Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Obama Pitches Jobs Plan; Taking Credit For Texas Jobs; Recall Vote For Arizona State Senator; Casey Anthony's Parents Speak Out; New TSA Search Rules For Kids; Google Spreading Its Wings; The Moments Since Jackson's Death; Millions of Americans Slip Into Poverty; GOP Picks Up Two Seats; Taliban's Deadly Attack On Kabul; Inside Yesterday's Kabul Battleground; Best Way to Board a Plane
Aired September 14, 2011 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Randi Kaye.
The battle ground state is different, the pitch is the same. Right now, President Obama is trying to pump up support for his jobs bill at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Since he unveiled the plan in a speech to Congress last Thursday, he's traveled to Virginia, Ohio, and now North Carolina, promoting its mix of tax cuts, infrastructure spending, unemployment aid, and future tax hikes on the wealthy to pay for it.
Those hikes and new spending are fighting words to Republicans. But look at this, a brand-new CNN/ORC poll, shows that more Americans like the jobs act than don't. And when we break it down, the main provisions get solid majority support.
The president also leads in the trust contest. Asked whom they trust more to handle our troubled economy? Forty-six percent say Mr. Obama, 37 percent say Republicans in Congress, 15 percent say they trust neither.
But look at this, more than seven Americans say they're angry about the way things are going, just as many say they're scared, and that could explain at least one of the outcomes of yesterday's special elections.
Vacant House seats were up for grabs in Nevada and New York, and while the Nevada seat has always been Republican and stayed that way, the New York seat is in heavily Democratic district. But it, too, went to a the Republican, Bob Turner. That's him right there on the left. He calls his race a referendum on President Obama. Democrats say, it wasn't.
Next year, of course, is another story, and that brings us back to jobs. The apparent Republican front-runner for President Obama's job is this man, Texas governor, Rick Perry. And jobs are his self- professed strongpoint but are they really? My colleague, Ed Lavandera, tried to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rick Perry loves to talk about jobs.
RICK PERRY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My actions as governor are helping to create jobs in this country.
LAVANDERA: Really loves to talk about jobs.
PERRY: It is time to get America working again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Rick Perry, and the restoration of jobs and the American dream begins now.
LAVANDERA: The campaign ads are clear, but does the hype withstand scrutiny? Since Perry became governor almost 11 years ago, the state's gained more than one million jobs, while the rest of the country has lost 1.5 million jobs. Some call it the Texas miracle. Perry says his push for tort reform, low tax cuts, and more business friendly regulations make Texas a model state. Critics, like the Progressive Center for Public Policy Priorities, say, take a closer look.
SCOTT MCCOWN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY PRIORITIES: You wouldn't think your model state would be number one in low wages. You wouldn't think your model state would be number one in a lack of health insurance. You wouldn't think your model state would be smack dab in the middle in terms of your unemployment. That doesn't sound like the model.
TIM PAGE, SENIOR EXECUTIVE, VIRTUAL COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT: We literally have people crammed in the room like this.
LAVANDERA: This is the newly opened corporate headquarters of a high-tech company called virtual computing environment.
PAGE: We looked both coasts, so San Francisco area, Bay area, we looked Boston area, looked Chicago.
LAVANDERA: Vice president, Tim Page, says the company picked a Dallas suburb in large part because of a program created by Governor Perry. The Texas Enterprise Fund offered VCE $2.5 million to hire almost 400 Texas workers at high wages.
(on camera): Did Texas come after you guys?
PAGE: They didn't approach us proactively. They found out we were looking and we had come here, they embraced us heavily, and that's when we made the decision.
LAVANDERA: In March, Governor Perry mentioned that a health care company called Golden Living would be moving its headquarters from Fort Smith, Arkansas to this office building in the Dallas suburb of Plano. The Governor said the move would create 100 new jobs in Texas, but the reality is more of a mix bag. Officials at Golden Living tell us that the company's actually relocating 50 of those employees here to Texas and they'll hire the other 50 here locally.
(voice-over): Critics say that kind of job creation is nothing more than job snatching.
MCCOWN: Job attraction and job creation are two different things. If all of you're doing is moving jobs from Utah to Texas, then the nation's not any better off competitively.
LAVANDERA: Critics say Governor Perry is claiming credit for things out of his control. About a fourth of the jobs created in Texas under Perry are actually government jobs, mostly teachers hired to keep up with the state's population boom, and that the state's also benefitted from high energy prices, fueling growth for oil and gas companies. But Rick Perry's convinced voters will give him credit for making Texas a better place to do business.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And Ed Lavandera joins me now, live from Dallas. Ed, bottom line here, is Ricky Perry a job creating master mind?
LAVANDERA: Well you know, that's what he wants everyone to believe, that's obviously the biggest part of his campaign. And his critics, and not only from the left but you've heard -- you heard Mitt Romney say in the debate the other night -- he said, you know, when you're dealt four aces, the oil and gas industry here in Texas has been doing very well. You go to places like Midland, Odessa and you see the boom and the high paying jobs that are out there, obviously the governor will latch on to that as well. So -- you know, a lot of his critics will say, if it fits on the bumper sticker nicely that the Texas is doing better much of the country. But if you take a closer look, a lot of people find trouble there.
KAYE: Yes. And a couple of things I find interesting here is that if you look at what's really helped Texas, hasn't it been really big government and government jobs and even the stimulus, which Rick Perry isn't exactly a fan of?
LAVANDERA: Well, this is interesting. You know, the Texas legislature meets every two years, odd years, so just finished meeting. Obviously this year, Governor Perry wasn't going to touch any kind of stimulus money, but two years ago, back in 2009, there was a big budget gap and Texas took stimulus money -- it needed federal stimulus to balance the budget. You know, a lot of -- a lot of people don't remember that or haven't really paid a lot of attention to what happened two years ago.
And also, Randi, I think what's interesting as well is in the last few months, we've seen an uptick in the Texas unemployment rate which is already just in the middle of the pack nationwide, it's at 8.4 percent. The national unemployment rate now is 9.1 percent.
Let's kind of -- where are we a year from now if those unemployment numbers nationally in Texas are a lot closer than they are right now? What does that to Rick Perry's campaign then? I imagine -- and you know, obviously, Democrats and President Obama would kind of be licking at the chops to see something like that happen, and that would -- you know, many people think that would kind of deflate Rick Perry's jobs theme that he has going so well for him right now.
KAYE: Yes, it certainly might. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. Nice to see you.
Checking some other developing stories that we're following along with you today, not the kind of news you want to hear, especially if you're this man, Russell Piers, the chief sponsor of Arizona's controversial immigration law.
The State Supreme Court has cleared the way for a recall vote on Pierce for the Republican president of the state Senate. Supporters trying to block the move on grounds that there were problems with petitions calling for the recall vote. The high court upheld the lower court ruling that threw out those arguments. The most contentious parts of the Arizona immigration law have been blocked by federal courts.
Casey Anthony's parents speaking out on the case that a lot of people just can't seem to get enough of. In an interview on the Dr. Phil program, George and Cindy Anthony said they still have questions about their granddaughter Caylee's death. At one point, Cindy Anthony said that Casey has a seizures and implied that may have been a factor in the changes she saw in her daughter around the time that Caylee was born.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY'S MOTHER: I don't know if she had a seizure that day and blacked out. I don't know what happened, and that's what I want to find out down the road. And I'm not making justifications for that, but there's a cause for this. You don't have -- just have a granular (ph) seizure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: George and Cindy's comments on the Dr. Phil program are their first since Casey Anthony was cleared on murder charges in the death of her daughter, that was back in July.
Good news for those of you who have been outraged over TSA's physical searches of children. Transportation Security Administration says new procedures should reduce, but not completely eliminate, the number of times that children are patted down.
Among the changes, if a metal detector or full body image indicates a suspicious object, kids will allow multiple passes through the machine to try to identify the anomaly.
Also, screeners will have the option of swabbing the child's hands to check for explosive residue as an alternative to a pat down. The new rules will be rolled out in the coming weeks and months.
Google's taking off into a whole new industry. What the powerhouse company thinks it can help you do better. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: Search giant, Google, is taking another step toward doing, well, just about everything. Today, it launched a new flight search service that's set to take on travel search players like Orbitz and Kayak.
Alison Kosik joins me now from the New York Stock Exchange.
Alison, what is the buzz on this new program and how is it really different than everything else out there?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And that's a good question, Randi. There is one big difference. Google actually lets you make what's known as an open-ended destination search.
So, let's say, you know, you're flying out of San Francisco and you want to just get out of town, you don't know exactly where, but you know the parameters, like you want to visit somewhere within three hours, for less $300. Well, now you can go ahead and do that with this Google search. It's great if you're lucky enough to have a flexible schedule. Google.com/flights, that's where you can find this.
It just rolled out yesterday, so it's still a bit limited. You know, you can only search round trips, domestic economy flights to certain cities. What you can't search right now is one way multiple cities, first class and some cities don't even pop up, but yours did. I did one of those open-ended destinations for next week, so I can fly to Atlanta next week and visit you, Randi, for $224.
KAYE: What a deal. What a deal, I think you should come visit.
KOSIK: Yes, I'm there.
KAYE: Let me ask you, though, what does it mean to other search engines? I mean, could they be put out of business even though this isn't exactly all the way there yet?
KOSIK: You know, if you look at the other rivals, they offer more complete searches, because their searches include hotels and cars. And you know what? It can be tough to compete with that sort of one-stop shop.
Also, it's a very, very crowded marketplace right now. There's Orbitz, Kayak, Expedia, Bing, Chipmunk, Site Step, Priceline, I can go on and on. But you have to remember as well, Google is one of those real giants in search and it does offer some different options, but it still could become, you know, quite a force to reckon with as it sort of grows. And now that it's introduced itself to the marketplace -- Randi.
KAYE: Yes. And speaking of the marketplace, and the markets, we've had a nice couple of days on Wall Street, how is today looking?
KOSIK: We're seeing the Dow especially move between losses and gains. Right now, though, the Dow is higher, 95 points. That's close to a session high right now. Some retailers are rallying, even through government report on August sales came out flat. Analysts say, you know what, what we're watching right now is a very fickle market, and get ready, it's probably going to stay that way because we've got those worries about Europe hanging around. No clear direction on how things are going to be resolved in Europe.
There is some hope for Greece this morning. There's talk of a common Eurobond but of course it's meeting opposition from stronger countries. You know, after some so many bailouts already, it's going to be real tough to really push that financial help through, especially with Germany fighting against it -- Randi.
KAYE: All right. Alison Kosik, nice to see you and I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta when you book that flight.
KOSIK: You got it.
KAYE: Coming up, the man accused of killing Michael Jackson is about to get his day in court. We'll take a look at the king of pop's former doctor, straight after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Jury selection in the Conrad Murray trial is underway in Los Angeles. Dr. Murray faces charges of manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson. He's accused of giving Jackson the drug that killed him. It is possible all of Michael Jackson's doctors will actually be called to the stand. So with opening statements set for the 27th, we thought that we'd take a look back at the moments since the death of the King of Pop.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): The desperate 911 call comes from inside Michael Jackson's rented Beverly Hills mansion. It is just before 12:30 p.m., June 25, 2009.
CALLER: He's pumping his chest, but he's not responding to anything, sir.
KAYE: The king of pop's heart had stopped. He is unconscious. His personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who can be heard in the background on the call made by Jackson's security guard, is attempting CPR.
911 DISPATCHER: Did anybody witness what happened?
911 CALLER: No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor's been the only one here.
911 DISPATCHER: OK, so did the doctor see what happened?
911 CALLER: Doctor, did you see what happened, sir?
DR. CONRAD MURRAY, MICHAEL JACKSON'S DOCTOR: Yes, but they need to come.
911 CALLER: Sir, you just -- if you can please --
911 DISPATCHER: We're on our way.
KAYE: As the emergency unfolds, news spreads.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": We're getting some breaking news coming into "The Situation Room" right now from -- about Michael Jackson, the king of pop.
KAYE: His family is at his hospital bedside.
JEROME JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: My brother, the legendary king of pop, Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25th, 2009, at 2:26 p.m.
KAYE: Sorrow, shock and so many unanswered questions. Immediately, the investigation begins to focus on Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist hired to care for the pop star as he prepared for the upcoming concert tour.
June 26th, the day after Jackson died, police announced they impounded Dr. Murray's car from the singer's mansion, in search of prescription medication that could be, quote, pertinent to the investigation.
Days later, on June 30th, a registered nurse tells CNN Jackson had insomnia and had asked her for Diprivan, a very powerful sedative, also known as Propofol.
CHERILYN LEE, NURSE: And I said, Michael, if you take that medicine, you might not wake up.
KAYE: Propofol is usually administered through an IV drip and produces such a comatose state it is not supposed to be used outside a hospital setting.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Propofol is a medication he uses all the time. So is this it right over here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GUPTA: It looks like -- milk of amnesia, they call it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Milk of amnesia.
GUPTA: By July 1st, Jackson's death is a full-blown drug investigation involving the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Here in Los Angeles, the investigation into Michael Jackson's death has taken a dramatic turn. There are reports that police found Diprivan, a powerful anesthetic, in Michael Jackson's house.
KAYE: Weeks later, July 22nd, in a surprise raid, federal agents searched Dr. Murray's Houston clinic. Investigators are authorized to seize evidence related to the offense of manslaughter. They take a computer hard drive, documents and rolodex cards.
Five days later, July 27th, a major bombshell. A source tells CNN, Dr. Murray gave Michael Jackson Propofol, also called Diprivan, within 24 hours of his death.
DR. DREW PINSKY, TALK SHOW HOST: For a patient to be administered Diprivan in their home or in the outside world, to me, is outrageous.
KAYE: On July 30th, search warrants for Murray's home are made public.
(on camera): There's a lot of surprising information in here, Anderson. The search warrant says that they were looking for evidence, quote, "demonstrating crimes of excessive prescribing and prescribing to an addict." Also evidence of manslaughter.
KAYE (voice-over): On August 18th, Dr. Murray makes his first public comments. He releases this video online.
MURRAY: I have done all I could do. I told the truth and I have faith the truth will prevail.
KAYE: August 24th, the L.A. county coroner concludes that Jackson died of an overdose of Propofol.
(on camera): The key thing, though, that we have learned tonight is that lethal levels of Propofol killed Michael Jackson. A coroner's preliminary report is telling us so. Dr. Murray thought that Michael Jackson was addicted to the drug. He was apparently trying to wean him off it.
(voice-over): According to an affidavit, Dr. Murray told detectives he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for weeks. Murray says he tried other drugs, but the pop star demanded Propofol to help him sleep.
So at 10:40 a.m., the day he died, he gave him 25 milligrams of it. 911 was called almost two hours later.
COOPER: And what about Murray's actions the day Jackson collapsed? Have you learned anything more about where he was actually when the singer stopped breathing?
KAYE (on camera): He said he finally went to asleep, according to this affidavit. He watched him for about 10 minutes. And then he left the room to use the bathroom. He said he was gone for about two minutes maximum, according to the documents. And when he came back, Michael Jackson wasn't breathing.
(voice-over): On February 8, 2010, Dr. Conrad Murray is officially charged with involuntary manslaughter. He surrenders to authorities, pleads not guilty and is released on $75,000 bail.
ED CHERNOFF, CONRAD MURRAY'S LAWYER: Dr. Murray did not cause the death of Michael Jackson. There's no way that Dr. Murray would pump Michael Jackson full of Propofol, sufficient for major surgery, and walk out that room.
KAYE: Dr. Murray could get up to four years in prison for the death of the king of pop.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: More than 400 potential jurors have been going through the selection process. They're familiar with the Conrad Murray case, so they actually won't be sequestered. Opening statements are set for the 27th of September and the trial is expected to last about a month. I will be in L.A. covering the trial for CNN. So, of course, be sure to tune in.
All right, look around you. How many people do you think live in poverty? One in 12, 10, six, or maybe even one in three. The surprising answer coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: If you were to walk down the street right now, I want you to look at this. About one out of every six people that you pass could be living in poverty. Many of them are children. That is the brutal reality according to the latest numbers released by the Census Bureau. Just think about it, yet we rarely talk about the issue, right? That brings me to today's "Under Covered." A new segment that we're doing devoted to news this we should be covering a whole lot more.
Now, here is what the numbers tell us. There you go. Last year, the nation's poverty rate was more than 15 percent. That's nearly 1 percent higher than in 2009. That may not seem like a big increase, until you actually consider this. More than 46 million people lived in poverty last year. That is the highest number in 52 years.
We're talking about more and more of your family members, your friends, your co-workers just struggling to survive. Now, what's the most heartbreaking is how this has actually devastated the children. Watch this. About one in every five children under 18 live in poverty. OK. There you go. The poverty rate for them is 22 percent. I want to point out, that's higher than the nation's overall rate. And the rate for African-American children is nearly 40 percent, 39.2 percent. And for Hispanic children, more than one-third live in poverty.
And we are just scratching the surface here. To talk much more about this, Tavis Smiley, the editor of the e-book, "To Important To Fail: Saving America's Boys." Tavis joins us now from New York.
Hi, Tavis. You and Cornell West (ph) launched this poverty tour last month. A road trip that's really a reminder to us of the growing issue of poverty here at home. What's most striking to you about these latest numbers that we just looked at?
TAVIS SMILEY, AUTHOR, "TO IMPORTANT TO FAIL" (ph): First of all, Randi, thank you for doing this statement. And you started by making a very poignant statement, that these are subject matter that we ought to be talking about in this country and we're not often enough. Too often those us in the media, political media, are content to cover the horse race in Washington, but not ever to drill down on what really matters.
To answer your question, what troubles me about these numbers is that they keep growing. There's no signs that these numbers are going to go unabated or will go down in any significant way over the next couple of years. I just saw a report in the car on the way to the studio here in New York that suggested that African-American unemployment, which obviously links to poverty, isn't going to drop until the year 2013, maybe 2014. That's a long time to go with numbers increasing every month, every quarter. And so the striking part, to answer your question is, that these numbers keep growing and when are they going to be abated.
KAYE: Yes. And what would you say is happening to the middle class? When you look at these numbers, I mean I've heard some people describe it as society is almost taking the shape of an hour glass.
SMILEY: What's happening is that the new poor are the former middle class. I get so (INAUDIBLE) frankly sick and tired of politicians talking all the time about and to the middle class as if somehow the middle class is the same now as it was 10 or 12 years ago. Let's be clear about this. The new poor, as I said a moment ago, are the former middle class. Those numbers you just laid out make the case very clearly. More and more Americans of every race and color and creed and ethnicity are falling into the ranks of the poor every single day. So, at some point, politicians have got to stop being afraid to say the word "poor." To talk about poverty in this country. We can discuss everything else in Washington, but never get serious about a conversation about how we eradicate poverty in this country.
Well, here's the bottom line. If the middle class, whom politicians are -- think that their polls suggest are the folk they should be talking to, the folk they should be referencing, if the middle class continues to fall more and more into the ranks of the poor, at some point we've got to move behind trying to placate or talk about the middle class and really talk about what's happening in America, and that is poverty.
KAYE: And, Tavis, when you talk about the president's job plan, we know that it tackles extending unemployment benefits. And if you look at what the Census Bureau says, unemployment insurance helped keep 3.2 million people out of poverty in 2010. So, how significant, how important is this?
SMILEY: I think his jobs bill is important. I think he should have -- he should have gotten around to this a bit earlier, obviously and I don't think any American disagrees with that. They were late getting to this issue. Having said that, I'm glad he finally addressed the issue. The question now is, is he going to compromise? Will he capitulate? Will he cave when the Republicans start pushing back on this plan as they surely will.
They don't like anything the President proposes. So, the question is, will he have the courage, conviction, and commitment to stand by the speech, to stand by the proposals that he's laid out. But it's important, now having said that, I don't think, personally, with all due respect to the President and -- and the plan that it's big enough. I don't think the plan, the scale of the plan, fits to the size of the problem and that's the real issue for me. We've got to get serious about this and I'm glad that we're starting somewhere even though it's a little bit late.
But, I wish the plan, personally, were bigger, particularly when you consider that the -- the -- the deficit reduction plan passed this summer, that that plan didn't have any new taxes on the rich or the lucky, didn't close a single corporate loophole, didn't raise a single -- didn't extend unemployment benefits in any way which this new plan, thankfully, does call for. But the question is will the President and those who support this plan stick by it or will they get pushed against the wall again by Republicans?
KAYE: And so just very quickly here, you may not have the answer, but how do we get beyond these numbers? How do we pull this country out of poverty?
SMILEY: By making jobs a priority. By making eradicating poverty a priority. It's a very -- it's not a difficult question to answer Randi, I can do it quickly. This country can do anything it wants to do when it makes the issue a priority. We bailed out Wall Street. We bailed out the auto industry. We've won wars. Anything this country commits itself to doing it can do. This is not a skill problem, it's a will problem. Do we have the will to eradicate poverty in this country as more Americans of all races fall into the ranks of the poor, especially those precious babies.
KAYE: Tavis Smiley, such an important topic to give it some attention. We're glad that we had you on the show today to be able to do so. We'll continue to follow it and we hope to have you on again to continue to do so with us.
SMILEY: Randi, thanks for talking about. Good to be on with you.
KAYE: Thank you. Coming up, the man accused of strapping a fake bomb on an 18-year-old girl has a court date today. I'll tell you what you've missed right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Thirty-three minutes past the hour. Let's check on the top headlines and some other news that you may have missed today. President Obama back on the road right now pushing his jobs bill, taking his case to the key battleground state of North Carolina. The President is in the Raleigh-Durham area where he toured a manufacturing facility and then headed to North Carolina State University to deliver his third speech in as many days. The President, once again, told Congress that they should have no problems passing the bill.
(VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything in this proposal, everything in this legislation, everything in the American Jobs Act is the kind of proposal that in the past, at least, has been supported by Democrats and Republicans. Everything in it will be paid for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: A new CNN/ORC International Poll shows more Americans trust the President on economic matters than they trust Republicans in Congress. Republican Bob Turner has won a special election in New York's heavily Democratic Ninth Congressional District. He won the seat of Anthony Weiner, the disgraced lawmaker whose sexting scandal went public. Turner beat a Democratic candidate who is an Orthodox Jew in a district that is 25% Jewish. He framed the race on what he called President Obama's insufficient support of Israel. The Republican was endorsed by former Democratic New York Mayor, Ed Koch, who was an Obama supporter back in 2008.
Freedom for two Americans held by Iran is in doubt today. Yesterday, a lawyer for Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer said bail had been set and the men had been released once a million dollars was paid but today an Iranian news agency reports a judge is only considering bail. Fattal and Bauer say they accidentally strayed into Iran while hiking in Iraq two years ago. Iran convicted them of spying.
In Kentucky, a man accused of strapping a fake bomb to an Australian girl in an attempt to extort money from her family is set to appear at an extradition hearing today. Prosecutors say he's decided not to fight it. Police say the suspect, Paul Douglas Peters, broke into the home of an 18-year-old girl in Australia, attached the fake bomb around her neck and left a note demanding money. The victim, Madeline Pulver, spent 10 hours in her bedroom as authorities tested the device to make sure that it would not explode.
Peters was arrested in Kentucky last month. His attorney says he will contest the charges.
What's expected to be the world's largest airport is now under construction just southwest of Beijing, China. The airport will be the size of Bermuda, occupying a total of 21 square miles with nine runways. Construction on the airport is due to be completed in the year 2015. China plans to build 55 airports over the next five years due to its fast-growing air travel demands.
Two Congressional seats up for grabs in a special election and Republicans take them both. Are Democrats sending a message to Washington? It is all fair game and it's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: The GOP wins two Congressional seats in a special election. Republican Bob Turner beat out Democrat David Weprin for Representative Anthony Weiner's seat in New York, a seat long held by Democrats. The Republicans also took out the Democrats in Nevada. Mark Amodei won over Kate Marshall to fill the seat left open by Republican Congressman John Ensign.
Is this win for Republicans a message to Washington? A lot of people asking that question. So, here to weigh in is Republican National Committee Communications Director Sean Spicer and Democratic Strategist Kiki McLean.
Sean, I'm going to start with you. Is the GOP, do you think, sending a message here and remember it is all fair game?
SEAN SPICER, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I think there's two sides to this. Yes, we're sending a message that -- that our message is resonating. The work of the House Republicans is getting through to folks. But, equally as important, I think, President Obama's policies in a district like New York 9, that was -- that should have been overwhelmingly Democrat hasn't been in the hands of Republicans since 1923. When those kind of districts are in play, that does not spell good news for the Democrats or President Obama.
KAYE: Kiki, what's your response there?
KIKI MCLEAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, you know, everybody loves to get the little fix of a special election between the big ones, right? And I think we know what they are. They kind of match up where endorsements match up which is a great conversation for that day but not a lot of long-term impact. I think everybody knows that New York 9 was a special that came in around some unique circumstances that probably don't have a lot to do with what's going on in national politics.
Nevada's a seat that they've had forever. Nothing new is going to happen there. So, I don't think there's a lot of long-term impact here. What I do think is interesting today and I'd love to hear the RNC talk about this, are the poll numbers that you guys have put out today, Randi, at CNN about the popularity of the President's jobs plan, about what people are looking for, about his own standing, if you look at other polling, the President's standing in those battleground states like North Carolina and Virginia where he continues to have strength.
These are tough times politically for both sides. There's no -- no two -- no two moments about that that aren't real but what is real here is that there are real solutions people are looking for. The President's put it out on the table and he's looking for those House Republicans that you just heard Sean talk about to really stand up and see what they're going to do for the American people.
KAYE: So, Sean, despite those polls, I mean, do you think there's a sign here that Republicans are gaining some momentum?
SPICER: Absolutely. I'd rather be us than them any day of the week right now. I mean, in terms of the RNC yesterday reported that we raked in $8.2 million in the month of August, the DNC fundraising, which, by all accounts should be blowing us away, hit $5.5 million. And, to Kiki's point, the President's poll numbers in New York City are at 37%. You can't get bluer than that. So, if you want to talk poll numbers, if you can't hold a district in New York City you can't start talking about places like Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia.
I -- I mean, they -- their -- their base is crumbling. This was a heavily Democratic district since 1923. The closest any Republican had come was 20 points. This was an -- a -- you know, and we ended up winning it by 8 points. So, I'd be glad to talk about poll numbers but I think that they've got to get back to hold -- to getting their base together before they start talking about going into swing states.
MCLEAN: I -- I think Sean, I just encourage you not to be too excited over one special election. I think Congress isn't doing great. I think the President has political challenges out there but I think what matters, to see where both come out, is what's going to happen with putting America back to work and the President has put a jobs plan out there and let's see if everybody will step up behind him and get behind this. It's an important job that (a) gives tax relief to middle income Americans. It gives a chance for people to get back to work and it really goes into fixing that infrastructure that our country needs. We've got to generate jobs, support small business --
SPICER: Right --
MCLEAN: -- be there for our middle income families --
SPICER: -- but Kiki the people last night went --
MCLEAN: --right now and right now what we're doing is we're actually looking at a plan that the President has put -- put a proposal together that pays for it and so that's, I think, what we're going to have to look for to see if it has real long-term impact.
SPICER: --OK, well I -- I mean, I --
KAYE: Sean, you've got five seconds.
SPICER: -- I -- I mean, I -- I think, you know, the -- the vote last night was a reflection of the President's jobs plan, the same, you know, results that yielded zero jobs last month. I think this was to some degree a referendum on the President's jobs plan.
KAYE: All right, we will leave it there even though that was more than five seconds, Sean. Sean Spicer, Kiki McLean, thank you both so much. Appreciate it.
MCLEAN: Thanks.
SPICER: Thank you.
KAYE: So, just how secure is the Afghan capital? New questions in the aftermath of the Taliban daring attack in Kabul. A live report with incredible pictures that you do not want to miss. We'll have them for you right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: His whereabouts remain unknown, but Moammar Gadhafi is speaking out again. A statement from the ousted Libyan leader was read on Syrian-based television today, and he lashed out at NATO attacks against loyalist troops in his hometown of Sirte.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MOAMMAR GADHAFI, FORMER LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): The terrorism and aggression of NATO in Sirte cannot be described and has no other similarity in the past or in the history of wars. If Sirte is isolated from the world and this atrocity is committed against it, it is the world's duty not to be isolated from it. Therefore, you should take international responsibility and interfere immediately to stop this crime.
Moammar Gadhafi, leader of the revolution.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KAYE: Sirte is one of at least three cities remaining in the hands of loyalist troops.
New hard questions this hour over just how secure the Afghan capital is. This after a daring, coordinated and deadly attack by the Taliban in the capital of Kabul. The battle lasted for actually nearly 20 hours after erupting yesterday.
The insurgents used the top floors of a high-rise building to fire rockets at the U.S. Embassy and the NATO headquarters. U.S. and other NATO and Afghan troops had to fight floor-to-floor to gain control of the building. When the firing finally stopped, the dead included four Afghan policemen and one civilian and six militants.
Suzanne Malveaux walked through that building shortly after that battle ended. The scenes you're about to see vividly shows just how intense that fighting was.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Six guys in a vehicle pulled up, five of them were wearing burqas to try to disguise themselves as women to bypass security. They took the burqas of, brandished their weapons, and then they all entered this building.
Six police officers guarded this building. You can see, this is where they stayed -- the television, the remote control. You also see the bedding here.
This is where the terrorist, on the second floor, first confronted the police. They shot one officer and then they threw him over the ledge.
This is the sixth floor, and when the terrorists got up here, you see they cut all of the power lines, the phones, the lights, to make sure it was dark, that they didn't have any communication with the outside world. Also, we're told one of them were injured here and tended to his wounds while waiting for help.
Here on the 12th floor is where the final showdown was, there's evidence of it everywhere. You've got these spent shell casings, you've got pieces from explosive grenades. And if you take a look around, there are hundreds and hundreds of holes on the wall here. Clearly, a fierce firefight that went on here for hours, well into the morning, to get the terrorists.
I'm told that this is where the last terrorist was killed. You can see the old scarf that's left behind, holes in it, an empty water bottle, an old show with blood stains. And on the wall, evidence of him being shot here, even splattered brain matter in the gravel.
Now I want to give you some perspective. We are in the building on the 12th floor on the east side. Here's what the terrorists saw. If you take a look, if you go beyond a half-mile, you see that orange embassy. That is the U.S. Embassy. If you go over to the left, the white building, that is the NATO compound. This, essentially, gave them a clear shot to continue firing throughout the evening.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from Kabul.
Suzanne, this battle lasted for hours, but the U.S. ambassador there seems to be downplaying the significance here.
MALVEAUX: He really did, Randi. He talked about it as being harassment and not necessarily an attack and that it could have been a lot worse. Quite frankly, Randi, that's his job, to promote the U.S. policy and the strategy as one as being successful.
What he's trying to do is convince folks that look, that the Afghans, the police, as well as the army, are going to be up to speed in time to justify that U.S. and NATO command troops are going to be coming home by the end of 2014. At least that is the intention and that is the strategy. That is why he's putting it out there.
Had a chance to talk to the governor of Kabul who essentially said the same thing. He was saying, yes, you know, they did a good job here. That's because he wants to promote the same idea, that they're up to speed, they're up to the task.
But I did talk to other officials, Afghan officials, and some folks on the ground, Afghans, who thought that this really was a chaotic disaster. That you did not have the kind of communication between the international forces as well as the local police and that the Afghan civilians were also put in danger because of this firefight -- Randi.
KAYE: Suzanne Malveaux in Kabul. Suzanne, thank you very much.
All right, so what is the one word that you use when you're wording a plane? Ugh? Yes, that's probably it. One of the worst part of flying is actually boarding. But my next guest has an interesting solution, it is our "Big I."
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: Let's do a little politics, shall we? It's time now to check in with our friend Paul Steinhauser who's in Washington at the Political Desk.
Paul, some new numbers for the president today.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You got it, Randi. This is a brand new CNN/ORC poll. We put it out over this morning and it was conducted over the weekend, you know, that was after the president gave his big speech to Congress and to the nation last Thursday night on his jobs proposals.
Check this out: Do you approve or disapprove about how he's conducting business, how he's handling his job as president? Forty- three percent say they approve, and that number is kind of consistent. It's been there. So he didn't get any big bounce out of the speech.
But look at the number on the bottom, 55 percent say they disapprove of the job he's doing. And for President Obama, that's his highest number disapproval in our polling.
Randi, go to the next number as well. Look at this: Is the president a strong and decisive leader? And you can see those numbers are starting to deteriorate, down to 48 percent now from 57 percent last May.
And finally, go to this poll, the final as well, I'll zoom right through these. Important on the economy, of course, tough numbers for the president but more people trust the president to handle the economy than they do members of the Republican Party and Congress.
So as tough as it is for the president right now, I guess the numbers are worse for Republicans, Randi.
KAYE: Yes, yes, I guess he'll pay attention to those.
All right, Paul Steinhauser in Washington. Thank you, Paul.
So one of the worst parts of flying has to be boarding the plane, right? The waiting, getting bumped by luggage and people on cell phones and did I mention the waiting? Yes.
Believe it or not, airlines want you to board faster, too. Not because they're so nice necessarily. Studies have shown that airlines can save up to $30 per flight for every minute cut from boarding time. Good news for everybody, right? Well, maybe.
My next guest has discovered a quicker way to get us all seated and get us all up in the air. He suggests loading 10 passengers at a time by alternating rows starting from the back of the plane to, well, eradicate all the traffic jams between the people loading their luggage and talking on their cell phones and stuff like that.
And get this, it took just three minutes and thirty-six seconds to load a 12-row plane using this method, two times faster than tests using the traditional method.
Joining me now for today's "Big I" from Jackson, Wyoming, a man you may all want to hug if his idea really works, astrophysicist Jason Steffen.
Jason, thank you so much for coming on the show. First, explain a little bit more how this idea of yours works.
JASON STEFFEN, ASTROPHYSICIST (via telephone): Well, the basic idea is that traditional methods tend to have a lot of passengers in the same part of the airplane. If you call five rows of passengers at once, you're going to have 30 passengers trying to get into five rows of seats. And so they'll end up standing in the aisle waiting around not being able to do anything while other people are putting luggage away.
And so the method that I proposed is kind of the anti-block where you try to get as many passengers into the aisle at the same time that can all put their luggage away at once. So if you had 20 rows in an airplane, you could send in 10 people at once, 10 people puts their luggage away at once, and it streamlines the boarding process.
KAYE: I know that your tests were done on a plane with 12 seats. Would this work on a bigger jet, do you think?
STEFFEN: Yes, I think it would most certainly work and probably be a slightly better improvement in the boarding time relative to boarding in blocks to have it on a bigger airplane.
KAYE: And why do you think airplanes aren't doing this already? The airlines are just, what, not ready to try it?
STEFFEN: Well, it 's probably not an easy thing to change boarding process because if you do save some time at the boarding gate, you still need to recuperate that time by adjusting your flight plan.
So it's not something you can change in a weekend. It would take some studies about where do we send an airplane once it has extra 20 minutes. Do we reroute it somewhere else and how do we readjust all of our flight schedules across the country?
So you can't implement it in a week, but that doesn't mean you couldn't implement it at all.
KAYE: All right, Jason Steffen, appreciate you coming on and really interesting discovery of yours. We'll see if it gets implemented by the airlines. Thank you.
And for much more about Jason's boarding method, you can check out my Facebook page, Facebook.com/RandiKayeCNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
