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U.S. Default Averted; Interview With Missouri Senator Roy Blunt; Pie in Face Equals Six Weeks in Jail; Terrorists Force People to Starve; Millions Face Starvation in Somalia; Default Averted; Surprise on Capitol Hill; Eleven Heat Related Deaths in Oklahoma; Twelve Percent of Country in Extreme Drought; Piece of Space Shuttle Found; Trending: Borderline Personality Disorder
Aired August 02, 2011 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to all of you. OK, everyone, time to exhale. The threat of default is over. Just a short time ago, President Obama signed the debt-reducing debt limit extension. And now a lot of folks are saying, hey, big surprise, of course, they got it done, ran the clock down to the very last minute, like always, and then they got it done.
OK, all well and good. But there are reports out there that as late as last Sunday and with a deal appearing unlikely, the White House was making preparations to send out Timothy Geithner, the U.S. treasury secretary, to prepare the American people for a stock market crash.
Folks, that was only 48 hours ago. So this thing was pretty close. And here's the president. He spoke this afternoon from the Rose Garden, having a word or the two with Congress for taking this thing to the brink. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: we've seen in the past few days that Washington has the ability to focus when there's a timer ticking down and when there's a looming disaster. It shouldn't take the risk of default, the risk of economic catastrophe, to get folks in this town to work together and do their jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Joe Johns, we didn't give you much break there from talking to Randi to talking to me. I appreciate you standing by for me.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: No problem.
BALDWIN: I'm just curious if you have seen some members of Congress with their bags packed ready to roll for the big five-week vacation. Or do you sense a nice sigh of relief on the Hill walking through the hallways there?
JOHNS: Quite frankly, they're ready to get out of here and people who work for them are ready for them to get out of here. Nonetheless, I have to tell you, sighs of relief? Perhaps. I was sitting in the Senate chamber for that vote today. And quite frankly, especially on the Democratic side, I just got this real sort of overwhelming sense of dread on their part.
It was really interesting because when you think about it, the United States Senate has now passed this huge compromise, come together, and some people can say saved the country from financial disaster, and people looked miserable out there. And that's because there are so many apprehensions about what's going to happen next, what's this super committee going to do, what's going to happen to entitlements, and there's not a real good feeling, though the thing people want again and again is compromise and it apparently happened here, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yes. OK. You're sensing dread there on the floor. We know, as you mentioned, the vote, the Senate approving the debt ceiling extension shortly after noon today. The vote was 74 in favor, 26 against.
And, you know, just before they voted, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell declared victory on behalf of the Tea Party forces that forced this epic battle. Let's listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: I, too, wish we could stand here today enacting something much more ambitious, but I'm encouraged by the thought that these new senators will help lead this fight until we finish the job. And I want to assure you today that, although you may not see it this way, you have actually won this debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I mean, Joe, Tea Party Republicans pretty much won this thing. Yet, if you look at the roll call, a number of them still voted against the agreement and they say they're not done.
Joe, have they just schooled Washington on the art of negotiation, how to get what you want?
JOHNS: Well, there's certainly no question that they're a force, and they're a force because they have a lot of supporters out in the country as well as a lot of people here on Capitol Hill.
But at the same time, Brooke, you just have to look at the numbers on Capitol Hill and understand what was going on here. The president of the United States does not control the House of Representatives. The Republicans do.
In fact, the minority in the Senate is so strong that Democrats really can't do but so much. So that's the card, you know, that the president of the United States has been dealt, and he just has to deal with it.
So he has to compromise or he's not going to get anything done at all. That's the bottom line.
BALDWIN: Well, speaking of compromises, look ahead to this super committee, as it's been dubbed, this bipartisan group, six and six, six Dems, six Republicans -- or excuse me -- three and three. They're going to try to hammer out another $1.5 trillion in debt reductions.
So let me ask you this. Is Republican Paul Ryan a lock to be appointed to sit on the committee, yes or no? And also are you hearing any other names floated, both on the Democrats' side or Republicans'?
JOHNS: You know, Brooke, you're pushing it hard. That's the question everybody around here has been asking, not so much about Paul Ryan, but just who's going to be appointed to this committee, because personnel in Washington makes all the difference in the world.
And who you have got on the committee could very well determine an outcome. He seems like a logical choice, but who knows. For example, the majority leader of the Senate has said he wants to put people on there who are sort of going to be compromise-minded or whatever.
But what if you get some ideological people on there? How does that all work out? It's so important because if you don't get a decision at the end of the day, you have these triggers that kick in that cause some pretty drastic cuts.
So fun to watch. And believe me everybody is watching. That's going be with one of the big stories in Washington over the coming month or two.
BALDWIN: Yes, I guess perhaps sitting at the table means a feather in a cap. But I was talking to Senator Crapo yesterday, who was on the gang of six. And I asked him if he wanted to be on it. And he was saying, Brooke, I don't know if I want to do that again.
We will have to see, Joe Johns. We're waiting for those names.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: It could be a job killer.
BALDWIN: Who knows.
JOHNS: And you get in there and make a whole bunch of bad decisions.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Hopefully not.
JOHNS: ... and people hate you.
BALDWIN: Hopefully not, Joe Johns. Thank you so much for me live on the Hill.
And also joining me now, Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri.
Senator, nice to see you and have you on. I have you as having voted yes today on this agreement. Do I have that right?
SEN. ROY BLUNT (R), MISSOURI: Yes. That's right. That's right.
BALDWIN: OK.
Are you willing to tell me right now that your side won? Did the Republicans win this, sir, and if not, why not?
BLUNT: I think where my side won was, we changed the way we do business on the issue of how we're spending money and the whole question of accumulated debt.
And, in fact, there are some figures out there that would indicate if every time the debt ceiling comes up over the next few years, we'd have an equal 10-year pay-for for every dollar in debt ceiling increase, that we'd have the budget balanced in a decade.
There's really no other comparable plan out that quite gets that done that quickly. So, I think in changing the discussion, we won. But, you know, the fact is that my side controls one-third of the three-part process it takes to get a bill to become law in Washington.
And I thought everybody was a little slow in realizing that at the end of the day, nobody was going to be completely happy with this process. And like the majority leader, I think it could have been better, but I think it could have been a whole lot worse, if you think about where the president and the administration started, straight debt increase, debt limit increase, revenue increases as part of that, things that my side didn't want and things that today didn't happen.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Yes. Well, let's look ahead here. Joe Johns and I were just talking about this super committee. And I know a lot of your fellow Republicans, they're worried about this debt-cutting committee, and specifically the notion that if they fail, we go straight to hundreds of billions of dollars in military cuts.
Senator Blunt, does that worry you?
BLUNT: Well, it worries me. It's the number-one priority of the federal government to defend the country.
But I have been of the view that everything has to be on the table, and if the military can justify everything they're doing, they're the only part of the federal government that can justify absolutely everything they're doing. There's a reason that those triggers are what they are, to try to encourage this committee to come up with a report and to come up with a recommendation that the Congress then has to vote for.
And, frankly, I think the structure of the committee, which was initially come up -- proposed by Harry Reid, the Democrat leader in the Senate -- I'm a Republican, but I think the committee structure is the way that we can do some big things with divided government. And divided government is the best time to deal with big issues.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Forgive me for interrupting. I do just want to give a bigger picture, if I may step back. Since we're talking military, we're talking about cutting the debt here, I want to look at something together, sir. I don't know if you have a monitor or you can look at this. I know our viewers certainly can.
Look at this pie. So the United States of America, our military budget here accounts for 43 percent. You see the dark purple on the right side? -- 43 percent of all military spending in the world. So, this is military spending. This is in 2010 here. United States of America, close to $700 billion. You see there below the U.S. China. Our closest competitor is China. They're in a whole different ballpark.
Just look at the differentiation in the numbers.
BLUNT: Right.
BALDWIN: You have $695 billion vs. $114 billion.
So, why is it so necessary for the U.S. to spend so much more on the military than anyone around the world?
BLUNT: Well, I think you what happens when the U.S. isn't involved in a leadership way. Look what's happening in Libya. NATO, supposedly the greatest military alliance of all time, and in about 11 weeks, they're saying, we're out of ammunition.
The United States has carried without any question more than its share of the load. At the same time, we can't get our allies to step up to the plate and do what they need to do.
But I do think we can look at everything the military is doing. Let's be sure the money we are spending is being spent wisely. And that's probably more important than evaluating how much we're spending compared to what everybody else is spending, in my view, of the number-one obligation of the federal government, and that's to defend the country.
BALDWIN: Also from the government, hearing the president speaking from the Rose Garden this morning, I just kept hearing the word jobs, jobs. The president says it's time to turn the corner, right, and get back to job creation. A lot of Americans want to hear that as well.
But with an election looming now come next November, does your party have any incentive to help him win with the economy, with job creation or not?
BLUNT: Well, sure. I think the time now that this economy would respond. There will be a -- the next president, whether it's this person in a second term or the next president -- the president's policies have so slowed the economy down, there are literally hundreds, hundreds of new regulations from these various government regulators in the last month.
(CROSSTALK)
BLUNT: And every one of them has discouraged private sector job creation. And the president is going to pay the price for that, I think, because of the way the economy has ground to a halt.
BALDWIN: But will your party jump in and help create jobs?
BLUNT: Yes. Yes.
BALDWIN: Or do you want the president down the road to just take the blame?
BLUNT: First of all, first of all, the federal government can't create -- doesn't create private sector jobs very effectively, if at all.
Secondly, we ought to be doing everything we can. That's the number-one goal right now. What do we do to encourage more private sector job creation? And we are very much on the side of that. It doesn't matter who gets the credit. But, frankly, it's the middle of 2011. By the time this machine would really grind into place, it is going to be well, well into next year before you see any recovery from all the regulation.
All the talk of higher utility bills and higher taxes has ground the economy to a place that I think the president is rightly concerned that he's going to get the responsibility for that.
BALDWIN: I think that concern resonates obviously with a lot of Americans, including, I'm sure, your own constituents.
BLUNT: Right. It does.
BALDWIN: Senator Roy Blunt, thank you so much.
BLUNT: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Have a nice vacation.
BLUNT: Thank you.
BALDWIN: And now watch this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Everyone's going to have to chip in. That's only fair. That's the principle I will be fighting for during the next phase of this process.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: President Obama says the debt deal is just a first step, so what is the next step? We will check in with White House correspondent Jessica Yellin next.
Also ahead, the search is over for 11-year-old Celina Cass after divers found her body near a New Hampshire dam. But the investigation into what killed her is just getting started.
In a matter of moments, I will be talking with her father, what she said to him days before she went missing. Don't miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If you are just now flipping the channels tuning in here, great news. The threat of default has passed. Just about an hour ago, President Obama signed the debt-reducing debt limit extension.
Let's go straight to the White House to chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin.
And, Jessica Yellin, nice to see you. I want to begin with something behind the scenes, a behind-the-scenes role of the vice president, of Joe Biden. Tell me, what was his role and how crucial was his role here in averting what would have been a first, first government default?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Crucial, Brooke.
I'm told he was the main point person during the final negotiation to get this deal done. According to my sources, he did speak to Speaker Boehner on the Sunday that this deal closed, but his relationship with Senator Mitch McConnell is what sealed this deal in the end.
They have this historic relationship going back to their time together in the U.S. Senate. And they have met regularly during the vice president's term in office here. And they have kept that up. And then in this final week during these negotiations, there was some contact, but then after Speaker Boehner's bill passed the House and it was clear it was going to defeat in the Senate, then Senator Mitch McConnell picked up the phone, called Vice President Biden, said what he would need on his end and then the two of them just went back and forth all weekend, with Vice President Biden conveying internally what Mitch McConnell would need, the senator getting back and forth.
Of course, the president's team had done a ton of legwork ahead of this in months of negotiating before, but, yes, he was a closer in this one, a key closer.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: A key closer. It sounds like -- I know you were at the Rose Garden listening to the president. It seemed like the theme of jobs was pervasive, very much so the focus of what he was saying today.
Let's listen to just a portion of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Both parties share power in Washington and both parties need to take responsibility for improving this economy. It's not a Democratic responsibility or a Republican responsibility. It is our collective responsibility as Americans.
And I will be discussing additional ideas in the weeks ahead to help companies hire, invest and expand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Jessica, I hate to even ask this, as I actually just posed the question to a Republican senator here, but do Republicans, do they have any incentive, any vested political interest in actually seeing the economy improve? I mean, there is an election sort of around the corner.
YELLIN: Well, we'd all have to be incredibly cynical to say that one party or another wants Americans to be out of jobs. So, yes, everybody has an interest in Washington because they come here because they want America to be healthy and prosperous.
But there is -- one would assume. But politically the two parties are at loggerheads. There is acrimony in this town in a way that people who have worked here for 30, 40 years say they have never seen. So the question is how does the president get this agenda pushed forward? And it is challenging.
One of the questions a lot of Democrats behind the scenes, not at the White House necessarily, but operatives and people who have worked in the town for the long time ask, isn't there power the president can use as the executive, just in small ways to help create jobs and do little things, even if he can't get a lot through Congress? That's a question he will have to maybe ask himself over the next year, as he wages a political war on the campaign front, while also governing from the White House.
BALDWIN: All right, Jessica Yellin, I miss getting to talk to you each and every day, but nice to see you in your big role there at the White House. Thank you so much, Jess.
YELLIN: Good to see you.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much, Jess.
YELLIN: Thank you.
BALDWIN: And coming up next here, it's an ending no one wanted to see in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE YOUNG, ASST. NEW HAMPSHIRE ATTORNEY GENERAL: We have brought Celina home, not the way we wanted to bring her home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The mystery over the whereabouts of 11-year-old Celina Cass now over, after divers discovered her body near a dam. Now this community and, of course, her family wants answers. Will today's autopsy yield any clues? Straight ahead, I will speak with Celina's father and I will ask him what he thinks happened to his little girl.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A heartbreaking end to the search for a missing 11- year-old girl in New Hampshire.
We have been following the search for Celina Cass, who just disappeared from her bedroom a week ago yesterday. And there was some hope, of course, that Celina would be found safe until yesterday, when a body was found in a river about a quarter-of-a mile from her home, and the news no one wanted to hear came not too long after our show yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: We discovered the body of Celina Cass in the Connecticut River in Stewartstown.
Until we determine the cause and manner of her death, we're just going forward as a suspicious death, but we are treating it as a criminal investigation based on what we know at this juncture.
We have brought Celina home, not the way we wanted to bring her home.
But thank you for everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Adam Laro is Celina Cass's biological father. He's in Columbia, New Hampshire. He's now on the phone line with me.
Mr. Laro, I'm so sorry for your loss of your little girl, and I appreciate your strength for calling in and just sharing part of your story.
If I may just ask, how did you find out that this body in the dam was that of your daughter?
ADAM LARO, FATHER OF CELINA CASS: Yes, that was reported back to my home about that. That was a private matter that we told them that they -- if they could find anything, to let us know first, so that we were -- we were notified discretely about it.
BALDWIN: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Sure.
Why don't you just tell me about her? Tell me about Celina. What was she like?
LARO: Celina was a very good girl. She was very kind, considerate.
She was, I guess you could say, an everyday child that loved part of life, that loved being in life. I mean, really, there's been a lot of stories that she's found -- they found this in her room or found this on her Facebook or found that on her Facebook.
It's hard to believe even some of that's true. I don't know if somebody's stretching things private and trying to make her look bad or what, but...
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Well, we're not here to do that. We're not here to tell stories.
LARO: Yes.
BALDWIN: We're not here to spread rumors. That's why we have you directly talking to me.
LARO: Yes.
BALDWIN: So, let me just ask you firsthand, when was the last time you spoke with your daughter?
LARO: It was just before -- it was just before I went in to the hospital for my -- for my -- for my bad sickness I have.
And I saw her -- I saw her at her house. She showed me -- showed me her grades and said everything was going good. And I asked her to make sure everything was going good. I said, any time you want to call daddy, give daddy a call. And she...
BALDWIN: Did you ask her at all about her relationship with her mother, her stepfather?
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: How was that relationship?
LARO: I didn't ask her so much -- I didn't ask her so much relationship. I asked, was everything going good and was everything going good along with her mother and Wendell? So...
BALDWIN: And what was her answer, if I may ask?
LARO: And she said, it's good, daddy, everything's OK, said, I'm doing real good in school. And so I will make sure. And if you have any problems, give me a call. And she says, OK. So...
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: So, nothing in that conversation seemed odd whatsoever to you? She was just fine?
LARO: No. Actually, it didn't, because she didn't -- she didn't act suspicious or anything. She didn't act like anything was going on, you know? She acted like herself.
BALDWIN: Have you been in touch with your ex-wife or her stepfather at all?
(CROSSTALK)
LARO: No, I haven't.
BALDWIN: You haven't.
LARO: I haven't. As a matter of fact, I tried to say something today because they were going to plan funeral arrangements, and I wanted to be part of that, told them, you know, I want to be part of the funeral arrangement.
I am the biological father, and I want to be part of something, you know?
BALDWIN: Are they allowing you to take part in that arrangement?
LARO: Well, right now, right now, I don't know what's going on right now. But they're working on that, and they're going to see what's going to happen. So...
BALDWIN: I know the big question is why and what happened, what happened to your daughter. Can you imagine why anyone would ever want to hurt her?
LARO: That's the thing that puzzles me, is, I can't see why somebody would want to do that to my daughter.
BALDWIN: I know there was a vigil last night. This is a community of some 800 where she lived. I know I was speaking with the assistant attorney general last week and she said that these investigators have really done yeoman's work, really going out and talking to every single person.
Is there any kind of message you would like to relay to the investigators, to members of the community and also just nationwide? So many people have taken quite an interest in your daughter.
LARO: Yes.
I would like to -- like I said, I thank the authorities very much for the hard work they have done. And I'm thankful that we did -- you know, we did find her, not the way we wanted to find her, but we did find her. And now -- you know, now that I know that she will be in peace, resting in peace, that will be -- better knowing that than her still missing.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Adam Laro, thank you so much for calling in. And, again, sir, my condolences to you.
LARO: Yes. Thank you very much.
BALDWIN: A jury's decision set her free on the charge she murdered her daughter. So, why does a Florida judge want Casey Anthony back in court? That is next.
Plus, take a look at this here. Any idea what this is? Here's a hint. It was found in Texas last week in a lake, and the story behind it is really out of this world. We're going to explain a little later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Here are some of your other top stories.
You know the whole shaving foam pie moment from the Rupert Murdoch testimony in Parliament -- Parliament just a couple weeks ago? This stunt will be sending one man to jail for six weeks. Jonathan May-Bowles calls himself a comedian and an activist. And he interrupted Murdoch's comments on the phone-hacking scandal with a pie to the face. Murdoch's wife quickly leapt into action. All of it attracted all kinds of media attention on that day.
Also, speaking of media attention, Casey Anthony has until Thursday to return to Florida. The judge ordered Anthony back to Orlando to serve a year of supervised probation for check fraud.
She was initially sentenced back in 2010 when she was in jail awaiting her murder trial. Anthony's lawyer says they will fight that judge's order. Anthony was acquitted last month in the murder of her daughter Caylee.
And take a look at this. New video. Hugo Chavez without his hair. The Venezuelan president received chemotherapy treatment in Cuba last month for his cancer.
One of his aides says Chavez will be healthy enough to run for re-election next year. During this appearance he joked bald is my new look.
And you know this story. You have seen gut-wrenching images just like these of children, their parents, millions starving to death right now in Somalia.
But what you might not know is that there is a terrorist group hell bent on keeping food from reaching these people. The group is called Al-Shabab and they're putting up a fierce fight against aide groups trying to help. CNN is the only network with the correspondent on the front lines there right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were returning fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That's Nima Elbagir, folks, I want you to stay right there because she's about to join me live, there she is, from Somalia. Coming up next. Don't miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: There is a crisis happening right now in Somalia, famine. The United Nations calling it the worst food emergency in the world, millions of people are affected.
Now the Islamic extremist group, Al-Shabab controls much of the southern Somalia where the famine is the worst. They're blocking aids. They're blocking food from getting in to these desperate, starving people, these children.
But the Obama administration, there are now taking action. The U.S. State Department planning to ease the anti-terror rules in Somalia allowing aid agencies to pay the taxes or their tolls that Al- Shabab demands to pay to even just get aid country even though some of it might fall into the wrong hands.
Now African union troops are there in Somalia to help prop up this shaky government and fight this terrorist group Al-Shabab, but it's tough. Nima Elbagir, a CNN correspondent. She is in Mogadishu in for me in Somalia on the front line.
She has this exclusive access to the troops and their mission. We will talk live here from Somalia, but first I want you to watch this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Ramadan offensive has begun in earnest in Mogadishu. Every year, in the Islamic holy month, the African union forces supporting the fragile Somali government come under intense attacks from al Qaeda linked Shabab militants.
The Islamic holy month has always enabled them to rally support at home and abroad. African union forces underresourced and undersupported can only look on as the supplies roll in.
MAJ. GENERAL FRED MUGISHA, AU FORCE COMMANDER SOMALIA: The extremists are still receiving supplies from the sea and from the air from those who sympathize with them who share the same ideology.
ELBAGIR: But in spite of all this, the AU is making gains. The roads that lead the front line of Mogadishu may look deserted, but you now have to travel further than in years past to reach Shabab territory.
(on camera): This is the new front line here in Mogadishu. It's quite far to the northeast of the city. The last time we were here nearly two years ago, the government and the African Union controlled only a triangle of territory, the port, the airport, and the state house. Today out of the 17 districts of Mogadishu, they control about eight.
(voice-over): For the civilians who have pledge above territory and they are banning foreign aid groups. The expansion of the secured zone has given them the courage to seek refuge and aid in the capital and the AU says given the resources it could do even more.
LT. COL. PADDY ANKUNDA, AU SPOKESMAN: The African countries need to do more. We cannot wait for anyone to come and do this job here. Somalia is part of Africa and the wild is safer with stable Somalia. We need more troops. We need more troops. Of course, the entire world being affected by terrorism can possibly contribute to logistics and that will be able to do the job.
ELBAGIR: After we left the front line, two AU soldiers were killed in gun battle with two would-be suicide bombers. As they wait for that much need support. Getting the job done here will continue to come at a high price.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Nima Elbagir now live in Mogadishu. Nima, I want to ask you about this experience, being embedded on the front lines there, but first. I think it's important to point out to our audience that this crisis in the horn of Africa, the drought, the security issues, it's not new. It's just simply now exacerbated.
ELBAGIR: Well, I think that is right, Brooke. I think often with Africa we always behave as though this is the reality of the situation. You know, you can try and help, but this is just how things are.
This really isn't the case here. We've had drought warnings year on year. We've known that the insecurity was always going to exacerbate that. We've known for a while that Al-Shabab, the militant group, has a problem with foreign aid organizations working in their areas.
All of that was a toxic cocktail that was always going to result in this kind of humanitarian catastrophe. And then you have the African Union, 9,000 troops doing the work of the world in attempting to stabilize a country the size of Somalia, Brooke.
BALDWIN: So you have drought. You have famine. You have this terrorist organization Al-Shabab, and now there are reports. Try to think of these women and their children walking hundreds of miles to try to, you know, seek shelter and aid and food in Kenya, and there are reports now that they're being targeted. That they're being raped, is that right? ELBAGIR: Yes, some pretty horrific reports coming out of the camps in Kenya there, Brooke. Aid agencies are warning that many of the women who travel across the board or with their children while their husbands attempt to either find some kind of work or go in to the capital of Mogadishu and send money back, they're now being targeted.
There's always tension between the communities in the areas where the refugee camps spring up and the refugees who come in. And in this situation that's been exacerbated because this famine in Kenya as well.
So you have these two communities fighting for meager and much needed resources and it really feels like women are bearing the brunt of all that tension, Brooke.
BALDWIN: And just seeing you doing this reporting, you know, embedded with the AU troops, I mean, what was that experience like? It looked like you were in Baghdad, but you were in Somalia. Were you fearful ever?
ELBAGIR: Well, actually this is the fourth time I've been into Somalia and last time I was here, I was actually on the other side of that front line with the militants. So actually this has been a really amazing experience for me, really optimistic experience.
Because the last time I was here, it was two years ago. It was actually during a Ramadan offensive and it really didn't feel like there was much hope for Somalia. You know, not only was it so difficult, but people were actually quite surprised.
The United States, the west in general hasn't had a very good history here. You remember Black Hawk down, intervened in 2006 to bring about the end of the Islamic courts union, which was winning at the time.
So people were quite angry with the west and quite supportive of Shabab. This time very much because of the famine, because of the way that Al-Shabab has been starving their own people, you really feel like people are willing for this to come to an end. You want to try and help.
BALDWIN: And we lost her. That's what happens when you try to talk to someone from Somalia. But Nima Elbagir, amazing report. You can follow her Twitter @nimacnn. Impressive stuff.
Coming up, a story that has so many of you talking. NFL Dolphins player Brandon Marshall breaking his silence on something he has kept so secret for a very, very long time, his battle against borderline personality disorder. So why is he speaking out now? What is he sharing? I'm going to tell you it's a lot.
Also the record-setting drought is leaving parts of Texas high and dry. The lack of rain is helping to reveal long lost clues to a national disaster. Details next.
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BALDWIN: The debt deal is done and now we are not headed to default in debt today. President Obama signed the debt ceiling bill just about an hour or two ago.
It raises the nation's borrowing limit to more than $2 trillion through the end of 2012. The plan also cuts nearly $1 trillion in the government's spending over the course of the next 10 years.
And another $1.5 trillion in cuts be will worked out be a special congressional committee, the so-called Super Committee. The president calls the bill the first step toward making sure we live within our means.
I want to share with you this amazing moment perhaps you saw it. You were watching CNN last evening during this whole debt ceiling vote within the house. Take a look here.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on the House floor last night, waving. She showed up to the surprise of so many to cast her vote in favor of the bill. You can hear the applause. Democrats and Republicans from what we can hear.
It was a really emotional moment with all the fighting back and forth was forgotten if not for just a brief moment. It has been just about seven months since the congresswoman was shot in her head during a meeting with constituents in Tucson back in January.
Six people died in that attack. Last night was the first time Giffords had been back on the House floor since that tragedy. She is in rehab in Houston for her injuries. A spokesperson said today that Giffords hadn't decided yet whether she will be seeking re-election.
Now to severe heat and drought that so many of us are dealing with rye now. At least 11 heat-related deaths in Oklahoma. At least 12 percent of the country's experiencing extreme drought conditions. Crops are dying, lakes are drying up.
That leads me to this. Have you seen this today? This thing here, this is a piece of the space shuttle "Columbia." It turns up in a lake in Nacogdoches, Texas after waters dried up and receded. You remember debris from "Columbia" just fell all around that area after the shuttle broke up upon re-entry back in February of 2003.
Now, NASA is working on a plan to recover this piece of the shuttle, which is a tank that provided power and water for shuttle missions. Chad Myers, you have more perhaps on what could be found or on this piece of debris?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That was a cryo tank. It's about four feet around, four feet in diameter. Yes, it's very large. It was holding either the cryo hydrogen or cryo oxygen to come together to make a fuel cell, to make power for the shuttle and then all that other stuff that -- the amazing parts, the millions of parts of the shuttle had, right. But let me show you. I have a picture here from NASA about the parts that they actually found of the shuttle "Columbia" when it went down. Here the outline of the shuttle. Back to there, back to there like that. There, right there.
But they didn't find very much of the shuttle. So there's an awful lot on the ground in Texas. Most of it came down. Much of it burned up, but there were parts. This should be a complete shuttle. There are a few pieces that NASA still had to put back, but there are five small, small little piece.
There's the front nose gear. You can see that. This isn't a hangar in NASA. This is in Kennedy Space Center. Here's what happened this spring. It dried up. The entire state of Texas literally dried up. Right over there.
There was a lake on the west side of the town and parts of the shuttle fell into this lake. Especially on the north side of the lake now that the water is down, people are finding things. Do not touch something that you find.
It's against the law. It's a piece of property of the United States. Call the authorities. They'll come get it. Don't go get it and bring it to the cops. You're still in trouble for touching it at all. It's part of the U.S. government.
BALDWIN: It's just amazing that pieces of debris. Just because of this drought, you can actually -- you know, they're being recovered out of lakes like that in Nacogdoches.
Let me point out something else. There is another way I guess the drought is affecting people here in Texas. Look at the video here. This is Johnny Fin's. It's supposed to be a floating restaurant hence the theme, lack of water.
This is Lake Travis in Austin. It doesn't much look like lake to me. I mean, again, just another example. I guess, they had to shut down because the water examples are so low. Those boats aren't going anywhere.
MYERS: No, you can push this lake and by the way, if you find my wallet that has my driver's license in it from 1993, you can send it back to me. That lake is 26 feet low right now. They take the restaurant and keep pushing it out, pushing it out. Eventually they ran out of dock - run out of water.
BALDWIN: Have you been to the restaurant?
MYERS: I have been to the restaurant. I've been to Hippy Hollow. Don't look that up. That was in my youth.
BALDWIN: I'm looking that up. Thanks, Chad, so much.
Coming up next here, NFL star breaking his silence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a dream home. My house is beautiful. We have two nice cars. But with all that said, I haven't enjoyed not one part of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: What is Miami Dolphins' wide receiver Brandon Marshal talking about? He is opening up his very personal battle with borderline personality disorder. It has a lot of you talking. It's been trending.
We want to get more answer here on what's called BPD. That's the acronym. What is it? Could someone you know have it? We're going to break it down coming up after this break.
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POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Time now for the "Help Desk" where we get answer to your financial questions. Joining me this hour is Jack Otter, the executive editor of cbsmoneywatch.com and Ryan Mack, the president of Optimum Capital Management. Thanks for coming in, guys. Appreciate it.
First question comes from JT in Florida. JT writes we are not yet into foreclosure and hope to go right into a short sale. Are our 403(B) retirement accounts safe from IRS and creditors in a short sale? If not, can we protect them by rolling into one or more IRAs?
JACK OTTER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CBSMONEYWATCH.COM: Actually a 403(B) and 401(K) are some of the most protected assets you can have. So I would actually leave them right there until this process is all done with.
After that, you know, I would roll them over into an IRA. You have a lot more investment options. You have control over your fees and expenses. Some 401(k)s, the company is actually charging you to manage that money.
There's no need for that. So take it to say vanguard IRA and invest in index funds. You know, I'm an index fund fan. But right now, keep it in that 403(B) out of the hands of anybody. It's one of the few places where even if you're sued, they can't touch it.
HARLOW: Really? Very interesting. All right, and your question, Ryan, comes from Kate in Massachusetts. Kate writes, I'm 54 and unemployed. My husband is 63 and may work for a few more years. Should we withdraw money from our retirement account to pay off our mortgage?
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Working for a few more years. What's the big rush on taking money out, paying taxes on that retirement just to take down an advance for your mortgage?
I mean, look, take the time to get those tax deductions and get that tax deferred savings to grow as many years as possible. The retirement fund, 401(k), 403(B) or IRA, one of the most beneficial ways to accumulate savings and take that out and put into a mortgage account and pay off your mortgage would probably be irresponsible at this point in time. No, absolutely no right now.
HARLOW: Don't rush into it because you want to get it paid off?
MACK: Exactly.
HARLOW: Absolutely, bottom line. Guys, thanks for the advice. Appreciate it as always and if you have a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail anytime to CNN "Help Desk" at cnn.com.
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BALDWIN: An NFL football star has come out and said yes, he suffers from a syndrome known as borderline personality disorder. I'm talking about Brandon Marshall, the Miami Dolphins wide receiver.
Ever since his disclosure, Yahoo searches for BPD have spiked, listen to this, with more than 62 percent of the searchers being women. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with me now.
We were just talking about this round and round in our editorial meeting. What is it? Do we know someone who has it? What is BPD?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting. It doesn't surprise me there were a lot of searches because people don't really know what this is, even though it really does affect a lot of people.
So borderline personality disorder is when someone has a lot of outbursts and impulsive behavior. They're angry, they're depressed. They're anxious. They're irritable. They're very volatile and you sort of don't quite know what they're going to do next. As you can imagine, this interferes with their professional life and their personal life.
BALDWIN: How as it specifically interfered with Marshall's life?
COHEN: Well, you know, it is known, there was reportedly an altercation between him and his wife earlier. So that may be one way it's manifested itself. He had a press conference where he talked about how it affected his life. So let's take a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRANDON MARSHALL, MIAMI DOLPHINS: I have a dream home, my house is beautiful. My wife did a great job putting our house together, finding the right house for us. We have two nice cars. We have three beautiful dogs. But with all that said, I haven't enjoyed not one part of it, and it was hard for me to understand why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Kudos to him. COHEN: Right, to come out like that. As part of understanding why he's got treatment outside of Boston in hospital.
BALDWIN: Define treatment, how do you treat BPD?
COHEN: There are various ways you can do it, but really the first line is psychotherapy. The doctors tell us. This is not something that you do drugs first. You talk it out first and then often drugs are used sort of to help along things like anti-anxiety drugs or anti-depressants.
And as part of his treatment actually, he has taken part in documentary. There are clips on Youtube of the documentary. So it's interesting that he really wants to get the word out. He really wants to get it known.
BALDWIN: How does this compare to bipolar?
COHEN: Right. It's very easy to confuse the two. Bipolar you are way up and way down. So you're elated at one point and then you're extremely depressed. Those moods can last for months.
So you can be really down in the dumps, can't get out of the bed for months and then be sure you have the cure for cancer for months.
With BPD, it's much shorter. You're angry for a short period of time maybe just hours and then you're very irritable. Then you get depressed. It's much more volatile in many ways than manic depression.
BALDWIN: Just the fact that he has come forward and talked about it and many has what so much of us perceive this dream life and he hasn't been able to enjoy a lick of it.
COHEN: He says I can't feel any of it. That feels so painful.
BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for talking about it with me. Now coming up, we are learning some new chilling details today on exactly what happened to this man.
This is Brian Stow. Earlier this year at an L.A. Dodgers game, you remember the story Stow was beaten so severely. He now suffers brain damage.
Police finally have these two guys, these two suspects and the L.A. district attorney's office is laying out its case much more on the story coming up a little later this coming hour, including the sudden death of a key witness in this case over the weekend. We're back in a moment.
Also we're watching the closing bell on Wall Street. A huge plunge today. The Dow down 241 points. Be right back.
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