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Anniversary of 911 Attacks; Chicago Strike Hurts Parents And Kids; Chicago Mom Becomes The Teacher; No Deal In Chicago Teachers Strike; IPhone 5 Could Boost GDP; Congress Remembers 9/11; 9/11 Brings Lawmakers Together; Unrest at U.S. Embassy in Cairo; DHS Increases Deportations of Illegal Immigrants; Election May Depend on What Other Politicians Have Done with Economy. 9/11 Museum Dispute Revolved

Aired September 11, 2012 - 13:00   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. This hour in the CNN NEWSROOM we are focusing on the anniversary of at September 11th attacks as well as the teachers on strike in Chicago and a record number of illegal immigrants deported from the U.S. I want to get right to it.

Bagpipes and bells rang out at ground zero today to mark the 11th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. At the World Trade Center site, the names of 2,753 people who died were echoed through the air and family members remembered those lost. One father who lost his son talked about the message that he hopes people will take away from this day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB HUGHES: The message should be really that we survived the terrorist attacks. The great country of America can never be beaten. We seem to value life a lot more than the terrorists do and for terrorists really to attack our country -- when people go to work, whether it's mother, father, brother, sister, whatever, they expect those people to come home at the end of the day. On that particular day, they never came home, which is sad to say. But really as a country, we want our country to go forward and we want rest of the world to know that we'll never be beaten by Al Qaeda, by terrorists, by terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: At the Pentagon, President Obama laid a wreath in honor of the 184 people who died there. He says the long-term legacy of 911 will be a safer world, a stronger nation, and people more united. But he says this day will always bring back very painful memories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Eleven times we have marked another September 11th come and gone. Eleven times we have paused in remembrance, in reflection, in unity, and in purpose. This is never an easy day, but it is especially difficult for all of you. The families of nearly 3,000 innocence who lost their lives, your mothers and fathers, your husbands and wives, your sons and your daughters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The U.S. responded to the 911 attacks with the war in Afghanistan. The U.S. service men and women are still on the front lines there today. U.S. troops in Kabul marked the 911 anniversary with a ceremony and their mission winds down. They are still in a war zone that is putting their lives on the life -- on the lines every day. About a year ago, I had a chance to go to Afghanistan to talk with troops. Some of them were on duty at the Pentagon when it was hit. They shared their emotional stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Thomas Carter was in room 4-D, 131 of the Pentagon when it was hit.

COL. THOMAS CARTER, U.S. AIR FORCE: I heard a loud stunning boom and then after that boom it was like an earthquake had actually hit the Pentagon. That massive building actually, literally shook. It was a feeling of surprise and shock and then anger.

MALVEAUX: Colonel Todd Key was also inside the Pentagon on the other side. He had just gotten off the phone with his wife.

COL. TODD KEY, U.S. ARMY: I swear I thought she was dead. I just had that feeling that she was dead.

MALVEAUX: Key realized she was alive when he reunited with her after escaping the burning building.

KEY: I realized, too, that everyone that died in the Pentagon has a family and it made it real to me that that's -- was a -- that it was different at that moment, it was different.

MALVEAUX: Colonel David Kumar was thinking about his five and two-year-old children when he began carrying out the toddlers at the Pentagon day care.

COL. DAVID KOMAR ,U.S. ARMY: What was painful was the thoughts that went through my head that perhaps some of those children's parents had perished.

MALVEAUX: For Captain Jason Gracin the pain of 911 was different. He had to leave his pregnant wife to identify the Pentagon bodies.

CAPT. JASON GRACIN, U.S. AIR FORCE: I was one who was taking all the x-rays on all of the victims and trying to match dental records. To be honest, the toughest part was at the end of the day, they would take the victims that were ready to be transported back to families --

MALVEAUX (on camera): It's OK. Take your time.

GRACIN: And it hurts --

MALVEAUX: OK. Take your time. It's OK. It's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to take a minute or two?

MALVEAUX: Take your time. It's OK. Do you want to join him? It's OK. It's OK.

GRACIN: And the hearses would come and the military escorts would get out and line up, get ready for that final salute and you do that enough times it wears on you because you know that that could have been -- that could have been me, it could have been one of these guys, and they all had families. And that -- that was the worst part. That was the worst part.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: The U.S. has made some progress in combating the threat for Al Qaeda in years since the terrorist attacks. Osama Bin Laden, several other Al Qaeda leaders are now dead but there are threats that remain. Joining us to talk about that, CNN National Security Contributor Fran Townsend, she was homeland security adviser to President Bush, played an intricate role in assessing threats and responding to them.

Fran, good to see you. Obviously, a lot of people -- you know, a lot of pain, a lot of emotion today. A lot of concern as well. How would you assess the terrorist threat inside of this country?

FRAN TOWNSEND, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISOR (via Skype): Suzanne, look, we've made tremendous strides. Our border security is better. We have a far greater and healthier, stronger law enforcement capability. Our intelligence community is twice the size, and we identify threats and we're able to preempt them before they arrive on our shores. We've successfully as a country targeted and taken out Bin Laden and made tremendous progress. But those threats remain, right? And today, as we -- it is always a difficult day for many people, the families, victims, but it really is also a day to remember that in the last 11 years we have to be incredibly grateful for our military service members, some of who you interviewed in that piece just before I came on, the intelligence and law enforcement officials who have worked hard over the 11 years to keep us safe and to stop a successful attack from occurring here inside the United States.

MALVEAUX: It really is incredible, when you think about it. A lot of people never even imagined that that was possible and there was a lot of concern right after the terrorist attack, just how long it would take before we would see another major attack. That has not happened. Tell us about the hot spots around the world. Where are Al Qaeda? Are they still the greatest threat? And where are they actually located?

TOWNSEND: You know, it's interesting -- and, yes, I think most Americans associate Al Qaeda with that federally administrative tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan along the border. And certainly Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, remains there as well as the Haqqani with the Taliban. You know, there are Al Qaeda supporters, much of Al Qaeda's leadership is still there. But the threat is not limited to there. And I think that's important for Americans to remember. The second big hot spot, I think that we think about most often is Yemens. Of course, there was Al Qaeda inside Saudi Arabia. There was a tremendous effort after 2003, (INAUDIBLE) Saudi government. But Al Qaeda really from the king inside the kingdom fled south to Yemen. That's where we see the real fighting today.

But we've had a recent success in the last few weeks of el Sherif, the Deputy Amir, a Saudi citizen, who had been captured along the Pak Afghan border by coalition forces, sent to Guantanamo, where he serve for six years and then returned to Saudi -- like many of the Guantanamo detainees, returned to his home country. He was put in a rehabilitation program, we know most of them fail, and then he escaped and he went to Yemen -- back to Yemen where he established Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That is probably the -- of the arms at Al Qaeda, the affiliates, the single most capable. We remember that somebody out of that cell was the point -- the underwear bomber, that Christmas threat, there was the computer, and there was the recent disruption on all explosives targeting at aviation assets. And so, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula remains a tremendous threat. Then there is Somalia. We've got Al Qaeda elements there and also throughout North Africa. The Mali Mauritania border where Al Qaeda elements are, continue to train and plot.

MALVEAUX: All right. Fran Townsend, thank you so much. We appreciate your time, and obviously your good work.

Here is what we're working on for this hour.

(voice-over): Emergency workers were exposed to all sorts of toxins at ground zero. Now the government says it will cover dozens of additional types of cancer caused by the debris. Plus as Chicago teachers rally on the picket lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm teaching them some math, a little bit of reading, language, art.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Parents forced to take their children's education into their own hands.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people are not in the state of Arizona or America wrongfully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The crackdown on illegal immigrants in the U.S. leads to a record number of deportations, details on how this factors into the presidential election. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: No school again today for Chicago's 350,000 public school students. Their teachers and staff, they are on strike for a second day. Our Casey Wian, he's joining us by phone from Chicago. And Casey, explain, first of all, why it is that you're by phone and not live. I understand there is a huge protest that is gathering now.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE.)

MALVEAUX: We're going to have to bring back -- Casey, I'm sorry, we're having a hard time hearing you there. We're going to try to bring you back when we can get a better sense of it. But I understand that there's going to be a lot of movement and traffic and that Casey and his crew actually had to move because of this huge protest that is going to be happening there that afternoon. It all underscores really the significance of this protest and the teachers' strike and just how many of these students and parents are impacted by the fact there is no school and will be no school until this is negotiated and worked out.

A strike, of course, has parents scrambling to find proper care for the kids and some parents, they have take off from work to do it, some can't afford it. Chris Welch who spoke with one mom who is making a sacrifice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, sound the word out.

CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Velicia Hill was a single parent of six from Chicago's south side. She works as a beautician but for the time being, she is trading in (INAUDIBLE) sheers and her paycheck for pencils and markers. While the public school classrooms sit vacant indefinitely, her front porch is at capacity.

VELICIA HILL: My biggest concern right now is my kids education. I'm teaching them some math, a little bit of reading, language, art. They want to learn and they shouldn't be deprived of it.

WELCH: How long can you stay out of work?

HILL: Not long at all. I have bills to pay. We already can't afford to do certain things. For me to take off work, that's pushing me farther back as a parent.

CROWD: What do we want? (INAUDIBLE).

WELCH (voice-over): Generally speaking, Hill supports the teachers and wants them to be happy. She says happier teachers means smarter kids. Nevertheless, she worries about a prolonged strike.

WELCH: In a year where violence in Chicago has dominated the headlines, one of Valisha Hill's biggest concerns is her kids and other neighborhood kids out on the street unsupervised. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of kids out on the streets. And that's -- that's setting them up for trouble, and violence, and drugs and things like that. They need to be in school right now doing something productive.

WELCH (voice-over): For now, she's giving them the next best thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Providing school work that's education.

WELCH: Chris Welch, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Want to go back to Casey Wian.

I understand that we -- Casey, can you hear us? Can --

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): I can, Suzanne. Are you hear me better now?

MALVEAUX: Yes. Much better connection. Tell us -- tell us what's going on.

WIAN: Well, we're outside of Chicago Public Schools' headquarters. And this is where striking teachers are gathering to demonstrate what they say are the failed efforts by the school board to move in their direction and settle this strike. Teachers were manning picket lines outside of many schools throughout the city all morning. They are now in the process of moving and gathering out in front of Chicago Public School headquarters. And that's why we're here and that's why we're on the phone with you. We're in the process of setting up our camera and our satellite truck to get a live picture out a little later.

We do know that negotiations are continuing. It's an encouraging sign. They've been going on since 9:30 this morning local time. They broke off last night without the two major issues being resolved or even addressed. And those two issues are basically revolving around job security and job reviews, which lead to salary increases for the striking teachers. So, the two sides are talking. And that's what we know in terms of the negotiations right now, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Casey, I guess it's a good sign that they're still talking to each other. Is there any sense of when they might resolve this? Do they have a timetable? Do they have a goal here? Anybody coming out and updating you guys on where they are in all this?

WIAN: No. Our understanding is, is that if there is not some sort of a breakthrough by mid afternoon, we're not likely to get a breakthrough until this evening. And that's not to indicate that we expect a breakthrough at any time. We had -- we do know that both sides publicly are saying that a deal is within reach. It just seems that both sides are waiting for the other side to do the reaching. We'll have to see one -- well, we are expecting is Mayor Rahm Emanuel will be holding a news conference any moment now and perhaps he'll have some more information on the status of the negotiation. But right now no break in this impasse, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Casey, thank you. Appreciate it. Give us an update when there is one.

You can find out more about the strike on our education blog called "Schools of Thought." Go to cnn.com/education and you'll find a wide range of views, opinions about education in America.

So what is it going to take to get the economy running stronger? Bailouts? New stimulus? Well, forget all that. See how much a new launch of the iPhone could be just the boost we need.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: FaceBook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to speak at a technology conference in San Francisco. That's later this afternoon. Parents are getting a lot of attention because this is the first major public address since FaceBook went public. One of the reasons he may have been keeping a low profile over the summer, the company's stock was priced at $38 when it hit the market back in May. Well, today it's trading at less than $19. Last week, Zuckerberg promised not to sell any of his shares in the company for at least a year.

Apple hasn't had any problems in its stock. One -- it remains, actually, one of the most valuable public companies of all time. You probably heard it expects to roll out the iPhone 5 this week. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange to talk about it.

Because Apple, you know, they always make a big deal about everything that they roll out here. But there was an economist at JP Morgan who said it's even a bigger deal. That this could actually boost the U.S. economy. Is he overstating it? Is that true?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. No, no, he's crunched the numbers and this is what he says. This analysts at JP Morgan says the bump that these iPhone sales could do could amount to -- up to a quarter or even up to a half of a percent of economic growth. So let's say, for example, in the second quarter of this year, we saw GDP grow by 1.7 percent. So sales of iPhone 5 would wind up moving GDP over that 2 percent mark. You know what that's equal to? It's equal to pumping $3.2 billion right into the U.S. economy.

All right, here's how we get to that number, though. Look at this. Let's say that the sticker price of an iPhone is $600. Now that's a guess. At this point we don't know for sure how much it's going to cost. You take out $200 off the top, that's for the cost of imported components of the phone, because that's not included in our GDP, and you come up with that 3.2 billion number based on 8 million iPhones sold in the U.S.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So Apple typically sells more than 8 million iPhones each quarter. So why the low figure there?

KOSIK: Right. OK. So, you know, you're seeing this analyst kind of hedge. You know what hedging is. You know, kind of playing both sides of the fence. You know, cautioning to treat this estimate kind of skeptically. It is, after all, just one product. Many other factors go into that big GDP number that we get every quarter.

But 8 million iPhones sold. That is a low estimate for a whole quarter. But, once again, he could just be playing it safe. But you compare it to how Apple did in the third quarter, it sold 26 million iPhones. And believe it or not, that's considered disappointing. So those numbers were low, by the way, because consumers were holding off buying the older phone, waiting for this iPhone 5.

But you know what that means. It means that there's more pent-up demand for the new iPhone 5. In fact, industry estimates, Suzanne, they're going much higher. They're predicting that Apple will sell 45 million iPhones in the last three months of this year. So, you know what, you go ahead and base that on JP Morgan's not. The boost to GDP could be even bigger because that analyst is really going -- really kind of low-balling it right now. So you can only imagine what the addition to GDP would be if Apple does blow out that number.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Wow. OK. Let's see what happens. Thank you, Alison.

KOSIK: Sure.

MALVEAUX: With millions of smartphones, tablets out there, you think they'd be no market still for expansion. But not so. Toys-R-Us is actually trying to carve out its own niche by selling a computer tablet aimed at kids as young as five-year-olds. Now the new tablet's going to cost $150. It comes preloaded with a bunch of apps tailored for kids and a tightly controlled app store. It will compete with Apple, which already sells millions of iPads aimed at school kids.

One of the most moving tributes on September 11th, you might recall, was the way Congress joined together in song. Well, today, they set their political differences aside. They gathered on the same steps, sang the same song they did 11 years ago. We're going to go live to Capitol Hill.

Don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer while you're at work. Head to cnn.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It was a rare moment of unity for members of Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD (singing): God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Standing on the steps of the Capitol, both Republican and Democratic legislatures sang "God Bless America." Now despite their difference, party leaders found that that was the one thing that they could agree on today.

Dana Bash, she's at the Capitol near the same spot where she was 11 years ago to take us back to the day and what you remember.

Dana, describe for us what actually happened on that day.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me start with what you were just talking about and showing our viewers, and that is "God Bless America." The end of the day, after everybody had dispersed, members of Congress were sent -- some were sent to undisclosed locations, some were hunkering down in their staff's houses around Capitol Hill. They all came out as the very, very stressful day came to a close to just address people on the Capitol steps and they just impromptu, Suzanne, broke into song and they broke into "God Bless America." And that is why every year since they've come together again on the steps of the Capitol in a bipartisan way to sing that.

But to answer your question about what it was like really the moments when the first plane hit, the second plane hit in New York, and the way that it was perceived here, I can just tell you, from my experience, it was similar to many around Capitol Hill. I was coming in to the capitol through this door and I was -- they were ushering me because I understand I had a job to do because there was a big news story going on. The minute I got in, pressed the elevator button, one of the people started to say you need to get out, we're evacuating. I came across the plaza, Senators and their staff streaming down the steps here, the United States Senate, not knowing where to go. And that is one of the many frightening, very frightening things, not only did we not know what was happening, but there was no place for these incredibly important people to go, no plan at the time.

So we came right here, which is across from the capitol. We tried to plug in our camera so they could get a shot of whatever was going to happen or happening here. and it was really that the moment, and we're talking about minutes here, Suzanne, that members of the capitol police corps just started screaming, run, run for your life. You know -- I believe you were at the White House -- to have somebody who is in uniform tell you to run for your life, there's probably nothing more frightening than that. And the reason is because they were hearing in their ear that a plane was missing in the air. And, of course, it was 93 and they didn't know if it was heading for the White House or the capitol or what. So that's why they told us to leave.

I want to show you the scene. people were running across towards the supreme court, towards the street up there. And running so fast, with such fear, many people lost their shoes as they were running. The whole lawn was scattered and littered with shoes from people running so fast.

The lasting image, in my mind, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who was well into his 80s at time, he was third in line to be president, he was up there. I saw him wandering around without his staff, again, without a clear sense of where he was going to go. And, again, third in line to be president. and there was no plan for anybody. Obviously that's changed, fortunately or unfortunately, dramatically, since that time.

MALVEAUX: Dana, thank you for sharing your story. Really appreciate it. Obviously, the memories come back for so many of us on that day. Really appreciate it.

Record numbers of illegal immigrants are being deported now from the United States. We'll look at how tougher immigration laws have become a heated part of the presidential campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone. Today on the "Help Desk," we're focusing on investment advice.

Joining me this hour to do that, Donna Rosato and Ryan Mack.

Donna, take a listen to this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there something better than 401Ks?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: This guy told me he's a few years away from retirement but frustrated. He said, I don't check my 401K and, when I do, I'm getting barely anything.

DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR WRITER, MONEY MAGAZINE: It's hard to beat the 401K when it comes to retirement savings, and for a number of reasons. First, it reduces taxable income, so at tax time you're paying less to Uncle Sam. Everybody likes that. Most companies will match your contributions, say, 4 percent to 6 percent. So that's free money that you get for participating.

HARLOW: Right.

ROSATO: Also you can sock away a lot more than you could in any other retirement savings vehicle $17,500 a year. The only thing that is important is how easy it is to do. Once you sign up, automatically taken out.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSATO: Yes.

HARLOW: Ryan, what about, in an IRA, you have more options where to put your money.

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: There's freedom. With a good qualified adviser to help you navigate with different investment choices you can have more freedom to choose your own investments. I have to say the 401K, because of the automatic deduction, people put money away, forget about. For those that individuals who do have a 401K, talk to the H.R. department to have the right 401K. A saw a 401K the other day with a lot variable annuities in the 401K plan. Had high fees and low returns. You have the right to challenge what 401K your benefits department is offering at your job.

HARLOW: Yes. The book has small print.

MACK: Exactly.

HARLOW: You might not want to take time but it's worth it but --

MACK: Right.

HARLOW: -- especially with the fees on the front and back.

Thank you both.

If you have a question you want our experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video with your "Help Desk" question to ireport.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Developing story out of Cairo, Egypt. I understand protesters are outside the U.S. embassy there. There are 1,000 of them/ and protesters stormed the walls of the embassy and pulled down U.S. flags. Now, they have replaced them with black flags with Islamic emblems. American guards are telling us that they have fired warning shots into the air. Again, this is Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian riot police are on the scene, trying to protect the walls. Protesters apparently are upset about a film that they think insults the Prophet Mohammed. We're just getting information and word on this. But we do have several reporters on the way to that scene. But there is unrest at the embassy in Cairo, Egypt. And, again, about a thousand protesters outside the walls of the embassy there. They have stormed the walls of the embassy and pulled down flags, U.S. flags, replacing them with black flags.

Now, we have also been told, too, that the staff that were there earlier in the day, that they were told to leave, to clear out early. We're not really certain whether or not there is anybody at the embassy right now, that U.S. personnel, whether or not they heed that advice. There was an operator at the embassy who said that the crowds are still there but she was unaware of any shooting that might have taken place there.

But again, we have a lot of questions. we'll be following this developing story. Where is the ambassador? Is the embassy empty? Is it secure? We know there are protesters that are there. We know Egyptian riot police are there trying to contain the situation. This is all coming in to us. Of course, as we have more details, we will be live on the ground, on the phone, talking to people who can fill us in on what is the very latest situation that is taking place in Cairo. But certainly a disturbance. And I think you can see just flashes of video, it's very dark right now, but flashes of video of folks who have gathered there. On to other news. Alabama's governor asking an appeals court to reinstate parts of the state's tough immigration law after three federal judges ruled some of the law to be unconstitutional. They let stand the part of the law that allows local and state police to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley says the federal government should not be dictating his policies. He says, and this is his quote, "As a governor of Alabama, I have a duty to uphold and defend Alabama law. Federal courts should not restrain state governments in a way that is contrary to the U.S. Constitution."

The Homeland Security Department is reporting an increase now in deportations. We're talking about 391,953 deported, the population of a city like Miami or Oakland, California.

I want to bring in Rafael Romo to tell us why this number and the significance of it.

Because this is the highest number we've ever seen.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT: It is definitely one of the highest numbers we've ever seen.

And if you look at the numbers in the last few years, when you look at the administration, this effort to deport people is the definitely highest in the history of the United States.

Take a look at these numbers, Suzanne, from the last three years. The highest number ever was actually recorded in 2009 at 393,457. Now the number for this year is really not too far from there. You start seeing a trend here.

MALVEAUX: Why is this happening? Why is it increasing?

ROMO: It's increasing because the administration redoubled its efforts to deport not only immigrants in general, undocumented immigrants, but convicted criminals.

I want to show you exactly the numbers when it comes to that category. People have been convicted of crimes in the United States, the number has increased dramatically. In fiscal year 2011, it was 188,382. Just compare that number to what happened only two years ago, there's a difference of more than 50,000 convicted criminals. So the numbers are rapidly increasing -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Tell us about the breakdown in terms of countries. Mexico and Central America lead in the list.

ROMO: No big surprise in that category, still Mexico and Central America. What I want to show you the here in the next graphic is the sheer number of people who are being deported from these countries. Mexico, 293,966. If you add those four countries, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the percentage of all people deported last year is 93 percent. So that's basically all of the people are coming from Mexico and Central America. Yes, you still find people coming from Southeast Asia, but those numbers are just so minimal compared to that percentage of 93 percent from Mexico and Central America.

MALVEAUX: Rafael, thanks for breaking it down for us. Appreciate it.

What happens on Wall Street has a direct impact on your own home economics. We'll take a look at what President Obama and Mitt Romney are saying about reform.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Americans electing Mitt Romney or renewing President Barack Obama's contract may depend how voters feel about what other politicians have done. Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Paul Sarbanes and Mike Oxley. Who are they? They are authors of two Wall Street reform laws that have a direct impact on every American's home economics.

Ali Velshi sorts it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The debate over Wall Street regulation this election comes down to paperwork, regulation. Compared to Mitt Romney, President Obama wants a lot more of it. He says we need the rules and regulations put into place during his first term in office to keep Wall Street and the big banks accountable and to protect consumers.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: After all we've been through, I don't believe that rolling back regulations on Wall Street will help the small businesswoman expand or the laid off construction worker keep his home.

VELSHI (voice-over): Mitt Romney wants to cut Obama-era and Bush-era regulations. He calls them red tape.

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'd get rid of Dodd-Frank and get rid of Sarbanes-Oxley, it didn't mean we don't want to have law or regulation. It means I want to make sure it's modern, it's updated, it goes after bad guys but it also encourages the good guys.

VELSHI (on camera): Two laws are at issue here, Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley. The signature financial reform of President Obama's first term. It set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to write new rules to prevent fraud and unfair lending practices. It aims to put an end to too-big-to-fail, monitoring threats and stopping another financial crisis. Sarbanes-Oxley, a response to a different crisis, the Enron accounting scandal, the law set up stricter accounting rules for companies of all sizes.

Critics say it drives up costs for smaller businesses and restricts growth.

Mitt Romney said this spring he wants to repeal Sarbanes-Oxley but, since then, he said he just wants to amend it. On the other hand, Romney wants to completely get rid of Dodd-Frank. He said he'd replace it with something called a streamline modern regulatory framework.

So what does this all mean to you, small businesses, big banks? We spoke to one banker in New York who lends to small business and says, Romney, Obama, it's all the same.

MOSES KRAUSZ, CEO, THE BERKSHIRE BANK: There's a lot of agreement between the two sides. It's just a question if we believe that if you don't bring back business by lending them money, it's not going to happen. The economy will not change.

VELSHI: On the other hand, Krausz says small businesses do need to be treated differently.

KRAUSZ: You can't apply the same rules to a mega-company and then you apply to a small company. It can't be. There has to be a balanced kind of focus, which would help smaller entities or smaller financial institutions to save costs.

VELSHI: It's true, regulations do cost time and money, and smaller businesses have less of both. Under Mitt Romney, they might save some time and money but it's not entirely clear what Romney-era regulations would look like.

Barack Obama wants time for his reform to take full effect and for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to continue writing rules and protecting consumers.

So, will it be this or will it be this? Just another one of those decisions you'll make when you step into the voting booth this November.

Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Tomorrow, we go in-depth on the deficit. We'll break done how President Obama and Mitt Romney each proposed to reduce the deficit. We'll also hear from the man behind the original debt clock in New York, tomorrow night on CNN in the NEWSROOM.

Emergency workers at Ground Zero are still suffering 11 years later. Toxins they came in contact with caused severe illness, disease, maybe even cancer. Elizabeth Cohen is joining us with details why emergency workers are finally getting help.

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MALVEAUX: Today we remember those lost in the 9/11 attacks. But many of the survivors who worked amid the rubble also became very ill, some developing cancer. The government would not cover many of them, until today.

Elizabeth Cohen joins us to talk a little bit about this.

What has prompted this change? There was so many people complaining about illnesses, and nobody paid any attention to them.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is such a dramatic change because, last year, authorities were saying if you got cancer while you were working or after working at Ground Zero, we're not going to give you any money. Now they're saying, yes, we will give you money.

A lot of it has to do with a study that came out a year ago. They looked at firefighters who worked at Ground Zero and those who didn't. The ones who worked at Ground Zero, 19 percent higher incidents of cancer. Doesn't mean they got their cancers at Ground Zero, but it certainly makes for some suspicion that perhaps it was from Ground Zero. We can't make the link for sure, but it certainly leaves open the question.

MALVEAUX: And you're talking 50 plus additional types of cancers that they are talking about in this report. What about that site made it so incredibly toxic?

COHEN: It was the mix of jet fuel, asbestos, other building materials, all mixing together, very high temperature because of the jet fuel, people breathing it in.

When you look at the video, these men are not wearing masks, most of them. Those that are, we don't know if the masks worked against this mixture.

Before people went down to Ground Zero to help, they didn't say, gee, I need protective gear. They just went and then they breathed this in. It's unprecedented. We don't know what that does. You can't point to a study and says when you breathe this in day after day, here's what is going to happen. We've never seen that mix before.

MALVEAUX: How many people does this potentially impact?

COHEN: Approximately 950 to 2,150. So somewhere between sort of 1,000 to 2,000-ish.

MALVEAUX: You know what is so sad for the people who died and were not covered, that it's just happened now 11 years later.

COHEN: Right. And we don't know exactly how many have died. I spoke to a man two years ago. He name is -- was Jamone Thomas . And he had a very rare sarcoma after working there. He was told, sorry, we don't know that you got your cancer from Ground Zero. He did not get money out of fund. He died before he could learn the news that he could have gotten money.

We talked to a lawyer who works on these cases. We said, is his family going to get money? What's going to happen here? He said, that's one of those detail that we have to see, is going to be worked out.

MALVEAUX: All right. I'm glad finally there's some assistance now.

Thank you very much, Elizabeth. I appreciate it.

Preserving the events and history of September 11th. We've got an update on the museum that's dedicated to for those who died and those who rushed to help as well as those who survived.

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MALVEAUX: Construction of the 9/11 museum in New York is now back on track. It's been sold for a year. They can't agree on who should pay the costs for it. It sits on land owned by New York and New Jersey port authority. All authorities involved have finally hammered out an agreement.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says 11 years is not a long time to build something of the stature of the 9/11 museum.

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MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YOUR CITY: We've been working on this for let's say 11 years. And the Senator from Hawaii said to me one time, it took something like 40 years to build the museum as a memorial for World War II. He thought it was amazing we got it done in this length of time. There was never question that we were going to finish the museum. Governors Christie and Cuomo were 100 percent committed to it. But everybody has their responsibilities, and they want to make sure that their constituents' interests are protected, and that just takes time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Officials are pledging to have the museum opened in time for the 12th anniversary next year.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Martin Savage.

Hey, Martin.