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American Morning
Bus Attack in Israel; Scandal Rocks University Of Miami; Chavez To Nationalize Gold Industry; The New Greatest Generation; Bitter Pill; Foursquare, New Social Network
Aired August 18, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans.
Could the global economy be getting too close to recession? That's the warning this morning from Morgan Stanley. It's driving the world's market and U.S. stock futures down sharply.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Bombshell allegations against the University of Miami athletic program.
Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello.
A former booster claims he spent millions of dollars on gifts for athletes -- I'm talking meals and jewelry and even prostitutes.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: David Letterman targeted by terrorists.
I'm Ali Velshi.
Why one jihadist Web site wants him dead -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: Good morning, everyone. It's Thursday, August 18th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
VELSHI: It's become a very, very busy morning. We're watching the financial markets and we're watching things developing on the other side of the world.
COSTELLO: That's right. We do have this bit of breaking news to tell you about out of Israel. Six people are reportedly dead after a string of violent attacks. More than two dozen more hurt.
It began with a bus shooting in a city of Eilat, which is close to the Egyptian border. The attackers then launched an assault on Israeli soldiers. There are also reports of a roadside bombing targeting a second bus.
VELSHI: And we are on that story. We got people on the ground there, trying to get as much information as we can get.
The U.S. and other world leaders are ready to deliver a unified message to Syrian President Bashar al Assad, saying it is the time to go. The move is expected as early as study. The international community has condemned Assad's brutal attack on Syrian protesters who have been demanding his removal.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to make a statement later this morning. CNN will, of course, carry it live.
And later on this hour, we'll be talking to a former U.S. ambassador to the Middle East to get some sense of whether or not this kind of move will have an impact on al Assad or the protesters taking the brunt of his wrath.
ROMANS: Because the world has been calling for him to stop the bloodshed for months now.
VELSHI: Right. But that hasn't moved him a bit.
ROMANS: Right.
All right. New fears this morning turning a global sell-off in the stock markets, putting investors here on the U.S. on edge. Morgan Stanley with a note this morning warning that the global economy is, quote, "dangerously close to a recession."
The bank is slashing its global growth forecasts. The whole world will grow much more slowly than it thought and it's blaming the usual suspects, including the slower response to Europe to their debt crisis and what it calls policy errors here in the United States, including the debt ceiling drama, as it said, which is fueling low consumer and business confidence.
VELSHI: And do you want to break the news to Rick Perry about what else they said?
ROMANS: They also said they expect global central banks like the Fed to have to keep interest rates very, very low and maybe do more and new things to try to keep the oxygen flowing in the world.
VELSHI: More and new possibly treasonous things.
COSTELLO: Oh, geez! We are going to talk about that a little bit later.
Let's talk about the stock market because all of that stock news has futures down here in the United States, down sharply. Dow futures are off more than 100 points, the NASDAQ and S&P futures are also lower this morning.
VELSHI: Less than two weeks after downgrading America's AAA credit rating, Standard & Poor's is reportedly the target of a Justice Department investigation. Now, this is according to reporting in "The New York Times." The feds want to know if the credit agency knowingly fudged the rating on bundled mortgages during the height of the housing bubble.
Those products, in many case, tanked the value as the housing market headed south. So, the investigation reportedly began well before the nation's credit rating was downgraded. CNN contacted the Justice Department but they have not responded. We've also got calls out to the S&P.
ROMANS: That's right.
Vice President Joe Biden is trying to convince this country's biggest foreign lender, China, that the U.S. is still good investment, despite, of course, our debt crisis, economic troubles, political disunity, et cetera, et cetera.
Right now, he is in Beijing meeting with that country's vice president, Xi Jinping. This is the man considered to be the likely successor for Chinese President Hu Jintao. The talks are expected to last for about five days.
And it won't be just economics and politics. They're also will be talking about arm sales to Taiwan, which is very high on China's list of reasons why they get a little ticked off at the U.S.
COSTELLO: We'll keep you posted on that.
His bags are packed, but before President Obama goes on vacation, he will meet with his economic team to discuss -- what else -- jobs.
The White House will have a tough time putting a positive spin on the latest Gallup poll, however. Just 26 percent of Americans approve of the way the president is handling the economy. That would be a new low.
Mr. Obama just completed a three-day bus tour through the Midwest. He says he will unveil his new plan for jobs and economic growth after Labor Day.
VELSHI: Well, no rest for the Republican presidential candidates. This morning, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is back in South Carolina for two rallies. Congressman Ron Paul is in New Hampshire visiting leaders in Concord. And Texas Governor Rick Perry is also in New Hampshire, meeting and greeting folks in Portsmouth and Dover. Of course, it's New Hampshire, so you can't call it Concord. It's Concord.
ROMANS: There you go.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, by the way, making a bold campaign promise on the stump. She told a crowd Tuesday that if she is elected president, President Bachmann, you will see the price of gas which is about $3.60, you'll see it drop by more than a buck 50.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again. That will happen!
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Well, we'll see how that works out.
But we want to get back to our breaking news, the breaking news out of Israel.
Attackers went after a bus, assaulted an Israel military force and even targeted another vehicle in the city of Eilat. That's near the Egyptian border in the southern part of Israel.
At least five people critically wounded.
Jerusalem bureau chief Kevin Flower joins us live now from Jerusalem.
Give us an update who might be responsible for this.
KEVIN FLOWER, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, at this point, the Israeli government is laying blame for incident on Gaza, on militants from the Gaza Strip. The defense minister here, Ehud Barak, released a statement which he said the origins of this attack came from the Gaza Strip while at the same breath holding Egypt responsible for allowing terrorist elements to expand in the Sinai Peninsula.
So, connecting the dots from the statement, it would suggest the Israeli government believes some militants crossed from the Gaza Strip into Egypt, into the Sinai Peninsula and then crossed back into southern Israel to carry out these attacks.
And this is a quickly developing story. Let me just update you on some of the facts here. What we know at this point is that five people -- at least five people have been killed in that attack. Over two dozen have been injured.
And what the Israel military is saying happened is that it was actually four different attacks carried out by multiple terrorist attackers, they say.
The first one was an attack on a bus, this happened slightly after noon. The second attack was roadside bomb that targeted a military vehicle that was responding to the site of that first attack. And then there were mortars fired across the border from Egypt into southern Israel. And then finally, there was a firing of an anti-tank missile on a vehicle in southern Israel.
So, this is a very complicated widespread attack. The details of it are still emerging at this point. But, clearly, Israel policymakers and security officials are greatly worried about what this means for the future.
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VELSHI: I'm sorry, Carol.
COSTELLO: I'm sorry. I just wanted to update. We are getting information from all over the place, Kevin. CNN has now confirmed six are now dead. I just wanted to ask you, is it unusual in this particular part of Israel for these types of attacks to happen? FLOWER: It's not unusual. Just in April of this year, there was an attack against a bus, a similar bus, a public bus, a school bus, in fact. That was an attack by an anti-tank missile fired from the Gaza Strip.
Now, that didn't involve as many injuries and as many dead as this attack here. So, it is not unheard of. But for the fast few years -- I mean, by and large, it has been quiet in southern Israel. You know, for the past four to five years, there have been not been the same number of attacks in Israel that we saw earlier at the beginning of the decade 2000, 2001, the first couple of years.
So, this is really going to have people worried that there is some sort of return to some sort of lawlessness -- not lawlessness but concern primarily about the southern border of Egypt and lawlessness in the Sinai peninsula basically allowing for elements to cross the Israeli/Egyptian border and that's where all the questions that are coming for Egypt and for the Palestinian government as well.
COSTELLO: I also wonder, Hosni Mubarak is no longer the leader of Egypt. Would this have anything to do with this renewed violence in this particular part of Israel?
FLOWER: It's really -- it's really hard to speculate at this point. I mean, what we do know about what is going on in Egypt at this point is just this past week, the Egyptian military sent in additional forces to carry out operations against what it called al Qaeda elements. Now, this is a very -- a stunning development really in a lot of ways, because basically what we have seen in the Sinai Peninsula is a breakdown of law and order there since the Mubarak regime fell.
And basically what has had to happen is the Israel government essentially had to give permission to the Egyptian government to send in those additional troops because of the peace treaty that governs the Sinai Peninsula.
So, the Egyptian and Israelis to a certain extent have been working together to try and combat some of this activity in the Sinai Peninsula, but it's clearly still going to be a source of concern going forward. And it's noticeable that the defense minister pointed the finger directly at Egypt in his statement.
VELSHI: Kevin, when we talked last, you said that there were some reporting that there was a gunfight underway, that there might have been another attack. What are we looking at? Are we looking at two attacks or three attacks and then we got confirmation that that is over now?
FLOWER: Well, we don't. It's really still developing. And I can -- we have sort of gone over the facts.
Here are some of the different reports out there. We know from the Israeli military spokesman that there were at least four different attacks. What we don't know is how many attackers were involved in this. The Israeli military is suggesting that it was multiple attackers, more than one team.
And based on the information they are giving us, this would seem to be the case, because these were attacks that were happening within a close proximity of each other, but it roughly at the same time.
It also -- this is a fairly sew fest indicated attack using anti-tank weapons and improvised explosive device within Israeli territory. This could -- this is not likely the work of one or two people, it is likely that a number of people were involved in this.
And this is an area in southern Israel, this is within its territory that is patrolled by the Israel military.
So, it is a very, very serious attack and Israel is going to be quite concerned about it.
ROMANS: All right. Kevin Flower for us in Jerusalem -- thanks so much, Kevin.
Late night talk show host David letterman, by the way, being targeted by terrorist -- an assassination threat posted on a jihadist Web site, calling for Letterman's tongue to be cut out and his mouth shut forever. This after the funny man cracked a joke about an al Qaeda leader's death. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, TV HOST: So, anyway, they picked a successor to Osama bin Laden and his name was Elias Kashmiri (ph). Well, guess what? He was blown up by an American drone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The FBI is looking into that threat but no comment from Letterman's camp this morning.
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back at one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: are Rick Perry's treason accusations against the Fed out of line? I know, the whole thing has been dragging on for days now and it won't die because Perry's critic won't let it die and neither will he. (INAUDIBLE) ain't backing down.
He said it would be treasonous for Fed chair Ben Bernanke to continue printing money to play politics. And yesterday, he upped the ante.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They should open their books up. Until they do that, I think there will continue to be questions about their activity and what their true goal is for the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Critics are appalled and that includes some Republicans. A former Bush White House spokesman tweeted Perry's remarks are inappropriate and unpresidential, although Perry has his supporters, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS ANALYST: The fundamental point he makes is totally true, actually! We are devaluing the currency. It's happening because of the Fed's policies and it is benefiting in a short-term way, I think, the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Still, treason? As defined in Article III of the Constitution? If you don't have your Constitution handy, this is what it says. "Levying war against them or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." You know? Like in Benedict Arnold who betrayed America during the Revolutionary War.
That Ben Bernanke, the man running the Federal Reserve which is the essentially bank for the United States, conspiring against his own country?
So, the talkback question today: are Rick Perry's treason accusation is against the Fed out of line? Tell us what you think on Facebook -- Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. Facebook.com/AmericanMorning.
We'll read your comments later this hour.
VELSHI: Tucker Carlson said he thinks his policies might be benefiting the White House. Recent polls don't indicate anything benefiting the White House for that.
ROMANS: Touche!
VELSHI: If that's benefitting, I wonder what the White House will be doing that help from the Fed.
All right. Still ahead, the digital battleground, Foursquare, all the cool kids are doing it. By the way, and even the cool politicians are doing. Now, President Obama has signed on. Why should politicians or for that matter why should you be using Foursquare. And, by the way, if you don't have any idea what Foursquare is, that's OK, too.
We're going to tell you when we come back.
ROMANS: We're going to make you hip in a minute.
And Miami could take a major NCAA hit. A former booster claims he spent millions of dollars on gifts for athletes including jewelry, parties, prostitutes.
It's 15 minutes after the hour.
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COSTELLO: Stunning allegations with the University of Miami. Jailed businessman, an ex-Booster, Nevin Shapiro, claims he spent millions and millions of dollars on the student athletes over an eight-year period. He gave them things like expensive jewelry and meals. He even bought them prostitutes, and he claims several coaches knew all about it.
ROMANS: OK. He is serving a 20-year sentence right now for fraud on Ponzi scheme case unrelated to this. David Mattingly has this report for us.
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DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former University of Miami Booster, Nevin Shapiro, had a lot of access to players over the years here at the University of Miami, and he says from 2002 until 2010, he broke a whole host of NCAA rules involving what sort of gifts and services you can provide to these players. He says over those years, he was involved with 72 student athletes here, most of them football players, and this involving, he says, about a dozen current players.
He says he bought them gifts ranging from jewelry, watches, to clothes. He's paid for lavish trips to his yacht, also to nights out on the town at clubs. he says he took players to strip clubs. He also says he arranged prostitutes for Miami players, as well as, arranging sex parties for some of these players, and on one occasion, Shapiro says, that he paid for an abortion for a stripper who claims that she got pregnant by one of the University of Miami players.
Of course, this very serious with this program. The NCAA says they've been looking into this for months already, and if the allegations prove to be true, then the NCAA says it could have impacts on programs all across the country in the way they deal with Boosters like Shapiro. But for right now, all eyes on the University of Miami and the future of their program in the wake of these allegations.
David Mattingly, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. David is going to update us as soon as he gets more information on that.
"Minding Your Business" is next. We're watching a stock sell-off going on in Europe right now. We're going to tell you how it's going to affect your portfolio this morning. It's 20 minutes after the hour.
ROMANS: Gold is at a record high.
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ROMANS: It's 23 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Dow futures are down more than 200 points right now on the run-up to today's open a little more than an hour. That as European markets stumble. Morgan Stanley put out a note, an analyst note that warns of the possibility of a global recession and that has investors moving their money out of stocks and into gold. The precious metal hit a new record high, right now, topping $1,800 an ounce.
Hugo Chavez is getting in on the gold rush. Venezuela's president saying he's planning to take control of the country's gold industry. A move that allows him to crack down on illegal mining and move the country's existing gold reserves out of foreign banks and into Venezuelan vault. One critic describes the reserve relocation as the, quote, "looting of the nation's savings."
The record drought in Texas choking the agricultural industry. It's already cost farmers $5.2 billion. Economists at Texas A&M say without rain to help winter wheat, it's only going to get worse.
Up next, move over Facebook and Twitter. Why every politician should be using Four Square, and should you? AMERICAN MORNING is back right after the break.
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VELSHI: All right. The social network that is suddenly everywhere. Ten million users and counting. It's called Foursquare. President Obama just checked in to check it out, and if you're sitting at home wondering what it is, what it can do for you, I got some answers for you. Foursquare is, essentially, a location-based service that lets you friends know where you are and helps you figure out where your friends are.
How's it work? Well, first, you need a smart phone of some sort with the foursquare app. It's available on just about every device and platform from an iPhone to a Blackberry. Then, when you're at a location, you check in. there's nothing involve at this. You just tap the check in button at the bottom of the screen. Bam. Your friends know where you are.
It's raised some red flags, obviously, when it comes to privacy, because based on your settings, folks who don't know you could find out where you're hanging out. And if you're wondering what the service can do for you, well, if you check into a location, for instance, more than anyone else does, you can get rewarded from that business just for being a loyal customer. You can also get reviews of places and suggestions of things to do when you're in a certain area.
You can get a sense of what your friends like. Joining me to talk more about Foursquare and what it can do for politician or for you is Dennis Crowley. He's the co-founder and CEO of Foursquare. Dennis, welcome. Did I do a relatively good job or OK job or was that not?
DENNIS CROWLEY, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, FOURSQUARE: I think you did a better job than I do sometimes.
VELSHI: OK. What did I miss? What's the thing that I missed about Foursquare and why my viewers should care?
CROWLEY: Yes. I think what's really interesting is we're helping people discover the world in new ways. So, when people check in, of course, they let their friends know about where they are, but people are using it to help discover new business, new parks, new interesting things that are happening in their neighborhood.
VELSHI: Based on where you are and based on friend recommendations or is it more just locality?
CROWLEY: It's a little bit of like what your friends have been doing, and there's a lot what's going on in the ecosystem.
VELSHI: Got it.
CROWLEY: So, in the same way that Amazon and Netflix to recommend e- books and movies.
VELSHI: Yes.
CROWLEY: We can do the same type of stuff or places and experiences.
VELSHI: Right. So, I love that part of Netflix and Amazon.
CROWLEY: Yes.
VELSHI: That it tells me -- it's not finally tuned. I mean, it often gives me recommendations that don't make sense, but it gives me a lot that do, and as a consumer, I don't mind that. I don't mind people knowing my habits so that they can inform me better on purchases.
CROWLEY: Sure.
VELSHI: Is this mostly about businesses, Foursquare?
CROWLEY: It's a lot about users sharing their locations with their friends. I'm at this coffee shop. I just found this great restaurant. I just landed at this airport. We should meet up some time.
VELSHI: Got it.
CROWLEY: You know, a lot of the great stuff -- you know, we talk about like using technology to facilitate serendipity, to help people find places that they normally wouldn't discover, help them find a restaurant or a park that's like really interesting to them.
VELSHI: Inherently, obviously, you think about this in a different way. You're of an age of founders in the digital space. This thing started up -- I guess it was first introduced at south -- by southwest. So, in your mind, privacy concerns are probably not the first thing. You think of the digital world and location based services as access and discovery. How do you tackle the privacy side?
CROWLEY: We think about privacy but allowing people to share with their friends. I think you know one of the things that you the spec in the Foursquare in every time you check in, of course we let you know we ask you who you want to share with.
You want to share with you foursquare friends? Do you want to send it to twitter? Do you want to send it to facebook?
So, we give you all those the controls so people are rarely sharing their location without realizing but we found a lot of users like to send their check in to facebook or twitter, it's because you know it allows them to share those moments with more people.
VELSHI: Do the places you check into, the restaurant, the bar, the airport, do they register or does foursquare know who they are if I keep going to the same bar but it's not - will foursquare known where it is?
CROWLEY: Yes. Sure. I mean a lot of the places in foursquare are added by users. So if a new restaurant opens around the corner from here, chances are it's in foursquare in a couple of days because -
VELSHI: So, if I keep going to a place and checking in, I become like the governor or the senator?
CROWLEY: The mayor. The mayor of the place. One of the most interesting things I think we are doing is helping merchants connect with their best customers whether someone been there more than anyone else or whether someone that comes in a couple times a week. We can give tools to merchants to let them identify who their new customers and best customers are.
VELSHI: Real quick, why is this useful to the president? Why is he involved in this?
CROWLEY: What we are starting to see is like, this Foursquare is useful for sharing location with different friends and user sharing that with other folks. We are seeing it for politicians as well.
So, we have seen folks check in from the campaign trail and sharing information about different things they have accomplished in different cities and leaving the accomplishments behind for people who might follow you know Obama or other politicians on foursquare. And so if you get information about some of the things they have been doing.
VELSHI: You do have to have your location based whatever activated on your device to this for work.
CROWLEY: yes. A lot of this is based off in GPS. So, you know the check-ins you know when you open up foursquare we show you information about things particularly around you.
VELSHI: Dennis, great conversation, great explanation, thanks.
CROWLEY: Yes. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.
VELSHI: All right, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST: We are following several breaking news story this morning including a deadly attack on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. It happened in the city of Gardez earlier this morning. Officials say a truck bomber ripped through the main security gate at the U.S. base killing two Afghan guards, nine others hurt. Taliban taking credit for this attack.
The Obama administration may be ready to make a clear call for Syrian President al-Assad to step down. U.S. officials say the move is closely coordinated with the European, Turkish and Arab alley and could happen as early as today.
Assad insists his military crackdown on protesters has ended but new evidence against civilians overnight in Syria. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton is expected to make an announcement later this morning. CNN of course will carry that live.
We are also following breaking news out of Israel. The Israeli defense minister now speaking out about a string of deadly attacks this morning saying the origin of the terror strikes is in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. Alleged six people reportedly dead. More than two dozen others hurt.
Attackers opened fire on a bus near the City of Eilat and launched an assault on Israeli soldiers. There are even reports of a roadside bombing targeting a second bus.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: Let's bring in former Middle East Presidential Adviser and former ambassador Marc Ginsburg. He is live in Washington for a little perspective in all the violence. We want start in Israel before we move on what is happening to Syria.
Welcome to the program ambassador.
MARC GINSBURG, FORMER MIDDLE EAST PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER AND FORMER AMBASSADOR: Good morning.
ROMANS: First, this is a situation that is still unfolding we will tell you in this southern part of Israel right now. Give us your thoughts on this attack. It comes at a time when there been an Egyptian military activity in the Sinai trying to route out Al Qaeda. People thought to be elements of Al Qaeda there.
GINSBURG: Indeed. In fact, I'm so much surprised by the report. I thought perhaps this was better when tribesmen who have been rebelling both against Israeli and Egyptian forces and why the Egyptians have poured many more military into the Sinai in recent days, they have been attacks on gas lines and on Israelis.
But if this originates from the Gaza Strip, this is a major development. The Israelis more or less know that they better when have been causing problems for them. The fact that Hamas forces or other terrorist forces from Gaza went hundreds of kilometers to the city of Eilat to attack Israeli soldiers that will cause a great deal of alarm in Israel.
ROMANS: And until unfold, so we don't really know exactly who the elements are behind it. The Israelis are saying they are terrorists, that's what they are using but we are still -
COSTELLO: I think they did come forward. I don't know. Maybe our producers can check on this. The attacks were coming from Gaza. ROMANS: Yes.
GINSBURG: Well, that indeed, as I said, it would be a significant escalation of perhaps Hamas orchestrated attacks, particularly on the eve of a vote in the general assembly that would grant some sort of recognition to the Palestinians. I think the Palestinian authority was hoping to keep things quiet. This raises very interesting questions and gives further pretext to the Israelis to say this is why they don't deserve that recognition.
VELSHI: But Marc, this is interesting because this what happened we saw a hard line several months ago, particularly when Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United States and then we saw a softening of the line a few weeks ago in the hopes that they could trade off against the Palestinians looking for official recognition by the United Nations.
We are weeks away from that now. Pull back to 50,000 feet and tell me where things like stand with respect to Israel and Palestine.
GINSBURG: Ironically Ali, what is happening the Palestinians are basically defied calls by the United States and the other members of the United Nations and Middle East quartet to proceed with an effort to get that vote in the general assembly in mid September.
And the Israelis ironically just announced they will increase construction, housing construction in the West Bank as a result. So they seem to be even further apart than they were before.
COSTELLO: Let's switch gears and talk about Syria. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton is expected to make an announcement and we expect her to say hey, President Assad, it is time for you to step down. Do you think that will make a difference? Will he do that? What would get him to step down?
GINSBURG: Well, I think that is too little, too late, frankly, and I think the administration's policy towards Syria is, I guess, terribly even called tepid and I would say that at this point in time, they have been leading from behind on Syria.
Whatever the administration says orally will be irrelevant to Assad. I think what is more important is what the Turkish government is going to do. The Turks have basically signaled they will give Assad from about several days ago, two weeks to stop this clamp-down or else the Turks are going to start supporting the opposition forces and make life far more miserable for the Syrian regime in which they have invested so much on. And more or less, the Obama administration has piggybacked on to irk turkey's diplomacy and more or less, been prepared to throw lifelines to Assad, this latest one being what the Turks have been prepared to do.
COSTELLO: Ambassador Ginsburg, thank you for joining us. And again, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to speak at around 10:00 a.m.
VELSHI: And now, we do know now she is speaking about Syria. We will cover that live on CNN.
ROMANS: What is waiting at home for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? We know it's a rough economy but is all bad news? It doesn't have to be.
These soldiers are in fact to force to be recognized and reckoned with, how they are changing your workplace and your politics next. Its 38 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: More often than not we hear the dark side of life after war. The height of unemployment rate, high suicide rate. We don't hear enough good news but Joe Klein writes this TIME magazine, this new generation of veterans is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in full trading companies, politics, and non-profits bringing a sharper skill set than veterans of past wars.
Joe joins us along with Paul Reikoff, the executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of America, That's a non- profit, non-partisan organization. Gentlemen, welcome to the program. Really nice to see you.
Joe, the piece so eloquently lays out just how these soldiers are different. They are fast, they are nimble, they know technology. They should be something that every company and every organization wants simply for these skills they are learning on the battlefield.
JOE KLEIN, COLUMNIST, TIME MAGAZINE: Well, yes. I spent a lot of time embedded overseas the last five or six years in Iraq and Afghanistan. And what I saw there on the ground was not the typical sense that civilians have of the military which is yes or no sir, we will take that hill, sir.
People who have to be essentially the government of small towns in Iraq and Afghanistan who have to be entrepreneurial and creative. As General Petraeus says, they never know whether they will get a handshake or a hand grenade. They have to do this with tremendous pressure and a little bit incomplete information.
And those are leadership skills. Plus, the rigor and discipline that comes from being part of the military. Those are things we really need in this society now.
ROMANS: Are more leaders in per capita into these wars that say going back to Vietnam, going back to World War II and World War I?
KLEIN: Well, I think that the skill set is different and it's the skill set that produces leaders. I mean World War I was fought by battalions, you know hundreds and hundreds of troops you know moving into the front. Word War II is mostly companies, 200 or 300 people at a time. Vietnam was a platoon war, 30 people.
This is you know fire teams, individuals having to make connections with local leadership. Having to figure out how to spend their emergency response funds. You know we are going to clean out the irrigation ditch or we are going reopen the school? And they have to be politicians.
ROMANS: Wow. It's fascinating. Paul, I want to ask you. The president recently sort of said I'm paraphrasing that just think how many of these veterans have led their comrades on life or death missions and they are in their 25 years old. It's a kind of responsibility and experienced that really any business in America would like to take advantage of but you look at the unemployment rates, I mean, it's just not right and it's not fair. I mean it's a quarter of all soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who are around 20, to 24 years old are unemployed. How do you translate those skills in an era of budget cutting I shall say make sure they get hired?
PAUL REIKOFF, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: Well, that what we are doing right now, is trying to help the civilian population, understand the skill set these folks bring. This "Time" magazine covers the story. This is going to will re-brand our generation forever.
And it's going to show people, we are not just charity, we are an investment.
ROMANS: Well, show the cover again because you can see what these folks look like. You know I mean, there's nurses, there's business managers, right.
REIKOFF: These are small business leaders and entrepreneurs and folks who have led overseas and want to come home and lead again. So, they are dynamic. They are tough. They are going to be on time. They are disciplined. They have great values and there really is a tremendous can do spirit and entrepreneurial nature that for me is this entire generation.
ROMANS: We are finding it in disaster relief as well as you are finding the skills working very well into disaster relief. But Joe, part of the problem is one of the areas that many should people come from are the construction industry, some of the areas have actually been hit pretty hard by the economy. That is part of the problem.
KLEIN: But they are across the spectrum. I mean you have people -- I mean, Paul went to Amherst College. You have people who are at the top of their class at West Point who are Rhode scholars.
We have one of the guys I write about was a Harvard valedictorian in 2001. His mother said that he wouldn't -- she wouldn't have been -- she would have been more disappointed only if he had chosen a life of crime than the military and this is a guy who is bringing incredible leadership skills.
They are going to be politicians. There are going to be one or two presidents in this group as well.
ROMANS: And just about everybody knows who is coming out of there, these five-point action plans. Something that -- I mean anybody in an office, should -- any kind of jobs. So tell me about how what they are learning on the field is really boiling it down. KLEIN: Let Rieckhoff tell you.
ROMANS: All right, tell me Rieckhoff.
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL RIECKHOFF, FOUNDER, IAVA: All right, you have a major --
KLEIN: Sergeant-Major eats sugar cookies, right?
RIECKHOFF: Yes, Sergeant-Major eats sugar cookies is one of the ways that you remember the planning. But you learn to analyze your environment, you learn the forward plan, you learn to think about time lines and budgets and personnel and contingency planning. Exactly the type of thinking you have to have in a dynamic environment that changes all the time.
And that's exactly what you need when you come home and do disaster relief in -- in -- in a small community or if you start up a business or you're working in an inner city school.
So that planning, that discipline, that structure and learning how to be a leader at every level whether you are a general or a private is something that's really lacking in the broader society.
And I think there are leaders of all generations, World War II, Vietnam and others. The difference now is we are a much smaller percentage of the population.
ROMANS: Right.
KLEIN: Right.
RIECKHOFF: Less than one half of one percent has served now and World War II was about 12 percent. So these folks are really an elite group of people who have been trained to be leaders and that's embedded in their very ethos. And that's really a tremendous potential for the next a couple of decades.
KLEIN: I have to say, I've been a -- I've been a journalist for 42 years now and the greatest privilege of my career has been going overseas, watching these kids in action and now following them when they get -- get home. They're amazing.
ROMANS: All right. Let's all only hope that our economy can start to heal and that can be an opportunity for everyone, everyone.
RIECKHOFF: Yes.
ROMANS: Including people coming back from the battlefield. Paul Rieckhoff, Joe Klein, the piece is fantastic. Thanks to both of you for joining us.
RIECKHOFF: Thank you very much.
KLEIN: Ok. ROMANS: Morning headlines are next. It's about 47 minutes after the hour.
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ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Just minutes ago, the weekly report on new jobless claims came in. It's a little worse than economists expected; 408,000 applications for first-time unemployment benefits last week, that is up from the previous week.
The markets open in 45 minutes. Right now, U.S. stock futures are down sharply. Dow futures are off now indicating an open that is going to be more than 200 points lower after Morgan Stanley warned the United States and Europe are hovering dangerously close to a recession. We've seen a sudden downturn in markets in the last half hour or so.
A triple terror attack in southern Israel at least six people killed and more two dozen were injured. Officials are not sure who is responsible right now but we are hearing reports that the attackers may have come out of the Gaza Strip.
The Obama Administration may call for the President of Syria to step down today. President Bashar al Assad says violence against protesters are -- is over but CNN is hearing other reports that that's simply not true. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to make a statement later this morning. CNN will carry that statement live.
Terrorist targeting late night host, David Letterman, an assassination threat posted on a jihadist Web site, calling for Letterman's tongue to be cut out and his mouth to be shut forever. This after the funny man cracked a joke about an al Qaeda's leader's death. The FBI is looking into the threat.
That's what you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this break.
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ROMANS: Can we keep looking at the shot of Atlanta and not at the futures for just a second? Fair, 76, partly cloudy and 90 later. Those are numbers by --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes as Carol will -- this is not an inappropriate song for this because you can't really forget Atlanta.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No.
VELSHI: Once it's in you, it stays with you.
COSTELLO: That's right, I love Atlanta. It's such a great time every time I go there.
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Are you holding a grudge against someone? Really? It's only human but then there is this. A new study says that kind of anger and bitterness can literally make you sick.
VELSHI: Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen who doesn't hold any grudges against anyone, probably agrees --
ROMANS: She is a very nice person. She does not hold grudges.
VELSHI: That's right.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, thank you.
VELSHI: I mean people -- this is the kind of thing -- like I remember my mother saying to me and I just thought that's nice but it's something your mother says to you.
ROMANS: Never go to bed mad.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: There you go.
VELSHI: Do you think it's true?
COHEN: Ali, you should listen to your mother.
VELSHI: I should. If I listen to you and your mother, I would be fit, happy, healthy -- all those things.
COSTELLO: Instead of the wreck of a human being he is now.
COHEN: Is your mother on Facebook? I'm going to connect with her and we're going to do an Ali-fication.
VELSHI: Right. An intervention.
ROMANS: Your mother is not on Facebook, is she?
VELSHI: She is actually.
ROMANS: She is?
VELSHI: Yes.
COHEN: Ok, I'm going to look for her as soon as this is over. I'm going to look for her because I will help her get the word out that bitterness doesn't pay. When you are bitter towards someone the person that hurts is yourself even if the person has truly done you wrong, even if your spouse has cheated on you and you have a horrible nasty boss. If you harbor bitterness it ends up hurting you.
And so there's a new book out and they talk about all of the studies that show that bitterness makes your heart rate go up, bitterness makes your blood pressure go up. People who harbor grudges are more likely to die earlier deaths, especially of heart disease.
And it's -- it's -- it may in some ways sort of feel good to sort of think all these bad thoughts about someone but in the end it ends up, well, biting you in the butt.
ROMANS: This is all that mind/body connection stuff then, right, basically?
COHEN: It is. It is, so instinctively we're kind of built to get mad at people when we perceive them as a threat. So you perceive someone as a threat, your blood pressure goes up. There are all of these inflammatory responses in your body and that's because if that person comes after you, you want to be prepared to fight them.
So in some ways, it's a good instinct. It gets you ready for a physical fight if it should come to that which, obviously, hopefully, it wouldn't. But when you have those bodily responses over days and weeks and months and, for some people, years or even decades, it really takes a toll to have that blood pressure up that high for that long, to have that inflammatory response sustained really takes a toll, especially on your heart.
ROMANS: Basically we're all cave men, Carol.
COHEN: And we are, we are.
ROMANS: We're fighting off our imaginary foes.
COHEN: It's true.
COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about the hard part then, how do you lose the bitterness? How do you just forgive and forget and be happy?
COHEN: It's not easy. It's not easy.
So I spoke to a bunch of psychologists and psychiatrists and people who have managed to give up bitterness. And these are the tips that they gave me. They said, first of all, allow yourself to gripe for a period of time to a close friend or to someone in your family. Allow yourself to do that.
And then think about the harm that you're doing yourself. Think about, gee, if I keep this up, I may very well be shortening my life. And also, try compassion; try thinking that person who did me wrong, that may be just the only way they know how to behave. I mean that's -- that's the best that they can do.
And also remember don't be a doormat. As a matter of fact a psychiatrist told me he is like, look. It doesn't mean that you fold. So, for example, if your spouse cheated on you, the best revenge is going to be to pick your life up and get yourself a new and better- looking spouse and your old spouse will come back and want you back and you can say, sorry, too late.
That is ok. That is an ok kind of feeling. But not the harboring of bitterness and running yourself down for years. COSTELLO: That's right. Revenge is good.
VELSHI: I was totally sure that somehow Elizabeth was going to sneak in the idea that I should exercise or one should exercise because she always seems to manage to get that in. Vegetables and --
ROMANS: What about eating right, Carol?
VELSHI: I'm telling you, it always seems to come down to that. You're actually just telling me to be nice. I don't have to eat anything?
COHEN: Since you brought it up, Ali, it is true that if you are harboring a grudge and feeling awful about the world, that going out for a good walk every day and eating well is definitely going to help you feel better. But, Ali, you don't seem like the guy who holds a grudge. So I don't think --
VELSHI: No, I don't really. In fact, I don't. So that is good. That's one less problem I have to deal with in life. Thank you. Elizabeth, always great to talk to you.
COSTELLO: Coming up next, our talkback question of the day. Are Rick Perry's treason accusations against the Fed out of line? We will read some of your responses. Quite interesting and feisty and we like that.
It's 55 minutes past.
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VELSHI: Washington, D.C., good morning to you. 76 degrees and mostly cloudy but you will be getting thunderstorms like we will in New York later on. It's going to get up to 90 degrees today.
COSTELLO: At least we can all share the thunderstorms. That's a nice way to think about it, isn't it?
We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. We asked you this question. Are Rick Perry's treason accusations against the Fed out of line? Here are some of your responses.
This from Larry. He say, "Too much political discourse is crude and inflammatory. Perry can say he disagrees with printing money and then give an alternative solution or he can make a personal attack. The problem is, which statement will get him the most publicity?
Sadly there is not much respect in this country anymore for opposing views. It's my or the highway instead. And as a result we are only seeing extreme solutions that won't work instead of a middle ground that will solve the problems.
And this from Peter. "Perry is absolutely right about the very troubling nature of the Fed's relentless assault on our dollar and any well-read historian knows the most direct and damaging way to bring about a nation's decline is to undermine and devalue its currency. It's about time more candidates besides Ron Paul brought monetary policy to the fore as that is one of the most important and consistently misunderstood problems with our country today.
You're right about it being misunderstood because, frankly, for most of us it's difficult to understand how the Fed works?
VELSHI: Right. And Ron Paul has written five books about it. That is the difference. Ron Paul is very, very well-educated and steep in this. You can agree with him or not agree with him but he knows what he's talking about.
Rick Perry has not suggested in the last few days that he understands this. I don't know that he doesn't, I'm sure he does, but he has not conveyed that he does.
ROMANS: It doesn't matter. Michele Bachmann won the straw poll and everybody is talking about Rick Perry. You know. There you are.
COSTELLO: We'll see what happens in the Iowa caucuses, right?
ROMANS: All right. That's going to wrap it for us. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now.
