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Helicopter Crash In Afghanistan; S&P Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating; Patience Is The Key; Polygamist Sect Leader Convicted; Gov. Perry Hosts Prayer Service; Casey Anthony Back in Court?; Alabama Immigration Law Challenged; Tiger Woods Back on the Course; S&P Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating

Aired August 06, 2011 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: In Afghanistan, what may be the deadliest day for coalition forces since the war started. Afghan President Hamid Karzai says 31 U.S. troops and seven Afghans died in a helicopter crash in Wardak province in the Eastern part of the country. A U.S. military official says more than two dozen Americans are believed to have decide, many, if not all of them, Special Operations forces.

CNN's Barbara Starr is joining us from Washington, D.C.

Barbara, the Taliban are claiming they shot the helicopter down. What are you hearing?

BARBARA STARR, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Joe, this is now, of course, under investigation by the United States military and the coalition. They are already saying that there were reports of enemy fire in the area at the time of the incident, but they will conduct a full investigation to find out what happened.

But, Joe, I have to tell you, the U.S. military reeling today from this very sad news. Some two dozen or so Special Forces, special operation forces, killed in action and several military officials are now telling us that the majority of those Special Operations forces were U.S. Navy SEALs. The types of forces, of course, that went on the Osama bin Laden raid. But these are very highly trained U.S. Navy SEALs, Joe.

And they do this very dangerous work all the time. This is what U.S. Special Forces do and have done for so many years now, conducting these assault missions into very remote areas of Eastern Afghanistan, mainly doing them at night by helicopter. Very tough, very dangerous business. And, today, the U.S. Navy SEALs may have suffered their largest single loss in combat that anybody can remember.

At this hour, they are trying to identify, make precise identification of all of those who were lost and get casualty notification officers out to families really across the country. As you know, military families are often quite spread out and they are going to try and get to all of them just as quickly as they can because this very sensitive news that it is Navy SEALs is now really spreading very openly and very publicly, Joe.

JOHNS: Obviously all our military personnel are precious. But could you sort of explain to our viewers why SEALs are special, if you will. What it is that makes them special.

STARR: Right. And I think you raise a good point. You know, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, all forces are at risk all the time. From someone who may drive a truck or be a cook, to these commandos who do these dangerous missions.

That said, Special Forces, whether they are Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, these are some of the most highly trained commandos, the most highly trained in the U.S. military. A huge amount of money, training and expertise is poured into their careers so they can do these very dangerous missions to go after insurgents in these remote, dangerous areas.

And Special Forces are, to a large extent, carrying a very significant burden. They deploy time after time after time. They deploy six, eight months at a time. And all the indications are while we're talking so much about the withdrawal or the drawdown of the so- called regular forces, these guys are going to stay on the job. They will remain. No one's talking about drawing them down and they will remain to go on these counterterrorism assaults to go after the Taliban, largely in Eastern Afghanistan, where this took place. Very close to the Pakistan border. This is really the leading edge. The military likes to call it the tip of the spear. But this is the leading edge of U.S. combat power in these types of missions.

And such a loss today will have ramifications throughout the U.S. military because these guys rotate. I mean they don't just go to Afghanistan. They don't just go to Iraq. They operate off the coast of Somalia. They go conduct training mission around the world. Special Forces operate in something I would estimate maybe 60 countries around the world, often conducting training missions with foreign militaries, trying to help them get up to snuff, get up to speed. A lot of what they do is reaching out to military services from Africa to the Philippines. So this loss will be felt very broad, very deeply across the Special Operations community, possibly for years to come, Joe.

JOHNS: Just want to zero in a little bit on the question of whether this was a crash or whether they were shot down. Originally, there was some suggestion, you know, in the initial reporting that this might have just been an equipment malfunction. But we also know that the Taliban are taking responsibility for it. Has anyone given you any guidance at all as to whether this might have been an accident?

STARR: Right. At this point, all of these things remain under investigation by the U.S. military. It was a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter conducting this mission. It was a U.S. Army crew flying the helicopter. So they will look at it.

There were, in fact, some very initial reports from the NATO coalition that there was enemy -- reports of enemy fire in the area of Eastern Afghanistan when this incident occurred. Whether it is -- the helicopter was brought down by enemy fire or it is the result of some sort of other accident is what remains to be seen. That will be clearly, rapidly the focus of the investigation because, of course, either way, Chinook helicopters are one of the big backbones of the operation in Afghanistan. They will have to find out if there is a problem with those helicopters or there is some vulnerability to being shot down that they did not understand. It will be very important for them to find out as quickly and reasonably as they can what happened.

JOHNS: Now given the fact that these are sometimes secret missions, I do wonder the likelihood of hearing from somebody from the Pentagon or from any other military source over the next several hours trying to fill in the blanks for us here or do you expect them to sort of remain mum because we're dealing with people who do secret operations?

STARR: I think that for the next few days, there will be very little information coming out for one very crucial reason that I think most of us can understand. They are trying to notify the families. They want the families to get the details that they can offer them first.

But you are right, Joe, this is the most secretive world of the U.S. military. They often say very little. There will be a great reluctance on the part of the U.S. Special Operations command, which oversees all of this, to offer any details.

And let me just point out, that has already begun. It was scheduled that this coming Monday, just the day after tomorrow, there would be a major ceremony at Special Operations command at MacDill Air Base in Florida. They were going to have a change of command. The old commander, a Navy SEAL, retiring. New commander, a Navy SEAL, coming in. In fact, the new commander is the man who organized the bin Laden mission. And we have received word that that ceremony, which is routine and always open, is now going to be scaled back out of respect, but also closed to the news media.

And a lot of people are looking at this already quite askance. One source of mine saying, that's not a good idea. If they're going to ratchet back, if they're going to close ranks that much, you're going to -- he believes that's handing the Taliban a victory, saying that the Taliban will have succeeded in affecting what is otherwise routine business, open public business for the U.S. military.

So we'll be watching this very carefully. There are a lot of sensitivities and everyone, you know, wants to be so respectful of the families. That is very much on everyone's mind. But people also do want to know clearly what happened here. Such a loss. Such a huge, tragic loss.

JOHNS: Barbara Starr reporting to us from Washington.

Already there are reverberations as we still get the information in from Afghanistan on exactly what happened. With us from Washington, retired U.S. Army General Mark Kimmitt. He's now executive vice president of Advanced Technology Systems Company. A defense contracting firm.

General Kimmitt, ask you the question I sort of talked to Barbara Starr about, if this happened to have been all Special Forces, this certainly would have been a huge loss for the U.S. Can you talk to us a little bit more about what makes Special Forces special, if you will, and some of the ways they're different from the rest of the military.

BRIGADIER GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET.), FMR. ASST. SECY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS: Well, it's really in two ways. Number one, the mission they have is Special Operations. They're going against the highest level targets and, in many case, the most dangerous targets.

With regards to their training, the military invests far more money into their training than they do for our conventional forces. These are people selected from the conventional forces and pulled out to go through additional training. In the case of Army Rangers, they go to a special Army Ranger course. But they're always training. They're self-selected from inside the military. The best of the best. And that's why they're given the toughest missions out there.

JOHNS: OK. So the terrain now. This is Wardak province. It's to the west of Kabul. Steep mountain ranges, as I understand it. An area that can be very dangerous. We heard Barbara Starr talking about that a little bit. What do you know about this area? And if you can venture a guess for us, what kinds of operations would U.S. Special Forces be engaged in, in this area?

KIMMITT: Well, I'm not going to speculate on the precise mission. But I did notice that on the ISAF operational update, public operational update today, there was a report in that same area that coalition forces had been going against some IED makers. There may be a connection between the two. But I think all of us understand the tremendous cost that IEDs have had both in Iraq and Afghanistan. And if they've got a major cell of IED makers, that's the type of mission that they might want to send a Special Operations unit up against.

JOHNS: This CH-47 Chinook helicopter, a slow-moving helicopter, if you will, is this the best aircraft to be moving around in the region or is it the only kind of aircraft you could use given the situation?

KIMMITT: No, I think that was a tactical decision. The CH-47 is a large transport helicopter. It goes about 175 miles an hour, can hold up to 55 troops. It's a workhorse. It can be used to transport ammunition. It can be used to pick up howitzers. But if you have a mission that requires a large number of forces to get on the ground quickly to prosecute the mission, for that type of environment, probably nothing is better than using a CH-47.

JOHNS: So if this is, in fact, mostly Special Forces, mostly Navy SEALs, as has, you know, been suggested, in your view, can you sort of give us a little bit of context of how serious a loss this is to the United States military?

KIMMITT: Well, by my recollection, there are probably seven SEAL teams in the country. I don't know the exactly number in each SEAL team, but probably not less than -- or not more than a couple of hundred at the most. So when you start talking a total SEAL population of perhaps under 1,000, if, in fact, you've lost two dozen, it's not solely a tragedy for the families -- and it's a tremendous tragedy and our hearts go out to those families -- but there will be an operational consequence to the SEAL community of losing that large number.

JOHNS: Thank you so much, General Kimmitt. Appreciate you coming in. And we're going to try to stay in touch with you and would like to come back to you, you know, down the road as the situation warrants. Thanks again.

KIMMITT: Sure.

JOHNS: Moving on. Are we in for higher interest rates on mortgages, car loans and credit card? The U.S. credit rating has been downgrading. We're going to talk about what that means to you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Going to go ahead now and turn to the domestic news and yesterday's decision by Standard & Poor's to downgrade its rating of America's credit. The head of S&P's sovereign ratings committee says this downgrade could have been avoided and he lays much of the blame on Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CHAMBERS, HEAD OF S&P'S SOVEREIGN RATING CMTE.: I think it could have done a few things. I mean the first thing it could have done is to have raised the debt ceiling in a timely manner so that much of this debate had been avoided to begin with, as it had done, you know, 60 or 70 times since 1960 without that much debate. So that's point number one.

And point number two is it could have come up with a fiscal plan, you know, similar, for example, to, you know, the Bowles-Simpson Commission, which was bipartisan, although it didn't have a super majority vote, it did have a majority vote, and came up with a number of sensible recommendations. I mean you could envision other recommendations, but that would have been a start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The fallout from the credit downgrades being felt from Washington to Wall Street to main street. Let's bring in Felicia Taylor from New York, and Athena Jones from Washington.

And start with you, Felicia. OK, so we heard this guy, but do we have a full feel for why Standard & Poor's reduced America's credit rating?

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we heard a couple of things. I mean, number one, they were looking for the raising of the debt ceiling, which actually happened but didn't happen in a timely manner. So that's frustrating to see and watch the wrangling continue in Washington.

The other thing that they were looking for, which was very specific, was a credible plan to tackle the nation' debt. They didn't really get that. They were looking for a number of $4 trillion. So far on the table, we've only got spending cuts of about $900 billion. So there's a big gap between the 900 and the 4 trillion that they're looking for. So when they didn't actually see that, there is -- it doesn't look like there's any cohesion, any coming together of the policymakers in Washington to create a plan going forward to tackle the nation's debt problem. And that's why S&P downgraded the U.S.

JOHNS: OK, Felicia, stay right there.

Athena, this president, of course, has been referred to as "no drama Obama." How are they reacting to this news?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the administration is certainly not happy. We haven't seen anyone come on camera yet to respond to this, but we did get a paper statement, a written statement from the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, a short while ago responding to this S&P downgrade. Interestingly enough, it doesn't actually mention the words Standard & Poor's in the release, but they're addressing some of the same concerns that Standard & Poor's raised in their report on this decision.

And so Carney says that the deal to raise the debt ceiling took too long, it was at times to divisive and so both parties need to show their commitment to working together. I'll read just one line from what he said. "Over the coming weeks, the president will strongly encourage the bipartisan fiscal committee, as well as all members of Congress, to put our common commitment to a stronger recovery and a sounder long-term fiscal path above our political and ideological differences."

And so he's calling on this special commission that this debt ceiling deal is going to form, this committee of Republicans and Democrats, to tackle the big problems down the road in terms of ways of reducing spending, like tax reform and entitlement reform. He's urging them to work together to convince people like S&P and the whole world that they can do that. They can work together -- Joe.

JOHNS: And, Felicia, not to oversimplify, but the White House essentially said that Standard & Poor's had a mistake in the U.S. credit report and it was about a $2 trillion mistake. So let's talk about this error the U.S. said Standard & Poor's made and why they're still downgrading U.S. debt anyway.

TAYLOR: Well, the error, you know, obviously $2 trillion is quite a hefty number. And in terms of -- the point, though, is that wasn't what S&P was looking at, frankly, in terms of whether or not they were going to make this decision to do a downgrade.

This is really about the future. This is about the future of the economy. I mean S&P has called the American government basically broken, calling it less stable, less effective and less predictable.

Now, the word predictable is important because they want to see a government that works together and comes to decisions from both sides of the aisle. I mean this isn't just a Republican problem or a Democratic problem, it's both sides of the aisle that have to come together.

The markets don't want to see anything other than predictable. They don't like to see uncertainty. And that's why you saw this kind of whipsaw reaction, this roller coaster ride on Friday, not really sure. And, frankly, for the last eight or nine days, not really sure why Congress couldn't come together and make a cohesive decision about how to reduce spending in this country. And that's why the S&P, you know, yes, they did make a mistake in terms of that $2 trillion number, but that's not where their focus is. Their focus is down the road and whether or not this country can get it together and start creating a credible recovery and see some jobs growth.

That's the other part of this. There isn't really jobs growth in this country yet. And that's crucial in order to get a recovery. This is about raising interest rates on individuals in this country. And that's very serious when it comes to car loans, home mortgage payments, education loans, even credit card interest payments. All of that now steps up, making this recovery just that much more difficult and protractive.

JOHNS: And, Athena, I guess the last question is for you and then we'll leave it there. What on earth is the White House going to do or can they do at this stage? The Congress is out of session, at least until the first week of September. What are they going to do?

JONES: Well, that's the real question. It's not as though, when Standard & Poor's lowers the credit rating, they're going to immediately raise it again. And so everything -- everyone's looking to the future. And what's interesting is, you know that AAA credit rating, it's a grade. And at the same time that the Standard & Poor's lowered the U.S.'s grade, you could say that they're grading Congress and giving them a "d" for dysfunction.

All throughout their statement, they talk about what has happened in Congress, this long, drawn-out debate to reach this debt ceiling deal. And that has left them pessimistic that the two parties can come together and agree on cuts in these larger areas, or reforms, for instance, of the tax system and entitlement reform that are going to be necessary to get these big, big cuts. And so it's hard to say what's going to happen, say, on Monday or when the Asian markets open tomorrow. But certainly it's not going to change overnight, this grade. It's all going to take these two parties coming together, which is what the White House is urging, Joe.

JOHNS: Athena, Felicia, thanks so much for that reporting. It's so funny, we were all working on this last weekend and we thought it was over, but it's not. So, let's stay tuned.

TAYLOR: Oh, no.

JOHNS: Patience can be key when you're trying to get the best travel deal. That's especially true when you're bidding for the best price. Alison Kosik is on the go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the phone rings in the Priceline commercials, it's William Shatner to the rescue. But in the real world, how do you find a hotel deal on travel sites?

CLARK HOWARD, HLN MONEY EXPERT: What I do with Hotwire and Priceline is I go to Hotwire and see what they're offering a four-star hotel at. Then I go to Priceline and I start my baseline bidding 30 percent below that.

KOSIK: Hotels use deep discounts to attract last-minute travelers. So wait it out, if you can.

HOWARD: I get my best deals on Priceline and on Hotwire when I'm looking less than 20 days out. The closer you get to your arrival date, the better a deal you're going to be offered if they've got vacancies.

KOSIK: But, remember, price isn't everything.

HOWARD: I limit my bidding almost always to four-star hotels or higher. Even if it's not truly a four-star, I'm never unhappy.

KOSIK: Bidding can be a hassle, but the extra work may mean big savings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: What's the likelihood Warren Jeffs will spend the rest of his life behind bars? We're asking our legal guys that question straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Court is back in session in San Angelo, Texas. The jurors who convicted Warren Jeffs earlier this week are listening to more testimony before deciding his punishment. Let's bring in our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor, is in Cleveland, and Richard Herman, a criminal defense attorney and law professor, joins us from New York.

So, Warren Jeffs. Now this is the polygamous sect leader found guilty of sexual assault of young girls. He has, you know, all these spiritual wives, he says. And the jury deliberated only about three hours.

Avery, start with you. Did that surprise you at all, three hours in what seems to be a case with massive amounts of evidence?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes. Well, it would have been much longer except he didn't put a defense on. The -- it really, I don't think, was a surprise to anyone. And what we learned in the trial is that Warren Jeffs, in his yearning for Zion, wasn't yearning for Zion, he was yearning for children. And the evidence was overwhelming. There was no question that we were looking at both a sexual assault and then an aggravated sexual assault. That's what the jury is thinking about right now in penalty, Joe, because they are now hearing evidence from many of the people that went through this experience, personal sexual experiences as children. And that evidence will continue to be presented all the way through Monday, probably up to Tuesday, when they'll finally make a decision on how long he's going to spend in jail. You're looking at life, I think.

JOHNS: Right. Do you agree, Richard? This is a case where you've got, you know, all this evidence. We're probably going to reach some type of decision on the sentencing phase around Tuesday. Do you think this is life in prison?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Joe, if they could give him more than life, they would do that. This guy made a big mistake. He messed with Texas. And I, you know, you don't want to do that. So now this ex-prophet, current child rapist who is going to get sentenced, is going to get hammered by this jury. The tape recordings that were played to this jury were devastating.

It was not a complex case, Joe. It was a streamlined prosecution. Other prosecutors should learn from this. Orlando. Anyway, it was a streamlined prosecution, Joe, and the jury just ate it up. It was a horrific case. And Avery's right, he put on no defense. He sat there like a lunatic. He fired all of his attorneys. Now during the sentencing phase, he stands up in court and tells the judge, remove me from the court, I can't see my religion persecuted like this.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, upside down.

HERMAN: So the judge says, fine, you're out. Put in one of his old attorneys to represent him.

JOHNS: But I've got to ask you both, I mean --

HERMAN: Yes, I mean it's brutal. And now the testimony that's coming in is devastating, Joe. This jury is not going to tolerate it. He's facing 90 years on the 12-year-old and 22 on the 15-year-old. He's going to get it all.

JOHNS: But, look, I mean you said it yourself, this is a guy who didn't put on a defense and there's something called inadequate representation, of course. So, I mean, when we get to the appeal stage of this thing --

FRIEDMAN: Well, wait a minute -- Joe, wait a minute. This guy burned through seven lawyers in six months, Joe.

JOHNS: Right. Well, I'm just saying.

FRIEDMAN: I mean he was given that opportunity. I mean I think what you're really looking at here is judge (ph) -- and the credit I think has to go to Judge Walther, who was very careful, especially, for example, in closing arguments. Mr. Jeffs, you've got 20 minutes. Mr. Jeffs, you've got 15, 10, 5. And he stood there trying to stare down the jury. And then here we are in penalty and he asks to leave. So Judge Walther has been very careful in ensuring the integrity of the record, because you know it's going to the court of appeals. JOHNS: Right. He's not a lawyer either. I mean, what does he know about the law and representing himself, Richard?

HERMAN: But, Joe, before the United States Constitution was ratified, individuals had the absolute right to represent themselves in court.

FRIEDMAN: That's right.

HERMAN: It's absolutely in our history from the -- before the Constitution. So he had the right to do this. The judge questioned him on it. Are you sure? You should have counsel. I'm recommending you have counsel. It's a bad idea to represent yourself.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: And some great attorneys, Clarence Darrow, represented himself. Other attorneys tried to do it in the past, including yours truly.

FRIEDMAN: And was convicted.

HERMAN: But, you know, Joe --

JOHNS: Yes.

HERMAN: No, he wasn't convicted. They said, leave California and we'll drop everything. And that's what Clarence Darrow did.

But, Joe, he was fully apprised. He decided to do it. It's not going to be reversed because he represented himself.

FRIEDMAN: That's right.

HERMAN: It may be reversed, though, because of the search warrant and the information that was allowed into evidence in this case. That's what I'm concerned about, Avery.

FRIEDMAN: Wait, but there was no objection to it. Wait, how can it get reversed - how can it be reversed if there was no objection to it? Whether it's tainted evidence, there has to be an objection interposed. There was none. I don't see a reversal on this at all.

JOHNS: You mean on appeal, a court just can't -

FRIEDMAN: I think it's going to be affirmed.

JOHNS: You mean on appeal a court just can't take a new look at the evidence and say, OK, this was a constitutional violation? They can't do that?

FRIEDMAN: Well, yes, that's a legal -

HERMAN: -- legal standard.

FRIEDMAN: But the fact is that Judge Walther has been careful in building that. It's a fact question, and that tainted evidence might have gotten in, but there were no objections interposed to it. So I think it stands. I think it's part of the conviction. I think it stands.

JOHNS: All right, well -

HERMAN: I don't know, Joe. They let in - they let in a lot of evidence. They let in those recordings. They were damning. You know, without those recordings, I don't know if he gets convicted.

JOHNS: It's insane (ph).

HERMAN: And it was very tough evidence that the judge let in on a fictitious call that led police in to do a raid. It was clearly -

FRIEDMAN: So what?

HERMAN: -- a fictitious call -

JOHNS: All right.

HERMAN: -- by someone who was not even there.

JOHNS: OK, let me cut it off right here, guys. But don't go anywhere. In about 10 minutes, you get to talk about Casey Anthony again, this time for her probation for check fraud.

All right, the governor of Texas on stage right now at a prayer service in Texas. Live report, coming up.

GOV. RICK PERRY, TEXAS: A byword among the nations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: An update on our top story right now, new information on the deadly helicopter crash in Eastern Afghanistan. Calling it a big loss, U.S. military officials are now saying a majority of those killed were Navy SEALs.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says at least 38 people were killed, 31 of them U.S. troops. The Taliban claimed their militants shot down the chopper, but that has not been confirmed.

Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating is generating strong reactions in Washington. The agency lowered the rating from AAA to AA-plus, citing the recent debt deal. It says the agreement failed to make needed spending cuts and revenue hikes to lower the long-term deficit.

The Obama administration says S&P's decision is flawed because the agency miscounted the size of the debt.

We're also keeping an eye on Syria, in particular the city of Hama. Witnesses say more than 50 people were killed there yesterday when a government tank fired on protesters near a hospital because of all the shelling. Mourners reportedly are scared to travel to cemeteries outside the city, so they're burying their dead in their back yards.

Thousands of people are attending a huge religious service in Houston right now. They're praying for divine intervention to solve the country's problems. Texas Governor and potential Presidential candidate Rick Perry is hosting the conservative Christian event, and it is not sitting well with some.

CNN's Jim Acosta is live at the service. And, Jim, let's talk a little bit about Perry's involvement and why it's controversial.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joe, Texas Governor Rick Perry is on stage right now and, as you know, he is a potential GOP contender. A Republican Party activist would like to know very much whether or not he's going to jump in this race for president, and his aides say he should have a decision close to the end of the summer.

And, in the meantime, he is holding this religious gathering here in Houston, Texas inside the Reliant Stadium, a football stadium that holds 71,000 people. Organizers of this event say about 25,000 people are on hand so far. That number has not been independently confirmed, and, I can tell you, so far, Joe, this event has been pretty much about prayer and not politics.

Governor Perry just a few moments ago said that God is not wise enough to be affiliated with any political party. But he did talk about some of the economic struggles that are happening in this country right now, saying that his heart breaks, and everybody here, that their hearts break for people who have lost their homes and their jobs and who've lost hope.

So there is a slightly political message that is mixed in with the prayer here and, as you can see behind me, on stage right now, the Texas governor is leading this crowd in a few moments of prayer here.

This event will be going on into the afternoon. There are some pastors here who have raised some controversy over the years, made some controversial statements over the years, and, because of that, there are protesters gathered outside of here. Those protesters, Joe, are worried about some of the comments made by some of the pastors on hand here who have made some controversial statements about homosexuality and even made some comments about Catholicism and - and Jewish people in this country, and so, some of that has concerned some of the protesters here who worry that this is a somewhat exclusive event, Joe.

JOHNS: Now, it's probably pretty hard for you to hear. I know, when I've been in your position, it's been very hard to hear. But do you know if the turnout here has sort of reached the expectations that were set by the organizers?

ACOSTA: We - I think they had hoped at one point to be able to fill this stadium. And I will tell you that just in the couple of days before this event, they were telling us, the organizers, that there were only about 8,000 people who have signed up - who had signed up online to attend this event, but they appear to have gone beyond that at this point. They have started to fill sort of the - the mezzanine level, if you will, Joe, of this stadium and you can see, you know, there are folks who have - who have moved into the upper portions of the stadium.

But this - this section of the stadium where the event is being held has been sort of carved off and sealed off from the rest of the stadium. So it does look a little bit bigger on TV than it actually is at this point.

They're not going to come anywhere close to filling every one of the seats in this 71,000-seat stadium. But it is a big crowd, nevertheless.

JOHNS: All right, Jim Acosta, thanks so much for that. We'll be checking back with you.

Casey Anthony, could we see her back in Orlando? Our legal guys are coming back to talk about her latest court battle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Casey Anthony - heard that name before? She's going to have to return to Orlando to serve probation for a previous conviction, perhaps.

Our legal guys are back, Avery Friedman in Cleveland, Richard Herman in New York.

So, guys, this obviously goes back to 2010. She pleaded guilty to check fraud in exchange for probation. Tuesday, a judge ordered her to report for that probation. Lawyers appeal. The case is then turned over to Judge Belvin Perry, who presided over the murder trial.

Now, can you just unravel this for me in simplified terms? What's going on with the woman's probation and why is it even an issue? We'll start with you, Avery.

HERMAN: Well, basically -

JOHNS: That's fine. Go ahead. Go ahead.

FRIEDMAN: All right, well look, I can - I think I can -

(CROSSTALK)

FRIEDMAN: I think I can make this real simple. January 2010, a judge puts her on probation, Florida probation, says she's on probation. She satisfied it.

The judge then goes on television with an active case, Joe - can you believe this? On a show that has as its theme the rabid presumption of guilt, (INAUDIBLE) to the constitution. Then, after 19 months says, oh, it starts after she gets out of jail. The next day, Chief Judge Perry - Perry did the right thing, held it up. What he's saying is, it's a mess, no Florida precedent. What he's thinking is, what's the matter with that judge? Judge Perry's going to resolve the whole thing.

JOHNS: So, what -

FRIEDMAN: She's not going to be on probation.

HERMAN: Joe -

JOHNS: Go ahead, Richard. It sounds like the -

HERMAN: Strickland will hand -

JOHNS: Go ahead.

HERMAN: I'm sorry. Go ahead, Joe.

JOHNS: All right. It sounds to be -

HERMAN: What happened, the -

JOHNS: (INAUDIBLE) -

HERMAN: Yes. What happened was Judge Strickland was - I'm sorry Joe.

Judge Strickland was the - was the judge who handled that criminal case. He sentenced her to time in prison, and then to commence her probation upon release from prison. That's what he said verbally from the bench.

When he signed his order, it did not say upon release from prison, so probation took the case immediately, began to supervise her - supervise her. She completed it January 24, 2011. They issued her a letter saying, you have completed your probation.

At that point in time -

JOHNS: Right.

HERMAN: -- Judge Strickland woke up and said, whoa, I didn't mean for this to happen. He tried to undo it. He had 60 days from back in 2010 to modify his order. He did nothing. It's too late.

Judge Perry has this mess in his lap. He's going to hold that she did her probation. She doesn't have to do it again. Just think, if it's not Casey Anthony, if it's just someone else we don't know, would they make that person redo probation?

Florida does it. -

FRIEDMAN: Of course not.

HERMAN: They give probation to people who are incarcerated. It's not - she's not going to get a redo. Judge Perry will decide by Wednesday of this week.

JOHNS: But you can still do administrative probation, right? Tell me what that is.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, but do you know what that means?

HERMAN: But he suggest -

FRIEDMAN: That means that the judge supervises instead of a probation officer so that we don't have - we're not going to have a disclosure of where she is, what she's doing. That's an option for Judge Perry.

I don't think he's going to do it. I think he's just going to end the probation, move forward. That's it.

JOHNS: Wow. All right.

So there's also this issue in Alabama. You guys are familiar with this, obviously. We have the -

HERMAN: Very much so.

JOHNS: Right, the immigration law situation, Justice Department trying to stop the state from enforcing a law that takes effect the first of next month.

Let's talk a little bit about this argument, which we've heard before in some other states that have passed some really strict immigration laws. Richard, start with you.

HERMAN: Yes, Joe, you know, the governor in Alabama has said one out of 10 citizens in my state are unemployed. I am not going to allow this state to be a sanctuary for illegal residents. I am going to impose those laws, we're going to enact these laws that are going to require schools to affirmatively determine whether students are in fact properly papered here in the United States, and, if they're not, they're going to - they're supposed to call the police and have them detained.

If you transport or harbor someone who is not properly in this country, that's a crime. And, if you employ someone who is not properly within this country, you face strict penalties.

This law runs -

JOHNS: Right.

HERMAN: -- may run contrary to the federal statute. The Supremacy Clause controls this. The federal government is going to step in again, like they did in Arizona, and in Georgia to block these types of statutes. But it's just frustration by the states that the federal government -

FRIEDMAN: Well -

HERMAN: -- is not addressing the illegal residency issue.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, but that doesn't - you know what? Frustration -

JOHNS: Yes.

FRIEDMAN: Joe, frustration doesn't justify violating the constitution.

Those folks in Montgomery knew about the Court of Appeals in San Francisco, they knew about the Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. It's clearly openly, mindlessly unconstitutional 74-page motion. Joe, look for an injunction being entered by the federal district judge. That law will not take effect on September 1st.

JOHNS: But isn't this just -

FRIEDMAN: It will not happen.

JOHNS: Right. Isn't this just the kind of thing that all you're trying to do is raise the profile of the issue and see how close you can push it to the Supreme Court?

HERMAN: That's exactly it, Joe.

FRIEDMAN: Oh, man -

HERMAN: And the states are prepared to modify and tweak the statute to comply with whatever the judges say. But it is a wake-up call, again, to the administration, to Congress, to do something about this, and they just seem paralyzed with the debt situation and they're just not addressing this issue.

FRIEDMAN: Well, you don't - you don't do it in obvious violation of the constitution. Joe, this is a political decision made in Montgomery, not a legal or a constitutional one. And these people are sworn to uphold the constitution.

So whatever deficiencies are occurring by Congress or even the administration, that doesn't justify enacting a law like this. When the legislators know that the federal courts have consistently held what they put together is unconstitutional, it is actually a terrible thing to do. Congress has to get moving on it, but that doesn't justify what happened in Alabama.

JOHNS: It sure sounds like the states are in a fighting mood, and it's not just Alabama. Arizona, I think, is at least one more.

HERMAN: You're right.

JOHNS: You bet. Thanks so much, guys.

FRIEDMAN: You're right.

HERMAN: And Georgia.

JOHNS: You bet. FRIEDMAN: There you go. Take care.

JOHNS: We'll be in touch.

HERMAN: Have a good weekend.

JOHNS: You, too.

It's not where Tiger Woods wanted to be as he started play in his first tournament in three months. We'll find out where he stands now in the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.

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JOHNS: Not a great start for Tiger Woods in his first tournament in three months. He's just finished his third round, and he's 11 shots off the lead.

CNN's Joe Carter is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS: It seems like there are so many golfers in contention to win this tournament, except for the one golfer most people came here to see, and that's Tiger Woods. He had a great opening round, a very encouraging round, 68 on Thursday, then struggled to find consistency, shooting a 71 on Friday, and today, finds himself deep in the middle of the pack, with more than 30 golfers in front of him.

But perhaps the most encouraging sign for Tiger Woods is how encouraged he is about his own game. He says he has this newfound power. His drives are going further than they ever have before. Now, it's a matter of managing that newfound power.

But, of course, Tiger Woods, the expectations are always super high. Everyone expects him to win any tournament he enters. But, let's be realistic. At this point, it's simply a tune-up into next week's PGA Championship in Atlanta.

He'll never admit it, but this is a point in time where he needs to work on his game because winning a major title next week puts him on track to not only catch Jack Nicklaus but to pass his 18 major wins.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Our top stories, coming up next. A devastating day for the U.S. military. Next, new information from the Pentagon on a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Checking top stories, the Obama administration says Standard & Poor's was wrong to downgrade its U.S. credit rating. S&P reduced the rating from AAA to AA-plus, but the administration says the agency overestimated U.S. deficits by $2 trillion.

S&P admits it made an error, but says the downgrade stands. Republicans are blaming President Obama for the downgrade.

U.S. military officials say a helicopter crash in Afghanistan has killed dozens of Americans, most, if not all of them, Navy SEALs. Taliban fighters claim they downed the chopper.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai puts the death count at 31 Americans and seven Afghans. If those numbers are accurate, this would be the deadliest day for coalition forces since the Afghan War began.

Five current and former New Orleans police officers now face up to life in prison for their roles in the Danziger Bridge shootings. A jury convicted them on 25 civil rights violations for shooting six unarmed civilians, killing two of them, and then trying to cover it up.

The shootings happened in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina.

If you bought an airline ticket during the brief FAA shutdown and paid taxes, forget about any refunds. Some passengers think they're entitled since the government wasn't allowed to collect those taxes during the shutdown, but when President Obama signed the bill to fund the FAA yesterday, he made those taxes retroactive. And tax collection on air travel begins again on Monday.

After weeks of economic turmoil, what can you do to protect your personal finances? We'll get some advice at 2:00 P.M. Eastern.

Now that polygamist Warren Jeffs has been convicted of sexually abusing two child brides, a jury is trying to decide whether he'll get life in prison. We'll have a live report from Texas at 3:00 Eastern.

"YOUR MONEY" starts in two minutes.

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