Obama Kicks Off 2012 Campaign
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 7:00 on the East Coast. Thanks for waking up with us. Let's get you caught up on the news. Today, the man who is possibly the most notorious terrorist alive will be in court. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, dubbed KSM, has proudly admitted he masterminded the 9/11 terrorist attacks, planning the hijacking that brought down the World Trade Center towers and damage the Pentagon, taking thousands of innocent American lives. But today, he and four other alleged terrorists plan on pleading not guilty in front of a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They all face the death penalty if convicted. But that could take years. Families of 9/11 victims want to see justice, like Chris and Christina Russell whose brother was a firefighter inside one of the towers when it collapsed.</s>CHRIS RUSSELL, BROTHER DIED IN 9/11: It has to be the death penalty. It doesn't have to be an ugly death. You can select what you wish off the menu. But they have experts that deal with.</s>CHRISTINA RUSSELL, BROTHER STEPHEN RUSSELL DIED IN WTC: Life in prison drags it out and costs us government money, and it just -- it lingers in the back of your head that these people are still alive. I mean, they're not glorious, it would bring closure.</s>CHRIS RUSSELL: Hopefully.</s>KAYE: Other families of 9/11 victims arrived in Cuba yesterday to see the arraignment. Objections by defense attorneys could further complicate the trial. It's taken years just to get to this point. In fact, some top military attorneys say could it turn in a legal circus. We'll, of course, keep an eye on it for you. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the enemy may be losing the war on the battlefields in Afghanistan, but he's warning troops heading off to the Middle East: don't let terrorists win the public relations war. At Fort Benning, Georgia, Panetta told soldiers that just one misstep, one embarrassing photo can put fellow troops' lives and Americans' entire standing at risk</s>LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: These incidents concern me. And they have to concern you. They do concern our service chiefs, because a few who lack judgment, lack professionalism, lack leadership, can hurt all of us.</s>KAYE: Panetta's warning follows a Pentagon report detailing several embarrassing incidents in Afghanistan, including the release of a video showing marines urinating on corpses. There has been plenty of political news this week: Newt Gingrich dropping out of the presidential race, the jobs report, and President Obama officially kicking off his reelection campaign. CNN's political editor Paul Steinhauser is live in Columbus, Ohio, for us this morning. Good morning, Paul.</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, Randi.</s>KAYE: So, how important are these jobs numbers for the president's campaign, do you think?</s>STEINHAUSER: You can't say enough how important they are. Listen, we know that for years now, for about four years now, the economy has been the top issue on the minds of American. And what's the most important economic issue when it comes to American? Jobs, jobs, jobs. That's why that release of that report yesterday, the unemployment level going from 8.2 percent down to 8.1 percent, but only 110,000 new jobs created which, was a lot lower than what economists have predicted. So important hovering over everything. You know, President Obama and Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney both speaking about the report yesterday. Take a listen.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, our businesses have now created more than 4.2 million new jobs in the last 26 months. More than 1 million jobs in the last six months alone.</s>OBAMA: So that's the good news. But there's still a lot of folks out of work, which means we have to do more.</s>MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As a matter of fact only 115,000 net new jobs were created. That was well beneath what it was expected to be. It should have been in the hundreds of thousands. The reason the rate came down because about 340,000 dropped out of the workforce.</s>STEINHAUSER: And that's Romney's argument, people are giving up and not being counted in the unemployment report. You know, Randi, for Mitt Romney, the whole idea here is to make the election a referendum on President Obama and the job he's doing, creating jobs. About six hours from now, you can see right behind me there, that's the Schottenstein Center at the Ohio State University. That's where the president is going to hold its first official reelection rally of his campaign. And you can see right behind me on the left here, we've got the CNN Express. So, we're ready for a big day, Randi.</s>KAYE: I'm sure you are. But let's talk about Ohio for a minute, Paul, because the unemployment rate in Ohio is actually lower than the national average, I'm sure you had a chance to talk to voters there. I mean, who are they crediting with that?</s>STEINHAUSER: It's not ironic that here in Ohio and in Virginia where the president has the second rally of the day, the unemployment level is below 8.1 percent national average. So, what do people nationally think about this in Ohio? Well, first, take a look nationally. This is a CNN/ORC poll recently, why, and you can see Americans are pretty much divided on who would do a better job, the president or Mr. Romney in moving the economy forward? What about here in Ohio? To your question. Well, check this out, a brand new poll from Quinnipiac University, when it comes to the economy, Randi, it seems like Mitt Romney has a slight advantage over President Obama right here in this crucial battleground state -- Randi.</s>KAYE: All that hammering home of his business executive background I guess, maybe folks are listening. And how many trips has the president made to Ohio now? I think I've lost track. All right, Paul.</s>STEINHAUSER: He's done 20 already. This will be number 21 to Ohio since he became president.</s>KAYE: Wow. All right. It must be a very important state. Paul, thank you very much.</s>STEINHAUSER: Yes.</s>KAYE: He fled house arrest in Chinese village for the U.S. embassy in Beijing. Now, the blind Chinese activist who appealed to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for help is under heavy guard at a hospital in Beijing. But his next stop might be the U.S. The Chinese government says Chen Guangcheng can apply for a travel visa. Now to Canada, where a Canadian hang gliding instructor has been granted bail after he was charged with obstructing justice related to a fatal accident one week ago. The woman in the glider with him dropped to the ground. Investigators say the instructor may have tried to hide the key evidence about what happened by swallowing a memory card that has video of the fall. That video is now in police custody. Visionary, trail blazer, legend, just some of the tributes pouring in for Adam Yauch, a founding member of the groundbreaking rap group the Beastie Boys who has died after a three year battle with cancer. Yauch, a self taught bassist and vocalist is survived by his wife and daughter. He was 47. It is Kentucky Derby day, so the big question besides who might run the run for the roses is what's the weather going to look like at Churchill Downs? Of course, we turn to Reynolds who has all the answers. Good morning, again.</s>REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, good morning. It looks like the rain was very rough yesterday. Today, it's certainly going to be kind of heavy this morning and possibly intermittent into the afternoon. I know that you want perfect weather. But it looks like it is going to damp in at least, at a minimum, very, very humid. Right now, it's rain all through parts of the Blue Grass Region, but it will be interesting this afternoon. Temperatures are in the 80s, and a chance of those thunderstorms refiring up once again. We're going to have more on that coming up in a just few moments, Randi.</s>KAYE: OK, Reynolds, thank you. And here's the run down of some stories that we're working on for you. We're focusing on North Carolina's marriage amendment one and how it could affect people's live. It's not just about same sex marriage this time. Voters head to the polls Tuesday. And if you have good weather and clear sky tonight, well, you may be able to catch a glimpse of this super moon. Plus, we're going live to Guantanamo Bay where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men charged in the 9/11 attacks will be arraigned. And a Colombian escort said she was involved in the secret service scandal. She's spilling all the details. We've got a big show this hour. Stay with us.