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CNN Sunday Morning

Rain From Isaac Forces Evacuations; Battle for the Swing States

Aired September 02, 2012 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

The hurricane may be over, but a new threat emerges, a New Orleans dam in immediate danger of failing. And now, evacuations are underway.

The lights are up, and the stage is set and the teleprompters are ready to roll. The DNC is coming to Charlotte. We'll have a preview.

Are you ready for some football? Well, the NFL might not be. Former Giant Tiki Barber weighs in on whether refs on the bench will sideline the games.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 8:00 on the East Coast, 5:00 a.m. out West. Thanks for starting your morning with us.

First, this morning, the Army Corps of Engineers is desperately trying to prevent a canal lock from failing and flooding hundreds of homes. It is the latest problem caused by heavy rain from Isaac. People near the Pearl River and St. Tammany Parish under a mandatory evacuation. Up to 2,000 people are being told to leave their homes. If the locks fail, the river could flood entire neighborhoods. The locks aren't the only problem. Water is about to overtop the banks in another part of the river, and that could flood 35 subdivisions.

Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano will be in the Gulf Coast Region today. She will talk to officials in Mississippi and Louisiana about disaster recovery. President Obama heads to Louisiana tomorrow.

The chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE is out of the job this morning. Suzanne Barr has resigned amid allegations she helped create a culture of sexual discrimination against men.

It follows a discrimination law suit filed by New York's chief ICE officer against the Department of Homeland Security. James Hayes says he was crossed over for promotions in favor of less qualified women. Still no deal this morning between the NFL and the referees. They fail to reach an agreement yesterday so the NFL will start the new season this week with the replacement refs on the field. The NFL locked out the regular refs during their dispute over salaries and pensions. We'll talk with former NFL star Tiki Barber about this coming up in just a few minutes.

Well, no matter your age, chances are you know his work.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

KAYE: Hal David, the man behind these iconic tunes has died. The Oscar and Grammy-winning songwriter was best known for his partnership with Burt Bacharach. A spokesman for music association ASCAP says David died in Los Angeles from complications of a stroke. He was 91.

Now back to the canal locks in St. Tammany Parish. They are practically bursting at the seams, swollen with water from Isaac.

CNN's George Howell is just down river from the locks in Slidell, Louisiana.

George, good morning.

So, we hear that the parish opened up the valves last night, I guess in an effort to release some of the pressure, and you are getting new information from the parish president.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, good morning. We are getting some information that they are confident, they believe that some work they did will help tremendously to keep this river stable for the moment.

I want the show you what we are looking at here, just quite a beautiful scene quite frankly, right off of the west Pearl River. But you can also, if you look closely, see the current, that current is moving very quickly. And people talk about how high this water has been before.

I want to pan over to show you the water mark here. You can see right now where we are, you know, just around 11 feet. But people talk about what happened in 1983 when this river got up to 21 feet. They are thinking right around here, it could crest around 19 feet.

So there is a great deal of concern watching this river. What they did, Randi, just the other day, the parish went in and they decided to open these valves on both locks, lock one and two, and that took some pre pressure off of the river, and now they are just watching it very closely. I want to bring in here the parish president, Pat Brister.

PAT BRISTER, PRESIDENT, ST. TAMMANY PARISH, LA: Good morning.

HOWELL: Good morning.

BRISTER: Good morning.

HOWELL: Talk to me about that, because it seems that your parish, you know, took that initiative -- I understand even broke into the fencing to take care of this and protect the parish.

BRISTER: We did. It was on the diversionary canal to the Pear. But the locks we thought were in danger of failing, because the water was overtopping because of all the rain coming down, the (INAUDIBLE) river that feeds into the west Pearl and it was just scouring the sides. There was nothing left there on the sides.

HOWELL: So you could see that erosion on the sides?

BRISTER: Yes, very much so. So when we got there and it was overtopping and coming out, we made the call to go in and at least open up those valves to relieve little pressure.

St. Tammany residents expect it of us and we have done it since Katrina and sometimes you have to do what you need to do at the time. And that's what our personnel did. We were on the phone with the Corps of Engineers. We had to close it back at one time, because it was a little mix-up there. But as soon as we talked with General Peabody, he said open them up and leave them open and that drained the water down tremendously.

There was no more scouring, no more water coming over. Now, they got here last night about 6:00, the engineers from Vicksburg. That's their property.

HOWELL: Right.

BRISTER: Started testing everything and General Peabody was there last night until 10:00 or later. He said to drain it down to two feet and above the ground level just to make sure it's as safe as it can be.

HOWELL: Randi, I want to explain this, so this parish took action before the Army Corps of Engineers could get here. They decided to go in. They made sure that these valves were open.

And I want to ask you, so a lot of people -- we're talking about thousands of people who got out of to way of the mandatory evacuation. What's the concern right now?

BRISTER: Well, we feel a lot better, because the general gave directions to drain it do unto the ground level during the night last night. Our people are still evacuated. We won't go back in until we go back out there.

They are lowering the levels of the lock one and making sure that lock three is okay. They are testing it all. So we will have a clear or at least low, low danger before we ask those people to go back home.

HOWELL: Pat Brister, thank you for your time this morning.

BRISTER: Thank you very much. And thanks for being here.

HOWELL: Thank you.

And, just, Randi, so that you understand, I learned that we could very well see up to three feet of water where we are standing, so we are paying very close attention to these warnings. We have a path to get out if that needs to be the case. But this is a situation they are monitoring hour by hour, volatile situation.

But right now, officials feel good about the action they took on this river.

KAYE: Yes, sounds like they had to take it into their own hands there.

George Howell, thank you very much.

And to find out how you can help the many people devastated by Isaac, visit our Impact Your World page at CNN.com/impact.

To politics now and the countdown to the Democratic National Convention. President Obama is keeping busy on the campaign trail by taking aim at Mitt Romney.

CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, Iowa, this is our first stop on the road to our convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR (voice-over): The president's first stop was sentimental.

OBAMA: There was a reason for me to begin the journey right here in Iowa where it first began more than four years ago, because it was you, Iowa, who kept us going when the pundits were writing us off.

STEINHAUSER: Today, he's in Colorado, the state where he was first nominated for president four years ago. As he's getting ready for his big speech, Mr. Obama is criticizing GOP challenger Mitt Romney for offering up reruns at the Republican convention.

OBAMA: If you didn't DVR it, let me recap it for you -- everything is bad. It's Obama's fault, and Governor Romney is the only one who knows the secret to creating jobs and growing the economy.

STEINHAUSER: While the president stumps in Colorado, his wingman, Vice President Joe Biden campaigns in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The Republican ticket is off of the campaign trail today after teaming up yesterday in Florida. Saturday was kickoff day for college football. Republican running mate Paul Ryan tailgated in Columbus where his alma mater was playing Ohio State.

And Romney talks sports to make his case.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Let me tell you -- if you have a coach that's 0-23 million, you say, it's time to get a new coach.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: It's time for America to see a winning season again and we are going to bring it to them.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUES)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(AUDIO BREAK)

KAYE: All right. We are having a little trouble there hearing Paul Steinhauser. We'll get back to him as soon as we can.

And remember, of course, our live coverage of the Democratic National Convention starts Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to join us here on CNN for that.

Football fans, get ready, the NFL season kicks off this week, but the usual referees won't be anywhere in sight. Former football super star Tiki Barber weighs in on a ugly labor dispute and whether this puts the season in jeopardy. He's all ready for the interview.

Plus this --

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

KAYE: A monster truck loses control and heads straight for the stands. We'll show you how it plays out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back, everyone.

Thirteen minutes past the hour.

Penn State's new season did not get off to a very good start. The Nittany Lions lost to Ohio University in front of 97,000 fans yesterday. It was their first football game since Jerry Sandusky's child sex abuse conviction and those NCAA sanctions. It was also the team's first game under new head coach Bill O'Brien.

Penn State may have lost its first home game, but that's not what people are going to be talking about today. When it comes to college football, some fans will do just about anything to prove their school's loyalty.

I want you to look at something here with me. It's a t-shirt and a slogan that's making its way across the Internet. It reads, quote, "I'd rather shower at Penn State than cheer for the Wolverines." That specific slogan refers to the Alabama/Michigan game played last night.

But now, similar shirts are showing up around the country for other rival universities as well.

We want to know what you think about this. Are these shirts referring to the Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State sex abuse scandal crossing the line? You can tweet me @RandiKayeCNN and I'll read some of your responses later on in the show this morning.

A new NFL season kicks off this week. The Giants and Cowboys started off Wednesday night. But the scrutiny may not be on Eli Manning or Tony Romo. Instead, people maybe focusing more on the referees, replacement referees that is.

The league has locked out their regular refs as part of a labor dispute. The two sides met yesterday, didn't make any progress. So, now, the NFL has officials in place who last refereed high school games, some -- you're not going to believe this -- they even worked in the lingerie football league. Yes, that's where women actually play in lingerie.

Joining me now is former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber.

Tiki, great to have you on this morning to talk about all this.

TIKI BARBER, FORMER NEW YORK GIANTS RUNNING BACK: Thank you, Randi. Good morning.

KAYE: It sounds like there's a lot of strong opinions on it. First of all, I want to ask you. How much of an impact do referees, even the regular referees, actually have on a game?

BARBER: Well, I think they have a lot of impact. You've seen in the last couple of years, there's been some games that have been questionably decided by referee's call as opposed to the play on the field. And that's rubbed some people the wrong way.

And we can talk about this labor dispute, this lockout that the NFL has instituted on the referees. And think it's just about money and benefits. It may be.

But it's also about control. One of the tenets that's getting talked about a lot is that the NFL also wants to add three more crews, which is 21 new referees, and the reason being if they get some underperforming referees during the regular season, if there are some bad calls, that determining the outcomes of games, they can be easily replaced. And obviously, from a refereeing standpoint, that's not something that you would clearly want.

KAYE: Yes. We've heard about some of the mistakes certainly in the preseason, from getting the team names mixed up, putting two footballs in play, and two footballs and calling penalties that don't even exist, getting mixed up actually on how to enforce them.

I mean, is this really happening? Is this what football should be about and what we should expect?

BARBER: It shouldn't. It absolutely should not be about that. And it should be about the play on the field.

And you got to realize, it's the same transition of college players and high school players, whoever it may be take to the professional level, it's the same for the referees. The speed of the game is so much faster, and also the pace of the game is so much faster, meaning, things are happening faster, not just the play on the field. And it's easy to be confused or caught up in the moment, as a player. Imagine what it's like as a referee, who hasn't been in the stage before.

So, they went through a lot of growing pains. If they go a significant way into the season, they're going to go through a lot of more and the value of the real referees is going to come, I think stronger.

KAYE: Yes. And here's what the league is saying -- let me just share this with our viewers. "The replacements have undergone extensive training and evaluation and have shown steady improvement during the preseason.

But, Tiki, the NFL used replacements for one game back in 2001. I'm sure you recall that. Were there problems then?

BARBER: I don't remember, mainly because once the regular season starts, you get more caught up in everything else that's going on with the year, who the Cowboys and the Giants, you know, the rivalries that are going to come up. Is this team going to repeat, do well, et cetera? And you stop worrying about the referees so much unless there are blatant mistakes, which unfortunately we have seen in the preseason and you hope it does not linger over into the regular season.

The NFL just really wants to get control of their game. It's very similar to the lockout of the players last year where the talk was about the money, when in fact, it was about a lot of other things as well including the ownership payouts, and et cetera.

So this is deeper than what it looks like on the surface, but as a fan and former player, you don't want to see the game adversely affected. And, unfortunately, I think that is going to happen.

KAYE: Yes, the head of the players union has said that this is a safety issue. Do you agree with that?

BARBER: I do believe it's a safety issue because the current -- the regular NFL refs are trained to see dangerous hits, to notice interactions that are happening on the field, and either call it or not call it based on their extensive experience of seeing these hundreds and hundreds of times. It's not going to happen with these replacement refs, because they just haven't seen contact at this speed and at this level of intensity.

There is one thing that you do have to watch for as the replacement referees start the season -- overcalling penalties, whether it'd be, you know, look like helmet to helmet contact, but it is really shoulder to shoulder contact, could it be a holding which happens on every single play in the National Football League. Should I call that or should I not call that?

KAYE: Yes.

BARBER: I think you may see overabundance of penalties called, because they are being extra cautious.

KAYE: And a lot of people are talking about this on Twitter and a big debate and somebody raised the question of do you think that the players might try to take advantage of the inexperience --

BARBER: Of course, they are going to try to take advantage.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: A little extra holding, a little extra bump, what do you think? Yes?

BARBER: You're absolutely going to see that. As someone think -- if you think you can get away with a penalty and not get called on it, you're absolutely going to do it, at least until they call it.

And one of the struggles that we've seen in the preseason with the referees is that they have a hard time getting into position. They think they are in a right place, but all of a sudden, the play happens so fast, the guys are downfield and making the play, and they are out of position to make some of these calls. So, you can absolutely expect guys to be taking advantage of it.

KAYE: Yes. Those refs are going to learn real fast. This is not the lingerie league, right?

BARBER: It's trial by fire. No, it's the lingerie league. But we did have our first female referee in the preseason because of these replacements, and that's kind of a barrier that was broken. I think it was a good one that was broken.

KAYE: Yes. That is one very good thing.

Tiki, great to have you on. Nice to talk with you. Thank you.

BARBER: Likewise. Thank you, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Now, listen to this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

KAYE: Caught on camera. A spectator at a drag race captures video of a monster truck coming straight at him. Why it lost control. You'll see what happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Twenty-four minutes past the hour now. I'm Randi Kaye.

Three people are recovering this morning after a mishap at a monster truck event in Oregon.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

KAYE: And onlooker captured this video on his cell phone of an out of control truck driving straight into a panicked crowd. The driver says that the rear wheels on the truck spun out and crashed through the barricade. Right after the crash, he got out to check on those injured.

Cheating scandals in schools are nothing new, but what about when it happens at one of the most prestigious schools in the world. How about Harvard? More than 100 students in an intro to Congress last semester are now under investigation and some who have already graduated had been warned that their degrees could be in jeopardy.

CNN's Lisa Sylvester takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The test instructions clearly state it is open book, open note, open Internet, with only one major rule. Quote, "Students may not discuss the exam with others".

But Harvard's Administrative Board has been investigating whether almost half of the class of more than 250 students inappropriately collaborated or plagiarized on that exam. The review has not been completed, but even the allegations will hurt the university says ethics expert and author Bruce Weinstein.

BRUCE WEINSTEIN, "THE ETHICS GUY": I was appalled by this news and I'll tell you why. You don't want to see the words "Harvard and cheating" in the same sentence. It's horrible when any student cheats or is accused of cheating, but we look to Harvard as being one of the world's leader institutions in education. And as a leader, we expect more from places like Harvard.

SYLVESTER: The alleged cheating came to light after the assistant government professor teaching the course noticed similar answers from students. Ben Samuels is a senior and the editor of "The Harvard Crimson". He says students in the class they spoke to were dumbfounded they were being accused of cheating.

BEN SAMUELS, EDITOR, HARVARD CRIMSON: I think at this point there's just more confusion than anything else. The students that we've talked to by and large at this point are still trying to figure out exactly what it is that they're being accused of.

SYLVESTER: In a statement, Harvard University President Drew Faust said, quote, "These allegations, if proven, represent totally unacceptable behavior that betrays the trust upon which intellectual inquiry at Harvard depends." Other colleges around the country are taking note. Andrea Goodwin is the associate director of the Office of Student Conduct at the University of Maryland.

ANDREA GOODWIN, OFFICE OF STUDENT CONDUCT, UNIV. OF MARYLAND: But I think they're probably going to use this opportunity, as are many of our campuses across the country, to educate students about the importance of integrity, the importance of academic integrity, and making sure that students understand that it is not just about cheating on an exam or a quiz or homework assignment, that it's much more important.

SYLVESTER: If it's determined that the students cheated they could face disciplinary action, including being kicked out of the school for a year.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: The Mormon faith -- many people are aware of it, but know little about it. If Mitt Romney is elected president, he'd be our first Mormon leader in the White House. It's our focus in this week's "Faces of Faith".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING, I'm Randi Kaye. Bottom of the hour now -- here are some of the stories that we are watching this morning.

A Louisiana canal lock is practically bursting at the seams because the Pearl River is filled to the brim with water from Isaac. Take a look here this is the scene in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana where officials are now issuing mandatory evacuations and trying to open valves to reduce the pressure.

Now if the locks fail hundreds of homes could be flooded and the locks aren't the only problem actually. Water in another part of the river could over top its banks this week flooding dozens of neighborhoods.

President Obama heads to the Gulf Coast tomorrow where he's expected to tour the damage done by Isaac and talk with area officials about the recovery there. He designated Louisiana and Mississippi federal disaster areas last week. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano visits those states today.

And in Iowa, federal investigators are trying to figure out what caused a plane to explode in front of thousands of people killing the pilot. Everything started out fine with three planes flying in formation yesterday at the Quad City air show but then all of a sudden one of the planes nose dive into a field while attempting a 45-degree bank. Witnesses watched in horror as the plane exploded into a giant fire ball once it hit the ground. That pilot has not been identified. For this morning's "Faces of Faith", we are turning the spotlight to Mormonism which took center stage this week at the Republican National Convention. A couple who attended Romney's Mormon Church in Massachusetts talked about how the party's nominee helped their 14- year-old son when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT OPAROWSK, WENT TO CHURCH WITH MITT ROMNEY: How many men do you know would take the time out of their busy lives to visit a terminally-ill 14-year-old and help him to settle his affairs?

David also helped us plan his funeral. He wanted to be buried in his Boy Scout uniform. He wanted Mitt to pronounce his eulogy and Mitt was there to honor that request. We will be ever grateful to Mitt for his love and concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This was a key moment. Even though Romney will be the first Mormon presidential nominee, he has rarely mentioned his faith in the past, but listen to what he said during his acceptance speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We were -- we were Mormons and growing up in Michigan that might have seemed unusual or out of place, but I really don't remember it that way. My friends cared more about what sports teams we followed than what church we went to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Romney hasn't always been so comfortable talking about Mormonism, a faith that has dealt with a lot of negative stereotypes including polygamy, misogyny and even racism.

But my guest today is far from those stereotypes. Not only has Joanna Brooks stood up and challenge the church on some of its most controversial subject, but she also married a Jewish man and raises her kids in an interfaith household.

She's a senior correspondent for ReligionDispatches.org and author of "The Book of Mormon Girl." She joins us now from San Diego this morning.

Joanna, good morning to you.

JOANNA BROOKS, AUTHOR, "THE BOOK OF MORMON GIRL": Thank you for having me.

KAYE: So let's talk about Mitt Romney first. He addressed his faith in a very public way at the convention, but why hasn't he opened up much about his faith before that, do you think?

BROOKS: Well, this week has been a really important week for Mormons or LDS people as we call ourselves, because we saw for the first time a real human face given to our faith at the convention. Romney has been so nervous to talk about it. For a hundred years public figures who are Mormons have faced ridicule in the public square about their faith so I think that accounts for a lot of his reticence.

KAYE: And in what ways do you think does Romney exemplify the Mormon faith and in what ways does he stray from it?

BROOKS: Well there is no doubt that the kinds of stories we heard at the RNC last week about kindness, about compassionate service to other people in your congregation. I read about these day-to-day stories of Mormon life in my book "The Book of Mormon Girl."

I mean at the same time Mitt Romney stands to the right of the church's position actually on immigration reform, immigration policy reform and the Republican Party's platform is to the right of the church's stance on abortion rights. So you know, there are ways in which politics takes over as he runs for the presidency.

COSTELLO: So much has been made about him being the first Mormon nominee and possibly the first Mormon president if he is elected. What are the biggest misconceptions though about the church and how is the church evolving if it is?

BROOKS: That's a great question. I mean I think one of the most important things to know is that Mormons come in many different flavors, colors, perspectives. We're not all Mitt Romney Mormons. Some of us are Jon Huntsman Mormons. Some of us are Harry Reid Mormons. Some of us are little girls who grow up watching Marie Osmond and then have our own you know difficult, thorny but loving you know wrestled with the faith who needs to come adult. That's the story I try to tell in "The Book of a Mormon Girl".

I mean we are a faith that's evolving. We're a faith that's growing globally. You know were a faith that is sorting through important issues like how to treat gay Mormons who are in our congregations and how to express love and compassion and make more of a home for them.

KAYE: One of your biggest problems with the church as far as I understand it is the opposition to gay marriage. What makes you so passionate about this topic?

BROOKS: As a Mormon child, I was raised to love the Golden Rule. I was raised with a strong ethic of kindness to others. And in "The Book of Mormon Girl" I talk about being in California and witnessed the churches campaign against same-sex marriage right, civil rights for LGBT people and how it felt so out of character for me, the faith I loved.

And so my heart led me to support equal rights under the law for gay and lesbian people.

KAYE: So you have really personally struggled with the Mormon faith, but somehow, you have managed a way to stay with it. What parts of it -- or what other parts of it are hard to accept?

BROOKS: Well, I think that it's a very common experience for people of faith. We grow up in this child-like view of religion, everything is fine and then when you grow older maybe you have qualms or scruples. This isn't just a Mormon experience, this is a Catholic experience, a Protestant experience, a Jewish experience. We all try and sort out what we're raised with and apply the best of it in our adult lives.

And for me, it was worth coming back to church even with struggle because of the wonderful thing Mormonism taught me, discipline, love, Christianity, service to others, those are values I cherish and wanted to pass on to my children.

KAYE: By speaking out though as a Mormon liberal voice are you considered somewhat of a rebel?

BROOKS: I show up at church on Sunday and get along. So -- but at the same time you know women have often been - have often played a less vocal and less public role in the history of the faith and in "The Book of Mormon Girl" I'm proud to tell the story not only of myself and my pioneer ancestors. Women who are very strong and sacrificed for the faith you know so certainly I'm not the only strong Mormon woman who voices her mind.

KAYE: How does it feel for you to see, you know such big names in politics like Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman out there, you know, front and center representing your faith?

BROOKS: You know it's provoking a very public discussion in the public sphere about Mormonism you know. If you live west of the Mississippi, chances are you probably know some Mormon people, but more American East of the Mississippi really don't know us and so we're having a get to know you moment right in the heat of a presidential campaign. I'm glad for that. I'm glad that the people know Mormon story as part of American history.

KAYE: Joanna, I appreciate your time this morning and thank you for sharing your story with us.

BROOKS: Thank you, Randi.

KAYE: For more stories of faith, be sure to check out our popular belief blog at CNN.com/belief.

Well, flying couch is about to get a lot more uncomfortable. If you think that the seats are small now wait until you hear this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: I am busy tweeting this morning, and you are as well and it's time to read some of your tweets. Earlier we asked you what you thought about these shirts mocking the Penn State sex scandal to insult rival schools.

Mike tweets me, "Pride should not outweigh decorum. Displays a lack of sympathy for the victims."

And the next person says, "It's rather insulting to victims and a reminder of the disgrace of men who were supposed to be guardians of children."

And this tweeter writes, "It's a sick and bad idea. This shows the mindset of those who wear it. Think about the victims in this case. Wow."

We want to know what you think about this. Are these shirts referring to the Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State child sex abuse scandal crossing the line? Please keep those tweets coming. You can tweet me @RandiKayeCNN.

Well, if you had to catch a plane anywhere lately I don't need to tell you about leg room or shall I say the lack of it. Every time you fly it seems to get a little more crowded. As Sandra Endo reports, it's not your imagination, airlines are squeezing seats together, closer together and if you want the extra leg room, get ready to open up your wallet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDR ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Airlines and travelers are feeling the squeeze.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's getting a little tight for everyone. So --

ENDO: But in different ways. For passengers --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are getting more and more compact with the space, and definitely more people on and make us all in there feel like -- as they say cattle car.

ENDO: For airlines it is their bottom line, many carriers are starting to use new, thinner seats to pack more people on to planes.

MARY KIRBY, EDITOR, AIRLINE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE MAGAZINE: Passengers are not willing to pay the true cost of airfare and airlines have no other options but to squeeze more passengers into their aircraft into economy class. That's what they are using these slim seats for. They are able to add an additional row of seats in economy.

ENDO: More rows equal more dollars. The average seat pitch, which is the distance between one point on a seat to the same point, in front is around 30 to 32 inches on most major airlines. Southwest is shrinking their pitch an inch, but they say a new slimmer seat design actually gives passengers more space. Spirit has been using lighter weight seats that say are pre-reclined and can't be adjusted since 2010.

But comfort is key, especially for longer flights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't go in to Las Vegas, so yes it's a long flight. And I'll still be uncomfortable it gets cramped. My legs start burning.

ENDO: For people sick of airports or air travel, the train is always another option. Here on an Amtrak train the seat pitch is about 40 inches.

In a car, there are many factors, but with the front seat pulled back the seat pitch is about 32 inches.

And things are not that glamorous or spacious here in the White House briefing room. The seat pitch here is 34 inches.

On planes, there is also that other dreaded factor the randomness of the seating process.

Is that your worst fear someone big sitting next to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I have to admit I don't like it, because it is hard to stay off of one another, you know. And nobody wants somebody that they don't know all over them, so, you know, it is tough.

ENDO: This is the amount of space each seat gets on an airplane and I'm not a very tall enough, but if you take away the length of my thigh and the seat cushion, there is very little room before hitting the seat in front and the only way to get more space is to pay for premium seating.

Sandra Endo, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Yes, it looks like it's just going to get a whole lot more uncomfortable. Our thanks to Sandra Endo for that report.

In Pakistan, blasphemy can get you sentenced to death. This is new video of a Muslim cleric. He's been arrested now in connection with a blasphemy case against a Christian girl. She was jailed for allegedly burning pages from the Koran, but the cleric is now suspected of tampering with evidence by planting pages in her bag. The case has fanned flames of religious tension in Pakistan.

New this morning, NATO officials say they are suspending training of about a thousand new recruits for the Afghan local police and are re-vetting all the current police to make sure that they are not linked to the insurgency. This comes after a series of attacks where Afghan security forces or people disguised as such have turned their guns on NATO soldiers, many of whom were American. More than 40 people have been killed this year in attacks like this.

Earlier I talked with CNN military analyst General James "Spider" Marks about this growing concern and asked him about a "Washington Post" report that troops are being told actually to stay away from Afghan troops while they are sleeping, eating or exercising.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Clearly that helps. It's a bit counter intuitive when you are trying the build teams you want to spend as much time together and that is Afghan and U.S. or other NATO forces. So it kind of goes against the nature of how you coalesce and build teams and get them prepared for the next missions and to increase trust.

Well, the challenge with that now as we have seen is that the vetting process -- let's be frank -- the vetting process has been exceptionally well executed. The problem is that there have been a number that have gotten through and have been motivated to carry out these green on blue attacks, and so that causes great concern.

So you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater, but you can modify the type of behavior that you have on the bases in between operations.

KAYE: Let's talk about this new book coming out on Tuesday. It's getting a lot of attention written by a former navy SEAL detailing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Some fear that the release of this book could actually inspire terrorists to target Navy SEALs. What do you think of this book being written and what do you think about that?

MARKS: Well, the fact that -- let me address the second or the first question. The fact that navy SEALs might be targeted; there might be some type of revenge attacks clearly that could be a possible outcome, but you can't control that.

What you can control is the fact that this incredibly talented SEAL who is a great patriot made a big mistake by publishing this book without getting the authorities to do it, and without getting the appropriate redaction and the fact that the mission he was on was a classified mission, classified by the CIA, not the Department of Defense, not SOCOM. This was a CIA operation.

So only the CIA had the authority to declassify information that might be in that book. Now the author would say it does not have any of that classified information. But it is not his authority to designate that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Well, the stage is set and the speakers are scheduled and now the Democratic National Convention is ready to begin.

CNN's Candy Crowley will join us from the site of the convention in Charlotte as we leave you here with live pictures of inside the convention center there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Well, let the brewing begin, the White House has just released it beer recipes. The beer enthusiasts were clamoring for them, apparently. One group even filed a freedom of information request to get the secret ingredients.

Well, now the White House chef, Sam Cass has posted two of the recipes on the White House Web page so you can make White House honey ale. You can also make the White House. All of this at home. The secret apparently is honey taken from the beehives on the south lawn of the White House.

All eyes are on Charlotte, North Carolina this week. The Democratic National Convention kicks off Tuesday but is President Obama ready to sell his message?

Let's bring in "STATE OF THE UNION" host, Candy Crowley; she joins us this morning from North Carolina. Candy, good morning

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST: Good morning.

KAYE: So what do you think? Can we expect any, shall I say, empty chairs on the stage this week?

CROWLEY: I am going to go out on the limb here and say probably no empty chairs that entertainers are talking to. I will say however that conventions in the end always offer up a couple of surprises. So sometimes they are good surprises and sometimes bad and sometimes the critics disagree on which one it is, but I suspect we will have some surprises here as well.

KAYE: Some of the highlights, Michelle Obama will be speaking. Jimmy Carter will be there and of course, Bill Clinton will be speaking on Wednesday. That is always good.

CROWELY: Absolutely. And what is interesting is that a lot of people say, boy, you don't want to share a stage with Bill Clinton and in fact, Bill Clinton is going to nominate President Obama. He is the nomination speaker, so -- but he brings so much to the plate.

Number one he is the most popular living ex-president right now. What does that include? Swing voters, moderates and all those people upon whom this election may well ride. He is also extremely popular with the democratic base.

Clinton is kind of the good old days and that kind of a reminder and him coming in saying hey, remember when I was president and things were great and blah-blah-blah? Well, that is the path that this President is on.

So that sort of -- he provides this kind backup for President Obama as he nominates him. And it is clearly an emotional highlight for Democrats who have always thought that President Clinton was great. And so he fills so many roles here reaching out to both the base and of course the swing voters.

KAYE: Yes. We are looking forward to your interview on your show today with Ann Romney. She has really helped soften the image of her husband a bit.

CROWLEY: She has. And so did the convention, by the way, the Republican convention. I spoke to her shortly the day after he gave his nomination acceptance speech, and she was pretty clear that she felt that the convention did go a long way to kind of putting out what she calls their story or the true story of Mitt Romney, you know.

Went in and there was all this sort of -- you know, he's got to show voters that he has a heart. He has to show them that he understands their problems. And it was a pretty effective although nonprime time set of speakers who came up and talked about the personal relationship they had with Mitt Romney.

So she is pretty bullish on their ability and their success in kind of selling the Mitt Romney story at the Republican convention and she thinks maybe they even picked up some female votes. We will check that out in the next poll -- Randi.

KAYE: All right. Candy Crowley, nice to see you; thank you.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

KAYE: And stay with CNN for "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. It begins at the top of this hour at 9:00 a.m. Eastern and 6:00 a.m. Pacific. Just about four minutes from now.

Still to come, we will run down the key events in the week ahead; so mark your calendars.

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KAYE: Welcome back.

Let's take a look at what is happening in the week ahead. On Monday, President Obama is going to visit Louisiana. We have been telling you all morning about the damage there and thousands of people have been evacuated because of rising floodwater and so he will probably get a chance to see what is happening there, himself.

Also on Tuesday, we have the big book coming out by the Navy SEAL. It's called "No Easy Day". It's getting a lot of attention. It was supposed to come out on 9/11 originally.

And also, the DNC kicks off on Tuesday, the Democratic National Convention. Jimmy Carter and the first lady will be speaking. And President Bill Clinton will be speaking at the DNC actually on Wednesday. He's going to give the nomination speech for the President. And on Thursday, President Obama will officially accept the nomination at the DNC along with Joe Biden for vice president.

I'm Randi Kaye. Thanks so much for watching today. Continue the conversation with me on Twitter @RandiKayeCNN. "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley starts right now.