Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Riots Die Down in Great Britain; Strong Start on Wall Street; European Fears Rattle Wall Street; European Markets Mixed; Congress Considers Returning; Palin to Crash Party in Iowa; New CNN Poll: Perry Near Top of Pack; Shooting at Estonian Defense Ministry; Three Arrested in "Flash Mob" Attacks; Houston on Water Restriction; Captured Siblings Expected in Court; TBS Cancels "Lopez Tonight"; "New York Mayor" Alec Baldwin; "U.S. President" Matt Damon; The Controversy Over "The Help"
Aired August 11, 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: We are crossing the top of the hour, 10 a.m. on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. Wherever you may be, we are glad you are right here. I'm T.J. Holmes in today for Kyra Phillips.
Will this be another volatile day on Wall Street? Right now, after the trading day just started about 30 minutes ago, up 113 points on the Dow. Much different from where we were yesterday. We shall see what happened after the Dow lost 500-plus points yesterday.
We are all over the story for you. Also, initial jobless claims hit their lowest level in four months. Last week 395,000 Americans filed their first claims. That's a drop of 7,000 from the week before.
Also Britain's prime minister says London police waited too long to arrest rioters this past weekend. He spoke to parliament in a special session on the rioting there.
Let's get back to Wall Street and tell you what we are seeing now and so far so good, but it is early. Folks, the Dow lost 4 percent yesterday, some 520 points. But right now, 30 minutes into the trading day, 129 points up.
Right now, we will take it. Christine Romans, we will start with you. She is a part of our team keeping an eye on markets here and overseas.
Christine, again, I can't help because I was sitting here yesterday and I saw literally 300, 400 points down just minutes into the trading day. So I see 132 points up. I will take it.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You will take it, but you still have, let's see, 1400 points go to get back to where we were in July. I mean, we put it all in perspective. It has been pretty rotten for investors here in the near term because the world is trying to figure out if there could be another banking crisis.
Trying to figure out just how slow the economy is. Investors are trying to figure out if this most recent period of weakness in the market that began in July, but then it was exacerbated by S&P downgrade.
If that's actually going to hurt confidence enough to tip the U.S. back into a recession. Now clearly, you know, the consensus from CNN Money is 1-4 chance of that happening. But it is -- there is a chance. That has people worried.
We are watching the banking sector for any kind of rebound today. We have seen a little bit of a rebound in many of the banking stocks that were slammed yesterday, bank stocks, financials, which are our market leader.
They -- they are down 30 percent this year. Watching to see what concerns about France and rumors or worries of a downgrade of France and France's exposure to Europe's debt crisis what that would mean for American banks.
Why does this all this matter, T.J.? You heard us say it a thousand times. The whole financial system is interconnected. A sneeze there, get a cold here, it's the same thing and has been that way for years and years now.
Jobless claims fell to a four-month low. That's a good thing. but you know, going back to the banking sector, I want to tell you that there have been a lot of job cuts, 30,000 some job cuts just in recent days in the banking sector.
That's -- you know, that hurts, Bank of New York, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, HSBC announcing some prior plans, but also some new job cuts that bring it up to 25,000 job cuts.
You know, look, this is -- this is the way it is. Watch some of that weakness in the banking sector is an important leader overall for the S&P and Dow. T.J. --
HOLMES: All right. Alison, let me turn to you. We are seeing the number of the Dow there, the green arrow. Give us an idea of all the numbers here on the Dow and the other indexes this morning.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Dow up 134. The Nasdaq better by 1.75 percent. The S&P 500, which kind of mirrors our 401(k)s that's up over 1 percent as well.
But you know what? I want to just give you a word of caution here. Take these early rally kind of - with a grain of salt because how things begin isn't necessary where we are going to see things end.
So we do have some good news out there, though. You mentioned this that new jobless claims fell last week dropping below that key 400,000 level. We got some good earnings from Cisco. Cisco shares are up 14 percent. It says it's getting balance sheet in order.
But really much of the bounce back that we are seeing today is because we had such a huge drop yesterday. More than 500 points down. We watched, you know, the major averages move into the triple -- Dow at least making triple digit moves every day this week.
You know, what you are seeing investors do, T.J., is they are trying to figure out what the new floor is for the market. They're trying to find out what's a fair value for stocks in this current economy, in this slowing economy.
Of course, we have those concerns about France adding to the fears about the U.S. economy. We have talk of S&P downgrading France's AAA rating and fear about the European banking system.
We saw that move the markets yesterday. As Christine said, this whole connection to Europe is definitely affecting how we trade here on Wall Street. T.J. --
HOLMES: All right, thank you, Alison. Let me turn to Leone Lakhani who's in London for us keeping an eye on the markets overseas and they haven't fared much better than the U.S. markets this week.
LEONE LAKHANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: T.J., we are calling it financial whiplash, market whiplash even over here in Europe. I mean, we started the day sharply higher, 2 percent to 3 percent across the main indices and went down the same percent.
Now it is kind of up and down. No one really knows what's going on. It has been similar to every single day and what we've noticed is the past -- the last half hour of trade is where we see most movement.
So that's about another hour away from us. T.J., over here, similar kind of situation, similar concerns about France's debt issues. It has -- big debt, big deficit. Concerns about whether it is going to be downgraded.
Concerns about how much French banks are exposed to the European debt in Italy and Spain and Greece. Those -- all those concerns really racking the markets and no one knows what's going on. That's really what's creating all the uncertainty here in Europe, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Leone, thank you so much as well. Christine and Alison, we appreciate you all. We are keeping a close eye on the markets today. Don't go too far. We will never be too far away from that story.
We're 6 minutes past the hour now. Some members of Congress say the economy should command their full attention. They actually want lawmakers to cut short their recess, their August recess and get back to work on Capitol Hill.
Joe Johns, yes, right. First of all, explain to us how long is this recess supposed to be in the first place?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, this thing supposed to go into the first full week of September. So I think they are back something like the 7th of September or so. It is after Labor Day, T.J. HOLMES: After Labor Day. So this is actually a pretty good chunk of time, summer vacation, where so much seems to be -- seems to a lot of folks needs to be getting done. That's a big chunk of time where nothing is going to be getting done. So is there traction to this idea of bringing them back?
JOHNS: I heard Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on "AMERICAN MORNING" say he wouldn't mind Congress coming back if they were willing to pass a pro-growth agenda if you will. This is sort of one of those be careful what you wish for questions.
Four members of the Conservative Blue Dog Coalition in the House have called on Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to cancel the congressional vacation and make Congress go back to work.
This is Jim Cooper, Henry Cuellar, Michael Michaud, Mike McIntyre, they are the ones calling out for it. They're pointing out the debt ceiling plan didn't go far enough. There are editorials out there suggesting same.
The takeaway is that there are actually people out there who believe this Congress could come back to Washington and sort of miraculously solve the political problems that led to the brink of default if they just canceled vacation. And analytically if Congress had any power to do on power and economy they would have done it over the last two years.
Meanwhile, T.J., also have to point out congressional approval ratings according to our polling, they are at 14 percent, an all-time low, which raises the question do you really want people you don't approve of in the Capitol?
The "Washington Post" actually posted something just today that points out some of the other things that polled better than this Congress including caning as a form of punishment, not kidding, human cloning and President George W. Bush at his lowest point had 23 percent approval rating. So, you know, there are issues there.
HOLMES: All right. One of the things, it seems presidents can't escape criticism when they go on vacation as well.
JOHNS: That's absolutely true. That's true with this president. You know, he is going off to Martha's Vineyard. He's actually on the road today doing some business.
But when -- presidents go on vacation, particularly in times of turmoil, they always get hit. Usually their answer at least when I was covering the Clinton White House from time to time, the answer was it's a working vacation.
So the president will go out and do some things and -- whatever he does and they can say well, he's really working even though he is on vacation. That's how they get around it.
HOLMES: All right. Joe Johns, thanks to you, as always, in Washington. We will continue on politics here in terms of the Iowa straw poll happening this weekend.
But two of the big names seem to be stealing some of the thunder. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is in Des Moines. So who are these two?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: They are Sarah Palin and Rick Perry. T.J., you are right. The campaign fallen is definitely on Iowa this weekend. Why? You have a debate tonight here in Iowa.
The first since our own CNN debate in New Hampshire nearly two months ago. You've got the state fair. That's where I am. This is a must-stop for anybody running for the White House. Of course, you've that straw poll in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday, which is pretty crucial on the Republican side.
But guess who is coming here, Sarah Palin. Yes, the former VP nominee on the Republican side, former Alaskan governor. Our Peter Hamby reporting last night, her "One Nation" bus tour is going to resume, where, T.J.?, right here at the state fair in Iowa, maybe today or tomorrow. We will find out.
You know what? She says she will decide by September if she is going to run for the White House, but every time she seems to fall out of the spotlight boom, she is right back in there.
There is Rick Perry, T.J. In an interview with "Time" magazine that came out this morning. It was pretty clear this guy is going to be running for president. The Texas governor is going to be in South Carolina on Saturday where he is going to make that pretty clear in a speech. He's going to be right here on Sunday, T.J., in Iowa.
HOLMES: All right. Paul, also this morning, where does the race stand? We have seen polls out of Iowa and other places, but we've got some new numbers.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. We've got some brand-new national numbers on the Republican side from CNN and ORC. Check it out. It is a pretty packed field. The top, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, you can see him right there at 17 percent.
Look at Perry. Not even officially in the race yet at 15 percent. Basically a dead heat with Rudy Giuliani, Sarah Palin and Congressman Ron Paul at 12 percent.
Take Palin and Giuliani out of the mix because they are flirting with it, but they're not really having campaigns yet at all. Look at this. Romney at 23, Perry at 18, Paul at 14, everybody else much further behind.
T.J., we're at the state fair. I'm going to grab you a fried Twinkie and I'll send it back to you in Atlanta.
HOLMES: I do appreciate you, buddy. Thanks so much. Paul, we'll talk to you again soon. We're 11 minutes past the hour. Some news we are getting out of Estonia right now. Breaking story we are looking into, reportedly the shots were fired today at the Ministry of Defense at the capital of Colin, Estonia. Again, this is a small European, northern European country, I should say, but a government spokesperson is telling CNN that in fact, there were shots fired there at the Ministry of Defense.
As they put it, there has been a security incident there. There has been a shooting and security forces are currently involved. We are not certain at this point if the actual defense minister was in the building or is involved in this in any way, shape or form.
That's not what we are being told just yet, but just confirming at least through a government spokesperson in Estonia that yes, shots were fired at the Ministry of Defense. Security forces have responded to it. We will keep a close eye on that for you.
Also coming up, out of Philadelphia, these violent flash mob attacks, arrests have been made in those attacks because three people actually turned themselves in to the police. Details on that for you coming up.
Also, dramatic end to manhunt for those three siblings accused of robbery. We will tell you what is next for them. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A quarter fast the hour now. Checking some of the news making headlines across the country.
In Philadelphia, this is where those violent flash mob attacks that really plagued that city. Three young men have now turned themselves in to face assault charges. Police say that three put a man in the hospital. The mayor has promised crackdowns of the flash mobs and set strict curfews for minors.
Also they are having to take some steps in Texas where it is so hot and dry. The Houston mayor has now says the city will cut back on water usage and also going to limit the hours that residents can water their lawns.
Also a story we've been following about a week or so now has ended somewhat dramatically. Three siblings expected to appear in court this morning arrested after a high-speed chase and shoot-out with police in southern Colorado.
The sister was actually shot in the leg. You are seeing the three there, Dylan, Lee Grace, and Ryan Dougherty. They were all on the FBI's most wanted list. They are accused of robbing a Georgia bank and attempted murder of a Florida police officer.
The Dougherty's have been on the run since that Florida police officer tried to pull them over about nine days ago. Now that it is over, our Brian Todd tells us this could have ended much, much worse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The skid marks on the highway reflect an appropriately violent ending to their odyssey. Officials say that three siblings from Florida armed, dangerous, had fired on law enforcement vehicles pursuing them on a southern Colorado highway.
After several miles and speeds approaching 100 miles an hour, the vehicle rolled off Interstate 25. The sheriff who had been chasing them in Florida wasn't surprised.
SHERIFF CHRIS NOCCO, PASCO COUNTY, FLORIDA: They were prepared for a battle. That's what they got.
TODD: Ryan Dougherty, his sister Lee Grace Dougherty, and their half brother, Dylan Dougherty Stanley are now in custody in Colorado. It could have ended much worse.
JIM DAVIS, COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: The female defendant took off running through a field. She had an automatic pistol. She turned and made an attempt to chamber around and point it at the officer. And he fired at least one shot striking her, I believe in the leg.
TODD: The injuries to Lee Grace Dougherty and her brothers are not considered life threatening. The three siblings were wanted for trying to kill a Florida police officer who had tried to stop them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several more shots at me.
TODD: And for robbing a bank using automatic weapons. Before all of this, there were indications of trouble. Ryan Dougherty had been sentenced last week for sending harmful information to a minor. Police say that he cut off an ankle monitor before they took off.
A CNN affiliate reports the siblings had spent time living in a bunker made of cargo containers buried underground. Lee Grace Dougherty, a part-time stripper, had posted on the social media site Flicker, I love to farm and shoot guys and wreck cars. I like milk and German engineering and causing mayhem with my siblings.
I spoke with Bill Sorukas of the U.S. Marshals who hunted fugitives for 25 years.
(on camera): Are you surprised that in the end they were together? They hadn't split up?
WILLIAM SORUKAS, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: Not really. I think the information from the very beginning was that they were very close and I think individually they would have had a more difficult time surviving. They had strength among the three of them together as opposed to being separated.
TODD: Sorukas says he's surprised they were on the run for as long as they were and they got as far as they did. Given the media attention in this case and the fact that their faces were on digital billboards across the country, he says, he thought that they would have been caught much sooner. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We're 18 minutes past the hour now. Coming up --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has never been written before.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: There are a lot of people out there who have been raving about the book and now movie "The Help." But there are others who wish "The Help" had never been written or turned into a movie at all. I am going to talk to one of those folks and let them explain for themselves.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 21 minutes past the hour. There it is so far so good. I know, we are not even an hour into the trading day, but the Dow right now up 180-plus points after we lost some 520-plus points on the Dow yesterday.
We will keep a close eye on the markets for you today. Right now, though, I want to give you a little showbiz update. Some headlines here and Lopez tonight has seen its last night on TBS. The network just canceled comedian George Lopez's show after two seasons because production costs were too high.
Ratings were too low. TBS is owned by CNN parent company Time Warner. Also, he talked about his interest in politics before, but now Alec Baldwin is getting pretty specific. The actor said he would like to run for mayor of New York, but not until 2013.
He says he wants to get a master's in politics first to learn more about the office and its responsibilities. We don't know where Michael Moore stands on Baldwin for mayor, but we do know he likes another actor for president. The filmmaker says Matt Damon has been very courageous in his political positions and could be a great potential candidate.
The bestselling book "The Help" has been called graceful and real. It has also been called flat-out racist. Now it is making waves on the big screen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The table isn't set.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abilene, you spilled something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know as well as I know a white home should have a separate bathroom for colored help. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's a white woman named Skeeter giving voice to the struggles of two black maids in the 1960s Mississippi. Some people have issues with the story. Martha Southgate who's here with me now has some issues.
She's an award winning author. Here newest novel is "The Taste of Salt." Martha, we appreciate you being here with us. You just wrote a piece about the movie for "Entertainment Weekly" called "The Truth about The Civil Rights Era."
But tell me, first of all, do you have a problem with the story of "The Help" or a problem with who wrote it in the first place?
MARTHA SOUTHGATE, AUTHOR, "THE TASTE OF SALT": I stand in the camp that has a problem with the story itself. I feel that if you do it skillfully, writers can take on whatever subject is important to them.
But my problem with the story has to do with -- even the long tradition of stories that put white people sort of at the front of the civil rights struggle or have them be the traders for it when historically there really weren't.
HOLMES: I should make clear if I didn't to our viewers already that the story "The Help" was written by a white woman, but you are saying to me if a black woman wrote it. It doesn't matter who wrote it the idea in the story here it seems like the white character, the protagonist in the story, is the one that who kind of helps the black maids along and find their voice. You say that's just not the case.
SOUTHGATE: Yes. I think that's not historically accurate. I also think there are many African-American writers who have tackled this in a very nuanced and thorough way. One thing that comes to mind off the top of my head is Toni Morrison, "The Bluest Eye."
But to get back to the Civil Rights Movement, to me that's the biggest problem with the book and it is a historic one. As I point out in my piece, it dates back to a movie from the '80s called "Mississippi Burning" and even further back.
HOLMES: And one of the actresses, Viola Davis, certainly you know they have been hearing some of this criticism. We talked to her here at CNN. I want to take a listen to what she had to say and we will talk about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIOLA DAVIS, ACTRESS: I have to be honest, I had trepidation. I had trepidation because -- because she is a maid in 2011. I feel a great responsibility depicting images of black women that I feel are derogatory.
I felt some of that and I felt that mostly because I love quiet characters. That's because I'm -- I'm an actress. I love creating characters that are complicated and have layers.
But I didn't necessarily believe that people would get Aibileen because of that, because she so quiet. I just thought that they would just see the maid and I was just very worried about the backlash from that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And Martha, it sounds like there she even had some issues with playing that role. Had some concerns. But do you think this is the type of movie it takes, the type of story that gets green whit. It has to be the white protagonist leading the way even in a story about the civil rights era?
SOUTHGATE: Historically that seems to be the case, unfortunately. There have been movies made with black protagonists, but the ones so many of them haven't been. I also briefly want to say that I have nothing against the actresses in the film.
I think Viola Davis is a magnificent actress and frankly, actresses in her position often don't get parts as interesting as this. The struggle is in order to play a judge that's less -- less richly written or play a maid, African-American actresses, like many African-American writers, struggle with this question all the time.
People have been attacking them and I just want to make sure -- clear that I am not one of those people who believes they deserve to take the wrath.
HOLMES: Certainly understood there. Martha Southgate, again the name of your newest novel, "The Taste of Salt." I believe it's going to be out in September. Do I have that right?
SOUTHGATE: Yes. It shipped early. It is in bookstores now. September, yes.
HOLMES: OK. Thank you. I will also send out to our -- our viewers where they can read actually your article about "The Help." But thank you so much for taking time with us. You enjoy the rest of your day.
SOUTHGATE: All right. You, too, T.J. Thanks so much.
HOLMES: Coming up on the bottom of the hour now.
Sarah Palin is on the bus again. Would you believe? She is turning up in Iowa just in time for the Ames straw poll this weekend. Our "Political Buzz" panel looks at that move coming up next.
Also, we are going to try to get a bus physically in this studio today. I hope he does mind me still calling him that. Jerome Bettis is who we are talking about. His NFL career. Now he is trying to help maybe your young athlete avoid some serious issues on the field. He is here to talk about it. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We are at the bottom of the hour now. Give you an update on that breaking story we told you about a short time ago. A shooting this morning at the nation's ministry of defense building in Estonia. This happened in the capital of Tallinn in this northern European country. A government spokesperson telling CNN that this is an ongoing situation.
Few details are available to us at this point. But we are hearing from a local journalist citing police that two hostages have been taken. Again, this is at the defense ministry office in Estonia. We don't know if the defense minister is actually in the building or has been a part of this at all. So, right now any of that would just be speculation. But the update is that this is an ongoing situation with government officials, and a reporter, at least citing police saying two people have been taken hostage. We will get back to that as more information comes to us.
But again, at thirty-one minutes past the hour now. "Political Buzz." Your rapid-fire look at the hottest political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Who do we have to play with us today?
Democratic National Committee member Robert Zimmerman. Good morning to you, sir. CNN contributor and independent, John Avalon. Good to see you, kind sir. And CNN contributor Will Cain.
Gentlemen, good to see you all. And let's talk about Sarah Palin, shall we? She is crashing the presidential party. I don't know if you want to call it a crash. She's Sarah Palin! She doesn't need a ticket to a party, does she? But this time, her bus tour is going to Iowa just in time for the Ames straw poll this weekend.
So, let me start with you, Robert. Is this noncampaign working for her?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEMBER: Well, T.J., it is working in the context that we are certainly talking about her.
But the bigger question is, is she relevant? The Sarah Palin reality TV show was canceled earlier this year. Her last book didn't move well at all. And, of course, Sarah Palin the movie, made the remakes of "Arthur" and "The Green Lantern" look like they were successful.
HOLMES: Aww!
ZIMMERMAN: So, I don't know what's left for Sarah Palin except maybe doing the "Housewives of Wasilla?"
HOLMES: Oh! Will, follow up on this for me now. Does it keep her relevant, as he suggests?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, Robert! That's why she is back in it. Look, T.J., I'm going to beat you over the head with a completely forced metaphor. This is like the girl in college you dated that was completely popular but wasn't that into you. But every time -
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: -- you started to move on and she showed back up at the bar and winked, was a little bit more flirty.
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: Totally sabotaging your ability to move on. That's what Sarah Palin is.
Now, is it working? Is it going to work? I mean, I don't know. I mean, like Robert said, I guess we are talking about her.
Look, she has one big caveat to why it could work: the rest of the field is completely unimpressive.
HOLMES: All right, you know what? Will, I have been looking for a guy who could speak in terms I could understand on politics, and you just nailed it right there with that one.
CAIN: Is that a personal story for you, T.J.?
HOLMES: Oh, we will talk about it later. John, get me out of this. What do you think, John? Is this working?
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, I'm glad the conservative did the creepy-girl stalker metaphor because I think that's most defensible position, but or them to make.
But in all seriousness, this has a weird bid for attention aspect to it, right? This is not about a presidential bid. This is about someone that's wants to keep inserting themselves in the conversation. It almost is like she is running for V.P., but we already saw that movie and it didn't do too well.
So, again, I think we'll file this under bid for attention, not anything resembling a serious presidential bid.
HOLMES: All right. We will move on to John McCain now. He was asked but refused to apologize for calling the Tea Party hobbits during the debt negotiations. Now, is this evidence or further evidence of a growing - a continuing to grow split in the GOP? John, you start this one for me.
AVLON: The straight-talk express lives! I love it when John McCain is unvarnished and unplugged.
Look, it does -- there is a rift in the Republican party. And it is between some of these folks in the - certainly in the last debate where there were debt ceiling deniers who were happy to take the country off an economic cliff to prove an ideological point. And then more practical folks who knew we needed to reduce the deficit and debt but the default was simply not an option. John McCain is a responsible member of that second group, and we need responsible members of each party to stand up to the extremes in their own party. That's the only way we can heal this hyperpartisanship. John McCain--
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
AVLON: -- did it, so good for him.
HOLMES: All right. Will, you go.
AVLON: Just on the budget (ph).
CAIN: Well, I can make this a personal story for now, for me.
Nine months ago, I would have called myself somebody who was maybe a part of the Tea Party, at least has a strong affinity for the Tea Party.
But something is changing for me over the last nine months, and it culminated with this debt ceiling deal. For people to say we didn't need to raise the debt ceiling, period - and then to put a period on the sentence, left me with a really jaded outlook on the Tea Party. And the problem is, T.J., I can't define it. I don't know anybody who can.
Is it social conservatism? Is it constitutionalism? Small government?
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
CAIN: Is it Michele Bachmann? Or Rand Paul? I don't know.
HOLMES: Robert, you get in there, and it sounds like we have a guy here who has a personal story about that split himself.
ZIMMERMAN: Will, you are giving us all a lot of hope. It's encouraging to see that shift. Look, reality is that -
CAIN: Great! Conservatives will love me.
ZIMMERMAN: -- hobbits is one of the kinder words that being used very frankly by senior Republicans because they blame the Tea Party candidates like Christine O'Donnell and Sharron Angle for costing them the Senate majority.
But the real split is between independent voters and Republican conservatives. And that's played out over Ryan plan, over the Republican party's response to the debt ceiling. That's where you are seeing a dramatic shift that will change the political landscape. And of course, Will's shift.
HOLMES: All right. And last one, here and Will, you're going to start us off here. Twenty seconds each on this question.
Congress on recess. President Obama about to leave for a week- and-a-half getaway at Martha's Vineyard. These guys work pretty hard up there in Washington. Doesn't Washington deserve a vacation right now, Will?
CAIN: You bet. Absolutely. Take a long one. Let's take six months, nine months, a year. I don't care. Go away.
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: The point is one of the biggest cliches in Congress is get something done. The last time we unanimously can agree they got something done, we got a brand-new entitlement. The idea of getting to work for Congress is completely overrated. I think we -- would all be a lot better off if we have a good, long vacation from getting stuff done.
HOLMES: Robert, do you agree with that?
ZIMMERMAN: Hey, look, I think I need a vacation from all of them. But I think the reality is that both sides have got to throw their partisan talking points away and tecognize we have a crisis now in governance and leadership in our country. And I believe, frankly the president ought to call the Congress back into session. They should cancel their vacation plans. He should cancel his own.
And the president should be outlining a very clear specific agenda, whether it is infrastructure bank --
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
ZIMMERMAN: -- whether it is payroll tax holiday. He has to show a clear message to get the country back to work.
HOLMES: John, you wrap it up for me.
AVLON: I'd love to see Washington get to serious work and start tackling problems, but I have no confidence that bringing them back to Washington will actually do it.
You want to really provide incentive? Start docking their pay until they can actually come to a concrete agreement to move the country forward. That would get their attention. The vacation stuff is just, you know, more silly season stuff.
HOLMES: All right. Well, you all certainly know about the silly season. Three guys who have been a part of it for quite some time, covering it and otherwise.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Gentlemen, good to see you all. John, Will, Robert, thanks guys. You enjoy the rest of your day.
AVLON: Take care, man.
CAIN: See you, T.J.
HOLMES: Thirty-eight minutes past the hour now. Look at that. All right. Hour-plus into this trading day. I will just say so far so good. We have a long way to go to get the gains to make up for the losses over the past couple of days this week. But still, it is good to be in positive territory.
Right now, the Dow Industrials up 230 points. We are keeping a close eye on Wall Street.
Also, still ahead this morning, the crisis in Somalia. The famine crisis in Somalia. And U2 front man, Bono, sounds off on what the world can do to help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONO, LEAD SINGER OF U2: People seem to prefer watching, you know, people in the high streets of London fight policemen rather than watching children of Somalia fighting for their lives. People watch the value -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Forty-two minutes past the hour. Taking a look at stories making headlines across the country.
The principal of a small private school in west Tennessee found dead in a classroom. Investigators say Suzette York, she's 49 years old, was found lying in that room at Memphis Junior Academy. A 17- year-old student is now in custody in connection with her death.
Also, the FBI wants to know who left a homemade bomb on a natural gas line in rural Oklahoma. The device was discovered yesterday in Oakfuske County. Was soon disarmed. Agents say right now they have very few leads.
Also, Mississippi's Darla Harlow got the surprise of her life. Look at the screen here. She threw out the first pitch at minor league baseball game. That wasn't the big deal. What was the big deal? Look at her reaction. She didn't realize the guy behind the catcher's mask was her soldier husband, Michael, who was just back from Afghanistan. Came to surprise her. And what a surprise it was.
Look at her reaction again when she figured it out. That's just golden.
We're at 43 minutes past the hour now. And some big-name celebrities are tweeting and Facebooking for a really important cause right now. They are trying to spread the word about the famine crisis in Somalia and how you can help. More than 150 stars from Lady Gaga to Jay Z, David Beckham, Madonna. They're giving shout-outs to "Save the Children of East Africa" campaign. If you are on Twitter, look for the "be a friend" hashtag or you can head to SaveTheChildren.org.
Also dedicating his time and his name to the aid effort, U2 front man Bono. He talked about the famine disaster with our Anderson Cooper. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC360": I guess, for me the thing, Bono, that I keep thinking about is you hear half a million children are on the brink of starvation. You hear 600,000 children on the - you know, at risk of starvation. Those numbers are so big. They almost don't seem real.
We start to think this is just a normal thing, but I feel like that should be the headline in every paper and every newscast every day while this is going on. Six hundred thousand children at risk of starvation, on the brink of starvation is a catastrophe.
BONO: Look, 30,000 of them have died in the last few months. It's true, you know, people seem to prefer watching people in the high streets of London fight policemen rather than watching children of Somalia fighting for their lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. We will have more of that interview with Bono tonight in a SPECIAL REPORT from the frontlines of famine. Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta go in-depth. That's "AC360" tonight at 8:00 Eastern time.
And as promised -- I don't know how we did it -- but we managed to get a bus in the studio. I hope he does mind me saying that. We're talking about Jerome Bettis. He is here in Atlanta in the studio with us. Talking about a topic near and dear to his heart that could actually help protect your young football player.
He joins me after the break. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. About 12 minutes to the top of the hour.
Jerome Bettis was known as "The Bus" for being able to essentially roll over some defenders when he was out on the football field. You will remember this man. He played 13 NFL seasons. Most of them with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is fifth on the NFL's all- time rushing list, scored 94 touchdowns, played in six pro bowls.
Jerome Bettis in studio here with me to talk football. But not just that. A project that's now near and dear to you, trying to protect some of the young athletes. Good to see you, my man.
JEROME BETTIS, FORMER PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER: Oh, man, great to be here.
HOLMES: And I was asking you just a second ago, you are not 40 yet. Look like you are in good shape. Could you still do it?
BETTIS: No, I don't think so.
HOLMES: You sure?
BETTIS: If they needed me for one play, one play, I can give them one big play.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: But you are in the gym every once in a while. Checking yourself out.
BETTIS: Yes.
HOLMES: Feels pretty good. You got it, then.
BETTIS: It feels good. I think I do, but I know realistically - and I see how fast they run on the field, I don't really have it.
HOLMES: Don't know if that could happen.
All right. We will get back to you a little bit here in a second. But you have a new project here. I want you to tell me about it. The whole idea is trying to protect the young athletes from these concussions.
Let me ask you about you first. How many concussions did you officially have in your playing days?
BETTIS: And that's the key word. Officially. Because I officially - I think I had three maybe during the course of 13 years. That's not realistic because -- you know, I wasn't educated enough to know what a concussion was. You know, I thought I got dinged or got my bell rung. I thought that was just part of the game. Well, that's a minor concussion that you got. But you just don't know it, so you don't report it to the trainers. And it goes unnoticed.
HOLMES: Now, you said three. If you had to venture guess of how many you actually had, anyway to even probably come up with that number?
BETTIS: You know, I would probably say, you know, 60, 70 -- because you have to figure you play 100, 200 games. You are going to get your bell rung, you know --
HOLMES: Now, that's you. In professional sports with the best trainers and best doctors out there.
What about for a young person? Whether it is peewee league, junior high, high school, even college. What's the danger for them if they don't have that staff properly diagnosing them?
BETTIS: The danger is that young student lee going back on the football field undiagnosed. So, when you go out on the field undiagnosed, you risk further injury because now it starts to compile and now have you multiple situations. Where for us, we had the doctors pulling us back and saying no, you know. We had the baseline testing you need to have for the doctors to say you can't go back out there. But these high school and middle school kids don't have the baseline testing to say you are not able to perform.
HOLMES: What's the project now? How is it going to help with that?
BETTIS: The project is called PACE, Protecting Athletes through Concussion Education. The idea behind it, Dick's Sporting Goods said, hey, we provide all of the safety equipment for our young athletes. But now we want to provide the educational side of it.
And so they said we want to put together this program. And by putting together the program, we create an educational vehicle for our student athletes. We give them the baseline testing that they need, and once you have the baseline testing, then if - a concussion occurs, the trainers and doctors, physicians can look at the baseline testing and then look at your testing after the concussion. And decide whether or not you are able to play. And that's so important.
HOLMES: This had to come about because of a project - we're talked about PACE. Why isn't this just done? It sounds like every school in the country should have it.
BETTIS: It is terrible that our -- you know, our young students -- young athletes are not getting tested. It is a shame because all the professional teams are doing it. Hockey, baseball, basketball. Football. Everybody is doing it. And everybody understands the need. For some reason it is not trickling down to our high schools and our middle schools.
And I think part of it is no one has stepped up and said we want to do something about it. That's why, you know, when this -- the project was presented to me, I jumped aboard because to realize that Dick's Sporting Goods wants to do something to make a change, I wanted to be a part of that.
HOLMES: So, if they want more information at sporting goods -- at Dick's Sporting Goods Web site, I assume? Right?
BETTIS: I want the parents, though, go to the site, DickSportingGoods.com/pace, so they can get the educational information they need and sign your high schools up to be tested.
HOLMES: Important topic. The Bus. Good to see you, my man. And for anybody out there looking for a fullback, he is still available. If you got the call, would you take it?
BETTIS: I would take it! I would listen.
HOLMES: Oh, wow! All right.
We're about eight minutes to the top of the hour. Quick break here. We're right back.
And look at that, folks. Look at that! 300-plus points up on the Dow. Just about an hour and a half into the trading day. We've got a long way to go. Lot of people will be relieved at least to see that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: I want to turn right to Barbara Starr, joining me live because there is a second test run of a hypersonic jet that can reach anywhere in the world in less than an hour. Do tell!
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sounds kind of wacky, doesn't it?
HOLMES: Yes, it does.
STARR: But you know, sometimes that's what the Pentagon does, wacky things.
They are testing this morning what they call a hypersonic vehicle. Basically, they are launching a rocket with this vehicle, if you will, on top of it out of California. We believe it is going to launch any minute if it hasn't already. It will fly -- this vehicle, this triangle wedge -- at 13,000 miles an hour. Mach 20. The idea is they want to test and see if they can prove the concept that it could reach anywhere in the world in one hour.
Not that you are going to fly on it. The idea is that it might become a weapon of the future so that if the U.S. military wants to reach out and touch somewhere, they can do it in an hour. Quick response, quick military response, that's the idea. This is the second test of it all this morning. It failed last year. So, we will be watching it throughout the day and see how this very unique test really goes.
HOLMES: OK, I can't wait to hear this update. Interesting stuff there. Barbara Starr. Thank you. We will chat with you again.
Also coming up in the NEWSROOM, Suzanne Malveaux will be here in just a moment, talking about gold prices near record levels. She is talking to gold buyers, sellers and investors. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And let's turn to Shannon Travis, live in Des Moines, Iowa for us with this political update. Hello again to you, Shannon.
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Hey there, T.J.
So, we are here at the Iowa State Fair where just a few moments away, about 30 minutes away, we expect for Mitt Romney to basically come in and rally (ph) supporters. He's going to get on what they're calling the soap box, which is really a few bales of hay.
Mitt Romney, this is his only his second time in Iowa during this election cycle. The last time was back in May. He hasn't really been campaigning that aggressively in May -- in Iowa this time around. He says that he expects to for the Iowa caucuses.
Later on tonight, he could actually be taking a lot of incoming fire politically speaking from some of hi opponents. Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty. He's the presumed frontrunner, so a lot of them may be critical. Tim Pawlenty had been very critical of both Bachmann and Romney. He may actually do that on stage tonight.
HOLMES: All right. We shall see. All eyes on Iowa today and this weekend. Shannon, we appreciate you, as always.
Let me hand this over to Suzanne Malveaux. You like that line? Soap box.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Well, T.J., it is actually true. They're standing -- bales of hay. And fried butter is really common, too. Like, everything's fried -
HOLMES: Is it good, though?
MALVEAUX: Eh, not so much.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Oh, wow! She didn't say that, Iowa!
MALVEAUX: But that's what they eat at the fair. Fried butter. Everything is fried. So, if you like fried food, you are good. All set.
HOLMES: Arkansas State Fair experience. We fried it all.
MALVUEAX: All right. Well, you've got to try the fried butter, then.
HOLMES: I'll get right on it. It's all yours, Suzanne.
MALUVEAX: Thank you, T.J.
