senate, they have gathered to hear the president of the united states deliver a major speech on job creation. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i can't overemphasize how important potentially this speech for the president could be. not only for his political future, but much more importantly for the american people because this country right now faces enormous economic problems. the unemployment rate right now in the united states, 9.1%. 14 million americans unemployed, millions more underemployed, and millions more who are simply -- have simply given up hope of finding a job. and beyond all of that, there are millions of americans who are deeply, deeply worried right now about losing their jobs. the president's going to have to inspire them, is going to have to show that he can lead this country out of these economic -- this economic crisis that's unfolding in the united states right now. members of the president's cabinet have just been introduced. you can see them walking in right now. john king is watching what's going on. he's up on capitol hill. after the members of the cabinet are introduced, it will only be a few moments before the president is introduced. he'll walk in, john, and he'll deliver his speech. >> reporter: he'll deliver his speech after getting applause and get greetings from the members of congress, democrats and republicans will applaud and the country will listen and the congress will listen. you mentioned the importance of this speech. the president has a challenge here. lay out the specifics of his plan to the congress and try to regain the political initiative which he has lost in recent months. try to convince the democrats his plan is the right plan. many don't think it's bold enough. try to conviges the republicans they must work with him even though they oppose some of the policy specifics, and wolf, the way to do that is to change the political dynamic in the country by convincing the american people who are in a funk about the economy and who think it could get worse and who think washington is broken and dysfunctional right now that at this moment they need to stand with their president even if they don't like all the details and push washington to do something in the short term. without help outside of washington, the president won't get this done. >> all right, new cnn anchor aaron burnett is joining us from new york as well. the whole gridlock, the whole problem that washington can't seem to get anything done right now certainly has sent a message to some of the credit rating agencies and the usa.s. aaa cret rating was downgraded, and this is an important symbol to the american business community and the worldwide business community that maybe things in washington can get -- that certain things can get accomplished. >> yeah, i mean, i think if you really had them come together, that would make a huge difference, and, yes, i think s&p, standard & poor's the rating agency intentionally made that point, wolf, when they did the downgrade, but i think around the world, there are two sides to this. on one side america is still so admired. it is still by far the biggest economy in the world by a factor of three. the rest of the world needs us and kind of says why can't you guys shake this off and get this together. so, we come from a position of strength. but i would say today, wolf, and i think the president may point this out, you had retailers today, you had construction companies, a lot of big business groups did step up and say they support what they think the president is going to support tonight, so that potentially could help the republicans. >> and we know, gloria borger, erin's going to stand by as we see members there, there's gene spurling the president's economic adviser walking in, he's a member of the cabinet, the director of the national economic council. once he's out it will be just a moment or so before the president himself is introduced by the deputy sergeant of arms of the congress. gloria, $450 billion, that's what we're told, that this package the president will announce tonight will cost. and republicans no doubt quickly will say this is just more of the same old, same old. the economic stimulus package that they say didn't work two years ago, this is not going to work now -- >> right. >> -- either, and they'll dismiss it. >> to follow up on what david gergen was saying, the republicans are going to say it's too large. the folks at the white house understand that the republicans are going to say that. but they also have a democratic constituency they're trying to speak to as well, wolf. so, i think what they're optimistic about what jessica was talking about, what they're optimistic about is getting the, say, extension of the payroll tax cut for employees as well as employers. that would be something, for example, that republicans have agreed to in the past, and they may agree to again. but this also allows the white house to get on the record saying if we had our way, these are all the kinds of stimulus we would propose. but they don't expect to get all of it. my question, wolf, is how quickly will they get any of it, because they need to get it done quickly and as you well know, that's not exactly the way congress has been moving. >> all right. you see photographers coming in. bill livinggoood, the sergeant arms, he'll make the announcement. there he is right there. >> mr. speaker, the president of the united states. >> i got to go now. >> no-huddle offense tonight, mr. president. >> how are you? i like that. i like that. tell her i said i appreciate that. how are you? i will. thank you. thank you. good to see you. thank you. how's it going? good to see you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. the president walking through a lot of those members they get there really, really early so they can get a shot talking to the president, shaking hands, some of them kissing the president, they want to be seen by their constituents as well. there you see him shaking hands with some of the senators who are there, susan rice, the united states ambassador to the united nations, a lot of people come to these kinds of sessions early. i don't know which member of the cabinet was left behind. usually they leave one behind. arne duncan we're told, the education secretary, was left behind, in case we are faced with some sort of national emergency. there you see the president shaking hands with the vice president and the speaker of the house. the president getting ready to deliver his address. he presents the formal text of that speech to the two leaders up there, and let's listen in as the president gets ready to deliver this speech. this is a very warm, nice reception for the president of the united states. he will be introduced by the speaker and then the president will speak. let's just listen a little bit to the sights and watch the sights and listen to the sounds of the u.s. congress. >> members of congress, i have a high privilege and the distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the united states. >> thank you. thank you! thank you. thank you. thank you so much. everyone please have a seat. thank you. mr. speaker, mr. vice president, members of congress, and fellow americans, tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country. we continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless and a political crisis that's made things worse. this past week reporters have been asking what will this speech mean for the president? what will it mean for congress? how will it affect their polls and the next election? but the millions of americans who are watching right now, they don't care about politics. they have real-life concerns. many have spent months looking for work. others are doing their best just to scrape by, giving up nights out with the family to save on gas or make the mortgage, postponing retirement to send a kid to college. these men and women grew up with faith in an america where hard work and responsibility paid off. they believed in a country where everyone gets a fair shake and does their fair share, where if you stepped up, did your job, and were loyal to your company, that loyalty would be rewarded with a decent salary and good benefits. maybe a raise once in a while. if you did the right thing, you could make it, anybody could make it in america. and for decades now americans have watched that compact erode. they have seen the decks too often stacked against them. and they know that washington has not always put their interests first. the people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. the question tonight is whether we'll meet ours. the question is whether in the face of an ongoing national crisis we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy. the question -- the question is whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning. those of us here tonight can't solve all our nation's woes. ultimately our recovery will be driven not by washington but by our businesses and our workers. but we can help. we can make a difference. there are steps we can take right now to improve people's lives. i am sending this congress a plan that you should pass right away. it's called the american jobs act. there should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. everything in here is the kind of proposal that's been supported by both democrats and republicans. including many who sit here tonight. and everything in this bill will be paid for, everything. the purpose of the american jobs act is simple, to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. it will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans and more jobs for long-term unemployed. it will provide -- it will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working american and every small business. it will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled and give companies confidence that if they invest and if they hire, there will be customers for their products and services. you should pass this jobs plan right away. everyone here knows that small businesses are where most new jobs begin, and you know that while corporate profits have come roaring back, smaller companies haven't. so, for everyone who speaks so passionately about making life easier for job creators, this plan's for you. pass this jobs bill. pass this jobs bill, and starting tomorrow small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or if they raise workers' wages. pass this jobs bill, and all small business owners will also see their payroll taxes cut in half next year. if you have 50 employees -- if you have 50 employees making an average salary, that's an $80,000 tax cut. and all businesses will be able to continue writing off the investments they make in 2012. it's not just democrats who have supported this kind of proposal. 50 house republicans have proposed the same payroll tax cut that's in this plan. you should pass it right away. pass this jobs bill and we can put people to work rebuilding america. everyone here knows we have badly decaying roads and bridges all over the country. our highways are clogged with traffic. our skies are the most congested in the world. it's an outrage. building a world-class transportation system is part of what made us an economic superpower, and now we're going to sit back and watch china build newer airports and faster railroads at a time when millions of unemployed construction workers could build them right here in america? there are private construction companies all across america just waiting to get to work. there's a bridge that needs repair between ohio and kentucky that's on one of the busiest trucking routes in north amer a america. a public transit project in houston that will help clear up one of the worst areas of traffic in the country, and there are schools throughout this country that desperately need renovating. how can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart? this is america. every child deserves a great school, and we can give it to them if we act now. the american jobs act will repair and modernize at least 35,000 schools. it will put people to work right now fixing roofs and windows, installing science labs and high-speed internet in classrooms all across this country. it will rehabilitate homes and businesses in communities hit hardest by foreclosures. it will jump-start thousands of transportation projects all across the country. and to make sure the money is properly expense, we're building on reforms we've already put in place. no more earmarks, no more boondoggles, no more bridges to nowhere. we're cutting the red tape that prevents some of these projects from getting started as quickly as possible, and we'll set up an independent fund to attract private dollars and issue loans based on two criteria -- how badly a construction project is needed and how much good it will do for the economy. this idea came from a bill written by a texas republican and a massachusetts democrat. the idea for a big boost in construction is supported by america's largest business organization and america's largest labor organization. it's the kind of proposal that's been supported in the past by democrats and republicans alike. you should pass it right away. pass this jobs bill and thousands of teachers in every state will go back to work. these are the men and women charged with preparing our children for a world where the competition has never been tougher. but while they're adding teachers in places like south korea, we're laying them off in droves. it's unfair to our kids. it undermines their future and ours, and it has to stop. pass this bill, and put our teachers back in the classroom where they belong. pass this jobs bill and companies will get extra tax credits if they hire america's veterans. we ask these men and women to leave their careers, leave their families, risk their lives to fight for our country. the last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they come home. pass this bill and hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people will have the hope and the dignity of a summer job next year, and their parents -- their parents, low-income americans who desperately want to work, will have more ladders out of poverty. pass this jobs bill and companies will get a $4,000 tax credit if they hire anyone who has spent more than six months looking for a job. we -- we have to do more to help the long-term unemployed in their search for work. this jobs plan builds on a program in georgia that several republican leaders have highlighted, where people who collect unemployment insurance participate in temporary work as a way to build their skills while they look for a permanent job. the plan also extended unemployment insurance for another year. if the millions of unemployed americans stop getting this insurance and stop using that money for basic necessities, it would be a devastating blow to this economy. democrats and republicans in this chamber have supported unemployment insurance plenty of times in the past, and in this time of prolonged hardship, you should pass it again, right away. pass this jobs bill and the typical working family will get a $1,500 tax cut next year, $1,500 that would have been taken out of your pocket will go into your pocket. this expands on the tax cuts that democrats and republicans already passed for this year. if we allow that tax cut to expire, if we refuse to act, middle-class families will get hit with a tax increase at the worst possible time. we can't let that happen. i know that some of you have sworn oaths to never raise any taxes on anyone for as long as you live. now is not the time to carve out an exception and raise middle-class taxes which is why you should pass this bill right away! this is the american jobs act. it will lead to new jobs for construction workers, for teachers, for veterans, for first responders, young people and the long-term unemployed. it will provide tax credits to companies that hire new workers, tax relief to small business owners and tax cuts for the middle-class. and here's the other thing i want the american people to know, the american jobs act will not add to the deficit. it will be paid for, and here's how. the agreement we passed in july will cut government spending by about a trillion dollars over the next ten years. it also charges this congress to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by christmas. tonight i am asking you to increase that amount so that it covers the full cost of the american jobs act, and a week from monday i'll be releasing a more ambitious deficit plan, a plan that will not only cover the costs of this jobs bill, but stabilize our debt in the long run. this approach is basically the one i've been advocating for months. in addition to the trillion dollars of spending cuts i've already signed into law, it's a balanced plan that would reduce the deficit by making additional spending cuts, by making modest adjustments to health care programs like medicare and medicaid and by reforming our tax code in a way that asks the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share. what's more, the spending cuts wouldn't happen so abruptly that they'd be a drag on our economy or prevent us from helping small businesses and middle-class families get back on their feet right away. now, i realize there's some in my party who don't think we should make any changes, at all, to medicare and medicaid, and i understand their concerns. but here's the truth, millions of americans rely on medicare in their retirement, and millions more will do so in the future. they pay for this benefit during their working years. they earn it. but with an aging population and rising health care costs, we are spending too fast to sustain the program, and if we don't gradually reform the system while protecting current beneficiaries, it won't be there when future retirees need it. we have to reform medicare to strengthen it. i'm also -- i'm also well aware that there are many republicans who don't believe we should raise taxes on those who are most fortunate and can best afford it. but here's what every american knows, while most people in this country struggle to make ends meet, a few of the most affluent citizens and most profitable corporations enjoy tax breaks and loopholes that nobody else gets. right now warren buffett plays a lower tax rate than his secretary, an outrage he has asked us to fix. we need a tax code where everyone gets a fair shake! and where everybody pays their fair share. and, by the way, i believe the vast majority of wealthy americans and ceos are willing to do just that, if it helps the economy grow and gets our fiscal house in order. i'll also offer ideas to reform a corporate tax code that stands as a monument to special interest influence in washington. by eliminating pages of loopholes and deductions, we can lower one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. our tax code should not give an advantage to companies that can afford the best-connected lobbyi lobbyists. it should give an advantage to companies that invest and create jobs right here in the united states of america. so, we can reduce this deficit, pay down our debt, and pay for this jobs plan in the process. but in order to do this, we have to decide what our priorities are. we have to ask ourselves, what's the best way to grow the economy and create jobs? should we keep tax loopholes for oil companies? or should we use that money to give small business owners a tax credit when th