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Debt Panel Faces Monumental Job; Stocks Move Higher; Reshaping GOP Presidential Race; Obama's Approval Rating; Mubarak Back on Trial

Aired August 15, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Drew Griffin, in today for Suzanne. Let's get you up to speed on this Monday, August 15th. Shall we?

President Obama trying to snag some of that spotlight from Republican candidates after their game-changing weekend in Iowa. The president begins a three-day bus tour with a town hall. That's next hour. It's going to be in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. He also has stops in Iowa and his home state of Illinois.

Gallup's daily tracking poll shows the economy and Washington's dysfunctional ways have cut the president's job approval rating to 39 percent. That is an all-time low.

CNN NEWSROOM plans live coverage of the president's town hall in Minnesota. That is scheduled, we believe, for 12:45 Eastern. It's been a little fuzzy coming out of our White House.

Dow stocks are going for three wins in a row today after a wild week of zigs and zags. Right now, the Dow seems to be up -- I'm reading without any glasses -- 136 points. A merger helped excite investors today. Google says it's going to buy Motorola Mobility, the maker of the Droid smartphone. Get this, $12 billion is that price tag.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please join in a moment of silence for all of those that were impacted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: And that happened this morning as the Indiana State Fair reopened. A moment of silence marking five people who were killed Saturday night, when winds as high as 70 miles an hour brought down a concert stage.

Unbelievable video there. A structural engineer is going to comb through the scaffolding today to see if anything glaring went wrong, potential problems there. Authorities say there's nothing to indicate the collapse was anything but a freak accident.

A witness described a rush of adrenaline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JENNA GIOE, WITNESS: A lot of the men, though, had rushed the stage and rushed the scaffolding to try to get it to lift it up, but there was almost nothing that they could do to try to lift it. But a lot of people were just standing there in shock and were unsure what to do at that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: The accident injured dozens of people. Several are in critical condition, some of them with life-threatening injuries.

Angry crowds outside a Cairo courthouse today. Take a look.

These are both supporters and opponents of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. They threw rocks at each other. Security forces caught in the middle.

Mubarak arrived for today's court hearing on a gurney and was placed in a defendant's cage. The judge ruled courtroom television cameras will be turned off going forward. That's probably why. Mubarak, charged with ordering security forces to fire on anti- government protesters last winter.

Moammar Gadhafi calling on Libyans to crush the "traitors" -- that's his words -- for rebels. The rebels claimed control of several cities in western Libya. That, effectively, is putting a noose around the capital of Tripoli and cuts critical supply lines from Tunisia. Still, Gadhafi remains confident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): It is a great thing that you gather every night during Ramadan in the Green Square despite the air strikes. People have gathered to defy, dance, sing, and fight.

The end of colonization is school. The end of the rats is also soon. They are running from one House to another as the people chase them away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: All right. That's what he said. All this, as Gadhafi's prime minister turned up in Cairo today. His defection, if that's what it is, has not been confirmed.

There's been a wave of bombs exploding across all corners of Iraq, killing at least 69 people. The deadliest attacks took place in the city of Kut. Twin bombings killing 34 people in a busy commercial district. Most of today's apparently coordinated bombings targeted Iraqi security forces.

Protesters are hoping to disrupt the ride home for San Francisco subway commuters. The Bay Area Rapid Transit System -- it's known as BART -- had its Web site hacked on Sunday. Hacked by the group Anonymous, which says it did it because BART cut cell service at some stations last week. BART took that step to keep protesters from coordinating their activities.

And in case you missed it, the Perseid meteor shower peaked this weekend. These pictures from a CNN iReporter in Oregon. Beautiful sky there.

Perseids happen every August when the Earth passes through the trail of dust left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. Certainly the closest and maybe clearest view of Perseid came from space. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station tweeted this picture of the meteor shower.

Here is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big issues of the day. Today's question: What does President Obama need to tell middle America?

Carol Costello joins us from New York -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm already getting an earful, Drew. Thanks.

GRIFFIN: I know you are.

COSTELLO: President Obama knows all too well that most Americans have had it with Washington. So he's leaving -- just temporarily, of course.

Today he kicks off a bus tour of the heartland, the White House says, so he can hear from Americans about their economic struggles. It's worth noting he will be visiting Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa, states he won handily in 2008, but he won't visit Ohio or Indiana, swing states he won by the skin of his teeth.

In the lead-up to the 2008 election, candidate Obama spent 29 days campaigning in Ohio. Last year, Mr. Obama stopped at a Youngstown steel plant that created jobs thanks in part to federal stimulus money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Youngstown can compete against anybody. Got the best workers. There's no reason why we can't compete with anybody if you guys have the support that you need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Fast forward to today. Ohio is mired like the rest of the country in high unemployment, and it isn't feeling the love.

Youngstown University professor Paul Sracic says, "There's clearly a perception in middle America that President Obama does not feel their pain." Sracic says that, "To win over the Rust Belt, Mr. Obama has to do more than just give a stump speech." In other words, less talking and more listening.

So the "Talk Back" question today: What does President Obama need to tell middle America?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

GRIFFIN: Can't wait, Carol. You better get ready.

COSTELLO: I am.

GRIFFIN: All right. Thanks a lot.

And here's a rundown of some of the stories we are covering this morning.

I'll speak live with South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn. His role on the super committee is going to be number one on the topic. He's charged with finding $1.5 trillion in budget savings.

Also, will it be another roller-coaster week for stocks? Hear from a trader about the mood up there on Wall Street.

And the trial of Egypt's former president, Hosni Mubarak, will now take place behind closed doors. Why? We'll find out.

And later, how to complain to customer service and actually get results.

Also, San Francisco's BART train system warning riders of another possible protest. And meanwhile, hackers disrupt the Web site, leaving these wild messages behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Make no mistake about it. Again, this is criminal. But the people who are doing this are very smart.

They know where the vulnerabilities are. And your question, can they be stopped? Well, at this point, the answer is no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Well, call them the Gang of 12, the Deficit-Busting Dozen, whatever you want to call them. The 12 lawmakers on the debt super committee have a monumental job ahead of them. They have to find ways to slash the deficit by $1.5 trillion. To add to the pressure, if they don't agree on a plan, or it doesn't pass Congress, across-the-board spending cuts kick in.

Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina is one of the six Democrats on the panel, joining us from Columbia, South Carolina.

Congressman Clyburn, this panel seems like it already has built- in gridlock. It's six versus six, six Republicans, six Democrats. We've seen Congress try to solve this before and fail.

Why is this going to be any different? REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, thank you so much for having me.

Well, I don't know that it will be any different, but I hope that it will be. I think that all of us are united as Americans, and I think we should remember that as we go forward with our discussions.

We're trying to get our country moving again. We're trying to get our country back to work. We're trying to provide a future for our children and our grandchildren. And we cannot do that if we mire ourselves down in controversy rather than trying to find compromises.

I think the way you run any kind of government is to get the best ideas from people, irrespective of backgrounds and experiences, irrespective of party affiliations, and see what can work in the best interest of all Americans going forward. And that's what I would like to see us do.

GRIFFIN: I certainly understand that, but we've given this task over to entrenched politicians mired in an election cycle where there has been a history of gridlock. And I'm wondering, Representative Clyburn, why didn't the president take the lead on this and all the economic geniuses that we're told are in the White House?

Why doesn't the president come forward with a plan and bring it to Congress that you guys can debate on? Why is it always Congress who has to come up with these plans when we know that Congress is mired in this kind of political partisanship that goes on up there?

CLYBURN: Because we are a deliberative body. We are the deliberative body. And I think that's how it should be.

Remember, the president was involved in these negotiations. This 12-member committee comes out of the compromise that was met when they did the first cut. And they created this committee to do the second cut.

So the president was involved in that. And I do believe that those of us who were elected from all across the country, 12 heads, to me, are better than one in this instance. And maybe we can do something that we'll find favor with a majority of both sides of the Capitol when we finish.

If we don't, to be sure, it's already built in that there will be some automatic cuts coming on both entitlement side and the defense side. And I'm one that's particularly interested in these cuts being surgical, not allowing the triggers to be pulled, because I don't want to see any undue damage done to entitlements, and I certainly don't want to see any undue damage done to defense spending.

I'm in South Carolina, next door to Fort Jackson. My hometown of Sumter has gotten a nice Air Force base headquartered there. The --

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: Yes. I understand all that. I just -- CLYBURN: I want to protect all those things.

GRIFFIN: Yes. And everybody on this panel is going to want to protect their individual things, which is why I guess I'm asking, where is the hard-line leadership that's going to come from 12 partisan politicians in a group of 12 that are squared off six and six, rather than have some kind of leader coming forward and presenting a plan that we have to deal with these very serious troubles?

CLYBURN: Well, I don't think that we will be working in isolation. Between meetings, we will be meeting with our leadership.

I think the president is going to be involved in this. I think that the leadership on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol are going to be involved in this.

So I don't think that we will be working in isolation. Though we may be 12 people sitting in a room somewhere, we will not come into this room without the benefit of input from members of our caucus, and I'm sure the Speaker is going to be involved, both leaders over on the Senate side are going to be involved. I know Leader Pelosi will be involved in this, and I think the White House will be involved, as well.

So we won't be working in isolation, by any means.

GRIFFIN: When is your first meeting?

CLYBURN: Well, we have not set a first meeting today. I will have a conference call with my leadership on the Democratic side tomorrow. And I would hope that our staffs -- we're now working all that out -- they will come out with some plans as to when we'll start getting it together. I suspect the staff will start meeting sometime between now and Labor Day. And I think the members will start meeting immediately thereafter.

GRIFFIN: All right. Representative Clyburn, thank you so much, joining us from South Carolina. Good luck. Man, good luck.

CLYBURN: Well, thank you. We're going to need it. Thank you so much.

GRIFFIN: I know you will. All right.

Well, talking about the president, President Obama talks jobs. The president holds a town hall meeting in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, next hour. It's scheduled to begin 12:45 Eastern, and we'll take you there live.

The town hall is the first stop on the president's three-day bus tour of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. Some Republicans criticizing it as a campaign trip through swing states.

Well, what kind of mood are traders in this week? I'll talk to one live on Wall Street, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Well, here is a sign of the times. Sales of safes and vaults are soaring in America.

The owners of several major safe companies say sales have gone up anywhere from 30 percent to 300 percent in the last month. The companies say desperate times typically lead to an increase in theft, and that wealthy consumers are more likely to protect their valuables from burglaries and even previously trustworthy housekeepers. California-based Maximum Security says their sales actually started increasing years months ago, at the beginning of the recession.

Stocks are moving up today, but are we likely to see another roller-coaster week on Wall Street?

CNN's Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange with one of those traders -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Drew.

No roller-coaster ride today. We are watching the Dow come off of its highs for the session, but it is still in positive territory now. The Dow, up about 100 points.

I'm here with Ken Polcari. He's with ICAP Corporates. He says this could be the calm before the storm.

How could that be? This could be our third session in the green.

KEN POLCARI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ICAP CORPORATES: Well, it is the third session in the green, but the fact is that, listen, we had some really negative macro numbers this morning. Right? The Empire Manufacturing, off the charts.

And the markets are not paying attention to it. Why? Because I think the market is really focused on the Google deal, on the Bank of America deal, on the Time Warner deal.

There's a sense that maybe credit is freeing up, and they're focusing on the positive. They're eliminating the negative.

There was some positive news out of Japan this morning. It was less bad than they thought. So they're trying to put a positive spin on it.

We've got low volumes today, not anything like it was last week. We don't have the volatility. But yet, I think the market is going to come back and start paying attention, once again, to the larger macro pictures. It's a big week this week in terms of macro data.

KOSIK: OK. But the mood has clearly changed.

POLCARI: The mood definitely feels less nervous than it did last week. And I think part of that is because volumes have subsided. So, therefore, we're not getting that wimpy volatility that we had last week.

So, yes, there's more of a sense of calm. But I think once again, that once the market starts to digest the macro reports -- and today's was not good at all -- that it's going to start to reevaluate.

And then, in fact, we've seen the market sell off correctly at 30 points in the last five minutes, very slowly. But I think people are just starting to be more aware.

KOSIK: And you're talking about the Empire Manufacturing State Index. Now, why are you especially concerned about that?

POLCARI: Well, you know, that's a manufacturing index for what's going on in the Northeast. Right? It's just one of the many manufacturing indexes that are reported throughout the month.

So this one specifically talks about New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts. And so, therefore, the fact that it's way off the charts says nothing about the quality of manufacturing.

KOSIK: And when he's talking about off the charts, he means that it's showing contraction. So, what Ken is saying, that as these reports come out during the week, Drew, we may see a little more volatility in the markets.

Drew, back to you.

GRIFFIN: All right, Alison. Thanks a lot. And thank you to the trader there.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Here's a rundown on some of the stories we're working on.

Next, how important is Michele Bachmann's straw poll win in Iowa?

Then, hackers take on a new target, San Francisco's BART train system.

And later, how to get satisfaction when complaining to customer service.

First, though, it's on to politics.

Republican presidential candidates coming off a big weekend that helped reshape the race for the GOP nomination for president. We have the latest on who is in, who is out, and who came out on top.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's campaign gained momentum after her win in the Ames Iowa Straw Poll. Bachmann edged out Representative Ron Paul to finish in first place. She was fresh off her victory when she spoke to a hometown crowd in Waterloo, Iowa, last night. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And my faith has been so restored, because in the 50 days since we made our announcement, we've been to all four corners of Iowa, beginning here in Waterloo. We've been to all cities in between, event after event after event. And it's been restoring my faith in knowing that we will take the country back. I know that it's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Iowa proved to be the end of the road for one Republican presidential candidate, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. He's dropped out of the race after finishing a distant third in the Iowa Straw Poll. Pawlenty spent a lot of time campaigning in that state. He says his campaign needed a boost from the straw poll and it just didn't get it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM PAWLENTY (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We didn't do well in Ames. We weren't going to have the fuel to keep the car going down the road. But also, there's a lot of other choices in the race. And for me, what I brought forward I thought was a rational, established, credible, strong record of results based on experienced governing a two-term blue state. But I think the audience, so to speak, was looking for something different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: So Pawlenty is out, put another candidate is in. Texas Governor Rick Perry campaigns at the Iowa State Fair next hour. He was working the crowd in Waterloo last night after officially kicking off his campaign on Saturday.

Perry spoke at the same Republican dinner attended by Michele Bachmann. Now Perry is hoping to position himself as the Republican who can appeal to Christian conservatives and also challenge President Obama on job creation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are we going to take the reins of our future over the next 15 months? Are we truly going to work together and come together?

We may have issues that separate us, but bringing those diverse groups together and making sure that we have a candidate that can beat Barack Obama in November is the most important thing that we do. And it has got to be somebody that understands and knows how and has had job creation experience in their background.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: We want to take a closer look at the Republican race now that Rick Perry is in and Pawlenty is out. And we're going to talk about the significance of Bachmann's straw poll win.

Joining us from New York, CNN contributor John Avlon. He's a senior political columnist for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast."

And John, let's talk about Perry first. How does he shake things up?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He fundamentally shakes things up, and I think he really determines the shape of the landscape to date. I think very quickly, this race is going to come between Mitt Romney, who's the de facto front-runner right now, Rick Perry, and then candidates like Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul.

He's going to soak up a lot of the folks on the far right, a lot of the enthusiasm. He has the support, as you said, of both the Tea Party and Evangelicals. Those are two key constituencies.

GRIFFIN: Does Bachmann's win mean anything in the Iowa Straw Poll?

AVLON: Well, it means enough to have Tim Pawlenty drop out. I mean, look, straw polls are not direct indicators of support, but they are broad gauges of enthusiasm.

And what you see here is a Republican Party where the activist factions are really turning out in particular for Bachmann, and also for Ron Paul, a very strong second place showing. The problem for Tim Pawlenty is that he had gone all in.

He was supposed to have a great ground game, and he came in a very distant third. For the Republican Party, it does raise a real question though. When a two-term governor of a swing state who made the Republican Party appeal to the middle class, the core of his campaign, effectively is forced to drop out after a straw poll, and a candidate like Michele Bachmann, who is a conservative, populist, social conservative, is really able to get the enthusiasm, but is perhaps less of a credible candidate because of her lack of executive experience and her history of making fairly radical rhetorical statements, that becomes a real crisis to face the Republican Party, it seems to me, one they're going to have to confront.

GRIFFIN: Who pick up Pawlenty's people?

AVLON: Too soon to say. But I do think you'll see a natural affinity with many of Mitt Romney's supporters. You know, Tim Pawlenty famously flubbed the question from John King at the first CNN New Hampshire debate when he was asked to directly criticized to his face Obam-ney care. He did not. He flinched.

I do think there's a sense that a governor of a swing state or a blue-leaning state who is trying to make a campaign based on the establishment support sent credible rationale rewards yesterday, an implicit dissentment (ph) at Michele Bachmann, that there's an affinity between Mitt Romney. But I think, right now, he's going to be retrenching and trying to leverage the support he already has to gain some sort of place in a future Republican administration, possibly a place on a ticket.

GRIFFIN: John, you talked about Bachmann's lack of executive experience. The person who is now in the White House who had no executive experience is coming back out to the campaign trail. It looks like to a lot of people -- 39 percent approval rating for President Obama.

Is he getting nervous?

AVLON: Well, look, he absolutely should be nervous. I mean, look, we know already the electoral map and the electoral map is tougher for President Obama this time around than it was in 2008. A lot of swing states he won are going to be very difficult for him to recapture. And then, of course, there's the huge millstone of the economy and high unemployment.

But, ultimately, elections are compared to one proposition. And the Republican Party is going to need to nominate a candidate who has an ability to win crossover votes, who's going to have to be able to win over independents and connect with moderates and the middle class. That's how elections are won and lost in Middle America.

So, I do think it's going to be incumbent upon them to nominate some candidate who doesn't just appeal to the base. But also can appeal to the center.

And what you said lack of executive experience I think becomes key. You know, historically in America, we elect governors. There have only been three non-governors we've elected in recent political history, Warren Harding, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. And so, I do think it makes it more difficult to sell down the line to nominate another candidate without executive experience, which will be one of the credentials that both Mitt Romney and Rick Perry use to make their case to primary voters.

GRIFFIN: John, thanks a lot.

AVLON: Thank you.

GRIFFIN: Unbelievable we're talking about this so early, but we are, indeed.

Well, President Obama does talk jobs today. The president holding a town hall meeting in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. It's happening next hour, scheduled to begin at 12:45 Eastern. We're going to cover that live. The town hall the first stop on the president's three day bus tour of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

Well, this guy ruled with an iron fist for decades. But now, Egypt's ousted leader is on trial, and being held inside an iron cage. Mohammed Jamjoom has the latest and they're interesting out of Cairo. We'll have that for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Looking live there at Air Force One, currently parked I believe in St. Paul, Minnesota -- as the president is getting ready to begin his bus tour of the Midwest. First stop, Cannon Falls, Minnesota, where he's due to have a little town hall meeting there that we're going to cover live at 12:45. It looks like the president is on schedule and we'll keep an eye on that door as the president makes his arrival there.

Meanwhile, in our news, the Pakistani police have made little headway in their hunt for the kidnap of American Warren Weinstein. No group has claimed responsibility. No demand has been made.

Weinstein is a consultant on economic develop. The gunmen took him from his guarded and fortified home in Lahore, Pakistan, early Saturday. The State Department is warning Americans in Pakistan about the danger of abduction usually for ransom.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was back in court this morning. He's standing trial for the deaths of hundreds of protesters who were killed in the revolution that knocked him out of power. Mubarak actually wheeled in the courtroom on hospital bed again and placed in an iron cage.

Mohammed Jamjoom is following in Cairo for us.

And, Mohammed, as bizarre as this scene is, it looks like it's going to end before most of the public. They're going to turn off the camera.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Drew.

Really, the biggest development today -- a day that was taken mostly with procedural manners as to how the trial would proceed -- was the announcement by the judge at the end of the day saying that the cameras would not be allowed in the courtroom anymore. And this is a decision which really sparked a lot of outrage so far in Egypt.

A lot of activists saying that, you know, this is unacceptable, that the supreme council of the armed forces and the judiciary here has promised that this trial would take place with full transparency and the fact that those TV cameras were in that courtroom was a way to show the public here that it would be done in that fashion. The fact that now TV cameras will be barred from the courtroom when the trial will resume on September 5th really angering a lot of people.

On the other hand, there are some activists who say that, in fact, this has been more of a show trial. It's been a distraction and that this is a good decision because journalists will still be allowed in the courtroom, they'll be reporting on what goes on there. But at the same time, Egyptians -- the Egyptian society here can focus on more important issues like the upcoming election and really making sure that social issues that need to be addressed and human rights issues that need to be addressed are getting addressed and that people aren't distracted by this trial.

GRIFFIN: I want to ask you what happened outside the courtroom because I didn't quite understand it. There were protesters both for and against him throwing rocks at each other. Who is still supporting Mubarak?

JAMJOOM: Well, that's the interesting thing, Drew. In fact, there are still supporters of the former president. There are people here in Egypt, in Cairo, that say that the way this is happening, that the way that the former president is being treated is quite undignified. That he should -- that he's done a lot for this country, who served in the military, protected it, and that he should not be in that courtroom being treated as a common criminal.

And having said that, there are also many who are against him.

And outside the courtroom both today and when the trial started on August 3rd, you had different factions. You had the pro-Mubarak faction and the anti-Mubarak faction. It's not a huge crowd. The clashes weren't extremely violent, but at times on both of those days, you have riots going at one another. Riot police would be deployed trying to calm things down, trying to make sure that the people outside the police academy were focusing their attention on the big screen showing proceedings from inside the courtroom, rather than turning their anger on one another.

Emotions are really running high here outside that courtroom. People on both sides of the fence, a lot of people want to express their opinion and angry at the other side for opinions that they disagree with -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: And just real quickly, this is a very serious trial -- you know, being linked to 800 deaths out in the streets there. What -- how quickly can we expect to see a verdict in this trial? And if he is found guilty of these crimes, what kind of sentencing can we expect?

JAMJOOM: Drew, many of those that we've spoken with that were hoping for a speedy trial, for an expedited trial. Their homes were really dashed today because what you're seeing here is, you know, the Egyptian judicial system moves at a glacial pace on the best of days. You have a judicial system here that's really not set up to accommodate something of this nature.

This is an unprecedented type of trial. There's so much involvement here -- so many people want to be involved. It doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon.

You have defense attorneys today asking the judge to allow 1,600 witnesses in this case. If that happens, it could drag on for years.

At the same time, you have a government who says it will be extradited.

Right, we just don't know. We'll have to see in the coming months -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: Wow, 1,600 witnesses.

Mohammed, thanks a lot. I home you get a break. Thanks.

The man expected of gunning down 69 people in Norway last month -- he has now returned to the scene of the crime as parts of the police investigation. Anders Breivik reportedly showed investigators just how the attack at the youth camp on Utoya Island went down in gruesome detail.

If you look at the video, you can see him making out a gun with his hands at one point. Breivik is accused of killing eight people at the bombing that same day in Oslo.

Well, trying to reach a real person on the phone when you've got a customer complaint is nearly impossible. Ahead, some tips to make your voice heard and get some results.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We've been following the president. There he is in Minneapolis just a little while ago, I guess. Or no, this is live. This is live -- heading for his bus.

It's a bus tour. Everybody in the Midwest these days, there's politician seems to be in a bus.

The president greeted the crowd there and he's on his way to a town hall meeting. That's what happens next in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. He's going to be focusing on jobs. Scheduled to begin at 12:45 Eastern and we're going to take you there live.

The town hall is the first stop on a three-day bus tour of the president from Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. That's the arrival is there in Minnesota just a few minutes ago.

Perfect segue here. It's summertime and a lot of folks are taking road trips, including our politicians. Joe Johns, part of the best political team on television.

Joe, there's so much trouble going on in Washington, what's the president doing out of the road?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, you saw it right there. That presidential bus tour is the thing he's doing. And, of course, he's getting a lot of Republican pushback. And, again, as you say, he's going to Cannon Falls, Iowa-- Cannon Falls, Minnesota, that's first stop, and then on to Iowa.

He's also going to his home state of Illinois. The White House says this is not a political trip, of course.

Republicans beg to differ. He's actually getting quite a bit of pushback on this trip, as a matter of fact, Drew. The Republicans put out, among other things, a mock briefing book, if you will, saying the president would rather be campaigning than solving the nation's problems on the economy.

Mitt Romney, of course, went after him, too.

I got to remind you, though, this is just a couple of days after the Ames straw poll. So, Republicans had their day in the sun in Iowa, as well, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Speaking of days in the sun in Iowa and road warriors on buses, Sarah Palin is out there, nearly stealing the show on Saturday when her bus pulled up in Iowa. She's not running for anything yet.

JOHNS: That's you're right. And a lot of people continue to speculate -- however, you're right. She's not running for anything.

She went out to see the cattle there at the Iowa state fair, got a lot of questions from a lot of people.

Among the questions, what does she think about the other Republicans who are now in the presidential race, had nothing but kind words for them, including Rick Perry, the Texas governor who just got into the game, so to speak.

So, Sarah Palin is still mum, of course, on whether she's going to run. She has a great organization of volunteers who are sort of helping her on the ground there in Iowa. And if she were to get into the race, it's pretty clear she would have a lot of help, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Joe, I just want to get your opinion real quick. We haven't been talked about this. But there's a little bit of speculation out there, people saying that she'd be a good V.P. candidate for this one or that one.

I don't think she's in the V.P. game any more, do you? She's in all or nothing.

JOHNS: Been there, done that, huh? I mean, she ran with John McCain one time. If she were to get in, everybody is thinking she ought to run for president.

There are a lot of conservatives who've said again and again for all the big name and the celebrity status, basically all over the world, they don't really know exactly what she stands for on some of the critical issues. You know, take judges, for example, she really hasn't weighed in on some of those issues that are very important to social conservatives. And they'd like to see what she says about that.

GRIFFIN: All right. Joe Johns -- always appreciate it, Joe. Thank you so much.

For the latest political news, you know where to go -- CNNPolitics.com.

Everybody has their customer service horror stories.

Alison Kosik is here with today's top tips on how to complain and get the results you want, Alison. I'm listening intently to this.

KOSIK: You should be because if you're anything like me, it's frustrating when you call the customer service line to hear all those automated options and you can't reach a live representative.

So, "Consumer Reports" has a few time savers that they recommend. They recommend dialahuman.com and gethuman.com where they list customer service numbers and what numbers to hit to reach a real person.

Also, there's an app for that on the iPhone and Android. It's called fast customer, where you choose the company you need to call and the app actually calls the phone tree until it gets a live person and then it rings you back with a costumer service rep on the line. Now, that's helpful.

The Fast Customer founder tells CNN Money it saves the average person 60 hours on hold every year. Not bad, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Well, if you get put on hold, it's hard to keep your cool, you know, especially when you're talking to one of the representatives who probably can't answer your question or doesn't have the authority -- if you're feeling they're not handling your problem, what can you do?

KOSIK: OK. So, if you're getting the run-around, "Consumer Report" says tell the agent you want to escalate your complaint. So, that's guaranteed to get their attention since many agents are criticized for giving too many problems to higher up. But if that failed, ask to speak to their supervisor.

Also, keep a list of when you've called, who you've spoken with, how many times you were put on hold, and how long you waited and the answer that you were given. And many are actually turning to social media to vent. Consumer reports points out that companies can hide your comments on Face book, but they can't do that on Twitter. So use hashtags with the company's names or the word "customer service" to make it more searchable on Twitter.

And many companies now have customer service agents dedicated to scanning Facebook and Twitter. If you have a question or complaint, you may get a back in a few minutes, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Ah, but before you go ranting and raving on the Web, you better think before you tweet. We're going to have more tips on how to put your complaint effectively online. That's after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: All right. You've got a complaint about a product or service and want to hear it's actually heard. Alison Kosik has ways to, boy, vent your frustration online -- Alison.

KOSIK: The last tip that I have for you is from "Consumer Reports" saying you really have to think about what you are going to say off-line and wait a day before you unleash your anger on the Web if you go to social media to complain. And when you call, keep your complaint brief, let them know the good and the bad as well, so you don't sound like you're just a random competitor.

"Consumer Reports" warns that businesses can sometimes try to sue critics for their comments even though there's little chance of them overcoming a free speech defense. You can find information on your state's laws by going to the public participation project site at anti-slapp.org.

But if a company resolves your complaint, go ahead and update your original post with the good news because it is once in a blue moon that actually help you out -- isn't it, Drew?

GRIFFIN: It seems to be. I haven't tried the social media thing yet, but maybe I will.

KOSIK: Sounds like a good outlet.

GRIFFIN: All right. Thanks, Alison.

KOSIK: Yes.

GRIFFIN: And speaking of sounding off, you've been sounding off our "Talk Back" question. What does President Obama need to tell Middle America?

Carol Costello is here with your responses -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't think the president needs to go out on his bus tour. I just think he needs to listen to CNN right now.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: All right. Well, here it goes

This is from Frank. He said -- this is what the president needs to hear -- "He needs to say he is sorry for not helping us out and doing more for Wall Street that Main Street."

Here's from Daniel, "Obama needs to tell Middle America that hyper-partisan politicians care more about playing politics than the people that elect them. The people we elect are more concerned about beating the other side than actually fixing the economy."

Here's from David, "The days of trickle down economics are over. The tax code will be reformed to bring in more revenue. The big three programs in social safety net will be preserved if spending cuts are made."

And this from Mike, "Something like, 'I'm sorry I haven't raised taxes on the wealthy sooner. We could be in a little bit less of a pickle, but because I did not push Congress hard enough when we had both houses, you are now going to take the brunt of the recession again.'"

Please keep the comments coming, CNN.com/CarolCNN. I appreciate it.

GRIFFIN: Carol, thank you. We appreciate you.

If you or someone you know ride San Francisco's BART transportation system, take a listen to this. You may have just been hacked. Dan Simon is live in San Francisco with the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: The hacking group Anonymous strikes again, this time targeting BART's San Francisco Bay Area rapid transit system. It appears that the names and phone numbers were hacked from the BART Web site and posted online. The group took credit for the breach in a YouTube message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been watching the actions of San Francisco, blocking communication of cell phone devices is unacceptable. The Bay Area Rapid Transit has decided that blocking cellular communication is the correct way to scare off protesters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Dan Simon covering the story for us in San Francisco.

And, Dan, I got to be honest with you. I do not understand what Anonymous is so ticked off about here.

DAN SIMON, CNN SILICON VALLEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what anonymous likes to do. They like to target organizations who they perceive are limiting free speech.

And as you heard there in the clip, there was a situation last week where BART shut down the cell phone communication for all the riders, all of its passengers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And the reason why they did that is there was supposed to be a protest last week. BART has been battling an image problem for sometime. There are people that believe that its police department has been overzealous. There were a couple high profile incidents, most recent one occurring just last month where BART police shot and killed a homeless man who was allegedly wielding a knife.

Well, despite all that, people think that BART has gone overboard, and there was supposed to be this. Well, to thwart that protest BART shut down the cell phone communication for all of the passengers and that ticked off Anonymous. So, they decided to hack into its Web site -- and that's exactly what they did.

GRIFFIN: And what kind of information has been released because of that?

SIMON: Well, this was an external Web site, not the main BART Web site, but where people have log-in information, where people set up accounts. And so, what they did is they went into that Web site, and it's called mybart.org. And they published all the users, names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers. No financial information compromised.

But, you know, if you have an account of this people who has an account, you know, it may aggravate you to see your name and e-mail address and phone number up on a public venue.

GRIFFIN: YES. And so, now, what's going to happen today? There's some warning for riders today?

SIMON: Well, Anonymous has said, we want to have a protest. So, today, at 5:00, it asked everybody who was upset about this, about shutting down the cell phones to show up at a San Francisco BART station at 5:00, and their goal is to try to disrupt service for commuters.

BART obviously is concerned about this, and they have not announced their plans to try prevent the protest and keep everything running on time. But nonetheless, you know, there's going to be this protest at 5:00 local time in San Francisco. So, stay tuned.

GRIFFIN: And we will. Thanks a lot, Dan. Appreciate that. Interesting story.