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CNN Saturday Morning News
On Alert for 9/11 Weekend; Texas Declared Disaster Area; Flood Disaster in New York and Pennsylvania; Romney & Perry Lead Polls; 9/11 Memorials around the World; Rebel Fighters Attack Gadhafi Stronghold; Ferry Capsizes in Tanzania; Americans Remember 9/11; Honoring the Heroes of Flight 93; Obama Pushes Georgia Jobs Plan; Financial Advice: Better to Save Than Pay Debt
Aired September 10, 2011 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia; this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. And I'm T.J. Holmes.
Right now we've got New York and Washington on high alert as the U.S. uncovers an al Qaeda threat tied to the 10th anniversary of September 11th. We have new details on this threat and the response on the streets.
Also Republican presidential candidates, gearing up for CNN's first ever Tea Party debate. We'll tell you who is heading into the showdown with the upper hand.
Also there's the big question people often have, what do I do? Do I save my money or do I pay off debt first? We'll explain to you which you should do first.
Well security as you know stepped up all across the country this weekend after what officials call a credible but unconfirmed report that terrorists may be planning an attack on U.S. soil. Tomorrow will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Afghanistan's Taliban Movement issued a statement accusing the West of using 9/11 as a pretext for a war on Muslims. They threatened to send America to, quote, "The dust bin of history", end quote. According to a senior U.S. official intercepted communications suggests the possibility of a terror attack on New York or Washington.
CNN correspondent, senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is standing by for us in New York, Athena Jones is in Washington for us. We'll get to Athena in a second. Allan, first off with you, we talked about tighter security. It's not just around the immediate area of Ground Zero.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right, it's pretty much all of New York City, particularly in Manhattan. I'm standing right now between two entry points into Manhattan. The Holland Tunnel several blocks to my north which comes in from New Jersey and beneath we've got the Brooklyn Battery tunnel. And at both spots there are checkpoints. The police are visually inspecting cars, they're wearing radiation detectors. They're using license plate scanners as well to try to detect any stolen vehicles, any suspicious vehicles.
In addition, the people of New York City are on alert. An example, yesterday reports of suspicious packages increased threefold from a regular day, and reports of suspicious vehicles increased double.
So people are on the alert and frankly New Yorkers who were here 10 years ago during the attacks, we all have some pain inside of us. New Yorkers know the best way to respond to that is to be vigilant. The saying is if you see something, say something. New Yorkers certainly are opening up their mouths, they know that the city remains a potential target.
Also in D.C. many people I'm sure feel very much the same. Athena Jones is standing by at the FBI field office there -- Athena.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, here we are outside. You can see behind me a bomb squad, the FBI's mobile command center. This is a public show of force. Of course, there's an increased law enforcement presence all across the city. Everyone I've spoken with, FBI officials here, the D.C. police chief, the park police, the Capitol police, the Secret Service and Metro Transit police they're all out in full force doing more patrolling. More uniformed officers, plain clothes officers. They say they're on high alert and they're prepared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES (voice-over): A heightened state of awareness at the Washington Metro, significantly increased vigilance at the Capitol and stepped-up security near the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are ready for this. And if there are other measures that are necessary, we're prepared to take them.
JONES: With a new credible threat, the nation's Capitol could come under attack, potentially using a truck or car bomb, officials have been eager to assure the public that the city is ready.
CATHY LANIER, CHIEF, METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: This has been 10 years of preparation and planning essentially from local, federal law enforcement on how to do the best that we possibly can to keep our city safe. We have a very robust plan, we have a lot of experience here.
JONES: This weekend as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, unattended vehicles around government buildings and bridges will be towed. And there is an increased law enforcement presence everywhere.
Capitol police have more officers on patrol, more police cruisers in the field and more canine, bomb squad and other specialty units deployed. The U.S. park police has, quote, "A substantial number of officers on patrol, in uniform and plainclothes, on foot, horseback and motorcycle and is using cameras and other technology for surveillance".
And Metro transit police are patrolling with canine and Special Operations Units and conducting unannounced bag searches among other steps.
MICHAEL TABORN, CHIEF, METRO TRANSIT POLICE DEPARTMENT: There is a protective measures lists, that's talking about background checks, that's talking about training, preparing our employees, preparing our people, public awareness.
JONES: Officials say they are sharing information and coordinating closely with their counterparts and departments and agencies city wide. Metro riders here have noticed the change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see an officer to my left, I see an officer to my right. I've noticed an increase in security at the station. I think that's good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have nothing to hide. So it's like all right, he's ramp up as much as you want. I guess trying to keep us safe, so that's good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: That's right, T.J., officers are out keeping people safe, both the mayor and the police chief have said the public should go out and enjoy their weekend as they normally would. This is a well- protected city, a well-trained force. I had the police chief just tell me. They just want to make sure people are vigilant and keeping an eye on for any suspicious activity -- T.J.
HOLMES: Yes, you say keeping an eye on we just heard our Allan Chernoff say that they've had an increase in the reports of suspicious activity, suspicious vehicles. Same deal there in D.C.?
JONES: Absolutely. The police chief, Chief Lanier just told us that after their afternoon press conference yesterday, they had a press conference around 4:00 p.m. -- already before that they had been seeing an increase in the number of reports of suspicious activity, especially suspicious vehicles parked by bridges. Or in one case it was just a vehicle that had broken down.
But they're getting these reports and running them down. After that 4:00 p.m. press conference where they said hey, don't just report big trucks. You can put an explosive in smaller -- in smaller vehicles as well. They've got an even bigger uptick. They saw a surge going into the evening. The police chief told me at one point they were getting somewhere around 29 to 30 calls an hour when usually they get about seven, T.J.
So they are running down on those options and they haven't turned up anything luckily, but they want to see that they wanted the public engaged. The police chief told me this community is on it. They know what to do -- T.J. HOLMES: All right, Athena Jones for us in D.C. Athena, thank you as always.
And it's seven minutes past the hour now.
Americans are used to tighter security and certainly around the anniversary of September 11th dealing with it once again, but still the country is going to stop and reflect tomorrow on what happened 10 years ago.
You are seeing a live picture at Ground Zero. You're seeing part of the memorial that's going to officially be dedicated tomorrow at Ground Zero open to the public on Monday.
But thousands of New Yorkers, they're already starting to remember. They grasped hands -- look at this. This was near the site this morning, to form a human chain. They also were invited to post messages on a Wall of Remembrance. So many of these ceremonies and remembrances starting this weekend, starting today already.
Meanwhile in Washington, we saw the Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura, they laid a wreath at the Pentagon at the 9/11 Stone. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, also there. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, you see him on the left side of the picture. At this hour Panetta is taking part in a 9/11 National Day of Service event with military families in Virginia.
And in New Jersey a 9/11 memorial is being dedicated. The Empty Sky Memorial displays the names of 746 New Jersey residents killed in the 9/11 attacks. This is in Liberty State Park in Jersey City; it's just across the Hudson from the site of the World Trade Center.
USS New York built with steel recovered from the Trade Center is in New York harbor this weekend as well. It arrived from Norfolk, Virginia Thursday, carrying about 200 members of the 9/11 Families' Association. And this afternoon there will be a memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral to honor the 343 New York firefighters who died at the World Trade Center site.
Also coming up for you next hour, an emotional ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the dedication for the first phase of a memorial honoring the 40 passengers and crew who died on United Flight 93. Former Presidents Bush and Clinton will be there along with current Vice President Joe Biden. A live report is just ahead for you.
And tomorrow starting at 6:00 a.m., our show will be live, the CNN SUNDAY MORNING there at Ground Zero. I'm certainly going to be looking back 10 years ago but also looking ahead.
Then starting at 8:00 a.m., CNN will have complete coverage of all the remembrance ceremonies in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
We will turn next though, to what they are going through in Pennsylvania and also parts of New York. Floodwaters still there starting to recede that sounds great. But the crisis is a long way from being over. We are live in the flood zone next.
Nine minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it's 12 minutes past the hour now.
Hundreds of people in Texas have just about lost everything in the state's record breaking wildfires. Some help is on the way from Washington now. The President has declared the state a federal disaster area. The biggest fire is in Bastrop County, that's near Austin. It destroyed about 1,400 homes.
And right now it's only 40 percent contained. A lot of people who evacuated don't know if their homes are still there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to get in and I can't right now. I want to have the peace of mind that, yes, my house is gone, I can actually look and see that my house is gone for my own eyes. I have to have that for my own eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have lost everything. We have no insurance on our house. We have nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, so far this year more than 18,000 fires have burned, 3.5 million acres across Texas.
Well, they need some water there. They got too much of it in parts of New York and Pennsylvania. Record setting floodwaters are starting to recede. That sounds great. But still the impact is going to be felt there for quite some time.
Let me bring in CNN's John Zarrella. He is there in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And yes, the water has gotten -- I guess you've moved to a different spot, but it's a little deeper for you there.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I put on the waders, T.J., so I can give the viewers an idea of just how deep it is here. And you're right. They've had way too much water here. It rained and rained and rained Tuesday, Wednesday, into Thursday.
And actually, though, since we've talked the last hour, it's down. It would have been up over my knees just an hour ago. Now if my cameraman, Jerry Simes (ph) can look down the street. Jerry, you can see that this neighborhood which is called Shy Poke, which is one of the -- the worst hit probably the worst hit here is still a lot of standing water, at least a foot deep in many places.
I'm going to walk over here to this other building and give you an idea, a sense of just how -- how deep it is and how deep it was. Now this is -- was an old church that was renovated, turned into a -- into a home, and the waterline here is right up here. This is where it finally stopped.
And a few of the people that have come back to the neighbor -- this was all evacuated. Very few people have come back. They're going to have to wait until the utilities people get in here. Check to turn on the electricity, to turn on the gas again, all that is shut down. And it will probably be days before they get any power back in this particular area.
But yes, the water was up to here. So first floors flooded out in this entire neighborhood, basements completely under water in this entire neighborhood. You know, the hotel we're at -- there's a big football game here this weekend you probably know, Penn State and Alabama. Lots of Alabama folks in town. And the big worry for them was the road closures.
But the city workers, county workers were able to get the main road open from here over to Happy Valley a couple of hours away. They got that open today so that these football fans can get to that big game.
Now, that's the least of the people's worries here. But just to give an idea the impact of this flooding here on lots of folks' lives. But at least that will be a good diversion for the folks here in Pennsylvania, that game today.
But again, T.J., all of this area still evacuated, still without power. We don't expect to see the neighbors allowed back in here, the people allowed back in here. At least until tomorrow and perhaps longer. Until this water goes down.
Again, this is -- it smells and it's polluted water because you've had at least 10 sewage treatment plants along the Susquehanna that went down during the height of the flooding, were out of operation. This is not the kind of water that they want people coming back into to even start to clean up their homes at this point -- T.J.
HOLMES: Right. John Zarrella for us there in Harrisburg, we appreciate you as always.
We're at 16 minutes past the hour now.
We're going to be turning to politics here in a moment. The GOP presidential contenders, they are getting ready for another debate. This is going to be a little different. A Tea Party showdown. We'll tell you what this battle is all about and how it's going to be different.
Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're at 19 minutes past the hour. I want to go straight to our Allan Chernoff in New York for us.
Allan, we're getting new information about these possible suspects tied to this alleged terror plot around the 9/11 anniversary. What have you got?
CHERNOFF: That's right. We've been talking about the potential for a truck bomb, a vehicle bomb in New York or Washington, D.C. We have some new information from my colleague Susan Candiotti who has spoken to a U.S. government official briefed on this investigation.
According to that information, the three people that are supposed to be behind this alleged threat, two of them Americans of Arab descent. And according to the official they entered the United States from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region last week. The U.S. has been using flight logs and manifests to confirm that information. The third individual believed to be traveling now in Europe.
Again, these are described as credible, a credible threat, but again, not confirmed, meaning not confirmed by a second or third source to the United States -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And I think I heard you correctly. I want to make sure our viewers did as well. There's a lot -- a little traffic there. As you say, that third individual -- three individuals -- but it's believed the third right now is not in the country. The other two did enter. Did I hear that right?
CHERNOFF: That's the information that we have right now. It's unclear where that third individual is right now. So he had been traveling in Europe. It's unclear whether he actually has made it into the United States. May still be in Europe. The two other individuals that the U.S. is seeking are believed to have entered the country last week.
HOLMES: Are they giving us any indication of where they may have entered the country?
CHERNOFF: No, no detail regarding that. Understand, of course, that the investigators here don't want to give away everything. So it's possible they do know -- in fact, it's likely they do know since they've been using flight logs and manifests. So they should know exactly what flight these individuals arrived on.
HOLMES: All right. Our Allan Chernoff with the latest and some breaking information on this threat. Allan, we appreciate you getting back in front of that camera for us. Thank you so much. You get anything else, you let us know.
We're at 21 minutes past the hour now.
The world certainly going to be stopping to remember 9/11 tomorrow. But this morning we have your passport to memorial services around the world. That is next. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: 24 minutes past the hour now.
CNN teaming up with the Tea Party Express to host the first ever Tea Party debate. Eight Republican presidential contenders will face off Monday in Tampa. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is there. Is everybody going to join you there on Monday? We'll see all the candidates?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. And you know it's a big deal T.J. Why? We've brought the bus. When we bring the CNN Election Express, you know it's a big deal.
Right behind the bus, of course, that's the debate hall. We're here on the fairgrounds, at the Florida State fairgrounds just outside of Tampa, Florida. And yes, there will be eight candidates on the stage on Monday night. The same eight we saw out in California at that debate at the Reagan Library.
And guess what, right next to each other ones again will be Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, he's making a second bid for the GOP nomination; and Rick Perry, the Texas governor. We really saw them go at it at the last debate; could do it again on Monday night.
Take a look at this. You know, the recent polls are showing Perry, who's been in the race for about a month now, he has jumped to the top of the polls. Here is one just from a few days ago from ABC and the "Washington Post" there. And look at that: Perry number one; Romney number two; Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor who's thinking about maybe, maybe flirting with a possible run; and then Paul, Ron Paul, the congressman from Texas; and Michele Bachmann.
Go back to July, though T.J. and look how this race has really changed. Mitt Romney used to be the front-runner before Rick Perry jumped in to the race. One other thing that stands out in the poll, not just this one but just about all of them, is Michele Bachmann's numbers have dropped. Remember, she was very rising in the poll, doing very well, won the Iowa straw poll last month. But things have changed for Michele Bachmann, T.J.
HOLMES: What are they up to this weekend before the big debate? What are they doing out on the trail?
STEINHAUSER: It's kind of a quiet week. Remember, as America remembers the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we're not seeing a lot of candidates on the campaign trail this weekend. Bachmann has an event today, Herman Cain does as well. Yesterday, Herman Cain was with the Tea Party Express.
Now, of course, we're teaming up with the Tea Party Express to put on this debate. They have a cross-country bus tour. Herman Cain teamed up with them yesterday in South Carolina. The Tea Party Express bus tour continues today in South Carolina and in Florida. And of course, they're coming right here to Tampa for Monday night -- T.J.
HOLMES: Paul Steinhauser for us in Tampa. We'll talk to you again soon.
And as we get close to the bottom of the hour now, how do Americans feel about the worst terrorist attack in U.S. soil? How are they feeling a decade later? A new CNN/ORC poll released just yesterday said about two-thirds of Americans think the country will never completely return to normal after 9/11.
The world is also remembering 9/11 this weekend. I talked to our Nadia Bilchik a little earlier, sharing with us how different countries are honoring those who died. It's this "Morning's Passport".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: In London this week, what was unveiled is a sculpture by an American artist from Brooklyn called Miya Ando. And this sculpture is in Battersea Park and it is dedicated to the victims of 9/11.
But as you said earlier it caused a great deal of controversy. These families of the victims feel that because this sculpture is made of steel and it's steel from 9/11, it's the mangled steel and you can see there, there's the memorial stone.
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: But the actual sculpture is taken directly and the families feel it's too upsetting, it's too evocative.
HOLMES: Really?
BILCHIK: So instead of having the sculpture where it was supposed to be in London outside the town hall, it's been moved to a less visible place in Battersea Park.
HOLMES: Now did that satisfy the families at all? Or they would rather not have it up at all --
BILCHIK: They feel -- they would rather not have it. I mean -- and it's a very interesting debate between private grief and public art.
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: Now moving to New Zealand, tomorrow is a very interesting day because the American Rugby Team is going to be playing Ireland in New Zealand on 9/11.
So there they are, the American Rugby Team. The vice captain of the team, Mike Petri, says he feels very honored to be playing on this particular day. Both the Irish team and the American team will be wearing black arm bands. The organizers of the Rugby World Cup have brought in a Marine band from America to honor 9/11. They actually played in a big procession today. And at New Plymouth tomorrow they will be having a moment of silence to remember the victims.
Mike Petri himself, he's the vice captain of the American rugby team says he was in New York, he was 17 years old on 9/11 --
HOLMES: Wow. BILCHIK: He remembers seeing the entire thing unfold and he remembers being so proud about how New Yorkers behaved. And I think everybody all over the world from Dublin to Durbin to Dubai remembers where they were on 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: How do thousands of rounds of ammunition go missing at a military base? Well, that's exactly the question that investigators have as well.
Also a battle is under way in Libya for one of Moammar Gadhafi's last strongholds. Opposition forces are meeting some stiff resistance. An update for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're just crossing the bottom of the hour now. I'll give you a look at some of the stories making headlines. Opposition forces in Libya have launched an assault of one of Moammar Gadhafi's last stronghold, Bani Walid, that's southeast of Tripoli.
But they have met some stiff resistance and some of them have hold back. The fighting broke out after the deadline for the town to surrender passed without a deal. Opposition leaders believe key members of Gadhafi's regime including two of his sons may be hiding there. A live report for you in just a moment.
Also a ferry accident in Tanzania has killed at least 158 people. More than 500 others have been rescued. This boat capsized in the Indian Ocean off the Island of Zanzibar. Authorities say it was carrying more cargo than allowed. Dozens of unregistered passengers were on board.
Tensions in Cairo, Egypt has settled down a day after protesters attacked the Israeli embassy. At least three people were killed and hundreds more were hurt in clashes between the protesters and security forces.
Tensions between Egypt and Israel have been building since last month when Israeli forces five Egyptians police officers. The killings came during an attack on militants who would attack civilians near the Israeli-Egyptian border.
As you know, tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Give you a live look at Ground Zero where New York's World Trade Center once stood. Memorial observances are being held this weekend in New York, Washington, really all across the country as well as in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
One there starts in just about an hour. You see people gathering there now. It's a dedication for the first phase of a memorial honoring the 40 passengers and crew who died on United Flight 93. Vice President Joe Biden and two former presidents will be there.
CNN's John King is at the memorial site, and this is one, of course, not as many people died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania's New York and D.C., which get so much attention.
But I was just talking to you in the break and it struck me, you were telling me just how special of a place that is.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is remarkable, T.J. I've been here several times over the last decade. We know the heroism aboard Flight 93 is now the stuff of legends. Passengers on that airplane were using the earphones. They were flying from Newark, New Jersey, to California. While talking to family members on the air phones they found out what was happening. They heard about the plane hitting the World Trade Center. They heard that something was a foot. Of course, they didn't know exactly what.
But then they saw their plane being hijacked, realized something was going on. The air cockpit recordings tell us about the tussle and the struggle on that flight. Flight 93 came to a violent rest here in this field in rural Pennsylvania.
It takes several hours to get here from most places. This is not just a memorial site. This is the final resting ground. Because of the violence of that crash, the plane was loaded with jet fuel to make it all the way to California.
The fire was so intense it was impossible, it's a horrible thing to say, but impossible to recover all the remains. So the 40 victims not only died here, but they rest here. So this is very hallowed ground. It's a very solemn place.
You see a white stonewall behind me. Directly behind me etched into that very simply September 11, 2001. If you move to the longer wall, you can't quite see it behind me, but the wall on the edge of the screen, that there has 40 panels, each of those panels with the names of the victims.
Only the family members can go through a special gate behind that wall because of what I just noted. Over the crest of the crater where the plane crashed, where the first responders first came here, the remains are still in the hallowed ground here.
So only family members can go down here, but it is a simple memorial. It is not exactly yet completed. It will be completed in the years to come. They're still raising the money, but the simplicity of it adds to the power, T.J., of what happened here.
A tiny town, fewer than 200 people at 10:06 in the morning on that fateful day becoming part of our history and part of the heroic chapter of our history because of what the passengers on the plane did.
I remember I was at the White House that morning as they've evacuated the White House because this plane changed its flight path. The auto pilot was recorded to change toward Washington, D.C. where were the terrorists trying to take it?
We will never know exactly where, but they thought the White House, they thought the capitol. But because of the heroism on that plane, it came down here in a violent ball of flames, 40 people perished in this very solemn.
You see the sheets across the top, behind each of those sheets are the names of one of the passengers, the 40 passengers on Flight 93 who will be forever remembered in rural Pennsylvania community.
Yes, we'll spend a lot of time at the Pentagon and Ground Zero this weekend. But America also needs to remember the heroism that leads to Shanksville being part of this very important chapter, sad chapter in our history, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, our John King there. Good to check in with you. We'll be checking back in with John throughout the morning. Thanks so much, buddy.
We're 37 minutes past the hour now. Don't forget Shanksville will be one of the places we are focusing on tomorrow. Ceremonies starting today, but tomorrow morning starting at 6:00 a.m., our show will be live, "CNN SUNDAY MORNING" from Ground Zero. And then at 8:00 Eastern, that is when CNN will have complete coverage of all the ceremonies in New York, Washington as well as in Pennsylvania.
Let's turn back to Libya here for a moment now. Tensions are high as anti-Gadhafi forces try to take the desert town of Bani Walid. They have reportedly been pushed back by Gadhafi loyalists after mounting an attack today.
Our international correspondent Ben Wedeman is live just outside of the town. We checked in with you a little earlier. You said maybe some of the anti-Gadhafi forces had been pushed back. What's the update now?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: About sunrise this morning, T.J., they got to the outskirts of - but then they came under fire. There was - told by NTC spokesman that there may be Libyan forces inside that town because when the troops came in, they came under some stiff resistance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDULLAH KINSHEI, NTC BANI WALID NEGOTIATOR: Our troops started to come out, the remnants of Gadhafi troops at the entrance of the city. However, they found a lot of weapons still there. They have been fired by snipers all over the entrance. And they used the houses as their protective area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: T.J., since then we've heard a lot of planes flying overhead. You pray you can make it out from here. We did see a large plume of smoke on the horizon. We are hearing - in Bani Walid.
Now a little while ago, when we were speaking, some of the fighters, they said they're expecting to be in Bani Walid by dinnertime. I'm not quite sure however what day they're talking about. T.J.
HOLMES: Ben Wedeman, thank you as always. Of course, we're having a little bit of difficult time with his signal. But still you get the gist of what he's saying. They had been giving some of the Gadhafi loyalists a midnight deadline.
It came and went and now it looks like a battle might be taking place in what's considered a couple of the last strongholds of Moammar Gadhafi.
It's 40 minutes past the hour now. We'll turn back to this country. In parts of the northeast, a crisis that affects tens of thousands of people, record floodwaters covering parts of Pennsylvania and New York. We are getting the latest from that flood zone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 43 minutes past the hour. Let's say hello to meteorologist Alexandra Steele. It's not still raining on them necessarily, but they have a flooding mess up the north east, don't they?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, T.J., in Pennsylvania and New York, 11 rivers at record crest so incredible situation. Even worse in Pennsylvania we've been seeing all the pictures of the flooding.
Ten Swiss treatment plants are under water. So the water that is there is polluted and it is toxic. And even when the water does recede, which it obviously has begun to already, what is left underneath is certainly quite a mess.
So the flood threat is still there. You can see where the flood warnings are for upstate New York and certainly central Pennsylvania. Also with some flash flood warnings so some rivers coming up. We are seeing a little bit of rain, pretty little.
But you can see, here is the radar picture. It's quite interesting because what we're seeing is kind of a western movement on this radar. It's usually from west to east we see the rain moving.
Pretty quiet here right along I-80, we are seeing a little rain. On average maybe between 3/10th of an inch and maybe half an inch in the next two days, but still exacerbating any flooding we've seen. Certainly, they don't need any more. It's kind of like filling a cup of water over the top and just adding a couple more drops. It certainly does spill over.
So there's the radar picture, beautiful skies, high pressure in control in northern in New England and beautiful even in Albany, New York today, Boston, sunny skies, temperatures in the low 70s so quite beautiful.
From this area of low pressure points north, great conditions, south of that and west, right here in this quadrant, cloudy skies and some showers. Farther west though the heat continues over Portland, Oregon today 96 degrees, Seattle, sunny skies as well.
Of course, the Texas wildfire situation, not good at all. Dry winds continue to blow there and no rain in sight, not in the short term or even, T.J., the long term as we look towards the winter, it looks like with this, we're going to see more dry conditions and wet where we don't need it and dry where we don't need it.
HOLMES: All right, Alexandra, thank you as always. And once again, good having you with us on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
The president's jobs act has stirred lots of debate on Capitol Hill. But did you know that part of it was inspired by a program that started right here in Georgia. I'll introduce you to the man behind it next. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: President Obama's American Jobs Act includes a work sharing plan called "Bridge to Work" that is inspired by a state-run program in Georgia.
Earlier I spoke with Michael Thurmond, Georgia's Labor Commissioner when the program started back in 2003. He said he didn't know the president would speak about the program that he initiated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL THURMOND, FORMER GEORGIA LABOR COMMISSIONER: Well, no, I didn't, not specifically. I had been to Washington on several occasions and talked to members of the administration advocating the Georgia work strategy.
HOLMES: What were they curious about? Did they come to you and say, we heard about this program, how does it exactly work? Could you tell they were always curious and trying to find a way to implement it nationally?
THURMOND: Yes. Momentum picked up. President Clinton began to advocate for it across the country and then Speaker Boehner of the U.S. House endorsed it and Reverend Jackson. What it does is six out of ten people who participate get jobs.
HOLMES: OK, now you explain it. I'll allow you to do so. You explain to our viewers what it does. I know it's paired down for me here. But still, in essence, the program does what?
THURMOND: The person is laid off, construction worker. He decides to go into a new career, new job. How he receives unemployment insurance benefits, goes to a potential employer, look, if you will train me, provide me with the skill set need to do this job for six weeks.
I can continue to receive my unemployment benefits no cost to you. After six weeks, you can hire me or give me a certificate of completion. What we found is that 60 percent, six out of ten within 90 days have jobs. HOLMES: All right. Now, there are some issues with the program.
THURMOND: Yes.
HOLMES: Not everything works perfectly. So if the president were to call you and say, through trial and error, what did you all do wrong with the wrong with the program that we can correct nationally? What would you tell him didn't work so well?
THURMOND: Well, first, when I first started it here in Georgia, my biggest challenge was that the employees said it sounded too good to be true. Others say, it's too simple, such a complex problem with unemployment in America, we need a more complex solution.
It was too simple. The big thing is to make sure that all employers follow labor laws and make sure the employees are not being abused. Make sure we follow the laws, keep it simple and empower states to be creative.
HOLMES: A couple of issues that came up, I didn't really make a dent in Georgia's unemployment rate. Georgia has one of the highest in the country at 10.1 percent now and the program, it started off with a bang.
But I understand the numbers have gotten down, as far as the people participating now, down to under 100. So why is that the case, with the unemployment rate and the numbers of participants so low now?
THURMOND: As you know, I left the Georgia Department of Labor in January. When I left, we had over 5,000 members participating. The commissioner who took over for me changed the program. It was his decision. That was his prerogative.
But while I was there, 32,000 Georgians participated, 23,000 completed the program, 16,500 employers provided training and 6 out of 10 got jobs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, we're just eight minutes and 40 seconds away from the top of the hour.
Good morning, Fredricka.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. How are you doing?
HOLMES: I am well, always good to see you. Doing all right this morning?
WHITFIELD: I am doing pretty good. I love seeing Avery and Richard. So you've probably participated in an office pool of a lottery before, right? You put in a dollar or two --
HOLMES: I haven't, actually.
WHITFIELD: You haven't?
HOLMES: No.
WHITFIELD: You put in a dollar or two or $5. Here's the case of a man who does that over a period of eight years with all his office buddies, then he's out sick one day. They continued to do the lottery. They win $99 million, but he doesn't get any of the winnings.
HOLMES: On the one day he's out sick?
WHITFIELD: The one day he's out sick. And he says, I want a portion of that and they said, no, you weren't here that day. And he goes, yes, I'm taking you to court.
HOLMES: How many employees?
WHITFIELD: I'm not sure.
HOLMES: How much would it break up? They can't -- come on, let the guy in?
WHITFIELD: He wants in and he's taking them to court. And a judge is actually handling the case and says, OK, no one's going to get any winnings until we resolve this.
HOLMES: So the money is held up for everybody?
WHITFIELD: That's right.
HOLMES: So they'd be better off giving him the money --
WHITFIELD: Well, that's what he's saying, might as well just give me a piece of it. Anyway, our legal guys are going to tackle that one.
We have another lottery case, so lottery ticket, winning ticket goes in the trash. You rifle through the trash, you get the ticket. Do you get all the earnings?
HOLMES: Of course you do.
WHITFIELD: Well, the store owner says, wait a minute, that was our trash and that winning ticket was in our trash. So we get a piece of it. Once again, the judge has that in escrow until they resolve that.
HOLMES: Who threw it in the trash?
WHITFIELD: The store owner.
HOLMES: The store owner did?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HOLMES: Threw it in the trash, why? WHITFIELD: Because they thought it was trash, but apparently the ticket wasn't scratched out all the way, only half way --
HOLMES: Did somebody get it -- I'm fascinated.
WHITFIELD: Watch it. That's the idea. You have to watch.
HOLMES: Did somebody get it after it was dumped outside --
WHITFIELD: After it was dumped outside so one man's trash, another person's treasure, kind of like that.
And then let's talk about buying American. You heard the president earlier this week saying America needs to invent more and buy and manufacture more. How difficult is it to try to buy American? We'll have our financial fix to help you navigate and put your money where your mouth is if you want to buy American.
HOLMES: Not to say you don't normally, but you've really reeled me in with those two lottery stories.
WHITFIELD: You have to watch. Avery and Richard have some great cases. Those are just two little kernels on the docket.
HOLMES: Good stuff. Fredricka Whitfield will be with you in five minutes and 45 seconds. You still tweeting @fwhitfield?
WHITFIELD: Yes, I am actually. I haven't done it today.
HOLMES: Fredricka, that's fantastic.
WHITFIELD: Baby steps for me, but I'm getting there.
HOLMES: Quick break, folks. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, as we get close to the top of the hour, we all know, you're supposed to cash away some cash for the future. But look at this. If given the choice, most Americans say they prefer to pay off debt first. Where do you fall in the category, Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Yes, I would -- well.
HOLMES: You would save first or you pay down the debt first?
WHITFIELD: No, I pay down the debt first.
HOLMES: All right, well, maybe that is, maybe it isn't the thing you're supposed to do because earlier I spoke with financial analyst Clyde Anderson. He explained while saving for the future is so important, but every case is different.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL ANALYST: I think the rainy day fund is really important. I mean, I think it's great to pay down debt, but we're not saying don't pay your debt.
But, again, get that rainy day fund first. Because right now especially in this economy, they're saying you should have ten months of reserves. That's ten months of monthly income set aside for emergencies. Emergencies do happen. They're happening more now than ever. So you want to be prepared for that.
HOLMES: OK, when you say still you might not be paying down versus paying on.
ANDERSON: Exactly.
HOLMES: You're saying like make the minimum payment?
ANDERSON: Make your minimum payments. Now in the cases where you have a situation where you're trying to get your debt to income better, maybe you're trying to qualify for a home. You may want to pay that debt down.
If you're trying to improve your credit score, you may want to pay that debt down. So it really depends on what your trying to do and what you're goals are. So it's really important to have some financial goals set in place to know exactly what I'm trying to do.
HOLMES: OK, and what we're talking about here is chunks.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HOLMES: You say pay yourself first.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HOLMES: So if you've got $5,000 sitting on the credit card and the minimum might be $100, keep up with the timely payments, but don't pay $1,000 or $2,000. Use that money for yourself. You're saying you could earn more if it's sitting in a --
ANDERSON: That's a good point. Now it depends on the situation. If we're talking about a credit card, we have a 20 percent interest rate on, that's a different story.
HOLMES: That's when you attack the debt.
ANDERSON: That's when you attack the debt. If you have a low interest rate, we're talking 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent, it's really not a major issue right now to go ahead and attack it.
But if you're paying 20 percent and upwards, it's better to pay that off because it's now it's like you're earning 14 percent on that cash.
If I have a credit card where my interest rate is 14 percent and I've got a $5,000 balance on it, makes more sense for me to attack that. It's like I've earned 14 percent of my money because I'm still paying that. HOLMES: So why are 89 percent of the folks out there saying -- why is it we want to do that first? Why do we want -- we want a clean slate.
ANDERSON: We've been taught debt is bad. And a lot of people can't sleep knowing that's hanging over their head. They don't feel comfortable. They can't go ahead and live on with their lives.
And so, if you are that person, go ahead and pay that debt down. You don't want to cause extra added stress because I have this debt hanging over my head. So we want to wipe that debt out and get rid out of it as soon as possible.
And it's not a bad thing to pay off debt, but you have to be strategic about how you do it. You make sure you have a plan and look at the interest rates versus looking at what you could earn on the money.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: You learn something there with Clyde this morning.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HOLMES: It's not all the same for everybody. Maybe you should pay off, maybe you should be safe.
WHITFIELD: Whatever you feel comfortable with.
HOLMES: All right, then, Fredricka, it's all yours.
WHITFIELD: Keep that credit score up, too.
HOLMES: Yes.
Good to see you, dear lady, as always.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you as well.
HOLMES: Talk to you later.
WHITFIELD: We will see you in New York tomorrow for the 9/11 marking of 10 years.
HOLMES: Yes, yes.
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, T.J.
