Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Lee Soaking the South; Deadly Fires Across Texas; USPS Approaching Default; Starbucks CEO More Politically Involved; Tropical Depression Lee Heads for Gulf Coast; President to Propose Infrastructure Spending as Part of Jobs Speech; Senator Jim DeMint Holds Forum for GOP Presidential Hopefuls; Actor George Lee Andrews Ends Broadway Run; "Phantom of the Opera"; Happy Feet Back in the Waters
Aired September 05, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Downgraded but still dangerous. I'm Carol Costello. Lee is expecting to bring more heavy rain and flooding as it threatens the Tennessee Valley and the northeast.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The worst fire season in the history of Texas. I'm Christine Romans. Deadly wildfires still threatening to burn down 1,000 homes right now. Strong wind conditions are stoking these flames on this AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It's Monday, September 5th. Happy Labor Day. I hope you're not laboring. Ali is not. He has the day off.
ROMANS: We are laboring. We are laboring.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: He owes us one.
ROMANS: That's right. That's right. First, though, le has weakened now to a tropical depression but continues to soak the south, the storm dumping already a foot of rain along the Gulf Coast. It also spawned several tornadoes, including one in Mobile County, Alabama. It ripped the roof off one home, uprooted trees, brought down power lines.
Here is what Lee looked and felt like from an oil rig out in the gulf of Mexico. These workers riding out the storm, this guy trying to measure the wind speed as he holds on there for dear life. The storm whipped up the surf in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was tossed around -- wow, look at that -- tossing around a boat like it was a toy. Firefighters trying to hold that boat down, tie it down. And that's what it looked like when it was all said and done.
CNN's Ed Lavandeara live in Crown Point, Louisiana, hit hard by this storm. Good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine, good morning. We're on the main road that takes you into these town of Crown Point just south of New Orleans and on the way toward the Gulf of Mexico. But many of the roadways are covered in water. It's not terribly deep here.
But if you look off to the side, you can see what many people in these communities are dealing with, water that is emerging from the canals and waterways coming up from the Gulf of Mexico, pushing out of the banks and into these neighborhoods. A lot of these homes are on the verge of taking on water. The reason this is a concern right now is that it is high tide right now. And all of these water levels kind of fluctuate, depending on the tide.
But the fact of the matter is, the winds coming out of the south is pushing the water out of the banks of these waterways and canals. And it is causing problems. So, really what they need to see is the winds to shift back toward the South and let everything begin to recede.
But, across the area, we can't even get into the area where we were in yesterday. You see this home, water getting very close. This is actually -- this house is in pretty good shape. Many of the homes that we saw yesterday, as we were driving through the town of Lafitte, water was on the doorstep, on the verge of going into dozens and dozens of homes.
So, they are obviously doing everything they can to protect these homes. They've been sandbagging and making these makeshift levees to kind of control the flow of the water. But they really need these winds to shift. And for now, the winds continue to push toward the north.
I spoke with a couple of officials here this morning who say they anticipate the winds to shift towards the south some time this afternoon. That would be welcomed news -- Christine.
ROMANS: And you said this thing was moving so slowly, it felt like it just kept dumping and dumping rain on you?
LAVANDERA: You know, I can't tell you how bizarre -- that's been the weirdest thing about this storm. You know, a lot of times when you cover these tropical storms, you see the eye and it's just a matter of time before it passes over you. I've spent the last two days talking about how the center of this storm was on the Louisiana coastline, just barely getting east of New Orleans and to Baton Rouge. It's taking forever for this thing to move through most of the state of Louisiana.
ROMANS: All right. Ed Lavandera, thanks, Ed.
You know, Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center. You know, you heard -- you heard, Ed, it felt like you could outrun it almost.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, developed fairly quickly. But it was right off the coastline. It didn't move very quickly. It was kind of stuck in some in-between steering currents. And, you know, remember, last week we talked about it and said we don't know where this thing is going to go, what it's going to do.
So, you know, considering the range of possibilities, this isn't horrifying. It could have sat out there in the Gulf of Mexico and turned into a monster. Of course, the best scenario would have been to get that rain in Texas -- didn't get any of that. If anything, some of the winds associated with this have been, you know, drying things out even more.
Nonetheless, the rain is moving out of Louisiana. Now, the flood threat moving up towards the north and east and the tornado threat is in here as well. This tornado watch is out until 4:00 this afternoon local time and we have a number of tornado warnings that have been imposed via Doppler radar.
So, a decent amount of spin in the atmosphere. It continues to weaken, though, and be picked up by this cold front which, for a short time, will kind of increase the winds a little bit on the east side of this thing, and that may increase a little bit of the twist. But the ongoing threat, obviously, is going to be the amount of rainfall that we expect from this. And we've already seen, in some cases, a foot or more.
Flood watches and warnings are in effect from Jackson and north and east of Mississippi. Flood warnings happening, and the flood watches extend all the way up into New England, along the I-95 corridor, in places north and west. And, obviously, got hit hard with Hurricane Irene. Could see one to three, maybe as much as four inches of rainfall there in the next 48 to 72 hours. So, not what those folks want to hear.
Northwesterly movement of Hurricane Katia, winds now 100 miles an hour. It's a category 2, definitely gaining intensity there. You can actually see the eye on the infrared satellite imagery. So, this thing could be a category 3 before too long and it continues to track towards the U.S., but we're feeling more comfortable this morning than we did a few days ago that these cold fronts that are sweeping across the Northeast will help to push Katia out to sea. But it's going to be a little bit of a scary situation there with category 3 status expected.
Here is your cold front. Cooler air behind it. Boy, I'll tell you what? A cool Labor Day for places like Chicago, back through Milwaukee, Detroit. Cooler, dry air behind us.
But it's going to take a while to push this front off and out to sea. So, heavy rainfall at times throughout the day today, and that will be the ongoing threat -- not only across the south, guys, but up across the Northeast as they continue to pick up the pieces after the flooding from Irene.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
COSTELLO: Deadly fires across east and central Texas, 1,000 homes are in danger of burning to the ground. At east Texas, a mother and her 18-month-old child were killed as flames engulfed their mobile home. Right now, the largest fire is burning in Bastrop County, just southeast of Austin. And that's where CNN's Chris Welch is there now.
Any new information for us now?
CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's still early this morning. But I can tell you what we know so far.
Yesterday afternoon, around 2:00 p.m. local time, fire broke out here in Bastrop County. And since that time, it has continued to spread. These heavy winds that we've been seeing as a result of tropical storm Lee have not helped things, they made things much worse. Officials here are not exactly sure when they'll be able to get in to actually fight this fire because, right now, it's zero percent contained.
The only numbers we have at this point is 300 homes have been destroyed here in Bastrop County, 5,000 people have been evacuated. Folks have been evacuated since yesterday afternoon. They just up and picked up what they could. They packed their cars with their pets, family members, any necessary materials and they got out.
We just also got word that they will begin to drop -- do some water and retardant drops this morning in about a couple of hours. A couple of Black Hawks will come in and start doing that.
Daylight is actually just coming out. We're actually awaiting a press conference, a briefing from emergency officials here. But I can tell you from my vantage point, we can just -- we're just starting to see some of the smoke on the other side. And within the next few hours, we'll be able to give you some new pictures of exactly what we're seeing.
COSTELLO: All right. We'll get back to you then. Chris Welch, reporting live from southeast of Austin, Texas. Thank you.
President Obama heads to Detroit later this morning to talk jobs on this Labor Day. This, after touring Hurricane Irene's aftermath of the Northeast. The president visited two flood ravaged towns in New Jersey, surveying the damage left behind. He met with residents who lost their homes and businesses, promising them help for recovery and pledging federal resources.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The main message that I have for all the residents, not only of New Jersey but all those communities that have been affected by flooding, by the destruction that occurred as a consequence of Hurricane Irene, is that the entire country is behind you. And we are going to make sure that we provide all the resources that are necessary in order to help these communities rebuild.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: From North Carolina to New England, there's an estimated $6 billion worth of damages.
ROMANS: All right. Right now, Libyan rebels are waiting for the green light to launch an attack on Bani Walid, one of the few towns still loyal to former leader Moammar Gadhafi. Rebels have given Gadhafi loyalists there until Saturday to surrender. But there are indications opposition forces may enter this town before the deadline.
CNN is also learning from opposition leaders that China apparently tried to help arm Moammar Gadhafi's forces, this back in late July. According to a senior member of the transitional government, documents found in Tripoli indicate that Chinese companies offered to sell rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles, and other weapons to Gadhafi, despite a ban on such sales. China says its companies did not sign military trade contracts with Libya.
COSTELLO: Final arguments in the appeal of Amanda Knox's murder conviction will be heard in an Italian courtroom today. Knox and her ex-boyfriend were convicted of killing a 21-year-old British exchange student back in 2007.
But questions about DNA evidence could get that conviction overturned. Two court-appointed forensic experts are now challenging the testimony of authorities, who said Knox's genetic material was found on the suspected murder weapon.
ROMANS: To Egypt now, where ousted Egyptian Hosni Mubarak's trial resumed this morning. He was wheeled into court on a gurney only hours ago. And outside the courtroom major clashes between police and the families of people killed during February's uprising.
Mubarak is charged with ordering the killings of more than 800 protesters, which ultimately ended his 30-year rule. If convicted, Mubarak faces the death penalty.
COSTELLO: The suspect of the disappearance of American Robyn Gardner in Aruba plans to challenge a judge's order to hold him for an additional 60 days. Lawyers for Gary Giordano plan to file an appeal today. The 50-year-old Giordano has been in a jail in Aruba for the past month. He has yet to be charged with a crime.
ROMANS: And Dominique Strauss-Kahn is back home in Paris this morning. His homecoming -- does that look like a homecoming? I think it's a scrum, doesn't it? This comes less than two weeks after sexual assault charges were dropped against him in Europe.
A judge threw out the case because of credibility issues with the hotel maid who had accused. Strauss-Kahn still faces a civil suit from that woman. He faces another civil suit from another woman in France who has accused him of attempted rape as well.
COSTELLO: Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING: jobs are scarce on this Labor Day, especially for African-Americans. The black unemployment rate now the highest in 27 years. We'll take a look at why.
ROMANS: And do you do unions help or hurt America? It's our talkback question of the day. There are strong opinions, of course, on both sides of this debate.
COSTELLO: At a Baltimore Grand Prix, a race car losing control at 190 miles per hour. Details of the dramatic crash, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. This Labor Day, Washington and the campaign trail are overflowing with ideas to put Americans back to work. And a little bit of blame, right?
Thursday, President Obama unveils his jobs plan. And it comes as African-Americans face the biggest uphill battle in their search for employment, the biggest battle in 27 years.
Joining me to talk about this, Robert Kuttner, cofounder and co- editor of "The American Prospect" magazine; and Nicole Mason, executive director of the women of Color Policy Network at NYU Wagner.
Robert, let me start with you. The optics here of the first African-American president presiding over unemployment for blacks that's the highest it's been since 1984 when Ronald Reagan was president, it is -- it is very difficult politically and practically in this country.
ROBERT KUTTNER, THE AMERICAN PROSPECT: Well, it's very tricky for him. It's very tricky for commentators, like me. I think his impulse that he had to govern not as a black president, but as a president of all the people was right. But I think his impulse as a crisis president, that he had to be very conciliatory to his opponents was wrong, because his opponents obviously, the right-wing Republicans, are determined to block anything that he might do to put America back to work.
And so, he is failing black America and white America by not fighting harder. And this is not as a black man. I mean, there have been a lot of white guys who were relatively weak presidents in the face of strong opposition.
So, he's got to deliver jobs for all the people.
COSTELLO: Right.
KUTTNER: And then that will help blacks disproportionately because blacks have been suffering disproportionately.
COSTELLO: So, the president weak on jobs, non-existent on black unemployment then, Robert, essentially?
KUTTNER: Well -- but I think it's not possible for him, politically, to talk about things like specially targeted programs for African-Americans. If you look at the Clinton era, when we had very full employment, blacks gained disproportionately because the economy was doing very, very well. And if he can deliver for everybody, that will turn around the black unemployment rate.
Now, that's not to say there isn't still discrimination. There is. It's not to say that black kids don't go to schools that are often worse than the schools that white kids go to.
ROMANS: Yes.
KUTTNER: So, it's a both end thing. There are persistent racial problems but the larger problem is the problem of unemployment as a whole.
ROMANS: I want to bring in Nicole Mason, because there are different levers for this. The sectors that are -- that blacks were able to enter the middle class, those sectors lost a lot of jobs. You got the education -- he's talking about it, public education that may not be the same in some neighborhoods. Also, the legacy of discrimination which is there, but difficult to measure.
How does this president deal with all of that at the same time? You got an unemployment rate on average of 9.1 percent? Can he? Can he separate out a black unemployment in the jobs question?
NICOLE MASON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WOMEN OF COLOR POLICY NETWORK AT NYU WAGNER: So, in this economy, blacks have been the first to fall and the last to climb. Sixteen percent. So, over the last couple of years, the black unemployment rate has jumped seven percent. And this idea that a rising tide lifts all boats, it's just not going to work.
ROMANS: And that's what we've seen before from the vice president's middle class task force and other sort of Washington initiatives is like, look, if we can get the jobs market rising for everyone, that will help everyone. We're not going to start targeting specific sectors. You think that's the wrong approach?
MASON: Well, I think that's the wrong approach. I mean, if you have a broken arm and you have a scratch, you're not going to put a band-aid on a broken arm. You're going to really address it head on and put a cast on, and I think that's what the president has to do to stem unemployment in the black community.
ROMANS: Why is he -- I mean, I haven't heard him talk about black unemployment. I haven't seen this big push to talk -- I mean, we've seen Maxine Waters talked about it, Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, I've seen others. There's a frustration building there. What should the president do?
MASON: The president has got to take this on, head on, and I know that he is really walking a tight rope, but he's going to have to -- if he wants to win in 2012, he needs African-Americans, and he needs Latinos. He's going to have to address this unemployment rate head on.
ROMANS: So, would people who are frustrated about this really vote for the Republican? I mean, like, long-time supporting blacks of the president, would they really go Republican? Is that what he's worried about or not worried about, I guess?
MASON: Well, I think, for African-Americans, Obama enjoys an 80 percent approval rating.
ROMANS: Right.
MASON: It was 90 -- you know, a B is not an A.
ROMANS: Right.
MASON: So, he still has enormous amount of support from African- Americans, and I don't think they're going to vote Republican. And so, what he needs to do and say, you know what, I hear you. I'm going to really address this issue head on, and we're really going to start to look at policies that not only create jobs overall but really start to chip away at this problem in the African American community.
ROMANS: You know, Robert, I think, you know, gosh, 16.7 percent unemployment rate. I mean, when you look for black men, it's even worst. It's 19.1 percent. For black women, it's 14.5 percent. What kind of policies can the president put forward that can help the jobs market but also narrow this gap?
KUTTNER: I think a massive infrastructure program. I think assistance to state and local government. I mean, it's not just the unemployment problem. It's the cutback of services that disproportionately helped poor people and African Americans. So, the Republicans are not going to support any of this. This is my point, politically.
He's got to say what he's in favor of and fight for it because if the test is what will Republicans support, he might as well just embrace the Republican program because they're not going to support anything that he proposes.
ROMANS: In this era of budget cutting, though, I mean, you're talking about getting rid of government jobs, you're talking about shrinking the size of government. Isn't that getting rid of people's jobs? Isn't that something that will continue to hurt this demographic?
KUTTNER: Absolutely. Blacks, because there was less discrimination in government, disproportionately, especially blacks with college educations took government jobs. When you destroy government, you're destroying black paths to upward mobility. So, he's got to say dam the torpedoes. We'll deal with the deficit once we get a recovery going, and the way to recovery is to put people back to work.
Now, I agree that there is some targeted things that need to be done, but, even though a rising tide doesn't necessarily lift all boats, it's a lot better than a sinking tide. And if you get the economy back on track with employment, that's going to disproportionately help African Americans.
ROMANS: It was a complicated issue with so many different -- KUTTNER: It's very complicated.
ROMANS: You know, and there's no simple way to solve it in five minutes. But, both of you, Robert Kutner, Nicole Mason, let's get the conversation started, right? And just brings some awareness, because the highest unemployment rate for black since 1984 is a tragedy in the largest economy in the world. Thank you, you guys -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Now, it's your turn to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, do unions help or hurt America? It's a question labor union leaders want you to consider on this Labor Day, because they say a war is being waged against hard-working Americans.
In Wisconsin, despite massive protests, Governor Scott Walker took on public unions and their pension plans and effectively killed off collective bargaining. Ohio's governor did the same by pushing Ohio Senate bill five or SB-5. It is now law. Unions are giving up, though. They point to Wisconsin and the successful recall of two anti-union Republican state lawmakers. In Ohio, they point to a petition with a record 1.3 million signatures that put SB-5 on the November ballot.
In Pittsburgh, union leaders have banned any state lawmaker considered anti-union from their Labor Day parade and the head of the Teamsters, James Hoffa, he's calling big companies who refuse to hire American workers unpatriotic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES HOFFA, TEAMSTER: I think the president should challenge the patriotism of these American corporations that are sitting on the sidelines saying why do we have higher unemployment, but I'm not going to hire anybody? You know, they have an obligation just like the federal government, just like Obama. We've all got to get into the game, but I don't see that happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Despite it all, only 11 percent of American labor is now represented by unions. And the American middle class worker? Their wages plateaued decades ago when the wage gap is growing ever wider. Of course, critics blame unions for that, charging their fat pensions and greed force companies to send jobs overseas.
The talk back question for you this morning, do unions help or hurt America? Facebook.com/americanmorning. Facebook.com/americanmorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: All right. A 190 miles an hour and no brakes. A dramatic high-speed crash during a practice run at the Baltimore Grand Prix. This was yesterday. Tony Kanaan losing control during the first-term, hitting the back of Helio Castroneves. Wow! Watching it in air before smashing it into the tire barrier. Incredibly, neither of these drivers was hurt. COSTELLO: It was a grand thing to happen, though, on the first ever Baltimore Grand Prix. So, you're right. No one was hurt, though. It was a good thing, but it made it exciting.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Four American men have reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time in eight years, but everyone is still buzzing about Rafael Nadal's press conference. Take a look. The Spaniard rolled his head back, squeezed his eyes shut, and then, he slid off his chair. This was in front of dozens of reporters two hours after winning his third round match. It was a scary moment, but it turns out he just had an incredibly painful leg cramp. Nadal's camp insisting he is absolutely fine right now, and it will not affect his play.
ROMANS: Wow. All right. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the United States Postal Service on the brink of financial disaster, fears of an agency shut down in the next few months. Those details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It's 25 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
U.S. markets are closed today for Labor Day. On Friday, the dismal jobs report pushed markets down sharply. It showed that no net jobs were created in the month of August. The Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 all losing more than two percent on that news.
And this week, America's high jobless rate remains front and center. President Obama will give that big jobs speech on Thursday. Also today, he'll be talking about jobs at an event in Detroit.
Pushing European markets down overnight, Friday's U.S. jobs report, also a local election loss for German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who's mounting pressure on her and other EU leaders over the financial bailout of Greece. Concerns over Europe problems are likely to have some impact on the markets this week as well.
The U.S. Postal Service approaching default. That's according to a report in "The New York Times." The U.S postmaster general told the paper that the postal service may need to be completely shut down by this winter, unless, congress takes emergency action to help the agency's finances.
Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, getting more politically involved. He's calling for a town hall by phone tomorrow to talk about the partisan gridlock in Washington, and he took out full-page ads in various national newspapers over the weekend with his new open letter criticizing lawmakers and their lack of leadership of this country.
AMERICAN MORNING back right after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: DeMint is in demand. The South Carolina Republican and Tea Partier becoming something of a firebrand this morning. Six Republican hopefuls for president coming to his presidential forum today. The question this morning, is DeMint the new presidential king maker? That's on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. It is Monday, September 5th. I hope you're preparing for your barbecue and not off to work this morning. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Carol Costello.
ROMANS: You may need to bring an umbrella to your barbecue, depending where you live. I'm Christine Romans. Ali has the morning off. Here are the morning's top stories for you.
Critical fire danger in Texas. Strong winds spawned by tropical storm Lee are whipping up more wildfires. A fire near Austin has burned 14,000 acres and is threatening 1,000 homes. In east Texas, a mother and her 18-month-old child died when their mobile home burned.
Libyan rebel fighters may be itching to attack pro-Gadhafi forces in the town of Banni Walid, one of Gadhafi's last strongholds. Libya's new leaders have given Gadhafi loyalists until Saturday to surrender or face military action. But there are indications opposition forces may strike before that deadline.
Now it's no longer a tropical storm. But Lee is still packing plenty of rain. Just about a foot of rain fell in Louisiana and Mississippi over the weekend. And there's more in store as le moves slowly to the north and east. Rob Marciano is at the extreme weather center. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Yes, doing a little more than spoiling beach plans for the Florida panhandle. We're got a tornado watch has been posted or extended for most of Alabama, the Florida panhandle, Georgia and eastern parts of Mississippi.
The center of what's left of Lee is moving across southern Mississippi and becoming what we call extra tropical, which means it's getting involved in another front, heading off towards the north, and stretching out. And as it does so, more people will be affected by this, and more people will get some rainfall, potentially some flooding rainfall.
Up into the Tennessee Valley, that's where we anticipate seeing the brunt of the heaviest rain here in the next couple days. We've already seen 11 plus inches in Mississippi. We'll get to six, maybe seven in parts of the Tennessee Valley. And across the northeast you could see one to three or more inches of rainfall over the next three days. They don't need it, obviously, with leftovers of Irene.
Here's Katia, category two, will probably become a hurricane three. We anticipate it now to make a sharp turn. One of the coolest Labor Days you've had in years. Temperatures won't get out of the 60s in some spots. Fall just around the corner.
COSTELLO: That sounds nice, though. That's good for badminton and softball games at the picnics.
MARCIANO: I was just thinking of that, excellent badminton weather.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I love that game for some reason.
ROMANS: Thanks, Rob.
Now to the big story we'll be covering all week, President Obama's big jobs speech, and that happens Thursday.
COSTELLO: Yes it does. His plan is expected to include tax relief, assistance for the long-term unemployed, and infrastructure investments. But will rebuilding roads, bridges, and parks really help put Americans back to work? Here is Athena Jones.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With unemployment stuck above nine percent and no jobs added in August, President Obama is under pressure to come up with a plan to jumpstart hiring. He has long argued that infrastructure spending creates jobs, and it's among the proposals being considered.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We could be rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and parks all across America right now.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We could put hundreds of thousands of folks to work right now.
JONES: America's schools could benefit. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave public school facilities a D in their most recent report. Baltimore is one city that could gain. Here at Samuel Coleridge Taylor elementary school, the boiler and windows need to be replaced. Many of the air conditioners and electric sockets don't work. And the water fountains have been sealed to prevent possible lead poisoning from old pipes.
Problems persists city wide even though the state spends millions to update schools each year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are a school system that has a $2 billion plus repair backlog due to tremendous neglect over the decade. We're trying to give our kids great science labs, great media labs. But the basics, which is their ability to feel that they're in a setting which is conducive to learning, is something that we are constantly struggling to address.
JONES: This fourth grade teacher sees students struggle with the lack of AC. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to keep them focused. Sometimes you see them and they're just starting to slump on the desk because they're hot.
JONES: But while the need may be clear, there's debate over whether this kind of spending creates jobs. The Economic Policy Institute wants to see a $50 billion federal program to repair schools, which they say would create half a million jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The repair costs are tremendous. So, getting an infusion of money from the federal government could put people to work.
JONES: But critics say federal spending on infrastructure has a minimal effect on job creation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think if the federal government could create jobs we wouldn't see this new jobs report coming out saying zero jobs was created in August.
JONES: With Congressional approval needed for any boost in infrastructure spending, it's a debate that's unlikely to go away.
Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: So we know that infrastructure spending creates jobs. One of the criticisms is that it's temporary, those jobs eventually go away. And how much money does it cost to create one of those jobs? And you'll hear critics say we did a big infrastructure part of the last stimulus. I went and visited road projects across the country. But now those are done. What's the next phase? And can the president get support to do it again?
COSTELLO: We'll hear what he has to say in his big jobs speech. You can see his speech this Thursday to a joint session of Congress at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on CNN.
You got to love the idea of fixing up some of these old schools.
COSTELLO: Can you imagine no air conditioning?
ROMANS: That everybody can get behind, right?
COSTELLO: All right, six of the top GOP hopefuls for president will be in South Carolina this afternoon. Mitt Romney will be among them. The former Massachusetts governor He has been cozying up to the Tea Party lately, or at least introducing himself to the Tea Party lately. He was in New Hampshire this weekend, right?
ROMANS: He was. He addressed a Tea Party rally there over the weekend. And he's cleared his schedule to be part of Tea Party king maker Jim DeMint's big forum today. CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us live from Columbia, South Carolina, this morning. So tell us how the forum works. PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Here is how it works. There are going to be six candidates, and they are -- let's go through them really quick -- Michele Bachmann, congresswoman from Minnesota, Herman Cain, the former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host, Ron Paul, the congressman from Texas, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, Rick Perry, the Texas governor, and, as you mentioned, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who will make his second bid right now for the Republican nomination.
You know what, guys, I just ran into Jim DeMint, the Republican senator here. I ran into him at breakfast a few minutes ago. He was telling me the format. We're going to see all six candidates right of the bat, and then it is one at a time. This is not a debate. You'll have 20 minutes of questioning for each candidate. DeMint will be one of three people questioning them.
You guys mentioned, Jim DeMint is very, very influential and very popular among tea party activists. I think that's one of the reasons you're seeing all six candidates here in South Carolina.
COSTELLO: He's the guy that's into pledges, right, cut, cap and balance?
(LAUGHTER)
STEINHAUSER: Yes, that was his baby. And most of the candidates have signed up for that.
You know what, here is another reason you know this is a big deal today. We brought the bus, the CNN Express. It's got to be a big deal if we brought the bus. We'll have coverage of that event 3:00 eastern right here on CNN.
COSTELLO: We bring the big guns, the bus and Steinhauser and John king. Whoa!
STEINHAUSER: John King, yes. Steinhauser, I'm the warm-up act.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Paul.
ROMANS: You'll be able to see it from 3:00 till 5:20 p.m. ester today on CNN. John King will anchor it. CNN is the national broadcaster of the forum.
Of course Labor Day is what is really running through the opinion pages today. Who really are we honoring on Labor Day? I wanted to show you this op-ed in the "Washington Post" by E.J. Dionne says "Workers are now taking second place to investors." Quote, "Let's get it over with and rename the holiday Capital Day. We may still celebrate Labor Day, but our culture has given up on honoring workers as the real creators of wealth and their honest toil."
Also going on to say they wonder if the day itself will eventually disappear from the calendar. In an op-ed for "Bloomberg," Alan Schroeder writes about the vanishing full-time worker and shift toward a temporary workforce, quote, "There's one factor that should be getting more attention -- U.S. companies don't want to hire people. Employees come with a host of costs and liabilities. When there's work, it makes sense to find a way to get it done without putting someone, a person, on the payroll." Schroeder says companies are awarded for their financial flexibility of a contingent workforce. And a lot of full times jobs that people are getting started as a part time job because it's almost you have to convince the company it's worth hiring someone.
COSTELLO: Employers are taking a hit, right? James Hoffa, the head of the teamsters came out and said hey, all of you employers, who are sitting on mounds of money and not employing people, you're unpatriotic. Do you civic duty and hire employees.
ROMANS: That Washington Post-op-ed was interesting, too, because it went on to say even your tax -- human labor is taxed at a higher rate than moving money around. Think about what the tax code is saying about the importance of us and the hour you spend working or just taking money and making more money out of it, investing.
COSTELLO: I don't know, when you get right down to it, and think of it, you think does my employer think of me as an interchangeable part? And if my employer thinks that way, what benefit is it for me to do a good job of that employer when I know he's going to get rid of me when something cheaper comes down the line? That's a sad way to think.
ROMANS: We're just human capital, Carol.
COSTELLO: Stop it. I refuse to believe that.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Still to come this morning, he's a Broadway legend, actor George Lee Andrews bids farewell to "Phantom of the Opera," ending a 23-year run with the Broadway show. He'll join us next on this AMERICAN MORNING. There's a guy that kept a job.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 43 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
It is the end of an era on Broadway. After 23 years and more than 9,300 performances, actor George Lee Andrews exits "Phantom of the Opera."
ROMANS: On Saturday Andrews performed for the last time after thousands of times. He's here to reflect on his record-breaking run on Broadway. George Lee Andrews joins us now. You never get up that early, I take it.
GEORGE LEE ANDREWS, ACTOR: No, not usually. That was my friend, David Cryer that I was hugging there. We both left together. So we have to hug each other a little bit. COSTELLO: It will make you really put one foot in front of the other and go to work when you see for 23 years you've been doing this job.
ANDREWS: Yes. It's been a great thrill every time.
COSTELLO: Let's look at the number of performances because this is amazing, 9,382 performances --
(CROSSTALK)
GEORGE LEE ANDREWS, ACTOR: Yes.
COSTELLO: -- you went through 12 different "Phantoms" --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDREWS: Yes.
COSTELLO: -- some 14 million people came through the theater during your time on stage.
ANDREWS: Yes.
COSTELLO: So how did you keep yourself sane all that time?
ANDREWS: It's a technique.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDREWS: Well, you have to keep yourself sane. I had to go to work every night and do my job. And also you know, people say how do you keep it interesting? Are you bored, you know, and stuff like that?
I walk out on the Broadway stage in "The Phantom of the Opera", arguably the greatest Broadway musical of all time. And I face 1,600 people and it's such a huge thrill. How could I be anything other than thrilled?
COSTELLO: Come on. Have you ever forgotten your lines?
ANDREWS: Oh, sure. Oh, yes. That's terrible.
COSTELLO: How is that possible? What happens?
ANDREWS: Oh that's terrible. What happens is you break out in a sweat. All of a sudden you're like you have a film of sweat all over you. It's just crazy. And you stand there and you try, sometimes you break into gibberish, sometimes you make up a line or two.
ROMANS: What's your favorite part of the show?
ANDREWS: My favorite part of the show is there is a set tab (ph) in the show that starts out as a single singer, my partner, the manager who is played by David Cryer (ph). And then I come in and we sing together. It becomes a duet; it's called the "Manager's Scene". It goes on and people keep coming in and joining this until at the end of the scene. And it builds and builds and builds until at the end of the scene there are seven singers standing down on the edge of the stage, just blasting away this wonderful music, this wonderful Andrew Lloyd Weber music.
And it's just -- you just lay it on the audience, you know this great "Manager's Scene" stuff. And that -- that's always my favorite part of the show. It's just great.
COSTELLO: Going back to the forgetting of the lines, because I find this fascinating.
ANDREWS: Yes.
COSTELLO: You basically say the same lines for every performance, right?
ANDREWS: Yes. Yes.
COSTELLO: And we're talking over 9,000 performances. So what -- what happens? I mean do you just -- you just -- your mind just suddenly blanks out?
ANDREWS: Yes.
COSTELLO: After so many times of saying the same thing over and over, night after night?
ANDREWS: Yes, you have to -- it's really a matter of concentration. You're playing a role. And you have to stay concentrated in that role when you're -- when you're doing a play. And you have to train yourself to do that.
But there are times -- I remember some time along the way when my son was playing soccer and I was coaching. And I -- I would be standing on stage and I -- all of a sudden I was realizing I was trying to figure out what I was going to take the boys through in the soccer coaching thing that evening or the next morning.
And I -- and I just stopped myself and say, no, you know. No. Back to this, you know, back to this play. And I realized --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: You must separate job and life.
ANDREWS: Yes. And I realized then that, no, I couldn't do that at all. When I'm doing the play, I have to simply do the play.
At one time my daughter was in the audience, seeing me do another part. I've actually played other parts and this part so it's 9,000 some performances in other parts, too.
ROMANS: With the same show?
ANDREWS: Yes.
ROMANS: Now there's an interesting story about who will be taking over this role.
ANDREWS: Yes.
ROMANS: Tell us about that.
ANDREWS: I was just mentioning my daughter who thinking of her in the audience made me -- my mind go when I was playing the auctioneer and I stood there with a blank and made up some words you know, but her husband -- they've been married ten years -- but no, they've been married five years, but they've been together ten years. They're having a baby.
And he -- his agents -- he's an actor, a wonderful actor. Aaron Galligan-Stierl (ph) -- his agents got him an audition for my part. I was actually on vacation and came back and told me this and we laughed about it. Because he's quite that younger than me --
ROMANS: You're going to keep in the family.
COSTELLO: So your son-in-law is going to take over your part?
ANDREWS: Yes. So he auditioned, and got a call back and went through the whole call back process and got the part.
ROMANS: Wow. Fantastic.
COSTELLO: Well, at least it's still in the family.
ANDREWS: Still in the family.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROMANS: That's one you better say the names of your other two granddaughters so that they --
ANDREWS: That's right, you mean Harper and Sasha?
ROMANS: Oh yes, Harper and Sasha, good morning, dears.
ANDREWS: Yes, they're not going to be happy if I'm leaving Phantom.
ROMANS: Oh but they got to say, you've got to hear their grandfather say their names on TV. That's cool. George Lee Andrews, congratulations. A great run.
ANDREWS: Thank you.
ROMANS: I can't wait to see what's up next.
ANDREWS: Thanks.
COSTELLO: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, it's weakened now to a tropical depression but Lee is still soaking the south with heavy rain and flooding. We'll tell you about it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Nine minutes until the top of the hour. We asked you to "talk back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: "Do unions help or hurt America?"
This from Johnny. "Unions were useful at one time many years ago. Now that they -- now they are what drives our jobs overseas. Why would any company want to pay $20 bucks plus an hour for an unskilled worker to do some simple task over and over on an assembly line when they can have the same work done overseas for a fraction of the cost?
This from Dominic. "Every single working person owes a debt of gratitude to unions. Because of them, we have things like minimum wage, mandatory breaks, 40-hour workweeks, overtime pay, holiday pay and many other benefits that all workers deserve. If it wasn't for unions, kids would still be working 15-hour days for pennies and no bathroom breaks".
And this from Naomi. "Unions used to help workers. Now they only help themselves. They're all about political power now and they become bigger bullies than employers ever were."
Please continue the conversation. Facebook.com/AmericanMorning.
ROMANS: Wow, people are really fired up about it. Really interesting.
COSTELLO: A controversial topic.
ROMANS: All right. We're going to have more for you in about two minutes. So don't go away AMERICAN MORNING coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It's about 56 minutes past the hour. Let's go to Rob Marciano in Atlanta, he's in the Extreme Weather Center with more on Lee. Hi there, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning again, guys. We are looking at this tornado watch. And if we could turn the audio off in the studio that would be great.
Tornado watch in effect until 4:00 this afternoon and we've seen a bunch of rain moving on the east side of this; the west side obviously not seeing any rain. Winds gusting to 20 to 30 miles an hour. And the fire threat will be serious today, if not critical with the bone-dry conditions across Texas and the winds, quite frankly, being exacerbated by what's leftover with Lee.
Rainfall, there you go. I've seen reports of 14 inches across southwestern parts of Mississippi. There are the leftovers of it. We do anticipate it moving up towards the north and east and potential for floods exist. We have flood watches that are posted from the Gulf Coast all the way up to Canada because of leftovers from Irene; obviously, still saturation there in some rivers still near their flood stages. A couple of inches of rain is not what they need here over the next two to three days.
Strong front slowly moving east, that's not only bringing rain across the East Coast for the next couple of days, but really, really cool, fall-like air across the western two-thirds of the country; certainly beginning to feel a little more like fall there. Still hurricane season. That front will help in regards to pushing Hurricane Katia, which now a category 2 storm, out to sea.
It will get close to the U.S. We will see big surf across the beaches. Even today from the Carolina coastline up across New England's beaches. So be aware of that, if you are making it out to the coastline on this Labor Day. You know, not the best beach weather for everybody but if you're heading that way, be careful; some big waves because of Katia -- guys.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob Marciano. Happy Labor Day.
MARCIANO: Likewise. Back at you.
ROMANS: I know, from two people who are all labor -- the other one who is, Zain Verjee, who's going tell us about the wayward penguin known as Happy Feet back in the Antarctic waters this morning. Remember, he became an instant celebrity after coming ashore on a New Zealand beach.
Zain -- I don't think they have Labor Day on this day in England. So she's officially working. She's not working on a holiday. Good morning, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I've been following the story very closely ever since it broke in June when we discovered Happy Feet on a beach in New Zealand. He'd eaten sand and sticks; he had to go for emergency surgery.
I'm happy to tell you both that Happy Feet is now really happy. He got dropped off the boat, as you're seeing here. He actually, after the operation, had to get pushed off the boat. He actually didn't want to go. He ended up swimming in the Antarctic waters.
Guess what, for the first couple of hours, guys, he kind of messed up the direction. He wasn't quite sure exactly where to go. But he did have to spend two months in rehab, just getting fixed up. The other thing he got addicted to was fish milkshakes. So one of the concerns that I have for him out in the water like that -- there he goes -- who is going to give him those fish milkshakes after he's had all this contact with the human world.
So, good news for you guys because you can actually track him. Happy feet, I'm happy to report, has been fitted with a microchip so he can be tracked by all us humans by satellite. There's actually a Web site, too. You can log on and follow his progress at ourfarsouth.org so you can see his exact location.
He's going to meet up with other penguins and live happily ever after with lots of baby penguins thanks to people in the New Zealand Zoo that gave the penguin back his life.
ROMANS: It's cracking Carol up.
COSTELLO: She is way too into this story. I just hope that Happy Feet regains a sense of redirection because I fear for him.
ROMANS: He doesn't seem to go in the right direction very often.
VERJEE: No. He didn't have to. He was spoiled by all of us. But fortunately, we've all taken our happy pills this morning, because we're happy for Happy Feet.
COSTELLO: We are.
VERJEE: Yes, we are.
ROMANS: Thank you, Zain.
All right. That's going to do it for us here; us and all of our happy feet on this Labor Day.
"CNN NEWSROOM" with Alina Cho starts right now. Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, GUEST ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hey there guys, good morning.
