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CNN NEWSROOM

Disappointing Jobs Report for August: Only 142,000 Jobs Created; An International Coalition to Battle ISIS; American Behind ISIS Social Media?; Ukraine and Pro-Russian Rebels Agree to Indefinite Cease-fire; Remembering Joan Rivers

Aired September 5, 2014 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Friday, have a great weekend. NEWSROOM starts now.

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COSTELLO: Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin this hour with breaking news on the economy. Just minutes ago, we learned that 142,000 new jobs were created last month. It's a big disappointment from the 200,000 plus that most experts had predicted. The unemployment rate inches down a bit from 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent.

But let's break down the numbers, shall we, with chief business correspondent Christine Romans -- and to add some perspective, James Sherk, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

But, Christine, I want to start with you. So give us a big picture.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the big picture here is this was a disappointing number. For six months, we've had more than 200,000 jobs, so coming in at 142,000 jobs created in the month of August is a disappointment. And it shows this streak of very good solid jobs growth has been broken. So that's what economists and people in markets and people who study labor markets are really looking at today. Was this just an isolated blip or is this something that shows that maybe a little bit of flagging in the U.S. economy in the late summer?

But this has been a good performance, and then now you've got a little bit of a pullback there -- 142,000. I did like, I will say, what I saw in the kinds of sectors that were growing, Carol. You saw business and professional services tend to be higher paid jobs; I saw construction jobs in there; saw a lot of different kinds of jobs. Retail lost some.

This is the unemployment rate here. Look at how it has fallen. It fell in part this month because people were leaving the workforce, so that's falling for not necessarily the right reason. But 6.1 percent is still a decent number. You want to still continue to see that coming down.

So disappointing in terms of how much jobs growth we saw. I mean, look, now for the year you've got about -- well it's a little bit shy of that for the year of what we've had for monthly jobs growth. You want to see it stay above 200,000. It is, but there are concerns about the fact it was only 142,000 jobs created this month, Carol. Because that is disappointing; that shows that streak of really good months has been broken, Carol.

COSTELLO: It sure does. So, James, the recession officially ended more than five years ago, even though a lot of Americans sure don't feel like it ended. Why do you think this recovery has been so sluggish?

JAMES SHERK, SENIOR POLICY ANALYST, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, I think that government policy has contributed. We know that the Federal Reserve banks have conducted multiple surveys showing that the president's health care law has raised the cost of health care, and that businesses are hiring fewer workers because of this. I think you had an unusually sharp recession and then the -- what the government did coming out of that was quite harmful.

If it's -- I think the number is actually a bit worse than what the official statistics show. Alan Krueger, the former chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, just came out with a new paper about two weeks ago where he found that the official unemployment rate, well, it's actually understating unemployment because a lot of people who are getting interviewed who don't have jobs just don't answer the surveyors.

COSTELLO: But -- oh go ahead, I'm sorry.

SHERK: Let's just say if you accounted for the fact that a lot of the people who dropped out of the labor force just aren't answering the survey, things would look even worse than the official numbers actually show.

COSTELLO: Christine, do you agree?

ROMANS: You know, I think these numbers have been doing better and better all year in terms of job creation, but when you look at the internal statistics, Carol, there are still some big concerns. People dropping out of the labor force. You know, a labor force participation rate just above 62 percent, that's the worst since some time in the 1970s. So that's a real problem that needs to be addressed.

Also the underemployment rate. These are people who are working part- time but would like to be working full time. They're not getting the kind of work they want; they are underemployed in this economy. That's still too high.

So we have seen what I think is a two-speed recovery here, Carol. For people who have the right skills in the right industries, they're getting bonuses, they're getting hired, they're getting sought after by recruiters. For people who don't have those skills and aren't in a really -- don't have the education for the part of the economy that's moving, for them this economy is not getting very much better. COSTELLO: All right, Christine Romans and James Sherk, thanks for

your insight. I appreciate it. If you have questions about this morning's jobs report, Christine is hosting a live Facebook chat with U.s. Labor Secretary Tom Perez. That's at 11:30 a.m. Eastern this morning at Faceback.com/CNNmoney.

As the NATO summit wraps up today, U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is talking more about the coalition to stop ISIS. He's been meeting with leaders on the sidelines of the event. Reuters is reporting that, so far, nine other countries besides the United States are involved in talks for the coalition. They include the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Poland, Canada, and Australia. But Kerry emphasized a red line for every country involved -- no boots on the ground.

In the meantime, NATO members have agreed to form a new spearhead force. Here's NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Today, we agreed to create what I would call a spearhead within our response force, a very high readiness force able to deploy at very short notice. This spearhead will include several thousand land troops ready to deploy within a few days with air, sea and special forces support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski joins us from Cardiff, Wales, to tell us what this means. Good morning.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, and when asked about how do you concretely fight ISIS, what is the practical plan, the U.S. has been repeatedly emphasizing the need for an international coalition. We've been hearing about it for days. We weren't sure how exactly it would take shape in a real sense here at the NATO summit but today we're seeing that. We're seeing Secretary of State John Kerry and the Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel meeting with nine other countries to build that coalition.

And in fact today they put out some of their words, some of their addresses, and some of their plans. Goals of this coalition, now we know, would be military support, humanitarian assistance, trying to stop the flow of foreign fighters that are of such concern to the national security of these European countries as well as the United States, trying to take away the funding from ISIS, and trying to delegitimize its ideology.

Secretary of State Kerry also said that they want to form this multinational task force that would share information among all these countries about the travels of these foreign fighters. You can see how that would be useful. And he also clearly wanted to make clear what many thought was unclear in the president's words about fighting is the other day.

Here's what Kerry just said. "There is no contained policy for ISIS. They're an ambitious, avowed, genocidal, territorial-grabbing, Caliphate-desiring, quasi-state within a regular army. And leaving them in some capacity anywhere would leave a cancer in place that will ultimately come back to haunt us. So there is no issue in our minds build our determination to build this coalition and go after this."

He also mentioned though that this is going to take time. He even laid out this sort of years long possibility, but he emphasized in his remarks to these nations that, together, this coalition does have the ability to defeat, not contain, but to defeat ISIS, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski reporting live for us this morning.

Next hour, we're expecting to hear more from several leaders as the NATO summit wraps up, including the British Prime Minister David Cameron. Then at 11:30 Eastern, we'll have a CNN special coverage when President Obama is expected to speak.

A memorial service for Steven Sotloff will be held at a Miami temple this afternoon. Florida governor Rick Scott has ordered all state and local buildings to fly flags at half staff today to honor the American journalist beheaded by ISIS. The public is welcome to attend.

And the FBI is looking at whether a Boston man is behind some of the social media used by ISIS to recruit new members. Ahmad Abousamra is on the FBI's most wanted terror list. He's been on the run for five years, believed to have last been in Syria.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick looks at why this man would be a highly prized asset for the terror group.

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DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Intelligence sources say it makes sense that ISIS would want to recruit a guy like American Ahmad Abousamra. He grew up near Boston, holds both a Syrian and U.S. passport, and graduated from Northeastern University in Boston with a degree in the field of computer technology. Believed to be in his early 30s, Abousamra is fluent in both English and Arabic.

The FBI released this audio recording they say is Abousamra. It's unclear who he's speaking to.

AHMAD ABOUSAMRA: If they don't have a warrant, they don't have the right to do that. Make sure to tell your mother that next time because they might scare her.

FEYERICK: Although authorities will not confirm Abousamra's role in ISIS, if any, a law enforcement official tells CNN that they're looking into whether he might be involved in the murder group's media wing, specifically its English social media, including Facebook, an online magazine, and Twitter, which recently suspended the group's account.

Abousamra's friend, American Tarek Mehanna, was accused by the U.S. of heading the media wing of al Qaeda in Iraq, which morphed into ISIS. He's currently serving 17 years in the U.S. for providing materiel support to terrorists.

Both men were indicted together in 200, accused of attending terror training camps in Yemen for the purpose of traveling to Iraq to kill U.S. troops. Abousamra was last seen in Syria with a woman and child believed to be his wife and daughter.

Ironically, two years ago, the FBI tried using social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter, to find Abousamra.

MARIE HARF, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Obviously we take very seriously the threat of American citizens who join terrorist organizations. We take additional care when thinking about options for taking them off the battlefield, but that your U.S. citizenship cannot serve as a shield if you take up arms against the United States.

FEYERICK: Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: All right, a bit of brighter news this morning. We understand -- and this is according to Reuters -- that Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have signed an agreement on a cease-fire in Eastern Ukraine, and that will start later tonight.

So let's head to Kiev and check in with Reza Sayah. We've heard this before. Do you think this is the real deal?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It feels real, Carol. It feels different and it looks like the first piece of good news in a long time, and there's indications now that, after a very long and costly conflict in southeastern Ukraine, these two sides have established an indefinite cease-fire.

We're getting word from the Twitter account of the pro-Russian rebels in southeastern Ukraine that they have signed a cease-fire agreement in the city of Minsk, Belarus. We have yet to hear from government officials here in Kiev.

All of this taking place after a roughly two-hour meeting in the city of Minsk. This is where all the parties involved in this conflict, both directly and indirectly, met today. And after the meeting, it was announced that a cease-fire has been established.

Now we're still waiting for an official announcement to understand the terms and the conditions of this agreement, but coming into this meeting, that the speculations, the conditions of this agreement included a halt to all military operations in southeastern Ukraine, the pulling out of all troops, exchanging of the soldiers that have been captured on both sides, the establishment of humanitarian corridors so people can get out of the region to get help and humanitarian aid, could come in, and the positioning of international monitors to make sure that these conditions were met.

Coming into today, some western leaders, some NATO member states, were skeptical of this plan. They continued to criticize Moscow, saying that perhaps this was a ploy by Russia, a ploy by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to avoid and delay sanctions and buy more time for Russian rebels who were gaining significant ground in southeastern Ukraine. But despite that criticism, it looks like a cease-fire is in place.

So after a conflict that cost more than 2,500 lives and injured 10,000 people, it looks like for now there's an indefinite cease-fire in place. We're waiting for an official announcement. It should come in the coming hours. And, again, we should point out -- 6 p.m. local time. That's in about two hours. That's when the cease-fire is officially set to take place and that's when we watch the battlefield to see if both sides heed this cease-fire and finally stop the fighting. Carol?

COSTELLO: I hope it is the real deal. It sounds like it. Reza Sayah reporting live from Kiev this morning.

The third American infected with the deadly Ebola virus now back on U.S. soil. Dr. Rick Sacra arrived in Omaha, Nebraska, earlier this morning after a flight from Liberia. He was not directly treating Ebola patients, but delivering babies at a hospital in Liberian capital of Monrovia when he became infected. Sacra will be treated in a special biocontainment unit at the Nebraska Medical Center.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, there are now two investigations into the death of comedian Joan Rivers. Nischelle Turner live with that story. Good morning.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, friends, fans, and family are mourning her death, but there are questions that remain -- what happened at that clinic? Now two state investigations could begin to answer those questions. We'll have that story next.

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COSTELLO: Across the globe, tributes are pouring in for a comedy legend. Joan Rivers, who paved the way for countless female comedians after her, said that laughter was the key to getting through almost any situation. She pulled no punches.

And with a career spanning several decades it is clear her legions of fans could not get enough of her biting sense of humor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was weird things about aging that I didn't realize --

JOAN RIVERS, COMEDIAN: It's very hard if you are attractive. You guys don't have to worry, but you, you have to worry. I have friends and I'm not going to name names -- Goldie Hawn -- that

can't get any older, you know? She said, would you believe I have a grownup daughter? And I'm going to go, yes.

All that counts is sex appeal, am I right? Oh, look how quiet the room suddenly got. Oh please? That's why I have no sex appeal which kills me. The only way I hear heavy breathing from my husband's side of the bed is when he's having an asthma attack. You don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You met --

RIVERS: The queen of England.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After the joke about the stamp?

RIVERS: I take it all back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the joke you did some time ago?

RIVERS: I said a couple of things about the queen, I said she sits like this, and no one has the guts to say your highness --

At 21, my mother said, only a doctor for you. When I was 22, she said, all right, lawyer, CPA. Twenty-four, she said, well, grab a dentist. Twenty-six, she said anything.

Can we talk about cleaning?

I hate to clean! And do you clean your house? I'm so glad. Do you have a house? Oh I don't clean my house because I have an apartment.

My kitchen is so dirty my mice wear spikes. I mean, yes --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: She was a funny woman. Let's bring in Sheryl Underwood. She's a comedian and co-host on the CBS show, "The Talk."

Good morning, Sheryl. Thank you for being with me.

SHERYL UNDERWOOD, COMEDIAN, TV HOST (via telephone): Good morning, darling. How are you?

COSTELLO: I'm good. I'm just glad you're not here for a happier thing but Joan Rivers was on your show what, just a couple weeks ago. Tell me what that was like.

UNDERWOOD: Yes, she was on the show previously and for me, you know, I'm kind of new to daytime TV, and I'm one of those trench standup comics and to know I was going to meet the great Joan Rivers, you know, because you study her, any great comic studies the greats. So, if you want to be great, you have to study the greats.

So, here I am getting ready to meet Joan Rivers. We had a private moment because both of our husbands ended their lives in the same way. So you know, for people that know Joan Rivers' sharp tongue that kind of throws the barbs, she was such a sweet soul and sweet spirit and very motherly, mentor, but she could tell a joke with the best of them.

She was a comic's comic, one woman, one mike, and she's just going to be truly missed.

COSTELLO: You know, a couple of nights ago I watched the documentary about Joan Rivers and I was surprised about just how insecure she seemed and how much she wanted to constantly be loved. Did you get that sense from talking with her?

UNDERWOOD: Well I think comics have this thing that draws us together. It may come out as insecurity, but once you stand on that stage, you're a lion. You know what I'm saying?

I think it's from everything that we go through, from a woman who is supposed to be an ugly duckling that goes on to be this icon in fashion, entrepreneur in fashion, a woman who is so genius she writes a movie test where a man Billy Crystal gets pregnant, writes a movie, Stockard Channing, ugly duckling, gets plastic surgery and gets revenge on everybody.

This girl was -- you know, I'm going to talk about her as a girl because she was ageless and timeless. So, here she was Phi Beta Kappa, getting on stage, just fighting her way on stage.

So, insecurity, I'm not sure. I would say a vulnerability, a reserve, a private-ness, but also if you looked in the documentary, her work ethic, how she approached the mechanics of comedy unmatched man or woman, male or female, there will never be another Joan Rivers.

And, Melissa, praying for you, love you. She was a great mother to not just her daughter but a lot of female comics and a grandmother and just a jazzy and if I can say this with love, a great old broad.

COSTELLO: You can.

Do you think she got the respect she deserved?

UNDERWOOD: Absolutely. Absolutely.

And when there was an impersonator using her material, she sued him, she sued him. And that's the kind of street swag that we loved about Joan Rivers. She didn't take any smack. You don't mess with her family, you don't mess with her friends.

And I think what's shocking us all is because she seemed forever young. You know? She always looked great, so we were startled.

This is one of those shocking type deaths pause death is inevitable. God does not make mistakes. We're going to lean on God but thank him for being even to have a Joan Rivers, to be around her, to meet her, you know.

You may not have agreed with her jokes but you can't say she was not funny, smart and talented, and loved and respected. COSTELLO: I couldn't have said it better. Sheryl Underwood, thank

you for your insight. I sure appreciate it.

UNDERWOOD: Thank you. And heaven's having a great comedy show right now.

COSTELLO: That's right. I'm sure.

UNDERWOOD: We love you, Joan.

COSTELLO: Awesome. Thank you, Sheryl.

Sadly, though, this morning there are two separate investigations surrounding Joan Rivers' death. The New York health department is investigating the outpatient clinic where she was undergoing an elective procedure and then suddenly went into cardiac arrest. Separately, the New York medical examiner's office is looking into how Rivers died.

Nischelle Turner is here with that part of the story.

TURNER: Yes, absolutely. You know, it is sad her death is surrounded by so many questions. But her family, her friends and her loved ones and her fans are desperate to know what went wrong at that clinic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER (voice-over): This morning, two investigations into the death of legendary comedian Joan Rivers now under way.

New York state officials launching a full investigation into the outpatient clinic where the Tony-nominated star went into cardiac arrest during a throat procedure last week. Rivers was then rushed to Mt. Sinai Hospital where she remained on life support until she passed peacefully Thursday, according to her daughter, Melissa Rivers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're so sorry.

TURNER: Medical examiners also requesting an autopsy as questions are raised as to why an 81-year-old in fine feisty form just the night before doing an hour-long standup event would suddenly stop breathing.

RIVERS: Enjoy your bodies now. Add a brassiere, this is how I go to the bathroom --

TURNER: The Emmy-winning comedian showed no signs of slowing down --

RIVERS: Yes, you have to wear dead animals because I tried and live ones bite. You must wear dead --

TURNER: -- ever since her debut on "The Johnny Carson Show" in 1965.

RIVERS: I never cook when I was single because I figured if the Lord wanted a woman to cook, he'd give her aluminum hands.

TURNER: Her career skyrocketing throughout the decades. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's Joan Rivers.

TURNER: Becoming the first and only woman to host a network nightly talk show.

RIVERS: Tell a friend, you're still a pig, lose more weight.

JIMMY FALLON, "THE TONIGHT SHOW" HOST: She hadn't done "The Tonight Show" in I would say over 26 yeas.

TURNER: Current host Jimmy Fallon tearing up, remembering the first time she returned to "The Tonight Show."

FALLON: She came out and she came over to me, and she started crying and gave me a kiss. It was really emotional and really nice.

TURNER: Rivers, a trailblazer for female comics who poured out in remembrance.

KATHY GRIFFIN, COMEDIAN: I owe my career to her, no doubt about it.

TURNER: Fellow comedian Kathy Griffin breaking down on Anderson Cooper after he played this clip about a woman who says she never wanted to stop making people laugh.

RIVERS: I'll show you fear. That's fear. If my book ever looked like this, it would mean that nobody wants me, that every I ever tried to do in life didn't work, nobody cared and I've been totally forgotten.

TURNER: At the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her legions of fans prove the iconic comedian's fears were misplaced.

RIVERS: If anything happens, Melissa --

TURNER: In 2012, Rivers' humor took a serious turn with her daughter. Before undergoing plastic surgery, she assured Melissa that if anything happens, her time was well-spent.

RIVERS: I've had an amazing life. If it ended right now, amazing life, and life is so much fun. It's one big movie.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: One big movie. You know what I was saying earlier that successful Hollywood movies have a couple things, compelling characters, they have a rise and fall of the characters and reinvention and redemption. So, if her life was like a Hollywood movie, I'd say, yes, very successful.

Sheryl Underwood called her jazzy, I love that description, she was jazzy.

COSTELLO: I do, too.

Nischelle Turner, thanks so much. TURNER: Sure.

COSTELLO: We'll be right back.

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