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Not Unthinkable, Not Inevitable; Georgia Mother Facing Manslaughter Charges For Letting Her Child Jaywalk; Recession Hits Hispanics, Blacks Hardest; Are Men Getting More Jobs Than Women As The Recovery Beats Back Unemployment?

Aired July 26, 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: President Obama is warning Washington not to consider compromise a dirty word. The president discussed the debt ceiling crisis on national television last night.

House Speaker John Boehner responded saying he's done all he can do to reach a consensus.

Congress only has a week to come up with the solution to the crisis, otherwise the U.S. could default on loans and lose its good credit rating.

It used to be unthinkable. Today, an unprecedented U.S. government default not inevitable but it could be one week away.

Hours after President Obama and House Speaker Boehner each addressed the nation on the debt ceiling standoff and the other party's obstinance, Republicans are planning yet another fallback, not a new plan to borrow more and spend less, but a blue print for post- August 2nd, if no plan is agreed.

If the Treasury can't meet all its debt and obligations, a bill being circulated would prioritize debt interest payments, Social Security checks and paychecks for troops. Everything else will be covered, if possible, with a cash on hand or put off until we could take on more debt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: This is not meant to be a substitute for raising the debt limit. I and I suspect most of the folks on the stage have actually voted in favor of raising the debt limit provided that we put our government on the path to a balanced budget. What this bill is all about is minimizing whatever disruption might otherwise occur if the debt limit is not raised prior to August 2nd.

I continue to hope that this legislation never needs to be implemented, but it would be very, very irresponsible to be unprepared, or worse, to be unwilling to minimize the potential for disruption.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: Two main default avoidance plans are still on the table as we speak. Speaker Boehner would raise the debt ceiling twice, this year and next, with spending cuts now and an election year overhaul of tax code and entitlements. In the Senate, Majority Leader Reid is pushing $2.7 trillion in spending cuts with $2.4 trillion hike in the debt ceiling. Reid's plan would not include tax increases, nor touch entitlements, nor require any follow-up votes in 2012.

All right. I'm going to stop talking now so you can speak up. You've heard the speeches, the pitches, the accusations and acrimony. What do you make of it all?

We sent our cameras to the streets of Atlanta to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm an optimist. So, yes, I trust that they will come up with something. But I'm very disappointed in the way they have gone about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't understand why Congress, Democrats and Republicans just can't get together and get this thing done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politicians playing politics just doing it for their benefit and they just play games.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Tea Party side of the Republican Party is holding things up and their inflexibility is standing in the way of what I think is a reasonable proposal?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whose fault is it? Maybe the government's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, just not going to get out. Mark my words: they are not going to get out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Find a way to get it done, that's it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get together in a room and work it all out, you know? Politics is really all about compromise. And that's what has to be done.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

KAYE: Certainly doesn't sound so hard when you put it like that. But if it doesn't get done -- if America's creditors begin to get stiffed a week from today or simply fear they'll get stiffed, what might happen to the economy? That's the big question. And, of course, to our own family finances.

The smart money turns to these guys for insight:

Ali Velshi is CNN's chief business correspondent and co-host of "AMERICAN MORNING."

Poppy Harlow with CNNMoney.com. Ali, I'm going to start with you here. What could default mean to our retirement savings? And what if anything, of course, what can we do about it?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I want to introduce another term here which we've talked about: the downgrade -- the downgrade by Moody's or S&P that has been threatened. That might actually come regardless of whether or not we default.

There's a great article right now by my friend Charles Riley on CNNMoney.com. If the U.S. is downgraded, that could increase the cost of debt not just for U.S. government but the cost for borrowing for major U.S. companies and for many states and municipalities.

Now, obviously, with states and municipalities, we know they are running short of money. So, that could affect the services you get. That's just on the service side of things.

But the companies -- if you have a company that borrows money and their cost of borrowing increases, they might have to cut the amount that they borrow. The way they do that is by cutting jobs. So, you may see job cuts, you may also see a pullback in the stock price.

There's also the idea the stock market may respond very negatively to the failure to get a debt deal.

So, there are a lot of things that can happen. We're in uncharted territory, Randi. So, we're not sure what the reaction will be.

Right now, if you look at the stock market, there's some sense the markets are taking this in some stride. They do believe Washington will get a deal. If they don't, you might see some churning.

You can see there, the Dow off about 53 points. That's nothing compared to a bad reaction like the kind we saw back in the fall of 2008 when markets were really worried about what was going on.

KAYE: And, Poppy, I want to ask you because I know you been looking at what might happen to mortgage rates, to car loans. What have you found out?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Ali made such a great point that there's two risks here, right? It's not just the risk of default. But let's hope Washington does reach an agreement by August 2nd.

But there's two monsters, if you will, default and also the downgrade. And every single day that goes by without a deal on the debt ceiling, it is more and more likely that the credit rating of this company's stellar AAA credit will get defaulted, here is why -- will get downgraded.

Here is why you care. Let's start with your home, right, probably your biggest asset right now. Why do you care if you have a home mortgage? Here is why, because treasury rates will go up from the low levels.

That means the mortgage rate will increase, an increase for the long-term unless you're locked in already to a 30-year fixed. That means more homes likely sitting on this depressed market, home prices could fall further. You get the idea.

Then turn to your college loan, whether you have a kid in college or you are that kid in college, and you know the rate on your loan. If you have a private student loan, that rate is going to increase if we have a downgrade of our credit. It's going to be tougher for people to get loans for college, to secure that financing.

And, then, Randi, just for people who may rent and may not have to pay for college right now, they just have a car loan, this even matters to folks with a car payment -- same story as with your home. Interest rate increases, tougher to get credit for a car, get that financing, especially if you're in the mid to lower credit score range. That means fewer new cars sold, that hurts a car market not in great shape right now either.

So, those are the real impacts of not only a default but even a downgrade. And that is why you heard the president say last night, call your congressman, call your congresswoman, these are tangible affects that we are likely going to feel with a downgrade.

KAYE: One thing we heard so much about lately is treasury bills.

Ali, what do you do if you're heavily invested in treasury bills?

VELSHI: Well, what's going to happen is new treasury bills -- again, this is one thing we have to keep putting up this caveat, that we don't actually know what is like to happen. If you are invested in a bond fund, the mutual fund, the bond fund manager will be trading in and out of these things for you. If you are invested in bonds themselves, in treasuries or bonds themselves, they don't fluctuate if you don't sell them -- if you don't do anything with them prior to maturity. You can just hold onto them.

There's security in bonds if you actually hold them for their duration. The issue here is for the issuer of the bond. In this case, the U.S. government, or your state, or your municipality -- they may have trouble raising money going forward. So, they may offer higher interest. And if you had to trade your bond, you would get less money for it.

If you get stuck with bonds, interest rates go up, you're holding bonds, you may end up getting stuck holding them for the long-term.

If it's a bond fund, those actually could do very well as a result of a downgrade. But remember, we have to differentiate between the possibility of a downgrade, which may happen independently of whether or not we raise the debt ceiling, the debt limit and default, which happens if we don't.

KAYE: Such great information, but I got to tell you both -- you know, I really hope we're still not having this conversation come August 1st -- because I know I don't want to be having it. I'm sure a lot of folks watching at home certainly hope we're not having it.

VELSHI: But it's good we're talking about it, Randi, because what we don't want people to do is panic unnecessarily.

KAYE: Yes, absolutely.

VELSHI: Poppy and I will be here and our whole team will be here to let you know when things are going south.

Don't do more damage than good by doing something prematurely.

KAYE: I'll be calling you, Ali, August 1st.

VELSHI: All right.

KAYE: Thank you, both.

Don't forget CNN.com is a wealth of news and information on the debt standoff and everything else that affects your bottom line.

Our sound effect today is from Norway, more shock, more revelations, in the wake of unspeakable hate. We heard from the lawyer for Anders Breivik who says the suspect is, quote, "a little bit surprised" he was able to set off a deadly bomb in Oslo and then open fire on dozens of young campers on a nearby island. The lawyer said Breivik took some kind of drugs before hand and now is very tired.

And his fellow Norwegians are devastated. Among them, Muslims, and others of Breivik's war on multiculturalism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

SOVIBA HASSAIN, NORWEGIAN MUSLIM: It's horrifying. I can't even describe it in words. It's really horrifying that he actually killed so many young people because he hates us. It's really horrifying.

GEIR LIPPESTAD, ATTORNEY FOR ANDERS BREIVIK: This whole case indicates that he's insane. He's in a war. And he says the rest of the world, especially the Western world, don't understand his point of view. That in 60 year's time we all will understand.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

KAYE: Anders Breivik's father has spoken out as well. He told a reporter in France, and I quote here, "rather than killing all those people, he should have taken his own life."

The recession threatens to erase decades of gains by minorities. The troubling findings, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: A new study by the Pew Research Center paints a grim picture of the Great Recession and its victims. It's found the hard times have only made the wealth gap between whites and minorities worse.

Take a look at this with me. This is a breakdown in net worth in 2005 and 2009, median wealth of white households was 20 times that of black households and 18 that of Hispanic households. It shows blacks and Hispanics were disproportionately hit by the economic crisis.

So, let's go to Sandra Endo who joins us live from Los Angeles today with much more on this.

Hi, Sandra.

The wealth gap between whites and minorities is an age old problem, but the recession acted almost as a catalyst really to make the gap even wider?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Randi.

The gap is as wide as it's been in 25 years. And the housing market was the biggest hit here out in the West. And that's the biggest reason the Pew Research Center study said there's such a disparity in household wealth.

Take a look at this. According to the study, the median household wealth among Hispanics fell 66 percent from 2005 to 2009. Black households suffered 53 percent drop in net worth and whites suffered 16 percent.

Now, the standard also shows the median wealth of Hispanic households in 2009 was 6,325 -- 5,677 for African-Americans compared to around $113,000 as a median wealth for white households in 2009. Now, it's important to note household wealth means assets such as car, home, savings, minus the family's debts like loans and credit card bills. It's not really family income per se.

And for a lot of people trying to strive for the American Dream, they put a lot of their money into their homes.

KAYE: Yes, they sure did. What about --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERARDO ASCENCIO, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HISPANIC REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS: Other white families or other black families, Hispanic families were not very diverse in their portfolio. Two-thirds of their entire wealth was put into the family home in terms of real estate. So, it's no surprise by that going down with plummeting equities and with erosion of sales prices all across the nation, we were hit the hardest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: Now, Randi, Asian households also took a hit because a lot of their household wealth was actually more than white families. And according to this study, their median household wealth dropped from $168,000 in 2005 to $78,000 in 2009. And keep in mind the geographical demographics here because a lot of Asian families also live out here in the West, in states like California, places hard hit by the housing market -- Randi.

KAYE: And, Sandra, this data, though, is from 2009. Any idea whether or not the situation has improved or gotten better since then?

ENDO: Well, according to the study, Randi, there is possible good news because of the fact the study was taken in 2009. The last two years or so, the housing prices have stabilized a little, have bottomed out. So, hopefully, and optimistically speaking that gap could have stabilized as well or hit rock bottom.

So, clearly, there's only upwards mobility to go hopefully. And that's fingers crossed out here at least.

KAYE: All right. Sandra Endo in Los Angeles. Thank you.

Up next, she lost her 4-year-old son to a hit-and-run driver and then today was punished for being the one who walked him across the street when it all happened. We'll tell you how a judge punished this young mother, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It's a story that's been creating a lot of buzz. And, frankly, a whole lot of outrage.

A young Georgia mother whose 4-year-old son was killed by a hit- and-run driver is being held responsible for that little boy's death. Why? Not because she drove the car that hit him but because she led him jaywalking across the street when it all happened.

She was convicted of second degree vehicular homicide last week. And today, she was sentenced.

CNN's David Mattingly was at the sentencing and joins me from outside the courthouse now.

David, Raquel Nelson we know faced up to three years in jail. What did she end up getting?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, she faced three years in jail as a maximum. There were three charges against her, all misdemeanors with maximum one year sentence each. So, she was looking at the possibility of the maximum sentence of three years in jail. And she had made a national plea hoping to get to the ears of this judge to please not separate her from her surviving children.

And today, the court, apparently, was listening. No one seemed interested in making sure that she saw any jail time at all. When it came time for sentencing, the prosecution stood up and said that they recommended probation. And the judge said that that's what this court is going to do. She received one year of probation, and then 40 days of public service, no fine at all.

So, basically, the bottom line here: she lost her child but she will not lose her freedom and she can go back to those children today.

KAYE: And, David, how did they react once she learned her fate?

MATTINGLY: We listened to a lot of very emotional pleas from friends, colleagues and co-workers who went before the court to say that she was a very good and loving mother, very hardworking, that she did not deserve to go to jail. There were a lot of tears as that was going on. But when the verdict came out and the judge said that she would be going home today, there was a brief round of cheers and then when it was all over, everyone had to go hug her and cry just a little bit more.

When she came outside, someone asked her the question, are you satisfied with the verdict and here is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAQUEL NELSON, SON KILLED IN HIT-AND-RUN CRASH: I'm walking out of here. I don't think I could be any more satisfied with that. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That is right to the point. Again, Randi, this woman who has already lost so much will not be losing her freedom.

KAYE: All right. David Mattingly there in Georgia for us -- thank you. I want to bring in Attorney George Stein right now. He's not involved in this case but he does specialize in DUI, vehicular homicides in Georgia.

George, first of all, what do you think of this sentencing?

GEORGE STEIN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, this judge is very smart and articulate. I think she was well-advised to take a look at this. You have to look at the whole picture not just the statute itself.

And when you have a mother that's been victimized by the ultimate loss, the loss of a child -- gosh, that's got to be the ultimate punishment of that's enough punishment right there.

KAYE: How unusual is this kind of case?

STEIN: It's very unusual. The reason is the vast majority of states in our country don't have second degree vehicular homicide. They just have the felony version of this statute that says if you're impaired or you're drunk and you unfortunately kill somebody, then it's a crime and it's a felony and it's a big one, too. You're normally facing 15 years in jail.

Very few states have this second degree scenario, where there's no insobriety and there's sort of back-dooring the statutes, which is the case here, because 99 percent of the time when some of these charges with the vehicular homicide, they are in a car and they kill somebody, they are not just merely a pedestrian. KAYE: You know what? What's surprising is this woman, the mother, was facing three years in prison and the man who hit and killed this little boy got six months in jail.

STEIN: That's hard to reckon with. I don't know that we know all the facts and circumstances behind this case, but that was a real sweet deal. I don't know how to say it any different than that. This man, as I understand it, was charged with vehicular homicide in the past as well many years ago and has a penchant for doing these things.

He got some alcohol on board. He got prescription medications on board. For him to get that sentence was either a stroke of luck or some fantastic lawyering and negotiating.

But as far as Ms. Nelson goes, it truly is a case of unintended consequences, where in my opinion the victim is being prosecuted for a crime that doesn't exist in many states.

KAYE: She has the option here of going for a new trial. Would you recommend that she does? And if so, why?

STEIN: Well, in principle, she absolutely positively should because for a judge during sentencing to say you have this option means a lot. It speaks volumes. I think it's a hint from the court, Randi, saying to this defendant -- look, this doesn't seem exactly fair. You ought to take this offer up and go and have another trial. And, you know, that seems to me to be the right thing to do.

But does this woman have the energy and zeal and wherewithal to really do that, or does she just want to resume her life and get back with her kids and get out of the media's attention? Hard to say.

KAYE: We'll see what her lawyer decides about that.

George Stein, thank you for weighing in on this with us. Appreciate it.

Time right now, 24 minutes past the hour -- time to take a look at some of today's top stories.

President Obama warning Washington not to consider "compromise" a dirty word. The president discussed the debt ceiling crisis on national television last night. House Speaker John Boehner responded saying he has done all he can do to reach a consensus. Congress only has a week to come up with a solution to the crisis. Otherwise the U.S. could default on loans and lose its good credit rating.

Democratic Congressman David Wu of Oregon says he will resign from the House of Representatives. On Sunday, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi asked for an ethics investigation of Wu, accused of making unwanted sexual advances towards a fund-raiser's daughter. Wu served seven terms in the House.

A plane crash in southern Morocco killed 78 people today, according to the state news agency. The aircraft belonging to Morocco's royal armed forces crashed into a mountain when it attempted to land at a military airport about five miles away. Local sources are saying bad weather may be to blame for this.

Who do you think has been affected by the recession more, men or women? The answer is right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Men have been hit by hardest by the struggling economy, to the point where some people are even referring to the number of job losses as a man-cession. That's not all. It also seems that the longer men are out of work, the harder it is for them to get back in the game.

CNNMoney's Poppy Harlow is in New York with the latest numbers for us.

Poppy, how do the men compared to women when it comes to job loss?

HARLOW: Significantly worse when you look at the recession, Randi, for men than for women. There was actually a study that just came out from McKenzie that found that 20 percent of American men today are not working. That is up from 7 percent in 1970.

And this isn't just because of a lack of jobs. It also counts men on disability, or those in prison, or those that rely on their spouse's income. But still, that's a troubling statistics.

You got about 14 million unemployed Americans. When you look at the recession, I want to you take a look at what we're going to pull up on the screen for you because it's pretty staggering. Men lost 4.5 million jobs in the recession. Women on the other hand lost 2.1 million.

Why is that? In large part because a lot of the jobs lost were those manufacturing and construction jobs. Then, those are male- dominated professions.

But when we look at today, post-recession, so-called "recovery," what is going on now in terms of employment and why is there such a lack of employment? We spoke to the CEO of Manpower, a firm that helps employ people really globally around the world. And here is his take. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF JOERRES, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MANPOWERGROUP: Well, we have an issue. There is no doubt about it. And the longer we have this long- term unemployed even for what would be considered the entry level skilled position, the shop floor is not going to be the same shop floor that that person left two and a half years ago. New technology is put in place, how you have to read a cad drawing or three- dimensional Cadia (ph) drawing. We're still going to have this kind of skills mismatch, of what companies are looking at to get the highest skills and what's is really out in the marketplace. And the U.S. is not alone in that it's just exacerbated because the low demand that we are seeing in the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So, Randi, if you talk about men or women post recession, it's the lack of skills. You look at Google, case in point. This is the company that announced 2011 would be their biggest hiring year yet. They have been 1500 and 2500 open jobs. They told us there's a huge lack of engineers in the United States, not enough people with the right skills that Google needs. They said the talent pool is pretty small. That's troubling when you look at trying to get a jobs recovery.

KAYE: Yes, it sure is.

Poppy, a lot of big companies are hiring. Are the guys getting the jobs compared to the women or no?

HARLOW: The guys are getting the jobs. This is so interesting to look at the numbers. Let's look first at three areas where men are doing much better than women. This is manufacturing, retail and finance. OK, post recession, the blue, that is men. Men gained 250,000 jobs since the recession ended in those sectors. Women have lost more than 430,000 jobs in those sectors.

Even in sectors where women gained jobs, men are gaining more. You are going to see a similar trend here. Look at education, business, health services, women gained 691,000 jobs. Pretty good. We could use more. But men, Randi, have gained over 800,000 jobs. You call it the man-cession. It was indeed. But in the recovery period men are getting jobs more quickly than women, which is troubling for women. It is interesting to see that transition now and obviously that changes as we progress. Men right now are getting the jobs out there.

KAYE: All right. Well at least somebody is getting the jobs. That's a good thing.

Poppy Harlow in New York. Thank you, Poppy.

Two ATF officials admitting to making mistakes today. We will tell you what they are not admitting to right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is 33 minutes past the hour. Let's take a look at some of the news and other headlines you may have missed.

The August 2nd deadline to raise the debt ceiling is one week away. The political war surrounding it continues to rage. President Obama addressed the nation on television last night urging viewers to pressure elected officials to work out some sort of compromise. The president singled out House Republicans saying this is, quote, "no way to run the greatest country on earth." House speaker John Boehner responded Congress won't give Mr. Obama a blank check.

Democratic Congressman David Wu of Oregon says he will resign from the House of Representatives. On Sunday House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi asked for an ethics investigation of Wu, accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a fund-raiser's daughter. Wu served seven terms in the House.

It's back to work for NFL players after the end of a lockout that threatened to derail the 2011 football season. Players ratified a 10- year deal yesterday. According to the league schedule the rest of the week will be dominated by deferred business of expanding rosters, signing drafted rookies, reopening facilities and starting camps in preparation for preseason games.

Two ATF officials admit they made mistakes during the controversial Operation Fast and Furious gun runners program. They disputed claims the agencies knowingly let guns, quote, "walk into Mexico". They testified on Capitol Hill before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Committee Chairman Daryl Issa of California accused the Obama administration of stonewalling the investigation saying the Department of Justice continues to withhold information.

Your post office could be slated to close. Postmaster General Patrick Donahue released a long-awaited post office study of nearly 3700 post offices that may be closed to reduce red ink. They include outlets in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Most have so little foot traffic, employees average less than two hours a day and average sales less than $50 a day.

Friends and family gathered today to bid their final farewell to Amy Winehouse. The singer acclaimed for talent but infamous for erratic behavior, arrests and drugs, was found dead at her apartment in London on Saturday. Yesterday's autopsy did not established a formal cause of death and a toxicology test is pending.

The New York U.S. attorney has charged four men in terrorist drug and gun plots. Federal prosecutors unveiled indictments against the men, accused of trying to import heroin into the United States to provide funds and guns for the Taliban in Afghanistan, Hezbollah in Lebanon.

One indictment accuses two of the men of traveling through Europe and Southeast Asia to arrange deals to acquire more than 1,100 pounds of heroin in the U.S. and thousands of weapons including anti- aircraft missiles for use by Hezbollah. Today prosecutors are holding news conference to provide additional details on the indictments, which we will bring to you throughout the day.

Solar energy, Swedish furniture and a pool: You'll be surprised what these things have in common and how they could help you cash in. We'll break it down for you in just 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: All right. Let's face it. A lot of things are getting more expensive. Your coffee, gas, car, even your morning bacon and cereal. In today's "Big Breakdown", we're looking on the sunnier side of things. Believe it or not, there are products that are actually getting cheaper. Yes, that's true.

According to TIME.com, Volkswagen, for one, is bucking the economic trend. While the price tag on other cars is getting higher the German company has actually cut its base price on the Jetta and Passat.

And take a look here, then there is IKEA. IKEA has strategically cut costs to various areas in their operations. For you and me, well, that means deeper discounts on maze of products by 2 to 3 percent this year, and not just this year, but next year as well.

We all know about the housing situation, right? It's a buyers' market. Home prices dropped by one-third, which is more than they did during the Great Depression, just in case you're keeping track.

If you're looking to go green, look to the sun. The cost of solar panels decreased by 15 percent over the first quarter of this year alone. All you book worms, you'll love this. Amazon's e-reader, the Kindle, also getting cheaper. You can get its Wi-Fi model for as little as $114 or its 3G version for $25 more. The word is the price tag could drop to under $100 by Christmas. Get that list ready.

For you movie and TV buffs, there is this -- 3-DTV. Last July a 47 to 50-inch 3-D TV would cost $900 more than a normal 2-D flat screen. Now 3-D versions are $400 more.

Even debit cards are getting cheaper. Providers are lowering or attaching fewer fees to reloadable, prepaid debit cards actually. So that is good news, too.

And Netflix is a mixed bag of prices. Members of the popular combo plan will pay more. People who want their one DVD at a time service are saving $2 a month. Hey, it's something, right?

If you need to cool off, it's a good time to buy a pool. Sales of in-ground pools have actually plunged by 75 percent. Pool makers are cutting prices and throwing in freebies to make a splash.

Finally rounding out the top 10 things getting cheaper, believe it or not, spaceflight. Even the price of rocketing into space is coming down to earth. Remember Space Ex which launched first private rocket into space back in June. Its rockets and commercial race to space is expected to cause the price of space flight to plummet by one-third to one-half. According to Space Ex, it could cost $100,000 to send a person into orbit. OK, so it's not exactly cheap but cheaper. That's good news.

Millions of dollars of U.S. Taxpayer money in the hands of the Taliban. How did it all happen? A live report from Afghanistan right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In Norway today police began releasing the names of victims killed in the twin terror attacks. The lawyer for Anders Breivik says his client was a little bit surprised he was able to carry off the bombing and shooting rampage that killed 76 people last Friday. He also says he thinks his client is insane.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEIR LIPPESTAD, ATTORNEY FOR ANDERS BREIVIK: This whole case indicates he's insane. He's in a war, and he says the rest of the world, especially the Western world, don't understand his point of view, but in 60 year's time we all will understand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The lawyer says it's too early to say if Breivik will plead insanity. Breivik's father speaking out saying that his son would have been better off if he had killed himself. The father says he feels, quote, "an incredible grief and despair over what happened." He says he'll never have any contact with his son again.

It just may be the most egregious example to date of widespread corruption in Afghanistan. American taxpayer money, $100s of millions ending up in the hands of the Taliban. A yearlong U.S. military task force discovered the money was siphoned from a $2 billion transportation contract to provide most of the supplies to American troops. A source with knowledge of the investigation has briefed CNN David Ariosto about how it all went down. He joins me from the Afghanistan capital, Kabul.

David, tell us, please, how did this happen?

DAVID ARIOSTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All this information, Randi, is coming from an internal document that is yet to be released.

But what it reveals is effectively eight trucking companies the United States uses here in Afghanistan to transport all kinds of supplies, foods, weapons to soldiers and civilians across this country, this represents the bulk of the transportation business here in Afghanistan. Four of those companies, which were listed as high- risk have some part in funneling some of these U.S. taxpayer dollars to various subcontractors. Those contractors, in turn, it seems by virtue of this report, some of that money got into the hands of insurgents, who were providing security one day and then funneling that money to Taliban extremists across the border the next.

So what we see here is a clear case of a lack of transparency in some of this contract and subcontract procedure. But the interesting thing is, those eight companies still on U.S. payroll.

KAYE: That is a bit disturbing I must say. What's going to be done about this? If they are still on the payroll, I guess we're not going to collect this money back. Are they going to try and fix this at all?

ARIOSTO: Well, the officials we've spoken to have basically said they radically revamped the existing system in terms of awards and contracts, in which some of these companies are able to get some of these funds. The existing-the previous system allowed for eight companies, the new one will provide for 40. The purpose of that is to lessen the degree to which the United States government is relying upon any one, single trucking firm.

Keep in mind, trucking is a very dangerous endeavor. Many firms the United States contracted out to has reason to look towards more local companies, and provide for some of that local security. So this is clearly a transparency issue but also a safety issue. As we move forward, it seems clear this new program will fix some of the problems, but also raises questions as to what other problems are out there, Randi.

KAYE: David in Kabul for us, thank you as always.

Public outrage over a deadly high-speed train accident has promoted the Chinese government to launch a safety review of its entire rail system. The move was taken after two bullet trains crashed in the southeastern part of the country Saturday killing 38 people and injuring nearly 200. The trains collided during a storm after lightning apparently knocked out power to the first train, which was then rear-ended by the second. The exact cause hasn't been determined. People flooded have social media with possible cover-up and the safety of the country's train system.

Criminals giving DNA samples. Many want to expand who has to give one, but is that quest for justice violating important rights? Our "Stream Team" weighs in next.

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KAYE: Fingerprints for the 21st century, that's what one judge on the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said yesterday, as they ruled in favor of taking DNA samples from people under arrest without waiting for a conviction. Opponents say it violates the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The federal government, in at least 24 states, has some sort of law in place that calls for DNA collection before conviction. In New Mexico they have expanded the law to include all felonies, not just violent crimes. It's called Katie's Law. Named after Katie Sepich. It took three years to find her killer. He was arrested for aggravated burglary after Katie's murder, but no DNA was taken because that was against the law at the time.

An expanded law and DNA sample would have solved the case much sooner and brought closure to Katie's family.

So, here is the question, is collecting DNA of a suspected suspect a violation of rights? Here to talk about it is Jayann Sepich, Katie's mother, and co-creator of Katie's Law. She is on the phone from Salvador, Brazil. Also joining us, is Andy Hill, a retired sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department. Also on the phone, Michael Risher, attorney for ACLU of Northern California.

Jayann, first let me go to you, we talked years ago when I actually did a story about your daughter. And I'd like to ask you what you think about this law. Should we be able to take DNA samples, should police be able to do that before a conviction? JAYANN SEPICH, CO-AUTHOR OF KATIE'S LAW: Absolutely. I applaud the Third Circuit's decision. They see it as we do, it's the fingerprint of the 21st century. We believe this has the power to save lives, to prevent crimes. And it is no more of an invasion of privacy than a fingerprint because of the way the system has been set up to guard privacy.

KAYE: Michael Risher, with ACLU, I'd like you to weigh in there. What is your response to that?

MICHAEL RISHER, ACLU OF NO. CALIFORNIA: You know, taking DNA may be the fingerprint of the 21st century for some purposes. It is not a fingerprint, though. When we meet someone, we shake hands with them. We touch their fingerprints. We don't allow them to take a DNA sample. We all know DNA contains our genetic blueprint, incredibly sensitive information. That's not something that innocent people should be required to turn over to the government simply because the government says they will not perform all the possible tests on us.

It's an invasion of privacy and it doesn't help solve crime taking DNA from innocent people. Take it after conviction. One-third of the people arrested are never convicted of anything. The other two-thirds will soon be convicted. They are the guilty ones, they are the people whose DNA we want to have in our data banks. It's a waste of resources to take it from innocent people.

KAYE: Andy Hill, does this do more harm than good?

ANDY HILL, FORMER PHOENIX POLICE DEPT.: This does a lot of good. I disagree with Michael, respectfully. DNA is a tool of the past, the present and the future. DNA solves crimes from the past, cold cases, cases that could never have been solved. It solves cases in the present when we take people into custody and then immediately test their DNA. And it's going to solve cases in the future, because the DNA database that is maintained will solve a lot of crimes.

That's why Congress when it passed the Violence Against Women's Act in 2005 wanted DNA taken because many of these crimes are committed against women. They are serial offenders who would not otherwise been caught unless we took DNA. It's a simple process, no more difficult than taking a fingerprint. It is just a Q-Tip, that's all you need. It's pretty simple. We do have to safeguard the use of it for law enforcement purposes.

KAYE: Jayann I want you to weigh in again here. Because I know you would have learned who killed your daughter years before if his DNA had been taken. Do you think law enforcement should have every tool they can use available to them?

SEPICH: I believe that DNA is very much like a fingerprint. With respect to Michael as well when he says DNA contains your genetic blueprint, what goes into the DNA database is a profile. And it is only 13 markers out of 13 billion in the DNA strand. Those were chosen specifically by genetic scientists because they don't have any genetic information other than gender. There's nothing in the database that has any genetic information whatsoever, other than gender. That's why -- there's a lot of other privacy protections built into the system.

In the national database, there's no name. There's no Social Security numbers. There's just code numbers. There's no identifying information. I could go on and on, but you probably don't have time here for all the privacy protection.

KAYE: Let me just step in here and give Michael Risher, just 20 seconds to respond, Michael.

RISHER: Sure. The biggest privacy concern comes not from the profile that's generated but by the fact the government keeps the biological sample for future testing, and refuses to destroy it even for people who haven't been convicted of anything. They have to go through a complicated process to destroy it. This is really like if somebody gets arrested for DUI and the police found his house keys in his pocket, allowing them to go search his home simply based on the arrest. That's not how we work in this country. There is a presumption of innocence. We have the Fourth Amendment that stands it was and the tower of the state, and we have privacy rights.

KAYE: Michael Risher, Jayann Sepich, Andy Hill; always appreciate you, Andy, weighing in on stories like this one. Thank you all very much.

Another Republican considering a run for the White House It may not be who you're expecting. CNN Political Update straight ahead.

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KAYE: Time now for a CNN Political Update.

Another Republican flirting with a White House run. CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser joining us from Washington.

All right, Paul. I can't take it. Who is it, Sarah Palin or Rick Perry?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: No, no, neither. How about this name, George Pataki, former New York governor.

KAYE: Whoa!

STEINHAUSER: Guess where he was last week, Randi ? He was in Iowa. Guess where he'll be later this week, New Hampshire.

KAYE: Nice.

STEINHAUSER: What's the story here? Remember he made a-he considered a bid for the White House for the GOP nomination back in 2008, didn't do it. Said no to a run earlier this year, kind of reversed himself. Now a spokesman for Pataki tells me he's considering a run. I guess, I guess also keep your eyes on George Pataki.

Talking about Congressman Wu of Oregon his decision earlier today to not to run for re-election. I guess in a way that helps the Democratic Party keep the seat. Remember he represents 1st Congressional District, which is part or Portland and the areas north and west of the district.

It is a very Democratic district. A Republican source tells me, you know, if Wu is not running and there is none of that baggage there, this is a lock for Democrats to keep the seat. We'll keep our eyes on the story. Randi, that is what I have. Back to you.

KAYE: All right. Paul, we'll keep an eye on you and the Political Ticker, as well. Thank you very much.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.