Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Thousands Back for Housing Help; Rangel Makes his Case; Hauling Junk for a Living; Storm Hits D.C. Area; Arizona School Builds Fence; Ground Zero Mosque Uproar; GM Reports Big Profit Numbers, Again

Aired August 12, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: (VIDEO GAP) -- headaches he may be causing his fellow Democrats. We're going to get to CNN political editor Mark Preston in Washington in just a couple of minutes, but let's get to the top of the show here.

Live from Studio 7, CNN world headquarters here, in Atlanta, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. And here's what we're following this hour.

A sign of some difficult, difficult times. Thousands of people mob a government office for a chance at federal housing help. We have live coverage.

And new jobless claims surging today to the highest level since February. We will meet a statistic who quit the jobless line and became, yes, a junk man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER PANITCH, FRANCHISE OWNER: Nobody's going to say you don't have any vacation days left. Yes, I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

Those stories and your comments right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First, the embattled but defiant New York Congressman Charlie Rangel publicly defending himself against House ethics charges for the third time this week. He is meeting with reporters in Harlem any minute now. Tuesday, Rangel passionately spoke out in the House against the wishes of the Democratic leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Hey, if I was you, I may want me to go away, too. I am not going away. The Ethics Committee won't even tell me when I'm going to have a hearing. And heck, people are concerned about me. I'm 80 years old. I don't want to die before the hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: And there was fancy political footwork last night at New York's Plaza Hotel. The 20-term congressman -- take a look at this -- drew a big crowd for his 80th birthday celebration which doubled as a fund-raiser. Practically every big-name Democrat showed up in New York to praise Rangel despite his troubles.

The House Ethics Committee accuses Rangel of 13 violations. Among them, failing to report $600,000 in assets, failing to report rental income on vacation property in the Caribbean, and asking for donations from people with business before the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which he chaired until recently. Rangel admits to mistakes, but says none were intentional. He will face trial in the House probably in September.

We will bring you the congressman's news conference when it begins.

Now to the nation's housing crisis.

Thousands of people are back at the scene of yesterday's chaos outside of Atlanta. They are returning applications for government- subsidized homes. Authorities are taking steps to avoid a repeat of the violence that erupted after 30,000 people unexpectedly turned out to pick up those forms.

Josh Lives is in East Point, Georgia.

And Josh, look, I trust today is going more a lot more smoothly than yesterday?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Night and day, Tony, in that sense, yes.

I want to give everyone an understanding of what's happening. This isn't just about one city in Georgia.

People have driven here from all over the country to try to take advantage of what right now is being offered here, the chance to get on a waiting list to get some federal help for housing. Let's take a look at what's happening today.

You're going to see cars on the street. What authors here are doing is they're having people take their filled-out applications and just hand them off to the people on the street who are here accepting them. That they won't have to park, there won't be these big lines. And so far, we have seen pure order, which obviously is incredibly different from what we saw yesterday.

The kind of stuff that we've been seeing yesterday is what people are calling chaos. One woman told me it was like a nightmare. In fact, I spoke to a woman who has three kids, she's pregnant, 37 weeks pregnant. She described what it was like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDICE DIXON, SEEKING GOVERNMENT-ASSISTED HOUSING: Honestly, it was horrifying. It was chaotic. To be someone that waited in line patiently, you know, that was orderly, it was -- I was scared for my life. I was terrified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And she's hardly the only one saying that. We're hearing a lot of stories like that.

So joining me right now is Kim Lemish, who is the executive director of East Point Housing Authority.

Thank you very much for being here.

All right. So talk to me about yesterday. Before we talk about what's changing, I want to know from you what happened yesterday. People are seeing this video. They want to know what is it that went wrong? What happened?

KIMBERLY LEMISH, EXEC. DIR., EAST POINT HOUSING AUTHORITY: Well, we had prepared for upwards of 10,000, and unfortunately, more than 30,000 showed up, and that's a clear sign of what the economic times are like. And people that were coming to get applications, they brought family members with them, friends, because they didn't want to be out there alone, which significantly increased the number of people that we had to deal with.

LEVS: Why is it that the housing authority didn't have a better sense of how many people ultimately would show up? You know what the economy is like. Why didn't authorities here have a feeling it was going to be a huge crowd?

LEMISH: Well, 10,000 to us was a huge crowd. And that's what we were anticipating. In 2002, the last time we opened the list, we took in 2,400 applications. So, you know, we magnified that over a period of time and we figured it would be close to 10,000.

LEVS: All right. And as we see this video -- and then we'll talk about today -- as we see the video of what it was like yesterday, are you confident that the authorities here did everything they could to try to keep order? Because the people we're talking to and witnesses yesterday are saying it was chaos, there people were getting dehydrated. We do know that up to 62 people needed some kind of medical attention afterwards, about 20 hospitalized.

So, are you comfortable that authorities did everything they could to keep order yesterday?

LEMISH: I am. With the cooperation of police department and the fire department, EMS, other services from the metro area that came in and volunteered, we did everything that we could. And it was a success. We were able to do what we had set out to do, and that was to get the applications out to the families that needed them.

LEVS: And let's set the story straight. A lot of people don't realize this wasn't a huge line to get an application. Everyone who there who wanted an application got one, all of them. LEMISH: All of them.

LEVS: In fact, you had more. You handed out 13,000 applications, which suggests a lot of people were there with families, multiple people.

LEMISH: Yes, that's it exactly.

LEVS: OK. And what's happening today though -- today, ironically, there's not a rush even though today is the day when being earlier makes a difference, because today, the people who turned in -- that filled out applications earlier have a better shot at help, right?

LEMISH: Of course, yes. The applications are received date, and time-stamped, so, yes, that will put them higher on the list. But there are other things that affect the placement on the list as well.

But yesterday, you know, people were worried that they weren't going to have enough applications, that they weren't going to get one. You know, some of them were stressed, and it was hot and tensions were high. So, today, it's much smoother. Everything is going just as we anticipated it would.

LEVS: All right. Let's talk a little bit about what kind of help people are getting. We know there is a foreclosure crisis in America, people are losing their homes. Unemployment is ridiculously high, up near 10 percent still.

All these people are struggling. We hear that.

Just really quickly, are people here going to get help in a month, in a year, in two years? Do we know?

LEMISH: No. There is no way we can anticipate when we're going to be able to assist these families. Of course, we want to be able to assist them as soon as we can. But when we have assistance available, we will select someone off the waiting list from the pool that we have.

LEVS: All right. Well, Kimberly Lemish, thank you so much for talking to me today. I appreciate that.

LEMISH: Thank you.

LEVS: And Tony, you know, it is a tragic story that we're seeing, all these people in a rush for housing, even just help to get some housing, whatever they can do to find a place for their families.

We'll have more for you on that next hour.

HARRIS: OK, Josh. Appreciate it.

You know, that scene yesterday, Ali, probably just a sign of the times here.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HARRIS: You know, several economic figures to take a look at.

And Ali is going to join me in just a second and we're going to talk about all of this. The weekly jobless report just out shows new claims for unemployment benefits jumping by 2,000 to 484,000.

That is the highest level, Ali, in what, almost six months?

VELSHI: Yes.

HARRIS: The latest foreclosure numbers carry kind of a mixed message here. More than 325,000 filings in July. That's up 3.6 percent from June, but down almost 10 percent from a year earlier.

He is our chief business correspondent. He's also the host of CNN NEWSROOM at 1:00 p.m. -- 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern every day, Ali Velshi.

So, Ali, you've got a quick take on these numbers?

VELSHI: Yes.

I mean, look, it's the same thing with the story that Josh has. We have 9.5 percent unemployment. You cut that in half, these problems go away.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: Thirty thousand people don't have to line up for homes. So it is a sign of the times.

That unemployment number, 484,000 people filing new claims for unemployment, let me just give you that in perspective.

Almost half a million people lined up or phoned or went online to an unemployment office last week and said, I'm out of a job, new unemployment claims. We are more than two years into this thing, and we still have half a million people a week looking for a new job? And so many more people unemployed for the long term.

This was a consumer-driven economy. Everything we did was based on the fact that people earned more than they spent, and then would buy things. And then we became a credit-driven economy, where people spent more than they earned, and then credit dried up, and now we're a stuck economy.

HARRIS: So what's -- yes. But we need a new economy then.

VELSHI: Yes.

HARRIS: We can't be a credit-driven economy. We can't, it seems, at least at this moment, to be the consumer-driven economy anymore.

VELSHI: Right. HARRIS: At least now.

So what leads us out of this?

VELSHI: Well, we have a few issues. We were also a manufacturing-driven economy once. And we're not that anymore.

HARRIS: So we can't transition --

VELSHI: What is the future? What are we transitioning to?

If you're a country that has cheap labor, you can be a manufacturing country. You can export your goods. We don't have cheap labor. We like our workers to have benefits and work in air- conditioned factories.

HARRIS: Quality of life.

VELSHI: And quality of life. So we can't make T-shirts and desks and bicycles.

What is it we are going to do that's actually going to give us value? Because until we figure that out, we don't bring that unemployment number down. Until we bring that unemployment number down, people are hesitant about spending because they're worried about losing their jobs.

HARRIS: All right, Ali. I want to do more on this, but Charlie Rangel is speaking. We promised folks we would get them to Rangel's remarks.

Let's go to New York now.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

RANGEL: My kids, Steven and Alicia, the whole family -- the whole community is family because they've had to disrupt their lives in order to defend me against allegations that for the most part were initiated by the press.

I'm fully aware that reporters and those that are in the media business do what they have to do. I have no problem with that. I just would like to believe that in our great country, that the allegations of corruption, the demand for resignation, that now that you know that that's not an option, I should not have to encourage the fourth (ph) estate (ph) to kind of take a look at the law. It might help.

Go to charlierangel.gov, read the responses that I've had. With 13 allegations, there should be enough in my answers to report, which I have no problem with you reporting it. But if we can just take a breath now and to realize that sooner or later, which I have no control over, the House of Representatives Ethics Committee will give me a hearing.

Now, I don't even think -- even -- I started to name the paper, but I don't really have to. No paper can deny anybody, even a Charlie Rangel, the opportunity for a fair and equitable and just hearing.

So Ethics is going to be in Washington. I made it abundantly clear that I'm not asking for leniency. I'm asking for a hearing. So you'll have ample time to take a shot, but for God's sake, don't repeat each other when it's not even included in the allegations from the Ethics Committee.

The reason I'm so lengthy about that is because as of today, I will not be able to entertain any questions that any of you have concerning a hearing which I don't have. I personally have to prepare to defend myself for my family, for my colleagues, for my community, and that's all I've been after, just an opportunity to say, I came in 40 years ago with dignity, and there is no question in my mind that there will be no obstacles, politically or in the newspaper, that's going to stop me, good health allowing, from clearing my name from these vile and vicious charges that are not even included in the reports of the Ethics Committee.

So, please don't think I'm being rude when I tell you that when I left Washington, the Washington Ethics Committee is there. Right now you can invite me to be on your shows. You know me. I don't know how to say no. I won't be saying "no comment" about anything, except let the Ethics Committee do what the Ethics Committee does whenever, if ever, they decide to do it.

And what really troubles me is that after working so hard with this president to try to get America back to work, to deal with a problem that black, white, Jew, Gentile, Republican, Democrat is cutting at the heart of Americans, and that is to be without a job. It's more than just the income. It's more than just the bills. It's more than just food and rent and mortgages and paying tuition.

It is a sense of dignity that you have when you're working, and the embarrassment and the hurt that you know after coming from generations of life being improved for you, and to know that you can't take care of your family. And there are those in Washington that say that all we want to do is to give them unemployment compensation. And find people saying they don't really want to work, that they're just using this as a handout, these are painful things, and that was what last Tuesday should have been entirely about.

And I refuse to believe that I'm either that important or infamous, that my problems are going to interfere with any good person from getting elected or re-elected, or whatever it might be. But I am so proud of this president that we have picking up the pieces of a terrible deficit, a financial nightmare, and our men and women in harm's way, and sew it together to give us hope that our boys and girls are going to come back home, that we're going to provide education and training for them, that we're not going to forget them, as we have some in other wars, and that we're going to dedicate our lives to make certain that this next generation is going to get an education that surpasses none. Not because it's just the right thing to do, but because it's national security. Without an educated workforce, we can't compete with our competitors in India, in Japan, as the volume in terms of population is now being caught up by the education of their people. And in terms of health care, you can say what you want in any part of the United States of America, but everyone who knows anything about health care knows it's a healthy nation that's a productive nation, and that each day of each week of each month, we're going to see people that will be getting benefits that have already been denied.

In terms of the people who came out last night, as much as my ego would like me to believe that they came out for Charlie Rangel, I don't really think that's the whole story. I think it came out for process.

If you take a guy that people describe as a big shot, and tell him to resign without a hearing, what will do you to a new member with no money that can't defend themselves? They would just be run out of the office because they couldn't help themselves.

I'd like to believe that the governor understands what the press can do. I'd like to believe that our next governor, Attorney General Cuomo, knows the power of -- the negative power of the press. I'd like to believe that our two senators know that attending last night, that people may be asking them questions about, why Rangel? And I hope their answer is not just the accolades that they gave me.

It sounds good. I enjoy it. But more important than that is the process.

I cannot imagine who is not entitled to a hearing of the vicious charges of corruption that have been -- as a matter of fact, I think Mayor Dinkins really expressed my view the best last night in sharing with the people that said resign, corrupt, and all of those things, I can't find a better way to say it, but, again, those things I'm asking for. So, if you're really looking to have a good time at my expense, go to the playground and read what the defense is.

And if you can't find anything, don't even apologize. Move on and let's try to see how we can make this country all that she can be.

So, Mayor Bloomberg, John Liu, Bill de Blasio, Christine Quinn, Gale Brewer, Bob Jackson, Melissa Gervarito (ph), Inez Dickens, (INAUDIBLE) Rodriguez (INAUDIBLE).

Was he there?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was watching it on TV.

RANGEL: Well, you listed the assembly people here, so -- but, of course, Adriano Espiad (ph), who soon will be a state senator, Denny Farrell (ph), Danny O'Donnell (ph), Linda Rosenthal (ph), and my county leader and leader, leader, Keith Wright (ph).

To my senators, Eric Schneiderman, who soon will be, I hope, our attorney general, to Bill Perkins, and, of course, Jose Cyrano (ph), that's my political family. And I hope they like me. But if they don't like me, they have to fall in love with a process and to realize that, God forbid, if anyone in public service that tried to their best to do what they want to do for their constituents in this great country, that they will not be deterred without a hearing. So let's put that behind us and let's get on with the campaign.

Now, many people believe that after 40 years in the Congress, that some of us can get an attitude of arrogance. I've had people ask me more than once, "Do you really believe that you're the only person that can service the 15th Congressional District?" And I pause and I say that there's no question in my mind that there are people that can more than adequately represent this great, diversified district. The problem is, none of them are running in this race.

(LAUGHTER)

RANGEL: So we can move off the arrogance and say, how important is it to you? Well, there's unfinished business to be done.

The great remarkable recovery of the bankers have not reached the debtors. The small banks are still not providing even though we have legislation to give them incentives to provide for our business people.

And when we say that we're protecting and preserving the jobs of the city and the state and federal government, it's not just that they provide vital services. It means that they are consumers of goods and services.

They stop buying. They lose confidence. The small business guy cannot hire people for the demand, but indeed fires people, lays off people, reduces the pay of people, and then we have this vicious circle.

So I just hope that those who have been my lawyers -- and we'll see what happens when I get back -- those who have been my advisers that say, you know, stay away from everything, that's the best way to do, that if I've done something wrong, I guess we can have another press conference to deal with it. But for those who believe that you have to ask questions about the Ethics Committee, do me a big favor. Continue to ask them, but ask the guys in charge in Washington when I'm going to get a hearing.

So if you exhaust yourself with all of the allegations, do it there, because I'm going to restrict myself in the next weeks and months in trying to get re-elected, identifying with the needs of my great congressional district, get a message out there that will provide jobs, education, health care, but, most important, hope. That's what the country needs at this time, in addition to jobs and money in the pocket and saving their homes and tuition.

America's greatness is that if you never make it in this country, you have hope that in this country you can do it. We can't take that away.

So that's it. That's the campaign. And that's where we go.

I tell people, I don't mind people telling me what to do. Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

Now, for those people that are just biting at the bit to say, "What the hell is he talking about, defense? What is he talking about? We know the allegations." Well, let me inform you, there are two sides to it.

It's the alleged violations, and then there's the Rangel defense. So I know you don't have time to do it of yourself, but get someone to go to charlierangel.org. That's me saying what you're not reporting, but I have no control over it.

But there may be just one person out there that says, "What the heck is he talking about?" And it's really my response, charlierangel.org is very important.

HARRIS: So if you continue to be interested Charlie Rangel's side of this story, there you go, charlierangel.org.

So let's talk about the congressman's troubles and what comes next, and maybe even the headache many seem to believe he is causing his fellow Democrats.

CNN Senior Political Editor Mark Preston joining us now from Washington.

Mark, good to see you.

So, Charlie Rangel doesn't believe his problems will impact Democrats running for office in November. Is he right about that?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SR. POLITICAL EDITOR: I don't think so. And you know, he said that in that speech right there, that kind of rambling speech, Tony.

Probably the best news for Democrats that came out of this speech is that he said he's not going to talk any more about it and he's going to get his defense together and he's going to run for re- election. But, in fact, across the country, this is most likely going to have an impact.

We're already seeing it have an impact, Tony, in certain races across the country. In fact, I just got off the phone with John Boccieri's campaign. He is a congressman from Ohio.

He gave back $23,500 worth of contributions that Charlie Rangel had given him. Boccieri has actually given them to charities around his district. So we're seeing that already.

Where this is really going to become an issue I think is in September, Tony, and that's when this ethics trial we expect is going to happen. But for now, let's actually look at some numbers right now. We did ask the ethics question, Tony. Let's look at what Americans have to say about ethics and Republicans right now, as far as, do they think Republicans are ethical?

If you look at that number, 52 percent of Americans believe that most Republicans in Congress are ethical, 45 percent unethical. Let's look at the Democratic number now, Tony.

Same question to the Democrats. Most Democrats in Congress, 53 percent are ethical, 45 percent are unethical.

So what we're seeing from a strategic point right now, Tony, is that this isn't really playing out nationally at this point. Democrats are very concerned come September, during an ethics investigation, during an ethics trial, this is going to become an issue.

HARRIS: Mark, that unethical number for both parties is just way, way too high. And it just gives you a sense of what people in the country really think about Congress right now.

I'm curious to what extent you are seeing Republicans using these ethics problems with Charlie Rangel, with Maxine Waters, politically. Are you seeing it in ads, speeches?

PRESTON: OK. So what we haven't seen so far, is we haven't seen any television ads, because people say in Nebraska or Kansas, Alabama, they don't necessarily know who Charlie Rangel is. But what they are doing, though, Tony, if you were to look at the local newspapers and go through the local television stations, Republicans here in Washington are doing these targeted hits on Democrats across the country, and they're saying, look, Charlie Rangel has given X amount of dollars to Congressman Z. Don't you think Congressman Z. should give that money back.

So we're starting to see momentum build up across the country. Democrats here in Washington are very, very concerned, Tony, that when they should be talking about jobs, when they should be talking about choice election, they're talking about ethics.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

All right. Mark Preston for us.

Mark, appreciate it, as always. Thank you.

Millions who lost their jobs have created their own position -- boss. Here about this former pharmaceutical salesman's life-changing decision to go into the junk hauling business.

We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Did you know more Americans started a business last year during the recession than in any of the previous 14 years? Well, many were forced into entrepreneurship after being laid off.

Our new series "DIY Economy" introduces us to people who cashed in their 401(k) and took a gamble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGER PANITCH, FRANCHISE OWNER: Hey. How are you? Roger Panitch from College Hunks Hauling Junk.

HARRIS (voice-over): Roger Panitch is a born salesman.

PANITCH: I've always felt that I'd be able to sell ice to an Eskimo.

HARRIS: The Penn State grad sold pharmaceuticals for eight years in south Florida and became a manager. But his skills couldn't save him from the oncoming recession.

PANITCH: In December of 2006, with 10,000 of my closest friends, I was downsized.

HARRIS: Instead of sulking, he managed to find a job as an executive recruiter, but that was a bust, too.

PANITCH: If you could pick a time in the last 50 years to be a recruiter, January of '07 to March of '09 probably is not the best window.

HARRIS: While checking the Web for jobs, Roger got an e-mail asking if he ever thought about owning his own business?

PANITCH: And I clicked on yes and started the process of investigated franchises. Sure enough, College Hunks Hauling Junk was sitting there, and it jumped off the page at me.

HARRIS: At 41 years old, Roger would become his own boss for the very first time. He took half of his 401(k) retirement savings and bought a franchise in January hauling junk. It was a big gamble for this father of three, but the junk removal business is one of the few businesses that actually expanded during the recession.

PANITCH: Whether it's because of the foreclosures and people need to clean out those houses, or people are downsizing or moving in with their -- you know, mom's moving in with us, we need to get rid of these things or donate these things to Goodwill, that's business for us.

HARRIS: While half of all new businesses fail, franchises have a much better rate of success.

PANITCH: There's 25 people before me who have gone through a similar thing. They've streamlined, what do we need to do? Well, here's a checklist of everything you need to do.

HARRIS: College Hunks was started by two University of Miami grads in 2007. Roger bought their 26th franchise. He hired three guys to help him do the heavy lifting. Two are exploring the notion of buying their own junk hauling business one day.

THURSTON CAMPBELL, EMPLOYEE, COLLEGE HUNKS HAULING JUNK: I've always had that inspiration to work for myself or own my own company. franchise. He hired three guys to help him do the heavy lifting.

SCOTT HARLOW, EMPLOYEE, COLLEGE HUNKS HAULING JUNK: Because the company as a whole is relatively new, there is a lot of potential to move up.

HARRIS: Roger says this is the best job he's ever had. He gets to mold young minds, pass on his leadership skills, do a service for the community and while being a boss is a lot of work --

PANITCH: Everything falls on my shoulder, that's the biggest difference. I'm doing the paperwork, I'm doing the I-9 forms, I'm doing the W-2 forms. We're running low on supplies, I'm the one who has to get the supplies.

HARRIS: But there are pig perks.

PANITCH: Nobody's going to say, you don't have any vacation days left. Yes, I do.

HARRIS: Roger says the company is running in the black. He has exceeded his own forecasts. Drawing a small salary every month, he expects to make back his original investment in a year and a half.

PANITCH: I don't think I'm going to be Bill Gates. You know, I don't think I'm going to be Steve Jobs, but I think I'm going to be very happy and be able to provide for my kids.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: There you go.

Now, before you go out and buy a franchise, Roger says he did months of research on what was the right fit for him before taking the plunge.

All right, still to come in the NEWSROOM, a powerful storm hits near the nation's capital. Our meteorologist, Rob Marciano, gives you a look at the damage.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Hey, check this out. Damage and a lot of it actually from Gaithersburg, Maryland -- is that PG county? Is that Montgomery County. Just outside of -- you do owe my money, by the way.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's a quarter for your trouble there, pal.

HARRIS: I didn't throw it to you, don't throw it back. I handed it to you when you asked me for the money. MARCIANO: Sorry to interrupt, Tony.

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: So take a look at this. Boy, this is a real mess here. We're talking about an 80-foot tree slamming through the second and third stories of this apartment building. My understanding is, Rob, it trapped a couple of residents there, and this happened, when, this morning?

MARCIANO: Around between 6:00 and 8:00 this morning. Nasty storms that came through.

HARRIS: Straight-line winds?

MARCIANO: There was a tornado warning up for north of there, but probably just straight-line winds. I mean, it was a mess. It looked like the end of the world in through the D.C. area there for a couple of hours.

This is the line that now is moving down the Delmarva down the Chesapeake and eventually out to sea. But nonetheless, it was a rough morning for Montgomery County. Numerous trees down beyond that one there.

And at one point -- I don't know what the number is now -- but at one point, they had had over 100,000 people without power. So it was quite a storm.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Two senators pass a bill today while the other 98 vacation. What is going on here?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A small school is taking big steps to protect itself amid the growing battle over immigration. Arizona's Little Red Schoolhouse in the border town of Nogales has erected a seven-foot barbed wire fence. It is intended to keep out illegal immigrants and smugglers from coming down the nearby mountainside onto school grounds -- there we go, there's a video -- and to block border patrol officers who often chase suspects across the campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY ZAPATA, CONCERNED STUDENT: A lot of people crossing over with drugs, and we need to feel safe. We need to be safe because they go to the school.

IRMA CARRILLO, CONCERNED PARENT: And our kids are coming home, mom, they got somebody else. Mom, they were chasing somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So this next story counts as a who knew and an are you kidding me.

The Senate can work quickly and efficiently when senators' vacations are on the line. A special session last hour to approve a border security bill with just two senators in the chamber. New York Senator Charles Schumer and Maryland's Ben Cardin passed the $600 million emergency measure on a voice vote. Democratic and republican leaders agreed to pass the bill this way to keep vacation disruptions to a minimum.

Top stories are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Checking top stories for you now.

A federal jury is deliberating for a 12th day in the corruption case against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Jurors have indicated they are deadlocked on at least one of the 24 counts.

Storms in the Gulf will delay BP's final kill on its oil well until next week. The well has been plugged from the top since mid- July, but federal officials want to bottom kill to make sure the well never leaks.

And the first full military terror trial under the Obama administration opened today at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The detainee, the youngest at GITMO, was 15 when he was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2002.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: New York City buses serve as rolling advertisements, yes. Soon some of those ads will criticize a planned Islamic center in mosque near Ground Zero.

We're back in a moment

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Plans for an Islamic center and mosque near 9/11 Ground Zero move forward with no let up in the fierce criticism, some of it to appear on New York City buses.

Here's CNN's Mary Snow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Coming to some New York City buses, this ad showing an image of 9/11 in one corner, in the other what's being called a mega-mosque.

Before the MTA, New York City's transit agency, cleared the ad, the woman behind it sued. Pam Geller, a conservative blogger and part of a group called Stop Islamization of America, says initially there were objections over the imagery.

(on camera): You think New Yorkers will get upset, though, with the tower, the plane and the flames?

PAMELA GELLER, STOP ISLAMIZATION OF AMERICA: I think that that's a piece of American history. Do they get upset with Pearl Harbor or Iwo Jima? I mean, if this is offensive, if showing an image of 9/11 offensive, then what is a 15-story mega-mosque looking down on the cemetery where they're still finding human remains?

SNOW (voice-over): But that's not an accurate picture. The actual site is not adjacent to Ground Zero, but two blocks away from it. And the mosque within will be one part of a larger community center that will also include a performing arts center and gym.

Geller said she raised $8,000 on the web to put the ads on about two dozen buses with the aim of sparking debate. And if anyone is familiar with that, it's Azeem Khan of the Islamic Circle of North America. In recent years, his group ran ads on city buses and trains to educate people about Islam. He questions the motives of the anti- mosque ads.

(on camera): What are you expecting to happen?

AZEEM KHAN, ISLAMIC CENTER OF NORTH AMERICA: Right, well, we know that this is not just about New York City, this is happening all over the country.

The type of campaigns that we run are to promote tolerance and dialogue. These are the complete opposite, they promote fear and hatred.

SNOW (voice-over): Khan points to recent protests in Temecula, California against a proposed mosque site and another in a town south of Nashville, Tennessee with people voicing fears they'll be used by Islamic extremists.

After protests held in Florida, members of one mosque want to make sure people understand what's going on inside. They're streaming sermons online as a way of showing they have nothing to hide.

But it comes against a backdrop of growing opposition against the planned mosque near Ground Zero. A new CNN/opinion research corporation poll shows 68 percent of Americans oppose it.

KHAN: As people get to know us, as we're here for a longer amount of time, like other communities, eventually we will be accepted. People want Islam to be -- Islam and Muslims to be the bogeymen right now.

It's a big disconnect right there. That's just not the reality of things.

SNOW: Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: General Motors riding high today. The company derided as "Government Motors" last year posts another quarterly profit, its biggest in six years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. Let's get you to CNNMoney.com and look at the business story of the day. See it right here? GM headed to -- really? For IPO with its new chief? GM, which was lower than low a year or so ago? Bankruptcy protection and why are we throwing good money after bad? GM? Really? What's the profit figure here? Well we'll get to it in a second with -- just a second.

Let's look at the rest of the numbers, the New York Stock Exchange right now, 33 points, we're trading negatively right now. Nasdaq is down 13 points.

Really? Think about GM for a second here. It was just a little more than a year ago that General Motors filed for bankruptcy. Look at the automaker now, more than $1 billion last quarter.

Felicia Taylor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Felicia, am I correct here? Why are we throwing money at GM? Good money after bad. It was a bad idea when President Bush started it. It's a worse idea under -- you remember those days?

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I do. I love the way you characterize it -- really? Really?

Yes, really. It's the truth. I mean, this is the biggest profit in six quarters and the second straight profitable quarter. Now that back-to-back profit is really important for GM. They really need to establish that kind of back-to-back profit and most of the demand is coming from North America. They've had still a slowdown in Europe and Asia. But, you know, it's good for a number of reasons to see the fact that there's demand in North America.

The CFO, Chris Liddell, spoke with CNNMoney.com earlier and talked about how important it is for the company to regain confidence. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS LIDDELL, CFO, GM: What I think will really help is giving people the confidence in our vehicles, not only in the quality of them, but the fact that there is a company that's going to sit behind the warranties that we have and sit behind the vehicles over the lifetime of when they own them. So that to my mind is the fundamental issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR: So, clearly, confidence is coming back. And you can hear more about what the CFO had to say on CNNMoney.com, if you want to hear the full interview.

But here's what's really interesting. Not only is confidence back, but the evidence is portrayed in North America, because factories are here are running at -- get this, Tony -- 90 percent capacity. That compares to just last year, when they were only running at 40 percent capacity. So that's incredible for GM.

And by the way, word is you could see an IPO in days to come, so that's very important as well -- Tony.

HARRIS: Talk about the turnaround. All right, Felicia, see you next hour. Thank you.

An arrest is made in the serial stabbings case, a person of interest in a spree of attacks across three states that left five people dead. We will get the latest from CNN's Susan Candiotti in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus, bringing our heroes home. CNN's Ted Rowlands reports on an excavation mission for World War II Marines in the Pacific.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)