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Troop Increase Concerns; States in Peril

Aired November 12, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, T.J. and Kiran. That's right. Here's what we're working on today. A busy day in the NEWSROOM, in fact.

A new development in the balloon boy case. Guilty plea for parents, but will there be any jail time?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEC. LOGAN BURNETTE, FORT HOOD SHOOTING SURVIVOR: I would like to make sure one way or the other, he can never hurt anybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A survivor of the Fort Hood shootings. More on what the soldier says about the suspect.

Plus, having a drink on Facebook. A teacher says she was forced to resign because of vacation pictures.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

As I said, we do have an awful lot to talk about this morning, mainly because we are waiting to hear from the president this morning. It's about 15 minutes away from now. We're going to be hearing from him on the economy just before he heads to Asia for several days.

Also, issue number one, the economy, as you know, is Christine Romans' beat. She's going to be talking about a new report on how bad of a financial mess some states in this country really are. So we'll get to that.

And also, we're going to be talking with Jill Dougherty. She has the very latest coming up on the situation with Afghanistan, where the president is now saying he really doesn't like any of his options for Afghanistan. In fact, still no decision on troop levels. The president now asking for revisions on each one of the options for Afghanistan.

And CNN's Jill Dougherty is joining us now live from the White House with what came out of the latest war room meetings.

So, Jill, that's right, as you well know, there's been eight meetings now. Why weren't some of these revisions asked for earlier on?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this -- part of this has come up before, Heidi, but you know really there are alarm bells going off right now, certainly in the president's head. And you can -- where they're coming from is the ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry.

And look what he has done. Previously, he's expressed concern about the government of Hamid Karzai. The U.S. embassy is confirming to CNN that there has been communication between the ambassador and the president. And then finally, a senior State Department official telling CNN that they have concerns, they've had concerns about Karzai's behavior and about his reliability as a partner for the United States.

And then even on the record, look at this statement coming out from the White House, summing up that meeting that the president had, saying, "Success in Afghanistan depends on having a true partner in the Afghan government." Put those all together and that's what you've got.

A high level of concern about whether the Karzai government really can come through. Strong message, also, to Karzai, you'd have to say.

COLLINS: Well, absolutely. I guess I'm wondering, you know, what does all of that mean? Certainly with regard to perhaps pushing the time frame back for the president's final decision on troop levels.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, that's always a question, isn't it? But yesterday when General Petraeus talked with CNN, he did say that they are nearing this decision. Now, we don't think it will happen until -- obviously, after the president comes back from the Asia trip that he's departing on today, in fact, but it could change the equation in terms of where you go.

They have to define that political situation as well as they can with Karzai before they can really know how all of it is going to work.

COLLINS: Yes, very complicated, obviously. We're going to be talking a lot more about it, in fact. CNN's Jill Dougherty, thanks so much. Appreciate that this morning. In fact, bottom of the hour is when we're going to be talking more about Afghanistan.

We'll look behind the scenes at the relationship between a military commander and a commander in chief. Joining us, General George Joulwan, a former NATO Supreme Allied commander. Make sure you stick around for that.

Before leaving for Asia, President Obama plans to make a statement on the economy. You can watch it here, just about 10 minutes from now.

Here's a look at the president's trip for you, too. En route to Asia, he'll stop in Alaska to speak with troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base. And from there he'll fly to Tokyo for a meeting with Japan's new prime minister. They're expected to agree on the need to resume six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program.

The president then travels to Singapore for the APEC Summit. Twenty- one nations make up the Asia Pacific Economic Corporation forum. And then next stop will be Shanghai, the first of two Chinese cities on the president's trip. He'll also go to Beijing, have trade talks with the Chinese president and visit the Great Wall.

Seoul is the final stop of the eight-day trip. The president will meet with his South Korean counterpart and give a speech to U.S. troops at an air base there.

Let's turn our attention now to the economy and new unemployment numbers that came out just a few minutes ago, in fact, and the news appears to be good. New claims for unemployment benefits have actually fallen to 502,000 now.

That is a little bit better than expected and the lowest level since January. The four-week average is now the lowest in nearly a year.

Rising unemployment, dropping tax revenue, and huge budget gaps. They are adding up to huge problems for states all the way from Arizona to Wisconsin, and how state leaders deal with their fiscal crisis could reverberate across the entire nation.

Christine Romans is looking at that part of the story -- that part of the economy from our CNN money team, and joins us now with more.

Christine, good morning. Yes, we've heard about a lot of different states and the trouble that they're facing right now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: There's no let-up here, Heidi. We're looking at national statistics that are suggesting that perhaps the national economy has bottomed out, is on the mend, but the states face a peril, a peril in their financial situations, that is simply increasing for many of them.

A new study from the Pew Center shows 10 states that are facing very daunting tasks here and a situation that is really only worsening. Here are these troubled states. California, of course, tops the list.

COLLINS: Right.

ROMANS: No surprise there about its woes. But Arizona, Rhode Island, Michigan, Oregon, Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin. Together, these states make up one-third of America's economic output and one-third of her population.

The problem here is the amount of money that's coming in to these states and the amount of money that's going out, there's a huge gap. Their state tax revenues have plunged. The money that they get from, for example, housing fees and the housing market has plunged.

Their tax revenues, down sharply. You look at the difference between what's coming in and what's going out, their budget shortfall. Forty- nine percent in California, 47 percent in Illinois, 41 percent in Arizona. These states are clearly in trouble here.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: What it's going to mean as this tax revenue collapses because of foreclosures, because of joblessness and all this? Heidi, it's going to mean people could have to pay higher taxes. They could have fewer services, a longer wait for services. They could have more crowded schoolrooms. The stimulus money is biting into this gap, for many of these people, many of these states, but it's not covering it all.

COLLINS: Yes. That's what I was going to ask because of course, we remember when the governors from nearly every state in the country went to Washington, they were kind of fighting for a chunk of it. And then you have to wonder, how much did each one of them get and then what did it really do for them?

ROMANS: The bottom line is the situation today, and this is all data as of July 31st. The situation today for many of these states is far worse than it was back in February when the stimulus was being crafted and those governors were going and trying to ask for money and trying to use it.

So the stimulus is blunting the effects of all this, but not closing those gaps. Liberal economists and liberal groups will say, it means we need more stimulus-type effort. We need federal rescue of these states to help close these gaps. But clearly there is a situation here where the people who live in these states are going to feel a difference every day because of what's happening at the budget level.

COLLINS: Yes. And then those who are against will say, wait, where's the money going to come far and what does it mean for the future economy of this country?

ROMANS: We're borrowing it, absolutely.

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely.

ROMANS: Right.

COLLINS: What about the "Romans' Numeral" this hour?

ROMANS: OK, the "Romans' Numeral." We put it up. I'll tell you all about this one. This is 900,000. And this is from the Center for Budget and -- you can see, there it is. 900,000. This is from a liberal think tank, what they think is the potential impact because of the collapse of the economies of these states.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priority says this is the possible job losses due to state budget cuts in the next year.

COLLINS: Wow.

ROMANS: If you consider what's happening at the state level could shave one percentage point off of America's economic output that would be equivalent to about 900,000 jobs.

COLLINS: Boy, I hope that's wrong. We'll continue to watch, though, of course. Christine Romans...

ROMANS: Well, you know, it might -- frankly, it's very serious, what's happening, but this is what all our policy makers have been scrambling, trying to figure out how to fix and how to blunt for sometime now. So a reminder that on the state level it's still very, very dangerous out there, even as we're seeing signs of a sense of recovery on the national level.

COLLINS: Yes. Understood. All right. Christine Romans, thanks so much. We'll check back with you later on.

ROMANS: Sure.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, we are waiting to hear from the president. Just a few minutes from now, he's due to speak about the economy and then new developments in the so-called balloon boy hoax. The parents are due in court tomorrow and we'll tell you why.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Remnants of what's left over of Ida have turned into a nasty nor'easter and we're going to see some historic flooding from it.

Weather is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Obviously, awaiting the president there, speaking on the economy this morning, any minute now. We are watching that and will bring it to you just as soon as it happens.

Meanwhile, tomorrow morning, the parents of Falcon Heene, the so- called balloon boy, are expected to plead guilty in connection with the hoax. In a statement, their attorney says the mother, Mayumi Heene, will plead guilty to false reporting to authorities. And that's a misdemeanor.

The father, Richard Heene, is expected to plead guilty to a felony offense of attempting to influence a public servant. They could get jail time, but their attorney says the prosecutor is recommending probation.

We have new details this morning on the shooting rampage that erupted one week ago today at Fort Hood, Texas. Fifteen soldiers are still hospitalized this morning and four of them are still in intensive care.

The descriptions of the accused gunman grow more ominous. Those who knew Major Nidal Hasan say he was a loner with few friends and had no luck in finding a wife. A group of doctors overseeing his medical training say, in the months before the shooting, he began showing strange behavior.

According to one military official, Hasan had become belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith. He also had a reputation for being a mediocre student and a lazy worker.

We have also heard from the police officer -- who shot Nidal Hasan during an exchange of gunfire. Sergeant Kimberly Munley is being called a hero. She tells "The Oprah Winfrey Show" she's doing well and recovering from the physical and emotional trauma.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. KIMBERLY MUNLEY, FORT HOOD CIVILIAN POLICE: When I got shot, it felt like, honestly, a muscle being torn out of my leg.

OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: Have you had a chance to process all of this?

MUNLEY: I take it day by day and I know it's going to be a slow process to get back to my normal life, but I know that I can accomplish it and get back to what I do and love to do on a daily basis. So I think that it will come in time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, the gentleman you saw seated next to Munley was Sergeant Mark Todd, the other civilian police officer who also confronted the gunman. Todd said it was the first time he had ever fired his gun in the line of duty.

The civilian attorney who is defending the suspect says he is worried about whether Major Nidal Hasan can receive a fair trial. John Galligan, a retired Army colonel, talked last night on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Is it possible, Colonel, to get a fair trial with this much pretrial publicity?

COL. JOHN GALLIGAN (RET.), NIDAL HASAN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Larry, you hit on a point that's obviously of great concern to me. And depending from where the government seeks to conduct a trial, if the trial is in the future, it's going to be an issue of great significance to the defense.

Personally, I'm greatly concerned that in the memorial service that was conducted here yesterday, we had an assemblage of some of the most senior members of the military establishment present and of course we had the president himself, who was our commander in chief.

With that kind of presence here at this site, not only do I have concerns about it, I can tell you, I've been approached on the street by many folks in this vicinity who've expressed the same concern. Is it possible for him to get a fair trial, they ask me, and I just simply shake my head and say, well, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Galligan says he plans full psychiatric exams for Hasan, but that too raises concerns. He says tests like these would normally be conducted in a military hospital and that obviously raises more questions of impartiality. We'll keep our eye on that story for you. Also, keeping our eye on the podium there. The White House obviously waiting for the president. We've said he's expected to come and speak about the economy. This is the diplomatic reception room that you're looking at, so he's getting ready for his eight-day trip to Asia. He'll also be attending APEC, so we'll bring those comments to you as soon as they happen, any minute now.

A pro football player and his wife stripped down and bare all for the love of animals. We'll show you the pictures, sort of anyway, and tell you about the cause.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking our top stories now. A new way of crunching the numbers in the swine flu pandemic. Federal health officials now estimate 4,000 or more Americans likely have died from H1N1. That's about four times the estimate they had previously been using.

Until now, the CDC had put the death count at more than 1,000. The higher number includes deaths caused by complications related to the swine flu, like pneumonia.

Death or life in prison without parole. An Arkansas jury, they convicted a man of murder in the beating death of an Arkansas TV anchorwoman is now weighing his punishment. Anne Pressly was attacked last year in her Little Rock home. It took the jury just over two hours yesterday to convict Curtis Lavelle Vance of capital murder, rape, and other charges.

Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson has been released from a Los Angeles police station. Tyson was booked yesterday on suspicion of battery after he allegedly punched a photographer who was following him at L.A. International Airport.

The paparazzi was treated for a cut to his forehead and police say both men want to press charges for misdemeanor battery.

Rob Marciano joining us now from the Severe Weather Center, because Ida is like the storm that just won't go away. More rain, more flooding to talk about, right?

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: I'm told there's an electrical fire somewhere near the Space Needle in Seattle there. The area, of course, is still dark. Thanks to our affiliate out there at KIRO for providing this. Power outage out there likely due to an electrical fire near the Space Needle, which during the daytime is a beautiful sight to see. Hopefully nobody got hurt and they'll have the power back on there in the Emerald City.

Heidi, back over to you.

COLLINS: All right, yes, very good. Thank you, Rob.

An NFL player taking part in a sleek, sexy ad campaign is getting a lot of buzz. Atlanta Falcons's tight end Tony Gonzalez and his wife, October, bare all in an ad for the animal right's group, PETA. The campaign is called, "We'd rather go naked than wear fur."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY GONZALEZ, ATLANTA FALCONS TIGHT END: I don't want to ruin it for him, but we had clothes on. OK?

(LAUGHTER)

It's something that me and my wife, we talked about it and something we feel very strongly about and it's -- it was, you know, it's a great cause. Especially when you educate yourself and you find out exactly what's happening out there in that world. It's a great cause and something we felt strong about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, if they were wearing clothes, it must have been just a thread or two. Gonzalez is not the first celebrity to pose nude for the ad campaign. Others include Dennis Rodman and Pamela Anderson.

Clarity of mission. That's as important to President Obama's decision, he says, as the number of troops. A retired U.S. Army general explains for us in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The fog of war and what they thought was the safety of their Army post.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What was the first thing you remember when something was not right?

BURNETTE: The blood. Seeing blood coming from everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A soldier wounded in the Fort Hood rampage shares his story, the terror, the chaos, and the courage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: On Wall Street, the Dow is riding a six-session winning streak, but it could be in jeopardy today. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange this morning with a preview of the trading day.

Good morning to you, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning, Heidi. You take a look at it. You know, over the past week, the Dow has been hitting a string of 13-month highs, but I'll tell you what, we are expecting a bit of a pullback today. A weak open today. And of course, this coming after we got some good news, though. We found out that new jobless claims fell more than expected to 502,000. That's the lowest level since January, by the way. And even though things are moving in the right direction, you know, there's the other reality. Some companies are still cutting jobs.

Applied Materials is the latest to announce layoffs up to 1,500 positions worldwide. That's about 12 percent of the company's workforce. And as layoffs continue, shoppers are remaining cautious. Wal-Mart reported a slight increase in third quarter profit, which actually beat estimates, but Wall Street is worried because Wal-Mart sales edge lower, and because it's the world's biggest retailer, Wal- Mart is considered a good gauge of consumer spending, especially as we head into those crucial months where we see all that holiday shopping.

And, finally, we're watching the price of gold yet again shining bright. Gold hit another record high overnight of -- listen to this, Heidi -- more than $1,123 an ounce. Investors have been pouring money into gold as a protection against the falling dollar. Gold doesn't earn any interest, but it is considered a safe bet against economic and political turmoil.

Before we leave you, take a look at the numbers on Wall Street. The Dow industrials right now up about -- oh, they turned lower, about a fraction lower. The NASDAQ, a fraction lower as well. We'll keep an eye on all the action for you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, very good. We'll watch it throughout the day. Appreciate it, Alison. Thank you.

Vacation photos on Facebook. We'll tell you how they cost one public school teacher in Georgia her job and what she's doing about it.

We continue, also, to wait for the president this morning, running late today, preparing for his eight-day trip to Asia. He's going to come to the podiums there in the diplomatic reception room to be talking about the economy. We are also hearing that he will be announcing some type of jobs forum that's going to take place in December, obviously, in response to those high unemployment numbers, 26-year high, in fact, for unemployment. We'll bring it all to you just as soon as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The White House is saying President Obama will wait several weeks before announcing his decision on Afghan troops. This more than three months after his top commander in Afghanistan submitted his request for 40,000 reinforcements.

Our next guest is no stranger to the relationship between commanders and the commander-in-chief. General George Joulwan is the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and served in the U.S. Army for 36 years.

First off, thanks for your service. And I hope that you had a great Veterans Day yesterday, General. What do you think about this? We know that the eighth meeting took place yesterday, between the president and his national security team. When does there need to be a decision on troop levels for Afghanistan?

GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, I think the most important thing is to get the decision right. This clarity that's required here is important so that the force structure is right, that we know what the intended outcomes are, and the other part of this, Heidi, is to get our NATO allies. This is not just a U.S. mission in Afghanistan. It's also a NATO mission. So I think this getting it right is important.

COLLINS: And so when we talk about time frame, I understand getting it right, and many meetings that have to take place. What about the troops on the ground that are already there right now? Are they in more danger, or is there a more perilous position for them to be in when the top commander there is saying, we need more troops?

JOULWAN: I think there are risks involved there. And that's some of the things that the commanders in the field need to make clear in terms of momentum for the Taliban. How much risk is what needs to be measured here?

Personally, I'm more concerned about making sure that the mission that is given is correct. And I think a lot of that has to do with the Karzai government. Ambassador Eikenberry has weighed in on this. And this balance is going on between the political requirements, as well as the military requirements. And for the commander in the field, that's a very tough place to be in, but you've got to get the political clarity right, in my opinion, before you start planning for the military.

COLLINS: Yes, understood. And just to make a quick note, in case people aren't familiar, the U.S. ambassador, who you're talking about, Karl Eikenberry, obviously, has been saying that he really doesn't believe that it's a good idea for the president to send more troops. At least, there are reports that that is what he has said. But it really brings the discussion back to center, and that is this whole notion of the delicate balance and some of the intricacies between the military commander who is there and the commander-in-chief who is in Washington.

JOULWAN: But the wider issue, we cannot win this war. It takes the Afghan government to be able to win this fight in their country.

COLLINS: Absolutely.

JOULWAN: And that is the issue here. And so we ought not just to be going back to McChrystal and say he needs 40,000 more troops. How do you get the Karzai government to have credibility and legitimacy in its own country? That is key here. And how we do that is important.

COLLINS: What if you can't? What if you can't do that?

JOULWAN: Well, then there are options, you know. Then you take risks. And the risk could be that the Afghan people will not support this government and, therefore, one of the key elements of a counterinsurgency is to have a legitimate government that you're supporting. So you take those risks. So if it takes more time to make sure that we get the clarity that we need on the political side, I would weigh in on that. And say, let's get it right. I would not wait overly long here, but I would think we need to get it right. And what kind of partner do we have in Afghanistan?

COLLINS: Yes. And also, when you talk about not waiting too long, what is too long at this point? There are people out there who say it right now, it's already been too long. We need some type of decision.

JOULWAN: Well, as I understand it, there are about 60,000 to 70,000 U.S. troops and 40,000 NATO troops. So we're not just sitting on our thumbs there. There are actions going on. He has the wherewithal to work within what he has already as he awaits a decision. So I don't think we're standing still, Heidi. I think there's a lot of effort going on. The challenge is, in my view, is the legitimacy of this Afghan government. How do we square that with our overall goals of where do we want an end state to be? And until we resolve that question -- do we live with what we have, do we try to get Karzai to really change and fight corruption and the drug trade -- all of that needs to be hammered out, and much of that is beyond McChrystal's power to resolve.

COLLINS: Yes. And many people will say it's a tall order, definitely a lot of work to be done in that department.

General George Joulwan, we sure do appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

JOULWAN: Thank you.

COLLINS: Also this morning, we want to know, what do you think the president's military strategy should be in Afghanistan? You can post your comments. We will go ahead and make sure to share some of them for you during the show. The rest of the day. You know, the Heidi Mac over here. CNN.com/Heidi. We would love to have more of your opinions on the president's war strategy.

Checking our top stories now. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon goes on trial today. Dixon is accused of spending $1,500 in gift cards meant for needy families on herself and her friends. She's also scheduled to be tried on perjury charges in March. In that case, she's accused of failing to disclose gifts from a former boyfriend who was doing business with the city.

And remember the so-called balloon boy saga? Of course, you do. You saw it play out live on TV. There it is again. The Colorado couple admitted falsely claiming their 6-year-old son was in that experimental balloon that drifted away from their backyard. Well, the attorney for Richard and Mayumi Heene says they will plead guilty during a court appearance tomorrow. The couple's attorney says the prosecutor will recommend probation for the two.

Now to Capitol Hill. A democratic source tells CNN Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering raising taxes on the wealthy to help pay for health care reform. Source says Reid is evaluating a proposal to increase the Medicare payroll tax for people with income above $250,000 a year. Reid is trying to blend two bills that have already cleared committees to forge a Senate bill. He's expected to introduce whatever bill that emerges to the full Senate before Thanksgiving.

South Carolina's First Lady credited with helping get her husband elected is now supporting another Republican for governor. Jenny Sanford has endorsed State Representative Nicky Hailey. He's one of at least four Republicans hoping to succeed Governor Mark Sanford in 2011. In her letter of support, Mrs. Sanford also touched on her family's challenges since her husband admitted to an extramarital affair. She wrote, quote, "Our family is resilient, and we will be fine. And the people of our state are resilient, too."

Rob Marciano in the severe weather center now, talking about more flooding, the Atlantic seaboard and look at it, it's just a big mass of blue there on your map.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Hey, Rob, forgive me. Forgive me, but I've got to get to the president. Let me go ahead and take everybody to the White House. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the past 10 months, we've taken a number of bold steps to break the back of this recession. We've worked to stabilize the financial system, revive lending to small businesses and families, and prevent responsible homeowners from losing their homes. Through the Recovery Act, we've cut taxes for middle class families, extended and increased unemployment insurance, and created and saved more than a million jobs.

As a result, the economy is now growing again for the first time in more than a year -- and faster than at any time in the past two years. But even though we've slowed the loss of jobs -- and today's report on the continued decline in unemployment claims is a hopeful sign -- the economic growth that we've seen has not yet led to the job growth that we desperately need. As I've said from the start of this crisis, hiring often takes time to catch up to economic growth. And given the magnitude of the economic turmoil that we've experienced, employers are reluctant to hire.

Small businesses and large firms are demanding more of their employees, their increasing their hours, and adding temporary workers, but these companies have not yet been willing to take the steps necessary to hire again. Meanwhile, millions of Americans -- our friends, our neighbors, our family members -- are desperately searching for jobs. This is one of the great challenges that remains in our economy, a challenge that my administration is absolutely determined to meet.

We all know that there are limits to what government can and should do, even during such difficult times. But we have an obligation to consider every additional, responsible steps that we can to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country. And that's why in December, we'll be holding a forum at the White House on jobs and the economic growth. We'll gather CEOs and small business owners, economists and financial experts, as well as representatives from labor unions and nonprofit groups to talk about how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again.

It's important that we don't make any ill-considered decisions, even with the best of intentions, particularly at a time when our resources are so limited. But it's just as important that we are open to any demonstrably good idea to supplement the steps we've already taken to put America back to work. That's what this forum is about.

In the coming days, I'll also be meeting with leaders abroad to discuss a strategy for growth that is both balanced and broadly- shared. It's a strategy in which Asian and Pacific markets are open to our exports and one in which prosperity around the world is no longer as dependent on American consumption and borrowing, but rather more on American innovation and products.

It's through these steps with our partners, in addition to the work we're doing here at home, that we will not only revive our economy in the short-term, but rebuild it stronger in the long-term. That's been the focus of our efforts these past ten months. It will continue to be our focus in the months ahead.

Thanks very much, everybody.

COLLINS: So there you have President Barack Obama, talking about the economy before leaving on his eight-day trip to Asia. And most importantly, as we expected, he did make that announcement about a jobs forum that will be held at the White House in December. And he talked about some of the groups that would be there: CEOs, small business owners, labor unions, nonprofits, and others. So they'll be discussing their ideas together about how to offer up more job creation in this country.

We'll, of course, be watching that story and cover it closely when it happens.

Well, what she did over her summer vacation and posting it on the Internet has cost one teacher her job. Well, now she's fighting back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: One of the original faces of CNN and certainly one of the most controversial has left the building. Lou Dobbs announced his departure last night on what was his final broadcast at CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: I truly believe that the major issues of our time include the growth of our middle class, the creation of more jobs, health care, immigration policy, the environment, climate change and our military involvement of course in Afghanistan and Iraq. But each of those issues is in my opinion informed by our capacity to demonstrate strong resilience of our now weakened capitalist economy and demonstrate the political will to overcome the lack of true representation in Washington D.C. I will strive as well to be a leader in that national conversation.

It's been my great honor to work with each and every person at this wonderful network.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Dobbs started with CNN even before it first went on air back in 1980. In recent years he became a lightning rod for his vocal stands on issues like illegal immigration. Dobbs did not say publicly what he plans to do next.

A shocking increase in shoplifting across America: that's what a new report finds. So what are people stealing and how much is it costing you and me? Our Josh Levs is here to tell us more. Good morning to you, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you Heidi. It's costing us all a lot. You know shoplifting costs the United States billions of dollars every year. But in this new report, you're seeing it over here behind me actually, it says that in this economy, retail crimes which include shoplifting, employee theft and supply chain fraud have all jumped big time over the last year.

You've got this figure; take a look here, $42.2 billion from June of last year to June of this year for those crimes. This is from the Center for Retail Research based in Britain. They conducted a confidential survey, of more than 1,000 large global retail companies.

And now, here's another figure, take a look at this one. Retail crimes which you're looking up here, store theft jumped 8.8 percent from the previous year. Before that it had only gone up 1.5 percent.

So this report's conclusion is, that this is primarily a result of the recession. And Heidi, they list the most frequently stolen items -- a lot of people taking interest in this. Take a look, the most frequently stolen items: perfume, cosmetics, razor blades, also game systems, iPods, cell phones and from supermarkets, the most frequently stolen items, meat and cheese.

Now, those might be people stealing for their own use. But the report says that most store theft whether shoplifting or theft by employees is resale. And as a result of all this, the prices go all up.

In fact, take a look over here. This is our story on CNNMoney.com. Store theft cost your family $435. Because what they did was they looked at what's happened to prices. The spike in prices cost the average American family about $435 over the past year.

And we posted a link to this story for you. It's up at Facebook and we'll get it on the blog at Facebook.com/JoshLevsCNN, it'll be up at CNN.com/Josh too. So Heidi, a serious problem that's growing in this economy.

COLLINS: Yes, obviously. Does the report talk about what some of the tactics are in order to fight shoplifting?

LEVS: It does, yes one thing that's interesting -- and what's interesting to me is that because this is a problem at every level including supply fraud, sometimes along the way you have people who were secretly taking items out of what's supposed to be a supply, they say stricter regulations to make sure that merchandisers and retailers know exactly how much of every item they're supposed to have would help...

COLLINS: Yes.

LEVS: ... also the National Retail Federal is calling for stricter federal laws Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, there are all of those surveillance cameras out there...

LEVS: Yes.

COLLINS: I mean, I thought that was something that was really helping...

LEVS: Yes.

COLLINS: ... but apparently not.

LEVS: Well, there are cameras but it doesn't that anyone's actually going back and watching all of them all of the time...

COLLINS: Yes.

LEVS: ... unless a theft is reported, you know.

COLLINS: Yes, ok. All right, Josh Levs, on top of the shoplifting for us. Thank you so much, Josh.

LEVS: You got it, thanks Heidi.

COLLINS: A summer vacation cost a teacher her job that's because she posted it on Facebook.

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COLLINS: How many of you post your vacation pictures on your Facebook page? Well, a high school teacher in north Georgia did it and now she's out of a job. Jovita Moore (ph) our CNN affiliate WSB has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOVITA MOORE, REPORTER, WSB (voice-over): Like so many people, Ashley Payne has a Facebook page updated often with pictures; many are from her summer vacation. ASHLEY PAYNE, FORMER HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: I visited the Guinness Brewery. I went to Italy and had wine. I went to a temple bar district at Dublin and drank some alcohol there like any normal adult would.

MOORE: Payne and here friends took pictures at various spots across Europe. A pictures show her with a glass of beer or wine.

PAYNE: They're not even me drinking the drinks. I don't look like I'm intoxicated in any way or doing anything provocative or inappropriate.

MOORE: Payne was called into the principal's office at Apalachee High in Barrel County where she was an English teacher. She was told that because of her pictures and the "b" word on one of her posts she should resign immediately.

MOORE: The principal said he had talked to the superintendent and so he had represented that the decision had already been made and that the only way to avoid having a suspension on my record would be to resign.

MOORE: Her lawyer says she was unfairly given an ultimatum.

RICHARD STORRS, ATTORNEY FOR ASHLEY PAYNE: You can't suspend a teacher without having a hearing and without the whole board acting and they didn't do that.

MOORE: Payne's Facebook page is private; she doesn't allow students or strangers as friends. Several fellow teachers are included in her pictures, one was even on the European vacation. But Payne is the only one out of a job.

PAYNE: I did not think any of this could jeopardize my job because I was just doing what adults do and having drinks on vacation and being responsible about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The county school student Ron Saunders is not commenting on the lawsuit, saying it's a personnel issue. Payne, who resigned August 27th, had been a teacher there for two years. We'll follow that story for you.