Syria Isn't the New Libya; Fleeing the Syrian Crackdown
BLITZER: Jack Cafferty is here. He has The Cafferty File -- Jack.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, THE CAFFERTY FILE: Wolf, President Obama was in Durham, North Carolina today meeting with his Jobs and Competitiveness Council, hoping to get some ideas from corporate leaders on how to boost the economy and create some jobs. now, there's an idea. He's going to need all the help he can get -- 9.1 percent unemployment right now. Things aren't looking so hot, particularly with the job situation so bleak for college-aged and college-educated young Americans. That's a demographic that widely supported President Obama in the 2008 election. According to one study, the median starting salary for students graduating from four year colleges in 2009-2010, $27,000 a year. That is 10 percent lower than what those who entered the workforce between 2006 and 2008 earned. A separate study found only about 45 percent of college graduates under the age of 25 are currently working a job that requires a college degree -- fewer than half. That number varies from major to major. Those who majored in education, teaching, engineering are much more likely to find a job with a college degree. And while engineering jobs are highly paid, education and teaching jobs have much lower earning potential. Here's a sobering thought, half of the 54,000 jobs created in May in the latest jobs report -- McDonald's. All of this reigniting the debate over whether a college degree is really worth it in this economy. Over the past 20 years, tuition and fees of public universities have jumped 130 percent. All the time, reel income for the middle class has actually declined. The latest figures showing median income for U.S. is $400 lower, middle income than it was in 1988. We hear a lot about dealing with a new normal in the wake of a great recession. Choosing against a four-year college degree may be part of that new normal for some Americans. Here's the question -- has the value of a college degree changed in recent years? Go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog. Wolf --</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Fair question, Jack. Thank you. Other news we're following, the call for the United States and other nations to intervene in Syria, they're growing louder right now. The Syrian military's ruthless crackdown has crushed dissent in towns and villages near the Turkish border. Washington insists military action isn't on the table, at least not now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the U.S. pushing its allies to take some type of physical military action to stop what you're talking about and drum deed of abuses over the weeks?</s>MARK TONER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: What we've been clear about is that our effort remains diplomatic and economic. We have brought pressure to bear on Assad through these sanctions both the E.U. and here in the United States. And the other aspect of this is that we are working through the U.N. Human Rights Commission so that he and his government will be held accountable for their actions. But, you know, speculating about military action, we're just not there yet.</s>BLITZER: Syria's military is showing no reluctance in its campaign against civilians. Amnesty International says Syrian soldiers are following what they describe as a scorched earth policy, emptying villages, driving civilians toward the borders. Almost 7,000 refugees are now in camps. Many, many more are expected. CNN's Arwa Damon is joining us now from the Turkish side of the Syrian border with more. What are you seeing? What are you watching over there, Arwa?</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, for the last few days, we've actually been watching the Turkish authorities putting up even more refugee camps. The flow coming across from Syria shows absolutely no sign of relenting. And speaking to a lot of these refugees about their experiences, they quite simply say that they cannot put the horrors that they saw into words. But here's an example of what just one man witnessed.</s>DAMON (voice-over): A ride on his bike turned out to be this man's final journey. He was shot in the stomach in the coastal city of Latachia (ph) on his way to buy groceries for family. The circumstances of his death unknown and CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the video. But it is one of several clips that we were shown by a man who gave us only his first name, Mohammed. I witnessed this, he recalls. It was after the president's first speech to parliament, about 2-1/2 months ago. A month later, Mohammed took his family and fled from his hometown, starting a long and risky journey that ended here, at this refugee camp just over the border in Turkey. Now Mohammed sneaks between Turkey and Syria. I wanted to help the families that are crossing, he says, and the wounded and just to help the people on the border, to make a small difference. The Syrian side of the boarder is a small makeshift camp, close to an unofficial crossing. Mohammed films people as they take their final step to safety. Capturing moments like this, a woman whaling, my children, my children. All the people are my children. Imploring God to save them. He shows us the dismal life inside the camp, people living in crude tents, washing in the small river. Most of these people choose not to cross into Turkey because they were separated from family members in the chaos as they fled. They feel forced to stay there, Mohammed explained so they can keep getting news about Syria. They're afraid that if they cross into Turkey, they'll be cut off, not knowing if their loved ones were killed or detained. There are wounded here, too, after clashes in a nearby town. This man came last Saturday, Mohammed tells us. He was wounded in the demonstrations. The bullet hit his leg. He survived, but many others did not, as the military assault on the area intensified. The hardest times for me were at the border, Mohammed admits, when the wounded arrive and they are bleeding out and we see them die before the ambulance arrives. They die in our arms. On both sides of the border, Syria's tragedy continues to play out.</s>DAMON: Wolf, there are growing concerns amongst a number of refugees we've been talking to that the bloodshed is only going to carry on. And a number of residents have been telling us that they have been receiving reports that the Syrian military is inching even closer to the Turkish border.</s>BLITZER: Arwa Damon reporting for us. Arwa, thanks very much. We'll certainly check back with you. Meanwhile, President Obama takes his push for jobs to a state with troubling high unemployment. But does he have what it takes to turn the economy around? Stand by. Thousands of pages of once top secret reports on the Vietnam War released today for the first time inside the Pentagon papers. That's coming up.