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Fears Rise of Hate Group Retaliation; Gunman's Red Flags at Work; Romney Ad Pits Obama against Bill Clinton; Madonna's Russian Concert Threatened; "Romney Hood" Vs. "Obamaloney"; Jared Loughner Pleads Guilty; Gunman's Dark Past in the U.S. Army; Romney Campaigns in Des Moines

Aired August 08, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I was hoping you would say that, John.

Hi, John and Brooke, and thank you.

Now in the NEWSROOM, race to a rescue. An expeditioner stuck at the bottom of the world in the coldest place on the planet, Antarctica, where they're in six months of darkness. A medical team heading to an air station where the temperature right now is 25 degrees below zero.

Security alert. Madonna's Russian concerts targeted. Americans there being warned after the -- after the material girl threw her support behind three jailed members of a Russian punk rock band who maligned Vladimir Putin.

What's the slogan? Better ingredients, pricier pizza? The head of Papa John's saying it's going to cost more to make his pizza, and he's pointing the finger at Obamacare.

Plus this.

Iceberg tsunami. A glacier from Greenland melting off the side of a cliff and causing the scare of a lifetime for a boatful of tourists. It's video you've just got to see.

NEWSROOM begins right now.

And good morning. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello. We begin this morning in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, the site of a weekend massacre at that Sikh Temple. For the third straight night, the community has bonded in its grief and the vigil keeps growing larger.

The police department is also on edge. The fear white supremacists might retaliate for the death of the temple gunman.

CNN's Brian Todd is in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

You witnessed the depths of those concerns first hand. Describe that for us.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, yesterday we had gotten the name of the officer who took down the shooter on Sunday. We've gotten the name and the address of that person. We went to his house. We knocked on his door to see if he might want to talk to us. He declined, citing the investigation. But essentially when I got back to our car, our photojournalist and my producer were in the car. We had taken no footage of anything.

They were sitting there. I got in the car. We got in the car and as soon as that happened, we were directly confronted by police and surrounded. Five police vehicles had come on the scene, probably not more than about a minute after this gentleman shut his door, and I walked away from it.

So they took our licenses. They ran background checks. They basically said that, you know, why are you doing this? This man has an expectation of privacy and we explained to them that we were just trying to see if he might want to talk to us. And they understood that but at the time they were taking our licenses and asking us about this, two officers were standing on either side of our car, hands on weapons. The weapons were not drawn, but their hands were on the weapons.

They were very jumpy. We thought, you know, that was at least a little bit unusual. But we later learned when I spoke to the head of the police union that's when we learned the police are concerned about possible retaliation against this officer from white supremacist groups, other hate groups who might be angry that this officer took down Wade Michael Page.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOHN EDWARDS, OAK CREEK, WISCONSIN, POLICE: Some of the concerns that we have is that individuals who might be sympathetic to some of the things here, getting the information of the officers, and using that information for whatever purposes. Now we understand that that can't be stopped forever. And that that information is going to come out. But it needs to come out when it's supposed to come out and by the proper authorities. So those are our concerns. The officer's safety, their families'.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: That was of course Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards. He talked to us about the threat after we spoke to the head of the police union and John Edwards, when I specifically asked him, you know, do you have specific information about a specific threat to this officer, he'd said no. That has not come across my desk as of now.

That was yesterday afternoon. But he said they are very concerned about that. And they are upset that that officer's name was published by at least one news organization in this area -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And since there have been no direct threats, some people might say, oh, it's a small town. They are overreacting. What do groups that track hate groups say about this, Brian?

TODD: They say that the police are very right to be concerned. I spoke with Heidi Beirich, she's head of the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Center. And she said that they are absolutely right to be concerned. She said these groups have a history of targeting police. That they may be very angry that Wade Michael Page was killed by a policeman. They do have specific history of targeting police.

She said some militia groups, just in the last few years, have basically come up with the idea of targeting cops to kill them, specifically cops. So she said this is a very dangerous and very sensitive situation right now. And she also pointed out that one of Wade Michael Page's bands had an album cover with a picture depicting a skinhead in some kind of a fight or confrontation with a police vehicle. So, you know, it's just a very edgy and sensitive situation right now for the police.

COSTELLO: And we can understand that. Brian Todd reporting live from Wisconsin this morning.

There are a number of other new developments we want to share with you this morning. Police have arrested the ex-girlfriend of the temple shooter. Misty Cook is her name. She faces a charge of felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators say there's no indication she had any role in the shooting rampage.

Police also say they have not found any message or writings left behind by the gunman. The police chief says it's possible, quote, "the motive died with him."

David Mattingly is also live in Oak Creek this morning. He's gathering the latest details on Wade Michael Page's background and some red flags that seemingly date back years.

David, tell us what a former boss had to say about him.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this coming from his former employer at a Harley Davidson outlet in Fayetteville, North Carolina. This was from 2004 when Wade Page worked there as a parts coordinator. When he was there, he was fired, according to his ex-boss, because he had a problem with authority. He had a problem working with women. And then they had a big surprise when after they fired him they looked on his desk and found an application for the Ku Klux Klan. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN TEW, STORE MANAGER: We escorted him to the car, you know, on his final day. And I guess there was some paperwork that he thought he had left on his desk. And he did. It was an application for the KKK. And I got that application and destroyed it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now we know that when he was in the Army before that, that he was also expressing to people who knew him well his feelings about white supremacy. So these feelings obviously also continuing into the workplace by leaving that application behind for the Ku Klux Klan.

We also heard yesterday from a researcher in Nebraska who was doing research on extremist groups. This was about 10 years ago. He actually had some contact with Page. And he said at that time Page told him, he started to sympathize with white supremacy at the time when he was in the military back in the '90s -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It's just odd that the Ku Klux Klan would have an application. I wonder what kind of questions are on it.

MATTINGLY: Yes. That was a new one on me. I've covered incidents and talked to people in the KKK throughout my career, spanning back a couple of decades. This is the first time I've actually heard about an application. But different groups have different rules. And apparently this one that he was interested in actually had a formal application process.

COSTELLO: Very strange. David Mattingly reporting live for us this morning.

The FBI has scheduled a news conference for later this morning. You can see it right here live. It's being described as an update on the temple shooting investigation. It's set to begin in less than two hours, 11:00 Eastern.

Mitt Romney makes Iowa state fundraising history by raking in nearly $2 million in West Des Moines, 280 donors at the country club event paid anywhere between $2,000 and $50,000. Both Romney and President Obama are fighting for votes in Iowa. Romney is speaking there today, and President Obama is making a three-day trip there next week.

Jim Acosta, the CNN's national political correspondent, is in Des Moines following the Romney campaign. And some new ads slamming President Obama.

Morning, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. You mentioned that controversial ad that the Romney campaign is running right now accusing President Obama of weakening the work requirements in welfare reform. Well, Romney is getting a lot of mileage out of that ad right now. He is expected to talk about it later this morning here in Des Moines.

It's also the subject of the front page of "The Des Moines Register." But, Carol, keep in mind that ad is under attack by a certain president, and it's not the one in the Oval Office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): Mitt Romney is out to pit one Democratic president against another. Accusing President Obama of gutting one of Bill Clinton's signature achievements, welfare reform. The GOP contender unleashed the attack on Mr. Obama's home turf of Illinois.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That President Obama in just the last few days has tried to reverse that accomplishment by taking the work requirement out of welfare. That is wrong. If I'm president, I'll put work back in welfare.

ACOSTA: The Romney campaign is seizing on this memo issued by the Department of Health and Human Services last month that offers waivers to states in implementing the welfare program. Romney's latest ad says that memo adds up to fewer welfare recipients meeting their work requirements.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under Obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. They just send you your check.

ACOSTA: In response, the White House pointed to the memo itself, which reads, "HHS will only consider approving waivers relating to the work participation requirements that make changes intended to lead to more effective means of meeting the work goals."

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Let me say that this advertisement is categorically false, and it is blatantly dishonest.

ACOSTA: And the Obama campaign e-mailed out this letter signed by Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts, appealing to Congress for increased waiver authority in the program for the sake of moving recipients from welfare to work.

Obama aides also pointed out then Governor Romney even defended a state program that provided automobile insurance and AAA plans to welfare recipients who were donated cars.

But for Romney, the welfare attacks are all part of a campaign theme that President Obama is encouraging government dependency. As Romney told a fundraiser last month, your friends who like Obamacare, you remind them of this. If they want more stuff from the government, tell them to go vote for the other guy.

It's an echo of a message Newt Gingrich used during the primaries.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama is the most effective food stamp president in American history.

ACOSTA: The president counters it's Romney's economic plan that will hurt the middle class, accusing the GOP contender of being a reverse Robin Hood.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's Romney Hood.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: He'd ask the middle class to pay more in taxes so that he could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now as for that Romney welfare ad, the campaign is doubling down on it, putting out a new Web video this morning once again attacking the president, accusing him of weakening that work requirement. But we should note late last night, former President Clinton put out his own statement calling the ad misleading and not true, pointing out that there are Republican governors who were requesting those waivers in the welfare program.

And, Carol, we should also note PolitiFact, those independent fact checkers out there, they have rated the ad pants on fire -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, but does that really matter? Because I saw the -- you showed the headline in Iowa this morning. Does it really matter if it's untrue or not? It's out there.

ACOSTA: Well, you know, it doesn't matter from a tactical standpoint for the Romney campaign. That's right. The public is talking about it. The press is talking about it. We're talking about it right now and that's what they want.

But, Carol, keep in mind, this is what both sides are doing these days. It almost seems as if you need a new rating system for some of these ads. Perhaps we should combine the PolitiFacts folks with the folks over at "The Washington Post" and do four Pinocchios on fire. I'm not sure, you know, how high you have to go with these levels in terms of rating these ads false, but it is getting out of hand -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. It just makes me wonder if anyone is really listening to ads anymore. Just assume they're not going to be true or at least they're going to be maybe partially true if you're lucky. But that's a question for my "Talk Back" in the next hour.

ACOSTA: It's a good point.

COSTELLO: Yes. Exactly.

ACOSTA: Yes.

COSTELLO: Jim Acosta, we'll let you go. We know you're waiting for --

ACOSTA: Yes, I -- you bet.

COSTELLO: We're waiting -- you're waiting for Romney to speak. Thank you, Jim Acosta.

Mitt Romney will speak in Des Moines, Iowa, maybe in 10 minutes or so? When he begins speaking, of course, we'll bring that to you live.

A security scare in Russia this morning. The material girl is used to expressing herself. But it may have gotten her in big trouble in Russia. Madonna is in the middle of her world tour, and tomorrow's concert in St. Petersburg, Russia, is getting additional security. It may have something to do with what she said last night onstage.

SHOWBIZ correspondent Nischelle Turner is live to explain it all.

Good morning.

NISCHELLE TURNER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes. What she said last night and what she's been saying for the past couple of days. Now the U.S. State Department is warning concertgoers about threats of physical violence for tomorrow night's show in St. Petersburg, and Russian authorities are promising that they're going to have extra security just in case to prevent any sort of incident.

Now Madonna did perform last night in Moscow. And like always, you know, she's not scared to include political messages in her show. This time she is showing support for the group of women currently on trial for protesting against -- Russian President Vladimir Putin. They are members of a rock band called Pussy Riot, and they demonstrated in a Russian cathedral and now they have been charged with hooliganism and are on trial facing up to seven years in prison.

Now Madonna spoke out about the situation, and here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADONNA, SINGER: I'm against censorship. And I'm -- you know, my whole career, I have always promoted freedom of expression. Freedom of speech. So obviously I think what's happening to them is unfair. And I hope that -- I hope that they do not have to serve seven years in jail. That would be a tragedy. Through history, historically speaking, art always reflects what's going on socially. So for me, it's hard to separate the idea of being an artist and being political.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER: Now Madonna's spokesperson says that all of the concerts will go on as planned. And, you know, she's not afraid to dive head first into controversy. And, Carol, it looks like that we're seeing this play out once again here. This time, though, Madonna says this is all in the name of art and freedom of expression.

COSTELLO: Nischelle Turner, thanks so much, reporting live for us from Los Angeles this morning.

Are you willing to pay more for a slice of pizza? Well, Papa John's hopes so. It claims prices will go up because of Obamacare. We'll tell you what they are saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Eighteen minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories now:

A rescue going on right now at the bottom of the Earth. Help is on the way to reach an expeditioner on Antarctica. He had a medical emergency at a U.S. research station near the South Pole. An Australian plane with a medical team left for New Zealand and will head to Antarctica when weather condition improves there.

Right now, the temperature is 25 degrees below zero. And it's the middle of their period of six months of darkness.

Broadway will dim the lights tonight to honor award-winning legendary composer Marvin Hamlisch, who died yesterday after a brief illness. He's best known for writing the music for "A Chorus Line." Hamlisch was just 68 years old.

The Midwest drought is ruining crops and setting prices sky high. It has lawmakers calling for the EPA to step in. They want to end the requirements that 10 percent of the nation's gas supply come from corn-based ethanol. The claim doing that would help lower food prices.

All eyes on Ernesto. It weakened to a tropical storm earlier in morning, after making landfall as a hurricane on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Ernesto is forecast to move into the Bay of Campeche later today, where it could regain hurricane strength.

And the head of Papa John's warns of higher pizza prices if President Obama's health care reform is not repealed. The government says it will face higher cost under the law and will have to raise prices by as much as 14 cents per pizza. The owner of Papa John's is a Mitt Romney supporter.

OK. More about politics now. It is now officially the silly season. How do we know? In part because of the sheer number of nicknames out there. Creative, yes, but not very nice.

The latest, Obamaloney. Obamaloney was coined by former Governor Mitt Romney to refute the president's use of Romney Hood.

Of course, the president is late to the game when it comes to clever uses of your opponent's name. Conservatives have already come up with Obamacare, Obamanation, Barack Kardashian and Obamateurism. It highlights how ridiculous politics can be.

And it's the subject of a new movie called "The Campaign."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my baby to kiss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All you have to do is make --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, you don't take a swing at my hair. You little --

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I'm sorry. That's just so funny.

Oh, it's funny and sad at the same time. So let's talk about it.

Jason Johnson is chief political correspondent for Politic365. He leans left.

Actually, you're independent, Jason. I apologize for that.

Ron Bonjean is a Republican strategist and as you might guess leans to the right.

Welcome to you both.

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hey, thanks a lot.

COSTELLO: OK, let's just talk about it. I mean, it is silly. Are we officially in silly season, Ron?

BONJEAN: Absolutely. You know, the last three to four months of a campaign, especially presidential campaign, you -- it's going to be a very, very tough. And, you know, they are basically -- Obama and Romney are basically split down the middle in terms of how tight this election is going to be.

So therefore, it's going to get nastier and nastier likely. But the key here, the fundamental key here, is that the economy is doing so badly that Americans care about that, while the politicians can talk about these other things and call each other names. The Americans -- as long as they are connecting with the American people, that's what's going to really matter come Election Day.

COSTELLO: Yes. And to compound, you know, the silly name calling are these political ads that are coming out, Jason, that are just -- I mean, they are not even written in shades of gray. They are just flat-out wrong. They are untrue. And that's coming from both sides.

JASON JOHNSON, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, POLITIC365: Yes, but they're going to lie because they want to get people's attention and say something ridiculous. And the name calling goes back to Tim Pawlenty. Remember, he had Obamneycare and he was too much of a coward to actually say it to Mitt Romney during a debate.

So, the name-calling is going to continue. It's like a food fight in a high school cafeteria. And it's all because they desperately want to get voters attention because no one is paying attention right now, won't pay attention until after Labor Day.

COSTELLO: That's true. Maybe it's a good thing they aren't paying attention to right now. Let's get back to the movie, though, because that comedy is really funny. It opens Friday.

One of the stars, Zach Galifianakis, says that billionaires David and Charles Koch who are known for supporting conservative groups are part of the focus. This comedian, he calls the Koch brothers creepy and says that he disagrees with what he says are their attempts to use money to influence the political system.

Now this movie isn't the only Hollywood production kind of poking at the Koch brothers. HBO's "The Newsroom" is too. Let's listen to a clip of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The answer is yes, the Koch brothers have money in Citizens United. A number of Koch-funded groups submitted amicus briefs to the court, including the Cato Institute which the Koch funded. They submitted a brief calling for unfettered corporate speech.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So did the Institute for Justice also funded by the Kochs. Their brief said that finance laws prohibiting unlimited contributions trumped the First Amendment. And ater the court ruled in their favor, these groups spent a lot of money to oppose efforts to provide transparency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Ron, I'd like to ask you about this, because some conservatives say this is like Hollywood's blatant effort to control the campaign.

BONJEAN: It certainly is. You definitely see a huge bent here in the way of what Hollywood is doing is using these movies as weapons during the campaign. If you just look at Koch industries, they employ 50,000 hard-working Americans and they are being attacked by movie directors, producers, actors who donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats in the hope of re-electing President Obama. And that's their way of injecting themselves into the political process.

So it does seem hypocritical to me that these actors -- and while I think, you know, that a lot of these movies are funny, that they are using it to try to motivate people to vote.

COSTELLO: Well, Jason, that's conservative -- conservatives say that's why we need stuff like FOX News and Rush Limbaugh and conservative radio.

JOHNSON: This makes absolutely no sense. It's a movie. People don't go to movies and get directed how to vote politically. I saw "Total Recall" last weekend and then we had a Mars landing.

Does that mean I'm like, oh, Barack Obama is responsible for us to --

BONJEAN: This is so much different.

JOHNSON: It doesn't make any difference one way or another. People are going to vote based on the economy, based on who they think is going to do a good job. Not what some Hollywood producer says on a show that few people watch.

COSTELLO: OK. Interesting conversation. I could have this conversation forever. I love it.

Jason Johnson and Ron Bonjean -- thanks so much.

BONJEAN: Thanks.

COSTELLO: We are awaiting Mitt Romney. He is supposed to talk in about five or 10 minutes in Des Moines, Iowa. He'll probably be talking about the economy and, of course welfare. When he takes that podium, we'll take it live to you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is 30 minutes past the hour. As I said, we're awaiting Mitt Romney to take the podium in Des Moines, Iowa. When he does that, we'll head to Iowa live. You're seeing the introductions are beginning so it will happen soon.

Stories -- other stories we're watching right now in THE NEWSROOM:

Fighting intensifies in Egypt's north Sinai, as Egyptian forces launched an aerial strike on militants. (INAUDIBLE) the recent attacks by masked gunmen on military checkpoints. State run TV says at least 20 militants were killed in the aerial strike.

No letup on the Syrian regime's assault of Aleppo either. More fighting reported. Residents who are not able to get out are trying to hunker down in their homes or in shelters.

Twitter releases the name of a user accused of posting violent threats. The social media site initially had refused to give up the information, but changed course after being served with a subpoena. Police say the user posted a threat about an attack on a Broadway theater where Mike Tyson is performing a one-man show.

Jared Loughner's life is spared, all because of one word: guilty. He changed his plea in an Arizona courtroom on Tuesday in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty. And many say Loughner was not the same man he was, you know, from the first time he appeared in court.

Kyung Lah has more from Tucson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, it was a much calmer Jared Lee Loughner who walked into the courtroom. When he first walked in, he did look out at the public. He looked at the media, his family, victims who were seated in the courtroom.

And he had an unusual look on his face. He did walk with a bit of a slouch. But overall, a much quieter, much calmer Jared Lee Loughner. He sat almost perfectly still as the judge went through the entire proceedings, and he did say very calmly 19 times in a row, for each of those counts, "I plead guilty."

Now this is a plea deal. What it means is that Loughner now avoids the death penalty. In exchange, he gives up the right to seek an insanity defense.

For the victims, it prevents a long trial for them to have to endure. This is over. The guilty plea means that the criminal proceedings are essentially over.

Former Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, released a statement saying this is the best possible solution for them and for their community. And we also heard from other victims who say that this case should open up people's eyes to the problem of gun control and mental illness.

RANDY GARDNER, SHOOTING SURVIVOR: It's truly sad that he didn't receive attention prior to this. My thinking is that we really have got to, you know, kind of be our brother's keeper here. And reach out when we see people struggling.

LAH: Loughner's doctor did testify in the hearing, and she said that while Loughner's mental illness is certainly not the worst she's ever seen, it is among the very worst she has ever treated -- Carol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Kyung Lah reporting. Loughner is still on suicide watch however. He'll be back on court November 15 for formal sentencing.

Tracking the past of the temple gunman and whether it was the U.S. military that first introduced him to the white power movement. We'll look at what the Defense Department has done about racial hatred infiltrating its ranks.

And, of course, we're still awaiting Mitt Romney to be behind that podium in Des Moines, Iowa. When the introductions are done, we'll take you there live.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Again, this is Des Moines, Iowa. Mitt Romney will soon be behind that podium in place of that man. When Romney begins speaking, we'll take you live to Iowa.

Also this morning, we're looking at the troubled past of the gunman who opened fire at a Sikh temple, and when his racial hatred first took root. His former stepmother says it was apparently years ago when Wade Michael Page served in the U.S. Army. It's worth noting that even the Defense Department was worried about a small subculture of white power activists infiltrating the ranks and looking for new recruits of their own.

Chris Lawrence is our Pentagon correspondent. He joins us now with a closer look at that now.

Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Yes, around 1995, right about the time that Page got to Ft. Bragg, there was an incident where a black couple was killed outside the base. Three U.S. soldiers who were assigned to Ft. Bragg were caught and convicted of the crime. They were found to be skinheads.

And the Army came under a lot of criticism because basically they were very open about it. One of the soldiers had basically a white power shrine in his living quarters. And so, the Army began a pretty big crackdown, kicked about two dozen soldiers out of the Army looking for this. But they found a real subculture.

And even though there was that crackdown, back in around 2005, 2006, when the military really had trouble recruiting with the war in Iraq going so strong, they loosened their standards. And they started issuing moral waivers.

And really what the FBI found was that sort of increased the number of white supremacists in the military. There were several reports that found that there was, you know, everything from washing out in basic training to white supremacists who made it all the way into Special Operations forces, Carol.

COSTELLO: It's just curious. I mean, why would -- I mean, these white supremacists are anti-government, right? So why would they join the military?

LAWRENCE: It's a great question. But since this movement's inception, that has been something that has been encouraged because basically, one of the philosophies in the white power movement is that eventually there will be some sort of race war, and what better way to be prepared than to get combat training paid for by the U.S. taxpayer. So a lot of white power adherents have been encouraged to go into the military, receive training. And then when you have the wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, a lot of people who wanted to shoot and wanted to kill were given that opportunity to go into combat.

COSTELLO: That is one of the most cynical things I've ever heard -- just truly bizarre. Is the military doing anything today to make sure that these small groups aren't infiltrating the services anymore?

LAWRENCE: Well, I think what you will find, they are looking at it. I mean, there was a time when, you know, they would look at your tattoos to see, you know, if you had overtly racist tattoos or anything like that. But again, when these moral waivers were given, sometimes potential recruits could write a letter of explanation explaining, you know, why it was there. And a lot of times that would be enough to get them through.

But I think what you'll see now because the military is downsizing and it's becoming a lot tougher to get some of these slots, there's not the need for the amount of troops that we had in 2005/2006. So just as a by-product, so to speak, of a smaller military is you're going to get a choosier military, and that will weed out a lot of potential people trying to come in under a white power movement.

COSTELLO: Chris Lawrence reporting live from the Pentagon this morning.

The FBI has scheduled a news conference. You can see it here live. It's being described as an update on the temple shooting investigation. It's set to begin less than 90 minutes from now. We'll carry that live for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's human nature to invent. It's human nature to try to make your life better. It's human nature to try to make the world around you a better place. And what stops people to actually do that and to execute on all of those ideas, it's really freaking hard.

Good ideas shouldn't find their ways onto shelves because they are the ideas of people with the right luck or circumstance. They should find their ways onto the shelves because they are just great ideas. That's it, plain and simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Our Olympics coverage begins with a story that transcends sports. Seven athletes with the Cameroon team have gone missing. They may be trying to seek asylum.

Zain Verjee is in London to tell us more.

Good morning, Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.

Athletes from around the world come here to compete in the Olympics. They want to get a medal. They want to be in the stadium behind me, as well as in the Olympic Village with all the other athletes. But seven members of the Cameroon Olympic team have gone missing, carol. They vanished over the weekend and no one knows where they are -- five boxers, a swimmer, and a soccer player.

They were some reports said they had taken their personal effects from the village. They've taken something like $5,000 or so in personal bonuses as well as all the sporting equipment and they've left. Now, it's not clear whether they are seeking asylum. There's been one case of a Sudanese athlete who sought asylum here in the U.K., but no one knows the situation with the Cameroonian athletes.

Scotland Yard and police are investigating, but these guys actually have visas that are valid until November. But there really is a big question mark here. Where are they? Why aren't they competing? No one knows.

COSTELLO: Why would they want to leave Cameroon?

VERJEE: Well, there have been some suggestions according to one sports report that came out in Cameroon that they were just unhappy with their lives there. The financial situations they were in, the way the team officials were treating them, and they just thought that may have a better life in another country.

It's not the first time something like this happens in an Olympic games. People seeking asylum. It's happened before. But it's not clear if this has happened with Cameroon here in London.

COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about something a little happier. Gymnastics, it wrapped up in, yay, go USA!

VERJEE: Yes. Go USA. Actually, you know what I want to focus here on Aly Raisman, the captain of the U.S. women's gymnastics team. You know she really finally got the headline that a lot of people are saying that she did deserve. She got the gold in the floor exercises. I watched. It was a really fabulous performance.

And the other thing too, Carol, she ended up getting another medal, a bronze on the balance beam. Now that was a little bit controversial because basically when you do individual events like that, you're kind of graded by the judges on execution and on difficulty.

And what happened was that the U.S. coach said, wait a minute, you know, judges, you didn't really include the difficulty part in Aly's score. And so the U.S. contested it, and there was a big deal over it. And the bottom line was that they factored something else in, the difficulty part of it. And Aly got the bronze.

COSTELLO: Well, good for her. Zain Verjee, thanks so much as usual.

Some tourists get the picture of their lives when a huge ice chunk breaks away from a glacier. And then they got the scare of their lives when the ice triggered a giant wave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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COSTELLO: Forty-eight minutes past the hour. Checking our "Top Stories". We are expecting more information and possibly clearer images today from NASA's "Curiosity" rover, which as you know is right now on Mars. Here is a look at the first color images from the surface of Mars. You can see a dusty tan desert by the rim of a crater.

In money news, eBay tries out same-day delivery services in San Francisco with an app called eBay now. Online shoppers can purchase from stores including Target, Macy's, Toys 'R Us and get items delivered in as little as an hour. EBay's move is seen as a shot across the bow at Amazon.com.

In sports, Dodge is leaving NASCAR at the end of the season. The decision follows Penske's racing decision to swap Dodge for Ford starting in 2013. Penske is the only NASCAR team to run Dodge now. Dodge also dropped out of NASCAR in '77 but returned in 2001.

And check out these pictures. This is ice breaking off a glacier north of Greenland. The massive chunk of ice triggered a huge wave. Let's listen to this thing.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, I agree, sir. Wow. It is amazing. The wave could have capsized the 18-foot boat. As for the coaster he was riding on the boat. Oh we're going to have to go back to Des Moines, Iowa. We'll show you more of this later.

Let's head to Iowa now where presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney is just about to take the podium to talk economy and most likely welfare, too.

He's got a full house too. The crowd seems to love him. They're clapping. You hear the music playing. I can't wait to hear him speak. Let's listen.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. What a warm a welcome. You are very kind. Thank you. Good to be back. Des Moines almost feels like a second home. You know that?

We -- we get here and stay downtown get to have a bite to eat at Central and if we're lucky and enjoy the fine food and the hospitality and the warmth of the community. It really is great being here.

And by the way we're -- we're cognizant of the fact across the country of the impact of the droughts and are concerned about what this is doing in the agriculture community and in various industries and employers that rely on agriculture and they are looking for ways to help the farmers and those that are going to be most affected by the drought. We are looking for more rain. There are other things on our mind today as well. The -- the tragedy in Wisconsin where the Sikh temple was invaded by a gunman who was motivated by hate -- racial hate, religious hate. It makes it even more tragic. And tragic, too, to have a people that are known for their peaceability and their loving nature to be so brutally attacked. We're thinking of that and our hearts go out to them and to their community across the nation.

This is a -- a difficult time for a lot of Americans. The American people are tired of being tired. This economy has been tough for a long time. Normally when you have a recession, you put in place policies that cause a quick rebound after the recession is over.

When Ronald Reagan was president for instance, unemployment got up I think it was to 10.6 percent. But then it came roaring back, the economy did. As many as a million jobs a month were created. And we got back to a level of employment that showed people that America's economy was strong and vibrant and that people could go back to work.

But this president's policies have not done that. President Obama came in with a lot of promises. He said we could measure progress by a number of things. He said, one, you would know if we were having progress and success by whether people could find a job. And he said if we let him borrow $787 billion he would keep unemployment below eight percent.

It has not been below eight percent since. It is now 42 straight months with unemployment above eight percent. And that's not the full picture. Because that just includes those that are looking for work and sign up for unemployment. And that's -- that's part of the pool, but there are also people who drop out and people who have part-time work that need full-time job. When you add those in, it's 15 percent of Americans.

And then there are the people who have work but the job is not the kind of job they've had in the past and they're having a hard time making ends meet, particularly when expenses go up. Because, you see the President also said when he was running that he would reduce the cost of health insurance by $2,500 a family. Instead it's gone up by $2,500 a family. That's a $5,000 difference. This has really hit middle income families. Gasoline prices doubled. Food prices are up. It's tough to be middle class in America today.

And a lot of folks that are in the middle class have now find themselves -- found themselves falling into poverty, having to go on food stamps. This is very different than the kind of record that occurred under Ronald Reagan. And the President's policies have simply failed the American people in terms of getting people back to work with rising incomes.

It's said the best predictor of future performance is what's happened in the past. And that's a measure of the President's policies in the past. Health insurance premiums going up, unemployment high, wage growth.

Do you know what's happened to the median income in America over the last three and a half years? It's dropped by $4,000 a family. Think how tough this is on the American people.

Another promise the President made. He'd cut the deficit in half. Yes. How's that worked out? Instead of cutting it in half, he actually doubled it and more. The first president in history to have a deficit above a $1 trillion dollars. Now 4 trillion-dollar deficits in a row. He's on track in four years to put together almost as much debt held by the public as all the prior presidents combined.

Now and then I speak to groups like here at Central Campus which include a number of students. And I say, a bit tongue in cheek, "I don't know how any of you could vote for a Democrat." I don't really mean that you can't vote for people in opposition parties and it's good to have two parties but, you know, we have a president and a few people around him who are making it harder for the coming generation.

I hope young people understand that this President's policies which build trillion dollar deficits a year are putting in place debt obligations you will have to pay as young people. My generation will be long gone. You'll be paying the interest and the principal throughout your lives for burdens that paid for us. Not for the ones that paid for you, but for us.

I think it's not just bad economics. I think it's immoral for us to continue to spend money that's getting passed on to you with debts overwhelming you.

COSTELLO: All right. You're hearing Mitt Romney. He's speaking live in Des Moines, Iowa to a very receptive crowd slamming President Obama's economic policies. President Obama, by the way, will be in Colorado later today. He'll probably be slamming Mr. Romney.

If you want to continue watching this Romney event, you can catch it on cnn.com/live.

We're going to break away, take a break. We'll be back.

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COSTELLO: Just ahead in the newsroom, rescue mission in Antarctica. An advanced medical team racing there after a medical emergency at a U.S. station.

Security concerns for Madonna and her fans in Russia. It follows the singer's public support of a controversial Russian punk band. Now the U.S. State Department is involved.

Two wealthy Republican backers not happy with Hollywood. The Koch Brothers being mocked in a new political comedy called "The Campaign". One of the stars coming out swinging.

And a nine-year-old from Detroit find civic pride starts at an early age. His tiny lemonade stand doing a small part to help save the city's financial problems.

CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.