makes a compelling argument. if you want to read it free, go to our web side, cnn.com/gps. we have a link there. do the more traditional thing and pay for it. thank you for being part of the program. i will see you all next week. tonight, finally an ants. nearly two decades after he we aren't missing in the iraqyi desert, the remains of a soldier has been found. beginning of the end, an economic turnaround in its infansy. but how long until you get a job? caught in the storm how is he

doing? what went wrong? plus, compose ing frombeyond. two compositions gathering dust for centuries come alive because we finally know who wrote them. i'm don lemon. his face has been in question for near will two decades. today the pentagon is confirms the remainses of michael "scott" speicher has been found. he was shot down the first night of "operation desert storm." then defense secretary dick cheney and colin powell made the announcement. they later changed his status to missing in action. over the years there had abnumber of alleged speicher

sightings. then just last month an iraqi civil yags came forward and said he had been buried by desert dwellers. just a short time ago we received a written statement from the a family. their statement goes on to say -- the discovery means the long years of waiting and wondering are finally over. >> it's a bittersweet ending. you know, you always hope that

he's going to be found alive, yet on that end, if he was found alive, look what he missed. of course there was always speculation that he was, you know, tower further, beaten, you know, so like i said, it's bittersweet. >> and speicher's widow eventually married. senator nelson says he spoke with the family today after the remains were positively identified. >> i spoke to buddy harris at lengths this morning, and he is -- the whole family is just so grateful the navy stayed on this. the navy has been very responsible in this, because after all, a mistake was made.

we walked away from a downed pilot. it was done by mistakenly declaring him dead and he didn't go search for him. that was a mistake. that is very important we never repeat that again. >> if you were watches the gulf war as it unfolded in 1991, you may recall anchor bob kane breaking the news to the world. >> the pentagon has identified a united states navy pilot as apparently the first u.s. serviceman missing in a. in the persian gulf war. he is lieutenant commander michael speicher. his plane went down before dawn yesterday. his's married with two young children, assigned to the uss saratoga. why his official status changed several tapes, here's cnn's fredricka whitfield. >> reporter: his f/a-18 hornet

was shot down on the first night. >> as of 0900 this morning washington time there's been a single american aircraft lost. >> clearly today as if it would have just happened, i remembered on the recovery commander anderson get down from the jet and telling me he thought we lost spiicher. >> reporter: for 18 years, his fate was unknown. there were many false leads. in 1993, the wreckage of his plane was found, but no body. after the u.s. invaded iraq in 2003, speicher's initials were found carved in the wall of an iraqi prison, leading to speculation he might have survived. nothing panned out, but family maebs and friends worked to keep the investigation alive. >> we're here in washington,

d.c. trying to make sure that the search never stops until he's found. i think we owe him that and much more. >> reporter: finally last months marines spoke to an iraqi in anbar province who said he saw speicher buried. he was flown to dover air force base in delaware for possibly identification. captain speicher is survived by two children, toddlers when he disappeared, but now this college. fredricka whitfield, cnn. many people never gave up believing that captain speicher was still alive in iraq. they formed a group called friends working to free scott speicher. we'll speak to them in about 30 minutes. the swiss ambassador is trying to get more information on three americans. the swiss embassy represents u.s. interests in iran, because

the u.s. and iran have no diplomatic relations. three americans apparently strayed to iraqi territory. last might one mother spoke to cnn radio. >> my husband and i are eager for the best welfare for our son josh and the other two xan yoons he's with. that is our only concern, his welfare and the best conditions for him. >> a fourth american hiker from the group is at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. he didn't go hiking with the others, because he felt sick. also in iran, a top opposition leader and former president are blasting the mass trials of nearly 100 heen.

former president mahmud -- is calling the trials unconstitutional and uninsult to iran and islam. among those being tried are former government ministers, members of the reformist political parties, and a correspondent. they say that with caution, but their optimism is tempered by concerns about the growing budget deficit and the potential need for tut tax hikes. kate bolduan has more. >> reporter: his administration touting the week's positive economic news as evidence their efforts are succeeding. >> most private forecasters

think that it will turn positive before the end of the year. >> people are talking about whether it will turn into a depression and talking about when it's going to end. that's a real accomplishment. >> reporter: while republicans agree the economic signs are encouraging, many say it's no thanks to the obama administration or the stimulus package. >> i bloif it's in spite of the prescriptions. i think we're seeing the inherent resilience of the american economy and the american people. >> reporter: as the white house trying to paint a rosy economic picture they're also carefully try to go manage expectation. timothy geithner says americans face tough choices ahead in order to reduce the federal deficit, and larry summers, the president's top economic adviser won't rule out a middle-class tax increase down the road. >> no taxes for middle incomes -- >> there's a lot that can happen

over time, but the priority right now, so never a good idea to absolutely rule things out, no matter what. >> but an economic rover may be further away than the white house hopes says joseph steiglich. >> i think it's too premature to be confident about a recovery and very premature to be confident about a robust recovery by early next year. kate bolduan joins us from the white house. republicans and democrats are at odds about the economy, is there any common ground that they agree upon today? >> reporter: well, following reports that more than a million americans could lose their benefits by the end of the year, administration officials say they're carefully extending those benefits further, working

with congress, and today republicans today seemed to signaling their report. so there's one point of agreement. >> that's a last resort for a lot of people. thank you, kate. more on politics and the economy at the bottom of the hour poppy harlow and bill schneider will join me to talk about washington as response to this recession and where we go from here and if we're in a turnaround as the administration has been saying. we'll have the second 100 days of the obama administration been days of change or frustration? cast your vote at cnn.com/reportcard, and get the results at thursday night. the man who allegedly sparked a bomb scare has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination. police say scott mcgann was arrested with a backpack karen

wires, batteries and a trigger attached to it. it sparked suspicion and led to a large-scale evacuation. laguardia was shut down and thousands of passengers had their travel plans disrupted. he's charged with place ago falls bomb in a mass transcription facility. still ahead, it is a box that contains a gift of democracy, why landering, pank andive hold the future for afghanistan. and was it a hate crime? and later, you know it's hot and dry outside when people are praying for rain. jacqui jeras tells us about her hot trip to texas.

it has been a deadly weekend of fighting in afghanistan. three american troops were killed today. in july, 75 troops were killed in afghanistan, the deadliest month for international troops since the u.s.-led invasion in 2001. at afghans prepared for this month's presidential election it's worth $223 million to make sure the process runs smoothly. cnn's ivan watson is in kabul

and shows us the new multimillion dollar kit. >> this is just a piece of the operation. it's a $223 million procedure. what is being put together? election kits. it shows you the complications are trying to put on an election. lanners in each kit, because much of afghanistan does not have electricity. how are you going to count ballots? security tape, batteries,ive, and then secure ties, locks to make sure that will diminish the amount of possible fraud, and then thinks bins going across afghanistan. because transcript is different in this country they're using also from trucks to helicopters, airports, even donkeys.

more that 3,000 to distribute these ballots. counting the ballots will take weeks, and there's another sure, the security challenge. there is a raging taliban insurgency in the south and east of the country, and election officials say up to 10% of the 7,000 polls stations are not secure enough right now for vote to go take place there. ivan wantson, kabul. after two teenagers were shot dead at a center for gay youth last night, hundreds of people showed up for the funerals. meanwhile police are looking for the shooter who witnesses say was wearing a mask of the protesters are condemning the attack on their freedom. >> we didn't expect such a murderous attack. this is the first time something like that is happening in israel, and we are not goods to

sit and let this pass away. we're going to fight for our freedom. >> police are treating the shooting as a hate crime. prime minister netanyahu has called for respect and tolerance, and he is promising justice in this case. two american filmmakers were hurt in a plane crash in kenya. the pilot did not survive. it happened over a residential area. people say the plane was flying unusually low just before it slammed into a three-stow apartment building. one of the passengers was thrown from the plane, because they were filming with the doors open. an engineer is in a coma. no one on the ground was hurt. the cause is being investigated. still ahead a massachusetts mom finds her own child for sale on craigslist. you won't believe this one. and death at a canadian music festival. what caused this outdoor stage to collapse and a movie star was just about to go on stage when

it all happened. nds said we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates, apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price. how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that? [ chuckles ] wow! good luck getting your remote back. it's all right -- i love this channel. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

all right. imagine pointing and clicking through the internet ads only to discover a grinning for theo of your own baby boy smiling back at you from a craigslist adoption lists. one massachusetts mom says it happened to her. >> out of the blue, some girl e-mailed us and said i think you should know that someone is using his picture in an adoption scam.

>> jenny brennan thinks his picture was listed from his family blog and used a tool in an international adoption scheme. they claim he's canadian-born but living in an african orphanage. sad silence. on the last day of a country music festival in canada after an outdoor stage collapsed, one person is dead, about 75 orders are injured, some critically. ticketholders describe a panicked dash. >> it means we get access to the show on stage. from 20 feet on the stage, it collapsed out of nowhere, and literally it flashes, just -- next thing i know there's like concrete and something on top of my back, i can't see a thing.

all i'm doing is yelling for my sister. it was awful. i thought my life was ending, because it was completely dark and black. i could honestly say if i wasn't as thin ass, i wouldn't have gotten out. it was a tiny hole i crawled through, and i said to jump. it was a serious part of my life. >> kevin costner and his band were about to take the stage when the stage toppled. costner is okay after reportedly wiggling out from under the wreckage, but two of his bandmates are among those hospitalized. when you look at that video and the mangled mess, it's surprising that more people weren't hit. straight-line winds? >> yeah, straight-line damaging winds. you've been to an outdoor concert, football or baseball game or summer festival. so many people don't think about severe weather safety rules when you're in a place like that. you think, yeah, at home, i have

my plan and go to a basement, but what i do when i'm out? you know, go to maybe a baseball game, a stairwell if it's covered in is a good place. inside a bathroom is an announcement if the skies are becoming dark. >> if you see it coming, then go elsewhere is probably the pecs thing to do. they got lots of rain and the wind, but in texas they could use the rain, because it is so bone-dry there. >> yeah, it really is. so much of the state is until an extreme drought. just got back from texas, had the opportunity to faulk with a cattle rancher and cotton familiarer. they've always been dealing with problems from mother nature years over years over years, but this time people who make their living off the land are worried not only about a bad year, but

having to given it up they're possessions all together. >> the status of the ranch is sort of on hold. we have 44, 45 more days to try to figure out what we're going to do for the next year. if we don't have any rain, we're kind of in a holding pattern until we give up somewhere around the first of october. >> huey is one of many texas cattlemen who may have to sell off the herd in order for his ranch to survive. he's already sold a fifth of the cattle, because he can't afford to feed them in. in good years they agree on hay and corns from his own field. but this year he's had to resort to protein pellets. >> you can start counting ribs. >> reporter: the drought is

considered exceptional. there's been no significant rain for nearly a year, and searing temperatures are drying up the water supply. how high is this usually? >> usually up to about here. this is usually the waterline. >> hueys says he's lucky. many of his neighbors have no water at all. >> the cotton crop is even worse. while these have reached maturity, they're very poor. these plans should be so thick thatished wall through the rows. >> this is the bezel 0 aches and the worst i've grown in eight years. >> cotton is usually his cash crop. the corn is no better. >> this ought to be up here, and this ear ought to be up here. >> he'll year about 15 percent.

>> is this depressing? yeah, it's sickening. >> he's counting on crops pay jot. a federal emergency disaster fund was approved in 2008, but so far nobody has gotten any money. severe drought is gripping nearly half of the state. the agriculture commissioners says the consequences will be felt nationwide. >> this economic crisis and this drought are only compounding and matter matters worse. if we don't see immediate action for some relief, it will impact the long-term security of our nation's food supply. >> for huey, the money can't come soon nur. in the meantime, he's praying for rain. but, you know, he's actually really kind of the eternal optimist, and he hopes to be able to pull through it. it's been his lifelong dream to be a farmer. >> the karn stalkings dry. the first thing i thought about

was fire. have they been dealing with fire? >> yeah, matt himself lost a few hundred acres this year. they're hoping for a tropical system, believe it or not, to help out. >> and thank you very much. have we hit bottom when when it comes to the economy? what former fed chief alan greenspan has to spay. that sounds good, doesn't it? we'll hear a performance of newly discovered pieces by mozart. that's right, i said newly discovered, by mozart. so what do you think?

i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. there are encouraging signs that the economic free fall has hit rock bottom. so how do you start climbing back up? treasury secretary timothy

geithner says uncle sam might have to dig deeper into your pocket. >> recovery will not be strong and sustained unless we can convince the american people that we're going to have the will to bring the deficit down once the recovery is firmly established. >> so taxes aren't the only economic cloud lingering. millions of americans are worried about getting a job or keeping the one that they already have. poppy harlow is in new york with us. unemployment rates are on track to keep climbing, so this really doesn't feel like a recovery for a lot of people, probably for most people. >> not at all done. the unemployment tells less than half the story. more than 6.5 million jobs lost in this recession alone. when you look at the job losses last month alone, it's near

500,000. so you're looking at tough numbers. the scarier part, don, is the story featured on the front page of the "new york times" today, and it is the fact that come september and come the gnaw, about 1.5 million americans will lose their unemployment benefits and very likely won't have a job anymore. that's the harsh reality. you know, don, in the stimulus package, we got an extension of those benefits. in some states you get 79 week. that's not enough. a lot of people go a year, year and a half without finding work, and that's a major problem. there's a lot of calls to congress, especially now saying, what are you going to do? are you going to extend those unemployment ben foits a you will of us? what will you do? and fed chairman -- former fed chairman alan greenspan addressed the issue, speaking on the weekend talk shows. listen to what he had to say,

quickly. >> the unemployment rate is going to continue to rise, but more slowly than it's been. we'll continue to have job loss, but that's slowing as well. >> so, don, he said it's slowing, but the issue is we're going to lose more jobs. >> thank you for that. pop,will be back with us at 7:00 and will have a deeper conversation about this. president barack obama is earning a bit of praise from a republican rival. senator john mccain told cnn john king he's doubtful that the winning streak will last. >> the passage of a stimulus package and the huge deficit associated with that i think harmed their ability to move forward with health care, because that's another trillion in the view of the cbo, so that gave them a certain handy can,

but i think the other aspect of it is that the president has laid out some ideas, so i think the president has to be more specific in the when we come down to exactly what these proposals are. >> let's talk to our senior political analyst mr. bill schneider. hello, bill. >> hi, don. >> the president and congress will be on the road this august. who are the voters they're trying to persuade here? >> there's going to be a big lobbying efforts. it's the great rescue plan to save the reform package, and they'll be targeting the voters who are the satisfied majority, the americans who say they're happy with their health care and they're satisfied with their health insurance. they like the idea of reform, because they want people who don't have it to get health insurance. they want to control costs and inflation, they want to be sure that they'll be able to keep what they have, but they're

worried that somehow this big trillion health care plan will limit their choices and make things more experience up. >> we get a lot of responses, you know this from viewers. is this really the biggest issue to voters? >> no. >> people are still work about what pop,just reported. the sex most important concern to people is government. >> then who has the advantage he here. is it congress or the president of the united states? >> the president of the united

states. he was elected with the mandate for change. he's popular even though there's spreading doubts about his program and policies. he's going to be out there on the trail, and trying to reassure the satisfied majority of voters that nothing terrible is going to happen to them. >> the president is the best salesman around for what he's trying to sell. >> bill, stick around. he'll be with our poppy harlow as well. have the second 100 days of the obama administration been days of change? frustration? what? cast your vote at cnn.com/recordcard, then get the results on the national report card, write it down, thursday

night, 8:00 p.m. eastern. it has taken nearly two decades, but the remains of the first american officer shot down in the first iraq war has finally been found. we'll take you back there when it happened and tell you how we got to here. still ahead, a closer look at his close friends and talk to them who never gave up searching for him.

we're going to have more on the developing story. the remains of the first american officer shot down in the first gulf war have been positively identified. an iraqi citizen told u.s. forces in iraq where to find the crash site. u.s. navy capitaling michael "scott" speicher was shot down. the latest announcement by the pentagon in 18 years of speculation that speicher may have survived that crash. captain speicher's family and friends agonized for nearly two decad decades. joining me his close friend miriam novelly, and jim stafford. both join us live from jacksonville, florida. >> good evening. >> thank you so much for joining us.

the past couple hours i would imagine have been unbelievable to you. >> yes, they have. >> tell us what you have been dealing with. >> a lot of phone calls, an emotional roller coaster, but glad there's a conclusion to this. >> ms. novelly, you want it's been a roller coaster not just the past couple hours and days, but really the past 18 years. >> you had not given up. >> correct. we wanted answers and a conclusion. >> what is the website, mr. stafford? is it still up? >> currently we've taken the website down as a group, we just -- the amount of time involved in the effort got to be too much for everybody. we did take the website down. we felt like the information

and -- we had done our jobs as far as getting the word out about scott, we knew his fate was in good hands with his family and the military and their efforts to find him. >> you believe he could possibly have been alive for all this time, and hearing now about this -- the bed bedouins group that -- >> we knew all along he wasn't accounted for that night, and it left a lot of open questions when the search was made at the crash site, it was controlled. a lot of information came out that we were privy to that indicated he was captured, was alive. still a lot of unanswered questions now to when he was there, or when he ened up where

he did. that's where we're at right now. we're heading for the closure. we can't change the circumstances. >> he has two kids? >> right. >> how are the kids doing? how old are they now? >> both kids are in college. all indications are they're doing extremely well. >> have you spoken to the family? >> not recently. we've been in constant contact for a period of time, it's been a little while. i guess about a year ago we were getting false leads on his whereabouts and information, but as of recent, we haven't spoken to him. >> talk to me, ms. novelly, how you want him to be remembered? >> his loyalty to his country that he served and that any american that serves is going to

get the same, that their country is going to do for them that they did for scott, that they won't give up. >> that's exactly the sentiments that came from the family, said they hoped this prevented another of our service men and women from being left behind. i'd like to thank both of you this evening for joirching us. we appreciate you talking about your friend. >> thank you. a u.s. soldier is electric roe cute indeed iraq, now u.s. senators want the contractor who did the work to pay the price. and you have to see this to believe it. a new type of prosthetic arm, so nimble that users can play jenga.

all right. this one is for au you lovers of classical music. two nully discovered compositions by mozart are getting a public hearing.

the pieces were found in the mozart lie brea, part of a well-known man you skript of his earliest work, considered anonymous creations before scholars took a closer look and were stunned to find out who wrote them. here's a portion of the second one. mozart began playing the piano when he was 3, and begin composing music at the age of 5. scholars believe mozart wrote these pieces when he was just 7 or 8 years old. by the time mozart died, he had written more than 600 pieces of music. grabbing a bottle and taking a drink seems like a very simple task, but for some amp pewees, it can be almost impossible, until now. gary tuchman show us a new

prosthetic arm that you have to see to believe. >> reporter: chuck hill dret lost years ago in an electrical accident. he hadn't used a drill since. now he can, and unlatch a door chain, and even play jenga. can he do all of these amazing things thanks to the deca arm, a sophisticated prosthesis created by famed segway inventor dean kaemon. it started when darpa awanted something new for troops who lost an arm on the battlefield. >> the first time we met with darpa, we want an arm that can do this, this, this, and this and we told them you're nuts. until we started this project most people would have said this is the state of the art, basically a plastic tube with the hook on the end of it and our goal was to replace that

technology with something as a full hand with an opposed thumb and all fingers. >> the deka arm still in development. the most recent design weighs about the same as a human arm and can lift up to 20 pounds. the wrist and fingers are controlled by electronic monitors worn on the user's shoulder and sensors inside the shoes. he thinks he's only a few years away from delivering the device to veterans and other amputees and most valuable volunteer chuck hildreth. >> okay, you can let go now. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn. gary, thank you, this in from cnn from the president of the united states about the remains of captain michael "scott" speicher. the news that captain speicher's remains have been recovered is a reminder of the self-less service that led him to make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. as with all our servicemen and women considered missing in action, we remain steadfast in

our determination to bring our american heroes home. i am grateful to the marines who pursued the information that led to captain speicher's recovery so that he can now come home. my thoughts and prayers are with his family and i hope that the recovery of his remains will bring them a needed sense of closure. that is from the president of the united states on the remains of captain michael "scott" speicher being found in the iraira iraqi desert. u.s. soldiers electrocuted due to faulty construction. the contractor was paid millions. now there are questions of accountability and a push to return some of that money. between an environment at risk

and an environment in balance. between consuming less and conserving more. there is one important word: how. and it is the how that makes all the difference. to the planet we all share. announcer: some people buy a car based on the deal they get. - others buy the car of their dreams. - ( beeps ) during the lexus golden opportunity sales event, you can do both. it's an opportunity today. it's a lexus forever. special lease offers now available on th. special lease offers so, april... yeah? you know, your charger is still using energy when it's plugged into the wall, right?

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well, bullets, bombs, the threat of kidnappings, those are the obvious dangers u.s. troops deal with when they go off to war, but there is one enemy they

never thought they'd have to face, faulting contracting work. now some u.s. lawmakers want a top contractor to pay the price. now let's turn it over to cnn's abbi boudreau from our special investigations unit with a full report on this. >> reporter: u.s. contractor kbr received $83.4 million in bonus payments for electrical work it performed in iraq during the past several years. now, there's a push for kbr to give that money back. >> these are just absolutely stunning conclusions about failures by kbr as well as failures by our government. >> u.s. senators bob casey and byron dorgan joined sergeant ryan mesa's mother at a news conference. her son was a highly decorated green beret who was electrocuted in his shower on a u.s. base near baghdad last year. the senators harshly criticized both the defense department and houston-based kbr, the top contractor specifically named in

the ig report. they are now demanding that dod officials take back the $83.4 million in bonus payments the army handed out to kbr for the work it performed in iraq. >> the question for us is, when will there be accountability? accountability that requires contractors to measure up, and how do we get that from both the pentagon and contractors? we're not going to let go of this, because something's dreadfully wrong here. >> the inspector general's report found that a water pump installed by kbr was not properly grounded, leading to sergeant mesa's electrocution after it short circuited. the inspector general also found that electrical conditions are still dangerous for u.s. soldiers at war, even in afghanist afghanistan. ryan mesa's mother talks to soldiers who are still getting shocked. >> we need to focus on the safety of the troops and electrical conditions in

afghanistan and i do know firsthand that our troops are continuing to be shocked even in showers in afghanistan. i still have contact with a lot of soldiers on the ground over there. >> earlier this week a kbr spokesperson told us that "while the death of staff sergeant mesas was tragic," kbr maintains it was not responsible for his death or other electrocutions. they say the building was a preexisting building and not properly grounded by contractors who built the structure in the first place. kbr also told cnn "the senators are wrong in their assertions that we have been derelict in our duties to protect the troops." two wrongful death lawsuits were filed against kbr by families of electrocuted soldiers. this week kbr was dismissed from a lawsuit in one of the deaths. the lawsuit by ryan mesa's family is still in court. abbie boudreau, cnn, atlanta.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello, everyone. i'm don lemon. call them green chutes, signs of optimism, whatever you want. there's some evidence, some of it anecdotal that the nation's economy has turned a corner and the worst of this recession may, may be over, some of it from alan greenspan, former federal reserve chairman, he believes there's a good chance the worst is behind us. >> i'm pretty sure we've already seen the bottom. in fact, if you look at the weekly production figures, various different industries, it's clear that we've turned perhaps in the middle of last month, the middle of july. >> so let's talk about the economy and the evidence that things are getting better here, with poppy harlow of cnnmoney.com. >> hi, don. >> he thinks we've hit bottom, somewhere in the