Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Obama to Propose Minimum Tax for Millionaires; Strauss-Kahn's "Moral Weakness"; Last Gasp of Gadhafi Regime; Death Row Inmate's Last Chance; Petit Family Murders; Sting Marking a Milestone; New Etiquette Signs in New York City
Aired September 18, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, the president's jobs plan. How is he paying taxes?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a lower tax rate than anybody in my office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Some very rich and very powerful guys are on his side. But Republicans?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's class warfare. Class warfare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Mr. Obama unveils the details on Monday.
Then, the maid and the money man. Finally, he's talking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN, FORMER INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND CHIEF (through translator): I'm afraid. I was very afraid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And tonight, the maid's response on CNN.
Then, under attack. A CNN crew caught in the crossfire. There's an extraordinary twist to this story.
Plus, falling from the sky. Two fatal air show crashes in one weekend. What caused the deaths of 10 people? Pilot error or mechanical failure? We investigate.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Don Lemon.
We begin with this tonight. President Obama has wanted tax increases to help the economy all along, but Republicans resisted. Now Mr. Obama is going back at it to help pay for his new jobs plan. And come Monday morning, you are going to be hearing all about it when he announces details of the so-called Buffett Rule, named after one of the richest men in the world, Warren Buffett.
It's a tax on millionaires to make sure they don't pay a smaller percentage than the nation's middle class. And as our chief political correspondent Candy Crowley reports, there's already an uproar in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The president's plan to pay for his jobs program includes the idea of a millionaire minimum tax rate at least as high as middle-class rates. The administration calls it the Buffett Rule for billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN BUFFETT, CHAIRMAN, BERKSHBIRE HATHAWAY: I have a lower tax rate, counting payroll taxes, than anybody in my office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: It's a catchy moniker designed to help sell an idea, a plan that is populist at its core, although Republicans call it something else entirely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: When you pick one area of the economy and say we're going to tax those people because most people are not those people, that's class warfare.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), BUDGET CHAIRMAN: Class warfare will simply divide this country more, will attack job creators, divide people and it doesn't grow the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Opposition to tax rates for the wealthy on a par with middle-class rates is tricky politics. It sounds completely sane and only fair certainly when put in the hands of a master politician.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you look at the group that has had the biggest income increases and the benefit of most of the tax cuts of the previous eight years before the Obama administration took office, those of us in that income group were in the best position to make a contribution to changing the debt structure of the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Republicans say they are all for tax fairness, but as part of a major overhaul of the tax system that closes loopholes and lowers rates for everyone. They have a friend in Democratic budgeteer Alice Rivlin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICE RIVLIN, ECONOMIST: I am fond of Warren Buffett. I think his basic observation that he pays too little taxes is right. But the way to fix the tax code is to fix the tax code, not to add another complication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: The GOP also insists there are plenty of places the rich can pony up, particularly when it comes to a Republican pet project -- Medicare and social security reform. Take a memo from Mr. Buffett.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: With regard to his tax rate, if he's feeling guilty about it, I think he should send in a check. But we don't want to stagnate this economy by raising taxes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Given the Republican house speaker's consistent opposition to tax hikes, the Buffett Rule looks like a no-go. Republicans suspect that's just what the president had in mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I wonder if John Boehner knows what it sounds like when he continues to say the position of the Republican Party in America is that you can't impose one more penny in taxes on the wealthiest people. I wonder if he understands how that sounds in Ohio to working families who are struggling paycheck to paycheck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: What looks DOA on Capitol Hill may have many lives on the campaign trail.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: What's behind the president's proposal to tax millionaires, and will it fly on Capitol Hill? Those are some of the questions I'll ask CNN contributor Errol Louis later on this hour.
The peace of a Sunday service shattered at a Lakeland, Florida, church. A gunman opens fire, hitting both the pastor and associate pastor. 57-year-old Jeremiah Fogle is in custody after the shooting at the Greater Faith Christian Church.
Police say parishioners tackled him and held him there until officers arrived. Fogle is also accused of killing his wife at their nearby home before going to the church. Affiliate Bay News 9 is reporting that associate pastor Carl Stewart is in critical condition, but Pastor William Boss -- his gunshot wound is not considered life threatening.
A racing boat's engine explodes on Mission Bay in San Diego today, causing a spectacular crash. Witnesses tell our affiliate KGTV the drag boat was going between 150 and 175 miles per hour when the engine blew up and broke apart. It happened during a qualifying heat for the drag boat race. The 50-year-old driver, Mark Porter, was hospitalized and he is in fair condition. He was in the boat's capsule section which was thrown 15 feet into the air. The capsule is designed to break away to protect the driver.
We're tracking new developments tonight in the investigation of that deadly plane crash Friday at the Reno, Nevada air race. And tonight for the first time, we're hearing from one of the people in the crowd who survived that deadly crash.
Well, it turns out the plane contained equipment that may help determine what caused the disaster, including a camera and data recorder. Several memory cards have also been recovered and all of the material will be sent to the NTSB lab in Washington for analysis.
Nine people, including the pilot, died when the World War II-era P-51 plunged into the grandstand. Almost 70 people were injured. One of them spoke to reporters today at the hospital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED LARSON, AIR RACE SPECTATOR: The thing crashes right behind me and I get -- all I remember because I'm trying to run is I see stuff coming. And then that's the last thing I remember. It just makes you appreciate to be alive. And that's the first thing I can say is that, you know, I got extremely lucky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And we should tell you that several pieces of the plane's tail have also been recovered. Photos taken before the crash appear to show a critical piece called the elevator trim tab was either damaged or missing.
Another plane crash is under investigation this weekend. This one in West Virginia. It happened at an air show in Martinsburg. A pilot of the T-28 had just completed an aerobatic demonstration on Saturday when the plane dive toward the ground. Investigators are talking to witnesses now.
In his first interview since charges of sexual assault were dropped, Dominique Strauss-Kahn says the only thing he's guilty of is moral weakness. The former head of the International Monetary Fund broke his silence to French television, a station there today, saying his relationship with a New York hotel maid was, quote, "an error, a mistake." But he denies any sexual assault took place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMINIQUES STRAUSS-KAHN, FORMER INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND CHIEF (through translator): What happened -- what happened was neither violence nor constraint included in this, nor aggression, nor any act, any illicit act. That is what the prosecutor has said. What happened was not only an inappropriate relationship. More than that, an error. A mistake. A mistake concerning my wife, my children, my friends, but also a mistake. The French people had placed their hope for change in me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Strauss-Kahn said he doesn't intend to negotiate any kind of settlement with his accuser who has now filed a civil lawsuit against him.
Earlier, I spoke with the accuser's attorney, Douglas Wigdor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGLAS WIGDOR, ATTORNEY FOR STRAUSS-KAHN ACCUSER: We look forward to asking him the questions and hearing the answers he had given in the interview today. We were waiting for an explanation of what happened on the day in question on May 14th. We didn't hear anything about it. And so, Mr. Strauss-Kahn is going to come to our office. He's going to see Mr. Thompson and myself, and we look forward to asking him questions under oath, and hearing his responses.
LEMON: Strauss-Kahn denies any sexual assault took place against your client, saying only that he has a -- or had a moral weakness. What's your reaction to that?
WIGDOR: Well, I think that's just the tip of the iceberg. A moral weakness. He sexually assaulted Miss Diallo. That is a fact. The medical records corroborate that fact. Miss Diallo has been consistent in her story from day one.
And the fact is that he was interviewed by someone who was a friend of his wife. Miss Diallo, on the other hand, was interviewed by a team of investigative reporters and a reputable journalist. And she answered all the questions that were put to her about the day in question. Mr. Strauss-Kahn didn't answer any questions about what happened.
LEMON: Well, he said today that there was neither material proof nor any credible evidence of an assault, that an assault took place in the New York hotel room. Is he right? And how do you plan to win a civil case against him?
WIGDOR: Well, that's just wrong. The medical records themselves show that Miss Diallo had bruising to her vaginal area. It shows that she had a rip to her shoulder. Her stockings were ripped. She immediately outcried to a number of witnesses who will corroborate the story that she's been giving from day one.
And her story is -- as the American people and the world saw, it's extremely credible. We have still not heard what Mr. Strauss-Kahn has said happened in that room. How did he -- what did he do in the nine minutes that this occurred? We're waiting for that. We had hoped that this would happen today but it didn't. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, a judge has given Strauss-Kahn's attorneys until September 26th to respond to Diallo's complaint.
A firefight in Libya, and you're right in the middle of it along with a CNN crew. The graphic video is just two minutes ahead.
And later, a family tortured and murdered. One of the killers already sentenced to death. Monday morning, the trial of the second suspect begins.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I want to warn you that what you are about to see is graphic but it illustrates the reality of war.
In Libya, loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi are putting up a fierce fight to cling to the final strongholds of a now defunct regime. One of those strongholds -- the desert town of Sirte, where NTC fighters are encountering bold resistance. It was there that a CNN crew was caught in the crosshairs of RPG fire and it was all caught on video in this report from CNN's Phil Black. Again, a warning, the video you are about to see is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Revolutionary fighters advancing through Sirte. The commander sees movement in the distance. He calls for one gunman to fire. The rest of the unit joins in, shooting wildly. They come under fire. An ambulance is hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. They and we are caught in the open.
(SOUNDS OF GUNFIRE)
BLACK (on camera): It started by seemingly taking a pot shot at something off in the distance. A lot of the fighters opened up and then there was some big return fire.
CNN producer Ian Lee was hit.
IAN LEE, CNN PRODUCER: I've been shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're all right, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down, down, down. Get him down. That's good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down. Go to the right side of everything. Go, go, go. That's it. Good. Stay on the right. Stay on the right.
BLACK (voice over): We stop to check Ian's injury. It looks like there's still a piece of shrapnel inside.
(on camera): You can feel it? LEE: Yes, I could feel it when he was moving around, I could feel it inside.
BLACK (voice over): At a nearby field hospital, medics help Ian while dealing with their own grief.
(on camera): A colleague of these men was killed in the same attack just meters away from where the RPG, we think, hit the ambulance that was near us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our colleague. He's paramedic and his ambulance driver.
BLACK: What was his name?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Khalid Sivati (ph).
BLACK: And how old was he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was about 27, 28.
BLACK: Tell me about him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today morning at 9:00 a.m., he wake up me in my bed at the hospital. He told me he was going to the front line. We are joking. The ambulance -- we are coming here. He was very happy. Suddenly, he came to us, He has died.
BLACK (voice over): This medic was there, too. He saw his friend die. But he must keep working. Casualties keep coming. On this day alone, more than 20 revolutionary fighters are killed in the chaotic battle for Sirte.
Phil Black, CNN, Sirte, Libya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Also overseas in Iran, it's going to be at least a few more days before two American hikers are freed from prison. An attorney for Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer says a judge who must sign a paperwork to free the two is on vacation until Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a delegation of American Muslim and Christian leaders asked Iran's president to release the hikers. President Ahmadinejad said recently the pair would be released in a couple of days. The two Americans had been held for more than two years on spying charges after being arrested while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border.
In less than 24 hours, a five-person panel decides whether a Georgia death row inmate will be executed on Wednesday or granted clemency. A look ahead at tomorrow's hearing, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Troy Davis knows the exact moment that he is supposed to die. And it's getting closer by the minute now unless a Georgia State parole board takes action. On Monday morning, the five-member panel will hear Davis' request for clemency. He's scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday for the 1989 fatal shooting of Savannah officer Mark MacPhail.
Now the execution has already been postponed three times to reconsider evidence. Well, Davis maintains his innocence and seven of nine witnesses in his case later recanted their testimony. Now, well, he's the focus of a large-scale international campaign to save his life. So CNN's David Mattingly is following this story. He's going to be at that clemency hearing tomorrow.
David, tell us about the people who will be deciding Davis' fate.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The State of Georgia puts all the authority in clemency cases with this five-member board. And these five people literally have the power of life and death in this case as they do in all death row cases. They'll be looking at the evidence that's been piled up in this case.
But this isn't the first time it's come across this board. They denied him clemency once before in 2008. They also delayed his execution once before. They are very familiar with this case. There's going to be very little new that's going to be coming before them.
And people are wondering now, there are three new members on this board that were not part of that board in 2008. People are wondering now, will all this groundswell of public support somehow have an effect on this board? Will these three members be the three votes they need to make sure that Troy Davis maybe this time gets clemency and gets off of death row?
LEMON: Am I correct that every person on this board, conservative, was put there -- appointed by conservative governors, right?
MATTINGLY: That's right. They all have. And a lot of attention is being focused on the three new members, but they do all come from law enforcement backgrounds or justice backgrounds. One is the former head of the state corrections department. One is the former head of the juvenile justice department. One is a state legislator who was very close to the Department of Corrections and all the legislation that affected them.
LEMON: That person -- that was James, earlier. And then this one is Albert Murray as well. And you said appointed by Republican Governor Sonny Perdue as well.
Who is the next person? Let's --
There you go. So we'll keep going. And this one, same thing. So you get -- you get the picture.
The question is, in the past, when they have had to deal with these -- with similar situations, how would they -- what has been the outcome?
MATTINGLY: In more than the last 30 years, they've looked at 63 death row cases, and that's their job. They look at this to decide if the person should go on with their execution. They've looked at 63 of these people scheduled to be executed. And 54 cases they've denied clemency, including one already for Troy Davis.
But something really important to look at here. Of all the cases that they've denied clemency in, every time they've gone back to look at it again, they have not changed their mind. So, this is an extraordinary case. And if they go back on that previous decision, one more extraordinary thing about it.
LEMON: All right. David Mattingly, thank you very much.
David will be there tomorrow, on Monday. Thank you very much.
Make sure you stay tuned for that.
President Obama set to unveil a plan to raise taxes on the very wealthy. And no surprise -- Republicans aren't happy about it. Can the president get what he wants this time from a defiant opposition?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It's being called the Buffett Rule and it's already taking political hits. It's a new tax on millionaires designed to make sure the wealthy pay the same percentage in taxes as the middle class. As you can imagine, it's already stirring debate, but it won't be unveiled until Monday morning when President Obama reveals his debt reduction plan.
So let's bring in now Errol Louis, CNN contributor and political anchor for New York One.
OK. Debate is already stirring in Washington, Errol. Everyone is worked up about this millionaires tax. But what are the odds that it ever becomes law?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think the odds are pretty good that it will be debated. The reality is, as a legislative matter, the president already knows that the opposition, the Republicans in Congress, have said that they're not going to even consider it. So it will be tough to see how he even gets it passed if the House won't introduce it or won't seriously debate it.
On the other hand, the president has a great issue now to take up on the campaign trail and to ask for people to write in and to call their members of Congress and so forth. And the polls suggest that between 65 percent and 80 percent of the public wants to see a closing of tax loopholes and more taxes on the very wealthy.
So he's going to side with the public. Whether or not that gets the public to put enough pressure on Congress for them to act remains to be seen.
LEMON: This -- does this -- this sounds like the deficit -- the debt ceiling talk all over again. That debate all over again. LOUIS: This is actually a little bit harder for the president, to tell you the truth, because everybody understands income. The deficit is a real abstraction.
But everybody on this -- not only do people understand income and taxes. In the back of almost everyone's head, I don't know about you, Don, but I plan to be one of the wealthiest Americans some day and I think most people feel that way.
And there's this kind of identification with the very wealthy because most people think that if they buy the right lotto ticket or they work a little harder or they get a couple of lucky breaks, they're going to be there, too.
So, I think the president is going to find it hard to take that soft poll number where most people say, yes, we ought to tax the rich more and turn it into a really heartfelt opposition to letting the wealthy go on paying the rate that they pay.
LEMON: I think everyone would like to make more than a million dollars a year but the odds of that happening is probably the same odds for most people as winning the lottery. So, I mean, that's kind of a pipe dream.
LOUIS: And yet, they'll all be lined up when you are trying to, you know, buy some gum tomorrow. Everybody will be lined up buying lotto tickets, right?
LEMON: OK. Yes. Is there some political strategy at work here that most of us may not be aware of?
LOUIS: Well, absolutely. Look, the reality is he's playing deficit politics. And that plays very, very well with independents. They tend to be fiscally conservative. While we're talking about income, the rest of the package includes some big-ticket items. It includes a trillion dollars that he thinks he can shave off of the deficit. A trillion dollars just from winding down the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq.
That's going to have -- that's going to find a lot of support from his progressive and leftist base. It will probably play well with independents as well. They want to see the government spends less. So, is he playing politics? Absolutely, he is.
LEMON: Absolutely. And look for more politics tomorrow after he announces it.
LOUIS: Yes, indeed.
LEMON: Errol Louis, thank you very much.
Coming up here on CNN, a murder trial begins Monday for the second person charged in a case that horrified the nation. It all started as a home invasion in Connecticut.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Want to check your headlines right now. Parishioners had to spring into action today when a gunman opened fire inside a Lakeland, Florida, church. Police say Jeremiah Fogel wounded the pastor and associate pastor before others inside the church tackled and held him until officers arrived.
Fogel is also accused of killing his wife at their nearby home before going to the church. Affiliate Bay News 9 is reporting that Associate Pastor Karl Stewart is in critical condition. And Pastor William Boss' gunshot wound is not considered life threatening.
The TSA says it has fired 28 employees at Hawaii's Honolulu International Airport. The move comes after a probe reveals several screeners weren't properly checking bags before putting them on planes. In addition to the firings, the TSA also suspended 15 people. It is believed to be one of the biggest firings in the agency's history.
Two American hikers will have to remain in prison in Iran until Tuesday at least. An attorney for Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer says a judge who must sign the paperwork to free the two is on vacation until then. The two Americans have been held for more than two years on spying charges after being arrested while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border.
In his first interview since charges of sexual assault were dropped, Dominique Strauss-Kahn says the only thing he's guilty of is moral weakness. Former head of the International Monetary Fund told a French television station today that his relationship with a New York hotel made was a, quote, "error, a mistake," but he denies any sexual assault took place.
It was one of the most graphic murder trials in recent years. Three members of a Connecticut family, the Petits, brutally murdered in their home back in 2007. One of the suspects in the case, Jonathan Komisarjevsky goes on trial on Monday. His alleged accomplice Steven Hayes was convicted and sentenced to death last year.
CNN's Susan Candiotti spoke to three of the jurors in the Steven Hayes trial. They say that they are still haunted by the images they saw in the courtroom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are three jurors who shared an experience that at times triggers haunting memories to this day.
MAICO CARDONA, JUROR IN TRIAL OF STEPHEN HAYES: It's like a bad dream you can't wake up from and you can't control.
CANDIOTTI: Serving on a jury who saw and heard painfully explicit evidence that Steven Hayes helped carry out the murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, her 17-year-old daughter Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela. Murders described as pure evil. PAULA CALZETTA, JUROR IN TRIAL OF STEPHEN HAYES: You are capturing all of what's said and processing it. And a lot of that was painful stuff.
DIANE KEIM, JUROR IN TRIAL OF STEPHEN HAYES: Especially now with seeing the new trial coming up, and I see flashes of Josh on the television. That's when some of the bad feelings do come up.
CANDIOTTI: Feelings from powerful testimony that Mrs. Hawke-Petit was forced to withdraw money from a bank, take it home, raped and strangled. Her daughters, Hayley and Michaela were tied to their beds and set afire. Young Michaela was sexually assaulted. Mr. Petit was severely beaten but escaped. Some images are inescapable.
CALZETTA: When I look at fire now it almost always comes to mind.
CANDIOTTI: What was the experience like for you?
CARDONA: I can imagine Michaela was the same way as my daughter was. You know, Happy. They had a good family. They did things together, and just to imagine the terror she was going through at that time and what she was thinking about. So that's -- I try not to think about it just because, like right now, I'm getting upset just thinking about it.
CANDIOTTI: Stephen Hayes was sentenced to death in December. Now a second jury will have to face alleged mastermind Joshua Komisarjevsky who has pleaded not guilty.
As in the first trial, a new panel also is likely to hear Komisarjevsky's jailhouse writings describing the murders in chilling detail. "I was looking right at my personal demon, reflected back in their eyes," he wrote. Hayley is a fighter. She tried time and again to free herself. Komisarjevsky wrote of the youngest victim, I tasted her fear.
What goes through your mind as you hear those words?
CARDONA: He knew exactly what he was doing. And he liked it. And he wanted to have control over another person since he didn't have control over any other part of his life. And that makes him a coward.
KEIM: How he just got high off of tasting that fear and how angry I am.
CALZETTA: I think it was a perfect storm of evil.
CANDIOTTI: What would your advice be to jurors?
CARDONA: You can't talk to anybody else. You can't talk to your family about it. You can't talk to anybody. You have to find a way to kind of release that bad energy that's there.
KEIM: You have to nurture yourself. You have to nurture your spirit in order for you to handle something like this.
CALZETTA: Take care of yourself and listen to your body. Because it does stay -- what you are about to see and hear, it stays with you.
CANDIOTTI (on-camera): Even though it may re-open old wounds, some former jurors plan to attend at least parts of Komisarjevsky's trial. One more chance to come to grips with one family's tragedy they can't forget.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New Haven, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Susan.
Next, a look at the big stories to keep an eye on this week.
And a controversial ending to last night's big fight. We'll show it to you up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Now to the big stories in the week ahead from Washington to Wall Street. Our correspondents tell you what you need to know.
We begin with what's ahead for President Obama.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House. Another busy week for President Obama on the domestic and foreign policy front. On Monday, the president will offer his long-awaited deficit reduction recommendations to the Super Committee. The Congressional Super Committee.
The White House saying those recommendations will not include any changes to social security. Monday evening, the president will head to New York City for the U.N. General Assembly. He will, over the next couple of days, have an address that will focus on not only Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The president will also hold a series of bilateral meetings.
And on Thursday, he heads back to Ohio for the second time in two weeks where he will again be pushing his jobs bill.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill. A few of the highlights coming up.
Early next week, members of Congress will get their first look at the president's deficit reduction plan. His suggestions for the so-called Super Committee trying to find more than a trillion dollars in deficit savings.
Also next week, the House and Senate need to reach an agreement on a short-term spending bill to keep the government funded and avoid another government shutdown which they faced several months ago.
We could also see next week some movement on three pending trade deals that both Democrats and Republicans have said they support and say will boost the economy. POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Well, Wall Street gears up for news from the fed this week. The central bankers meet on Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll get their latest policy decision on Wednesday afternoon.
Also ahead, the latest home building and home sales numbers. We'll see if there's any improve there. And also earnings from major corporations, including Oracle, Nike and FedEx. We'll track it all for you all week up on CNN Money.
A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" HOST: I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer. Here's what we are watching this week. We're going to have the very first reaction, of course, from tonight's primetime Emmy Awards. All the big surprises, all the big controversies, of course.
And on Friday, it's a showbiz special report. The biggest reality TV secrets uncovered. Be sure to catch "Showbiz Tonight," exclusively weeknights at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.
LEMON: All right, now for a look at tomorrow's commute tonight, our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras here with all the details.
Hey, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Don. Kind of a rough weekend for a lot of travelers, you know. Today, in the nation's midsection, they saw the worst of the weather and the travel woes. In fact, we still have delays at Chicago O'Hare today.
We do watch this weather system move to the east. We're going to be tracking the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes here for the showers and thundershowers and any possible delays.
So tomorrow's commute tonight. Seattle, looking for patchy morning fog. Things should be fine by the afternoon. Give yourself a little extra time to get where you need to be. Nashville, looking for the low clouds and mist in the morning. Showers and thunderstorms throughout much of the day. So airport delays as well as rough on the roads.
For Cincinnati, showers and thunderstorms. That will be the rule here. It will be kind of on and off throughout the day. Number two, Chicago you had it all day today. Unfortunately, you'll see it through the morning tomorrow. But say by noon, 1:00, things will look a little better for you. And then as we head to our number one city, it's actually a tie today. Detroit and Cleveland.
You get up in the great lakes. You're going to see a lot of rain and a lot of wind. So plan ahead. Get up a little early if you can. And if you have flights into these cities, it will be worse than if you are trying to get out of those cities.
And our last weather headline is that cold front. Another one. If you like the taste of fall this weekend, we've got another front that's going to be sweeping that through the week through the east. So we'll see another shot of 10 to 20 degrees below average, Don. I know. Don doesn't want to hear it.
LEMON: I don't want to hear the cold weather.
JERAS: Just letting you know it's coming.
LEMON: I just want summer to last forever.
JERAS: Sweaters out and socks.
LEMON: Oh, geez. Thank you, Jacqui. Appreciate it.
JERAS: Sure.
LEMON: Let's talk some fighting now. Did you see the fight last night? Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the new WBC Welterweight Champion. But boxing fans are going to argue for years to come over the way he got the belt. Mayweather took on defending champ Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas on Saturday night. And in the fourth round, the referee took a point away for Ortiz for head butting, right?
So Ortiz appeared to be leaning in to apologize to Mayweather. But Mayweather clocked him hard and sent him right to the canvas. Ortiz couldn't get up before the referee's ten count and it was all over. Ortiz says he was blindsided and blames miscommunication with the ref. Mayweather never one for modesty later said, quote, "You have to protect yourself at all times."
All right. Well, Sting turns 60. And celebrates a quarter century as a solo artist. A one-on-one with the music legend is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: He's part of rock music royalty. And now Sting is marking a milestone. A quarter century of being in the business solo.
(VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STING, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Roxanne, you don't have to put out the red light.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: To recognize the event, Sting will release a boxed set of his 25 years as a single artist which includes this never before released video of his "Broken" music tour in 2005.
That's just the beginning of the celebrations which also coincides with another milestone, his 60th birthday.
CNN's Shanon Cook got the details of his big bash and much more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHANON COOK, CNN CORRESPODENT: You have a big birthday coming up in a couple of weeks. What does 60 mean to you?
STING: I don't feel 60. I feel like I'm 40-1/2 in many respect. At the same time, I think I've always had an old head on me. I've almost -- I've been pretty sat-- you know, serious beyond my years. So I'm kind of used to it.
At the same time, on the other hand, I feel very young. So I think there's a balance.
COOK: In the book that accompanies the boxed set you write "Have I lived up to my father's praise in these 25 years? Have I used my hands well?"
Explain that.
STING: When my dad was dying, I went to see him, obviously, and I realized that he had the same hands. Exactly the same hands. I inherited his hands. And I mentioned this. He said yes, son, but you used your hands better than I did. You know, my dad was a milkman and I was a musician. And I realized that was the first compliment he had ever paid me. And so his timing was kind of devastating.
COOK: How do you plan to celebrate this milestone?
STING: I'm being very indiscrete about my 60th birthday. I've invited some of my closest musical colleagues to come and celebrate with me at The Beacon Theater in New York City. And the only stipulation is that they come and sing my songs because it's my party. So Stevie Wonder is coming. Bruce Springsteen is coming. Will.I.Am, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, Vince Gill. It's a very eclectic bunch of friends.
COOK: At this point in your life, do you have any regrets?
STING: No.
COOK: None whatsoever?
STING: No, I don't. Not at all.
COOK: What about in terms of family? You've obviously been gone a lot as a touring musician. That must have been tough on your kids at times?
STING: I think so. I mean, you'd have to ask them. It wasn't the normal childhood for them because I was away so much. At the same time, you know, they had little privileges that you know they were given a sort of very sophisticated geopolitical sense by traveling a lot. And they've all ended show business, actors and singers and filmmakers. And so I don't know.
Have I been the perfect father? No, not at all. But I would say to them, look for some reason you chose me as your father. They'd look at me.
STING: What does that mean? I read that in your memoirs. COOK: Well, I think if you say that, you know, if you blame your parents or whatever, then you're a victim. I think for some, there's something to learn in every situation. You're put in a situation to learn. I was put in my particular family situation to learn. So I'm grateful for it. So I think you have to be grateful for whatever situation you find yourself in, and I learned to figure it out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Sting is going to hit the road soon. He's "Back to Bass" tour starts October 21st.
Tired of rude behavior and seeing people wear their pants too low. New etiquette signs in New York City are trying to change all that. You will hear from their creator straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Very different street signs are popping up all over New York City. They're alerting people to rude behavior and urging them to mind their manners. "Pull up your pants. "No one wants to see your underwear" says one. Others read "Clean up after your horse," and "Pay attention while walking."
And get this, the signs aren't official but they look like the real thing. They are the work of graphic artist Jason Shelowitz who's dubbed himself the Metropolitan Etiquette Authority.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Jason, you know it's pretty gutsy of you to be doing this. You've been posting signs in Manhattan telling people not to flick their cigarette butts and to pull up their saggy pants among other things.
I want to talk to you about the saggy pants. But what prompted you to do this PSA campaign on etiquette?
JASON SHELOWITZ, METROPOLITAN ETIQUETTE AUTHORITY: Well, it spun off of the project I did last summer. The subway etiquette posters got such a good positive response. So I did one other project like it about cleaning up after your dog and supplying the public with disposable bags for them to use. There were only three of those, but they were massive hand painted posters. Also got a really good response.
So in between I was working on lots of other projects but I thought it was time for another sort of public service announcement and this seemed like "The Natural Progression."
LEMON: OK, so what have people been saying to you? Or what's been the response, first of all, to this etiquette campaign?
SHELOWITZ: Response is great. I mean, people love it. I mean, I feel like I'm saying things that a lot of people are already thinking so because of that, the response is really positive. LEMON: I have told people to pull their pants up before, and they basically tell me to mind my own business. So have you gotten that response from anybody?
SHELOWITZ: Yes, a little bit. Not to my face but, you know, in comment sections of Web sites, I've seen that. And that's true. Look, I'm just making fun of it really.
When I was a teenager, I look at pictures of myself and some of the things I wore is ridiculous. It's really not that serious. I know that in some cities they've actually launched real campaigns with fines and schools banning kids from wearing it. I think people should wear whatever they want, whatever makes them happy. It's their right.
That being said, it's also my right to make fun of them if they look silly to me. And I guarantee you when they're older, they're going to look back at themselves and say wow, I'm showing my underwear and entire rear end to the world when I was walking down the street. And, you know, they'll move on. It's just a style, but it's certainly funny to me and a lot of other people but people should wear whatever they want and I really could care less. It's just kind of poking fun at you if you dress like that.
LEMON: All right.
SHELOWITZ: That's my right, as well.
LEMON: You think it's silly, but they can wear whatever they want, I got it.
SHELOWITZ: Of course. Sure, I'm nobody to tell people what to do.
LEMON: Listen, do you think there's going to be a permanent impact?
SHELOWITZ: We'll have to see. I really can't tell yet. The only impact that I'm seeing that I think will be lasting is just that people are smiling, sometimes laughing and enjoying them overall which if that's what I leave behind with this project, that's good enough for me.
LEMON: Have you heard any official word from anybody in the city, or anybody in government about the campaign?
SHELOWITZ: No, lucky for me I think they have bigger fish to fry. There's only 80 of these signs up around. They're all up. So, you know, they'd be lucky if they even saw one. I'd have to kind of tell you where to find them. They are just so few. It's such a big city. It's not enough to cause a problem. If there were thousands, I'm sure they'd be coming after me. But it's so few and a lot of them I've notice have already gotten stolen which is fine. I think people should take them if they want. If you want one, take it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Shelowitz has got a huge response from the public all over the world. People are still contacting him. And he made enough money selling subway etiquette posters to pay for the ongoing metropolitan etiquette campaign.
We have this just in to CNN. Affiliates say two people have been stabbed on an Air Force Base outside of Phoenix. Luke Air Base -- Air Force Base in Glendale. It's not clear if the victims are civilians or members of the military. Again, affiliates say two people have been stabbed on the property of Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.
NFL fans now have to endure a little more security on the way into stadiums across the country. Guards are now doing full-body patdowns instead of the old way from the waist up. The NFL says the upgrades, well, they were planned before an incident last week when a fan allegedly used an illegal taser during a fight inside the stadium at a Jets-Cowboys game.
We're going to have much, much more on that stabbing at the air force base. Again, we're hearing that two people were stabbed on an Airs Force base. We're going to update you here on CNN.
Make sure you tune in to "AMERICAN MORNING" at 6:00 a.m.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you back here next weekend. Have a great week.
