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CNN Saturday Morning News
Disgruntled Gunman Shoot Former Co-Worker; Trop. Storm Isaac Lashes Haiti; Battle for Youth Vote Heats Up; Romney: Birther Joke Not a Swipe at Obama; Penn State Moves Forward
Aired August 25, 2012 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 7:00 on the East Coast, 4:00 a.m. out West. Thanks for waking up with us.
We begin this morning with new information on those terrifying moments in New York City, after a gun battle in front of Empire State Building. It left two dead, including the gunman and nine others injured.
The brother of the slain victim says Steven Ercolino was a loving person and the light of so many lives. Now, we are about to show you some video that you may find disturbing. But we are showing it to you to help illustrate how that chaos all unfolded.
Here we go, it's a surveillance tape released from the NYPD. It shows the gunman, identified as Jeffry Johnson dressed in a business suit and carrying a briefcase. The police chase after him. He points something at them, and they shot and then he falls. He died at the scene there.
NYPD say the suspect was a fashion designer and used to work with the man that he shot. They had an ongoing dispute because Ercolino, the victim, was the V.P. of sales and had said Johnson wasn't selling enough of the product. Last year, Johnson lost his job.
Joining us now from New York is Rebecca Fox, who witnessed that shooting. Rebecca, good morning. You work across the street.
REBECCA FOX, WITNESS: Good morning.
KAYE: And you saw people running. Describe the scene for us.
FOX: I was getting a cup of coffee as I normally do going on the street, and this morning in particular, I took the Green Line up instead of the yellow line, which would have put me in the scene of action. And I was walking on the street. I saw people running.
I thought at first it was a celebrity sighting. They had been filming a movie a couple weeks ago. Then someone said there was a shooting. I walked towards 34th and Fifth Avenue and I saw a woman sitting on the ground leaning against the Empire State Building and she had been shot in the foot. And then I walked -- I saw half way down the block that there was a man laying facedown on the ground and there were police surrounding him. And they had attempted to flip him over a little bit, I saw his head come up slightly and then I found out later that he died.
I walked down the street, further down because someone had told me that he was actually in pursuit of another man around 33rd toward 6th Avenue. I saw there was another man lying on the ground.
And there was coffee cups thrown all around. I smelled gasoline. I think one of the bullets had probably hit a car. It was just really a horrific scene.
KAYE: Were people helping others? I mean, what kind of scene was it in terms of that? Or were they just looking after themselves?
FOX: People were definitely helping out. There was a lot of people standing around. The cops came in right away. I was impressed with that. And I saw that there was another victim that was being taken in an ambulance away.
And the paramedics were with the other woman that was sitting on the ground very quickly.
KAYE: Did you get a chance to speak with the victims yourself?
FOX: No, I did not.
KAYE: Give me an idea. Did you hear the shots fired?
FOX: I did not. Actually, when I was coming out of the coffee shot, I had headphones on. So, I saw people running and I thought oh, they're shooting another movie. Never thought in a million years this would happen.
KAYE: And did you think because it was so close to the Empire State Building that it was connected possibly? That this was some type of attack?
FOX: You know, when I first moved up to New York the whole 9/11 thing crossed my mind and I've been working across the street from the Empire State Building for about five years now. And, you know, you just kind of live your life. But, obviously, in the back of your mind, something like this could happen, but you never hope that it would. Terrorism may have come into my mind but honestly, I just -- I was in a state of shock.
KAYE: I'm sure. I'm sure.
Rebecca, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
FOX: Thank you.
KAYE: Tropical storm Isaac has been hammering Haiti and it could be a case of what may be to come for south Florida and the Gulf Coast. Haitian radio is reporting significant damage. Isaac's strong winds and high surf pounded Haiti's coastline as it made land fall earlier today. It lost some strength as it passed over the island, but it is expected to intensify again as it moves back over open warm waters. Hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti chose to ride out Isaac in tent camps where they have been living, since the country's devastating earthquake a couple of years ago.
CNN's Gary Tuchman is in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince for us this morning. He joins us now.
Gary, it looks like -- we spoke with us last hour. You look wetter than when we spoke with you last. How's it going there?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a reason for that, Randi, because it was dark outside, I was under a shelter when we talked to you last time. I want to give you an idea of how the rain is still coming down here and we're still having gale forced winds despite the fact that Isaac has pulled out of Haiti.
But this hopefully is the end of it all. The sun is coming up. We have no way to see the sun. It's 100 percent cloudy above us. But as daylight comes here in the nation of Haiti, we'll get an idea of the damage.
Haitian radio is reporting there's a lot of damage throughout this country. Flood and mud slide damage. But there are no reports as of yet of casualties. But we've learned this through history of covering these storms -- particularly in the nation like Haiti, where the communications isn't so good -- you needed to get light outside and you need to explore. And there are a lot of isolated areas and it may take hours before we know what happened.
But here in the streets, in the middle of Port-au-Prince, we see a lot of trees down. We see some building damage. But here's the sad part about life in Haiti, when you see building damage, we don't know if it's from this tropical storm or from the earthquake in January 2010, because there's a lot of buildings that haven't been repaired over the last two and a half years.
But the big problem, Randi, more than 400,000 people still homeless living in this country, living in tents and shacks. And a lot of people made the decision not to leave their tents. They didn't want to leave their tents. They wanted to stay in it, ride it out. We know there's been flooding in the tent cities.
But as the day goes out, we'll find out if there's casualties and how intense the damage is. But we do know that weather wise, the worst right now in Haiti is over -- Randi.
KAYE: And the president there even -- he was encouraging folks, right? He went to visit these tent cities to try and get them to a get shelter, right?
TUCHMAN: Right. Yesterday, I spent some time with the President Michel Martelly and his Prime Minister Lamothe, and they were going to different tent cities around the area, encouraging people to leave, but acknowledging they could not take all the people, because hundreds of thousands of people are still homeless.
So, what the president was telling us was there were encouraging as many women and children to leave. But they wanted -- we had our lights went out, sorry about that. I hope you can see me.
KAYE: We got you.
TUCHMAN: With encouraging quote. His quote was, "We want strong men to stay behind in the camps to take care of the women and the children." So, a lot of the strong men and women and children stay behind in these camps. We know that first had because we were in the camp for most of the night last night.
KAYE: And, Gary, you obviously spent a lot of time there in January, 2010 after the earthquake. I mean, give me a sense of the feeling now in Haiti when another natural disaster is about to strike or does strike.
TUCHMAN: Yes, what's so interesting about this is I wouldn't say people weren't taking it seriously, but there was a general nonchalance because these people went through one of the worse calamities known to man. Three hundred thousand people died, Randi, two and a half years ago.
So, when they're saying, when they heard it was hurricane, there was concern. But then, when they heard a tropical storm, these people in the tent city said, we're not leaving. This is our home. If we leave and there's much of the storm, someone may take our place and our tent is all we have.
So, while it's not nonchalance, I would say that I was not as much concern as we see usually when we cover tropical storms and hurricanes.
KAYE: Gary Tuchman, reporting for us in Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- Gary, thank you.
One billion dollars, that's how much Samsung must pay Apple for violating patents on model devices. A federal jury ruled that Samsung willfully violated those patents on things like phones and tablet computers. Samsung says they will appeal. What may be next is the injunction against the sales of some of the more popular Samsung products. The hearing on that is scheduled for next month.
And here's what's coming up this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE (voice-over): Jerry Sandusky might in prison, but his crimes continue to shake Penn State. CNN's exclusive interview with five football players from the university.
It's supposed to represent the party. But for Mitt Romney, is it a help or an inconvenience? All morning, we are putting the Republican platform in focus.
They came, they pledged, they embarrassed themselves. We'll take a look at some past conventions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Ten minutes past the hour.
With just over two months to go until the presidential election, convention season is in full swing. Republican heavyweights are on their way to Tampa, Florida, for their conventions to officially nominate Romney. Democrats will be in Charlotte, North Carolina, the following the week to nominate President Obama, once again. That is two straight weeks for parties to lay out their platform and win over voters.
Joining me now, chair of the D.C. Young Republicans, Katie Todd, and the president of College Democrats of America, Alejandra Salinas.
Good morning to both of you.
KATIE TODD, D.C. YOUNG REPUBLICANS: Good morning, Randi. Thank you for having us.
ALEJANDRA SALINAS, COLLEGE DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA: Good morning.
KAYE: So, the RNC starts Monday. So, Katie, I'm going to start with you this morning. What are the most important issues, do you think, to youth voters right now?
TODD: I think youth voters are so excited about the Republican National Convention. We're really focused on jobs and the economy this fall. We are excited about what the Romney/Ryan ticket has to say about it.
KAYE: What does it offer you in terms of jobs and the economy, do you think?
TODD: I think Romney and Ryan are focused on a pro-growth economic policy. And youth, such a as myself, including young Republicans, are really excited about what they have to say.
KAYE: Alejandra, what do you think is the most important issue?
SALINAS: For us, you know, we have been talking to students across the country. We believe the economy is the heart of what most are talking about. An issue like the economy, it's easy to talk to the people about the president's accomplishments. We have seen 29 straight months of job growth, over 4.5 million jobs created and young Americans really feel comfortable entering a job market after graduation.
That message is really honing in when we talk to young students, especially college students. And we are so excited to really talk about that message and other issues, like college affordability at the upcoming convention where we are going to see so many programs to make sure youth are part of the process.
KAYE: Katie, let's talk about Romney trailing Obama by about two percentage points nationally, in our most recent poll, which lands within the sampling error. When you look at younger generations, specifically, Romney is behind in the double digits according to the new Quinnipiac University/CBS News/"New York Times" polls. In Florida, home of the RNC next week, Romney trails by 16 percent.
Why do you think that is?
TODD: I think, honestly, a lot of it, young people, such as myself, are waking up to the fact that in 2008, we were so excited by people like Obama who delivered rhetoric about hope and change. We have seen how hope and change is -- hope and change is not paying the bills, at least the kind Obama is offering. And I think young people are ready for a change. They are looking for a Romney and Ryan ticket.
KAYE: Oh, what does this mean, Katie, for the future of the RNC? I mean, that Obama won the youth vote four years ago and he's still leading now? I mean, did they change their message to attract younger voters?
TODD: I don't think they need to change it because I think young people such as myself are attracted for the Republican Party for what the Republican Party has to offer. The amazing thing about the Republican Party, if I can quote from my former boss, Ambassador Mark Green, I'll paraphrase, he said Republicans believe in limited government because we believe in the unlimited potential of individuals. That's really what the young people are going to get excited about.
KAYE: Alejandra, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 2.5 million young adults from age 19 to 25 obtained health coverage as a result of Obamacare. So, is this a big issue for people your age? Will it get them to get out and vote?
SALINAS: Yes. I mean, I'd like to responds to Katie and just say, when you talk about college kids care about, you know, you just look at the issues. Look at college affordability. On the Republican side, you have candidates saying -- telling college students to shop around or borrow from their parents. What about the students that aren't in opportunity to do so?
President Obama is looking out for all young Americans, want to make sure everybody has the chance to pursue higher education. That's why he's doubled Pell grants. That's why he's created programs that I hope to be a part of where you work in the private sector for 10 years. Your loans can be forgiven.
These are tangible policies that are benefiting college students and benefiting young Americans. If you are a young person, it's very clear why President Obama is leading by 20 to 25 points because he's creating tangible solutions. Whereas the Republicans are a little bit more interested in a select few and not making sure that all Americans have access to the same great higher education we have in this country?
KAYE: So, Alejandra, what is the feeling then on Obamacare? A big issue? SALINAS: Oh, it's an incredible issue. Over 3.1 million Americans are now covered on their parent's health insurance, thanks to the president's health care policy. Once the bill is fully implemented, over 12 million young Americans will be covered.
Before President Obama's health care legislation, young Americans were the highest group of uninsured in the country. This is a tangible solution to a problem that was affecting so many of my peers and friends.
On the other side, we just have the response of let's get rid of it. What is the answer to so many young Americans that are now grateful and are unable to rely on this policy that he president was able to push forward.
KAYE: Katie, very quickly, your final thought.
TODD: I just want to respond to Alejandra's comments about specifically student loans. I say this as a person who is currently month by month, I'm paying back my student loans. We're not looking for government hand outs. We are looking for the type of president who will foster a pro-growth economic climate that provides jobs for, you know, young people such as myself.
I'm not looking for the government to handle my loans. I want to pay them back myself. I want to ensure that the economic climate is such that I have a job and I have means to pay back the loans that I took on.
KAYE: Katie, Alejandra, thank you both very much. Enjoyed the conversation.
TODD: Thank you, Randi.
SALINAS: Thank you.
KAYE: And we'll have much more on the RNC platform and its impact next hour. I'll talk with Florida RNC chairman Lenny Curry and ask how he plans to win the Sunshine State.
If kids are playing hooky in one city, they're going to have to start paying up. The superintendent wants to start fining $75 for every day they skip class. Some people are pretty outraged about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Checking stories across country. First to North Carolina where a reporter from our affiliate WSOC was on air when a car accident happened directly behind it. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Checking in with the sheriff in Catawba County, and also checking the jail website -- oh my gosh. There was an accident right behind me, folks. I'm sorry about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Yes, some scary moments there.
Dave Tarrity (ph) had been there to do a report on a homicide investigation. The newsroom actually called 911 to report the crash. Both of the drivers are OK.
Now to Greenville, Georgia, where Air Force Staff Sergeant Trey Murphy disguised himself as a baseball player to surprise his mom. He wasn't supposed to be back from Afghanistan for three more days. His parents actually thought that they were special guests at the game and were called to the field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We talked this over. What do you expect? Is it right now, by any chance?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! Oh my God! Oh my God!
I really wasn't going to sleep well until I could hug his neck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you did that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Look at her holding on to him.
The Greenville Drive Minor League Baseball team helped put that surprise together. How nice of them.
And in New Britain, Connecticut, a new school superintendent wants to fining parents $75 for every day their kids skip school. People have some mixed feelings about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not fair, $75 for every time that these kids don't want to go to school. Some of these mothers barely have a car to bring them to school. Then they're $75, $75.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These kids are outside. They're selling drugs. They're, you know, buying drugs, stopping cars in the middle of the streets. You know, they are riding their bikes around. They should be in school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The policy has to go in front of the city council. But city officials say truancy is a major problem right now, there is no financial penalties. Students who can't afford the fine would have a community service option.
We want to hear from you on this issue. Should parents be fined for kids, their kids skipping class? Is $75 too much or perhaps too little? What are your thoughts on this? You can tweet me @RandiKayeCNN, and we'll read your responses later on this morning.
Starting a business from scratch isn't easy, especially now. And for the next couple of months, we will be looking at how some people are not only starting their own businesses, but are also making them successful. Now, we all know what it's like to work like dog.
Sarah Hoye spoke with a small business owner who was teaching how to play like one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH HOYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amber Burckhalter owns the K-9 Coach, Bed and Bark Center, a dog training facility in Georgia.
This was an unexpected career turn for the law student.
AMBER BURCKHALTER, K-9 COACH: I decided law school wasn't the direction that I wanted to go in my life. I have always been active with dogs and seem to have a really special connection with them. So, I went to work for a local animal hospital.
And soon after that, I started taking on a couple training clients. I was a one woman show. And the business grew quickly. About eight years in, I was working myself ragged. So, I started the business with really no idea. I had no compass. Looking back, it was a huge mistake.
HOYE: So, Amber decided to go big, to change her business and her life. She got a new facility in 2008 and expanded her dog services to include boarding, day care, dog products and grooming.
BURCKHALTER: So, once we came into this building, I sat down and wrote a business plan. Emptied out my savings account, my 401(k)s, pretty much everything we had went straight into the business.
HOYE: The expansion increased her clientele to more than 4,500.
BURCKHALTER: You know, success, I think you have to be very tenacious. You have to be able to fall down and keep going every day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. Here are some of the stories that we're watching this morning.
We are learning more about the office grudge that led to a deadly shooting near New York's Empire State Building. It left two dead including the gunman and nine others wound d. The brother of the slain victim says Steven Ercolino was, quote, a loving person and the light of so many lives.
Now, we are about to show video that you may find disturbing. But we're showing it to you to help illustrate how this chaos unfolded. Here's Anderson Cooper with more.
(BEGIN VDEOTAPE)
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cops have killed someone.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the aftermath of a gunman opening fire in one of the most crowded streets in America. Police say they fired at this man identified at 58-year-old Jeffrey Johnson after he shot at them.
At this point in the video, he still appears to be alive.
Just minutes before Johnson, dressed in a business suit and carrying a briefcase navigated the crowds around the empire state building, found his target and pulled out a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: At 9:03 this morning, in front of 10 West 33rd Street, a disgruntled former employee of a company at that address, shot and killed a former co-worker, striking him three times.
COOPER: Police say Johnson was laid off as a women's accessory designer last year. His victim, 41-year-old Steve Ercolino was a vice president there. Police say Johnson and Ercolino had a long standing dispute over allegations of harassment, and both men had filed prior complaints against one another.
A co-worker of Ercolino was walking right next to him when they both saw Johnson lurking. She said, quote, "I saw him pull a gun from his jacket and I thought to myself, oh my God, he's going to shoot him. Steve screamed, Jeff shot him and I just turn and ran."
KELLY: Jeffry Johnson then fled with a .45 caliber handgun secreted in a black bag that he had under his arm. A construction worker followed Johnson from West 33rd Street alerted two police officers --
COOPER: Chaos erupted as bystanders ran for cover and police pursued Johnson.
KELLY: As the two officers approached Johnson, he pulled the .45 semi- automatic pistol from his bag and fired on the officers who returned fire.
COOPER: Police fired 14 rounds, some of which hit eight innocent bystanders.
ANIKA BASHU, WITNESS: I heard the gunshots and we looked towards the left and saw three or four people fall. The whole entire crosswalk emptied and people were running.
COOPER: Johnson went down immediately.
LISA SULLIVAN, WITNESS: They rolled him over on his stomach and cuffed him, kicked his gun away from him.
COOPER: After one man was killed, eight people wounded and hundreds of people ran for their lives. Jeffrey Johnson died in the shadow of the Empire State Building.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And joining us now, CNN producer Rose Arce, who was first on the scene yesterday.
Rose, what more do we know about this relationship between of the suspect Jeffrey Johnson and the victim Steven Ercolino?
ROSE ARCE, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Jeffrey Johnson is a 58-year-old fashion designer who once worked at Hazan Imports. And I've seen Hazan Imports. It's a very small place, not an enormous amount of employees.
Steven Ercolino, whose Facebook page, or rather his LinkedIn page identified him as the vice president of the company was 41 years old. They've known each other for quite some time. And people have said that the relationship between them was bad. Police even reported that in April of 2011, Ercolino and Johnson had filed harassment against each other.
So, it was no surprise they didn't get along. What people described yesterday is that Ercolino, who they heard from in the last years, just shows up, all of a sudden, dressed in suit. I e saw this, it was a gray suit. He looked like he was going to work with a black briefcase and gun.
"The New York Times" reports a co-worker, Irene Tinman, who was also seen on Ercolino's LinkedIn page as another manager at the company saying she was with him when she saw Johnson lurking behind some cars and immediately said, oh my God, what is he going to do?
I talked with witnesses myself yesterday also saw him walking down the street. They described him as having a handgun sort of next to him. That he was lurking around, trying not to let anyone see he was armed. Then he pulls out his gun and just starts firing away, obviously targeting Mr. Ercolino quite deliberately.
KAYE: Do we know how many shots he got off?
ARCE: It's unclear how many shots he got of or whether anybody was injured besides Mr. Ercolino at that scene. What happens after that is that Johnson, apparently changed or yelled at by various people runs up the street to the corner. He's right by the Empire State Building, hangs a left and ends up in front of the building. You can see from the video, he's no longer running away.
He casually walks through the crowd like he's trying to disappear into the crowd. That's when police were alerted to what happened, run out, they see him. You can see from the video, he's got the gun again and he goes down.
Police confirmed there were 16 shots fired right there in front of the Empire State Building in front of tourists. Full view.
KAYE: Wow. That is certainly scary moments there in such a popular tourist destination.
Rose, Arce, thank you very much.
KAYE: Turning now to tropical storm Isaac, which is passing over Haiti this morning bringing strong winds and high waves to a country that is still trying to recover from a devastating earthquake two years ago.
Let's bring in meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.
Bonnie, good morning.
There are reports that Isaac has lost some of its strength over Haiti. Where is this storm now and where is it headed?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, right now, the storm is working away from Haiti, but still bringing some drenching rains. And a new update, of course, that we have now a hurricane warning in effect for the U.S. mainland for parts of Florida. You can see it from Bonita Shores, all the way to Florida Bay. So, this does include the entire Florida Keys. And then a hurricane watch just north of there.
As we take a closer look at what's happening now with the storm, a kind of piece of energy is really pounding South Florida right now. We are getting very heavy rain.
In fact, we can show you a live picture of Miami at this hour. Wind and rain is hitting the region. And this is just the beginning. You can see some of the heavy rain and the frequent lightning strikes that are hammering the Key West area, all the way along the Keys. And Look how narrow and skinny the Keys are.
So, anytime you get a large rain band, it really does drench the area. And this is just the beginning. The storm works closer to the Keys, according to the track as we look through the next 24 to 48 hours. So, right now, the maximum winds are at 60 miles per hour. But gusts are close to hurricane force.
And you could see the storm is on the move as we look toward the rest of the weekend. By the time we get to tomorrow, we'll be talking about impacts on South Florida, especially the Keys. And you can see the storm kind of scurrying Cuba. Remember this cone of uncertainty does tend to fluctuate in terms of whether the storm will push a little bit further to the north or south.
And almost more importantly, as we go through the next days whether or not it will move further to the West, into the Gulf, or the coast of Florida. Notice Tampa is still in the cone of uncertainty. And we are looking at a category one Tuesday with the Republican convention nearby.
And you know, we are watching the storm as we go through the next few days because you'll see that even into Thursday, if we zoom into here, you'll see that we are still watching the potential and threat for heavy rain across the Southeast, even into cities like Birmingham and Atlanta later on this week.
So, Randi, this is going to be a weather maker for us throughout the entire week. Anywhere in the Southeast needs to take preparations, particularly if you are under that hurricane warning. Make your precautions now.
KAYE: And, Bonnie, we're just getting some really amazing video in from Haiti. We should share it with our viewers now. This is video that CNN has taken. You can see really heavy winds there.
We talked with Gary Tuchman earlier this morning. He said -- he was in Port-au-Prince, the capital -- and there was just some rain there. But it was a little bit too early to get out and about and see. But he told us when you see winds like this, it's scary thought because a lot of folks stayed in their tents, about 400,000 people still in a tent city in Haiti after the earthquake a couple years ago.
So, we'll continue to watch this. We are hoping to get our Martin Savidge up as well. He's on the ground there, in one of the hard hit areas. So, we'll talk to both of them and continue to watch the situation in Haiti and bring new any video as it comes in.
Mitt Romney made a joke at the president's expense. But we'll tell you why the Obama campaign may be the ones laughing last.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Let's move to politics now.
With a couple days left until the Republican National Convention, Mitt Romney is stuck talking about things other than his economic ideas. Romney made a joke at a rally in his home state of Michigan. The crowd loved it. But the Obama campaign, not so much.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital, I was born in Harper Hospital. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know this was the place that we were born and raised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Yes, the crowd liked that. Romney has said in the past he believes the president was born in the U.S.
Here is the response from the Obama campaign quoting, "Governor Romney's decision to enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rationale voter across America."
Joining me now is CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser, who was in Powell, Ohio, ahead of a Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan rally scheduled for later this morning. Paul, good morning to you.
Romney made the comment. The Obama campaign jumped all over it. What is Romney saying about it now?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Romney was asked about it last night, Randi, in an interview with CBS News. So, let's take a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS: Why did you say that?
ROMNEY: We were in Michigan. Ann and I were both born in Detroit. And, of course, a little humor always goes a long way. So, it was great to be home, to be in a place where Ann and I had grown up. And the crowd loved it and got a good laugh.
PELLEY: But this was a swipe at the president. I wonder why you took it.
ROMNEY: No, no, not a swipe. I said throughout the campaign and before -- there's no question about where he was born. He was born in the U.S. This is about us and coming home.
And humor, you know, we've got to have a little humor in the campaign as well.
PELLEY: You threw a red meat at the conservative wing of the party.
ROMNEY: No, this is about being in Michigan, the place where we were born and raised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Regardless, I guess you can call it an unforced error because Romney wanted this to be about the economy, about Medicare, about welfare to take his attacks towards the president in the run-up to the Republican convention.
But let's be honest, this became a big distraction. The only thing the media was talking about were Romney's comments on where his birth certificate was.
And it was a tough week for Romney when it came to that because in beginning of the week, he was distracted as well because of the controversy over those comments from Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri who's the Republican Senate candidate in Missouri.
So, again, the Romney campaign taken off message. They're going to try to get back on message right here behind in Powell, Ohio, of course, a crucial battleground state that Mitt Romney needs to win in November to take the White House -- Randi.
KAYE: And, Paul, what about Ann Romney. She has a new speaking slot at the convention. Why is that? What is the new slot? STEINHAUSER: She was originally supposed to speak on Monday night. The first night of the convention, but the broadcast networks are not taking that night live. CNN, of course, is. But because of that, the Romney campaign wanted to move her to a different night because they feel she's very surrogate for her husband.
There was talk of moving her to Thursday, but the problem there was Marco Rubio. The very popular freshman senator from Florida is speaking on Thursday night.
So, eventually, they decided on Tuesday night. Ann Romney will speak in prime time on Tuesday night, Randi.
KAYE: And we know Michelle Obama is going to be speaking the week after, at the Democratic Convention. So, it probably had something to do with that move.
Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much. Nice to see you.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
KAYE: A new beginning at Penn State. We'll hear from some of the football players as they prepare for the new season moving forward, but not forgetting the past.
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KAYE: It's a new season at Penn State, a new chance for players to put the crimes and disappointments of the past months behind them.
But we all know it will be tough for others to see Penn State without about Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky and the abuse of young boys. But for the players, they are trying to put the focus back on football.
Jason Carroll is on campus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, I sat down with five players -- four seniors, one sophomore. There were no questions that were off limits during the discussion. We talked about a number of things, how the scandal affected them personally, how it affected the team and they spoke of their former coach, Joe Paterno.
JORDAN HILL, PENN STATE DEFENSIVE LIENMAN: This whole situation has been a life lesson, starting back in November. You know, you have to go through struggles to, you know, to have a successful life.
MICHAEL ZORDICH, PENN STATE RUNNING BACK: You can place blame, you can say things were fair or unfair. You can do all of that. But at the end of the day, it is what it is. This is the situation that we are in.
CARROLL: What are your thoughts on those who left the team, transferred out?
MATT MCGLOIN, PENN STATE QUARTER: It's definitely tough because you built a relationship. We worked out with them for a couple years, hung out with them, had great times and you build great relationship.
MICAHEL MAUTI, PENN STATE LINEBACKER: We were great friends with some of those guys. At the end of the day, doing what's best for you, as Individual, as a man, that's what you got to do.
CARROLL: Well, any of you consider, "maybe I will switch, maybe I will transfer"?
BILL BENTEN, PENN STATE RUNNING BACK: But as a younger guy, I mean, it runs through your head. These guys were here. I'm not leaving these guys. They are my brothers. We went through a lot together.
CARROLL: Joe Paterno, a man larger than life in some respects. Your thoughts? Do you miss him? What are your thoughts on Joe Paterno?
MATT MCGLOIN, PENN STATE QUARTERBACK: To have a guy like that in your life and to be the kind of man he was, I'm happy I was around with him for four years. He'll be greatly missed.
ZORDICH: You know, as crazy as everything was that happened, as much as inspectors we have for him, we have to understand that we're with Coach O'Brien (ph) right now and that's the guy who's he's helping us get through all of this.
MCGLOIN: September 1st is becoming so, you know so much, Much more about football. You know, we are playing, obviously for ourselves and our coaches and now for the alumni, for the fans. We are playing for the past, present and future of the Penn State football program.
Starting September 1st, we have the opportunity to make history.
CARROLL: And, Randi, you remember what happened last month when the NCAA issued very sanctions against Penn State. Since then, nine players decided to transfer to other schools. I asked the players how it affected them and the team. They say it hurt. The focus is on the players who are here. They say their team now is stronger and closer, actually, in the wake of the scandal -- Randi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Jason Carroll reporting.
While the team looks forward to the new beginning, they are not forgetting what happened. The university this week that the players will have blue ribbons on the backs of their helmets. It blue ribbon symbolize supports victims of child abuse.
Most people have a moment in life they wish they could do over. The Democratic and Republican National Conventions are no exception. We'll share some of the more memorable moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just in love with, enamored with the design of the human body. Its elegance. Nature has often these powerful principles. If captured in a technology, a device, can be very, very extraordinary in the capacity to help people move again. So, that's the basic thesis of our work.
We steal from the cookie jar. We apply that and we build things synthetic constructs that emulate functionality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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KAYE: One party's embarrassing moment can become the other party's opportunity to highlight it. Both Republican and Democratic National Conventions are ready to kick off back-to-back.
So, today, we're walking down memory lane for some memorable convention moments.
Comedian Dean Obeidallah joining us now.
Dean, good morning to you.
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, COMEDIAN: Goods morning, Randi.
KAYE: Let's start with this awkward pose, all right? Richard Nixon may take the goal for an awkward moment during the convention. 1972. Remind us of it.
OBEIDALLAH: Well, I mean, that was a time when Sammy Davis said, I'm happy you're president. I want you to be president in the future as well. He was president.
You know, those are the awkward moments that define a candidate in a way, his off-the-cuff remark and how they respond to it gives you an insight into how they were. They are always so guarded. We always see a calculated image of them. This is the kind of thing being fun, so to speak.
You know, Richard Nixon trying to be cool. (INAUDIBLE) painful as you might imagine.
KAYE: Trying being the kind word.
OBEIDALLAH: Yes, very painful.
KAYE: All right. So, we all know there's so many speeches during a conventions, short ones, long ones, the bad ones, and the really, really long ones. Remember how the audience cheered after Bill Clinton's long speech in 1998.
Let's watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Don't you ever forget it. Michael Dukakis will never, ever, ever forget it.
In closing --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That is so great. Remember, as soon as he said in closing, you could hear the crowd erupt.
OBEIDALLAH: That's a Bronx cheer. As a comedian, if I go for my last set and this starts cheering, my set has not gone well.
And, you know, what's remarkable is mostly you'll think Bill Clinton is a good speaker. And he is. That's went for an hour. It was supposed to go 20 minutes. It drawn and drawn on.
Barack Obama gave a speech in 2004, keynote, 16 minutes and viewed as one of the best keynotes in modern day. So, shorter is better in this kind of speeches.
KAYE: OK. Let's talk about the lip lock that lasted to long. Al Gore's kiss with Tipper in 2000. What do you make of that?
OBEIDALLAH: That went too long. That's like the Bill Clinton speech. This was painful. He's grabbing her. It reminds me of the cartoon Peppy La Pew, who is grabbing the female cat trying to get away.
You know what? Too long displays of public affection is like two long speeches. They become awkward and uncomfortable to watch. And I think it need to be part of (INAUDIBLE). I think it's like watching parents kiss. And no one really likes to see that, I'll be honest with you.
KAYE: Yes, they had a long one then back in for another little one.
All right. Then, of course, those moments when the jokes fail to make people laugh. Remember the Bush twins. How can we forget that, right? Here is a reminder.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She thinks "Sex and the City" is something married people do but never talk about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: She said something like they are not laughing at us. They are not laughing. It was painful, right, Dean?
OBEIDALLAH: You know, dying is hard. I mean, dying is easy, comedy is hard as the adage. It's true, and I'll be honest. I have told many jokes to audiences where they don't laugh. It's painful at the time. Sometimes you get a thicker skin.
But they were doing a joke about their grandmother and saying "Sex and the City." We don't hear the grandmother and sex in any sentence at anytime, unless you're trying to gross people out. They did have a few good jokes in their defense.
But let's be honest, if you're not a professional comedian and some says, hey, do you want to tell jokes in front of 25 million people, you'd probably say no.
KAYE: Yes, grandma was not laughing and neither was anybody else.
OBEIDALLAH: No, it was always uncomfortable and awkward. You almost want to watch Tipper and Al kiss after that.
KAYE: Oh, no. All right. Dean Obeidallah, nice to see you. Thank you.
OBEIDALLAH: Nice seeing you, Randi. Have a good day.
KAYE: This was very memorable. Thank you.
O'BEIDALLAH: Thank you.
KAYE: All right. Next, we are live in Haiti for the latest on tropical storm Isaac. And in New York, where we're following the deadly Empire State Building shooting.
That and much more coming up at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Don't go anywhere.
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