Transcripts For CNNW Starting Point 20121207

Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Lets begin with developing news this morning. A tsunami threat to tell you about was just lifted in japan. The country was rocked by a powerful 7. 3 magnitude earthquake. It hit off the coast of tokyo. The buildings there shaking. You could see some of the video showing the degree to which they were shaking. Alex, whats the latest . Reporter it has been a very, very tense few hours here in japan after you mentioned a 7. 3 magnitude earthquake striking late here in the day on friday. But just in the past 90 minutes or so, the all clear has been given. The tsunami warning has been lifted. Thats great news for the people here. Theres no signs of any significant damage. No reports of any deaths. Just a few injuries at this point. We also have to keep in mind the Nuclear Power plants. We have heard from the operator of those. They say everything is fine. But as you mentioned, this brings back very painful memories up for the people in the region in northern japan. We were on the phone with one person who said when this earthquake hit, their first reaction was ohno, not again. But its late here on friday in tokyo where we are. Everything appears to be fine. Just one wave came ashore. Just three feet in height. Alex, thats the area, i spent a lot of time there covering the tsunami. Thats a terrifying thing for those focus. Now its up to two men to try to keep america from going over the fiscal cliff. 25 days and counting from the massive tax hikes and spending cuts. Congress breaking in a week for the holiday. So john boehner trying to simplify things. Hes asking Top Democrats and republica republicans to step aside so he can negotiate with the president oneonone. It seems to be a request that everyone was able to live with. Brianna keilar is live for us at the white house. If this is the case that everybody has been cleared out of the room, does that surprise you . It seems to make sense to me. Reporter its not surprising at all. This is what observers of this process thought would happen all along. Ultimately this was a process that would come down to president obama and House Speaker john boehner brokering a deal. Very much the way you saw they attempted to do during the debt ceiling debacle last year. It simplifies the problem of less cooks in the kitchen. Then they will have to sell it. President obama would have to bring in democrats. John boehner would have to bring in his republicans and make sure everyone is on board. This comes on the heels of what has really been radio silence between the white house and house republicans. We found out yesterday, we were told by both sides that the lines of communication are back open on the staff level. I will tell you thats kind of fun funny to anyone here covering all this because normally the lines of communication are always open, but that was news yesterday. Sad thing. Its all relative. Let me ask you about what seemed to be a crazy thing that senator Mitch Mcconnell was trying to do that ended up backfiring on him pretty badly. Reporter some theatrics. The debt ceiling, its set to be hit in january or february. Thats complicating the fiscal cliff discussions. Mitch mcconnell yesterday proposed a vote on a measure that would give the president the authority to increase the debt ceiling without congressional input. This is something that the white house has proposed as part of their fiscal cliff proposal. Its a nonstarter for republicans. But he wanted to put it on the floor to show that even democrats dont support giving the president that kind of authority. He did that and harry reid turned around and said, lets see if we can do it with a simple majority for 51 votes and democrats it appeared had made sure they had that and then Mitch Mcconnell in return ended up objecting to the very thing he propose eed. Take a listen. Now the republican leader objects his own idea. I guess we have a filibuster of his own bill. So this was some maneuvering that went on. Mitch mcconnell won the day when he proposed a vote overall on the entire fiscal cliff proposal and harry reid objected to it. Its a little bit of a back and forth going on in the midst of these talks that are now reopened. You cant filibuster your own bill. That makes no sense. Apparently you can. Thank god its friday. Thank you. We appreciate the update. Other stories making news that are not all crazy. I have some craziness. Were watching the situation in egypt where opponents of Mohamed Morsi are gathering. The crowds are set to be calm. Activists are determined to keep up the pressure and refused to descend the decree granting himself powers. His government has lost legitimacy. Union supporters in michi n michigan they are headed to the governors desk. Final approval could come next week. It would make michigan the 24th right to work state in the nation. Chris christie explains his change of heart of president obama. Check out what he told jon stewart on the daily show. People have different skill sets at different times. So he wasnt a leader until you needed leadership . Maybe until he was presented with a stark opportunity. Thursday night football the Denver Broncos beat the Oakland Raiders 2613. Thats eight straight wins for the broncos. One sad note. A fan fell from the top deck of the coliseum during that game. He is hospitalized and he is in serious condition. Its a dreadful thing. Certainly hope he can recover. Thats terrible. Lets turn and talk about a story we chatted about yesterday. The cover story for time magazine. We were talking about it and that was the picture. Thats the commissioner talking about some of the ways he was hoping to reform the sport of football so it has less of a toll on the athletes. Among the ideas on the table were doing away with kickoffs, which are seen to be one of the most dangerous elements of the game. Its only a suggestion at this point, but people immediately upon reading that started debating the issue. Want to get to coy wire, hes a sports analyst and former line backer and hes in atlanta this morning. Its nice to have you with us. We appreciate it it. Thank you for having me. I get this is very preliminary, but if this is something they wanted to do, was seriously on the table, would you support that . I would. I think its necessary with as the game evolves, the players are getting bigger, faster stronger, and all were learning with the health risks, its necessary to change. The thing that people must realize is that the game from its beginnings has always been in a state of evolution to make it better. They moved kickoffs from the 30 yard line to 35. They discovered a correlation, pretty strong correlation with fewer concussions. Thats what has led to this being on the table now. Youre good. You know your stuff. Thats right. They moved it to the 35 yard line. And the percentage of touchbacks, a kick that cant be returned went up to 43 . But also the number of concussions on that kickoff play went down 40 . Thats huge. We need that right now with all were finding with concussions. Its all about the evolution of the game. You look at where the game is now, when it came out in england, it was just a form of rug by. Then in the early 1900s, president Theodore Roosevelt said e we need to make changes to the game because players are getting injured. They did. They made changes because they had to. There are commentators who say change is bad. Dean simon said im a favor of adjusting the game for safety, but dont remove one of the most exciting parts of the Football Game. Fans love to see the returns. It always gets people excited. He goes on and on. Its not just a change, its change in his opinion. There will still be a commencement to the game. And punt returns are exciting too. Thats just as exciting. Especially now with the touchback percentage. The unreturnable kicks have gone up to 43 . So maybe we should find a way to make it safer, but still be able to have a kicking phase of the game. So its not eliminating injuries, its just about making smart changes that will injury the catastrophic injuries. I would never let my kids play if it doesnt get safer. Coy wire, nice to have you with us this morning. We appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Still ahead, reports that syria is loading chemical weapons has the whole world on edge. What does it mean for u. S. Action . Well talk to chad sweet. Hes the former director of operations with the cia to update us. And president clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama competing for votes for an award. And business news. Big day. Jobs report. Were awaiting for the monthly jobs report in a couple hours. Well find out what it means for the health of our economy later this morning. Youre watching starting point. The allnew cadillac ats to test the 2. 0liter turbo engine. [ engine revs ] [ derek ] 272 horsepower. The lightest in its class. The cadillac ats outmatches the bmw 3 series. I cannot believe i have ended the day not scraping some red paint off on these barriers. [ male announcer ] the allnew cadillac ats. To the number 1 club in the world. The potential of Manchester United unlocked. Nyse euronext. Unlocking the worlds potential. [ ding ] losing your chex mix too easily . Time to deploy the boringpopcorn decoy bucket. Then no one will want to steal the deliciousness. With a variety of tastes and textures only chex mix is a bag of interesting. With a variety of tastes and textures have led to an increase intands clinical depression. Drug and alcohol abuse is up. And those dealing with grief dont have access to the professional help they need. When you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up . With a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from capella university, youll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. Lets get started at capella. Edu how theyll live tomorrow. For more than 116 years, Ameriprise Financial has worked for their clients futures. Helping millions of americans retire on their terms. When they want. Where they want. Doing what they want. Ameriprise. The strength of a leader in retirement planning. The heart of 10,000 advisors working with you onetoone. Together for your future. Welcome back to starting point. A survey projects 8 unemployment and 77,000 jobs added. Thats Slower Growth than in recent months. Its likely that Hurricane Sandy dampened the numbers. The weather events made it difficult for them to collect the data. So the jobs numbers will see the effects of the storm. Could be revised later. Stocks are down this morning after closing higher yesterday. The jobs report will probably drive the action on wall street today. It will be interesting to see what happens. Also this morning russia saying they will join the United States for a brainstorming meeting to try to end the bloodshed in syria. Nato is Going Forward with a plan to move troops to the border. But Bashar Al Assad continues to deny pressure. Reports say they are preparing chemical weapons components that might be used against rebel forces inside syria. Chad sweet is the former director of operations with the cia, the former chief of staff with the department of homeland security. Its nice to have you with us. I should appreciate it. So the signs that i have just mentioned and kind of listed there are very ominous. Not just for folks here in the United States who worry about the role of the United States, but also for people in the region and outside the region too. Does this mean that we have operatives who are filling us in on whats happening with the chemical weapons components and the degree to which they are being put on to these war heads . Its highly likely that the combination of sources have provided this intelligence. Some of it is coming from human intelligence from our spies as well as allies of the saudis and the turkish intelligence. But the bottom line is its coming from a variety of technical means. Signal intelligence. The signs are pointing towards some type of mobilization where the chemicals are being locked and loaded on bombs that shows intent to use them. How reliable is this information . Were talking about the approach to the red line. So how certain are we of what were seeing and the information were getting . Its always difficult to know the intent of your adversary. Thats part of the function of the intelligence. However, its unlikely the president of the United States, the secretary of defense and secretary of state would be making such forceful statements unless there was a high degree of confidence in the Intelligence Community that the potential for the use of these weapons is quite high. In egypt its remarkable how the arab spring is still springing, i guess. It was interesting to hear what morsi was saying. He went from the same script talking about how these are infiltrators and the protesters are paid. This is terrorism. It seemed like the same thing that mubarak would have said in a similar situation. How does this end for him . He has high level defections left and right. Morsi is trying to hold together what is obviously a coalition and as you noted, any time theres pressure on a regime, the attempt to portray opponents as outside forces or unpatriotic is a common technique. But thats also the exact reason why ast sad im sorry in syria may have used the weapons which is you portray your opposition as someone as an outsider is being unpatriotic. So assad could use chemical weapons against them. He doesnt see them as part of the actual syrian people. Morsi is in the same situation. He will have to take measures on the Security Side to hold this together. This could be a sign that hes beginning to lay the groundwork for more aggressive securi measures. Chad sweet joining us this morning, also the former cia director of operations, nice to have you with us. We appreciate it it. Still ahead on starting point, how much what would it take for you to go hunting for pythons in florida . No amount of money. 5,000 . Florida has a new contest and its kind of gross op our starting point team is walking in to talk about that. Come on. Youre watching starting point. Were back in just a moment. I. I earn 1 cash back everywhere, every time. 2 on groceries. 3 on gas. Automatically. No hoops to jump through. Thats 1 back on. [ toy robot sounds ] 2 on pumpkin pie. And apple. 3 back on 4 trips to the airport. Its as easy as. [ man ] 1. [ woman ] 2. [ woman ] 3. [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. Apply online or at a bank of america near you. Bp has paid overthe people of bp twentythreeitment to the gulf. Billion dollarsard. To help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. Today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. And bps also committed to america. We support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Our commitment has never been stronger. Share not even close. Share you owe me. Share just right. The share everything plan. Sharable data across 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. Get a droid razr m by motorola for 49. 99. 22 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to starting point. Theres a grammy battle brewing. Obama versus clinton. They are both up for a grammy in the best spoken word album. 2, 1. The first lady joined her husband to light the 28foot blue spruce christmas tree. It was transplanted days before Hurricane Sandy before made it. In case youre wondering, this years white House Holiday card is all about bo. The card was designed by an iowa artist and dog lover. Thats too cute. You cant go wrong if you put your pets or your kids on a card. Do you put yourself . Never. Just kids . Just kids. The White House Christmas card is a big deal. When youre on the white house staff, you get a special version of it. People frame it. This is a beautiful card. I love it. Our team this morning weigh in on the important topic of the annual Christmas Card for the white house. Will cain, cnn contributor. Richard socarides, a writer for new yorker. Com. This is kind of a disgusting story about snake hunts. Not snakes on a plane exactly, but more like this. Enough is enough. I have had it with these [ bleep ] snakes on this [ bleep ] plane. Because hes mad. They are mad too in florida, even though they are not on a plane e. Its snakes in the everglades. They are killing the ecosystem. They have a plan to aword 1,500 to whoever whoever gets the most. The question is what could go wrong . Have you never seen this movie . This is the best movie ever. Bad acting. Ill give you that. But awesome movie. Its a movie. And not even a good one. It sounds like you have seen it a couple times. Thats classic for her. That was a python. Hes making that obvious statement. Thats a python. In the green room, the question was . Whats a python . You had no idea . I thought they were talking about monte python. You didnt know . Down to the florida python challenge. You should kill a python. In all seriousness, they are these big snakes. One of them ate a 76pound deer e. Think about that. Whole in the belly of the python. How are they going to kill these pythons . They encourage them to shoot them in the head or use a machete. All these people converge in with guns and machetes. The gun control laws in florida, this is the perfect combination. Out of control python population and lacks gun control laws. And cameras rolling of course. Maybe a reality show will be based on this. I thought that was a good idea. Talking about the gun stories out of florida. This is a good way to use your gun. Control the python and make some money on the side. The president and Speaker Boehner are working on a deal on the fiscal cliff. But theres one man who says its all about the baby boomers. A former white house Senior Adviser says without that impact, youre never going to get anywhere. Plus senator colbert, a new push to get him into washington politics. Talk about that ahead. Music is a universal language. But when i was in an accident. I was worried the Health Care System spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. Information on my phone. Connection to doctors who get where im from. And tools to estimate what my care may cost. So i never missed a beat. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. You wont take our future. Aids affects us all. Even babies. Chevron is working to stop mothertochild transmission. Our employees and their families are part of the fight. And were winning. At chevron nigeria, we havent had a reported case in 12 years. Aids is strong. Aids is strong. But we are stronger. And aids. Aids is going to lose. Aids is going to lose. Aids is going to lose. Capella university understands back from rough economic times. Employees are being forced to do more with less. And the need for capable leaders is greater than ever. When you see these problems do you take a step back, or do you want to dive right in . With a degree in business from capella university, youll have the knowledge to go further in your career than you ever thought possible. Lets get started at capella. Edu welcome back, everybody. Youre watching starting point. Michigan with a long and storied Union History could become the next right to work state. Republicans pushed through legislation and drew angry protests from democrats. The governor says hes going to sign the right to work measure when he hits his desk next week. Poppy harlow is in michigan for us this morning. Good morning. Reporter good morning, soledad. This is michigan. This is the birthplace of the United Auto Workers. This is the heart of the labor movement. All that is in question this morning. What i can tell you is that three bills passed, two in the senate, one in the house, late yesterday that would make this a right to work state. It would be illegal for unions and employers to mandate that employees join the union or they pay the dues to the union. That could mean less money for the union. That means less power at the bargaining table. Less of an ability to compel people to join the union. This not only would apply to Public Sector workers, it would apply to those workers that worked for ford, gm, chrysler, all of the unions here. So protesters here are storming through the halls of this state capital in lansing yesterday. I want you to take a listen to what one protester said. It terrifies me they are trying to pass this through with no discussion from the other side. No understanding of whats important in it. Reporter the Union Members that were protesting chanting things like Union Busting is disgusting. It did not go through public debate, but the republican mayor here insists that this is beneficial for the workers. Heres his take. To give freedom of choice to our workplace and that legislators move promptly and efficiently in moving it through the legislature and when it arrives on my desk, i plan on signing it. The data shows its right to work for less. Its an effort by the wealthy, by people like the right wing that they want to push workers wages and benefits down. Reporter that coming from the head of the United Auto Workers here. A labor lawyer i spoke with said this is hugely significant. Also said this is devastating for the labor movement. So it sounds like its a done deal. Is there anything that could stop it from the protesters point of view . Reporter the house is trying to get a reconsideration of the bill. But even if that happens, the house and senate do have one version of the bill thats the same. So if they both pass that, which is likely going to happen, they are republican controlled and it will be on the governors desk. And the argument here by republicans, by the governor is this will make this state more competitive when it comes to jobs. Therefore, create more jobs. The democrats and unions dont buy that. But right next door in indiana, they recently passed similar legislation making it right to work and the argument is they dont want to see the jobs go there. They want them here in michigan. I cant overstate how significant this is especially in a state like michigan for all the workers here that are unioni unionized. Poppy harlow in michigan, thank you. We have a look at some of the other stories making news. The u. S. Navy is moving warships into position to monitor a possible launch. They are guided missile destroyers. The navy wont reveal their act locations. Images reveal North Carolina appears to be working towards a launch later this month. The attorney for George Zimmerman who is charged with killing Trayvon Martin refuses to say he wont go that route to avoid a murder trial. No. I wouldnt plea somebody who is innocent to anything. So i think the answer is easily no. Zimmerman is suing nbc for defamation. The network edited his 911 call to make him sound racist. Nbc says there was no intent to portray him unfairly. Three employees were fired over that. John mcafee faces extradition again. He was rushed to the hospital in Guatemala City yesterday after learning that his bid for asylum was declined. Hes wanted for questioning in the murder of his neighbor. He once ran for president of the United States of south carolina. Now Stephen Colbert for senate . Someone has already created a twitter account and scooped up the colbert for senate website. He actually cant run. And she would be insane to appoint him. Right . I think he really lives in new jersey. Well theres that. Thank you. 25 days until we fall off of the fiscal cliff. A new glimmer of hope that maybe a deal is in the works. President obama and Speaker John Boehner are meeting oneonone trying to hash out a fiscal cliff deal before the end of the year. Clearly thats the deadline. No other leaders in the room though. Just the two of them. There are sources that confirm that Staff Members on both sides resumed talking on thursday as well. Will those talks go anywhere . Mr. Baer is a managing director of the harbor group and hes with us this morning. Thank you for being with with us. Good morning. Im trying to decide if this meeting is a good idea for a bad idea. On the good side f you move all the noise and the debate and the extra people in the room and bring the two main people to sit down and hash it out, that could be a good thing. It is a good sign. Thats how this deal is going to be done e. Thats how it was done last s summer how we avoided Government Shutdown last spring. Theres a lot of staff work that has to be done. Whats Speaker Boehners position and can he bring along enough members to pass a big deal. That kind of brings me to the downside of keeping everybody out is that you have to sell this to everybody eventually. Theres some people who said Jeff Sessions called it secret talks that violate the principle of American Government that would be open to every city. Youre not supposed to be meeting in secret. Why doesnt the American People know what it is the president would like to see as the financial future . And i get his point. At some point, dont you need the light of day on this . Its not good for the negotiation. The truth is the president has put forward a balanced plan with detail object how to reduce the deficit by 4 trillion to put us in a sustainable fiscal path. Thats out there. Speaker boehner has put out some things he wants, but there has to be frank discussions. Whatever deal there is has to come up for a vote in the congress. Thats when you have a debate over the contours of any plan. I think senator sessions is trying to cause a little mischief there. So a lot of democrats are saying that no big deal if you go over the fiscal cliff. It seems like republicans are moving towards giving in on the tax rates. Might even just vote on the tax portion of the negotiations and kick the rest into january to deal with. If you get a deal on the taxes that president obama seems like he would sign, what happens to the government on the second half of the cliff, the sequester and other extenders . You were at omb. Can the government deal with that . Can we be okay . Theres a lot of ifs. Republicans dont want to raise taxes on the middle class. They want to pass a bill to prevent increase on rates on the middle class. That would be a good thing. If we got past january 3rd and the sequester went into effect, there are a ways to move through money in accounts where you can buy a few weeks. Thats an important thing to do. Now dont get me wrong. There would still be a huge impa impact. I dont know what the markets would do. Wall street is in a mind if we go past january 3rd, we will fall off the cliff. And secondly, there are people who rely on Unemployment Benefits and who also could be thrown off those roles because those arent extended. People would feel that immediately. Only a few dollars for a few weeks, but there would be some effects. But theres a way to mitigate this for the first few weeks. So say you go over the cliff for a few days and start to solve kick the sequester down the road. If youre running one of these agencies, though, you have to be making these decisions right now. Omb is saying prepare for the cuts. Thats a very difficult position to be in when you have when you literally have mouths to feed pr some of these agencies and people that need to get paid. Thats right. I dont think you can buy six months. Its something you could buy a few weeks. Make no mistake, going over the cliff would be a very bad thing for this country. It would be not only on pure impacts on economics, but it would send a bad signal to the world. People want to follow a balanced path. This is nothing taken lightly. But arkansmageddon happens on january 4th. Ken baer, associate director of the office of management and budget. Its nice to have you with us. We appreciate your time. Thanks. Still ahead, the nfl commissioner might get rid of a traditional part of Football Games. Would it make games safer . Then this man is the Indiana Jones, if you will, of the coffee world. Todd carmichael has a show called dangerous brands. Were back in a moment. Not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib Atrial Fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. I dont think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. But not anymore. Bobs doctor recommended a different option onceaday xarelto®. Xarelto® is the first and only onceaday prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesnt require routine blood monitoring. Like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afibrelated stroke. There is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. No routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. New zealand xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. And with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the Healthy Foods he likes. Do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. Stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. Get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. You may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. Talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. Xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. You are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. Ready to change your routine . Ask your doctor about onceaday xarelto®. For more information including cost support options, call 1888xarelto or visit goxarelto. Com. Welcome back, everybody. Youre watching starting point. Could you imagine the nfl without kickoffs . Roger goodell is said to be considering the move as a matter of safety. Because its a serious issue. Does it make the game safer . Do you minimize the number of concussions, which is what its all about. We talked to coy wire, hes an analyst and also played for nine years in the nfl. He said this to me earlier. As the game evolves, the players are getting bigger, faster, stronger. The sheer physics of the games are changing. Its necessary to change. When change is necessary, not to change is destructive. The thing that people must realize is the game from its beginnings has always been in a state of evolution to make it better. Listen, you know what i know about football can fit on the head of a pin. I watch it sometimes with my husband. But he watches football. Not me. The thing is for my kids, i actually am very worried about this. I care about concussions for small children and as they go through middle school and high school, i dont want my son to 30 years from now be suffering from damage he suffered playing football. 40 of kickoffs right now arent returned. The replacement is an interesting replacement. Youd start an your own 30 yard line. They would replace it with a fourth and 15 situation. You can punt or go for it. But thats less exciting is their point. 40 of kickoffs being touchbacks, its not an exciting moment. But it can be an exciting moment. Everybody loves football, but its gotten too dangerous. We hear the stories about the professional athletes having their lives ruined later on in their 30s and 40s. They are having these lifethreatening debilitating injuries. These are stars. We shouldnt thunderstorm going to work should not kill them. Quarterbacks are getting sacked. You can keep moving the ball down the field for all the other places. Theres no middle ground here. They are trying to come up with some compromise where there isnt one. They know how dangerous the sport is. I kind of feel like you know what youre getting yourself into. I dont think we do. We have so Much Research now. Boston research has done so much on this. I dont think its a fair choice to say. You can be an athlete but 30 years from now youre going to have a version of parkinsons. I dont think they will make it that safe. I dont. Slippery slope is just stop playing football. Did you just make the slippery slope argument on this show . Once you start banning plays, you move to, okay, you cant sack the quarterback. I know a little bit about football. Its changed over time. The game shifts. We have to take a short break. Still ahead on starting point, he goes to incredible lengths to get the right cup of coffee. The perfect cup of coffee. His adventure, Todd Carmichael is going to join us why he risks his life to get good coffee. I see him drinking our coffee from the green room. Welcome. Its nice to have you. Were back in a moment. Aids affects us all. Even babies. Chevron is working to stop mothertochild transmission. Our employees and their families are part of the fight. And were winning. At chevron nigeria, we havent had a reported case in 12 years. Aids is strong. Aids is strong. But we are stronger. And aids. Aids is going to lose. Aids is going to lose. Im in search of a real coffee. I just need to survive the dangerous city streets. We have to [ bleep ] move it now. Make it high up in the mountains and avoid coffee middle men. Ill be shot at . Youre going into war. And find that bean that will become my next gold mine in exotic coffees. Look at that. So our next guest has been described as the Indiana Jones of the coffee world. Coffee producer and adventurer Todd Carmichael, whose adventures take him to exotic places. And put him in dangerous situations sometimes and exciting places like madagascar. His documentaries are now documented in a new travel channel series called dangerous grounds. And Todd Carmichael is with us this morning. Seriously, have you lost your mind . Like seriously. For a cup of coffee . For a cup of coffee. I know. Its such an innocuous, humble little drink, isnt it . Theres a whole world behind it. You know, its a beverage that has changed the planet in so many ways and has changed us as a people. Its our number one beverage. How can it be dangerous . Youre literally running through some of those shots becau you need to get out of dodge fast. Right. Whats the dynamics that makes coffee sometimes dangerous . There are 80 different coffee growing countries around the planet, all right around the equator. Some are beautiful and easy, like brazil. Some, particularly those that are reemerging, are challenging. Yemen is one of those countries where its in conflict and once it comes out of conflict, the coffee guys will go back in and see what they can salvage and create new relationship with farmers. I have to guess the coffee industry and the drug industry, the cocaine industry have got to be intertwined. Not only the countries youre going to, but its often used as a mask iing agent. Did you come into contact with cartels . Yeah. Central and south america, guerrilla groups are hiding in the mountains where the coffee is grown and often drug cartels. Its a big part of the job in those parts of the world. Let me run a clip. Youre in ethiopia, sleeping under a truck because youre trying to avoid robbers, which is bad. Then it gets much worse. Lets play that. That, my friend, guaranteed 100 . That is a male spotted hyena. Hear that moan . That moo . When a hyena eats an animal, it eats its hooves, teeth, skull. They do it while the animal is living. Im telling you what, that is not a way to go. No kidding. Yeah. What is the most dangerous situation youve ever found yourself in . Couple of years ago, i think the worst was in angola and i got caught up in a riot, ended up getting stabbed, punctured my right lung. Wrong place at the wrong time. I was very interested in the reemergence of the country as a coffee country and came in a little too er, i think. Whats the best cup of coffee youve come across . That is so not the best cup of coffee from the green room. I cant believe youre drinking this. The cnn coffee is not that great. Are there Health Benefits to coffee . Wait, wait. Talk about dangerous grounds. Im risking my life. No hyenas, but it could really kill you. It depends on your taste buds. If you ask me what the best is lets say i was isolated on a Desert Island and i only got one coffee to pick. Sounds like a good episode. Exactly. Dont give these people any ideas. Its ethiopia, the motherland of all coffees, where coffee was originally created, it evolved. And youll find that some of the best countries come from that country. Todd carmichael, the host of dangerous grounds. Got to take a break. Still ahead on starting point in roughly 30 minutes, were expecting those monthly job report numbers, full analysis for you and what it means for the economy, straight ahead. Then well talk about an upcoming documentary i have over the weekend called black in america. A teacher who is exposing some 7yearold kids to colorism, explaining what it is and why it matters in this day and age. Thats straight ahead. [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. This season, discover aleve. All day pain relief with just two pills. A new way to save on your prescriptions. Its the aarp medicarerx saver plus plan from unitedhealthcare. With this plan, you can get copays as low as a dollar through a preferred Network Pharmacy like walgreens where youll find 8,000 convenient locations. Best of all, this plan has the lowest part d premium in the United States only 15 a month. Open enrollment ends december 7th. So call today or visit your local walgreens. And the candidates speech is in pieces all over the district. The writers desktop and the coordinators phone are working on a joke with local color. The secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategists tablet. And while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center. Working together has never worked so well. And now i got a great new way to get deals. Its called bankamerideals, from bank of america. I choose the cash back deals in my mobile or Online Banking. I just use my bank of america debit or credit card when i pay. And i get as much as 15 cash back put into my account. This is cash back on top of other rewards i already get. Best of all its free. Happy holidays. [ male announcer ] introducing bankamerideals, free for Online Banking customers. Sign in to your Online Banking to choose your deals today. Morning. Welcome, everybody. Our starting point this morning, a powerful earthquake strikes in japan, in an area thats still recovering from that deadly tsunami. Whos black, kind of trending on the internet this morning. And well talk about that, too. Just 30 minutes away from the november jobs report, the economic recovery continuing . Christine has that for us. Thats right. Well have to see what super storm sandy does to those numbers. Well know for sure in 30 minutes. And Chris Christie talks Superstorm Sandy with Bruce Springsteen. Well have that for you. A packed show for you this morning. Michigan congressman, justin amiutomati aumash will join us, leonard curts and Lauren Ashburn and economist diane swonk will join us when we talk about the job numbers. Its friday, december 7th and starting point begins right now. Welcome, everybody. Our team this morning, ryan lizza, our washington correspondent for the new yorker, Richard Socarides is with us, former adviser to bill clinton. Although some days he wishes he was. Oh, wow this is richard right here. New yorker. Com joining us. Thats will cain, people. We know that. Our texan, resident texan and cowboy boot wearer. Every day. Blaze. Com blogger. Nice to have you all with us. Zoraida sticking around as well. Lets talk about that tsunami threat thats been lifted in japan. It was a terrifying moment out there. Rocked by a 7. 2 magnitude quake. I think thats our japan bureau, that camera. The tremor hit off the coast. The building shaking. Want to get right back to alex zolberg. The video im seeing are the cameras and recording how much the building is shaking. Reporter i apologize, i cant see exactly what youre looking at. We did send some video over. Theres video from other buildings. We were sitting here in the bureau in the heart of tokyo on the ninth floor of our rather small building. It started shaking in a big way. It felt like you were suddenly on a boat. Theres a huge sigh of relief in japan at this hour, its just after 10 00 in tokyo. As you mentioned, tsunami warnings have been lifted. By all accounts, there are no significant there are no report reports of any significant damage from this earthquake. This is very good news. As you mentioned, this earthquake was centered in pretty much the same area of the magnitude 9. 0 earthquake that hit in march of last year. Soledad, i know you were there, covering that story. That earthquake triggered the tsunami that killed more than 20,000 people. This time around, as i said, a huge sigh of relief. The biggest wave, by all accounts, was three feet in height. We spoke to one woman up there in the tsunami zone and she said when the earthquake hit, her initial reaction was oh, no, not again. Soledad, at this hour, all appears to be okay. Just a few minor injuries here in japan. Soledad . Alex zolbert for us. People describe that when the sirens go off they basically have a few minutes to run up hill as fast as they can. When youre talking about elderly people, its very scary. It is. I have friends who said it knocked out all communication. You couldnt get in touch with why your loved ones and find out if everybody was okay. Its been called off, so thats really good news. Great to be able to update folks with that. Other stories making news, zoraida has that for us. Egyptians are out in force again today, refusal to rescind his own decree that granted him sweeping powers. Opponents say that his government has lost legitimacy. Those killed in the violence wednesday. Turkeys border with syria right now. This morning, russias foreign minister said his country will brain storm with the United States and others on how to end the civil war in syria. Top u. S. Officials are concerned that the assad regime may opt to use chemical weapons against the rebels. The intelligence that we have raises serious concerns that this is being considered. President obama has warned syria not to use chemical weapons and reminded syria that, quote, the world is watching. New york times reporting this morning. Speak of the house wants to solve the fiscal crisis face to face with the president. We are 25 days away from the massive tax hikes. And congress breaks for the holidays in seven days. John boehner is asking Top Democrats in the house and senate to step aside so he and the president can negotiate one on one. Cnn has not confirmed this report as of yet. People have different skill sets at different times. Thats how new jersey governor Chris Christie explained his postsandy praise for president obama. On the daily show christie seemed most excited to talk about another bromantic moment, his hug with hometown legend Bruce Springsteen. Did you give him you also have to give this, the pat or did you just go slow dance . No, i went slow dance. Youve got to be kidding. No, i went slow dance. You did . No pat. Slow dance. Christie would beat spring teen if the rock er ran for governor next year, polls show. How funny has he been . He is a funny man. He has been like killing it. Great moments. He is a real guy, being authentic. Thats the debate men have. Do you go with the one arm, with the pat . We have that all the time. Will and i have this bromance going on. It was like his life was validated when he got Bruce Springsteen to Say Something nice. Snl, he has been so funny. Lets talk about something as equally as interesting, the fiscal cliff, shall we . Were going to talk to congressman justin amash, a republican from michigan. And he got was in for a little bit of a surprise earlier when he discovered that he was booted off the house budget committee. Nice to have you with us, congressman. We appreciate your time. Walk me through how you learned that you had been kicked off this very much of a big deal committee. Thanks for having me on, soledad. I learned through news reports. So i started to hear the word on monday and didnt hear anything from leadership monday, tuesday and finally i approached him on wednesday about it myself. This is your own party that booted you off. I know you went to took to facebook and posted this. Im going to read it for folks. You said i have still not received a single call, email or text from Republican Leadership confirming this story that youre booted off. I wouldnt have even learned about it if not for the news reports. I look forward to hearing from the partys leadership about why my record offends them. Has anyone responded to your facebook posts where youre like, hello . Anyone want to call me, fill me in . Not directly. They talked about this potential score card that was used and Republican Leadership insisted that wasnt the main reason for booting people off committees but its pretty clear they had a score card. If you were in support of more government you got a positive score. If you were in support of Less Government you got a negative score, which seems completely contrary for what you would expect for republicans. Thats certainly one line weve heard. You guys that lost your positions were too conservative or too tea party but others are saying because you guys went out of your way not only to vote against leadership but seemed like you were trying to embarrass them at times. What do you say about that . Thats totally ridiculous. This is not a conservative versus liberal thing. There are people like me in congress who are out there, representing the vast majority of americans who want us to balance our budget. Its not a matter of who is willing to work with democrats or republicans. For example, i have a balanced Budget Amendment to the constitution that has 14 democratic cosponsors. Its one of the most popular bipartisan budget proposals out there. Its not about who will work with democrats or who will work with republicans who are who is too conservative. Its about whether people are serious about getting things done to balance our budget. There are few of us who are very serious about it. Were calling for things like reductions in pentagon spending. Thats what you say. You say you have this plan. What leadership the message leadership is sending to you is that your plan is out of step with mainstream republican thought on this. Dont you think theyre entitled to decide who sits on their committees . No, absolutely not. I mean, at the end of the day, the American People sent us there to work on this debt problem. Im certainly not out of touch with mainstream america. Mainstream america believes we need to go there and balance this budget. You think the leadership is out of step with mainstream america . I mean either you are out of step with mainstream america or they are. They are. Look at the kind of deals that are being talked about all the time. Even this 800 billion revenue proposal. Its a drop in the bucket. Every year we have a trillion dollar or more deficit. When were talking about 800 billion in taxes over ten years, thats only a few days of spending every year. If were going to talk about taxes im willing to discuss taxes and a lot of others are willing to discuss tax, then lets talk seriously about taxes. If were going to talk about spending cuts, lets talk seriously about spending cuts. But were not going to take care of this 16 trillion debt unless we do that. People have described whats happening in the gop as sort of a civil war. You have the tea party, sort of mainstream conservatives and then moderates, those that remain. And then there have been sort of calls, to fire, to get rid of john boehner. Do you think thats going to happen . Would you support that . Well, i think theres a lot of unease in the conference. Theres a lot of unrest at all levels. Tea party versus moderate versus mainstream theme. People like me are out there, calling for reductions in pentagon spending, calling for working with the democrats. If you look at the four people removed from their committees, we have been willing to work with democrats on a lot of these tough spending issues. Would you support the reelection of the speaker . Or do you think he should be fired . Well, were going to see how the next few weeks go and whether he is willing to make amends and put out that score card. Let the American People see what he based the decision on. I think thats critical. We need to see what the decision was based on. The American People need to hear the truth. Both sides need to work together. Weve had enough of these games, partisan games in d. C. And enough of people sucking up to corporate lobbyists. We need to do whats right for the American People. That sounds like a no. Im trying to figure out if it is a no. It is a yes no question. If the vote were taken right now, would you support him or n not . Right now im not very happy with the speaker. So lets see what happens over the next several weeks. Lets put it that way. Congressman justin amash, thank you for your time. We appreciate it. Thank you, soledad. You bet. Gun culture in the nfl. Bob costas took a lot of heat when he made comments about gun control. Did he it in the middle of the a game. Today, players are speaking out as well. Well talk about the controversy there. And all i want for christmas is a latina girlfriend. Can you believe that . I love that. This billboard i dont is for real. Who would want to date him with that . No kidding. Well explain what is behind that. Dont date me. One Phillips Colon Health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. Approved [ female announcer ] live the regular life. Phillips. Since Ameriprise Financial was founded back in 1894, theyve been committed to putting clients first. Helping generations through tough times. Good times. Never taking a bailout. There when you need them. Helping millions of americans over the centuries. The strength of a Global Financial leader. The heart of a onetoone relationship. Together for your future. I heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. Thats right. Ive learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. You know weve been open all night. Is this a trick to get my spot . [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. Save on ground shipping at fedex office. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. Meet the 5passenger ford cmax hybrid. When youre carrying a lot of weight, cmax has a nice little trait, you see, cmax helps you load your freight, with its footactivated lift gate. But thats not all youll see, cause cmax also beats prius v, with better mpg. Say hi to the allnew 47 combined mpg cmax hybrid. Football fans got more than they bargained for this past sunday night when sportscaster bob costas took a moment to comment on the tragic murder suicide of jovan belcher. Here is what bob said. Our current gun culture ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy and that more Convenient Store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead. Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it. Wow you can imagine those remarks set off a firestorm of criticism against bob costas, particularly from folks who support the Second Amendment and other folks who are conservative. It sparked a big debate about the boundaries that a journalist should or should not have as theyre sitting on the air in the middle of a Football Game and what they can talk about. Lets bring in leonard kurts from the daily beast and Lauren Ashburn, day ily download. We need to come up with a nickname for you. Do you think he was out of line . It was a small chunk of time. Bob costas mishandled it, tried to deal with a polarizing topic in just 90 seconds. 24 hours after this horrible tragedy, he had the right to weigh in on this. No. Knowing full well bob, people tune in to see bob costas as bob costas, not see him deliver a political rant. This is one of the nicest guys in the business. He is the face of the olympics. Not coming out of left field, right . He hasnt decided to sit up and talk about the fiscal cliff, for example, and how he feels about it. He is talking about, in the context of a Football Game something that has just happened in sports to people who are well known and theyre talking about a gun its not not connected. It is connected to football because of the murder suicide that preceded it. Maybe his emotions and the emotions that surrounded that could have gotten in the way. I think that average people at home want to tune in, they want to get in their barcolounger, eat their chips and watch their game. Usa today, nfl with a gun, wealth and celebrity can make a player a target and they go on to talk about how a lot of the players need to be armed because once they become famous and rich, you know, people can go after them. My problem is that we can no longer wall off sports because all kinds of labor issues and domestic issues intrude. If you are going to be a sports commentator like costas. Of course you lose your popularity if you weigh in on this, because half the people in this country disagree with you. Rush limbaugh came on and said, look, his liberal bosses at nbc approved this. So this now becomes a brand issue for nbc, which said it is not a partisan network, nbc news. So there is some economic msnbc. Well, of course. Just went to the white house, Rachel Maddow and company, visiting president obama. It seems like youre having a different debate. He has a right to go do this, even though i disagree with him. He should also pay the price, as you say, lauren, for what he did. If audiences turned off, they turn away. Its not that he lose his job. Oh, my god, i agree with will cain. You said does he have the right. Of course he has the right. Hes a thoughtful, intelligent human being. Not does he have the right but is it appropriate . You run the risk of backlash. Sacrisanct place with sports. Are you kidding me . No. Get politics out of sports. This country is so divided. I have bad news for you, the front page of usa today. Where i used to work. I dont want my sportscasters editorial. He was quoting a sports no, he wasnt just quoting a sports he went on to make his own editorial point but it was clearly a conversation happening in the sports world around something that just happened. Two people had just been killed. The damage is done that bob costas felt compelled to go on a couple of cable shows and say im not an antiSecond Amendment guy. I believe in your right to defend himself. This is all that he couldnt do by jamming that into 90 seconds. But clearly he was embracing the cause of gun control on some level. And on twitter, he got slammed. Social media is so nasty. Twitter is just nasty. Were out of time. I do need to come up with your nickname thats short, catchy. Something cute. Well have that next time. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. Thanks. Still ahead on starting point well talk about skin color. Were working on a documentary whos black in america and perceptions of skin color in this country. Initiated. Neural speeds increasing to 4g lte. Brain upgrading to a quadcore processor. Predictive intelligence with google now complete. Introducing droid dna by htc. Its not an upgrade to your phone. Its an upgrade to yourself. announcer when subaru owners look in the mirror, they see more than themselves. So we celebrate our yearend with the share the love event. Get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. By the end of this, our fifth year, our total can reach almost 25 million dollars. Its a nice reflection on us all. Now through january 2nd. A new way to save on your prescriptions. Its the aarp medicarerx saver plus plan from unitedhealthcare. With this plan, you can get copays as low as a dollar through a preferred Network Pharmacy like walgreens where youll find 8,000 convenient locations. Best of all, this plan has the lowest part d premium in the United States only 15 a month. Open enrollment ends december 7th. So call today or visit your local walgreens. More than 2,000 people are gathering at pearl harbor, symbolizing the attack that killed thousands. Ceremonies got under way about 30 minutes ago. In union strong michigan, l lawmakers pushed through right to work legislation during a lame session. It drew angry protests from Union Workers who blasted the gop plate. It terrifies me theyre trying to pass this through quickly with no discussion from the other side, no understanding of whats important, the finer points and all the things this will affect. Democracy is way too important to let it go, slide through like this. Michigans governor says he will sign a right to work bill when it hits his desk. Ram tough all right, selecting the 1500 truck of their year, impressed with the trucks economy and posh interior as well. I like that. You like it . Yes, i do. Maybe theyll send us one. Im kidding. Just kidding. Thanks, zoraida. In a few minutes well find out about the new jobs numbers. Are we in recovery mode . And how does Superstorm Sandy figure into all of this . Plus, come on, santa, this is what this man wants for christmas. Can you believe this billboard . All i want for christmas is latina girlfriend. Smart latinas will see this and run like the wind to get way from this man. Well talk about that, straight ahead. With a tablet in sydney. A desktop in zurich. And a telepresence room in brazil. The secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistants pc in new york. And before i reached the top, the Board Meeting became a congrats we sold the company party. Wait til my wifes phone hears about this. [ cellphone vibrating ] [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center, working together has never worked so well. Starts with ground beef, unions, and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. What makes stouffers meatloaf best of all . That moment you enjoy it at home. Stouffers. Lets fix dinner. Plays a key role throughout our lives. One a day womens 50 is a complete multivitamin designed for Womens Health concerns as we age. It has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. One a day 50 . But dont just listen to me. Listen to these happy progressive customers. I plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. With snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. The better i drive, the more i save. I wish our company had something this cool. Youre not filming this, are you . Aw camera shy. Snapshot from progressive. Testdrive snapshot before you switch. Visit progressive. Com today. Waiting on the november jobs reports numbers, survey of economists forecast 8. 0 . Ali velshi and Christine Romans are here to break it down and well be joined by diane swonk as well. Tell me what were looking at this jobs report number. Want to take your ipod out . Im listening to the latest what are you, 16 . Thats so weird. I thought the same he thing. Hello . This will be an unusual jobs reason for two reasons. One gets the unemployment number and one gets the number of jobs created. They were taken in different weeks this year because of thanksgiving. The calls that were made to figure out the Unemployment Rate were a week earlier, which means some people affected by Hurricane Sandy didnt have power or werent at home, wont have been reached. You may find a spread between the unemployment number and the jobless rate. Sandy will have had an affect on this. What were interested to know is whether or not the fiscal cliff fears had any affect on this. Was there less hiring, anybody laying off in anticipation of the fiscal cliff . That will be hard to determine. Christine and i will look at the numbers when they come in to see if theres any impact of that. The affect of sandy, 86,000 fewer jobs than we otherwise would have had. Were looking at a much lower number. Christine appears to have it right now. We are lowest Unemployment Rate since december 08. 7. 7 . Thats the Unemployment Rate. Surprise there. Im going to listen to the jobs part of it. That is unexpected. We were expecting the Unemployment Rate to go to 8. 0, from 7. 9 to 8. 0. Its gone the other direction. 146,000 jobs created. Double than what was expected. Diane s wochlswonk, chief ec. 7. 7 is the Unemployment Rate, 146,000 jobs that have been added. The estimates were completely off. What are the implications of these numbers . Well, certainly its reassuring that sandy didnt have as big of an affect on the numbers. Whats hard to tell is one of the points ali made earlier, which is how many people actually reached. We saw Unemployment Insurance claims surge in the wake of sandy and they may not have been totally included in some of this data as well because of electrical problems and people submitting on the survey. Its unclear that although the number looks a lot better than we expected, of whether it actually is capturing of the effects of sandy. There were so many interruptions and disruptions to reporting that my guess is thats probably part of the reason were seeing this distortion. Is that so unclear that eventually well throw this out . It will get revised, first of all. Thats probably what it is. We need to get jack welch to say these numbers dont actually dont start, ali. Really . Are you trying no, we do not, ali. Thank you, diane. I agree. Even though there was a lot of disruption from sandy, that were doing better than we thought, right . Maybe the economy is doing better than we thought . That certainly could be the case. The labor force declines. Some people hopped out of the labor market, which might be one of the reasons why that might be sandy as well. Diane, you were saying . Im sorry. Go ahead. These numbers are more less clarifying and adding more to the chaos than clarity because of sandy. And, you know, the underlying issues going on here, the breakdown. People jumping out of the labor force, that could actually be sandy or Unemployment Insurance claims are beginning to expire. Were seeing a lot of people taking retirement at 62. Not because they can but because its a bridge when they run out of unemployment. Baby boomers, half the reduction in Labor Force Participation rate in the last couple of years has been due to demographics alone. The other half very much a weak economy. I think these are all important things. Unfortunately, my guess is that november is just not going to give us a lot of clarity on where were actually going. Talk to me about the fiscal cliff and how the fiscal cliff could be factoring into these numbers that are a bit of a surprise off what they were predicting, even though it had a little asterisk next to it that its going to be unclear. One thing weve seen from the fiscal cliff is that ceos have stepped up and gone into congress and washington and said, listen, deal with this issue. Its affecting us. We do know that in the Third Quarter the fiscal cliff did contribute to a decline in investment. Althoughmanufacturing was weakened. Its not justified by the underlying fundamentals. You have to believe that part of that is due to the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff. And weve seen a number of companies coming out saying were not firing but were delaying hiring and delaying investment projects. Delays in an already weak economy, you dont want hesitation. Its a vicious cycle of hesitation and slow growth. Kind of an opposite of what we saw in the 90s where you had certainty and caution thrown to the wind in robust growth. Christine has one ear piece in, talking with us with the other ear. Hurricane sandy, they say, did not affect the overall rate. They did not see that the overall rate was affected by Hurricane Sandy. The labor force declined a bid of 300,000 or so. Retail trade was strong. Construction was a little weaker. Unchanged for the workweek, 43. 4 hours. You still have longtime unemployed, an interesting number. Thats been just stuck. Yeah. Thats 40 of the people unemployed that have been out of work for six months or longer. Were not you know, we cant make sense of what this means in the grand scheme of things. The market is liking it. Dow futures are up 60 points right now. The market is saying, all right, it wasnt bad news. Were not quite sure that its as good news as it looks. Under normal circumstances i would be sitting here saying we created 146,000, less than the previous month but a great number. You cant say that today. When they do revise it, diane, does that mean we have clarity on it . Is it the kind of thing that its confusing now, but we will get clarity or will it be the kind of thing that well eventually throw this month out and not focus on it . Unfortunately i think well throw the month out because of problems in gathering the data. Revisions happen over the course of years. Several years down the road well know what these numbers mean. I feel really good about that. Right, the reassuring thing. This is forecasting information in the past. It really is kind of this is when economics becomes an art and not a science at all. Will you promise to come back on in two years and three months . I will promise to do that. Hopefully, these numbers will look more cheer. What well be able to see then is the trend. We do know there are upward revisions to the Employment Data coming through from early preliminary estimates that the Labor Department has given us. That may be better news next year when they release that data. Diane swonk, nice to have you. Can christine go back to listening to gangnam style and listening to the news off twitter . 13. 2 for blacks, down a little bit. Whites is 6. 8. Still double digits. Structural disparity is so disturbing. Zoraida sambolin has other storiy ies making news for us. Ballistic missile by the north koreans. Uss fitzgerald is a guided missile destroyer. Navy officials wont say exactly where they are located. North korea appears to be moving toward a Missile Launch later this mon month. Retired navy sailor is facing espionage charges. Robert Patrick Hoffman tried to pass classified information about tracking u. S. Submarines to people he thought were with the russian federation. Turns out they were undercover fbi agents. Hoffman served 20 years in the navy and held a top secret security clearance. Academy Award Winning Actress Angelina Jolie meets with Syrian Refugees who finished that dangerous crossing into jordan. Listened to family stories without water, food, safety or security. And check this out. This billboard in san diego features a picture of 63yearold real estate mogul mark paskin and says all i want for christmas is a latina girlfriend. His email address is up there, too. He appeared on the reality show secret millionaire. The billboard is located in a mostly latina neighborhood and most people are finding it offensive. One young latina women who works nearby thinks this is perfectly fine. Why not, if thats what he wants for christmas, soledad . I think its not offensive for the reasons weird. It is. A little bit of its really odd. All you need is one. And it worked. When your kids ask, how did you and mommy meet . I advertised on a billboard. Why doesnt dough what all normal americans do. Go to a bar. Go online. And use latinagirlfriend. Com . Moving on, shall we . Ahead on starting point, how young is too young to learn about bias in skin color . One teacher is teaching kids as young as 6 and 7 about colorism, which is discrimination based on tone of skin. A new documentary black in america takes a look at that. Tomorrow the boxer whats his name again . Manny pacquaio. He has that fight. John berman talks to him at his gym about whats ahead. Theres big news. Presenting androgel 1. 62 . Both are used to treat men with low testosterone. Androgel 1. 62 is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. It raises your testosterone levels, and. Is concentrated, so you could use less gel. And with androgel 1. 62 , you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. Women and children should avoid contact with application sites. Discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. Men with Breast Cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are Breast Feeding should not use androgel. Serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. Tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. Talk to your doctor today about androgel 1. 62 so you can use less gel. Log on now to androgeloffer. Com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1. 62 . What are you waiting for . This is big news. And with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love em even more. I earn 1 cash back everywhere, every time. 2 on groceries. 3 on gas. Automatically. No hoops to jump through. Thats 1 back on. [ toy robot sounds ] 2 on pumpkin pie. And apple. 3 back on 4 trips to the airport. Its as easy as. [ man ] 1. [ woman ] 2. [ woman ] 3. [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. Apply online or at a bank of america near you. Black in america documentary will air sunday. Its the firs fifth one. Weve been sharing stories about how we racially identify. We have a system that says light skin is better than dark skin and we have dozens of studies that confirm that fact. On a mission to teach Young Children about colorism, discrimination based on skin tone but sometimes how she does it is shocking. Take a look. Same neighborhood, even in the same grade. Recently graduating from the university of richmond. Her passion is educating children about colorism. Tell me about that. Why didnt the teacher call on her . Because shes ugly and dark. She is 7 years old and her mother is worried her little girl is already getting the message dark skin is bad. I think my skin is ugly. Why do you think its ugly . Because i dont want to be dark. You dont want to be dark . No. I want to be light skinned. Why . Because light skin is pretty. You think so . Yes. Can somebody tell me what that means . My stance is teach the children what it is. Show them the history, make them aware of this issue so that when they go to school, when they go out in the world, theyre armed with this information. Because he wants to buy her, because her skin is lighter. You got to sit in the back. Even among 6yearolds, kiara is not afraid to shock. Brown paper bag test. Entering the classroom and compares their skin tone to a paper bag. Let me see your arm. Can you put your arm out for me . Follow instructions. You go in, you have to sit in the back. Lighter than the bag, you can sit in the front. Its a real test from the early 1900s, used by social organizations, churches and fraternities and neighborhood groups to decide who was light skinned enough to join. Was it too extreme to do to little kids . No, i dont think so at all. I think the more interactive, the more shocking the activity is, the better because its going to stick with them. Documentary black in america shares on sunday. I thought that was really shocking and if i were a parent in her classroom, i would have called, complained and taken my kid out. Its too young. Its just too young. 7yearolds are too young. Listen to what those kids are saying. They are already internalizing messages. Where is that message coming from . Thats a question i would ask. That doesnt make any sense to me that that little girl would, out of the clear blue shes not the only one. I have done the story four or five times and there are lots of little kids who are clearly getting messages that the color of their skin is not an attractive color. Of course you do. As young people. Those messages start at very early age, people get those. I think its very appropriate to talk about that. At 7 years of age . Yes. Her point is that theyre already talking about it and the exercise is shocking but since theyre already dealing with it, they have to confront it. I dont think kids have the ability to understand what that exercise is about. Theres more to the study. Im not plugging soledads documentary. Feel free to. But there is more to the story. We will be tweeting live at the same time the documentary airs sunday at 8 00 pm. Manny pacquiao is ready for his fight against his arch rival, juan miguel marquez. Is he ever going to fight the superfight with floyd m mayweather . You are my sunshine, my only sunshine you make me happy when skies are gray [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. You make me happy [ female announcer ] thats why you choose childrens tylenol. The same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. How much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] childrens tylenol, the 1 brand of pain and fever relief recommendd by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ] [ ding ] losing your chex mix too easily . Time to deploy the boringpotato chip decoy bag. Then no one will want to steal the deliciousness. [ male announcer ] with a variety of tastes and textures, only chex mix is a bag of interesting. Time for citi price rewind. Because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. And you really dont want to pay more than you have to. Only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. And if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. Just use your citi card and register your purchase online. Have a super sparkly day ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. Citi price rewind. Start saving at citi. Com pricerewind. 50 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to starting point. Indicted by a federal grand jury on seven new counts of bribery and extortion. Mayor mack, his brother implicated in a kickback scheme for assessing less than its value. Notre dame linebacker manti te o winning the maxwell award as Outstanding College football player, beating out Johnny Football manso, his chief rival for the heisman trophy, given out tomorrow night. The first defensive player to win the maxwell since 1980, soledad. A bit of a shocker. It is. It is. Other sports news i love when im anchoring the sports news on the show. Will cain really should be doing it. Its fight night in las vegas. You would have had trouble with that, pacquiao and marquez, pacquiao is a fighter by trait. Johnb berman has spent time wit pacquiao as he prepares yet for another epic match. Not ready for prime. Winning titles in eight different weight classes. When you hit the bag like this, do you see your opponents face . Do you look in the bag and see marquez in the bag here . Yeah. You imagine this is your opponent and you hit the head and his body. This will be his fourth fight against juan manuel marquez. All have been close. All have been tough victories for pacquiao. Pacquiaos friend and longtime trainer, former boxer himself, he has been living with parkinsons disease for years. Whats different about this fight, do you think . First two fights were really competitive, compelling fights and they fought great together. And then in the third fight he had a lot of personal problems going into the fight and we just didnt fight our fight. One of your goals going into this fight is to be more aggressive. Youre looking for a knockout here. Why . I want this fourth fight to be the answer of all the doubts that are in his mind. Do you feel there are other doubters besides him out there . His fans, you know, they are still claiming that they won the fight. A legend in boxing, promoting fights since the 60s, bob aram. Why do you think this is so important to Manny Pacquiao . This is the fourth fight he has been with marquez. Every fight has been an excite ing fight. Every fight has been a close fight. Every fight has been fought by both guys with some caution. This fight, each guy is determined to just throw caution to the winds and go after each other. Are you concerned about how hes fading . Become too nice a guy sometimes. In the ring or out of the ring . In the ring. And but i dont think hes fading yet. Theres another boxer i want to ask you about, that you get asked about a lot and thats floyd mayweather. Do you think youll ever fight him . Im willing. Youre waiting on him now . Im waiting for him. If you had to bet a million bucks right now, would you bet on this fight ever happening . I would love it to happen i would do anything to make it happen but i dont believe it will happen. Everyone wants to see that fight. I want to see that fight. I want to get him ready for that fight. I want the challenge. A legend back in the philippines, elected to congress there in 2010. Why politics . I like politics to serve people. Im the one who fights human trafficking, to stop that. I know the people in the philippines live in poverty and i want to help them. Besides congress, you do a few other things, too. Theres the singing sometimes when we touch the honestys too much theres the acting. Our hero is william wallace. William wallace from scotland. If they ever do braveheart2 i youre in. What do you do for fun . I like sports. Do you lose at anything . Sometimes lose, sometimes win. You said you think theres only one or two fights after this for manny. Yep. Is there a lot of nostalgia, then, as youre sitting here training . It will be a sad day. It will be a sad day. I want to see Manny Pacquiao go out and go out on top. If manny is victorious, that will be a signature achievement for him in his career. I feel excited for the fight. And im ready. Do you feel like you have something still left to prove . Yes, i can still prove that im still young and i can give a good fight. Tonight at midnight, cnn is airing hbos Pacquiao Marquez four, documenting their fight. I have a cold, and i took nyquil, but im still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesnt unstuff your nose. What . [ male announcer ] alkaseltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. Thanks. Thats the cold truth you wont take our future. Aids affects us all. Even babies. Chevron is working to stop mothertochild transmission. Our employees and their families are part of the fight. And were winning. At chevron nigeria, we havent had a reported case in 12 years. Aids is strong. Aids is strong. But we are stronger. And aids. Aids is going to lose. Aids is going to lose. We believe the more you know, the better you trade. So we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, inbranch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. Our teams have the information you want when you need it. Its another reason more investors are saying. [ all ] im with scottrade. To start us off . So many interesting things to say. You just wasted ten seconds. Richard socarides goes on his py python hunt in florida. Which we will ensure that will happen. You can shoot a gun, right . Yes. I have, you know, from archery practice. Isnt that the same . Archery practice . Richard on a python hunt. Watch anaconda first. Just saying. Go ahead, whats your end point . Make it good, ryan. I was going to talk about the fiscal cliff but, you know what . Lets just bill clinton says the fiscal cliff is going to be solved. Dont worry. I cant stop thinking about the python hunt richard is going to go on. Were going to start to hear from president obama from new cabinet picks. It will be very interesting