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President Obama Urges 'New Beginning' in Cairo Speech; Interview With Congressman Mike Pence; Tiananmen Crackdown Remembered; Double Digit Jobless Towns; Egypt's Economy
Aired June 04, 2009 - 12:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke in Pakistan to address the ongoing violence in the country's Swat Valley. A month-long offensive against the Taliban there has displaced more than two million people.
At a news conference in Islamabad, Holbrooke took aim at Osama bin Laden's assertion that the U.S. policy there should be blamed for the violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN: The idea that anyone is responsible for the refugee crisis other than al Qaeda and the Taliban and the other people who have caused such tragedy in western Pakistan is ludicrous. This entire problem begins with al Qaeda and its associates, and everybody in the world knows that, and it's silly to even respond to such a ludicrous charge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: If you'd like to learn more about the situation in Pakistan right now, or if you'd like to impact your world by helping refugees there, just log on to CNN.com/impact.
President Obama says the cycle of mistrust between the U.S. and the Muslim world must end. In a wide-ranging and much-anticipated speech in Cairo, Egypt, today, the president called for a new beginning between the U.S. and Muslims. He talked about confronting violent extremism, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and nuclear weapons. He also touched on democracy, religious freedom, women's rights and economic development.
He ended with quotes from the Koran, the Talmud and the bible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart or whether we commit ourselves to an effort, a sustained effort to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children and to respect the dignity of all human beings.
It's easier to start wars than to end them. It's easier to blame others than to look inward. It's easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There is one rule that lies at the heart of every religion, that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
(APPLAUSE)
This truth transcends nations and peoples, a belief that isn't new, that isn't black or white or brown, that isn't Christian or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization and that still beats in the hearts of billions around the world. It's a faith in other people. And it's what brought me here today.
We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written. The Holy Koran tells us, "Mankind, we have created you male and a female. And we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."
The Talmud tells us, "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."
The Holy Bible tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."
(APPLAUSE)
The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now that must be our work here on Earth.
Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The president's speech was billed as an effort to mend fences and open a new dialogue with Muslims.
We want to find out how his message is being received.
Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman begins our in- depth coverage live from Cairo.
And Ben, talk to us about the local reaction to the speech in Cairo.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, really reaction ranged from the wildly enthusiastic -- in fact, even before the speech was done, someone in the audience jumped up and said, "I love you" to Obama. Afterwards, just a moment afterwards, I got a call from somebody I know, an Egyptian who's normally very critical of American policy in the region. He started to shout, "Yes, we can! Yes, we can!"
On the other hand, I spoke to one human rights activist very familiar with U.S. policy in the region. He called the speech minimalist. He said it touched on all the important points but never really got into depth.
Many human rights activists here in Egypt feel that President Obama didn't come down strong enough on the regime of Hosni Mubarak. This is a country which in 2008 jailed more than 100 bloggers for expressing opinions the government didn't like.
So people were hoping, some people were hoping, he would come down much stronger on the question of freedom of expression. And they say his speech was somewhat lacking there.
So, like I said, Tony, a range of opinion. And it will be a few days before we get a really solid idea how people really think -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. I heard you talking earlier about the number of Muslims in the world, 1.5 billion. Hard to imagine that a speech could be tailored to speak to each and every one of them. I'm wondering to what extent the question is now, all right, we've heard the speech, now what?
WEDEMAN: And certainly that's the problem, Tony. He talked about, as you said, women's rights, religious freedom, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, Afghanistan, Iraq.
There's so many issues there. Each one of them could keep the president busy for the rest of his term.
Obviously, for instance, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, that's an area that's fraught with danger. He has clearly come out somewhat different than his predecessor, President George W. Bush. He does seem to be pushing the Israelis, for instance, to stop settlement activity in the West Bank. But already the Israelis are pushing back.
So, really, the thing is, great speech, very well received by many people in the Muslim world. But how are you going to carry it out? That's another question -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes.
Our Ben Wedeman for us live from Cairo.
Ben, appreciate it. Thank you.
Let's find out how the president's speech is playing politically here in the United States. Last hour we heard from one of only two Muslim-American members of Congress. Democrat Andre Carson of Indiana gave the speech high marks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANDRE CARSON (D), INDIANA: The president acknowledged that Islam is a monotheistic faith, but he also acknowledged that Muslims are not a monolithic group. And it's critically important to get away from our tendency as human beings to generalize and put people into boxes. He recognized that there are divisions within the Islamic faith and between Muslims, and he also addressed the misconceptions about Islam and how America, since America's inception, holds a great deal of debt to the Islamic religion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And with us this hour from Capitol Hill, Republican Representative Mike Pence of Indiana.
Congressman, good to see you. Thanks for the time.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Thank you. You bet.
HARRIS: Give me your thoughts, your impressions on this speech. It ran close to an hour, 55 minutes or so.
PENCE: Right. Well, I certainly always welcome the presence of the president of the United States of America on the world stage. I think many of the themes the president touched on were laudable, but there were very troubling aspects of the speech as well.
I think many millions of Americans cherish our strong support for the state of Israel, and there was a sense in here of a moral equivalency between those who are driving for a Palestinian state and the state of Israel. I think, first and foremost, the people of the United States stand with Israel.
HARRIS: Yes.
PENCE: I think we support a Middle East peace process so long as we begin to see Palestinians follow that historic roadmap, disarm terrorists within their midst. And, you know, those are things we haven't seen yet. So a moral equivalency between those two causes from the president of the United States of America I thought was disappointing and was a disservice to our ally, Israel.
HARRIS: Ed Rollins, a man you know well, was on "AMERICAN MORNING," and he touched on those same aspects of the president's speech. I want you to hear his comments and then I'll follow with a question for you.
PENCE: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think the key thing here that he has to worry about is that he clearly drew the line and set some standards that the Israelis may not go along with. He accepts that the past agreements, which they don't do at this point in time, that's going to be a big debate. He said they could have no settlements. That's a big debate.
But I think to a young audience, it was hopeful. There was also a commitment of a lot of money here, rebuilding Pakistan and what have you, with a country here that's worried about jobs and worried about things here that I think domestically he'll have some problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: OK. Congressman Pence, do you believe that in asking for a real freeze to settlement activity in the West Bank, with no exceptions the president is asking too much of Israel?
PENCE: Well, I think so. I really do believe that, again -- and when we welcomed the prime minister to Capitol Hill, we heard many of the Democratic leadership here on Capitol Hill focusing on settlements as well.
You know, it seems to me we ought to be asking not our cherished ally Israel to make yet another concession, another step. Remember, they pulled out of Gaza and then Hamas has taken all of that over completely, necessitating military action a number of months ago.
We need -- and I think the president of the United States of America, standing strongly with our ally, Israel, would have done well to, at least in the first instance, call on the Palestinians and their supporters across the Arab world to begin to see real concessions within the Palestinian movement, a real effort to defang Hamas, to disarm terrorists. Focusing so strongly in the first instance on ending settlements, as Democrats did on Capitol Hill, as the president did in Cairo today, I think it's putting the cart before the horse.
Israel is our ally. America cherishes our relationship with Israel. We stand with her for her security. And we ought to have the president of the United States of America I think delivering a message that says, look, it it's time for the Palestinian leadership to begin to act on that roadmap in a way that can foster the interests of peace in the region.
HARRIS: Congressman Pence, appreciate it. Thanks for your time today.
PENCE: You bet.
HARRIS: To Washington now. Our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty is at the State Department.
And Jill, several Muslims at the Council on American-Islamic Relations watched this speech, we understand. What was the reaction?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You know, we can hear that sound in a second, Tony. I think, you know, overall, they were impressed.
They were impressed with the fact that he spoke to them in their language, used Arabic words, quoted the Koran. But I think also, as you hear from these comments, they wanted more substance and more specifics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAEZ AHMED, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: He used of the Holy Koran that, in the Muslim world, if you use this part -- if you use this part from the Holy Koran, that means you read the Koran, you understand the Koran, and you understand what I believe in. So he was talking with my faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: So, Tony, you can hear it from that. But I think as we listen to this debate, I am hearing from, let's say, many Americans who are looking at this in a very objective fashion. You know, carrot stick, this, that, specifics.
This was a very, very broad speech, and it had a lot of subtlety in it. So I think we have to take off the baseball cap and put another cap on to see how the Arab world and the Muslim world will look at this. And perhaps what they're looking at is different.
And Tony, I'll tell you, ,when I was listening to this, I was waiting for applause lines, and in some places I heard them, unexpectedly, where I didn't think people would really applaud in that room. And in other places where I expected they would applaud, they didn't.
So there is a different viewpoint. And I think Ben a few minutes ago was right. We have to see how the people in the Muslim world on the street really are going to react to this.
HARRIS: Our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty at the State Department for us.
Jill, appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, if you missed President Obama's speech to the Muslim and would like too watch it in its entirety, just go to our Web site, CNN.com, where we will be replaying it this afternoon at 1:00 and again at 4:00 Eastern Time.
It has been two decades since the world watched the bloody attacks in Tiananmen Square against pro-democracy activists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These plainclothes officials are using these umbrellas here to block our view whenever we try and do any videotaping anywhere near the square.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A trip back in the NEWSROOM.
Plus, the star of a television cult classic is dead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Who can forget this image, 20 years ago today, Chinese tanks facing down a young man in Tiananmen Square? Today, tens of thousands are converging in Hong Kong to mark that bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, but things are a lot different in the square in Beijing.
CNN Senior International Correspondent John Vause joins us live from Beijing.
And John, boy, 20 years ago now, but the images certainly still feel fresh. I should say particularly to those of us of a certain age.
VAUSE: Yes, well, they might be fresh to you, Tony, but to anybody here on the mainland, they haven't seen those images for a very long time. In fact, many people here would never have seen them at all.
Officially, today, the government is saying this was a day like any other. It was "stable." But the reality is extraordinary measures have been put in place to clamp down on anything to do with this 20th anniversary.
Government censors have worked overtime blocking out channels, news channels like CNN, whenever there's any mention of the Tiananmen anniversary. And they've also been blocking social networking sites on the Internet like Twitter. Tiananmen Square itself has been teeming with extra police and soldiers, and there is also a small army there of officers in plain clothes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: These plainclothes officials are using these umbrellas here to block our view whenever we try to do any videotaping anywhere near the square. They also are carrying these walkie-talkies right there. That gentleman has a walkie-talkie. So does this other gentleman here.
Authorities are also rounding up dissidents, many they say, according to some reports, in fact, have been sent out of town. Others have been detained.
University students, too, have also been warned to watch what they say. And there is also heavy security around many of the schools and some of the bigger campuses here in Beijing.
And right now, as you can see, these officials continually blocking our view to try and stop us from filing any kind of report from Tiananmen Square.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Now, the Chinese state-controlled media has for the most part ignored any mention of this 20th anniversary. The concern that the authorities have is that if foreign or international news crews gathering in the square, that will then attract demonstrators. And then the bigger concern is that that will then snowball into something they can't control -- Tony.
HARRIS: John, that's absolutely ridiculous. I just -- do the officials have any clue just how ridiculous they look? I mean, the story gets out.
Look at this. What was the local coverage like? VAUSE: Well, yes, just on the issue of the umbrellas, it does look stupid. And it kind of looks buffoonish. But it did work. They stopped us from going there and they stopped other crews from going there.
And their main objective, they don't really care what the rest of the world thinks. They only care what the locals here see, and they're worried about those images going out.
There was one breakthrough in the local media when you want to talk about the coverage here. There's usually a blanket ban on anything to do with the June 4 incident, as they refer to it here, but a new newspaper, which is still government controlled -- it's only been published for the last couple of months -- it's in English. And they had a page one story, and it carries on to page two.
And the headlines says, "Twenty Years Later, China is Now Call a World Power." So that's the attitude in the local press.
HARRIS: All right. I better stop registering my outrage at those photos. I don't want you to get kicked out of there.
John Vause for us in Beijing.
John, appreciate it. Thank you.
VAUSE: Thank you.
HARRIS: Hurricane or not, New Orleans is known for its great food. Before Katrina, there were about 800 restaurants in the Crescent City. Now it's about 1,000. So survival means coming up with a tasty plan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Fighting the recession. Our special series "Money & Main Street" spotlights a New Orleans restaurant owner who is battling the competition after surviving a natural disaster.
CNN's Sean Callebs reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there's one thing New Orleans can do, it's amazing cuisine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I need to order more crabmeat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we need to order more crabmeat.
CALLEBS: Stephen Schwarz is the owner of Mat & Naddie's in New Orleans uptown. Tourists and locals have a wealth of restaurants to choose from, and the economic downturn is making competition that much more fierce.
STEPHEN SCHWARZ, MAT & NADDIE'S RESTAURANT OWNER: It's a matter of how much stamina we can have and how long we can last before things turn around.
CALLEBS: Consider this: Before Katrina, there were about 800 restaurants in New Orleans. Now it's close to 1,000.
SCHWARZ: I think eventually there are going to be places that are going to go out of business. They're going to have to.
CALLEBS: Schwarz has no plans on becoming a statistic. Now in his early 50s, Schwarz came to New Orleans on a visit about 30 years ago and never left.
To keep the restaurant going, his catering business is branching out and now counts for about 40 percent of Schwarz' income.
KRYSTAN HOSKING, MICHAEL'S CATERING: Hi. Would you like some pulled pork?
CALLEBS: He employs about 28 people part and full time. Without catering, Schwarz would have gone under. And without glowing reviews, his business would wither on the vine.
HOSKING: Word of mouth is very important, because if you get one bad review, there's tons of restaurants that will -- you know, people are just waiting to try.
CALLEBS: Meeting payroll and paying suppliers is a monthly challenge. Schwarz benefited from a $10,000 grant and a $40,000 low- interest loan he received from the state.
It's part of Louisiana's effort to help small businesses recover from Katrina's devastating effects. But in this case, it's money getting him through the lean months of this recession.
SCHWARZ: How much capital do you have or how much can you generate to maintain a slow loss over a long period of time and still be able to meet your obligations?
CALLEBS: New Orleans will always have great atmosphere and great food. He says it may take creative financing, but Schwarz plans on being part of the city's culinary landscape for years to come.
Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And you can watch more of this special series tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time, "Money & Main Street: How to Cope Through This Difficult Economy," right here on CNN, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
President Obama travels to Egypt to deliver a message to Muslims worldwide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The president speaks. Now the world reacts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Israelis and Palestinians were hanging on every word President Obama had to say during his speech in Cairo today. International correspondent Paula Hancocks is joining us live now from Jerusalem with reaction.
Good to see you, Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.
Well, let's start with that Israeli reaction. We were in a Jerusalem cafe and for the most part, many seemed very positive about what Mr. Obama was saying. They said that he hit an emotional note when he talked about the Buchenwald concentration camp he was going to go and visit and also Holocaust deniers.
Now we heard from the prime minister's office saying that they hope this lead to a "period of reconciliation between the Arab and Muslim world and Israel."
But the Israeli settlers were not happy with the speech. Yesha council, which represents those settlers, said of the speech, "it represent more Hussein than Barack." But not surprising that they were not going to be happy with Mr. Obama's call, once again, to the stop the settlement expansion.
As for the Palestinian side, it was a cautious optimism, but they wanted more detail. They wanted to know how the U.S. was going to stop Israel from expanding these settlements. And they also were upset that he hadn't mentioned the war on Gaza. This was the Israeli military operation at the beginning of this year in which about 1,300 Palestinians were killed. But he did mention Palestinian militants' rockets hurting Israeli citizens. So that was the main part that they would have hoped to have hear more about.
But really to sum up the initial reaction from this part of the world, a good start, but we need more details.
Tony.
HARRIS: Wow. Paula, once again, talk about biting commentary. Who was it that offered the assessment that the speech was more Hussein than Barack? Where did that come from?
HANCOCKS: This was the Yesha council. The council which actually represents all the settlers. And they also said Hussein Obama has fallen foul of Arab lies. So very strong words from them.
HARRIS: OK. Paula Hancocks for us in Jerusalem. Reaction to President Obama's speech now from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Let's check in with CNN's Atia Abawi in Kabul. But first, here's Reza Sayah in Islamabad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Reza Sayah in Islamabad, Pakistan, where President Obama's speech was a hit with some, not a hit with others. One analyst telling CNN he was impressed with Obama's speech, especially what he called Obama's frank admissions of injustice against the Muslim world. Another analyst, not so impressed, describing this speech as rhetoric he's seen before.
But in the speech, you got a glimpse of the delicate balancing act this president has to pull off. He stood tough against extremism, saying America will not back down. But you also saw him attempting to win over the hearts and minds of Pakistanis who have lost trust in Washington, reminding the audience of the $7.5 billions in non- military aid proposed to go to Pakistani. Money designed to build businesses, build schools and create jobs.
Did Mr. Obama's speech repair the image of America here in Pakistan, many agree it's much to early to tell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Atia Abawi in Kabul, Afghanistan, where the Afghan people won't know about President Obama's speech to the Muslim world until they see it tonight on their evening newscast. And that's for those who own TVs.
For the past seven years, the Afghans have been hearing the promise for a new Afghanistan, as they've witnessed their lives and their country progressively deteriorating. And although they appreciate President Obama's efforts and his outreach to the Muslim world, they say they want the rhetoric to stop and they want to see tangible action being made to actually make a difference in their daily lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: President Obama's historic speech to the Muslim world offering friendship to moderates, but saying the U.S. will confront extremists. CNN's senior editor of Arab affairs Octavia Nasr.
You know I've been trying to get to this segment of the show all day.
Good to see you, lady.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you too, Tony.
HARRIS: Thanks, Octavia.
First of all, take us outside of the United States and tell us how this speech is being viewed and reviewed in the Muslim world.
NASR: You know, what I did, which was interesting, I invited people to join me on Twitter.
HARRIS: You did do that, didn't you?
NASR: I did. And that was very successful. And we had people from Iran, for example. Iran did not show the speech, just like what happened in Afghanistan, but people did not wait for television to show them the speech. They went online. And as you know, the State Department made the speech available online. They also SMS (ph), they sent text messages to people on their cell phones. And people inside Iran were able to hear the message and to Twitter about it. And the results are very positive that I got.
HARRIS: OK. So the idea for the president was to essentially hit the reset button in these relations, American/Muslim relations. Did that happen in your view? And specifically, is there a moment that resonated with the folks who were Tweeting, Twittering with you?
NASR: Really when -- even when he opened his speech -- first of all he started by thanking the audience for -- the class by saying, "Shukran", thank you in Arabic. Then he said, "assalaamu alaykum", peace be with you in the Islamic way. And people enjoyed that. People liked that. He quoted from the Koran. People applauded.
And then the reaction afterwards, they said, this is someone who understands Islam. This is someone who's not Muslim, by they way. They had to remind each other, remember, he's not Muslim, but he knows Islam, understands Islam and appreciates Islam and respects Islam.
So even those who criticized the president, you know what they were saying, they were saying, oh, this is lip service. We'll see the actions. They didn't have anything more to say about the speech. Anything negative.
HARRIS: What is the moment that presents itself here with this president on the world stage speaking directly to the Muslim world? What -- help us grasp what this moment is.
NASR: It has to be the Palestinian/Israeli issue. And when he spoke about it, you could tell that in the audience people were paying attention. Around the world, people were paying attention. Because you have to understand, at the heart of the conflict, or any conflict between Islam and the west lies the Israeli/Palestinian issue.
People who questioned why the president chose Cairo as the venue for the speech, the answer was clear. Cairo, Egypt, plays a major role in that conflict. Egypt has -- is home to the Azhar mosque and Azhar University, which is the authority on Islam. So he wasn't really just addressing Muslims. He was addressing Muslims and Arabs and he was definitely going to the heart of the matter, which is the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. And as you heard throughout our reporting, he did touch on that. People paid attention.
But one thing he did, and he did that very successfully, he alienated the radicals. And that -- you can see that those who are basically criticizing him, those who are skeptics, they're the ones who are saying, well, we were alienated for to long by the previous administration. They're not willing to trust immediately and to quickly.
HARRIS: Octavia Nasr, terrific analysis. Appreciate it, as always. Good to see you. Thank you.
NASR: Thank you.
HARRIS: That was good. I knew it would be.
We are also hearing from you about the president' speech. Josh Levs has that for us.
Good to see you, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Octavia was reaching out to people all over the world, right. We were reaching out to our viewers right here at home. It's all good. Hearing from everybody.
Tony, this is your blog right here, cnn.com/newsroom. Just click on Tony.
HARRIS: Oh, OK. OK. How's the traffic? Is it good?
LEVS: The traffic's great. I think we've already posted more than 100 up here. And they just keep coming in and we're trying to get them back up as fast as we can. Trying to keep up with our viewers today. It's great to hear so many.
Let's zoom in. I want to see what we've got here. This is -- the question to you, we're inviting your views. And here's some interesting examples.
Sana (ph) writes, "he rocks. I'm a young girl that lives in America, is Muslim, is from Palestine. When Obama mentioned us in his inauguration speech, we were surprised. But to see him made a speech in Egypt directly for us is amazing."
Now, look at this. You were talking about Hussein. Taj Hussein (ph). "As someone who shares his Islamic last name with the president's middle name, meaning the little beautiful one, I think his speech was simply Hussein and beautiful."
Now, Tony, those two largely indicative because we've really had a lot of positive responses. But there's some negatives, too. Check out what we got from Rusty. That's one example here. "He's very naive, and very foolish. If he thinks that he can just go to the Islamic world, extend his hand and say, let's be friends. These Islamic terrorists have decided that America is not like them."
We're also reaching out on all the major social networking sites today. (INAUDIBLE) the White House. We've got Facebook going here. Chris writes, "come home and fix our own banking industry." And over here on Twitter, we're going to end with this. Curious writes, "his speech was brilliant and thoughtful. He shows understanding of the Muslim world."
All right. Let's go to these graphics, show everybody where you can weigh in. And, Tony, first of all at cnn.com/newsroom. You've got -- oh, and there's my face, cnn.com/newsroom, Facebook.com/joshlevscnn, twitter.com/joshlevscnn. And what I really like about all of these sites, the blog and the social networking sites, Tony, the conversation keeps going even after we sign off at 1:00. So join in. Take part in the discussion. Tell us what you think.
HARRIS: I'm going to have to rethink my view on this whole social networking.
LEVS: We're getting you in there little by little. Chipping away.
HARRIS: Yes, little. Josh, thanks.
LEVS: Like "Shawshank Redemption."
HARRIS: If you missed President Obama's speech to the Muslim world and would like to watch it in its entirety, just go to our website at cnn.com. We will replay it today at 1:00 and then again at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
They are calling it a bit of a nugget of hope on Wall Street today. New jobless numbers in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know I'd like to take this moment to remind you again as often as I can about cnnmoney.com and the terrific work being done there by our money team. As you can see, the lead piece at cnnmoney.com today is "can a bankrupt company stay number one." That has to be talking about a bit of the continuing discussion on GM's bankruptcy filing. So if you want the latest financial news and analysis, as always, we direct you to cnnmoney.com.
Let's swing you quickly now to the New York Stock Exchange. And the Dow is in positive territory now, modestly, up 34 points. The Nasdaq is up 12. We will continue to follow these numbers for you throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A government report out today says more than a dozen cities have unemployment rates, boy, above 15 percent. Personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with details.
And if you would -- good to see you, Gerri -- walk us through some of these details.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Tony, 13 cities had unemployment rates that were above 15 percent in April. Ninety-three cities had unemployment rates above 10 percent. Let's take a look at the details here. El Centro, California, has an unemployment rate of 26.9 percent. Ouch. In fact, nine of the 13 cities with the highest unemployment are located in California. Remember California, Tony, led us in -- the country in foreclosures.
Now, Yuma, Arizona, has the second highest rate of unemployment at 20.3 percent. For areas with 1 million or more residents, Detroit, though, the worst hit, posting a rate of 13.6 percent.
And finally, Portland, Oregon, here showed the largest increase in the jobless rate, jumping to 11.6 percent, almost 12 percent, from 4.7 percent in April 2008.
The least affected of the big cities? New Orleans, the big easy, at 5.3 percent. And Iowa City, Iowa, had the lowest unemployment rate overall. So you can see a lot of pain in a lot of cities across the country.
HARRIS: Yes.
Gerri, new jobless claims in this morning. The numbers still pretty high. But they fell for the first time in several months. Do I have that correct here?
WILLIS: Well, you know, there are glimmers of hope in this report. You are absolutely right. It's the number of people continuing to collect jobless claims. All right. While it's still a high number of 673,000, it fell 15,000. That is the first decline in 20 weeks.
And the number of people filing new claims also dropped. That's just a glimmer of good news for job seekers. But these declines are small, you should keep in mind. The figures, of course, are still way above levels that would exist in a healthy economy.
Tony.
HARRIS: Gerri, give us a bit of a preview of the big show coming up this weekend, "Your Bottom Line," please.
WILLIS: I sure will. Happy to.
9:30 a.m. Saturday, join us for "Your Bottom Line." We're going to give you a complete guide on surviving the job market, whether you're unemployed, employed or maybe you're just worried that you might lose your job. Tune in this Saturday morning. Tony will be listening in, so you can join him.
HARRIS: You better believe it.
All right, Gerri, great to see you. I'll be there. Thank you.
WILLIS: Thank you.
HARRIS: Let's get an "Energy Fix." "The Breakdown" actually with Poppy Harlow. President Obama is on his way to Europe after his big speech in Egypt. Like the rest of the world, the Egyptian economy is facing many challenges. Growth is slowing and there are big gaps between the rich and poor. Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has "The Breakdown" from New York.
Good to see you, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey there, Tony, good to see you, too.
I learned a lot my producer and I putting this together. And when you look at Egypt's economy, there is just, as you said, huge gaps between the wealth -- between the poor and the rich. The wealth disparity really abounding there.
What the World Bank tells us is nearly 44 percent of Egyptians live on less than $2 a day. That's what the World Bank says. It is actually the second largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, right behind Israel. But the big challenge in Egypt for its economy is unemployment.
What they have right now, Tony, is about 900,000 youth entering the job market every year and not nearly enough jobs. So the concern there, Tony, is this joblessness that is increasing breeds as discontent and this instability among the youth and that's a big, big danger there.
HARRIS: Hey, Poppy, how much of a hit has the Egyptian economy taken from this global economic downturn?
HARLOW: A huge hit. We spoke with an expert who said, listen, the situation is bad and it's just getting worse. The economic growth there is slowing, some say this year to around 4 percent. That's better than our contraction in GDP, but it's down from growth of more than 7 percent just last year, Tony.
There's a number of factors that are hurting the Egyptian economy. I want to go through them with you. First of all, the remittances. That's from workers abroad in the gulf region sending money home to their families. That has fallen significantly.
Also, foreign direct investment in Egypt is down 50 percent. It's been cut in half. The Suez Canal, that's a big source of revenue for Egypt. The tolls there are down 26 percent because of piracy and just less global trade.
And, of course, tourism has been hit. That's off 22 percent right now because of political instability and also the economic crisis. People just aren't traveling as much on vacation or on business.
And when you look at exports in Egypt, we've got cotton, of course, and textiles. Also potatoes, natural gas. A big natural gas find there recently. And petroleum products. Those have all fallen. The only real silver lining, Tony, for this economy that was very interesting to find out was the effects of the credit crisis there aren't as bad as they are say here and in Europe because their central bank didn't make credit as ease to access and money as cheap to borrow. That's one up side.
HARRIS: Poppy, that's a lot of good information. We're liking this breakdown segment.
HARLOW: Good. Good.
HARRIS: Yes, let's keep it going. Good stuff. Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: Sure.
HARRIS: We bid farewell to the star of a cult classic, next.
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HARRIS: Move over, Oprah. You're no longer the world's most powerful celebrity. Actress Angelina Jolie has knocked the queen of daytime TV off the top spot on Forbes' annual celebrity 100 power list. Oprah outranks everybody else in earnings at $275 millions last year. I'm sorry, it's just that staggering amount of money that threw me. But Forbes' formula is based not only on money but fame, too. We're talking about web hits, Google searches, magazine covers. You know what I'm talking about here. And that's what gave Jolie the edge this year.
The star of "Kill Bill" and the legendary 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" has been found dead. Actor David Carradine's personal manager tells CNN the death is being investigated. Carradine's body was found in his hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. He was 72. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A lot of stormy weather to tell you about. Some of it deadly. High winds and heavy rains that took their toll on Cincinnati and surrounding areas. Power was knocked out to a number of homes and several streets flooded.
Stormy weather proved fatal in Greensboro, North Carolina. The state highway patrol says a woman died after being knocked off her moped when she tried to ride it through fast moving flood waters.
And in Fredericksburg, Virginia, two 12-year-old boys were hit by lightning at a little league baseball game. One child died. Umpires had cleared the field. The two 12 year olds were playing catch nearby when the lightning hit.
Let's get you to Chad Myers now with where we are with all of this stormy weather -- Chad.
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HARRIS: We are pushing forward now with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips. KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Tony.
