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U.S. Troops Die in Copter Crash; Awaiting Market Reaction to Downgrade; Is Obama a Conservative Liberals Have to Love; Obama Requests Timothy Geithner Remain Treasury Secretary; Global Market Reaction to U.S. Downgrade; Swimmer Diana Nyad to Attempt Havana to Key West Swim; A-Rod Caught Gambling

Aired August 07, 2011 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

New details emerging tonight about how U.S. troops suffered their single deadliest loss since the Afghan war began. We're learning the CH-47 Chinook helicopter was on a mission in the Wardak province to reinforce Army rangers pinned down in a fierce battle with the Taliban. Their target was a Taliban commander directly responsible for attacks on U.S. forces. NATO forces are still assessing the crash site, where the chopper apparently was shot down.

We're also learning more about the men who died in that incident. One of them was Navy SEAL Aaron Carson Vaughn. He was 30 years old a father of two small children.

I spoke with his grandmother about the last time she saw him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENEVA CARSON VAUGHN, GRANDSOIN WAS NAVY SEAL KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN: It was Aaron's birthday. In June, he turned 30. And I told him to be careful. And he said, "Granny, don't worry about me." He said, "I'm not afraid because I know where I'm going if something happens to me." Aaron was a Christian and stood firm in his faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Aaron Vaughn was stationed in Virginia Beach, Virginia. And our Brian Todd is there.

Brian, this is a tight-knit military community. How are they taking this tragic loss?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, a very tough development for people in this community.

You know, you don't have to look far around here to realize this is a military town. You've got memorials here, military bases dotting the landscape, including one military base just down the road that is the home of SEAL Team Six. The realities of war are engrained in the culture here but the enormity of this attack and just the devastating nature of it are just starting to sink in. A short time ago, we spoke to Kimberly Vaughn. She's just found out that her husband, 30-year-old Aaron Carson Vaughn was among the SEALs killed. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY VAUGHN, WIDOW OF NAVY SEAL KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN: I woke up in the morning and I saw the reports on the TV and my mother came and told me about it. And I thought I was OK. Nobody had come.

And as I come up the stairs, I heard the door bell ring. And I thought, oh, hopefully, it's just a neighbor. And as I rounded the stairs, I saw the men in uniform.

I just fell to my knees. There's no preparing for it. You know, it's something you see in the movies. It's not something you're supposed to live through.

But it -- it was men from the command. And, you know, it was as nice as it could be, I guess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Kimberly Vaughn is now left to care for a 2-month-old daughter and a son who will turn 2 years old just next month.

The focus now turns to helping the families like Kimberly, current and former Navy SEALs and their commanders are trying to raise money for the Navy SEAL Foundation. It is a group dedicated to giving financial support to the families left behind. They're busy now in a way they never hope they would be -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Brian Todd, thank you very much.

In a moment, we'll speak with other people who knew those service members who lost their lives right here on CNN.

You know, no one knows what will happen when the markets open for business tomorrow. Will investors shrug off Friday's credit downgrade? We don't know. Or could we face another ugly day? We're going to have a preview.

And it looks like the aftermath of a firefight in a war zone, but it is London. What set off the violence that shattered the peace in one neighborhood.

And you're on social media. And we are, too. You can reach to us on Twitter, on Facebook, on CNN.com/Don and on Foursquare.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CHAMBERS, MANAGING DIR., STANDARD & POOR'S: We have a negative outlook, which speaks to a longer time frame, from six months to 24 months. And if the fiscal position of the United States deteriorates further, or if the political gridlock becomes more entrenched, then that could lead to a downgrade. The outlook indicates at least a one in three chance of a downgrade over that period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It is the credit rating downgrade heard around the world. And we still haven't really felt the impact because in less than two hours, the stock markets in Asia begin opening for the first time since the S&P downgrade. Will Asia see as much volatility as the New York Stock Exchange did last week?

Our Manisha Tank is standing by live for us in Hong Kong right now.

Manisha, what should we be expecting?

MANISHA TANK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, people are very jittery over here. And it's difficult to say exactly what we should expect, but many people expecting these markets perhaps to drop at the open, and certainly for the volatility to keep on going.

And, you know, you have to remember that this is the holiday season. So, that volatility was already high. Some people may have come back from those holidays a little bit early to deal with all of this news flow that's been coming in. And we really do end up being hostage to the next headline.

But when these Asian markets open, we are going to be expecting people to be pretty jittery, pretty nervous.

Let me run through for you what happened just last week to give you an idea of how jittery things are over here right now. We had the Nikkei down on the week by some 5.4 percent and the Hang Seng down 6.7 percent. These are two of the biggest bench marks over here.

And what is important about the Japanese market, of course, it's so exposed to what's happening globally. It was these fears about a global economic slump that really pulled these markets back, with people pushing this word around "correction" -- that, you know, we should have seen this coming. People have been concerned about the global economy for some time and whether or not you're going to get a bad U.S. jobs number, and as it ended up, it was a bit of a surprise on Friday, or a downgrade of U.S. debt, we still have to be worried about the global economy. That concern hasn't gone away.

So, the downside potential is still very much there for these markets. But, obviously, it was a big shake up when we got this downgrade. People will have to take that into consideration when they walk on to those trading floors today and have to start moving their money based on that.

Mostly, people want to keep their money where it's safe. They are just taking it out of this market and they're wanting to put it in somewhere safe.

And interestingly, where has that been? Where was the big boost at the end of last week? It was U.S. treasuries. So, you know, this has so many different angles, this story. But I'm pretty nervous, waiting to see how these markets are going to open. What we'll be watching carefully will be the Hang Seng, of course. It will be Japan, where they are worried about the currency as well, the yen, that dollar-yen cross rate in particular, the strength of the yen putting pressure on all of those exporters, as you can certainly expect Japan really to feel the pinch.

LEMON: All right. Manisha Tank, thank you very much. We appreciate it. And we've already seen some market response to the U.S. credit downgrade. The Middle Eastern financial markets were open today and close sharply lower. They closed sharply closer.

I want to bring in Richard Quest to help put all of this in perspective for us.

Richard, thank you so much for joining us. Are the losses in the Middle Eastern markets today a sign of things to come?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, first of all, they were the first markets. That was the first time they had a chance to respond to Thursday's dramatic falls on the Dow, a lot of these Middle Eastern markets closed on a Friday, of course.

So, let's just put the Middle East to one side. No question about it. They have individual relationships with the U.S. treasury market, either because of guarantees or because of oil revenues, because of dollars -- all sorts of reason.

So, it's not a surprise, but certainly it's done a serious warning of what we're going to see in the hours ahead. What we -- look what you're really wanting me to tell you, an answer, is what is going to happen. Are the markets going to, you know, fall out in Asia --

LEMON: Yes. Yes.

QUEST: -- and in Europe?

The obvious answer -- if I could answer that, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. I'd be doing something useful about it. And the truth is -- the truth is, Don, we're going to have a few very volatile sessions because of the size and scale of dislocation.

Let me explain. You've got the U.S. downgrade, which, of course, is an absolute that's now a variable. You've got Spain and Italy. You've got an ECB statement tonight. You've got a G-7 telephone conference call. You've got Tim Geithner saying that he's staying on at the Treasury and the president welcoming that.

These are unheard ofs on a weekend. And in that scenario, is it surprising that people are saying, what do I do? Where do I go? How do I protect what wealth I've got?

LEMON: Yes.

So, you put it in the global perspective. And I remember you saying to me no one around the world thought that the U.S. -- you said that the U.S. basically was at a point before where they raised the debt ceiling last weekend as you and I were talking, where they had driven the car to the edge of the cliff and that people were just wondering when they were going to put the brakes on it.

So, is this sort of a domino effect, this whole raising the debt ceiling so late, all this political back-and-forth, the acrimony that we've had, is this effecting the markets you think globally? Does that all fall into place? Does that tie into it?

QUEST: In his briefing note yesterday, Mohamed El-Erian of PIMCO summed it up perfectly -- when it was said the entire global financial system was built around the idea that the U.S. AAA was a constant. It was always there and always will be. People built their houses around that pillar. Now that constant is a variable.

Oh, it may come back AAA, but we know it can go away. It's no longer an absolute. It's as if you've just been told in the financial world that the sun ain't going to rise over there like as it has been.

Now, that's slightly melodramatic, but it gives you an idea of the uncertainties that people are now dealing with. And what the markets loathe more than anything else is uncertainty. There will be some contrarians out there who will be saying, a chance to make money, and they are right. But for the vast majority of Americans and Europeans, this is just a case of what do I do now.

LEMON: Richard Quest, thanks for putting that in perspective for us. Appreciate it, sir.

We're going to going to now to London. London police battle rioters. North London cleaning up after fierce rioting, looting and fires. Why the city's anger spilled out on to the streets. We'll tell you that.

And in Washington, the political blame game is in full swing. Who's pointing fingers and who is taking heat for the U.S. credit downgrade? We sort it all, next, for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: As we began this broadcast, we told there are new details emerging tonight about how U.S. troops suffered their single deadliest loss since the Afghan war began.

We're now learning the CH-47 Chinook helicopter was on a mission in the Wardak province to reinforce Army Rangers pinned down in a fierce battle with the Taliban. Their target was a Taliban commander directly responsible for attacks on U.S. forces. NATO troops are still assessing the crash site where the chopper apparently was shot down.

But, you know, not all of the troops on the downed helicopter were Special Forces. Sergeant Patrick Hamburger was with the Nebraska National Guard and the flight engineer on the chopper. His job was to carry these elite troops on these missions. Sergeant Hamburger leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter, a 13-year-old daughter and a fiancee. Fiancee Candie Reagan joins us now by phone from Grand Isle, Nebraska.

Candie, we are so sorry for your loss. Everyone wants to know how you're doing.

CANDIE REAGAN, FIANCEE OF KILLED GUARDSMAN (via telephone): I'm doing the best that I can do.

LEMON: Yes.

REAGAN: It's really hard.

LEMON: It's hard.

REAGAN: It's very hard. It's something that I never thought would ever happen to us.

LEMON: How are the girls? What have you told them?

REAGAN: My 2-year-old, she's 2. She just knows. And everybody is unhappy and my 13-year-old is absolutely devastated. She can't stop crying. It just -- it hurts all of us -- this entire family, every single one of us, all of his close friends.

LEMON: You had -- this was his first tour. He had only been there a week.

REAGAN: Yes.

LEMON: When was the last time you saw him?

REAGAN: I'd seen him in July for four days. And (INAUDIBLE) before this happened.

LEMON: You said for four days in July, and then before that when?

REAGAN: On Skype for two days before this happened.

LEMON: He had told you that he would be out of touch. He told the family, because he was -- because of a mission, something that he was working on, right?

REAGAN: Yes. He sent me an e-mail the day before, and he told me -- he said please don't worry about me. He said that's the last thing that he wants me to do. He said just to know that he's doing everything in his power to be safe and to make it home in one piece.

And that he loves me, and he loves his girls. And he knows that I need him back home. He said that you and the girls are always in my heart.

Don't worry. This place isn't going to change me. I'm going to change this place. That's just how I am.

He said I love you, ma. Just take care of my girls. And know that I am here thinking about you all the time. I'll be home before you know it. Love you, ma.

LEMON: Were you just reading from the e-mail he wrote to you?

REAGAN: Yes.

LEMON: Tells us what kind of a guy he was, Candie?

REAGAN: He was everybody's hero. He was an amazing guy. He was always smiling. He had the biggest, brightest smile on earth.

He was always telling jokes to everybody. Making people laugh, it's what he liked to do.

He loved his daughters. His daughters were his world. And he lived each and every day for his kids and for his family.

LEMON: There are 29 other families that are dealing with this same sort of grief that you're dealing with. Does the world -- can we even imagine what you're going through?

REAGAN: No. Unless you've gone through this, you have no idea. It's just hard. I don't know how to explain how it feels. I'm still going through it. And it's going to be a long time before I can make it through all of this. But I have tons of love and family support and friends.

LEMON: Did you -- did he prepare you? I know it's an odd question, but did in any way did he because of the type of job that he did, did he prepare you in any way for this type of loss, or did he just sort of instill in you that I'm going to be OK? Or did he say, you know, this could happen to me and you should be ready for it?

REAGAN: He just -- he never made me worry. He always made sure that I knew he was going to be OK. He was going to come back home to us. He reassured me he would come home.

LEMON: Candie, thank you very much. We are so sorry, again. And the whole world is thinking about you and our viewers as well. I'm sure they're gripped by this and praying for you. Thank you. And if we can help you in any way, don't hesitate to reach out, OK?

REAGAN: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

Sergeant Patrick Hamburger, one of 30 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan. He was 30 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: We see discord at home. We see fear in the marketplace. We see anger in the halls of government. And as a nation, we have forgotten who made us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He's a politician by trade, but Texas Governor Rick Perry says there was nothing political about his rally, his prayer rally appearance Saturday in Houston.

As many as 30,000 people attended the event in Reliant Stadium. Perry said its purpose was to pray for an economic recovery.

But critics say the governor is crossing the line between church and state. About 50 people protested outside of that rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

DAVID AXELROD, OBAMA CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: This is essentially a Tea Party downgrade. The Tea Party brought us to the brink of a default.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I believe this is, without question, the Tea Party downgrade.

GOV. MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), MARYLAND: The Tea Party obstructionism here in Washington is keeping us from restoring that balanced approach that America has always used.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

LEMON: OK. A common refrain on the Sunday talkers, Democrats blaming the U.S. credit downgrade on Tea Party Republicans.

But the right was quick to point the finger, too, immediately after Friday's announcement.

Mitt Romney released a statement saying: "America's credit worthiness just became a latest casualty on President Obama's failed record of leadership on the economy."

And this reaction from Michele Bachmann: "This president has destroyed the credit rating of the United States."

So, I want to bring in now CNN contributor Will Cain on this and Heather McGhee, the Washington director for Demos. Demos is it Demos.com? I don't know.

HEATHER MCGHEE, WASHINGTON DIRECTOR, DEMOS.ORG: Demos.org.

LEMON: Demos.org. Thank you very much.

All right. Let's start with you. All this back-and-forth, Will, isn't that the kind of political acrimony that the S&P criticized the U.S. for in its downgrade report?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, your question, Don, requires me to pretend that the opinion of the S&P matters. It doesn't.

But I will, for the sake of answering your question, pretend that the guys who told us that subprime mortgages were solid gold matters. OK, I'll do that. Yes. I think this kind of language, this Tea Party downgrade language does lend to making the U.S. look less credit worthy because it keeps your eye off of what actually is the root of the problem. It requires you to accept the narrative that we have been downgraded because we were holding the debt ceiling hostage. Not a good thing to do.

But that doesn't come up again for another two years.

LEMON: Yes.

CAIN: The core problem, the debt and deficit we have, that's still here.

LEMON: OK. So you said we should take their opinion, maybe -- you don't take their opinion seriously. But if interest rates start going down, I think American are going to start taking it seriously, Will. And you know, you know how -- you guys know much I just love talking points, right?

So, I'm going to play -- that was the Democrats this morning. And that was the talking point of them. So, I want to take a second and I want you guys to listen to David Beers, global head of the sovereign ratings for S&P on "FOX News Sunday." Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BEERS, S&P GLOBAL HEAD OF SOVEREIGN RATINGS: Both Congress and the administration are jointly responsible for the conduct of fiscal policy. And so, this is really not about either political party. It's about the difficulty of all sides in finding, you know, a consensus around fiscal policy choices now and in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, S&P is pointing finger at all sides in this. But I do want to read this section from the report on the downgrade. It says, "Compared with previous projections, our revised best case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts" -- meaning the Bush tax cuts -- "due to expire by the end of 2012 remain in place. We changed our assumption on this because majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act" -- meaning the debt ceiling.

So, Heather, if the GOP had agreed to tax increases in Obama's $4 trillion grand bargain, would the downgrade have happened?

MCGHEE: Absolutely not. I mean, what we're seeing here is the result of one party saying that even though we're at the lowest tax rate we've been at since 1950, the lowest share of revenues, a share of our economy, the lowest tax rates on the wealthy and corporation, we shouldn't raise taxes at all to make our country stronger. That kind of position is so far from the economic sort of common sense that the S&P is saying, listen, if they're willing to push near default in order to protect these tax breaks and these low tax rates -- yes, that's scary because we simply can't get to a long-term fiscal picture without raising taxes.

LEMON: Will, I'll let you respond.

CAIN: Well, I want to go back quickly to something you said, Don. You said if S&P downgrade -- interests go down, Americans will be concerned.

Actually, we'll be thrilled if interest rates go down. The threat is the downgrade makes interest rates go up.

LEMON: Interest rates go up, yes.

CAIN: What ratings -- yes -- what rating agencies do is akin to sports writers who write about the World Series. What matters is what happens on the field. That means what investors think.

Now, in 19 -- in 2001, they downgraded Japan and Japan's interest rates went down. This is the largest economy in the world, the United States. We're larger than the next three combined. What I'm telling you is what these guys have to say matters very little. Watch Treasury interest rates over the next week, and we'll find out if they have the right pulse on political analysis because that's what S&P is doing now.

They're adopting what Heather just did and they're making a political analysis about the GOP's future position on taxes. No word on what they think about the Democrats position might be on entitlements.

LEMON: Yes. If I said the interest rates go down, that was -- I misspoke. But let me go on. I want to go and ask you guys about this real quickly here.

I want to read this quote from an article by Bruce Bartlett of the "Fiscal Times." It called "Obama the Covert Conservative Liberals Have to Love." It says, "In a recent article, I argued that Barack Obama has a practice -- in practice governed as a moderate conservative. The truth is that Obama has always been moderately conservative, a fact that has been obvious to liberals dating back to the beginning of 2008, of the 2008 campaign."

OK. So someone -- when I said to a Democratic congressman last week, because of what happened with this debt ceiling, should Obama run as a conservative in 2012, I was being a little big facetious. Someone took that seriously.

(LAUGHTER)

Heather, do you agree that, with Mr. Bartlett? Is Obama more conservative than people think?

MCGHEE: I think, definitely, certainly more conservative than the Republicans like to paint him as. If we look at where he is on, for example, corporate taxes. Corporate taxes are at their lowest share of the economy than they have been in generations. He wants to reform the tax code but not raise more money from corporations. That's a pretty conservative position. LEMON: OK.

MCGHEE: But this is the problem, he's never going get credit from that from conservatives because they're really very focused on wanting him to fail more than they are wanting the economy and working families to succeed. It's really quite shocking to watch.

LEMON: Will, I would let you respond to that, but unfortunately we're out of time. So don't be mad at me, my friend.

Thank you very much.

(LAUGHTER)

That will have to be the last word.

CAIN: Yes.

LEMON: We appreciate it.

President Obama keeps calling for more jobs to help boost the economy. But where are the jobs? And if you can find a job, is it even in a city you can afford to live in? All that is next.

But first, travel sites like Priceline and Hotwire offer great hotel deals, but you don't find out where you're staying until after you pay. Our Alison Kosik tells you how to make sure the price is right in this "On the Go."

(ON THE GO)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In the headlines right now on CNN, NATO troops are assessing the crash site where a U.S. Army helicopter was apparently shot down resulting in the deadliest single incident since the Afghan War began. 30 U.S. troops died in the crash, including 25 Special Forces. Seven Afghan commandos also died and a civilian interpreter. We're now learning the CH-47 Chinook helicopter was on a mission in the Wardak Province to reinforce Army rangers pinned down in a battle with the Taliban. Officials say their target was a Taliban commander directly responsible for attacks on U.S. forces.

Still no word on the fate of Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, the two American hikers held in a prison in Iran. The verdict of an Iranian judge could be announced at any moment now. The hikers' espionage trial ended last week, and a decision was expected today. State TV quotes Iran's foreign minister as saying he hopes they will be freed. A third hiker, Sarah Shourd, was freed last year.

Verizon workers from Massachusetts to Virginia have walked off the job. Their union contract expired Saturday at midnight. Workers are upset that the company wants to cut health care benefits and pensions. A union official says the strike could affect your phone, your Internet your or TV service. But Verizon says services will not be affected. President Obama has returned from a weekend getaway at Camp David and there's news about a key player in his administration. Timothy Geithner has decided to stay on as U.S. treasury secretary. A White House spokesman said the president asked Geithner to remain in his job and, quote, "Welcomes his decision." There were reports that Geithner was considering leaving Washington once there was an agreement on raising the debt ceiling.

So if he decides to watch the Asian stock markets, the president may have a long night ahead of him. Dow futures are right now down almost 300 points.

CNN's Alison Kosik will be watching, too, and she joins me now from New York. We will be watching as well.

Alison, so how will markets outside the U.S. impact Wall Street when it opens in 15 hours?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot will ride on what Asian markets do, and, yes, and what futures do. Right now, U.S. futures are down about 300 points. It doesn't necessarily mean that will carry through to the morning, but this is an indicator where the electronic trading is going.

There's a few things working in Wall Street's favor. Don, they've had -- investors have had the weekend to let this downgrade, the U.S. downgrade of its rating kind of be processed over the weekend. Also, it doesn't come as a huge shocker to Wall Street. Wall Street expected to be downgraded, so maybe this will keep everybody from hitting the panic button. But as far as futures go, that's worrisome. Down in the triple digits -- Don?

LEMON: We are talking about the downgrade, those who pay close attention, but the average American this is a little bit esoteric for them. They want to know what it means for them. If you don't have a job, what does it mean? The recession, Alison, supposedly ended more than two years ago. When will the job market bounce back?

KOSIK: You know what it depends on? It depends on a couple of things. For one, confidence. Companies have to have confidence to hire. And to have that confidence, we need a stronger economy. And there has to be demand as well. People need to be out there buying products, using services. We need to see that. And it could be years before this unemployment rate goes down before the 14 million people, who are unemployed in this country, actually find work. Remember, we lost about eight million jobs during the recession, Don. Only about two million have been recovered. But there are jobs out there, Don.

LEMON: And we got the jobs report on Friday. There were 117,000 jobs, or whatever, added to the economy. So if I'm sitting at home and I don't have a job, where are the jobs, Alison? Where are they?

KOSIK: I'll go through a few of them. Local reports say there's a Honda plant in Indiana hiring 1,000 workers, building the Honda Civic. Union Pacific Railroad says it is hiring 4,500 people this year. That's for railroad track labor, I.T. workers, MBA grads. Jobs for America says it is hiring 100,000 people over the next two years. These are for call center jobs.

And if you want to look at the big picture, there it is. There are three million job openings across the country. This is out of the Labor Department. This is a separate survey they do from the jobs report. It shows, in the south, about one million jobs openings, the Midwest and west about 700,000, the northeast about 600,000. So there are jobs out there. It's just a matter of finding them. These are advertised positions, don, online, in the newspaper and on their web sites -- Don?

LEMON: So there are jobs out there.

Thank you.

Where are the jobs? That's what people want to know.

Thank you, Alison Kosik. We appreciate that information.

KOSIK: Sure.

LEMON: It is a daring attempt by a 61-year-old woman. She is going to swim all the way from Cuba to Florida. And wait until you hear how divers plan to scare away any sharks that might come near. And exactly why is she doing this?

A from more than 100 feet up, a high-wire act goes wrong. We'll tell you how this turned out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Look at that. Police in London investigating unrest in one of Europe's most ethnically diverse neighborhoods. This is what it looked like in the northern Tottenham neighborhood Saturday night. Riot police fought with crowds who pelted with them with bottles and bricks. When it was all over, 26 police officers were hurt. Dozens were arrested. The violence was sparked by a fatal shooting during a reported exchange of gunfire with police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANA NYAD, SWIMMER: I may have been a bit faster back then, but in the water, I feel stronger. I feel stronger physically. I feel like I can walk through a brick wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Can you believe that? She's 61 years old and set on doing a feat no swimmer has done before. The story of Diana Nyad in a moment.

But first, I want to tell you about another astounding human achievement. This one is tough. It's not in the water, but it's in the air.

We will go "Globe Trekking" right now with CNN's international desk editor, Azadeh Ansari.

Azadeh, this sounds nuts, right? A man in China walked a high wire between two hot air balloons, really?

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK EDITOR: Right, why?

LEMON: Why?

ANSARI: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

This is a traditional stunt they do. It's called delazi (ph). It is very popular in China, actually. But if you can see here, he falls off the wire, but there's no safety net to hold him. So then he is able to pull himself back up. And we're talking about 50 feet here that he has to walk across. He's 100 feet up in the air, Don. I mean, this is amazing. At first, you're like why would someone do this. Again, to push the boundaries, to test the human limits. There you have it. But he'll try again. He says he is not giving up.

LEMON: All right.

ANSARI: Yes.

LEMON: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

Let's move on now. In the water, dangerous as well, Diana Nyad, baby boomer, what is she trying to prove?

ANSARI: She's again trying to prove that age is not a deterrent to reach your dreams, to follow your goals, all this stuff. She wants to be the first person to swim from Havana, Cuba, to the Key West. She wants to do this to prove that you can do whatever you set your mind to. she tried to do this in 1978, and wasn't able to complete it because of, you know, weather conditions. But I want to say, look at this. She has been trying to practice for two years, swims, like, eight to 12 hours a day. We actually have a CNN crew following alongside her. The key is, she wants to do this because it's in open waters. There are not shark cages, but there's a shark shield. It sends out electrical impulses to scare the sharks away.

LEMON: Was it last year or the year before she tried something?

ANSARI: In 2010. Again, weather was a factor.

LEMON: All right, I've got you.

ANSARI: It will happen -- I mean, tick tock, I'm telling you, Don, in about 30 minutes, she will hit the water.

LEMON: All right. We wish her luck.

(LAUGHTER)

You know she -- thank you, Azadeh.

She may survive swimming with sharks and dodging deadly jellyfish, but Diane Nyad needs the weather to be good for her.

We're going to go now to our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, who has Nyad's forecast.

Jacqui, why is she swimming at night?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Conditions are better overall, Don. At nighttime, the winds calm down, so the seas will be calmer. Think about how hot it is in this area. 90 degree temperatures with the sun beating down on you is certainly uncomfortable. At nighttime, it will be a bit cooler. And the seas will be calmer. That's the good news.

She'll be moving from Havana, heading up towards Key West. This is about a 103-mile swim for her and expected to take about 60 hours. That's three nights and two days that she will be taking this swim.

We're expecting conditions to be good overall. Seas will be between one and three feet. Isolated thunderstorms will have to watch out for. And water temperatures are going to be warm. Closer to Cuba, water temperatures are averaging between 86 and 88 degrees. As you get closer to Key West, they're warmer, about 91 degrees. That's the water temperature in Key West. That is extremely warm.

She will be encountering that Florida current. If you saw those arrows on my map earlier. So she'll have a bit of pull coming in from that. But overall, things are looking good weather-wise.

We always watch the tropics this time of year. We don't see anything developing that could interfere with this. We have been tracking Emily off the coast of Florida. That's dissipated now. But those water temperatures are very ripe for more tropical development in the upcoming days. There you can see the satellite picture from Emily, which should not be a factor.

In case you missed it earlier this week, I want to mention something really important about the hurricane season. While it may have seemed like it has been a slow start, it's been busy with five named storms. Now NOAA has come in with an upgraded forecast calling for a few more storms than they originally anticipated. They're expecting now between 14 and 19-named storms. Seven to 10 of those becoming hurricanes, three to five of those major hurricanes.

So, Don, the heart of the hurricane season, between mid-August and mid-October. So things will start getting busy, we think, in the upcoming weeks.

LEMON: Good luck, Diana, but look out for Emily.

We appreciate it.

JERAS: Sure.

LEMON: New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez under fire for reportedly playing a game he's not supposed to. How is he taking the heat and why? That discussion after the break.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX RODRIGUEZ, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER: Obviously, the idea is to get back full speed. That's why we've been cautious with our time, and make sure that we get nice and healthy, 100 percent, before we go back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Alex Rodriguez, A-Rod, talking about his return from injury rehab but not taking questions about allegations he took part in high- stakes poker games.

Joining me now, Jon Wertheim, "Sports Illustrated."

There's the cover right there.

Jon, I understand Major League Baseball is investigating those high- stakes poker allegations against A-Rod. Where do things stand? Has he denied any of this?

JON WERTHEIM, SR. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Well, he's been sent to the principal's office and it sounds like he's been given a talking to. I don't think they're going to take action or suspend him or anything like that. It's just another kind of pr blunder. A colleague of mine wrote, as scandals go, this is a pair of deuces. Not huge news that a wealthy athlete takes part in high stakes poker games but it's just not a smart move. For a guy who's had some P.R. issues, it's surprising that, again, he would sort of slip like this. Not a huge scandal but bad judgment again.

LEMON: Bad judgment for him. There were some big-name actors, Leo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon. They were also alleged to have been present along with A-Rod in these poker games. Are they illegal?

WERTHEIM: Well, there are probably some tax consequences. No, I think the fear -- Matt Damon isn't going to lose a lot of money and then throw his next role. I think the fear with athletes is that you get in debt to the wrong people, and it can end badly. And it can sort of bring gamblers and taint to the sport. It's a slippery slope. I mean, again, I don't think anyone is alleging this but it's just a bad move for A-Rod from a P.R. standpoint.

LEMON: But, Jon --

WERTHEIM: This is the highest paid player in baseball. He's in New York, I mean.

LEMON: But he was warned --

WERTHEIM: That's right.

LEMON: -- by Major League Baseball to stay away from poker back in 2005. So why isn't he listening? And what's baseball really afraid of here? WERTHEIM: Well, I think baseball is afraid -- again, you lose money to the wrong people, and suddenly you've got some real issues. That's happened in other sports. But it's just dumb, is basically it.

LEMON: All right. Let's switch gears here and talk about golf. Really Tiger Woods specifically. He made his comeback this week, after being out nearly three months with leg injuries. He finished in the middle of the pack. But, I mean, we should note that this ex- caddie, Steve Williams, was on the winning bag with his new boss, Adam Scott.

WERTHEIM: I was going to say, you know who won that event, Don? Yes, exactly, adding the sort of soap opera twist.

You know, this is Tiger. He's back. He hasn't played in awhile. He got four rounds in. The good news is his body held up. The bad news, again, not the Tiger Woods we're used to, middle of the pack. He'll play in the final major of the season. This will be the last chance for him to win a major for the first time since 2008. I mean, Tiger Woods hasn't won a major -- this guy was winning three majors a year as a matter of course. Now he could go three years without winning one.

LEMON: What do you think the chances are? The PGA championship is coming here to Atlanta this week.

WERTHEIM: I was going to say, it's your own backyard. I mean, I think the guy's still Tiger Woods. And if his body is cooperating, you know, you don't lose it overnight. But, you know, his confidence isn't where it needs to be. His consistency isn't where it needs to be. The truth is in the past three years, with all that's transpired with him, the rest of the field was caught up. You don't lose the magic overnight. But, boy, I wouldn't put my money on him right now.

LEMON: Could you clear this up for us or make some sense of it. Charles Barkley was on the air saying his friendship with Tiger is basically over. And I understand you heard something similar from tennis great Roger Federer?

WERTHEIM: Yes, I had written that the Federer/Woods friendship that was much valued a few years ago isn't what it once was. You're right, Charles Barkley was very outspoken, basically saying he hasn't called me since the scandal. You step back, and Tiger Woods was the greatest athlete on the planet not all that long ago. Obviously, the marriage and the sponsorships and the aura and the friends are leaving him and the caddie, I mean, his game has slipped. It's just absolutely astonishing to me the change here. Almost sort of a biblical ring. Charles Barkley is the latest. But, again, a lot of change in Tiger's life these past 18, 24 months.

LEMON: All right, Jon Wertheim. The book is called "Scorecasting." Jon Wertheim, with "Sports Illustrated."

Appreciate it, sir. Have a great week coming up. All right?

All right, a real-life Bonnie and Clyde scenario. Why police are pulling out all the stops to catch siblings on a multistate crime spree.

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