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Romney In Poland; Romney: Revisit Campaign Finance Laws; Holmes To Be Formally Charged Today; Defense Wants Package Turned Over; Miami Police Seek Man In Shooting Spree; Hyundai Recalls 222,000 Cars; Second Huge Dust Storm Hits Phoenix; Gaffes On The Campaign Trail; Controlling The Obama, Romney Messages; Swimming Dominates Day Three; Vollmer Breaks Record In 100M Butterfly; Religion Versus Judo; Possible Ban Over Headscarf; Phelps On Representing The U.S.

Aired July 30, 2012 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for being with us this morning. We begin with the presidential campaign shifting its focus today to Poland.

Not Poland, Ohio, where President Obama campaigned earlier this month, but the European nation of Poland. Mitt Romney has just arrived there for the final stop on his overseas trip.

Jim Acosta is covering Romney's visit there. Jim, I understand Romney going to London for the Olympics and then on to Israel and now Poland. Why Poland?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Hi, Carol. Yes, we landed here in Poland with Mitt Romney. He just finished up a meeting with the country's current leader.

Later on today, he'll be meeting with Lack Luwaunza, who a lot of Americans know is a hero of the post Soviet era here in Poland, but the reason he's meeting in Poland is basically simple according to his advisers.

They say, one, that the Poland has an economy that is performing better than a lot of the rest of Europe and so Mitt Romney trying to get back to the economy as often as he can and trying to do that here in Poland.

Also, they point out that Poland was a significant force when it came to troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and he wants to honor that as well.

So each one of these steps along this overseas trip, Carol, has been all about keeping ties and relationships up with nations they consider to be strong allies of the United States.

COSTELLO: Before Mr. Romney got to Poland, he had some tough words on Iran. Tell us about that, Jim.

COSTELLO: It was a very striking speech that he gave in Jerusalem, Carol. We were there. It was a dramatic backdrop. He stood in front of the old city wall of Jerusalem, and basically delivered an unmistakable warning to leaders in Iran.

That if they continue along the path of developing a nuclear weapon as much as the world suspects, he was basically laying out the case that war would be inevitable, and also, I think, ruffled some feathers among Palestinian leaders by referring to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

That's something, an opinion that not a lot of other Palestinians share. They feel the city is a shared city. So there were some bruised feelings, I think, on the part of Palestinians.

But among conservatives, Jewish-Americans on hand for the speech, and Israelis, they like what he had to say very much.

COSTELLO: Jim Acosta reporting live from Poland. Thanks.

Wolf Blitzer sat down with Mitt Romney during his stop in Jerusalem. The interview touched on several issues including the impact of "Super PACs." Romney said we need take a look at campaign finance laws.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": All this money coming in, is this appropriate? What do you think about this?

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I must admit, I think I made clear in my campaign in 2008, I felt that the fundraising regulations and rules that exist in our country don't make a lot of sense.

In fact, as you know, a candidate is able to raise a maximum of $2,500 for his or her campaign, a federal candidate, but there could be a "Super PAC" on behalf of the candidate that takes millions of dollars.

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I think we need to revisit. I hope at some point we're able to revisit the campaign finance laws and to have candidates responsible for the advertising of their own campaign as opposed to having advertising and the message of a campaign oftentimes being spoken of more loudly by outside groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You can watch all of Wolf Blitzer's interview with Mitt Romney today on CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM." Also, Wolf goes one- on-one with Israel's president, Shimon Peres and the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. So don't miss "THE SITUATION ROOM," 4:00 Eastern.

New developments this morning in the Colorado shooting massacre. In the next hour, accused gunman, James Holmes, will be back in court, but there will be no pictures this time.

Judge William Sylvester put the hammer down, no cameras capturing the shooter in court, no cell phones, laptops, iPads or audiotapes allowed either, all to make sure Holmes gets a fair trial.

Jim Spellman is live outside the courthouse in Centennial, Colorado. Good morning, Jim.

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. Yes, in less than an hour and a half, James Holmes will make his way through a tunnel underground from the jail here into the courtroom.

That's where he'll first hear the charges against him. We expect him to be charged with a minimum of 12 counts of first degree murder. Many more counts of attempted first degree murder and other charges. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SPELLMAN (voice-over): At the hearing where accused gunman, James Holmes is scheduled to be formally charged, his attorneys will argue that a package he sent to his psychiatrist before the shooting is protected communication between doctor and patient.

This is after a week of mourning for victims at memorial and funeral services in Ohio, Illinois, and teas. For Matt McQuinn and third generation Navy man John Larimer who died while shielding their girlfriends from gunfire --

HERB SHAFFER, MATT MCQUINN'S UNCLE: That he lay down his life for his friends.

SPELLMAN: And for Jessica Ghawi, a budding sportscaster whose family employer family and friends to find something positive in the tragedy.

JORDAN GHAWI, SHOOTING VICTIM'S BROTHER: If this coward could have done that with this much hate, imagine what we can do with this much love.

SPELLMAN: A newly released court document disclosed that Holmes, a 24-year-old dropout from a neuroscience PhD program had been a patient of University of Colorado psychiatrist, Lin Fenton.

His lawyers are asking that authorities turn over a package Holmes sent to Dr. Fenton. Former Denver prosecutor, Karen Steinhauser agrees the package constitutes protected communications.

KAREN STEINHAUSER, FORMER DENVER PROSECUTOR: Any communications between the defendant and the psychiatrist are absolutely protected. We don't know at this point when the last time was that he had any communications with her. We don't know the nature of those communications. And at this point, those communications are protected.

SPELLMAN: But psychiatrist, Erik Fisher argues that doctor- patient confidentiality has its limits.

ERIK FISHER, PSYCHOLOGIST: When a patient states a clear and imminent danger to a specific person, then we have an obligation to either warn that person, warn family members, people might be related to them, and also the authorities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SPELLMAN: There's a very strict gag order in place here. No law enforcement people are supposed to speaking to the media, and we haven't had access to any kinds of university records, even ones that don't pertain to the case.

Also, today, Carol, media organizations including CNN will petition the court to unseal some of those documents to try to give people more insight into what is going on in the case -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Spellman reporting live from Colorado. I want to bring in our legal contributor Paul Callan to talk a little more about the gag order put into place by the judge. Welcome, Paul.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So the judge ordered virtually all legal documents sealed, and a gag order to police and the University of Colorado. They can't talk to the media at all. Is this unusual?

CALLAN: Yes, highly unusual, and he's also thrown cameras out of the courtroom, which is also highly unusual in this day and age. I'm really surprised by it.

You know, it's interesting, Carol, the contrast between Colorado and Florida, where we have been watching the Zimmerman case, with totally open court cases and discovery.

I think it's a mistake when courts do this because the public gets a sense there's something nefarious, something unusual going on behind the scenes. I think we're better off having an open process.

This is a complicated case though. There are medical records involved. The judge may have his reasons, but usually gag orders are not upheld by higher courts and usually higher courts will order more open discovery.

COSTELLO: I would suspect that the media organizations think the public has a right to know what the University of Colorado, for example, knew about James Holmes. What was in his notebook?

When did it receive it? Did they forward it to police? They can't answer any of those questions definitively for us because of the judge's order.

CALLAN: No, they can't. And of course, there may be other reasons they can't answer the questions, either. There's a variety of federal laws, a law called the "Furpa Law," which protects student records.

You send your kid off to college and pay a huge tuition. You even can't get the kids grades anymore because federal law says they're private records.

So you probably would need a court order for a lot of that material in any event. But this judge is saying even if there is a court order, he's not going to allow anyone to talk about the records.

COSTELLO: And this might come fully to trial for several months, a year, when?

CALLAN: Interesting question. If today he is found to be in need of a competency evaluation by a psychiatrist, he'll be sent off to a mental hospital and he won't be back in court for another three months.

And the psychiatrist would then report back if he's ready to stand trial. I have seen other cases, Carol, where people have remained incompetent for years, two, three, five years, sometimes forever.

So it's very, very hard to predict. It depends upon whether he's mentally ill and what the level of mental illness is.

COSTELLO: And just in a nutshell, what will we find out in court today, Paul?

CALLAN: I think we'll find out, we'll get a picture of the charges, and probably it's not going to be all of the charges because they could charge him with additional counts later on.

But I think we'll get a clear picture as to what he's going to be charged with. I think we're going to hear an argument about the issue of competency, whether a competency evaluation will be done.

And there may be some discussion about these gag orders and some of the other restrictions that the judge has handed down. I certainly would express the press to aggressively try to litigate this. Usually lawyers for the network and newspapers come in to try to compel more open proceedings.

COSTELLO: I think those actions are already under way. Paul, thanks so much for your insight.

CALLAN: OK, Carol.

COSTELLO: Campaign 2012 is all about manage the media. The Romney and Obama teams are making sure their men are seen in the best possible light. We'll show you how they tweak the roles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's 15 minutes past the hour. Checking the top stories now.

Miami Police are still looking with this man in connection with the shooting spree. Aaron Cash got into an argument with his girlfriend and later shot two of her brothers and an innocent bystander. In money news, Hyundai recalled 200,000 cars due to potential air bag problems. Front air passenger bags in Santa Fe SUVs made between 2007 and 2009 might not deploy properly in a crash. And side air bags in 2012 and 2013 Sonatas might inflate for no reason at all.

Check out this monster wall of dirt and dust in Arizona. It's the second dust storm in a week to hit Phoenix. It was followed by lightning and more than an inch of rain. These storms happened in monsoon season which runs from June through September.

Everyone's a critic when it comes to the national anthem. An 11-year-old girl is finding that out the hard way. People are calling her performance of the national anthem during a soccer game the worst ever. You be the judge.

OK, well, she deserves at least some credit for having the nerve to sing in front of 22,000 people attending that soccer game so good for her and her courage.

Unscripted moments during political campaigns can be great, but sometimes they can be quite damaging. Of course, that depends on who you're talking to. Mitt Romney in an interview with NBC seemed to question whether Britain was prepared for the Olympics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: You know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting, stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials. That obviously is something that is not encouraging.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That got him into hot water in Great Britain. And President Obama in an unscripted moment uttered these words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you have a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Those words taken out of context are being used quite effectively by the Romney camp. That's why the campaigns are limited access to the media.

Yes, Governor Romney is sitting down with mainstream media because he wants to highlight his trip overseas. He wants to make sure every voter sees he can command the international stage.

But overall, Governor Romney and President Obama are loathe to talk to media who might challenge them or dare to send out a message before they're ready. In 2012, it's all about managed media.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: In the end, we're doing this for our children and our grandchildren.

COSTELLO (voice-over): It's what you normally call a good get, Miami Verse, a web site for Latino moms landed a, quote, exclusive with Michelle Obama.

RENE ALEGRIA, CEO, MIAMIVERSE.COM: We were thrilled. I mean, it's an historic thing for us, for the community, for Hispanic moms and families. I mean, it's the first lady directly talking to the community in a way that no other first lady has before.

COSTELLO: But when the cameras rolled, the first lady wasn't being grilled by the National Press Corps. She was chatting with supporters of her husband's campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The political national political director for the Obama for America campaign.

SREE SREENIVASAN, CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: They don't need to talk only to the big boys and big gals of media that they can have their content and their ideas show up in Google searches and be picked up by blogs in much more of a positive way for them than they perhaps would have four years ago.

COSTELLO: Even when the campaigns give veteran print reporters quick interviews on the road, there are limits.

JEREMY PETERS, POLITICS AND MEDIA REPORTER, N.Y. TIMES: Before the campaigns will agree to an interview, you have to agree to send them your quotes before they can appear in the article and the campaign will say, this quote is fine. This quote is not fine. It's unusable, and often, and this is what I found to be the most troubling, they will change words in the quote.

COSTELLO: "New York Times" reporter, Jeremy Peters that found major news organizations including his own, consented to the ground rules or got no quotes at all.

(on camera): CNN keeps a log of every single thing a candidate says. Look at that. It's a huge file. This is only a fraction of it.

When Mitt Romney made it a two-man race, he gave short interviews to CBS and CNBC. But after that, it's been Fox, Fox, Fox.

ROMNEY: Look, the right course for America is not to raise taxes on people.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Romney has made 21 appearances, according to Peters' reporting, and President Obama, he has done so many interviews with small TV and radio stations you would think he was running for local office. PRESIDENT OBAMA: And maintain a strong military. Mr. Romney's proposing this essentially. There's no silver bullet to bringing down gas prices.

COSTELLO: But even the web sites benefitting from the limited access are not satisfied with what they're getting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would prefer getting the candidate talking to he or she about what they feel about how they think about the processes they want in place once elected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: We did ask the candidates to comment on this, but apparently they're not ready to talk about it, so no call-backs yet.

I bet you spent part of the weekend watching the Olympics, but were you surprised by what you saw? Should the Olympic broadcast be tape delayed? That's our talkback question of the day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Swimming dominates the Olympics today with America's top swimmers back in the pool in London. Ryan Lochte will attempt the win his third medal when he swims the 200-meter freestyle.

The Colorado high schooler, Missy Franklin, tries to win her first gold medal for the U.S. in the women's 100 backstroke, and the American men look to grab gold in the team gymnastics final. They are in the lead after the qualifying round.

Day two is special for U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer. She set a world record, becoming the first woman to swim the 100-meter butterfly in less than 56 seconds.

Not bad for a woman who failed to qualify for the 2008 games in Beijing. On the range, American skeet shooter Kimberly Rhode won her fifth straight gold medal in the sport. She tied the world record with a score of 99 out of 100 giving her the gold.

The huge surprise is American Jordyn Wieber fails to advance to the women's all-around gymnastics final. She was a favorite for the gold, but finished behind two of her teammates.

And on Saturday, we learned Michael Phelps is human after all. He came in fourth in the 400-meter individual medley. The first time Phelps has failed to medal in an event since 2000. Ryan Lochte took home the gold.

And the world continues to talk about the opening ceremony. The biggest shot Friday was when a mystery woman, see her there, starting walking with the Indian delegation.

The London Organizing Committee says she was a volunteer performer. Obviously, she was not supposed to be there. India's Olympic officials are not happy.

And Saudi Arabia is making history in London by bringing their first women athletes to the games, but one could be going home before she has a chance to compete.

The reason, not doping or cheating or unsportsmanlike conduct, but because of her religious head scarf. Zain Verjee is in London to explain. Morning, Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. A lot of jabs and punches already being kicked around here in London, but this is over a woman who is supposed to compete in judo on Friday.

Now, she really, really wants to do it, but here are the problems. Saudi Arabia is saying that the only reason they allowed her in the first place to come to London and compete was so that she could continue wearing the hijab, the head scarf, in accordance with Sharia law and the Islamic traditional and cultural customs.

The International Olympic Committee has said please Saudi Arabia let these female athletes come, and yes, they can absolutely wear the hijab. But the Judo Federation is saying, no. It's too dangerous if she competes wearing a head scarf because that could create a problem and an injury situation for her.

Her dad has weighed in on this, too, saying her daughter will not compete in the judo games on August 3rd if the committee insists that she removes her hijab. So this is a situation of sports meets miscommunication meets culture meets Islamic law here in London.

COSTELLO: But other Olympic sports, they allow participants to wear head scarves, don't they?

VERJEE: So far, it's only soccer that allows participants to do that. Saudi athletes, females, haven't been able to compete in an Olympics before. So they're really dealing with this situation as it's arising.

So I think really it's because in judo, you have certain positions and you attack the other person. And a strangle hold and choke hold, and if you have a scarf, it could be some kind of a strangling type of, you know, situation in the competing.

So they just want to avoid it totally, but they have to save face coming out of this. We'll see what they decide. No one has made a decision yet.

COSTELLO: Zain Verjee live in London for us this morning. Right now, Michael Phelps is one medal away from tying the all-time Olympic record.

He sat down with CNN's Piers Morgan about representing his country in his fourth Olympics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PIERS MORGAN, HOST, CNN'S "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": London is my home town. Everyone is very excited about you coming. What is extraordinary is every American athlete I have interviewed when I ask them to cite a role model, 90 percent say you.

You have become this weird, God-like figure to them. With that comes responsibility. Are you aware of the status you have amongst your peer group. What do you feel about that responsibility?

MICHAEL PHELPS, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: I mean, sometimes I feel it, but I like to just think of myself as a normal person who just has a passion, has a goal and a dream and goes out and does it. That's really how I have always lived my life.

MORGAN: I see you say that. Come on, Michael, you're not a normal person.

PHELPS: I consider myself normal. I spent 20 years in the pool. I consider that something that's normal.

MORGAN: That's not normal?

PHELPS: What do you consider normal?

MORGAN: Well, not 20 years in a pool. I spent about 20 minutes in a pool a day.

PHELPS: Well, that's not normal.

MORGAN: What I was struck by with you was there a great athletes and great gymnasts and a great swimmer and so on, I don't think I have seen anybody who did what you did, and confirm the statistics on this.

That you trained for five years, literally every single day, 365 days each of those five years, consecutively. That is incredible dedication to your sport. Do you know anybody else who has done that?

PHELPS: No. I have never heard of anybody else who does that.

MORGAN: So what is the motivation at the end of the day for that kind of extreme dedication?

PHELPS: I mean, if you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren't willing to do. At that point, you know, we thought that for every year, we get 52 other days of more training than anybody else gets every single year.

And also, in swimming, if you miss one day of swimming, it takes you twice as long to get back. So, you know, for example, for me, after 2008, I took six months off. It took me probably took me really about a year and a half to get back to where I was, like, really need to be and should be.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps in a candid interview with Piers Morgan about life, love, and going for more gold. Watch "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" at 9:00 Eastern.

Now is your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. The question for you this morning, should the Olympic broadcast be tape delayed?

Let's face it, there's no such thing as a news blackout these days. Hello, Twitter verse, but was I the only one watching last night who knew that Jordyn Wieber had already lost her chance for an individual all around gold medal.

She was so good. I even checked online to see if the final results were accurate before they were announced on television. It's a habit, what can I say? And how many of you were surprised when you saw Ryan Lochte beat Michael Phelps in the individual medley, maybe the five people on earth who didn't logon that day.

Some fans are so angry about NBC's tape delay, they created the Twitter hash tag nbcfail and nbcsucks where complaining has become kind of an Olympic sport.

This from Luke Adams, "My fellow Olympic fans in the USA, just a reminder that you are watching sports from the past. It's like ESPN classic with a shorter delay."

And this tweet, sort of annoying and pretty terrible that NBC airs some Olympic events, Lochte/Phelps, on tape delay. We have live TV for a reason.

To be fair, for years, Olympic broadcasters have been tape delaying events, but that was before the internet explosion. For those who want to watch the Olympics live, NBC is streaming the events online, all be it with technical glitches.

No glitch in the ratings, however. According to entertainmentweekly.com, the tape delay strategy may be paying off, 28.7 million viewers watched on Saturday.

Making it the most watched first full day of events on record for the summer Olympics. So the talkback question today, should the Olympic broadcast be tape delayed? Facebook.com/carolcnn, I'll read your responses later on this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Thirty-three minutes past the hour. Checking our "Top Stories".

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is in Poland just wrapping up a meeting with the Polish Prime Minister. Romney's campaign says the overseas trip is aimed at bringing attention to U.S. support of the once captive nation during the Cold War.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is not mincing words about Senator John McCain's decision to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008. Here is what he told ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like Governor Palin. I've met her. I know her. She's an attractive candidate, but based on her background, she had only been a Governor two years, I don't think she passed that test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of being ready?

CHENEY: Of being ready to take over. And I think that was a -- a mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Cheney says Palin didn't meet the number one requirement, you heard that, a readiness to step into the top job if needed.

And we're getting a check on the markets to see if the rally will continue. The Dow began the day above the 13,000 mark for the first time since May. It's edging up some this morning. We'll have to wait and see how investors react to two big Central Banks meetings this week.

Getting tickets for the different Olympic events can be very difficult. It comes as no surprise there are a lot of unhappy fans who are seeing plenty of open seats at the big events. Ben Wyatt explains why that is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WYATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a problem that's dogged many previous Olympic Games. Held to insure venues are full of spectators when there are so many events.

(on camera): London 2012 organizers were hoping to buck this trend after ticket sales were initially very brisk, but not all has gone as planned. Even the showdown between American swimming superstars Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte saw empty rows of seats despite being one of the highlights of the games.

(voice-over): So why given the expectations for sold out crowds was attendance so low and who was to blame?

MARK ADAMS, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: There's a range of people, there are four or five different groups ranging from what we've heard from the federations to the actual sports organizations involved. Athletes as well, some media tickets sales by the way, and actually what I would say is a handful of sponsors.

WYATT: Local organizers will now investigate the empty seats at the swimming, tennis and volleyball events but maintained the corporate ticket holders have shown good attendance so far. Consequently other means are being considered to boost attendance. SEB COE, LONDON ORGANIZING COMMITTEE OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES: I don't think there's a single person out there that would -- think it is symbolic asking the military would like to watch the sports, I don't think it's symbolic to ask local teachers and students that we'd always plan to do this anyway.

WYATT: Assurances that did little to quell the frustrations of the British Olympic Association.

COLIN MOYNIHAN, BRITISH OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION: We need every seat filled. We -- we owe it to the team, we owe it to British Sports fans, to the rest of the country to make sure that they get the opportunity to come on this unique occasion at the Olympic Games.

WYATT: And among those lucky enough to be in the park, opinions were divided over how much of an opportunity was being missed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very disappointing. But so many people are interested and actually want to be there and support their team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many things happened you know, if corporate are paying big money for these empty seats, so be it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's disappointing because I know many of my friends and work colleagues also applied and haven't gotten anything, so I haven't been able to get here today and experience what we're experiencing now.

WYATT: The hope now remains by those competing that either way, a solution will be found.

SANYA RICHARDS-ROSS, U.S. RUNNER: The atmosphere is everything. I hope that the venues that aren't sold out will sell. I hope that the fans will come out and support because it really helps athletes to give their best performance and it makes our experience even more memorable.

WYATT: Ben Wyatt, CNN the Olympic Park.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: One of America's favorite TV comedies is back but not after a huge budget battle. The scoop on "Modern Family" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: If you love, love, love "Modern Family" you can breathe a huge sigh of relief. Yes, they have come to like, I don't know, they've had Nirvana over how much the character actors will be paid. You won't believe it. Let's head to Los Angeles and check in with Nischelle Turner.

So break it down for us.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN SHOWBIZ CORRESPONDENT: Ok. But you said if I love, love, love, I get to breathe a huge sigh of relief, so -- I love, love, love this show, Carol.

But you are absolutely correct, three times over, Carol. The six main adult actors on "Modern Family" dropped their lawsuit on Friday. They signed new deals that will nearly triple most of their salaries. According to several reports, this means production on the show's fourth season can begin today as scheduled.

According to the "Hollywood Reporter, Julie Bowen, Ty Borel, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Sophia Vergara will get substantial raises over their current salary of about $65,000 per episode.

Now Ed O'Neal who was a big star before "Modern Family" ever debuted made about $105,000 per episode previously. But in this new deal, when you add in all the bonuses in everything, all six of them will be paid about $175,000 per episode for the upcoming 22-episode season. You can do the math there. That's a huge raise. But it's actually less than the $200,000 they were apparently requesting.

Now the "Hollywood Reporter" said the stars will also receive a small cut now of what's called the back end profit. That's money made from syndication and other deals. Ed O'Neal is going to receive a larger portion of those back end profits. But in exchange for this increased salary, the "Hollywood Reporter" also says that cast members have agreed to add another deal onto their existing seven-year contract. So they're going to be making a lot of change, Carol.

COSTELLO: And I understand the little kids on the show, they also want a big payday.

TURNER: Wouldn't you if you saw all your co-stars getting a pretty raise $115000 per episode? I think that they would want one, too. They just may get it now that everyone else has kind of agreed to this new deal. They definitely may.

COSTELLO: I'm glad it's coming back. Like you, I love that show. So funny. Nischelle turner, thank you.

A New York City fifth grader's speech on marriage equality goes viral and lands him an invitation to speak before the New York City council. We'll hear from him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: 45 minutes past the hour. This just in to CNN.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said it's not a case of if but when the Syrian regime falls. Panetta is making the Syrian civil war a key topic as he meets with Middle East leaders this week beginning in Tunisia. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is traveling with the secretary. She just finished an interview with him. Barbara joins us on the phone to tell us what he said. Hey, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol. We just finished 15 minutes of CNN's interview with secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. As you would expect, he had plenty to say about the Syrian situation. One of the new things he's talking about is his belief that as much of the Syrian military and security structure as possible should be preserved after Assad falls. And he believes Bashar al Assad will fall.

He talks about not making the same mistakes that were made in the past. A reference, of course, to when the Iraqi military was disbanded very early on and that country fell into disarray. I don't think he's going so far as to talk about, you know, sort of the really hard core Syrian fighters of the regime that's been engaging in so much of the killing and the violence. But he says there's a need to try and preserve as much of the military structure in Syria after Assad goes. And he believes Assad will go.

He was really blunt, Carol. He said Assad and his family should fear for their own futures in the face of the opposition, which he says is getting better every day. Carol.

COSTELLO: Did he say anything about possible, possibly more U.S. involvement?

STARR: Well, you know, all the way through this Middle East trip, he's been asked that question, what about a U.S. military option in Syria? And what he is saying is, sure, there are plenty of U.S. military options. He says nothing is off the table. But he says the challenge is that the U.S. cannot do it unilaterally alone.

They need a coalition, and he's very blunt. He says Russia has to get on board. He said that he is frustrated by the Russians who he believes know that Assad, the Assad regime is coming to the end, but the Russians, he said, just aren't exercising the leadership on this question that he wants them to. So he expressed some frustration about the Russians, he said they would be needed for any military action, any military option in Syria. And especially, again, after Assad falls, he says, that's when they have got to preserve some of the security structure.

COSTELLO: Barbara Starr reporting live from Tunisia this morning. Thank you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A school speech becomes a lesson in free speech for a New York City fifth grader. 10-year-old Kameron Slade entered a speech contest at school two months ago. His topic was in support of same-sex marriage. But the school's principal said the subject was, quote, "inappropriate", and banned Slade from the competition. Local media reported the story which was posted online and then it went viral.

So Slade was eventually allowed to give the speech at a separate school assembly. He was also invited to give his speech to the New York City council which he did last week. And this morning Kameron Slade is joining us live to tell us all about it. Hi, Kameron.

KAMERON SLADE, 5TH GRADE STUDENT: Hi.

COSTELLO: So you gave this big speech in front of the New York City council. How did that feel?

SLADE: It felt very great and I was honored because most kids don't have an opportunity to do this.

COSTELLO: Were you nervous?

SLADE: No, not really.

COSTELLO: Really? How did you keep it together?

SLADE: I just tried not to think about it and tried to enjoy it.

COSTELLO: Ok, so originally, you were supposed to give this speech at a speech contest in school, but school officials told you that you couldn't do it. When they told you that, what went through your mind?

SLADE: I was pretty upset because -- that I wasn't able to do it.

COSTELLO: Why did they tell you, you weren't able to do it?

SLADE: They say it was too inappropriate for kids like me to know about.

COSTELLO: I'm just going to read an excerpt from your speech just to show an excerpt from your so everybody knows what we're talking about. This is from Kameron's speech that he was to give at the school contest. This is part of the speech, quote, "President Barack Obama recently talked about same-sex marriage with his wife and two daughters. Some people are for same-gender marriage while others are against it. Like president Obama, I believe all people should have the right to marry whoever they want. Marriage is about love, support, and commitment, so who are we to judge?"

How did you come up with this topic?

SLADE: Me and my mother, we were sitting at the table, we didn't want to do anything common for the speech contest. So my mom, she brung up, hey, let's do same-gender marriage, because she thought about Barack Obama approving of it.

COSTELLO: And why are you into this particular subject?

SLADE: Because it's everyday life.

COSTELLO: And do you see it often in New York City?

SLADE: I bet I do, but sometimes I just don't notice it.

COSTELLO: Yes. So how did you hear about your invitation to speak before the city council?

I think they called my mom or my dad. And they told me that you're going to speak at the city council. Do you want to do it? I said yes.

COSTELLO: So on YouTube, your speech got something like 600,000 views. Is that amazing to you?

SLADE: Yes, it is.

COSTELLO: How many people did you expect would watch it?

SLADE: I expected a lot that would watch it.

COSTELLO: But 600,000?

SLADE: I never thought of 600,000, but yes. Pretty much.

COSTELLO: So what do you want to do when you grow up? Are you thinking about a career in public speaking or politics?

SLADE: Maybe. God will take me wherever.

COSTELLO: Well, thank you Kameron for being with us today. We sure appreciate it.

SLADE: Ok.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Kameron.

Don't forget your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the stories of the day. The question this morning, "Should the Olympic broadcast be tape delayed"? Your responses next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We asked you to Talk Back on one of the stories of the day. The question for you this morning, "Should the Olympic broadcast be tape delayed.

This from Richard, "An event that happens once every four years that includes all the nations of the world is being presented with the same thoughtfulness of a sitcom. Live with nightly recaps should have been the plan."

This from Diane. "Who cares as long as I get to see USA win gold.":

This from Roany, "It is taken the fun out of watching the Olympics. No, I know who's going to win there's no anticipation or excitement behind the game."

And this from Stephan, "live is not convenience for everyone. Delayed allowed editing for the cream of the crop. Please keep the conversation going, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. And thanks as always for your comments. And thanks for joining me today.

"CNN NEWSROOM" continues right now with Kyra Phillips.