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American Morning
U.S. Embassy in Afghan, Under Attack; Iran to Free Jailed U.S. Hikers; Perry Takes Punches at Debate; Perry Under Fire at Tea Party Debate; Should President Obama's Jobs Plan be Funded by Limiting Tax Deductions?; Social Security: A Lie and A Failure?; Republicans Go After Perry; U.S. Embassy In Afghanistan Under Attack; Iran To Release Jailed U.S. Hikers; Tacoma, Washington Teachers Strike
Aired September 13, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi live at the site of the Tea Party GOP debate. Which candidate will you be talking about this morning? We'll back check the tough talk and talk about who came out on top.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Social Security defining the debate in the Republican presidential race. Rick Perry has called it a Ponzi scheme before. A big lie being told to the American people. So we ask you, the voters if you agree. Your answer's ahead.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello. President Obama steps up his campaign to win support for his jobs bill, but are Republicans willing to compromise and are you willing to give up popular tax deductions to help pay for the plan on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: Good morning, everyone. It is Tuesday, September 13th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: We'll have more from Ali on last night's debate just ahead, but first, two big breaking stories. It's 6:00 a.m. eastern.
ROMANS: That's right. First to Afghanistan where the U.S. Embassy in Kabul is under attack right now. It appears the attackers entered a nearby building under construction and are now firing rocket propelled grenades at the embassy.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is live in Afghanistan. Good morning, Suzanne, what's happening there?
COSTELLO: I don't think we have her.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, we're about a mile and a half away. Can you hear me now? Can you hear me?
COSTELLO: Yes, Suzanne we hear you.
MALVEAUX: OK, they can hear me. We're about a mile and a half away from what is taking place here. We've heard explosions and gunfire from where we are. Essentially we are getting information from the Afghan police as well as eyewitnesses who say it happened about 40, 45 minutes ago.
The story is just unfolding. We thought perhaps it was a small situation. It has turned into a significant much bigger situation. A group of armed men in a vehicle that pulled up close to the U.S. embassy went into an abandoned building that was close to the embassy.
Began firing on the U.S. embassy using light weapons and grenades, rocked propelled grenades. We have spoken to somebody in the embassy, the U.S. embassy, a spokeswoman who is not able to give us much information, but tells us that they are in a duck and cover mode.
That they have been ordered to essentially take cover inside of the embassy so we know that the police, the Afghan police as well as the army are involved in this kind of back and forth that is taking place outside of the embassy that was under attack.
We have heard some explosions. We know there were -- there was gunfire and explosions earlier. We know from an eyewitness that he saw this group of men run out of the vehicle and run into that abandoned building across from the embassy. We also know from a CNN producer who has a reached a spokesman for the Taliban. They have taken responsibility for this attack.
They have released a statement. They have told us in their words, we attacked Kabul City, our target, the U.S. embassy, governmental organizations and other foreign organizations. We are prepared with heavy and light weapons such as grenades and rocket propelled grenades.
That is coming directly from the Taliban spokesman. So what is taking place now it is difficult to say, just what is taking place. We do know that there is a private contractor, security contractor that is responsible for outside protecting the U.S. embassy.
It is overseen by the U.S. military. There's a very heavy international and military presence around the embassy. There just two days ago for the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, is a fortified structure. There is lots of security.
It is difficult to get inside, but clearly, this is an insurgent, a Taliban attack against the U.S. embassy. If we have more information on casualties, on fatalities we will certainly let you know. We're just trying to figure out what is taking place right now.
ROMANS: All right, again, the U.S. embassy there in Kabul under attack. Thank you so much, Suzanne Malveaux. We'll check in as news warrants. Thanks.
COSTELLO: Can you imagine being inside that embassy, duck and cover. Get under tables and chairs and hope for the best.
ROMANS: It's a massive structure with an awful lot of security. So one hopes that they're prepared for this type of thing and it's an attack that will be repelled. But we'll go back and find out what's happening as the minutes passed here.
COSTELLO: We also breaking news out of Iranian to tell you about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will release two jailed American hikers within two days.
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal had been held in Iran for more than two years on espionage charges. They were sentenced back in August to eight years in prison. Their attorney says they will be released as soon as $500,000 bail is paid for each of them.
ROMANS: All right, now to the candidates.
The candidates who faced off at last night's debate. Ali Velshi is live where it all happened in Tampa, Florida. Good morning, Ali.
VELSHI: Good morning, Carol and Christine. A lot of news this morning, that this is the third story in the news, but for a lot of people, a very, very important night last night. We're live at the Florida state fairgrounds in Tampa.
Last night, the Tea Party had its turn at the GOP presidential candidates. Texas Governor Rick Perry found out what it is like to be the clear frontrunner.
Jim Acosta has been following this for us very closely. Jim, give us a sense of what happened last night.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This started as a heavyweight fight between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. But then after a while, some of the other contenders found ways to climb into the ring and in the end, it was Perry who was taking most of the punches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How will we convince senior citizens that Social Security and Medicare need to be changed and get their vote?
ACOSTA (voice-over): The first question may have been on Social Security, but it was really about Rick Perry who once called the program a Ponzi scheme.
GOVERNOR RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It has been called a Ponzi scheme by many people long before me, but no one's had the courage to stand up and say, here is how we're going to reform it --
ACOSTA: But as Perry tried to turn down the heat, Mitt Romney cranked it up.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But the question is, do you still believe that Social Security should be ended as a federal program as you did six months ago when your book came out and return to the states? Do you want to retreat --
PERRY: I think we ought to have a conversation. ROMNEY: We're having that right now, Governor. Let's finish it right now.
ACOSTA: That teed up what might have been the one-liner of the night.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not particularly worried about Governor Perry and Governor Romney frightening the American people when President Obama scares them every single day.
ACOSTA: But that wasn't the only flashpoint. Take the economy. As to whether the lone star governor was responsible for jobbed created in his home state, Romney said pro-business Texas deserved the credit, not Perry.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Tell him how much credit he deserves.
ROMNEY: Look, you know, I think Governor Perry would agree with me if you are dealt four aces that does not make it necessarily a great poker player.
PERRY: Well, I was going to say, Mitt, you were doing pretty good until you started talking about poker.
ACOSTA: But it was Michele Bachmann who is coming up with some winning hands. Hitting Perry on his executive words who required that schoolgirls receive vaccinations against the sexually transmitted HPV virus that may cause cervical cancer.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Little girls who have a negative reaction to this potentially dangerous drug don't get a mulligan. They don't get a do-over.
ACOSTA: Then she suggested Perry was interested in doing more than saving lives.
BACHMANN: I just wanted to add that we cannot forget that in the midst of this executive order there was a big drug company that made millions of dollars because of this mandate. We can't deny that.
BLITZER: You've got to respond to that.
PERRY: Yes, sir. The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them. I raise about $30 million. And if you're saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I'm offended.
ACOSTA: And Perry found himself on the wrong side of the Tea Party when he defended support for in-state college tuition for the children of illegal immigrants. A policy that got boos from the crowd.
BACHMANN: That is not the American way.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ACOSTA: Well, in the end, Perry was hit hard, but he stayed on his feet, which is why he will continue to go on and run as the front- runner in this race.
Tomorrow he heads to Virginia, which is not a very important state to Republican primary voters, but it is an important battle ground state in the general election. Ali, the trick for the rest of the field is to convince Governor Perry this race is not over yet.
VELSHI: You know, they're all experienced in some fashion. They've all been on the public stage before and they were all in good fighting form last night.
But in that moment that you're talking about when everybody piled on Rick Perry, it started to show a little bit. He looked a little frustrated. He looked a little bit like, what's going on here. They were all jumping on him at the same time.
ACOSTA: Absolutely and I think some of it was getting under his skin. There were times when you could see Rick Perry's body language. When Mitt Romney was talking, tensed up, sort of looking away, smiling, saying, what's with this guy over here?
You know, body language does speak volumes. The question for Rick Perry and the rest of this field is, did anything actually change last night, because Rick Perry lives to fight another day.
VELSHI: And we are going to be talking about that at good length. Jim, thanks very much.
Coming up at 7:30 Eastern, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will join us with her standing in the polls slipping. Did she regain some of the spotlight last night? Did she start to claw back?
Much more debate coverage from Tampa ahead when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to a special AMERICAN MORNING, live in Tampa. Breaking down last night's big CNN Tea Party debate, the candidates putting front-runner Rick Perry on defense, especially on an issue they watch closely in Florida, Social Security.
So who came up on top? Joining me now is CNN contributor Dana Loesch. She's the founder of the St. Louis Tea Party, and CNN political contributor Alex Castionos. Good morning to both of you or what little of the night you had. I know you were out there like so many people watching this very, very closely.
Dana, let's start with you. Any knockout moments, anybody really make any great strides last night and anybody really falter?
DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think that Bachmann really came back strong. She did exactly what she needed to do. I had some reservations especially about an hour through the debate. She seemed really hesitant to go after Perry or Romney.
She had a couple golden opportunities. She hesitated, but finally, when that Gardasil question came up, she was relentless and continued to stay after Perry for the rest of the debate. That was important.
VELSHI: Let's listen to that. This was a key moment. This is Rick Perry talking about a decision that he had made, sort of an executive order that was going to see young girls in Texas inoculated with Merck's Gardasil, which prevents the transmission of HPV and ultimately is thought to prevent cancer in young girls. Let's start with Rick Perry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: At the end of the day, this was about trying to stop a cancer and giving the parental option to opt out of that, and at the end of the day, you may criticize me about the way that I went about it. But at the end of the day, I am always going to err on the side of life.
BACHMANN: The drug company gave thousands of dollars in political donations to the governor. This is flat out wrong. The question is, was it about life or was it about millions of dollars?
PERRY: The company was Merck and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them. I raise about $30 million, and if you're saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I'm offended.
BACHMANN: I'm offended for all the little girls and the parents that didn't have a choice. That's what I'm offended for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Really, she got the applause on that one, Alex. A very interesting debate, because, you know, Rick Santorum on the side said parents should have been given the option to opt in, not opt out.
This debate was about executive orders. It was about not going through the legislature and then Michele Bachmann made it about a political donation. Did she score points or was this punching in the dark?
CASTELLANO: Oh, I think - I think had she gained set-match there to Michele Bachmann. I think it was one of her better moments in the - in the debate and in the whole campaign so far.
Because it is about big government authority, taking parents' rights away and making them fight to get it back. It's not about the Gardasil vaccine. A lot of parents think it's a great idea, but forcing government - or government forcing parents to be in a position where they'd have to - they'd have to act to - to protect their family if they didn't really want that, that's not a conservative position.
You know, Rick Perry is still the heavyweight champ here. He's still number one, but what happened last night is the champ got cut and now you're going to see all the other fighters punch Perry. And we're going see over the next few weeks whether he holds up.
Debates are so important, not only in themselves, but in the next few week, the coverage of the debates, these moments that -
VELSHI: Right.
CASTELLANO: -- we're looking at now, more people are going to see them than actually saw the debate. So this is a moment that's going to help Michele Bachmann over the next few weeks and hurt Perry.
VELSHI: All right. So we've talked about Perry being ganged up on. We've talked about Michele Bachmann coming out flying. Where did Romney fare in this whole thing?
LOESCH: Romney took some hits, too, I think. And he was - he seemed off his game to me last night. And when he and Perry went back and forth, one of the things that - I enjoyed watching that, but at the same time, it took away from the opportunities that they had to tell how exactly they would do something instead of trading jabs back and forth.
You did this, you did this. You cross this (INAUDIBLE). They didn't really get into the specifics of how exactly they would help the economy, how they would do this or that. So that kind of I think ultimately hurt both of them.
And on the merit of just answering the questions, having a good solid debate, I think Bachmann really walked away with last - away with it last night. But Perry is still the perceived frontrunner and the entire proof that he's still the frontrunner is on how everyone ganged up, piled up on him last night.
VELSHI: Yes, they really did.
CASTELLANO: And Bachmann's success now is a plus for Romney. Because she - if she gains a couple of points -
VELSHI: Right.
CASTELLANO: -- it probably comes out of Perry.
VELSHI: Let's talk about those on the fringes - Huntsman, Gingrich, Cain, Santorum? Anybody there make any big strides last night? And Ron Paul. I don't know where to put Ron Paul, because he - he polls higher and stays relatively consistent.
LOESCH: Well, I thought Cain had really good, solid answers on jobs.
VELSHI: Yes, he does.
LOESCH: And one of the thing that I appreciate about Herman Cain, first of all, he knows how to put in a good sound bite.
VELSHI: Yes.
LOESCH: He knows how to get this sound bite that's going to get the headline for the next day.
VELSHI: Right.
LOESCH: He's great at that. And he was also very good and that every time he gave any answer, he brought it back to his specific plan. He brought back - brought it back to his jobs -
VELSHI: His 999 as he called it.
LOESCH: Absolutely. That is fantastic. That's something that Romney and Perry didn't do, but Cain, he thinks - he thinks on his feet.
VELSHI: Right.
LOESCH: He's very - he's very quick witted in that way.
Ron Paul, I thought, well, I think he read Paul Krugman's column for 9/11 and I don't know how you can come back after justifying 9/11. I - everyone in, around me, watching this was shocked when he said that.
VELSHI: Interesting.
Alex, your take on the - the other candidates?
CASTELLANO: On the other candidates? I don't know that anything changed last night, except that perhaps Perry came down a little bit. Bachmann came back up. Romney came I think left, the way he came in. That means the field's still open.
VELSHI: Right.
CASTELLANO: Somebody else could still - from the bottom tier could - could make an impact in this race. I doubt it will be Ron Paul, because I think last night he did - he did himself mortal harm.
VELSHI: Yes. OK. Good to talk to you guys both.
CASTELLANO: Good to see you.
LOESCH: Good to talk to you.
VELSHI: All right. Alex Castellano and Dana Loesch.
Let's send it back to New York - Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting stuff. Thank you, Ali Velshi.
Now it's your turn to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. Today's question, should President Obama's jobs plan be funded by limiting tax deductions? You know, the jobs plan the president wants Congress to pass, like, right now? Like it doesn't look good.
Yes, Republicans like parts of the plan, but they don't like how the president wants to tax the rich to pay for it. Yes, Mr. Obama wants to end tax loopholes for oil and gas companies, hedge fund managers and he wants to let the Bush Tax cuts expire. But the biggest chunk, $400 billion, will come from limiting tax deductions on Americans making more than $200,000 a year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We've got to decide what our priorities are. Do we keep tax loopholes for all companies or do we put teachers back to work? Do we keep tax rates for millionaires and billionaires, or should we invest in education and technology and infrastructure? All the things that are going to help us out innovate, out educate and out build other countries in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ah, it's deja vu all over again. As is the Republican response, this from Senator Jon Kyl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: Who is it, Mr. President, that are the first to hire coming out of a recession? It's small business. So the very people that we are asking to hire more Americans, to put them back to work, are the people who would be impacted by the taxes that the president talked about the other night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So the "Talk Back" question for you this morning, should Obama's jobs plan be funded by limiting tax deductions? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
The President, by the way, travels to Ohio to -
ROMANS: Right.
COSTELLO: -- to sell his jobs plans today, so he'll be talking about those tax deductions and how he wants to limit them even more throughout the afternoon.
ROMANS: And so what that means for somebody making $200,000 or more a year, every $100 that you're writing off on your taxes, you capped at $28 you take off your tax bill instead of $39 is it is now or something for the highest end. So it would really change for charitable tax - you know, for charitable donations, for also how much you're deducting from -
COSTELLO: I don't think they'll be much argument for people at the way, way high end of the scale.
ROMANS: No.
COSTELLO: Maybe more than $1 million. But for those people making $200,000, that will hurt. ROMANS: Yes. And those people, when you tell them they're really rich, sometimes especially in high tax days, they'll say I'm not rich, but they are in the top one percent.
COSTELLO: Depends on where you live.
ROMANS: That's right.
All right. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, hundreds of thousands of Subarus recalled for a possible fire hazard. Find out which models are on the list.
It's 21 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Right now, U.S. stock futures are trading sharply lower this after European markets down on concerns about the exposure of French banks to a worsening debt crisis in the region.
Today, President Obama here starts his Swing State Tour pushing the American Jobs Act in Ohio. The White House has an uphill battle to get this plan passed through Congress in its entirety. Details of the plan were delivered to Congress yesterday especially about how to pay for it with tax increases on the rich. Republicans on Capitol Hill immediately opposed it.
Analysts say we could see more layoffs this fall from other big banks. This after Bank of America announced yesterday it plans to cut 30,000 jobs over the next few years. So far this year, the big banks have announced more than 60,000 job cuts.
Complaints against airlines were up 17 percent in July, from the same time a year ago, this despite some improvements in flight delays. This according to new data from the Department of Transportation.
And Subaru recalling 200,000 of its Outback and Legacy cars due to a windshield wiper defect. In the 2010 and 2011 models the windshield wiper motor may overheat and create a fire hazard.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's just about 30 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you. Time for this morning's top stories.
And we are following Breaking News out of Afghanistan where militants have attacked the U.S. Embassy in Central Kabul. Eyewitnesses say a group of gunmen went into a nearby building under construction and started firing rocket propelled grenades at the U.S. Embassy. People inside the building are being told to take cover. The Taliban taking responsibility for this attack. So far we have no word on injuries. Two U.S. hikers who have been behind bars in Iran for more than two years could be freed this week. CNN confirming Iran's president has agreed to release Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer within two days. According to their lawyer, what will happen after - that will happen, rather, after their families pay $500,000 bail each.
Tough talk at the Tea Party GOP debate in Tampa last night. The candidates ganging up on front-runner Rick Perry at times. Perry and Mitt Romney accusing each other of scaring seniors over Social Security.
VELSHI: Millions of Americans depend on Social Security. Millions more plan to. That's why Social Security's becoming such a hot topic among the Republican candidates for president, especially with Texas Governor Rick Perry who has labeled the program a big lie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It has been called a Ponzi scheme by many people long before me. But no one's had the courage to stand up and say, here is how we're going to reform it, we're going to transform it for those in those mid-career ages.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The term "Ponzi scheme," I think, is over the top, and unnecessary, and frightful to many people. But the real issue is, in writing his book, Governor Perry pointed out that in his view, that Social Security is unconstitutional.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: All right. Let's bring in our senior political editor Mark Preston, who has not had much sleep. But that's when you perform best -- with that new information which is why you're here. We got a new CNN/ORC poll about this particular topic. What does it say?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, Ali, certainly, in the last week or so, Social Security has risen to the forefront of the most important issue in the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Let's look at this new poll right here.
Rick Perry says that it was a lie. It was a failure. But do the American people believe that? Not necessarily.
Twenty-two percent of Americans say that's not the case. One would seem to run counter to what Rick Perry was saying. But Rick Perry did certainly hit upon something. There is problems with Social Security.
Let's take a look at this number right here. Are there problems with Social Security? And here, major changes, are they needed? Fifty-five percent say, yes, that is the case. And, of course, this is all tied in to one thing. The economy, Ali.
VELSHI: And this is -- this is interesting, because Rick Perry kind of made this an issue. Social Security's sort of a back burner concern to a lot of people. It's tied to our debt and deficit concerns, but he's put this in the forefront.
Does this help him ultimately or not, that these polls show not everybody believes his characterization of it?
PRESTON: You know what's interesting, this could be potentially a devastating issue in the general election, Republican versus Democrat. Right now in the primary, it's not hurting him. And in fact, last night at the debate, that wasn't the big issue.
So, what we saw for the first week, with Social Security, up to last night, for Rick Perry now, it's about mandates he has to deal with and illegal immigration.
VELSHI: All right. We'll be talking a lot more about it. Good to see you, my friend.
PRESTON: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Mark Preston.
Let's send it back to Christine in New York -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Ali. Great work there, you guys. I really appreciate that.
And in last night's debate, too, Texas Governor Rick Perry was as much a target as President Obama, criticized for his stance on Social Security, his record when it comes to creating jobs, requiring schoolgirls to get the HPV vaccine.
So, how did Perry do last night?
Joining me now, Florida House Speaker Dean Keenan.
Welcome to the program.
REP. DEAN CANNON (R), FLORIDA HOUSE SPEAKER: Thanks, Christine. How are you?
ROMANS: Great. Nice to see you.
Pretty lively debate. How do you think Governor Perry did?
CANNON: I think he did great. I heard Mark mention earlier, look, when you're the front-runner, everybody picks on you. I think Governor Perry did a good job of defending his record, standing his ground and showing the kind of strength that folks want to see in their next president.
ROMANS: You know, you're there in Florida where a third of Florida's registered voters are people over the age of 60. I want to ask you about the Social Security debate because this just goes on. You know, Governor Perry said Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It's a failure. I want you to listen to what Mitt Romney said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Governor, the term "Ponzi Scheme" is what scared seniors, number one. And, number two, suggesting that Social Security should no longer be a federal program and return to the states and unconstitutional is likewise frightening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Does Governor Perry want to return this to the states? And would you be OK with that, would your constituents be OK with that?
CANNON: Well, I think what Governor Perry said is he spoke the truth which is, right now, Social Security is unsustainable. People who are in my age in the workforce and younger, it's not going to be there for them if we don't reform it. I think everything said the same thing last night and all the candidates have used a different metaphor. You know, Romney likened it to a criminal enterprise, Bachmann called it a fraud.
I think Governor Perry's metaphor of a Ponzi scheme is accurate in that it's unsustainable. The new investors' money that is paying our current retirees won't be there for those new investors. For Governor Perry, it was also very clear, as was for everybody, that for those who are on Social Security, getting those benefits or even near retirement, those benefits are sacrosanct. They have to be there and they must be protected.
Governor Perry had the courage to say, I think most boldly, look, we've got to change it, or it really won't be there for the next generation of retirees.
ROMANS: But what we don't know is how he wants to change it. And being unsustainable -- he keeps talking about, we want to start a conversation. Well, there's been a conversation in this country about this actually for years and it's been through a couple reform levels. There was a critically acclaimed movie a few years ago that CNN ran, "IOUSA" about entitlement reform and sort of the path and trajectory of our debt and deficits.
The conversation has been going on a long, long time. So, Governor Perry saying let's start the conversation. I'm asking you, we're well into the conversation. How do you fix it?
CANNON: Well, I think, number one, you get the economy going again, which is what Governor Perry has the best track record, which is actually creating jobs. Forty percent of all the net new jobs in the nation since June of 2009 have been created in Texas, whereas President Obama lost almost 2.5 million jobs.
So, I think the first step is get the economy going again.
The second step is, you have that conversation about entitlement reform and you recognize that whether it's Social Security or Medicaid or other federal programs, or programs flowing as far back as the New Deal, if we -- we can't function under that system or we'll end up like Greece or one of those western European democracies that's near bankruptcy.
ROMANS: I'll tell you something, Speaker Cannon, when you talk about how Governor Perry is responsible for 40 percent of all the job creation, a lot of people, say, no, 40 percent of the job creation happened in a state that Perry was the governor are, but he didn't invent the oil, you know? Or, you know, a lot of those jobs also are teaching jobs as well. I'm just telling you right now that always brings up a whole big debate who's responsible for job creation and do governors and presidents get too much credit or too much blame for job creation and job destruction. I want to ask this as whole -- go ahead, respond.
CANNON: Christine, let me just tell you this, number one, Governor Perry has made it clear he didn't create the jobs, the private sector in Texas created those jobs, and he's been unambiguous about that.
ROMANS: A lot of those are teaching jobs, right? I think a lot of those were teaching jobs which would be the public sector. Wouldn't it?
CANNON: Actually, no. Health care and high-tech and manufacturing has accounted for a greater percentage of the GDP in Texas. I think mining is like 2 percent of the GDP. That's a red herring, to say that it's from oil or teaching jobs. It's high-tech, high-wage jobs fleeing California, fleeing Massachusetts, states that are high tax, high --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It just shows how all is about jobs, and about job creation, and that's what people want to see, and we just haven't been able to unlock that quite yet, which is why it is such a -- to use a terrible cliche, a hot button issue.
Dean Cannon, thank you very much. Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Nice to see you this morning. Thanks for getting up for us.
CANNON: You, too. Thank you.
COSTELLO: All right. Let's head to Atlanta and talk some weather with Rob Marciano.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
Kind of warming up again in spots, but there's a little glimpse's fall on the way. Take a look at the map, some thunderstorms possible across parts of the upper, the Northeast. And the heat builds across parts of Texas. Dallas, by the way, hit -- well, 69 days of 100-degree-plus temperatures. They had one yesterday. So, that ties a record and they'll get to overall 100 today. So, they'll break a record, 70 days -- 7-0 days this year, they had 100-degrees- plus in Dallas. My goodness.
Seventy-one degrees in Chicago. So, a taste of some fall there, and 90 degrees in Atlanta. If you're traveling today, Detroit, Cleveland, San Francisco and Vegas are your problem spots. Thunderstorms out there in the desert area, we'll highlight those in a second.
But a fall preview, a pretty strong cold front dropping now from Canada, that's going to drop temperatures into the 50s and 60s here, probably some snow in the mountains and may squish some of those 90s and 100s out of the way by the time we get to the end of the week across parts of Texas and it gets into the eastern part of the country as well.
Speaking of lightning, check it out, to the Mojave Desert in California, some pretty still shots for you taken the past couple of nights. Unfortunately, some of these lightning bolts just to the West, spawned some fires, Comanche fire there in Stallion Springs. Evacuating some folks. But nonetheless, cool shots when taken from afar and they don't harm anybody.
Guys, back up to you.
COSTELLO: Yes. Taken from very far away.
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
COSTELLO: Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: they are Tea Party supporters but they have not picked a candidate yet to support. Did last night's debate do anything to sway them? We'll talk with three of the undecided.
It's 38 minutes past the hour.
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VELSHI: All right. He's the clear front-runner in the Republican presidential race, but Texas Governor Rick Perry may have felt a bit like a pinata last night, coming under attack not just from Mitt Romney but from the whole field of fellow candidates during the GOP Tea Party debate.
Our next guest was there. They are two undecided voters, and we want to find out if anything changed their minds.
Joining us now, Pam Silleman and Mark Grosenbaugh.
You are both small business owners. So, you are very concerned on a number of fronts about many of the issues discussed last night.
Pam, let start with you. What's your takeaway? Who did you really like and who do you think really didn't do as well?
PAM SILLEMAN, ATTENDED GOP DEBATE: Boy, that's a hard one. Been thinking about that for a couple of hours. I like bits and pieces of al of them a lot.
VELSHI: Right.
SILLEMAN: I think I went there last night really trying to get to know more about Rick Perry.
VELSHI: Yes.
SILLEMAN: Because he's such a, you know, outstanding poll leader right now.
VELSHI: Right, right. He's a force in this thing.
SILLEMAN: So I wanted to get to know a personal feeling from him a little bit. So I got a little bit of a feeling there. To me -- he wouldn't be my favorite right now, and I'm still going to investigate a lot about all of them. If I had to pick one overall right now, it would be Michele. Michele stood out to me really strong last night.
VELSHI: But it was important for her to have to do that, to both her own base and people like you who are looking at the team, because she slipped back a little in the polls.
Mark, what's your take? First of all, both of you went in undecided. Are you anymore decided after last night's debate?
MARK GROSENBAUGH, ATTENDED GOP DEBATE: I think what last night did was kind of weed out a couple of the candidates.
VELSHI: OK. Tell me who?
GROSENBAUGH: Huntsman's out.
VELSHI: Is that right?
GROSENBAUGH: Yes. I don't think he did himself any favors last night, at least not with the Tea Party.
VELSHI: Right.
GROSENBAUGH: And, you know -- Ron Paul as far as the foreign policy issues, you know, I don't think he resonates with the Tea Party. I don't want to speak for the Tea Party. I speak for myself.
VELSHI: Tell me what you didn't like Ron Paul said?
GROSSENBAUGH: To boil it down, I don't want to speak for him either it seems like, let's get out of the world. And I don't think in 2011 and 2012 in the future you can do that.
VELSHI: Not all that practical. What about Jon Huntsman? Did he resonate with you at all?
SILLEMAN: No. He came off to me arrogant and not like one of the people. I don't like being talked down to, and I felt he was talking down to us.
VELSHI: You did tell me at the commercial break you like Herman Cain?
SILLEMAN: I love Herman Cain.
VELSHI: Yes. I get that from a lot of people. People seem to just like listening to him.
SILLEMAN: Who wouldn't love Herman Cain?
VELSHI: They think he comes across very well.
SILLEMAN: He's awesome. I mean, as a president, I'm not sure he's there, you know, to be president, but I'd love to see him somehow involved in our government, and maybe, you know, some day be president. But I love his -- I mean, his common sense and humor and just his -- well, I love him.
VELSHI: All right. So, you actually weren't involved in politics before the Tea Party. Are you a political activist or you're just an American who wants to have a role in making decisions?
PAM SILLEMAN, ATTENDED GOP DEBATE: I'm just a mom. I'm an interior designer.
VELSHI: Right.
SILLEMAN: And the bailout junk, when Bush started all that bailout stuff made me crazy. His little stimulus checks they sent out was the first little thing that clicked in my mind and from then on it was like, ooh --
VELSHI: So, you're not all about it being just the Obama administration --
SILLEMAN: Oh, no. No.
VELSHI: You think government's been spending money.
SILLEMAN: It's a long time, yes.
GROSENBAUGH: Absolutely.
VELSHI: Mark, you're a small business owner as well.
GROSENBAUGH: Right.
VELSHI: What would cause you to expand your small business? Is it all of this talk about regulation and restriction or is it just use more demand? You could use more people wanting to use your services?
GROSENBAUGH: Exactly it. You know, if there's more people that want my service, then I hire.
VELSHI: You employ about four people, right?
GROSENBAUGH: Correct.
VELSHI: Right. And you're in the landscaping business.
GROSENBAUGH: Correct.
VELSHI: What do you think would make more people hire you? What's the thing that government can do right now that could improve your business?
GROSENBAUGH: Just jobs, employment.
VELSHI: Right.
GROSENBAUGH: You know. Our business, our industry was devastated when the economy went south. You know, people had to decide what they could afford, and a lot of them, you know, lawn maintenance was a luxury.
VELSHI: Sure. And they would do it themselves if they didn't have money for it.
GROSENBAUGH: Exactly. Exactly.
VELSHI: Pam, let me ask you this. One of the things that was interesting about last night is that there are certainly out there, some people who blame the media for, but there are stereotypes about the Tea Party.
SILLEMAN: Oh, yes.
VELSHI: One watching that last night wouldn't have come across a lot of those.
SILLEMAN: Good, good.
VELSHI: It didn't seem particularly -- we didn't seem to see extreme positions staked out. Is that the Tea Party you're most familiar with?
SILLEMAN: Absolutely. Yes. I face this all the time. And, you know --
VELSHI: Now, people, you're with the tea party and they -- we thought we were just normal.
SILLEMAN: Thought we were wacky. Yes. Yes. They think, you know, it's all about birth certificates and, you know, being from Mars and all that. No. It is about the money. We're not about social stuff. Like I said, I don't care who you sleep with, I don't care who you marry. Personally, we've got to fix our country.
VELSHI: Right. SILLEMAN: Our economy is messed up. We're a wrecking ball right now. And that's what's important.
VELSHI: All right. So --
SILLEMAN: Thinking that debt.
VELSHI: You both went in undecided. You both emerge undecided. You've narrowed the field a little bit. Do you have some sense -- I'll ask you each this question -- do you have some sense after watching last night who is likely to emerge as the candidate, regardless, of whether they're your choice? Do you think it's Romney? Do you think it's Perry? Do you think it's Michele Bachmann or someone else?
SILLEMAN: Well, Perry has that leadership quality, I think, a lot of people are attracted to. You know, I like him. I think I went in wanting to like him.
VELSHI: Right.
SILLEMAN: I didn't come off liking him any better.
VELSHI: Right.
SILLEMAN: I did come off -- Newt continues to impress me a lot. He's brilliant.
(CROSSTALK)
SILLEMAN: That man could be president, and I think he'd do a good job. I just wish I could take bits and pieces of others and give him that core Tea Party person thing, and Michelle, and, you know, Santorum had it.
VELSHI: Mark.
GROSENBAUGH: The question as a prediction?
VELSHI: Prediction, yes.
GROSENBAUGH: Who I think?
VELSHI: Yes.
GROSENBAUGH: I'm sure it will probably be Romney or Perry.
VELSHI: OK.
GROSENBAUGH: But, I'm kind of with pam. I'll support Bachmann.
VELSHI: And maybe you'd like an amalgam of a few of them. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Mark, Pam, thank you.
GROSENBAUGH: Sure. VELSHI: All right. Pam Silleman and Mark Grosenbaugh. We're going to have this morning's top stories right after the break. It is 47 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAMONA SINGER, REALITY STAR: Hi, everyone. I'm Ramona Singer, and you know me from "The Real Housewives of New York City," but what you may not know is I'm a serial entrepreneur, and I'm always on the road traveling. I just (INAUDIBLE). It's really good to go out and see your customers, meet and greet, and it's exciting.
I'm packing and unpacking and packing. It's like I live out of my suitcase. I am not afraid to check a bag. In fact, I always check a bag. I like to overpack a little. I needed to have two dresses, one for tonight and one for tomorrow. Well, guess what? I packed four. Did I need to take five pairs of shoes? No, but I did.
On the plane, I only wear jeggings, and I always take a shawl with me, because you know what, on the plane, it could be cold. Listen, girls, you know, we don't always like the shampoo and conditioners that give us as hotels so I pack my own as backup. Well, I always travel, no matter where I go, with my jewelry.
I carry them in individual plastic so they don't scratch, but also, so I can see them. If I have the jewelry and I do, why not wear it and take it with you? Happy traveling to all of you. Bye!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It's 51 minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Breaking news out of Afghanistan. The U.S. embassy in Kabul is under attack by militants. According to eyewitnesses, gunmen entered a building, nearby building, under construction and started firing on the embassy. People inside that building are being told to take cover.
The two American hikers accused of being spies in Iran could soon be released from an Iranian prison. According to Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer's attorney, Iran has agreed to release the men once a $500,000 bail is paid for each of them.
School officials in Tacoma, Washington are in court this morning hoping to force striking teachers back to work. Today's strike shut down the state's third largest school district follows months of unproductive contract negotiations between district and the union.
Former major league all-star, Manny Ramirez, was arrested and charged with battery after a domestic dispute in Florida. Ramirez retired from baseball right at the start of the season instead of taking a 100-game suspension for his second violation of the league's drug policy.
Novak Djokovic is your men's U.S. Open champion. The number one seed beat number two, Rafael Nadal, in four sets yesterday. It's his first U.S. Open title. He won three of the four grand slam events this year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (on-camera): That's the news you need to know to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Six minutes until the top of the hour. Good morning. We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. This was the question, should President Obama's jobs plan be funded by limiting tax deductions?
This from Heidi, "It is time to tax the job creators again. While they were paying lower taxes during the past decade, the jobs have been disappearing. If Republicans want to paint the picture that the burden of creating jobs lays at the feet of the extremely wealthy by calling them job creators, it's time to hold them accountable for how dismal they've been at that for the past 10y years. If Obama's plan results in jobs and is funded by the wealthy, they'll have finally earned their job creator affectation."
This from Drew, "We should cut all federal regulations going back to at least 1993. Want to see jobs? That's the answer. Seriously, a 25-fold increase in regulations since 1976 adds tremendously to the cost of doing business, and the result is less business and less jobs. This isn't rocket science."
And this from Karen, "Yes. The wealthy and corporations have had 10 years of these tax cuts and loopholes. It's time they pay their fair share. Congress needs to cut their own salaries and decrease their benefits, too. Everyone needs to share in the sacrifice. Congress needs to practice what they preach."
Keep those comments coming. Facebook/americanmorning. I 'll read more throughout the show.
ROMANS: All right. Ahead next hour, some analysts said last night's debate was a must-win for Michele Bachmann. Did she do it? We're going to speak to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann live. That's coming up in just a few minutes. Don't go away.
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