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Unemployment Rate Falls; Indiana Stage Collapse; Seized Goods Sold at Auction; Bill Clinton, Barack Obama Speak on Latest Jobs Initiative

Aired December 02, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Want to get you up to speed for this Friday, December 2nd.

Going to begin with encouraging news about the job market. The unemployment rate drops to its lowest level since March of 2009. Now, that's according to a November jobs report that was released just earlier today.

The Labor Department says employers added 120,000 jobs last month. So, the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent.

Much more ahead on the numbers and what that means for you.

Well, this better-than-expected jobs report, welcome news on Wall Street, as you can imagine. The Dow climbed more than 80 points in early trading. Right now, it is up 92 points.

Investors are also optimistic that Europe is on the right track. In a speech today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed her support for the euro and the rules to deal with the debt crisis.

And we expect to hear from President Obama about the drop in the jobless rate just minutes from now. The president is also going to be outlining a plan to upgrade buildings and make them more energy- efficient. The administration says the program is going to create tens of thousands of construction jobs.

The president speaking about 11:10 Eastern. We're going to take you there live.

And senators trying to figure out a compromise today to extend the payroll tax cut in 2012. Well, here's what happened. The Senate blocked both Democratic and Republican plans last night.

What's the big hang-up? How to pay for an extension. Without one, the White House says the typical middle class family is going to pay an extra $1,500 in taxes next year.

Herman Cain sitting down with his wife at their home in Atlanta today to decide whether or not he's going to end his presidential campaign. Another woman, Ginger White, claims she had a 13-year affair with Cain, something that he adamantly denies. Well, Cain now admits that he gave money to White, but he never told his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My wife did not know about it, and that was the revelation and the surprise, that my wife found out about it when she went public with it. Her text messages to me were asking for financial assistance because she was out of work, had trouble paying her bills, and I had known her as a friend. She wasn't the only friend that I had helped in these tough economic times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Cain says that White sent him about 70 text messages in October and November asking to help pay for her bills. He wouldn't say how much he actually gave her.

There are new developments in the suspected hazing death of a Florida A&M drum major last month. We are hearing a 911 tape of Robert Champion's band mates desperately calling for help when they realized he wasn't breathing.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Are you with the person right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm outside the bus so I can hear you.

911 OPERATOR: OK. So he's inside the bus?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he's inside the bus.

911 OPERATOR: OK. How old is he?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is 25.

911 OPERATOR: OK. Is he awake?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wasn't responding. We thought he was breathing. He was making noises, but I don't even know if he's breathing now.

911 OPERATOR: OK. Is he awake? Do you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His eyes are open. He's not responding.

911 OPERATOR: OK. But is he breathing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea. I cannot tell you that.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just threw up.

911 OPERATOR: He just threw up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. 911 OPERATOR: OK. Well, like I said, I do already have help on the way. I want you to keep -- was he, like, shaking or anything like that prior to this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, he wasn't. He wasn't shaking.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, the school has fired the band director, expelled four students. Champion's family is planning to sue Florida A&M for his death.

There is a state of emergency in Los Angeles County this morning after powerful winds damaged homes and businesses, blew down trees and power lines. They're known as Santa Ana winds, and they've been hitting parts of southern California, Arizona, as well as Utah.

Some places, they've been 140 miles an hour. That's as strong as a major hurricane. In Los Angeles County, more than 100,000 people lost power at one point.

So, it's not quite the new Coke debacle, but when will Coca-Cola learn, you don't mess with a classic? The company is pulling this year's Coke can with a holiday design. Why? Because soda drinkers are confusing the can's silvery white background with Diet Coke. Traditional red holiday cans are back in the stores.

And here's a gift idea for the holidays, but you better have a lot of money to do this, right? I don't think I could do this.

The late Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry and fashion collection soon going to be on the auction block at Christie's in New York. One of the most glamorous pieces -- get this -- a 33 carat diamond Taylor got actually as a gift from her husband Richard Burton. The items, they're going to be on display beginning tomorrow, and the auction starts December 13th.

Well, more on the top story, an unexpected drop in the unemployment rate. The jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent in November.

Want to take a closer look at what the story is behind the numbers. Alison Kosik, from the New York Stock Exchange.

So, you know, when you look at this, it sounds pretty good. Is Wall Street responding?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Wall Street is responding. You see all the major averages in the green.

You know what, Suzanne? Traders are telling me this was a pleasant surprise. But then you look at how the market was doing even before this jobs report came out, and you see that it was higher anyway, because a few other things are happening as well to push stocks higher today.

Germany, for one, is pushing for more concrete action to fix Europe's debt problems. Analysts are also saying what you're seeing play out in the markets today is this kind of lingering feel-good feeling from the central bank's move that happened on Wednesday to boost liquidity.

And yes, the jobs picture, that is playing a role in today's numbers as well. The report beating expectations, especially that unemployment rate dropping to its lowest level in almost three years -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, Alison, tell us a little bit about this. You have got this dip in the unemployment rate. Do we think that this is going to last, or is it going to go up or down? How do we know this is the real deal?

KOSIK: What I can tell you is, don't be surprised if the unemployment rate rises next month. And all you have to do is really look behind the headline and it answers why.

You had the labor force. It got smaller in November. What that means is that people dropped out of the labor force. They stopped looking for work. They got frustrated and said, forget it, I'm not doing it anymore.

So that is most likely the biggest reason for the big drop in the unemployment rate, people leaving the labor market. Also, they could be finding temporary work.

We're knee deep in the holiday shopping season when retailers add on more workers temporarily. But then you flip that coin over, and the report shows that the economy also gained a lot more jobs in September and October than originally reported, 72,000 more. So the other answer to this could be that people may actually be finding full-time jobs -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And where would those jobs be? What sectors are actually adding those jobs?

KOSIK: OK. So, the big winner in this job report is retail, although holiday hiring, once again, is a big factor here. Professional services, talking about accounting position, architecture, legal services, you saw additions there. There were also job additions in education, health care, leisure, and hospitality, but mostly at restaurants.

And then you look at the big losers, where the job cuts really happened. Those job cuts happened in local and state governments and construction.

And that's really just a sign of the economy. You know, these states across the country, they continue to deal with these budget problems. They're making cuts. With construction, that's largely tied to the housing market, which has yet to fully recover, if at all.

The good news though, Suzanne -- I want to leave you with a nugget of good news here -- all of the job additions that you see in this report were in the private sector. And that's really important, because it's that private sector that's really the engine of growth for our economy -- Suzanne. MALVEAUX: All right. Leaving with us a little bit of good news. We like that, Alison. Thank you.

We're just minutes away from remarks by President Obama. He is pushing an energy initiative that's expected to create construction jobs. That is at least the hope.

Also, tapes just released show the critical moments of a stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State police, it looks like about 30 minutes or less before weather comes in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It's amazing pictures.

Plus, looking at the government seizing a lot of property in the pursuit of justice. It makes a lot of money auctioning it off as well.

And you'll meet a CNN Top 10 Hero who finds wheelchairs for people who can't afford them.

And finally, a South Carolina newspapers drops -- yes -- an f-bomb right in the middle of a story. How did that happen?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're getting new insight today into what happened during the deadly stage collapse at Indiana State Fair back in August. CNN affiliate WTHR has obtained audiotapes of emergency responders.

Here's our Christine Romans with more on the chaos and the confusion that happened today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All units, all units, a severe thunderstorm warning until 9:45 for Marion County. Use your best judgment. Find shelter when needed.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That state police radio call came five minutes before disaster struck, dispatchers expressing concern for a swelling crowd of Sugarland fans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have they released fans from grandstands yet?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no information on that. I will check and advise.

ROMANS: It turns out there wouldn't be enough time. Within three minutes of that radio call, all hell broke loose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The stage is going up. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Control, the grandstands are gone. Fire control, grandstands CMS, I'm calling a mass casualty.

ROMANS: CNN affiliate WTHR obtained this 11-page fire department post- incident report. But the city of Indianapolis has blacked out its findings because of a possible lawsuit. Here's what is clear from the dispatch tapes. In the moments after the stage collapse, there was no clear disaster plan in place, and ambulances were challenged getting into the fairgrounds and getting out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have 13 and 27 en route, 5, 20, 24, 31 and 61 are on property. They're trying to make their way to the grandstands and getting into a great deal of gridlock.

ROMANS: The scene was so chaotic, one ambulance was loaded with two injured patients but no one could find the driver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're trying to locate the drivers now. They're loaded and ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me an update of what (INAUDIBLE) you have. We're running into and we have multiple people that are just taking off with the patients, so we're having a hard time controlling it.

If we could get medic trucks down here closer to the stage, it would be really good. We need to rethink our strategy. It's not working.

We need to get the trucks down here in order for us to start working the medical team and get patients out of here, do what we have to do, have state police open up the line. But we need to get the trucks down here. We can't keep having the patients dragged across the pavement up to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm out of transport units, but they're continuing to scrounge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of plan do we have? What resources do you have down there?

It's critical. A lot of our patients are starting do go from yellow to red on us. They're going into shock.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Seven people were killed in that stage collapse. More than 40 others were hurt. The country duo Sugarland has been named in a lawsuit filed by survivors and family members of four of those who were killed, and the suit alleges breach of reasonable care.

CNN has reached out to Indiana State Police for a comment. We are still waiting to hear back from them.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: From Bernie Madoff's beach house to Anne Hathaway's jewelry, the U.S. government is making big bucks auctioning off seized goods. We're going to take a look at the loot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We are awaiting comments from President Obama. You're looking at live pictures now. This is at a site in northwest Washington.

The president is going to be announcing a proposal here, some $4 billion of federal aid, as well as private sector money, to help make buildings more energy-efficient to create tens of thousands of jobs over the next couple of years. As soon as he starts speaking, we'll bring that to you live.

Well, times are tough, but the government is bringing in big bucks by auctioning off seized property.

Deb Feyerick has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Name any luxury item -- yachts, mansions, art collection, racecars, diamonds, even ancient artifacts, and chances are the U.S. government likely owns it. That's right, your government. It's all legal. In fact, it's justice.

PREET BHARARA, U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Whether they're narcotics traffickers, arms traffickers, terrorists, publicly corrupt officials, or your standard securities fraudsters, in every single type of case that we bring, we try to make sure that we are looking at ways in which we can take the profit out of the crime and return money to the victims.

FEYERICK: It's called asset forfeiture. This year alone, the Justice Department made $1.6 billion seizing property. Almost half of that money, $800 million, came from cases prosecuted in New York's Southern District, run by U.S. attorney Preet Bharara.

BHARARA: In the last fiscal year alone, we have managed to bring in, through the concept of forfeiture, approximately $800 million in funds or in property, which is about 16 times what our annual operating budget is, which I believe is better than most hedge funds these days.

FEYERICK: Prosecutions of white collar crimes, Ponzi schemes and financial fraud are at an all-time high.

(on camera): Given the caliber of criminals you're going after in certain cases, the Bernie Madoffs, the Marc Dreiers, are you ever surprised at simply what certain people own? Do you think, oh, my God?

BHARARA: You know, not much surprises us these days. Oftentimes, the motivation for engaging in some of this criminal conduct is greed, and the fact that some of these items are so ostentatious is a reflection of what the motivation was for engaging in those crimes in the first place.

FEYERICK: This is just a small sample of what the government has. Want a Bentley? Well, a new one will cost you up to $250,000. Like most everything here, these two will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

(voice-over): Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff's beach home, sold for over $9 million. Jewelry given as a gift to actress Anne Hathaway by her currently incarcerated ex-boyfriend, sold for more than $63,000.

(on camera): Some people may wonder, do you ever think about the cases you're going to pursue based on the amount of money you're likely to bring in?

BHARARA: No. We pursue cases for one reason and one reason only -- to hold people accountable for their crimes.

FEYERICK: The $800 million will be distributed to victims and different law enforcement programs. U.S. attorney Bharara expects next year to be an equally good year financially, but with the government hiring freeze, it's going to be a bit more challenging to keep up the current pace of these intensive investigations.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Hiring is up. The unemployment rate is down. That's encouraging news from the November jobs report, but what does it say about the overall economy? We're going to take a look at the story behind the numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories we are working on.

The unemployment rate takes a big tumble in November. We're going to ask an expert if the drop is real or if it's just a fluke.

Then, is Siri against abortion? The iPhone voice app clams up if you ask about the procedure. We're going to get Apple's response to that.

At 11:45 Eastern, I'm going to talk with one of the top 10 nominees for CNN Hero of the Year. Robert St. Denis gives the disabled the gift of mobility.

Well, the nation's unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since March of 2008 during the depths now of the recession. The Labor Department says that employers added 120,000 jobs. That happened last month. The unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent.

Want to break down the November jobs report and take a look at what it means about the overall economy.

Joining us is Georgia Tech economics professor Thomas Danny Boston.

And good to see you. It's been a little while. Very nice to see you.

PROF. THOMAS "DANNY" BOSTON, GEORGIA TECH: Great. It's good to be back with you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: What do you think this means, this report? What is the significance?

BOSTON: All right. Well, if I were grading this report in my Economics 101 class, one that everybody loves to hate --

MALVEAUX: Grade, that's a good way to put it.

BOSTON: -- I would give it a grade of 75. So, there were some good things that happened and there's still some challenges.

On the good side, of course, the headline is that the unemployment rate went down from 9 percent to 8.6 percent.

MALVEAUX: Right.

BOSTON: And we created jobs. And so, if you look at it overall, this is happening despite the fact that we have all of this crisis in Europe around the debt there, and we haven't gotten a compromise over the debt here. And there's still some investor uncertainty.

So, there's a lot of growth despite all of that. So, fundamentally, the economy is strong. Those are the good points.

MALVEAUX: Now for the bad stuff. OK.

BOSTON: All right, the bad stuff. It's not really bad, but there are some challenges.

In other words, we've created 120,000 jobs. Well, we need about 200,000 jobs to really make a difference in the unemployment.

And even though the unemployment rate went down, and there were close to 600,000 fewer people unemployed, about half that number comes from the fact that they dropped out of the labor market. So they're not recorded in the unemployment figures. So that's why we have to temper the kind of joy that we see about the unemployment report.

MALVEAUX: And what does this say about the state of the economy overall? Are things generally getting better now?

BOSTON: Things really are better. We are at a point where we can really make a difference and put all of the bad stuff behind us if we simply act on the signals that we're getting.

In other words, the fact that there was this increase in spending over the holidays, the fact that corporations are experiencing record profits and ready to invest, but still a bit uncertain, the fact that we've been able to move forward given all of the problems in Europe, all of that means that we can actually grow very, very robustly. I think a part of that equation has to be Congress has to stop playing political football with the economies.

MALVEAUX: OK. And we are actually going to go to a live event that's taking place. President Obama is joined by former president Bill Clinton. They're talking about investing in making buildings more energy-efficient, and that that would create, they say, at least, tens of thousands of jobs in the construction industry.

Let's just dip in and take a listen.

Danny, what do you make of the president's idea that if you invest, you take federal dollars and private sector money and you invest in making buildings more energy efficient? Do you think that is actually enough to do the job, to actually create the kinds of jobs he's talking about? He's talking about to the tune of tens of thousands.

BOSTON: Yes, I think it is. I think it does a number of things.

One, is that it addresses the whole problem of the energy crisis that we have on the one hand. And on the other hand, it's creating employment. So, any time that you have an expenditure of money, whether that comes from the private sector or the public sector, there's a multiplied effect. And that effect generates more jobs. And so I think --

MALVEAUX: OK.

BOSTON: -- exactly.

MALVEAUX: Let's take a listen. I understand former President Bill Clinton is now speaking.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- Jobs Council on improving energy efficiency in buildings. I think he did it because the Clinton Global Initiative and my own climate change project, have been working on these kinds of things for several years now.

And I believe as strongly as I can say that this is good business, creates jobs, makes us more energy independent and help fights climate change. It's the nearest thing we have to a free lunch in a tough economy because all of the savings can be paid back within a reasonable amount of time -- I mean, all of the costs of construction, through lower utility bills. So we've been working on that. And the president has an announcement to make about that today.

I just want to say how grateful I am to Rich Trumka, of the AFL-CEO, and Randi Weingarten for the work the labor has done in putting up the pension funds from California, some other funds they have to actually invest their own money, gambling that they can get a reasonable return in putting people to work.

And I appreciate the support that Tom has given to this because there are a lot of construction firms that will lose really skilled, gifted workers if they can't find something to do. Because there's not a big demand for new buildings today. Therefore, the best opportunity to preserve and rebuild this sector is through greater energy efficiency. I want to thank all the people who have been involved in this. And, Mr. President, I just want to say how grateful I am for the meeting we just attended. The president's Jobs Council and economic team have put together a meeting that we were present at, with nearly 50 people there. He'll tell you what they said they would do. But I hate to sound like a broken record. We could create an almost unlimited number of jobs out of this, even in this lousy economy, even with all of this embedded mortgage crisis if we can work out the financing.

And I am grateful to be able to support this, to offer the continued effort of our climate change project and the Clinton Global Initiative to help the partners we have that are involved in this and anybody else that wants it.

But I'm especially grateful that the president didn't let this fall through the cracks. You that I -- I haven't been in that job for a long time, and I'm getting older, but I have some memory left. And a thousand people ask you to do a thousand things. One of the tests of whether things work out or not since you can't do all 1,000 is whether you can actually set up a process to do things and follow up.

And I am full of gratitude and praise, Mr. President, for you and your whole team. Not just for your commitment to green energy, but for your commitment to energy efficiency, which gives you, on buildings like this, averages 7,000 jobs for every billion dollars invested. By far the greatest bang for the buck of any available investment I know.

So thank you Tom.

Thank you, Ricky, Randi.

Mr. President, thank you for giving me a chance to work on this.

Thank you.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody.

I want to first of all thank Randi and Tom for their participation.

I am thrilled that President Clinton has been willing to take this on. As he pointed out, partly thanks to me, he's home alone too often. And this has been a passion for him for quite some time so I am very grateful for his involvement.

I thank everybody at Transwestern, all the folks who are participating here for giving us this remarkable tour.

There are the equivalent of 250 full-time workers as a consequence of the project that's taking place here. It is a win for the business owners. It is a win for the tenants of this building. It is a win for the construction workers who are participating and for the property manager that's doing such a great job. So this is a great example of what's possible.

As president, my most pressing challenge is doing everything I can every single day to get this economy growing faster and create more jobs. This morning, we learned that our economy added another 140,000 private-sector jobs in November. The unemployment rate went down. And despite some strong head winds this year, the American economy has now created in the private sector jobs for the past 21 months in a row. That's nearly three million new jobs in all and more than half a million over the last four months. So we need to keep that growth going.

Right now, that means Congress needs to extend the payroll tax cut for working Americans for another year. Congress needs to renew unemployment insurance for Americans who are still out there pounding the pavement looking for work. Failure to take either of these steps would be a significant blow to our economy.

It would take money out of the pocket of Americans who are most likely to spend it. And it would harm small businesses that depend on the spending. It would be a bad idea. I think it's worth noting, by the way -- I notice that some folks on the other side have been quoting President Clinton about it's a bad idea to raise taxes during tough economic times. That's precisely why I sought to extend the payroll tax this year and next year. It doesn't mean that we locked in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. I don't think President Clinton's been on board for that for that for perpetuity, but just thought that might be worth mentioning.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: That's why it's so disappointing last night, by the way, that Senate Republicans voted to block that payroll tax cut. That effectively would raise taxes on nearly 160 million hard-working Americans because they didn't want to ask a few hundred thousand of the wealthiest Americans to get the economy growing faster. I think that's unacceptable. We're going to keep pushing Congress to make this happen. Now is not the time to slam the brakes on the recovery. Right now, it's time to step on the gas. We need to get this done. And I expect that it's going to get done before Congress leaves, otherwise, Congress may not be leaving. We can all spend Christmas here together.

Now, our longer-term challenge is rebuilding an economy where hard work is valued and responsibility is rewarded and the middle class and folks who are trying to get into the middle class regain some security, an economy that's built to compete with the rest of the world and an economy that's built to last. That's why we're here today in a place where clearly there is some building going on.

President Clinton, leaders of business, leaders of labor, we're all here to announce some new steps that are going to create good jobs rebuilding America. This building is in the middle of a retrofitting project to make it more energy efficient. Already, this retrofit is saving this building $200,000 a year on its energy bills. When it's finished, it will have created 250 full-time jobs in construction here in this building.

Consider President Clinton's coming down from New York, the fact that the owners of the Empire State Building did the same thing. They are retrofitting that iconic landmark from top to bottom. It's a big investment, but it will pay for itself by saving them $4.4 million a year in energy costs. It's estimated that all the retrofitting that they're doing will pay for itself in about 4.5 years.

Making our buildings more energy efficient is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways for us to create jobs, save money, and cut down on harmful pollution. It is a trifecta, which is why you've got labor and business behind it. It could save our businesses up to $40 billion a year on their energy bills, money better spent growing and hiring new workers. It would boost manufacturing of energy efficient materials. And when millions of construction workers have found themselves out of work since the housing bubble burst, it will put them back to work doing the work that America needs done. So this is an idea whose time has come.

That's why, in February, I announced the Better Buildings Initiative. It's an ambitious plan to improve the energy efficiency of America's commercial buildings 20 percent by the year 2020. And I asked President Clinton and my jobs council to challenge the private sector as part of the initiative to step up, make these cost-saving investments and prove that it works so that other companies follow their lead.

Now I believe that if you're willing to put people to work, making your buildings more efficient, America should provide you some incentives to do so. That's something that would require congressional action, and we have asked Congress to work with us to move on providing more effective incentives for commercial building owners all across the country to move forward on these energy efficient steps.

But we can't wait for Congress to act. If they won't act, I will, which is why, today, I'm directing all federal agencies, all federal agencies to make at least $2 billion worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next two years. None of these upgrades will require taxpayer money to get them going. We're going to use performance-based contracts that use savings on energy and utility bills to pay the contractors to do the work. It should keep construction workers pretty busy. In fact, this is something that the Chamber of Commerce has said is critical to private sector job creation.

The private sector and community leaders are also stepping up to the plate alongside the federal government. President Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative have been tremendous partners in rallying them to join this effort. So in June, at CGA America, we announced initial commitments of $500 million to upgrade 300 million-square feet of building space. Some of these projects are already underway.

The good news is today we can announce that we're going even bigger. We've received larger commitments. We now have 60 major companies, universities, labor unions, hospitals, cities and states, and they're stepping up with nearly $2 billion in financing to upgrade an additional 1.6 billion square feet of commercial and industrial space by our target year of 2020. That's more than 500 Empire State Buildings.

I just had a chance, along with President Clinton, to meet with representatives of these 60 institutions that are involved and hear firsthand how they can put Americans back to work but also improve their bottom lines. So you've got companies like Best Buy, Walgreens that are going to upgrade store lighting, which will save them money.

You have manufacturers like Alcoa that will make their manufacturing plants more efficient, dramatically reducing their operating costs, which means they can compete more effectively all around the world. You've got property management companies that are upgrading their buildings to make the real estate portfolios more attractive to businesses. One is already upgrading 40,000 units of military housing all across the country, which will give our military families lower utility bills and a higher quality of life, and all of this will create jobs.

So over the past decade, we've seen what happens if we don't make investments like these. We've seen what happens when we don't come together for a common purpose. Wages flat-line, incomes fall, employment stalls and we lose our competitive edge. But we've also seen what happens when we do what's right. When Bill Clinton was president we didn't short-change investment.

We didn't say we're going to cut back on the things that we know are going to help us grow in the future. We didn't make decisions that put the burden on the middle class or the poor. We lived within our means. We invested in our future. We asked everybody to pay their fair share. You know what happened? The private sector thrived, jobs were created, middle class grew, millions rose out of poverty. We were actually on track to be able to pay off all of our debt. We were firing on all cylinders.

We can be that nation again. That's our goal. We will be that nation again. We're going to have to fight for it. So there's work to be done.

(END LIVE SPEECH)

MALVEAUX: You're listening to President Obama and his plan, $4 billion plan to actually invest in buildings, making them more energy efficient. He says it will create tens of thousands of new jobs in the construction industry.

Danny Boston joining us here.

Danny, first of all, I thought it was interesting what President Clinton said. He said, this is the closest thing to a free lunch during tough economic times if you can get the financing. That's a big if. How real is this proposal?

BOSTON: It is a big if, but if you think about the benefits attached to the proposal, they're really many because, on the one hand, you're dealing with the issue of energy efficiency. That lowers the cost of gas at the pump. Secondly, by companies becoming more energy efficient, they become more productive. That increases profitability. Thirdly, particularly when you're retrofitting buildings, you are using construction workers and that increases employment. So you have a stimulus that, in fact, comes as close as you can get to a free lunch. It's not a free lunch, it costs, but it does get close to that. So that's even better. As much as we need to invest in infrastructure because of the long-run benefits -- MALVEAUX: Right. Right.

BOSTON: -- this is even better because you have those short-run and long-run benefits and it's not as capital intensive. That is, you use labor and that reduces unemployment.

MALVEAUX: All right, I'm going to bring in Paul Steinhauser, deputy political director in Washington.

Paul, we heard from the president, the job numbers, what do we suspect? Will they help him keep his job come November? How important is that number today?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That number is very important. Suzanne, we always talk about this. The economy, the number-one issue with Americans, hands down. Been that way since December 2007. What is the most important economic issue on the mind of with voters? Jobs, jobs, jobs. Been that way, still that way. So, yes, you heard the president commenting on the economic numbers and talking about them. But also saying more needs to be done. And you saw him there, just making a pitch to continue extending unemployment benefits and also pass the payroll tax for middle class Americans that he wants to be done. So he's saying good news here with the unemployment numbers, but more needs to be done.

As you can imagine, the Republicans would like to have his job in the White House, criticizing him. Mitt Romney was the first to do that right out of the gate this morning, saying, "Today's unemployment figure bring to 34 months the number of months that the unemployment level in the U.S. has been over 8 percent, the longest such spell since the Great Depression. The Obama administration may have come to accept such a high level of joblessness as the new normal. I will never accept that."

Again, Suzanne, good numbers for the president. I'm sure the re- election campaign in Chicago is happy. But a long way away from the election next year. Yes, a lot more needs to be done. That's why we look at these numbers every month -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Yes. Paul, I don't suppose it hurts him to be having him be next to former President Bill Clinton when the times were really good. Everybody was thriving for the most part. Clearly, he wants to make that connection as well.

Thanks, Paul.

We'll have more after the break.

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MALVEAUX: Each week we profile someone who's accomplished something remarkable despite having to overcome major obstacles. Well, in today's "Human Factor," Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to Don Wright. He refuses to let cancer get in the way of his passion for running marathons.

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MALVEAUX: All year we've been introducing you to every-day folks who are changing the world. We call them "CNN Heroes." I want to introduce you to one of the top-10 "CNN Heroes" for 2011. Since 2008, Richard St. Denis and his organization, World Access Project, have provided hundreds of wheelchairs to people who can't afford them in rural Mexico.

Richard is joining us from Mazatlan, Mexico, via Skype, I believe -- or by phone? By phone.

Congratulations, Richard, for the amazing work that you do. Top-10 "CNN Heroes" already, giving wheelchairs to those who can't afford them. What does that mean to folks there?

RICHARD ST. DENIS, WORLD ACCESS PROJECT: (AUDIO PROBLEM). There's a lot of people that can't go anywhere. They can't walk and they have no wheelchair. So it is an amazing opportunity to help people's lives and give them a new opportunity to do things that they wouldn't be able to do otherwise.

MALVEAUX: Being made a top-10 hero, what is this going to mean for your World Access Project?

ST. DENIS: Well, we're hoping it means a lot more connections with other groups, with other organizations that we can get good quality used chairs from the United States we bring down here and that we can get even more wheelchairs to people that -- I think there's tens of thousands of people in Mexico who need wheelchairs still.

MALVEAUX: All right, Richard, thank you so much. Congratulations already for being named in the top-10. We wish you the very best. Thanks for your work.

See the top-10 "CNN Heroes" nominees and their causes. Tune in to CNN live Sunday evening, that's Sunday evening December 11, 8:00 eastern, for "CNN Heroes," it's an all-star tribute.

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