[Deborah Feyerick, Cnn Anchor:] From CNN Center, this CNN SATURDAY MORNING, it's August 6th. Good morning. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for T.J. Holmes. Another blow to the U.S. economy. In a move last night, the country's credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's. No longer do we have superior AAA status. We'll explain how the move impacts you. And dramatic new video into the CNN Center. Real time video of the tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri, last May. One school surveillance camera caught the destruction on tape. And, do you use GPS to figure out where you're going? Well, it may be wrong. We'll explain why you may need a printed map for the next few days. We'll get to those stories in a minute, but first, breaking news out of Afghanistan. A NATO helicopter has crashed in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai says at least 38 people were killed. Closer to home, Americans wake up to a stark, new financial reality. We're no longer the gold standard as it relates to the world's economy. Yesterday, after the market's close, Standard & Poor's downgraded the nation's long term sovereign credit rating from AAA to AA Plus. It is a first for the country and an embarrassment for President Obama. In explaining the decision, S&P; says the nation's growing debt, coupled with last week's political acrimony over raising the debt ceiling, gives them less faith in the nation's ability to repay its loans. It comes days after Congress cut the debt ceiling deal shaving more than $2 trillion over the next decade. In essence, S&P; thinks the deal fell short. After Standard & Poor's notification of the credit downgrade, the Obama administration fired back saying the S&P;'s own figures were off by $2 trillion. S&P; acknowledged the discrepancy, but says its decision to downgrade stays. So, what's next? And where do we go from here? CNN's Felicia Taylor is live in New York. And as we said earlier, boy, this credit downgrade, Felicia, what a stunning wake-up call.
[Felicia Taylor, Cnn Business Correspondent:] Completely. I mean it's totally unprecedented. We've had a AAA rating in this country since 1917. This now means that those countries that invest in the United States have a rating below that of Britain, France, Germany and Canada. That makes it a riskier investment for anybody who's investing in the United States. So that's a problem going forward. But for consumers, for individuals, the reason this is important is that interest rates could go higher in the short-term. Meaning that any kind of an investment, whether it's credit cards, insurance payments, anything like that, is going to be at risk. That's why this is critical for every consumer in this country. It's not just about investors and the economy. It's about the entire country overall. And what Washington now needs to do is get back to work and figure out how that debt deal is really going to work out and satisfy the rating agencies such as
[S&p.; Feyerick:] You know, on some levels, given the bitterness of the debt ceiling debate, was this a way of the S&P; saying, we don't believe in your ability, the leadership on both sides, to get a deal done, to get to create jobs, to cut where it needs be? Basically sending a message saying, if this is the way you're going to deal with the debt ceiling, forget about trying to create jobs. Was that part of the message?
[Taylor:] Completely. You've encapsulated it perfectly. That's exactly the message that they're sending to Washington. That the lack of consensus, the lack of bipartisanship, is really what's at risk here. We Americans are not coming to the table and agrees on how to get this country back into a recovery phase. Because we're not. We saw a jobs numbers on Friday that really wasn't up to snuff. It was better than expectations, but not good enough. And we've had a couple of months that were kind of wild cards in terms of jobs and that's what needs to be created. So the administration is being sort of, you know, scolded and said and being told, you need to come to the table and figure this out and get your ducks in order, so to speak. And understand that we're watching you. And from the S&P; perspective, I mean they've kind of put themselves in a hard place because, don't forget, they were criticized for not watching during the fiscal crisis and not minding the banks that were in trouble at that time. So they've had to step up to the plate and sort of say, OK, you know, you guys aren't really doing what you need to be doing and we're going to now call you on it. So there's a bit of a tug-of-war going on between Washington and the ratings agencies.
[Feyerick:] All right, well this is certainly going to be interesting to see how it plays out and to see if the leaders of both parties step up to the plate and do what needs to be done to get the financial house in order and hopefully
[Taylor:] Exactly.
[Feyerick:] Get the rating back. Felicia Taylor, thank you so much. We're going to check in with you a little later on. Appreciate it. Well, as we said earlier, this is unchartered territory for the U.S. economy. But one thing is certain, American's money crunch just got ratcheted up another notch. CNNMoney's Poppy Harlow looks at some of the potential ripple effects from the downgrading.
[Poppy Harlow, Cnnmoney.com:] Let's take a look at what this means for you, the consumer. Your home loan. You can watch your interest rates on your mortgage go up. More homes are going to then sit on the market. Prices of homes could fall even further to this already depressed housing market. And the only silver lining is for long-term investors who see a buying opportunity here. When you look at your car loan, very similar story. Expect your interest rates to go up. Car prices to go up. It's going to be pretty tough for people with middle to lower credit scores to buy cars and new car sales are going to fall. The car market isn't that healthy right now either. And then, finally, when it comes to college loans, what does this mean for your college loan? When you look at interest rates, very similar story. Private student loans are going to see their interest rate increase. It's going to be tougher for students to get a loan for the spring term. So a very near term effect here. Students are going to have to work more through college to pay off that increased interest rate. And, finally, the only silver lining is, most students have their financing for next year already lined up.
[Feyerick:] Poppy Harlow there for us. Well, now for the flip side. Some analysts think that the credit downgrade may not have much of an effect on the markets. Listen to what Chrystia Freeland, the global editor-at-large for Reuters, told our Anderson Cooper. The downgrade could actually have a positive impact on some investments.
[Chrystia Freeland, Global Editor-at-large, Reuters:] Not just the U.S. which is in trouble, we're also seeing lots of sovereign debt issues in Europe. Ironically, the fact that the rest of the world is in trouble, too, is, in the short-term, really to the advantage of the United States. PIMCO, the world's biggest bond trader, likes to talk about the U.S. as the cleanest dirty shirt. You have to put your money in somebody's treasuries. And right now, the U.S. is still looking like a pretty good bet. And we saw that verdict in the markets this week.
[Feyerick:] Well, last night on "AC 360," Standard & Poor's Managing Director John Chambers explained how lawmakers could have avoided this historic downgrading of the U.S. economy.
[John Chambers, Managing Director, Standard & Poor's:] I think it could have done a few things. I mean the first thing it could have done is to have raised the debt ceiling in a timely manner so that much of this debate had been avoided to begin with, as it had done, you know, 60 or 70 times since 1960 without that much debate. So that's point number one. And point number two is, it could have come up with a fiscal plan, you know, similar, for example, the, you know, Bowles-Simpson Commission, which was bipartisan. Although it didn't have a super majority vote, it did have a majority vote and came up with a number of sensible recommendations. I mean you could envision other recommendations, but that would have been a start.
[Feyerick:] The Bowles-Simpson Commission, that Chambers talked about, was the panel set up by President Obama to identify ways to reduce the national deficit. It's formally known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Well, let's get back to breaking news out of Afghanistan. A NATO helicopter has crashed in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai says at least 38 people were killed. David Ariosto joins us now over the phone. And, David, what are you hearing about this tragedy?
[David Ariosto, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, in what seems to be one of the largest losses of coalition life in recent memory, the information that we're getting, both information President Karzai's office, as well as from local officials and Taliban, which seems to claim responsibility for this attack, it seems that this helicopter was traveling in an area that was ripe with insurgent activity and may have indeed been shot down. Now, we're getting conflicting accounts on that. It may have crashed. It may have been shot down by Taliban forces. The indication that we're getting from the local sources and from the Taliban spokesman is that it was indeed shot down. Thirty-eight individuals. Seven of them Afghan, 31 NATO members were killed in that crash. And it comes at a time of a series of high profile attacks against targets here in this country. But the south and east have always been sort of restive areas that have been under the watchful eye of both NATO and Afghan forces. Nonetheless, what we've seen in recent days is increased targeting of both high level officials, as well as helicopters themselves. Just last month a NATO helicopter was downed in an attack that the Taliban also took credit for. No one was injured in that attack. It doesn't seem to be the case in this instance.
[Feyerick:] All right. And, David, any sense, have the remains been recovered? I know it's a little too early to tell, but is at least the helicopter, is it secure?
[Ariosto:] The ISAF spokesman, the branch of NATO spokesman that we spoke to would only confirm that the crash had taken place. They wouldn't confirm any other details, but said that a recovery operation is underway. They're looking into really the specifics of what happened and whether anything can be salvaged at this point. Again, local officials that we spoke to say that roughly eight Taliban insurgents were also killed in what may have been an exchange. Unclear at this point. But as it stands right now, one of the worst loss of life in terms of coalition forces we've seen in quite some time.
[Feyerick:] OK, David Ariosto, in Kabul. Thank you very much. We'll check back with you a little later on. Well, back in the U.S., students at the University of Alabama will finally get to walk in a graduation ceremony today. Their commencement was supposed to be in May, but was postponed after a string of tornadoes swept across the state. Nearly 250 people were killed that day in April, including six University of Alabama students. The school held a candlelight vigil for them last night. And if you were hoping to get an airline ticket tax refund because of the FAA shutdown, think again. No break there. President Obama signed legislation yesterday to end the shutdown and make the taxes retroactive. Tax collection on air travel will begin again Monday. Flash flooding in Charlotte, North Carolina, killed one person and trapped drivers in their cars yesterday. At least two neighborhoods had to be evacuated because of flooding creeks. And check out this hotel lobby in Charlotte. Oh, my God. The heavy rain accumulated on the roof and began pouring through light fixtures in the lobby at an Embassy Suites hotel. Parts of three interstate highways were temporarily closed because of the heavy rain. And the South Central Plains and Gulf Coast states are in for some extreme heat again today. Reynolds Wolf is in the severe weather center. And, Reynolds, watching those pictures of the water just sort of pour down, it happened so quickly.
[Reynolds Wolf, Ams Meteorologist:] It really did. Probably availability, not so good in a place like that tonight. I think they're going to probably be closed this evening and I'm the big cleanup is going to begin. You know, one of the big things I know people wish they could clean up though is, as you mentioned, the extreme heat across much of the nation. We're talking about millions of Americans that are dealing with temperatures that are well into the 90s and 100s. And with the high humidity, it feels even warmer. We're going to tell you who's going to get what coming up. What are you watching and what day? Oh, yes, CNN SATURDAY. We'll have more coming up. See you in a little bit.