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Britain: We Will Restore Order; Fugitive Siblings Spotted in Colorado; International Outcry Builds against Syria; Wall Street Retreats from Rally; Stocks Plunge 300 Plus at Open; Nine Open Spots on Debt Panel; Fears of Another Debt Deadlock; Appalling Violence and Thuggery; Dow Plunges 400 Plus Points; Iowa Straw Poll This Weekend; Violence Intensified in Syria; International Outcry Builds Against Syria; Whole Foods' Ramadan Controversy
Aired August 10, 2011 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: OK. We're going to try to get through this hour without puking. All right, folks? It's going to be OK.
10:00 Eastern here on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. out West. Wherever you may be, glad you are right here. I'm T.J. Holmes in today for Kyra Phillips.
Sixteen thousand police officers all across London trying to stop the rioting. Maybe made some headway last night. Still hundreds of people have been arrested for looting and arson in several other British cities now.
Also, there's a nationwide man hunt going on right now for those three siblings. Two brothers and their older sister all accused of opening fire on a Florida police officer, then robbing a Georgia bank. They are considered extremely dangerous.
And international outcry builds over Syria's deadly crackdown on civilians. Sources say the U.S. is moving toward an official call for Syria's president to resign.
But let's start on Wall Street, so far not so good. Another day -- could we see another big rally? So far that is not the case. We are just 30 minutes into the trading day. The Dow Industrials down some 350 plus points so far.
Our Christine Romans with me in New York, Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange and Nina Dos Santos in London, has an eye on the markets overseas.
Christine, let me start with you. And we were joking and we just saw that piece by Jeannie Moos and the rip-your-face-off rally and freak-out mode. Can you calm people down at all about what we're seeing?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We are seeing volatility. We are seeing classic volatility in the market that's trying to figure out what should be a fair price for American companies, international companies, stocks, gold, treasuries, the whole works. Everyone's trying to find out what they think the world economy's going to do, what kind of debt problems you have in Europe, is the U.S. going to be in a rut or recession down the road? What's the fed going to do about it? And where should stocks be priced?
Now you also have an awful lot of fear factor in there that's exacerbating the move. So, you know, the reason why people out there watching shouldn't freak out is that yesterday stocks were up 400- something points, the day before that they were down 600-some points. They've had a huge decline since July.
But the S&P is still up more than 50 percent from March 2009. So it all depends on your perspective. And financial planners and money managers will tell you that if you are changing your plan, your financial plan right now in the midst of all this chaos, you are going to lose no matter what.
Imagine if you sold on Monday only to find out that yesterday markets went up. And so today you decided, I'll buy again and now it's down. You cannot behave like that. Normal people cannot behave like that. Got to have a plan, got to stick to it so I'm going to say don't freak out.
HOLMES: Normal people cannot behave that way. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange for me, though, we see some people probably are behaving that way today. But we're looking at the Dow Jones Industrials. Give me an idea overall the other indices what we're seeing today.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are seeing the Dow down quite a bit, 326 points and I'll kind of echo what Christine said. You know, what you're seeing here is trading that's not necessarily rational.
It's based on a lot of fear. It's based on a lot of emotion. And I'll tell you what, forget about yesterday's huge rally, it's ancient history at this point. You know, we watched stocks tumble right when that opening bell rang.
The Dow, of course, continuing to go down. It's a yo-yo again of where we see these huge, wild swings in these averages. It's really dizzying. You know, in just the last two days, we've seen the biggest loss and the biggest gain in several years, not to mention these huge price swings of several hundred points in a matter of minutes.
What this essentially shows is that investors are really nervous. Traders are telling me investors don't know where the economy is headed. And they're doing what Christine said, they're kind of re-pricing stocks to fit the outlook for economic growth.
And we've got economists. They're upping their forecasts on the likelihood of a double-dip recession. And you're seeing that concern play out in these crazy swings with stock prices. You're seeing it in rising gold prices that's considered a safe haven.
And you're seeing it play out in treasuries where the yields are at lows right now. So if you happen to be the savvy investor, you happen to be making money today because you've got the stomach to buy and sell on these big swings. But if you're not a savvy investor, you probably want to sit this one out, T.J.
HOLMES: Alison Kosik, thank you. But what are the international markets doing? Nina Dos Santos is in London for us with that. We know the world markets watch the U.S. and the U.S. watches world markets, as well. So tell me how the rest of the world is doing.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: T.J., the markets over here certainly acting in tandem with the markets in the United States as the Dow started trading. We had European stocks falling even further.
It's hard to believe that the markets where I am at the moment were actually trading higher just about two or three hours ago. But around about half way through the trading session, what we saw was stocks shedding those gains and pretty quickly as Alison Kosik was telling you.
You know, yesterday's gain history, really, ancient history as she was putting it, which I liked. One thing we should point out is that the CAC 40, the French market in Paris, which is falling by the most down about 2.5 percent.
Nicholas Sarkozy, the French president has actually summoned his finance minister and the central banker of France for emergency talks. This is amid ongoing concerns on the bond market.
The France has AAA credit rating unlike the United States could be the next to face the crisis as that crisis rumbles on. Only gold seems to be gaining at the moment about $1,770 an ounce.
HOLMES: All right, Nina Dos Santos, we appreciate you. Also to our Alison Kosik and Christine Romans as well contributing to our coverage of the markets right now, thank you, all.
We're 5 minutes past the hour now. Today we could learn more about which lawmakers will be taking on the country's deficit. Now, we know three of the names. You see them there.
These are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's picks for this Super Committee you've been hearing about. But already, Republicans are slamming the choice of Senator Patty Murray of Washington. They're calling her the fundraiser in chief for Senate Democrats and says she does not belong on this committee.
Now other congressional leaders, Pelosi, McConnell and Boehner, they will all add three picks of their own, nine more to make up this 12-member Super Committee.
Joe Johns in Washington for us right now. Joe, hello to you once again. We hear about committees all the time, now we're hearing about a Super Committee. This committee though is going to be important to all of us. Remind our viewers why.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of reasons. I mean, 12 people who are going to sit down and try to come up with the kinds of spending cuts and perhaps revenue changes to get us sort of on the road to something that's a little bit more stable financially.
The most important thing, though, is these are kind of kitchen table issues that could affect you on Main Street. That's what they're going to have to look at. This is round two also, you know.
We heard so much about raising the debt limit. Now the cast of characters is beginning to change, but the principles remain the same, a lot of sniping now.
A lot of it around Senator Patty Murray, she is a member of the Appropriations Committee, Budget Committee, but the main thing that Republicans are looking at, she's the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee supposed to help Democrats raise money, also spends a lot of money for them.
And Republicans got out of the blocks very quickly saying she shouldn't have been chosen because of this political job she has that's so important to all Senate Democrats.
What's hard for them to swallow, the Republicans quite frankly is that the DSCC, which she's been involved in has been out front in opposition to entitlements cuts.
So this is all the beginning of another battle that's going to take us, you know, through Thanksgiving, all the way up to Christmas if it works the way it's supposed to, T.J.
HOLMES: Joe, we have any sense of what the American people want this Super Committee to do?
JOHNS: Yes, well, you know, we have this CNN/ORC poll that just came out and was released this morning. We asked Americans what do they think this committee should do. The first question, should the deficit reduction include taxes on businesses and higher income Americans?
The answer there was yes, 63 percent said yes, 36 percent said no. And the second question was should the deficit reduction include major changes to entitlements, Social Security and Medicare? The 64 percent of respondents said no, 35 percent said yes.
And so these kinds of polls are going to only add to the urgency as this committee gets formed for them to actually come up with something that the American public's not going to be upset about.
HOLMES: All right. Joe Johns for us in Washington. Joe, we appreciate you as always.
Well, 9 minutes past the hour now. Let's turn to what the British Prime Minister David Cameron is calling appalling violence and thuggery. That's what he's saying about the riots taking place in London and other cities now.
Authorities are trying to get this under control. Our Phil Black is there for us live. Phil, they're trying to make some kind of headway with these riots. Did they last night?
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they appear to have initially, at least, T.J. here in London, the momentum of violence appears to have been broken. The fourth night was relatively calm by comparison to the previous three evenings.
And the prime minister, David Cameron is saying that is the direct result of the more robust policing strategy he has enforced on the streets of this city. Says the number of police have been boosted by more than 10,000 to 16,000 in all.
And in addition to that, he says those police are now empowered, authorized to go out there and be far more active in their attempts to break up any rioting. T.J. --
HOLMES: Also, we've been focusing on London so much that has been the focal point, But now starting to spread. And we've seen it spread to other areas. How big of a concern that you get it under control in one place and now it's starting to spread in a number of places.
BLACK: Well, last night while it was quiet in London, there was significant rioting in other U.K. cities including Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham among others. It was considerable. We've seen hundreds of arrests there. They're being close to 800 arrests here in London alone including in the arrest in the other cities as well up about a thousand.
Police describe and the pictures show quite terrible scenes. So it remains to be seen if those police there are able to bring that under control, break the momentum in the way that the police here in London seemingly have done, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Phil Black for us, we appreciate you as always. Thank you.
We're at 11 minutes past the hour right now. The island of Aruba, the focus of a high-profile missing persons case, but not the one you may be thinking. This time, another young American woman has gone missing in Aruba without a trace.
Also coming up, Republican candidates like Mitt Romney visiting Iowa this week. Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer joining me to talk about how he sees this shaping up. He's up next. It's 11 past the hour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 14 minutes past the hour and take a look, 400 points down. It's going to be OK, though, folks. All right, we've been watching this. And it has been these extreme ups and downs over the past couple of days, but as you know, the Dow lost 400 -- excuse me, 600 plus points on Monday.
Another 400 points in gains yesterday and now here we are 400 points down today. I've been talking to all of our business folks, including our Alison Kosik who's up on the New York Stock Exchange for us right now.
And Alison, we see this and remind our folks of what we have seen the past couple of days. Because we do need to keep this in perspective what's happening before we start to panic. The 400 points isn't time to panic, necessarily just yet. It's a long day.
KOSIK: Not just yet. Yes, because where we start is not necessarily where we end up. What you see happening right now is a reaction to what's going on overseas. There's still more concerns about what's going on in the euro zone.
You know, people forget, we've got our debt problems here, but there are big problems in Europe, as well. Notably Spain and Italy, those are kind of on the front burner at this point. So we're watching European markets tank and that is also why we're watching stocks here in the U.S. tank, they kind of feed off each other.
You know, what you're really seeing here is just this trade where it's really generated by fear, lack of confidence, it's just emotional trading. And the reason why you're seeing these huge swings, you know, in just a matter of time we were talking, the Dow was down over 400, it's backed off a little bit.
But these are pretty big swings that you don't see on an every day, on a normal day, and this is definitely not -- we're not in usual times right now, T.J.
HOLMES: Yes, this almost seems like the norm for this week, however, and we've still got a couple of days to go. Remind us how the S&P, how is the Nasdaq doing, as well. We're focusing here on the Dow Jones Industrial average. How are the others doing?
KOSIK: The others are also lower. They're off by more than 3 percent and we're seeing this flight to gold again. It's considered a safe haven, gold is up almost 2 percent at 1774.
We're seeing treasury yields, the 10-year yields down at historic lows. You know, we're seeing, you know, people just take their money out of equities and park it somewhere else because there's really -- there's really not much direction.
No one really knows where the economy's headed at this point. And people are trying to figure out where to put their money. And that's why you're seeing this flight out of stocks and into other asset classes.
HOLMES: All right, Alison Kosik, we appreciate you this morning. I'm sure we'll be checking back in with you. Thank you so much.
Well, the Republican presidential candidates in Iowa this week. Saturday, the Iowa straw poll considered the first big test for the candidates. The former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer knows some things about the presidential campaigns.
Good to see you, kind sir. I don't want you to endorse anybody, but I want you to pick somebody. Pick somebody who you would say has the best chance of beating Obama in your opinion next year.
ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Much too early, much too early. I wouldn't even try.
HOLMES: You can't even tell?
FLEISCHER: That's the fascinating thing about the Republicans for 2012. The Republican Party who almost always knows who its front- runner is, has no front runner of any importance in this cycle.
I don't think there's going to be any clarity in this race until November or December. That's how long this race is going to say at cloudy position for Republicans.
HOLMES: Is it -- it sounds like you're saying it's anybody's to win, but is it also Romney's to lose at this point?
FLEISCHER: No, to use a sports metaphor, I look at this like where NL Central was in baseball about two months ago where there are four teams within half game of first place. There are really four frontrunners now or four people in the top tier.
Governor Perry of Texas gets in, there'll be five and those four are Romney, Pawlenty, Bachmann, and Huntsman. Add Perry to the mix. And at any given day any of those five I think have a chance to win the Republican nomination.
It'll start with winning on the out process and really here Pawlenty has the most to lose in Iowa on Saturday. But this remains a wildly fluid, unusual year for Republicans against an incumbent who is extraordinarily vulnerable. So it's very topsy-turvy.
HOLMES: You mentioned, Governor Perry, I'll ask you, do you think is there any doubt in your mind that he is going to be getting into this presidential race?
But also if he does, will that give that excitement you're talking about and that there's nobody that's a front runner, would he immediately step in and become that in some ways? And also just fire folks up?
FLEISCHER: I don't think he'll become the frontrunner, I think he'll become one of five people on the top tier. That's what the likelihood is.
And again, I don't see anybody breaking out for quite a little while here. It's just not how campaigns work and nobody has enough money to be the overwhelming frontrunner. So there's a lot keeping them in the middle right now.
HOLMES: OK, besides the attention that the winner of the straw poll is going to get, how critical is it going to be for these candidates? Because I think I have it right, only two of the last five of these polls, straw polls did that person go on to actually be the Republican nominee.
And sometimes it's important to have a second or third or fourth place finish for some of these. I believe John McCain even in the last cycle didn't participate, he came in tenth or 11th or something in this poll. So who -- how much of a difference is it going to really make?
FLEISCHER: The Iowa straw poll doesn't have a strong track record in predicting who the ultimate winner of the nomination will be. It does have a strong track record of knocking people out. Twelve years ago, I was Elizabeth Dole's communications director when she ran for president.
She did better than people thought, gave her a little bit of a boost. Vice President Dan Quayle at the time, former vice president, got knocked out when he was running for president as a result of a straw poll.
I think for people like Rick Santorum, for some of the second- tier candidates, this could start to separate them from the rest of the pack, but they can still hang on until the fall and that's what I think is going to happen again.
Again, Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota I think has the most on the line because he's invested so heavily in Minnesota and he has not lived up to expectations. So he's the one you have to watch the most.
But I think all the rest of them, it's going to be one of these wild, fun, political days in a circus tent. And it'll be the first vote of the Republican cycle.
HOLMES: One last thing here, Michele Bachmann, I guess, her strength also her weakness, meaning she can bring new people into this campaign.
She can excite a certain segment of people, but at the same time, it's just that segment. And she turns so many other people off, those people in the center so a great strength, but also a part of her weakness?
FLEISCHER: I think people underestimate her and will make a mistake in so doing. She is for real and she has the ability to bring a lot of new people into the race. She's going to bring a lot of women into the straw poll in Iowa, which I remember Elizabeth Dole did successfully.
The question is, can she do that and appeal to moderates and independents? That's going to ultimately be her test, but you have to keep her at the top of the front running tier. She's that strong in a Republican primary.
HOLMES: All right, Ari Fleischer. It's good to talk politics with you once again. Good to chat with you. You enjoy the rest of your day. All right, hope to talk to you again soon down the road.
FLEISCHER: T.J., thank you.
All right, we're 21 minutes past the hour now and coming up, a bit of a PR headache for Whole Foods. The grocery chain accused of caving in to complaints about a Ramadan ad campaign. We'll hear from the head of the food company at the center of the controversy.
And don't forget, if you're walking away from the television, you can take me with you. You don't have to stop watching. That's probably not the best tease.
But you can get CNN streaming live on your phone, computer, or yes, that thing right there, your iPad. You can check out cnn.com/video or just download the app, and you're good to go.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 24 minutes past the hour now. We are keeping a close eye on the markets. The Dow Jones Industrial average down 442 points continues to kind of fluctuate. Started instantly, was down almost when the markets opened. Down almost instantly at 200 points within a matter of minutes and now we've seen dipped below 400 points.
Of course, it has been quite an interesting ride this week on Wall Street. The Dow losing 600 plus points on Monday then rallying by 400 points to close up yesterday, but now here is where we are just about an hour into the trading day. But still, a long day ahead. We have a close eye on the markets for you today.
Also, in Syria, the violence there seems to continue to intensify. This is amateur video you're seeing here posted online of government troops and tanks on the offensive. Now the international pressure's growing on Syria to end the crackdown on civilians. Dozens have died in recent days.
The United Nations Security Council is expected to call for calm today, and the U.S. may go further than that. Government sources telling CNN that the U.S. is inching toward an explicit call for Syria's embattled president to step down.
Brianna Keilar at the White House for us right now. Brianna, tell our viewers why the White House has resisted making that call so far.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly there are some considerations when it comes to Syria, and also the U.S. has been looking very much for international support on this, T.J. and this is really the game-changer here.
Growing international support as the violence has become so elevated and has gone on for so long. And so what you have now is Arab countries who are now chiming in, becoming more vocal and saying that this is unacceptable, and especially right now during this holy period of Ramadan.
Those calls really have even more weight. The U.S. up until now, T.J., they've been looking for kind of some backup if you will. They have limited business interest in Syria, so sanctions only go so far.
And they've been looking for some more support from Arab countries and from Europe that may have more influence with Syria. You have lately Saudi Arabia coming out in very strong terms condemning the violence.
Turkey's foreign minister visiting Syria with some very strong words. China and Russia are finally joining the U.N. Security Council in a statement against Syria, against the violence. And it's really the surge of outrage that the U.S. has been looking to capitalize on.
And that's why government sources are telling our CNN State Department producer Elise Labott that U.S. officials have come to this conclusion now that Assad must go. And this is what we'll see play out sometime in the coming days, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Brianna Keilar for us today at the White House today. Brianna, we appreciate you as always.
And tonight, the president will be hosting an annual dinner celebrating Ramadan. The Islamic holy month is actually the center of a controversy right now that's involved Whole Foods of all things.
The company was accused of pulling a Ramadan-themed ad campaign after complaints. Whole Foods denies there was any such directive. They say unfortunately one of their 12 operating regions made the decision on its own.
Now, one of the stores, big Ramadan promotions is for Saffron Road, which makes Halal food that meets Islamic guidelines. And the CEO of that company, Adnan Durrani joins us now.
Sir, we appreciate you being here. What was your take? Did you think Whole Foods had done anything wrong, necessarily? And what they're saying at least one store wanted to pull back on their Ramadan-themed promotions.
ADNAN DURRANI, CEO, SAFFRON ROAD: T.J., first of all, thank you very much for having me on.
HOLMES: Yes.
DURRANI: And I think that the way Whole Foods has reacted to this has been very good, actually. They're a large organization. They're $9 billion in sales, 300 stores, always going to get some dissension somewhere.
This is America. People have a right to different opinions. But our Ramadan promotion with Whole Foods is still on. It's still very strong in spite of some bizarre rumors that are totally unfactual that any Ramadan campaign would slowdown or stop. Actually, we're rocking (inaudible) and it's on very strong right now.
HOLMES: Now what you're saying there, maybe some rumors that are out there, but is it your understanding, and at least the reports are that at least there was an internal e-mail in which someone was directing employees at that one store to maybe pull back and maybe not use the word Ramadan in some of the promotion. Is that your understanding of what had happened, as well?
DURRANI: Yes, that's correct. I have not seen that memo. That I think from what I've heard in the media, there was one region that had, unfortunately, decided to play into this controversy.
From my understanding, the Ramadan promotions are still on, they're still very strong. We're seeing the retrial on the shelf. And quite frankly, the way Whole Foods responded to this from corporate and from Austin and the headquarters and throughout the communications to the regionals just in the last 24 hours, it's very commendable.
I mean, they did it swiftly and vigilantly. They did it both in social media as well as in regular media. As you know, some of -- I'm sure they also called your CNN office, as well.
So actually I've been very proud of the courage they took to take a stand and reiterate and clear the facts that everybody knew that Whole Foods national promotion of Saffron Road Halal is still on charge.
HOLMES: Well, even if it was only one store, one e-mail, one person even who sent that and say, we want to pull back. We don't want Ramadan in our promotions. There were some bloggers and people out there online, of course, who saying they were upset with Whole Foods even doing this.
But are you even offended by that? Even if it was just one person or a few online, are you offended personally that someone wouldn't appreciate a company here in the U.S. promoting Ramadan?
DURRANI: No, I'm not offended at all. I mean, I think it's unfortunate. But you know, I think you're always going to have people with different opinions around kosher holidays, around Easter holidays, around Christmas holidays. You'll always get some kind of reactionary response.
And this is a very, very small response and quite frankly, T.J., this is a tempest in a teapot. Some really, unfortunately, racist bloggers spun this in the wrong way, and what happens in a 24/7 cycle is this gets blown up larger than it really is.
We're seeing a tremendous amount of consumers - thousands -- going into Whole Foods stores as a result of our Ramadan promotion and the fact that we're reaching out to 8 million American consumers who have never had an availability of Halaal (ph) Foods on a national basis before.
So, we're actually seeing the other side of this, which is much larger than, perhaps, a very tiny, tiny minority of radicals who have tried to spin it a different way.
HOLMES: All right, and it's important, I need to make sure I note here that Whole Foods telling us in a response they put out that, no, they have not at all told their stores and company wide to pull back on their Ramadan promotion right now.
Adnan Durrani, so we appreciate you taking the time.
DURRANI: Thank you. Go to Whole Foods and pick it up. It's Halaal (ph) and it's natural.
HOLMES: Adnan Durrani, we appreciate you taking the time out, buddy. Thanks so much.
We're 31 minutes past the hour now. Texas governor Rick Perry may be about to jump into the presidential race. But which GOP candidate should be worried about that? We've got the "Political Buzz" next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Now we're just getting past the bottom of the hour. Taking a look at some of the stories making headlines.
This will make some headlines, won't it? Another topsy-turvy day on the markets. On Wall Street, down 300 points that you see there. Dow down sharply once again, but this is not as bad as it was just a few minutes ago. We have gone down below 400 points on the day. But still, just an hour into the trading day. We'll see what happens for the rest of the day.
Also, over in London, it was a calmer night after clashes over the past several nights. We've seen arson, we've seen violence, we've seen looting there. Even though they're starting to get it under control, the things there in London, it has now moved on to other cities. It spread, that is a concern now. The prime minister there, David Cameron saying that police have authorized the police there to use whatever force necessary to get these riots under control.
Also, Texas authorities have released new mug shots. Can you recognize that guy? That's Warren Jeffs. That's the polygamist sect leader. He was sentenced yesterday to life in prison plus 20 years on two counts of sexual abuse of a child.
But right now, you know, the PGA championship is taking place. I want to take a moment here. We've got Tiger Woods who was back out there trying to get another major. He is at the microphone right now. We're going to dip in and listen to him for a second.
(BEGIN LIVE COVERAGE)
TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: -- bounce back and forth between the method, I think, the mallet version at Augusta to what I'm using now, which is very similar to my Cameron.
And that's about it. Oh, fresh wedges, that's nothing new. And design.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Tiger. Over here to the front row. Mike?
QUESTION: There's a lot of talk coming into this week having one player dominate golf versus having a whole bunch of other players having a chance to contend. When it comes to sports in general, which do you like? Seeing a Michael Jordan dominate a sport or have a whole bunch of other teams contend? And what's your take on the state of the PGA tour now with all of these young players having a chance?
WOODS: Well, I think it's -- I've always been one that enjoyed watching dynasties or rivalries. You know, I grew up in SoCal with Lakers playing the Celtics. There weren't enough NBA finals - one of those teams won NBA finals for ten straight years. So, that's what I grew up watching. So, I enjoy that. And then obviously watching the Bulls. Michael winning six in a row. That's as good as it gets.
So for me -- and obviously with Derek and the Yankees, being a big Yankee fan to see what those guys have done when, what 4-5 or 4-6, during that stretch.
So it was -- I've always liked that. I think the game of golf is cyclical. You know, when I came out here, it was, (INAUDIBLE) was still playing well. Still had Norman and Pryce, a bunch of guys from Europe. Burt Ivres (ph) still out here playing well. Ollie. You know, now my generation of Phil Ernie, Veejay and Goose and Feherick (ph).
And now you have this new crew coming up. And there's probably two generations to that young crew. The guys that are early 30s like Adam is what? 30? And those guys who are in probably mid-20s, and then there's the teenagers, you know. Real being 19, and it's just - it's just ungodly how good these guys are at such an early age.
You know, it was being here from the States no one turned pro in their teens. That was unheard of. We always went to college. But overseas, it's different. Guys are turning pro at a very young age. And getting way more experience than we ever had playing professional golf. And they're better earlier than even my generation.
QUESTION: And Tiger, the overall state of the tour right now?
WOODS: I think the tour's doing great. It's very healthy. I know that -- you know, Tim's in the midst of starting his negotiation. So, I think with all this excitement of the young players coming up, I think it's going to be a very good contract for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. A question on mike two over here to the left.
QUESTION: Hi, Tiger. I know you've won with Brian before. But what are the realistic challenges you face this week? Winning a major with a temporary caddy like Brian?
WOODS: Well, I think I have to push him up a couple of the hills. You know?
(LAUGHTER)
WOODS: He's doing a little bit of fore caddying. There's no way in hell he's walking back up on 11. He says "Good luck, have fun, I'll see you down there. I just want to get your angle how the driver's coming in."
No, I think we're going to have a great time out there, we're going to have fun. We're going to be competing. He knows my game. He knows how far I hit the golf ball. We play all the time at home. So, he's seen me play a ton of golf. So, that's nothing new.
Only thing that's going to be different for us is obviously we're in a tournament situation. But as far as understanding me and knowing me and knowing what to say, he's very good at that. He's very good at making a very sly and smart aleck remark every now and again to loosen me up.
There's some pretty intense situations we've had in the U.S. amateur in '96 that he said some pretty funny things that, you know -- I'm getting my butt kicked by Steve Scott. And he'd make a sly comment, if I hit one good shot.
So, we've had a lot of fun. And we're going to have fun this week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Tiger. Right in the middle, mike three, please.
QUESTION: Tiger, I'm interested in knowing where you are mentally as a competitor with all you've been through physically and otherwise. Are you still patient enough with yourself to see your game through?
WOODS: Yes, absolutely. I believe that -- that's a great question. Because I think if you would probably have asked me that question earlier in the year, I would have given you a different answer. I was frustrated earlier in the year. Especially at the Masters on -- you know, consequently after the Masters because I wasn't feeling well. And it's been frustrating.
But now that I'm healthy, it's so much easier to be more patient I feel good. I have way more energy because I'm not trying to block out pain and trying to ignore that. I can just go out there and play golf.
As I said earlier, you know, my feels are starting to come back. I've gotten away from the game for awhile. But I'm starting to get the feel of hitting shots and how far the ball's going. And just getting that -- more target awareness that just comes from playing in terms of golf.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take your question here in the front, mike one. QUESTION: Tiger, so far, everyone's come in and talked about the great position of the golf course, but also how difficult the last four holes are. Obviously, you playing the golf course, it's in good shape. Can you speak to the last four holes?
WOODS: I don't think there's another stretch that I can remember that is this difficult coming in.
(END LIVE COVERAGE)
HOLMES: All right, we're 42 minutes past the hour. Listening in there. Even though he's not at the top of the golf world and even though not on top of his own golf game right now, Tiger Woods still drawing immense interest. He is going to be playing this week at the PGA championship. This is a chance for him to try to pick up another major. Even though the way he's played certainly last week, which was his first tournament back after being off with a knee issue, also a leg issue, he is back. Didn't perform well last week, had one decent day, but still, didn't perform well. And now he is back at it this week at the PGA championship. Just listening in to Tiger Woods there talking about his return to the PGA.
We shall see. Keep you updated this week on his doings out there on the course.
Three hundred points down now as we turn back to Wall Street. That's the markets. We have seen this dip down below -- actually 400 points we were down just a matter of minutes ago. But that's the kind of day it's going to be and maybe even the kind of week it's going to be on Wall Street.
We will keep a close eye on the Dow Jones Industrial and on Wall Street today. But also, we're talking the "Political Buzz" with Maria, Pete, and Dana. That's coming up next. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, at a quarter of the top of the hour now. "Political Buzz," your rapid-fire look at the hottest political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. And look at who we've got playing today. Democratic strategist and my dear old friend Maria Cardona. Also Sirius XM political talk show host and comedian and my former friend Pete Dominick. And CNN contributor and talk show radio host and my new friend, Dana Loesch.
Good morn - or - good morning, still, to you all. First question has to do with the new "USA Today"/Gallup poll. Twenty-four percent of Americans say most members of Congress deserve reelection. That's the lowest number since the poll began. Is there anything Washington can do to turn these numbers around?
Dana, let me start with you.
DANA LOESCH, TALK RADIO HOST: I think they can start by listening to the people. There was a poll that came out in March of just this year from -- I believe it may have been ABC that said, oh, American confidence in Congress is at an all-time low.
I've been watching this confidence in Congress dropping steadily for the past two years. And also coupled with this, we see results from McClatchy and results from Reuters about how Americans feel about Congress' handling of the economy. They disapprove of it by an overwhelming amount.
But Congress isn't getting the message. They're not listening --
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
LOESCH: -- to the American people. They didn't listen to the American people with health care. They're not listening to them now.
HOLMES: Maria, same question to you. Anything they can do?
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes, they can actually get to work and do what they were elected to do, which is to work in a bipartisan way to try to actually solve our nation's biggest problems.
And to Dana's point, if they listen to the American people, they need to understand that that's exactly what they were elected to do. Not to be intransigent, not to be it's my-way-or-the-highway attitude, which is exactly what the Tea Partiers and the OP has been doing for the last several months.
And we see that result in a CNN poll yesterday where 60 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the GOP.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
CARDONA: They need to get the message.
HOLMES: Okay. Pete, jump in there.
PETE DOMINICK, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST: I think -- I think what they could do is maybe get unelected, about 75 percent of them, that might help. Maybe they could cut their own pay, maybe they could turn down some of their benefits.
But I disagree with Dana and Maria because they're both saying they need to listen to the American people. That's not what they do. They have to -- they're working for the people who fund their campaigns. This is less of a democracy and more of a corporatocracy. And that's who they work for. So, unless we change campaign fundraising, get the money out of politics, they're not going to be listening to our will.
HOLMES: All right. Let me move on to the next question. But Lord knows I wanted to do a follow-up right then.
Texas governor Rick Perry, looks like he's about to jump into the presidential race. If he does -- and let me start with you this time, Maria -- if he does jump into the race, which of those GOP candidates should be worried? CARDONA: I think they all should be worried, T.J., because clearly GOP voters are not pleased with the current crop of presidential hopefuls, or else they wouldn't be so excited about Rick Perry jumping in.
And it's going to be interesting when he does jump in. He loves to talk about the jobs he's created in Texas, when, in fact, the unemployment rate in Texas has gone up from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent in June. And all the jobs that have been created have been low-wage jobs.
And let's not forget, he was the one advocating for secession from the union. Not a mainstream point of view, not a mainstream candidate.
HOLMES: All right. Dana, you go.
LOESCH: Well, real quick, there was a bipartisan plan put up in Congress about cut, cap and balance, but Maria's party killed it. Number two, unemployment is high absolutely everywhere. Number three, I don't have a prejudice against low-wage jobs, any kind of jobs. Jobs period, we need them. Number four, Perry was not talking about secession. He was talking about -- it's a long story, I have 20 seconds.
But getting to it, the biggest candidate that has something to worry about is Mitt Romney because Perry is the non-Romney. Perry is between Romney and Bachmann. And I think he has a lot of ground to cover, but I think he could knock Romney out of the lead spot. I really do. I think Romney should be -
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
LOESCH: -- very, very concerned right now.
HOLMES: I knew you were going to get your follow-up in, but Pete, you go ahead now.
(LAUGHTER)
DOMINICK: Can I just say - can I just say I love being between Dana and Maria. And I'd love for all of us to go out for drinks, but you're not invited, T.J., because we're no longer friends.
(LAUGHTER)
DOMINICK: Listen, if Rick Perry gets in, you know, presidential campaigns are like reality shows. And this is a reality show within a reality show. It's who's the most Christian. Rick Perry can probably take a chip out of Michele Bachmann as well as Rick Santorum. He's going to be gone, I think, after Iowa, and especially if Rick Perry gets in.
Also, there is another little competition here. Who is the best looking? Is it Mitt Romney or Rick Perry?
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
DOMINICK: Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. They don't have T.J. Holmes good looks, but they're both handsome.
HOLMES: Oh, Pete, I love you. 20 seconds now --
LOESCH: Who has better hair? It may come down to better hair.
HOLMES: Twenty seconds now on the clock. This is the "Buzzer Beater" for the day. Talking about former Arkansas Mike Huckabee. He's going to join gospel singer and presidential candidate Herman Cain on stage at the Iowa straw poll this weekend.
Dana, let me start with you. If you had your choice and you could recommend to them, what song should they play?
LOESCH: The very first concert I ever went to was the Reverend Al Green -
HOLMES: Wow!
LOESCH: -- and I would say "Let's Stay Together." Let's play that. I went to that before Guns'n'roses. I would say Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." Let's play that.
HOLMES: Very nice! Maria, you get in there now. What do you say they should play?
CARDONA: I have two suggestions. One is "Coming In on a Wing and a Prayer," and the second one is that he should whip out his bass guitar, which he loves to jam to -- Huckabee does -- and play Bon Jovi's "On a Prayer," (sic) as well. Because that's exactly what Herman Cain's going to need to make it anywhere in the GOP primary.
HOLMES: Pete, give me a good song. What do you think?
DOMINICK: Well, I don't know much about music, I've got to confess, T.J., but it would be ironic to see Hermain Cain and Mike Huckabee play some cover by an openly gay artist like Elton John. I'd love to see that.
And Maria, I -- she's right. Mike Huckabee's a talented guitarist. I'd like to se him get real naughty, real naughty with some guitar riff up there. If only Simon Cowell could be there to judge the performance.
HOLMES: Pete, great stuff.
LOESCH: He played stuff with Nugent. And you know Nugent songs. And he played that on television.
HOLMES: He did. Yes.
CARDONA: He's good. He's good.
HOLMES: Dana, Maria, and my good friend Pete. Good to see you again, buddy. Good to see you all.
DOMINICK: I'll be tweeting about you! I'll be tweeting all about you, T.J. Holmes -
HOLMES: I'm sure you will.
DOMINICK: -- you handsome devil.
HOLMES: I'm sure you will. Hey guys, thanks so much. I'll talk to you all again here soon.
We're getting close to the top of the hour. And -- this has been back and forth. Every time we've gone back to this number, it's gone up or down by about 100 points it seems. But 432 points, the Dow Jones Industrial down. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Our Alison Kosik on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. And up and down we go. And more so down we go, Alison.
KOSIK: More so down we go. You know what you're seeing today, T.J., is trading on a lot of fear and emotion. Investors feel like they're flying blind. They don't know what's coming next. They don't know where the economy's headed.
So, what you're really seeing is more of this emotional selling going on because usually, you'd see the markets sell on fundamentals. If we got an economic report, if we earnings report, that's not happening. You're seeing this negative momentum feed upon negative momentum.
And some traders say what you actually may be seeing is the market pricing in a possible recession. Meaning you're seeing stocks adjust themselves if there's a recession around the corner. That's pretty strong talk we're hearing on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange today that some of this selling could be pricing in a recession.
Also, keep in mind when you see these wind swings, T.J., a lot of that is computer driven. Remember, we went to that high-frequency trading not too long ago. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. Alison, we appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.
And to our viewers, coming up in the NEWSROOM with Suzanne Malveaux in just a couple of minutes, talking live with former senator Alan Simpson about the upcoming bipartisan super committee. Simpson was co-chair of the recent bipartisan group that was put together by President Obama to look at government spending. Asking him about the politics and compromise need to make the upcoming super committee successful. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Well, just a couple of seconds till the top of the hour here. Stories we'll be watching today, including this morning's scheduled arraignment for two men now accused of beating California paramedic Brian Stowe at a Dodgers game back in March. They're due in court at 11:30 Eastern time.
Also the TSA chief, John Pistole, he talks about the agency's goals for the future. That's at 2:30 Eastern time.
And then later, 8:30 Eastern, President Obama hosting the IFTAR (ph) dinner in celebration of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
But we're coming up at the top of the hour. Get it to her right on time. Two, one, it's Suzanne time!
(LAUGHTER)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Right down to the last second!
HOLMES: Yes. It's all yours.
MALVEUAX: Nice to see you, T.J.
HOLMES: Good to see you.
