[Harris:] All right. Let's get you caught up on top stories now. President Obama will step into the Rose Garden any minute now to sign an almost $18 billion jobs package. The bill gives tax breaks to employers who hire and it funds jobs for road construction. We will take you to the ceremony. Everyone is starting to gather now in the Rose Garden once it get under way, once we see the president. Any minute now, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is expected to tell us its estimated price tag for the latest health care reform bill. Democrats tell CNN the figure is $940 billion over 10 years. They say the CBO will project that the bill will cut the deficit by $130 billion I'm messing with Ali Velshi here. I apologize for that crazy moment over the same timeframe. Republican Senator Tom Coburn had this to say just minutes ago.
[Sen. Tom Coburn , Oklahoma:] I want to send a couple of messages to my colleagues in the House. If you voted no and you vote yes, and you lose your election, and you think any nomination to a federal position isn't going to be held in the Senate, I've got news for you. It's going to be held. Number two is, if you get a deal, a parochial deal for you or your district, I've already instructed my staff and the staff of seven other senators that we will look at every appropriations bill, at every level, at every instance, and we will outline it by district, and we will associate that with the buying of your vote. So, if you think you can cut a deal now, and it not come out until after the election, I want to tell you that isn't going to happen. And be prepared to defend selling your vote in the House.
[Harris:] All right. Let's get you to the Rose Garden now and the president of the United States.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We are here to mark the passage of a welcomed piece of legislation for our fellow Americans who are seeking work in this difficult economy. But first let me say a few words about the latest development and the debate over health insurance reform. I don't know if you guys have been hearing, but there's been a big debate going on here. This morning, a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office concludes that the reform we seek would bring $1.3 trillion in deficit reduction over the next two decades.
[Harris:] And as the president signs this bill, it gives us an opportunity to talk to our chief business correspondent, the host of CNN NEWSROOM beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Ali Velshi is here with us. And Ali, look, the president says the federal government can help promote strong, dynamic private sector job growth, but it is not going to be the main driver of jobs. And does this bill do what the president says it will? That is to create the playing field, the environment.
[Ali Velshi, Cnn Chief Business Correspondent:] You know the environment. It's like a tornado. Right? You know when there's a tornado watch?
[Harris:] Yes.
[Velshi:] They're not saying that they know there's a tornado. They know that the environment is perfect for a tornado to form.
[Harris:] Yes.
[Velshi:] That's what the government has to do. It has to create the environment for a job creation tornado.
[Harris:] Right.
[Velshi:] And that means lower taxes, but more importantly than lower taxes, it means demand. Most businesses will hire people when? When they need more people, when they've got a lot of business, and they need more people, and that is ultimately what this is about. So, this goes in some direction in getting this out, and also it is Bipartisan. He got some Republican support on this because it's a tax cut.
[Harris:] Yes. So, we're talking about an $18 billion job deal here, right?
[Velshi:] About $13 billion of it is tax cuts.
[Harris:] Yes, and then there is funding in this where some highway are we back to the shovel ready
[Velshi:] Yes. I mean, I would almost not worry about that part of thing. What most of this is that businesses can get a 6 percent reduction on their payroll taxes, so up to $6,200 per employee for this year and $1,000 extra if you hire somebody who has been out of work for two months.
[Harris:] What is it? And I know you prepared something for us.
[Velshi:] Yes.
[Harris:] What is it ultimately that's going to get employers hiring again, because this tax cut is probably going to help folks who were leaning in that direction.
[Velshi:] Let's take a look. American Express survey businesses, and they said the biggest thing that's going to get them hiring again is increase in customer demand. This is Business 101. Forty-two percent of businesses had an increase in customer demand is what will get them there. Eleven percent said tax credits like the one the president is signing right now and 5 percent said access to more loans. Keep in mind, this has been one of the biggest problems for the last two years, credit.
[Harris:] Yes. Now, the 11 percent who say tax credits, that might go up or down depending on the quality and size of the tax credit, right? Yes.
[Velshi:] So, at this point, 6,200 bucks a year may put somebody over the line if they're thinking of hiring somebody. Double that, might have hired more people.
[Harris:] Yes, yes.
[Velshi:] The estimates we've got are that this can create up to 300,000 jobs, this initiative that the president is signing today.
[Harris:] Right. What is your sense of how close we are to the cap being lifted off this jobs market because we know that we're seeing longer hours for temporary workers.
[Velshi:] Yes.
[Harris:] We're seeing more part-time workers.
[Velshi:] That's right. We are just about to break through and that's expected. We expected that March or April would be when we break through into positive job growth after all of this negative job growth. So, we're just about there, but the reality is to bring that unemployment rate down to 9.7 percent to 8.7 to 7.7, we were at 4.9 when this recession started.
[Harris:] Yes, yes.
[Velshi:] That's going to take a long time because you need to grow on average 100 to 150,000 jobs a month.
[Harris:] Right.
[Velshi:] We may in this next month get 10, or 15 or 20,000. So, we are going in the right direction, but as you know, Tony, the macro economics of going in the right direction does not matter as much to people who are out of a job right now and running out of unemployment insurance. So, that's why this kind of thing hopefully gives
[Harris:] Terrific. Ali, as always, great to see you, man.
[Velshi:] Always a pleasure.
[Harris: Cnn Newsroom, 1:] 00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern time, Ali Velshi. Still to come this hour from arm forces to work force. Top transition when you can't get higher. We're live at a job fair for veterans. That's next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.