Jack Welch Amends Controversial Tweet; Unemployment Down
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. Victor Blackwell is off today. It's 9:00 on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. Thanks so much for starting your day with us. In a bitter political season even the Labor Department has become a target. The new jobs report had triggered a backlash among critics of President Obama. The unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September -- a drop of three-tenths of a percent from August. The numbers appear good on the surface, but just too good for Jack Welch. The former CEO of General Electric tweeted this. "Unbelievable jobs numbers. These Chicago guys will do anything -- can't debate so change numbers." Well, Welch later came on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360" and said if he had that tweet to do all over again, he would have added one thing.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "ANDERSON COOPER 360": So many politicians these days are saying like, "You know, Michele Bachmann will say something that factually is not correct or is not provable and then we'll say look, I'm just asking the question." Is it responsible to say I'm just asking the question but to say these Chicago guys will do anything, oh, I'm just asking the question.</s>JACK WELCH, FORMER CEO, GENERAL ELECTRIC: Should have put the question mark at the end like I did last night.</s>COOPER: OK.</s>WELCH: A question mark would have been better at the back of that.</s>COOPER: OK. So you are kind of backing away from the Chicago guys.</s>WELCH: I'm not backing away. I'm not backing away from anything,</s>COOPER: You wish you would amend your tweet.</s>WELCH: Wish I had a question mark at the back of it. The same implication.</s>ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: But to say something like this is like Donald Trump saying that President Obama is not an American citizen without any proof. You are Jack Welch. Jack, you've got to take this opportunity while everybody is listening to you to actually say, "Yes, Anderson, I'm taking that tweet back. I'm going to send a new tweet to say I was exaggerating. There are problems BLS maybe should look into it" but to actually throw out an accusation that's like asking the government how often do you beat your wife?</s>WELCH: I should have had a question mark, Ali, at the back of it, let's face it, OK. But the facts, are, Ali, no matter how you want to look at this, we had 25 economists polled before this number came out. The average number they expected was about 115,000. Not one of them --</s>VELSHI: Yes.</s>WELCH: Had a number below 8.1.</s>KAYE: Labor secretary Hilda Solis shot back at the critics. She told CNN it was insulting for people to suggest her department was manipulating numbers for the president's benefit. The Obama and Romney campaigns are ratcheting up the rhetoric in the wake of the jobs report. Our political editor Paul Steinhauser has the candidate's comments. One set of numbers, Paul, two sets of eyes.</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, very, very different responses, of course, to that Friday jobs report, no doubt about it, Randi. And of course, you know why the economy remains by far the top issue on the minds of Americans. Jobs is the most important economic issue for them and that's why the candidates have so much at stake with these numbers. Take a listen to how both men talked about these numbers on the campaign trail.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today's news should give us some encouragement. It shouldn't be an excuse for the other side to try to talk down the economy just to try to score a few political points. It's a reminder that this country's come too far to turn back now.</s>MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The unemployment rate, as you noted this year has come down very, very slowly but it has come down nonetheless. But the reason it's come down this year is primarily due to the fact that more and more people have just stopped looking for work.</s>STEINHAUSER: For a year and a half that Romney has been running for president he's been criticizing President Obama for doing a bad job on jobs and employment due to the fact that the unemployment level had been above eight percent. Now that it's below eight percent, Randi, you can hear Mitt Romney now talking about a different tactic there, and he says that, "You know, if you add in all the people who have stopped looking for jobs, he says the real unemployment level he says would be around 11 percent." Randi?</s>KAYE: So Paul, one presidential debate down, one to go after the VP debate this coming Thursday, but what do you think the candidates will focus on as they head up into that debate?</s>STEINHAUSER: Well, they are already beginning to prepare for the next debate. Mitt Romney this weekend doing some campaign debate preparation and the president will as well before they -- before they also head out on the campaign trail. Both candidates are looking back at what happened on Wednesday in Denver, and they are looking ahead. Take a listen to both men.</s>OBAMA: My opponent, he is doing a lot of tap dance at the debate the other night, trying to wiggle out of stuff he's been saying for a year, doing like -- it was like "Dancing With The Stars" or maybe it was "Extreme Makeover: Debate edition."</s>ROMNEY: I thought it was a good chance for us to ask each other questions. I asked the president some of the questions I know people across America have wanted to ask him. I asked him, for instance, why with 23 million Americans that were looking for work and wanted a president that would focus on getting the economy going he instead spent his first two years fighting for Obamacare.</s>STEINHAUSER: I think you're going to hear more of Mitt Romney question the president's priorities and I think you're going to hear more of the president saying, "Hey, who was that Mitt Romney I debated the other night? He's not the real guy that I know." Randi, as you mentioned though, the real highlight this upcoming week will be the vice presidential debate, the only showdown between Vice president Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan and, of course, that will be moderated -- the next presidential debate, of course, will be moderated by our own Candy Crowley.</s>KAYE: Yes and the vice presidential debate should be pretty interesting. I mean, Biden is usually pretty good going on the attack.</s>STEINHAUSER: Well Biden will definitely probably try to be the aggressor here to pick up where the president left off last week in Denver, and I think Paul Ryan is known as a pretty good numbers man, and I think it should be a pretty interesting debate, Randi.</s>KAYE: It sure will. We'll be watching. Paul Steinhauser, thank you.</s>STEINHAUSER: Thank you.</s>KAYE: Overnight three suspected terrorists arrived in New York after being extradited from London, including the notorious Abu Hamza al Masri. He has a hook for a hand and has called Osama Bin Laden hero. The radical cleric and four others are wanted for several crimes committed against the U.S. in the 1990s. They are accused of kidnapping tourists and conspiring to build a jihadist training camp in Oregon. Some of them are expected to appear in court tomorrow. Defense secretary Leon Panetta is firing back at Afghan President Hamid Karzai. It all follows Karzai's criticism that allied troops haven't done enough to battle insurgents in Pakistan. Here's what Panetta said in his rare public dressing down of Karzai. "I think it would be helpful if the president every once in a while expressed his thanks for the sacrifices that have been made by those who have fought and died for Afghanistan rather than criticizing them." Gas prices rising again. The national average now at 3.81, that is up from 3.79 yesterday. So what is driving up the cost? A new U.N. report points to massive bets placed on the commodities market for the volatility in oil and gas prices, and it's not likely to change any time soon. Bad news for drivers in places like California for sure where the average gallon of gas is 4.61, topping $5 actually in some parts of that state. When you talk about swing states, Ohio rises to the top of the discussion, but what are Ohio voters focusing on? Is it Romney's debate demeanor or is the falling unemployment rate? We'll check with both sides to see who has the advantage there.