Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Battle for Syria; Blackouts in India
Aired July 31, 2012 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back. Hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin talking once again about Syria.
The government here, the government forces are hitting a brick wall in the country's most decisive battle yet. We have been talking for the past couple days specifically here about Aleppo. You can see all the different neighborhoods we have highlighted for you. Aleppo, the nation's largest commercial hub, the largest city here in Syria where government forces were expected to win in this battle but that has yet to happen.
As we told you just yesterday, rebel forces they captured this army base and today they have captured not just one, but two, maybe even we're hearing three police stations in various parts here throughout Aleppo. We have video of one of those battles. Take a listen to this.
Again, these are Syrian rebels in the process of capturing a police station in this crucial battle here in Aleppo, Syria's largest city.
Hala Gorani, come on over. Walk on over in front of map here because we have been talking so much about Aleppo. And I want to get -- because you know so much and you have sources in this city.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I just spoke to someone from inside Aleppo who has given me new information...
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Let's start with that.
GORANI: You were showing -- and I like that map with the neighborhoods here because a very dire situation is happening in Salahuddin right now, where fighting is ongoing. There is a shortage of food and basic supplies. People of course because of the security situation aren't able to go get food, to go get bread, to go get fuel.
BALDWIN: That's what Ivan was saying.
If you can't get bread and you get those basics, then you leave.
GORANI: If you can. And if you can't you, out of desperation start breaking into stores and looting and trying to get what you can. That's the situation with Salahuddin right now. What's interesting about Aleppo is I'm using the term -- there's a lot of contrasts. There's this neighborhood where the situation is terrible for the people there and residents who are not, who don't want to be involved in the fighting and ordinary civilians are leaving if they can. If they can't, they're hunkered down.
But then you have other areas in the city where there's no fighting, where certainly it's tense and certainly people are hoping the fighting doesn't reach them, but it's kind of a very odd situation where there's -- it's a bit of a schizophrenic picture here where on the one hand you have a calm neighborhood and then two kilometers away, which is about a mile and change, you have a major war zone.
It is sort of overall tense, but very different from one neighborhood to the next.
BALDWIN: What is interesting I was talking to Ivan -- and I'm sure you have talked to Ivan -- he's been in and around Aleppo. I said, Ivan, who has the upper hand? It seems like the rebels have the upper hand here thus far.
He said no. I wouldn't characterize it as the upper hand.
My question though is why not? They have prisoners. They have Assad...
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: They are taking over police stations, softer targets. They took over a Syrian base.
From what I'm understanding from the people on the ground because what's hard for us so is to get a bird's-eye view -- we can get from one neighborhood to the other an idea of what's going on, but it does -- if you look at all these neighborhoods -- and I assume you highlighted them because this is where fighting and violence is happening, but in many of these neighborhoods the rebels do control major arteries and major streets.
These are local fighters. As I was telling you I believe yesterday, you hear from their accents, these are people from Aleppo. They are in their own neighborhood. Sometimes they are hit-and-run operations. You will see them go into the old quarter, hold a street for an hour or so or a little bit longer. You will see the video of that and it will appear as though perhaps they are occupying central Aleppo, but probably not. That's probably a very temporary situation.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Let's just back up for a second because we have talked and I think it's important to reiterate the geographic significance of Syria, right, because you have Turkey to the north, Iran not on the map, Iran over here. So they're friends, longtime strategic allies.
You have Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and smack-dab in the middle of this is Syria.
GORANI: Right. What you're not seeing on the map is Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
This is the other side of the equation. You have Iran on one side that is clearly a friend of this Bashar al-Assad regime and clearly wants to keep the country in its sphere, if you like. Then you have Saudi Arabia and Qatar, for whom Iran and a possible nuclear weapons program is an existential threat.
And making sure for them that the Bashar Assad regime goes down and that it doesn't have an ally in Iran is strategically the most important thing at this point. They are making absolutely no secret of the fact they are helping the rebels.
BALDWIN: I just want to stay on the story. It's so important we're talking about Syria and I so truly appreciate you doing this every day with us. Hala Gorani, thank you.
GORANI: All right. Thank you.
BALDWIN: We're also tackling other big, big stories, big talkers here of the day live during the show, including this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Who is the greatest threat to America? The folks in charge of keeping us safe are revealing today this new terror watch list.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over): Blackout across India, 600 million people, the equivalent of two United States without power, as crews race to fix the crisis.
Plus, booted from Twitter after complaining about to Olympic question. Our coverage, is it fair or foul?
And as comedians joke about Congress, hear what lawmakers are doing or not doing just before their summer vacation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Cue the sirens again. Sirens equal spoiler alert.
We're getting some new results here in from this afternoon's Olympic events. If you don't want to hear them, put your TV on mute right now. Just again, another reminder. You actually can't watch the Olympics live on television. The network airing it will broadcast the competition tonight in prime time. But you can watch the events streaming online.
That said, here I go. Michael Phelps won the silver medal in Olympic men's 200 meter butterfly. This medal is number 18 for him overall. This now means that he has tied the record for most medals ever. He's expected to swim for yet another medal later this hour as a member of the U.S. 200 meter freestyle relay team. If he medals there, he has that record.
Also, so exciting, late rights hour, I'm going to talk -- I'm a huge fan of Missy Franklin. We will talk to this standout swimmer's high school swim coach. He's known her since she was 7. Here is what I want to know. Does he remember, was there one moment when she was itty-bitty when he realized she would be a swimming superstar? Do not miss that, all you Missy Franklin fans.
Also this today. When Twitter shuts down the account of one of its members, it's not generally national news, but a journalist got the boot for criticizing NBC's Olympic coverage and then he went a step further and he tweeted out the e-mail address of one of executives at NBC Sports and apparently at Twitter that's a no-no. So now Twitter, we have learned today, they have reinstated his account telling him the complaint, the person that issued the complaint has retracted.
His account now is back active again. I talked to him just last hour and asked him why he thinks Twitter shut him down in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUY ADAMS, "THE INDEPENDENT": I didn't share someone's private e-mail address. I didn't share the address of their house. I didn't share their phone number.
And, of course, cyber-bullying or online bullying is a very serious thing. And I wouldn't want to share any information that could lead to anything that might represent a physical threat to anyone, least of all an executive for NBC.
But I shared an e-mail address. An e-mail is very different from a phone call or sharing someone's physical address. It's a very uninvasive means of communication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Guy Adams speaking with me after he is back on Twitter.
The Olympic tape delay has I know a lot of you, some very devoted sports fans, outraged as well. You're flooding places like Facebook and Twitter. Adding to this whole frenzy though is NBC and they ran a promo last night, this commercial revealing U.S. swimmer Missy Franklin's gold medal win moments before actually airing her taped- delay Olympic victory in that 100 meter backstroke race.
Why so much outrage? It's the same deal every four years.
So, Alina Cho, she looks into this one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the most- talked about upsets of the Olympics so far may be Michael Phelps' loss to rival Ryan Lochte in the 400 individual medley. It happened Saturday just before 3:00 p.m. Eastern. But NBC didn't broadcast the race until six-and-a-half-hours later, prime time in the U.S.
JEFF JARVIS, JOURNALIST: I understand the old-time business rationale for that, but in the Internet, it's outmoded. For one thing, we can all talk about these things on Twitter, and Twitter becomes a giant spoiler machine.
CHO: The Twitterverse lit up, more than 25,000 tweets with the hashtag NBCfail, 2,500 in just one hour, including can't believe Michael Phelps came in fourth again, just like 10 hours ago in the same event. And Phelps lost, NBC later.
(on camera): Isn't this deja vu all over again?
HOWARD KURTZ, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: NBC gets hammered over this every four years. And it's in a box. It pays billions of dollars for the right to carry the Olympics and yet it only makes money if it puts the most popular sporting events on in prime time, which means tape delay.
CHO: Prime time is where NBC makes its money. Though the network paid $4.4 billion to air the Olympics through the 2020 Games, makes it up in ad revenue, charging $725,000 for a single 30-second spot.
(voice-over): In a statement, NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus said "This audience number for the London opening ceremony is a great early sign that our strategy of driving people to watch NBC in prime time is working."
The opening ceremony was the most watched in the history of the Summer Games. So was the first night of competition, when Phelps experienced the agony of defeat. And NBC says it's live-streaming hundreds of Olympic events on the Web.
JARVIS: It's just hard to find it. And you have got to go through a bit of a rigmarole to sign up for it.
CHO: So, what's the answer?
(on camera): Do you just want to say, come on, stop complaining?
KURTZ: I do think some of the people who are carping and complaining on Twitter maybe have a little bit too much time on their hands.
CHO (voice-over): Things likely won't change unless people flock to catch the Games online, instead of waiting for the prime-time Olympic experience.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Hospitals using generators. You see the candle here. Miners, they are stuck underground. Trains not running. This massive demand for electricity causing a huger power outage. We're going to take you to India and help to explain exactly how many people are out of power, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Have you been paying attention to what has happened in India? India has suffered this huge new power blackout, the second one now in two days. Seven states across northern India here totally in the dark.
Do the math. I'm talking 600 million, maybe 620 million people affected. But I know that's just a number. Really what hit -- this is what hit it home for me. Let's say you're looking at the world. Right? This is just to put this number in context. Imagine a blackout that affects all of us here in the United States. Add onto that Central America and add on that all of Russia as well.
That's 617 million people. That's equivalent to just that northern part of India. Or another example is imagine this massive power outage that affects all of Eastern Europe, including Russia here, also including the United States. That's about 609 million people, so all in the dark all at the same time, and that's India right now.
Also, this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACH GALIFIANAKIS, ACTOR: Too good of a job.
WILL FERRELL, ACTOR: They're working too hard, yes. And they need to take a break.
(CROSSTALK)
FERRELL: And they need to kind of pat themselves on the back a little more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I love those guys. Comedians, you know them, Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis. They're joking about Congress, but lawmakers are racing to get some things done before their big summer recess here.
Also, get this, Republicans and Democrats just reached a deal on something. And it impacts every one of us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Personal income rose last month, but you weren't spending those extra bucks. The Commerce Department says consumer spending in June was flat, but income rose just a half-percentage point. That's the best paycheck improvement since March.
(FINANCIAL UPDATE)
BALDWIN: Last time we checked, Americans had a pretty low opinion of Congress. In fact, take a look at the numbers with me, a record low -- 11 percent of Americans gave Congress a thumbs-up when we asked them, 11 percent.
I guess you would count these two guys among that small minority. You have funny guys Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GALIFIANAKIS: You should also worry about the Congress, that they're doing too good of a job.
FERRELL: They're working too hard, yes. And they need to take a break.
(CROSSTALK)
FERRELL: And they need to kind of pat themselves on the back a little more.
GALIFIANAKIS: And you don't have to be such straight shooters all the time, guys. You have a hard job. You don't have to be so honest.
FERRELL: Yes.
GALIFIANAKIS: Those are our concerns.
FERRELL: Those are our concerns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Those two guys spoke to CNN to promote their new movie. It's called "The Campaign."
By the way, they will be live in "THE SITUATION ROOM" next hour. So definitely stick around for that.
But hang on, though, because just a short time ago, got some news for you. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did announce a deal to fund the government through next March.
Dana Bash with me now live from Washington.
I know this means we will not have another standoff as we did last year right before the all-important November elections, yes?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is first and foremost to avoid a government shutdown.
The fiscal year ends September 30. That's just a little bit more than a month before Election Day. Both sides want to avoid a prospect of a shutdown because it's really a jump ball politically who it would help or hurt, which side. Neither wants to take that risk so close to Election Day.
A second reason they made this deal, which, by the way, isn't going to be voted on until September, is because everyone realizes that they will have a lot on their plate between the election and the end of the year. The lame-duck session will deal with all the issues surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff. That's when the Bush era tax cuts expire and when the automatic spending cuts that are required by law have to be dealt with.
BALDWIN: So they have got this deal. As you mentioned, they still have to vote on it. But this still isn't exactly the orderly fashion that they are supposed to do these things. We sort of were likening this to cheating on your homework, right, Dana?
BASH: If that's true, there's a lot of cheating on your homework. And it's been going on for decades.
Look, you're right. This is Congress' main job. It says so in the Constitution. They need to fund the government. They are supposed to do that by passing about a dozen spending bills, but unfortunately not getting their work done. As you said, it's not unusual. And it happens under Democratic and Republican control.
I want you to look at this. Our producer Alan Silverleib did some research and digging. And this is what he found out -- 15 years ago, 1997, that was the last time Congress funded the government without a stopgap measure.
And in the past 35 years, Brooke, Congress and the president agreed to a yearlong budget only three times, 1989, 1995 and 1997. You wonder why Will Ferrell and Zach -- I'm not going to attempt to say his last name.
BALDWIN: Galifianakis.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Galifianakis -- have things to joke about.
I will you, I'm going to a screening of that movie tonight.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Very nice. I hear Mr. Blitzer has a cameo.
BASH: I'm sure he does.
BALDWIN: Of course he does.
Dana Bash, have fun. I can't wait to see it myself.
BASH: Thanks. BALDWIN: Thank you so much from Washington.
BASH: Thanks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: And you e-mailed and you wrote letters, you made calls and they listened.
The Consumer Federation of America here has just released its annual list of the top consumer complaints, billing disputes and service problems with your phone, your satellite, your Internet, electric, gas earned utilities the number five spot.
So think of those complaints. What could be the top five? Number four, false advertising, defective merchandise, issues with coupons, issue with gift cards. It's retailers. That's number four. Number three, few things made your blood boil more than unfinished jobs and shoddy work. It's home improvement and construction companies there.
So those are the top five, four, three. What are the top two consumer complaints? The answer on the other side of this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The Consumer Federation of America has just released its annual list of top consumer complaints. We were going through five, four, three on this list.
So you thought about this. You marinated on this. Your top two here, for a third year in a row, billing disputes. It's never fun. Fees, mortgage-related fraud and abusive debt collection tactics earned credit and debit cards the number two spot on this list.
And the number one complaint is your car. Autos, shopping for cars, going in for repairs, being sold lemons were among your biggest gripes.
And now, forget the dorm room expenses. Forget the spilled beer, the frat parties, the food in the college cafeteria, Florida may become the first state with an all-online public university.
Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange with more on this one. How does this work?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. That was really fun, wasn't it?
BALDWIN: I loved the like free-for-all food in the cafeteria.
KOSIK: There you go. Exactly.
No, this is a completely different idea. So, what Florida's board of governors is trying to do is have this all-online university and nickname it "Online U" because what the state is trying to do is find a way to make a more educated work force because it's really tough right now to deal with budget cuts that make it so the state can't afford to build these new school buildings.
Now, another option that's on the table includes pulling together some of the best online classes from other universities in the state and making them available to anyone.
Now, of course, there are critics in this, throwing cold water on this, saying, you know what? In this situation with an all-online university, students lose that sense of belonging by getting an entire education online.
And they say, you know what? Alumni are less likely to make donations to a school that's only online. But people in favor say students have come to expect online options these days and they like the convenience factor.
So the discussions go on. A consulting group in Boston, Brooke, is helping the state to weigh all of its options.
BALDWIN: "Online U." I've read about this before at other places, right, Alison? There are other schools offering, you know, classes online such as what?
KOSIK: Yeah, classes and you name it. There are these online universities. These classes online that you can take where you can take a class on ObamaCare called "Health Policy and the Affordable Care Act."
If you like astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life, you can take classes on that, even more traditional stuff like statistics, history and poetry, and you can take of these things from Coursera.org and that's a new online education company that offers free online courses with some big name universities.
Now, this all started out at four schools with Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University and University of Michigan and they are adding more of these big name universities like Caltech, Johns Hopkins and your favorite, Brooke, Duke University.
BALDWIN: I was about to say, UNC Chapel Hill. We do not utter the "D" word.
KOSIK: I don't know about Chapel Hill, but Duke is.
BALDWIN: Excellent university. Just down the road. Anywho. Alison Kosik, thank you so much.
And here is a phrase we've all heard. Certainly, we've seen in the movies, right? Women and children, first, but in this case of a shipwreck, is that actually how it all happened?
I was about to say is that all really how it went down. Sorry. Horrible.
Hello, again. It's been a while.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It has been weeks.
BALDWIN: Nice to see you. Missed you.
Let's talk about this because I know you read this article. I read it as well. Because you hear women and children, first. The captain must go down with the ship. But maybe not so?
MYERS: It appears, WCF, as the article says, women and children, first, only applies if the captain yells, "Women and children, first." Otherwise, it literally is every man for himself.
I read the entire article. National Academy of Sciences, you want to talk about geeks. You should have be there with me, reading this article. Talking about 16 shipwrecks over three centuries, were women better, were kids better, were the captains and crew better?
BALDWIN: In terms of survival rate.
MYERS: Survival rate.
BALDWIN: Right.
MYERS: You might not believe the graphic I'm about to show you because children only 15 percent and crew members 61 percent. Now, you think, well, wait. Are they just getting off first?
They think that crew members know better what to do than passengers. They have been trained. They know where to get the life jackets. They know where the stairs are. They know how to go up and down.
But 44 percent for captains, they make it off the ship most of the time, it seems, where women and children don't.
Now, this said, since World War I, it's gotten a lot better because it appears that corsets and hoop skirts didn't float very well. Back in the 1800s, women dressed up.
BALDWIN: I wouldn't know.
MYERS: I know. But you would dress up on the cruise ship.
BALDWIN: Right.
MYERS: This was a big deal.
BALDWIN: Sure.
MYERS: It appears that women's clothing was not very good for swimming or survival. It may have taken them to the bottom of the ocean if they didn't get in the life jackets or get in the life boats.
BALDWIN: Those contraptions look awful. That would bring a gal down.
MYERS: The Birkenhead and the Titanic were two completely, just off-the-chart just not normal considerations of boats here. Seventy percent of the women survived on the Titanic. Twenty percent of men survived on the Titanic. That has not happened in any other shipwreck.
BALDWIN: I'm sure if we found ourselves in a similar situation, you would say, Brooke, take the rescue boat. I, Chad Myers, will go down with the ship.
MYERS: I'll take this floating board.
BALDWIN: Chad, thank you. Always great talking to you.
MYERS: Good stuff.
BALDWIN: Now, this here. $6 billion in aid for that survivors of September 11. That is what one judge is now saying, but you will not believe who you have to sue to get the money. We're "On the Case," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A federal just has just recommended a massive payout to the families of America's worst terror attack. He says relatives of 59 victims who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks should receive $6 billion.
From whom? Not just al Qaeda, but Iran, Hezbollah, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. This recommendation comes after another federal judge ruled in the family's favor. That was in December. He issued a default judgment since the defendants never responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARA BANE, 9/11 WIDOW: Very happy, relieved and I felt some justice for Michael and his death and everyone that we lost that day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Trial attorney Renee Rockwell is live in Studio 7 with me. Welcome.
RENEE ROCKWELL, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Good to see you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Let's just begin with this chunk of change, this $6 billion. Do you think there is any chance that these families will ever see a slice of that?
ROCKWELL: Well, the question is, do they really want the money? The money would be nice, but they wanted vindication.
Now, lawyers work. They put in their blood, sweat and tears and they'd like to see a return at the end of the day. If assets can be located in the United States, then they're seizable.
But this was a default judgment and you've got to wonder, maybe the government, maybe the parties from the other side, the defendants, did they really care. They did not even put up a fight.
BALDWIN: But we're talking, how do you seize assets from Iran and Hezbollah? Are they even seizable?
ROCKWELL: No. I mean, your judgment is worth the paper. What are you going to do? Jump on an airplane and say, come on and give me the $6 billion?
But if assets can be located in the United States, there are ways to get that money. And I would imagine that the lawyers will be trying to connect the dots. Is this an organization that's a legitimate organization that's thriving in the United States or is this something that's just a facade and really part of Osama bin Laden's empire?
BALDWIN: So, for now, if you were working with these families, what would you tell them?
ROCKWELL: Oh, well, get a private investigator out and see if they can connect the dots, like I said. I think that it's pie in the sky. I think that they wanted this case closed. There's a big judgment. I don't think at the end of the day you will see anything.
But in the event somebody does uncover some connections -- don't forget Homeland Security is looking for that, all the time, in the realm of money-laundering and weapons shipments, et cetera.
So, it's not just something that could never come to fruition. I would imagine that somebody will be interested in trying to get the big pay out at the end of the day.
BALDWIN: We'll follow it and see if they do get the big payout. Renee Rockwell, thank you so much, "On the Case," with us today.
Also, we need to mention that the U.S. government has not found that Iran or Hezbollah had any involvement in the attacks on 9/11. And Iran has denied any link to that terror disaster either.
She's becoming America's sweetheart. Missy Franklin winning gold medals and giving her hometown most definitely something to smile about. Well, how about this? We're about to get a little dirt from -- of all people -- her, I'm sure, very, very proud high school swimming coach. Joins me live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: American swimmer Missy Franklin is making some pretty big waves in London, even being called the female version of Michael Phelps. So, perhaps it's going to be he's the male version of Missy Franklin after this whole thing is said and done. Two medals already for here, more events to come. Franklin may just be getting warmed up.
And her high school swimming coach, Nick Frasersmith, joins me live from Denver. So, Coach, welcome. And I just want to tell everyone you may coach her now, but you actually met her when she was all of seven-years old and I just wanted to know, do you remember the moment when you knew this young pupil of yours was really destined for such greatness?
NICK FRASERSMITH, HEAD COACH, REGIS JESUIT GIRLS SWIN AND DIVE: I think, you know, as she was growing up, you could always see there was something, a little spark in her.
She was always the one that wanted to get to the wall first and just loved to race and was always bubbling and having fun, even when she was a seven- and eight-year old.
BALDWIN: Was there any one moment, though, where you said, she's it?
FRASERSMITH: You know, I think when she turned, when she was around 11-years old, that's when really things started to really kind of spark. She started breaking national age group records and then qualifying for Olympic trials at 12. I think that was a huge breakout.
BALDWIN: Wow. At 12. I hear she has turned down some pretty lucrative endorsement deals just so she can remain eligible so she can compete at your high school.
When I hear that, I think that says really a lot about her character. Tell me what she's like when she's not, you know, smoking her competitors in the pool.
FRASERSMITH: You know, I think Missy is the person that you see on the interviews and the cameras. That's her. It's a bubbling, wonderful, young high school teenager and she is. She has fun. She just enjoys life. She's out there and she's just an incredible person. What you see is what you get.
BALDWIN: You know, Nick, I do hear -- did a little homework on this swimmer of yours. I hear she is a huge Justin Bieber fan. And, so, apparently, after her win, her big gold, he tweeted to her and we have this tweet so we can just pull it up.
And he, basically, you know, heard Franklin Missy is a fan of mine. Now, I'm a fan of hers, too. Congrats on winning gold.
And then I checked her twitter and she sort of retweeted that and said, my gosh, I'm dying over this. I can't believe this. She's just a little excited.
So, be honest, what's more exciting the gold or the Biebs?
FRASERSMITH: You know, with Missy, she's probably excited at the Bieb. I'm sure, you know, that's every teenage girl's dream and so is Olympic gold. So they probably are a pretty good challenge for each other.
BALDWIN: She is a world champion swimmer. She's all of 17. How do students at your high school, how do they feel about just sharing a pool or how do you think they will, maybe next swim season, sharing a pool with a gold medalist?
FRASERSMITH: I think it's an incredible opportunity and I think they feel so fortunate. Just to have Missy around, she's just such a wonderful person, such a team person that she's just great in the pool.
She doesn't expect any special treatment or anybody else to treat her differently. She's just wonderful with her friends and she's just a great teammate.
BALDWIN: I know a lot of people by now, Nick, know her story. They know where you're sitting, which is Aurora, Colorado, or where you school is, I should say.
It's a city that's still very much so still reeling over this horrendous tragedy two Fridays ago. Regis Jesuit High School, smack dab in Aurora. How much does Missy's win really mean for this city?
FRASERSMITH: You know, I think it just helps a little helps a little bit with maybe lessening the hurt and sorrow for the victims and maybe brings a little bit of a light of some great things in the world.
From such a positive person like Missy dedicating her races to the victims of such a senseless act, I think, you know, especially coming from Missy who I'm sure it really comes from her heart and it's just a wonderful thing and maybe brings some light in this world.
BALDWIN: I just love her smile. And I just have to remind myself this young woman is just 17. Coach Nick Frasersmith, thank you so much. Missy Franklin's high school swimming coach, we appreciate it.
FRASERSMITH: Great. Thanks for having me.
BALDWIN: Who is the greatest threat to America? The folks in charge of keeping us safe are revealing their new terror watch list.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: When it comes to grocery prices, we could be in for some pretty bad news here. Nearly 30 states in disaster mode, including Iowa, where Christine Romans is talking to a man in the midst of this drought crisis.
Christine?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE": Brooke, the drought in the Midwest is getting worse. All 99 counties here in Iowa have been declared a disaster. This is a crop that is a real disappointment for a lot of corn farmers who haven't seen something like this since at least 1988.
Neil Keppe (ph) is with me. He's been farming for 12 years. This is your corn, Neil, and tell me what happened to this plant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, this whole field here ran out of moisture. The plant wanted to reproduce and start its pollination process to produce an ear of corn where we get our kernels of corn and it never produced an ear because it just ran out of moisture. So the plant decided, I don't have enough water, I'm not going to make an ear this year.
ROMANS: And this is such a shame because this is some of the richest farmland in the world. When you look at this, this is good, black Iowa dirt, three-feet deep and look at the cracks here. I mean, you just have not had enough rain.
NEIL KEPPE (PH), IOWA FARMER: Some of these cracks you can almost stick your arm down into and, you know, I've never seen that before. We expected a real good crop this year.
The U.S. planted the most acreage that we've ever planted before and now it may turn into one of the worst crops.
ROMANS: After 1988, a lot of people tell me that they have insurance. You have to have insurance, in some cases. So do you think that farmers are going to be able to bounce back from this?
KEPPE (PH): Well, farmers are very resilient and we choose to do what we do. You know, we're not asking for sympathy or empathy from anybody.
Crop insurance will help, but we don't know for sure whether we're going to trigger a loss because it's pretty variable. Some fields are in decent shape. Fields like this one are in pretty poor shape, so time will tell.
And the problem is we have to pay for all these expenses to put a crop in months ago and, now, we might not collect much money from the crop itself.
ROMANS: And you have all kinds of bugs and varmints that feed off of corn that is in distress. Last year, what would you get for a yield out of this kind of grou8nd?
KEPPE (PH): Over 200 bushels an acre.
ROMANS: What do you think you'll get this year?
KEPPE (PH): Less than 50.
ROMANS: Wow, that's a big difference.
And, Brooke, we won't know what the yield will be until they pull this out of the ground. Maybe in four or six weeks they'll start to get in here with the combine.
Until then, what we do know, food prices will go up because this is stuff that runs so much of the processed food, so much of the feed stock, the live feed for livestock, so food prices will be going up. Brooke?
BALDWIN: And this will affect each and every one of us as we hit the grocery store.
Christine Romans, thank you so much in Iowa.
And finally here, al Qaeda is not what it once was, but its affiliates are on the move. The State Department has now released its annual terrorism report and I want to talk about it with our CNN foreign affairs correspondent here, Elise Labott.
And, Elise, look, Osama bin laden is gone, of course, so what is the status of al Qaeda, according to the State Department?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, Brooke, what the State Department says is that the blow from the death of Osama bin laden and other key operatives in Pakistan and al Qaeda-core, as they say, the main al Qaeda, makes the group a lot weaker, although it still tries to plan attacks in Pakistan and against U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
But what they say is these so-called affiliate groups, not necessarily belonging to al Qaeda, but affiliated with, sympathetic with, get some kind of operational guidance from al Qaeda, are growing in strength, particularly in the Middle East.
You have al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, which is in the Gulf and Yemen, which was responsible for that underwear bombing in 2009 and those attempted cargo plane attacks in 2010. And then you have al Qaeda in the Maghreb in North Africa, and al Shabaab in Somalia.
So, these smaller groups are a little bit harder to track and they don't only work in the countries that they're operating, but it turns out they're trying to target U.S. interests around the world. So, a lot more dangerous now, these affiliate groups.
Brooke?
BALDWIN: Yeah. We have been reporting so much, it seems like, on AQAP, but you know, we've covered, extensively, the Arab Spring, these popular uprisings throughout the Middle East. What kind of effect have those revolutions had on these groups?
LABOTT: Well, it has a huge effect, Brooke, because in all of these countries you have political instability and that's what gives terrorists a safe haven. In Egypt, for instance, the Sinai, the border between Israel and Egypt, we've been reporting on is increasingly unstable and Secretary Clinton in an interview last week told me that this could become an operational base for jihadist.
You have Yemen, AQAP, operating very intensively. And also, some of these other groups in North Africa, working and taking advantage of this political instability, particularly in Syria.
BALDWIN: Speaking of Syria, what about the violence and the instability? I've been reading -- we talked to former CIA operatives specifically about, you know, fears of jihadists sort of infiltrating I know the opposition in Syria. I was talking to Jim Clancy, one of our veteran journalists, worrying already about Hezbollah coming out of Iran here. How worried should we be about that?
LABOTT: Well, State Department says, very worried because you had al Qaeda in Iraq, U.S. troops left, and still operating in Iraq, but now they're moving over to Syria, taking advantage of the instability there.
You had some attacks that the U.S. and other countries believe could be the work of al Qaeda and what President Bashar al-Assad is saying is that he's fighting terrorists. And the concern is that some of these groups are trying to infiltrate the legitimate operation groups.
And, so, you don't really know who to arm, who to help because they're really infiltrating these groups and making it a lot more difficult for the U.S. and others to know who they're dealing with. So, it's a very concerning situation for the State Department.
BALDWIN: Right. Elise Labott, foreign affairs correspondent. Elise, thank you so much.
And, finally here, it does seem a system that better detects roadside bombs would be the military's top choice, so why isn't it? This is what a Republican congressman wants to know.
Congressman Duncan Hunter says the 82nd Airborne urgently requested this new detection device, but the requests were denied, An Army colonel ordered a report destroyed after it showed the new device's effectiveness in detecting roadside bombs.
Hunter wants now a congressional inquiry into this.
Thanks so much for being with me the last two hours. I'm Brooke Baldwin and, now, to my colleague, Joe Johns, sitting in for Wolf today. Your "Situation Room" begins right now.
Hey, Joe.
