the rivers were swollen and now there is water in places where water should not be. this is a city of about 150,000 people because of the floodwaters, authorities evacuated 1,000 people. there s no word on when they will be allowed back home. i m anne thompson in patterson, new jersey. thank you for that, anne. president obama is going to talk in a few moments. this could become the next partisan battle. we have a preview of what to expect. good morning, again. reporter: hi, chris, how are you? when president obama speaks from the rose garden, we are expecting him to say the bill really needs to pass to save or protect 1 million jobs and help to boost the economy and infrasfrinfr
infrastructure was ranked sixth globally. today, it s 23rd. we invest half as much in our infrastructure as we did 50 years ago with more than one and a half the number of people. everybody can see the consequences. it s unacceptable for a nation that s always dreamed big. it s unacceptable when countries like china are building high-speed rail networks while more than 1 million construction workers who could be doing the same thing are unemployed here in america. when congress is back next week, in addition to passing the clean extensions to halt existing work, we have to have a serious conversation about making real, lasting investments in infrastructure from better ports to a smarter electric grid to high speed rail. at a time when interest rates
one of the bills we would lose 500,000 jobs a year. investment in infrastructure, we have many studies that have shown the investment of $1 billion created 30,000 to 35,000 jobs. that infrastructure report we were talking about suggested the u.s. to get to a grade b would cost more than $2 trillion. realistically, how much money do you think we need to start? the trillions are not going to happen, obviously. to bring the d up to a b would take $2.2 trillion. half of that money is spent in normal expenditured so the deficit is about $1 trillion over a five-year period. a lot of the infrastructure money we are spending now supports growth in new communities, but little for ageing structures. are we making a mistake there?
we would like to look at the roads. that was one of the lower areas, a d minus. water pipes and waste water pipes, some of those are over 100 years old. let me show you the pictures we saw. in vermont, people are stuck in their communities because the roads and bridges are washed away. with better infrastructure could this problem have been avoided? irene and other hurricanes show the vulnerabilities of our infrastructure. it is ageing and in poor condition. we have to make investments to improve it and make it more resilient. let s talk about those investments. this is going to be a debate in congress, i don t think there s any doubt about that. where do you think the money could be best used and do you have any idea how many jobs could be created? many jobs created and saved if you look at the current bills.
these are projects that are already funded and with some focused attention, we could expedite the decisions and reviews necessary to get construction under way more quickly while still protecting safety, public health and the environment. tomorrow, in dallas, my jobs council will meet with local business owners and other folks about what we have done so far to rebuild the infrastructure and what we can do to make sure america is moving faster in getting people back to work. that s what we are going to need to do in the short term, keep people on the job, keep vital projects moving forward, fund projects under way in a smarter way. of course, if we are honest, the roads, railways, mass transit, railways and airports, we shouldn t play patch up or catch up, we should be leading the world. ten years ago, our nation s