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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Democratic Senators Picked for Debt Committee; Somalia Food Crisis; Rioting in Great Britain
Aired August 09, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Piers, thanks very much.
Good evening, everyone. It is 10:00 p.m. on the East Coast, 5:00 a.m. here in Mogadishu, capital of Somali, one of the most dangerous cities on earth, in a country in name only, a failed state in actuality, and perhaps an incubator for the next act of Islamic terror headed toward the West.
The warriors who inflicted the latest destruction in Mogadishu, the terrorists al Shabaab have just pulled out. But they're preventing children elsewhere in Somalia from getting desperately needed food aid -- and some of the breaking news tonight concerns these kids.
The United Nations World Food Programme, which provides the majority of nutrition aid to Somalia and to refugees in Kenya, say their supplies are running out and so is the money. They say they only have three weeks left or less -- three weeks of food supplies. Much more on that tonight.
We're going to talk to a lot of folks about the situation on the ground here in Somalia -- reporters who've been covering it for us for weeks.
We begin, though, with the breaking news out of Washington that may affect a lot of lives at home. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid becoming the first congressional leader to name members to the debt reduction super committee.
Now, they are Senators Patty Murray of Washington state, Max Baucus of Montana and John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Now, this comes at the end of a day that saw Wall Street began climbing out of the smoking hole it dropped into after Standard & Poor's lowered America's credit rating on Friday. Now, part of the reason: squabbling over the debt.
The question tonight: will this super committee end the squabbling or will they just create a whole new opportunity for it?
John King is sticking around for us tonight working his sources. Also joining us political analyst David Gergen and Gloria Borger who is joining us on the phone tonight, again, who has been working her sources.
John, what are you -- what are you hearing from folks in Washington about the names that have been given to by the Democrats for the super committee?
JOHN KING, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have the first three of the 12. They come from the Senate Democratic leader. It's very important to make clear we won't know the full composition, therefore, the chemistry of this committee, until we get the other picks in the coming days.
Tonight, Max Baucus -- he's the chairman of the Finance Committee. He's known as someone -- liberals don't like this pick -- because he's known as someone who's prepared to talk about cutting Medicare, talk about entitlement reform.
John Kerry, the former presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, Anderson, he lobbies for this spot. He is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but he wants to have a sweeping domestic achievement. He wants to raise his stature, if you will, in the United States Senate. He's also in the Finance Committee. He wanted this.
The controversial pick tonight is Senator Murray. She is a trusted lieutenant to Harry Reid in the Democratic leadership. But she has a tough dual assignment now.
She's also the chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. If you don't know what that means, she raises money for Democratic Senate candidates in the 2012 election year.
So, she's going to be raising money for candidates who are attacking the Republicans, probably for cutting Medicare, say. At the same time, she's going to be on the committee that are supposed to talk seriously and open mindedly about cutting Medicare, Social Security, whether or not to raise taxes.
So, that is the one that is drawing some fire tonight -- the choice of Senator Murray.
COOPER: David, we still haven't heard any names on the Republican side. What do you make of the three names that we've heard tonight? Will there be more just finger-pointing, blaming as we've seen over the last several days? Or do you think these three people will look at compromise, will look at all options on the table?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Anderson, all of the indications right now are there'd be some very tough fights ahead. There could easily be a stalemate in this committee.
But I must say, the Democrats generally are very supportive of Senator Reid's choices. They think they're good experienced legislators who have been willing to be bipartisan in the past. And so, there's general happiness I think on the Democratic side.
But on the Republican side, there's a view that these three -- in particular Senator Murray -- are very political. That she -- that not only will she be out there raising money, but her number one job is to protect Democrats who are up for reelection. There are 23 are up for reelection next year. She's -- you know, she worked -- she's running that operation. And that as co-chair of this committee her number one and she's very close to Harry Reid, she's going to be trying to protect that.
So, Republicans are saying, A, we think these people are too way too political and, B, we're going to put some people in there who will not raise revenues. And these people are not going to have deep cuts in entitlements.
That suggests hard fights ahead.
COOPER: Gloria, it certainly does sound like hard fights ahead.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST (via telephone): Yes, it does. And I just got an e-mail from a Republican Senate leadership aid who said to me -- the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee chair, they're running against Medicare reform over there. So, clearly, Republicans just don't think this is a great appointment.
One name that I've heard on the Republican side, Anderson, from a lot of Republicans in the Senate that keeps coming up is Senator Rob Portman of Ohio who is a former head of the Office of Management and Budget. Lots of people think including Democrats that he'd be a good balance on this committee because he knows how to reach across the aisle, and could work well with somebody like Kerry or Max Baucus, or even Patty Murray.
But I think one reason she is there also, Anderson, is to protect the liberal flank so that liberals can say, OK, she's going to look out for our interests on this committee. That may not bode well for a result, but I think that's one of the reasons she's there.
COOPER: Yes, John, certainly, I mean if both sides are going into this with thoughts of just how to protect their flanks, that doesn't really bode well at all.
John, when do we anticipate hearing more names on the committee?
KING: You know, Leader McConnell in the Senate Republican side has been home in Kentucky this week. Has said that he will appoint serious people and he will get there in the near future.
It needs to be done within about a week and a half now. They had two weeks from the president to sign the legislation. They will obviously get the speakers' picks, we'll get Leader Pelosi's picks on the Democratic side of the House.
And, Anderson, look, these are political leaders. You don't get to be speaker of the House or Democratic leader of either chamber, the leaders, without being a politician. So, we know they're going to have politicians.
The question is, for example, no one from the "gang of six" so far in the Senate. Harry Reid deciding to overpass the Democrats on the "gang of six." So, they're deliberately looking for people who are viewed as loyal to the leadership -- at least from what we've seen so far. The question is, for all the politics involved about Senator Murray, about 2012, about the Medicare issue, will they come together? Will they have a circuit breaker?
And will what has happened in recent days, the debt downgrade, the demands from the market to have a bigger, more credible deficit reduction package -- will that provide enough moral impetus, policy impetus, to overcome the very significant political divides on this committee? That remains a giant question mark even as we have the first three picks.
COOPER: Yes, it certainly does. John, David, Gloria, thanks very much.
A very busy night. A lot happening, not just here in Somalia, but also in England where we've been watching rioting and more rioting tonight in Manchester. You follow me on Twitter, @AndersonCooper. I'll try to tweet tonight although the reception here is spotty at best.
When we come back, a group known as al Shabaab, what they are doing to Somalia, and a threat that some of them might pose to United States, to Europe, the rest of the world. We'll have a lot from here.
Also tonight, the threat for kids facing starvation, facing famine in the south and even here in Mogadishu.
Also, Isha Sesay is following stories for us.
Isha, what are you covering?
ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anderson.
To you point, we are closely following the troubling news out of Great Britain. A fortnight of looting and rioting. A major fire now burning in London. Britain's (INAUDIBLE) cities also feeling the heat.
We'll bring you late coming reporting from the streets and new developments as they happen.
That and much more when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: More on our breaking news. You heard at the top of the hour we tell you that the top supplier of food aid in Somalia could be out of food in just three weeks given the current level of supplies that they have and the current level of donations in the pipeline. That means the famine here could deepen and more kids will die. Too many kids have already died -- tens of thousands. Even one is too many.
And none of it had to happen. That's the frustrating thing. None of it was preordained.
The famine, yes, it's caused by one of the worst droughts in 60 years. But it's become a catastrophe especially in southern Somalia because of a group of Islamic extremists. They're called the al Shabaab which means the youth.
And they have kicked foreign aid workers. They have kidnapped them. They have killed some. They have not allowed children to be -- to be vaccinated, to be inoculated.
So, we're seeing kids dying of measles, something that is preventable.
Take a look at this video. You're looking at rule under al Shabaab, a prelude to a beheading, a man, alleged a Christian convert. The video was posted online as a warning to others, as a boast.
Here in the capital of Mogadishu, al Shabaab has been battling against thousands of Ugandan soldiers, part of a contingent of African Union peacekeepers that were sent here in 2007.
Al Shabaab has shown terror, some of it at the hands of Somali Americans who have come here to kill.
Take a look at this. This is the work of one of them -- the aftermath of an attack reportedly by a suicide bomber from Seattle. His name was Omar Mahmoud. The bomber reportedly drove a car into an African Union base not far from where we're coming to you from tonight, killing himself and 21 peacekeepers. A building very close to where we were was blown up last year by a bomber.
Here's another bomber, blew himself up killing 29 at a United Nations base north of here. And just a couple of months ago, a Somali American named Farah Mohamed Beledi was shot and killed before he could trigger his suicide vest in an African Union checkpoint.
It is very dangerous for African Union peacekeepers. You can see the detonator on his jacket. Had he reached that, dozens might have died.
And there may be dozens more Somali American killers out there. Young men who've disappeared in the United States possibly to turn up here, training for attacks or as many experts feared future jihad back in the United States or elsewhere, here in Africa or Europe.
As for here and now, al Shabaab has deepened the crisis by expelling foreign aid workers in the south, refusing to let them work, claiming they're spies. They've even, as I said, refused to let kids be vaccinated from measles and other childhood diseases, claiming the vaccines are part of a Western plot to kill Somali children.
Now, for a long time it seems al Shabaab had the upper hand, but in just the last few days, in Mogadishu, that has suddenly changed. On Friday, al Shabaab retreated from the capital. They withdrew from the capital today as with Ugandan peacekeepers.
And as they entered they entered the city's central marketplace, a place they have fought and failed to reach for years now. A place that al Shabaab has controlled and profited -- had profited heavily from.
The battle for the market has been one of the most intense here in the last few years -- and with al Shabaab's sudden departure, the battle for now seems to have changed. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): African Union peacekeepers arrive in Mogadishu's Bakara market today in a convoy of armored vehicles. Al Shabaab fighters may have pulled out but Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda isn't taking any chances, and he doesn't want to stay long.
(on camera): In recent days you've still seen snipers?
LT. COL. PADDY ANKUNDA, ANISOM: Just last week.
COOPER: Just last week.
ANKUNDA: They're in this building.
COOPER: In this building here?
ANKUNDA: We couldn't even cross the street with our forces who are just there.
COOPER: So even though al Shabaab left there are still maybe some sort of a presence in the city of snipers, others who are in the population.
ANKUNDA: Yes, hiding within the community.
COOPER (voice-over): Shell casings littered the streets, signs of the months of fierce fighting that are taking place for control of the market.
(on camera): Why is this so important of al Shabaab, this market?
ANKUNDA: Very important because it has all the businesses, all of the money is right here.
COOPER: So they extorted money, they own businesses here. That's where they made a lot of their income?
ANKUNDA: They tax people. They're all businesses. They've extorted money. They've had a big deal here.
COOPER: Why do you think they left?
ANKUNDA: I mean they left because they couldn't stand and fight. We are pushing them to the wall. And they thought they had to preserve their lives and go away.
COOPER: Do you worry they're going to come back, though?
ANKUNDA: Well, I don't think they can easily get into Mogadishu once again. But we need more troops. The area has become too large. But if we don't get troops, there are going to be gaps, no doubt.
COOPER: And they can -- even if they don't come back in force, they can still come back with suicide bombers.
ANKUNDA: Yes. We're going to see more of, I mean, visible fronts where they're going to use more suicide bombing, kidnapping and assassinations.
COOPER: That's what you think is the future here?
ANKUNDA: Absolutely.
COOPER (voice-over): The African Union peacekeepers say they now control about 90 percent of Mogadishu, but they rarely go out on foot patrol and they're stretched very thin.
(on camera): Al Shabaab may be gone but they haven't been defeated. They still control large parts of southern Somalia. And they say they're going to return to the city. They say they were just making a tactical retreat.
The African Union peacekeepers are very confident. They say there's no way they're going to be able to get back in the city.
But you talk to other people here, you talked to residents in Mogadishu, and they're not so sure. There's only about 9,000 African Union peacekeepers. There's no way they can occupy the entire city and protect the entire city if al Shabaab decides to return. So the future of Mogadishu is still very much in doubt.
(voice-over): For more than a year, the peacekeepers have been asking for 11,000 additional troops, as well as air and sea support. But so far, they haven't received any additional resources.
(on camera): You think there's an opportunity for the international community to rebuild Mogadishu now, and to move quickly to solidify again?
ANKUNDA: Yes. The time is now or never. The world has the opportunity today to restore the state of Somalia. If that is not done now, then the Al-Shabaab are going to rebuild themselves and come back.
COOPER: So there's an opportunity right now. Time is short?
ANKUNDA: Absolutely.
COOPER (voice-over): After about 30 minutes in Bakara market, the peacekeepers decide it's time to leave. They want to return to the relative safety of their base. Night is coming.
Despite the gains of the past few days, Mogadishu is still a very dangerous place.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: I'm joined now by CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen and also a CNN correspondent Nima Elbagir who has spent a lot of time here in Mogadishu.
You've been here now for a couple of weeks, right?
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes.
COOPER: Before we talk about al Shabaab, and you were caught in a firefight with al Shabaab just last week, I want to talk about the food situation. You talked to people from the World Food Program who are saying they are running out of food.
ELBAGIR: They have less than a month.
COOPER: Less than a month of food supplies.
ELBAGIR: They have less -- if the donations remain as they are -- I mean, we're talking about a huge shortfall, over $500 million for the whole of the Horn of Africa. And people just aren't delivering on that pledges -- in addition to people who aren't even pledging in the first place.
COOPER: It's an extraordinary difficult situation. It's now compounded with the situation of al Shabaab which is actually probably the best news that's occurred here, al Shabaab leaving on Friday.
You were, as I said, in a firefight with al Shabaab just last week. You were caught in the middle between African Union peacekeepers and Al-Shabaab. What was that like? What were they like as fighters?
ELBAGIR: I wouldn't say they're incredible competent. You know I've been on the other side of that front line, on the al Shabaab side. And the strength of al Shabaab has always been that their strength comes just from the fact that they hold territory, that they have a presence here.
And so, that brings in foreign fighters from other territories like -- they used to come from Iraq, they come from Afghanistan. And it's that training that has helped them.
COOPER: And there are now great divisions within al Shabaab and that may be behind why they've left.
ELBAGIR: There's a huge issue over this allowing in foreign aid groups and the way that it's really eroded their grassroots support. And there are actually some al Shabaab leaders who are saying, does it matter if these aid is coming in from Christian countries, our people are dying. And there are other al Shabaab leaders who believe we will never accept "crusader aid," as they take it.
And so, they're fighting amongst themselves and they -- and that's also splitting the resources that are coming in to them.
COOPER: It's interesting, Peter. It's almost the same mistake and error that al Shabaab in Iraq made of once they're actually in power -- people begin to see how extreme they are and how unpleasant it is to live under them.
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, it seems to be encoded in the sort of DNA of these jihadist militant groups that when they actually control population and control territory, they impose Taliban-like policies on the population which eventually leads to their downfall.
COOPER: And in terms of what they were doing to people -- I mean, they have this strict interpretation of Sharia law. They were beheading people, public executions, public torture in some cases, stonings. They're draconian to say the least.
ELBAGIR: I mean, it went beyond draconian. Some of it was just completely insane. They have these little triangular pastries called samosas.
COOPER: Right. Samosas are everywhere in East Africa. It's a common dish.
ELBAGIR: This was (INAUDIBLE) al Shabaab banned them. They said that that's half of the crucifix. So nobody -- I mean, these people don't have any food. And what little food they can scrounge up al Shabaab is saying no. We're even going to get involved in how you run your kitchens now.
COOPER: Peter, it's interesting because a number of Americans, not all Somali nationals, but a number of Americans have actually joined Al-Shabaab and become suicide fighters here.
BERGEN: Yes. The first American suicide attacker in history was -- Anderson, was somebody who killed himself in Somalia and I think, Anderson, in term of a threat to the United States or Europe, because of the very high death rates these fighters have in Somalia, I don't think -- I don't see them as being a big threat.
But you can certainly see that al Shabaab has attacked in Uganda. They've also tried to kill a Danish cartoonist in Denmark in the last year or so. So they've shown some ability to do out-of-area operations and quite an ability to attract both Americans and Europeans to come and fight in Somalia.
COOPER: In terms of dangers from al Shabaab, I mean, the concern now is that even if they don't come back en masse into this city which they could very well do despite the kind of bravado of some of the peacekeepers here saying there's no way that can happen, they could also just come back in in big numbers in terms of suicide attacks.
There was a suicide bombing in the location we're at just a few hundred feet away from where we're standing last year.
ELBAGIR: Yes, absolutely. I mean, that is the huge concern, is that they will disrupt any attempt to bring about any normality to people's lives.
COOPER: Do you think they'll come back here?
ELBAGIR: I think they're going to give it a good thought. You know they still have a lot of support out in the regions.
COOPER: And they're still in control of the south.
ELBAGIR: Yes. I think what people forget is there's nothing for these young men here. You know, the only thing that an entire generation, 21 years without a government of people in Somalia have known is anarchy. And they have a sense that the world has forgotten about them. And if this is the only way that they remind the world of their existence, then this is the only option for them.
COOPER: It's an extraordinary situation.
Nima, appreciate your reporting. We'll talk to you again tomorrow night.
Peter Bergen, as well. Thank you, Peter.
BERGEN: Thanks, guys.
COOPER: Isn't Nima great? I think she's a great CNN correspondent.
When we come back, the medical crisis at the world's largest refugee camp to our south in Kenya. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on the race to save the lives of kids there.
We're also going to talk to supermodel Iman who was born here in Somalia and Mogadishu. Her perspective as an ambassador for Save the Children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAN, AMBASSADOR, SAVE THE CHILDREN: To hear about this population of orphans and the children, millions of them dying is beyond heartbreaking, and especially as a mother.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Actually four people living here, her mom and her three kids. It's a very small space -- it's maybe 5 1/2 to 6 feet in diameter. And all they have is in this old space.
They said they have an old cooking pot, a spoon, a few bowls, a jug that holds water that they got from UNHCR. They have some -- a few plates, piled clothes, and some plastic mats to try to keep the dirt out.
But it's not much but this family feels lucky to be here. They arrived about a month ago and they're still waiting to find a more permanent settlement inside the camp.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: So many Somalis are on the move. So many Somalis are on the move all across this country. A hundred thousand have arrived here in Mogadishu. Nearly half a million are in a refugee camp along the border with Kenya where we are -- where we were yesterday.
The World Food Programme is a crucial lifeline, obviously, and our breaking news tonight a grim warning. The World Food Programme is saying that its funding and food may run out in three weeks or less.
These kids don't have time to spare. Many are on the verge of death right now. Tens of thousands have already died.
Here's what chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta found in Kenya, the Dadaab camp, today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the middle of the famine, the sickest of the sick come here.
Like Ahmed (ph). He's 6 years old and he spent 10 days walking under the east Africa sun. His tiny prone body robbed of nutrition for too long. His doctor can only hope he arrived in time.
(on camera): What happens to a child like this if you weren't here? If he wasn't at this facility?
DR. HUMPHREY MUSYOKA, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: This child probably in a few weeks or so, we'll have lost this child.
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: Yes. We would lose this child.
MUSYOKA: Yes, we'll lose this child.
GUPTA: You know when the doctor talks about death by starvation, I can tell you, it's neither quick nor it's painless. When you come to a place like this, you see it just about everywhere. You can hear it sometimes as well. You can also smell it, it's in the air. It's an acrid sweetness that is a reflection of the body literally starting to digest itself.
(voice-over): Little kids like Ahmed simply stopped growing. They become stunted in time. And the tools to save him are basic. It's not like they have much choice, but they do work.
(on camera): I want to show you something else that I think is very important here and this is what doctors use. A simple measuring device to try and determine if the kid needs acute medical care. You can tell if the kid is malnourished simply by using this.
This is Ion (ph), she's 8 months old. You simply take this, you put around her arm, about 10 centimeters down from her shoulder, and the measure -- let's measure this. And if the number comes back below 11, that means the kid is in real trouble. In Ion's case, you can see here the number is actually about 9.5. That's part of the reason she's getting these feedings through an NG- tube into her nose.
(voice-over): Ahmed's was 10.5. One in five kids will not survive with a reading that low.
It's grim duty for Dr. Musyoka, the only doctor caring for all these children.
(on camera): I have three kids, you have a 5-year-old.
MUSYOKA: Yes.
GUPTA: How do you -- how do you it? I mean how do you -- how do you see these kids who are suffering so much?
MUSYOKA: It's difficult. Especially the kind of suffering they're going through and the kinds of things when dealing with kids. But what keeps you going is that you have to come back and do something good for them -- for them to survive.
GUPTA (voice-over): Ahmed was one of the estimated 600,000 kids on the brink of death by starvation. But today that may have changed. Ahmed may have been saved. He made it here just in time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Sanjay and David McKenzie join me now.
Sanjay, 600,000 kids on the brink of death by starvation. I mean, it's hard to wrap your mind around. This is the kind of thing that doesn't make headlines anymore. That should be a headline in every paper around the world. Six hundred thousand kids on the brink of starvation.
And as, you know, what I learned from that piece and what we've seen in hospitals as well is it is an extraordinary brutal way for children to die.
GUPTA: Yes, I mean there's not dignified way, I think, to talk about this, Anderson. But when you talk about someone starving to death -- I mean, you're literally talking about use various fuel sources within the body, the liver, the fatty tissue, and when that exhausted, the muscle, the protein from the muscle.
It's a sheer wasting away. It is neither quick nor is it painless. And it's hard to just talk about. But you're absolutely right, it is brutal.
And that's what this doctor and several other doctors, frankly, are trying to combat now. But they've been trying to do this for a long time, Anderson.
COOPER: And David, right before as we came in, we showed me kind of giving a tour of a hut. That's a hut in Dadaab on the outskirts of the camp. There's such a backlog of such -- such large numbers of refugees that have come to the camp where you are right now, they can't fit in the camp.
They're now living on the outskirts. They don't have running water. They don't even have latrines built. So, there's the fear of even if you arrive in the camp and you're alive and not malnourished, if you're living on the outskirts, you could succumb to diseases like cholera and other things?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The basic elements here are -- the major point here is that people, you know, they don't enough to eat. They're wasting away the children, but then there's also things like shelter, water and sanitation, things that can spark disease in these camps.
Now, the UNHCR is trying to push people out of the extended areas of the camp, the outskirts and move them to tented cities, at an area today where 15,000 people have move in the last week. They've been brought out of these outskirts, Anderson, and they're getting registered at these tents and then moving over to these camps.
These camps are not great places that have the water and the help, but they will be getting it soon. There's a place where the hospital, the school, with everything here and politics have gotten in the way.
The Kenyan government didn't want the refugees to move in there even though it's been ready since November. And now, people are moving into these tented camps. It's pretty desperate.
GUPTA: It's just sitting empty.
MCKENZIE: It's empty.
GUPTA: Yes.
COOPER: You know, Sanjay, we focus, of course -- yes, that's -- unbelievable, they've had this empty camp that they put in. I think they built it for like $20 million. It's just been sitting there empty because the Kenyan government wouldn't allow people, the desperately ill people to move in there.
Sanjay, we focus a lot on, you know, the kids who are battling for their lives and who often succumb. But even the children who survived, long-term effects -- and what are the long-term effects of prolonged drought, food shortages, malnutrition on kids who survived?
GUPTA: That's a great question because I think obviously and for good reason, there's a lot of focus on the acute needs here, trying to get kids fed appropriately. You don't want to just give large high- calorie meals. You've got to do it right. You want to give fluids judiciously.
But you're absolutely right. There's been lot of new studies, Anderson, I was just looking at, that show that kids who go through this chronic deprivation of food and malnourishment can have long-term effects on the brain. The brains actually shrink and I think most alarming about than study and I think another rallying cry to not to let it happen in the first place is that brain shrinkage really doesn't seem to get better after the food is reintroduced.
So this is something that kids live for a long time with and that effect on the brain -- I mean, that obviously can last their entire lives. The exact -- you know, the consequences of that are still not clear -- not completely known, but just think about that. This period of their life is so important for their brain development, and they're just not getting the nutrients and the food that they need.
COOPER: Right. We're looking at an entire new generation of kids here whose lives will be forever changed in many cases.
Sanjay Gupta, David McKenzie, appreciate your reporting. We'll talk to you tomorrow night.
Still ahead: my interview with supermodel Iman. She was born here in Somalia from Mogadishu. We'll talk to her about what's going on here.
Also ahead: breaking news in London where 16,000 police officers are on the streets trying to put an end to the violent riots. Well, the problem is not just in London, it is in Manchester.
We have a report from a reporter on the ground there. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: There's so much happening tonight. We turn now to the breaking news in Great Britain.
Take a look at this. Areas of some of the destruction we have seen. This is London. It looks like London during the Second World War, but it is not.
These burned out homes. These fire bombed buildings are London today after three days of rioting. The city is calmer tonight.
We should point that out, but the violence seems to be spreading north to Manchester, which is Britain's second largest city.
A store set on fire in the center of town. Another building torched outside in the suburb. Reports of a police station set a blazed in Nottingham. Scattered violence reported all across England.
But London has taken the worst of it. There's no doubt about that. It began, of course, on Saturday after the shooting death of a 29- year-old black man last week. Rampaging mobs, mostly young, with no clear agenda beyond venting their anger and sowing chaos.
These pictures now iconic from a building in the London suburb of Croydon. The woman inside trapped by the fire with only one way out. She jumped. She was caught. The building -- the building went up in flames. Those that didn't burn were vandalized, looted.
Those doing the looting also went after reporters and camera crews. The BBC reporting a crew confronted tonight outside of Manchester.
Late last night in London, it was CNN's Dan Rivers. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They decided, right, we're going to hold that line behind us. We have to move. Well -- if you can still hear me. We're having a few bottles thrown at us. We're OK though. We're OK.
Yes. I mean, that's the danger. You know, as soon as people stray down this road, it erupts in violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And when the violence stops, some people who fell victim are victimized yet again. I want to show you a moment that was posted on YouTube of a beating victim and the people who were pretending to help him. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're actually helping him up. Oh, my God! They're going through his bag. He just took something from his bag.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Just sickening. As we said, London is quieter tonight. That's the good news. They put 10,000 more police on the streets today. The police have been a lot more aggressive on the streets.
Vacations have been cancelled. A big soccer match called off to free up officers. Hundreds of people have been arrested. The jails, they are filling up.
Britain's prime minister returning from vacation, calling back parliament, promising to get tough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: These are sickening scenes, scenes of people looting, vandalizing, thieving, robbing, scenes of people attacking police officers and even attacking fire crews as they're trying to put out fires. This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: ITN Stephen Douglas is in Manchester tonight. I spoke to him just moments before air time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Stephen, what's the latest in Manchester?
STEPHEN DOUGLAS, ITN REPORTER (via telephone): Well, the riots going on in the U.K. for the last few days are well and truly spread outside of the capital now. The Manchester police say that this is the worst kind of violence like this that they've seen in more than 30 years.
Let's me just take you through what we've witnessed tonight. This started on the outskirts of the city, looting. The policemen came in after that. Running battles happened between the police and large groups of youth who then proceeded to force the police back, smashed their way into the shop. That shop is on fire.
And we're talking about big shops here, big department stores. They're not being spread into the center of Manchester when a lot of these youths are getting together using social networking sites or just talking to each other on the streets, came in to the center of Manchester and started attacking big department stores there or having a running battle with the police there.
But what has to be said, what stands out was this is rioting and violence without any particular message. It was really rising violence for the sake of trying to -- trying to loot, trying to steal and it appears that just trying to attack the police.
COOPER: So you're saying at one point, police were kind of pushed back. Are they in control right now in Manchester?
DOUGLAS: I would say they're in control now, but it's taken them about seven hours to get there. At one point, confronted, they just abandoned the area. It's really been described as lawless.
There were fires everywhere, people going to shops, taking things as they wanted. Not being stopped. It really took quite some time for the police to get it under control.
COOPER: How many -- had Manchester bolstered their numbers of police as it happened in London? Because we heard all day about how in London they were going to be bolstering the number of police?
DOUGLAS: Well, this was -- this is quite an interesting point, because greater Manchester police actually linked the officers to the Metropolitan Police in London preparing for potential riots there in London tonight.
So, clearly, there were questions tonight directed to the Greater Manchester police that the scene might have been predicted potentially that violence might stir up here. Why did one of biggest forces in the country outside of London weaken its force, if you like? Why wasn't it full strength prepared for what's been happening, to be honest, in a lot of other places across the country?
COOPER: And we'll see what happens tomorrow there.
Stephen Douglas of ITN -- thank you so much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Back to Anderson in a moment.
First, the 360 news and business bulletin.
A major rebound for U.S. stocks. The Dow closed above 11,000, adding 430 points or 4 percent. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 also up sharply. The rallies came after the Federal Reserve said it plans to keep interest rates exceptionally low until at least 2013 due to the weak economy.
At Dover Air Force Base, President Obama met two military planes carrying the remains of 30 U.S. service members killed when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. Twenty two were Navy SEALs.
A Texas jury sentenced polygamous leader Warren Jeffs to life in prison plus 20 years for sexually assaulting two girls he claimed were his spiritual wives. Their ages: 12 and 14. Jeffs who is 55 will serve at least 45 years behind bars before he's eligible for release.
The 360 follow: ocean swell, shoulder pain, and asthma forced Diana Nyad to end her quest to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the shark cage. The 61-year-old endurance athlete stopped halfway through the 103-mile swim, 29 hours off starting out.
That's the latest. Now, back to Anderson in Mogadishu, Somalia.
COOPER: Up next, the big 360 interview with Iman, the world famous supermodel born in Somalia. She's concerned the world is not doing enough to end the suffering of the Somalis here. We'll talk to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAN: It's heartbreaking for more ways than one. This is a catastrophe that was preventable, but it is not, not salvageable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: More with our breaking news tonight. As we reported earlier in the program, the primary relief agency feeding the people in Somalia, the World Food Programme, they're running out of food and money.
World Food Programme, the WFP, says that today, that they're just going to run in to trouble in about three weeks.
But let's look at the basic cost to feed hungry kids and adults. For example, Plumpy nut, which is a nutritious peanut paste made of peanuts and milk powder.
An amazing source of food for starving kids. It can literally bring kids back from the brink of death. It cost about $1 per day per person. These high-energy biscuits and nutrients are only 12 cents per packet.
One woman who's not only concerned about what's happening in Somalia, but also angry frankly is the former supermodel Iman who is born here. She's also an ambassador for Save the Children. In an article published Sunday in a British newspaper, Iman called on governments around the world to give money to relief organizations before this catastrophe wipes out an entire generation of Somalis. Iman is our big 360 interview tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So, Iman, you're born in Somalia. What is it like for you to see the images and know what's happening there?
IMAN, AMBASSADOR FOR SAVE THE CHILDREN: It's heartbreaking for more ways than one. And this recent one is that I was in 1992 in Somalia. I made a BBC documentary on that famine. So, for me to hear about this famine so early, it is heartbreaking, really heartbreaking.
And the images are even more disturbing than the last one, but I don't want to belittle it, but the last one, 250,000 people died when we have already over exceeded that. And my fear really is about the children because we're hearing that 1 million children, Somali children are at stake in losing their lives.
COOPER: The other thing that's so frustrating and angering about this is that this was preventable. It's wasn't as if this was a complete surprise, people have been talking about the drought for many, many months -- about the possibility of famine and the possibility of a malnutrition crisis. And yet, it's not until we start to see the pictures that people really start to mobilize and donate money.
IMAN: I want people to understand how this works. Because in 1992, when I was there for the last famine, everybody, all the NGOs on the ground were talking consistently about how that there should be warning signs, safety nets, be put in place so this doesn't happen again.
So, when I hear that the warning signs of the drought were actually predicted and registered in November last year, but t he warning signs did not bring really urgent actions.
COOPER: And rains will not be coming for several more months. They say this is the worst drought in 60 years. On top of it, the areas where famine has been declared in the south are basically no go areas.
Foreign aid workers fled from those areas long ago because of al Shabaab kicking them out saying foreign aid workers were spies and were trying to kill Somali children by trying to do vaccinations.
So there are many things that have compounded this. But to know that people saw this coming and yet weren't able to mobilize world attention and I guess the media plays a role in all of that -- what do you want the world to know now? What do you want people to think about as they hear about Somalia and as they hear about what's happening here?
IMAN: What I really would like to see is that the United Nations, the international community, the Arab world to step up and really start thinking about the food -- the need of food because that is the urgency of it now.
But also, what I would like people to know and want the international community to really think about is that the long term. I want the communities to be able to be able to feed themselves. I want people to be able to help local communities so that they become self- sufficient so there's not this food aid on a constant basis.
But also more importantly, as you said, regardless of the conflict and regardless of the political issue that's happening in Somalia -- what's happening for a fact -- for a fact -- that it is a humanitarian catastrophe, and this famine will be remembered as a famine that has destroyed generations of children.
We have -- I think we have are in a place now that we can actually turn it around. And nobody knows this more than you, Anderson, because you are right there on the ground, is that there's a generation of children that will be wiped out.
And what I want people to understand, this is a catastrophe that was preventable, but it is not, not salvageable.
COOPER: Iman, I appreciate you coming on tonight. Thank you so much.
IMAN: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: You can see my entire interview with Iman on our web site, AC360.com. You can find information on how to help people suffering in this famine if you would like to, AC360.com.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And welcome back. We're live in Mogadishu.
There's -- this is one of the most strangest cities on earth. This is what a city looks like after 21 years of fighting, of war. This catastrophe, this crisis that's occurring here.
It was a crisis because of the drought, the 60 -- the worst drought in 60 years. But it's become a catastrophe because of al Shabaab, this terrorist group, which has battled for control of the country since 2007. They still control the south of the country.
Here in Mogadishu, they have just left. And that presents an opportunity for the Afghan Union peacekeepers here, for the people here to change -- to finally change the future of this country.
I was here in 1992, at the last famine. I was in a town called Baidoa where about 100 people were dying every day from malnutrition and from fighting.
Here's some of what I saw back then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: This is Baidoa, city in Somalia. It's one of the hardest hit by both civil war and starvation.
To call it a city isn't really accurate. It's kind of like a Wild West town. There is no law. There is no order, power comes from the gun. And the problem is that everyone in Baidoa has a gun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And that was me 20 years ago. In some ways, the situation now is very much the same as it was back then. We'll be live from Mogadishu tomorrow. Tonight, I hope you join us at 8:00 o'clock on 360 and at 10:00 Eastern.
"JOHN KING, USA" starts now.
