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American Morning

Focus on the Economy; More Boots in Afghanistan? Mississippi Mayor Takes Pay Cut; Dems Facing Big Losses; Biloxi Mayor Takes $90k Paycut

Aired September 06, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.

Eight o'clock here in New York on this Labor Day Monday.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CHETRY: It's September 6th. If you're working, hats off to you. If you're home, that's good, too.

GRIFFIN: I hope you're having a cup of coffee with the kids, trying to work through the crossword puzzle. It should be a good day.

We have lots to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it.

The White House is saying President Obama is going to be focused like a laser this week on your economy. He hits the road today to outline new proposals to boost the economy and pump up Democratic candidates. Ed Henry with details, he's live at the White House.

CHETRY: NATO is considering a plan to send in 2,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Many of them likely to be Americans. General David Petraeus reportedly proposed the move to NATO officials. It calls for 750 military personnel to train Afghan forces.

GRIFFIN: Plus, the end of summer ringing in the start of the election season, whether you want it or not, here it comes. Critical races coast to coast could drastically change the balance of power in that building.

CNN's later numbers show the Democrats losing voter support. We're going to break it down with the best political team on television. And Jeffrey Zeleny, a national political correspondent with "The New York Times," is going to join us later on.

CHETRY: And the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation. Go to CNN.com/amFIX.

GRIFFIN: But let's begin with where we started, up first with the election coverage this fall. Fight for power on Capitol Hill, the fallout could have huge consequences for all of us -- our taxes, health care, everything. So, that's why we're starting with it.

CHETRY: Yes. Eight weeks until those midterm elections and a lot at stake. Let's take a look, 37 seats up for grabs in the Senate this November. In the House, every seat are up for grabs, 435 of them in the hands of voters.

And Republicans are looking to take control. There's a new CNN/Research Corporation poll that's just been released this morning. It shows the GOP has a seven-point advantage on the generic ballot question -- who would you vote for, the Republican or the Democrat. They are leading by seven points.

GRIFFIN: And, Kiran, this is the one that caught my attention. The poll finding that 81 percent of us believe the economy is in rough shape. We've got the best political team on television covering it all and one member of the team, Ed Henry. The presidential focus on the economy will be ratcheted up this week.

CHETRY: Yes, it's a week traveling for the president. He's delivering a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee today and then he talks about his new plan to spur the economy and to create more jobs. He's going to be unveiling that in the crucial swing state of Ohio Wednesday.

Ed is at the White House for this morning with a preview.

So, as we talked about, most people are focused on the economy. And now, we're going to hear about a plan to try to turn things around from the White House.

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran.

And we've gotten some new information from the last few moments on what the president is going to talk about today in Milwaukee. He's going to announce some more details about some more infrastructure spending, specifically trying to bolster the nation's roadways, railways, runways as well.

Part of that proposal, we're told by a White House official, will be announcement of creation of a new infrastructure bank. We've got to get more details on this, but basically, the White House claims this would be a way to better use and utilize some of the federal dollars that pour in from all kinds of accounts to try to build roads, et cetera, try to create some jobs around the country.

Then on Wednesday, the president will be in Cleveland giving another speech. We're told by a White House aide the president at that speech will roll out $100 billion plan that would basically permanently extend the tax credit on research and development for businesses, again, trying to encourage companies to invest in more employees, more equipment, et cetera. All trying to spur the economy, something the Democratic Party chairman, Tim Kaine, was talking about yesterday on the Sunday shows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM KAINE, DNC CHAIRMAN: This president and his team are going to be focused on the issue of jobs. But as we're adding private sector jobs now every month, we just have to focus on things that will continue that. The Democratic strategy has been and it's going to be discussed in more detail later. Let's target the tax credits to middle class folks and to small businesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: But targeted tax credits, infrastructure spending -- these are things the American people have heard before, specifically in the first 100 days of this administration. These were key ingredients of the $787 billion stimulus project. And frankly, almost two years later, a lot of Americans have felt like it just didn't pan out -- Drew, Kiran.

GRIFFIN: Ed, I want to ask you, the president got more tough criticism over the weekend from those who are somewhat sympathetic to his cause. Certainly liberals, we're talking about Paul Krugman and Tom Friedman who penned an article saying that Obama has had no vision.

Has there been any reaction to that from the White House, that he's kind of like waffling, that he's rudderless in that White House?

HENRY: Well, they haven't replied directly to that. But, you know, I also saw Frank Rich in "The New York Times" op-ed suggesting the president has become tone deaf on some of these issues. You're right. There's all kinds of criticism now coming from the left, not just the right.

And look at some of the recent poll numbers we've got that might give you an idea of why there's anger across the board, specifically on the economy. The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, what do you think about economic conditions today? Only 18 percent saying it's good, 81 percent saying it's poor. The other poll asking people specifically about current economic conditions compared to two years ago as bad or worse, 49 percent; better now but will get worse, 18 percent; better now and will stay that way, 32 percent.

You see that biggest number on there, 49 percent, saying it is bad or worse than it was two years ago. He had the giant stimulus package in between. Over the course of the last two years, money being spent out, kicked out all around the country was supposed to kick-start this economy. They were calling this "Recovery Summer" here at the White House, it just hasn't panned out. And that's worrisome for Democrats two months before the midterm elections -- Drew, Kiran.

CHETRY: And it will be interesting because there was a little bit of a back-and-forth, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, calling, you know, hits from the "professional level," that's what we heard this weekend, I guess, if you're talking about Krugman and Friedman and others.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

CHETRY: And said, you know, maybe they need to get drug tested if they don't think you've -- you know, done what we were supposed to do here.

HENRY: Yes, they walked back those comments from a few weeks ago. Certainly, the White House didn't want a pick a fight with those on the left, but now, you're right. You are seeing people on the left. As we get closer to the election, the stakes get higher and higher. There's real frustration on the left that maybe there have been some missed opportunities that this president just does not capitalize on.

CHETRY: Ed Henry for us -- thanks so much. And a major battleground this fall will be across what has been known for a long time as America's Rust Belt -- a lot of blue collar workers have seen manufacturing jobs disappear.

GRIFFIN: Our T.J. Holmes is there in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a CNN Election Express, talking to voters there this morning.

And, you know, T.J., the president is not on the ballot. There's a lot of individual races that are. And I guess that's what you're out there trying to find out, which way the voters are going to swing on this thing.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so many of these races are, in fact, local. Politics -- all politics is really local, and that's how Republicans would certainly like to have. And also Democrats as well, but for different reasons here in Pennsylvania, it sounds good that over the past year, Pennsylvania, where I am, their unemployment rate has been below the national average for the past year. But the problem is, the unemployment rate here has actually gone up a full percentage point over the past year while the national average has been flat or has been going down over the past year.

So, this state is going the wrong direction. Republicans eyeing the House of Representatives and taking that House back. How are they going to do it? With races like the one we have here in western Pennsylvania, specifically the third district, they think there's a vulnerable seat there. And you can't get any more vulnerable than being a freshman Democrat in a Republican leaning district.

Listen to the two candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KATHY DAHLKEMPER (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I think the voters of the district should re-elect me because I'm working every day for them. When I'm in this office, I'm a person of high integrity. I'm honest.

MIKE KELLY (R), PENNSYLVANIA CONG. CANDIDATE: Why would you vote for me and not the current congresswoman? Everything I say I've done. Everything I say I mean. And I think that over the period now of the last 20 months, we've seen a complete separation from where you came from as to where you are now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Now, you hear the candidates there, and it might sound familiar, you hear them talking about that all the time, but we keep in mind here, as we're on the Election Express bus, we're going to make it kind of our key to not talk so much to politicians and not to hear so much from them, but from real folks out there.

And, guys, we're talking about Labor Day. Yes, t his is a day people are going to celebrating, time with family, and a lot of people have a day off, but there are a lot of people who have today off, they had yesterday off, the past month off, the past two months, six months off -- they wish they had a job right now and they just don't. And that's why the economy is probably going to be top of mind for everybody this election cycle.

CHETRY: I used to work in Erie, Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh, and there were a lot of same industries that sort of drove the economy there. Do they take exception to being called the Rust Belt into this place that sort of symbolizes what used to be, or is there hope that, you know, there will be a turn around and that jobs are going to come from other industries eventually?

HOLMES: You know, that is the coolest thing about being out and being on the road, is that you get to talk to the folks. And no matter how discouraging it can often feel for us sometimes covering this day in and day out, when we're talking politics and politicians and hearing Democrats go back and forth, it can seem so disheartening like we're getting nothing done. But you come out here and talk to these folks and they feel great of maybe about their own situation and what they're doing and the hard work they're doing even though they're still turned off by what Washington is doing.

So, yes, they feel -- they feel just fine, if you will. They are not happy about how things are, but they are resilient. They're going to keep doing their thing here in Pittsburgh, western Pennsylvania and the entire state and across the country really.

Listen to two ladies now as they kind of went back-and-forth. We talked to them here locally. They are going back-and-forth. You could tell they have the same concerns, but they don't necessarily agree on how we should get to that end goal. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they are wanting to put government out of their life. We don't want government in our life. Turn in your Social Security check. Turn in your Medicare because it's government that got it for you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just don't think that the people in Washington are listening to them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their purpose at this point is to make our administration look bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People need to have hope and they need to have the ability to go out and get a job and they're frightened. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the economy and some of them are not hind-sighted or farsighted enough to realize why we are in the position we are in. And everybody said, oh, don't blame Bush. Who else -- who else is there to blame?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are taking the people's money, but in all honesty, the people could spend better themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their purpose is not our country. Their purpose is politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the first year that the recurring theme of what people are telling us is that they are really scared to death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, Kiran, Drew, you all hear kind of some of same debate you might hear in Washington, but certainly, a different tone out here. Folks will keep on keeping on, whether they are working two jobs, like a guy I talked to yesterday, is doing. They will hold on and they will keep pushing no matter what Washington does, quite frankly. But they could certainly use help from Washington.

CHETRY: T.J. for us this morning in Pittsburgh -- you are going to be on the road for a while checking in with people. Thanks you so much.

GRIFFIN: Yes. Stay with AMERICAN MORNING. All week, we're going to break down the races with the best political team on television. Tomorrow, they're all going to Columbus, Ohio. And Wednesday, they set up shop in Covington, Kentucky. Thursday, Indianapolis.

More coverage from T.J., of course, and along with him, the cast right here: John King, Dana Bash, Jessica Yellin and Gloria Borger.

CHETRY: We'll look forward to that. Meantime, sources are telling our Barbara Star at the Pentagon that as many as 2,000 additional troops may be headed to Afghanistan. We're going to see what this may be all about. She's going to check in with us live in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We have some developing news this morning coming from our Pentagon correspondent U.S. military officials could be looking to ramp things up in Afghanistan. CNN learning that General David Petraeus wants more boots on the ground.

CHETRY: For more of these developments, we go to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

And Barbara, we just got this 30,000 troop surge in place. What is behind the possibility of needing more right now? BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kiran and Drew. General David Petraeus is now saying inside NATO, inside his own command in Afghanistan, he needs about another 2,000 troops. What is all this about? It is going to be about 750 troops to help train Afghan forces. And the balance of that 2,000 is likely to be troops that specialize in hunting down and dealing with roadside bombs, those improvised explosive devices that remain the number one threat to U.S. troops on the ground.

But the question everybody wants to know, of course, is 2,000 more troops, does that necessarily mean more U.S. troops? Well, it is impossible to answer right now. NATO is looking at all of this. Inside NATO there's already talk that European countries may not contribute very much. And it could mean a significant number of additional U.S. forces spending the coming holiday season in the war zone, but it is just impossible to predict right now how many until the Europeans decide if they are going to contribute to this new troop requirement. Drew. Kiran.

GRIFFIN: And Barbara, on that topic, I mean he's calling for very specific people. Do the European troops or the NATO troops have what he needs or is this going to be U.S. troops?

STARR: Yes, you know. Frankly, I talked to a senior NATO official yesterday who said, look, it is very likely it is going to mean additional U.S. forces. A number of European governments are politically ambivalent at best, about the war, not necessarily willing to send more troops, and they really don't have the capability for those IED units that the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps does, so they are looking at the possibility of more U.S. troops.

The big question of course is whether it is going to bust President Obama's 30,000 cap, that surge that Kiran was just talking about that is just really getting on the ground. And of course, will this now be it or are we going to see the need for more troops every six months or so. Drew. Kiran.

CHETRY: A lot of big questions there. Barbara Starr for us this morning, thanks. Well, still ahead, we are going to be checking with Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway. He's taking a nearly $90,000 pay cut. He says he wants to help his struggling Mississippi city and perhaps he's asking others to follow suit, not necessarily with pay cuts but making some changes to benefit the city as a whole. We're going to talk to Mayor Holloway in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. How many people do you know who would voluntarily say, you know what, cut my pay by a lot? Well, our next guest did just that. Mayor A.J. Holloway is in charge of the city of Biloxi, Mississippi. He is at City Hall this morning to tell us more about what his city's going through and why he decided to take that cut for himself. Mr. Mayor, thank you for being with us this morning.

MAYOR A. J. HOLLOWAY, MAYOR, BILOXI MISSISSIPPI: Thank you.

CHETRY: So you took a nearly $90,000 pay, you went from $115,000 a year salary to $27,000. Not many people would do that. Why did you?

HOLLOWAY: Well, you know, I don't know. I took a pay cut. Now I'm working on the holiday. I must not be too smart.

CHETRY: Well, you know, that's one of the things that a lot of us are talking about on this Labor Day, a lot of people are probably happy to be working since we are looking at unemployment at 9.6% nationally. But, you guys are going through some tough times, right now. You got a pretty big budget deficit that you are trying to fill. What was the purpose of you saying, listen, I am going to cut my pay pretty substantially?

HOLLOWAY: Well, I had a -- put a good amount of time in the state retirement system, so there's a program in Mississippi when you can take your retirement and still keep your job. You just have to take less pay. So it is a little sacrifice, but it is not everything.

CHETRY: So you are going to be drawing from these retirement benefits in addition to the $27,000, but is it going to change the way that you live?

HOLLOWAY: No, it will not change the way I live. I don't live extravagant anyway, you know. I am a pretty conservative guy.

CHETRY: So I understand that you have been talking about this proposal, you are going to present it to the members of the city council as well. Some of the other things you are talking about to try to fill this $6 million plus budget gap is possibly asking some of the employees of the city to pay a little bit more when it comes to their health benefits. Right now they are covered 100%, right?

HOLLOWAY: Yes, that's correct. We are proposing that, we put that on the table a couple times already. It has been shot down by the City Council, but I think that they are going to come up with something maybe that is a compromise on that that we can live with. We are looking at several things. You know, we have given a lot of pay raises and benefits over the years, and we are just going to look at that. We are not going to be able to do that in the next foreseeable future.

CHETRY: Now, your city really turned things around with this approval of the casinos. It became a very popular tourist destination. A lot of people going there to enjoy the -- not only enjoy the beauty of Biloxi but also to gamble. How much of a hit have you seen over the past few years with the economic downturn?

HOLLOWAY: We have been hit pretty good in the last 2 years. Our sales tax has been down, our gaming tax has been down, our property tax has been down. We have not recovered from Katrina yet. We still have a lot of businesses that are still out of business along the beach front there with the hotels and the motels and the restaurants, all the businesses there. Very few of them are back. Some of the little mom and pop motels are building back right now, but it is taking a big hit from Katrina and the downturn in the economy and then of course, the oil spill in the gulf. It has been one thing after another. And the next thing we are looking for is an earthquake.

CHETRY: Well, hopefully that's not the case, but is there anything in the pipeline that you think can turn things around economically -- I know you are kidding -- that could turn things around for your city?

HOLLOWAY: Well, you know, we are hoping that the economy will continue to improve. We have jobs that are hard to get right now. We have been fortunate with the oil. We didn't get any oil on our beaches. We didn't have to close any of our beaches. We did not have to close any of our water. Our seafood is still good to eat, shrimp and the fish that we get out of the gulf here have not been tainted by any oil spill. So that's looking good for us. And things will change, it will just take a little time. We have to watch the budget so we won't come into a deficit next year. If we don't do something, some of the ideas that we put before the City Council will be in bad shape at the end of this coming physical year.

CHETRY: Well, you're certainly trying to put your money where your mouth is willing to take a pay cut to show that you'll rein it in personally. I wish you the best of luck. I know that this is something that cities across the country are going through right now. Mayor Holloway, thanks for your time this morning and Happy Labor Day.

HOLLOWAY: Thank you. Same to you.

CHETRY: We are going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming up. It is 26 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Do you like that song?

GRIFFIN: I never get these tunes. It takes me a good 45 minutes to get the tune. I'm not good at name that tune.

CHETRY: Well, it is 29 minutes past the hour right now. We are bringing you an A.M. Original. That's all right. If you stick around long enough, you will hear some of the songs repeat and then you will be able to memorize them. You will get them like that.

GRIFFIN: I don't think I'll be sticking around.

CHETRY: Well, this Labor Day of course, means the unofficial end of summer, but we are kicking off the official beginning of the political season with the new series, "Make Room for the Tea Party."

GRIFFIN: Just caveat. John, I'm in subbing for those of you who are new to this on Labor Day morning.

CHETRY: You wanted to put that out there.

GRIFFIN: The latest CNN research corporation poll shows voters are mixed on the political movement. 40% say they have a negative opinion of the tea party. 36% a positive view. Today we're going to look at a big gamble in Nevada. Jim Acosta is joining us live with the story of the Tea Party there. Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Drew. Good morning, Kiran. You know, there's no doubt the tea party is on a role. We have been talking about this for about a year now. Tea- Party backed candidates are racking up huge wins in Republican primaries.

But there is one big question facing the political movement, and that is whether the tea party contenders are too conservative to beat their Democratic opponents. It is a question that dogged the campaign of Nevada's Sharron Angle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Sharron Angle could be the tea party's biggest gamble yet. Conservative former state lawmaker in Nevada and grandmother who doesn't mind hopping on the back of the Harley, Angle also has a tendency to shoot from the lip.

SHARRON ANGLE, (R) NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: He's been waterboarding our economy for over a year now.

ACOSTA: With rhetoric like that, Angle came out of nowhere and snatched up the endorsement of tea party leaders and won Republican nomination in the race for the U.S. Senate. Her next opponent, the GOP's prime target --

ANGLE: Actually, I would like to drub him.

ACOSTA: -- one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, Senate majority leader Harry Reid.

ACOSTA (on camera): Will you be a tea party senator in the Senate if you get in there?

ANGLE: I don't know exactly what that means. I'll be a mainstream senator, how's that?

ACOSTA (voice-over): But Democrats say Angle is far from mainstream, pointing to her past calling to reduce the size of the federal government by getting rid of the departments of education and energy, the EPA and the IRS. She's also made some white hot comments on talk radio.

ANGLE: If Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward the second amendment remedies. They're saying, my goodness, what can we do to turn this country around. And I'll tell you, the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.

ACOSTA (on camera): What was all that about?

ANGLE: Those are not the issues people are concerned about, they are concerned about our homes, our economy, our jobs. That's what they are concerned about.

ACOSTA (voice-over): In another interview she agreed there are domestic enemies in the government.

BILL MANDERS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: We have home born, homegrown enemies in our system. And I think we have some of those enemies in our own walls of the Senate and the Congress.

ANGLE: Yes, I think you are right, Bill.

ACOSTA (on camera): Do you feel there are domestic enemies in the congress?

ANGLE: The larger focus of that conversation was what has happened domestically here in our country for the last 18 months.

ACOSTA: Do you feel that the president or Harry Reid are enemies of the state?

ANGLE: I don't think anybody mentioned any names during that conversation. Of course, those were my words.

ACOSTA: Those are the policies you were talking about.

ANGLE: Those weren't my words.

We need to phase Medicare and Social Security out.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Angle's comments on Social Security now star in Reid's ads. She accused Reid of taking her out of context.

ANGLE: As we are conversationally speaking, sometimes when you pick out words, they are not the best words that you could have used.

ACOSTA: But many in her own party worry she's a risky bet. A recent poll 71 percent of Nevada Republicans prefer a different candidate. Good thing for Angle says Las Vegas political columnist John Rawlstan (ph), Reid is just as unpopular.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harry Reid is the most negatively viewed person in this state, and there is hardened opposition to him. I think Sharron Angle could be arrested on a felony tomorrow and still get 40 percent of the vote.

ACOSTA: We also caught up with Senator Reid, who stands by his ads that paint Angle as extreme.

ACOSTA (on camera): She says a lot of what she said was taken out of context. What is your response to that?

SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: It is a little hard to take out of context when somebody says they want to phase out Social Security and get rid of Medicare. Her words are what she is. My words are what I am. So I don't think you run from what you say and what you do. ACOSTA (on camera): A political wild card in the tea party's rise to power, Sharron Angle has two more months to convince voters to deal her in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Angle's campaign has spent the last couple of months trying to soften her image. They show her support for Social Security, and she's spending a lot of times meeting with veterans groups, but make no mistake. Out of all the Republicans running for the U.S. Senate in Nevada this year in the primary battle that wrapped up over the summer, Harry Reid's campaign like Sharron Angle the most for all the reasons we just laid now the piece. Kiran and Drew?

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It will be interesting to see how that plays out since neither one of them are extremely popular in their state. Thank you, Jim.

And tomorrow Jim will be back with part two of our series as we head to Utah for a look at candidate Mike Lee. Lee isn't compromises on his conservative views. We'll examine the race and the tea party platform and what it could mean for fall elections.

GRIFFIN: All right, 34 minutes past the hour, time for the top stories.

Politics, the economy, colliding on Labor Day -- President Obama is going to Wisconsin later today to stump for democratic candidates and call for new investments in infrastructure. The president will focus on the economy all this week, unveiling his plan to create more jobs.

A new CNN poll shows eight out of ten Americans believe economic conditions are indeed poor.

CHETRY: NATO is considering a plan to send another 2,000 troops to Afghanistan, many of them would likely be Americans. General David Petraeus reportedly proposed to the move to NATO officials that would call for 750 military personnel alone just training Afghan forces.

GRIFFIN: And thousands of Indonesians protesting peacefully this weekend outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta. They are upset about a Florida's church's plan to burn the Koran. They warn it is only going to provoke Muslim. The World Outreach Center in Gainesville is organizing the event to mark the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

CHETRY: For months now we have been following Army Sergeant Randy Shorter as he begins his third tour of duty overseas. We have been on the ground looking at his unit move into the forward operating base their staying at in Afghanistan.

GRIFFIN: The series, "A Soldier's Story" continues this morning with a look at what his new unit is up against when they head outside the wire. We'll go live to Jason Carroll in Afghanistan. Jason, hi. JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And hello to you, Drew and Kiran. Good to hear your voices. For Sergeant Shorter and the rest of the men in his unit, they have been anxious to get out there and start their mission and do their jobs. They finally had the opportunity to do that, to do their job.

Part of that job includes getting out there and interacting with the Afghan people. That includes doing it in small villages and more populated areas. The rationale behind that is the more opportunity that U.S. forces have to interact with Afghan people, the more opportunities they have to hear what their security concerns are and what their needs are.

Perhaps there will be less of a chance that the local people will then turn to the Taliban for their needs. So that's just part of what their mission is.

Another part of the mission is to train the Afghan army and train the Afghan police to get up to speed to secure the region on their own and to take the lead in that regard.

We had an opportunity to patrol an area with Sergeant Shorter not too long ago. It was an area that is what is called a green area, but as Sergeant Shorter and the other folks here on the ground will tell you, in this particular region you can never be sure if an area is secure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERGEANT SHORTER, AFGHANISTAN: We were coming in kind of like, hey, we are prepared for the worst. You can't get complacent like that.

CARROLL: This is what you need to do when maneuvering around the area.

SHORTER: You need to have eyes in every direction if possible. You don't want to set your locator, the small pieces on the terrain. You want to spread them out as far as possible. If somebody tries to do anything, at least we'll know ahead of time.

CARROLL: In assessing what I have been able to look at and just my point of vow view in looking, it seems like the afghan police need a lot of work.

SHORTER: They do. In a lot of ways they do. You just got to have high spirits and believe that they will be able to at one point take over the country and be able to establish a government, so that way they can sustain peace and sustain the violence going on here.

But it is going to take time. It is going to take time. We are making progress, so that's good.

CARROLL: Every step.

SHORTER: One step at a time. You just got to believe in it, that's all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And just a bit of a security update for you guys -- just a few miles from the operating base where we are right now, an IED was detonated a few miles from here. And also we had an opportunity to explore the bizarre area just outside these walls. This is an area where the locals sell various goods and things like that.

It was a little tense, but we were able to walk through the area with military police to show some sort of a presence when we were there. But then again, just last night we were hearing there was a riot in the particular area because some of the locals got upset that a young man was arrested for being allegedly connected with the Taliban.

So it shows you how things can change very quickly. Drew, Kiran?

CHETRY: That's amazing you are getting a firsthand look at that, just how dangerous and precarious the peace is in that area. Thank you, Jason.

GRIFFIN: We are talking about politics. You want to know how bad things are for Democrats? Apparently there is a triage strategy being outlined by Nancy Pelosi. Basically, forget about the dead candidates, we are focusing on the ones that have a chance in November. Pour your money into them.

We'll talk about it with a guy who wrote that, Jeff Zeleny. He's with "The New York Times," and he's right after this break.

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CHETRY: It's 43 minutes past the hour right now. It's the unofficial end of summer, Labor Day, but it is also the unofficial start of the fall election campaigns. And polls show the Democrats certainly have a lot of ground to cover to keep their majority.

If you take a look at the choice for Congress, this is a generic Republican against a generic Democrat. This is polling done every year -- 52 percent Republican, 45 percent Democrat. The Republicans have a seven-point advantage over the Dems.

GRIFFIN: You didn't need a poll for this one -- the biggest issue shaping up to be the economy. Our poll is showing that 81 percent of voters say it is in bad shape, the economy that is.

For more, let's bring in Jeff Zeleny, national correspondent for "The New York Times." And Jeff, you wrote a piece I have to tell you, that makes me convinced the Democrats are in a true tailspin. When you are talking about a triage kind of approach, it is not about survival for the Democrats, not necessarily about winning in November.

JEFF ZELANY, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "NEW YORK TIMES": Well, I think those things are linked hand in hand. If they are going to win, the Democratic leaders in Washington realize they have to trim the field a little bit. In some respects it is a story of their own success. Over the last two election cycles, Democrats have picked up 55 seats in districts that normally are held by Republicans. They know that a lot of these are not going to stay in Democratic hands.

So at this point 60 days out, they view the only way to hold their majority -- they know it will be a very small majority if they do at all -- is to throw some of the people overboard, if you will, and to focus on races they can win.

CHETRY: Right, not pouring money into some of those that are losing propositions. But it is interesting, you wrote about the urgent call to action, I guess you could call it, from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Democratic members. She talked about those in safe districts coughing up money to help others, not being delinquent on paying their party dues.

But also this is interesting. She wrote, "We need to know your commitment," according to your article, in a private letter, demanding they call her within 72 hours to explain how they plan to help. And she added, "The day after the election we don't want to have any regrets."

This is from the article that you wrote along with Carl Hulse. Is this par for the course or does this reflect a different type of intensity and perhaps panic on the part of the majority party?

JEFF ZELENY, THE NEW YORK TIMES: It without a doubt, expresses a sense of urgency. That Speaker Pelosi is trying to make clear to her members, as if they haven't already gotten the picture at this point that the majority is in question, is being threatened.

What that means is, people who are -- are a committee chairman, people who are vice chairman and chairwoman will not have this leadership positions, so she is trying to make clear to them that they need to step up and do what they can.

One thing that really has frustrated Speaker Pelosi, I'm told by her advisers, is that Republicans have been contributing more money inside Republican members for the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, for their own internal things.

Democrats have not stepped up to the plate as much. Of course, a lot of those Democrats want to hold on to their money to protect themselves in their own district, but her letter last week that we saw a copy of was sent mainly with safe Democrats in mind.

Some -- at least 100 Democrats, more than 100 Democrats have safe seats across the country and they are holding some $218 million in their bank accounts. She is urging them to step up a little bit and help some of the other endangered Democrats in seats across the country.

And what they are really worried about is, sort of not this frontline of Democrats who perhaps are freshmen or who come from conservative districts, what they are worried about in the next couple of weeks are --is this wave going to go farther into their caucus? Are there going to be Democrats who a few weeks ago thought were fine now suddenly are not fine. So they want more money to air more TV ads to try and stop this wave, but money of course is not everything.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: But I've got to you Jeff, what are those TV ads going to say because a lot of the Democrats privately if they confide in you, will tell you they were dragged along on some of this legislation that now seems so unpopular or so not working towards getting a fix in the economy.

I got to wonder, even if the Democrats do retain control of the House, is Speaker Pelosi's chair in jeopardy?

ZELENY: I don't think Speaker Pelosi's chair is in jeopardy. It would be hard to imagine that because there isn't any one sort of who would emerge from the ranks to challenge her.

But what these ads are saying are -- in many respects, they are not talking about their accomplishments or their legislation at all. These Democrats are doing a defensive strategy district by district by district. They are going hard after their Republican opponents on local issues. They are trying to individualize these races.

Some examples are a Congressman -- a Republican candidate in Ohio has not paid his taxes. So that has become a main issue. In Texas there is an example of a Republican candidate who has failed to vote in some primary election.

So a very big campaign seems to actually be boiled down to very small issues --

CHETRY: Right. It's getting --

ZELENY: -- in a lot of these television ads.

CHETRY: -- it's getting a lot more negative as well as we get closer, right? I mean --

ZELENY: Without a doubt.

CHETRY: You -- you we're talking about in the article district that, you know, never got this nasty in terms of campaigning back and forth that are turning sharply negative in part reflecting how desperately the -- the incumbents want to hold on at their seats.

ZELENY: In many respects, it's all they have left. The Democrats right now, the reason they want more money, the reason Speaker Pelosi is asking for more money is they want to try and define some of these Republican candidates.

As Jim Acosta's piece mentioned earlier, there are Tea Party candidates in House races as well, these Democrats are trying to define them as extreme, so they need money to do that. But in 2006 if we can now remember when Democrats won control of the House, Republicans had a money advantage. Republicans had more money. So having more money, being on TV more does not necessarily mean that you're going to hold your majority.

GRIFFIN: All right, Jeff. Thanks a lot for joining us on this Labor Day. I appreciate you coming in.

ZELENY: Thank you.

CHETRY: All right, it's good to have you.

And of course, CNN has complete coverage of the primaries as we get closer to November on air, online, CNN.com/politics. We've got the best political team to break down the issues, the races and of course, good analysis as well, CNN.com/politics.

GRIFFIN: And we're going to be right back talking about whether there's trouble in the Gulf. Believe it or not Reynolds Wolf will have that for you next. It's 49 past the hour.

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REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back to the CNN AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Reynolds Wolf. And this is a look at the latest that we have for you from the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical storm Hermine is a storm that's actually gaining strength over the last couple of hours.

Winds were at 40 not they are at 45; gusts of 50 miles per hour. This storm is on the move. The question is where is it headed?

Well, the latest that we have from the National Hurricane Center indicates that it is expected to move more to the northwest possibly making landfall South of Texas in Mexico early on Tuesday with winds of 60, gusts up to 70.

Thankfully, it's not going to be out in the Gulf for too long. If it were for several days, we may be talking about a hurricane. I don't think that is going to happen for the time being. But this should be a rainmaker nonetheless for much of Texas, especially central and south Texas. There will be the threat of flooding in the coming days.

Today there will be the threat of flooding across portions of the Midwest and western Great Lakes. It's going to be this area of low pressure, interactive moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. And that combination combined with some daytime heating could give you some strong storms and possible delays in places like Chicago, perhaps even into St. Louis before the day is out.

Meanwhile, back across parts of the central and northern Rockies, we're not talking about rain, we're talking about the possibility of snow.

We'll have more on that coming up throughout the morning. Enjoy your day. It should be beautiful out there, highs in the 80s for much of the northeast.

You're watching CNN AMERICAN MORNING.

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CHETRY: He is known for that. That's his thing, the bump shots. He always tries to do something different every day. It's sort of like a "Where's Waldo", but look at that? He's on the phone now.

GRIFFIN: All right. Welcome back to the most news in the morning.

CHETRY: That's right. Actually, he may be calling for a Happy Meal -- 143 day old Happy Meal. And it may look just like the one you bought yesterday. How about a 12-year-old McDonald's hamburger? Well, they claim that it will look pretty much the same as the one you just bought.

GRIFFIN: According to some very unscientific research most likely done by people who don't like fast food or McDonald's. McDonald's food doesn't seem to decay. One food expert attributes that to McDonald's burgers being -- and fries -- being high in fat, which means they are low in moisture leaving less room for mold to grow and all that salt, of course, helps to preserve the food, too.

CHETRY: See, I feel while that's good news, much less if get sick. You know, there's nothing to get you sick.

GRIFFIN: Let's go right after the show. Me and you.

CHETRY: Three minutes until the top of the hour.

GRIFFIN: Double digger, double the double.

We'll be right back.

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CHETRY: Well, that's going to do it for us here on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be back here bright and early tomorrow. Hope you have a wonderful Labor Day.

GRIFFIN: Yes, fun times.

"CNN NEWSROOM" with Jim Acosta starts right now. Thanks for joining us.