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American Morning
Republican Candidates Debate in Orlando; Palestinian Authority to Seek Statehood Recognition for U.N.; Republicans Face Off in Debate; New Fighting in the West Bank; Abbas to Address General Assembly; Dugard Suing Federal Government; Severely Beaten Fan is Talking; Nyad Trying Again; The New Face of Poverty; Circles Hopes to End Cycle of Poverty; "Eat This, Not That" Gives Report Card on Fast Food
Aired September 23, 2011 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not the first time that Mitt's been wrong on some issues before.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In my book, I said no such thing.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Frontrunner -- heating up in Florida. Who won, who lost? Who's surprised? The GOP candidates you'll be talking about today.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Asking for a seat at the table. A tense day on tab at the United Nations. Palestinian is asking for full membership. Israel shaking its head, and a U.S. veto already waiting.>
ROMANS: Where will the sky fall today? NASA watching a U.S. satellite the size of a bus that will break up and plunge towards the earth in a matter of hours.
CHO: And grading on a scale. Its report card day for 60 of your favorite restaurants. We talk to the author of "Eat This, Not That" on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And good morning. It's Friday, September 23rd. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Ali and Carol have the day off today.
CHO: And they were taking swipes at the president, accusing each other of taking both sides on the issues. It was another testy GOP debate last night. Jim Acosta, wrapping it up for us. He joins us from Orlando with more. Hey, Jim, good morning.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alina. You know, since the arrival of Rick Perry in his race for the White House, the debates have been basically a free for all on the Texas governor, and last night's debate was no different. And it's possible that Perry is starting to show some signs of wear and tear. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: It may have felt like badminton to Rick Perry, but for the Texas governor it was almost a game of one against eight.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's an argument I just can't follow.
ACOSTA: On the Perry-backed Texas law that offers in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants, it was Romney with the set up.
ROMNEY: That doesn't make sense to me, and that kind of magnet --
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: -- that kind of magnet draws people into this country.
ACOSTA: And Rick Santorum with the overhead smash.
RICH SANTORUM, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country? I would say that he is soft on illegal immigration.
RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think you have a heart.
ACOSTA: The GOP frontrunners defense of the law drew cheers but also boos from the crowd.
PERRY: This was a state issue. Texans voted on it and I still support it greatly.
(APPLAUSE)
(BOOS)
ACOSTA: With the debate staged in Florida where senior votes are on the line, Romney once again pounded on Perry's past statements on Social Security.
ROMNEY: There's a Rick Perry out there that is saying, almost a quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business, that it's unconstitutional, unconstitutional and should be returned to the states. So you better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that.
ACOSTA: At moments it seemed the punishment was taking its toll. Perry seemed to get lost delivers one zinger on the health care law Romney passed at governor of Massachusetts.
PERRY: I think Americans just don't know sometimes which mitt Romney they're deal wig. He's for Obamacare and now he's against it.
ACOSTA: Except that Romney has never supported the president's health care law.
ROMNEY: Yes. Nice try.
ACOSTA: But there were also standout moments for contenders trying to break through. On foreign policy, former ambassador Jon Huntsman.
JON HUNTSMAN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only Pakistan can save Pakistan. Only Afghanistan can save Afghanistan. All that I want right now at this point in history is for America to save America.
(APPLAUSE)
ACOSTA: And on the economy, probably the line of the night from former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.
GARY JOHNSON, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My next door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.
ACOSTA: Another defining moment didn't come from the stage. It came from a handful of people in the audience who booed a gay soldier for asking the candidates for their views on homosexuals in the military.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you intend to circumvent the progress that's been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?
(BOOS)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now, this race is boiling down to a battle between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. It's not clear whether or not last night's debate changed any of that, but Florida Republicans are going to get a chance to have their say. They're holding a straw poll this weekend. It's a nonbinding straw poll, but could give an indication who is starting to break out of this pack.
And Kyra -- excuse me. Alina and Christine, I should mention, one final thing to say about the Gary Johnson joke on the shovel-ready jobs, apparently the scoop on the poop joke is Rush Limbaugh made the crack first earlier in the day and Gary tweeted last night that Limbaugh deserves the credit, guys.
CHO: Did you just say "scoop on the poop"?
ACOSTA: I did say that.
CHO: All right, thanks Jim, as always.
ROMANS: A little loopy when the cover politics a long time.
In more than five hours, anywhere from five to six hours, Mahmoud Abbas will stand before the U.N. general assembly and ask the world to recognize Palestine as a state. CHO: And knows full well he will be rejected. That's thanks to the behind-the-scenes lobbying by the United States. Senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth is with us this morning. Richard, good morning. How is this going to play out today?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Today is a big day for the Palestinians, but then may come the drop- off based on the reception you mentioned. The Palestinians will formally submit their application to the United Nations to become a state, to become the 194th member of the United Nations. South Sudan took just a few days. For the Palestinians, it may make a lot longer.
The leader of the Palestinians, Mr. Abbas, met with Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-general earlier in the week. It's going to be a similar meeting expected in a few hours where Abbas as required will formally hand in his letter of application plus another explanation letter, we're told. And then Ban Ki-moon will not waste time on this issue and will hand it over to the U.N. Security Council for consideration. What will the United States do there? U.S. ambassador Susan Rice explained on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The Palestinians know that this is not going to result in their becoming full members of the United Nations because, as we've made very plain, if it were to come to it and if it were necessary, the United States would exercise its veto.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The United States has veto power, but also the Palestinians need nine yes votes from a lot of countries. Germany and Colombia may be opposed because of U.S. pressure and other historical aspects of the situation. So it's up in the air.
A lot of embarrassment either way, the U.S. doesn't want to be seen as vetoing the Palestinians. The Palestinians don't want to not get those nine votes and not even face the veto. Israel could be seen once again as an obstacle even though are Israelis say let's talk. A lot on the line in the next few days and weeks playing out there.
ROMANS: In the meantime you have the Iranian president taking his rhetoric to maybe a new level.
ROTH: The Iranian leader using words the U.S. said were despicable, anti-Semitic rhetoric. It's been like six years in a row. When the Iranian president, Mr. Ahmadinejad spoke, a lot of people started leaving the hall. You see U.S. diplomats there. France, Austria, you name it. A large number of countries strolled through the aisles.
Nobody was yelling anything. Ahmadinejad didn't seem to comment. He's used to the walkouts. But this was another situation someone may get a hint. He didn't even address the nuclear program, which is what really worries the United Nations. And he said he would never accept Israel even if there's a Palestinian state living side- by-side, which could pose complications down the road.
ROMANS: But he called 9/11 a mysterious incident.
ROTH: That's why people were walking out. Again, questioning who was behind 9/11, that was done to create the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
ROMANS: Richard Roth, thank you.
At the bottom of the hour we'll talk about Palestinian statehood and what's at stake for the U.S. and Israel when we're joined by Robin Wright, senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and James Rubin, former U.S. assistant secretary of state.
CHO: State TV in Yemen is reporting that President Ali Abdullah Saleh has returned. His capital city gripped with fighting and shelling in the past week that has reportedly left dozens dead. His country sliding into a civil war over his refusal to step down, and is home to one of the boldest branches of Al Qaeda.
ROMANS: An alarming discovery in Libya that national transitional council says forces turned up what appears to be radioactive material as a military base near Sabha in southern Libya. The site has warehouses containing barrels and plastic bags of yellow powder marked "radioactive." Nuclear experts believe Moammar Gadhafi was stockpiling yellowcake, a form of uranium that can be used for nuclear purposes.
CHO: The United States facing a real possibility of a government shutdown in just a week. The Republican-controlled House passing a $3.7 billion disaster aid measure late last night along with that key stopgap spending bill that would keep the government from shutting down. It calls for millions of dollars in cuts in the energy department to offset the costs of hurricane and wildfire victims. The senate majority leader Harry Reid has already promising to reject it, saying it's not an honest attempt to a compromise.
ROMANS: President Obama expected to give a green light to opt out of the No Child Left Behind law. In exchange, states would agree to reforms favored by the federal government, including linking teacher evaluations to test scores.
CHO: And expect a lot of silence at today's house hearing into the collapse of Solyndra. The company's top two executives informing committee members they plan to invoke the Fifth Amendment to refuse to answer questions. The California solar panel company went bankrupt after receiving a controversial half billion controversial loan from the energy department.
ROMANS: Still to come this morning, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney playing book critics, each schooling the other for not sticking to what they wrote. We'll take a look at who scored points at the GOP debate.
CHO: Plus an interesting story we want to tell you about, striking back against puppy and kitten mills. How the city of Toronto just changed the rules for pet shops.
ROMANS: And it's the end of an era in daytime television. ABC's "All my Children" going off the air today after 41 years.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 10 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: It's 13 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to "American morning" on Friday.
ROMANS: Yes. Say that again. Friday.
CHO: Friday. A lot of face time last night for the two Republican front-runners, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.
ROMANS: They spent a lot of time accusing each other of flip- flopping and fighting over what each had written in their own books.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: There's a Rick Perry out there that sang that, almost a quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business. That it's unconstitutional, unconstitutional and should be returned to the states. You better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that.
(APPLAUSE)
PERRY: Your hard copy book, you said it was exactly what the American people needed to have that Romneycare given to them as you had in Massachusetts. Then in your paperback you took that line out. So speaking of not getting it straight in the your book, sir --
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: It's fine for you to retreat from the your own words in your own book, but, please don't try and make me retreat from the words that I wrote in my book.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Forget about poll number. Look at the Amazon rankings, I guess, right? Joining us with their score cards, former congresswoman and Republican, analyst Susan Molinari, and Democratic strategist Kiki McLean. Book reviews aside, ladies it was the Romney- Perry show. How did they do? Susan, you start off.
SUSAN MOLINARI, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: First of all, I do want to say that compare to the way I think a lot of people, or some people like to portray the Republican Party, I think during these debates and particularly last night, I think the Republicans come across as likeable and thoughtful. In light of the sparring that you just showed, which went on between Perry and Romney for a good portion of the night, I think Romney really got the best of Governor Perry. I think in many ways Governor Perry has been a gift to the Romney campaign, where, you know, Romney was sort of out there with the rest of them. It looked like he was going to be the de facto winner. And then, you know, Governor Perry comes in to, you know, present what's supposed to be the tough challenge.
And thus far, although politics is a funny game, thus far it seems like he's shown that Governor Romney may be the guy that can stand up to somebody like President Obama when it comes to tough debating.
CHO: Well -- excuse me -- I wanted to -- you know, obviously, Governor Perry is the frontrunner taking a lot of heat on a number of issues including immigration and his policy in Texas it allow illegal immigrants to qualify for up to $22,000 in instate tuition.
Let's listen to what happened last night. We'll talk on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: The fact of the matter is this, there is nobody on this stage who has spent more time working on border security than I have. But if you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there, by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And why should they be given preferential treatment as -- as an illegal in this country? That's what they're saying. So, yes. I am saying -- I would say that -- I would say that he is soft on illegal immigration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Kiki, I don't want to diminish the importance of immigration as an issue. But, I mean, is that really what we need to be focusing right now? I mean --
KIKI MCLEAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well --
CHO: -- some people care -- yes. Go ahead.
MCLEAN: I'm a Texan. So I understand that Texas and Texans have been involved in the border issues for a long time. But there was definitely a vacuum and a missed opportunity for Republicans last night, because nobody was talking about job creation. Nobody was having a serious conversation about the economy.
And, you know, Susan makes a good point, which is, this is not just debate season for Republicans. This is for everybody to watch. I mean, what I saw was really a race between two guys, and it was really about styles. They both have their own styles. And I don't know if styles is enough for people to make a decision.
And frankly, then when you heard the back and forth over the books, it felt like this -- this, you know, bad moment at recess, after everybody gave their fifth grade book report. And then what you saw on the outside of that, the skirt, if you will, of the other candidates was really this race to the right. They're debating the race to the top. And yet yesterday there was President Obama there at the border at a bridge that's not being fixed, not being made safe and efficient the way it should be, because we can't do what we need to do on our budget and we -- and asking people to adopt his plan that he's got on the table.
So I actually think last night Republicans missed a huge opportunity, because they were not in the American conversation about jobs.
ROMANS: That's a -- that's a good segue to the other players, and how they were trying to sort of get an elbow in on what was clearly the Romney and Perry dominated debate.
So let's listen to some of these one liners, because in some cases, that's how they're -- that's how they're going to be remembered the morning after. So listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY JOHNSON (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My next door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.
JON HUNTSMAN (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm tempted to say that when all is said and done, the two guys standing in the middle here, Romney and Perry aren't going to be around because they're going to bludgeon each other to death.
NEWT GINGRICH (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You assume Washington remains the way Washington is right now is all hopeless, we might as well buy Greek bonds and go down together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Now, what's interesting to me, Susan, is that that, you know, that comment from Gary Johnson was actually something that -- that Rush Limbaugh said earlier in the day, and he credited him for that later. Is somebody else going to break out here or is it these two candidates are at focus here now?
MOLINARI: You know what right now I think it is these two candidates. It seems very unlikely, although, you know, you could have me on next week and I'm going to have to deny everything in the way the presidential elections go and politics these days.
But I think right now it looks pretty clear that it's going to be these two candidates that are going to fight to the finish.
And with respect to what Kiki said, look, this is going to be a presidential election in 2012 that is going to be about President Obama. And whoever the Republicans are going to pick up are going to have to talk about the lack of shovel-ready jobs, the lack of -- of jobs across the board, the unemployment number, the failed stimulus, the inability to -- to lead this country out of a malaise.
So I think, you know, it's fair that the Republicans try and figure out who is going to be that frontrunner, both stylistically and with regard to ideas that --
(CROSSTALK)
MCLEAN: But -- and in fairness, Susan's right. The incumbent is always in a defensive position just by the nature of the structure of the campaign, but you don't win just by attacking the other guy. They're going to have to show up with some ideas. The American people want that.
And, you know, when you hear the great one liners, and, gosh, Susan and I have all been at debates and those are -- those are fun moments and that doesn't mean you sort of win an election on YouTube. You don't necessarily win an election in the general population, but there has to be a discussion about what they're going to do about the jobs going forward, and they blew that last night.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Well, I do want to -- hold on a minute. Hold on a minute.
MOLINARI: -- they have to answer the questions that are asked and -- and that's just what they did. I mean, I know Governor Romney has like a 59-point plan that he's referred to. Governor Perry said that he's going to be coming up with his I think this week.
MCLEAN: But they have a chance to move that conversation and you know that, Susan.
CHO: Hey, I want to bring up this. You talk about Obama and the incumbent and this really being a race to beat Obama on the Republican side.
The latest Quinnipiac Poll, Florida voters shows that while Perry leads Romney by 28 to 22 percent, that is within the margin of error. If you look at a general election situation here, Perry -- Romney beats Obama, 47 to 40 percent, but Perry does not. And those numbers, if we can pull them up, are 42 to 44 percent in Obama's favor.
So, Susan, I want to ask you this. You know, aren't Republicans -- aren't Republicans in a bit of a conundrum here? If Perry gets the nomination at least at this early stage, Romney to a lot of voters is not seen as being, you know, vibrant and electable in terms of being the nominee. And yet you saw the numbers there, they think he can win the general election?
MOLINARI: You know, this is always the great challenge in any race where there's a primary and then you have to go to a general election. And so there's nothing new about a candidate who has to tack right or left in order to win the party's nomination and then move a little bit more to the center and emphasize these issue, which I think both Perry and Romney can do, emphasizing different issues that prevent more central views.
So I do think that this is a conundrum, but it is a conundrum that we face every four years and every two years in the United States Congress.
MCLEAN: Yes. I'm willing to bet that Susan and I agree on the concept of electability as a campaign message is a nowhere. It's an easy thing. It's conventional wisdom to talk about it.
But at the end of the day, you rarely move votes on the argument of electability and Romney will be smart to stay on his own message that he wants to have out there rather than adapting an electability message.
MOLINARI: That's right. I do agree with you on that.
ROMANS: And Newt Gingrich, the other statesman keeps sort of coming up and pushing it all back to the president. You know, when he -- when the fighting gets real good among the Republicans, he's the one who keeps turning -- turning it back, which is eventually, of course when there's a candidate that will have --
CHO: He's got a new contract for America.
ROMANS: That's true. That's right. That's something he said Abraham Lincoln would run and win on.
There you go. Susan Molinari and Kiki McLean, thank you so much.
MOLINARI: Thank you.
MCLEAN: Thank you.
ROMANS: All right.
The City of Toronto taking aim at puppy and kitten meals this morning, passing a new law that says all dogs and cats sold in pet stores must come from shelters, humane societies or rescue groups. The measure is designed to stop the illegal sale of pets from breeders who raise animals in unsanitary and overcrowded kennel.
CHO: Still to come on this AMERICAN MORNING, Blockbuster trying to make a move on Netflix. The new service the company is launching today. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
U.S. markets poised now for a slightly lower open today after a pretty miserable couple days on Wall Street. The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all lost more than three percent yesterday. Two-day loss for the Dow biggest since 2008.
Investors lost $500 billion in stocks just yesterday alone on the Wilshire 5000. $1.1 trillion gone this week. That's going into today's session. The Wilshire 5000, of course, is the broadest gauge for U.S. stocks.
On a brighter note, it's never been this cheap to borrow money to buy a house. Mortgage rates are at record lows for the third week in a row and the Fed's bond twisting stimulus plan is expected to push down long-term interest rates for mortgages maybe even further. The average rate right now on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 4.09 percent. This is according to Freddie Mac. Fifteen-year money is in the three percent range. You might want to check into refinancing.
Americans are swiping their cards like it's 2008, literally. The amount of credit card debt added in the second quarter is up 66 percent from the same time last year. The credit card research firm Cardhub.com says it hasn't been that high since back in 2008 when credit debt was at its peak.
The Blockbuster moving with the times. The company is expected to launch video streaming service later today to compete with Netflix. Dish Network bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy back in April. The company is struggling to redefine itself now.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: It's 30 minutes after the hour. This breaking news, you're looking at pictures just into us at CNN of fighting going on right now in the west bank.
Palestinians, you see there, throwing rocks, burning tires near the West Bank checkpoint of Kalandia. We'll monitor the situation. This comes, of course, as President Mahmoud Abbas formally enters his bid for Palestinian statehood today at the United Nations.
It's a proposal that is largely seen as dead on arrival. For more on that we're going to head to Christine.
ROMANS: All right, you know, history unfolding this afternoon at the United Nations. In less than five hours or so, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will stand before the leaders of the world and ask for recognition as a state.
Joining us this morning to discuss the significance of that request and the efforts by the United States and Israel to make sure it fails is Robin Wright, senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace joining us live from Washington.
And here with me in New York, James Ruben, former U.S. assistant secretary of state and executive editor of the "Bloomberg View." Let me start with you, Jamie, the U.S. wants to avoid a vote. I mean, they would like this not to happen. President Abbas is still going to make his application. What happens next?
JAMES RUBIN, FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, the U.S. has been scrambling in the last few days to try to dissuade the Palestinian government from going forward with this application or at a minimum, try to avoid a situation where enough votes are in the Security Council to pass it that the U.S. needs to exercise its veto.
My guess is that the Palestinians will go forward, will submit the application, but then be a discussion both in the Security Council and possibly in the general assembly where the U.S. does not have a veto.
Although it doesn't have the same power, it could allow the Palestinians to get a victory, which is something I think that President Abbas is desperate to get at this point.
ROMANS: Can I ask you about our president, President Obama? On the campaign trail, Republicans are hitting this message that the president has somehow thrown Israel under the bus. So you have this background, I guess, noise from a political season, and then you have this reality happening at the U.N. How do you square those two?
RUBIN: You really can't in the end. The president in his speech at the United Nations made a rather startlingly compelling description of the plight of Israel in the Arab world over the years, and it was a remarkably supportive statement.
And the fact that he didn't try to do the same thing about the Palestinians who have been seeking their self-determination tells me, at least, that his last year in this term is going to be focused on the domestic side. That could only change.
There's only one way I think that could change. You saw the pictures from the region of protests. The problem with the Palestinian cause, unlike Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, is it's not seen by Israelis in particular and the United States in the same way, because there aren't hundreds of thousands of Palestinians peacefully protesting.
If they can get that going in a way they've never been able to do before, that really could transform the situation and make a link to the Arab Spring, which is what they've been trying to do, but they've never been able to sustain long-term peaceful protests. I think that's the only way they'll be a real movement this next year.
ROMANS: Robin Wright, let me bring you in because, you know, Jamie brings up in Arab spring, which such a great point. That should be the movement that is celebrated and talked about at this session, yet the dialogue, the debate, the issue, the controversy, continues to be Israel and the Palestinians.
ROBIN WRIGHT, AUTHOR, "ROCK THE CASBAH": Yes. One of the side effects of this move is that the focus of the last nine months on what is really an epic convulsion of political turning point for the entire region begins to be diverted or derailed.
The focus has not been on the Arab/Israeli conflict. There hasn't been the kind of anger towards the United States that we've seen over the past 60 years. This was really a turning point in relations with the international community as well as the political situations in each of their countries.
The problem is that now with this vote, the focus of the Arab world will look increasingly at Israel and the danger is that the tensions deepened, their positions harden not just between the Palestinians and Israelis, but by the Arabs in general.
ROMANS: And because as these countries, these democracies begin to develop and governments there begin to be named, they will start taking positions on Israel. No question. That puts the U.S. in a pretty difficult spot.
WRIGHT: Absolutely. As these countries begin to develop, you know, platforms for parties that will be key in the new elections, the danger is that they take positions on Israel that are then written in black and white and are not so easy to erase. That, then, sets the whole process, the whole mood of the region back in very serious ways.
ROMANS: So Robin, just quickly, what's the next step? How do you get the peace process moving again?
WRIGHT: Well, one of the interesting questions is whether this is going to harden positions or whether this will kind of jump-start President Sarkozy of France who's stepped in and talked about an alternative.
A program where with one year you get to a final agreement with three different steps whether they'll be some kind of movement. The problem is you always get back to the issue of Jewish settlements and the Palestinians say that they're not going to negotiate until there's a freeze and the Israelis are not going to freeze.
So there are a lot of different issues that still have to be sorted out before they get back to the negotiating table.
ROMANS: They always get back to the old issues. Jamie, some of these problems and disagreements seem almost intractable from the outside.
RUBIN: Well, the Israeli/Palestinian issue, you know, it's remarkable. Yesterday, the former prime minister of Israel, a Likud Party member, conservative party member, wrote an article in the "New York Times" pointing out how close he was just a couple years ago to an agreement.
We know the destination, two states share Jerusalem. The amount of territory going back to 67, that refugees will go to a Palestinian state, not an Israeli -- not Israel. We know the destination. It's the journey. It's how to get there, how to have a combination of an Israeli leader, a Palestinian leader and an American president who's got clout.
The biggest change we face right now, I'm sad to say, is that the leverage an American president usually has is based upon his popularity any Israel. His ability to affect the political reality in Israel and President Obama for better or worse is not particularly popular in Israel.
And that limits his leverage to do the kinds of things that Robin mentioned that you talked about in terms of encouraging the Israelis to make the environment compatible with negotiations.
ROMANS: All right, Jamie Rubin, Robin Wright, real pleasures to both of you. Have a wonderful weekend.
Still ahead, CNN in-depth, taking a look at changing face of poverty in America. In a moment, a group that's trying to break the cycle of pain one circle at a time.
And today's "Romans' Numeral" 186,262. Here's a hint. You don't need Einstein to figure it out. It's 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. She was kidnapped at the age of 11, held for 18 years. Now Jaycee Dugard is suing the federal government for negligence. The complaint says authorities failed to properly monitor her captor, convicted sex offender Philip Garrido who was on parole at the time that he abducted her.
ROMANS: He's talking now. Brian Stow, the San Francisco Giants' fan who has beaten with an inch of his life on opening day in L.A., asked to see his kids earlier this week. It's the first time he's said anything in six months.
The family saying they are lone away. Stow suffered a traumatic brain injury during that attack. His lawyers say his medical care is expected to cost more than $50 million. Two men have pleaded not guilty related to that beating.
CHO: One woman doing something the two of us probably could never do, I think it's safe to say.
ROMANS: No way.
CHO: Diana Nyad is going for it one more time and good for her. The 62-year-old long distance swimmer telling CNN she's headed to Cuba and will try again to swim 100 miles to Florida starting tonight. Nyad tries the feat last month, but she had to quit after 29 hours because of a shoulder injury and an asthma attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am capable of swimming from Cuba to Florida, and I will give it up if I can't -- if I just can't make it, but I didn't prove that to myself in this particular swim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The Cuba to Florida swim could take up to 60 hours, and if she makes it, Nyad will set a world record for longest ocean swim without a shark cage. ROMANS: An in-depth look now at the new face of poverty in the America. The focus this morning, an organization that's now operating in nearly two dozen states looking to end the cycle of pain one circle at a time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I signed my papers today for my bankruptcy.
ROMANS (voice-over): Carrie Tornton is an unemployed mother of four with $175,000 in debt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't afford day care. So I had lost my house, my car and my job, and the I've been on the system, and it's just -- struggling circle. I can't get out of it.
ROMANS: Carrie turned to "Circles," a non-profit community group with a simple goal -- to end poverty.
DIANNA MORRISON, DIRECTOR, SUSSEX CIRCLES: We take people from all walks of life and sit them down to the table together, and they solve situations, which allow people to remain in poverty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a job interview on Thursday.
ROMANS: The group pairs those who are struggling with a volunteer mentor, or an ally, as they call it, to help make an action plan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An ally's primary role is to ask one question in any circumstance. What do you need from me? Not how can I fix it? Not, do you need money? But what do you need from me?
ROMANS: "Circles" is in 23 states and 63 communities. CEO Karin Vanzant says the faces of poverty are changing.
KARIN VANZANT, CEO, NATIONAL CIRCLES CAMPAIGN: We have a lot of families that were right on the cusp of middle income that have fallen into poverty through foreclosures, divorce, being laid off from their job.
ROMANS: Carrie is still looking for work, but she knows she's not alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're with a bunch of people in your same situation association so you can know that you're not the only one out there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I still feel like I'm in poverty.
ROMANS: This woman isn't afraid to admit her reality, but the 19-year-old single mom does want to change it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a lot of expect aces for myself, and I'm not there yet. ROMANS: She says she was kicked out of her home when pregnant and looking for somewhere to turn. With no income, she turned to a shelter and the shelter suggested "Circles."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our goal together is so that her life will be better.
ROMANS: And there's Kathy Dieterly (ph), a loan processor, until the subprime crisis hit.
KATHY DIETERLY (ph), RECEIVED HELP FROM CIRCLES: We had leased vehicles. We had credit cards. We had -- the whole nine yards. And when I lost my job, that really hurt us.
ROMANS: She came to Circles for support. She never considered herself in poverty because she says she wouldn't allow it.
DIETERLY (ph): I would have made sure that we wouldn't have gone out on the street, one way or another, come hell or high water.
ROMANS: She's gone from $15,000 in debt to just $600 in debt. She was able to re-modify her mortgage, find a job, and she is now an ally.
DIETERLY (ph): I then had this group on top of it, and I was never poor. Never.
ROMANS: As for Kashmia (ph), she has a job and she will be moving into an apartment. her number one goal?
KASHMIA COOK (ph), RECEIVED HELP FROM CIRCLES: To be a great role model for my child and be successful.
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ROMANS: It's so interesting because there's so many different circumstances that brought people to poverty or the edge of poverty, but they're all looking to someone who got out of poverty to help them, too. The goal, not have generational poverty, not to slip in and never get out.
And it's so interesting, people from all walks of life, literally, a loan officer, somebody who is doing just fine, but a divorce, and then an ex-husband's loss of income meant less child support. I mean, lots of different circumstances. Everyone trying to figure how to break that cycle.
CHO: And generally, how long are these people in the program? I guess it varies?
ROMANS: It varies. It really does vary. Again, some people are in the program because they refuse to say, I am poor, I am in poverty, and this actually helps uplift them and helps give them some -- I guess some confidence that other people have been able to pull themselves out.
CHO: That in and of itself is hugely important.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
All right, the morning's "Roman's Numeral," a number in the news today. We teased you with it, 186,282. That's, of course, the speed of light in miles per second. We told you about that neutrino, somewhere in Switzerland, that apparently went slightly went faster than that.
(LAUGHTER)
We'll update you on that story.
Is Einstein wrong?
CHO: Equals M 2 squared.
ROMANS: M C squared.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: M C squared, rather. Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Physicists around the world.
CHO: Exactly.
It's being greeted with some skepticism at you point out.
ROMANS: That's true.
CHO: Your morning headlines are next. Plus, "Eat This, Not That," it's a new report card for America's leading fast food restaurants. And some of the grades just may surprise you.
It's 47 minutes after the hour.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: And I'm not a physicist.
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CHO: 49 minutes after the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
U.S. markets poised now for a lower open this morning after a miserable day on Wall Street yesterday. Investors lost $500 billion in stocks just yesterday alone on the Wilshire 5,000, which is the broadest gauge for U.S. stocks.
History will be made this afternoon at the United Nations. In just over four hours, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will stand before the leaders of the world and ask for recognition as state, a request the U.S. has pledged to reject with a veto.
GOP candidates going at it over government spending and what to cut in last night's GOP debate in Orlando. The two frontrunners, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, lobbed attacks at each other over Social Security and health care.
1,900 teachers and 28,000 students going back to school this morning in Tacoma, Washington, after teachers voted to end their strike that shut down classes for more than a week.
And dead satellites falling. NASA says the satellite remnants won't make landfall in North America, but they're still not sure exactly where it will land later today. The FAA is advising pilots to be on the lookout for falling debris.
That's the news you need to know to start your day.
AMERICAN MORNING is back after this.
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CHO: Love it or hate it, fast food has become an American institution. "Men's Health" is out with a new report card for the country's leading fast food and chain restaurants as part of its popular "Eat This, Not That" series.
My friend, Dave Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of "Men's Health," author of "Eat This, Not That" is here to show and tell.
This is really interesting. You gave your first "A," and we'll get to that in just a moment. But first, I want to take a look at the 10 worst places list. Your criteria, fat, sodium. No surprise there. Among the worst performers, Cheesecake Factory, TGI Friday's and IHOP.
Were there any surprises as you look on that list there, Dave?
DAVE ZINCZENKO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MEN'S HEALTH & AUTHOR, "EAT THIS, NOT THAT": Not really. That reminds me of my junior high report card.
(LAUGHTER)
It's -- what you see there, as you look at them, most of them are sit down chains, OK? And one of the problems is we looked at everything. We looked at average calorie size, portion size, calories, fat, sugar. We dinged people for reliance on trans fat. And one of the problems is that one in four Americans are eating in restaurants -- a restaurant meal, and there is no one holding them accountable. And that's what "Eat This, Not That" is trying to do. In these cases, what we're looking at is, in many cases, monstrous calories --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: -- in many cases --
ZINCZENKO: -- in healthy-sounding food.
CHO: Yes, exactly. In many cases, it's enough calories for the entire day.
So let's get to it. I want to take a look at the Cheesecake Factory's grilled shrimp and bacon club. It's there at the end there. And, you know, it sounds pretty healthy, but it's a huge sandwich, right?
(LAUGHTER)
ZINCZENKO: Well, it's a huge sandwich and it's 1,900 calories. They are clubbing you over the head with a day's worth of calories, saturated fat, sodium. And that's one of the big problems. It's very hard to get the nutrition information, which is why they earn the "F" in our restaurant report card. We have to set them back a grade now.
(LAUGHTER)
And the good news is they just recently came out with this skinny-licious menu. So they do have some healthy items on there now.
CHO: Yes. Let's take a look at the plate right next to it, the ribs from Jack Daniels. 1,640 calories, that's equivalent to three large bags of Doritos. That is unbelievable.
ZINCZENKO: Yes.
CHO: I mean, Americans love ribs, too. So this isn't the one you should order.
ZINCZENKO: No, that's 66 grams of fat. That's 1,600 calories. You eat those ribs too much and you may never see your own, again.
(LAUGHTER)
The problem there, too, is you've got 177 grams of carbs. OK, now, it's not coming from the meat, so it must be the sugary glaze. But that's almost 700 to 800 calories worth of carbohydrates in a dish that really should just be the ribs.
CHO: I want to look at this IHOP salad here. This is the chicken and spinach salad.
ZINCZENKO: Right.
CHO: Again, sounds very healthy. Now, I do know this from talking to you. Salads sound very healthy but, in many cases, they're not, right?
ZINCZENKO: Right. And that's the problem. The chicken is good, the spinach is good. Everything else is a fat fest. That has more fat than anything else on their menu. So you're talking about 1,600 calories, 118 grams of fat and 2,400 milligrams of sodium, which is more than a day's worth. So IHOP gets the "F." Maybe we rename them IFlop. (LAUGHTER)
CHO: All right, I want to take a look at the 10 best restaurant lists. Again, you gave your first-ever "A" to Subway. Jamba Juice is also there, Chic-Fil-A. Let's take a look at this Subway sandwich here. You gave it an "A." Well, you give Subway an "A." It's a turkey breast and black forest ham six inch sub. I mean, when I'm on the road, I often stop at Subway. So this is really good news for me. This is something you should order?
ZINCZENKO: Yes. This is an express train to good eating. You're getting your meat. You're getting your ham and turkey, but you're doing it for around 350 calories. Subway was one of the first to introduce really healthy, nutritious options on the menu. They pledged also this year to lower their sodium counts. That's happening. So they have a very --
CHO: It all started with that guy that lost all that weight.
(LAUGHTER)
ZINCZENKO: Jared, who we actually profiled in "Men's Health." It was like weird diets at work, and this guy is like holding up his pants, and they said, hey --
CHO: Whatever works.
ZINCZENKO: -- that could be a great campaign for us.
CHO: Well, that's good. That's good.
ZINCZENKO: Yes.
CHO: Let's talk about this sandwich from Chic-Fil-A. It's grilled chicken, but it also has bacon and cheese. This really surprised me.
ZINCZENKO: Right.
CHO: You said order this, right?
ZINCZENKO: Right. Good luck finding something like this at 410 calories elsewhere, when it has bacon and cheese on it. So it's a chargrilled chicken sandwich and it's really good. It's really reasonable. It only has five grams of saturated fat.
CHO: Wow.
ZINCZENKO: So that definitely earns an "Eat This" seal of approval.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: Yes. And you've got like 12 or 2,400 books or something with 7.5 million in circulation.
ZINCZENKO: A fair amount out there.
(LAUGHTER)
And really great success stories of people who have lost 120 pounds in 11 months by eating at their favorite restaurants, their favorite foods, even their favorite desserts. So you don't have to diet.
CHO: I have to say, I was paging through this last night, "Eat This, Not That," the 2012 edition. It's one of those things, if you can fit it in your purse, you should take it to a restaurant, right, because it's a good cheat sheet.
ZINCZENKO: Yes. Well, what happens is people don't realize the food could be good or it could be disastrous. They don't know. These things sound healthy and they're not. So we try to serve as that guide, giving out the sensible suggestions and timely warning.
CHO: So you can show me over lunch later today.
Dave Zinczenko, thank you so much.
(LAUGHTER)
ZINCZENKO: Thank you, Alina.
CHO: Top stories when we return. Also ahead, actress, Bo Derek, joins us live in our studio.
It's 57 minutes after the hour.
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