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Stocks Rocket 200 Plus Points; Boston Bombings, Six Weeks Later; Reset: Obama Administration Controversies; Slain Officer's Wife Speaks Out; Girl Scouts Split Over Camp Sales
Aired May 28, 2013 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We've noticed something kind of kooky about the Dow. It's going a little crazy right now, up more than 200 points. And we wondered what was going on.
And who knows the answer to that question? That would be Christine Romans.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Strong economic data Carol. I mean I told you earlier this morning about those housing numbers. It showed a 10.9 percent year over year gain in home prices. We also know that consumer confidence -- consumer confidence is now at a five-year high. So you have stock investors, you have markets -- stock markets reacting very positively to both of those economic reports.
Keep in mind here as the President is in Washington mired in controversies and knocked off message, the underlying message that the President was sort of hammered on during the campaign about the economy, the public is saying they are feeling the economy get a little bit better here. Even as they are not talking about it anymore in Washington, you're seeing it get a little bit better here.
In this confidence report, the Consumer Confidence report that just came out, what people said there was that future prospects and job prospects are looking a little better. And that's why they are a little more confident.
So another thing that economists like to say is time heals all wounds. It has been five years. The worst of the crisis is behind us. And people are seeing more value in their homes, more values in their 401(k)s. They are able to -- most people are able to refinance and get a little bit more money on the table. They are starting to buy cars again. And so you're seeing the slow healing in the economy.
That's what the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 is reflecting right now. The bottom line here a five-year high for consumer confidence. That's something we've been waiting a awful long time to be able to say -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You are not kidding. Well let's hope it keeps ongoing, it's going up.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: All right, Christine Romans thank you.
Six weeks after the Boston bombings, there are still questions about who one of the suspects visited while he was in Russia. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh goes digging for answers, next.
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COSTELLO: Good morning and welcome back. Its 37 minutes past the hour.
Six weeks after the Boston bombings, questions still remain about who suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev met with in Russia on a visit there in 2011. Nick Paton Walsh traveled to Dagestan to try to find some answers.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been awhile since the parents of the alleged Boston bombers were in the public eye.
Now they are back in Dagestan and tired of questions. Collecting the sick father's medicine, they are distraught.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- we're talking about?
WALSH: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are not hearing us.
WALSH: But I -- I just --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are not, they see everything they see what -- the all evidences are right you know right there.
WALSH: They and the group of Internet supporters insist the Tsarnaev brothers are being framed. Unanswered questions remain about Tamerlan's six months here. Relatives say he innocently prayed, went to the beach, even as radical Islamist militancy swirled around him.
(on camera): Now I'll be showing a rare video of Tamerlan Tsarnaev when he was here in Dagestan last summer playing around with three to four friends of his on a beach like this just outside Makachskala (ph). The people who showed me the video wouldn't let me hear the audio all broadcasted but it shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev with a thick, black, bushy beard and silver-rimmed aviator sunglasses and a characteristic sleeked back black hair. Though his friends and handler are wearing swimming trunks and some of them, are buried up to their necks in the sand, the demeanor of relaxed playful man at a time when in the city and its outskirts just behind me police were regularly in clashes with radicalized militants.
But U.S. officials have one question. Did Tamerlan meet with a key militant Mansur Nadal (ph), the half Palestinian 19-year-old was killed in this standoff with Russian Special Forces last May. Police video shows women and children allowed out, but negotiators told us he didn't want to give himself up so Russian troops moved in.
Among the ruins, neighbors ask why.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He was afraid to get into their hands, this man says, afraid that something worse than death awaited him if they got him.
WALSH: Well maybe even in the violence that engulfed this house, the victims of the Boston bombings lost the clearest chance they had of learning whether or not one of the alleged bombers Tamerlan Tsarnaev had key meetings with a militant here in Dagestan.
Answers that may in the cycle of violence here never be heard.
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COSTELLO: Oh Nick Paton Walsh joins me live now. So Nick do we know anything for sure about Tsarnaev's time in Dagestan?
WALSH: It's a hazy picture. We know he arrived there in January. We you know relatives report seeing him there from about in March. The holder we know Nadal, who investigators are asking whether or not he met. Nadal died in May and that video I referred to earlier on well that was shot at some point in June. So we don't know who he was in the video I only saw it once very quickly. But clearly he seemed relaxed.
Lots of questions but the key issue that prosecutors are going to have to face as they put Dzhokhar on trial, they are going to have to explain how Tamerlan became so (inaudible) with explosives. How he managed to get two bombs to detonate effectively during that Boston marathon. Where did he get that training? And it's going to be hard, perhaps, for them given that at this point investigators haven't found any place in the U.S. where he could have picked those skills up.
It's going to be hard for that six-month period in Dagestan not to feature somehow, I would guess, in the FBI's explanation as to how he became that proficient.
COSTELLO: Nick Paton Walsh is reporting live for us this morning, thank you.
Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, the Obama administration is still struggling to advance its agenda amid a perfect storm of controversy.
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COSTELLO: While President Obama is on the Jersey Shore today to review the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, his administration is still weathering its own perfect storm. Brianna Keilar is at the White House. To get you caught up on three big controversies.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Benghazi, the Justice Department surveillance of journalists and the IRS, controversies are swirling at the White House and Republicans smell blood.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: What' we're seeing from this administration is an arrogance of power.
KEILAR: Three congressional hearings so far on the IRS targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, condemnation from the President.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's inexcusable and Americans are right to be angry about it. And I am angry about it.
KEILAR: The head of the IRS's tax exempt unit was placed on administrative leave last week.
LOIS LERNER, IRS OFFICIAL: I have not done anything wrong.
KEILAR: After invoking her Fifth Amendment rights before congress, the Justice Department launched a criminal investigation.
But it's the Justice Department at the center of another controversy, seizing phone records from journalists at the Associated Press and phone records as well as personal e-mails from Fox News reporter James Rosen. Even though Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress this --
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: With regard to the potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material, that's not something that I have ever been involved in, heard of or we think would be a wise policy.
KEILAR: Holder ok'd justice officials seeking a search warrant to get Rosen's private e-mails, a warrant that alleged Rosen could be a possible co-conspirator. Now the President has ordered Holder to review guidelines for investigations involving reports and to consult with media organizations.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I'm troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable.
KEILAR: a conflict of interest Republicans say.
SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: But allowing the very person that authorized the two things that we're very aware of today to investigate whether or not he did that appropriately is inappropriate.
KEILAR: And then there's Benghazi, did the administration down play the role of terrorism in the attack in Libya that killed four people including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens? Questions continue as several suspects have been identified, though not arrested, in Libya.
U.S. ambassador Thomas Pickering, co-author of an internal State Department review, has agreed to brief members of Congress.
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KEILAR: So how is President Obama weathering all of this? Quite well, at least so far, Carol. And that may have to do with the economy. His approval rate has held steady through these controversies. You look at the unemployment rate it's down to 7.5 percent. And in a recent CNN/ORC survey, one-third of Americans polled said that the economy, that economic conditions are good. That's up from March and up significantly from December --
COSTELLO: Well, it's that old adage. It's all about the economy.
Stock markets going crazy today too, up 200 points the Dow. Brianna Keilar, thanks so much.
KEILAR: Thanks Carol.
COSTELLO: You're welcome. 47 minutes past the hour, checking our top stories now. More severe weather threatens America's heartland. Strong storms have produced torrential rains in Iowa, flooding on the Iowa River has closed roads in the area. In Springfield, Illinois cleanup is underway after powerful winds damaged about 70 mobile homes.
Good news for coffee lovers. Prices are going down. They are at their lowest level in three years. Heavy rains in Brazil did not damage the harvest of coffee beans as expected and stockpiles are still high. Some popular brands including Maxwell House and Folgers are already lower at the grocery store.
Nascar fans desperately tried to warn officials about the cable that fell on Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, injuring 10 people. That's the word from Jeffrey Miller of Yahoo Sports who witnessed it firsthand. He says people went as far as throwing cups of beer on the track to stop the race. It's still unsure what caused the mishap.
And the widow of a slain Kentucky police officer is remembering him today. Early Saturday morning Jason Ellis was gunned down while heading home from his shift. He was removing debris from the road when he was shot multiple times. Investigator says he was ambushed.
Alina Machado joins us now with more on what Amy Ellis, his wife, is saying today.
ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, as you can imagine Amy Ellis is heartbroken. This family lost a father, a husband, a father. Jason Ellis had two young boys, a six and a seven-year-old. And today we heard from Amy Ellis. There was a news conference that's just wrapping up still at the Bardstown Police Department. We want to have you listen to what she had to say about her husband.
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AMY ELLIS, WIFE OF JASON ELLIS: He was a family man. He loved our family, he loved our boys, he loved me. He was dedicated to his job. He loved his job. He loved the people he worked with. I just want everybody to know what an amazing man he was.
The only reason why I can get up here right now is because of prayers and God has, you know, picked me up off the bathroom floor. I didn't want to live another second without him. Now I know that I have to be strong for our kids and I can just feel the prayers and the support. I mean I truly do. I wanted to thank everybody for that.
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MACHADO: Now that again was Amy Ellis, Officer Jason Ellis's wife. She, as you could see, was visibly distraught. The pain is easy to see on her face, on her voice. She's having a tough time about the loss of her husband, but also so far, police have said nothing about leads. The last thing we heard was that they have no solid leads in this case. There's also no arrest that has been made. So this mystery continues as this family is trying to come to terms with what happened.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Thanks so much.
Coming up in the NEWSROOM, boycotting cookie sales, starting petitions, even filing lawsuits; that's what some Girl Scout alumni and supporters are doing to stop sales of the Girl Scouts camp sites. We'll talk to one of the scout leaders when we come back.
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M1: It's a tradition for Girl Scouts across the country, one that's as old as the organization itself. Heading off to camp where students and volunteers work on the organization's mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character. But now some of those camps viewed as too costly to keep open could be sold and that's sparking outrage for some alums and volunteers.
Joni Kinsey is a Girl Scout troop leader in Iowa City, Iowa. She started a petition on change.org to fight the sale of these campgrounds in her area. Joni -- welcome.
JONI KINSEY, GIRL SCOUT TROOP LEADER: Thank you. Nice to be here.
COSTELLO: It's great to have you here. So you say that by selling these camps, the Girl Scouts, quote, are selling their soul. Really?
KINSEY: Yes, I'm afraid so. There's so many aspects to this story, but camping has been fundamental to Girl Scouts since it was founded 100 years ago. Julia Lowe herself bought the very first camp and Girl Scouts have owned camps ever since.
Camping is essential not only to the Girl Scout Organization, but to building what the Girl Scouts like to call leadership. It's only through rustic camping where girls are put in situations that they are not familiar with, not necessarily comfortable with, but they bond with each other, they bond with the camps, they learn to love it and they learn to be creative and resourceful in those new situations. Camps are absolutely essential.
COSTELLO: The Girl Scouts would say they are expensive to keep open. They are dealing with declining membership and they just can't afford these camps. KINSEY: I would say and many others who are working to save the camps would say that the Girl Scouts have not done everything they can to make the camps viable. They have dropped off all sorts of marketing in the ways that used to happen. Volunteers would be very happy to help them find alternatives and ways of getting people, getting girls, troop leaders back into camping. And the Girl Scout Organizations across the country, the councils and the national membership, the national administration really are not doing everything they can, or we would say that, to make the camps viable, keep the camps viable. They were very successful for decades.
COSTELLO: The other reason I think that the Girl Scouts are moving in another direction and selling off these campgrounds is they are trying to make the Girl Scouts more hip and more modern because membership has declined according to the "New York Times" -- 13 percent in the last decade. They are concerned about that. So they sort of want to move over to what modern girls are more interested in and apparently it's not camping.
KINSEY: Well, so they say, but we would argue that for all sorts of reasons, getting outdoors is even more important today than ever before. What with what's been called nature deficit and the girls and children generally -- people generally being completely preoccupied with technology. It's all the more important to get them out away from those things and let them realize the wonders of nature and the wonders of life when you're confronted with situations that take you back to those situations, those experiences that are unlike anything else.
COSTELLO: I know what; your petition is on change.org. How many signatures do you have so far.
KINSEY: Last I checked we had a couple thousand. But this is just for our own council. This (inaudible) our own camp situation, but there are others all across the country that are facing the same situation. There are literally probably hundreds of thousands of people who are concerned about this situation. What we're trying to do is to create a national movement that would begin to raise consciousness, begin to raise efforts that will, in fact, bring these camps back to life and bring membership back to the camps.
COSTELLO: All right. Joni Kinsey, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
KINSEY: Thank you very much for your help.
COSTELLO: Any time.
And thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. CNN NEWSROOM continues after a break.
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