his speech tonight? this from meg. he needs to stop trying to bring people together who don't share the same vision. this from tim. at this point, in his administration he needs to be more exactly and expressing his intentions and solutions. citizens of the united states as well as the rest of the world need to hear some concrete ideas. matthew, he should do what he normally does. the guy speaks well and people listen when he talks. i think this may be the make or break speech of his presidency but for a president 9.1% unemployment rate and country slipping backwards into a recession, when is it not a make or break speech? be strong and powerful, mr. president, and sell us your plan. thank you for your responses this morning. if you want to continue the conversation, facebook.com/americanmorning. >> stay with us for the president's speech live at 6:00 p.m. ebegin and seven is the speech and 8:00 is the analysis. >> we throw it over now to kyra

phillips. two stories facing our political future. barack obama will unveil his plan to create jobs and his same own job may be on the line. mitt romney and rick perry faced off in a national debate. jim acosta has the story lines for that. also this hour, my interviews with two very different members of congress republican joe walsh who is boycotting the president's speech and democrat maxine waters who is invoicesing her own skepticism. we will hear from her in about 15 minutes. aeeight republicans on trad and two candidates trading the most punches. jim acosta has the highlights in los angeles. this is rick perry first presidential debate. how did he do? >> reporter: he felt like the republican party pinata. he was. the other candidates on the stage did their best to take a whack at the new gop front-runner but rick perry

showed he can hit back. rick perry and mitt romney stood side-by-side at the reagan debate close enough for the fur to fly. first on the question of which governor created more jobs. >> michael dukakis created jobs than you did. >> jumping into the mix was a newly aggressive jon huntsman. >> i hate to rain on the parade of the great lone star governor but as governor of utah we were the number one job creator in this country. >> reporter: the debate switched to the romney health care plan in massachusetts and its individual mandate that requires residents to have medical insurance. what some republicans now call obamney care. >> it was a great opportunity for us as a people to see what will not work. and that is an individual mandate in this country. >> ron paul noted perry once a democrat showed some of his own support for government health care. >> the governor of texas criticized the governor of massachusetts for romney care

but he wrote a fancy letter supporting hillary care. >> speaking of letters. i was more interested in the one that you wrote to ronald reagan back and said i'm going to quit the party because of the things you believe in. >> reporter: newt gingrich tried to bring the republican wrangle to a halt. >> i for one and hope all of my friends up here will repudiate every effort of the news media to get republicans to fight each other to protect barack obama who deserves to be defeated and all of us are committed as a team. whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating barack obama! >> reporter: there were a couple of risky moments for rick perry last night. he did it double down on his comments in his anti-washington book "fed up," in which he refers to socially security as ponzi scheme. i think the most surprising performance might have come from michele bachmann. you remember she was a flavor of the month in this campaign not too long ago shen has seriously

lost a lot of support basically to rick perry in this race but she did not go after rick perry last night and i think that was a pretty key moment for her a that she did not do that. >> jim acosta, thanks so much. join us monday for the next republican debate. cnn is going to host the event with the tea party express and several other tea party groups coming from tampa, florida. site of the 2012 republic national convention. monday night 8:00 eastern 5:00 pacific here on cnn. now the president's job plan. new details we are getting ahead of his speech tonight. brianna keilar is at the white house. what are we learning? >> reporter: the number has changed since we spoke yesterday, according to democratic sources familiar with the president's speech. it's a 400 billion dollar jobs plan right now that is a working number and the big chunks of it are that payroll tax extension, as you know, a lot of employees getting a break on their payroll taxes. that would continue to be extended to employers.

you can expect that from the president tonight. the big chunk as we are understanding a working number of 100 billion dollars in infrastructure spending. other things we expect the president to talk about in this plan will include aid to states and also incentives to hire people who are chroniclely unemployed like the elderly and like u.s. veterans. what we are hearing from the white house this morning is this sense of they are delivering actual legislation to congress. it's almost as if they are saying to congress, okay, you know, the ball is in your court at this point. listen to what jay carney said this morning on "american morning." >> all of these ideas are bipartisan in nature. they're the kinds of things that republicans and democrats have broadly supported in the past. and that, therefore, given the fact that they're paid for, given the fact that the economy needs help and that americans need help, congress should act right away and get it done. >> reporter: so the white house saying that it will be next week

delivering one bill, a comprehensive jobs package to congress, kyra. what is interesting is when you talk to people on the hill, even democrats admit it's very unlikely that congress would pass a big singular bill. they are expected to do this sort of incrementally in bits and pieces for spurring job growth. >> brianna keilar at the white house for us. you can join us tonight for the address to the nation. coverage starts at 6:00 and the speech at 7:00 and analysis following. political ad wars are heating up. our deputy political director paul steinhauser is here with us. >> jobs to talk economic issues on the minds of a lot of people here. american crossroads are the gop independent group partially held by karl rove. a web video out this morning criticizes the president and what he has done on jobs since

in the white house the last two and a half years. also getting in the game the republican national committee out with their own web video and radio spots in key battleground states criticizing the president on jobs. yep, the speech ten hours away but republicans not wasting any time. >> i know you're tapping into the mood of americans as the president prepares for the speech tonight. >> reporter: take a look at recent numbers from cnn and orc. three-quarters say things going badly in the country today and number on the rise from earlier this year. why? go to the next screen. it's pretty obvious. look at that. more than 8 in 10 americans say this country is in a recession right now. the economy is in a recession and economists say, no, we have not been that way for for years. but americans don't feel that way. the president and jobs. americans do not think he is doing a very good job creating jobs. you can see that number right there. that is below his overall approval rating. as poor as the president's numbers are on jobs,

congressional republicans numbers are worse and where things stand right now. >> thank you, paul. your next political update in an hour. always get all of the political news 24/7 at cnn/politics.com. thousands of people in central pennsylvania are under mandatory evacuation orders. rob marciano is monitoring the situation for us in the cnn severe weather center. i know he is working on his maps and looks like we got a little reboot situation going on, rob, is that right? >> when you have this much information coming in. >> it's overload! >> look at the amount of rainfall into binghamton, new york. 10 inches of rainfall with this storm and harrisburg, pennsylvania. two areas are getting hit the hardest as far as flooding is concerned. right now and going over the next 24 hours. susquehanna river, say that ten times fast. record stage here in the next

few hours and peak tonight. and then a little bit farther downstream wilkewilkesbury and scranton area. there are evacuations under way in both binghamton and also in wilkesbury. as far as the rainfall is concerned right now, a decent amount across eastern pennsylvania and new jersey. i should also mention the passaic river will crest the next 24 hours and it will rival irene in some spots. there is a the rainfall there. one other thing i want to point out. we have got maria that popped up yesterday. katia hurricane between bermuda and north carolina and nate, at this point, not going to threaten the you u.s. but spin out in the southern gulf of mexico so we will watch that carefully as well. still dealing with the leftovers of irene and flooding continues across the northeast. >> rob, thanks. one of the worst aviation

disasters in sports history. a plane carrying a russian hockey team crashed yesterday after taking off near moscow. former nhl players are dead including like all-star pavol demitra. >> fans gathered at the stadium where the hockey team used to play. they put down flowers. the teams' scarves as well. 43 died and only two survivors and one has burns all over his body. the cause of the crash, it is not clear what exactly happened. they have not' made a definitive derms but they are saying it was either pilot error or a technical malfunction. take a look at the headlines and see what they are saying. "moscow times" saying the following.

it goes on to say the crash sealed russia's position as the most dangerous place to travel by plane in 2011 with the country surpassing even the democratic republic of congo in the number of aircraft-related fatalities. "the national post" saying the disaster of an entire hockey team is just one more blow to the solar plexus." one member of the congressional black caucus, a conversation with maxine waters is next. or just a new word? maybe you want to know more about anatomy,

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checking stories across the country. hundreds of people are homeless as wildfires continue to burn in texas. the biggest blaze is near austin where nearly 1,400 homes destroyed and 5,000 people evacuated now. statewide wildfires have scorched nearly 134,000 acres. the search is on for the suspect involved in a road rage attack in lincoln, rhode island. all caught on tape. police say the suspect got out of the car and kicked and punched the car of an elderly victim. no one hurt but police say the suspect had a small child in his car who witnessed that attack. just call these two college football players life savers. jack long and shane simpson left practice when they found a grandmother who locked herself out of her car with her

17-month-old grandson inside! >> the lady came before we could even open the door and came running saying they needed help and said a baby stuck in the car. >> she just took one swoop or hit with the hammer and it busted. >> grandma says she is a lifelong fan of missouri western state football! president obama unveils his grand plan tonight telling us all how he plans to put americans bark to work and millions of african-americans attending job fairs like this one in atlanta, gainful employment cannot come soon enough. jobless rates for blacks is 16.7% and maxine waters is pushing the president to do more for her community. >> when you tell us it's all right, and you unleash us and you tell us you're ready for us to have this conversation, we're ready to have the conversation! >> so just moments ago, i asked

congresswoman waters is she unable to leash herself and go after the president on jobs? >> yes, the conversation has begun. we not only put a face on it. we continue to remind this congress and the president of the united states, this is not something that can be swept under the rug. this is something has to be identified and has to be talked about and dealt with and i expect him to say something about it tonight in his speech. >> you have said the president isn't creating the type of jobs that blacks need. you've said that green jobs are what he keeps talking about and that is not what african-americans want. what do you want to hear from him tonight? >> well, what i'd like to hear is that he is going to target some efforts toward the most needy in this country, where the unemployment numbers are high, that's where you need to send some resources. of course, you should deal with all of the unemployment but you should pay some special attention whether it's rural or it's urban, or it's suburban,

where engineer it ver it is. we know people are hurting and we want green jobs but they have not developed as we have talked. in the congress or the president has talked about. i'd love to have solar panel development going on down in my district but it is not happening. so what we want to do is we want to make sure that there's a big investment in the infrastructure so that we can repair the roads and the bridges and the streets and the water system, put people back to work like the ccc program, the wpa of the roosevelt years. we want to make sure that we get those resources. >> you're talking about america now. >> i'm talking about all of that, yes, absolutely. >> let me ask you this. have you considered looking away from obama and looking to another democratic contender? >> no, i have not.

this president, i think, wants to do the right thing. i don't know what it takes to get him to stop being nice and stop trying to compromise too much. i was sick when boehner walked away from the negotiations on raising the debt ceiling saying you got 90% of everything he wanted and we got hurt. not only are we having to suffer these terrible cuts and all kind of government programs, services and operations, we didn't get any revenue. the richest people in this country still are getting their tax break. so those kind of negotiations do not work. you've got to get tough and everybody wants hem to be tough. >> speaking of tough, let me ask you a question. you know, dick cheney is out on his book tour and he said last week, hey, hillary clinton may not be a bad idea. she has worked well with republicans like me. what are your thoughts about hillary clinton? >> well, first of all, we don't need dick cheney telling us what we should be doing in the

democratic party. i know that he has his book out there and he is promoting his book and every time he says something that is controversial, he does that. we have this president. he has not been challenged. he is the party's nominee basically and we want him to take that mantle and run with it. we want him to be tough. we want him to create the kind of change that he talked about when he first ran for office. we believe that he is capable of doing that and now we hope that he has seen that everything that he has tried does not work, they want to kill him off as quickly as they can, legislatively and this cannot happen. >> president obama's job speech before a joint session of congress begins tonight at 7:00 eastern and cnn will carry the speech live. a christian dior fashion icon is found guilty of making anti-semitic remarks. a case that stunned the high fashion industry.

we will have that story next. and actress reese witherspoon is struck by a car. details next.

shows biz headlines. buddy holly gets a star on the day he would have turned 75. his widow maria unveiled it accompanied by gary busey who once played holly in a movie. buddy holly tribute comes out also this week. a judge green lights a lawsuit that claims madonna used her new york city apartment as a rehearsal studio. the neighbor's noise complaint blaerg music and stomping and shaking walls ignored residents three hours a day. reese witherspoon was hit by

a car while jogging near l.a. she suffered minor injuries when an 84-year-old woman struck her in an unmarked crosswalk. she was taken to the local hospital and now at home resting. fashion designer known for his outrageous yousts is found guilty in his abuse trial. john galliano was on trial for making racial slurs in a paris cafe. zain verjee has more out of london. >> reporter: he didn't get tough sentence he could have. fined over $8,000. it could have been $32,000. he also did not get a prison sentence. he was facing the possibility of being put in jail up to six months or so. the plaintiffs each of them, there were three, each were given one euro. listen to what he had said that got him into this mess.

>> are you blond? >> no. i love hitler. people like you would be dead today. your mothers, your papas, your [ bleep ] and [ bleep ]. >> oh, my god. you have a problem. >> with you? you're ugly. >> you don't want peace in the world? >> reporter: the start of the trial, galliano blamed that rant on drugs. he said he was trying to cope with the death of his partner and he had been taking drugs for a long time and that is not really what he thought. his lawyer came out just a short while ago and said that galliano is happy this is all over. he didn't come to listen to the verdict in person because he just did not want to deal with the media. >> zain verjee out of london,

thanks. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. not looking so good? >> reporter: we expect stocks to open higher but got the weekly jobless claims numbers and guess what? stock futures began to drop. first time claims rose last week, increase of only 2,000 but everyone expected them to drop. they have been hoveringing around the 400,000 level since april and shows we are stuck at a pretty high level at this point. even though layoffs have stabilized we are not seeing any job gains at this point. we are not seeing enough improvement. of course, wall street is going to be having its eye on president obama's speech tonight on the jobs picture. of course, everybody expecting to hear something new, something different to help the jobs picture but then there is the question of even if he makes some great proposals, will he be able to push them through congress? or will he hit a brick wall? a lot of skepticism but everybody will be watching tonight. >> we will see how it impacts the markets.

alison, thanks. hours away from the president's speech on capitol hill. we will talk to one lawmaker who refuses to be under the same roof after the break. republican joe walsh explains his decision to boycott the speech. later, michael jackson's doctor goes on trial. jury selection in the case against conrad murray is set to begin. live to the courthouse in a few minutes.

checking top stories now. germany police arrested two men suspected of plotting a bomb attack. police don't believe the suspects had a specific target. a trio of tropical weather systems. hurricane katia could bring rough serve to the east coast tomorrow. mayor roo a not expected to land and nate is churning in the gulf of mexico. first meeting an hour from now, the bipartisan panel has a november deadline to agree on a plan to cut $1.5 trillion.

when president speaks tonight before a joint session of congress, some empty seats may speak volumes. several congressional republicans are boycotting the president's address saying it's a little more than a campaign speech. >> frankly, i'm so tired of his speeches, it's going to be hard for me to watch. >> i'm going to be watching from my family room in metaire, louisiana, because i have a saints game party there and i'm absolutely going to be there for the big game. >> he wants every member of congress to be a prop in that 30-minute theater and i just don't want to be used like that. >> that was congressman joe walsh and he joins me live from capitol hill this morning. congressman, isn't this disrespectful to the office of the president to not attend saying i'm not going to listen on top of that? >> no. kyra, look. i'm going to listen to what he says. i'm going to respond to what he proposes. i'm going to fly home this afternoon and instead of

attending his speech, i'm going to sit with 40 to 50 small businessmen and women. the job creators in this country. they are going to give me your recommendations and i'm going to take them back to the president. look. this is nothing more than a campaign speech. it really does seem like every time someone skins their knee, this president wants to make a big speech. we are beyond big speeches. >> why not be there, show up, say you want to stop the rhetoric, and make it clear that you want to work together? i mean, you've got to come together and figure out a bipartisan solution at some point. >> we do. and if this president were serious, kyra, about coming together, he wouldn't throw together a big campaign speech. look. this is his fifth joint session of congress speech in two and a half years. he is cheapening the whole notion of a joint session of congress which we used to reserve for big, huge momentous occasions, heads of states from around the world. he's going to present his third

jobs plan to us and that is a big deal? if he were serious, jim demint had it right, we are tired of speeches. roll up your sleeves, put something in writing, and present it to congress without all of the hoopla. >> so are you saying there is not one thing that the president of the united states is going to say tonight that you and your constituents would have interest in? >> no. and, again, kyra, i will respond to what he says. my constituents will. i will read the speech. anything in that speech that he proposes i'm going to respond to. i'm not really judging him yet on what he is going to say. i think he has fooled your profession because he can press this button and you all go atwitter because he is going to give a big speech again. you cannot leave this country by speeches. have you to do something. >> how are you going to build consensus then? what is your solution? >> well, what we have to do is

find enough republicans and democrats who will agree that this economy right now is overregulated and overtaxed and we somehow have to begin to get washington out of the way. i'm afraid that this president tonight is going to just go down the same road of proposing more washington involvement, when, right now, the economy is already in overtheir head with washington regulations and taxes. we need to find enough democrats who will join us republicans in providing relief, relief for the private economy because, right now, they are just dying. >> i asked congresswoman maxine waters and i want to ask you too. dick cheney made a number of headlines last week. he is on his book tour. saying that hillary clinton may not be a bad idea in the upcoming race. she would have worked better with republicans like him. so what do you think? do you think that you could work more effectively with a president clinton? >> i don't know and i surely

don't want to get involved in democratic politics. i will tell you this. this president, i think, hasn't done a very good job of working with congress, but his greatest fault is he has surrounded himself with academics. nobody who knows how to run businesses and his policies reflect that. we need somebody in the white house who understands how the rest of the country works and not just academics. >> congressman joe walsh, appreciate you weighing in. >> thanks, kyra. >> you bet. 14 million americans are unemployed but certain sectors of the job market are hurting more than others. cnn's tom foreman has a break down for us. tom? >> reporter: kyra, all week long, we have been talking about how the national unemployment rate of 9.1% is an average and it's very different, depending on who you are and what you do. for example, if you work in construction or the leisure business or retail business, you've actually had a worse unemployment rate than this for

quite some time. if you've been in government, mining and oil and gas or education, it's been a little bit better than the national average. so where are we going to be in the coming year? here are some of the projections that are out there and they are struckive. construction is expected to improve which is likely if you've been way down. leisure expected to go up and retail climb a tiny bit which is projected. government work which has been strong is expected to start declining. all of the talk about the cutbacks there is part of the impact. mining oil and gas expected to climb more than 4% and education expected to go up. but, again, these are averages and it depends on where you are. look at this map of the country and all of these places out here. if you look at a list of the professions we are talking about and the colors over here you can see such as mining and gas will be very strong in some parts of the country. in others, not so much. the same with education and

manufacturing. the same with transportation. the simple truth is all of these averages can be deceiving because your experience of unemployment has a whole lot to do with who you are, what you do, and where you are. kyra? >> tom foreman, thanks so much. up next, jury selection in the trial of the doctor charged in the death of michael jackson. we will talk you live to the courthouse.

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checking stories across the country now. flash flood warnings in effect from washington to new england due to the remnants of tropical storm lee. central pennsylvania in the bull's-eye of the rainmaker right now but 65,000 people have been told to evacuate. wilkesbury, two deaths blamed on the storm now. this isn't good. a giant crane in washington suddenly toppling over yesterday and making repairs to the national cathedral which was damaged in last month's

earthquake. several cars crushed and one person hurt. president obama unveils his jobs plan tonight but many unemployed americans are turning to the higher power to find a job. a church in buffalo, new york, invited parishioners to put their resumes by the altar so they could be prayed over. jury selection this morning for the man accused of causing michael jackson's death. dr. conrad murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter. ted rowlands, a few motions yesterday before the jury selection could begin, right? >> reporter: yeah. yesterday, they had a couple of things. one of the things was that was dealt with yesterday from an appellate's point of view was the defense wanted this jury to be sequestered. looks like that won't happen. the jurors will be able to go home. a four to six-week trial. today the first group of three 180 perspective jurors come to the courthouse. the bulk of them will have an excuse or two to get

dismisdemeanor. then the rest of them, the ones standing will be given a questionnaire, 30 plus pages to fill out and then the attorneys will pore over those the coming days and whittling down will occur until the opening statement starts on the 27th of this month. today is the first day of a long jury selection process. >> let's talk about murray's defense for a moment. >> reporter: well, the case comes down to the medicine found in michael jackson's body. the defense will say the doctor would not give a patient that much. a first-year med student will know that and what they will tell the jury. the only probable scenario michael jackson killed himself because he couldn't sleep and grabbed the medicine sitting there and drank it. the prosecution on the other hand, will say dr. murray was incapable of delivering good quality medicine and what he did

here was absolutely criminal and he should pay for it. they will blame murray for jackson's death, obviously, but come down to what the jury believe, the experts and you might see dr. murray at that time stand. >> we will continue to follow the trial with you. thanks. one decade after 9/11, we asked how has your life changed? >> i grew up in the last ten years. i left 28-year marriage that was very, very abusive and found the love of my life. >> other americans voice and tweet their own stories next.

the world changed after 9/11. people's lives changes too. not those who lost loved ones and not just because of the attacks. cnn's chris lawrence looks at the difference a decade can make. >> reporter: in september 2001, we still had our "friends." >> that little naked guy would be me. >> reporter: but we were just getting to know a certain oger. >> of course! >> reporter: drops of jupiter topped the charts. ♪ tell me d did you fall from a shooting star ♪ >> reporter: and we still bought cds. >> ten years ago, on 9/11, i thought i was going to be in the corporate world with a big old ring on my finger. >> i didn't see the light of day personally. i had a lot of personal issues going on. >> i was extremely excited about what i was doing. >> we were celebrating our 48th

wedding anniversary. >> in 2001, i was diagnosed with hiv as a college student. >> reporter: on september 11th most of us didn't work in the pentagon or know someone in the twin towers. we weren't first responders or american troops. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: but the day became a marker -- life before and after. guy jenkins was young, black, gay, and hiv positive. >> i never thought that i would be here ten years later. >> reporter: rachelle della cruz was sure she would be a married corporate executive by now but she is still single and ditched corporate america when she found her faith. >> i work as a missionary here at george mason university. i fund-raise my own salary. >> reporter: life takes some unexpected turns over ten years. personally, professionally and

from your marriage. >> i grew up the last ten years. i left a 28-year marriage that was very abusive and found the love i my life. >> reporter: roger mcdaniel made nor money then than he did now. >> i'm offering jobs basically half the price what i was offering people before. >> reporter: richard and sarah summers celebrated another ten years of marriage and added another granddaughter. >> she is now 10, 12 sgh? >> yes. >> time flies. >> reporter: the student who saw no future, he is still alive at 30. >> my greatest fear in life, up until two years ago, was i was going to die and die alone and no one would be at my bedside and that no one would ever love me. at this time in life, i'm happy, i'm married, i'm happy. hiv will not be the death of me. >> wow. chris lawrence joins us now live. chris, you also reached out to viewers and asked how 9/11

changed their lives via twitter and other avenues. what were the responses? what are people saying? >> reporter: kyra, the idea behind this was that if i asked you what was your life like in the fall of 1998, or even 2003, you'd have to take a minute to think about it. but if i ask you who you were with or who you worked for in the fall of 2001, almost everybody remembers what their life was like. in comparing then to now, barbara johnston tweeted in and said, not even close. she said my life was all about me. now i'm a mother of three young boys and my family is the priority. couldn't say that ten years ago. also conrad cordova said 9/11 brought me closer to god. he said i became a better husband and father. i volunteered for an iraq deployment in the air national guard and also a nurse. so it's just amazing how people kind of take this day sort of our generation's kennedy

assassination you mark that day before and where you've come since. >> what do you think has been the biggest change in your life in the last ten years? >> reporter: by far, the 7-week-old baby daughter that is keeping me up at night, kyra. without a doubt. i couldn't have seen that coming ten years ago. i know you've got two twins at home so i know you know what i mean when you look back and it's like, wow! >> yeah. it is pretty amazing and makes you realize what our purpose in life is. chris, thanks so much. >> reporter: you're welcome. join us for our special 9/11 ten years later, live coverage of remembrance events begins sunday, 8:00 a.m. eastern here on cnn.

11:30 a.m. eastern in washington, senate republicans focus on jobs, making remarks ahead of the president's speech later this evening. and president obama reveals his jobs plan at 7:00 p.m. eastern. our coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. a half hour later, the nfl season kicks off with the defending super bowl champs hosting the new orleans saints. we're following a lot of developments. first, white house correspondent -- actually, our main money gal, christine romans. then again, you could cover the white house. you know politics just as much as money. >> reporter: it's too crazy down there. i have to stay here where things

are safe. we're looking at the republican candidates. do they want to repeal quote, unquote obama care? but we'll be analyzing the republican job plans after this. >> reporter: jim spellman in texas where hundreds many more homes are discovered destroyed in the wake of this devastating wildfire. we'll have more at the top of the hour. >> all right, guys. thanks so much. also ahead, harnessing the power of the tea party. republican candidates lining up for its support. we're going to look at the state of the movement and the influence it could have in the first presidential election. [ man ] natural gas vehicles are used somewhere...

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big football game tonight. >> i cannot get an image out of my head right now. >> okay. for full disclosure, a little locker room talk. i covered the packers for a while. i was just mentioning how i saw things i wish i would have never seen. >> but pro football is tonight. >> yes, it's hard for me. i love both these teams. >> it's actually a great start to the season after the lockout. all these worries we thought we wouldn't see. the players are excited. a great way to get the fans excited. the last two super bowl champs. two great quarterbacks. aaron rodgers versus drew brees. however, peyton manning will not play on sunday. it ends his streak of 227 games in a row.

it was the longest streak in the nfl. he is trying to get back as soon as possible. we don't know when we're going to see him again. crazy happenings in baseball in the bull pen. indians' reliever chris perez on the hunt for a squirrel. tried to trap him in warmups. did you see that squirrel jump? look, there he goes. he's fearless. >> it is a flying squirrel. we have issues with those here in atlanta. >> the indians couldn't catch the tigers either. detroit won the game. >> thank you, jeff. >> he's still trying. >> seriously, no issues with those here in atlanta? i've had them trapped. all right. let's move on. well, he's big, green, and bendable. now he's wanted for attempted robbery. that incident definitely got jeannie talking. >> reporter: pick your favorite robbery disguise.

was it darth vader robbing a bank or the boney bandit robbing a convenience store? how about the guy who wore a president obama mask to stick up a bank? or the robber who dressed head to though in santa? >> he explained he was robbing the bank because santa had to pay his elves. >> reporter: you prefer none. but there's a new contestant in the robbery costume contest. skin color, green. alias, gumby. only instead of his usual side kick, pokey the horse, this gumby walked into a san diego 711 convenience store with an unmasked guy. first, gumby asked for marlboros. then he said this is a robbery. >> the clerk, thinking it was a joke, said, i don't have time for this. i'm cleaning. >> reporter: gumby didn't get away with any loot. he ended up losing money.

27 cents to be exact. when he reached into his costume as if reaching for a gun, he managed to drop some change, which the attendant later swept up after gumby high tailed it out of the store. the clerk behind the counter had never heard of gumby. when he described the suspect, he said he looks like a greenish version of spongebob squarepants. actually, a real robber once wore a spongebob mask as he and an accomplice knocked off a florida convenience store at gunpoint. and don't just call the police. call the fashion police when a male suspect shows up wearing a dress and underwear on his head. the trend extends to thongs at this colorado convenience store holdup. or for more masculine look -- >> it appears he has plaid boxers on his head. >> reporter: but gumby doesn't need no stinking boxers. so far, the san diego case is a head scratcher. could the robber have been eddie

murphy? >> i am gumby! >> reporter: rehearsing for his gig hosting the oscars. >> good luck can this. >> reporter: jeannie mose, cnn, new york. we begin this hour with president obama's vow to put more americans to work. tonight, he unveils his plan, and it's his own job that may be on the line. brooe ya brooe -- brianna at white house. >> reporter: it's like hey, guys, what more do you want us to do? even though i should tell you, kyra, democrats on the hill admit it's unlikely they would move a comprehensive jobs bill. likely, it's something they would pass more in increments and bits and posseieces.

we don't know something about what the president is expected to propose. $400 billion jobs plan. that's what we're hearing from democratic sources familiar with the president's speech. a big part of it, and we have told you this before, is that payroll tax extension. employees have been getting it for the last year. this year, the president wants to extend that and also give it to employers so they would get a break. also, another big chunk of this, $100 billion -- and these are working figures. they can change. $100 billion in infrastructure spending. also, aid to states and incentives to hire people who are chronically unemployed, like the elderly, like veterans. just listen to white house press secretary jay carney. he's saying very much that the ball is is now in the court of congress. >> all of these ideas are bipartisan in nature. they're the kinds of things that republicans and democrats have broadly supported in the past. therefore, given the fact they're paid for, given the fact the economy needs help and that

americans need help, congress should act right away and get it done. >> reporter: and kyra, not surprising, as you know, there's a fight between the white house and house republicans as trying to position themselves as saying, we really want to do something, trying to convince americans, voters that they really do want to move forward with something. although, as i mentioned, it seems like the reality is that you would see bits and pieces of jobs, legislation moving through congress, not a big sweeping jobs bill. >> all right, brianna. thank you. the president will address the nation on the job crisis tonight. cnn's going to have special live coverage. 6:00 p.m. eastern followed by the speech at 7:00 eastern. then we'll have analysis right after. the economy is also a big topic in last night's republican debate. eight republicans on stage, but two candidates trading most of the punches. rick perry and mitt romney facing off for the first time on a national stage. jim acosta has the highlights.

>> reporter: rick perry and mitt romney stood side by side, close enough for the fur to fly. first on the requequestion of w kr created more jobs. jumping into the mix was a newly aggressive john huntsman. >> i hate to rain on the parade of the great lonestar governor, but we were the number one creator of jobs. >> reporter: the debate quickly switched to the romney health care plan in massachusetts. >> it was a great opportunity for us as a people to see what will not work. that is an individual mandate in this country. >> reporter: ron paul later noted perry was once a democrat who showed some of his own support for government health care. >> the governor of texas criticized the governor of massachusetts for romney care, but he wrote a really fancy letter supporting hillary care.

>> speaking of letters, i was more interested in the one you wrote to ronald reagan saying i'm going to quit the party because of what you believe in. >> reporter: newt gingrich tried to bring it to a halt. >> i hope all my friends up here are going to repudiate every effort of the news media to fight each other. whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating barack obama. >> jim joins us now from los angeles. this is rick perry's first presidential debate. how did he do? >> reporter: well, you know, he said last night that he sort of felt like the pinata of the republican party. he got hit, but he also showed he can hit back. if republicans are wondering out there if rick perry can take a punch, he proved that he can. not only take a punch, but deliver one himself. i think what he did last night was really sort of set up a choice for republican voters heading into this really nitty, gritty phase of the republican

battle. are you with the tea party? are you with me? are you interested in having a debate about things like social security, or are you more comfortable with an established figure like mitt romney? mitt romney said, wait, a minute, that's not going to work for the millions of people who depend on that program. what i think rick perry did was two things. he set up a debate, a fundamental debate inside the republican party about which direction it's going to take. he also essentially lived to fight another day. he's going to survive last night and go into our cnn debate on monday night as the basic front runner in this race. >> all right. jim acosta live out of l.a. for us. thanks. in just about ten minutes, we'll break down the economic plans proposed. we'll take a closer look for you. all across texas, hundreds

of families are suddenly homeless because of a relentless, fast-moving wildfire. some people just had minutes to clear out everything before they lost it all. one of the worst blazes has been near the town of bastrop, just outside of austin. jim spellman joins us from there. >> reporter: hey, kyra. we just got a stunning update here. yesterday, the tally of homes destroyed was 576. this morning, they updated that. now 1,386 homes. hundreds more added. a lot of people who had looked at the fire map saw that number in the 500s and held out hope. it's going to be harder now for them to feel like that's the truth. they've been releasing, slowly, the addresses of homes that have been destroyed. like you said, sometimes just minutes to get out. now people are faced with trying to rebuild their lives. that's going to be months if not years long. really, to rebuild this town and the character of this town. ranches destroyed. farm animals killed. a lot of the stuff that makes up

the character of a town like this is now gone. on the fire itself, they have been making good progress. they've been taking advantage of the low winds and lower temperatures. they hope to do more of that today from the air, on the ground. but with these draught conditions, 181 fires in the last week here in texas. these things can pop up any time and cause even more heartache across this state. kyra. >> it is definitely a tough time for the great state of texas. jim, thanks. texas could use a lot of that rain now inundating parts of the east coast. robb marciano has been monitoring that for us. what do you think? >> the radar the past couple hours, kyra, has gone from bad to worse across this area. we're looking from harrisburg up through scranton. all of those areas are flooding. hershey, pennsylvania. these cells continue to work

their way up towards the north. this is on top of the tremendous amount of rainfall this area's already had. ten inches already in binghamton, new york. these numbers will go up, no doubt about it, as we go through today. that will be the ongoing issue here. as far as the flood warnings, they go past this area in through jersey. in some spots, right up where irene was just a week and a half ago. as far as what else is going on, we're looking at these three items. maria, katia, and nate. as far as katia, same deal. it's going to miss us. mar maria, we have time to play with as far as that's concerned. as far as nate is concerned, this is what's going to happen with nate. it's going to sit and spin out here, which means it could develop into a hurricane. right now, forecasts are bringing it to mexico. in an ideal situation, we get

some of this moisture into texas. >> all right. thanks, rob. well, the flamboyant fashion designer has been found guilty this morning for making racial slurs in a paris cafe. take a listen to the february outburst of former christian dior designer john galliano. >> are you blond? >> no, but i love hitler. people like you will be dead today. your mothers, your forefathers. they'll be [ bleep ] gassed and [ bleep ] dead. >> oh, my god. you have a problem. >> zain verjee joining us out of london. so what was the sentence for the fired fashion designer, who obviously was a little tipsy there? >> reporter: right. you know, a lot of people, kyra, expected it to be a lot harsher. actually, he got off a little better than many people thought he might. he basically got fined a little

over $8,000. he could have had to pay a fine of about $32,000. he was also facing a jail sentence of about six months. he got no sentence at all. now, there were three plaintiffs. they were each awarded just symbolically one euro. a short while ago, his lawyer came out and said zbgalliano is really happy this whole thing is over. he didn't want to show up today because he was tired of the media. he said in the past that the media has overplayed this story. you know, it is something that we once again are reminded as a reality tragic end to someone who was a really big talent. many people saying he deserved a harsher sentence, but this is what happened. >> all right. zain verjee out of london with the sentencing. well, everyone has a different idea on how to jump start the economy. we're going to look at what various gop candidates think how it should work out. we'll have that right after the break. i'm good about washing my face.

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checking stories across country now. the search is on for the suspect involved in a road rage attack in lincoln, rhode island. police say the suspect got out of his car and kicked and punched the car of an elderly victim. no one was hurt. outside of new orleans, we're about an hour away from the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new bridge. it was damaged during hurricane

katrina. just call these two lifesavers. these defensive backs left practice when they found a grandmother who had locked herself out of her car with her 17-month-old grandson locked inside. >> the lady came before we could even open the door. he said she needed help. she said there's a baby stuck in the car. >> he just took one swoop or hit with a hammer and it busted. >> the grandma says she's now a lifelong fan of missouri western state football. president obama unveils his grand plan tonight telling us all how he plans to put americans back to work. for millions of african-americans attending job fairs like this one in atlanta, gainful employment can't come soon enough. the jobless rate for blacks is the highest since the reagan administration. 16.7%. democratic congresswoman maxine waters has been a vocal advocate for putting african-americans back to work.

but she says they need a pass to put pressure on the president to get something done. >> when you tell us it's all right and you unleash us and you tell us you're ready for us to have this conversation, we're ready to have the conversation. >> well, i spoke with congresswoman waters just a short time ago about what she wants to hear from president obama tonight. >> what i'd like to hear is that he's going to target some efforts toward the most needy in this country. whether unemployment numbers are high, that's where you need to send some resources. of course, you should deal with all of the unemployment, but you should pay some special attention whether it's rural or it's urban or it's suburban. wherever it is. we know people are hurting. we want to see some special efforts directed toward them. we want green jobs, but they have not developed as we have

talked about in the congress or the president has talked about. i'd love to have solar panel development going on down in my district, but it is not happening. so what we want to do is we want to make sure that there's a big investment in the infrastructure so that we can repair the roads and the bridges and the streets and the water system. put people back to work like the ccc program. the wpa of the roosevelt years. we want to make sure that we get those resources. >> president obama's jobs speech before a joint session of congress begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern. cnn will carry that speech live. anyone running for president better have a solid game plan for reducing unemployment if they hope to get elected. christine romans have been taking a closer look at what the republican candidates have been proposed. >> reporter: well, let me start with where they're kind of the same. it's a very conservative economic ideology. they want to shrink government. they want to repeal regulations.

they want to repeal, quote, unquote obama care. they want to cut taxes. this is where there are the common threads among the gop candidates economic plans. where they start to diverge is different elements of each one. let's take romney, for example. mitt romney, he proposed something called a reagan economic zone. what is that exactly? we haven't heard. it's a new kind of free trade zone where you would be able to address unfair trade practices with china and compete against countries like that, like-minded countries coming together in a new kind of economic zone. then you have john huntsman. john huntsman got the endorsement of the wall street journal. that carries a lot of weight with conservatives. also with moderates who want to make sure someone has an economic plan that could work. he would totally reform the tax code, cut tax rates for individuals to 8%, 14%, and 23%. just those three, but also getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction. as i said, he's been endorsed by the journal. michele bachmann has a lot of different plans, mostly

conservative plans. interestingly, most people talk about her pledge, kyra, to keep gas prices to $2 a gallon. that's what she's most known for. >> and governor rick perry, you know, he hasn't come out with an economic plan officially. he did say some things last night. what do you think? >> reporter: he attacked social security last night. he had the chance. he doubled down on his statement that social security is a ponzi scheme. that allowed mitt romney to come in and look very moderate. some supporters of the social security would say he looked very presidential. you can't call it a failure when tens of millions of people rely on it for income. you know, is it a ponzi scheme? washington post fact checking this morning and saying it's not technically a ponzi scheme. it's not an investment vehicle. it's an insurance program. it does have funding issues, no question. but ponzi scheme, no. there you go. you have a lot of the same kind

of -- cut government. attack the president. attack the president's programs. cut taxes. maybe even reform taxes. that's mostly what these plans are all about. >> christine romans. we'll all be watching tonight. coming up, actress reese witherspoon is struck by a car while jogging in southern california. we'll have the details on her condition coming up. and the gop candidates want to invite the tea party. we're going to look at how that movement is affecting the presidential campaign next. i want healthy skin for life.

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actress reese witherspoon is hit by a car while jogging. cher will not be in the audience

cheering on her dancing son. those are a few of our headlines. a.j. hammer joining me to talk about, first up, reese witherspoon. how is she? >> reporter: she's good, thankfully. it's the price you pay for trying to get a little exercise, aparentally. reese's rep tell showbiz tonight it's not that bad. she's not seriously injured. in fact, she spent last night resting at home. she was reportedly crossing the street when she was hit by the car. it was driven by an 84-year-old woman. luckily for reese, the car was only traveling around 20 miles an hour. police are calling this incident minor. kyra, you've got to imagine it was a big scare for reese and her family and for her fans when they found out. again, sounds like she's doing just fine all things considered. >> good. n now, cher. she's been supporting her son on the internet, but won't be on

the floor. >> reporter: she's saying she doesn't want to steal the spotlight from her son. right now, there are no plans for cher to be at the show. she has been very supportive of chaz through her twitter account. she's been taking on anyone who's been criticizing chaz's appearance on the show. as you know, some people have been ripping "dancing with the stars" for featuring a tra transgendered contestant. cher calls them bigots. cher was responding to reports that she was scheduled to appear to support her son. notably, one of those reports was posted by perez hilton. cher tweeted dreblgtly to him saying, what a nightmare. i'm so sorry. i have to say, if chaz does settle into "dancing with the stars," i think cher should wind up in the audience at some point. i think chaz is going to be become quite popular. >> all right.

we know some other people who will become quite popular on that show. all right. let's talk about buddy holly. he was only 22 when he lost him. we're still honoring his talent. finally got his star. >> reporter: it's amazing to think he was only 22 years old when he died. yesterday would have been his 75th birthday. people have not forgotten this rock and roll pioneer. he was given this star on the hollywood walk of fame yesterday. his widow was there. it was phil everly from the everly brothers. the singe eer died in a plane crash. his brief career generated ten hit singles. the classics like "that'll be the day" and "peggy sue." we still hear them all the time. so budly holly getting his due out there in hollywood. >> do you remember where he used

to play in lubbuck, texas? do you remember the name of the little diner? >> reporter: the diner. i was thinking thread gills. that was actually the last place that another big star played before she left town, janice joplin, for the last time. what was the name? >> the heidi ho. next time we'll there, we'll see if it's still there. you knew that. have a great rest of your day. if you want information on everything breaking in the world, a.j.'s got it every night on hln. the tea party is like that girl that all the guys in high school wanted to date. the guys being the republican presidential candidates in this case. but the girl is just not ready to pick her prom date yet. here's joe johns. >> reporter: in the republican race for president, everybody wants a piece of the tea party these days. rick perry talks like a man who's already in the club.

>> i have heard people say, you tea party types, y'all are angry. we're not angry. we're indignant. >> reporter: michele bachmann talks like an insider too. >> the tea party has been the best antedote to the out of control spending that we have seen. rather than dissing the pea party, we should be praising the tea party. >> reporter: ron paul was tea party before there was a tea party. >> why don't we just obey the constitution once again? that would solve so many of our problems. >> reporter: while mitt romney sounds more like a guy who's on the outside trying to get in. >> i'm devoted to shrinking the size of government and encouraging the growth of the free economy. i think i'd get great support from the tea party. >> reporter: this would be the first presidential election to witness the effects of the tea party movement. so far, the movement's biggest idea, that the government and its spending need to be scaled back now have dominated the national political conversation. >> those are the issues that are

not just animating the republican primary. i actually think they're defining the concerns of americans right in the middle of the political spectrum today. >> reporter: true, but it's mostly about the republican contenders right now and everybody knows it. though, tea partiers don't like all of what they see. mitt romney's state-run health care program when he was governor of massachusetts looks a bit too much like the president's health care plan for many. rick perry's moderate record on immigration is a potential drag on his tea party support. and many mainstream republicans question michele bachman's potential to pull off a win in a general election. and speaking of questions, while the tea party movement has been great for republican energy, it has also produced candidates so unorthodox that voters eventually rejected them. thank christine o'donnell in delaware. that's where they get labeled extreme, though they say what's extreme is the result if we don't get the government under control. senator mike lee was elected with strong tea party support.

>> it's a reaction to extreme circumstances that exist within our federal government. again, $15 trillion debt. extreme. increasing debt, accelerating it at $1.5 trillion a year. that's extreme. >> reporter: polls show the tea party movement took a hit in popularity recently after the showdown of raising the debt limit. organizers call it the cost of leadership. though, it could be an early sign of trouble with the presidential elections still more than a year away. joe johns, cnn, washington. coming up, last night's republican debate. who was the biggest surprise? who was the biggest disappointment? our political buzz panel weighs in. have i got a surprise for you! [ barks ]

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1400 homes now. still just 30% contained. weary firefighters hoping tropical storm nate could bring some relief in the form of heavy rains. those chances look slim right now. the storm will likely track too far south in mexico. political buzz. it's your rapid fire. look at the hottest political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. playing today, robert zimmerman, pete dominic, and republican strategist, chsherry. last night's debate. perry and romney facing off for the first time. let's listen. >> we created more jobs in the last three months in texas than he created in four years in massachusetts. >> texas is a great state, but governor perry doesn't believe he created those things. if he tried to say it, it would

be like al gore trying to say he created the internet. george bush and his predecessor created jobs faster. >> so who had the better night? perry or romney? sherry. >> i'd have to give the edge to romney, though both men did very well. romney is like the tortoise and the hair. every time a new face pops up, he's steady. either man would be far better than what we have in the white house right now. this is a country who's hungry for leadership. i think this was a national audience last night, not just a republican audience. we're looking for the next president. we're looking for the guy who's going to take us away from the current situation. i think both men seem very well aware of that. >> robert? >> well, kyra, if the goal is to play to the extreme right wing fringe to win the nomination, you have to give the edge to governor perry last night.

with his attack on social security as a failure and a ponzi scheme and his complete assault on science as a valuable technology or valuable and useful educational tool. basically, he's rush limbaugh with good hair. of course, by comparison, he makes mitt romney look moderate. that may help romney in the general election. >> pete? >> it was tough to see rick perry and mitt romney go at it like that. it was like watching clark kent attack bruce wayne. these guys are very handsome, but the truth is the winner was john huntsman. he's clearly running for 2016. he probably has a great chance because he's reasonable when it comes to science. rick perry wrote an ad for the obama campaign. social security is a ponzi scheme. i think judges are always right. i think scientists are always wrong. what is he thinking? >> all right. here's the second question, guys. it's a two parter. who do you think was the biggest surprise in the republican debate? who was the biggest disappointment? robert? >> well, what was the biggest

surprise is the way i'd like to approach that question. the real shock to me was watching all these republican candidates on the stage try to embrace the reagan legacy, yet they all know that ronald reagan would be an outcast in the republican party today because he saved social security by compromising with democrats. he raised taxes 11 times, raised the debt ceiling. he actually had the leadership skill to negotiate with our adversaries overseas. the biggest disappointment has to go to michele bachmann. she's going to have to up the crazy ante to get back in the game. >> cheri? >> i would agree michele bachmann was the biggest disappointment. she's done so well before. not for being crazy. in fact, i think the left would love for her to be crazy, but she starts making sense. she's impressing a lot more people. the fact she didn't shine last night was a disappointment to a lot of her fans, i'm sure. newt gingrich was the biggest surprise. he's smart. he's the grownup. quite frankly, if michele bachmann had done what newt

gingrich had done last night, she would have won the night. >> pete? >> i think the biggest surprise last night was that rick santorum was there. i was surprised that he was there. [ laughter ] i'll tell you, really, i like ron paul. i think he's integral to any conversation, especially when it comes to the constitution. but he really surprised me when he went off the rails with his whole fencing us in. watch out. these fences are going to keep us in. that was just too bizarre, even for that debate. >> even more bizarre than you, huh? >> kyra. >> pete, rick santorum looked like he was surprised to be there as well. >> he did refer to him in third person just to let people know he was there. >> okay. let's get to the buzzer beater now. president obama unveiling his jobs plan on capitol hill tonight, as you know. 7:00 p.m. eastern. we'll have live coverage. some republicans are skipping the speech. we actually had a chance to talk to a few here on cnn. what do you think? is that disrespectful to the office of president?

>> i don't think so. i think if they simply had found better things to do, it might be. they are making a statement. the country, the congress, they're tired of these speeches. they're tired of the empty promises. they're tired of the failures. now he wants to propose more stimulus spending. it failed in the past. it costs us too much money. i think it's a message he should maybe listen to rather than saying this is disrespectful to the office. this is a national audience that's going to be ignoring him. >> robert? >> this is a profoundly serious question. not just republicans are boycotting this speech, but so many more have denounsed the speech before they've read it or heard it. the real issue here is not just disrespecting the office of presidency. they're disrespecting the plight of 17 million unemployed and underemployed americans and millions more who are facing very tough economic times. they've got to put the country first in their party. their political agenda second. >> pete? >> listen, i'm one of those americans that absolutely has

speech fatigue from this president. but this is unprecedented. you don't skip the president of the united states when he's giving a speech to a joint session of congress. in their defense, david vitter is one of those senators. the saints are playing. he has a big game to watch. jobs are important, but he'll probably be hanging out with caterers. jim demint is also not going. he has a tupperware party. >> a lot of stations aren't even airing. >> that's shameful by itself. >> thanks, guys. well, president obama will lay out his plan tonight for getting jobless americans back to work. how it plays in washington is one thing. how it plays across the country is another. cnn's poppy harlow spoke with small-town business owners who talk about what they'd want to see happen. >> i'm not an economist. it's not what i do. i sell appliances for a liveing.

i do what i do best and sftick o it. i hope the government can do what they do best. the bickering back and forth needs to end. it's definitely hurting the consumer confidence. it trickles all the way down to main street. they need to fix that right now. >> i'm not very optimistic, but it's like, you know, there's nothing you can do. it's out of our hands, the individual people. we can't even borrow money anymore. the banks are tight with their money. they won't loan out money. we're a small business guy here, and it's tough. health insurance for the family is a big burden on us. with the increase on taxes and health insurance and everything, it just almost is impossible to keep going. >> as the economy slows down, if we do see cuts, we do cut staff. that's what we did the past years. we were very quick to cut staff.

if something does -- in the fall happens the way the fall of 2008 happened, we'll have to cut staff immediately. >> what's going to be for my children in the future? i don't know. that's what makes me nervous. this is kind of the lost generation. that's what i'm kauling it. what's it going to be? i think that the government needs to really look at main street. don't forget about us. just really take care of america. it's time to focus on america. >> poppy harlow now joining us from new york. why did you pick babylon? >> reporter: you know, it's interesting. one of our producers chose babylon. it's not far from where we are in new york city. there's always so much focus on these big cities and businesses here. what about the folks right outside? what about the folks on main street america? that's part of it. also, i think just to hear what the real confidence level is of these business owners. you know, you may not agree with what they said, but small businesses across this country employ more than half of americans. they create more than 50% of

american jobs. right now, what you heard from them, and there's a lot more we have here on our site, is that they're not confident. they have lawmakers to focus on people like them. they want some directive. they want some direction from washington. they're not getting it. the numbers show us that. the latest consumer confidence report showed us the lowest reading since 1980. so of course the president's addressing a joint session of congress tonight, but he's also speaking directly to these business owners who will be watching and looking for confidence from the president and a lot of direction. we're expecting to see, kyra, a lot of initiatives in this jobs plan aimed right at folks like the ones we talked to. >> all right. we'll follow up then. thanks so much, poppy. adding insult to injury, a huge crane falls down while trying to fix earthquake damage at the national cathedral. that story and much more straight ahead. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®.

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well, we're getting word that the campus of the state university of new york is literally encircled by flood

waters right now. we have the director of communications on the phone. give us an update of how bad it is. >> well, it's not as bad as it was. first of all, thank you for having me. it's not as bad as it was yesterday. most of the water has receded overnight into this morning. we had about ten resident hall wings in five buildings that experienced severe flooding yesterday. damage to first floor lobbies, staff offices, stair wells and entry ways. 60 students had to be relocated, but we housed them all on campus. at this point, everyone is safe and accounted for. >> so classes have been cancelled for, what, two days? how long will this continue? >> classes were cancelled yesterday at about 1:45 for the remainder of the day. later in the day, they were cancelled for today. we're currently assessing the situation for tomorrow. the biggest issue we have from an academic standpoint is one of our main academic buildings, the

curtis motte agricultural engineering building, is currently offline due to flooding in the basement. without that building, a lot of our labs and facilities in terms of our agricultural education programs are offline as well. so once we know if that building can get back online in the next day or two, we can make a decision regarding classes today and into early next week. >> and how are you cleaning up and dealing with the issues? do you have enough support? do you need more? >> well, luckily in our case, being a college, we have a large infrastructure between our residence hall staff, our facility staff, dining services as well as faculty staff and students on campus. it's all hands on deck. we could always use more assistance, but being a colleges, there's a lot of infrastructure that we can tap into on a day-to-day basis. >> wow. scott, director of communications, thank you for calling in. we'll follow up with you. well, it may sound odd, but

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haagen-dazs. well, if you're looking for some sign, any sign, that the economy is on an upswing, try this. the labor department says there are millions of job openings being advertised, and the help wanted sign is definitely out. details now as we head to wall street with alison kosik. >> reporter: see, kyra, i don't just bring you the bad news on jobs. this is the good stuff, right? more than three million jobs were posted in july.

i'm talking about advertised job openings. a lot of them in manufacturing, trade, and transportation. we're still far from normal. still, listen, it's a bit of improvement there. >> all right. so if there are all these job openings that we're talking about, why aren't we seeing the hiring? after all, the last jobs report showed zero jobs added. >> reporter: i know. funny how it works that way, right? well, job postings don't always translate into hiring. at least not right away. the fed came out with a report yesterday saying companies are even more cautious because there's so much uncertainty out there. no one knows where the economy's headed. with all this market volatility, consumers are more cautious too, which means they're spending less. what you see here is a vicious cycle. with less demand, people aren't buying companies' stuff. companies don't hire. also, they're giving current workers overtime. they're really not taking this

big leap and hiring someone new. they're finding ways around it, kyra. >> all right. alison kosik at new york stock exchange. thank you. up next, jury selection in the doctor accused in the death of michael jackson. find out what lawyers are looking for when searching for jurors. rs are local volunteers... these are our neighbors putting their lives on the line. and when they rely on a battery, there are firefighters everywhere who trust duracell. and now you can join with duracell to help. just buy specially-marked packs & duracell will make a battery donation to local volunteers. these days don't we all need someone to trust...? duracell. trusted everywhere. [ tires screech ] [ crying ] [ applause ] [ laughs ] [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] your life will have to flash by even faster.

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well, republicans did not follow ronald reagan's 11 commandment last night. that's, not speaking ill of another republican. mark is here with all the debate highlights. hey, mark. >> reporter: hey, kyra. you would expect since they were in ronald reagan's museum, they would be more gentle on each other. the gloves certainly came off

last night. there were no winners in last night's debate. that was my take away from it. what i did realize, and i think most other people did as well, is it is a two-person race. let's break down what some of the candidates' performances looked like anyway. rick perry, you know, his greatest strength right now, kyra, is also his biggest weakness because he's never going to be called the flip-flopper. when he spoke about social security in such terms last night, not such a good thing, especially if you're trying to appeal to seniors in florida, which is an important state. we'll have to see if rick perry will alter his views a little. for mitt romney, he has to remain above the fray right now. bottom line is mitt romney was trying to look presidential out there. he was almost goaded into a couple times into attacking his physical low republic fellow republicans. he did that a little bit. somebody like michele bachmann better he gain her momentum. she's going south.

after rick perry got in the race, she seemed to have lost her mojo. john huntsman tried to land some blows last night, but he needs to sharpen his attacks. they didn't really seem to sting anybody too much. the gloves came off last night, but we didn't see any really solid punches landed. >> all right. mark preston. once again, we want to ask everyone to join us on monday for the next republican debate. cnn is going to host the event with the tea party express and several other tea party groups. that's coming out of tampa, florida. site of the 2012 national convention. monday, 8:00 eastern right here on cnn. jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. another good thing about geico so like say you need to report a people wclaim, alright./7. a real person will be there to help you. then you can use geico.com to view photos of the damage, track your claim, print an estimate.

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try --ucaptions by vitace-- www.vitac.com jury selection begins this morning for the man accused of causing michael jackson's death. dr. conrad murray is accused of voluntary manslaughter. ted rowlands is at the courthouse. >> reporter: well, today is a big day. today, we'll see the first of three groups of 180 prospective jurors come in here. first, they'll be asked a few questions to see if they can serve on a trial, which is four to six weeks in length. they'll kick a lot of people out today, tomorrow, and monday. the rst of them will have to fill out these long questionnaires. they'll then be part of this whole whittling down process. it's a very important process. as any criminal defense attorney will tell you, this could win or lose the case. >> the jury selection process is probably the most critical

aspect of a trial. as they say, a trial's won or lost in jury selection. after that, it's all over. you pretty much know whether you've picked a jury likely to convict, acquit, or hang. >> believe me, jurors don't want to sit on trials. although, in a trial of this magnitude, you have what some call stealth jurors that get on there and go, oh, this is my opportunity. this will be my 15 minutes of fame. >> reporter: and clearly, kyra, there will be some of these people who are here and eager to sit on this jury. the attorneys will try to weed them out as well. >> so the case basically comes down to what now, ted? >> reporter: propofol. that's what the coroner says killed michael jackson. nobody is contesting that. the defense is saying michael jackson may have been the one that ingested the propofol. their client, dr