good morning to you. happy friday. it's friday! august 19th. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." i'm carol costello. thank you for joining us this morning. we're live from new york. let's get started. the weekend has arrived in tokyo, shanghai. traders probably thought happy hour would never arrive. the nikkei, hang seng and shanghai composite opened lower.

things kept going downhill from there. we'll take you to hong kong in a minute for more details on that. you had to see this coming given what happened to the united states and europe yesterday, the dow fell 419 points. we've sped up the big board here, that arrow just refuses to turn green. the s&p lost more than 4%. the nasdaq sank more than that to 5%. it sank 5%. so what has rattled the markets this time? it's a combo platter of bad news, jobless claims are up, existing home sales are down. consumer prices are up and the plfrg industry has gotten weaker. no wonder a top economic adviser is flying to martha's vineyard next week to help president obama with his job proposal. then there was this report from morgan stanley, not paint ag pretty picture for the united states or europe. brace yourself. you're about to hear the r word again. here is our chief business correspondent, ali velshi. >> it said things we had all

sort of thought, but now it was on paper. number one, it said we are dangerously close to a recession. dangerously close. it doesn't say it's entirely likely or it's their base assumption, but dangerously close. it says europe and the u.s. have made policy errors, policy errors. that's the central banks and the political system. it referred specifically to the drama of the debt ceiling debate in the united states. that has sucked the confidence out of invifters worldwide. number three, it says both the fed and the european central bank may need to intervene again. >> okay. may need to intervene again. so what the heck does that mean? how would it intervene? kristie lu stout, we believe you might have the answer. >> carol, i'm not coming across calls for more intervention outside the u.s. other than the usual appeals from china for more fiscal prudence. even that is on hold given the delegate diplomacy around joe

biden's visit. china's president and xi jinping endorsed the u.s. company saying, quote, we believe the u.s. economy will achieve even better development as it rises to challenging. there could be negative reaction and calls for more intervention on monday. we'll be waiting for that, carol. >> we're waiting, too, waiting with bated breath. if you look into your crystal ball, how are the markets looking to close out the week? >> well, it's not looking good. global markets are in the red driven by fears of recession in the u.s. and a spreading debt crisis in europe. european markets all opened lower. right now the london ftse, the cac 40, the dax are all seeing losses between around 2% to 3.5%. that's probably going to continue this day. meanwhile here in asia, the markets are basically shocked into major losses. both the nikkei and the hang seng here in hong kong closed down about 2.5%. the shanghai composite closed down about 1%. the worst performer in the

region was cos spee wii with a of 6.4%. there's a lot of fear out there. >> we'll try to remain calm. that's what everyone says. don't worry about it. lit be fine. kristie lu stout live from hong kong, thank you. developing news to tell you about out of afghanistan. a pair of suicide bombers attacked a british government compound in kabul. eight killed, ten others hurt. explosions and gunfire were heard hours after the attack. the taliban claimed responsibility. today is the 92nd anniversary of afghan independence from great britain. the united nations will send a humanitarian mission to syria this weekend to check out reports of violence and murder in president bashar al assad's crackdown on protesters and see if they amount to crimes against humanity. president obama has called for assad to step down. secretary of state hillary clinton delivered the message on camera.

>> the people of syria deserve a government that respects their dignity, protects their rights and lives up to their aspirations. assad is standing in their way. for the sake of the syrian people, the time has come for him to step aside and leave this transition to the syrians themselves. and that is what we will continue to work to achieve. >> the administration has also frozen syrian assets under u.s. jurisdiction, banned americans from doing any business with syria and also banned syrian oil. congresswoman michele bachmann wants president obama's job. so you don't expect her to lavish praise on him. she's now saying the president should have called for assad to step down weeks ago and that mr. obama is leading from behind again. she also urged the president to kick syria's ambassador out of

the united states and bring the u.s. ambassador to syria back home. bachmann, by the way, is in south carolina today. governor rick perry will be there, too. >> stop attacking middle class families, rick perry. stop attacking middle class families, rick perry. >> oh, it's the political year of the heckler, yes. stop attacking middle class families you heard. rick perry was being heckled, trying to order a pop-over. he ran into those hecklers in new hampshire. some yelled at him to keep his hands off their medicare, others held signs that said, quote, back off my social security. perry has referred to social security as a ponzi keep and a failure. our roller coaster economy has a lot of people talking about the people hurt the most, the poor. jon stewart says billionaire warren buffett took it to a whole new level. >> bizarrely uneccentric

billionaire warren buffett entered the fray. >> the billionaire says, while most americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. my friends and i have been coddled long enough. >> or, to put that another way -- >> warren buffett, class warfare. >> if there's one thing the rich have learned, it's that class warfare is hell. >> he invoked the corporate jet class. >> soak the rich, it's their fault. >> it's disappointing. it's class warfare and the kind of language you would expect from a leader of a third world country. >> united states of america is not a third world country by any measure, except perhaps income inequality where we rank worse than the ivory cost, 64th! in your face, your guy, jamaica

and uganda! >> the wage gap is really, really big in this country. the world's largest computer banker is pulling the plug on its tablet and thinking about exiting the personal computer business altogether. what's behind that move? that's coming up. first it's time for our quote of the morning. here's the quote "he's very, very tone deaf." i'll give you a hint. it's a newsmaker referring to the timing of president obama's martha's vineyard vacation. we'll have the answer in 90 seconds. it's eight minutes past the hour. releases armies of snowmen masseuse, who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon. with aveeno nourish plus moisturize. active naturals wheat formulas target and help repair damage in just 3 washes. for softer, stronger... ... hair with life.

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make sure to look for the white check. it is nine minutes past the hour. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." let's get back to that quote, shall we? the quote is "he's very, very tone deaf." that was sarah palin, the former republican vice presidential candidate and current fox news contributor. she was asked about the timing of the president's vacation of course on fox. here is her answer. >> she's very, very tone deaf. i can't believe that he, after three days in the heartland did not hear those things that i hear when i'm in the heartland and anywhere else across the u.s. and that's, come on, let's buckle down and let's be serious about getting the country back on the right track. >> sarah palin is predicting president obama may have to end his trip early to deal with the

economy. maybe, of course, all the republicans and democrats who serve in congress could cut short their vacation, too. let's head to atlanta for a man always on the job. rob marciano, you're constantly working. >> even when i'm not here, i'm thinking about work, dreaming about work, wanting to work. >> that's sad. that's so sad. >> i get to take a little vacation next week. that may be cut short because of work and what we're about to show you. carol, some action in the tropics. we've been talking about this wave moving across the western caribbean now about to skim the coastline of honduras and head towards belize. tropical depression number eight, it could become a tropical storm in the next few hours. other than that, doesn't have a whole lot of time to strengthen. that's the good news. it will stay south of the u.s. forecast is for it to become a tropical storm briefly and make direct landfall in belize as we get later tonight and into tomorrow. tropical storm watches are up for that, and warnings may be

issued later on. of more concern for the u.s. would be this little diddy out there in the central southern atlantic. a good chance of this becoming a depression or tropical storm here in the next 48 hours. this one has a little bit more danger threat, even though it's out there over a week. we'll watch it carefully as it makes its way towards the u.s., gulf of mexico and southeast coastline will be under the gun with that one. all right. thunderstorms across the new york city area today. so travel delays there and in d.c. and also in philadelphia and boston. so we may see some action here as far as some of the more populated areas going forward. a couple of areas of concern and across the midsection, we've got a decent cluster of thunderstorms moving across missouri right now. here is what it looked like as far as damage goes across omaha last night. this thunderstorm complex dumped a ton of hail across omaha, nebraska, almost three inches in

diameter. this did the damage just outside the airport there. they actually had to shut down the airport, carol. southwest airlines pilot was injured. he was on the jet way or near the jetway when this hail storm hit. people were on the southwest plane had to be deplaend. no word on what kind of damage that happened to two southwest planes at the time. those hailstones meant business. that cluster moving just to the south of st. louis and we'll show you a little more of that on the radar later this morning. >> can you imagine returning from your trip, getting off the plane and going to your car and seeing that? >> oh, yeah, that will make you not want to go to work and get back on vacation. >> exactly. thank you, rob. we'll get back to you. the world's largest pc manufacturer is looking to get out of the personal computer business. it's just one part of a radical restructuring plan by hewlett packard. the company has also killed off its touch pad tablet.

despite slashing prices, its tablet wasn't flying off the shelf. they're shifting their focus to more profitable businesslike software servers and corporate technology services. up next, a computer chip that acts just like our brains. ibm has come out with prototypes. the idea, computers that learn from experiences and come to their own conclusions. could this be a bad thing? you know, like robots going rogue in the movies? ibm says technology like this could help monitor things like traffic lights and natural disasters, not take over the world. >> okay. we know about the warnings we get before a plane departs. now comes a warning before an in-flight movie that might make you cry. virgin atlantic made the move after a survey showed 41% of men on their flights hid their tears under blankets during sad movies. now they're going to have a

warning on the screen, this is a sad movie. be prepared, if you don't want to watch, don't watch. if you change the channel or turn off the television, you'll miss the big news about burger king. the company is now more burger, less king. his highness has been forced to abdicate his crown. the scary man is gone. we'll be back. another good thing about geico is, they've got, like, real live people working there 24/7. so like say you need to report a claim, alright.

a real person will be there to help you. then you can use geico.com to view photos of the damage, track your claim, print an estimate. you want an english muffin? they literally hand you a toasted muffin with butter and jam. (sigh) whaa. tasty. that's, that's a complete dramatization of course, but you get my point. vo: geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over.

16 minutes past the hour. time for a little laugh. president obama's trip to the midwest had comedian stephen colbert saying it's a jungle out there. what about your bus, "bus force 1." here is your punch line. >> "bus force 1" isn't even american. it was made in quebec. it's a canadian hybrid. it runs on gas an beaver meat. obama bag on his safari through the midwest. >> hey, how are you? i got a pie. [ cheers and applause ] >> he got a pie. come on, obama. at least throw it at a puma. in tough times we americans want a president who is a bad ass.

if it's not you, it's going to be rick perry. >> he just makes me laugh. that perfectly sets up our political ticker with tim farley, host of "mourning briefing, host of "morning briefing." >> before we start up, let's slap up a few post cards released by the republican national committee, pokeing fun at president obama taking veil case because he's taking a lot of heat for that. they made up these fake post cards showing president obama, you know, having fun in martha's vineyard. we'll get them up there in a minute. but president obama is aware of the criticism he's tafacing for taking his vacation. >> bill clinton did this all the time. he took six of eight vacations to martha's vineyard. it's not that he's on vacation, it's that he's at martha's vineyard. they said he's the president

wherever he goes. john bran nan was with him yesterday as he went to martha's vineyard. ultimately, two things will be important. number one, does anything happen while the president is there? if it does and he gets back to washington, no harm, no foul. more important when he comes back to washington in september when he gives us the speech on jobs, that's what people will be paying attention to. i'll go to something that nelson spiegel man, the martha's vineyard "times" yesterday, if the president gets a picture of fishing with the daughters, then probably no one will give him guf. there's no problem with a dad and his kids on vacation. >> i don't know. in this political climate, there may be. >> maybe. >> let's talk about another ad out there causing a bit of controversy. i would have thought this kind of thing would be in like flint, but oh, no. tell us about it. >> this is one of the ron paul supporters who is evidently concerned about rick perry and

decided if somebody can come forth with information about rick perry's dalians, which nobody has made accusations of. larry flint offered a bounty on people who had been hypocritical about their past. those ads being run right now, have you ever had sex with rick perry? this is the fighting in the republican party and we'll see how well it plays on the campaign trail, just another sign of the ugly times i guess when it comes to politics, carol. >> really ugly, reaching out to strippers across america, have you ever had sex with rick perry? no evidence he's ever strayed from his marriage. an ugly political climate. tim, thank you so much. >> i'm going to sing about my job all weekend, starting a theme here. >> that's so depressing. i'm not. as soon as i'm off work, i'm out

of here, mentally and physically. tim farley, thanks for joining us. how can you call yourself burger king when you've sacked your king? burger king will try. the number two burger chain is changing things up a bit. one of the changes, they're getting rid of the king character. the company wants more people to come in the door and that means kicking his highness to the curb. he was a little weird anyway. he might have scared children a bit. i'd say yes. they're meant to protect soldier's most delicate parts, boxers or cups? which do they prefer? first, whether you like it baked, fried or mashed, be sure to fill up on potatoes today, it's national potato day. it's 21 minutes past the hour. e. excuse me? my grandfather was born in this village. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ 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. while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. it's pro-cool technology releases armies of snowmen masseuse, who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon. discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly,

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24 minutes past the hour. following developing news out of kabul, afghanistan. a pair of suicide bombers attacked the british council killing at least eight people. let's head round the world with zain verjee. she's live in london. what more can you tell us about this attack? >> this really underlines, carol, the fact that the taliban are showing they can strike anywhere. this is a very rare thing to happen, an attack in the capital of kabul. it was at the british embassy compound targeting specifically

the british council offices. at least eight people have been killed, all of them we understand to be afghan security forces. basically what happened, there was a suicide car bomb. it exploded. a compound wall came down. the insurgents went through and there was sporadic gunfire and phiing for a long time between security forces and those militants. this is also significant, carol, too, because this is actually a day which is the anniversary of afghanistan's independence from the u.k. back in 1919, and the other thing, too, to keep in mind here, security in the capital was really stepped up before this date. and the night before. what it shows is militants can smuggle in weapons, suicide vests, and attack a british embassy compound in spite of the stepped up security. it raises questions about the competency of afghan security forces. carol? >> of course, that complicates things as far as u.s. troops leaving afghanistan as well.

zain verjee, live in london, thanks so much. a bench-clearing brawl in china is making headlines this morning. it happened during the fourth quarter of an exhibition game between the georgetown men's basketball team and a team from china. as you can there, things quickly got out of hand. georgetown's head coach called the incident unfortunate. we'll get a live update about this brawl from beijing. that's coming up in a bit. they're meant to protect soldier's most delicate body parts. initial testing of the so-called ballistic boxers has gone well. the heavy silk boxers won't stop bullets or shrapnel, but can stop small projectiles. they're getting mixed reviews. soldiers report they're not as comfortable as those silk boxers. searching for jobs in a sluggish economy. thousands line up for hours outside an atlanta job fair.

while some had to be rushed to the hospital.

good morning. happy friday. it is august 19th. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." i'm carroll costello joining you live from new york. it is 30 minutes past the hour. the weekend has already arrived in hong kong, tokyo and shanghai. traders probably thought it couldn't get here fast enough. asian markets took a beating all day. the nikkei, shanghai all downhill. you had to see this coming given the dow's 419-point drop on thursday. why are we still talking about tanking stock markets? what's the problem? here is what the former bailout chief in the bush administration

told cnn's piers morgan. >> for two years we tried a number of short-term stimmive measures to get the economy growing again. the markets have figured out those have not led to long-term economic growth. so people are scared. when people are scared, they save more, spend less, corporations invest left. they retrench. that can become a self-fulfilling prophesy. what is happening in washington is making a bad situation much worse because it's hurting confidence. that could tip us into recession. >> you already knew that, though, right? speaking of the r word, morgan stanley says both the units states and europe are, quote, hovering dangerously close to a recession, end quote. just how tough is it to find a job in this economy? ask the people who stood in line for hours in atlanta. more than one job seeker suffered heat-related illness, collapsed while standing in line. thousands of people stood there with their coverlet terse and

resumes in hand waiting to get into a job fair sponsored by the atlanta black caucus. for those unemployed, it's a rough market though. >> you're on the web, sitting in front of the computer four, five hours trying to find out the jobs that are available. >> after like a month or so you start to feel like, you know, is there any hope? is anybody even looking at your profile online because there's not many responses you get back. >> it's my job to get a job. i'm going to get one. i'm going to find one. >> that's the spirit. in the meantime the nation's largest bank is axing more than 3,000 jobs. bank of america is going through a restructuring that could see thousands more jobs eliminated. the company has witnessed its shares drop 47% this year. also this morning, two ft. bragg soldiers are facing murder charges in the death of a north

carolina teenager, both men, both 20, also face charges of disposing of the body. a local chair riff says the 17-year-old victim was found in the woods yesterday. he had been missing for several days. he had just started his senior year of high school. no word on a motive. the department of homeland security is changing its approach to the way it handles pending deportation cases. dhs secretary janet napolitano says her department will soon begin reviewing all 300,000 cases to determine which individuals meet specific criteria for removal. she says the ultimate goal is to have enforcement resources diverted from illegal immigrants who don't have criminal records to individuals who pose a threat to public safety and national security. she says the new policy change won't negate reforming immigration laws. in other words, people with criminal records will be more likely to be deported over those with no criminal background. time now for something to make you laugh.

hey, s&p, you downgraded the u.s.'s credit rating. jon stewart has something to say to you. >> guess what, s&p, pay back is a [ bleep ]. >> the justice department launched a probe into whether standard & poor's credit ratings agency improperly rated mortgage securities? >> what? was that is, andp? >> we launched a probe and you may be subject to several depositions by government officials, plus interviews by investigators that in some cases could lead to fines. the point is, there's a strong chance your name will end in a scathing editorial on page 17 of "the new york times." revenge is a dish best served slow and with a great deal of bureaucratic paperwork. hundreds of verizon workers take their strike to the front door of the home of their ceo.

still ahead, the impact of the nearly two-week-old strike is starting to hit verizon the special of the day. what billionaire claims he's hoping the build his own floating nation state in hopes of limits restriction on weapons? i hope you got that. i didn't say that well. i apologize. anyway, it's 35 minutes past the hour. oad ♪ ♪ she was waiting up around the bend ♪ ♪ smile at me and then you take my hand ♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, where delicious ingredients like toasted oats, with rich dark chocolate, sweet golden honey, or creamy peanut butter come together in the most perfect combinations. ♪ i was thinking that i hope this never ends ♪ ♪ yeah, i was just thinking ♪ i hope this will never end

discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. 36 minutes past the hour. in the businessman's special of the day, we asked you what billionaire claims he's looking to build his own floating nation state in the hopes of avoiding things like voter disenfranchisement, minimum wage and. it's peter thiel. the 43-year-old libertarian has

already pledged more than a million dollars to an institute looking into establishing sovereign states in international waters. soon there will be little floating countries all over the place out in the water. who knows? isn't that bizarre, christine? >> that's a lot of money. he's got a lot of money, carol. >> he certainly does. let's talk about the folks without a lot of money, those unemployed, those looking for a job and those fearing -- we keep hearing there's going to be a double-dip recession. is there any silver lining this morning? >> silver lining for many people today is a payday. if it's a payday and you're putting money into your 401(k), the stocks you're buying are cheaper than last week. that is one of the sad silver linings of a declining market, you're picking up shares cheaply if you're automatically investing in your 401(k) and you have a long-term horizon. it's not good if you get a

double-dip recession in the country or the world and stocks keep going lower. still talking about the fears of recession, carol, could it happen? what's the likelihood. just all that talk is enough to keep this negative feedback loop continuing. there just isn't confidence and that continues this morning. futures sharply lower again, carol. >> okay. we'll stop talking about that now. let's talk about verizon, 45,000 workers are on strike. and they picked -- i guess it's a traditional way to get their message across. >> sure. go to your boss's house and stand there with a flag and all your friends in your red shirts organized by your union and say things like "stop the greedy pigs." they're arguing about cuts to benefits. verizon says even with the concessions they're asking for, these workers would have toward the higher end of comparable companies on their benefits, retirement and health care. these people say, no, this is

verizon being greedy and trying to drive down our middle class lifestyle for hard work we do. it's the classic union manager fight playing out at the guy's front doorstep. there you go. as i reported yesterday, verizon said by august 31st, if these people don't go back to work, they'll have to go on cobra, they'll lose their benefits overall. >> we'll seep what happens. christine romans, i'll see you in a bit. coming up, serious irony for you. a good will game that ended with players clearing the benches and punching each other out. first, it's time to get smart. how many passenger vehicles are now cruising the planet? is it a, 500 million, b, 700 million or c, 1 billion. you two minutes to think about this. it's 39 minutes past the hour.

million or c, 1 billion.

41 minutes past the hour. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." how many passenger vehicles are now cruising the planet? the answer? you gave it away too quickly t. answer is c, 1 billion. this is according to an industry trade journal. it's something to think about the next time you're stuck in gridlock on your morning commute, although you already know that. now time for our political ticker. let's bring in our deputy political director paul steinhauser live on the phone from washington. paul, republican candidates will have ten days to go after president obama while he's vacations on martha's vineyard. so can we expect a bit of nastiness? >> reporter: they didn't even wait for him to go. he left yesterday. at the beginning of the week some of the candidates already went after him according mitt romney who is the perceived front-runn front-runner. here is what he said on the campaign trail in massachusetts. take a listen.

>> the president this week is in three states on a bus tour campaigning. then he's going to be going on a vacation to martha's vineyard for ten days. a lot of democrats in martha's vineyard. i don't know why. i wish the president were in washington calling back congress and dealing with the challenges we have. >> reporter: two things about that one, carol. remember mitt romney was governor of massachusetts. martha's vineyard is in massachusetts. guess where mitt romney is going to be doing a week from now? raising campaign cash for his campaign in martha's vineyard. he's a republican presidential candidate, that's what they do. they're supposed to be criticizing the president. that's their job, carol. >> i dare say some americans are criticizing the president, too, for going on vacation because the economy is in poor shape. president obama is aware of that. he's bringing a couple people

with him, right? >> reporter: they're always working vacations. he'll have the family there, but he's going to be working on the big job speech right after labor day. he's going to have advisors up there, working only that. carol, let me say two things real quick. presidents get criticized for taking these kind of vacations. george w. bush. everyone said he was spending too much time in crawford, texas over the summer. the president's approval rating is low right now. guess whose is worse? congress. americans feel everyone should be back here working and fixing the economy and trying to get jobs created, carol. >> paul steinhauser, we appreciate it. three things to put on your radar today. just a few hours away from the opening bell. traders bracing for another rough day on wall street. yesterday the dow fell 419 points. we're watching to see what happens next in the case of a

father and son charged with making violent threats against sarah palin, her family and her lawyer. the west memphis three could be freed as early as today. the three men were convicted back in 1993 of killing three second grade boys. all along they claimed their innocence. dna tests did not link them to the crime. you've probably seen a fight break out at a basketball game before. sure it happens. this one is a little different. first of all, it was a game between the georgetown hoyas and a chinese military team, coinciding with vice president biden's visit to china. this is a goo will game. maybe there's some good will. cnn's jamie is there.

>> an ugly brawl happened thursday night when the hoyas played the chinese military teams, one of the professional teams in town. they were playing a very physical game, lots of fouls and with so many -- with about ten minutes left, they were still tied at 64-all when the players started to exchange blows, fist fights, the benches cleared and, of course, the game had to be abruptly stopped. it happened when vice president joe biden is visiting chin that. no direct relations or connections. in fact, a day earlier vice president biden watched another game of the hoyas playing another chinese team. but this one, the one on thursday, ended not on a very friendly note, carol. >> jaime, this is terrible. with chinese people watching this game, how would they think

about this? >> reporter: the mainstream chinese media, very few of them reported this brawl. but on the internet, many chinese internet users were -- posted very heated comments. one of them said that, well, the chinese players showed hot teller, but not so hot basketball skills, carol. >> jaime floor cruz, thank you so much. before we go, this day in history, 1909, the first race held at the indianapolis motor speedway, now home to the world famous indy 500. it's 47 minutes past the hour. goodnight, outdated. goodnight old luxury and all of your wares. goodnight bygones everywhere. [ engine turns over ] good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation.

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50 minutes past the hour. developing news out of afghanistan this morning. the taliban claiming responsibility for two explosions that rocked the british council in downtown kabul, killing at least eight people. explosions continued for hours after the attack. our david ariosto was there. >> reporter: a vehicle drove up, detonated and militants were able to enter in -- major, major explosions going on right now. we just heard a major blast behind us here. there seems to be smoke billowing out here, gunfire from what we can tell.

security sources have basically surrounded this area here. major, major smoke billowing out of the council area there. >> pretty frightening stuff. let's go around the world, david ariosto is joining us live from kabul. david, kabul is heavy secured. this is quite of unusual for these kinds of attacks to take place there, right? >> reporter: well it goes to show there really are no front lines in the war in afghanistan. what we've seen lately is a string of high-profile attacks targeting either allies of the karzai administration. back in june we saw the attacks at the intercontinental hotel, not too far from where this took place. as this transition period is taking place, the effect of the surge has moved some of these taliban forces away from the traditional heartlands in the south and east.

they're lashing back. we've seen a resurgence of attacks. earlier we saw an attack on the compound of the. militants, suicide bombers drive up in a vehicle, detonate in front of a main security gate and other militants attack. again, the latest in a series of high-profile attacks, carol? >> david ariosto live from kabul, thanks. asia felt the ripple from the dow's lousy day. things kept going downhill from there. of course, you had to see this coming given what happened in the united states yesterday. the dow fell 419 points, and morgan stanley said both the united states and europe are dangerously close to another recession. so we can hope the u.s. markets recover today. experts say this is a really nervous time on wall street. >> you can't underestimate enough how much the market is so

skittish right now. it's august, volume is low. that means the market can swing wildly one way or another with not even too much movement. the market can go down if it's going to rain tomorrow or not enough sales to the u.s. open. it's that sensitive. thousands of people stood in long lines in atlanta yesterday for hours for a chance at getting hired at a job fair. 90 employers were looking to hire workers. the congress black caucus sponsored the job fair. the world's largest pc manufacturer is looking to get out of the personal computer business. hewlett packard also touched off his touch pad tablet. despite slashing prizes, the tablet wasn't flying off the shelves like the ipad. hewlett packard is shifting its focus to more profitable businesses like software,

servers and corporate technology services. let's head to atlanta. he's got the finest computers available in the entire universe. >> yes. yes, we do. >> are they showing any flight delays? >> not yet. we'll probably see a few. there's going to be some pop-up thunderstorms in more populated areas. let's get to the boards and show you a couple things. first off, the tropics. we have tropical depression number eight which heading towards honduras. we're looking at the potential for seeing flooding in this area. the other issue that we're seeing beyond this is what's happening further out in the atlantic, and that may get into or close to the caribbean by the time the end of next week comes. that is of more concern to the u.s. what's going on here in belize will be some rainfall that could spawn some mudslides. as far as the spots where you'll see some thunderstorms that will pop up and create delays, that

would be -- we're still on the trobices stuff. sorry. the best computeers in the world, carol, are moving pretty slow. the kiss of death, thanks for doing that for me. i can't believe you. >> i'm sorry. i jinxed your computers. >> operator error. i forgot to put it in play. >> we thank you anyway. we got our info, rob marciano live from atlanta. we'll be back right after this.

now let's go to our carter evans for a look at your money this morning. i know you have to do this, carter, even though we probably don't want to hear it. go for it. >> it's tough. let's start with the good news.

it's friday. now to the rest of the news, which is unfortunately not to good. let's take a look at the futures right now. looking at another down day. the dow down 167 currently. nasdaq down 24. s&p 50 down about 16 points on the cnn money.com. no big reports or earnings coming up. investors will have to find their way on their own. here is a preview of how things are going in europe. the ftse in london down another 2.7% after fall 4% yesterday. the dax in germany down 3.4% after falling almost 6% yesterday. where is everybody going? carol, they're headed -- >> yeah. >> you know that, right? gold. >> i'm wondering why i pay attention to this every day when there's nothing i can do about it. >> there is nothing you can do about it. if you feel good spending money, that's what could help out the economy, if everybody did a little of that instead of pouring all their money into gold which is whe