when they go back home. forget when they go abroad. because as you see, public opinion so far, and again, these overnight polls are very difficult to trust, but the public's kind of split. they hated the way congress behaved on this debt ceiling debate but they're kind of split because all of the details of this are very hard to absorb because it's so complicated. and once they go home and start explaining to their constituents what it is they voted for and what it is they voted against, it will be interesting to see what the pushback is, particularly from those tea party members who came to washington and actually did change washington and whether they get support or whether independent voters are so upset with the way this whole thing played out that they'll start opposing them. >> i want to quickly go back to alison kosik, up in new york. first, update us on how the markets are reacting to all of this and then i have a follow-up question. go ahead.

>> reporter: you know, as the vote was finished there and as we wait on the president to come out and speak, we watched the market fall even more. the dow down 150 points. we've got a lot more going on than just the debt ceiling. that's what wall street sees. it's put sort of the sideshow of the debt ceiling stalemate to rest at this point and wall street's looking forward, looking forward at weak manufacturing, weak gdp. gd, gdp, the broadest measure of economic growth for the u.s., is barely moving. that means it's not moving enough to create enough jobs. that's what wall street really wants to see. that's what wall street is looking at at this point. that's why we're seeing stocks fall even further right now. >> are they assuming on wall street that at some point down the road, the credit rating agencies, standard & poor's, moody's, they will simply downgrade the u.s. aaa credit rating? is that already an assumption on wall street?

>> reporter: it is, in fact, you can already probably see it being baked into the market with these numbers. sure, that is expected, when the issue's revisited in november, especially. s&p, standard and poor's, it's already assumed that standard & poor's is going to downgrade the u.s. credit rating. that's really not what's getting wall street down at this point. it really is these economic figures that continually keep on coming in, showing that there is really broad weakness in this economy. >> alison, stand by. we will watch what's happening on wall street. we'll take another quick break. labored breathing ]

[ coughing continues ] [ gasping ] [ elevator bell dings, coughing continues ] [ female announcer ] congress can't ignore the facts: more air pollution means more childhood asthma attacks. [ coughing continues ] log on to lungusa.org and tell washington: don't weaken the clean air act. the united states senate has passed the language, the legislation raising the nation's debt ceiling overwhelmingly. the vote, 74 in favor, 26 opposed. a decisive victory for the senate majority leader, senate minority leader, both of whom supported this legislation, harry reid and mitch mcconnell. the president of the united states getting ready to go into

the rose garden to address the nation momentarily. jessica yellin is already in the rose garden, where i'm sure it's very, very hot on this very hot day in washington, d.c. jessica, set the scene for our viewers who may just be tuning in. we will hear from the president. what's he going to tell us? >> reporter: the president is expected out any moment now. i do expect him to come here just imminently to cap the end of this long and hard fight now that the senate has finally passed this legislation, the president will sign it this afternoon. we expect the president to sort of put an end to this, sum it up, say that in essence the united states went through a very bitter -- that washington went through a very bitter fight, but the united states will come out better for this because we have begun the effort to bring down our deficit, that they made their priorities clear and that in the white house's view, they did get some wins in

their minds, and that they will live to fight another day. so their focus really will be at pitching ahead to look at jobs and the priorities for the white house and the american people, which is getting americans back to work. the big question is how can they do that and how easy will that be, given the acrimony of the past few weeks and the gridlock we've seen in washington. one of the points that has been emphasized recently is this debt fight has raised the american people's interest in these issues and they feel that they can get the american people on board to help them fight and push congress to promote these priorities. so is that wishful thinking? who knows. but it is their view that maybe this fight could promote some of these issues when we go into this committee battle which is the next big fight we'll see before thanksgiving on the horizon. >> now that they've got this deal, the president will sign it into law later today. this does enable the president to go as planned to chicago tomorrow to celebrate his 50th

birthday and do some political fund-raising. >> reporter: that's right. the president clearly is ready for a celebration at this point. i would describe the mood here as some exhausted relief, and people actually went home at a reasonable hour last night for the first time in many, many weeks. so the president does head off to chicago to do some fund-raising and turn to the other part of his job which is beginning, working on the 2012 election. he has two fund-raisers in chicago and then he heads back here for further work but of course, all of this will be on the minds of the white house and the issue of how to frame all this going forward into the 2012 election is really about two different visions of government. one vision of a very small government that's pushed by the republican party at this time and the democrats looking at an expanded role of government that does still keep some protections as they put it for the poor and the needy even at the cost of some more government debt.

>> i'm curious, jessica, as a reporter who used to spend a lot of time in the rose garden myself during the clinton administration, what's that machine behind you over your shoulder? it's right there, what is that? >> reporter: it's not a television monitor. i believe that would be, is this a teleprompter? it's the teleprompter. >> so the president will be reading his speech from a teleprompter. >> reporter: but it's so bright out here, you have to have it on a monitor instead of on those clear plexiglass stands. >> just checking. >> reporter: very bright out here. >> i hope you're wearing sun block. you got sun block on over there? >> reporter: i will go get some. >> go get some sun block. you could be standing out there for awhile. i'm trying to help you. it's hot, probably well into the 90s in washington. jessica, get some shade over there. we'll get back to you in a few moments. we expect to hear from the president momentarily. he'll be walking into the rose garden. you and i, we used to sweat a little bit in the rose garden. >> i'm not a humidity person.

my god. eight and a half wonderful years at the white house, you just ignited the twitterverse over the teleprompter. >> i don't remember a machine like that. i didn't know what that was. >> these new-fangled things. >> bill clinton didn't have teleprompters. >> bill clinton did not use the teleprompter. every now and then, for big events. >> at a convention. >> the teleprompter has become drama during the obama administration. to jessica's point, we're laughing a little here and it's good to have humor after this partisan awful debate, messy debate we've had for a few weeks. you mentioned the president's birthday party. he will celebrate, raise money, he's heading into his re-election campaign. this is a deal of divided government. nobody loves it, which does that make it just right or just awful? we will see how this debate plays out as the super committee gets going. but what a nonbirthday present for the president. the conversation that lower box on the screen there. the president wants to sign this deal because he thinks further disruption, default, uncertainty would make the economy even worse. but look at these numbers.

it's bad enough. he's the president of the united states. let's be clear. as a citizen, as the president, he didn't want to be the first president to default, he didn't want people to go through that. as a candidate for re-election, the dow is down, unemployment is up, gdp is flat, consumer confidence is in the tank. if you just look at the statistics, it is pretty hard to build an argument that this president is going to be re-elected. i'm not saying this president is not going to be re-elected. many people in this town think he is favored to be re-elected but if you go by historical data, the economy, consumer confidence, eight in ten americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction. when eight in ten americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction it's very hard to say i'm the president, give me four more years. so the enormous challenge for this president, we are early in the republican primary, there are democrats watching saying you know, john king, you're crazy, who will run against the president. we will find all that out. but just by history, go back, forget what party he's in, just go back through history and look at these numbers. what an enormous challenge. so this deal today is important to him, not because it's

perfect, but because at least it might help make things not worse. >> when ronald reagan had over 10% unemployment by the time he was running for re-election, his unemployment rate went down to sort of 7.2%, around there. >> five quarters in a row of 5% growth. >> so he could campaign on morning in america that things were starting to look up, starting to get better, and barack obama, who is supposed to inspire people, has actually inspired a new political movement that's running against him, which is the tea party movement. so i think his best argument is right now, as opposed to what? whom do you trust to get us out of this now -- >> to make it a choice, not a referendum. >> exactly. it's got to be a choice. >> it's not fair to the president sometimes. but the numbers are the numbers. that's what it is. >> if it's about barack obama, it's not good for him. >> there are people watching saying why are you talking about politics at this moment, what does it mean for me when 16% of

americans are unemployed or underemployed. the reason it's so tough for the president is unfortunate it will be tough for you, too. there's very little evidence the job market is about to kick into higher gear. >> let me reset for our viewers. we are getting to the top of the hour here, 1:00 p.m. here in washington, d.c., 1:00 p.m. eastern. we are here in the cnn newsroom watching what's going on in the rose garden at the white house. momentarily we're told the president of the united states will go into the rose garden and he will address the nation on the senate's movement just a little while ago to pass the legislation raising the debt ceiling. harry reid, the majority leader's meeting with reporters. let's listen in as we await the president. >> that's the way it is. it's that way because that's how our system works, that's what compromise is all about. it was a bipartisan compromise. it wasn't the right wing cap, cut and whatever it is over there. that was not bipartisan.

it's nothing that we could agree to. it was really a disaster for america. this agreement cuts the deficit by $1 trillion and lays the groundwork for much more in the near future. we look forward to the work on the committee to make sure that millionaires and billionaires and corporate jet owners and people who have those yachts who get tax benefits, oil companies who get these huge tax subsidies, that that's in the mix of thinking what goes on. that's what this select committee is going to be about. we need to do more for families. the number one job we have as a congress must be creating jobs for the american people. there are a number of things we're going to do. senator schumer will address that in a few minutes as to a jobs agenda we have. today, we made sure that america will pay its bills. now it's time to make sure that all americans can pay theirs. senator durbin?

>> with this vote, 74-26, we have averted a crisis. america has avoided defaulting for the first time in our history on our national debt. the fears and concerns of americans across the board were considered by this congress and as a result, we have come together on a bipartisan basis. i did not vote for this with a great deal of enthusiasm, because the downpayment on the deficit included in this bill comes primarily from working families and those who are struggling in america. if we are going to have true deficit reduction and address this debt, we have to put everything on the table and bring everyone to the table for shared sacrifice. the joint committee has a particular responsibility here, called on together another $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion in savings. let us make sure that when we do it, we do it in a fair and just manner for all the people in america and when we return, as senator schumer will spell out, that we address the number one

issue in america, creating good paying jobs right here at home for the people who are struggling in this economy. >> well, now washington, the nation, the world, can breathe a sigh of relief. the horrible crisis that would have occurred if we defaulted, the likelihood of a recession if we defaulted, has been averted. we have a lot more work to do. a lot more work to do. the bill which had things as leader reid and leader durbin mentioned, had a lot of things we didn't like. it had some things we liked. >> so there's chuck schumer, the democratic senator from new york together with the other democratic leaders in the united states senate. they're very pleased the senate has just followed the lead of the house of representatives and passed this legislation, raising the nation's debt ceiling. the vote, a resounding 74 in favor, 26 opposed. the legislation having passed

the senate, having passed the house, it will now go to the president's desk. he will later today sign it into law. the nation's debt ceiling will go up. they have set the stage for some initial cuts in spending and much more robust cuts down the road, including the creation of this super committee, 12 members of the house and senate, democrats and republicans in equal number, both parties will then come up with a plan to see if they can come up with a plan to have entitlement reform which in effect means cuts in spending for social security, medicare and medicaid as well as tax reform which in effect means tax increases, increases in taxes. we'll see if they can work out some sort of deal on that, that the house and senate would once again by thanksgiving have to vote on, the president would have to sign. if they don't, there will be an automatic trigger that will go into effect and they'll cut spending on defense spending, non-defense spending and we'll hear from that. the president we're told is less than two minutes away now from walking out of his office, the oval office, into the rose

garden, where he will speak to the nation and i like to say indeed, to the entire world, which is watching right now. gloria, it's a little surprising, i guess to a lot of viewers, that even as the house and the senate have now passed this long-awaited legislation, the markets in new york are not thrilled. >> yeah. i think what allison was saying before, they had already banked on this deal getting through. and that there's been bad economic news and that the second quarter growth rate was terrible and i think they're paying a lot more attention to that now than they are to this vote on the debt ceiling which they thought was going to pass all along. there are some of us in washington who had our doubts about it but it seems as if they've discounted it. >> it's always interesting to me, as a former white house correspondent, the venue, the selection, why the rose garden today as opposed to the east room or the briefing room or the

diplomatic reception room or some foyer over at the white house. i guess it's a beautiful day, sunny, and they just decided make it different. >> the optics. it looks more bright and sunny, exactly right. the president wants to have an upbeat spirit here. he is trying because the tools at his disposal, any president's disposal, are limited when it comes to fixing the economy. he's trying in some ways to help will it to get a little better. >> here he comes. the president of the united states. let's listen in and hear what he has to say. >> good afternoon, everybody. congress has now approved a compromise to reduce the deficit and avert a default that would have devastated our economy. it was a long and contentious debate and i want to thank the american people for keeping up the pressure on their elected officials to put politics aside and work together for the good of the country. this compromise guarantees more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction. it's an important first step to ensuring that as a nation, we live within our means.

yet it also allows us to keep making key investments in things like education and research that lead to new jobs and assures that we're not cutting too abruptly while the economy is still fragile. this is, however, just the first step. this compromise requires that both parties work together on a larger plan to cut the deficit which is important for the long term health of our economy. since you can't close the deficit with just spending cuts, we'll need a balanced approach where everything's on the table. yes, that means making some adjustments to protect health care programs like medicare so they're there for future generations. it also means reforming our tax code so that the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations pay their fair share. and it means getting rid of taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies and tax loopholes that help billionaires pay a

lower tax rate than teachers and nurses. i've said it before, i will say it again, we can't balance the budget on the backs of the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession. we can't make it tougher for young people to go to college or ask seniors to pay more for health care or ask scientists to give up on promising medical research because we couldn't close a tax shelter for the most fortunate among us. everyone's going to have to chip in. that's only fair. that's the principle i'll be fighting for during the next phase of this process. and in the coming months, i will continue also to fight for what the american people care most about, new jobs, higher wages, and faster economic growth. while washington has been absorbed in this debate about deficits, people across the country are asking what can we do to help the father looking for work.

what are we going to do for the single mom who has seen her hours cut back at the hospital. what are we going to do to make it easier for businesses to put up that now hiring sign? that's part of the reason that people are so frustrated with what's been going on in this town. in the last few months, the economy's already had to absorb an earthquake in japan, the economic head winds coming from europe, the arab spring and the rile in oil prices, all of which have been very challenging for the recovery. these are things we couldn't control. our economy didn't need washington to come along with a manufactured crisis to make things worse. that was in our hands. it's pretty likely that the uncertainty surrounding the raising of the debt ceiling for both businesses and consumers has been unsettling and just one more impediment to the full recovery that we need, and it was something that we could have avoided entirely.

so voters may have chosen divided government, but they sure didn't vote for dysfunctional government. they want us to solve problems. they want us to get this economy growing and adding jobs. and while deficit reduction is part of that agenda, it is not the whole agenda. growing the economy isn't just about cutting spending, it's not about rolling back regulations, that protect our air and water and keep our people safe. that's not how we're going to get past this recession. we're going to have to do more than that. that's why when congress gets back from recess, i will urge them to immediately take some steps, bipartisan common sense steps, that will make a difference, that will create a climate where businesses can hire, where folks have more money in their pockets to spend, where people who are out of work can find good jobs.

we need to begin by extending tax cuts for middle class families, so that you have more money in your paychecks next year. if you've got more money in your paycheck, you're more likely to spend it and that means small businesses and medium sized businesses and large businesses will all have more customers. that means they'll be in a better position to hire. and while we're at it, we need to make sure that millions of workers who are still pounding the pavement looking for jobs to support their families are not denied needed unemployment benefits. through patent reform, we can cut the red tape that stops inventors and entrepreneurs from quickly turning new ideas into thriving businesses which holds our whole economy back. i want congress to pass a set of trade deals, deals we have already negotiated that would help displaced workers looking for new jobs and would allow our businesses to sell more products in countries in asia and south america, products that are

stamped with the words made in america. we also need to give more opportunities to all those construction workers out there who lost their jobs when the housing boom went bust. we could put them to work right now by giving loans to private companies that want to repair our roads and our bridges and our airports. rebuilding our infrastructure. we have workers who need jobs and a country that needs rebuilding. an infrastructure bank would help us put them together. and while we're on the topic of infrastructure, there's another stalemate in congress right now involving our aviation industry which has stalled airport construction projects all around the country. and put the jobs of tens of thousands of construction workers and others at risk. because of politics. it's another washington inflicted wound on america and congress needs to break that impasse now. hopefully before the senate adjourns so these folks can get back to work.

so these are some of the things that we could be doing right now. there's no reason for congress not to send me those bills so i can sign them into law right away, as soon as they get back from recess. both parties share power in washington and both parties need to take responsibility for improving this economy. it's not a democratic responsibility or a republican responsibility. it is our collective responsibility as americans. i'll be discussing additional ideas in the weeks ahead to help companies hire, invest and expand. so we've seen in the past few days that washington has the ability to focus when there's a timer ticking down and when there's a looming disaster. it shouldn't take the risk of default, the risk of economic catastrophe, to get folks in this town to work together and do their jobs. because there's already a quiet crisis going on in the lives of

a lot of families in a lot of communities all across the country. they're looking for work and they have been for awhile. or they're making do with fewer hours or fewer customers, or they're just trying to make ends meet. that ought to compel washington to cooperate. that ought to compel washington to compromise and it ought to compel washington to act. that ought to be enough to get all of us in this town to do the jobs we were sent here to do. we've got to do everything in our power to grow this economy and put america back to work. that what's i intend to do and i'm looking forward to working with congress to make it happen. thanks very much, everybody. >> all right. so the president of the united states speaking not all that long, speaking in the rose garden, making the case that

yes, the legislation has passed, he will sign it into law later today raising the nation's debt ceiling, passed the senate just a little while ago, passed the house of representatives last night. but now it's time to move on, now it's time to deal with the economic crisis facing the country, now it's time to start creating jobs and he listed at least six or seven points that he thinks will help start create some jobs, some specific points he wants congress to enact. unfortunately, at least in the next month or so, five weeks, congress is going to be in recess so they're not going to be enacting anything over the next five or six weeks until early september. but the president's got a long agenda and everyone is looking forward to this super committee that's about to be created as well that will deal with some of the long-term spending problems, the deficit-related problems. jessica yellin, you're still at the rose garden. let's get your thoughts on what we just heard from the president. >> reporter: wolf, you heard him emphasize jobs and the growth agenda ahead but there's a

phrase he used that i think we are going to hear a lot coming up. he said americans, voters chose divided government, not dysfunctional government. and if we continue to face the kind of gridlock we've seen in washington and if this super committee deadlocks or if there's a major fight, i think that's the kind of phrase you will hear from this white house often, that there is this concern that this kind of fighting that they're seeing in washington and that americans are seeing is not representative of what they believe and they will argue voters truly chose in the 2010 election. obviously, the other party has a different view of things, but that is the kind of case this president and this white house continues to make, that by electing on the tea party movement but more broadly, a movement to bring down the size of government, americans wanted a balance, not a kind of clash that leads to an inability to move forward. so i think you'll hear that language a lot. >> some of the points the president made, jessica, he wants legislative action quickly

on the middle class tax cuts, payroll tax cut, keeping that in business for middle class at least for another year, get more money into the economy, increase unemployment benefits, a new patent reform program that would supposedly create some jobs. there are, what, three international trade deals that have to be ratified by congress, still haven't been ratified. he's anxious for that. he thinks that will create some jobs, create some opportunities for increased u.s. exports and infrastructure bank that's going to deal with repairing bridges and highways across the country, and one of the most outrageous things is congress is going into recess now, and the faa is out of business for all practical purposes, because congress hasn't enacted the legislation that continues the appropriation in effect for the faa. what is that all about? >> reporter: well, you heard him give a little nudge to the senate to get that done before they leave town, and you heard from capitol hill, they haven't,

from our capitol hill unit, they have not made a deal on that just yet. in essence, because of political gridlock once again, in capitol hill -- in capitol hill on the senate side right now, there are people twiddling their thumbs waiting for congress to change some rules and regulations before they can keep moving forward in their jobs. i don't want to get into the technical-ese but it speaks to a larger problem that this white house faces which is with divided government, the question over the next year and a half is how much can they get done to create jobs on capitol hill and this white house has resisted doing the kinds of things we saw bill clinton do as president, midnight basketball, small incremental little programs that the executive branch could get done, but didn't create huge sweeping changes. the question is, will they have to rethink that, are there steps they can take over the next year that they can just do as the ex