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CNN Sunday Morning
Chicago Teachers Threaten Walkout; Twister in the City; Uproar over God and Jerusalem; Arrest in "Fast and Furious" Case
Aired September 09, 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 CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Chicago schools are bracing for a blackout. All classes could be cancelled tomorrow if the teachers don't get what they want today. But will a last-minute deal avert the largest labor strike in a year?
Plus, out of the sea, straight into the city. A rare twister strikes the Big Apple, catching New Yorkers by surprise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a big wind tunnel noise and I just hit the deck and I laid on the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looked literally like the "Wizard of Oz" and stuff just swirling.
KAYE: And the walks, the waves, the hands, the hugs -- what you didn't hear at the two conventions that speaks volumes.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It's 8:00 a.m. in the East Coast, 5:00 out West. Thanks for starting your morning with us.
New York City has some cleaning up to do this morning. Check this out -- a rare tornado ripping through a neighborhood in Queens.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
KAYE: One witness said it was like a scene out of "Wizard of Oz."
A second storm hit Brooklyn and the powerful storm system stretched all of the way to Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The next thing you know, bam! It just hit. They came and told us to pack up, and the next thing we know -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three minutes time literally. Things just started flying, and tables and chairs, merchandise, people running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And now more than 25,000 homes are without power, and in just a few minutes, meteorologist Alexandra Steele will be along with today's forecast. We'll see what you can expect today.
Negotiations resume in Chicago in just a few hours, to avoid a possible teacher strike. Twenty-nine thousand teachers are ready to walk off of the job tomorrow if deal is reached today. A strike would affect more than 400,000 students in the nation's third largest school district. Some parents say the school board and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are playing hardball with teachers, who deserved what they're asking for. But others aren't so sympathetic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Than any other profession that I know of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Mayor Emanuel told CNN in a statement that "leaders on both sides need to stay at the negotiating table and finish their job, finding a solution that is fair for our teachers and keeps our students in school.
Last hour, I asked Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, what she had to say to her critics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN LEWIS, PRESIDENT, CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION: Our union has put together a research-based solution to solving some of the problems in Chicago. Those of us who do this work are tired to being told basically, sit down and shut up, we know better.
I don't think people understand that in our system, we have had a revolving door of administrators. Every time they come in, they come in with some new idea that we are supposed to implement and no support, no research, and basically a group of predominantly women -- and let's look at this the way our profession is -- who are being told that you just shut up and do what we tell you to do, even though we know it is wrong for the children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The last strike in Chicago happened 25 years ago.
In the race for the White House -- the political conventions may be over, but the campaigning is far from done. President Obama kicking off the final day of a two-day bus tour of Florida, a critical state that he won by less than three percentage points in 2008. The president is taking aim at his Republican opponents, saying they are offering a sort of one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to fixing the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They want your vote, but they don't want the show you their plan. That's because all they have to offer is the same prescriptions that they have had for the last 30 years. Tax cuts, tax cuts, gut some regulations, and oh, more tax cuts.
Tax cuts when times are good. Tax cuts when times are bad. Tax cuts to help you lose a few extra pounds. Tax cuts to improve your love life. It'll cure anything according to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And Priorities USA, an independent group that supporting Obama, is echoing his comments, in a new ad that says that tax proposals from the Romney/Ryan team would hurt the middle-class. Those ads are now run in six battleground states.
For his part, Mitt Romney is also focusing on the economy and what he says are the failed policies of President Obama. At a stop in Virginia this weekend, where a recent poll show him trailing the president slightly, Romney used the latest jobs report to drive home his view that the President Obama does not deserve a second term.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: With the unemployment rate above 8 percent for 43 straight months, we remember that the president promised that if we let him borrow almost a trillion dollars, he'd never let it reach 8 percent. It's been above 8 percent ever since. This president has not fulfilled his promises.
And then he went to the Democrat convention and spoke at great length, and had a wonderful amount of things to say, but he didn't say what he'd do to help people get jobs or come out of unemployment jobs, to get people that are poor back to the middle class. He doesn't have a plan. He doesn't have any ideas. And we've got to make sure he doesn't have any more days in the White House after January.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And a program reminder. You see it there, find out what President Obama and Mitt Romney are really like tonight. That's tonight, beginning at 8:00, when we profile the Republican presidential nominee in "Romney Revealed: Family, Faith, and the Road to Power." That's followed at 9:30 by "Obama Revealed: The Man, The President," right here on CNN.
"Hustler" magazine publisher Larry Flynt wants you to diss on Mitt Romney. He wants the diss for sure, and he is offering $1 million as incentive. He is offering a cash reward for any documented evidence for the GOP presidential nominee's unreleased tax return or details of his offshore assets, bank accounts and business partnerships. He is taking out ads in two major newspapers in search of details.
All right. Now, back to the New York area where people are cleaning up debris and assessing the damage from two tornadoes. Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti went to Breezy Point, that's in Queens, where a waterspout came ashore and started ripping apart buildings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Breezy Point living up to its name this morning when just before 11:00 on Saturday morning, people reported seeing a funnel cloud. It spread through here. This is a private beech club called Breezy Point. A lot of cabanas out here, people don't live in these cabanas. But they usually come out to spend the day at the beach.
Only a few people were there when this happened. Fortunately no injuries, but the cleanup well under way. Minor damage, minor power outages in this area.
As you can see, these guys are already putting some of the debris from those cabanas, some parts of roof, that kind of thing, throwing it in the back of this pickup truck and getting rid of it.
But this gentleman over here, Jim Brady, was here.
When the funnel cloud came through, you were inside your cabana. What did you see?
JIM BRADY: I was in the cabana. I didn't see anything, but I heard the noise -- the intense noise that feels like you're in a wind tunnel, the noise, the debris going all over the place. I just laid on the ground and waited it out. Fifteen, 20 seconds later, it was quiet, I came out and saw all the debris all over the place.
CANDIOTTI: You'll have some cleaning up to do.
BRADY: A little bit.
CANDIOTTI: All right. And, Matthew (ph), you were here as well, but outside and saw the funnel cloud. Tell me about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saw it coming from the southwest to the northeast, huge amount of debris flying all over the place, g Scared the hell out of me because we didn't know which way it was going to move. I'd put it about 60 feet across.
CANDIOTTI: How did you stay out of the way or take cover?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just stood still. To be honest with you, the first instinct is people. So, you're not thinking of yourself, you're thinking, my God, people might have got hurt here.
So, it turns out the only, I mean, Greg was not injured, it was Brady. So it all worked out well.
CANDIOTTI: As someone who lives around, maintenance guy and he started to clean up right away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, may I tell right away. His name is Harry, he comes from Trinidad, and he is a manager here of maintenance and he took instant command of the situation safely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Our thanks to Susan Candiotti.
Meteorologist Alexandra Steele, is with us this morning.
So, Alexandra, I know people in tornado alley. They are used to this stuff, right? But it is rare for the people in New York, right?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, absolutely. So, the two we saw, or Susan was, an EF-0, also there was an EF-1 nine miles away. But since 1950s, the New York metro has only seen 10 tornadoes. So, really quite rare and the two within just moments.
But, you know, that was part of just a bigger storm system that affected millions of us. Of course, it was also associated with this very strong, very powerful cold front, very strong for this time of the year, ushering cold air behind it. And you are probably waking up this morning, heading our and getting the morning paper going, it's a lot colder than it's been.
But here's the front now, beginning to move offshore, you can see eastern New England, maybe Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut still having a few showers and sort of getting up, but clearing skies pretty quickly by lunchtime. That's for sure.
Further south, this is the tail end of that front, around Tampa, waking up to a really stormy morning. But that, too, is all pushing eastward. Just to note, again, we will talk about tropical storm Leslie, but along the Eastern Seaboard, the rip current threat is very real here for the day today and tomorrow. So, just be mindful of that, again, along the Eastern Seaboard, again, because of the tropical storm affecting Bermuda. We'll talk about that in a moment.
Also, all right, so here are the temperatures from yesterday. It was warm. It was muggy, juicy atmosphere. Here comes the powerful cold front lifting up, moving into this juicy air and really firing off all of the severe weather outbreaks throughout the day. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 80s. Today, temperatures in the 70s, and we're going to watch temperatures, even cool down further still for tomorrow.
Seventy-two in Syracuse -- that's the best you'll do today, out of the 90s, out of the 80s. You can see Buffalo even into the 60s tomorrow, New York staying in the 70s through mid-week. There's tropical storm Leslie, the latest advisory Randi just out a few moments ago. Maximum sustained winds are now the lowest. They have been down to 60 miles per hour.
Bermuda will see the worst of it through today and into tonight, the maximum of what they're going to see really just into a glancing blow, two to four inches of rain, tropical force winds today and into the night and then quickly move on out, but then maybe it become a hurricane once again.
KAYE: Wow, a lot to be watching this morning. Alexandra, thank you. I appreciate that.
STEELE: Sure. Yes.
KAYE: So, here's the question for you. What do facial expressions, gestures, finger-pointing and even hugs tell us about the candidates? A body language expert will walk us through the Republican and Democratic conventions to analyze some of those body gestures of the candidate like that hug.
And speaking of communications, Senator John McCain is very vocal in calling tout president on his handling of the crisis in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The president of the United States has not even said a word in behalf of these people who are being slaughtered. It's shameful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can now proudly say what you've heard me say the last six months -- Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Join Mitt Romney and me. Let's give this effort everything we have. Let's see this all the way through. Let's get this done.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Folks, Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from Alaska, Mitt Romney talks like he's only seen Russia by watching "Rocky IV."
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: When the president says you didn't build that, he is flat out wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
KAYE: Finger-pointing, shouting, cheers and jeers -- for two weeks, Republicans and Democrats gave their best in speeches at their respective conventions. And by now, maybe every word has been analyzed.
But we're going to take a different look at things.
Body language expert Patti Wood is here with us in studio this morning. She's the author of the new book "Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma."
Good morning.
PATTI WOOD, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: Good morning.
KAYE: All right. So I guess we've been not only listening to what was said at the RNC and the DNC, but also, I guess you pay attention to some of that body language.
WOOD: Absolutely.
KAYE: What does some of it say just in general?
WOOD: Actually, what you are looking for is synchronicity between what the person is saying with the words and what their gestures and the facial expressions and voice paralanguage do. Is there a match? And that makes us trust the person, feel they're sincere when they are speaking.
KAYE: We have our big monitor here, because we want to show some of these speeches and talk about the body language.
I want to start actually with former governor, Jennifer Granholm. She gave a very interesting, exciting speech. So, let's take a look at that and tell me what you see in Jennifer Granholm as she's out there on the stage, and what you think.
WOOD: I absolutely love this. She is so excited. Body language that comes up above the waist like that is all about joy and victory. So she is definitely saying over and over again, with her gestures, I believe we have victory that we are going to win. She is so confident in her voice also matches up and aligns with that message as well. So amazing.
KAYE: A big smile.
WOOD: And actually, what's also interesting is that you see her pointing her finger quite a bit, very unusual for a female to do, typically an indication of great confidence and security in the message as well.
KAYE: All right. Let's look at what they are calling the bro- hug between President Obama and former President Clinton. Here it is coming up.
WOOD: Yes.
KAYE: What do you see there? Does that look sincere?
WOOD: It looks sincere. What I love just before this, Clinton actually bowed down as he approached Obama to say, I know you are more powerful, I'm giving the power over to you. I thought that was a really wonderful and interesting choice. Because typically that hug, even right now, Clinton is doing this, saying I'm a little bit superior to you, but the first message was, I'm bowing down, but I'm still superior to you. KAYE: And what about Obama rubbing the former president's back?
WOOD: Showing warm. Hey, we're in this together, we're buddies, we're enemies before, but we're in it together now, all good.
And patting also makes it nonsexual between men. It makes more buddy-buddy, than hey, I'm interested in you. So, guys, when you pat, that's all about, just friends.
KAYE: Hey!
All right. It's amazing what you pick up.
You mentioned the finger pointing.
WOOD: Yes.
KAYE: We do see a lot of finger-pointing. What does that mean? I mean, you mentioned that it is rare for a woman to do.
WOOD: Yes.
KAYE: But what's the meaning of it?
WOOD: Well, typically, it shows strength and conviction of your message, but you have to be careful of using that in a speech because it becomes a symbolic weapon. So you want to make sure that the message that you are giving at the time that you're gesturing is not attacking anybody in the audience. Instead, it might be attack another candidate, or feeling strongly about we need to move forward, or we need to make this happen. That's appropriate for the finger- pointing.
KAYE: On the 31st, Mitt Romney took center stage as you may recall to accept his party's nomination, but before the speech, Romney walked down a line, actually shaking hands -- a lot like what the president does. We see it here, but it's a lot like what the president does with the State of the Union.
WOOD: Yes.
KAYE: What do you take away from some of this body language?
WOOD: Well, watching this whole tape many, many times over the last few days, it's very stiff. It looks like he has a rod all the way up his back and he leans forward like this, automaton, automaton, instead of doing what Clinton or Obama do, which is always a symbolic embrace as they come out to people and they also step forward towards the person that they are shaking hands with, and Romney in this case don't get -- stay away, stay away, only a handshake, much more stiff.
KAYE: OK. What about his performance? I'm curious about the performance, because the speeches have certainly been compared so much Romney to Obama. What did you see in the two of those?
WOOD: Well, for Romney, it was the best speech he has given. He finally had some true emotional moments, specifically when he's talking about his parents and his father giving the mother the rose. That was absolutely beautiful, and he had a little bit more movement, a few more gestures.
KAYE: But he didn't use his hands very much, though.
WOOD: Well, what is so exasperating is that he would say something where a gesture would come naturally like we want to build America, and your hands generally just do that, and we need to build America. Or we need to fight for our freedom, instead of we need to fight for our freedom.
KAYE: He needs to spend more time with Jennifer Granholm.
WOOD: So, he looks more genuine and show some feeling and emotion.
KAYE: And what about he president?
WOOD: The president had beautiful gestures. He did one quite a bit that I love because it was all about, he would bring his fist together and bring it towards his heart, calling on the audience that we need to fight together to bring it to the heart --
(CROSSTALK)
WOOD: Absolutely. Body language is highly symbolic. It goes to the limbic brain, so it imprints there, and as the audience, as they're listening and watching message, they are getting so much of the emotional content from the body language of what's called paralanguage.
KAYE: Did you realize that you're picking up on the body language when you're at home watching?
WOOD: I think you do, because if candidate or any speaker at these conventions is not authentic, doesn't have that synchronicity I discussed before, we want to turn it off, change the channel or disconnect or walk out of the room, and we don't know why -- it's because we don't feel the credibility of that speaker.
KAYE: So if I'm anchoring this show, I'm going to start raising my hand above my waist and getting people --
WOOD: Absolutely. Cheer us on.
KAYE: No matter what the story, I'm going to start doing that.
All right. That was great. Patti Wood, thank you for that.
WOOD: My pleasure.
KAYE: We had a lot of fun. Appreciate it.
A stern message for President Obama on Syria from his former election rival. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: The president of the United States has not even said a word in behalf of these people who are being slaughtered. It's shameful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone.
Twenty-four minutes past the hour. Violence continues in Syria where the opposition reports the government is dropping so-called barrel bombs on civilian areas. Take a listen here.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
KAYE: That's one of them. The bombs are said to be filled with TNT and are being dropped from the air. Opposition activists say that at least 18 people were killed across the country today amid the mounting violence.
In an interview with CNN International's Nina dos Santos, Senator John McCain blasted President Obama for not doing more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: This administration has proudly say they lead from behind, and we have sat still and watched this massacre go on now with over 20,000 people in the United States of America.
The president of the United States has not said a word on behalf of the people who are being slaughtered. It's shameful.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL: But what kind of leadership --
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: Sure.
DOS SANTOS: What are you talking about here?
MCCAIN: The Turks and everybody in the region are crying out for American leadership. We should lead.
First, voice your moral support, the way that Ronald Reagan did for the people behind the Iron Curtain. This president won't even do that.
Second, get them the weapons so it's a fair fight.
Third, establish a sanctuary or a free zone where they can organize. Look, everything that we worried about if we intervened would happen as now happened because we didn't. There's a rise of al Qaeda. There's rise of extremism. There's now greater threat of the use of chemical weapons.
This president unbelievably announced that the only thing he said is that if Bashar al Assad used his chemicals weapons, that it would cross the red line. Isn't he also telling Bashar al-Assad that he can do anything up to that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And in Iraq, it is much of the same where at least 39 people are dead after a series of attacks in multiple cities. The latest violence is mostly being directed at the military and police. Last month, more than 70 Iraqi security officials were killed.
In Pakistan, a Christian girl accused of blasphemy by burning pages of the Koran has now been released on bail. With much of the world watching, authorities took no chances with her safety, even bringing in a helicopter to take her away.
CNN's Reza Sayah has more from Islamabad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was the scene outside of the jailhouse in the Rawalpindi as the guy girl was escorted by security personnel to an awaiting government helicopter. In several previous blasphemy cases in Pakistan, the accused have faced vigilante justice, some have killed.
Obviously, authorities did not want anything to happen to Rimsha. Some of the police officers had their guns drawn and ready just in case with someone holding her, covering her face with a green scarf, she was whisked away to a helicopter and taken to undisclosed location to be with her family.
Remember, this is a girl who just last month lived in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Islamabad, the daughter of laborers. She was suddenly sent to jail, accused of blasphemy, became the subject of international headlines and now this dramatic exit from jail in the helicopter. No surprise her lawyers told us she was terrified throughout all of this.
Saturday's drama came after a judge granted Rimsha's bail after she spent three weeks in an adult jail. Last month, one of Rimsha's neighbors saying that she burned pages of the Koran. Her lawyer saying she is an innocent girl with a low I.Q. who was framed by a local cleric.
Last week, this case took another twist when that local cleric was arrested and accused of planting burned pages of the Koran in a bag Rimsha was carrying. That case is pending. Rimsha's case is pending, too, although rights groups are demanding for the case to be dropped. But at least for now, officials say she is safe with her family.
Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: An uproar at the DNC. It came when the delegates were asked to vote on putting god and Jerusalem back into the party platform. So, why was this such an important change? We'll take a look in faces of faith.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: For this week's "Faces of Faith" we're taking a look at God and Jerusalem and why those two issues matter so much in politics. The two issues made headlines this week after they were omitted from the DNC platform. The new platform didn't proclaim Jerusalem the capital of Israel and also omitted a line about God-given rights.
When amendments were proposed to put them back in, the DNC put it to a voice vote. It showed a clear split among the party delegates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, DNC CHAIRMAN: All those delegates in favor say aye.
PEOPLE: Aye.
All of those delegates opposed say no.
PEOPLE: No.
VILLARAIGOSA: In the opinion of the chair two-thirds have voted in the affirmative -- the motion is adopted and the platform has been amended as shown on the screen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And look at the reaction this got on the conservative Web site of the "Drudge Report" it read, "They booed putting God back", although it's not clear really what the delegates were actually booing about. DNC officials say Obama wanted the language reinstated and insisted on it. But now the GOP has pounced all over the Democrats for it.
Remember the Republican platform mentions God at least ten times. Now Romney is campaigning on the issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And I will not take God out of the name of our platform. I will not take God off of our coins and I will not take God out of my heart. We are a nation bestowed by God.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: Joining me this morning to talk about it is Rabbi David Wolpe from the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Rabbi David also gave the benediction Wednesday night it so happens at the DNC. Rabbi, good morning.
RABBI DAVID WOLPE, SINAI TEMPLE: Good morning.
KAYE: So there are two main issues here. Let's start with Jerusalem. Why does this resonate so deeply with people? I mean, both the President and Mitt Romney have visited the Western wall. Why so important?
WOLPE: Well, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. And Israel is sort of a unique category among nations. It's the only country that names its' capital, but other people refuse to recognize it. The only country whose surrounding enemies say they're going to wipe it off of the face of the earth and somehow the world tolerates such rhetoric.
So it's enormously important for the United States which is Israel's principle ally which has a community of interests and a community of ideas with Israel to stand up and say that Israel has the right to name its capital like every other nation, that has a right to exist like every other nation and in some ways the removal of Jerusalem from the platform was not just counterproductive, but it was -- it was dispiriting. It was painful. And the reinstatement was I think enormously important.
KAYE: And when you see the candidates visiting the Western Wall, you think about how Jerusalem and what Jerusalem really means to those candidates and how that might affect the Jewish vote. How do you think it does?
WOLPE: There are -- there are a lot of different Jewish votes. There are Jewish votes that are primarily centered on Israel and then there are Jewish voters who vote on a whole range of questions, but I would say that any candidate who doesn't affirm a commitment to Israel and whose actions are not consistent with the idea of the United States protecting Israel would suffer tremendously among Jewish voters and I hope among voters in general who acknowledge not just how important Israel is on a general ideological plane, but in terms of it being the only democracy and the only ally in a crucial area of the world.
KAYE: Let me play a short clip for you of the DNC Chair actually defending the amendments to the platform while talking with Don Lemon here at CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, DNC CHAIRWOMAN: This week, we made sure that our party platform reflected President Obama's personal view on Jerusalem being the capital of Israel and remaining the capital of Israel. When Mitt Romney learns that his platform didn't reflect his personal view on supposedly on abortion and there being exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, he did nothing. DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Ok.
SCHULTZ: And did nothing to amend his platform.
LEMON: All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So Rabbi is there a way really to separate religion from policy or have they just come too close together?
WOLPE: Well, it's not that they've come too close together, in some ways they've always been close together. I would put it this way. On the one hand it's true that my religious convictions don't trump someone else's convictions. I can't say because the Bible say this, "Therefore you must make the law x, y, or z."
At the same time you can't remove religion from politics, because that's asking religious people to place their deepest convictions on the side when they engage in the public sphere and you can't ask anyone to do that. So religious convictions will always be brought to politics, but they have to have a limited role, because politics is the -- is the area, is the arena in which we all work out together in argument, in discussion in debate, in compromise what it is we believe ought to be the law of the nation.
KAYE: Do you think there was a message there that this conflict that the DNC sent to voters? I mean does it -- what does it show?
WOLPE: Well, I think that the -- the difficulty and clearly it was a difficulty in getting "Jerusalem" and "God" back into the platform is troubling to people who believe not just that religion has a place in the public sphere but that Israel ought to be central to the interests and also to the concerns of not just the United States government but the United States citizens and the body of citizenry.
And so it seems to me that those of us who believe deeply in the importance of Israel as a key ally and also as a sort of shining light in a very difficult area, we ought to be concerned that perhaps some of our fellow citizens don't understand how important it is.
KAYE: Rabbi David Wolpe I appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
WOLPE: Thank you.
KAYE: For more stories on faith, be sure to check out our widely popular belief blog, you can find it at CNN.com/belief.
A botched government operation puts guns in the hands of criminals. An American border agent is dead but now his suspected killer is in custody. We'll talk to the border agent's family.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. You know it as "Fast and Furious", the controversial U.S. gunrunning operation that put firearms into the hands of suspected criminals in an effort to bust crime cartels in Mexico. But the plan went terribly wrong in December 2010 when U.S. border agent Brian Terry was killed in a fire fight on the Mexican border with guns used in that operation.
Now Mexico says it has arrested a second man in connection with that murder. A development my next guest calls long awaited even as the family of the slain agent seeks answers on other issues.
His name is Bob Heyer and he is the Chairman of the Brian Terry Foundation. He is also Brian Terry's cousin and he joins me by phone.
Good morning, Bob. Tell me first how your family is doing.
BOB HEYER, BRIAN TERRY FOUNDATION (via telephone): Good morning, Randi.
The family has been anticipating a development like this for quite some time. It's been almost two years since Brian was murdered. This December will be two years so it's been long awaited. We've still got a long way to go, only two of the five individuals that we believe were there in Peck Canyon outside of Rico, Arizona on December 15th involved in the fire fight that resulted in Brian's murder have been taken into custody.
So this is a good development, the family is pleased and appreciative of the cooperation of the Mexican authorities and law enforcement there. And we hope they will continue to pursue the other fugitives.
KAYE: And -- and as we mentioned this is the second in connection with your cousin's murder, three others still on the run. Have you been given any information, any updates on their whereabouts or the government's efforts to try and track them down?
HEYER: Well, we stay in touch with the U.S. attorney's office and the efforts on going to coordinate with the Mexican authorities. As you can imagine all of those efforts are pretty secretive, but we do get briefings every now and then. We believe that those fugitives are in Mexico.
So it's really up to you know the Mexican authorities to find these guys and apprehend them.
KAYE: I know you called this a great development. I want to share a comment from the House Oversight chairman Darrell Issa. He said this about the arrest recently. "This is one more step toward justice for the family of fallen border patrol agent Brian Terry. Ultimately not only the bandits who fired the shots, but also those who put the guns in their hands must all be held accountable."
I know you are still seeking answers as you mentioned -- an accountability from the government, so you are on the same page there as Congressman Issa. HEYER: Well, Absolutely. I think that Congressman Issa shares our frustration in the lack of, you know, answers and accountability with respect to Operation Fast and Furious, this flawed ATF gun trafficking investigation. We know that straw buyers were allowed to walk out of numerous gun stores in the Arizona area over a one year period. In fact we even know that the individual that bought the two guns that were found at Brian's murder scene. We just don't know what took place, once he was allowed to leave that gun store between then and when the time the guns showed up at Brian's murder scene.
Those things are all unknown to us. And it has really been frustrating, because the family just wants truth and justice and we don't care about this political fight. We don't -- we are not in this because of partisan politics.
KAYE: Right.
HEYER: We believe that we are owed answers. I think most Americans believe that as well.
KAYE: You absolutely are. You absolutely are. You should know what happened to your cousin Brian Terry, and we certainly thank you for coming on and please do keep us posted on the latest developments and best of luck with the Brian Terry foundation, Bob. Thank you.
HEYER: Great, Randi. HonorBrianTerry.com is the Web site for the foundation. Thank you.
KAYE: All right. Thank you very much.
Bill Clinton proved in Charlotte that he is one of President Obama's biggest weapons. So what can Mitt Romney do? CNN's Candy Crowley tells us.
And later political satire -- a humorous look at some of the celebs who attended the Republican and Democratic conventions -- here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
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KAYE: Welcome back and good morning Washington. What a lovely view there of the Washington monument. Glad you're with us on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
So, it is over. Two weeks of political conventions; the Republicans and the Democrats have set the tickets and they are in the final stretch. So let's bring in "STATE OF THE UNION" host Candy Crowley. She joins us this morning from Washington back from the convention, herself. Candy, good morning.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST: Good morning. How are you?
KAYE: I'm well. So what's next now? Now that the tickets are set, the parties are ready to roll. Besides campaigning now -- is that what we are going to see now? CROWLEY: Well, certainly they're going to be nonstop on the ground. They're going to be nonstop on the air. If you think you have seen ads in those swing states out there, just you wait. They will take up whatever air time is available to them for that. Still lots of money left on both sides to work out these final couple of months.
You are also going to see three presidential debates. Those will be key especially if going into September as we believe we will. We will see more or less still a race that is tied. At one point or another someone may break loose, but it is going to have to be not something on the ground so much as perhaps a debate performance one way or the other.
So that is what they'll be concentrating on is those three big moments when again they have their biggest audience that they're going have in the remaining days of the campaign.
KAYE: And they will be using their biggest weapons no doubt. And one of them certainly for Obama is Bill Clinton. But I know you're going to be talking with Newt Gingrich about how he thinks that Mitt Romney can stop Clinton.
CROLWY: Yes. And also, I think that there's -- as someone who covered the '90s on Capitol Hill, some revisionist history going on here. They weren't that great of friends. Did they get something done? They did, but the idea that somehow it was eight years of everybody getting along is craziness.
There is that, but there's also, how much of a factor is Bill Clinton in this race? Because generally, you know, when we talk about endorsements, we say, well endorsements don't really matter, it is really the nominee. And the question is whether Bill Clinton is an exception to that; whether he really can move votes?
KAYE: Just very quickly on a lighter -- I'm sure you've seen this bit out of Florida out of the sports bar there where the President met this seven-year-old and found out he was from Hawaii and asked him for his birth certificate. What do you make off that?
CROWLEY: Well, you know we have seen the President joke about this before and it was sort of a well-known political tactic if somebody is attacking you on something, you turn it around on him. So he has done that, not with frequency, but he has done that a couple of times. You know, it was a cute moment, because the kid was born in Hawaii and he asked him about his birth certificate. So they're certainly at a place where the President can joke about that now, because the traction for that gone in all but sort of the fiercest of pockets of politics.
KAYE: Right. It was a fun little moment.
CROWLEY: Yes.
KAYE: Candy, it's nice to see you. Thank you.
CROWLEY: Good to see you Randi.
KAYE: And keep it here for "STATE OF THE UNION"; it starts in just a few minutes, seven minutes to be exact; 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 a.m. Pacific right here on CNN.
Did you watch the Republican and the Democratic national conventions? Comedian Bill Santiago certainly did. And he has some interesting observations to share with us this morning. Bill, stay right there.
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KAYE: The presidential election is down to the final two months. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama are going city to city both saying their parties and the messages are very different. And you saw just how different during the Republican and the Democratic national conventions.
Joining me now is comedian and Huffington Post blogger, Bill Santiago. Bill, good morning. I know you watched --
BILL SANTIAGO, COMEDIAN: Good morning
KAYE: -- both conventions. And many people are talking about the perceived lack of diversity at the RNC.
SANTIAGO: Yes, right.
KAYE: What did you make of it?
SANTIAGO: Well, you know, if you're judging by the crowd that you could see as the camera panned back and forth across the two conventions, as far as diversity clearly the Republicans were way more Caucasian-friendly, you know, the Democrats really seemed only to be interested in gratuitous multiculturalism. And they have a long way to catch up the Republicans.
You know when the camera panned for a random sampling of the DNC, you would see like a gay, disabled, Latino in a turban next to an African-American Hasidic veteran and it is almost like they're not even trying to go for the same homogenous effect that the Republicans are so good at.
KAYE: Certainly not the way you put it, no.
All right. Let's talk about the music -- lets talk about the music choices. The DNC really rocked the house with the Foo Fighters and versus the RNC with what the Oak Ridge Boys?
SANTIAGO: The Oak Ridge Boys, yes.
KAYE: What about the youth vote? Does anybody care?
SANTIAGO: Well, the problem is that, is that the Republicans are having a hard time getting permission from the artists to use their songs. The Democrats have the entire Motown catalogue at their disposal, but the Republicans have to rely pretty much on Taylor Hicks and anything else that is public domain. So they have Amazing Grace and the battle hymn of Republican and that's about it.
Although they did have a gospel group this time around -- a black gospel group; that was the first time ever. That was a big breakthrough. I'm sure that they got whatever price they asked for, because diversity does not come cheap.
KAYE: No, certainly not. I am sure you already have your song picked out if it ever comes to that day, right?
SANTIAGO: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I am saving for that.
KAYE: All right. So the GOP also they had Clint Eastwood, of course, and we can't forget that experience, an older white male. And the Dems with their celebrity speech maker; they had Eva Longoria, young, female, Latina, stunning. What does the party's Hollywood star power choice say to you?
SANTIAGO: Yes, it was weird. You had like a young Mexican desperate housewife and compared to a, you know, an older disgruntled cowboy. And Eva was not the only one in their stable, I mean they had tons of star power aside from Obama and Clinton and Michelle, themselves. You had Mary J. Blige, you had Mark Anthony singing the national anthem. Scarlett Johansson stopped by. I mean collectively it was way more star power.
But what you remember is Clint and the chair. The Democrats did not have a chair moment. What is interesting is that the Republicans booed Obama and the Democrats booed God, so they both had their invisible man causing controversy at their conventions if you want to compare and contrast.
KAYE: Very funny.
Bill, thank you very much. Enjoy your Sunday.
SANTIAGO: Thank you so much. We'll see you next time.
KAYE: And thanks everyone for watching today. You can continue the conversation with me on Twitter, @RandiKayeCNN. "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley begins right now.
Have a great Sunday.
