Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

August Jobs Report Misses Forecasts; Jobs Outlook Worse Than Expected; Obama Hits The Campaign Trail; Romney To Campaign In New Hampshire Today; "More Of The Same For Middle Class"; Romney Ads Blitz Eight Swing States; Drew Peterson Found Guilty Of Murder; Curiosity Leaves Its Mark On Mars; Tests Show Some Tar Balls Are From BP Spill; "A Choice Between Two Different Paths"; Middle Class Voters Rate President Obama's Speech; Serena Williams Dominates U.S. Open; Texting and Driving

Aired September 07, 2012 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, jobs, jobs, jobs, from Main Street to Wall Street, a new report sending shock waves to an already fragile America.

It's a vacation to Yosemite that so many people will never forget. Ten thousand people now at risk for a virus and this morning we're learning that a third person has died.

She is on fire now. Serena Williams won Olympic gold and now the tennis superstar is back in the semifinals at the U.S. Open.

It's one of the biggest nights for the music industry. The MTV Music Video Awards and politics are on a lot of minds here. NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning. Happy Friday. Thank you for joining me. I'm Carol Costello. This morning, a collision of politics and your pocket book, a bleak jobs report raises new questions about the economy and a president who is pleading with Americans to be patient. We're covering both angles.

Chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi, has the numbers and on the campaign trail, Dan Lothian, has the fallout. But let's begin with the numbers and what they mean for you. Our business guru, Ali Velshi, is here. It's tough to spin these numbers anyway, but in a negative --

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right. When you said it's a collision of the economy and your pocketbook, the politics and the numbers here are hard to separate.

Ninety six thousand net new jobs were created in August. That is the number of jobs created, number of positions created minus the number of positions that were eliminated. So not a bad number overall.

Take a look at that chart though. It's been very choppy since the beginning of 2011. We have had 30 straight months of job creation. That is what the White House is touting, but here is the problem. We were expecting at a minimum 120,000 new jobs.

I saw estimates going up to about 142,000 and after some good job news earlier in the week, there were many people who thought it would be a lot better. Now here's the reality, 96,000 jobs created. Lower than expected.

Now that means the unemployment rate, this is the counterintuitive part. The unemployment rate went down to 8.1 percent. It was 8.3 percent. That is not great news and the reason why it went down is because people left the work force, 368,000 people left the work force in August.

Now there are a number of reasons why you would drop out of the work force. Sometimes because you're retiring, sometimes because you're going to school, but sometimes it's because you're just disillusioned.

Right now, the labor participation rate of people available to work is 63.5 percent are working, that is the lowest since 1981. It will take some parsing to figure out exactly what that means.

The third bullet point here is one that is concerning. We have been growing manufacturing jobs for a while in the United States for a couple years. We lost 15,000 of them. Mostly auto parts manufacturers in August.

So that is concerning. Before we hand it over to Dan for politics, Carol, I want you to think about this. There are two more jobs reports before the election. In fact, the last one is four days before the election.

If President Obama -- if 261,000 jobs are created in the next two months, President Obama will make the claim that all jobs eliminated on his watch have been replaced.

In other words, we're back to break even. He'll make a big deal out of that if it happens, 261,000 jobs, 130 roughly for the next two jobs reports. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but that's going to be a big deal for the Democrats -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Ali Velshi, thank you very much. We want to take you live to Charlotte, North Carolina now because the president and his family are preparing now to leave.

There you see Air Force One. I think the president and his family have already -- there they go. President Obama and Michelle Obama boarding the plane, they are taking off for Portsmouth, New Hampshire where, of course, President Obama will hit the campaign trail.

That is where Dan Lothian is already. He is waiting for the president to arrive. Hi, Dan Lothian. So I'm sure that the White House has already put out a statement on this jobs report. What's it saying?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, this is not the kind of numbers here that would really put some wind in the sails of the president as he bounces out of the Democratic National Convention.

I will tell you that I've heard from two officials who tell me that the president will in fact address those jobs numbers during his first stop here post the DNC convention here in New Hampshire. So he will be addressing those job numbers. We'll be listening for what he has to say.

But we heard from the president's economic adviser, Allen Krueger, who said in a statement in part, quote, "While there is more work, there remains to be done, today's employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the great depression."

Going on to highlight, 4.6 million jobs have been created in the private sector. The message that we will no doubt hear from the president as he campaigns here in New Hampshire then goes on to Iowa and then to Florida --

COSTELLO: We're having technical problems with Dan Lothian. We lost him. You get the gist of that. President Obama will be in New Hampshire campaigning and he will address those jobs numbers.

Mitt Romney will also be on the campaign trail and I'm sure he is going to address the jobs number. Jim Acosta is traveling with Mitt Romney. Jim, I think Romney has already responded.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. You're right. He is going to be talking about this probably a lot today. He's got an event in Iowa near Sioux City in a couple hours from now.

He'll be back here in New Hampshire later on this evening. He is in the air right now and we're here on the ground in New Hampshire because quite frankly we wouldn't be able to report to you if we were up in the air all day long.

He's going to be in the skies for seven hours today, Carol, but he did put out a statement earlier this morning. I'll read it to you. We'll put it up on screen if we can.

He said, quote, "If last night was the party this morning is the hangover. For every net new job created nearly four Americans gave up looking for work entirely. This is more of the same for middle class families who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the great depression.

After 43 straight months of unemployment above 8 percent, it is clear that President Obama just hasn't lived up to his promises and his policies haven't worked."

What is interesting in that statement, Carol, you saw that Mitt Romney talked about that number of 8 percent. Mitt Romney and the Republicans have been talking about this for a couple years now that this is a number that President Obama cannot beat.

So but there is one concern for Mitt Romney in this jobless report today, the unemployment rate did tick down to 8.1 percent. So it is getting very close to that 8 percent number that they keep throwing out there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Jim Acosta is reporting live for us this morning.

Outside of New Hampshire the Romney campaign is preparing a media blitz releasing 15 new television ads so Ohio, Florida, North Carolina you get ready. You and other battleground states are about to be bombarded with commercials, slamming the president's job creation skills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here in Ohio we're not better off under President Obama. His failed economic and trade policies with China have destroyed thousands of jobs. The Romney plan? Stand up to China. Create over 450,000 new jobs. Keep Ohio jobs in Ohio.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Tara Wall is the senior communications adviser for the Romney campaign. Welcome, Tara.

TARA WALL, SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: Thanks for having me, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. It's one thing to criticize President Obama's performance in creating jobs and it's another to deliver a specific plan. When will we hear Governor Romney's plan, the whole plan to create jobs?

WALL: Well, first of all, let me just say I concur with Governor Romney when, you know, here in Charlotte people are literally waking up this morning unfortunately to essentially what he equated to a hangover when you have over 360,000 people now out of the work force and 42 straight months of unemployment over 8 percent.

So, you know, look, at the end of the day, Governor Romney has certainly articulated over and over again whether it is a 59-point plan spelled out on the website to bulleted five-point plan that talks about energy independence and tax reform and education reform as ways to get this economy back started again.

COSTELLO: Tara, voters often hear from the governor how -- let me just ask you this. We often hear how job creators are eager to create jobs if only regulations were eased and taxes reduced.

But many voters are skeptical of that. They don't quite believe it. If take a look at big business today and I'm talking big, it is doing fine with fewer employees so how does Governor Romney convince them to hire right away?

WALL: Well, I think what voters don't believe is that the failed policies that President Obama is continuing to articulate have not worked for them over the past four years. When you look at where we are now --

COSTELLO: But I'm not asking you that.

WALL: That's what we should be talking about though, Carol, because listen, people want jobs. And there are a number -- there are a number of ways that we go about fixing this economy. And what has happened is president Obama's plans have not worked. When you talk about Obama care which he did not talk about --

COSTELLO: Tell us why Governor Romney's plan will work.

WALL: Sure. I personally believe that as a leader of the -- as a governor who has business acumen, who has the experience, who has brought down unemployment, who has stimulated economies, who has turned around the Olympics, I believe that his leadership shows that he has the ability and the capability to do that.

I think when you talk about some of these pro growth principles this free market enterprise system, these are things that most Americans I think can embrace and do embrace particularly small business owners who have been struggling in this economy.

These are the folks who talk about wanting to ease the tax burden on them so they can hire, so they can create --

COSTELLO: If you're going to cut taxes you have to find money to make up for that, right? Mitt Romney talks about these tax loop holes he is going to close. But he doesn't say which tax loop holes he is going to close and this leaves many voters wondering like what exactly is your plan?

WALL: Listen, I think again, Carol, this is, when you talk about these issues and these -- like in a snap shot this way, these are shiny balls. What the public wants to know is where is the plan? What are we going to do?

He has articulated that. If they want specific details again we have a 59-point plan and you can have it in snippets in five- point chunks. I think again the American people --

COSTELLO: You know as well as I do that in that 59-point plan very few voters are going to read that and there aren't specifics in there that really tell us how --

WALL: That's why we have broken it down into those five points. I talked about energy independence, education reform. We've talked about small business growth. We've talked about tax reform. Those are all issues that are outlined in that five simple bullets.

That is the way to get started. At the end of the day the biggest thing people need to know is that we will -- the governor will repeal or replace Obama care and begin to get the economy back on track.

COSTELLO: All right, Tara Wall, thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

WALL: You bet.

COSTELLO: The president states his case to the American people. Well, I guess, he's not going to do it right now. But we will hear more on the president's plans for a second term and hear from both sides about the president's convention address last night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's 15 minutes past the hour. Time to check our top stories.

An Illinois jury has found Drew Peterson guilty of murder in the 2004 death of his ex-wife Kathleen Savio. Her death was originally ruled an accident, but the case was reopened in 2007 when investigators were searching for Peterson's fourth wife who had gone missing. Choking back tears the Savio family was visibly relieved outside the courtroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK SAVIO, KATHLEEN SAVIO'S HALF BROTHER: I want to thank everybody that stood behind us on this. It's bitter sweet like I said before. I'll never have my sister again. I still have to go see her in the cemetery, but at least I know she got justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The jury deliberated for nearly 14 hours before delivering the verdict.

The Mars "Curiosity" rover is leaving its mark on the red planet. Take a look at this picture. If you look closely, you can see the rover's tracks imprinted in the dust as it slowly across Mars. NASA says that they will observe the tracks over time to see how the surface changes.

Lab tissue that some of the tar balls found on the Louisiana Coast after Hurricane Isaac did originate from the 2010 BP oil spill. Officials say Isaac either washed up or uncovered the oily mess last week. BP plans to test the samples too saying there's a lot of oil out there that may not be ours.

And Usain Bolt may be the fastest man alive, but he's got nothing on cheetah. This robot appropriately named "Cheetah" broke its own speed record clocking in at 28.3 miles per hour. This cheetah is the fastest four-legged robot in history.

He got a chance to tell American voters his plan for a brighter future, now the president is getting ready to hit the campaign trail again.

Today is the morning after his big night in Charlotte where he took his bid for re-election directly to the voters. His mission, to carry the convention's momentum straight to the voting booths 60 days from now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: America, I never said this journey would be easy and I won't promise that now. Yes, our path is harder, but it leads to beater place. Yes our road is longer but we travel it together. We don't turn back.

I have cut taxes for those who need it. Middle class families, small businesses, but I don't believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores or pay down our deficit.

I don't believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming out of China.

You can choose a future where we reduce our deficit without sticking it to the middle class. Independent experts say that my plan would cut our deficit by $4 trillion. Now we have a choice.

My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy. But from all that we've seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly. Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. We did.

I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11 and we have. I'm asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country, goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit, real, achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation.

That's what we can do in the next four years and that is why I am running for a second term as president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The president took a different tone with his convention address, a tone CNN's David Gergen and Ari Fleischer both noted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Very strong speech. Anderson, there's been an arc in his speeches at conventions. He started out eight years ago in Boston and he was magical.

He came to Denver and I thought he was compelling as a candidate. Tonight, he was presidential. And it's a different aurora, more dignified speech, but he is also a president, he is more mature. He's not promising as much.

ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER BUSH WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: Save for the portion at the end when he spoke movingly about this is about you and a page out of Ronald Reagan when he identified with individuals and struggles in their lives.

I thought the rest was same old same old. The same speech, many of the same promises this country has heard for four years. In that sense I think it's a hit and a miss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The president and vice president will head to New Hampshire. In fact, they're already on the plane and they're going to hold a campaign rally not only in New Hampshire, but in Iowa as well.

So it's interesting to hear what the pundits have to say, but for the candidates it is much more interesting to hear what the voters have to say. We're going to talk to three voters when we come back, a Republican, a Democrat, and undecided. How do they feel after the RNC and DNC? We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you, what did you take away from the Democratic National Convention? Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick led the rallying cry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: My message is this. It's time for Democrats to grow a back bone and stand up for what we believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And stand up they did like bulldogs. Speaker after speaker attacked Republicans even at times spicing things up with some colorful lingo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDNET: When Congressman Ryan looked into that TV camera and attacked President Obama's Medicare savings as, quote, "the biggest, coldest power play," I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. You got to get one thing. It takes some brass to attack a guy for what you did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Yes. There was what conservatives called the Howard Dean moment from former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, FORMER MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: All across America autos are back. Manufacturing is rebounding. Why? You know what I'm saying!

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Or maybe you could call it the Democrats' Clint Eastwood moment. I'll leave that up to you. The real question is whether voters took away anything new from the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I'm asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country, goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security and the deficit, real, achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. That's what we can do in the next four years and that is why I am running for a second term as president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Talk back question for you this morning, what did you take away from the Democratic National Convention? Facebook.com/carol cnn. Your comments later this hour.

You heard the GOP talk about the middle class and last night, the Democrats made their pitch to the key group of voters. We'll find out what three members of the middle class think about what they heard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It didn't take long for Republicans to go on the attack after that disappointing jobs report this morning, 96,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy this month and vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, he came out swinging. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not even close to what a recovery looks like. We would need to actually have 150,000 jobs created just to keep in pace with population growth.

This is not what President Obama promised. I would argue this is the result of failed leadership in Washington, bad fiscal policy coming from the administration, and that is why we have this very tepid report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: President Obama will be on the campaign trail in New Hampshire today. He'll also be in Iowa campaigning. According to our White House correspondent Dan Lothian, the president will respond to that jobs report.

Stock market has a mixed opening after that disappointing jobs report and that's after all the talk of jobs at the DNC last night. Both Vice President Biden and President Obama are trying to sell voters on their economic policies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Look, President Obama knows that creating jobs in America, keeping jobs in America, bringing jobs back to America is what the president's job is all about.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I'm asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country -- goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security and the deficit. Real, achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. That's what we can do in the next four years and that is why I am running for a second term as president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ok. So did the President win any votes? Joining me now are middle class talk back members Moira Bindner who is a Democrat and she suffered through long stretches of unemployment and has a house under water. Nana Boone an upper middle class working mom who voted for Obama in 2008 but is open to voting Republican. Welcome to you both.

NANA BOONE, UNDECIDED VOTER: Thanks.

MOIRA BINDNER, VOTES DEMOCRAT: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Ok. Moira, I'd like to start with you because you voted for President Obama. When you see numbers like the jobs report only 96,000 jobs created this month, what goes through your mind? Does that affect the way you feel about President Obama?

BINDNER: I think that what it does is it tells me that this is a long road and it's not as easy as we hoped it would be. And you know, I wish it was an easier answer. I wish that I had a job with health care benefits. I don't. You know, it's hard out there.

And it's challenging when the Republicans say, you know, we're going to invest more and we're going to create more jobs but at the same time we hear that companies have money to hire nine million people but they're not hiring and because they can do more with less.

And I feel like I'm one of those people that's trying to do more with a lot less and you know, I wish the recovery was faster. But it's not all President Obama that has stifled this growth. You know, it is the economy of, you know, companies investing in things and the Congress moving things forward or not moving things forward.

COSTELLO: Nana, I'd like to ask you this question. You were going to go to see President Obama's speech so it's likely you're leaning in that direction, right? But you're still open. So what are you not hearing from Mitt Romney that makes you more interested in perhaps voting for him?

BOONE: You know, I think what happened last week with Mitt Romney, it was an opportunity to really lay out a clear plan for how he is going to impact change for the country. And I felt that he fell flat really with his -- with his speech.

He definitely went on the attack. It's evident he is anti- Obama, anti-anything that Obama has done over the past four years. And while they talk about all of those things they are not talking about what the Republican Party is going to do differently or what Mitt Romney is going to do successfully for me as an American.

Now, with Obama obviously he had the advantage of being able to go second and his speech yesterday I think was ten times better. It's hard for me to even remember what Mitt Romney talked about after hearing the speeches from this week.

And he's not only going off of what he has done over the past four years but what he plans to continue doing and what he plans to do differently. And I think that that speaks volumes. You know, it's interesting hearing from Moira directly who is in a position of not having a job with -- with medical benefits right now and she is still in support of Obama. That speaks volumes to me as well. That says a lot.

So I think Mitt Romney has a lot more he needs to deliver in order to move the needle for undecided voters.

COSTELLO: Skip Becker is with us. We've lost him for a second. He's our -- he's our Republican. He's a semiretired small business person. Welcome, Skip. We're glad that we got you. We're really happy to hear from you.

SKIP BECKER, REPUBLICAN: Thanks, Carol. It's good to be here.

COSTELLO: Ok. So as our resident Republican, did you listen to Obama's speech? And what did you think?

BECKER: I did. I listened -- I listened to his speech. You know, I think we've -- we've heard a lot of the President's speeches over the last four years and we've gotten kind of used to his rhetoric. I think it was a very good speech. It was well-delivered.

I believe that he was able to make meaning for us in a way that we are used to and I think that he is laying down that kind of choice/choose option that we're faced with right now in the elections that are -- will come to us in November.

COSTELLO: So you're a Republican. Would you think of voting for President Obama?

BECKER: Oh, yes. I think I have always thought that both candidates represent some very unique political positions. The question I -- I think finally lies with the -- to the extent to which either one of them is going to be the leader that we will need in order to come out of this recession in a strong manner and set the tone for those generations to come for -- for my grandkids for instance.

COSTELLO: Well, Moira, Mitt Romney would say, the President has had his chance. I mean, with a lousy jobs report again. How many chances do you give the President? So why -- why vote for President Obama this time around?

BINDNER: I think that it is -- we had -- we had built up such a habit of buying things when we didn't have the money to buy it that it is taking a long time to really rectify the problem in this economy. And you know, people having a lot more than other people and not realizing that we are all in community. And I think that's one thing I took away from last night is that as a community we need to band together and the middle class I think has -- has gotten the shaft from what Jennifer Granholm said and I think that President Obama and Vice President Biden, for me, have a lot more credibility in understanding where I'm coming from and really bringing my message to the table.

Vice President Biden's introduction last night talked about, you know, what do you do when you have to go into your child's room and say you can't -- we can't afford the soccer this summer? Well that happened to me. I don't -- my daughter doesn't do any kind of after school programs other than I tried to do some swimming lessons for her this summer. But she doesn't get to go to camp every week to a different camp. You know? So I feel like the President and the Vice President really understand where I'm coming from a lot more.

COSTELLO: And Nana, just a final question to you. Because I'm sure that there are viewers out there who looking at you and saying oh, she's African-American. Of course she's going to vote for Obama. Why even pretend you're thinking about Romney?

BOONE: That's not the case. And unfortunately, that is a stereotype that I think plagues African-Americans across the country. At the end of the day, change is not an overnight process, so we gave Obama four years to try and move the needle and I think he has moved the needle.

Now has he solved every issue? No. But I didn't expect him to. And I was open to Mitt Romney because as I said in the past he comes with a -- with a good business mind and because he's been successful in the business realm I wanted to hear what ideas he had and what plan he had that he wanted to put in place for the country.

Unfortunately, I still feel that there is a strong disconnect between his mind set and what every average American is experiencing. And until I see that connection, unfortunately, I am going to have to lean away from Mitt Romney and lean more towards re-electing Obama.

COSTELLO: Nana Boone, Moira Bindner, Skip Becker -- thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us this morning. We appreciate it.

BECKER: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: This week in Charlotte it was not just delegates who flew in to support the President's re-election bid. It was also some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARY J. BLIGE, SINGER: Don't be shy, come on. Hey. Listen come on everybody get on down --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ok let's -- let me just say I'm glad you didn't see me dancing there. That's Mary J. Blige. The Democrats would say, hey, we know how to party because the DNC wasn't only political. It was also quite the celebrity thing.

Take a look at some of the Hollywood stars who addressed delegates in Charlotte this week -- Kal Penn, Eva Longoria, Kerry Washington, Scarlett Johansen -- just to name a few. Eva Longoria used her time to attack Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: Mitt Romney would raise taxes on middle class families to cut his own and mine. And that's not who we are as a nation and let me tell you why. Because the Eva Longoria who worked at Wendy's flipping burgers, she needed a tax break but the Eva Longoria who works on movie sets does not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It's the perfect time to go to Nischelle Turner in Los Angeles. Because Nischelle I want to ask you about this moment from the Democratic National Convention. It involved Eva Longoria and Jessica Alba. It appeared that they were petting one another. Isn't that strange?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN SHOWBIZ CORRESPONDENT: They're girlfriends. Yes, she kind of was stroking her arm. It was a little odd but maybe she was comforting, soothing, maybe she had nice lotion on. I don't know. But they are good friends.

COSTELLO: Very good friends.

TURNER: Yes. I think she's feeling, maybe she just had a scrub at a spa and she wanted to feel how soft her skin was. I don't know.

COSTELLO: It looked very, very soft.

Let's talk about the MTV Video Music Awards because they were very entertaining as well.

TURNER: Yes, very entertaining. You know I was on the red carpet last night for the MTV VMA. And Carol I'll say it was work but just between us girls truth moment I had so much fun.

You know one direction was the big winner on the show last night. They each took home three Moon Man trophies. Rihanna took home the biggest award of the night. She won Video of the Year for "We Found Love". And you know her relationship with Chris Brown once again has everyone talking this morning. As she was walking off the stage with her trophy Chris Brown congratulated her with what looked like a quick kiss on the lips. It shocked me. I know. I'm sure everybody else was shocked as well.

Now the other big Chris Brown moment came as host Kevin Hart talked about that night club brawl between him and Drake. There were reports that the fight was over Rihanna but Kevin Hart told him to fix the feud last night because he was tired of it. He said that he heard about the fight and he thought that it was overly environment -- that's what he said.

Now as he ended the show in time to watch the President's speech at the Democratic convention. He told the crowd to vote in the election and he said the result is, quote, "In our hands".

And Carol I have to say on the red carpet talking with all of the celebrities there politics was on the forefront. I talked to Tom Petty last night who was absolutely thrilled that "Won't Back Down" was used at the Democratic National Convention. And yes, you know, the election was being talked about by people like Pink and Alicia Keyes and Miley Cyrus. Lots of people talking to everyone saying get out and vote no matter who you vote for especially they were talking to the young people.

COSTELLO: Oh I hope they do. Nischelle Turner fun as always. Thank you.

TURNER: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Ok. So everyone lives but this was one horrifying moment caught on camera. A semi crashes right into a state trooper.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Ok. Here is this video I was talking about. Watch.

Oh, that's scary. A semi slamming right into a state trooper during a traffic stop. You can see the trooper there. See him on the guard rail? And then he just collapsed. It happened in Maryland back in June but this video was just released. The trooper is ok, he's still recovering. The truck driver paid a fine.

Now to sports. The surprising Baltimore Orioles back in a first place tie in the AL East. The Birds pulled even in the standings with New York after beating the Yankees at a sold out Camden Yards crowd. The Orioles hit six -- count them six -- home runs in a 10-6 victory. The teams play game two of the big series tonight.

Hard to believe Serena Williams was on her death bed from a mystery illness just a year ago. She's now destroying her opponents at the U.S. Open. It's amazing. Serena steam rolled through her first five matches and plays in the semi-finals later today.

Our Don Riddell is outside Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows. Can anybody beat Serena?

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not the way she is playing right now, Carol. She has been absolutely brilliant in this tournament so far. As you say she has obviously won her first five matches. She has only dropped 16 games. She is absolutely thrashing her opponents here at Flushing Meadows. I'd say she's looking very, very likely to make a safe U.S. Open final.

She's had a great summer. Remember she won the Wimbledon title. Then she won two gold medals at the Olympics. Also played at Wimbledon. She has been the best player on tour since the French Open.

I think she'd love to get to another final here and win it given that the last two tournaments she has played here at the U.S. Open have ended in rather ugly exchanges with the chair umpire. I'm sure she'd like to forget those exchanges. I know that all of her fans would. They just want to see America's biggest tennis star winning here again. And the way she is playing, she's looking very likely to do so.

COSTELLO: So she has no reason to get angry at any of the judges.

Let's talk about the men's side. Impressive showing for the defending champion last night.

RIDDELL: Yes. Novak Djokovic had a really tough match last night. He, of course, is the defending champion up against the 2009 champ Juan Martin Del Potro. It lasted over three hours. There were only three sets but Djokovic had to work so hard for it.

One of the points, which I think you're showing now was an absolute epic. There was 20 shots in that point. You thought it was over in about five different occasions but Djokovic held on, held on; he fought for it and fought for it and he finally won that point. It was a crucial point as well coming in the second set tie-break.

He is through to the semi-finals to play David Ferrer. He is looking absolutely brilliant on the hard court. He's won the last three hard court grand slam tournaments. The way he is playing you wouldn't bet against him to do it again but remember Andy Murray is in the other half of the draw. He is playing with new-found confidence having won the Olympic title against Roger Federer. I would expect to see those two in the final.

COSTELLO: Wow, I'm just watching the highlights here. What an amazing match. You're right. That's just terrific -- unbelievable. Two others at the Open making their marks, too. They're on the court but most of us have never really heard of them.

RIDDELL: Well, none of us have heard of them before. But we're starting to see a lot of them. They're not players but they are becoming celebrities. We're talking about two amputee ball boys and ball girls. We have Denise Castelli who's a 26-year-old who lost her leg to an infection after it was broken a couple of years ago. And also Ryan McIntosh who used to serve in the U.S. Military until he stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan two years ago.

Both are proving that disabilities are something that can very much be overcome. Of course we've got the Paralympics going on at the moment, the athletes competing in London receiving the most amount of attention that Paralympians ever have. These two here are demonstrating you really can come back from these injuries.

Ryan McIntosh the guy that was in Afghanistan and lost his leg has been talking to us about how he finds it being out here. He was really saying, you know what; having been through what I've been through fighting in war this is nothing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN MCINTOSH, U.S. OPEN BALLPERSON: It sounded like a ball person. What is that? And so I went to a tryout and at the clinic they were like all right. Can you throw a tennis ball? That's when I used the word, you know, I have thrown a hand grenade so I think I can handle a tennis ball.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: You've got to remain cool under fire when you're a ball girl or ball boy. Remember you are very much on display in front of 15,000 fans. You have to run out on to the court and grab the ball. You don't want to run into anyone or trip up and make a fool of yourself. So I think he has a lot of experience and that will stand him in very good stead here.

He says he'd probably rather the people didn't notice his injury and his disability but he will also admit that he's quite pleased because it really is giving these guys a good profile.

COSTELLO: Thanks for leaving us with a smile. Lots of them. Thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Texting behind the wheel. People know it's dangerous but they don't seem to want to put the phone down. Now the Transportation Department calls distracting driving an epidemic and insists that texting behind the wheel makes you 23 times more likely to crash.

Joining me now is CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And I guess people just must think they're invincible.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think so. People are used to multi-tasking in all different parts of their lives that I think they forget sometimes when you're driving a car exactly what's happening in terms of your brain energy.

There was an interesting study. And you know, full disclosure, I mean I've done this myself. I don't do it anymore because of what I've learned over the past several months but your brain activity as a simple sort of rule decreases close to 40 percent in terms of your attention to driving when you are texting.

The problem is even when you're receiving a text just looking at it on average takes about five seconds of your attention and if you're driving 55 miles an hour that is the length of a football field. So even if you sort of pay attention in front of you for the -- before you read the text you travel a long distance.

And so it's quite astonishing how many people are affected by this.

COSTELLO: And you have a special report on this, this weekend.

GUPTA: Special report on this, this weekend. 500,000 people injured. 6,000 people killed. There are some solutions out there as well. I mean even that apps we found in terms of actually disabling your phone when you go over a certain speed. Sometimes that's what it takes to just absolutely get you off the phone.

COSTELLO: That'll do it, yes. Can't wait to see it.

GUPTA: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Sanjay.

We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: what did you take away from the Democratic National Convention?

Facebook.com/Carol cnn. Your comments next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: "Talk Back" question today: what did you take from the Democratic National Convention?

This from Cecil. "Zero. Same old stuffing with the same old turkey."

This from timothy. "I came away with a whole heck of a lot more confidence in the future than I did from the RNC."

From Maria, "The Republicans made great points but Democrats showed me that the biggest strength of this country comes from the richness of the cultures that made America the best country in the world."

And from Mary, "I learned that Obama cares about working people and the Romney/Ryan team care more about the wealthy. It's working people who built this country and it's working people who make the rich richer."

If you want to continue the conversation, Facebook.com/CarolCNN; thanks for your comments. And thanks for joining me.

"CNN NEWSROOM" continues right now with Ashleigh Banfield.