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30 U.S Troops Die in Copter Crash; A Navy SEAL Town Grieves; Market Reaction to Credit Downgrade; Market Reaction to Credit Downgrade; Desperation in Somalia; How Hate Killed a Man

Aired August 07, 2011 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, the reality of war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's with the Lord now, and I'll see him again someday.

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LEMON: The worse loss of life in a single incident in Afghanistan. Tonight, we hear from family, friends and those who served with the fallen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the worst phone call you will ever get in your life, I assure you.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn't murdered. He was just shot to death. I'm like -- what?

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LEMON: The ghost of Katrina, haunting a mother whose son was gunned down by New Orleans police. So why didn't the jury find them guilty of murder? That's what she wants to know.

And -- who's really at fault for the U.S.'s new low credit score?

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Washington's fault and no one else's fault.

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LEMON: There is a lot of finger-pointing. But why does the downgrade report specifically mention one party? We asked the leader of the Tea Party Express. It's all right here, right now on CNN.

Good evening everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. We want to welcome our viewers watching here in the United States and around the world.

We are following market reaction to the historic downgrade of the U.S. credit rating from here in the U.S. to Asia to the Middle East, and we'll tell you what it means to you as you start your work week.

But first we want to start with a developing story and this one is out of Afghanistan. This has been perhaps the darkest hour for the U.S. military in 10 years of war. We have new details tonight on the single deadliest loss of U.S. troops since the Afghan war began. Thirty American military personnel were killed including 25 Special Forces.

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

We are 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 and the father of two small children. I spoke with his grandmother about the last time she saw him.

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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 firmly in his faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: 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 fiancee. I spoke with his fiancee Candie Reagan just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Everyone wants to know -- how are you doing?

CANDIE REAGAN, FIANCEE OF KILLED GUARDSMAN: 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 2-year-old, she just knows that everybody's unhappy. And my 13-year-old is absolutely devastated. She can't stop crying. And it just 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 (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 the 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 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: 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 was smiling. And he had the biggest, brightest smile on earth. He's always telling jokes to everybody, making people laugh because 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 even -- can we even imagine what you're going through?

REAGAN: No. Unless you have 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 just 30 years old.

Virginia Beach is home to many of the Navy SEALs. The loss of 22 of these elite troops is a terrible blow to the tight-knit community. CNN's Brian Todd is in Virginia Beach for us tonight.

And Brian, you have been talking to many of the people there. How are they doing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're not doing too well, Don. It's kind of a surreal atmosphere here. You can see -- you can hear fireworks going off here in the background. This is kind of a weekly tradition here in Virginia Beach. They would have this no matter what.

So it's kind of bizarre to be here in the middle of this because it's been a very, very somber mood here. This is the epitome of a military town. But even for a place like this where the realities of war are almost a constant reality, this has been a very tough couple of days.

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TODD (voice over): Kimberly Vaughn describes that horrible moment when uniformed officers came to her door and told her about her husband.

KIMBERLY VAUGHN, WIDOW OF NAVY SEAL: 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 Chamberlynn and son Reagan, who turns 2 years old next month.

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. And 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.

SHARI BURAK, VIRGINIA BEACH RESIDENT: You feel like you're at rock bottom again. You just feel like you are not succeeding at what needs to be done and you have to ask, is it worth it, is another life worth it?

BILLY GREEN, VIRGINIA BEACH RESIDENT: It's a great loss. Very sad day. 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): We are told none of the SEALs killed in this operation were on the bin Laden raid. Virginia Beach Mayor William Sessoms wanted to throw a parade for the SEALs after the bin Laden operation, 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.

MAYOR WILLIAM SESSOMS, VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA: It hurts. And you know -- but it's a shared pain which means that everyone thinks so highly of them.

TODD: John McQuire knows all about that shared pain. He was a SEAL for 10 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 every one of them, if they had a chance they would do it again.

TODD (voice over): Now the focus turns toward helping the families. Current and former SEALs and their commanders will be trying to raise money for the NaVY SEAL Foundation, a group dedicated to giving financial support to those left behind.

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TODD: And now John McGuire, the other former SEALs, current SEALs and their commanders, as we mentioned, are getting more busy than they ever, ever hoped to be -- Don.

LEMON: Brian Todd. Thank you very much, Brian.

Now to the historic downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. How do you factor into this and what does it mean to your bottom line? We are tracking the markets and checking in from Washington to New York to Asia and beyond for some indications on what you can expect when you wake up in the morning. Looking now at futures trading for the S&P, the NASDAQ and the Dow.

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LEMON: I want to get back now to our developing story. Consequences from the downgrading of U.S. credit for the first time in history. We don't have to wait for Monday morning to learn what they are for the market. We are already seeing the reaction on market's opening around the world tonight, the fallout from the news that Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. from AAA to AA+ for the first time in history.

U.S. stock futures are also trading tonight. They are one of the first gauges of investor attitudes. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner this evening taking part in a conference call with other member-nations of the G7, strategizing as Republicans call for his head over this downgrade.

So what does this all mean to you, your mortgage, your credit cards, your 401(k) and other investments? What will the world be like when you wake up in the morning? Will it change anything, if at all?

We're going to explain all of that to you and we're going to do it with the help from our Christine Romans and our Richard Quest. They are both in New York tonight. Brianna Keilar is live for us at the White House. And Pauline Chiou standing by live in Hong Kong. Let's start at the White House with Brianna Keilar.

Brianna, the administration has a lot of issues with S&P assessments, right?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They are really taking issue, especially, Don, with the math behind this decision because the treasury department, when it got wind that this was under way, went through the numbers and found a discrepancy. This is what you will hear administration officials referring to as a $2 trillion error in calculating deficits. And today we saw surrogates for the president, administration officials just blanketing the Sunday shows, including Larry Summers, former top economic adviser to the president. Here's what he said about how this -- or really about the math that S&P did on this.

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LAWRENCE SUMMERS, FMR. DEPUTY TREASURY SECRETARY: Look, S&P's track record has been terrible and as we've seen this weekend its arithmetic is worse. So there is nothing good to say about what they have done. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: so on one hand, Don, it's interesting because you hear administration officials criticizing sort of the math that S&P did, but on the other hand, S&P says the reason -- they aren't backing off, obviously, of this downgrade and they are saying the reason for the downgrade is just because, essentially, all of the chaos that went into coming to that debt deal, how it was so last-minute and created a lot of uncertainty.

What you also see, Don, is a lot of administration officials pointing to that rationale and really pointing the finger at House Republicans, saying they are the ones to blame for being uncompromising in this debt ceiling deal that was finally signed into law on Tuesday -- Don.

LEMON: Brianna, we've been watching the wires here this evening and some of them saying Timothy Geithner was to supposed to participate in a phone call with G7 nations. It didn't happen. It did happen.

Was he on those phone calls and, if so, do we know what happened there?

KEILAR: So we have a readout. This is an official readout and I will tell you, there is not a whole lot in it. It's somewhat long but it doesn't really tell anything very surprising about this discussion with G7 finance ministers.

Basically, Don, it appears that this was a chance, at least publicly, for these leaders to really get on the same page. A lot of language about affirming our commitment to take all necessary measures. We're committed to taking coordinated action where needed. We reaffirmed our shared interest in a strong and stable financial system.

Because the fact of the matter is, while the U.S. is dealing with this downgrade, there is obviously big trouble in Europe with the euro, which is also affecting the U.S. and so this was a chance for all of the leaders to really get on the same page.

LEMON: Brianna Keilar at the White House.

Brianna, thank you very much.

We want to go now to Hong Kong and Pauline Chiou.

Pauline, the markets there are experiencing something they haven't done in a year.

PAULINE CHIOU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, all the markets here are down, in negative territory. And the markets that are down the most are the Hang Seng here in Hong Kong. It's down by 2.8 percent. And Singapore also down by 2.6 percent.

But if you want to look for a bright spot here, one thing I can say is most of these indices are off their lows from this morning. For example, Australia down in Sydney, the markets down there opened down more than 2 percent. It's now down by about .7 percent.

So as I've mentioned, they are off their lows. And part of the reason for this was the Dow futures. Investors here in this region saw the Dow futures. They saw they were down by more than 2 percent. So right off the bat at the opening bell in our area, a lot of these indices plummeted down. But now we are seeing some gains. It's mostly banking stocks and energy that are pulling the indices down, and also oil is down.

So, Don, the other issue here is people, investors here in this region are worried about a weak U.S. dollar because we have a lot of exporters here. So, with the weak U.S. dollar, it's driving up Asian currencies, which hurt the exporters in this area -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Pauline Chiou in Hong Kong, thank you very much for that.

We want to get now to our Richard Quest and our Christine Romans, both in New York.

Christine, my first question to you is I want to talk a little bit more about what Brianna Keilar said. Brianna said Timothy Geithner was on a call with G7, basically the commitment coming from G7 nations -- they are committed to taking coordinated action where needed. Does this mean really mean anything? Will this help anything going forward?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, CNN'S "YOUR BOTTOME LINE": Well, that has nothing to do with the downgrade, I'd like to point out. And Richard and I have been talking about this for the past hour that the real concern here is Spain and Italy and it's Europe and it's what's happening there and these G7 leaders getting together and talking about -- sort of two-sleeve, you know. They speak in this G7 speak, right?

The G-speak, Richard. He deciphers it quite well quite frankly. But, you know, this is about Europe, right? This is less about the downgrade. And we just interviewed a market participant, somebody who has billions of dollars in the market who said the downgrade is not going to mean anything for stocks or your pocketbook, Europe is what is more important here right now.

LEMON: All right. Hold that thought, Richard Quest. We're going to get to you and Christine right after the break. What all this means to you, the people at home who are watching. We are watching the markets and keeping you informed as you get ready to start your week tomorrow. We're back in just moments.

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LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. What does the U.S credit downgrade mean for you and your money? We are talking about that with our very own Christine Romans and Richard Quest. Both are in New York tonight. So when people wake up tomorrow, what are they going to discover when the stock markets open in the U.S. for the first time after this downgrade?

I mean, Richard, is this the end of the world as we know it? Is the sky falling?

RICHARD QUEST, HOST, CNN's "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Don't be ridiculous. Of course not. You may have a -- you may have a Dow futures that are down slightly. You may even have a market that's off 100, 200 points. But how we start is never how we finish.

We've had this whole real bromide (ph) about the G7 statement. They are all coming out tonight, just as you'd expect them to. The IMF has come out with a statement that seems pretty meaningless.

Putting it all together, this is a slow burning, deeply-seated crisis that is affecting the global financial markets. And the real issue -- and Christine agrees with me so I'm on safe -- I'm on safe grounds -- is what it means for jobs, because if you've got a slowdown in Europe and you've got a slowdown in the United States, and you've got China starting to come off the boil somewhat, you've got to ask yourself, although it may not be a global double dip, but where is the growth going to come from to create the jobs?

LEMON: And Christine, when you're out in a pub -- and you're in a pub or a bar or a restaurant, you're talking to people, no one's really going, oh, I'm concerned about the downgrade. People are going, "Hey, I think I'm going to get laid off" or, "Where's the job? I've been out of a job for a year." That's what people really want to know about this.

ROMANS: Look, the downgrade was humiliating and avoidable. And people are talking about it on the street because they think that it shows their political process is all crazy and they're worries about what's that going to mean for the rest of the year when they have to do more cost-cutting.

But you're right. It is about -- or spending cuts. It is about jobs. What I don't hear is a credible plan, any kind of work -- any kind of consensus for a plan to get jobs growing. But as Richard will point out, growing jobs takes money and it may take government intervention. And you've got a whole part of Congress now that doesn't want the government involved in your life. And so that means -- and spending cuts means fewer jobs.

LEMON: Hey, Richard, I've got 10 seconds left. I want to ask you this. This is -- the people think, oh, this is all part of what happened with the downgrade and then the fight over the debt ceiling. This started long before that.

QUEST: It's been going for decades. This is not -- we didn't just wake up either in the United States or in Europe and suddenly, oops, my word, there is a global financial crisis, what have we done wrong. This is going back years. I mean, robbing Peter to pay Paul, deficit financing, living beyond our means on both sides of the Atlantic. This is what the problem has been. And now, finally, look, there is a massive shift of economic power from Europe and the United States to Asia, and anybody that doesn't realize that and deal with it is deluding themselves.

LEMON: Richard Quest, Christine Romans, thank you.

ROMANS: See you in the morning.

LEMON: You know, the Democrats definitely know who they'd like to blame for the credit downgrade. They came out swinging during the Sunday talkers. Take a listen.

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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 CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Democrats are clearly trying to label this the Tea Party downgrade. Earlier, though, I spoke with Amy Kremer, chairwoman of the Tea Party Express and she fired back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY KREMER, CHAIRWOMAN, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: Don, we're not backing away from the fact that we stopped the administration and Harry Reid from, you know, pushing through any tax increases.

LEMON: 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 a 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The Tea Party, very proud of it role in the debt ceiling negotiations, but, clearly, nobody wants to be left holding the bag on this historic downgrade. So I want to bring in CNN contributor and political anchor for New York 1, Errol Louis.

So, Errol, you heard the Democrats blaming the Tea Party and the Republicans. You heard the Tea Party Express chairwoman throwing it right back at them. I don't know. No one's ever going to take the blame for this, are they?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, not willingly. And it's very interesting how the bickering that went on today and it started Friday night, frankly, really perfectly reproduces the very deadlock that led to the downgrade in first place.

I mean, you know, it's a serious problem. It has been going on for decades. There are people who feel like you should never raise revenues. There are people who felt genuinely, I think, that when we did have a budget surplus at the end of the Clinton presidency, that it was time to give that money back. That it would be immoral for the government to hold on to it. That it belongs back in the hands of the taxpayers.

That's not a radical position. But it is at odds with this notion that we have to get rid of our deficit right now at all costs. And, you know, the bickering really just makes it a difficult argument, a longstanding argument, impossible to resolve.

LEMON: It just kind of confirms what S&P said in their downgrade report. I want to talk now about the treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner. Republicans want him gone after this, but today, the treasury released a statement saying that he is staying in his post. But do you think his days are numbered now? We have heard that before, where they say, I'm standing by this guy, I'm not going anywhere, and then a week or two goes by and all of a sudden they're gone.

LOUIS: Sure. I keep an eye on the presidential approval polls. You know, that's probably your best clue as to whether or not some kind of a shake about the economic team. And it won't necessarily just be limited to Timothy Geithner. There are a number of people, council of economic advisers, there are all kinds of people who are part of the economic strategy team. It looks like they need to be shuffled or reworked in order to make the administration viable. Then that's what will very likely happen.

LEMON: Geithner was on the phone with G7 ministers tonight. Damage control? If so, did it help anything at all?

LOUIS: Well, there are a couple of things going on there, Don. I mean, first of all, he had to do that. You have to do that in advance of the market's opening. Even if it's just sort of pro forma, if he hadn't done it, it certainly would have been a negative mark on the administration.

And then secondly, just as Christine was saying, this is really right now, today, about Europe in large part, and the G7 is far more concerned about what's happening with, you know, the 6 percent yields on bonds, 10-year bonds. I mean, investors are demanding so much in order to support the economy and the governments of Italy and of Spain that there is a real crisis brewing over there.

So the G7 needed to talk about that as well. I think what Geithner did was the only responsible thing he could have done. And we'll look for him to hear more from the administration after markets open, I think. They've got to try and keep this all under control about what's happening here and what's happening in Europe.

LEMON: Before we go, I have to ask you a question. If you have a -- so if you have a few dollars to invest, I'm talking about you, let's say you have $1,000. What are you going to invest it tomorrow -- stock market, gold, a box in the backyard, a mattress? What would you do with it?

LOUIS: I believe and what I keep hearing over and over again, what many people tell me about my 401(K), poor, battered 401(K) which is to sit tight and wait. If you've got more than five or ten years and you don't think the country is going to go under there is no particular reason to start moving stuff around.

LEMON: Yes. A lot of people can't wait though. They are nearing the finish line. And they got to use that to live for the rest of their lives.

So thank you, Errol. I appreciate it.

LOUIS: That's true. Those are the people who get hurt the worst, actually. Unfortunately, those are the people who get hurt the worst.

Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Scenes of desperation and tragedy in Somalia to report to you. 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.

And she's risking her life and limb to do something no one has ever done before -- swim all the way from Cuba to Florida. Why?

And many of you have been asking about information through social media. We're on Twitter. We're on Facebook. CNN.com/Don and FourSquare as well. (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 were to 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. Others 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.

Monday night at 8:00, make sure you join Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta as they bring us a live special report from the Hornof Africa. We'll take you into the camps where hundreds of thousands of people are fighting to stay alive. It's an AC360 special report, "SOMALIA: ON THE FRONT LINES OF FAMINE," that's Monday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Up next, a mother cries out for justice in one of the most infamous episodes in New Orleans history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: In tonight's "What Matters," our partnership with "Essence" magazine, we go back to New Orleans.

One of the darkest chapters from Hurricane Katrina was an incident on September 4, 2005. That became known as The Danziger Bridge Killings. Two people were killed and four were wounded by armed men who turn out to be New Orleans police officers.

On Friday, five of those former officers were found guilty on 25 counts of Civil Rights violations but not of murder.

I spoke with the mother of one of those who was killed on the Danziger Bridge. He was 17-year-old James Brissette. As you're about to see and hear, she does not believe justice has been served.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRELL JOHNSON, MOTHER OF TEEN KILLED ON DANZIGER BRIDGE: I am very hurt. I am very hurt by this decision. By this jury's decision. JJ was my baby. He was my baby. He was very quiet. He was very passive.

He grew up in a home with no cussing, fussing, fighting. He didn't hear none of that. So our home life was very quiet. You know, no step parents over, none of that, you know. So that's why he didn't know anything about fighting and all. He didn't know all about that.

I'm in a courtroom, and I'm looking at this picture where my child is as far against trying to get under the bridge for protection, as far as he could. These officers leaned over the railing and sprayed my child with bullets. My child was in pieces.

The part that hurts me is that after six years, New Orleans hard working investigation, they're guilty for everything except the fact that JJ wasn't murdered. He was just shot to death. I'm like what? I'm sitting in the courtroom, I stopped breathing. My heart stopped beating, and I stopped breathing, and I'm like, yes, indeed.

If you're hiding from me and I go out of my way to lean over, to search for you, find you, and then shoot you, but he wasn't murdered. You just was shot to death. I cannot understand that. I cannot understand that.

LEMON: Why do you think it's so important for you? Why do you want to be there for the sentencing?

JOHNSON: Because I want to know what kind of time they're going to get. I know what kind of time they gave my son. I know what JJ got. JJ got forever more box of ashes. That's what JJ got. So now you put my child in the box. You took his life. Now the government and justice is going to take your life and put you in the box.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Sentencing for the five former police officers is set for December 14th. And to be clear, murder was never an option under the federal prosecution, only Civil Rights violations.

Up next, from one horrible crime in Louisiana to another in Mississippi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. There is no doubt. They were looking for a black victim to assault and even kill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The crime this scene is accused of will turn your stomach, preying on a person because of a color of his skin. That's according to prosecutors. And a camera was rolling while it happened. A CNN special report, just moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A black man is beaten and murdered because of the color of his skin. It happened generations ago and it happened just two months ago. That's according to prosecutors in Mississippi.

Tonight, a CNN exclusive special report. You will learn how a man named James Craig Anderson died. And warning, the images of what happened to him are graphic. Here's CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is just 18 years old, facing a possible double life sentence for the senseless murder of a man he never knew. Deryl Dedmon is thin, short with straggly blond hair, accused of leading a group of white teenage revellers on a mission -- to find and beat up anyone who was black.

ROBERT SHULER SMITH, HINDS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They discussed let's go get -- let's be honest. Let's go get a nigger, right?

GRIFFIN: That's exactly it.

SMITH: Hinds Country District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says the evidence and witness accounts tell a story of a crime that would seem to come right out of Mississippi's troubled past.

On June 26, a group of white teens, seven in all leaving an all- night party in the white, middle class enclave of Rankin County, Mississippi, in search of a black person to, quote, "mess with."

SMITH: Out of hate.

GRIFFIN: Out of hate.

SMITH: No doubt in your mind this was a racially motivated, hate motivated, let's go kill a black guy crime?

GRIFFIN: Absolutely. There is no doubt. They were looking for a black victim to assault and even kill in this instance.

SMITH: They drove 16 miles on a freeway heading west. At 5:00 a.m. that Sunday morning, the teens in two vehicles took the Ellis Avenue off ramp leading to a predominantly black section of Jackson. Just as they were exiting, an unsuspecting 49-year-old auto worker named James Craig Anderson was standing by his car at this local motel and he was black.

GRIFFIN: So literally they found the first black person they could find, and that black person was in this parking lot.

SMITH: Well, yes, this is the first business that you get to coming off of the highway. And so that was the first person that apparently was out here and vulnerable.

GRIFFIN: According to witness statements, at first James Craig Anderson was beaten and taunted with racial slurs. Surveillance video shows white teens going back and forth in what prosecutors say was a continuous beating of the victim as one of the teens walks back to the cars after beating Anderson he pumps his fist in the air and shouts "white power "according to a motel security guard. Then some of the teens got in the white SUV and drove away, leaving Anderson beaten and lying on the ground.

GRIFFIN (on-camera): Deryl Dedmon apparently wasn't through. He had two girls in his truck as he was leaving this parking lot, a big F-250 pickup truck. James Craig Anderson, the man who was beaten almost to a pulp, was stumbling down this curb. That's when police say Deryl Dedmon hit the gas, jumped the curb and ran right over his victim, smashing him. What he didn't know was the entire episode was being caught on a surveillance camera on the corner of this hotel.

(voice-over): This is what was caught on that tape, obtained exclusively by CNN. We warn you, it is disturbing. A video capturing what Prosecutor Robert Shuler Smith says is pure racial hatred and murder.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So what did the surveillance video show? We'll tell you when we come back with the second part of Drew Griffin's report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's return now to Hinds County, Mississippi to a crime that harkens back to a dark period in this nation's history. A reminder, the video you are about to see is graphic. Here, again, is CNN's Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (on-camera): Deryl Dedmon apparently wasn't through. He had two girls in his truck as he was leaving this parking lot, a big F-250 pickup truck. James Craig Anderson, the man who was beaten almost to a pulp, was stumbling down this curb. That's when police say Deryl Dedmon hit the gas, jumped the curb and ran right over his victim, smashing him. What he didn't know was the entire episode was being caught on a surveillance camera on the corner of this hotel.

(voice-over): This is what was caught on that tape, obtained exclusively by CNN. We warn you, it is disturbing. A video capturing what Prosecutor Robert Shuler Smith says is pure racial hatred and murder.

Here you see James Craig Anderson in a hotel parking lot as he first comes into view in the lower right corner of the screen. This is after he was beaten, according to law enforcement officials. He staggers into the headlights of Mr. Dedmon's truck. The truck backs up and surges forward suddenly, running right over the defenceless man.

Take a look again as the approaching headlights glow on Anderson's shirt then disappears under the truck.

According to police Dedmon, with two teenage girls as his passengers, drove to a local McDonald's meeting up with the rest of the group. There according to witnesses interviewed by police he said, "I ran that nigger over."

SMITH: He was not remorseful. He was laughing. Laughing about the killing.

GRIFFIN: Later that morning, James Craig Anderson's family learned their 49-year-old brother and son died in what they thought was a hit-and-run. Only later when witness statements were taken did they learn the real horror. Winston Thompson is the family's attorney.

WINSTON THOMPSON, ANDERSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: As the facts developed, it went from a bad situation to a much, much, much worse. This could -- at that time they were being told this could have possibly been a racially motivated killing.

GRIFFIN (on-camera): Now it appears there is no doubt.

THOMPSON: Still in shock. Still in disbelief.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Calls to Dedmon's attorney have gone unanswered. During a bond hearing that attorney told the court he saw nothing to back up the racial allegations. At Dedmon's home, a girl who answered the door pretended not to know him although the pickup truck he allegedly used as a murder weapon sticks out of the family's garage. Police say they returned it after the vehicle was processed.

A second teen, John Aaron Rice has been charged with simple assault for his part in the beating. His attorney also did not return calls. Neither teen has entered a plea. The other teens in the group have not been charged.

James Craig Anderson's family has decided to remain silent, for now, trying to come to grips with the crime they thought was in Mississippi's past -- the murder of a man just because he was black.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Jackson, Mississippi. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Drew. Thank you very much.

Lots of jitters as the Asia markets get rolling. And we'll take you live to Hong Kong for an early indicator on where the U.S. markets might be headed Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's get one last check of the Asian markets, open now for the first time following news that the U.S. lost its sterling AAA credit rating.

Pauline Chiou standing by live for us in Hong Kong.

So, Pauline, what's happening there now?

PAULINE CHIOU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, all the indices are still in negative territory between 1.3 percent to 3.5 percent. Hong Kong is doing the worst. The Hang Seng here. And I just got off the phone with the strategist and asked him what's going on here in Hong Kong. He said that there's genuine concern about structural weakness in the U.S. dollar, and particularly its exposure to China.

China has $3.2 trillion in Foreign Exchange reserves. 70 percent of that is in U.S. dollars. And a lot of Chinese companies listed on the Hong Kong Hang Seng exchange are exposed to this weak dollar. So, Don, a lot of investors, traders focusing on that at the moment.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. We really appreciate it.

We have a developing story to tell you about here on CNN. It's new information that is just in.

Seven people including an 11-year-old child were shot and killed in a small town in northeastern Ohio on Sunday in a rampage that ended when police killed the suspected gunman. Again, that's according to authorities there.

The shootings occurred shortly before 11:00 a.m. in Copley Township, that's about 7 miles west of Akron. Again, this is all according to the Copley Police Department. The shootings reportedly began at one house where the gunman shot his girlfriend, continued when the shooter ran to an adjacent house where he shot five people then went on as he chase two other people through some backyards before hitting one of them.

The shooter then went to another home where two other persons he had chased had sought refuge. He entered the home, shot one victim, and exited the home. And then according to the police there this all went down again not far from a mall. And at one point, a Copley police officer and a former officer who was in the area, encountered the shooter who engaged the officer and the citizen and gun fire and the shooter was shot and killed. Again, a total of eight people were shot by the suspect. Police said seven killed and one was wounded there.

Man, sad story to end on. But, again, that's what's happening in the world tonight. Make sure you join us at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning for an update on what's going on with the lowering of the U.S. credit rating with Ali Velshi. And then join "AMERICAN MORNING" at 6:00 a.m.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Have a great week.