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CNN Saturday Morning News

Severe Droughts Hit Parts of U.S.; New Documentary Film Criticizes President Obama; Mitt Romney Campaigns in Ohio; President to Visit Flood Stricken Louisiana; Soldiers Plotting to Assassinate President Arraigned

Aired September 01, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: All week the spotlight was on the Republicans. Now it's the Democrats' turn. All morning we're putting the Democratic platform in focus.

Romney's there now and Obama's on his way. We're talking about Ohio, a coveted jewel on the electoral map. Former governor Ted Strickland joins me live.

It's the movie making millions, and it has everyone talking, but is the documentary "Obama's America" based on fact? I'll talk with director Dinesh D'Souza.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. on the west. As you grab breakfast or brunch, we begin with the one story that impacts all of us, food prices, up by a whopping 10 percent. That's according to a new report from the World Bank. The cost of corn and soybeans alone spiked by 25 percent, now at an all- time high. The drought here in the U.S. partially to blame.

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

Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in Farmington, Missouri, this morning. Susan, good morning. You've been talking with farmers about their crops and their situation there. We certainly have been reporting for months now that this drought is the worst in decades. But give us an idea how bad the situation is where you are.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Randi. Good morning.

Well, statewide in Missouri this summer, they are down 15 inches of rain. Why do they need it? Well, take a look at Richard Detring's cows. He's got about 500 in all. If they don't have green pastures to graze on, they're in trouble. It means they're not fat enough, they have to turn to other means, turn to hay earlier than they have been, they've got to buy other feed, if they can afford it.

And their cornfield's all dried up. Take a look at this. This is obviously stunted growth. I pulled a stalk off there and look it, nothing there, only a handful of kernels. It's dried up, useless, throw it away.

So out here, they are praying for rain, they are desperate for rain, and so far we haven't had much of it. You see the wind? Well, so far today, it's have blowing whatever dark clouds there have been right by us, so not much at all. I took my rain jacket off.

Joining us now, Richard Detring and his wife, Karen.

Thank you very much. You had just under two inches of rain since yesterday. Enough?

RICHARD DETRING, FARMER, BRD FARMS: No, it's not. I mean, it's a good start, but we're going to need more rains to, hopefully, that will look good.

CANDIOTTI: If you only end up with like five inches of rain, Richard, how is that going to help you?

DETRING: It will get the pastures growing again, get some pasture for this fall for the cattle, and quality pasture that way. It will help get the wheat started growing that we sewed yesterday, so it will help.

CANDIOTTI: Show us where that -- now, just over your shoulder, that's soybean.

DETRING: Right.

CANDIOTTI: That's the green we see, and that's making out OK, right?

DETRING: Yes. Well, they're not very good, but they're growing yet, so it will help them a little bit. But the field right next to it, I sewed the wheat yesterday, where the corn had been.

CANDIOTTI: And that's earlier than you would have done it.

DETRING: Yes, a good month, and that's so we can get some pasture out of it.

CANDIOTTI: This is your wife, Karen, as well. Karen, you keep the boo books.

KAREN DETRING, FARMER, BRD FARMS: Yes, I do.

CANDIOTTI: How are you going to make out?

KAREN DETRING: It's going to be tough. The next year will be even worse. We have less crop to sell and it's just going to be tough.

CANDIOTTI: How do you guys keep yourselves going?

KAREN DETRING: We love what we do. We enjoy the farm.

CANDIOTTI: But is it -- does it ever get to the point where it's just too much, Karen?

KAREN DETRING: It hasn't. They're tough. They go through a lot. They put in a lot of long, long hours and hard work.

CANDIOTTI: Your son joins you out in the fields as well, taking care of the livestock and everything else. Will he be in it for the duration?

DETRING: He says he will, and I believe he will. He enjoys it, and that's what it takes to want to do this.

CANDIOTTI: That's it.

I'll tell you, the bottom line, though, Randi, of course is bring on the rain. They can use every bit of it that they can get. And for now, they're not getting it, though they are forecasting much more rain throughout the day today. Everyone has their fingers crossed. Randi?

KAYE: I'm sure they do. Well, we certainly hope it finds you, Susan Candiotti. Thank you very much.

We are tracking Isaac as it makes its way through the Midwest. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is watching it from our severe weather center. Bonnie, good morning. Where is Isaac right now? Any chance it's going to hit that farm?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think they may get a little more rain, as Susan said. The problem is, what's happening with Isaac is we're seeing a lot of the precipitation kind of elongated, stretching out over the state, and the storm is moving a little bit faster now and it's certainly not a concentrated tropical storm or even a hurricane as it once was, so we're seeing the rain hitting Kansas city pretty hard. We don't have flood advisories posted.

And as far as Missouri goes, we did have rain rolling through yesterday. As you heard, they got just under two inches. But a lot of that has lifted to the north and it's also to the east, where it's getting a little stormy in central Illinois. That's where we've had frequent lightning strikes and gusty winds with the system, even though it's a depression.

So looking ahead, most of the rain in Missouri will be toward the eastern part of the state. And as we put this into motion, you'll see we're looking for quite a bit of rain going further off towards Ohio.

I wanted to bring this up just to let you know we're not done with the tropical season yet, even though Isaac is not really bearing down. We're still coming into the peak of the season, October 10th. Talking about tropical weather, is there anymore out there? There sure is. We have a hurricane and a tropical storm.

The one we're watching more closely I would say is Leslie, even though it's not forecast yet to hit the U.S. mainland, but it may impact us in terms of rip currents. And also some of the models do have it steering a little bit further west. Kirk, as you can see, is working its way off to sea.

So, the immediate relief for the drought, we're not going to see that much of it, and that's really because, Randi, the drought is exceptional. You see these areas here in the darker color red? That's exceptional drought. That's the strongest you can have, and it's widespread across much of the U.S.

KAYE: Yes, certainly they are desperate for rain, and you can see there exactly why. Bonnie Schneider, thank you.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

KAYE: Politics now. President Obama is heading to Louisiana Monday to view the damage left behind by hurricane Isaac. Mitt Romney was actually in New Orleans yesterday at the invitation of Louisiana's Republican governor, Bobby Jindal. Jindal was supposed to speak at the Republican convention but stayed at home to deal with the storm.

In about 40 minutes, Mitt Romney is expected to kick off a campaign rally in Cincinnati. We'll bring that to you live when it happens. Let's bring in CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser, from Charlotte, North Carolina, site of the Democratic national convention this coming week. Paul, we'll get to the convention business in just a moment, but first, this Ohio stop for Romney isn't his only event today, right?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Not at all. No surprise that he is in Ohio today. Both tickets are going to be spending so much time, have already, and will be spending so much time in Ohio. Of course, 18 electoral votes up in that important battleground state.

You're right, Paul Ryan what also in Ohio this morning attending a football game at his alma mater, Miami university of Ohio. They meet up later today, Romney and Ryan, in Jacksonville, Florida. Remember, it was just yesterday, Randi, that Romney and Ryan had a rally in Lakeland, Florida, and that was their first rally post-convention. The whole idea is to try to build on what they think was the momentum they got from their convention in Tampa. Yesterday at that event Mitt Romney was talking about the president and talking about accountability. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Measure us, hold us accountable, do the same with the president. Look, you're making a choice as to who the servant will be of the nation. Who is the person? Who are the people who will lead this country and do what you want to be done. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: And President Obama, I think it's fair to say, would probably disagree with that statement right there. As for where he is today, he's on the campaign trail, Randi. You'll see a lot of him on the campaign trail today, leading up to the convention in charlotte. He is in Iowa today and will be in a lot of battleground states, except for a quick trip to Louisiana to look at the storm damage.

KAYE: Paul, as we said, the Democrats' convention starts Tuesday. Give us some highlights we should keep an eye out for.

STEINHAUSER: Well, first of all, next to me here is the Time-Warner Cable Arena, and they're finishing up putting the finishing touches on the platform and getting ready for the event. Some of the big themes here -- well, the big theme for the whole convention is Americans coming together, and you're going to hear a lot of the speakers talk about the middle class and how this ticket, the Obama/Biden ticket, would be better for the middle class than the Republican ticket.

As for the big names who will be giving you that kind of theme, you're going to hear from first lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday night, as is the mayor of San Antonio, Julian Castro. He gives the keynote address. You'll learn a lot more about him between now and then. On Wednesday of course, former president Bill Clinton in an awaited speech, and then on Thursday we move to the football stadium a few blocks away where Vice President Biden and the president himself will be giving their re-nomination addresses. Randi?

KAYE: Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much. And remember, Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak at a campaign rally in Cincinnati, as we told you, later this hour. We will bring it to you live when it happens, dip in for a bit and let you listen in.

Three soldiers are accused of plotting to kill President Obama. We'll tell you why chaos erupted in the courtroom in the middle of their trial.

Then we take you to Ohio. It could be the most important battleground state of the election, and we're talking to the former governor, who is now campaigning for Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you fired up?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Mitt Romney is there today, Joe Biden campaigned there yesterday, and President Obama plans to campaign there on Labor Day. Think Ohio's important in November? Important may be a given. Some say the state is critical for both men, perhaps the most critical aside from Florida of the nine toss-up states. Obama won Ohio narrowly in 2008, and this year is shaping up to be a nail-biter as well. You can see the numbers there. The latest polling has the president ahead of Romney by a very slim margin.

But those are just the numbers. What about the pulse of the people on the ground in Ohio? Let's talk to the man who knows, Ted Strickland, former governor of Ohio and co-chair for the Obama campaign. Governor, thank you for being here. Nice to see you.

TED STRICKLAND, (D) FORMER OHIO GOVERNOR: Good to see you.

KAYE: You've just wrapped up a bus tour through the state. I'm curious what you're hearing from the people there in your state and what's your take on the general mood of the folks that you're talking with?

STRICKLAND: Well, the people in Ohio are common-sense folks, and you know, they want jobs and they think the president has delivered on jobs. You know, the president saved the American auto industry. It accounts for about one out of every eight jobs in Ohio in some related way. And today in Ohio, GM is investing $200 million additional in the Youngstown area to build the second generation of the Chevy Cruise. Over in Toledo, Chrysler's investing. So, jobs are being created in Ohio. Our economy is starting to come back in large part because of the reinvestment act of which the president steered through the Congress and enabled me as governor and other governors to invest in teachers and firefighters and roads and bridges and all those kinds of things.

But the thing that's really big in Ohio is this auto rescue. And Mitt Romney said let Detroit go bankrupt. Barack Obama said we're not going to let this iconic industry die. We're going to save it. And consequently Ohio's economy is benefiting, and the people of Ohio recognize that.

KAYE: We heard a lot from the Republicans in Tampa this weekend, laying out their platform. We'll hear the Democrats' platform in full next week, but we did get a peek last month from Newark's mayor, Cory Booker, who is co-chairing the Democrats' platform committee. I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CORY BOOKER, (D) NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: We now must stand as Democrats, we must stand for the middle class and expanding opportunity for all Americans. We must stand for equality and inclusion. And whether you are a single mother here in Detroit, whether you are a gay man in San Francisco, whether you are a blue collar worker in Newark, New Jersey, this is the party for you, and we must stand for your rights and for your values and your American dream, too.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: A bit of a look at the platform there, a platform that you say is starkly different from the GOP. What would you say are the key differences and why should voters in Ohio care?

STRICKLAND: Well, I think the president is working for the middle class and I think Mitt Romney is committed to looking after the richest 1 percent among us. And I think if you watch the Republican convention, listen to the speeches, it was a celebration of wealth, it was an exaggerated selfishness, as far as I'm concerned. I heard very little about really doing the hard work that it takes to make prosperity available for all of us. Obviously, I think that's a big difference, and I think when it really comes down to it, it's going to be the people of Ohio and America deciding which of these two candidates is really on our side.

KAYE: Let's talk about the youth vote, because it's certainly a key bloc that Obama won resoundingly in 2008. The latest CNN/ORC poll shows 58 percent of those ages 18 to 34 say they favor Obama, while 36 percent favor Romney. But there are still indications that the young voters aren't as fired up this time around. I mean, how much of a concern do you think that is for the Obama campaign?

STRICKLAND: Well, I think in this last 60-some days of the campaign, it's going to be necessary for us to reach out to the young people of this country to let them know the Ryan/Romney budget cuts Pell grants, cuts back on work-study programs and resources for students, really tries to give tax breaks to rich, rich people while doing things like cutting student aid. And as we reach out and talk to young people about that -- you know, when I visited the cities of Ohio on this bus tour, I was in Athens, Ohio, and I was at Kent State University, and other places --

KAYE: Were they fired up?

STRICKLAND: -- and I talked to students and, well, they're engaged, and they're starting to talk about it. And obviously, during these last few weeks is the time when people really get engaged, as students get back to their campuses and start paying attention. So, I think the youth vote will be there. We've got some work to do as Democrats to make sure that we get these young people engaged and involved. And I admit that that work still needs to be done.

KAYE: Let's talk about the DNC convention coming up this week, where I know you're going to be giving a prime time address. I'm sure we've heard just a little snippet of it there from you this morning, but give our viewers a preview of what we can expect to hear from you at the convention.

STRICKLAND: Well, I want to draw a contrast between a president who inherited difficult circumstances, worked really hard, has us moving in the right direction, and I want to contrast that with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, who support this draconian budget that would voucherize Medicare, cut student loans, begin the privatization of Social Security, give more tax breaks to the richest among us while putting an additional tax burden on the working class.

That contrast is so stark. You know, there's not many gray areas between these two candidates, quite frankly. And I think the president has done a good job under the most difficult of circumstances, and I think he is deserving of a second term. And those of us here in Ohio I think are especially appreciative that manufacturing is coming back, that jobs are being created, and instead of losing 750,000 jobs a month, as was the case when this president came in to office, we are now seeing 29 straight months of private sector job growth. We're headed in the right direction. We ought not to go back to the same circumstances and the same policies that led to this recession in the first place.

KAYE: Governor Ted Strickland, nice to have you on the program this morning. Thank you.

STRICKLAND: It's good to be with you. Thank you.

KAYE: Three soldiers are accused of plotting to kill President Obama now face the death penalty. That story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It does read 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're also charged with killing a fellow soldier and his girlfriend to keep their plan secret. Joining me now to talk about this is Nick Valencia, who has been following this for us. All right, so, this is pretty troubling, really bizarre. How far along were their plans?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Georgia prosecutors seem to think they were very far along in their plans, calling this a militant group that had a manifesto that went by the acronym of FEAR, Forever Enduring, Always Ready. Apparently, the ringleader, Private Isaac Aguigui, a private in the army, lowest rank in the army, had never seen combat, but for some reason, prosecutors allege he was able to get this group to plan to overthrow the government and perhaps even assassinate President Obama.

KAYE: And there was a really troubling scene in the courtroom with the stepfather of one of the victims. What happened?

VALENCIA: Yes, just emotions got the best of him there. The stepfather had raised Tiffany York, who was, as you mentioned in the lead-in to this story, the girlfriend of the other private who was killed in the woods there. He apparently saw an opportunity to go after one of the defendants who was addressing the court, and you see the video footage speaks for itself.

KAYE: And this was really a brutal crime. I mean, both of these victims were shot in the head, one of them twice. Prosecutors, are they seeking the death penalty here?

VALENCIA: Yes, there's a lot of bizarre nuances to this story. Three of the four being charged are being charged with the death penalty. One decided to sort of fold on his counterparts, and he's testifying against the other co-conspirators, the other suspects in this case. He's pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges. But Georgia prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in this case. Randi, it's important to point out, though, the federal prosecutors haven't gone so far as to label this group a domestic terror group. They're not using as stiff a language as the guilty April prosecutors are, but they also have said this group did try to carry out these plots. They wanted to do some bizarre things like poisoning the apple fields in Washington, overthrow Ft. Stewart where they were based, and even blow up a fountain in downtown Savannah.

KAYE: Good thing they didn't have a chance to do any of that. Nick Valencia, thank you.

VALENCIA: Thank you.

KAYE: Appreciate that.

Mitt Romney is back on the campaign trail, looking to keep the convention momentum going in Ohio. We'll take you there when the event gets going in Cincinnati.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: As children across the country head back to school, behind closed doors, 1.3 million of them are caring for ill, disabled or aging family members. Nearly a third of them are under the age of 12. This week's CNN hero is bringing this hidden population and their labor of love out of the shadows, helping them stay in school and hold on to their childhoods.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you OK? Here, let me help you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom has been sick for as long as I can remember. You need more methadone. Helping her out is a bigger priority than going to school because I don't know what I would do if something happened to her. I wouldn't be able to really live.

CONNIE SISKOWSKI, CNN HERO: In the United States, there are at least 1.3 million children caring for someone who is ill or injured or elderly or disabled. They can become isolated. There are physical effects -- the stresses of it and the worry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, baby. Thank you so much.

SISKOWSKI: But these children suffer silently. People don't know they exist. I'm Connie Siskowski. I am bringing this precious population into the life to transform their lives so they can stay in school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Thank you very much.

SISKOWSKI: We offer each child a home visit. Has the ramp been helpful? We look at what we can provide to meet the need. We go into the schools with a peer support group, and we offer out-of-school activities that give the child a break.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is so relaxing. SISKOWSKI: So they know that they're not alone. We give them hope for their future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now I'm getting As and Bs, and I feel more confident.

SISKOWSKI: But we have a long way to go. There's so many more children that really need this help and support.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: A dire assessment for the next four years. A controversial documentary is making big money, but many are questioning the validity of the message. I'll talk with the filmmaker, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye, bottom of the hour. Let's get straight to the news, stories that we're watching this morning.

Isaac being blamed for at least four deaths in flooded parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. Now a tropical depression, it is bringing heavy rain and potential flash flooding to the Midwest after storming through the south.

President Obama has canceled a planned trip to Cleveland to head to Louisiana on Monday. He will meet with officials there on recovery efforts. White House Rival Mitt Romney got a head start on the president, visiting New Orleans yesterday where he thanked first responders. The Republican presidential nominee is back on the campaign trail in the key state of Ohio, scheduled to speak at a rally in Cincinnati in just about 20 minutes and we'll bring it to you live.

There are just over two months left until Election Day. The political stories are everywhere. The Republicans just wrapping up their convention, the Democrats set to start theirs this week. But it's not just on TV. One of the top movies out there right now is also a political film. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama has a dream, a dream from his father, that the sins of colonialism be set right and America be downsized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: It is called "2016: Obama's America," and it is already the most successful conservative political documentary of all time. Joining me now is Dinesh D'Souza, the man behind the film, also the author of the best-seller "The Roots of Obama's Rage." Good morning, Dinesh, how are you?

DINESH D'SOUZA, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Hey, it's good to be on the show.

KAYE: So, tell me what a success this documentary's having already. Are you surprised at all?

D'SOUZA: I am pleasantly surprised. I think it shows there's a real hunger in the country to get new information about Obama and I think also the documentary tells a quite riveting Obama story, which is the story of a kid who was abandoned by his mom and by his dad, who went on a sort of odyssey to find himself. And the film is shot in Hawaii, in Indonesia and Kenya. I interviewed George Obama, the president's brother. So, there's a lot here that leaves people feeling that this is an eye-opening film.

KAYE: Much of the film I thought was interesting, is actually narrated by President Obama himself with the audio version of his book "Dreams from my Father." Do you think that would be misleading for people who think that the president might have a hand or participated in making this film?

D'SOUZA: Well, we haven't had a single person who thinks that, but I think it does give a credibility and an authenticity to the film. If you compare our film, for example, with Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," that was a film with conspiracy theories and dubious on the facts. Our film follows Obama's own journey and uses his voice at critical times, so it's kind of hard to argue because you're getting the message from the horse's mouth.

KAYE: No doubt this film has its fans. It also has a whole lot of critics. A couple of key points in the film that I want to ask you about this morning -- first, you say that the president wants to put Americans deeper in debt. You point to the debt at $15 trillion now and you say at this rate, we could hit $20 trillion by 2016. But I want you to look at this, some numbers here with me. The debt has gone up by around 50 percent during the Obama presidency. It went up 86 percent under George W. Bush and 186 percent under President Reagan. So, why is President Obama's debt so much worse and intentional, as you say?

D'SOUZA: Well, remember that these percentages depend on the base, you know? So, for example, Reagan's deficits were $200 billion, and that's a big number, but it's tiny compared to Obama's number. Even Bush's highest deficit was $500 billion. Obama's lowest deficit is $1 trillion. So, Obama has been adding debt at a sort of unsustainable level. And all I'm saying is we're a rich country, we can afford to be extravagant and even a little reckless, but at a certain point, you hit a tipping point, and that's when you're risking --

KAYE: But why intentional?

D'SOUZA: Well, I'm saying that if you look at Obama's anti-colonial ideology, which is an ideology, essentially, of global redistribution, to redistribute wealth and power globally. Now, just look at what the effect of that is. If our children and grandchildren have $20 trillion of debt and $10 trillion would have been added by one man, Obama, then they're going to have to pay it back. And a lot of that debt is owed to the Kuwaitis, the Saudis, the Chinese. So debt becomes a form of global redistribution over time. Money ends up going outside of America and to the rest of the world. D'SOUZA: You also say that the president is trying to level this global playing field, as you're saying, and grow more superpowers. What countries do you think that he actually wants to be the new superpower?

KAYE: I think that Obama would like to see China, Brazil, India and Russia, along with the United States, share power. Remember that the world before colonialism was like that. It was a world in which you had a number of big empires, the Chinese, you had the Indians, you had the empires of the Americas, you had -- so, western civilization was only one among many.

It's a rather odd situation now that a single country, America, dominates the world so much. We have an outsized standard of living, an enormous military presence around the world. So I think Obama thinks that's globally unjust. He'd like to knock America off its pedestal so we are not number one but just one nation among many sharing powers with other countries.

KAYE: In the film, you say Obama was elected solely because of his race. Do you stand by that? And explain that.

D'SOUZA: Well, we interviewed a source, Shelby Steele of the Hoover Institution, and he makes the point that Obama was offering America a sort of a secret weapon, a secret sauce. And what was that? The promise of racial redemption. There's a deep desire in America to get beyond our racial history. So it's almost like by voting for Obama, we all get to feel really good about ourselves, and Obama benefited from that politically.

KAYE: Do you think the American people, though, are that shallow, that we would vote for someone to feel good about ourselves? I mean, this is the future of the country.

D'SOUZA: But Randi, that's not shallow at all. It's the deepest American aspiration to live up to our country's high ideals, and our country is based on the idea that we're all created equal, we're moral equals in the eyes of god. So, the idea of trying to find a president who embodies that aspiration, far from being shallow, actually reflects the best of the American character.

KAYE: Dinesh D'Souza, nice to chat with you. Certainly a lot more I wish we could chat about, but we don't have the time this morning. But thank you very much.

D'SOUZA: My pleasure.

KAYE: For decades, Penn State was one of the country's most legendary college football programs. Now it's trying to pick up the pieces after the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal. We'll set you up for the Nittany Lions' first game since the fallout.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. I'm Randi Kaye, 40 minutes past the hour. The fall from Grace has been breathtaking. Penn State has gone from a legendary football program with an iconic coach to this, a program shattered by an unspeakable child abuse scandal. The iconic coach has passed away, his legend badly tarnished. Victories and trophies been wiped from the program's once proud history. Joining me now, Joe Carter, who's in state college to cover Penn State's first game of this post-scandal era. Joe, good morning. How's the Penn State community reacting to all this?

JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Randi, good morning to you. I believe that they're just ready for some football. I mean, not to be so cliche here, but they're ready to get back to a sense of normalcy. It's obviously been a very well-documented and difficult ten months for this community and this university. I spoke to one woman last night at the pep rally. She's lived in Penn State -- or lived in state college her entire life. Her kids now go attend the university, and she said she doesn't want the actions of a man or inaction of a group of men to define this university.

They're ready for a fresh start. They're embracing all of the changes that's happened and will continue to happen over the next months and years and they're sensitive over the situation that there's still pain and suffering happening in this town, but the sense here, Randi, is that they're supporting the community, they're supporting the students, and together, they're moving forward as one, Randi.

KAYE: And what, Joe, do you think will be different today for the fans and the players?

CARTER: Well, obviously, the biggest change here is that for the first time in 46 years, we'll have a new head coach start the football season here at Penn State. Obviously, Joe Paterno, hall of fame legendary coach, was a staple here. People you talked to that didn't follow college football knew who Joe Paterno was. Now it's the Bill O'Brien era. And you're seeing from this very passionate fan base that they're on board with Bill O'Brien. We've got a t-shirt here in believe, and O'Brien, the coach here, is starting a new tradition, allowing players to have their names on their uniforms. In the Paterno era, he believed the team was bigger than the individual. Well, Bill O'Brien believes he wants to honor the individuals that decided to stick out all the sanctions, stick out all the penalties and play with Penn State and not transfer to another university, Randi.

KAYE: Joe Carter, appreciate the update there from state college. Thank you.

Clint Eastwood's empty chair rant, it was entertaining, to say the least, and maybe a bit bizarre, but is it turning into a big problem for Mitt Romney? Maria Cardona and Amy Holmes are up next. We'll chat about it.

But first, veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan often come home to fight another battle, trying to find a job. One army vet decided to use what he learned in the military to start a business. Here is this week's "How We Got Started."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 2003, I was deployed with the 101st airborne division as part of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" when I came home, I didn't really have a plan. I decided to do something that I was good at. When I was a leader in the army, you're asked to lead soldiers into combat situations that are pretty 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.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get one step out of the comfort zone and push themselves just a little bit more because they're going to learn and grow from that experience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe used different types of networking to help his business succeed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Using the small business administration, using chambers of commerce, using organizations that are willing to help veterans. Good posture!

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of the adventure type of activities that the army uses to train officers and leaders I thought would be a good concept to bring into the general public.

Climb on. Eric, right? Eric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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KAYE: Welcome back. We are waiting on Mitt Romney to start speaking probably just in a few minutes in Cincinnati, Ohio, getting ready there. You can see the crowd gathered and the podium there getting ready to introduce him, and we will bring you that speech live right here on CNN as soon as it gets under way.

Staying on message, that's what the Republicans did during their convention this week, reaching out to loyal voters while trying to draw in the undecideds. So, how did they do? Joining me now is CNN contributor Maria Cardona and Amy Holmes, anchor for GBTV's "Real News." Good morning to both of you.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning, Randi.

KAYE: Good morning.

Let me start with you, Amy. Who gave the best performance, do you think? Was it Ann Romney, Marco Rubio, Chris Christi, maybe even Mitt Romney, or someone else? AMY HOLMES, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: So many terrific performances to choose from. Ann Romney knocked it out of the park, I thought, but my favorite speaker was someone I didn't know very much about, and that was Susana Martinez, the governor of New Mexico, and Randi, I'll be damned, she's a pistol! That was a fantastic speech, talking about her biography, from a small town on the border there, going to prosecutor to then attorney general and now governor of that state. I think she really just broke out of this convention, and she's getting a lot of attention.

KAYE: Maria, what do you think? Who stood out to you? Please don't say the empty chair, please.

(LAUGHTER)

CARDONA: No, I was not going to go there. But the fact that we are talking about that, that you mention it I think says a lot. I agree with Amy. I think Susana Martinez was terrific and I think that she is definitely one of the rising stars of the Republican Party.

I think Condoleezza Rice's speech was very impressive. I think that she was strong. I think that she was firm in her positions, not an ideologue. I think that she continues to be one of the people within the Republican Party that does draw a lot of conservatives but also a lot of independents. And I think that she really did a lot to reach out to those independent voters when I don't think Romney's speech did that, I don't think Ryan's speech did that, and I certainly don't think that the Clint Eastwood speech helped in doing that, either.

KAYE: Well, I'm glad you brought up Clint Eastwood. Let's listen to just a clip of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR/DIRECTOR: 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. You're getting as bad as Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: He was entertaining, to say the least. It seems like more people were talking about his speech, as bizarre as it was. More people talking about that than Mitt Romney's speech. Do you think, Amy, that that's a bit of a problem for the Republicans?

HOLMES: Oh, goodness no. I mean, if the most controversial thing to come out of the Republican convention is that Clint Eastwood, an Oscar-winning director, has a dirty sense of humor and is a little rickety, Republicans are in good shape.

Look, Randi, I like my politics rambunctious and rowdy, maybe even a little messy. None of those adjectives would describe Mitt Romney, and that is not the convention you got this week. You got a focused convention, and focused on those independents, swing voters, particularly suburban moms who wanted to be, I think, reassured and get that focus on jobs and the economy. As we've discussed many times on this show, the economy is the number one issue for American voters and female voters in particular.

KAYE: Yes. Maria, what's your take on Clint Eastwood there?

CARDONA: Well, it certainly didn't do anything to reach out to Latino voters or to reach out to women voters. I mean, as a friend of mine told me, he was in the movie "Bridges of Madison County," but come on. What I do think it does, I mean, long term, I don't think it does a whole lot of damage. What does more damage long-term is, frankly, Romney's policies and Ryan's policies, who actually do nothing to help women voters, to help Latino voters to help middle class voters, and you'll hear a lot about that in the upcoming DNC convention. What I think it did most, though, the Clint Eastwood bizarre act, was it added to the forgettable of Romney's speech, and that's not helpful.

KAYE: It's definitely going to make the reel of those awkward convention moments for all of us.

CARDONA: That is true.

KAYE: It's one thing to throw red meat to the convention-goers, but Amy, did they have a winning message, do you think, for the undecideds? Because a lot of people still haven't made up their minds.

HOLMES: Well, I think that's really what's going to be down to the wire between now and November, those undecideds. And a lot of voters don't make up their minds to a week, six days before the election, so they'll be hearing from both candidates. This is a very focused convention, obviously, on the "we built that" theme, about an economic uplift, up by your bootstraps. You heard that over and over again from so many of the people who took to the stage, and you also saw a younger face of the GOP, a lot of Gen-Xers up there along with a number of impressive women, many of whom we have just mentioned on the show.

KAYE: I remind our viewers, as we continue our discussion, that box on your screen tells you that we're waiting for Mitt Romney to speak any moment now, we believe, in Cincinnati, so we'll continue to keep an eye on that. But Maria, Romney beat Obama to Louisiana to view the storm damage. What kind of message do you think that sends?

CARDONA: Oh, I don't think that that sends any real message. I think that one of the things that the administration wanted to make sure is that they would not get in the way of the important work of the first responders to make sure that they were focused on what they need to do with rescue and recovery.

So, we've heard that Obama's going to be there on Monday. That trip had been in the works way before Romney announced that he was going. I think, frankly, what it does, and I read a lot about this this morning, is that a lot of people think that his trip is clearly and blatantly political.

KAYE: Maria Cardona, Amy Holmes, thank you both very much. Nice to see you.

HOLMES: Thank you. CARDONA: Thank you, Randi.

KAYE: Calling in a quarterback who happens to be a girl. Find out how her history-making play turned out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Coming up on the top of the hour, stories we're following cross country now. Some history made during the Friday night lights in south Florida. With two minutes left, Erin Demiglio entered the game. Demiglio is thought to be the first female ever to play quarterback in a boys' regular season high school football game in Florida, South Plantation. Her team beat Nova 31-14.

Some naked truth in Seattle. Top of the sixth, nobody out. Oh, yes, there goes the naked truth. Runner on first, angels up 5-1, and that's why they call him the streaker. The fan dressed in nothing but a Speedo dashed from first base to second. He was pretty fast there. Then he rambled into the outfield before being taken down by security. The players clearly got a kick out of it. Angels beat the Mariners 9- 1.

And some beaches near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, will be off limits to swimmers this Labor Day weekend. That is because of shark sightings like this one captured by a family out boating last week. I wouldn't want to come too close to that guy. The family says the shark was feasting on a seal.

It is difficult to see the hardest hit areas from hurricane Isaac because many of those areas are still underwater. So, we sent our reporter out on a boat for a closer look, and we will show you what he found.

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