been tepid. in the latest "new york times"/cbs poll, americans are split on whether the jobs plan will actually create jobs. as for the president's own employment, there is open democratic fear he's a one-termer. the vibe was bad enough this week that top obama campaign strategist sent a memo to reporters noting that the president's support from the democratic base is strong. the same cannot be said of independents. 54% disapprove of how he's doing his job. things can change between now and november 2012. the more immediate question is whether president obama has the political capital to sell his jobs plan to the public and push it through congress. joining us now, the number two democrat in the senate, senator dick durbin. thank you so much for being here. and let's just start with that question. we do see a president who's being openly criticized by democrats, whose poll numbers are falling, a weak economy. and people just not really sure this jobs plan is going to work. how do you sell that to the public, and how do you pass that in the senate? >> well, candy, you can understand the skepticism of americans. they've watched the confrontation in washington virtually threaten to close down the government, even close down the economy. so they're skeptical of any political promises. but when you go to the specifics about president obama's plan, you can get a positive reaction. should we give a tax credit, an incentive to small businesses across america to hire the unemployed? should we give a payroll tax cut to working families that are struggling paycheck to paycheck? should we invest in making sure that we don't lose the jobs, important jobs, of firefighters and policemen and teachers? should we put money in the economy to build america for the 21st century? people say "yes" to those things. the president's plan is a positive plan to move us forward. >> but let me just point out that i think some of the skepticism -- you're absolutely right -- is about this gridlock in washington, but it is also about the fact that there was about $800 billion spent in stimulus with the white house promising, as republicans point out all the time, that unemployment would not rise above 8% if we would just spend this money in stimulus. well, it's 9.1% now. got as high as 10.1%. now you want to spend more than half that again in a 447 -- i'm sorry, more than $400 billion in jobs. >> that's right. >> so why is that going to be any more successful than the first one was in bringing down the unemployment rate which is what this is about? >> candy, you're going to have some economists on later, and they're going to tell you this is one of the most challenging recessions america has ever faced. you go back to the great depression. what we did with the first effort by the president was to stop this recession from going deeper. now we've got to do something positive. look at the other side of the equation and ask what the republicans would do. they would make sure that we have no new tax burden on the wealthiest people in america and they would continue to criticize any effort to step forward and do something positive to move this economy. most americans reject that. they understand that with 14 million people out of work and 46 million in poverty, we need to step up and move this economy forward. that's the president's plan. >> many economists say two things. in the short term now -- just the short term now and not the long term -- you shouldn't cut spending by too much and you shouldn't raise taxes. yet we now know from the white house that one of the things the president wants to do is the so-called buffett plan which is to make sure that no millionaire pays less of a percentage in federal tax than anyone in the middle class. is it a good idea right now to raise taxes on anybody right now? >> well, certainly on those who are wealthy and comfortable and wouldn't even notice it, yes. warren buffett has been honest and other people i know who have been fortunate in life and wealthy have said, for goodness' sakes, you can raise my taxes if that's going to help this economy move forward. i wonder if john boehner knows what it sounds like when he continues to say the position of the republican party in america is that you can't impose one more penny in taxes on the wealthiest people. i wonder if he understands how that sounds in ohio to working families who are struggling paycheck to paycheck. >> do you think that's the point >> how it sounds to 46 million people out of work. >> when is this jobs bill getting on the senate floor? >> it will start the debate this week. there will be a lot of variations and ideas -- >> but the bill won't be on the floor to vote on this week. you guys can debate anything at any point. when is the bill going to get on the floor? >> the bill's on the calendar. majority leader reid moved it to the calendar. it is ready and poised. there are a couple other items that we may get into this week not on the bill and some related issues that may create jobs. but we're going to move forward on the president's bill. there will be a healthy debate. i hope -- >> after the recess? so next month or when will it begin to be acted on? >> i think that's more realistic that it would be next month. >> next month. okay. let me turn to you some politics. as you know, the man who lost the new york district that used to be anthony weiner's, which has been a democratic district more than 80 years, says that he lost because it was a referendum on the obama administration. what does that tell you about democrats' chances in 2012 and the president's chances? >> i don't think anybody can predict 14 months from now what we're going to face and as david axelrod said in this memo you referred to, we're not talking about the president running in some black-box scenario. there will be an opponent. and as i listen to the republican presidential nominee candidates come forward and spout their ideas and bow to the tea party and their agenda, the tea party is not very popular in america. what they brought us to in washington twice already is a confrontation that is virtually threatened to close down the government and our economy. so i don't think people like that style of politics and that's the reality of we'll be facing in november 2012. >> james carville, a democratic consultant, a true-blue democrat through and through, has said that those elections should cause the white house to panic. he said it is time to fire someone, that the economy hasn't gotten any better as far as people are concerned and still the president is using the same economic team, and as much as he respects them, it is time for them to go and get in some new blood to show the american people the president understands. good idea? >> i've listened to this president. he's been my friend, and i've worked with him for years. he is always open to ideas and contributions from everyone, from both sides. and he's tried to make sure that his team is in place but -- >> should he fire anybody? >> well, at this point i don't see that you would pick out one person and say that's the reason the economy's bad. that's the reason the campaign is not -- >> for people who think that he doesn't -- >> of course you're right. >> yeah. so should he fire some people and get in a new team and say i'm working again, we're taking a fresh look? >> i don't think so. i'll tell you what i think. i think his team has put together a positive good plan. the american people believe that if you give incentives to small business to hire people, help working families, invest this making sure that we have our firefighters and policemen and teachers on the job, invest in infrastructure, america's going to start to move forward. what's the republican alternative? do nothing and protect the millionaires. >> senator dick durbin, thank you so much for your time this morning. coming up next -- americans are skeptical that either party can fix the economy. so what's the republican strategy? we ask senator lindsey graham next. [ oswald ] there's a lot of discussion going on about the development of natural gas, whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right. joining us now from clemson, south carolina, republican senator lindsey graham. senator, thank you for being here. i want to kind of set the stage for this discussion because we talked about how the president's poll numbers are falling. but i wanted to show our viewers the latest cnn/orc poll. the question was, who do you trust more to handle the economy? and the answer was 46% obama and 37% republicans in congress, 15% said neither. so, having said that, let's take a look at how you feel and how you think republicans will look at this latest thing which is the minimum millionaires tax. the so-called buffett rule. and this because the billionaire has said -- warren buffett has said, listen, i pay a lower tax rate than my secretary. how do you politically argue against that, or would you? >> well, i just think that's a political move by the president. i think senator durbin sort of tipped his hand. how would people in ohio accept an explanation from john boehner just say no? the truth of the matter is if you raise taxes on billionaires and millionaires, it adds a de minimis amount of money to the treasury to pay off the debt. and i would assume that's what they're trying to do. i think most americans are frustrated with the tax code where 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of the taxes, the top 10% pay 70%, and i'm in the camp of the bowles-simpson gang of six attempt to flatten the tax code. ge paid no corporate tax last year, so let's do away with deductions and exemptions except for interest on your home, charitable giving with a cap. take that $1.2 trillion, buy down rates to create jobs and pay some debt off. if you really want to address what got america into this situation, policies matter. president obama's policies are killing job growth. what i hear at home is that you can't borrow money. the reason banks are not lending money is they don't know what the rules of borrowing is going to be because of dodd frank. no one knows what their health care cost is going to be under obama health care. it's going up 19% in 2014. there's another round of costs. when you look at his policies from health care to bush tax cuts expire. what will the tax bill be in a year? people need to know the answers to that. >> okay. i know that you all think that regulations is what is making businesses sit on their money. >> yeah. that's the one i forgot. thanks. >> okay. >> yeah. >> then -- but let me get back to the idea of just the fairness of millionaires paying a lower rate than those in the middle class who do pay taxes. is that something you can argue against? and why not -- okay, let's say it doesn't add that much to the treasury. nonetheless, there is some fairness here. >> no. the goal is to do what with the tax code? collect taxes to run the government in a way future generations can afford. tax policy is job policy. the tax code should be reformed for one purpose -- to generate more revenue to run the government to help create jobs. when you pick one area of the economy and say we're going to tax those people because those people are not those people, that's class warfare. look at what bowles-simpson did. they didn't pick on one person or any other group. they'll make all millionaires and billionaires pay a higher right by eliminating deductions. they'll make corporations pay a higher rate, 25% will be the top rate, but they'll have to pay it because they don't have the deductions and loopholes to get out of paying. that's the model. that's what bowles simpson did. let's take a tax code that's so complicated that ge pays no taxes, flatten the rates to be economically competitive but get people to actually pay taxes. >> in terms of the president's jobs plan, because the tax reform at this point, a lot of people don't think it can be done by the end of december. but lit's move aside -- move ahead from tax reform, and let me ask you, what is there in the president's jobs plan that you could support? what major item in that can you support? >> there is some. the payroll tax might be one. some infrastructure spending. his $447 billion proposal is a lot like what republicans proposed the first time around. but here's where we're at as a nation. we have 11% unemployment in south carolina. and here's what i hear when it comes to hiring people. people are frozen right now. they're not going to hire. you may build a bridge in south carolina or deep in the port of charleston, that would help our economy in the short term, but if you want to have a wave of hiring in this country you got to provide certainty. people don't know what their tax bill will be because in 2013 the bush tax cuts expire. the obama health care costs are a nightmare for job growth because it adds a tremendous amount per employee to future hires. banking. you can't grow an economy if you can't borrow money. capital is locked down in my state. you could have all the stimulus you want. until you change obama's policies that have frozen job hiring, that's made everything worse, we're going to stay right where we are, bumping along the bottom. the president either needs to change his policies -- you don't need to fire somebody, you need to hire -- fire somebody is good only if they do something different. but the president's policies are stifling job growth, and there will be no job growth until they change. >> let me turn you then to the presidential election. you have said that texas governor rick perry has to prove that he's electable. what about him -- or what about his policies makes you and people question -- >> all of them. >> -- whether he's electable? >> well, what i would say, number one, this is our election to lose. president obama's done everything he knows how to do to beat himself. the reason people have little confidence in president obama's policies, they're just not working. everything is worse. 2 million people unemployed after he took office. gas prices are 100% higher. home values are down. debt is up by 35%. there seems to be no relief on the horizon. he keeps proposing the same old things. yes, there are some -- here's what we have to do -- >> what i'm trying to get at is, are there any republicans that are unacceptable alternatives that are currently in the field? >> we'll leave that up to the -- well, here's what i think a republican has to do to beat president obama. on day one, after the election, here's what's going to be different in your business life, in your personal life. you're going to have certainty in your taxes. we're going to flatten the tax code. we're going to make people pay taxes. we're going to have lower rates. we're going to replace obama health care with something that's more business friendly. we're going to get people into lending business by having a banking system that banks can actually understand. when it comes to entitlement reform, that's where the money is at. i hope this super committee will take up entitlement reform. governor perry has a good record on job creation. he needs to tell the country what he did in texas. but social security and medicare have to be on the table in a way to save these programs for future generations, and that's what i want the republican party to do -- look the camera in the eye and say that social security is a vital program. 50% of americans will be in poverty without social security. it is going broke. we're going to have to adjust it for younger workers, protect it for people near retirement, and come up with a plan that will create jobs. >> thank you so much, senator lindsey graham out of south carolina for us today, we appreciate it. up next -- palestine wants full membership from the united nations and israel accused them of avoiding negotiations. both sides on this very contentious debate. 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[ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪ when the president spoke to the u.n. general assembly last year, he had big dreams. >> when we come back here next year, we could have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the united nations, an independent, sovereign state of palestine living in peace with israel. >> one year later, there is no israeli-palestinian agreement. but when the u.n. general assembly opens this week, palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas says he will seek full membership, recognition of a palestinian state. that would not make palestine a state with defined borders, but it would give its officials more international recognition and the u.s. fears more power to go after israel for what palestinians consider crimes committed in the gaza strip. the white house has vowed to veto the bid in the security council, insisting an independent palestinian state be created through direct negotiations with israel. up next, the palestinian ambassador to the u.s. and then the israeli ambassador to the u.s. 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[ male announcer ] humana. joining me now, maen areikat, who is the palestinian liberation organization's chief representative to the u.s. thank you for joining us. what is the current plan for the u.n.? will president abbas go to the security council? is that set? >> well, the president did announce on friday that the palestinians will submit the request to the u.n. secretary-general on friday, september 23rd, for full membership at the united nations. so the plan that after his address at the united nations general assembly he would officially request that the u.n. consider the palestinian request. >> and will the petition designate pre-'67 borders, as well as east jerusalem as the capital? >> well, i'm not that familiar with the exact language of the draft resolution, but i strongly believe that it will reiterate long-standing palestinian position. it will talk about the palestinian state in the west bank, the gaza strip with east jerusalem as its capital. it will call for two-state solution, two states, israel and palestine, living side by side in peace and security. and i believe it will also emphasize the need for negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues. >> you know that diplomatically this is very hard for the united states which, if it comes before the security council, as far as we know, is going to veto this idea. they have said this will undermine negotiations. israel says it will set back the palestinian cause. is there anything right now that could be presented to you -- because lots of meetin