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Hurricane Bill Headed for East Coast; Victims' Families Outraged Over Terrorist's Release; Ridge Claims Pressure to Raise Alert Before '04 Election; Bernanke: Economy May Grow Soon; Asia Seeing Economic Recovery Signs; Search for Ex in Model's Death; V.A. Has Backlog of Disability Claims; U.S. Optimistic About Afghanistan Election;

Aired August 21, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We are pushing forward.

Making waves. Hurricane Bill stirs up the surf on Bermuda. The East Coast of the U.S. is next. Chad Myers watching Bill's every move.

Some call it mercy. Others a travesty. Scotland's release of a Libyan bomber was controversial enough. His arrival back home, outrageous.

And a former swimsuit model murdered. Her ex-husband charged and on the run. We're pushing forward on the manhunt.

Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

So warnings go out as Hurricane Bill closes in on Bermuda. Waves are already picking up, as we can see in these pictures from one of our eye reporters. And along the U.S. East Coast, people are being advised to keep a close watch on the big storm. It's not expected to make a direct hit, but it's still going to produce some pretty dangerous riptides and mess up a lot of weekend plans.

Bill's impact is expected to be felt all the way from Florida through New England and actually into Canada.

Chad Myers tracking Hurricane Bill for us there in the CNN severe weather center.

What's the latest, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is still going between Bermuda and the U.S. It is still going to be a very big Category 3 hurricane as it does that.

It's going to pass by Bermuda with winds coming in this direction. A lot of surf on the south side. It is already throwing surf, although not landing on the beaches yet. These waves are propagating toward the U.S. right now. From the Carolinas all the way down to Florida. And this will be tomorrow's big-wave action day here. And then on Sunday, it will travel on up here. Waves will be between 10 and 15 feet. And I know people are really excited about surfing in this. We're trying to tell you about rip currents and how they happen. I know you know, Kyra, but I'm just going to try to explain this for a second.

From WFTV, our affiliate here, here is Daytona. This is our affiliate out of Orlando. There's the sandbar right through here. That's why these waves will crest and crash back here. When that sandbar gets a break in it, when there's just a little bit of a hole in the sandbar right there, the waves crest over the sandbar. They crash onshore. They come over here. They crash onshore, and they only go back out in one place. And that one place is where you don't want to be.

Literally hundreds of yards or miles of beach will be fine. But it's this one place that will not have the sandbar there anymore, because it's been eroded. There goes the crashing wave, one wave right over where that sand bar is.

You look out from the shore, you're standing here, you see that crashing, you can tell that that's where the sandbar offshore is. When you stop seeing the crashing in any one place, that sandbar is being eroded. That water is going out in that direction, and you are in danger, if you are anywhere inside that area, because that's where all the water's going to be pulled out. You won't even know what's happening until basically it is too late.

It's a big storm. It's still a very intense storm, even though it's only 115 miles per hour. The winds are gusting to 140 miles per hour. And at least it's missing Bermuda with its eye. There still will be damage in Bermuda, I believe, but at least it's missing it with its eye.

I think the biggest problem will be overwash in the cape. Big- time coastal flooding here. All this water piling up along the East Coast. We could see tides six feet above where they should be as that water gets forced into the U.S. East Coast. If you have boats there, you need to plan on this very high tide coming up. It's about -- it depends on where you are, but 9 o'clock is when most of those tides, somewhere, in the morning and in the afternoon up and down the East Coast, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, we'll be talking a lot about this today. Chad, thanks so much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: He's out of sight yesterday, but we saw plenty of him yesterday. And we're still hearing outrage over his homecoming. Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi -- that's him right there in the dark suit -- the only person convicted in the 1988 attack that blew Pan Am Flight 103 out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland. Two hundred and seventy people were murdered, most of them Americans.

Now, Scotland has freed the cancer-stricken al-Megrahi just eight years into a life term, and they sent him back to his native Libya, where a cheering crowd gave him a hero's welcome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNY MACASKILL, SCOTTISH JUSTICE SECRETARY: I have decided to allow him to go home to die. I am showing his family some compassion. I accept it was a compassion not shown to families in the United States or in Scotland.

But we have values. We will not debase them, and we will seek to live up to those values of humanity that we pride ourselves on.

He was brought to justice after tremendous work, not simply by Scottish police and prosecution authorities, but by the United States. Equally, as I say, in Scotland, justice is tempered with compassion. And that, as I say, is why he's been allowed to go home to die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Compassion? That's the judge that decided to free him. It's an emotion that loved ones of the Lockerbie victims can't find in their hearts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN FLYNN, BROTHER DIED IN LOCKERBIE BOMBING: We said the nightmare is that you let him go. And you do it out of compassion, and he goes home and he's a hero. And he never asked for forgiveness. He'd never said that he did it. We've got this man who said that he's innocent. But I don't know about you, but if I only had a few months to live, I would want to try to clear my name and my legacy.

And I think by withdrawing his appeal -- he withdrew his appeal, it says that -- it reinforces that he is guilty. But there's no remorse there, and we're showing him mercy. It's absurd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Absurd to say the least. Libyan authorities are keeping al-Megrahi out of the public eye today. And it appears that they tried to tone down his initial reception. But that's not stopping new and troubling questions from surfacing about Libya, a nation that the U.S. took off of its terrorist watch list not too long ago, by the way.

Let's seek some answers now with Fawaz Gerges, professor of international affairs at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

And Fawaz, I'm curious. Were you as outraged as I was when you saw this hero's welcome?

FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: Well, Kyra, first, I think our empathy and prayers are with the families of the victims. After all, the only convicted murderer is out. As you said, 270 civilians were killed. Most of them are Americans. This is point one. So, yes, it must be very painful -- it is very painful for the families of victims. Secondly, I'm glad that finally the Libyan government got the message. It was -- initially, it was supposed to give him -- give al- Megrahi a hero welcome. Now, it downplayed, it scaled down the reception. After all, he is not a hero. He is a mass murderer. He was tried and found convicted.

And, thirdly, I think, finally, the Libyan government got the message, that not only it showed sensitivity to the families of the victims, but also it was told very bluntly by the United States, by Britain, by other nations, it should show sensitivity to the families of victims and be a member of the international community.

PHILLIPS: But -- but, Fawaz, let me ask you something. Why were there thousands of people on this tarmac, welcoming this murderer home, like he's a hero? I mean, are you telling me that every single one of these individuals has no idea what he did because of censorship within the media? Or are these individuals that totally support terrorism?

GERGES: You know, Kyra, this is really the question. You asked me about the context. I want you to know, regardless of the fact that the court found him guilty of the murder of Lockerbie, there are very few Libyans who believe that he is guilty. The conventional wisdom...

PHILLIPS: Why? Why is that?

GERGES: Because of various reasons. First of all, they believe that there is a conspiracy against Libya by the United States and Britain, to basically extract concessions from the Libyan government.

Remember, most of the media are controlled by the government. You don't have really freedom of information, like there exists in many countries in the world.

And also, I think, Kyra, the war on terror, Guantanamo and everything else, has done a great deal of damage to the -- basically the idea of justice in the west.

And here for our American viewers, there is a gulf of perceptions, a gulf of perceptions between Americans and Arabs and Muslims. While Americans and westerners rightly believe that he is guilty -- after all, he was tried and found guilty of the mass murder of 270 civilians -- most Libyans and Arabs and Muslims believe he's innocent. And that's why the reception, the hero reception, by many Libyans in that part of the world.

PHILLIPS: And once again, Fawaz, just goes to show we have a long way to go when it comes to our relationship with Libya and trying to be of like mind on terrorism.

Fawaz, sure appreciate your insight. Thank you so much.

GERGES: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: And we both mentioned, the families of Lockerbie victims. They're planning a conference call tonight, actually, to talk about the next move now.

One option is to protest during Libyan leader's Moammar Gadhafi first-ever visit to the U.S. As you might know, Gadhafi is scheduled to speak to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City later next month.

Politics, fear, credibility, and security, competing forces that Tom Ridge now claims led him to get his job as the nation's first secretary of homeland security. In a new book, Ridge says that he was pressured to raise the terror alert level just before the 2004 election.

We get details now from CNN's new White House correspondent, Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Friday before the 2004 election. Only two or three points separated Democrat John Kerry from President Bush. Suddenly, a twist. Osama bin Laden released a shocking new videotape, and it played nonstop on the Arab-language network al Jazeera.

OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA (through translator): Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands.

HENRY: The next morning, just 72 hours before the polls opened, the president's top security advisers, including Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft, huddled for an urgent meeting, to decide whether to raise the color-coded threat level from yellow to orange.

Then homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge, reveals in an explosive new book, "A vigorous, some might say, dramatic discussion ensued. Ashcroft strongly urged an increase in the threat level and was supported by Rumsfeld."

He goes on, "There was absolutely no support for that position within our department. None. I wondered, is this about security or politics? Post-election analysis demonstrated a significant increase in the president's approval ratings in the days after the raising of the threat level."

The Bush campaign was already pushing the envelope on frightening voters. Listen to then-Vice President Cheney just ten days before the bin Laden tape.

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The ultimate threat is the possibility of their succeeding and getting, say, a biological agent or nuclear weapon and smuggling it into the United States, into one of our own cities, and raising the specter of being able to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.

HENRY: In the summer of 2004, just a few days after the Democratic National Convention, the White House had raised the threat level, drawing charges of political manipulation that were sharply denied by Bush officials like Ridge at the time.

TOM RIDGE, FORMER SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security.

HENRY: But now, at that tense meeting the weekend before the election, Ridge writes that it, quote, "seemed possible to me and to others around the table that something could be afoot other than simple concern about the country's safety."

In the end, however, the threat level was not raised after Ridge claims he and others told Rumsfeld and Ashcroft, quote, "back from the brink." But Ridge said the episode left him disillusioned. He writes, "I knew I had to follow through on my plans to leave the federal government." He tendered his resignation within a month of the election.

He concluded, "I consider that episode to be not only a dramatic moment in Washington's recent history, but another illustration of the intersection of politics, fear, credibility and security."

(on camera) But other Bush officials in the meeting, including CNN contributor Fran Townsend, insist Ridge is wrong. Townsend says politics was never discussed at the meeting. And the discussion was based solely on intelligence.

Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: As you know, Tom Ridge isn't the first Bush administration higher-up to actually write a book. You may recall former White House press secretary Scott McClellan wrote a scathing memoir, subtitled "Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception." He claims Bush's inner circle relied on propaganda to sell the Iraq war.

And speaking of Iraq, the former commander of coalition forces there also wrote a book. In "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story," Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez describes chaos on the battlefield, and once again, blames the Bush administration.

And former attorney general, John Ashcroft, looks back, not in anger, but in awe. In "Never Again: Securing America and Restoring Justice," Ashcroft writes about his role in wake of 9/11 and his defense of the Patriot Act.

And still to come, former Vice President Cheney's memoirs, scheduled for publication in spring of 2011. That should be interesting. He's expected to give detailed accounts -- accounts, rather, of his differences with his boss, specifically in their second term.

And former defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, also has a book deal. His book will cover his entire political career.

Former swimsuit model murdered, mutilated and jammed in a suitcase. Now an international manhunt intensifies for her reality- star ex-husband.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Unemployment's high and credit is tight. But the Fed says recovery is still on the way, and soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, Americans all across the country want to know one thing: when will the economy recover? And today, one of the highest authorities on the topic is weighing in.

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the details on when the Fed chief sees a recovery.

I guess, Susan, bottom line, we want to know when the average American is going to feel the recovery.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a good question. Well, Ben Bernanke, first of all, is getting more and more optimistic about this, Kyra, because last week, remember, the Fed said things seemed to be leveling out.

Today in a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the Fed chief said prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good. For growth, he's talking about, but he's saying recovery will be slow at first because unemployment will decline only gradually from high levels and that accessing credit will remain tight.

But as to when will real people feel the recovery? Well, I'm happy to tell you, you're feeling it if you look at your 401(k) statements, right? We have seen the stock market rally. The S&P 500, Kyra, has gone up more than 50 percent since the lows in March.

And also, of course, we've been seeing steady improvements in the housing markets. Today, existing home sales -- the biggest part of the housing market -- jumped more than 7 percent in July, the fourth straight month of improvements there.

The unemployment rate did tick down last month. It actually fell in 17 states. Nine point four percent is still high. And there are estimates that it will go higher. But it did tick down last month. And we told you earlier this week that GM was calling back 1,400 workers.

So, we are seeing some signs. Real people are feeling -- are feeling real progress, Kyra. There's no question that we have a ways to go yet for everyone to enjoy that.

PHILLIPS: Indeed. All right, Susan, thanks so much.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: And we've heard Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke say that the U.S. Economy is on the bridge [SIC] of recovery. Susan just mentioned that, as well. In Asia there's already a lot of optimism that the worst of the global recession is over.

CNN's Richard Quest has been checking out the scene in Hong Kong.

Richard, you've been there a week now. So, what do you think, besides that snappy new suit that you have?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the snappy new suit which was at a bargain basement price.

And yes, Kyra, there's no doubt here there is a view the worst is well and truly over. All the countries seem to be showing some sort of growth. In the case of China, very fast. In the case of Hong Kong, up 3 percent and a quarter.

What everybody's worrying about is -- and you and I have talked about it this week -- is when the U.S. is going to start spending again? When will consumers feel good to go back into the shops?

But until then, the people that I've spoken to in Hong Kong -- like you, I've come here from a moribund, depressed and rather dismal economic scenario of Europe or the United States. I've arrived here. The bunting's almost out, the balloons are flying, and there's just about a feeling that happy days are back here again.

PHILLIPS: Oh, OK. I thought you were going to possibly go to some sound there. I'm thinking, OK, how do I get from happy days soon to arrive once again to your experience with noodles? Ha!

QUEST: Glad you asked. Because if you want to know what's happening in an economy, go and see where people have lunch.

I went to this noodle shop to actually try some real hand-made noodles. I have to tell you, they're actually very difficult to actually make. But most important of all, I discovered that, when they make these noodles, they actually had to put the price down. It used to be $4 for lunch. When did you last buy lunch for $4, Kyra? Now they were down to $3.

I also discovered, I have used chopsticks for years. There's a demonstration coming up here. Those women with children and the faint-hearted, do not watch too closely. Right.

This is how I have always used my chopsticks. I've pretty much -- I thought this was the norm. Until I did it in this noodle shop, when I was told, actually, you do it like this -- now, what's the significance of that?

PHILLIPS: And I don't really see a difference.

QUEST: You get more leverage. Come with me. What? Look. This is one finger. This is two fingers! What it means is that when you come over here, you see, I can pick up all sorts of things! I can pick up...

PHILLIPS: Yes, I see that works -- that works really well!

QUEST: Most of my lunch -- most of my lunch went right down my white shirt. It just shows -- the point I'm making is, you go through life, thinking you know exactly how to do something, you travel across the world, and all of a sudden you -- you discover it's very different.

PHILLIPS: And it's the simple things in life. All right. So, you're going to be leaving Hong Kong and headed to New York. And what will you be bringing to us from the lovely Big Apple?

QUEST: Right. When I -- it's NY-Lon-Kong. New York, Hong Kong, then London. I've seen the optimism of Asia. I'm now going to see how the financial world in New York is looking at things.

I'm going to cross the date line. I will leave here on Saturday morning. I will arrive in New York on Saturday afternoon, because I'm already Saturday morning here. And next week, it will be fascinating to see whether there is optimism that things are turning round, or is the big, bad, bonus culture back with us once again?

PHILLIPS: Richard Quest, we look forward to it. And thank you for the lesson on the chopsticks. I appreciate it. You've changed my life.

That's our Richard Quest.

Well, you better get them while you can. The cash for clunkers program, it may soon be a thing of the past.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, time to tell you about today's top stories.

Afghanistan's presidential election was defined by insecurity. A lower standard than just -- than last time, but still credible. That's the word from international monitors, anyway. Hamid Karzai and his ex-foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, each saying he's ahead. First results expected next week.

The very future of the Lutheran Church is at risk. At least, that's how it feels to some members locked in a divisive debate. Basically, the country's largest Lutheran denomination is trying to decide if it's OK for gay and lesbian clergy to have a sex life. A vote is expected today on ordaining pastors in committed same-sex relationships. Married straight clergy don't have to be celibate.

And if you haven't cashed in your clunker yet, better put the pedal to the metal. The rebate program is going to end Monday. At last count, almost 460,000 new cars have been sold. The government expected cash for clunkers money to last through Labor Day, but we've burned three $3 billion already.

A former swimsuit model murdered and stuffed in a suitcase. How a wealthy TV bachelor went from dream catch to prime suspect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Grisly new picture emerging about what happened to a murdered former bikini model found stuffed into a bloody suitcase with her teeth and fingertips missing. Her reality star ex-husband is the prime suspect, and he's nowhere to be found.

Erica Hill tells us why the manhunt stretches from Canada to Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Early Saturday morning in Buena Park, California, a man looking through a trash bin for recycles, finds a small, unzipped suitcase.

FRANK DISTEFANO, DISCOVERED VICTIM'S BODY: It was partially opened. I lifted it up one time and saw skin, but I wasn't sure, so I lifted it up again. And when I saw the birthmark, the marks on the body, and everything, I verified that it was a body. Immediately called 911.

HILL: The body was Jasmine Fiore.

LT. GARY WORRALL, BUENA PARK, CALIF., POLICE DEPARTMENT: Our preliminary results and findings from the Orange County coroner were that she was strangled.

HILL: Police are now looking for this man, Ryan Jenkins, who was reportedly briefly married to Fiore. He and Fiore were last seen Friday night at a poker game in San Diego, about 100 miles south from where her body was discovered Saturday morning. On Saturday night, Jenkins filed a missing persons report on Fiore. He hasn't heard from since.

WORRALL: Our fear is he might possibly be en route to Canada. He was the last person seen with her.

HILL: Jenkins, most recently a contestant on the VH1 reality show, "Megan Wants a Millionaire," is described on the show as an investment banker from Calgary. Police believe he is driving either a black BMW X-5 SUV like this one with an Alberta license plate, number HLY 275, or he may be in Jasmine Fiore's white Mercedes.

Neighbors describe Fiore as outgoing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was cool, she was wealthy and she had a good roommate. Her roommate was very friendly. She was friendly to everybody else. And it was just, you know, a shocker.

HILL: A former boss at the modeling agency where she worked in Las Vegas said Fiore seemed to have her head on straight.

KEN HENDERSON, OWNER, BEST AGENCY: She seemed very responsible. She seemed very driven, like, focused on, you know, just even wanting to get into the business, but not, you know -- wasn't enamored by it. HILL: Henderson says the last time he saw her, she looked really happy, and mentioned she had this great guy. The question, whether that great guy may know something about how Jasmine Fiore died.

Erica Hill, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: This week's surge in deadly bombings in Baghdad has upset a lot of the country's lawmakers, and they want something done about it. On Wednesday, dozens of people were killed or hurt in a series of bombings in the Iraqi capital, and some of the targets were government buildings. Lawmakers, political leaders, government ministers, well, they met today and they called for an emergency session of parliament and for a reassessment of Iraq's security forces.

Danger lurks everywhere in a war zone, but inside your own unit, at the hands of your own superiors? That's the allegation in a bombshell announcement from U.S. forces in Baghdad. Four GIs based in southern Iraq are being charged with cruelty, maltreatment and reckless endangerment of their own subordinates.

Allegedly, the four abused low-ranking soldiers with, quote, "excessive physical fitness." It all came to light, the spokesman says, as officers investigated another soldier's suicide. There's no confirmation the suicide was linked to the alleged wrongdoings. Other details haven't been released, but we'll keep pushing the story forward for you.

Well, so many veterans, so many claims and so many months -- even years -- in bureaucratic limbo. For months now, we've pushed forward on a mountainous -- mountainous backlog, rather, of benefit claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Hundreds of thousands of men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are fighting uphill battles just to learn whether they qualify for disability payments. All the while, the VA is sometimes held up as a model in the White House push for health reform. Listen to this.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Medicare and the VA are both government-run health care programs that have very high satisfaction rates. Generally, if you look at surveys, they have actually very high satisfaction rates.

Now, the VA, because it's a self-contained system, meaning that people see patients year after year because they're not -- it's not dependent on what job they have, they can actually do some things in terms of prevention and wellness and some of the things that I just talked about, that have helped to lower their costs and improve quality of care, in a pretty impressive way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, if this is a typical day, the VA will get more than 4,000 new claims and process a lot fewer than that.

Here's CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE EMMER, DISABLED ARMY VETERAN: Ft. Benning, Georgia.

STARR (voice-over): Laurie Emmer served with the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan in 2003. But after getting hurt in a truck accident there and retiring in 2005, she faced a new battle. She's still trying to get the Department of Veterans Affairs to settle her disability claims.

EMMER: I think they're doing the best they can. But sometimes they don't know where your file is. They can't tell you where you are in the process, and so you're in limbo.

STARR: When V.A. Secretary Eric Shinseki was nominated by President Barack Obama, he told Congress it was a priority to reduce the number of backlogged claims. Today, some 400,000 cases are still pending.

ERIC SHINSEKI, SECRETARY OF VETERAN AFFAIRS: If you were to walk in to one of our rooms where adjudication or decisions are being made about disability for veterans, you would see individuals sitting at a desk with stacks of paper that go up halfway to the ceiling.

STARR: The flood of claims keeps coming, and they're growing more complex with issues like traumatic brain injury so many new vets are suffering. From fiscal year 1999 to 2008, the V.A. processed 60 percent more claims, but the number of claims still pending jumped 65 percent. Simply put, claims are coming in faster than they can be processed. President Obama is promising to help.

OBAMA: Cut those backlogs, slash those wait times. Deliver your benefits sooner.

STARR: The V.A. turned down our request for an interview. They did tell us they're trying to improve efficiency. But with two wars, claims continue to mount. Elliott Miller, a veteran himself, helps other vets with their paperwork.

ELLIOTT MILLER, AMVETS/FORMER VA WORKER: Constantly getting more new claims in. And the V.A. goes out and advertises and does outreach to get more claims in. They don't have the manpower to handle all the claims they're getting in.

STARR: Former Master Sergeant Emmer says the V.A. also should communicate better.

EMMER: We can't be left in limbo. Because it just adds to the stress.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So, Barbara, you point out the backlog in these claims. And we've talked so much about it, too, here on our program. And now, just today, another story coming out about $24 million in bonuses. The inspector general did this huge investigation on the V.A., and in particular this one official, Jennifer Duncan (ph), the inspector general said she was acting as if she was given a blank checkbook, engaging in nepotism, and even got $60,000 in bonuses just for herself.

You really tend to wonder what is going on within the V.A., and where's the monitoring?

STARR: Well, that's the question, Kyra. Now, the inspector general, of course, is the internal V.A. watchdog, and they have taking a very close look at this situation. What they found, as you say, $24 million in bonuses over a two-year period. But it's when, you know, half a million, nearly, claims are still pending, and so many disabled and wounded troops are still waiting for their V.A. benefits. Not exactly the picture one thinks that the Obama administration wants to put out because the president has made the V.A. a top priority.

PHILLIPS: And now he's going to be making Afghanistan a priority as well. Apparently he's going to make some comments about the elections.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

OBAMA: This was an important step forward in the Afghan people's efforts to take control of their future, even as violent extremists are trying to stand in their way. This election was run by the Afghan people. In fact, it was the first democratic election run by Afghans in over three decades.

More than 30 presidential candidates and more than 3,000 provincial council candidates ran for office, including a record number of women. Some 6,000 polling stations were open around the country. And Afghan national security forces took the lead in providing security.

Over the last few days and particularly yesterday, we've seen acts of violence and intimidation by the Taliban. And there may be more in the days to come. We knew that the Taliban would try to derail this election.

Yet, even in the face of this brutality, millions of Afghans exercised the right to choose their leaders and determine their own destiny. And as I watched the election, I was struck by their courage in the face of intimidation and their dignity in the face of disorder. There is a clear contrast between those who seek to control their future at the ballot box and those who kill to prevent that from happening.

Once again, extremists in Afghanistan have shown themselves willing to murder innocent Muslims -- men, women, and children -- to advance their aims. But I believe that the future belongs to those who want to build, not those who want to destroy. And that is the future that was sought by the Afghans who went to the polls and the Afghan national security forces who protected them. The United States did not support any candidate in this election. Our only interest was the result fairly, accurately reflecting the will of the Afghan people, and that is what we will continue to support as the votes are counted and we wait for the official results from the Afghan independent electoral commission and the electoral complaints commission. Meanwhile, we will continue to work with our Afghan partners to strengthen Afghan security, governance and opportunity.

Our goal is clear -- to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and their extremist allies. That goal will be achieved, and our troops will be able to come home as Afghans continue to strengthen their own capacity and take responsibility for their own future.

Our men and women in uniform are doing an extraordinary job in Afghanistan. So are the civilians who serve by their side. All of them are in our thoughts and prayers, as are their families back home.

This is not a challenge that we asked for. It came to our shores when al Qaeda launched the 9/11 attacks from Afghanistan. But America, our allies and partners and, above all, the Afghan people, share a common interest in pursuing security, opportunity, and justice. We look forward to renewing our partnership with the Afghan people as they move ahead under a new government.

I want to again congratulate the Afghanistan people on carrying out this historic election and wish them a blessed month as they come together to welcome the beginning of Ramadan. Thanks very much, everybody.

QUESTION: What about the hero's welcome in Libya?

PHILLIPS: All right. The president of the United States there wrapping up some last-minute business before going on vacation with his wife and kids. You just heard him talk about the Afghan presidential election, the results of which are still up in the air and could be for some quite time -- or could be, I guess, for quite a bit of time, rather.

Let's bring back Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, thanks for staying with us there. Maybe you can just answer a question for me. This election in Afghanistan, you know, a lot of folks, especially families back here at home of troops, wonder how this will affect troop activity and the military presence there in Afghanistan, this election?

STARR: Well, I thought it was interesting, Kyra, the president talked about troops coming home, but he didn't say when, did he? You know, Defense Secretary Gates has been saying over the last several weeks, it's still going to be in his words a few years of combat operations, perhaps, and many years perhaps of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.

Right now, what we're all waiting for with bated breath is the report from General Stanley McChrystal about what happens next, how many more troops he will ask for, whether he thinks there needs to be any changes in the strategy. Sources close to McChrystal, in fact, told us today that the election went off well enough -- there was violence, but it went off well enough that General McChrystal now is still on track to deliver his assessment to the president and Defense Secretary Gates within the next several days.

And following that will come the recommendation about resources, whether McChrystal will say more troops and more equipment is still needed for this war -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, thanks.

This sure doesn't happen in Canada's biggest city. Tornadoes slam homes and businesses in Toronto. We're going to show you just how bad it was.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Swine flu explosion could be on the horizon, according to the World Health Organization. But it says healthy people who come down with mild or moderate cases don't need antiviral drugs like Tamiflu. Those should be saved for small children, the elderly and pregnant women. When swine flu peaks, WHO officials say that most countries could see cases double every three or four days. But an official with the Centers for Disease Control says it's possible it won't be any worse than a severe flu season.

What if shaping up was as easy as slipping on the right shoe? It's a big promise, but some shoe companies say exercising is just that simple. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta sizes up the claims.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every month, new fitness products are hitting the market that offer to help you to get fit faster and easier. The latest craze? Fitness shoes that claim to build your calves, hamstrings and glute muscles. But do they work? Sports medicine expert Dr. Amadeus Mason says probably not.

DR. R. AMADEUS MASON, SPORTS MEDICINE, EMORY UNIVERSITY: The main thing that makes one shoe better for another -- one person versus another is the comfort of fit.

GUPTA: The EasyTone is just one example of these new rocker shoes. Reebok claims lab tests show a marked increase in muscle activation due to the many balance balls underneath the shoe.

MASON: The type of technology that you're using, people use that to rehabilitate ankles and work on your position stance, not your fitness or your strength. And so, to think that that would then make you more fit with your regular activities, I have a hard time kind of buying that.

GUPTA: Then, there's the Fitflop that claims added support to your feet leads to a fitter, more fabulous you. Mason's verdict? MASON: It does give good arch support. It does give a good cushion to the heel, and there is some support to the midfoot, which you don't see in a lot of the flip-flops. So, if you're buying it because you want a stylish pair of comfortable flip-flops, absolutely. I think that that would be a good purchase.

GUPTA: Both Reebok and the makers of Fitflops say while their footwear may not be the magic pill to get you fit, they can help relieve pressure on your feet and tone muscles that women and men care about.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You see this little gal? She gave our Deb Feyerick quite a surprise. You've got to check it out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, little did CNN's Deb Feyerick know what she was about to get into when she traveled to Vermont for a story on a dairy farm. This is the "Back Story," the story behind the story. And we just have to show you more. It's something that we're going to do every Friday, thanks to our Michael Holmes from CNN International.

Looks like Deb Feyerick had a little hands on...

(LAUGHTER)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes.

PHILLIPS: ... experience here.

HOLMES: Boy, did she. And the shooter, the producer, Rob, Steven (ph), they -- what we do on "Back Story," in fact, it felt like my show was starting when you started the graphics there. I thought, whoa!

And what we do on "Back Story" is essentially what you don't see in the main news stories, you know. Stuff always goes on behind the scenes that should get to air and crews think should get to air but doesn't. And that's kind of what we do. And this is a classic example.

What happened was, Deborah and the crew were out doing a story on the economy using dairy farms as an example. They're doing a cut, blah, blah, blah.

So, the farmer says come over here and have a look at this cow. She's going to have a calf soon. Oh, no, soon. Now. And the calf wasn't -- or the cow wasn't making it easy. So, you've got to have a look. Here's what happened.

PHILLIPS: Here's the back story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, the cow is less than two years old, and it's now giving birth, but it's having trouble pushing it out. So, the farmer's gone to get some chains. Totally relaxed, does this a couple times a week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now to sneak up on her without her getting up.

Come on. Now we can push.

FEYERICK: Is it stuck in there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will come but...

FEYERICK: You just need a good push?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need Steve to come over and give me a hand. How's that, Steve?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need me to come give you a hand?

FEYERICK: I'll give you hand. I'm going to do this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to do this. You might get a little dirty, but that's all right. Water washes everything.

FEYERICK: All right, what do I do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've going to pull on this.

FEYERICK: Both of them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just pull on one, and I'll pull on the other.

FEYERICK: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, you want to get down low because we want to -- big calf.

FEYERICK: I have to adjust my footing. Am I not helping you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's fine.

FEYERICK: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (OFF MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. If you want to pull, and what I'm going to try to do is stretch her.

FEYERICK: Oh, I can see the nose. Oh, my God, that's the tongue!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FEYERICK: Are we going in the right direction?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Perfect. Just keep -- there you go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go. Keep pulling on it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's the hardest part right there.

FEYERICK: OK. Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Steady pressure is fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's going to push and help you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to get all the stuff out of her nose.

FEYERICK: Oh, there she comes! Which way?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull that way a little bit.

FEYERICK: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FEYERICK: Hold on. OK. Still?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go!

FEYERICK: Oh, my gosh!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beautiful.

FEYERICK: Oh, my God. I gave birth to a cow.

It took so much strength to pull out the calf, and I had my colleague working, and it was just still, your entire body was trying to get that calf out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

FEYERICK: Absolutely. You don't even know if you're doing it right, if you're pulling it out gently. But the cow was fine with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Oh, yes. She wants it -- like I said, she wants it out just as bad as us, if not worse than we want it out.

FEYERICK: I have to say, I don't know how long she was pushing, but...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now you know how come she was so tired.

FEYERICK: Nice to have a little help. Believe me, I have two of my own. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that right?

FEYERICK: I looked exactly like the cow in my 12th hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) exhausting, isn't it?

FEYERICK: Except I'm pretty sure the cow's language was a lot better than mine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: That's what you've got to love about Deb Feyerick. Aren't you glad you don't have to give birth?

HOLMES: Oh, thank you. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. At one point in the original...

PHILLIPS: You're so lucky to be a man.

HOLMES: ... story, Deb's saying, am I pulling in the right direction? I'm thinking, how many directions are there in this situation?

PHILLIPS: There's one direction, and that's out.

HOLMES: But one thing that's interesting, the farmer told us later that if the crew hadn't been there, Steven (ph) the producer and Deb getting involved, the cow and calf would have died. Because he couldn't have done all that on his own. So, yes.

PHILLIPS: Oh, that's the good news.

HOLMES: What a back story, huh?

PHILLIPS: All right, we've got to move into the top of the hour, but you're going to be with us every Friday with these kinds of stories.

HOLMES: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: Probably not as gruesome as that one.

HOLMES: Hopefully not as "miracle of life" as that.

Cnn.com/backstory, you can see a whole bunch of our stories that are done on our show on CNN International, so check it out.

PHILLIPS: Great stuff.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Michael. Great to see you, OK.

HOLMES: OK, bye.