would never be able to take time off whaen a big project has to get done on deadline. funding the government, that s a big project with a very important deadline. and consider this. according to expedia.com, the average american worker gets 18 vacation days a year. 18. and they only use 14 of them. did i mention that since january, congress has only been in session for 125 days? plus, the divided 112th congress promises to be on pace as the least productive in recent memory. since january, only 14 house measures have been signed into law by president obama. and look at this, when democrats controlled the house last year from january to june, 466 bills and resolutions were passed. by comparison, over the same timeframe this year, only 207 bills or resolutions got approval. they spent more time bickering than getting anything actually done. yet house lawmakers sure do get paid a lot. rank and file representatives earn $174,000 a year. the speaker of the house takes home $223,50
welcome to american morning. good morning to you, and to you. it is a busy week. breaking news. freedom coming for two u.s. hikers held priter in in iran. they could be out with the half hour. right to mohammed jamjoon covering this. what s the latest? reporter: well, ali, we ve heard from a lawyer from the the two detained hikers tells us a second judge in iran has signed the paperwork, the bail paperwork for josh fattal and shane bauer. the lawyer says now he can take that paperwork and start the procedures to free them. he expects they will be free with the half hour. also, iranian news agency saying they will be handed over to swiss embassy officials in about half an hour from now. ali? we ve had false starts on this the last couple of weeks. the idea here, of course, it s through the judiciaries, any likely to stop this as far as you can see? reporter: ali, i apologize. having a little problem hearing you. we ve heard in the last few weeks, wrangling going on b
nations general assembly is underway. absolutely. because the streets are clogged. president obama and the new libyan leadershiping for face-to-face talks at the united nations and the stakes could note be higher. moammar gadhafi reportedly starving citizens. the president arrived in new york yesterday. front and center at the united nations. cnn senior correspondent, u.n. correspondent, i should say, richard roth joins us this morning. so this would be the first face-to-face meeting between president obama and the national transitional council? a good deferment for the obama administration, able to champion at that meeting and with the other diplomats, their way did work, although fighting remains. and helps solidify this new government in libya. the flag actually flew over the united nations monday for the first time, removing that green gadhafi flag. jaleel, of the national council, will be there and libya will have to set out what kind of government it will be. helpin
since recanted or recounted their stories. they ve also pointed out that they ve had people come forward saying that someone else was responsible for this murder. all of that was before the board. everyone came back from that meeting with the board thinking that they got their point across, that the board was definitely listening, asking a lot of questions about this case. apparently, had they had done their homework and were very, very familiar with this case. so, both sides coming out thinking that they had made their case very strongly. of course, the people who had the last word before that board were the family members of the officer macphail who was murdered that night in 1989. they spoke to us after they had spoken to the board and they said that they wanted justice. they wanted to make sure that this execution went through. they have believed all along in the guilt of davis. contrary to what hundreds of thousands of other people have apparently believed. the hundreds
this is your a.m. wake-up call. i m carol costello. let s get started with the specific, credible, but unconfirmed terrorist threat against the united states involving three people, vehicle and bombs and possible targets in new york new york and washington. new york city mayor michael bloomberg says there there will be additional police officers throughout the city, but no one should change their daily routines. leaders in the nation s cappal the telling people to remain calm and vigilant. there are people together scrubbing through mounds of data looking for potential leads of individuals where suspicion may arise around them. let s talk with cnn national security contributor fran townsend who joins me live from washington. tell me what you know of these three people. is it car bombs? what are we talking about exactly? carol, we ve gotten the information in bits and pieces as we often do in the early stages. the threat information they got only in the last 24 to 36 hours