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The Return of the Chef; Protesters March in Charlotte; Reverend Sun Myung Moon Dies; Legionnaires' Kills 10 in Quebec City; Harvard's Cheating Scandal; Harvard School Cheating Scandal; Tom Brokaw On the Red Chair; New Tablets Out

Aired September 02, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins now.

Effective immediately U.S. special operations have suspended the training of Afghan police recruits. The move comes after more than 40 NATO members have been killed this year by insurgents dressed as police or Afghan soldiers. 14 were killed in August alone. U.S. Forces will re-vet all the current members before reinstating the training.

In Syria, an American journalist is missing. He's name -- Austin Tice, he's 31. He's a freelance writer from Texas. He went to Syria to cover the civil war from the perspective of the uprising rebels and three weeks ago disappeared. There is no more dispatches from him, no more pictures, no more tweets and the U.S. State Department is working with another country's diplomatic mission to try to get information about him.

Hazing allegations have forced the suspension of the Clark Atlanta University Marching Band. A local high school stepped in to take the band's place at a football game last night. Clark Atlanta school officials have received the allegations, but so far, have not found evidence of hazing or other foul play. The allegations follow the hazing scandal and death of Florida A&M University drum major, Robert Champion.

As all eyes turn to the Democratic National Convention, protesters are already in Charlotte, making their voices heard.

This march is being led by a group called Occupy Wall Street South and hundreds of protesters shouted calls for reform. According to our CNN affiliate WCNC, two people have been arrested, protesters ARE just a couple of blocks from the convention site.

A global religious leader and head of a vast international business empire is dead. The Reverend Sun Myung Moon declared himself a messiah when he formed the Unification Church in the early 1950s. He was a controversial figure to say the least -- presiding over enormous mass wedding ceremonies with arranged couples. These couples have never met each other until they were married. He courted business and political relationships all over the world.

Sun Myung Moon was 92 years old. He died today in a hospital in Seoul, South Korea. He's been ill for several of weeks.

I want to talk about Reverend Moon's life and impact with Professor Eileen Barker, who teaches about new religions at the London School of Economics. Professor, thank you for joining us.

EILEEN BARKER, PROFESSOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (via telephone): Good evening. It is evening to you, is it.

TUCHMAN: Yes. Good evening. And it's good afternoon on the West Coast of the United States, but hello, we'll just say hello.

The first question I want to ask you Professor, was Sun Myung Moon a religious figure? Was he a political figure, a business figure, all of those?

BARKER: I'm sorry you keeping fading away but you were asking whether he was a religious figure?

TUCHMAN: Yes, I don't mean to fade away from you. I'm going to -- I'm going to speak up a little louder, religious, political, business? What would you say he was more than anything?

BARKER: Well, he certainly was a religious leader. He -- he built up this enormous empire and he was a business man and a politician as well. But he had a very systematic and well worked out theology and he was always getting new revelations or revealing further things to his followers. And (inaudible) them, I would say, to take the religious side very seriously.

TUCHMAN: Professor, it seems like you know while they are still active, they passed their peak maybe a generation ago in the '70s and '80s. And when I was a kid, you know parents were scared that their kids would end up a moony -- that's what they call them a slightly derogatory term.

BARKER: I know -- you're fading away again.

TUCHMAN: Can you -- can you hear me professor?

BARKER: Yes, you come and go.

TUCHMAN: I'm sorry about that. I don't want you to think I'm being rude. I'll just keep -- just speaking loud and hope you can --

BARKER: No, I think it's the phone.

TUCHMAN: I know that, I was just kind of kidding, I would never be rude to a professor at the London School of Economics.

BARKER: I'm sure you wouldn't be.

TUCHMAN: Yes, so ok, so, calling yourself a messiah -- you know that's an extreme religious stance to take. Was he that charismatic professor?

BARKER: Well, some -- some charismatic leaders certainly do call themselves messiahs. He would say, that -- there's a sense in which everybody can be a messiah, but he was the sort of messiah of all messiahs. He was a special man and he saw or he said that messiahs sit with an office. He had to perform a particular task which was restoring the kingdom of heaven on earth, restoring it to the situation it was in the Garden of Eden before the fall. And so this was his task. And this is what he meant by messiah.

TUCHMAN: Well, certainly and a lot of people do not agree with what he stood for, but you can't deny that he was a fascinating man at the very least. Professor, thank you very much.

BARKER: Yes, he was and he had an enormous influence over a large number of people. But you're right. Not over everybody by any means and he was treated with a lot of suspicion throughout his life. He went to prison in America and in Korea several times. He was a highly controversial figure.

TUCHMAN: Professor, I covered a mass wedding in Madison Square Garden about 20 years ago -- 2,000 to 3,000 couples there never met each other before. I know that man was influential.

Thank you very much for joining us professor. It was nice talking with you.

On the last hour, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke about storm devastation in Louisiana. She's at hard hit areas near Slidell, Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We will stay until this recovery is complete. We are here to be part of the team, part of the team in Louisiana and make sure that Hurricane Isaac is put to rest as soon as we can for all of those affected. And in the meantime, please know that all of us are thinking about those in Louisiana who are now without their homes or ability or without their business or ability to -- to open up because of either water, lack of power, what -- whatever. We know that this is a big, big tough storm, but where'll work through it forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Some good news authorities have dropped a mandatory evacuation order for hundreds of Louisiana residents near the Pearl River in St. Tammany Parish. But they're still urging people to stay away from their homes for now.

They are worried about a strained lock and the Pearl River diversion canal. Remember officials warned yesterday that a lock failure was imminent. Crews have relieved the pressure though on the lock. They did it by releasing water, but they say it's still touch and go. The Pearl River is expected to crest tomorrow at more than 19 feet.

And my colleague George Howell joins us now from Slidell, Louisiana. George good seeing you; what's the latest on the Pearl River as we speak? GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gary, you know as we speak, we're watching this river rise slowly, but surely. Everyone's paying very close attention to it. And you can see there this river is changing hour by hour. It will affect a lot of people here along the Pearl River including one person who you may know. The star of the History Channel reality show, "Swamp People", Terral Evans. He helped us go out there to give you a much better picture of exactly what's happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: No better way to show you what we're talking about than to actually take you out on the river. So what you see here is the Pearl River, some eight to nine feet higher than it typically is. You're seeing this river so high because of all this storm water. All the rain that came in from Hurricane Isaac, it's got to go somewhere. It's all flowing downstream and affecting a lot of communities.

Now, officials are also concerned about a navigational canal that runs parallel to the Pearl River. There are two locks on that canal, lock one and two. There was concern earlier about those locks failing. But officials seem fairly certain that those are doing better. They're monitoring that situation.

Now, I want to bring in Terral Evans here. And Terral, no one knows this river better than you. You've seen the river rise before.

TERRAL EVANS, SLIDELL RESIDENT: Yes.

HOWELL: What are you expecting tonight?

EVANS: We're expecting to see it tomorrow it's supposed to go to about 19.5. That's their prediction right now. Everybody has kind of got their eye on it and they're a little skeptical. They're watching the gauges down here on the rise.

19.5 is going to flood quite a few areas down here. Especially like the -- the upper end of the Pearl starting from 59 back this way. Some of the areas that were affected through Isaac were some of the subdivisions down here like Indian Village, Quail Ridge. Those areas are adjacent to the river and like so they are caught -- they were caught with some storm surge.

This river is going to get back in those areas, so there is some concern. We have a subdivision over here called Magnolia Forest. It's going to be affected, also. So -- it's a guessing game right now. They're saying 19.5. I hope they're right.

HOWELL: And you know, let's take a look again. And I just wanted to show this water. We're talking about three additional feet of water before all is said and done out here on the Pearl River.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: And I want to show you what's been happening out here, Gary. All day this has been the scene just outside our satellite truck. People have been coming by to look at this river. People who live here all their lives, they know exactly how high this river got back in 1983. It got around 21 feet. That caused a lot of damage here along the Pearl River.

Right now again, we know that that crest will be right around 19.5 feet, so this river rising slowly, but surely. Right here where we're standing Gary I should see about three feet of water before it's all over.

TUCHMAN: So George how worried are they about the cresting tomorrow and what time exactly do they expect it?

HOWELL: The timing has changed through the day. Initially, we thought that it would be 1:00 a.m., but now, it sounds like it will be later -- later in the evening. So 7:00 p.m. tomorrow.

So people are still watching this river because we've seen it rise inch by inch, hour by hour. Again, they're expecting this area where we're standing to be flooded. Several homes that took -- took water during the -- during the hurricane will have water again, Gary.

TUCHMAN: George, our executive producer just told me, he's from Louisiana. He says you must watch out for the water moccasins.

HOWELL: You know, yes. I've definitely stayed away. Because they're out there, so are the gators as Terral Evans. Told me the gators are out there and luckily we did now see any, so.

TUCHMAN: No gators, no water moccasins. George Howell's been there from the beginning since Isaac arrived. Nice work out there George and good talking to you.

HOWELL: Thank you.

TUCHMAN: Well, not quite the speakers Democratic leaders had in mind for their upcoming convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, what's up? What's going on?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: But you can't argue it's democracy at work. Why hundreds turned out in Charlotte today.

And Harvard University, why some of the greatest young minds in the nation are now accused in a massive cheating scandal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney attended church today in New Hampshire, with his wife Ann, by his side. New Hampshire, as you may know, is one of his all important swing states. It has four electoral votes. Also, Romney crossed the 1 million mark in Twitter followers. He declared, "One million active followers. Thanks, everyone for your support, help us keep the momentum going." That was his tweet. And he also added a link to a donation Web site for his campaign. All the politicians are doing it on the Internet these days.

Meantime protesters hit the streets of Charlotte ahead of this week's Democratic convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(PROTESTS IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Two days before the convention starts, hundreds of people marched by Charlotte banks; some chanting, "We got sold out." The protest was called "March on Wall Street South".

CNN's Joe Johns spent some time talking to demonstrators in Charlotte about their motives and plans.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gary here in Charlotte in the run up to the Democratic National Convention, the march on Wall Street south had been suggest to a lot of hype, but it came off without a hitch with only two arrests and no reported violence.

Between 2,000 and 10,000 people were predicted for this march. Only a few hundred showed up, but they were loud.

About what you would expect from a march against the banks that make Charlotte one of the country's leading financial centers.

Honestly, it was the police who led the way, but not far behind pushing a bicycle was an organizer from "Occupy Wall Street" in New York who had come over from Tampa, where he had been protesting at the Republican National Convention. He said he'd lost some people after the event in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON BLACK, OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTER: We ultimately ended up coming down with a couple of buses and some other people found their own transportation. Now, as for numbers here, there are a lot less. Half the people ended up going back to New York.

JOHNS (on camera): Why did they do that?

BLACK: A lot of our people have jobs. A lot of people aren't interested in protesting Obama.

JOHN (voice-over): For the police in the city, of course, the smaller numbers made the march more manageable. Political conventions of the past have often exploded in ugly confrontations, but not so far this year. (on camera): What is the recipe for success with these marches? We've seen a peaceful march in Tampa and apparently a peaceful march here. Very different from what we saw in Denver and Minneapolis four years ago.

CHIEF RODNEY MONROE, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA POLICE: I think it's anticipation and communication. You've got to anticipate the (inaudible), have the willingness to talk with people and talk to people; understand what they want to do. And then, you know, you try to negotiate yourself through it and you wanted to make sure in the end that everybody's safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Protests are expected to continue here on the holiday, including one demonstration featuring members of organized labor -- Gary.

TUCHMAN: Joe, thank you very much. You can take part in the DNC and CNN's election round table Tuesday. Join Wolf Blitzer and our political team for this live virtual chat. Just go to CNN.com/roundtable, submit your questions and we will give you answers in real time. The CNN Election Roundtable is at 12:00 noon Eastern on Tuesday.

And live coverage of the convention begins Tuesday, also; and that starts 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

And tomorrow, we'll have a special look at what President Obama is really like. CNN's Jessica Yellin reveals the man through the people who know him the best. The show is called "OBAMA REVEALED: THE MAN, THE PRESIDENT". We did it for Mitt Romney last week, now Barack Obama. Monday night, that's tomorrow, 8:00 p.m. Eastern time and Pacific time on CNN.

Ten dead, more than 160 cases of Legionnaires disease, all traced to the Canadian province of Quebec. What doctors know about the outbreak -- this evening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Across Syria, more than 100 people were killed just today -- about half of them in Damascus, in its suburbs.

Add that number to the staggering 1,600 people killed over the past few days and you've got the single deadliest week in Syria since the civil war began there. Opposition sources say government forces massacred 35 people in a village near Hama today. And a bomb went off next to government buildings in Damascus, wounding several bystanders.

Nearly 5,000 people died in Syria during the month of August; the street fighting, shelling and Syrian military air strikes. Now, we have seen and have to rely on opposition reports of these casualties. CNN cameras and reporters are not allowed in the country right now.

An outbreak of Legionnaires disease is at the city of Quebec City. It has killed ten people, sickened 165 more and health officials don't know yet how people are getting it. The government has ordered for some buildings to clean the cooling systems a common source of the disease.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRANCOIS DESBIENS, QUEBEC CITY PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR: The only thing that can explain a wide array, wide distribution of thee cases is something that could be high, (inaudible) in water that is contaminated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Legionnaires is a rare form of pneumonia that spreads when people breathe in droplets or mist with legionella bacteria.

Ethiopia has honored the late prime minister who "Time" magazine called, the strong man who may be missed. Meles Zenawi is his nation's first leader in 82 years to be given a state funeral. Tens of thousands of mourners and numerous heads of state turned out to pay their respects. Meles died two weeks ago at the age of 57. Mr. Meles was credited with bringing stability to the volatile Horn of Africa region. However, rights groups accused him of taking a heavy hand with the opposition and curbing journalistic freedom.

No murder charges for now against 270 miners accused in a mass killing in South Africa in which video shows police officers opening fire on the victims. The national prosecuting authority stepped in today after public outrage over the regional prosecutor's decision to file against the miners. The authority says charges will come only after all investigations were complete. 34 miners died August 16th during a clash linked to a labor dispute.

When you hear Harvard, you think scholarship and honor, not lying and cheat, but that's what's facing the prestigious Ivy League university this evening. We'll hear from someone who was once on the inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You don't have to be in front of a television to watch CNN. You can do what I do. You can stay connected. You can do it on your cell phone or you can do it from your computer at work. Just go to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: It's one of the worst acts a student can do in school, cheating; possible happening at one of the finest universities in the world, Harvard. Last spring, students in the class "Introduction to Congress", took a final exam that was open notes, open book and open Internet, but one thing students cannot do, they, quoted the instructions, "may not discuss the exam with others". According to the "Harvard Crimson", Professor Matthew Platt noticed too many similarities among exam answers.

Now, the university is questioning a reported 125 students for allegedly cheating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN SAMUELS, EDITOR, "THE HARVARD CRIMSON": I think there's just more confusion from the students who we thought to by and large at this point are still trying to figure out exactly what it is that they're being accused of."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Let's go to the author of a book which is called "That Book about Harvard: Surviving the world's most famous university one embarrassment at a time". Eric Kester went to Harvard and graduated from Harvard, 2008.

Eric thanks for joining us. You're not surprised, you say, by the cheating scandal. Why?

ERIC KESTER, AUTHOR, "THAT BOOK ABOUT HARVARD": I'm not just because cheating happens at every school and Harvard is no different. , I think the reason this has become such a giant national story is because it is Harvard and there's an expectation of. you know, integrity there.

And also, the fact that it's 125 students, which really speaks to perhaps a larger, more cultural flaw, rather than just a couple of rogue students making a bad decision.

TUCHMAN: Eric, the president of Harvard, Drew Faust, made this statement. I'll show it to our viewers. "These allegations, if proven, represent totally unacceptable behavior that betrays the trust upon which intellectual inquiry at Harvard depends." She says unacceptable behavior.

From your time at Harvard, what was more important? Doing well or doing right?

KESTER: Well, I think it's very difficult for some students at Harvard because you enter this school and it's engrained in every student's mind that cheating is bad. But it's also engrained in everyone's mind that failing is bad. And it's especially true at a place like Harvard where students are expected to do well and they're used to doing well.

And when you're 19 and 20 years old, sometimes, these two ideals kind of clash and it's important at these institutions to constantly reinforce the more noble of those ideals. And when a 19-year-old begins to make bad decisions, it can spiral pretty quickly.

TUCHMAN: What puzzles me about this story though is the exam was open note, open book, open internet and the students had a week to finish it. When you go on the internet, you can go to Facebook, you go in Youtube, you can hear people talk to you on Youtube. What's the difference between that and talking to a fellow student? I mean it sounds like teachers put a lot of trust in their students, but isn't there a fine line, gray area there? KESTER: Right. And I think that's really of the larger issues at play here and this is a universal issue at all levels of school all over the world right now, I think. In this era of social media, especially for younger students the sharing of information is just so common and natural and because of that, it - I think the line blurs between oh, what's acceptable in an academic setting. And because of that, it's even more imperative for academic institutions to constantly reemphasize what's OK and what's not.

TUCHMAN: Eric, I went to school across the river, Boston University. I remember it being a huge to do when we brought calculators into classes to take our tests. That was very controversial back then. It shows you how times have advanced a little bit. Do you think there's more pressure at Harvard to cheat and at the other Ivys perhaps because of the reputation of the school?

KESTER: Well, yes, I mean, you have to think of it from the student's perspectives. For some of them, they've been spending the majority of their life trying to get into Harvard. SAT, prep, really from a really young age. And getting in to Harvard and once you're into Harvard, this idea that once you get beyond Harvard, there's a lot of career success waiting for you.

I mean, Mark Zuckerberg, not that much older than us and some of these students are very talented and they see the type of rewards on the other side. So there's a lot at stake and these students, I think some of them, when faced with a choice of whether or not to cheat or fail - they think the risk is worth it because they've gone to so much and there's so much ahead of them. And that's not to exonerate them.

TUCHMAN: Eric, I wanted to ask in closing, are you afraid they're going to take your diploma away from you by writing this book?

KESTER: Well, I hold on to it tightly, but my book actually is really more about exposing myself and what it's like for a 19-year-old to try to find his way and come of age in an intense academic place and freshman year is hard no matter where you go to school and it was no different for me. I really do sympathize with students who have a lot on their plate especially in this culture that's obsessed with success.

So that's really what my book explores and while I don't exonerate these students, they made a mistake. They're adults. They should have known better, but there is more to the story.

TUCHMAN: Eric Kester, thank you very much for joining us. Nice talking to you.

KESTER: Thanks, Gary.

TUCHMAN: Terrifying moments caught on camera in what was supposed to be a fun, family outing. The outcome of this incredible scene in a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You OK? Let me help you.

My mom has been sick for as long as I can remember.

You need more methadone.

Helping her out is bigger priority than going to school because I don't know what I would do if something happen to her, how I would be able to really live.

CONNIE SISKOWSKI: In the United States, there are at least 1.3 million children caring for someone who is ill, injured or elderly or disabled.

They can become isolated. There are physical effects and stresses of it and the worry.

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

SISKOWSKI: But these children, (INAUDIBLE) people don't know they exist.

I'm Connie Siskowski. I am bringing this precious population into the light to transform their lives so that they can stay in school. I offer each child a home visit. We look at what we can provide to meet the need. We go into the schools with the peer support group and we offer out of school activities. That gives the child a break.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is so relaxing.

SISKOWSKI: So they know that they're not alone. We give them hope. Their teacher -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, I'm getting As and Bs. 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 VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: People are now allowed to come back, but maybe it's not a good idea to come back just yet. Authorities have dropped a mandatory evacuation order for hundred of Louisiana residents in St. (INAUDIBLE) Parish near the Pearl River, but they're still urging people to stay away. They're worried about a strained lock on the Pearl River Diversion Canal. That river is expected to crest tomorrow at more than 19 feet, near a trucker height.

The entertainment turned frightening at a monster truck show in Harrisburg, Oregon.

Three people at the show Monster Air 2010 were hurt when the 48-inch tires of this out of control Ford landed on top of them. Let's go to our affiliate KVAL in Eugene, Oregon is telling us. A sheriff sergeant says the victims will survive their injuries. Eyewitnesses say the driver lost control after he hit a mud pit. Closing arguments are said to happen after labor day in the trial of Drew Peterson. He's the ex-cop from Illinois accused of murdering his third wife and he's the prime suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife. That third wife, Kathleen Savio, was divorced from Peterson when her body was found in a dry bathtub, 2004. The defense said her death was an accident.

One of America's most trusted journalists, his thoughts on interviewing Gorbachev and Mandela and what President Obama did that bothered him. Tom Brokaw opens up to CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: He came into your home every weeknight for more than 20 years and even though Tom Brokaw no longer anchors "NBC Nightly News," he's still involved in the program that made him an iconic journalist. Brokaw sat down in CNN's Red Chair to talk about his career, his friendship with Peter Jennings and what President Obama did that he didn't like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BROKAW, FMR. "NBC NIGHTLY NEWS" ANCHOR: If I don't get home in time to watch the nightly news, I do have the advantage of being able to access the system, read the scripts, see the rundown and from time to time, I'll say, have you thought about including or giving a little more emphasis to. Not very often. They're always kind of generous and I always think that they must hang up the phone, and say "Well, the old guy was at it again. Just everybody, be kind to him and we'll see how this works out."

I'm still in my own mind, at least a working journalist. I was the first one to make a decision to step aside and I wanted to not be tied at 6:30 every night and Peter came to me and said, "Oh, my god, I can't believe you're doing this. I want to be in it."

And six months later, Peter was dead. And it really reaffirmed my decision. The line about you don't know anybody on their death bed who said "Gee, I wish I spent more time at the office." That's kind of how I felt. I wanted to be free to do things that I cared about and not worry about whether it was a rating period and have to rush back to the studio to be on the air that night.

Oh, sure, there are always the interviews you like to do all over again. Some of (INAUDIBLE) the same way. I was in the backyard with Nelson Mandela the day after he got released. I could have sat with him for the next 30 days. Here's a man who had been in prison for more than 25 years and you would have thought he would have been on a three-day holiday. He was so elegant and calm and wise and good humor. He teased the camera crew about their microphones looking like a shotgun to him.

Gorbachev, we did it with simultaneous translation. It worked out OK. We probably have made a mistake in agreeing to doing it in just an hour. We should have had more time to rock and roll on the differences between the Soviet Union and the United States. The interview we did was a seminal introduction of him to this country in so many ways.

General Secretary, thank you very much for this time.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, FMR. SOVIET UNION PRIME MINISTER: And once again, let me take - of this opportunity to say to my American viewers until we meet on American soil.

One of my favorite stories about Gorbachev is that on the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I had a favorite Polish cameraman with me who makes homemade lemon vodka. That's to die for. And he wanted to share a glass with Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev (INAUDIBLE) told him no more drinking, and Gorbachev then says "My doctor says I should not drink, except lemon vodka." And so we had a great toast to world peace.

Everybody wants to be a star and be a star now. At the last White House Correspondents' Dinner, I just have been out across the country and there was a lot of pain. A lot of people lost their homes, lost their jobs, were in danger of doing that, a lot of uncertainty. An absence of confidence that I had not witnessed before. So on the biggest weekend of the year for Washington journalists, turn it on, and there's Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan, and people in designer gowns and black tie and even the president, you know, up there, kind of mocking the press and the press mocking him, out of proportion I think would have been in the past. I just think it sends the wrong signal to the country.

I can't imagine if you're out there, a small business owner in Wichita, Kansas or a school teacher who is worried about losing her pension in Seattle, you tune in to see how the American journalistic establishment is protecting your rights and they're mostly interested in having their picture taken with Kim Kardashian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Tom Brokaw. You can see more fascinating interviews like this one online on our Website, just go to CNN.com/redchair.

Well, there are tornado watches in effect right now. We'll have a look at who needs to be most concerned about them. Next.

And don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer. Head to Cnn.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: It's a labor day weekend and we have rough weather and rough conditions in the United States this holiday weekend. My friend, Karen Maginnis is in the weather center. Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Gary, we've got some live pictures that we're ready to show you right now. These coming out of Southern California. These are live images in Southern California near Los Angeles, the area, Glendora, right now, 75 acres consumed and they're trying to get a handle on it before it gets out of control. As we have seen during this fire season, that has been so tender dry and without moisture and as temperatures continue to climb, we're not out of danger just yet. But if you're in Southern California in the region of Glendora, watch out, you could see some smoky conditions and poor air quality there.

Our other big stories, we've got two of them. The eruption of severe weather across the southeast, the remnants of what used to be category one Hurricane Isaac that made its way on shore that was five days ago. There were 19 fatalities in Haiti. We had four fatalities in the United States. And now, very warm moist unstable air erupting with some of those big thunderstorms especially in northern sections of Alabama, in Madison County right around the vicinity of Huntsville. They've had reports of some downed power lines. So watch out, some wind gusts here very strong, but also back in Mississippi. But look at these big thunderstorms that have erupted right around Huntsville, Alabama, also extending over to northwestern portions of Georgia as well.

If you are ready to head out for your big holiday coming up for tomorrow, it's going to be fairly hot all the quay from Houston and Dallas with temperatures in the upper 90s to low 100 degree temperatures. And folks still without power in Louisiana, right around New Orleans, Gary. It's going to be a hot day for them coming up too?

TUCHMAN: Karen, thank you.

Let's take another look at those live pictures from Glendora, California. These are very dramatic pictures that we're just shot by our affiliate KABC. And I'm being told now that these are actually live. This is what's going on at 4:52 p.m. Pacific Time. You're very concerned about these kind of images because it's normally very dry in Southern California and when you have those El Nino winds sometimes - well Santa Ana winds, I mean, that go from east to west, it causes some huge problems with the winds and with the fires. So that's the picture right now at Southern California.

Hopefully they can contain that but as Karen just told us, it's been a very rough summer in the western United States particularly in California and Colorado where we spent so much time covering the fires. That's the scene right now from Southern California, from our affiliate, KABC, live pictures.

Once dismissed as just big phones, seven-inch tablets are the hottest devices right now. One brand you can't even get anymore, sold out. Which might be right for you? We'll run them down next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: A little girl with autism finally learned to speak with the help of an iPad. For years little (INAUDIBLE) never said a word, she just cried and cried. At age three, doctors said she had a 50-50 chance of ever learning how to speak. Her parents say the iPad appealed to her visual abilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before, we tried everything. Nothing was clicking for her. Because she's a very, very visual person. For her, everything is visual. Ipad gave her that option of being able to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want six or eight?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight or seven.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's amazing. Her mommy and daddy or even for herself when she needs something, she can say, you know, I want goldfish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Isn't that great? The parents say the iPad and a special app have been life changing for their little girl.

In the latest electronic battle ground, it is a text style clash of the titans. CNN Money tech expert Laurie Segall is with us. Laurie, good seeing you. We're talking about the rise of the seven-inch tablets. They were once sort of dismissed by some as "Hey, just a big phone." But those days seem to be over and there are some big announcements coming up, right? What can you tell us about the announcements and the rumors?

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH REPORTER: Sure. Amazon is essentially supposed to unveil the Kindle Fire 2 this week. And a lot of people talking about this because the Kindle Fire is essentially one of the second most popular tablets out there. So a lot of rumors about that.

And then of course, they're not great rumors if you don't have Apple in there somewhere. Apple is expected in the next couple of weeks to unveil the next smartphone. But a lot of people are saying they might also unveil the next tablet, and by the next tablet, we're talking about a mini iPad. So a lot of people talking about that. A lot of people talking about a seven-inch tablets in general.

TUCHMAN: Laurie, tell us, what are the big contenders?

SEGALL: Sure. Well, the new kid on the block, and one that is getting a lot of attention is Google's Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 is for anybody who is a media junky. Let's say you like to use your tablet to watch videos and browse the web. The Nexus 7 is $199, so it's not too expensive, very lightweight and it has a high-definition screen. So essentially, k, it has a front facing camera and it's running on Android's latest operating system. So it's fast. And everybody likes something that's very fast.

So it's going head to head with the Kindle Fire which I mentioned earlier, the number two out there. Essentially, the Kindle Fire is for people who just kind of want a basic, basic tablet. You know, they don't need all the bells and whistles but it's also for the book nerds, the bookworms and people who love to read on their tablets. You essentially get access to Amazon's ebook store, which is second to none. And the third one, and the one that a lot of people are talking about, I would say, is the iPad mini. I have to say that this is complete speculation. We don't know if the iPad mini is actually coming out. But a lot of people are talking about a smaller iPad, one that will still give you access to over 200,000 apps designed specifically for the iPad. The iPad is, you know, the number one tablet out there. Sixty percent of the market share. So it's expected. And the rumors are the price could be a little more than the tablets I just mentioned, about $250 to $300. So a little bit more expensive but you know, you pay for what you get. You essentially get to carry around a computing device with you at all times.

So if they actually do release the iPad mini, that will be a game changer.

TUCHMAN: And Laurie, tell us, we're watching out for a cool story that will be on cnnmoney.com. Tell us about that.

SEGALL: Sure. You know, DNC touches down in Charlotte. A lot of people are going to be looking for a place to stay. One start-up actually capitalized on this need about four years ago, it's a home sharing website called (INAUDIBLE). They're now worth more than a billion. We're going to take a at them about four years later.

TUCHMAN: Laurie Segall, great seeing you. Thank you very much for enlightening us.

SEGALL: Thank you, Gary.

TUCHMAN: I'm Gary Tuchman at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern time, the CNN Special "TEDDY IN HIS OWN WORDS" begins right now.