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American Morning
Trial of Michael Jackson's Doctor Beginning; Congress Averts Shutdown; Engineers Assessing Structural Soundness of Washington Monument; Trains Collide in Shanghai; NTC Forces Reportedly Seize Sirte; Senate Reaches Bipartisan Budget Deal; Why is Our Government Broken?; The Internet's Billionaire Entrepreneur; Justin Parker is Internet Trailblazer; How Quickly Propofol Works, Killed Michael Jackson
Aired September 27, 2011 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Michael Jackson's doctor on trial for his death. Did he kill the King of Pop? Opening statements just a few hours from now. We are live outside the courthouse.>
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Government shutdown, averted. Money is still flowing in to the disaster area this morning, but how long until the next fight on Capitol Hill?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A terrifying view of the east coast quake from the top of the Washington Monument. Parents grabbing their kids and sprinting down the stair as debris rains down, and people may not be let back in for a while.
COSTELLO: And Justin Timberlake played of all (ph) the big screen, the man who made nabster (ph) and got in on Facebook, a very rare one-on-one interview with Sean Parker on what's next on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Good morning. It is Tuesday, September 27th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
Sean Parker credited with being the guy to take off the "the" from the Facebook.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: And threw really amazing parties.
VELSHI: That's really amazing parties. That's a good story. We're looking forward to it.
ROMANS: But first, up next, Michael Jackson's family will have a front row seat when Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial begins in Los Angeles this morning. Prosecutors claim Murray caused Jackson's death by administering a lethal dose of propofol. The defense is expected to argue that Jackson gave himself the deadly dosage.
CNN's Don Lemon live outside the courthouse in Los Angeles very early, of course, this morning. Good morning, Don.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. It is very early out here, but you know, two years. It has been two years, Christine, can you believe? And finally, finally, it is getting under way. As we said, involuntary manslaughter, Dr. Conrad Murray and the opening statements are going to start 8:45 a.m. 8:45 a.m., that's local time here in California, and then after that, that's when it gets under way.
The judge comes in at 8:45, and he gives the jury their instructions. This is what you have to do. These are the rules to abide by. This is what you should no. And then from there, the opening statements start. Christine?
ROMANS: What do we know about the jurors?
LEMON: It's interesting. The jury in this case, seven men, five women -- seven men, five women. Here's a racial makeup of this and usually when covering trials in California, trials like O.J. Simpson, a racial tinge to them. People wonder about the race of the jury. There are six white jurors, five Hispanic jurors, and one African- American juror. And some were concerned, why only one African- American juror? But both people near this case are African-Americans and they don't think race is a factor.
ROMANS: Will we be hearing from any witnesses today?
LEMON: We will. We're going it hear from a very high-profile witness. We'll hear from Kenny Ortega, a director, producer, choreographer. He's done a lot of thing. He's been with Michael Jackson 25 years. He was doing the "This is It." He produced and choreographed that, and they were eight days away from going to London. He was very shocked by that. And he also produced the funeral of Michael Jackson in July of 2009 and does the high school musicals, and he's going to be the first person you're going to hear from.
You know why I think he'll be the first person? I've covered this story, done three documentaries on Michael Jackson. I think it's because there was a meeting at Michael Jackson's house that Kenny Ortega called because Michael Jackson allegedly wasn't going to some of the rehearsals and they were concerned about his health and other concerns. So I think that's why he's going to be the first person called because they believe he's on the inside and he knows a lot, Christine.
ROMANS: Don, just to be clear again, this is a manslaughter trial. This is not a murder trial. It's about causing the death of Michael Jackson. It's not about the murder of Michael Jackson.
LEMON: Absolutely. Four years, he can get four year, Dr. Conrad Murray, if he is convicted of this. But it is a manslaughter, not murder. Four year, and his medical license will go away if that indeed does happen.
But stay tuned. It's going to be really interesting, this trial. I don't know if it will rise to the ranks of Casey Anthony, but very interesting. And a lot more high-profile recognizable faces because the Jackson family will be sitting in that courtroom.
ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much, Don Lemon. For complete coverage of today's opening statements and the entire Conrad Murray trial, check out our sister network, HLN.
COSTELLO: The federal government will not shutting down this weekend. A bipartisan budget deal has been reached in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans figuring out a way to keep the government operating and the aid flowing to thousands of Americans hit by natural disasters.
Kate Bolduan joins us live from Washington this morning. Kate, a lot of thanks for this goes not to lawmakers, but FEMA, right?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This was some pretty interesting developments yesterday after I talked to you guys yesterday morning. The breakthrough came after FEMA announced its able to stretch current funding in its much depleted disaster relief fund to make it through the end of this week without running dry. It had previously said that that wasn't likely.
Now, this is key, because the end of the week is also the end of the current fiscal year, effectively making the central obstacle holding up the agreement a moot point. Well, agreeing that they needed to approve a short-term spending measure Democrats and Republicans all along were battling over whether or not the additional funding they wanted to give FEMA nor disaster efforts for the rest of the fiscal year needed to be paid for by cutting spending elsewhere. Republicans of course said yes. Democrats said no. Well, now that issue was completely taken off the table yesterday with FEMA's announcement, so the Senate funded a bill through November 8th. Carol?
COSTELLO: OK, so what happens after November 8th?
BOLDUAN: After November 8th, there's a lot of conversations of what's going to happen after November 18th, actually. I may have misspoken there. But they could need to pass the short-term spending bill. There are a lot of conversations maybe they find an agreement on passing some omnibus bigger spending measures to get the government funded, but that's kind of been one of the interesting points about this all, Carol, is that they were arguing and battling over this and threatening a government shutdown, but it really was only getting the government through November 18th, Carol?
COSTELLO: OK. So I guess the fight goes on in some shape or form. Kate Bolduan, live in Washington. Thank you.
VELSHI: That was very sweet, what happens after November -- like, you think something good's going to happen?
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I don't know. Why not -- I'm not even going to state --
VELSHI: What was the range of possible answers to that? Oh, things are going to be sweetness and --
COSTELLO: Everything will be fine.
VELSHI: And come outside on the front lawn and hold hands.
ROMANS: Rainbows and unicorns.
VELSHI: And I will grow an afro!
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: You're arched this morning, man.
ROMANS: Back to politics, where it's must nicer. In the race for the GOP nomination, Rick Perry may still be the top choice among Republican voters, but Mitt Romney poses the biggest threat to President Obama in 2012. This is according to the latest CNN-ORC poll. Perry finished seven points ahead of Mitt Romney. But a less than stellar performance in last week's Orlando debate may be taking a toll.
Check out the numbers. Among all registered voters Romney performed best in a head-to-head contest with the president, finishing just one point behind him. Ron Paul had a pretty strong showing, too. He finished four points behind the president, faring better than Rick Perry. The Texas governor finishing up five points behind president Obama, 51 percent to 46 percent.
VELSHI: New this morning, forces loyal to Libya's new transitional government have seizing control of the port in the city of Sirte. Now, Sirte is the hometown of ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi. NATO launched airstrikes on Monday to pave the way for the offensive. They've taken the port in the city before during the day and have had to pull back at night.
COSTELLO: In Egypt, an explosion overnight destroyed a section of the pipeline supplying gas to Israel and Jordan. Authorities say an extremist group with links to Al Qaeda is believed responsible. The pipeline in the Sinai Peninsula has been targeted several times before. Officials say the police and the Egyptian army have been cracking down on terror groups in the region.
ROMANS: NASA is concerned that a meteor shower next week could pose a danger for spacecraft next week. Officials are looking for ways to protect the International Space Station and the Hubble space telescope from hits by any orbital debris. Some forecasters expect a shower with as many as 1,000 shooting stars an hour at its peak.
VELSHI: The Chicago White Sox granted manager Ozzie Guillen release after last night's game refusing to extend his contract. Guillen was fined several times over the years, even ordered to take sensitivity training once. There you can see some of the kind of stuff he got involved in. He did manage to take the White Sox to the world championship for the first time in 88 years in 2005. He's expected to take a job with the Florida Marlins.
ROMANS: Still to come this morning, new video evidence of just how terrifying it was to be inside the Washington monument when that 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit last month.
VELSHI: Look at that.
COSTELLO: And some Democrats are thrilled about the President's new feisty playbook. But is this new tone resonating with middle America? It's our talk back question this morning.
VELSHI: And this isn't another "Batman" sequel. Watch a man soar from 7,000 feet into and through a cave and come out the other side. You are watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back. In just about an hour from now in the nation's capital, engineers will be getting ready to rappel down the Washington monument to assess the damage from the outside of last month's earthquake.
ROMANS: This comes as we get a first dramatic look from inside the observation deck some 500 feet up at the time the quake hit. You can see the monument shaking, debris falling. Tourists ran for the stairs. The inside has been declared structurally sound but the monument has remained closed to the public until further notice.
Bill Line, National Park Service Spokesman, joins us now from the Washington Monument. Good morning.
BILL LINE, SPOKESPERSON, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: Good morning.
ROMANS: We love the mental picture of engineers rappelling down the outside of the Washington Monument. It is more like something from a cool movie than just another day in the life of a park ranger. Tell us what you'll be looking for.
LINE: Well, the engineering team and the rappelling team, combination of people from Denali National Park in Alaska as well as from an engineering firm will come out of the windows at the 500-foot level later this morning, probably closer to 12:00 noon. They assemble at 8:00 and then go into the monument. You probably won't see much action happening outside of the monument until noontime. What they will do is a very close visual inspection to check to see if there are any smaller cracks that were sustained during the earthquake. We call them shalos, to determine whether those cracks could in the next couple of years grow, so to speak. That type of examination needs to be done so we can fully repair them.
COSTELLO: Bill, this is Carol Costello. I just wonder, what is your worst fear in finding these cracks? What is your worst case scenario?
LINE: We do know the Washington monument is still sound. What we need to find out and gather information is to whether the earthquake on September 3rd has any damage. We need to get up close and see visually, with the human eye, at a close range whether there are in damage that could over the years accelerate into something greater. The only way we're going to know that is to do this sort of rappelling with the trained rappelers and the trained engineers knowing what to look for.
VELSHI: Bill, let me ask you. Let's take a look at this video again. I know you've seen it. It was taken from a security camera inside the observation deck. I just want to slow it to our viewers again. What did you think when you first saw this?
LINE: It's pretty dramatic, certainly. But what it shows is that weren't of our rangers, Nicky Williams, you see her in the park ranger hat as I'm wearing, she's helping visitors. Obviously, they're well aware something is happening, something dangerous is happening. She had the presence of mind, she had the composure to make certain she got people down to the 490-foot level and started walking down the stairs.
She showed a lot of courage, in fact, by coming back up to the 500 foot level to collect the last remaining visitors and ensure their safety and put their safety ahead of her own in order to get everybody out safely. So we're extremely proud of the work she has done.
VELSHI: Yes. It's quite something. There are few experiences we have where we have seen people going up in a building in danger. It's a little reminiscent of 9/11.
ROMANS: And the people are so calm.
COSTELLO: They're looking orderly, picking up a kid, walking kids down. It's nice to see people acting calmly. We can't see what she's saying but certainly there is a protocol if something goes wrong.
ROMANS: I want to ask about the big marble blocks. That has to be a flexible place to be standing inside of big marble. There's not much sway or is there's much sway, you know, at any given time in this monument? I mean, there's not much flexibility. So you hopefully will be able to see these shallves, these cracks?
LINE: That's correct, and the engineering team and the inspection team have already looked at the interior of the monument. Now they're going to move to the exterior, obviously. Yes, of course, there are grouting that is the masonry work that is in between each of the stones.
That came loose on the inside. We need to check to see obviously if that has happened on the outside. We need to check further as to whether any of the marble stones themselves have had any of this shalling effect to take place.
The bottom line is, that inspection, that data gathering still will go on for a while yet. What's most important and what we want the public to realize is that there is only one Washington Monument, just like there's only one Eiffel Tower.
The National Park Service has to have the necessary time, the required amount of time, to allow the engineering firm to do a full, thorough complete analysis and examination of the monument before we ever begin any repairs before we can then reopen to the public.
VELSHI: That's the way to do it. Bill, thanks very much for joining us and telling us about this. Of course, we'll be watching this morning as those engineers and park rangers rappel down the side of the Washington Monument. Bill Line, a spokesperson for the National Park Service.
COSTELLO: You don't want anything to happen to the Washington Monument. It's so gorgeous. It's just like a -- I don't know. It does something to me emotionally just to look at it.
ROMANS: I think of a country full of eighth grade classes taking their class trip to Washington, D.C. It's the first thing you want to do.
VELSHI: They seem to have a handle on this. I'm confident they'll come out and say --
COSTELLO: I want to know what the winds are going to be today, Jacqui Jeras because you're going to have people rappelling down the sides of the Washington Monument. You wouldn't want it to be windy, right?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You would not want it to be windy and it's not going to be really. So it should be overall pretty good, but we could see a couple showers. We've got a lot of that fog out there. So clouds are kind of low. Visibility has been a problem and that's not just in D.C.
It's really everywhere from the Gulf Coast all the way up into the north eastern quarter. We've got low visibility here. We're talking a quarter of a mile or less. So advisories are in effect towards Montgomery, up towards Birmingham, into Huntsville, through parts of Tennessee, in the eastern Kentucky and up towards Columbus, Ohio.
And we've got advisories in New York City, up towards Hartford, into Providence and even out into the Cape. So use a lot of caution out there traveling this morning and of course, anytime you get fog like that and low visibility, it causes problems at the airport.
We had a ground stop earlier for Washington Dulles. That's been lifted now, but it could change as we go through the morning. We've got 40 minute delays out of Philadelphia. So we're expecting problems in places like in Chicago, because our area of low pressure here looking for heavy rain.
New York and Philly, as I mentioned as well as Boston and D.C., and Miami could have some trouble because of the showers and thunderstorms. Our big weather story continues to be that upper level low just been sitting here since the weekend across the great lakes.
We've got return flow here across the east coast. So it's going to be a wet week. You know, this fog is going to be sticking around. The rain is going to be sticking around and we're probably looking at Friday into Saturday before you get any significant relief.
Keeping your temperatures on the cool side so we're looking at 50s and 60s here across the great lakes and Ohio Valley, but a little ahead of that front and you're warmer. It's more of a tropical air mass, 76 in New York City.
So get used to that dreary start. Cheer you up because of that dreary, let's show you something pretty, really quick. Check out this I-Report. This is from Greg Choky from Lake City, Colorado.
He took this picture at the top of Round Top Mountain. That is just gorgeous. Those fall colors starting to peak in parts of the Rockies and parts of New England as well. Isn't that pretty?
VELSHI: That is beautiful. Wow.
ROMANS: Love it.
COSTELLO: I'm hopping on a plane right after the show. It's awesome. Thank you, Jacqui.
JERAS: Sure.
COSTELLO: Now's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, is President Obama's new fiery persona resonating?
President Obama is kicking it up a notch these days. Hit with low approval ratings, the president seemed plain fired up. As "Politico's" Roger Simon says we're seeing a rock them, sock them Obama. Witness this passionate speech before the Congressional Black Caucus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I expect all of you to march with me and press on. Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complaining. Stop grumbling. Stop crying. We are going to press on. We've got work to do. CBC, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: There you go. In case you hadn't noticed, the new alpha Obama. First appeared in a jobs speech before Congress and then blasted the rich for not paying their fair share of taxes.
In a private Democratic fundraiser, President Obama was down- right feisty saying about Rick Perry, quote, "you've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change."
Mr. Obama said this about the Republican debate audiences. Quote, "cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have health care, and booing a service member in Iraq because they're gay. Come on."
No question about it. The president is throwing some red meat. He's throwing that red meat out to a liberal base upset that he seems weak in the face of Republican attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: We don't have bedroom slippers. We've been out there's for years doing this kind of thing. So we take it that he just kind of got off the teleprompter a little bit and got fired up, and we want to help him. We want to make sure that the base is protected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So the "Talk Back" question for you this morning, is President Obama's new fiery persona resonating? Facebook.com/americanmorning. Facebook.com/americanmorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: Even the way he banged the side of the podium. Everything about the entire stage craft of it was very feisty.
COSTELLO: Yes, made you want to jump up and go, yes! You're going, wow.
VELSHI: All right, I want to watch this video again because we've been sort of studying it all morning. This is a guy who -- he's an American professional wing suit flier. His name is Jeff Corliss. He jumps out of a chopper at nearly 7,000 feet, soars through the skies, through sort of a tunnel.
A gap in the Tiananmen Mountain, and pops out the other side. This is his second attempt. On the first one, Corliss says he jumped too early had to take a detour to the other side of the mountain. This is a guy, by the way, who is banned --
ROMANS: Banned in New York.
VELSHI: Banned from the Empire State Building because he tried to parachute off of it last year.
ROMANS: What's wrong with parachuting --
VELSHI: Into midtown Manhattan. I think we're all surprised there are professional, what do we call this? Professional -- wing suit jumping. I didn't know about that.
COSTELLO: Wing suit fliers. Mom, I want to be a professional -- are you kidding, dear?
ROMANS: I don't think there's a category for what the wage --
Still to come this morning, the job market's going nowhere. There was another threat of a government shutdown. So why is Washington so broken and what in the world can we do to fix it?
COSTELLO: And before we head to break, we have a beautiful, another beautiful shot to show you. It's kind of hazy. This is the sun rising over New York City this morning.
ROMANS: Good morning, everyone. We'll be right back. It's 22 minutes past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning at 25 minutes after the hour. Right now, stock futures are up one day after the Dow and the S&P 500 both gained about 2.5 percent. Strong gains in European and Asian markets overnight too.
That was all fuelled by reports of a plan to resolve the European debt crisis. Efforts are under way to secure another bailout for Greece. That country's prime minister is in Germany. He spoke a short while ago saying, quote, "Greece will live up to all its commitments."
Meanwhile, back in Athens, the finance minister saying this morning, quote, "Greeks are very ready to accept the sacrifices they have to make." But there are protests in Athens today over the cutbacks and a new property tax that's meant to keep the government from defaulting next month.
Your home is most likely your biggest debt and your biggest asset. Today, we could learn about its value. At 9:00 a.m., the Case Schiller Index is expected show that home prices in a number of cities fell in July.
Also today a report on where consumer confidence stands as we head into the all-important holiday shopping season.
One man critical of the Federal Reserve's latest attempt to jump-start the economy is Dallas Fed Chief Richard Fisher. Today he'll explain in a speech in Dallas why he voted against the stimulus operation known as "Operation Twist."
More banks are ditching free checking according to a study by bankrate.com. Just 45 percent of checking accounts do not come with a fee. That's down 20 percentage points from last year. Often you can beat the fee by carrying a minimum balance or making direct deposits.
Postal Service unions have scheduled hundreds of protests today across the United States. You'll remember the agency proposed laying off nearly 120,000 workers and shutting a number of post offices as a way to remain solvent.
Well, don't forget, for the very latest news about your money check out the all-new cnnmoney.com. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 30 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you. Here are your top stories developing right now, a rear-end collision between two subway trains in a tunnel in Shanghai, China.
More than 240 passengers reportedly injured in the afternoon crash. No word on any deaths. Chinese authorities now on the scene guessing a signal is the suspected cause.
ROMANS: Moammar Gadhafi's hometown reportedly following to Libya's new transitional government. NATO air strikes pounding the port city of Sirte yesterday, one of Gadhafi's last strongholds along the Mediterranean and paving the way for NTC troops to launch a major offensive. The commander of those forces reporting Sirte is now under their control.
VELSHI: Well, there will be no government shutdown this weekend. The Senate reaching a bipartisan agreement on a spending plan that keeps FEMA funded and the government operating through mid-November. The House is expected to pass the measure as well.
ROMANS: Still a government shutdown averted at least for another few weeks. But when people talk about broken government, this is what they're talking about threats of government shutting down more than once this year, and all this week CNN is taking an in-depth look at why our government is so broken.
Joining me now, Maya Macguineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and Bernard Baumohl, Chief Global Economist at the Economic Outlook Group. He joins us from Princeton, New Jersey. Welcome to you both.
Bernard, let me ask you first, you wrote to your clients, your financial clients saying that the single issue affecting consumers stalling economic growth right now is the failure of governing in Washington.
At a time when so many Americans are hurting. The political food fight between the White House and Republicans will certainly not hasten economic growth nor create a single private sector job.
My question is, you know that. I know that. The American people are sick and tired of what's happening in Washington. Does Washington get this message?
BERNARD BAUMOHL, CHIEF GLOBAL ECONOMIST AT THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK GROUP: Well, look, Washington -- this is about the most ineffectual government that we have had in Washington for I would say several decades now, and it's happening at the worst possible time, because the economic recovery is the weakest that we have seen in more than half a century. I mean, we're on the knife's edge here still about to slip into recession. So we're not really getting much help from the government. So there is this national, almost palpable sense of despair that a lot of Americans are feeling right now.
Because it appears that Washington is utterly preoccupied with a presidential election coming up, and it has sort of relegated into the back seat policy matters that are really in the national interest.
And so, you know, the only thing, the only way to describe this is utterly disgraceful because Americans are hurting and not much is coming out of Washington.
ROMANS: Bernard, could they make it worse? Could they actually make it worse?
BAUMOHL: Yes, without a doubt they could make it worse. If we see any significant cuts in government spending in the next one to two or three years that can really hurt the economy, because right now this recovery is starved of demand.
And if you were going to cut government spending at this moment, what you're doing is, you're essentially further ex-fixating an economy that is starved of stimulus. So I think that's one of the worst things that the government can do is to commit the policy mistake of dramatically cutting back on spending.
They should not do that until the economy grows at around 3 percent to 3.5 percent for several quarters and until the unemployment falls comfortably below 8 percent then we can talk about more government spending cuts.
ROMANS: We are past the point of no return for showing the world that we have our debt and deficits under control and the Republican Party is very focused on cutting right now, very focused on deficit reduction at the expense of the near-term stimulus and the near-term job creation. So what should they do?
MAYA MACGUINEAS, PRESIDENT, COMMITTEE FOR A RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL BUDGET: Well, it's such a challenging time, right? So Washington's almost paralyzed in terms of coming up with real solutions and the country has major, major challenges. Both on the economic front, where this recovery just isn't strong enough and we need to do more to help the economy, but the deficit and debt problem is huge and it's real.
If we don't put in place -- and here's what I think we do need to do, a multiyear deficit reduction plan. It doesn't have to be heavy on spending cuts or revenue increases in the short run, but you have to put a plan in place that span as decade and that would offer stability and a reasonable fiscal path to get on.
But I'll tell you what it takes. It takes compromise, and right now Washington is so polarized to fighting and negotiating, it's two teams against each other more than understanding. This is about the national interests, with real challenges and putting tricky policies in place that are going to be hard.
ROMANS: It's so frustrating, Maya, I mean, it's really frustrating. I know, you've been pulling out your hair out for maybe 10 years talking about debt and deficit. You've been saying for a very long time.
Look, you know, we need to do this when times are good. Because when times are bad it's really a hard time to be talking about tightening the belt, you know, when you really need economic growth and need to put people back to work.
So you have the Democrats who don't want just spending cuts, spending cuts because they would look like they sort of rolled over to the Republicans. You know, Republicans will not accept tax increases. So where does that leave us?
ROMANS: Well, it's interesting. So we have this 12-person "Super Committee" that is charged with coming up with major savings, again, that would be phased in over 10 years and a very short time frame to do it. They're supposed to save just over a trillion, a trillion and a half.
And actually I think the solution here is that if they go big, they do a bigger fix, which would one, actually large enough to fix the problem. Around $4 trillion instead of $1.5 trillion, but, two, it will put all those issues on the table.
We're not going to have new revenues and tax reform without entitlement reform and we're not going to be spending cuts only. So we need to do all of it. It's that's much to actually come up with a fix, but it actually going big may make the politics of all of this easier.
Not easy, but a little bit easier because everybody needs to be involved in the solution, and there needs to be something all parties can buy into.
And they need to spend some time talking to each other and understanding the concerns they all have because they are legitimate. They're different, but they all bring valuable sort of different points of view to the table.
ROMANS: Bernard, what can Congress and the president do right now to restore confidence?
BAUMOHL: I think there are a couple of things they can do. Number one, they can extend the payroll tax cut into next year. It's important that we make sure Americans have as much money in their pockets as possible.
Number two, they ought to also allow companies to write off 100 percent of their business capital spending one more year as well. Number three, avoid the policy mistake that I mentioned earlier about cutting government spending in the short run too quickly.
And fourth, this is a policy recommendation that has not really been discussed very much in Washington. And that is, to bring together the 25 million small and mid-sized businesses. That part of the economy that generates 70 percent of all new jobs and have them do more exports.
The 99 percent of these small and mid-size businesses do not export. They don't have the resources. They don't have the know-how. What I think the Commerce Department and the Small Business Administration can do is bring these small and mid-sized business leaders together with foreign companies under one roof, have them cultivate a relationship, have them do some networking.
If we get -- if small and mid-size businesses get new orders that will generate much more job growth in this country.
ROMANS: All right, there you go. Some solutions, some ideas, some sound advice from two broken government. Maya Macguineas, thank you so much. Bernard Baumohl, thank you both of you today.
VELSHI: Great conversation.
All right, so still ahead, do you know who Sean Parker is? Yes, you do. He created Napster. He's Facebook's founding president. Justin Timberlake played him in a movie "The Social Network."
That's him. Sean is sitting down for a very rare interview with our own Dan Simon about his next big internet venture. Do not miss this CNN exclusive coming up next.
COSTELLO: Also ahead, it's known as milk of magnesia. We're talking about Propofol. The drug blamed in Michael Jackson's death generally used as a general anesthetic. So how does it work? Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us inside the operating room for a show and tell as one patient is prepped for surgery.
ROMANS: All right, speaking of jobs, you guys. Today's "Romans' Numeral," 7,432,307.
VELSHI: A thousand ounces of gold.
ROMANS: And here's hint if you hate your job you may be in this statistic. Another hint, it also shows all is not lost in the jobs market.
VELSHI: I am curious about this one.
ROMANS: It's 39 minutes after the hour.
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COSTELLO: It's 42 past the hour. Good morning, New York. It's foggy right now, 70 degrees, but guess what? There's going to be thunderstorms later.
VELSHI: I don't believe the weather people anymore. They said that yesterday. ROMANS: We hope you're right. OK, the "Romans Numeral" for you this morning, Ali. It's a number in the news today. The number is 7,432,307.
VELSHI: Has it got something to do with gold?
ROMANS: Something to do with the jobs market, actually. We talked about a paralyzed jobs market, that the number of Linked In members who changed their jobs since 2009.
Either started a new job or switching jobs or careers showing you that we talk about net job creations being disappointing. The people throughout are moving around, if they've got to. It is still a very dynamic labor force.
VELSHI: You know, Linked In has grown right along with the growth of people looking for jobs because unlike other social media sites it's largely associated with networking and professional --
ROMANS: It's more likely to be a professional network, although there are a lot of different categories on there and there are more than 300,000 veterans on there.
It's a good way for veterans to try to linked in, I guess that's the point of the whole name and everything. But the unemployment rate for people with a college degree is 4.6 percent.
VELSHI: Just for having the degree. You actually have to do something about it.
ROMANS: We're talking about networking, that's what we're talking about.
VELSHI: I post to Linked In. I post all my postings to Linked In as well every morning and I hear a lot of people who say I get your stuff on Linked In, not on Facebook or Twitter, but on Linked In. So it's interesting.
So speaking of Facebook, it wants to become a power player in Washington. The company filed paper work yesterday to form a political action committee.
Now according to Facebook, the pact will give its employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates financially who share their goals of making the world more open and connected. This is going to take Facebook into the world of lobbying.
ROMANS: And the driving force behind that company when it first launched was a guy named Sean Parker. He was played by Justin Timberlake in the movie "The Social Network" and rarely does interviews.
But, you know, our Dan Simon sat down with him, this internet entrepreneur, for an exclusive interview about his next venture. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Snoop Dogg performing at a private party for the Silicon Valley's young elite. Just one of several that included also The Killers and the band Jane's Addiction.
It was an event that incredibly had been planned only two days earlier by technology pioneer, Sean Parker. He decided at the last minute to throw a party to coincide with a big Facebook conference in San Francisco, and to bring attention to his latest Internet venture, but more on that in a moment.
(on camera): How much fun are you having?
SEAN PARKER, INTERNET ENTREPRENEUR: Putting this event together in the last 48 hours was both incredibly fun and also incredibly stressful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're a zillionaire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not technically.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you?
SIMON (voice-over): To many, Parker is best known as the guy played by Justin Timberlake in the movie "The Social Network." Parker was the first president of Facebook, and advisor to company founder, Mark Zuckerberg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Just Facebook.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's cool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMONS: In Silicon Valley, Parker was already a legend as the co-founder of Napster, the music piracy site that fundamentally shifted how consumers get their music, from store-bought C.D.s to the Internet. He talked how he and another Sean, Sean Fanning, went from being hackers to Internet trailblazers.
PARKER: Fanning and I immediately realized that we had an interest in more than just computers and software and hacking and security. That we actually had an interest in doing something with a broader cultural importance. One of those ideas was Napster.
(MUSIC)
SIMONS: 11 years later, Parker has returned to his music roots as one of the largest investors in Spotaphi, a London-based music service he recently helped bring this to the U.S. He has steered the company into an alliance with Facebook, where users can now listen and share music with their Facebook friends in real time. PARKER: It's my belief that by bringing network effects and the power of social to the music business we will create the dominant music platform in the world.
SIMONS: A bold statement in a business category now dominated by Apple. But Parker's intuition served him well.
And though he says being rich isn't as glamorous as it seems, it certainly wasn't evident on this night.
Dan Simons, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Yes, being rich --
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: -- maybe it's not glamorous, but it sure is nice.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Sure is rich.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Wish I had all his money.
ROMANS: It's his rich.
COSTELLO: I know.
Morning headlines coming your way next, including, he confessed twice. Joran van der Sloot, caught on tape. That's coming your way next.
It's 46 past the hour.
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COSTELLO: Just about 10 minutes until the top of the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
U.S. stock futures are trading higher this morning. The gains follow what's turning out to be a positive trading day in Europe as officials there work to solve the regions debt crisis.
A government shutdown here has been averted. The Senate reaching a bipartisan agreement on a spending plan, keeps FEMA funds flowing to disaster victims and keeps the government running through mid- November. The House is expected to approve the deal.
Engineers dangling from ropes will be looking for cracks and other signs of outside damage to the Washington Monument. It's been closed since the east coast earthquake last month. Workers are expected to start rappelling down the monument shortly. The inside of the monument has been declared structurally sound.
Opening statements will begin in just a few hours in the Michael Jackson death trial. Dr. Conrad Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors allege he caused Jackson's death by administering a lethal dose of the drug Propofol.
Defense attorneys starting closing arguments in Italy in the appeal trial of American student, Amanda Knox. Knox was convicted of gruesomely killing her British housemate back in 2009.
And Joran van der Sloot confessing on tape to the murder of a young Peruvian woman, saying he did it after he discovered her looking him up on the web.
Charlie Sheen settling a lawsuit that was triggered by his firing from "Two and a Half Men." Reports say Sheen get $ 25 million in the settlement with Warner Brothers and the "Two and a Half Men" producer, Chuck Lorre.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING, back after a break.
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VELSHI: Kind of all looks the same, every one of these shots.
(LAUGHTER)
It's kind of ominous and cloudy. 69 degrees and cloudy in Atlanta. It's going to get to a high of 83. I have to say, I said something when we talked about the New York weather, I said, I never listen to weather people anyway. That's just not true. New York is unusual.
ROMANS: Oh. Jacqui Jeras called, didn't she?
VELSHI: Jacqui tweeted.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: First of all, she said she wasn't around yesterday, so don't hold me responsible.
ROMANS: And you said she never listens to you about the market anyway.
VELSHI: And she --
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Exactly.
You know, New York has a combination of, like the weather pattern that moves in and then stuff that just happens because it's New York. There are days when it's not forecast to rain and it rains, and then there are days when it's forecast to rain and it doesn't. ROMANS: Can you just send her flowers?
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: It's not really anything to do with the fantastic weather forecasters and meteorologists who we use. It's really just all about us --
(LAUGHTER)
-- whatever the weather is going to be.
ROMANS: All right --
COSTELLO: Are we going to Jacqui?
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: -- Jacqui Jeras, OK.
ROMANS: All right, with the Conrad Murray trial starting, you'll hear a lot about the drug Propofol. Again, Dr. Murray is accused of causing Michael Jackson's fatal overdose.
Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us inside the O.R. to demonstrate just how quickly this drug works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, we are here inside the operating room with Dr. Bershan (ph), who is the chief of anesthesiology here. Propofol is a medication he uses all the time.
So is this is, right over here?
DR. BERSHAN (ph), ANESTHESIOLOGIST: Yes.
GUPTA: It looks like -- milk of amnesia, they call it.
BERSHAN (ph): Milk of amnesia.
Vincent, you OK?
We have to monitor his EKG. We have to monitor his N-title (ph) CO2. We have to make sure that he's breathing. We have to see his saturation. We have to make sure he's ventilating.
GUPTA: So these are all -- that's all typical stuff you tend to use --
BERSHAN (ph): That's standard of care, yes.
GUPTA: OK. So the Propofol --
BERSHAN (ph): I'm infusing this. You're going to get a little sleepy, Vincent. OK, give me some good, deep breaths.
GUPTA: Watch this go in, take a look at his eyes, how quickly it's --
BERSHAN (ph): Deep breath, Vincent. Doing great. May feel a little burning, OK?
GUPTA: Ten, nine --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deep breath.
GUPTA: -- eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
BERSHAN (ph): There's a reason for his heart rate increasing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to change.
BERSHAN (ph): So his eyes closed.
GUPTA: His eyes closed. And what else there are you looking for?
BERSHAN (ph): Now, look up here. He stopped breathing. So this is watching his N-title (ph) CO2 and he's not breathing anymore and my wonderful machine (ph) is going to help him breathe.
GUPTA: So take a look over there. All the breathing right now is taking place with this bag and this mask. On that medication, he would not be able to breathe on his own without those things.
There you can see part of the problem. Just with that much Propofol there, he stopped breathing and he's going to need a breathing tube.
BERSHAN (ph): Easy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Easy.
GUPTA: What's so attractive about this medication?
BERSHAN (ph): Well, it's really been in the advent (ph) in the last 10 years or so, even more, 15 years, and it's just basically a quick on, quick off. That may answer why people may think this is something they can do at home. Because if it gets out of hand, it goes away quickly. But the problem is, if it gets out of hand, and there's nobody there to resuscitate you and nobody can bring you back.
GUPTA: So that was pretty quick. You just gave some of the medication. You're going to --
(CROSSTALK)
BERSHAN (ph): Five, 10 minutes.
GUPTA: Five or 10 minutes, he's gone from being completely awake to completely asleep.
BERSHAN (ph): He's not breathing. I'm breathing for him.
GUPTA: One thing that is worth pointing out, this is a hospital that uses this medication thousands and thousands of times a year. But they do use this medication in non-hospital settings, like out- patient clinics. The doctors here will tell you, they've heard of it been used it in a home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That's something we heard many times, that this is not something you use at home.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: I mean, serious doctors and --
VELSHI: Anesthesiologists.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Anesthesiologists.
VELSHI: The anesthetic doctor. Yes. It's definitely crossed the line. And that is -- it's actually going to be part of Michael Jackson's case, in that he was taking a lot of drugs that, used a certain way, are entirely appropriate. Used a different way and procured incorrectly, are very, very dangerous. And I think he brought that whole topic to the floor.
COSTELLO: Well, Dr. Murray, you know, the guy on trial, administered Propofol. He admits that. But his defense attorneys will argue that Michael Jackson administered Propofol himself --
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: -- to himself, and that's what killed him.
ROMANS: It'll be interesting in the trial if they are able to chronicle just how much of a professional Michael Jackson was with prescription drugs and if he always used them under the auspices of a prescription of a doctor or not.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: Well, they're going to say he was a long-time drug abuser and it was just part of the way he lived.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: So, it will be an interesting trial, which starts today, by the way.
VELSHI: That's right. COSTELLO: We asked you to talk back this morning. The question for you this morning, is President Obama's new fiery persona resonating?
This from Paul. "Obama can use all the fiery persona he wants. It's still not going to help him. Facts are facts. The nation is heading towards a double-dip recession, unemployment is sky high and national debt is out of control."
This from Kate. "I'm happy with Mr. Obama's new fiery persona. I just wish he'd had it and used it right from the first day he was sworn in as president. Being gentlemanly never worked with the GOP."
This from David. "I think the president has been way too reserved. He needs to bring back that old fire that got him elected and use it to push his current policies. If America backs him, the House Republicans will get out of the way."
This from Craig. "It's nothing more than a rebranding strategy. He's masterful at taking things he already proposed and repackaging them and calling it something new. This is the original change campaign just redone. I'm not convinced."
Keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolCNN.
VELSHI: All right, top stories when we return. It is 57 minutes after the hour.
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