hong kong. the new york police department says it is taking additional precautions after the new threat tied to the 9/11 anniversary this weekend. it includes more staffing, more bomb-sniffing dogs and checkpoints across the city. the critical final report on the death of this iraqi civilian in british military custody was released on thursday. the inquiry found baja mussa was brutally beaten and possibly kicked to death to british troops while he was restrained. he was being held as a suspected insurgent in iraq. interpol has been asked to issue an urgent notice for the arrest of moammar gadhafi. he's wanted for alleged crimes against humanity. much of normal life has been shut down in the southwestern united states. a million people are in the dark in the states of california and arizona and across the border in mexico. authorities are scrambling to restore electric service and have not yet found the cause of the power outages. traffic signals, airports and trains and water filtration plants have all been affected. authorities are asking people to boil their drinking water, limit mobile phone use and stay off the roads. and those are the headlines from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm kristie lu stout. "world business today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. and a very good afternoon from cnn tokyo, i'm andrew stevens. welcome to "world business today." the top stories this friday, september 9th. president obama announced a $400 billion stimulus planned but there's a lackluster response from global investors. and the rugby world cup is about to begin after a rough start. can it kick start new zealand's economy? and six months after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in japan, we're live in tokyo looking at how life has changed for the people here. this morning, revised figures show the economy shrank more than economists first thought in the second quarter of the year, the three months to june. even before the disasters, japan was battling the effects of a global slowdown as well as a strong yen. latter in the show we'll be looking at the prospects of young graduates as well and see how the quake has affected the expatriate community, especially here in tokyo. >> a jam-packed show for you here this friday. first, let's take a check on the european markets. this is where they stand a little over an hour into today's trading. it looks as though investors don't think much of president barack obama's $447 million stimulus plan to put americans back to work. we'll have more on that in a moment's time. these markets firmly in the red and it is the cac 40 leading the charge down, already 1.3% despite comments made by the u.s. federal reserve head ben bernanke, speaking overnight in the united states, the u.s. state of minnesota, saying that the fed has plenty of tools but, again, not enough concrete action, not enough concrete words there for investors this friday. andrew? >> that's right. he said exactly the same thing not that long ago. people are looking for a few more details from ben bernanke, not prepared to give them the moment. that sparked a sell-off in new york. in japan, the nikkei down 0.63, the hang seng in hong kong, down about one quarter. the shanghai composite ended virtually flat. the monetary policy tightening does appear to be working. inflation in china slower in august from july's three-year high and that's boosting hopes that beijing will be able to refrain from more tightening measures. now inflation was down to .2%. that's down from 6.5% in earlier months. but that's still well above the government's target of 4%. and in new zealand, the mood there is one of excitement and anticipation ahead of the rugby world cup which kicks off in less than half an hour from now. not only rugby fans are in high spirits. take a look at the investment community as well, the country's stock index ending 0.5%. they can do a full day's work and then watch rug boeh as well. >> plenty of people here in the united kingdom will be watching that as well, andrew. to wall street where the three major indices finished lower, the dow jones industrial average dropping a little more than 1% at the close. same with the s&p 500. the broader index and the nasdaq was down about 0.75%. andrew? let's take a look nina at the big story today. the u.s. president barack obama laying out tax cuts and spending to try to stoke the american job market. he's asking for $253 billion in tax cuts by reducing payroll taxes and offering tax credits to firms that hire workers who have been unemployed for more than eight months. the president is proposing as well $194 billion in spending on things ranging from infrastructure improvements to extension of unemployment ben fitz. that 253 billion in tax cuts plus the 194 in spending adds up to a grand total of $447 billion. that is the price tag for this jobs proposal. the president says he will ask the new debt super committee to find ways to offset that cost, in addition to the $1.5 trillion debt reduction the committee was already tasked with. the plan from the president has already taken criticism from members of the republican party. the president contends, though, that the plan has something in it for everyone, including helping businesses but only if congress passes the legislation as he says, right away. >> now it's time to clear the way for a series of trade agreements that would make it easier for american companies to sell their products in panama and columbia and south korea while also helping the workers whose jobs have been affected by global competition. if americans can buy kias and hyundais, i want to see folks in south korea driving fords and chef viz and kris lerz. i want to see more products sold around the world stamped with the three proud words made in america. that's what we need to get done. >> exports and jobs very much a theme there. the president presenting that plan after the stock exchanges closing for trading. u.s. markets look set for a slightly higher open when trading begins later this day. this is where the futures currently stand. as you can see, not a lot of action certainly in the s&p. the nasdaq up 0.3%, the dow 0.3%. these numbers can swing wildly before the dow opening bell actually rings. >> we have a few hours to this. let's talk about something that is coming up a little bit closer now and it's one of these sporting events that andrew was eluding to before. in about 20 minutes, the 2011 rugby world cup kicks off in new zealand, hoping to end a 24-hour wait to lift the cup. they play the first match against tonga. 20 teams will battle it out for making a shot to make it to the final. the wealth of talent and the backing of the crowd, they're seen as the hot favorites to lift the trophy for the first time since 1987. it's not just six weeks of compelling action that the tournament brings to new zealand, though, the reserve bank of new zealand reckons that the tournament will probably bring in 95,000 fans. and it's their spending money that's our big number for today. the bank reckons visitors will probably add $585 million to new zealand's total economy. that's equal to about 1.4% of the country's quarterly gdp. andrew? >> you have to think there's going to be a huge feel-good boost, too, if they are the favorites, obviously win this tournament. it's going to be a long six weeks for a lost new zealanders. it's been a tough year for new zealand. there was the christchurch earthquake, now the economic slowdown. earlier this week i spoke to martin sniden, the ceo of the rugby world cup. i asked him how important the tournament is to the country's economy? >> i think it is pretty useful. it has been a difficult year for new zealand, not just in an economic sense but also because of the earthquakes in christchurch and a major mining disaster in the south of ireland. new zealand hey been down in the dumps for a will the of those last few months. i think people are ready to have a party and i think people are in the right mood and ready to go. i think economically, it is pretty important that the rugby world cup gi gives our economy a bit of a boost at this time. >> what do you estimate that you are going to make as far as money is concerned from the cup? is it beginning to be a big winfall for you or after you take out the cost of staging it not that much? >> there's been a number of economic analysis done. you can probably argue this plenty of different ways. essentially, the impact on new zealand's gdp looks like being about 500 million new zealand dollars, which is not insignificant and will be welcome in the current economic climate. >> the all blacks are the team to beat right new. do you think the locals will really open up their wallets for this one? >> they are. they've been buying tickets hand over fist. we're about 92%, 93% of where we need to do in terms of ticket sales. we'll gather in the rest of those over the next few days and once the tournament itself starts. >> rugby fans come in all shapes and sizes but there is a healthy contingent of business people who follow rugby. are you trying to capitalize on those people coming to new zealand. >> there are business leveraging programs that have been established. one of the initiatives is to try and link people who are coming to new zealand as rugby world cup fans but who are in businesses who have interests in new zealand, linking those people with businessmen in new zealand who will be able to capitalize on this initiative. that's a theory that seems good. >> one of the complaints that came from the fifa football world cup in south africa was that too much money went back to fi fifa, not enough went into south africa. have you managed to avoid that sort of problem? or do you expect to be able to manage that sort of a problem with this tournament? >> the mod that'll we operate under is a difficult one for a country as small as new zealand. we're anticipating in terms of running the tournament itself that we'll be running it at a loss of new zealand dollars about $40 million. and that we pay a very sigs rights fee to the international rugby board for the privilege of hosting the event. but i think it's generally accepted in new zealand that a cost of $40 million is not really a loss. in fact, it's a pretty good investment in new zealand because of the size of this tournament, the international stature of it and the profile opportunity that it gives our country on an international stage. i think we're comfortable that it's a worthwhile investment. excited about the rugby world cup? cnn invites you to be part of our global coverage. check out cnn.com/worldsport to see the challenge we've issued to rugby fans everywhere. rugby coral cup crossbar challenge. to celebrate the rugby world cup in new zealand, we're asking you to send in a video of yourself kicking the rugby ball, not through the post but against the crossbar if you can. tell white house you are, where you're from in the world and which team you support. thanks to london irish for letting us use the facilities for the day. here's my attempt at the kick. a little bit high and wide. i suspected that. send in your video for the rugby world cup crossbar challenge. >> i'm steve shingler from london irish. ally made them go . neutrogena skin clearing makeup has our proven blemish fighting formula so it clears your breakouts. now that's beautiful. neutrogena®. who need now that's beautiful. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. oh, you want to touch it? 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[ female announcer ] there was a time when poker night... was what you looked forward to all week. - oh, wow! cool! cool! - whoa! so who'd have ever thought boys night out... wouldn't hold a candle to boys night in? having a baby changes everything. hello and welcome back. live from cnn london in tokyo, you're watching "world business today." >> before the march 11 earthquake, tsunami and beginning of the nuclear crisis, japan was already experiencing a gradual exodus of educated, international business people. but in the months after the quake, around 250,000 executives moved away. as kyung lah now reports, the trend rye flekts a major shift that has some japanese economists worried. >> reporter: jacob goldstein is 15 months old. he spent nearly half of his short life living with disaster. first the earthquakes from the initial 9.0 quake to aftershocks still rattling the country. and then a nuclear crisis that's spewing radiation and still months from a cold shutdown. his american parents decided six months of a post-disaster japan was enough. >> you're nervous. you don't want to drink the water, eat the food. whether they say it's okay to eat it or drink it, we have to make that decision for ourselves. >> reporter: when jonathan goldstein, the director of a global recruitment consulting firm got a job offer in fast-growing china, the choice was an easy one. they're leaving japan. >> we were really considering leaving anyway. i think with the earthquake it sped up the process. >> reporter: an estimated 250,000 foreigners left japan in the immediate wake of the earthquake and nuclear crisis. thousands more lined up at immigration bureaus for exit paperwork from the country. but what's concerning to tokyo as a global city for business and to japan's sputtering economy is a loss of families like the goldsteins, international, educated professionals working for multinational corporations. japan's government doesn't keep official records of how many international professionals have left the country permanently but agencies servicing american and europeans along with international experts in tokyo say the trend is clear. >> i've been almost -- i'd be willing to shay shocked by the number of people who have left. >> reporter: asian hedge fund investment specialist ed rogers has lived in japan for more than two decades. he's seen a slow move out of japan for years but post-disaster, foreign companies are rapidly shifting workers to other asian hubs, hong kong, seoul, singapore and shanghai. >> we've seen a seismic change in attitude as far as foreign firms becoming much more aware you're investing into japan. >> reporter: do you think the pendulum will swing back? >> i do. in the long term, we think you simply can't ignore the fact that this is the world's second largest developed economy. >> good boy. >> reporter: perhaps the best news for the country's international prognosis is this -- >> do you think that tokyo status as a global city is beginning to be changed forever? >> i don't think forever. i would consider coming back, definitely. >> reporter: part of the growing pains and recovery process for a country still grappling with multiple disasters. kyung lah, cnn, tokyo. i have to say, nina, walking around tokyo for the last couple days, what does still strike you is the number of expats you do see here. there may have been a brain but there's still a lot here. i guess the competition is also going to increase. shanghai, particularly, hong kong, kyung lah mentioned singapore and india. these are the financial centers particularly that international banks and businesses want to get their toes into the water there. >> okay, andrew, going from tokyo and shanghai to new york now. in the years that followed 9/11, many people thought the only appropriate option for the world trade center site was a memorial. but one man had a different vision, a dream that it could once again be a thriving business hub. we'll hear from him after this break. [ hayden ] what if there was a makeup that didn't just hide your breakouts... but actually made them go away. neutrogena skin clearing makeup has our proven blemish fighting formula so it clears your breakouts. now that's beautiful. neutrogena®. i am an american. i am an american. i am an american. i am an american. i... i... i... i am... ...an american. i am an american. i am american. i am an american. voice: i'm an american. voice: i'm an american. voice: i am an american. voice: i am an american. voice: i am an american. i am an american. i am an american. officials in the united states say that they've uncovered a new terrorism threat. they say it's specific and credible but unconfirmed. the threat comes just days before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. officials say that they believe the plot involves three individuals, including a u.s. citizen who may be using vehicles loaded with explosives. they say that new york and washington are possible targets. new york mayor michael bloomberg says his city is on high alert but he doesn't want people to panic. >> the threat at this moment has not been corroborated. i want to stress that. it is credible but it has not been corroborated. but we do live in a world where we must take these threats seriously and we certainly will. >> mayor bloomberg there. new york's new world trade center is finally beginning to take shape but in a tough economy can the area survive as a business district? cnn's maggie lake spoke with world trade center developer larry silverstein. >> reporter: in the months that followed the september 11th attack very few people thought that this site could or should be anything other than a memorial. one man, real estate developer larry silverstein believed almost from the beginning that this patch of downtown manhattan could once again be a thriving business district. >> you know, maggie, i never thought -- i never lost faith. yes, very complicated. extremely difficult. enormously challenging, enough challenges for ten lifetimes, not just one. but i resolved at the very beginning that this needed to be done and considering the fact that i had all these obligations that i assumed when i bought the lease for the trade center, since i had the obligation, i said, okay, let's get on with it and let's do it. i just never dreamt it was going to take as long as it did and be as complicated as it turned out to be. the good news is, here we are and by golly it's going forward and the fruits of our labors are just beginning to show and it's very exciting. you look back and you say, okay, maybe this took too long, this took too long. you can point to some government officials and say, they did a good job with that. >> this is an animation of what the entire site is to look like when it's finished. silverstein properties own 7 world trade center and buildings 2, 3 and 4. one world trade center was handed back to the port authority as part of a compromise. has the dialogue changed now that people see these buildings and see the workers coming in? >> they wouldn't talk to us a year or two years ago because we had no credibility. suddenly our credibility is here. they look at this and say oh, my god, look what's happening. it's a different world. therefore, i'm positive and thankful. >> reporter: we're on the 15th floor of four world trade center, this is obviously still being constructed. when this entire complex is complete, it will be millions of square feet to rent. the economy is weak right now. what are your forecast for occupancy? are you confident you'll be able to fill all these buildings? >> happily. i've been around for a long time. i've been able to see these things, these cycles, up down, up down be, up down. you build these things for many generations to come. this is a