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Clock Ticks Toward Default; Tragedy in Yosemite National Park; Interview With Senator Tom Coburn; Homeless Korean Man Becomes Singing Sensation; So Called Millennials Entering Workforce; Senate Gang of Six Proposes New Budget Plan

Aired July 20, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Stay right where you are. We are filling in the blanks of this debt reduction plan that could, one, avert the looming default of the United States Treasury, and, two, dramatically change the size and scope of the federal government as we know it.

Senator Tom Coburn, member of the so-called gang of six, is standing by for me on Capitol Hill to answer some questions.

But first I need to get some news to you. I want to report that President Obama has just summoned congressional Democrats to a hastily arranged meeting at the White House, to be clear, Democrats only. Now, we're also hearing that the top two House Republicans, John Boehner and Eric Cantor, are to meet with Mr. Obama at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.

So, clearly, a busy afternoon shaping up at the White House. But tell you what. I want to take you now straight to Senator Coburn, who is live for me.

Sir, good to have you on the program.

And let me just begin with this.

SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: Good to be with you, Brooke

BALDWIN: Let me begin with this.

We mentioned these meetings at the White House. And my question is, is the fact that there's a Democrats-only meeting happening now at the White House, does that, sir, signal to you that we have entered a new phase in these talks, these debt reduction talks, that the president is now starting the process of essentially selling your gang of six proposal to his people, that the process of the arm-twisting and the lining of support is under way?

COBURN: Oh, I don't know that you can assume that. It may be that he's going to talk to them about a short-term agreement that I think they announced an hour or so ago that they would like to do in terms of short-term extension.

You know, I can't tell you what they're going to meet on.

BALDWIN: So you don't think it's necessarily arm-twisting?

(CROSSTALK)

COBURN: No, I don't think so. I don't think so.

BALDWIN: Well, let me ask you, you mentioned the short term. Do you know, sir, when we say short term -- and I remember hearing from President Obama saying, you know, 90, 60, 180, kicking the can down the road not good enough for him. Maybe it is now. Do we know timeline, when he says short term, what that might entail?

COBURN: I certainly don't.

To me, short term would be, you know, 30 or 45 days. We still need to solve this. The real problem, Brooke, is we have to send a signal to the international financial community that we understand the kind of hole we're in, that we're willing to make the difficult choices, and that we can't have what each party wants, so there has to be some type of compromise to get there.

The best plan, of course, is to take the $9 trillion out over the next 10 years and put us on the road to really wonderful recovery and future prosperity for the country. That's probably not going to happen.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I know you have floated this idea of the $9 trillion. But let's stay more in the ballpark. What is it, about 3.7?

COBURN: This one's 3.7. But let me make the point.

BALDWIN: Sure. Go ahead, sir.

COBURN: There isn't one international economist out there that doesn't recognize that for us to really get out of our problem, we eventually have to take $9 trillion out of our budget over the next 10 years.

So this is a start; $3.7 trillion is a start; $2.7 trillion of it is in spending reductions. A trillion dollars will be increased revenues of government through tax reform and the elimination of tax loopholes and tax expenditures.

BALDWIN: Let me stop you there, because I just want to make sure we're underscoring and italicizing some of the points you're making. We know that we have to pay down the debt by a mix, as you mentioned, of raising taxes, cutting spending, right?

So, from what I understand, and since you're on the gang of six, I'm glad to be talking to you, because you know the sort of nitty- gritty here. We have pulled together from some of our various sources that we're talking 75 percent spending cuts and 25 percent in increased revenues. Is that correct? COBURN: That's close. And it's increased revenues through economic growth and the elimination of tax loopholes.

BALDWIN: Now, in addition to opposing new taxes, House Republicans are saying, you know, don't touch the U.S. military. It's off limits. Does the gang of six plan envision $80 billion in Pentagon cuts as some of us have seen reported, $80 billion?

COBURN: Yes. That's accurate.

BALDWIN: What kind of reaction have you gotten thus far on the Hill from that?

COBURN: Not bad. Look, the Pentagon is -- you could cut a trillion dollars out of it over the next 10 years, and it'd still be at a level higher than at the height of the Iraq surge in terms of spending.

So, you know, for your listeners, to put things in perspective, the federal government's twice as big as it was 10 years ago right now, twice as big. So everybody out there that's having to live within a budget, making the hard choices in our economy today, know that if you have grown something twice in 10 years, you obviously can make some significant cuts in it without having any negative effect.

BALDWIN: Senator Coburn, let's talk about your role in the gang of six. Is it correct -- I mean, you bolted from the group. It was widely reported a couple of months ago -- returned recently when the gang agreed to cut an additional 100-plus billion dollars from entitlement health care programs. And are you rock-solid behind this new plan?

COBURN: Well, I'm rock-solid behind my plan. My plan isn't going to happen. So I'm rock-solid behind the plan that gets us on the way and this one does.

BALDWIN: Your plan being the $9 trillion?

COBURN: Yes.

BALDWIN: The whole thing, it appears to be dependent upon rewriting the tax code. So how do we do that? How do we make all these other changes? How do we avert this, you know, potential default in 13 days and how do we do all of that in an orderly fashion without something getting hoodwinked, i.e., the American people?

COBURN: Well, I think you could have a short-term extension. You could pass something similar to this that was satisfactory to the House, maybe with more spending reductions that would pass the House.

And you could say we will give a conditional debt limit increase based on these things happening. And if these things don't happen, then we're back to where we are today. So you can't get hoodwinked. Nobody's going to vote for something that they don't think the process is going to happen. And so it has to be tied with some real pain. If, in fact, you don't make these changes to the tax code and reductions in spending, then all deals are off. So I think we can accomplish that. It's going to require some trust, but it's also going to require a lot of verification and a condition that any massive increase in the debt limit is only going to happen when this is in place.

BALDWIN: You, sir, are the gold standard among, you know, some conservatives. And just as the president -- and, perhaps, you don't necessarily say he's selling it this hour to Democrats -- perhaps he is. You and I are not in the room.

Will you be selling and can you sell to the House Republicans trillions of dollars in revenue increases when those folks have been saying time and time again, sorry, not moving a penny?

COBURN: Well, it's not trillions.

And the net effect of it will be no increase in taxes because the AMT is totally eliminated. So, if you were to do it on just what the law is today, not a baseline or anything else, what you would say is there will be about $1 trillion in increased revenue come to the government through economic growth associated with lowering the tax codes.

But there will also be $1.8 trillion that won't come to it through the elimination of the AMT.

BALDWIN: But if you don't see -- will House Republicans see it the way you just described to me?

COBURN: Well, I think -- first of all, Brooke, there's another point. The House has already passed a debt limit extension. They passed it last night. And what they said is cut spending, cap it for the future, and pass a balanced budget amendment. We're going to be on that. My hope would be that we pass that this week.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But we all know, sir, that won't fly through the Senate.

COBURN: Well, I'm not sure everybody knows that. I hear that said all the time.

If that doesn't happen, then the American people ought to ask the members of Congress who don't vote for that, why is it you don't want a balanced budget amendment? The balanced budget amendment is the only long-term thing that's going to secure your freedom and cause the government to live within its means and not sacrifice the future of the generations that follow us.

So the question ought to be asked is, why not? And so I'm not sure that that's the case yet. What I would tell you is I think cut, cap and balance is a great prescription. Actually, it's better than anything else that's out there, other than the $9 trillion, to actually getting us back to health.

BALDWIN: OK. Well, let me just take you back, though, to your gang of six plan, just so I'm hearing you crystal clear, because a lot of Americans, you know, are wondering and sort of sitting with bated breath hoping that we don't hit default in 13 days.

So if the president agrees to some sort of, you know, short-term fix and we do not default in 13 days, the plan that you have come up with will serve as a basis for that short-term plan and that you all will come back together after that short-term plan has expired for a longer-term fix? Am I hearing that right?

COBURN: Well, I'm not sure our plan will be the basis for the short-term agreement. I think there may be a short-term agreement because the time necessary to come to an agreement probably is going to be difficult.

BALDWIN: Is too quick.

COBURN: But the second thing that you have to consider, any plan has to pass the House. And so it's probably got to have to have more spending reduction in it than the gang of six has to be able to get the votes in the House to pass.

BALDWIN: If only to be a fly on the wall at 5:00 Eastern in the White House with Mr. Boehner and Mr. Cantor and Mr. Obama.

COBURN: Well, I'm sure they have got some flies in there that we could -- you could probably put one of those little microscopes -- microphones on there for you.

BALDWIN: We will see what we can do.

Senator Tom Coburn, I appreciate the time. Thank you so much.

COBURN: See you. Bye-bye.

BALDWIN: And now watch this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB BIBEE, WITNESS: I saw the man's eyes as he was going over the waterfall, and that was devastating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A desperate search under way right now at Yosemite National Park after these three hikers get swept over this raging waterfall. Several people, they were there, they saw it happen. But no one knows who the victims are.

Plus, a human catastrophe, it is unfolding right now -- 11 million people in Somalia are starving to death, many of them little ones, children. But there is a hitch to getting them food. We're going to go in-depth here. We're going to take you live to Africa on this developing story, coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A desperate search is under way right now in California's Yosemite National Park. Witnesses say three hikers were swept away after climbing over a guardrail at the park's Vernal Falls.

Let's go to Kathryn Herr of our California affiliate KGPE to set this up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIBEE: I saw the man's eyes as he was going over the waterfall. And that was devastating.

KATHRYN HERR, KGPE REPORTER (voice-over): Jacob Bibee and Amanda Law (ph) were at the top of Vernal Fall when they saw a group of about 10 people climb over the safety rail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a man with a child on one arm taking photos on the edge of the waterfall. They're not the ones that fell over. It was their family members that were also being irresponsible that unfortunately got the brunt of that.

HERR: Jacob had noticed another man and a woman on what appeared to be a little island in the water. Other witnesses said one of the victims fell in. A second person tried to help and also fell in. And a third person followed. Two men and a woman fell into the water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people today saw something really traumatic and lives were lost. It's just really sad.

LINDA SABO, WITNESS: I couldn't process why they were in the water when I first saw it, you know, because the current was moving so fast.

HERR: Linda and Dean Sabo were also there when it happened.

DEAN SABO, WITNESS: And I saw two that were holding on to each other and one that was alone floating through the current. And the reason why I looked was this woman was screaming and running along the edge of the water.

HERR: The victims went over the falls into the rocky pool below. Rangers closed the trail that leads up to Vernal, causing a detour for some hikers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It wasn't really that much longer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right, now I want to bring in Kari Cobb. She's a spokeswoman for Yosemite National Park. She joins me by phone.

And, Kari, first off here, any news on finding these three missing folks? KARI COBB, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK: We still have not found the bodies of the three individuals that went over Vernal Falls. We still have rescue crews out there right now that are combing the area looking for any signs.

BALDWIN: I hear you say the word rescue. So these three are not presumed dead?

COBB: We have actually -- we put out a statement this morning, just about an hour ago. We are presuming that the three individuals are dead. The waterfall is actually a 317-foot waterfall and it is in a location of the Merced River that is very rocky and very rough. So we have turned this into a search for recovery effort.

BALDWIN: It is a recovery effort. Let me ask you, and we're looking at pictures of this what appears to be just a gorgeous waterfall here. But help me understand the lay of the land. You have on top of the waterfall some sort of guardrail. Can you just describe the area for me? How much area is between the guardrail and the waterfall? I mean, how quickly would that fall have been?

COBB: So the trail that goes up to the top of the waterfall is what's known as the Mist Trail. It's our most popular trail in the park. There is a very large granite slab at the top of the waterfall that's very popular for people to rest and eat their lunches.

There is a guardrail that goes across the granite slab. Now, this guardrail is just there, you know, letting people know that beyond this point it's not safe. There's swift water. There are signs that are posted.

BALDWIN: There are signs?

COBB: There are signs, yes, alluding to that very thing. But you can crawl over the guardrail. We don't have a ranger up there saying you can't go here. There's no fencing. So a grown individual would be able to get over the guardrail very easy, which is from witness accounts exactly what these three individuals were doing.

BALDWIN: And also from witness accounts, we understand that there were some children with them. Are all the children accounted for?

COBB: I know that the group was with -- excuse me. The three individuals were with a group of family and friends consisting of multiple ages. Everybody else in the group has been accounted for.

BALDWIN: OK. I just want to end this with, it's summertime. People are going to beautiful Yosemite, you know, National Park and other lovely places across the country. And I just want you to take this moment. You have a message for people. Getting a little too close.

COBB: Yes. We have very, very high water right now. We are urging visitors to please take caution around the water, realize that water is very cold, very high and very swift. So please be careful. BALDWIN: It's terrible. Kari Cobb with Yosemite National Park, Kari, thank you so much.

COBB: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, a dire situation unfolding right now. It is a world away. It hits close to home. Millions of Somalis are in danger of starving to death. Children are dying, parents are grieving, making impossible choices. It is a story that is too important to ignore. CNN has a correspondent on the ground there right now, David McKenzie. He has been tweeting. I encourage you to follow his Twitter page as I have been all day long, tweeting some heartbreaking images that we want to bring to you. Our conversation is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: There's a human crisis unfolding right before our very eyes. It is so epic, it is so painful to describe, let alone see. But you have to take a look at this photograph here, this image of a father and his child. Here is video of a man from Somalia.

He was driven into Kenya by a drought so severe that 11 million people are in desperate need of help right now, 11 million people. Many will die. In fact, the little girl he was holding in his arms was his daughter. She is one of those victims. She was just 4 years of age when hunger claimed her life. He will pray. Here's her burial service.

He will pray before burying her in that grave. This is in a refugee camp in Kenya. Now, more than 4,000 Somalis will crowd into this one camp each week. Now, this week the United Nations declared the hunger in southern Somalia, it is so severe it is now calling this officially a famine. And if aid does not arrive soon, the disaster is expected to spread.

I want to go to CNN's David McKenzie, who's live for me at that refugee camp in Kenya not too far from the Somali border.

And, David, you have been taking and tweeting some gut-wrenching, heartbreaking pictures. We're going to share some of those in a moment. But I just want to just begin with these people, these children, these parents. Are they getting the aid they need?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, they're not, Brooke. That's the short answer.

The longer answer is, you know, statistics are being thrown around that are sometimes hard for people sitting at home trying to figure out what they mean. Two million children are in desperate need of help in this region. And, effectively, this is a child's famine. It's not the adults that are suffering the most. It's the zero to 5, it's the 5- to 10-year-olds that are really suffering the most.

And in those numbers, there are individuals, Brooke, like Sarah (ph), like the child who was buried yesterday morning. We were there at the foot of the grave as Ibrahim Adan (ph) , her father, was forced to bury his child, something no father should ever have to do, Brooke.

So certainly it's the individuals that are suffering. And it's mostly the kids in this region -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. The kids, they really -- they tell the story. As you mentioned, the numbers are staggering. And I just want to -- we're going to pull up a couple of the pictures that you have been tweeting, David.

And this first one, let me just set it up for you. It's this picture. We see a woman on the inside of what looks like, here she is, a gated-off area. Many other people are on the other side sort of staring in at her. She's got a yellow sack over her shoulder. Can you set this up for me? Tell me more about this photograph.

MCKENZIE: Well, Brooke, this is a woman who's coming in and getting her registration. Effectively, people have to go to walk from Somalia often. Imagine walking from one country to the next. You're already hungry. You're already thirsty. Your family effectively -- your family is starving. And moving across the border, you get to a place like this, Dadaab, which in itself is not that welcoming.

This woman would have to arrive at 5:00 in the morning, perhaps earlier, wait for hours, come to this gate. Between her and the registration, there is a barbwire fence. She has to prove that she's not a terrorist. She then has to get her finger printed and her child's finger fingerprinted. And then -- maybe then she will get maybe two weeks of rations, a very small amount of food that will have to last for those two weeks.

And then people are having to wait up to a month because of this backlog to get more food so that they can survive. That girl Sarah that we talked about in the beginning of our discussion, she had arrived, and her situation got worse when she got here, not better.

So the aid needs to come into this camp desperately, so that these people can actually be helped and have the dignity that they deserve as refugees.

BALDWIN: Yes. We're going to talk a little bit more about the aid and the difficulty in getting it in because of this militant terrorist organization Al-Shabab with my guest in just a moment. But I want to show one more picture, David. It's a woman sitting on a bed with a young child.

And as we look at this image, I want to also show a tweet, because this is the most recent tweet. And I think this will really help explain this to our American viewers. You tweeted: "The crisis in the Horn of Africa isn't new. Dadaab has been a refugee camp for many, many years."

So, David, what is it about this day, this week, this situation that makes it so, so dire?

MCKENZIE: Well, Brooke, that child sitting on that bed, if that's the photo we're talking about, that's Noria (ph). She's 2 years old. Have a look at her, 2 years old. She looks like she could be a newborn. In fact, as much, she -- she weighs less than a newborn.

But she came trekking with her mother across the border and effectively has to be fed through her nose because she can't take in food. That's the situation that people are facing here in Kenya coming from Somalia. And the real tragedy of this is that as -- all famines effectively these days are manmade.

The southern part of Somalia, the areas that have been declared famine zones, are mostly in control of Al-Shabab, the Islamic militant group. They threw out the World Food Program some years ago. And effectively -- and basically if the U.N. could get in there, get major funding and they could get major food coming into those zones, it could help this crisis pretty quickly. But the major problem is over time people in this region are living on the edge. This has just pushed them off.

BALDWIN: David McKenzie, I appreciate you standing there and taking these photographs.

And I want to encourage so many people to follow you on Twitter. Again, your Twitter handle @McKenzieCNN. David, thank you so much.

And speaking of the aid and the issues of getting aid in this country, UNICEF says this crisis on the Horn of Africa is a children's famine. The relief group is calling for more help for the region where it says half a million children are at an imminent risk of dying.

Shantha Bloemen is with UNICEF in Africa. She joins me on the phone from Nairobi and Kenya.

And I have so many questions for you. But, first, the pictures, some of which David was just showing us, they are heart-wrenching. The problem of hunger and drought and unrest in the Horn of Africa, as we were just discussing, isn't anything new. So what makes this situation, Shantha, what makes it more dire than ever before?

SHANTHA BLOEMEN, UNICEF: Well, I think we're dealing with a magnitude in numbers that we haven't seen for a long time. We estimate, you know, more than 11 million people are in need, and of those, more than two million children.

Today, we had the numbers out from Somalia and the numbers are basically (AUDIO GAP) children in southern Somalia have doubled in the last month. So, that just shows that we are losing children by the day needlessly.

And, as David said, we have got children fleeing across border with their parents.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Some of whom don't even make it across.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOEMEN: -- take that arduous journey.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOEMEN: And that's the priority.

There are obviously lots of complications to doing that, but we at UNICEF believe that we can try and save lives and we have to both do what we did in Somalia and obviously help those refugees flowing out of the country.

BALDWIN: I know, Shantha, that the executive director of UNICEF had described this as a perfect storm of unrest. You have unrest in Somalia. You have rising fuel and food prices, the drought.

How do you, how does UNICEF get aid and bedding or help with getting clean water into a country in which this militant Islamic Somali terrorist organization has a very tight grip? How do you do that?

BLOEMEN: Well, look, we have been working in Somalia since '72. And basically we have been working in Southern Sudan consistently.

We obviously -- our priority is to reach as many children. It's an enormous challenge. We work mainly through local community NGOs and some international NGOs that are still working there. We're basically prioritizing nutrition, supplementary feeding, therapeutic feeding for the worst cases. We're trying to get water.

We're reaching 1.2 million people with emergency water supplies. So we have got a massive immunization campaign going on in different parts of the country to prevent the outbreak of disease. So, we can reach children. We can make a difference. And I don't want to pretend that it's easy. And I don't want to pretend it isn't a huge logistical challenge. I don't want to pretend that there's not challenges in access.

And obviously there's been a huge challenge of funding. The Horn of Africa crisis has been pending. It's been looming. We have all been saying that this famine could happen. And, unfortunately, the money and the political will has never materialized until now.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOEMEN: So now we're dealing with the worst of it.

BALDWIN: I saw that the U.S. assistant secretary of African affairs said in this recent briefing that this militant terrorist organization Al-Shabab is now saying, OK, we will let you in certain areas in which they sort of have this grip of control.

If that is even the case, if they agree to let people in and other groups, like U.N., World Food Program, to deliver some food, much-needed food, how can they even guarantee that that food doesn't fall in terrorists' hands? BLOEMEN: I think, look, we're talking about the lives of the children that you just saw. So I think we have to take some risks.

I think that we landed supplies last week in Baidoa. It was the first airlift of supplies for two years.

BALDWIN: Wow.

BLOEMEN: We have been able to distribute them successfully.

I think we have to keep our priority on saving lives and preventing more people from having to flee and risk death en route.

So I think, look, we don't know what is going to happen. There are lots of unpredictable aspects of obviously dealing in a country where there isn't a proper government, where there isn't proper -- it's a failed economy. It's an insecure environment.

But I think -- I think, slowly, but surely, we just have to do what we can and test the waters and see how much access we can get. The tragedy at the moment is we're not going to reach all those children we need with what we are doing now. So we're trying to double our efforts. But we need a miracle in a way to reach everyone who's in need. But I think every life we save is critical, and I think that's what we have to prioritize.

BALDWIN: What you said just gave me goose bumps, that this has been the first time in two years that they've been able to drop food in this particular area. That just shows how dire, how difficult the situation is.

(AUDIO GAP)

BALDWIN: -- thank you for calling in from Nairobi. Amazing.

And if you want to find out how you can make a difference to help these children, these victims of the famine in east Africa, all you have to do is visit out "Impact your World" page. Just go to CNN.com/Impact.

Coming up next, an ugly showdown in the south. The Memphis, Tennessee school board refuses to start classes until the city shows them the money. Plus, the TSA's apparently heard your complaints loud and clear. Those full body scanners that revealed some may say a little too much, well, they're going to be a thing of the past. We're going to explain, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Quick check of the day's top stories, including a leopard on the attack in India. Look at these images. Look at this. Six people were mauled by this stray leopard after it wandered into a village in India, a wild leopard, I should say. Apparently it was spooked by a crowd of curious people. The forestry department made several attempts to tranquilize the leopard, and it was eventually caught. Also a showdown in Memphis with school children caught in the middle of this. The school board says it will not open schools until the city pays up -- pays $55 million it owes to the school district. The board says it needs the money to open the doors, but the mayor says he is working toward a resolution and he believes school will start on time. Teachers are supposed to go back to work August 1st, kids on August 8th.

And the TSA is announcing it is moving toward replacing the actual passenger images from body scanners with a generic outline. The TSA says it's trying to enhance the passenger privacy while maintaining your port security standards. The new technology will allow passengers to see the same image as the TSA officer.

Brand news developments today involving 9/11 families and the hacking scandal. That is coming up. And later, he is being called the new Susan Boyle. The 22-year-old Korean who is wowing the world with his voice. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, this just into us here at CNN. A new development in the "News of the World" hacking scandal today. The FBI, the Department of Justice have agreed to meet with 9/11 families to discuss a report alleging the "News of the World" attempted to hack into their loved ones' phone records. No date has been set yet for the meeting. National correspondent Susan Candiotti has been digging on this. Susan, just bring me up to speed. What are you hearing?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. Well, of course the families have been wanting this meeting for the longest time, since last week after the FBI launched an investigation to look into this report in a British tabloid. The tabloid, citing an unnamed source, said that or alleged that a New York investigator had been contacted by the "News of the World" to be hired to try to hack into phone records and voice mails of 9/11 families.

So the FBI doesn't know at this point whether that report is true. That's what they're looking at. But as soon as they heard about it, 9/11 families said we want to meet with the FBI. We want to meet with the U.S. attorney general himself to discuss this allegation, this suspicion, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Now that we know this meeting will be happening, this meeting that as you mentioned, these 9/11 victims have been demanding for some time, do you think given what you're hearing from your sources, will the meeting resolve things or might it result in a full- blown investigation?

CANDIOTTI: You know, that's really unclear because the Justice Department went to great pains to point out to the family that we will not only discuss with you just this allegation, but we're going to make it about all kinds of issues, ongoing issues that we know that you have concerns about.

And certainly, Brooke, when the FBI is conducting an investigation they're certainly not going to lay out details of what they've gathered so far. They don't do it to the public and they certainly don't do it to the press.

So the families, on the other hand, are insistent to say we are happy to cooperate. If you want to look at our old phone records to see whether there's any information to make things easier on you, we're happy to sign any agreements to turn over that -- that information to you and see what happens. So it's far too early to say whether it will go beyond that.

BALDWIN: But at least we know it is now finally happening. Susan Candiotti from New York, thanks.

And coming up next, move over Susan Boyle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. So the guy's got some pipes. Did you know they have a TV showed "Korea's Got Talent"? They just unearthed this, a 22-year-old with an amazing voice. And his background makes it even more remarkable. We'll tell you more about his story and more on his singing coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Oh, yes. Remember Susan Boyle and her amazing voice that blew everyone away, moved some people to tears on "Britain's Got Talent," remember that? Well now "Korea's Got Talent" has discovered its own Susan Boyle. He is 22 years of age, describes himself of a day fly, living on the street, sleeping in staircases and public toilets as a kid.

It's a choice story and performance are now an Internet sensation. And that is why today it's trending. Watch this from my colleague, Paula Hancocks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Trying to calm those last- minute nerves, Sung-Bong Choi seems just like thousands of other hopefuls on "Korea's Got Talent." But he's not.

For the next 10 years, Choi lived on the streets selling gum and energy drinks. He slept in stairwells or public toilets. And then came this.

(SINGING)

HANCOCKS: This powerful baritone voice from a 22-year-old is as impressive as his determination to pull himself from the streets to the stage. His rendition of the Italian song "My Fantasy" reduced the judges and the audience to tears. Choi says he still feels a little uncomfortable being part of the competition.

But he did make it through, coming out on top in the first round of the semifinals. He told the judges he's both scared and excited by the attention. He's thankful he made it on to the show.

(on camera) Choi He has become an internet sensation. So far well over 10 million people have watched him on YouTube. And the fact that Korea usually rigorously trains and grooms its pop stars before debuting them makes Choi's raw talent and success even more impressive.

(voice-over) He's a favorite to win the competition. And even if he doesn't, one of the judges pledged to help him with his voice training the first time she heard him sing.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Is that not amazing? That is amazing, Paula Hancocks. Thanks for telling his story.

Coming up next, the motto of the millennials -- live happy and at home with your parents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON SWINCHER, MILLENNIAL: You get a lot of the privileges of being an adult without necessarily all of the responsibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Why generation y is reversing course and breaking with tradition. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: They may be the biggest boomerang generation in history. The babies of the baby boomers who are now young adults -- they're known as millennials or generation y, their parents are asking why are you still living at home? Poppy Harlow explores that as she looks into the mindset of the millennials.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) POPPY HARLOW, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Another morning, another wake-up call from dad for 25-year-old Preston Swinsure. Like so many millennials, or gen Y-ers, Preston lives at home.

PRESTON SWINCHER, MILLENNIAL: You get the privileges of being an adult without all the responsibilities.

DR. JOHN BUTLER, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: The inability to get out of the house.

HARLOW: That's just one of the traits of the roughly 50 million millennials between 18 and 29 years old.

BUTLER: This is a generation that will say well, I got a job mom and dad, but you know what, I didn't like it, and I quit it.

SWINCHER: I think work-life balance is part of it. It's this idea that you can have your cake and eat it, too.

HARLOW (on camera): That's not asking for too much?

SWINCHER: No, of course not.

HARLOW (voice-over): Preston works for fellow millennial Jason Dorsey.

JASON DORSEY, GENERATION Y CONSULTANT: They want all the freedom and none of the responsibility.

HARLOW: And that can drive employers crazy. Jason Dorsey is cashing in on it by helping employers understand it.

DORSEY: The CEO calls me up. "Jason, we need you. Our Gen-Y- ers are driving us crazy. Their pants are falling off.

HARLOW: Dorsey rakes in up to $25,000 per speech, teaching a slew of Fortune 500 companies how to work with his generation.

(on camera) What are the defining characteristic of millennials?

DORSEY: The biggest one I hear about the most, and I'm guilty of it have been a millennial, is this sense of entitlement. It's showing up and just feeling like people owe you things.

HARLOW: So why do companies want to hire millennials?

DORSEY: When we show up, we want to make a difference from day one, which is totally huge. That's why we think we should be vice president, right?

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW (voice-over): The generational divide in the request work place is clear.

DORSEY: If you're a gen y, for example, and you're managing a Gen-X-er, how do you communicate with them? They're skeptical. You quote data, and they go, well, where did you get your data from? You're like Wikipedia. And they're like, we don't believe that.

HARLOW: What we found that's very interesting is a lot of these millennials think they're special, that they're different, and they don't fit in the mold of the traditional millennials.

And then there are the doting parents. How often do you come by and bring food and make dinner?

ROBIN DESIMIO, MOTHER: Whenever I either get invited or not invited, I'm here, so --

(LAUGHTER)

DORSEY: She doesn't want to say because it's embarrassing.

HARLOW: But millennials may just have a better perspective on life than generations before them.

SWINCHER: I definitely don't want to get rich.

HARLOW: Really?

SWINCHER: That's what we've been told from a young age. Do what makes you happy.

DORSEY: The irony is millennials just want something they can put on Facebook.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Facebook. Poppy Harlow, I want to go back to the guy who's making $25,000 for a speaking engagement. Tell me he's not living with mom and dad still.

HARLOW: No, he's not. He has a pretty sweet house on his own. You make that kind of money and it's not hard. But his mom comes over almost every night and brings dinner and helps with the kids and brings flowers. And I was more thinking like that sounds great.

But, you know, it is an interesting thing with this generation. And I'll tell you how involved their parents get. I'm part of this generation, but a lot of parents get so involved, Brooke. He told us a story, Jason who consults with companies about Gen-Y's, one time he had a company that told them a mother of one of his employees called because he wasn't happy with the son's review, tried to get the boss fired for giving a bad review. So you see this sort of over- involvement of parents a lot in this generation and it affects the kids in the work place. It's very, very interesting.

BALDWIN: But when you have mom and dad waking your child up at age 29 at 10:45 in the morning, I think mom and dad get to have a little bit of involvement and say, I guess. Poppy Harlow, great piece, thank you so much. And still to come here we're getting now some new developments just coming into us here at CNN that eight-year-old boy -- do you remember this from last week, murdered in Brooklyn? We're learning how little Leiby Kletzky was killed. We have much more on the story, news just in from the medical examiner's office. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time now for your "CNN Equals Politics" update. With that as always we go to Wolf Blitzer with the latest news hot off the Political Ticker.

Mr. Blitzer, what do you have?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": I'm going to tell you, I love that piece you just had on about that singer.

BALDWIN: Don't you love that?

BLITZER: That was so moving. I could see your eyes beginning to get a little moist, am I right or wrong?

BALDWIN: A little bit.

BLITZER: Did you get a little emotional?

BALDWIN: I love hearing Italian opera and hearing him sing.

BLITZER: What a story, too. Beautiful.

All right, let me tell you about some politics going on. Your eyes are not going to get moist hearing about the Political Ticker stuff, but I'll tell you what's going on.

(LAUGHTER)

We're getting ready. The president is meeting with Democrats, Democratic leaders, Republican leaders. He's desperately searching for some sort of breakthrough. We did hear a little bit of a tweak in the White House position. Remember last week, and you do remember this, Brooke, I'm sure. He said he was not going to go along with a 30 day, a 60-day, a 90-day, or even a 120-day whatever extension, some stopgap, short-term measure.

Today the White House is saying if it's necessary for a few days, he's willing to go along with an extension beyond the August 2 deadline in order to avoid default and get some sort of bigger deal. He likes this -- the framework of this gang of six proposal. And I saw your interview with Senator Coburn, very good interview. He likes that.

And a lot of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate like it. The question is, do they have 218 votes in the House of Representatives, because there are a lot of Republicans as you know, Brooke, in the house who don't want any tax increases whatsoever. And there are plenty of Democrats in the house who don't want to fool around with Social Security, Medicare, entitlements whatsoever.

We're go I think to get two representatives in the House of Representatives in "THE SITUATION ROOM" later today, Debbie Wasserman Shultz, who also happens to be the chair of the Democratic party. She's a liberal Democrats from South Florida. She's got a lot to say about this.

Also Jason Chaffetz -- he's a Tea Party leader. He's a conservative Republican from Utah who was the author of that legislation that passed the House yesterday, has a very different perspective. We'll get their different views on what's going on, because the real battle is not going to be necessarily in the Senate, it's going to be in the House of Representatives. So we'll see what happens there.

One final note, Pete Hoekstra, the former chairman of the House intelligence commission from Michigan, he announced that he's going to challenge Debbie Stabenow, the incumbent Democratic senator of Michigan next year. Pete Hoekstra throwing his hat in the ring. So we'll see what happens in Michigan. That will be lively, no doubt about that -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, Wolf, thank you so much.

And Wolf, I don't know if you've seen this yet. Take a good long look with me. You, too, folks.

I want to remind everyone. Look, no excuses not to watch Wolf Blitzer, myself, or just keep up on your news. CNN and HLN are the very first news network in the U.S. to stream 24-hour news online on a mobile devices, which means even if you're not in front of a TV, no excuses. You can still watch me and all your other favorites live. All you have to do is go to CNN.com/video.