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Oil Under the Beach; 9 U.S. Service Members Killed in Afghanistan; Burned Teen Beats the Odds; Dems Have More Money in the Bank; Turning Down Job Offers; Medal of Honor Award Today

Aired September 21, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7 at the CNN world headquarters, the big stories for Tuesday, September 21st, starting with BP's spilled oil seeping under the beautiful white sand beaches there in Florida, but apparently nobody's allowed to dig it up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN THOMAS, REPORTER, WEAR: I can't build a sand castle?

PAT GONZALES, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE: Are you digging -- what are you digging for, sir?

THOMAS: I'm digging in the sand to see if it's there.

GONZALES: Are you digging for oil products?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And we followed his heart-tugging journey for almost a year now. Florida teen Michael Brewer, set on fire, finishes his long and painful burn treatments today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BREWER, TEEN SET ON FIRE: It feels good. I'm free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And later today, President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to an Air Force tech who died on a top-secret mission to Laos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I live it every day. I live it every day. It haunts me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And again, good morning, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin, in for Tony Harris.

Those stories and your comments right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM. I want to begin this hour with a question for you. What if the Gulf oil spill saturated Florida's beaches -- I'm talking getting deep, deep down in there -- but the law wouldn't allow anyone to clean it up?

In fact, federal rules may be limiting that cleanup process by preventing crews from digging deeper than -- get this -- six inches. A reporter who went digging for oil on one of those Florida beaches was told, get out of here, it's illegal.

Here is the story from Dan Thomas of affiliate WEAR in Pensacola.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THOMAS: Well, we had come out here to the national park to show you just what exactly is in the sand lower than six inches, and we wanted to use the shovel and give you a look. But apparently that's illegal.

(voice-over): BP has machines ready to go that can dig down to 18 inches. A quick look at the manual operation and you can clearly see there's oil well below that six-inch limit, but that's about all we can show you, because in the midst of doing this story, this happened --

GONZALES: You don't have a permit to do this.

THOMAS: A man claiming to be with the Fish & Wildlife Service stopped us to say it's illegal to dig in the sand.

(on camera): So I can't build a sand castle?

GONZALES: Are you digging -- what are you digging for, sir?

THOMAS: I'm digging in the sand to see if it's there.

GONZALES: Are you digging for oil products?

THOMAS: Not necessarily. I just want to see what's there.

GONZALES: OK. I'll tell you what, if you are not going to cooperate with me, I will get a National Park Service refuge officer out here. I'll get a law enforcement guy out here to talk to you.

THOMAS (voice-over): He said it would be OK if we just moved down the beach, so we did. But about the time I put the shovel in the sand, this happened --

(on camera): How's it going?

THOMAS (voice-over): A park service police officer asked to see my papers.

OFC. A. NEGRON, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: OK. Do you have documents, press pass?

THOMAS (on camera): I have a press pass. Do you want to see my press pass?

NEGRON: Yes, I'd like to see it.

THOMAS (voice-over): He said that it's illegal to film in a national park unless I can prove I'm with the media. After showing him my press pass, he then told me what I was and was not allowed to do.

(on camera): He said we had to leave. So we left. He said, "Come to a public beach," which is right here, right?

NEGRON: Yes, but you can't dig.

THOMAS: I can't dig?

NEGRON: No, you can can't.

THOMAS: OK. Why is that?

NEGRON: Because you can't dig in a national park.

THOMAS: Oh. OK.

NEGRON: And still, even though it's a public beach, it's open to the public, it's still a national seashore and you can't dig.

THOMAS: So no sand castles, none of that, huh?

(voice-over): Apparently, the National Park Service will only allow BP workers to dig, and only down to six inches.

(on camera): And the National Park Service is looking at changing that rule, possibly allowing them to dig as low as 18 inches. But they won't make a decision on that for another couple of weeks.

Reporting on the Gulf Isles National Seashore, Dan Thomas, Channel 3 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So that reporter couldn't dig, but apparently local authorities have been, and they're trying to figure out which agency is behind this six-inch rule on the beach cleanup.

Want to introduce you to Buck Lee. He is the executive director of the Santa Rosa Island Authority in Florida. He joins me from Pensacola.

Where, Buck, I know you were born and raised, so I imagine this issue is near and dear to you. And sir, if I can, I just want to get to the crux of this issue, which has been this mission I know you've been on for weeks.

And the question is this: Why can't these oil spill workers dig deeper than six inches on the beach? Do you have an answer for that? BUCK LEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SANTA ROSA ISLAND: Yes. Unfortunately, the federal government thinks that we may hit a sunken ship or an arrowhead. So we cannot go down --

BALDWIN: What do you mean by that?

LEE: Well, it's my understanding that one of the federal agencies -- and I believe it's the Department of Interior -- has an archaeological department that, if you go more than six inches, what could we possibly hit of value to the history of our great nation? And they're thinking it could be a sunken ship. If it is, it's the USS Phantom, probably -- or either that on an arrowhead.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So, ultimately -- let me just interject -- so, ultimately, it sounds to me that it's the Department of Interior who is putting the brakes on this digging deeper than six inches issue. And so I guess it just makes sense to ask, if they're concerned with finding something perhaps archaeological beyond that six-inch mark, how can you prove there isn't?

LEE: Because we have done in the last two years what we call beach nourishment where we pump sand about three miles out of the Gulf. We also have what we call an engineered beach. It costs us about $100,000, and we have a coastal engineer company that comes in and does markers on our beach.

We have eight and a half miles wedged between Gulf Isles National Seashore on the east and west of us. So basically our coastal engineer company that we pay $100,000 a year for has already done all of these coastal research studies, and there is no sunken ship.

BALDWIN: So, if they've done the studies, Buck, and you know that there is nothing cultural or historically, archaeologically significant underneath that sand, when can you dig?

LEE: As soon as the federal government issues a permit. Now, who issues that permit?

BALDWIN: Good question.

LEE: Is it Coast Guard, is it EPA, Department of Interior? I would like to say thanks to Senator Bill Nelson's office. He's the U.S. senator of the state of Florida. They're trying to help me resolve this problem, too, but the bureaucracy that I faced over the last three months has just been unbelievable.

BALDWIN: You know what, Buck? We actually -- we reached out to Senator Nelson's office, because I was curious as to how they are handling this whole thing, and they indeed told us they've heard from you, they're trying to get help for you to get these permits to clean the beaches more adequately because, Buck, the crux of the issue is you are concerned with what lies beneath, right? What lies beneath this sort of superficial six-inch mark, possibly the tar balls -- we saw in the video what appeared to be oil under that sand -- because you're worried what could happen with that oil.

LEE: Well, the main thing is that, first, we have eight and a half miles of beach. We know that 18 inches down, it's not matted throughout the beach. It came in, in little ribbons. We need to find where this is and we need to sift the sand before BP decides to pull out everybody and leaves Pensacola Beach and northwest Florida.

And the same thing over Perdido Key Beach, which is part of Escambia County, and then into Alabama and Mississippi. They are going to be facing the same struggles that we're facing. And we just need help.

We have a machine called a sand shark that can go down 18 inches. It brings the sand up on a conveyor belt, sifts it like a screen door, puts our beautiful white sand back on the beach. If there's any small tar balls, it takes it and puts it in the hopper.

What we're worried about now is, during the high surf conditions that we have every now and then, it comes out, goes on the beach, takes our sand, and exposes the oil. The oil then can slip back into the Gulf, and God knows where it goes.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Right. I know, Buck, it's another chapter in this whole BP oil disaster issue. I know BP is aware. Senator Bill Nelson is aware. I'm sure Department of Interior is as well. But as soon as you hear from the federal government as to when you get to dig, do me a favor and let us know. Will you?

LEE: I will call the lady that called me this morning.

BALDWIN: Good deal. Buck, I thank you.

And, by the way, we have been making phone calls as well. Or actually, I should my colleague Josh Levs has been making some phone calls as well to figure out where this six-inch rule -- where does it come from?

We were sitting around the editorial meeting thinking, where did they get six inches from?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We had a little team making calls this morning. You can't even get a beach umbrella to stay in the ground in less than six inches.

I have a little news for you, Brooke. Some of this just popped up from our affiliate, WEAR. They are now saying that this person was wrong.

The superintendent of the national park who that beach reports to is now saying that the beach was wrong in having any official come forward and say that you cannot go ahead for six inches. So they're walking that back. And we can kind of see where that came from and why that came out. We have been contacting so many agencies. We talked to beaches and coastal systems of the state of Florida. They said there are no state limits at all on anything like this. They said check the Department of Interior, right?

So we called the Department of Interior because we also saw an article that pushed to them. They don't know anything about it. We spoke with a whole bunch of agencies at the Department of Interior. None of them pointed to anything involving six inches, anything like that.

And we also found an article that quoted from them, someone from the Joint Information Center in Mobile. And that person was quoted as saying this exact same thing, that you cannot dig deeper than six inches without a permit. But then when we called them, they told us that they couldn't point to any rule, and we're still waiting to hear back if there is anything specific that they have.

So, long and short of it, it does not appear that there is any rule anywhere about this. I'll tell you how hard I searched. Take a look at this.

I was even searching online to see if there's anything out all anywhere on any dot-gov about digging six inches. The only thing I could find in the entire universe of our incredible number of rules in this country is this thing that says a digging permit is required for all excavations greater than six inches in depth.

So, I was like, huh, maybe this comes from somewhere, right? But it doesn't. Actually, this is just something about the Department of Energy talking about excavations and making sure you stay safe, and had nothing to do with protecting beaches.

So, basically when we look at all this, the only actual rule that we know of is right here: "Possessing, destroying, injuring, defacing, removing, digging, or disturbing from its natural state is prohibited." This is what the National Park Service points to.

And you can't deface public property, ,you can't destroy public property, you can't come along and do some massive dig. There are federal regulations that do say that, the straight from our legal system.

But, Brooke, this stuff about you can't dig six inches on a beach, there's no law anywhere at all to back that up. Nothing.

BALDWIN: It's something we found very curious, and hopefully someone, perhaps the federal government is watching, and maybe someone at the Department of Interior can pick up a phone and give us a call.

Josh, I appreciate you making those phone calls.

LEVS: You got it.

BALDWIN: Also, we are watching this tragic story out of Afghanistan. A coalition helicopter went down. More U.S. troops are killed. We'll have more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The deadliest year for Operation Enduring Freedom gets even deadlier. Nine U.S. service members were killed today. Their helicopter going down in one of Afghanistan's most volatile areas.

CNN's Ivan Watson is live for us in the capital of the country, Kabul.

And Ivan, any idea what happened?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't. A military spokesman here in Kabul saying the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Afghan provincial officials telling us the weather was good, and western military officials saying that there was no sign of any kind of insurgent attack. But a western defense source telling our office that nine American service men died aboard this helicopter.

In addition, two other NATO troops were wounded. An Afghan soldier was wounded, and an American civilian was also wounded. This makes this the deadliest year yet in this nine-year war for not only U.S. troops on the ground here, but also for the NATO coalition here which has grown to 150,000 this year -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And Ivan, what kind of impact -- I know you are on the ground and you've been in and out of that country covering Afghanistan for something like nine years. And you're talking to the people. And what are the people saying to you? And what kind of impact might this have on the country as a whole?

WATSON: Well, I think without a doubt, the number one priority for Afghans is security, and what they've seen is this war get worse and worse incrementally year after year. And if you look just at just the U.S. casualties, they've gone up steadily since 2003.

Now, when you ask American military commanders, they say, well, there are more troops on the ground, so there are more battles, and as a result, more casualties. Also as a result, more civilians caught in the crossfire, Brooke.

Take a listen to what one Kabul-based analyst had to say, particularly in response to the Obama administration's addition of another 30,000 U.S. troops to the existing U.S. force here in Afghanistan. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDACE RONDEAU, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: The violence in this country has risen exponentially, and it's really affected Afghans, obviously, in the biggest way. Obviously, there's also been a lot of casualties on the U.S. and NATO side, but you have got thousands this time of it civilian casualties, and it keeps going up. I mean, there is some 30 percent increase in violence in this last little while, in civilian casualties, and that's really significant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And just as an example, Brooke, we had at least 12 civilians killed in Afghanistan's parliamentary elections which took place on Saturday. That's despite the presence of hundreds of thousands of U.S., coalition and Afghan forces trying to stop the insurgents -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Ivan Watson for us in Kabul. Ivan mentioned that this year has been the deadliest year, the year being 2010, in Operation Enduring Freedom. And looking at some of the numbers here, before today's deadly crash, 517 coalition troops had been killed in the nine years since Operation Enduring Freedom began. That grim toll now stands at 526 troops, 350 of them American.

And we have been following his story for just about a year now. Michael Brewer, ring a bell? He was set on fire -- I think it was last October -- and today he's looking good, feeling great. His story.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It was a tough story to tell about a year ago. He was nearly burned to death. And now, just about a year later, a south Florida teen completes his last, final treatment at this burn center.

CNN affiliate WSVN's Rosh Lowe met up with Michael Brewer, who says in his own words, he's free.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSH LOWE, WSVN REPORTER: And this is the last day that you have to go through this treatment.

BREWER: Yes. It feels good. I'll be free.

LOWE: Free? How has your life been?

BREWER: Good.

LOWE: Mom, what's it like for you coming to this hospital -- you have been through so much at this hospital, to see your son finally going through his last treatment here?

VALERIE BREWER, MOTHER: It's incredible. It's been an incredible journey. We've learned so much about ourselves and about our son and about the world with the support that we got from everybody.

LOWE (voice-over): Michael Brewer wears black socks to cover his scars. It was October the 12th. Michael Brewer was doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire. The road to recovery has not been easy. These pictures taken while Michael was in rehabilitation. You can see the pain on his face.

How did he get through this? How did he get to this point?

M. BREWER: Prayers, believing, and just family, I guess.

LOWE (on camera): I see you're emotional today.

M. BREWER: Oh, yes.

LOWE: But you don't have to come back here again.

Mom, you're smiling.

V. BREWER: Oh, yes. It's a wonderful day.

LOWE (voice-over): This Monday is such an important day in the life of Michael. He completes his last treatment at the burn center.

V. BREWER: Today is Michael's last burn clinic. It is a very important day.

We're very proud of Michael. He's worked very hard to get to this point. And we want to thank all the doctors and nurses here at the hospital.

LOWE: Did you ever think this day would become a reality?

M. BREWER: Not really. I really don't know.

V. BREWER: God is wonderful. Prayer is wonderful.

LOWE: How are the burns on the legs? Still bad?

V. BREWER: The scarring is bad, but he's got full range of motion.

LOWE: And how is his walking?

Can I see you walk, please?

(voice-over): There was a time when Michael's life was hanging in the balance, and Michael himself didn't know if he'd make it. After hard work, after prayer, Michael is able to walk, he's able to smile. Mom and dad by his side.

The scars are still there, but the heart which you can see was strong enough to overcome the odds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, that is Michael Brewer now. What about the five teenage boys who were arrested in connection with the attack? A 13 and a 16-year-old were released without charges being filed. There are three others: Denver Jarvis, Matthew Bent and Jesus Mendez. They remain in jail on attempted murder charges. They were all 15 at the time of the attack. We made phone calls this morning. Still, no court date has been set.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: They put some tough questions to President Obama. So -- this was yesterday -- how did he do? You will hear directly from people who were at the president's town hall meeting. It got interesting.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." It is a developing story right now on Capitol Hill. You have Senate Republicans who look pretty ready to block any rollback of the 1993 law governing gays and lesbians in the Military.

Senior Congressional correspondent Dana Bash is live on the Hill with more on this. Dana, I think a lot of people when they hear about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", they get confused. Let's be clear about the vote. This is not a final answer. This is simply procedural.

And as they go through the process this afternoon, how close might this vote be in going either way?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very close. Just to button that, to emphasize your point there, Brooke, it's procedural but it's not just that. The language that is in this bill simply authorizes the Pentagon to go ahead with the repeal after review that they are doing is complete and after the president and other Military leaders sign off on it.

The drama of this is really intense, but I got to tell you, earlier it was potentially too close to call whether or not Democrats can overcome Republicans attempts to block this. Now supporters of the repeal I've talked to in the last hour say they are really pessimistic they can prevail in the vote in the next couple of hours.

All eyes had been on Susan Collins. She is a Maine Republican, and she is actually the only Republican who voted for this language in the Senate Armed Services Committee. But she is saying that she simply tends to agree with her party now and her party is saying that they don't want to go forward with this because they don't think that the Democrats are giving them a fair process to actually amend or change this.

Listen what she told CNN in the hallway a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I was the only Republican to vote for that position as a member of the Armed Services Committee. I spoke strongly during the debate on this issue during the committee. But it's simply not fair to block out amendments from people who disagree with my position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Dana, I guess two questions. In hearing that, from what I understand, she wants the ability to amend this bill - correct me if I'm wrong - and number two, in terms of ranking Republican, you have Senator Mitch McConnell, who was on the floor this morning accusing Dems of only doing this to play politics.

Let's roll the sound bite. Then we'll get your reaction out of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: They want to use this week for a political exercise. They want to weigh this bill down with controversy in a transparent attempt to show their special interest groups that they haven't forgotten about them ahead of the election. It's really quite astonishing. Democrats have called up this bill not to have a vote on it or to consider amendments to help our troops in the field, but to put on a show.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: To put on a show, Dana Bash.

Does he have a point?

BASH: Look, Democrats will say, to put it in layman's terms, give me a break. They're arguing and in fact, I just got an e-mail from a Democratic aide saying, look, we tried to bring this bill up before without some of these amendments that they call extraneous in an open fashion and Republicans said no before. That this is just part of what Democrats call the pattern of Republican obstructionism.

However, on the politics, despite the fact that this is an important bill, it authorizes funding for the two wars, it authorizes funding for a pay increase for troops. Democrats privately, Brooke, will tell you that they understand that there are some key constituencies -- the gay community is one of them -- that are really upset with Democratic leaders because they promised, in this case in particular, to deal with this two years ago when the president was then a candidate campaigning.

And now they're very concerned that we're running up against an election and running up against a potential change in leadership, maybe potentially Republican leadership, and they might lose their chance to deal with this.

BALDWIN: A lot of debate here. There was a double box. We saw Senator McCain. He was up at the podium, he was speaking. I'm sure we'll hear from many, many people today.

Dana Bash, stay on it. Let us know what develops there on the floor. Thank you.

The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rollback, by the way, is just one teeny, tiny part of this bill the Senate considers this afternoon. Keep in mind, the main purpose of this legislation is to fund the Pentagon for the fiscal year of 2011 to the tune of $725 billion. $159 billion of that amount would be used to pay for the U.S. Military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. The legislation also gives a 1.4 percent pay raise to American troops. If Republicans block the bill because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," all of these other provisions, they're blocked as well. Thus, the large debate.

And, facing some pretty tough questions from real people, President Obama got an earful -- we'll call it that -- from some of this strongest supporters during this town hall meeting in Washington.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantel of change I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a lot of people in my generation, I was really inspired by you and your campaign, and the message that you brought, and that inspiration is dying away. It feels like the American dream is not attainable to a lot of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So you heard from the people, right? After putting their questions to the president, those two participants took our questions.

Velma Hart and Ted Brassfield talked to our own Kiran Chetry on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": Have you lost faith in the president or do you think that it's simply the circumstances we're in, that he doesn't necessarily have control of?

VELMA HART, ATTENDED PRES. OBAMA'S TOWN HALL: It is absolutely the latter but I don't know that he doesn't have control of it. I still have great faith in this president. I think that he is an amazing leader. I think he is inspirational. And quite frankly, I thought my question would set the platform for a response that would almost be, oh, I don't know, whimsical, magical, very powerful, on the fact that he does believe that he's made progress. I know he's made progress.

The issue for me is that I'm not certain that the progress is being felt deeply enough and that's where I'm looking for the bang for the buck. There's no denying that this president and his administration has made progress in these two years. No denying that at all. I just think that for middle-class America, we thought we'd reap the benefits of that a lot faster.

CHETRY: Ted, you asked whether or not you felt the American dream was still attainable. Why did you choose that question? I know that you had a lot on your mind. You had a lot that you discussed among your friends. Why did you ask about the American dream? TED BRASSFIELD, ATTENDED PRES. OBAMA'S TOWN HALL: Well, it's a real problem that a lot of us who have advanced degrees and people who are going to college, maybe they don't know why they went to college. But we are facing massive student loans. The entire generation is just often facing six figures, even, when you go to public universities. And you have people like me who had good jobs but went back to school and it's completely -- we are in an untenable situation where the president and Teddy Kennedy really did a great job fixing the student loan situation.

But you combine that with a sort of lost contract. There was a civil contract between -- that society had said, if you work hard, if you go to school, we will have good jobs for you and that's why you're willing to take on a massive amount of debt. And it seems like that's been lost, and it's really hurting a lost my cohorts.

CHETRY: Did you get the answer that you were looking for from the president or any more clarity on it?

BRASSFIELD: I think, unfortunately, I felt that the president answered very effectively all of the other questions he was asked by the audience. But, like Velma, I thought that I had given him a good layup to say, this is why you should still have hope and he didn't say that. He didn't answer it at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: For more on that town hall reactions, the president, and any other thing political, you can go to CNN.com/politics, and we'll have your next political update in just a couple of minutes.

Not big enough salary? Too far to drive? Just a few reasons unemployed Americans apparently turning down a perfectly good job. That coming up. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, let's get you caught up on some of the day's top stories, including those nine U.S. service members who were killed in Afghanistan after their chopper went down in a Taliban-dominated area of the country. Reports say it was not brought down by enemy fire. In fact, this year, 2010, has been the deadliest year for coalition troops in Afghanistan since the war began.

A woman whose face got badly burned after this alleged acid attack is now facing theft charges. Police have issued a warrant for Bethany Storro's arrest. You know this story. Storro admitted recently that she threw the acid on herself. Well-wishers had actually sent her donations.

And I want you take a good long look at this picture. You see this? This could be the last time we see the Shuttle Discovery on the launch pad. NASA rolled it out of the hanger last night. It is scheduled to blast off the first of November.

And here is a question for you, many, many can relate, millions of Americans are out of work and very serious about finding another job, right? So why are some job seekers turning down perfectly good offers? We're going to head to the New York Stock Exchange and ask that very question coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time for your "CNN Equals Politics" update, and joining me now, deputy CNN political director Paul Steinhauser with, of course, "The Best Political Team on Television," live in D.C.

Mr. Steinhauser, good to see you. What do you have going on?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Live in D.C. I got brand new stuff right here on the CNN Political Ticker.

Kyra, this happened just a little over an hour. Tea Party Patriots, they are one of those major national Tea Party organizations, well they had a news conference and guess what. They announced that they got an anonymous, anonymous $1 million donation. And you know what they say? They're going to get that money out immediately, by October 4th, so local Tea Party groups across the country. We talk about the Tea Party movement and how it's impacted the primaries, this is an indication of how it may impact the general election.

Let's talk more about campaign cash, Kyra, because it's so important. Obviously, big bucks pays for commercials and get out the vote efforts. (INAUDIBLE) Michael, take a look at this, please -- our cameraman right here. I wrote this a few moments ago, also new on the Political Ticker, "Do democrats have the upper hand in the fund- raising battle?" Well, we got a lot of the big bucks numbers yesterday from the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee. Guess what. The Democrats outraised the Republicans by $3 million last month. And their party committees, the ones in the House and the Senate, also outraised the republicans as well.

So you would think that would give the Democrats the upper hand, but wait there's more. Because there are a lot of outside groups, we were just talking about the Tea Party, there are also a lot of other Republican independent groups spending major coin on republican candidates this year.

All right, finally, right next door to Washington, D.C., the state of Maryland. There's a governor's race there and it is a nasty rematch between the current guy, Martin O'Malley, the democrat, and Robert Ehrlich, the former governor who was ousted by O'Malley four years ago. Well O'Malley has a lot more money than Ehrlich, but today the Republican Governors Association, and they've got some money, they just announced they're up with a brand new commercial, their first in Maryland, to help out Ehrlich and to go against O'Malley. This rematch in Maryland is getting a heck of a lot more interesting, Kyra.

BALDWIN: Brooke, actually, but I'll take that as a compliment. Paul Steinhauser, thank you for that. We will have your next Political update coming up in an hour. And for the latest political news, you know where to go, CNNPolitics.com.

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BALDWIN: Just a reminder, you always get your best business and money headlines by going to CNNMoney.com. And I just caught this breaking news, "Stocks Open Flat Ahead the Fed Comments Later This Afternoon," which explains -- walk with me -- the numbers are down on the New York Stock Exchange, I'm told. Nasdaq down about eight points; Dow down 16, sitting at about 10,737.

And as we look at numbers, we have to talk jobs. Right? If you're out there, you're looking for work, we all know odds of stacked against you. There are 15 million Americans unemployed and the government says there are actually only 3 million open jobs. Not good odds at all, but believe it or not, some people are turning down job offers.

Alison Kosik on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the details. And, Alison, I guess the first obvious question is, what kind of jobs are being turned down here?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, you've been a job seeker as I've been, so you can kind of relate to this. There's a lot to consider before actually taking a job and people these days seem to be taking their time to find a job that's actually the right fit.

In fact, there's a company that kind of tracks this sort of thing called CareerBuilder and Personified. It finds that 17 percent of unemployed American whose were offered a job since they lost their jobs, but of that group, 92 percent turned down those job offers.

Now, before you call them crazy, because of this tough environment and the economy, I want to show you why they turned down these jobs. The number one reason, job pay, the salary was too low. Apparently it made more sense just not to take the job rather than taking a lower salary.

Other reasons, there was a long commute, they had to take a lower title than they had maybe in their previous job, maybe the position was outside of their field and they just weren't interested in taking this new position. Also, there was no room for career advancement.

You know, it could mean workers are getting -- or perspective workers are getting more optimistic, more confident in the job market. But you know how it goes, Brooke, that only turn down an offer when you know there's another firm offer waiting in the wings for you. Got to have that Plan B ready. BALDWIN: Exactly. And I know people say, look, these days jobs don't pay what they used to. And let's also talk about this whole argument on Capitol Hill, right, when it comes to unemployment benefits. And I guess one of the arguments is that if you get these unemployment benefits, gives people a perfectly decent reason not to work.

Well, how do we know that for sure, though? I think some would say, absolutely I want a job?

KOSIK: Yes, I mean, some people would say that. You know, there's no reason to tell for sure, and few would really admit that they're not going to take a job because they'd rather sit on their couch and collect unemployment.

You know, there are two arguments to either side. We've got Senator Max Baucus saying that people don't have a choice, because there aren't many job openings. And then, you have Senator Jon Kyl saying continuing to pay for unemployment benefits is a disincentive to get these people to look for work.

Well no doubt about it, this is a debate that will come up after the midterm elections in November, because another extension of jobless benefits, it expires. So we will hear both of these arguments again -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Alison Kosik in New York, thank you very much.

Also, want to get you this, this just in. Here's what we're hearing, Grammy award-winning Haitian artist Wyclef Jean says he has officially withdrawn his candidacy for president.

Jean says, quote, "This was not an easy conclusion to reach, but it was one that was thoughtfully made taking into account many, many competing factors and weighing the course that will best advance the healing of the country and help it find the quickest path to recovery."

So no presidency ahead or at least no presidential run for Wyclef Jean in Haiti.

CNN NEWSROOM, back in a moment.

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BALDWIN: In just over an hour at the White House, the ceremony begins for a war hero. Let me tell you about him, we're talking about 42-year-old Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Richard L. Etchberger. He died on a mountain in Laos, but not before saving three of his comrades. This afternoon, he will be honored with the military's highest award for bravery.

Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger died in 1968.

CORY ETCHBERGER, SON OF VIETNAM WAR HERO: So this is where your grandfather's buried.

MESERVE (voice-over): Cory Etchberger was in third grade when he was told his father had died in a helicopter accident in southeast Asia . Only at age 29, when the Air Force declassified his father's story, did he learn the truth.

ETCHBERGER: I was stunned that, in fact, he wasn't killed in a helicopter accident. It was the first time I knew of anything of his heroic deeds.

MESERVE (voice-over): During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military wasn't supposed to be in Laos. It was a neutral country. So Etchberger and others shed their uniforms and posed as civilians to run a super secret radar installation on a Laotian mountaintop.

In 1967 and '68, Lima Site 85 guided U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. In March of '68, North Vietnamese soldiers scaled the tall cliff and attacked. The technicians were trapped. Etchberger picked up an M-16.

TIM CASTLE, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: It's foggy. Weapons are going off all around him. He's got these comrades next to him, two of whom are shot and killed and fall off the cliff in front of him, and yet he continues to defend his men. His people.

MESERVE (voice-over): One of them was Stanley Sliz.

STANLEY SLIZ, SAVED BY ETCHBERGER: I got hit in both legs and everybody was screaming and hollering. But they weren't able to get close because of Etch firing at them.

MESERVE (voice-over): John Daniel still has the shrapnel wounds he got that day.

JOHN DANIEL, SAVED BY ETCHBERGER: He was the only one that did not get injured in this firefight. They kept throwing grenades and shooting, and we would pick up hand grenades and throw them back at them or kick them over the side of the mountain.

MESERVE (voice-over): When an American helicopter came to evacuate them, Etchberger braved enemy fire to get his wounded comrades, including Sliz and Daniel, on board first.

DANIEL: If it was not for him, I would not be alive today.

MESERVE (voice-over): But Etchberger didn't survive. As the chopper pulled away, there was gunfire from the ground.

SLIZ: Etch had been sitting on a jump seat right above my head. That bullet went right through him, killed him instantly. I live it every day. I live it every day. It haunts me. MESERVE (voice-over): Etchberger was posthumously, secretly awarded the Air Force Cross for his heroism, but it was feared that giving him the Medal of Honor would expose the U.S. military presence in Laos.

Since his story became public, his hometown of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, has erected a memorial. His name displayed proudly on the town's sign. But only now, 42 years after his death, will he get the military's highest award for bravery, a tribute many feel he is due. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington

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BALDWIN: By the way, you can watch that Medal of Honor ceremony live. It will be happening at the White House. Watch that right here on CNN, 1:15 Eastern today.