life and why time may be running out. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the sinking feel is back on wall street. the breaking news this hour. all major stack indices with the dow down 500 points. once again, we saw dramatic fluctuations over the course of the trading day. one analyst says, and i'm quoting, fear and greed are driving this frantic cycle of buying and selling and that's costing investors trillions of dollars on paper. joining us now, richard quest. what is going on in europe right now that could drive down wall street so quickly, so dramatically. tt markets are feeding on themselves. the problem in europe concerned france and fears that france may lose its own aaa rating. that has been denied by the rating agencies. and secondly some french banks may be in trouble. they came out and said rumors were founded, but it doesn't really matter in this market. the rumors were a toll was taken. europe fed into the u.s. the u.s. fed back to europe. and this vicious downward spiral continued and will continue until there's some form of bottom reacheded. >> what does that mean? bottom reached? can we expect this decline, the dow jones has gone down near ly 2,000 points and a lot of american investors can't take it. >> same in europe. the dax in germany was down 5%. markets will top falling when either stocks become so cheap somebody comes in to buy it. no different to fruit and veg. you can always take potatoes and make them into stew or something like that. same with prices on markets. when things get cheap enough, people will buy. and the second reason is when the fundamentals start looking up again. we have no evidence of that. today we have the bank of england saying the head winds are getting stronger. when you've got economists saying the chance of a u.s. double dip is now 50-50, that is the fuel that's pulling this market down. until that changes, we won't see any real difference. >> we'll check back with you tomorrow, richard. thanks very much. take a look at these faces. house and senate republican leaders revealed their picks for the new super committee charged with finding ways to cut the defic deficit. they are jon kyl, pat toomey, portman, kemp, henserling, along with democratic senator patty murray. she was named yesterday along with john kerry and max baucus. house democratic leader nancy pelosi hasn't announced her choices yet. we're standing by for that. joe, what did you learn? >> it's not going to be easy. this is just round two in a bitter partisan fight that started with the debt sealing controversy. it will be a while before they're seen as winners or losers. there's a former democratic presidential nominee and some true conservatives. hard to see how they'll figure out questions, like reforming entitlements or increasing federal revenue, let alone the balanced approach the white house wants. we need to take action collectively to get our long-term debt under control. we strongly believe that the way to do that is to take a balanced approach. >> it's already gotten ugly, though. the naming of democratic senator patty murray of washington prompted howls of protests from the republican party because murray is in charge of the effort to get democrats elected to the senate. what protecting entitlements as a centerpiece issue. murray said in a statement with other democratic senators that the group needed to set aside partisanship. equally controversial was the name of senator pat too mamey w used to run the conservative club for growth whose own purpose is holding the line against higher taxes. but in a conference call, he said he still thinks there's room for agreement. >> this has to be done in a cooperative fashion. it has to be an exercise in finding common ground, between runs and democrat, but it also has to be constructive with respect to reducing our deficit. and it has to be pro growth as well. >> there's no a lot of time to do this work. the committee has to come up with a proposal by chang with a vote in congress by christmas. >> it's going to be a rough haul. >> the alternative to getting an agreement is tough for both sides. deep cuts to into it. ment -- entitlements and defense. the committee will not be complete until house democratic leader nancy pelosi names the last three people she has until next tuesday to do it and aides have not commented on how long she plans to take. >> of we checked all three republicans. they all signed that pledge that they will not support any new taxes. that's going to be an issue, no doubt about that in the coming weeks and months. thanks very much, joe, for that. >> sarah palin may be sending a new signal about her presidential intentions. information just coming in. peter, what are you learning? >> sarah pac the political action for sarah palin just sent out an e-mail saying the sarah palin one nation bus tour is going to start again and she's going to do it in iowa in the middle of a blockbuster political week in the first in the nation caucus state when the rest of the presidential field is there. the bus tour will start at the iowa state fair. details are still fuzzy. it could be thursday, friday or saturday and she's going to carry the bus tour through, it looks like missouri and illinois. but this is vintage sarah palin. she's crashing the party, going to grab headlines and steal attention from the rest of the republican presidential field because, you know, there are hundreds and hundreds of political reporters out there in iowa right now and again, so is the rest of the presidential field. they're there for the ames stru pol -- straw poll. they're there for a presidential debate. all eyes on sarah palin after a nearly three month hiatus of the bus tour. she's back. >> did you say she's going to be back this weekend at the time of the ames straw poll? >> detales are unclear. i talked to the treasurer, sarah palin's political action committee. he would not provide any further details. but she said she will be at the iowa state fair this week. we're not sure if that means she's going to speak. i suspect it will be before the ames straw poll on saturday. she's not on the ballot there to be clear and she only has a political action committee. she's not fastbally a candidate, but she's going to again steal the spotlight. >> in britain right now, police have new orders from the prime minister to do whatever it takes to stop what he calls despicable violence. cities outside london, birmingham, manchester and liverpool saw the worst unrest overnight. london was somewhat calmer because of a huge police presence on the streets. many people are growing more scared and angrier. >> well, wolf, this is the scene here in birmingham where last night sadly three young british pakistani men were mowed down. they were hit by a car while they were out trying to protect local businesses from looters. the looters have been in the area smashing up shops and setting light to buildings according to locals. they're still out doing the same job tonight. meanwhile, the police investigation into those deaths an into who caused those deaths is well under way. >> police are combing a street in britain's second biggest city, birmingham. it was here that three young british pakistani men were killed while trying to protect local men from looters. the victims were both in their 30s and a man in that was just 20 years oold. there are fears that what started as looting may exacerbate already strained race relations between the black and asian communities. it's something the families of the dead men are desperate to avoid. >> blacks, asians, whites, we all live in the same community. why do we have to kill one another. >> why are we doing this? i lost my son. step forward if you want to lose your sons. otherwise, calm down and go home. please. >> almost as soon as he finished speaking there was a graphic illustration of the simmering tensions as a black woman heckled a local reporter. >> there's concerns the riots could be manipulated by those who want to stir up trouble. >> if you have nothing betd beto do, go home. >> we don't want other elements to hijack what happened and make this something else and make it more serious still. >> and that is the big concern, this will be twisted from something about criminality and looting to something that's about race. that's what everyone here is trying to avoid. thankfully this area now is full of police and the local community out here in force. so far there's been no further violence. any new steps police are taking to deal with this? >> well, we've been told that water cannon and plastic bullets have not been ruled out. that ton rounds have never been used in mainland britain before, but they haven't been kind of ruled out by politicians. so far, though, thankfully, i think it's the sheer number of police on the streets that have helped really to bring complete calm to many areas that 24 hours ago were feeling very an arctic. >> more and more americans are investing in gold as the stock markets continue to tank. should you consider cashing in? stand by. and hollywood is work on a movie about the raid that killed osama bin laden. why one republican congressman says that needs to be investigated. >> jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." >> hope and change. politico reports the presidents campaign ploons to center own a ferocious personal assault, that's a quote, on mitt romney's character and business background. this is based on the expectation that romney, the republican front-runner will be the party's nominee. the president's aides have been looking to john -- george bush's takedown of john kerry. sources say there are two aspects to the strategy. the first is to go after romney on a personal level. is inauthentic, unprincipled and weird. the second tact is to go after his record as a businessman. he was the ceo of a venture capital firm daaled bane capital which both created and eliminated jobs. the goal is to paint romney as the picture of greet. romney describes it as dis pick pickle, desperate and disgraceful. they say there's nothing the president can do except make it about a referendum on the economy. they probably have a very good point. meanwhile, the obama campaign is saying anybody who claims to have a crystal ball for the campaign strategy isn't telling the truth. go to cnn.com/caffertyfile" or post on the situation room facebook page. an increasing number of you are taking advantage of that. . six state senate seats that were in jeopardy in yesterday's recall elections in wisconsin. republicans held on to four of them, which means the party still has a slim majority in the senate chamber. ted, this is a major disappointment for the unions and the democrats. >> absolutely. republicans would definitely spin it that way. and clearly the democrats and the june i don't knows wanted to unions wanted to gain seats here. that message would be watch out, we'll come after you and specifically politicians could lose their jobs and they point to the two senators that did last night. >> do republicans feel emboldened to hold on to the majority, albeit a slim majority? >> one would think obviously they would, however, we talked to the governor scott walker about an hour ago in his office. he also said he's really looking forward to working with democrats. clearly he knows what's going on in washington and these politicians can feel that voters are frustrated. not only here in wisconsin but across the country. i also asked him if he was fearful he might be recalled after his first year. take a listen. >> they might, but in our state there's an incredible amount of fatigue. folks have had it with attack ads and all the money that poured in outside of wisconsin. what they want is both political parties to work together to get people working again. that's what we're going to do. >> two democratic senators will be fighting for their jobs next week. >> the. the of the united states welcomes the super bowl champ green bay packers to the white house. i'm sure a lot of folks in wisconsin will be happy to see that. thanks very much, ted, for that report. in rhode island, a bitter dispute that led to the firing of almost 2,000 teacher and big protests has been resolved. the teachers union approved a collective bargaining agreement. union members overwhelmingly agreed to concessions in exchange for job security. dr. sanjay gupta is standing by live in kenya. he'll be joining pus ining us. and new backlash as the raid that kills bin laden goes hollywood. ♪ ♪ when you're resonsible for this much of the team, you need a car you can count on. ♪ i. a nationwide man hunt for three siblings ends in a dramatic gun showdown for police. phone lines snipped and cable boxes sabotaged. ing and revenge, nato takes down the alleged taliban insurgents behind the deaths of 30 u.s. troops killed in afghanistan. you're in "the situation room." >> a soaring death toll in somalia. starvation stealing thousands upon thousands of lives. many of them children and babies. and this alarming statistic from the world food program. the food supply could run out within three week, given the current level of donations. cnn is committed to bringing you extensive in depth coverage of the you man therien crisis much of the world is ignoring. sanjay gupta is on the grown in neighboring kenya. >> the misickest of the sick co here. like ahmed. his tiny prone body robbed of nutrition for too long. his doctor can only hope he arrived in time. >> what would happen to him if he wasn't at this facility? >> this child in a few weeks or so, we will have lost this child. >> when the doctor talks about death by starvation, it it's neither quick nor is it painless. you can smell it. it's in the air. this acrid sweetness, the body literally starting to digest itself. little kids like ahmed simply stop growing. they become stunted. and the tools to save him are basic. but they do work. >> this is what doctors use. a simple measuring device to try and determine if a kid needs akud medical care. this little girl is 8 months old. put this around her arm and you measure. if the number comes back below 11, that means a kid is in real trouble. and in her case, the number is about 9.5. that's part of the reason she's getting these feetings into her nose. ahmed's was 10.5. 1 in 5 kids will not survive with a reading that low. it's grim duty for the only doctor caring for all these children. >> i have three kids. you have a 5-year-old. how do you do it? how do you see these kids suffering so much? >> it's difficult, especially the suffering they're going through. but what keeps you going is you have to come back and do something good for them in order for them to survive. >> ahmed was one of the estimated 600,000 kids on the brink of death by starvation. but today, that may have changed. ahmed may have been saved. he made it here just in time. >> sanjay, this notion that there's only enough food left for, what, three weeks given the current supplies, the current money to the world food program? ask there any hope that can change? well, we're hoping that's going to change. there's other small organizations that are working very hard as well. to try and fill some of the gaps that are left behind. you're absolutely right. they're trying to take what the resources are and actually move them into somalia where people need them the most. there are two big issues right now in terms of saving people, wolf. >> these little children, these babies on the brink of starvation. you're a neurosurgeon what's happening to that i shall bodies as they go through is this? >> it's tough to talk about, since we're seeing it firsthand on the ground here. what happens is the body is immediately in search of energy and it looks to the body to provide that energy. soon after the food is cut off, the liver, glie co-general stores, the fatty tissue, then a person literally has no fat left in their body, and then the muscle starts to break down. looking for protein. the cardiac muscle is broken down. the blood pressure drop, the body temperature drops. what i am describing is death by starvation. >> and you're seeing that as you're there? you see that in motion? >> no question, 30,000 kids have died here in the last few months. yesterday we were in this camp, literally digging graves in this camp. even if someone makes it to this camp, there's nothing that can be done. the children are too far gone. getting children food at the time of need rather than walking all the way here would really make a huge difference. >> thanks for bronging this to the world's attention. you and the whole team on the scene there in kenya. you can see a lot more later. tonight, anderson with speak with bono about the devastating drought and the famine. to find out more about how you can help those in need, go to cnn.com/impact. it was a devastating loss to the united states nay ve seals. now it's payback time behind the deadly shootdown of a chopper in afghanistan. should you get 234 on the new gold rush? a mouthwatering combination of ingredients... i know you're gonna love. 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[ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. another healthful, flavorful beneful. in one place. the winning horse you could have picked. ♪ 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. and those people are what i like to call wrong. take metamucil. sure it helps you keep regular, but it doesn't stop there. metamucil is the only leading fiber supplement with psyllium, which gels to help remove waste and reduce cholesterol. it can multi-multitask. it's so 2012. look at it! it's doing over a million different things right now. metamucil. ask more of your fiber. 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. >> new information just come into the situation room about that very controversial immigration law in arizona. lisa sill vester is here. she's monitoring that. some other top stories in the situation room. what's going on? >> state officials have filed a petition seeking to overturn a federal judge's order preventing partses of the law from going into effect. the obama administration and immigration activists oppose the law which in part allows local law enforcement to apprehend and help deport illegal immigrants. the chairman of the house committee on homeland security is calling for an investigation into reports the obama administration has granted tony pictures high level access for a film based on osama bin laden's death. the white house calls the claims ridiculous saying it doesn't release classified information. you can see the stark contrast in warren jeffs' appearance now with that much shorter hair cut on the wright side of your screen. jeffs was sentenced yesterday to life in prison for sexually assaulting women he considered his spiritual wooifs. and if you are looking for the latest version of the apple iphone you may be able to find the fake version in china. acourting to rueters, tiphone 5 is selling for as little as $31. the hiphone 5 is based on leaked images of the iphone 5, which should be out in a few months. that's pretty amazing. even before the iphone is out, it's out on the market. unbelievable. >> the intellectual property problem is a big one, wolf. >> if you're seeing red because of the stock market madness, you might want to start looking at gold. a lot of people are doing that right now. what's happening now to three armed and dangerous siblings on the run. geico, saving people money on more than just car iance. ♪ geic another horrendous day for stock prices. the dow jones industrials, plunging 520 points, continuing a trend of wild up and down swings in recent days. with stocks tanking, gold prices are soaring to record highs. gold settled at more than $1,700 climbing just above $1,800 an ounce earlier in the day. mary, what are you finding out? >> the more fear there is in the market, the higher gold prices climb. all is providing silver lining for some businesses. the rest of the world may be worried about the economy, but todd tyra sees pay dirt. he sets up road shows across the country. he extended his time in new york. he knew it would cause gold prices to door and banked on two people coming in. >> with the price of gold, we probably would melt this. >> she brought in our family jewelry. >> what prompted you to do this? >> well, i needed some money, you know, times is hard. and i figured i had it so -- >> while people are cashing in on record gold prices, others are buying gold. i've talked to so many people that just lost faith in paper investments and institutional integrity. >> reporter: michael clark is president of a coin depository. he admits his business has increased and not just from individual customers. >> in the last year or two, corporations are retaining their earnings in bouillon. >> reporter: with gold shining in the spotlight, financial advisers like ryan mack gets lots of questions. he doesn't advise clients to buy physical gold. instead, he invests in gold exchanged traded funds and increased stakes to 20% of portfolio, which is high. he also warns against a rush to gold without a well thoughtout stratd ji. >> you can lose a lot of money investing in gold. if you put put all your eggs in one basket. as high aez fast as gold has appreciated, you can lose an extreme amount of money. >> reporter: and before the bubble bursts -- >> $1100. >> thank you. >> reporter: peel are selling what they can, just trying to get by. as high as gold is right now, some believe prices could climb a lot further before things settle down. analysts at jpmorgan say gold could reach $2,500 an ounce bit end of this year. >> wow. all right, you're going to have a lot more on this story. the market collapse today. that's coming up in a few minutes. a growing backlash against washington with many worried americans demanding answers from congress and the president over the debt crisis. so is this the time for our leaders to be in recess or taking vacation? 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[ male announcer ] chevrolet is honored to celebrate the unveiling of the washington, d.c., martin luther king jr. memorial. take your seat at the table on august 28th. let's get right to our strategy session. joining us roland martin and rich galen, the publisher of mullings.com. thanks very much for coming in. you agree he's going to run? >> no doubt. you agree he's going to run? so you're going to be scrutinized, everything about you is going to be scrutinized. they've been scrutinizing the san antonio express news, huffington post. his tax returns. in 2007 -- get this -- he made -- he declared income of $1$ $1,109,000. and his charitable giving was $4,000. >> when you talk about your christian faith and really what it means, you can't speak over that portion when it says bring your tithes to the storehouse. that's speak volumes for someone who really wants to claimantle of being this strong christian voice. as the husband of a pastor and christian author, i'm sorry, you might want to do a little bit more governor per pri when ry tk to the church. >> the head of the association of points the head of fund-raising, perry is giving about average. most of this is not showing anything significantly out of the norm. if you take the whole sweep of however long you are governor and lieutenant governor, according to people who do keep track of this stuff and not just look for one donation for one church, she in line with people who are in his income. >> when you give this huge event and you are talking about praying for the nation and you are trying to be a strong prayer warrior, you might want to do better and the way i have been raised in church, you tie 10%. that's not 10%. >> he did in 2005 give $23,000 to charity. either in cash or various goods. that was about 12% of his income in 2005. >> your original point is correct when you get into these things. >> i think in this case, the fairness is people who make their livings looking at the people who give how much said it's not out of the norm. >> god tells him to run and why don't you give a little bit more, governor. >> i'm not that close to god. i don't know. >> during this important time, the president is getting ready to go on vacation with his family. listen to john huntsman, the former governor running for the republican nomination. >> congress is on vacation. we have a president reading from a teleprompter. no one is putting forth any ideas that speak to real growth in the country. we need confidence and a sense of direction. we need a road map and leadership in this country. >> is this a time for congress to be in recess and the president to be going on his vacation. >> i wasn't sure he was describing the state of the contry or campaign there. you know what, the president could call congress back from research >> he didn't know, by the way. he ought to read the constitution. >> it's an extraordinary situation and he didn't give the republicans in the house to agree to it. i think a month off is ridiculous when you have critical issues that you are facing you don't have time and some of you don't have jobs and you have too much time off. you shouldn't take this much time away from washington, d.c. >> i agree with you. as soon as nancy pelosi a points staff and gets that thing up and running as i'm in the sure if it was huntsman, we can get going on this right now. >> nine have been appointed out of the 12. it's not a month. the house has been in recess for five weeks get your butt back to work the president shouldn't bring him back unless there is a guarantee he will do something. >> it's easier to hold their feet to the fire if they are here. it's a lot harder when they are spread all over the world. some of them are on good trips. important trips. the fact -- >> i like the good and nice trips. >> some of them are. >> if you are risking your life. >> they are over and they are not there. then they are under scrutiny. they have to work. >> thanks very much. wall street had a bad case of motion sickness right now. stand by for more on the breaking news. another day of massive losses in the stock market. our business and money teamworking the story. they are standing by to join us live. help us figure out what could happen next. we are going back to britain and the fight to stop riots and looting that have shaken the country to its core [ man ] behind every business is a "what if." what if we designed an electric motorcycle? 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there is a piece to politico that suggests that they are going to go after romney based on the idea that he is the presumptive republican nominee. if obama can't find a way to show leadership and soon, my aunt mabel will be able to beat him. the hope is false hope. hillary, we are going to need you. kevin in california, wait, now you are talking about ethics in politics? that's an oxymoron thingy. >> i don't see where obama has a choice. with the debt stacked against the recovery, he is a louz i negotiator and i don't look for anything other than across the board cuts to come out of the super committee that tanks the economy any more. the change from the positive hope and change in 2008 to the negative theme in 2012 tells you all you need to know about why president obama's ratings are tanking fast. david writes it's a sad state of affai affairs. we elected our period over the last few decades based on who does the best hatchet job on the other guy. if that's the president's plan he didn't learn from his own victory. he needs to watch from the sleeper. if romney gets the nomination, the republicans have lost because the voters are going to be looking for more change than what romney is offering. evan on facebook rights whether it's the right way or the wrong way is irrelevant because it might be the only way. post on "the situation room's" facebook page. it's a terrific place. you which should check it out. >> we are getting tons of reaction not only to what you are writing. >> what are you writing about? >> whether or not the president should steal a page from bill clinton's playbook in 97 to 96. he came up with the notion of triangulation. when he was going to be not to the left and not to the right and get the independent voters. they used to welcome criticism he would get from some on the left. that would make bill clinton seem more moderate to independent to swing voters. go to cnn went com. >> the shrewdest politician of the last maybe 100 years except for reagan who had a tremendous instinct for how to navigate the waters. are right. clinton figured it out. >> brilliant politician indeed. >> like yourself. >> here in "the situation room" breaking news a a stomac stomach-churning plunge. wealth vanishing with the closing bell. what's behind the latest losses. stand by also a high speed chase and violent crash bringing an intense manhunt to an end. the former fugitives are not just bank robbers. they are siblings in their 20s. the militants who downed an american helicopter in afghanistan over the weekend paid for it with their lives. details of the attack that took them up, including the man who fired the fateful grenade breaking news. political headlines and jeannie moos straight ahead. you are in "the situation room" you need a strong stomach on wall street to handle the wild fluctuations. once again today, the direction was down, down, down. when it was all over, each of the three major indeces had lost more than 4%. the dow was down 520 points and closing at 10,720. the nasdaq shed 101 points closing at 2381. much of the damage happened in the final minutes. let's bring in poppy harlow of cnn money and our chief correspondent. let me start with you. what happened today? yesterday there was a huge gain. today a tremendous loss. >> there is no rational to the market to the market. the paper loss is the amount lost from the stock market. equivalent to 600 billion that wipes out the gains we saw yesterday. you can trade the two days and we would be nowhere. the irrational market. why did we jump when the fed issued a late message. no one knows. one short seller that i talked to who makes a lot of money when the market falls, are we near the bottom? we have a long way to go. to give you a sense of how irrational the market is when we saw the huge 600 point decline on monday. every stock in the s&p 500 fell and some of them dramatically. today you saw gainers in the s&p 500 and retail and consumer-facing stock. this is not clear what is driving this and what we know is that the fundamentals of the economy were bleak not only in the united states, but globally. they are clearly seeing and playing out in the market. listen to the seller that i talked to and what he had to say about what is driving this market significantly lower. take a listen. >> it's macro economics and has nothing to do with price earnings and ratios and valuations. it's all macro economics and sovereign risks and france, germany, greece. that's what's driving this market. it's greed and fear right now >> it's not the performance of the companies represented that we are seeing right now. we have been seeing a lot of them have record earnings. the fear is how we deal with this economy that is getting worse and the market that is getting worse. many say the policy makers are running out of ammunition to deal with this. >> it's starting to electric like the financial crisis of 2008 and as you know, a lot of fear of a double dip recession over the horizon. what are analysts telling you? >> if you listen, many nicknamed rabini dr. doom, but he is spot on. he called the housing collapse and he was right. when you ask him, he told cnn he buildings there is a 50% chance we have another recession not only here in the united states, but he is saying across the euro zone. you have the weakness across the euro zone and talk and fear that france's debt may be downgraded. it's not saying anything about that. what the economist said is what he is seeing is not only the u.s. economy, but the european economies at stall speed. he fierce a free fall. i have to tell you watching the markets in the last hour of trading whether it's in europe or here in the united states, the fear is playing out in that final hour of trading. when you look at two of the biggest mutual funds out there, van guard and growth funds that you may be invested in, not even counting today's losses, they are down 7% wolf? >> a lot of money for people who have those mutual funds. 401(k)s and iras a bay day in france. we heard about italy and spain, but now france and president sarkozy cutting short his vacation and coming back to paris. is that what triggered the collapse? >> yeah. it's such a volatile market that anything can trigger it. it was france. rumors that france could have sovereign debt downgradeed from a aaa. that resulted in a massive sell off of the biggest bank there. we have a 50% chance of a global recession. that that is a 50% chance of not having one. here's the difference between what is going on in europe where there structural problems that are very hard to change. they have problems with respect to taxation. tax collection. working hours and benefits and age of retirement. these are things that are societal and cultural. this is strictly political. a fight about cutting, spenting, or raising taxes. both of which have a similar effect on the economy. the difference is that the americans can actually create a little more stability if we had a political solution. maybe we should take a lead from what's going on. everybody coming back from vacation. the british did it because of the riots and the french did it because of this. it may be time we think about the fact that we don't have a deadline in november. we need to do this now. >> good point. monday the dow goes down and tuesday up 400 points and it goes down once again. these are big, big fluctuations. >> you remember the last time? you said it. it was in 2008. here is the key difference between 2008 and now. in 2008, individuals and companies were overextended. they borrowed too much and the government stepped in. started to help out and keep the oil in the economic engine. now, individuals have been piling up cash and the savings rate is higher than in years. companies are piling on cash and governments don't necessarily have the money to back stop. that is happening in europe. this is where the problem lies. the opposite problem. the key difference to remember is back in 2008, nobody could borrow money and banks wouldn't lend money. now you can't give money away. the government can borrow on a 10-year basis than they could on monday which was less than they could on friday. despite the downgrade, money got cheaper. >> since april, the dow has gone down almost 2,000 points. you know what it means on equity how many trillions of dollars people lost in investments? >> we are closing in on three. something around that. >> that's a lot. this is where it hits the road. something to think about and something washington needs to think about. we are talking sometimes about tax increases or reductions on the margin for a lot of people. these losses are substantially greater than we might have dealt with if we had tax increases or cuts. we are losing real money here because of political inactivity and inaction. it's not usual. it's not structural. >> thanks to you as well. let's move on to a dramatic end to an unusual manhunt. siblings in their 20s are captured in colorado after a high speed car chase and crash. more than 1500 miles from the scene of their crimes, an armed bank robbery and attempted murder of a policeman. brian, what's the latest? >> they are in custody in colorado and armed with at least a mac 11 machine pistol. two ak-47 rifles and a hand gun when the spree came to an abrupteabrupt end the skid marks on the highway reflect an appropriately violent ending to the odyssey. three siblings from florida armed and dangerous had fired on law enforcement vehicles pursuing them on a southern colorado highway. after several miles and speeds approaching 100 miles an hour, the vehicle rolled off interstate 25. the sheriff who was chasing them in florida wasn't surprised. >> they were prepared for a battle. >> ryan, lee grace and dylan are in custody. it could have ended worse. >> she turned and made an attempt to point it at the officer and he fired at least one shot, striking her i believe in the leg. >> the injuries to lee grace and her brothers are not considered life-threatening. the siblings were wanted for trying to kill a police officer who tried to stop them. >> seven more shots fired. >> the spree began last week when officials say the three siblings tried to kill the police officer in florida. according to officials, they robbed a bank using automatic weapons. over the next few days, they made their way out to the colorado springs area. according to the pueblo county sheriff, the three siblings camped out tuesday night in the san isabel national forest they were spotted outside the city wednesday morning. at that point they were pursue and engaged in a high speed chase down interstate 25 for about 20 miles that. ended with the crash just outside the town. before all this, there were indications of trouble. ryan doherty was sentenced for sending harmful information to a minor. he cutoff an ankle monitor before they took off. an affiliate reports they spend time living in a bunker of cargo containers buried you should ground. lee grace doherty, a stripper posted i love to farm and shoot guys and wreck cars. i like milk and german were inning and causing mayhem with my siblings. i spoke with the u.s. marshal who huhhed fugitives. >> were you surprised they were together? >> not really. the information from the beginning is that they were very close. i think individually they would have had a more difficult time surviving. they had strength with the three of them together as opposed to being separated. >> he said he is surprised they were on the run for as long as they were and they got as far as they did. given the media attention in the case and the fact that their faces were on digital billboards, he said he thought they would have been caught sooner. >> in the end. they didn't listen to the pleas of their own mother. >> their mother went on local and pleaded for them to turn themselves in, but there was never any indication that they would. ryan had previously sent his mother a text message saying there was a time for all of us to die. looks like they might have gone out in a blaze of glory, but they were caught. >> nato killed militants who brought down a helicopter over the weekend killing 30 americans and eight others. let's go to barbara star with new information coming in on the crash. what are you learning? >> several new details tonight. the military had indicated for several days 22 seals killed on board that helicopter. they are correcting that as 17 seals. the rest of the navy personnel had more conventional jobs and of course the air force and army personnel all on board, all 30 remembered by their families. the real news today however is u.s. militaries are reporting that it killed the insurgent who is brought down that helicopter in an air strike overnight on monday and an f 16 air strike against the compound in which they were hiding. listen for a monday to the new commander of the war in afghanistan >> we tracked them. as we would in any operation in the aftermath, we achieved that they in fact were killed in the strike >> very convinced the u.s. military said they got the insurgents responsible for this and in particular the insurgent that fired the rocket-propelled grenade. another tragic detail here. general allen reporting as the helicopter came in for landing, it came under fire from multiple directions. the rpg other small arms fire. it was enduring some amount of gunfire from multiple directions before that rpg shot brought it down. >> thanks very much for the update. a growing fear of a double dip recession and criticism of president obama from the left. what should he do? what can he do about? we will talk about that sf and much more with former clinton labor secretary. also republicans revealed their pick for the so-called super committee changed with finding a way of america's debt crisis. jack cafferty and tom are both standing by. new details about a wave of sabotage and vandalism heading one of the largest u.s. telecommunications companies leaving thousands of customers cutoff. >> jack cafferty is here. >> the say suggest where there is a will, there is a way. it's not clear if our leaders have the political will or the backbone to fick the debt trouble. we will find out soon enough when the so-called super committee gets to work. can't wait for that. we are starting to learn who will be on this powerful group including john kerry on the democratic side and john kyle for the republicans. their job is to cut the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. the deficit this year is $1.5 trillion. to do that, they have to take on the issues of tax increases and entitlement cuts. congress refused to touch either one. even though the country is insolvent and had the credit rating downgraded. with an election coming up, what makes anyone think they will going to make the tough decisions now? ain't going to happen. how is this leading to compromise? if all of the super committee members signed a pledge not to raise taxes, consider washington's track record on the issue of deficit reduction. last year president obama named a debt commission and had a lot of this same stuff in this. the proposals came out and were promptly ignored the gang of six and the senate, they recommended tax reform and changing the programs and that went nowhere the last time there was a significant drop in federal government spending was 1954. this was nothing but cheep political theater. how much faith do you have to fix our debt woes? go to cnn.com/cafferty file. comment on our blog or post on the situation room's facebook page. this is a very cruel joke being perpetrated on all of us. >> i'm willing to give them a chance. >> you are much more accommodating. a much nicer guy. >> see what they do between now and thanksgiving. hopefully they come up with something smart. i'm hoping. thank you. let's get more on the make up of this super committee. tom forman has that part of the story for us. the republicans revealed their picks today. >> they're have. jack has been tough on them. let's look at the people and see what they have. here's the republican picks on the senate side and the republican picks that are revealed with the senate and house. on the democratic side, we are waiting on nancy pelosi to introduce her three people down here. here's the question when we looked at the folks here. where do they stand and can they reach a deal? put it simply, what they picked are people who by and large are economically conservative. if we had to rate them from blue to red to purple, they will be pretty much over here. on the democratic side, you would be more towards the middle. based on her district and political record, probably you are going to be more hard core democrat. you will end up with a parallel where you have republicans over here and democrats way over here. how can they work? look at the players. this really does matter over here. sure you have patty murray who created a stir. she chairs the democratic campaign committee and people raised concerns about that. strong traditional democratic values. that's a fact and you have people like john kerry, max bacchus and old hands. max bacchus is 33 years in the senate, an elder statesman. he is the kind of person who has been around long enough to see days when there was cooperation and to perhaps long for days when that might be possible. over here on this side, players like portman. he's an interesting character. former budget director for president bush. a deficit hawk, but somebody who understands the numbers. some people may not agree, but they respect his knowledge. you have people like camp down here and chairman of the house ways and means committee. how it works you never have the middle area where you get along. you have older hands and compare the experience levels. look what we are getting. the experience level compared to the rest of congress. these folks are going to tend to be more on the more experienced side. the same thing over here on the republican side that's going to matter because you need people who for all of their fury know how to compromise are these the people we know? for either side to win from each side would have to agree to the other side wait to see the last three here >> another gulf that they have to span. >> thank you. another important story we are following here in the united states, the strike against verizon communications. it's getting ugly. the company said its property is cannedalized including fiber optic lines slashed in several states. verizon warning any employee linked to the crimes will be fired. we have details. the story is getting ugly. >> it is. verizon said thousands of customers have been impacted by the vandalism and affecting people up and down the east coast and causing headaches for businesses and families . d.c. resident bill powers this morning had no cable, phone, or internet service. he went outside and found a couple of verizon contractors. >> one said something inside the box had been sabotage and that's why service was lost on a great portion of this. >> in the district of columbia more than 20 acts of vandalism in the last 48 hours. verizon cable and television lines snipped. cable boxes sabotaged this is on the third day of a strike with 45,000 verizon workers. workers walked off the job over health care and pension. verizon is seeking to bring benefits in line with industry standards. the unions insisting the company is demanning cuts as it rakes in billions in profits >> for can take hours to get someone on the phone. >> thanks for calling verizon. due to a strike, you may experience significant delays in having your call answered. >> verizon stopped short of blaming the uniunions, but said it's absurd to think there is not a connection. >> it's not a crime against a face else monolithic company. it is a crime against individual people. american citizens. your neighbors. hospitals, police departments. it's simply not a faceless act. there is a consequence for cutting cables and the consequences can be really severe to those impacted by the cuts. >> the workers of america and the international brotherhood of workers are denying they had anything to do with the cut lines. >> we have no information that they're members on strike or involved in any of these instances. this is more of gainsmanship. it's a way to turn the public sentiment against the strikers >> so far no leads in the investigation, but verizon said there was a police department in new jersey. not to mention many small businesses that had their phones and internet disrupted. verizon's chief security said it's a federal offense. >> thanks for that report. an expert served as president. robert reisch will be giving us perspective on the economic future. later, anderson cooper will join us live from somalia where time is running out for millions of people facing starvation a lot of times, things are right underneath our feet, and all we need to do is change the way we're thinking about them. a couple decades ago, we didn't even realize just how much natural gas was trapped in rocks thousands of feet below us. technology has made it possible to safely unlock this cleanly burning natural gas. this deposits can provide us with fuel for a hundred years, providing energy security and economic growth all across this country. it just takes somebody having the idea, and that's where the discovery comes from. it's dubbed a super committee and no question it's facing a task finding bipartisan agreement on how to slash debt. republicans named their six picks for the panel. let's discuss what's going on. a former labor secretary under bill clinton, a defense of public policy with uc berkeley. we know nine of the 12 so far. three democrats to be named and based on what we have seen, we see room for significant deal they have to come up with by thanksgiving. >> significant, no. i don't think it would be significant. the chances are very, very high that the triggered mechanism will be invoked that means spending cuts across the board. let me say this is the worst time to talk about spending cuts. the economy is dead in the water. right now we do not have a debt crisis. we have a jobs and wages and economic growth crisis. they are not the same thing. >> are we facing a double dip recession? >> think the chances of double dip will be at least moving to 50-50. not just the stock market. consumers are 70% of the economy jobs are disappearing and housing values are dropping. most americans are saying to themselves, i can't spend like i was spending before. that's a completely rational response to this crisis. the trouble is that when all the american consumers, 70% of the economy make that judgment and many are making that judgment, there is not enough demand to keep the economy going. that's why government spending. we are talking about government spending with stimulating the economy. it's become such a bad word with republicans. you have to have a boost to the economy and get people's jobs back to get the entire economy going. >> everyone agrees where is the money going to come from? no more money to be found to simulate the economy to create the jobs that you are talking about. >> that's false. just right there, we are the richest country in the entire world. we are richer than we have been before. not only that, but look at the treasury bill. right now the treasury bill is trading at a very, very low interest rate. the lowest we had in years. it would be the easiest thing in the world to do, for the government to borrow more from the rest of the world and use it to rebuild our roads and bridges and ports and airports to create a wpa, a civilian conservation and do all kinds of things to get people back into jobs. that is not the problem. the problem is political will. >> here's what the columnist wrote in an article entitled with holener chief. the politician who came across as a redeemer is now in need of redemption himself. faced with a country in reinvention, obama seems at a loss. do you agree? >> well, look. i am a great fan of president obama and i supported him, but i do think that right now by continuing to lead the country to think this is a deficit and debt crisis, agreeing with the republicans and not standing up as any president should right now when the economy is dead in the water, we are losing jobs and a larger percentage of the adult population is really looking for work on, out of work in terms of jobs than we have seen in 30 years, the president needs to stand there and say this is my jobs package. my jobs idea, my set of initiativ initiatives. we get people back to work. i will fight for this through the election and if i'm reelected beyond. i am not going to stand for this degree of unemployment and under employment. this is the number one issue that i understand as my responsibility. >> i will leave my viewers with what you tweeted. obama gave a pep talk. wish he created a real plan to pass it rather than same old policy. any revisions you want to make to the tweet? >> when i say policy miniatures, we need to have extended unemployment and need to continue the payroll taxes that have been initiate and have a bank that is ill-defined and all small initiatives relative to the size of the problem. everybody knows somebody who is out of work and in danger of losing the jobs. the stock market is the evidence that finally wall street is catching on to the severity of the crisis. most are not -- they never have gone out of the recession. most are still in the same jobs recession they were in three years ago. >> thanks very much for coming in. >> thanks, wolf. >> they're left everything behind to save their children and instead lost them all. the heart break and famine of somalia. he will join them live next. the raid is going hollywood. stirring up huge controversy in the process. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. with the situation as dire as it is heart breaking, they created a slow motion human disaster and cnn is dedicating global resources to the story. joining us live on the phone, what are you seeing there today, anderson. how bad is the situation? >> we went to a major hospital where a lot of the kids are there with acute malnutrition. it was pretty shock. the few medical supplies that this hospital had. the children's ward was so full of kids and they are treating kids in the hall ways of the hospital. we can see a few ivs, but there wasn't a lot of kids drinking or plumping up to bring kids back to live and we have seen other hospitals elsewhere. it's shocking to see the major hospital in a place at the center of the catastrophe. it would be so badly stock and so many kids in need. when one child died before we got there, his parents were sitting on the bed with his body between them wrapped in a shroud. they didn't have the money to even bury their child. it was one of the heart breaking themes that we have seen here day after day. >> is any international aid getting in? doctors, nurses, food, water? what's getting? >> a lot of focus is down in the south along long the kenyan border where a half million or more have fled over the last years. in particular, a big up kick over the last several months. much of the drought as you know is in the south and the areas controlled by the real famine. you have hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people who came up just in the few weeks and months. they are overwhelming the city with cancer sprouting up with makeshift camps all over the city. these are those places that are really having problems getting supplies. it's just now that large shipments of medical and food supplies are being flown in. the city is virtually off limits to a lot of relief agency who is haven't been working here because of the conflict here. it hasn't been safe for relief workers. the pipeline is starting to come back and brigging food, but as you know, they are saying they may run out of food in three weeks given the current stores they have and the current amount of money they have been receiving to get new supplies. >> what a horrendous story. thank you for doing it for us. we will check back with you later. an important note to our viewers tonight at 8:00 p.m. earn. anderson will speak to bono about the drought and famine and special reporting for dr. sanjay gupta. all that on "ac 360" at the new time, 8:00 pem eastern. to find out how to help out those in need, go to cnn.com/impact and you can impact your world. a war of words between the white house and a top lawmaker over hollywood's plans to make a movie about the killing of bin laden . for broccoli, say one. for toys, say two. toys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 central standard time. he's in control. goodbye. even kids know it's wrong to give someone the run around. at ally bank you never have to deal with an endless automated system. you can talk to a real person 24/7. it's just the right thing to do. lisa sylvester is following a fast-moving story. what's going on? >> the fbi is confirming that a potential explosive device was found attached to a gas line near oklahoma today. this device is being described as a type of pipe bomb with a timing device on it. the potential ied was disabled and the fbi said the device is being examined. an investigation is under way. wolf? >> we will check out that story as well. thanks very much, lisa. the u.s. raid that killed osama bin laden is going hollywood. a filmmaker is in the n preliminary stages of making a movie about the raid and gotten access to white house, pentagon and cia officials. that has the chairman of the homeland security committee demanding an investigation. >> we are talking about revealing classified information that can put american lives at risk. what they have done for 90 days if they haven't until now, i say okay. they have a horrible track record. it's embarrassing what they have done. they are putting lives at risk. so many people in the community were outraged by what they have been doing. on top of that, if we can't trust them to keep classified information in the last 90 days, how can we trust them when they are dealing with a hollywood script writer when involved in a previous movie where the defense department had to break off the contacts with the hurt locker. >> let's go to barbara star getting reaction to this. what are you learn something. >> i don't want to be in the position of taking on congressman king so i will tell you what officials are telling us. they said the oscar winning director of the hurt locker and the movie about bomb disposal experts has been here to the pentagon. he met with officials as many hollywood directors and producers and stars do when they have a project that they want to bring to the pentagon and consider asking for military help. it has been going on for decades. the question on the table is, is katherine bigelow getting access to cloift information. i want you to listen to what the white house had to say. >> when people including you in this room are working on articles, books, documentaries and the movies that involve the president and ask to speak to officials, we do our best to make sure the facts are correct. it's hardly a novel approach to the media. we do not clusz classified information. i hope as we face a continued threat from terrorism, the house committee on homeland security would have more penitentiary topics to discuss than a movie. >> no evidence at this point that any classified information has been discussed. behind the scenes, one of the wrinkles is, is this movie project something that maybe has a pro obama administration. is there politics in play behind the scenes? katherine bigelow in her office issued a statement here today. strongly indicating that they were going to look at the history of searching for osama bin laden all the way back into the bush administration. it extends back into the clinton administration. no evidence they are getting access at this point to any classified information. it might be worth remembering. the pentagon even helped make the transformer movies. >> they have an office at the pentagon that deals with motion pictures. that's all they do. thanks for that. jack cafferty has the cafferty file and jeannie moos looks at a controversial magazine cover speaks foreign language ]ute [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. the authentic, the rare, the hard to define. to those always searching for what's pure and what's real from we who believe we know just how you feel. haagen-dazs. [ martin luther king jr. ] i still have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream today! [ male announcer ] chevrolet is honored to celebrate the unveiling of the washington, d.c., martin luther king jr. memorial. take your seat at the table on august 28th. martin luther king jr. memorial. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. let's get right to jack for "the cafferty file." jack? >> the question this hour, no joke now, we're serious, how much faith do you have in the supercommittee to fix our debt woes? rich in texas, another committee in washington, what a novel idea. what's different about this committee than what's been done before? leave politicians in charge of anything that involves money, and the loser is always the american people. francis says none, they signed governor norquist's pledge to never raise taxes, how ignorant is that. they'll never negotiate or compromise. they are still the party of no and hell, no. anthony on facebook writes, these are the same people who put us in this situation, zero faith. pat in michigan, sorry, jack, but i think i can safely speak for a lot of americans who have lost faith in anyone in government, with the exception of our children who fight for us in the armed services. mark in phoenix, former senator simpson thinks the research has already been done. it's not the super 12's research. the super 12 committee needs to do three or four more months' research and argue for three or four weeks and do no compromising and let the automatic cuts kick in. does anybody really expect congress to make any real decisions, any hard decisions? jim in chicago writes, the super committee which had replaced the excellent committee, had replaced the outstanding committee will one day be replaced by the super duper most outstanding committee by which time the debt will be so out of control there will be no more need for more committees. if you want to read more, go to my blog, cnn.com/caffertyfile or through our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. not a lot of faith in this committee out there, wolf. >> no, but i'm giving them a little faith. i'm confident that they'll try. they'll try their best. their public servants. >> they'll sit in a room and come out with the same outcome that they had the last time they sat down. >> let's give them a chance. see you tomorrow. a closer look at presidential candidate michele bachmann, remember that spirited debate over that "newsweek" cover shot? stand by, jeanne moos is there. i love that my daughter's part fish. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. what if we designed an electric motorcycle? what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and 4g devices like the motorola photon. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com. [♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. here's a look at this hour's "hot shots." in london a woman looks at notes posted on a peace wall, hundreds of thousands of messages have appeared on a boardedup window following the riots. in indonesia, a man works on a wooden boat. in india people repair their roofs. and in amsterdam, look at this, a woman waves a giant tortoise at a zoo. the tortoise weighed in at over 500 pounds, "hot shots," pictures coming in from around the world. political controversy is raging about what some see as an unflattering photo of michele bachmann on the cover of "newsweek," magazine, but now the cover has turned into comedy gold. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: when it comes to this "newsweek" cover, the eyes have it, on one cover they stare out next to george washington with a black eye on "time" magazine. all week conservatives have been saying "newsweek" tried to make her look crazy. the ones who are really crazy about the cover are comedians. >> i look at that picture and think, isn't that a little soon to be doing a female remake of the "40-year-old virgin"? >> nancy pelosi saw it, and nancy pelosi said, nah, doesn't look crazy to me. >> play some spooky music. there you go. ♪ ♪ i see you >> reporter: the editor of "newsweek" told msnbc they didn't try to make her look crazy or cross-eyed. tina brown's favorite word is intensity. >> the intensity in her eyes in the photographs of her, and there's something about michele bachmann with the eyes looking out. >> good morning, everyone. >> reporter: "newsweek" released what it called the outtakes from the shoot, apparently to make the point that her eyes are pretty intense in all of them. but jon stewart gave it back to "newsweek." >> shame on you, "newsweek," and your editor, tina brown. no, too glam ruls. that's it. >> reporter: the one person who hasn't bugged out ever michele bachmann's eyes, michele bachmann. a voter asked her about it -- >> the headline full of rage. >> uh-huh, we'll have to take a look at that, won't we? >> reporter: but the campaign's not commenting. blogs are. at buzzfeed, they compiled hot chicks with michele bachmann's eyes, transplanting her eyes into, say, michelle obama, rihanna, britney spears, beyonce, even a cat. now, bachmann knows what it feels like to be steve buscemi who had his eyes set to music. ♪ steve buscemi's eyes >> reporter: the last time we in the media focused this much on eyes, was back when "usa today" got in trouble for retouching condi rice's peepers. the paper's website raised eyebrows when it said it brightened condi's image, though critics said it gave her devil's eyes. at least no one is claiming "newsweek" altered bachmann's eyes. though jokesters online enjoy intensifying them.