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Democrats Try To Blunt Republican Message; Dems Unify Message On "Better Off"; Obama To Tour Isaac Damage In Louisiana; Isaac Threats Still Loom In Louisiana; Gas Prices To Start Falling; You Bought It, But Don't Own It; Car Bomb Explodes In Pakistan; Gunman Killed In Washington Standoff; U.S. Halts Afghan Police Training; Obama Revealed: The Man, The President; Kept and Broken Promises; DNC Affects Charlotte's Homeless; E-Mails: Jackson "A Mess" Before Death; Isaac Brings Rain to Midwest; Wet Seal Accused of Racial Bias
Aired September 03, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening this hour in the NEWSROOM, it is a busy time for Charlotte, North Carolina. Final preparations are underway for this week's Democratic National Convention. And Republicans and protestors are also in town looking to spread their message.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Days after the storm system passed over the gulf and we are still dealing with problems, power outages and even a continued threat of flooding. I'm George Howell. The story from New Orleans is coming up.
SAMBOLIN: And it is a fight over alleged discrimination. One woman says she was fired from a popular retailer because of her looks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She literally looked to my district manager and said that's the store manager? I wanted somebody with blond hair and blue eyes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Now this former employee is taking a stand.
And your iPhone and iPod can hold thousands of songs, but did you know that music is not yours? Now one Hollywood actor wants that to change. NEWSROOM starts right now.
Good morning to you. I'm Zoraida Sambolin sitting in for Carol Costello. We begin this morning with President Obama on the road to Charlotte.
That's what he is calling his campaign blitz through four key states as he heads to this week's Democratic National Convention. And here is a look at some of the key speakers who will take the podium at the DNC.
Tomorrow, First Lady Michelle Obama will address the opening night of the gathering. On Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton will give the nominating address. And then, of course, President Obama delivers his acceptance speech on Thursday. But Charlotte is also hearing from some uninvited guests.
"Occupy Wall Street" protesters marched through the streets yesterday. The anti-capitalist group streamed past the corporate headquarters of Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
Meanwhile Obama's Republican rival is enjoying a bit of a bounce after the GOP convention last week. Reuters has this poll shows Mitt Romney has closed a 4 percentage point gap and the men are now deadlocked at 45 percent each.
So Obama and the Dems head into the convention with big goals. Regain some momentum snatched away by Republicans last week and mute the GOP message that Obama made big promises and delivered few results. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is in Charlotte ahead of tomorrow's start of the DNC. So now the Democrats get the big stage. Dana, how will the Democrats' message compare to the Republicans?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are going to try to argue that the president did promise a lot and he delivered on more than people may think.
Look, the bottom line is that Democrats are going to try to have to say that more than what they have said before, which is that things were really bad under Bush and that President Obama inherited just a terrible economy.
But, the tough part for the president is that the whole fundamental question, are you better off than you were four years ago? That is something that his top campaign aides are having a hard time answering.
Just yesterday they fanned out on the Sunday shows. His two top campaign aides couldn't give a definitive answer and one that did gave the wrong answer. He said no.
Today, they are trying to clean that up. But the bottom line is that what they are trying to do is hone the message to something along the lines of what Vice President Joe Biden started to say a couple of months ago.
Which is GM, General Motors, the car company is alive and Osama Bin Laden is dead. Democratic strategists say if they can keep it on that theme then they will do better than they did leading into this, which is they admit not so well.
SAMBOLIN: And concise as well. I would imagine they are trying to do that, get a concise message out there. Dana Bash, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
CNN coverage begins tomorrow at noon with Wolf Blitzer. Submit questions and get answers in a realtime live chat. Log on to cnn.com/roundtable to participate.
President Obama is on the road today, but he will take a break from campaigning to tour Hurricane Isaac's damage in Louisiana. He will meet with local officials and view the recovery efforts underway in and around New Orleans. His presidential rival Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, visited the state on Friday.
And six days after Hurricane Isaac made landfall, big problems still dog much of Louisiana. Take a look at these pictures. Flooding concerns are rising along the Pearl River as it reaches its crest today.
It is now five feet above flood stage and several thousand homes are at risk there. In Plaquemines Parish, many neighborhoods are still underwater. The storm overtopped the levee there swallowing homes in as much as 14 feet of floodwater. Much of the parish is without power and their patience is really running out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF LONNIE GRECO, PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LOUISIANA: Our citizens are holding up pretty good, but you can see the concerns and the issues. It's like why are we the last again? We were the first hit and we are always the last to be repaired? And it's discouraging.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Louisiana and 3,500 people are also living in shelter that's across the state there. We get a report from George Howell in New Orleans.
HOWELL: Days after the storm system passed over New Orleans and we're still dealing with problems in the form of power outages. We know that 129,000 people are still without power in the region. That is according to the utility, Entergy.
When you look on the streets, you can see these utility trucks, they are going neighborhood by neighborhood slowly, but surely doing the job of restoring power.
On the other side of Lake Pontchartrain, another problem persists, the threat of flooding. We are talking about right along the west Pearl River. We're talking about that floodwater that continues to flow south.
But right beside the West Pearl River, there is a navigational canal that officials were very concerned about, two locks on that canal. There was a concern that the locks could fail, but at this point, officials feel more confident that that situation has stabilized.
Also in nearby Plaquemines Parish, we're seeing residents slowly returning to their homes, but many of those neighborhoods remain underwater. We're talking about a storm surge anywhere from 7 to 14 feet that overtopped the 8-foot high levees there.
Officials are doing their best to pump a lot of that water out. They also decided to breach several spots along the levee to get the water out faster.
We have heard from federal officials, from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, she says that the government that people are on the ground to help with the recovery effort. Take a listen.
(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 open up because of either water, lack of power, whatever. We know this is a big, big, tough storm, but we will work through it together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: And Zoraida, we know that President Obama will visit the region today. He will fly into New Orleans specifically to tour the area in St. John the Baptist Parish to see areas affected by the storm -- Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: George Howell in Louisiana for us, thank you for that.
And a footnote to Isaac this morning, a story that will tug at the heart strings of animal lovers. Next hour, Louisiana's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will open its shelter.
The goal is reunite displaced pets with their owners. Many people were separated from their dogs and cats when the storm became more destructive than was expected. There is good news.
Thirty three million people heading home after Labor Day weekend away. Most of them are driving hopefully they budgeted more money for gas.
According to AAA, across the country, we are paying an average of $3.83 for a gallon of gas. The highest is in Hawaii. The lowest is in Colorado. But right now, eight states have averages that are more than $4 a gallon. You know, prices are nearly 20 cents more than this time last year as well and the reason? Hurricanes and the summer blend of gas. Here are some good news. Prices are expected to begin to fall any day now.
Millions of songs are sold on iTunes. We have iPhones and iPods filled with music, but who actually owns those songs and what happens to them when you die?
Alison Kosik is live in New York with more. What happens to them when you die?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's not something that I think about. In fact, I just downloaded a couple of songs last night. It was like the last thing on my mind or not on my mind.
But, you know, that is a question that at least one celebrity is asking at this point and there are several reports, Zoraida, that actor, Bruce Willis is actually thinking about taking legal action against Apple to make sure he can pass on his itunes songs to his four daughters.
He may want to read the extensive iTunes terms and conditions first because if you look at it, there is a section that really makes it clear that those products are licensed not sold to you.
Meaning when you buy a song from iTunes, you're not actually buying it. You ear buying the rights or the license to listen to it. So they are giving it to you to license to it.
Now what's interesting, you look at the terms and conditions, Zoraida and it doesn't specify songs and movies per se so it's not exactly so clear with the songs.
Of course, you have to agree to this really long list of terms and conditions before you even get into the iTunes and you accept those rules.
And you also accept that Apple can change those terms and conditions on a dime as well and also Bruce Willis, by the way, there is a bigger cause here for him.
You know, it could affect a lot of us and not just him if he is able to swing this about what happens to our iTunes songs when we die.
SAMBOLIN: My goodness, I didn't realize it was about dying, but there are other ways to share.
KOSIK: You can definitely share your songs between those on your network. But it's unclear though is whether you can transfer your actually account to somewhere else and that is what Willis is asking about.
But let's go back to the content. You can share your content with up to five other computers that are on the same network. That's up to 10 other Apple devices.
Apple also offers a service called iTunes plus. This allows more flexibility. You pay a little bit extra for each song or movie that you download, but it gives you more flexibility on who you can share your content with.
SAMBOLIN: And you actually could just give your iPod to somebody, can't you?
KOSIK: You could do that, yes.
SAMBOLIN: At the end of the day, right? I guess, that's a way around it. Alison Kosik, thank you for that, very interesting.
All right, it is 12 minutes past the hour. Take a look at this. A huge fire engulfed the hotel in Oregon. Firefighters battle that blaze four hours. We will tell you what investigators are saying.
And protecting NATO troops from attacks by Afghan security. We will tell you the steps special operations forces are taking and talk about those moves with a retired U.S. general.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: It is 15 minutes past the hour. In Pakistan today, a car filled with explosives slammed into a U.S. consulate vehicle in the city of Peshawar. Two American consulate staff were among 25 people wounded in that explosion. Two Pakistanis were killed.
And police have killed a man suspected of going on a shooting rampage, firing at people in cars from a wooded area on Sunday. Only one person was injured in the attack.
And take a look at these amazing pictures. Flames engulfed an abandoned hotel early Sunday morning in Portland, Oregon. Firefighters battled the flames by ground and by boat. Luckily no one was hurt.
And we still don't know what caused a plane to crash at an air show in Davenport, Iowa. Look at that. The pilot of the plane was killed after the plane went down in a field, exploding in front of thousands of spectators.
This I-Report shows a dramatic explosion right as it happened. Thanks to Adam Closel for taking the shot and sending it into us here.
It's 16 minutes the past the hour. The U.S. is moving on a couple of fronts to protect troops from insider attacks in Afghanistan. Special operations forces have temporarily suspended the training of Afghan police recruits while riveting current Afghan officers.
So far this year, 26 U.S. troops have been killed in the so- called "Green on blue attacks." That compares to 24 such U.S. troop deaths for all of 2011.
Let's bring in retired major general and CNN contributor James "Spider" Marks. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.
MAJ. GENERAL JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): Absolutely.
SAMBOLIN: So 14 NATO soldiers were killed in August alone in the insider attacks. Why do you think the number is spiking now?
MARKS: Well, I think it's a combination of factors. Number one, the forces in Afghanistan, the leadership in Afghanistan have admitted to this, is that the vetting process itself when the young recruits are coming in is very thorough and they do a very good job of identifying them.
What happens subsequently is a continuous process that has in many cases been atrophying. They haven't done what they should do to continue to vet these young men as they are being trained through the process and as they integrate in with the NATO forces, primarily U.S. forces.
So it's primarily an effort to try to increase the amount of surveillance and counter intelligence that needs to take place during the follow up period after the initial recruitment and training and then the integration in with those NATO forces.
SAMBOLIN: So they said that they are going to read that. So do you think they are just going to rewrite all the rules of vetting to include what you just suggested?
MARKS: I think those rules are already in place, Zoraida. What they're going to do is be more aggressive about enforcing them, but clearly the pressure is to assure that the United States and the NATO forces have a sufficient number of Afghan forces that are trained by the date certain that the United States is going to depart.
So if you stop the recruitment and re-vet all the troops that are in place right now, you would logically extend the amount of time before the United States reaches the level where it should say for the Afghan military and the government that it's time for us to depart.
The United States has put a horizon out there and says we're going to leave at this date. So the concern would be, are you now going to try to accelerate the recruitment and training after you've done this re-vetting.
The vetting process itself works well it just hasn't been enforced in many places as well as it should during the integration phase of those troops with NATO.
SAMBOLIN: Well, nobody wants to see U.S. forces die or the forces there either, the soldiers there. So do you think that perhaps there is a possibility here that the U.S. will pull out earlier?
MARKS: No, I don't think so, not at all. I think what's important is the United States and NATO have demonstrated a partnership with the Afghans that is really unprecedented and unmatched.
Frankly, the United States is going to lean into the wind. They're not going to back off because we have got this trouble spot. So they are instituting the rules and regulations they have in place.
They are being more aggressive about those and they are also instituting a couple of extra steps in that there might be what is known as the fiscal security detachments or details.
That have been reserved for senior officers that now might be delegated down to lower levels to insure there is always somebody available and in the room when there is a meeting that has the authority and the ability to act quickly if you think something is going to go wrong.
SAMBOLIN: All right, retired major general and CNN contributor, James "Spider" Marks, thank you for being with us this morning. We appreciate your expertise.
MARKS: Thank you.
SAMBOLIN: And a book by a former Navy SEAL who was on the team that killed Osama Bin Laden goes on sale tomorrow. "No Easy Day" is already number one on Amazon's bestseller list. He wrote the book under the name Mark Owen. The author's attorney said no military secrets were spilled nor laws broken in the writing of the book.
What is President Obama really like? You will find out in a new CNN documentary. It is airing tonight, but we have a clip from that documentary you do not want to miss. It's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: It's 23 minutes past the hour. As Democrats prepare for their national convention to start tomorrow, we wanted to take a closer look at President Barack Obama. What is he really like?
CNN's Jessica Yellin talks to the people who know him best. It is part of a new documentary "Obama Revealed." Here's a preview for you.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In my interview with President Obama, I talked to him about why he has not built more relationships with some of those Washington insiders who could have helped get his agenda through. Here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Sometimes Michelle and I not doing the circuit and going out to dinners with folks is perceived as us being cool. It actually has more to do with us being parents.
When we're in town here in Washington, in the evenings, 6:30 we want to be at the dinner table with our kids and we want to help with their home work. I think that sometimes interpreted as me not wanting to be out there slapping backs and wheeling and dealing. It really has to do more with where we are at our time in our lives.
YELLIN: If you get re-elected, your girls will be older. They'll probably have their own weekend plan. They might not want to hang out with mom and dad.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: It is already starting to happen, yes.
YELLIN: Do you think you might do more outreach what you call back slapping with members of Congress?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: My hope is that getting past this election, people will have an opportunity to maybe step back and say, you know what? The differences that divide us are not as important as the common bonds we have as Americans. Some of that will require additional effort on my part. Hopefully, we will see more effort on the other side as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: So in the documentary we delve more deeply into all of these issues, both the president's family life and some of these issues of partisanship in Washington and who shoulders responsibility for it.
And we talked to some of the president's closest aides including Secretary Clinton, his personal assistant, Reggie Love, former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel and the leader of the opposition Speaker John Boehner and a lot of other people.
SAMBOLIN: Our thanks to Jessica Yellin there. Watch "Obama Revealed, The Man, The President." That is tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Politicians make a lot of promises to voters so did Barack Obama. Next, we are looking at the ones he kept and which ones he broke.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Good morning to you. I'm Zoraida Sambolin, in for Carol Costello. Here's what's happening.
President Obama visits Louisiana later today to see the damage from Hurricane Isaac.
Meanwhile the rising Pearl River threatens to flood more homes. In Plaquemines Parish, the power is still out to thousands of homes and businesses and 3,500 people across the state are still in shelters.
Tropical storm Leslie is churning over the Atlantic and could become a hurricane by Friday. Right now it's on a northward track and might threaten Bermuda over the weekend.
Dozens of police officers are hurt while trying to stop fighting between Catholics and Protestants. This is in Northern Ireland it's all -- it's all over talk of Northern Ireland renaming parts of the U.K. or becoming part of Ireland. So far a 17 year-old has been arrested and more arrests are expected there.
In a presidential campaign, both sides will make promises some they keep and some they don't. Republicans have a new ad right now attacking President Obama's broken promises.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are the steps that we must take. There are plenty of steps we can take right now.
Right now.
To start getting our economy back on track.
To help create jobs and grow this economy.
If we are going to deal with our dependence on foreign oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: So this is not new. President Obama released a similar ad attacking Romney about three months ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It started like this.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I speak the language of business. I know how jobs are created.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it ended like this one of the worst economic records in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: So as Democrats prepare to begin their convention, we want to look at what promises the President kept and which ones he broke. Angie Holan writes for PolitiFact.com and she joins me now from Tampa. Thank you for being with us this morning.
So let's start with his promise --
ANGIE HOLAN, POLITIFACT.COM: Thanks for having me.
SAMBOLIN: No, we're happy to have you. Let's start with the promises to allow Americans to import prescription drugs. Did he keep it or not?
HOLAN: This one got a promise broken. It was to allow these cheaper imports into the country. We stopped hearing about this promise around the time of the negotiations for the health care law. It seemed to go by the wayside as the drug companies came on board with the new law which did expand prescription drug coverage for Medicare but as far as the imports, that's a promise broken.
SAMBOLIN: All right and the President also promised to end the use of torture. Did he?
HOLAN: We rated this promise kept. Now these national security promises are very difficult to evaluate but all of the human rights observers that we've spoken with say that they believe that torture or enhanced interrogation has not happened under this administration. So promise kept.
SAMBOLIN: All right and then there was a promise to reform immigration during his first term. This is actually a platform, he ran on this. Was that kept or broken?
HOLAN: We rated this one promise broken. Now I should say we rate our promises based on outcomes. So if someone tried but they didn't make it they still get a promise broken on our promise meter. During the time that the Democrats controlled Congress, this promise just seemed to be crowded out while they were passing health care and financial reform.
SAMBOLIN: And what about his promise to extend the Bush tax cuts for lower income Americans.
HOLAN: This one got a promise kept. President Obama has said many times he doesn't think income taxes should go up for the middle class. In 2010 the Republicans and the Democrats worked out a compromise to keep the current tax rate in place.
Now, I should note these tax rates expire in 2013. So after the election we're going to have to keep a close watch to see what happens next.
SAMBOLIN: Well it's a lot of talk already. Angie Holan thank you for that. And I know you have a whole list -- the ten promises that were broken and ten promises that were kept on PolitiFact.com if people want to take a closer look. Not to do their own research but you do it for them. Angie Holan, thank you for joining us this morning.
HOLAN: Thank you.
SAMBOLIN: And Democrats are -- Democrats are gearing up for their party's convention in North Carolina this week planning parties and a lot of celebrations but not everyone in Charlotte is celebrating.
CNN's Joe John looks at the city's homeless population and the effect the DNC is having on them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a tough economy, cheap motels are a refuge for homeless families. Here in Charlotte, the Sunset Inn typically offers them rooms for $35 a night but during the Democratic National Convention the rate could skyrocket to $250. Resident Rosalynn Curry says she can't afford it.
ROSALYNN CURRY, CHARLOTTE RESIDENT: I think it's kind of ridiculous. I mean -- but what can I do about it?
JOHNS: For the past two months Curry has been living in one of these small rooms with six other people including her three kids. Now she is forced to move out at a time when school has just started.
(on camera): Are your kids school age?
CURRY: One is.
JOHNS: How are you going to work that?
CURRY: I have no clue. I don't know. I'm just playing it day by day. I know it's not smart but I got to do what I got to do.
JOHNS (voice-over): The manager at the Sunset Inn says he can't turn down the chance to cash in while prices are high.
RICKY PATEL, MANAGER, SUNSET INN: Everybody is raising the price up, so why not we? It's not about homeless or anything else. But it's just like, we give them reasonable price, reasonable rates. And if they could afford it they could stay.
CARLA LEAF, COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: I do get frustrated from a personal level because I don't feel that people should have a life that doesn't have dignity.
JOHNS: During the DNC Carla Leaf will help find beds for homeless families at places like the Covenant Presbyterian Church it's part of a network of charity that been planning for this for weeks.
LEAF: We hope to have eight families here.
JOHNS: The charities within the network including the Urban Ministry Center try to work together because it's so hard to predict how many beds they will need.
DALE MULLENNIX, URBAN MINISTRY CENTER: We don't know numbers which is part of our challenge. And so we're preparing as if there might be hundreds. We're hoping there will very few if any.
JOHNS (on camera): And it's made more difficult by the increase in the number of homeless families which has exploded here recently. It went up 36 percent in 2010 another 21 percent in 2011. And moving from place to place takes a big toll on families with children.
MULLENNIX: It's more than just inconvenient. Most of these folks don't have their own transportation and in that room they probably have everything they own in the world. Where are they going? How will they move that stuff and where will that stuff be that it stays safe?
JOHNS: If the motels drop their prices right after the convention ends, families could move back in next week but Darren Ash of Charlotte Family Housing said that still doesn't fix the real problem.
DARREN ASH, CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING: This was just a small blip on the screen compared to the bigger issue we're facing here. So this Democratic National Convention is not really a huge deal for us. We're preparing for the overflow but the bigger issue is that our spike in family homelessness caught us off-guard in this city.
JOHNS: CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Boy that spike is tremendous, homelessness up by 36 percent. Our thanks to Joe Johns for that.
So e-mails from Michael Jackson's tour promoter paint a scary picture of the troubled star as he prepared for his final "This is It" tour. We have the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: It is 40 minutes past the hour.
The promoter for Michael Jackson's comeback tour wasn't so sure that the King of Pop was ready. E-mails in Sunday's "Los Angeles Times" showed that the tour director believed Michael was paranoid and obsessive and suggested that a quote, "top psychiatrist evaluate him ASAP".
Nischelle Turner joins me from Los Angeles. And Nischelle what else is in those e-mails?
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN SHOWBIZ CORRESPONDENT: Well there is a lot to write but plain and simple the executives and these e-mails were saying they were really worried about Michael Jackson's health and also his ability to perform.
Now the "LA Times" obtained these e-mails after they were gathered for an insurance company's lawsuit and this lawsuit was seeking to void a $17.5 million policy purchase by promoter AEG Live. The e-mails detail an encounter between AEG Live President Randy Phillips and Michael Jackson the day that the pop star was to publicly announce 50 shows scheduled for London's '02 Arena.
The e-mails has Phillips saying quote, "M.J. is locked in his room drunk and despondent. I'm trying to sober him up."
And he also adds, quote, "I screamed at him so loud the walls are shaking, he is an emotionally paralyzed mess, riddled with self- loathing and doubt now that it is show time."
Now we have been calling, of course, for reaction but AEG Live and its lawyer have not responded to us and spokes people from the Jackson family and the state have decided to decline comment on these e-mails -- Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: All right, I got another question for you. There are some new details about Prince Harry's vacation in Vegas. What else can you tell us about that?
TURNER: You know, it's been two weeks since these reports from the Vegas vacation surfaced and the stories are still coming out about Prince Harry. The British papers were a little bit late to the party. They didn't run the photos right away.
But now they seem to be kind of reveling in all of the coverage. One woman now has come forward to tell a British tabloid that she kissed the Prince that night but that he was a gentleman and that it didn't go beyond that. And of course, there are other tabloid reports out there that say this never happened and that she wasn't even in the room with him.
But of course the real news will come when the Prince makes his first public appearance, which is apparently going to happen today. According to reports Prince Harry is scheduled to appear at a children's charity event that he is a patron of. It's a good cause, probably a good time for him to do his reappearance in the public when he is surrounded by kids and happy times.
SAMBOLIN: Very good point. Nischelle Turner, live for us in Los Angeles, thank you very much.
TURNER: Thanks Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: Join A.J. Hammer on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" 11:00 Eastern on HLN.
And another Prince is making headlines. Prince Andrew rappelled down London's Shards skyscraper this morning in order to raise money for charity. He made the decent from the 87th to the 20th story in 30 minutes. The Shard is the tallest building in Western Europe.
Goodness. Boy is that scary. Take a look at this. It is an out of control truck driving straight into a panicked crowd. It was all caught on video. You're going to see this play out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back. 45 minutes past the hour. Checking top stories.
The Democratic National Convention kicks off in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a Labor Day celebration today. The actual convention starts tomorrow. Tuesday's highlights include speeches from First Lady Michelle Obama and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro.
In sports, Penn State looks to rebound this week after losing its season opener at home to Ohio University. The Nittany Lions opened a new era Saturday in the wake of Joe Paterno's death and sanctions tied to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Penn State took a 14-3 halftime lead but the Bobcats rallied for a 24-14 victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN URSCHEL, PENN STATE GUARD: It's been an emotional year for us. I mean we were extremely happy to get out there and get to playing football. And obviously we're not happy with the result. But we've got a lot of football left. We've got 11 games to go and one games doesn't make or break a season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Penn state plays at Virginia, Saturday.
Wow. It's tough to look at. That is a monster truck. It spins out of control, plows into a crowd of terrified onlookers. This is a race in Oregon this weekend. Only three people in the front row were injured. Can you believe that? From the looks of it, things could have been a whole lot worse. That is just incredible video.
And this summer, farmers across much of the country have been hoping for the same thing -- rain. And this weekend Isaac brought some much need moisture to the Midwest. Nearly two inches but it's not enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD DETRING, FARMER, BRD FARMS: 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.
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.
BEN DAVIS, CATTLE RANCHER: It's a gamble. We hope we will get some fall regrowth. That we will get enough moisture that it will start growing again and we will have a little bit of something to feed them this winter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And if not?
DAVIS: We will have to sell a bunch more cows.
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SAMBOLIN: That's a tough situation there.
Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is joining us now. And you know, they were saying earlier when Isaac was first starting that they were hoping for about eight inches of rain headed into their area. Did they get anywhere near that. I thought I just saw two inches?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes; two and three on the whole throughout places like Illinois and Indiana but certainly affecting so many livelihoods.
I want to look at how much rain we did see. This is places like where he is, you know farmers are where the corn, the sore beans, the wheat. Illinois picked up about five and a half, a little more than that in Greenville; Kansas City just under three, so not huge numbers -- not 8 and 9. But look at these huge numbers. Six times more than that in places like New Orleans, over 20 inches. This is Isaac storm total. In Alabama, 17 -- over 17 and a half. Slidell -- almost 10.5.
So you get the picture. Where we really needed the rain -- this is the drought monitor from last week. The newest drought monitor will come out on this Thursday including the Isaac rain. But this is where we didn't need it, of course, right. And that's where we got it. And where we certainly did see in the darkest reds, extreme to exceptional drought, we didn't get those huge numbers.
I just want to give you one example. This is Arkansas and this is the drought monitor and this is the rainfall total we saw. Of course, here is the darkest red where we needed it and you can see how much we picked up, maybe one to three inches. Kind of a good snapshot of where we really need it didn't really get it to the extent that we could. We do have moisture in the forecast so we do have some more chances for rain for the next few days -- Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: There is a little good news. Thank you so much, Alexandra Steele.
49 minutes past the hour. Cape Cod Beach goers are staying close to shore on this Labor Day with ocean swimming banned due to great white shark sightings. The sharks have been coming in as close 15 feet close from shore to feed on seals.
Look at this, one great white washed up on the beach Saturday. State officials are not sure how the 1,600 pound shark died. Wow.
Blond hair and blue eyes as qualifications for a job -- that's what a former Wet Seal worker says she was told and says it is why she was fired.
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SAMBOLIN: You know the saying you are what you eat? In today's "Daily Dose", Cooking Channel's Ellie Krieger has tips to get you on the right track.
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ELLIE KRIEGER, COOKING CHANNEL: The classic image of a red heart is a great reminder of some of the best foods you can eat to protect your own heart. Red foods get their glorious color from two anti- oxidants that are very heart friendly, called lycopene and anthocyanin.
The best sources of lycopene are water melon, juicy delicious water melon and tomatoes. And lycopene acts in the body to protect the heart against damage.
The best sources of anthocyanin are foods like red cherries, red grapes and berries. Anthocyanin works to reduce inflammation in the body and inflammation is thought to be one of the root causes of heart disease. So eat red for your heart health.
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SAMBOLIN: Blond hair and blue eyes, one former worker says that is the brand image she didn't fit and she says that's why she was fired from a popular clothing store. Now she is part of what could be a class action lawsuit against Wet Seal.
Here's Kyung Lah with the details.
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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 says management made clear to her.
NICOLE COGDELL, PLAINTIFF: A brand image is one thing. However, being terminated because you're African-American is something totally different.
LAH: Fired says Cogdell because she is black. In 2008, she was a manager of a Wet Seal store at 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 a higher end mall, the King of Prussia. Most of the customers there are white.
Then the vice president of the company came to inspect the store. That's when Cogdell says 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 says her replacement at the King of Prussia mall was a white manager with less experience and poor performance record but paid more.
(on camera): 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 a vice president at Wet Seal with an e-mail.
(voice-over): The e-mail was forwarded to Cogdell. She said it's from the very same vice president who said she wanted a blond manage with blue eyes. The e-mail from the VP who has since left Wet Seal says, quote, "Need diversity. African-Americans dominate. Huge issue."
(on camera): When you read that, what did you think?
NANCY DEMIS, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: I thought this is the essential smoking gun.
LAH: Lawyer Nancy Demis represents many 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 enforced corporate policy because black employees don't fit the brand image.
The e-mails, 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 are asking a federal court to declare this as a class action lawsuit on behalf of 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 that when all the facts come out in 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."
LAH: Wet Seal's image campaign does include an African-American model. Cogdell, who no longer works in retail, believes this, "Like much of fashion, it's just an image".
Kyung Lah, CNN Los Angeles.
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SAMBOLIN: I'm Zoraida Sambolin, thank you for joining us. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Ashleigh Banfield.
