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Thirty U.S. Troops Die in Copter Crash; Dow Futures Down Almost 300 Points; Swimming with the Sharks; Are the Millennials Up to the Task?; John Legend on Education; Tea Party Being Blamed over U.S. Credit Downgrade; Famine Grips Horn of Africa; Why Somalia is So Dry
Aired August 07, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get you caught up on the headlines right now on CNN.
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.
We're also monitoring this: world reaction to Standard & Poor's lowering of the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA-plus. And the Obama administration is reaching out. Timothy Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, is taking part in a conference call with representatives from other G-7 nations to discuss the downgrade. The call is expected to take place this evening, before Asian markets open for Monday trading. We'll update you on that.
And if you live anywhere across the southeast, don't be surprised to see these faces on digital billboards. The FBI is going all-out in a manhunt for this brother, sister, and half-brother, Ryan Edward Doherty, Dillon Doherty, Stanley and Lee Grace Doherty are wanted for the armed robbery of a south Georgia bank and the attempted murder of a Florida police officer.
The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
We begin with our top story. New information to tell you tonight about the worst loss of life for U.S. military since the Afghan war began. NATO troops are still assessing the crash site where a U.S. Army helicopter apparently was shot down; 30 U.S. troops died in the crash, including 25 Special Forces. And 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. It bears repeating that military officials say their target was a Taliban commander directly responsible for attacks on U.S. forces.
Here is what we are learning more about, as well. The man who died in that incident one of them was Navy Seal, Aaron Carson Vaughn. He was 30 years old and the father of two small children. I spoke with his grandmother about the last time she saw him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENEVA CARSON VAUGHN, GRANDSON 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 he stood firm in his faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Aaron Vaughn was stationed in Virginia Beach, Virginia. And our Brian Todd is there; Brian, hello to you. And you have been talking to people in this tight-knit military town. How are they doing? How are they taking this?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been very tough to take, Don, a very difficult day for them here and reminders everywhere here of the sacrifices that Naval personnel and others make in this war. You've got a tribute here to the fallen naval personnel who've given their lives and over here a tribute to the concept of the homecoming. A wonderful statue here and a mural here that kind of reminds you of just what people are going through.
And of course it's even more sobering and heartbreaking when you realize that so many of the naval personnel, the Navy Seals involved in this incident are not going to be going through this reunion. We spoke to a Navy Seal's wife a short time ago today and got another stark reminder of some of the sacrifices being made.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Kimberly Vaughn describes that horrible moment when uniformed officers came to her door and told her about her husband.
KIMBERLY VAUGHN, HUSBAND KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN CRASH: And I just fell to my knees.
TODD: Aaron Carson Vaughn was one of 22 Navy Seals killed in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Kimberly is now left to care for 2- month-old daughter Chamberlin and son Reagan who turns 2 years old next month.
K. VAUGHN: I want to tell the world that he was an amazing man, that he was a wonderful husband and a fabulous father to two wonderful children. He was a warrior for our country and he wouldn't want to leave this earth any other way than how he did.
TODD: On the boardwalk, in the diners of the Vaughn's newly-adopted hometown of Virginia Beach, a community grieves for nearly two dozen young men who were in their midst, but who they never really got to know. Mary's Restaurant is a hangout for some of the SEALs based near Virginia Beach. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You feel like you're at rock bottom again. You just feel like you're not succeeding at what needs to be done. And you have to ask is it worth it. Is another life worth it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a grave loss, and we're very sad. A very sad day.
TODD: These were secretive, elite commandos who could never reveal what they did to these neighbors.
(on camera): Still, people here feel a close bond with the SEALs. And in only about 13 weeks, this community has gone from the triumph of the killing of Osama bin Laden to what now appears to be the biggest single loss of life in SEAL history.
(voice-over): The Virginia Beach mayor William Sessoms wanted to throw a parade for the SEALs after the bin Laden raid, but knew he couldn't. Now he's got to help an entire city grieve for a group of young men whose names they may be hearing for the first time.
WILLIAM SESSOMS, MAYOR, VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA: It hurts and -- but it's a shared pain, which means that everyone thinks so highly of them.
TODD: John McGuire knows all about that shared pain. He was a SEAL for ten years, stationed near Virginia Beach.
(on camera): Is there any survivor's guilt among current or former SEALs when something like this happens?
JOHN MCGUIRE, FORMER NAVY SEAL: I think former SEALs like myself and all SEALs go through all the emotions. But you know, we are at war and freedom isn't free. And these guys, I guarantee you every one of them, if they had a chance, they'd do it all again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: The focus now turns toward helping the families. Current and former Navy Seals and their commanders are going to be trying to raise money for the Navy SEAL Foundation. That's a group dedicated to giving financial support to those left behind. And right now, Don, they are starting to get busy in ways that they never, ever hoped they would have to.
LEMON: Brian Todd, thank you very much for that.
Not all of the troops on the downed helicopter were Special Forces. Sergeant Patrick Hamburger was with the Nebraska National Guard, and a flight engineer on the chopper. His job was to carry these elite troops on their secret mission. Sergeant Hamburger leaves behind a 2- year-old daughter, a 13-year-old daughter, and a fiance.
I spoke with his fiance, Candie Reagan, a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Everyone wants to know, how are you doing?
CANDIE REAGAN, FIANCE OF KILLED GUARDSMAN (via telephone): I'm -- 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. And something that I never thought would ever happen to us.
LEMON: How are the girls? What have you told them?
REAGAN: My -- my 2-year-old, she's 2 -- she just knows that everybody's unhappy. And my 13-year-old is absolutely devastated. She can't stop crying, and it's 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 I -- before this happened.
LEMON: You said for four days in July, and then before that, when?
REAGAN: On Skype for two days -- or 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: Are you just reading from the e-mail that he wrote to you?
REAGAN: Yes.
LEMON: Yes. Tell us what kind of a guy he was, Candie.
REAGAN: What?
LEMON: Tell us what kind of a guy he was.
REAGAN: He was everybody's hero. He was an amazing guy. Always -- always was smiling. And he had the biggest, brightest smile on earth. He's always telling jokes to everybody. Making people laugh is 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 the same sort of grief that you're dealing with. Does the world even -- can we even imagine what you're going through?
REAGAN: No. Unless you've gone through this, you have no idea. And 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Sergeant Patrick Hamburger with the Nebraska National Guard. One of 30 U.S. service members killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. He was 30 years old.
Well, before now, the worst loss of life among the Navy SEALs was in 2005, when 17 died in a single incident, and one of them was 29-year- old Lieutenant Michael Murphy. He was awarded a Medal of Honor posthumously in 2007 and had a new destroyer dedicated to him just this May. His mother Maureen joins me now by phone.
Maureen, this terrible event, it has to bring back the painful memories and when you listen to the fiancee of that young man, it just has to break your heart.
MAUREEN MURPHY, MOTHER OF NAVY SEAL KILLED IN 2005 (via telephone): Oh, my heart goes out to all 30 of the SEALs, night stalkers, all the men that were involved in it. And it just takes me back to that tragic day for our family, in June 2005. And it's -- it just opens up all the wounds all over again. Because I -- I you know, some people say I can't imagine, but I can imagine what these 30 families are going through.
And it's -- they're -- they're in shock. They're in disbelief. They're hurt. And it's going to take a long time for them to even get their heads on straight, because it's something that, as time goes on, it -- it lessens a little bit, but there'll always be something that will bring it back, and it's like the day it happens all over. It's like a knife in your heart.
And I found out about it yesterday, when I was at -- my son Michael's friend got married yesterday. And I found out what happened just before his wedding. And, you know, I didn't want to spoil the day for them, but I was sick to my stomach. I just could not believe that this is happening all over again. And I mean the stories are so close and all the brave men in the helicopters, the SEALs, and the night stalkers.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Yes.
MURPHY: Everybody that's involved. It's just like oh, my God, I cannot believe that this has happened again.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Maureen I have to -- I've got to ask you this, what do you say, finally, here to the country, to people who are watching this? Because many of the people we have reached out to, the service members' families, they want to talk about this. They want to come on television. They want people to know what they're loved ones went through, and that they meant something to this country.
What can you say to the people who are watching? Is there anything that we can do to help? Or anything that we should know from someone who's gone through it?
MURPHY: Actually, I have to say, most of the people -- the military has been wonderful to me, and I mean my family, and everybody. And I have to say there's a lot of American citizens that were so positive, and to this day, they always write little cards and send little notes and everything, and they remember Mike and all the men that were lost on that day.
And that people that haven't gone through it, they really need to understand that these men and women, they put on that uniform, and they're like a small percentage. I think less than one percent of our population keeps us safe.
LEMON: Yes.
MURPHY: And that we need to show a lot more support for them, and respect what they're doing. Because we can do -- I told someone a little while ago, even just going to get a cup of coffee or some little minor thing that we don't even think about, but we can do it in the comfort of this land, because of these men and women.
LEMON: Because of these men and women.
MURPHY: Yes.
LEMON: Maureen Murphy, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. And stay strong, ok?
A tense moment as we wait and watch how the world is going to react; just about an hour from now, investors in key Asian markets will weigh in for the first time on the U.S. debt downgrade.
The new generation entering the workforce: are there enough jobs to go around? And what does it take to land one of those hard-to-get positions? We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, some breaking news in to CNN. It's already Monday morning in Asia. I want to give you a map of where and when the markets will open up there. We're less than an hour away from the start of Tokyo trading. And for the first time since Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. credit rating, we're watching the reaction in Asia very closely right now because it can foretell so much about what we can expect when the U.S. markets open in the morning.
You've already seen some of the response in the U.S. market and the downgrade. The Middle Eastern markets, financial markets, were open today. They closed sharply.
And I want to bring in Richard Quest, because Richard here's something I think is very troubling here. The Dow futures down almost 300 points. Has that ever happened before? Has it been down this much before?
RICHARD QUEST, HOST, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Oh, yes. I mean, this is -- this is a futures market which tell us where the S&P would be in a month's time. And what it basically means to you and me and everybody else watching is that if nothing -- if the U.S. market was to open now, right at this minute, the Dow would be off several hundred points. That's what this means.
But the U.S. market isn't going to open now. And in fact, on that chart, the one you didn't have which is the first market really to trade, the first significant market, in about 45 minutes is Sydney in Australia. And that's where we're starting to get this S&P number, this futures number from, from the Asia Pacific markets -- the South Asia Pacific markets. New Zealand, Australia.
Long and short of it, we knew, and we've known for hours that the U.S. markets would be volatile and probably down. Now we're starting to get a number on that but please, let's have a bit of calm on this. We are, at least, 13, 14 hours from the U.S. markets.
LEMON: Hey Richard, this is a good point for me to jump in. Maybe my question maybe was our fault but what I wanted to ask, at this point, we're about 14 hours away from the open of the markets, has Dow futures been down 300 points before? Or is it usually down somewhere maybe 50, maybe 100, but 300 -- is that a troubling point sign at this point?
QUEST: I -- not really, that's a when did you stop beating your wife question. Because, you know, yes. We have been -- normally the Dow futures will be down five points, ten points, 20 points, 50 points. To see it down 300 points tells me that when the morning market opens, if it was to happen now, they would be clobbered out of bed and hit over the head with a big, heavy stick. I mean that's what that's telling you.
And that's not surprising. Look at what's happened today. We've had the G-20 speaking. We've got a G-7 conference call. We've got Tim Geithner saying he's going to stay on the job and the President saying, "Thank you very much, I'd like you to." We've got Geithner saying that S&P has made a error of judgment. We've got Greenspan saying that the market's going to be down but he doesn't see signs of double dips. You've got Larry summers saying, calling that the S&P decision outrageous.
There is so much noise of which I'm contributing, as well, there's so much noise out there at the moment that it's not surprising tonight, the U.S. futures are down sharply.
LEMON: Ok. You answered it anyway. So, and you did a great job. It wasn't a when do you stop beating your wife question, but I knew you were going to sort of hem and haw about that.
Richard Quest, thank you so much. Richard we're going to see you back here at 9:00 p.m. Eastern too --
QUEST: Yes.
LEMON: -- for a special that we're doing on this particular top.
QUEST: We are.
LEMON: So thank you. And we'll see you at 10:00 p.m. Eastern as well.
In the meantime, questions swirl around the U.S. economy. When will the job market bounce back and how long will it take? Millions of Americans want to know. We're going to get some answers.
And it's a daring attempt by a 61-year-old woman. She's going to swim all the way from Cuba to Florida. Wait until you hear how divers plan to scare away any sharks that might come near.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See you at 2:15. Ok?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're right here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 2:15.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIANE NYAD, SWIMMING FROM CUBA TO FLORIDA: 8:19; that's when I'm going to start to swim. 8:19.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. That's Diane Nyad practicing last month. The 61- year-old athlete has waited a long time to go a long way. Tonight well, it may be the night the baby boomer does something no swimmer has ever done before, swim from Cuba to Florida, in open water, with no cage to protect her from the sharks; it's 103 miles. That is supposed to start at any moment now, and CNN is exclusively following alongside Nyad and her historic attempt. Shasta Darlington joins us now live by phone from Havana, Cuba to give us the play by play. And as I understand she's just about to get started swimming.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): That's right, Don. We're waiting right here in the marina, Hemingway right on the west side of Havana. She's about to jump in the water. We're just waiting for her to turn up.
She's been waiting all day for the winds to die down. The idea is that even though it's night it's going to be the time when the winds are the quietest, when the current is the quietest and she really has a very small window when it comes to weather. So she's about to jump in.
And you know, this is a very important personal challenge for Diana Nyad. She tried to do the same swim in the 1970s and she failed. So it was something she sort of put behind her, put in the back of her head and she says when she turned 60, when she turned 60 she decided she wanted to try it again, to show everyone that you can still be young when you're 60 -- Don.
LEMON: So, listen, I understand her team is taking extraordinary lengths to protect her from sharks. And man-of-war jelly fish.
DARLINGTON: That's right, Don. I couldn't hear the question very well, but she went into detail about how she's going to protect herself from the sharks. As you mentioned there will not be a shark cage. But what she's got is she's got some six kayakers who are going to be kayaking alongside her. They've got these electronic mechanisms to put in the water to fend off the sharks. They send out electricity that keeps the sharks away, at least three feet.
There's one species the white tip that they actually don't work against and so they're going to have to have some shark divers alongside, as well, who will jump in the water if any of these white tip sharks do get near her. The idea is they could maybe bang some pipes or do something to sort of fend of those sharks.
I've actually got one of the kayakers right in front of me right now showing off this shark shield. It's pretty interesting technology, Don.
LEMON: All right. Well, let's wish her luck. They're going to have to do more than bang on some tanks to get them away. Let's hope they have some sort of something to shoot them.
All right. Thank you, Shasta Darlington. Good luck, Diane Nyad.
Millions of Americans want to know when will the job market bounce back and how long will it take? We'll get answers next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The job market hasn't shown many signs of improvement. A close-up look shows how bleak it is -- has become, I should say. Here you can see a breakdown of the available jobs by region. Together the numbers add up to more than 3 million open jobs. Sounds like a lot. But the number of unemployed Americans looking for jobs is nearly 14 million. And the economy isn't making anywhere near enough for all of them.
Now, finding and keeping a job is a lot harder in this brave new world. Some critics say the newest generation to enter the market, the Millennials, aren't up to the task. They claim these workers, aged 18 to 30 years old, were raised to believe they were special, and that's left them ill-equipped to deal with life in the workplace.
Did you listen to that, millennial? You're listening. Ok. I have a millennial here in the studio with me.
Ruben Navarrette -- there you see him Reuben Navarrette Jr. is a columnist and CNN contributor and he joins me now from San Diego. So, all of the youngsters in the studio, listen.
Hey Ruben, your column on CNN.com provoked hundreds of comments. You seemed to touch a nerve, didn't you?
RUBEN NAVARRETTE, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Right. Yes, Don, this has really been a powerful column. I think that the response has really ranged across the board. You have a lot of people writing in saying hey, this doesn't speak about me. This isn't about me. I'm motivated. I've got a job or an internship. I know what I want to do.
But they always point to their other people and their cohorts that sort of fit the bill. The one group I always hear from when I write about this generation are employers. Employers know better than anybody. There are employers out there who manage and hire these young people and they're scratching their heads.
They've never seen anything like this bunch. This is a bunch of folks who are really entitled, who think they're special, who want the corner office, a path to the vice presidency. They don't believe, brother, in working weekends. You and I can relate to that, right? They don't believe in paying your dues. And they are just an interesting bunch to manage. And it's a real challenge, though.
Guaranteed, whenever I read about this, I always hear from employers who say, hey, you're absolutely right.
LEMON: Why are you so critical of the millennials? Any anecdotes you'd like to share with us?
NAVARRETTE: Right. Well, you know, I guess it's kind of a turnabout is fair play because I'm a member of Generation X and I seem to recall the Baby Boomers were none too tender in relating to us. They were critical of us obviously throughout the '80s and '90s.
I think the reason I'm frustrated with this group is that the longer you live you realize that the world is not a very forgiving place. It's not going to bend to you. You're going to have to bend to it. And that's really true in the best of economies.
But when you have a 9 percent national unemployment rate and a 14 percent unemployment rate for people in this age group, say 18 to 30, you really want to sit these folks down and say, listen your expectations are unrealistic. Most employers are not going to cater to you, they're not going to accommodate you. You're going to have to bend to the world, not the other way around.
And for their own good they really need to snap out of it.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's funny that you say that because I see a lot of that. And what I always tell them what my mentors told me, cool your jets. It will happen. You're way too young.
NAVARRETTE: Right.
LEMON: It just -- you know, get some time under your belt. Surely, though, you found some admirable traits in Millennials, too.
NAVARRETTE: Oh, absolutely. They have very high standards. And they have high ideals. They understand that a lot of us, you know, might find ourselves in dead-end jobs we don't really like. They saw their parents grow up in jobs they didn't really like to do and they really are holding out for these dream jobs.
You know they have a great sense of idealism and volunteerism. They -- these are the same kids as we know who are in the Armed Services in many cases, who have gone off to fight our wars.
There's lots of positive things going on with this generation. But they also, I think, need to learn from resilience. They have sort of a glass jaw. Whenever they take their first hit, they don't always bounce back because they're not used to that. They're used to being told their special, you know they're going to do very well.
When they were kids they outlawed the red pen in some public schools because it was thought to be too harsh. You know? These are the kids when they were babies they grew up with little stickers, careful, baby on board.
From the moment they were born they were thought to be special and this treasure.
LEMON: Oh my god.
NAVARRETTE: And the world -- they wait for the world to coddle them the way their mommy and daddy did. The world is not going to do that, guys.
LEMON: Oh my gosh, Ruben, you're going in on these kids. Man. I mean, you sound -- you sound like my --
NAVARRETTE: I know.
LEMON: Like the crotchety uncle going, hey, you have a baby on board sticker, get off my lawn. My mom used to smoke in the car and my seatbelt was when she put her arm over me at the stop sign.
NAVARRETTE: Right. I know. I used to walk to school five miles in the snow. It really -- it doesn't snow often in San Diego. But it's crazy. I think, again, for their own good they've got to roll with the punches and don't we know, this economy -- I listen to your show all day today, this economy keeps throwing punches and punches and punches, and unless they become resilient, unless they understand that they're going to have to pay their dues, not every job is the perfect job.
You just can't fall back on mom and dad. You've got to pay your dues, get in, maybe you take a job you don't like for awhile. But you use it as a way in to get in to something else. That's, I think, the secret to success.
LEMON: I'm going to start calling you Danny Downer. Even though your name is Ruben Navarrette.
(LAUGHTER)
NAVARRETTE: Call me grandpa grumpy.
LEMON: Grumpy.
NAVARRETTE: These kids today.
LEMON: Thanks, Uncle Grumps. Appreciate it.
Music isn't only John Legend's -- it isn't his only passion. The Grammy Award-winning artist brings a unique voice to the debate over education reform. He was home-schooled and attended private and public schools.
CNN's education contributor Steve Perry sat down with the singer in tonight's "Perry's Principles."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN LEGEND, SINGER: Everyone believes that a kid should get a good education. But you have to put your money and your policy where your mouth is. But here's what that means. Quality principals, quality teachers, quality superintendents that are accountable for actually delivering on their promises. And when you talk about accountability, then that means everybody is not going to be protected. In that situation.
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (on camera): That's some loaded speech right there, man.
LEGEND: The priority is to make sure that the kids have the opportunity to get a great education.
PERRY: Now you've gotten some flak from that.
LEGEND: Of course I've gotten flak from that.
PERRY: I mean people are not really interested in hearing this singer out there telling them how to educate people.
LEGEND: I get flak for that. And I'm not an educator, and I know that. I say this every time I talk about teachers. I truly respect what they do. And I don't envy the task that they have. And like I said, we need to hold this job in high esteem.
But when you hold it in high esteem that means you just don't put anybody in front of 25 kids. You make sure they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. And if they're not doing it well, then they shouldn't be there.
You know the idea that rich kids get to go to good schools and then poor kids don't it's so entrenched in our national psyche that we haven't challenged that notion.
PERRY (voice-over): Steve Perry, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, well, last week they took credit for keeping tax hikes out of the U.S. debt ceiling deal. But now some are blaming Tea Party Republicans for the U.S. credit downgrade. We'll talk with the Tea Party Express chairwoman, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY KREMER, CHAIRWOMAN, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: I think we've absolutely, we've put our mark on this debate. We're not going to back down. We want to rein in the spending. And look, at the end of the day, Americans want a solution. They don't want a deal. We're tired of the deals. The deals are what has gotten us into this problem.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. That is Tea Party Express chairwoman Amy Kremer on this very program just one week ago, at a time when the plan to raise the debt ceiling was falling into place. Now that plan of course didn't stop Standard & Poor's from downgrading U.S. credit.
The Tea Party was very proud of its prominent role in the debt ceiling negotiations, and Democrats were eager to remind the country of that on the Sunday talkers. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID AXELROD, OBAMA CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: This is essentially a Tea Party downgrade. The Tea Party brought us to the brink of a -- of a default.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I believe this is, without question, the Tea Party downgrade.
GOV. MARIN 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 OF VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. The Tea Party downgrade. When you hear a lot of people saying the same thing over and over on different talk shows that is a talking point. All right?
So I want to bring -- welcome back Tea Party Express chairwoman Amy Kremer to respond to all of this.
Amy, thank you. And every time we talk you leave the talking points at home and I appreciate that. So you have said to yourself that the Tea Party was the reason the debt ceiling debate took on the dimensions that it did.
Are you still proud of that now that the U.S. credit rating has been downgraded?
KREMER: Don, we're not backing away from the fact that we stopped the administration and Harry Reid from pushing, you know, through any tax increases. What has happened is S&P has downgraded our credit rating history for the first time in American history.
We have to remember that the Democrats from 2006 have been in control of both the Senate and the House. Barack Obama and his administration have been in control for almost three years now.
You can't blame this on the Tea Party movement. This is not our fault. This is Washington's fault. And no one else's fault.
LEMON: And, Amy, you know the Democrats are going to say, well, the president inherited an unprecedented recession and unemployment when he took office because of President Bush in the previous administration. You know that. That would be the response to that. So I'm going to play devil's advocate in that, but --
KREMER: And --
LEMON: But let's go on.
KREMER: And, Don, wait --
LEMON: Go ahead.
KREMER: You know, I have something to say to that. Yes, he did inherit these things from Bush. He also inherited a AAA credit rating from President Bush, and in three year's time, it's gone. So history is going to remember this as the Obama downgrade.
LEMON: OK. Amy, I want to read this, I want to move on now and read part of the report from the S&P. It points fingers at both sides. So here's the quote.
It says, "The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics."
But there is a section where S&P calls out one of the parties directly, Amy, here it is. It says, "Compared with previous projections, our revised base 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 have changed our assumption on this because the 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 deal.
So, Amy, the Tea Party will not budge on tax cuts. And right here, S&P is saying that kind of rigid position was a major reason for the downgrade. How do you respond to that?
KREMER: Look, the size of our debt is because we're spending too much. Not because we don't have enough revenue. We cannot increase taxes enough to spend the way that we do and cover it. That's the bottom line. I've said it over and over again. We have a spending problem. That is what got us into this situation. They did not downgrade our debt because we don't have enough revenue.
LEMON: Amy, do you believe that S&P would still have downgraded the U.S. if Republicans had accepted President Obama's $4 trillion grand bargain? They're saying no.
KREMER: Look, I think the only thing that could have stopped this from happening is the cut, cap and balance. Our -- this is not about the debt ceiling. That's the whole thing. Everybody wants to make it about the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is only a symptom of the bigger problem. And the bigger problem is the enormous size of our debt.
And cut, cap and balance was the plan that had passed the House, and Harry Reid wouldn't even bring it to the Senate floor. In your own CNN poll 67 percent of Americans said they supported that legislation. That's the only legislation that could have been passed that could have possibly prevented this.
LEMON: Amy Kremer, that's going to have to be the last word. We appreciate you coming on CNN. Thank you for taking the questions.
KREMER: Thank you for having me.
LEMON: I'll see you soon.
Scenes of desperation and tragedy in Somalia. Famine has left thousands dead, and the survivors doing anything they can just to live another day. But it's not just hunger killing the smallest victims.
Our report from the Horn of Africa is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The U.N.'s refugee agency is ready to deliver emergency supplies to the Somali capital of Mogadishu for the first time in five years. A plane loaded with 2500 emergency kits will land in the city tomorrow.
The U.N. delivery follows the abrupt decision by the militant group al-Shabaab to abandon the city. Thousands of desperate Somalis have fled to the capital in search of food as famine grips the region. Other Somalis have fled to eastern Kenya.
As David McKenzie shows us, the humanitarian crisis is growing at a camp on the border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is the Dadaab camp in northern Kenya. Every day, Somalis are streaming across the border from the famine zones to get help in this refugee camp.
I was here just over two weeks ago, and rarely more people have come into this area. At first it may seem that nothing changed. But there are some of the (INAUDIBLE) people are getting some level of help. But now the big worry is disease.
And this is a testament to that. This is a cemetery on the outskirts that's become almost packed, this section, and it's mostly children. They try and protect the graves with whatever they can. A bit of a thorn tree there to help them from the wild animals that could come in here and get into those graves.
More than two million kids are in desperate need of help in this crisis. And when children come into this area, they are tired, they are hungry, they need food and water. But then most of them are not vaccinated and many of the people here are saying they are not getting vaccinations for things like measles.
This crisis is far from over. And it's places like this, gravesites like this, that are a testament to the crisis in the Horn of Africa.
David McKenzie, CNN, Dadaab, Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, David.
What exactly is fueling the famine in Africa and how are weather patterns playing a role? CNN's Jacqui Jeras joins me with some intriguing details. That's right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Man, the desperation from the drought in Somalia is heart- breaking as families struggle to find food. What is causing the harsh climate? Why is there no water?
Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins me now.
So how dry is it in Somalia? Exactly what kind of conditions are these people facing, Jacqui? JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's extreme. You know the Horn of Africa is certainly no stranger to drought conditions but this one is exceptional. And it's really the worst they've seen in decades. And we're already starting with, you know, a very dry semi arid area.
We'll zoom in and show this to you in terms of Somalia. It's near the equator so it's hot year round. You have very high, high temperatures and you have low temperatures are warm as well.
It's a little bit cooler in the northern part because of the mountains but for the most part, it is a very flat plain. And even though it's right on the ocean here, believe it or not, it has more of a desert influence so they don't get a lot of moisture in here. There are only two main rivers and they do use a little bit of this for irrigation for the crops. But for the most part, they really rely on getting in some of that rainfall.
This is the drought monitor and this is going to show you just how bad it is. This is what we call an exceptional drought. Really the worst category. And it is in that southern region where the vast majority of agriculture takes place.
Now there is really two opportunities here to get any type of rainfall. Two times of year -- the year, you know, rainy season, if you will. The first is what we call the Gu. That's what they call it there locally and that's from April to June. And then there is a secondary short rainy season which takes place from October into December.
Now the problem is the last two rainy seasons have basically been a total bust. They've had almost no rain. So that's like a year that we're talking about without getting the needed rainfall. And if we even just take a look back to February, they're down two to eight inches. And while that might not sound like much to us in places like Atlanta or Miami, that's like half their annual radar.
LEMON: So why didn't it get any -- is there a weather pattern or some reason they didn't get any and do they have a chance to get some soon or more soon?
JERAS: Yes, it's that dreaded La Nina that we talk about, Don. You know it's the same thing that's responsible for the flooding that we've had in the upper Midwest as well as the drought in Texas. Well, it changes weather patterns all across the globe. And normally we would get this jet stream where this easterly wind that would come in here twice a year and that would bring moisture in off the Indian Ocean.
Now the good news is that La Nina ended in May, so what we're in what we call a neutral phase basically. So you have equal chances of getting average rainfall of coming. However, there are a couple of climate models now that are leading that La Nina could redevelop again this fall. So we'll have to watch it.
LEMON: You're showing the areas where the crops were and you said it was extreme or serious. Have they been able to grow anything in those areas?
JERAS: Well, not much. I've seen, you know, a variety of reports. Anywhere between 2 and 20 -- or 20 and 50 percent of the crops that have been coming in. But the problem is they rely on the rain to make those crops grow. So you get no rain. What does that mean? No crops are growing. None of the reservoirs are filling up.
They can't keep the cattle. OK? The cattle are dying off about 60 percent have been reportedly deceased just in the last couple of months and that's their main income source. You know they use the cal for milk to feed the families. They sell it to get any income. They don't have any income, they can't buy what little food is left which is very expensive now by the way as well.
So then what happens is that people leave or unfortunately they die off. And it's a long trek to get to the refugee camps.
I was reading on CNN.com about a mother who left with her five children and she had to walk more than 100 miles and she lost two of her children along that way.
LEMON: CNN.com is doing some great reporting.
JERAS: Yes.
LEMON: This is a crisis now and we're going to continue follow that very, very nice explanation there, Jacqui Jeras.
Again, we said it's a crisis. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper are in Somalia and beginning Monday they will bring us live reports from the refugee comps where hundreds of thousands of people are desperately fighting to stay alive. They'll also show us how aid organizations are working to save as many lives as possible.
It is being called the single deadliest incident since the war began in Afghanistan. The latest on the investigation into the helicopter crash that killed 30 American troops, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Here are your headlines this hour on CNN.
NATO troops are still assessing the crash site where a U.S. army helicopter apparently was 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.
And we're now learning that 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.
And if you live anywhere across the southeast, well, don't be surprised if you see these faces on digital billboards. The FBI is going all out in a manhunt for these brother-sister and half brother. For these three. Ryan Edward Dougherty, Dylan Dougherty Stanley, and Lee Grace Dougherty are wanted for the armed robbery of a South Georgia bank and the attempted murder of a Florida police officer.
We're monitoring world reaction to Standard & Poor's lowering of the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA plus.
And the Obama administration is reaching out to Timothy Geithner. The Treasury secretary is taking part in a conference call with representatives from other G-7 nations to discuss the downgrade. The call is expected to take place sometime this evening before some Asian markets open in just a few minutes for Monday trading.
So just how will the credit downgrade affect the markets? What does it mean for interest rates on your mortgage or your car?
Well, CNN is going to break down all of it for you. And a special report at 9:00 p.m. Easter. It is called "THE DEBT MESS" and it's hosted by -- there she is -- our very own Christine Romans. And she is the person who should host this.
So what do you have coming up for us, Christine?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM'S YOUR BOTTOM LINE: Well, we're going to be watching all the world markets as they open. You're going to have some of those markets starting to open in just about a minute and 15 seconds.
We already have American futures trading for stocks has already opened and it is showing about 2 percent losses for the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P. This is I guess you could call it a gauge of where we think -- what investors are thinking first in the markets, after that downgrade on Friday. So stock futures selling off pretty vigorously here in electronic trading overnight.
But they've been pretty choppy. I'll tell you. At one point you had Dow futures down more than 300 points. Now you've got them down about 206, popping around a little bit. And that's to be expected. Because when we start getting headlines out of that G-7 call, anything leaked from that, that could likely move sentiment.
As you start to hear more big investors, Warren Buffett, for example, this weekend said that if he thinks if he could, he'd rate the U.S. quadruple A. So if you start to hear more big investors starting to weigh in, that could move futures around.
But as it stands right now, you've got a vigorous selling in the stock markets. The Asian markets opened up -- begin opening up one after another in just a few seconds.
LEMON: OK. We got Dow futures down 206 and Hang Seng futures are down 4.6. Interesting, though, the Nikkei futures are higher.
So, Christine, stick around. We'll see you at 9:00. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. "CNN PRESENTS" is up next.
