Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Obama Lays Out Jobs Plan Tonight; Perry and Romney Square Off; U.S. Drops To #5 On Competitiveness List; Teaching 9/11; Class Focuses on Terrorism; AFL-CIO President Interviewed about President's Jobs Speech; NASA Delays Moon Mission; Conrad Murray Jury Selection
Aired September 08, 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: Today is the day! I'm Carol Costello. Tonight, President Obama lays out his big jobs plan but will his ideas be enough to jump-start this country's sputtering job market?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. Rick Perry making his debate debut. The Texas governor tangling last night with Mitt Romney and six other Republicans on job creation and Social Security. How did he do? We are sorting out the scorecards on this AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: Good morning to you! It is Thursday, September 8th. Ali Velshi has the day off.
ROMANS: So, let's begin with breaking news out of Germany right now.
Police there say they have arrested two men for planning a possible attack. According to police, a 24-year-old of Lebanese descent and 28-year-old man from Gaza are trying to buy chemical that can be used to make a bomb. Police do not believe the suspects had a specific target.
COSTELLO: Yes. When we get more information, we'll pass it along.
Also tonight, President Obama takes his case for a massive jobs plan directly to the nation. Democratic sources are telling CNN the plan could top $400 billion. We are told it will include a mix of infrastructure spending and targeted tax cuts.
ROMANS: Earlier, I spoke to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney about what else we can expect tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Is there anything new in there? A new -- something we haven't tried before to get jobs going?
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, there will be some new ideas that you haven't heard from us before that are part of the baskets, part of the areas in terms of tax relief and infrastructure spending, assistance to communities to help rebuild their schools, assistance to states to help retain teachers so teachers aren't laid off because every parent in America knows that the key to their children's economic future is a good education. We need to have those teachers on the job. We need to have first responders on the job.
There will be a variety of proposals, reforms, within these baskets that will be new and we believe we'll have broad bipartisan support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And it will be a piece of legislation. The American jobs act will be delivered to Congress.
Joining me now to talk about the president's plan, Ron Brownstein, CNN's senior political analyst and the editorial director of "The National Journal," and Nick Ragone, the author of the book, "Presidential Leadership."
Gentlemen, welcome.
Ron, let me start with you. This criticism we've heard over and over, again the president hasn't put a word on paper, the president hasn't given us any real details. Jay Carney says there will be words on paper, it will be a bill and it will go to -- it will go to Congress.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: First of all, presidents are judged primarily by results, so there's a limit to how much you can change your political situation with any proposal or any speech. But having said that, I think the president does, as you suggest, has two clear political needs in the speech tonight. One is to reassure people that he has a plan.
I mean, the public's faith that the economy is going to get better has eroded enormously. And people feel tremendous drift out of Washington. And I think the second related need for the president is to show that he believes in and will fight for a plan. I mean, we have seen his ratings on leadership declined significantly this year, particularly around that debt ceiling fight, and that is usually a leading indicator of trouble for politician and elected official in executive position.
So, I think he has to show he has a direction and that he will fight for that direction. And I think that is above the political imperative he faces as he releases this plan tonight.
ROMANS: And, you know, Ron, another thing that Jay Carney told us is he said that, you know, there will be measures within this that Republicans have supported before. He's sort of putting them in a box, saying wait, now you're not supporting the president's plan? Something you've been behind before.
I mean, how important is that?
BROWNSTEIN: I think it's very important and it's very revealing of this president's mindset, how he approaches the job of presidency and how he's thinking about re-election. A lot of Democrats have wanted him to be, in effect, Harry Truman, putting out a very bold, ideological black and white plan that would draw sharp contrast with Republicans and then bash them for not supporting it, run against a do-nothing Congress.
I think his model is a little more like Theodore Roosevelt and talk about all of us needing to sublimate our individual differences to support and affirm the national interest. And I think that will be more of the line of argument that he pursues tonight. I think he's going to probably argue that he's putting forward a plan that has ideas that have been popular in both parties and that both parties should come together to support it.
ROMANS: Nick, he has to be tough, but he also has to be conciliatory because he can't really anger this kind of powerful sliver of the Republican Party that has been holding things up.
NICK RAGONE, AUTHOR, "PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP": Well, it's a fine needle to thread. I mean, if you think about it, the president really has two other big speeches he'll give before the country, the State of the Union and his Democratic acceptance speech. So, this is a rare moment.
Typically, presidents do these joint sessions during great times of crisis. FDR and Woodrow Wilson during war; Gerald Ford after he became president. So, he's going to have to both meet the Republicans halfway on a few items as Ron mentioned to get things done and, at the same time, draw a line in the sand. It is a political speech, so it's a very fine line to walk.
ROMANS: You know, the era of decisiveness we have in -- and I ask both of you, I guess, to finish this off.
Let's start with you, Ron. I mean, it's Carol's question of the day. I mean, how do we overcome this? I mean, can this legislation, this speech, this moment tonight overcome which is a very poisoned atmosphere?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, we are dealing with the highest level of party line voting since the late 19th century in Congress. We have enormous gaps in the way presidents now are viewed by voters in one party and the other. And we have tremendous and tropical force in each party, more primary challenges, more overtly partisan media that really kind of attacks anybody who is seen as collaborating with the other side. All of these are big forces.
The only real force on the other side of the weight are the voters themselves. Most politicians, as I've said before, right now, believe they have nor to fear from compromising too much than from compromising too little. And I think even at a moment like this, when we are -- you know, we are not in the moral equivalent of war, but we are facing a true national challenge, I think it does call on both parties to find ways to reach out of their comfort zone and find a path forward that allows them to deal with these very serious problems facing the country.
ROMANS: Quick thought, Nick.
RANGONE: Yes. I mean, the president is good at big speeches and living up to the moment. It will be a big challenge tonight. He is not going to get many more chances to speak directly to the country and give them his plan.
ROMANS: All right. Nick Ragone and Ron Brownstein, thanks both of you. Also, you can --
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
ROMANS: -- we're going to cover this, of course. You can watch the president's speech live at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, followed by some analysis before and after the speech. The speech is at 7:00, but we'll be starting it at 6:00.
COSTELLO: Sure will.
Now, it is your turn to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, how should the president handle the country's decisiveness in his speech tonight? Talk about pressure, the president will be facing a bitterly divided Congress. The political forecast: ice cold.
Republican Congressman Joe Walsh is skipping the president's speech altogether because, quote, "I don't see the point in being a prop for another of the president's speeches, asking for more failed stimulus spending."
Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter, won't be there either. He is hosting an NFL football party.
Add to that, he vicious partisan attacks coming from both parties. Unless you become numb, you have heard it loud and clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's the most effective food stamp president in American history.
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: Tea Party can go straight to hell!
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: That's what we have witnessed since Friday. Obama-geddon. Barack-lypse now.
JIM HOFFA, PRESIDENT, TEAMSTERS UNION: Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to America where we belong.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
COSTELLO: Why bother with a bipartisan speech? As "New York Times" columnist Paul Krugman writes, "What will Republicans agree to? That's easy: nothing. They will oppose anything Mr. Obama proposes."
But there are Republicans leaders who say they want to work with the president. In a letter to Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor write, "It is also critical that our differences not preclude us from taking action in areas where there is common agreement. We should not approach this as all or nothing situation."
So, our "Talk Back" question for you this morning: how should the president handle the country's divisiveness in his speech tonight? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: All right. Two men who want Barack Obama's job, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, clashing last night at the big presidential debate.
COSTELLO: It was interesting to watch because things got pretty darn heated, sparring over Social Security and who is better qualified to create jobs.
Jim Acosta watched it all. He joins us live from Los Angeles this morning.
Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
Rick Perry said last night during the debate that he felt like the Republican Party pinata and that's because he was.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Rick Perry and Mitt Romney stood side-by- side at the Reagan debate, close enough for the fur to fly.
First on the question of which governor created more jobs.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We created more jobs in the last three months in Texas than he created in four years in Massachusetts.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Texas is a great state. Texas has zero income tax. Texas has a right to work state.
But Governor Perry doesn't believe he created those things. If he tried to say that, it would be like Al Gore saying he invented the Internet.
PERRY: Michael Dukakis created jobs than you did, Mitt.
ROMNEY: As a matter of fact, George Bush and his predecessor created jobs at a faster rate than you did, Governor.
ACOSTA: Jumping into the mix was a newly aggressive Jon Huntsman.
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hate to rain on the parade of the great Lone Star governor. But as governor of Utah, we were the number one job creator in this country.
ACOSTA: The debate soon switched to the Romney health care plan in Massachusetts and its individual mandate that requires residents to have medical insurance. What some Republicans now call Obamneycare.
JOHN HARRIS, POLITICO: Everyone else on this stage agrees that the Massachusetts example was a great opportunity for the rest the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
PERRY: It was a great opportunity for us as a people to see what will not work and that is an individual mandate in this country.
ACOSTA: Ron Paul later noted Perry was once a Democrat who showed some of his own support for government health care.
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The governor of Texas criticized the governor of Massachusetts for Romneycare but he wrote a fancy letter supporting Hillarycare.
PERRY: Speaking of letters. I was more interested in the one that you wrote to Ronald Reagan back and said, "I'm going to quit the party because of the things you believe in."
ACOSTA: Newt Gingrich tried to bring it to a halt.
GINGRICH: I for one and hope all of my friends up here are going to repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other to protect Barack Obama who deserves to be defeated and all of us are committed as a team whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating Barack Obama!
ACOSTA: Contrast that roaring applause with the crickets that followed Paul's comment that a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico could be used to keep Americans caged in.
PAUL: So, every time you think of a fence keeping those bad people out, think about those fences maybe being used against us keeping us in.
ACOSTA: But it was Perry who was on the defense. Take his anti-Washington book "Fed Up" in which he refers to the Social Security as a Ponzi scheme.
PERRY: And it is a monstrous lie. It is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you are paying into a program that's going to be there.
ACOSTA: Romney couldn't resist.
ROMNEY: You say that by any measure, Social Security is a failure. You can't say that to tens of millions of Americans who live on Social Security and those who have lived on it.
ACOSTA: In an interview with CNN before the Reagan debate, President Obama's campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said Perry's book will be fair game.
(on camera): Are you looking forward to running against that book?
ROBERT GIBBS, OBAMA RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Well, look, I think each one of these candidates have their share of cookie views if you will. Each one of these candidate has an idea that I think American people are going to find hard to defend.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: You know, outside the debate last night, they had one of those spin rooms and I had a chance to catch up with Mark Miner who is the spokesman for the Perry campaign. And I asked him about the Texas governor's decision to go ahead and double down on that comment that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. And Miner said to me, basically, yes, that he thinks it's just fine for the governor to say that because that's what he believes -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, the interesting thing about is -- and I think this was brought out in the debate, that Texas is a Republican state and Rick Perry hasn't had to temper his remarks because the competition hasn't been that much for him.
ACOSTA: That's right.
COSTELLO: So, you wonder if he'll learn from here on out that maybe he does have to temper those comments a little.
ACOSTA: That's right. You know, at this point, it looks like, you know, Iowa is a state that Rick Perry could win. New Hampshire is a state that Mitt Romney could win. But once you get down into South Carolina and Florida, those are states where you are a larger elderly population. And so, the big question for the Republican Party is: can you talk about Social Security in this fashion and be successful as a Republican candidate?
We know this has been a big Tea Party movement for the Republican Party and Rick Perry sort of fits that bill. But the Social Security question is going to be a big test for his campaign. Can he survive these comments which he doubled down on last night, he didn't back away from them at all.
ROMANS: Yes, he really did.
All right. Thanks, Jim -- Jim Acosta in L.A.
COSTELLO: And be sure to be with them on Monday when CNN, the Tea Party Express and several other Tea Party groups co-host a debate with the Republican candidates in Tampa, the site of the Republican National Convention. The CNN/Tea Party Republican Debate Monday night, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
And, by the way, Ali will be live from Tampa on Monday morning as well. He'll start -- I'm going to make him start at 5:00 a.m. Eastern.
OK, let's do it. He's going to start at 5:00 a.m. Eastern!
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: All right. That's going to be great.
All right. Still head, most elementary school students -- they weren't alive on September 11th, 2001. The day terrorists made the country stand still. So, how are students teaching about the attacks today? We're going to take a look inside of a history classroom, coming up.
COSTELLO: Also ahead, remnants of tropical storm Lee are to blame for deadly flooding in the Northeast. Plus, a triple threat in the Atlantic. Rob Marciano has got the latest on Katia, Maria and now Nate.
ROMANS: And NASA heads back to the moon this morning, promising to unlock its mysteries. But, oh, no, is the weather a go for the launch in Cape Canaveral? We're going to keep you updated.
It's 13 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS (voice-over): Heavy rain, storms, and flooding the remnants of tropical storm Lee have communities from Virginia to New England still dealing with last week's cleanup. On alert for a new round of flash floods now. Flooding now blamed for at least one death in Pennsylvania.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Oh, make it stop, Rob Marciano, please?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are trying. We are trying. A slow mover and all of this tropical moisture has a lot of rainfall with it. Here are the flood warnings and watches that have been posted for the northeast. You mentioned that. Red never good. That's the flash flood warnings, and we've got those even in Baltimore and D.C. area.
So, street flooding happening there, kind of a nightmarish commute, but eastern PA up through southern New York, southern upstate New York is where we're seeing the most action. This is the graph of the Susquehanna River near Wilkes-Barre which is already a major state expected to get to near record stage by tomorrow morning. Flip in the head towards Binghamton, New York, which is just upstream across the border. They're right at a record stage, and they are forecast to rise above that by later on tonight. So, a serious situation happening in this part of the world as rains from tropical storm Lee continue to rain down. By the way, last time Wilkes-Barre had a disaster like this was back in 1972 during Hurricane Agnes come surrounded by bold (ph). There's lot of high ridges around. Everything just flows right down into that area.
We got some people that are being evacuated there as many as 30,000 to 50,000, potentially, evacuated in that area. The other issue is this, Maria, Katia and now, Nate. We're watching Nate carefully. That's in the southern Gulf of Mexico right now. Indications are that it will go into Mexico, it self, but it will sit and spin in the gulf and that means it could get stronger. We'll keep you posted throughout the day. Guys, back up to you.
COSTELLO (on-camera): So, when does hurricane season end again?
MARCIANO: Yes. Not until the end of November and the peak is just in the next few days. So, obviously, Mother Nature is acting appropriately.
ROMANS (on-camera): We had a break earlier in the season from that activity, and now it's really kicking up. All right. Thanks so much, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ROMANS: A check on the morning markets next.
Plus, the United States, oh, no, slipping on the list of the most competitive economies in the world. Why is it slipping? I'll give you one guess, and it's in Washington, D.C. A big place, with lots of people in it. Who's number one? We'll have that for you. It's 19 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. It's 22 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
The Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 all closed higher by about three percent yesterday. Investors getting a boost from good news about the fight against the European debt crisis.
Also today, investors waiting for the initial jobless claims that comes out in just a few minutes and give us a gauge of the labor market. Right now, U.S. stock futures are trending lower ahead of the opening bell. Investors are also waiting for the president's jobs speech tonight president.
That so-called Super Committee created by the debt ceiling agreement gets to work for the very first time today. The bipartisan panel of 12 lawmakers has until November 23rd to find $1.5 trillion in deficit savings. The U.S. is dropping to number five on the list of the world's most competitive economies. A new survey by the World Economic Forum has developed countries dropping down this list as emerging markets are moving up, frankly. Notably, Singapore shot up to the number two spot. Switzerland is now number one.
Up next, teaching about terrorism. How schools are commemorating 9/11 in the classroom. AMERICAN MORNING will be back right after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Ten years now after the 9/11 terror attacks, real-time recordings from that morning in 2001 are being posted by "The New York Times." Some of these have never been heard before. They're hard to listen to.
COSTELLO: They really are. It still gives you chills, and you might find them disturbing, frankly. In this first cut, we hear from Betty Ong. She's a flight attendant on flight 11. She's speaking to operation's agents from an air phone in the back of a hijacked plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our number 1 got stabbed. Our purser is stabbed. Nobody knows who stabbed who, and we can't even get up to business class right now because nobody can breathe. Our number one is stabbed right now. And who else? And our number five. Our first class passengers -- first class gallery flight attendant and our purser has been stabbed, and we can't get the cockpit. The door won't open.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Flight 11 it crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
ROMANS: In this next, a recording a Boston air traffic controller. Here is hijacker, Mohamed Atta telling everyone on board Flight 11 to keep silent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that American 11 trying to call?
MOHAMED ATTA, HIJACKER: (INAUDIBLE) We have some planes. Just stay quiet and we'll be OK. We are returning to the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's trying to call me here? American 11, are you trying to call?
ATTA: Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you will injure yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: So, how do you explain that to anyone, but especially children? When the twin towers fell ten years ago, you know, everybody wondered what to tell their kids. Educators today in New Jersey, they face the same challenge.
ROMANS: Because this is history. It's a part of history, it's a part of, really, everyday life, every year at this time, but even more often, in so many parts of our lives. You know, in New Jersey, they released a new set of guidelines that add the 9/11 terror attacks to the states K through 12 curriculum. Deb Feyerick is following this. So, how is New Jersey teaching the historic day in history?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very interesting. What they did is they didn't want to design just one formal sort of class. What they did is they issued guidelines for all grades, K through 12, on how teachers could best incorporate the lessons of 9/11, and how you teach it. From the very young ages, you talk about bullying, for example, all the way up to analyzing what is terrorism, but, really, the creators of this wanted to give this whole thing context.
They thought that they wanted context, perspective, helping children understand really the terrorism and violence has been around for generations, while it is scary. It's not just an American problem, it is a global problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): Ask about the day the towers fell and Isabella Fernandez, who was seven years old at the time, will tell you about the dust, the airplane parts in the family's living room, and most especially, the holes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a friend who lived in Tribeca, and she said, oh, a plane went through and there are holes on both side from tower. So, I went through the day with this image of the two towers with holes on both sides.
FEYERICK: Now, 17 and a senior at a New Jersey all girls prep school, Fernandez is experiencing 9/11 in a new way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does a terrorist look like?
FEYERICK: As part of history, she's studying it in class in the context of global security and terrorism.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's important not only to look at the event, but to understand the history and the consequences.
FEYERICK: Though 9/11 is increasingly taught in schools, New Jersey's 9/11 curriculum is the first known to be sanctioned by a state education department for grades kindergarten through 12. With more than 100 possible lesson plans on the subject, younger kids may learn about bullying and power while older ones study topics like the allure of terrorism, its history, grieving, and also remembering.
ISABELLA FERNANDEZ, KENT PLACE SENIOR: How stereotype in general is a negative.
FEYERICK: It was developed by educators like Reba Petraitis.
REBA PETRAITIS, KENT PLACE SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER: How can we make this world a better place that future generations can live in peace? That was a major request coming out of the families of 9/11 had they asked us to write this curriculum.
FEYERICK: And 9/11 widow, Maryellen Salamone, one of the leaders behind it, knew the time was right.
MARYELLEN SALAMONE, 9/11 WIDOW: These pictures mark a moment in time. They are exactly the age my children were when on 2001 when their dad was killed.
FEYERICK: For Salamone, life after has been a process, figuring out ways to explain to her three growing children a little more each year.
SALAMONE: In the beginning was as simple as something really bad happened in New York City and your dad died and he's not coming home.
FEYERICK: Two years ago, with her eldest son heading to high school, she showed her kids video of the attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on just a moment. We have an explosion inside --
SALAMONE: It was hard for them to see it for the first time.
AIDEN SALAMONE, FATHER KILLED ON 9/11: You don't think of it as history. You don't think of it as something that happened in the world. You think of it as something that happened directly to you.
FEYERICK: And that is exactly the mindset Salamone is trying to change.
SALAMONE: It's a much bigger global issue that has been in history and affected lots and lots of families, not just us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Timothy McVeigh, Anders Breivik.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terror isn't 9/11. That's what we know it because that's what we've grown up as far as terrorism is concerned. But that's not what it is.
FEYERICK: Learning it in the hopes of trying to prevent it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And one of the most important things it that the classroom be a really safe space where children can process these violent acts. There are various exercises designed to stimulate critical thinking.
In the high school class, students were asked to draw what a terrorist looks like. No one drew the Norwegian gunman, and he killed 85 people up in Norway. The girls were surprised that there response really broke down along stereotypical lines based on their own personal 9/11 experience. The curriculum hopes to open it up and make them understand what happened in Norway is affecting families there just as what happened here is affecting people here. So it's understanding terrorism, to be able to recognize it and to be able to identify it and to be able to say this is not acceptable.
ROMANS: I wonder how many school systems teach about -- I mean, have classes about 9/11?
FEYERICK: They are starting. They are starting. Religion classes, literature classes, social studies classes, it's now really part of the experience, but teaching it in the right way. Even my kids, when they ask me, what is 9/11? What is ground zero? It's very tricky. I'm not sure how much I want to tell them because I don't want to scare them. But they will soon learn, and it's best it be done in a safe way.
ROMANS: And you can always ask your kids what they know. You might be surprised that they know something that is not quite right, you know, ask them, point blank, ask them. What do you know about this and do you have any questions about this for me? Because that is important.
FEYERICK: Absolutely. And obviously the dialogue always has to start with the parent, because you would rely on the friends to tell them?
ROMANS: Like everything. If you're willing to fill in the vacuum, someone else is.
COSTELLO: I'm lucky I don't have kids because I can say go ask your mom.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: By the way, this Sunday CNN will bring you our special live coverage of the remembrance events throughout the day. "9/11 10 years later beginning at 8:00 a.m. eastern right here on CNN.
ROMANS: All right, we are following breaking news this morning out of Germany. Police say they have arrested two men for plotting a possible attack. According to police, a 24-year-old of Lebanese descent and 28-year-old man from Gaza tried to buy chemicals that be used to make a bomb. Police do not believe the two had a specific target yet.
COSTELLO: The search for Moammar Gadhafi -- a spokesman for Tripoli's new military council telling CNN the ousted Libyan leader is surrounded but he won't say exactly where.
In the meantime Syrian TV is airing a message reportedly from Gadhafi insisting he is still in Libya and that NATO will be defeated.
ROMANS: And just in to CNN, fashion designer John Galliano has been found guilty of making anti-Semitic comments to at least three people in a Paris cafe. He's been fined 6,000 euros but not have to serve prison time.
COSTELLO: The topic for conversation for days, President Obama's jobs plan. Tonight the president delivers speaking to a joint session of Congress. He will lay out his plan to boost the economy and create jobs. It's expected to include spending on roads and bridges as well as tax cuts. But does it go far enough? Joining me now to you take about this is Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO. Good morning.
RICHARD TRUMKA, PRESIDENT, AFL-CIO: Hi, Carol, thanks for having me on today.
COSTELLO: Thank you for coming on AMERICAN MORNING. You met with the president. You talked with the president face-to-face. Did you -- did you suggest anything about tone to the president for tonight's speech?
TRUMKA: You know, look, I think American working people want to know that the president is going to go to the mat for policies that are going to help working people and put 25 million people back to work. I think they want him to be a leader in that effect. They want him to be bold. They want him to be aggressive. And they want to know that he is on their side and he will fight hard to put them back to work. So I suggested that and several other things as well.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I'm sure you did.
The president says that included in this plan he has actually written legislation he is going to present to Congress. But he says in this plan, there will be things that Republicans like. Is there a fear in your mind that the president might go too far in trying to please Republicans?
TRUMKA: Well, I hope he doesn't do that. I hope he doesn't do just what he thinks they will pass. I hope he looks at the problem and says this is what will solve the problem. We have urged him to do that. I think that is the solution that is need. That is what the American public wants.
And, quite frankly, I think this is one of those times in history where history will judge him and the other politicians out there on what role they take on job creation and whether they actually focus all their efforts on it or not.
COSTELLO: And I should ask you this too. Do you believe that it is necessary to put some things in that plan that Republicans will like?
TRUMKA: Well, you would like to think that this isn't a Republican or a Democrat or an independent issue. You would like to say, here's is the problem -- 25 million Americans are out of work. This is what it will take to get them back to work. Now, of course, that is not what we have seen. There have been all kind of political games and brinksmanship being played for political reasons that are putting the American people and our economy behind us. This is a time when Democrats and Republicans need to come together and say this is what is best for the country. Let's put 25 million people back to work. That will save our economy, that will help this country, it will reduce and/or eliminate the deficit, and everybody sort of lives happy ever happen if that happens.
COSTELLO: OK, let's talk about that beautiful spirit of bipartisanship that you just mentioned because a lot of people say it doesn't exist. You want to talk about Jimmy Hoffa, or Jim Hoffa, rather? President of the teamsters, I'm sure you've heard he is taking heat for these comments he made earlier this week. Let's listen to them and then I'll get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM HOFFA, PRESIDENT, TEAMSTERS UNION: President Obama, we want one thing -- jobs, jobs, jobs. Everybody here has got a vote. If we go back and keep the eye on the prize, let's take these son of a bitches out and give America back to America, where we belong!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Not exactly conciliatory terms. Give me your thoughts on this. Did Jim Hoffa go too far?
TRUMKA: Look, I think this is a tempest in a teapot. The real issue here is jobs creation, and they are trying to parse what Jimmy Hoffa said, a word or two, instead of saying what policies will create jobs. I think that is the distraction.
You know, maybe I wouldn't have used the words, but I can tell you he sort of is expressing what millions of Americans think out there, their frustration that people that stand in the way of job creation for their own political reasons really have frustrated people.
Look what Representative Mica did. For ideological reasons he shut down the FAA and put 90,000 people out of work for a couple of weeks. Finally came to his senses and said, OK, I'll agree. These are things that were done without thought, like raising the debt limit. Done dozens of time in the past, and now every time something comes up, it becomes a political crisis. That's nonsense, and people are frustrated over that. They are not creating jobs to put them back to work.
And so they think the same thing he said, maybe not in those words. I would have edited a few words out, but the thoughts, I think, speak for millions of Americans.
COSTELLO: Because I guess what I'm getting at, when that kind of rhetoric is used by the other side it gives ammunition to the other side to take it one step farther and poison the minds of other people. Listen to what Rush Limbaugh said about Hoffa's comments. (LAUGHTER)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: What is this? When is Obama going to repudiate Hoffa? Obama wrote it for Hoffa. Who the hell do you think is inspiring these sons of a bitches anyway, quote/unquote?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: You were laughing before I played that sound bite. So I'm just going to say take it away.
TRUMKA: I mean, look. That is what he does for a living. He's an entertainer. He's incendiary. Of all people to be talking about reconciliation, Rush Limbaugh? Come on. Cut me a break. The guy is incendiary every day and the truth never gets in his way. That's not what happens.
But look at the actions they take. What civil actions? Civil language would be great, but we would rather have civil actions. Look, when you fight for no reason and you shut down the FAA, that's not good. When you fight over something as simple as raising the debt limit that has been done dozens of times in the past and you threaten to shut down the government, that's not good.
They need to come together to do what is right by the American people and create jobs. And if they do that, I think everybody out here will support him, a little less partisanship and a little more Americanism. Do what is right for the country regardless of what political advantage or disadvantage.
COSTELLO: We will see what happens after tonight. Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, thank you for joining us. We sure appreciate it.
TRUMKA: Thanks for having me on.
ROMANS: All right, just in to CNN, NASA's mission to the moon delayed. We are live from Cape Canaveral next. Carol, another window of opportunity.
COSTELLO: I'm not panicking yet.
ROMANS: It could happen still in a few minutes. It's 42 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right, welcome back. We have been to the moon but truth be told, we barely scratched the lunar surface when it comes to finding out what the moon is really made of.
COSTELLO: That's right. That's why we are so excited about NASA's new grail mission that aims to unlock some of those mysteries. CNN's John Zarrella is live at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where this morning's scheduled launch this morning has been postponed.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but just for a little bit, Carol. Christine, NASA likes to keep us on edge. The weather looks absolutely perfect here, but not so much up there. They sent a weather balloon up and the winds are a little bit too strong, so they are going to try again in 30 minutes from now at 9:16. And once they get this rocket off the ground, the two probes inside will head to the moon and they hope will answer the question, what's inside?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): The moon. Ok. So we have established it's not really made of green cheese. The Apollo astronauts bagged up more than 800 pounds of rock and dirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The soil here is a bit firmer, I think.
ZARRELLA: What about all that stuff? Isn't what the moon is made of? Well, that's just what's on top. The fact is we really don't know what's beneath the surface.
MARIA ZUBER, GRAIL PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: The part of lunar understanding that we don't yet have is what's inside the moon. So to really understand the moon and understand what makes it special, we need to study what's inside.
ZARRELLA: To do that, NASA is embarking on a unique Mission called GRAIL. Two space probes will fly one behind the other in identical orbits around the moon. The gravitational tug on the probes changes as they fly over various features: mountains, valleys, or masses hidden below the surface.
Measuring the change gives scientists in essence a lunar cat scan. That's right. Imagine a cat scan of the moon.
ZUBER: It provides us essentially with a picture of the lunar interior, just like you would make a picture of the inside of your body.
ZARRELLA: It's theorized that the moon was formed from the debris released after a collision between the earth and another giant body. If that's the case, it will give scientists a better understanding of how the inner planets of the solar system were formed.
And in a first, NASA will dedicate instruments, in this case, cameras on the probes, exclusively to education. Middle school students and teachers can go to the MoonKam Web site and request a lunar surface location to be photographed.
LEESA HUBBARD, GRAIL TEACHER IN RESIDENCE: And I think once they begin to look at detailed images, when they go out in their backyard and look at the moon, they're going to look at it in a whole new way, and I think that is priceless.
ZARRELLA: The pictures will be posted in a photo gallery on the Internet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: So there's four cameras on each of these probes and for teachers around the world, middle school teachers, its MoonKam, m- o-o-n-k-a-m. So get on there and pretty soon start requesting those -- those pictures. And Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, she's one of the principal movers behind this MoonKam project. That's pretty cool.
COSTELLO: That is pretty cool. It's cool they have a Web site, too, where you could track things; you could get pictures of the inside of the moon.
ZARRELLA: Yes.
COSTELLO: And thankfully you told me it wasn't made of green cheese and now I know.
ROMANS: And there is no one in there smiling at you either. I hate to tell you.
COSTELLO: Darn. And there's no cow jumping over it.
ROMANS: Thanks John.
COSTELLO: Morning headlines coming your way next, including Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon she -- Reese Witherspoon, she was hit by a car. We'll tell you about it.
Its 47 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Its 49 minutes past the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
Just in to CNN more bad news for the jobs market: The Labor Department just announced that 414,000 unemployment claims were filed for the first time last week. That's actually worse than economists had forecast.
The U.S. markets open in just about 45 minutes. Right now, stock futures for the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all trading lower ahead of the opening bell.
Tonight, President Obama will announce he intends to submit a jobs bill to Congress next week that contains all of his proposals. The White House says these ideas include infrastructure spending and tax cuts. You can see live coverage of the President's speech tonight on CNN.
Fireworks last night at the Republicans presidential debate: frontrunners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney are going at it on issues like job creation and saving Social Security. The GOP candidates will debate again on Monday night and in an event hosted by CNN and the Tea Party.
Actress Reese Witherspoon is said to be resting at home comfortably after being struck by a car while jogging near Los Angeles. That car according to police was driven by an 84-year-old woman. Police say the driver was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right, welcome back.
In just a few hours the prosecution and defense in the Conrad Murray trial will begin selecting a jury. Dr. Murray was Michael Jackson's personal physician. As you know, he is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the pop star's death.
COSTELLO: So what will both sides be looking for in a juror? CNN's Ted Rowlands is live at the courthouse in Los Angeles. You got to think this is going to be a difficult process.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely.
Today, the first of three groups of 180 potential jurors are coming to the courthouse. A lot of them will get out of this because it's a four to six-week trial. So they'll be dismissed on hardship. The ones that are left over today and tomorrow and then Monday will be then given a 30-plus page questionnaire to fill out and that is just the beginning of this very long process.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (voice-over): What's your opinion of Michael Jackson? What's your opinion of Dr. Conrad Murray? The physician accused in his death.
CONRAD MURRAY, MICHAEL JACKSON'S PHYSICIAN: I'm an innocent man.
ROWLANDS: Those are among the questions jurors will be asked on a lengthy questionnaire today as the involuntary manslaughter case kicks off.
But legal experts say the questionnaire alone won't be the only way the perspective jurors at such a high profile case will get screened.
SHEPPARD KOPP, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You make an effort to find out whatever information you can about jurors.
ROWLANDS: That may conjure up images like this from the movie "Runaway Jury" where an unscrupulous consultant does intrusive background checks on jurors including surveillance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's a card carrying member of the Sierra Club and a registered Democrat.
KOPP: I think it's safe to say that was a little bit of Hollywood embellishment.
ROWLANDS: Criminal defense attorney Shepard Kopp says since jurors in a majority of cases are pulled from voter rolls that's where he starts his screening process.
KOPP: I personally make it a practice to know what the voter registration is of every juror who's on a case that I may try. Republicans tend to be more law and order and tend to favor prosecution. Democrats may tend to side with defendants.
ROWLANDS: Jury consultant Richard Gabriel has been advising attorneys for 25 years with cases like O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony under his belt. He says screening jurors today is easier because of how much people share on the Internet.
RICHARD GABRIEL, JURY CONSULTANT: On Facebook, do a Google search, if they've got a Twitter account. It can give you a little bit more about how they interact with the rest of the world and not just in a formalized courtroom setting. That's helpful.
ROWLANDS: More importantly, attorneys can find out if perspective jurors have already posted opinions about the case at hand. Thomas Mesereau knows the potential difficulties in finding a jury in a well-publicized case. He secured an acquittal in the Michael Jackson during his molestation trial.
THOMAS MESEREAU, FORMER MICHAEL JACKSON ATTORNEY: I have no doubt that both sides will hire competent people to explore every aspect of social media to try and find out whatever they can about these jurors.
ROWLANDS: Especially to uncover the so-called stealth jurors who seem to provide all the right answers at the courthouse but have a hidden agenda which might include trying to grab the spotlight for themselves after a verdict.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: And the defense in this case wanted the jury to be sequestered. At this point though, they are losing that argument. The judge ruled against their -- their pleas to have the jury -- the jury sequestered. They say that there's so much media covering this that it would poison the jury even after they have been seated and that their client Conrad Murray won't get a fair trial. But, at this point, the jury will be able to go home at night.
Opening statements in this case begin September 27th and the entire trial will be televised -- guys.
COSTELLO: I guess the Casey Anthony jury was sequestered. And I don't know, not many people were happy about that.
ROWLANDS: Yes. COSTELLO: The defense was happy about that. So --
ROWLANDS: Yes.
ROMANS: All right, thanks Ted. Ted Rowlands.
COSTELLO: Coming up next, our "Talk Back" question of the day. The question for you this morning, "How should the President handle the country's divisiveness in his speech tonight?" We'll have your responses after a break.
Its 56 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning Washington. Right now, light rain, 72 degrees, thunderstorms, 79 later as the Eastern Seaboard gets sacked again with more raid.
COSTELLO: Somehow that's fitting for the President's speech tonight. There's going to be thunderstorm.
We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day and that would be about the President's speech. We asked you this question. How should the President handle the country's divisiveness in his speech tonight?
This from Meg: "He needs to stop trying to bring people together who do not share the same vision. He's treating Republicans as if they had America's best interest at heart when it's obvious even to the blind they do not."
This from Tim: "At this point, in his administration he needs to be more exact in expressing his intentions and solutions. Citizens of the United States as well as the rest of the world need to hear some concrete ideas."
And this from Matthew: "He should do what he normally does. The guy speaks well and people listen when he talks. I think that this may be the make or break speech of his presidency. But for a president that has a 9.1 percent unemployment rate and a country slipping backwards into a recession, when is it not a make or break speech? Be strong and powerful, Mr. President, and sell us your plan."
Thank you for your responses this morning. If you want to continue the conversation, Facebook.com/Americanmorning.
ROMANS: And stay with us for the President's speech live at 6:00 p.m. we begin; 7:00 is the speech; analysis is at 8:00.
And now we throw it over to Kyra Phillips. Good morning.
