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American Morning
9/11 Terror Trial; Fatal Shootout at Pentagon; Health Care Showdown; Department of Justice Witch Hunt; Study: Happy People Talk More; I Will Continue To Serve My Country
Aired March 05, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to another hour of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Jim Acosta, in for John Roberts. It is Friday, March the 5th.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. That's right. And I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks so much for being with us.
We are following breaking news this morning, and it concerns a situation at the Pentagon, a shooting that took place there.
We have news developing this morning. CNN is just confirming top advisers to President Obama are close to recommending that the self- professed mastermind of 9/11 be prosecuted in a military tribunal and not in a civilian federal court as initially announced last year. We're also following the latest developments in that story as well.
ACOSTA: It's a big story this morning, Kiran.
And, deadly gunfire at the entrance to the Pentagon. Investigators are digging into the suspected gunman's background right now, including, whether he had conspiracy theories about September 11 and government resentment.
CHETRY: Also, this morning's unemployment numbers are due out. We're going to be getting them from the Labor Department about 30 minutes. It's expected to show a slight increase from January. We are going to break down those numbers as soon as we get them with our Christine Romans.
First, though, breaking news -- and we're learning new details about the White House, and whether or not advisers may actually recommend a change of course and recommend that the self-confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as well as four others be tried in a military tribunal as opposed to federal civilian court.
Our Suzanne Malveaux has been working her sources this morning and she joins us live from the White House.
Suzanne, what do you know about whether or not whether this is actually a change of heart on this issue? SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Kiran.
Well, a senior administration official confirms that now, White House advisers are now considering to recommend whether or not 9/11 terrorist mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would be tried in a military court, military tribunal, as opposed to a civilian court in New York City.
Now, if this were the case, if the president gets this kind of recommendation and agrees on this, signs off on this, it would mean a reversal of the Obama administration on two fronts -- first, the location of the trial itself, and then the nature of the trial. And as you know, Kiran, the White House has come under fire since November when Attorney General Eric Holder said that he wanted go ahead and try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City in a civilian court.
Now, I had a chance to talk to Robert Gibbs this morning. He put out this statement, simply saying that "We are evaluating based on New York City logistical and security concerns on trial in federal court." But simply, if this were to happen, it would be a major reversal. There would be civil liberties groups that would be quite concerned about this, because when you had that decision that came down before from Eric Holder, essentially, you had folks from New York -- New York officials who said logistically, for security reasons, this is not a good idea. The administration said it would reconsider that.
And, then, secondly, you had a whole group of Republicans in Congress who are negotiating, saying, look, if you want to close Guantanamo Bay prison -- detention camp, we're going to make sure that we are reassured that these guys face some real strict trials, that you keep them in the military court system, not the civilian court system. And those talks are ongoing.
So, this is something that the White House is putting out here and essentially could be -- could have some very big ramifications later today.
CHETRY: Do we know if there -- I mean, this is being discussed as we know, but how close would they be to actually making a decision dealing with these five?
MALVEAUX: Sure. Well, one of the things that the White House has said is that they want to wrap things up. They want to have a decision before the president leaves for Indonesia. That is happening on March 18th.
And so, we expect that they're going to look at these possible recommendations. They're going to weigh these recommendations. The president is going to look at it and then he's going to make a decision. So, Kiran, we're talking about in the next week or so.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us with new information this morning. We'll check in with you throughout the morning. Thanks.
ACOSTA: And our other big story this morning, a fatal shoot-out right in front of the Pentagon. Here are the latest developments. Investigators are still searching for a motive, but this is what we know right now. It remains unclear why 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell of California walked up to two Pentagon security officers last night and opened fire. They fired back and killed him.
Our Chris Lawrence is live at the Pentagon this morning.
And, Chris, what more do we know about the gunman this morning?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We know -- you know, he was in his mid-30s, that he came from California where he apparently lived with his parents. He was a well-educated man. And he started driving east a few weeks ago. In fact, police say when they found his car parked not too far are from where I'm standing right now outside the Pentagon, there was a lot of ammunition still inside it, but at this point, they do not think this was any sort of a terrorist attack.
ACOSTA: And, Chris, how did he get guns so close to the Pentagon? I guess that might be a question a lot of people have. They don't realize that the Metro stop is just very, very close to Pentagon.
LAWRENCE: That's right. When you come out of the Metro stop, which is used, Jim, by thousands of people every day, there are buses going in and out. It's where the underground subway has a stop right there.
When you come out of that area, there is a little checkpoint right outside the Pentagon where these Pentagon police officers sit. Every day, people walk up with coats like I've got on now and they pull out their IDs like this. You show them your ID, and you walk about the other, you know, 10 yards to actually open the front door of the Pentagon.
Well, apparently, that's exactly what he did. He looked like any other person. They said he was well-dressed, calm. Maybe said a word or two, nothing other than that.
But instead of reaching in for a pass, he pulled out a gun. He immediately started firing at them at point-blank range, which -- when you come to think of it, it's just amazing that they were only grazed by those bullets.
ACOSTA: Very lucky for the way all of this has turned out for everybody down there at the Pentagon who are, obviously, very shaken this morning.
Chris Lawrence, thanks very much.
LAWRENCE: Yes.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it's seven minutes past the hour right now.
For months, Washington has debated health care and now, it's at a critical stage. The president is talking tough and he's also twisting some arms among the House Democrats.
ACOSTA: That's right. But it's still unclear if they'll agree on a final bill.
Joining us now to talk about this and more, Candy Crowley, host of CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
Candy, how much is at stake for Democrats these next few weeks. I mean, I was surprised to see the White House put a date for a deadline as to when they'd like to see this pass. They've -- haven't we seen this movie before?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I was going to say, you'd think they'd be a little gun shy at this point about putting a date out there, because several of those deadlines that the White House has imposed have passed obviously without health care. On the other hand, they feel as though if Congress can't -- you know, that Congress moves only when it has some sort of deadline.
And I will tell you that on Capitol Hill, there really is a sense that if this isn't done by -- this, meaning health care -- if a health care bill is not passed and sent to the White House by the end of this month, it's not going to happen, because they're off on Easter break, and when they come back, what they're hearing from their constituents at home is: what are you doing about jobs? So, they really want to turn that corner legislatively and do something about jobs and the economy. And so, there's just a feeling on Capitol Hill that certainly, it has to be done by the end of the month. So, a sort of a dual deadline.
Having said that, the answer to your question is: there's a lot at stake here. There's a lot at stake for the president. This is one of the three primary goals that he set when he was running for president -- one of the three things he wanted to do as president. They spent a year on it for it to fail in some way. It would not be good, because, obviously, it then weakens his hand going forward on other legislation.
For House members, all of whom were up for re-election; a third of the Senate, all up for re-election. There's a lot at stake back home because they are getting pushback -- these Democrats in the swing districts, in the conservative districts for Democrats -- from people who don't like this bill. So, there are a lot of personal politics going on in terms of districts, and there's sort of the larger picture for the president. So, very, very much at stake over the next couple of weeks.
CHETRY: Absolutely. All right. Well, what do you have coming up on the Sunday show, "STATE OF THE UNION"?
CROWLEY: Well, we have -- we have a blast from the blast. I was out in Texas covering the Texas primary earlier this week for a governor -- a really interesting primary election. When I was out there, I stopped by Sugar Land to talk to a former Republican leader, Tom DeLay, to get his take on how he thinks the Republicans are doing, how he thinks the Democrats are doing, the outlook for this coming election and some of the issues that have been out there as well as the tea party. So, it was a fascinating conversation.
CHETRY: We look forward to that, for sure. Candy --
ACOSTA: Sounds good, Candy.
CHETRY: Yes, always great to see you, by the way. Thanks so much.
CROWLEY: Thank you.
CHETRY: And you can catch Candy, by the way, hosting "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday morning. It airs at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
ACOSTA: Now, we have to worry about this one. The newsroom runs out of Red Bull. Check it out.
This Italian broadcast. Two people behind the scenes start going at it -- a big old slap fight that went to the ground, legs and arms flying. The anchor even bailed. We're not even sure what started it.
I think it had something to do with Rob Marciano, is that right? There was a weather forecast that went --
CHETRY: Well, he jumps up and gets the heck out of there.
ACOSTA: Oh, my goodness.
CHETRY: This thing went on so long, Rob, that they actually fast forwarded and they dissolved to another take of the same anchor man. I mean, how long can you go on fighting in front of the cameras?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, it's important to note that not only are Italians professional as we saw in the anchor, but behind him, were also very passionate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Marciano.
CHETRY: It's a double-edge sword.
MARCIANO: Things can get out of hand. All right. Guys, I'm glad you showed that coming into me.
Let's go to the map now and show you the cooler temperatures across the south. Twenty-eight degrees currently in Birmingham, Alabama; the freezing mark in Atlanta; as chilly as 44 in Orlando; 39 in Jacksonville; and 47 degrees in Miami. This is the time of year when they have lots of things going on down there. And I know Brian Bell is down there and he's probably a little chilly.
All right. High pressure patrol, we start to see things warm up a little bit across the plains, but this is good for a nice weekend forecast. Everywhere especially east of the Mississippi, you're looking good. But today, we'll struggle to rebound it to the lower 50s in Atlanta, upper 30s in New York, but I think you may very kiss 50 in New York on Sunday; 68 degrees in Dallas. That's a hint of some things to come.
We'll talk more about weather in about 30 minutes. No fights breaking out in the CNN newsroom in Atlanta, at least.
CHETRY: No. That's why we've actually --
ACOSTA: Not at the moment.
CHETRY: -- we've actually replaced the newsroom scene back there with some blue glass because --
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: -- if things get heated, no one can see it.
MARCIANO: And, blue is a soothing color.
CHETRY: It sure. It calms the nerves. It soothes at least.
All right. Thanks so much, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Well, some are asking -- is this a conflict of interest? Justice Department lawyers who formerly defended some of the Gitmo suspects -- and some are saying, "I want names."
ACOSTA: Right.
CHETRY: And others are saying, "Wait a minute, is this a witch hunt?"
ACOSTA: Yes. But even some Republicans are saying this is way out of line. Stay with us. It just a moment, we got more on this. Is this a conflict of interest? Stay tuned.
It's 12 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to Most News in the Morning. Fifteen minutes past the hour right now.
There's a new political ad and it's asking Attorney General Eric Holder to name Justice Department staffers who have, in the past, represented terror detainees. Now, some lawmakers on Capitol Hill say that it is fair question. But on the other side, legal experts and some politics, both Republican and Democrat, are calling it a witch hunt.
Our Jeanne Meserve joins us live from D.C. with an "AM Original" this morning, digging deeper into the story.
Hi, Jeanne. JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
So, should the Department of Justice be called the "department of jihad"? It is a very provocative question. Posed in an advocacy spot from a group headed by Vice President's Dick Cheney's daughter, Liz, and a 9/11 family member. Even some of the members of the Bush/Cheney Administration say it's over the line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Some lawyers who have represented Guantanamo detainees are now officials in the U.S. Justice Department, and a spot posted by the group Keep America Safe raises questions about where their loyalty lies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whose values do they share? Tell Eric Holder. Americans have a right to know the identity of the Al-Qaida seven.
MESERVE: The Obama White House calls it bizarre and even some former Bush Administrators lawyers say it goes too far.
JOHN BELLINGER, FMR. BUSH ADMINISTRATION LAWYER: I think those sorts of cheap shots suggesting that a lawyer who is simply defending a client somehow shares those views are really are inappropriate.
MESERVE: Keep America Safe says its ad isn't McCarthyism. We're asking for transparency. That's why Senator Charles Grassley says he's been pressing since November for the names of justice official whose previously represented or advocated for detainees.
SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY, (R) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I'm not questioning ethics being violated. I want information so that I know that ethics are not being violated.
MESERVE: Others say ethics are being violated if any of those lawyers are now involved in setting government detainee policy.
REP. FRANK WOLF (R), APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: If you've been a lawyer and have been representing the mafia or organized crime it would be a conflict of interest for you then to come into the Administration or into the Justice Department and put together organized crime policies.
MESERVE: A simple internet search will turn up the names of the Justice Department lawyer whose previously represented is detainees, but the Justice Department will not provide a full list. A spokesman says we will not participate in an attempt to drag people's names through the mud for political purposes. He adds that it's offensive that their patriotism is being questioned and some lawyers of different political stripe agree.
BELLINGER: John Adams represented Tories who were accused of treason back in the revolution. This is the sort of work that we ought to be applauding, not attacking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (on camera): The Justice Department says its lawyers often work in areas that overlap their prior practice and strict ethic rules prevent conflicts of interest. Some DOJ lawyers have been recused for matters regarding specific detainees who they or their firms have represented but they have been authorized to participate in other detainee matters. Kiran back to you.
CHETRY: It's very interesting story and it will be a very interesting issue, we'll see how it plays out. Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Thanks.
ACOSTA: And, Kiran, we've got another big business news story coming up.
CHETRY: Oh yes.
ACOSTA: What will the numbers do, that is the big story this morning. In business, the February jobs report comes out shortly and Christine Romans will come back in a little while to preview it.
And it is 18 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: It's happy hour somewhere, right?
CHETRY: It's our Friday ritual. We just you know, we are just getting people relaxed and happy, although, most people have eight hours ahead of them.
ACOSTA: That's right.
CHETRY: We have 40 minutes.
ACOSTA: It's only water until we tell everybody.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I may (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: That's right, OK, 11 hours.
ACOSTA: There's a study out. Happy people talk more. Welcome back to The Most News In The Morning. Is there someone in your office who never seems to talk stopping, Kiran?
CHETRY: You've got to get a shot at Christine too if you --
ROMANS: Talk fast or talk a lot?
ACOSTA: I think a little of both actually.
(LAUGHTER)
ACOSTA: Yes it turns out the chatty co-worker could be happier than you, Kiran. This study shows happier people have more deep and meaningful conversations, OK not Kiran. Unless -- ROMANS: Nice.
ACOSTA: Small talk - a psychologist at the University of Arizona and Washington University in St. Louis tracked a group of volunteers for. Why should I finish reading this?
ROMANS: No, I want to know.
ACOSTA: They tracked this for several days and they found happier people spent 70 percent more time talking, which I would find to be naturally the case because if you never talk, that would just make you strange.
ROMANS: What about people who complain all the time?
CHETRY: Yes, right.
ROMANS: They talk a lot but they complain, complain. Maybe they feel better though.
CHETRY: Maybe they're really happy inside but they just complain a lot.
ROMANS: One word, vindication, Kiran.
CHETRY: Although my father always told me if you zipped it once in a while maybe you would learn something.
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: I can't imagine he said that to you.
ROMANS: There's a reason why you have two ears and one mouth.
CHETRY: That's what he also said to me among other things. Like
ROMANS: Or he might say your transmitter's working more than your receiver. Switch it, see that.
ACOSTA: See that?
CHETRY: You could go on, right, Christine?
ROMANS: I could go on and on it's because I'm happy.
ACOSTA: Stop talking.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: We are "Minding Your Business" we're about to see the jobs numbers for February and we might see a bit of a blip, right? Because of this extreme weather that hit so many parts of the country.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: When it's snowing and businesses are shut down, it doesn't bode well for jobs.
ROMANS: Yes, oh you're not bringing people in to hire them, right? Because you've closed down for a few days. So you know we had a lot of crazy snow in February and that's probably going to create as we say in economics noise in the report.
Look, another report though, Gallup, they surveyed employees. And asked them what are the perceptions of hiring and firing like. And actually showing that the perceptions among workers are that there is more hiring happening in February than firing. That actually a couple percentage points more hiring than letting go. You can see that nationwide on the right.
Now what about job market conditions where you live? Green there. You can see is the east down to the south. There's more hiring in some of these places. Look at the south, you guys, 27 percent of employees said they were seeing hiring in their companies around them; 22 percent letting go. That's been the pattern for a couple of years. The Midwest, hiring, picking up just a little bit. You're hearing about tiny incremental improvement in some kinds of manufacturing, mostly skilled manufacturing.
The west is still the part of the country that has more firing than hiring. Only 22 percent of employees said they were seeing people, you know, getting jobs around them, but letting go was still happening. So this is the two parts of the jobs story. You've got firing. And for the last year, that was just incredible. I mean a year ago we were losing 700,000 jobs in a month.
ACOSTA: Right.
ROMANS: But that slowed down dramatically. The question is does hiring start to pick up? So two parts of this equation. The firings have really slowed mostly. Now we wait for the hiring to resume.
ACOSTA: Yes we could really use some happy talk in the jobs picture.
ROMANS: I know.
ACOSTA: That would be nice.
CHETRY: You're joining us back in seven minutes, right? After you get the numbers and we'll see.
ROMANS: Yes and I'll talk fast and say a lot.
ACOSTA: Sounds good.
CHETRY: Because you're happy.
ROMANS: Because I am, just so happy.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
ACOSTA: Great, thank you Christine. And coming up next. This is a great story brought to us by Barbara Starr. An ex-Army captain who suffers from PTSD, that's post traumatic stress disorder, he's on a new mission. He's running for Pennsylvania state representative. He's looking for a job out there in the Keystone State. Let's -- we'll take a look at his story, coming up in just a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to The Most News In The Morning.
You know, after coming home from work it can be hard for many soldiers to adjust back to, quote, "normal life again," especially when they're dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder.
ACOSTA: Yes that was the case for army captain Shannon Meehan. He's moved on from his army life but still wants to serve his country. He also talked exclusively with our Barbara Starr and she joins us now with an "AM Original."
And, Barbara, this is a great story.
STARR: It really is. This is a young man like so many veteran whose are struggling on the road back home. We visited with him just a couple of days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): In this Philadelphia neighborhood, one time army captain Shannon Meehan is back on foot patrol. Walking the street, knocking on doors, talking to people.
SHANNON MEEHAN (D), PENNSYLVANIA STATE HOUSE CANDIDATE: I grew up in this area around here, just recently retired from Iraq. As a continuation of my service I'm running as state representative for my area.
STARR: Three years ago in Iraq, Shannon's job as an army platoon commander was to try to win over the citizens. As he launches his campaign for state legislature, he's open about his experiences in war.
MEEHAN: By painting an honest picture of myself because I will be honest, I will show you who I am and who I've become. I always felt that I benefitted --
STARR: I first met Shannon last year at Ft. Hood, Texas, where he was being treated for traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress.
(on camera): You have written extensively about the incident that has caused you to suffer from posttraumatic stress. I'm wondering how that's going for you now.
MEEHAN: Ever since that day back in Iran in June when I took the lives inadvertently of innocent Iraqi family, I've been forever changed. And their deaths, the memories of those children and that family, you know, they will follow me. They always will.
STARR (voice-over): When he was in Iraq, Shannon had called in a strike on a building no one knew Iraqi civilians were there. He felt deeply responsible.
(on camera): You and I hadn't talked in, I'd say, a few months, and then you suddenly e-mailed me a few weeks ago late one night.
(voice-over): I asked him to read some of what he sent me.
MEEHAN: It almost feels as if the further I got from Iraq, from the army, the more my mind would delve itself into it all. Now being completely ripped away from it all by being medically retired, part of me feels that signified the end. The end of it all for me.
I'd finally abandoned them all, the ones we lost and the ones I killed. I felt like I had this disease inside me, this dark secret that if anyone back home had known that what I had done, there's no way that they could accept me. I would be seen as this monster.
STARR: Shannon says he finally began to see the way ahead with the birth of his son Brady and the support of his wife A.J.
MEEHAN: What I was able to realize is that I'm not done yet. My service does not have to end there. I can continue, and I will continue to serve. My name is Shannon Man.
STARR: Back in the neighborhood Shannon hopes by campaigning for votes he will also find his own way ahead.
MEEHAN: For me it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to tell the people of the district who I am and why I want to do this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Really unflinching, this 27-year-old young man out in public, really risking it all by telling people what his war experiences were like. And we are seeing more of that these days. He's just one window into the tens thousands that are literally struggling on the way back home.
CHETRY: It's interesting. You pointed it out in the next half hour. This is the next generation of our new lawmakers.
ACOSTA: The new John Kerrys, the new John McCains. And when I think we've got so many challenges in this country right now, when I see Shannon Meehan going door to door running for state legislature, I think we're going to be OK.
STARR: One of many veterans still trying to find a way to make a contribution.
CHETRY: Great story. Barbara Starr, great to see you this morning, thanks. Meantime, it's half past the hour, and that's means it's time for our top stories.
Police say they're still not sure why a man from California drove cross-country and opened fire last night at two police officers outside of the Pentagon. The gunman has been identified as 36-year- old John Patrick Bedell of California.
Bedell was killed when the wounded officers fired back. They're said to be recovering, one shot in the thigh, one in the shoulder. They also say the investigation is showing that he appeared to have acted alone, but that he may have had conspiracy theories about 9/11 and government resentment as well.
The accused 9/11 mastermind may not be tried in a civilian court after all. Senior administration officials tell CNN that they're nearing a recommendation right now for President Obama to choose a military tribunal.
Last November Attorney General Eric Holder said they would be tried federal court in lower Manhattan just blocks from ground zero. Of course, that decision turned out to be quite controversial.
We have some breaking news in right now on a crash that took place on I-10 in Arizona, a deadly highway collision. An overturned tour bus and two tractor-trailers and at least eight cars involved. And police are telling us right now that at least five people are dead and that three more victims are in critical condition.
There are medical choppers on the scene right now, and we will get you more information on the circumstances of this deadly crash as it comes in.
ACOSTA: And just in to CNN, the Labor Department releasing its February jobs report. And the unemployment rate remains unchanged at 9.7 percent.
Joining me now to break it all down for us Lakshman Achuthan, economic analyst and managing director of the economic cycle research institute, Jill Schlesinger, editor at large at CBSMoneyWatch.com, and our own Christine Romans. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us.
Christine, let's go straight to you. The numbers are remaining unchanged. That's a positive development.
ROMANS,: Right. We just got off a call with the Department of Labor, 9.7 percent is the unemployment rate. We lost 36,000 jobs in the months. The government saying it's impossible to know what the weather did here. Even if you worked for one hour during this period, you were counted as a worker here.
So, you know, it's a little difficult to stay what the snowstorms might have done to this.
In December the situation was a little bit better than we thought. We lost 109,000 jobs in December. But in January, it was a little worse than we thought. This is the way it's going to be folks. There are still 14.9 million people employed. And people working part time for economic reasons, those liking to work more, that got worse.
Construction jobs, that fell again. Temporary workforce grew by 48,000. No surprise there. Manufacturing unchanged, retail unchanged. The government added 15,000 census workers. We're likely to see census numbers continue to increase in March, April, May, and June. The number holding steady is the best way to describe it.
ACOSTA: The bleeding has stopped and Wall Street is going to like the numbers, right, Jill?
JILL SCHLESINGER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, CBSMONEYWATCH.COM: Absolutely. I think most people were expected a much worse report. Lakshman and I were in the green room, and he said it must be better than we said because Bernanke said not to read too much into the report.
Still, the problem being the long-term unemployment rate. When you have four percent of your work force that's out of work for more than six months, it really is a drag on the economy.
I agree, Christine, absolutely, that this is going to be a choppy recovery. But let's look back a year ago. We were losing 600,000, 700,000 jobs a much. This is a much greater improvement.
ACOSTA: And Lakshman, that means the psychology is changing, correct, which is a big deal.
LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Yes, and it takes a while. And it always lags what happens in the economy. The recession ended in the summer. We're getting jobs growth right here, right now. It's very choppy. We can't make anything off of one report. But the trends are very clear from very bad to just about going positive.
And that going positive and seeing the jobless rate go down, it's holding at 9.7 even with this huge storm we had last month. That's telling us that the jobless rate peaked very quickly in this recovery compared to the past two where it took a year and a half or longer.
ACOSTA: And that was not a given.
ACHUTHAN: No, no, no. This is happening -- I think -- what I'm saying here -- I'm calling it the Rodney Dangerfield recovery. It gets no respect.
(LAUGHTER)
ACOSTA: It may start to.
ACHUTHAN: I think what Jill is saying, 40 percent of the unemployed have been unemployed for over six months. That's a major problem. They're being left behind while 60 percent of the unemployed are getting their jobs back. ACOSTA: And we don't want to gloss over a lot of people are suffering out there.
ACHUTHAN: Yes.
ACOSTA: But one thing is this does indicate people are hiring. Christine has been talking about that throughout the morning. At what point do some of the CEOs of some of these companies who have been reluctant to hire say to themselves I don't want to be beat by the other guy down the street who's getting ahead of me?
SCHLESINGER: I think that's important. There are two big players here, right? We have the large employers getting back into the market place, depending on the sector. The smaller to midsize employers really want to see more proof.
I owned a really teeny tiny company, and I know for myself you don't want to add more person to the payroll unless you really felt like you had to. And I think smaller employers are going to be quite tentative before they start opening it up again.
ROMANS: That's where job creation is going to come from.
ACHUTHAN: You see the household survey, that's going positive quite nicely. I have to look at the numbers today.
ROMANS: Here you go. Take them all.
(LAUGHTER)
ACHUTHAN: You see tons of it. You see the temporary hiring today, even in this choppy month we had, that's going positive. That suggests what Jill was just saying. They're scared, and they're saying, you know what? I'm going to hire a temp instead of a full- time worker. And that's the normal course of the recovery.
ROMANS: Statistical recover of human recession. I'm going to weigh in and say it's still a very severe human recession in terms of jobs. It's not good.
ACOSTA: We'll take the decent news while we can. Christine. Jill, Lakshman, thank you very much for joining us. Christine -- Kiran, back to you. I got all the names right except the one that's most important.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: We're taking a little switch. We're going from talking about the jobless rate to the Oscar countdown. What do real soldiers think of two of the hit movies that involve the military, some say not showing the military in a very good light? "Avatar" but also "The Hurt Locker." We're going to talk about it with some of our entertainment professionals in just a moment.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
As the fight over health care continues in Washington, there's one surgeon in a state where a third of adults don't have insurance, but he's making a difference on his own. We're going to meet Dr. Andy Moore, CNN's "Hero of the Week."
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I went to go see Dr. Moore, this is what he seen. Would you like to see it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I developed skin cancer from too much sun exposure. When I see this, I have a hard time looking at this.
DR. ALAN MOORE, CNN HERO: This cancer was so far advanced eventually it would have killed him. He felt that he could not afford to have the surgery. In this economic time, our friends and family can't wait. They need this health care now.
All right, bud. How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little nervous.
MOORE: You'd be a little crazy if you weren't nervous. That's OK.
He's now back for the operation to reconstruct his nose. We're going to give you some joy juice. I'm Dr. Andy Moore. I'm a plastic surgeon. We perform free surgical procedures on people that have no health insurance.
When I started 26 years ago, now we just simply make the call to the hospital and say I've got somebody I'm going to do for free. It became more complex with computers and HMOs and insurance company. These people don't have health insurance, and I think it's our duty to reach out and help those type of people as often as we can.
You know, it's about what I went into medicine for. It's about taking care of people and not necessarily expecting something in return for it.
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ACOSTA: And developing right now, more strong aftershocks rattling Chile. We want to toss to our Rob Marciano who is in the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta. And Rob, this is just more bad news for a country that doesn't need it right now.
MARCIANO: You know this is the nerves are rattled at this point. They're getting them at least in the last hour -- they are getting like every 15 minutes and anywhere from 4.7 to about 5.3. And then about two hours ago they had a 6.6, which was the strongest aftershock they've seen since day one when they had a 6.9, which was almost as strong as the quake itself in Haiti.
And counting about over -- well, over 200 aftershocks now and a lot of these are close to the same rupture zone. Here's Talcahuano where they have this damage from the tsunami. None of these are expected to spawn a tsunami, but nonetheless it's certainly weakening buildings even more.
All right, we've got cold air in places across parts of the east. Wind chills of 16 in Chicago, 18 degrees in Detroit, 28 in New York and 24 degrees in Atlanta. A couple of snow showers across the northeast with a stubborn low that sits out there. But it shouldn't amount to a whole a lot and maybe 10 to 20 inches at the highest terrain across the Colorado Rockies and the (INAUDIBLE). Tomorrow it looks to be sunny though, it could be a (INAUDIBLE).
I'm not sure how much you'll get, but you'll get some.
All right, warming up across parts of the midsection of the country, not a whole lot of travel delays and maybe just because of some wind. But if you're traveling say, to outer space, the weather yesterday was perfect. Check out this rocket launch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zero and lift off of the Delta IV rocket with GOES-P (ph) completing a new weather satellite constellation, growing reliability for the weather forecast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: You'd better believe it, reliability in weather. Yet another weather satellite, you can't have too many of those puppies up in outer space. And it's always a happy day for a rocket launch on a Friday morning. And when they're taking one of our weather instruments out in outer space, it makes me even that much more happy. I hope you guys feel the same way. Have a great weekend, guys.
CHETRY: Of course we do.
ACOSTA: You too, Rob. Got to love to see that fire in the trench.
CHETRY: Oh, yes. And anything that can help you do your job better, we're happy about.
ACOSTA: Not that he needs the help.
CHETRY: No.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: I didn't in terms of like accurate forecast. And we need you. We rely on you and you rely on the satellites.
MARCIANO: Said from a woman who's married to a fellow weatherman so --
CHETRY: That's right.
MARCIANO: -- we're all in this together.
CHETRY: The people that -- you know -- you guys are the people that everyday folks love to hate. Hey, he was wrong it rained, it didn't rain so ---
MARCIANO: Part of the gig and how you take it.
CHETRY: All right, Rob thanks so much.
ACOSTA: We still love you.
CHETRY: We do, don't we.
ACOSTA: We do.
CHETRY: All right, well, still ahead, how many Oscar movies have you seen so far?
ACOSTA: I can count two.
CHETRY: Yes.
ACOSTA: "Avatar" and "Julie and Julia." I think that's the name of it.
CHETRY: Yes.
ACOSTA: Is that right?
CHETRY: Not bad, not bad, I think I saw two or three. But anyway -- and one of them is the "Princess and the Frog" so anyway. We're going to talk about the Oscars nominations.
ACOSTA: Great.
CHETRY: There's a bit of a controversy among real soldiers who say that movies like "Avatar" are not portraying soldiers in the good light. What about the "Hurt Locker"? We're going to tackle that issue coming up.
Its 49 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: There is something in the air in Hollywood. It's the biggest night and it'll be even bigger this year with ten best picture nominees for the Academy Awards instead of the usual five.
So what can we expect on Sunday for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards?
Joining us to talk more about it: film critic for "The New York Times" A.O. Scott; and also our own Jason Carroll who interviewed best director nominee, James Cameron and the star of the film "Precious"; and we also have Barbara Starr here with the military's take on "Hurt Locker" and "Avatar." They are two of the films battling for Oscar's biggest picture, best prize -- biggest prize, best picture but not without some controversy regarding the military.
So thanks to all of you for being with us. And let me start with you, Tony, because there are some favorites for us for this year. When you take a look at actor --
A.O. SCOTT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Yes.
CHETRY: Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart" seems to have a lock on this at least one of the online sports betting sites has him as a one to five favorites.
SCOTT: Sure.
CHETRY: And then for the supporting category you really have Mo'nique in "Precious".
SCOTT: Yes.
CHETRY: And then also that amazing turn especially in the first scene of "Inglorious Bastards" with Christophe Waltz.
SCOTT: Yes.
CHETRY: Could there be any surprises in all that stuff?
SCOTT: I think probably those three categories are pretty well locked down. I think where -- although you know, there are always a few long shots that may come in. I would say in best supporting actress, you know Anna Kendrick. If it's not Mo'nique it might be her, from "Up in the Air."
Really wonderful light comic performance also a relative newcomer, but I think that that's Mo'nique. And I think Christophe Waltz will walk away with best supporting. I think best actress is shaping up into a kind of interesting two-person race between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep.
Both are very well liked, you know, by audiences and in Hollywood. Meryl Streep has been nominated 16 times, 13 in best actress, three in best supporting actress, has won once in each category but it's been 1983, Sophie's choice was the last time she had so she might be due for "Julie and Julia".
Sandra Bullock had a big kind of comeback here, two very big hits, "The Proposal" and "The Blind Side". And then --
CHETRY: It's interesting -- it's interesting how the films can go because last year -- I mean a couple of years ago it was "Miss Congeniality" for her, you know.
SCOTT: Right. And there was also "All about Steve" which bombed this fall. But she's had a good year.
CHETRY: And what do you think, Jason? Any surprises to come out of this? JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm very curious about this whole sort of thing between James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow (ph) --
CHETRY: His ex-wife.
CARROLL: His ex-wife who ends up getting it for Best Picture. We spoke to James Cameron some time ago about "Avatar" and about his desires and what he wanted people to come away with in this film. But most recently he said that he had hoped that Kathryn Bigelow, his ex actually wins.
CHETRY: For "The Hurt Locker".
CARROLL: For "The Hurt Locker" for best director and that he ends up taking "Avatar". That would be his wish list.
CHETRY: So he doesn't care about the director. He wants best picture for "Avatar".
CARROLL: Yes, he wants best picture for "Avatar" so the cast and the crew -- everyone who put so much work into the film could be rewarded for their work.
CHETRY: And Barbara I want to ask you about that because both of those movies that we're talking about, both "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" had some controversies actually. In terms of "Avatar," it angered people in the religious right, it angered some people in the Military, it angered environmentalists also who saw different reasons to be upset about that. But it also got some mixed reviews from the Military brass.
STARR: Yes, you know. I haven't seen this in a long time; both of these movies getting a lot of reaction inside the ranks. "Avatar" has concerned a lot of Military people who say it's a bad portrayal especially of U.S. Marines.
But "Hurt Locker" is the one the guys are talking about, in the hallways of the Pentagon, out in the field, every -- on the Military blogs.
CHETRY: What do they say?
STARR: Everyone's talking about "Hurt Talker". Is it a realistic portrayal of a bomb disposal unit in Iraq or not? Is there too much -- there's scenes where they drink. There's scenes where they're fighting. There's scenes where they go out on sort of cowboy missions. Is that really realistic?
Some soldiers I've talked to have say, "Look, you know, it's fairly realistic." Some say absolutely not, and they're upset about it. They think it shows them not being as careful as they really are in these very dangerous jobs in the war.
But no matter what side you're on, there's a lot of talk inside the ranks about it. CARROLL: Can I just say one thing about that? You know that's interesting about this whole sort of controversy about "Avatar" and the Military. You know Cameron's brother is a former Marine and he actually took this film to the troops out to see it after there was so much controversy about whether this was anti-Military, this particular film. He said he got a good reaction when he actually took this film to the troops to show it to them.
So I think from Cameron's point of view he says it's not so much anti-Military but it's pro-environment
CHETRY: And Tony, any other things we should be looking for as we all get ready to settle down and watch the Oscars on Sunday.
SCOTT: Well, I think that Kathryn Bigelow being nominated in the best director category, only the fourth woman ever in the history of the Oscars nominated in that category would be and I think will be, the first to win. And then I think that will be a really -- a great thing for a movie that has really stuck around.
It premiered at film festivals in 2008 and came to Toronto with no American distributor. Came out last summer, didn't do all that well at the box office, has really kind of stuck around and built up this momentum. And think whatever happens on Sunday night, it will be a great triumph for her.
CHETRY: It will be interesting too because it's a war movie as well and told masterfully from a female's perspective.
SCOTT: And lots of stuff blowing stuff.
CHETRY: Right, exactly.
All right. Well, great to talk to all of you, by the way. We're out of time. We'll be watching A.O. Scott as well as our Barbara Starr and Jason Carroll. Thank you -- Jim.
ACOSTA: I'm pulling for the dude for best actor. That's all I've got to say.
Stay tuned to CNN on Oscar night. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" will be live from the red carpet at 7:00 Eastern time and coverage continues after the Oscar show live at 11:00 Eastern over on HLN.
It is 58 minutes after the hour. We're almost finished with this Friday show.
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CHETRY: I want to thank you so much for being with us on this Friday morning. That's going to do it for us. We'll see you back here on Monday.
ACOSTA: And thanks for having me this week. I appreciate it.
Here is "CNN NEWSROOM" with Fredricka Whitfield.
