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August Jobs Report Disappoints; Obama Makes Case for Re- Election; U.S. Adds to Terror Group List; Rockets Rain Down on Aleppo; Underemployed In America; Obama Campaigns In New Hampshire

Aired September 07, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Suzanne Malveaux. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

We are in this altogether. That is the message the Democrats are pushing on the final night. Of course, the Democratic National Convention isn't enough to change the mind however of voters and soften the blow of what we are seeing now, which is a mediocre job report.

We're going to get straight to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I won't pretend the path I'm offering is quick or easy. I have never had. You didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear, you elected me to tell you the truth.

(APPLAUSE)

And the truth is it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: President Obama making his case for a second term in office, but a disappointing jobs report out today could make the argument a lot tougher.

The president is back. He's on the campaign trail after his acceptance speech. That was at the end of a Democratic National Convention.

I'm going to hear, first, reaction to this August jobs report live this hour. The report showing that the economy added just 96,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate dipped to 8.1 percent.

I want to bring in Ali Velshi to talk about the numbers.

And, first of all, Ali, what does this mean? The unemployment rate went down, but a lot of people and analysts are not saying this is necessarily good news.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In fact, forget the unemployment rate, I often say that. The unemployment rate measures the number of people who are actively looking for work. If you leave the workforce, because you are disenchanted or whatever the case is, you don't get that and the number goes down. So, ignore that.

The thing that is absolute is the number of jobs created or lost in a given month. Let me show you a chart of how that looked. Ninety-six thousand jobs are created. The estimates were poor, and look at that, it's all the way on the right side of your screen. That is that bar. It's 96,000 jobs created. We had estimated somewhere between 120,000 and 145,000, some people thought it was higher than that. You need 150,000 a month just to keep your unemployment rate steady generally speaking, to make up for the people who came into the workforce versus those who are leaving.

So this is not where the number needs to be.

Just to put it in context, Mitt Romney has promised that if he were to become president, he would create 12 million jobs over four years. That is 250,000 jobs a month, every month, for four years. I by the way don't think that's even possible in this environment, but that's where 96,000 falls in.

Let me just tell you a couple of other things. The unemployment rate went down because 368,000 people, Suzanne, left the workforce. Now, like I said, some of those people will leave because think are retiring. Some of them are going to school, but many are leaving because there is no jobs for them, they can't move, they can't sell their house, so they don't do that.

We also saw a drop in manufacturing which is not great. We have seen the manufacturing bottom out, but we had started to see some manufacturing jobs come back and we saw some weakness there.

The labor participation rate, the number of people of the number of people available to work, the number of people who are working, the percentage is 63.5 percent. That's the lowest since 1981, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Ali, I want a chance for Mitt Romney to respond to some of these numbers of the report. So, listen, this is from Sioux City, Iowa, just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't think QE3 as is being described is going to have the economic impact that I think that the nation is looking for. I think that what we have found is that QE2 was less effective than we had hoped that might have been to create jobs. And frankly, what we are looking for is a kind of commitment in Washington to fixing the structural problems that are making it hard for our economy to recover. And some of those problems are put in place by the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. So, Ali, break that down for us, QE3 and QE2. Describe what he the difference of what he's talking about.

VELSHI: Right. QE3 is quantitative easing. The 3 refers to the third installment. We've done this twice before.

What quantitative easing means is easing interest rates, making money more available. What that means is the Federal Reserve goes out, and we sometimes call it printing money, puts money out there, gives it to banks, in exchange for bonds, and the banks have more money available to lend. That means more people can borrow the money, they expand their businesses, they can hire people, they can do things like that.

It's a long trickle-down process. It's not -- you don't put up, you know, the Fed might announce it is doing it next week. It doesn't tend to immediately result in jobs.

So, I think -- I have to agree with Mitt Romney, the Fed might actually engage in the third round of quantitative easing, it's still not going to necessarily solve the jobs problem.

MALVEAUX: Do we think that there's any chance in the next couple of months that you could see that unemployment number again dip down and see a number that actually would help the Obama administration and making the case that they are doing enough, they are doing all they can in terms of turning the economy around?

VELSHI: Yes, look -- so there are two more jobs reports. The last one comes four days before the election, on the Friday before the election. If the -- in those two months, the U.S. gains 261,000 jobs, Obama will make the claim that all of the jobs lost under his watch have been replaced. So ever since he came into office they have replaced all of the jobs.

That's a milestone that can help the president and his re- election campaign. And if we see two strong months of job creation, that starts to look like a trend. If we are lower in the next two months, then 96,000 or 100,000, that's going to be problematic for the president.

But at the moment, if you were a glass half full person, you'd the unemployment rate is down, 96,000 jobs are created. If you are the rest of us, you sit there and say, that's just not enough.

MALVEAUX: All right. Ali, thank you. Good to see you.

The Obama and the Romney campaigns -- they are both putting their spin on today's jobs report.

And the White House points to the 30 straight months of private sector job growth. The Romney is pointing to the 43 months of unemployment that is above 8 percent.

Now, last night, President Obama, he made the case for giving him more time to fix the economy. He says he needs more time, also tried to get the supporters fired up by framing the election as a choice between two very different directions for this country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If you reject the notion that this nation's promise is reserved for the few, your voice must be heard in this election. If you reject the notion that our government is forever beholden to the highest bidder, you need to stand up in this election. If you believe that new plants and factories can dot our landscape, that new energy can power our future, that new schools can provide ladders of opportunity to this nation of dreamers -- if you believe in a country where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules, then I need you to vote this November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Joining me to talk about that is Republican strategist Ana Navarro and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

You know, I wish I was with you guys, it's not the same.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: We do, too.

(LAUGHTER)

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's not the same without you here in person, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: You know, they took away the CNN grill. It was a great time in the last three or so days. We had a chance to chat about this.

You know, it was interesting yesterday. The crowd certainly responded to the president, and he made this case. Give him more time. Essentially give him more time, he's not done yet, he got a mess, and he really needs more time to fix this.

And was it convincing to you?

NAVARRO: Look, it was -- it was convincing to the base. I don't think that it reached the independent voters as much. We saw it in a focus group being held at the CNN grill. The independent voters seemed to be precisely in the same place before the two conventions, which is not a good thing, I guess. You know, we're still fighting for a very small pocket of voters.

It was a hard speech for Obama to give. I think he did what he needed to do. He -- you know, it is not an easy thing to go out there after having sold hope and change for four years ago and now sell, well, gee, guys, don't give up on me and I sure hope you don't change me. And that's what he had to do last night, he also was competing against the Barack Obama from four years ago, the Barack Obama from eight years ago, and the Bill Clinton from the night before, and Michelle Obama.

We heard some very good speeches at that convention. Barack Obama's was not the best speech, but I think it was a good enough speech.

MALVEAUX: And, Maria, talk about a little bit about how he talked that you are the change. You are the ones who changed everything. He put it back on people. Do you think that was that effective, that point?

CARDONA: I do, Suzanne. And I think that it was effective, because it had not been something that we have heard from him before. And I agree with Ana in that there is no way to compare the speech last night to the one he either did in 2004 or 2008. 2008 was lightning in a bottle, and they know that they could not have tried to recreate that, and what he tried to do was pragmatic. I call it poetic pragmatism, because he did have that poetic, but he was also very pragmatic.

He asked for people to take ownership with him of that hope and change, and in doing that, he sort of was Kennedy-esque in saying, we're in this together, it's not we shouldn't ask how we can do this alone, but how we can do this together.

It was sort of a change on the famous Kennedy line. And I also think that he was humble. He talked about his failings, and that's something that we haven't really heard from the president.

So, I do think he was effective in what he needed to do last night and in asking voters to give him another four years, because change doesn't a happen as quickly as the big hole that we put ourselves in frankly because of the Republican strategies that all of the Democrats have been talking about this week.

MALVEAUX: And he put it back on --

NAVARRO: I think he sounded a lot more like Caroline Kennedy who was one of the flatter speakers of the night than he did Ted Kennedy or a John F. Kennedy, but it was Kennedy-esque.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Let's listen to when he actually turned this thing back on Mitt Romney. Let's listen to this part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: All they had to offer is the same prescriptions that they have had for the last 30 years. Have a surplus, try a tax cut. Deficit too high, try another. Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts and roll back some regulations and call us in the morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Ana, I mea, he is making the case here that the Romney campaign and the Republicans really, they are not really empathetic here, that you get sick, you catch a cold, we're going to make it worse-off for you. I mean, do you think this idea, this notion that they are using Clinton and math, that they are making sense here? That they are laying out this effective argument that if you just do the math, that the Republicans have not done what they need to in terms of the economy and creating jobs?

NAVARRO: That was a good line and that's part of what's to be in the convention speech, some memorable good line, some good lines. That was one of the good lines he had last night.

I'd tell you, Suzanne, after two weeks of back-to-back convention, I'm ready to take two aspirin myself and call you in December.

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: But, you know, that being said, look, he's -- yes, they are talking about math, but then we see the job numbers today, and we've got to talk about the math again. It's very hard to put a positive spin on the job numbers we just saw. And it also draws a stark dramatic difference between the pageantry, the flare, the speeches, all the words we've seen and what's really happening in the American households today.

MALVEAUX: And, Maria, weigh in.

CARDONA: I actually think --

MALVEAUX: Go ahead. I want you to also weigh in on the Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, the former Michigan governor and her dramatic impassioned speech that she had.

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: Well, you know, maybe if you give us a lot of Red Bull, we can start impersonating the Michigan governor.

CARDONA: To that point, I think that she did serve up a lot of the red meat to all of the lions in the room. And so, I think in that sense, she was very effective.

But to go back to the president's speech, look, he knew that today's job numbers probably weren't going to be what we wanted to. And so, I think, again, he rose to the occasion and asking us, look, tough decisions. I'm asking you the work with me. I never promised this to be easy.

And Romney frankly left an opening, because he has never asked anybody to put some skin in the game except for the middle class whose programs the Romney/Ryan budgets cut and their skin is already raw. So I think in that choice of vision, his speech along with the other speeches, was very effective.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you both of you, Red Bull and aspirin, that's the takeaway here obviously from both of the conventions. You guys are the last ones standing.

CARDONA: I agree with that.

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: Michigan governor served a lot more Red Bull than red meat.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you both. Good to see you.

One of the most emotional moments of the convention and one of my favorite moments actually is when the surprise guest took the stage. This is former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who was seriously injured in the shooting last year, it is amazing her recovery if you se her there, and her close friend Debbie Wassermann Schultz, of course, helped her across the stage.

She led the Pledge of Allegiance. Just listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: I --

FORMER REP. GABBY GIFFORDS (D), ARIZONA: I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It was pretty amazing. A lot of folks in the convention hall are crying at that moment.

Wassermann Schultz, herself, her dear friend has also had her own battles as well. She had breast cancer and survived breast cancer, and you see the two of them embracing to help her get off of the stage, really just a magical moment last night.

And, of course, all night, everybody waiting to hear from the president, but the speech that really revved up the crowd. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), FORMER MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: All across America, auto is back, manufacturing is rebounding. Why? You know what I'm saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRANHOLM: When the financial crisis hit, things got worse and fast. The entire auto industry and the lives of over 1 million hardworking Americans teetered on the edge of collapse, and with it the entire manufacturing sector of this country, and we looked everywhere for help.

Almost nobody had the guts to help us. Not the banks. Not the private investors and not Bain Capital.

(APPLAUSE)

But in 2009, the cavalry arrived and our new President Barack Obama came in. He organized the rescue. He made the tough calls, and he saved the American auto industry.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, you know, you know Mitt Romney, he saw the same crisis. And you know what he said -- let Detroit go bankrupt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, this is before she got fired up. The former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm -- I was in the hall last night and really she electrified the crowd that was in Charlotte. She was waving her arms, fist pumping, and really the cheers were pretty deafening, pretty amazing here -- louder than the vice president's response, louder than the president's response and standing ovations really lit up the room.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden -- they are actually in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, we are taking a look at a live event. We're going to bring that to you as soon as it starts.

You're taking a live look there as they are waiting. The crowd gathering to see what the president and the vice president are going to say following their big convention last night.

And a new group is going up on the terror watch list. We're going to tell you who they are, what kind of threat they pose to our country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We are waiting to hear from the president. He is back in the trail this morning. This is Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the president taking a few shots there at the Republicans and, of course, Mitt Romney last night.

Well, now, it's over, the GOP, they are coming back swinging as well.

Jim Acosta, live in Manchester. This is New Hampshire.

And, Jim, I understand Mitt Romney has got a whole bunch of new ads that are out. Are they tweaking the message now that the DNC is over?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They do have a slew of new ads out today, Suzanne, and they are targeting eight different battleground states. A lot of those ads are going to be airing in Virginia just to show you how important that state is to the Romney campaign and their strategy for winning in November.

But I have to tell you that, Suzanne, Mitt Romney just wrapped up a news conference on a tarmac out in Iowa just a little while ago. And he was asked about the jobs numbers, asked about the jobs report and also about the president's speech last night. You heard President Obama going after Mitt Romney accusing the GOP nominee of not offering enough specifics in terms of the economic plan.

Romney hit back at that, and he also offered up this assessment of the president's speech last night. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: You know, I'm just going to keep on talking about the things that I believe describe my vision for the future and have people get a chance to consider the lack of progress that's been occurring over the last 3 1/2 years.

If people -- you know, I think that the message from last night was that the president's plan is four more years of the four last years. I don't think that the American people want four more years of the four last years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And so it seems that Mitt Romney will be hitting the economy, hitting those jobs numbers that came out earlier this morning. He's got an event coming up in just a few moments out in western Iowa. Then he's going to be coming back here to New Hampshire.

Interesting to note that the president and Mitt Romney are in the same two battleground states today, Iowa and New Hampshire and I had a chance to talk to a senior Romney adviser via e-mail this morning and they are planning to talk about the economy all of the way to November when I was talking about this with the adviser, he said, yes, 60 days of talking about the economy -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Jim, is there anything that Mitt Romney and his campaign see as a vulnerability coming out of the DNC convention?

ACOSTA: Well, he was asked about a couple of those perceived vulnerabilities or at least areas where the Obama campaign has been hitting him. He was asked about not mentioning Afghanistan in a speech at this convention in Tampa, and he said, well, he gave a speech at the American Legion the day before, and he is going back to that and saying that he talked about that in front of the American Legion the day before the convention got going there in Tampa.

And he was also asked about and this is a surprise that this came up at the news conference, Suzanne, he was asked what the president said last night with respect to Romney having that gaffe in England when he seemed to be criticizing Britain, and their preparations for the Olympics, and Romney responded that he was offering only straight talk is what he called it when talking about the British preparations for the Olympic Games, and he said that the president should offer some straight talk of his own in dealing with China.

So, interesting to hear Mitt Romney asked about that and hit back so sharply at the president, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jim, we'll be following you closely. Thank you very much.

The United States government, of course, adding to its list the terrorist organizations. It is the so-called Haqqani Network. It is based in Pakistan. It is blamed for the deaths of American and NATO troops, as well as attacks on embassies in Afghanistan.

And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she's going to tell Congress that the Haqqani Network is now a terror organization.

Let me bring in our foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty. She's at the State Department.

And, Jill, first of all, explain to us who this organization is, where they're based, and why this is so critical?

JILL DOUGHERTY, FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: OK. Well, this is a group of people in the sense in the beginning, you could call them war lords, but they are quite well financed, they are quite well organized, and they are militants. They operate right along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Now, why they are being designated is because they are responsible for attacks against U.S. troops. They also have killed numerous Pakistanis and people in Afghanistan.

So, what does this designation mean? Essentially, it goes after the financial resources of the Haqqani Network, and it means that the order bans for example entry into the United States. That's not such a big deal. But it also freezes assets of the Haqqanis, the Haqqani Network, that might be in the United States or might be in other countries around the world that are controlled by the United States.

So, that's the idea to drive up their support and financing.

MALVEAUX: And, Jill, this is actually a controversial move. I mean, this is something that some critics say should have happened a long time ago. Why is this so sensitive?

DOUGHERTY: Well, there was a lot of debate within the administration, and one of the reasons is that in a sense you could almost argue this is already being done, because there is an executive order that actually freezes their assets individually for members of the Haqqani Network. Now, it's the entire group.

And the fear was that number one the Haqqanis are tied on several levels to Pakistan's ISI, the security organization, and it was -- there was fear that that might anger the Pakistanis, it might make relations between the United States and Pakistan even worse. Also, they are involved in negotiations to bring hopefully, eventually, the situation in Afghanistan to a close with diplomacy and this by designating them could drive them away.

Those were the arguments that they didn't win out, because the secretary decided that they met the -- what was required to be designated a terrorist organization.

MALVEAUX: Yes, I should note, Jill, some of those pictures we were watching there, were seeing the Haqqani Network also blamed for that terror attack against NATO and U.S. troops back on the anniversary of September 11th attacks last year when I was actually embedded in the military, that was one of those attacks on the U.S. embassy there in Afghanistan, the Haqqani Network was actually found responsible for that attack.

Jill, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

So, the question is: are you better off now than you were four years ago? Well, here's how Joe Biden answered the question last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We're going to hear more on the vice president's speech.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIDEN: Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you what I think that you already know, but I watch it up close. Bravery resides in the heart of Barack Obama and time and time again I witnessed him summon it. This man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart and a spine of steel. Because of all of the actions he took, because of the calls he made, because of the determination of American workers and the nonparalleled bravery of our special forces, we can now proudly say what you've heard me say the last six months: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.

I've got news for Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan, gentlemen, never, ever -- it never makes sense, it's never been a good bet to bet against the American people. Never.

My fellow Americans, America is coming back. And we are not going back. And we have no intention of downsizing the American dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Vice President Joe Biden of course delivering an impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention. As the Democrats closed the convention last night, they hammered hard on a couple of things. First of all, the military, as you heard, and President Obama's efforts to save General Motors. That was another big one. I want to bring in our political editor Paul Steinhauser, who's joing us from Charlotte, North Carolina. Paul, one of the last people standing there out in the field. Everybody's moving on.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you were here yesterday.

MALVEAUX: I know, I know, that's true. Well, I was there earlier this morning, believe it or not.

STEINHAUSER: That's true.

MALVAEUX: I want to talk about the troops here, because one of the things that happened was that you saw, we both saw Biden had tears in his eyes. The President Obama, he nearly had tears in his eyes when they both talked about this responsibility to the veterans and then you had a group of veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan all on stage there. Why such the build-up here? Why did they -- why do you think they made that point so strongly?

STEINHAUSER: Well, no surprise here. This was definitelyin response to what we saw in Tampa. They wanted to make the point here that this administration, this president, this vice president, are about the veterans, are about the troops serving overseas right now. They wanted to hammer that point over and over again. You saw it all three nights, but especially last night, the most important night of the convention, Suzanne, and it kind of fits with the other themes. You saw the President and the Vice President and others attacking Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan on foreign policy, saying that these two men are novices. And you saw war in Afghanistan come up as well a number of times. You remember there was criticism of Mitt Romney for not bringing up the war in Afghanistan in his acceptance address last week in Tampa. He says, of course, that he spoke about it in depth the day before at an American Legion event. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: I want to play a little bit of sound there, if we could, for Mitt Romney who's trying to explain why, oh, I understand that, I'm being told we actually don't have that sound. But anyway, I mean, that was one of the points that he brought up. He said earlier that he had made a point of mentioning that the evening before and that was one of the reasons at least that he did not address it at the RNC.

Let's talk about the other thing that was really a big deal, which is the auto bailouts. It was no accident that you had the former governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm out there as one of the major speakers kind of revving up people, pointing to Michigan. And a lot of people talking about the importance of the auto bailout. Is this about emphasizing the things that are working, the things that the administration has done as opposed to focusing on the jobs numbers?

STEINHAUSER: Exactly. This is one of their crowning achievements, they say, and that's why you saw Granholm. You also Ted Strickland, the former governor of Ohio, talk about it. Vice President Biden spent a lot of his speech discussing it. President Obama, I mean, countless people brought it up over and over again. They see the auto bailouts, remember, this started under President Bush in 2008, but President Obama when he took over in 2009 really adopted it and kept it going. The auto bailouts of GM and of Chrysler -- the see this as one thr crowning achievements. And, Suzanne, there is politics here as well, obviously. Where are two states -- Michigan and Ohio, two very important battleground states, have a ton of auto workers. So there's politics here. They think emphasizing the auto bailouts could help them to victory in those two very important states.

MALVEAUX: And Paul, one of the things that the President emphasized, he used the word "choice" ten times at least in the speech last night. Why the turn there?

STEINHAUSER: This is what they want. This is what the Obama campaign wants. They want this election to be a choice election between what the President says he will do over the next four years and what Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan say they will do over this next four years. They want this election to be a choice; they feel if it is a choice election, they will win. Mitt Romney and the Republicans really want this election to be a referendum on President Obama and what he has done on the economy and especially jobs, since today's jobs report fits into the narrative. We'll find out on November 6th what this election was about, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Paul, good to see you.

He made a stir in Vegas, but now Prince Harry back in uniform in Afghanistan. We're goign to tell you why the palace did not keep it a secret this time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: From fun and partying to serious military duty in Afghanistan, Britain's Prince Harry now in Helmand Province, which is considered Taliban heartland. Harry is an Apache helicopter pilot in the British Army and he's on a four-month deployment. Last time Prince Harry was in Afghanistan, his deployment was actually kept a secret, but this time, since his base is in a more secure military complex, his location has now been released.

Four earthquakes rocked Southwestern China. State media reporting at least 64 people are dead, more 715 injured, more than 20,000 homes damaged. Now the Chinese government is sending tents and basic supplies to help out the victims.

A remnant of Hurricane Isaac could become dangerous. Meteorologists say it could revive and become a tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico. Back in 2005, a similar thing happened to a tropical depression. The remnant turned into devastating Hurricane Katrina. So, for the National Hurricane Center, it says that Isaac has has a 40 percent chance of reviving.

And we've seen Russian President, Vladimir Putin, yes, tranquilize tigers tag polar bears; even take skin samples from whales. Yes. Well now he's turning his attention to birds. He's hoping to train Siberian cranes to migrate to a new spot by following a light aircraft. So Putin flew the aircraft himself for the first training session. Check this out. He wants the cranes to migrate to Uzbekistan for the winter instead of the usual spot in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Kremlin says that the poachers in those two countries are threatening those birds.

And there is no end in sight for the civil war in Syria. Many of the country's children now are caught in the crossfire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're taking a look at live pictures here of the Vice President. This is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, now. Now President Obama, he is also expected to speak at that event. As soon as he goes to the podium, we're going to take that live.

We are also concentrating on Syria today. A car bomb exploded in central Damascus. This is the second straight day that a government building in the capital was targeted by a bomber. This happened a short time ago. We don't have any reports yet on the casualties, but if you see these pictures, they're disturbing, they're graphic. They show, really, the human cost of what is taking place there, which is nothing short of a civil war that's taking place in Syria.

Now a CNN crew has actually managed to get inside of one of these cities. This is the city of Aleppo. There are bombs and shells going off all around them, and what they found was a hospital that was controlled by the rebels barely able to help those who are injured and who dying. This is our Nick Paton Walsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDNET (voiceover): Dawn in Aleppo brings the clatter of gunfire above. A people hunted by the regime's helicopter gunships. And as dusk nears, it is to the roar of bomber jets.

(on camera); It's that sound that terrifies ordinary residents of Aleppo daily. Jets coming in low overhead and never knowing really until you hear the blast exactly what their target is.

(voiceover): There seems to be no pattern to the attacks, unless they are designed to sow fear among the civilians. A helicopter we heard earlier may have fired the rockets that hit this house. It's fathers and neighbors here frantically coordinating the rescue. Pans and shovels inside a building that could still collapse on to them.

(on camera): They say that the air strike came in about four hours ago, but still they're racing frantically to pull what they say are nine people still stuck under that rubble, including a father and child.

(voiceover): Throughout, also, the fear the helicopter could strike again. They find the first body. The little girl is lifeless, the blanket providing little dignity. Near her, moments later, they find her father's body.

"I swear to God we've been destroyed," this woman screams. "I swear to God Bashar al Assad is killing us." Then at the hospital where more bodies from the rubble are brought, the toll of the missiles becomes clear: five, later nine children aged from 4 to 11 from the same extended family. In all, 11 people died.

Then a brief respite from the carnage. One lone survivor. "God is great," he says. "Bashar is a dog." God willing, he'll witness Bashar's death. They say that Hussein survived because when the rockets hit, he was feeding from the breast of his mother, Naja (ph). She was crushed under the rubble and killed, but her body protected him. A year-old, he was born into Syria's bloody revolution and may yet survive it still.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Aleppo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Very powerful reporting. For more, tune in this weekend to CNN for our special "Crisis In Syria: Inside Aleppo." That is Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

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SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: And after more than -- after more than 10 years without justice for thousands of Americans murdered on 9/11, after Mitt Romney said it would be naive to go into Pakistan to pursue the terrorists, it took President Obama, against the advice of many, to give that order and finally rid this earth of Osama bin Laden. Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago.

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MALVEAUX: Former Massachusetts Senator John Kerry last night making the case for President Obama as an indispensable leader on the world stage. The speech grew huge applause and left some wondering whether Kerry is actually auditioning for the role of secretary of state in a second Obama administration.

Social media, of course, playing a very important role in the election so far, but one North Carolina man's tweet caught the attention of many, including the Secret Service. Donte Jamar Sims tweeted, "Ima hit President Obama with that Lee Harvey Oswald swagg." Since arrested by the Secret Service for that and has a federal detention hearing set for next week.

With just 60 days left until the presidential election, spin, of course, surrounding today's disappointing unemployment report coming fast and furious. But for millions of Americans, the latest stats much more than political talking points. Kyung Lah, she introduces us to a southern California man, despite his nearly $20 an hour job, has been living in a van with his wife for the past two years. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIUS TORREVILLAS, HOMELESS BUS DRIVER: How are you today? Hi.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Julius Torrevillas is behind the wheel of a Santa Barbara MTD bus five days a week. A full- time job that pays $19 an hour to the jovial driver with the unforgettable beard. When his work day is over, he moves from his bus to another vehicle, his van, where he lives.

J. TORREVILLAS: We have a regular full-sized mattress.

LAH: This is home, because he makes too much to qualify for public housing, but can't afford rent in the high cost city of Santa Barbara.

LAH (on camera): A lot of people think that if you have a full- time job in America, you're OK. That's not really the case for you, is it?

J. TORREVILLAS: No. you know, I got a full-time job. I'm barely making ends meet.

LAH (voice-over): Debt from a failed small business piled up and he and his wife are still digging up. So this county parking lot is where they sleep, joined by more than a dozen others who live in their cars. It's called the Safe Parking Program, one hundred and fourteen spaces spread out across the county with a waiting list of more than 40.

NANCY KAPP, NEW BEGINNINGS: I have senior citizens, I have couples, I have families.

LAH: A third of the people, says the program's manager, have jobs but are underemployed, like approximately 17 percent of Americans.

LAH (on camera): What do you think it says about America when somebody who has a job, who wants to work, still has to live in a car?

KAPP: I think that people would be shocked. I think they would be shocked if they would come and meet some of these people. Because I'll telling you, when they come into my office, I want to cry because it reminds me of someone that could be my mother, my sister, my brother.

LAH (voice-over): Or your bus driver.

J. TORREVILLAS: Good morning.

LAH: Who starts his day on the move. Breakfast with his wife Mary is at the doughnut shop.

J. TORREVILLAS: Toothbrush. Toothpaste.

LAH: The bathroom, a public one. The dressing room, the back of the van.

MARY TORREVILLAS: Normal life is what you miss, you know. It's -- living in a van is not the norm.

LAH (on camera): Has the middle class in America changed?

J. TORREVILLAS: I think the middle class has slid down the scale a little bit more towards the lower class when it's a little tougher for the middle class people to survive and to actually pursue the American dream.

I love you.

M. TORREVILLAS: I love you, too.

LAH (voice-over): Torrevillas keeps chasing his dream, hoping whoever wins this election will be able to shift the economy into gear.

J. TORREVILLAS: Good morning. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And we're awaiting President Obama. He is out on the campaign trail. This is Portsmouth, New Hampshire. And, of course, we're going to bring it to you live as soon as he starts, when he steps up to the podium to speak.

And, of course, here's a tip here. If you're headed to the Democratic National Convention in 2016, bring your dancing shoes and be ready to break it down.

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