jessica yellin outside the u.n. right now.s a hugely important speech for the president and a diplomatic tight rope. >> it is, wolf. he will be addressing a broad sweep of the issues. he will address the u.s. draw down of troops in iraq and afghanistan. the u.s. killing of osama bin laden and u.s. effort to shore up the global economy. but the main focus of this speech will be the sweeping dramatic changes in the middle east and north africa since he last appeared here at the u.n. a year ago. in egypt, tunisia and especially in libya. libya the administration sees as an example of the kind of international cooperation the president will argue that can lead to positive regime change. and that will be a theme that he will underscore in this speech. of course, wolf, we all know looming over all of this is the palestinian quest for statehood as they make a play for that here at the united nations and the president will make an effort to juxtapose that with what happened in a sense in libya and make the case that the u.s. believes

joining me chief white house correspondent jessica yellin and on the phone democratic strategist paulgall la and -- jessica, we've heard from white house press secretary jay carnie saying wednesday was the date, it was the right date, the right time. but now the white house is backing down. what are your sources telling you tonight? >> reporter: first of all, if they're going to address a joint session of congress there are only two days next week they could do it, wednesday or thursday, because those are the only two dates that both houses are in session. so the white house says they picked the first date. clearly there is a disadvantage to going thursday because as you point out the nfl is there -- is playing then. one white house official says this whole flap was silly. that's what they told me. and they would have been happy to go thursday had the speaker's office said originally that that's what they would have preferred. the bottom line is, this is clearly a case of bad communication, ugly, bad communication between them but also bad feelings between the two offices right now up

our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin and our congressional correspondent kate baldwin are working their sources to see where this fight is going. jess, i want to start with you. when the president puts out this plan, they known the meetings, as much as they like the poechlt policy idea, the idea of these tax increases, dead on arrival on the hill. yet, they still put them in there. the president passionately makes the case for them today. more a political statement than a policy hope, no? >> clearly a political statement, but, you know, john, that veto threat does have the affect of shaping a little bit what that super committee can do because, look, if the republicans on the committee were planning to push for entitlement cuts alone without any tax increases, they now have to think twice about that. it does to some extent tie the hands of that super committee or limit what they can do. the buffett rule, which was outlined by the president is in itself a very political statement. we can talk about that separately and defines a little bit about what the president sees as hi

jessica yellin, cnn, the white house. >>> barack obama's potential contenders for u.s. president has a jobs plan of his own. mitt romney says his plan includes lower u.s. corporate taxes and fewer federal regulations. he says he wants the united states to be the place to find work. >> america should be a job machine. jobs being created all the time. people looking for employees to join their enter vices, young people coming out of college able to get jobs right away. people coming out of vocational schools able to get jobs right away. even those coming out of high school knowing there are opportunities for them. we should have a job creating machine in america. >> that's the former massachusetts governor mitt romney. he'll be sharing the stage with other republican party presidential candidates at a debate in california later today. >>> you're watching "world business today." and when we come back, the family members of the 9/11 victims turn their sorrow into action. now they're touching the lives of thousands of people around the world. stay with us. ♪ [ male announcer

. >> stay with us, i want to bring in cnn's chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin. jessica, how seriously do you think the white house are taking this threat? they obviously went public with it, they must be viewing it as credible. >> they are taking it quite seriously. they say the national security community became aware of it here two days ago and the president was briefed on it this morning. he's been briefed on it throughout the day, we're told, more than once and has asked the intelligence community here in the u.s. and the administration broadly to step up their vigilance, to protect the homeland against any threats. brennan, his chief adviser on these matters, has been in touch with him throughout the day. we are told the president is no longer in the west wing and is not being briefed by brennan now or tonight, but has constant access if there's any need to be in touch with him and his schedule could be changed at any time. as well, piers, in anticipation of 9/11 there was earlier in the week a meeting of his national security team and his homeland security

all right, let me just bring in our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin, jessica, on a very, very different note. we're getting some very concerning news right now about the upcoming tenth anniversary of 9/11. what are we learning? >> reporter: wolf, we've learned there is a specific credible threat of some potential danger around 9/11 related to al qaeda. i am told by a senior administration official that the president has been briefed about this, that he has directed that the intelligence community and that the administration take all necessary steps, this is the language, to ensure vigilance. we've also, though, for days been asking the administration, as you have in your interview with the president, asked about any steps he has taken in anticipation of any events around 9/11, and the president has said and made clear that he has been in consistent briefings and taken preparations for any events that might occur around 9/11 and that there have been many meetings and briefings with his top advisers to protect the homeland for anything that might come on 9/11 and that they

all right, let me just bring in our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin, jessica, on a very very different note, we're getting some very concerning news right now about the upcoming tenth anniversary of 9/11. what are we learning? >> reporter: wolf, we've learned there is a specific credible threat of some potential danger around 9/11 related to al qaeda. i am told by a senior administration official that the president has been briefed about this. that he has directed that the intelligence community and that the administration take all necessary steps, this is the language, to ensure vigilance. we've also, though, for days been asking the administration, as you have in your interview with the president, asked about any steps he has taken in anticipation of any events around 9/11, and the president has said and made clear that he has been in consistent briefings and taken preparations for any events that might occur around 9/11 and that there have been many meetings and briefings with his top advisers to protect the homeland for anything that might come on 9/11 and that they

all right, let me just bring in our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin. jessica, on a very, very different note, we're getting some very concerning news right now about the upcoming tenth anniversary of 9/11. what are we learning? >> reporter: wolf, we've learned that there is a specific credible threat of some potential danger around 9/11 related to al qaeda. i am told by a senior administration official that the president has been briefed about this, that he has directed that the intelligence community and that the administration take all necessary steps, this is the language, to ensure vigilance. we've also, though, for days been asking the administration, as you have in your interview with the president, about any steps he has taken in anticipation of any events around 9/11, and the president has said and made clear that he has been in consistent briefings and taken preparations for any events that might occur around 9/11 and that there have been many meetings and briefings with his top advisers to protect the homeland for anything that might come on 9

we go to chief white house correspondent jessica yellin.g and emotional day for everyone, including the president. >> reporter: that's right, don. this is a day that started before dusk for the president and still hasn't ended. he gun at ground zero with former president george bush. the last time the two men spoke was the night osama bin laden was killed. today he got a look at the 9/11 memorial. we're told that he was impressed with it, that he said he felt it meets the moment and he was moved by the serenity of today, by the families and the gathering and the setting he saw there. the president in his only public remarks so far today read from psalm 46. we're told he chose that psalm because it speaks in his view to persevering through difficult challenges and merging stronger. from that site he went to shanksville, with the first lady, where he visited the impact site of flight 93. he walked through a new memorial there and laid a wreath at the site there, a very solemn moment, but he also took quite a bit of time, don, to shake hands w

joining us live, jessica yellin, chief white house correspondent.s ahead for the president tonight? i know the kennedy center for president is ahead. other things to attend? >> reporter: the big event is the kennedy center event and the first time we'll hear the president speak in his own words. previously we heard him only read from a psalm. i'm told his remarks will be about resilience, talking about american, what we've lost but also what we still retain. what hasn't changed about america. our character, our values. our way of life. i'm told in preparation for the speech he studied different passages from the bible and some past speeches. he'll also make remarks about our men and women in uniform and how they have sacrificed the most in the last ten years, and how the three symbols, the most visible reminders of america's strength and resilience of those three symbols, those three places he visited today, ground zero, shanksville and that site at the pentagon. i'm told the remarks will last for about 10 to 15 minutes and they start in just about

cnn's jessica yellin joining us now live from the white house. sident covered all bases. he was at ground zero. he made his way to shanksville. then returning to washington by going to the pentagon. >> reporter: hi, fredricka. yes. if there was an emotional impact on the president today, you saw it in images rather than hearing it in words. the president has said very lit today, in fact. he started at ground zero where he was with former president bush and former first lady laura bush. it was the first time the two men have been together since relief efforts for haiti. the president got a look there at the ground zero memorial. and we're told by a press spokesperson that he was impressed with what he saw. we're told he felt that it meets the moment. he was touched by the serenity of the moment, the serenity of the setting and the families. there the president read part of psalm 42 which we're told he chose because it speaks to persevering through difficult challenges and emerging stronger. here's just a portion of the psalm he read. >> god is our

chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is traveling with the president tonight and joins us live from san jose. jessica, good evening. what was president obama's message to his supporters in his stops today? >> hey, don. he is rallying his old democratic donors trying to get that old energy back to the extent he can saying don't forget the energy, don't forget. don't give up now. listen to the message. >> i need you guys to shake off any doldrums. i need you to decide right here and right now. and i need you to talk to your friends and your neighbors and your co-workers. and you need to tell them you know what? we're not finished yet. we've got more work to do. >> he mentioned he's raising millions. he has a total of seven fund-raisers on this west coast swing. >> we've also seen president obama have a sharper tone towards republicans lately. did he keep up that aggressiveness today? >> he absolutely did. and, you know, one of the most effective tactics when you are trying to rally democrats is to remind them of the alternative, which is republicans. and one of his messages today

this little tit for tat today, jessica yellin has it right, she's a terrific reporter. it's classic sort of miscommunication. it is the sort of thing that has never happened in my memory. i used to work for the house majority leader who was a democrat when we had a republican president and i worked for a democratic president with a republican speaker. you work these things out. the fact that the speaker right away kind of went to the airwaves and the fact that apparently the president's staff didn't carefully vet the date with the speaker, it really is a shame. it's going to be a great football game, but hopefully the president can get his jobs speech in before kickoff. >> eric erickson, to jessica's point that it doesn't bode well ahead of this jobs plan, isn't this exactly what american people are sick of, this bickering and the lack of bipartisanship in washington? >> they are sick of it. i think they're sick of politicians in washington flat out giving speeches now regardless of party. i think people are kind of tired of the speeches. i completely agree with jessica

, amid all of her reporting on the details of this, i spoke to our white house correspondent, jessica yellinso, jess, from a policy impact proposal, what does the white house think this package will do in terms of creating new jobs, how many, how fast? >> they argue it will have an enormous impact if passed in its entirety. they say it would impact state job growth because as you know when there are layoffs at the state level, that has a ripple effect. so, if there's hiring of teachers and first responders, there's state aid in there as we've learned. that this jobs program for school renovation gets laborers quickly to work at schools. and then there's also these tax credits that i've been hearing about that would incentivize hiring of unemployed workers who have been out of work for a long time. there's a lot in this package, john, that would incentivize hiring of the chronically unemployed, seniors and low-income workers and veterans and that's where they're targeting all of this. of course, republicans have a very different take, but here at the white house they're terribly optimistic. >

. >> jessica yellin, live from new york tonight because the president is going up to the united nations. now to kate baldwin. before i pose the question, let's listen to the speaker. the speak ser home in his home district of cincinnati today. he was unimpressed with the president's plan. >> we could get into this tax the rich, tax the rich, but that is not -- that's not the basis for america, and it's not going to get our economy going again, and it's not going to put people back to work. >> we know that's the public line from this speaker, kate. my question, i guess, is privately, when the republicans see the president out making this case, is there any fear of the republicans on the committee -- do they believe that he can rally public opinion and force them to do things they might not want to do? >> i see the early reaction is they're not fearful. they're downright coming out, almost doubling down with more fighting words and more war of words, if you will. and really trying their hardest to dismiss the president's proposals as quickly as they absolutely can. not only are we hearing

jessica yellin continues to pry out those details from her sources of the president's jobs plan. a, fill me in. >> hey, brooke. so according to multiple democratic sources, i'm told the working figure in the draft version is around $300 billion total. for this package give or take. that biggest ticket item was an extension of that payroll tax cut that gives your employee an average $1,000 back out of their taxes. and then another big-ticket item i'm told working number of around $50 billion for an extension of unemployment insurance added in there will be some new components to unemployment insurance. ways to get, for example, the long-term unemployed into the workplace, tax credits to encourage the hiring of the long-term unemployed. there are also, i'm told, likely to be tens of billions of dollars for road infrastructure improvements. tens of billions of dollars to clean up dilapidated schools. we reported this before. they see it as a good way to get laborers in to schools and help schools function better, quickly. and also, many billions of dollars in aid to both teachers and

let's bring in our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin. ssica, it's not necessarily, correct me if i'm wrong, a take it or leave it plan. the white house knows there's no way the republicans are going to accept all of what the president put on this table this nearly -- it does represent an opening for some bargaining and at least get some of this stuff after the ground, is that the hope at the white house. >> reporter: what you say is correct, b. yes they're going to glifr deliver an entire plan to congress next week. what they're delivering is a plan that they hope they'll receive and take in pieces. i'll tell you, already i've talked to a lot of democrat whose are hailing this plan as the kind of -- the speech as the kind of give them hell harry return from the ashes leadership that they've been wanting to see from this president for months and months, democrats critical of the president saying, finally, he's back, this is the man they've wanted to see, and the white house itself is cheered by the fact that the tone they've heard from a l

let's talk a little bit more about this right now our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin,e on it a lot of these women who have worked in the white house, spoken to a lot of people as well. give us your thoughts on what this uproar is all about? >> wolf, in the early days when the white house had just convened there was a lot of anguish among the women especially in their feelings with the economic team, that their voices were not being heard and the women went to valerie jarrett, who was one of the president's oldest friends and one of his closest advisers in the white house, and she took this to the president, and went to the president and he convened a dinner, and met with the senior women and heard them out, and by all accounts, things got much better after the president heard them out, and he took steps to improve things. i will say that i just spoke to a former white house staffer who has now left the building, a woman who says that to the extent that there were problems, it was in, her view, because the president wasn't aware of what his staff was doing and once he w

jessica yellin has information on the president and the speaker as well. orter: hi, wolf, one white house official confirms that the president called speaker boehner and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell today to brief them on the contents of the speech. we've talked significantly about the fact that they believe that a lot of the measures are bipartisan measures that they should be able to support, but they've not consulted with the republicans, while there had not been prior consultations, they have gotten the courtesy phone call in advance, and it's particularly the tax credits, tax breaks, tax measures in the package that the white house is quite optimistic that the republicans in one way or form will support ultimately even if they don't support the entire package down the road, wolf. and i will say that while gloria's absolutely right, that while white house officials are concerned that the republicans are captive in the house to their freshmen caucus, they're also optimistic that there are elements of this deal that will ultimately pass in piece

chief white house correspondent jessica yellin standing by in mountain view. hi there, jessica. who's going to be asking questions at this town hall today? >> reporter: there are about 250 people in the audience and they are all selected by linkedin. we're told that they are either linkedin employees or members of linkedin who submitted questions and all those questions were chosen by linkedin itself. some of them will be asked by audience members and some of them will be asked by the ceo of linkedin who will be there with the president. >> jessica, we know that obviously mr. obama, he relied quite a bit on social media and turned to social media quite a bit in 2008. is this a sign do you think he's planning to do the same thing for 2012? >> absolutely. that's one of the tricks of campaigning these days. he'll be doing it but the difference is this time around so will the other guys. so he doesn't necessarily have the only advantage -- he has an advantage but not the only one. the other piece of it is fund-raising. as you mentioned, he had four fund-raisers yesterday. he told pe

competing plan that he unveiled today, but first on the phone, chief white house correspondent jessica yellin with the details. jessica, this $300 billion figure, and what are the detailing of it? >> hi, anderson. with people in discussions with the white house confirm that the $300 billion has been the working figure for the jobs package for a week now, and it would mean $300 billion in both spending and then cuts. you know, the white house has said that this is a revenue-neutral package so in addition to outlining the new spending the president will also outline some cuts on thursday in his speech, but he would then put out a more detailed package later, explaining more of those cuts when he makes the proposal to the deficit super committee, and i should point out that of course, these numbers could change between now and thursday, anderson. >> so just so i'm clear, $300 billion in new spending and then an equal amount of cuts or what is the breakdown? >> yes. yes. $300 in new spending and $300 in cuts so that you will come out with a zero total in the end. >> and do we know specifics about

joining us are chief white house correspondent jessica yellin down at the united nations in new york where the president was earlier today. all that talk about compromise from the president, why the shifted position now? >> well, after the debt deal failed, anderson, the president and his aides became convinced that the republicans are just determined to block him and deny him any victories. this is a switch of gears in an effort to define what the president stands for heading into campaign 2012, to effectively define him and the democrats as champion of the middle class against a republican party being defined as protectors of the wealthy. it does outline a set of principles that they'd like the supercommittee to go after, but really what you have seen is the beginning of the contours of campaign 2012, anderson. >> so basically from the white house perspective, this works on two fronts. you set the terms of the debate that you hope to have and perhaps ultimately some sort of compromise, but it's basically setting your flag in the ground. and if that doesn't work, it makes the other

. >> peter bergen, appreciate the reporting, fran townsend as well, jessica yellin, susan candiotti. we'll be following this throughout the hour and the night. follow me on twitter or join me on facebook. our political panel joins us after the break. we'll look at the president's jobs speech to congress and the country, laying out his job creation plan. >>> also breaking news out west. a huge mess, traffic lights out, flights delayed after a massive power outage. if you're in southern california and you can see this picture right now, consider yourself lucky. >>> our other breaking news tonight, the president's jobs speech. millions are without a job, the economy at best is stuck in neutral. tonight the president laid out proposals that he says will get it moving again. everything to the run-up of this moment has been contentious, right down to the scheduling of it. everything in the aftermath will be just as loaded with conflict and partisanship. that part of point scoring and game playing is what the president called on for both sides to set aside. tonight we'll look at whether the

our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is joining us now with details of what potentially we could expect. you're digging, jessica. what are you finding out? >> reporter: wolf, this plan is likely to focus on jump-starting short-term jobs growth with some longer term infrastructure investment. now, that means government spending, which democrats consider essential, but republicans are sure to attack as more stimulus. even during a speech to the american legion in minnesota, the president couldn't resist a preview of his highly anticipated jobs plan. >> next week i'll be speaking to the nation about a plan to create jobs and reduce our deficit. a plan that i want to see passed by congress. we've got to get this done. >> reporter: it's an effort to jump-start the economy and shore up his dwindling poll numbers. a recent cnn/orc poll shows only 37% of americans approve of how the president is handling unemployment. so next week, he's rolling out a package that's likely to include an extension of a payroll tax cut for workers, which is set to expire at the end of the year. als

joining us are chief white house correspondent jessica yellin down at the united nations in new york where the president was earlier today. all that talk about compromise from the president, why the shift in position now? >> well, after the debt deal failed, anderson, the president and his aides became convinced that the republicans are just determined to block him at every turn and deny him any victories. this is a switch of gears in an effort to define what the president stands for heading into campaign 2012, to effectively define him and the democrats as champions of the middle class against a republican party being defined as the protecter of the wealthy. it does outline a set of principles that they'd like the supercommittee to go after, but really what you have seen is the beginning of the contours of campaign 2012, anderson. >> so basically from the white house perspective, this works on two fronts. you set the terms of the debate that you hope to have and perhaps ultimately some sort of compromise, but it's basically setting your flag in the ground. and if that doesn't work,

the white house officials won't confirm that saying that the numbers might change, but jessica yellinlion in tax cuts would have to be offset in the spending cuts. not an easy task. will the new tack het help? i am joined by paul begala, and cnn contributor erick erickson and editor-in-chief of the red state blog, and i know the president wants infrastructure bank and tax cuts and $300 billion and smaller than what the white house would call the reinvestment act and not what the republicans like to favorably call the stimulus plan. from our reporting and your reporting, how big and bold is the president's plan? >> look, it's big. it is bold? i'm not so sure. think about it. you need at least $100 to $200 billion to offset the baking in the cake already when the current stimulus expires in december, so i assume that some of the $300 billion is continuing the payroll tax cut, and then there is incremental stimulus in the form of more infrastructure spending and cuts. the devil in the details. according to reporting, he will offset with $300 billion in spending cuts. you want the tax cut

jessica yellin, paul begala, alex castellanos, thank you. >>> in a preview of piers morgan tonight, rick taking a hit from rick santorum telling piers that governor perry is ducking scrutiny. >> we haven't seen govern area perry in a debate yet or do much in the way of interviews yet. i've done this for 12 years in the united states senate where i was under the scrutiny that a national figure is under. i've done it in a state like pennsylvania where i haven't backed away from any questions or any interviews. i don't hide myself from the public or from the press. >> you can see more on "piers morgan tonight" after "360" at 9 9:00 p.m. >>> moammar gadhafi's sons are speaking out. they're not backing out at least not verbally. the latest from tripoli tonight and new developments in aruba where the search for the missing woman goes on. why the key suspect, this man right here, gary won't be going home any time soon. ♪ [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. it's a lifetime. gone. we'll make it r

. >> jessica yellin, thank you very much. >>> in washington tonight, lawmakers are at odds over spending, again, and once again we're facing a threat of a government shutdown. lawmakers say a shutdown can be avoided but they can't resist deflecting the blame to the other party. candy crowley has more. >> reporter: for the third time this year, a congressional stare down threatens a government shutdown. let me start with you, senator warner, and ask you if there is a point at which you think this is embarrassing? >> yes. it is embarrassing >> reporter: are we there? >> can we once again inflict on the country and the american people the spectacle of a near-government shutdown? >> reporter: the u.s. government runs out of money at the end of this week unless a temporary spending bill is passed on capitol hill. inside the house version is money to replenish the federal emergency management agency, fema, which assists the tornado people in joplin. the crux of the matter is how and when to decide how to pay for it. >> the house version says that a disaster has to be dealt with, we're going to

. >> peter bergen, appreciate the reporting, fran town send and jessica yellin. susan candiotti, appreciate t.following it all throughout the hour and night. follow me on facebook and on twitter. our political panel joins us after the break. we'll look at probe's jobs speech to the country and laying out his plan. and out west a huge mess, trafficlation out and flights delayed after a massive power outage. if you're in southern california, you can actually see this picture right now. consider yourself lucky. [♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. >>> our other breaking story tonight, the president's address on jobs to being could and at nation. 14 million americans are looking for work right now. millions more have already given up looking. the economy at best, well, it is stuck in neutral. tonight the president laid out proposals that he says will get it moving again. everything in the run up to this moment has been contentious right down to the scheduling of it and

democratic sources telling our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin it calls for about $300s for laid off teachers and first responds making it hard, our jessica yellin reports, for republicans to vote against the plan. the 300 billion price tag will be offset by equal amount of budget cuts. >> cnn will have live coverage of the president's speech on thursday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. republicans are not going to offer a formal response we should add. republican candidates may have something to say about it. mitt romney has started. when it comes to turning around the economy and creating jobs romney insisteds that, quote, president obama doesn't have a clue. he unveiled his claim he claims will create 11 million jobs in the first four years of a romney presidency and could not resist taking a shot at president obama when he unveiled it yesterday. >> president obama's strategy is a pay phone strategy and we're in a smart phone world. and so we're going to have to change what he is doing is taking quartake ing quarters and stuffing them into the pay phone and can't figure out why

our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is joining us now live in denver, jessica, he's pushingeporter: wolf, today he really put on the pressure for congress to take up and pass the american jobs act. he said that members of congress are calling this class warfare, saying that he's engaging in some class warfare. he said if they want to call him a warrior for the working class it's a badge of honor he's honored to wear. listen to what he said. >> it's been two weeks since i sent it to congress and now i want it back. i want it back, passed so i can sign this bill and start putting people back to work. i've already got the pens all ready, all lined up on my desk. >> reporter: that's what he's saying out here but we all know, wolf, that congress isn't even in session right now, and we don't know when either the house or the senate will take up this bill, and then even if both houses will take it up in its entirety or break it up into pieces. wolf? >> colorado went for the president last time, how important is it this time around this important swing state? >> crucial, wolf, one o

let's bring in jessica yellin. >> hi, joe. we are told by national security officials that it is typical in an instance like this that the president after an administration wide review would give the order to capture or kill al-awlaki, but as you have made clear just now, the white house itself is staying mum on this subject. it's president obama's latest successful strike on a wanted al-qaeda terrorist. >> death of al-awlaki is a major blow to al-qaeda's most active operational affiliate. al-awlaki was the leader of extennell operations for al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula. >> but this time, it's different. al-awlaki was an american. this may be the first killing of an american target with no trial or indictment. >> the u.s. has done something i don't think it's done before. it has killed a citizen without any due process. this is about rule of law to keep us all safe. >> warren's organization sued to take al-awlaki off a hit list and lost. >> goes to the assumptions about is circumstances of his death and i'm not going to a

let's go right to our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is working this story for us. the speech will be delivered tomorrow night as you know before a joint session of congress. it's critically important, obviously, for the president, but for millions of americans who are unemployed or underemployed or have simply given up hope for ever finding a job. >> that's right, wolf, according to a democratic source familiar with a draft of the plan, i'm told that it will include a mix now, wolf, of tax breaks for business, infrastructure spending, aid to the states, and help for the chronically unemployed. now, according to this working draft, the big-ticket items in this plan include roughly $120 billion to extend that 2% payroll tax cut to employees, which is now in existence but currently set to expire at the end of the year. there's now in this working draft roughly $50 billion to extend unemployment insurance. and also in the plan, talk of an additional tax incentive to encourage employers to hire the long-term unemployed. i'm told there are tens of billions of dollars the

you know, realists say -- i was just talking to our chief white house correspondent yesterday, jessica yellin, this thing is dead on arrival. there's no way this can go through congress. is this just political posturing, maneuvering? what's the point? >> of course there's a point. what you do is, i don't care -- you articulate a position. you get behind a position. you get people behind it. and the point is, as i said earlier in the piece, if nothing p happens on this piece, you run on it in the election and elections decide thing that's have a consequence. all the people who say, this don't have a point, look what happened in the debt negotiations. john boehner walked away with 98% of what he wanted. the point here is, in a democracy you advocate things and you push things. and all this they need to get together and -- you have to articulate something and i think the white house is finally realizing had that. so let's see. this could be a popular position. >> woo, james carville fired up in chicago. let me ask you about that book you've heard a thing or two about, this ron suskind book, "con

jessica yellin is here at the united nations with me on explain what's going on. calling for? >> today the president wanted to take aim at two issues. first the nation's debt problem, and then also the partisan gridlock he feels he faces with republicans. never mind about debt and deficits. this rose garden speech was largely about politics. >> i will not support, i will not support any plan that put abouts all the burden for closing our deficit on ordinary americans. >> reporter: burned after the summer's debt deal with speaker boehner fell apart, the president is throwing down the gauntlet with a veto threat. >> i will veto any bill that changes benefits for those who rely on medicare but does not raise serious revenues by asking the wealthiest americans or biggest corporations to pay their fair share. >> reporter: for the congressional super committee, that sounds like a recipe for gridlock since speaker boehner threw this line in the sand last week. >> tax increases are off the table and i don't think they're a viable option for the joint committee. >> reporte

let's bring in our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin. she's covering this from new york. the president also delivered a major address before the u.n. general assembly. >> that's rig, wolf. the palestinians continue pressing their case here at the united nations and it was the most dramatic issue the president addressed in his speech today with repeated the theme, peace is hard. the president trumpeted progress -- >> at the end of this year, america's military operation in iraq will be over. osama bin laden is gone. >> and warned of challenges ahead. >> where we stand with the syrian people or their oppressors. >> what so many were listening for was this. >> we seek a future where palestinians live in a sovereign sate of their own. >> how would we explain his opposition to the palestinian push for state hood at the united nations? >> peace will not come through statements and resolutions tat united nations. if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now. >> the most striking? >> let us be honest with ourselves. israel is sur