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Expectations High for President Obama's Jobs Speech; Tropical Storm Lee Forces Thousands to Evacuate; Puerto Rico Police Abuse; Richardson in Cuba; Making Policy for Main Street; NASA Scrubs Moon Launch

Aired September 08, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We're coming up on the top of the hour here. And we are an hour closer to President Obama's speech this evening, coming up at 7:00 Eastern Time tonight. Of course, you can catch it right here.

But this speech tonight, a lot of expectations. The president, talking about jobs, job creation, and how he's going to get the economy back on track.

Some of it is already starting to trickle out, at least what the president might be proposing. Part of it, $300 billion in new investments and tax breaks to be offset by cuts and tax increases elsewhere. Also, $100 billion or more could go for infrastructure, roads, bridges, airports, schools.

He may also call for an infrastructure bank providing low-cost loans to get repairs and construction off the ground. He's also expected to push for an extension in the payroll tax break that almost every American worker now gets. He may propose as well new tax breaks for employers who hire veterans and the long-term unemployed.

The White House is saying right now, hey, there is no way Republicans can't get on board with this plan.

(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. And, therefore, given the fact that they are paid for, given the fact that the economy needs help and that Americans need help, Congress should act right away and get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. This has been the burning issue -- at least a few weeks ago it was. It was the debt.

It hasn't dropped completely off the radar. Today we saw the very first meeting of the bipartisan congressional super committee. Remember that name? It's supposed to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by Thanksgiving. Now, this committee has 12 members, six Republicans, six Democrats. If they vote along party lines, then we've got a problem here, so to get anything done there is going to have to be at least one person who votes with the other side. We shall see, but that work is just now beginning.

That's our backdrop.

Let's start with two of our CNN colleagues now: Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer for CNNMoney.com; Gloria Borger, our chief political analyst. Both have written columns that we certainly hope you'll check out online.

I'll start with you though, Gloria.

We've got expectations. Expectations are pretty high for the president just because of the stage he'll be on this evening. But does it really matter in the speech necessarily? It matters that the policies get this country going and get that unemployment rate down and get people back to working.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure, but, you know, the stage does matter, the venue matters, because people are expecting big ideas. And the question is whether the president will add to what we already know, which are ideas that have already been out there, T.J.

Look, this is a president who raised the expectations himself for this event. There is nothing more focusing than a joint session of Congress. And I've been talking to senior White House aides, and what they tell me is, look, they did this purposefully, that this is essentially a challenge to the Congress.

It allows the president politically, if you will, to distance himself from the Congress, to lay down a gauntlet and to say, OK, here's my plan, some of these things you've approved in the past. If you don't approve them now, you're going to have to explain to the American public why, because they want action.

HOLMES: And Jeanne, to bring you in here -- and you're writing with this debt, this debt debate. It seems like that was so long ago. It wasn't, but now this super committee getting to work, and they've got some tough decisions ahead as well.

JEANNE SAHADI, SR. WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Right. They had their first meeting today. All the members made opening statements. It's six Democrats, six Republicans, evenly divided between the House and Senate.

There was no big surprises in their statements, but what I noticed is that everybody did seem to indicate that they heard what Americans said this summer, which is we are in fact fed up with the way Congress is working, and you guys better get serious and deal with these problems. In addition though, everybody also said, yes, we also have to deal with jobs. In fact, jobs might even need to come first.

But how Democrats see the need to deal with that and how Republicans see the need to deal with that in the committee is likely to be different. So we'll wait and see about how they're going to address that particular issue.

HOLMES: And Gloria, back to the president's speech and some of the policies he's going to propose, did he come up with something bold, in your opinion, from what we've heard so far? Bold that he believes is going to get the country going, or did he have to come up with something that he thinks can get passed?

BORGER: Well, I think the latter. I think that a decision was made that it had to be kind of a little Goldilocks kind of proposal, not too hot, not too cold, some of the things we've talked about before. There could always be something -- I should add, this very often helps. Things get leaked out, but there could be something that we don't know about yet that is in this plan.

I think the president's strategy is to say, look, this is bipartisan, some of these things you folks have approved in the past. Some of them will be very difficult to vote against, like an extension of unemployment insurance, for example. And if you don't, you have to come up with a plan of your own and tell the American public why you won't vote for this.

But the bottom line and the truth of the matter is, T.J., they don't have an awful lot of tools in their toolbox right now. You're talking about a $300 billion ticket item. It's not -- in the grand scheme of the economic problems we have, there's not that much they can do right now to get this economy moving, but the president can't go out there and say oh, by the way, I don't have a lot of tools left. Right?

HOLMES: Jeanne, I don't think we're going to hear the president say that this evening. But part of this whole debate, the conversation that will be going tonight after the president's speech, and with the super committee, is going to be taxes.

How are taxes going to play into the debate?

SAHADI: Well, again, all the members today said, you know, we have to do tax reform. There is bipartisan agreement that our tax code is really ridiculous. There's not bipartisan agreement on how necessarily to address it.

What some fiscal experts were saying this week at an earlier event was that they think that -- the committee will probably recommend that they curb some tax breaks, but they won't necessarily do all-out reform. But what they might do, what they should do, according to these fiscal experts, is have kind of a two-stage process.

So they make a few tax changes in their proposals to Congress, and then they say we're going to issue super, you know, rules that you have to abide by. Congress should do tax reform by some date certain in the future, and it should be an expedited process. That's what fiscal experts are hoping will come out of this.

HOLMES: All right.

Jeanne Sahadi, Gloria Borger, everybody will be on the edge of their couches this evening, at least watching this speech.

Ladies, thank you, both.

BORGER: We'll be up there.

HOLMES: 7:00 Eastern Time is when it happens. Coverage of the president's address by "The Best Political Team" on television starts though at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 3:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.

Let's turn now to a little weather, shall we, what's left of Tropical Storm Lee?

Still leaving behind a trail of historic flooding along portions of the Northeast, and also has left three people dead. You're seeing some of the damage here, but it's like this really across large parts of the region.

Thousands of people just learned they have to evacuate today. Central Pennsylvania being hit particularly hard. Up to 125,000 people there have had to leave their homes.

Let's turn to our Mary Snow, who is in Pennsylvania for us.

And I guess that's a fair way to characterize it, Mary, historic flooding they are seeing there.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, T.J. You know, officials are getting more alarmed as the day goes on, and you only need to take a look at the Susquehanna River behind me to see why.

Right now it's about 10 feet above flood stage, and it's expected to crest tonight between 8:00 and midnight at 41 feet. And that's basically what this levee can hold.

It was built after Hurricane Agnes in 1972 that was devastating to this community, with thousands and thousands of homes damage.

We're talking to the mayor of Wilkes-Barre, Tom Leighton.

Mr. Mayor, thanks for joining us.

Has this levee really been tested before?

MAYOR THOMAS LEIGHTON, WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA: Not to this extent. It has been tested, but we're very confident in the Army Corps of Engineers and the county engineers that did the dike, and we're confident the dike will hold. But we are concerned.

SNOW: We're seeing police come by telling people to head for higher ground. Your biggest concern right now?

LEIGHTON: Our biggest concern is people are not listening to our officials. They must listen to our public officials -- our fire, our police, our DPW, our county sheriff department. Get out of your property if you're in a flood plain. It's for your own good and own safety. SNOW: You remember Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

LEIGHTON: Yes, I do. I remember it as if it was yesterday

SNOW: How does this compare to the rising waters then?

LEIGHTON: Oh, it's very alarming. We're really concerned.

I mean, in 1972, I was a 12-year-old young man. And, you know, it was devastating that not only Wilkes-Barre City, but the greater Wyoming Valley -- the city of Wilkes-Barre has 15,000 people that work in the downtown Monday through Friday. If the city gets of Wilkes-Barre gets flooded, we lose a major employment area.

SNOW: But you're pretty confident this levee will hold?

LEIGHTON: We're confident, and we must keep the faith.

SNOW: All right. OK. Mr. Mayor, thank you for your time.

LEIGHTON: Thank you.

SNOW: And T.J., one concern right now the mayor was saying was rising creeks and streams a little bit more inland. And some of those residents that have been evacuated, this is the third time in two weeks that they have been told to leave their homes because of rising water.

HOLMES: All right.

Mary Snow for us there in Pennsylvania. Going to be a rough few days there.

Thank you so much.

Also, a massive wildfire near Austin, Texas. It keeps spreading.

Two people dead there, 1,400 homes destroyed. The fire is 30 percent contained at this point. So far, it's burned 34,000 acres, forced 5,000 people to evacuate. This fire is one of a number of fires that have been burning across Texas, which is seeing some historic drought conditions there.

Well, up next here, systematic abuse at one of the country's largest police departments. The details when I come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it's one of the largest police departments in the United States, and apparently the officers there have been systematically abusing their power. That's according to a report just released by the Justice Department.

Among other things, it found officers in Puerto Rico routinely squash people's constitutional rights, use excessive force and unnecessary force, and often fail to investigate reports of sex crimes and domestic violence.

CNN en Espanol's Dania Alexandrino has been getting reaction today in Puerto Rico, joins me now from San Juan.

Dania, tell me, first of all, just how long has this been going on allegedly?

DANIA ALEXANDRINO, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, T.J.

Well this -- the investigation dates back to incidents that occurred back in 2007. However, according to the head of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Thomas Perez. He was in Puerto Rico in 1989, and he actually saw a lot of situations and a lot of allegations of civil rights violations. So we're talking about, you know, more than a decade in the making.

HOLMES: Are we getting reaction from the police department there?

ALEXANDRINO: As a matter of fact, the police superintendent was not at the press conference early this morning, and after insistent calls from our part, and a few other local press, he ended up giving a press -- a mini press conference about an hour ago. But I can certainly tell you, T.J., that he didn't give too many details.

He didn't go into details about the report. He never admitted to the excessive use of force on behalf of the police department. And he was pretty much giving a lot of the same answer in a variation of forms.

HOLMES: What's supposed to happen now though with this investigation? Could charges come against anybody in the police department? Will they be reprimanded? What happens?

ALEXANDRINO: Well, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, what's going to happen now is that they asked the Puerto Rico Police Department and the government of Puerto Rico to submit a plan of action, a plan of action to reform the Puerto Rico state police, meaning that a lot of things have to change.

Among these is the police and practices. One of the most important things in this report is that the standards and practices within the police department are obsolete, they are old, and they don't comply with modern standards on how to police and how to enforce, you know, the right thing in order.

So that's the next step, is to work -- after this plan of action is submitted, the next step would be to work in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, Puerto Rico's Department of Justice, and the Puerto Rico state police in order to reform the entire police system.

HOLMES: All right. Dania Alexandrino, thank you so much from San Juan today.

And we're a quarter past the hour now. How exactly is the Tea Party movement impacting the presidential campaign? We'll check in with Joe Johns. He's joining us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, the Tea party has gotten plenty of attention lately, but just how influential has the group really been on Republicans running for president or on the national agenda?

Joe Johns taking a look.

(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.

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have heard people say, no, wait a minute. 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 --

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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 Bachmann'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 that, accelerating it at a rate of $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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And next Monday, the Republican debate. The next one, at least.

CNN hosting with the Tea Party Express and several other Tea party groups coming from Tampa, Florida, site of the 2012 Republican National Convention. That is Monday night, 8:00 Eastern Time, 5:00 Pacific.

Well, maybe you are looking for some new investment ideas. Maybe art is the way to go?

That's ahead in this week's "Q&A."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, art as an investment? With all the global economic uncertainty going on, you might be looking to diversify your portfolio, but is art really where it's at?

Well, Ali Velshi and Richard Quest take that issue on in today's "Q&A."

RICHARD QUEST, HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" and so does my good friend Ali Velshi.

We're here together in the CNN NEWSROOM and around the world.

Good day to you, sir.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Richard. We're here to talk business, travel, innovation. Nothing is off limits, and today we're talking about investments. In particular, investing in the masters -- painters, sculptors, those kind of masters, Richard.

QUEST: Absolutely. The topic came to us on Twitter from one of our viewers, Mike Gallaha (ph), who wanted to know about art as an investment.

Ali, you're always saying that you have a good eye for things, so you go first, art as an investment, in 60 seconds.

(BELL RINGING)

VELSHI: They say a picture says a thousand words, so I'm going to show you this picture, and I've got four words for you, Richard: "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust."

That, by the way, is the name of this Picasso, which on May 4, 2010, set the all-time record for a work of art sold at auction, $106.5 million, since you asked, my friend. Art is doing well, but that doesn't mean you or I should be invested in it.

2010 was one of Sotheby's most profitable in history, but, Richard, 2007 was even more profitable, as the rich took their money out of stocks and put it into things that you can hold, you can look at, you can touch. Fine art in general, my friend, according to one index that tracks sales, was up 16.6 percent in value in 2010, which is better than the broader stock market did.

But generally speaking, older, more expensive art does better than new, cheap art, because those old artists aren't around to dilute the value of their art by making more of it. So that makes art specifically as an investment the domain of the wealthy. And that doesn't include us -- Richard.

QUEST: All right, Ali Velshi, with your single, miserable little Picasso.

(BELL RINGING)

QUEST: To look at the art world, you would think that it is all Pollock selling for $140 million, or maybe a Renoir in seven figures, or perhaps a Monet. Think again.

The history of art as an investment is mixed at best. While some of the famous ones do make for good purchases, there are the exceptions.

The majority of art does not return a good investment when compared to stocks. Look at the Mei Moses Index.

In the past 25 years, art has returned roughly six percent per year, and that assumes you bought the right piece of art. Stocks do better, nearly 10 percent.

It is much easier to invest across a wide range of stocks. Art has bubbled -- '85 to '90, up 30 percent a year. It crashed back in the 1990s, 65 percent.

And forget about art funds. They require a minimum investment of around $250,000.

The art market is difficult. Never mind this sort of art, Ali. Ultimately, the only thing you should ask yourself is, do I want to put it on my wall?

(BUZZER)

QUEST: "My Mommy," by Carney (ph), age four and a half.

VELSHI: That is worth something.

The only thing I have to ask you is how much you paid for that fancy, glossy printer, because all I have in New York is one that does this. Yours are fancier than mine.

QUEST: And we've got -- hey, what can I say?

VELSHI: Let's see what we both know about art.

Time to bring in "The Voice."

Hello, Voice.

THE VOICE: Hello, gentlemen.

It's obviously Richard has the better printer.

Now, you're both worldly gentlemen, so let's find out what you really know about art.

Which artist's painting sold for the highest price ever? Is it A, Richard's Jackson Pollock; B, Ali's Pablo Picasso --

(BELL RINGING)

THE VOICE: Hold on one second, gentlemen. Is it Willem de Kooning; or D, Andy Warhol?

(BELL RINGING)

THE VOICE: Ali. Ali, go ahead.

VELSHI: B, Pablo Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust."

(BUZZER)

QUEST: No.

THE VOICE: Well, that would be wrong, Ali.

QUEST: You've got to look at the question. It's the question, and that may have been at auction. But the highest was the Jackson Pollock. (BELL RINGING)

VELSHI: That looks like nothing. What is that? What did he paint? It looks like a field of wheat.

THE VOICE: Ali, that is called "Number Five."

OK. Richard, up 1-0.

Now to question number two.

Going to museums is a must for many world travelers. So what I want to know is, which art museum welcomed the most visitors last year? Was it A, The Louvre in Paris; B, the British Museum in London; C, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; or, D, China's National Art Museum in Beijing?

QUEST: It's a trick question.

VELSHI: This is a trick question, and I'm thinking the trick question means that they think we're going to say China, so I'm going for the Louvre, A.

(BELL RINGING)

THE VOICE: Ali, you would be correct.

QUEST: Oh, I nearly went for it. I nearly went for it. Oh!

VELSHI: We tricked the trickers.

THE VOICE: It is The Louvre, with 8.5 million visitors. But the newly remodeled National Art Museum in China expects 10 million visitors next year.

All right. We are tied 1-1.

VELSHI: Next year we'll do it differently. All right. One more.

THE VOICE: Exactly.

Number three, what is another accepted name for art investing? Is it A, Masters Investing; B, Passion Investing; C, Beauty Investing; or D, Artiste Investing?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Go ahead, Richard.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: All right. I'm going to go for artiste investing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry.

Ali, your chance?

VELSHI: I'm going to go with A, masters investing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Gentlemen.

VELSHI: One more time here, voice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. We're trying --

VELSHI: It's got to be passion, B.

QUEST: That's not allowed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ali, on second thought, have you won the game. It is passion investing. Great game, gentlemen.

VELSHI: Passion investing, thanks. Very good, voice. Thank you very much. Always a pleasure to do business with you.

QUEST: You broke the rules.

All right. That will do it for this week. We're here each week on "Quest Means Business."

VELSHI: And at CNN NEWSROOM at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Keep the topics coming, by the way, on our blogs. Great questions from you at CNN.com/QMB and CNN.com/Ali and tell each of us which week what you want to talk about.

Hey, Richard, see you next week. Enjoy my art.

QUEST: See you next week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We're just past the bottom of the hour. Here's a look at some of the stories you may have missed.

The remnants of tropical storm Lee triggering near-record flooding in the Northeast. At least three people are dead in central Pennsylvania. Officials say up to 125,000 people are evacuating the area around a river there. It's well above flood stage. Evacuations were also ordered in parts of Upstate New York where numerous cities and towns have declared an emergency.

Plus, a massive wildfire near Austin, Texas, keeps getting larger and larger and larger. Two people are dead, at least, 1,400 homes destroyed. The fire is 30 percent contained. So far, it's burned 34,000 acres, forced about 5,000 people to evacuate. This fire is one of a number that have burned across Texas.

Also, a federal sweep is targeting dozens of nurses and doctors for alleged medical fraud. Ninety-one people have been charged from Miami to Los Angeles. Attorney General Eric Holder talked about the sweep in Washington yesterday. The suspects are accused of ripping off taxpayers with nearly $300 billion in phony Medicare bills. The indictments include fraudulent schemes involving medical devices, home health care, mental health services and psychotherapy.

And a legal victory for the Obama administration's health care reform law. A federal appeals court has dismissed the lawsuit by the state of Virginia over the constitutionality of that law. The Richmond- based court is the second federal appeals court to uphold the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that's the official name. The law includes a provision that requires most Americans to buy health insurance by 2014. The matter is still going to have to make its way ultimately to the Supreme Court.

Well, jury selection is under way in Los Angeles in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. He's the cardiologist charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson. Up to 450 potential jurors are set to report for the selection process between today and Monday. Jackson died June 25th of 2009 of an overdose of the anesthetic drug Propofol. Prosecutors claim that Murray used a makeshift iv drip to administer the drug in a way that violated standard care and ultimately led to Jackson's death.

And this just into us: the criminal trial of former presidential candidate and Senator John Edwards has been delayed until January. It was scheduled to start next month. Edwards faces criminal charges relating to nearly $1 million in payments allegedly made to support his mistress.

Also this evening, as you may know, the season which many thought was in jeopardy with the whole lockout situation, all of that is over. The season begins tonight. Kickoff between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints coming your way a little after 8:30 and, of course, after you watch the president's speech tonight at 7:00.

Well, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson on a mission to Cuba. We'll tell you what he's doing there. That's next in "Globe Trekking."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is in Cuba. CNN has learned he was invited there by the Cuban government to try to help negotiate the release of jailed American contractor Alan Gross.

Gross was in prison in December in 2009 when he was working as a subcontractor on a U.S. Agency of International Development project aimed at spreading democracy. The work was deemed illegal by Cuban authorities.

Gross says he was trying to help connect the Jewish community with the Internet and was not a threat to the Cuban government. Last month Cuba's highest court upheld the 15-year sentence imposed on Gross.

CNN's Shasta Darlington following this store for us in today's "Globe Trekking." She is in Havana for us.

Shasta, does the governor have a chance of succeeding here?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., there are a lot of people who think he does. Now, he arrived yesterday on this surprise visit. And, remember, he's here to secure the release of Alan Gross, so we've been told. And this is a man that the Cuban government accused of importing communications equipment, satellite telecommunications equipment, which is illegal in Cuba, supposedly with the aim of trying to connect dissidents to the Internet.

Now, we don't have any details about these negotiations so far, but I did chat briefly with Richardson, and he says he doesn't want to comment about his mission or say how long he'll be in Cuba but that he might have comments for us at the end of the visit. We also talked briefly with Ricardo Alarcon, the head of the national assembly here, and he said that he doesn't know why Richardson is here and that he's not a fortune teller, so he doesn't know who he'll go home with.

But the reason that there's hope here, that people are optimistic is because of the timing. And as you mentioned, the legal proceeding is out of the way, so a lot of people think that now there's actually some room for President Raul Castro to perhaps allow Alan Gross to leave on humanitarian grounds.

And this is Richardson's second visit. He was here last year when he met with officials. After him, former President Jimmy Carter came to town. He also met with the top officials. They both went home empty- handed.

But the idea is now this is where the president could timely step in. You have to remember, Gross is a 62-year-old man. According to his wife, he's lost 100 pounds in jail, and his mother and adult daughter are battling cancer.

And he himself told the courts, listen, I was duped and used. He didn't say who by, but he said he respects the sovereignty of Cuba. So, the feeling is that there's actually some room for President Raul Castro to step in and say, yes, we'll release him on humanitarian grounds.

HOLMES: All right. Shasta Darlington for us there in Havana -- Shasta, thank you, as always.

We want to check some other stories making headlines right now. We start in Libya where loyalists to Moammar Gadhafi fired on opposition fighters as they advanced toward one of Gadhafi's last strongholds there, the rebel forces were on a reconnaissance mission when they came under fire. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the new Tripoli military council says Gadhafi is cornered with no means of escaping. The spokesman would not reveal where Gadhafi is supposedly holed up, but he said the ousted Libyan leader is surrounded within a 37-mile radius.

Also, a city in northern Mexico -- in northern Mexico City rather, I should say, is planning to train its citizens to shoot guns. Garcia Mayor Jamie Rodriguez Calderon says the training is designed to help put a stop to crime in the town on the Texas border. Rodriguez himself has been the target of two assassination attempts. So far, about 3,000 residents from Garcia and nearby cities have signed up for the course.

Also, a time of remembrance in Russia. The nation mourning the deaths of dozens of international hockey players in a plane crash yesterday. Forty-three people were killed when the plane went down just after takeoff. The aircraft was carrying a hockey club to a game that was happening in Belarus. Many of those on the team had ties to the U.S. national hockey teams. They had declared three days of mourning in the region.

Well, you've heard from the Republican presidential candidates. You'll hear from the president tonight. But coming up, Main Street America has some serious questions about how their politics will translate into more jobs. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: President Obama getting ready to push his jobs plan to Congress, getting ready to push it to you as well. A question a lot of people have, whether the president's proposals will have any difference for Main Street America, folks like you.

Listen to what some business owners told our Poppy Harlow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLPS)

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'm sticking to.

And I'm hoping the government can do what they best and fix what's going on because we rely on them, you know? We rely on the president, rely on the 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 the money. They won't loan out money.

We're the small business guy here and, you know, it's tough. Health insurance for the family is a big burden on us, and when the increase in taxes and health insurance and everything, it's just almost impossible to keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the economy slows down, if we do see cut, we do cut staff. That's what we did in the past year. We were very quick to cut staff, and that's the one thing that me and my partners spoke about. If something -- the fall happens the way the fall of 2008 did, we'll have to cut staff immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going to mean for my children in the future? I don't know. That's what makes me nervous.

This is kind of the lost generation is what I'm calling it right now. It's -- what's it going to be? I think that the government really needs to look at Main Street and don't forget about us, you know, really take care of America. It's time to focus on America.

(END VIDEO CLIPS) HOLMES: All right. Poppy Harlow with me now from New York.

Poppy, some of those opinions we heard there pretty much a consensus.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Absolutely. What it says from all those business owners and other ones that we spoke with there's a huge lack of confidence, a lack of confidence that Washington can get it together, T.J., that Washington and the leadership is going to guide us out of this. They are all looking at President Obama tonight. It may be an address to the joint session of Congress, but it's really also an address to the American people, saying there is the leadership you need that is going to come from Washington.

And it's interesting. We don't know exactly what the plan is going to be, that the president will outline tonight. What we're hearing is that it will be somewhere between $300 billion and $400 billion. We're hearing a big chunk of that will be an extension of the payroll tax cut to sort of help the average American spur spending.

And we're also hearing that a big part of it is going to be tax incentives for business owners, just like the ones you heard from, that will encourage them to hire, whether it's hiring veterans, whether it's hiring the chronically unemployed, people that have been out of work for six months or longer that are very hard to employ. That's what we're expecting to hear from the president.

The question is, is the incentive going to be enough to cause those business owners to be confident enough that the economy is going to turn around that they in turn are going to hire, T.J.? I think that's the big question going into tonight's speech.

HOLMES: The big question, are they hopeful? Have we seen any indications that whatever the president says, something is going to, you know, not just maybe benefit small businesses but specifically targeted towards them?

HARLOW: I think it's different depending on which business owner you ask. Some are more hopeful than others. Overall when we look at this country and where consumer confidence stands, it's at the lower level since 1980, so when Carter was president. Confidence overall is not high.

When you look at whether it's going to be enough or not, CNN Money actually polled a number of economists, and a lot of them told us that they don't think even a $300 billion package would necessarily be enough to get consumer spending to where it needs to be to push GDP significantly higher. Our growth of a country relies 70 percent on what consumers spend. We all know Americans are saving more than they have in decades, not spending as much. That makes it very, very tough for the economy to recover.

Of course, we don't know -- we don't even know exactly what the president is going to propose, but it's clear that business owners want some very clear direction from Washington, even what gets proposed tonight, T.J., as you well know, has to make it through Congress and get that bipartisan support. HOLMES: All right. We'll know in a little over four hours, though.

Poppy Harlow, always good to see you.

Well, coming up next here, NASA wants to go back to the moon. They were supposed to be on the way right now, but a big launch was scrubbed just a few hours ago. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, NASA delayed today's launch of a moon research mission. They had some weather issues. They say they will try this again tomorrow.

But what are they hoping to accomplish on this mission?

Well, John Zarrella reports now from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NASA's attempt to launch twin probes to the moon was delayed by 24 hours today because of unacceptable weather conditions. Now, it may surprise you. It certainly surprised me that despite the fact that we've sent people to the moon, we really don't know what it's made of, and that, they hope, will be answered when these probes get there.

(voice-over): The moon. OK. So we have established it's not really made of green cheese. The Apollo astronauts bagged up more than 800 pounds of rock and dirt.

ASTRONAUT: Well, here, it's a bit firmer.

ZARRELLA: What about all that stuff? Isn't that what the moon is made of? Well, that's just what is on top. The fact is we really don't know what's beneath the surface.

MARIA ZUBER, GREAIL PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: The part of lunar understanding that we don't yet have is what's inside the moon. So to really understand the moon and understand what makes it special, we need to study what's inside.

ZARRELLA: To do that, NASA is embarking on a unique mission called Grail. Two space probes will fly one behind the other in identical orbits around the moon. The gravitational tug on the probes changes as they fly over various features, mountain, valleys or masses hidden below the surface.

Measuring the change gives scientists in essence a lunar CAT scan. That's right, imagine a CAT scan of the moon.

ZUBER: It provides us essentially with a picture of the lunar inferior just like you would make a picture of the inside of your body.

ZARRELLA: It's theorized that the moon was formed from the debris released after a collision between the earth and another giant body. If that's the case, it will give scientists a better idea of how the interplanets of solar system were formed.

And first, NASA will dedicate instruments, in this case, cameras on the probes, exclusively to education. Middle school students and teachers can go to the moon cam Web site and request a lunar surface location to be photographed.

LEESA HUBBARD, SALLY RIDE SCIENCE TEACHER IN RESIDENCE: And I think once they begin to look at detailed images, when they go out in the backyard and look at the moon, they're going to look at it in a whole new way. And I think that's priceless.

ZARRELLA: The pictures will be posted in a photo gallery on the Internet.

(on camera): there are four cameras on each of the two probes. Now, for students and teachers around the world, all you have to do is go to moon cam, M-O-O-N C-A-M, and sign up to get some pictures of your own from the moon.

John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And can you tune in tomorrow at CNN to catch that launch live. Expect it sometime between 8:33 and 9:12 a.m. Eastern Time.

As we get closer to the top of the hour, Mark Preston will join us to break down last night's GOP political debate. Your political update is next.

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HOLMES: Well, at last night's GOP debate, Governor Mitt Romney was asked if he was a member of the Tea Party. Listen to his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe in a lot of what the Tea Party believes in. The Tea Party believes that the government is too big, taxing too much, and that we ought to get to the work of getting Americans to work. So I put together a plan with a whole series of points of how we can get America's economy going again. Tea Party people like that.

So, if the Tea Party is for keeping government small and spending down and helping us create jobs -- then, hey, I'm for the Tea Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Our senior political editor Mark Preston joins us from the political desk in Washington.

Mark, always good to se you.

And after these debates, they are always debating again who won, who lost. So, what are folks saying today?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, T.J., just watching last night's debate, I don't think there was any clear winner that came out of there. But what has become apparent, this is now a two-person race between Rick Perry and, of course, Mitt Romney who we heard right there.

So, let's just tick through some of the candidates and let me give a little bit of analysis.

Let's talk about Mitt Romney first. He stayed above the fray last night. He showed that he was presidential, T.J. He didn't really engage in name-calling back and forth with the other candidates, although he was able to take some digs at them. So, it was a successful night for him.

Rick Perry, going to be a little bit careful because his biggest weakness is also his biggest strength -- and when we say that is that Rick Perry can never be considered a flip-flopper. He stands by his previous positions. However, what he said about Social Security, how it was such a big problem, you know, that's certainly not going to play very well with seniors so he might have to alter to seniors if he wants to play to these injuries as his campaign progresses.

Michele Bachmann -- well, she's got no mojo left. That's what it appears like last night. Rick Perry has taken all the wind out of her sails. She won the Iowa straw poll.

She really needs to regain momentum. Interesting to see if she does that on Monday when we're down in Tampa for the Republican Tea Party debate.

And, of course, Jon Huntsman who is trying to gain some traction. He's very low in the poll, 1 percent to 2 percent. Jon Huntsman needs to have a little bit more push in his arguments against the other candidates. He needs to sting them a little bit more. His attacks were not very sharp.

But I got to tell you this, T.J., while the gloves were taken off for a little bit last night in that debate out in Ronald Reagan's presidential library, I think when we go down to Florida for the Tea Party debate, it's going to be a bare-knuckle brawl. There could be some blood that's left on the floor.

HOLMES: Oh, my goodness, man. Kids and families are going to be watching that debate. You tell them blood is going to be on the floor?

All right.

PRESTON: Red R (ph).

HOLMES: All right. Mark Preston -- Brooke, what's gotten into this guy?

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know if I want to go there. HOLMES: He's talking about the debate. If you missed it last night, you got another chance to see these candidates go at it. Join us here at CNN, hosting the Tea Party Express and several other Tea Party groups. We're doing this together here. It's coming from Tampa, Florida.

The 2012 Republican national convention is going to be in Tampa. But it's Monday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and 5:00 Pacific.

Please tell the folks, there was not, there won't be blood.

BALDWIN: Mr. Preston, we'll follow up with him. We'll see what he's talking.

HOLMES: Brooke, it's all yours.