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Five Thousand People Flee Texas Fires; 9/11 Dispatcher Tells His Story; Two Libyan Convoys Flee Country; Apple Searching For Missing Prototype; The Help Desk; Putting Fiat To The Test

Aired September 06, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now coming up on the top of the hour. I'm Drew Griffin. Let's get you up to speed on the news, shall we?

So many wildfires are burning right now in Texas, it's difficult for fire crews to keep up there. Almost 500 homes burned in the southeast part of Austin. Another in East Texas has killed a mother and her child, and more than 60 new fires started just over the weekend. They are forcing thousands of people to leave their homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We left our house. And about 30 minutes later, we couldn't even get back to it. So it's moving probably eight or 10 miles an hour across the ground. So, you know, God help us. That's all. That's all I can do right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Entirely different problem in the Southeast, where the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee spawned a series of tornadoes. In one Atlanta suburb, as many as 100 homes were damaged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't see it because our bay door and doors were kind of shaking. And we have a bathroom, and we kind of ran to it, you know, the best we could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: There's a storm on Wall Street. It's a brutal day. Stocks deep in the red across the board today.

The Dow fell more than 260 points right at the opening bell. And right now, I'm kind of looking behind there, and it's still down pretty much.

New concerns about Europe's debt crisis and the global economy are weighing on investors. U.S. stocks plunged Friday after that disappointing report showed absolutely no growth in jobs in August.

Two convoys of Libyans apparently loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have fled to Niger, a country just south of Libya. A source in Niger's Interior Ministry says indeed, six high-ranking Libyan officials were in one of those convoys. Still no sign of Gadhafi himself, though. And NATO officials say their job is to keep the Libyan people safe, not to go after and target these fleeing regime leaders.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he has a plan to get America working again. Romney will unveil his jobs plan later today.

He says it includes 59 specific proposals to help the economy. The plan calling for tax cuts and tax reform, scaling back regulations, and a system for retraining workers.

We're going to bring you Romany's speech. That happens later today at 3:30 Eastern Time.

And President Obama spells out his plan for job growth before Congress. That happens on Thursday.

But at a Labor Day rally with union members, he told the crowd he will work to restore the middle class in America, and he challenged Republicans in Congress to support his plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is work to be done, and there are workers ready to do it. Labor's on board, business is on board. We just need Congress to get on board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: CNN's coverage of the president's address on job growth begins Thursday at 6:00 Eastern.

There has been a shake-up in Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign. Her campaign manager, Ed Rollins, is stepping down, taking on an advisory role. Rollins says he had a stroke about a year and a half ago, and he says his decision is because of health reasons, not because of any kind of disagreements with Bachmann.

Well, it's the first day on the job for David Petraeus. His new job, the man who was once the top commander in Iraq and Afghanistan, is at the CIA. That's after almost four decades in service in the military. Petraeus says the career change will be an exciting new journey.

The fire crisis in Texas can hardly be overstated. This is the worst fire season in that state's history. Three-and-a-half million acres, an area roughly the size of Connecticut, have burned since last November.

Over the weekend, the situation intensified with 60 new wildfires. Take a look at this Google Earth map showing active fires that are less than 90 percent contained. It's forced thousands of people from their homes.

Evacuee Shannon Lilie joins us by phone from Austin. And Shannon, I know you had just minutes to run with your family. Tell us what that was like and, actually, how you found out you had to evacuate.

SHANNON LILIE, FORCED FROM HOME DUE TO FIRE: Hi there.

Yes, actually, my mom was -- we were having a dinner party, and my mom ran out to get some groceries and came back. And on her way back in, the policemen told her, "You've got five minutes to get your family and get out."

So she came in and let us know, and we scrambled. We knew the fire was a little bit far away, so we were OK, but I kind of panicked and stood in the middle of my house wondering, what do I do, what do I take?

So I gathered up photo albums and my computers and some important documents, and a few treasured items, and we kind of scrammed. My 6- year-old came up to me with a bag in his hand, and he had big alligator tears and had a favorite toy in there. And he handed me the bag, wanting me to put in his treasured items, too. So that was kind of heartbreaking.

But you try and stay strong for them, and then you get in a corner all by yourself and kind of lose it. So it was a pretty frightening moment. But thankfully, we're in the back of the neighborhood. And we knew that we were safe and we had plenty of time to get out.

GRIFFIN: And do you know your home is OK right now?

LILIE: I mean, we're allowed to get in today at noon. Yes, it's fine. I think we're deep enough in the neighborhood that it didn't get back there. It affected more the people up in the front of the neighborhood.

GRIFFIN: You mentioned your son. I think he's a 6-year-old son. A touching moment. He had to grab whatever he could to get out of his room. Tell us again what he took.

LILIE: He took -- he had his favorite toy, remote control helicopter, in the bag already, and then we grabbed his -- he's a baseball fanatic, so we grabbed his uniforms and his trophies and some pictures of his teammates and his homerun baseballs. So pretty much all his baseball stuff from his house, and then his favorite little hunting necklace.

GRIFFIN: And how are the kids holding up? I mean, this has got to be a scary -- you said it was scary for you. It must be equally scary, if not worse, for these little kids. You've got three of them.

LILIE: Yes, it was frightening. We travel a lot, so the kids were excited to go to a hotel and swim in the pool and sleep in a very big fancy bed. So they weren't -- you know, once we were away from the house, they were fine. They really don't get what's going on. So they have been fine. And my son's kind of excited that school is canceled today. So they're enjoying it. They're doing fine.

GRIFFIN: All right. Shannon Lilie, we wish you the best as you get back into your home hopefully later today. Thanks again for joining us.

LILIE: Yes. Thank you.

GRIFFIN: And here's a rundown of some of the stories we're covering over this next hour.

First, escaping Libya, the latest on these convoys said to include some of Gadhafi's high-ranking officials crossing the border into neighboring Niger.

Then, he was allegedly killed for being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time. And today, the family of that man, James Craig Anderson, is speaking out, filing a lawsuit.

Plus, some well-known restaurants want to accept food stamps.

Then, aging baby boomers tell their children hey, you're on your own. You're not getting any of our money. I like that one.

And another Apple iPhone prototype reportedly goes missing. We'll hear it live in Silicon Valley.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Here are the choices for today's "Choose the News" segment. Text "22360" for the story you want to see.

First one is one young world. This is a global conference for 1,600 youth from all over the world. Hear some of the celebrity guests and also the teens who are participating. Their goal is to change the world, make it better.

Second, produce patrol. This is a bus driving through areas of Chicago bringing fruits and vegetables. Like the ice cream truck, only they're bringing good food into these neighborhoods called food deserts.

The third one is testing the Fiat. Is that Ali? I think so. The Italian automaker bought Chrysler, and is hoping a car with a fresh new Italian feel is going to change the Chrysler brand. See if the new Fiat 500 makes the grade.

You can vote by texting to "22360." Text "1" for "Young World"; "2" for "Produce Patrol"; or "3" for "The Fiat."

The winning story airs later this hour.

You know, this Sunday, I don't have to tell you this, marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. And for some people involved in that terrible day, it has taken 10 years to finally tell their stories.

One of them is a United Airlines worker who spoke to the pilots of Flight 93 just minutes before that flight was hijacked.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): For six years, Ed Ballinger has been sailing away from his memories. His refuge? This boat named "The Great Old Broad." He's been afloat with his wife, trying to escape the memory of a few brief words: "Beware cockpit intrusion."

ED BALLINGER, FMR. UNITED AIRLINES DISPATCHER: So I said, lock the so-and-so door? So they said, "Hijacking alert. Hijacking." So I said, "A possible hijacking?"

GRIFFIN: Ballinger is footnote 69. Ten years ago, on September 11th, he was a dispatcher for United Airlines in Chicago, handling 16 flights leaving the East Coast and heading West, including United Flight 175 out of Boston and 93 from Newark.

BALLINGER: All I know is that there was trouble and I wanted to warn everybody.

GRIFFIN: One of the those flights Ballinger tried to warn by the airline's version of an e-mail, United Flight 93.

BALLINGER: And I was sending out messages, one after the other. I think I sent 122 messages in a short time, an hour or -- I don't know what it was. It was like screaming on a keyboard. And at that time, the huge TVs that we have came on with CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This just in. You are looking at obviously a very disturbing live shot there. That is the World Trade Center --

BALLINGER: Then I saw the second airplane, which I didn't know at the time was my airplane, 175, hit the second tower. And I thought the most succinct method of doing it, the least amount of words, "Beware cockpit intrusion." And I sent it to all my 16 flights. And before I got that one off, 93 called up and said they a little turbulence going off in their flying.

GRIFFIN (on camera): So, at that moment, 93 was routine?

BALLINGER: It was routine.

GRIFFIN: So you sent out your note and you know they got that.

BALLINGER: He came back, "Hey, Ed, confirm." I confirmed back with him by telling him two airplanes hit the World Trade Center, which I sent to all the other flights.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): But the confirmation came too late. Investigators say two minutes after Flight 93's pilot, Jason Dahl, requested clarification, hijackers stormed his cockpit.

BALLINGER: Does "Beware cockpit intrusion" say it all? Can you say it faster? Quicker? And I wanted to quickly get the message out.

GRIFFIN (on camera): It's 10 years later. You're still thinking that.

BALLINGER: Yes. Yes. Maybe I should have wrote a dissertation on the thing and sent it to everybody. But I just sent them the quickest, fastest thing I could.

Can I ask you, how would you do it faster? But I keep asking myself that question.

GRIFFIN: Isn't that the real reason you're out on this boat?

BALLINGER: It could be. Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Ballinger is just one of the "Footnotes of 9/11," people whose stories were only footnotes in the 9/11 Commission's report. You can hear from more people on the front lines of that dark day. Watch our "Footnotes of 9/11" special. It airs tonight at 11:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

Escaping Libya, the latest on the convoys said to include some of Gadhafi's high-ranking officials crossing the border into Niger.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Six high-ranking Libyan officials who were in Moammar Gadhafi's government have just shown up in neighboring Niger, according to a source in Niger's Interior Ministry, but there's still no sign of Gadhafi himself.

Our Ben Wedeman joins us from Libya.

Ben, who are those guys, and who are they traveling with?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand that one of them is Mansoor Dow (ph), who was responsible for Gadhafi's personal security. So somebody obviously very close to the former Libyan leader, and somebody who probably has a pretty good idea about where Gadhafi might be.

Now, we did hear from Musa Ibrahim, the spokesman for the former regime, who said on a Damascus-based, pro-Libyan television channel that Gadhafi is in excellent health, inside Libya, and planning to liberate the country. However, it does appear that many of those people who were around him have left. And certainly, we know -- we're outside this town of Bani Walid. We were told that three days ago, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of the Libyan leader, was in Bani Walid, but he apparently has left.

So it does appear that, gradually, many of the top leaders of the country are on their way out, not surprisingly -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: Yes. Ben, are the rebels happy that they are leaving to get rid of them, or are they actually trying to stop them, arrest these people, and eventually bring them to justice?

WEDEMAN: Yes. Certainly, they are eager to get their hands on all of these people, particularly Moammar Gadhafi, but also many of his top aides. They want to take them to justice.

Some of them say they want to give them over to the International Criminal Court, although speaking to some of the guys here, some of the gunmen, they are more interested in a swifter form of justice. I asked one of these fighters, and he pulled out his bayonet and he said -- he pulled it across his throat, and he said, "That's what we want to do to Gadhafi if we find him." So, a bit of rough justice may be in the works here -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: Yes. It explains why we're not seeing Gadhafi anywhere.

Libya's National Transitional Council meeting with tribal leaders right now to start this rebuilding of a peaceful government. Can you bring us up to speed, Ben, on what is happening with the actual new governance of Libya?

WEDEMAN: Well, it's a work in progress. Many of the leaders of the NTC are still in Benghazi. They haven't come to Tripoli yet. So there is an attempt, for instance, to get life moving again.

Yesterday, an SMS -- or, rather, the day before yesterday, an SMS went out that all government workers should report to their places of work. There's an attempt to get the schools open again, possibly by the middle of September. The water seems to be working again. But actually, the actual functioning of a government does not appear to really be up and running yet.

So, as I said, a work in progress. Given the fact that there's not really much of a state in Tripoli, it's surprisingly peaceful and quiet, despite the evenings, when there's a lot of celebratory gunfire. But people would like to see a re-establishment of law and order, but that may take a while -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: Yes, especially judging by your background there.

Ben Wedeman, live in Libya.

Thank you, sir.

You know, 10 years after the 9/11 attacks prompted the U.S. to go to war in Afghanistan, wanted to check in with how that mission is going.

Well, Suzanne Malveaux, who I'm sitting in for today, isn't here because she is heading to Afghanistan. She flew from Atlanta to Washington yesterday, and then from Washington to Dubai. She's on her way to Kabul, but we catch up with her in Dubai right now.

And Suzanne, I know you have a lot of stories planned when you get there on the ground. What is your first assignment in Afghanistan? SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Drew. Good to hear from you.

We just got off a 13-hour flight, a United flight into Dubai. It's about 93 degrees here Fahrenheit. I don't know how hot it is there in Atlanta, but it's about 8:20 local time. It's in the evening here.

It's dark. We're at the airport. We're about eight hours ahead of you. And when we get to Kabul, we'll be eight-and-a-half hours ahead of Eastern Time.

We've got about a six-hour layover here, and one of the things we're going to be doing is we're going to take off about 3:30 in the morning or so, we're going to hit the ground running in Kabul. And one of the first places we are going to set up is Camp Eggers. It's a base where they do training of the Afghans, and it's one of the main missions of NATO, as well as the United States, is to get the Afghans up to speed so that they can take over their security within a couple of years or so.

You might recall, Drew, it's just a couple months that we had General William Caldwell on the show, and he's the one who is actually in charge of training these Afghans, the U.S. mission to train them. And it's a big, big job.

He doesn't have a lot of time. He's been doing it for about 21 months or so. And the idea is that you're going to have hundreds -- you're going to have hundreds and thousands of U.S. soldiers leaving in the next two years, by the end of 2014, and the Afghans have to be up to speed to take over their security.

There's a lot of criticism about whether or not they are actually going to be able to do this. There's a lot of questions about whether or not this is just a numbers game and you've got the kind of folks that are really qualified to do that, and whether or not Afghanistan is going to devolve into a civil war once we leave.

But those are just some of the things that we're going to be doing, talking to the Afghans themselves to see how their training's going, talking to the men and women on the ground, our U.S. soldiers. Do they feel like this mission has been worth it? What were their memories of 9/11 10 years ago? And whether or not they think it's time to move on and to get out.

GRIFFIN: Yes. Suzanne, this is your first time there, and I'm sure you've reported about it, you've asked people about it who were there, you've certainly have live shots on from Afghanistan. But what are you most curious about seeing once you land in Afghanistan?

MALVEAUX: I'm really curious about the young men and women, the American soldiers who are 18 and 19 years old, maybe 20 years old, what were their memories of 9/11? They were just kids, they were 10 years old. They were in elementary school.

How did that shape their perception of the attacks and of the war that we've been in for the last 10 years? Do they understand, really, what the mission is, and do they believe in that mission?

That's something that I'm very curious about, because we all remember where we were on September 11th, and it really -- I think it galvanized a whole generation, and certainly a war that's lasted 10 years. A lot of people questioning, what is the mission now?

We understand what it was going into it initially. Should we still be there? What are those young men and women on the ground -- how do they feel about it, and what are their recollections of that tragic day?

GRIFFIN: Suzanne Malveaux, right now in Dubai, on her way to Kabul, Afghanistan.

Thanks, Suzanne. We'll be following you, of course.

And she'll be reporting live from Afghanistan all day starting Friday through Sunday, September 11th.

Well, the family of a man killed in a horrific way in Mississippi is seeking justice for his death, and they're speaking out today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Next, we're going to have the family of a man beaten, then run over and killed with a pickup truck. Well, they are seeking justice in the state of Mississippi.

Then, hundreds of homes destroyed by the worst wildfires on record in Texas. What is causing this situation?

And later, restaurants fight to take food stamps with a growing number of Americans that are relying on them.

Well, the family of a man who was allegedly murdered because he was black, today that family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. James Craig Anderson's family is seeking a jury trial and damages against seven white teenagers they say killed James Anderson because of the color of his skin.

Prosecutors in Jackson, Mississippi have labeled it a hate crime, but so far, just two of the teenagers have been charged, including the 19-year-old who prosecutors say deliberately ran down the 49-year-old autoworker.

Last hour, I spoke to the family's attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WINSTON THOMPSON, ATTORNEY FOR ANDERSON'S FAMILY: Well, I think, initially, people were in shock and they wanted to -- some people took a wait-and-see approach. But the outpouring of support that we've received, the family's received from within Hinds County, and actually people from Rankin County, has been tremendous.

We've had a number of groups, civic organizations that have come forward and said they want to help. They denounce this kind of action, and they want to make sure this never happens again. So the family's been very encouraged with the outpouring of support from the community, and we just hope that it continues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Well, the attack on James Anderson was caught on surveillance tape. The details include very disturbing language and images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Deryl Dedmon is thin, short, with straggly blonde hair, accused of leading a group of white teenage revelers on a mission to find and beat up anyone who was black. On June 26th, a group of white teens, seven in all, leaving an all-night party in the white middle class enclave of Rankin County, Mississippi, in search of a black person to "mess with."

(on camera): Out of hate?

ROBERT SHULER SMITH, HINDS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Out of hate. That's exactly --

GRIFFIN: No doubt in your mind, this was a racially-motivated, hate-motivated, "let's go kill a black guy" crime?

SMITH: Absolutely. There's no doubt. They were looking for a black victim to assault and even kill in this instance.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): They drove 16 miles on a freeway heading west. At 5:00 a.m. that Sunday morning, the teens in two vehicles took the Ellis Avenue off-ramp leading to a predominantly black section of Jackson. Just as they were exiting, an unsuspecting 49- year-old autoworker named James Craig Anderson was standing by his car at this local motel, and he was black.

(on camera): So, literally, they found the first black person they could find, and that person was in this parking lot?

SMITH: Well, yes. This is the first business that you get to coming off of the highway. And so that was the first person that apparently was out here and vulnerable.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): According to witness statements, at first James Craig Anderson was beaten and taunted with racial slurs. Surveillance video shows white teens going back and forth in what prosecutors say was a continuous beating of the victim. As one of the teens walks back to the cars after beating Anderson, he pumps his fist in the air and shouts "white power," according to a motel security guard.

Then some of the teens got in the white SUV and drove away, leaving Anderson beaten and lying on the ground.

(on camera): But Darryl Dedmon apparently wasn't through. He had two girls in his truck as he was leaving this parking lot. A big F 250 pickup truck. James Craig Anderson, the man who was beaten almost to a pulp, was stumbling down this curb.

That's when police say Darryl Dedmon hit the gas, jumped the curb, and ran right over his victim. Smashing him.

What he didn't know was the entire episode was being caught on a surveillance camera on the corner of this hotel.

(voice-over): Here you see James Craig Anderson in a hotel parking lot as he first comes into view in the lower right corner of the screen. This is after he was beaten according to law enforcement officials. He staggers into the headlights of Mr. Dedmon's truck. The truck backs up and surges forward suddenly, running right over the defenseless man. Take a look again as the approaching headlights glow on Anderson's shirt, then disappears under the truck.

According to police, Dedmon, with two teenage girls as his passengers, drove to a local McDonald's, meeting up with the rest of the group. There, according to witnesses interviewed by police, he said "I ran that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) over."

SMITH: He was not remorseful. He was laughing. Laughing about the killing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Dedmon and the second teenager charged with simple assault, by the way, have yet to enter pleas in this case. Dedmon's attorney has not returned CNN's calls but did say in court last month that this is not a racial crime.

Texas wildfires destroy everything in their path, including hundreds of homes. We will talk with Chad Myers about the worst wildfires in Texas history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Hey, a reminder for today's "Choose the News" winner. You can still do it. Text 22360 for the story you want to see. Text 1 for "One Young World." A global conference bringing together more than 1,600 youths from 160 countries trying to change the world. Text 2 for "The Produce Patrol." Go aboard a renovated bus bringing fruits and vegetables to Chicago neighborhoods considered food deserts. Or text 3 for "Testing the Fiat." We will actually kick the tires of a car company that hopes to change the Chrysler brand. The winning story airs later this hour.

Boy, folks in Texas are hoping for a change here. Parched earth, flames all across that state. In fact, you can see this mapped out from space in some cases. More than 60 new fires just starting over the weekend, the worst near Austin. Five hundred homes -- almost 500 homes destroyed; 5,000 people forced to evacuate. Chad Myers is here watching this all. Incredible drought that's facing Texas.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's the first problem. And then we had Tropical Storm Lee. Where did Lee go? Where did Lee make rainfall? In the Southeast, not in Texas. What did Lee do in Texas? It just made wind. And wind and fire and drought never go together.

Here's what it looks like. Satellite picture of what Lee did. Came onshore in Louisiana, moved right over Mississippi and now on up into the Northeast, spreading very nice rainfall, nice spread, just nice calm slow rainfall. Now, we did have a couple tornadoes, I understand, and there's still that potential across parts of the Carolinas even on up to D.C.

But there is Texas. You got nothing except the back side of the wind. As I show you what the wind did, there's Austin, Georgetown, that would be I-35 on up toward Dallas. You can see the smoke from the satellite and NASA just gave us some great pictures. They flew over this from the ISS, and there you see the pictures. The smoke still coming out, containment near zero. The firefighters doing their best.

The winds have calmed down today, down to about five or 10 miles per hour, where yesterday winds were gusting to almost 30 miles per hour. Now, I know we're talking about that one fire and everybody else around Texas is going wait a minute, there are 58 other fires that we're watching here. Now, this is where we're seeing them, all the way from Texarkana to San Antonio. Any time you get one little spark, you are going to see the potential for that fire to just pop up.

So far, the winds haven't been bad. Dallas down to the south, that's about Waco, six miles per hour or so. The winds are over to the northeast and that's where they are going to be for most of the day as Lee moves away.

There is potential for another tropical system to develop in the Gulf of Mexico. It looks like it will spread its rain to Mexico, not into Texas, but it's too early for that. Couple days from now, we could see rain in Texas. That would be helpful. Drew?

GRIFFIN: Yes, let's all hope for that. Thank you, Chad.

Retailers fighting for permission to accept food stamps. We will tell you about a growing list of places where people can use them. It's not just grocery stores.

By the way, the number of Americans receiving food stamps reached a record level in May. How many? We'll answer that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We told you the number of Americans receiving food stamps reached a record in May, so what is it? The number increased to more than 45 million, according to the Agricultural Department. That's 15 percent of the population getting these food stamps.

Republicans running for the White House blame the president for the growing number of Americans relying on help to buy food. At a forum in South Carolina, the former House speaker, Newt Gingrich, said it's the president's fault the economy just isn't improving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's the most effective food stamp president in American history.

(LAUGHTER)

GINGRICH: And if you think about it, that's actually a tragedy. I mean, that means that millions of jobs have been killed unnecessarily and we should all understand, this economy is in grave danger of getting worse, not getting better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: With a growing number of Americans relying on food stamps, guess what? More and more retailers are pushing for permission to accept them. Karina Huber joins us from the New York Stock Exchange. And Karina, we're not just talking about grocery stores. Who wants in on the food stamp business?

KARINA HUBER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESOPNDENT: Right. We're pretty much talking about anyone that sells food, from convenience stores to bakeries. Even farmers markets are taking food stamps, up nearly 300 percent last year.

The Agriculture Department is working overtime to approve applications from farmers markets. That's because there's a push to get people access to healthier food options.

Take a look at this chart. It shows the overall surge. The number of retailers taking stamps jumped 34 percent over the past five years. The USDA says this is unprecedented growth. Why? Because we've got a record number of Americans who are now on food stamps. So, basically, retailers see an opportunity, they want to cash in on this huge and underserved market. Drew?

GRIFFIN: Yes, and I mean, that's the reason behind it, right? These are like handing out food credit cards to people, and businesses want in on the cash.

HUBER: Absolutely. They want to increase their revenue. Money is driving the push among the retailers to accept those food stamps. We are talking about nearly $65 billion in food stamps on the table. That's what was spent last year.

That's up from $30 billion five years ago. So, that's more than doubled. The amount is likely to keep growing. This is because the USDA expects more and more Americans to apply for food stamps and unfortunately, it's a sign of the times. Drew? GRIFFIN: Yes, well, they have been spreading that program pretty big, too. Karina, hey, the markets really started out horrendous today again. Have things improved at all?

HUBER: Well, they have improved slightly. We did see session lows around 250. That's down for the Dow. Now we're down by 210 points, so slight improvement from today's lows.

However, the Victs (ph), which is the fear indicator, is soaring. That indicates a lot of worry in the market. We spoke to a couple traders on the floor today. Two main concerns about European sovereign debt and issues spreading through Italy as well as Spain.

And there doesn't seem to be a lot of optimism as we head into Obama's jobs speech on Thursday. Essentially, traders are saying that investors want to see a cut in corporate taxes, but that's not likely to happen. So, not a lot of optimism today. Drew?

GRIFFIN: All right. Karina Huber from the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks, Karina.

Here are some of the other stories our affiliates are covering across the country. Take a look at these buildings. A man who owns them in Indiana says he can't afford to pay $200,000 in taxes, so guess what? They're up for sale right now on eBay. All three for a mere $4.5 million. The owner is also, by the way, appealing his property tax bill.

A bear in Lake Tahoe, California, tore up this family's Toyota Prius after taking it for a ride. The family saw the black bear crawl through the window. Apparently he hit the gear, shift into neutral and the car was rolling down the driveway with the bear inside, going over several boulders before slamming into a neighbor's front porch.

Volunteer chefs at the University of Massachusetts went for the record of the largest -- can you guess what that is? Stir fry. 800 pounds of chicken, 2,000 pounds of vegetables, 200 pounds of canola oil. I guess they did it.

Apple employees lead police to a man's home after his top-secret company prototype goes missing in a bar. We're going to go live to Silicon Valley to find out what the heck is going on out there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Wow, this could be an annoying case of deja vu for Apple. For the second time, an iPhone prototype has reportedly fallen into the wrong hands before it gets launched. CNN Silicon Valley correspondent Dan Simon joins us live from San Francisco.

Dan, this is embarrassing once again for Apple.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Drew, there's a lot of secrecy around these products and you can understand why. What we know is that based on product cycles, Apple is poised to release the next generation of its treasured iPhone. This would be the fifth generation. Now there are questions about whether an employee actually lost a prototype at this bar behind me and Apple's alleged handling of the incident. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON (voice-over): A new not yet for sale iPhone would be considered priceless if it ever got into the hands of Apple competitors who would love to take it apart and find out what's inside. So if reports that an Apple employee lost an iPhone 5 prototype are true, then whoever found it probably had no idea what he or she had stumbled upon.

DECLAN MCCULLOUGH, CNET CORRESPONDENT: There was an ad that appeared on Craigslist offering the phone for $200 from a Bernal Heights residence. And so that -- and so we think that's where it ended up.

SIMON: The technology website CNET reported that an Apple employee lost the iPhone at Cava 22, a bar in San Francisco.

MCCULLOUGH: This appears to be just, you have a few too many drinks perhaps and you leave it behind.

SIMON: Apple wouldn't confirm the story, but the San Francisco Police Department put out a press release Friday evening that says Apple requested assistance in tracking down a lost item. Police said four SFPD officers accompanied two Apple employees to a San Francisco home and those employees went into the house to look for the lost item. None was recovered.

But then the publication "SF Weekly" reported that it had interviewed a man who consented to having his home searched for a phone last month after being confronted by people he presumed were police officers. No one in the group identified themselves as Apple employees. Again, no comment from Apple.

This whole story may seem a bit familiar.

STEVE JOBS, CEO, APPLE: IPhone 4.

SIMON: When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4 last year, he joked about whether anyone had seen it in advance.

JOBS: Stop me if you've already seen this.

SIMON: That's because many had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I'm Jason Chang (ph) and this is the new iPhone.

SIMON: An iPhone 4 prototype was lost in a bar and wound up in the hands of the tech blog Gizmodo, which paid $5,000 for the device.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON: And when that happened, you might recall that there was all kinds of speculation that there was some kind of publicity stunt at play. But you had two people arrested, charged with criminal misdemeanors. So it seemed doubtful. And, Drew, it seems pretty doubtful this case as well because, once again, you have police involved.

GRIFFIN: Yes, but who actually searched this guy's home? He told a publication, nobody identified themselves as Apple employees. Were they the police? Who's doing this?

SIMON: By the way, we have police here in the neighborhood.

Well, there are some really serious questions about this because you have six people who came to this guy's door. His name is Sergio Calderon, 22 years old, lives in the city of San Francisco. He presumed that people who came to his door were all police officers. Well, now he's under the impression that a couple of those people were actually Apple employees. In fact, police said they were Apple employees. So he's a bit confused. He said if they weren't police officers, they shouldn't have been in his house. He would not have let them in his house.

The bottom line here is no prototype was ever found. It was on Craigslist supposedly for a couple hundred dollars but we haven't seen it. I can tell you this. The world will get to see the next generation of the iPhone 5 probably in a few weeks, Drew. So, hang on.

GRIFFIN: If not at that bar behind you, Dan.

Hey, stick around for a second to hear this next story.

SIMON: OK.

GRIFFIN: It turns out a lot of baby boomers don't plan to leave their children an inheritance. In a survey of millionaire baby boomers, the investment firm U.S. Trust found that only 49 percent said it was important to leave their children money after they die. They say they've given their kids enough and plan to spend the money on themselves. I'm sure that's what my father would say if he had millions of dollars, Dan. I don't know about yours.

SIMON: Well, it's interesting. You know, you see people like Warren Buffett, he doesn't believe in leaving a lot of money to his children. So, you know, Warren Buffett, what, the second richest man in the world, that's his philosophy. Probably good for other people as well.

GRIFFIN: Well, we'll see what happens. There's a lot of people who may be counting on that, especially as their 401(k)s take a dive. We'll see you later, Dan. Thanks for that story on the missing iPhone.

The U.S. Postal Service is low on cash and if Congress doesn't act soon, some say it could shut down. Devastating news for millions of Americans relying on mail carriers. So, we thought we'd ask, how many pieces of mail do you think the postal service handles every year? Here's your choices, all in the billions, 57 billion, 167 billion or 300 billion. We'll tell you soon. But first, here's some free money advice from the CNN "Help Desk."

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, the founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com, and Stacy Francis, who's a certified financial planner and the president of Francis Financial.

Guys, thanks for being here.

First question to you, Stacy. Anthony, a 21-year-old, wants to get in the market, wants to invest. He wants to know what his best options are -- CDs, bonds, stocks. Pretty young. He can be risky here, right?

STACY FRANCIS, PRESIDENT, FRANCIS FINANCIAL: Exactly. And I have to say, kudos to him starting off at 21. I wish I knew back then. But the best way to get started is go ahead and use the mutual funds. The mutual funds are a great way for diversification. Choose a mutual fund that has an even split between stocks and bonds. If he wants to be a little bit more aggressive, maybe have the stock exposure up to 70 percent depending on, you know, how he feels. But it's a great first step is using those mutual funds.

HARLOW: This is an interesting market to get into, that's for sure.

FRANCIS: Yes. Yes.

HARLOW: Lynnette, this question comes from Brandon. Brandon has to do a short sale on his two family home and he's wondering how he can prepare to rebuild his credit after that short sale.

LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: Right. You can isolate the damage that's caused to your credit by a short sale or foreclosure by paying all your other bills on time, only taking on new forms of credit when you really and truly need it. Don't have a lot of inquiries generated on your credit reports and keep your credit card balances low. All of that can help him to rebuild his credit.

HARLOW: So, do the best you can everywhere else in life.

KHALFANI-COX: That's right.

HARLOW: That's the message.

Thank you, ladies, so much.

If you've got a question you want answered, send us an e-mail any time to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We asked if you could guess how many pieces of mail the postal service handles every year -- 57 billion, 167 billion or 300 billion. Well, the answer is, b, 167 billion. Three billion pieces of mail every week.

And you also told us what you wanted to see. It's time for your "Choose The News" winner. It is the Italian automaker Fiat recently acquiring Chrysler, hoping to bring the almost bankrupt American brand into the 21st century with stylish models like the Fiat 500 subcompact. CNN's Ali Velshi put the car to the test.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, we've seen what this car can do if you want to drive it that way, but most people are probably not going to drive it that way. So this is where Dave is going to hand the car over to me. Let's see what it handles like when we're just driving around like regular folk.

DAVE: Let's go.

VELSHI: I'd say it qualifies as easy to drive.

DAVE: Yes.

VELSHI: All right, what's your sense of it? What's your sense of this car?

DAVE: It's an OK car.

VELSHI: Right.

DAVE: It looks cute. It's fun to drive. But would I want to live with it on a day-to-day basis? No.

VELSHI: Is this going to be a big part of the comeback strategy for Chrysler and is it going to work?

DAVE: I think it's going to bring a young demographic in. I think it's going to bring somebody that wasn't looking at a Chrysler to actually come into a Chrysler showroom. So from that point of view, it's going to be a little bit of a halo car. It's going to bring a totally different consumer into Chrysler.

VELSHI: Uh-huh. It's bouncing a little bit on this road. This doesn't score as well as something else in this price category, as other cars in this category. Do you think it's likely to improve or this is the car they're offering?

DAVE: No. A lot of the factors that make it score poorly is the rear seat room, the ride that isn't particularly good and also, you know, the overall fuel economy is not brilliant for its size.

VELSHI: Right. What kind of mileage does this get?

DAVE: This gets 34 to the gallon.

VELSHI: OK.

DAVE: Which, that's OK. VELSHI: What's your evaluation of this from a safety perspective?

DAVE: Well, it comes with all the, you know, the safety features. The side airbags, front airbags, electronic stability control. It does well in crash tests that we've seen so far. This is a relatively small car. And a bigger, heavier car will impact more of its energy into a smaller car. So I would have certain, you know, concerns about the overall safety.

VELSHI: For the price that you can -- you pay for this car, what are you competing against?

DAVE: The 500 is pretty highly priced, $18,000. You can buy an awful lot more. You can look at the other sort of budget cars, which are in this area, such as the Honda Fit, the Mini, the Hyundai Accent, Ford Fiesta.

VELSHI: All right, your overall view of this car?

DAVE: It's a cute little car. You know, it might be difficult to live with. It's a bit like a pair of high heels. You look good in them, they're cute, but it's a bit uncomfortable and you really wouldn't want to live in those for a day-to-day basis.

VELSHI: All right, Dave, thanks very much.

DAVE: Thanks, Ali.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: All right, if your choice did not win or you just want to check out those other runners-up, I'll have the links on Suzanne's page at facebook.com/suzannecnn.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye.

Randi.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, Drew. Thank you.