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Mandatory Evacuations Along Parts of North Carolina; Iraq Takes Military Control; Unemployed Veterans; New Video of Trapped Miners
Aired September 01, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of men and women are coming home from the war in Iraq, and families are greeting them with a lot of love, tears and relief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dismissed!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has been a very emotional thing, because I know he's going to look at her and say, this is not the same child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just astonished how big she has gotten. I miss my wife and my little one. I'm just so glad to be home right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every day is going to be Valentine's Day the next couple weeks, I'm sure, with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And hello again, everyone, I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's top stories.
Gassing up, packing up and moving out. Hurricane Earl forcing thousands of people on the East Coast to evacuate. We are tracking the storm.
Messages and milestones half a mile under the earth. And after being trapped for weeks, the Chilean miners get their first hot meals and send messages to anxious loved ones.
We are live from Chile with more.
You're online right now, and we are too. Ines Ferre is following "What's Hot" -- Ines.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, a real-life telenovela. A Mexican actress accused of paying a U.S. citizen to marry her says she married for love, not a green card.
Also, a lot of you are weighing in on what you think Apple will or won't announce today -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right, Ines.
Let's get started with our lead story. Let's get you up to speed now on a dangerous and unpredictable storm.
Hurricane Earl, still on track toward the U.S. East Coast. A lot of folks are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping it won't be a direct hit, but this is not a storm to fool around with. Mandatory evacuations are already under way along parts of the North Carolina coast.
On the phone with me right now from Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, Farris O'Neal. He is a co-owner of a boat rental company.
And Farris, first of all, good to talk to you.
If you would, give us an assessment of the situation where you are right now.
FARRIS O'NEAL, RESTLESS NATIVE BOAT RENTALS: Well, everybody is under fool evacuation. There's not a whole lot of people left on the island. A lot of people started leaving last night.
Probably, there's a couple restaurants still open. A lot of boats being moved, pulled out of the water, tied up, whatever needs to happen.
I guess the ferries are still moving pretty well, not a whole lot of backup. Got some news crews flying around, it looked like, to me. And it's a beautiful day here -- blue sky. It's a bad day for people to have to leave.
It is a dangerous storm, and we are hoping it's not a direct hit (INAUDIBLE). Everybody is planning it's going to be some hard northeast wind, good for us. That's about --
HARRIS: That's good, Farris. That's good.
Tell me specifically what you're doing to prepare for this storm, your business and your personal life.
O'NEAL: I've been pulling my boats out. We do parasailing here also, charter fishing. And pulling the boats out. The ones that are too big, we moor up, tie up, securing all that down.
It's been a really good season. You know, it's a busy weekend. It would have been a busy weekend. But haven't had a storm in five years, so lucky there.
My wife, she's going to be leaving. We have a 14-month-old. And I just hope she makes it safe where she is going.
HARRIS: When are you leaving?
O'NEAL: Just wait it out. HARRIS: Are you going to wait it out or are you going to leave?
O'NEAL: I'm going to wait it out. Always have. Just hope it skirts us, like I was saying, and doesn't -- we don't get a direct hit.
HARRIS: All right, Farris. Be careful, OK? Be careful.
O'NEAL: They're saying it's going to make a big turn. I hope it does.
HARRIS: All right. Let's figure out that piece of it right now.
Farris, hang in there.
Let's get you the latest information on Earl. Chad Myers is in the -- in our hurricane headquarters.
Farris says he's going to try to ride it out, he's getting his family out of there. And he says a lot of people have heeded the warnings and are moving. And that's good news.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A lot of people think that they can do things during the storm. And maybe if you see a boat that becomes untied, or one of the spider ties breaks, whatever, you can go out there and do it. But that's the dangerous time to be out there. I mean, that's just -- you need to do all that stuff and just let it alone and get out of there.
If this storm doesn't turn, it's going to continue on this path. That's a really bad path.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: So we have been hoping, planning for this turn from about Thursday of last week. You know, Tony?
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: When does it turn? When does that happen?
Well, finally, the high pressure that has been keeping it south, because the winds have been going this way instead of this way, finally that high now is at its end, is at its wits' end. And so the turn will start to come here.
The question is, what happens if it doesn't? What happens if people are really on the shore at 125 miles per hour? Because we're still in the cone here.
Here's the Outer Banks. That's Outer Banks, still inside the cone. And that cone is always what we look at.
Try not to look at the line, because the line is still off shore. But the cone touches all the way through Pamlico Sound, right down through Ocracoke, and then even up into Cape Cod. Their cone is right now. Now the forecasts are beginning to turn it farther out to the ocean, but we'll see. This could be a storm that people go, yes, I don't think so. I think it's going to turn. I think it's going to turn.
Well, you know, we thought that a long time, didn't we?
HARRIS: Oh yes.
MYERS: Here's a shot there of Duck (ph). People still enjoying the shore for now. I would say today is the last day -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK, Chad. Man, all right.
Again, let's treat this a little bit like breaking news. If you get some more information, if you get some new facts, figures, whatever else, just let us know. We'll prop you up. Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: Sure.
HARRIS: The U.S. officially begins a new phase of operations in Iraq.
A ceremony in Baghdad today marked the end of the combat mission and the start of support roles for U.S. troops. There was also a change of command. Army General Lloyd Austin III replaced General Ray Odierno as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. Vice President Joe Biden helped preside over the ceremony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, but American engagement with Iraq will continue with the mission that begins today, Operation New Dawn. As the name suggests, this ceremony not only marks the change of a command, but the start of a different chapter in the relationship with Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You know, for the next 16 months, American troops are supposed to blend into the background in support roles.
CNN's Michael Holmes now from Iraq's Diyala province.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a remote checkpoint near the Iranian border, officers check their soldiers' readiness. In the background, a U.S. officer watches on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure like you normally do. Make sure they're running through checking their equipment, checking their gear. Make sure they all have their weapons and ammunition.
HOLMES: This is a combined Iraqi Army/Kurdish Pashmerga checkpoint, but the lessons are the same.
(on camera): What's going on here at a checkpoint like this is a pretty good illustration of the new phase of the U.S. mission here. It is to advise, assist, equip and train. And these guys are having all that from U.S. troops who are over there every single day.
COL. MALCOM FROST, U.S. ARMY: We're kind of hitting it from both ends, from the strategic and operation level, and then from the tactical level on up, and hoping at the end what we'll find is a better-trained force that we are advising and assisting as they fight the counterinsurgency.
HOLMES (voice-over): With U.S. troop numbers now under 50,000 and the combat phase of the war over, the race is on to make sure Iraqi security forces are as ready as possible for the day towards the end of next year when the Americans will be gone.
LT. ROBERT MINER, U.S. ARMY: And the (INAUDIBLE) we've got right here is how properly run a checkpoint. Within that there are certain things that we teach them as well -- how to search people properly; if there is evidence found, how to exploit it properly.
HOLMES: The training runs the gamut from what tactics to employ when under attack, to lessons in battlefield medical treatment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, you tighten it with your hand as much as you can.
HOLMES: Recent attacks on Iraqi security forces have raised concerns that troops aren't protecting them themselves well enough, let alone civilians. For commanders, there is an appetite for more of this training.
"Our soldiers are ready to take over the mission," says Lieutenant Abdul Rahman of the Iraqi Army. "But, yes, we do need some assistance."
His Kurdish counterpart, Lieutenant Hamakhan, agreed. "We need to be trained on counterterrorism," he says, "but all of this has been very valuable."
And while this is the new phase of the war for Americans, the old phase, the combat phase, may have ended in name, ,but not in reality. This is still a front line in a very dangerous place.
FROST: It is still dangerous. My unit has tragically had two soldiers killed within the last month, and I do not believe that it will be the last casualty that we see here.
STAFF SGT. DAVID WINKEL, U.S. ARMY: Yes, there's daily risk. We're still in threat of IEDs, small arms fire.
HOLMES: And those risks will be part of the job over the coming year as checkpoints like this gradually move into Iraqi hands without the Americans moving on.
MINER: So that means, you know, to the very last day, training them so that they're best prepared for when we finally leave here.
HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN, in Diyala province, near the Iranian border. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And back home, U.S. troops face another battle -- finding jobs outside the military. I will speak to a director of a firm helping veterans find work.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Ah, love this.
When superheroes get angry, you get the "Random Moment of the Day."
Superman, the Incredible Hulk, a lone Power Ranger and the villainous Darth Vader try to zap the LAPD. The group is usually working the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard, where they pose for pictures with tourists. Right?
Police stripped the superheroes of their powers recently, hauling some of them to jail. Tourists complained the characters were shaking them down for tips. Power Ranger denies it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REBECCA HOLLAND, POWER RANGER: A lot of people are really afraid to come out dressed up because they have been arrested, they have been harassed, they have been criminally profiled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: When superpowers fail, superheroes file a lawsuit. This "Random Moment of the Day" is headed for court.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Going from the armed forces to the workforce, that is the battle now for U.S. troops returning from war.
Josh Levs looks at the rather bleak picture for veterans in their search for jobs -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, yes. And Tony, you have seen some of these numbers. We're going to hash through them, because it's such an ugly picture.
Look, unemployment in America in general is that bad right now, but when we look specifically at people who have been participating in the recent wars -- this is just post-9/11, we're talking Iraq and Afghanistan -- the numbers are drawn out all the way down for that.
Now, let's give you the big picture. Nationally right now, our unemployment rate is at 9.5 percent. And when we're looking at these recent veterans, we're going higher than that. It's at 11.8 percent for recent veterans. And you want to see how that's changed? A year ago it was 9.8 percent. So what we're seeing is an increase in the unemployment rate specifically among recent veterans.
Now, that is a big problem. There's also something to keep in mind about this I'll tell you. "The Wall Street Journal" pointed it out, and they're right, that the truth is a lot of today's veterans are pretty young.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: And many of them served in their late teens or early 20s. And in general in America, unemployment is actually higher among younger people. So that's part of what we're talking about here, not just them being veterans, but the fact that they're young.
In fact, between the ages of 20 and 24, the unemployment rate, Tony, it's at 15.6 percent. You already have a higher unemployment rate among a lot of people in that age group, that's part of it. That said, a ton needs to be done to help our veterans.
HARRIS: OK. What's being done to help them?
LEVS: Well, I'll tell you a few examples. There's actually a lot going through Congress right now. You know the way it works, you have different things in different places, some of them take a while to go through.
Let me talk through some help for jobless veterans inside Congress. Three things to look at.
One is this thing called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. And what it does is it offers money to businesses if they will hire a recent veteran.
Now, $2,400 for hiring veterans. Look at that, twice as much, $4,800 if you hire a disabled veteran.
And you have some lawmakers now that are pushing to extend that. It would expire at the end of this year. They want to make sure it sticks around.
Two more to mention. One we're going to be hearing a lot about, the Veterans Employment Act. This pushes for job training and placement services. This has been working its way kind of through Congress for months and months and months. We're waiting for the point that it might actually pass. There's still some steps to go through for that.
And the final one involves education. It's the Educational Assistance Act, or the full name of it is the Veterans Educational Assistance Improvement Act.
The idea there -- and Tony, we've talked about this -- is that a lot of these people have skills, but not necessarily the skills that the job market is looking for, or hasn't been in. A lot of them have never really been in the actual labor market before if they're really young. So this is designed to focus on veterans, give them more training and more education to help take those skills, make them work in the workplace, and hopefully find jobs.
HARRIS: OK. Any Web sites that you were able to pull up that might be helpful?
LEVS: Yes, there's actually a bunch of them. I know one that you're familiar with. I think I heard you talking about one earlier, careeronestop.org.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: Here's what I'll do. I'm going to name four and then I'll go send them out by Twitter for anyone who wants all four of them.
HARRIS: Great.
LEVS: So, careeronestop.org has a whole section on the military. There's also vetjobs.com, which says veterans make the best employees. It focuses on how to make veterans hirable, basically, and how businesses find them.
There's also one here that's veteranemployment.com. And one more. This is called jobsforvets.com.
So, yes, there are a lot of tools here. If you're one of these people in that situation, or one of your loved ones is, you want to check out all these sites. I'm at JoshLevsCNN.
I'll go send it out by Twitter right now -- Tony.
HARRIS: Nice. Good stuff, Josh. Appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: You got it.
HARRIS: We want to focus now on solutions helping veterans find employment and educational opportunities. That is the mission of Robert Walker of the Ohio-based firm Recruit Military. He joins me from Cincinnati.
Robert, it is good to see you again. Let's --
ROBERT WALKER, RECRUIT MILITARY: Good morning.
HARRIS: Yes, good to see you.
What services are offered by your organization to help veterans who are looking for work? Let's drill down right on it right here, right now.
WALKER: Got you. A lot of great things.
First of all, we have a database, where veterans, as well as their spouses, can actually go on a register, search jobs for free, as well as post a resume. We have opportunity expos across the country, as well as some online services. And then we also have a print publication, "Search and Employ," where veterans -- it goes out to the bases and the transitioning centers so they can see actual job opportunities that are available to them, as well.
HARRIS: And how about the biggest obstacles right now for veterans looking to transition, the ones that you talked to? What's the biggest obstacle for them?
WALKER: I think one of the biggest ones, and it's one that I had when I got out of the service in '96, is basically transitioning their current skills into the immediate workforce.
HARRIS: Yes.
WALKER: And that's tough, because I was infantry, and that doesn't really translate to anything, but I had a lot of great soft skills and things that made me a great employee, not realizing. And some young veterans don't know that they're great employees just by their discipline, their dedication, their loyalty. They're trainable, and their discipline, all these things, make them great.
HARRIS: Yes, and you make a great point here. When you're in the military and, in your case, in the infantry, one of the things you wonder now, are the people -- are the young people, the men and the women in the military right now who are coming out and trying to make this transition, are they trained, generally speaking, in the skills that civilian employers are looking for right now?
WALKER: Some of them are. Of course, if you're a mechanic, you can be a mechanic when you get out of the service. But a lot of companies nowadays, we have some great employers that are looking like L-3, Booz Allen Hamilton, Accenture, are looking for great employees that are a match based off their leadership, the fact that they're trainable. Because in the military, you're training on a daily basis, and someone that -- you know, you have to adapt quickly.
It's not about, hey, are you a quick learner? It's about learning quick.
HARRIS: Yes.
How about the educational component here? We heard the president talking about that last night. Is this a time to take advantage of what's being offered by the government to get additional training in the skill sets you need today?
WALKER: Some are doing that by going to the Veterans Administration. But a lot of them can also use their benefits for the new job bill, like a university like DeVry University and get more trained and get more education and be more employable once they get through.
HARRIS: Terrific. Robert, as always, good to see you. Thanks for your time on this. And thanks for your help.
WALKER: Thank you guys.
HARRIS: Inspiring kindergarten students to strive for college and helping them pay for it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM (D), SAN FRANCISCO: How much money is this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten dollars.
NEWSOM: Ten dollars? And do you think -- if you go to college, do you think it costs more than $10? Probably, huh? So you need a lot of these to go to college.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A college savings account for every kindergartner, courtesy of San Francisco taxpayers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get you caught up now on top stories.
Hurricane Earl on a steady course toward the U.S. East Coast. Warnings and evacuation orders are now in place on the North Carolina coast. Forecasters don't think it will make a direct hit, but as it sideswipes the coast, Earl could still cause some serious problems.
A victory for a Tea Party favorite in Alaska. Senator Lisa Murkowski is conceding victory to Joe Miller in the state's Republican Senate primary. Miller was backed by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express.
And actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is back in the hospital in Los Angeles after her husband found her unresponsive. But doctors say it is not life- threatening. The 93-year-old Gabor has had complications since hip replacement surgery.
More top stories for you in 20 minutes.
"Fix Our Schools," those three words are driving much of what you see on CNN this week, because as America's children return to school, CNN has a mission. We have sent reporting teams across the country to document the education crisis in America. Most importantly, we will shine a light on success stories that can empower us to offer our children so much more than they're getting right now.
San Francisco has a unique plan to inspire kindergarten students to strive for college and to help them pay for it.
The story now from CNN's Dan Simon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWSOM: What would college be? Is it a sport?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a kind of school. NEWSOM: It's a school. Well done.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): San Francisco's mayor, Gavin Newsom, doing a classroom show-and-tell with 5-year-olds.
NEWSOM: How much money is this?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Ten.
NEWSOM: Ten dollars? And do you think if you go to college, do you think it costs more than $10? Probably, huh? So you need a lot of these to go to college.
SIMON (voice-over): The mayor has come to Sarah Elementary School, because starting this year, every kindergartner here will get a college savings account courtesy of city taxpayers.
(on camera): We've never heard of anything like this before.
NEWSOM: No, to our knowledge, it hasn't been done in the United States. And what a nice backdrop in the midst of everybody talking about budget cuts and constraints.
SIMON (voice-over): The program, which will take a couple of years to fully implement, is fairly modest. Children will get $50 to start, $100 for lower-income children. One of the goals is to get families to save.
As an added incentive, a private foundation will contribute $100 for every child whose family saves $100, at least for the first few years.
JOSE CISNEROS, CITY TREASURER, SAN FRANCISCO: We know that $50, $100 even after 12 years of interest and compounding, it's still not going to be enough money. We know that what really needs to happen is the families need to step in -- families, relatives, friends. They really need to help and augment those savings so they grow year after year after year. And that's what gives a child enough money to go to college.
SIMON (on camera): One of the main ideas behind this program is just to get children thinking about college at a very young age. City officials like to point to a study from Washington University in St. Louis that found that children who just had some money set aside for college were seven times more likely to go.
(voice-over): This Latino father says he wants to send his two children to college but, like many parents, hasn't saved for it and is intimidated by the costs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: When you're unemployed and not working for five months, it's kind of hard to think about saving.
NEWSOM: One-half of the Hispanic community in San Francisco doesn't even have access to a checking account or savings account. But their child has that? And now it's being matched by the private sector? And Stanford University, and the Gates Foundation are going to do an independent analysis to see if this works.
And other members of the community are going to say, "Hey, you know what, I'd love to contribute." You watch. This thing will take off. All of a sudden, we'll deal with that one limiting belief. That is, "I can't afford college."
SIMON (voice-over): The program would have to survive budget negotiations each year, but at a cost of $200,000 this year out of the $6 billion budget, the dollars seem minuscule. Especially if it works. That, of course, we won't know for many years until these children reach college age.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And, of course, we want to hear from you. Tell us how you would fix our schools. You can send us a comment by Twitter, iReport, or at our blog page, CNN.com/Tony.
A prelude to Mideast peace talks. President Obama meets with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. A live report from the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Key Middle East leaders meeting separately today with President Obama at the White House. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and the leaders of Jordan and Egypt all getting set for direct peace talks.
White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us now.
And Suzanne, let's talk about the schedule a bit here. My understanding is we may get some tape soon of statements.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
HARRIS: Really? OK. Jump in.
MALVEAUX: Yes. It's actually happening right now, because the tape is being fed out. And I just had a chance, a quick second to listen to what was going on.
We heard from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is with the president, who called these talks direct and open and productive. That's the only thing I was able to listen to before we jumped here on camera. But that is something that we're getting information now.
And they're going to quickly turn that tape, Tony, so we're going to be able to hear that just in a couple of minutes or so.
This is a change in the president's schedule. It was not scheduled that these two leaders would appear together to make statements before cameras. And so, clearly, all sides here are trying to show that there is some progress that's being made, that there is some serious work that is getting done. Before, it was just going to be a picture of the two leaders, a still photo. Now we are actually going to be getting some updates on how these meetings are going.
We know that the two leaders met around 10:45 this morning or so. They are now making those statements to reporters.
The next meeting on the agenda, on the president's agenda, is going to be with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and then later with Jordan's King Abdullah, as well as Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. All four of these leaders here together in town for the next couple of days to try to jump-start the peace talks.
And one of the major obstacles here, Tony, that we're looking at is whether or not the Israelis will continue to build settlements in the West Bank. There's been a 10-month moratorium on that, but the question is whether Netanyahu will go ahead and allow it to expire, which is going to happen in about a month or so, or whether or not he is going to say, look, I think that restriction is going to stay in place, as the Palestinians would like and as the Obama administration would like -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, you're absolutely right. And that moratorium does expire at the end of the month, I believe the 26th.
So let's do this -- when we get the tape, let's turn it around and we'll watch it together.
Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us.
Unemployment takes a toll at the dealer showroom. GM reports sales skidded in August. But you know what? We've got good numbers on Wall Street today.
Yes, it can be a little negative, but we've got some good news, as well. The Dow up over 200 points.
The CNN Money team has the numbers on car sales coming up for you in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Let's get you to CNNmoney.com. And there's all kinds of financial news here, as you would expect. But, boy, we've got new figures on the car sector coming in, the automobile sector coming in right now, and it's -- there you go. Talk about a potential rally killer. Look at this. Ford, GM numbers.
Let's get you to the Big Board now. We are off of session highs. We are still looking really good, though. 234, 235 points in the NASDAQ. That's up, too. Up 56 points. What is Apple saying today?
Car companies report their August sales today. And you just had a look at some the numbers. Pretty dismal.
Stephanie Elam joining us now from New York. And Stephanie, boy, you can't get any momentum here. We've got a good rally going! The bulls are running like crazy! And then you've got that over your shoulder.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, maybe we should go out and buy a bull instead of a car. I don't know. Or maybe that's what people are doing. I'm not sure.
But Tony, you're right. August sales could actually be the slowest in more than 25 years. GM sales, they fell 25 percent from last August. Now, remember, last year, remember that's when we had that hugely successful Cash for Clunkers program? There's no such beast this year. So, that's part of the reason for the drop-off.
Taking a look at Ford sales, they fell 11 percent. But Chrysler sales actually rose seven percent. And we watch all these auto sales because it says a lot about how confident people are. And with so much uncertainty about jobs and home values, people are holding off making any kind of big-ticket purchases.
And that's despite some decent deals out there right now. The average vehicle incentive was more than $2,800 last month; that's up one percent from July. But in this economy, a lot of buyers are opting for used cars over new ones. And that's actually making them a lot more expensive. Used cars are selling for the highest average price in at least seven years, Tony.
HARRIS: So, if you want to price out a new car right now, does it pay just to sort of wait? What do you think?
ELAM: Well, not according to Edmonds.com, if you listen to them. They say if you're in the market, the best deal of the year is actually going to be in the next 30 days. That's because dealers are getting 2011 models, so they want to clear out those 2010s. And so, if you want to wait until October, November, well, Edmonds says you're going to have less selection there. So, you could get stuck choosing between some colors that you don't want, some things you don't want, either.
So, you'll find the best deals on models that have been redesigned for 2011 like the Chevy Silverado and the Ford F series, and you might also find discounts on the 2010 Hybrids. Now that gas prices have stabilized, they're not flying off the lot like 20 -- 2008. So, these are just some things that you have to keep in mind, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Is the tape ready, everyone? Let's get to the president of the United States, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
OBAMA: -- discussion about our shared efforts to advance the cause of peace between Israelis and Palestinians and throughout the Middle East.
I'm going to have more to say about today's meetings, not only with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but with the other participants of the talks here, in the Rose Garden later this afternoon. But I did want to specifically take some time out to speak to the people of Israel and to the region about the senseless slaughter that took place near Hebron yesterday.
There are going to be extremists and rejectionists who, rather than seeking peace, are going to be seeking destruction. And the tragedy that we saw yesterday, where people were gunned down on the street by terrorists who are purposely trying to undermine these talks, is an example of what we're up against.
But I want everybody to be very clear: The United States is going to be unwavering in its support of Israel's security, and we are going to push back against these kinds of terrorist activities.
And so the message should go out to Hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only ensuring a secure Israel, but also securing a longer-lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course.
I also want to express the deepest condolences of the American people to the families of those who were gunned down.
And I want to thank Prime Minister Netanyahu during a very difficult time for his country still being so committed to the cause of peace that he is here with us today.
Prime Minister?
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you, Mr. President, for expressing what I think is the sentiment of decent people everywhere in the face of this savagery and brutality.
Four innocent people were gunned down and seven new orphans were added by people who have no respect for human life and trample human rights into the dust and butcher everything that they oppose.
I think that the president's statement is an expression of our desire to fight against this terror. And the talks that we had, which were indeed open, productive, serious in the quest for peace, also centered around the need to have security arrangements that are able to roll back this kind of terror and other threats to Israel's security.
That is a fundamental element, an important foundation of the peace that we seek and work for.
And I appreciate, Mr. President, your efforts to advance this peace for us and for our neighbors, for our region and, I think we can say, for the world. Thank you.
OBAMA: Thank you.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
OBAMA: And let me -- let me just say that I will be meeting with President Abbas this afternoon. He condemned this outrageous attack as well. I have the utmost confidence in him and his belief in a two-state solution in which the people of Israel and the Palestinians are living side by side in peace and security. And so I'm also grateful to him for his presence here today.
We've got a lot of work to do. There are going to be those who are going to do everything they can to undermine these talks, but we are going to remain stalwart.
And so to Prime Minister Netanyahu and to Prime Minister - to President Abbas, as well as to President Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan, I am very grateful for their participation. I will have a longer discussion about that this afternoon after my bilateral meetings.
Thank you.
HARRIS: Very interesting. Very, very interesting.
Let's bring in our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, on the heels of this statement by these two leaders. And Suzanne, I think you can make a case here that that, as this was in addition to the president's schedule, you can make a case that this was arranged so that the president, with Bebe Netanyahu at his side, could express his outrage and his sentiments over the attack yesterday near Hebron.
MALVEAUX: Tony, you're exactly right. This is so important for all sides to condemn those attacks because essentially, they are very fearful that these kinds of attacks will undermine these kinds of talks from moving forward.
It was interesting. The president came out and condemned them. You had, obviously and expectedly, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also expressing regret and concern.
But a back story, as well, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, a source telling me, part of his delegation yesterday he was at his hotel, he was privately meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the hotel when they both found out at the same time about this attack from Hamas against these four Israeli settlers.
And according to this source, that is when Mahmoud Abbas quite angered and frustrated by it, put out a written statement, condemning this. We also saw Secretary Clinton coming out before the cameras, condemning this. There is a real fear and concern among Mahmoud Abbas that this is kind of thing that is going to undermine his power back home at the West Bank if he cannot control these kinds of things that happened with Hamas and Gaza in the West Bank.
We know the top priority for Israel officials is security. They're not willing to go beyond that. Until they address security, they're not going to address things like the border, like Jerusalem, some of the other main issues the Palestinians want to talk about. That's why you're going to see all sides very strongly condemning that attack in the hopes they can move forward. Because it's not going to move forward until they address that, Tony. HARRIS: And Suzanne, very quickly, the president mentioned another opportunity from another statement from the Rose Garden this afternoon. Was that always on the schedule? Or is that an addition, as well? He seemed to indicate Mahmoud Abbas will be there, as well.
MALVEAUX: Well, it has always been scheduled that the president is going to address the reporters in the Rose Garden, that it was just going to be the president. I don't know if we're going to see some of the other players, Mahmoud Abbas or Benjamin Netanyahu joining him.
That would be a very powerful picture, as you know, Tony, because in previous -- covering previous administrations, Bush and Clinton and previous informal summits, if you will -- there were times when Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu and others wouldn't even shake hands here at the White House. Would stand very stiffly, and not even turn towards each other. So, body language means a lot, as well. We'll have to take a look and see what happens later today, Tony.
HARRIS: There is going to be a lot in interesting Mahmoud Abbas condemn the attacks, the Hamas attacks on camera, as opposed to a statement. I would think there would be some momentum-building to see Mahmoud Abbas to make some kind of a statement, condemning the attacks on camera.
MALVEAUX: That would be a much stronger statement than what he has done already, this written statement.
But I have to tell you, Tony, just to put it in context here, it was rather rare that you would have Mahmoud Abbas coming out and condemning this type of attack, because they feel that it's not legal to have these type of settlements, Israeli settlements on the disputed West Bank land -
HARRIS: That's right.
MALVEAUX: -- and the fact that he came out at all was something that we don't normally see in condemning those attacks. So, we'll see how far he takes it. I think it's a very interesting point, Tony.
HARRIS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us. Great to see you. Thanks for your help on this, Suzanne.
CNN, your hurricane headquarters. Earl eyes the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We are tracking the big storm for you - look at that - right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: Hello, Chad. I don't even want to fool around. Let's just show everybody everything -- throw everything at it. What we have on Earl, where it's going, intensity of it, everything.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: One hundred and twenty-five miles an hour.
HARRIS: Yes. MYERS: OK. So it's not a category four anymore. OK. It's still a big category three. One hundred and twenty-five. Still waiting for the turn.
HARRIS: The turn.
MYERS: Tony, let me show you. Let me show you this. This is from our friends at stormpulse.com. They've got a great website.
HARRIS: Look at that.
MYERS: You can show there's -- you've got a cone. All the models in between. And then this line right here. Remember, everybody asks, what's this line? That line right there.
HARRIS: Yes, what is that?
MYERS: What is that line right there? That line is the current track of where this thing is heading. Not going, but heading. That's the direction it's moving if it doesn't turn. That's Savannah. There's Charleston. There's Wilmington. Let's hope it turns, OK, because the forecast is for all the models to turn it. If it doesn't turn, the entire southeast coast is under the gun for something. And sometimes, Tony, they don't turn.
HARRIS: That's right.
MYERS: Sometimes we just think -- and this thing's supposed to have turn 10 days ago, it hasn't turned.
HARRIS: That's right.
MYERS: So I'm watching it every minute to see if we get that little wiggle, wobble to the north.
HARRIS: We need it.
MYERS: I know. Don't let your guard down.
HARRIS: OK. Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: Sure.
HARRIS: Those 33 men trapped deep inside a mine in Chile have sent out another video. And they may get their first hot meals later today. We're going to get you an update.
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HARRIS: There is new video from 33 men trapped deep inside a collapsed copper and gold mine in Chile. A frantic drilling effort is underway to save them right now. CNN's Karl Penhaul is there.
And, Karl, if you would, take a moment and describe this new video and what we learn about the men and their condition right now from the video. KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think first things first there, Tony.
What we can see between this video and the video that the miners sent up last Thursday, it appeared to be a dramatic improvement in conditions. The miners have already -- we can see from this video -- received some of the camp beds, the military style cots that have been send down below and they've been given to the oldest miners first. And then as more cots arrive, the youngest also get their beds as well.
We can also see the miners dressed in red sports t-shirts, blue shorts, and they have rubber boots instead of their steel-toe capped work boots. That is dry clothing. They are no longer bare-chested. Some of them have also had a shave.
And in the background through much of the video we can hear some music playing. Merengue tropical dance music is playing through an MP3 player and some speakers. Another item that have been sent down. And the miners certainly have the strength to joke and laugh, because they say, well, we're very happy, super happy that that music has arrived. We're here organizing for today's party.
As well, though, the miners, on a serious note, send really sincere thanks to the rescue workers above. They say that they knowing drilling has started and they say we know this is going to be a long job, but we will be patient, we will hang on here for as long as it takes for you to get us out.
But certainly a dramatic improvement in spirits. And this is what the doctors and psychologists are pointing to. They believe that if it carries on like this, they can get the miners through this ordeal, Tony.
HARRIS: Man, let's hope they can stay positive. Karl Penhaul for us.
Karl, appreciate it. Thank you.
Would you believe it if I told you, a golfer's swing set off a fire that required 150 firefighters and a helicopter to put out? Talk about "What's Hot."
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HARRIS: Ines is back. Yeah! A tweet that gets a sports writer suspended. Apple about to make a big announcement, right, at its annual event, right? And we have that whole thing.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
HARRIS: And then we've got a golfer whose swing sets off a forest fire?
FERRE: In California.
HARRIS: That's "What's Hot."
FERRE: Yes. And we're going to show you pictures of that.
HARRIS: OK.
FERRE: So this golfer's swing accidentally -- he chips a rock --
HARRIS: Right. Oh, that's what it was.
FERRE: And that creates a spark. A 12-acre blaze. The fire was put out by 150 firemen, helicopters. Oh, the whole thing. Can you believe a swing like that took --
HARRIS: Well, I've got a bad swing, but it's not doing that kind of damage. OK. All right.
FERRE: OK. This next one is, "The Washington Post" has suspended for 30 days Mike Wise. He's a sports writer.
HARRIS: He's a writer? OK.
FERRE: And he wrote about Ben Roethlisberger. Well, actually, he tweeted about Ben Roethlisberger. He said that he was going to be suspended for five games instead of six because Roethlisberger is going to be meeting with Goodell, the NFL commissioner.
HARRIS: Right.
FERRE: He's the quarterback for the Steelers.
HARRIS: So what's the problem?
FERRE: Anyhow, the problem is, is that it was a bogus tweet. He was doing it --
HARRIS: What do you mean bogus?
FERRE: Well, it wasn't -- it wasn't true.
HARRIS: He made it up?
FERRE: Well, he says that he tweeted that to see who was going to pick it up and if media was going to actually get second source on that, how fast that this would actually pick up online.
HARRIS: Oh. Right. What is that about? Yes, OK.
FERRE: Anyhow, suspended for 30 days.
HARRIS: Yes.
FERRE: And this next one is from Apple. So Apple will -- what they will or won't announce today.
HARRIS: What is that, in an hour or so?
FERRE: It's at 1:00.
HARRIS: OK. OK.
FERRE: At 1:00 they're going to have their annual meeting. And we'll see what they announce. (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: All right. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: An international custody case ends. A Texas boy retrieved from his father's home in France, now back with his mother in Texas. Do you remember this story from almost a year ago?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN PAUL (voice-over): Please help me! He's not my dad. I don't want to live with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Of course you do. Texas constables took the boy, Jean Paul Lacombe, off a school bus, screaming as you could hear, right, and handed him over to his father who took the boy to France. Police later learned a judge's custody order was based on forged documents.
Then -- then this scene! John Paul's emotional reunion with his family late last night in San Antonio. He and his father were located in June. The State Department asked the French courts for a custody hearing. Mom won. The father faces perjury and kidnapping charges in Texas. Can't get enough of that scene. That's an ordeal with a happy ending.
Let's rock. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi in New York City.
Doctor.
