Statehood Showdown; Perry, Romney, GOP Rivals Attack; Many Children in U.S. Malnourished; Bo Derek Lobbies U.N. To Protect Ecuadorian Rain Forest
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Alina Cho. The Palestinian president poised to make history today. He'll be standing before the United Nations in just four hours, requesting recognition as a state, fully knowing he doesn't stand a chance.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A fierce GOP debate. I'm Christine Romans. But were all those claims true or false? We'll fact check these candidates on this AMERICAN MORNING.</s>CHO: Good morning. It's Friday, September 23rd. I'm Alina Cho, along with Christine Romans. Ali and carol are of today.</s>ROMANS: And it is Friday. But we first begin with breaking news. You're looking at pictures of fighting going on right now in the West Bank. Palestinians throwing rocks and burning tires near a checkpoint. This as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gets ready to speak to the U.N. General Assembly in just a few hours. He is expected to formally ask the world to accept the Palestinians as a member.</s>CHO: It's a measure the United States has pledged to veto. Senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth is with us again this morning. Richard, good morning. So, again, how is this going to play out?</s>RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. As predicted by the Palestinians, they are going to the secretary-general of the United Nations and they will present this formal application for membership. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, will then speak to the general assembly and no doubt get huge applause because the large share of the membership of the U.N. is fully behind this formal statehood bid. However, a U.S. veto awaits in the Security Council. And even yesterday, we saw permanent member, the United Kingdom, express high doubts about this Palestinian statehood bid.</s>DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There has been much speculation about what will happen here this week. Let's be clear about one fact. No resolution can, on its own, substitute for the political will necessary to bring peace. Peace will only come when Palestinians and Israelis sit down and talk to each other, make compromises, build trust and agree. So, our role must be to support this. To defeat those who embrace violence, to stop the growth of settlements and to support Palestinians and Israelis alike to make peace.</s>ROTH: There are so many angles to this story. I mean, some credit Abbas and the Palestinians with a great strategic move, galvanizing efforts, ramping everything up to prompt maybe peace talks and get a timetable for agreement, pressure Israel on a lot of issues. Others see this as a legacy bid. You see violence you're mentioning on the West Bank. Some predict widespread violence. A lot of people have a lot to lose, but so much frustration on this peace effort for decades now.</s>CHO: Meanwhile, there are fireworks at the U.N. yesterday, sparked in large part by Iran's president, right?</s>ROTH: Iran's leader, who also said he won't recognize, even if there is a two-state solution, again using what the U.S. says was anti-Semitic language inside the general assembly hall prompting walkout from many European countries. He questioned really who was behind 9/11 and what were the motives to get into a war with Iraq and Afghanistan. He also said European countries are paying ransom because of the Holocaust -- really despicable comments. Though many countries in the hall applauded heartily when it concluded. At the end, the British Prime Minister Cameron with a one-word answer. Listen as he walked out of the building.</s>REPORTER: Mr. Cameron, do you have thoughts on President Ahmadinejad's speech today, sir?</s>CAMERON: Dreadful.</s>ROTH: Dreadful -- the one-word answer. This is about the sixth or seventh time Ahmadinejad has been there and he is even fiercer this time in his rhetoric, didn't talk about the nuclear program. But the big question for the U.N. is what's going on with those nuclear centrifuges, what's going on with the fuel. So, this is sort of a side show. It's easy to talk, oh, people are walking out, but there's a larger issue at stake that we may learn about in the years to come.</s>CHO: Well, as Christine pointed out earlier, this is not new for Ahmadinejad. It's just interesting to note that they did have so many people walk out of the room.</s>ROTH: He even said that the famous protester that was shot and killed, the young woman Neda, that that was a staged scene and that she was killed later on.</s>CHO: Anyway, Richard Roth, thank you so much. Appreciate it. United States is facing the real possibility of a partial government shutdown in just seven days. In fact, you're going to look live here in a moment to Capitol Hill where another example of partisan gridlock is raring its ugly head this morning. The Republican-controlled House passing a $3.7 billion disaster measure late last night, along with a key stopgap spending bill that would keep the government from shutting down. Calls for massive Energy Department cuts to help offset the cost of helping hurricane and wildfire victims but -- and this is a key but -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already promised to reject it, saying it's not an honest attempt and a compromise.</s>ROMANS: You can expect lots of silence at today's House hearing into the collapse of Solyndra. The company's two top executives informing committee members that they plan to invoke the Fifth Amendment. They will refuse to answer questions. The California solar panel company went bankrupt after receiving a controversial half billion guaranteed loan from the energy department under stimulus. The controversial No Child Left Behind law is about to get a makeover. President Obama this morning will announce plans to waive key provisions of the law to help states get around it. The Bush era initiative has grown increasingly unpopular as more schools risk being labeled a failure. The president's plan would require states to meet certain standards for getting students ready for college and their careers, and evaluating teachers and principals.</s>ROMANS: OK. In 25 years after winning the Super Bowl, the Chicago Bears will finally have their moment at the White House. The team's original post-Super Bowl celebration was canceled because of the shuttle Challenger disaster. President Obama will host Coach Ditka and the Bears on October 7th at the White House. No word whether they'll do the Super Bowl shuffle for the president or not.</s>CHO: That's great, 25 years later. More than that, '85, '89, 2000 -- yes, something like that. Anyway.</s>ROMANS: Seems like yesterday, sort of.</s>CHO: They were taking swipes at the president and accusing each other of taking both sides on the issues. It was another testy GOP debate last night. Jim Acosta joins us live from Orlando. Hey, Jim. Good morning.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Since Rick Perry got into this race, these debates have been a free for all on the Texas governor and last night's debate was no different. The big question is whether any of this abuse is having an impact on Perry's frontrunner status.</s>MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Governor Perry.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): It may have felt like badminton to Rick Perry, but for the Texas governor, it was almost a game of one against eight.</s>ROMNEY: It's an argument I just can't follow.</s>ACOSTA: On the Perry-backed Texas law that offers in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants, it was Romney with the set up.</s>ROMNEY: That doesn't make sense to me and that kind of magnet -- that kind of magnet draws people into this country.</s>ACOSTA: And Rick Santorum with the overhead smash.</s>RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country? That's what we're saying.</s>SANTORUM: Yes, I would say that he's soft on illegal immigration.</s>GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think you have a heart.</s>ACOSTA: The GOP frontrunner's defense of the law drew cheers and also boos from the crowd.</s>PERRY: This was a state issue. Texans voted on it and I still support it greatly.</s>CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: Senator Santorum --</s>ACOSTA: With the debate staged in Florida, where senior votes are on the line, Romney, once again, pounded on Perry's past statements on Social Security.</s>ROMNEY: There's a Rick Perry out there that is saying -- almost to quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business. That it's unconstitutional. Unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states. So, you better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that.</s>ACOSTA: At moments, it seemed the punishment was taking its toll. Perry seemed to get lost delivering one zinger on the health care law Romney passed as governor of Massachusetts.</s>PERRY: I think Americans just don't know sometimes which Mitt Romney they're dealing with. He's for Obamacare and now he's against it.</s>ACOSTA: Except that Romney has never supported the president's health care law.</s>ROMNEY: Nice try.</s>ACOSTA: But there were also standout moments for contenders trying to break through. On foreign policy, former Ambassador Jon Huntsman.</s>JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only Pakistan can say Pakistan. Only Afghanistan can say Afghanistan. All that I want right now at this point in history is for America to save America.</s>ACOSTA: An on the economy, probably the line of the night from former New Mexico governor, Gary Johnson.</s>GARY JOHNSON, FMR. GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO: My neighbors dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.</s>ACOSTA: Another defining moment didn't come from the stage. It came from a handful of people in the audience who booed a gay soldier for asking the candidates on their views on homosexuals in the military.</s>STEPHEN HILL, SERVING IN IRAQ: Do you intend to circumvent the progress that was made for gay and lesbians serving in the military?</s>ACOSTA: It's unclear if this race has come down to Rick Perry versus Mitt Romney whether any of the abuse the Texas governor took last night actually changed this debate. Florida Republicans will have their say later on this weekend when they hold an informal, nonbinding straw poll on the state of the race. One final note on that Gary Johnson quip on the shovel-ready jobs, it turns out Rush Limbaugh told that joke earlier in the day. Gary Johnson tweeted late last night that it's Limbaugh who deserves the credit for that joke -- guys.</s>ROMANS: All right.</s>CHO: Giving credit where credit is due. All right. Jim Acosta live for us in Orlando --</s>ACOSTA: They got to do it.</s>CHO: -- great to see you as always, thanks, Jim.</s>ROMANS: There were some zingers last night, of course. But were they all true? Tom Foreman with a little debate factor from Washington. First up, Michele Bachmann.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning. How are you doing? Our truth squad was up all night in the fortress of solicitude, sorting through some of the things that were said and there are a lot of things to choose from. I have to tell you that much. Let's look first of all at a statement by Michele Bachmann. There are many of these, we'll have them all day long. But just so you have a sense of it, one of the things she had to say had to do with Obamacare, as they call it. Listen to what she said about that and jobs.</s>REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The signature issue of Barack Obama and his presidency has been the passage of Obamacare. This week a study came out from UBS that said the number one reason why employers aren't hiring is because of Obamacare.</s>FOREMAN: So, she's calling Obamacare the top job killing in the nation. There are some things you have to understand about this. First of all, what's UBS? UBS is an international investment firm that's based in Switzerland. As best we can find, this wasn't a study as such that concluded this as much as just an advisory that they send out to investors saying, we think this is happening. UBS has previously also been involved in talking about many other factors that have affected the economy. So, to say that this comes down to the idea of Obamacare being the top job killer, we're giving that a rating of being misleading simply because there's more to it than that. Yes, UBS did say something about that, but to suggest this is some sort of large academic study that concluded through a lot of numbers that caused it, that just does not seem to be the case.</s>CHO: Tom Foreman, that's pretty fancy stuff there. Let's -- and good for you, you didn't sleep much. So, thanks for waking up. So, Mitt Romney is next. So, what have we got there?</s>FOREMAN: Yes, Mitt Romney. I want you to listen what he said after he went after Rick Perry on the issue of illegal immigration. Listen.</s>ROMNEY: Four years of college, almost $100,000 discount if you're an illegal alien to go to the University of Texas. If you're a United Nations citizen, from any one of the other 49 states, you have to pay $100,000 more. That doesn't make sense to me. And that kind of magnet -- that kind of magnet draws people into this country to get that education, to get the $100,000 break.</s>FOREMAN: So, a discount if you're an illegal immigrant to go to school in Texas. What is that all about? Let's look at this statement because it really bears some looking at. A magnet for illegal immigrants -- well, that's an opinion. We don't know if it's a magnet. We can't prove what draws everyone where they do. But, nonetheless, he's welcome to that opinion. But we do know this, if you went to the University of Texas right now, Texas is one of those states that does allow you, if you're an illegal immigrant, you went to high school there for several years, to get in-state tuition. That's what he's talking about -- versus out of state tuition. Going to the University of Texas right now about $25,000 a year. If you were an out of state student, you'd pay an additional $23,000 or so per year to go there. An illegal immigrant who live there doesn't pay that. So, if you add it up over four years, yes, it gets close to the $100,000 mark. But one thing he leaves out here, many other states do the same. California, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, New York, Maryland, Wisconsin to name a few -- I think, Washington, also. There are some states that have forbidden this, but to aim all of this at Texas, to suggest somehow that is really the problem, obviously, that was an attempt to get at Rick Perry. So, we're going to call that one true, but incomplete. There is something going on, but that's not the whole picture if you look at it.</s>ROMANS: But the statement is true. The statement that he said is true.</s>FOREMAN: Yes, the statement is true. There is such a deal. There is such a deal there. But to suggest in a way that, gee, it's just Texas and Rick Perry and somehow they're coddling illegal immigrants, there are a lot of other states that feel the same way. That this is something they should do. And Rick Perry said, look, it's unthinkable to tell young people that are learning that they suddenly can't be treated as in-state students. So, it's a dicey issue, no question. Truth at the core of it, but there needed to be a little bit more told if you wanted viewers to really understand.</s>ROMANS: Tom Foreman, thanks, Tom.</s>FOREMAN: Good to be here with you.</s>CHO: Thank you, Tom. Up next, mystery solved. Thirty years after it went missing, a precious moon rock has been found. You won't believe where. Here's the weird part, former president, Bill Clinton's, files. That's where it was. We'll explain.</s>ROMANS: And new research says Albert Einstein may have been wrong, relatively speaking. One of the very pillars of physics rocked by new findings of one of the world's most foremost laboratories.</s>CHO: And a little later on, actress and activist, Bo Derek, is here in our studios live, and after she sits down with us, she's off to the United Nations. Why? She'll tell us. Stick around. It's 16 minutes after the hour.