the budget debate. it shows in the divisions of our society which really began ten years og. but we still don't want to acknowledge. chris: so well said. let's get to one of those clinging things that clings to us from that experience. afghanistan, a war we went into right after 9/11 to get the bad guys, to get al qaeda. david, that war sits there. i guess my question is, is this about al qaeda still? is this about trying to prevent another 9/11, therefore, so with the case, fight them there rather than here? >> that's the way president obama has presented the war and his rational for increasing the troops. he's begun to pull those troops out now. i think it's inconceivable that the united states would have made the commitment that it has in afghanistan absent 9/11. there would have been efforts certainly to go after osama bin laden and al qaeda but that was not a priority for the bush

administration which when it came in striking, up until september 11. they were worried about other things. so it's a bizarre accident of history, the united states has ended up so committed. we're spending $120 billion this year at least on the war in afghanistan. and i think that's frustrating. economists talk about opportunity costs. by that they mean the things that you might have done if you haven't spent money on something else. chris: sure. >> when we look back on this an verse roy, thinking about the opportunity cost, things the country might have done, might have spent money on how we not gotten involved on these wars. chris: the question is was it snart i remember being proud that we chased these terrorists all the way back to their caves, the way all of us put it, back to tora bora, to catch them. you cover terrorism s there a connection between our fighting over there in those caves still, going around like the schnook helicopter that got hit, is that

keeping us safe from terrorism? >> that's one of the things president obama has to explain to the american public. he announced swhuneds like a change in strategy, bringing american troops home, but americans can see violence on the ground continues and there's even a talk making a deal with the taliban, the group that allowed al qaeda safe haven in the first place. i think a lot of americans are confused as to how that is keeping us safer, even as we're told by u.s. counterterrorism officials that al qaeda's on the ropes. you've got to explain to the american public, ok, why do we still have so many people in harm's way and if we're changing the strategy and shrinking the footprint, tell us how you're going to do it. chris: howard, larger question to tie this up, here we are ten years later. ten years from the heart. pictures are all over television. they will be over television weeks ahead. the memory of that that's so alive in the icon ography of those pictures, towers coming down when we thought they wouldn't. trillion dollars, you're so smart about the aspects that we have done to compensate, t.s.a.,

airports, unpleasantness. we can't go by the white house, the freedom we had as americans to love our country and enjoy it is gone. that stuff. >> well, yes, it's true we had to change the way we fly and the way we think to some extent. my point is we paid a ton of money. we borrowed a ton of money not only to pay for the wars but to maintain the life pretty much that we had beforehand n certain respects that's a good thing. because in new york, for example, even right here ground zero in all over new york city, new york is alive today more than ever. my kids -- chris: our kids -- >> that is the mecca for everybody on the east coast. every kid from all over the united states and still from around the world. the sense of creativity and possibility in new york remains undiminished. but eye lot of that is floating on a sea of debt that we got into directly and indirectly as

a result of the attack from osama bin laden a decade ago. he knew what he was doing in attacking the heart of the american economy and to prevent him from being victorious, we borrowed money and printed money in a way that's affected us in ways we can't even measure. chris: same we reacted to ito in the countries -- the war that counters fought together, australia. you told us before you started the program today, you had not been to america before 9/11. what's your reaction to the culture things howard touched snon >> what i was saying is the first time that i arrived in america, i had just come back from iraq, and i landed in new york and i went down to ground zero and i met new yorkers. and it just struck me how al qaeda had basically picked the wrong place, they picked on the wrong people. they just didn't understand the mentality of new yorkers. and i didn't understand it myself until i came here and they were -- they are themselves

unique to this country and it just shows me, maybe if they hit somewhere else, maybe if they killed 3,000 people in another city, they would have dealt with it in a different way but new yorkers were like, is that it? is that all you've got? we're going to move on. we are who we are and we're go to continue. that struck me only two years later. chris: that reminds me of humphrey bogart in "casablanca" when he said to the nazis, major strausser, there are certain neighborhood in new york i wouldn't advise you to invade whfment we come back, something different with disastrous high unemployment out there, history tells us barack obama's re-election is far from assured tells us barack obama's re-election is far from assured w do you have an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem? are you taking warfarin to reduce your risk of stroke caused by a clot? you should know about pradaxa. an important study showed that pradaxa 150mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa,

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chris: welcome back. what does high unemployment mean for a president trying to win re-election.

for f.d.r. running for a second term in the great depression, the unemployment rate was 16.6%. he won anyway but the important thing there was the trend down from 19.8 when he took office. in modern times the president re-elected with the highest unemployment rate which was ronald reagan in 1984, 72% rate. gerald ford, jimmy carter, bush 41 all lost campaigns for a second term, weighed down by unemployment. we asked the matthews meter, 12 of our regulars including howard here, can barack obama buck history and win even if the unemployment rate is, say, up around 8 1/2? 11 say yes, he can. one says no he can't. howard, i think you're with the 11 yes, he can. >> i'm with the 11. >> even up around 8 1/2. >> just because it's a matter of context. you can't make absolutes in politics. it's a game of context, depends on the context. sadly but necessarily, the obama administration is going to say there's a new normal and he's trying to work us out of that new normal but he's going to

point backwards and blail george bush and that's still going to work with some people t depends who he's running against. you can't say it's impossible. chris: back to what jamie said, as an australian, will the american people accept the reset, a guy that says this is as good as it gets? >> again, context. we have to know, is it trend down? is there a light at the end of the tunnel? also, who is he running against? and what's their plan? chris: i'm still of the skeptic mode here. i think 9% or even 8 1/2 is very hard to sell. >> i think it could be his election to lose if the republicans keep running smack into the tea party and aren't able to move forward with a coherent plan where they say, we have something different that we can make happen. chris: they might blow it. easy opportunity. >> exactly. chris: your thoughts, david. >> my guess is people end up voting on the trend, on whether they feel the country is going and not on the absolute numbers. even if it's almost certain the unemployment number is above 8.5, if the economy is firming,

if people are being hired back, if people sense that markets aren't in a free fall, we have steady, solid leadership in washington, in the white house at least, i think the president will have a strong case to make, fiend that unemployment rate is in every other way unacceptablely high. chris: will the republicans have any incentive to help? they would love to help cut the debt. that's long term and probably hurts employment numbers. will they help them do something in the next year to get people back to work? >> as little as they can get away with politically. because they want barack obama to own the economy. the memories of george bush are still fresh but fading. and they don't want to allow barack obama to point backward to a previous administration. the republicans want vivid evidence politically and economyly this is barack obama's economy, they will make as few deals as they can get away with without being attacked by their own republican corporate business leaders.

chris: he has to offer something very enticing like tax cuts for hiring or some kind of business tax cuts for them to say yes to? >> he's got -- he's got to show an ability to trap his opponents into a deal that favors thame he has not shown the ability to far to be able to do. chris: he has the skill to do that, find something kept resist, their own interests? >> i think he's still building relationships and he's still trying to, you know, create a dialogue with the people who are meant to be helping him. >> he has very few relationships with people on the hill. he's not caught hold in terms of dealing with people on the hill. he just doesn't seem to be able to do it. chris: what do you think, kimberly? >> i think we're going to see more moments like when the president stood behind the podium and said, they won't work with me. chris: that didn't work too well. >> exactly. it doesn't make him look very presidential. but i don't see a weigh for him reaching out to the other side.

chris: david, you start, are we going toped up being in this conversation a year from now, right going into the fall election with the president playing defense on joblessness? >> yes. chris: kim? >> yes. chris: still playing defense? >> yep. chris: when we come back, scoops and predictions. we spend a lot of time together. well mainly in traffic. i'm serious. we've been together, what, a super long time. true. and at first it was all business, you know, i'd take him here, i'd take him there. everywhere. and over the years, we've really bonded. sure. why else would you always buy me chevron with techron? 'cause we need gas. i think it's more than that.

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scrs welcome back. this week we want to do something slightly different with our "tell me something" segment. let me ask all four of you, what has been president obama's

biggest mistake in the 2 1/2 years so far? >> chris, things under his control, not the wars so much because they were built in, his decision to spend all of his political capital in a year and a half of his team on the health care reform law i think was his biggest political mistake. chris: wow. smart statement. >> i think making the decision the iraq war was the wrong war and afghanistan war was the right war instead of saying they both should be finished and done with was the biggest mistake. chris: what about you? >> promising to close guantanamo bay. chris: when he didn't know how to do it. >> not researching how to do it and not being able to deliver increases the idea of him being a waffling president. chris: david? >> i would agree with howard. the idea of launching major change in social legislation without having a consensus in the country and in congress about what that should look like was a mistake that's just not how the president make goods policy. chris: wow whfment we come back, the big question of the week, will barack obama's re-election

be decided by his own performance in the next

chris: welcome back. we're one year out from the old traditional start of the campaign, usually labor day of election year, which brings us this to this week's big question. does barack obama's re-election depend more on his performance from now until the end of the term, his election or on conditions around him. howard a tough call. is it about what he does and shows or what happens around him? >> i think it's more of the conditions. i think people have decided that they think they know who he is for better or worse. he's not going to change that. it's a matter of context. >> i think it's a combination of both. chris: you can't do that. i'm sorry, i'm being impolite. which mostly. >> have i to agree with howard. chris: i'm sorry. conditions. >> yes. chris: he's a victim of circumstance. >> easy to be gracious when you're in a good situation. it's easy to be bev everybody lent -- chris: easier to enjoy it than

suffer. >> i think it's conditions but if he explains to the american public, here's why we're partly in this situation, part of you chose the tea party. part of you chose a third party that is changing the way the process works, maybe they will understand they voted for part of this. >> it's conditions. obama will do well or better if the country feels better. but that's the heart of his problem, he is not master of his own political fate. he is waiting for the conditions to shape it rather than determining it. chris: thanks for a great round table. howard fineman, kimberly, david. that's the show. thank you for watching. see you next week.

hi, everybody. welcome to "the wall street journal report." i'm maria bartiromo, today reporting from the new york stock exchange for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. president obama's jobs plan. ben bernanke's recipe for the economy. i'll talk to one othe smartest guys in the room about what might work and where we go next. we'll remember 9/11 and look ahead. i'll talk to the two key players from that dark and difficult time. my conversation with rudy giuliani andormer new york stock exchangeeo dick grasso. what we learned and how wall street and america have changed since that fateful day. "the wall street journal report" begins right now. >> this is america's number one financial news program, "the wall street journal report." now maria bartiromo.

>> here is a look at what is making news as we head into a new week on wall street. president obama unveiled his long-awaited plan to create jobs in an address to the country this week. the $447 billion package of tax cuts and new spending could add up to a million jobs, the president said, and increase growth by as much as three percentage points by the end of 2012. the plan includes plans to modernize schools, invest in infrastructure. but the bulk of the plan includes tax relief, including cutting taxes for both workers and employees over the short-term. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke said little new in a speech in minnesota this week. mr. bernanke saying the fed has the tools to support the sluggish u.s. economy, but he declined to say specifics and whether he is prepared to use them. he did not offer any specific actions. bernanke's speech disappointed the markets, the dow fall mortgage than 100 points on thursday.

that came after the dow snapped a three-day losing streak on dnday with a 275 point gain. the marks were down sharply again on friday. yahoo's ceo carol bartz is out, let go this week. bartz sent a note to employees saying she had been fired by telephone. the stock, which had been under pressure, rose on the news. google is searching for a broader footprint, announcing its purase of the restaurant guide zagat. the move by going toll increase its local reach. it has the search and mapping products. was president obama's plan enough to boost the economy, create jobs and stabilize the economy as well as pay for itself? joining me is pimco's ceo and co-chief investment officer mohamed el-erian. always wonderful to have you on the program. thanks for your time today. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, maria. >> let's talk about the president's plan. he laid out a planto restart america's economy this week, get more jobs created. you generay liked what you heard, correct?

>> it was a powerful, promising, but incomplete plan. powerful in the sense that finally thedministration is acknowledging that we have an unemployment crisis. promising in that we are moving away from ad hoc measures to comprehensive approach, and incomplete bause two elements are missing. we don't know how we're going to pay for all this, and we don't know wha the political reaction is going to be. so a good start, a good building block, and let's hope that we can build on it >> you know, the infrastructure spending part of the plan is being heralded as certainly one of the big positives, that it will put people back to work. but the tax side of it, you know, there are sort of incremental disparate tax incentives over the short-term. do you think we would be better served to have a more comprehensive tax reform package? >> yes, and hopefully that's what is going to come on september 19th. so on september 19th, we should get indications of the thinking on tax reform and spending reform. and that's the element that is

missing. i think the reason why the administration is doing it in two step is first it wants to sell to the american people the urgency of doing something now and not waiting, and then once that is aepted over the next ten days or so, then we get the okay, here is how we're going to pay for it, and hopefullyeople will be more amenable to paying for it. >> well, the market, ofcourse, a shp slide on friday, down sharply. what do you think they're reacting to? many people are wondering how we are going to afford $450 billion package. the presidensaid that this is paidor. what do you think? >> yeah, our sense is that the slide on friday had everything to do with europe. europe is getting worse. there is lots of rumo about greecealling apart, about the possibility of a debt restructuring. you had a very public indication of a disagreement at the european central bank with one of the board members resigning. our interpretation friday was

all about europe and all about european banks getting contaminated again from what is happening on the sovereign debt side. >> mohamed, europe seems to be ruling the day here. i mean, the markets in the u.s. are taking their cue from europe. how much worse can europe get? and from an investment standpoint, how should we be looking at what is going on in europe right now? >> remember, maria, the image that we've had is the approach taken by europe hasn't been to kick the can down the road. it's been to roll a snowball down a hill. two thgs happens when you do that. the snowball gets bigg, the problems get bigger and bigger, and then the dynamics become more disorderly. it's much more difficult to control a snowball that is getting bigger and bigger and rolling down a hill. and that's exactlyhat is happening in europe. europe has to have its moment of truth. europe has to dide is it a fiscal union, which is another way of saying germany pays for everybody, or will it optor a smaller, but stronger eurozone? until europe makes that decision, things are going to

continue to get worse and we are going to be held hostage to the debacle in europe. >> unbelievable. so what are you doing as far as investing, then? >> we're cautious. we tell people don't worry about earning very low on cash and cash equivalent. it gives you tremendous optionalitie. there is going to be a lot of value created in this market. this is not time to jump ship. there are shifts going on that are creating a lot of damage. just wait. things are going to sort themselves out. >> mohamed, this week of course represents the ten-year anniversarof the tragic events of 9/11. how have things changed since then? >> they were very tragic, and i think it changed the way the u.s. thinks about its vulnerability. and it changes the way we spend money. so rightly, national security went to number one on our domestic agenda, and the result of that is that we have changed the composition oour spending, and rightly so.

it also has changed the international view. so if you go to brazil, for example, and say why you doing so well, they'll say back in 2001 and 2002, we realized that the u.s. would be inwardly oriented, and that weould no longer rely on handoffs from the u.s. so it ironically, what happened on september 11th, this great tragedy made other countries become more self-reliant, especially those in latin america. >> yeah. mohamed, it's good to have you on the program. thank you very much for your time today. >> thank you. >> maria. >> we'll see you soon. mohamed el-erian joining us from pimco. up next as "the wall street journal" and the world marks 2001, a look back at the men who ran theity and the exchange on 9/11. former mayor rudy giuliani and former chairman dick grasso joins me. the local economy in this iconic part of new york.