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President Obama's Jobs Plan Breakdown; Fourth Victim Dies in IHOP Shooting; Selection of Jurors in Conrad Murray Trial; 9/11 Responders Cancer Club; Stocks On The Rebound; Saving Shark Fins

Aired September 07, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Top of the hour. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Let's get you up to speed.

In Texas, more wildfires break out as the state battles its worst fire season on record. At last count, 22 new fires are burning. Those and dozens more have scorched 120,000 acres in the last week.

And to show you the scope of the big fire near Austin, look at this video of the smoke alone. One of our iReporters took it from an airplane.

Across the state, four people have died and more than 700 homes have burned.

And a stash of Russian-made missiles is missing from a huge warehouse in Libya's capital of Tripoli. A CNN team and Human Rights Watch found dozens of empty crates. They were marked with packing lists and inventory numbers identifying the items as surface-to-air missiles equivalent to U.S.-made Stinger missiles. Those are designed to shoot down aircraft flying as high as 11,000 feet. A Human Rights Watch officials says armories have been looted across Libya.

A terrorist attack outside India's High Court in New Delhi. A bomb exploded, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens more. Police say the bomb was hidden in a briefcase near an entrance to the complex. Indian media report receiving e-mails from an Islamic extremist group claiming responsibility.

And a Russian plane has crashed, killing at least 43 people. Emergency officials say there are two survivors. The charter jet was carrying Russian, German, and Swedish hockey players. It crashed during takeoff from the western city there, which is about 150 miles from Moscow.

U.S. military bases across the country are on a higher level of alert. We learned last hour that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has signed an order raising what's known as force protection level through September 11th. Officials say the move is not in response to any specific threat.

The U.S. is considering keeping about 3,000 troops in Iraq next year. That's according to a senior Pentagon official, but he stresses no final decisions have been made. The current agreement calls for all U.S. forces to leave by the end of this year, but Iraq is expected to ask for some troops to actually stay on.

A man who played a major role in sending U.S. troops to Iraq says it was the right decision. Former vice president Dick Cheney talked with Wolf Blitzer about other actions he doesn't regret.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CHENEY, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A lot of the most controversial things we did that people didn't like and criticized us for are things like the terror surveillance program, or enhanced interrogation things, were things that allowed us to save lives. And the net result, the value of our policies, is best evaluated in terms of the fact that, after 9/11, there were no further mass casualty attacks against the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Passing through airport security could soon be a little less of a hassle. Homeland Security Janet Napolitano tells Politico new technology could soon make it possible for passengers to keep their shoes on, but she says restrictions on carrying liquids on board will probably be in place for a while.

All right. Not just one small step frozen in time. NASA has just released new pictures of several Apollo moon landing sites, and they show extraordinary new details about three places on the moon that were visited by humans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Apollo 17 landing site, we can see where the lunar rover is parked on the surface. We can see where it drove around, around the lunar module. You can see the areas where the astronauts kicked up the dust when they walked around. You can see some of the experiments that were left behind sitting on the surface 40 years ago, and you can see where they are, still sitting there on the lunar surface.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And on the eve of President Obama's big speech on jobs, more details of his plan are trickling out. Democratic sources say it adds up to about $300 billion and will focus on new infrastructure spending and targeted tax cuts. It is also expected to include aid to state and local governments.

Let's bring in Christine Romans of our Money team to break down some of the ideas.

So, Christine, the price tag for the plan, $300 billion. But it will be offset by the same amount of spending cuts. So how is the president going to do that or propose that?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the key here is going to have to be government spending is not all created equally. Right? Some of it is actually more stimulative to the economy than others. So the president is going to have to find and his team are going to have to find places where they can cut $300 billion and they can steer that money into areas that will be stimulative. But among them, payroll tax cuts.

We know that that is stimulative because, why? It keeps money in your paycheck.

It is a pay cut -- sorry, a tax cut -- for everyone who is getting a paycheck. So that's money that you spend right away. Sometimes people don't even notice it, that it's in their paycheck, and they're spending it, it gets right out into the economy.

Also, an extension of unemployment insurance. Many economists, including Mark Zandi at MoodysEconomy.com, he says it's programs like this that people need that money, that money goes right into the economy. We know we have 13 million people unemployed.

So these are two ways that they are trying to get money. And we have tried these before. These are not new efforts. We have been doing this. This will be an extension of those things.

WHITFIELD: OK. So let's talk about the economic effects of infrastructure spending. How does that create jobs?

ROMANS: It creates jobs because it puts people to work on road projects or on school projects, or wherever you're doing infrastructure. It can be sewers, it can be the electrical grid, it can be a lot of different kinds of things. And then there is the other spending around it in those communities that adds to jobs as well.

So, what they are trying to do here is something called an infrastructure bank, so it will be a public/private partnership. You put government money in there, and you have private companies that get involved as well, cutting red tape, providing low-that interest funding. And here's how it creates jobs.

Depending on which survey you look at, each billion dollars in spending on infrastructure creates anywhere from 11,000 to 30,000 jobs, and these estimates come from the president's Council of Economic Advisors, all the way to the Department of Transportation, depending on how well you get the money going and what kind of project it is. So the goal here is to do two things -- not just move money through the economy, but to fix something in the process of it.

Because, Fredricka, guess what? The United States doesn't even rank in the top 10 or 15 for developed countries with good infrastructure. Our infrastructure is old, it's crumbling. It could use some work.

WHITFIELD: So does this also mean that you can't create jobs or have jobs available if you don't spend money?

ROMANS: Well, now, that starts to become an economical ideological discussion, because there are those who say that we have so much debt, that that's hurting jobs creation. We have to get our debt under control. We can't be spending more money. We've got to get regulations cut back so that we can let the economy grow on its own, and a growing economy on its own will create jobs.

What the president is trying to do is to get government money moving in the economy to create jobs that way until the private sector is healthier and will start creating jobs as well. It's a very -- I'm telling you, it's a very political conversation.

The question for this president and his team will be, can they get Republicans on board? Are all of these things that we've talked about, that we suspect will be in his plan tomorrow, are all these things that Republicans can get on board with? That's the political question here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Christine Romans, thanks for breaking it down for us.

ROMANS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So, President Barack Obama will be outlining that jobs plan tomorrow night. CNN's live coverage of the president's address begins with a special preview on "THE SITUATION ROOM," 6:00 Eastern Time, followed by the speech itself, 7:00 Eastern Time, and then insight and analysis on "AC 360."

All right. Here's a rundown of some of the stories we're working on.

Next, the death toll from a shooting at an IHOP in Nevada climbs.

Then, an explosion levels a house in New York. But the question for investigators, what caused it?

And later, the doctor charged in the death of pop star Michael Jackson gets a stern warning from the judge just ahead of jury selection.

And then, in Mexico, there's big trouble for two people accused of people spreading rumors about school attacks on Twitter and Facebook. They could face long prison terms if convicted.

And in Texas, hundreds of people have lost everything as dozens of wildfires spread.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And our house can be replaced, but I think all of the memories is what really hurts. It hits the heart when I start thinking about my babies' pictures and the things they made in elementary, and the things I put up to save to give to their kids. And it's gone. Yes, it hurts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're giving you a chance to "Choose the News." Text "22360" for the story that you want to see.

Option number 1: "Shark Fin Ban." It's a delicacy in the Chinese-American community, but harvesting the fins of sharks for soup is threatening the species, and some California voters want to do something about that.

Number 2: a "Parking Lot Hero." In the middle of a brutal attack on a Mexican casino, this parking lot attendant saved dozens of lives.

Or number 3: "Flowers for Madonna" -- not. The pop superstar gets caught dissing a gift from an adoring fan, and the incident is now going viral fast.

You can vote by texting "22360." Text "1" for "Shark Fin Ban"; "2" for "Parking Lot Hero"; or "3" for "Flowers for Madonna."

The winning story airs this hour.

All right. A man walks into a Nevada IHOP and then opens fire. A fourth victim now is dead, and questions are swirling about a possible motive of 11 people shot. Five were Nevada National Guard members.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is following this story for us in Los Angeles.

So, I understand a news conference on that shooting just started. Are there any developments that have been revealed thus far?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, you know, there was a lot of concern as to what the motive could have been. Part of that is because the people who were targeted were in uniform at the time when they were sitting in that IHOP restaurant. Now the sheriff's department is saying that they don't believe there is a connection.

The news conference is going on right now, and CNN has learned that a cab driver who drove the gunman, 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion, the night before the shooting, told a law enforcement official that Sencion had expressed suicidal thoughts. The official also told CNN that there is no terrorism connection in this case, that Sencion was not on the radar of federal law enforcement prior to the shooting.

Sencion was a resident of Carson City. He worked at a family business in South Lake Tahoe.

Family members told authorities that he had a history of mental illness that goes back to the time when he was 16 years old. Investigators say that yesterday morning, Sencion opened fire on a person in the IHOP parking lot, and then moved inside the restaurant, where he began shooting at a group of National Guardsmen who were having breakfast at a table. He used an AK-47. Four people were killed, including three Guardsmen and a civilian who happened to be in the line of fire. In total, 11 people were shot in the rampage, and witnesses say people were running for cover and hiding under vehicles. They say it was a terrifying scene.

WHITFIELD: Horribly sad. All right. Thelma Gutierrez, thanks so much for the update.

Picking a jury to hear the manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's doctor. We'll tell you what kinds of questions prospective jurors will have to answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Jury selection begins tomorrow in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. He is accused of involuntary manslaughter in the death of pop star Michael Jackson.

CNN's Ted Rowlands looks at some of the questions that may be posed to potential jurors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The blueprint for picking jurors for the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial starts with this 30-page, 117-question document which lawyers from both sides came up with a few months ago. Answers that prospective jurors give to questions like these will be pored over by the attorneys and their jurors consultants.

JO-ELLAN DIMITRIUS, JURY CONSULTANT: Holy cow. I'm just looking at the medications.

ROWLANDS: We gave a copy of that jury questionnaire to Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, who's made a career of picking jurors dating back to the O.J. Simpson murder trial. In a case like this, Dimitrius says there will be people who may lie to get picked.

DIMITRIUS: People who have hidden agendas, who want to be on a jury because they want to be able to write a book, or they want their 15 minutes of fame.

ROWLANDS: The questionnaire lists 136 potential witnesses, including Jackson's parents, brothers and sisters, and his three children. There's also a question about where individuals get their news and what Web site they visit, ranging from CNN.com to Perez Hilton and TMZ.

It also asks if and even why an individual saw Jackson's "This Is It." The prosecution is planning to show this clip from the documentary because they say it proves Jackson was in good health days before his death. There is this question asking about potential jurors' familiarity with a laundry list of 27 different prescription drugs, including Propofol, the drug tied to Jackson's death. DIMITRIUS: A juror who has a lot of personal experience and knowledge of the drugs and medications that are going to be talked about is going to be a better defense juror.

ROWLANDS: Dimitrius says the defense also wants jurors who think Jackson was an oddball. She says prosecutors want the opposite, someone who is a Michael Jackson fan and believes the singer was manipulated during his life and wrongly accused of child molestation. Ultimately, she says the best jurors are the ones that can stand up to pressure in the jury room.

DIMITRIUS: You want somebody who is strong, who is not going to back down no matter what.

ROWLANDS: Prospective jurors will be presented with the final questionnaires on Thursday.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. The jury selection in the Conrad Murray trial tops our "Law and Order" segment today.

Sunny Hostin is a legal contributor with "In Session" on our sister network, truTV.

All right, Sunny. So, is it possible to find an unbiased jury to even consider this case?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION," TRUTV: You know, I certainly think that is possible, but it's going to take some work. And that's why we're hearing so much about this really extensive questionnaire. Right, Fredricka? Because that is important.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HOSTIN: You have to weed out the people that are celebrity hounds, celebrity seekers, that really want to do this because they want to write a book, they want to make a lot of money. You want to sort of exclude the juror that's going to swing this jury in a way that is unfair to the defendant.

So I think it is very possible, but very difficult to do it. And one thing I think is also very important to mention is that this defense team has asked for the jury that is picked to be sequestered.

WHITFIELD: Right.

HOSTIN: And that means legally that they are kept in a hotel, kept together, to make sure that they aren't influenced by a lot of the news reporting that will obviously take place covering this trial. There are going to be cameras in the courtroom. And I've got to tell you, Fred, I think that the judge got it wrong by denying their request to sequester the jury. WHITFIELD: Why is that? I mean, the defense wanted it, they wanted to try to protect their case. But why is it wrong, in your view, that the judge would say no, they're not going to be sequestered?

HOSTIN: You know, typically, jurors are admonished: don't read any newspaper discussing this case, don't watch television, reports discussing this case. How do you do something like that when a man accused of killing the "King of Pop" is on trial?

I mean, the defense attorneys liken this case to the Casey Anthony case, and we all remember that. And they actually believe and many jury selection experts believe that this case will be bigger than that case in terms of the media coverage. And so I think you've got to -- to ensure a fair trial, I think you have to sequester them and keep them away from the commentary and the coverage.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk about another case. This one, out of Mexico.

So, two men are facing terrorism charges now over Twitter messages. What more can you tell us about what was said and what exactly got them in trouble?

HOSTIN: Well, this certainly was a scary thing. You have two men. They have been charged with terrorism, facing up to 30 years in prison.

And apparently, August 25th, they sent out these posts on Twitter, on Facebook, claiming that five children had been kidnapped, also claiming that there were bomb threats. And also, I think most egregiously, stating that a helicopter was firing shots at an elementary school, and imploring parents to go pick them up.

So, there was widespread, of course, panic and terror really in Veracruz, Mexico. They have been charged with terrorism. I've got to tell you, I feel that's overreaching, but it is very dangerous to tweet, post things on Facebook like this. It's sort of akin to yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

WHITFIELD: So you think it's kind of tantamount to falsifying a report instead?

HOSTIN: I wouldn't go that far, but I think it's extremely, extremely serious. I mean, I'm a parent, and I can only imagine if I saw a post like that discussing shots being fired at my child's school.

WHITFIELD: Right, the alarm.

HOSTIN: I mean, I would run off set right now and run to the school. And so you can only imagine what the parents -- the terror that they felt. So I think they will face legal challenges based on the charges, but some charges certainly should be dropped.

WHITFIELD: And you think if something like that were to happen in the states, do you think it would be treated relatively the same?

HOSTIN: I think so. I think it would be treated very seriously both by local authorities and federal authorities. People could have gotten hurt trying to get to their children. So this is very serious.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sunny Hostin, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

HOSTIN: Thanks.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So, Texas just can't catch a break in the worst fire season on record there. With no rain, the flames keep spreading. One of our iReporters, Andy Throne, is a firefighter, and he sent us this video.

And he is with us now from College Station, Texas, to talk about the danger that he and hundreds of others firefighters are facing on the front line.

So, Andy, tell us what it is like.

ANDY THRONE, BRAZOS COUNTY, TEXAS, FIREFIGHTER: Well, with this extreme drought that we're in right now, and the heavy winds, high winds that we had from Tropical Storm Lee coming in, it just made conditions extreme. The fire was moving faster than we could keep up with it, and we had to go help all the surrounding counties with the large fires.

WHITFIELD: And it's moving fast and it's showing no mercy. I mean, when you look at the debris, Andy, from some of the houses, it looks like it has caused some of the brick to just disintegrate.

THRONE: Yes, at a certain temperature, the bricks will explode just because of the moisture that's contained in them. Once it boils and expands, the bricks will have a tendency to explode out.

These fires are very hot, and really too fast for any firefighter to get in front of them. We're just kind of cleaning up the debris and the hot spots after the fire burns through.

WHITFIELD: And Andy, explain how in some cases one house is decimated and the one right next door is not. What is behind that phenomenon?

THRONE: Well, just like in a tornado, Mother Nature has a mind of her own. But homeowners can have a lot to play with that with clearing brush away from their houses, no large trees, pines, things like that, clearing them away.

And then, if you do those small things and keep your grass cut short, a lot of times the fire will move through your area and not affect your house. And then it also has a lot to do with the construction -- a metal roof, a rock house. Things like that, that don't burn easily, are much safer in those kinds of situations.

WHITFIELD: And so, Andy, let me ask you about the health concerns that you, your fellow firefighters have, and even residents in the area with these giant, thick plumes of smoke that are just kind of hanging in the air there. It has to be very difficult for everyone to breathe, and particularly those of you who are trying to get closest to the fire.

THRONE: Well, we try to stay out of the plume of smoke, because if you're in it, that means you're kind of in the head of the fire, as we say. So we try to work from the edges and stay out of the thickest part of the smoke.

And if you're in the thickest part of the smoke, it's a good idea to probably evacuate the area. A lot of the areas that are not adjacent to the fires though are getting a lot of ash falling days after the fire. And a lot of that is not going to affect you health- wise unless you have some sort of asthma or respiratory problems to begin with.

WHITFIELD: Got it.

All right. Andy, Chad Myers, with me now, has a question for you, too.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. This is about the heat and this is about houses burning from the inside out.

And we see this when I worked in Oklahoma, and we see it a lot in L.A. and California when the fires are burning there. The heat is so intense on the outside of the house that, actually, curtains can catch on fire through the glass and the house catches on fire from the inside out.

Is there anything that we can do? Do you tear those curtains down? Do you put something on the outside of the glass? Or don't worry about it?

THRONE: If you are in that extreme situation, there is probably not a lot that you can do. If you are in the house in that situation, you need to be out of it. You should not be there with that extreme heat.

There's -- honestly, there's just not a lot we can do if it's that hot outside. Things like taking blinds down, plastic things that can easily melt, would help, but it's probably a situation you wouldn't want to be in.

MYERS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Andy Throne, thank you so much and be safe.

THRONE: You are welcome. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So many fires across Texas, you can't even count them. It has all merged in some areas, and it's not likely to get any better anytime soon, right?

MYERS: It isn't. Although there's a tropical system potential named Nate. It doesn't have a name yet. But we just got Maria.

WHITFIELD: It's the one you give it.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: I'm -- well, that would be the next one in line. Because M is already taken up by Maria. But Nate could come up in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend, and that's what we wanted from Lee, to bring rainfall into Texas. It just didn't happen. In fact, it just brought wind to Texas.

And let me just take you to this graphic, because I don't think people across the country truly understand what the drought is like in Texas right now. Ninety-nine percent of the state is in severe drought or worse. 95 percent in extreme. And D-4, exceptional drought, 81 percent. There's not one county, there's not one acre in Texas not under some type of drought condition. That's what you get into when you don't get rain forever.

This has been a drought that has been literally worst than the Dust Bowl. Texas has lost $5.5 billion with a B dollars in livestock and crops because there is just no rain to grow crops down there. The cotton is gone. The livestock has nothing to eat. There's no water. Towns are literally drying up.

And where did the smoke go? The smoke has been all across the deep part of the state, all of these fires as you talk. It's kind of hard to see, but the haze across the deep parts all the way from Corpus Christi down to Beaumont. And then for today, winds will start to shift and come around to the east. When they come from the east, they will actually blow that smoke back towards the cities. Back towards Austin, Texas, the capital city.

Wow, KVUE, hardly can see, what? Maybe two or three miles. That's the smoke hazard. That's the particulate matter getting in the lungs right now of kids and people. This is not a day to let the kids play outside and run around a lot. Inside, in the air conditioning, at least it's a little bit filtered. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Yes, and if you have to go outside, I'm sure a lot of people are purchasing some sort of masks?

MYERS: The N-95 masks are the best because they get most of the particulates. But you get what you can get, because a lot of these are sold out.

WHITFIELD: Right. Any little bit will help. All right, thanks so much, Chad.

All right, the president turned prisoner. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is hauled back into court. CNN's Michael Holmes will join us to talk about the trial beyond the headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHTIFILD: Egypt's ousted president was wheeled back into court on a gurney today in what's becoming a rather familiar scene. Hosni Mubarak's trail resumed two days after clashes erupted outside the courtroom between security forces and families of those killed in the uprisings that ended his presidency. He faces a possible death penalty if convicted of ordering the killings.

CNN's Michael Holmes is here with a look beyond the headlines. So, what is next in the trial?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's interesting, isn't it? Well, this is day three of the third session, if you like.

But yes, there were those clashes outside, which were pretty dramatic, and shows the depth of feeling that still exists in Egypt. What happened and what was interesting on Monday was we were hearing witness accounts from inside the command and control center when the uprising began. And one general in particular saying police were told to use tear-gas, not live ammunition.

Of course, this is all about Mubarak being accused of basically ordering the killing of the protesters. That's what we heard in Monday's testimony, and what happens today, we're still not hearing much about that at the moment.

WHITFIELD: Others on trial? (INAUDIBLE) this Arab Spring.

HOLMES: Well, yes, in Egypt, yes, you have the former interior minister, and he has been tried alongside Mubarak. Also his sons, Mubarak's sons, two of his sons are on trial, where they are being tried for corruption charges. So, yes, there are several people involved in what is happening in Egypt.

Outside, when you talk about outside Egypt, in other countries, what you have seen in other countries, it's really just the Tunisian -- Mubarak is the first leader of any nation from the Arab Spring to actually face court. But the Tunisian president he also was tried in abstentia. He fled, of course, to Saudi Arabia in January. He's already been tried and convicted. But not going to serve any time, obviously.

You'd imagine the Gadhafis if they find them (INAUDIBLE), go to trial as well.

WHITFIELD: Right. So, if convicted, what might be Hosni Mubarak's fate?

HOLMES: Oh, he could get the death penalty.

WHITFIELD: And people star thinking again about Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Might there be that kind of parallel?

HOLMES: Well, difficult to make the parallel. But he certainly could face the death penalty. There's no question about that. That's for the killing of protestors.

He's also facing these corruption charges. It was interesting among the protesters who were outside on Monday were a lot of supporters of Mubarak, saying this is no way to treat a leader and somebody who brought us stability, etc., etc. Vastly outnumbered by the protesters, saying bring it on.

A lot of them don't even want to see a trial. A lot of them want to go right to the conviction

WHITFIELD: You mentioned his sons, but what about other family members?

HOLMES: No, that's pretty much it. Him and his sons, they are the ones facing it from the family perspective. And the sons, of course, too, they lived that life of opulence as well and the life of privilege that we have seen unfold now in Libya with the Gadhafi family as well. A lot of anger on the streets of Egypt that the revolution is still not over.

WHITFIELD: And what do we know about his health? We see him on the gurney, but what details do we know --

HOLMES: You never know for sure. He is made to have heart problems; he's made to have a host of other problems as well. I mean, is he as sick as he appears? It's hard to tell unless you go there and give him an examination yourself. There are people who certainly have their doubts that he is this sick. If he can show up in court, he can't be that bad, but we don't know for sure.

He does have heart problems. That's been said in the past.

WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Holmes, always good to see you.

HOLMES: Good to see you, Fred!

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

All right. For some, the horror of 9/11 never goes away. Ten years later, Dr. Sanjay Gupta sits down with first responders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The health of 9/11 first responders ten years later. Many are still sick, and some experts believe the number becoming ill, particularly with cancer could continue to grow. Our CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has spent the past year investigating the health of 9/11 responders. His documentary "TERROR IN THE DUST" premieres tonight, 11:00 Eastern time.

So, Sanjay, cancer has been quite a contentious topic when talking about the health of responders to 9/11. How big of a problem has cancer been among those responders?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think considering just in July of this year, you know, there was sort of a ruling, if you will, regarding cancer and its connections to the dust and to the air that people breathe in and basically said there was no connection, now there's this very large study, seven-year study, among fire department New York workers who are first responders saying there is a connection, and specifically, there's a 19 percent increased risk of developing cancer if you were one of those first responders and worked for the fire department.

So, I think it's a pretty significant study that the lead author, Dr. David Presant is someone that I have been talking to over the year. He was working on this paper. It was unclear exactly what it was going to show. I think even he was surprised that they showed this significant an association.

I think more to the point, though, Fred, I have been working on the story. And there are so many young people, young men and women who work for the fire department and also worked for the police department who developed cancer over the last 10 years that they even had these cancer clubs. Members of the cancer clubs -- and they talk about what their lives have been like. Take a listen to what I saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERNIE VALLEBUONA, FIRST RESPONDER TO GROUND ZERO: One of my friends, he's a captain. He had multiple myeloma. Another lieutenant who worked in vice with me, he has the same lymphoma I have. The same exact kind.

GUPTA (on camera): How many people just off the top of your head can you think of that fall into that pattern, blood cancer?

VALLEBOUNA: There are so many, I hear, every month there are a couple more.

GUPTA: Every month?

VALLEBOUNA: Yes.

DR. JACQUELINE MOLINE, WTC MEDICAL MONITORING PROGRAM: We do know there were carcinogens in there, even in the dust there were carcinogens. The question is how long does it take for people to develop cancers after they've been exposed to these compounds?

GUPTA (voice-over): It's a question that science has struggled to answer. But Ernie Vallibouna has no doubt. He believes there's a connection between his cancer and the dust.

VALLEBOUNA: I firmly believe that.

GUPTA: It's a tough thing to prove, isn't it?

VALLEBOUNA: Oh, sure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. So Sanjay, you apparently have a container of the actual dust at issue here. What is believed to be contained in it? What are these carcinogens?

GUPTA: Well, you know, this is it. And I should point out, first of all, one of the responders that held this dust up when making the documentary, he got very emotional when holding it and said he was holding one of the most dangerous substances he had ever held.

I mean, this is thankfully one of the few reminders, Fred, of the 9/11 attacks. They believe it has so many different chemicals all sort of thrown together in what was a unique situation: benzene, titanium, asbestos, jet fuel, all these things. They just sort of got into the air and they started to coat the dust. And that dust hung like a mist over the city for some time. And that's what was believed to cause some of these health problems.

I should add as well, what is interesting and something that jumped out at me, Fred, is that there were a lot of volatile compounds. Compounds that evaporated really quickly after the attacks. Some of the components of the jet fuel, for example. And so they were never collected. The stuff you see there on the screen, they could scoop that up and they've been analyzing it literally over the last several years. But the whole picture may never be known because of those volatile compounds. They simply disappeared.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So right now lawmakers and union leaders are gathering at Ground Zero to sign a petition requiring the 9/11 health program administrator consider adding medical coverage for first responders with cancer. So people may be shocked to hear that cancer actually is not covered right now, right?

GUPTA: I think a lot of people are shocked to hear that. They assumed that the cancer -- you know, there was cases of cancer caused by the dust and those people were getting covered. That has not been the case. And even as recently as July of this year, another ruling was made to say that cancer would not be part of what was compensated.

This study that we're talking about, Fredricka, may change that whole debate. I mean it's a long-term, very large study that showed some very significant findings. And the lead author believes that if you got cancer during that time period of the study and you were a fire department worker working at Ground Zero, it was most likely because of the dust. That's a pretty remarkable statement to make.

WHITFIELD: It really is remarkable. All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

And, of course, you can see the full investigation of the health fallout from 9/11, and rare, never before seen footage of the aftermath of the disaster in Dr. Sanjay Gupta's documentary "Terror In The Dust." It airs tonight, 11:00 Eastern. And this Sunday, again, tune in to CNN's live coverage of the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and that documentary re-airs.

All right, 10 years after 9/11 and the start of the war in Afghanistan. What is going on there right now? Suzanne Malveaux is in Afghanistan to find out. She'll be investigating the training of Afghan troops and are they prepared to take over once U.S. troops have all gone home? Suzanne will also talk with American soldiers who were just children on the day of the attacks. Watch her reports beginning Friday, September 9th, through Sunday, September 11th.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, time to head cross-country for stories CNN affiliates are covering.

First stop, Long Island, New York. Fire investigators are trying to figure out what caused an explosion early Tuesday morning that destroyed a home in Elmont. There were no reports of a gas leak. No one was at home when it happened. And no one, thankfully, was injured.

In Boone, North Carolina, the man -- this guy who was apparently driving this car says he was trying to beat a red light, took the wrong shortcut and then wound up stuck in rising floodwaters. A lot of heavy rain caused several creeks in the area to rise Tuesday.

And when 12-year-old Will Thomas of McLean, Virginia, heard about the 17 Navy SEALs who died last month in Afghanistan, he wanted to help their families. Donors have pledged money for every basket that he makes. His goal, 17,000 baskets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL THOMAS, SHOOTING BASKETS FOR SEALS: Shooting baskets for me is something that I love to do. And the fact that I could do it to help the families of the SEALs, I thought that was great. A lot of people said that they were going to double what they were pledging if I made more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And the arrows are pointing up on Wall Street today. Stocks are on the rebound after a three day selloff. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

So, Alison, how much is the Dow up right now?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the gains seem to be sticking for now, Fredricka. The Dow up about 197 points. But putting this in perspective for you, it did lose 474 points over the past three sessions. We are keeping our eyes on shares of Bank of America and Yahoo!. Management shake-ups there. Shares of Yahoo! up more than 3 percent. Bank of America shares are surging more than 6 percent.

What you see here today happening, investors are bargain hunting for those beaten down stocks. There's also some anticipation for President Obama's jobs speech tomorrow. Analysts, Fredricka, are looking to hear something new out of that.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Meantime, some discouraging news about how debt is affecting the state of retirement in the U.S.? KOSIK: Oh, it really is. You know what, Americans, they want to retire. But you know what they're realizing, that they have too much debt. And it's mostly because of their mortgages. You know it used to be that by the time that people got closer to retirement age, they paid off all or most of their mortgage. But now a good percent of households with 60 to 64-year-olds in them, they still have a primary mortgage and 20 percent have a second mortgage. "The Wall Street Journal" says both numbers have almost doubled over the last two decades.

And what this translates into is, you know, lots of mortgage debt, a median of $71,000 just for that age group. And, you know, part of the problem is a sharp drop in home values. A lot of these people, they don't have the option to just, you know, sell their homes if they're under water on their mortgages. So, you know, these older Americans, Fredricka, they've got to dip into their retirement funds to pay off other debts and they have to continue working just to pay the bills. Very discouraging.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Very discouraging, indeed. All right, thanks so much, Alison Kosik.

All right, you told us what you wanted to see. Your "Choose The News" story just moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, late night comics are getting a head start on the president's job speech tomorrow. Here's Jay Leno.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": On Thursday, President Obama will give a speech on job growth. How many of you think it's going to be a short speech? Yes, I think it's not going to be a big speech, yes. You know here's the easy part.

According to the latest "Wall Street Journal" poll, a record 73 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. But the good news, gas is so expensive and traffic is so bad, we'll never get there. So, yeah, so that's good to know. That's good to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So on the eve of President Obama's big speech on jobs, more details of his plan are trickling out. Democratic sources say it adds up to about $300 billion and will focus on new infrastructure spending and targeted tax cuts. It is also expected to includes aid to state and local governments. And CNN's live coverage, of course, of the president's address tomorrow beginning with a special preview on "The Situation Room" at 6:00 Eastern Time, followed by the speech scheduled for 7:00 p.m. And then insight and analysis on "AC 360" thereafter. OK, so you voted. We listened. Here's your "Choose The News" winner. It's a clash between culture and environmentalism. The question, should shark fin soup be outlawed? Our Kristie Lu Stout reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the bustling streets of San Francisco's China town, you can find a staggering variety of Asian imports. The most valuable, shark fins. A key ingredient in a prized Chinese delicacy.

Far from these streets, there is a grim reality. Many sharks are targeted for their fins. It is a brutal practice known as finning, which involves cutting the fins off live sharks and discarding the rest into the ocean. Conservationists say an estimated 73 million sharks are killed every year, many for their fins.

California is the largest importer of stark fins outside Asia. Its evidence of the state's large Chinese-American community. A community now divided. A controversial bill is now working its way to the California State Senate. The proposed law will make it illegal to possess, sell or trade shark fins. Paul Fong is one of the politicians behind the bill.

PAUL FONG, CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY: We're losing 8,773 million sharks per hour and it's -- 73 million sharks are being killed every year. And at this rate, it's going to go instinct within our lifetime. And so the sooner we do it, the better.

STOUT: Critics of the bill say it unfairly singles out the Chinese community. The bill only specifies shark fins, which features almost exclusively in Chinese cuisine. The bill will not ban other shark products, like oil or meat. That's a point that restaurant owner Vicky Ching says is one of the fundamental flaws of the bill.

VICKY CHING, OWNER, MING'S RESTAURANT: I think for the ban to be cultural blind, it has to ban all the product having to do with sharks. For instance, the shark meat, the shark oil.

STOUT: Last year she pulled shark's fin soup off the menu after some public criticism. However, she still serves it on request. Ching says the ban would affect her bottom line.

Dinners at a restaurant in northern California appear divided on the issue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There seems to me that it is such a very, very much a part of the Chinese culture, and I'd very much would like to see it preserved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're in the U.S. There's so many more things you can eat that you can choose from. Why kill sharks for just a little fin, you know.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: All right, if your choice did not win or you just want to check out the runners-up, we'll have links to them on Suzanne Malveaux's page at facebook.com/suzannecnn.

All right, the CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with the lovely Randi Kaye.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, Fred. And thank you very much.