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Hiring Beats Expectations; Wall Street Protests; Alabama Immigration Law Under Fire; Train Derails And Explodes; No Need For Prostate Exams; Today's Rockstar Is Steve McKenzie; Unifying Under Anger; Older Americans Waiting For Jobs; Older Americans: Stop Waiting For Jobs; Jackson Manslaughter Trial Day 9; Ten Years of War in Afghanistan

Aired October 07, 2011 - 12:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: We start today with unemployment. We're all talking and worried about it considering 14 million Americans are out of work. The jobs report for September is out today. And here is the deal. The Labor Department says the economy added 100,000 new jobs last month. That's better than expected.

But still, economists say not good enough. The unemployment rate remains at 9.1 percent. Right now, take a look -- the Dow is down about 50 points there. It certainly seems that the jobs numbers are not enough to rally that market.

The president huddled with top Senate Democrats today as he continues to push his jobs bill. But the big question remains, where are the jobs? Here's Christine Romans with some answers.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are three million jobs open right now. Three million. Here's a look at seven jobs, seven categories in high demand even now in this tanking economy. The first one is retail workers. Average pay here, $25,000 a year so you're not going to send a kid to college but retailers are looking to hire about half a million temporary workers with the holidays coming up, that's according to the National Retail Federation. The major chains often hire these temp workers then full- time after the holidays. We definitely saw that last year. So, retail workers, there are jobs there.

KAYE: Some other jobs in high demand, truck drivers; engineers, including industrial and software engineers; registered nurses, think of the need to take care of aging baby boomers; professional chefs, everyone needs to eat; and accountants. But it's undeniable, people are not just angry and frustrated, they are lived about jobs, the economy, their paychecks and the income gap. Democrats and Republicans, Congress and Wall Street, just look at this scene.

In New York, right now, at the heart of our financial district, the Occupy Wall Street protests are intensifying. We do have a live picture for you. Today marks the 21st day of the movement with no signs of it dying down any time soon. In fact, the grassroots protests, the discontent are spreading rapidly across the country from east to west, north to south. This map gives you an idea of just how far this movement has gone. Scenes like these play out in cities all over the U.S. these just from Thursday. And it is hard to ignore, even the president and vice president now weighing in. Unions, lawmakers and political candidates are noticing too. But the big question is, how do you translate protests into actual change? We're going to talk to CNNMoney.com's Julianne Pepitone about that and whether this movement has some staying power. That's coming up in just a few minutes.

Checking some other stories happening right now, the U.S. Justice Department is asking a federal appeals court to block Alabama's tough new immigration law. The law signed by Governor Robert Bentley went into effect last week, it includes measures that allow police to ask about the legal status of crime suspects and require state officials to check the immigration status of some public school students. Critics say the measure amounts to racial profiling.

Eight hundred people evacuated their homes today after a cargo train jumped the tracks and exploded into a massive fireball. It happened early this morning in central Illinois. Amazingly, there are no reports of injuries and no damage to property. The fire is contained, the train was hauling ethanol alcohol. Local media reporting deputies were going door to door asking people to leave town but an emergency official says evacuations were voluntary.

Three crusading women from Africa and the Middle East share this year's Nobel Peace Prize. They are Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Lemur Bauer, and Tawu Carmen a Yemeni campaigner for democracy. The head of the Nobel committee called the share honor a very important signal to women all over the world. In a phone interview, Johnson Sirleaf agreed.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF, PRESIDENT, LIBERIA: Women from all walks of life who challenged the dictatorship of former president Charles Davis and who stayed out in the sun, in the rain, fighting for peace in our country, all of this is true for them.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KAYE: The win could boost Johnson Sirleaf's re-election effort in Liberia.

And now, to an issue specific to men. A U.S. government panel will soon stop recommending prostate screenings for healthy men. A source says that preventive services task force has concluded that the PSA blood test does not save enough lives to justify the risks and too often leads to unnecessary tests and needlessly painful treatments.

At first, a lot of people considered Occupy Wall Street a joke but the movement's gaining legitimacy. How some are comparing this rally to the revolutionary protests in Cairo. That's next.

But before we go to break, today's shout-out goes to a man who has made the injustices of the past his business for the future. His name is Steve McKenzie, he's an attorney in the small town of manning, South Carolina. He's working to right some of the wrongs of the Jim Crow era. He wants to reopen a case of George Skinny Jr. he was executed back in 1944 at the young age of 14. He was accused of killing two young girls even though there was no physical evidence connecting him to the crime. Steve McKenzie's efforts to exonerate Skinny, we deem him today's rock star.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The Occupy Wall Street protests are growing. Even the president, lawmaker and unions have their eyes on this scene. Demonstrations on Wall Street are being compared to the Tea Party movement and protests in Egypt's Tahrir Square and it is spreading. This was the scene in other cities. What started out as a group of small activists has exploded into a grass roots movement that is gaining legitimacy.

CNNMoney.com's Julianne Pepitone has been covering the Wall Street protests since day one. Julianne, thanks for coming on the show. These protests -- they really seem to be evolving. I mean, how coordinated and powerful do you think this movement really is?

JULIANNE PEPITONE, "CNNMONEY.COM": Well, it's true. On day one there were a few hundred people there, definitely passionate people. But as you said, since then, lawmakers have signed on, labor unions have joined, and even President Obama acknowledged it. So, it's certainly gaining attention. It's gained a lot more people actually being present at the protests because these labor unions are so strong.

KAYE: What do you make of the comparisons and do they hold true? The comparison being made to the Tea Party movement and the comparison being made even to the Arab uprising? Does this hold true do you think in terms of this movement?

PEPITONE: Well, the organizers have said, you know very transparently, they were inspired by the so-called Arab Spring that we saw earlier this year. And of course, at Occupy Wall Street, we're only 21 days into it. It's far too soon to say that it will have the same effect as perhaps that Arab Spring. But it is similar in that it's definitely tapping into some nationwide anger. This is not just happening on Wall Street. Other people around the country are starting up their own occupy their city. So, it is similar in that they're kind of kind of business national consciousness. There's a lot of angry people out there and this movement is tapping into that.

KAYE: What about the critics who say that they're really targeting the wrong institution, that these people should be moving their protests to Washington, to the White House and the steps of Congress?

PEPITONE: Well, it's true that a lot of what they're complaining about is regulation and laws and all of that would have to come from D.C., but when you look at what they actually have a problem with, they talk about corporate greed, corporate personhood, that we shall overthrow capitalism. Of course the symbol of that is Wall Street, it is the New York stock exchange, it is our nation's financial center. And the protesters feel that the people who were largely responsible for the economic downfall were the people who were on Wall Street and they feel that they have not been taken to task for that. So, I think being on Wall Street is kind of the symbol of what our nation's financial system is and what the protesters do have a problem with.

KAYE: All right, we'll leave it there. Julianne Pepitone, thank you so much, appreciate your time.

Coming up -- over 50 and out of work? Tired of hearing what -- that you are overqualified? Well, it may be time to re-invent yourself. We'll tell you how to get a leg up in this slumping economy. That is next.

But first, here is what you're watching on CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: If you're an older American and you're out of work, you know more than most just how tough times really are right now. The job market is tight and younger workers are landing the jobs. It is today's "Undercovered" story. Check this out with me. Job seekers who are 55 and older remain unemployed almost four months longer than their younger counterparts.

So, what do you do? My next guest says you simply re- invent yourself. Meet the author of the book "Funky to Fabulous" and reinvention coach, Eli Davidson. Thank you so much for coming on. I love what you're doing, I love the title of your book, too, "Funky to Fabulous." But let's talk about what's happening to these older workers, discrimination has gotten worse.

ELI DAVIDSON, AUTHOR, "FUNKY TO FABULOUS": Seventenn percent more of the reporting of age discrimination. Only one percent of all older workers are optimistic about getting a job, and 80 percent of all executives admit that they have age discrimination.

KAYE: Wow. That sounds like a really tough situation for the older people. So, if an older person is out of work, what should they be doing right now? You're saying stop looking for a job?

DAVIDSON: Stop wasting your time looking for a job.

KAYE: What should they do?

DAVIDSON: What they need to do is to start a business. They need to leverage all those years of doing what they do and target it to the people that value what they do. So, CNN followed me helping somebody start his own business and he made more money in three days than three years.

KAYE: But starting your own business, I think to a lot of people, that sounds like a really big step. It's probably easier for some than it is for others. So, I mean, where do you start? Where do you find the confidence, and then where do you find even what you need to do it?

DAVIDSON: I think you're right, people do need to find the confidence. But, frankly, in this economy, if you like to eat, you better start a business, because half of all of those good jobs are gone forever. So you really need to leverage your talents.

There was a fireman who was laid off. What are you going to do as a fireman? How can you use those skills? What he did was he found what he was naturally good at. He was great at doing things around the house. So he started a business, a honey-do business, of helping other people with their home projects. He made $5,000 the first month of business.

So really the key is, find your talent. And this is really the important thing most people miss -- target those to the people that are really looking for it and needing that help.

KAYE: What -- how do you get them to think, though, if you're not somebody who -- you know, if you're somebody who's always work in the corporate world, how do you train yourself to think out of the box?

DAVIDSON: That's where I come in.

KAYE: That's where you come in.

DAVIDSON: That's where I come in. It's really essential that people take a stand. And people forget that we are mammals. We are mammals. We are pack animals. We function best in a herd. So that's why people need to have the support of a group to keep them on track as they're doing something completely new. They're re-inventing themselves.

KAYE: It is -- it's fascinating. I'm sure it's very difficult not only financially but even psychologically for a lot of these people.

DAVIDSON: It's incredibly difficult.

KAYE: Yes.

DAVIDSON: And we're being called to literally re-invent ourselves because the way it's been going is not the way it will go in the future. Again, if you like to eat, you'd better start a business.

KAYE: Yes. Yes. Wow. And there is a lot of competition out there these days certainly and the younger workers are landing the jobs. So if you just could leave us with one quick piece of advice, what would it be?

DAVIDSON: It would be do what you love and target it to the people that need it.

KAYE: OK. Well said. Eli Davidson, thank you so much.

DAVIDSON: Thank you.

KAYE: Appreciate it. Well, in the Michael Jackson manslaughter trial, Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyer suggests a coroner's office investigator was being pretty sloppy with the key evidence. Is this defense working? Nancy Grace breaks it all down for us, next.

But first, it was this day in 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die because he was gay. His horrific death did not go in vain. His friends and family set up the Matthew Shepard Foundation to embrace diversity and President Obama signed a law making it a federal crime against this. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The Michael Jackson manslaughter trial enters its ninth day of testimony today. Yesterday lawyers for Dr. Conrad Murray finally got a chance to go on the offensive. HLN's one and only Nancy Grace joining me now to discuss all of this.

How are you?

NANCY GRACE, ANCHOR, HLN's "NANCY GRACE": I'm fine. Thank you for having me.

KAYE: A pleasure to have you.

Let's talk about what the defense was trying to show yesterday, that the coroner's investigator did what they called a sloppy investigation. That she had moved a syringe without a glove in Michael Jackson's bedroom, among other things. What do you make of that? Is that something that the jury will notice?

GRACE: Well, of course a jury's going to notice it. And it's a problem. It's a problem for the state. I'll just put that out there right at the beginning. You remember what happened in the O.J. Simpson double murder trial. The state was put on trial and the police handling of the crime scene was put on trial, and it worked. There was a not guilty verdict in that case.

However, in this case, the coroner's investigator was a young girl named Elissa Fleak (ph) and she did make some mistakes. Some mistakes that I find unacceptable. However, do they affect the case? No. I don't think they're going to affect the outcome of the case because of this.

You see what I've got laid out in front of me?

KAYE: Yes, I do.

GRACE: This is just part of the autopsy report. Now, what she did -- in my mind, the most serious thing she did was not take a photo of the Propofol bottle hanging in that saline bag, it was used as a drip to inject into Jackson's knee -- close to his knee.

What does it matter that she didn't take the picture? It doesn't matter a lot because what the coroner says is very clear. He died of acute Propofol intoxication. KAYE: Propofol intoxication.

GRACE: What else does it say? Circumstances do not support self- administration of Propofol. Now --

KAYE: Which is what the defense has been trying to say, that he did this to himself.

GRACE: Exactly. So whether she took a picture of that or not, it doesn't matter. Would it have helped if she had handled the scene correctly? Yes, it would have helped a lot because this is another fire the state's got to put out.

KAYE: Right. What about this, that Conrad Murray's fingerprint, not Michael Jackson's fingerprint, but Conrad Murray's fingerprint was on the 100 milliliter bottle of Propofol that the prosecutors say was used in his death.

GRACE: It's like having your fingerprint on the gun. And this was the print. It couldn't have been a better print as far as I'm concerned. The left index finger. Because if he's right-handed, you hold it with this hand and you fiddle with it with this hand, and then you put it in a saline bag with your left hand, if you're right- handed, while you adjust with the right hand. You couldn't have picked a better print than the left index.

KAYE: So coming up in a couple of days ahead, either today or even next week, we're supposed to hear this two-hour interrogation tape, Conrad Murray with the police. Will that be significant? Will that be important?

GRACE: You know what I love about this? For two days Conrad Murray essentially was on the run. He wouldn't meet with police. Now, if a friend of mine, as he said Jackson was a friend, died, I would want answers. I would be laying on the front steps of the police station wanting answers. Where was Conrad Murray? They couldn't find him. They had to go through his lawyer to get him to talk to police.

And, yes, we are going to hear his tape. He was caught on audiotape within 48 hours after Jackson's death. And I can assure you -- and I haven't even heard the whole thing -- he's going to contradict himself left and right on that time line and he is going to get caught in his own web of lies. Mark my words.

KAYE: All right. I'm marking it down right now.

Nancy Grace, we'll see if you're right. We'll watch that tape in court probably today. Thank you so much.

A jobs bill, will we get one? And the Wall Street protest continues to intensify. Does the movement help one political party over the other? It is all "Fair Game" next.

And now, for you political junkies, a question. Remember the movement to get Hillary Clinton to challenge Barack Obama for the presidency? She has said no way. But who was the last sitting Democrat to face a primary challenge and who was the last Republican? Bonus -- what did they have in common? Stay tuned for all the answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Before the break we asked, who were the last Democrat and Republican presidents to face primary challenges? In 1980, Senator Edward Kennedy took on Jimmy Carter and almost unseated him. On the Republican side, in 1992, George H.W. Bush survived a challenge by conservative Pat Buchanan. Bonus -- what do Carter and Bush have in common? Well, they both lost the general elections. Carter to Ronald Reagan. Bush to Bill Clinton.

Ten years today. Ten years ago today U.S. war planes began firing on Afghanistan. It was an allied response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Since the start of the war, 2,700 NATO troops have been killed, 1,780 of them Americans. Nick Paton Walsh travels to Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan to see what kind of a commitment and sacrifice these troops endure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It began when they landed in Bagram and here it goes on. Ten years of jet fuel, faith and now fatigue. Here you can see what it takes to carry on through this decade's wars. Lieutenant Colonel Eric Albertson is chaplain to thousands, but in his several months here, effected by the very few.

LT. COL. ERIC ALBERTSON, U.S. ARMY: A number of our soldiers that are on their third, fourth, in some cases their fifth tour. There is a fatigue factor. Emotionally drained, physically tired. We've had instances where soldiers have taken their own lives here. And that's tragic. We've had about six or seven since I've been here. When someone takes their own life, there's almost a sense of -- you know, you've reached out to me for everything else. Why didn't you reach out to me for this?

WALSH: The ripples of a suicide reach far. Master Sergeant Guatalo Stratsman (ph) is in this war so her three sons won't be. Her three tours marred by the recent loss of a friend in Iraq.

MASTER SGT. GUADALOUPE STRATMAN, U.S. ARMY: It was actually -- she overdosed herself. And, like, she was younger than me, so I didn't -- I thought she had a lot to live for. I don't know why it happened. I wasn't necessarily talking with her frequently at that time, but it hurt me a lot. How? Because I knew her. I knew what some of her dreams were, and now, she didn't get to live those dreams. It's like it ended.

WALSH: This was a dirt road a decade ago. Now, it's home to one in nine of America's troops in Afghanistan.

(on-camera) When the Americans landed here ten years ago, it was on this Russian-made runway. And now, they have been here nearly a year longer than the soviets.

(voice-over) The cost of the soviets, huge. The total cost to America still unknown, although, signs of sadness and change are everywhere. The prison here now gone. Its Afghan prisoners elsewhere. Soon, troops will leave for good, but will carry away with them the scars of here and Iraq.

LT. COL. JAMES DAVELL, U.S. ARMY: What I do every year is I call the family, either the spouse or the parents of the individual that has been associated with me that was lost in combat, and then, I also call a very close friend of mine that was injured, severely injured on the day that that occurred. I make three calls a year -- actually four -- sorry -- four calls a year to family members. I wouldn't say it makes me feel good or bad. I just think it's something that I need to do.

WALSH: The closing stages of a war longer than anything America has ever coped with before.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Bagram.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: More CNN NEWSROOM right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: You know Nancy Grace from her legal show on our sister network, HLN. But now she's under a very different spotlight. Nancy is on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," and she has been going strong these last few weeks, while names like basketball star Ron Artest and TV personality Kristin Cavallari have headed for the hills.

She joins me now with her dance partner, Tristan MacManus.

So, how are things going, Team McGrace, which I hear, Tristan, you named?

(LAUGHTER)

TRISTAN MACMANUS, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": This is --

(CROSSTALK)

NANCY GRACE, HOST, "NANCY GRACE": He named it so his name could be first.

(LAUGHTER)

KAYE: Really?

GRACE: Yes. That's what happened. I walked out of the room, I came back --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: McGrace. It was all done.

KAYE: How is it going? Any surprises planned for this week? How are you guys doing?

MACMANUS: It is going really well, actually, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Let's just say in the upcoming dance on Monday night, I am the bull. It's -- what is it?

MACMANUS: It's the Paso Doble we're going to do this week.

GRACE: Paso Doble, as I say.

MACMANUS: It is the story of the matador and the bull, I guess.

GRACE: I made it very clear I was not going to be a barnyard animal under any circumstances.

MACMANUS: I tried to make clear that she wasn't going to be that character. But we forget.

KAYE: It sounds like you're heading there.

GRACE: So, bottom line, I'm the bull. That's how that ended up.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: You look great. Obviously dancing agrees with you. Yes? Six or seven hours of rehearsing every day?

GRACE: It is grueling, especially when you're not a professional dancer. And certain professional dancers think you should dance like a professional dancer.

KAYE: What do you think is the biggest obstacle that you need to overcome to win this thing, to take it home?

GRACE: Well, actually, I just try to get through each Monday night. I can't think beyond the Paso Doble and being the bull and getting stabbed to death on the dance floor.

That's where my head is right now. And the steps are extremely complicated, extremely complicated.

KAYE: Really?

GRACE: And I feel like I'm right in the middle of the dance floor and it's just going around and around. I'm like, whoa. Wait a minute.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: How is she as a partner?

MACMANUS: She's doing really, really good. It's kind of -- the longer you stay in the competition kind of thing, it is easy to forget that you weren't a dancer. You know? So I kind of have to push Nancy even more each week and each week but she's taken on that challenge. She's taken on that challenge. And she's doing -- yes, she's doing really good. But, yes, the competition gets stronger and stronger each week. So --

KAYE: And speaking of the competition, any predictions on who might be the next one to go?

GRACE: Oh, you know what? The truth is I know this sounds corny, but everyone's dances are so different and so great. I would never have predicted Cavallari would be thrown off. I would never have thought that.

KAYE: Really?

GRACE: Or, frankly, the other two.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Do you guys talk to each other behind the scenes, or it is just sort of very serious and you don't --

(CROSSTALK)

MACMANUS: Considering it's a competition, everyone's really supportive of each other. Maybe when they go off, they're kind of happy enough to kind of stay around, but everyone's been really nice to each other. And everyone's trying to push each other.

KAYE: Good group.

MACMANUS: Yes, it's a nice group.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Carson Kressley, I knew in New York. He robbed me on "Celebrity Jeopardy." And people are connected in various ways. And we're all practicing together in the same rehearsal hall, so we're together all the time. It is a pretty close bond.

KAYE: Well, we wish you luck. We will be watching for the bull dance.

GRACE: Hey, you know what? Just vote, 800-868-3405.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Oh, I love it that it's written on your hand.

Nancy Grace, Tristan MacManus, thank you so much. Appreciate it. And good luck.

GRACE: Thank you.

KAYE: Time now for "The Assignment," the time in our show where we bring you interesting stories that you won't find anywhere else. This week, we're focusing on animal intelligence. There is some pretty remarkable research being done with dolphins. Scientists believe they are probably the most intelligent species after humans. I saw for myself in today's assignment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE voice-over): Spend a day with a dolphin and you're quickly reminded of why they have always captured our imaginations. They are playful, sociable and just incredibly fun to be around. But scientists say there's a lot more to these animals. And they're just beginning to understand the intricate thinking of these so-called "big-brained mammals."

(on camera): Here you go, Noni (ph). Good girl!

We came here to the Baltimore Aquarium to see just how intelligent dolphins are. You see them playing with their trainers all the time, but scientists who study them say there's a lot more happening there than just play. Their intelligence actually rivals ours.

Here you go.

(voice-over): To see up close what has scientists so excited, we climbed down into a tiny underwater lab, with a window into the aquarium where scientist Diana Reiss puts up a two-way mirror against the glass. The dolphins can't see us, but Reiss can study how the dolphins react to the mirror.

DIANA REISS, SCIENTIST: We used to think we were the only species on the planet that can think, and now we know that we're amongst many thinking species. So the questions are no longer can they think but how do they think? And in this capacity, with giving them mirrors it looks, it like they're doing a lot of things that are similar to us.

KAYE: Reiss has been studying dolphins' behavior for 25 years.

REISS: Most animals don't even pay attention to mirrors. If you put a mirror in front of your dog, most dogs won't even look in a mirror. Cats don't pay much attention. Other animals do pay attention but never figure out it's themselves. They think it's another of their own kind.

But dolphins do figure it out. And not only do they figure out that it's them, but they show interest to look at themselves. So one thing is to understand it's themselves. It's a whole other thing to say -- I want to look at myself. I want to look and see what may face looks like or what does it look like when I turn upside down and blow a bubble?

KAYE: We sat in awe as this group of dolphins explored themselves before us, unable to ignore the mirror. Several did hang upside down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's upside down. Things are going to get wild now. He's being very innovative. Watch this.

KAYE: Other dolphins opened their mouths and stuck their tongue out. They put their eye on the mirror to get an even closer look.

Not convinced a dolphin can recognize itself in the mirror? Take a look at this video of an earlier experiment from 2001. Scientists marked this dolphin on the side with a black pen. But did not mark the other.

When released, the dolphin with the mark swims directly to the mirror and turns the mark towards the mirror, like he's trying to take a look at what's been done to him. The unmarked dolphin doesn't show the same behavior.

Dolphins aren't the only big-brained mammals who recognize themselves. Elephants do, too. Watch what happens when Reiss tested them at the Bronx Zoo. This one with the white "X" marked on his face turns towards the mirror over and over to take a look. Back at the Baltimore Aquarium, Reiss is now focusing her research on younger dolphins.

REISS: Bo is 5.

KAYE: Just like human children, younger dolphins make lots of movements and watch their reflection. They quickly learn they are watching themselves.

(on camera): What are you trying to figure out with the younger dolphins?

REISS: So we're trying to figure out at what age, at what developmental age do they start figuring out that it's them in the mirror? When are they showing interest in the mirror?

KAYE (voice-over): Foster, who is 3, started recognizing himself in the mirror about the same time toddlers do: when he was about a year and a half. Reiss says some dolphins pick up on it at just six months, much earlier than children.

REISS: This is Spirit. She's testing this. She's still figuring this out. And what's funny is we recognize this, because it's so similar to what kids do, what chimps do. It's amazing. They go through the same stages. These are animals that have been separated from us for 95 million years of evolution. Big brains, processing things in similar ways.

KAYE: With a mirror providing a window into the dolphins' minds, Reiss believes she is discovering that their super high levels of intelligence are, in many ways, much like our own. And if that's true, the question is, what does that tell us?

REISS: In the end, what this tells us is that we need to look at these animals in a new light, with a new respect, and really provide more protection in terms of conservation efforts and welfare efforts for these animals.

And also appreciate that we're not at the top anymore. We're not alone. We're surrounded by other intelligent species.

KAYE (on camera): Wow, so smooth. Beautiful!

(voice-over): Remember the old saying that it always seems like dolphins are smiling at you? Well, maybe they are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: They sure are smiling.

Dolphins' big brains allow them to have complex emotions just like us. Large brains are traditionally associated with greater intelligence, and the brain of the adult bottle-nosed dolphin is about 25 percent heavier than the average adult human brain. This allows dolphins to process emotional information better than other species, which lets them understand and interact the way you saw just now in our story.

So will we get a jobs bill?

And the Wall Street protest continues to intensify. Does the movement help one political party over the other? It is all "Fair Game" coming up next.

But, first, Sarah Palin, she never really said her bus tour was a campaign, but curious, isn't it? Almost every key state the GOP presidential candidates went to, Palin and her big One Nation bus were sure to follow. Coincidence? I think not.

Then, she smacked everyone with this gotcha decision in a letter to supporters saying, "I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for president of the United States." Call it what you like, but our question is, why? Why string everyone along for this long? Sarah Palin, for the biggest buildup to nothing, your 15 minutes are up -- for now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Time to delve into today's 2012 campaign issue, the economy.

One inescapable image is the growing Occupy Wall Street protest movement and it comes as the president pushes hard for his jobs bill set against a backdrop of unemployment stuck at 9.1 percent. Both topics are "Fair Game."

Here's the president hammering Congress over his jobs plan at his news conference just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will just keep on going at it and hammering away until something gets done.

And I would love nothing more than to see Congress act so aggressively that I can't campaign against them as a do-nothing Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Well, that is throwing down the gauntlet.

Ed Espinoza is a Democratic political consultant in Austin, Texas. Leslie Sanchez is a Republican strategist joining us from Los Angeles.

Hello to both of you.

Welcome to "Fair Game" today.

LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hi.

KAYE: Let's talk. We have got a few topics here to discuss. I want to talk about Occupy Wall Street. I also want to talk about the jobs bill first.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: So what is it going to take, Ed, to get a jobs plan agreement?

ED ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Well, it's going to take cooperation by both parties.

The problem that the president has encountered over the past few years is that he's really had to govern literally with one hand tied behind his back. Republicans haven't wanted to come around on a jobs package or really any package. They held out on consumer protection. They held out on student loans. They even held out on the START treaty.

What we need to do is work together and move a jobs package forward but until the other side shows that they are willing to work with us, we have had to go it alone.

KAYE: Leslie, the Democrats claim that it is the Republicans who are being obstructionist when it comes to this. What's your take?

SANCHEZ: No.

There's a lot of fantasyland and a lot of political theater. The reality is, on one part, Republicans and Democrats are working together to do meaningful things that are pushing innovation, growth of jobs, for example. They just had patent reform, the biggest one in the last century, going to protect a lot of our inventors, our designers.

There is a lot of things Congress is doing right. What the skepticism is, is about the president's leadership on the economy, the failed bailouts, many believe, the stimulus package, Obamacare, the downgrade of the S&P. There's a lot of combination that really puts into question the president's decision when it comes to jobs and the economy. KAYE: Yes.

All right, let's talk Wall Street. Let's talk this Occupy Wall Street protests.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Ed, I will go to you first on this one.

ESPINOZA: Yes.

KAYE: Which party do you think has the most to gain with these protests as we watch them grow and unfold now throughout the country?

ESPINOZA: Well, this really is a movement that we see growing here. And I don't know that you can say necessarily one party benefits more than the other.

But in political campaigns, one of the things that we try to do is focus on the things that we can control and not so much on the things that we can't control, because there are things that are bigger than we are. This is one of those things. One thing we can control is --

KAYE: Oh, wait, Ed, let me just interrupt you there. We lost Leslie. Yes. Just keep going. Yes, I hear you.

ESPINOZA: OK.

Well, one of the things that we can control is what we say. What the crowds are saying is, we want leaders who care about us, people who respond to our issues. And there are some things that Congress does that is hopeful, but so long as people aren't feeling it, it doesn't have the same effect.

So when you have things like Eric Cantor coming out and saying that he has growing concern for these growing mobs, language like that doesn't communicate with people as well. When Steve Forbes -- I put this up on Twitter today -- said "You can reach your millions by putting away $5 from each paycheck," the Happy Meal clause, I guess, those aren't really the kind of things that I think resonate with people.

KAYE: Well, we got Leslie back.

So, Leslie, I'm not sure if you could hear everything that Ed was saying.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: That was a conspiracy. I could.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: It was a hacker somewhere, I'm convinced.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

KAYE: It was not a conspiracy. Let me just say that for the record.

SANCHEZ: No, no, no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. It's all in jest.

ESPINOZA: Falling pieces of satellite.

SANCHEZ: Let's call it what it is. Yes, really.

It's a giant temper tantrum. People don't know what they want. They don't know how to fix it. Everybody is angry. Can you blame them? College kids are coming out of school having more debt right now in student loans than people had on their first mortgage. No one has a job. There's the lack of confidence again in the president's leadership.

This is something that you have to be very careful to that point of triangulating. This is Republicans and Democrats both to blame. but they are looking for leadership, fresh ideas, and somebody is going to have to answer that call.

KAYE: All right. Leslie Sanchez, Ed Espinoza, thank you both. Happy Friday to you.

SANCHEZ: Thank you.

ESPINOZA: Thanks, Randi.

KAYE: Farmers in Georgia and Alabama are not happy with the new immigration laws -- why they are fed up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Harvard just got humbled. Cal Tech, California Institute of Technology, edged it out as the world's best university this year. Harvard tied with Stanford to second place. A British magazine used 13 performance indicators, from teaching to innovation, to rank those schools.

The U.S. Justice Department wants a federal appeals court to block Alabama's tough new immigration laws. Several civil rights groups are fighting that law as well. And as for the farmers affected by it, they say it puts their livelihoods on the line.

Here's Rafael Romo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice- over): It was supposed to be an informational meeting, but the conversation quickly heated up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is your answer to our problem?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that there is an answer for the short term.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, so we go broke while you're sitting there.

ROMO: These farmers in Alabama say they are facing a crisis. Their fruits and vegetables are rotting in the fields because there aren't enough farm workers. They say that a law that cracks down on illegal immigration has scared away the Hispanic immigrants they once relied on.

FRANK MCGEE, FARMER: We did everything we could to replace them. Nobody wants the jobs. That is a misconception.

LANA BOATWRIGHT, HUSBAND OF FARMER: Basically, this law is shutting us out. And that's the money that we live on.

ROMO: Listening to their concerns is Alabama State Senator Scott Beason, the Republican who wrote the immigration law.

SCOTT BEASON (R), ALABAMA STATE SENATOR: I don't you can write it to say agriculture is exempted or anything like that. It either has to be you are going to decide what you're going to do with the illegal aliens that are in the state, or you're going to make them easy for them to stay here or not easy for them to stay here. And my position is to stay with the law that we have.

ROMO: Farmers in Georgia, where a similar immigration law was approved, reported they were 11,000 workers short over the summer. To bridge the gap, state officials had felony probationers work at the farms, but the 10-hour days in 90-degree heat drove most of them away.

In Alabama, farmers are making desperate efforts to replace the Hispanic migrant workers who left, including offering to increase pay. But they have had little success.

For decades, Giuseppe Peturis and his family have relied on migrant labor at their farm.

GIUSEPPE PETURIS, FARMER: The Americans are not going to get out in the heat and work. They're not going to bend their back all day long. And they're not going to work and they're not as hard of workers as Hispanics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And Rafael joins us live from Atlanta.

Rafael, how is this going to affect the states? What is it going to cost the states, really?

ROMO: It's really difficult to understand the magnitude of the problem until you put it in dollars and cents, Randi. And according to a new survey by the University of Georgia, this year, so far, the estimate is $75 million that these farmers are losing because they don't have enough workers to work the fields and to pick the fruits and vegetables in the state of Georgia.

KAYE: And there's really nothing that they can do about it at this point.

ROMO: That's right. What they are trying to do is try to approve a guest worker problem as soon as possible, but it's just too late for the season. It's going to take at least months, if not a full year before they can get something like that approved.

So time is running out and they just don't have the workers they need for their farms.

KAYE: Rafael, thank you. Appreciate your reporting.

And now let's check in with Paul Steinhauser, CNN's deputy political director.

Paul, we're talking about GOP hopefuls trying to woo social conservatives. Who are they going after?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, Randi, what it's called the Value Voters Summit. I just got back from it's. It's being held right here in Washington. They do it every year.

And it's one of the largest gathering of social conservative voters that is held every year. And just about every one of the Republican presidential candidates is attending the conference. You can see right there Rick Santorum was the first to speak earlier today.

And coming up next hour, Governor Rick Perry of Texas will be speaking and just about all of the candidates other than Jon Huntsman will be there making their case to these valuable voters who will probably have a large say in picking the next Republican presidential nominee.

Now, for these value voters, these social conservative it's not just about defeating President Barack Obama. There's more to it than that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY PERKINS, PRESIDENT, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: This election is too important to elect a Republican. We need to elect a conservative that will undo the economic and moral and social destruction that this administration has unleashed on American.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Tony Perkins there, he is head of the Family Research Council, which is one of the groups that is putting on this summit, this conference.

And, Randi, it all ends tomorrow afternoon with a straw poll, about 3,000 delegates. They get to vote in the straw poll for the presidential preference. We will find out the results and see who comes out on top -- Randi.

KAYE: And, Paul, just very quickly, is there one candidate that stands out that is most appealing to this group?

STEINHAUSER: I don't think there is one. There's a number of them.

Rick Perry to a degree reaches out and has a lot of support among social conservatives. So does Rick Santorum, who was the first to speak today, and a bunch of others as well. Michele Bachmann really beloved by many of them as well, so not one, but a number of them do stand out. There are some that don't reach out as well and don't do as well, such as a Mitt Romney or a Jon Huntsman -- Randi.

KAYE: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much for the update. Have a great weekend.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

KAYE: And thank you, everyone, for watching. I hope you have all a great weekend.

Don Lemon in Atlanta picks it up from here.

Hi, Don.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Randi. You have a great weekend as well. Always good to see you. Wish it was in person.