prison where he's been held since 2009. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." not only the null better one issue for most americans, but also the issue that will win the white house in november. the latest jobs report is not nearly what the obama administration was hoping for. it's given the republicans fresh ammunition. we're covering all the angles, beginning with our white house correspondent dan lothian. what's the reaction over there to the latest jobs numbers? >> reporter: well, aides and the president himself point out when you compare the situation did now to the depth of the recession, progress is being made, but they also note the obvious that there's still a lot of people out of work, still a lot of work to be done. on that point, republicans agree with the president, but they believe it's time for someone else to try to fix the problem. in a good news/bad news scenario, president obama offered americans the good news first. >> our economy created 130,000 private sector jobs in april, and the unemployment rate ticked down again. >> down to 8.1%, but the reality, 115,000 jobs created april, far below expectations, and the smallest increase in six months. all of this is a weak recovery post-recession recovery. you want to see more jobs growth than this. there have been dips, spikes and flat lines as the president has struggled to turn the economy around. it's a fundamental component of the reelection strategy, but disappointing numbers feed the republican argument that's correct mr. obama's policies are failing. >> this is a sad time in america, when people who want work can't find jobs u house speaker john boehner was quick to accuse the president with distracting people. a much different argument from the president's top economic adviser, alan kruger, who called the latest report that the economy is continuing to heal. that's backed up by the unemployment rate in these ballots ground states, including ohio and virginia, where the president will be campaigning this weekend, all lower since he took office. but a mixed picture since unemployment has ticked up if these swing states. republicans sense an opportunity. >> america needs a turnaround artist right now. >> reporter: he urged young people at a suburban virginia high school to put pressure on lawmakers who stand in the way. >> there's too much at stake for us not to all be rowing in the same direction. >> reporter: as this campaign really heats up for the president this weekend, he does face a big challenge. that is, since world war ii, no president other than ronald reagan has been able to win a reelection with unemployment above 6%, so the president is turning to young people, who were critical in his campaign in 2008, speaking to students about keeping thor interest rates on federal loans low so that they can have some of the burden removed off their backs when they finally enter the workforce. wolf? >> dan lothian, thank you, as disappointing as the latest numbers are, the real unemployment situation may be worse. tomorrow foreman is taking us inside all of these numbers. tom, there's more than meets theite. >> it's interesting to see people speaking to young people. maybe they've had already 25% unemployment rate for young people in this country. let's look at the big difference. the white house would like you to look at this, 8.1%, down 0.1%. that doesn't keep up with how many people are entering the job market, so when you're creating that many jobs, you're losing ground. so if that's true, how can this be going down? the reason has to do with the monthly survey that the federal government does. they call about 60,000 families, talk to the people, and establish who is employed, who is unemployed, mean they would like a job, and they're looking for a job action and who is out of workforce. the problem right now is that this group down here is growing. we talked about more than the 100,000 jobs created in this last survey. more than 300,000 people dropped out, said they're no longer looking. maybe they went back to school, it doesn't matter. they're out of the workplace. the result of that is really this whopping figure over here, 63% of americans over 16, so people who would likely be in the workforce, 63% are in the labor force. that is the lowest percentage of people in this country since 1981. no matter how you spin that, a crushing, crushing number for anybody who's in office. then you have this other factor which people keep talking about. a job is a job. i think we'll hear more about that, even as this goes on. the simple truth is when the government does that survey to determine who is in what sort of job, one of the things they're doing is saying simply are you employed? if you lost a job where you made $120,000 a week running some sort of company and you get a job, where you made $30,000 a year, that's still counted as a job. so the bottom line is this is probably what we have to look at. the 12.5 million people unemployed in this country. if you look at that number and say does that number substantially come down, that's the real key to whether or not our employment situation is getting better, probably more so than the percentages at this point. >> you may a good point. a lot of people do have jobs, but underemployed, they don't have the jobs they necessarily used to have or would like to have or qualified for having, but it's a job that puts food on the table and pays the bill. let's dig deeper with ali velshi, here to give you further context. ali, 150,000 jobs in april, certainly didn't meeting expectations, but it's not all bad news for the president. >> no, look this is one of those tough ones. usually it falls squarely into the category of the president or his op position about what they can do about it. this one is tough. everything that dan said is correct. the republicans have a good argument that this isn't enough. for a lot of those number that tom just gave you, that's an argument they're uses again president obama. he like to say don't hold me respond. 4.6 million jobs have been lost in america. 572,000 remain for president obama to deal with. you divide that up between now and october, because it would be the october jobs report, president obama needs to see 95,000 jobs created per month. that is something most economists say is easily achievable. one of the lobs that republicans threw at him is that more jobs were lost under your presidency that's gained. that is one of the criticism he will probably be likely to fight back. notwithstanding all the rest of it, what tom said, there are people unemployed, still not feeling good. in some parts of the country, as dan shalled you, it's still not feeling like a recovery. on that one point, president obama continues to be able to fight back again the republicans. >> ali, do you see anything out there on the horizon that would make you they won'tsh 95,000 jobs a month from now until november? >> there are two things. the one, which is not likely, but we'll be watching the elections in france and greece carefully, is if things go worse in europe than right now. if europe has hit bottom, we should be okay. the big thing that could happen is iran. iran will spike the price of oil, and that will send us back into a recession, but today oil dropped by more than $4, so the world is not betting on that either, wolf. >> ali, thanks very much. investors didn't like the jobs report. it helped push down all three major indices on wall street. the diaw was down more than 168 points, the nasdaq almost 68. the s&p lost 22 points, posting the worst week of the year. we're going live to guantanamo bay, where accused 9/11 plotters are abouting to arraigned. plus a call from a cuban prison, my exclusive conversation with the american alan gross, he used his one phone call a week to call me to talk about his case. you'll hear the conversation. that's later here in "the situation room." ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪ how you want. homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? 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why can't santorum -- we know in the end he'll endorse him. what is this dance about? >> i give him some credit, because he's not pretending they're bffs. they're never going to be good friends. he won 11 states. it was a very hotly contested fight. he's very conservative. he's still worked about mitt romney on that front. he wanted some assurances from him that rockne will continue to talk about the issues that are important to the cultural conservatives, and to get an assurance from mitt romney that his's never, ever again going to before a health care mandate. that's very important to rick santor santorum. i think they have some things to iron out. i was talking to his campaign, i said, is this about getting romney to help you raise money to get down your debt or getting a speaking position at the convention? and they say, no, no, no. of course not, because they say santorum just wants some assurance on the issues, and eventually he will come out. >> here assist what write in user column, an excellent column i must say. >> thank you. >> after this combative primary season, watching mitt romney struggle with ways to endorse than one-time nemesis is painful. it's like they're trying to find ways to snuggle with darth vader. at the very least, the contortions are a tad awkward and unseemly. in the real world, as opposed to the political world, the result is completely unbelievable. it's also a perfect example of why voters don't trust politicia politicians. >> it is. >> strong words. >> that's why i'm giving santorum some credit here. he didn't turn on the dime. i mean, you had michele bachmann, who by the way, pulled out of the race in jan wear, waited until yesterday to endorse mitt romney, about you she told abc news that there's no way mitt romney can beat barack obama. and now is endorsing the man she thought was going to lose. and we have the case of newt gingrich. take a listen to something he said january and what he said yesterday. >> i don't know of any american president with a swiss bank account. i would be glad to have you explain that. i'm asked times is mitt romney conservative enough. my answer is simple -- compared to barack obama? you know, this is not a choice between mitt romney and ronald reagan. this is a choice between mitt romney and the most radical leftist president in american history. >> so it was tortured, i thought, but it was a way of saying, look, i'm not saying i really love mitt romney. what i am saying is we need to beat the president of the united states, who is worse than we could ever imagine mitt romney being, so to me it was a bit tortured, but to most people, you know, who don't cover politics day in and day out it's a big sort of never mind. >> politicians do it all the time. >> they do. this time around john mccain endorsed mitt romney. last time he beat mitt romney in the primaries. they do it all the time. we have a word for that. it's called politics. not the way most of us live our lives. >> our viewers should read your column if they want more. >> thank you. finally the mastermind is going on trial. finally live to guantanamo bay in cuba with the details. and osama bin laden's driver is interrogated. we're going to show you the videotape. it's revealing. just been released by the pentagon. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. introducing gold choice. the freedom you can only get from hertz to keep the car you reserved or simply choose another. and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. it's a day that's been years in the making, spanning two presidential administrations, a u.s. supreme court case and congressional uproar, but tomorrow the case against khalid sheikh mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the terror attacks begins in earnest with arraignment. chris lawrence is already on the scene, joining us live with a preview. tell our viewers what we can expect. >> reporter: well, wolf, that is the key -- what will khalid sheikh mohammed say? what will he look like? remember, it's been years now since anyone in the public has laze eyes on this man. that's why many of the, and no one knows what he is going to say. -- with the first appearance. i think you have to tune in and find out what's going to happen. former judge advocate don guter felt the pentagon shake. one of the his staffers was on the plane that hit the building, but he opposed -- >> this is a risky way to take care of these trials. >> reporter: in 2008 khalid sheikh mohammed pled guilty to murder and said i'm looking to be a martyr, but that military commission got canceled. >> the original set of rules and laws set down under the bush administration for the trial by military commissions were basically struck down by the supreme court. so they had to start over, and basically put together a new framework. >> reporter: in 2009, attorney general eric holder announced he was moving ksm to new york to be tried in federal court. >> those allegedly responsible for the attacks of september 11th will finally face justice. >> reporter: the back lash, public and political, was fierce. >> it's an unnecessary risk to the city of new york. >> reporter: holder reversed his decision. >> that's definitely a political question, definitely a question for whichever administration has gitmo on their plate. >> chris lawrence on the sea for us at guantanamo bay. we'll get back with him. we're also getting a look at controversial videos of terror suspect interrogations. brian todd is working this part of the story. >> these tapes are very releague on the dynamic between detainees and their interrogators. they got a thorough security review by the pentagon before being released. on the most notable tape we don't see waterboarding, but the atmosphere is tense for everyone in the room. he's sat down in a dingy cell with a hood on. it's revealing the face of saleem ham da. this video just released by the pentagon, it was played in open court, part of the military commission's process for prominent detainees. in this interrogation believed to have been done in afghanistan in 2002, hamdan is grilled about missiles and other weapons found in his car. >> reporter: he was eventually convicted of providing material support to al qaeda, cleared of more serious charges of conspiring with al qaeda. he served more than five years at guantanamo, but has since been released, now believed to be back in his home in yemen. he's appealing his conviction in u.s. civilian court. we spoke with an attorney whose organization helped detainees challenge their detention. >> this largest question of whether we ought to be interrogating without lawyers present, you know, this tape focuses the public i think on that question. >> reporter: among other videotapes released. grainy images from afghanistan, al qaeda's main training camp in 2000. there's no audio, but you see osama bin laden addressing his fellow jihadists. in this saling recognize, that's mohammed atta, the lead hijacker on september 11th, sporting a beard. he's believed to be giving his last will and testament. the other man also believed to be a 9/11 hijacker. on the hamdan interrogation tame, some gamesmanship, the detainee turns the table on his interrogator. >> reporter: the interrogator never answers that question. the translation was provided by the department of defense, wolf. some very interesting back and forth. >> with hamdan's appeal, what is the main league issue? >> whether the charge he was convicted of, material support of terrorism, whether that's actually a war crime or not. hamdan's lawyers say it's not a war crime under international law, so it can't be charged in this military system commission, so they're going back and forth. this is being argued in the u.s. civilian court. i think it's the first time a u.s. has ever been done. it's different than the military tribunal. >> that's right. let's dig deeper. right now joining us fran townsend, a former homeland security adviser to president george w. bush, also a member of both of homeland security and the cia external advisory boards. you know, i spoke with jose rodriguez earlier in the week, fran, in charge of clandestine operations, some of those enhanced interrogation techniques, as they were called. is it my sense. he says there are far fewer interrogations nowadays than there used to be. nowadays they send drones out and kill these guys, as oppose to trying to interrogate them. >> we should be very c