[Tony Harris, Cnn Anchor:] CNN NEWSROOM continuing right now with Drew Griffin, in for Ali Velshi.
[Drew Griffin, Cnn Anchor:] Tony, thanks a lot. We're going to begin with the breaking news that you left off with on Wall Street. Something is happening. The Dow is pretty much tanking right now. Just walking up the stairs, it's dropped another 30 or so points, down 351.57. We've got the debt crisis in Europe, the euro taking a tank, a bad jobs report today. I'm sitting in for Ali Velshi today, but Ali is on assignment and joining us now live. I think you're Wilmington is it North Carolina, Ali to explain your thoughts on what's happening with the Dow, now down 351?
[Ali Velshi, Cnn Anchor:] Yes, Drew, we're two weeks out from that big crash that we saw, some of which was caused by computerized trading, but there was something underlying it two weeks ago, and it's exactly the same thing we're seeing today. We're seeing a lot of downward pressure on U.S. markets because there's pressure on world markets because of this continuing debt problem in Europe that we saw. A big solution, we thought- a trillion dollar solution by the central banks and Europe about two Mondays ago. But the fact is it has not had the impact that has convinced investors that Europe is OK. So here's the problem. The euro keeps dropping. As a result of the euro dropping, it's making things more expensive for Europeans, who like Americans, import a lot of their their stuff that they buy. Now, when things get more expensive, it slows down the economy, because people can't buy as much. It's also threatening that interest rates will go up. That will slow down the economy. So this is threatening to cause a sort of a double dip to the economy. Think about how what we were going through, Drew, in October, September, October of 2008, where we didn't know what was going to happen with the banks and what was going to fail and what wasn't. That's what Europe is going through right now. And just like when it happened in the United States, it was contagious to the rest of the world. That's what's happening right now. What's happening in Europe is costing us. Now, we thought we had seen the worst of it this morning when European markets when our markets opened. But as you said, it seems to be getting worse right now. This is a problem for European banks and European regulators and European governments. But until they solve it, investors are saying, "We want out of the stock market," and that's why you're seeing this pressure on the stock market right now, Drew.
[Griffin:] Ali, here's what I don't understand. We were hoping this recession was over and that the stock market would be one of the leading indicators to pull us out, and then we're told trickle, trickle, trickle down, that jobs would follow.
[Velshi:] Yes.
[Griffin:] Today we've got a tanking stock market and a bad jobs report.
[Velshi:] Yes. Now those bad jobs reports, we get a big jobs report once a month, on the first Friday of ovary month. We get weekly unemployment claims report, which is what we saw today. And generally speaking, the jobs situation has started to get better. So now what's happening is you saw one that was an anomaly today, and that, combined with what's going on in Europe, has really caused a lot of people to say, "I want to sit this market out. I want to get into safer types of investments." And by the way, you've seen, Drew, how people are investing in gold these days because that's thought to be a safer investment. Now, keep in mind, there are some companies less affected by this than others. So most of the stocks on the S&P; 500 or the Dow, the kind that you have in your 401 [k], are down today because so many American companies get their profit from Europe. So when the euro is low, their profit, which is in euros, gets translated into dollars, and they lose money. But the this is not I don't think this is as serious as some people are making it out to be. Remember, we've had a 70 percent gain in the market from last March to this April. That's five times higher than some of the best years we've ever had. So some pullbacks are necessary. I wouldn't panic just yet. For some people this might be an opportunity to rebalance their 401 [k]. But it is definitely worth keeping a very, very close eye on.
[Griffin:] It's unbelievable, Ali. But we're getting used to these super swings in the stock market.
[Velshi:] Right. And remember, we used to, back in 2008, and the beginning of 2009, right, we were seeing them we were seeing them very regularly, and it became commonplace. Then we didn't see them for a long time, and now we're starting to see them again. And it's no more settling, Drew, now than it was back then.
[Griffin:] Are there individual stocks that you've been able to see that have been affected the most? Are we talking about finance issues?
[Velshi:] Yes. So American companies first of all, all sorts of European companies are being affected, but particularly German companies. But here in the United States, the companies that do the largest proportion of business in Europe are getting hit particularly hard. General Electric, Ford, companies like that, where they have sales in Europe and they earn money in euros, because those euros have suddenly become less valuable. So we're seeing that. We're seeing companies with major exposure. Keep in mind: this problem is we're at a further stage in the United States. Canada is still healthy. South America is still healthy. Asia is still healthy. So companies that are getting most of their money from those kinds of places are doing OK. But bottom line, one of our producers was just telling me that, for every one stock that's up on the Dow today, 25 stocks are down.
[Griffin:] Well, I mean, if you have faith in the long-term market, this would be a good day to buy into it and especially to buy into some of those European stocks.
[Velshi:] I'd do it in the balanced way. Remember, for most of our viewers, we're not day traders.
[Griffin:] Right.
[Velshi:] We're longer-term investors. So you want to may be a good time to talk to your financial adviser. Just as always, never want to do anything rash.
[Griffin:] All right. Ali Velshi, Winston Salem today, Ali.
[Velshi:] Yes.
[Griffin:] Yes. Thanks for letting me sit in on your show, by the way.
[Velshi:] Enjoy it. Great show.
[Griffin:] If this thing keeps happening, you stay close to your phone. Right now, where are we at, guys? What's the what's the Dow? 314. So a little bit of a bounce back. All right. Ali Velshi live from Winston Salem. Let's move on now. We're going to talk about terrorism. You know, they live in the U.S., but they're accused of helping al Qaeda target us, target Americans. It's not the first time you've heard of it. In fact, it happened just yesterday. But here's what we're trying to figure out today. What makes a man go from pursuing the American dream to pledging allegiance to America's enemies? Khalid Ouazzani is a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Kansas City. He's originally from Morocco. He's a car dealer. He pleaded guilty yesterday to helping al Qaeda. He gave the group money, $23,000. Prosecutors say he also admitted to talk about fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, somewhere. He pledged an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda two years ago. Faisal Shahzad, he's the guy charged earlier this month for trying to detonate a bomb in Times Square. Remember, this guy once lived a good life in Connecticut. He's originally from Pakistan. He became a U.S. citizen, got degrees here in the U.S. Prosecutors say he's admitted his role in the bombing and he's been giving them plenty of information since his arrest. He faces felony charges, including attempted use of weapons of mass destruction. Then there's Najibullah Zazi. Remember him? He pleaded guilty in February to conspiring to detonate explosions in the U.S. He told the judge he wanted to fight against the U.S., but he was recruited by al Qaeda instead. Zazi is a native of Afghanistan, a legal U.S. resident. His family was doing pretty good here in the U.S. So what is going on? We're going to get answers from a guy I often go to to get answers from, Frank Cilluffo. You're with the George Washington Institute, the Homeland Security Institute, one of the foremost experts on the minds, Frank, of these terrorists. And I can't get my handle on what's happening with these particular terrorists who don't seem to be religious zealots, who don't seem to be fundamental Islamic extremists, and yet they're willing to attack Americans, just as willing as they are to give police information on who sent them over here.
[Frank Cilluffo, George Washington Institute:] Drew, it's good to join you. And yes, we have seen the threat metastasize in the past two years to include a big spike in homegrown Jihadi cases. The one issue to keep in mind that it that it comes in various shapes, flavors and sizes. If there's a single common denominator here, it's the ideology. As the old adage says, "It's the economy, stupid." In this case, it's the ideology. So we need to be able to better understand al Qaeda's narrative, their story. They're buying into this bankrupt ideology. In the three cases you raised earlier today, these are naturalized citizens. Obviously they have feet in two different worlds, two different cultures. And they've been seduced by al Qaeda's story. And we need to be able to do more to push back on that. And I think the big ungoverned space we all talk about terrorism and the ability to be able to act. The biggest ungoverned space today is the Internet. And the killer application of the Internet is not the technology itself; it's rather people. It has the ability to not only provide reaffirmation and identity, but also to connect like-minded individuals in far-flung corners of the world who share these aberrant views.
[Griffin:] The one trend that I see in the last several months at least, maybe in the past eight months, Frank, is the idea that a Muslim here, or perhaps an Afghani here or a Pakistani here is so enraged by civilian killings in their countries that they want to go to those countries and fight American soldiers there. And then they are swooped up by these al Qaeda operatives who say, "Hey, you can do a much better job for us if you take your passport, get back into the United States, and attack America on its own ground."
[Cilluffo:] They might have gone over there, not thinking anything about an attack here, but suddenly they're talked into it. You know you're absolutely right. They are so-called clean skins, which means they have unfettered access, as any other American citizen would in the United States. They can travel relatively freely. And I think we've got four clusters of threat here. You still have al Qaeda central, which may be damaged a bit. And Zazi is the closest case we see to that. You obviously have al Qaeda's affiliates. Both Americans, David Headly which you've done some great work on in the past, but also, Abdul Mutallab, our so-called booty bomber over Christmas was was affiliated one of al Qaeda's affiliates. Then you've got a big swath of those inspired by al Qaeda's ideology but initially not connected. They go, they travel overseas like the five guys who are from Virginia or Colleen Rose, a.k.a. Jihad Jane. These individuals don't fit any traditional profile, but they are getting some training. And I think you're starting to see a fourth trend that is really disconcerting. And that is they are getting some training, but there's no direct connection. The leaders overseas in Waziristan, or wherever it may be, are saying go forth and prosper but don't tell us because we don't want to compromise operation security. That's going to be a whole new set of challenges. And then you've also got the
[Griffin:] Right. Which, Frank, we have to wrap it up, but which is increasingly putting pressure on these various communities to monitor their communities and in some cases monitoring their own children who are inside their bedrooms, sucking in all this hatred, as you say, from these rock stars in the Jihadist movement. Frank Cilluffo, thanks for joining us from George Washington Institute. Always a pleasure.
[Cilluffo:] Thank you, Drew. Sorry I've never had an unspoken thought. Sorry I went so long.
[Griffin:] Thanks. No, no worries. Thanks a lot. Coming up next, we're going to talk about this BP oil spill. Good news, bad news, how much is flowing from out of there? And, also, "XYZ" today looking at drugs, Mexican violence, and what you might be smoking Saturday night.