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CNN Saturday Morning News

Troops Coming Home; I Love You, But Hate Your Government; Ten- Thousand-Dollar Phone Call; Tackling Student Loan Debt

Aired October 22, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We are at the top of the morning on the CNN SATURDAY MORNING, and hello to you all.

The president of Iran has a message for you. He said he loves you. It's just your government he has a problem with. We'll tell you more from our explosive interview.

Also, $10,000 for making one phone call. An NFL player fined by the league, but wait until you here who he called. Maybe you'll think the fine was worth it.

Also, student loan debt is adding up, even more than credit card debt these days.

Parents, students, listen up. We're going to try to save you some cash this morning. Our Clyde Anderson will be along.

But, again, welcome to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's 7:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 6:0 a.m. in Fayetteville, Arkansas, 5:00 a.m. in Denver.

Wherever you are, we are glad you right here. I'm T.J. Holmes.

The U.S. troops will be home for the holidays and that means an end to the more than eight-year-old war in Iraq. That's the promise just made by President Obama.

Let me turn to the White House now and our Athena Jones.

Athena, hello to you.

The president -- big announcement yesterday and it's one a lot of people are happy to here.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly. And the president and the White House see this as a promise kept. Almost the first words out of his mouth yesterday, President Obama's mouth when he came into the briefing room to make this announcement were saying, as a candidate for president, I pledged to bring the war to Iraq to an end.

And so, you'll remember that it was his opposition to the war in Iraq that really set him apart during the Democratic primary last time around. He believed that this war in Iraq was a rash war, a dumb war that it caused us to take our eye off the ball in Afghanistan. And so, he ran on this idea that that war in Iraq had to be wound down so that we could focus on the -- the U.S. could focus on efforts in Afghanistan.

Let's listen to what he had to say about this Iraq decision in the weekly address this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Iraq, we succeeded in our strategy to end the war. Last year, I announced the end of our combat mission in Iraq. We already removed 100,000 troops, and Iraqi forces have taken full responsibility for the security of their own country. Thanks to the extraordinarily sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, the Iraqi people have a chance to forge their own future. And now, the rest of our troops will be home for the holidays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, one thing, T.J., the president did not mention in -- not in this speech yesterday and not in his weekly address, was that the security agreements were reached during the Bush administration in 2008 that set this December 31st, 2011 end date. And so, in some ways, he didn't have to change what had already been agreed to when he came in.

HOLMES: And the thing I mentioned at top, that a lot of people were welcoming this news. But you had a lot of people still criticizing this move by the president.

JONES: Well, certainly. I mean, the reaction from Democrats and Republicans has been more or less predictable with Democrats applauding this announcement, saying it's been long-awaited. We're glad to have these troops home.

And Republicans expressing concern. Let me read to you what Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina said. He said, "I feel we have all worked -- what we have for -- sorry. All we have worked for and sacrificed for is very much in jeopardy by today's announcement. I hope I am wrong and the president is right, but I fear this decision has set in motion events that will come back to haunt our country."

And now, what he's talking about is that idea that -- the questions about whether Iraq is really ready to take over its own security, responsibility for its own security and instability. There's still violence there. There's still fear there. There's lots of concerns about Iranian influence growing as U.S. troops pull out. And so, that's the reason for some of this criticism and concern on the Republican side -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Our Athena Jones for us at the White House -- thank you so much.

And you can imagine how so many of the families out there reacted to this and how some of the soldiers, some of the troops are reacting as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS) MAJ. GEN. DAVID PERKINS, 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION: We have started closing our bases down and drawing down our forces months ago. So, this was not an evacuation. This was a very deliberate transition.

PVT. JUSTIN WILCOXEN, U.S. ARMY: It's exciting for me, you know, bring our boys home. It's one less place we got to have boots on the ground.

STAFF SGT. JASON MEADOWS, SERVED 2 TOURS IN IRAQ: I think it's a great thing. It shows the progress made in Iraq and it shows the people in the government are able to stand up on their own and be able to move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HOLMES: Let's take a look back now at this Iraq war. This all started in March of 2003. President Bush went on live national television to let the country that, in fact, the U.S. was about to engage in war in Iraq. Shock and awe bombings followed in Baghdad.

And on April 9th of that year, we saw that iconic toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad.

Then in December of 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured. He was tried and then executed three years later.

September 2004, the death toll for U.S. troops tops the 1,000 mark.

The total number of U.S. troops who have died in this operation, 4,421. Another 32,000 have been injured. In January of 2007, the so- called surge was announced by President Bush that committed an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq. At its height, more than 160,000 U.S. service members were serving in the Iraq war.

And you may remember this video from Baghdad -- an angry Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at President Bush, an ultimate insult. This is from December of 2008. But it was at that press conference, it was there where the president was making his last trip to Baghdad to sign the Status of Forces Agreement, that's actually the deal that the U.S. and Iraq agreed to that set out the timeline for U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by the end of this year.

We are about six minutes past the hour now. And we love the people of the United States, just not the government. That's just one of the nuggets we're getting from a new interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he spoke exclusively with our Fareed Zakaria about allegations that Iran was planning to assassinate a Saudi Arabian ambassador on U.S. oil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (through translator): Do we really need to kill the ambassador of a brotherly country? What is the reason and the interest behind that? We are a civilized nation. We have strong logic, and this strong logic we talk to all nations. We never have any intention to hurt Saudi Arabia. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And you can hear the rest of the interview with Iran's president, including what he has to say about developments in Iraq on a special edition of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" at Sunday 10:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

But at seven minutes past the hour, let's say good morning once again to our Reynolds Wolf. People concerned about the weather for a number of reasons today. Top of the list: football.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Yes. We're very concerned about football here. No question about it.

We've got six tremendous college football games taking place around the country. We're going to give you the kickoff forecast for each of them, as far as the prognostications, what's going to happen on the field -- gosh, you never know. It's college football.

I'll tell you what you're watching, though -- you're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We've got more coming up, straight ahead. See you in a few.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Nine minutes past the hour.

Now say good morning again to our Reynolds Wolf. You all right?

WOLF: I'm great. I just feel kind of guilty ties because we're such college football fans. When it comes to weather, we cover the entire country at times. We cover even parts of the world. But it's this Saturday where we get a little bit selfish. I mean, we're dudes, let's be honest.

HOLMES: It's OK.

WOLF: Not just -- it's all right. We got some college football forecasts for you. Let's go right to it.

Starting off this game, T.J., you got an interest in this, vested interests mind you, Arkansas and Ole Miss. I imagine if you're a Razorback fan, it never gets old going against the former head coach of Arkansas, who's Houston Nutt, Ole Miss. Kickoff is at 12:21. Plenty of sunshine, temperature around 62 degrees. That is your kickoff forecast.

Now, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, number 1 LSU against number 12 Auburn Tigers. Well, it's going to be an interesting game to say the very least. Temperature 76 degrees for kickoff, plenty of sunshine, wind out of the north-northeast at five miles per hour. It could be an interesting game if you have been Auburn fan.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama, you get Alabama and Tennessee, a big traditional rivalry between these two schools. Kickoff at 7:15, we get into the evening hours. Fifty-seven degrees is going to be temperature. We're expecting some drop big time in terms of your temperature, through halftime and into the fourth quarter.

And then as fast forward in Norman, Oklahoma, also at 8:00 p.m. start. Temperature, 70 degrees for kickoff, breezy at times. But possibly some storms popping up, too. Remember, we got the storms southward towards Dallas, some may make their way towards Norman before all is said and done.

Up in the Great Lakes, we got East Lansing, Michigan, number six Wisconsin against Michigan State. Wisconsin has not won at Spartan Stadium in about nine years. This should be an interesting game. Kickoff at 8:00 p.m. temperature at 47 degrees.

And then Stanford and Washington -- some say this is Stanford's first big test of the year. Kickoff at 8:00 p.m. out west. Temperature 78, with plenty of sunshine.

So, a couple of interesting games out there. A very full-pledge slate for you, T.J. I'm sure you have some ideas on who will win each game, especially the Arkansas game.

HOLMES: Yes, it should be easy. That's always the case.

Eleven minutes past the hour. It should be easy.

And you think it should be easy to just pick up the phone and call your wife and let it not be a problem. This didn't happen to Troy Polamalu, all right? The safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers --

WOLF: You are selling this thing so hard.

HOLMES: Do you like that? All right. Here's the play. He was hurt on that play. He was dinged up, had concussion-like symptoms. Well, he went to the side line and called his wife to let her know he was OK.

And, you know, he was fined $10,000 by the NFL because, Reynolds, it's against the rules, right? Of course, it is, you can't have all the players making calls. Bookies maybe saying, hey, call me. How's that knee on that guy, over there. You know? OK, we get it.

But he called his wife. He called his wife, Reynolds.

Well, a lot of you have been chiming in, overwhelming response quite frankly from a lot of you. We have a few response as we can share with you. Please, Deirdre, I don't them in front of me, so let me see them here. There we go.

Says they can't make an exception for that because then everyone will be, quote, "calling his wife."

WOLF: Excellent point. That's by Tamara Marbury (ph), I agree with that. That's the point.

HOLMES: All right. Well, maybe this is the point, though. Another one here says, "Absolutely not. Yes. He should not be fined. He has a duty to his wife and family first." What do you say about that, Reynolds?

WOLF: I agree with Chief Greene. I really do. I see exactly where he's saying. I mean, it's an excellent point and no one is doubting his heart, that it's in the right place. It's just the time that you do it. In the middle of the game? Not sure.

I mean, it wasn't like the guy came off the field and did he leave the field in a stretcher? Because I did not see --

HOLMES: He was not in a stretcher. He had concussion-like symptoms but he was not allowed to go back into the game. His wife was watching, he knew she would be concerned. Pick up the phone, let her hear his boys.

We got one more. Go ahead, Deidre. Let me see -- this one says "Polamalu could have hit the tunnel or locker room to make his call. Step away, call wifey, return to the sideline. Issue averted."

WOLF: I was going to go exactly where Max is taking this, exactly -- I'm totally with you, Max. Step into the tunnel go into the locker room. Call everyone. Do a conference call with your entire family.

I agree exactly -- I know exactly where he's coming from. Straight from your lips to God's ears, I'm hearing it. That's it.

HOLMES: He's @ReynoldsWolfCNN. I'm @TJHolmes. Continue that conversation. We're having a good time with you.

We're 13 past the hour. Quick break. Reynolds and I will be right back.

WOLF: That's good.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We're a quarter past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

And all across the country, a lot of people are celebrating the news they just got yesterday that troops will be coming home from Iraq for the holidays and the war in Iraq will be ending by the end of this year. We got that word from the president yesterday.

Families of the troops especially emotional as you can imagine.

We turn now to our CNN affiliate WGN and reporter Dave Ponce has reaction from Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one is pictured in the house.

DAN PONCE, WGN REPORTER (voice-over): Every wall of this home in West Rogers Park is covered with pictures and paintings of Army Corporal Albert Bitton, who was only 23 years old when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq three and a half years ago.

His parents, Elie and Sylvia Bitton, had mixed reaction to the news, they're relieved for the families of troops who are currently serving in Iraq, but regretful the full withdrawal didn't happen sooner.

ELIE BITTON, FALLEN SOLDIDER'S FATHER: It's too late for my son. It's too late.

PONCE: Fighting back tears, he recalls the moment he found out his son had been killed and says no family should have to experience that kind of pain. His message to the troops who finally get to come home --

BITTON: They are the luckiest people in the world. They are very lucky. My son was not lucky.

PONCE: Soldiers we spoke with today who are serving in the Illinois National Guard are also happy about the president's announcement.

SPC. MICHAEL ROSE, ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD: It was a good feeling. Definitely a good feeling.

PONCE: Specialist Michael Rose from DeKalb served in Iraq for 10 months.

(on camera): You know a lot of people still serving over there?

ROSE: Yes, my sister unit is over there. They took over for us when we left. And they are, from what I hear, doing a great job.

PONCE (voice-over): More reaction today from families of soldiers serving in the Illinois National Guard.

Sandy Holz's son, Staff Sergeant Adam W. Smith returned home from his second deployment to Iraq last month.

SANDY HOLZ, SOLDIER'S MOTHER: I'm happy because a lot of families will be thankful their soldiers are coming home. We put on a sacrifice as well.

You know, our children are home during the holidays, home with us, getting on with their lives. But we're glad. We're glad that they're all coming home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks to Dan Ponce for affiliate WGN.

We are at 17 minutes past the hour now. And Americans now owe more on student loans than they do on credit cards? According to CreditKarma.com, we owe an average of $29,939 in student loan debt. Which state do you think is the highest?

That answer, and also my conversation with Clyde Anderson is right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty minutes past the hour now.

Before the break, we told you, Americans owe an average of more than $29,000 on student loans. But which state has the highest average level of student debt? Well, according to CreditKarma.com, it's Maryland with an average student loan debt of $33,000 plus.

Now, all of these loans add up to more than $1 trillion this year. That's more than Americans owe on credit cards.

College graduates, it's already tough enough. You got to worry about getting a job on this job market. And how in the world are you supposed to pay off these student loans?

Again, our financial analyst, Clyde Anderson here with us.

So, can they -- I mean, is this just like any other debt you have? A credit card or any --

CLYDE ANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No.

HOLMES: They'll come after you for it or they have more leeway?

ANDERSON: You have less leeway.

HOLMES: Less leeway.

ANDERSON: Student loan debt is the debt that you cannot get rid of. It will be with you until the day you die if you do not pay it off.

HOLMES: Wow.

ANDERSON: You cannot file bankruptcy. You cannot just get rid of it. It doesn't get away.

The government made sure that when they set up these federal programs to allow more people to go to college, they wanted schools and banks to feel more comfortable about doing these programs and lending, so they allow them to make sure that you just can't get rid of it.

HOLMES: Now they -- I mean, what is a kid supposed to do? You need a loan.

ANDERSON: Right.

HOLMES: But after the fact, don't you have options? Don't they try to work with you the best they can?

ANDERSON: They can. To make sure everybody understands, this is some of the lowest interest rate loans you can take. But you do have a certain time frame when you get out of college. Usually it's about nine months, six months in some cases. But you can work out repayment plans.

They're lenient with you. You just got to communicate with them. Whether it'd be an standard repayment plan, extended repayment plan, they're really working out based on your income. And so, you don't have to pay as soon as you get out. Sometimes, it can be six months. Sometimes, it could be nine months.

HOLMES: Now, that's an important point there because so oftentimes people want to run from debt, avoid the problem. Don't answer the phone. But this death is different. This is one time, you need to call and reach out because this is one they will help you with.

ANDERSON: They will help you with, because otherwise they can garnish your wages, they can sue you. And they can do a lot of things that really will hurt you or delay you from starting your life cycle.

So, you know, when you're thinking about that, you're coming out of school, you may not be able to pay. And so, you may not be able to buy a house. You may not be able to buy a car. Some people decided not to have children.

HOLMES: All right. So, help folks -- parents out there and students as well -- how do you know how much is the right amount? Everybody wants to go to that good school a little more expensive because that looks good on the resume, right? It's going to get me the job. How much are you supposed to take out?

ANDERSON: Well, it's really -- say about 10 percent of your pre-tax income of the John you're planning to get after graduation.

HOLMES: That's some planning. You got to think this thing through.

ANDERSON: You got to think it through and that's key.

HOLMES: Because I mean, some people -- if you're planning to be a counselor or a teacher, you got to realize, may that's going to decide which university I should go to and how much the loans I should really take out based on what that income is going to be on the other side.

And can I get a job? Like you mentioned right now. Will I be able to get a job in this profession before I take on this additional debt? And some people have decided to go back to school, take on $100,000 worth of debt and they can't find a job when they come out. And so, it becomes really difficult.

HOLMES: I hear those stories so many times of students -- undergrads, they say, yes, I'm going to grad school. I'm going to law school, to stay in school longer to see if the market gets better and they're piling on more debt.

ANDERSON: More debt that you can't get rid of.

HOLMES: Can't get rid of.

Clyde, my man -- Clyde Anderson, always good to have.

ANDERSON: My pleasure.

HOLMES: Thank you so much. Twenty-three minutes past the hour now.

And have you heard that the Iranian president, he is talking -- talking to CNN, talking about that alleged plot to kill a Saudi ambassador on U.S. soil. You'll hear more details in this CNN exclusive interview when we come back.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty-four minutes past the hour. Some of the stories making headlines this morning, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies reports his government was behind an alleged murder plot that had supposedly targeted Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, President Ahmadinejad went on to criticize American involvement in Libya, Syria and says the U.S. is hated in the Middle East.

Well, final arrangements are being made for Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Al Saud who died overnight in a New York hospital. The prince, one of the more visible members of the Saudi royal family, had reportedly been battling cancer the past few years. He is thought to be in his 80s. An exact cause of death has not been revealed.

Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Quick break. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Good morning, Atlanta.

Beautiful shot of the city where we reside. CNN world headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia.

T.J. Holmes coming to you from the CNN Center in downtown.

Give you a look at now of some of the stories that are making news across this country, including in South Florida, we'll start with the little guy. This is a drum prodigy, hard to even see him because he is playing for the Belle Glade High School band. Not even five feet tall and he's just 10 years old. The band director says the little guy is good enough to play right now with the high schoolers.

Also, these surfers, watch out out there. Another close call. This surfer might be thinking twice. You see that chunk? That's a 23-inch chunk out of Bobby Gum's surfboard. A shark expert says the bite suggests the shark was anywhere between 16 and 20 feet long.

Also, something extraordinary in Bloomington, Indiana -- Jennifer and Jessica Paterson. They're twins, but it just so happened the two twins gave birth on the same day. They say, of course, they didn't plan this out. Don't know exactly how you would. It just happened to happen that way.

But twin sisters giving birth on the same day. Congratulations to them both. I do appreciate you being here with us for this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'll be back with you as we continue at the top of the hour with more live news.