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Wall Street Faces More Losses; GOP Gangs Up on Perry at Debate; Decisive Day for Government Shutdown; GOP Aims to Win Back Latino Vote; Faith and the Presidential Race; New Clashes Erupt in West Bank; Wall Street Faces More Losses; 30-Second Pitch: Career HR Pro; GOP Gangs Up on Perry
Aired September 23, 2011 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, ladies. Happy weekend.
Well, a busy morning is taking shape in the NEWSROOM. And at the center of it, politics and your money.
This hour Wall Street reopens after a dizzying plunge and it may be headed toward one of the worst weeks in history.
And the Republicans promise better days ahead.
The economy, just one of the topics in last night's debate.
Christine Romans of the CNN Money team is in New York, Jim Acosta is in Orlando, the site of the debate, Kate Bolduan on Cap Hill, and deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is in Washington.
Christine, let's go ahead and begin with you since we're talking about our cash, our cold, hard-earned cash. The markets, what do you think? How are they shaping up for this hour's Opening Bell?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's already been really a tough week, regardless of what happens today and we saw things as stable maybe two hours ago, but now I've got futures dipping a little bit lower here.
Again, Kyra, I feel it's like exactly what we were saying yesterday, it doesn't feel like there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic by the big trends. Overall concerns about a slowing U.S. economy, concerns about debt exposure for European banks, and the direction of Greece's bailout, and concerns about slowing growth in China.
China has been a very big engine of economic growth for the rest of the world while the U.S. has been taking a backseat and worrying about jobs here. So all of these major trends and factors are still in play here.
Also, Moody's downgraded some of the Greek banks. So we're still watching the banking system in Europe. Still watching the European wildcard and, again, we've been talking to traders and analysts who have been saying to close out a week, a very bad week in stocks at this point, people still looking for some reasons to try to -- to try to buy in.
I will tell you, the last couple of days have been two of the worst days for the Dow since those bad old days of 2008. So you'll feel that -- you'll feel all of this this week in your 401(k) -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, I wish we could get some better news. Christine, thanks.
ROMANS: I know. Me, too.
PHILLIPS: Now the politicians -- yes. The politicians that are out there promising to fix the economy, and virtually everything else. Nine Republicans, as you know, squared off in last night's debate but one candidate still wears the biggest bulls-eye.
CNN's Jim Acosta shows us Rick Perry is now showing a little bit of wear and tear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Governor Perry.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may have felt like badminton to Rick Perry, but for the Texas governor it was almost a game of one against eight.
ROMNEY: It's an argument I just can't follow.
ACOSTA: On the Perry-backed Texas law that offers in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants, it was Romney with the set up.
ROMNEY: That doesn't make sense to me, and that kind -- that kind of magnet --
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: That kind of magnet draws people into this country.
ACOSTA: And Rick Santorum with the overhead smash.
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country? That's what we're saying.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: And so, yes, I would say --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: I would say that, I would say that he is soft on illegal immigration.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think you have a heart. ACOSTA: The GOP frontrunner's defense of the law drew cheers but also boos from the crowd.
PERRY: This was a state issue. Texans voted on it and I still support it greatly.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CHRIS WALLACE, DEBATE MODERATOR: Senator Santorum.
ACOSTA: With the debate staged in Florida, where senior votes are on the line, Romney once again pounded on Perry's past statements on Social Security.
ROMNEY: There's a Rick Perry out there that saying that -- almost to quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business. That it's unconstitutional. Unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states. So you better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that.
ACOSTA: At moments, it seems the punishment was taking its toll. Perry seemed to get lost delivering one zinger on the health care law Romney passed as governor of Massachusetts.
PERRY: I think Americans just don't know sometimes which Mitt Romney they're dealing with. He's for Obamacare and now he's against it.
ACOSTA: Except that Romney has never supported the president's health care law.
ROMNEY: Yes. Nice try.
ACOSTA: But there were also standout moments for contenders trying to break through on foreign policy, former Ambassador Jon Huntsman.
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only Pakistan can say Pakistan. Only Afghanistan can save Afghanistan. All that I want right now at this point in history is for America to save America.
ACOSTA: And on the economy, probably the line of the night from former New Mexico governor, Gary Johnson.
GARY JOHNSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.
(LAUGHTER)
ACOSTA: Another defining moment didn't come from the stage, it came from a handful of people in the audience who booed a gay soldier for asking the candidates for their views on homosexuals in the military.
STEPHEN HILL, SERVING IN IRAQ: Do you intend to circumvent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Rick Perry's had a rough ride over these last few debates and he may be coming across as a little saddle sore, Kyra, but it's unclear whether any of that is going to have an effect on the state of the race.
Florida Republicans will have a chance to have their say this weekend. They're holding an informal non-binding straw poll.
And one final note on that Gary Johnson joke, on those shovel- ready jobs, it turns out the credit should go to Rush Limbaugh. Apparently he came up with the quip about his dogs and their shovel- ready jobs first -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Someone is always wanting to take credit for the line of the day.
Jim Acosta, thanks.
While you were sleeping, lawmakers in the House passed a spending bill to keep the government running several more weeks, but this morning we may be no closer to avoiding a government shutdown.
Kate Bolduan on the Hill.
So, Kate, what do you think? How bad does it look for this quick deal?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I would be silly to try to forecast how this is going to turn out, Kyra. But I'll tell you, it seems that both sides are still ready for a fight on this. Here are a few deadlines to remind our viewers of. I know you know, Kyra.
The federal government is scheduled to run out of funding, to run out of the money that we have and our country's coffers, if you will, a week from Saturday. House and Senate are supposed to be going on recess starting really today and FEMA disaster relief funds, that could run out early next week.
So what happened last night as House Republicans, they really -- they passed -- narrowly passed largely the same bill that failed a day before. The change was really that Republican leadership added an additional spending cut to another kind of green, clean energy, renewable energy program to win over more House Republican votes.
This one linked to that company Solyndra, the well-known company that went bankrupt after receiving $500 million in federally backed loan guarantees. So that raised of course some eyebrows and won over some more Republican votes, obviously.
Listen here to just how fiery the debate got late last night on the House floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE SIMPSON (R), IDAHO: I'm not one of those people who believe that we have to offset every emergency. We have done some in the past. Some we have not. But in the past, we have not had a $14 trillion deficit. That's the danger to this country. It's the $14 trillion deficit and the $1.6 trillion we add to it every damn year.
REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Wake up. Wake up. You can't kill these programs. This is the solution you are killing. Republicans say, fine, we'll provide emergency relief for those who have been afflicted by this nature's wrath -- wrath in an ever warming planet, but we won't do it unless we can cut the funds for the programs that promise to be the solution to the problem.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Now, as I indicated earlier, the fight is not over. The focus now on the Senate, Senate majority leader, the Democrat, Harry Reid, had indicated last night that Democrats are really standing united against the House bill. They don't like -- they think the amount of money going to FEMA is inadequate. They want to see much more money going to FEMA, Kyra.
They also oppose the fact that in order to pay for part of this FEMA money, there are going to cuts to renewable energy programs. So the fight is really still on. It's very unclear on how things are going to turn out today.
Harry Reid warned last night it's possible that they could forego their recess to work into next week to try to figure this out.
My colleague Ted Baron has heard that the vote on the Hose passed bill -- there will be a vote on it in the Senate early this morning. But Democrats say -- in the Senate -- that they stand united against it. We'll have to see how this turns out today.
PHILLIPS: All right. Kate, thanks.
Republicans are making early push to win the critical Latino vote in 2012.
Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser tells about -- tells us actually about a big event today.
What's taking place?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, Kyra, it's a center-right group that's called the Hispanic Leadership Network and they're holding a two-day conference that starts today in New Mexico. And that's the home state to Governor Susanna Martinez who's really a rising star in the GOP. She won a big election there last year.
And again, yes, this is all about courting Latino voters and Hispanic voters. Let's re-rack two -- three years ago, 2008, the presidential election. Look at the CNN exit polls from back then. You can see that then Senator Obama won two-thirds of the Hispanic and Latino vote in that election.
That was a big, big win for the president. But now let's fast forward back to present day. Look at these numbers from Gallup. The president's approval rating among Hispanics and Latinos right now at 48 percent. That's down from 60 percent at the beginning of the year.
And, Kyra, again, this is all about Latino and Hispanic voters. They are so crucial, especially in some battleground states like New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado. They could be the difference in those close contests.
Talking about Florida. How about the debate last night? This could be a problem for Republicans because you saw those nine Republican presidential candidates at the debate last night and other than Rick Perry, most of them were taking a very hard stand against illegal immigrants here in the United States.
That could be a problem as Republicans try to reach out to Latino and Hispanic voters -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, candidates going to be definitely reaching out this weekend on the campaign trail, right?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. You were just talking to Jim down in Florida there. There is a big straw poll in Florida on Saturday. Of course, Florida, a very important state in the battle for the nomination and in Michigan, as well. Two straw polls there. Two major Republican conferences. We can get a -- kind of gauge on how the candidates and their campaigns are doing.
And Kyra, of course, there's two more debates next month in the battle for the nomination, and one of those is a CNN debate in Nevada. So this battle for the nomination moves on and we'll move with it -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. Paul, thanks.
We'll have your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder for all the latest news, you can always go to our Web site 24/7 CNNPolitics.com.
So how are the GOP candidates doing with this country's Christian leadership?
Faith and Freedom Coalition Ralph Reed joining me live, next.
And priceless works of art considered a national treasure are finally returned. Sixty years after they were stolen by the Nazis. We'll tell you about that in "Cross Country," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking stories "Cross Country" now.
In California, Jaycee Dugard is suing the federal government. A lawsuit contends that parole agents failed to properly supervise her abductor Philip Garrido. Garrido is serving more than 400 years in prison for kidnapping the then 11-year-old victim and keeping her in his backyard for 18 years.
In New York, two paintings stolen during the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II have been returned. It happened last night. The Polish consulate with Poland's president attending. The paintings were found five years ago at a New York auction house.
And in Berkeley, California, students protesting college tuition hikes. It took a turn for the worse when demonstrators stormed a building on campus. Two people were arrested. More protests are expected today.
Well -- watching last night's debate, a Republican strategist who's worked on seven presidential campaigns.
Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition -- as a strategist and a Christian leader, Ralph, I want to ask you first off, who do you think won your vote last night?
RALPH REED, CHAIRMAN, FAITH AND FREEDOM COALITION: Well, I think we've got a pretty big membership, Kyra, of about 500,000 members and you know they're falling about where the polling is showing among all social conservatives and Tea Party activists.
I think Rick Perry, when he got in this race, it wasn't a big fish in a small pond. It was a whale in a bathtub and he came in with a big splash. He's done very well. Romney is going to get his fair share of these people.
They're also very high on Bachmann. I don't think you count her out at all. She's as strong as an acre of garlic in Iowa. So I think this is going to be very competitive, very hard fought. We had our event yesterday with over 2,000 of our activists in Florida. They all came and made their case and we're -- I think we're dating, but I don't think we're ready to get married yet.
PHILLIPS: Strong as an acre of garlic. I had to write that one down. We'll get to Michele Bachmann and garlic in just a second.
But, Ralph, you actually had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the candidates at your faith and freedom forum. You got two Mormon candidates, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman.
So, let me ask you -- have evangelicals embraced these men and the Mormon faith?
REED: Well, look, I don't think you can gloss over the fact that there are theological differences. But there are theological differences between Jews and evangelicals, theological difference between Catholics and evangelicals, and yet they cooperate fully on issues like the sanctity of life and marriage, strong support for the state of Israel, opposition to terrorism.
So, we're not electing our minister or preacher. We're electing the president of the United States. And remember that four years ago, in his first time around the track, Romney got one out of every five evangelical votes in a crowded field. Obviously, it was very difficult for him to compete with Huckabee in that category. I think Romney will do that well or better.
And I think, again, Perry has that sort of Huckabee factor where as a devote evangelical, he can speak directly to his own spiritual journey as he did at Liberty University last week. He'll do extremely well.
But, look, these folks are not poor, uneducated and easy to command. They are not sheep who just go where they're told to go. They're kicking the tires. They're looking at these candidates very carefully and -- as I said -- I don't think it's really come down and solidified. This is still very fluid.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, let me ask you about a moment that got a lot of attention last night at the debate -- this openly gay soldier with his question to the candidates. Take a listen.
OK. I guess we don't have that sound bite, but you remember what happened. For the viewers that might have missed the debate, he asked a question about gays, you know, serving openly in the military. And he got boos.
So, let me ask you, do you think it was -- I'm told we have it now. Let's go ahead for the sake of fairness here and so our viewers can hear it, let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 2010 when I was deployed to Iraq, I had to lie about who I was because I'm a gay soldier. I didn't want to lose my job. My question is, under one of your presidencies, do you intend to circumvent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?
(BOOING)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Here's my question, Ralph. Do you think it was appropriate to boo? I mean, this is a soldier serving our country, serving all of us in Iraq.
REED: No. No, that wasn't appropriate.
But, look, I don't think it's fair for either party or for any candidate to somehow or another, you know, assign to them the impolite conduct of somebody in an audience. I mean, that's just not fair. That's where the candidates --
PHILLIPS: Do you think it was a missed moment? I mean, nobody jumped on the moment to talk about, you know, "don't ask, don't tell" going away and it just sort of went right by and no one seized the moment.
REED: No, I don't think it was a missed moment and I'll tell you why. Because what the American people want is a substantive debate on the issue and I think Rick Santorum -- to whom, as you know, the question is directed handled it just right. He said, look, if under Obama's policy someone has already publicly acknowledged their sexual preference, as this soldier did, then their grandfathered in regardless of what happens in a subsequent administration. It wouldn't be fair to go back and treat them differently.
In terms of what happens with "don't ask, don't tell" which served this country, Kyra, very effectively for --
PHILLIPS: I think -- I know the law -- we respect the law, but, Ralph, it's an issue of respect.
REED: Under two presidencies, (INAUDIBLE) left to the military.
PHILLIPS: I'm just asking you the issue of respect here. Was it respectful to do that?
REED: I think I answered that. I don't think it was. And I don't think that was the right thing to do.
What I don't -- but what I would -- let me just stress the point. I don't think it's a fair --
PHILLIPS: Would you have liked to have heard one of the candidates say, look, OK, that's disrespectful. Let's have a mature, respectful conversation about our men and women who are serving overseas, risking their lives for us. Putting politics aside, you know, let's address our behavior here.
REED: Well, I know these candidates very well. They're friends of mine. And I'm sure they'll be given an opportunity to do that and I'm sure every one of them will say that's not their attitude.
But when the president of the United States has somebody at one of his events who says that people should, quote, "be taken out," as Jimmy Hoffa did, and his spokesman refuses to condemn it -- I don't think people who live in glass houses should be allowed to throw stones. The president of the United States and his spokesman should make clear that words that could lead to violence should be condemned.
PHILLIPS: Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition -- Ralph, it's always good to talk to you. Appreciate your time today and I'm sorry it was so hot out there.
REED: Same here, Kyra. That's all right. Thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: You bet. Take care.
Opening bell is just minutes away. We're going to check on what we can expect just a day after the Dow plunging.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: I want to take you to come live pictures right now. This is some unique access that we've been able to get from a checkpoint right there in the West Bank.
Actually, let's listen in for a second here. This has actually picked up a bit since we've been monitoring these live pictures. Young Palestinians have been clashing with Israeli border guards here all morning and, as you know, this happened, it's happening just a few hours before Mahmoud Abbas is going to address the U.N. General Assembly.
Kevin Flower, our CNN Jerusalem bureau chief, on the phone with me now.
Kevin, it kind of picks up and then slows down a bit, but can you kind of give us an idea of what it has been like throughout the morning as we're watching these live pictures unfold right here within the West Bank.
KEVIN FLOWER, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Kyra, this has been going on for about an hour and a half or two hours, I would say. And it started at the checkpoint, which is a big giant checkpoint that separates the West Bank from Jerusalem. And this is a checkpoint with 20-feet concrete walls, manned by Israeli security.
And pretty much every Friday on a regular basis, Palestinians will come to this checkpoint oftentimes throwing rocks and bottles at the Israeli security positions along that checkpoint. That's what we saw happen, again, today.
And, so, what's happened during the course of this hour and a half or two hours of clashes between the two, like I said, lots of rocks, lots of bottles being thrown. What the Israeli security forces have been doing is trying to push back the Palestinian protesters with a combination of tear gas and rubber bullets. They've also been using some fairly new technology, which is sort of this ear piercing alarm car that they drive close to the protesters to try and disperse them.
And as you mentioned, this is going on just a few hours before Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is supposed to be thinking, but it's worth noting, also, that this is a scene that plays out on a fairly regular basis here on the West Bank, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Got it. All right, Kevin, appreciate it. Our Kevin Flower there, CNN Jerusalem bureau chief, reporting to us right there to us from the West Bank. Kevin, we'll continue to monitor these pictures with you, obviously.
And there are two other things that we're following for you. The opening bell is just minutes away. We will -- well, hopefully, we're going to see better numbers today as the Dow just took a massive plunge yesterday.
And also speaking live, Michele Bachmann kicking off today's Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida. We're going to check in on that as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. About a minute away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Felicia Taylor at the New York Stock Exchange; Christine Romans at our New York bureau.
Felicia, why don't we start with you? We are keeping our fingers crossed for a much better day than yesterday.
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I hope that happens, but I'm not so sure it's going to. The only good news that I can point to right now is that futures are off of the session lows and that's because the European Central Bank, there's word out that they intend to lower interest rates at their next meeting.
We also heard earlier this week that the Bank of England intends to lower interest rates or there's, you know, talk about that at its next meeting. So, that's, you know, taking away some of the pressure from the marketplace. But, again, overnight, we saw the European markets, or rather, the Asian markets significantly down, as well as the European markets already in this session are trading down, as well.
But, again, they are off of their session lows. So, there's a little bit of good news hopefully out there and the markets are just about to open in just a few minutes.
But, you know, traders are really tired of the rhetoric that has been out there. They need to see that concerted effort that we've heard some of the world leaders talk about and actual, real action taking place as opposed to just the words that we've been hearing.
So, as the bell opens, let's see what we got. The markets are down just fractionally, though, in just the few seconds that it's been open. The Dow off six or seven points and the NASDAQ hasn't opened yet. The S&P is down 0.25 percent. So, but the selling is beginning to accelerate. Now, the Dow is off 0.25 percent and there's the NASDAQ. It is down 0.75 percent in just the first 20 second of trading -- Christine.
PHILLIPS: Christine, we were seeing, actually a little worse yesterday. It was moving a little faster into negative territory. I know it's sort of hard to -- it's a guessing game right now.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, not everything is open yet. I mean, this first, really, the first minute of trade -- you just have to wait and see how it settles out because not all the components could be open quite yet. So, that's why you start to see kind of a fluttering around.
But I'll tell you, Felicia is talking about is the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. The position here that these governments and central banks are in is they are playing defense. They are trying to mitigate a potential double-dip recession. They are trying to get out of ahead of what could be another financial crisis.
You see what I mean? They're all playing defense. And in some cases, it's whatever the fed may do, you might not feel it directly, but if they didn't do it, you certainly would feel that.
So, in a way, where we are here is governments and central banks and investors are behind what's happening and by behind, I mean, they're back behind of what's happening with the overall economy. It's still a dangerous position out there.
I'll tell you another couple of days like we had yesterday, it will be a full on bear market for the Dow Jones Industrial Average that we've seen. You'll notice this in your 401(k) statements, no question.
PHILLIPS: All right. We're going to keep watching the numbers.
Christine Romans, Felicia Taylor, appreciate it so much.
We're also watching Michele Bachmann right now. She kicked off today's Conservative Political Conference in Orlando. Let's go ahead and listen in.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Blank check and say have at it. I did. That's watt we need in our nominee.
And we need a true social conservatism who is not ashamed to stand for marriage, who is not ashamed to stand for life, who's not ashamed to stand for religious liberty and who's demonstrated that. That's what we need in this election.
And we need a nominee who's not ashamed of the Tea Party, who's willing to stand up for our Tea Party and Tea Party values, who believes we are taxed enough already, who believes government should not spend more money than what they take in, and who is not ashamed to say that the government should act within the bounds of the Constitution.
You see? We don't settle this time. If there's ever been a year that we don't settle and sit next to the wall and go to the back of the bus, we conservatives have to say -- no, this is our year. This is our time. And we are going to have our nominee.
So, let's take this movement. Let's take this voice all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania --
PHILLIPS: Michele Bachmann kicking off today's Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. Mitt Romney is following her and then Newt Gingrich, the list goes on. We're following each speaker about every 15 to 20 minutes they'll be getting up to speak. We're monitoring that for you.
In addition, all week, in depth right here on CNN. And this time, we've been looking at poverty in America. Well, let's talk about what poverty means to the government anyway.
A family of four to be considered impoverished relies on $20,000 a year or less. You might think that's unreasonably low. It turns out, a lot of people do think.
Our Athena Jones looks at the politics behind the numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I have to get money taken out of my paycheck for me.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For dawn and her family every day is a struggle. A single mom with two young children living at home in Maryland, she makes just $25,000 a year as a department manager at Wal-Mart. But that puts her over the federal poverty line.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not enough.
JONES: Poverty looks different on paper.
To be officially considered as living in poverty, a family like hers has to make less than $17,568 a year. And that's the same what the families live in California, Washington or Mississippi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like right now it's just a struggle and I would love to be able to not struggle and to put some money aside and do some fun things.
JONES: The defining line is adjusted yearly for inflation, but it was developed back in the early 1960s.
SHEILA ZEDLEWSKI, THE URBAN INSTITUTE: Since then, so many things have changed.
JONES: Sheila Zedlewski studies poverty at the Urban Institute.
ZEDLEWSKI: Health care costs are higher, housing costs are higher -- just a lot of changes that you and I would expect would be taken into account but they're not.
JONES: The government uses the poverty line to help determine who qualifies for federal help like food stamps, the children's health insurance program, and school lunches. And any change in the official definition could affect the number of people eligible for that help. That's where politics comes in.
REP. BARBARA LEE (D), CALIFORNIA: I think we need to go back to the drawing board and accurate formula so that we can better know what to do.
JONES: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a Democrat, believes more people would be considered poor because the current measure fails to account for geographical differences and family expenses.
REA HEDERMAN, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: What really counts for people is disposable income.
JONES: Conservative scholars like Ray Hederman of the Heritage Foundation say a measure that counts government benefits like food stamps and housing subsidies as income would see the poverty rate fall.
HEDERMAN: We're not measuring our largest anti-poverty numbers. I mean, I like to say, there's a lot like not counting field goals in football games.
JONES: Policy experts agree the measure should be updated to account for where a family lives, whether they rent or own their home, the government benefits they receive and expenses like child care and transportation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on in.
JONES: For Dawn who relies on help from the government and from organizations like Catholic Charities in Washington, D.C., it's a theoretical argument that doesn't help pay the bills.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pretty much care about taking care of my girls. So, my kids. My kids always come first.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Now, in October, the Census Bureau is set to release another metric called the supplemental poverty measure. While it won't be used to determine eligibility for federal assistance in the short term, the hope is that it will paint a clearer picture of poverty in America in the long term and they'll help policymakers and scholars better judge the effectiveness of federal programs, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, Athena, how much would a family of four need to make to be considered middle class?
JONES: Well, that's what's interesting here. There is a federal definition of poverty in America to be living in poverty, but there's no official government definition for middle class or for rich for that matter. But when you talk to most organizations that help the poor, they'll say that for a family of four that's making less than double the federal poverty line, so, that would be about $44,000 for a family of four, they say a family making less than that number is considered to be low income. And so, these families are able to get some assistance whether from the government or other programs.
Now, of course, if a family of four is making just above that $44,000 figure, would you consider them middle class? That's really up for debate and it certainly depends a little bit, of course, on where they live in the country, how far that amount of money will get them -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Athena, appreciate it.
Well, the NFL is telling teams fake an injury and you'll get punished. Former Atlanta falcons star Jamal Anderson calls the fakery a trick of a trade. Jamal is joining me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: GOP candidates speaking today at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. Michele Bachmann kicked it off.
Now, let's listen to Mitt Romney.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- much less than it actually is, by pegging it to the dollar at a low level. And as a result, their products sell at about 30 percent lower than they would if they were fairly marketed. As a result of that, our businesses have a hard time competing.
It's time for us to recognize cheaters for what they are. On my first day in office, I will issue an executive order identifying China as a currency manipulator and allowing us to apply tariffs on their goods where they're cheating and killing American jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: There's another difference between government and the private sector. People in government don't tend to understand the power of incentives. They think, for instance, if you raise taxes a whole lot, it won't make a difference in how people behave. They just calculate, they'll keep doing what they did in the past and then they add up the new numbers they think government is going to get. It doesn't work that way.
I remember, I was looking at the budget in our state and there was a line therein for homeless shelters and I said, what's this sub- account here for hotels under homeless shelters. They said, oh, Governor, you have to understand, if someone comes to a homeless shelter and they're full --
PHILLIPS: We are following today's Conservative Political Action Conference on Orlando, Florida. And as each GOP candidate speaks, we'll dip in live for an equal amount of time. We heard from Michele Bachmann and now Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich will be up next.
All right. Let's talk about this NFL and this warning. It's warning all 32 of its teams that if they fake an injury, they're going to pay the price. It came just two days after speculation that New York Giants Deon Grant faked an injury against the St. Louis rams. Phony injuries for a competitive edge that the NFL says will not be tolerated.
Here's how the memo reads, "Discipline could include fines of coaches, players and clubs suspensions or forfeiture of draft choices."
Jamal Anderson was a running back for the Atlanta Falcons. So, did you experience this kind of faking when you played?
JAMAL ANDERSON, NFL ANALYST: Unfortunately, yes. It's a part of the game. As I said, when we were talking briefly, when I was looking at the story, it's unfortunately a trick of the trade.
In the NFL, as you can see from the rules and the fines that they're putting out there that they're trying to get rid of it, absolutely trying to get rid of it immediately. So, they don't have teams doing it, but it's a part of football and the time and the situation. If you need more time and you're running out of tie in -- I mean, you're running on a time-outs, you're going to have a coach who says, hey, get a guy, if you're banged up a little bit, stay down a little longer so we can get more time to figure it out.
PHILLIPS: But how do you prove a fake? How do you prove a fake?
ANDERSON: It's very tough to prove. It's very tough to prove. And you really hope that once you get to the professional level, obviously, when I say a part of football, I mean high school, college, these things happen.
But you want to -- when you get to the professional level to try to weed these things out. I mean, these are the best players in the world and you expect them to perform as professionals. So, it's very, very tough.
But that's why you see how stringent the rules are. You're talking about a fine. You're talking about suspension. You're talking about losing draft picks.
Kyra, they absolutely want to eliminate this.
PHILLIPS: So, you really think the NFL can enforce this?
ANDERSON: I mean --
PHILLIPS: How do you do it?
ANDERSON: You do get an indicator. I mean, there are cramps that happen on a football field and very difficult to prove how long a cramp can sustain with certain players. So, it's going to be tough to enforce.
But, please believe me, somebody will be checking the injury reports that those injuries that supposedly occurred on the field are consistent with what's happening during the course of the week. And if they catch you, they got a way of doing it. I don't know how, but --
PHILLIPS: Did you ever fake an injury?
ANDERSON: I did not.
PHILLIPS: Seriously, you didn't fake an injury?
ANDERSON: How could you fake an injury -- I had two major ones, I didn't need anything else going on in my body. I had no time to fake an injury. I had real damage.
PHILLIPS: We'll see if this works.
ANDERSON: I think it will. You look at what they're going to do about it and this is something they want to absolutely eliminate and be done with. And I think it's going to happen.
PHILLIPS: Jamal, good to see you. Nice to know you're an ethical player.
ANDERSON: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Well, President Obama's re-election campaign office targeted by an apparent vandal. We're going to tell you what police are saying about it.
Plus, mystery solved. Missing moon rock is found. Find about former President Bill Clinton's connection to it as we go cross country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking stories cross country now.
Police say that someone vandalized President Obama's campaign office in Los Angeles. Baby gun pellets were shot and a unknown object was thrown through the window. No one was in the office at the time. The President will be in L.A. though, a few days minutes from now for a fundraiser.
And the state of Texas is dropping special final meal requests for death row inmates. It comes on the heels of Wednesday's execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer (ph) who ordered a real calorie busting last supper.
And consisting of two chicken fried steaks smothered in gravy and onions with triple meat bacon cheese burger, a cheese omelet, a large bowl of fried okra with ketchup. I'm not kidding folks it continues. Three fajitas, a pint of Blue Bell ice cream and a pound of barbecue with a half loaf of white bread.
So when prison officials brought it to his cell, Brewer declined and said he wasn't hungry.
Well, that really angered a state senator who said that he is now going to try and outlaw the practice. But the director of the State's Criminal Justice Department agreed and discontinued it immediately.
All right, mystery solved for one of 50 so-called good will moon rocks that had been missing. Well, it's found. It turned up among memorabilia of former President Bill Clinton. A library worker in Arkansas stumbled across it while going through the boxes.
So what would you do to grab a potential employer's eye? Renee Shoaf had a great idea with the power of a pen. Her very unique 30- second pitch coming your way. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we get a lot of e-mails from people hoping to do our 30-second pitch, but one that we got last month really stood out. Renee Shoaf pitched herself to us in a poem. She joins me live from San Diego this morning.
So Renee, I'm just going to get right to it. Do you mind reading that poem for our viewers and then we'll get down to the 30-second pitch.
RENEE SHOAF, JOBSEEKER: Ok. I'd love to.
I'm your next human resources guru to see your company through. Compensation issues and performance reviews, reconciling management and employee opposing views. Understanding and interpreting employment laws and trends is an important process that never ends. But I will work hard and effectively each day to make your company successful and earn my pay.
PHILLIPS: That is amazing. Well, of course, it caught our attention. And what we're hoping is that it's going to catch an employer's attention as well. Renee, what type of work are you looking for and why has it been tough to find that gig?
SHOAF: I'm looking for human resources work. I have been an HR professional for my entire career. I think it's tough for many reasons. One of them is that the market seems to be saturated with HR professionals, so it's a very tough labor market.
PHILLIPS: Well, I'll tell you what, let's get right to it. And are you ready for your 30-second pitch?
SHOAF: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Ok. Well, you're already warmed up with the fantastic poem. Hopefully that grabbed somebody's attention and they're waiting to hear your actual pitch. So we'll start the clock and Renee, take it away.
SHOAF: Ok. I'm a dedicated human resources professional who will bring new, fresh ideas to your organization. Please get in touch with me. I'd love to show you what I can do for your company.
I have a great track record of working effectively with leadership teams and employees and I have been considered a great resource at all my previous employers.
Thank you so much.
PHILLIPS: Renee.shoaf@yahoo.com. You let us know what happens, Renee and thanks for writing in.
SHOAF: I will.
PHILLIPS: All right. SHOAF: And thank you for inviting me.
PHILLIPS: And if you're looking --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: You are so welcome.
And if you're looking for a job this is a chance to get your name and skills out there. And if you like to do your own 30-second pitch just e-mail us 30SecondPitch@CNN.com. Tell us why someone should hire you. You can join us live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And stories making news later today: President Obama speaking next hour from the White House. He's expected to discuss new state guidelines for "No Child Left Behind".
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly around noon Eastern and push for Palestinian statehood.
And in the following hour, Texas Governor and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry speaks at CPAC.
All right. We're following lots of the developments for you in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's go and check in first with our Jim Acosta; he's live in Orlando -- Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, speaking of Rick Perry he might be a little saddle-sore this morning after that rough ride at last night's GOP debate. We'll have a look at the debate in just a few moments.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Tom Foreman here in Washington, D.C. Jim, we're going to follow up on what some of those candidates said last night with the thing they fear most. Our "Truth Squad" has been at work. We're going to throw some of their comments on the griddle and see how they cook at the top of the hour.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Brianna Keilar at the White House where President Obama is about to announce sweeping changes to President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" initiative effectively ending the former president's signature education policy.
We'll be live around that at 10:15 Eastern.
PHILLIPS: All right guys, thanks so much.
Also coming up, a view of last night's debate from a former insider. Next hour, one time Press Secretary for President George W. Bush and now CNN political contributor Ari Fleischer joining me live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Jeff Fischel, don't rush out to buy those NBA tickets? JEFF FISCHEL, ANCHOR, HLN SPORTS: No, no rush, no rush. No rush at all because while opening day isn't far off, I don't think we're going to see opening day on opening day.
ESPN is reporting the league will announce today it's postponing the start of training camp and the first pre-season game. All fans want to know is will the regular season start on time. The negotiations between the players and owners not going well; yesterday's talks on a new labor agreement ended without any progress. There's a lot of -- huge difference in money between the two sides.
Baseball's regular season winding up. The Tampa Bay Rays fighting for the American League wildcard spots. B.J. Upton tripled, homered, singled. The Rays ripped the AL list champion Yankees 15-8. Tampa trails the Red Sox who were off yesterday by two games in the wildcard race.
The Angels are in the race too. At Toronto extra innings the Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion -- that is a walk-off homer. I used to call it a game-winning home run but these days it's called the walk- off. The Jays win 4-3, Angels fall three back of Boston with just six games to play.
The National League wildcard race also tight, the Cardinals blew a four-run lead in the ninth at home against the Mets. That's Willy Harris getting the game-winning hit for New York. He got a text saying "Way to go", that was from Terry Pendleton his former hitting coach in Atlanta. Yes, the Braves now lead the Cards in the wildcard race by two games.
The PGA tour championship in Atlanta this weekend. Hunter Mahan's tee shot on 17 goes in the drink. Mahan decides not to take the penalty. He's going to hit out of the water. Take off the shoes and take off the socks.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: White pants and roll.
FISCHEL: -- roll up the pants. Mahan, he did it, he hit it out of the water. Well-played. He said he was lucky the water was low enough to get a clean shot. Mahan's three shots back of Keegan Bradley's lead. And we'll see how that wraps up this weekend, the last big tournament of the PGA year.
PHILLIPS: Keegan Bradley of West Germany. Well, he came here on the set live?
FISCHEL: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Have gotten his trophy. What a great kid.
FISCHEL: Now a major golf champion great. Yes, it was a great thing to see him do so well.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Well I'm a big fan. I am indeed. FISCHEL: Yes, there's no doubt.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, Jeff.
FISCHEL: Ok.
