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Al Qaeda Propaganda Cartoon; Bullying, Sexuality & Suicides; Regional Drought Became A Famine in Somalia Due to Al Shabaab Terror Control; Aid Workers Are Not Welcome
Aired July 21, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Our top story is a clear and present danger to 140 million Americans in more than 30 states. Yet most of us take it for granted, especially in July. I'm talking heat. Miserable, deadly heat. If it's not 100, 105 or 110 in this huge part of the country that you see right here behind me, well, it certainly feels like it is. The National Weather Service says as many as 22 people have died of the heat since the current wave took hold about a week ago. Missouri alone has 13 suspected heat deaths, and we are sure to hear much more. Kansas City has set up cooling centers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MINDY VALINES, COOLING CENTER DIRECTOR: We welcome people to come in and cool off, get a drink of water, use the rest rooms, take some time out of being outside.
DENNIS GAGNON, KANSAS CITY COMMUNICATIONS DIR.: We really want to see folks start looking out for their neighbors, start looking for places where they can get a little relief from the heat.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
KAYE: The CDC reminds us that from 1979 to 2003, heat killed more than 8,000 Americans. More than were killed by hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes and floods combined.
And heat takes a major toll on power grids. Back in May, the grid serving most of the mid-Atlantic predicted a peak demand of just under 149,000 megawatts. One megawatt, by the way, can power 1,000 air conditioners at full blast. Yesterday, that grid produced more than 150,000 megawatts.
I spoke on the phone last hour with Michael Kormos, senior V.P. of PJM Interconnection. He says the power is still flowing for now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL KORMOS, SR. V.P. PJM INTERCONNECTION (via telephone): Well, we're at peak. This is a week we plan literally for years for in advance to make sure the infrastructure is in place. We train all year long to be prepared. And right now, everything is running well and the grid is holding up, and we expect not to have any brownouts in the foreseeable future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Well, the same can't be said in parts of the Midwest. At least one utility is asking customers to scale back power use to crank up thermostats or risk service interruption. I'm thinking that maybe an Arctic cold front might be really good for everybody right now.
Anything on the horizon like that, Chad Myers?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Did you go on to iReport and take a look at the Chilean snow storm?
KAYE: I love it. Let's bring it here.
MYRS: They can't even get out of their houses in Chile because of the snow event. Even in some of the parts of the deserts in Chile, they have had feet of snow in the past couple of days.
Now the issue with this heat problem, especially in the Northeast, is that it will build for the next couple of days. So today is the first -- really the first big day of heat over 100, 110 in some spots. It doesn't cool down much tonight, and it gets warmer tomorrow, and it doesn't cool much down tomorrow night and then gets warmer by the weekend, and that's -- it's that step up, step up. Your house never gets a chance to cool off.
It's been that way in the Midwest for the past couple of weeks, but now that heat has really shifted to where people live. Millions more people live here from New York to Philadelphia all the way down to D.C.
The best thing you can do to protect your grid and to help even your power bill, when you leave the house, turn up the temperature, 80, 82, whatever -- just doesn't even have to turn on when you're there, turn it back down when you're home, and let the house cool down and everybody will be just fine. If you let that thing buzz at 74 degrees when you're at work for eight hours, that's not helping the grid whatsoever.
So, for today and tomorrow, 100 and something, 107, 109, depends on where you are in New York City.
I just saw a heat index in Annapolis right down in the water, 117 degrees out there in Annapolis. So, that is going to be the case. The closer you get to water, the more it's going to be muggy.
And you know what? We get temperatures 92, 95 every year, but this heat wave is a record breaker heat index because we have never seen humidities this high before.
It's been muggy. It's been raining. It's been flooding in the Midwest. That flooding water is now evaporated. It's in the atmosphere, and it makes it feel oppressively hot.
Record highs -- record high, relative humidities, record high dew points all across the country for this heat index.
KAYE: Yes. We need some snow, don't we?
MYERS: Yes. Just waiting for football season, one thing at a time.
KAYE: Snow and football -- all right, we want them both. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
KAYE: Our sound effect is the very last, last of the space shuttle era. Everything connected with STS-135 has been a last of some sort -- last liftoff, last hookup of the space station and last phone call from the president, and early this morning, the last landing. The speech-making started when the wheels touched down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB NAVIAS, NASA PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, its place in history secured, the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time, its voyage at an end.
CAPT. CHRIS FERGUSON, COMMANDER, STS-135: Mission complete, Houston, after serving the world over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history and has come to a final stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Atlantis will stay at Kennedy Space Center as a museum piece. But 3,000 contract workers are being shown the door. Their jobs will be eliminated starting tomorrow.
Other stories that we're following:
As top congressional and administration leaders zero in on efforts to raise the debt ceiling today, there's renewed focus on a possible short-term deal as a way to buy more time for negotiators. In less than two weeks the country could default on its $14 trillion debt unless lawmakers come up with a compromise plan to authorize more borrowing. Today, the Senate takes up the "cut, cap and balance" bill. House Republicans pushed through, but has little hope of passing the Senate, and the president has threatened to veto it.
A new warning that terrorists could use angry employees and ex-workers to target private utilities in this country. The Department of Homeland Security sent a bulletin to local law enforcement warning about the possibility. It says there is no intelligence about a specific threat against any power, water, gas or waste facilities, but according to DHS, if violent extremists got ahold of insider information about utilities, it could increase the likelihood of an attack that might succeed.
Good news for football fans. There are strong signs that the labor dispute between the NFL owners and players could end as early as today. The league's 32 owners are meeting in Atlanta and will vote on the deal now in front of them. Players will be voting separately. The major dispute: how to divide billions of dollars in revenue. Any agreement would put the NFL into high gear. The first preseason game is set for August 7th, and the season is scheduled to open September 8th.
Tiger Woods has fired his longtime caddie and friend Steve Williams who was with Tiger for 13 of his 14 major championship wins. Williams says that he was surprised because he stuck with Woods through the tough times, his very public sex scandal and the collapse of Tiger Woods' game.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
STEVE WILLIAMS, TIGER WOODS' EX-CADDIE: It's not disappointing to get fired. I understand the nature of this business. That's the way it is. But, you know, given the fact of my loyalty and the way that I am, I mean, the timing of it is, you know, pretty poor really.
As you pointed out, I stood by this guy through thick and thin, and, you know, the timing of it is very poor from my perspective.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KAYE: Williams says Tiger used to intimidate the other players. He says he doesn't anymore.
And take a look at this. Al Qaeda sympathizers claim they are making a cartoon to inspire children to take up armed violence against the West. Details and more pictures right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: If you're old enough, you may remember Walt Disney cartoon characters like Donald Duck fighting the Japanese and the Germans in World War II. Well, later this month, Paramount Pictures releases "Captain America," a film based on one of Marvel Comics' super soldiers from World War II.
But what happens when a terrorist organization makes a propaganda film, when they are the hero and the West is the enemy?
"Reuters" is reporting al Qaeda sympathizers are planning on doing exactly that. They are producing, quote, "a children's cartoon film to inspire young Muslim viewers to take up armed violence against the West."
Joining us now via Skype from New York is CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend. She's a member of both the CIA and DHS external advisory committees.
Fran, glad you're here with us to talk about this. This is really pretty frightening. I mean, first of all, I want to ask you who are the sympathizers that might be working on this?
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, there are a number of what we call password-protected Web sites where Jihadi sympathizers and terrorist sympathizers often communicate. They put propaganda up there, and -- and we think from what we're hearing so far that this comes from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or an affiliated group in Yemen.
Here's the concern about that: Anwar al-Awlaki, head of the group, an American-born Islamic cleric, who is a terrorist, who inspired the Ft. Hood shooter, he's got audio tapes there sold around the world and videotapes. And so, this is kind of a new low in a continuing activity of his, you know? This is now targeting children.
KAYE: Yes, I mean, have they ever targeted children before? I mean, have they ever released a cartoon like this? And what would they use children for? We've seen in one of the recent cases in Afghanistan, there was a little girl, right, who had been tricked sort of to walk towards a building with a -- as a suicide bomber? She didn't even know she was a suicide bomber.
TOWNSEND: Right, and we've seen this where they will put children in cars and have them drive it up and children don't realize the cars are, you know, improvised explosive devices, going to explode and kill the children as well. But let's be clear. This is an organization with no more or less, no scruples, and so they are willing to murder their own children for the furtherance of the cause.
When you look at the graphics that have been, that we've seen so far, they glorify jihad. They glorify war. They show these young children, teenagers with weapons, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, assisting other hurt children.
What they don't show is the consequences of that activity -- drone strikes, children being killed, children being abused, and children being taken away from their families.
And so, of course, this is meant to be a recruitment tool and that's exactly the way they do it, they glorify the war.
KAYE: And just very quickly, Fran, in about 20 seconds, I mean, the main concern is how successful this might be. So, what is the answer to that?
TOWNSEND: Well, what you hope, Randi, is moderate Muslim parents, you know, just like American parents, they don't want to se their children exposed to this sort of thing and led astray because for most Muslims this does not represent Islam. And so, what you have to hope is parents will exercise control in terms of what their children are viewing.
KAYE: Fran Townsend, appreciate your insight. Thank you very much.
Student bullying and a culture war over what teachers can or can't say about homosexuality in the classroom. It's kicked off a federal investigation in one state's largest school district. That story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: When is talk about homosexuality OK in the classroom? Just outside Minneapolis, one school district's policy on the matter is igniting a culture war. CNN has learned the Departments of Justice and Education are investigating incidents of bullying and harassment in Minnesota's largest school district.
Here's CNN's Poppy Harlow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE JOHNSON, SAMANTHA'S MOTHER: This is Samantha's swimsuit hanging here, and I just can't put it away.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESONDENT (voice-over): A swimsuit hanging lifeless since November 2009 when Michelle Johnson's only daughter took her own life.
JOHNSON: We believe that she was just hiding from everybody because she was feeling hopeless. Samantha was kind of a tomboy. And she -- she was perceived as gay.
HARLOW (on camera): Was she gay?
JOHNSON: No. We don't think she was gay. She was 13.
HARLOW (voice-over): Samantha was the first of seven students to commit suicide in a single Minnesota school district in less than two years. Parents and friends tell us four of those teens were either gay, perceived to be gay or questioning their sexuality. And at least two of them were bullied over it.
Erica Hoops was Samantha's best friend.
ERICA HOOPS, SAMANTHA'S FRIEND: Yes. She didn't feel safe anywhere. During volleyball they would call her names like fag and be like go over to the boys' locker room. You shouldn't be in here.
HARLOW (on camera): Was the bullying part of the reason, Erica, do you think she killed herself?
HOOPS: Most definitely. There's no question about it.
HARLOW (voice-over): Allegations of bullying have brought unwanted media attention, and CNN has learned a federal investigation to this quiet suburban community.
(on camera): We're about 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis in Anoka- Hennepin. This is the biggest school district in the entire state.
But the reason we're here is because it has become a battleground over homosexuality in the classroom.
(voice-over): This is the only Minnesota school district we could find with a curriculum policy that bars teachers from taking a position on homosexuality and says such matters are best addressed outside of school. It's become known as the Neutrality Policy, and some teachers say it's part of the problem. JERI SCHULTZ, ANOKA-HENNEPIN TEACHER: There's so much we can't do and say to help create a more accepting and affirming and welcoming environment that would eliminate some of that bullying in the first place.
HARLOW: In a school newsletter and in a voice mail to staff, Superintendent Dennis Carlson denies any connection between bullying and the suicides.
DENNIS CARLSON, ANOKA-HENNEPIN SUPERINTENDENT (via telephone): Based on all the information we've been able to gather, none of the suicides were connected to incidents of bullying or harassment.
HARLOW: Carlson says the district has a comprehensive bullying policy and has piloted a bullying tip line. He says the Neutrality Policy is a reasonable response to a divided community.
CARLSON: It's a diverse community, and what I try to do as superintendent is walk down the middle of the road.
HARLOW: But one teacher is ready to take on the district.
(on camera): Are you afraid that you could lose your job just being here talking about this?
JEFFERSON FIETEK, ANOKA-HENNEPIN TEACHER: Realistically, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: And, Randi, just today two civil rights groups, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a lawsuit against that school district, challenging the Neutrality Policy. This comes after the Anoka-Hennepin School District announced it's keeping the policy in place but also asked the advocacy groups to assist them in training school staff to support their gay students.
But that apparently is not going far enough for the advocacy groups. That's what they told us. The SPLC was present for CNN interviews involving its clients.
And as CNN first reported, the Departments of Justice and Education are investigating incidents of bullying involving and also harassment in that school district after receiving a complaint.
Now, while the school district says they have had collaborative discussions with federal authorities, the DOJ confirms their investigation at this point is ongoing. We've got a lot more on this story. A full investigation, Randi -- it's coming up Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
KAYE: And, Poppy, you mentioned this lawsuit just filed today against the district.
HARLOW: Right.
KAYE: Are any more details about that that we should know? HARLOW: Absolutely. It's a 68-page complaint filed in the state of Minnesota, coming from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights and also the law firm law Faegre & Benson. It is against the school district and also the school board. They are representing five current and former students of the district.
What they allege is that those students suffered severe and pervasive gender-based harassment in front of school officials. The suit claims that school staff did not take sufficient action to stop the bullying. It goes on to claim that the district violated students' rights under the Constitution, Title 9, and also under the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
Now, we've reached out to the school district for a response. The district spokesperson told us they are reviewing the complaint and just yesterday the district said they had retained outside counsel to investigate previous bullying allegations brought to light by those two advocacy groups. And they say that investigation found that the district was, quote, "prompt, reasonable and appropriate" in each case, Randi.
So, we will follow this very closely. We will see what happens in this case and let you know if there is any further response. Obviously, we're following it continually on CNN.com -- Randi.
KAYE: Yes. Poppy, be sure to keep us up to date on that. Thank you.
You can see more of Poppy's story this weekend, CNN Sunday night, at 8:00 p.m. It's three amazing stories. One hour of razor sharp journalism.
Don't miss an all new "CNN Presents," Sunday night at 8:00.
Amid all the scandal and sensationalism, Ali Velshi and Richard Quest take on the tabloids in today's "Q & A." You definitely want to stick around for this one, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" and so do I. We are here together in the CNN NEWSROOM around the world.
Hello, Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" HOST: Hello, Ali.
We are coming to talk business, travel innovation.
And since it's "Q & A" nothing is off limits, really of limits.
Today, we're talking about the tabloids -- the good, the bad and, Ali, the ugly.
VELSHI: Well, there it is, the rags, the scandal sheets, whatever you want to call them. We've been talking a lot about them with the "News of the World" scandal unfolding on your side of the pond.
But really what is the value of tabloids, Richard? I'll let you go first. You've got 60 seconds.
QUEST: Sixty seconds on the value of the tabloids. It is easy to say that the scandal sheets and the tabloids are worthless. After all, we can all agree that a free press is essential to the nature of any country, but how can these sort of stories actually make for a viable democracy?
Well, the truth is, of course, that this is the backbone of our democracy, and the scandal sheets and the broad sheet small versions are essential for what is going to happen in the way we live our lives.
The little tabloids do more than just show us bare-breasted ladies and scream obscenities about Randy Vickers. They often run campaigns, for example, name and shame pedophiles. They run campaign for consumers. They are in many ways the form that we look forward to when we want to know the way society is going, because it is these papers that have the circulations that we need to make it so important.
VELSHI: Richard, Richard, Richard. I risk your ire and the ire of our British viewers when I say that I honestly don't see that the tabloids bring us much news value on either side of the Atlantic. And you're right. They can be entertaining. They even break the occasional story.
Over on our side the "National Enquirer" did with the John Edwards affair.
Here's the downside to all of this muckraking, Richard. For instance, it's hard enough to attract people into politics, good people into politics. The fact that there's a culture of so-called "journalism" that's out to dig up every piece of lack of judgment you've ever had contributes to the dearth of talent available for public office.
Hey, Richard, it's entirely possible that the best person for a given job or political office is someone who might not have conducted themselves perfectly in every aspect of their lives.
Tabloid journalism, what you're doing there, it discourages that sort from stepping into the public life because, Richard, it's not worth it. The trade-off in privacy is not worth it. Those tabloids, they hunt for dirt.
The News Corp example shows what happens when the search for sleaze and gossip goes too far, Richard.
QUEST: Swat this fly, please.
VELSHI: I think it's time to separate the men from the voice on this one. Let's see, you probably know more about this than I do but it's time to bring the voice in to quiz us on what we know about these things.
Good day, voice.
VOICE: Good day, gentlemen. I've never seen you two so excited so let's dive right in.
Millions of people read the tabloids every day. According to "The Economist," which single tabloid has the highest circulation? Is it (a), "Bild Zeitung" out of Germany; (b), "The Sun" from the U.K.; (c), "Tokyo Sports" from Japan -- Richard, go ahead.
QUEST: It's "Bild" from Germany.
VOICE: That's correct. Germany's top tabloid reaches 2.9 million readers just ahead of "The Sun."
On to question number two. In which question was the first tabloid published? Is it (a), the United States, (b), Britain, (c), Germany, or, (d), Italy? Ali?
VELSHI: Britain.
VOICE: Incorrect. Richard?
QUEST: It's a choice between Germany or Italy. Let's go with Germany.
VELSHI: Wait, make the choice.
VOICE: You are both incorrect. The correct answer is the United States.
It was a submission on New Year's Day of "The New York World" newspaper. It was published by James Pulitzer, but the issue was designed by a British journalist who at the time ran "The Daily Mail" in London.
On to question number three --
VELSHI: Who knew we started this problem, Richard.
VOICE: Which of these is the oldest newspaper still in print? Is it (a), "The Times of London," (b), "The New York Times," (c), "Le Figaro" out of France or, (d), "The Montreal Gazette.
VELSHI: Got to be a trick question, Richard.
QUEST: It's absolutely a trick question.
VELSHI: All right. I'm going to go all out for "Le Figaro."
VOICE: Incorrect.
VELSHI: I didn't really believe either, but I figured were you trying to trick us.
QUEST: Is it "The Times of London" or "New York Times" -- I'm just going to go for it. VOICE: "The London Times." Incorrect. You both failed. "The Montreal Gazette." It was started in 1778. Ten years ahead of "The Times of London."
QUEST: And you're Canadian.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should have known.
VELSHI: I'll never live this one down. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard, you won this time.
VELSHI: Yeah, whatever.
QUEST: That will do it for this week. Remember, we're here each week Thursdays on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, 18:00, and in the CNN NEWSROOM, Ali, we're also with you.
VELSHI: That's right. 2:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursdays. Keep the topics coming on our blogs at cnn.com/QMB. And CNN.com/Ali. Tell us each week what you want to talk about.
See you next week, Richard.
QUEST: See you next week. Have a good one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: It is 32 minutes past the hour. Here's a look at the stories you may have missed.
It's no secret that it is extremely hot in many parts of the country. The blistering heat wave that officials say is responsible for nearly two dozen deaths is expected to stick around today and could continue into the weekend. And 141 million people across the U.S. are under heat advisories and warnings. Triple-digit temperatures are expected to remain across the Eastern U.S. through Saturday before cooling off slightly to the mid-90s by Sunday.
As the clock ticks towards the August 2nd deadline, top congressional and administration officials are focusing on a possible short-term deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling as a way to buy more time for more negotiations. President Obama has previously said he'd veto any short-term extension, but White House Press Secretary Jay Carney signaled to reporters yesterday that may no longer be the case. Carney said the president may be willing to change his mind if a short-term extension is tied to an agreement on a broader deficit reduction deal, that includes both tax hikes and spending reforms.
Well, it's official. NASA's shuttle program has come to an end. Shuttle Atlantis' return to Kennedy Space Center this morning is the final chapter of the 30-year program. During its 13-day mission Atlantis delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and other supplies to the International Space Station.
The end of the shuttle program is sitting well with many Americans. According to the latest CNN/ORC Research poll, half of all Americans feel the end of the shuttle program is bad for the country. One-third say it has no effect, and 16 percent believe the money can be better used elsewhere.
The State of Arizona's effort to raise $50 million to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border is about $40,000 richer today. Fencing already covers about a third of the 2,000-mile border with the U.S. government paying about $3 million per mile to construct it. Arizona State Senator Steve Smith says the final cost of the project in his state would depend on whether the state can get private companies to donate some of those construction supplies. Some state lawmakers say they could save money by using inmate labor to help build the fence.
It looks like some people are going to be getting their money back. According to the Federal Trade Commission borrowers who were overcharged by Countrywide financial more than three years ago will be getting a check in the mail to make up some of the difference. It will be sending out nearly $108 million to more than 450,000 former Countrywide customers.
A nation in misery from drought and famine and a desperate plea for help. Details next in "Globe Trekking."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: The African nation of Somalia is in dire straits, and the president is pleading for international aid to help his country cope with a devastating drought and famine. CNN's John Vause is here with the details.
It seems as though things are really going from bad to worse there?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and we've heard directly from the president. He has spoken to CNN. He said he essentially half of his country is now starving. We are looking at 3.7 million people in dire need of food, emergency assistance. Most of those people are in the south of the country. Now this region itself is suffering from the worst drought in 60 years. But the situation in Somalia has been made particularly worse because of the presence of this Islamic militant group Al Shabaab.
KAYE: And they are blocking, Al Shabaab is actually blocking some of the aid from getting in, right? Or trying to.
VAUSE: Well, a couple years ago they kicked out all the foreign aid workers. And they put all these conditions on like women weren't allowed to go in. There were taxes which foreign aid groups had to pay to Al Shabaab, which they refused to do and they left. What they have done is they brokered this deal now with the U.N. to allow emergency aid drops to go into this southern part of Somalia. And that happened last weekend.
But it is still very much a work in progress. It is not really known how this will work out. Will they hold to it? Al Shabaab has made it known they would like Islamic charities to do the work, but what is interesting, if you look at the map, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and maybe even Eritrea, all of these countries are suffering the drought. But it is only in Somalia, and only in the southern part of Somalia, where Al Shabaab is in control where the U.N. has declared famine. And famine is a very loaded term. Aid groups don't like using it. The last time they used it in Somalia was back in 1992. And that's a direct link to Al Shabaab, they took a drought and turned it into a famine. They took a disaster they turned into an absolute catastrophe.
KAYE: So many of the people that have affected are fleeing into Kenya.
VAUSE: Yes. They are going into this massive refugee camp which cannot hold them all, and the problem for the refugees who are now crossing over the border into Kenya is that the government in Kenya says because of Al Shabaab and because of security reasons we don't want you staying in our country.
KAYE It's a risk.
VAUSE: We want the refugee camp set up inside Somalia, so it's an absolute desperate situation for millions of people.
KAY: You know, breaks my heart is the children. And when we saw that story yesterday with that four-year-old little girl who was so sick and still couldn't get, you know, living on grain and no water, and it was just -- she didn't survive.
VAUSE: And it's not just in those refugee camps. What we're seeing in Somalia now, with the children who are essentially skeletons because they are making the trek across this dangerous piece of territory in the southern part of Somalia. And they are trying to get to Mogadishu, which is the capital of Somalia, which the government barely controls as it is. You know, the rebels and the insurgents and the Islamic militants and the tribal groups hold a lot of the country. The government doesn't have much security there.
These people are packing up their kids and trying to get to whatever safety they can for whatever food they can find along the way. And we've heard stories, you know, of kids dying on the way, the weaker members of the family just being left behind.
KAYE: So, what's the answer? What are they going to do?
VAUSE: Well, they need $1.6 billion. That is what the U.S. says. Somalia needs $300 million within the next two months to sort of avoid absolute disaster. The United States has stepped up. They have chipped in around $400 million for the region. That's according to the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Brits have made a substantial contribution. Everyone is pointing the fingers at the other European countries, France, Italy, the Netherlands, all these places that are yet to really step up and contribute in any significant way.
KAYE: Before I let you go.
VAUSE: Sure. KAYE: I want to ask you about Egypt.
VAUSE: Yeah.
KAYE: New cabinet was sworn in today. How significant is that?
VAUSE: It's fairly significant. It was meant to happen on Tuesday, but the prime minister apparently was suffering from exhaustion, and had to check himself into hospital. So there's been a lot of wrangling about this. There are 12 new faces in this cabinet. There was some talk that the military rulers who are still essentially in charge of Egypt didn't like the new cabinet, so there's been shuffling. Finally announced, sworn in today, 12 new faces.
It is all about trying to apiece the protesters who have once again gathered at Tahrir Square because they are unhappy with the pace of change. They say it's too slow. They won't be happy because the interior minister has kept his job. They wanted him out because he hasn't reformed the police and other security services. The good news is for the protesters, at least, that this cabinet will probably only be in place for about four months, because that is when they are set to hold elections.
The problem though is according to an interview that one of the military leaders did the other day, they are not going to allow independent election observers in for this post-revolution election. So a lot of people are complaining about that, complaining about the cabinet, and complaining about a lot of things.
KAYE: Progress, sort of.
VAUSE: Sort of, kind of, maybe.
All right, John. John Vause, thank you. Nice to see you.
VAUSE: Good to see you.
KAYE: If you had to take a geography quiz right now, how do you think you'd do? We have the pretty shocking results of a new report on how much U.S. students know, or don't know, when it comes to geography. And we've got some sample questions so you can see how you would do. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Other stories we're following right now. About 44 minutes past the hour.
As top congressional and administration leaders zero in on efforts to raise the debt ceiling today, there is renewed focusing on a possible short-term deal as a way to buy more time for negotiators. In less than two weeks the country could default on its $14 trillion debt unless lawmakers come up with a compromise plan to authorize more borrowing.
Today the Senate takes up the Cut, Cap and Balance bill, that House Republicans pushed that through. But it does have little hope of passing the Senate. And the president has threatened to veto it.
A new warning that terrorists could use angry employees and ex-workers to target private utilities in this country; the Department of Homeland Security has sent a bulletin to local law enforcement warning about the possibility. It says there is no intelligence about a specific threat against any power, water, or gas or wastewater facilities. But according to DHS if violent extremists got hold of insider information about utilities, it could increase the likelihood of an attack that might succeed.
And some good news for football fans -- there are strong signs that the labor dispute between the NFL owners and players could end as early as today. The league's 32 owners are meeting in Atlanta, and they'll vote on the deal now in front of them. Players will vote separately.
The major dispute: how to divide billions of dollars in revenue.
Any agreement would put the NFL into high gear. The first preseason game is actually set for August 7th, and the season is scheduled to open September 8th.
I want to show you some live pictures right now from D.C. where the NFL players are expected to speak any moment now.
Tiger Woods has fired his longtime caddie and friend, Steve Williams. He was with tiger for 13 of his 14 major championship wins. Williams says he was surprised because he stuck with woods through the tough times, his very public sex scandal and the collapse of his game.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
STEVE WILLIAMS, TIGER WOODS' EX-CADDIE: It's disappointing to get fired. I understand the nature of this business. That's the way it is. But, you know, given the fact of my loyalty and the way that I am, I mean, the timing of it is, you know, pretty poor really.
As you pointed out, I stood by this guy through thick and thin, and, you know, the timing of it is very poor from my perspective.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KAYE: William says Tiger used to intimidate the other players, and he says he doesn't anymore.
Bryant Gumbel says he wants everyone to stop coddling losing female athletes.
Do we coddle female athletes? Our Stream Team will tackle that subject next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: And welcome back. Once again we want to take you live to Washington, D.C. That is DeMaurice Smith. He is the executive director of the NFL players association, speaking to reporters. We'll continue to monitor this, but we can tell you the news coming out of there is that no deal on the NFL lockout has been reached yet. They are working on negotiating a deal, but once again no deal yet for the NFL lockout. We'll continue to watch it and let you know if anything happens, right here on CNN.
Last night on HBO's "Real Sports," Bryant Gumbel said he wanted everyone to stop coddling losing female athletes. Does he have a point?
On Sunday the U.S. soccer team lost to Japan, a team they had beaten 25 straight times in the World Cup finals. And instead of universally taking a critical look at why they failed to brick home the cup, some in the media seemed to have broken out their pom-poms. Thousands of people packed a mall in Victor, New York, to greet Abby Wambach.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
KAYE: This coming a day after Abby and goalie Hope Solo appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" where they kicked soccer balls into taxis.
And today, millions of readers of "Sports Illustrated" will be greeted by a cover photo, you see it right there, of goalie Hope Solo. She is just the third female soccer player to have this honor.
You may remember the first woman to have that honor, Brandi Chastain and her sports bra.
The difference is that Chastain was celebrating her World Cup-winning kick, not a second place finish.
So, the question for today's Stream Team is this: do we coddle female athletes?
Dot Richardson is a two-time softball Olympic gold medalist and the medical director of the USA triathlon national training center. Christine Brennan is a sports columnist from "USA Today" and joins us by phone from Washington.
Christine, I'd like to start with you. Was Bryant Gumbel correct when he said that we coddle losing female athletes?
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, USA TODAY (via telephone): Randi, I'm not sure who he was reading, but anyone I read and all my colleagues who we were fortunate enough to be there to cover the U.S. women's soccer team over the past week or so all reported very accurately and very fairly on the loss. My column in Monday's at "USA Today," I talked about the bitter taste of losing, I said it was a terrible way for riveting games, and ugly way, all frittered away at the end.
So, I certainly haven't coddled them. I don't think any of the very good strong journalists who are covering the team did that, and I'm not sure what he was reading, because the journalism that I saw was right on. And, in fact, I was probably softer on Rory McIlroy shooting an 80 at the masters than I was -- I was harder I think on the women's soccer team.
Dot, what do you think? I mean, what's your response to that? Do you think that we're too easy on women and give the guys a harder time?
DOT RICHARDSON, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I don't think we're too easy on the women. I think we give the guys -- you know, we're pretty tough on the guys. If you lose a game, you might lose your job -- kind of drastic, but I'm really proud of the efforts of all athletes and being one myself, when you get to that elite level, the Brazil game by men and women, one of the greatest soccer games of all time, and when you come down from that high to come back late in the next game that they did in the semifinals to get to the finals, there's nobody more disappointed than they are.
But -- it's always tough to lose, but to call them losers or say you're coddling them I think is -- is a mistake.
KAYE: Yes. Christine, I know you've actually written that the loss is still a victory actually for women's sports. I mean, do you think that that might be taken as coddling by some?
BRENNAN: That's a great question, Randi. And I think if you read the column, no. And I think what -- there are two things going on here. Title 9 is only 39 years old, and women sports are really in their infancy. One hundred years from now, people will look back and talk about Dot Richardson and what she did on the softball field in Atlanta in 1996, the women's soccer in '96 and '99 and now 2011, and how these stories are part of our history.
So, frankly, as a journalist and as a columnist I don't think, Randi, that I would be doing my job if I also didn't put that perspective at the very end of the column.
But coddling female athletes -- those of us who covered the Olympics and those of us who cover women sports, as well as men's sports on a worldwide basis, I think we take women athletes too seriously now and give them the respect they deserve and I think we cover them exactly as we cover men, at least I do.
KAYE: Christine Brennan, Dot Richardson, thank you both for coming on the show. Very interesting topic to discuss with the two of you.
Well, if you had to guess, how much do you think U.S. students know about geography? Here's a different way of asking. What percent do you think would be considered would be proficient in geography -- 75 percent, 50 percent of all students, maybe even less?
All right. I'm going to tell you. According to a report from the U.S. government, only about a quarter of U.S. students are proficient in geography. Just one-quarter, that's one in every four students who know their geography.
The study released from the National Education Statistics focused on fourth, eighth and 12th graders.
And here's how it broke down: among 8th graders, there actually wasn't a significant change in scores from the last assessment in 2001 -- 27 percent were declared proficient. Among 12th graders, not a whole lot of change either, with just 20 percent proficient. However, they did score worse than back in 1994.
But here's a little bit of good news. Performance amongst 4th graders improved slightly even though 21 percent were deemed proficient. Fourth graders scored five points higher on average than they did in 2001. Within that improvement, black and Hispanic students have narrowed the score gap between their white classmates.
And if you're wondering the geography quizzes are much more than find this place on the map type of question. Here's an example of one of them for 8th graders. You can play along with us.
Along with the visual, early settlers on the North American great plains used sod to build houses such as the one shown above primarily because: (a), they did not have experience building with wood; (b) sod offered greater protection from cold weather; (c), there was little wood available for housing; (d), wood houses were vulnerable to prairie fires.
The answer was C.
And according to the report, the point of the question was to measure 8th graders knowledge of how societies adapt to or modify the environment to suit their needs. How many got that question right. Forty-eight percent.
All right. Here's one for 12th graders. Along with a visual it says, how were the Great Lakes formed: (a), glaciations, (b), volcanic activity, (c), soil deposition, (d) erosion? The answer: glaciations. And actually, 56 percent of students got it right.
The report says this kind of question helps measure a 12th graders ability to identify a process that shapes land forms.
So, how do you think you would have done? Well, you let us know.
If good fences make good neighbors, it's a wonder the U.S. and Mexico aren't at war. My "XYZ" is next.
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KAYE: Time now for my "XYZ."
Whether you support building a border fence along our southern border or not, you probably don't support your tax dollars going to waste, and that's exactly what seems to be going on along our border with Mexico. For years now, the federal government has been, quote, "building" a border fence. It has spent millions per mile of taxpayer money on walls and fencing that is, one, not complete and, two, not working.
In 2009, according to the Government Accountability Office, the federal government has spent about $3 million per mile on the fence, and it is still not right. So, an Arizona state senator came up with this brilliant idea, create a Web site and ask for public and private donations.
Now, I am not advocating for or against the fence. I'm simply saying the federal government started a job and never finished it. So this is what Arizona plans to do. The Web site, buildtheborderfence.com, just launched yesterday, and it raised about $40,000. The goal is $50 million from donors across the country.
Arizona's southern boarder is about 370 miles long. Much of it has no fencing or the wrong fencing that can't keep out vehicles or people. Yes, I know. It is a hard pill to swallow, but those are your tax dollars at work.
That will do it for me.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with Don Lemon, in for Brooke Baldwin. Hi, Don.
