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CNN Saturday Morning News

Americans on Medical Team Killed in Afghanistan; Colonel Faces Court-Martial in Obama Birth-Certificate Case; 40 Billionaires Pledge To Donate Half Their Wealth

Aired August 07, 2010 - 06:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this August the 7th. I am T.J. Holmes.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for starting your day with us.

HOLMES: And we do need to start with a bit of sad and breaking news we are getting out of Afghanistan. Word of at least two Americans who have been killed there, along with others.

Now, we're not talking about soldiers this time, even though, yes, we have, in the past couple of months, seen the increase in the soldier deaths there. But we are talking about people who were there for international-aid mission. At least two, could possibly be more - we're waiting to get word. This is a fast-moving, developing story.

Our foreign-affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is in Kabul for us.

Jill, hell to you. Please tell us what we know. And again, we know these are fast-moving developments. This story likely to change throughout the day.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It is, T.J.

And - and what is likely to change is exactly how many people were killed and what nationalities. But we do believe, from everything that we are hearing from various sources, that there were 10 people who were killed.

And just a few minutes ago, we looked onto the website of the Taliban, and the Taliban are now claiming responsibility for killing these 10 people. They were, we believe, from an organization - an international-development, humanitarian organization that is called the International Assistance Mission.

And I'll read what they are saying. They say that these were their people. They were medical staff, and they were in this remote area trying to help people.

The organization, again, International Assistance Mission, says, at this stage, "We do not have many details, but our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who are presumed killed. If these reports are confirmed, we object to the senseless killing of people who have nothing but serve the poor. Some of the foreigners have worked alongside the Afghan people for decades."

Now, getting back to the Taliban and these numbers - the Taliban are saying that 10 people were killed. They say nine foreigners, one Afghan who was a translator. And they claim that these people were spies.

Now, the international organization that they were anything spies, that they were there in order to provide services - eye-clinic- type services, ophthalmology-type services and internal medicine, and that they had been working in the country - actually, since going back to 1966.

Now, the U.S. Embassy, at this point, is not confirming exact numbers. They are saying that several Americans were killed. And, again those numbers, T.J. - but appears that there were some Germans and then possibly maybe a British citizen who were killed.

So this happened in a remote area. It's up northeast of Kabul, up really closer to the border, getting up around the border with Pakistan, T.J.

HOLMES: And Jill, what can you tell us as well about their mission. Had they had been reported missing? And I guess, when do we understand possibly this attack by the Taliban happened, and when was it discovered, in fact, that people had been killed?

DOUGHERTY: Right.

Well, as - as far as we can tell, according to the chief of police in that area, they were killed on Thursday. So that's a couple of days ago. Their bodies - it took awhile for their bodies to be discovered. Apparently some shepherds who were in the area actually discovered those bodies.

Why they are there - it is believed that they were on this medical mission. In fact, they had a website - they actually had a - a site on Facebook where you can check out where they were going. I just looked at that a few minutes ago. And they show a map going from Kabul, up to this remote area. And it seems to make sense with what we are hearing in terms of where they died.

The area, just for the record, is, Quran Watt-Nunjan District (ph), which, again, is north and east by a distance, very remote, up from Kabul, northeast - T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Again, to our viewers, two American aid workers - at least two, have been killed.

Jill, one more thing to you. We had been talking so much over the past couple of months, June and July both set records for the number of American deaths during the war, that nine-year war there in Afghanistan. But a focus on soldiers there. But also, remind our viewers, there are a lot of international-aid workers there, civilians, volunteers who there as well. Remind them of the dangers as well that we see for these aid workers just being in country.

DOUGHERTY: Oh, absolutely. I mean, there are probably thousands of international-aid workers from a variety of groups. The NGO's like, and there are other international organizations - they're all over the country, and they're providing services. The State Department - in fact, one thing that we're looking at during this trip that I'm on, is the civilian side of this.

It's a crucial part of the mission. But as you can see, they can't always go to these areas because of security. These aid workers who apparently were killed, we do not know that they had any type of security. In fact, it appears that they did not, unfortunately.

So it's - it can be very dangerous, and ultimately, as we've seen in other areas, as we saw in Iraq, it can have a big impact on how the civilians are helped. If these people can't get safely to the civilians, that's going to have a big negative impact on the mission.

HOLMES: All right. Our Jill Dougherty for us. I know you have been on this story since it began breaking just a short time ago. I know you will continue to collect information. We'll check in with you, Jill Dougherty, throughout the morning. Thank you so much.

Again, two Americans, at least, killed, in an ambush that now - claiming by the Taliban to be responsible for it. At least two Americans killed, several other foreigners. More details as we get them. We'll pass them along.

BOLDUAN: So a decorated Army lieutenant colonel is risking his career after questioning President Obama's citizenship.

Terrence Lakin - I'm sure you've heard about this - he appeared before a military judge yesterday - to face charges of disobeying an order and dereliction of duty. He refused to ship out to Afghanistan, claiming the order was invalid because President Obama has not proven he was born in the United States.

Well, here is a computer printout of President Obama's certification of his birth. Hawaii's Republican governor says it's legitimate, and we've said it several times.

But Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence says it's still not enough for supporters of the so-called "birther" movement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lieutenant Terry Lakin refuses to back down. He walked out of court still believing that President Obama was not born in Hawaii, still refusing to deploy to Afghanistan until he sees proof.

His legal team is going to file a motion to dismiss the case against him. PAUL JENSEN, LT. COL. LAKIN'S ATTORNEY: I put it to you that if the records are released and -and prove that the president is ineligible, that the prosecution would have no taste for ending Col. Lakin's career.

LAWRENCE: But there is a record of President Obama's birth. His campaign even put it on the Internet two years ago.

A CNN producer asked attorney Paul Jensen...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is it that I can see it on the internet and Colonel Lakin can't?

JENSEN: Well, sir, I don't know what you're seeing but I haven't seen an original, long-form certificate signed by the doctor that gave birth to him, the very same document that Colonel Lakin was ordered to produced in order to deploy.

LAWRENCE: That's the hang up. Hawaii does not release actual birth certificates. It's a state policy.

They did publish a certificate of live birth, and Hawaii's Republican governor says her health director has seen the actual birth certificate with his own eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The troubling but compelling information that calls into question whether President Obama is a natural-born citizen, as our Constitution requires him to be for him to hold the highest office, has gone unanswered because he refuses to release his original birth certificate dating from 1961 and bearing the signature of the doctor who delivered him.

LAWRENCE: People who question the president's birth have been called crazy or ignorant by their critics.

Those labels don't fit the colonel. He's a doctor of osteopathic medicine with a master's degree in public health. "The medical effects of ionizing radiation" -- that's just one of the military courses that he's taken.

Lieutenant Colonel Lakin has deployed overseas six times, including Afghanistan, and was awarded the bronze star.

(on camera): The thing is, he's not alone. A New CNN/Opinion Research poll shows that 27 percent of Americans now believe that President Obama definitely or probably was not born in the United States. Of course, that still leaves more than 70 percent majority who do believe the president is legitimate. Many of those folks think the birther argument is ridiculous.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Let me show you a little bit more about what Chris Lawrence was just referring to there, our CNN/Opinion Research poll. And you see there, 42 percent of people polled were positive that the president was born in the U.S.; 11 percent say the president was definitely born elsewhere. And that other 16 percent believe he probably was born outside of the U.S.

BOLDUAN: Let's get a check of other top stories we're watching this morning.

Elena Kagan, the nation's newest Supreme Court justice, will be sworn in this afternoon at 2 p.m. Eastern. The Senate confirmed her 63 to 37, pretty much along party lines. Five Republicans voted for her; one Democrat voted no.

Kagan is a former dean of the Harvard law school and most recently solicitor general. But she has never been a judge.

California's governor and attorney general are asking a federal judge to allow same-sex marriage while the issue is being appealed. Judge Vaughn Walker struck down the law, saying it violates the Constitution. That law, known as Proposition 8, bans same - banned same-sex marriage. Governor Schwarzenegger says the public interest is best-served by same-sex couples to marry while the case winds its way through the legal system. Most likely, it will end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

And take a look at Moscow: That is not fog, but a thick cloud of smog, the result of huge wildfires that have already burned a half- million acres. Health experts warn people to wear masks, or better yet, stay indoors, it's so bad. Carbon-monoxide levels are five times higher than what is considered safe. Some flights to Moscow have already had to be diverted because of the smoke - T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Well, we have been talking about the Gulf oil disaster for quite some time. It looks like at least the end of one portion of the disaster is coming. The relief wells, the options to kill the well, that continues this weekend and throughout next week. We're going to learn more about exactly what is happening and when the relief wells are expected to be finished.

It's 11 minutes past the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: It's pretty hard to believe, but we're now more than three months into the Gulf oil disaster.

HOLMES: Yes, and BP says they are committed to finishing the cleanup job. First, the company getting ready to resume drilling the relief well tomorrow. It will permanently seal any oil from leaking out. Engineers still have about 100 feet to go before intersecting the crippled well. That could happen between August the 13th and August the 15th.

You're seeing, once again, the live picture we still have access to, a live picture that looks much different. And no oil coming out, so always a good picture. The so-called "static kill," filling the pipe with drilling mud and cement, is already complete. BP says it wants to retrieve the blowout preventer, the device that should have stopped the leak - they want to replace it with a new one. Also, scientists say nearly 5 million barrels of oil has leaked into the Gulf since this crisis began.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BOLDUAN: So here's a good question: Would you give away half of your - half of your net worth to charity?

HOLMES: Well, if I had a couple billion, that's one thing. But only a couple of hundred bucks in my account right now.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE)

HOLMES: It makes it a little more different.

BOLDUAN: It's like (INAUDIBLE) - if you have $5, it's a little different than if you had a couple billion.

HOLMES: It is, but you're a billionaire, it's a much different gesture. But dozens of billionaires are now lining up to give away their money.

We'll tell you about their pledge, coming up. It's 16 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC, TRAVIS MCCOY, "BILLIONAIRE")

BOLDUAN: That's a (INAUDIBLE). I don't know (INAUDIBLE)

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Hey, everybody.

HOLMES: It's a good song though.

BOLDUAN: The nation's wealthiest are rising to a $600 billion challenge. It's a pledge to donate half of their net worth to charity during their lifetime, or upon their death.

HOLMES: Now, this idea - of course, where did it come from? Yes, Microsoft's Bill Gates, and also investor Warren Buffett.

Gates, he can spare some change. He has a net worth of about $53 billion. Buffett worth about $47 billion. Also, some other billionaires you might recognize here. The New York City mayor - remember, Michael Bloomberg - he is a rich guy, $18 billion. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas is practically broke at $3 billion. And then Ted Turner, this poor guy, he's at $1.8 billion. That's the net worth for these guys, according to "Forbes" magazine.

BOLDUAN: Does anyone sense any envy in that (INAUDIBLE)

(LAUGHTER) HOLMES: Did you sense that?

BOLDUAN: Just a little bit.

So the country's most famous billionaires are making a public declaration and moral commitment.

CNN's Lisa Sylvester explains why they've agreed to do this very, very generous pledge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, guys. Keep moving.

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are all billionaires, many of them household names: Buffett, Gates, Rockefeller, Bloomberg. And they've taken a public pledge to give at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity.

It began with Warren Buffett, and Bill and Melinda Gates. All three have already committed vast sums of their wealth to causes such as global health and education.

But they wanted to expand on the idea.

Three secret dinners brought the mega-rich together to discuss ways of getting their dollars to change the world.

The Gates and Warren Buffett discussed the Giving Pledge recently on the PBS "Charlie Rose Show."

MELINDA GATES, PHILANTHROPIST: And I think one of the cool things we learned in the dinner is that, you know, we know that philanthropy is very personal. And so it -- to us, it doesn't matter what people give, whether it's to the culture, or to climate, or to humanity, or to societal issues. It's what they are driven by that gets them to give. And we just want to make sure that they're thinking about giving. And there's a lot of energy around that.

SYLVESTER: Now, 40 families and individuals have signed up, including the man behind "Star Wars," George Lucas; venture capitalist George Soros; and CNN founder Ted Turner.

Many on the list have given away a lot of their wealth, including Turner, who recently discussed his $1 billion gift to the United Nations with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: There's more international understanding than ever before. The United Nations is making a real good contribution. That's -- like everything else, it's no better than the - the people that run it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So you're happy with that - with that donation?

TURNER: Yes. Oh yes. SYLVESTER: Princeton University professor Peter Singer says even if these multibillionaires give away half of their wealth, that still leaves them with a lot and more to go around.

PETER SINGER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: If all of the billionaires on the Forbes 400 list were to give half of their wealth, that's $600 billion that's going to go to charity and philanthropic causes.

You know, that's a fantastic amount. I mean, if that were to go to help the world's poor, for example, it could really make a huge difference.

SYLVESTER (on camera): The giving pledge isn't meant for just for the mega-rich, but to inspire others, even those without deep pockets, to give what they can.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Why does she have to hit me with that in the end, Lisa?

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: I thought I was getting off the hook for not being a billionaire. But...

BOLDUAN: Yes.

HOLMES: That - no, you know what? That is incredible. They - they can certainly spare it.

BOLDUAN: It's fantastic.

HOLMES: But still, they're giving it. That's a lot of money.

BOLDUAN: It's - I do wonder though, how binding is the pledge?

HOLMES: We'll hold them to it then.

BOLDUAN: You and me.

HOLMES: We will hold them to it.

Well, coming up, another couple of rich guys to tell you about. One is a - really a guy who has done a lot here in this town where we are, Atlanta - Usher. Also, President Clinton. But what is Justin Bieber doing hanging out with those two?

BOLDUAN: Not the trio you'd expect to be in the same place on a Friday night, hanging out with each other. Learn why the three came together for a very good cause.

It's 21 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC, USHER, "MOVING MOUNTAINS")

BOLDUAN: ...mix it up this morning. Mixing it up.

Empowering teenagers by preparing them for global responsibilities. Usher's New Look Foundation has been providing free leadership training to kids in need for quite awhile.

HOLMES: And the foundation had its first World Leadership Awards last night right here in Atlanta, Georgia. You see Usher Raymond there; you see Ciara as well.

Eight awards were given out to honor various individuals and organizations, including the former President Bill Clinton.

Since it started, the foundation has mentored more than 8,000 young people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

USHER RAYMOND, FOUNDER, NEW LOOK FOUNDATION: Our main objective is to allow the kids to believe in themselves and encourage them to finish high school, go to college. About 100 percent of our students actually make it to college.

So - I mean, everything that we're actually teaching them are preparing them to be service-minded youth leaders of the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The mayor of Port-Au-Prince also attended this special ceremony last night, and he joins us live in studio in just a few minutes. And we'll ask him about recovery efforts from January's deadly earthquake.

HOLMES: Also coming up this morning, we are expecting to show you live pictures a little later of a couple of folks just going on a walk.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: But this is not just any walk. A spacewalk is scheduled to start about a half-hour from now at the International Space Station. They have some maintenance they need to do up there, and we will take you there live, coming up this morning.

Also this morning, we all remember the devastation caused by that horrific earthquake in Haiti. Like we said, there is the mayor of Port-Au-Prince in our studio with us right here, right now. We're going to be talking to him in just a minute, of course, about what's happening with the recovery of his city.

The money that was promised, is it getting there? And also, the other news we saw this week, Wyclef Jean running for president of Haiti.

It's 27 minutes past the hour. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, bottom of the hour here now. Welcome back to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.

BOLDUAN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for starting your day with us.

We want to take you to a story we've been following; it's been developing this morning. And we're just getting word of at least two Americans killed in Afghanistan. Germans and Afghans were also among the 10 bodies discovered Thursday. They were likely members of the International Assistance Mission. This was a non-profit, and that they were medical personnel working in a hospital in Kabul.

That's where Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty, she joins us live.

Jill, what is the latest? We know there are a lot of moving parts to this, a lot of developments coming out now.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the very latest, I would say, is now the claim of responsibility by the Taliban for killing 10 people. The Taliban, personally, Zabula Mujhaheed (ph), who is one of the spokesmen for the Taliban, confirmed to CNN that they did kill those, we believe, medical staff from that mission organization.

They say that they were spies. This is coming from the Taliban Web site now, saying that these people were spies, that they, in this remote area of northeast Afghanistan, were stopped by a Taliban patrol. That actually the Taliban wanted to take them alive, but that the people ran and then the Taliban killed them. The organization that you referred to, Kate, International Assistance Mission, is a humanitarian organization. They provide services like ophthalmological, you know, eye doctors, and also internal medicine for the people of Afghanistan.

They've been working here since 1966. This team was going up into a very remote area of Afghanistan. In fact, I think we have a graphic there. You can show the Facebook page that this group did have. They even have a map there, where you can trace where they were going from Kabul, up north, and then northeast, out to that remote area. And that is apparently where they were killed. What they were doing, again, was providing, we believe, help for the local civilian -- for the local community in that area.

And just in terms of this conflicting information, we still do not know precisely how many Americans, how many German. It appears there were several, according to the U.S. embassy, Americans, at least one German and possibly a British citizen, as well as one Afghan translator.

Kate, back to you. BOLDUAN: Jill do, we know, was this the entire -- the entire group that -- apparently that the Taliban stopped, did the entire group killed, were there any survivors that were in this convoy?

DOUGHERTY: Well, the story that we're getting from the police chief in that area is that all of the people were taken out of their vehicle. Now, the Taliban is not talking about a vehicle, but they were stopped, taken out, and methodically shot one by one. But according to the police chief from that area, there was one Afghan civilian who said a prayer from the Koran. And he was allowed, we believe it was a -- he was allowed to escape or get away in some fashion. But everybody was killed.

And then this happened -- also there was conflicting information on this, too, that the latest we have is that they were killed on Thursday, which would be two days ago. And then their bodies later discovered. A very remote location, Kate.

BOLDUAN: A lot of conflicting information as always in these developing stories. You're working through it all. Thank you so much, Jill. We'll check back in with you.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: Well, taking a look now at some of the stories making headlines. Today will be the day that it becomes official. Elena Kagan will be sworn in as the 112th U.S. Supreme Court justice. The ceremony will take place around 2:00 o'clock today. She was confirmed this week, 63-37, by the Senate. She will be the third woman on the current court and the fourth woman overall to serve on the Supreme Court.

Also, California is asking that same-sex marriages be allowed to happen right now. You'll remember the judge struck down the voter approved Proposition 8, the one that said same-sex marriage was banned. The judge struck it down but had a temporary stay on the ruling meaning that, no, in fact, people couldn't immediately start getting married. But the California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and also the attorney general have not come forward, asking the court to allow the marriages to go forward right now.

Also, take a look, pictures we are getting out of Moscow. That is not fog you are looking at there. We've been telling you a lot about those wildfires that have been burning there and the record heat. Well, some of that smoke now is blanketing the capital of Moscow. They say the carbon monoxide levels are five times higher than what is considered safe. Some of the folks are wearing masks right now, but they are in the midst of what is record-setting temperatures for that country during the summer.

Well, it has been seven months now since that devastating earthquake in Haiti. Some people in the hardest hit area, Port-au- Prince, are still living in tent cities. We are going to ask the mayor of Port-au-Prince about the recovery process. He is here, in studio, with us. Going to be talking to him right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: It's a merger of hip-hop and politics in Haiti, some are calling it. If you missed "LARRY KING LIVE" on Thursday then you missed this big announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to be the president of Haiti, right?

WYCLEF JEAN, HIP-HOP SINGER, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, this is my first time announcing it live. In fact, today I went in and I signed and I am running to be the president of Haiti.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, the mayor of Haiti, who has his -- the mayor of Port-au-Prince, I should say-Jean Yves Jason, joining me live as well as Saurel Quettan, who is going to be translating for us this morning.

I appreciate both you gentlemen being here. But the mayor is here in Atlanta raising awareness about earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. And also being part of an event that took place last night. We just showed it to you a short time ago. Usher's foundation, handing out some awards, including to the president.

First of all, how was it for you, Mr. Mayor, to be hanging out with folks like Usher, Justin Bieber and also President Clinton? Just how was the event last night?

(TRANSLATION OF QUESTION)

JEAN YVES JASON, MAYOR OF PORT-AU-PRINCE (through translator): The event was very important for me and I wanted to be there.

You know, primarily for what Usher is doing for the American youth, and also for what he intends to do for the Haitian youth. You know, the reception that I received from the New Look Foundation was just tremendous. They have prepared kits and backpacks to go to Haiti to help the children.

HOLMES: How important are trips like this to just have you here, and keep it fresh in people's minds, what's happening in Haiti?

(TRANSLATION OF QUESTION)

JASON (through translator): You know, it's very important because the campaign I'm running right now is precisely for that reason, to keep Haiti and Port-au-Prince in the forefront of everyone's minds.

I'm hoping we do get to talk about that, because there's a lot of aid promised for what's happened in Haiti and none of it has actually made to Haiti.

HOLMES: On that point there were billions and billions of dollars pledged. CNN did a story not long ago, only 2 percent of the money that was pledged in March at that aid conference had actually gotten to Haiti. How much money are you seeing, or are you seeing any of it?

(TRANSLATION OF QUESTION)

JASON (through translator): You know, the money promised, I'm not seeing it as mayor. But there is something I do want to say, because we are speaking about money. I really want the whole world to understand, and you specifically, it's not about money, it's about the lives of people, the lives of people are in danger.

And it's time to stop speaking and talking and pass into action. And that's why I was especially impressed by the speech that Bill Clinton made last night. And I want to send him a message right now.

And that message is simply this: Come sit with the mayor of Port-au-Prince to plan together the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince. Because we have people in Port-au-Prince whose lives we want to save. And now, you know, you're talking about the hurricane season being right upon us. And we collectively have to stop capitalizing on the misery of our people and bring them hope.

HOLMES: What do you mean by that, capitalizing on the misery?

(TRANSLATION OF QUESTION)

JASON (through translator): You know, what's happening in Haiti mobilizes the media worldwide. It mobilizes the NGOs. And we're not seeing any result. You know, we want to do otherwise. We want to save lives. And we want to work with the media to mobilize people. And we want to serve with the people that have big voices and huge megaphones throughout the world, so we can work with them to save the people of Haiti.

And there's one more thing I wanted to add. You know, one of the things we realized through waging this campaign, you know, we worked with the mayor of Atlanta directly, Kasim Reed, you know, and the promises there to build a huge high school, state-of-the-art school in Port-au-Prince. And we likewise mobilized support in China, as well. Paris, Barcelona, and we've spoken and told every city throughout the world, come, come, let's help Port-au-Prince.

HOLMES: People are hearing that message, once again, this morning. Certainly need to keep it in the forefront of people's minds that it's still happening there. The last thing I want to ask here, and I have to ask, will someone by the name of Wyclef Jean be able to help? Yes, he gets some attention, but is he the person qualified, would you say, to lead Haiti in this reconstruction?

(TRANSLATION OF QUESTION)

JASON (through translator): You know, as long as he's willing to work with the Haitian people and support everyone. You know, today the conversation is not really about presidency. We are speaking about saving the lives of the people in peril.

Yeah, our constitution says that anyone can be president. But once you become president, you actually have to get something done. And how can you be successful? That's when you work to create of Haiti and its cities a resilient country and resilient cities.

You know, today personally I want to succeed. I am struggling and working really hard so Port-au-Prince can be a resilient city. Do you know what resilient cities are? A resilient city is one that can stand on its own after it's been struggling through a lot of adversity. And to actually continue to fight so that it doesn't happen again.

May I send a message to the Haitians who are listening?

HOLMES: By all means. You go ahead and wrap it up for us with that message. Go right ahead.

(LAUGHTER)

JASON (through translator): Hang in there. Do not let go. You, yourself, are the only ones able to affect change in your own life. The reconstruction of Haiti, that reconstruction will actually happen when you understand that you, the citizens of Haiti, are the leaders of the game.

We've shown what we can do, already. And now I take occasion of this moment to tell everyone, what's going to happen in Port-au- Prince, that will turn Port-au-Prince into the capital of humanity. And I want to tell everyone who helped Haiti, in this seven months, thank you.

HOLMES: Sir, we are so glad we could have you in this morning. It's a story we have to keep people's focus and attention on. Mr. Mayor, Jean Yves Jason, pleasure having you with us. Saurel Quettan, I appreciate you here, translating as well.

Quick break here. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Taking a look at some of the stories we are watching this hour. Fourteen miners are dead, another 23 trapped in a Chinese gold mine that caught fire Friday evening. The state-run news agency there says the accident happened in eastern China's Shandong Province. A preliminary investigation suggests an underground cable sparked the fire.

Federal transportation officials say a plane crash that killed 265 people was caused, in part, by a rudder system design featured in various Airbus models. American Airlines flight 587 crashed in Bell Harbor, New York, shortly after taking offer on November 12th, 2001. You probably remember this. All 260 people on board and five people on the ground were killed in the crash.

Fidel Castro is calling a special session of Cuba's national assembly today. Castro has kept out of sight for four years now, as he recuperating from a life-threatening intestinal illness, we're told. He temporarily seated power to his younger brother, Raul, in July of 2006 and resigned as president in February of 2008. But Castro ended his reclusive lifestyle in mid July when photographs of him surfaced on a pro-government blog.

We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: Welcome back to the CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Ten minutes to the top of the hour.

We just saw some job numbers yesterday. And they were not pretty, a lot would say. The unemployment rates stayed at where it was, 9.5 percent. That was flat. A lot of hope that it had gone down, but it didn't go up. At least that's something. A lot of people, depending on which side you talk to, looking at these numbers, depends on what answer you're going to get about how good or how gloomy things are.

Last month, 60,000 jobs went away. Many more people out there just gave up looking for work all together. Unemployment will be a major campaign issue, of course, we've got the midterms just down the road.

BOLDUAN: Yes, we do. And you know what that means a lot of spin going on. The spin has already started. Both parties seeing the unemployment figure in a very different light. CNN's Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser breaks that down for us.

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PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, Kate, T.J.

With less than three months to go until the midterm elections the unemployment rate may be most important number in politics. And that one figure elicits two very different responses from the Republicans and the Democrats.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Department of Labor released the monthly jobs report show that July marked the seventh straight month of job creation in the private sector. So jobs have been growing in the private sector for seven straight months.

REP. KEVIN BRADY, (R) TEXAS: We received more bad news for American workers and their families. The unemployment rate shows no sign of improving and remains elevated at 9.5 percent.

STEINHAUSER: While the Democrats and Republicans obviously don't see eye to eye on jobs they agree on one thing, the economy, and especially jobs is the most important issue on the minds of American voters. So which party do you think will do a better job improving the economy? It seems the Republicans, they slightly edge out Democrats in our most recent CNN Opinion Research Corporation national poll. And our survey indicates that the GOP has 20-point advantage among independent voters, who could make the difference in November. Troubling numbers for the Democrats, as they try to hold on to their majorities in Congress. Kate, T.J.?

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BOLDUAN: And another political story, disgraced former Tea Party Express spokesman Mark Williams tells CNN exclusively that he is re- entering the political arena. Williams is forming a new political action committee called Citizens Reclaiming Constitutional Liberties.

The paperwork is being filed and the PAC should be up and running by August 16th. Williams also took a swipe at the Tea Party movement, saying it hasn't been able to move beyond the, quote, "cheerleading stage". Williams resigned as Tea Party Express spokesman after posting what he called a satirical letter from the NAACP president to Abraham Lincoln.

HOLMES: We're going to take a quick break here, but coming back we are going to give you an update on a developing story we are getting out of Afghanistan. At least two American aid workers killed. We're follow that story. It is about five minutes to the top of the hour. Stay here.

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BOLDUAN: Good morning. Thanks for coming back, joining us. I'm Kate Bolduan.

HOLMES: Hello there, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.

We are following a breaking news story out of Afghanistan this morning, where at least two Americans have been killed. We're not talking about soldiers here, that you've been hearing so much about over the past couple of months. We are talking about civilians, aid workers, who are among a total of 10 medical personnel who have been killed. Our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty is there with the details.

Jill, good morning to you, once again. By all means, get our viewers updated.

DOUGHERTY: Well, T.J., what happened and what we know, at this point, is that there is a group of medical personnel from an organization called International Assistance Mission. They are a humanitarian organization formed by a number of different Christian organizations.

And what we believe is that a group, a medical group, from that organization was going up into a remote area of Afghanistan in the northeast. They were stopped. And we believe that ten of them were killed, and now we believe that they were killed by the Taliban.

In fact, the Taliban are taking responsibility. A spokesman for them, Zabula Mujhaheed (ph), confirms to CNN that they indeed did kill 10 of those, as he put it, foreigners. He says that they were spies. On the Web site of the Taliban they say that there was a patrol. Again, these are not confirmed information from the Taliban, but a patrol that stopped the people that they wanted to take them alive. The people began to flee and then they were killed.

The police chief in that area says, however, that these medical staff were killed methodically.

In terms of the numbers, we don't know yet exactly how many. There were at least two Americans, there may have been actually more. There were Germans, perhaps one, U.K., British civilian and then a coupe of Afghan civilians, as well, T.J.