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Preparing For 9/11 Anniversary ; Credible Terror Threat; President Obama Promotes Jobs Plan; Six Million Without Power; Millions Without Power; Lee Devastates Northeast; Market Drops Sharply; Obama's American Jobs Act; Gadhafi Loyalist Surrender Deadline Collapses; Training Up an Afghan Army; GOP Candidates React to Obama's Jobs Plan
Aired September 09, 2011 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And this Sunday, join us for our special 9/11 10 years later. Live coverage of events begins 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, right here on CNN.
And of course, the CNN NEWSROOM continues. This weekend we'll be seeing T. J. Holmes from --
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- New York on 9/11 as well.
HOLMES: On Sunday, yes.
WHITFIELD: You are in right now for Randi Kaye.
HOLMES: But I'll see you tomorrow.
WHITFIELD: But I'll see you tomorrow.
HOLMES: I'll see you here tomorrow. CNN Saturday morning, and CNN -- what is your show called? The Saturday afternoon?
WHITFIELD: We're just here.
HOLMES: All right, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: We'll stick with the NEWSROOM, how about that?
HOLMES: Stick with the NEWSROOM, all right. Fredricka, thanks so much.
WHITFIELD: At least you at least got the CNN part right.
HOLMES: I got that part right at least, huh. Thank you so much. We'll see you very soon.
Hello to you all. I am in for Randi Kaye at the top of the hour here. We know that New Yorkers have been through a lot, they have seen a lot. Well, here we go now, something else they have to deal with, something else they have to see. Take a look at what they are seeing right now. Police check points set up all around the city in response to what is being called, a credible and specific, but not confirmed threat. Let me tell you what we know. Chatter heard among security officials talk about three individuals who might be involved, one of them a U.S. citizen. Not known if they are actually in the country yet.
Also, a bulletin put out by the FBI Homeland Security says the attackers could be planning to use a truck or car loaded with explosives. They also warn that small arms, homemade explosives, or poisons could be used. They're calling the threat credible, but again, we don't know if it's real. It's not confirmed just yet, and that's what many officials are trying to stress to the public. It is believed that the targets could be Washington, D.C. or New York City.
Joining me now, Washington, D.C. Mayor, Vincent Gray. Sir, we appreciate you taking the time out with us. First, can you tell me after you were all briefed on this potential threat, have you all had any discussions, has the possibility come up of changing or canceling some of the anniversary -- 9/11 anniversary public events set to take place this weekend?
VINCENT GRAY, MAYOR, WASHINGTON,D.C.: Absolutely not, we have no intention of changing any of the events at this stage. We're urging everybody to continue go forward with whatever their plans were. For example, we've got a college football classic that's scheduled for the city tomorrow between Howard and Morehouse.
We're asking everybody to continue to come out. But in the course of it, we want people to be vigilant, to pay attention to what's going on around them. If they see something unusual, to call us at 911 or 311, and you can be sure there will be an immediate response. One of the things that we are -- you know, we're doing is we've got all of our law enforcement officers on 12-hour shifts. We're engaging some of the other D.C. government employees as well in helping to pay attention to what's going on over these next several days.
HOLMES: And Mr. Mayor, people have been told -- this whole country really, and certainly in D.C. and New York, people have been told to be vigilant. And here they are up on the 10-year anniversary being told to be vigilant again. Could you talk a little more about what that means? And I know you all have to take each threat -- potential threat seriously, and it's hard to gauge them, but is there any reason that this one would make the hair on the back of your head stand up any more than another, and therefore maybe the public should be a little more nervous this time around?
GRAY: Well, the fact that we have, you know, this kind of information. You know, it's a credible, specific set of information, not corroborated at this stage, we're looking to corroborate it. So, I think given that people should be -- that this should be a heightened awareness on the part of people. And of course, this is the weekend, this is the 10th anniversary, and we know that there are threats that have been made in the past about seeking retribution on America. So, I think both of those things together call for us to pay even more attention than we normally do.
HOLMES: Sir, what have your officers there in D.C. been told to look out for?
GRAY: Well, they should look out for vehicles that are illegally parked, look out for packages, just look out for things that are different than the normal patterns. And it's not just the police officers, either, it's workers with the department of public works, it's our department of transportation workers, and frankly, we're asking our citizens to do the same thing. If they see anything that looks unusual, err on the side of giving us a call, 911, call 311, report it, and you can be sure we'll be investigating it immediately.
HOLMES: And sire, we know this weekend, among all weekends -- I mean pretty much any weekend in Washington, D.C., New York City, you're going to see a huge security presence. Now the 10-year anniversary, I know you all stepped up security for that, but now with the threat is it possible to step up the security any more than you already had? And if so, how did you do that?
GRAY: Well first of all, we are working very closely with our federal counterparts, with the FBI and other agencies at the federal level. I had a conversation last night with Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano, so we're working closely with them. And what I should say, too, is that our chief, Cathy Laniel, who's certainly clearly one of the best chiefs in America, has been working on a plan for eight months. We began to execute that plan on September 1st, so there was a lot of anticipation of the possibility of this. So, it isn't as if we weren't ready to begin to executive in the -- with the possibility of this happening.
HOLMES: All right. Mayor Gray, we appreciate you taking the time and updating our viewers and really the rest of the country about what's happening in D.C. this weekend. But thank you so much. You -- have a good weekend there in D.C. We'll talk to you again.
GRAY: Thank you so much.
HOLMES: All right. Let me turn now to New York City and more on this threat. You know, New York is the other place right now where so much attention is focused, and a lot of the security is focused this weekend. Our Suzanne Candiotti is there in New York for us. Also, our Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon. She is giving us the very latest on this threat.
Barbara, I'll chat with you in a second, but let me start with you, Susan. It's hard to imagine that they could step up security any more for this anniversary, but that's what they have done.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It was already increased because of the magnitude of this 10-year anniversary, and now indeed has been ramped up. So, as you go around the city today, it would be hard to miss seeing far more police officers and far more random searches set up throughout the city. And what goes along with that? Traffic jams. You're seeing that, too. So, you are see an increased police presence at bridges, at tunnels, on highways, at subway, and train stations, looking into bags, looking inside trucks, this kind of thing. What are they looking for? Well, possibly for bombs, possibly dirty bombs. They're also -- they have some very interesting equipment. Digital license plate readers that can instantaneously, they're so finely calibrated, read a license plate, look to find out whether it's stolen or has another interest to police officers, and get an instant read back on it, so they know whether to pull a car over, for example. And in fact, they're even mounting these at police cars that can be going at 60 miles an hour and still get a good readout.
HOLMES: All right. And Barbara, let me bring you in here. At the Pentagon, this is all because -- everything we're seeing is because of now this threat -- this new threat we've been told about. Are you still hearing that it's specific? Yes. Credible? Yes. But not confirmed?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J., and we can now explain to you why it is that U.S. officials are saying that. Really, this information has just come to us in the last few minutes. A senior administration official tells us that what happened is the U.S. intercepted communication a few days ago from an Al Qaeda operative in Pakistan. And in this intercepted communication, they heard the man talking about plan support this type of attack. The person that they were intercepting is an Al Qaeda operative that in the past has been a source, when they've intercepted him, of credible information. So, they took it very seriously, that's where the credible comes from. It comes from a guy that they've listened into in the past.
But what has happened is they are trying to corroborate it, so they're also going around and trying to corroborate it from all of the Al Qaeda cells and operatives that they regularly listen in to. And so far, they can't corroborate it. They're not hearing any other specific chatter about this specific attack that they had heard from the first guy. So, that's where it's coming up as uncorroborated. But because the person that they intercepted in the beginning is someone that has been a source of credible information in the past, they are taking this very seriously and trying to run it down. So, that gives us more light, if you will, on what the dilemma is here and why they're being so careful in how they word their assessment of the threat -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Barbara Starr with the very latest and some new information there for us. Thank you and also thanks to our Susan Candiotti in New York. We'll talk to you both again plenty throughout the day and this weekend.
To our viewers, some other news that we are following right now. The president, he promised last night in his big speech that he was going to on the road, and he didn't waste any time, did he? He's talking about jobs again. This was at the University of Richmond. This was just over an hour ago. He's out there promoting the jobs plan he outlined just last night. And just like last night, he was stressing once again the plan should pass right away, and says, hey, there should be nothing in here to fight about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything in the American Jobs Act, everything in there is the kind of proposal that's been supported in the past by both Democrats and Republicans. Nothing radical in this bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, maybe not a coincidence that the president was in Richmond, Virginia, that happens to be the district of house majority leader, Eric Cantor. Now, majority leader, Cantor, did tell CNN that he heard some common ground in the speech last night and he believes something can get done quickly.
Ten minutes past the hour. Five million people without power. A failure in the power supply, leaving more than a little people upset in two states as well as in Mexico. You will not believe what caused it in the first place. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Five million people without power. Flights cancelled, commuter trains stopped, gridlock on city streets. A massive power outage spreading across California and Arizona and even into Mexico. What exactly was the cause? People were thinking, well, is this a terror attack? Cracks in an outdated infrastructure? No, none of that. It's what they called a, quote, "Employee generated event." Casey Wian in San Diego, please help me understand what exactly is an employee generated event?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, power officials, T.J., in two states are trying to understand that very question this morning. Here's what they can tell us right now happened. Yuma, Arizona, 100 or so miles east of here there was an employee who was working on a piece of equipment at a power substation, somehow that effort caused power to go out to several thousand people in the Yuma, Arizona, area. Power officials say it should have been contained at that point, but for some reason, 10 minutes later it started to spread. It spread west to San Diego County, it spread across the border into Mexico, it spread north to the San Anofre Nuclear Power facility which is the other direction that this area can get power from.
And so, what it resulted in is the entire power grid in this area shutting down. They do not know at this point whether that employee's actions are what caused this event to happen, they are investigating, but it clearly shows that a weakness remains in the power grid here because in a major metropolitan area like San Diego, and an area stretching into the state of Arizona and across the border, is vulnerable with only two sources of power coming into the area, they were completely knocked out yesterday.
Now, the good news is is that overnight, San Diego Gas and Electric officials worked tirelessly to restore power. They were telling people yesterday to expect power to be out perhaps all day today, maybe even into the weekend. Thirteen hours later, they got power back to all of their customers. Yesterday to expect power to be out perhaps all day today, maybe even into the weekend. Thirteen hours later, they got power back to all of their customers.
Still, some pain through. Restaurants were forced to shut down. They lost a lot of business. There was a big football, as you may remember, last night and they were counting on that to generate some business. They had to throw out, some restaurants, thousands and thousands of dollars of food that has spoiled.
Traffic here, though, is now back to normal. Yesterday it was an absolute nightmare. So the investigation is going to continue. We may not know the answer to your initial question, T. J., for weeks, perhaps even months.
HOLMES: All right. But it sounds like one guy knocked out the power to some 5 million out there. There's got to be a crack in the system. That should not happen. Casey Wian, we appreciate you, as always.
Let's turn now to this trouble for the folks on the East Coast. This just seems to keep on coming. Look at that. Historic flooding in the Northeast. And would you believe things could actually get worse? The latest. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: More than 100,000 people forced to evacuate. At least three people dead. And they are still going through it right now in the Northeast. This is all left over from Tropical Storm Lee. What they are seeing is some of the worst flooding they have seen in decades. Along the Northeast and across the Mid-Atlantic, President Obama has declared a state of emergency for New York, as well as Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania in particular, the Susquehanna River cresting and threatening to -- oh, it just overtake (ph) some cities there. Now the Susquehanna, in case you are not familiar with it, is one of the longest rivers in this country.
Take a look at this i-Report, give you an idea of what some folks are going through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house. Oh, my God, get off the bridge, seriously. That's metal! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! That was a house!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, let me bring in our Mary Snow, who's been reporting there.
I don't know if you have seen that i-Report, but it's remarkable. People standing on a bridge. The water is so high, it looks like a -- literally a house is coming through and hits that bridge that's been taken away. How many more scenes or how much longer, I guess, are people going to have to deal with this rising water?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really incredible, T.J. But here in West Pittston, this appears to be the worst because the water is receding. It's hard to believe, just taking a look at these pictures, that there's just water everywhere.
There's a house behind me. You can see where the water had reached at one point. This river is receding, but it is doing so very slowly. We're about 100 yards from the Susquehanna. The river crested last night. But it's still about 15 or 16 feet above flood stage and it is expected to stay above flood stage through Sunday.
HOLMES: Everybody get out like they were supposed to, Mary?
SNOW: For the most part, yes. You know, officials say there were holdouts. This is an area that has been flooded many times. Many old timers felt they could handle it. So far officials say that they have not had reports of injuries or deaths. They are still out, though, assessing because, as you can imagine, because it's so hard to get around, it has been difficult to get a true assessment.
HOLMES: All right, Mary Snow for us there in Pennsylvania.
Mary, we appreciate you, as always.
We need to turn and get the perspective on what we're seeing here for our Chad Myers.
And, Chad, we often times throw in the word "historic" when we talk about floods or storms or this or that. But this is that.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is. This is as bad in many spots, and in some spots worse than what Hurricane Agnes put into this valley in 1972. Hurricane Agnes also spread devastation up into Corning and up into Twana (ph) and farther north into parts of New York as well. Those areas were spared for the rain, where this rain was only really from Shenango into the Susquehanna River and Binghamton. And now all this water has to work its way southward, all the way through this valley.
Now, there is a town here called Forty Fort and we are getting the very, very latest on Forty Fort at this point. They are sending dump trucks full of dirt and anything they can put in these dump trucks to try to fill what they think to be a soft spot in the levee. That is significant only because this water has not gone down. That area that was there near the soccer fields in Forty Fort, they are sending as many trucks -- and I'm watching this online from WNEP and WBRE, our affiliates in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
They are -- this is not over yet. The water may have crested last night at 42 feet, but this is certainly not over. There is significant flooding still possible. And when you have a river that went from 13 feet to 42 feet last night in just 48 hours, that puts a tremendous strain on the levee system. And these -- and the levees here -- many of these towns are protected by levees. Plymouth, Clarksville, Kingston, all the way up toward West Pittston right there, where our Mary Snow is, not protected at all. That's why the river is basically completely out of its banks and into these cities. Into these cities. These towns right here along Wyoming Avenue. I'm talking about 12 feet of water in every house. So even if you put stuff on the second floor, it's wet as well. Let me get to you what's going on right now. The rain is over. That's good news. There's no more rain coming. But the rain has already come down in many spots and there still could be flooding in the D.C. area, all the way from northern Virginia, into parts of northern Maryland, from the rain that just came down in the overnight hours last night. There are still many, many flood warnings all the way from upstate New York still through Vermont.
I've talked to friends is Rutland, Vermont, which is very close to Killington. They still can't get out of their house. There is no road in front of their home. They were there when this happened in Irene and they still can't get out. They're waiting for some kind of a plow, something to try to get rid of this dirt and make a road for them.
And here's the Susquehanna River at Bloomsberg. A much bigger city here too. That's still rising. These rivers are not done yet, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Chad Myers, thanks for the perspective. We appreciate you.
Well, twenty-three minutes past the hour now. We are going to check in with Rudy Giuliani coming up next. We talked to him today, along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They made a stop at the New York Stock Exchange. We'll explain why. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: There was a moment of silence at the New York Stock Exchange this morning to mark Sunday's 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was there to ring the opening bell to begin today's trading. Other dignitaries including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was also there. He rang the opening bell when the stock exchange reopened on September 17, 2001, six days after the attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: Well, that was a very significant milestone in the comeback of the city and the country. The stock exchange is the core of our economy. It went down. It couldn't function for a period of time. They got it back. No one ever knew for sure --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Our Alison Kosik talked to both Clinton and Giuliani today.
Alison, hello to you.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, T.J.
HOLMES: I want to ask you more about your conversations with them in a moment.
But let me start with news on Wall Street today. The economic news. At least we've been watching the markets. We're seeing the picture here. Three hundred points down, the Dow is right now. What is the explanation you're hearing from investors about why they think this is happening today?
KOSIK: There are a couple of reasons why you're seeing this sell-off right now, T.J. One of them, the European Central Bank. One of those members of the European Central Bank is stepping down and that's a big deal because, as you know, these European debt issues have been weighing on the markets here in the U.S. This is like if a member of the Federal Reserve decided to walk out. So the worry is, is that discussions on how to get a handle on those European debt issues could be unraveling. That is unnerving to markets.
Also, President Obama's jobs speech last night, that left lots of traders telling me they didn't see enough specifics, it didn't set the table for more economic growth. So that lack of confidence in what he said and whether or not his proposals could even make it through Congress. That lack of confidence is also why we're seeing the selloff today.
T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And on to the conversations you were able to have with Secretary Clinton and the former mayor, Giuliani, today. Much talk about this new threat that we are seeing. This potential threat to the U.S. homeland.
KOSIK: Exactly. And Secretary Clinton told me that the threat is unconfirmed, but they are taking it seriously because the government actually learned a lot when officials went through documents that were taken from bin Laden's headquarters. They found that al Qaeda was still determined to attack around anniversary dates. And when I talked to the former New York City Mayor Rudi Giuliani, he had a similar tone. He said, the people who killed on 9/11, they still want to kill. But he said, you know what, Americans have shown a readiness to ban together and make it through. Listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIULIANI: I'm waiting to see who emerges. And I realized how difficult it would be for me to get nominated given some of the positions that I have that I'm not willing to change. So I want to see if there's a really good candidate out there that can take this country in a different direction. And if I find that candidate, then I won't be tempted to run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: The reason that American and this great city has shown such resilience is because we refused to be intimidated. But that doesn't mean we're stupid. We're going to keep our eyes open. We're going to be vigilant.
Part of the reason to go public with this particular threat information was to tell people, go on with your lives, keep your eyes open, and let us know if you see anything suspicious. Remember, the Times Square bomber was stopped by a food vendor who saw something suspicious, reported it, and, thank goodness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: And that instance that she's talking about shows that anyone can help. And it's really a mantra that we New Yorkers, we know well. If you see something, say something. And it's really worked, as the secretary said. But officials say we still need to go about our lives, as we do. Even Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, T.J., he took the subway as usual today.
HOLMES: All right. Alison Kosik for us there at the New York Stock Exchange, thank you so much.
We're coming up on the bottom of the hour now. And for the first time since 1997, somebody other than Peyton Manning will be starting quarterback for the Colts this weekend. We'll tell you more about the injury that's keeping him out, how it's threatening his year and maybe even his career. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, it's about half past the hour now. Here's a look at some of the stories you may have missed. Police on alert in response to the possible terror plot coinciding with the 9/11 anniversary. Officials say they have received specific credible but unconfirmed information. A senior administration official tells CNN that the origin of the intelligence is what is causing the most concern. It's believed to involve three people and a possible car or truck bomb, and the focus seems to be on New York City and Washington, D.C. But law enforcement around the country, everybody on alert right now.
Well, millions of people in the southwestern United States woke up with the power back on this morning after a massive power outage on Thursday. The blackout across Arizona and southern California brought traffic to a halt, stopped trains and even closed San Diego International Airport. Cities in northern Mexico also affected. Arizona power service described the cause as a, quote, "employee- generated event," but it was not terrorism-related.
Well, the state of Texas has appealed to President Obama to declare a major disaster so they can get federal assistance for the wildfires happening there. The lieutenant governor of Texas says, "We need help yesterday."
The biggest fire that's burning near Austin has killed at least two people, destroying nearly 1,400 homes. It's only partially contained, but firefighters say they stopped its forward progress. That's something. Officials say another big fire north of San Antonio is now more than 50 percent contained.
And did you realize it was hot this summer? The U.S. was dealing with record-setting heat, and now meteorologists are confirming this summer was the hottest we have seen in 75 years and the second hottest on record. The consistently high temperatures combined with below- average rainfall caused states like Texas to suffer their driest summer ever.
Also, NFL superstar Peyton Manning will not be joining his team this Sunday for the first game of the season. The Indianapolis Colts QB underwent another surgery for a neck injury this week. Unclear when Manning will return to the field. He currently holds the second longest starting streak for an NFL quarterback, the record, of course, being held by Brett Favre.
All right, you heard him say last night. Well, you're going to hear him say it again today. You'll probably hear him say it again and again and again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything in it will be paid for!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: President Obama out there selling his new jobs plan, but how will it be paid for? And will it get people back to work? Let's break it down next. It's time for "Fair Game."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, time now for a little something we call "Fair Game" around here. This is the place in this show where we take on hot button issues and hold people in Washington accountable. And today's topic, the president's jobs plan. He urged Congress a number of times in very plain language last night to pass his new bill. And this is why he says they should.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The American Jobs Act is simple, to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans and more jobs for long-term unemployed. It will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, he also said everything in the plan will be paid for. Really? And will it really get people back to work?
My guests today, CNN political analyst, and my friend, Roland Martin -- good to see you -- and senior economics writer for "The Wall Street Journal," my friend, as well, Stephen Moore. Guys, good to see you both.
Stephen, let me start with you. If Congress does exactly what the president wants -- I know this is fantasyland here to think they will pass it exactly how he sends it, but if they did, will it actually work?
STEPHEN MOORE, SR. ECONOMICS WRITER, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, I love the premise of this segment called holding Washington accountable. That's something that never happens in Washington!
(LAUGHTER)
MOORE: Look, I -- call me a skeptic, but...
HOLMES: OK.
MOORE: ... you know, we had an $830 billion stimulus plan, obviously, two-and-a-half years ago. That was never paid for. So before you can pay for this half-trillion-dollar stimulus bill, you have to pay for the last one.
You know, I've been watching for 25 years. There's always these promises of being fiscally chaste in the future. And so the analogy I would use is if you've got a fat person who says, I'm going to go on a diet, first I'm going to eat this -- these three hot fudge sundaes, and then I'm going to go on the diet. You know, I'm skeptical.
HOLMES: Well, Roland, let me bring you in. And you may have noticed he didn't necessarily there answer my question. I asked, though -- we'll get to the money in a second -- but if it was passed the way he wanted and that money goes out into the economy with the tax breaks and for infrastructure, Roland, can it actually work?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, you've got to define, T.J., what "work" means. For instance, conservative will say that the previous stimulus deal did not work. If we didn't have that, we would have even higher unemployment and a tougher problem.
And so the reality is, you have to try something. So there's no doubt -- I do believe that if it is passed, you will see construction jobs and you will see benefit (ph) from it. Will it cause the unemployment rate to go from 9.1 to 8 percent or 7? We don't know that. But we've had a number of consecutive months of private sector job growth, but we (INAUDIBLE) The last stimulus did work, despite all the stuff (ph) that you hear.
HOLMES: All right, let me bring you back in. And to our viewers, a little apology there. We're having a little issue with the Skype. We'll try to make sure we get that cleaned up.
So Stephen, it might just be me and you here for a second. So let's continue with the topic you drove us to, which was paying for it. Do you think this does not have a chance of getting passed, or a version of it getting passed, because there won't be the will and also not the money to pay for it?
MOORE: Well, there's skepticism on the part of Republicans. After all, they were elected in 2010 with the big election gains they had on a message of stop the spending, stop the debt. That was a very popular message with the voters in 2010. Now there's this brand-new, you know, program to spend another half trillion dollars. So I think there will be some resistance from the Republicans, no question about it.
But you know, you know this very well. The opinion polls of Republicans and Democrats are at record lows right now. So I think the Republicans may go along with some of this proposal. I think they like some of the tax cut proposals. I think it's the spending they're going to be very -- very much skeptical about.
HOLMES: OK, Roland, what struck you yesterday? And Dana Milbank in "The Washington Post" wrote about this today, and he called him an irrelevant president, and he talked about what some of the members of Congress were in there doing, some of them reading the newspaper, they were talking about their golf games, they were chuckling the whole time because they knew this wasn't a real effort. They considered this a political move. And the president can't do anything without them. He is asking them to do something -- Pass this for me. Do this that I'm asking you to do.
What struck you about the tone of last night from the president and also from the Republicans sitting in the room?
MARTIN: OK, first of all, Dana should be reminded that the president is the executive branch of government, Congress is the legislative branch of government. That's always been the case. A president can only offer up proposals (INAUDIBLE) to vote on.
But it was his strident tone. He was pretty much saying, You know what? I'm sick of this nonsense. I'm going to take it to you. When he said, I'm going to take this to every corner of America, this is a president who clearly has been ticked off by this back and forth. And so I had not heard that tone from him in a long time, and frankly, it was good to hear him come that strong with his jobs plan.
MOORE: Yes, but you know, Roland, it's interesting because, you know, the president has got this campaign theme that could be very productive for him to say, Look, it's the Republicans who are the agents of gridlock in Washington.
But you know, you have to look back over the last two years. In the first two years of the Obama presidency, the Democrats controlled all the power, and President Obama accomplished a lot. I mean, he got his stimulus plan through. He got "Obama care" bill through. He got "cash for clunkers" through. I could go down the list. There was no gridlock at all, and (INAUDIBLE) Republicans say, Wait a minute, when you could do whatever you wanted to do, you said you were going to create 3 million jobs, where are they? We're actually down a million jobs since the president took office.
HOLMES: Respond and wrap it up for me, Roland.
MARTIN: A fact check here. And that is Republicans in the Senate still use the filibusters...
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: But he got a lot done. MARTIN: (INAUDIBLE) But here's the point. The reality is, the stimulus bill that we had before, it provided (ph) us from hemorrhaging. We -- we have got to stop this whole notion that somehow -- the president himself (INAUDIBLE) Democrat or Republican, somehow can create jobs. That is simply not true. It's not going to happen. They can have policies that will help the situation, but (INAUDIBLE) got to have private business (INAUDIBLE) on Wall Street, balance sheets that have been shored up and also have them step (ph) up doing (ph) their job.
HOLMES: All right, Stephen, Roland, gentlemen, good to see you both. You all enjoy your weekends, all right? Talk to you both soon.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Be safe.
HOLMES: All right. Well, pro-Gadhafi forces -- they have until tonight to surrender or face military force. We'll have a live report from Libya as we go "Globe Trekking."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We'll be "Globe Trekking" to Libya now, where a midnight deadline is in place for tonight. This is for pro-Gadhafi loyalists in the towns of Sirte and Bani Walid to surrender.
Ben Wedeman live for us in Tripoli. Ben, any indication that some of these loyalists are ready to surrender?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that some of them were, but these negotiations have really been difficult, long and largely unsuccessful. In fact, the deadline doesn't seem to have really held because we are hearing from senior NTC officials that rebel troops are already entering the town of Bani Walid, which is this holdout town about an hour-and-a-half from here. We are told that they are a kilometer-and-a-half, about one mile, from the center of the Bani Walid. So it seems that the military commanders in the field have jumped the gun.
The deadline, in a sense, is history, and they've already gone in and the battle has begun -- T.J.
HOLMES: Still any indication -- everybody is wondering, where exactly is Moammar Gadhafi. Any indications, I guess probably just speculation at this point?
WEDEMAN: It's largely speculation. We've heard day after day statements from the NTC, the de facto government here in Tripoli, saying the latest was they know where he is, he's in a 60-kilometer area, but they wouldn't say where it is exactly. So we don't really know where Moammar Gadhafi is.
The State Department has said they don't know where he is. You have to remember there's sort of a psychological war going on, where the rebels here in Tripoli want to show those towns that are still holding out against them that their leader is abandoning them. So they put out these messages that he's either fled the country, he's cornered, he's about to surrender, and that really is an attempt to just undermine their morale, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And if you can, in my last 30 seconds here, we are seeing some developments out of Egypt today, as well?
WEDEMAN: Yes, what is ongoing this very moment is that several thousands of Egyptian protesters are outside the building that houses the Egyptian -- the Israeli embassy in Cairo. It's -- they've built a wall -- the Egyptian army built a wall around it to protect it, but apparently, those protesters are trying to knock it down.
Now, you have to remember The Israeli embassy is the top two floors of that building. The rest of the building is inhabited by Egyptians and -- little bit of celebratory gunfire there. And so it does appear that they're trying to knock down the wall, but there's no indication they've actually entered the building that houses the Israeli embassy, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Ben Wedeman for us in Tripoli. Ben, thank you, as always.
Coming up, we're going to join our Suzanne Malveaux. She is in Afghanistan. Are Afghans, 10 years after the September 11 attacks, ready to take over the security of their own country?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, the heightened security this week in the face of a credible 9/11 threat may be a reminder of why U.S. troops are in Afghanistan. Despite the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, al Qaeda still determined to carry out further attacks. It's the reason a strong Afghan army is so important. The country needs to take over its own security before U.S. troops can come home in 2014. But some say the U.S. and NATO are sacrificing quality for quantity in their rush to build up forces.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is in Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mission now is for Afghans to take over their security by the end of 2014 so that U.S. and NATO troops can get out. On the ground at the Kabul military training center, U.S. and NATO trainers are frantically trying to get thousands of raw recruits up to speed.
(on camera): Where these folks are standing in this training exercise is significant. Six months ago, American trainers were standing up front. They've since been moved to the back with interpreters to be on standby in case they're needed. But up front, the Afghans are training the Afghans.
SGT. ADNAN TRTKOVIC, NATO TRAINING MISSION: And most of the time, we don't have to intervene. But if there's something that they cannot usually associate (ph) with weapons, maybe heavy weapons, then we step in and resolve the issue.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): The race is on to train the Afghans sufficiently before U.S. troops are scheduled to pull out in just over three years' time. Critics charge that NATO is putting quantity over quality.
PHILIP GIRALDI, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM SPECIALIST: Everything is a numbers game, and that's essentially what we're seeing here. You know, this is like a big machine which takes in these Afghan recruits and spits them out at the other end, and it doesn't really matter how good they are or how effective they are.
MALVEAUX: Colonel Mike Minor, a top adviser to the Kabul training mission, defends the program.
COL. MIKE MINOR, CMDR., KABUL MILITARY TRAINING CENTER: What we've tried to do is build an army quickly, and you know, we're on track do that. Once we have an army at a certain level, then we'll be able to sustain that and improve the quality.
MALVEAUX: But the challenges right now are immense.
(on camera): Eight-six percent of the Afghan recruits are illiterate. They can't write their names, they can't add or subtract even at a kindergarten level.
(voice-over): That's why the U.S. and NATO mission launched an all- out literacy campaign last November to make sure every recruit has at least the basics.
Hamidullah Ghaufouri couldn't even write his own name when he signed up for the Afghan army. Now he's proud to be reading at a 2nd grade level while supporting his sick father on his soldier's salary.
HAMIDULLAH GHAUFOURI, AFGHAN NATIONAL ARMY RECRUIT (through translator): Before, I wasn't able to read the signs. I wasn't able to write letters or sentences. Now I'm able, even right now, if I want to go to the doctor, I can see the sign and read it.
MALVEAUX: For Mohammed Ismail, it's much more personal. His older brother was killed by the Taliban.
MOHAMMED ISMAIL, AFGHAN NATIONAL ARMY RECRUIT (through translator): Even my parents told me that you are joining the army. You will be going to the same way. But I told my parents, No, I would like to serve to my country from this way.
MALVEAUX: Sergeant Jesse Finley, a U.S. member of the training team, says the Afghans have a lot of heart but don't always stick around.
SGT. JESSE FINLEY, OFFICER TRAINING ADVISER: Getting that retainability is very difficult, too, because some of them just want to go back home. You know, get a little pay (ph) and go back home.
MALVEAUX: But their home, Afghanistan, is at a critical turning point, its future uncertain. MINOR: This war is not over, no. No, it's not over yet. It will be over when the Afghan people decide it's over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And Suzanne joins us now from Kabul. Suzanne, hello to you. That number is staggering, 86 percent illiterate. Is that a big part of the mission, you have to educate, as well as train?
MALVEAUX: Absolutely, T.J. And it's far from certain whether or not they're going to be able to be successful at this in the long term because one thing that is lacking is if you don't have a lot of education, you can't really have people who specialize in things. The mechanics, the engineers and even the pilots, to a certain extent, need much more education.
You have this issue of tribal tensions, as well. Some people, some critics fear that you can arm folks and train them, and then perhaps U.S. and NATO troops leave and they turn on each other and have a civil war. That is another concern from critics.
There's a cultural difference here. There as some, as he had mentioned, walk away, that it's seasonal fighting. They don't have the same sense that desertion is not acceptable. It's not against the law.
And finally, T.J., there's the issue of funding here. I talked to officials here, military officials, Afghans and critics, they all agree on one thing. That is the Afghan government and the Afghan people are going to need long-term funding, resources for a long, long time in order to sustain this beyond the immediate here. They're going to need international support -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Our Suzanne Malveaux reporting in Kabul, where she will continue to report coming up on the anniversary of 9/11. Thank you so much.
Let's turn back to news happening in this country and some politics and a little policy. How do you think Republican presidential candidates feel about President Obama's jobs plan? Guess! "Political Update" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, let's say hello to our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, in Tampa, and for good reason. He has our "Political Ticker" today. Hey, there, Paul.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIR.: Hey, T.J. How are you, man?
HOLMES: Doing all right, my man. What have you got going down there? We saw the president last night. I'm sure the presidential candidates maybe had a thing or two to say about it.
STEINHAUSER: They did. This is interesting because, you know, some congressional Republicans back in D.C., maybe not receptive to the president, but weren't that, that critical of him. But the presidential candidates, yes. You can imagine -- thumbs up? No, thumbs down. Just about all of them put out statements criticizing the president and his plan.
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor -- he went a step further. Take a look at this. This is a Web site he put up, his campaign, and it's called Obamaisntworking.com. So I think you kind of get the message there that, no, they're not so receptive to the president and his plans, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. What about some of the other -- you talk about Romney there. We hear -- you said we hear from just all of them. What are the other conservative, the other presidential candidates, who will be there, by the way, on Monday -- what are they up to?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, this is interesting. Let's talk about Michele Bachmann. She is going to Iowa tomorrow. She's going to be mixing politics and football. She's going to be at Iowa State. They're playing IOWA, big, big football game tomorrow. Remember, Iowa state -- that's where Bachmann had her big victory last month in the straw poll out there. So a little football and politics.
And T.J., as you said, everybody's coming right here Monday night. That's why we brought the bus. It's a big deal we brought the bus. The CNN Tea Party Republican presidential debate, 8 o'clock Eastern, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Paul, we will see you plenty, and we will see a lot of coverage out of Tampa. Thank you very much.
