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CNN Saturday Morning News

Violence Continues in Middle East; Presidential Race Heats Up; Political Analysts Assess Presidential Candidates' Policies; Expert Analyzes U.S. Foreign Policy; Article Claims Black Clergy Wary of Voting for President; CNN's Top 10 Heroes Selected; Two Caregivers Accused of Abusing Mentally Challenged Man

Aired September 22, 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.

New violence erupts in Libya, but the message isn't hatred toward America, it's love.

It's the tape that launched 1,000 blogs and may have derailed a campaign. All morning, we'll look at Mitt Romney's comments on the 47 percent.

And an outrageous story of abused trust, how a nanny cam caught caretakers bullying.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. on the west.

We begin this hour in Libya, where citizens speaking out in support of the U.S. and democracy have stormed the headquarters of several radical groups. Hundreds marching to express their outrage at one organization has been linked to the attack on the U.S. consulate that left four Americans dead. That group has denied any involvement.

In a separate demonstration, at least four people have been killed and more than 70 injured in an attack on another militia. The protests come amid news that eight people including some extremists have been arrested in connection with the consulate attack. CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is on the ground in Benghazi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There was an initial sense of euphoria, people saying that this is the real Libya, cleansed of extremists by its own people. But the situation quickly turned sinister.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, be careful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the road there --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over here on the left-hand side. DAMON: There is gunfire at a second location. This is the second location. Just on the other side of this wall is the second location that we are told is being struck tonight. But contrary to what we witnessed at the first place, here there seems to be something of a gun battle going on. We are hearing sporadic gunfire as well as other small explosions.

The location, as it turned out, is actually the headquarters of a battalion backed by the government. Government officials came out on TV trying to urge for calm and tell people that this is not an extremist militia. But it seems few were listening.

And this here is where the situation in Libya gets incredibly murky. The compound that we're hearing the gunfire surrounding is battalion headquarters. They are a part of the February 17th brigade that has been endorsed by the government. What the people here are telling us is that following the fervor that existed after the demonstrators initially managed to gain control over the headquarters, they're saying that people there, pro-Gadhafi loyalists, moved to the crowd and managed to somehow manipulate the situation and get them to come and move towards this battalion's headquarters.

They have been getting closer and closer. It's still a very chaotic situation. Exactly who is shooting at whom is unclear at this point. There seems to be absolutely no command and control of the situation whatsoever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Now to politics, and Mitt Romney's 2011 federal tax return that was released by his campaign late Friday afternoon. Here are the numbers. The Romneys paid nearly $2 million in taxes of an income of nearly $14 million. That is a 14.1 percent rate. He paid 13.9 percent in 2010. So why the low rate? The majority came from investments, in fact all but half-a-million of it.

Here's what the Obama campaign had to say afterwards, saying Mitt Romney took advantage of complex loopholes and tax shelters only available to those at the top. We'll talk more about the political impact of the tax returns in just a few minutes.

While much of noise on the campaign trail has been over the Republican presidential candidate's tax return, the Romney-Ryan campaign has rather quietly unveiled its plan to fix housing. Under the plan, the government would sell some 200,000 foreclosed homes it currently owns. Those facing foreclosure would have easier act says to short sales. And a Romney presidency would overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, removing the mortgage giants' too big to fail status.

Romney's number two hit a bit of a speed bump during a speech yesterday. Vice Presidential Paul Ryan was addressing a national AARP event in New Orleans, and listen to what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare, because it represents the worst of both worlds.

(BOOS)

RYAN: I had a feeling there would be mixed reactions, so let me get into it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The reaction didn't stop Ryan from laying out his plan. Remember, Ryan appeared at the event shortly after Obama spoke to the group via video conference. In his appearance, Obama said the Romney- Ryan claims about Obamacare were just not true. Ryan is back on the campaign trail this morning. He kicked off an event in Miami last hour with Jeb Bush, and then it is on to Orlando.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio had a tough time getting back to Washington last night. It seems his American airlines flight was delayed, so he used some extra time to tweet about that. He wrote "American Air says maintenance problem, yet suddenly a group of new passengers boarding, holding plane to get connecters on from delayed flight?" And then this. "Delaying flight for maintenance to squeeze connecters from older flight. Oldest trick in book. Feel bad for crew. #cmonman." Someone at the airlines apparently follows him on twitter and tweeted back afterward this. "Thanks for your patience, Marco. We hope you have a great flight." And Rubio, by the way, was headed back to Washington to vote on a spending measure to fund the government through next march. The measure passed 62-30.

It could have been worse, though, for Marco Rubio. He could have been on Ann Romney's plane. That charter flight was forced to make an emergency landing after an electrical issue caused the cockpit to fill with smoke. Here's what it sounded like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an electrical issue here. We'll probably need assistance here. We've got smoke in the cabin and we're going to see the severity of it and we'll let you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The plane landed safely and no one was injured.

And from the skies to the road, there's a little less pain at the pump this weekend, AAA reporting that the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded fell a little over a penny overnight to $3.82. It is the eighth consecutive drop.

Gotcha politics -- Mitt Romney taped secretly during a fundraiser. Will that tape hurt or maybe even help him in the long run? We'll take a closer look.

But first, a question for all you political junkies watching this morning. Who was the first president to ever appear on television, the very first one? We'll have the answer after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Before the break, I asked you if you knew the answer to this question who was the first president to appear on television? The answer, FDR. He was on TV opening up the New York world's fair back in 1939. We're back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Lady liberty waking up with this morning there in the New York harbor. What a lovely shot. Look at that water. Can't get enough of that. Good morning, New York. Glad you're with us here on CNN Saturday Morning.

This morning We've been talking about gotcha politics, hidden cameras, catching politicians off guard. Here's what I'm talking about. Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser in May, what he said has now become big political news and has changed really the focus of his campaign. Here's just a piece of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Let me bring in CNN contributor Maria Cardona, also Amy Holmes, anchor for "The Blaze." Maria, let me start with you. That tape was the talker all week, talking about who doesn't pay taxes. Then the Romney campaign hit us with his 2011 tax return and we started hearing more about his last 20 years of paying taxes as well. Anything surprising there for you?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it's not surprising that the Romneys wanted to put out their tax return so that we could stop talking about the secret video, but I think that shows just what a bad week it was when now we're talking about the tax returns, which is not a great story for Romney to begin with.

In terms of tax returns, not really anything surprising. We knew that he pays taxes at a much lower rate than probably you and I and Amy do and the majority of middle class families. What is interesting that I found in there is that he actually deducted less on his charitable contributions so that he paid more in taxes to equal what he had said earlier that he would pay in taxes, which then contradicts what he had said to a reporter, basically saying that he has never paid more in taxes than what is legally owed. So I think there are a lot of contradictions there, and it still underscores that he can take advantage of a lot of complicated, aggressive loopholes that are available only to very wealthy Americans.

KAYE: So, Amy, will this silence people like Harry Reid who has been saying that Romney didn't pay taxes for 10 straight years?

AMY HOLMES, ANCHOR, "THE BLAZE": You're asking me if this is going to silence his partisan critic in the United States Senate who would like to keep control of the United States Senate? I don't think so.

KAYE: Will it even silence Republicans? Because some have said that no matter what Romney releases, that this is not going to end.

HOLMES: You know, I think that this whole tax release thing is basically a media invention, a partisan invention. He had released two years. Now he's released three years. I don't think the public, frankly, is interested. Gallup yesterday released a poll that was really stunning, that the U.S. trust of the media is at an all-time low as 60 percent of Americans have little to no trust in the media, particularly now that we're going into the election season, because the media -- we're chasing these silly stories like the tax returns or the hidden videos and we're not getting to the meat and the substance of the different candidates, of Mitt Romney and President Obama, their policies, whether they're successful or not, and what that means for the future of this country. We're focusing on the wrong things.

KAYE: All right, well, let's get back to that hidden video. We're going to talk about policy, too. We do plenty of that here, but you can't ignore what happened this week. That hidden video, fair game or should it be off-limits do you think, the 47 percent video that we're talking about?

CARDONA: It's absolutely fair game, because what it does is it showed a candidate in such a candid situation, and this is why it has been so devastating to the campaign, because it showed him in a position where he frankly was not guarded whatsoever. And he talked about the 47 percent of those who either supported president Obama -- and he conflated these two things. Or those two didn't pay any taxes. But essentially, he was denigrating and talked with disdain about almost half of the country.

And I think what that shows is it underscored what a lot of Americans have already felt about Mitt Romney, and that's the fact that he is completely out of touch, so does not understand what middle class families go through, what Joe Schmo American goes through every single day to struggle to make ends meet. And this is not somebody who is ever going to fight for that person. That he's essentially going to fight for the ones that make as much money as he does.

KAYE: Amy what do you think?

HOLMES: I think it's totally fair game to record what the candidates are saying out there, whether it's to their funders or on the campaign trail. And, in fact, I read one blogger who made the suggestion that campaigns should actually probably tape themselves so they know if these tapes are accurate, if they're in context, if they can be authenticated. I think the media had every right to air this video.

But once again, it became the story of the week when you have chaos unfolding in the Middle East, which basically, for me, anyway, suggests that the president's Middle East outreach was basically a complete failure, his policies have been a bust. We're not talking about that. We're talking about this video.

I was talking in the green room with Rich Galen, a longtime Republican strategist, who said actually the republic's response was 23 percent said it would make them more likely to vote for him and 40 percent said they don't care. So if you ask me about this video a week from now, most of the public won't even remember it, and they actually don't regard themselves in this class of moochers or whatever it is that Maria and other Democrats and partisans are trying to portray it. They say you know what? We do have an entitlement society and we need to do something about it because we are going over a fiscal cliff. The deficit is out of control. We need to take responsibility and have grown-ups who are willing to make hard choices.

KAYE: So very quickly --

CARDONA: And, of course, Amy didn't mention the 36 percent of Americans who said that this tape made them less likely to vote for Romney.

KAYE: So very quickly, as we head into the three presidential debates coming back, getting back to policy here, would the damage that this tape has caused the Romney campaign -- what does he need to be saying?

HOLMES: Obviously he needs to talk about the economy, creating jobs. He needs to talk about the deficit, which is of huge concern to so many American voters. I think foreign policy is very squarely on the table at this point. And of course, Obamacare, which remains unpopular, and Mitt Romney's response to that. Remember, Mitt Romney did have his own Romney care in Massachusetts. He's going to have to finesse that and have that conversation.

KAYE: Maria, very quick final record.

CARDONA: Absolutely, he needs to give some specifics, which he hasn't done, which is why the video was so devastating because it filled in a lot of the things that he hasn't said in his own words. And they were not something that was very positive about his policies.

KAYE: Maria Cardona, Amy Holmes, I look forward to talking politics with you next weekend as well. Thank you.

CARDONA: Thank you, Randi.

HOLMES: Thanks, Randi.

KAYE: Syria and Iran present two of the biggest candidates to the U.S. So where do the candidates stand on these foreign policy challenges, and would they do if the often discussed red line is crossed? We'll break it down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: With Iran and Syria, there's much talk about where the red line is drawn and what happens if it is crossed. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr tells us that's where President Obama and Mitt Romney have their differences. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney agree on two crucial national security issues. Iran will not be allowed to go nuclear, and Syria will not use its chemical weapons. But if it looks like either might happen, they differ on what could trigger sending U.S. troops into action. On Syria --

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start saying a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my equation.

STARR: The White House won't say what it would do if the red line were crossed. Seizing dozens of chemical weapons sites would be tough, requiring tens of thousands of troops on the ground.

Romney has openly called for covert action.

ROMNEY: I would instead of watching what's happening in Syria from a dispassionate distance, I would be leading in Syria by encouraging our friends there like the Turks and the Saudis to provide weapons to the insurgents in Syria.

STARR: But he too hasn't said how or when he would use U.S. troops.

The bottom line on Syria, President Obama's red line, moving or using chemical weapons, Governor Romney advocates greater U.S. involvement now.

On Iran, the candidates agree Iran cannot be allowed a nuclear weapon.

OBAMA: We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

STARR: Romney has a different take.

ROMNEY: Clearly, we all hope that diplomatic and economic pressures put on Iran will dissuade them from becoming a nuclear capability nation.

STARR: The bottom line on Iran, President Obama says the regime would have to take direct steps to acquire a nuclear weapon. For Governor Romney, the red line, merely having a nuclear capability without actually moving ahead to produce a weapon. But in the case of Iran, many believe the red line already has slipped.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: We said that any enrichment was unacceptable in the case of Iran, and yet here they are with hundreds of kilograms, if not thousands, of material.

STARR: Neither candidate is advocating war with Syria or Iran. Both of them, in fact, have expressed hope that the sanctions will work. But if the red lines get crossed, both of those countries pose serious national security challenges to the United States. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Trouble brewing for President Obama. A newspaper article says the president may be surprised on Election Day because of one voting block. But our Roland Martin has a thing or two to say about that one. You're watching CNN Saturday Morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. It is the first day of fall, and to mark the occasion, we've got a challenge for you. Go outside, I'm sure it's a beautiful day out, use your smart phone to take a picture, then up load it to CNN iReport. Perhaps you were one of the lucky few to get an iPhone 5. The only requirements are that the photo be horizontal and unfiltered. Check back to see if yours is chosen.

On Thursday, we announced our top 10 CNN heroes of the year. Each of those heroes will receive a prize of $50,000. So now it is your turn. You will decide the CNN hero of the year, and the winner will receive another $250,000. Anderson Cooper tells you how to vote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Now that we've announced the top 10 CNN heroes of 2012, I want to show you how you vote for the CNN hero of the year. It's very easy. This is the main page of CNNheroes.com. Down here, you'll see all top 10 CNN heroes. Each one will receive $50,000, plus a shot at becoming CNN hero of the year.

And that's where you come in. Here's how you can vote for your favorite CNN hero. As an example, I'm going to randomly click on Rasi Ajan over here. You can read her story about providing free education to girls in rural Afghanistan. Once you're ready to pick the person who inspires you the most, click "vote," which is in red right over here. A new page then comes up. It shows you all top 10 CNN heroes. You choose the person you want the vote for. I'm going to say as an example Leo McCarthy. His photo will show up under your selection. Then just enter your e-mail over here in step two. You enter the security code and you click on the red box right down here that says vote. You can vote up to ten times every day with your e-mail address and through Facebook and then rally your friends by sharing your choice on Facebook over here or on twitter. And remember, you can vote from your computer or your phone, your tablet, pretty much any mobile device with a browser. Just go to CNNheroes.com. We'll reveal your 2012 hero of the year during "CNN Heroes, an All Star Tribute," a CNN tradition that promises to inspire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: An enthusiasm gap among African-American voters. Roland Martin says don't believe everything you read. Does that mean Obama can count on record support? That may be another story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. To politics now, and the close presidential race. Let's focus for a moment on race in this race. Here is the headline from an Associated Press story printed in the "New York Daily News" and some other newspapers, "Some black clergies say there is no good presidential choice between a Mormon candidate and one who supports gay marriage." And it's that headline that caught the attention of our Roland Martin. Roland, good morning. Thanks for joining us. You wrote this op-ed based on that AP story. What is your issue with it? Obviously you don't like the headline.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The short headline that ran was "Black pastors tell congregations not to vote." When I saw that story, I saw it on a conservative website, News Max, I saw "Hot Air," I saw several other newspapers that I said what? I began to read the story and I realized in reading the story that a single pastor quoted said anything like that. I said I don't understand what the deal was.

I called some people I know at associated press and I said hey, send me the original headline. That wasn't the original headline. The original headline said African-American Christians waver over vote. I said wait a minute, where is the proof even of that? Sure you have several pastors who might say because President Obama came out supporting same-sex marriage, because Mitt Romney is a Mormon, they may have some issues, but to make this sort of broad statement that you have black Christians who are wavering because of these two issues, that to me was just nonsense.

KAYE: Or telling their congregation to stay home. But according to this story, you brought this up, this all centers on the gay marriage issue. Here's a quote actually from one of the pastors in this story. It reads "When President Obama made the public statement on gay marriage, I think it put a question in our mind as to what direction he's taking the nation." I mean, Roland, could this one issue really keep African-Americans away from the polls on Election Day?

MARTIN: No, no. No, it's not. Bottom line is when you look at the polling data -- I mean, look, did this issue cause some serious discussion within the black community? Yes. Were there people who were upset? Yes. Have there been pastors who have said they are not going to vote for the president because of this? Yes. But also, there are pastors who also say they cannot vote for Mitt Romney because he's a Mormon. The Southern Baptist convention has long taught that Mormonism is a cult.

And so I'm sitting here going OK, I got you, but in order to lay out like it's a trend, you need to at least have some data. At least have something to back it up. Show me a survey, a study, a poll that says 30, 40, 50 percent of black Christians are considering not voting or not voting for the president because of same-sex marriage. The article said nothing like that.

And the problem for me is this here, that people have written editorials -- they've been blasting pastors on social media for a story that simply did not support the thesis. And that's the biggest problem when you have people going who are these pastors? Let's call them out. I'm going if you read the story. It doesn't back up the headline.

KAYE: Yes, sexy headline, but that's certainly not enough.

I'm glad you brought up polls because we actually have a poll from NBC News "Wall Street Journal" from early August, and if you look at the president's support, he better hope that African-Americans are out to vote come Election Day. The African-American registered voters choice for president, we have as 94 percent for Obama, zero percent for Mitt Romney. Another claim is that the president's support for gay marriage has dampened the enthusiasm for African-American voters. Is that true? Any drop in enthusiasm?

MARTIN: First of all, the issue of enthusiasm is across the board in terms of Democratic voters and African-Americans overwhelmingly vote democrat. That has been the issue. Democrats understand that. Republicans even understand that. And have I heard that from some quarters? Yes. But I have heard far more people say look, I look at a candidate in the totality, not simply this one issue. They're looking at health care, education, jobs, you name it.

But also here's what's interesting. I remember a number of conservative white evangelicals who said "I cannot support Mitt Romney because he's a Mormon" and turned right around after the primary and said OK, I'm backing Mitt Romney because there's no way I can back president Obama. The point is there are going to be some people in America who are black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, it does not matter, who say I am going to vote based upon my faith. That's the reality. But are you going to see a significant number of folks vote that way? I don't think so. I think people still are going to vote based on the issues they care about and not solely based upon their issue when it comes to faith.

KAYE: Roland, we certainly appreciate you setting the record straight. Thank you. Nice to see you.

MARTIN: I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch.

KAYE: What would military action in Iran look like if the U.S. or Israel decided to strike? Launching missiles, land occupation, and how would Iran hit back? I'll ask a top international security analyst from MIT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Good morning, Atlanta. A few rays of sunshine there poking through on this first day of fall. Glad you're with us watching CNN Saturday Morning.

Military action in Iran. Some are beating the drum of war. Others warn it could have a global consequence for the United States. But Israel feels a sense of urgency to do something. Negotiations aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions have failed and sanctions have fallen short of their intended effect.

So last week on CNN, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the U.S. must establish a clear red line that Iran cannot cross with its nuclear program if it wants to avoid war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: It's important to place a red line before Iran, and I think that actually reduces the chance of military conflict, because if they know there is a point, a stage in the enrichment or other nuclear activities that they cannot cross because they'll face consequences, I think they'll actually not cross it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: But President Obama has rejected the call to lay down a line that Iran could not cross. The closest White House spokesman jay carney would go is to repeat the phrase, quote, "The president is committed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon."

Jim Walsh, an expert on international security at MIT, joins us now this morning. Jim, good morning to you. You're one of a handful of Americans who have traveled to both Iran and North Korea for talks with officials about nuclear issues. Should what do you think about this? Should the White House set a red line?

JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT, MIT: I actually think they have set a red line. It's not where the Israeli wants it to be. It's not as precise as he wants it to be, but the red line is there. President Obama has said on repeated occasions that an Iranian nuclear weapon is unacceptable. And so if they move from where they are now, which is sort of a rough capability, to a bomb decision, saying yes, we're going to take that capability and translate it into an actual working weapon, that's the red line that the president has announced and I would expect he would act at that point.

KAYE: Iran has been saying all along, it's been denying that it aims to build a nuclear bomb, saying that the program is for energy and medical use. The White House doesn't really believe this, does it?

WALSH: Well, I think there are suspicions about the nuclear program in Iran, first, that there were facilities that were being built in secret before they were revealed, and secondly that the program is actually larger than currently what they need. They don't need to produce a lot of fuel because they only have one reactor and the fuel is being supplied by the Russians. So any time you have no obvious use for the material producing, that raises suspicions.

I want to stress that the intelligence community, the highest ranking intelligence officer in the United States has repeatedly publicly testified that Iran had a bomb program, stopped it in 2003, and has not yet made a decision to restart it. So unlike Iraq where they stopped the program and no one knew and thought they were still going for it, U.S. officials are confident that they have not made that key decision to go from capability to a bomb. And that's why we have sanctions and negotiations and all the rest, to steer them to a different path.

KAYE: Do you think U.S. -- do you think we'd ever see U.S. military action in Iran? And if so, what would that look like?

WALSH: Well, the president and the secretary of defense and a variety of American officials have repeated that old tired phrase that they won't take any option off the table. So what do they mean by that? They mean that they have active planning for the use of military force against Iran if that were to become necessary. It's not necessary now, but like any good government or military, you plan for your options.

So I know for a fact, having spoken to high level military officers, that they have a variety of plans in place. I think most of them involve the use of drones, missiles, air strikes, not U.S. troops on the ground, but attacks at specific facilities if it were to come to that. And they're prepared to go there if that's what's needed. But no one is looking to go there if they don't have to.

KAYE: Any chance that Israel would take action without the U.S.?

WALSH: Yes, I do think there's a chance. There's a big debate in my community about how likely that is. I've been at this work on Iran for over 10 years, and every year, like the changing of the seasons, like it's fall today, there have been threats of an Israeli strike and saying there's only a year left, we have to act, and then nothing happens.

This year does feel differently, I must say. I've talked to senior officials in the Pentagon, in the White House who -- and in Capitol Hill who think the Israelis will strike, that they might strike before the U.S. election in November. And so there's a real concern that this year is different than other years. I still don't think it's going to happen, but I think the chance have increased over what they were last year. So yes, this is a real issue. It is worth talking about.

KAYE: What do you think the real cost is of a possible attack?

WALSH: Yes, you know, a lot of people talk about retaliation and this and that. I'm a guy who focuses almost all his effort on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. My own view is that if Iran is attacked, you will get this bomb decision that I referred to earlier. Again, they haven't yet decided which way they're going to go on this, but I think if you hit them, they'll respond by saying, oh yes? We'll show you. We're going to build a bomb. I think in some ways, the worst response is that you'll avoid the very thing you're hoping to avoid. You'll get Iran hell-bent on building a bomb. So of all the possible consequences, that's the one I worry about the most.

KAYE: Here's the thing, too. If Israel goes in or the U.S. goes in or anyone else, given the landscape, is there really any way to know that we hit our targets and put an end to the program?

WALSH: Well, Randi, this is exactly the right question to be asking. My colleagues and I put out a report last week, unusual for Washington, bipartisan, retired generals and national security advisers from both Republican and Democratic presidents. And the report didn't have any recommendations. But it said we have to start asking the questions, what is our objective? At what cost are we willing to acquire it? What are the benefits? What's the exit strategy?

And you're question there is part of a conversation. Everyone is talking about military strikes, but we haven't had the conversation first about is this the right way to go? Will it achieve our objective? So that's what's missing here. That's what we're trying to get Americans to do, Republicans and Democrats alike, to have this first conversation about objectives, costs, goals, because we really haven't had it yet.

KAYE: Yes, it's an important conversation, no doubt. Jim, appreciate your insight this morning. Thank you.

WALSH: Thank you.

KAYE: A story that's both heartbreaking and shocking, a developmentally disabled man being harmed by the very people who were supposed to protect him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: I need to warn you. In our next story about bullying, some of the video may disturb you. It allegedly shows two caregivers physically abusing a severely autistic man. Now those men have been criminally charged. Here's Phil Blauer our affiliate in KFMB in San Diego.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATALIE VILLAFLOR, PROSECUTOR: From a layperson's standpoint, it's obvious that these acts on Jamie were beyond any level of professional care a care giver would give and were therefore criminal acts.

PHIL BLAUER, REPORTER, KFMB SAN DIEGO: These men kept their heads down as they entered not guilty pleas to felony counts of abusing a 23- year-old severely autistic man over a month-long period this summer.

VILLAFLOR: The acts captured on video caused Jamie unjustifiable pain and mental suffering.

BLAUER: Both men were captured on a so called nanny cam that Jamie's Parents had set up in their son's bedroom.

VILLAFLOR: Purging Jamie the stomach, punching him in the face, twisting of the arms, applying body pressure, body weight on Jamie's body.

BLAUER: According to court documents, Garretson is connected to 64 incidents of the alleged abuse caught on camera. Investigators say McDuffy was engaged in 66 incidents.

VILLAFLOR: The defendants in this case preyed on a vulnerable victim, a person who could not speak and defend himself. As such, both of them are a danger to the community. If they can do this to a vulnerable victim, what would stop them from doing it to somebody else in our society? BLAUER: After reviewing hundreds of videos, prosecutors say they were convinced horrible was happening to the victim at the hands of those who were trusted to take care of him.

VILLAFLOR: We wouldn't file these charges unless we could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. And from the videotapes that we've seen, we find them to be criminal in nature. What I did see I found to be very disturbing. I was very shocked and angered from an internal stomach gut feeling standpoint, and I can only imagine what his parents went through.

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KAYE: It's horrible to see that happening to that man. It is important to note that it was the defendant's first court appearance. We have not heard from their attorneys. But this is not the first run-in with the law for care giver Michael Garretson. San Diego affiliates report he was on trial for second-degree murder for an infant boy that died under his care in the 1980s. A mistrial was declared and he was later acquitted. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to animal neglect charges.

Now to Florida, where a mom says her teenage son was being bullied, so she walked into his bus stop and took matters into her own hands. Watch this. She actually confronted the bully. They argued and she ended up hitting him. You can see the whole scuffle here on the bus surveillance camera. And here's what she said afterward.

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FELECIA PHILLIPS, MOTHER: Words kept going back and forth, whatever. He called out my name and I smooshed him in his face. That's what they need. A good old fashioned whooping, and we're not able to do that because we end up in jail.

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KAYE: She is a 35-year-old woman. The boy she went after is 17. His family says he is not a bully, and she now faces charges of child abuse and trespassing on school property. What is a parent to do? That is the question.

A mom was breast-feeding in an Applebee's restaurant when she says a manager told her to do it in the bathroom or they would call the police.

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KAYE: Welcome back. It's about five minute from the top of the hour now. A mom was nursing her toddler in an Applebee's restaurant when she says she was told to breastfeed in bathroom or get out. This happened near Atlanta. Dawn Holland says she was in a booth breast- feeding her 20-month-old son when the manager asked her to do it in the bathroom. She argued that nursing in public is legal.

And guess what. They called police. The officer decided not to file a report. Applebee's says the whole thing was a misunderstanding and its priority is to provide a comfortable environment for everyone, including nursing moms.

Ever been to Halifax, Nova Scotia? Beautiful seacoast town in Canada. There's lots of history and charm. But it turns out Halifax, it turns out, has too many cats. Enter Tuxedo Stan, candidate for mayor. Yes, he is running for office. And yes, he is a cat. And he's standing with all four paws firmly planted on a very worthy platform, in my opinion. Stan is encouraging the good citizens of Halifax to adopt a city- sponsored cat care program. And he's walking the walk, even on all fours, by raising money to help low income families spay or neuter their cats. I love that candidate. Love him, love him, love him.

We have much more ahead in the next hour of CNN Saturday Morning.

But first, the ancient Mayans predicted the world will end this year, and they have the perfect place for you to take in the show. Rob Marciano takes us to the heart of their empire in this weekend's "On the Go."

ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: The ruins of Chitzen Itza are one of the wonders of the world. They can be found on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. They're only a few hours drive from the international airport at Cancun.

JULIA DIMON, TRAVELJUNKIEJULIA.COM: When exploring Chitzen Itza it's best to go early in the morning so you can depart from Cancun. If you are traveling independently, that will give you more flexibility to get there.

MARCIANO: The most iconic structure is this temple, which was positioned to line up with the movements of the sun.

DIMON: One of best times to visit Chitzen Itza is during the fall and spring equinox, because the son hits the pyramid in such a way that it gives the illusion of a moving serpent on the staircase of the pyramids.

MARCIANO: The temple has 365 steps, one for each day of the year, and if you believe the Mayan calendar is ending this December, the possible apocalypse is creating a tourism boom.

DIMON: We've seen a lot of companies offering a doomsday theme tour, offering to give double your money back if the end of the world actually does occur.

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