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Democratic National Convention Preview; Isaac Downgraded to a Tropical Depression; Drought Still Afflicting Mississippi and Illinois

Aired September 01, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Tropical depression now Isaac is dousing the Midwest with rain. Meanwhile residents across the south are starting to clean up, but almost half a million people still without power. And our own George Howell visited one parish that is still underwater. Stay tuned to find out what he found.

A prominent Catholic priest is apologizing for some shocking comments. Father Benedict Rochelle had 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 my way of expressing myself are not as clear as they used to be," end quote.

A victory for the U.S. Justice Department taking on states changing their voter I.D. laws ahead of November elections. A Texas law requiring voters to show photo I.D.'s is struck down by a federal court in Washington. The court ruled the measure cannot be enforced this November because it discriminates against minorities. And that is the latest update on that. There are still other states that will be following similar court proceedings.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

President Obama fired up and ramping for the Democratic National Convention, a live update from the campaign trail.

And Mitt Romney is on the trail as well, victory rally in battle ground states.

Isaac is now a tropical depression. The storm has moved on from the south. Lots of people are still feeling it.

All right. Let's begin with President Barack Obama hitting the campaign trail hard. He was in Urbandale, Iowa, just outside Des Moines for a rally this afternoon, just moments ago, in fact.

Our Athena Jones was there.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred.

President Obama is making two stops here in Iowa today as this campaign launches what they're calling the road to Charlotte tour. That's, of course, the road for the Democratic National Convention next week in Charlotte. This is the president's seventh trip to Iowa just this year alone and his third trip in the past three weeks and it shows how important it is to his campaign to keep this state in the Democratic column. He only has six electoral vote which is isn't that many. Nut in a close race every little bit matters and of course, this is the state that really launched the state's candidacy back in 2008. As you'd expect he'll continue to draw contrast between his plans to help the middle class and what he said his opponents will do. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And when Governor Romney had his chance to let you in on his secret, he did not offer a single new idea. Just re-trail to the same old policies. It would have been stick it to the middle class for years. They talked a lot about me. They talked a lot about him, but they didn't say much about you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: The president's next stop today is in Sioux City, Iowa, and tomorrow he'll speak in Boulder, Colorado. Back to you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Athena Jones.

CNN's live coverage of the Democratic National Convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, beginning Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and Candy Crowley will be joining Wolf Blitzer to lead out coverage.

Meanwhile, the Romney campaign is on the road hoping to build momentum from the Republican national convention. The presidential nominee is holding rallies in two battle ground states today, this morning in Ohio. And then, in about an hour he'll be taking to the stage with running mate Paul Ryan in Florida.

Jim Acosta joining us live in Jacksonville where the crowd has gathered, a pretty sizeable crowd there in advance of the two arriving.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They'll have a big crowd in Jacksonville and they had a very big crowd up in Cincinnati, Ohio, earlier today. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan were both from the battleground state of Ohio. Mitt Romney in Cincinnati, Paul Ryan went to Ohio State University and a Miami University of Ohio football game. Miami University of Ohio as is Paul Ryan's alma mater so it would make sense that he would go to that game. And then, the campaign trail has been chock full of sports funds today. Lots of sports references from the Republican ticket, Mitt Romney put his pitch to voters in Cincinnati this way, dropping a college football reference to that crowd earlier today. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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 create more jobs and today 23 million people are out of work or stopped looking for work or are underemployed. Let me tell you, if you have a coach that's 0 and 23 million you'd say it's time to get a new coach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there you go. It's college football kickoff today since, you know, there are so many games on the schedule and they figure we might as well make football references. One other thing we should note, Fredricka, some news to report. Earlier today the Romney campaign did confirm that Mitt Romney will be doing some debate prep during the Democratic convention. He will be in Vermont, not a battleground state. It's across the state line from where he'll be staying in New Hampshire. But he's going to be doing debate prep with Ohio senator Rob Portman playing the role of Barack Obama at the home of Carey Healy, his older lieutenant governor from the state of Massachusetts. And the debate prep will be going on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So you can tell they're definitely gearing up for that one-on-one matchup with the president coming up in the fall - Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Well, and then clearly studying the presentation of the president during that convention later on this week as well and probably trying to incorporate that into debate practices.

All right, Jim Acosta. Thanks so much.

Isaac is now a tropical depression and it's pushed its way out of the south where the extreme summer heat is back, and the lower Mississippi river has reopened to barge traffic. But across much of the south, Louisiana, the disaster is only starting to fade. Some coastal towns actually are still flooded. Isaac also has left lingering power outages. Almost half a million homes and businesses across, three states still don't have electricity. And official say many in Louisiana will be in the dark for two more days.

Meanwhile, Isaac is dumping much-need rain in Missouri and parts of Illinois. Farmers there have been dealing with a severe drought for months.

In fact, it is those drought conditions that are being blamed at least in part for the cost of food being up a whopping 10 percent. That's according to a new report from the World Bank.

National correspondent Susan Candiotti has a look at the reality right now in some of those fields.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

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

CANDIOTTI: Hard for every farmer in the Midwest whose crops are virtually a total loss. This is so brittle. It is. I mean, what is left in here? What is left in here?

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

CANDIOTTI: Like dust, practically. He'll salvage what little he can, maybe five Bushels of grain an acre compared to the usual 120.

DETRING: And I will turn the cows into this field in the next few days and they can eat some leaves and stuff like that, but they won't get much, but it will keep them alive for a few more days.

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

But Isaac's rain is coming too late to help some ranches who already threw in the towel.

GARY CLEVE, COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FARM SERVICE AGENCY: It really hurts when you see a producer is come up to the counter who came in and said I just sold my cattle today and he would be crying there at the counter. Is there any help out there? There's nothing we can do.

CANDIOTTI: No rain means cattle are grazing on brown pastures. No rain means the price of meat has skyrocketed and no rain means ranchers are giving cows to hay now way before they usually do in the fall.

Detring's son won't let hard times get to him. He's fifth generation. Farming's in his blood.

BRAD DETRING, FARMER, BRD FARMS: This is just farming. That's the way it is so you take the good with the bad.

CANDIOTTI: So what's your message to Isaac?

BRAD DETRING: Come take a visit. I will grill. I will have some drinks in the cooler. Come on. Set up shop.

CANDIOTTI: You've been staring at that sun all summer long. The rains are coming. What do you think?

RICHARD DETRING: Great. I can't wait. Just to walk in the rain once.

CANDIOTTI: Just to feel it.

RICHARD DETRING: Just to feel it come down. CANDIOTTI: And start walking in greener pastures.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Susan Candiotti now joining me from Farmington, Missouri.

So the rain, has it been significant? Has it made a difference at all what little bit they've received?

CANDIOTTI: Well, I tell you, I'm wearing all of this rain gear, but we've barely had a couple of showers and that's been it. I'm standing on the spot on the Detring Farm where I can illustrate three parts of the problem. All of these rows of hay stocked up here, they have been having, and all the farmers dipping into it early, normally they'll wait until the fall and winter to feed that to the cattle. But because the pastures have dried up, that's the problem.

Behind me you see the brown fields. That's where they had to chop down the corn. That's a loss no matter how much rain they got now, and over here, the soybean fields. Now, they will survive this drought and they're getting a little bit of rain, this institutional rain that they are getting this weekend will help. But some of the stocks are only half as big as they should be.

And up above me, Fred, we're seeing a lot of dark clouds, but they seem to keep rolling by. They are supposed to get more rain tonight.

WHITFIELD: Only if it would drop a lot of rain.

All right. Thanks so much. Susan Candiotti, appreciate that.

All right, let's find out what else can be expected from the remnants of that storm.

Meteorologist Karen Maginnis, so, should they have more hope that more rain than what they have experienced already will be on the way?

KAREN FINNEY, MAGINNIS, METEOROLOGIST: Fredericka, in our computer models, they are suggesting perhaps the eastern edge of Missouri could see some significant rainfall. This is a slow, lumbering system, but it is losing a lot of its punch, but it is potentially going to trigger some storms across Illinois, the central Mississippi river valley and the Ohio valley, but look at who got most of the rainfall.

In Louisiana, on the seventh anniversary of Katrina, it made landfall in Louisiana with 20-plus inches of rainfall in New Orleans and just about 450,000 people still without power in southeastern Louisiana. The temperature right there right now 90 degrees and that's a very hot temperature if you're doing without air-conditioning, but this is what it feels like with that heat index. It feels like it is 103 degrees. And they are saying it could take several more days before the electricity gets turned back on.

All right, we have two tornado watches. This one across south central portions of Illinois and into Kentucky as well as Missouri goes into 9:00 local time. Here is the back side, the back edge of the remnants of what is left of Isaac. This will continue to swirl around and make its way toward the east. So, there's not a whole lot of punch left with this unless you're in line across the southern edge of this where some of the thunderstorms are firing up. If you do see tornadoes they should be short lived and there's the slight risk from Illinois all of the way down toward little rock. Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Karen. Appreciate that.

All right, a drug maker's product caused thousands of babies to be born with disabilities and now issues an apology. Survivors are speaking out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, big news overseas today. Just take a look at the top stories right now. Two suicide bombers hit a joint U.S.- Afghan military base killing 13 people. Seventy eight others were hurt. Among the dead is a child, two women and four policemen, the Taliban claiming responsibility.

And an outrage in South Africa after police arrests 270 miners for the murders of 34 fellow miners. Those miners were actually shot by police. South Africa's justice minister is demanding an explanation.

And it's 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 and in some cases no limbs at all. For years, victims have demanded justice staging protests around the world.

Jonathan Mann is following the story and joining me now on this.

So, decades after the fact with an apology.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the astonishing thing. Depending on your age you either never heard of thalidomide or it's the name of a nightmare because of these birth defects.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MANN: We've known about this for years. It was clear in the years that women were taking the drug, why not 50 years later? It is in our thing. In Germany, they unveil it's a small statue as a memorial to the victims of thalidomide and on that occasion, the manufactures, the chief executive officer decided to give a little speech. Well, in his speech he apologized for the first time.

Why did it take 50 years? Because they fought all kinds of legal battles from victims and the conclusion of those legal battles was, tiny amounts of compensation and no admission of error or guilt by the company. Well, he finally came forward and said yes, it is finally time for us to apologize and apologize they did.

WHITFIELD: And these women were given some thalidomide, why?

MANN: The astonishing thing was, is they don' sound like of any of them were terribly sick. Thalidomide was supposed to help them with morning sickness, with nausea, with sleeplessness, the kinds of things pregnant women have been enduring, complaining about but doing just fine with ever since human beings have been walking the face of the earth. And so, there is this new miracle drug that for women who were not really sick, that they discovered in short order did horrendous, horror stories, horror movie kinds of things to their children. Most of the children or many of the children were too deformed to even survive. And those who did survive have faced a lifetime of coping with limbs that are missing, limbs that are shrunken and just trying to get by on the really very small compensation.

WHITFIELD: And so now decades later, some of these victims or even their you know, surviving family members are saying why now with this apology?

MANN: You know, the thing is they are saying it's not enough. Let's listen up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have read the speech or so-called apology. It's the sort of apology you do when you're not really sorry. Shock is having your precious child born without arms and legs. It's accepting that your child is not going have that life that you wanted for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: God, that's heartbreaking.

MANN: It is because they're not children anymore. Some of these as you can see are -- the parents are elderly and the children are now middle-aged people and becoming elderly themselves. They needed more care --

WHITFIELD: Who have had life times of struggles.

MANN: And the compensation in Germany amount starting from $1200 a month or $1500 a month. It's barely enough to live on if you're an able-bodied person and if you need specialized care and you need specialized facilities. It's really risible. It is a horrible story.

WHITFIELD: That is terribly tragic. It really is.

MANN: It could have been worst in one respect. The drug was widely distributed but it was not ever approved in the United States. An extraordinary thing, the FDA looked at it, studied it and one particular scientists, a courageous woman said no, we can't do this. Even on the pharmacy companies put enormous pressure her. She refused.

John Kennedy gave her a medal because that lady's determination kept thalidomide from being approved in the United States. It was, however, still widely used in what it described as clinical trials. Essentially, they distributed the drug to doctors and they gave it to their patients. Those women, their children are still trying to get reimbursed.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. And while, in this day and age, no one is prescribing it, Louie. We hope no one is prescribing thalidomide to mothers who are mothers to-be, who are feeling nauseous and all that good stuff. But it is being used but to treat other things.

MANN: Exactly. FDA didn't approve it in 1961 and they did approve it much more recently for leprosy and bone marrow cancer. It is a successful drug. It is being used. But once again, it cannot escape the shadow of that horror of the early '60s and it really shouldn't. It's a lesson to us all about how careful we all have to be.

WHITFIELD: No kidding.

All right, thanks so much. John Mann, appreciate that.

All right, a former store manager for the national clothing chain Wet Seal says she was fired because of her race. We will have details on her discrimination charge.

And we'll introduce you to a CNN hero that helps the thousands of concern who are caregivers for their parents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: As children across the country head back to school, behind closed doors more than a 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 helping those children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

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's 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 is silently, people don't know they exist.

I'm Connie Siskowski. I am bringing this precious population into the light to transform their lives so they can stay in school. We offer each child a home visit.

Has a ramp been comfortable?

We looked at what we can provide to meet the need. We go into the school 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 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)

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness, heartbreaking. Connie's group has provided support to more than 500 kids in Florida. To learn more about her, visit CNNheroes.com ask in a few short weeks we will be announcing the top ten CNN heroes for 2012.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New Orleans escaped the worst of hurricane Isaac with help from a massive new flood protection system that cost more than $14 billion, most of it paid by taxpayers all over the country.

Our Josh Levs is here to show us where that money went and how effective it appeared to be.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Fred, I want to tell you what we've been seeing in recent days is billions of taxpayer dollars at work. That's what we saw in New Orleans.

Last hour, I was telling you about the biggest project to protect this city. Folks, this right here is the biggest project on the west side to protect the city. This has called the west closure complex that allows this to be closed and I was shaking a little bit around you.

What I want to do is take you to a map. So, let's go to that because I want you to see how significant this investment is for the entire country and for New Orleans. Here's the key for the massive complex that cost a billion dollars. What we have here are two canals, Harvey canal and Algiers canal that come together. This was an area that was flooded during hurricane Katrina. And right below where they come together, you have the west closure complex. That is a critical location and that's why nearly a billion dollars went there. And officials are saying, it did its job.

But while that site was getting a lot of attention, there are pump stations all over the New Orleans area that were going to work and they're a huge part of that $14.5 billion in spending, mostly federal taxpayers. So, let's go to this animation now because I want you to see something that's happened at pump stations all over New Orleans. What they need to do was strengthen them because a lot of these were overwhelmed and inundated during hurricane Katrina and this is what many of them looked like.

So, about 20 of them had this done which was called fronting protection and what you have is these drainage pipes that need to get rid of the water before it can get over and into the city. So, they needed to make it much stronger and build these out much farther away so that the water could not overwhelm, the water could not flood out these pumping stations and they built all of this and let's skip ahead in the video. What you will see is these pipes were brought way out so that this could not get overwhelmed and the concrete t wall coming up from the ground was built to help keep these drainage pipes in place. And what that whole project did, Fred, part of this multibillion-dollar project is help prevent the pump stations from being overwhelmed. And we're able to see the specifics right here once that concrete wall was up and it all stayed put and let me jump to one last video here.

Another thing that happened during hurricane Katrina was that the generators that run these pump stations got drowned. So they stopped working. Obviously, what they did here was strengthen them, raised them, raised the generators, raised the electrical systems that operates her, raised the water discharge system that made all these changes and with all of this in place they feel confident now. This is part of what they're calling the 100-year flood level protection and they asked the army corps of engineers.

I say, what does that mean? They say, any given year, Fred. There is a one percent chance of there be a kind of storm that can overwhelm this whole new system. I will tell you. I was a shop owner in New Orleans who feels strongly that they've not done enough and a lot more needs to be done. He is very upset. There are those who feel that way. But there's no question that these steps are a giant step forward past where we were during Katrina.

WHITFIELD: Wow! And fantastic animation there, it really kind underscored out how that system works.

LEVS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Josh.

LEVS: You got it, Fred. Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, there's a new way to book a room when you travel out of town. And lucky pole, I first heard about. The last time the Democrats gathered for their convention and I'll tell you how it works.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Democratic National Convention getting started Tuesday in Charlotte and lots of people attending the conference still actually might be looking for a place to stay. I understand a lot of the hotels, however, booked solid. How about a home sharing start-up called Airbnb, taking advantage of the need at the 2008 DNC in Denver.

Fast forward now, four years later Airbnb is now worth a billion dollars. So, what is it?

Here to explain is CNN Money reporter, Laurie Segall is here to tell us about this start-up.

OK. So, we're talking about Airbnb being able to help you find a place to stay and it's not necessary's a hotel room.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Right. So look, it sounds sketchy having a stranger stay in your home or that kind of thing. But, it is very, very legit. I mean, four years later this company has a lot of people booking hotel rooms on it or booking rooms on it so essentially how it works, you go on Airbnb site, you enter in your check-in day, you enter the check out day and it will show you listings all across the world. I mean, Airbnb is - let me tell you stat, Airbnb is in 192 countries. It's in 26,000 cities. So you put these listings in and there are a lot of options.

Then, what it will show you is it will show you all different types of pictures, and places and hosts. And you think, you know, these people could be completely random. But you know, the idea for Airbnb is people have to sign up through facebook and they are verified but you put in your twitter handle, your phone number, all types of things that, you know, you seem very legitimate. That's all private, of course, but you know, it makes it seem like you're not completely taking a place from a stranger.

Now, a lot of people are using it and another thing that's interesting about Airbnb are the types of listings. Now, if you look at this type of listing, it's not just a, you know, a couch somewhere or an apartment somewhere. It is homes, apartments, but also, you can rent a tree house in California.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

SEGALL: I know. You can rent a boat in New Zealand. You can rent a castle in Italy. So, a lot of people, a lot of hosts are willing to put their properties on here and a lot of people are booking. So, it's really come a long way, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And you really get, you know, a sense of being more at home even when you're on the road. When was in London, Olympics, I actually did that. I rented an apartment instead of a hotel. And you know, it was very comfortable and great so I understand why a lot of people are doing it.

So now, how is it -- take us back then to do a little history. How is it the DNC or at least that event in 2008 actually helped launch this company?

SEGALL: So there's a classic entrepreneurship tale here. And it's really funny because I was speaking with Brian last weekend at their headquarters. And you know, this founder had $1,000 in the bank before this got started. He had this crazy idea to have people rent out their homes and he said people are going to want to do this. They are going to see a need for this and everyone thought he was crazy. No one took him seriously. But he was waiting for the game-changing moment.

So, listen to what he had to say about that moment and when it came to the DNC. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN CHESKY, FOUNDER, AIRBNB: President Obama was about to be moved from a 20,000-seat arena in the Pepsi center to an 80,000 -seat football stadium. And they had a headline where will they stay? And of course, us, you know, we are taking all the stuff and label going off, but that's where it starts Airbnb. Had it not for DNC, just hard to know, airbnb would be today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEGALL: You know. So, essentially that was the moment they'd been waiting for and they left and they went. They actually went to Denver. They rented places on Airbnb and they're such hustlers that no one would fund them at this point. But they sold cereal called Obama oats to help fund their start up. So, you can see, you know, passport for you later. He definitely has more than $4,000 in the bank account and the company is worth a billion dollar. So they did something right.

WHITFIELD: It sure did. So, it is really taking off.

All right, Laurie Segall, thanks so much. Appreciate that information.

So, for more high-tech news and reviews go to CNN.money.com/technology and look for gaming and gadgets, the tab there.

All right, three women sue the popular teen clothing store Wet Seal and it has nothing to do with the clothes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A popular teen clothing store, Wet Seal, is in some hot water. Three former store managers are suing the store chain for racial bias claiming Wet Seal had a policy of firing and denying pay increases and promotions to African-American employees because they didn't, quote, "fit the brand."

CNN's Kyung Lah has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Young, hip and trendy, this is the image of teen retailer Wet Seal. An image that Nicole Cogdell did not fit at least that's what she said management said to her.

NICOLE COGDELL, PLAINTIFF: Being terminated because you're African- American is something totally different.

LAH: Fired says Cogdell because she's black.

In 2008 she was a manager at this Wet Seal store in this mall in Springfield, Pennsylvania. A mall where there are more black customers. Cogdell says she did so well at her job that the district manager promoted her to a new store in the higher end mall, the King of Pressia. Most of the customers there are white. Then, the vice president of the company came to inspect the store and that's when Cogdell said she heard this.

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

LAH: Four days later Cogdell was fired. Cogdell said her replace am at the King of Pressia mall was a white manager with less experience and poor performance record, but paid more.

There have been cases like this against the fashion industry before. What makes this one so different is that lawyers say they can trace a discrimination, to the vice president at Wet Seal with an e-mail.

The e-mail was forwarded to Cogdell. She says it's from the very same vice president who said she wanted a blond manager with blue eyes. The e-mail from the VP who has since left Wet Seal says, quote "need diversity, African-American dominate, huge issue."

When you read that, what did you think?

NANCY DEMIS, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: I thought, this is the essential smoking gun.

Lawyer, Nancy Demis, represents Cogdell and two other former Wet Seal managers who say they were either fired, denied pay raises and promotions as part of an unwritten, but a forced corporate policy because black employees don't fit the brand image. The e-mail says Demis is a window into the ugly secret of retail.

DEMIS: In retail in particular, people are accustomed to making judgments about people based on their looks and I think that they lose track of the fact that under the law, you may not make decisions about employees based on their race.

LAH: They're asking a federal court in California to declare this a class action lawsuit on behalf of 250 current and former black managers at Wet Seal. Wet seal would not speak to CNN on camera, but released this statement.

"We do not discriminate on the basis of race or any other category. We are confident and when all of the facts come out on this matter, the public and our customers will see that African-Americans are well- represented and valued members of our employee base including our management."

Wet seal's image campaign does include an African-American model. Cogdell who no longer works in retail believes this like much of fashion, is just an image.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And the woman in that piece who said she was fired for being black will join Gary Tuchman for an interview. Tune in for that tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Earlier this year we brought you the story of a little leaguer that was playing at the top of his game despite his circumstances.

In this week's human factor, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has an update. Reese Holloway's idol, Chipper Jones, third baseman for the Atlanta braves, saw the story and wanted to meet this remarkable young fan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He can hit, heal the ball even slide into home plate.

REESE HOLLOWAY, 6-YEAR-OLD: All of the way around the base.

GUPTA: 6-year-old Reese Holloway wants to play in the big leagues someday, just like his idol Chipper Jones who plays third base for the Atlanta Braves.

When Reese was born his parents were shocked to discover he didn't have a left hand and baseball was the furthest thing from their minds. They weren't sure if he would learn to crawl without a second hand, so they got him prosthesis, but little Reese didn't want it. He did learn to crawl and walk and then something remarkable happened. Reese taught himself how to hit a ball. He was just two.

MALOU HOLLOWAY, REESE'S MOTHER: He got plastic balls and he would hold them under his chin and drop it and swing the bat and he would hit the ball, no problem.

GUPTA: He's a natural and he has been playing on a team since he was 3-years-old. As far as the Holloways are concerned, Reese doesn't have a disability.

REESE HOLLOWAY: I was born like that.

GUPTA: And they try to never hold him back. So far the only thing he can't do is tie his shoes.

MALOU HOLLOWAY: Anything he wanted to do, we let him try it. There was no saying no you can't do that because you only have one hand.

GUPTA: But his parents aren't the only ones rooting for Reese. When Chipper Jones saw the story about him, he invited the little leaguer and his family to see the Braves play the Marlins in Atlanta. First came, batting practice.

CHIPPER JONES, BASEBALL PLAYER: Nice to meet you, Reese.

GUPTA: And autographs.

JONES: There you go, bro.

GUPTA: And then a private meeting with his hero.

REESE HOLLOWAY: He signed my glove and my ball. He signed my banner, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was squirming the whole time.

GUPTA: Then it was time to play ball.

REESE HOLLOWAY: Go, chipper!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It meant a lot to him. I mean, he'll remember this for the rest of his life.

GUPTA: After this experience, Reese is more determined to follow in Chipper's footsteps and make it to the big leagues.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: What an inspiration. Chipper Jones told his loyal fan to try hard, do his best no matter what life throws his way. And young Reese is even more enthusiastic now about playing baseball.

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WHITFIELD: The parents of a former U.S. marine who was jailed in Iran for allegedly spying for the CIA are pleading to get him out.

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BEHNAZ HEKMATI, MOTHER OF AMIR HEKMATI: He couldn't stop crying. He was crying and then -- and he was asking, mom, I don't know why I'm here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He was arrested a year ago. The U.S. denies he ever worked for the CIA.

On to Pakistan now. Intelligence officials tell CNN the 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 the CIA run drone program is responsible for the deaths of a high number of civilians.

In Syria, activists say 89 people were killed across the country today. The death toll this week reached a record 1,600 people. But even for those who can escape the violence living conditions are worsening dramatically. UNICEF says access to shelter, clean water, and sanitation is a serious issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MCCORMICK, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON: UNICEF is concerned, deeply concerned that in Syria and the surrounding region we may be or are looking at one of the biggest humanitarian emergencies in the last decades when you consider so many factors involved in this crisis. My colleague just mentioned one may seem trivial but it's not, the back to school. Children are meant going to be going back to school in a couple of weeks. Is that going to happen? I doubt it. So they're going to be stuck in refugee camps or IDPs in Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The opposition tells us rebel forces have captured a military air force base to prevent air strike and shelling of victims.

Thousands of fans are standing up for Penn State. We will take you to the nittany Lions' first game since the devastating child sexual abuse scandal.

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WHITFIELD: College football had a new era kick off today at Penn State. But it wasn't what fans were hoping for. After all they've been through with the sexual abuse scandal fans were hoping for a win on the first game but the nittany lions were defeated.

Joe Carter joining us live outside the stadium in state college, Pennsylvania.

But you know, that's the way sports goes. You win some. You lose some. So, is there a feeling, Joe, that people felt like they lost this game because they've lost nine players or is it just that the competition was just that good?

JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Ohio University is a very under estimated team, Fredricka. They won ten games last year. They won a bowl game. They returned a lot more starters than Penn State did. So yes, I mean, on paper people said Penn State was supposed to win this game. But as you said, it has been a long, agonizing ten months for the university, for the town of State College.

And today the focus was finally back on football. Unfortunately, as the fans file out of the stadium. They leave with a disappointing loss, you know. The day started with so much emotion, so much promise. There was a nice moment just before the game started. It was a moment of reflection for all the sexual abuse victims out there and then after that they had the student body arm in arm swing back and forth singing the alma mater.

For the first time in 46 years these fans, these very, very devoted fans are seeing a new football, head football coach usher the team out on to the football field. It's the Bill O'Brien era. With Bull O'Brien, the new head coach, comes new tradition. You know, he has the name on the back of the jerseys now for the players saying he wanted to recognize each individual that decided to stay on this team and not jump ship and transfer to another school.

But you know, Bill O'Brien, Fredricka, has had so many challenges in his first eight months in the job. He just has another one added to the list and that is really keeping the spirit up among these players and obviously, keeping the hope in these fans as well.

WHITFIELD: Joe, did the fans say it felt any different in that stadium given all that they have been through, that, you know, that first game just had a different air about it?

CARTER: Yes. You know, being here last night, talking to a few fans at the pep rally held in beaver stadium, there are 21,000 people that came out for that. I got the sense that they're excited for this new chapter. They are excited for a new season, a fresh start. But they feel really exhausted and beaten up with the media coverage and with all that has gone on the last ten months.

So, they are kind of looking forward to that fresh start. And unfortunately, you know, in sports you win some, as you said, and you lose some and this one ends up with a loss. So, yes definitely, looking for a fresh start, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. I'm sure their hope is they can only go in one direction from this point, right? From a loss to maybe eventually a win.

All right, Joe Carter, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right, our crew in Selma, Louisiana is just back now from a boat tour of damage left behind by tropical storm Isaac. We'll show you what they found.

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