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President Obama Talks Jobs in North Carolina; Republican Presidential Candidates Debate Tonight; Casey Anthony Trial; Pennsylvania Considers Anti-Strike Law

Aired June 13, 2011 - 14:12   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: And you've been listening to President Obama making some remarks there about job growth and the economy in Durham, North Carolina. Really a reality check, is what he gave us.

Four job seekers for every open job in America is what he told his gathering there. Economic challenges, years in the making, he said. It will take years to come back. Americans, he said, going back to work is the single most important issue to the economy.

He did meet with his panel to try and come up with some ideas to spur some job growth such as planning to train 10,000 new engineers every year and tackle some ways for small businesses to get financing a little bit easier. Also acknowledging, though, that the recommendations won't solve the crisis, that it is going to be slow- going. But as he told the group, we are going to get there.

And that would wrap up his remarks there in Durham, North Carolina.

Well, as you know, it is a very big day in the world of presidential politic. We're now just six hours away from the first major debate of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Seven candidates for the Republican presidential nomination will gather in Manchester, New Hampshire, and CNN will bring you the only live national coverage starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

This will be the year's first debate in New Hampshire, the traditional home of the nation's first primary. It will be the year's first debate for Mitt Romney, currently considered the front-runner. It will also be the first debate for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who struggling to keep his campaign afloat after the resignation last week of several senior staff members.

CNN Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger, part of "The Best Political Team on Television," is in Manchester.

Gloria, nice to see you.

Tell me a little bit about what we can expect tonight.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you.

Well, I think you're going to see the gloves come off. And I think you've got Mitt Romney, as you point out, the front-runner, the man who's been through it before. Didn't win, but been through it before. You're going to see the other candidates start to attack him, I believe, and try and distinguish themselves.

I mean, Newt Gingrich has to restart his campaign here in New Hampshire. And Tim Pawlenty, it's very clear he's been the tortoise in this race. He's going to try and distinguish himself from Mitt Romney and start attacking him on issues like his health care plan in the state of Massachusetts, which he started calling "Obamneycare."

So it's going to be really the first time where we see all of these candidates really interact, and see how they interact with each other, particularly with the front-runner. He's going to be the target.

KAYE: Yes. And speaking of front-runners, I mean, Romney has been around before. He lost. So why is he the front-runner, would you say?

BORGER: Yes. Well, it's interesting.

We just did a poll. And let me show you one of these numbers which kind of explains it all.

We asked, "Who can beat Barack Obama?" This is among Republicans.

And when you look, Mitt Romney, way ahead, 65 percent. Rudy Giuliani, not even running, 56 percent. Palin, 44 percent. Gingrich, 43 percent. And Ron Paul, 27.

I think what we could say without a doubt is that Republicans are hungry. They want to beat Barack Obama, and so they want to nominate somebody who they consider to be electable. And that's what you're going to hear from Mitt Romney throughout this campaign, that he is the only one in the field who can actually take on Barack Obama because he has the experience in business to deal with the bad economy.

KAYE: All right. Gloria Borger, we'll be watching it with you tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

BORGER: Thanks.

KAYE: Thank you.

BORGER: It should be fun.

KAYE: Yes, it should be.

Well, calls for Congressman Anthony Weiner's resignation following his sexting scandal are only growing. While Weiner is now checking himself into treatment, the president and the House majority leader are now weighing in.

The pressure is building as more new pictures are surfacing. TMZ.com put up these photos on their Web site of Weiner apparently taking a picture of himself inside a gym for the House of Representatives. CNN cannot independently confirm the location, and Weiner's office is not commenting.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says President Obama thinks the growing scandal is a "distraction," and says Weiner's cover-up was "inappropriate." House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is also reiterating his call for Weiner to resign and says it's now up to the Democratic leaders to force him to step down.

Coming up, a heart-shaped sticker, her hair, and flies, how these things tie back to little Caylee Anthony and her mother, Casey. We take you inside the courtroom, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Prosecutors in the Casey Anthony murder trial are just a day or two away from wrapping up their case, and the latest details have jurors riveted. Prosecutors are focusing today on hair taken from Anthony's car trunk, Duct tape found on Caylee's remains, and heart-shaped stickers. It is all part of the prosecution's theory the 25-year-old killed her daughter Caylee and stored the 2-year-old's body in the trunk of her car before dumping her in the woods.

So let's go straight to "In Session" legal contributor Sunny Hostin, who's following the case very closely, along with us.

Sunny, the judge would not allow an FBI expert to show jurors this PowerPoint presentation about the hair samples that they tested. These results, I would imagine, are important for the state to prove that Caylee's body was actually placed in her mother's trunk.

So how much do you think this could affect jurors when they deliberate?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION": I don't think it affected the jurors at all, Randi, because while the judge said that the PowerPoint presentation couldn't come in, he still allowed the FBI expert to talk about his findings. So his findings are in evidence.

What did he find? That the hair that he tested that came from the trunk was a hair from a dead body. He then said that that hair matched the hair found on Caylee Anthony's remains on the skull.

That is crucial, crucial evidence for this prosecution, because it negates the defense theory that perhaps while there was a hair found, the hair didn't come from a dead Caylee Anthony, the hair likely came from a live Caylee Anthony. But this expert said no way. This expert said in all of the testing that he has done during his career, a hair with that sort of postmortem root banding would only come from a dead body.

KAYE: This next piece of evidence really got me. The prosecution now focusing on this adhesive that was found apparently on a piece of the Duct tape from Caylee's remains. I want to listen to what the FBI expert found and then talk a little bit more about this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH FONTAINE, FBI PRINT EXPERT: During my examination of Q63, an outline of a heart appeared in one of the corners of the edge of that piece of Duct tape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: All right. So now we have a heart, apparently, on the corner, a heart sticker on the corner of the Duct tape. They didn't mention this during the testimony, but the court documents have stated that a sheet of heart-shaped stickers were found by police at Anthony's home.

I would imagine that's a pretty important connection.

HOSTIN: Well, it is. But let me make it clear, a sticker wasn't found on the Duct tape. It was sort of the phantom sticker. It was an outline made of adhesive of a heart shape. And so, yes, connecting that to stickers found at the Anthony home I think was very crucial, another piece of circumstantial evidence for this prosecution.

Certainly, it ties the crime scene where the remains were found to the Anthony home. But I think on another level, Randi, it certainly was important, because it sort of gives you that feeling that whoever placed that sticker on the Duct tape was conflicted about what was going on.

And we've heard so much testimony about how Casey Anthony loved her daughter, about how they had this amazing relationship. You put that in line with this sticker, it could show the profile of a conflicted murderer. So I think on that level it was also very important for the prosecution to get that evidence in.

KAYE: And Sunny, we just have about 30 seconds left, but this bug expert who testified about the flies and the larva that were found in Anthony's car trunk, why would that be so critical in terms of decomposition?

HOSTIN: I loved the bug expert because he was a very good witness, and he said that he found evidence of blow flies and other insects that you would only -- in the trunk that you would only find where there was a decomposing body. And so, again, with all of this evidence, the smell of death, Randi, you've got the bugs, you have the root banding, you have the cadavers, you have the chloroform, all of that, I think, could show beyond a reasonable doubt that Caylee Anthony was in Casey Anthony's trunk. And so that is why all together, this circumstantial case is really becoming quite clear for the prosecution.

KAYE: Always appreciate your expertise, Sunny Hostin. Thank you so much.

And our sister network HLN is your destination for complete coverage of the Casey Anthony trial. You can watch special coverage of the trial throughout the day on HLN. As a part of a yearlong initiative by our sister network, CNN International, the "CNN Freedom Project" brings to light the horrors of modern-day slavery around the world. In today's "Impact Your World," singer/songwriter Jason Mraz joins the fight after a trip to Ghana with Free the Slaves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MRAZ, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Hey, I'm Jason Mraz. And we can make an impact by ending modern slavery.

I got the invitation from Free the Slaves to go to Ghana with a group in the Lake Volta region, where it's a fishing village largely operated by kids. There's thousands and thousands of children that don't get the opportunity even to go to school. Like, they're forced to work in this fishing industry. I had the opportunity to be out there on the water and participate in these rescue missions.

Human trafficking is happening all across the world, and so the more we have awareness about it, this is something we can overcome.

Join the movement. Impact your world. Go to CNN.com/impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is joining us now for an update on this failed levee in Iowa.

Are people in danger? I guess that's the first question.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. They've evacuated most people out of this area. This is something that we've been watching for a while already in Hamburg, Iowa. We told you first about it last week, that there was a breach in it.

Well, now that levee has failed altogether. We'll zoom in and show you the area that we're talking about.

This is about a 30-foot-wide hole basically, or breach in that levee. So water is flowing freely now out of the Missouri River.

There you can see the town of Hamburg. Here's where the river and the levee breach is right now.

Now, the concern is, is that for the most part, this is going to be moving over a rural area throughout much of the day today. And then it's expected to reach near Hamburg by tomorrow.

Now, notice the north side of town. We've got this levee up here. They've also reinforced the levees around Hamburg. They've built them up and put a bunch of sandbags up, so they're hoping that that's going to be enough to hold it, but there's no guarantee on that.

So there is concern in the town of Hamburg, especially the south side of town. About 1,100 people live there.

Now, in addition to this, Interstate 29, just to the west of here, and it's expected to be reaching the interstate sometime late tonight or early tomorrow. So there is the potential that parts of Interstate 29 could be shutting down.

Now, we've been talking about the conditions along the Missouri River for a while, and most of the rainfall and all of the problems have really been happening up near the headwaters across parts of Montana and into the Dakotas. They're releasing record volumes of water across a series of dams here, and that's expected to peak by tomorrow. So we're really going to know in the next 24 hours or so whether or not there are going to be some additional breaches along this system as that water flows out of the Dakotas, across Nebraska and Iowa, and then down into the state of Missouri.

Last but not least, we want to tell you about a situation that's been going on here in Africa. A volcano has erupted there.

This happened late Sunday night, into early Monday morning. And Hillary Clinton, who has been in parts of Ethiopia, has decided she needs to cancel her trip and come back a little bit early. Right now, no major aviation issues expected. However, that's going to change in the upcoming day as that ash plume starts to make its way over towards parts of the Middle East. So, we'll continue to track that situation for you as well. Randi?

KAYE: OK. Thank you, Jacqui. Appreciate it.

Well, a vintage World War II bomber crashes and erupts in flames. How this crash became an amazing story of survival. You will have to see this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is half past the hour. Here's a look at some of the headlines and news that you might have missed.

The countdown is on. Seven Republicans will be on the stage tonight in New Hampshire at CNN's Republican presidential debate. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney may be the center of attention. He is the current GOP frontrunner. And Newt Gingrich will see if he can get his troubled campaign restarted after top staffers abandoned him.

And with the call for new leadership, there's even room for some lesser knowns to shine. You can catch all the action tonight right here on CNN, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Forensic testimony continues today in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Jurors heard testimony about a hair found in Casey Anthony's car trunk and the hairs on the skeletal remains of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. The judge would not permit an FBI examiner to show jurors a PowerPoint presentation about hair decomposition.

Anthony's defense team vigorously protested, stating they never received a copy of that presentation. Anthony faces seven counts in her daughter's death, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading investigators.

Now, I want you to take a look at this video with he. A vintage World War II bomber crashed and burned today outside Chicago. You see it there. Officials say all seven people onboard the B-17 survived. The FAA says the plane took off from Aurora Municipal Airport and crashed about 20 minutes later. The plane was on its way to Indiana where it was scheduled to fly over Indianapolis as part of the Liberty Foundation's 2011 Salute to Veterans tour. The plane was made in 1944.

(VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Defiant Syrians in the streets venting their rage against the government. The latest on a deadly crackdown and reports of a mass raid, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In northern Syria, hundreds of people are massing along the border with Turkey, waiting for the military's next move. Their town now under army occupation after being seized over the weekend. But despite this latest crackdown, anti-government protesters throughout the country show no sign of backing down.

We want to warn you, some of the images that you are about to see are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Syrian state media say this is a mass grave uncovered in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, the scene of fierce clashes last week. The government claim the dead were members of the security forces killed by armed gangs, their bodies mutilated. Some opposition activists say they were killed during clashes between army units.

The Syrian authorities say they're now back in control of the town. This video, purportedly shot at the weekend, shows military helicopters patrolling the area. On the border with Turkey, dozens of people who fled Jisr al-Shughour chant against the government. They and hundreds more are said to be stranded close to the border, waiting to get into Turkey and safety.

For more than two months, the Syrian regime has tried to stamp out protests. But still, they take to the streets. In the port of Latakia, young man tried to escape what sounds like live gunfire. And in Kabon, security forces fall back before turning, aiming and opening fire on demonstrators.

This video, like most, uploaded by opposition activists, and CNN is unable to verify where and when it was shot.

But it's clear that protests continue throughout Syria, often attracting hundreds if not thousands of people. And the chant heard time and time again, the people demand the fall of the regime. At this protest in the city of Duma, a man holds up a banner that reads, "Only in Syria does the citizen feel safe in the absence of the security forces."

Despite using the full might of those security forces, the regime is unable to quell the protests of the Syrian people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And turning now to the strange story of a Syrian blogger who is believed to be a lesbian woman but, in fact, is an American man living in Scotland. Joining us now to talk about this case is Michael Holmes.

So, Michael, this blog was "A Gay Girl in Damascus," right?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

KAYE: And it turns out nothing of the sort.

HOLMES: Well, it was neither gay nor a girl nor in Damascus, as it turned out. Yes, this blog had been going on for some months under this name, Amina Arraf Alamari. Now, she was blogging about what it was like to be gay in Damascus, also talking about what was going on there, the protests, how she would go out to the protests, would write her name and phone number on her arm in case she was killed and her body needed to be identified.

This went on for months and months and months. There was a photograph of her.

Now, what's interesting, she was interviewed by the media. Her voice was heard by many people around the world. And it wasn't until the person who was actually writing the blog, which is a guy called Tom McMaster, who's an American graduate student studying in Edinburgh in Scotland, until he was going on vacation to Istanbul and sort of as an away notice, he has her kidnapped in the blog.

KAYE: Well, that has so many of us worried, I remember. A lot of us had been following her story. And then, all of the sudden she gets kidnapped. I remember, we even reported, many of us did, she's missing and what's happened to her.

HOLMES: Absolutely. Well, it turns out that's because he was going on vacation, he wanted to put it on hold for a little while.

KAYE: So, but apparently though, I mean, from what I read he doesn't believe he harmed anyone. He thought he was helping the cause.

HOLMES: Yes, and a lot of people were impressed with what he wrote. He was writing -- he showed that he did have a knowledge of the gay and lesbian scene in the Middle East, if you like. In fact, some of his postings were actually reposted on gay and lesbian blogs in the Middle East. He says he did it as a challenge to write in that voice. And he said there was a lot of vanity involved as well. He said if he'd written these things as an American male, no one would have listened. He thought I'll put it in this character. It became a writing challenge.

But a lot of people were hurt by it. A, you've got real bloggers in Syria saying, you know, nobody's going to believe us now. Also, people who said they started making queries about this female blogger at their own risk inside Syria. Of course, there was no missing female blogger.

I'll tell you who also was hurt was that he swapped e-mails with a lady in Canada, a French-Canadian who thought she was having an affair of some sort, a relationship of some sort. They swapped a thousand e-mails.

KAYE: It's so bizarre. And it really was dangerous for some.

HOLMES: Absolutely. The photograph on the blog was of a person living in London that he just stole off Facebook.

KAYE: Got to love the Internet.

HOLMES: Oh, yes.

KAYE: All right. Michael, thank you.

HOLMES: Yes.

KAYE: We normally see world leaders like this, surrounded by people hustling from meeting to meeting, running the country. Rarely do we see this. World leaders, close up and personal. We talk to the man behind these incredible photographs of world leaders, coming up right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Every day on CNN, you hear about world leaders and how they're running their countries. Now, rarely do we slow down enough to really see them, to see their faces up close and personal.

Photographer Platon was given the rare honor of photographing many of these world leaders at a United Nations meeting in New York. He set up a small studio right off the floor of the general assembly. He worked his magic to bring world leaders like Tony Blair, Hugo Chavez, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Moammar Gadhafi, Barack Obama, all in front of his lens.

And when I say in front of his lens, in some cases, he was just inches from their faces. The photographer Platon has collected these photos and published them in a new book called "Power." He joins us now live now in our New York studios to tell us the back story on these photographs.

Platon, thank you so much for coming on. The book is amazing, it really is. So interesting to look through. But I want to start with what you were hoping to accomplish with taking these photographs.

PLATON, PHOTOGRAPHER: It's great to be here. I first got the idea for this project at the beginning of what we now call the Great Recession. And it occurred to me that there's very few problems we can solve in isolation. In fact, countries are going to have to start working together in a new and unprecedented way, almost forming something like a global administration.

And if there was such a thing, who would be at the table? We're always used to seeing our world leaders shrouded by sort of hype, marketing and even propaganda. I wanted to show them as human beings up close and very personal.

KAYE: Yes, I have a copy of your book here. And I'm looking at it. One of the pictures that really strikes me is the picture of Moammar Gadhafi. I mean, he certainly has been in the news so much lately. How was he when he sat for your photograph?

PLATON: Oh, he picked the worst moment to sit for me. It was during Barack Obama's first address to the General Assembly as president of the USA. And I was just a few feet away from the podium while Obama was speaking. I was surrounded backstage by all his security guys, Rahm Emanuel, Axelrod, his medics were there, sniffer dogs were there. And it was a small, confined space.

Suddenly I saw this giant crowd swirl coming towards me and in the middle of about 200 people was Gadhafi. He was surrounded by a handful of female armed bodyguards dressed head to foot in military clothing. It was a scene from a James Bond movie.

KAYE: Oh, I'm sure.

PLATON: He marched in slow motion defiance and sat for me almost as if to say, I will sit for you for my first portrait on American soil, but I'll do it under the very nose of the White House administration.

KAYE: I want to get the back story on Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Russia. You guys actually talked about the Beatles?

PLATON: We did. I photographed Putin in his private dasher in a bleak, gothic forest on the outskirts of Moscow. And I arrived -- there was a three-foot -- three-story high security wall with snipers everywhere. And I was escorted into the building at gunpoint. So, it was a very intimidating affair.

But once I was in this historic room where they actually dissolved the Soviet Union, he walks in and I said to him, "I'm a massive Beatles fan. Are you?" And he took off his earpiece, the translating earpiece, and he sent all his advisers out of the room and it was me, Putin and a handful of security guards. It was very cozy.

And we talked about the Beatles. And I asked him his favorite Beatles song and he admitted that it's "Yesterday."

So, I mean, although it's a kind of a joke, this pop culture connection allowed me to feel my way with him and get very, very close. I was about an inch and a half away from his nose. That's how I managed to capture that sparkle of power in his eyes.

KAYE: You can certainly see it. You can see it really in a lot of the photographs that are in this book called "Power."

Platon, thank you so much for coming on and sharing some of the back story of the book with us.

PLATON: Thank you.

KAYE: And to link up to Platon and see the photographs for yourself, you can head to our blog, CNN.com/Ali.

In today's "Taking the Lead" report, they cause a lot of us to pull out our hair or maybe even scream bloody murderer. I'm talking here about those maddening bank fees, as likable as a swarm of fly.

Here are some of the most annoying. Let's see if you agree.

Fees for sending a statement to your old address because you forgot to tell the bank your new address. For example, U.S. Bank charges $5 for the second and subsequent months that a statement is undeliverable.

Fees for using banks' coin counting machines. You can avoid the fee by rolling them in coin rolls all by yourself.

Talking certainly doesn't come cheap, especially if you want to chat with a bank teller. Avoid these monthly fees by getting online statements, enrolling in direct deposit and using ATMs, of course.

And don't lose your debit card. It will cost you to get a new one. It's 5 bucks at Bank of America, 20 bucks if you need it right away.

And this is a no-brainer. Sign up for electronic statements to avoid the fee for paper ones. Requesting old statements -- well, you could pay from $3 to $5 for copy of checks. A lot more if the bank needs to dig into your account history.

And receiving money. Chase, for example, charges $15 for incoming wire transfers. Charges for redeeming reward points. You earn them and in some cases, yes, you're going to pay to redeem them.

And, finally, perhaps the most obnoxious one of all -- fees for closing your account. U.S. Bank, for example, charges 25 bucks for closing an account within 180 days of opening it. Chase demands $25 for shutting it down within 90 days of becoming a customer.

Well, another state is looking to restrict the bargaining power of teachers by banning teacher strikes. Should teachers be banned from walking off the job? Our Stream Team weighs in, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Trying to keep teachers in the classroom. Pennsylvania, legislators are proposing new rules to stop strikes. The idea is to make it illegal for teachers to walk out during disputes over pay or benefits.

Pennsylvania is not alone. Take a look at this map with me. Right now, there are only 13 states that actually allow teachers to strike. That means in the majority of the country, teachers have absolutely no right to walk out.

Some call Pennsylvania the teacher strike state. And here's why: from 2000 to 2007, it topped all other states in strikes. 82 total. That's around a dozen every year.

And take a look at California. Just three strikes in that same time.

So, here's the question: should it be illegal for teachers to go on strike?

Let's bring in our Stream Team today. On the team today is "New York Times" labor and workplace writer, Steve Greenhouse; and Jonah Edelman, co-founder of Stand for Children, an advocacy group for children's issues.

So, Jonah, I want to start with you. Should teachers, in your opinion, be able to strike?

JONAH EDELMAN, CO-FOUNDER, STAND FOR CHILDREN: I think my opinion is that teacher strikes should absolutely be a last resort.

And here in Illinois where I am right now, the governor, Pat Quinn, just this morning signed a law, Senate bill 7, that significantly improves the way contracts are negotiated here in Chicago where you had a history of the threat of strikes preventing kids from getting a longer school day and year. Well, Senate bill 7 which Stand for Children drafted with Advance Illinois, and ended up being strongly supported on a bipartisan basis, changes things in Chicago so that the length of day and year are no longer bargainable, and Mayor Emanuel is going to be able to substantially, as a result, lengthen that day and year without the threat of a strike.

So, I think strikes need to be a last resort. I think there need to be very significant safeguards in place.

The key question is: how do we set up processes so that school districts, you know, management and labor can come to agreements that are in the best interest of students.

KAYE: Steve, what would you say is behind the push to ban teacher strikes? Is it simply the fact that there are so many of them?

STEVE GREENHOUSE, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I think that's part of it, Randi. I think the simple fact is, one is people don't like it when their teachers go on strike. All of the sudden, they're trying to figure out how am I going to take care of my kids today? How am I going to go to work? It's a royal pain when this happens.

Second, as you know, Randi, there are a wave of Republican victories last November. And ever since Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin, Ohio and now Pennsylvania are taking actions to weaken unions, to weaken public sector unions at the bargaining table to move against them on pensions.

So, a few months ago, Ohio banned teachers from striking. And now, Pennsylvania with its new Republican governor, Tom Corbett, is trying to do likewise.

Again, I think the governor, the legislature thinks the general public doesn't like these strikes. They're not good for parents. They're not good for students.

The teachers say, wait a second, we need to have this right to give us leverage to bargain what they say is a fair contract.

KAYE: Jonah, how would you say a teacher strike affects the children?

EDELMAN: Obviously, it's incredibly detrimental in that, you know, kids' school year gets interrupted and extremely disruptive to families. And, you know, when there are strikes in communities, you remember for years if not decades. So, obviously, strikes should be avoided at all costs.

I think the question is and Steve brings up a good point when he talks about Wisconsin and Ohio and other states -- is this about scoring political points or is it about solving problems? There are definitely significant issues in terms of the way in which contract negotiations happen in Pennsylvania. You know, there should be a better negotiation process.

The question that legislators need to really grapple with is: does this legislation really help kids? Is it going to help students? Or is it just about vanquishing a political adversary.

KAYE: Steve, really, in 20 seconds or less, can you tell me does this put teachers at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiations for pay, et cetera?

GREENHOUSE: Randi, it certainly weakens their hand in bargaining. And that's why teachers say if you're going to take away the right to strike, you have to give us some fair way of reaching a settlement like arbitration so that a neutral person can decide what the contract should be when they're at loggerheads with the school board.

KAYE: All right, Steve, Jonah, thank you both so much for coming on and talking about this very important issue. Appreciate it.

The Republican presidential candidates are gearing up to battle each other in tonight's CNN GOP debate. And it looks like anything is fair game. Hear our CNN political update, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We are now just about five hours away from the CNN GOP debate tonight in New Hampshire. Seven Republican candidates ready to face off with a lot at stake. CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger is there in Manchester right now.

Gloria, we're seeing a Republican party that is split in many directions, it seems. So, what does our new poll tell us about the differences and what it means for the race?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, we have one really interesting poll that I want to share with you. And we asked Republicans only about which candidate agrees with you on the issues that you care about.

Now, let's assume the results of this are not about just name ID, although that probably has something to do with it. But when you look, Palin, 80 percent, Giuliani, 75 percent. Now, those are two people who disagree on almost everything, OK? Giuliani is as moderate as you can get in the Republican Party. Sarah Palin is as conservative as you can get. And then you have Romney, who's now ranking number one, ranking third in this.

So, you can see where the Republican Party is split here, between the economic conservatives and the social conservatives and the people who really just want to win. So, this will make our debate really interesting because Republicans will be tuning in for the first time to see the differences among these candidates, because right now, they're obviously very undecided, Randi.

KAYE: Oh, yes. This is going to be an exciting one to watch, Gloria. Thank you so much.

BORGER: Right.

KAYE: And that will do it for me, everyone.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin. Hi, Brooke.