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Standard & Poor's Downgrades U.S. Creditworthiness; At Least 31 U.S. Soldiers Die in Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan; Tiger Woods Struggles on the Course; Severe Famine in Somalia Continues; Rick Perry Holds Prayer Meeting; Financial Adviser Discusses U.S. Credit Rating; Some Cities Cutting Back on Pensions

Aired August 06, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN Newsroom where the news unfolds live on this Saturday. I'm Joe Johns in for Fredricka Whitfield.

Happening now in Afghanistan, what may be the deadliest day for coalition forces since the war started. A U.S. military official says more than two dozen American troops were killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan. Most of them were Navy Seals. Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the number of U.S. dead is 31. He also says seven Afghans were killed.

The United States no longer has its perfect credit and that could cause problems all the way from Wall Street to main street. Standard & Poor's has downgraded U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CHAMBERS, STANDARD & POOR'S: I think that there is plenty of blame to go around. This is a problem that has been a long time in the making, well over this administration, the prior administration. It is a matter of the medium and long term budget position of the United States that needs to be brought under control, not the immediate fiscal position. One that centers on entitlement and the reform having matching revenues to pay for those entitlements that's at the crux of the matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Our Poppy Harlow will join us in just over five minutes to talk about how the credit downgrade could affect everyday Americans.

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is back in court for more testimony and the penalty phase of his trails. Jeffs faces up to life in prison after being found guilty of child sexual assault. The 12 and 15-year-olds were his so-called spiritual wives.

Dramatic new video from May's deadly tornado in Joplin, Missouri. Cameras at Joplin high school recorded the terrifying moments as the storm blasted its way across the campus. The tapes just now released. The storm heavily damaged the school and destroyed a big part of the city of Joplin. It killed more than 150 people. Commencement ceremonies are finally taking place today for graduates of the University of Alabama three months after deadly tornadoes ripped through the state. The commencement planned back in may had to be postponed. Six students from the university were killed when the storm hit Tuscaloosa. Their parents accepted posthumous degrees for them.

Now the latest on the helicopter crash in Afghanistan that killed more than two dozen American troops. Most of them were Navy Seals, we're told. Our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now. You just got off the phone. What are you learning?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Joe, we do have some fresh information. The U.S. military reeling from this day in Afghanistan. As you say, 31 Americans killed in this helicopter incident overnight in eastern Afghanistan. Of the 31 Americans, 25 of them were U.S. Special Forces according to an official, U.S. official I have just spoken to, 25 special operations forces. Of those 25, 22 were U.S. Navy Seals. This by all accounts is the largest loss for the Navy Seals in a single day that anyone can remember.

These Navy Seals, the official says, were in fact from the same unit. Not the same men, not the same team, but the same overall unit that conducted the raid against Osama bin Laden. Those -- that is what brought Navy Seal team six to world acclaim. But this is the kind of mission these men do behind the scenes. Not noticed by the public every day in Afghanistan, these helicopter night raids into targets looking for bad guys, looking for insurgents.

There was enemy fire in the area at the time. And U.S. officials emphasize they are conducting a full investigation but right now they think there is a real possibility, I am told by this source, that the helicopter was brought down by enemy fire.

JOHNS: So it sounds as though there is a lot of information pointing to the fact that it was not an accident. Is that right? These are pretty reliable helicopters.

STARR: Yes. By all accounts, at this point, although there will be a full investigation, there are these credible reports of enemy fire in the area and they do believe there is a very significant chance that it was brought down by enemy fire. Of course, they have to examine the wreckage. They have to look at all the forensics and conduct a full and formal investigation into what that.

And I think we should also point out, this couldn't be a more difficult issue for the families that are waiting to get news. Whether they have lost loved ones on this day or other military families who, of course, their loved ones serve and they wait every day until their loved ones come home.

Casualty officers are fanning out across the country going to home towns, going to find family members, and trying to bring them the news and the information that they can as quickly as possible. They want to get to these families and make sure that they know everything first. JOHNS: Barbara Starr in Washington. Thanks so much for that reporting.

Earlier today I talked to retired U.S. army general Mark Kimmitt. He's now executive vice president of Advanced Technology Systems Company, a defense contracting firm. I asked Kenneth what makes U.S. special forces special?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGADIER GEN. MARK KIMMITT, (RET), FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS: It's really two ways. Number one, the mission they have is special operations. They are going against highest level targets and in many cases the most dangerous targets. With regard to their training, the military invests far more money into their training than they do for 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 through special army ranger course. But they're always training. They're selected from inside the military, the best of the best. And that's why they're given the toughest missions out there.

JOHNS: The terrain now. This is Wardak province to the west of Kabul. Steep mountain ranges as I understand it. We heard Barbara Starr talking about it. 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 on the ISAF 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 in Iraq and Afghanistan. If they have a major cell of IED makers, that's the type of mission they want might want to send a special operations unit up against.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Turning to our other big story, the decision by standard & poor's to downgrade the U.S. credit rating by lowering it from AAA to AA+. The down did grade will make it more expensive for the government to borrow money. It is also expected to affect every day Americans. Poppy Harlow joins us from New York. Poppy, it does sound like the U.S. has been thrown out of a very exclusive club.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. You're exactly right. They have in essence. The AAA club. There used to be up until 8:00 p.m., 16 countries including the United States, that meld pristine AAA credit rating meaning that our debt was the safest place for people all around the world to invest. And 46 percent of our debt is held by people outside of the United States. Now you see the United States in red on your screen. That is because notices longer part of that club. Now you have 15 countries and the Isle of Man still with that AAA credit rating from Australia to Switzerland, no longer the United States.

To give you some perspective, a AA+ credit rating is still a very strong credit rating. It puts us on par with Belgium but below places like the U.K. and Australia. The bigger picture and the bigger question that's getting a lot of focus now is whether or not the United States needed this. What was it that, was it the kick we needed? The growing debt in this country, year after year, not being addressed. And Standard & Poor's very critical last night on the inability of Washington to get together, to come to an agreement on a debt deal, not at the 11th hour like we saw happen. That would have helped substantially. They said that that was part of their reasoning here. One of the reasons why they decided that the United States credit, that our debt is not as secure as it was before. Just to reiterate, a AA+ credit rating that we have is still a pretty strong rating.

JOHNS: If S&P was sending a message, it doesn't seem like it was received very well on the presidential campaign trail on the Republican side, a lot of them continuing to be very critical of president Obama. Meanwhile though, Poppy, not talking about policy or politics. How could this affect American consumers?

HARLOW: It's a very good question. And to be frank here, we don't know exactly what's going to happen, because in the history of this country, our AAA credit rating has never been downgraded. It is an unprecedented move. And I spoke to a New York stock exchange trader who said this is unprecedented and we don't know what it will mean going into Monday's session.

But for everyone watching that wonders how does this affect me at home, what we could see is interest rates going up sort of across the board. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage at home, your interest rate could and might likely go up. If you have a car loan, your interest rate could go up. If you have a privately funded student loan, that interest rate could go up. The availability of credit could get tighter.

But again, we don't know. That's what's expected will happen. We don't know because it hasn't happened before. I do want to point something out again to put this in perspective so people don't panic. Interest rates right now in this country are the lowest they've been since the 1950s under Eisenhower. So even if we do see an increase, I was reading thong, let's say a 0.5 percent increase, they're still talking about coming a very low level.

But yes, it is going to have an impact. Above all, more importantly than interest rates, this has a big impact psychologically on the American public that already feels beat down, that is dealing with unemployment at a significantly high level, that is not really getting substantially better. So this is a psychological blow to an already very weak economy.

JOHNS: Talking about potentially small, small increases. So perhaps there is a bit of good news in all that. Thanks so much for that, Poppy Harlow in New York.

Inside the food crisis in Somalia, CNN has been one of the few international reporters in Mogadishu. We have a reporter there. Her report in the newsroom coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: The former prime minister of Ukraine went to jail yesterday. These people rallied outside a courtroom in Kiev after police took Yulia Timoshenko away in handcuffs. She left office last year and is now on trial charged with corruption. Yesterday the judge ordered Timoshenko arrested and removed from the courtroom, saying she was disrupting the trial.

The president of Venezuela says this is his new look. President Hugo Chavez appeared on state TV a few days ago with most of his hair shaved off. He underwent a round of chemotherapy last month in Cuba. Here's his more familiar look. This picture was taken in July in Caracas. Chavez does acknowledge he is a cancer patient but has yet to say what type of cancer.

And the president of Somalia says the rebel group that runs much of southern Somalia has pulled out of the capital Mogadishu. The militant group is linked to Al Qaeda and reportedly left Mogadishu today after fighting with Somali and African Union forces.

The International Red Cross is ramping up its emergency operations in south and central Somalia. Hundreds of thousands of people desperately need food and water. CNN's Nima Elbagir is one of the few reporters inside Mogadishu.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The humanitarian crisis in Somalia is deepening and aid rations trying to use every means necessary in their fight against hunger and starvation. The World Food Program through its local partners is supposing so-called wet feeding programs where food is precooked before the distribution.

(on camera): Wet feeding only happens in the direst of humanitarian situations. The last time aid agencies rolled out a wet feeding program was in Haiti. For those people you see cueing here, this is the only guaranteed meal that they have.

(voice-over): And wet feeding is especially necessary in Somalia. Increasingly here, the hungry and vulnerable are being targeted for the little aid they're receiving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their food should be cooked and everybody benefits. It is better that way other than their leaders taking away their food.

ELBAGIR: It is not just corruption that worries them. One woman who was too scared to speak on camera said her son was killed by members of the Al Qaeda affiliated Al Shabaab group for accepting western aid. For these desperate communities, it is a seemingly never ending struggle. They must fight to protect even what little they have.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Mogadishu.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: The numbers run imaginable. Nearly 30,000 children have died in Somalia alone in the past month. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is heading to the famine stricken region before the day's out. Let's listen as he explains the trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: When you're talking about this part of the world, you're talking about a primarily agricultural community. They live off the land them grow cops. Now you have lack of rain and several thing started to unfold. The crops obviously die off. The livestock living off the crops die off. Now you have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people without food and without water. It is as simple as that. They walk dozens of miles trying to get some sort of help. But so many people are not able to make the journey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Sanjay will be tweeting updates from the field during his trip. You can get follow him at Sanjay Gupta CNN. You can get information on the many agencies trying to assist the people affected by the famine. Just logon to CNN.com/impact.

The federal government's debt deal is done. So what should you do with your money? Our financial fix is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: It is the number one issue in American homes, getting your financial house in order. Today in our weekly financial fix, the government's debt deal and what you should do with your money right now. Eric Amado joins us from Dallas. He's CEO of Amado consulting. So Eric, thanks for coming in on Saturday. Let's get started with government stocks and contracts. Do we know how they're going to be affected by the new debt deal? Or do you have any suspicions?

ERIC AMADO, CEO, AMADO CONSULTING, LLC: Absolutely. If you're an owner of stocks that are linked to government contracts, you need to be very, very cautious. Defense contracts could take a hit now that this new debt deal has taken place. Right now Congress is looking at cutting about $350 billion into defense spending. If you own those stocks you need to be careful.

JOHNS: They call them the beltway bandits. Defense contractors are very likely to lose business this year as these budget cuts are implemented.

AMADO: Absolutely.

JOHNS: But what about government bonds?

AMADO: Government bonds should do pretty well right now. If you look at the market, the market is, over the last 11 days, has been taking a beating. Last week we had one day where we lost 512 points in one day. So the stock market isn't doing very well. If you look at the treasury, about a 2.5 yield, the treasury is doing OK. When interest rates are low, the consumers are spending less, the government is spending less. It is a little better for bonds in the short term.

JOHNS: Right. Is it true graduate students will be paying tens of thousands of dollars more for their education?

AMADO: You're absolutely right. This is amazing. Right now graduate students, right now if you're in graduate school, you have the ability to write off your interest on your tax return through the graduate program and six months after that. Starting next July, 2012, that will go away. This is particularly going to affect people in medical school or going to get their law degrees. It takes long time to get those degrees so a lot of students will pay a lot of money long term once this is implemented.

JOHNS: We actually have a graphic that we got together looking at the change in the am of costs from the years 2000 to 2009. In the year 2000, law school too I go was $7,790. Now it zooms all the way up in 2009 to $18,472. Just a huge increase for starters, and that's going to, that could really affect the people going to professional school in a fundamental way.

AMADO: Absolutely. A lot of people there in medical school, in graduate school to become lawyers are using debt to pay for their loans. In the past the government gave us the ability to write off the interest. Now you have to pay the principal and the interest. And also you have law schools that are going up as far as tuition. This is going to be really, really tough. Then you have people with law degrees that can't find jobs when they come out. People have to make a decision whether the cost-benefit of going to graduate school, and can they get their money back in the long term.

JOHNS: Let's also talk about Social Security benefits. Say you're approaching that retirement age. Is there any reason why you should hold off or should you jump in there right now and start getting those Social Security benefits? Which is better, wait or not wait?

AMADO: That is a good question. If you have the ability to afford and you can wait, it is better to wait. Right now Congress is looking at something cost a cost of living index. That adjusts the benefits of what's happening in the economy. If this happens, most likely you'll get less benefits. Also, if you take your money out early you'll receive less benefits. If you save enough money for retirement, try the take your money out later in life if possible because you'll get more for the bang for your buck.

JOHNS: Everybody else, you have 401(k) plans, any advice on that?

AMADO: Right now that's a great question. Right now the best thing I would tell clients, pay off as much debt as you possibly can. Try to save as much cash as you possibly can. Look at Apple computer, they'll have about $100 billion in cash. These companies that know what they're doing.

We don't blank the economic time will be. Pay often your debt. Try the pay it off. And your investment, make sure do you this and try to take care of the basics. We don't know what will happen in this economy.

JOHNS: Eric Amado, thanks so much for that. You've got a great haircut.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNS: And to get more information from Eric, you can to go his Web site.

AMADO: We're twins, right?

JOHNS: That's right. That's right. Go to his Web site at AmadoConsultingLLC.com.

The latest jobs report is buoyed the spirits of some weary job seekers. Many of those looking for work know the search is a full- time job. A new push by the president may help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Top stories now. U.S. military officials confirm that most of the troops killed in a war zone helicopter crash were Navy Seals. It happened overnight in eastern Afghanistan. The White House released this photo of President Obama getting an update on the situation from the Pentagon and other White House officials.

We're told at least 31 American special forces troops and seven afghans were on board the Chinook helicopter when it went down. No official word yet on what caused the crash. A retired U.S. army general told me the impact on internal operations and the community cannot be overstated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMITT: My recollection, they're probably seven Seal teams in the country. I don't know the exact number in each yield 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 a thousand, if in fact you've lost two dozen, it is not solely a tragedy for the families, and it is 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: In Ohio, somebody took a shot at a midflight helicopter. No one was hurt. Police found fragments from a .22 caliber bullet near the fuel tank during a post flight inspection on Friday. Because of all the noise, nobody knows where the shooting actually took place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD CRANE, MEDFLIGHT PRESIDENT AND CEO: They're putting their lives on the line to save others. And this is totally inappropriate and sounding that someone would take a shot at a life-saving aircraft such as this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Police and the FBI are obviously investigating that.

The head of S&P's sovereign ratings committee said there is plenty of blame to go around over the U.S.'s first ever credit downgrade. He said it didn't have to happen and placed much of the blame on Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CHAMBERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, STANDARD AND POOR'S: I think they could have done a few things. I mean, the first thing they could have done is to have raised the debt ceiling in a timely manner so that much of this debate could have been avoided to begin with as it had done 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 the super majority vote, it did have the majority vote, and came up with a number of sensible recommendations. You can envision other recommendations but that would have been a start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Moody's and Fitch, the other leading ratings agencies have upheld the top rating but they do have concerns about the U.S.'s long term prospects.

After 40 years, the FBI is still looking for D.B. Cooper. This is the sky jack here got away with $200,000 in cash back in 1971. He jumped out of the plane and was never seen again. The FBI confirmed that it is working a fresh tip. The infamous cooper may be a man known as Lynn Doyle Cooper from Oregon. Lynn Doyle's ex-wife and son disagree over whether he is the guy who disappeared with all the loot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON COOPER, L.D. COOPER'S SON: I really haven't been able to get a good night's sleep since I heard the story.

ELSA COOPER, L.D. COOPER'S EX-WIFE: I don't think he would have done it. He would have laughed about it. But as far as doing it him, I don't think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So as they say, the investigation continues. And it has been going on for quite a while.

A vial of blood from the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy may help solve multiple cold cases. The blood was found in a Florida lab, and now investigators around the country are hoping to use that blood to either prove or disprove Bundy's involvement in the murders. Bundy was sent to Florida's electric chair in 1989. Before he died, Bundy confessed to more than 30 murders.

President Obama is renewing his push to get Americans back to work. Buoyed by a somewhat better than expected job report, the U.S. added 117,000 jobs in July. That did top expectations of experts but was short of the 150,000 that was needed to boost the sagging economy. In his weekly address, the president says the most urgent mission facing the country is stimulating job growth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our job right now has to be doing whatever we can to help folks find work, to help create the climate where a business can put up the job listing, where incomes are rising again for people. We have to rebuild this economy in the sense of security that middle class families have felt slipping away for years. And while deficit reduction has to be part of our economic strategy, it's not the only thing we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Job seekers welcome the news but many still face a lot of uncertainty. They're wrestling with a grim reality that it can be a long time before everyone who wants work finds it. Athena Jones caught up with job seekers in Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Job seekers began lining up early at this job fair. They came to lineup interviews in the hopes of getting hired.

TED KOBLICK, LOOKING FOR WORK: Hello. Nice to meet you. I appreciate your looking for a superstar. I feel like I am one. I got 28 years of experience in sales and marketing.

JONES: People like 52-year-old Ted Koblick, a salesman who lost his job in April.

KOBLICK: I need to find something right away.

JONES: The U.S. economy ad 117,000 jobs last month, more than economists expected but not enough to bring down the unemployment rate. It fell just 1/10 of a percent. Koblick is one of the 13.9 million people unemployed.

KOBLICK: I'll get in line over here.

JONES: He spends up to 12 hours a day looking for work.

Koblick and his family are living on savings and his unemployment check. But his daughter starts college later this month and he says he has until October 1 to find a job so he can keep paying the bills. KOBLICK: I worry about losing this house. I have to keep pressing on and do the best I can.

JONES: While Koblick remains optimistic, there is cause for concern. The number of people who have been out of work for six months or more is at record levels at more than six million.

BOB BRUSCA, ECONOMIST: You think in term of the millions of people who are unemployed, it is a question of how fast to put them back to work. We can run 300,000 job for a couple years and not put everybody back to work even with 300,000 per month.

JONES: Back at the job fair, a 23-year-old who graduated from college in May isn't surprised it is taking her a while to find a good job.

SABRINA ALMODOVAR: I don't think I'm phased too much about it even though the job market is that much worse just because I've always expected it to be hard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Athena Jones joins us live now from Washington. So Athena, the idea here, obviously, is to kick start consumer spending, to spur job growth. But how is the administration going to do that?

JONES: Well, the president's proposed extending the pay roll tax credit and extending unemployment insurance. That would put more money in people's pockets. It would help kick start consumer spending, hopefully. As you know, the U.S. economy is a consumer spending driven economy. He wants to see Congress pass these pending free trade agreements. And he thinks that will help spur job growth. None of these things can happen until lawmakers return in September.

JOHNS: That's right. We've got all the way into the first week of September before they go do that. Thanks so much, Athena Jones.

JONES: Thanks.

(WEATHER BREAK)

JOHNS: The governor of Texas and possible presidential candidate takes the stage in Houston, mixing politics and religion. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: I want to show you what's going on in Houston, Texas, right now. It's a prayer rally organized by a politician, Texas Governor Rick Perry. It's billed as a call for this country to return to, quote, "a renewed sense of moral purpose." It is a Christians only rally, and that is just one of the things drawing criticism.

I want to bring in Jim Acosta. He is at the Houston service. This gathering has been getting a lot of attention because Rick Perry could possibly run for the White House. Let's talk a little about the controversy he's facing. There are some people who don't like this idea of mixing religion and politics.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Joe, Rick Perry has no problem mixing religion and politics. He's done it almost throughout his political career. Certainly during his time as governor of Texas. And it was a couple months ago when he issued an official proclamation from his office as governor of the state of Texas. Calling for this day of prayer and fasting, what is now known as "the response." And he was on this stage earlier this afternoon.

It is interesting. Tens of thousands of people have come from across the state, probably from across the country to see Governor Perry make his remarks here. Today he was only on stage for ten minutes. But his script was certainly mixed with scripture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY, (R) TEXAS: He is calling all Americans of all walks of life to seek him, to return to him, to experience his love and his Grace and his acceptance, experience a fulfilled life regardless of the circumstances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And this event has had plenty of criticism. There are folks down here who don't like the fact as you said, that this event appears to be mixing religion with politics. I can tell you from being here throughout the day, they really have stayed away from a lot of the hot button issues that can really drive a wedge between Americans on the left and the right.

However, we should say that there were some protests outside this stadium earlier today. They were not very happy about some of the people who were organizing this event. One of the key ordering of this event, the American Family Association, has made some pretty incendiary comments about gay rights activists in the past.

Inside we talked to some worshippers earlier today. They said they're focused on the message. They are in fact praying for some divine intervention, Joe, to see if god can somehow fix the nation's economy, get this country on the right track, because as they look around at this country, Joe, they see a lot of problems.

JOHNS: Jim Acosta out in Houston. It would very interesting to see what happens if Rick Perry runs for president. Thanks so much for that report.

Tiger Woods is back on the golf course today. Let's find out how he's doing coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: After they-month layoff, Tiger Woods is back on a course he couldn't lose on. But it is his former caddie who is making a bigger impression. Joe Carter is at the Bridgestone Invitation in Akron, Ohio. Joe, third round action. How did Tiger do?

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: John, do you play much golf?

JOHNS: Do I but I'm lousy at it.

CARTER: Do you play much golf? Join the club. You know how frustrating it can be then when you get the ball all the way to the green and then you miss a four-foot putt. That's what drives you to drink, right?

JOHNS: I would say so. I think so. We've got a big delay here.

CARTER: I can tell you right now that's Tiger's biggest problem. OK. I'll get to it then. Tiger has played three rounds. And he has been very encouraged by those three rounds. Today really the only fault in his game was that he couldn't knock down the short putts. He is hitting it is flush, long, straight. For a guy out three months with an injury, you would never know it. He looks strong and athletic. But as anybody who plays golf knows out there, if you don't knock down the putts, it ain't going to go in.

JOHNS: What about the caddie though? The caddie is doing pretty good.

CARTER: Reporter: What's that, John? I can't hear you.

JOHNS: I said what about the caddie? His caddie that he just fired?

CARTER: Oh, Stevie Williams. He is on Adam Scott's bag and they're doing pretty well. Joe? OK. Joe? Stevie was on -- we're having a bad delay here. Adam Scott is leading the tournament, Joe. And his caddie is Steve Williams. He's been on the bag for him for this tournament. And that's been the big storyline coming into this week, because Tiger has won seven times before. Stevie was a big part of those victories. And now Scott is one round away from winning the tournament, which would be quite remarkable.

JOHNS: Got it. So hopefully next time we get on here, we'll get that audio problem straightened out. Obviously, a really long delay.

CARTER: I hope so.

JOHNS: You've got it. Thanks for that report, man.

You've heard that music soothes the savage beast. So wait until you see when a whale hears a mariachi band.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Time for a video rewind. And a beluga whale is stealing the show thanks to a mariachi band in Connecticut. OK, Jacqui Jeras, can you explain this to me?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: If you've ever been in some of these huge aquariums, they offer venues for huge events. A wedding was taking place and the mariachi band decided to serenade the beluga whale.

JOHNS: He's like jamming a little bit.

JERAS: He's nodding his head, moving his flipper around a little bit.

JOHNS: That's fantastic. They stay beluga whales are very special animals. You see them interact with people or they will come up to a little kid.

JOHNS: They don't bite like sharks?

JERAS: Not when there's glass in between.

JOHNS: OK, I got it. That's very cool. I love it. He has like a nice sort of friendly face, too.

JERAS: He seems to like the guitar.

JOHNS: I like that. The weightlessness adds a surreal feeling to it.

JERAS: It's very calming.

JOHNS: I should spend a lot more time in aquariums if I could.

JERAS: They're very relaxing. I could stay there all day and read a book and listen to the music. If aid mariachi band, we would all be dancing.

JOHNS: Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much.

JERAS: OK.

JOHNS: It is happening across the country. Revenues are down and retirement benefits are going bust.

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JOHNS: When revenues go down, most city and town leader look for ways to cover the shortfall. As CNN's Mary Snow reports, now more than ever the pension plan is the target.

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MARY SNOW: Central Falls fire chief John Garvey heard the warnings pension problems. But he says they were down the road and he expected that road to be a long one.

BATTALION CHIEF JOHN GARVEY, CENTRAL FALL FIRE DEPARTMENT: There was always idol talk around here about pensions but we never thought would it come to this. We thought there would be enough.

SNOW: Now there isn't. It follows years of fiscal mismanagement and declining revenues for Rhode Island's smallest city. Troubles with its schools were so severe all its teachers were fired at one point. Central Falls schools are now run by the state and volunteers operate the library.

It was the city's pension obligations that put it over the edge and into bankruptcy court. Central Falls pension fund is underfunded by an estimated $80 million. Retirees now face the possible their pensions will be cut in half and they will be required to pay more for health benefits. They don't collect Social Security.

Chief Garvey feels cheated. He's been on the force for 25 years, long enough that his son has joined him and his retirement plans are now shelved.

GARVEY: I don't really feel as though it was my fault. And my contributions came out of my paycheck ever since day one. So why shouldn't it be there unless somebody else did something wrong?

SNOW: There's anger, but longtime residents like Paul Landry say it is hard to point blame. Landry has worked at his family's hardware store for 50 years and says everyone paid for promises the city couldn't keep.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One mayor after another mayor, another mayor, another mayor. They just pushed aside and no one is accountable for what they have.

SNOW: State officials say Central Falls, population 18,000, should serve as a cautionary tale. Other cities in Rhode Island may be vulnerable. And the small state has one of the most expensive retirement systems in the country, something the state treasurer is tasked to fix.

GINA RAIMONDO, RHODE ISLAND GENERAL TREASURER: Nobody wants to make the tough choices. Central Falls proves that these choices will be made for you. If you don't act quickly enough, the consequences will be devastating. So as hard as this is now for me, for the governor, for union leaders to come to the table to fix it, it is much easier to fix it now than when you're at the brink of bankruptcy.

SNOW: The official motto here at Central Falls is a city with a bright future. But now lawyers for various interested parties are fighting over its dwindling assets.

Mary Snow, CNN, Central Falls, Rhode Island.

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