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Obama Unveils Jobs Plan Tonight; Perry Takes Heat in GOP Debate; The GOP Economic Plans; 1,386 Homes Lost to Bastrop Fire; Hundreds Homeless From Texas Fires; New East Coast Flood Worries; More Rain for Northeastern U.S.; Fashion Icon Found Guilty; Road Rage Caught on Tape; New Twin Spans Bridge Built; Football Players to the Rescue; Obama's Big Jobs Pitch; How to Get the Country Working; Jogging Actress Struck by Car; Cher Won't Be in DWTS Audience; Buddy Holly's "Walk of Fame" Star; GOP Candidates Court Tea Party; Two Arrested In Possible Bomb Plot; 1,386 Homes Lost To Bastrop Fire; Tropical Storm Nate Brews
Aired September 08, 2011 - 09:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with President Obama's vow to put more Americans to work. Tonight, he unveils his plan, and it's his own job that may be on the line as well.
Brianna Keilar at the White House with new details on the speech. Brianna, the White House will send an actual bill to Congress early this week. Isn't that like saying to lawmakers, look, he even wrote the bill for you now so, it's all on you.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. It's like hey, guys, what more do you want us to do? Even though I should tell you, Kyra, Democrats on the Hill admit it's unlikely that Congress would move a big comprehensive jobs bill that the White House would send to them. That likely, it's something they would pass more in increments and bits and pieces.
But we don't know something about what the president is expected to propose tonight, $400 billion jobs plan. That's what we're hearing from Democratic sources familiar with the president's speech. A big part of it, and we have told you this before, is that payroll tax extension.
Employees have been getting it for the last year. This year, the president wants to extend that and also give it to employers so they would get a break.
Also, another big chunk of this, $100 billion and these are working figures, we should tell you they can change, a $100 billion in infrastructure spending and also, aid to states and incentives to hire people who are chronically unemployed, like the elderly, like veterans.
But just listen to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney because he's saying very much that the ball is now in the court of Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: All of these ideas are bipartisan in nature. They're the kinds of things that Republicans and Democrats have broadly supported in the past. Therefore, given the fact they're paid for, given the fact the economy needs help and that Americans need help, Congress should act right away and get it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And Kyra, not surprising, as you know, there's a fight between the White House and House Republicans as trying to position themselves as saying, we really want to do something, trying to convince Americans, trying to convince voters that they really do want to move forward with something.
Although, as I mentioned, it seems like the reality is that you would see bits and pieces of jobs, legislation moving through Congress, not a big sweeping jobs bill.
PHILLIPS: All right, Brianna at the White House. Brianna, thanks. The president will address the nation on the job crisis tonight as Brianna mentioned. CNN's going to have special live coverage 6:00 p.m. Eastern followed by the speech at 7:00 Eastern then we'll have analysis right after.
The economy is also a big topic in last night's Republican debate. Eight Republicans on stage, but two candidates trading most of the punches, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney facing off for the first time on a national stage. Our Jim Acosta has the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rick Perry and Mitt Romney stood side by side at the Reagan debate close enough for the fur to fly first on the question of which governor created more jobs.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Michael Dukakis created jobs three times faster than you did, Mitt.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As a matter of fact, George Bush and his predecessor created jobs at a faster rate than you did, Governor.
ACOSTA: Jumping in the mix was a newly aggressive Jon Huntsman.
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hate to rain on the parade of the great lone star governor, but as governor of Utah, we were the number one job creator in this country.
ACOSTA: The debate soon switched to the Romney healthcare plan in Massachusetts and its individual mandate that requires residents to have medical insurance. What some Republicans now call Obamney care.
PERRY: It was a great opportunity for us as a people to see what will not work and that is an individual mandate in this country. ACOSTA: Ron Paul later noted Perry was once a Democrat who showed some of his own support for government health care.
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The governor of Texas criticized the governor of Massachusetts for Romney-care, but he wrote a really fancy letter supporting Hillary care.
PERRY: Speaking of letters, I was more interested in the one that you wrote to Ronald Reagan back and said I want to quit the party because of the things you believe in.
ACOSTA: Newt Gingrich tried to bring the Republican rumble to a halt.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I for one, I hope all of my friends up here are going to repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other to protect Barack Obama who deserves to be defeated and all of us are committed as a team. Whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating Barack Obama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Jim joins us now from Los Angeles. So, Jim, this is Rick Perry's first presidential debate as we mentioned. How did he do?
ACOSTA: Well, you know, he said last night that he sort of felt like the pinata of the Republican Party. Last night, he got hit, but he also showed he can hit back. So if Republicans are wondering out there if Rick Perry can take a punch, he proved that he can.
Not only take a punch, but deliver one himself. But I think what he did last night was really sort of set up a choice for Republican voters heading into this really nitty, gritty phase of the Republican nomination battle. And that is are you with the Tea Party? Are you with me?
Are you interested in having a debate about things like Social Security, or are you more comfortable with an established figure like Mitt Romney? Who last night, you know, when Rick Perry went back to his book, "Fed Up," and said, look, I defend these things that I said in my book.
I think it's OK for us to have this conversation about whether or not Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. Mitt Romney said, no, wait, a minute, that's not going to work for the millions of people who depend on that program.
So what I think Rick Perry did was two things. He set up a debate, a fundamental debate inside the Republican Party about which direction it's going to take.
He also essentially lived to fight another day. He's going to survive last night and go into our CNN debate on Monday night as the basic front runner in this race. PHILLIPS: All right. Jim Acosta live out of L.A. for us. Jim, thanks. In just about 10 minutes, we're going to break down the economic plans proposed by leading Republicans. Point by point and dollar for dollar. We're going to take a closer look for you.
Now all across Texas, hundreds of families are suddenly homeless because of a relentless, fast-moving wildfire. Some people just had minutes to clear out everything before they lost it all.
One of the worst blazes has been near the town of Bastrop, just outside of Austin. CNN's Jim Spellman joins us live from there. Jim --
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we just got a stunning update here. Yesterday, the tally of homes destroyed was 576. This morning, they updated that now 1,386 homes. Hundreds more added.
A lot of people who had looked at the fire map saw that number in the 500s and held out hope that maybe their home had escaped. It's going to be harder now for them to feel like that's the truth.
They've been releasing, slowly, the addresses of homes that have been destroyed. Like you said, sometimes just minutes to get out. Now people are faced with trying to rebuild their lives. That's going to be months if not years long and really, to rebuild this town and the character of this town.
Ranches destroyed. Farm animals killed. A lot of the stuff that makes up the character of a town like this is now gone. On the fire itself, they have been making good progress. They've been taking advantage of the low winds and lower temperatures.
They hope to do more of that today from the air, on the ground. But with these draught conditions, 181 fires in the last week here in Texas. These things can pop up any time and cause even more heartache across this state. Kyra --
PHILLIPS: It is definitely a tough time for the great state of Texas. Jim, thanks.
And Texas could use a lot of that rain now inundating parts of the east coast. Rob Marciano has been monitoring all that for us. What do you think?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's just getting -- I mean, the radar the past couple hours, Kyra, has gone from bad to worse across this area. We're looking from Harrisburg up through Scranton. All of those areas are flooding especially Hershey, Pennsylvania and Binghamton, New York right now.
These cells continue to work their way up towards the north. This is on top of the tremendous amount of rainfall this area's already had. Ten inches already in Binghamton, New York. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania seen almost that amount and these numbers are going to go up, no doubt about it, as we go through today.
So that will be the ongoing issue here. As far as the flood warnings, they go past this area in through Jersey. The Passaic River is going to see a tremendous amount of flooding as well with this. They're going to get in some spots, right up where Irene was just a week and a half ago.
As far as what else is going on, we're looking at these three items, Maria, Katia, and Nate. As far as Katia, same deal. It's going to miss us. Maria, we have some time to play with as far as that's concerned.
As far as Nate is concerned, this is what's going to happen with Nate. It's going to sit and spin out here, which means it could develop into a hurricane. Right now, forecasts are bringing it to Mexico. In an ideal situation, we get some of this moisture into Texas, but on the cases right now is that Nate is going to stay down in the south. Kyra --
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Rob.
Well, the flamboyant fashion designer known for his outrageous outfits has been found guilty this morning for making racial slurs in a Paris cafe. Take a listen to the February outburst of former Christian Dior designer John Galliano.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you blond?
JOHN GALLIANO, FORMER DIOR DESIGNER: No, but I love Hitler. People like you will be dead today, your mothers, your forefathers. They'll be (INAUDIBLE) gassed and (INAUDIBLE) dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My god. You have a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee joining us out of London. So what was the sentence for the fired fashion designer, who obviously was a little tipsy there?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, right. You know, a lot of people, Kyra, expected it to be a lot harsher. But actually, he got off a little better than many people thought he might.
He basically got fined a little over $8,000. He could have had to pay a fine of about $32,000. He was also facing a jail sentence of about six months. He got no sentence at all. Now, there were three plaintiffs. They were each awarded just symbolically one euro.
A short while ago actually, his lawyer came out and said Galliano is really happy that this whole thing is over. He didn't want to show up today because he was tired of the media. He said in the past that the media has overplayed this story.
But, you know, it is something that we once again are reminded as a reality tragic end to someone who was a really big talent. Many people saying he deserved a harsher sentence, but this is what happened.
PHILLIPS: All right. Zain Verjee out of London there with the sentencing of the fashion designer.
Well, everyone has a different idea on how to jump start the economy. We're going to take a closer look at what various GOP presidential candidates will think how it should work out. We'll have that right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking stories cross country now. The search is on for the suspect involved in a road rage attack in Lincoln, Rhode Island. It was all caught on tape. Police say the suspect got out of his car and kicked and punched the car of an elderly victim. No one was hurt. Police say the suspect had a small child in the car during that attack as well.
Outside of New Orleans, we're about an hour away from the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Twin Spans Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain. The iconic bridge was a major evacuation route during Hurricane Katrina. It was also damaged.
Just call these two college football players lifesavers. Defensive backs Jeff Long and Shane Simpson left practice when they found a grandmother who had locked herself out of her car with her 17- month-old grandson locked inside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHANE SIMPSON, HELPED RESCUE TODDLER: The lady came before we could even open the door. The lady came running and said she needed help. She said there's a baby stuck in the car.
TERESA GALL, GRANDMOTHER: He just took one swoop or hit with a hammer and it busted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The grandma says she's now a lifelong fan of Missouri Western State football.
President Obama unveils his grand plan tonight telling us all how he plans to put Americans back to work. For millions of African-Americans attending job fairs like this one in Atlanta, gainful employment can't come soon enough.
The jobless rate for blacks is the highest since the Reagan administration, 16.7 percent. Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters has been a vocal advocate for putting African-Americans back to work. But she says the black community must give her and other lawmakers a pass, a pass to put pressure on the president to get something done. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: When you tell us it's all right and you unleash us and you tell us you're ready for us to have this conversation, we're ready to have the conversation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, I spoke with Congresswoman Waters just a short time ago about what she wants to hear from President Obama tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WATERS: What I'd like to hear is that he's going to target some efforts toward the most needy in this country. Whether unemployment numbers are high, that's where you need to send some resources. Of course, you should deal with all of the unemployment.
But you should pay some special attention whether it's rural or it's urban or it's suburban wherever it is. We know that in the rural communities and the urban communities, people are hurting. We want to see some special efforts directed toward them.
We want green jobs, but they have not developed as we have talked about in the Congress or the president has talked about. I'd love to have solar panel development going on down in my district, but it is not happening.
So what we want to do is we want to make sure that there's a big investment in the infrastructure so that we can repair the roads and the bridges and the streets and the water system. Put people back to work like the CCC program, the WPA of the Roosevelt years. We want to make sure that we get those resources.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: President Obama's jobs speech before a joint session of Congress begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. CNN will carry that speech live.
Anyone running for president better have a solid game plan for reducing unemployment if they hope to get elected. CNN's Christine Romans have been taking a closer look at what the Republican candidates have been proposing. Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me start with where they're kind of the same. It's a very conservative economic ideology quite frankly, Kyra. They want to shrink government. They want to repeal regulations. They want to repeal, quote, unquote "Obama care." They want to cut taxes.
I mean, this is where there are the common threads among the GOP candidates economic plans, Kyra. Where they start to diverge is different elements of each one. Let's take Romney, for example. Mitt Romney, I mean, he proposed something called a Reagan economic zone. What is that exactly? We haven't heard.
It's a new kind of free trade zone he says where you would be able to address unfair trade practices with China and compete against countries like that, like-minded countries coming together in a new kind of economic zone.
Then you have Jon Huntsman. Jon Huntsman, Kyra, got the endorsement of the "Wall Street Journal." That carries a lot of weight with conservatives. Also with moderates who want to make sure someone has an economic plan that could work.
He would totally reform the tax code, cut tax rates for individuals to 8 percent, 14 percent, and 23 percent. Just those three, but also getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction. As I said, he's been endorsed by the Journal.
And then, you know, Michele Bachmann has a lot of different plans, mostly conservative plans. But interestingly, most people talk about her pledge, Kyra, to keep gas prices to $2 a gallon. That's what she's most known for. Her pledge for $2 gas, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And Governor Rick Perry, you know, he hasn't come out with an economic plan officially. He did say some things last night. What do you think?
ROMANS: He attacked Social Security last night. He had the chance. As Jim Acosta said, he doubled down on his statement that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. That allowed Mitt Romney to come in and look very moderate.
Some would say supporters of the Social Security would say a very presidential when he said, look, you can't buy judgement call Social Security failure when tens of millions of people rely on it for income. You know, is it a Ponzi scheme?
Well, "Washington Post" fact checking this morning and saying it's not technically a Ponzi scheme. It's not an investment vehicle. It's an insurance program. It does have funding issues, no question, but Ponzi scheme, no.
So there you go. You have a lot of the same kind of -- cut government. Attack the president. Attack the president's programs. Cut taxes maybe even reform taxes. That's mostly what these plans are all about.
PHILLIPS: Christine Romans. We'll all be watching tonight.
Coming up, actress Reese Witherspoon, she is struck by a car while jogging in Southern California. We'll have the details on her condition coming up in showbiz.
And the GOP candidates want to invite the Tea Party. We're going to look at how that movement is affecting the presidential campaign next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Actress Reese Witherspoon is hit by a car while jogging. Cher will not be in the audience cheering on her dancing son. Those are a few of our showbiz headlines.
And "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host A.J. Hammer joining me to talk about, first up, Reese Witherspoon. How is she?
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": She's good, thankfully. But it's the price you pay for trying to get a little exercise, apparently, Kyra. Reese's rep tell "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" she was out for a run in Santa Monica when she got hit by the car and thankfully it is not that bad.
We're told she's not seriously injured. In fact, she spent last night just resting at home. The Oscar winner was reportedly crossing the street when she was hit by the car. It was driven by an 84-year-old woman.
Luckily for Reese, the car was only traveling around 20 miles an hour. Santa Monica police are calling this incident minor. But Kyra, you've got to imagine it was a big scare for Reese and her family and for her fans when they found out. But again, sounds like she's doing just fine all things considered.
PHILLIPS: Good. OK, well, now, Cher. She's been supporting her son on the internet a lot, but won't be in the studio when he hits the floor for "Dancing with the Stars." What's up with that?
HAMMER: Well, this isn't really surprising me. Cher is saying that she doesn't want to steal the spotlight from Chaz. Cher's publicist telling rap.com, right now, there are no plans for Cher to be at the show. She has been very supportive of Chaz through her Twitter account.
She's been asking her Twitter supporters to support Chaz and Cher has been taking on anyone who's been criticizing Chaz's appearance on the show. Now as you know, some people have been ripping "Dancing with the Stars" for featuring a transgendered contestant.
Cher calls them bigots saying that as a culture we don't understand transgender, but she went on to say a person doesn't wake up one more and say I'm bored. I think I'll change my sex and expose myself to ridicule and hate.
Cher was responding to reports that she was actually scheduled to appear at "Dancing with the Stars" to support her son. Notably, one of those reports was posted by Perez Hilton.
Cher actually tweeted directly to him saying, what a nightmare. I'm so sorry. I have to say, if Chaz does settle into "Dancing with the Stars," Kyra, I think Cher should wind up in the audience at some point. I think Chaz is going to be become quite popular on that show.
PHILLIPS: All right. We know some other people who will become quite popular on that show as well someone from our neck of the woods. All right, let's talk about Buddy Holly, shall we? He was only 22 when we lost him. We're still honoring his talent. Finally got his star.
HAMMER: Yes, it's amazing to think he was only 22 years old when he died. Yesterday would have been his 75th birthday. People have not forgotten this rock and roll pioneer. He was given this star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday. Holly's widow was there.
So was Phil Everly from, of course, the Everly Brothers and actor Gary Busey. Gary, you remember played Holly in the "Buddy Holly" story quite well I might add. The singer died in a 1959 plane crash.
But his brief career generated 10 hit singles. Of course, the classics, Kyra, that you know and love and sing today like "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue." We're talking about signs that really help define a whole generation we still hear them all the time. So Buddy Holly getting his due out there in Hollywood.
PHILLIPS: We do and do you remember where he used to play in Lubbuck, Texas? See this is where I used to work so I know all the "Buddy Holly" tidbit. Do you remember the name of the little diner?
HAMMER: The diner. I was thinking "Thread Gills," but that was actually the last place that another big star played before she left town, Janice Joplin, for the last time. What was the name?
PHILLIPS: The "Heidi Ho." Next time we'll there, we'll see if it's still there. You knew that. All right, have a great rest of your day, A.J.
If you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J.'s got it every night on HLN. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" 11 p.m. Eastern.
The Tea Party is like that girl that all the guys in high school wanted to date. The guys being the Republican presidential candidates in this case, but the girl is just not ready to pick her prom date yet. Here's CNN'S Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the Republican race for president, everybody wants a piece of the Tea Party these days. Rick Perry talks like a man who's already in the club.
PERRY: I have heard people say, you Tea Party types, you all are angry. We're not angry. We're indignant.
JOHNS: Michele Bachmann talks like an insider too.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Tea Party has been the best antidote to the out of control spending that we have seen. Rather than dissing the Tea Party, we should be praising the Tea Party. JOHNS: Ron Paul was Tea Party before there was a Tea Party.
PAUL: Why don't we just obey the constitution once again? That would solve so many of our problems.
JOHNS: While Mitt Romney sounds more like a guy who's on the outside trying to get in.
ROMNEY: I'm devoted to shrinking the size of government and encouraging the growth of the free economy. I think I'd get great support from the Tea Party.
JOHNS: This would be the first presidential election to witness the effects of the Tea Party Movement. So far, the movement's biggest idea, that the government and its spending need to be scaled back now have dominated the national political conversation.
MATT KIBBE, FREEDOM WORKS: Those are the issues that are not just animating the Republican primary. I actually think they're defining the concerns of Americans right in the middle of the political spectrum today.
JOHNS: True, but it's mostly about the Republican contenders right now and everybody knows it. Though, Tea Partiers don't like all of what they see. Mitt Romney's state-run health care program when he was governor of Massachusetts looks a bit too much like the president's health care plan for many.
Rick Perry's moderate record on immigration is a potential drag on his Tea Party support. And many mainstream Republicans question Michele Bachman's potential to pull off a win in a general election.
And speaking of questions, while the Tea Party Movement has been great for Republican energy, it has also produced candidates so unorthodox that voters eventually rejected them. Think Christine O'Donnell in Delaware.
That's where they get labeled extreme though they say what's extreme is the result if we don't get the government under control. Senator Mike Lee was elected with strong Tea Party support.
SEN. MIKE LEE (R), UTAH: It's a reaction to extreme circumstances that exist within our federal government, again, $15 trillion debt, extreme. Increasing debt, accelerating it at $1.5 trillion a year, that's extreme.
JOHNS (on camera): Polls show the Tea Party Movement took a hit in popularity recently after the showdown of raising the debt limit. Movement organizers call it the cost of leadership. Though, it could be an early sign of trouble with the presidential elections still more than a year away. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
PHILLIPS: Coming up, last night's Republican debate. Who was the biggest surprise? Who was the biggest disappointment? Our political buzz panel weighs in. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now.
In Berlin, Germany, police have arrested two men on suspicion of plotting a bomb attack. Police say the men are not tied to any terror groups and did not have a specific target.
In Texas, the losses keep growing. The wildfire near the city of Bastrop has destroyed nearly 1,400 homes now. At last check, it's still just 30 percent contained.
Weary firefighters hoping tropical storm Nate could bring some relief in the form of heavy rains, but those chances look slim right now. The storm will likely track too far south in Mexico.
Political buzz. It's your rapid fire. Look at the hottest political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock, and playing today, Democratic National Committee member, Robert Zimmerman, Sirius XM political talk show host and comedian, Pete Dominick, and Republican strategist and columnist for "The Hill" newspaper, Cheri Jacobus.
All right. Guys, first question. Last night's debate, Perry and Romney facing of for the first time, and it was nothing but fire. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We created more jobs in the last three months in Texas than he created in four years in Massachusetts.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Texas is a great state. Texas has zero income tax. Texas has a right to work states, but Governor Perry doesn't believe that he created those things. If he tried to say that, it would be like Al Gore saying he invented the internet.
PERRY: Michael Dukakis created jobs three times faster than you did, Mitt.
ROMNEY: As a matter of fact, George Bush and his predecessor created jobs at a faster rate than you did, governor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. So, who had the better night? Perry or Romney? Cheri.
CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I'd have to give the edge to Romney, although, both men did very well. Romney is like the tortoise and the hare. You know, he's the tortoise. Every time a new face pops up, he's steady. He does a little better each time. But, I'll tell you, either man would be far better than what we have in the White House right now. This is a country who is hungry for leadership and frighten (ph) about policies of Barack Obama. So, I think this was a national audience last night, not just a Republican audience, because we're looking for the next president. We're looking for the guy who's going to take us away from the current situation, the failed presidency of Obama, the economy, and jobs. So, I think that both men seem very well aware of that.
(BUZZER)
PHILLIPS: Robert.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEMBER: Well, Kyra, if the goal is to play to the extreme right-wing fringe to win the nomination, then you got to give the edge to Governor Perry last night. With his attack on Social Security as a failure and Ponzi scheme and his complete assault on science as a valuable, useful technology or valuable and useful educational tool.
Basically, he's rush Limbaugh with good hair. But of course, by comparison, he makes Mitt Romney looked moderate, by comparison, and that may help Romney in the general election.
PHILLIPS: Pete.
PETE DOMINICK, SIRIUS XM POLITICAL TALK SHOW HOST: It was tough to see Rick Perry and Mitt Romney go at it like that, Kyra. It's like watching Clark Kent attack Bruce Wayne. These guys are very handsome, but the truth is, the winner last night was Jon Huntsman. The guy is, clearly, at this point, running for 2016. He probably has a great chance because he's reasonable when it comes to science.
But Rick Perry wrote an ad for the Obama campaign. Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. I think judges are always right. I think scientists are always wrong. What is he thinking?
PHILLIPS: All right. Here's the second question, guys, and it's a two parter here. Who do you think was the biggest surprise in the Republican debate? Who was the biggest disappointment? Robert.
ZIMMERMAN: Well, what was the biggest surprise is the way I'd like to approach that question, because the real shock to me was watching all these Republican candidates on the stage try to embrace to Reagan legacy, yet, they all know that Ronald Reagan would be an outcast in the Republican Party today, because he saved Social Security by compromising with Democrats.
He raised taxes 11 times, raised the debt ceiling, and he actually had the leadership skill to negotiate with our adversaries overseas. The biggest disappointment has to go to Michele Bachmann. She's going to have to up the crazy ante to get back in the game with these characters.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Cheri. JACOBUS: I would agree that Michele Bachmann was the biggest disappointment. She's done so well before and not for being crazy. In fact, I think the left would love for her to be crazy, but she starts making sense. She's impressing a lot more people. So, the fact that she didn't really shine last night was a disappointment, I'm sure, to a lot of her fans.
Newt Gingrich was the biggest surprise. He's smart. He's the grownup. And quite frankly, if Michele Bachmann had done what Newt Gingrich did done last night, she would have won the night.
PHILLIPS: Pete.
DOMINICK: I think the biggest surprise, Kyra, last night was that Rick Santorum was there. I was surprised that he was there.
(LAUGHTER)
DOMINICK: And I'll tell you, really, I like Ron Paul. I think he's integral to any conversation, especially when it comes to the constitution. But he really surprised me when he went off the rails with his whole fencing us in. Watch out. These fences are going to keep us in. That was just too bizarre even for that debate.
PHILLIPS: Even more bizarre than you, huh?
DOMINICK: Kyra.
(LAUGHTER)
ZIMMERMAN: Pete, Rick Santorum looked like he was surprised to be there last night as well.
DOMINICK: He did refer to himself in a third person just to let people know he was there.
PHILLIPS: OK. Guys, let's get to your buzzer beater now. Twenty seconds each. President Obama unveiling his jobs plan on Capitol Hill tonight, as you know, 7:00 p.m. eastern. We're going to have live coverage. Some Republicans are skipping the speech. We actually had a chance to talk to a few here on CNN. What do you think? Is that disrespectful to the office of president? Cheri.
JACOBUS: I don't think so. I think that if they simply had found better things to do, it might be, but they are making a statement. The country, the Congress, they're tired of these speeches. They're tired of the empty promises. They're tired of the failures. And now, he wants to propose more stimulus spending.
It's failed in the past. It costs us too much money. And I think that it's a message that maybe he should listen to rather than just saying, well, this is disrespectful to the office. (INAUDIBLE) (BUZZER) this is a national audience that's going to be ignoring him.
PHILLIPS: Robert. ZIMMERMAN: This is a profoundly serious question, Kyra, because not just the Republicans are boycotting this speech, but so many more have actually denounced the speech before they read it or seen it -- or heard it, for that matter. The real issue here is not just disrespecting the office of presidency.
The Republican Congress is disrespecting the plight of 17 million unemployed and underemployed Americans, and millions more who are facing very tough economic times. (BUZZER) they've got to put the country first in their party, their political agenda second.
PHILLIPS: Pete.
DOMINICK: Listen, I'm one of those Americans that absolutely has speech fatigue from this president, but this is unprecedented. You don't skip the president of the United States when he's giving a speech to a joint session of Congress. But, in their defense, David Vitter is one of those senators. He's from Louisiana.
His Saints are playing, and he's got a big football party to go to. Jobs are important, but he'll probably be catered (ph) some with caterers. And, I hear, Jim DeMint -- don't confirm this -- Jim DeMint also not going. (BUZZER) he has a Tupperware party.
JACOBUS: A lot of stations aren't even airing it. So, I think that you have to look at some of the TV stations around the country, too. (INAUDIBLE)
PHILLIPS: Interesting.
ZIMMERMAN: And that's shameful by itself.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, President Obama is going to lay out his plan tonight, as we mentioned, for getting jobless Americans back to work. So, how it plays in Washington is one thing, how it plays across the country is another. So, CNN's Poppy Harlow spoke with small-town business owners who talk about what they'd want to see happen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not an economist. It's not what I do. I sell appliances for a living, and I do what I do best and that's what I stick to it. I'm hoping the government can do what they do best and fix what's going on because we rely on them, you know? We're relying to president. We're relying to Congress.
The bickering back and forth needs to end. It's definitely hurting the consumer confidence, which trickles all the way down to Main Street, and they need to fix that, I think, right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not very optimistic, but it's like, you know, there's nothing you can do. It's out of our hands, the individual people. I mean, we can't even borrow money anymore. The banks are tight with their money. They won't loan out money. We're a small business guy here, and it's tough.
Health insurance for the family is, you know, a big burden on us. And with the increase on taxes and health insurance and everything, it just almost is impossible to keep going.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the economy slows down, if we do see cuts, we do cut staff. That's what we did the past years. We were very quick to cut staff. And that's the one thing that me and my partner (ph) spoken about it. If something does -- in the fall happens the way the fall of 2008 did, we'll have to cut staff immediately.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going to be for my children in the future? I don't know. That's what makes me nervous. This is kind of the lost generation. That's what I'm really calling right now. It's what's it going to be? I think that the government needs to really look at Main Street. Don't forget about us. You know, just really take care of America. It's time to focus on America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Poppy Harlow now joining us live from New York. So, Poppy, I'm curious. Why did you pick Babylon?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: You know, it's interesting. One of our producers (INAUDIBLE) right over here next to me chose Babylon. It's not far from where we are in New York City, but there's always so much focus, I think, Kyra, on these big cities and businesses here. And what about the folks right outside? What about the folks on Main Street America? So, that's part of it. And also, I think, just to hear what the real confidence level is of these business owners.
You know, you may not agree with what they said, but small businesses across this country employ more than half of Americans. They create more than 50 percent of American jobs. And right now, what you heard from them, and there's a lot more we've got here on our site, is that they're not confident. That they want lawmakers to focus on people like them.
That they want some directive. They want some direction from Washington. They're not getting it. The numbers show us that. The latest Consumer Confidence Report showed us the lowest reading since 1980. So, of course, the president's addressing a joint session of Congress tonight, but he's also speaking directly to these business owners who are going to be watching and looking for some confidence from the president and a lot of direction.
We're expecting to see, Kyra, a lot of initiatives in this jobs plan aimed right at folks like the ones we talked to. So, we'll see if it makes a difference.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow up then. Thanks so much, Poppy.
Adding insult to injury, a huge crane falls down while trying to fix earthquake damage at the National Cathedral. Well, that story and much more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we're getting word that the campus of the State University of New York at Cobleskill is literally encircled by flood waters right now. Scott Silversten is the director of communications. He's on the phone with us this morning. Scott, give us an update of how bad it is.
SCOTT SILVERSTEN, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, SUNY COBLESKILL (on the phone): Well, it's not as bad as it was, and first of all, thank you for having me. It's not as bad as it was yesterday. Most of the water has receded overnight into this morning. We had about ten resident hall wings in five buildings that experienced severe flooding yesterday. Damage to first floor lobbies, staff offices, stair wells and entry ways. Sixty students had to be relocated, but thankfully, we were able to house them all on campus. At this point, everyone is safe and accounted for.
PHILLIPS: And so, classes have been cancelled, what, for two days? How long do you think this is going to continue?
SILVERSTEN: Classes were cancelled yesterday at about 1:45 for the remainder of the day. Later in the day, they were cancelled for today. We're currently assessing the situation for tomorrow. The biggest issue we have from an academic standpoint is one of our main academic buildings, the Curtis Motte Agricultural Engineering Building, is currently offline due to flooding in the basement.
Without that building, a lot of our labs and facilities in terms of our agricultural education programs are offline as well. So, once we know if that building can get back online in the next day or two, we can make a decision regarding classes today and into early next week.
PHILLIPS: And how are you cleaning up and dealing with the issues? Do you have enough support? Do you need more?
SILVERSTEN: Well, luckily, in our case, being a college, we have a large infrastructure between our residence hall staff, our facility staff, dining services, as well as faculty staff and students on campus. So, it's all hands on deck. We could always use more assistance, but being a college, there's a lot of infrastructure that we can tap into on a day-to-day basis.
PHILLIPS: Wow. Scott Silversten, director of communications at State University of New York at Cobleskill, thanks for calling in. We'll follow up with you.
Well, it may sound odd, but the number of job openings posted is at its highest in three years, yet, 14 million Americans are still out of work. We'll explain after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, if you're looking for some sign, any sign, that the economy is on an upswing, try this. The labor department says that there are millions of job openings being advertised, and the help wanted sign is definitely out. Details now as we head to Wall Street with Alison Kosik -- Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: See, Kyra, I don't just bring you the bad news on jobs. This is the good stuff, right? More than three million jobs were actually posted in July. I'm talking about advertised job opening. A big chunk of them were found in manufacturing, in trade, in transportation, in business services. We're still far from normal. Right before the recession started, more than four millions were posted. But still, listen, it's a bit of improvement there -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. So, if there are all these job openings that we're talking about, then why aren't we seeing the hiring? I mean, after all, the last jobs report showed zero jobs added.
KOSIK: I know. Funny how it works that way, right? Well, job postings don't always translate into hiring, at least, not right away. The fed came out with a report yesterday saying, you know what, companies, they're even more cautious, because there's so much uncertainty out there. No one knows where the economy's headed, and with all this market volatility, consumers are more cautious too, which means they're spending less.
There is less demand there. What you see here is a vicious cycle. So, with less demand, people aren't buying companies' stuff. Companies aren't going to hire. And then, we see this cycle repeat. Also, in this report, some companies are using more temp workers, Kyra. You know, they're giving current workers overtime. So, they're really not taking this big leap hiring someone new. And what they're essentially doing is finding ways around it, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Alison Kosik at New York Stock Exchange, thank you.
And up next, jury selection in the trial of the doctor accused in the death of Michael Jackson. Find out what lawyers are looking for when searching for jurors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, Republicans did not follow Ronald Reagan's 11 commandment last night. That is not speaking ill of another Republican. Our Mark Preston is here with all the debate highlights. Hey, Mark.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Kyra. Yes, you know, you would expect that since they were in Ronald Reagan's museum, they would probably be a little bit more gentle on each other, but, you know, the gloves certainly came off last night. You know, but there were no winners in last night's debate. Certainly, that was my take away from it, but what I did realize, and I think most other people did as well is that it is a two-person race.
Let's just break down what some of the candidates' performances looked like, anyway. You know, Rick Perry, you know, his greatest strength right now, Kyra, is also his biggest weakness, because he's never going to be called the flip-flopper, but when he spoke about Social Security in such terms last night, not such a good thing, especially if you're trying to appeal to seniors -- trying to appeal to senior in Florida, which is a very important state.
So, we'll have to see if Rick Perry will alter his views a little bit on Social Security. For Mitt Romney, he's got to remain above the fray right now, Kyra. You know, bottom line is Mitt Romney was trying to look presidential out there. He was almost goaded a couple times into attacking his fellow Republicans. He did that a little bit, but he did try to stay above the fray.
Someone like Michele Bachmann, well, she better regain her momentum, because right now, she is going south. She is going in the opposite direction. After Rick Perry got in the race, she really seemed to have lost her mojo. So, it'll be interesting to see what she'll do with our debate on Monday night.
And Jon Huntsman tried to land some blows last night, but he really needs to sharpen his attacks, because they didn't really seem to sting anybody too much, Kyra. So, the gloves came off last night, but we didn't see any really solid punches landed.
PHILLIPS: All right. Mark Preston. And once again, we want to ask everyone to join us on Monday for the next Republican debate. CNN is going to host the event with Tea Party Express and several other Tea Party groups. That's coming out at Tampa, Florida, site of the 2012 Republican National Convention, Monday night, 8:00 eastern, 5:00 (ph) pacific, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A jury selection begins this morning for the man accused of causing Michael Jackson's death. Dr. Conrad Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter. Let's get live to L.A. now where our Ted Rowlands is right there at the courthouse -- Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, today is a big day. Today, we'll see the first of three groups of 180 prospective jurors come in here. And first, they'll be asked a few questions to see if they can serve on a trial, which is four to six weeks in length. They'll kick a lot of people out because of pause today, tomorrow, and then Monday. The rest of them will have to fill out these long questionnaires, and they will be then in part of this whole whittling down process. It is a very important process. As any criminal defense attorney will tell you, this could win or lose the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIA CLARK, FMR. PROSECUTOR: The jury selection process is probably the most critical aspect of a trial. As they say, a trial's won or lost in jury selection. After that, it's all over. And, you pretty much know whether you've picked a jury likely to convict, acquit, or hang. MICHAEL CARDOZA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Believe me, jurors don't want to sit on trials. Although, in a trial of this magnitude, you have what some call stealth jurors that get on there and get, oh, this is my opportunity. You know, this will be my 15 minutes of fame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: And clearly, Kyra, there will be some of these people who are here and eager to sit on this jury. The attorneys will try to weed them out as well.
PHILLIPS: So, the case basically comes down to what now, Ted?
ROWLANDS: Propofol. That's what the coroner says killed Michael Jackson, and nobody is contesting that. They're saying, the defense, that Michael Jackson may have been the one that ingested the propofol. That their client, Dr. Conrad Murray, never would have given Jackson that amount of the drug, the amount that was found in his body.
The prosecution, on the other hand, is saying, hey, he was the doctor taking care of him in the house. And Michael Jackson died under his care. He needs to be held accountable.
PHILLIPS: All right. Ted Rowlands at the L.A. courthouse. We'll be following the trial. Thanks, Ed.
Now, here are some other stories making news later today. 11:30 a.m. eastern in Washington, Senate Republicans focus on jobs, aking remarks ahead of the president's speech later this evening.
President Obama reveals his jobs plan to a joint session of Congress at 7:00 p.m. eastern. We will have live coverage that begins at 6:00. Then, we'll have post-speech analysis at 8:00 eastern.
And roughly, a half hour later, the 2011 NFL season kicks off with the defending Super Bowl champs, Green Bay Packers hosting the New Orleans Saints.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. Who are you going for? Those are both your towns.
PHILLIPS: I know. Isn't that tough? I love living and working in New Orleans. I love Green Bay. I know. I don't know what to do. I'm going to have -- everybody has been sending me e-mails, as you can imagine. How about you?
GRIFFIN: Oh, I'm a Bears fan.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Chicago boy.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: I'll give you the highlights.
GRIFFIN: There you go.
PHILLIPS: OK, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Thanks a lot.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
