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President Obama: Jobs Picture Could Get Worse; Living Will Scams; Day of Peace in Afghanistan
Aired September 21, 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: And good morning, everyone. It is Monday, September 21st, the last full day of summer. And here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A popular New York imam scheduled for court today. He is one of three men arrested in a cross-country terror investigation.
A confidential assessment on the Afghan war leaks. The top American commander says he needs more troops or the mission could fail.
The stars shining bright on Emmy's red carpet. We will show you the big winners and we will show you who came dressed for success.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
So let's do this -- let's quickly get you caught up on the day's hot headlines. Then we will take the time to break down the big issues to learn more about why they really matter.
And leading the way this hour, the president's push for innovation. That's his plan to transform the economy.
President Obama making his case this hour. He is speaking to student at Hudson Valley Community College in upstate New York. And you can watch the speech live about 50 minutes from right now, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The president later switches to a global focus. He speaks at a climate change summit today at the United Nations. Leaders there say they're glad to have the U.S. back on board.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN RUDD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: The United States is reengaged with the global climate change agenda. America's been missing for too long. But under President Obama's leadership, they're back. So, therefore, we have America at the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And tomorrow, President Obama gives his first speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers getting down to the nuts and bolts of overhauling health care. The Senate Finance Committing starting now to offer changes to a plan brought forward last week by chairman Max Baucus. Concerns include cost and a new tax on high-value insurance plans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Winning is stopping and starting over and getting it right. And I don't know anybody in my Republican conference in the Senate who is in favor of doing nothing on health care. We obviously have a cost problem and we have an access problem. But there's a very big difference about whether or not it's appropriate to have a major re-write of about one-sixth of our economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Quit? Who, him? Forget about it.
New York Governor David Paterson says he is running to keep his job. White House officials tell CNN they have told Paterson's people they're worried his unpopularity could hand the election to a Republican, but they deny a report President Obama personally requested Paterson to step aside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. DAVID PATERSON (D), NEW YORK: I'm not talking about any specific conversations. As I said, I am running for office. I'm not going to discuss confidential conversations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: No break for the soggy South. A stalled storm system dumped more heavy rain overnight. In Atlanta, major freeways flooded and many schools called off classes.
We will be checking in with meteorologist Rob Marciano in just a couple of minutes. Flood watches, warnings from the Carolinas all the way to Texas.
Our Nicole Lapin is at the breaking news desk watching other stories we are following this hour and next.
Good to see you. Good morning, Nicole.
NICOLE LAPIN, CNN.COM: Good morning, Tony.
We're watching for two news conferences, actually, one out of Contra Costa, California. We're looking for an update on the Phillip Garrido case. Of course, the man accused of kidnapping and raping little Jaycee Dugard 18 years ago.
So, we're looking specifically for more information about bones found on the property. Were they human or were they animal? There are still some questions about Garrido's possible, possible involvement in two other missing girl cases in the late '80s. Tony, also a horrific case out of Naples, Florida. Authorities are searching for a 33-year-old father of five today.
Now, police think this is the man who may have killed his wife and kids, and then fled to Haiti. They made a number of domestic violence calls to the home. Police wouldn't say exactly how the family was killed, but a Naples newspaper is saying that the victims' throats were slit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF KEVIN RAMBOSK, COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA: I can tell you that in no uncertain terms, this is the most horrific and violent event this community has ever experienced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAPIN: So, of course, Tony, we are watching for more information on both of those news conferences. We'll get it to you as soon as it becomes available.
HARRIS: Nicole, appreciate it. Thank you.
And that is our look at the day's big stories. Now let's go in depth right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Focusing now on issue number one, your money, your life. President Obama on a media blitz over the weekend, and jobs were a huge focus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to be clear that, probably, the jobs picture is not going to improve considerably, and it could even get a little bit worse over the next couple of months. And we're probably not going to start seeing enough job creation to deal with a rising population until sometime next year.
I think we'll be adding jobs, but you need 150,000 additional jobs each month just to keep pace with a growing population. So, if we're only adding 50,000 jobs, that's a great reversal from losing 700,000 jobs early this year, but it means that we've still got a ways to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes.
Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with more on where the economy stands.
And so, Susan, a ways to go, you heard it there from the president. That's because this isn't just about job loss. It's also, as you heard the president say, about creating jobs. Jobs links to incomes, incomes to spending, and spending is what the economy needs to really take off here. SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's real simple, Tony. People out of work don't spend money. But, you know, people who are employed aren't spending either, or at least aren't spending like they used to. The fact is, Americans are starting to live within our means.
HARRIS: Wow.
LISOVICZ: The savings rate...
HARRIS: What a concept.
LISOVICZ: It's true. And the savings now, Tony, is five percent. It doesn't sound like a whole lot. But, you know, in 2002, the savings rate actually turned negative, meaning that not a long time ago we were spending everything we made and then some.
So now what are we doing? We are paying our bills if we can, we are paying down debt, and that's going to affect the pace of the recovery. It's a good thing. I'm not discouraging it, it's a good thing. But it certainly has an impact on the overall economy.
There's a report out from Deloitte, Tony, that says holiday spending -- and you know how critical that is -- is expected to be flat versus a year ago. Now, it's better than a year ago. Prior to the preceding year, it was a decline. But the fact is that has a ripple effect to the retailers, to the manufacturers that make the goods, and all that.
HARRIS: Hey, Susan, if we want to look at a bit of a positive indicator, boy, how about the stock market?
LISOVICZ: Yes. Well, the Dow closed Friday, Tony, at the highest level in nearly a year. The blue chips are up 12 percent for the year, up nearly 50 percent from the March 9th low.
And if this seems extraordinary to you, it is, because we have only seen, according to "The Wall Street Journal," six-month rallies like this five times in the last century, in the 1930s and the 1970s. So a very rare thing, indeed. But those periods, Tony, were marked by turbulence, and analysts say it could happen again.
The market doesn't move in one direction. It would be nice when it's on an upswing, but the fact is there are some very critical questions right now.
One of them is coming up -- we'll be talking about it within a matter of days -- corporate earnings. Are companies only making money because they're cutting costs? And how does the economy go without stimulus? Like, how will auto sales be without Cash for Clunkers? How will house sales move without the first-time homebuyer tax credit?
We're talking about extensions for it, but what is it like without all of this stimulus out there?
HARRIS: Look at this. And the Dow down 48 points. LISOVICZ: It's in a pullback today.
HARRIS: Yes, some selling going on. Susan, appreciate it. See you next hour. Thank you.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
HARRIS: You know, you definitely need a living will, but what about a living trust? There's a scam out there, and Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis has "Top Tips" to keep you safe.
And Rob Marciano hard at work now. Boy, we've got a real mess in the southeast. And Rob is following this storm system, this system where the storms keep training into the Georgia area, into Atlanta and throughout the southeast.
Rob is up next, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A popular scam making the rounds these days. A shady company is using fear-mongering to sell living trusts to people who don't really need them.
Personal finance editor Gerri Willis is in New York.
And Gerri, good to see you.
What's going on here?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, hi there, Tony.
Yes, you may have heard of a living trust. It's a way some folks transfer assets to their children or their grandchildren. But the problem, according to federal agencies and some state attorney generals, is that these expensive living trust products are really products that are marketed to folks who really don't need them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CERTNER, LEGISLATIVE POLICY DIRECTOR, AARP: Most people don't need a living trust because they have, quite frankly, a very simple estate that a will may be much better for, and a will may, quite frankly, be cheaper for you than a living trust. So, there's no reason to go through the additional expense for a product you don't need when there are other better, simpler, cheaper alternatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: All right. So, what these scammers typically do is they sell living trust kits which cost about $2,000, and they're marketed by a salesman. They may call you on the phone. They may show up at your front door, saying that, look, if you don't buy this trust kit, your estate could be nubbed by taxes, it could take years for estate to be given out to heirs.
And you may even be asked to attend a free lunch seminar. You know how these go, Tony.
Take a look at this example, though. We have a flyer for one of these free lunches. I just want to show you that.
HARRIS: Oh, there it is, yes.
WILLIS: All right. So you get this, and you think, wow, I'm just going to go have a free lunch. Well, as you know, there is so such thing as a free lunch.
Basically, you're going to get the hard sell, and not only on living trusts, but annuities, all kind of investment products that you may or may not want. So, at the end of the day, people need to be aware. Look if you're elderly, let's say your parents are elderly, if you're getting, you know, solicited for these living trusts, think twice.
HARRIS: Absolutely. Yes. Boy, that lunch sounds like what we're familiar with when we go on vacation -- come on over, have a free lunch.
WILLIS: Right. Yes. Not so much.
HARRIS: And you get the hard sell on the time share. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Hey, I'm wondering -- let's drill down. You know how we like to do that around here. What is it that people really need to know about these living trusts?
WILLIS: Well, look, you know, they are on the up and up if they're sold by the right people, and they can be helpful if you have children or grandchildren with special needs. Or maybe you own real estate in more than one state.
But if you don't fall into either of those categories, you might be better off with a simple, old-fashioned will. If you own a house, a bank account, a joint brokerage account with your spouse, that will automatically transfer over to the surviving spouse and you won't need a trust if you have a will.
Of course, you should consider setting up a will, as we said. It will only cost you $150 to $200. In reality, Tony, only about five percent of the population should even think about getting a trust. You want to know if a living trust is for you, go to an estate planning attorney. And don't trust anybody who says there's a one- size-fits-all product out there.
They're also saying things like AARP is endorsing their products. Don't believe it. Not true.
HARRIS: Got you.
WILLIS: And, of course, if you have questions, send them to me at gerri@cnn.com. We love to hear from you.
HARRIS: That's terrific. Good to see you, Gerri. Thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
HARRIS: You know, Ben Bernanke may say the recession is over, but the Fed isn't acting like it just yet. Read all about it at CNNMoney.com.
The push for more troops in Afghanistan and the pushback. Who will make the call?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Our top stories right now.
A big innovation speech coming this hour from President Obama. You are looking here live at pictures from Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York.
Do we have those pictures? I don't think we do just yet.
All right. The president is expected to tell students innovation is key to transforming the economy. Watch him live, about 30 minutes from right now, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A New York imam one of three in court today on a cross-country terror investigation. The FBI has arrested Najibullah Zazi and his father in Denver and Ahmad Afzali in Queens. All are charged with lying to the FBI during the probe which is focused on an alleged plan to bomb a transportation hub.
In Italy today, a state funeral and a national day of mourning. Thousands gathered at the Basilica of St. Paul's near Rome to remember six soldiers killed last week in Afghanistan.
A harsh warning from the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. General Stanley McChrystal says thousands more troops are needed soon or the war will likely fail. That assessment comes in a classified report obtained by "The Washington Post." President Obama has yet to address troops' levels, but during his media blitz he talked strategy on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: When we came in, I think everybody understood that our Afghanistan strategy was somewhat adrift, despite the extraordinary valor of the young men and women who are fighting there. So, what we said was, let's do a soup to nuts re-evaluation, focusing on the what our original goal was, which was to get al Qaeda, the people who killed 3,000 Americans. To the extent that our strategy in Afghanistan is serving that goal, then we're on the right track. If it starts drifting away from that goal, then we may have a problem. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And today in Afghanistan, international security forces, U.S. and Afghan troops are observing an international day of peace.
What does that mean?
CNN's Atia Abawi live from Kabul.
And Atia, let me start with that. An international day of peace? What does that mean?
ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm smiling right now, Tony, because it's supposed to be a peace day. It's International Day of Peace all over the world. It's a moment in Afghanistan.
The U.N. has asked the Taliban forces, the coalition forces, the Afghan government to cease defensive operations. And ISAF -- that's the International Security Assistance Force -- the U.S. forces, the Afghan government has agreed to it. The Taliban, on the other hand, only telling one news agency, and that's an Iranian news agency, that they will also be only on the defensive. And last year, we're being told by the U.N., that they did see a 70 percent decrease in violence on the International Peace Day, and they're hoping that that same thing will happen here today. But we're going to have to wait and see what the reports come in tomorrow -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. OK.
So, Atia, as you know, the leader of U.S. troops there in after Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, says the entire effort could fail without an influx of more boots on the ground. I'm curious as to what all of this means, if anything, to Afghans. Is there is any discussion that if there is an increase in troop levels, the Taliban could be back?
ABAWI: Well, you're going to have two answers to that. Some in the government would say that if you do bring more troops, then it's going to look like an occupying force, as the Soviets did in the '80s. But the difference here is that the Afghan people don't view the Americans and the coalition force as they did the Soviets.
They didn't want the Soviets in Afghanistan. They welcomed the U.S. forces, for the most part, with open arms in the beginning of the war here. Eight years on in the war, they've seen more Afghans die, they've seen civilian casualties. So, yes, they are tired, but they are also afraid that if the international community leaves, that a vacuum will be left. And what will take place in that vacuum?
Will it be another civil war or will it be the Taliban? And to be honest, when it comes to the Afghans, they would prefer the Taliban over the civil war. That was in one of most barbaric, gruesome periods in their history, and that came after the Soviets withdrew. So, yes, they're afraid right now that the Americans will leave and they're afraid of what they will leave behind -- Tony. HARRIS: Boy, I'm just -- one more quick one here. I'm looking at the suggestions as to what Afghanistan needs from General McChrystal -- better institutions, a better government, a better army, better policing of drug traffickers.
Atia, this all seems like a pretty tall order.
ABAWI: Absolutely is a tall order, but they've also had eight years to think about this. And when you tell the Afghans, they'll tell you that they've been asking for this for the past eight years.
They've been telling me as a journalist from province to province, village to village, that they don't need the guns and bombs. What they need is a better government. They need infrastructure. They need jobs.
And once they have that, they've told me that you will see the Taliban, you will see al Qaeda, you will see the enemies of Afghanistan disappear. What they're afraid of now is that President Barack Obama made a promise to them in March that a change will come, a new strategy will come, and they told me then that they'll believe it when they see.
And right now, the normal Afghans, they won't be reading General McChrystal's assessment page by page, strategy by strategy. But what they do know at the moment is that the top NATO commander handed in an assessment to Washington, Washington has had this assessment for over three weeks now, and nothing has been done yet. So, right now the Afghans are shrugging their shoulders, not knowing if they can trust the West again -- Tony.
HARRIS: Wow. All right.
Atia Abawi for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Atia, great reporting. Thank you.
So, what do you think? After eight years, has the United States given enough in blood and treasure to defeat al Qaeda and establish a new Afghan government? It is our blog question. A pretty hot one.
Is it time for a full U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan? Think about it.
Go to our blog, CNN.com/Tony. Leave us a comment. And we will share some of them on air in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
More tough questions, tough interviews. This Sunday, September 27th, at 2:00 p.m., Christiane Amanpour grills international leaders about global stories that matter to you. "AMANPOUR," CNN every Sunday, 2:00 p.m., after "GPS."
The state of the economy -- where are the jobs, where is the stimulus money? The president's on the road talking to college students this morning.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Promoting innovation as key to transforming the economy, President Obama making his case a few minutes from now in a speech to students at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. Let's go there live now to CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian.
And Dan, let's see here. Innovation as key to transforming the economy. Makes sense to take that message to a college campus where innovation happens.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and in particular a community college. As you know, the administration has really made a lot about the importances of a community college in terms of preparing students for the jobs of the future, the kinds of jobs that this administration believes can really help to jump start the economy.
And so that's why the president will be here. He will be touring a new facility, expected to open in 2010, classroom and also labs that will be training students to do some of these green jobs. Again, those are the jobs that this administration is pouring the stimulus money into to try to turn the economy around.
As you might recall, it was during the summer that the president was in Michigan rolling out this $12 billion plan that will help community colleges, improving the infrastructure as well as the kinds of programs that students can take. Again, putting this together, marrying it to a plan that he believes will help turn this economy around.
Now, the president will be joined by Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, who's also a professor at a community college. She will be introducing the president before making the remarks here today. And Tony, in the audience, this is not open to the general public. We are told about 150 tickets went out to students and teachers, professors here at the community college. Another 150 or so to technology workers in the area, then 50 tickets to politicians and other bigwigs in the area.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, exactly. And, Dan, you know, there was a lot of conversation in the media about the president's media blitz over the weekend. But my goodness, if you look at the week ahead for the president, starting today, it continues. I mean, he is out there essentially every day doing something.
LOTHIAN: He really is. You know, last week, much of the attention was on health care, and then you saw, you know, the five shows that he did on Sunday. What he will be focused on -- well, before he launches into the real serious business tonight, he will be appearing on David Letterman, be the only guest on the show tonight. And then, of course, the U.N. General Assembly is the reason that he is in New York, where they'll be dealing with a host of issues, from climate change to also Middle East peace. The president will be having a trilateral meeting with both Netanyahu and also Mahmoud Abbas and then will meet individually with each one of them, and then goes on to G-20, where the topic will of course be the global economy. So, a lot of big things on the president's plate this week, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, well, yes, the president of the United States, who should be busy -- leader of the free world and all.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
HARRIS: Dan Lothian for us. Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.
And a reminder, you can watch the president's economic speech right here in the CNN NEWSROOM coming up in about 20 minutes from right now.
Two Afghan men, father and son, set for a court appearance in Denver. They're charged with lying to the FBI on a terror investigation. Authorities believe the pair is involved in an alleged plot to blow up a subway station or other transportation centers. A third man who is in custody goes before a judge in New York this afternoon.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick is there. And Deb, this third man that we're talking about now claims to be a government informant. Why has he been under arrest?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, it's not clear whether in fact he was a government informant per se, but we do know that he did help the government when asked over the past of the course of the last year, that when it came to him asking for information on particular people who may have been in the mosque. Now, the man who's going be in federal court today is a 37-year-old imam. His name is Ahmad Afzali. He is charged with lying to authorities investigating a plot to detonate bombs in the U.S., possibly even targeting trains and subways. Video of Manhattan's Grand Central Station found on one of the suspects' computers.
Now, the imam, according to authorities, allegedly tipped off those two Denver men, Najibullah Zazi and his father. But the imam's lawyer says the imam only reached out to the Denver suspects at the request of FBI agents who wanted information. That's when the lawyer says the imam became a target.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON KUBY, AHMAD AFZALI'S ATTORNEY: Why on earth would he then lie to the FBI about the conversation he knew they were recording?
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: Nr. Nafali (ph) is arrested because he denied making that telephone call to both to Najibullah Zazi and to Mohammed Zazi when in fact those phone calls were being recorded based on an authorized eavesdropping warrant given to the FBI.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: So, two different stories, as to why that phone call actually took place. But we are told, Tony, that during the conversation the imam did tell the Denver suspect that it was a bad sign that authorities had picked him up so quickly. He also told the Denver suspect not to talk about Iraq or Afghanistan.
Now as for information that the imam was one of the men who apparently went to the U-Haul station in order to try to rent a truck, his lawyer says it's not true. Sources tell us that in fact he was identified as one of those men -- Tony.
HARRIS: Boy, I know you're working. There are a lot of threads to the story, and I know you're working hard to pull them all together.
Deborah Feyerick for us in New York. Deb, appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, a little fun and games before we get to the real serious stuff here. Check this out, the cardboard kayak race in Idaho over the weekend. Contestants are only allowed to use cardboard and duct tape to make their boats.
You know what, we could use something a little more sturdy here in the Southeast, Rob Marciano. I've got to tell you something, man, over the last week, what are those rain totals, man? In some places, a foot, maybe a little more, 15. Did I hear someone suggest a moment ago maybe some places 20 inches of rain?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, I had the radar, Doppler radar estimates up here a second ago. But they show over 19 inches since this all began...
HARRIS: The 11th?
MARCIANO: Basically on September 1th, that Friday. So, yes. This is just what we -- there it is. Dave, thank you very much. The white here, here's Atlanta, all of this white west of Atlanta, that's 19 inches. So, that's ugly.
But I mean, it's good in that we were in a long-term drought, but that's over now. Here's the problem. We had all of this rain for over a week's time, and then last night, boom, these numbers. Just, you know, just in 24 hours, Douglasville, Georgia, got almost a foot. Lilburn, Georgia, where they had a number of rescues, almost ten inches, and Lawrenceville, same deal, 8.2 inches.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Two students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are feeling on top of their world today. They photographed the earth from space using a camera and a balloon. They did it on the cheap. But the results are pretty good. Priceless, in fact. The photographers shared their work with CNN.com's iReport desk.
There's the man, Tyson Wheatley.
TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM PRODUCER: Hi, Tony.
HARRIS: Hey, Tyson, good to see you. Show us some of these pictures.
WHEATLEY: Yes, they're pretty incredible, actually. And I want to point out, this is taken 17 miles above the earth. That's not quite space. It's more near space. We want to be technically correct here.
HARRIS: Got you.
WHEATLEY: And earlier this month, an MIT student Oliver Yeh and a classmate launched a camera into near space using a weather balloon, a cell phone, hand warmers and a drink cooler. And it cost them less than $150 to pull off.
HARRIS: Oh, I love that.
WHEATLEY: They bought a digital camera on eBay. Then they fastened it inside a styrofoam cooler with a hole poked in the side. They attached a cell phone to the camera so it would send GPS coordinates back to earth, where the students monitored from a laptop. They taped a hand warmer to the cell phone's battery so it wouldn't freeze at such high altitude, and then set the camera to snap a picture every five seconds.
The helium-filled balloon took about four hours to reach 17 miles up before popping from the immense air pressure. It floated back to earth using a parachute attached to the side of the cooler.
Well, their experiment landed at a construction site about 25 miles way from there -- where they launched it. And once they saw how cool the photos were, they decided to upload them to iReport.com and share the details of how they did it with the world. You can read about it by -- on a story -- read about more about how they did it on a story at CNN.com right now.
And a couple things we should be pointing out, Tony. One, high- altitude balloon photography has been around for years, but it's typically much more -- typically a much more expensive endeavor. These guys proved that just about anybody with a do-it-yourself attitude could pull it off. But before you're thinking of doing something like this, you should definitely check with the FAA, as well as your local authorities, just to be safe.
HARRIS: Just to be safe. Yes, that's good.
Tyson, appreciate it. Thank you. Good stuff.
WHEATLEY: All right. Thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: A big night in Hollywood brings out the stars and the designers. Hey now, what do you think? A hit or a miss? We will look at the Emmy night fashion winners next in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, flash flooding is everywhere in the Southeast right now, particularly -- let's be more specific about that. We're talking about Alabama and Georgia, and certainly in Atlanta and the outlying areas around Atlanta.
Reynolds Wolf is joining me from Powder Springs. That's north and west of Atlanta. All right. Look like we've got you, Doc.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Tony.
HARRIS: Where exactly are you?
WOLF: Actually, right near the Paulding County-Cobb County border. That's our (ph) house located in a subdivision called Taylor Farms. And right behind me, you can see our (ph) backyard, which is actually parts of Sweetwater Creek.
And let me tell you, Tony, that on a normal day, what we could do, if you happened to be over here, is we could go for a walk about 100 yards back in the woods all the way to the creek itself. Now, on the other side of the creek, we have a nature preserve. Well, right now, the creek is in our backyard. You can see right there -- I'm going to move slowly. I understand we're online, so we're just going to kind of slowly move over there. And you can just make out hopefully the backyard. You can see a swing set...
HARRIS: Yes, we can see it.
WOLF: Where my daughters play all the time. And water's actually all the way up to the slide and actually moving a blue seat that you see kind of halfway submerged in the water.
HARRIS: Wow. Is it still raining, Reynolds?
WOLF: Yes, it's still coming down. And speaking of rain coming down, we easily had a foot of rain. It just did not stop. A steady downpour all night long, heavy thunder, lots of lightning. And as you mentioned, the rain continues to pour.
HARRIS: Wow, that's so interesting because we've been getting some of these rain totals. In some places in Georgia, 20 inches since September 11. Over the last 24 hours, we've heard totals of anywhere from 6 to 8 inches to a foot. What would you guess your area received overnight?
WOLF: Well, we've got a bucket that's actually out here in the backyard, and it's near a grill. And that bucket is maybe I would say well over a foot full. Unfortunately, it's a bit aways from me. I'm unable to pick it up, but I just guarantee you that it's full.
Tony, the situation here in our neighborhood has just been, just bizarre, to say the very least. Normally on a day like today, I would be coming into work.
HARRIS: Yes.
WOLF: But the rain has been so heavy, the flooding so extreme in our neighborhood, we actually can't leave the neighborhood, and no one can get in here. We've had actually horses from nearby farms that have actually managed to leave via our neighborhood. At same time, we've had issues and with animals dying here from the floodwaters.
One of our neighbors a few doors down had a pomeranian in their basement with the water piling up inside the basement. They were sleeping. They had no idea. And their dog perished in the rising waters.
It is a tremendous mess to say the very least. As you were talking about, the rain continues to pour. We don't need another drop. And unfortunately, it looks like we're going to be seeing some rain throughout the afternoon, good part of tonight, that may be tapering off as we get to tomorrow morning.
HARRIS: Rain -- you know, it's interesting. You usually think about the rain as something of an annoyance, a nuisance. It interrupts your plans, and maybe you've got a flooded basement or something, but maybe that's just a day or so.
But we're looking at a situation now where homes are being flooded, backyards are being flooded. The Associated Press is reporting that two people have been killed in the Atlanta area because of the floodwaters. So, this has taken a deadly turn, obviously, and has become a very serious situation.
Reynolds, we appreciate it.
WOLF: Absolutely, Tony.
HARRIS: We'll talk to you again next hour. Thanks, Doc.
Let's turn and change gears a little bit here. The NBC sitcom "30 Rock" one of the big winners last night's Emmy awards. "30 Rock" creator and star Tina Fey accepted the Emmy for best comedy. Co-star Alec Baldwin was named best actor in a comedy. Best supporting actor went to John Cryer of "Two and a Half Men."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON CRYER, ACTOR: I used to think that awards were just shallow tokens of momentary popularity. But now I realize they are the only true measure of a person's real worth as a human being.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: That's good stuff. The red carpet also pretty hot. Nicole Lapin joining me again showing off those great Emmy gowns. I want to see, Nicole. What do you have for us?
NICOLE LAPIN, CNN.COM: Here you go. Because of course there was a show that we just saw, and then there's the show.
HARRIS: Yes.
LAPIN: The hits and the misses, what do you think this is?
HARRIS: Let me see. I can't -- oh, that's -- who is that?
LAPIN: Vanessa Williams. She always looks amazing. She can never go wrong in this fitted turquoise gown. Blue was really in last night. So, she is a big, big hit.
And then look at Heidi Klum, Tony. How many kids has this lady had? I think she's on number four right now.
HARRIS: She is fabulous.
LAPIN: But she looks stunning in this black Marchesa gown. She was nominated for "Project Runway," of course. And then we had Kristin Chenoweth, who won for best supporting actress. And we used to see, you know, a lot of gowns long, floor-length gowns, but this was a nice, you know, little cocktail number that was a big hit.
HARRIS: Well, that's cute, that's cute.
LAPIN: OK. Let's go to the other side.
HARRIS: Right. A couple of misses or what?
LAPIN: Well, you tell me what you think? Jon Cryer, we saw him in his acceptance speech.
HARRIS: That's different. That's not bad.
LAPIN: Well, let's look at what he's wearing here. This is a yellow striped sweater situation.
HARRIS: Right.
LAPIN: You have to help me because you're the guy.
HARRIS: Well, come on.
LAPIN: Don't you just normally put on a suit? I don't know about all of this.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
LAPIN: It's getting some controversy right there.
HARRIS: Got you.
LAPIN: And then we have, well, not sure exactly what this is. Victoria Rowell, she is an actress from "Young and the Restless."
HARRIS: And she's fabulous. Right.
LAPIN: Designer unknown. And I'm just -- I'm confused a little bit. HARRIS: That's not going to work. All right.
LAPIN: So, a lot of people were trying to play it safe. This actress was not. I'm not trying to be mean.
HARRIS: Right.
LAPIN: We're just showing you some of the widely perceived hits and missed out there.
HARRIS: Got you. All right. Well, we tried.
LAPIN: We did.
HARRIS: We just wanted to bring you a little sizzle in the morning.
All right, Nicole, appreciate it. Thank you.
And live pictures now from Hudson Valley Community College. President Obama is talking to college students, faculty and staff about jobs, the overall economy and much more. We'll bring it to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, once again, we're getting these pictures in from Georgia. This is Cobb County, Georgia, north and west of downtown Atlanta. More of the flooding. It looks like the rain at least in this shot -- is this are a live picture or is it in from just moments ago? It looks like the rain has stopped at least in Cobb County right now.
But not far from Cobb County is where our Reynolds Wolf is located. And he says it's still raining where he is. I've got to show you some of these pictures from early this morning, overnight hours of just the rain flooding out highways, streets, creeks overflowing in the neighborhoods, and neighborhoods into basements. It's a real mess here in Georgia and Alabama. Really over the last week, to be honest with you.
If you look at the last 24 hours, in some areas, a foot of rain, but if you take an extended view of that over the last week, you're looking at, in some places, 20 inches of rain. It has been a real mess down in the Southeast and Atlanta and in much of Georgia and certainly spots in Alabama as well. We will keep an eye on this.
Chad Myers stepping in pretty soon in the noon hour to give us an update on this system, this low-pressure system that is just sort of hovering over the Southeast. And this system of training storms dumping all of this rain in Atlanta and Georgia and Alabama. And you can see the cloud cover over downtown Atlanta. We'll keep an eye on this story obviously for you.
know, it may sound cynical, even satirical, but a summer of overheated debate has forced many Americans to realize the obvious: The president is black. Here is CNN's Joe Johns in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president could no longer avoid talking about it. Race. It came up interview after interview. This one with CNN's John King.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are. That's not the overriding issue here. I think there are people who are anti-government. I think there are -- there's been a longstanding debate in this country that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition, where when presidents are trying to bring about big changes. I mean, the things that were said about FDR pretty similar to the things that were said about me, that he was a communist, he was a socialist. Things that were said about Ronald Reagan when he was trying to reverse some of the New Deal programs, you know, were pretty vicious as well.
JOHNS: ON ABC, Mr. Obama pointing out that strong views on race doesn't always hurt him politically.
OBAMA: Are there some people who don't like me because of my race? I'm sure there are. Are there some people who vote for me only because of my race? There are probably some of those, too.
JOHNS: The message much the same on CBS and NBC, too. It's territory his press secretary has already covered.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We all have to check our emotions despite the depth of our beliefs. That we can have these kind of debates, important political debates, without doing so in a way that makes anybody feel uncomfortable.
JOHNS: That was one side of the story. On the other side, one of the guys whose own conduct helped ramp up the debate was back home in South Carolina holding his first news conference since he shouted out "You lie" at President Obama.
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Let's close the book on last week.
JOHNS: Was race a factor in Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst?
WILSON: I appreciate very much President Barack Obama has indicated this is not correct.
JOHNS: Also talking about how awful it's been, even though he's gotten well over a million dollars in political contributions, he's also become a target.
WILSON: It was speaking the wrong place, wrong time.
JOHNS: Asserting that if he had it to do over again, he wouldn't, sending a message to the folks back home that he's not a ruffian. WILSON: ... that I grew up in the holy city of Charleston south of Broad. It is the center of stability in a civil state. And so I truly support civility.
JOHNS: Wilson answered only a few questions before choking up and heading for the door...
WILSON: That is my life. Supporting the people of South Carolina.
JOHNS: ... leaving behind the question of whether he and his party can move past the distraction and back to health care reform.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK, let's get you now to President Obama at the Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York.
