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Clinton Dazzles, Energizes Dems; Weekly Jobless Claims Down; DNC Platform Change Causes Chaos; Plane Ordered Back to Philadelphia; What to Expect from the Debates; NFL Kicks Off 2012 Season
Aired September 06, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN NEWSROOM with Carol Costello begins right now.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Soledad.
Happening now in the NEWSROOM, life of the party. Bill Clinton making the case to keep President Obama in office. One headline summing up what a lot are saying about last night, the big dog shows how it's done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Their number one priority was not to put America back to work. It was to put the President out of work.
I hate to break it to you. But we're going to keep President Obama on the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: This morning, we ask, can Clinton's magic put Barack Obama back in the White House?
The price of politics. A new Bob Woodward bombshell alleging infighting and anger. Obama and Boehner. One line saying, quote, "It was increasingly clear that no one was running Washington."
Plus, one party versus another. DNC up against MTV. The VMAs are tonight. From the network that spearheaded the "Rock the Vote" campaign, are they shooting themselves in the foot here?
And next year begins now for the 32 NFL teams looking to take home the Lombardi trophy. And what better way to kick off the NFL season than with one of the biggest rivalries, the Cowboys and the Giants.
NEWSROOM starts now.
And good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Carol Costello. We begin in Charlotte where Democrats are setting the stage for the big finale. But an elder superstar of the party may have stolen the show. We'll listen to some key moments of Bill Clinton's rousing speech to the party faithful in just a moment. Expectations were high, and by virtually all accounts the former president delivered. That's going to make a tough act to follow for Vice President Joe Biden, He delivers a primetime address on this final night of the convention. It culminates when President Obama delivers his acceptance speech and makes the case why he should be re-elected.
Let's Bill Clinton, though. He made history even -- even before stepping up to the podium. It is the first time a former president formally nominated his successor. Over the course of 48 minutes, he praised Obama, mocked Republicans, and electrified the Democratic crowd. Keep in mind Clinton adlibbed nearly half of his speech. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I want to nominate a man who's cool on the outside.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
But who burns for America on the inside.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
When President Barack Obama took office, the economy was in freefall. It had just shrunk nine full percent of GDP. We were losing 750,000 jobs a month.
Are we doing better than that today? The answer is yes.
No president, not me, not any of my predecessors, no one, could have fully repaired all the damage that he found in just four years. He has laid the foundations for a new modern successful economy. A shared prosperity. And if you will renew the President's contract, you will feel it. You will feel it.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
When we vote in this election, we'll be deciding what kind of country we want to live in. If you want a winner-take-all, you're on your own society, you should support the Republican ticket. But if you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibility, a "we're all in this together" society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
As the Senate Republican leader said in a remarkable moment of candor, two full years before the election, their number one priority was not to put America back to work. It was to put the President out of work.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
Well -- wait a minute.
(CROWD BOOING)
Senator, I hate to break it to you, but we're going to keep President Obama on the job. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So let's view the speech from opposing perspectives. On the left, CNN political analyst Roland Martin. On the right, Will Cain, a CNN contributor and an analyst for "The Blaze."
Welcome, gentlemen.
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol. We should point out to the viewers.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: All right, man.
CAIN: That was not the entire speech. That was highlights. The entire speech was 49 minutes. I know that seemed long. But the real thing was much, much longer.
COSTELLO: He ad-libbed nearly half the speech.
MARTIN: Hey, you know what, Carol? You know what, Carol?
COSTELLO: Yes?
MARTIN: You know what, Carol? Here's what's so amazing. A lot of people talk about Bill Clinton's speech in 1988 at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, how long it was, that was 36 minutes. I was on the floor.
CAIN: Thirty-six.
MARTIN: I wan in that room. Trust me, nobody -- it never even felt like 50 minutes. Probably for Will Cain it was 50 minutes of getting his butt kicked, it was a little painful for him, so I'm sure he did not want to have to have that feeling for 50 minutes.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Okay, before we go on, we have to show the image the Democrats would say was the coupe de gras, a man-hug between President Clinton and President Obama. As if you know they were best buddies, although everybody knows they're kind of not. Can we see that picture? There it is.
They had on identical ties and it looked like matching suits. It was beautiful.
Alex Castellanos, our Republican consultant, the father of the attack ad, said, "Shut the back door. Clinton just handed Obama the election." True?
CAIN: It's so sweet.
COSTELLO: Will? CAIN: It's so sweet. The chin on the shoulder, the back rub. The whole thing. It's so sweet. Did it hand the election to President Obama? No, I don't -- I don't think so.
Look, Roland pointed out, in 1988, Bill Clinton gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that was roundly criticized, and at that time was only 36 minutes. This was 49 minutes.
I'm going to agree with Roland about something. It was a very, very good speech last night. President -- former President Clinton's speech was -- I don't know if it was a homerun but it was up against the fence. And, you know, I would say this. Set aside substance, Carol, set aside the actual message of what he had to say, which is a pretty funny thing to say in and of itself, he's one of about three guys who can make people listen for 50 minutes, to connect to the audience.
I think the other ones are people like Sarah Palin and the other guy who's going to take the stage tonight, President Barack Obama.
MARTIN: Will, Will, seriously, Sarah Palin will not make you listen for 50 minutes. But you know what, Carol? This is one -- and I'm telling you, and I'm sure Republicans --
CAIN: Be objective. I said set aside substance. Be objective.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: No, I --
CAIN: She connects to an audience.
MARTIN: I am being -- I am being objective. I'm not trying to listen to Sarah Palin for 50 minutes. Here is the deal. You talk about jealousy. And I'm serious. This is not in a mean-spirited way. I guarantee you Republicans were saying, man, we wish we had a former president who can come out and be a statesman like and do that for us.
Obviously, President H. W. Bush, he's -- you know, he's up in age. Health is not well. He's really not out there. And frankly, President George W. Bush, way too toxic for the Republican Party.
That's the beauty of having a former president who can come out there. That one line we played when he said, I know any of my predecessors could have turned this economy around, given what President Obama was given. That means you're bringing your experience to bear. And so that's exactly what that was. And I'm sure Republicans were saying, man, I wish we had us a Bill Clinton.
COSTELLO: Okay. Two things actually stood out to me. One, Clinton went off script. As I said, he adlibbed about half the speech. And two, instead of doom and gloom, there was joy. Humor. A sense of fun.
How does the rather scholarly Barack Obama top that, Will Cain? CAIN: Well, now -- listen to what I just said. I'm not playing teams or spin or anything here. I think there are three people objectively who can connect with audiences and keep their attention, go off script, seem like they're giving you a real, a real speech, a real talk, not reading a teleprompter.
And I think those three people in the political arena right now are Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin, and President Barack Obama. So I expect -- I expect the bar to be very high for President Obama.
COSTELLO: Well, then -- why is Sarah Palin not part of -- wasn't part of the Republican National Convention, and she's really not participating much?
MARTIN: Hello.
CAIN: Because, Carol, there's more --
MARTIN: Hello.
CAIN: Because, Carol -- because there's more than just being able to connect and hold an audience for 50 minutes. There's actual substance that matters as well. If you want to reintroduce substance now, which Sarah Palin falls short on, President Clinton last night had several moments where he misconstrued facts, misconstrued his role as explainer-in-chief. He was not truthful in many points on the level of substance.
But I didn't think we're talking about that. We were just talking about connecting, weren't we?
COSTELLO: That's right. Just connecting.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Okay. Roland, last --
MARTIN: Yes, but --
COSTELLO: Last word, Roland.
MARTIN: Yes. She's still not connecting for 50 minutes. Yes. I mean here's the deal. I mean, Will, I mean that's nice. But you know that's not -- that ain't happening. She's not going to connect in that way. The bottom line is this here. Bill Clinton was extremely effective in framing the conversation. Can -- this whole notion of can President Obama top it? Of course, he can.
But he has a different job. His job is to cast the vision, laying the next four years. But I do believe as Pastor Frederick Douglas Haynes often says in his sermons, President Obama should bowl down your alley and sit in your pew and get that up close and personal with the voters and say, I'm going to be the one who's going to defend you and have your back when I'm sitting in the Oval Office, like I'd done the last four years. That's the argument that he has to make tonight. And I believe that he will, and I'm sure, Will, tomorrow, will be saying, man, they have Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, and President Obama. I wish we had a murderer's row like that on our side.
COSTELLO: We'll see. I've got to wrap this up because we have a bit of breaking news to pass on to people. But thank you, Will Cain, Roland Martin, as usual.
CAIN: You bet.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
COSTELLO: Okay. Now for the breaking news. A U.S. Airways flight returns to the airport following a threat. Our affiliate WPVI is reporting U.S. Airways flight 1267 had already left Philadelphia on its way to Dallas when a threat was called in involving a passenger carrying an explosive liquid.
It happened just after 7:00 Eastern this morning. The plane is back on the ground. The plane will now be searched. Of course we're going to monitor the situation. And if they find anything or even if they don't, of course we'll pass it along to you. But for now, those passengers are pretty much stuck. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Thirteen minutes past the hour. To money news this morning. One of the keywords used in both political conventions, "jobs". This morning, the Labor Department says 365,000 people filed for new unemployment benefits last week. That's actually down 12,000 from the week before.
Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with more. Good morning.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Let me just point out here if you're one of those people, one of the millions of people out there who are out of work, you know, we all know that these numbers probably aren't going to resonate. But there is a bit of improvement in these numbers. At least when you look -- when you start crunching that data. Fewer people than expected filed for first-time unemployment claims last week with the level now sitting at its lowest since the beginning of August.
But the thing is, it's still stuck in a tight range, that 365,000 number. So we really want to see it keep dropping as opposed to kind of hovering the way it has over the last six weeks.
Now the monthly employment picture, that's also beginning to come into focus this morning. Payroll services from ADP says private employers added 201,000 jobs in August. That came in much better than expected. This report, by the way, is kind of the appetizer to the big government jobs report coming out on Friday.
Keep in mind ADP also revised July's numbers higher. So it could be a good sign ahead of the jobs report coming out tomorrow -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you, Alison. What is Wall Street expecting from this big jobs report tomorrow?
KOSIK: Well, first of all, the ADP report could make analysts a little more optimistic about tomorrow, but we've seen very cautious estimates about the number that could come out tomorrow. Analysts surveyed by CNN Money expect the economy added 120,000 jobs in August. That's of course after adding 163,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate is expected to hold right where it is at 8.3 percent.
Now, keep in mind, the big picture here is the third to the last jobs report we are going to get before the elections. So you can guarantee, the campaigns -- they're going to make hay, whatever the number is. Republicans, they are likely to say, hey, look, the glass is half empty. The job creation isn't enough to bring down the unemployment rate. And then the Democrats are going to say, we were losing 800,000 jobs a month when President Obama took office. And now, the economy has added jobs for 23 straight months.
Guess what, Carol? Both sides would be right, if they said that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, live at the New York Stock Exchange.
Many of the swing states this election also areas where the housing market had the biggest collapse. Now there are some signs of recovery. According to realty groups in these areas, home prices are up in three key states, Nevada, Florida, and Ohio. In Las Vegas, the median price for a single family home is up 9 percent over last year. In Florida, it's up 7.8 percent. While in Ohio, those prices rose 4.9 percent.
According to the experts, housing prices are starting to recover in most areas of the country.
Today, Democrats are basking in the glow of Bill Clinton's fiery speech, and they are hoping they snuffed out the embers of a smoldering debate that revolved around the party's initial omission of two elements from the platform. One, any mention of God. The other, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Both were added with a voice vote. Oh, but it was ugly.
Listen to the delegates here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA (D), LOS ANGELES: I'll do that one more time. All those delegates in favor say aye.
CROWD: Aye!
VILLARAIGOSA: All those delegates opposed, say no.
CROWD: No! VILLARAIGOSA: In the opinion of the chair, 2/3 have voted in the affirmative. The motion is adopted, and the platform has been amended as shown on the screen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Dana Bash is at the DNC and she joins us to add some context to this.
Dana, this is clearly is a distraction. Could it have lingering effects? What does it mean really?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It could have lingering effects. I think the answer to that would have been yes had the Democrats not moved relatively fast to fix it. The question that we really haven't been able to answer is why did it happen? And the "it" of course are those two big omissions that you talk about. One the fact that the word "God" was in the platform four years ago and many years before that, when -- in a graph when it was talking about hard work and it was talking about people's God-given rights, that was omitted.
But I think maybe the more political dicey omission was the fact that they took the Jerusalem -- the fact that Jerusalem is the capital -- or should be the capital of Israel out. Because that was put in four years ago, and I remember it at the time, as a way for President Obama, then-Senator Obama, who didn't have the greatest relationship with the Jewish community, who he needed very badly in some key swing states like Florida, as sort of an olive branch.
Democratic officials from the top down, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is the DNC chairwoman, she sat right here on Soledad O'Brien's show in the last hour and didn't really have an answer as to why it happened. I talked to one Obama campaign official pretty high up who just admitted candidly they messed up. That's why they moved to fix it.
There was an outpouring of criticism from within the Democratic Party that they took the particular language out about Jerusalem. But you're right. I mean, you just played it. It did not go very well on the floor of the party.
It certainly was an embarrassment. It was a little bit chaotic. Nobody really knew what was going on.
But you know what, Carol? There were days before you and I covered politics that that was minor compared to the fights that parties had on the floor of the convention. You know what? Maybe it's back to the future, back to the old days where God forbid something is not scripted.
COSTELLO: Yes, I think the next time we'll hear about it is in the debates coming up between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Romney will bring that Jerusalem thing up.
BASH: You may be right. COSTELLO: Dana Bash, thanks so much.
"Washington Post" journalist Bob Woodward has a revealing new book coming up next. He chronicles last year's showdown in Washington over the debt ceiling. It's based on interviews with President Obama, house Speaker Boehner, and other lawmakers who were at the negotiating table. Woodward says the White House seemed unprepared to negotiate. "The Washington Post" has excerpts of "The Price of Politics," which is based on interviews with President Obama, House Speaker Boehner, and other lawmakers who were at the negotiating table.
Woodward says the White House seemed unprepared to negotiate. "The Washington Post" also quotes the book as saying, "He was spewing coals," Boehner told Woodward, in what is described as a borderline "presidential tirade."
He writes, quote, "It was increasingly clear that no one was running Washington. That was trouble for everyone, but especially for Obama."
The timing of the book is being questioned because Romney is not part of the story.
Bill Clinton took to the stage at the Democratic National Convention, and he's getting some rave reviews. So what exactly does that mean for Barack Obama? Talk back, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, will Bill Clinton's magic put President Obama back in the White House?
It was classic Bill Clinton. Charm them, cajole them, dazzle them, with the few whooping factoids or not. But most of all, most analysts say, Bill Clinton got it down -- that is persuade undecided voters to re-elect President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: In Tampa, the Republican argument against the President re- election was actually pretty simple. Pretty snappy. It went something like this: "We left him a total mess. He hadn't cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Many analysts think President Clinton made the case for President Obama better and more clearly than Mr. Obama has. For example, that question, are you better off today? President Clinton said, "Heck yes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: When President Barack Obama took office, the economy was in freefall. It had just shrunk 9 full percent of GDP. We were losing 750,000 jobs a month. Are we doing better than that today? The answer is yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN contributor and Republican Alex Castellanos said, "Whut the back door. Bill Clinton probably just got Obama re-elected." Never mind the two men aren't exactly friends. Hillary, anyone?
But last night, all appeared to be forgiven. And that hug between the cool Obama and the cuddly Clinton seemed, well, heartfelt.
The talk back question for you today: "Will Bill Clinton's magic put President Obama back in the White House?"
Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Your comments later this hour.
Bill Clinton's speech, of course, will be a tough act to follow. But President Obama will give it a go in Charlotte tonight. The question is, what is President Obama going to say? We'll find out.
We'll see if Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed knows.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
COSTELLO: Okay. A little bit more information about that U.S. Airways flight. U.S. Airways flight 1267. It had already left Philadelphia. It was on its way to Dallas when a threat was called in. It involved a passenger carrying some sort of explosive liquid. This happened just shortly after 7:00 a.m. Eastern.
The plane as you can see is on the ground. Passengers are still aboard that plane. The FBI has now been called in. And we understand that of course authorities are already searching the plane.
On the phone for us is a former assistant secretary from the Department of Homeland Security, Juliette Kayyem. She now works for the "Boston Globe."
Thank you so much for joining us this morning, to help us understand why those passengers are still on board that plane when the threat was some sort of explosive liquid was found onboard.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, BOSTON GLOBE (via telephone): Right. What we don't know right now, this would be normally routine. One, they have to figure out the most important thing was this a hoax or not.
The specificity that there's an individual on this plane, you know, makes it sound like there might be a little bit of -- I don't want to say, you know, a hoax behind it. Because you tend not to get calls in like this with real terrorist attacks. And so they now have to figure out who that potential person is.
So this is pretty routine. The FBI's involvement would be routine. Of course, we tend to forget, you know, that next weekend is the 11th anniversary of September 11th. We have been focused on the conventions. And so there would be, I think, sort of more intense surveillance and security precautions going into a weekend that we know has, you know, always been the focus of both hoaxes and that potential terrorist attacks.
COSTELLO: So, Juliette, can you describe to us, what exactly is going on inside that plane right now?
KAYYEM: Well, what we don't know is whether the call in was a specific individual or any passenger. So if it was a specific individual, that person is being found. But right now, they are probably just determining and searching all individuals.
COSTELLO: So are they searching the luggage? Questioning passengers?
KAYYEM: That's all of it. I mean, because when you don't know, you know, if you let everyone off -- what has happened now is that the scene has been sufficiently isolated that if someone actually wanted to do something, they couldn't anymore, right? So that's the most important thing.
And then now they have to figure out who could have potential person be. You know, take them in for questioning. So they are going to go through the luggage and through the passengers. And what we don't know on the outside right now currently is, you know, what is the specific individual that then has triggered the FBI and others to be concerned. Are they on a watch list or something else, or is this just a totally random hoax, in which case then the investigation goes to the person who called it in.
So that's sort of what's going to be unfolding because we all know about it. We're now looking at it unfolding. I don't want to say that this is routine. It's not. These are quite rare. But on the other hand, at this stage, there is -- you sort of have to just figure out in fact what motivated the phone call.
And just from my experience, you would be very lucky to get a phone call like that. Generally, you know, these kinds of calls do not come in with that specificity. And specificity like that tends to be hoaxes, actually.
COSTELL: Well, we -- of course, we're hoping. We've been down this road before.
Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
We're also following --
KAYYEM: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
We're also following another breaking story.
Veteran newsman Tom Brokaw has been taken to a Charlotte hospital not far from the Democratic National Convention. NBC says the retired news anchor felt lightheaded. He is now being evaluated. Brokaw is 72 years old.
Our medical team is looking into his previous medical history, and we'll let you know as soon as we have more details. But, again, Tom Brokaw taken to the hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Also in Charlotte, tonight, President Obama will take the stage to formally accept his party's nomination and tell voters why he deserves a second term. You're looking at a live picture of the arena where that speech will take place. The venue moved inside from an outdoor stadium because Democrats feared it would rain.
It was a little over four years ago when the President gave his first acceptance speech to the DNC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story. The brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well of or well known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree. And I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, but he can't say that anymore.
Joining me this morning from Charlotte is Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Welcome, Mayor.
MAYOR KASIM REED (D), ATLANTA: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So I think that most voters are wondering if President Obama will say more than he wants to continue to cut taxes on the middle class, he wants to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, he wants to give out tax money for more infrastructure projects. I mean, we all know that, yet the economy is recovering at an agonizingly slow pace.
What will we hear that's new from President Obama about how he'll really rev up the economy?
REED: Well, I think that he's going to have more specific plans that he's going to lay out. I think that he's going to focus on making sure that the American people know that he's going to make sure that they are well-trained for the 3 million jobs that are actually vacant in the United States but that people can't get because they are not well-trained. So a significant part of the way forward is training and retraining.
We have also been in a bit of a stalemate. And the American people are going to decide whether we're going to go forward with President Obama or backward. So I think that he's going to ask the American people to stick with him so that the initiatives that have been blocked by an obstructionist Congress can actually be cleared. So that we can invest in roads and bridges, which we know if we invest in significant infrastructure, we can create between 500,000 to 1 million new jobs.
COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about --
REED: Hold on one second. Wait a minute. You know that there has been no movement on a number of these programs. And I think there will be after the election.
COSTELLO: Well, that's a question I want to ask you. We heard this rousing speech from Bill Clinton. He talked about how he was able to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans on welfare reform, right?
But it's sort of like reminded you that President Obama hasn't exactly been able to do that. And what will he say to make voters believe that he can accomplish that if he wins the next term?
REED: Well, I think people also need to remember and President Clinton will tell you that it took him two years of dealing with Republican obstructionism. They didn't just start working with President Clinton. And I think that folks in America know that the Republican leadership in Congress has fought this president tooth and nail.
I think after this election, it's really going to be about doing what's best for the country. We're going to have a fiscal cliff that we're all going to have to work through as partners. And I think after you've had this extremely tough election that folks on both the Republican side and Democrat side are going to have to put patriotism above partisanship because that's the only way we're going to get to real solutions.
It was tough for President Clinton. Folks act like they don't remember before they started making bipartisan progress. It will be tough for the President. But I think that that will have to be cleared to deal if we're going to deal with the fiscal cliff.
COSTELLO: Mayor Reed, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
REED: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: In less than a month, we'll see Governor Romney and President Obama duke it out at their first presidential debate. But there may be even more excitement for the vice presidential debate. We'll talk about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
COSTELLO: There's a lot happening this morning. The Dow is doing the happy dance right now.
Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us why.
KOSIK: Trading day right now, Carol, and the Dow is up 153 points. A few things going on. For one, jobs.
Here in the U.S. we got a few readings giving us sort of a brighter picture on the jobs front. First, we got this ADP report showing that private employers added 201,000 positions last month. And that far surpassed expectations. So that's part of the reason why you're seeing the bump here in the market.
Also, we got weekly jobless claims numbers. They fell more than expected last week to 365,000. That level is still a little high, but this drop of 12,000 last week is a good sign.
And this is all giving hope for tomorrow's big jobs report. You know, the ADP report is kind of an appetizer. But the main course is the big jobs report coming out tomorrow. So this is sort of giving hope that the number coming out tomorrow will be a good one.
One more thing to mention, Mario Draghi, he's the equivalent -- he's the ECB president -- the equivalent of Fed Chief Ben Bernanke. He announced an unlimited bond buying program in Europe that is also helping to boost the market today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Okay. So if we have a bad jobs report tomorrow, then it's likely that the Dow will take a dive?
KOSIK: Probably. And you also have to realize it's, you know, maybe three reports left, job reports that is, left before the election. Wall Street is certainly paying extra close attention to these numbers. July we did see a bump in the number of jobs created. What Wall Street is hoping to see is more of a trend of these triple digit gains for jobs instead of kind of seeing these low numbers.
COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, thanks so much.
We want to go out to Philadelphia once again to the airport there and update our breaking news. Of course, as we've been telling you, a U.S. Airways flight was forced to return to Philadelphia International Airport because of some kind of threat that an explosive liquid was onboard the plane. This is U.S. Airways flight 1267.
It had already left Philadelphia and on its way to Dallas when the threat was called in, and it involved a passenger, as I said, carrying some sort of explosive liquid. You can see -- I don't know who exactly is boarding the plane, but we do know the FBI has been called in.
And we also know that passengers are still onboard that plane. And authorities are now searching the plane. They are questioning the passengers. But as of yet, the passengers have not been allowed to leave that plane even though there's a threat of an explosive liquid onboard
Of course, we are continuing to watch this situation. We'll bring you updates as they happen. We'll be back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Mitt Romney has holed himself up in rural Vermont where he's practicing for the presidential debates. This is the house where he's staying at the multimillion dollar mansion that belongs to his former Lieutenant Governor from Massachusetts. Romney is debating with Senator Rob Portman, who is playing the role of President Obama in these series of mock debates.
But Romney did take a trip to a nearby swing state, New Hampshire, to continue his attack on Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Two big numbers came out this week; 16 and 47; $16 trillion dollars in debt. And the number is 47; 47 million people now on food stamps. When he came into office, there were 32 million. There is just no way he can square those numbers with the idea that America is doing better because it's not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: This year, there are three presidential debates, and one vice presidential debate. The first one between Romney and President Obama coming in just a few weeks on October 3rd. Then the much anticipated vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. That will happen October 11th. On October 16th, Obama and Romney face off in a town hall format debate moderated by CNN's Candy Crowley. And the last presidential debate is scheduled for October 22nd. That is just two weeks before the election.
Joining us now to talk about what to expect from the GOP in the debates is Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart from Florida. Welcome, Congressman.
REP. MARIO DIAZ-BALART (R), FLORIDA: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning. Thank you for being here. You have worked closely with Congressman Ryan. What can -- you know, I think that people are excited for the presidential debates, but I think people are more -- even more excited and enthusiastic for the vice presidential debates.
Why do you think that is? Why are they so excited to see Paul Ryan debate Joe Biden?
DIAZ-BALART: Well first look, Paul Ryan is one of the brightest individuals you'll ever deal with. One of the most prepared. He understands how the economy works. How the -- what the economy needs to do and what the country needs to do to create jobs. So that's one aspect of it.
The other aspect is that Vice President Joe Biden well, he's always entertaining. He's a good debater, don't get me wrong. But you never know if he's going to open mouth and insert foot. So I think a lot of people are -- are waiting to see both of those things. You know, two people that may be good debaters but one of them, Joe Biden, who sometimes looks like he's on the headliner for "Saturday Night Live" when he's actually trying to be serious.
COSTELLO: But isn't it interesting that four years ago when Joe Biden was debating Sarah Palin you might have said the opposite? I mean Joe Biden was the statesman in that sense, and nobody knew what Sarah Palin would say during the debate. And now it's sort of the other way around, because that's largely the way Republicans have painted Joe Biden.
DIAZ-BALART: Well, look, I respect Joe Biden, you know. But those of us who were in Congress knew Joe Biden. We knew Joe Biden as a person who is a very nice guy, by the way. He is very likeable but tends to be wrong on all the major policy issues. He was wrong frankly on just about every major policy issue. He is even wrong when he disagrees with President Obama.
So -- so you know, those of us that knew him were always kind of shocked as to how he is portrayed as this -- this great expert on foreign policy. Don't get me wrong. He was the chairman of the committee, but he was always wrong on the policy. That does not take away, however, from the fact that Joe Biden is a very good debater and he's a very likeable individual. And he is a wonderful guy.
He is the kind of guy that you want to go and have a cup of coffee with. But not the kind of person you want dictating the policies of the United States.
COSTELLO: At least that's what Republicans would say. We have to be fair here.
I was just wondering something about Mitt Romney. He is not out campaigning. He's been holed up in this house practicing for the debates. Why isn't he out there? Why is he giving all of his time to practice for the debates? Is he worried?
DIAZ-BALART: No. I think, you know -- look, you can criticize the President all you want. But it's pretty clear that he is a very accomplished speaker and he's a very accomplished debater. And now he's been doing this for many, many years.
Remember that Governor Romney is not a career politician. He is a businessperson who served a short period of time, very effectively, as governor of Massachusetts, a phenomenal governor of Massachusetts. But he is not a, you know, full-time politician. The President has been in politics now for many, many years. He was in the state legislature and now the U.S. Senate and now as President.
So I think when you're dealing with such a -- a professional career politician as the President and I don't think this is a criticism at all, by the way, but the President clearly is, I think -- I think Governor Romney is right to make sure that -- that he is as prepared as possible on the issues.
COSTELLO: Well let me ask you this -- let me ask you this. DIAZ-BALART: The contrast couldn't be more dramatic.
COSTELLO: Yes let me ask you this question. Mitt Romney got a tiny little bump from the convention. Do Republicans feel that Romney's performance in these debates make or break? Is it a make-or-break moment for Mitt Romney?
DIAZ-BALART: Well, you know if you look at all the polls, in essence, they're both tied. So -- so I think everything is going to matter. And I think debates are going to matter. You know if -- if people watch the debate, and I think they are going to I think that it will make a huge difference. And I -- I think you're dealing with two very bright individuals with totally different visions and versions of where they want to take the United States of America.
You have one in President Obama who's been now in control of this administration for four years. And we -- you know it's been a failed presidency, when you look at the economy, when you look at all those factors. But he's a very accomplished debater.
And then you have Governor Romney who has done everything that he does succeeds whether it's fixing the Olympics, turning them around -- of whether it's -- I mean everywhere he's done, but he's not a career politician who's used to debating every single day like -- like the President.
COSTELLO: Well, he was governor of Massachusetts.
DIAZ-BALART: Right, I think you're going to look at -- he was a very effective governor of Massachusetts. He actually got unemployment down in Massachusetts.
COSTELLO: And he did debate Ted Kennedy, so he does have and he did debate in the Republican primary. So let's not say Mitt Romney isn't used to debating because he certainly is, or should be. There are plenty of debates during the primary season.
DIAZ-BALART: Well, no I mean, he's -- look, he's debated but -- but I don't think you can compare the amount of public exposure that the President gets. And there's nothing wrong with that. He's the President of the United States, that -- than with anybody else.
Now again, Governor Romney is very accomplished. He has a great record. And the most important thing is this -- that the President cannot talk about his record, he cannot talk about the unemployment numbers, he can't talk about the energy prices. He can't talk about -- CNN, by the way, just had a fact check on the so-called four million jobs that was created and basically stated very clearly that less people are working now than when President Obama swore in.
So he can't talk about his record. He's going to be very aggressive I think as he's been in the campaign in criticizing Mr. Romney. Mr. Romney has got to be ready for that because Governor Romney is one who's used to talking about facts and the record.
And now we're dealing with a different animal with President Obama. COSTELLO: Well we're all looking forward to the debates. Congressman, thank you so much for being here this morning. We appreciate it.
DIAZ-BALART: Always a pleasure. Thank you.
COSTELLO: Of course, you can get full coverage of the debates right here on CNN. That starts as I said on October 3rd.
And in today's "Health for Her," did you know you can be fat and fit? According to a new study published in the European Heart Journal, researchers looked at more than 43,000 people over a span of 24 years. They found half of those labeled obese were metabolically healthy. In fact this group has the same chance of survival as those who weighed in the healthy range.
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COSTELLO: Okay. Let's take a break from politics and talk some football. The New York Giants might -- well, they didn't win. The first time since 1999 that a defending Super Bowl champ has lost its opening game the following season. Final score last night -- Dallas Cowboys, 24; Giants, 17.
For more on the NFL opening week, I'm joined by Chris Burke via Skype. He's the NFL writer for SportsIllustrated.com. Hi, Chris.
CHRIS BURKE, SPORTSILLUSTRATED.COM (via Skype): Hey.
COSTELLO: Okay. Before we get into the game, let's talk about the replacement refs. Last night's head referee, an 8th grade Geography teacher from Boise, Idaho. He'd been a ref for nearly 30 years, primarily small college and arena two league games. But opening night appeared to be clean. Did he do a good job?
BURKE: Yes, I think all things considered, it went pretty well. They certainly tried to push us on his background on the TV broadcast and maybe convince us that he wasn't ready. But aside from maybe one or two missed calls, I think they did a fine job overall.
COSTELLO: I also heard while I was watching that TV broadcast and also ESPN that this was -- this is the best group of refs they have. And who knows who might show up for Sunday's games?
BURKE: Yes, that's certainly the mystery. It's been kind of a game- by-game process at this point. We're not sure who's going to be reffing each game. So hopefully that wasn't as good as it gets and now we are on a downward spiral for Sunday and Monday when the games start again.
But like I said, it was a good start for the replacement officials and for the NFL by relation there.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the game now because I was frankly surprised that Dallas pulled it out. BURKE: Yes, I think a lot of people were. But they played a really good game. The Giants looked sloppy. This is the first time in about a decade that the Super Bowl champions since the NFL started playing these early first games, the defending Super Bowl champions lost. And the Giants certainly deserved to come up on the short end of that one.
They just looked sloppy, didn't play very well on offense. It was a good win. An important win for the Cowboys to start the season.
COSTELLO: Okay. Last question, what's the game you're most excited to see that's coming up?
BURKE: I think there's a couple. Both the Monday night games that are coming up. There's two this week, which is unusual. So those will be fun. It's Cincinnati at Baltimore. And then San Diego at Oakland. And then Sunday night, Pittsburgh/Denver -- Peyton Manning's return, everybody's excited for that.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Chris Burke from SI.com. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.
BURKE: Sure, thank you.
COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts after a short break.
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