to talk, I'll talk, all right? Don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) what he said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: You know, the point is the challenge did come too late.

That's our look at the day's big stories. Now, let's go "In Depth" in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Our focus issue No. 1, the economy. Consumers went on a shopping spree in August. Retail sales surged almost 3 percent last month. That is the biggest monthly increase since January of 2006. Auto sales helped fuel the gains. They jumped 10.5 percent largely due to Cash for Clunkers program. Wow, 10.5 percent, big number.

The inflation rate shot up in August, fueled by rising energy costs. The producer price index rose 1.7 percent. That is double the increase analysts expected. But little worries about the inflation index. Wholesale prices for the year have fallen.

Consumer spending critical to any recovery since it accounts for 70 percent of all economic activity. Let's talk about that with CNN's Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange this morning.

Good to see you, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Tony.

HARRIS: So, Susan, retail sales up almost 3 percent last month. If the consumer comes back into the game, this recovery will begin to really feel like something here. LISOVICZ: No question about it. It's encouraging to see what we saw in August even if you take out Cash for Clunkers, which was huge, as you mentioned, 10.5 percent. That was the biggest jump in eight years. If you take out autos and the higher prices that we paid for gas, sales were still higher.

We saw sales increases for electronics, appliances, clothing stores, sporting goods. What I'm saying here, is discretionary items that a lot of us stayed away from in the scarier months of this year.

You know, Tony, we talk about a rising unemployment rate. The fact is most Americans who can work are working full time. But when we spend money, it's very psychological. When things are scary, we pull back. So, was it a one-month wonder with August? It's an important month, it's back to school. We can't say.

What we can say is that even if you take out Cash for Clunkers, the gains were broad based. More modest than autos, but broad based. That's encouraging. No one wants us to go back to what we were when we were spending beyond our means.

HARRIS: Right.

LISOVICZ: But the fact that we are buying things will help the economy no question about it, Tony.

HARRIS: As we said often here, it looks like this recovery will be slow. It will be uneven. It will be a bit choppy from time to time, correct?

LISOVICZ: No question about it. I don't think anybody is saying that retailers are out of the woods. Case in point, Toys "R" Us, for instance, is opening 350 temporary stores. They're called pop-up stores. Why is that? Just for the holiday season.

HARRIS: Right.

LISOVICZ: So that it can try to get as opportunity from where KB Toys once was. KB Toys went out of business, it went bankrupt, it went out of business. And basically, what Toys "R" Us is saying is if you look at the companies that made their fortunes during the Great Depression, Tony, they were the ones that moved in when everyone was pulling back. We're still hearing these references to the Great Depression, but we are unlike some of the references that we made earlier this year, we're seeing companies make money. We're seeing consumers buying things that they don't have to have. Things outside of food and health care items. That's encouraging.

HARRIS: Yeah, it is. All right, Susan. Appreciate it. Thank you.

President Obama talking up the economy. Some of the numbers we've just mentioned. We're just minutes away from the president's remarks at a GM plant in Ohio, where workers are back on the job, thanks in part to the Cash for Clunkers program. The president's remarks set to begin any minute now. Watch it here live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Looking for answers to your questions about the economy? E-mail us your questions at mailed Mailtothechief @ .cnn.com. Or you can Tweet, Kyra @ KyraCNN, in our 2:00 o'clock Eastern hour, chief economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, Jerry Bernstein (ph), will answer your questions right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Republican members of Congress say it's time to get back to work and stop the petty politics, especially those revolving around Joe Wilson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE PENCE, (R) GOP CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN: Our economy is struggling. Families are hurting. And yet this Congress is poised to demand an apology from a man who has already apologized. It's a disappointment to millions of Americans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama in Warren, Ohio. The GM Lordstown plant there. I think that is what I just heard. OK. The president of the United States entering the hall at the plant there in Lordstown, Ohio. The Lordstown plant in Warren, Ohio. We're just moments away from the president making comments.

Let's see here. Do we have time to get to a little bit of additional business before the president starts? We're going try because we know the president will step to the podium and he will thank a number of people, and then we'll get back to the speech. OK.

Congressman Joe Wilson says he's done apologizing for shouting "You Lie" during President Obama's speech last week. But House Democrats say he didn't apologize to his colleagues. And because of that he will face an official rebuke. Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar is on Capitol Hill for us this morning.

Good morning, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPODENT: Good morning, Tony.

House Democratic leaders met last night. They decided to go ahead with this, what's called a vote on a resolution of disapproval for Congressman Joe Wilson heckling President Obama last Wednesday night. This is really a slap on the wrist. A public rebuke of his behavior but Republicans are saying, even though they don't support his conduct, they say that Democrats are trying to score political points. And here's what John Boehner, the top Republican in the House, said a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: Joe Wilson apologized to the president. The president accepted his apology. And the fact is they want to change the subject. They don't want to talk about health care because the American people are finding it very unpopular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The Republicans saying that Democrats are just trying to distract -- use this as a distraction. But remember, Tony, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially said the day after Congressman Wilson had this outburst, she said let's talk about health care. It's time to move on. He's apologized. But what happened was, a number of Democrats said, we're not ready to move on including Jim Clyburn - from South Carolina, as is Congressman Wilson, number three Democrat in the House - really pushing for some sort of reprimand here. Some sort of acknowledgement that this really wasn't the right thing to do. And actually Clyburn's aides saying to us that looking the other way and just sort of allowing this to go on, without addressing it, is setting a precedent for what acceptable behavior is.

HARRIS: Yes. Hey, Brianna, how serious is this?

KEILAR: This is a public rebuke. This is a public slap on the wrist. The House of Representatives has at its disposal a menu of different, I guess, reprimands that they can do.

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

KEILAR: Going all the way up to expulsion. This doesn't actually even fall on that menu. Normally that menu of options they have is for much more serious offenses. This is really a public slap on the wrist.

HARRIS: All right, Brianna. I have got to run. The president is speaking now. We'll take everybody back to Warren, Ohio, for the president's comments at the GM plant there in Lordstown.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ...Henderson (ph) is in the house.

(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)

Plant Manager John Donahue (ph) is in the house.

(APPLAUSE)

UAW Servicing Agent John Mohahn (ph) is in the house. President of the UAW Local 1112, Jim Graham (ph), is in the house.

(APPLAUSE)

President of Local 1714 David Green (ph) is in the house.

(APPLAUSE)

Chair person of 1112 Ben Strickland (ph) and chairperson of Local 1714 Will Adams.

(APPLAUSE)

Well, listen, I just finished having a productive discussion with some of your co-workers about the challenges you are facing, both here and in your communities, and how we can meet them.

We talked about the economic troubles that you have been weathering here in Trumbull County, since long before our current crisis.

Yes, if you have chairs, go ahead, feel free to sit down. You don't have to stand this whole time.

(APPLAUSE)

Let's face it. We've been going through some crises since before this economic crisis this financial crisis hit. Over the years you have seen factories close. You have seen friends and neighbors and relatives laid off. Your daughters and sons have had to move away in search of jobs and opportunity. I know it was painful around here earlier this year when three shifts at this plant were cut down to one.

Today the local unemployment rate is unacceptably high in this region. Second highest in Ohio. So I know at times it seems like this community has been on the brink over and over and over again. There are some who see this pain and suggest that somehow it is inevitable. The only way for America to get ahead is for communities like yours to be left behind.

But I know better. We know better. We know that our success as a nation depends on the success of communities just like this one. We know -

(APPLAUSE)

We know that the battle for America's future is not just going to be won in the big cities, not just on the coasts, but in towns like Elkhart, Indiana, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Warren and Youngstown.

(APPLAUSE)

That's what we're fighting for. That's why I'm proud to be here with all of you. You work hard. You meet your responsibilities. You deserve better. You deserve better than the attitude that's prevailed in Washington and Wall Street and sometimes in Detroit for far too long. An attitude that valued wealth over work, and selfishness over sacrifice, and greed over responsibility.

(APPLAUSE)

That's why I want you to know that every day that I step into the Oval Office, I am thinking about you and your families. I am fighting for you and your families and I'm going to keep on doing it as long as I'm president of the united states.

(APPLAUSE, CHEERING, WHISTLING) Now, sometimes that involves making tough decisions that have been put off for too long. That's my job making tough decisions. If it's an easy decision, it doesn't get to my desk. As I've said before, I didn't run for president to manage auto companies. It wasn't something on my to-do list. It wasn't even something on my want to do list.

I like driving cars. Sometimes, you know, I can change a spark plug, or change a tire, but I don't know so much about cars that I wanted to be deeply involved in the car industry. But here's what I knew. I wasn't going to put anymore tax dollars on the line if it meant perpetuating bad business decisions that got us to the point where the U.S. auto industry was in crisis.

But in the midst of a deep recession and financial crisis, for me to have just let the auto industry collapse, to vanish, would have caused unbelievable damage to our economy, not just here in Lordstown, but all across the country. We intervened for one simple and compelling reason. Your survival and the success of our economy depended on making sure that we got the U.S. auto industry back on its feet.

There were some people that said you can't do it. But our belief was that if GM retooled and reinvented itself for the 21st century, it would be good for American workers, it would be good for American manufacturing, it would be good for America's economy. And I'm pleased to report that that is exactly what has begun to happen at plants like this and others across the country.

(APPLAUSE)

So I know that some of those decisions may not have been popular, I will tell you what, I will double down on the American people, and the American worker, and all of you, any day of the week.

(APPLAUSE)

One of the other efforts we undertook Cash for Clunkers program. Folks said that wouldn't work either. That program was good for automakers, it was good for consumers, and by the way it was good for our environment. You know what? The Chevy Cobalt that you build here was one of GM's most sought after cars under that program.

(APPLAUSE)

Dealers across the country started running out. You needed to build more. One other thing for too long our auto industries faced uncertain and conflicting fuel economy standards and that made it difficult for you to plan down the road. That's why today we are launching, for the first time in history, a new national standard aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all cars and trucks sold in America. It creates an even playing field. It's an action that is long overdue. It will give our auto companies clarity and stability and predictability. In the past an agreement like this would have been impossible. But this time it was different because automakers, the UAW, environmental advocates, Democrats, Republicans, states all across the country, all of them came together pledging to set aside the quarrels of the past for the sake of the future.

Because of the steps we have taken, this plant is about to shift into high gear.

(APPLAUSE)

And 150 of your co-workers came back to work yesterday.

(APPLAUSE)

More than 1,000 will be coming back to work in less than three weeks as production of the Cobalt ramps up.

(APPLAUSE)

That's worth standing for.

(APPLAUSE)

Next year this plant will begin production of the Chevy Cruise; a new car that will get more than 40 miles per gallon. I just sat in the car. I asked for the keys and they wouldn't give me the keys. I was going to just take it for a little spin.

(LAUGHTER)

But it was nice sitting in there. It was a roomy car; 40 miles per gallon. If you picked up a copy of the "Youngstown Vindicator" back in January, you would have seen a headline that read, "Worries Mount in Wake of Layoffs". A couple weeks ago you would have read a different story. "Good news at Lordstown Is Good News For All". Today you made, by the way, some more good news. I understand that the 1 millionth Cobalt rolled off the assembly line late last night.

(APPLAUSE)

So I don't want to just congratulate you, I want to thank you. You're doing your part to move us forward and make sure that the high quality, well-engineered, safe and fuel-efficient cars of the future will be built where they have always been built, right here in Ohio, right across the Midwest, right here in the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, even though you're proving that American automakers are getting back in the game, I think everybody understands our economic troubles are far from over. I don't want to overpromise here. We still have a lot of work to do. We got in a deep hole over a course of years. It will take some years to get back out of this hole. We have a lot of work to do not just to get this community moving again, and this economy moving again, but we've got to build a stronger foundation for economic growth into the future.

There's some people in Washington that have already forgotten just what it was that we talked into eight months ago. So, let me just go through -- let me go through the facts here real quick in case you all have forgotten. A financial system near collapse; 700,000 workers losing their jobs every single month; a sudden decline in credit that made it difficult to take out a mortgage, or a student loan, or a small business loan -- or an auto loan. You couldn't get an auto loan.

It was so bad that experts of all political persuasions feared a second coming of the Great Depression. We took bold, swift action to make sure that didn't happen. We moved to keep responsible homeowners in their homes. We moved to jump-start lending. We passed a sweeping Recovery Act, without the usual Washington earmarks or pork barrel spending, but putting people back to work. And that plan is now working.

I want you to know what's happened here. One-third of our Recovery Act went to tax relief. We cut your taxes; 95 percent of America's working families, 4.5 million families right here in Ohio, we cut your taxes.

(APPLAUSE)

We cut taxes for small businesses on investments that they make. That was a third of our Recovery Act. That gave everyone a little more money in their pockets to spend, which helped boost the economy. Then what we did was we put another third into emergency relief. All those Americans who were laid off, we extended unemployment benefits. That's made a difference for 12 million Americans, including 570,000 right here in Ohio.

(APPLAUSE)

And for all of those people who lost their jobs, they were worried about losing their health care, they were going have to try to get on COBRA. But you know how much COBRA costs, having to pick up your whole health care premium. So what we did was we made health insurance, through COBRA, 65 percent cheaper for families while they were looking for work.

(APPLAUSE)

We saved the jobs of 10s of 1,000s of state and local workers, including 336 police officers right here in Ohio. That was part of our Recovery Act.

Now, the last third is investing in your towns and your future. Over in Canfield, we awarded a competitive contract to a local company to repair a bridge on Route 11. That allowed them to avoid layoffs they were otherwise going make. That allowed local folks to keep coming to work doing the work America needs done.

We've got projects like that all across Ohio, and all across the country, rebuilding roads and bridges; laying broadband lines; making sure that we're building the wind turbines and solar panels that are going to drive our energy future.

That's what the Recovery Act has been all about. Now, we still have a long way to go. But there is little debate that the decisions we have made and steps we have taken helped stop our economic free fall. In some places they have helped us turn the corner. Home sales are up. Business investment is starting to stabilize. For the first time in 18 months, we're actually seeing growth in American manufacturing instead of decline.

(APPLAUSE)

I know that's small consolation when so many people you know are still out of work. It will take some time to achieve a complete recovery, but I want you all to know I will not rest until anyone who is looking for a job can find one. I'm not talking about just any job. But good jobs that give every American decent wages and decent benefits and a fair shot at the American dream.

(APPLAUSE)

That's what I'm fighting for every single day.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We're fighting for an America where your children will be armed with the skills they need to compete with any worker anywhere in the world. We're making a historic commitment to strengthening and improving education from cradle to a career. I've set a goal by 2020 America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. There's no reason why we can't have that number one ranking once again.

We're fighting for an America where clean energy generates green jobs that can't be outsourced. That help us free ourselves from our grip of foreign oil. Jobs that make sure the cars of the future and the technologies like the new batteries that power them are made right here in the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And, yes, just in case you were wondering, we're fighting for an America where no American should have to worry about going without health insurance or fearing one illness could cost them everything they have.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We'll reform the system to provide more security and stability to those of you who have health insurance. We're going to offer quality affordable choices to those who currently don't have health insurance. We're going to bring health care costs for our families and our businesses and our government under control.

Think about it. If you're a member of the union right now, you're spending all of your time negotiating about health care. You need to be spending time negotiating about wages but you can't do it but I want to make sure that you understand - you got to understand Fritz's position here. He's trying to build this company back up. And if health care costs are going up 30 percent or 20 percent every year, it's very tough for him. So we all have an interest in reforming the health care system so that the cost for employers don't go up. That means the cost for you don't go up and that means you can actually start bringing home a little more take-home pay. That's what this is about if you already got health insurance.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: So that's what we're fighting for. To bring Lordstown and Youngstown and Warren back to make sure that our towns and our middle class, a middle class forged just like in plants that you're seeing here. I want them not just to survive today but to thrive tomorrow. I want you to deliver a message to the GM team members who are manning the line, who couldn't join us today. As long as you've got an ounce of fight left in you, I've got a ton of fight left in me.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I've said it before. I'm skinny but I'm tough. And as long as I have the privilege of being your president, I'm going to keep fighting for a future that is brighter for this community and brighter for Ohio and brighter for the United States of America. I need your help. So give it to me, guys. We're going to rebuild right here, right now.

We're going to make Ohio work again. Thank you, everybody. God bless you.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: There you have it. The president at Lordstown GM plant. Lordstown, Warren, Ohio. Youngstown, Ohio. Yes. (INAUDIBLE) Ohio.

Got to tell you, while the president was speaking to the autoworkers there at the Lordstown GM plant, the chairman of the Federal Reserve was making a little bit of news. Ben Bernanke in Washington and responding to a question during a speech at the Brookings Institution said the worst recession since the 1930s is probably over. We'll take up that issue with Susan Lisovicz in just a couple of minutes.

Also, the so-called Gang of Six meets again today trying to iron out a health care reform bill for all Americans. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So the big question everyone wants an answer to these days is when will the recession end? Today the highest authorities weighing in on this. None of them more important than Ben Bernanke. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange.

Susan, hang on a second here. This is quite a statement. Let me read the verbiage for just a moment here. The recession is very likely over at this point, said the Fed chief in responding to questions at the Brookings Institution.

Oh, really? What is he really saying here? Can we expect positive GDP? Are we flat? What's going on here, Susan? SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in direct reference to the GDP question, I think many economist think yes, that the U.S. economy, the biggest one in the world, will actually grow in this, the third quarter. We're not out of it yet. Just a couple weeks. But this is coming after four quarters of negative growth.

This is the strongest statement the chairman of the Federal Reserve has said yet in terms of the recovery out of this recession. He's been, you know, he's been couching his statements like many economists but there are plenty of economists that say we're actually there now. Now, I mean, if you want to use a metaphor, just imagine, we've fallen into a deep hole.

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

LISOVICZ: And we're just starting to take our first steps difficult as they may be out of that hole. So sunlight is still far way off.

HARRIS: All right. All right.

LISOVICZ: But the fact is we're going upward. And I think that's what this recovery or this growth may feel like. Very weak. And that's something also that Mr. Bernanke said is the economy may still feel very weak. In fact, the unemployment rate may continue to go higher.

HARRIS: Right.

LISOVICZ: A lot of expectations are that it will go higher. But remember, he's looking at the same things we talk about every day. Like today retail sales, you know, where you see consumers buying things that they don't have to have. But I think we do have sound from the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

HARRIS: Yes, let's hear it.

LISOVICZ: Let's go to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: If we do in fact see moderate growth but not growth much more than the underlying potential growth rate, then unfortunately unemployment will be slow to come down. It will come down but it may take some time. Obviously, that's a very serious concern. And it's one reason why even though from a technical perspective the recession is very likely over at this point. It's still going to feel like a very weak economy for some time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LISOVICZ: The recession is very likely over at this point. I think that's your headline right there.

HARRIS: That really is. OK. Susan, appreciate it. Thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome. HARRIS: Officers from various agencies raid three New York apartments. Is terrorism involved? We're learning more details about the ongoing investigation. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A CNN security alert now. More questions than answers today about a possible terrorism related raid in New York City. So far no arrests. No weapons. And no indication an attack was imminent. Let's bring in our Deborah Feyerick. She is following the investigation from New York for us.

And Deb, again, no weapons, no arrests yet. But officials are saying to you that the threat is real.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are saying the threat is real. They're also saying that what happened during this raid was really preventive to make sure that nothing possible could happen.

Now, federal agents were tracking a man who had traveled from the midwest to New York City. He was under surveillance for possible terror links. Dozens of heavily armed FBI agents from the joint terrorism task force executed search warrants at two known locations in Flushing, Queens just hours before President Obama arrived in Manhattan yesterday to speak on Wall Street. Eyewitnesses say they were stunned by the manpower.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"KAHN," WITNESS: When my friend dropped us off and they had like close to about 30 SUVs double parked on the avenue, on 41st Avenue. We saw one FBI and two FBI and so we came in the building and then we saw like 30 camouflage FBI, machine guns, riot gear, everything. We didn't know what was going on. It was safer to stay outside than inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: There was no indication a specific plot against the president sources say. He was here to speak on Wall Street yesterday. There were no bomb making materials that were found although we are told that authorities were looking for that. FBI agents did confiscate a few boxes and several people were questioned and released including a New York City taxi driver who appeared badly shaken by the ordeal saying he works hard seven days a week. Now sources say authorities reacted out of extreme caution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: There was some rumors that the terrorist act was imminent. That is not true. Second, there was some speculation that the raids were related to President Obama's visit to New York because they occurred at the same time. That is not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FEYERICK: So Tony, here's where it gets a bit cloudy. Two sources later contradicted Senator Schumer saying concerns that the President's New York visit did play a role and of course, Al Qaeda Central and homegrown terrorist remain a very big concern especially here in New York City. You know the saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care and that is really what may have happened in this particular case. Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Deborah, appreciate it. Thank you.

Vice President Joe Biden is in Iraq. He's meeting with the country's leaders and with U.S. troops on an unannounced visit. It is Biden's third trip to the war torn country and comes well less than a year from when the U.S. plans to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq.

Americans appear to be growing weary of the war in Afghanistan. Have a look at the numbers. New numbers just released show support for the war now at 39 percent. That is a new low. Our CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll has been tracking a steady decline since May when overall support was at 50 percent. While Republicans still favor the effort in Afghanistan, those numbers are also eroding.

GOP support fell eight points in the past two weeks alone.

Few people are more aware of the growing skepticism than the country's top military officer, Mike Mullen. The chairman of joint chiefs is in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee. It is a reappointment hearing and he is under pressure to explain why more troops are needed in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. MICHAEL MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: The president has given us a clear mission. Disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda and its extremist allies and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven again. You can't do that from offshore. And you can't do that by just killing the bad guys. You have to be there where the people are, when they need you there and until they can provide for their own security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mullen said the debate over the right mix of forces and other resources will be held in the coming weeks.

Premiering September 27th, a new weekly series that will get people talking. Christiane Amanpour and provocative analysis of global stories that matter to you. Believe in the power of the interview. AMANPOUR, every Sunday. It premieres September 27th, right here on CNN.

Children too young to have babies actually dying during child birth in Yemen. The tradition of child brides persists.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Well, how's that for a staggering statistic? Forty-eight percent of girls in Yemen forced into marriage. And according to a human rights group that gives us that figure, often the marriages lead to teen pregnancy and sometimes death. Like in this next story from CNN's Paula Newton.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sometimes takes the case of just one to shed the light on the suffering of so many. A child's' rights group says that a Yemeni child bride, Fauzia Ahmadi (ph), labored for three days before dying, along with her baby, on Friday. She was just 12. And was married at 11.

The practice all too common in the tribal region of western Yemen where she's from, and a continuing problem throughout the poorest country in the Middle East.

With every labored breath these vulnerable newborns are one step closer to survival by receiving the specialized care that's all too rare in Yemen. These compromised young lives are many times the offspring of children. The bed size throughout the maternity ward in Yemen's capital, Sana, there are stories of girls too young to have children, who die trying.

This man tells us of a girl he found in the middle of the road in his village, desperate and in labor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She died. And after she died, the baby died. She was walking a long way, and she died on the road, without making it to hospital.

NEWTON: He says his own young wife married at just 15, had four children, but also four miscarriages.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): "I suffered a lot," she says. "I bled a lot and was in pain and upset. She said I was scared for myself and my children and regretted marrying so young."

Suha Bashren with OXFAM in Yemen said the country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the Middle East.

SUHA BASHREN, OXFAM INTERNATIONAL: If they survive, they face complications during pregnancies and most of the girls have problem during delivery. Their children are low weight. They have anemia, low hemoglobin, because the girl herself, her body is not ready to bare a child and malnutrition among the mothers and the children.

NEWTON: The cycle of maternal death is carried on many times by the cultural tradition of child brides. The U.N. says more than half of all married women in Yemen are under 18. It's the fate that (INAUDIBLE) Ali fought so hard to escape. (INAUDIBLE) was just 10 years old when her family married her off to a man more than three times her age.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) NEWTON: In a highly publicized case, she demanded and received a divorce. She is now back with her family. But hers is just one of a handful of similar cases. Most child brides stay married and often begin having children of their own immediately.

Human rights campaigners say the legacy of child brides not only deprived young women of their childhood, but often condemns them, and their babies, to an early death.

Paula Newton, CNN, London.

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HARRIS: And here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Health care disparities. Why some say race plays a role in the quality of care you receive.

Plus, new developments in the murder of a Yale graduate student. Our Mary Snow joins us with the latest from New Haven, Connecticut. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Boy, oh, boy, tributes for Patrick Swayze, "Dirty Dancing" co-star, Baby, Jennifer Grey, calls him a combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace.

Look at these two dance. Swayze and Cynthia Rhodes. That's good stuff. "Dirty Dancing" was Swayze's breakout film. In 1987, he went on to star in "Ghost" with Demi Moore. Swayze, as you know, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2008. He continued acting even through chemotherapy.

So, what's your favorite Patrick Swayze moment? The women on the show team mentioned the pottery scene from "Ghost." Send me your ideas. Anything with Cynthia Rhodes works for me. Just go to cnn.com/tony.