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Dozens Killed in Airstrike; President's Speech to Students; Pushback against Lesson Plan; Jobless Numbers Jump; Arson Blamed for Wildfire; Staying Longer in Afghanistan; Michael Jackson Remembered

Aired September 04, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Dozens killed in a NATO air strike in Afghanistan. It targeted the Taliban, but are civilians among the dead?

And tear gas fired on protesters in China. New ethnic unrest includes rumors of syringe stabbing attacks.

And a high school quarterback makes a tackle to save lives. He stopped a girl waving a gun on a school bus.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Heidi Collins. It is Friday, September 4th, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Straight ahead, the president at Camp David, but certainly not taking a break from any of the issues that are facing the country. Our Ed Henry is at the White House. He'll be talking about what has become a controversial speech the president will be making to school kids.

And a Democratic congressman says he wishes the president would be more of a leader when it comes to health care reform.

And this just into CNN, new jobless numbers. Our Christine Romans will be breaking it down for us.

All right. We start with that deadly air strike in northern Afghanistan. NATO troops fired on a pair of fuel tankers hijacked by Taliban fighters, killing at least 81 people.

NATO is investigating reports that civilians are among the dead. The tanker trucks were carrying fuel to re-supply coalition forces. A spokeswoman says the air strike wasn't ordered until NATO officials determined there were only insurgents in the area at the time.

President Obama is sending out a message to the nation's students on Tuesday as many schools reopen after summer vacation, but some school districts are opting out after conservative criticism.

Here's what we know on this story. The president's address to be released online Monday calls on students to work hard and stay in school. But Republican critics accuse the president of pushing a political agenda.

At issue, are lesson plans created to accompany the speech? An initial lesson plan recommended students write letters to themselves about how they could help the president.

The chairman of the Republican Party of Florida pushed back against the idea on CNN's "CAMPBELL BROWN" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM GREER, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA: Up until recently, last night, the White House had lesson plans distributed throughout the country for teachers to talk about how students can help President Obama, the new ideas of President Obama.

There was clearly going to be designed some effort to engage these students across this country into the public policy debate. After the parents across this country and the uproar that occurred, the Department of Education withdrew all of that language last night.

The White House reissued its lesson plans and now they have said they will let parents see the text of the speech. So I think my concerns and the concerns of parents across this country certainly were substantiated by the scramble that the White House went through last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The White House has released a revised lesson plan suggesting students write about how to achieve their short and long- term goals.

Mr. Obama's speech to students is nothing new for a president. Our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, with some background now.

So, Ed, how does the White House respond to this indoctrination?

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, you're right. I mean, it's really that lesson plan you just mentioned that was suggesting, you know, help out the president in some way that has become the flashpoint in this debate.

And White House aides are now saying, look, that was inartfully worded, we've corrected that. Let's move on from that, and they want to focus, instead, on what the president is going to say.

And when you look back in history, in 1991, the first President Bush actually delivered a pretty similar address, telling kids, stay in school, don't use drugs. And I remember that well because it was delivered here in Washington at Alice Deal Junior High school, which I'm sure you know, being familiar with the Washington area.

And it was beamed out across the country. Some Democrats made a political issue out of it then, just as maybe some Republicans are now, about a Democratic president doing it. But the bottom line is that this kind of address has been done by Republican and Democratic presidents before.

And what White House aides are pointing to more than anything is the speech itself. And they're saying, look, we're going to post it online Monday. Parents will be able to look at it for themselves, instead of listening to the noise on either side of this debate, and just look at the speech and decide whether they think it's appropriate or not.

And if they're worried about it in any aspect, they obviously have the freedom to keep their home -- their kids home from school on Tuesday. But more than anything, the White House is saying, look at the actual speech instead of the criticism, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And now taking a turn a bit, you're also learning more about a new plan to make the White House more transparent.

HENRY: That's right.

WHITFIELD: What can you tell you us about that?

HENRY: CNN has learned that later today the president is going to be announcing a new policy in terms of making public visitor logs here at the White House. This is so that people around the country will be able to know who's coming and going here through the White House gates.

This has been a long bone of contention. Remember the Bush White House blocked the public from getting records of who was visiting then Vice President Cheney's energy task force. And we should point, the Obama White House, in the early days of administration, kept that Bush policy in place and was refusing to some release records.

They took a lot of flak from the left on that. They are now changing that policy and saying look, we realize we need to disclose these records so you can see whether health care lobbyists are coming, energy lobbyists are coming in, who they're meeting, and they say they're going to post all of this online, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ed, thanks so much.

Of course, we want to hear from you on this. What do you think about this story? We want you to go to our blog, CNN.com/fredricka, and post your thoughts.

Unemployment at a 26-year high. We just got new numbers and they are higher than many analysts actually predicted.

CNN's Christine Romans joins us live from New York now.

So, Christine, break this down for us.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. Well, overall now, Fredricka, since this great recession has been in place, we have lost 7.4 million jobs in this country. The pace of those layoffs, though, is slowing a little bit.

Let's dig into the numbers here -- 9.7 percent is now the jobless rate. That jumped from July. 216,000 jobs lost, 7.4 million, as I said, for the overall recession. Here is, though, how you can see that the mass layoffs appear to be slowing down.

In January of this year, we lost 741,000 jobs. You can see that there was a little bump up in June, but overall the trend has at least been narrowing a little bit. And now when you look today, for the month of August, it is 216,000, the number of jobs lost.

That is the fewest number of jobs lost since last year. So that is a modicum of improvement, but this is still jobs being lost. It is still jobless rate of 9.7 percent. That is something that, clearly, is felt very painfully by American households.

Let's break it down by gender. Many people have been calling this the he-session or the man-session. Here is why. The jobless rate among men right now, Fredricka, is 10.1 percent. That went up in the month of August 0.2. For women, it went up 0.1 to 7.6 percent.

You have seen job creation in places that are predominantly female oriented kinds of work forces -- education, in some parts of health care. That's where we've been seeing jobs created and we did again in August. That's helping out those numbers that you see there.

In manufacturing and construction, more dominated by men, we have seen those jobs lost. And again, they had lost more jobs in those two areas in the month of August.

Let's break it down by race for you in these numbers. For whites, the unemployment rate is 8.9 percent now. For blacks, it's essentially steady at 15.1 percent. For Hispanics, 13 percent. You could see those disparities, pretty dramatic disparities between these numbers.

And that has been going on during this recession and even before. Many will point out that for some groups, some demographics, it was a recession long before this recession was officially declared in December 2007, beginning in December 2007.

So why did the jobless rate jump, but the number of jobs lost slowing? You might have new entrants into the workforce, college kids, Fredricka, who got out of school in the spring and now are officially part of the workforce. You might have small business owners and contractors and the like who have been holding on until now, but now are officially counting themselves among the unemployed. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: A little bit later, Christine, we're going to talk about why women seem to be dominating so many industries right now.

ROMANS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Christine Romans, appreciate that, from New York.

A high school football player tackles a gun-toting student and grabs her loaded gun. Now he's being called a hero. Hear what he has to say in the NEWSROOM. ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano covering the fires here in California. The Station Fire near L.A., dubbed an arson and a homicide investigation under way.

We are at the Auburn Fire in central California, where they also have burned homes and I followed a fire investigator yesterday. We'll tell you what he has to say about this particular fire, coming up when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Investigators now say the devastating station fire near Los Angeles was deliberately set. A homicide investigation is now under way. Two firefighters died while trying to escape the fast- moving flames on Sunday.

CNN's Rob Marciano has been covering the fire for us all week. He's live in Auburn, California this morning, near the site of a different fire that burned more than 60 homes. And that, too, was on Sunday. Rob?

MARCIANO: Yes. This one really moved very, very quickly. It started about a mile that way and you can see what it did to these particular homes. A very, very quick-moving fire, driven by southwesterly winds and the people that we talked to here said it was a firestorm. No doubt about it.

They just had minutes to get out of their homes. There were 911 -- reverse 911 calls and this entire community, which holds about 60 or so homes, completely burned to the ground. Amazing to me that they were able to get out alive for that particular case.

But, you know, with the station fire being dubbed an arson, but with a homicide investigation under way, the people here, well, they're thinking, you know, how did this fire get started?

I spent the day yesterday with a arson or a fire investigator and he kind of helped us see how they actually look at things when they try to figure out exactly why or how a fire started. And it's amazing to me.

And coming up next hour, Fredricka, you get an inside look at the piece-by-piece analysis that these guys do in order to put together a case. It's kind of like, you know, a CSI deal, where they really look at every particular clue and analyze every particular piece of vegetation to get to a zero point and then figure out what happened.

They still don't know how this fire got started Sunday afternoon.

WHITFIELD: All right.

MARCIANO: Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: It's all very scientific. All right. Rob Marciano, thanks so much. Appreciate that. Let's check in with our Jacqui Jeras and talk about the whether conditions there for the firefighting efforts and all other things under your purview.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, you know, fire conditions, again about status quo today. The humidity may be down a little bit from yesterday. We're looking forward to the weekend when some cooler temperatures finally begin to move on in.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Not for me.

JERAS: Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Not for me. I like that bath water.

JERAS: You like it steamy, huh?

WHITFIELD: Yes, I do.

JERAS: All right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Jacqui. Appreciate that.

All right. Ten weeks after his death, Michael Jackson's family and friends gather one last time to say goodbye. His final resting place, alongside some of Hollywood's great legends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And this just in. We want to take you to Everett, Washington where you're looking at people on the ground there investigating at least two radio towers, there's one right there, that somehow toppled over. It's unclear how or why.

We understand this radio tower that you're seeing is that of -- that belonging to KRKO Sports Talk Radio there in the Everett, Washington, area. There's the other tower that we understand that may have also been toppled over.

But unclear, exactly, how or why it toppled over. There is some sort of bulldozer that's nearby, that red and white striped tower there, but details are just trickling in as to why investigators now feel like they have this kind of investigation under way. Unclear why these radio towers are down. But there you go with these live pictures in from our affiliate, KIRO.

All right. Time now to check some other top stories we're watching this morning. Afghan President Hamid Karzai are sending investigators to the scene of a deadly NATO air strike this morning.

At least 81 people were killed in the attack in northern Afghanistan. NATO was targeted Taliban insurgents, who had hijacked a pair of their fuel trucks. An unknown number of civilians may be among the dead. And some U.S. troops will have to stay in Afghanistan a bit longer. The Pentagon is tacking on between two weeks and two months to the deployments of about 3,000 troops. They're staying longer so their replacements have more time at home. Meanwhile, a much-awaited major assessment on the mission is now in the president's hands.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joins us live.

So, Chris, what will this assessment mean for U.S. troops overall?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That remains to be seen, but it seems as if, Fredricka, the defense secretary is more open to the possibility of adding American troops to Afghanistan than he was last year or even just a few months ago.

Secretary Robert Gates now seems to be of the mind to accept General Stanley McChrystal's assessment that Afghan people will accept more American troops if they are able to limit civilian casualties and respect Afghan laws.

Now that assessment has been given to President Obama. He's going to take a look at it over the weekend. And then early next week, I'm told, all of the top military officials will present their views on the assessment to President Obama.

WHITFIELD: Any reaction at the Pentagon to the NATO air strike?

LAWRENCE: I spoke with a NATO spokesman who said, you know, these numbers that are being put out there by local Afghan authorities, that nearly half of the 90 suspected casualties may be civilians, they're not confirming that, but they do say now, they do believe that there were civilians involved in an air strike.

They have issued an apology, but, again, they do have the investigators there, trying to determine exactly what happened. This was an air strike on two fuel tankers that had been hijacked by insurgents.

I also spoke with a senior military official here in the Pentagon who says, although he doesn't know the details exactly of this particular air strike, he said, if it's true and if these civilians were caught in the middle of it, it's a strategic loss in that you did accomplish your objective, you took out the insurgents, you stopped the hijacking, yet the loss of civilian life and the ill will that that produces ultimately leads to a loss down the road.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

All right, well, what many suspected, North Korean now apparently confirming. It's official. News agency reports North Korea has reached the final stages of enriching uranium, which is a second way of making nuclear bombs. North Korea says it's pushing ahead with its nuclear program because the United Nations imposed tougher sanctions. And President Obama's planned speech to students on Tuesday getting pushback from conservative critics. An initial lesson plan to accompany the speech suggested students actually write about how they could help the president. Conservatives called that pushing a political agenda. The White House revised the lesson plan to suggest students write about how to meet short and long-term goals.

And a final farewell to Michael Jackson. They were all there, his children, parents, brothers, sisters, close friends, including Elizabeth Taylor, and ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley. Last night's service on a hill at Forest Lawn Cemetery outside Los Angeles was in large part private.

Jackson's mother decided where his final resting place should be. A crypt inside the well-guarded and ornate great mausoleum there. The mausoleum is said to reopen to the public later on today.

Still unfinished, the police investigation into Jackson's death, which the coroner has ruled a homicide. And despite everything that has been written and said about Jackson these last months, one longtime friend said he remains misunderstood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOTHAM CHOPRA, MICHAEL JACKSON'S FRIEND: Michael was a contradiction. I mean, he was the greatest superstar that ever lived in some ways. Some people would argue he was a scandal-plagued celebrity, certainly in the last few years. But he was also a normal person, somewhere in the middle of that.

I think one of the great normalizing things about him, especially this last decade, was his children. He created a family in some ways, people that would not judge him for being one of those two polar opposites, but really appreciate him for being somebody real, a father.

And he was a very normal father. He knew which kid liked what cereal, he changed diapers, he got worried and stayed up all night when, you know, the kid's fever spiked. So there was something very normalizing about them for him as well. And I think, you know, he's actually in some ways all of those things.

I mean he was an agonized person, in many ways. And part of that agony is where his amazing creativity came from. So it is hard to define him, because he was so many of those things wrapped up in this iconic personality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN's Don Lemon takes an in-depth look at Michael Jackson's life and legacy. Don't miss this CNN Presents Special, "MICHAEL JACKSON: MAN IN THE MIRROR." That's this Saturday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

A brave, quick-thinking football player is being called a hero. Not for anything he did on the football field, but for potentially saving lives on his school bus. He's telling us the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Fredricka Whitfield.

WHITFIELD: Jobs, jobs, jobs. That's the focus on Main Street and on Wall Street. We now know that the unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent last month. For a preview of how investors will react, let's go to Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.

Good to see you, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Fredricka. And investors, like everybody else, want to see the unemployment rate fall, but this many economists have said the jobless rate will eventually hit 10 percent during this recession.

This morning's news, not coming out of left field. There's a lot of chatter about some of the other numbers in this report, like, for instance, the number of jobs lost, 216,000. Obviously, a healthy economy should create jobs. But this is the smallest amount of job losses in a year and overall layoffs have been slowing. Remember, we've talked about more than 700,000 jobs lost in a one-month period.

Another sign of improvement I want to mention quickly, the number of hours worked stayed above the record low hit in June. Why is that important? A lot of folks expect companies to add hours for current workers before they hire new ones.

In other words, those of us who are working, we're going to work harder, hiring not likely to pick up until employers are absolutely sure their business can support it.

Business here at the start of trading, no big bets, but we are inching higher. The Dow rose yesterday, snapping a four-session losing streak. The Nasdaq, the Dow, the S&P 500, all slightly higher.

Only fitting, Fredricka, that the labor market is the main story as we head into the Labor Day weekend.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that an interesting juxtaposition?

All right. Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much.

Appreciate that.

See you soon.

A freshman congressman who hasn't made up his mind on health care reform legislation is getting lobbied on all sides, but as CNN's Dana Bash reports, one person he'd really like to hear from is the president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's something you haven't seen during the summer of angry town halls.

SUSAN BURTON, BUSINESS OWNER: Welcome so much for coming to my home.

REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D), VIRGINIA: Oh, my pleasure.

BASH: A health care house call.

Democratic Congressman Jerry Connolly at Susan Burton's table, invited to hear her explain why she may have to cut health coverage for workers at her small business.

BURTON: A thousand for family coverage, so that's the one we went with. That's outrageous for a group.

BASH: Connolly, a freshman, wants to back health care reform, but is wary because his Virginia district is fairly conservative. Afterwards, the congressman lamented that deep concern he heard here about the current health care system has been drowned out.

(on camera): Why is public opinion turning against public health care reform if you have stories like that?

CONNOLLY: Well, partly, we have had a steady drumbeat of the negative playing on people's fears and anxieties, and to some extent that's clearly taken hold.

This is the bill.

BASH (voice-over): In a car ride through his district, Connolly blamed his own party, especially the president, for losing control of the debate.

CONNOLLY: The White House, candidly, underestimated the passion on the other side. I think we underestimated the ability of the opposition to really initially frame the issue in outlandish ways.

BASH: Connolly goes back to his district office to see Democratic groups scrambling to reframe the debate and get his vote.

DELORES GARBER, COMMUNICATION WORKERS OF AMERICA: That was the whole point of us getting people elected.

BASH: Members of a local union there to lobby him in one room, and, in another, volunteers from the president's political group, Organizing For America, deliver a box of petitions, and bring emotional stories of preexisting conditions that make insurance unaffordable.

KARIMA HIJAN, RESIDENT OF VIENNA, VIRGINIA: And I had to resign from my job because of my health issues.

BASH: Connolly says those meetings are effective, but back in this car this Democrat with conservative constituents says what he really needs is better leadership from the president. CONNOLLY: We need Obama to maybe put aside the cool, cerebral part of himself. We need a more passionate Obama who can directly articulate to Americans why we need health care.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So, Dana Bash joining us now live from Washington.

So, which way now might Congressman Connolly be leaning?

BASH: Well, you know, as I said in the piece, he is from a conservative district, but he obviously is a Democrat. A new Democrat who says that he was elected to do this. So, he wants to have a health care overhaul this year. He wants to vote for something.

But just like other House Democrats from conservative districts, he thinks the House's bill right now taxes too much. He says it doesn't do enough to control long-term health care costs. And he told me that he really hopes the president next week, it doesn't necessarily just show more passion in public, but he really says it's critical for the president to engage more behind the scenes, Fredricka. He said it's critical for him to start settling the disputes in their Democratic Party over things like a public option, and he wants the president to, as you said, roll up his sleeves and cut a deal.

Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana.

Dana Bash in Washington.

The president's recent slip in the polls hasn't made the Republican Party more popular than the Democrats. That's what we are learning from. The latest CNN Opinion Research Poll. A slight majority of those polled feel the policies of the Democrats will move the country in the right direction, while 43 percent of those polled think GOP policies are the best for the nation.

A Mississippi high school football player is being called a hero for wrestling a loaded gun away from a girl on a school bus, and potentially, saving nearly two dozen lives. Now, Kaleb Eulls is telling his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KALEB EULLS, DISARMED GIRL ON SCHOOL BUS: So, I just opened the emergency door. I just tell them to run out as I tried to grab her attention. You know, just keep her from pointing it at anyone else at the bus. As I try to grab her attention, and keep the focus on myself. I guess she just glanced out the bus or just blinked for one second, and I just lunged at her, and just got the gun away from her, just run out the backdoor and just disarmed it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Wow. A school bus security video shows the 14-year- old girl pulling out a semiautomatic handgun. It appears that she threatened other students. The girl is in juvenile custody now, facing 22 counts, including attempted assault.

And police are looking for some brazen thieves who got away with quite a haul from a New Jersey Apple store.

Take a look at the security video here.

Police say five men broke the store's plate glass window, and took dozens of Macbook Pro laptops, iPhones, iPod touches in just 31 seconds flat. Police have not identified the suspects as of yet.

All right. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras.

I almost inverted your name there.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, people do that a lot. It's the combo name.

WHITFIELD: Really?

JERAS: You know, Jacqui and Jeras, Jerry.

J.J. That will work, too.

WHITFIELD: Do you ever get that?

JERAS: I do, from my friend Rob Marciano.

We will go there.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, how is this holiday weekend shaping up? Holiday for many of us out there...

JERAS: It is for some of us.

WHITFIELD: ...and then, not for some of us.

JERAS: Some of us, we'll be working.

You, me.

WHITFIELD: That's OK.

JERAS: That's OK.

WHITFIELD: Labor Day.

JERAS: I know. We were.

WHITFIELD: We'll be laboring.

JERAS: That's what we do.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. The cooler temperatures will help them, won't it?

All right, Jacqui, appreciate that.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Protests in China after hundreds are attacked with hypodermic needles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Time now for a check of the top stories we're watching for you this morning.

At least 81 people were killed this morning in a NATO air strike in northern Afghanistan. They were firing on a pair of fuel trucks hijacked by Taliban fighters. The tanker trucks were carrying fuel to re-supply coalition forces. NATO is investigating reports that civilians are among the dead.

And this morning's new jobless numbers are a little worse than expected. The unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent in August. That's up from 9.4 percent last month. What it means is that 216,000 more people actually lost their jobs.

And President Obama's planned nationwide speech to students on Tuesday, getting pushback from conservative critics. An initial lesson plan to accompany the speech suggested students write about how they could help the president. Conservatives call that pushing a political agenda. The White House revised the lesson plan to suggest that students now write about how to meet short and long-term goals.

So, of course, we want to hear from you, and that's where my blog page comes in. Just go to CNN.com -- blogpage/Fredricka, and just go on to the area of "Turning off the President."

We want to hear from you as to whether you think school districts should be tuning in to the president's message or indeed turning them off, afraid that there might be a political agenda.

We'll be reading your comments later on in the hour. CNN.com/fredricka.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Rumors of bizarre needle stabbings spark fear and protests in China for a second day. Police used tear gas on protesters who marched on communist party offices in the north-western city there. The mostly Han Chinese demonstrators are demanding increased police protection after more than 400 people were stabbed with syringes over the past month. That city has been plagued by ethnic violence between Han Chinese and Uyghurs since July when rioting left nearly 200 dead. It is the Uyghurs who are allegedly attacking with the needles. So authorities have detained now 15 suspects in connection with these rumors of stabbings, and there have been no reports of deaths, but the fear, of course, remains. So does the tension between the two ethnic groups that also remains.

So here to talk about all of this is Sean Roberts. He is the director of International Development Studies Program at George Washington University.

Good to see you.

SEAN ROBERT, DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES PROGRAM, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. What makes this very difficult is it's difficult to know truth here. Because there have been rumors of the stabbings. Yes, there have been about 400 people, according to the state-run television there, who have been allegedly stabbed, but it's difficult to discern whether this is the government that is putting out this message or, indeed, whether it really happened.

What's your gut feeling say?

ROBERTS: Well, you're correct. One thing about Xingjiang is since the July unrest, we have not been able to get much information other than official sources out of the region. There's Internet problems, there's difficulties for people from international locations calling into Xingjiang. So, for example, most of my contacts and other people I know who have contacts in Xingjiang are not able to contact their friends and get information about this.

And that also means that rumors tend to spin out of control in that kind of context. So one of the possibilities is that this has been somewhat exaggerated. There may have been some stabbings, but there has not been any reports of any infections or anything like that.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And then the rumors -- there are also rumors about what these hypodermic needles would be filled with. There are some reports that it might be HIV/AIDS, but, again, there are no reports that anyone has actually been infected with anything. There were some reports, also, that about 80 people of that 400 or so that I mentioned, there was some evidence of puncture wounds.

So let's get to the bottom of, while it's still difficult to discern whether that really is the case, let's get to the bottom of what's happening between the Hans and the Uyghurs.

What is really at issue here? What is at the root of this tension?

ROBERTS: I think the biggest issue right now is the immigration of Han Chinese. I mean, that's what we're seeing in terms of Han Chinese going on to the street and complaining about a lack of safety in the face of Uyghurs. And Uyghurs, of course, are very upset that their homeland is being increasingly populated by Han Chinese.

And I think this continued immigration that's been ongoing for about a decade -- I mean, it's actually been ongoing for much longer, but it's increased over the last decade is really creating a situation that's explosive.

WHITFIELD: And the Hans are traditionally getting the greater support from the government?

ROBERTS: That's correct.

One of the fears that this needle issue sparked was that Uyghurs tend to be stereotyped by the Han Chinese as being criminals, as being drug addicts. Xingjiang has the highest rate of HIV infection in china, and it's assumed that most of those people are Uyghurs.

And so, as soon as needles, anything about needles is brought up, people think that that includes HIV. There were rumors for years that Uyghurs kabob salesmen were selling kabobs laced with HIV. So this is kind of an urban myth that's spun out of control. But at the root of that is the conflict over the immigration of Han Chinese into the region.

WHITFIELD: So this adds another layer of fear to what has already been pretty pervasive.

Sean Roberts of George Washington University, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

ROBERTS: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: Contested results.

Allegations of fraud in Afghanistan's landmark elections. And that is leaving the U.S. strategy hanging in the balance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The election in Afghanistan has brought more uncertainty to the situation there. President Karzai leads in early results, but he's being dogged by vote fraud allegations.

CNN Foreign Affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty has more on how its affecting the U.S. strategy there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to be a milestone in winning Afghanistan back from the Taliban. Presidential elections free and fair.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is an important step forward in the Afghan's people's efforts to take control of their future even as violent extremists try to stand in their way. DOUGHERTY: But could President Barack Obama's words come back to haunt him. Allegations of massive vote fraud on behalf of the current President Hamid Karzai are tarnishing that image of democracy and the candidate himself.

RICHARD HOLBROOKE, U.S. ENVOY TO PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN: We have no candidates and no preference as to whether there is a first- round victory or a runoff.

DOUGHERTY: Sources tell CNN that Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Obama's top envoy on Afghanistan had a very difficult discussion with Karzai over the elections. The Obama administration is encouraging Karzai to legitimatize the election by allowing a runoff. Without it they fear he could be politically damaged in the eyes of his fellow Afghans. Weakened public trust in the Afghan government could increase violence and undermine the military mission to defeat the Taliban. Meanwhile, casualties are mounting. And Americans, especially Democrats and Independents, are losing faith in the Afghan war.

A new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows 57 percent of all Americans now oppose it. Significantly higher than in April when 46 percent did.

Can the president convince them it's worth it?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FORMER NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: The point is that you can't win it just inside Afghanistan. You've got to deal with Pakistan, and you've got to deal with the enemy based there and with al Qaeda. And I think it's up to the administration to define the task in such a way that the American people can understand it.

DOUGHERTY: One expert who helped monitor the Afghan election says time is running out.

KARIN VON HIPPEL, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: I think the U.S. is interested in the next 18 months in turning this thing around. If it doesn't happen, I think Congress may pull the plug. And I think that Karzai is very aware of that. So that sense of urgency is being translated on the ground.

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WHITFIELD: And Jill Dougherty joins us live now from the State Department.

So how might the latest report on the NATO attack on fuel tankers actually affect the situation.

DOUGHERTY: Well, this is another example of things that are actually undermining the situation. That latest report that in that attack there may be significant civilian deaths.

President Karzai is launching an investigation. The Europeans are saying that they regret it. The United States military previously had issued controls on air attacks like that. So it is a problem. And, by the way, this morning, Secretary Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state will be over at the White House meeting with the national security adviser General Jim Jones, and on that agenda will be Afghanistan.

Fred?

WHITFIELD: And what would be the agenda pushing forward? How might the U.S. say we want to either better cooperate or perhaps back off any kind of new direction with NATO?

DOUGHERTY: Well, it's a dilemma, because, you know, you had Gordon Brown just a few minutes ago. The British leader saying that the mission really is to defeat the Taliban, but to make sure that the Afghans can run their own affairs and provide their own security, and that's the dilemma because you have to defeat the Taliban, but you also have to build up and help the Afghans to do it themselves. And that is the dilemma. It's similar to what happened in Iraq, although, it's different, but it's complex, and that's why this administration is grappling with all of the pieces that go into doing that.

WHITFIELD: Jill Dougherty at the State Department, thank you.

And this disturbing allegation. A 17-year-old girl says her Muslim father threatened to kill her because she converted from Islam to Christianity. Now the court is involved, and the dad's attorney is on the defensive.

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SHAYAN ELAHI, ATTORNEY FOR GIRL'S FATHER: We did file denials to all the allegations. The judge accepted those denials on the record. My client was present over the phone. And so that was what basically happened today. He denied all of the allegations.

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WHITFIELD: The 17-year-old Rifqa Bary ran away from her family in Columbus, Ohio, back in July. She had been living at the home of a pastor in Orlando, who she heard about through an online Facebook prayer group. The girl has been placed with a foster family and the judge ordered her family to seek mediation within the next month.

All right. A lot going on this morning in the NEWSROOM. Our CNN correspondents are ready to break it all down for you.

So let's begin with Ed Henry at the White House.

Ed?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, conservative critics say that the president wants to indoctrinate America's school children with a political pitch next Tuesday. The White House insist this is just a way for Mr. Obama to encourage school children on their first day of school.

What's the real story? We'll separate fact and fiction at the top of the hour.

LISOVICZ: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, where investors are focusing the labor market as we head into the Labor Day weekend. A new report shows the unemployment rate jumped last month, but I'll tell you why there's also reason for encouragement.

Fred, I'll be breaking down the report next hour.

JERAS: And I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in your hurricane headquarters. It's Friday and a holiday weekend.

How will the weather impact your travel?

There's a ground stop right now in Nashville.

We'll let you know what you can expect for the rest of the weekend with your Labor Day holiday forecast coming up at the top of the hour.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, everybody.

And hope for a teenager suffering from a rare disorder. He cries tears of blood. We'll talk to him, his mom and a doctor who might be able to help.

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