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103,000 Jobs Added in September; Obama, Senate Democrats Meet This Hour; "Occupy Wall Street" Goes Nationwide; Romney's Major Foreign Policy Speech; Giffords Attends Husband's Retirement; Shakira Appointed to Obama Commission; "The Simpsons" Series in Jeopardy; Three Women Share Nobel Peace Prize; Fed Loan Program Head Resigns
Aired October 07, 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: Well, this hour, President Obama meets with Senate Democrats and he'll probably talk about the issue the whole country is talking about -- jobs. The White House got better than expected news on that front, too. The Labor Department says that 103,000 job was added last month -- better than experts predicted. But the unemployment rate is still 9.1 percent.
And it probably won't slow down the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. It's going into its fourth week and it's spreading across the country.
We're talking about all of this with CNN's Brianna Keilar, Christine Romans and Carol Costello. Christine, let's go ahead and start with you. Let's talk about these numbers and what it actually says about the economy today.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They're not terrible and that's good. How's that? One hundred three thousand jobs created, as you pointed out, leaves the unemployment rate at 1.9 percent. So basically, what economists are telling me this morning is that it's not recessionary.
It doesn't look like this in a recession, but it's not good enough to bring down the unemployment rate, 103,000 jobs added. August was revised. Remember the big zero job creation in August became a political touchstone in Washington that was revised up to 57,000 and in July, that number revised upward as well to 127,000.
What sectors in the economy were adding jobs, the private sector, professional and business services. We saw jobs added there. Also temporary workers, that has been consistent since the recession ended. Companies are much more likely to step in and temporarily pull in a worker rather than hire somebody full-time.
Health care, we saw health care jobs gained, commercial construction and mining. Two places, Kyra, I wanted to point out where there are forecasts for job creation to continue. One of them is retail, holiday hiring around the cusp of that. Macy's, Toys R Us are hiring.
But when you look at the overall picture, retail jobs are one of the fastest growing parts of the economy. You're not going to put a kid to college though, $25,000 a year. But for right now, there are these jobs in retail. A bigger, perhaps better job to put yourself into for the longer term, this is just one of eight or nine different categories that are moving forward, accounting. There is demand for accountants right now. You can see the pay is better than the national average.
It requires a bachelor's degree, lots of different accounting jobs around the country. That's just another area where there is some growth. We're going to tweet about five or six more categories where we're seeing jobs grow. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Christine, thanks. Brianna Keilar is over at the White House. Brianna, tell us about this meeting the president has with Senate Democrats this hour.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He'll be meeting with top Senate Democrats, Kyra. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as well as Dick Durbin and Patty Murray, other senators in the Democratic leadership and they'll be talking about the strategy moving forward on the jobs bill.
The Senate will be taking this up next week. Right now, they're expected to vote on it on Tuesday, and what we've seen here in the last couple of days, the White House and congressional Democrats, I should tell you there's actually a protest -- that's what you hear.
Just you know that's what's going on outside the White House right now, but we've seen them poised to make this argument as they come to agreement on this millionaire's surtax that would increase taxes only on people earning $1 million or more.
That they're sort of trying to create this united front, because Republicans generally oppose this bill, especially the way it's paid for, Kyra, and will make the argument that if you're not voting for this bill with us, well, then you're trying to protect millionaires.
And that's really the fight that is set up as you have Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell arguing that this is a bad time to raise taxes on anyone because the economy is so fragile -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, we'll talk more about those protesters that are right close to you in just a second. Brianna, thanks so much. The better than expected news from the Labor Department probably won't slow down the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. It's entering its fourth week now and if it hasn't already reached your town, just wait. Carol Costello reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It started out as a joke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are they not like the Tea Party? All right, some of them, you know, smoke, and have pants made out of pot. Call them the THC Party.
COSTELLO: Now it's swelled into a nationwide movement, mostly peaceful, but certainly PO'd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got sold out.
COSTELLO: And ready to eat the rich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is like an R.P. performance piece, the corporate zombie march.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I see the money hanging out there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the breakfast.
COSTELLO: From 1,000 protesters on Wall Street, it has gained momentum and spread to tens of hundreds of people from New York to Los Angeles and dozens of cities in between, even across borders and oceans. The people are angry that they're running second place to profits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want jobs. We want jobs and we want them now.
COSTELLO: That their quality of life has plunged while the rich get super rich and the taxpayers bail them out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politicians can be bought. Political influence can be bought through political donations.
COSTELLO: In Los Angeles, protesters took over a Bank of America and were arrested. And in Philly, thousands broke out in their battle cry. We are the 99 percent. It has some big wigs on Wall Street looking out their windows, and now the White House is paying attention.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Obviously, I've heard of it. I've seen it on television. I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the great depression. And that's going to express itself politically in 2012 and beyond until people feel like once again we're getting back to some old-fashioned American values.
COSTELLO: Still getting organized isn't easy and it's too early to say whether these protesters will become a political force, a Tea Party from the left. Same frustrations from the other side, but there's plenty of time until next November.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 24/7, if necessary, 365. We're planning on snow. We're planning on summer heat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right. So Carol, you mentioned some people think this is basically a Tea Party for the left, and you just heard Brianna's live shot just prior to you, the protesters outside the White House now.
COSTELLO: That's right. They're still there. To become a real political movement, a political movement powerful enough to put candidates in office, let's say in Congress or even in the White House, you kind of need money to back you up, and you need one charismatic leader, one person that can speak to one cause. That's what you need to become a powerful political movement.
The most important factor in that, of course, is the money. Now, to influence politicians, maybe all do you need are numbers and they certainly have that. These movements are spreading throughout the country. They are loud, and as you heard, they're not going to stop, and politicians are now starting to listen.
PHILLIPS: We'll follow and see exactly where they extend to and how big they get. Carol Costello out of New York. Carol, thanks.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivers his first major foreign policy address in just about 35 minutes. He's going to speak at the Citadel in South Carolina.
CNN political producer Shawna Shepherd is here with a preview. So Shawna, what can we expect?
SHAWNA SHEPHERD, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes, Kyra. Governor Mitt Romney is coming to South Carolina to deliver his first reform foreign policy speech of his campaign. He's chosen the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina, to deliver this speech.
And he'll be laying out his vision for what he's calling an American century. He is going to be pushing a strong economic and military footing for the -- to increase -- to improve the military spending and -- increase military spending. Lay out key actions he will implement in this first 100 days in office -- expanding the United States war ships fleet.
PHILLIPS: Shawna, I apologize. We're having an issue with your mic. We will try and get that fixed. Shawna Shepherd will get back to you if indeed we can get a better connection.
I'm so sorry, but we will let you know once again once Romney does begin speaking. That address is set for 10:45 Eastern. We will bring it to you live. Take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking stories cross country now, a town of 800 in Illinois is evacuating after a fiery train accident overnight. Train cars carrying ethanol overturned and exploded. (Inaudible) team is on the scene now. No reports of injuries at this time.
And in Washington, wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords congratulated her husband, Commander Mark Kelly at his formal retirement ceremony yesterday. The couple plan on releasing a jointly written memoir that comes out November 15th.
And in Eastern Ohio, the sheriff's department is investigating a string of home invasions targeting the Amish community. The attacks are apparently by other Amish members who are cutting off the beards and hair of their victims.
Political fight in Florida goes national now. Drawing in most of the Republican presidential field, Joe Johns connects the dots between a decades' old drug charge and a dying TV debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a Miami Vice crime story that goes all the way back to when Marco Rubio was 16 years old. At that time, Rubio's older sister married a guy who got arrested by the police on a drug charge.
And Rubio who would one day become a Republican senator from Florida and darling of the Tea Party had nothing to do with it at all. Fast- forward to this past July when Univision, the powerful Spanish language television network found out about the arrest of Rubio's brother-in-law so many years ago and put an investigative story about the air on it.
That would have been the end of it except for one thing, friends of Rubio told the "Miami Herald" newspaper that prior to airing it, an executive from Univision had suggested the story might be altered or even dropped if Rubio agreed to do an interview on Univision, which Rubio supporters are calling an improper media pro quo.
The "Herald" says it printed the story after speaking with unnamed Univision insiders and what the newspaper calls people in the know who corroborated claims that a top Univision executive made the offer.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVID RIVERA (R), FLORIDA: Well, first of all, we thought it was offensive and unacceptable for a national media organization like Univision to try to secure an interview with United States Senator Marco Rubio by exchanging some sort of agreement whereby they wouldn't air a report about a family member of his. We wanted to make sure there were consequences to those tactics that were utilized by Univision.
JOHNS: Univision categorically denies this. In a statement it said, we would never make such an offer with any protagonist in a news report and we did not make an offer in this case. We had various participants in the call to the Senator Rubio's office that included our principle internal attorneys.
Whatever the truth of it, the story has taken on a life of its own. Congressman David Rivera and others asked Republican presidential candidates not to participate in a Univision presidential debate. And most of the candidates have already agreed.
Ana Navarro is a friend of Rubio's who also worked with the president's campaign of Jon Huntsman.
ANA NAVARRO, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: What we want is a resolution to this issue. The presidential candidates don't want to be in the middle of the drama. They want this issue resolved.
(END VIDEOTAPE) JOHN: Those candidates saying they wouldn't do a Univision debate include Romney, Perry, Huntsman, Cain, Bachmann and now Gingrich. Republicans we talked to disagree whether it's the tactics or the story that irks them most. But some are demanding an apology from Univision for starters. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
PHILLIPS: Well, one of the most popular singers in the world joining the Obama administration. Yes, normally you know her for her swinging hips and beautiful voice. This is a totally different side to the international pop superstar.
And Don Larsen's perfect game in the World Series never before seen pictures of the never repeated historic feat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the world knows Shakira for her singing and her trademark hip shaking. But now you're about to see a new side of the international pop super star that's bringing "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" A.J. Hammer for details. A.J., tell us about a request from the Obama administration.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes, Kyra, this is pretty cool. The president has actually asked the Colombian-born Grammy winner to be a part of his Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for Hispanics.
Shakira herself has devoted a lot of her own time and a lot of her own money to expanding education in the U.S., even setting up schools in developing countries. This is one of four new members joining Obama's group, which was established last year.
It's part of a broader White House initiative to improve education in the Hispanic community. She's already visited the White House in her new role and she posted her first blog on whitehouse.gov.
In that she says, she wants to focus on early childhood development. Let me read a bit of what she writes on that, as I have discussed with President Obama, I'm extremely passionate about working with the White House to plan an early childhood education summit in the coming year. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized.
It's so great to see her getting involved at this level, Kyra. She is someone who truly can help reach people and make a difference.
PHILLIPS: That's true and the end of the wire. The negotiations keep "The Simpsons" on the air.
HAMMER: Yes, we can't let this happen. Here's what we're hearing. Today is d-day as in decision day on the future of "The Simpsons." Now therap.com is reporting the show's six voice actors have been asked to decide by today whether they'll agree to have their pay cut almost in half.
Now the studio, which produces the show, that's 20th Century Fox TV, they say that they are ready to end the show for good because it's just become too expensive for them to produce.
Now the "Daily Beast" is reporting the actors make around $8 million a piece each season to voice the characters. Fox wants them to take a 45 percent pay cut. The actors have reportedly agreed take a major slash in salary, not quite 45 percent.
But they're asking for a big cut of the back end profits, you know, the DVD sales, syndication, sales of Simpson paraphernalia, there's so much money out there.
Of course, the studio, Kyra, doesn't want to give up that cash cow. So we're waiting word on whether after nearly a quarter century on TV, we could actually be saying goodbye for good to the brand new episodes of the granddaddy of all animated comedies over a money dispute, Kyra. That's not the way I want to see the show end.
PHILLIPS: I know. One of your favorites. All right, stay tuned. We will monitor it.
Now something else we've been watching very closely. Our own Nancy Grace, just hanging in there with "Dancing with the Stars." Right?
HAMMER: Yes, she is. I've got to tell you, I've had a terrific week hanging out here in Los Angeles, particularly because I got to spend a lot of time at "Dancing with the Stars," but it got even better yesterday.
I actually went down to visit Nancy at her rehearsal studio. She's working very hard. She is so focused. She aActually agreed to try to teach me a few moves. Let's watch what she got on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: What do I do? Grrr, I just got a grrr. Yes, ma'am.
NANCY GRACE: Follow me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: All right, Kyra. You're going to have to tune in to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN to see exactly how this goes. It's a good thing. Let me tell you this.
Let me just tell you this, if I was picked for "Dancing with the Stars," I would have been out week one. No question about it. I can't do it. I'm so shocked that she's so good at it, because she says she has no experience with it at all.
And I'm watching her there in the rehearsal so focused as Nancy always is about everything, getting the moves down. It's no surprise she's lasted as long as she has.
PHILLIPS: You got a Grrr there. So you've got the best coach possible. The sexy A.J. Hammer, OK. He's going to learn how to move as well with our Nancy Grace. Well, stay tuned. You could be next, A.J. He's saying, no. Well, if you want everything breaking in the entertainment world and possibly maybe A.J. Hammer, "Dancing with the Stars," every night, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. on HLN.
Well, a jury in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor could soon hear the police interview with Dr. Conrad Murray, but much of yesterday's testimony centered on drugs found in the singer's blood -- or in the bedroom, rather. CNN's Ted Rowlands reports.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're expecting there's a good chance that some point on Friday we'll hear an audiotape of a conversation that Dr. Conrad Murray had with investigators just two days after Michael Jackson died.
Before that, the prosecution will finish with a toxicology expert who was on the stand when court adjourned on Thursday. Before he was on the stand, the defense grilled on cross-examination a crime scene investigator from the coroner's office accusing her of doing a sloppy job in those initial, crucial, few hours searching that house of Michael Jackson after he died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you agree with me that you made substantial number of mistakes in your investigation of this case?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Following a grueling cross-examination, Prosecutor David Walgren tried to rehabilitate his witness. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever conducted a perfect crime scene investigation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you done your best to be as truthful and accurate as far as the role you played in this case, the observations you made and the items of evidence that you recovered?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: The toxicology expert detailed for the jury what Michael Jackson had in his system, all of the drugs, seven in all, but specifically and most important to this case, Propofol and Lorazepam.
The defense during cross-examination was able to establish that the levels of Propofol and Lorazepam were higher than what Dr. Conrad Murray said he gave Jackson, which will help their theory down the line. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles. PHILLIPS: Stocks are attempting to keep up the momentum following that better than expected September jobs report. Alison Kosik, a little bit of good news this morning.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: A little bit of good news and you've got investors focusing on the positive, Kyra. We got that monthly jobs reading showing that 103,000 positions were added last month.
That almost doubles some of the lower expectations and then you go ahead and factor in that August was revised from zero jobs up to 57,000. This is positive news here, but I want to put it in perspective for you.
The gains are still relatively weak in terms of what's need to bring down unemployment rate. But, you know what, they're good enough to calm the fear that we could be headed for another recession, at least calming those fears for one day -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So do you think we can keep this rally going then?
KOSIKS: You know, a lot of traders that I've been talking to say the overall mood is still very bearish, and one solid report, quite frankly, does not a trend make. Stocks have had a decent run-up lately with some big moves. The Dow has moved higher or lower by triple digits for nine straight days. Only three of those moves were to the down side. But listen, there's a wild card in all this, the European debt situation.
Investors want less talking and more action. So until bigger steps are made over in Europe, it's likely that any gains we see will be due to investors' kind of hedging their bets rather than actual optimism. So you really still seeing Europe being the bigger driver in market moves -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, Alison Kosik from the New York Stock Exchange. Alison, thanks.
Still ahead, remember that spicy picture of Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown for "Cosmo." It's back in the headlines and our "Political Buzz" panel is going to weigh in on all the new drama it's causing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now, Pakistani commission seeking treason charges against a doctor suspected of helping the CIA target Osama Bin Laden. The U.S. has been calling on Pakistan to free that detained doctor.
The Nobel Peace Prize announced this morning. The honor shared by three women, president of Liberia, an activist in her country and another human rights activist from Yemen.
And the man in charge of the program that gave federal loan guarantees to Solyndra has resigned. Taxpayers are now on the hook for half billion dollars after the solar panel maker went bankrupt.
All right. Hitting the campaign trail, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and he's going to be delivering his first major foreign policy address in just a few minutes. He's going to speak right there at the Citadel, the military college in South Carolina.
Yesterday Romney announced a team of foreign policy and national security advisers including some Bush administration vets like former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. It is set to start about 10:45 Eastern Time and we will bring it to you live.
A "Political Buzz," your rapid fire look at best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock and playing today, CNN contributor, Maria Cardona, CNN contributor Will Cain and also CNN contributor and talk show radio host, Dana Loesch.
All right, guys, first question, Dana, you actually tweeted this last night. It said, it makes sense to me to spend three years protesting Obamacare and then support the original architect who defends it still. Not a lot of love for Romney. Should the Republicans get behind him, the candidate? Dana?
DANA LOESCH, BLOGGER, TALK RADIO HOST, "THE DANA SHOW": I think if they want an epic battle that will overshadow anything that we ever saw in New York's 23rd District with Scuzz Fobba and Hoffman, if that's the candidate they want to get behind, by all means do so and go ahead and write the epitaph for the tombstone for your party.
I just don't think he's the candidate. I don't think that he's the only one who can raise money. I don't think that he has a conservative record and I don't think that you can get conservative grass roots who have kept this Republican Party alive for three years to get behind someone who I think is Democrat-like.
So, no, I'm sure he's a great guy, and he has nice hair, but he's just not my candidate.
PHILLIPS: We'll get to nice hair, Will, in just a second. But Maria, you go ahead and take it from here.
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I don't think so, not yet, Kyra, because not Dana, not Will, not you, not me, we are not the ones who are going to decide overall who the candidate is. It's going to be up to the -- all the voters who are going to vote in the primary process. That's what the primary process was about.
How many times have we been on the show talking about Romney the frontrunner, then Bachmann, the one who surged. Now it's Cain, the one who is surging. Perry was a frontrunner for a while, now he has fallen back. So that's what this process is about. There's still a lot of time left.
PHILLIPS: Will?
WILL CAIN, COLUMNIST, AT THEBLAZE.COM: Let me see if I can move, Dana, from zero sense to some amount of sense that Mitt Romney might make. You decide on the percentage.
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: Early on Mitt Romney being the architect of Obamacare was a deal-killer for me. It was DOA. But philosophically, while it's a problem philosophically that he created this, it suggests he has an odd relationship or thinks in odd relation between the government and its constituents, I think he's explained it through the most conservative -- one of the most conservative principles there are, and that's federalism.
This is exactly what states are for. To experiment. But he wouldn't see it on the federal level. Sp I think that Mitt Romney -- we shouldn't totally dismiss him because of the Obamacare, being the Obamacare architect.
PHILLIPS: All right, guys, question number two. Occupy -- I know, all right, Dana, hold on. You guys are going to have to take this off-air. "Occupy Wall Street" now. We're talking about the protesters there putting blame for economic mess on both Republicans and Democrats. So is there an "Occupy Wall Street" candidate they could vote for? Maria?
CARDONA: Well, certainly not anybody -- not anybody right now in the GOP, because we have seen time and again that they are exactly what the leadership -- the GOP leadership in Washington is about, which is protecting the 1 percent of the rich. Big corporations who have enjoyed tax subsidies and they have done absolutely nothing and won't do anything to protect the middle class and protect workers.
But if I were to choose a candidate that's outside of the political realm it should be Zacarias Manuel de la Rocha, the front man and singer for Rage Against the Machine with Willie Nelson as the VP.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. OK. Uh-oh, Dana is rolling her eyes. Will --
LOESCH: Every song is played with the wah pedal. I play guitar poorly, and I'm just -- always offended that they abuse the same effects pedal in every single song.
Yes, you know what, the "Occupy Wall Street," they do have a candidate. They have a ton of videos that are online where they talk about voting for hope and change, Barack Obama again. But Barack Obama is the Wall Street president. He more so than any other president in history has received more money from Goldman Sachs, from JPMorgan, from all of those exact same companies and banks that the "Occupy Wall Street" folks are out there protesting against, at the same time they drive home with their cars that say "Hope and Change 2012" bumper stickers on the back.
So that is their candidate. They have their candidate in office, and they're raging against the machine while being pogs in the machine.
PHILLIPS: Will? CAIN: No, I don't think they have a candidate. Look, it's -- I want to be able to dismiss "Occupy Wall Street," and it's impossible to do that. It's also impossible to support it, because there's no coherent message that I can find. Is it against capitalism? Is it against banks?
If they had a message we could talk about who that candidate might be. But until they define that message, the best candidates are all the celebrity spokesman they managed to gather who also give you irrational, incoherent messages.
PHILLIPS: OK, guys, your "Buzzer-Beater" now, 20 seconds each. We're going to queue up the Rage Against the Machine. We'll get back to that in just a minute.
Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren brings this picture of Scott Brown back into the news. He reminds us that it was a "Cosmo" shoot that paid for college. Warren says she kept her clothes on. Brown says, thank god.
All right, guys, what did you do to come up with tuition money? I'm starting with Will on this one.
CAIN: I wish I had a fun answer for you. I mean, I could play the card where I worked and play that up, but Kyra, I didn't work that much, to be honest. I worked a little bit. My parents paid for college. How different does that make me? "Occupy Wall Street" can hate me for that.
PHILLIPS: Now Maria and Dana, you know, he played water polo. So you know he had a Speedo on at some point.
CAIN: They're Googling. Yes, they're Googling.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: Got a pull up a picture of that.
PHILLIPS: Maria?
CARDONA: Well, my father actually had to sell empanadas things in Colombia to pay for his school and his college, and he swore that that would not happen to us, and so he brought the family here.
Gracias, poppy.
We were not -- we were not -- we didn't have to pay for college, thankfully, but I do think that it is something that everybody needs to think about, and I don't begrudge actually Scott Brown doing this. So --
PHILLIPS: Dana?
LOESCH: Yes. I don't begrudge Scott Brown doing this either. I mean it's not like he was in -- you know, "Hustler" or something like that. It was in "Cosmo," for crying out loud. So --
CAIN: Do you begrudge him that?
(LAUGHTER)
LOESCH: I paid my way into college with writing scholarships and my parents helped and I worked and I wish that I had a sugardaddy that would have paid my way. I was still Democrat at the time so I believed in it. But that's how I did it. Scott Brown took the easy way out. He had the "Cosmo" spread.
PHILLIPS: OK. So here's the highlights. We've got to find a sugardaddy for Dana, we want to see Will in a Speedo, and Maria, I want poppy's recipe for empanadas. And there we go, we're all set.
CARDONA: There you go. Absolutely.
CAIN: Way to tie together.
(LAUGHTER)
CARDONA: And Rage Against the Machine, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
CARDONA: Rage Against the Machine.
PHILLIPS: I shall not forget.
LOESCH: Yes, can we give them a different sex cuddle -- unity.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: All right.
Well, the baseball post season is already shining with a lot of highlights but nothing like Don Larsen's perfect game. We've got the never-before-seen pictures of the World Series masterpiece next.
Also ahead, Republican Mitt Romney goes on record laying out his vision for U.S. foreign policy. He's set to deliver a major address at the Citadel in about 10 minutes. We'll take you there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Republican Mitt Romney going on record laying out his vision for U.S. foreign policy. He's getting set to deliver a major address here at the Citadel in South Carolina in just a few minutes. As soon as he begins we will take it live.
Detroit Tigers moving on in baseball's playoffs and the New York Yankees are going home. First inning at Yankee Stadium last night, the Tigers' Don Kelly hits a homer. But don't think it stops there. Next batter up, Dellman Young out into the stands, back-to-back homeruns. Detroit beats the Yankees 3-2. Well, some may have gotten their groove back but not Tiger. To the Frys.com Open in California, Tiger Woods called it one of his worst putting rounds ever, and it was. He finishes 2 over par and today tees off six strokes off the lead. Probably going to miss the cut.
And then opening night in the NHL. The Boston Bruins raising the Stanley Cup banner before their game with Philly, but the fliers spoil the party. Two goals in the last minute of the first period. Claude Giroux scores the power play gold, and Jake Voracek gets the loose puck in front of the net and sends it home. The Flyers went 2-1.
Scotty, did I get those hockey player names right? Fantastic.
All right. And we had a fantastic finish to the Major League regular season as you know, and we already have an amazing postseason in progress. And that got us thinking about baseball's greatest moments during the playoffs. You know, times like Reggie Jackson's Mr. October performances and that 1954 catch by Willie Mays, but this morning, we're talking about this moment.
This postseason gem. Don Larsen's perfect game. The unexpected never repeated World Series perfect game. Now, the never-before-seen photos.
Ben Cosgrove, deputy editor at LIFE.com has the stories behind the pics.
So, Ben, the game happened 55 years ago. Why do you think people are still talking about this? Besides the fact that it's historic?
(LAUGHTER)
BEN COSGROVE, DEPUTY EDITOR, LIFE.COM: Well, I mean, it's an n incredible thing to think about this relatively average pitcher hurling the only no-hitter in World Series history. Not only a no- hitter but a perfect game. There's only been one other no-hitter in all of post season history, and that was last year with Roy Halladay, but the idea of this journeyman pitcher for the New York Yankees, who played for many teams during his career, throwing an absolute gem in the World Series against a mighty, very talented, powerful Brooklyn Dodgers team is just extraordinary.
PHILLIPS: And so what led you to dig through the archives?
COSGROVE: Well, let me give you a little thumbnail sketch of LIFE.com and how these pictures sort of came to light. We're a unique Web site in that we're a partnership with Getty Images so we have contemporary photographers coming in from all over the world literally minute by minute from Getty's photographers in Europe and Asia and Latin America, everywhere.
And down on Wall Street and everywhere else but we also have access to "LIFE" magazine's unparalled archive of some of the greatest photographs from the 20th century by some of the greatest photographers of the last 100 years many of whom were staff for "LIFE" so when we have a large sort of significant anniversary coming up, whether it's news or science or Hollywood --
PHILLIPS: Sports like right now.
COSGROVE: Sports. We look for some sort of peg and we dig into the archives for something that will -- you know, just in context and perspective to what's happening now. So we're in the middle of a very -- we're in a middle of a very exciting postseason. We figured Don Larsen's perfect game 55 years ago tomorrow, so we started digging through the archives and came up with some really astonishing photographs that have never seen -- never seen the light of day.
PHILLIPS: And I want to pull out one of your favorites before we go. And we just saw it. Maybe we can get the full screen. There we go.
COSGROVE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Don Larsen talking with this usher at Evetts Field. There's a story behind this, right? Why is this your favorite?
COSGROVE: Well, I love this picture for a number of reasons. One is because here's this fellow, the usher, who is just a working man in Brooklyn who has a chance to have a couple of moments with suddenly the most famous ball player in the world. And he's probably a lifetime Brooklyn fan, but he's talking to this now suddenly famous Yankee, who threw a no-hitter against the Dodgers the day before.
This is the day after -- right before game six, by the way.
But I love this shot because I mean just the tilt of the guy's hat. The sort of rye look on this face. The fellows in the background who are checking out Larsen and their colleague during this conversation. It's just sort of a very warm, relaxed picture. But it has a really energy to it and it just says to me baseball in the 1950s in New York.
PHILLIPS: Ben, thanks so much. By the way, who are you rooting for? Who's your team in the playoffs?
COSGROVE: Cardinals.
PHILLIPS: Cardinals. OK. We'll keep a close eye. Ben, thanks.
COSGROVE: Thanks. All right.
PHILLIPS: Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney poised to distance himself from his rivals in just a few minutes. He's going to deliver a major foreign policy address. We'll talk about it with our Wolf Blitzer right after the break.
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PHILLIPS: All right, just a few moments, Republican Mitt Romney will put the spotlight on U.S. foreign policy. He's going to do it right here at the Citadel and is expected to outline his plan for what he says will be a stronger America.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer is watching it all with us. So, Wolf, we know Mitt Romney is definitely focused on jobs. We are talking about the fact that he laid out his foreign policy leaders, who he would like, yesterday. Is this a weak point for him?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he's going to think it's a strong point that he's trying to differentiate himself, Kyra, from the president of United States on national security, on foreign policy, on U.S. -- the U.S. international relationship, if you will, and he's going to go after President Obama on several key issues.
He's going to accuse the president of having apologized for the United States over the past 2 1/2 nearly 3 years when he goes around the world. He's going to say that would never happen in a Romney administration. He's going to accuse the president of supporting massive Pentagon defense spending cuts. He says that would never happen in a Mitt Romney administration.
He's got a lot of these issues that he's going to go forward with and try to distinguish himself from the current president of the United States. And I think to a certain degree, he's also going to try to distinguish himself from some of his Republican rivals, whether Rick Perry, certainly he'll go -- he'll make it clear without mentioning any name.
I doubt if he'll mention Ron Paul's name but he'll make it clear he doesn't support any type of U.S. isolationist policy. As you know, Ron Paul singularly among all of the Republican candidates would not only immediately withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan but shut down U.S. military bases around the world in Germany, in Korea, and elsewhere and bring those troops germ mi, Korea and elsewhere and bring all the troops home and certainly Mitt Romney doesn't support anything along those lines.
So we'll hear some differences with the president. We'll also hear some differences with some of his Republican rivals.
PHILLIPS: So let's talk about some of those specifics. I know you and I both have been looking at the same excerpts from his speech. What stands out to you, Wolf?
BLITZER: Well, this whole notion that the president of the United States is ready to see America as a second tier power, not the world's super power, not the leader of the free world, which is something, of course, the president will strongly reject.
This notion that he wants to make it clear that this new century is America's century, and he'll accept nothing short of America, not only being the economic leader of the world, but the military leader of the world, the leader of all the free nations, and he'll really go after the president on that.
I think he'll be referring to some of the speeches that the president made earlier on in his administration when he went around the world and gave some speeches. Some interpreted that as apologizing for some national security policies of the Bush administration, for example, torture. The allegation that the U.S. engaged in torture. Some of the abuses that we all saw in Iraq, for example. So this Republican candidate is going to go after the president on some of those specific issues, and it will be interesting, Kyra, to see how far he goes.
PHILLIPS: And let's talk about why the Citadel. I mean the obvious is these are young, up and coming members of the military, and he indeed wants their support.
BLITZER: It's a military academy. It's a college, obviously.
Look, I'm a political reporter, and I love covering politics. Why the Citadel? Because it's in Charleston, South Carolina. And you know if you take a look at that calendar, South Carolina's going to have an important primary early on, and there's no doubt that South Carolina is a state where Mitt Romney's got to do a lot better.
He'll do fine in New Hampshire. I'll probably even do fine in Florida, relatively speaking. Iowa could be a problem for him. Iowa could be a problem for him. South Carolina could be a problem for him. He's trying to establish himself in South Carolina. He's going to need South Carolina.
Let's assume he doesn't win in Iowa. He does win in New Hampshire, almost certainly he will in New Hampshire. He practically lives there. He's from the neighboring state of Massachusetts. Got a home in New Hampshire now, but South Carolina will be very, very important, and I think that's one of the reasons he selected South Carolina to give this first major national security speech of his campaign.
PHILLIPS: Well, and you're talking about the politics there of the area. Also if you're looking ahead to the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, in particular Afghanistan. I mean here we are, Wolf, it's been 10 years since that war was launched. A number of these young men probably wondering, OK, with the transition going on, am I going to be sent in country?
Could we hear Mitt Romney discuss about the transition? Obama's views on the war in Afghanistan, the number of troops starting to pull out, et cetera, and that these guys may be the ones to go in?
BLITZER: Yes, well, you know -- I think it's fair to assume that some of these cadets, some of these graduates from the Citadel, once they become active duty, military personnel, they will wind up in Afghanistan. Probably won't line up in Iraq, because by the end of this year almost all U.S. troops are supposed to be out of Iraq except for some that will be left behind for training if there's a new agreement with the Iraqi government. Maybe 3,000 or 5,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq.
That's still a work in progress, as you know, Kyra. No final agreement between the U.S. and Iraq on that. But in Afghanistan, there are still 100,000 U.S. troops and they're going to remain for at least another three years under this current timetable. They're not supposed to pull out until the end of 2014. So you got 2012, 2013, 2014 plus the rest of this year. And it's unclear how quickly that withdrawal could be. So if you believe that this current timetable that President Obama has signed off on, you can almost be sure that some of these cadets, some of these graduates from the Citadel will wind up serving in Afghanistan.
I suppose Mitt Romney will mention that as he goes forward. He's been vague. He's given some conflicting signals on what he would do as far as Afghanistan is concerned, and he's being criticized by some Republican foreign policy analysts and certainly by a lot of Democrats saying, well, what -- which policy does Mitt Romney support in Afghanistan?
An immediate, quick, clean withdrawal? Or something prolonged for another three years plus, which is what the president of the United States, President Obama's strategy is like. He keeps saying, look, I'm going to defer to the generals and see what they have to say. But if you're the commander in chief, you shouldn't always have to defer to the generals.
You're the commander in chief. You listen to the advice of your generals to be sure but you also listen to the advice of the civilian leadership, your secretary of state, your secretary of defense, who's a civilian. As you know, you don't just leave it in the hands of generals. That's one lesson that every president eventually learns even though they say, you know, I'll listen to -- I'll do what the generals say.
They very often do do what the generals say, but that's not necessarily always the smartest thing for a president to do.
PHILLIPS: All right. Wolf Blitzer, stay with us, Wolf. The president -- the president.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: That might have been a slip of the tongue there, Wolf. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney in just a few moments. The Republican candidate is set to speak live there at the Citadel. Spotlight on U.S. foreign policy. As soon as he begins his speech, we will take it live.
Wolf Blitzer standing by along with me here for context. We're going to take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM" straight ahead.
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PHILLIPS: GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney set to speak at the Citadel any moment. We will take it live as soon as he steps up to the podium there.
Meanwhile, let's take a look at stories that are making news later today.
Next hour in Los Angeles, the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial resumes then at 2:00 p.m. eastern in Sacramento, U.S. attorneys in California hold a news conference on the federal government's crackdown on state monitored marijuana dispensaries and the following hour as the White House, President Obama welcomes the 1985 Super Bowl Champs, the Chicago Bears.
And coming up, right after the break, as I told you, we are monitoring live pictures now from the Citadel for Mitt Romney, he is set to speak. His spotlight, the U.S. foreign policy. Giving a major speak for what he says is his plan for a stronger America. Soon as he begins, we will take it live. Stay with us.
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