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CNN Saturday Morning News
NATO Helicopter Crash Claims 38 Lives; GOP Hopefuls React to S&P Downgrading U.S.; Estimates of 30,000 Children Dead Due to Somalia's Famine; Purchasing the Right Tools For College; The Faces Behind July's Jobs Report; Don't Panic When Market Drops
Aired August 06, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Sanjay. Well, thanks so much. We're going to be rooting for the team. We're also going to be rooting for you. This is a really important story and we're lucky that we're going to be able to see it through your eyes. Take care out there.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Deb. Thanks, appreciate it.
FEYERICK: All right.
From CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is August 6th. Good morning. I'm Deborah Feyerick in for T.J. Holmes.
Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. credit rating by one notch from a perfect AAA to AA-plus. What does it mean for you and your money?
Plus, the famine in Somalia, the struggle to feed the tens of thousands trapped in the middle of a terrible civil war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. I am now a winner of the Harvard University for two free tickets. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me introduce myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: They thought they won tickets to a football classic. Instead it was a trap to catch parents behind on child support.
We begin with breaking news, though, out of Afghanistan. A NATO helicopter has crashed in Wardak province in Eastern Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai says 31, 31 U.S. special forces troops are among the 38 killed in the incident. A recovery operation is underway. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
CNN's David Aristo joins us from Kabul.
And David, what are you hearing?
DAVID ARIOSTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in what seems to be one of the or probably not one of the, one of the largest losses of American life since the 2001 invasion of this war began. This helicopter was traveling in an insurgent area and according to a Taliban spokesman and some other locals that we have spoken to, was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. This is the second time that a helicopter sustained fire in the Eastern section of this country. Just last week a helicopter was forced to make a crash landing. No injuries in that incident. However, this incident, not so much the case.
FEYERICK: We're going to check in with you more on that a little later on. Again, 31 U.S. special forces troops killed in that NATO crash helicopter, the crash of the NATO helicopter.
And more breaking news to tell you about. America's credit rating has taken a hit from ratings agency Standard & Poor's from AAA to AA-plus. The agency cites the nation's growing debt and the seeming hesitancy to confront the red ink. Standard & Poor's managing director explains how this downgrade could have been avoided.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN CHAMBERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, STANDARD & POOR'S: I think you could have done a few things. The first thing it could have done is to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner so much of this debate had been avoided to begin with as it had done, you know, 60 or 70 times since 1960 without that much debate. So that's point number one. And point number two was it could have come up with a fiscal plan, you know, similar, for example, to, you know, the Bowles Simpson commission which was bipartisan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And we're going to hear more from Mr. Chambers in just a few minutes.
The Obama administration is furious about the downgrade. It says the agency miscalculated by $2 trillion. One senior official describes Standard & Poor's action as, quote, a facts-be-damned decision. CNN's Athena Jones is in Washington and Athena, boy, President Obama keeping tabs on things from Camp David this morning?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He certainly is. We're told that the president was briefed on this S&P matter before he left for Camp David yesterday and that he's been getting constant updates on the situation.
Now, of course, the real question is, how quickly can this change? How quickly can the U.S. regain that AAA rating and it looks as though it might take a while. Now, you mentioned that $2 trillion mistake that sources close to the matter the Treasury Department said the S&P made. They have a big problem with the way the S&P made this calculation to make this downgrade. They believe that they messed up when it comes to trying to measure the U.S.'s debt to GDP ratio, which is a key measure of a country's credit risk.
That's one thing they took issue with. Of course it didn't stop the downgrade in the end. Officials have noted, though, that Fitch, the rating service Fitch and Moody's still keep the U.S. at a AAA and so there is hope that maybe this won't play huge in the markets. Certainly, you can bet that the White House, the Treasury Department, administration officials are going to be watching this closely and figuring out how to respond.
FEYERICK: I think the president signing the debt deal alone in his office, no fanfare, nobody around him. He called it a manufactured crisis, something that could have been avoided entirely. What kind of pressure does this put on Congress?
JONES: Well, it puts a lot of pressure on Congress and you know what you just said, the president talking, it echoes what Chambers said from S&P. This whole issue was -- ended up being a political football.
The Congress couldn't agree, the debt ceiling, the threat of default became a political bargaining chip and so you still have the two parties who are in their corners with the Republicans not wanting to see this deal that was struck last week include tax revenues.
The Democrats don't want to see all of the balancing of the budget done on the backs of people who need Medicare, so entitlement reform is an issue on the Democrats side and so it's hard to see going forward what's going to happen.
One thing I can say is that this joint committee that's going to be meeting and giving its recommendations for further deficit reduction in November, there's going to be a lot of pressure on them because as far as S&P believes, this deal struck this week just kicks the can down the road and all these big issues. So, we're going to be watching and waiting and whoever is on that committee, is going to have a lot of pressure on them, Deborah.
FEYERICK: Absolutely. Athena Jones, thanks so much. The bottom line really, the S&P saying that you got to separate the budget issue from the debt approval process. So all right. Athena Jones, thanks so much. We'll check in with you.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had this to say on the decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, quote the action by S&P reaffirms the need for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that combines spending cuts with revenue raising measures like closing taxpayer- funded giveaways to billionaires, oil companies and corporate jet owners, unquote.
And the Republican presidential hopefuls are weighing in on the downgrade from Mitt Romney who says, quote, "America's credit worthiness just became the latest casualty in President Obama's failed record of leadership on the economy, Standard & Poor's rating downgrade is a deeply troubling indicator of our country's decline under President Obama." That coming from the presidential contender.
Here's what Minnesota's Michele Bachmann, also a presidential contender for the Republicans had to say, quote, "I call on the president to seek the immediate resignation of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and to submit a plan with a list of cuts to balance the budget this year, turn our economy around and put Americans back to work."
And then there's this from GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. He's President Obama's former ambassador to China. He's also a presidential contender, quote, "For far too long, we have let reckless government spending go unchecked and the cancerous debt afflicting our nation has spread. We need new leadership in Washington committed to fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget and job (INAUDIBLE) policies to get America working again."
The U.S. credit downgrade won't just hurt the government. Average Americans trying to make ends meet also could feel the pinch.
Felicia Taylor joining me again this morning from New York to tell us why this is important.
You know, you hear all these politicians now weighing in. First, the spin was about the debt ceiling. Now it's about the downgrade. But what are the immediate effects? How is this going to hurt the U.S.?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Deb, what happens is that when it comes to borrowing everything just got more expensive. So if you are looking for a car loan or if you're out there shopping for a mortgage or even your credit card, everything just got more expensive as a result of this because investing in the United States just became riskier.
We no longer have that stellar rating anymore. We're on AA-plus which puts us below par with countries like England, France, Germany and Canada, which is a significant place to look at. So Americans are going to now find in the near future, it does take a little bit of time to trickle down, that anything that it costs to borrow money just got more expensive and that also translates to foreign investors.
When they hold significant amount of debt in the United States such as our treasuries and China would be the number one, they have about $1 trillion worth, that also becomes a little riskier for them and the question then becomes are they going to sell off some of that -- some of their holdings?
I don't think that's going to happen immediately because still, there's not that many opportunities to invest elsewhere. The United States is still a relatively safe place. But it does put the question out there, how risky are the investments in the United States and can political gridlock end in Washington?
FEYERICK: You know, we talk about the political gridlock. CNN did a poll and -- of those who answered the questions, 82 percent said they disapprove of the job Congress is doing. But when we go across the world and to other countries, one Italian chief executive said, quote, we need leadership capable of restoring cohesion. He was talking about his own government in Italy. Obviously the same can be applied to the United States. How will the world economy be affected by this? TAYLOR: Deb, it's a really good question and I was actually in Europe just a week ago and, you know, people are looking at the United States and wondering, you know, whether or not they're going to be able to keep that stellar position, that number one position, as a world leader with respect and in terms of the world economy, you're going to have to look at investments, whether or not the U.S. is still going to be an attractive investment for some of the other global economies. That's a significant thing. Like I mentioned, when it comes to places like China that hold such an enormous amount of our U.S. Treasuries, our debt, they may or may not want to continue to do so and that's going to be a significant impact.
I think on Monday, when we begin trading again in the United States, you are going to see some kind of a reaction, but most traders that I've spoke to have said that this has already been priced in. We might see a little bit of a dip, but then again, moving forward, we're going to go back to the fundamentals of the American economy and whether or not the economic signals are there to show that there's a recovery in place. That's a bigger question.
FEYERICK: OK. Interesting going back to the fundamentals. Very quickly, anything positive going to come out of this?
TAYLOR: Well, Deb, you know, I think the one thing that has to be looked at is, the United States is still a respected government, but the point is, is that the political gridlock in Washington has to end. They have had their wrist slapped. There's no question that they've been told, listen, this is a very serious issue and things have to change. If they don't change soon, we could face even a further downgrade by some of the other agencies. They have us still on negative outlook.
What this does, I think, is send a signal to Washington that it's time to get a grip and actually do something positive about creating jobs in this economy. So in the end, I think it is a positive thing because that has to change. And the signal is very clear and hopefully that will begin soon.
FEYERICK: OK, terrific insights. Felicia Taylor, thank you so very much.
Financial expert Clyde Anderson is going to be joining us next hour with a breakdown of credit rating agency Standard & Poor's. He'll also have more on what the U.S. credit downgrade could mean for you and your money.
Coming up at 7:00 Eastern tonight, CNN presents a special hour on the credit rating decision. The impact on you, your children, your future. That's tonight, 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
And the pictures are hard to look at, but the issue is just way too important to ignore. That's why chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is headed to the famine stricken region of Somalia. He has a live report coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FEYERICK: Twelve million people are in desperate need of assistance in the horn of Africa. Somalia is the worst hit. Almost 30,000 children have died there in the past 90 days, 30,000 children.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be heading to the famine-stricken region in less than 24 hours. He joins us live this morning from New York City with a preview.
Sanjay, the United Nations says this is the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, a combination of the worst drought in 60 years and this endless civil war. What is going on there?
GUPTA: Well, it is exactly, you know, that. I mean look, they haven't had a drought this bad since 1950 in this region and if you combine that sort of lack of rain with the conflict that you're describing, it is creating, you know, this tragedy that's unfolding here.
I paint the situation like this. If you think about this area of the world and this country, so many of the people there live off the land. They're agricultural farmers. When the drought happened, obviously the crops died off and the livestock, many of these farms also went away.
So now these people have no food and they have no water and they start literally trying to walk for tens of miles, 30, 40 miles to try and get to aid camps. Often times, these children, these women, malnourished by the time they get to these camps and a lot of these camps just simply weren't prepared to have enough food to feed hundreds of thousands of people who are coming in mass.
That's what the countryside of Somalia looks like and when they arrive at these camps which are hundreds of thousands of people in size, there's just not enough resources. It's been going on. The problem has just been getting worse Deb.
FEYERICK: And Sanjay, with these Islamic militants who are controlling this country, they're not helping the people. How did it get to such a dire point?
GUPTA: Well, you know, I think, you know, you have to look back over history a little bit here, over decades, al Shabaab, the militant group that you're talking about, for a long time simply banned any sort of foreign aid coming into this country. This became a pattern. If you were an aid organization trying to get into Somalia in years past even, you worried more so about safety in this country than just about any place else in the world. So that was the history here.
Now with this drought and the situation happening as bad as it's become, that ban has been lifted. But you can imagine, Deb, there's still a lot of concern from these aid organizations, as they try and get food in, is there going to be a pattern of violence that, you know, comes back? Are these militant groups going to attack these refugee camps, these relief camps even? It's a real balance here.
I think it's getting better in the sense that there's a little bit more trust in terms of whether or not there's safety from al Shabaab attacking these camps, but it's not 100 percent. I think that's part of the problem here.
FEYERICK: It's incredible because I think Somalia has a population of 7.5 million and about 3.2 million of them are in need of life-saving help. Sanjay, you're going to be heading there. Anderson Cooper is going to be heading there. You're going to be reporting out of Somalia. Tell us a little bit about your journey, how you're going to get there and where you're going to be, which camps you're going to be looking in.
GUPTA: Yes. Well you know, some of this is obviously as you know Deb being reported in the field. It's a little bit fluid, but we're going to probably fly into Kenya, into Nairobi and then from there either about a 10-hour drive, you know, through Kenya to the Somalia border or a small plane, you know, that's -- those details are still being worked out.
There are a lot of camps right there on the border for all the reasons I mentioned earlier being right there on the border can allow these aid organizations to sort of give the camp supplies and reduce the amount of potential problems they may have with security. So that's sort of what's going on there. A lot of those camps right along the Kenya/Somalia border.
And I'll just say again, Deb, I mean you cited some of the numbers but I'm hearing as well, 600,000 children potentially over the next several months in this area could starve to death which is unbelievable that we're talking like that in the year 2011 anywhere in the world that could be happening, but 600,000 children over the next several months. But anyways that's how we're going to get there. Those camps along the border. I think they're going to be the ones that we're going to try to find and see what's happening.
FEYERICK: All right. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. You take care of yourself out there and we'll definitely be looking because beginning on Monday, "AC 360" is going to be moving to 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Anderson Cooper along with Sanjay Gupta going to be reporting live from Somalia on the region's devastating drought and famine. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" "SPECIAL REPORT: Somalia On the Frontlines: The Famine," Monday 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Coming up later, we hear from Standard & Poor's head of sovereign ratings on what led the agency to downgrade the nation's credit worthiness. And I'll tell you if there's any relief in sight. That's Reynolds Wolf. Reynolds will go by everything
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I go by anything. We're reading some temperatures that are going to be just excruciating for people across parts of the central and southern plains, namely in Dallas where 35 days in a row you've had temperatures in the triple digits. Unfortunately, yes, it's going to continue possibly all the way into next weekend. More on that coming up in just a few moments. See you in a little bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FEYERICK: Well, it is just 20 minutes past the hour. Time for a check of the weather with Reynolds Wolf. Reynolds, any relief in sight? Are we going to get rain any time?
(WEATHER REPORT)
FEYERICK: Up next, is your child getting ready to head back to school? One of the biggest expenses you may face is buying a computer. Digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong will help you decide if you should get a laptop or tablet.
And later, beating the brutal heat in Japan with air conditioned clothing. We're going to show you some other fascinating inventions that they're using over there to stay cool.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Some schools are already in session. But if your child hasn't gone back yet, then you may be faced with decisions about what kind of computers you're going to need. Plus, where can you find the best deals? We all want to know that.
Digital lifestyle Mario Armstrong joins me from Washington with some tips. Hey there, Mario.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Good morning.
FEYERICK: Good morning. Good morning.
Let's start with the type of computer. Should it be a laptop for a student? Should it be a tablet?
ARMSTRONG: This is a big, big question. I'm so glad you're bringing this up because a lot of people are confused. Too many choices are out there right now. If you think about it, tablets are really better for they're easy to carry. They're very mobile. You can get class work done. You can run office applications on a tablet.
But my personal recommendation is that you get much more bang for your buck for the students for a longer term investment if you invest in a laptop. They can do much more hardcore research. They can do programming. If they have to do anything for communications or audio and video editing, any of those heavy duty type tasks and big presentations, you probably going to want to have a full-blown laptop to have a better investment.
FEYERICK: Not only that, the keypad, if you're used to a keypad it's much more comfortable and efficient in way.
ARMSTRONG: That's right. I'm holding a tablet here. But really when you start typing on a screen, it is a totally different feeling and yes you can do it for short notes, Internet research, maybe some quick class notes but if you're going to write that essay, some people can do it and just be fine. But other people will need to get an additional keyboard. And at that point, if you're getting a keyboard to go with your tablet you may as well just go ahead and get what I call a laptop.
FEYERICK: Before I buy where should a parent start? Where should they go?
ARMSTRONG: I think the first thing to do is actually check with the institution. Check with the school, make sure they may already have prearranged discounts that you're unaware of. So many people spend money that they didn't have to because the school has that.
Plus, the school can make recommendations and they may have some requirements or limitations on their network that you should be aware of and that will help narrow down that search. The other thing to do is to, you know, just pay attention to those discounts because not only does the school have them for hardware, but they could also have them for software as well.
FEYERICK: All right. So -- and again, you're always looking for deals. You never want to pay full price, correct?
ARMSTRONG: No, no! Absolutely not. You want to go to websites that are specific to students. So, for example, Microsoft has microsoft.com/student. It's a website where they house everything for student discounts. You can go there, peruse that website and be able to not only pay less than the retail price, but also find other bonuses and perks just by being a student.
Other sites have this. Dell, HP, Apple, so whatever you decide to choose, I don't care if you go into a store or a retailer, Deb, the most important thing is, tell the people on the sales floor this is for a student. Have proof of ID or a transcript and you will get a discount even in the big box retail stores for any software or hardware.
FEYERICK: Well and that's a great incentive and, of course, you want to protect your technology so things like LoJack.
ARMSTRONG: LoJack for your laptop.
FEYERICK: LoJack, exactly, that's a great point. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate you. You can join us every Saturday at this time as our digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong gives the scoop on the very latest technology.
And next, restoring America's gold standard credit rating, easier said than done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAMBERS: It's going to take a while to get back to AAA because once you lose your AAA it doesn't usually bounce back in that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: We'll have more from the S&P's managing director on the decision to downgrade America's credit-worthiness, next on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I am now a winner of the Auburn University for two free tickets. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me introduce myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And later, some lucky ticket winners at the Iron Bowl should have paid their child support. How officers came up with an elaborate sting to nab deadbeat dads -- that story next in sports.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: And it's 33 minutes past the hour. Welcome back. I'm Deborah Feyerick in today for T.J. Holmes. Thanks so much for starting your day here with us.
Checking our "Top Stories", breaking news: 31 U.S. troops have killed in the crash today of a NATO helicopter in Afghanistan; most if not all of those killed are believed to be Special Forces. The Taliban claims it brought down the helicopter with rocket-propelled grenades.
And in Syria at least 50 people were killed yesterday when a government tank reportedly fired at demonstrators. It happened outside a hospital in the town of Hama where there's been a major government crackdown on protests.
And a NASA satellite is launched into space on a five-year journey to study the planet Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. Mission Juno is expected to give us insight into how the solar system was formed.
This morning, a stark new financial reality for Americans; we are no longer the gold standard as it relates to the world's economy. Yesterday after the markets closed, Standard & Poor's downgraded the nation's long-term sovereign credit rating from AAA to AA-plus. It's a first for the country and an embarrassment for President Obama.
In explaining the decision, S&P says the nation's growing debt, coupled with last week's political bitterness over raising the debt ceiling, gives them less faith in the nation's ability to repay its loans.
It comes days after Congress cut the debt ceiling deal shaving more than $2 trillion over the next decade. In essence, S&P thinks the deal fell short. After Standard & Poor's notification of the credit downgrade the Obama administration fired back saying the S&P's own figures were off by $2 trillion. S&P did acknowledge the discrepancy but says its decision to downgrade remains.
And hours after the downgrading, S&P's managing director John Chambers spoke to our Anderson Cooper about the rationale behind the downgrade.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN CHAMBERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, STANDARD & POOR'S: I think there were two reasons. The first reason is the one that you got lined being our view of the political settings in the United States, have been altered. We've taken them down a notch, the rating down a notch.
The political brinkmanship we saw over raising the debt ceiling was something that was really beyond our expectations. The U.S. government getting to the last day before they had cash management problems. There are very few governments that separate the budget process from the debt authorization process.
And we also think more broadly that this debate has shown that although we do have an agreement that will -- and we do believe will deliver at least $2.1 trillion of savings over the next decade, it's going to be difficult to get beyond that, at least in the near term, and you do need to get beyond that to get to a point where the debt to GDP ratio is going to stabilize.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": So it's interesting, you're saying without a doubt the recent debate, the recent road blocks in Congress, the tenor, the timing and the tone of the debate, had a major impact on this?
CHAMBERS: Yes. I think that is what put things over the brink.
In addition, we have a medium-term fiscal forecast that we see, you know, the debt-to-GDP ratio continuing to rise over the forecast horizon and putting it in the position where it would no longer be compatible with many other AAA ratings.
COOPER: Already on Twitter, other places, Republicans and Democrats are pointing the fingers at each other, President Obama at Congress. Do you blame one side more than the other?
CHAMBERS: No. I think that there's plenty of blame to go around. This is a problem that's been a long time in the making, well over this administration, and the prior administration. The -- it's a matter of the medium and long-term budget position of the United States that needs to be brought under control not the immediate fiscal position.
It's one that centers on entitlements and its entitlement reform or having matching revenues to pay for those entitlements that's at the crux of the matter.
COOPER: What kind -- what could the United States have done to avoid -- have avoided this?
CHAMBERS: Well, I think it could have done a few things. I mean the first thing it could have done is to have raised the debt ceiling in a timely manner so that much of this debate had been avoided to begin with, as it had done, you know, 60 or 70 times since 1960 without that much debate. So that's point number one.
And point number two is it could have come up with a fiscal plan, you know, similar for example, to, you know, the Bowles-Simpson commission which was bipartisan. Although it didn't have a super majority vote, it did have a majority vote and came up with a number of sensible recommendations. I mean you could envision other recommendations but that would have been a start.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And the Bowles-Simpson Act commission that you heard Chambers talk about just there, that was a panel set up by President Obama to identify ways to reduce the national debt. It's formerly known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
And lowering the nation's debt rating is sure to impact just about every one of us. Coming up at 7:00 Eastern tonight, CNN presents a special on the credit rating decision, the impact on you, your children, your future. Tonight at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
And not all the financial news, though, is bad. In fact, the July jobs report, well, it was a welcome surprise. Employers added more workers than some had projected.
CNN's Athena Jones is live in Washington with more on the jobs report. And Athena, that was some bright news; 117,000 jobs, which is more than economists had actually predicted?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So July's unemployment report was better than many economists expected but there's still a long way to go before everyone who wants to work can find a job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES (voice-over): Job seekers began lining up early at this job fair in a Virginia suburb. They came to hand out resumes and line up interviews in the hopes of getting hired.
TED KOBLICK, LOOKING FOR WORK: Hi how are you?
Hi, I'm Ted Koblick (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted Koblick nice to meet you, sir.
This is more or less what we're looking for.
KOBLICK: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People that want to be super stars.
KOBLICK: Right. Well I appreciate you're looking for a super star because I feel like I am one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love it.
KOBLICK: I got 28 years experience actually in sales.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wonderful.
KOBLICK: And marketing.
JONES: People like 52-year-old Ted Koblick, a salesman who lost his job in April.
KOBLICK: I need to find something right away.
JONES: The U.S. economy added 117,000 jobs last month. More than economists expected but not enough to bring down the unemployment rate. It fell just one-tenth of a percent to 9.1 percent. Koblick is one of the 13.9 million people who are unemployed.
KOBLICK: Get in line over here.
JONES: He spends up to 12 hours a day looking for work. Koblick and his family are living on savings and his unemployment check. But his daughter starts college later this month and he says he's got until October 1st to find a job so he can keep paying the bills.
KOBLICK: I worry about losing this house. I have to sell a car or whatever. So -- I just got to keep pressing on. And do the best we can.
JONES: While Koblick remains optimistic, there is cause for concern. The number of people who have been out of work for six months or more is at record levels, at more than six million.
BOB BRUSCA, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FACT & OPINION: But if you think in terms of the millions of people that are unemployed, that's a question of how fast do you want to put them back to work? So we could run 300,000 jobs for a couple of years and not put everybody back to work even with 300,000 per month.
JONES: Back at the jobs fair, 23-year-old Sabrina Almodovar, who graduated from college in May, isn't surprised it's taking her a while to find a good job.
SABRINA ALMODOVAR, LOOKING FOR WORK: So I don't think I'm fazed too much about it even though the job market is that much worse just because I've always expected for it to be hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Now, President Obama has proposed extending the payroll tax credit and unemployment insurance to put money in people's pockets and kick start consumer spending. He also wants to see Congress pass the pending free trade agreements to help spur job growth. But none of these things can happen until lawmakers return in September -- Deborah.
FEYERICK: All right, Athena Jones, thanks so much for that.
And have you looked at your 401(k) statement lately. If you're too scared to peek at it, well, we can help. After this week's dramatic stock drop we've got some investing tips that could hopefully ease your fears.
And Texas Governor Rick Perry is hoping the power of prayer will heal the economy. More on the religious gathering he has planned today in Houston.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Well, we've been telling you about two major financial stories this week, the Dow dropping 512 points in a single day, and now the country's credit rating being downgraded.
Joining me is financial lifestyle coach Clyde Anderson; and Clyde let's start with the S&P's decision to downgrade the U.S. credit from AAA now to AA-plus. What does it mean?
CLYDE ANDERSON, CNN FINANCIAL LIFESTYLE COACH: Now, I think the easiest way to explain this, like I had 850 credit score which is a great credit score, now my credit score drops overnight to 600. It's going to make it harder for me to purchase things. My rate is going to be a little bit higher so I'm going to pay more over the long haul.
FEYERICK: Is it also going to make it much more difficult for other countries or to want to loan money to the United States?
ANDERSON: Yes, definitely. It's the same thing. It's where, I'm going to want to charge you a higher interest rate, I'm going to scrutinize you a little bit more if you've got this lower rating because now it looks like your bonds may not be worth what they were in the past.
FEYERICK: And what's interesting is also is it's everything now consumers are going to want to buy -- the average American, it's going to affect them deeply.
ANDERSON: Definitely, I mean, now you're looking at house, you're talking about cars, maybe student loans, all these things we could experience higher interest rates on because of this.
FEYERICK: Right. OK. How does it impact the 401(k)?
ANDERSON: Yes. I think that's the question a lot of people are having. You know, it depends on certain things you have to look at. What am I invested in?
The thing that I tell everybody is don't just react. Don't make it off emotions and fear. You want to make sure you know what you're doing and what you have inside that 401(k) as well. Because, you know, reacting will make you make bad decisions a lot of times.
FEYERICK: Right.
ANDERSON: So don't react. Know what you're investing in, understand what risk is and diversify. Don't have all your investments in bonds. You want to make sure you spread across the board.
Also take advice from people that you trust. Wise counsel and know that there's not just one right answer. You know my risk is going to be different than your risk and the decisions that I make for my financial future may be different from yours.
FEYERICK: All right.
Make sure you get good advice and you just gave us some. So Clyde Anderson thanks so much.
ANDERSON: My pleasure.
FEYERICK: We really appreciate you're being here this morning with us.
ANDERSON: Thanks for having me.
Well, as we move ahead you may wonder how on earth Prince William managed to keep cool under that heavy uniform he wore on his wedding day. We'll show you how he got hitched without breaking a sweat and some fascinating inventions the Japanese have designed to beat the heat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Well, it's been insufferable hot across most parts of the United States but it's been especially brutal with record high temperatures in Japan.
Nadia Bilchik is joining me once again this morning with our passport. And the Japanese they are constantly coming up with these incredible inventions. How are they coping with the heat?
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Very difficult because it has been so hot and there's a real rationing of electricity. I mean here you and I are sitting in this lovely cool studio.
FEYERICK: It's freezing.
BILCHIK: I noticed you had a wrap on earlier. And here we are with 80, 90 degrees outside. But it's just the opposite there. They only turn on the electricity if absolutely necessary. They say necessity is the mother of invention. And the Japanese have come up with remarkable things.
Now, they spoke about the super cool campaign where they wore Hawaiian shirts but the Japanese like to be more formal. One of the things they've come up with, in fact, is a suit and underneath the suit there are pockets and in the pockets underneath the arm pits there are actual cooling devices.
What you're seeing there is an air conditioning unit in a jacket and there's actually an entire conditioning unit, a cable and a switch, and it runs on battery. And this will keep your body cool for up to 11 hours. FEYERICK: That's remarkable. That's remarkable. How much does something like that cost?
BILCHIK: About $130 so it's not cheap. But at stores, big department stores, like Tokyo Hands (ph) which are the big stores in Japan, you'll have entire floors that are just devoted to cooling devices and electricity-saving devices, that being the key, and to clothes.
But these jackets they look large and you wouldn't imagine that you've got an entire air conditioning system happening around you.
FEYERICK: That's remarkable.
BILCHIK: Your personal air conditioning unit.
FEYERICK: Absolutely, we all need one of those.
BILCHIK: We might every now and then.
FEYERICK: As a matter of fact.
BILCHIK: You may recognize this gentleman that I want to show you who's coming up now. We have a picture of a gentleman who has become world famous.
FEYERICK: Yes.
BILCHIK: He is, of course, the Duke of Cambridge --
FEYERICK: Right -- Prince William.
BILCHIK: You may say what does this have to do with cooling? Prince William had his own cooling device so that he wouldn't sweat. In that exquisitely designed uniform from Kashket & Partners in England, they had to put padding underneath his arms so that he had literally place for the sweat so that he wouldn't pass out.
FEYERICK: Remarkable.
BILCHIK: And Kashket & Partners actually said we made some minor adjustments to ensure his comfort and save his blushes. And we worked together with adding micro sweat pads under the arm and used less padding.
FEYERICK: That's remarkable. Well, he certainly looked good. They both look good. They both looked gorgeous
Nadia Bilchik, thank you so much. Fascinating.
Now we all have to go out and here, we just hold these little fans up to our faces. That doesn't work.
BILCHIK: Exactly, we need our personal air conditioning devices, Deborah.
FEYERICK: We need -- absolutely, absolutely. Thank you so much Nadia.
BILCHIK: In your case you need some personal (INAUDIBLE)
FEYERICK: That's exactly right. I'll take a sweat shirt right now.
Thanks so much.
A sting operation with a very unique twist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. I am now a winner of the Auburn University for two free tickets. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me introduce myself. I'm Dennis Harold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: He thought he won tickets to the big Alabama/Auburn game. Look at how that smile turned right upside down; instead he got arrested. We're going explain after the break.
Plus, thousands are expected today in Houston where Texas Governor Rick Perry has called for a day of prayer. Not everyone there is happy about it. We're going to have a live report coming up in our next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Well, Tiger's back and as we speak he's trying to make up ground at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. That's his first tournament after a two-month layoff. HLN sports anchor Ray D'Alessio is here with more, as is our Reynolds Wolf on how Tiger has struggled.
RAY D'ALESSIO, HLN SPORT: Yes and he, you know -- the thing about yesterday, Deb, is he wasn't the only one that struggled yesterday. I mean the greens were very, very rough and some of the golfers had trouble, you know, sinking those putts.
But you know one thing that Tiger says that he is happy with, he's happy with certain aspects of his game. He's happy with the accuracy that he's getting now. Of course, he's had another major swing change. He's happy with his accuracy. He's happy with the distance he's getting off the tee. But yesterday, his putting -- it got the best of him. He had three bogeys, one double bogey.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Wow.
D'ALESSIO: Sounds like you and I on the course.
WOLF: You bet.
D'ALESSIO: We're happy if we get one.
WOLF: Sign me up sure.
D'ALESSIO: If we get one double bogey a round we're happy. But it dropped him into a tie for 36th, so entering today he was seven shots off the lead. And, of course, we're going to see Tiger her in Atlanta next week at the PGA Championship, his first tournament. However he hasn't won a tournament since 2009. Hasn't won a major --
FEYERICK: He had a couple of other things on his mind.
WOLF: Just a little bit.
D'ALESSIO: A little bit, yes.
FEYERICK: A couple things came up.
We have to talk about this recent sting operation involving some Alabama football fans. I just -- this is like, you know, when you really think you hit the lottery and it just isn't happening.
D'ALESSIO: Yes. And when I saw Reynolds, I said hey man, you weren't in Alabama any time last week? Of course, you know, he's a big Auburn football fan.
But this was League County, Alabama and this involved alleged people with back child support. It was called Iron Snare was the name of the operation. The suspects got letters telling them they had won tickets to this year's Iron Bowl. Of course Reynolds you know all about that -- that's the annual grudge match.
FEYERICK: What is the thing again?
WOLF: Yes. It was a genius idea.
FEYERICK: And they're not going easily, either.
D'ALESSIO: When they showed up to claim their prize, authorities had a surprise instead.
FEYERICK: This is -- it's remarkable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. I am now a winner of the Auburn University for two free tickets. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me introduce myself. I'm Dennis Harold I'm with the League County Sheriff's Office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we have a warrant for your arrest for the child support. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got you.
(END VIDEO CLIP) D'ALESSIO: More than 140 letters were sent out, OK, with each suspect owing between $30,000 and $70,000. This resulted in over a dozen arrests.
The funny thing -- I mean obviously this isn't funny. But the funny thing, after one person was arrested he still asked do I still get my tickets.
FEYERICK: Of course.
D'ALESSIO: No, you don't get any tickets. You get a ticket to jail.
FEYERICK: You have to look for a silver lining. That's how we're raised. I love the balloons, that he brought in balloons too.
D'ALESSIO: It was the whole ordeal.
They invited the media, they said it's a big celebration, we're going to get all these people there and they thought they had won something and when they show up, bam.
FEYERICK: Interesting. And finally, it's a first for a major at -- it's a first for a pitch at a Major League Baseball game. This I just love this video.
D'ALESSIO: I have never seen this before. Have you ever seen a pitcher throwing a ball completely through the back stop netting?
It's insane.
It's concerning, actually. I mean, think about what could have happened had this ball gone through and actually hit a fan. But it didn't. This was the pitch from Geraldo Chapman yesterday of the Reds. Goes through the backstop and look at the hole there.
FEYERICK: Look at that. Look at that. Wow.
WOLF: Any guess on the speed. Do they have --
D'ALESSIO: Around 100 miles an hour. 99 point something to be exact. But yes, around 99 to 100 miles an hour. The fan's like I got me a baseball.
FEYERICK: That could really hurt. That could really hurt somebody.
WOLF: Absolutely. 100 miles an hour.
FEYERICK: It's like when you see some of those baseballs that go into the stands.
WOLF: Sure.
FEYERICK: And I'm always surprised more people don't get hurt. You know, when they're coming straight at them. Nobody has ever broken a hand. They just catch it and they're all happy and everything.
D'ALESSIO: And I have to think that's probably the weakest part of the netting which is --
WOLF: Absolutely.
D'ALESSIO: at the bottom. Yes.
WOLF: But to see a straight pitch, they're obviously a little bit lacking on the control part. If I were the guy standing in the box, the guy at the plate, I'm wearing full body armor the next time I step off.
D'ALESSIO: Reminds me of "Major League", the movie "Major League" with Charlie Sheen.
WOLF: It's terrifying. It really is.
D'ALESSIO: Absolutely.
FEYERICK: You know, you take your risk. You get good seats. You pay a lot but you have to take the risk at the same time.
WOLF: Hear, hear.
FEYERICK: Well, guys thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it. A lot of fun talking to you about that. We'll see how Tiger does; we'll keep an eye on him.
D'ALESSIO: Keeping an eye on.
FEYERICK: All right. Good enough. Coming up, a more serious story, restoring America's credit rating, easier said than done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN CHAMBERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, STANDARD & POOR'S: Well, it's going to take a while to get back to AAA because once you lose your AAA it doesn't usually bounce back in that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: We'll have more from the S&P's managing director on the decision to downgrade America's credit worthiness rating, that's next, this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
