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Jobless Rate Falls To 7.7 Percent; Construction Is Hiring; 236,000 Jobs Added Last Month; Winter Storm Slams NYC, New England; West Virginia Bridge Demolished; Asteroid To Fly By Earth Saturday; Clinton: Overturn Defense Of Marriage Act; Lion Escaped Cage To Kill Intern; Vatican To Announce Conclave Date

Aired March 08, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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


DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Our experts have the answers for you.

Plus Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law heads to court in New York City this hour. He's accused of conspiring to kill Americans. We'll tell you how the CIA finally caught him.

And a frightening sight near several South Florida beaches.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Highly unlikely that sharks are looking for fish. They're not looking for people. But someone could get bitten mistakenly being in the water when sharks are present.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Why are so many sharks gathering near the shore? NEWSROOM starts right now.

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Don Lemon in for Carol today. We begin with your wallet and a glimmer of good news on the economic front. This morning, we learned that U.S. employers added many more job than expected last month, 236,000 in all.

Experts had predicted about 170,000. That drops the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent. We're breaking down what this means to you. Ali Velshi and Christine Romans are both in New York. Alison Kosik also in New York, but she's on Wall Street, it is the A team except for Ali.

So Ali to you first, the numbers are OK, but it's not exactly reason to celebrate, is it?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I got to say these numbers are very good. I'll give you the cloud inside the silver lining in a minute. But both you and I were on the campaign trail, both candidates Romney and Obama promised 12 million jobs over four years.

And I don't know if you recall, I promised I would wear a dress if that happened because we don't have the economic growth to support that. But let's do the math, 4 million jobs over 12 years is 3 million jobs a year, that's 250,000 jobs a month every month for four years.

I would love if that happened, but I didn't think that was likely happened. To get 236,000 jobs in the first full month of President Obama's presidency is pretty remarkable considering our economic growth is puny. It's almost nonexistent.

So this is actually quite interesting. We were all very surprised when this number came out. The estimates were for job creation of about 165,000 jobs. Some people said 170,000. To come up with 236,000 is actually pretty impressive.

Now, Christine will burst this bubble very shortly, which tells you about the quality of the jobs and the type of jobs. And Alison will burst the bubble when she tells you about how investors are not reacting the way you might expect them to.

But the bottom line, I am the thorn between two roses here, so the bottom line, Don, is that the jobs number is positive. It is positive. There is no way to spin it as un-positive. I will tell you one thing that I always say, ignore the 7.7 percent unemployment rate.

It measures a moving target every month, I don't mean to get the ire of jack welsh, but people have dropped out. It's just not a steady measure. So what you need to think about is how many jobs get created every month, what is the quality of those job, how many hours a week are people working.

And how much are they getting paid. That's what that Christine Romans is for. But overall it is actually a good jobs report.

LEMON: Did you just call her a wonk, I mean --

VELSHI: I meant that in the most affectionate way, Don.

LEMON: Two thorns between two roses. So let's go now to the voice of reason, Christine Romans, with a closer look at what the numbers really mean -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Look at Ali Velshi trying to tell you that he's got ESP. That he knows what we are going to say. I mean, come on. It's called a nice producer trying to make sure we have synergy in the broadcast.

Let me tell you what I'm looking at in these numbers. You know, I'm looking at private sector job creation, 246,000 private sector jobs, that's the 36th month in a row of private sector job creation.

And you can see the government, the public sector losing jobs, 10,000. And economists this morning, Don, are telling us they think those are mostly related to school related jobs.

Let's look further at some of these jobs gains and where they're coming from. I'm not going to be pessimistic. I'm not going to be a dark cloud. I'm going to look at construction jobs, Ali Velshi, 48,000 of those created. And those at first we thought that this trend in construction jobs might have something to do with rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy. Now economists say, this might be real, this is also a housing recovery. Those are good jobs that pay more than the average.

Also some manufacturing jobs there, health care jobs. For several years, we've seen health care jobs gain, 32,000 there. Be careful of the leisure, hospitality, the retail job creation there, some of those don't have benefits. They don't necessarily pay as much as you'd like to see for example sending a kid to college.

Now I'm going to give you the dark cloud. This is something that people call the real unemployment rate, underemployment, 14.3 percent. These people working part-time, plus people who are unemployed, plus people who've been kind of side lined, 14.3 percent, that number still way too high. There you go.

LEMON: Take that, Velshi. You call her the wonk. I like to call her the chart lady because she always likes her chart and her measures.

ROMANS: Lady makes me sound so old, but you're from the south, so you're being polite.

LEMON: Come on, people call you the economy guy. They call me the news guy. So we want to check in the ripple on Wall Street. The Dow closed record highs the last three days. So let's check in with the market lady today, Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. How are investors responding to this, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Again, you know, it's an interesting day so far. You know, you've seen the Dow already have a trifecta of record setting days this week and we're all thinking can it go for a fourth.

I'm not so sure it will carry the fourth day. We're watching the Dow kind of bob a little higher and then kind of go lower. Not the reaction that you'd expect on this upside surprise to this positive jobs report.

You know, there's one trader, Don, that I talked to said, you know what? It's really not about this Dow record these days. What's more significant than this Dow hitting a record high almost every day is what these job numbers show.

And what he told me that this is the first time in a while that we've really seen this consistent data come out on jobs and come out of Washington at the same time, meaning the preview report that we've gotten on jobs on Wednesday and Thursday, they actually match up with today's report.

And the way this trader puts it, he sees this as a sign of real progress, unlike this disconnect that we've been talking about between why is the Dow rocketing higher while the economy is just kind of muddling through?

So this actually, this jobs report, while it may not show the enthusiasm right there on the screen with the numbers, the enthusiasm behind the scenes is there, that you are seeing this progress in the jobs market. Albeit has a long way to go, but the momentum continues. That's really what counts -- Don.

LEMON: I'm going to keep rolling with this because it's not very often that I get all of you guys here as I said the A-team. Yes, I know. I am. I'm very lucky today. So, Ali, listen, tie a bow around it for us.

You know, we have people who are saying, I'm really concerned with the highs in the stock market and I'm really concerned with the, you know, the unemployment rate falling because we don't want to get too sure of ourselves because with fast rise, then you get a fall.

If something lowers, it could go back up. So what's the real deal here? Velshi? We lost Velshi.

ROMANS: He's speechless. Let me seize on this moment, Ali Velshi is speechless. Mark down the time, 10:07 Eastern Time. It has never happened in the history of broadcast. Look, I wanted to show you something because you're talking about the stock market and concerns about the stock market fall.

There are two different things at play here. The stock market reflects the health of companies, not health of job prospects, right. So it's the money they have in cash. Someone earlier this week told me it's corporate engagement. They're not really engaging by building new factories and hiring workers.

They're keeping their money in the bank or gives it back to shareholders. So that's one reason why the stock market companies have been doing so well. But people don't feel it necessarily. And that's why a lot of Twitter traffic I'm getting this morning, Don, is all that. I'm sure Alison is too. What does it mean for me? We have 12 million people still out of work.

I brought this up for you, unemployment by race. You look at some of the worker group, young people still really suffering with double digit unemployment. You look at the disparity between race, white unemployment fell in the most recent month to 6.8 percent.

But look at that, you still have this almost two to one structural difference between African-American and whites. Hispanic unemployment has been trending down in the 10 percent range. We still have a lot of issues about the labor market, about opportunity.

But even as we're seeing a slow steady progress, maybe eventually Ali Velshi will have to wear a dress because maybe you will see some big job creation, we still need to address things like this and that's why jobs are always a big, big part of the conversation.

LEMON: Now Ali suddenly the cat doesn't have his tongue anymore when we're out of time. Listen, Christine and Alison, you can help him pick out a dress because both of you ladies have great taste.

KOSIK: You got it. LEMON: Thank you, Alison. Thank you, Christine and thank you, Ali Velshi.

People along the northeast still coping with the latest blast of a winter storm just about an hour ago, a house on Plumb Island, Massachusetts collapsed right into the ocean. Its foundation washed away by the storm. There are no reported injuries.

No one was living in the home. Wind gusts of up to 40-mile-an-hour are causing airport delays from Philadelphia to Boston. Zain Asher is in New York for us. So Zain, how is the city preparing?

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. Well, you know, there was a little uncertainty about how much snow we were actually going to get here in Manhattan, but I can tell you that people here genuinely surprised to wake up to it this much snow. Only roughly around 2 inches to 3 inches right now, but it could be as much as a 3 inches to 5 inches a little bit later on.

Let me just show what you it looks like on the ground. Take a look at my feet. I mean, here is the thing. The temperatures here are really not cold enough for the snow to actually stick to the ground, so what you're left with is a sort of slushy mix of rain and snow.

But you know, Manhattan is doing relatively well compared to other parts of New England. Let's talk about Boston, right, because that town simply can't get a break. Roughly around 10 inches to 12 inches of snow expected there. They got 8 inches overnight.

Also (inaudible), Massachusetts where I was yesterday, not doing too good. Coastal flooding was the name of the game. Also want to talk about Plum Island as you mentioned, Don, a house collapse over there.

So compared to other parts of New England, Manhattan is doing much better. I'm just going to show what you it looks like here in Manhattan. I'm going to step aside so you can see. So you know, Central Park, Winter Wonderland, very Christmas card-ish, but look at the roads.

The drivers here are really trying to deal with the slushy mess and it does make for a very messy commute. So the bottom line is if you are driving out today, just be careful, be sure to drive slowly and carefully.

Also want to say, Don, that we are expecting pretty good weather this weekend, clearer skies, sunny skies. So if you can just get through today, it should be looking much better -- Don.

LEMON: Thank you, Zain Asher in Manhattan, right in the heart of it.

Just ahead, cardinals in Rome will vote today on when to hold their conclave. We're going to have the very latest on the secretive election for a new pope.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: This is the Dick Henderson Memorial Bridge in West Virginia. There she blows. It was blown up just a few minutes ago on purpose. Authorities destroyed the decades old bridge to make way for a new one that meets modern standards. A 92-year-old World War II veteran and an elementary school student flipped the ceremonial switch to trigger that explosion.

An asteroid the size of a city block will cruise passed earth Saturday afternoon, but don't worry, it's not likely to hit us. The space rock won't get any closer than 604,000 miles. That's more than twice the distance from the earth to the moon.

Bill Clinton is taking a very public stand against the defense of marriage act, which he signed in to law in 1996. Legislation defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Now Clinton wants the Supreme Court to declare it unconstitutional.

And in an opinion piece in the "Washington Post," Clinton questions if the act goes against the principles of freedom, equality and justice. He writes as the president who signed the act into law, I have come to believe that the defense of marriage act is contrary to those principles and in fact incompatible with our constitution.

New details in that deadly lion attack in that sanctuary for big cats in California. A local coroner says that 350-pound animal opened the gate between two cages and then moved to a larger space where it killed 24-year-old Diana Hanson.

Hanson an intern at Project Survival's Cat Haven was cleaning a main enclosure when the incident happened. Her father talked to our affiliate KING in Seattle about his concerns for his daughter and her love for her work.

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PAUL HANSON, VICTIM'S FATHER: I just said please don't get in the cages with them, though. And she said, dad, it's OK, I can handle them. She was fearless and she loved it. So I wasn't going to try to stop her from her dream. I've never seen her happier. Every day, she would post a Facebook picture and photo of her with a big cat. She was in heaven down there.

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LEMON: Our Ted Rowlands has been following the story. He is in Dunlap, California. Ted, that coroner also says Hanson, quote, "Did not suffer in the attack." What other information are they providing about her death?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, the coroner says that she didn't suffer because the attack was so quick and so intense and she died of a broken neck. She did suffer some other injuries to her body, but according to the coroner, all those injuries were suffered post-mortem.

And when sheriff deputies arrived, they didn't know it at that time, but she was already dead. They killed the lion because they thought that there was a chance that they could revive her and the lion was right next door, they could not coax the lion away from the victim, so that's why deputies shot and killed the lion.

Because they thought there was a chance that they could save this young woman. They got in there and her injuries were just so severe, that she did die. Now, the fact that she died so quickly and without any pain, of course, has provided some comfort to her family.

And one of the most astounding things about the story has been her family. The way that they have reacted specifically her father saying that her love for this job, which she only had for a few months, she worked at another sanctuary in Washington State before this.

But her love for this big cats and this job says it provided him comfort. He was worried that something like this might happen, but said that her and her mother -- he and his mother said she was the happiest she'd ever been in her life and he takes some comfort in that, as well.

LEMON: Ted Rowlands, thank you very much for your reporting.

Employers are adding jobs. Are investors taking note? We'll show you how Wall Street is reacting to today's glimmer of good news.

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LEMON: Let's go to Italy now where the selection of a new pope will soon begin in just a few hours. The Vatican will announce a date for the conclave beginning the secretive process of electing a new pope.

Senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is live in Rome. So, Ben, when is the announcement?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, it should be within three hours. We're expecting to hear from Federico Lombardi who is the spokesman for the Vatican, who said that shortly after 7:00 p.m. local time, that's 1:00 p.m. your time, they will send out an announcement in this modern age via e-mail we're told -- Don.

LEMON: How long -- why did it take so long is the question?

WEDEMAN: Well, we understand from various sources Vatican watchers and others that there was a lot to discuss, that the feeling was that Pope Benedict Emeritus was a very good intellectual, but when it came to managing the Vatican, there were a lot of things that were left unattended.

So they've been discussing Vatican finances, governance of the Vatican, and there were apparently a lot of matters that they needed to really clarify before they got around to actually setting a date for the conclave.

Now, as far as the date for the conclave, Don, we're expecting sometime next week. What's interesting is that Italians consider Tuesday and Friday to be bad luck days, so it probably won't be either of those -- Don.

LEMON: Ben Wedeman in Rome. Ben, thank you very much.

Just ahead here on CNN, dozens of airport control towers across the country facing a daunting possibility they could be one of nearly 200 towers closing because of forced spending cuts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Top stories. Get your top stories right now on CNN. A strong jobs report is fueling Wall Street this morning, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent. Government says 236,000 Americans got jobs last month. Construction and health care were two of the bright spots in the report. The Dow is up on the news. How much more can we take?

Look at this dramatic video from Plum Island, Massachusetts. Massive storm surges have collapsed a home into the ocean. The house came down on to the rocks at about 9:00 this morning. Its foundation had been washed away by the storm. There are no reported injuries. The home was unoccupied, but it shows just how fierce the storm is.

The Central Intelligence Agency preparing for its new director, John Brennan, who was just sworn in a few minutes ago, that was made possible after the Senate confirmed him in a 63-34 vote.

A discriminatory law that should be overturned, that's what Bill Clinton sums up the Defense of Marriage Act, which he signed it into law nearly 17 years ago. Clinton has signed that at the time he was trying to block efforts to send a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage to the states.

The Supreme Court will review DOMA in just a few weeks. In a "Washington Post" op-ed, the former president writes in part, "The justices must decide whether it is consistent with the principles of a nation that honors freedom, equality and justice above all. As the president who signed the act into law, I have come to believe that DOMA is contrary to those principles and in fact incompatible with our constitution."

Joe Johns joins us now from Washington. Joe, big news and it's interesting the man who signed it into law is now saying it should be done away with.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, but that was always the conflict. Even back in the day, President Clinton seemingly held conflicting views. He opposed discrimination, but didn't believe in gay marriage. This is really sort of a case study of how politics, policy and the law don't always work so well together.

We have a full screen of his evolution and how he describes where he is now. When I signed the bill, I included a statement with the admonition that enactment should not despite the fierce rhetoric be understood to provide an excuse for discrimination.

I now know that even worse than providing excuse for discrimination, the law itself is discriminatory, it should be overturned. Now, Don, Clinton was really the first president to reach out to gay and lesbian voters and privately his administration people around him admitted they saw DOMA as discriminatory.

There just wasn't plain evidence that it would cause the harm it caused. At the time, they saw the danger as political, especially after the miscalculation you remember of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the military policy that sort of paralyzed the administration in the early days. So this really turned out to be a question of politics -- Don.

LEMON: The justices must decide whether it is consistent with the principles of a nation that honors freedom, equality and justice above all. The former president making that statement, do you think this will have any impact on the court? That's a big statement.

JOHNS: Well, you know, the court's in a very interesting place quite frankly. And it's not that far if you think about it from where Bill Clinton was. Nine states right now allow gay marriage and 41 other states have laws that sort of oppose it.

So, again, the Supreme Court is now in the position of Bill Clinton because they have to get out ahead of where the country appears to be going. If you look at polls, most people support the idea, but the states aren't quite there yet, so it's a very similar situation.