Transcripts For CNN CNN Newsroom 20110919

>> so $3 trillion over 10 years in deficit savings, kiera. the plan from the white house would have $580 billion in spending cuts, some of which would be to medicare and medicaid. but the biggest chunk, $1.5 trillion, half of the president's plan, would come from increasing taxes. we're talking about on wealthy americans. some of the taxes we have talked about before, limiting those itemized deductions that the wealthy take. closing loopholes on hedge fund managers, oil and gas companies, corporate jet owners and also letting the bush era tax cuts for the wealthiest americans expire when they are set to. also a little more than $1 trillion in war savings. of course, we do know that the wars in afghanistan and iraq are already going to be winding down. and that's something that republicans are hitting on. and frequently both sides have used this when they do their math. and then also interest savings, kiera. $430 billion there the white house says, and that's because if you don't owe the money, you don't have to pay interest on it so the money would be saved there. >> all right. bre brianna keilar at the white house watching that for us. christine romans, let's break it down and talk specifically about which americans will pay for these cuts. >> well, let's talk about the buffet rule. this millionaire tax increase. by some analysis, you have from millionaires an effective tax rate of about 22%, down from 31% in 1996. so the president would like to raise taxes. the overall tax rate for people who make $1 million or more, that's the buffett rule. taxing them more. he also wants to let the bush era tax cuts expire. that's $800 billion. that would affect couples making $250,000 or more a year, or individuals making $200,000 more a year. he wants to cap itemized deductions. a lot of people will be curious to see if he is talking about the mortgage tax deduction for high earners. there's also in there an interest deduction on municipal bonds that could go away as well. and he wants to close tax loopholes, about $300 billion, oil and gas companies and corporate tax loopholes. now one thing we have been zeroing in on, perhaps unintended consequences of this muni bond tax deductions that everybody gets, rich people get it too, there are some who are concerned that it could raise the cost of municipalities, cities and towns and states, being able to borrow money to do infrastructure buildouts, to build schools and the like. so there's some concern about unintended consequences in that arena. but overall, that's where it stands on the tax hikes for the rich. >> and, brianna, republican opposition, it's strong. so question remains, whether this could -- >> hi, yeah. >> are you with me, briana? >> have i been switched to cnni. >> you see what happens when we are talking about something so big. and you do this too. you're talking to us, and then talking with international, and so we'll bring her back and talk about the fact that republican opposition is so strong. we'll be talking more about it. >> it is very strong. >> how they have been reacting. that's coming up with our political panel. all right. christine, thank you so much. now let's talk about how americans in general just feel about this plan and taxing the rich. deputy political director paul steinhouser is connected with us this morning and hears us well. and you might even be able to address the strong republican opposition. we saw it over the weekend. the republican representative from michigan talking to us about this >> i'm talking just to you and your viewers, of course. strong republican opposition. part of the plan, parts of the plan, are already probably dead on arrival at least in the republican controlled house. and budget chairman ryan talking to us making his points pretty strongly yesterday. talking about the poll, look at this. this is from cnn and orc about a month ago, right after the creation of the super committee, to lower the deficit. and just on that alone, on whether taxes should be raised on wealthy americans on businesses, you can see right there, a strong majority of americans say yes. 63% say yes. 36% say no. there should not be an increase on taxes on higher income americans and businesses. go to the next number as well where we break it down by parties. and there is that obvious as expected partisan divide. democrats overwhelmingly support this plan. republicans six out of 10 against it. independents, though, they support it as well. the majority -- strong majority of independents support the idea. and there is an election 14 months from now. so maybe this is part of that as well. the president shoring up his base. and should could be a strong issue with independents who seem to support. back to you. just two days before he is scheduled to die, it's troy davis' last help. right now, testimony is going on right here in atlanta where the board is considering a final clemency bid. davis was convicted of murdering a police officer two decades ago. but after seven of the nine witnesses recanted their testimonies, calls to stop the execution have come from a wide coalition, including the pope and former president jimmy carter. david mattingly is at the board of pardons right now just down the street. david, what can you tell us? >> reporter: kiera, people taking their places at the board meeting right now. we watched his attorneys walk in as well as davis' family members. and this is really is for it for him. he has exhausted all legal appeals. he has been before this board a couple of times before. the last time in 2008. the board denied him clemency. but this time his many supporters are hoping that since there are three new members on the board that there will be three pairs of fresh ears and fresh eyes to look at this case, and perhaps their votes might go differently and give him what he needs to obtain klemmency and get off of death row. his attorneys will be armed with a lot of information talking about the witnesses that have recanted their statements. also other people who have come forward in the last 20 years implicating someone else in the shooting. again, it's all down to this board. they have the power of life and death in this case. and troy davis will literally be fighting for his life. >> and at the same time, we can't forget the police officer, david, that was killed. and that's mark macphail. and his mother has come forward saying, you know, that it's just advocacy groups that have created this tremendous amount of response, and they don't understand all the circumstances behind this murder. what else is she saying about this as it comes so close? just two days away. >> reporter: everyone close to this case who has been involved in prosecuting has stood by this prosecution. macphail's family says that they want some peace, they want this over. and the prosecutors early on in this case have pointed out that this has stood the test of time and the test of the judicial review as it's gone through the state and federal level. it has been looked at by countless judges. and at this point, there are no more legal appeals for davis. this has been vetted completely by the courts, and now it comes down to this one last hearing in front of this one appointed board to decide whether or not he should be granted life in prison or life in prison without parole. >> as we mentioned, david, a lot of dignitary, musicians, actors coming forward hoping that his life has been spared. and amy ray from indigo girls will join us live this hour. she has also been a part of those protests. for the first time since charges were dropped, the head of the international monetary fund is speaking out about his new york sexual assault case. dominique strauss-kahn admits, how did he put it, moral weakness? what else is he saying? >> a moral weakness, moral error, moral failure is what dominique strauss kahn said to a french news station. the case was dropped because the maid's credibility was thrown into question. this is the first time he is speaking out. the rest of the world, the french public, was totally gripped. listen to how he put it in his words. >> translator: i understand that this shocked people. i paid a heavy price. i continue to pay. i have lost a lot in this story. you know, for the past four months, i have observed the pain that i have created around me, and i have really thought about this. i have lost a certain lightness forever. >> he also apologized to his family, to the french public. he said he was so sorry that this had happened, and he really had some major regrets about it. now the hotel maid's lawyer also watching this interview said, you know what? dominique strauss-kahn never once in the interview said exactly what happened in the hotel room. and he's insisting that there is enough evidence still to prove that there was an nevertheless, they are going to pursue a civil case. this is a headline from "the independent." this is what it says, regrets? i have a few. strauss-kahn hopes tv interview can relaunch career. it says that dominique strauss kahn attempted to restore his shattered reputation on french television news. and a poll suggesting he had little future in french politics. >> thanks. up next, the video is chilling. a vintage airplane slams into the ground at the reno air show. what went wrong? well, investigators say they have now found critical evidence in the deadly crash. and more than two dozen tsa employees at the major airport -- at a major airport are out of a job. what they failed to do, next. to be more environmentally aware, we are now printing on the back sides of used paper. and we switched to fedex 'cause a lot of their packaging contains recycled materials. tell them what else fedex does. well we're now using more electric trucks and lower emission planes. we even offer a reusable envelope. now, can't we at least print on the back sides of used paper? what's the executive compensation list...? [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. in san diego, take a look at this. pretty scary moment during a drag boat race. witnesses say the driver's engine exploded, and the cockpit with the driver still inside, and then shot about 15 feet into the air. he was taken to a nearby hospital. and in hawaii, the transportation security administration says 28 of its employees are out of a job. an investigation found bags were allowed onto planes at honolulu international airport without being properly screened. another 15 people have been suspended. investigators say two cousins camping are to be blame for the largest forest fire in arizona history. it burned more than half a million acres in arizona and new mexico. the men will appear in flagstaff federal court today. and this video from the reno air races is chilling. a vintage world war ii plane crashes just in front of the stands, disintegrating on impact and killing nine people. investigators say that a recording device found at the scene may help determine what caused the crash. here's what a spectator told us about the moment the plane slammed into the ground. >> a second later, the thing crashes right behind me, and i get -- all i remember is i am trying to run, and i see stuff coming. and then that's the last thing i remember. >> dan simon is in reno. we are also hearing that part of the plane's tail was found. and how helpful is that in the investigation at this point? >> reporter: well, it could be very helpful. a lot of attention focused on the tail of that p-51. pictures and videos clearly show something coming off of that tail mid flight. over the weekend, crews obviously canvassed the debris field and found what appears to be part of that tail. it will be shipped off to the ntsb lab in washington for analysis. and crews also telling us that the plane was equipped with a video camera. and some cards found near the scene. it's not clear if the cards go with the camera. that will be analyzed again in washington. and we are also learning that the plane was equipped with sort of a crude form of black box that recorded certain information such as oil pressure, speed, gps. that information was wirelessly transmitted to the flight crew. so that's something that can also be analyzed. meanwhile, we are still hearing these amazing and chilling accounts from witnesses. we spoke to a nurse who was among the first to arrive at the scene. take a look. >> the impact of the aircraft was significant. and the debris field was wide. it's very traumatic. they have a long road ahead of them. they'll have prosthetics. they'll have therapy. they'll have to learn to reuse their body. >> well, the approximately 70 patients who were taken to area hospitals, 30 remain there. and about six of them still in critical condition. kyra? >> all right, dan simon there in reno, inest neff for us. thank you. and coming up, italy's departing prime minister bragging about his stamina with a whole line of ladies. and guess what? it's all caught on tape. (rambling phone conversation) when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. well, italian prime minister civ silvio berlusconi doesn't embarrass easily. but we'll see how this went down. >> i have two words for you, bunga bunga. >> everybody knows about the parties by now. >> this was an investigation of prostitution. and guess who showed up on these taped transcripts? the italian prime minister silvio berlusconi. now this is all out. the transcripts in the italian newspapers. and just to give you a bit of the flavor of some of the things, in one instance there were 11 women, 11, lined up outside silvio berlusconi's room, all of whom were supposed to have sex with him. in this transcript, he is quoted reportedly as saying he can only manage eight of them, kyra. and if you look at another transcript, there's a situation where he apologized to a young dancer called maryshell. she was complaining to him, saying you're not spending enough time to me. and he says to her, you know, in my spare time, i am the prime minister. >> he has quite the ego, which is pretty much how most italians feel, right? >> right. right. well, you know, it's interesting, because when all of this bunga bunga stuff was coming out early on, italians were like, you know what? what he does in his spare time is his own business. but in this situation, his popularity has dropped to like 20%. and they are saying hold on, we are supposed to have all of these austerity programs and cuts to government spending and all of that. and the prime minister is using taxpayer money to get hookers, using government planes to go to all of the cities that he wants. and so that's actually kind of the issue. it's less even the moral thing here, but it's also they are using taxpayer money at a time of major recession so he can have a good time, he can have some bunga bunga. kyra? >> well, we'll move on. zane, thank you. i want to move to a different discussion about the economy. how about maybe a selloff on wall street this morning? allison at the new york stock exchange. >> why not? let's talk about a selloff. >> not a lot of people partying over this. >> no, no, no. get ready to take the plunge with me. dow futures down about 160 to 170. and the focus remains on greece. and what you're about to see happen with the u.s. markets. it's going to follow the selloff in europe. markets in shanghai, europe, all down around 1% to 3% each. we are watching bank stocks around the world dropping. this is all about these continuing worries about the possibility of greece defaulting. it's looking more and more likely as time goes on. kyra? >> all right. and greece has been the news for more than a year. and it seems like the surgs picking up once again. -- the urgency is picking up once again. >> it is. tick tock. time is running out for greece. analysts are saying greece is getting closer to running out of money. we still don't have a commitment from institutions that are involved in shoring up financing. and we got no agreement on these tougher austerity measures that have to go into effect. so your eu finance ministers saying over the weekend, not much progress was made there. what they decided to do was wait until october to give them more funding. and they have a debt payment due in mid october. so talk about going to the wire here. and it's a great unknown if greece is going to default. it's a great unknown as to how this is going to affect europe, how it's going to sort of have that domino effect here in the u.s. markets. the eu, imf, both holding conference calls today to discuss the matter. we'll see what comes out of that, if anything. kyra? >> thanks. well, they say they are marching for people, not profits. we'll take you to wall street where hundreds of protesters say they have been inspired by the arab uprising. their message straight ahead. and about an hour away from president obama's speech in the rose garden. he is expected to unveil his plan to cut the national debt by roughly $3 trillion over the next decade. we're going to take you there live. even though i'm a great driver, and he's... not so much. well, for a driver like you, i would recommend our new snapshot discount. this little baby keeps track of your great driving habits, so you can save money. 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[ junior ] ...and they've helped build my business. top stories now. the palestinian authority will try to get full membership into the u.n. this week. but the u.s. which has veto power on the security council has said it would deny any request for membership. president obama unveiling his plan to cut the national debt next hour, including a tax hike for millionaires. we'll have live coverage of the speech. and a georgia parole board considers clemency for troy davis. his supporters say he was wrongly convicted. he is scheduled to die on wednesday. on wall street, the opening bell has just rung, but outside protesters have been gathering to voice their outrage over the nation's economy. and christine romans, it all got started as a movement on facebook and twitter. >> that's right. and over the weekend, some 500 people occupied wall street in the area close to the new york stock exchange as a protest, kyra, to growing income inequality in this country. and also spearheaded by the activist magazine "ad busters" saying there needs to be justice for financial perpetrators of what happened to america. that was over the weekend. this is saturday. there is about 75 people down there today. but using social media to try to drum up interest in, hey, what's going on? why do the haves have so much more and the have-nots have so much less? clearly an idea resonating on wall street. but not as many people as there were over the weekend. some 500 people down there this weekend. >> i was a little early there. we have about a minute and a half to the opening bell. i assume the protests will increase. >> we have seen these things from time to time. and it's usually the same kind of -- sometimes it's less focused, the opposition, to what's happening in corporate america is less focused. about you but nowadays, they are saying, they are sitting on $2 trillion in cash. they are not hiring anybody. no one has been arrested for the bubble talk that led to this crisis. the housing crisis. and so what, who's paying? and there's sort of just an uneasy fieeling in america, tha the little guy pays and the big guy gets off scott free. and it's an idea or a sentiment that the president will be tapping into when he gives this deficit reduction speech. because much of what he's trying to achieve will come by taxing the rich. so it's at least politically a theory that it looks like this president's deficit reduction plan is trying to tap into, kyra. >> christine romans, thank you so much. as christine just mentioned, president obama is about to propose a new tax rate for millionaires. it's called the buffett rule. and it's referring to billionaire warren buffett, who is complaining that wealthy americans pay less than their fair share in taxes. bottom line, taxes for the rich, is that fair? contributors will cain and lz weighing in on this morning. fair? >> well, i guess it is, because we have allowed the system, the tax code, to rotten things to the point where we are running out of other options. i believe the number is 20% of the population controlling 80% of the wealth. so when you look at that kind of number, you're going to have a lot of poor people. you've got to find ways to balance things out so that society can be more fair for everyone. so we are where we are now, and so yes, i do think at this point that is fair. >> will? >> you know, kyra, fair is a four-letter word. and it's a four-letter word that has a subjective meaning. to me, it means everybody pays about the same percentage. but that being said, we can all recognize there are unfairnesses in the tax code. it is unfair that a millionaire might pay less in effective taxes than his secretary. it is unfair that the tax code honors homeowners over renters. it's unfair that people that get their health insurance through their company aren't taxed on, while people that buy it themselves are. there are a lot of unfairnesses. and obama's new plan is simply a patch, another section in the tax code, another line, another entry to add to the complexity of the tax code that quite honestly benefits the people that know how to negotiate it. >> senator lindsey grahamte telling us over the weekend this is class warfare. >> when you pick one area of the economy and say we're going to tax those people because most people are not those people, that's class warfare. >> i am so over this dude. when you look at people that make more money and have better health care, that is class warfare. when you know that the education for people with money is greater than the people without money, and recycling the same process of them staying in poverty, to me, that's class warfare. i am so over lindsey playing politics and trying to throw words around to scare people. >> even paul ryan of wisconsin said, quote, class warfare may make for good politics but it makes more rotten economics. will? >> look, lz, i have to be honest with you. the president is the one playing politics here. if you add the fact that i said this plan doesn't help fix the problems in the tax code. and look, by their estimate, there's something like 22,000 people that might be affected by this new rule. that would add about $19 billion to the federal revenues. so if it doesn't add that much money, and it doesn't fix the unfairness in the tax code, what you're left with -- and by the way, add it to also we're going to let the bush tax cuts expire for the wealthy and do away with deductions for the wealthy. you put this picture together that the theme is this big populist class warfare message of basically, let's just go get the rich guy. we don't need to fix the other problems. we need to get the rich guy. >> wow, will. i can't even believe that. at least you're using the word "rich" and not "job creator." at least you're manning up and saying rich. >> oh. at least we're talking about millionaires now and not people that make over $250,000. >> guys, we'll be watching -- >> touche. >> there we go. perfect. we got the touche. all right. about 50 minutes away from the speech. gentlemen, you can weigh in after that. coming up, just two days until his scheduled execution. but convicted cop killer troy davis has hundreds of thousands of people fighting to stop it. amy ray from the indigo girls is one of them. she joins me live. and later, a shakeup at netflix and why the ceo is apologizing. 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>> well, i mean, for faith-based reasons we are opposed to the death penalty generally, because we feel like the justice system is human and flawed, and we don't feel like we should be the ones deciding those things. but in this particular case, the sort of stopgap at the end is the board of pardons and parole. and we feel like we want to appeal to them to say, look, there's reasonable doubt in this case. seven out of nine witnesses have recanted. people like bob barr and jimmy carter on opposite sides of the political spectrum are against his death sentence. and there's just too much doubt. there's too much reasonable doubt. and so we feel like this is the last sort of place where you can appeal to clemency. and we got involved because we feel like we couldn't be silent about it. >> well, as you've looked at all of the information over the two decades, right, that had has -- >> right. >> do you think he's innocent? >> i don't want to say that. i feel in my heart from hearing what people say, i feel that he is. but i also don't know every little detail of the case. my position is because i think our justice system is fallible. and i have looked at the evidence and said, there's reasonable doubt here. and with so many witnesses recanting, and people on the jury even changing their minds after the fact. i feel like, you know this is one case where if i was having to decide, i couldn't -- even if i was for the death penalty, i couldn't do that and have like a clean -- a clear conscience about it. >> what are you going to do up to the point of wednesday? you have been at rallies, played live. you have spoken to hundreds of thousands of people. >> well, there is a vigil downtown. and i'll probably drop by that. and i'll be thinking about it. i'll be making some just tweets, you know, and just appealing. but at this point, the parole board is meeting. and, you know, it's going to be -- it's really up to sort of what happens in their consciousness, i think, at this point. >> you say it's for you very much faith based. you're not only at the rallies and singing and talking about it, are you getting involved in prayer? >> i'm praying to my greater power. and i went to an amazing service at ebenezer baptist church, home of martin luther king jr. >> which is incredible. for those who haven't been to atlanta and been to that church. >> just the feeling there -- >> it's like stepping back in time. >> yeah. and it was a nondenominational service. there were rabbis there and people from the islam tradition and all faiths, speaking, and it was amazing. >> final question, because i have to ask you this. the mom of mark macphail, the slain police officer, have come forward and said, look, all of this advocacy and groups are just coming forward because of the names that are being brought in, and people really don't understand the circumstances behind this case. they just don't get it. and we want everybody to butt out. and she's had strong words. >> sure. >> what do you say to the mom of the slain officer? >> i mean, i'm -- i have compassion for her. and i also feel so saddened by the murder. you know, heinous crime. and i think i would just say i'm not here to witness to whether he is innocent or guilty. i'm here to say there is reasonable doubt. and i believe this very strongly. and i don't know what else you can say, because that loss is so huge andthe sadness is so huge that i feel compassion for her. and for the loss. and at the service, a lot of prayer was said about that too. and a lot of people witnessed about that. so, you know, that's important. but i don't even know what you could say to that loss. it's just so sad. but i don't believe the death penalty deters crime. i can't believe it -- i believe it's flawed because our justice system is very class effort -- classist and racist. even if someone is guilty, life in prison is what i believe in. and i can't attest to his guilt or innocence, but i can say there's reasonable doubt. and i just don't think it's right to put someone to death when there is. >> amy ray, thanks for stopping by. >> thanks for having me. >> you can still get the red invol envelopes. but it won't be netflix anymore. and why the ceo is now saying i'm sorry. [ man ] natural gas vehicles are used somewhere... but not in my neighborhood. ♪ [ female announcer ] we're throwing away misperceptions about natural gas vehicles. more of the vehicles that fuel our lives use clean american natural gas today. it costs about 40 percent less than gasoline, so why aren't we using it even more? start a conversation about using more natural gas vehicles in your community. me too. you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what? fret not ma'lady. i have the hotels.com app so we can t a great deal even at the last minute. ah, wellyesir. dolo free hotels.com app and get exclusive mobi dls. hotels.com. be smart. book smart. sun life financialrating should be famous.d bad, we're working on it. so you're seriously proposing we change our name to sun life valley. do we still get to go skiing? sooner or later, you'll know our name. sun life financial. well, the netflix saga continues. the dvd by mail service is splitting into two companies now, and the ceo is actually coming forward and apologizing. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. so what do subscribers need to know? >> you know, it's funny how you refer to as it as a saga. it's really turned into that. what's new here, is what netflix is doing is separating dvd and it's separating that from its streaming services. now dvd by mail has a new name. it's called quickster. it will also include video games, and the streaming service will still be called netflix. these are two separate websites, two separate accounts, and two separate charges on your credit card if you want both. netflix as you know has been struggling since yejuly when it raised its prices, and stock has fallen 50% since then. why? because the customers are ticked off, they jumped ship, and the subscriber rates are forecast to go down. you know, it's a big change for a company that's been growing like crazy. and of course its ceo not happy to see that share price really take a dive like that, kyra. >> and so what is all the talk about the apology from the ceo? is he apologizing for raising prices? >> no. he is not apologizing for raising prices. he is actually -- because the price hikes, by the way, are still in place. what he is apologizing for is sort of a failure to communicate. he is apologizing for how he handled the situation. he says he's trying to keep netflix up to date by improving streaming, and he doesn't want to suffer the same fate as borders. and we all know what happened to borders. what he says he had to do was raise prices or he'd wind up falling behind the technology curve. but he failed to tell customers all of this. so he came out on his blog and sent out an email to all of the members of netflix, and he said, you know, when netflix is evolving rapidly, i need to be extra communicative. this is the key thing that i got wrong. in hindsight, i slid into error against based upon past success. we have done very well for a long time by steadily improving our service without doing much ceo communication. so he's going out there with his mea kulpa, hoping to win back those customers that jumped ship. but a lot of the customers, many say that the streaming options really leave much to be desired. there's not a huge library to choose from. so when you raise prices, and those selections aren't that -- you know, aren't that varied, it's hard to understand why they did that, right? >> yes. and i am a netflix i guess member is how you'd say it. so i was curious to know how this would all go down. let's check the markets. about 20 minutes in since the bell. >> exactly. and the dow is down 214 points. it's more about greece. the worries about greece defaulting on its debt. those worries grew louder over the weekend. the big worry is that greece could miss a big payment coming up in october. we'll keep an eye on the numbers for you, kyra. >> thanks. well, the fight to stop bullying got reinforcement today. time warner, parent company of cnn and facebook, officially announced its stop bullying speak up app. it's an interactive social media pledge that aims to educate and empower people of all ages to recruit and join the fight to help stop bullying. so once you log on to facebook, search stop the bullying, speak up, and you'll see our very own anderson cooper with a message on how to take part. coming up, some familiar faces collected emmys last night. but there were a few surprises as well, including one of the presenters. we'll wrap things up for you. and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ [ slap! slap! slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums checking stories making news later today, 10:30 eastern, president obama unveiling his new plan to cut the nation's debt. we will take that live. and at noon eastern, a hearing is being held into the involuntary machine slaughter charge against conrad murray. in the end, it was all about repeats. "modern family "repeated as best comed. the show about a nontraditional extended family has won tv's top prize in each of its first two seasons. beating back a challenge from inclu "boardwalk empire." tossed gentle zingers at the stars, including an 89-year-old nominee. >> oh, there's betty white. she scored as host but lost the emmy to "modern family's" julie bone. not that she was bitter about it. >> there are losers and i am one, and it hurts. >> reporter: won for supporting actor in comedy. onstage paid tribute to his late father acknowledging he might find it strange that his son wears makeup at work. >> dad, thing of me as a very masculine lady, and he would say, i do, son. >> reporter: one of the nice surprises came not in an award but from a presenter. a subdued charlie sheen fired from "2 1/2 men" last season made a surprise appearance to announce best actor in a comedy and offered best wishes to his old show i. know you will continue to make great television. >> reporter: best actor in a comedy went to jim parsons of the "big bang theory" in another repeat. he won last year, too, but best actress 2 a comedy went to a newcomer. melissa of "mike & molly." >> my first and best headdress ever. >> in a billion years i didn't think that was going to happen. not at all. >> reporter: a night for all of tv's best to claim their crowns. >> careen, a few more surprise winners last night? in your piece, a surprise presenter, charlie sheen. i'm curious what the mood was inside the theater when he came onstage? did people get also nervous? >> reporter: they did. hmp you see charlie you never know what to expect, kyra. >> exciting, i guess. i have to say, so much buzz on the red carpet when we heard all of these rumbling he may appear. people thinking, what are the producer, thinking? made for great tv. so you saw him hit the stage. he just wanted to clear the air and apologize, and he did all that. what made it a little uncomfortable, people were on pins and needles waiting for him to make a joke. say something inappropriate. he didn't. dove right into the nominees. nice to see, kyra, during that awkward moment, flashed to jon cryer. aflaweding. well received. we put stars on later on at the parties, just really weird, very, very awkward, but you know what? seems like they kissed and made up. being told to toss it back to you. that's how it was. >> a lot of people wanting to know what he does next. >> thanks. next hour of christine romans "newsroom," first we check in with brianna keilar at the white house. >> reporter: president obama set to unveil his recommendation for deficit reduction. we'll carry the event live next hour and an explanation at the top of the hour. i'm christine romans in new york. part of that deficit reduction includes the so-called buffett tax. what would that be, if you're a millionaire you want to listen up. that's at the top of the hour. i'm kate bolduan on capitol hill, early reaction from congressional republicans to the buffett rule, as christine mentioned. and the rest of the president's deficit reduction plan. some republicans calling in class warfare. more at the top of the hour. >> ladies, thanks. about a half hour away from fred obama's speech in the rose garden. when he arrives, we'll bring it to you live. these nasal allergies are spoiling our picnic. i know what works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris. omnaris, to the nose. did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nose bleed, and sore throat. got allergy symptoms out of my way. now life's a picnic. [ man ] omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy symptoms? omnaris combats the cause. get omnaris for only $11 at omnaris.com. michael vick returning to atlanta. however, didn't go the way he hoped. >> a little bit of a surprising ending for vick. the former falcon quarterback leading the eagles into the georgia dome, first time there as a starter since the dog fighting scandal. on the sidelines before the game, vick hugging falcons owner and now the $100 million man for the eagles. in the third quarter, back to pass, ouch. helmet to helmet collision with one of his own lineman. leave, the game. he did have a concussion. the falcons rally to win the game. michael turner scores the winning touchdown. 35-31 the final. vick will undergo testing to see if he can play this week. tony romo knocked down yesterday but didn't stay down against the 49ers. earlier in the game suffered two broken ribs on the hit. came back into the game and tony romo was fantastic. led the cowboys to a fourth quarter comeback, forced overtime and in o.t., romo, a wrong completion to jesse holly that set up the game-winning field goal. dallas wins in o.t. 27-24. what a comeback day for romo. 16-year-old lexi thompson has written her name in the textbooks, youngest to win the lpga. a hug from her caddie, her dad. the gallery was cheering. dad told her, i'm grog to the side, because i'm going to cry. she got a check for $195,000. not bad for a 16-year-old. shep says she'll donate 20 grand to the tournament's charity, the wounded warriors project. a great way to share the winnings. she said the night before the tournament was over she had dinner with another team player and they talked about boy, not the golf course. >> she's 16. come on. remarkable player. i had my eyes on her, too. fun to watch. thanks. that does it for us. top of the hour, wolf blitzer in as he'll preview the president's speech in about half an hour. hi, wolf. >> hi, kyra. thanks very much. and i'm wolf blitzer in new york awaiting a huge announcement from president obama just 30 minutes from now. he'll step into the white house rose garden and unveil a bold plan to try to save somes 3ds trillion from the nation's debt. at the heart of it youall, a ne tax rate for millionaires. breaking down the angles, brianna keilar at the white house, christine romans here in new york. kate bolduan up on capitol hill, the big picture, gloria gorger, and up nix,ext, a bit of confli. standing at $14.7 trillion, that comes to more than $47,000 for every man, woman and child in the united states. for taxpayers, the bite is even worse. each of us would have to shell out, get this, more than $130,000, if the bill were due today. lats begin at the white house, our correspondent brianna keilar is there. where does this $3 trillion he's proposing come from? >> reporter: some of it comes from spending cuts. that's $580 billion. but the largest chunk of it, $1.5 trillion, half of it, would come from increasing taxes among some of the proposals, letting the bush era tax cuts expire. closing some of the loopholes, you've heard the white house talk about it, for corporate jet owners, hedge fund manager, oil and gas companies, also limiting itemized deductions, capping itemized deductions wealthy americans take. $1.1 trillion in war savings, and interest savings. if you don't owe the money you don't have to pay the interest. right? the white house says that would save. this is a first shot. the white house putting out the -- the president putting out kind of a goal post saying this is really where i want to start. we've heard from senior administration official this is not necessarily where the president thinks things would end up. we all know this is not what's going to happen but it's the first shot and about laying out a contrast between the white house, between the white house democrats versus republicans. wolf? >> brianna, just to be precise, what this is, is a series of recommendations that the president is giving to that so-called super committee, those 12 members of the house and the senate, six democrats, six republicans, that have to come up with some really tough decisions by thanksgiving. otherwise, across the board budget cuts will automatically take place? >> reporter: that's right. the ball here is really in the court of that super committee, but the president here also sort of interjecting himself into the process. specifically by kind of a grand ultimatum that he has said here, wolf, which is that he will veto any recommendations or any bill that would have entitlement reform or spending cuts for medicare and medicaid if there is not tax increases. that really sets the stage for a gigantic fike between republicans and democrats. >> most republicans say no tax increases, period. we'll go to the president shortly, soon as he walks into the rose garden. let's crunch some of the number. christine romans is here with more on the so-called bus attbu. the warren buffett suggestion. >> his rate, 17%, 18%. his secretary and employees pay 36 or 35%. the buffett rule would tax millionaires more. letting the bush era tax cut expires affects anybody who makes $ 250,000 individually or as a family. we want to hear more about the mortgage interest deduction and more about investments of munie bonds? what does that mean borrows from rich investors to build sewers and schools and the like. key there. and closing tax loopholes, brianna talked about this. the effective tax rate for millionaires is said to be 22%. in the clinton era, 31%. bottom line, taxes for everyone have been going down, down, down for a long time and our deficits going up, up, up. what the president is putting forth here, many people who study budgets say sort of a liberal dream. it's ending the war, taxing the rich, ending medicare payments but not raising the elementsty age or touching social security in any other way. that's what you have here. >> this warren buffett is a popular notion. he wrote an op-ed in the "new york times" not long ago saying this is unfair. how come i pay a smaller percentage of my general income than my secretary? >> he does. his secretary's taxes come all from her work. a lot of rich people, theirs come from their investments. their capital gains and tax, half the rate of what their income would be. you hear pro-business people saying, that keeps the money flowing. keeps investments happening. that's good, to make sure that people aren't taxed too much on how they use their money, but warren buffett and people who agree with him, and his -- they say, look what you do with your hands shouldn't be taxed more than what you do with your money. >> the investment money that you invest, that's already been taxed once when you earned it. this is a form of double taxation. that's why a lot of republicans and some democrats are saying, no. this is unfair to go ahead and tax this income as regular income, if you will. that's the core of this debate. >> a lot of people say you shouldn't raise taxes at all on anyone in tender economic times such as this. this is obviously a ten-year plan and the first -- right? the first step. some of this is clearly politics. no question. >> clearly politics setting the stage for a huge political debate. you might be surprised there's a re-election campaign -- >> coming up pretty soon. >> stand by. a reality check on capitol hill. our congressional correspondent kate bolduan is getting quick republican reaction and not surprisingly, not very favorable? >> reporter: that's exactly what i was going to say, wolf. not surprisingly. the early reaction to the president's deficit reduction suggestion, the republicans are not happy with it. specifically i'm talking about the $1.5 trillion in tax revenue. speaker boehner said last week, the end of last week, that tax increases should be taken off the table. he says they are not a viable option for the super committee. the committee of 12. in his reasons, exactly what christine said many republicans would say, it would hurt the country's economic recovery rather than help. and on specifically that buffett rule you were just kind of developing into a little bit, republicans are slamming this idea, this overarching policy die the president put forth digging into the sunday talk shows to say that the president is waging class warfare through this policy. listen here to the house budget committee chairman paul ryan on "fox news sunday." >> class warfare, chris, may make for really good politics but it makes for rotten economic. we don't neat a system that seeks to divide people. we don't need a system that seeks to prey on people's fear, envy and anxiety. we need a system that creates job and innovation and removes the barriers to go out and hire new people. these types of tax increases, i'm afraid, don't work. >> to further that point, i received this statement just this morning from house speaker john boehner's spokesman michael steele, and when i asked for reaction about the president's suggestions, he wrote to me, well, it is disappointing the president has nothing but a fresh slogan for the same job-killing tax sites opposed by bipartisan majority in corninng. we can see early on, a problem between democrats, republicans in the white house, similar to the battle lines we saw during the debt ceiling debate. it will not be easy. house and senate republicans not happy way proposition of raising taxes at this time. wolf? >> just to be precise on this point, kate, this is not formal legislation that the president is introducing today. these are general guidelines he's recommending to the so-called super committee that will be looking at all of this. the formal legislation from the other day was for job creation some $500 billion plan that he wants. that's the legislation congress is going to have to consider. the senate's going to consider it, say, a month from now. so it may or may not go anywhere in the house of representatives. this is a series of recommendations from the president. >> reporter: that's absolutely right. but what we're seeing coming out quickly is the president making recommendations, laying out his first -- his first move in these recommendations to the super committee, and republicans very quickly saying, this is a no vote. we're seeing the lines in the sand being drawn here. still, these decisions are going to be up to this committee of 12. they have their next hearing this thursday and probably fittingly now, the topic of this hearing is revenue options and reforming the tax code. so all eyes and so much pressure is on the committee to try to find some way to find more than 1.2 trillion in deficit savings. the president making his suggestions. the committee continuing their work and they do not have much time. that deadline, we know, is thanksgiving, but the congressional budget office said a little while saying he actually need the plan by the beginning of november to come up with a cost savings in time to have this vote for the committee. >> so they've got to move quickly. kate, thanks very much. let's take a look at larger political landscape now. gloria borger, our chief political analyst. i suspect, gloria, this is tense and about to get a little bit more tense. >> reporter: it is going to get more tense. you're seeing the beginning of a negotiation. you point out, this is the president's marker, and he laid down this marker so the base of the democratic party which has been kind of upset with him, would know exactly where he is going into these negotiations. there are a couple of things that barack obama has been criticized for in the past by democrats. one is, not participating enough in negotiations, and, two is, when he does participate, they believe he kind of negotiates with himself and gives away a lot before he actually enters the room. what you've done, laid down marker saying, if this were a perfect world for democrats, woe do a lot of things, including repealing the bush tax cuts. end the subsidies for oil and gas, es spetly, et cetera. and saying, we have to reform the tax code. when we reform the tax code these are the things that are important to me, because we would be low aring the top rate. because all of this will come don to the question of will they be able to do tax reform in such a short period of time? >> you know, one of the most significant parts of what the president is about to propose, gloria, we heard it from kate, and we heard it from brianna earlier, is this notion that the president now is formally notifying republicans in congress of a veto track. if you have any reductions whatsoever, he said, in entitlements. social security, medicare, medicaid, i will vitt oh any of those changes, any of those reductions for the entitlement programs unless it's balanced by an increase in taxes for richer americans. and that sets the stage for a stalemate, because republicans are making it clear, you know, they're not going to improve any tax increases. >> reporter: you know, the president also did that on the debt ceiling. he wouldn't accept a temporary extension. so we see this as sort of the beginning move. now what is a tax increase? how do you define that? is it not extending the bush tax cut for the wealthy? i mean, you know, it all depends on the definition here, wolf. so i think the president actually is going on the record saying, we have to have what he considers to be a balanced plan. i'll tell you this. if you look at our polling, we asked people in early august, should deficit -- should any deficit reduction bill increase taxes on businesses and higher income americans? by a 2-2 -- 2-1 margin, wolf, the people said, yes, it should. the president goes into this with, he believes, the american public very much on his side. >> there's a lot to digest and dissect. we'll continue doing that. don't go far away. standing by, douglass, a key economic at viders to john mccain among other republicans. we'll get his take. standing by to hear the president momentarily, he'll be walking into the rose garden at the white house and we'll take his remarks live. much more of our special coverage coming up in the "cnn newsroom" right after this. today i own 165 wendy's restaurants. and i get my financing from ge capital. but i also get stuff that goes way beyond banking. we not only lend people money, we help them save it. 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(rawhen an investmentrsation) lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. president obama's unveiling his debt reduction plan coming up in a few moments. we'll go live to the rose garden once the president walks into the rose garden. the plan includes raising taxes on people making more than $1 million a year. a cnn poll shows nearly two-thirds of americans are okay with increasing taxes on those higher income earners. there was a big partisan divide on the topic. four out of five democrats say high income taxes should be raised. only 39% of republicans, though, agreed. republican leadership in congress obviously disagrees with that. let's bring in douglas aiken, douglas, once the director of the congressional budget office, an economist, was an economist for both of the bush white houses and the mccain presidential campaign four years ago. all right. so you know generally most of the specifics, if not all specifics, was the president has in mind. give us your immediate reaction, doug. >> i think from a purely policy perspective, this is very disappointing. the president's own commission, the bowles-simpson commission, a solution our country has largely a spending problem and proposed social security reforms and other entitlement reforms that are missing from the president's proposal. he's got only modest changes in medica medicare. on the tax side, if you want to talk about revenue you need serious tax reform. the president's proposals make our taxes more not less complicated and the buffett tax doesn't address the greatest inequality. those people that have jobs and those that don't have job. it's a disappointing set of proposals and unfortunately a gimmicky feel. they count stuff that's already been done in the debt ceiling deal. counting on war savings. over $1 trillion. that's already going to happen and counting on bush tax cuts. that's scheduled to happen in 2013. there's not a lot here that's new, real and addresses the actual problem. >> for so many years taxes have been going down. look at analysis of the situation, taxes have to go up. at what point to republicans say, okay, we agree taxes have to go up and here's what we'll agree to? >> well, the question has always been how do you raise taxes? we've seen taxes go down for three reasons. number one, obviously, tax laws passed, 2001, 2003, notable examples. more fortunately, when the economy is weak, taxes went down sharply and further tax cuts. the president left them out of the personal pay roll tax as he proposes this. if you had a serious jobs plan, we'd get a lot more tax revenue and then go back to the blueprint of the bowles simps's commission, which was bipartisan, did include elected member of congress and get a reform that might raise more revenue. >> the president would like to see, for the millionaires and billionaires, as they like to say, you take a guy, you're familiar, i'm sure, with this guy, john paulson, a hedge fund guy, last year made $ billion. and effectively the income -- the income rate that he paid was about 15% as opposed to the highest which is 35%, because it was defined as what they call carried interest or something like that. is that fair that he could pay 15% to the irs as opposed to 35% which is the highest rate right now? >> well, let's be honest. fairness is in the eye of the beholder. but we do deserve a serious discussion about actual tax policy. what's left out of the so-called buffett tax discussion and the paulson example is the fact that most of that income is taxed what's initially earned. invested. taxed a second time when corporate america pay ps a 35% rate, highest in the world and focus only on the third tax. the one that goes back to individuals, like mr. buffett and mr. paulson pap real tax reform systemically addresses all of those taxes in a uniform fashion so we see economic growth and people pay their fair share. the notion you can find 22,000 high-income american, target them to solve our problems doesn't add up. might be good politics. you only raise about $20 billion. >> the key -- you don't get much. >> in the case of john paulson, the money he's investing in hedge fund investments, that's other people's money. not necessarily his money, which he made a profit, an income of $2 billion taxed at 15%. he's not really playing with his own money. he's playing with other people's money. the question remains, should he be taxed at 35% as opposed to 15%? >> the real issue is how do we want to deal with the return to saving investment ins tax code? you can't do it on a hedge fund manager. you have to ask the serious question, do we want to have incentive 20 save? americans always save too little. had they save, put it in risky investme investment, how much of the profit do we want to take out? everyone has something that looks like an i.r.a., get to duct it when it goes in. tax everything when it goes out. everything at 35%. must better than a narrow targeted part of the problem. >> doug, talking about the buffett rule. might be 0 .3. what's wrong with raising taxes noor crowd so they're paying the same on overallincome as a middle-class family? what's wrong with raising taxes on just that sliver of the rich? >> well i think if you look at this subjectively, we have something called the alternative limited tax sbined in the 1970s to catch those $200,000 people who had lots of money and paid no taxes. instead of fixing it, actually addressing the nation's tax problems the president's putting out a rule which will be popular. everyone should pay their fair share. he is seen as failing to lay down a national plan and somehow this is going to solve problems. no. a real solution, write down a tax code and tax reform the joint committee could try to get through bly november to raise the revenue he views as appropriate. raise it from the people he thinks would be fair and start the debate from that point of view. this doesn't move the debate forward. this is just a side show. >> i want you to listen, doug, to the former president of the united states, bill clinton. on the "today" show today and he said this. listen to this -- >> the republicans in washington always say the same thing. any tax on any upper income person is bad because they're job creators. it's an insult to those people. they don't mind being asked to pay their fair share. >> you agree with the former president? >> i don't think it's an insult to people. i think it highlights the serious problem we have, the discussion on tax policy right now, which is it's all about who pays it, not what are we trying to do with our tax code? a tax code should have a purpose, a philosophy. should be more than just trying to collect money from particular people without an aim for economic growth, without an aim toward fostering charitable contributions, in that's desirable. we need to have that discussion. not a sideline about 22,000 americans who happen to be very rich. that's what i'd like to see, what the bowles-simpson commission tried to do, broaden base, raised a lot more revenue. and a starting point for the discussion. >> in the absence of tax reform, a lot of people agree with you, but no political climate for real tax reform. in the absence of real tax reform what do you do in the very near term to raise revenue, get more money coming into the government so we don't keep running and yawning deficits? >> be very, very clear. you look at america's problem and look forward as commissions have, the problem is spending. it was 8-2 spending in some commissions. 7-3 on the other side. the problem with spending, the problem with entitlement programs which are broken, medicare, medicaid, these are programs that are not serving our beneficiaries well right now at medicaid or won't in the future, medicare and social security, unless we fix them. we have about obligation to fix these safety net programs, need 20 do it from a budgetary level and because it talents our economy it's imperative that be the first topic, and if republicans are supposedly and always recalcitrant because they won't talk about taxes, democrats put exactly zero in the way of entitlement reforms on the table. that's the biggest problem. where the leadership is missing is on the spending side. >> let's not forget, and i want to take a quick break. doug, you'll stick around with us. a lot of the republicans on that commission including paul ryan rejected, they voted against the recommendation of that bowles-simpson panel as well. it's not just the democrats who rejected it. a bunch of democrats supported it. a bunch of republicans. key republicans opposed it at the same time. hold your thought for a moment. christine is here, gloria borger is here. much more. we're waiting for the president's the united states momentarily walking into the rose garden. we'll get to hear what he has to say on all issues and assess that right after this. 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[ male announcer ] we're not employers or employees. not white collar or blue collar or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges. but at prudential we're helping companies everywhere find new solutions to manage risk, capital and employee benefits, so american business can get on with business. ♪ all right. you're looking at live pick commerce of the rose garden. reporters and others are inside getting ready for the president who will walk out of the oval office, go down those stairs and go to the microphone and make his pitch to the american people on why his proposals to slash trillions from the national debt are worthwhile. as we await the president, let's go to london. richard quest is standing by. a view of this financial crisis here in the united states, god knows the europeans have their own problems right now, especially greece and those problems could eventually spill out if not already here in the united states. what is the general attitude in europe, if there is a general attitude, richard, as they see this economic crisis unfolding here in the united states? >> reporter: in the first and most important thing is that anyone who's living in a glass house shouldn't throw stones, and europe at the moment is certainly in no position to make any criticisms other than the fact that the european situation, probably more serious at the moment will get sorted out and then the attention will focus on the united states. and the medium and long-term issue will be the question of u.s. deficit, and the gridlock taking place in washington. on the question of raising taxes, here i think that's pretty much widespread amazement the u.s. is not preparing to go down that road. the u.k. has 50% high tax bracket for very high earners. germany has high taxes. france introduced more taxes. edly has just done so. they're fought doing it, i hear viewers shouting socialism at the screen. they're not doing it for that reason but because you can't breach or break the deficit gap without doing both things. spending cuts and raising taxes. so from that point of view, i think they'll look with interest to see whether the buffett rule gets passed. >> the argument here, richard, as you know, that the republicans make, and some democrats, i must say, you shouldn't go after those job, a time of high unemployment, those individuals who create the jobs, namely the wealthier americans? >> yes. >> reporter: it's the old argument and it's got one artery to it. not only do you -- your previous guest said this -- not only do you go after the job creators but don't raise much money in doing so by the higher percentage doesn't actually bring -- we know you make money by taxation, hitting the middle classes and the big bulk in the middle. but there's a point were you're cutting people's benefits, and social security, may not be in this plan, you have to take something from the take. that's the fairness argument in europe has been primarily about this and i suspect -- no suspect. it's a raging center, that's the argument president obama will give in the rose garden. you can't earn a million plus and xpexpect to gain a bit more. there you go. >> richard quest. modest cuts proposed. no cuts or changes at all in social security spending, at least for now. richard staying with us. gloria borger as well, christine romans is with us. gloria, a lot of people will look at the president's speech right now and say, you know what? he's laying down a marker for his re-election campaign to differentiate where he stands, some republican rivals, challengers seeking the white house in 200 2012? >> reporter: exactly what he's doing and the white house looks at the polls. they know they have public opinion on their side for now. wolf, what you said about the entitlement issue, because the president was very light on the entitlement side here, and you know that that's very important to the democratic base. the democrats believe that they can make some headway on the medicare issue, because of paul ryan's budget, in the next election. so the president did not propose raising the eligibility age for medicare and he talked about cutbacks, but to providers, and not to beneficiaries. he said, no cutbacks to beneficiarie beneficiaries. could take effect until 2017, and did nothing with social security. didn't propose raising the retirement age for social security either. so it seems to me that that's going to be a matter for some compromise with the super committee, because i think there is an opportunity there to do something on entitlements, but if the president does go along with that, as he did in his negotiations with john boehner, he's going to have to take on his own party, but at least for now, he gave this to his base. he gave this to the democrats and said, this is not where i'm starting out. >> christine romans, as we're watching and waiting for the president to go to the rose garden momentarilily to make his presentation, wall street is not very good. i don't know if that has anything to do as reaction to what the president is proposing? >> it has to do with financial and deficit concerns in greece, not here, quite frankly. concerned about what's happening in greece. greece agreed to a stepped up timetable to qualify for more aid and help. that means greece running out of money becomes ever closer. that's what this is all about. it's a european story this morning. many say when you look what's happening in europe and what's happening in the united states and what looks to be a very serious job situation, that's always -- in the backs of their minds. even as right now, though, the crisis for them this morning is greece, europe. european exposure, banking exposure, wolf, to what's happening in europe. >> gloria, quickly, polls show the american public right now, when it comes to increasing taxes on the rich, the american public's with the president and the democrats as opposed to the republicans. >> reporter: they are. >> here's the question. will this put enormous pressure on republicans to blink? >> reporter: yeah. 2-1. there you are. i think it will. absolutely. but -- but, wolf, also there's something else that's interesting. this is a president who believes that if they don't blink, he can successfully run against the do nothing congress, because their polls also show that while the president's approval rating is down, when we asked who do you trust more to handle the economy? the president is at 46%. republicans in congress are at 37%. so people still trust the president more to handle the economy. so he feels he's on pretty firm political footing here, but you also understand, wolf, that the american public wants to get something done as well, and it could be a tax on all their houses if they end up in a stalemate, because the draconian cuts sitting out there would automatically take effect and people will really hate those. >> yeah. some people will really hate those. maybe not everyone will. that may be more palatable to some than -- >> reporter: also, that would affect defense spending tremendously, too, which the secretary of defense has said would be unacceptable to him. >> reporter: leon panetta would hate it, but those at the pentagon would welcome those defense department defense cuts. a big debate on that as well. stand by. christine romans is standing by. much more coverage coming up. the president momentarily will be in the rose garden to announce his $3 trillion debt plan. every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. that's how we're helping set opportunity in motion. all right. we're awaiting the president of the united states. there you see the rose garden, the president will walk out of the oval office momentarily. he's running a few moments late. he'll go to the podium and make his announcement outlining his plan. immediately afterwards, spelling out some specific details to reporters over at the white house as well. we're watching all of this unfold. douglas holtz aiken worked for jon mccain's campaign is joining us. christine romans as well and glorg ii ii ii ii iia gloria bo. tell us if you think it should be fixed, a company like general electric makes billions and billions last year. something like $14 billion. $5 billion here in the united states and effectively in terms of federal income tax pays zero. ss than you and i pay, less than gloria, christine, anybody else. is that fair? how do you fix that? >> well, it's certainly legal. that tells you a lot. because it's not that they evaded taxes. they followed the law. it tells you the law is badly broken. has too many loopholeses and credits, and wished quest made an important point about europe's high personal rates but didn't mention europe's tax systems are better than the united states. they don't endanger jobs when they fix individuals. we need to fix our business taxes. ge is an example of that and the number one topic in tax reform. >> christine, go ahead. you've got a question? >> i was going to say, if you want to talk about reforming the corporate tax code, that's going to mean raising taxes for some corporations, because when you're going to simplify, get rid of the loopholes, that means tax rate on paper lower than 35%, some companies will pay more tax. the mood in washington is, don't raise taxes for anyone. how do you do it politically? >> you certainly cannot accomplish that in any tax reform. the essence of which is lower the rates broaden the base. when you broaden the base people previously got deductions and exemptions pay more tax. that's why it's important we have the so-called super committee. it has a mandate to do this kind of work. it has lower legislative thresholds. 50 votes, expedited procedures, but in the end, i think this is the key point, what the congress is being asked to do, the super committee, actually, just do its job. pass legislation to address entitlement reform, tax reform and those large rear forms always required white house leadership. always starts with the white house. the question is whether the president's going to do that or not. >> let me bring gloria borger into this conversation as well. be previce and i want douglas to weigh in on this. if you find tax reform that effectively forces ge, for example, i don't want to pick on ge but it's out there, pay something at least terms of income tax. their federal income tax or eliminate some deductions and loopholes for exxon/mobil or some of the big oil companies, to many of the republicans, that is seen as a tax increase, which they would not support. >> well, it depends on what you do to the rates. i mean, the same thing with individuals, wolf. look, if you lower the top rates for -- for individuals, and you get rid of some of their deductions. say, mortgage deductions, for example. does that become a tax cut? or is that a tax increase? and, you know, it's in the eye of the beholder. that's why a lot of people are looking to tax reform as a way to get more money into the system. now, in the simpson-bowles commission, as you pointed out earlier, some republicans, paul ryan, on that commission, voted against it, because he thought that while he supported tax reform, it didn't have enough cuts in it. so it seems to me, if you're going to get anything out of this super committee, and it has tax reform in it, it also has to have some kind of entitlement reform to balance it and then maybe they'll call it a day and say we can get something done. i late to be polly annish, but maybe they be. >> what exactly is a tax increase? douglas, you worked for republican presidents, republican presidential candidates. under grover norquist's proposal, there always have to be tax neutral? in terms of tax revenue? in other words, reduce the rates for some if you're going to increase rates for others but in the end there be an increase from tax revenue? that's not going to happen. is that your understanding of what he and his purist tax increase -- have in mind? >> i think that's grover's definition. i'm not an expert on his pledge and haven't paid much attention to it. i will tell you, i think gloria's got it right. in this environment i can tell you how many angels fit on the edge of a pin, but this is really in the eye of the beholder. the key has to be to stop having a discussion about up and down and talk about the quality of taxation. oil company, for example. always a target for these write-offs they get. we actually have wind, solar biomass, name it. a million different tax credits and special considerations in the tax code. real tax reform says we'll have an energy policy that we understand but not run it through the tax -- broaden the base, take the revenue and try to create jobs. that's missing in this discussion bypieces and not looking at the whole playing field. >> understand, doug, as far as big oil companies are concerned and i don't want to pick on exxon/mobil but i will for a second for the sake of argument. if they're making enormous profits they quarter, tens of billions of dollars, why should taxpayers, like you, me and all viewers out there, subsidize them to make even greater profits when they're already making $30 billion,s 40ds billion, $50 billion in profits and are doing just fine? >> again, i think the key is let's write a tax code we can defend not versus oil companies or wind solar, any particular company. how are we going to tax profits, write up the costs and where will the taxes reside? that's a sensible sdougs have. if we always configure in who's successful at the moment, we don't have something that looks forward and supports the things that are important. i would love to see a serious discussion of tax reform. it would reveal, i think, many key issues of what we do and do not want to favor in the united states. continue to subsidize charity? subsidize housing? how much on higher education? using the tax code to try to achieve too many objectives simultaneously. the other result, raise enough revenue. let's get serious. >> doug, you remember. there was a reform on the tax code in the 1980s, and that somehow managed to unravel, because all of these loopholes kind of crept into it. so if you do a reform of the tax code now there has to be a way to ensure that that doesn't happen again. because what happens is, the special interests get involved, and the tax code rewrites itself somehow. and so that's what they're looking at now is kind of a way to -- >> i agree. >> -- to finally reform it there will be -- >> exactly. >> tax reform. doug, gloria, stand by for a moment. we're waiting for the president. there will be a serious discussion of tax reform during this coming election year. whether anything gets done remains to be seen. i suspect in an election year, nothing serious will get done, although eight of discussion. a fair tax, a flat tax. enormous tax reform. we'll see what the candidates have to say. we're awaiting the president of the united states. as i said, he's running a few minutes late. we'll go to the rose garden as soon as he walks in. much more of our special coverage here in the "cnn newsroom" right after this. i remember the days before copd. my son and i never missed opening day. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. 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[ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. live pictures of the rose garden. the president, as we say, a little late. he'll be walking out of the oval office and going to the cameras there to that podium making a statement. his top aides are already sitting down in the rose garden. so we know it shouldn't be long before the president comes out and speaks about his $3 trillion proposal to cut the nation's national debt. we're assessing what's going gorgia borger, christine romans, douglas holtz akcholtz-eaken. we'll hear from the president with the next few minutes and from all top economic advisers and the white house perspective on what's going on. but from your perspective right now, doug, and you know the republican field fairly well. how divided, if at all, do you think republicans in congress, the republican presidential candidates are, when it comes to these latest proposals that the president is putting forward? >> i don't expect a great deal of division. by and large, the candidates agree on an economic flophiloso and the presidential proposals don't move in that direction. i don't expect a lot of divisions. i think everyone agrees that a status quo is dangerous for america. running red ink. enormous debt crisis on the horizon. no jobs. where they will disagree is among themselves on specifics of going forward. we've seen that. so that, in my view, a very healthy debate both with the republicans and across party lines. >> one of the things, gloria, republicans made, entitlement spending, a huge percentage of what the u.s. government has to spend every single year. there are no recommended reforms in social security. no cuts in social security that the president is putting forward and relatively modest cuts in medicare and medicaid. in other words, saying when it comes to this huge, huge expenditure, the president basically is punting, and is not really dealing significantly with entitlement spending. you've heard that criticism of the president? >> right. and in his first steps, they're right. the president doesn't make any social security suggestions. on medicare, it's really cutbacks to providers which we've already heard from him in the past. it's very clear to me that that is the opening for republicans. you know, the democrats were attacked on medicare cutbacks in the mid-term election as a part of health care reform. lots of them want to take that to republicans in the next presidential election and say, look at the budget passed by the house of representatives. the budget that paul ryan wants, which would essentially turn medicare into a voucher program, gradually, sometime in the future. they want to use that politically. that's why at this point the president sort of laid down the mark and said in a perfect world, okay, that's what i want, too, but i do think there's an opening there to do something on medicare, if, as the president says, can you do something on the tax side, and that's where, wolf, he has threatened this veto. so you see -- you see where the battle lines are drawn, and you can also see where the compromise could come, if there were one. >> christine, we're just being told the white house is giving us what they call a two-minute warning so that we'll hear from the president momentarily, with the next two minutes or so. i just want to point out, and you know this, because you live here in new york. when the president of the united states comes to new york, it's a mess. let alone with one of the other world leaders coming here at the same time to attend the united nations general assembly. >> oh, yeah, total mess for logistical reasons, not political reasons. he'll be here later this afternoon. one point about who is pay pg all the capital gains income, this is the core of the buffett rule. that there are some people in this country who make a lot of money with their money. not with their hands. i guess you could argue with their brain, but you know, you work a tax differently. the people who work for warren buffett, 35% tax rate. the people, or the -- warren buffett paying in the high teens. you know, 80% of the capital gains income realized in the u.s. in the past 20 year has gone to the top 5% of people. according to "the washington post." that's what the white house and more progressive economists want to zero in on. when you have to find money, you go to the people who have the money, and they say that's where it is. it's a pretty easy pot to go after. >> what willie sutton used to say. all right. the president is walking in. you see the folks standing up. let's listen to the president of the united states. >> please, have a seat. a week ago today i sent congress the american jobs acted. a plan that will lead to new jobs for teachers, for construction workers, for veterans, and for the unemployed. it will cut taxes for every small business owner and virtually every working man and woman in america. and the proposals in this jobs bill are the kinds supported by democrats and republicans in the past. so there shouldn't be any reason for congress to drag its feet. they should pass it right away. i'm ready to sign a bill. i've got the pens all ready. now, as i said before, congress should pass this bill knowing that every proposal is fully paid for. the american jobs act will not add to our nation's debt. today i'mleases thousand pay for t how to pay done our debt over time. this is important because it depends in part what we do right now and how middle class families can feel a basic measure the security. in the long return it depends on our ability to pay down the debt we've accumulated over the past decade to meet responsibilities to each other and to the future. during this past decade, spending in washington, tax cuts for multi-millionaires and billionaire, the costs of two wars and the recession turned a record surplus into a yawning deficit, and that left us with a big pile of i.o.u.s. if we don't act that burden will ultimately fall on our children's shoulders. if we don't act, the growing debt will eventually crowd out everything else. preventing us from investing in things like education or sustaining programs like medicare. so washington has to live with its means. the government has to do what families across this country have been doing for years. we have to cut what we can't afford to pay for what really matters. we need to invest in what will promote hiring and economic growth now, while still providing the confidence that will come with a plan that reduces our deficits over the long term. these principles were at the heart of the deficit framework that i put forward in april. it was an approach to strengthen the deficit as a share of the economy, but not to do so so abruptly with spending cuts that would hamper growth other prevent us from helping small businesses and middle-class families get back on their feet. it was an approach that said, we need to go through the budget line-by-line looking for ways without shortchanging education, and bake scientific research, and road construction, because those things are essential to our future. and it was an approach that said, we shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle class. for us to solve this problem, everybody, including the

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