Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Debt Crisis Backlash; Congress Leaves FAA in Limbo; Tea Party Terrorists Controversy; Deadly 100-Degree Heat Streak; Wall Street Tries to Rebound; How the Debt Deal Affects College Students; New Details in the Bin Laden Raid; Revolution in Egypt; Construction Crooner Wows Crowd

Aired August 03, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. Great to see you.

It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. Here's some of the stories that have us talking this morning.

Nervous investors awaiting this hour's Opening Bell on Wall Street. The Dow plunged 266 points yesterday for its eighth consecutive loss.

Trial under way for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The ailing Mubarak could face execution if convicted in the deaths of anti-government protesters.

Florida watching tropical storm Emily as it approaches the northern Caribbean. Warnings up in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Well, the debt deal is signed but the damage is done. Our nation's reputation is tarnished, and we're all likely to pay one way or another.

Alison Kosik is looking at the cost to your retirement. George Howell showing how college students will take a hit. Ali Velshi with the new damage to America's standing. And Ted Rowlands explains why thousands of jobs are now thrown into limbo.

All right, Ali. Let's go ahead and begin with you. The markets about to open and there's mixed news on the U.S. credit rating.

ALI VELSHI, ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Yes. And Moody's has already said that it's fine with the AAA credit rating. S&P hasn't opined yet. They're still studying the debt deal.

A Chinese debt agency has downgraded the United States. It's not an agency, by the way, that most people would have heard of except that, as you know, the Chinese are the biggest buyers of your U.S. debt.

Most big investors in U.S. bonds will do their own research so that's less of an issue. But as you know, Kyra, we are now -- this is the thirst morning in a row that you and I have spoken before the markets have opened. And they are supposed to have opened up and they have closed substantially lower on the day, which tells me two things.

One is we're not obsessing about the debt deal. The markets got a lot of other things to consider. And it's a lot of mixed economic news out there.

This is what the markets did yesterday. The Dow -- look at those? Those are big percentage numbers. Being down 2.2 percent, 2.8 on the NASDAQ, 2.6 on the S&P 500. The Dow has closed lower for eight days in a row. We're hoping to break that today. It's been a percentage loss of more than 6 percent.

So if you're watching your 401(k), take a look at the Dow year-to- date. It's been a rocky year. But take a look right on the right side of the screen at the downward leg we've taken not only with this debt debate but then with the lower GDP numbers, with the lower manufacturing numbers, with the lower personal spending numbers.

So we're very worried about that. And of course on Friday, we've got the jobs numbers which we already don't think are going to be robust. If there's anything worse than we expect, that's going to affect investors.

So that's all of what we're looking at right now. We could have a flat-ish opening on the market today but the question no longer, as you know, Kyra, is what happens at the open. It's going be what happens through the course of the day. And I can tell you this. It's going be rough one way or the other.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Well, in 27 minutes that rough ride is going to begin and we're going to be watching it and talking again.

Ali, thanks so much.

Now to the thousands of jobs that are being held hostage by another impasse on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers left on summer recess without funding the Federal Aviation Administration. So now thousands of employees face five weeks without a paycheck and more than $1 billion in tax money all going to waste.

Ted Rowlands is at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.

So, Ted, I think what we're all asking in light of this is, is our safety at risk?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the FAA says absolutely not at this point because the furloughed FAA employees, some 4,000 of them, are nonessential, so your air traffic controllers, the TSA folks at the airports, they're paid out of a different pot of money.

So the FAA maintains that traveler safety is not at risk at all. However, we're talking about lots of jobs, thousands. Not only those 4,000 FAA jobs but tens of thousands of construction jobs because airport projects around the country, more than 200 of them, have been halted.

Basically the FAA has been stripped of all its authority and so they've had to put a stop work order on all of these projects. You're talking about 70,000 construction workers who are not getting a paycheck while this impasse continues. People think it is absolutely inexcusable that lawmakers left town without dealing with this issue. Take a listen to Randy Babbitt of the FAA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDY BABBITT, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: This can't go on a day longer. Much less six weeks longer. We're going to suffer a lot of long-term damage. We have billions of dollars in construction money that should be going out the door that's not. This is money that's available. It's simply we can't spend it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: And the other tens of millions of dollars that taxpayers are losing is the airport ticket taxes that the federal government cannot collect during this time period. What should we do about this? Well, we did run into one passenger here at Chicago's O'Hare Airport who has a brilliant idea. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cut your vacation short, get your ass back to Washington, and figure something out quick.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: People obviously frustrated with the way that Washington is doing business.

Kyra, at this point, though, those folks are staying home, not only the FAA employees but also all of those thousands of construction workers while there's no deal on the table.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, and that's the next question. I mean, are we going to see a resolution any time soon?

ROWLANDS: Well, technically there are proforma days built into the August recess where lawmakers could come back and deal with this issue. But there's no indication, at least in the short term, that that is being planned. However, the pressure is melting with every day on these lawmakers to get something done, stop the bickering and get the FAA back in business.

PHILLIPS: OK. Ted Rowlands, thanks.

And less 10 minute from now, we're actually going to talk to a former Federal Transportation official. Mary Schiavo is going to look at the far-reaching cost of this stalemate.

OK, this ought to catch your attention. Tea Partiers are terrorists? Did Joe Biden really say that?

Our Jim Acosta, live out of Washington this morning with the story.

What's the deal, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you know, the vice president said on CBS the other night that he did not say that but this controversy came up after a closed door meeting that the vice president held with Democratic lawmakers on the Hill.

He was trying to persuade those lawmakers to get behind that debt deal, and during the meeting apparently some of these House members expressed the feeling that Tea Party members of Congress had acted like terrorists. The question comes in as to whether or not the vice president actually said that or agreed with him or what exactly he said.

He later denied that he said it. But this has made the rounds on the conservative talk shows, on Web sites. And Sarah Palin who has a gig at FOX News as you know let it rip last night on the "Hannity" program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Independent, patriotic Americans who desire fiscal sanity in our beloved nation being called terrorists, heck, Sean, if we were real domestic terrorists, shoot, President Obama would be want to pal around with us, wouldn't he?

I mean he didn't have a problem with palling around with a Bill Ayres back in the day? No, if we were all domestic terrorists I think President Obama wouldn't have a problem with us.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Sarah Palin going back to an old line that she used back in the 2008 campaign when she accused Barack Obama of palling around with terrorists.

And speaking of Palin, she also did not have kind words for Mitt Romney saying that the former Massachusetts governor and GOP frontrunner right now did not display leadership on the issue of the debt ceiling.

As you know, a lot of conservative critics, Kyra, said he was ducking that issue throughout that entire debate.

PHILLIPS: Well, and, Jim, you know, we kind of chuckled because it was referred to as the Mitt-ness protection program. OK. Very funny.

ACOSTA: Right.

PHILLIPS: But he really is taking heat for being late in that debt deal game.

ACOSTA: That's right. You know, he had his picture put on a milk carton over at the "Daily Caller," under the heading "missing leadership." So yes, you know, this has come up. This is going to be a problem for Mitt Romney.

The Romney campaign pushes back hard on this. They say that, you know, the Massachusetts governor supported the cut, cap, and balance proposal that was up on Capitol Hill, tying the debt ceiling increase to the balanced budget amendment that a lot of Republican lawmakers would like to see.

But Jon Hunts man, somebody who has struggled to make some headway in this GOP contest, he is sharpening his message and he is going after Mitt Romney, and said to some reporters up in New Hampshire a couple of days ago that Romney is not displaying leadership on this. That he doesn't have credibility on this issue.

And so I think you're going to see this becoming a campaign message and campaign issue for Jon Huntsman in the coming weeks. And it could be a problem for Mitt Romney. He's going to be ramping up his campaign over the next month, we understand. And he's going to be asked this question out on the campaign trail -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll be talking about it a lot more, Jim. Thanks.

ACOSTA: Yes.

PHILLIPS: We're going to have your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder, for all the latest political news just go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.

Just ahead, a deadly heat wave has baked Texas with 100-degree temps for 32 straight days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are sweltering and we're just asking for some relief here.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Lakes drying up, trees withering, and the water supply in one town about to run dry.

And a man jumps a fence at the White House. Secret Service jumps him. And it was all caught live right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories "Cross Country."

A man with a backpack jumps the fence. The Secret Service jumps him. The security breach triggered a lockdown at the White House and it all unfolded live during CNN's "JOHN KING, USA" show last night.

And you want a little extra sugar in your coffee? Better watch what you asked for. A worker at a Dunkin' Donuts in Rockaway, New Jersey, got busted for prostitution. Apparently the code for her services was to ask for a little extra sugar with your coffee.

And a huge annual cycling event rolls through Iowa. Cops crack down on vendors still included without a license in the area. Yes, including this 4-year-old girl and her lemonade stand. Cops say tough, the law is the law. The girl's dad says, she wasn't even near the event. Well, this morning Congress is on recess and the FAA is in limbo because lawmakers failed to approve full funding before leaving Washington. Just like the debt crisis, the stalemate has far-reaching costs. Four thousand FAA employees now face a month-long furlough, and projects are stopped, putting an additional tens of thousands of construction workers out of work.

And on top of that, the FAA cannot collect taxes on airline tickets. That means $25 million in taxes goes uncollected each and every day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BABBITT: I've been around this business a long time. I've never seen anything like this. And I find it appalling candidly.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Mary Schiavo is an aviation expert and former inspector general for the Department of the Transportation. She's joining us now via Skype from Charleston.

So, Mary, is our safety being compromised?

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. TRANSPORTATION DEPT: Well, short term, no. They will make do with what they have. But these systems are so sensitive and so important that they need continuous maintenance, they need continuous upgrades.

And while it's only 4,000 of the roughly 47,000 employees of the FAA, what you have to do is maintain these systems literally, it's just constant upgrades. They're very large computer systems, some of the largest in the world.

And the FAA has the authority to call out emergency employees. If they have to call some of these employees back to keep all of our systems up and running, they will do that.

But in the long term it's really important not to leave gaps in this continuous development of air traffic safety and air control.

PHILLIPS: So, bottom line, you're saying that these tens of thousands of construction workers, these are the individuals that do the daily upkeep that plays right into our safety as flyers.

SCHIAVO: Well, long term, yes. And the construction workers don't work for the FAA. The FAA has employees, though, that actually work on and maintain the air traffic control systems, the aviation, safety inspection systems -- inspections literally at facilities around the world and those help to basically police all of the hundreds of thousands of construction workers, private sector employees, et cetera, who help deliver safe aviation.

So, short term, they'll make it through. But long term, we have the problem with new air traffic control systems, the next-generation air traffic control system, runway extensions, airport expansions. All of that make the American aviation system safe. Without that, we will soon start to suffer.

PHILLIPS: Wow. We're going to watch this closely. Mary, thanks.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Unrelenting heat still hanging over the nation's midsection in the South this morning. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, it's been over 113 degrees for 32 straight days. It was 99 at midnight. And today could be the day that shatters the all-time high temp of 113 degrees.

Our Ed Lavandera shows us the heat that has really taken its toll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Texas, swarms of grasshoppers are invading dried out grass fields.

In Oklahoma, there's barely enough hay to feed herds of cattle.

Across these crusty plains, lakes are evaporating, children hibernate, playgrounds are silent. Triple digit temperatures have baked Texas and Oklahoma for more than a month. The summer of 2011 is a beat-down of epic proportions.

If that sounds dramatics, CNN iReporter Susan Newkirk knows these are desperate times.

SUSAN NEWKIRK, IREPORTER: We are sweltering and we're just asking for some relief here.

LAVANDERA: This week, Dallas-Ft. Worth could break its all-time high temperature of 113 degrees. In Dallas, the heat has killed 12 people so far.

In Oklahoma, there've been 11 heat-related deaths. All but six of Texas's 254 counties are under a burn ban.

The heat and dryness continues spawning wildfires like this large blaze in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In San Angelo, Texas, bacteria that thrives in dry, hot conditions have turned this lake red. Even strong decades-old trees are withering under the scorching heat. Leaves are turning brown.

MIKE FOREST, OKLAHOMA ARBORIST: If it loses all its leaves and goes totally brown, it's done.

LAVANDERA: Texas electricity regulators are issuing emergency warnings urging people to conserve power. But who needs to power an oven when you got a sizzling car.

These Tyler, Texas, TV reporters baked chocolate chip cookies in just over three hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. They're pretty hard. LAVANDERA: Apparently good enough to eat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The only positive, I guess, side of the heat there, Ed.

Ed joining us live from Dallas.

You know, on a much more serious note, I mean, lakes are drying up. We talk about the trees that are withering and now, we're hearing about this town about to run out of water?

LAVANDERA: Yes. This lake has dwindled down to about 1 percent of the water -- this town of Robert Lee out in far west Texas needs. So, they're going through dramatic measures to get drinking water to continue flowing into that town. This is a situation they say that in the coming months could result in a National Guard having to bring in bottled water for people to drink if they can't get another pipeline of water into that town.

PHILLIPS: Now, here's what's interesting though. We're talking about the heat. We're talking how devastating this can be. But still behind you, I'm seeing joggers.

LAVANDERA: Yes. You know this is a really popular biking and running and jogging trail. I was expecting to see at least in these early morning hours a lot more people. This is an incredibly popular track, usually packed with people jogging and riding their bikes, rollerblading, doing whatever. I think the fact that you such few people here in what is the coolest hours of the day tells you a lot about just how much people want to stay indoors around here.

PHILLIPS: Yes. And it's amazing that it can reach past 100 degrees today.

Ed Lavendera, thanks so much.

It looks like it's going to be a pretty wild day on Wall Street as well. We're keeping a close eye on the markets. Opening bell is just about 10 minutes away. We'll be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: OK. The opening bell is less than 10 minutes away. Markets trying to rebound after eight days of consecutive losses.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange and our Christine Romans is looking at our credit rating.

Alison, let's go ahead and start with you. What do you think? How is trading shaping up right now?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're about eight minutes away from opening bell, Kyra. I'll tell you what, right now, it's looking a lot better this morning than it did at yesterday's close. It looks like we're going to have a higher open because investors are going to be buying up beaten down stock, and beaten down they were.

You look at the S&P 500, it lost all its gains for the years. And that is something that most of us watch really closely because it's the benchmark for many of our mutual funds and our 401(k) investments.

Then you look at the Dow. It's below the 12,000 mark. It fell 6.7 percent in just the past eight sessions.

Now, as far as Wall Street goes, it's going to want to look for more clues on where the economy is headed. It's going to be looking for a report on the service sector. That's where some of 80 percent of Americans get their paycheck. Wall Street is going to be looking for growth in that report.

Wall Street has its eye on jobs. We've got an ADP private sector employment report today showing that 114,000 jobs in the private sector were added last month. It's better than expected. But, remember, ADP got it way wrong in June. So, I'm not sure if Wall Street at this point is putting much stock in this report.

The big jobs report coming out Friday -- everybody bracing for nothing too hot there. But if it's anything worse than expected, you can expect a selloff -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're also paying attention to our credit rating, Christine Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We certainly are. And we know that now, it hasn't been downgraded and Moody's has not downgraded it, keeping it AAA. But it's on credit watch negative, which is not really a surprise when you give -- just to see the size of our debt and the political acrimony in Washington.

So, still waiting to see what all that means as the Chinese rating agency did downgrade the U.S., but not really a rating agency that's a household name and really not that much of a surprise, though we watch that very clearly because the biggest foreign fire of our huge U.S. debt, of our debt, happens to be the Chinese. So, that's pretty important.

But overall here, there's one big theme. And that is you've got the debt deal and you got a jobs report on Friday, and we're going back now, Kyra, to this idea that jobs, jobs, jobs are at the center of this.

And what kind of recovery is this? I mean, Larry Summers, the president's former top money man, in an op-ed this morning, he said we have a one in three chance of slipping back into a recession. He said the economy is in a stall right here.

Here are the things we're still worried about -- the housing market is still a real problem here. I mean, what kind of recovery can you have before housing starts to do a little better? You've got a lost decade really in housing prices.

Then you take a look at other things like consumer spending. It's still very, very weak.

And where are the jobs? We're not creating enough jobs to really meaningfully move this economy forward.

So, these are the things that -- above and beyond all else, the debt deal did not solve -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. Ladies, we're all watching.

The opening bell ringing in about three minutes. Stay with us because we'll all watch it together right here live on CNN.

Also ahead, straight from the president's Situation Room: gripping information revealed in the takedown of Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was all in a split second. Shoots bin Laden once in a chest, and then bin Laden begins falling back, and shoots him once above the left eye, then bin Laden falls down and he steps up and he says on the radio, you know, "For God and country, Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: More compelling details about that mission coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories:

The South Dakota police officer is killed, two others seriously wounded, in a shoot-out with a man during a routine shop. It's the first time an on-duty officer has been killed in Rapid City since 1985.

A bomb squad is called to a house in Sydney, Australia. They're investigating a suspicious device reported by an 18-year-old girl. They won't comment on reports that the device is attached to the girl.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak wheeled into court in a gurney and put in a cage as his trial got underway in Cairo. The ailing Mubarak is charged with corruption and ordering the killing of anti- government protesters.

Alison Kosik is standing by at the New York Stock Exchange where investors are hoping for a rebound from yesterday's massive selloff.

We have less -- we have about 30 seconds to go, Alison.

KOSIK: Yes, actually that 266-point tumble on the Dow really was jaw- dropping. You know, the index has actually closed lower, Kyra, now for eight sessions in row. And we haven't seen that since just after Lehman Brothers collapsed. That was almost three years ago.

And today, to end up with nine days of losses, the mild post would be much bleaker. That hasn't happened in 33 years since 1978.

So Wall Street watching its opening bell. We are starting to the down side actually. We're down about the three points. We're starting with a flat open as things get rolling.

You know, everybody wondering what's got Wall Street worried at this point. Know what the big worry is? The worry is the economic recovery is stalling out. It's prompted a Chinese agency to downgrade U.S.'s rating overnight and Moody's to lower its outlook.

Now, Moody's affirmed its AAA credit rating for now but it still says it may downgrade the country's rating in the future. So Moody's still keeping tabs on what lawmakers are doing in Washington before it decides what to do. We are now in positive territory, just a bit -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, just barely there. But it's slowly creeping upward, which is good.

All right, so let's talk about the other thing that's on a lot of our minds -- our credit card rates.

KOSIK: Sure. And you know, this Chinese downgrade that Christine mentioned earlier, it is getting a lot of buzz. But it's really important know that this is not the Chinese government that downgraded our rating. It's one these young, independent ratings agencies and frankly it's one that's faced a lot of questions of objectivity. So it may be a less of a factor in the trade today.

The Moody's outlook, that means a bit more. Even though its credibility was tarnished because it missed financial crisis, what Moody's says still carries weight. So if the U.S. is eventually downgraded by one of the big three ratings agencies here, we could see a rise in rates on our credit cards. But you have to remember with those new credit card rules that went into effect last year, your credit card provider has to give you a 45-day heads-up before they change your terms.

So Kyra, you're not going to be looking at your bill next week and be facing a huge rate increase if we are downgraded. Plus, any rate increase only applies to future purchases, not your existing balance -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. Now we're getting out of negative territory there, Alison.

Christine Romans, let's keep talking about the U.S. credit rating for a moment, if you don't mind, and just talk about the impact on the larger economy.

ROMANS: Well, OK. So our credit rating now seems to have dodged a bullet in terms of still being rated AAA according to Moody's. We haven't heard officially from S&P but they have not made a big decision or they are not commenting on a big decision here in the near term. But this is an issue, Kyra, where what's hurting the U.S. economy right now and our overall unresolved debt picture, because it is still unresolved, we still do have unsustainable debts and deficits. These are things that are going to drag on the outlook for the United States until it gets resolved.

And one of the big things that some big investors are concerned about is the U.S. has shown such political acrimony that getting together to solve America's big financial problems could be difficult given the climate. And that's one of the reasons why they're pessimistic on our ability to dig our way out of this.

Also, Kyra, you just look at the drumbeat of economic news and it's been pretty negative. Friday we're going to get a jobs report that's likely to show not enough job creation to even absorb new entrance into the work force. So this is the issue going forward.

Now, a lot of people -- and I'm sure you're hearing this too. A lot of people are saying, but wait, I thought this debt deal was going to make things better. This debt deal was not a jobs package. It was about raising the debt ceiling and making first step toward getting our debts and things under control. Jobs are different. When you start pulling money out of the system, cutting spending, that will hurt jobs in the near term, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Point well made. We'll continue to watch the numbers.

Christine, thanks so much.

Alison, thanks.

OK. The good deal is the debt ceiling deal is done. But here's the bad news: our hospitals, Medicare, airports, are face major cuts. And if that isn't enough to stress you out, if you have a kid in college, well guess what? His or her loan could cost thousands of more in interests.

George Howell has been talking to students across the country and this morning he's actually live on Kennesaw State University's campus, that's just outside of Atlanta here.

So what are students telling you, George?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the truth of the matter, there's still a great deal of uncertainty to what this means for students and really their parents who take out private loans to pay for a college like this.

Getting straight to the point here's what we do know and it's sort of a mixed bag of good and bad for students. First off, the debt deal eliminates subsidies for graduate students. Currently the government pays monthly interest for students while they're still in school. That's no longer the case. This change could tack on thousands of dollars to the overall cost. It's also eliminates the credits that saves students money, rather, when they pay on time for 12 months. That's gone. The good news in all of this, of the $22 billion saved, $17 billion goes to protect Pell grants. That's a big deal. For many students, though, these changes are very concerning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY BINGHAM, FINANCIAL AID DIRECTOR, USC LAW SCHOOL: Our students do borrow a great deal of money, probably close to greater than 80 percent of our students borrow student loans to attend law school and in some cases they're borrowing more than $70,000 per year. So it's already a very huge burden on them.

SEAN RICKS, USC LAW STUDENT: When I get done with school and have to face repayment of those loans it could affect me to the tune of several thousand dollars.

ANDREW PHAM, USC STUDENT: I'm totally relying on the financial package I receive from USC which is actually very generous. And if it wasn't for those packages, I doubt I'd be able to come here.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: If you're keeping up with all of this, these changes kick in July 1st of 2012. And again, there's still the question about what happens to private loans that parents take out as we watch to see what happens with the credit rating -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're watching it, George. Thanks.

And whether you're a student or you already graduated, in this economy it can be pretty tough to find a job. But now is your chance to be soap and third. You can give your 30-second pitch right here on air. Tell us why someone should hire you. Send us an e-mail to 30SecondPitch@CNN.com. You may get a chance to make that pitch right here on CNN NEWSROOM, 10:00 Eastern.

Just ahead, inside the raid at Osama bin Laden's compound. We've got new details that you've never heard before about the military mission to take down the world's most wanted man.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here's some stories for you making news later today.

At 11:30 Eastern in Washington, Senators Harry Reid and Jay Rockefeller address the partial shutdown of the FAA.

At 2:00 p.m. Eastern, President Obama hold as cabinet meeting before he departs for Chicago, where later tonight he headlines a party fundraiser on the eve of his 50th birthday.

We are getting some new and riveting details surrounding the takedown of Osama bin Laden.

CNN's Brian Todd had a chance to talk to the "New Yorker" magazine writer who details the most expensive manhunt in U.S. history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Less than 18 minutes into the 38-minute raid came the crucial moment. Navy SEALS had fought their way through Osama bin Laden's compound, killed his courier, the courier's brother and bin Laden's son. They blasted through cage-like metal gates on the stairways. As a small team of SEALs reached the third floor, one of them turned to his right.

NICHOLAS SCHMINDLE, WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: He sees this tall individual poking his head out of the door. A tall individual with this length beard.

TODD: The SEAL, says Nicholas Schmindle, instantly sensed that that was bin Laden.

Schmidle's article in the "New Yorker" magazine presents nuanced, riveting new details of the bin Laden raid. He bases his reporting on sourced conversations with special operations officers who had intimate knowledge of the raid. Schmindle says he did not speak directly with SEALs who carried out the mission. The SEALs' identities are classified. Some of this detail had already been reported by CNN.

Schmindle writes that when the SEALs rush down the hall and into that room, two of bin Laden's wives had placed themselves between the SEALs and bin Laden. Newly reported by Schmindle, an account of how the first SEAL into the room had to act in a split second when he encountered bin Laden's youngest wife, Amal.

SCHMINDLE: Amal is yelling hysterically and beginning to approach the first SEAL. And the concern is that they're wearing suicide -- explosive vests. And so he shoots Amal once in the calf to disable her and then proceeds to grab Amal and the other woman, wrap them in a bear hug and turn his back to the SEALs and sort of push them off to the side.

TODD (on camera): And he holds them there. Why does he do that.

SCHMINDLE: He holds them so that if they explode and they blow up, that he'll soak up the impact of that blast and sort of the mission can then go on behind him.

TODD: He knows he'll die in the process.

SCHMINDLE: Pretty much.

TODD (voice-over): There were no suicide vests on the women. Then, a second SEAL moved into the room, according to Schmindle, raised his M- 4 rifle, trained an infrared laser on Osama bin Laden's chest.

(on camera): Is there anything said at that moment?

SCHMINDLE: There's nothing said. I asked and asked and asked. I kind of wonder if there was some sort of dirty harry moment and there just simply wasn't. It was all split second. Shoots bin Laden once in the chest and then bin Laden begins falling back and shoots him once above the left eye and bin Laden falls down and he steps up and he says on the radio for God and country, Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.

TODD (voice-over): Geronimo. The code word for the fact that bin Laden had been sighted. Schmindle writes that the SEAL then said Geronimo, EKIA -- enemy killed in action.

(on camera): At that moment, back at the White House, Schmindle writes President Obama said to no one in particular, we got him.

Schmindle says a few days later when the president met with the team at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, he spoke with the SEALs and thanked them, but he writes that President Obama never asked which SEAL actually fired the kill shot and the SEALs never volunteered that information.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak like you've never seen him before, making his first court appearance, lying on a hospital gurney, wheeled into a cage. Our reporter was in the courtroom. We'll talk to him right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what; we haven't been able to take our eyes off this bizarre picture out of Cairo. Here they are if you haven't seen them. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak wheeled into court on a gurney and put into a cage.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen was actually in the courtroom. Fred, it's kind of a bizarre and unique experience, no doubt.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It certainly was a bizarre experience for everybody who was in that courtroom, especially when Hosni Mubarak then did appear. As you said, he was laying on that sort of hospital bed. He was wheeled in there at the beginning of the trial together with the other defendants.

Two of them, of course, are his sons and then, inside that big black metal cage. That was certainly something where some of the lawyers that I spoke to said they were absolutely shocked. Because keep in mind, for many Egyptians -- this man -- for most Egyptians, this man throughout the past 30 years was absolutely untouchable. They called him a Pharaoh. He was someone who was I wouldn't say a deity, but certainly someone who was almost super human to a lot of people here in this country.

And -- and now to see him like this is certainly something that shocked even the prosecuting attorneys who are, in fact, asking for his death sentence for his involvement in the killings of the protesters in the uprising that happened in January -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes and Fred, you and I were both in Iraq, in Baghdad and we remember seeing Saddam Hussein in a cage. I mean this is even being taking a step farther. But this is also a leader being held accountable for allegations of corruption, for firing among his own people, having his supporters, you know, on purpose shoot at the protesters in Tahrir Square.

I mean this is -- you know, we may be gazing at these pictures thinking huh, this is kind of bizarre and people are laughing at it but this is serious allegations that he's being charged with.

Did we lose him? Ok. Fred Pleitgen was actually calling in -- we can see on these pictures just for a minute -- Fred Pleitgen was calling in from just outside the courtroom where you're seeing these pictures of Hosni Mubarak.

But just to let you know, yes, we're all pretty riveted by these bizarre pictures but at the same time he is being held accountable, charged with the firing among -- upon his own people when we saw those protests, those democracy protests in Tahrir Square.

You remember for weeks we covered that story. And now Hosni Mubarak facing charges for allegedly having his supporters open fire on those protesters; a corrupt government is what the allegations stands. Fred Pleitgen right outside that courtroom; we'll try to get him back up on the phone and talk more about it a little later in the hour.

All right. Coming up, we're keeping a close eye on tropical storm Emily. We're going tell you where it's headed coming up next.

And in New York City, an APB for an unusual suspect, a missing peacock. It was a quick moment of freedom though. More on his adventure coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's check stories cross country, the drought in Texas painfully obvious. In the town of Robert Lee, brown, rain- parched lawns are one thing, but now this town of 1,000 people may run out of water next year if it doesn't rain. Robert Lee has only seen one inch of rain since December.

A man with a backpack jumps the fence, the Secret Service jumps him. The security breach triggered a lockdown at the White House and it all unfolded live during CNN's "JOHN KING USA" show last night.

And he's back, the peacock that had -- well, enough of the Central Park Zoo, flew the coop and took perch on a 5th Avenue window ledge. He has returned to his -- his special spot and we're all hoping that he enjoyed his whole bath.

We're also watching tropical storm Emily; meteorologist Bonnie Schneider here with the latest -- Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well Kyra, the storm right now is getting closer and closer to places like Santo Domingo, where it's 145 miles south-southeast of the island. And we're looking at some wind shear occurring and with that wind shear we're seeing a little bit more of the energy or the convection tilting to the east of the circulation center.

But with that said, this is still a powerful tropical storm with maximum winds at 50 miles per hour. So as the storm advances to the West at 13, we're monitoring it very closely, watches and warnings are posted as far to the West as the Bahamas. So that means we're likely to see some tropical storm force winds and heavy rain as we go through the next few days.

Some of the heaviest rain will occur just where we don't want it. In places like Haiti and the Dominican Republic, ten inches are possible in the higher terrain, and that runs the risk, of course, for mudslides -- dangerous ones.

Here is the track over the next few days and you can see that curvature possibly coming up to Category 1 strength. But again, this is very uncertain as we go through the next few days.

The main thing to note, Kyra, is anyone along the southeastern seaboard should be prepared this time of the year. We're in the heart of hurricane season, and with a tropical storm nearby, you need to have your preparations ready just in case a hurricane does come close to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Bonnie thanks.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Ted Rowlands live out of Chicago -- Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're at O'Hare Airport, the FAA is essentially shut down because of bickering in Washington. Thousands of people are off their jobs as a result. We'll have more coming up next hour.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Lavandera in Dallas, Texas. A city that feels like it's only four inches away from the sun. I'll have more on this triple digit beat down coming up in a little bit.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Deb Feyerick in New York. Police across the country will soon start using a new tool that could replace fingerprinting, but could it also violate your civil rights? We'll have that coming up -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks guys.

Also next hour, brand-new twists and turns in the 40-year-old D.B. Cooper case. We'll talk to an author who got exclusive access to the FBI files.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tiger Woods returning to the PGA tour for the first time in three months. Woods had a practice round yesterday. He's going to play the Bridgestone Invitational, and he's going to do it with a new caddy, long-time friend Brian Bell. Bell will be on his bag until Tiger can find a full-time replacement for Stevie Williams. Nagged by knee and Achilles injuries this year, Tiger says he feels great.

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina argues a third strike call and gets way up in the umpire's grill. Yes, you kind of see the ump wipe his face. Molina swears he didn't spit at him. He said, hey, he just sweats a lot. Whatever, he'll probably get suspended. The Cardinals won the game by the way.

And check out some heads up today's running Seattle Brandon Ryan gets an infield single against Oakland; not satisfied, sees nobody is covering the second base so he takes off and slides in there safely. But wait, he's not done, he sees the third baseman asleep too. So Ryan takes third and he scored on a double. The Mariners won.

Well, a star is born at a New York City construction site where a hard hat is wowing passersby with his lunchtime performances. Of course Jeannie Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What does a New York City construction worker have in common with Frank Sinatra --

FRANK SINATRA, SINGER: Those little town blues --

GARRY RUSSO, CONSTRUCTION WORKER: These little town blues.

MOOS: Nothing blue about this guy, except partially his eyes.

RUSSO: I think they're bluish green.

MOOS: But unlike old blue eyes, Garry Russo's stage isn't Carnegie Hall, it's a construction site on New York's Second Avenue where a subway line is being built.

RUSSO: It happened in Monterrey --

MOOS: And these aren't backup singers, they're actual sand hogs, the guys who dig the tunnel. While other guys eat during their lunch break, Gary decided to drag out a mike and sound system and sing. How do his buddies react?

RUSSO: They loved it, from the first time. You know, tough guys, they're going -- "What? You're going to sing at lunch?" I was like -- yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be just like him when I grow up. I'm not going to lie to you. This guy is a real class act.

MOOS: Can't hold these guys back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sweet Caroline

MOOS: The construction project hasn't been so sweet for residents, so much disruption and noise. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They tell me it's going to go on for eight or nine years. I won't be here, so I don't care.

MOOS: But Gary cares.

RUSSO: The world was blue beneath blue umbrella skies

MOOS: They're calling you any funny nicknames or anything.

RUSSO: The 2nd Avenue Sinatra.

MOOS: His brush with fame came thanks to this passerby.

DAVID FISHER: I'm like, you've got to be a star.

MOOS: David Fisher shot some video and put it on YouTube, the media ate it up.

RUSSO: I'm overwhelmed.

MOOS: Now passersby are singing along. A porter grabbed a partner. People who stumble on the noon concert seem stunned to see a construction foreman crooning.

Until now Gary's singing has been mostly confined to karaoke and the shower. He says he just wants to make folks smile.

I feel like I'm with the Village People.

It takes a village to build a subway. Who could imagine the 2nd Avenue Sinatra would blow into town.

Jeanne Moos, CNN.

RUSSO: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)