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Employee Celebration to Honor Jobs' Life; Apple Shares Topped $400 Under Jobs; Obama News Conference; Palin: "I'm Not Running"; Bank Chief: Folks "Get" $5 Debit Fees; 28 Arrests at Wall Street March; Rangel Heckled at Wall Street Protest; NBA Star Parker to Play in France; Court Tosses Olympics Doping Ban
Aired October 06, 2011 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And it's the top of the hour; welcome back, everyone.
His innovations changed the way we live, work, play and communicate. Steve Jobs died too soon. I mean let's face it, life in 1976 when he co-founded Apple in his garage is a far cry from life in 2011. And today, the world grieves, pays tribute and gives thanks for this Edison of our time.
Our team coverage continues and it includes Dan Simon at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Alison Kosik in New York and our Zain Verjee live in London.
Dan, let's go ahead and start with you, 7:00 a.m. It is there now so the day is just getting started. And people are already reacting to the news.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I was standing in this exact place two days ago on Tuesday for the unveiling of the new iPhone, the iPhone 4S. There's a lot of anticipation and excitement ahead of that launch.
And it's just so remarkable to see the difference of what things are like here today. It's very sombre. There's a makeshift memorial that's beginning to grow here in front of the headquarters. I should tell you that for that event, there was an empty chair in the room there at the front that the senior executives left empty for Steve Jobs.
You know, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for them that day to give that presentation probably knowing that the end was near for Steve Jobs. Here in Silicon Valley, I think there was a basic acknowledgement that this valley, that this area would be so much different, you know, without Apple and without Steve Jobs.
And I think going forward now. I think there's a sense that the next couple of years, things are going to look, you know, pretty good for Apple. They have so much money on hand and products in the pipeline.
But what are things going to look like now in, say, the next five or 10 years? I don't think anybody can really answer that question, Kyra. PHILLIPS: You know, that the Apple 4 unveiling event that you just mentioned, was anything ever said about his condition because we all had been asking that question for months when we had not heard anything.
SIMON: Well, despite his very public persona, he was a very private person. And it's believed that really only his inner circle really knew the details of his health. We knew that he had been struggling with pancreatic cancer for some time.
But over the last six months or so, he wasn't seen on campus all that much. We certainly knew that he was, you know, weak and thin because you saw the progression over the last few years.
There was a sense that things were not looking good. But in terms of when this would ultimately happen, it was really a mystery and, of course, we all got the news yesterday.
PHILLIPS: Dan, thanks. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us now. Sanjay, I'm curious. When you are treating somebody this high profile and you know what the situation is, is there more pressure, added pressure on you as a doctor?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think sometimes there is. I mean, I think all hospitals, all doctors, any health care professional would like to say that we treat all patients the same.
I think for the most part, we do. But I think what is counter intuitive, perhaps, Kyra, to people thinking about someone like Steve Jobs or another high profile person is that sometimes being high profile could be a detriment. You think sometimes it would be an advantage.
But sometimes it's could be a detriment because a lot of times doctors may use more kid gloves, be less likely to make the important decisions that need to be made. So, you know, there's a famous story of Reagan, for example, when he went to the hospital after being shot.
How long it took for doctors to figure out the extent of his injuries because they were treating him with such deference and same thing with Kennedy when he was shot. Steve Jobs, he spent about a year as you might remember, Kyra, after he was found to have this tumor in his pancreas traveling around the world, getting herbal medications, trying to treat this in non-traditional ways.
You know, who is to say what difference that made. But I think sometimes it could work a little bit to a person's disadvantage to be high profile.
PHILLIPS: You know, something else we were talking about this morning, even in our home last night. He was one of the richest men in the world. He had all the money you could ever ask for and it couldn't save his life.
GUPTA: Yes, you know, and it's tough and it's a bit of an area of controversy, even within medicine a little bit with regard to Steve Jobs. You might remember back in 2009, for example, he had a liver transplant.
He had a liver transplant literally by cover of night. Reporters, most people didn't know about the liver transplant until two months after the fact. Now the reason it was controversial or raised some eyebrows, Kyra, is because there's a process by which one gets a liver transplant.
There's a waiting list, it's based on how sick you are, the severity, how likely you have to benefit from the liver transplant. Some say -- and we don't know for sure, but some say he basically got a liver transplant very quickly.
He traveled to Tennessee, to Memphis and got that and it was that money that made that happen. He traveled to Switzerland to try it again, some non-traditional therapies, you know, that aren't available to many people in the United States.
Now had those things worked, we would be having a different discussion and obviously, it would be great that he would still be alive. But you know, in this case, at least, money, lots of it did not change his outcome.
You know, with this particular type of tumor, about 50 percent of people live five years. He beat those odds a little bit, but you know, it was eight years after he was diagnosed that this cancer finally caused his death.
PHILLIPS: Sanjay, thanks for your time today.
GUPTA: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Steve Jobs founded Apple in 1976 in a Silicon Valley garage along with his high school buddy, Steve Wozniak. Earlier on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, he talked about those early days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE WOZNIAK, APPLE CO-FOUNDER: He was knowledgeable about technology, and really believed and that is his big future. That that was the thing he was meant to do. He was just always trying to think ahead of somebody else and look at the newest little building part and what could you make with those?
And thinking in terms of how they affect society. A great, great, great visionary and leader, and it was hard to recognize when he's young. Like a lot of young people. And a lot of them are great visionaries and really don't really go that far.
But companies have ways of hiring that they wouldn't even hire somebody without a college degree in a lot of cases. And here was Steve Jobs without a college degree and look what he accomplished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange following the reaction from Wall Street. So how is Apple doing today, Alison? ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Apple shares are only down slightly. They're coming back right now, and in fact, almost into the green. It didn't come as a huge surprise for Wall Street because they've had -- the investment community, I'm talking about, had a long time to prepare for this.
You know, Jobs told his employees in 2004 that he had cancer and you saw a bit of a stock reaction then, but only a little bit. But over the long-term, look how Apple has performed. It's just been incredible.
Because Apple's ability to make you want something you didn't even know you wanted in the first place, look at Apple. It's the smartphone maker, the top tablet maker. That's what investors are going to be continuing to focus on even though Steve Jobs is no longer around to provide the inspiration. Kyra --
PHILLIPS: So what do you think, then, how concerned is Wall Street about the company going forward?
KOSIK: You know what, today's lack of reaction is really an indication of confidence in Apple because remember this, Jobs made the company and investors aware of his health problems and handed over the reigns to Tim Cook in an orderly planned fashion.
So Cook formally became CEO in August, but he's really been on the Apple bench for more than a decade now. He's worked hand in hand with Jobs so he knows the Steve Jobs way.
Also look at what kind of financial shape Apple is in, how much cash the company has on hand. It has almost $80 billion. Apple is known for not paying out dividends. It hangs on to its cash. So Apple could even have some wiggle room here maybe even to make mistakes and still move forward very successfully. Kyra --
PHILLIPS: Alison, thanks.
Steve Jobs was an iconic figure around the world, Africa, Russia. Zain Verjee, we're hearing from people all over the globe.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Yes, absolutely. Let's go straight to "The Guardian" in the U.K. and look at this headline, "How Steve Jobs put the seduction into technology."
It says, indispensable in the way a wristwatch, handbag or wallets are to so very many millions of people. Not everything under the digital sun is know, but Jobs knew how to make it shine, into our offices, into our homes, into our private lives.
Take a look at the "New Zealand Herald." It says, "Goodbye, Mr. Jobs." Steve jobs was insanely great, no question. Apple might be a different place without him, but there is still a lot of brilliant stuff for Apple to make and do. We can keep the faith.
And then the United Arab Emirates has "The National." Its headline is this, "Is there life after Steve Jobs for Apple?" It says, the big question for Apple now is where does the company go from here? Apple must now do everything it can to keep its lead ahead of the pack.
Kyra, I was looking at the "New York Times" today and they kind of put it really well saying that Apple really does have a tough balancing act to do going forward. You know, in the sense of keeping the lessons that Steve Jobs taught them, keeping the legacy, but also being able to adapt to shifts in the future. Kyra --
PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee out of London. Zain, thanks.
The White House just announced that President Obama will hold a news conference this morning. It's scheduled to start in just about 50 minutes. Brianna Keilar is live from the White House. So Brianna, what are you hearing about the president's agenda today?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's going to be all about jobs, the jobs plan. The president has been pushing now for weeks and he will, again, be urging Congress to pass his plan in its entirety.
He'll also be commending the Senate for taking action. Last night, Senate Democrats filed their jobs bill, which looks very much like the president's, but it changes how it would be paid for, which was really one of the controversial parts of this.
And it will remain controversial because of the way the Senate Democrats have proposed to pay for that and that is the so-called millionaire's surtax. This is something that President Obama could very likely endorse today during his news conference.
So what is this? Well, this is something that according to Democratic sources on the Hill would raise enough money, more than $450 billion, to pay for the president's jobs plan. It would take effect not immediately. It would take effect in January of 2013 and it would be a 5.6 percent additional tax on income or earnings over $1 million.
Of course, this is what would pay for the jobs bill. Now, what we do know, and sort of the strategy behind what's going on here, we know from the president's top advisers that the president and Senate Democrats are hoping to sort of put forward this united Democratic front when it comes to jobs.
And this really opens the door for them to do this, Kyra, to kind of slam Republicans as protecting millionaires if they do not vote for this bill and we expect opposition. Republicans for their part, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kyra, saying on the Senate floor a short time ago that this is entirely political.
PHILLIPS: OK, Brianna Keilar from the White House, we will, once again, take that speech live as soon as it happens in about 48 minutes.
Speaking of the presidency, it looks like we won't be saying President Christie or President Palin anytime soon. Senior political editor Mark Preston with all the no news. Mark --
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, Kyra. Yes, you know, now it looks like the presidential field is set for the Republican nomination.
Last night, Sarah Palin finally said she decide not to run for president. She did it in a couple of interviews. One with Mark Levin who's a conservative radio host and of course, she did it on Fox News where she is a paid contributor.
She told not only Levin, but also Greta Van Susteren last night on Fox that she thought that she would be more effective helping others get elected to office. In fact, let's hear what she had to say on Fox.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: I concluded that I believe I can be an effective voice in a real decisive role in helping get true public servants elected to office. You don't need a title to make a difference in this country. I think that I am proof of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: And there you have Sarah Palin. She also talked about how she would not run as a third party candidate and she would back the eventual third party nominee. Her goal is, of course, knocking President Obama out of office in 2012.
So where does the race right now stand for the Republican presidential nomination? Well, let's take a quick look at the CNN polls, Kyra, it shows right now that Mitt Romney is on top, but he is closely followed by Herman Cain and Rick Perry.
Right now, still lots of turns and twist that could happen before the first voters in Iowa actually weigh in on the presidential nomination. Kyra --
PHILLIPS: We expect nothing less than all those twists and turns. That's what keeps it exciting, Mark.
PRESTON: No doubt about it. It makes it colorful.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Well, Bank of America's new debit fees have a lot of people pretty ticked off and the company's CEO, well, not really helping matters.
Christine Romans here with the details. Did he actually say people have to understand that they have to make a profit?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: He says his customers and his shareholders understand that they have the right to make a profit. I mean, in fact, in a capitalist society where you have shareholders who own a company, Kyra, it is the responsibility of a CEO to return a profit for shareholders.
And so far this year, Bank of America is in a little bit of trouble on that front. In fact, it's losing money. Quite frankly, its stock has been cut in half. So this CEO, Brian Moynihan, is under intense pressure from people who are invested in Bank of America to do something to turn its business around. Now, of course, the populist backlash to the fact that turning the business around includes a $5 for you to use your own money, to use your debit card, well, that's something that has caused a lot of outrage. This is what he had to say about it.
He says, I have an inherent duty as a CEO of a publicly owned company to get a return for my shareholders. He says, Kyra, that he is being transparent, that the company is giving its customers advance warning as they're required to, by the way, by law, giving them at least 30 days to know about this new fee and to modify their behavior to try to avoid this fee.
Don't forget, a lot of people are pointing out, as well, that bank of America is a publicly traded company. Credit unions are not. The 76 percent of credit unions do not have fees for checking and do not have fees for ATMs and debit cards if you use the network of the credit unions.
So you do have a choice. You have your choice with your behavior and that's a key point here. But you're right, the response from many people, the populist backlash about this fees are like, wait. He's suspending the fact that he's charging people to use their own money.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Christine Romans, thanks.
From a few hundred people in one city to thousands of people across the country, the "Occupy Wall Street" protests are growing. We're going to tell you who else is joining in, next.
And some NBA players are not hanging around for the lockout to end. Tony Parker is heading to France. That story in less than 10 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking stories cross country now, in New York, officers were seen swinging batons at "Occupy Wall Street" protesters. There were over two dozen arrests as activists descended on Manhattan.
At least one protester is accused of assaulting an officer. And the "Occupy Wall Street" protests are spreading across the country, although it was a far more subdued crowd in Seattle. Police there did arrest protesters who refused to remove their tents from the city park.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, hundreds of college students walked out of class to join the protests. Rising tuition costs and student loan debts are their main concern. Another demonstration is set for Raleigh Sunday afternoon.
Well, now lawmakers are trying to capitalize on this energy and anger within "Occupy Wall Street" and its movement, but for members of Congress like Democrat Charlie Rangel, not a lot of love for the masses.
Congressman Rangel is joining me live from Capitol Hill this morning. Sir, you got booed there. So how are you convincing protesters that your efforts are genuine?
REPRESENTATIVE CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Actually for those people that were there, it was the heckler that was being booed. They welcomed me and even if it was being me that booed, having said that, I think they have a lot of reason to boo everybody.
There's a lot of dissatisfaction, a lot of anger out there in the community and God knows the government and I'm part of government should be prepared to accept that.
I think this is the greatest thing that can happen to America where they're not going to let a handful of people take away their dream, their hope for the future.
I only wish that other people especially our spiritual leaders, our civic leaders could join and give some assistance in the terms of the direction that they could be going.
PHILLIPS: Well, here is my question. You know, you spoke on the House floor yesterday, saying that the protesters were, quote, "mad as hell."
And we even saw that protesters were tweeting you for help, saying, help us out, Congressman. However, you also voted in favor of the Wall Street bailout. It sounds like double talk. So where exactly do you stand?
RANGEL: Listen, we're not talking about bailout. We're talking about saving the country. I think the president did the best he could. It's not a vote that we look back on and say we shouldn't have taken it. It's a difficult, the fiscal crisis stood in a large pond if not wholly, to the fiscal community, to the bankers, to Wall Street.
And instead of them being indifferent and enjoying the most profits ever that a more handful of people have, they should be more sensitive in trying to help us. One of the biggest things that we have down here is the insane idea that the richest of the rich do not pay their fair share of taxes.
And so I don't want to get involved in past votes. What we have to do now is get America back to work and we have to make certain that the Congress becomes functional.
So if they boo me and boo the speaker and boo Republicans and Democrats, it's good for them. I just wish other people would join in to say that we're mad as hell and we're not taking it any more.
PHILLIPS: Well, speaking of joining in, you have presidential candidate Herman Cain now though sympathizing with the protesters. He actually told "The Wall Street Journal," and I'm quoting here, "if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself." Do you agree?
RANGEL: Well, let me tell you, this is not something that one politician -- this is America's dream. Nobody in this country just dreamed about getting rich. They just wanted to make certain that the possibility and the hope was there. With more and more people being lost from the middle class, which is the heart of our country, with the poverty world just exploding with kids and adults, we have to do something. It's not that this is the answer, the protesting.
It's just that Congress is locked in concrete for political reasons and that the Republicans just want to get rid of Obama even if it means losing the fiscal integrity of this great nation and these kids are out there. They're confused as to what they want to do, but they know that we're not getting a fair shake in America.
PHILLIPS: These are also kids that many of them out of work and just want jobs.
RANGEL: Well, I think you're right. I mean, a part of the American dream is working, self-esteem, being able to have health care and being able to have a job. So what's wrong with that?
There are a lot of people that don't have the wherewithal to get down there. That are wishing that they can get the attention and no, it's not just them. There are millions of people without work.
In the minority community, it's even worse. This is an economic -- maybe an inconvenience for the bankers, but it's a nightmare for people that have worked hard and find themselves hopeless and jobless.
PHILLIPS: And they're looking to people like you to help make a difference. Congressman Charlie Rangel, thanks for your time this morning.
RANGEL: Thank you for the opportunity, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet. U.S. track star gets the green light to run in the 2012 summer games. We're going to tell you about a change in the doping ban. Sports is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A big name in the NBA is not waiting for the lockout to end. CNN's Don Riddell in London with that story. So Don, Tony Parker packing up his bags and heading overseas.
DON RIDDELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The San Antonio Spurs guard, Tony Parker has arrived in France today where he's going to play for a team that he co-owns. They're called (inaudible) and they're based pretty close to Leon in the south of France.
It doesn't look at this point as though there's going to be much of an NBA season. We understand that if an agreement between the league's owners and players isn't reached by Monday, then we could lose a significant part of the season if not all of it.
And I'll tell you what I find really curious about this story, Kyra. It's being reported that Parker is going to play for less than $2,000 a month. This whole dispute in the NBA is regarding a salary cap. If all the players agree to pay for that kind of salary, then we would have an NBA season.
PHILLIPS: Wow. Well, another decision came down today and that was about the Olympics doping ban. Tell us about that.
RIDDELL: Yes. This is a great story. It's not a good story for clean athletes who think that former cheats should pay heavily for their crimes. Le Shawn Meritus, the 400-meter Olympic champion, he has just served a 21-month ban for steroid use.
So he's back and beating again, but under an international Olympic committee by law, he wouldn't have been allowed to compete at the next London Olympics. The IOC really wants to punish former cheats a bit more heavily than the world anti-doping agency.
But today, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has said that that ruling is unsustainable. So great news for La Shawn Meritus and for other athletes who served the ban and were ban from the Olympics maybe now they can compete in London, as well.
PHILLIPS: Don, good to see you. Thanks for weighing in. Well, if you don't have a job or if you're poor, Herman Cain says it's your own fault. Our "Political Buzz" panel weighs in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, "Political Buzz," your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock and playing today, Democratic National Committee Member Robert Zimmerman, founder and editor of Citizen Jane Politics, Patricia Murphy and CNN contributor, Will Cain.
First question, guys, Sarah Palin toyed with the idea of a presidential run for months, but now she's officially out. So what do you think? Who needs her endorsement the most, Robert?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEMBER: Well, now, actually, Sarah Palin actually becomes relevant politically. In 2010, we saw how critical her endorsements were in many key Republican races around the country.
Without question, Mitt Romney needs her support the most. He's weak with evangelicals and Tea Party activists. That's where her strengths are. I wonder what she's going to ask for in return.
PHILLIPS: Will?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Robert is exactly wrong, Kyra. Herman Cain needs Sarah Palin's support the most. Here's the deal. Tea Party support is floating on an ocean of indecision, attached itself to Michele Bachmann, and found that unappealing. Attached itself a while to Rick Perry, found that untenable.
And now, it's floating over to Herman Cain. You see him rising up in the polls. They know they don't want to patch themselves to Mitt Romney. So, it's looking for an alternative. And whoever can be the alternative to Mitt Romney is where that Tea Party support will coalesce. Right now, it looks like Herman Cain, if gets Palin who carries weight with the Tea Party, he gets her endorsement, he can be the option to Romney.
PHILLIPS: Patricia?
PATRICIA MURPHY, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: I actually -- I very much agree with Robert on this. This race for the Republicans is shaping up to be Mitt Romney and anybody but Mitt Romney. Sarah Palin really is a leader among anybody but Mitt Romney crowd. If she could throw her support behind Mitt Romney, he needs to start to unite this group at some point down the road.
He cannot compete in Iowa. He cannot compete in South Carolina without a block of conservatives.
It doesn't have to be the whole block. But it needs to be somebody. And we saw in the 2010 election, Sarah Palin not popular across the board, but incredibly popular even still with Republican voters. If Mitt Romney can get that support behind him, she could be a big help.
PHILLIPS: All right, guys. Herman Cain doesn't sympathize with the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters. Listen to what he told "The Wall Street Journal."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Don't blame Wall Street. Don't blame the banks. If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: How will this play with the 14 million unemployed Americans, Will?
CAIN: I have to say one thing about why Patricia and Robert are wrong in the last answer, because Mitt Romney can win without Sarah Palin's endorsement. Herman Cain and others cannot.
PHILLIPS: Will -- stick with the question, Will. Shame on you.
(CROSSTALK)
CAIN: Fourteen million Americans don't want to hear they're responsible for their own station in life. So, they won't like it. But do you want to know why Herman Cain is rising in the polls? Because he says stuff like this. He talks about self responsibility. You are responsible for your place in life.
PHILLIPS: Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Well, in answering this question, I can point out why Patricia was right in the first question and why Will has been wrong in both questions. OK? The reason -- the reason Will is wrong is because Herman Cain is not a credible candidate for president or for public office. I mean, oftentimes in the media, we mistake political buzz with political relevance. We mistake quotability with credibility.
I think in this case, Herman Cain's comments demonstrate why he's not credible. And let's also remember, these Wall Street protesters are not unique to our history. We saw them during the Gilded Age, during Theodore Roosevelt's time, of course, the Great Depression.
One last thought?
PHILLIPS: Go ahead.
CAIN: No.
ZIMMERMAN: OK. Very simply, if those of us who are doing well don't create opportunities to move people below us up, then we'll all be dragged down.
PHILLIPS: Patricia?
MURPHY: I just want to say that Robert does not get my time. I'm starting fresh. And I want to tell Will, he is half right on this. This is a message, as strange as it is for most people to hear, this is a message that it's your fault if you're unemployed, that really does resonate with Republicans who very much believe in individual responsibility. If you carry that to its most logical extreme, it's your fault if you're unemployed.
The problem for Republicans in general, though, is that they are starting to take the compassionate out of compassionate conservative, which was a huge message that helped George Bush win in 2000. And if they are starting to see a as the party that doesn't care about people, you won't get votes in the general election. It's a dangerous path to be going down for them.
PHILLIPS: All right. Your buzzer beater. Twenty seconds on each. But, as we know, Patricia, the guys will probably take another five to 10 seconds.
Steve Jobs --
MURPHY: We all know that.
PHILLIPS: Yes. As we know, Steve Jobs changed the world. What lessons can politicians learn from here -- Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Steve Jobs is so inspiring to me because he was fearless and because -- unlike today's culture where everything is focus grouped and tested, he went with his convictions and acted out of a sheer passion for his work. I think we could all learn a great lesson from that today.
We are so many people around the country engaging that way, farmers who are having a great year in agricultural take chances every year. I think that's the message to me.
PHILLIPS: Will?
CAIN: You know, Steve Jobs is a testimony to the innovative possibilities of a free market. And I just think politicians should think about that. It's not their job to innovate for us. It's not their job to set our economy. Look at what we can do as a free economy when we have no shackles. I'd say look at Steve Jobs as a beacon of what's possible.
PHILLIPS: Patricia?
MURPHY: I would say that Steve Jobs -- the lesson we can take from Steve Jobs, especially in Washington, is that you can't so he would solve old problems with old ideas. Anything you hear around Washington these days is an idea on the Republican side and the Democratic side that's been rattling around this town for 10, 20, 30, sometimes 40 years.
Steve Jobs identified problems and totally innovated his way to the solution. Washington needs to start coming up with new ideas and Steve Jobs is (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: If you haven't watched that commencement speech he gave to a Stanford grad, check it out on YouTube.
Guys, thanks so much.
MURPHY: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
President Obama is getting ready to speak at the White House. We're going to bring that to you live at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: I want to take you back to Monday and that controversial moment when Hank Williams Jr. appeared on "FOX and Friends." Remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANK WILLIAMS, JR., SINGER: Come on, come on. That would be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu, OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: As you can imagine, those statements comparing Obama to Hitler created quite a controversy.
Now, we're getting word from ESPN, officially coming out this with this statement regarding Hank Williams Jr. Here's what it says. We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of 'Monday Night Football' has always been about the game and that will continue." ESPN and Hank Williams Jr. officially parting ways.
We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So, how do those that cover the world of business view Steve Jobs and his legacy? Well, we asked them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is one of the most creative, tenacious, focused singular human beings that I've ever met.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Incredibly charismatic builder of products that people feel like they just have to have. And who does this better than anybody else? He has done it in our lifetime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Steve Jobs is Silicon Valley's greatest rock star. That's it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that what he has done will ever be repeated in our lifetime in many ways.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Innovative, extremely intelligent is obviously and understatement, and willing to take risks. I mean, I think a lot of companies try to do similar things that Apple did and failed and I don't think that ever deterred him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to know what the legacy of something like a Michael Dell will be. It's hard to know a little bit of what the legacy of Mark Zuckerberg will be.
But there's no question that we know what Steve Jobs' legacy will be. He's one of the greats. He's up there with Henry Ford and a handful of other iconic CEOs in the annals of American business.
STEVE JOBS, APPLE CO-FOUNDER AND CEO: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And coming up, the White House called a last-minute news conference. President Obama speaking at the top of the hour. Hear what he has to say about new taxes, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Stories making news later today:
Testimony resuming in the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial at 11:45 p.m. Eastern Time.
And then at 1:00 p.m. Eastern in Washington, Commander Mark Kelly formally retires from the U.S. Navy and NASA.
And at 3:00 p.m. Eastern at the White House, members of the U.S. women soccer team take part in a Let's Move soccer clinic hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama.
All right. We told you, at the top of the hour, the president was going to speak live.
Our Wolf Blitzer is joining us now from Washington, D.C., going to be talking about new taxes, Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He's going to be talking about jobs, jobs, jobs. We're not talking about Steve Jobs, although I suspect he might -- he may say something. He did issue a nice statement about Steve Jobs last night when we all learned that he passed away. But he may make reference at his opening statement to Steve Jobs, let's see if he does.
But he will be speaking a lot about the other jobs -- we're talking about jobs, the unemployment numbers, by the way, for September, Kyra, as you know, come out tomorrow morning. A lot of people are bracing for more bad news. We'll see how those numbers are at 8:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning.
But right now, the president has got his jobs proposal. That doesn't seem to be going anywhere, sort of delayed in the Senate, delayed in the House of Representatives. House Republican Leader Eric Cantor says he doesn't want to bring it up for a vote. Even if he were to bring it up for a vote, it almost certainly would fail.
So, the question is, is there some middle ground? Is the president going to come out at this news conference at the top of the hour swinging as he did in Texas the other day or is he going to be more statesman like and try to work with Republicans and see if there's a compromise in the works?
But a lot is at stake, as you know, Kyra, right now. We'll be covering it live.
PHILLIPS: He's talking more about that millionaire's surtax, too, as one of our sources was telling us about, Wolf. OK, great, we're on stand by with you. Just a couple minutes away. That does it for us.
We will take that live news conference as soon as the president steps up to the mike. And now, we'll go to live coverage with our Susan Malveaux and Wolf Blitzer right after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7 in Atlanta, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.
President Obama goes before reporters and cameras just minutes from now. He is holding a news conference. That is going to start at 11:00 a.m. Eastern.
My colleague Wolf Blitzer is with us from Washington with our live coverage.
Hey, Wolf. BLITZER: Hey. Good morning, Suzanne.
We're only nine minutes away from the president's news conference. The focus will certainly be on issue number one: the economy and jobs. We're going to get special insight from our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, our chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley. We have a lot to digest, a lot at stake, Suzanne, as you know, for the president right now.
MALVEAUX: All right. So, let's get started -- first with our White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar, who is in the East Room right now.
Brianna, tell us what is the one thing -- the main thing that we expect to hear from the president at the start of the news conference.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He'll be talking about jobs, Suzanne. He'll be urging Congress to pass his jobs bill in its entirety, as he's been doing for weeks since introducing his jobs plan, and he'll also be commending the Senate on taking action.
Last night, Senate Democrats introduced a bill that is very similar to what the president proposed in substance with the change on how the president's jobs plan is paid for. It includes what's called a millionaire's surtax. That's what it's being called by Democrats. And it's something that would tax the earnings over $1 million of Americans obviously earning quite a bit of money at a rate of 5.6 percent more than is already taxed.
So, it's very likely that President Obama is going to issue a full throated endorsement of that.
This really paves the way, Suzanne. We know that the president's top advisers said they wanted to create a unified Democratic front when it comes to jobs, and this paves the way for them to do that, to have congressional Democrats in the White House stand united and really skewer Republicans if they oppose this bill as supporting or really protecting millionaires. And that's something that we will expect to hear in the coming days.
For their part, Republicans saying this is entirely politics. That's something that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor a short time ago -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Brianna, thanks. We're going to get back to you very shortly.
I want to bring in our chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi, to talk about this idea of a millionaire's surtax.
So, Ali, we understand that the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, he says this is going to pay for the president's $447 billion jobs plan over the course of 10 years. First of all, do we think that it's going to work, that that statement is actually true? And how would it do that? How would it work? ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a little shifting of math because as you know, there was some discussion of increasing taxes on individuals who earned more than $200,000 or families who earned more than $250,000. But there's been a lot of pushback from senators and congressmen, from places like California, New York, New Jersey -- where they're saying the cost of living in these places is so high, that that doesn't constitute being a wealthy family.
So, they are more interested in taxing people on every dollar they make above $1 million. And our own CNN polling indicates a great deal of support for that across the country.
Basically, it would be a 5.6 percent tax on the first dollar you make above $1 million. It would take effect in 2013. And the math indicates that it would cover the cost of the president's job bills. You know very well, Suzanne, how these things are done. They put out a proposal, it gets scored and it gets sort of estimated to see whether it will work.
And there's a general feeling that the average Americans, middle class Americans bear too much of a tax burden and higher income Americans don't. So, it's some way of getting some traction back into this jobs bill, which as you know, and as Brianna said, at this point doesn't show any signs of life of passing the way it exists.
MALVEAUX: All right. Let's see if that's actually going to work and get things moving in Washington.
I want to throw it back to Wolf. Hey, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Suzanne. Thanks very much.
Certainly, the Republicans are watching all of this very, very closely, the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate, but especially the Republican presidential candidates.
Gloria Borger is here to assess what's going on.
They say what the president is doing simply class warfare at its worse, going after the jobs creators, making them pay more taxes, which in effect will reduce the opportunity for the creation of jobs. That's the argument we're going to hear from the Republicans.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: It's predictable. It's predictable on both sides. And I think what you see is a hardening of both sides' political positions as you head into the campaign.
And the Democrats believe they're on the side of the American public. Polls show that 75 percent of the public supports raising taxes on millionaires. So, like the so-called Buffett Rule, the millionaire surtax, allows the Democrats to say we're on the side of the middle class. And it's an argument they clearly want to have.
However, Wolf, it's not going to lead to any kind of resolution of how you come up with a deal in the supercommittee, how you fund the government and reduce the deficit. You know, this is just more of the same. And in the end, I think it could honestly back fire against both parties here.
BLITZER: Which President Obama do you think will show up to this news conference this morning in his opening statement?
BORGER: Hard to say.
BLITZER: Will it be the very feisty, fiery President Obama we've seen over the past few weeks out there on the campaign trail or the more statesman-like, higher road, presidential advocate of a compromise with the Republicans?
BORGER: He'll probably try and do a little bit of a combo platter here. But I honestly believe that the Senate Democrats have said to the president, you've got to fight, you've got to be with us. They didn't like his jobs bill because they didn't like the way he paid for certain things in it. They said this is our -- this is going to be our marker.
So what you're seeing now is people laying down their markers.
You heard the Speaker of the House John Boehner recently say no new taxes when he was talking about the supercommittee.
You've heard the president say you've got to spread the pain here a little bit. You've got to make the wealthy pay their share.
So, I think he's going to say, look, I want to get to a deal. Of course, I want to get to a deal. But you have to understand this is where I'm coming from.
BLITZER: Even while the president tries to get his jobs bill through the Senate and the House, and it's unlikely --
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: -- the way it is right now he's going to be able to do that. The House, Eric Cantor, the majority leader, doesn't even want to bring it up for a vote.
BORGER: I know.
BLITZER: In the Senate, they've got Democrats who are reluctant to support the president's jobs bill the way it is right now.
You have this super committee that's meeting largely behind closed doors right now. Not a whole lot of transparency right now. Maybe that will change in the coming weeks. They're supposed to come up with a $1.2 trillion cut over the next 10 years to try to deal with these budget deficits.
BORGER: You know, and they may be able to eke out a trillion dollars or so. But the big question is: are they going to pull the trigger and say, tax reform? We need to come up with a plan to reform the tax code, because if you do reform the tax code, Wolf, then you can get rid of those deductions for wealthier individuals and lower their top rates, and perhaps make a lot of people happy and believe that it's fair.
But the question is: A, will they propose it? B, could that possibly, possibly get through the Congress so close to an election?
The problem we have is that an election is fast approaching. And you're going to see the leadership in Congress kind of pass the baton to the Republican presidential candidate and the Republican presidential candidates are going to take a much more hard line position on lots of things than some leaders in the Congress will on the Republican side because they're running to beat Barack Obama. So, it's a very difficult situation right now in terms of getting anything done.
BLITZER: All right. Gloria, stand by. We're going to watch and assess what the president of the United States says. You're looking at live pictures of the East Room.
Suzanne, like me, you're a former White House correspondent, you know what those reporters are going through right now. They're all waiting for the president's opening statement. Then the president will start calling -- he's got a list of reporters he's going to call on and they're trying to frame their question in the most precise way knowing that -- they have a question and usually a follow-up question.
So, I don't know how you feel, but you probably would have liked to have been in one of those front rows, right now getting ready for a question to the president.
MALVEAUX: It's nothing like that moment actually when you're standing in the East Room and looking at all of your colleagues watching you go live and you're all kind of crammed in that space there -- so you got to talk over the person right next to me.
But I know our Brianna Keilar -- she is sitting down in that room because we have the two-minute warning. Within two minutes, the president will come before the microphone there. We're now being told it's about 30 seconds away.
One of the things that I'm curious to find is he's going to sign on too this millionaire tax. When is that actually going to take effect?
I understand the negotiations behind the scenes is going to be 2013 as opposed to 2012. Very important when it comes to the timing of all this. What is he going to be able to sell his plan here? How is he going to be able to sell his plan? We know that he's going to try to paint the Republicans as the ones who are defending the rich and the millionaires.
Let's see how he makes his case.
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