Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Dow Plummets; Violence in Great Britain; Interview With New York Republican Representative Peter King; Youth Gang in South Apprehended; New Information Emerges About Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan; Case of Robyn Conner: Missing in Aruba; Therapy Dogs in Courtrooms Garner Controversy; Violence, Looting Spreads Across U.K.; U.S. Plans to Ask Syrian President to Go; Tiger Woods Second Divorce

Aired August 10, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

(BELL RINGING)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: So, I know, Jason, the numbers are settling, the Dow down 525, compared to, what was it, yesterday, we were up some 429 points.

I know I also have Alison Kosik standing by and Poppy Harlow as well.

Poppy, let me actually just go to you, because would you believe I had a dinner conversation about QE3, quantitative easing? And I don't want to get into all the mumbo jumbo here in terms of financial talk. But I know that that was one issue that a lot of people were sort of maybe looking for the Fed to do when they came out with that statement right around 2:15 yesterday.

If you can, explain what that is and why perhaps part of that attributes to the lackluster numbers today.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

Well, it could. You know, we're talking, folks, about the announcement that we got from the Fed yesterday about 2:15 in the afternoon. The Fed sets monetary policy. They're able to do quantitative easing, which essentially means buying up a bunch of bonds, injecting the economy with a stimulus. They have done it twice already in the past year.

Some folks were expecting they would announce they were doing it again yesterday. They did not say that, so you might have seen some market disappointment to that. But, Brooke, I just want to reiterate that there's no rationality here.

BALDWIN: Yes.

HARLOW: After the Fed's announcement, we saw stocks rise 429 points on the Dow. The S&P 500 ended even higher than that. We had just a killer last hour of the session. Now we have had the exact opposite reaction. We have seen a major sell-off today in that last hour and even the final minutes of trading.

BALDWIN: What is driving this?

HARLOW: There is nothing driving it. I just talked to a man who is short on stocks, which basically means that he makes money when the market goes down. So he is doing well right now. Most of aren't.

And I said, what is driving this? Is there any rationality? He said this is all macro. This is not necessarily about one statement from the Fed. This isn't about individual stocks or companies and their earnings because as we have said for a week now, these companies are doing great overall. Their earnings, some of them are record. That's not reflected in the market. He said this is all macroeconomic. This is big fears about Europe and sovereign debt there.

A lot of chatter today about whether or not France is going to see its credit rating downgraded, just like we here in the U.S. got on Friday night. He said -- and this is a quote -- fear and greed is driving this marketplace right now. You see stocks get really cheap. Investors come in, pick them up and then you see them sell off again. There is simply no rationality to this market.

The statement we got from the Federal Reserve yesterday, Brooke, was very, very bleak. And we saw the biggest rally we have seen in weeks. It doesn't make any sense.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Yes, it makes no sense. Like we said, if we all had answers, we would be on a yacht somewhere because we could figure it all out. Right now, we can't.

And I think Jason Weisberg would agree with me.

Jason, I'm just curious here. When you were there on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, what, back in the fall of 2008, when it was so, so bleak post-Lehman, I mean, are we at a place where we really should start comparing what it was like then, how we fixed it and where we are today?

JASON WEISBERG, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SEAPORT SECURITIES CORPORATION: Well, I will tell you that it did feel back then like it was a financial apocalypse. It doesn't feel like that now.

The problem is, and Poppy touched on it earlier, is that this is really momentum-driven. And there's a void of bids and offers. When you see the momentum players step in or the fast money guys that just want to do the quick trade, when they go to buy stock or sell stock, there are no corresponding bids or offers to what they're trying to do.

So it's very easy to move stocks very violently in a very quick fashion. And it's reflected in the indexes. We didn't have that back then. It was everyone trying to jump out of an exit at once, where, here, there's just no real interest, long-term interest. And that's why the index is whipping around so quickly. BALDWIN: So then, given what you just said, let's say fast money guys aside, and let's just talk about your normal American who's got some money in stocks and they're looking at these numbers again today -- you know, yesterday they were thinking, whew, today, not so much. How does this affect him or her?

WEISBERG: Well, other than an acute case of motion sickness, I think that if people can't -- they don't have the wherewithal to handle the beta or these large volatility swings, they probably don't want to be in the market or they probably want to take some money off the table and limit their exposure...

BALDWIN: So a little cash on hand?

WEISBERG: ... until things kind of normalize.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

Poppy Harlow, jump in. You want to ask Jason a question?

HARLOW: Yes.

Hey, Jason. I don't know how you guys are getting through the day down there, given this volatility. But my question to you is, I have more and more people coming to me and saying, you know, how much of this is triggered because of the electric marketplace right now, the fact that there are all these electronic trades that a lot of the algorithms set up and the big trading stocks are selling at certain prices, buying at certain prices?

The average investor I got to tell you, Jason, right now is coming to me and saying I feel like I can't win in this marketplace, like something is rigged. This is the new reality of how the market works. How much would you say this is attributed to just automatic buying and selling?

WEISBERG: I would say 95 percent, you know, and that's not a scientific percentage, but one of the outcomes of 2008 and then more recently was the flash crash.

And the study that really the government got to the bottom of nothing was that without the short tick rule, forcing people to short sell on a plus tick, and having a fragmented marketplace, like you had mentioned, with all these algorithms and different ECNs and alternative trading mechanisms, it makes it very difficult to price things property.

And that inefficiency, that pricing inefficiency is being reflected in the trading activity that we see today. And the only way to do that is to kind of try to create a more central environment for trading, what used to exist when it just Nasdaq and NYSE.

Now, I realize you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, but there needs to be some form or some form -- just a form of consolidation in trading venues and platforms to make it a little more sane. BALDWIN: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Brooke, I think this is -- sorry -- a very scary reality for people that are seeing their 401(k)s, their IRAs, their pensions hit so hard right now is that he said this is 95 percent due to what big institutional traders and the folks on Wall Street are doing with the automated technology.

And people need to be aware of that. This may be a game that you just can't play in right now.

BALDWIN: OK, Poppy.

(CROSSTALK)

WEISBERG: Poppy, just to that point...

BALDWIN: Jason, go ahead.

WEISBERG: ... it's not only institutional players. Institutional players are running 401(k) money.

BALDWIN: Right.

WEISBERG: This really involves high-frequency traders and event- driven hedge funds. These aren't like the fidelities of the world that are running 401(k) moneys for people. They're not participating in strategies like this.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Guys, let me jump in, because I do want to bring Alison Kosik.

Jason, I heard your phrase. I'm still sort of thinking about how it doesn't feel -- what did you say, as financially apocalyptic as it did back in 2008.

But I know, Alison, you have been talking to some other folks there at the New York Stock Exchange. And my question is, as we talked earlier about the R-word, recession, is all the volatility that we have been seeing really for weeks, since what, was it July 22, is this leading to more worries about another recession?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And what's funny is you have got Jason on the phone and I literally walked up to him today and asked him that. And he said no, but he is in the minority.

I also asked a bunch of other traders that question and they think what you're seeing is the growing likelihood of another recession being priced into the market as we speak. We're watching it happen, seeing these huge, just jaw-dropping moves that I realize are computer-generated. We saw just now at the closing bell, we saw a 150-point move down within minutes. It's truly incredible, Brooke. BALDWIN: Like we said, and I think the headline sums it up, the fear is back.

Jason Weisberg, Poppy Harlow, Alison Kosik, thank you all.

Again, the Dow down 519 points here, again, as I have been saying, echoing 2008. Thank you all.

And now watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: It is suddenly the most powerful group in Washington. You have six Republicans, six Democrats. They will all be sitting in this one room determining what gets cut and who gets spared. More on the mystery surrounding this super Congress now taking shape.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no preparing for it.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Revenge for the war zone attack that left 30 Americans dead.

LT. GEN. JOHN ALLEN, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCES COMMANDER-DESIGNATE: We tracked them. We dealt with them.

BALDWIN: We will take you behind this kill mission targeting the Taliban's highest ranks.

Plus:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started CPR on my own son. My face was covered in blood.

BALDWIN: A dad watches his son die as cities burn. We will take you inside the U.K. chaos.

And drama at sea. A boat sinks in 30 seconds and one item on board saves three lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, as we just saw, Alison Kosik has just told us, Ali Velshi has just told us, traders, heads of businesses, Jason Weisberg just told us they all want -- from Wall Street, they want a sign from government that the government now is serious about getting its books in order, which brings us to the so-called super committee.

It is now coming together. We're getting some names.

Joe Johns is in Washington parsing through some of these names here.

Joe, who do you have?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke.

Well, Max Baucus, chair of the Finance Committee, that's a pretty well-known name, thought to be a deal-maker. John Kerry, former presidential candidate, there he is, probably one of the most controversial names we have heard so far. Right there is the Senator from Washington Patty Murray. She's also the person who runs the Senate group that tries to elect Democrats to the United States Senate. So she's taken some heat.

Those are the Democrats. The Republicans that have been named so far are on the Senate side Jon Kyl of Arizona. He's a member of the leadership, also a member of the Senate Finance Committee. Pat Toomey, this is a freshman United States senator who's a Republican, also ran before he came to the Senate the Club for Growth, which is a conservative organization interested in, among other things, keeping taxes down.

Rob Portman, former budget director for President Bush, is a senator from the state of Ohio and gets some credit as trying to reach across the aisle, even got some credit just today from his Democratic counterpart, the senator from Ohio.

Now, on the House side, among the Republicans, the first one that stands out is Jeb Hensarling. This is the House Republican Conference chairman, member of the leadership, along with Fred Upton, who is the chairman of House Energy Committee, and Dave Camp, who is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

So that's where we stand right now. We have got nine members so far. There are three more members to be named. Those names will be given to us by Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader. She has until Tuesday to do that. Looks like she's kind of keeping her powder dry for now -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, so, so far, nine out of 12, that's who's in.

But let's talk about who is not in, a name many people thought perhaps would have been, Paul Ryan, the Republican debt-cutting guru. Where is he?

JOHNS: Right. Well, he said he didn't want to do it, frankly. I mean, he is the House budget chairman. He's also kind of a lightning rod, probably attract some controversy.

He came up with a budget plan that didn't go anywhere and actually it would have cut more from the budget than this, you know, idea that they came up with and passed in order to raise the debt ceiling.

So he said he didn't want to do it and he has plenty to do as House Budget Committee chairman and that's why we don't see his name on the list.

BALDWIN: OK, thanks, but no thanks from Paul Ryan. Let's see what the country is saying about, Joe Johns, cutting the debt. Take a look at some of these numbers. This is a poll released just today. Here we go. Should deficit reduction include major cuts to the military? Forty-seven percent say no; 53 percent say yes.

How about domestic spending cuts? Take a look here -- 57 percent say, yes, do it, 40 percent no. Medicare, Social Security, 35 percent say cut them -- 64 percent say no way. One more -- 63 percent say, yes, raise those taxes on the wealthy and so-called job creators.

So, Joe Johns, it sounds as though the American people and Wall Street and the ratings agencies, you know, they are unanimous. They're saying, folks in Washington, hey, you know, do what you got to do but do something.

Do you think the message is getting through there?

JOHNS: Well, that's the speculation. I mean, when these people get together in a room, there's going to be a cacophony of voices, if you will, saying a variety of things. Those polls, of course, one- snap shot of where America is.

Plus this downgrade adds pressure on them too. You look at everything going on in the country right now and these guys are going to start feeling the pressure to go ahead and do something. Because if they don't, if they get to the point around Thanksgiving and then Christmas and they haven't completed this work and come up with an agreement, well, then we could have a bunch of cuts that go into place sort of automatically. These are the triggers that affect both Democratic interest and Republican interests, and they could be a lot more harsh than you know what these guys could do in a room.

BALDWIN: Trigger mechanisms, I think, the president this week, though, hoping whatever you want to say, pressure, urgency, forces this committee to cut and compromise.

Joe, thank you very much.

And now watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: First of all, the claims are ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Is the Obama administration leaking top secret information about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden? Are they giving out these classified details to a Hollywood movie director? Congressman Peter King is calling for an investigation. The congressman is going to join me live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: A big potentially blow-up a new one, appears to be brewing in Washington. In the middle of this is Representative Peter King, the Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee.

And what we're talking about is this film about the killing of Osama bin Laden both blessed and aided by the Obama administration, due to the released about a month before the election next year. Congressman King, none too thrilled about any of this.

Congressman King, why not? What's the issue?

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Well, Brooke, the issue is that ever since May 1st -- and by the way, I gave President Obama tremendous credit for carrying out the operation. This is not a partisan shot at President Obama at all.

But for the last 90 days, we have had sensitive information on top of sensitive information being released by this administration. So many press reports about CIA operations. The fact that there were Navy SEALs at all. The fact that there was going to be a CIA operation back to the compound to examine the helicopter. We see reports in "The New Yorker" last week giving a minute-by-minute account of what happened regarding Pakistani airspace.

I've been contacted by so many people in the intelligence community over the last 90 days outraged over so much sensitive material. And not just me, Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

BALDWIN: Have they called you up personally?

KING: Admiral Olsen from Special Operations.

They have made public statements saying how too much information has come out and it's time to shut up.

Now to find out on top of this the administration is cooperating with a Hollywood movie after leaking so much sensitive information over the last 90 days --

BALDWIN: Let me get to that.

KING: -- I can only -- yes, sure.

BALDWIN: Let me get to that, Congressman, because, I know, listen, I read your letter talking about this potential investigation. You cite this particular column in "The Times," and the quote is that the movie makers -- let's see, "The movie makers are getting classified information from an administration that tried to put more people in jail for leaking classified information than the Bush administration."

Well, so we finally did hear from the White House today., Jay Carney in the briefing just about an hour or so ago, you know, was asked about this top level access in the briefing. Here was Jay Carney's response. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: First of all, the claims are ridiculous. When people, including you in this room, are working on articles, books, documentaries or movies that involve the president, ask to speak to administration officials, we do our best to accommodate them. That is hardly a novel approach to the media.

We do not discuss classified information and I would hope as we face a continued threat from terrorism, the House Committee on Homeland Security would have more important topics to discus than a movie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Congressman King, your reaction?

KING: Well, obviously, someone wrote out a statement for Jay Carney and he has no idea what he's talking about. This administration has revealed classified information, sensitive information step-by-step for the last 90 days.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me just jump in. How do you know that? Can you share how you know that definitively?

KING: There's no one else that it would be coming from except the administration. The fact that it was Navy SEALs that were involved, SEAL Team Six, that came from the White House.

The fact that you can look at press reports of a doctor in Pakistan who is in jail today because in somebody the administration said how we were using him.

When you talk about -- for instance, the article in "The New Yorker" last week, the fact that the administration said the CIA was going back in to try to retrieve the helicopter, they announced that before the operation was carried out.

There's been all this information -- I'm on the intelligence committee. Two days after the operation, we received sensitive information. More than ever, we were told this could should not be revealed, ever.

BALDWIN: Congressman King --

KING: Well, within days, it was coming out step by step.

BALDWIN: I understand. I did, you know, I picked up the phone, I talked to our folks in the Pentagon, and they said absolutely. Katherine Bigelow has been to the Pentagon since bin Laden was killed, she worked on this film, she's now changed the story line because of this death of bin Laden.

Now I know she met with -- they have a movie liaison in the Pentagon who sort of reads these scripts -- by the way, there's not even a script yet on this movie. And she also met with the undersecretary of intelligence who I am told, and I'm quoting, went out of his way not to reveal any classified information about the ride.

So some people coming forward saying with everything going on in Washington, sir, this potential investigation, isn't it a little silly?

KING: Absolutely not. How can you say that? We're talking about revealing classified information that would put American lives at risk. And this -- what the administration has done for 90 days -- if they hadn't done it up until now, I'd say OK, but they have such a horrible track record.

It's embarrassing what they've done. It's putting lives at risk. And that's why so many people in the intelligence community have been outraged with what they're doing in the last 90 days.

And on top of that, if we can't trust them to keep classified information in the last 90 days, how can we trust them when they're dealing with a Hollywood script writer, especially someone involved in a previous movie, Miss Bigelow, where the Defense Department had to break off its contacts with because she violated her agreement on "The Hurt Locker."

BALDWIN: When are you officially going to launch the investigation?

KING: I'm not -- I've asked the Inspectors General of the CIA and the Inspectors General of the Defense Department to report back on what steps are being taken to ensure that absolutely no sensitive or classified information is given to Hollywood.

BALDWIN: This movie, also, when you look at the timing comes out in October, before a massive, massive election in our country. How do you feel about that?

KING: Well, you know, that's almost a secondary issue except it puts a cloud over the whole project. And I've been told by people in the intelligence community, in CIA, when they agreed to cooperate, they were never, ever told that this was going to come out three weeks before the election. And that took them totally by surprise and some of them look upon it as a breach of faith.

BALDWIN: We're going to follow up on this for sure.

Peter King, we thank you very much. Appreciate it.

KING: Thank you. Thank you.

BALDWIN: The manhunt is over. Three sibling fugitives, armed, dangerous, on the run, right now behind the bars. Wait till you hear how this whole bust went down this morning. We're going to hear from the sheriff next. And we will go back to Wall Street where the markets take a look -- oh, look who it is. Teddy Weisberg. If you're nervous about the numbers, Teddy has the answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, we now have standing by a 43-year veteran trader from the New York Stock Exchange, Teddy Weisberg for me.

Teddy, I talked to your son earlier. He was comparing now versus a couple of years ago in 2008. And he said the numbers we say, he said the mood isn't quite as financially apocalyptic. Would you agree? How did today feel for you?

TEDDY WEISBERG, TRADER: Well, I guess that's an observation through the eyes of youth. To me you get in markets like this, it's always upsetting, always very disturbing. It gets real expensive, investors get nervous. You find yourself doing a lot of hand holding and you really don't have any hard answers that people are looking for.

It's just a process that you have to go through. I mean, markets do this from time to time. It's never quite understandable or explainable, but it is a knee-jerk reaction, of course, to all the negative issues that are swirling around us, both economic and geopolitical.

And it's -- the market will just find its levels. Stocks will tell us when they're ready. Perhaps that's not so far away, but we'll just have to wait for that to happen.

BALDWIN: You've been the voice of calm here. It's tough to be calm when you have money in the market and it's down 519 points. What is your advice today?

WEISBERG: First of all, we were up net-net down 100. It was 500 today and up 400 yesterday. But down is still down. I think the advice would simply be the same. It's not a zero sum game. The sun will come up tomorrow and there is value being created all around us in the stock market, and for those folks who have a little patience and still have some money left, perhaps there's some opportunities here that will prove to be very rewarding at some point down the road.

Unfortunately, we have to get through all the issues that we're dealing with economically in this country at the moment, not the least of which are the downgrades and all the problems we're having in Washington in dealing with some of these problems.

But this, too, shall pass. Markets don't go to zero. Maybe we're going lower. I don't know. Nobody has a crystal ball. But, you know, we'll all get up tomorrow, life will go on. And I think it should be viewed more perhaps as a potential opportunity rather than something to scare people to death, which it's doing at the moment.

BALDWIN: It is indeed. I appreciate your optimism, but for a lot of people I think the fear is pervasive. Teddy Weisberg, I thank you. I'm sure we'll be talking again soon, sir, thank you so much.

And now to a story a lot of you have been following. Let's talk about these fugitive siblings, the three known as the Dougherty gang. They were busted just a couple of hours ago in Colorado. The crime spree that put them on the FBI's most wanted list ended pretty much as it began, bullets flying and a high-speed car chase. That chase ended in a crash. Take a look at these images. That is the Dougherty's car, smashed up, nose in the dirt, up against the guardrail. I did speak to the Colorado sheriff who spotted the Dougherty's car at a convenience store. Take a listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRK TAYLOR, SHERIFF, PUEBLO COUNTY, COLORADO: We spotted them at the convenience store. We contacted the state patrol because of the proximity to I-25, which is the main artery that goes north to south in Colorado. So before we could get our resources in place, they took off, followed by the sheriff's officer. A sheriff's deputy followed them. They patrolled and engaged in the pursuit. They went another 20, 25 miles or so south to a little town in Colorado, and that's where the accident actually occurred. During the chase, there were some shots fired by the individuals in the vehicle at the law enforcement officers.

BALDWIN: Were shots going both ways? I was watching a press conference down in Florida, Pascoe County, and that sheriff there said that the sister, Grace Lee, was actually shot in her arm, the brother tried to run. Can you confirm that for me?

TAYLOR: All I can confirm to you is that the officers were shot at. Any of the other details, I'm not able to relate to you at this time.

BALDWIN: Are the officers OK?

TAYLOR: Yes. No law enforcement officers at all were injured. All three passengers were injured, a different amount on each person. So they are being treated right now. After they are treated and released -- none of the injuries were life-threatening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: We have now learned one of those injuries, it was the big sister, Grace Lee. She was the one who hopped out of the car after it crashed on the guardrail. She was shot in her leg. Lee Grace, excuse me, who tried to get out of there, shot in her leg.

The Dougherty's crime spree began more than a week ago in Florida with a shootout with police. They're also wanted in Georgia for an armed bank robbery.

Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOHN ALLEN, COMMANDER, ISAF AND U.S. FORCES: This does not ease our loss, but we must and we will continue to relentlessly pursue the enemy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Revenge for the attack that killed 30 Americans in Afghanistan. We will tell you what happened during this kill mission. Plus there's breaking news with how much SEALs were actually killed. We're live at the Pentagon.

Also just getting word that a teacher has been found dead inside of a classroom, lying in a pool of blood, and a student is in custody. Those breaking details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are getting word that police found a teacher dead inside a classroom. This teacher apparently found lying in a pool of blood. Where did this happen? It happened in a private school in Memphis, Tennessee. We're told police have detained a 17-year-old student. Of course, we're making phone calls, monitoring the investigation, updates as soon as we get them.

I do have an update for you now on the nation's deadliest single incident in the war in Afghanistan. Allied commanders say they have killed the insurgents who fired what is believed to be a rocket- propelled grenade that took down that Chinook helicopter Saturday morning in Afghanistan. And 30 U.S. troops were killed in last week's crash, including a number of Navy SEALs. But the number of SEALs killed, that is changing.

I want to bring in Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, we had initially thought there were 20 SEALs onboard. How is that changing?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, (APPLAUSE) for some days now since this happened, the U.S. military indicate 22 Navy SEALs onboard that helicopter. What we now know is there were 17 SEALs, five sailors, Navy personnel who had more conventional jobs but were working with the SEALs at that time, things like dog handlers, communication specialists. And we are not forgetting the air force and army personnel that were onboard.

So not 22 SEALs, 17 SEALs, Brooke. Nonetheless, as you see their faces, there has been a response from the U.S. military to the insurgents in Afghanistan. General John Allen, the top U.S. commander in the war briefing Pentagon reporters earlier today said that overnight on Monday they conducted an air strike against a compound in eastern Afghanistan, and that they got the insurgents and in particular the shooter that they strongly believe was responsible for all of this.

Listen to what General Allen had to say.

I'm sorry, I guess we don't have that sound. My apologies. General Allen saying that they launched an air strike and got the Taliban insurgents responsible for all of this. But, you know, still there are going to be questions as the investigation goes on about so many people onboard one large, slow- moving Chinook helicopter. A lot of questions about how all of this happened, especially because we now also know that helicopter as it flew into land came under fire from multiple directions. So they were really caught, 30 souls lost, all remembered. The investigation has an awful lot to look into now.

BALDWIN: So many Americans celebrating this particular Navy SEAL unit not too many months ago. Quite a different tone, especially yesterday at Dover. Barbara Starr, thank you very much.

STARR: Sure.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, an American disappears in Aruba. We're told the guy she's traveling with is behind bars. The mysterious messages they left behind and how they met may break this case wide open.

Plus, in some courtrooms, dogs, did you know this? Dogs are used to comfort witnesses on the stand. But defense lawyers are up in arms over this. Why? Sunny Hostin will tell us next. She's on the case, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A therapy dog named Rosie caught in the middle of this legal battle, and a deja vu case just slightly here with an American woman missing in Aruba. Sunny Hostin is on the case as always. And Sunny, we want to begin with this woman here, missing in Aruba. Take a look at her picture. Her name is Robin Gardner from Maryland. She was last seen on August 2.

And I know a lot of people -- look, it's easy to do this, drawing parallels with Natalee Holloway, another American woman disappeared from Aruba back in 2005. But it's important to point out these are very different circumstances here, are they not?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: They really are because the man she was last seen with she met online. They actually traveled to Aruba together both from Maryland. So that was a very different circumstance than Natalee Holloway. This woman is 35. Natalee Holloway was a teenager celebrating her senior trip and met someone from Aruba and then of course has never been found.

BALDWIN: And you mention, this woman, Robin Gardner, she met this man online she goes to Aruba with. Who is he, what do you know about him? And what are police looking for from him?

HOSTIN: Certainly they want to know what happened. He was the last person that she was seen with. His name is Gary Giordano. He's 50-year-old. He's from Maryland. They traveled to Aruba July 31. They went snorkeling together August 2. And he claimed that she never came to shore. He does have a criminal history, Brooke, in Maryland. Two women, one, his ex-wife, they filed orders of protection against him. So perhaps a violent person. And the Aruban police certainly have him for questioning.

BALDWIN: OK, so they're questioning him.

Now, something I didn't realize, you could have dogs in a courtroom. But it makes sense. There's a case of Rosie the therapy dog. Rosie here was allowed to be in a witness box to comfort a teenage girl who was on the stand testifying that her father had raped her and not only that, actually got her pregnant. So her father was convicted, but now, Sunny Hostin, lawyers for the father are crying foul. Why?

HOSTIN: They sure are. She sparked this legal debate because they are saying that it is possibly that Rosie swayed the jury. In Rosie comforting this poor young girl -- she's only 15 years old -- perhaps the jurors thought she was certainly telling the truth because she needed the therapy dog.

But I will say this, Brooke. I've tried a lot of child sex crimes, and the most difficult thing for prosecutors is to get that victim, especially children, on the witness stand to be face to face with the perpetrator. And so I think this is a natural extension of other things, other tools that prosecutors have used. There's typically a children's victim advocate in the courtroom in the line of vision for a child while testifying.

And certainly I won't say that this is unique. It's actually

BALDWIN: Does it happen pretty often?

HOSTIN: I wouldn't say often, but it started in about 2003. There's been this growing trend. You see it in Arizona. You see it in Idaho. You see it in Hawaii.

This is the first time you have seen it in New York and this is a very important case. I think this will end in appeal. I think the highest court of New York will look at this.

But again, I think it's just the natural progression of trying to make sure victims of crimes especially child victims, Brooke, are comforted while on the witness stand.

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin on the case. Thanks, Sunny. Now take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started CPR on my own son. My face was covered in blood. My hand was covered in blood. Why? Why?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A dad watches his own son die on the London streets where is answers say everyone has gone mad. Up next, we will take you to the middle of the chaos there in London. Dan Rivers is there live. We're back in 70 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to take you now live to Birmingham, England where we have our correspondent, Dan Rivers standing by. Here it would be a fifth night of looting and riots there in and around the streets of London.

Dan, by the looks of you, you don't have the helmet, you don't have the vest on. So I'm going to guess at least the situation where you are has improved?

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's improved dramatically here. There's been no violence at all here in Birmingham. I'll just tell you where we are. We're in a gas station and where these flowers are over here is where last night three young British-Pakistani men were killed by a car that mowed into them.

They were here trying to protect this gas station from looters. You can still see a group of young Pakistani men here who doing the same job basically trying to protect local businesses from looters. They say that, you know, shops are being smashed, vehicles and the like and so on.

Today, though, it's a really different story. There are police all up and down the streets, about a thousand on the streets of Birmingham not and the community itself has also been out in force to try and make sure there's no more trouble. And so far it seems to be working.

BALDWIN: What do you think the tipping point is for the violence to the quelled where you are? Is it the prime minister, you know, leaving his vacation and coming back to London and saying, we're taking out streets back?

Is it the presence of 16,000 police officers? Is it the presence on social media of people, you know, raising their brooms and wanting to take back the streets? What is it do you think, Dan?

RIVERS: I think it's a combination of all of that, but particularly the police flooding the streets of cities like Birmingham in London as well. I mean, certainly, we were out in London last night and yesterday, there were police everywhere, a massive increase in the number of uniform officers on the streets.

And I think the message got out to the people perpetrating this violence that the community certainly is not going to stand for any more as well. I think they would be met with a fairly stiff resistance if they try to do anything certainly here and a lot of other places as well.

BALDWIN: As you have pointed out, again, this is one year out from the 2012 Olympics games there in this amazing city that is London. Dan Rivers, thank you so much for the check there. Day five of some of the rioting.

Thousands reportedly have already been killed, but did you know the Obama administration has not called on Syria's president to resign at least thus far.

But the U.S. today is making some major moves that could make the Syrian president, Bashar Al-Assad very concerned. We are live at the State Department back in 70 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to Syria as the fatal violence continues to rage across the country, the U.S. is planning to ask Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to step down.

Activists saying more than 24 people have been killed since the protests demanding reforms and change actually begun back in March. We want to go to Jill Dougherty live for us at the State Department.

Jill, how soon do you think the U.S. may be calling for President Al-Assad to leave?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, soon. Nobody really knows. We would probably hear from the White House, from the president on that.

But you can hear in everything that other officials, senior officials say here at the State Department, at the U.N., et cetera, they're getting very close. I mean, it is a matter of time.

I think you would have to say is the U.S. behind the scenes, and publicly, has been really trying to drum up a lot of support diplomatically, to get other countries to come onboard.

And especially some of the northeast, the Arab countries that normally might not want to say something about President Assad. But, you know, he's been his own worst enemy in that sense. Because every time people look at the screens, you see what's happening in Syria, death and destruction.

And so even the Arab countries and especially Saudi Arabia, the king had finally said this is enough. It can't continue and based on that now, the United States knowing that the Arab world is coming around to this and is supporting them really feels that it's going to be very close.

BALDWIN: That's interesting. So perhaps because of King Abdullah's remarks recently, maybe that's why we could be hearing from President Obama.

You mentioned the scenes. I just want to play some more of these images from Syria. Take a look at this here the Syrian military, apparently shooting at people. We can't actually see this in the video.

Jill standby, I want to show you these images. There are reports of even more people being killed in the north western part of Syria today. And also today, as Jill knows, the U.S. slaps sanctions on Syria's largest commercial bank and the mobile phone operator.

Jill, explain these sanctions to me and how by doing that maybe perhaps, you know, helping prevent more images like this in Syria.

DOUGHERTY: Well, in order to do this crackdown, they need money. President Assad needs money and the way they are doing -- the world community, the United States are trying to squeeze him is by putting pressure with these sanctions, squeezing the funds that could be used for this crackdown.

And also just hurting him and the regime as much as they can. So the first one on the commercial bank, that's the commercial bank of Syria and the Syrian Lebanese commercial bank. They provide financial services to a Syrian, I guess, you'd called center that produces missiles and also provide services to North Koreans.

The charge here is that they are helping to spread weapons of mass destruction. So that's the first one. If they can cut that, it would be significant. And then the other one is the cell phones owned by man who's very tight with the regime.

BALDWIN: OK, Jill Dougherty at the State Department. Jill, appreciate it. And now golf fans, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: You love loaded questions, don't you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Tiger Woods taking interesting questions, perhaps some of which are loaded just before he tees off at the PGA championship. Find out what he would and would not answer today. We're going take you there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to show you an image here. Photograph shot just about 24 hours ago and I need to just give you a little background here. The man facing the camera there, that's Mark Steinberg. Mark Steinberg, high-priced agent to golf's Tiger Woods.

The man whose back we see there is this man. This is Steve Williams, 12 years on Tiger's bag, 72 wins including 13 major championships recently dumped by Tiger.

Now working for Sunday's winner, Adam Scott and judging by his remarks, Steve Williams is not happy with Mr. Woods. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WILLIAMS, PGA TOUR CADDY: I was absolutely shocked that I got the boot to be honest with you. I catered to the guy for 13 years, incredibly loyal to the guy and I got short shifted, very disappointing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Steve was your guy, he never talked to the media or very rarely talked to the media after an event. Last week he said a lot of things, were you surprised by that?

WOODS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Question, mike three in the front please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was Tiger Woods. Sort of speaking today from the Atlanta Athletic Club, seen at the PGA Championship, it's his fourth and final major.

Cameron Morfit is there, writes about golf for "Sports Illustrated" and Cameron, I guess you could say Tiger he's been pretty tight lipped about the divorce from Steve Williams, would you say?

CAMERON MORFIT, SENIOR WRITER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED AND GOLF MAGAZINE: Yes, it's been typical Tiger, I would say. You know, he's an expert sort of skirting questions and talking for a long time without really saying anything and that was the case today in his press conference before the PGA championship.

He addressed it without really addressing it and that's typical Tiger Woods. I think he's been disappointed in his caddies speaking out. Caddies do get fired all the time, but in Steve Williams' defense, I think this became a real personal matter.

They were together for 12 years. They had bungee jumped together. They had been in each other's weddings. This became a real personal matter and he felt he wasn't treated fairly.

BALDWIN: Wow, well, Steve Williams, I guess, he was never exactly entirely popular, but then, you know, Tiger Woods' bungee jumping friend there, you know, fires him. And golf fans are out there chanting the name of the caddy. What are we to read? Is Tiger just that unpopular?

MORFIT: Yes, really, it's a great career move to be fired by Tiger Woods. I wish I could get fired by Tiger Woods. It would probably help my career. That is how popular he is right now and as I said on golf.com, it's really kind of amazing that have come to this.

And that we all thought Tiger was going to change. We all thought that his personal crisis at the end of 2009 was going to trigger kind of a metamorphosis.

I think people that were close to him hoped for that. I'm sure Steve Williams hoped for that. I think what we've seen is it just hasn't happened or it's been a little slower to happen then maybe some people would have liked.

BALDWIN: Last question, Cameron, do you think Tiger has a chance of winning this?

MORFIT: I think he has a chance. I think - I say that only because he becomes a different player in the majors. He hasn't played very well certainly since his, you know, Thanksgiving night crack-up. But something happens in the majors. He came very close at the masters twice and he also came somewhat close at the U.S. Open last year. So I would say he does have a shot.

BALDWIN: Cameron Morfit have fun. Hope you got your sun screen on. I know it's warm sultry day there in Atlanta. Thank you so much, Cameron. That's it for me. Thank you so much for watching.

"THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer starts right now.