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CNN Saturday Morning News
Jobs Report Becomes Political Football; State Department Denied Special Forces Request; More Cases of Fungal Meningitis; Debate- Watchers: Romney Won; Jobless Numbers Questioned
Aired October 06, 2012 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
A new theory behind the brutal death of a U.S. Border agent. Why investigators are saying he may have died at the hands of one of his own.
BARAK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We found out the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since I took office.
KAYE: A breath of fresh air for the Obama campaign with Friday's job report. Jobs are up, unemployment down. But is it too little, too late?
Five hundred convicted felons could be set free in Massachusetts. Why? This chemist allegedly tampered with evidence for the last nine years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. Victor Blackwell is off today. It is 7:00 on the East Coast, 4:00 on the East. Thanks for starting your day with us.
We have new developments in the shooting that killed a U.S. border patrol agent. The FBI now thinks he may have died by friendly fire. Thirty-year-old Nicholas Ivie was shot and killed this week in Arizona.
Initially, officials said Ivie and his colleague who was wounded in the incident came under fire after responding to a sensor that went off, but authorities say the only shell casings found at the scene were those belonging to the agents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMANDER JEFFREY SELF, CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: As you know, investigators have made progress into the investigation into agent Ivie's death, and are looking into the possibility that it was a tragic accident death, the result of friendly fire. The fact is, the work of the border patrol is dangerous. All of us wear the uniform know this, and yet this special breed of men and women willingly put themselves in harm's way to serve their country and to protect their communities against those who wish to do us harm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That news comes as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano traveled to Arizona to meet with officials and Ivie's family. Reacting to his death, Napolitano said in part, quote, "This tragedy reminds us of the risks our men and women confront, the dangers they willingly undertake while protecting our nation's borders."
Ivie is the third border patrol agent in the line of the duty this year.
And now to the new jobs report. It has become a political football, with super bowl of elections just one month away. The Labor Department says 114,000 jobs was created in September with the unemployment rate coming in at 7.8 percent. That's a drop of 0.3 percent from August.
It is no surprise that in this season there are different views of the same numbers. Alan B. Krueger, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors said the report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression.
But the former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, tweeted this: "Unbelievable job numbers. These Chicago guys will do anything. Can't debate so change numbers."
And the partisan pushing continues this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
OBAMA: On Friday, we learned that the unemployment rate is now at a its lowest level since I took office.
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: Friday's jobs report shows that America still desperately needs jobs. Yet, the president's central and sole proposal would mean fewer jobs.
OBAMA: Republicans in Congress need to stop trying to refight the battles of the past few years and finally start doing something to actually help the middle class get ahead.
PRIEBUS: We can't afford four more years like the last four -- falling incomes, rising prices, 23 million Americans struggling for work.
OBAMA: Congress needs to step up and pass my plan to create a veterans job corps to help our returning heroes find work as cops, firefighters, and park rangers in communities across the country. A few weeks ago, Republicans in the Senate voted that plan down. Ask them why someone who fights for this country abroad should have to fight for a job when they come home.
PRIEBUS: I understand that the president must campaign. But he also has a job to do. While Barack Obama enjoys being president, he doesn't seem to enjoy the work required of being a great president.
OBAMA: If we're going to keep this economy moving forward, there's no time for political gains. Even in the political season.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
KAYE: Mitt Romney may still be riding a wave after this week's debate, but can that momentum carry over to a win in a crucial battleground state like Florida? We'll talk about that later this hour.
Just hours ago, three suspected terrorists arrived in the U.S. after being extradited from London, including the notorious Abu Hamza al- Masri. He has a hook for a hand and has called Osama bin Laden a hero. The radical cleric and four others are wanted for several crimes committed against the U.S. in the 1990s. Some of them are expected to appear in court tomorrow.
Now to that deadly Libyan consulate attack that killed four Americans, two Tunisians are now being questioned in connection with that. It comes at the request of the U.S. which had placed the Tunisians on a watch list. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says there is a connection between the two and the attack but hasn't given any specifics.
As questions mount over security at that consulate, State Department e-mails to CNN show the agency denied a request for a plane by Special Forces at a different embassy in Tripoli.
Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Randi, this was an investigation from what's called a security support team. Now, those are Special Forces, they are deployed all over the world in hot spots, very dangerous areas to protect U.S. diplomats.
In this case, they were deployed at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, Libya. Now, they were asking the State Department to continue to use a DC-3 plane. They say they wanted it to transport their personnel around the country and also for diplomatic business.
But the State Department turned them down, and the State Department says by that time there were commercial flights available. So, there was no need to have this plane and there was no need, by the way, they are saying, to spend money on that plane, which is a factor. They also say it did not affect the response to the attack that killed the American ambassador and three other Americans.
And then, finally, when they say when they evacuated U.S. personnel from Libya after that attack, they used a chartered aircraft. So, this e-mail is all part of many of these investigations. It's part of the congressional investigation and there is that -- there is also an FBI investigation and there is the State Department investigation ongoing as we speak.
The State Department, Secretary Clinton say that they will be cooperating and October 10th will be the first hearing of that congressional investigation. Two people from the State Department will be testifying -- Randi. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Jill Dougherty, thank you very much.
In Colorado this morning, police have issued an AMBER alert following the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl. Jessica Ridgeway who you see right there was on her way to school and never showed up, prompting officials to call her mother. But the search was delayed because the mother, who works the night shift, slept through those phone calls. So far, police have searched the surrounding area, but found nothing.
The coach who won more college basketball games than anyone in history wants to set the record straight. Pat Summitt said she left the University of Tennessee on her own terms. On Thursday, Summitt filed an affidavit supporting a former colleague's lawsuit against the university. In it, Summitt suggested she had felt forced out of her jobs. Summitt, you remember, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and retired from coaching in April.
She put out a statement yesterday clarifying a remark for her affidavit, saying it was entirely my decision to step down from my position as head coach of women's basketball at the University of Tennessee.
Baseball's first ever wildcard game playoff may go down as the infield fly rule game. In the eighth inning of the St. Louis Cardinals/Atlanta Braves game, an umpire made that call but made it late during the play. The play gave the Braves an out and kept them from loading the bases.
Well, angry Braves fans littered the field with cups and bottles. You see it there. The game resumed after an 18-minute delay and the cards went on to win it, 6-3 and then advance in the playoffs. The league disallowed the Braves protest of the call, saying it was the umpire's judgment. Wow.
They are the fastest growing and second largest population group in the country, Latino voters. They could be a decisive force in the race for the White House, that is, if they show up at the polls.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Good morning, Washington. Look at the beautiful shot of the White House we're bringing you this morning here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. One month away from Election Day. So, mark your calendars.
We are taking an in depth look at the effect that Latinos could have on Election Day. You know that saying, there are powers in numbers. Well, Latinos have exactly that.
According to the latest census, there are more than 50 million Latinos in the U.S. Of those, more than 12.2 million are expected to show up at the polls on Election Day. That's just over half of Latinos who are eligible to vote.
These numbers are key for both President Obama and Mitt Romney. So, let's bring in Melanie Roussell, who is the Democratic National Committee's press secretary.
Good morning, Melanie.
We just showed you the potential clout of Latino voters with those numbers. But, as we all know -- location, location, location. So, here are the states where Latinos have a major presence. The purple, key battleground states there. The big question, Melanie, is: could the Latino voting bloc be the deciding factor in several of these swing states, do you think?
MELANIE ROUSSELL, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, I think they are definitely an important factor in this election cycle and when you look at the issues that Latino families care about, health care, education, the economy, the president stands leaps and bounds ahead of Mitt Romney on those issues.
KAYE: Let's look at this, because you mentioned the economy. The latest CNN/ORC poll. When asked about economic conditions today, 61 percent of Latino voters said the economy was poor. What do you make of that and how critical is that?
ROUSSELL: Well, I think when you look at the president's work to move this country forward, the unemployment rate, for example, is below 8 percent for the first time in his administration. Businesses have created 5.2 million jobs since the president took office.
The country is moving in the right direction. And we need to continue moving in that direction. We've come way too far to allow Mitt Romney to take us back to the failed economic policies of the past. And I think Latino voters, like many middle class Americans, see how far the president has taken us and they're not going to be willing to let Mitt Romney take us back.
KAYE: And staying with the economy here -- 44 percent of Latino voters say that the economy is issue number one for them. Certainly, no secret President Obama is the big favorite over Romney among Latino voters.
But, of course, some concern about voter turnout. We mention that a lot of these Latino voters, many of them younger, may not turn out on Election Day. So, will the poor economic conditions bring Latino voters out? Is that enough for them?
ROUSSELL: Well, again, I think when you look at the direction that the economy is going, middle class Americans, Latino voters know that we're headed in the right direction and we need to continue moving forward. We can't afford to let Mitt Romney take us back.
And beyond that, the Obama campaign has a very serious ground game in those states you identified. We are going to be on the ground every day, knocking on doors, registering voters and getting them out to vote. In states like Iowa and Ohio, we are already getting people to the polls. Those states are voting now.
And the DNC and Obama for America has Got to Vote bus tour that is in Ohio today --
KAYE: Right.
ROUSSELL: -- that is encouraging people to vote early. So, we're going to bring them out.
KAYE: You say, though, that we're heading in the right direction. Certainly it looks like that when you talk about the unemployment rate at 7.8 percent. It has dropped.
But the real important number here is that 114,000 jobs that were added. This doesn't keep up, though, with the population growth.
So, as far as you saying we're heading in the right direction -- I mean, Romney and other Republicans say that's not enough and indicates how sluggish the economy actually remains.
So, is the jobs report really as good as Obama is touting it to be?
ROUSSELL: Well, the president has also said we have a lot of work to do. We need to continue moving forward. And that's why he has a plan to create 1 million new manufacturing jobs to invest in businesses and manufacturers that create jobs here in this country -- to invest in 100,000 additional math and science teachers, to train 2 million additional workers at community colleges, to cut our oil imports and invest in clean energy jobs.
The president has a plan to move aggressively toward creating more jobs and we need to continue moving in that direction. We can't afford to go back to the same failed economic policies of the past that Mitt Romney is promoting.
KAYE: Melanie Roussell, thank you, for joining me this morning.
ROUSSELL: Thank you so much for having me, Randi.
KAYE: And next hour, we're digging deeper into the Latino vote. Soledad O'Brien, by the way, has a special documentary "Latino in America: Courting their Vote". That airs tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll give you a sneak peek a little bit later this morning.
The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Tennessee. Two teenage brothers in Milton are behind this corn maze depicting President Obama and Mitt Romney on their parents' farm. Kind of tough to see there on the screen, but you can make it out. There you go with a closer look.
At $8 a pop, all visitors are welcome. The maze will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in October. Those guys did a pretty good job there.
Some hospitals are giving employees the option: get a flu shot or get fired. Now, some workers are saying the mandatory vaccination violates their rights.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: Reports of an impending global baking shortage may have been greatly exaggerated, but it did inspire a bacon love fest. In fact, you may be eating some bacon right now.
So, this next story is about a San Francisco man who turned his greasy passion into a business.
Rob Marciano explains in this "How We Got Started."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ANGELUS, BACON BACON: Anything on our menu you guys you'd like to see that --
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jim Angelus thought the San Francisco food truck scene was missing something -- bacon. >
J. ANGELUS: As I have gotten older, I didn't realize how much I loved bacon. My friends are like, dude, you always loved bacon.
MARCIANO: Two years ago, Jim was unemployed and decided to develop a bacon theme food truck menu.
BIRGESS ANGELUS, JIM'S WIFE: It went on for weeks and weeks, bacon, bacon in our kitchen. Actually, our neighbors complained.
J. ANGELUS: They did. Our neighbors complained.
B. ANGELUS: They said it always smelled like bacon.
MARCIANO: He bought a used food truck and Bacon Bacon was on the road.
J. ANGELUS: You know, when I drive down the road and people honked their horns and pumped their fists, I knew I was on to something here. So, the response was awesome.
MARCIANO: Lunch goers line-up waiting for anything with bacon, even dessert.
J. ANGELUS: This is a s'more one we came up with a few weeks ago. People love it, like we run out of it and people get mad and -- I'm sorry.
MARCIANO: Just the smell of bacon cooking at their prep kitchen attracted a crowd and an opportunity.
J. ANGELUS: We started selling breakfast and coffee and started growing into lunch and coffee bar and hours and days have expanded. Who knows what's next.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Twenty-two minutes past the hour now. Glad you're with us. Hospital workers in Colorado are being told get a flu shot by the end of the year, or you're fired. It is part of a state program requiring 60 percent of health care workers to get the vaccination, but some hospitals have made it mandatory for everyone. If a worker refuses, they could be suspended and then eventually fired.
Now, some say it violates their rights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, it's against your civil rights. I don't want to get the flu shot and to me, it seems like I'm being forced into putting a virus in my body that I object to.
STEVEN SUMMER, PRES. AND CEO, COLORADO HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: We need to have a workforce available when the public needs it, if they're sick. And I think people choose to work in a hospital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: If workers have a medical condition that prevents them from getting the shot, they have to wear a mask. One hospital commented saying, so far all employees have been compliant.
The number of cases of fungal meningitis is growing. The CDC reports 47 people have been infected and 12 more than its last update. But as many as 300 people were injected with the tainted steroid that is spreading the disease. It was distributed in 23 states, but has been recalled.
Five people have died. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has more on this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, it's worth pointing out, again, that we're talking about fungal meningitis here as opposed to bacterial meningitis, or the most common form of meningitis which is viral meningitis. That's the type that you typically hear about being spread, for example, on college campuses.
Fungal meningitis can be very serious. If there's any good news about it, it's not very contagious typically. In this case, they now know people got this because it was injected into them through a contaminated steroid injection.
What happened was that the manufacturer of the medication sends these drugs to a compounding facility to divvy up the doses or to concentrate the doses and then contamination occurred and the medication was sent to several different clinics and hospitals around the country.
Obviously, the numbers are pretty significant and they're probably going to go up, in part, because it takes a while for people to develop, to get sick. Take a look there. Up to 28 days before someone actually develops symptoms and then they can develop all sorts of things that are consistent with the pretty, with the really bad meningitis.
They could have stroke-like symptoms, weakness or numbness on one side of the body or the another, swelling near the injection site and everything that's consistent with an inflammation around the brain and spinal cord, headaches back pain, neck pain and, as you know, they can eventually lapse into unconsciousness, Randi, and even die.
The goal is now identify all those patients who received injections, make sure no more injections are given, and if people are having any symptoms to make sure they get treated and get treated quickly.
Randi, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Sanjay, thank you very much.
Mitt Romney has made plenty of campaign stops in the swing state of Colorado, but when this restaurant refused to be one of those stops, the backlash was immediate and extreme -- The death threats and fallout.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Here's a look at this week's mortgage rates.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. Victor is off today. Thanks for starting your morning with us.
Here are five stories that we're watching this morning: U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta calling out Afghan President Hamid Karzai for his appreciation or lack thereof of the sacrifices made by U.S. troops.
Take a look at this. "I think it would be helpful if the president every once in a while expressed his thanks by the sacrifices that have been made by those who fight and died for Afghanistan instead of criticizing them, rather than targeting criticizing them."
The rare public dressing down of Karzai came a day after he accused the U.S. and NATO of attacking insurgents in Afghanistan rather than targeting the support they receive from Pakistan.
It might be a good idea to check your pantry right now. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 39 people in 19 states have been infected with an outbreak of salmonella found in peanut butter and other products from the New Mexico-based Sunland Inc.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: It might be a good idea to check your pantry right now. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 39 people in 19 states have been infected with an outbreak of salmonella found in peanut butter and other products from the New Mexico-based Sunland Inc.
You can review a full list of all voluntarily recalled products at fda.gov.
Gas prices rise, yet again. The national average at $3.81 up from $3.79 yesterday. And it looks like what goes up, well, goes up even more.
According to a new U.N. report, quote, "Hundreds of billions bid on expectations of temporarily rising prices for energy and food is the root cause of today's price volatility," and it's not about to change any time soon. Bad news for drivers in places like California where the average gallon of gas is $4.61, topping $5, actually, in some parts of the state.
In Ohio, a legal win for President Obama's campaign and the Democrats. It should be easier for voters to cast their ballots in the key battleground state. A federal appeals court affirmed a lower court's decision to block the state's early voting restrictions, which would have closed early voting in person to most on the Friday before Election Day.
The state could appeal the court's ruling, but Ohio's secretary of state says his office is currently reviewing that decision. We'll be talking to his assistant secretary of state at 9:00 Eastern Time.
Death threats, threatening phone calls and vicious e-mails all because they decline to be a campaign stop for Mitt Romney. That is a terrifying response this Mexican restaurant in Denver, Colorado, is now getting. The cafe has been a neighborhood joint for years and the owners who are from Mexico are Mormon. They say they just didn't want it be a campaign tool, but weren't expecting this kind of backlash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KUSA)
ROSA LINDA AGUIRRE, OWNER, ROSA LINDA'S MEXICAN CAFE: I couldn't sleep last night. We didn't want to exclude anybody, we just didn't want -- we didn't want to be a campaign stop. And a boycott came in.
My phone is blowing up from my e-mails. You know, I'm getting 100 e- mails. I already deleted 100 of people saying that they want to see us out of business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Our affiliate KUSA says the restaurant's phone was constantly ringing while they were there to interview the owner and even listen to callers telling the owners to go to hell, that's a quote.
After a stronger than expected performance in this week's debate, Mitt Romney is riding a new wave of momentum. Today, right into the critical swing state of Florida where he will be campaigning all weekend long.
Two-thirds of debate watches polled by CNN and ORC believe Romney bested the president Wednesday night. That's the biggest win of any presidential debaters since we first started asking that question in 1984.
So, can Romney use this new-found momentum to help him in a crucial state like Florida?
Well, let's bring in a man who knows. Burnie Thompson is a popular conservative radio talk show host in the Sunshine State famous for saying things like this about the race for the White House. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BURNIE THOMPSON, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: I won't be surprised if Barack Obama just takes a bite out of his ear. He might just take a bite out of his ear. You have to do something, but it's going to get, I think it's going to get ugly because that is the only thing that Barack Obama can do.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KAYE: And joining me now is Burnie Thompson.
Good morning.
THOMPSON: Good morning.
KAYE: Thank you for being here.
THOMPSON: Thanks for having me.
KAYE: All right, so, I think most can agree, certainly, that Wednesday's debate was certainly a big win for Mitt Romney, hands down. But observers are still criticizing him, actually, about not giving enough details.
So, I want to read to you what a conservative columnist for "New York Times" said right after the debate. He said, "Romney had his share of bogus lines and the dubious arguments -- the distinctions he drew between Romneycare and Obamacare and didn't say anything about helping the uninsured -- and frank evasions of important issues -- his various pivots to the center, tellingly, didn't include saying anything about how to help the uninsured."
So, how do you respond to that? Is it time for Romney to give more specifics? Is he having a problem with that?
THOMPSON: It's easy to criticize both of them for not giving enough specifics. But Romney actually has a 59-point economic plan that most people have never looked at. I would say that is probably too specific.
I think Mitt Romney should focus on saying things like, Mr. President, we are -- you seem to have a problem with profits, which my company made. But most Americans have a problem with deficits, which you've rung up four consecutive trillion dollar deficits.
So they both have a little problem with details. But there is a big -- I would strike a big contrast if I was Mitt Romney. I would put a working state on one side and a welfare state on the other side, and I would say America would be much, much better if dollars were earned instead of dollars awarded.
It is time to stop rewarding our friends and punishing our enemies and having the government treat every American the same, which is a foundational principal of the rule of law. And I think Mitt Romney has to do more of that.
Has he been specific with his plan? He laid five out in the debate, which is more than the president did. I think that's why independents thought Mitt Romney did very, very well.
KAYE: Let me ask you about one of the issues where they differ, Medicare. Certainly, that's a big issue in Florida with all the seniors there. But Romney saying that he supports vouchers for Medicare, a plan that according to the Pew Research is not very popular.
So, how does play in Florida with all those seniors?
THOMPSON: I'd say, right now, in Florida, you've got about 12 million registered voters. You have 36 percent who are Republicans. You have 40 percent who are Democrats. And then the 24 percent or the remainder is going to be the most important percentage in America.
And I think it's 24 percent who are not registered Republican or Democrat. These are going to be the most important voters in the United States.
But, let's look at Medicare. You've got Mitt Romney who says, I want to give you vouchers, which I personally don't agree with. But what would you rather have? Vouchers or $761 billion cut to pay for Obamacare? I mean, the -- I would much rather --
KAYE: Not a cut in benefits, though, let's be clear.
THOMPSON: Well, I'll tell you -- it's really important, though, for -- to understand how would vouchers not empower you to have more control of your health care? And I don't think Medicare is going to be the deciding factor. I think it's going to be much, much more than that.
KAYE: After the debate, our analyst, CNN analyst David Gergen, had this to say. We have a horse race and we certainly do, no question about it in the state of Florida.
Take a look at this polling with me. Latest polling from the "Wall Street Journal" and Marist shows a virtual dead heat. You see it there, Obama 47 percent and Romney 46 percent.
You know the state better than most. What do you think Romney has to do to tip it in his favor?
THOMPSON: Well, here's what he better not do. He better -- 10 days ago, he was behind. He came from behind and he is in a dead heat, as you know right now. If he plays prevent defense and I know his consultants are going to want him to be very, very careful and not make a mistake. That is how you will lose to Barack Obama.
In the radio clip, my point was, he is going to come out swinging and he's going to come out maybe with a few punches below the belt. Romney is going to do what he did in the first debate. And that is, American voters are very interested in style, maybe even more style over substance and that was the first debate you've ever seen where Barack Obama was outstyled, body language, Mitt Romney looked much more presidential.
Come out Mitt Romney and continue to strike contrasts, say that we are not a government with a country, we're a country with a government, and empower the people in every way possible, and point out that, you know, Americans have lost 40 percent of their net worth under this administration.
As you pointed out earlier, gas prices are twice as high. We have acts of war on the United States on anniversaries of 9/11 with no response other than appointing the task force to figure out if it was a spontaneous protest or an actual act of terrorism. Point these things out, go on offense, do not play prevent defense or you will lose to Barack Obama.
KAYE: You can bet the president will come back on offense in the next debate, for sure.
THOMPSON: That's exactly.
KAYE: Burnie Thompson, thank you so much. I enjoyed listening to your radio show the other day, as well.
THOMPSON: Thank you. Appreciate it.
KAYE: All right. Nice to see you.
One of the nation's top CEOs accuses the Obama administration of cooking the books. We'll hear from the former head of G.E., next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch set of a firestorm yesterday, sending out this tweet questioning the validity of yesterday's unemployment numbers, accusing the administration of changing the numbers.
Mr. Welch appeared on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" last night to talk about those allegations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACK WELCH, FORMER G.E. CEO: I've got a tweet out there that I stand by.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Right. But you don't regret --
WELCH: I can't prove that they did anything to anything.
COOPER: But you -- I mean, in your heart, you believe they somehow cooked the books?
WELCH: I don't really know. But I do know this. That these numbers are implausible.
COOPER: But you know, so many politicians these days are saying like, you know, Michelle Bachmann will say something that's factually not correct, not provable and say I'm just asking the question. Is it responsible to say I'm just asking the question, but to say these Chicago guys will do anything, oh, I'm just asking the question?
WELCH: Should have put the question mark at the end like I did last night.
COOPER: OK.
WELCH: A question mark would have been better at the back of that.
COOPER: OK. So you are kind of backing away from the Chicago guys' part.
WELCH: I'm not backing away from anything.
COOPER: You wish you could amend your tweet --
WELCH: I wish I had a question mark at the back of it. Same implication is there.
COOPER: OK.
I want to bring in our business correspondent, Ali Velshi because I don't pretend to be an expert on this stuff.
Ali, which, that camera there? Ali, what do you make of Jack Welch's tweet and what do you think tonight?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, this is very troubling. I mean, anybody who has asked me my entire career who the best CEO in America is, the answer would be Jack Welch. Jack Welch needs to be out there helping this country get back on track. There are CEOs and all sorts of people re-tweeting what he said.
I think he's absolutely right that there are questions to be asked about the methodology. That household survey that comes up with the unemployment number, I have said for my entire career people should pay less attention to it. Pay attention to the payroll survey, pay attention to hours worked and pay attention to wages and income. That's what touches people.
But to say something like this is like Donald Trump saying that President Obama is not an American citizen without any proof.
You are Jack Welch. Jack, you got to take this opportunity while everybody is listening to you to actually say, yes, Anderson, I'm taking that tweet back. I'm going to send a new tweet to say I was exaggerating. There are problems, BLS maybe should look into it, but to actually throw out an accusation, that's like asking the government, how often do you beat your wife?
WELCH: I should have had a question mark, Ali, at the back of it. Let's face it, OK? But the facts are, Ali, no matter how you want to look at this, we had 25 economists polled before this number came out. The average number they expected was about 115,000.
VELSHI: Yes.
WELCH: Not one of them had a number below 8.1.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which determines the unemployment number is a nonpolitical and independent agency, by the way.
Hundreds, if not thousands of convicted criminals could go free, all because of this chemist. The outrageous allegations about a Massachusetts drug lab.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Meet Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America. It's kind of a Peace Corps for geeks.
JENNIFER PAHLKA, CODE FOR AMERICA: Most people have seen that really geeks have changed the world so much in the past 10 or 20 years, that they haven't changed government yet.
We get people to take a year off. It's geeks. It's also designers. It's product managers, people from the technical industries. We get them to work with people in city hall to solve problems in cities for a year.
GUPTA: She wants to fix local government one smartphone app at a time. It's Sunday on "THE NEXT LIST."
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KAYE: A massive scandal is unfolding in Massachusetts. It centers around this woman. Her name is Annie Dookhan. She was a chemist with the state drug lab who entrusted with thousands of drug labs, evidence in several cases. But she's accused now of faking test results, forging documents and breaking lab protocol. The fallout from this could be massive.
So, what happens based on the questionable drug samples handled by Dookhan?
Here's Susan Candiotti with her. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYLAZIA JOHNSON, SENTENCE VACATED: It was refreshing because I didn't think it was real.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was real. Until last week, Mylazia Johnson was doing about three years in prison on a drug conviction. Then she was suddenly set free.
(on camera): What is it like to be out of prison?
JOHNSON: Yay, I can breathe.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Free because of the bizarre alleged actions of this woman, former Massachusetts chemist Annie Dookhan.
REPORTER: Can you tell us what happened?
CANDIOTTI: The state of Massachusetts is accusing Dookhan of tampering with drug evidence that could call into question at least 34,000 cases going back to 2003 -- 34,000. At the moment, she faces only three charges.
However, in Boston alone, the D.A. estimates as many as 500 convicted felons could be set free.
(on camera): How big of a mess is this?
LISA HEWITT, MASS. COMMITTEE FOR PUBLIC COUNSEL: At this point, Susan, we don't know.
CANDIOTTI: At this lab, now closed by the state, Dookhan allegedly mishandled drugs seized by police for evidence at trial. She allegedly estimated the amount of drugs at times by simply looking at them and certified some drugs as cocaine that are now testing negative.
(voice-over): She didn't just write down the wrong thing. Prosecutors accuse her of doctoring evidence to change test results.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She would take known cocaine from an area that she knew was cocaine and actually add them to the sample to make it cocaine.
CANDIOTTI: Dookhan is also charged with lying on the witness stand about the credentials on her resume, including a masters degree in chemistry she never received.
But the question is why. Was Dookhan trying to help police? Was she trying to make herself look good?
So far it's a mystery. The only thing we know is what's in this court document where investigators say at first she denied doing anything wrong, but they say she later admitted, quote, "I screwed up big time, I messed up. I messed up bad. It's my fault."
In some cases, Dookhan's alleged tampering may have destroyed solid police work. In others it may have wrongfully convicted the innocent.
HEWITT: This is the most egregious situation because this is government-tainted evidence that has been presented against these individuals.
CANDIOTTI: How can something like this happen?
HEWITT: I don't have the answer to that. The community has no confidence right now in the justice system because they are being told that the scientific evidence which we're all supposed to depend on, you know, in the year 2012, is faulty.
CANDIOTTI: We tried unsuccessfully for two days to reach her attorney. Dookhan's free on bail, wearing a court monitor.
Judgments are in the process of staying sentences and setting felons free on bail until everything's sorted out, making moms like Stephanie Cooper nervous.
STEPHANIE COOPER, MOM: I do worry for my safety, you know, and my son also.
CANDIOTTI: Community organizer Michael Kozu is worried about what will happen to this Boston neighborhood.
MICHAEL KOZU, PROJECT RIGHT: We're concerned about with people getting let back out, it will go back to what it used to be.
CANDIOTTI: Mylazia Johnson insists she was wrongfully accused of serving crack on the street. After serving half her sentence, she's free for good and plans to challenging her conviction back home. What she cannot get back are the nearly two years she lost with her daughter, born eight weeks before she was sent to prison.
JOHNSON: I lost my child, I lost custody of my child, and I don't know how I'm going to fix that.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): What do you think of the chemist who is now accused of --
JOHNSON: Destroying my life, but I forgive her. But as long as I have my daughter, that's all I care about.
CANDIOTT (voice-over): Susan Candiotti, CNN, Boston.
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KAYE: With so many drug samples and cases involved, we will dig deeper into the fallout with our go-to legal expert next hour.
The fight for the presidency takes to the street. "Sesame Street," that is. Yes, this battle is between Mitt Romney and Big Bird. So who will have the last word?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: You know it's a big story when Big Bird enters the presidential debate. First, Mitt Romney plucked him, and now Big Bird is pecking back.
CNN's Jeanne Moos milks the mockery.
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BIG BIRD, VOICED BY CAROLL SPINNEY (singing): Glad to be the way I am.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's gone from being a happy-go-lucky bird --
BIG BIRD (singing): I'm happy to be me.
MOOS: -- to the unemployment line, all because of a couple of Mitt Romney lines.
FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird.
But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.
MOOS: Let the mockery begin: "Obama got bin Laden. I'll get Big Bird!"
"You tell that so-and-so Romney, anybody who bleeps with Big Bird bleeps with me."
Big Bird even extended his middle finger at the candidate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to kill the one that we know and all love? Big Bird?
MOOS: Big Bird started his own parody Twitter account, reacted by crying. He showed up in a debate split screen.
ROMNEY: I like PBS. I love Big Bird.
MOOS: His reaction was a scream.
ROMNEY: I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.
(SCREAMING)
MOOS: His response included a message.
BIG BIRD (singing): F-U-M-I-T-T.
MOOS: The message spelled out for Mitt.
BIG BIRD (singing): F-U-M-I-T-T.
MOOS (on camera): This isn't the first time Mitt Romney has threatened Big Bird. He's a serial Big Bird stalker.
ROMNEY: I like watching Big Bird and Bert and Ernie.
I like PBS. I like watching Big Bird.
I like Big Bird and Bert and Ernie for my grandkids to watch.
MOOS: One Big Bird fan gave President Obama flack for not sticking up for Big Bird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All he had to say was, "This guy wants to get rid of Big Bird. He got rid of your jobs, now he wants to get rid of Big Bird's job."
MOOS: The day after the debate, the president joined in.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on Big Bird. We didn't know that Big Bird was driving the federal deficit.
MOOS: To be clear, cutting PBS funding might not directly endanger Big Bird, since "Sesame Street" gets most of its money from corporate funding and donations.
Still, Mitt Romney was depicted making Big Bird Thanksgiving dinner. "If Romney wins, I die."
Governor Romney offered some hope.
ROMNEY: I'm not going to kill Big Bird, I promise. But I'm going to -- but there are going to be -- there are going to be advertisements on PBS to help pay for Big Bird.
Big Bird is going to have to get used to Kellogg's Corn Flakes.
MOOS: Maybe this is what it would have sounded like --
ROMNEY: I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS.
BIG BIRD: Oh, that's too bad.
MOOS: -- if Big Bird joined the debate.
ROMNEY: I like PBS.
BIG BIRD: Oh.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
ROMNEY: I love Big Bird.
BIG BIRD: Really?
MOOS: -- New York.
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