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American Morning
Stocks Take a Beating Worldwide; Heat Wave Claims More Lives; NYT Poll: 82 Percent Of American Respondents Are Angry With Both Republicans And Democrats, And Both Congress And White House; July Produces Better than Expected Jobs Gains; Unemployment Rate Falls Slightly; New Book Reveals FBI Secrets
Aired August 05, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A dizzying drop on Wall Street and across the globe overnight. I'm Christine Romans. Fears of a debt crisis in a stalled recovery sparks one of the sharpest sell-offs since 2008.
So, is there any hope in this morning's jobs report? We're going to break it down when those breaking news numbers come out in 30 minutes.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. One moment, they're taking a quiet ride on a city bus. The next, they are scrambling for their lives as the bus is showered with bullets on the streets of Philadelphia.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi. A secret meeting between Robert Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe right before her death. It's in a new book that digs into confidential FBI files that some thought could be destroyed long ago on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: Good morning. It's Friday, August 5th. And it is a good morning, even though stocks were down 512 points yesterday in the Dow. It is a good morning.
COSTELLO: That's because it's Friday and it's Saturday tomorrow.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROMANS: Because it's Friday and tomorrow, we know stocks won't fall.
COSTELLO: Exactly. We begin, though, with that unshakeable economic fear that is infecting the markets across the globe. As we speak, U.S. stock futures are down. And from Europe to Asia, investors are pulling their money.
VELSHI: Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down more than 4 percent. And the Nikkei in Japan was down nearly 3.5 percent at the close. In London, trading is under way. The FTSE is also down.
ROMANS: We are watching your money this morning across the globe. Our Nina dos Santos is live in London and our Felicia Taylor is live at the New York Stock Exchange.
Let's start with Nina.
Nina, what we saw in the United States yesterday continuing overnight, didn't it?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It did, indeed. We woke up worried. We went to bed worried. And we still got the FTSE down to the tune of 2 percent to 3 percent. And as Ali was just saying, the markets in Asia suffering even heavier percentage declines.
So, all of this is on the back of concerns about the states of the recovery or, indeed, the potential of a double dip back towards the recession for the world's largest economy like, for instance the United States. And also, the euro is very much in the eye of the storm. We got a lot of concerns about contagion of debt crisis to Italy and also Spain.
Let's put these losses into context for you very, very briefly, Christine. I mean, the U.S. and European and world stock markets are now down by $2.5 trillion just the first week alone of this month. And that really puts things into context for all of those people who are worried about their savings, their pension funds. Even gold hasn't managed to shine during this time.
What we are seeing is that we have woken up and cash is once again king like back in the days of 2008, though, we should point out the markets have had about two years worth of gains and this is a correction that some investors say was warranted and was in the coming a long time.
ROMANS: All right. Nina, thank you.
VELSHI: Two years worth of gains has been very, very significant. That's a good point.
Let's go to Felicia Taylor live at the scene of the crime, the New York Stock Exchange.
Folks are rolling in right around now. They should start coming in within the next half or so.
What are you thinking?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, honestly, Ali, I think people are still concerned. There's a lot of reason to think that the markets are going to open to the downside. We've got the futures down about a quarter to a third percent pretty much across the board, the Dow, the NASDAQ and S&P.
You got to remember that a lot of the selling that took place yesterday had to come to a stop so we may see some of those continued selling pressures at the opening bell. The other, obviously, big thing to worry about right now is the jobs number, which is coming out in about 30 minutes. That's a key factor for all investors right now because it's going to give a snapshot once again as to where we're headed.
Is the number coming in line? If it comes slightly below, we could see added pressure to the downside.
VELSHI: All right. Felicia, we will be watching -- the whole world will be watching very carefully.
ROMANS: That's true.
VELSHI: We'll check in with you in a little bit. Thank you, Felicia.
All right. A lot of folks are looking at their stocks, their 401(k)s this morning wondering whether they should sell. Earlier, we talked to an investment adviser Matt McCall. He's president of Penn Financial Group. We asked him what advice he would give to investors and whether fears of a double dip recession are justified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT MCCALL, PRESIDENT, PENN FINANCIAL GROUP, LLC: You have to take a deep breath and do a little bit of yoga this morning maybe, go back to the markets before the open, check out the jobs numbers. But don't make any harsh decisions right now. No, I do think we go into double dip.
I mean, think about right now anything about 2008. 2008, company profits were actually falling. The banks were overleveraged.
VELSHI: Right.
MCCALL: We have company profits right now -- this quarter is on pace to be the best quarter in three and a half years. So, these companies are flushed with cash right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Another point to ease your fears this morning, yesterday's Dow dropped while it was one of the biggest point drops we have seen, I think, it was ninth biggest point drop in the Dow's history?
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: The percentage drop is what really matters. And it was the 116th worst percentage drop. It's still a little perspective.
ROMANS: It just shows you we have been there before. We have been there before.
VELSHI: Yes, many times.
ROMANS: In less than 30 minutes, we're going to get the latest jobs report from July. This is an important report. It's often a market mover. This is what probably going to drive the markets today.
And when numbers come out, we're going to break down what it means for you, your job, and the recovery with Tig Gilliam. He is the CEO of Adecco Group North America. This is a company whose job -- this company who owns companies that are outplacement firms, job training specialists, temporary consulting firms.
VELSHI: They place temporary workers. So, he has a real sense of where jobs are.
ROMANS: Yes. They know what's happening in the economy. So, he'll be able to look outside of the numbers and tell you where people are getting jobs and how to position yourself.
COSTELLO: That will come your way at 8:30 Eastern Time.
On other news this morning, passengers caught in the cross-fire on a Philadelphia city bus. Surveillance cameras captured the incident as the gunman opened fire from the street. Terrified passengers scrambled for cover as the bullets flew. Remarkably, no one was injured.
Now, this incident actually happened back in June. The tape was shown at a hearing for six people charged in the incident.
VELSHI: Now, it will go up and over 100 degrees again across the Southern Plains today.
ROMANS: Wow.
VELSHI: It just won't budge. Take a look at this blood red lake in San Angelo, Texas. This is bacteria that literally feeds off the hot conditions and it's taken over what's left of the water.
ROMANS: On top of the lethal heat, Texas in the midst of the most severe drought in state history.
COSTELLO: I know. It's just terrible.
Ed Lavandera is in Dallas this morning.
Are you still standing by that swimming pool? You are.
ROMANS: There he is.
COSTELLO: I'm waiting for you to jump in.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my goodness. That will just drive away all of your viewers, you know?
Hey, well, actually, this is one of my favorite spots in town actually. It's Fuel City gas station, massive gas station, big for truck drivers. It's so hot around here, they decided to put in a pool, you know?
And this heat has been taking a toll on so many people, but it's been doing it in many different ways.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): These days, when the sun breaks through the horizon, it comes with the sense of dread. It doesn't take long for triple digit temperatures to lock a suffocating grip on the Southern Plains.
LUCY HARRIS, HEAT VICTIM'S NEIGHBOR: This system is gone, we're nothing there.
LAVANDERA: That dread struck the heart of Lucy Harris's Dallas neighborhood. Her 79-year-old neighbor Delores Grissome (ph) died in her home. The medical examiner says the heat caused her death, but Lucy says her friend didn't have to die. Someone stole the elderly woman's air conditioning unit.
HARRIS: She had no idea. She said her house was hot. I said when your house is hot because the air conditioning is gone.
LAVANDERA: The unit was ripped out of this cage. The family has put in a new one. Grissome reported it stolen. Two days later, she died.
(on camera): What do you think should happen to the people that stole this air conditioning unit.
HARRIS: They need to be put away. That's what needed to happen. They need to be -- they need life in prison for doing some stuff like that because -- I mean, they caused her to die, so they need to be in prison.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Protecting the most vulnerable is an urgent concern for social service agencies like the Salvation Army. It's opened cooling stations targeting the homeless. They give out free water and they're keeping emergency shelters open 24 hours.
MICHAEL ALLEN, SALVATION ARMY: This is every year.
LAVANDERA: Shelter director Michael Allen says it's a matter of life and death.
(on camera): Have you seen people who have come in here with heat exhaustion, just on the verge of passing out?
ALLEN: Yes. Sometimes, we have some guys at the front gate, they're passed out at the front gate and we have to bring them out.
LAVANDERA: Passed out from the heat?
ALLEN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Occupants out of their vehicles.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Some of the hottest spots in major urban areas are on the roadways.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Command center this is --
LAVANDERA: Inside the command center of the North Texas Tollway Authority, they're on the lookout for stranded drivers. They can use heat sensors to monitor roadway temperatures in real time.
MARTY LEE, NORTH TEXAS TOLLWAY AUTHORITY: When someone breaks down and they're out in these kind of temperatures on a roadway system, it's very dangerous.
LAVANDERA: The numbers are staggering. Workers are recording temperatures of 105 degrees, 18 inches below the toll roads. That can cause roadways to buckle and crack.
But this is the most stunning number of all. If you're standing on a paved bridge in this urban jungle, temperatures are reaching almost 142 degrees.
LEE: The actual temperatures are going beyond what we've experienced in the past and we've not really seen roadway temperatures like this probably ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Two words that people around here are just getting tired of hearing: no relief. That 100-degree mark will probably be hit here again today, making it 35 straight days. And the record all- time here in Dallas-Ft. Worth area 42 days, we'll hit that a week from now -- guys.
VELSHI: Wow.
COSTELLO: Ed Lavandera, try to stay cool.
Let's head to the weather center in Atlanta and check in with Rob Marciano -- because I think people are wondering why this is happening. Is this just a blip or is this a sign of things to come, summers to come?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, as the globe warms, we certainly are more susceptible to more drastic heat waves like this, yes. And the good news here, though, at least for the next 30 days is that most of the heat has shrunk down to the South and to the West.
So, folks who live across the western Great Lakes and Northeast, you're not going to see a July like we saw. It will still get hot and temperatures over 90, but you won't see numbers like this across the Northeast and we saw some of those just a couple of weeks ago.
Wichita Falls, 111; Dallas 108; Oklahoma City 108 and 107. These are mainly weather stations, some of the co-op stations that are in more remote areas. We saw 40 records, preliminary records, broken that were over 110 yesterday.
All right. We do see a little bit of relief in sight, but notice how slow and how minuscule it is. One hundred eight is the expected high temperature today for Dallas; looking ahead towards tomorrow, 107; looking ahead towards Sunday, 106.
By the time we get to next week, Ed mentioned that streak of keeping temperatures over a hundred. We're going to see a cool down next week but we'll probably still break that record of 100-degree days. We'll cool down to about maybe 100, maybe 99 next week.
All right. Tropical storm Emily has fizzled but the circulation may reemerge north of Hispaniola. Those mountains tore it apart. And luckily for Haiti, they saw not nearly as much rain as we thought they would see. Still, about five to six inches. But not as much as it could have been.
Atlanta, afternoon thunderstorms, same with Charlotte. These would be more isolated. Kansas City, you'll see more rough weather. And some morning clouds and fog in San Francisco. Still warm in Kansas City. Still warm in places like Minneapolis, 87 degrees.
Still warm enough in places like northern Wisconsin where if you're a black bear and you've got that thick winter coat, where are you going to go to cool off? Into the kiddie pool! That's right! Mama bear and papa bear and the other little bears, everybody into the pool.
Thank you, Becky, for sending this iReport in. Just remind us on this scorching Friday, you don't have to be too creative. You just jumped in the kiddie pool.
COSTELLO: Why is there a kiddie pool where the bears are?
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: Well, listen, bears frequent backyards of folks who live in the outskirts of town. Obviously, these black bears were smarter than most.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Look at, I like how --
VELSHI: Look at that! So cute!
MARCIANO: They are cute. Come on! Come on!
COSTELLO: Unless they are charging at you, they are cute!
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: There you go, guys.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Rob.
VELSHI: Looks like somebody is trying to punch right through the cloud. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look! Look at this! Oh, yes! Look at that! Like a funnel cloud. Oh, my God. It is a funnel cloud!
Nasty. You can see it! See it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a tornado! That is -- huh? Yes. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: That is one cool iReport. Robert Zippin (ph) was almost underneath a tornado as it formed in Florida. That twister went on to tear trees out of the ground and rip roofs off of a home. Wow, never seen that.
ROMANS: I saw one in real life one time, a long time ago in Iowa, very long. Just open plain and then it's just this finger probing down out of the cloud. You could see it go down and up and it's almost unbelievable to see it. And it would touch the ground and looked like the dirt would just explode, you know, and then come back up. Really amazing stuff.
VELSHI: Yes.
All right. For five years now, you've been helping us tell the story from powerful images to political movements that changed the world. Well, this month we are celebrating iReport's fifth birthday. Be part of it anywhere, anytime. Go to iReport.com. I love when you send us your stuff.
ROMANS: That's right.
Today marks one year since the accident that trapped 33 Chilean miners. Can you believe it? A year, where are they now? How many are still working underground in the mine?
And, you know, are they all rich? I hope they are all rich. That's coming up next.
COSTELLO: Also ahead, the politics of anger. People feel frustrated with the government and they're raising their voices. So, which party suffers the most from voter anger?
VELSHI: And sexy screen legend Marilyn Monroe, for decades, there have been rumors about her death. Was it suicide? Was it something more sinister? A secret FBI file suggested a chilling new scenario.
Thirteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Shaping up to be a typical day in Washington, D.C., partly cloudy right now, 76 degrees. But they are expecting a high of 90 later today, which actually sounds cool when you compare to what is happening in Dallas. We are going to talk about the game of politics this morning, who is winning and who is losing. But I'm pretty tired of that. I think a lot of people are tired of that. People feel powerless and feel frustrated. How frustrated? In a "The New York Times" poll 82 percent disapprove the way Congress is handling their job. That is the worst response since they started asking that question back in 1977.
Then we heard from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal at the Republican National Committee summer meeting. Stubbornness, he says, is good.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL, (R) LOUISIANA: It pays to be stubborn. The press is constantly urging compromise. They root for it like it is the highest possible virtue, the sign of maturity and achievement in life. I found in government it pays to be stubborn and it pays to stick to your guns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Joining us now CNN Contributor John Avalon, the author of "Wing Nuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America"; and CNN Senior Political Analyst and "National Journal" Editorial Director Ron Brownstein.
Welcome to both of you.
RON BROWNSTEIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "NATIONAL JOURNAL": Good morning.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Ron, let me start with you, because you are an expert in Congress. When you hear Bobby Jindal saying that, and you see this poll that most Americans are not so happy with Congress. In fact, they are the most dissatisfied with Congress since 1977, do you think that lawmakers get the message? Or are some lawmakers of Bobby Jindal's mind still?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think many are of Bobby Jindal's mind, still. But the message is pretty unmistakable. If you look at the public reaction both right before and after this debt ceiling deal it turns out that Americans do not like the spectacle of their leaders negotiating at the point of a gun.
And there has been a loss of esteem for all institutions in Washington. Congress, the president's approval rating has suffered, and Congress' approval rate has suffered; faith in Washington, itself, to make progress against problems. In our "National Journal" congressional connection poll this week, was down. If you parallel that with what happened to the stock market yesterday, it is almost as if we are witnessing a simultaneous vote of no confidence in the American government and the American economy at this moment. And that is an ominous point for both parties. COSTELLO: But, Ron, then you hear Bobby Jindal saying that, though. It's sort of what does it take to get through to some people?
BROWNSTEIN: Look there is a strong ideological wing, especially in the Republican Party now. If you look at polling a portion of the Republican electorate that is the most resistant to compromise of any part of kind of American mosaic at this point. But if you look at the overall situation we are in, Carol, we are pretty close to 50/50 nation again. Neither side has the power to impose its will on the other, certainly not consistently. I mean one of the big messages we are seeing right now in polling is that Republicans in 2011, like the Democrats in 2009, are failing to consolidate their breakthrough and hold support from independents. And in that environment compromise really is the only possible way to proceed because neither side has enough of a decisive advantage, particularly in public opinion, to really impose its preferred solution on the other without giving some ground.
COSTELLO: OK, I'm hearing you. The American people are hearing you.
John Avlon, I want to ask you this question. If people feel powerless, they feel powerless because they feel their government isn't working for them. So, what can voters do? We have already voted out the bums in the midterm elections. What can voters do to change things?
AVLON: Well, that really is the key question. What is fascinating is, let's not forget, independent voters are rejecting the two parties proactively, because the two parties are more polarized than ever before. Independent voters are the largest and fastest growing segment of the electorate. And when they voted for divided government decisively, by over 15 points, in both 2006 and 2010, they were voting for divided government because they felt it would create checks and balances. It would be a break on ideological overreach, and letus la verigas (ph). Here is the problem. They have gotten dysfunction. And that has increased their frustrating levels even more. That is why there is this general rejection across the board and lack of trust in institutions that seems to be more preoccupied with special interests, and playing to the base, than trying to solve problems in a lot of the national interest. And that is the real tension point we are at right now.
COSTELLO: Al Gore, on his television network, had an interesting idea and I just want to play a bit of what he said on Current TV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL GORE, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need to have an American spring. A kind of an American Tahrir Square; non- violent change, where people from the grassroots get involved again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He wants this mass demonstration on Washington. But you're kind of like didn't the Tea Party do that? BROWNSTEIN: Not only didn't the Tea Party do that, but you could argue 2008 did that as well, in the other direction, from President Obama and his kind of grassroots mobilization. The problem, I think, we have is that, by and large, most elected officials believe they have more to fear now from compromising too much than compromising too little. They are more likely to be punished by voters in their ideological base for making concessions to the other side than they are by swing voters for being too intransigent. And really to some extent, as always in democracy, responsibility for dysfunction does lay partly at the feet of the voters who simply have not punished elected officials for this kind of behavior.
One interesting question would be whether, you know, amid all of this kind of bipartisan discontent, whether some third force emerges. There is no question if you look at public opinion now, there is an opening, I think, for an outsider independent Ross Perot type candidacy, who has all the practical hurdles that are very real and very formidable. But in terms in terms of public opinion and the share of voters-roughly a third of independents saying they don't trust either party to make progress on the country's big problems- there is an opening there, as we have gone through this kind of sequential series of turning to one party, and then turning away from it.
COSTELLO: Go ahead, John.
AVLON: Carol, I think the point that Al Gore was making had less to do with comparing America to Egypt and more about social revolutions because of social networking and technology. Here is a really profound point. At the end of the day the two parties are still playing politics by Industrial Age rules. They use the rigged system of redistricting, closed partisan primaries, and try hold on to power. But you have a rising generation that has grown up with a multiplicity of choice in every aspect of their lives. And yet politics is the last place where they are being told they have to be content between a choice between brand A and brand B. And that will change. Technology dis-aggregates. And they are going to demand more choice and more ultimate freedom of choice. And so this attempt to hold on to power is going to fall away from Industrial Age rules to Information Age reality.
COSTELLO: We will see. Interesting conversation, Ron Brownstein, John Avlon, thanks for joining us this morning. We really appreciate it.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
AVLON: Thank you.
COSTELLO: OK, now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. Our question this morning: When will our fears about Muslim Americans fade? I bring this up because the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, a Republican, and a Tea Party favorite, has had enough of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: This surreal law business is crap! It's just crazy! And I'm tired of dealing with the crazies!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Christie was defending his choice of Muslim-American lawyer Sohail Mohammed for a state judgeship. Conservative bloggers were furious. They accused Christie of being in bed with the enemy. They feared Mohamed would make judicial decisions based on the Quran or Sharia law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIE: Sharia law has nothing to do with this at all. It's crazy. It's crazy. The guy is an American citizen!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It has been almost 10 years since 9/11. Osama bin Laden is dead. And yes, there have been arrests of Muslim extremists within the United States. And, yes, we do need to be vigilant about homeland security. But should all Muslims be suspect? According to "The New York Times" more than two dozen states have considered measures to restrict judges from consulting Sharia law. So the "Talk Back" question today: When will our fears about Muslim Americans fade? Talk to us on Facebook. Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. We will read your comments a little later.
ROMANS: All right. Still ahead, everybody, today's jobs report could be a rough one. Everyone will feel the effects. This is really important what is happening in the jobs market. So is any one career path in the bull's-eye, like teachers? We are "Minding Your Business." It's 24 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: 27 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning. World stock markets tumble as global economic worries grow. Asian markets closed sharply lower. While and European stocks are down and trading right now. One day after U.S. markets saw their worst one-day point drop since the financial crisis in 2008. Right now stock futures trading lower now ahead of the open.
And for big investors who want to move their cash out of stocks and into banks, it could cost them money to do that. That is because Bank of New York Mellon says it will now charge large depositors to plant their cash at the bank. Just another tell-tale sign of the global turmoil that is gripping markets.
Oil giant Shell received approval from the Department of Interior to begin drilling in the Arctic Ocean next summer. That is a sign that Obama administration is easing clamp-down on offshore drilling following last years Deep Water Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chrysler reported it is recalling 300,000 model year 2008 minivans because of a problem that causes their air bags to deploy unnecessarily. Chrysler had already recalled some of these minivans once before to fix a similar problem with the air bags.
Some one out of seven Americans rely on food stamps according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As of May almost 50 million Americans were using food stamps, that is an increase of 34 percent from just two years ago.
Coming up next, is anyone hiring? We have the July jobs report after this. AMERICAN MORNING back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Just in to CNN the July jobs report -- 117,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, better than expected. That's according to new numbers just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate fell, folks. It fell slightly to 9.1 percent.
I want to show everybody a little bit about what this trend has been. January, February, March, April, may, June, July of this year, you see how weak these two months were? Actually, we had some revisions. They were better than what thought. May actually more like 53,000 jobs created. That is better than we thought. Also June, 46,000 jobs created. That is more than twice what we had thought. So May and June were a little bit better.
And then you had 117,000 jobs created in July, better than forecast as well. So a little bit of good news overall on this front.
I want to show you just, if I can quickly, I want to show you how that fits into the overall picture. This is that terrible recession. This is 2010 when the market is trying to come out of it. These are job gains. And then you had this sort of growth, but a slowdown really in the last few months. We now on know now this is a little bit better than it had been before.
That gives you a little bit of the picture what the trend has been like, trying to crawl out of this terrible hole here. Ali and Carol, I want to tell you that private sector job creation 154,000 jobs. That's a good sign. You want to see the private sector creating jobs. We saw a state government jobs, 23,000 jobs lost. No surprise there. Almost all of that is the Minnesota shutdown. We had gains folks in manufacturing, retail, and health care. And short-term unemployment declined just a little bit.
VELSHI: We should tell you futures have just turned around rapidly. We were negative going into this thing. Everybody thought if we got to 75,000 we were expecting, it wasn't going to be great news anyway. Clearly the market is looking to hold on to something.
I want to address something you said. I don't know if you still got that chart.
ROMANS: Yes. VELSHI: The previous one. Carol was saying, what's with the revisions? What we do is every time we get a new report they usually revise at least a couple of months because we have better information, better data. And sometimes it's revised down and sometimes it's revised up. So sometimes you think things are better or worse. In this case, we're better off.
ROMANS: Yes, they were a lot better off. So you look in May, instead of 25,000 jobs created we created 53,000. In June instead of just 18,000 jobs created -- remember last month, that was a shocker. We created 46,000. And instead of 75,000 created as we thought would happen, our economists on average forecast, you had 117,000.
But I don't mean to throw the cold water on the whole thing, but we got to have like 130,000 to 150,000 jobs created just to absorb people into the economy. It's not good enough. It's just not good enough, but better than the worst fears.
VELSHI: Work your way back over here and we will have a conversation with Tig Gilliam. He's the CEO Adecco Group North America. He has been watching this closely. And boy, you're very, very connected to the job market because you have companies that are consulting companies to employers. You place people in temporary jobs. So you really know this before the report comes out?
TIG GILLIAM, CEO, ADECCO GROUP NORTH AMERICA: We are the world's largest temporary employment and recruiting for permanent jobs country in the world. So we do have a lot of interaction with clients and candidates that are taking place over the course of the changes in the marketplace.
So I think today's news is better than people expected. The strength here that is important I think is the private sector side because we know over time the government is going to continue to have to shed jobs. And, in fact, this was a significant improvement month over month and the number of jobs lost from a government perspective. It was 51,000 last month, now only 23,000 here. I think that is an improvement.
As Christine said, we are nowhere where we need to be. In fact think probably six months ago we were here talking about if you can get to 300,000 jobs a month we could get unemployment down to eight percent.
COSTELLO: We would be doing a happy dance then. But as far as the terrible drops in the stock market this will stem -- this will stop that?
GILLIAM: I can't always make the prediction what is going on in the employment market and the stock market, that's for sure. The job market has been OK. It just hasn't been as robust. The first quarter was better. We saw a slowdown in the job market overall in the second quarter as you saw in the BLS data, but also in client activity. But we still do see clients adding jobs. Most of the time they are going for temporary employees and they are going for contract workers because that gives them flexibility because they still don't have confidence in a real aggressive recovery.
ROMANS: Let me ask you how you become a contract worker. I hear over-hiring contract workers. Say I lost my job in x industry and I want to make myself a contract worker. How do I do that?
GILLIAM: Lots of times if you have an opportunity for an interview and maybe the employer is not jumping on we will hire you right now. You say why don't I work for you six weeks or two months, and I'll work as a contractor we'll get a chance to see how we work together. And you may not bet benefits for the six months. Maybe you will. But it gives them a lower risk opportunity to engage.
ROMANS: And a reason to jump.
GILLIAM: And in some cases they are trying to do a project. They say I know I have a project for six months, but I don't know about after that. You can say, I'm happy to work on that project the next six months for you.
COSTELLO: What do employers want to hear from the government to make them hire permanent workers?
GILLIAM: I think at the largest level, they are not confident in the pace of the economic recovery to get back into hiring large numbers of people. That's the big issue. The discussion around the debt ceiling and budget and all of that, the recent revisions down in GDP are not giving them confidence.
There are things that could be done into next year that will help.
COSTELLO: Please tell us what they are.
GILLIAM: For instance, in 2010 we had a program called the Hire Act which allowed an employer a two percent benefit for hiring someone who had been out of work. If we would do that again in 2012 and say, look, for every new employee you bring on, Mr. Employer, Mrs. Employer, we will give you this two percent credit. For companies that need resources, that encourages them to make the hires here in the United States instead of going to India or the Philippines.
COSTELLO: So the president is coming out later today and he is going to pitch a plan to give some sort of incentive for companies to hire veterans. That's a good thing to do.
GILLIAM: That's a good thing. And, by the way, we have a lot of programs to help veterans coming back, specifically at Adecco. That is great thing, but we need something broader. And I think not just the Hire Act, not just focus on people who are unemployed but on all new implies and extending the current tax break for individuals.
You know, two percent we're getting an extra two percent spending in the consumer side today because people who are employed aren't paying that tax. We need to extend that in 2012. Otherwise, we are going to go into next year with two percent less available spending for most people who are employed. VELSHI: Ted, great insight. Thank you so much for joining us to sort of paint this picture for what it really means for America. It's good to see you.
GILLIAM: Good to see you.
COSTELLO: Coming up next, let's get inside J. Edgar Hoover's top secret FBI foils. As we approach almost 10 years since the September 11th attacks why hasn't there been another major terror attack on the United States? We are talking to "The New York Times" bestselling author Ronald Kessler. He has the answers to those questions and he'll tell us about it next. It's 39 minutes past the hour.
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COSTELLO: It might be dysfunctional but it sure is beautiful. Good morning, Washington, D.C. Partly cloudy now, 78 degrees. You're headed for a high of 90.
From movie stars to the most wanted, we're getting a new look at some of the FBI's most closely guarded secrets. Joining us is Ronald Kessler, author of the new book "The Secrets of the FBI." I have it right here, and I cannot wait to read this whole book. Such fascinating things are included. Oh, by the way, welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR, "THE SECRETS OF THE FBI": Thank you.
COSTELLO: It's been almost 10 years since 9/11. We have had no major attacks since then. A lot of people are wondering why. In your book, you sort of detail some of the reasons why we haven't suffered through another major attack. Why? Tell us why.
KESSLER: Since 9/11, the FBI has become very prevention oriented. Of course they always wanted to stop plots, but now the emphasis is on gathering new leads, new clues instead of just closing the case, putting the bad guys in jail. And so the emphasis instead of putting people in jail first is to develop those clues. That is part of the reason there has been this change.
They also have this top secret set of teams called Tactical Operations or Tac Ops, and really the most astonishing material in the book is about this which is how they plan bugs in offices, mafia hangouts, even embassies. Weeks before they do surveillance of the premises and they find out who goes in and who goes out.
And on the night of the break-in they will watch the people at their homes who might go back. And if they try do try to go back they will divert them. They'll dress as a police officer. They will stop them. They'll have a phony traffic accident. They may open a fire hydrant in the area so that nobody can go back.
And also beforehand they take a photo of any dog that might be on the premises and they will show that photo to a veterinarian who is on contract. He prescribes just the right amount of tranquilizer which is then shot into the dog with a dart gun by one of the agents. And then at the end of the break-in, they wake him up.
They even create phony fronts to town houses by taking a photo and create ago big tarp. And then behind that the agents pick the lock, defeat the alarms.
(LAUGHTER)
KESSLER: They also have phony bushes. Same idea -- two agents will go behind this phony bush towards the front door. That will hide them in the middle of the night.
COSTELLO: Wow. So there is sort of court-sanctioned burglars. That's fascinating.
I want to get to other stuff in this book because there's so much interesting stuff. You also uncovered some fascinating things about old cases in the files of the FBI, specifically about Marilyn Monroe's death. It seems she had a visitor the night she died.
KESSLER: Yes.
COSTELLO: Who was it?
KESSLER: This is a teletype that came into headquarters just after her death. It's disappeared. But I have on the record from someone who saw it that it came from Bill Simon who headed the Los Angeles field office and he said that just before her death, he lent his personal car, a white Lincoln Continental to Bobby Kennedy, the attorney general, to go secretly see Marilyn. And I can confirm with his children that in fact on a regular basis he would lend his personal car to her.
COSTELLO: So is it a legitimate question to ask then? Did Marilyn Monroe commit suicide because of Bobby Kennedy?
KESSLER: I believe so. I think he broke up with her and that's what -- what led to the suicide.
And another suicide, Vince Foster, of course, he was already depressed but a week before his -- his death the FBI found that Hillary Clinton had a big meeting in the White House with him and other White House aides.
And in front of all of these aides, she humiliated him because he disagreed with one of her policy points about her health care legislation. And she just ripped into him and said you're just a small town hick lawyer, you'll never make it in the big time in front of all these aides.
Well, after that, his -- his behavior totally went downhill and he became very withdrawn. He would break into tears. And according to the FBI that's what pushed him over the edge.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Yes and just to -- just to refresh people's memories, Vince Foster was the former, was a deputy White House counsel and he committed suicide in Virginia.
KESSLER: Right.
COSTELLO: Near the White House. And he left some notes beside his body. One of them said, "I was not meant for this job. Here, destroying people is sport."
As you know, there are many conspiracy theorists back then thinking he might have been murdered but does this what you found in the files, clear that up for you?
KESSLER: Oh there's no question he was depressed. And you know, the FBI and everybody, friends, aides, there were -- there were other notes from him. There was no question he was depressed. In fact, he wanted to consult a psychiatrist but -- but he was afraid that his security clearance would be lifted.
He did commit suicide despite all of the conspiracy theories. I just stick to the real facts in this book.
COSTELLO: And you talked to Hillary Clinton or tried to about this. What was -- what was the response?
KESSLER: Well, it was sort of weird. Her PR person said well, this is just too silly to bother her with so we're just not going to ask her. Well, I -- I doubted that really was the case. I'm sure she was told about it, so in essence the answer was "No comment".
COSTELLO: Well, fascinating stuff, I cannot read -- I cannot wait to read this book. Ronald Kessler, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
(CROSSTALK)
KESSLER: Thank you.
ROMANS: Wow.
KESSLER: I appreciate it.
ROMANS: All right, morning headlines next.
Including today marks one year since the 33 Chilean miners were first trapped underground. Where are they now? How are they doing? For many unfortunately, the answer is not so good.
VELSHI: Plus big news today about Mars, national scientists may have found evidence of flowing water falls.
48 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: Breaking news this hour of a refinery explosion in Memphis. You can see the plumes of smoke billowing from that facility. There are a hundred firefighters on the scene, we are told. No reports yet of injuries but again, an explosion at this facility, clearly a fire engulfing at least part of it afterwards. There you're seeing the smoke billowing from the facility.
In Memphis, Tennessee folks, a hundred firefighters on the scene of a refinery explosion. We'll continue to follow that. As of now, no reports of injuries.
Other breaking news this morning: the July jobs report released just 20 minutes ago, better than expected. There were 117,000 jobs added in the economy last month. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 9.1 percent and we now know that May and June, more jobs were created than we initially thought. A few more but at least that's something.
Those numbers sending stock futures up, they have been down all morning after yesterday's very big sell off on Wall Street.
Power companies warning of rolling blackouts with highs in the hundreds again today across the Southern Plains. Many places in Texas are closing in on records for the most consecutive days of triple digit heat.
Today marks one year since the miraculous rescue of 33 Chilean miners. They were trapped underground as you recall for 69 harrowing days. It was the largest ever mining rescue operation.
One year later, most are still unemployed and some are even worse off than before the disaster. Several are struggling with a psychological and physical trauma of that ordeal.
Life on Mars might not need to see such a stretch. These new photos of the Red Planet are creating a real buzz at NASA because the channels in those craters suggest the possibility that salt water is flowing on Mars. NASA scientists say, hey, where there's water, there could be life.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this break.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE CANTWELL, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my kids are really young and I was working full-time. We're struggling. And when you start adding hospital bills and medication costs it throws your world upside down.
My husband took care of me, took care of the kids. My parents and my friends did everything for me but through treatment, I was meeting women that just didn't have it as easy as me. All these people were there for me and I couldn't possibly pay everybody back so I decided I was going to pay it forward.
My name is Debbie Cantwell and I provide care and comfort to you women fighting breast cancer. We, at Subway, get 225 subways; we send out gas cards, restaurant gift cards, grocery gift cards and housecleaning services.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was really bottoming out emotionally and then, all of a sudden, I can buy diapers and I can get food.
Yes, there's a card. Look at that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so much more than just tangible things. It's hope.
CANTWELL: I help young women that can't wait for a cure. These women are sick right now and they need help today.
Hi, Rachel, how are you? Did your groceries come?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They did. I just got them. And I appreciate it. It's such a huge help.
CANTWELL: They are my sisters and I honestly would do anything to help them out. I take it really personally. It's hard when I lose somebody, but it's just part of the job. I'll probably die of breast cancer someday, but I want to really make the most of the time I have by doing some good in the world and being the best I can for whatever time I have left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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COSTELLO: Time for our "Talk Back" comments. We asked the question: when will our fears about Muslim Americans fade? And you answered in droves.
Farzanna he says, "As a Muslim teenager in the United States, I can't understand why so much hate circulates around Muslims in the post 9/11 world. Is it right? Of course not. But clearly people would rather take the time to fear, and therefore hate, than accept and tolerate."
This from Michelle. "As long as human beings are alive our fears about any one people will never go away."
And this from Ari. "When people stop being ignorant, terrified and close-minded and open their minds and hearts. People don't seem to realize how much this in life they miss out on when they live in fear and ignorance of other groups of people. Chris Christie was right. It's crazy."
Thank you for your responses this morning. Please continue the conversation, Facebook.com/americanmorning.
ROMANS: I think Chris Christie might have won some new fans actually because he was pretty straight talking about that in a way that usually he is straight-talking about teachers and budget cuts.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: And he also called out some people in his own base, so to speak --
ROMANS: That's right. Exactly.
COSTELLO: -- who don't have the most open-minded views of Muslims in America.
ROMANS: There you go.
VELSHI: Very interesting.
Well, that does it for us. We will be back on Monday morning at 6:00 a.m.
But for now, Deb Feyerick takes over with the "CNN NEWSROOM." Good morning Deb.
