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CNN Tonight
D.C. Party Crashers; Selling the War Plan; Ready, Willing and Able?; Jobs Summit; Racial Divide; One Good Turn; Truth in Advertising
Aired December 03, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, allegations the White House is stonewalling the D.C. party crash probe, using executive privilege to keep a top aide from testifying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We think it's important to have a balance and have the White House staff to have confidential conversations with the president and his team without appearing before Congress.
HILL: Is the White House trying to protect one of its own?
President Obama focusing on jobs today, with unemployment still above 10 percent, some question is the administration making the right move.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh I think most Americans find it ironic that after a litany of job killing policies, the president hosts a jobs summit.
HILL: And Tiger Woods now facing friendly fire after admitting transgressions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me and my wife are at fault for (INAUDIBLE) her up with him. But I thought he was a better guy than (INAUDIBLE) and hope she uses a driver next time (INAUDIBLE).
HILL: The Tiger Woods affair getting personal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN TONIGHT live from New York. Here now Erica Hill.
HILL: And thanks for being with us tonight. The White House is now battling accusations of stonewalling the investigation into the state dinner party crashers -- that's after it refused to allow White House social secretary Desiree Rogers (ph) to testifying today on Capitol Hill citing executive privilege.
She wasn't the only no-show though. The couple at the center of this fiasco, Tareq and Michaele Salahi (ph), also declined the invitation. And it was official this time. They were on the list. We did hear though from the head of the Secret Service. And he had plenty of questions to answer. Jeanne Meserve now with more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This time Tareq and Michaele Salahi (ph) were on the guest list, but didn't show up.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D), CHMN., HOMELAND SECURITY COMM.: I'm directing staff to prepare subpoenas for the Salahi's (ph), if the Salahi's (ph) continue to rebuff this committee's oversight request they could be subject to contempt of Congress.
MESERVE: Republican Peter King also wants to subpoena White House social secretary Desiree Rogers (ph). The White House said she didn't appear to preserve separation of powers between the executive branch and Congress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's wrong. I think it's stonewalling.
MESERVE: Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan (ph), the sole and star witness revealed that three of his employees are on administrative leave while the investigation of the security breach continues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Violation and potential threat.
MESERVE: Members were alarmed that the security bubble around the president was so easily punctured. Sullivan said to his knowledge it was the only time it has happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there a threat to the president or not a threat to the president?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, we have counter measures in place and I am confident in telling you that there was no threat to the president.
MESERVE: Sullivan testified that before the state dinner, the Secret Service and White House agreed that the social secretary would not have personnel at security checkpoints as usual but nearby for consultation. And the Secret Service failed to follow protocol and called when the Salahi's (ph) names did not appear on the guest list. Sullivan called that unacceptable and indefensible.
MARK SULLIVAN, DIR., U.S. SECRET SERVICE: This is our fault and our fault alone. There are no other people to blame here.
MESERVE: But many members clearly felt the White House shared that blame.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We also expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president. We don't expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president's staff.
MESERVE: One reporter at the dinner said she told White House staff the Salahi's (ph) were not on the guest list. Sullivan wouldn't comment, but made it clear that information did not make it to the Secret Service that night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were advised of it the following day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And advised by whom, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Facebook.
MESERVE (on camera): Some members also expressed concern about an e-mail in which Tareq Salahi (ph) listed who had declined invitations to the dinner and why. Members of Congress wanted to know how he got his hands on this potentially sensitive information. Sullivan said, at this point, he doesn't know -- Erica, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: That will be an interesting answer -- Jeanne Meserve, thanks. Still to come, a 20-year veteran of the Secret Service who thinks the White House does need to accept more of the blame. Stay with us for his take.
First though, the Secret Service director not the only one in the hot seat today on Capitol Hill. For the administration it was day two of tough questions over the president's plan for Afghanistan. A strategy turning out to be a very hard sell on all sides -- Dana Bash reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Day two on Capitol Hill pushing the president's new Afghanistan policy. And members of his war council faced a barrage of friendly fire.
SEN. RUSSELL FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: I do not support the decision to prolong and expand a risky and unsustainable strategy in the region.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am unconvinced on the need for the additional troops.
BASH: Democrats usually the president's allies, unhappy about his decision to send 30,000 additional troops and the defense secretary revealed he has the authority to deploy 3,000 more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we are really looking at potentially 33,000 additional troops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Potentially.
BASH: Then there was the issue of starting to bring troops home in July, 2011. The president's team says that withdrawal is flexible. That frustrates Democrats like Bob Menendez (ph) who want troops out.
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: Can any of you tell this committee that, in fact, after July of 2011, we won't have tens of thousands of troops for years after that day?
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Senator, I can tell you what the intention is and the intention is...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want -- Madam Secretary, I don't want to hear what the intention is. I want to know can you tell the committee that there won't be tens of thousands of troops after July of 2011 for years after that.
BASH: Not all Democrats are incensed.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I believe that the president appropriately narrowed the mission in Afghanistan.
BASH: The committee's chairman and Obama confidant on Afghanistan asked the president's team to calm a central concern of his Democratic colleagues. That the U.S. is sending more troops than the threat requires.
KERRY: What is it that compels you to say al Qaeda in Pakistan remains (INAUDIBLE) 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Whether or not the terrorists are home grown when we trace their roots, they almost all end up back in this border area of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: But that didn't seem to change the deep bipartisan skepticism about the amount of manpower and money that's going into this narrow region and overwhelming concern that neighboring Pakistan is simply not doing enough to help U.S. forces near there to root out al Qaeda right in its borders -- Erica.
HILL: That seems to be a growing concern as well -- Dana Bash, thanks.
BASH: Thank you.
HILL: As you just heard from Dana, that pullout date of July, 2011 also still under fire. Much of the concern is focused on local Afghan security forces. Chris Lawrence now on whether the Afghans will actually be ready, willing and most importantly able to protect their country without the help of the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Taliban control their influence huge areas of Afghanistan's south and east. Those are the areas in darker red on this map. But U.S. military officials now say some of the northwest areas in lighter shades have good security and no al Qaeda and could be turned over today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The transition to Afghan security responsibility will start presumably in the least contested areas, some of which perhaps could happen now.
LAWRENCE: But Defense Secretary Robert Gates says they will wait until at least July, 2011. But when American troops start turning over some areas to Afghan forces, they will hand over to who, exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may not be the Afghan National Army or the Afghan National Police that we -- that -- to whom we turn for providing local security.
LAWRENCE: U.S. military leaders now say their most essential partners could be local groups, not national security forces. They are turning to these community security groups. Think of it like an armed neighborhood watch in places like Wardaq (ph) province.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tribal elders are telling me that the roads that have been closed by the Taliban for years have been reopened by these local groups, but they are within the framework of the provincial governor and the district leadership so that they are not operating independently working for war lord.
LAWRENCE: But that could be the biggest challenge to keep these groups from simply becoming malicious, loyal to certain war lords. There are nearly 100,000 Afghan National Army soldiers, but U.S. military officials say right now, only around 10 percent can stand on their own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: And if and when those secure provinces are handed back over to the Afghans, there won't be an immediate effect for American troops, the Brits, the French. They are still down in some of those most violent areas. This initial handover will relieve nations like Norway, Sweden, Germany, Lithuania -- Erica.
HILL: Chris, I wanted to ask you something you mentioned at the end of your piece there -- only about 10 percent right now of those Afghan forces can stand on their own. Has the White House put a number at all on the number of Afghan forces that expects to be able to stand on their own in 18 months?
LAWRENCE: They have. Right around you know July, September of 2011, they hope to have about 170,000 Afghan Army soldiers. They (INAUDIBLE) in the 90s now, so you are talking about (INAUDIBLE) another 75,000 in the next 18 months. Remains to be seen how many of those extra troops will be actually capable and ready to be on their own.
HILL: A lot of training for U.S. forces to work on there -- Chris Lawrence, thanks.
LAWRENCE: You're welcome.
HILL: Just ahead, a veteran Secret Service agent tells us who should really be the blame here for the White House party crashing.
Plus the lack of jobs is hurting everyone in this country. Unemployment remains at a record high. Why then are African-Americans being hit so much harder than most?
Plus, a car tracking system is great if you break down, but for one senator's daughter it could also be a crime fighting tool.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Some movement in the Senate on health care reform. The first amendment to the bill voted on today would protect women's access to mammograms and other preventive care. It could actually require insurance companies to provide mammograms and other screenings free of charge and of course comes on the heel of a controversial government panel report's recommendation that changed existing recommendations for when women should begin getting those mammograms. A little bit later in the day a second amendment that would have pulled more than $400 million in Medicare cuts from the bill was defeated.
(INAUDIBLE) now at the nation's unemployment crisis, there are nearly 16 million Americans out of work. A third of them have now been out of work for more than six months. In Washington today President Obama brought together a group of business leaders to come up with a strategy for putting those Americans back to work. It's an effort that's been dismissed by critics as nothing more than a public relations ploy. Dan Lothian has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A White House jobs brainstorming session with one big question on the table.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How do we get businesses to start hiring again? How do we get ourselves to the point where more people are working and more people are spending?
LOTHIAN: President Obama and his cabinet breaking down the unemployment crisis with big executives, small business owners and other leaders looking for creative ways to stimulate hiring in addition to increase spending on roads and highways, weatherization projects or tax credits for small businesses. But some Republicans say this is nothing more than a P.R. effort with no substance and that the administration is partly the blame for high unemployment.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: The biggest problem that we heard from our economist with regard to why employers aren't hiring is all the job killing policies that are being offered by this administration and this Congress and creating an awful lot of uncertainty for American employers.
LOTHIAN: President Obama and his administration have made big promises.
OBAMA: We want to create or save three million jobs. Save or create 3.5 million jobs. The creation of millions of news jobs.
LOTHIAN: While the overall economy seems to have stabilized, Americans continue to lose their jobs. One out of 10 is out of work. Like Jean Senat (ph), who was laid off from his job in the financial industry seven months ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been frustrating. I knew it was going to be hard, but I never thought it would be that hard.
LOTHIAN: He's applied for hundreds of jobs without success. Adding to his family stress, a baby is on the way.
JEAN SENAT, JOB SEEKER: My wife sometimes she cries and (INAUDIBLE) I can't help her.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Now President Obama today said that he's heard those tough stories just about every day he hears it and he understands how difficult it is for many Americans who are unemployed. And he'll no doubt hear more of those stories as he hits the road tomorrow, headed to Allentown (ph), Pennsylvania. It is the beginning of a listening tour. The White House expects the president to visit several states over the next few months, a chance for him to hear these stories firsthand -- Erica.
HILL: All right, Dan, thanks.
We are going to continue our look at the future of jobs in America throughout the show including a firsthand account of that summit today from one of the CEOs who was in attendance. We want to know from her directly did she hear any solutions. That's still to come.
Meantime, the national unemployment rate, as you know, currently stands at a high since -- we haven't seen since 1983, more than 10 percent, but when it comes to African-Americans, the number is actually much higher. And as Lisa Sylvester reports, that has leaders in the black community calling for action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barry Sykes (ph) has been looking for a full time job for more than two years. The Atlanta IT technician worked for Unisys (ph) for nearly a decade. He has posted his resume on dozens of job sites. Out of work, unable to pay the rent, the family of four was told before Thanksgiving they had to move.
BARRY JABBAR SYKES, LAID OFF FATHER OF FOUR: We didn't want to tell the kids, but they kind of figured it out with all the boxes being packed. And so we ended up just even today finishing up moving my family from the house we were living in to an extend-a-stay.
SYLVESTER: The Sykes' story echoes across the country. The national unemployment rate is 10.2 percent. For African-Americans it's 15.7 percent. For younger African-Americans, still higher, 29 percent. In Toledo, Ohio, the United Auto Workers Union and the Reverend Jesse Jackson's group held a jobs rally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jobs now.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Jobs now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jobs now.
SYLVESTER: President Obama at a jobs summit promised to reverse rising unemployment, still anger and frustration is bubbling up in the black community.
REP. BOBBY RUSH (D), ILLINOIS: Unless we get some real cooperation and real help and unless there's some (INAUDIBLE) alliances (INAUDIBLE) I can really see a day when there will be a jobless march on Washington. People who are unemployed. I can see that.
SYLVESTER: Some of the loudest criticism of the administration's records on jobs is not coming from Republicans, but from the president's closest allies.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: Unemployment this year under President Obama has climbed from 7.6 percent nationwide to more than 10 percent. The numbers have been trending upward for all groups, but African- Americans that were suffering disproportionately at the beginning of the year with an unemployment rate of 12.5 percent and they continue to suffer disproportionately with now that 15.7 percent unemployment rate -- Erica.
HILL: Tough number to swallow -- Lisa Sylvester, thanks.
Still ahead, one good turn deserves another. How about a little uplifting news for you. How a would-be robber is now thanking a very generous store owner.
Plus one senator's daughter carjacked in Washington, actually turns out to be some good news for one company.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: A New York store owner who took pity on a would-be robber is seeing a return on his generosity. Mohammad Sohail gave the robber money and bread after he claimed he needed help feeding his children. Well now (INAUDIBLE) robber is repaying the favor -- Mary Snow with the heart-warming story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We first brought you Mohammad Sohail's story in June, when he showed mercy to a would-be robber who came into his store demanding money. The ordeal all captured by surveillance cameras, Sohail grabbed a rifle and said the man began crying saying he needed to feed his family. Sohail gave him $40, a loaf of bread and made him promise never to rob again.
Six months later the 47-year-old Sohail says that promise was returned in a way he never imagined. He recently received a letter with $50 inside and no return address.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) what is that and when I read the letter, that's the same person you know the guy come try to rob my store.
SNOW: He read it for us.
MOHAMMAD SOHAIL, CONVENIENCE STORE OWNER: Now I have a good job, making good money, staying out of trouble and taking care of my family. You give me $40 and a loaf of bread. Here is the $50. Thank you for sparing my life because of that you changed my life.
SNOW: Did you cry when you got that letter?
SOHAIL: Absolutely. Because all the time, I'm thinking my mom. My mom said help anybody if anybody need help.
SNOW: The letter is signed, your Muslim brother. And the writer states he's now a true Muslim. During the aborted robbery, the man told Sohail he wanted to be a Muslim, just like him. And Sohail recited an Islamic prayer and told him he was converted. While the man's life may have changed, things are also different for this Pakistani immigrant. At his store in Shirley (ph), New York he displays letters he has received from across the country.
(on camera): Dear My Sohail, what is this? I want to say that no person has ever moved my spirit the way you did. Wow. From an admirer, your biggest admirer -- do you know who he is?
SOHAIL: I have no idea. People sending me the letters.
SNOW (voice-over): And some have sent checks. Sohail say's he's received a couple hundred dollars and now offers free bagels, rolls and coffee for several hours during the day. And he vows to help others.
(on camera): Would you one day like to meet with this anonymous mystery man?
SOHAIL: Of course. I'd like to see him. I want to see him if -- if he hear me, if he listening to me, this person, come to my store.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Now while Sohail says all is forgiven in his eyes, the Suffolk County (ph) police say this is still an open investigation as they've yet to find mystery man -- Erica.
HILL: So they would like to speak with him as well.
SNOW: Exactly.
HILL: For different reasons -- Mary thanks, it does have a nice ending though.
Another happy ending, where you might not expect to find one -- Tennessee Senator Bob Corker's daughter is recovering after being carjacked in Washington last night. The SUV and the suspects were found thanks to the car's onboard tracking system. And as Brian Todd reports there just may be a little truth in advertising here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wednesday evening in downtown Washington the 22-year-old daughter of a U.S. senator is carjacked, dragged from her vehicle, thrown to the pavement. Two suspects take off in her Chevy Tahoe. Police in Seat Pleasant (ph) Maryland tell us after only about an hour, they are notified of the vehicle's make, model, tag numbers and location.
Shortly, thereafter, about seven miles from where the carjacking took place the suspects are apprehended. Parked at a Taco Bell. Tennessee Senator Bob Corker is grateful that his daughter Julia wasn't seriously hurt. He's also grateful for something else.
SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: With OnStar, they were able to identify that they were actually not moving and police were able to come up and apprehend them.
TODD: OnStar, the navigation and tracking system that GM installs in its new vehicles can pinpoint your car just about anywhere. We get a demonstration from Bob Kunkel (ph), sales consultant at Koons (ph) GM of Tyson's Corner (ph) in Virginia. He shows us how just by hitting a button OnStar connects you to a real person in a command center who can give directions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) southeast on (INAUDIBLE) Road.
TODD: The system can unlock your doors if a child is locked in. And if your car is stolen, all you have to do is call the police, let them know your make and model, tell them you have OnStar. They'll look up the vehicle I.D. number and as Kunkel says interrogate the vehicle without the knowledge of those driving it. That's essentially what happened with Senator Corker's daughter. You can activate the emergency system yourself, he says, but be careful.
(on camera): You say I shouldn't hit this little red button unless things are really hairy (ph). Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That little red button will send the Calvary. OnStar assumes that if you hit this button that it is a life threatening situation and they are going to respond with police, fire and rescue until somebody tells them otherwise. They're assuming somebody is going to die very shortly.
TODD (voice-over): A new feature with OnStar shown in a recent ad, the ability to disable the gas pedal by remote control and slow the car down. That stopped another carjacking in California recently. But Kunkel says OnStar is not the perfect fit for everyone.
BOB KUNKEL, KOONS GENERAL MOTORS: A number of my customers are concerned about big brother, so to speak, being able to watch the people in the car, listen surreptitiously to phone calls, things of this nature.
(END VIDEOTAPE) TODD: But Kunkel says OnStar has always been very up front about not tracking motorists unless the drivers call them first and ask for help -- Erica.
HILL: Brian, I understand too that Senator Corker was actually considering dropping his OnStar service before all this happened. Is that true?
TODD: It is true. He told us that he was paying about $12 a month for it. And he said he thought it was a waste of money. He was considering -- he had actually planned for a long time to drop it. Now, he says, of course, he's glad he didn't. These packages can run 12 to 18, $19 a month if you pay for a month. They are a little bit cheaper if you get a prepaid plan for several years.
HILL: Got you. Brian Todd, great stuff, thanks.
Just ahead, the blame game over the D.C. party crash. The Secret Service owning up to its mistake, in fact it happened pretty quickly, but should the White House be doing the same? Plus, Tiger's fellow golfers on the tour mostly quiet until now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) I would have thought he was a better guy than he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: That's not all Jesper Parnevik (ph) had to say. Remember, this is the guy who set Tiger up with his wife. We'll have much more, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: As reported earlier, Tareq and Michaele Salahi were not the only no-shows at the party crash hearing today on Capitol Hill. White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers also refusing to talk, and now the administration is getting hammered for claiming executive privilege. Is the new White House reporting to an old tactic?
Ed Henry reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The pressure on Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan is intense. And he told Congress his agency will take the heat for the gate-crashing fiasco.
MARK SULLIVAN, U.S. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: This is our fault and our fault alone. There's no other people to blame here. You know, look at me and blame me.
HENRY: Lawmakers praised his candor, but bluntly declared White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers should be facing tough questions, too. REP. CHARLES DENT, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: We always expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president. We don't expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president's staff.
HENRY: Specifically, Republicans want to know why Rogers broke with past practice by not having one of her aides standing at the front gate to check names for the state dinner. But like the Salahi's, who did not show up for the hearing, Rogers declined the committee's invitation to talk on constitutional grounds.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Based on separation of powers, staff here don't go to testify in front of Congress. She will not be testifying in front of Congress.
HENRY: Republicans laughed off the notion the president might use executive privilege to protect an old pal from Chicago.
REP. PETER KING, (R) NEW YORK: This is not a separation of powers issue. This is an issue where there are people at the White House advising the president on health care or cap and trade or Afghanistan. We are talking an administration to have or not have people standing with the Secret Service and to change a policy of at least 20 years standing.
HENRY: But the Obama White House is getting cover from an unlikely source. C. Boyden Gray, former White House counsel in the first Bush administration, told CNN Rogers clearly should be shielded.
C. BOYDEN GRAY, FORMER GEORGE H.W. BUSH WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: It's a pretty slippery slope to say this person is a little bit more important than that person, this issue is more important than that issue. I think the safety of the president is a pretty important issue.
HENRY: So the president may be on solid legal ground but shaky political ground, especially after promising the most transparent administration ever.
Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: The White House is also avoiding some reporters' questions about Desiree Rogers, specifically whether she was an invited guest at the state dinner. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in fact had a heated exchange with reporter April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks today over Rogers role in the gate-crashers scandal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
APRIL RYAN, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: Was there a concern in the White House she came out being some might have called her the bell of the ball, overshadowing the first lady.
GIBBS: I don't know who "some" are. I have never heard this.
RYAN: It's been bantered around Washington in circles --
GIBBS: Again --
RYAN: Democratic circumstances and Republican circles.
GIBBS: April, that's not a station I live in in life.
RYAN: Answer the question, please.
GIBBS: Are you done speaking so I can?
RYAN: Oh, yes, I'm done.
GIBBS: I have not heard any of that criticism, I've not read any of that criticism. The president, the first lady, and the entire White House staff are grateful for the job she does and thinks she has done a terrific and wonderful job pulling off a lot of big and important events to the White House.
RYAN: Did she invite herself to the White House dinner? Did the president invite her -- that's a real question, do not fan it off?
GIBBS: I'm...
RYAN: Did she invite herself, or did the president ask her? Her name was on the list and social secretaries are the ones who put the name on the list?
GIBBS: Was she at the dinner? April, April, calm down. Take a deep breath for one second. This happens with my son when he does the same thing.
RYAN: Don't play with me. I'm being serious. Do not blow it off.
GIBBS: And I'm giving you a serious answer. Was she at the dinner? Yes. She's the social secretary.
RYAN: They are not guests of the dinner.
GIBBS: I'm going to get back to weightier topics like 98,000 men and women in Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Admittedly a weighty topic, but this other topic is not going away.
So joining me now for more on this story, Scott Alswang. He's a retired Secret Service agent also with the private security firm SOS security, and Carol Joynt, who writes a weekly column about Washington for the New York Social Diary. Good to have both of you with us.
Carol, I want to start with you. I know you have been at a number of events at the White House under a number of different administrations. Is it normal for a White House social secretary to attend a state dinner as a guest, being formally invited, which, again, was not clear today? But would that be normal protocol?
CAROL JOYNT, "NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY": What would be normal is for a social secretary to be essentially working at the beginning of the event as the guests arrive, greeting them, sort of the first hello.
And then as the party settles down and gets into swing, the social secretary might join the party. She might even sit down to dinner. But that's unusual and it would come late in the evening.
HILL: Scott, there's a lot of talk about who is to blame. The Secret Service came out very early on in this incident and said, look, we take responsibility here. We hold the blame. We heard that again from Mark Sullivan today.
When you look at the situation, who holds the blame in your eyes?
SCOTT ALSWANG, RETIRED SECRET SERVICE AGENT: I believe the Secret Service should take the full blame. The ultimate safety of the president revolves around our mission and how we do the job.
JOYNT: That's very nice, but I don't agree. That's not fair at all.
HILL: Why isn't it far, Carol?
JOYNT: Because it's a tandem responsibility. I think the Secret Service has been remarkable through this episode. These are people who are trained essentially to give their lives to the president. And they have been, you know, I think commendable in falling on their swords for this one.
And there's no question that they made mistakes and they behaved inappropriately. But by no means does the blame all fall on them. It's a tandem responsibility. The gate at the White House is a tandem responsibility of both the Secret Service and Social Office.
HILL: So Carol, are you saying then that the Secret Service is actually covering for the White House in some respects?
JOYNT: I think the Secret Service is doing what they are trained to do. But this would be all over now in a lot of ways if two things would happen, if the Salahi's would come forward and admit what they did and apologize, sort of following the example of Tiger Woods, and if Desiree Rogers would hand in her resignation.
HILL: We should point out, I want to get your take, Scott, on how common this is. Mark Sullivan did today say in the hearings that there had been a number of meetings ahead of time. And basically there was an agreement, I'm just going to read this so I have it correct, that there was actually a planning meeting before the dinner, and it was decided a single guard would be at the entry checkpoint and that it would be sufficient. It was understood that if that person had a question involving the guest list, they would summon someone from the White House staff to settle it, which the Secret Service has said didn't happen. Does that sound to you like something that would normally happen, well, just let the Secret Service take care of it?
ALSWANG: We work around the world in a counterpart capacity. We can't do everything. So when we go to a foreign country, we rely on the police, on their special services, on their intelligence agencies to help us, because we are a tiny agency in the scheme of things. So it helps to have staff there.
In this case, the staff should have been called if there was a question. What I think happened, I wasn't there, and I never worked the presidential protection division, but generally in events, no matter where they occur, whether it's the White House or a hotel, the staff works in tandem with the Secret Service and helps us.
Here, it was raining, there was an overflow of people, and I think the agents took the ID, did a criminal history check, walked them through the magnetometers and felt they are safe, the president is good, let them in.
HILL: Do you think that we should hear from, Carol, would it clear things up fully if we heard from the Salahi's and if we heard from Desiree Rogers?
ALSWANG: I think it would clear things up. I think that our director did a great job going before Congress today and took the blame because -- in deference to what was said.
Our responsibility is the protection of the president. And if anything happens that takes away from that, it's our problem. And so we are taking 100 percent blame. Failure is not an option.
JOYNT: But you shouldn't have to take 100 percent blame. I understand why the Secret Service is doing it.
And I also, you know, you would know best about this, Scott, but I have long understood that when there is a state dinner, there's an unspoken understanding that these are the president's guests, these are powerful people, to not give them any guff, that there's just a different attitude at a state dinner then there would be, say, if tourists are coming through the White House.
The Secret Service are under a lot of pressure that they don't really talk about.
HILL: So do you think that could have been part of it, Scott? Let's not make a fuss. It's the first official state dinner for this administration. We wanted it to go smoothly.
ALSWANG: I don't think so. We have worked and protected candidate Obama longer than any candidate in history. There's a good working relationship, and it's been ongoing. Of course it helps to have cooperation. But, I don't think that -- it's our responsibility. HILL: Is there any concern, and this is something that came up last week with some of our guests, is there concern in your eyes, Scott, having been a member of the Secret Service, that this reflects poorly on the job you do as it's seen overseas?
The prime minister of India was there as well and a number of other dignitaries. Is there concern that people could look at go, oh, there's a chink in the American armor when it comes to security.
ALSWANG: Generally our reputation has been stellar. Does everyone make mistakes? Yes. It's not like technology that's might be foolproof. Whenever there is a human involved, there could be human error.
But I have to say, and hopefully this won't stop, that other agencies that do what we do around the world have constantly, year to year, come to us for advice and guidance and advice on how to protect their people.
HILL: Carol, there was an article in "Newsweek" recently after this happened quoting Cathy Hargraves, who had been the assistant for arrangements was her official title, but she said she would stand at the east gate portico to greet and check names. She tells "Newsweek" that Desiree Rogers told her when the Obama administration took over they didn't really feel this role was necessary at state dinners and that it wouldn't look good in this economy to have somebody who's job was that, essentially.
Do you remember this role at events that you have been to and do you think that had this person been in place, this would have been avoided?
JOYNT: If a lot of things had been different, this would have been avoided.
But I think it goes back to Desiree Rogers. And there have been generals who resigned for less, in many ways. But, I think that hiding behind the notion of executive privilege, though she hasn't been subpoenaed, so I don't know if it really is executive privilege -- traditionally in Washington and the White House, when you are distracting this much attention from the real business of why the president selected, you tend to -- when you become the heat-seeking object, you quietly resign. That's just the way it's usually done.
That doesn't mean Desiree Rogers, there aren't a dozen other jobs she could do well and do remarkably well. But this was a pretty big failure.
HILL: It will be interesting to see if in fact those subpoenas do come. Lawmakers have said they may subpoena both the Salahis and Desiree Rogers.
JOYNT: We are hoping this will be over soon.
HILL: Oh, I think we have at least a couple days, Carol, come on. (LAUGHTER)
Good to have both of you with us. Thanks a bunch.
ALSWANG: Thank you.
JOYNT: Thank you.
HILL: Tiger Woods off the course is a very sensitive topic these days with a number of the men he plays with on the PGA tour. Most of them are actually trying to avoid being too critical of their fellow golfer.
But for Jesper Parnevik, the scandal is personal. That's because the Swedish golfer actually introduced Tiger to his wife, Elin. Tiger admitted transgressions. Tiger has admitted "transgressions," his word there. He won't be getting a pass from Parnevik.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESPER PARNEVIK, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I'm kind of feel a little sorry for Elin since me and my wife are at fault for hooking her up with him. And we thought he was a better guy than he is. And I would probably just apologize to her and hope she uses a driver instead of a three iron, I would say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Strong words there.
Just a note, there's still no word about any club selection Tiger's wife may have pulled from the bag that night.
Up next, the president's job forum, will it result in more hiring? One of the nation's top CEOs who attended the forum will join me.
Plus, stimulus money to create green jobs. Those jobs, though, it turns out may not be going to American workers. More disconnect? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: The federal government is devoting more than $1 billion in stimulus money to creating wind energy projects in the U.S. And the goal here is to move alternative energy into the mainstream. The problem, though, much of the wind turbine equipment is actually manufactured overseas.
So at the end of the day, just how many jobs are actually being created in this country? Inez Ferre reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
INEZ FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Everpower Renewables Wind Farm provides electricity for thousands of homes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company, recently acquired by a British firm, was awarded $42 million in stimulus grant money for the project.
The turbines used are 70 percent foreign made, although ever power says the project has and will keep creating local jobs. Since September, the government awarded more than $1 billion stimulus dollars for clean energy projects of which $849 million has gone to foreign-owned companies.
RUSS CHOMA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING WORKSHOP: It's a reimbursement of money that they've already invested. But there's nothing that says that they have to bring this money back to the U.S., that they have to build more wind farms, that they have to buy U.S. made turbines.
FERRE: The Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University reports that the majority of the turbines tied to stimulus projects were manufactured by foreign companies, estimating up to 4,500 jobs may have been created overseas.
PETE SEPP, NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNION: At the very least, there should have been restrictions involved to insure that the majority of the jobs created by the federal money occurred within U.S. borders.
FERRE: But the American Wind Energy Association disagrees with the study. It highlights that domestic manufacturing accounted for nearly half of the new capacity last year. Everpower CEO says more and more wind energy jobs are being created in the U.S.
JIM SPENCER, CEO EVERPOWER: Virtually every major manufacturer of wind turbines is either building or looking to build manufacturing facilities in the United States. So, what we see as a trend toward less foreign equipment, more domestically produced equipment, therefore more manufacturing jobs in the United States.
FERRE: Spencer adds, this will depend on a sustained domestic policy to grow the wind energy market.
FERRE (on camera): The irony is that even though wind power technology was invented in the U.S., governments overseas have provided manufacturers with much greater incentives. This has made the U.S. vulnerable in the race to create green energy jobs with other countries taking the lead.
Inez Ferre, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: When we return, President Obama asking business leaders for new ideas to create. And one of those CEOs will join us to tell us what exactly the leaders came up with in the powwow today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: More than 100 executives, economists, and business owners met in Washington today for a White House jobs forum. Stephanie Burns in the CEO of Dow Corning and was one of those executives in attendance. She joins us tonight. Good to have you with us. STEPHANIE BURNS, CEO DOW CORNING: Thank you very much, Erica.
HILL: The president opened the jobs summit, and I'm quoting here by saying he is interested in taking action right now to help businesses create jobs right now.
What did you hear today that told you president and this administration have a plan for creating jobs?
BURNS: You know, for us, for our company, Dow Corning and our majority joint venture, we manufacture poly-silicon, which is used in solar cells. So we believe that advanced manufacturing jobs in the renewable sector are very, very real. We are creating them now.
We've invested over $5 billion in the manufacture of this material right here in the United States in Michigan and in Tennessee. So our key messages is we need to increase the use of solar in America through the proper incentives and advanced manufacturing tax credits for the investment in this new sector.
HILL: So that's your message. But when it comes to the message of the president today, because the focus on green jobs, which we hear a lot about, we are also told this would only create a thousand jobs. We know there are nearly 16 million people out of work.
So what did you hear in terms of a message from the president that told you that there is a broader address and action planned to address the millions of people who are without work?
BURNS: Yes. You know, we actually talked about a lot of things and heard messages from president that I think were very consistent amongst all of the groups that we are talking about this very pressing issue.
And one of them is access to credit. Our customers want to make more investments, but the credit markets are not allowing them to get access. The president addressed that as clearly something the administration is working on.
And then building on that, he has also addressed retrofitting and weatherizing of many, many homes and public buildings across the country as a mechanism to also create jobs to help us retrain workers for this green energy economy.
HILL: There was a fair amount of criticism in terms of the jobs summit today, that this was nothing more than a PR stunt by the president. You were there today. How much of it was PR and how much of it was substance?
BURNS: You know, I think any time the administration and his cabinet are sitting down for nearly half of a day and talking to CEOs, talking to academicians, and talking to important leaders of the labor organizations, that's a good thing.
And that's what we want. We want to have a voice. And I felt very strongly that they were listening, taking notes, and that something will come of this, probably the next few weeks.
HILL: All right, a lot of folks looking for those results in the next few weeks will probably be helpful. Stephanie Burns, appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.
BURNS: Thank you.
HILL: Just ahead at the top of the hour, Campbell Brown. Hey, Campbell.
BROWN: Hey there, Erica.
Coming up tonight, we are investigating that growing scandal about stolen e-mails that critics say show scientists rigged the data on global warming. We are going talk to author Tom Friedman pretty much about all we need to know about climate change and trying to get to the bottom on some of these questions that have been raised.
Also, a congressional outrage over the White House party crashers. Is this really the best use of their time? And is this mess really worth the president evoking executive privilege? We will get into that as well. We will see you in a few -- Erica.
BURNS: Those are a couple of questions people would like answered. Campbell, thanks.
HILL: Still ahead, he can't go home again. So this man has moved into an airport. And it's not really a funny story. Why? His government turned hum way. We tell you what he is doing to protest. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: A Chinese human rights activist barred entry back into his own country is now staging a protest and moving into a new temporary home in a Tokyo airport. Kyung Lah reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the rush to catch flights at Tokyo's busiest international airport, travelers are pausing to witness one man's quiet political protest, Feng Zhenghu's plight scrawled on his body.
"I'm a Chinese citizen," says Feng, "Why can't I go home?" Eight times he tried to fly home from Tokyo to Shanghai. But Chinese immigration turned him away, Feng believes because he is a human rights activist.
Fed up, he dug in and chose to live at the airport.
For a month now, life has been imitating art. In the 2004 movie "The Terminal," Tom Hanks plays an eastern European man who lives at the JFK airport, denied entry into the U.S.
Every day in Feng's terminal, he stages his eraser boards and a t-shirt like a billboard on his luggage. He twitters "On the 27th day found hot water," he writes.
And he blogs. With his mobile phone's camera a shot of his airport couch turned bed. Daily, he tracks the 21st, 25th, 26th, and the 28th day in diplomatic purgatory.
Passengers with questions help pass the days. The top security man is now a friend. He worries about Feng's health and wishes he would just enter Japan, a country that's offered him asylum. "We don't need a Tom Hanks at this airport," says Yoshiyuki Kurita.
LAH (on camera): Political protests or not, holding vigil at an airport has some logistical considerations. There are no showers or restaurants at the international arrival concourse, so Feng has had to survive on the kindness of strangers.
LAH (voice-over): On this day, salad and pizza dropped off by a passenger who heard about Feng's protest. On another day, cans of spam. The rest of the time, flight attendants drop off biscuits as they roll by.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope he can change China.
LAH: But China doesn't appear ready to bend. At a ministry of foreign affairs press conference, Chinese authorities had this non- comment comment about Feng.
"China's relevant government agencies will adhere to appropriate regulations and entry-exit laws to address this issue," says this official.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can spend the next year here if he's going up against the Chinese government, and that's a big thing to go up against as one guy.
LAH: "Going home is a very basic human right," says Feng. He says he doesn't want to live in Japan and hopes to change China from the inside. A man without country, but filled with determination.
Kyung Lah - CNN Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Thanks for being with us. I'm Erica Hill, stay tuned. Up next, Campbell Brown.
