>> if you had a one last line on earth what would it be. >> suck it, everybody suck it. i'd be out. that's like my version of sea crest out. >> kathy griffin it has been horrendous. >> it is a nightmare. i miss you already. you are a nightmare, my friend. >> thank you very much. that's all for us tonight, thank god. > and in that case, there was a terrific principal at that we begin in afghanistan with the single deadliest loss for the u.s. in that country since the conflict began in 2001. 30 u.s. military personnel lost their lives in a helicopter crash in a mission earlier today. we are learning their names, where they are from and how their families will remember them but first the details on what happened. this is file video of the type of helicopter they were on. it is a ch 47 chinook. it had 25 special forces on

board. most of them navy s.e.a.l.s when the taliban apparently shot it down. let's go to pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. >> in the worst single incident of war in operation, 25 special forces members lost their lives many were from the unit that conducted the raid against osama bin laden, though none of the s.e.a.l.s on that mission were on this latest raid. a u.s. military source confirms the s.e.a.l.s were rapidly called in to assist another unit that had been pinned down in a fire fight in eastern afghanistan. the s.e.a.l.s came in on a chinook helicopter when they went down. the official said there are growing indications that it hit by enemy fire but a full investigation will be conducted. commanders and special operations and the navy are moving quickly to send assistance officers to the families and hometowns of those

lost offering as much information and assistance as they can. remains are expected at dover air force base, delaware, in the coming days. don? >> thank you very much. president obama was notified of the helicopter crash and released a statement that reads in part their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in afghanistan. there are nearly 100,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan right now. that's about two-thirds of the total alternate force. the u.s. special forces in afghanistan are a breed apart. retired army brigadier general mark kimmitt is joining us. what does this loss do to morale? >> anytime you lose a soldier in your unit it's going to affect morale. i think our soldiers, sailors, airmen and flooen marine who

have been fighting these wars the last ten years understand the most important thing you can do to honor the soldier is to buck up, ruk up and move out and continue the mission. >> is the taliban getting stronger just when the u.s. is beginning to draw down troop levels? >> it is trying to give that impression. whether or not that's the case is yet to be seen. i think we will know by the end of this fighting season. it may be the taliban see this as an opportunity, as the u.s. forces are drawing down, to give the impressioning they are getting stronger and stronger. what they need to confront, however, is the growing strength of the afghan security forces that will be confronting them. >> what lesson can the pentagon learn from this tragic loss? >> well, listen, anytime there's an accident -- anytime there's an aircraft mishap, there's going to be a thorough investigation done. that investigation is not only going to try to find out the cause of the accident, whether it was pilot malfunction, whether it was equipment

malfunction, whether it was a shootdown, and learn from that and incorporate that in to new tactics, techniques and procedures so that we can avoid it again in the future. >> general kimmitt, thank you very much. we appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> let's get more insight in to the s.e.a.l.s in today's tragic incident in afghanistan. chris hemmen is joining us now. is there anything unusual about this incident? she's chinook helicopters are 'reliable but slow moving. >> as a s.e.a.l. you are trained to the tip of perfection. you can say about yourself and your bufd dis with 99.9% certainty that once you get boots on the ground you are the master an commander of the situation. what you can't account for are the moments leading up to the insertion and on the way back. as s.e.a.l.s and special forces operators, those are the times we cringe.

we are putting our hands in the lives of the air crew and they can only control so much it's a very usual situation to be in. but precarious. we hate helicopter rides for that reason. we can't control that situation. it's terrible. >> but that is a technology that you are faced with and that so many of our service members are dealing with. i realize the navy s.e.a.l.s are trained for any and every possibility, but mr. heben, how would you say the comrades of those who died are doing right now? >> i will tell you what, it is definitely, it's definitely a hard thing for them to deal with right now, but knowing these guys like i do, they are already looking at getting back on the next platform, reinserting and taking it -- taking the fight back to to the enemy. it is a loss. we don't mourn each other in the ways that normal individuals do. we celebrate that person's life.

we feel tremendously terrible for the families f the wives, for the children, the parents. that's awful. but as warriors, we celebrate the lives of these individuals and the best way we can do that is by getting back to our jobs and never quitting. america, be assured, we are not going to quit. >> as well as they can, i would imagine the families of these s.e.a.l.s understand the dangers their loved ones face every day. >> that's correct. being a s.e.a.l. is hard. being the wife of a s.e.a.l. or the mother or son or daughter is extremely hard. at the end of the day when that s.e.a.l. goes off to do his job, you don't know if he's coming home. that is a rough job in and of itself. >> what can people -- what can request viewers do for these families? >> well, that's a really, really good question. people have been calling me all throughout the day, chris, what can i do?

i feel so helpless. here's what you can do log on to navys.e.a.l.foundation.com and make a donation. you can log on to wounded warrior project.org and make a donation. this money will get to these families right away. it will go to pay for funerals and to send their children to high school and college. it is probably the most important thing you can do today, right now as an american is donate to those organizations without question. >> all right, heben, if you can stand by. that's the website right there. chris heben was a navy s.e.a.l. for ten years. stand by and listen to the next interview, chris and i will talk to you on the other side because we know thoez those killed in action were heros, choosing to fight for their country. but now we are learning the details that hint at the devastation the families are feeling and we know aaron carson bond was the father of a

2-year-old and 2-month-old baby. his grandmother is joining me on the phone from union city, tennessee. we are deeply sorry for your loss and please convey that to your family. how did you learn aaron had been killed? >> miss vaughn, are you there? >> caller: yes. >> how did you learn that aaron had been killed? >> caller: his father, my son called me after he found out. at 8:00 this morning. >> did military officials tell you, or your son, anything about the attack and if the taliban were responsible? did they go in to that? >> no. all i know about is that the taliban shot the helicopter down that my grandson was in. >> can you tell us about aaron? he lived in virginia beach,

right? >> yes, he was stationed in virginia beach with his wife and two children. >> and he had a 2-year-old. >> a 2-year-old little boy. he will be 2 in september. and a 2-month-old baby girl. aaron only got to see her two weeks. he was deployed when she was 2 weeks old. >> and his wife. how's she doing. >> his wife kimberly. kimberly is with her parents right now in burke, virginia, with the children. she went there to stay until aaron came home from his deployment. >> we are looking at a picture of him on television now. the last time you saw and spoke to him, you had a very nice conversation with him. can you tell us about it? >> yes, i did. it was aaron's birthday. in june he turned 30. and i told him to be careful. and he said, granny, don't worry

about me. he said i'm not afraid because i know where i'm going if something happens to me. aaron was a christian. and he stood firm in his faith. >> and you said you know he's with the lord now. >> he's with the lord now. and i'll see him again someday. and that's -- that's what the family is standing now now is faith. we know god is in control. and we know that he took aaron for a reason. we don't know what, but we know that he took aaron for a reason and the rest of them, too. >> aaron knew the dangers and the last time you spoke to him, he said grandma don't worry about me. >> that's what he said. >> why did he say that to you? >> as a brave warrior, aaron was brave but yet he was a gentle man. he loved his family, he loved

his country and he was willing to give his life to protect his family and his country. he was a great american. >> yeah. listen, aaron and many like him go off to war and fight these wars for the american people, and they are the reason we are able to have many of the freedoms we have now. what do you say to the world who's listening about the sacrifices, not only that aaron made but all of our men and women in uniform make? >> i say pray for our military every day. hold them up to the lord and support them in any way that you can. pray for their families because the wife and the children are the ones that really have to be brave because when their husband goes away, they don't know if he's coming back or not. and this time aaron didn't. >> yeah. mrs. vaughn, are you going to be heading to dover? >> pardon me? >> are you going to head to

dover? >> to dover? >> yeah. >> oh, ye yes. yes. we're all going. we are all going when his body comes back. >> okay. mrs. vaughn, our thoughts and prayers really go out to you. we thank you for being able to come on tonight and say kind words about your grandson and about our men and women in uniform. stay safe and god bless you, okay. thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm going to go back to chris heben. we talked about the sacrifices of the families and the families are well aware of the danger but you don't want to get that phone call that that grandmother and father got. >> no. that is the worst phone call you will ever get in your life. i assure you. my mother spent many a sleepless night over me. my younger brother is currently serving in the u.s. army special forces. recently returned from an afghan deployment and my mom has spent

many a night wondering if she is going to get that telephone call. it is not a pleasant occurrence. >> everything that we're dealing with when we talk about the things that are going on in washington and quibbling over the debt ceiling, and all of those things. they are important but seem insignificant when you talk about the possibility of a loss of life? >> absolutely. we are getting more air play today as the s&p's downgrading us from a aaa to a aa a plus. when you think of what has happened in and around that it shouldn't be airing in my opinion. that is a back story. that's something the politicians need to figure it out and they need to figure it out quick but as americans we need to help these special forces community mourn these individuals and let's do it respectfully. i will have you know that probably a good percentage of the families of these guys that just lost their lives have not

even been contacted yet. so that's -- there's still a lot of families wondering is it me? it is us? it is happening to us, too. i want everyone to keep that in mind. this situation is so fresh, that a lot of families haven't been contacted yet. >> chris heben, thank you so much. we really appreciate it. and your expertise on this and the grandmother geneva carson vaughn. her grandson was aaron carson vaughn, the father of 2-year-old and 2-month-old and he died today in afghanistan. we'll go to break with that. much more here on cnn but as chris said this is more important. we have lost so many today, and this is one of our brave men and women in uniform who made the sacrifice for us. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station,

you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve. in one place. ♪ the race of your life you never ran. the trip around the world you never took. the best-selling novel you never wrote.

but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event, with exceptional values on the lexus es. but only until september 6th. see your lexus dealer. but it's not always easy. at regions, we have the tools and expertise to really help you find your balance. like the freedom to access and monitor your accounts anytime, anywhere with online and mobile banking. real guidance and solutions from a regions personal savings and debt review. plus, at regions, you'll get the award-winning service people are talking about. it's financial control - well, like you haven't had before. wow. ( bike bell) unbelievable. [ male announcer ] want to pump up your gas mileage? come to meineke for our free fuel-efficiency check and you'll say...my money. my choice. my meineke.

>> that's happened five times with five different governments. one did it within nine years. the longest took 18 years to get back to aaa. >> that is the global head of sovereign ratings from standard & poors on the dismal pro- pekts for the united states regaining the aaa rating. they downgraded the u.s. to a aa-plus rating and it could affect you. you could have to pay higher rates on credit cards and insurance and that's just for starters. this is days after the ugly battle over raising the debt ceiling ended, the deal that seemed to make almost no one happy. s&p says political gridlock is the reason it did this. pointing the fingers at the obama administration and congress. the report calls out the republicans in this section. it says compared with previous

projections our revised base case scenario now assumes the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts due to expire by the end of 2012 remain in place. we have changed our awe assumption on this because the majority of republicans in congress continue to resist any measure that will raise revenues, a position we believe congress reinforced by passing the act, meaning the debt ceiling deal. bring in poppy harlow to talk about this. who's left in the aaa club now the u.s. is out of it? >> you are right. we got booted out of the club 8:00 eastern time last night. it was 16 countries and now it is 15. we have have them we will pull them up on the screen for you. australia, canada, german ny, singapore, switzerland, the netherlands. you see them on the screen. even the isle of man, a tiny country off of the coast of the u.k. those are rated the pristine aaa

credit the united states is no longer part of that club. however, i want to put it in perspective. a aa-plus is not that bad. it rates us higher than a lot of other countries, higher than japan, china, much higher than brazil and india. when you put it in perspective, our debt is valued higher than the debt of those countries. an interesting note here, china is the biggest holder of our debt and almost half of the debt of this country is held by foreign entities. that's why it is a global story. it is not just about the united states. >> there's a lot of concern nation how they came up with with this. a lot of folks in washington saying they miscalculated. how did they come to the decision to downgrade the country's credit rating? >> there was a squabble last night when treezry and standard & poors about $2 trillion which

is a significant amount of money but in the end s&p said if our projections were off we think the debt to gdp ratio is unsustainable for the long term and therefore we do not think the country deserves a aaa credit rating. here's the five thing that's look at. the most interesting and spornt the political climate. we all know the bickering and acrimony in washington, the lack of getting a debt ceiling deal until the 11th hour was a big factor and how is the economy, from housing to jobs we know it is not strong. what's the fiscal situation? you led in to this talking about the bush tax cuts and whether they will be allowed to lapse or whether they will be continued. that's part of it. the external situation, how does the global economy look? it doesn't look great, especially when you look at the sovereign debt drive crisis in some european countries and the monetary policy, the fed.

when the decision was handed down just over 24 hours ago, politics was key. >> i want to know how much. because it appears s&p subpoena doesn't even agree with the debt ceiling deal and the agreement that lawmakers made to get out of this. how much was this based on politics? >> you know, it is hard to say how much, but i can tell you it is one of two key factors. the first was the fiscal road the country is on, the math, the way they crunch the numbers and the second was politics. politics may have been the leading sdichlgs i have the paper we read enwhen the decision came down. a lot of this is about politics in washington. i will pull up a statement that i think is emblematic of how disappointed they were with the way that lawmakers handled the debt ceiling debate. here's what they said the political brinkmanship highlights what we see as america's governance and policy

making becoming less stable, less effective and less predictable than we previously believed. they do not believe the way that politics is going in washington, as it relates to the economy is worthy of a aaa credit rating. that's a troubling thing. we have never seen our credit rating downgraded and the timing is interesting and important. it came after the market closed on friday. gives everyone a weekend to sort of breathe through this before the markets open in asia tomorrow night. we will see how it affects the stock market. as you were saying, this is economics, this is money, this is important but nowhere near the importance of all of those navy s.e.a.l. lives lost in afghanistan today. you have to put things in perspective. >> yeah. we don't know how this will work out, if it will affect the markets on monday and interest rates and all of that. they say it is but we will have to see. we have had a little time to digest it but then unchartered

territory. poppy harlow, thank you as always. five former or current police officers have been convicted in the danziger bridge in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. they were found guilty of civil rights violations. after the break i will speak to the mother of one man shot and killed on that bridge. it's a necessity. i find investments with e-trade's top 5 lists. quickly. easily. i use pre-defined screeners and insightful trading ideas to dig deeper. work smarter. not harder. i depend on myself the one person i do trust to take charge of my financial future. [ bell dinging ] [ bedistracted driving. ♪ [ disco ] it accounts for 25% of car crashes. and it's why the best agents help safe drivers get a lower rate. - exactly. - oh! [ announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

[ male announcer ] this is what it's like getting an amazing discount on a hotel with travelocity's top secret hotels. the easy way to get unpublished discounts of up to 55% off top hotels. harpist not included. ♪

in our partnership with essence magazine we go to new orleans. one of the darkest chapters from hurricane katrina is an incident on september 4, 2005 that became known as the pitch bridge killings. four were wounded by armed men who turned out to be new orleans

police officers. on friday, five of the former officers were found guilty of 25 counts of civil rights violations but not of murder. a short time ago i spoke to the mother of one killed on the bridge. he was 17-year-old james brissette. she does not believe justice has been served. >> i'm very hurt. i'm very hurt by this decision, by this jury's decision. he was my baby. he was my baby. he was very quiet. he was very passive. he grew up in a home with no cussing, fussing, fighting. he didn't hear none of that. our home life was very quiet. no stepparents over, none of that. so that's why he didn't know anything about fighting and all of that. i'm in the courtroom and i'm

looking at this picture where my child is as far against trying to get over the bridge for protection as far as he could. these officers leaned over the railing and sprayed my child with bullets. my child was in pieces. the part that hurts me is that after six years, all of this hard work and investigation, they are guilty for everything except the fact that we wasn't murdered he was just shot to death. i'm like what? i am sitting in the courtroom and i stopped breathing, my heart stopped beating and i stopped breathing and i'm like, yes, indeed. if you are hiding from me and i go out of my way to lean over, to search for you, find you and then shoot you, but you wasn't

murdered. you just was shot to death. i cannot understand that. i cannot understand that. >> why do 0 you think it is so important for you? why do you want to be there for the sentencing? >> because i want to know what kind of time they are going to get. i know what kind of time they gave -- my son. i want to know that justice will take your life and put you in the box. >> sentencing for the five former police officers is set for december 14th. new development from the troubled horn of africa, thousands dying, many children from lack of food and water. coming up, we take you inside of the crisis and show you what the u.s. is doing to help. . [ jon ] we don't just come up here for the view up in alaska.

it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. yeah! [ male announcer ] hurry in to crabfest at red lobster. the only time you can savor three sweet alaskan crab entrees all under $20, like our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake or snow crab and crab butter shrimp. [ jon ] i wouldn't put it on my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe, and i sea food differently. that's not going to satisfy you. come on. it's time for a better snack. try this. it's yoplait greek. it has two times the protein of regular yogurt. you'll feel satisfied. [ female announcer ] yoplait greek. it is so good. oh, and there's a smile. i've tried it.. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale

using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas.

[oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. in war torn somalia, the government is celebrating the first night in control of the capital in five years they announced the rebel group has pulled out of mow dee shoe. it is linked to al qaeda and report itly fled the capital after fighting with forces. success on the battlefield could

pave the way for aid groups to address the famine. united nations and international red cross say a horrifying number of people have been affected. the latest estimate, 29,000 children dead from lack of food and water in the last month alone. aid groups are pleased by a u.s. decision to relax sanctions against al shabab. earlier, i spoke to our senior state department correspondent elise abbott who explained how the decision could help humanitarian groups. >> any humanitarian group has had to pay taxes and tolls to al shabab to get the aid through and that is one reason why it is difficult. the they say no money, no u.s. aid can go to al shabab and if the it does these people can be prosecuted. secretary of state hillary clinton said we know how difficult it is to operate in these areas. the u.s. i doesn't want to make it more difficult. they are relaxing these

restrictions on humanitarian groups. if some aid inadvertently gets to al shabab. if they have to pay tooxs or tolls the u.s. will not prosecute as of now. >> does this mean the u.s. could be letting groups aid terrorists? >> well, no. what the u.s. is saying is there will be procedures in place to make sure as little aid as possible is going to be diverted. but at the same time they don't want to penalize the groups. how difficult it is to get money. this is one of the concerns about the somali american community. they are wiring home money and they want to get money to help families but they are worried it could be diverted to al shabab, al qaeda is affiliated with the group. senior state officials will be traveling to communities in minneapolis and seattle in the coming weeks to try to allay fears that they are not going to allow money to get to them, but they are going to be as lenient as noble terms of the restrictions.

>> that was elise labott reporting. somalia can test the survival skills of anyone with but were people with disabilities life can be unimaginely hard. students learn what it make takes to make their way in a dangerous world. we see why their world and their life there is in jeopardy. >> reporter: it's the children's break time. and although they are having fun showing us their favorite games. >> that is not good. >> this is more than just play time. >> who won this time? >> me. >> reporter: in war torn somalia's only school for the blind, playing is a matter of survival. in addition to braille, the children must learn to be aware of their surroundings and in a country where disabilities are viewed as a curse and the afflicted hidden away, they are learning to be proud of themselves and their gifts.

she is a budding poet who wants to grow up to be a professor. >> before i was not in school. only the girl -- now i learn something. i can do more things, which i never thought. >> reporter: there are no figures for how many blind children there are here but other than those blinded by war wounds, many somali children's blindness is reversible, if only the resources were available. six months ago, the founder of the school began to knock on the doors of families he knew who had blind children. he couldn't raise the funds needed for treatment but could try to ensure they were no longer locked away by their families. >> in somalia, there is not much known about blindness.

so the families, when their child gets blind they are kept on the bed, eating, drinking without doing nothing. >> reporter: to some parents it is a matter of protecting their children. for others in a country where every day is a struggle for survival, the burden is just too great. alie is 20 now and wants to learn english to be an interpreter but as a child he survived fending for himself on the streets of mogadishu. he can mimic and recognize the sounds of the distant weapons used. a talent that helped to save his life. helping him to engage the intensity of the fighting and how quickly he needed to reach shelter. >> i got to go to school. >> reporter: now he says the school is helping to change his life. >> i have learned more subjects.

>> reporter: but a bucket of worries they won't be able to do that much further. >> international agency, local agencies working on that issue. they are not interested. >> reporter: in a country where millions are starving, the aid agencies are understandable. but he hopes that someone will help him continue to give these children a purpose, not just give them aid. ♪ cnn, mogadishu. >> cnn will be sending more people to report on this. our chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta and anderson cooper will be live from somalia last week included will be an ac-360 report at 8 p.m. eastern on monday. and you can help with the crisis

too. to find out how, go to cnn.com/impact. our impact your world website will tell you what aid groups need and how to get in touch with them it is at cnn.com/impact. with new developments ou of syria, a major world figure acts to try to stop the bloodbath in the country. look at this. dramatic video inside of a missouri high school when a powerful tornado are ripped apart the city of joplin. you could save a bundle with geico's multi-policy discount. geico, saving people money on more than just car iance. ♪ geic aren't getting enough whole grain. but actually, it's never been easier to get the whole grain you want from your favorite big g cereals.

from cheerios to lucky charms, there's whole grain in every box. make sure to look for the white check. [ male announcer ] this is what it's like getting an amazing discount on a hotel with travelocity's top secret hotels. the easy way to get unpublished discounts of up to 55% off top hotels. harpist not included. ♪

we want to get you caught up on the headline. u.s. troops in afghanistan have suffered their deadliest single incident since the war began. 30 american troops died early today when their helicopter crashed during a mission in the province wardak. this is file video of the type of helicopter they were on, a ch 47 chinook. it had 25 special forces on board, most of them navy s.e.a.l.s. ban ki moon has called the country's president to plead with him to stop the violence. he called be ail assad to express his strong concern over the rising death toll. the syrian observatory for humanitarian rights estimates 2,000 people have died in the unrest. look at the pictures. more coming oup on cnn on cnn in the upcoming days.

british police are trying to stamp out the riots in totten. some loots shops and stores. the violence exploded after a crowd marched on a police station, angry over the death of a 29-year-old local man. police reportedly killed the father of four during an anti-firearms operation. more to come on cnn. looks like a horror film but it is real-life video from a tornado that tore a path of destruction through joplin last may. cameras captured it on video as it battered the campus. the tornado badly damaged the school and destroyed a big part of job joplin. 150 people died. the u.s. no longer has perfect credit. for the first time ever the s&p took the country's top rating down a peg. up next, we take a look at what that means to you. ck's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one!

[ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

man on tv: ...rbis and 36 homers. swings at the first pitch and fouls it deep back into the stands. [ding] [fans whirring] announcer: chill raw and prepared foods promptly. one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. it could have done a few things. it could have raised the debt ceiling in a timely manner so much of the debate would have been avoided. as it had done 60 or 70 times

since 1960 without that much debate. >> looks like the damage is done from the battle over the debt ceiling. that was the head of the sovereign rating committee at standard & poors, the agency that has stripped away the aaa credit rating for the u.s. for the first time in history the u.s. has been downgraded to aa+. the political climate is one of the factors in this but there were five factors that the s&p considered. it looked at the state of the u.s. economy, which is not in good shape right now. taxes were a factor. the debt ceiling, deficit reduction plan, call for new no taxes at all and then the external situation, the global economy, also very bumpy. final factor was monetary policy, meaning federal reserve decisions on interest rates. >> no more debt. i think standard & poors made a great point the united states government and their politicians when they said to you, hey, you

guys are not getting your act together. >> all right. as you just heard, not everyone is disinging the downgrade of the u.s. credit rating. are there any positives to this negative turn the to american history? and how will a double a plus rating affect your family's bottom line. we will get more from chris. good evening. do you agree? >> i love it. i love it. i think this is a great thing. it finally makes us face our medicine. no mary poppins, no spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down but we have to deal with the fact that we have to get the fiscal house in order. >> how will the average family be affected? will this affect our daily lives? >> it depends. if you have a lot of credit card debt you may see your rates bump up a bit. that is if interest rates are

affected but we don't know what will happen on monday. still a lot of money has been flowing to the united states and everyone knows we have a dire fiscal situation. everyone knows we are $14 trillion plus in debt we haven't passed a budget in over 800 days at this point in time. it may not affect it at all as far as interest rates. a lot of this stuff is priced in. and the average family i don't think will be affected much at all. >> if you are thinking of refinancing your home, or buying a home, should you hurry up and do it? or do we not know? >> well, i missed it wrong. i thought i was getting a good deal a couple of years ago when i refinanced at 4.8% but i could have done better than that. last week we saw the lowest rate in history. you want to get the lowest rates as possible and you want to get the credit card debt paid off but for the average family out there, monday morning you are not going to see any type of

change. >> what should investors do or not toad do on monday morning, not going to see much change so hold on and be patient? >> i have seen more people lose money by reacting to situations rather than sitting back and taking a deep breath and taking it in than people who made bad decisions regarding asset allocations or stock picking. you don't want to jump and say, i heard some guy on the business program say do this so i will do this. if you have your financial plan done the right way and you have a goal sen trick portfolio, none of this will matter. unless you think that mad max will be coming down the pike and we will be living in tuna fish cans and store tg gold bars in the backyard, you are going to be fine. get your financial plan done the right way and sit this one out. >> i have to ask you this. everyone says invest, invest. you have to go to the market long term. so the market is tanking right

now. is that good advice? is there somewhere else people should be putting their money in to? should they put it in to real estate, gold? is there something else besides the market. a lot of people don't have faith in the markets right now and it is understandable. >> it is understandable but if you look at the markets over the long term. when i say markets, i include commodities like gold and food and there's various other things. your portfolio has to be built around you. you shouldn't have everything in one stock or one sector or all stocks. real estate should play a part if you are getting positive cash flow from something like that. >> what about cold old fashioned savings account. >> you are losing money. if you put money in a good old fashioned savings account what are they paying you, nothing inflation is higher than that. if you stick in a savings account you are losing rather than saving. >> it is better than a negative when you get your portfolio back and say i put in $10 and now i

have $5. what happened? all right. >> you have companies out there, exxon, all of these companies with aaa credit rating at this point in time. they are paying nice yields and good dividends and does anyone thinker in going anywhere. >> that's a final word. thank you, sir. have a great evening. >> got it. plenty of people helped this breast cancer survivor and she is paying it forward. we will tell you how. ♪ that "old flame" you should have called. ♪ that leap of faith you never took. but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event, with exceptional values on the lexus is. but only until september 6th. see your lexus dealer. but only until september 6th.

naturals from delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. that's not going to satisfy you. it's time for a better snack. here, try this. it's yoplait greek. it has two times the protein of regular yogurt. you'll feel satisfied. [ female announcer ] yoplait greek. it is so good. it's pretty good! it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. yeah! [ male announcer ] hurry in to crabfest at red lobster. the only time you can savor three sweet alaskan crab entrees all under $20, like our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake or snow crab and crab butter shrimp. [ jon ] i wouldn't put it on my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe, and i sea food differently. oh, we call it the bundler. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online...

[ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. sort of like two in one. how did you guys think of that? it just came to us. what? bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today. any questions? no. you know... ♪ we're not magicians ♪ we can't read your mind ♪ ♪ read your mind ♪ we need your questions ♪ each and every kind ♪ every kind ♪ will this react with my other medicine? ♪ ♪ hey, what are all these tests even for? ♪ ♪ questions are the answer ♪ yeah ♪ oh

more than quarter million women are living in this country that have been diagnosed with breast cancer before their 41st birthday. debbie cantwell is one of them. she was fortunate to have a husband and family as a support system. >> when i was diagnosed with breast cancer my kids were really young and i was working full time. we were struggling. whenny i add hospital bills and medication costs, it throws your world upside down. my husband took care of me and the kids. my parents and my friends did everything for me. through treatment i was meeting women who didn't have it as easy as me. all of these people were there for me and i couldn't pay everybody back so i decided to pay it forward. i'm debbie cantwell and i provide care for women suffering with breast cancer. we send out restaurant, grocery,

subway gift cards and house cleaning services. >> i was bottoming out emotionally and all of a sudden i can buy diapers and get food. >> a card. look at that. >> it is so much more than just tangible things. it's hope. i help young women that can't wait for a cure. they are sick and they need help today. >> hi, rachel. how are you? did your grocery ares come? >> i just got them. appreciate it. it is such a huge help. >> they are my sisters and i would honestly do anything to help them out. i take it really personally. it is hard when i lose somebody but it is just part of the job. i'll probably die of breast cancer someday but i want to make the most of the time i have by doing some good in the world and being the best i can for whatever time i have left. >> since 2008, debbie's

organization has provided practical and financial assistance to 150 women with breast cancer. remember, cnn heros are chosen from people you tell us about. to nominate someone, go to cnn heros.com. stay with us. we'll be right back. -having her is amazing. -we made a miracle. and we got onesies! sometimes miracles get messy. so we use tide free. no perfumes or dyes for her delicate skin. brad. not it. not it. just kidding. that's our tide. what's yours? i grew up wearing lots of hand-me-downs. bell bottoms in the '80s? not pretty. then she found them. she loved them, so i washed them in tide with downy and they're still soft and fresh. right? i'm blogging. really. i'm talking. that's my tide. what's yours? vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003.

u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve. personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke.

if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, lucille ball would appreciate the gathering of the lucy look alikes in her hometown. 950 of them set a record for the most lucys in one place at one time it is part of a weekend celebration of her 100th birthday. she died in 1989 at the age of 77. her legacy and tv history endures. all of us have a favorite episode and some are true classics, unforgettable moments that connect young and old and anyone who has ever seen them will never forget them. here's one of our favorites.