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Report: Plot Targeted U.S. Diplomats; Romney Set to Clinch Nomination; Romney Defends Ties To Trump; 15 Killed In Italy Earthquake; Facebook Stock Falls Below $30; Jobless Benefits To End For 100,000

Aired May 29, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Kyra.

I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get to it.

Awful new details today about the massacre in Syria and the government militia going after protesters on the street.

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MALVEAUX: These are the protests we're talking about in the capital of Damascus. Now, the U.N. Human Rights Office is saying government troops went house to house in Houla last Friday, gunning down entire families. More than 100 people died in the massacre, almost half of them children. Eight countries, including the U.S., are expelling Syrian diplomats.

Another deadly earthquake hit northern Italy today, killing at least 15. Searchers are looking for survivors in the ruble of collapsed buildings. It is the same region struck by a powerful quake just nine days ago when seven people died.

It is a chilling scenario. We're talking about snipers armed with rifles and silencers, car bombs, a hit list that included U.S. diplomats. "The Washington Post" is reporting, it was part of a series of intricate assassination plots linked to Iran. Now, according to the paper, the plan was to kill foreign diplomats in seven countries over a 13-month period."

Reza Sayah, he is joining us from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Reza, what do we know about this plot and validity of this report?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, unfortunately, we don't have a lot of facts about this alleged plot. That's why it's very important, Suzanne, to not to jump to any conclusions. This is another one of those articles with the headline that sounds dramatic, is going to get your attention. But when you look at the article itself, it leaves a lot of critical questions unanswered.

Again, it's one of those scary articles about an assassination plot, alleged plot with links to Iran. But the article doesn't clearly explain what those links are to the Iranian government. It also doesn't use any named sources.

Briefly, the article claims that a citizen of Azerbaijan, which is a country north of Iran, was working with operatives inside Iran. We're not sure, if they were Iranians, to smuggle in weapons to Azerbaijan and then go after U.S. and foreign diplomats.

The article claims that this alleged plot is tied to other alleged plots by the Iranian government. What this article doesn't do -- yes.

MALVEAUX: Do you know if --

(CROSSTALK)

SAYAH: Go ahead.

MALVEAUX: Do you know if the Iran responded in any way?

SAYAH: Yes, they have denied any involvement in this alleged plot. As they have done before, they describe it as Western propaganda, to increase the threat level against Iran. We should point out this article unfortunately doesn't provide, you know, any evidence, any clear evidence that links this alleged plot to the Iranian government.

MALVEAUX: And do we have a sense of whether or not this is still continuing -- if you believe that there are assassination plots that were under way and that it wasn't Iran directly but perhaps Hezbollah or links to Iran, do we believe that this is still happening?

SAYAH: Well, based on what the article is saying, based on the unnamed sources, Middle Eastern officials, U.S. officials, this article is citing, the threat died down and it died down a few months ago according to the article, when Iranian officials agreed to resume negotiations with the Western powers.

Unfortunately, we don't know who those unnamed sources are. This is another one of those articles where on one side you are going to have hawks in Washington saying this is proof that Iran is plotting attacks against the U.S., and another side that's going to say this is part of the Iran hysteria and a lot of people in the middle are going to be confused, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Reza Sayah, thank you very much.

I want to talk more about the implications of this reported plot. I want to bring in Jim Walsh, international security expert, research institute in MIT.

Jim, first of all, Reza is quite critical of this article, he is skeptical. He says that they do not necessarily make those kinds of links when you talk about assassination plots and linking it to the Iranian government.

Do we know if it's linked to the Iranian government or perhaps their groups like Hezbollah and others getting a wink, wink, nod, nod, yes, you go ahead and carry out the dirty work?

JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, it's a tough question. I think Reza is right to be cautious. And what we have here, we don't have a smoking gun, literally or figuratively. What we have is a sort of growing amount of evidence about a lot of different things. Alleged plots in seven different countries including in the United States.

I was -- I had a meeting with a senior administration official some months ago, the morning that the alleged plot that was supposed to take place in Washington, the assassination attempt against a Saudi official. And all of us are in the room thinking this doesn't make much sense. This doesn't sound like Iran. It doesn't fit style of Iran.

And then he went off to a meeting and then he came back and was surprised that he was skeptical but they had pretty good evidence. So -- but there is this big question about who in Iran? It is someone in the government, an independent operative, is it Hezbollah, you know, we don't know. So I think some caution is advised but it does appear as if something has been up for these last couple of months.

And finally, and quickly, Suzanne. Let's remember the context. Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated. There have been four successful assassinations against Iranian scientists and another couple that failed.

You know, I'm not a big fan of assassination. Why? If you assassinate someone, surprise, surprise, there is a chance they are going to come back and want to assassinate one of your people.

It's not impossible that this would be the case.

MALVEAUX: So, Jim, you bring up a point that you're right, you have four Iranian nuclear scientists or a link to Iran in their nuclear program who have been assassinated in three years. They believe that it's either the U.S. or Israel that is responsible.

Do you think there is some sort of shadow war that is taking place between the United States and the Middle East in Iran?

WALSH: Well, I think there are different pieces of it. I firmly believe the United States is not responsible, not engaged in these assassination attempts. I -- that's what people tell me and I believe them.

I think it's more likely that Israel is. I say this for reasons of history. Israel went after and assassinated Egyptian scientists in the 1960s, when we're working on assassinated Iraqi scientists were working on Saddam's nuclear program. This would fit if they were the ones.

But I don't think the U.S. is involved, but regardless the U.S. is getting blamed. That's sort of what happens in the Middle East, no matter who does what, the U.S. ends being blamed for it.

MALVEAUX: The article says this, and Reza brought up this, that these assassination attempts, they abruptly halted into the lead-up to Iran and the six worth powers hate was in Baghdad last week. So, clearly, Iran wanted to offer something at the negotiating nuclear over its national program.

Do we know where this stands now? With Iran? Do we know if these kinds of plots are continuing?

WALSH: No. We have no idea. I mean I think you might take this notion -- again unsubstantiated, no named sources. But if the government sort of indirectly knew about it and clamped down and said, no, then that's sort of telling.

It's also telling I think that it was done because of negotiations. We heard a lot of people say negotiations are not worth anything, it's just talk, blah, blah, blah.

Well, you know, these negotiations have accomplished at least two things. One, they pushed off an Israeli strike, military strike which would be you know, all hell would break loose. And second, apparently because Iran is involved in negotiation, if the story is true, they pulled back on any of these plots. So I think those are two big victories for the negotiation process so far and I hope it continues and I hope it's successful.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jim Walsh, thank you. As always, appreciate your time.

Here's what we're working on for this hour.

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MALVEAUX (voice-over): Under attack, just for trying to get an education. The poisoning of 160 Afghan school girls.

And then, from the backyard to the kitchen table, the first lady's push to get your family farming.

And the election fight comes to your smartphone, as the campaign gets tech-savvy.

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MALVEAUX: It's another outrageous case of girls being poisoned at school in Afghanistan. For the third time in two months, dozens of girls were taken from their classroom to the hospital, complaining of headaches, dizziness and vomiting.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): When I entered the class I smelled something and started to vomit and became unconscious. I don't remember what happened after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Police say the girls were poisoned with a type of spray. Now, last month, police said schools' well water was poisoned.

I want to bring in Michael Holmes to talk a little bit about this.

And for people who don't understand what this is about, why is it that girls in schools are being poisoned or targeted?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: We go back before the invasion of Afghanistan and the Taliban during their rule from 1996 to 2001, banned the education of women and basically that was their cultural and religious rationale was women should be in the house preparing to be married and be a wife, not to go to school to deal with useless education.

And this is -- there have been girl schools since set up as this one. But Afghan education ministry said recently that 500 schools have been closed across 11 provinces where the Taliban have a lot of influence. One thing I want to say, there have also been people who said that a lot of these numbers could be cases of mass hysteria, that some of these kids may have been poisoned, others then the panic spreads.

But there is no doubt that there have been numerous cases, not just the three you mentioned but back years, cases of schools being -- having poisoning attempts or shut down.

MALVEAUX: Is this an effective way to get girls to prevent coming them from going to school or do we see these girls come back time and time again? The classrooms are full.

HOLMES: You're right. You're right.

A lot of these girls are determined to get an education. You se girls coming back. The intimidation level is very high, you know? And regardless of what people say about the poisoning and whether they might be mass hysteria involved, the local officials, in fact I think we have a sound bite from a doctor, saying what he thinks. Let's listen to that.

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HABIBBULLAH RUSTAQUI, HEAD OF TQKHAR REGIONAL HOSPITAL (through translator): An investigation into this incident is under way. We have already sent the blood samples of poisoned students to laboratory in Kabul in order to get a clear result of what has happened. All of these incidents are similar. It has created a panic for students, in my opinion. I suggested to officials to lock down the school at least for a week.

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HOLMES: You see there, you know, a lot of the officials, they take this seriously. And often these girls have said something, at least, the genesis of it is it's genuine.

MALVEAUX: One of the things I learned embedded in the military last September is that these -- in general, the population is really not educated. Had 90 percent of the soldiers, the Afghan soldiers, the Americans are training who don't read, they don't write, they can't count if you ask how many kids, they hold up fingers but can't say one, two, three, four, five. I mean, it is really dismal.

You empower these guys with reading and writing. They become soldiers, they fight the Taliban. What is the fear of empowering the girls?

HOLMES: Well, yes, empowering is the word. Education is power. To the Taliban they like to rule by fire and ignorance.

So, if you have an uneducated population, in the case of males who are educated but not to the levels we're used to, or a uneducated population when it comes to the females, it mitigates the risk if you like of those people learning enough to stand back and go hang on, this isn't right. We don't want to be governed like this. These are our rights.

So it keeps the population control in a way, crowd control, by un-educating the males or under-educating the males ands not, educating the women.

MALVEAUX: And, finally, do we know who is responsible for the poisoning? The Taliban has denied it. Do we have any doubt that it is the Taliban?

HOLMES: You know, there is no simple answer because you do have in areas that are controlled by the more conservative Taliban, they do shut down schools. So they have been blamed by the authorities for these sorts of attacks.

However, there are Taliban who say, no, we will allow education and they have in fact allowed schools to operate in districts where they have a lot of influence, but they control the curriculum, no girl/boy classes, no male teachers, no English lessons and lots of religious, Islamic lessons.

It's not a good sign going forward. We talk about the draw down and everything. This is yet another sign -- if these school closures, poisonings can happen, what does that say about governance once we go? You know, the Taliban's already having this kind of influence. What about when we go? Where are the local authorities?

MALVEAUX: The challenges are immense.

HOLMES: Exactly.

MALVEAUX: Michael, thank you. Appreciate it, as always.

Back to World War II, they called them Victory Gardens. Well, now, the first lady, she wants you to start farming in your back yard. So, you ready to get your hands dirty? We're going to tell you how to get started.

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MALVEAUX: First lady has a new book out, about the White House garden called "American Grown." It's a memoir of her expansion of the White House Garden which she turned into organic vegetable haven. Part of the first lady's anti-obesity campaign to get America healthy, it's called Let's Move.

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MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Let's move is a way of giving people the tools and information and it really requires everybody to step up. We need our mayors stepping up, restructuring cities so that kids have safer places to play. We need our food manufacturers stepping up and really thinking about how to reformulate food products so they are a little more healthy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And affordable.

OBAMA: And affordable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: CNN Eatocracy editor Kat Kinsman. She is joining us.

Kat, a lot of folks love to garden. You're a gardener. I understand you have one on the roof of your New York apartment, is that true?

KATE KINSMAN, CNN EATOCRACY EDITOR: I do. I certainly do, turn up there and everything.

MALVEAUX: Really. That's pretty cool. So, what lessons does the first lady have for those of us who would like to get a garden started in the backyard, your school, your community garden?

KINSMAN: Well, I think first of all, gardening is such a great sort of -- a show of faith in the American spirit and just in hope for the future. It's a tremendous thing.

What Michelle Obama did was look to the history of the White House garden, the Victory Garden that has been dreamed, what Eleanor Roosevelt planted there, and her putting so much effort into this shows the American people that you are in charge of your own food destiny and you can do well for yourself with this. Gardens all over the country, community gardens, and saw people were stepping up to feed their community in a lot of exciting ways.

MALVEAUX: Well, Kat, that's really poetic actually. I had not thought about it that way. Tell us why it's exploded, urban gardening, because it's really popular now. I know folks here who raise chickens and corn and vegetables and the whole bit.

KINSMAN: Well, if you look at the food system now it's really pretty scary. Every week, there are new stories in the news about salmonella, about mad cow disease, about all kinds of sort of horrors going on in factory farming and large scale vegetable farming.

This is a way of reclaiming the food you put into your body. It's cheap, it's easy to do, it brings the community together.

And you know, with fit nation farming and iReport we're asking people to grow one thing.

You don't have to be Martha Stewart or Michelle Obama level. Grow one thing and it's really deeply empowering thing to do.

MALVEAUX: Tomatoes are easy. If you want to start something, start with tomatoes. You won't have any problems with tomatoes.

Now, tell us about these heirloom tomatoes. You're actually talking about the first lady using some seeds from long ago and planting them, and somehow coming up with a different kind of tomato than you and I would buy in the store.

KINSMAN: Oh, I stopped buying tomatoes from stores once I found heirloom tomatoes.

So, she is specifically using some from Thomas Jefferson's garden in Monticello. Heirloom seeds are ones saved for -- there is no hard and fast rule but generally at least 50 years, pre- industrialized, where they have not been allowed to crossbreed with other plants. They are open pollinated.

And the lettuce tor tomatoes or other things is exactly the same that your grandfather ate, that his grandfather ate, that Thomas Jefferson ate. And it's a way of keeping American history alive. You're not depending on the food system and on all of these vegetables that are bred specifically to travel really well. But instead you can taste food how it was meant to be and you have a lot of control.

MALVEAUX: Kat, tell us how would you start if you have never done this before, but you want to get started. It's a good idea.

KINSMAN: Well, I would -- for new gardeners, I would go to the Let's Move site where there are tips about first of all engage your family, get everybody in on the action, if your kid helps you grow something they are going to want to eat it.

You can also -- it's great to identify a spot where you do this. Consider where it gets the most sun, where you're actually going to be able to haul water. Get your soil tested. Because you know, you might -- may or may not have chemicals, you may have to resort to containers which is actually a really fabulous thing to do.

And you should have more control over it and to sign it. Some things go well together. If it goes together it grows together. Consider what works in the shade or the light.

And you know, and just get started. She writes a lot in the book about embracing failure. You don't have to be Michelle Obama, you don't have to be Martha Stewart. You have to be you, grow one thing and that is good enough.

MALVEAUX: That's great. You know, everybody starts, I remember we had a garden and sometimes the cucumbers come out really big or small.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: And test the soil of course. Kat, thanks as always.

KINSMAN: Thank you so much.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.

Even Mitt Romney admits he doesn't see eye to eye on every issue with Donald Trump. What are they doing out on the campaign trail together? We're going to find out in our political update.

And don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer while you're at work. Head to CNN.com/TV.

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MALVEAUX: National weather service says Beryl could be a tropical storm again as it heads to South Carolina. The storm is now tropical depression, dumped more than a foot of rain in a town 12 miles west of Tallahassee.

Now, some parts of northern Florida and southeast Georgia could get slammed with 15 inches of rain today.

In North Carolina, jurors are deliberating for a seventh day in the John Edwards trial. Now, he is charged with illegally using campaign contributions to cover up an affair with his mistress.

We'll have more on the trial when I talk next hour to Diane Dimon. She's been covering the case, have some new information as well.

Good day for Mitt Romney. He is on track to clinch the Republican nomination. Romney also has a fundraiser with Donald Trump tonight in Vegas, but the Obama campaign is calling on him stand up against Trump in this so called birther controversy. Those are some of the stories on our political radar.

Political editor Paul Steinhauser, joining us live.

Good to see you, Paul.

Texas primary today, it's finally come, Romney will finally get, we think, the 1,144 delegates he needs. What does it mean?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Not much.

(LAUGHTER)

STEINHAUSER: I hate to say it. I know we've been talking about this a long time.

But -- OK, let's take a look at the numbers. Here's where it stands right now, according to the CNN estimate. Mitt Romney has about 1,066 delegates. The magic number to clinch the nomination is 1,144. 152 delegates up in Texas tonight. We think Mitt Romney is going to win a lot of them.

Probably over the top which mean he would unofficially be the nominee. Does it change anything? Not really.

Suzanne, we all -- remember on April 10, when Rick Santorum dropped out, he was pretty much rival for Romney for the nomination. When he dropped out, Romney became the all but certain nominee, the presumptive nominee, whatever language you want to use, by unofficially clinching not much changes.

We have been in a general election battle between Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama since early April. Tonight doesn't change anything.

MALVEAUX: And, Paul, I understand. We can't call him the official Republican nominee. We've got to wait until the convention because the convention makes it official, right?

STEINHAUSER: We've got to use that presumptive, you name it, for a couple more months. Promise we'll get there, I promise.

MALVEAUX: OK. Romney has a fundraiser in Vegas with Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich. Trump is bringing up the birther issue, questioning whether the president was born in the U.S., this theory long since debunked but it's forcing Romney to weigh in on the issue.

Here's what he said on the press plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY: I don't agree with all of the people support me and my guess is they don't agree with everything I believe in. But I need 50.1 percent or more. And I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. Paul, so this is starting to look like a distraction from the economic message that he's peddling. At what point does this become a liability if he has to continue to talk about the birther issue?

STEINHAUSER: That's all we're talking about, we the media, and not just us, on line, social media, you name it for five or six days now ever since we learned about this Trump fundraiser for Mitt Romney tonight in Las Vegas where they would be together. And you've seen these repeated comments from Donald Trump over the last couple of days, tweets and television interviews and print interviews where he continues to bring up the birther issue. That is a big distraction.

You are absolutely right for Mitt Romney because look what he was asked on the campaign plane last night. That and the fact that Trump, the fact sorry, Romney said you know, I don't always agree with what my supporters say and they don't always agree with me, I don't think that goes far enough.

I think he has to say as he has in the past I believe President Obama was born in the U.S. This is not an issue. It's not part of the campaign. Until he does that and as long as he continues to associate with Trump it is definitely a distraction.

Listen, Suzanne, you know Donald Trump, he seeks the limelight. He seeks controversy, and that's probably not a good thing for Mitt Romney.

MALVEAUX: And the Obama campaign is already capitalizing off of this. I mean, they have this new video out and it's highlighting Romney's association with Trump and it's also calling on Romney to denounce these questions about where he was born. They say they use John McCain back in 2008 as an example of what he should be doing. I want you to listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're scared of an Obama presidency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to tell you he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared as president of the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have read about him, he's an Arab.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So Paul, ultimately is Romney going to be forced to move a bit further on this issue and simply condemn this outright, take a tougher stand?

STEINHAUSER: I think you're right, Suzanne. I think he needs to do that because until he does that we're going to continue to talk about it obviously naturally.

You know, this may help Mitt Romney. This association with Trump may help Romney with some in the base, but he is already pretty much tied up the base now. He needs to reach out to those in the middle, the moderates, and the independents.

Those are the voters who are going to win this for him if he is going to win it come November and they are probably going to get turned off a lot of them by this kind of talk from Donald Trump, the bringing up of the birther controversy -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Paul, thank you.

Another earthquake slams Italy. We're going to get a look at the fallout. What it means for the thousands who have already lost their homes.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: We're talking about mortgages on the "Help Desk" today. Very important especially right now with me Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management and Stacy Francis is a financial adviser and president of Francis Financial.

Stacy, we got this question in from Michelle in Wisconsin. I have about five year left on a 15-year mortgage at 5.25 percent. Is it worth it for me to refinance right now?

We're at pretty record lows when it comes to rates right now. So it might be worth it, right?

STACY FRANCIS, FINANCIAL ADVISER: Yes. Actually she has two options. She can refinance for the amount that she has now. She may even get two percentage points better and go ahead and really have an amazing monthly savings.

The second thing that she can do is actually take out a larger mortgage. If she finds that she hasn't fully cushioned her emergency fund or put more in retirement, it might be a good opportunity for her to take out a larger mortgage and still be paying at the lower rate than she is now.

HARLOW: I wonder and Ryan, weigh in, what she should take out, an arm or fixed? Because when we think of arm for me I shutter and I think that's too risky, but given rates.

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: I mean, granted the mortgage industry has created different mortgages to make home purchasing easier. I think for arms and for individuals who plan to stay in the property for five years or less and they plan on moving pretty quickly then that might be suitable.

I'm more after traditional guy. I like the 20 percent down, fixed type mortgage. That's actual think better responsible way to go as far as I'm concerned.

HARLOW: All right, thanks, guys. Appreciate it. If you're watching and you have a question, send us an e-mail at cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

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MALVEAUX: In Northern Italy today, there was another deadly earthquake, at least 15 people have been killed. The 5.8 magnitude quake was followed by dozens of smaller aftershocks. Jacqui Jeras is watching it for us. Is the same region there was another big quake as well. What are they dealing with?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well, it's a very active region, believe it or not. Italy is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the entire world. So it's not unusual to have them, but they have so many and to have two at this intensity with the nine days is incredible.

We've got a Google Earth map to show you where we are talking about. This is in northern Italy. So this is just south of the Alps, this is the area we're talking about. We'll zoom in and show you where the first quake was, the 5.8 which was here and then today's quake was only three miles away from that.

So, very, very close in proximity. A few different towns were affected today, but some of the buildings that were impacted nine days ago were impacted again this time, so making it all that much more devastating.

There have been at least 40 aftershocks since the initial quick, which was the 20th and all these dots, the orange and the yellow, those are aftershocks so residents are saying it's incredible to have had this many within that period of time.

About 60,000 people felt what we consider strong shaking, and when you get an earthquake of this magnitude we've been seeing reports around 15 fatalities, on average depending on the population you'll see between, say, 1 in 100.

Officials tell us those may go up. We know at least 200 people have been injured, so more activity can be expected, Suzanne. We'll continue to see aftershocks in the days, weeks, months and maybe years ahead.

MALVEAUX: Wow. It's tough road to go there. Jacqui, excellent reporting as always. I know it's your last day. You are a class act, a very, very talented, wonderful friend. We're going to miss you. You have bigger and better things ahead. So looking forward to that. Congratulations.

JERAS: Thank you.

Benefits might be up to dry, a lot of Americans out of work for more than a year that could leave the rest of the economy with a bloody lip. We're going to tell you why.

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MALVEAUX: Facebook news here. Facebook shares fell below $30 for the first time for the shares. Shares for Facebook have now lost more than 21 percent of the initial offering price that was $38. That was just back May 18th. The IPO there just a week ago, Facebook losing value.

It look likes more than 100,000 Americans across six states are going to lose their unemployment benefits this summer. That's going to bring the total this year to about half a million. That is enough to make up the entire population of New Orleans.

Alison Kosik, she's joining us to talk a little bit about this. Explain to us first of all, this is not the regular unemployment benefits that we're talking about here.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. We're not talking about the regular unemployment benefits that come from each state. Those will continue. What we are talking about which will go away, are these extended benefits coming from the federal government.

Meaning these were the weeks of benefits added onto the state benefits to really just kind of give people a bigger safety net. They were put in place because of the weak economy. At the worst of the economy, people could get up to 99 weeks of unemployment checks.

But guess what? Slowly that number of weeks has been falling because the economy has been getting better so those unemployment benefits aren't needed. Also legislative mandate that's in place has phased out the benefits based on state unemployment rates that have been falling more and more.

So at this point, more than 25 states have fallen off of these extended benefit rolls this year. We're actually now down to six states, in Washington, D.C. that actually offers the extended benefits. Suzanne, by the end of the summer no state will offer these extended federal benefits -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Wow, so what does that mean, the big picture here, the economic fallout?

KOSIK: You know what? It may mean that people may have to take a job, take any job that they can, even if it's a low paying job that they are overqualified for. So what it could wind up doing is pushing down the unemployment rate, but could mean a lower quality of life for so many people.

You've got the critics saying you know, it is important to get these people off government assistance back into the work force because the longer you're out of work the harder it is to get a job.

Clearly it's a contentious issue. Certainly is one in Washington, and on the campaign trail. And one we'll continue to hear more about.

MALVEAUX: A tough time for a lot of people this summer. All right, Alison, thank you.

You see him on TV, in the newspapers, even on your favorite web sites, so what is the next frontier for campaign ads, smartphone whether you like it or not.

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MALVEAUX: In 2008, President Obama's campaign spent a lot of money on cell phone ads taking it to a whole new level. This year looks like political campaigns going to spend even more, they're trying to reach voters on smartphones and other mobile devices like iPads. So if you live in a swing state you are likely to be a high priority for what is called sign-in advertising.

Mario Armstrong, HLN's digital lifestyle expert, Mario, good to see you here. So, we're just starting to get used to all of this other stuff, right. The mobile phones and now you got something else going on here, the mobile apps, they are cheap. Do they reach more folks than, say, the traditional way of advertising?

MARIO ARMSTRONG, DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: That's a really good question. I don't think that it can actually reach more people than, say, if you were to do an ad on a cable network or television or your traditional advertising forms.

But what's clear about mobile advertising is that it's cheaper, Suzanne, extremely cheaper. And, you can be much more highly targeted. So for an example, an average ad on a mobile device would only run a campaign somewhere between 85 cents to a dollar, and they only pay, the campaign only pays when someone actually clicks or accepts the ad. So they don't waste any money.

So it's really, really cost effective and, like I said, highly targetable. You can say I only want people in Iowa, I only want people in Michigan, I can really dig in deep to specific zip codes to share out certain information.

MALVEAUX: All right. So from our perspective here, sign up advertising, how does this work? Do we -- can we opt out of this thing if we don't want to get all these messages and these ads on our phone from these campaigns?

ARMSTRONG: Yes. The idea is that this is something that, along the route, if you've been engaged with a newsletter or a campaign's website or if you've downloaded their mobile app, you have probably already given some form of consent to having some other ads sent to you. You can opt out of those.

All campaigns are running legitimate that I've been able to see, in terms of digital advertising, and you can opt out. However, the only thing that's kind of different is like I think there's three interesting facts about this whole thing, Suzanne, though, because so many people do get their news from mobile devices today, not just from sitting in front of a television.

And so one of those that jumps out right at me is that 25 percent of Americans right now have engaged with their mobile phone to learn more or be politically active.

Number two, I mentioned this before. You can be very targeted. Take, for example, Rick Perry with his Iowa campaign, he was able to target people who downloaded a Bible app.

And number three, mobile is real. The primary is kicking off, Mitt Romney's campaign already has spent 10 percent, I should say, of their advertising budget in mobile and digital ads.

MALVEAUX: So --

ARMSTRONG: It's real.

MALVEAUX: It's real. It's going to happen. Speaking of phones, Facebook, now trying to get into the business of making phones. What do you think of that ? Is that a good idea?

ARMSTRONG: I don't know. You know, I want to see Facebook be successful. Everyone else does, too. I don't have stock but certainly stockholders want to see it be successful. But to answer your question directly, Suzanne, it's going to be tough. It's not easy for a software company to make hardware.

They've tried this again, it's been rumored they have been trying this for a couple of years although they have buckled down now, gotten more serious. But really they have enough cash to just buy a company and do what Google did, Google's buying Motorola. So there you go. They might do something like that or develop their own.

I can tell you this, Suzanne, Facebook does not work well with Apple. That's a big problem. They can only make money and grow in mobile advertising, so they need to figure something out, whether they make their own phone or make their app better on existing phones.

MALVEAUX: And, Mario, I imagine it's probably not a good idea, considering how they have done with the IPO, the stock.

ARMSTRONG: Yes, exactly. Well, I mean, that's the other pressure that comes into it. It's a great point, because now people want to see what else can Facebook do? The mobile games, Suzanne, is serious for Facebook. If they fail in the mobile space, they will fail, their stockholders, which is a whole new set of pressures that they haven't had to deal with before.

There's no more time to tinker around, try out and test things. They have to implement quick and implement effectively so that their shareholders are taken care of.

MALVEAUX: All right. Mario, good to see you as always. Thank you.

ARMSTRONG: Good to see you, too, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: (Inaudible) snacks, carryon bags, when are the airline fees, when are they actually going to end? No time soon. Your security fee may actually double.

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MALVEAUX: The National Weather Service says Beryl could become a tropical storm again as it heads to South Carolina. The storm, now a tropical depression, dumped more than a foot of rain in a town about 12 miles west of Tallahassee. Some parts of northern Florida and southeast Georgia could get slammed with 15 inches of rain today. Another deadly earthquake hit northern Italy today, killing at least 15 people. Searchers are looking for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings. It is the same northern region struck by a powerful quake just nine days ago when seven people died.

Syria's president says terrorist groups are responsible for the massacre that left more than 100 people dead. It's not the first time that he has said that but this time he was talking to U.N. Envoy Kofi Annan, who's in Syria on a mission to stop the violence. Annan got some international backup when eight countries, including the U.S., expelled Syrian diplomats because of that killing.

The report you are about to see contains disturbing pictures, not suitable for everybody. We are showing these to convey the scale of this massacre last Friday that happened in Houla. Here is Arwa Damon.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A man shoots video on his cell phone as he runs breathlessly to where a shell has fallen. We can't show you the bodies he found ripped apart by shrapnel. But his efforts began to save those not beyond help. Another shell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

DAMON (voice-over): Unknown to the outside world until Friday, the town of Houla is now a shocking symbol of Syria's carnage. More than 100 people killed in just one day, and according to U.N. observers in Syria, 49 of the victims were children under the age of 10. Again, we can't show you the video of these children. It's simply too horrifying.

But at one point a man off camera shouts, "Arabs, look at this, all the world should look at this. These are the crimes of Assad." This woman, who seems to have been wounded, claims Assad's men went house to house to finish off the survivors.

"They crammed us into a room, pulled out their guns and sprayed us like sheep," she claims. "My father, brother and mother died." The camera pans to an apparently wounded child. There is no way for CNN to authenticate her story but the U.N. special envoy, Kofi Annan, arriving in Damascus Monday said his observers will continue to investigate the massacre.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. ARAB LEAGUE ENVOY: Those responsible for these brutal crimes must be held to account. I understand the government has initiated investigation.

DAMON (voice-over): Despite the bloodshed there are few signs of a tougher international approach towards the Assad regime.

WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The absolutely urgent priority is to have the Annan plan implemented. That plan involves a plural democratic system being created in Syria.

DAMON (voice-over): But how to get there, even a cease-fire, the first step in the Annan plan, seems an impossible goal, and Russia continues to say that Assad's opponents are as much to blame as the regime.

SERGEI LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): You know it takes two to dance, takes two to tango. Even though in the current situation in Syria what we have is not the really a tango, it's having a disco party where many players are dancing and they should all dance in the same way.

DAMON (voice-over): And there is little appetite in the U.S. for a Libya-style military intervention.

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: My preference, of course, always is, as the senior military leader, would be that the international community could find ways of increasing the pressure on Assad to do the right thing and step aside. But, of course, we always have to provide military options and they should be considered.

DAMON (voice-over): After Houla, the city of Hama, which rose up against Assad's father 30 years ago, these bags of ice cover the bodies of just a few of the 40 victims of shelling over the weekend. On Monday, U.N. observers went to the town of Rastan (ph) and met the local commander of the Free Syrian Army in an effort to bring calm.

MARTIN GRIFFITH, U.N. OBSERVER: They are pleading to us to have U.N. observers to be present, places like this, like Houla and in Homs. I'm not sure if I think that there is a lot that we can do.

DAMON (voice-over): But not in time to save these infants, lined up as if asleep, they are said to have been the youngest victims of the Houla massacre and the rebels have sworn to avenge their deaths -- Arwa Damon, CNN, New York.

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MALVEAUX: It's just awful.

In North Carolina, jurors are deliberating for a seventh day in the John Edwards corruption trial, he is charged with illegally using campaign contributions to cover up an affair with his mistress. We'll have more on the trial when we talk next hour with Diane Dimond. She's been covering the case and has some fascinating new information.