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CNN Saturday Morning News

Bone-Dry Midwest Desperate for Isaac; Romney Tours Isaac Damage; Bernanke Hints at More Stimulus Measures; Romney's Post- Convention Push; Soldiers Plotted to Kill President; Eastwood Speech Steals Spotlight

Aired September 01, 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: Thanks for starting your morning with us. We've got much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, which starts right now.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. Seven o'clock on the East Coast, 4:00 a.m. out West. Thanks for waking up with us.

As you grab your breakfast, making some coffee as well, we begin with the one story that impacts all of us: food prices up by 10 percent. That's according to a new report from the World Bank. The cost of corn and soybeans spiked by 25 percent. Now, at an all time high. The drought here in the U.S., partially to blame.

Well, the Gulf Coast grapples with loss and damage from Isaac. Right now, the storm is moving through the Midwest, and with it, a lot of rain and relief for a part of the country in the middle of the worst drought in decades. We are talking several inches of rain from Isaac, for some parts of the Midwest, some farmers are desperate for it. But it may be too late. It may not be enough.

Here's our national correspondent Susan Candiotti with a look at reality right now in the fields.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With corn stalks crunching under his feet, Richard Detring goes to harvest. But thanks to this summer's drought, his field corn in Farmington, Missouri, is fried to a crisp. In blistering 90 degree heat, not much else to do but climb into his combine and mow down the stalks.

RICHARD DETRING, FARMER, BRD FARMS: I mean, you put a lot of money and time and effort into it. Then you see no return. It's a hard thing to do.

CANDIOTTI: Hard for every farmer in the Midwest whose crops are virtually a total loss.

(on camera): This is so brittle. I mean, what is left in here? What is left in here?

R. DETRING: There's simply nothing. This one has -- it's basically died right before production.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): It's like dust, practically. He'll salvage the little he can. Maybe five bushels of grain an acre, compared to usual 120.

R. DETRING: I'll turn the cows to the field. They can eat leaves and stuff like that. They won't get much. It will keep them alive for a few more days.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Here in Missouri, rain is nine to 15 inches below normal. Now, even if Isaac delivers three to five inches of rain as predicted, it won't wipe out the drought, but every little drop will help.

(voice-over): Isaac's rain is coming too late to help ranchers who already threw in the towel.

R. DETRING: It really hurts when you see a producer come in who said I sold my cattle today. They are crying at the counter. Is there help out there? There's nothing we can do.

CANDIOTTI: No rain means cattle are grazing on brown pastures. No rain means the price of feeds has skyrocketed. And those rain means ranchers are giving their cows hay now, way before they normally do in the fall.

Detring's son Brad both lived hard times get to him. He is fifth generation. Farming is in his blood.

BRAD DETRING, FARMER, BRD FARMS: You know, this is just farming. That's just the way it is. So you take the good with the bad.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): So what's your message to Isaac?

B. DETRING: Come take a visit. I'll grill, I'll have some drinks in the cooler. Come on. Set up shop.

CANDIOTTI: Giving scare (ph) in that sun all summer long. The rains are coming. What do you think?

R. DETRING: Great. I can't wait just to walk in the rain.

CANDIOTTI: Just to feel it?

R. DETRING: Just to feel it coming down.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): And start walking in greener pastures.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: We are tracking Isaac as it makes its way through the Midwest.

Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider in this morning, watching it all from the severe weather center. Bonnie, good morning.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.

KAYE: So, what states exactly could see some rain?

SCHNEIDER: Well, right now, we're seeing rain across a wide swath of an area. Let's take a look. You can see on the radar, we have rain in Kansas, in Missouri, Illinois, back out towards Indiana and Ohio.

So, there's a lot of heavy rain coming in, kind of in a wide area. This is, of course, impacting drivers. But more importantly, we'd love to get the rain as you saw on Susan's report to some of the drought- stricken areas, Randi, because of much of the country in an exceptional drought right now.

KAYE: Flash floods with those fields being so dry, any concern about that?

SCHNEIDER: Absolutely. Because even though the ground is so dry. It just can't absorb the rain as fast as it's coming in. So there is a concern for flash floods. You can see here, we have the heavy rain as I mentioned across the good portion of the Midwest.

But, looking ahead, the projected rainfall is even higher than that. So, we could see six to eight inches in some parts of Illinois, for example.

Now, we don't have flash flood advisories at present for the Midwest. We did yesterday. The only place we have the flood advisories are actually down in Louisiana. Even though it stopped raining there, there's 20 inches of rain on the ground in New Orleans. So, it's going to take awhile for that water to recede.

You know, it's interesting to look ahead, though. We are expecting, as I mentioned, we are watching closely in the tropics, because we're not done with tropical season. You see, we have two other systems out there. And just to give you a heads up, we are looking at the effect of Leslie. And that may impact us later this week in terms of rip currents along the East Coast.

So, the tropics are having a huge effect on so much of what we are doing here in the weather center and, of course, on your holiday travel with the rain, you have to be careful driving. Some heavy downpours are possible.

KAYE: A lot going on on your maps this morning, Bonnie. Thank you.

To politics now, and the disaster in Louisiana has become part of the political story. Mitt Romney was there yesterday, touring the damage with Republican Governor Bobby Jindal. President Obama won't be there until Monday.

Let's bring in CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser.

So, Paul, good morning. You look at this, the president going there after Romney. What's the takeaway?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: You know, the Romney thing was a surprise. We learned about it yesterday morning. The Romney campaign says they were invited by Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal, remember, a Republican who was supposed to speak at the Republican convention last week in Tampa but didn't go when Isaac hit his state. He obviously stayed home to deal with the repercussions there.

So, he invited Romney. And he said the reason he invited Mitt Romney was to get more awareness of what was going on in Louisiana and to help the storm victims out. The governor going by himself, not with Paul Ryan. He broke away from Ryan. They were going to campaign yesterday afternoon in Virginia. Ryan went to Virginia and Romney went to Louisiana.

And as you mentioned, the president going on Monday. Of course, when the president travels as normally he would, he travels with a little bit of a larger footprint. Romney went with a smaller I guess you could say staff.

And, Randi, this all goes back to 2005 I think when you want to talk about politics. The criticism that President Bush got by not going immediately to Louisiana after hurricane Katrina -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes, certainly, they are trying to get there first. That's for sure.

So, meanwhile, though, the swipe fest continues following the convention. Obama's campaign took a swipe at Romney's convention speech for omitting Afghanistan. The president talked about in his White House address.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have broken the Taliban's momentum in Afghanistan, and begun a transition to an Afghan lead. Next month, the last of the troops I ordered as part of the surge against the Taliban will come home. By 2014, the transition to Afghan will be complete. But as long as we have a single American in harm's way, we will continue to do everything in our power to keep them safe and help them succeed. That means giving them a clear mission and the equipment they need on the front lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: So, Paul, any reaction from the Romney camp on this one?

STEINHAUSER: Not to this specific one from this morning. But you're right, Randi, this war of words started almost immediately after Mitt Romney's address Thursday night in Tampa. Jim Messina, the campaign manager for the Obama, quickly putting out a statement saying in a 45- minute speech, no talk time for Afghanistan. Yesterday, the Obama campaign putting out a statement, a web video actually as well pointing out the same thing. The Romney campaign pushing back on that. This is from Ryan Williams, one of their spokesmen. "The Obama campaign's attack on Governor Romney is another attempt to politicize the war in Afghanistan, a war in which President Obama has dangerously based his decisions on political calculations, endangering our mission."

You know, Randi, it's interesting this war of words I guess you could say over Afghanistan. But when it comes to polling, the president definitely has the advantage there -- Randi.

KAYE: People want the troops home. Is that what you are saying?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Yes.

KAYE: All right. Paul Steinhauser, appreciate that. Thank you.

STEINHAUSER: A new chapter in college football begins today at Penn State. The Nittany Lions will play their first football games since the school was hit hard by the NCAA. Because of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the school is banned from bowl games for four years, has scholarships taken away, and more than a decade worth of wins were vacated.

Nine football players transferred to other schools. Others stayed so they could move on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'BRIEN, HEAD COACH, PENN STATE: They are harsh penalties. But we attack it. There's no other way. You either run and hide or attack it.

We decided obviously to move forward. And these are the rules of which we play under, and that's what we're doing.

JORDAN HILL, PENN STATE DEFENSIVE LINE: This whole situation has been a life lesson, starting back in November. You know, you have to go through struggles 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 that. But at the end of the day, it is what it is. This is the situation that we are in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Penn State plays Ohio University today at noon Eastern Time.

And here is what's coming up this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR CORY BOOKER (D), NEWARK, NJ: We are the party that says America can be America for everyone. That is what this platform is about.

KAYE (voice-over): All week, the spotlight was on the Republicans. Now it's the Democrats turn. All morning, we're putting the Democratic platform in focus. While the politicians were rallying in Florida, the bankers were crunching numbers in Wyoming. What Bernanke hinted about, another round of stimulus.

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: I can't tell him to do that. He can't do that to himself.

KAYE: He may have upstaged the event by speaking to an empty chair. The good, the bad and the ugly of the Clint Eastwood speech.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Swing voters, soccer moms, senior citizens -- all important voting blocs President Obama and Mitt Romney want desperately to win over in November. But there's another group that many say could decide this year's election, young voters. It's a bloc where Obama certainly has the leg up. The latest CNN/ORC poll shows 58 percent of those age 18 to 34 say that they favor President Obama, while 36 percent favor Romney.

But here is the hitch for Democrats, at least. Fewer young people say they are likely to vote this year, a trend that's certainly not gone unnoticed by most campaigns.

So, can Obama woo the youth like he did four years ago or is there an opening for Romney?

Joining me now are two young women who could help answer those questions, Alejandra Salinas, president of College Democrats of America, and, Katie Todd, chairwoman of the D.C. Young Republicans.

Thank you both for being here. We talked last weekend. It's great to have you back, following the Republican convention, and leading up to the Democratic one.

Katie, let me start with you. What was your reaction to Romney's acceptance speech? Did he win over young voters, do you think?

KATIE TODD, CHAIRWOMAN, D.C. YOUNG REPUBLICANS: I thought Romney did a great job. In general, the Republican National Convention was a great opportunity for the entire party to rally behind the Romney/Ryan ticket. Youth voters were excited to see the level of engagement. They are not just speaking to -- or they are not just speaking at youth voters, they are speaking to youth voters.

KAYE: And, Alejandra, I understand you will speak at the Democratic convention. Congratulations.

ALEJANDRA SALINAS: Thank you so much.\

KAYE: I want your reaction to the GOP convention as well. But I want to play just a bit of Paul Ryan's speech from the convention, where he's pitching to young voters. So, listen to this with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters wondering when they can move out and get going with life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: So, Alejandra, how did Democrats counter that message? Essentially a jobs message, but one that may be resonating with many college students. I mean, are young voters disappointed in President Obama, do you think?

SALINAS: You know what? The answer is absolutely not. What we saw at the Republican National Convention was a lot of rhetoric, a lot of the use of the word youth, but not a lot of solutions following that, real policies that impact young people, real solutions that impact young people. We didn't see any of that from Romney or Ryan's speeches.

What we are going to see this week is not only a party that is inclusive to youth, but a party offering solutions for my generation. We talked about things last week like college affordability, like health care. These are real policies impacting young people today. And these are policies that are going to continue to impact young people.

It's why people stand so strongly with the president. They can say the word youth all they want on the Republican end, but it's not until they offer policies will they see support from our generation.

KAYE: So, while the RNC was holding their convention, Obama was courting the youth vote in Colorado and Iowa. Listen to Obama here hitting at Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Last week, my opponent's campaign called you the lost generation.

(BOOS)

OBAMA: And they hope by telling you these things you'll get discouraged and stay home this time because they know that young people came out in record numbers four years ago.

Well, I'm here to tell you, don't listen to the cynics. Don't listen to the naysayers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Katie, what's your reaction to that? Are Republicans cynics when it comes to the youth vote?

TODD: I definitely don't think so. We are not looking for the youth not to come out in 2012. The fact of the matter is the youth unemployment rate is over 17 percent right now. To say the youth are not disappointed in Obama is -- that's absurd. The youth are coming out and we are going to see them come out on the Republican side. They are going to be voting for Romney and Ryan.

KAYE: Alejandra, let's talk about some of the numbers here. Obama's right. I mean, young voters did turn out in record numbers for him in '08. They preferred him over John McCain by 68 to 30 margin. That's the highest youth vote ever recorded. But the crowds for the president at these colleges that he's visiting certainly haven't been as big as they were in '08.

Should the Democrats, do you think, be fearful of a de-energized base and how do they change that if so?

SALINAS: Well, I have to tell you, I talk to politicians across the country. And again, we are not seeing that across our campuses. So many students started school back this week, and we saw college Democrats across, where 200 or 300 people were filling lecture halls excited to engage in the president's campaign, excited to see how they can a part of the political process.

What's so exciting on college campuses today is there's a new wave of first time voters that didn't have a chance the first time around and are so excited to be a part of it today. There's an energy that we are continuing to see since the president elected in 2008 that we continue to see in 2012.

And if I may share, I was a freshman at the University of Texas in 2008 when the financial crisis hit. We saw literally a halt in job recruitment and interviews by companies. Since the president took office, since he's passing stimulus package and various other packages that have helped job growth and we have seen 29 months of straight job growth, we've seen those companies come back. We have seen interviewers and recruiters come back to campuses.

This is such a great example of the economy bouncing back, thanks to the president's policies. And you can truly see it when you walk on to a college campus. And you see recruiters running around, wanting to hire the next year of college graduates.

KAYE: Alejandra Salinas, Katie Todd, thank you both for coming back this weekend.

SALINAS: Thanks for having us.

TODD: Thank you.

KAYE: The Democrats are holding their convention in North Carolina, a state that's on the fence in the presidential race. So, how are Democrats hoping to hold on? We'll have that next hour.

A worker at a trendy store says she was fired because she didn't have, quote, "blond hair and blue eyes." She says those words didn't come from anyone but the company's V.P.

Great white sharks, they are legendary predators. We'll tell you about a family on a pleasure cruise who got a bit of an unexpected, real close up look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Twenty minutes past the hour. Glad you are with us.

Some stories now that we are following cross country.

Some history made under the Friday night lights in south Florida. With just under two minutes left, Erin DiMeglio entered the game for South Plantation against Nova. DiMeglio was thought to be the first female ever to play quarterback in a boy's regular high school football game in Florida. South Plantation beat Nova, 31-14.

Some naked truth in Seattle. Top of the sixth, oh, there he goes. Nobody out. Runner on first. Yes, they call him the streaker.

This fan dressed in nothing but a Speedo, dashed in first base, the second, and he rambled into the outfield before being taken down by security. Angels beat the Mariners, in case you're wondering, 9-1.

And some beaches near Cape Cod, Massachusetts will be off limits to swimmers this Labor Day weekend. That's because of shark sightings like this one captured by family out boating. Last week, a family says the shark was feasting on a seal.

Now, to another story we are following this morning. Wet Seal is a young, trendy clothing store. I'm sure many of you passed by or shopped there perhaps. But one former manager claims that there's an ugly side of the company. Nicole Cogdell is one of three former mangers suing Wet Seal. She was fired because she's black.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE COGDELL, PLAINTIFF: She literally looked to my district manager and said that's the store manager? I wanted someone with blond hair and blue eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Cogdell points to this e-mail as proof she claims from the company's V.P. The e-mail says, quote, "need diversity, African- American dominate, huge issue."

Cogdell and two other former workers are asking a federal court to turn their case into a class action lawsuit on behalf of 250 current and former black managers. Wet Seal would not speak to CNN on camera but issued this statement quoting here, "We do not discriminate on the basis of race or any other category. We are confident that when all the facts come out in this matter, the public and our customers will see African-Americans are well represented and valued members in our employee base, including our management."

Earlier, we asked you if Wet Seal should face a class action lawsuit. Tiffany said, "Racism and racial discrimination are so common in retail that it has its own sales rack. Blond hair and blue eyes doesn't mean beauty."

And Bennie Allen wrote this, "Yes, Wet Seal should have a class action lawsuit if it had been a Jewish or fat person in that situation, they would be sued."

And Leighton Johnson posted this, "If you step off a cliff, gravity does its work. The same thing here, they stepped off a legal cliff."

Lots of tweets coming in. Appreciate that. You can tweet me once again @RandiKayeCNN.

A shock for drivers. Have you seen how much gas is costing right now? We'll tell you how high it's going and why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: As you have probably noticed, gas prices are going up, $3.83 a gallon is the national average. For a gallon of regular, that's up 30 cents what you paid in July, which will make it a little tougher on all of you planning to drive this Labor Day weekend. Much of the recent rise in prices can be blamed on hurricane Isaac.

Despite a slow month, the stock market ended August with solid gains. The final boost came yesterday with some hints from Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, said additional measures to boost the U.S. economy could be on the way.

Felicia Taylor is tracking the story for us in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Randi, would he or wouldn't he? That was the question facing Wall Street. Would Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke announce new action to jolt the economy? The answer on Friday came during the Fed's annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Bernanke didn't announce new measures but he did leave the door wide open, saying, quote, "The Federal Reserve will provide additional policy accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery."

Bernanke also defended the Fed's moves up until now. Its previous large scale bond purchases have been controversial especially along Republicans, with some accusing the Fed of printing money and raising the risk of inflation. But Bernanke said the bond buying known as quantitative easing actually helped the economy. It boosted stocks and created more than 2 million jobs. He also noted inflation is within the Fed's target range.

But the Fed chief did sound cautionary about the economy, calling the current situation, quote, "far from satisfactory." He said improvement in the job market has been painfully slow, noting the unemployment rate has been stuck since January.

And that's why the Fed is leaving the door open possibly for more stimulus -- Randi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Felicia Taylor, thank you very much.

Jobs are being added in the recovery. But they aren't close to the same jobs lost, 60 percent of the jobs lost were considered mid-wage jobs. But that is being changed now. What's being added are low-wage jobs, that means jobs that pay less than $30,000 a year.

Here is the breakdown, 58 percent of the added jobs are low wage jobs, 22 percent are those mid wage jobs and 20 percent are high wage jobs.

U.S. troops serve in harm's way on front lines. But a disturbing incident of alleged military hazing is raising one father's fury. His fight for his son, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: If you are looking to buy a home, well, now might be a good time. Mortgage rates are hovering around 3.5 percent. A year ago, 30- year mortgages average 4.2 percent. Take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.

Here are some of the stories we are watching now:

Isaac is now weaker but dumping a lot of rain, which is in a strange twist, it's what the Midwest needs. As we speak, Isaac is moving through the U.S. crippled by drought this summer. But not before leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark along the gulf coast and killing at least four people. The scene, certainly one of heart break.

Mitt Romney may have beat him to the scene, but President Obama heads to Louisiana on Monday to see the damage up close for himself.

Louisiana was one of the stops for Romney yesterday as he tries to build on the momentum from the Republican convention.

CNN national political correspondent Jim Acosta has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, instead of visiting three battleground states, Romney made a surprise visit to New Orleans to survey storm damage after tropical storm Isaac. It's just another reminder that in this two month sprint to the finish, the recent twists and turns along the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney!

ACOSTA (voice-over): Just before takeoff from Florida, Mitt Romney picked up where he left off at the convention, returning to a sales pitch to independent voters who chose the president four years ago.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You listened to the last guy running for president. He laid out what he would do. He was unable to do it. It's time to give someone new a chance. Hold us accountable. ACOSTA: Joining the GOP nominee to make the case, arguably the star of the convention, Ann Romney.

ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT ROMNEY: Give this man a chance and he will not fail.

ACOSTA: And his running mate, Paul Ryan, tried to set the terms for the debate to come.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the chance where we have a choice. Do we want the failed leadership, the stagnant economy, the debt crisis, the welfare state, or do we want that opportunity society, that American idea where everybody can make the most of their lives and define happiness for themselves?

ACOSTA: Romney was showing off a newly wrapped campaign plane and mixing up his schedule. He dropped a previously planned trip to Virginia to survey the damage left by Tropical Storm Isaac in Louisiana.

M. ROMNEY: I have a lot of questions for you. I'm here to learn and draw attention to what's going on here so that people around the country know the folks here need help.

ACOSTA: There was also some cleaning up to do after the convention that had nothing to do with all of those balloons.

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: What? What do you want me to tell Romney? I can't tell him to do that. He can't do that to himself. You're crazy.

ACOSTA: Clint Eastwood's rambling, impromptu script with an empty chair that was supposed to be President Obama had some on the convention floor cheering, but reporters took note the Romney family was not laughing.

A. ROMNEY: We appreciated Clint's support. And he's a unique guy. And he did a unique thing last night.

ACOSTA: The campaign seemed to defend the actor in a statement, saying, "Judging an American icon like Clint Eastwood through a typical lens doesn't work. His ad-libbing was a break from all the political speeches and the crowd enjoyed it."

But the president's Twitter account took notice, sending out this tweet aimed at Eastwood and Romney that says, "This seat's taken."

NARRATOR: Not a word about his record in Massachusetts, where job growth was 47th out of 50.

ACOSTA: In signs of the tough fight to come, the Obama campaign released a Web video countering Romney's speech.

And Joe Biden offered a rebuttal of his own in Ohio.

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not think you grow the economy from millionaires down. We know you build it from the middle class out. That's how you build America.

ACOSTA (on camera): The Romney advisors are down playing a post convention bump in the polls. They did one up the president in one category, getting to Louisiana first. President Obama arrives here on Monday -- Randi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Jim Acosta, thank you.

And now to central Afghanistan where 12 people are dead, 57 others wounded following a series of explosions. Afghan authorities say two suicide bombers targeted a joint U.S. military base. The Taliban claimed responsibility. Most of the casualties are civilians, four Afghan police officers died. No U.S. troops were killed.

A warning now. What you are about to see is very hard to watch. A disturbing case of apparent military hazing caught on tape. It allegedly happened in April at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. The video shows Sergeant Philip Roach being struck hard in the chest with a wooden mallet. You see it there. After a few seconds, he bends over, and then he eventually falls to the ground.

Roach's father is an eight-year Army veteran and is furious about what happened to his son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN ROACH, SERGEANT ROACH'S FATHER: I would like to see him charged with assault. That's assault. He could have killed my son. You sign kids up to go into the military and know their lives are in danger. But you don't expect to have a phone call that says -- he's got seizures because someone hit him with a wooden mallet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The Department of the Army acknowledges it was, quote, a clear incident of hazing and said it has reprimanded the sergeant who hit Roach with that mallet.

Three soldiers are in court accused of plotting to kill President Obama.

We'll tell you why chaos erupted in the courtroom in the middle of their trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It reads like a Tom Clancy novel but it is real. And now, two people are dead. Three soldiers from Ft. Stewart in Georgia are accused of plotting to kill the president, bomb a park, overthrow a military base and they are charged with killing a fellow soldier and his girlfriend to keep their plan secret.

Joining me to talk about is Nick Valencia, who's been following the case for us. Nick, good morning.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.\

KAYE: This is bizarre. Really troubling. How far along were these plans?

VALENCIA: I think that's the question everyone is asking right now, how legitimate were the plans in the first place? Federal prosecutors are saying something a little different from Georgia prosecutors. The state attorney's office is saying that they were far along in this, that they have legitimate plans. They spent $80,000 on weapons and bomb-making material. They think they were close to overthrowing the government and perhaps even assassinate President Obama.

KAYE: Wow. This is a strange case. You look at what happened in the courtroom. We showed a clip of it there before the break. When the stepfather lunged at the defendant, what happened?

VALENCIA: There was apparently, the emotions got the best of him. He saw an opportunity to get toward the defendant. There's obviously a lot of emotions in this case.

What we do know that happened there's differing opinions between as I mention federal prosecutors and state prosecutors. What we do know is that two people were killed. This happened in December.

A former soldier and his girlfriend taken into the woods under the assumption they are going to target practice. They were shot and killed. That's when federal investigators got involved in this criminal probe. State investigators alleging that they had planned to do such things as overthrow the Ft. Stewart, poison apple orchards in Washington. I mean, just really bizarre stuff, Randi.

KAYE: Yes, it sounds really bizarre. So, what are prosecutors say? Are they looking for the death penalty in this case?

VALENCIA: They are. And that's a good point. There are four men in this group that are facing charges. One of them pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges as to not face the death penalty. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the other three.

But there's questions about how likely this could have happened. The alleged mastermind in this, Isaac Aguigui, holds the lowest rank in the Army. He's also never seen combat before. He did have this bankroll of money that the others in the group were following behind him.

KAYE: And it doesn't end here, right? One of the soldiers is also investigated for murdering his wife?

VALENCIA: There's just bizarre circumstances all throughout the story, Randi. Just very nuanced here. What happened with his wife, we just don't know. It's still being investigated.

Prosecutors are saying highly suspicious. His wife was five months pregnant at the time the baby was lost. But highly suspicious circumstances into her death. We just don't know how closely involved Aguigui was in this.

KAYE: Yes. There was insurance money, possibly?

VALENCIA: Five hundred thousand dollars, which is how this is funding this whole project, this plan to overthrow the government, prosecutors say.

KAYE: That's what they're looking. All right Nick Valencia, strange one for sure. Thank you.

Clint Eastwood and his conversation with an empty chair, it is one of the most talked about events from this week's Republican national convention. Opinions are all over the map.

Comedian Bill Santiago says he can't wait to share his thoughts. There he is, ready go.

But, first, veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan often come home to fight another battle to find a job. One Army vet tried to use what he learned in the military to start a business.

Here is this week's, how we got started.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE DERING, EMPOWER: In 2003, I was deployed with the 101st airborne division as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. When I came home, I didn't have a plan. I decided to do something I was good at. When I was a leader in the Army, you are asked to weed soldiers into combat situations that are stressful. Being trained for that allowed me to have the courage and the confidence to be able to do what I did in the Army on the civilian side.

REPORTER: So, in 2008, Joe Dering started Empower in Middleton, Connecticut. Empower is an outdoor adventure facility that teaches leadership and team building.

DERING: Just do the best you can, plus one step.

Get them a step out of the comfort zone and push themselves more. They are going to learn and grow from that experience.

REPORTER: Joe used different networking to help this business succeed.

DERING: Using the Small Business Administration, using Chambers of Commerce, using organizations that are willing to help veterans.

Good posture.

REPORTER: The company has been profitable since 2009. Joe has 15 employees and the business is still growing.

DERING: All the adventure activities the army uses to train officers and leaders I thought would be a good concept to bring to the general public.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

The tweets head scratching and of course jokes keep pouring in about Clint Eastwood's RNC speech.

Entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner has more on the appearance that stole the Republican convention spotlight -- Nischelle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Randi, you know, there was a lot of mixed reaction over Clint Eastwood's speech Thursdays night. But perhaps the best way to describe would be to borrow the name from one of the actor's most famous movies, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: What? What do you want me to tell Romney? I can't tell him to do that. He can't do that to himself. You're crazy. You're absolutely crazy.

TURNER: Now, as you can imagine, this set the Twitter verse on fire. I want to give you an idea what was being talked about.

Let's start with Star Jones. The talk show host tweeted, "I can't believe I just watched Clint Eastwood turn into somebody's drunk Uncle Harry on the stage of the GOP RNC. He humiliated himself."

And "Saturday Night Live" star Seth Meyers also got a kick out of it. He tweeted, "That was so awesome. Biden has to go shirtless for DNC to top it."

The Obama administration couldn't resist. Shortly after the speech, they posted the following photo on the president's official Twitter page. It shows President Obama sitting in a presidential chair with the caption, "This seat is taken."

Now, as far as the GOP is concerned, they don't seem to concerned with it. They seem pleased with the address. And they said so in the statement.

They said, "Judging an American icon like Clint Eastwood doesn't work. His ad-libbing was a break from the political speeches. The crowd enjoyed it. He rightly pointed out that 23 million Americans out of work or unemployed is a national disgrace and it's time for a change."

So, it appears that they believe Clint made their day. But, let's face it. You know, it is very hard to ignore all of those awkward moments.

Randi, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: All right. Nischelle, thank you very much.

I want to go straight to our resident comedian, "Huffington Post" blogger, Bill Santiago now.

Good morning, Bill.

BILL SANTIAGO, COMEDIAN: Good morning, Randi. That's good. What do you want to talk about?

KAYE: Loving the pink on you.

SANTIAGO: Thank you.

KAYE: Everyone is talking about Eastwood's speech, more than Romney's speech. This can't be good for the candidate, can it?

SANTIAGO: Yes. I mean, it's supposed to be Romney's night and he was upstaged by Eastwood's keynote embarrassment of the evening.

I want to say I love the guy. I love his movies, but when he makes a movie, there's a script. This was live, improv by a 82-year-old guy who was obviously been taking his ginkgo biloba. You he was off the cuff. I know off his meds is not a good combination for this guy.

And then you end up with the longest, most painfully awkward senior moment. It actually reminded me a lot of Reagan after the onset. That was also another option. They could have gone with the Reagan hologram, you know, but then of course, you run the risk with the hologram might have gotten nominated instead of Mitt.

KAYE: Yes.

SANTIAGO: You end up with a talking chair. I mean, him talking to --

KAYE: It was bizarre.

SANTIAGO: Yes. The whole convention was geared to humanize Romney, right? Everything was about making him seem more person-like. But that was a tough sell. They had to dehumanize Obama by making him --

KAYE: Chair.

SANTIAGO: Invisible. Turned him into a chair.

KAYE: Some people were offended by this empty chair. Do you think it was an overreaction?

SANTIAGO: No. I mean, if you think about it, the first thing that came to my mind was the novel "Invisible Man", which was a 1940s novel by Ralph Ellison (ph), right? And it was about an African-American who felt perceived as invisible by society because of his race at the time and now here comes Eastwood with the updated message saying, look, even if you are president, you are the black, you're still invisible.

We should be thankful he didn't throw peanuts at the chair.

KAYE: Oh, my god.

SANTIAGO: You know, he went over his time. If he had stuck to it, Jan Brewer would have come out and wagged her finger at the chair.

KAYE: They need the music to get him off the stage. Lots of fun. Thank you.

SANTIAGO: Lots of fun.

KAYE: Have a good day.

SANTIAGO: Thank you. Bye-bye.

KAYE: Clint Eastwood wasn't the only one that seemed off the mark. We'll take a look at a couple of other claims that made us take notice. True or false? We will set the record straight right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I found through design a way to tell a story, a way to bring people to new place.

There's no reason why design can't be attainable, why a great design can't be something that everybody can have. I mean, that's something that I truly believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The Republicans wrapped up their convention this week in Tampa, Florida. It was a big party with lots of stars and lots of speeches, although everyone really just remembers one, the Clint Eastwood empty chair speech.

But this was a chance for Republicans to make their case to the American people. Largely they hit their marks. We wanted to take a closer look at a few of the bigger claims so we had our tom foreman check the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Randi. Let's take a look at our fast five checks from Tampa.

(voice-over): GOP roared into the their convention heaving out a claim that has been checked more than a Scottish kilt, that President Obama is trying to turn America into a welfare state. Take it away, Rick Santorum.

RICK SANTORUM (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This summer he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency by waving the work requirement for wealthy? FOREMAN (on camera): Really? Not really. The White House eased some regulations for some states trying to find out better ways to get people on welfare working.

(voice-over): On the wall of their convention the Republicans had a giant display showing the soaring national debt. No one is more sore about it than Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: President Obama's administration will add nearly $6 trillion to our national debt in just one term.

(BOOS)

And I'm hoping it's just one term.

(CHEERS)

FOREMAN (voice-over): That's massive. Can it be right? In January 2009, when Barack Obama took the oath, the national debt stood at $10.6 trillion. Now it's at $15.9 trillion. So by next January, yes, could be in the ballpark, though certainly that reflects an awful lot of spending commitments that predate the Obama presidency. Still the numbers say the claim is true.

Vice presidential contender Paul Ryan said candidate Barack Obama visit add GM plant in 2008 and said with government support it could stay open another 100 years.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day.

FOREMAN: Most of the plant closed before the president even took office in January 2009. The last 57 jobs went when the rest of it was shut down in April of that year.

(on camera): So while the exact statement is true, the implication is based on wildly incomplete information implying that Mr. Obama broke a promise to that plant, which is not the case.

(voice-over): The big man Mitt Romney sounds ready to fight over the president's plans to the military.

ROMNEY: His trillion dollar cuts to the military will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs and also put our security at greater risk.

FOREMAN: A trillion dollars is roughly accurate but Mr. Obama doesn't own all of that. Much of it is a result of a deal Congress reached last year for automatic cuts when lawmakers could not agree on a budget deal and their impact on national security is still being debated.

And, finally, Ohio Governor John Kasich made a crack about Joe Biden, saying the Republican vice president falsely claims to be a good golfer. Horrors. (on camera): However, "Golf Digest" ranked 150 golfers in Washington and Joe Biden came in 29th with a 6.3 handicap. He's an excellent golfer and anybody who says otherwise has shanked the truth of into the rough -- Randi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: That's the Republican convention. Of course the Democrats have theirs this week in charlotte. And Tom Foreman will back with us next weekend to check their facts.

In writing the book, he may have broken the law. Next hour we'll talk about SEAL team six who has the Pentagon crying foul.

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