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Stock Market Down; Large Explosion Shakes Part of Lebanon; Egypt on a Dangerous Path; Egypt Reeling from Mass Carnage; UPS Crash Data Recorders Found; Dow Down Triple Digits; Christie Addresses RNC; Obama Played Cards During bin Laden Raid; Cost of Raising Child; Republicans Rally in Boston; Excess Coffee Consumption May Pose Health Risk

Aired August 15, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWS ROOM. I'm Pamela Brown, filling in for Suzanne Malveaux. Thanks so much for being here with us on this Thursday.

And we begin with an eye on the markets. Take a look here, the Dow is down sharply. It plunged 200 points in early trading and is now down 194. We'll have a live report from the New York Stock Exchange just ahead right here on NEWS ROOM.

And at this hour, we are watching Beirut, the largest city in Lebanon there. That's where a large explosion shook part of the city just about an hour ago. This is what we're seeing on a Lebanese T.V. station there. Fire and smoke and panic. The bomb went off in a part of the city known as a stronghold for the Shiite militant group, Hezbollah. Lebanon officials say three people are dead, about 20 others are wounded and so far there's no claim of responsibility. We're watching Beirut for more details and, of course, we'll pass on whatever information we find out.

And over in Egypt, it is still reeling from its bloodiest day since the 2011 revolution. And President Obama is responding to the crisis there. The streets of Cairo are relatively calm but tense right now after a day of carnage, chaos and gunfire. The Egyptian health ministry says at least 525 people were killed and more than 3,700 wounded. President Obama warns Egypt is on a dangerous path and he called for an end to the bloodshed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And to the Egyptian people, let me say, the cycle of violence and escalation needs to stop. We call on the Egyptian authorities to respect the universal rights of the people. We call on those who are protesting to do so peacefully and condemn the attacks that we've seen be protesters, including on churches. We believe that the state of emergency should be lifted, that a process of national reconciliation should begin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROAN: And now, I want to bring in our Chief National Correspondent John King. Hi, John. Nice to see you. This is -- this is a delicate balance for the administration. We have a stake in keeping positive relations with Egypt, of course our largest Arab ally in that region.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BROWN: What do you think the main purpose of President Obama's speech today was? What was the message?

KING: He's trying desperately, Pamela, to send a message to the military now running the Egyptian government saying to dial this back and dial it back quickly. The president is trying to reposition, readjust his administration's position after essentially a bet that went bad. The coup, although the administration doesn't call it a coup, the ouster of the Morsy government was not a total surprise to the administration. And the administration refuses to call it a coup because of the legal consequences of that.

BROWN: Yes.

KING: But what it had hoped was that the military government more moderate forces would take over. They would try to set a path toward new democratic elections and try to keep the peace in the meantime. Instead, you've had this polarized climate where the Morsy supporters are still demonstrating. And they are responsible for some of the violence, let's be clear about that.

But the military crackdown now has left the administration in a very tough position because it refused to call it a coup. It essentially was backing the military government asking it to move the process forward and now it sees this breakout. The administration made a bet and hoped its allies like Qatar, like the United Arab Emirates could help out in the region. And instead, it's spiraling out of control and the president is trying to reposition himself.

BROWN: Right. And by refusing to call it a coup, that means that we don't have to cut the $1.3 billion in funding and aid that we give to Egypt. Why do you think the president stopped short of doing that today, John? What -- why does it benefit the U.S. to main -- to continue to give that aid to Egypt?

KING: Leverage is what the administration would tell you and it's what veteran diplomats from Democratic and Republican administrations would tell you. You do see fresh calls from Congress today. Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of the voices on the conservative side, saying cut off the aid, Mr. President. Call it a coup, Mr. President. The president will call it a coup for just that reason. There are then legal obligations -- if you call it a military coup, then there are legal obligations on the administration to at least suspend that military aid.

What the White House would tell you is that that is the only leverage with the government. They did cancel some planned military exercises today. They hope that sends a signal of disapproval. But that aid is the biggest leverage they think they have with the government, and they believe if they cut it off, someone else will step in. Some other Arab government will step in and make up the money, if you will, and then leave the United States on the sideline with not any leverage. Here is the challenge. If the administration can't show progress soon, it's going to be pretty hard to say we have to keep up that aid because that's how we get them to listen to us.

BROWN: Yes.

KING: If they don't listen, the voices saying cut off that aid will grow louder.

BROWN: And, of course, we have our own business interests here in the U.S. A lot of that money goes to U.S. companies to make some of the military equipment --

KING: No question.

BROWN: -- that Egypt uses. Thank you so much, John King.

The streets around Cairo are littered with debris from the violence and chaos there. And this all started when Egyptian security forces stormed two camps occupied by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy.

Arwa Damon joins us from Cairo on the phone. She's been monitoring the situation there. Well, give us a sense of your location and what's going on there right now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, if one compares the way Cairo should normally be, it's still quite eerie out on the streets, fairly empty. Curfew, of course, kicked into effect for now the second day in a row. The government yesterday announcing the state of emergency that's going to be lasting for a month. We are down at one of the sitting sites. It was filled with trash. There was still smoke rising from it. Every once in a while, a vehicle would drive by, someone would pick up some of the debris. And you could still smell the residue of the tear gas there.

The security forces were not just dealing with clearing these two sitting sites, but also with multiple front lines that emerged across the entire capital and, in fact, other parts of the country as well. And there has still been sporadic clashes, nothing as intense as we saw yesterday. But still, sporadic classes, the pro-Morsy crowds attacking a government building part of great Cairo, attacking a number of police stations over the last 24 hours.

And, perhaps, even more disturbingly, targeting the country's cushioned community. We were down at one of the churches. It was a shell of what it should have been, scorched completely black. People there were saying that they were attacked by an angry mob of Islamists who were chanting, down with the church. And we have been seen across the entire country at least 30 churches that were attacked, most of them eluded and then burnt.

BROWN: And then, we heard President Obama speak earlier today asking for both sides to come together to reach a peaceful resolution. But, Arwa, it seems like the Muslim Brotherhood is vowing to keep up these protests. Do you see the violence there continuing? DAMON: It's very difficult to see how the situation is going to be fully brought under control at this stage. And one must also remember that the U.S. does not have a lot of pull with either side, at this point. And --

BROWN: Oh, we lost Arwa there. We'll check back with her soon. Of course, tumultuous situation there in Egypt. And we will go back to Cairo here in a bit as we monitor the situation there.

Meantime, we have just learned investigators have recovered the flight data recorders from the UPS cargo plane crash in Birmingham, Alabama there. And they hope the boxes will help them determine the cause of yesterday's fiery crash that killed a pilot and co-pilot. Flames in the plane's tail section kept officials from accessing the recorders in the first 24 hours after the crash. Investigators want to know why the crew did not issue a distress call. The airbus went down just about a half a mile from the runway while approaching the airport. Witnesses say it flew low over their neighborhood then it sounded like it was sputtering before it crashed on the street by an open field shaking people's homes there.

And as we mentioned earlier, big drops on Wall Street today. The Dow plunged 200 points.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us what's behind this -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Pamela. Well, 10 major companies came out with what they think how the economy is right now, how that's going to affect their business. And that is why you're seeing investors spooked. You're seeing the Dow down 212 points right now. And they're doing this in their earnings reports. First of all, Cisco Systems' CEO coming out saying that the economy is in rough shape, calling the global economy challenging and inconsistent. It's certainly not something you want to hear from this kind of global company with such a massive customer base.

Also, Cisco announcing its laying off 4,000 people. So, it's not just Cisco, Wal-Mart also coming out today Not just cutting its earnings' outlook but its sales' outlook citing the same thing, a challenging economy.

So, you roll this all together, it doesn't paint a great picture. We've got an economy, yes, that's growing. It's just not growing fast enough. We've got an economy that's adding jobs, just not adding enough jobs. So, that's what's spooking companies and investors today as we see all 30 stocks in the Dow in the red -- Pamela.

BROWN: Yes, it seems like we're getting some mixed signals here, Alison. How worried do you think we should be about this?

KOSIK: Well, keep in mind, one day does not make a trend. You know, also, August is notoriously very weak for stocks. Although look at the economy, there is improvement. You look at the housing market, it's getting better. We also got a jobless claims number today that showed that the number of initial jobless claims last week actually fell to 320,000 which is the lowest level in six years. So, we are getting some bits of information showing that the economy is improving. It's just not improving strong enough, however it's not all gloom and doom either -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

And coming up right here on NEWS ROOM, he leads in the popular polls as the Republican Party's potential presidential nominee, but can he win over the Party? Chris Christie's RNC address up next.

And then, President Obama was hunkered down in the situation room during the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, but he did find ways to relax like playing cards. His former aid shares details. It's up next.

And, well, maybe you can't put a price on the joy a child brings but we can tell you what it costs to raise a child, almost a quarter of a million dollars. And get this, that's before college.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, those stories and more when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, the Republicans have rolled into Kennedy country. Deep blue Boston is a bold location for the summer meeting of the Republican National Committee but there they are. GOP leaders of today and tomorrow holding town hall meetings, and today hosting what many call the party rock star from New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie, who hasn't exactly been the favorite among many conservatives in the Party these days.

So, let's get right to Candy Crowley here. She is, of course, our chief political correspondent. Hi, Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: How are you?

BROWN: So, as mentioned, Boston is crawling with Republicans today. Chris Christie spoke at a luncheon earlier. We don't have that speech just yet because it was closed to the media. But he has been making waves in the Party lately. How much love do you think he's feeling in the Party these days? Is he still the rock star?

CROWLEY: He's still a rock star. They're -- a lot has been made about Chris Christie running crosswise with Rand Paul or with Ted Cruise or with the conservatives, his embrace of the president -- not physical embrace but his embrace with the president when Hurricane Sandy came right before the Romney election, et cetera, et cetera.

But here's the truth. A lot of people didn't think that Mitt Romney had a chance to become the Republican nominee. And one of the main reasons he became the Republican nominee is the word electability. When Republicans looked around, they said, who can beat president Obama? Who has the best shot? And by and large, it came out that their answer was Mitt Romney.

So, in the end, there's a lot of back and forth between parties because happens with the Democratic Party when they don't have someone in the White House, now happening in the Republican Party. Should we go right? Should we go left? Should we go down the middle? This guy says one thing. This guy says the other. In the end, when it gets down to the primaries, they will have that debate again.

But also coming into that debate is what is always the overarching thought of many Republican voters and Democratic voters, who has the best chance of winning?

So, as long as Chris Christie shows kind of that national popularity, he's got swing with moderates, there are Democrats who vote for him. He's trying to rack up a very big margin of victory when he runs for New Jersey governor. New Jersey, of course, not exactly a Republican- friendly state. So, if he can rack up a big margin of victory there, that goes a long way towards putting out that electability signal.

BROWN: Has he signaled what his message is going to be?

Is he going to appeal to mainstream Republicans?

Do we get a sense yet?

CROWLEY: Yes. I think it would be difficult to predict, A, if Chris Christie's going to do it. I think there are lots of signs that he wants to run for president, but right now his entire focus really has been on the New Jersey governor's race.

He's going to win, he'd like to win by a really big, impressive margin, so that we talk about it a lot, and likely will.

So certainly Chris Christie has never backed away from a, quote, "moderate" position about anything, but he is the governor of New Jersey, and that is not a super Republican place. It is much -- leans much more Democratic.

So he is of necessity, as many politicians are, Republicans are in the Northeast, more moderate than say a Republican from the South. But these things have a way of working themselves out during the primary season.

BROWN: Absolutely.

Before we let you go, Candy, I want to get to this new TV ad that's out today. It's from a pro-Obama group promoting ObamaCare. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Liam was about 5 or 6 months old, we got a renewal notice, the premiums were going to go up by about $110 a month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to have the insurance. We weren't going to roll the dice.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: So, Candy, from the folks you've been talking with, what's the reaction to this new ad?

CROWLEY: Well, listen, this is not a subject that is ever very far from the Republican agenda. It's a subject that you're going to see being discussed next year.

Right now what that ad is trying to do and what Democrat are trying to do is bring people into the interest zone, saying this is going to be good for you, you can get subsidies, you can get money back. That's what this ad was about when they said that one of the provisions of ObamaCare is that only a certain percentage of your income has to go to health care.

And so they got a refund from their insurance company. The president touted this earlier. So they're trying to put all the positive things about ObamaCare out there.

And on the Republican side and the critics of ObamaCare are saying, wait a second. They've delayed the business end of this for businesses for a year. There are other things they're delaying.

So this is a fight, again, that's going to go out over the air waves. This is just 2014, and the mid-term elections beginning early.

BROWN: Yes, not going to let up any time soon. It's interesting just, reading about it, also shows they're trying to appeal to mothers and to young people so that they buy the health insurance.

All right, thank you so much.

CROWLEY: It's very funny because it talked about how they're going to do this on Bravo and Lifetime where mothers tend to watch, it's a big audience for them.

BROWN: Exactly.

CROWLEY: And they have some sort of big sway over their 20- somethings.

I'm thinking, really?

BROWN: Yes, exactly. Anyone that has a child around that age is like, no, I don't think so.

CROWLEY: Yes, I don't think so, either, but hey.

BROWN: All right. Candy Crowley, thank you.

And remember to watch Candy Sunday morning at 9:00 am Eastern time with "STATE OF THE UNION."

Candy, thank you so much.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

BROWN: Well, President Obama spent part of one of the biggest days of his presidency playing cards.

Remember this day, how could we forget it? May of 2011, the day a Navy SEALs team was raiding Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan. A man who knows the president like few others do told an interviewer distracted himself from the stress of that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGGIE LOVE, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL AIDE: I spent the entire day at the White House. And for probably, you know, typically like the weekends he's like -- he'll work like a half-day.

And this Sunday, I mean, we worked the -- I mean we were there until almost -- I think he went on TV at midnight. And -- almost midnight -- and sat around in the private dining room kind of like -- most people were down in the Situation Room, but he's like I'm not -- I can't -- not going to be down here; I can't watch this entire thing.

So he, myself, Pete, Susan, the White House photographer, Marvin, we played -- we must have played 15 games of Spades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Reggie Love was President Obama's personal aide and almost constant companion from his election throughout his first term.

Well, before you drink that next cup of coffee, you may want to consider the possible side effects. Here we go again with yet another study. But if you drink a lot of coffee, you're not going to want to miss this next story. We're going to tell you about it right after this break. Stay with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, we've heard lots of studies through the years on coffee, both the benefits and the risks. Now a new study finds drinking too much coffee could be bad for you. Elizabeth Cohen joins us now to talk a little bit more about this.

All right, Elizabeth, I've already had just about four cups of coffee today, does that mean I'm doomed, according to this study?

ELIZABETH COHEN, SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, you've hit the magic number.

(LAUGHTER)

COHEN: This study says that if you drink four or more cups of coffee a day that your death rate goes up by about 50 percent, if you're looking at people under the age of 55.

So they're saying, yes, it does seem to be associated with an early death. But they also say we don't necessarily know that it's the coffee. Maybe people who drink as much coffee as you do, Pamela, have other issues, too. Obviously this isn't your issue, but maybe people who drink a lot of coffee also eat a lot or eat the wrong things. But it's also a possibility that it's the coffee. So this certainly gives you pause. Maybe you should stop at that fourth cup.

BROWN: Yes, maybe, or the third cup. Or maybe the second cup.

So why is it have to do with age? Do we know -- it's under 55, right?

Why is it that it's worse for people under that age range?

COHEN: It is interesting. It looks like it didn't increase the death rate quite as much for people who were over 55. And that's why the author of this study says, look, if you're under 55, you might want to think about drinking less than four cups of coffee a day. We're not talking the big old ventis, Pamela; we're talking eight ounce cups of coffee.

But you can also look at it this way, say, look, this is one study. And other studies have found that coffee is actually good for you.

So should we listen to this one study? It's really kind of up to each of us as individuals what study we're going to listen to, but the advice from this study isn't all that hard to do. It's just saying keep your intake to less than four.

BROWN: Yes. Because, you know, we hear all these conflicting studies. It seems like every other day there's a new study out about this, but of course it all goes back to moderation. And you make a good point; the cup does not mean the venti at Starbucks.

COHEN: Right. Exactly. In this study it was eight ounces of coffee a day; when you drink four of those a day, the death rate started going up. And this was a big study. This was more than 44,000 people. So, you know, you can't ignore it, but it's also probably not the last word on coffee.

BROWN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

BROWN: Well, today, Michael Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, returns to the witness stand in the wrongful death trial of the late singer's promoter. Yesterday she testified about Jackson's drug use, saying doctors tried to outbid each other on who could give Jackson, quote, "better painkillers."

Rowe said two German doctors treated Jackson's insomnia with the anesthetic Propofol for 12 years before he died from a Propofol overdose. The Jackson family is suing AEG Live, claiming the company negligently hired the doctor who administered that deadly overdose.

Well, first, she was held hostage. And then she finds out a man considered a family friend killed her mother and her brother. And now she knows he also tortured them. We're going to talk about the survivor guilt Hannah Anderson could be feeling up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Sporadic fighting erupted across Egypt today following the violence and bloodshed there yesterday.

A state of emergency is still in effect there. The government says it will stay in place for a month. The Egyptian health ministry now says at least 525 people were killed in the violence yesterday. And more than 3,700 were wounded. And those numbers could still rise.

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood displayed at least 100 bodies wrapped in blood-stained sheets, as we see right here. They say those bodies have not yet been counted by authorities. President Obama today condemned the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me say that the Egyptian people deserve better than what we've seen over the last several days. And to the Egyptian people, let me say the cycle of violence and escalation needs to stop. We call on the Egyptian authorities to respect the universal rights of the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The president canceled joint military operations with Egypt next month.