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CNN Saturday Morning News

Search and Rescue Going Door-to-Door; Isaac Soaking Parts of Midwest; Colorado Shooting Victims Meet with Charity; Officer Seen Kicking Suspect; Teacher Allegedly Helped Bully Teen; Romney Campaigns in Cincinnati, Ohio

Aired September 01, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. I'm glad you're with us.

Mitt Romney riding the momentum of the Republican National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio today for what his team is calling a victory rally.

We are expecting to hear from the presidential candidate any moment now. You can see the rally getting under way already there.

While the Gulf Coast comes to grips with loss and damage from Isaac, right now the storm is moving through the Midwest.

A vicious case of classroom bullying is caught on tape, but what's even worse, a teacher accused of taking part and joining in.

And first to politics, we are waiting to hear from Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney any moment now. He's campaigning at what we've already told you he calls a victory rally in Cincinnati.

Later today, he'll join running mate Paul Ryan at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida. Romney is hoping to build on the momentum from the Republican convention, which tried to project him as more likable to women, young voters and the middle class.

We turn now first, though, to Isaac, the storm that continues to drench the Gulf Coast. The storm, now a tropical depression, is being blamed for four deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi. The heavy rains have also caused massive flooding and pushed levees to the limit.

And in Belle Chase, Louisiana search-and-rescue crews have been going door to door to check on victims of the hurricane. The area just south of New Orleans was hit hard by flooding, but this morning the water is receding, giving a clearer look at the damage there.

George Howell is in Belle Chase. George, good morning to you. What are we learning about the search-and-rescue efforts there? How are they going?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Randi, good morning.

We know that search-and-rescue is under way. But I just spoke to the -- the -- rather the sheriff of this parish, Lonnie Greco and he tells me that he has a real problem with one big thing right now, the fact that this entire parish is still without power.

There are power crews out and about. We just saw a few a -- few minutes ago. They are starting the process of restoring power, but they haven't gotten to this area. And he says, you know, this is the area that's always first hit. He's questioning why this parish is still without power and he says as long as that remains, he's concerned about the public safety issue of looting, people going to these different houses, even looking for food. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LONNIE GRECO, SHERIFF PLAQUEMINES PARISH: I have spoken with Energy prior to the storm and they told me that we are taking all of our headsets (ph) out of here for the storm, and I said that's fine, but the idea was to re-enter as soon as the storm was over.

Well here it is day five, we have no electricity. And I saw -- I saw that for what the CEO had made a comment saying that we will work with speed, but public safety comes first for them, or safety wise. Well, what about my public safety, you know? We work until 100 percent blackout down here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Now -- now, we know that at least 200,000 people are still without power here in these surrounding parishes. Here in this parish, some 12,000 people are still without power, and there's that big concern, Randi. You know, as long as there's no power, food spoils and there are many people who are still cut off, you know, on the other side, where they can't get across to get food, to get water. So he wants to make sure power gets restored as quickly as possible.

KAYE: And George, you look at the level of that water and that flooding, and you think that's got to be the worst of their problems, but they're facing some other problems there as well.

HOWELL: You know, flooding is obviously a big issue, but the other issues, animals. We're talking about cows that are out there. There is also -- there are dead cows, and the dead cows, they're attracting alligators, so that's an issue as these crews go out and about. They're watching out for alligators, coyotes and also snakes out here -- Randi.

KAYE: George Howell for us. George, thank you.

And you heard from that sheriff there talking about the power issue. Power companies are scrambling to return power to 500,000 people who lost it in the Category 1 hurricane. Some, as you heard, haven't had electricity for four or five days.

Right now in Louisiana, 401,000 people are without power. And we're told it could be another two days before they get it back. In Arkansas, 3,000; Mississippi, 14,000 in the dark; crews expect to have power restored in those two states by the end of the day today. And even though Isaac has weakened, the storm is still dumping a whole lot of rain in parts of the country. For more on the kind of weather you can expect if you are in Isaac's path, let's bring in meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.

Bonnie, good morning. It's Labor Day weekend. Is it going to be a washout for some?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think so, especially the first part will be looking at a lot of rain, like Kansas City right now. It's been raining all day so far and more is to come. I want to show you the radar picture and you can see that even though Isaac is a tropical depression, the remnants just keep pounding Kansas City, and we're not only getting heavy downpours of rain, we're also getting some frequent lightning strikes, especially further to the east towards Illinois and Indiana.

Let's take a look at the forecast rainfall total. It's really interesting to see going forward what we can expect with Isaac, even though it's really no longer an organized tropical system. Four to eight inches and that's really over the next 48 hours over parts of Central Indiana, so keep that in mind. We're still looking at wet weather.

And as we slide eastward, the expanse of Isaac really does affect so many people -- Indiana, and look at this, even in Baltimore, Maryland, we're looking at two to four inches of rain over the next two days. That's a lot of rain. And unfortunately, for your outdoor barbecues, that may impact you.

We're already seeing some impacts on air travel. Right now we're looking at potential delays for many cities due to the clouds, the rain and the thunderstorms that Isaac is bringing.

In Cincinnati, Chicago -- some of the cities were forecasting delays, as well as St. Louis, San Diego, not impacted by Isaac, but we are seeing some delays down on the West Coast.

Take a look at the Labor Day weekend forecast. So for Saturday, we're looking at Isaac working its way across the heartland, but then as we head into Sunday and even to Monday, we're anticipating a little bit more in thunderstorms that will work their way across the eastern half of the country, so it's a little bit unsettled over cities like Knoxville, Tennessee, further off towards Charlottesville, Virginia.

But most of the country for Labor Day itself does look good, Randi, so that's some good news. I think the latter part of this holiday weekend will be better than the soggy start that Isaac is bringing.

KAYE: All right. That is some good news, Bonnie. Thank you.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

KAYE: Mitt Romney is just about to speak in his so-called victory rally in Cincinnati. We are awaiting his speech here on CNN. We'll bring it to you live. But let's chat a little bit about this with Republican analyst Amy Holmes in New York and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona in Washington.

Maria, let me start with you on this one. Mitt Romney's certainly trying to ride this convention wave to victory. What do we expect to hear today? What do you think people do need to hear from Romney today?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think what he really needs to start doing is something that he really didn't do at the convention, which is fill in the blanks. You know, he talked a lot about generalities, which frankly is what he's been doing throughout the campaign.

He had a lot of -- of good lines in the convention speech, talked a lot about women, talked a lot about immigrants in terms of being an immigrant nation, but he really did not offer any specifics on how he would help those women and how he would help those immigrants, and frankly, how he would move back to the center on some of the very extreme phrases and things that he has said about immigration.

So I think that in the -- in the weeks ahead, he's really going to have to fill in those blanks, which were quite blatant during the speech.

KAYE: Amy, Ohio is certainly a critical, very critical, swing state. What do you think the folks there in particular need to hear from Mitt Romney today?

AMY HOLMES, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, you know, it's interesting. Ohio has a Republican Governor, John Kasich. He actually gave a speech at the Republican convention, and his approvals are back up after having taken a -- taken a dip over public union sector fights. John Kasich and the state of Ohio is seeing a rebound.

Interesting question here, Randi, is that going to help Mitt Romney or President Obama, who might be taking credit for the economic turn- around of Ohio? Clearly, the auto bailout is going to be a concern for Ohio voters, and Mitt Romney has said some controversial things about that, but I'd like to call viewers attention to the fact that Paul Ryan, his running mate, voted for the auto bailout. Paul Ryan being from Wisconsin and from a purple district, he, you know, voted in the interests of his constituents.

So I do think that Mitt Romney's going to need to work out his message on that issue, but once again, focusing on the economy, focusing on jobs. It's, you know, he said he had a modest proposition for voters at the RNC convention in Tampa and he wasn't going to lower the levels of the sea or you know, heal the globe. What he really wanted to do was get Americans back to work.

KAYE: Amy Holmes, Maria Cardona, we're going to join you -- we're going to have -- we're going to have you back in just a moment, hopefully, after we listen to Mitt Romney. He is scheduled to speak any moment, as we've been telling you. We are waiting on him in Cincinnati, Ohio. We'll bring it to you live when it happens.

And also just a program note. Don't forget to join us for CNN's full coverage of the Democratic National Convention. We'll be live in Charlotte, North Carolina, Tuesday beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

It was just over a month ago that the Colorado movie shootings rocked the nation. Millions of dollars were donated to the victims' families. So where is that money now? We'll explain.

And caught on tape, a cop kicking a man in the chest during an arrest. We'll find out what police are saying about this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: They call themselves the Aurora 12, the families of the 12 victims killed in the Colorado theater shooting. Now they are meeting with charity and government officials to make sure donations meant for those left behind will get to the right people. For these families, it is a pretty simple issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When people make a donation and they're making it towards a specific cause, you're expecting it to go to that cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: This latest meeting was productive and included promises of improved transparency, plus victim involvement in how and where money is distributed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've done a lot of things. 100 percent of the money will go to the victims. We agreed on how we define victim. We -- we agreed that we need to work collectively and we agreed to the representation of the victims on the committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Giving First, the charity collecting money for Aurora victims, has also promised to change its Web site to make it easier to donate.

Take a look at this video. The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the so-called Ninja robber. Police believe he's held up nearly a dozen gas stations, convenience stores, liquor stores in South Florida. He was caught on surveillance camera in Miami last Sunday doing this, holding a gun to a woman's head. Police say he's striking more frequently, and they are worried he's also becoming more violent.

Two police officers in St. Paul, Minnesota now on leave after this disturbing video went public. It shows officers arresting a man identified as Eric Hightower and then kicking him in the chest as he lay on the ground coughing because he had just been sprayed with pepper spray. He's heard on the tape actually shouting he's innocent. You then see the officer pulling Hightower's hair, walking him over to the police cruiser and slamming his head on the hood of the car.

Watch it here. Hightower is charged with stalking a woman in the neighborhood and making terroristic threats. The police department says it is doing an internal investigation.

The St. Paul Police Federation, the union representing the officers, released this statement, saying in part, "We believe the facts will show that a good cop was in a dangerous situation with a known, dangerous individual. The video does not provide complete context of the incident and by no means demonstrates how the officer perceived the threat at hand. We encourage the community and its leaders to pause and let the facts emerge before rushing to judgment."

Now to Washington State, where a vicious case of classroom bullying was caught on tape. The worst part, the teacher is accused of inciting the bullying and even bullying the student himself. Reporter Debra Horn from Seattle affiliate KIRO TV has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER KEENAN, PARENT: They put the guy back in the school, what's going to happen? I mean, parents like me, other parents I know, we're going to protest, we're going to pull our kids out. It's just -- it's not acceptable.

DEBRA HORN, REPORTER, KIRO TV: We met Jennifer Keenan outside the Harbor Ridge Middle School where Jon Rosi was set to teach Math come Tuesday morning. Keenan's daughter was to be in his classroom.

KEENAN: But she has instructions from me that if she walks in and sees him, that she is to leave the room immediately and call me and I will come get her.

HORN: You will take her out of school.

KEENAN: Yes, ma'am.

HORN: She is angry because of this, cell phone video made public last week of Rosi and the rest of his Kopachuck Middle School class bullying a 13-year-old boy last February. School officials say they disciplined the veteran teacher, gave him a 10-day suspension, forced him to participate in classroom management training and transferred him to Harbor Ridge. But Keenan says that isn't enough.

KEENAN: If it were me I would have fired him.

CHUCK CUZZETTO, ACTING SUPERINTENDENT, PENINSULA SCHOOL DISTRICT: His presence there would make it very difficult for the school to operate.

HORN: The acting school superintendent says they aren't firing Rosi, but parental pressure forced them to act.

CUZZETTO: There are a number of parents that have asked for their students to be transferred out of his class at Harbor Ridge. The principal is trying to work with those parents, but at this point it's not possible to accommodate all those transfers. There would be a lot of disruption in that building, so he has been put on leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: CNN has reached out to the teacher involved, John Rosi, but so far has gotten no response from him.

Swing voters, soccer moms, senior citizens -- there is another group people that many say could decide this year's election. We'll tell you who.

And if you're leaving the house right now, just a reminder, you can continue watching us and watching CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN live from your laptop. Just go to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

As you can see there, we are still waiting for Mitt Romney to speak in Cincinnati, Ohio. The person you see right there is house speaker John Boehner. He is going to introduce Mitt Romney at this so-called victory rally. That's what the Romney/Ryan campaign is calling it. So, we should be getting close here and we're bringing you Romney's comments as soon as he takes the stage there.

Meanwhile, two suicide bombers have targeted a joint U.S./Afghan military base in central Afghanistan. The attacks killed eight civilians and four police officers. The Taliban have claimed responsibility. They say they sacrificed two bombers, one on foot and one in an explosives-laden truck. NATO says no military personnel were killed, 57 others were injured.

In Pakistan, intelligence officials tell CNN, a suspected U.S. drone strike has killed four militants. A barrage of missiles was fired into a house and a vehicle. It all took place in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Officials say the area was a militant hideout. The U.S. denies CIA-run drone program is responsible for the deaths of a high number of civilians.

In Syria, activists say 32 people were killed across the country today. Yesterday the death toll reached 112. The heaviest fighting was reported in the city of Homs and to the north in Aleppo. There, a battle for control between government troops and rebel forces has been raging for several weeks.

All right, as we've been telling you, getting ready for Mitt Romney, about to speak at a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio. And there he is. Let's listen in.

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY, R-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What a welcome. Thank you.

Thank you so very much. What a welcome, Cincinnati. Thank you so much. You know, I was asked why it was we made Cincinnati our first stop after becoming the nominee, our first political stop. I think you gave them the answer this morning. Thank you.

I brought with me a very special person who lit up the convention, who's going to light up America, my sweetheart, Ann Romney.

ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT ROMNEY: Wow. That is an unbelievable reception. We are so grateful for all of you coming out. And I know why you're doing it. It's not just for us. You're doing it for the country.

You all have figured it out, and you know this is an important election. We've been across this country and we have seen so many families and individuals that are hurting, that are looking for hope and are looking for help. Well, guess what? Help is on the way.

I had a chance to talk a little bit about this guy that I love at the convention, and I wanted to talk from my heart. I hope that you all felt that it was so much from my heart.

I believe in America and I believe in this man, and I know he can get it right for us. So, thank you all very much.

M. ROMNEY: Now, getting ready for my convention speech, I read some speeches from some other people who had spoken at conventions. I actually also read the inaugural speech of some of our great presidents and heroes in my life.

And one of the speeches I read was the convention speech of Barack Obama. He was not one of the ones that I wanted to draw from, except I could not resist a couple of things he said, because he made a lot of promises. And I noted that he didn't keep a lot of promises.

One of the promises he made was he was going to create more jobs. And today, 23 million people are out of work or stopped looking for work or underemployed. Let me tell you, if you have a coach that's 0-23 million, you say it's time to get a new coach. It's time for America to see a winning season again and we're going to bring it to them.

Now, he famously said that he was going to slow the rise of the oceans and he was going to heal the planet. And our promise to you is this, we're going to help the American people and help the families of America.

This is a great state. You've got a great governor, by the way, John Kasich. He's doing a terrific job. And he's showing the President -- if the President would only look -- how it is he can bring more jobs back to a state. What he's done is he's made Ohio more business- friendly, he's held down taxes, he's balanced budgets.

We have a plan, Paul Ryan and I have a plan that's going to get America working again. It's going to create about 12 million new jobs in America and about 460,000 jobs right here in Ohio. Five things we'll do, five things that will get this economy growing again. And by the way, I need Josh Mendel in the senate to make that happen, and of course, Rob Portman will be there and Speaker Boehner and all those good Republicans -- we need to have them as well.

Those five things. Number one, get north American energy and independence, use our oil, our coal, our gas, nuclear and renewables.

Number two, make trade work for us. We'll open up new markets where we can sell goods and services and we'll crack down on China and any other cheaters.

Number three, we're going to make sure our workers have the skills they need to succeed and that our kids have the skills they need to succeed in the coming century, because right now our schools and far too many places in America aren't doing the job they need to do. And I want to make sure we put our kids and the teachers first and the teachers' union behind.

Number four. Number four, you're not going to get entrepreneurs and businesses of all kinds to invest in Ohio and invest in our other states in America, put their life savings to work here, unless they know that we're not headed to the place Greece is in or Spain or Italy or those places that have had such trauma overseas. And so, to make sure that's the case, we're going to finally have to do something that Republicans have spoken about for a long time and for a while. We didn't do it. When we had the lead, we let people down. We need to make sure we don't leave them down this time. I will cut the deficit and get us on track to a balanced budget.

And number five, I want to champion small business. I want to make it easier for entrepreneurs and innovators to grow and build businesses, because that's where most of our jobs come from. And so, instead of doing what the President says he wants to do, which is raising taxes on our best small businesses, I want to bring them down. And I want regulators to understand their job is to help encourage small business.

And I want to take that big cloud off of small business that's keeping them from hiring people. I want to get rid of Obamacare and replace it with something that will hold down the cost of health care.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: We don't --

AUDIENCE: Mitt, Mitt, Mitt!

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: We recognize what a great responsibility you've given us, how much you expect from us to be able to get back to the White House and get America back on track. We've seen these last four years a lot of disappointment, a lot of families having hard times.

I saw a report just this morning that, even as some jobs are being created, as I look at the jobs being created, they note that the jobs we lost were middle-income jobs and the jobs we're getting back are low-wage jobs.

People in this country are having hard times. The average income in America, the median income in America, rather, has dropped by $4,000 a family, even as the price of gasoline is up and food is up and health premiums are up.

These are tough times for the American people. And added to all that is the divisiveness and bitterness that we've seen from the president's campaign.

Look, America is a story of the many becoming one and accomplishing extraordinary things because of our unity. I thought today of the great heroism, patriotism, courage of one of Ohio's best, Neil Armstrong. What a champion.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: The courage and character of that one man, combined with the unity of so many who came together to help achieve a great accomplishment, it's a model for our nation. I will do everything in my power to bring us together, because united, America built the strongest economy in the history of the Earth.

United, we put Neil Armstrong on the moon. United, we faced down unspeakable darkness. United, our men and women in uniform continue to defend freedom today. I love those people who serve our great nation.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: This is a time -- this is a time for us to come together as a nation. We do not have to have the kind of divisiveness and bitterness and recriminations we've seen over the last four years. I will bring us together. I'll put in place those five steps I described. America's going to come roaring back. A better future is ahead. It's out there waiting for us.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: Our families deserve it! Our children demand it! The peace of the planet depends upon it! I love America! We're taking this country back! We're going to get America strong again for you, for your children, for the future! God bless the United States of America and God bless the great people of Ohio! Thank you so very much, thank you!

KAYE: Mitt Romney there, speaking live in Cincinnati, Ohio, a key swing state, of course, so that explains his visit there for this so- called victory rally, once again being introduced by his wife, Ann Romney, a very strong surrogate for Mitt Romney.

We will continue our discussion. We'll take a look at what his comments were there. We'll talk about it a little bit more with Amy Holmes and Maria Cardona after a quick break.

There were a lot of claims made at the Republican National Convention as well. We'll talk much more about that, separating some fact from fiction. (MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice-over): Mitt Romney still doing a little bit of hand- shaking, glad-handing there in Cincinnati, Ohio, lots of folks trying to get their picture with the presidential nominee. Spoke just for a few moments there. Not a very long speech, but a victory rally, he's calling it.

Let's talk a little bit about conservative independent Amy Holmes in New York and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona in Washington, back with us to talk about this.

Maria, let me start with you. What did you like or not like that Mitt Romney had to say?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Oh, let's see, so much in that speech, Randi, but I'll focus on three things that I think really underscore the challenge.

And Amy actually alluded to this. He talked about the 7.2 percent unemployment rate in Ohio and gave John Kasich, the Republican governor, all the credit.

Well, you can't go into states that have a low unemployment rate and then go into states that have a high unemployment rate and blame Obama. You can't have it both ways, number one.

Number two, he talked about small businesses. Well, guess what? The Obama administration has actually given 20 tax cuts to small businesses, many of them, frankly, that Republicans did not support. And so, I think that's hypocritical there.

But the big one that he mentioned today that he also mentioned in the convention speech was he went on and on about Neil Armstrong. And of course, we can all agree about what a wonderful hero he was and how we all came together to achieve that.

But if you take a look at what Romney-Ryan budget does in terms of the kinds of investments that you need for research and development, for infrastructure and for long-term education, they actually decimate those three things. So, if we actually were to follow the Romney-Ryan budget, Neil Armstrong's trip to the moon would not have been possible.

KAYE: Amy, I'm going to get your take on this. Also, he did say that he loved America and they're going to take America back, he and Paul Ryan. What is the plan to take America back and what's your take on his comments today?

AMY HOLMES, CONSERVATIVE INDEPENDENT: Well, we did get to hear specifics, which earlier in the show we wanted to hear. And he gave his five-point plan, which he also unveiled at the convention in his speech. He addressed energy policy, the Keystone pipeline -- which, by the way, is supported by unions. They see that as a great source of jobs.

He talked about cracking down on China and cheaters when it comes to trade and opening up trade so that folks here in the United States could export their markets abroad, get those buyers and increase their economic strength. He talked about education, improving education.

In the Republican convention, they were more specific in discussing school choice, giving parents more choice in terms of where they send their children. And in fact, in Louisiana, they have a voucher program there where, I believe, about 300,000 parents have chosen it to send their kids to schools of, as I say, of their choosing.

Number four, looking at my list, cutting the deficit, and we know that's a top concern for voters. In 2010, it ranked way up there -- I think it was number two or three -- and that gave Republicans a landslide in that midterm election, the biggest landslide in about 70 years. So, Mitt Romney is hitting that point.

And finally, he said he wants to encourage small business. Now, you know, you can discuss tax breaks, which encourage, which don't, but he mentioned the big granddaddy of them all, and that's Obamacare, and there are a number of analysts who say small businesses do not feel confident hiring because they don't know how much Obamacare is going to cost them.

So, they've been standing on the sidelines. Mitt Romney told them he's going to repeal Obamacare and take that weight off their shoulders.

KAYE: Yes. All right, Amy Holmes, Maria Cardona, thank you for sticking around and listening to that speech along with me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

KAYE: Appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Randi.

KAYE: Don't forget to join us for CNN's full coverage of the Democratic National Convention. We will be live in Charlotte, North Carolina, Tuesday, beginning 7:00 pm Eastern time. Be sure to join us for our coverage.

Isaac dumps heavy rain in the drought-stricken Midwest, but is it too little, too late for farmers who have been praying for that rain? We'll take you live to Missouri.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. What's left of Isaac is moving through the Midwest today as a tropical depression. Take a look here. This is a live satellite image of Isaac, and you'd better bet farmers going through the worst drought in years are desperate for some of that rain, but it just may be too late or not enough.

Our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, has a look from Missouri at what's happening there.

Susan, you're in Farmington, Missouri; you've been talking to the farmers there. Any sign of rain yet, first, the rain that they've been praying for?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we and they are happy to report that, finally, we're getting a bit of a spit right now. This is the first rain we've seen all day, although yesterday they did get a bit. So, finally, something is happening.

But they are in a bad way, because throughout the state of Missouri, because of the drought, they are down 15 inches of rain so far this summer.

Over my shoulder, Randi, you can see that bit of green? That's a soybean field. This is a soybean plant. Now, you'll see it's about, I would say about two feet long. Normally it is twice this tall, this size. So, that is another impact on the drought, but they will at least be able to get a crop out of this.

Over here, they have a rain gauge set up here on the farm. And I'll show you how much they got since yesterday. On this measurement scale, just under two inches. I mean, they're forecasting about three to five.

They hope they get it, but no one is under the impression that they're going to solve the drought with whatever rain they get today and tonight. It will help alleviate things, maybe, a little bit, but for others, it is too late.

KAYE: I'm sure. It's been a long time coming for them. Glad to see it coming down just a little bit.

Susan Candiotti for us in Missouri.

Penn State football begins its season today. Next, the coach talks about how they're preparing after the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Top stories now. It has been 50 years, but a German manufacturer has now apologized to the survivors of thalidomide. The drug taken by pregnant women caused thousands of babies to be born with shortened arms and legs. Some were born with no limbs at all.

For years, victims have demanded justice, staging protests across the world. The head of the survivors group says the apology is not enough.

A prominent Catholic priest is apologizing for some shocking comments. Father Benedict Groeschel has said child victims of sex abuse are to blame for being molested and that children seduce their assailants. In his apology, the priest said, quote, "his mind and way of expressing myself are not as clear as they used to be."

A new chapter in college football begins today at Penn State. The Litany Lions will play their first football game since the school was hit hard by the NCAA over the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The school is banned from bowl games for four years and had scholarships taken away and more than a decade worth of wins were vacated. Nine football players transferred other states so they could move on.

BILL O'BRIEN, HEAD COACH, PENN STATE: Those are harsh penalties. But we attacked it. We -- there's no other way. You either run and hide or you attack it, and we've decided obviously to move forward and these are the rules with 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, 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 and this is the situation that we're in.

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

And take a look at what happened during last night's college football game between Boise State and Michigan State. The Boise State quarterback lobbed a pass toward the end zone, boom!

The ball sailed out of bounds, hit that cheerleader with her back to the field. Yes, she got leveled. Luckily she's OK. Apparently she even laughed it all off after the surprise takedown. What a surprise that must have been.

We heard from Governor Mitt Romney just a few minutes ago. President Obama is also campaigning today. We'll hear from him live later this afternoon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: "CNN NEWSROOM" starts at the top of the hour. Fredricka is here.

(CROSSTALK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: You, too. We are here.

KAYE: So what do you have for us?

WHITFIELD: OK. Lots going on. Of course, we just heard from Romney, who was in Cincinnati and President Obama will be campaigning.

Also this holiday weekend this time from Des Moines in the 2 o'clock Eastern hour we'll, of course, take you there live.

And then per usual, our legal guys are with us. They never take a day off. And they're going to be talking about tweets and when you tweet something, do you think you own those words? Can you protect them? Are they protected in any way?

Well, this has come up because in the case of a New York Occupy Wall Street protester, prosecutors want his deleted tweets to move forward with a case to see if, in their discovery, he in any way kind of incited the gathering (inaudible) to advance the case. So --

KAYE: They must live -- they must live on a server somewhere.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. And they do exist. There are the deleted tweets. But then does the jurisdiction -- do prosecutors have jurisdiction over those deleted tweets or is that your property? That's at the heart of this case.

And then -- OK, we all like to work out and, you know, get our fitness on.

KAYE: (Inaudible).

WHITFIELD: OK, we need to and (inaudible) do. Well, when you yoga or when you're doing any kind of a fitness class, at the end of it, you're probably pretty hungry or you're thirsty. But then you got to choose what to reach for so you don't ruin your workout.

Well, Desiree Nathanson (ph), a fitness guru is going to be along. Big hint if, you like chocolate, you're going to be very happy to hear her advice on what you need to be reaching for.

And then how about when you go on vacation, you usually book your flight, you book a hotel, maybe a rental car. Well, there is a service out there which will help encourage you find a place that is kind of atypical. It doesn't have to be a hotel. But instead, you cent someone's apartment or house when you travel anywhere in the world. That's a pretty interesting concept.

And so we're going to run away with that one.

And then this sounds familiar, "Sweet Home Alabama."

KAYE: Oh, yes.

WHITFIELD: "Free Bird."

KAYE: Lynyrd Skynyrd.

WHITFIELD: OK. Lynyrd Skynyrd is going to be in the house with me today. Yes. They have a concert this evening at the Atlanta Braves field. But they're also on tour. So they may be coming to a city or stadium near you.

They're going to stop by us with, talk about the legacy, their staying power. They've been together for such a long time with incredible hits like that and they continue to turn out new music.

KAYE: I'm going to be if the corner of the studio with my lighter, holding it up. Free Bird! Free Bird!

WHITFIELD: Yes, exactly. We have got a lot to talk about, very cool stuff. All that later.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Lynyrd Skynyrd, a little bit of them.

WHITFIELD: Four o'clock today.

KAYE: I will tune in. I will tune in, Fred. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right.

KAYE: Next, we'll get an update on heavy rain moving across the Midwest and we'll have a live report on the cleanup in Louisiana.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Thanks for watching this morning. I hope you have a great Saturday. I'm out of here.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, I'll be with you in spirit and --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: -- any kind of fun activity you're into today.

But we're going to have fun here.

KAYE: Oh, I --

WHITFIELD: And we've got a lot going on.

KAYE: (Inaudible) do.

WHITFIELD: OK. (Inaudible) Thank you so much, Randi. Have fun.

KAYE: All right.