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President Obama Headlines Final Night of Democratic National Convention; Romney's Tax Returns Stolen?; Interview with Taylor Batten;

Aired September 06, 2012 - 15:03   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to take you back to Mitt Romney, as promised. Moments ago, he spoke about the Democratic National Convention. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually think that it will be interesting to listen to the President tonight.

What I would like him to do is report on his promises, but there are forgotten promises and forgotten people. Over the last four years, the President has said that he was going to create jobs for the American people and that hasn't happened. He said he'd cut the deficit in half. And that hasn't happened.

He said that incomes would rise and instead, incomes have gone down. And I think this is a time not for him to start restating new promises, but to report on the promises he made. I think he wants a promises reset. We want a report on the promises he made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go to Jim Acosta. Here he is in Manchester, New Hampshire.

No surprise we're hearing from Mitt Romney. It was President Obama who was out on the trail last week during the Tampa -- the RNC. Remind us what Mitt Romney's been up to this week.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, you did say the President was out last week. But Mitt Romney did not really have that same kind of schedule this week. He did not have any big public rallies where they invited hundreds of thousands of people to show up for an event where he would make remarks.

Instead, he's been sort of venturing out for a small event here or a small event there, and that's what he did today when he made those remarks about President Obama's speech at the convention back in 2008, and talking about the economy.

Brooke, all week, he's been in debate prep, he's been doing debate prep for the last three days with Ohio Senator Rob Portman, and they have been sort of sequestered inside the home of his former lieutenant governor, Kerry Healey. It's interesting to see Mitt Romney come out and make these sort of comments. But he was also asked at this event that just wrapped up a little while ago in Concord, is he going to watch the Democratic Convention? He basically said, no, he hasn't watched all week and he won't be watching tonight.

BALDWIN: So he will not be watching, he will not be watching. Jim Acosta, thank you.

Speaking of Mitt Romney, not of his campaign here, but to this bizarre case that the Secret Service is now investigating. Here's the deal. Some anonymous hackers say they have stolen Mitt Romney's tax returns, including the ones before 2010, the years the presidential nominee has declined to release thus far. But that's not even the strangest part.

The thieves are demanding a million dollars in ransom money for Mitt Romney's returns which they say they took, admittedly, if you read this memo, that they took from the accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers. The hackers, they write about on this Web site -- quote -- "Convert a million USD, U.S. dollars, to Bitcoins" -- that's a form of Internet money.

"Transfer to the Bitcoin address below. The keys to unlock the data will be purged and whatever is inside the documents will remain a secret forever."

There is so much more to this story. Thank goodness Brian Todd is working on this one for us today, because this could all be a hoax. Let's just get that out there. We should know for sure at some point, right, whether or not this is the real deal or not. There's a deadline.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There is a deadline.

Brooke, they're apparently giving PricewaterhouseCoopers and possibly even the Romneys some time to come up with this ransom money. The alleged hackers say this deadline is now three weeks away. This group says -- quote -- "If the parties interested do not want the encrypted key released to the public to unlock these documents on September 28 of this year, then payment will be necessary" -- end quote.

But, as you mentioned, it's not clear at all, Brooke, whether this is a legitimate heist or a complete hoax. The group said it sent flash drive copies of the stolen records to Democratic and Republican Party offices in Williamson County, Tennessee. But Jean Barwick of the Republican Party office there said it didn't look quite right to her. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was about a 5x7 padded envelope, with a handwritten note on the front, said "For Rep Leaders." And leaders was spelled incorrectly. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Hmm. OK.

TODD: The Democratic Party chairman in that county also got a copy. He said he thought it was a scam and almost threw it away when he got it, but the Secret Service showed up to collect it.

BALDWIN: Leaders was spelled incorrectly. That's fishy.

Maybe they just didn't ace the spelling bees, but they're great on the computer. Let me ask you because I read part of the memo. It's very specific when it comes to within PWC the floors in which they were traversing to get to the files. Walk me through some of that.

TODD: That's right.

The group claims to have gone into a PricewaterhouseCoopers office in Franklin, Tennessee, on a specific date, August 25, and they say they got access to the network file servers there and copied over the tax documents of Mitt and Ann Romney.

They say that a scanned image of Mitt Romney's signature from the forms was included in the flash drive copies which they sent to PricewaterhouseCoopers and those party offices.

BALDWIN: What is PricewaterhouseCoopers saying about this?

TODD: They tweeted their response to this yesterday.

The tweet says -- quote -- "Regarding recent reports, we are working with the Secret Service. At this time, there's no evidence of unauthorized access to our data."

We also spoke with a Pricewaterhouse spokesman this afternoon. He said he could not say how long they have handled the Romneys' taxes. We were asking him some specific questions there. And when we asked why this office in Tennessee, he said he had no idea and he said they have more than 80 offices around the country and there's nothing unique about that Tennessee office.

We will hopefully see in the coming days whether this is a big fat hoax or not.

BALDWIN: Whether or not it is, obviously these are the key tax returns that so many Americans really would like to see, this is prior to 2010. What about the Romney campaign? Do they believe this?

TODD: They're not saying much of anything right now. A campaign spokeswoman directed all the questions to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

I think they're almost being like the rest of us, a little bit cagey trying to investigate this and say exactly what it is at this point. Because we just don't know. Again, this group is claiming to be willing to send some of this information to media entities as well. We will see if that happens.

BALDWIN: Beyond bizarre. Brian Todd, we will look for more of your reporting coming up on "THE SITUATION ROOM."

We appreciate that. There is still a lot more happening this hour. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Just hours after the President sells himself tonight, America gets a big-time jobs report. We will tell you what it is you need to look for as Wall Street gets ready. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): One woman says a man raped her, got her pregnant and forced her to the breaking point. That point ended with a head in the street.

Plus, Judy Blume, one of America's most favorite authors, reveals she has cancer. Find out what you should do if a doctor gives you the same diagnosis.

He called himself the angel of death. Now a young man who killed four people apparently will soon walk free.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to an update what's happening today in Syria.

The opposition claims at least another 97 people have been killed in fighting across the country. Three U.S. lawmakers are now in Baghdad, and they're meeting with leaders in Iraq. Iraq disputes reports that it is allowing Iran to use its airspace to delivery weapons to Syria. That denial comes as the lawmakers warn against such an act.

Let me ask you something. What is your breaking point? Where's the edge? One woman says she was pushed to it and it led to a gruesome discovery in the middle of the street. What you're about to see is extremely graphic, so if there are any little ones in the room right now, let me give you a beat to get them to turn away.

Here now, Monita Rajpal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nevin Yildirim, a 26-year-old mother of two, claims that her husband's cousin, a 35-year-old man, tormented and abused her for months while her husband was out of town.

Nurettin Gider entered her home while she was asleep and raped her at gunpoint, threatening to kill her children if she screamed. She says he subsequently raped her many times and took pictures of her with his cell phone and threatened to publish them. She says she was too afraid to tell any about the rapes.

Then last Tuesday, Yildirim had enough. She said Gider called. She was sure he was going to rape her again. When he arrived at her house, she grabbed a rifle and shot him repeatedly. Then she cut off his head and carried it to the town square.

Witnesses say she held the severed head in front of men at a coffee house and said -- quote -- "Don't play with my honor. Here is the head of the man who played with my honor." And then she tossed the severed head on the ground. Her father explained why she did it.

ZEKERIYA YILDIZ, FATHER (through translator): He had been abusing my child for a long time and using a weapon, saying he would kill her and kill her children. My child reached her wits' end because she couldn't handle it anymore.

RAJPAL: Witnesses in the square called police and Yildirim was arrested. She says she regrets what happened, but says her reputation was in jeopardy and felt she needed to clean her honor. Now she is five months pregnant and insists the rapist is the father.

According to a local clinic, she first tried to get an abortion when she was about 14 weeks pregnant, but was told abortion was not an option.

Turkish law does not allow abortions after 10 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger. Yildirim says she still wants an abortion and she has the support of Turkish women's groups. She says she's ready to die.

Monita Rajpal, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: A British cyclist just out for a spin in the French Alps comes across a murder scene so horrific, it is making news all around the globe. Here's what he found, four people shot dead, three of them in the head execution style and one of the dead, a cyclist who might have witnessed the killing.

An 8-year-old who had been wounded three times was found walking on the road. Listen to the French prosecutor delivering this news, a 4-year-old discovered alive, hiding under her mother's lifeless body.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC MAILLAUD, PROSECUTOR: We discovered this girl who is completely immobile and who was stuck in the vehicle in the back seat on the legs of one of the women who had died, a very large traveling bag. And this explains why she couldn't be seen. She's 4 years old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Four years old, hiding under her dead mother. The family vacationing from Britain had been staying at a campsite at a lake near the French Alps. The car was found near the small village of Chevaline.

The girl was in that car under her mother's body for eight hours after the crime was found. Police say they were told not to disturb anything until forensics investigators arrived. Her sister is now in a hospital undergoing surgery. Police still have no suspect, no motive, no weapon.

A well-known author opens about her battle with breast cancer. What should you do if you hear the word cancer? Elizabeth Cohen has answers. We will talk about Judy Blume next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: One of the most important figures in the history of the NFL has died. Art Modell was the owner of the Cleveland Browns for 35 years until he moved the team to Baltimore. That was back in 1996.

The move angered a lot of fans in Cleveland, but Modell was beloved in Baltimore. He was 87 years old.

And I don't know about you. I grew up reading Judy Blume's books. She writes for young adults and they certainly have spunk and heart and just really real-life stuff. No sugarcoating here with Judy Blume and that is precisely how the author of such coming-of-age classics like "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" wants you to accept her news, that news being she's battling breast cancer.

She doesn't want you to blubber either, "Blubber," one of the titles of her books.

I want to bring in Elizabeth Cohen and we were just talking in the commercial break about how much we just absolutely adored her books. Just to hear this news, I read about it this morning, thought, my goodness. With her perfect dose of humor, she blogs about this. Her story, though, it wasn't a mammogram, it was an ultrasound that caught her breast cancer.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You hear get your mammogram, get your mammogram. Sometimes it's an ultrasound or an MRI that picks up a breast cancer.

She says she has dense breasts and the doctor recommended an ultrasound. That's not uncommon for a doctor to say get an ultrasound and a mammogram if you have dense breasts. It's worth talking to your doctor about all the options that are out there.

BALDWIN: I want to read just some of her blog. I actually sent this to my aunt who had a lumpectomy a week ago today. But this is part of what Judy Blume writes -- quote -- "Wait, me? There's no breast cancer in my family. Recent extensive genetic testing shows no genetic connection. I haven't eaten red meat in more than 30 years, I have never smoked, I exercise everyday. Forget alcohol, it's bad for my reflux. I have been the same weight my whole adult life. How is this possible? Well, guess what? It's possible." It's a huge frustration for women. And I'm thinking of my aunt as well that lived a pretty good healthy life. You think what the heck have I done? What other risks are out there?

COHEN: You can do everything right and still get cancer, including breast cancer, and that's just the reality of it.

Judy Blume did have hormone replacement therapy for the past 17 years and it sounds like she went on it about the time of menopause and then she's now in her mid-70s. Getting HRT, hormone replacement therapy does increase the risk for getting breast cancer. The longer you take it, the more that risk increases. She mentions she's no longer on it and many women have opted to go off of HRT ever since that landmark study about 10 years ago that said, wait a second, hormone replacement therapy may not be great in many instances.

BALDWIN: What do you do? It's such a big question. But what do you do when the doctor says you have the C word, cancer?

COHEN: You do what Judy Blume did. She was an empowered patient. First of all, you have got to read her blog. It's really terrific.

BALDWIN: It is so great. I will tweet it out.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Great. Good idea.

First of all, what you do is you learn everything you can on reputable Web sites. Second of all, what you do is you get a second opinion if there are any questions at all or even if you just want to know, are we sure it's cancer and are we sure it's this type of cancer? Those things matter.

Thirdly, get support. You feel so alone sometimes when you get a horrific diagnosis, but there are other people who have been down this road before. You can learn from their wisdom. It's worth tapping into that wisdom, the wisdom of crowds and learning from them.

BALDWIN: Getting that support that you so need.

COHEN: And getting that support.

BALDWIN: I will tweet the link, I promise, @BrookeBCNN. I will tweet it out.

Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen, so much.

COHEN: She's a wonderful writer and we wish her the best.

BALDWIN: Amazing. Amazing. We do.

And you can also learn much more about breast cancer and becoming -- as Elizabeth always tells us, be the empowered patient you can be. Go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient. Now to this. Is it a political buzzkill? DNC organizers may have changed the venue for the President's big speech tonight from the big outdoor football stadium to the smaller indoor arena. Is there a make-good in the works for the thousands of people who waited and worked for those credentials who cannot see the President in person tonight?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: President Obama a little while ago apologized to about 65,000 people on the phone. They all had the tickets, credentials to get to hear his big speech tonight. But as you know by now, it got moved indoors. And now those tickets are, well, worthless.

Here is just a piece of that call with the President.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My main message is, we can't let a little thunder and lightning get us down. We are going to have to roll with it.

And while we may not be able to get to be together in person, I hope you're still going to gather together at community watch parties. They're happening not here just in Charlotte, but all across North Carolina, all across the rest of the country. I hope you tune in tonight, watch the speech together. Let me know what you think afterwards.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was the President.

Here is Taylor Batten. He is the editorial page editor of "The Charlotte Observer."

Taylor, now, from what I'm being told moments ago, you tell me, is it pouring rain right now in Charlotte?

TAYLOR BATTEN, "THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER": That's the funny thing. It is pouring at this moment. And that might explain why they did this, but it will clear out quickly and it will be a beautiful evening.

BALDWIN: You almost kind of wish it would continue to pour rain later tonight.

But let's just talk about this conference call and this story, because how are these the shut-out credential holders reacting to this? You wrote in your piece this morning, you said it was just a huge buzzkill.

BATTEN: Well, it is for them. There are 65,000 people who worked really hard to get those credentials in the first place. These are not delegates or journalists. These are regular community folks. They volunteered for at least nine hours for the Obama campaign and others stood in line for up to seven hours to get those credentials and now those have been yanked away.

So, you know, I think that they're all disappointed. Most of them are trying to be understanding and, you know, most of them are Obama supporters, so they're not going to come out too hard, but they're obviously disappointed by the move.

BALDWIN: OK, so, this is several hours wasted now. And, I mean, I listened to the president. He apologized. They basically said, hey, go to a watch party, you know, tonight.

But I don't know if that's good enough and I'm about to ask one of the credential holders in a minute.

Did they offer up any other "make-goods" from the Obama camp?

BATTEN: Well, you know, they touted the conference call today with the 65,000 people as a first start on making good and I don't think that really does much.

They also say that they are trying to plan events between now and the election where these 65,000 people can be with Obama in person.

There have been no details of any kind yet and, even if those do come together, you've got to think for those credential holders that can't be as exciting as being at the event for his acceptance speech.

BALDWIN: And let me just say, Taylor, as we're looking at you, we also have a picture, again, just to emphasize the rain, at least for now. It is a nasty, nasty afternoon in Charlotte.

But, again, as you mentioned, you know, it's supposed to be pretty. We'll wait to see.

But I want to go back to your piece because, you know, you kind of mentioned the enthusiasm. I mean, look, Republicans are jumping on this and saying, hey, they couldn't have filled that stadium anyway.

Democrats coming back and saying, no, no, no. We filled it and then some with 19,000 people on a waiting list, but you talk about, you know, this isn't a good thing when it comes to enthusiasm.

Do you think this will sway a vote come November?

BATTEN: Well, you know, I don't think anybody's going to certainly change their vote over getting left out of this.

But in a state where Obama won this state by less than one-half- of-one percent in 2008. And, so, I think that doing anything that could dampen voter enthusiasm is a really risky move.

BALDWIN: Taylor Batten, we're going to talk about voter enthusiasm with my next guest. I appreciate you from the "Charlotte Observer."

My next guest, here, one of those ticket holders, I suppose that credential can just collect a little dust on her shelf here at home. She knows the chance to hear the president give that acceptance speech is really just this once in a lifetime opportunity.

She is Hillary Towle. She joins me now by phone from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. And, Hillary, the only way now you will see the president is on television. Is the word "bummed," are you bummed? Does that fully -- is that the right word?

HILLARY TOWLE, FORMER TICKET HOLDER FOR OBAMA ACCEPTANCE SPEECH (via telephone): I would say so, absolutely. Bummed, disappointed and upset, for sure.

BALDWIN: Upset, what do you mean by that?

TOWLE (via telephone): Well, like you mentioned, for a lot of people, this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, myself included.

I've never heard Obama speak live, all four years of his presidency, so I was particularly excited to hear him tonight, especially at the Democratic National Convention instead of just any regular old venue.

So, to not be able to attend is a bit heartbreaking.

BALDWIN: So, you won't get to see him tonight, but you will be able to say to your friends, hey, I was on the phone with President Obama today, presuming you were on that phone call. Is that good enough for you?

TOWLE (via telephone): It definitely helped. It definitely helped. He did a great job with about a five-minute phone call. And he was very apologetic and gave an great explanation for the change in venue, so it helped a little bit.

BALDWIN: And just to be clear because I jumped on the call, as well, and the president was very clear about, you know, this isn't just a football game. This is an issue of national security and, especially when it comes to thunderstorms and, heaven forbid, lightning, you have 64,000 people. It's not a matter of getting them in this stadium. It's a matter of having to suddenly get them out.

But I want to ask you, because he also made the point about, look, remember where they were four years ago in Denver and this whole culture, really, with this campaign of inclusion, right, the enthusiasm with the voters, so since that lack of inclusion will not be happening tonight, does that dim some of the Obama allure for you?

TOWLE (via telephone): Not for me personally and I don't think it would for other people, as well. I think everyone -- I know I'm just as excited.

He had no control over the weather. I don't put any blame on him or his people working for him at all.

So, I'm just as excited. You know, if I get to hear him in the future, that'll be icing on the cake, but I think everyone will still be behind him, 100 percent. BALDWIN: So, it sounds like he still has your vote come November 6th?

TOWLE (via telephone): Absolutely.

BALDWIN: All right, Hillary Towle, thank you very much.

Now to this, the controversial portion of the "show-me-your- papers" immigration law in Arizona has fueled protests all across the country. Now that law is one step closer to being enforced.

We're "On the Case," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: SB 1070, you know what that is. Two years ago, it was in every headline and the only source of really just this huge outcry.

That is the name of the controversial law in Arizona that led to dozens of protests just like this one, plus boycotts of the state.

That part of the law many immigrant advocates worried about has just been upheld by a federal judge. She ruled that what's become known as the quote/unquote "show-me-your-papers" statute can, in fact, stand.

It says that police officers can ask people, when they pull them over for something else, they can ask about their citizenship while investigating a certain offense.

We're "On the Case" here today, once again, with Mr. Joey Jackson, defense attorney.

JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: How are you, Brooke?

BALDWIN: Hello, hello. All right, so, I read about this this morning and I thought, OK, well, why is this a big deal? Because we know that the Supreme Court upheld this statute.

You know, I remember Jan Brewer saying that this was a win for her because the "show-me-your-papers" was upheld. What does this ruling mean?

JACKSON: So, what happens now is that there's this big concern. Why is there concern? Because it's felt that it's going to be discriminatorily applied. Now, we're going to stop you not because you committed an offense, but because we want to check what your immigration status was.

So, they went to the judge and they said, look, can we correct this a little bit? But the Supreme Court left a little opening here and here's what they said.

In the event -- we're going to uphold it, OK? It's going to be all good, but if you can show me, not just speculative, that, you know what, it's going to result in discrimination, but if you can show me specific instances of discrimination, then we will look at it.

But just on the basis of saying it may be discriminatory because people may be stopped, that's not enough.

And, so, although it's going into effect and there's a 10-day provision, Brooke, where the Department of Justice and the Arizona officials are going to get together and try to work something out, OK?

So, at this point, we're not out of the woods yet because it will go into effect and it will go into effect. It's completely legal and proper, but if they can show it's discriminatorily applied, it can come back and it can be litigated again.

So, you know we like to talk about litigation. More litigation.

BALDWIN: Sounds like that's not over. There is, though, part of the same federal ruling, there was a part of the law that was not upheld.

JACKSON: Right. So, what happens is, is that there is something called preemption. What does that mean? It means that the federal government has preempted the field. It means the federal government is the one that has the last word.

Immigration is historically and customarily a federal issue, so for a state to be implementing provisions that are too harsh or that contradict the federal law is not appropriate and not lawful.

And, so, the provision you're talking about with regard to harboring aliens or harboring people who are illegal, that's a problem because the provisions in Arizona were far too harsh and it was felt by the court that it's in direct conflict and contrast with what the feds allow you to do.

BALDWIN: OK, so that was not upheld. The "show-me-your-papers," yes.

JACKSON: Exactly.

BALDWIN: I want to move to this next case. So, this case, this is out of California about an insane killer who is not going free, but he is getting out of the mental institution he has lived in for the last decade and now the loved ones of his victims told our affiliate in L.A., they told KTLA, they fear for the public's safety.

This guy's name is David Attias and he was known as the "Angel of Death." Back in 2002, he ran down four people and was found guilty of second-degree murder and of being legally insane.

A judge has just ruled that this man can go to a less restrictive mental health facility.

So, KTLA reports that mental health professionals found Attias was -- and I'm quoting them here ...

JACKSON: It's amazing, Brooke. BALDWIN: They're quoting him as being argumentative ...

JACKSON: Irritable.

BALDWIN: ... irritable, exhibiting sexually inappropriate behavior, but he's no longer a threat to society?

JACKSON: Yeah, it kind of doesn't make sense because, you know, it's sort of the lead-in to it, right, when you talk about somebody being irritable and argumentative, you think they could potentially be dangerous.

And, so, you have to question whether or not what they're saying tracks what they believe and that he's not a threat.

The good news here is that, of course, he's not going to be released. In the trial, of course, he was convicted, four counts, right, of second-degree murder, but after that, Brooke, he's found to be insane.

So, what did they do? They put him in a state facility. The whole argument here is whether he should be released from that facility. The judge says you can be conditionally released, but not into society, into another facility which is less restrictive.

So, he'll still be off the street. My whole thing, Brooke, if you're better and mentally sane now, then why not go to jail? Make sense?

BALDWIN: Why not?

JACKSON: That's the question.

BALDWIN: I guess not. Joey Jackson, see you tomorrow.

JACKSON: A pleasure. Absolutely.

BALDWIN: See you tomorrow, "On the Case."

Coming up, young children, victims of the global recession, going without the essentials, food, clothing. Next, we'll show you the new reality for two countries hit hard by child poverty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: How do you tell hungry children that you simply can't afford enough food to fill their empty stomachs? One out of 10 American families with children are struggling just to get enough food to eat.

Look at this. This is from a new USDA study. Almost 18 million U.S. households do not get enough food, 18 million. The number of Americans on food stamps hit a grim record yesterday -- 46 million people use food stamps. Almost half of those on food stamps are children. Unfortunately, children are going hungry, of course, not just in the States, but all around the world. It is a growing problem, especially in these tough times.

Matthew Chance reports on a charity that's working to help vulnerable people in several countries. He focused on Britain's children in poverty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It may be one of the world's richest countries, but pockets of Britain are increasingly gripped by poverty.

This Save the Children campaign highlights one part of the problem, kids from impoverished homes doing worse at schools.

Amid a recession, Britain's poorest children, says the charity, are missing out on essentials, like toys, school trips and new shoes.

CHRIS WELLINGS, HEAD OF U.K. POVERTY, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Poverty in the U.K. is different to poverty in some of the poorest countries in the world.

It's about children participating fully in society, but we are starting to see that, with the rising pressures on families at the moment, around high unemployment, around rising living costs, around government cuts, we are starting to see that families need to provide the basics and they're struggling to do that.

CHANCE: Families like Natalie and her 2-year-old son, Noah, an unemployed single mom, Natalie says her state benefits don't even pay the bills.

NATALIE WILKINSON, MOTHER: It's cold here. We have jumpers and keep warm in the house and blankets rather than turn the fire on or turn the radiators on. We just can't afford to run them.

CHANCE: There's even a growing problem in Britain with food. Unemployed or overburdened with debt, aide workers say thousands of British families are turning to food banks like this one outside London for basic supplies.

The charity puts together hampers for people finding it difficult to feed their families alone.

This is the kind of food you can expect when a charity in Britain packs your weekly food bags. There's some over here that have already been prepared.

You can see there's some milk, some tea bags, some biscuits, as well. Over here, some chopped tomatoes in a can, some baked beans, pasta ready to be cooked, lots of other things. It's all expected to last between 7 and 10 days for a single family, so it's not that much.

But charities are saying that, as the global recession intensifies, more and more British families will be dependent on handouts like these just to survive.

The British government says it's committed to eradicating child poverty. Save the Children complains they're not doing enough.

And this first British fundraising campaign, says the charity, may keep some children here off the poverty line.

Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right, got some breaking news for you. Been following the Drew Peterson trial. He was basically charged with murder. This involved his third wife. Her name was Kathleen Savio. She was found dead in a dry bathtub. That was ruled an accidental death some time ago.

She was buried, later exhumed because his then-fourth wife went missing. Drew Peterson, a police officer from the Chicago area, and, so, this jury in Illinois has just come back.

They've been deliberating 14 hours and they found him guilty here, guilty for murdering wife number three. He faces up to 60 years in prison.

Back to politics now, President Obama prepares to make his case to the nation tonight. We will take a look back at other memorable DNC acceptance speeches, both the hits and the misses.

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BALDWIN: Tonight is the night. It's the finale of the Democratic National Convention.

President Obama has a tough act to follow after former President Bill Clinton hit pretty much every nail on the mark last night, but that is not all he is up against.

Here is Suzanne Malveaux.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Barack Obama's stirring oratory drove his assent to the presidency.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I say to them, tonight there is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America.

MALVEAUX: He's made a sport out of out-talking his adversaries.

OBAMA: John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell, but he won't even follow him to the cave where he lives.

MALVEAUX: But in Charlotte, he faces perhaps his biggest challenger yet. Can Barack Obama top Barack Obama?

PROFESSOR THOMAS BASILE, POLITICAL SPEECHWRITER: The expectations game definitely works against the president. It is a speech that is going to be compared to the '08 speech.

MALVEAUX: Obama comes from a long line of Democratic party presidential candidates who faced similar speaking challenges.

Recall how Bill Clinton's snoozer of a speech in 1988 ...

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: ... in closing, ...

MALVEAUX: ... became history when it was replaced by his rousing 1992 speech.

CLINTON: I have news for the forces of greed and the defenders of the status quo. Your time has come and gone.

MALVEAUX: It's up to Obama to live up to Clinton's successful second convention speech.

CLINTON: Tonight let us resolve to build that bridge to the 21st century, to meet our challenges and to protect our values.

PROFESSOR COSTAS PANAGOPOULOS, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: The president has to make a case for his own re-election and to remind voters why he elected them in the first place and what are the choices that he's made that have been helpful and successful, despite the fact that there may have been some things that the president did not achieve.

MALVEAUX: That means Obama's convention speech needs to be more Clinton than Carter.

FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER: As I've said many times before, we could have an American president who does not govern with negativism and fear for the future.

BASILE: He's giving a speech in an environment where most people believe the economy is not improving, so he's got to find the silver lining in all of this and try and convince people that it's enough to give him that second term.

OBAMA: My father was a foreign student.

MALVEAUX: This time no falling back on the compelling personal story that candidates often use to sell themselves to voters.

And he'll no longer be making a presidential first as an African- American, so instead of hearing a lot of this ...

OBAMA: The change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington.

MALVEAUX: ... expect a lot of this.

OBAMA: You need somebody who's going to wake up every single day and fight for American jobs and investment here in the United States. That's what you need. That's why I'm running.

MALVEAUX: Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Atlanta.

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BALDWIN: President Obama working hard to chip away at the unemployment rate as election day nears. We are now officially two months out.

Today, a bit of good news when it comes to the jobs front. Take a look at this.

Labor Department says 365,000 people filed for new unemployment benefits last week. That is down 12,000 from the week before.

And with jobless claims down, the markets are going up. Alison Kosik, this is some good news.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the market skyrocketing today. As you see, the Dow, up 236 points.

And what these numbers, the numbers you just mentioned, show is that there's a bit of improvement where jobs is concerned. There are fewer layoffs.

And, now, what we want to see is more of a trend lower.

Now, we're also getting a preview to the monthly unemployment picture. It's looking more promising. Payroll services firm ADP says private employers added 201,000 jobs in August. That came in much better than expected.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: We're, of course, getting the big August jobs numbers tomorrow, so we'll talk about that tomorrow. It's a huge political ramifications there.

But let's talk about this magic number, perhaps, 316,000. What does that number signify?

KOSIK: OK, that number is really where we need to get to, 316,000 jobs before the election. That means we need to average 105,000 jobs added in each of the next three months.

Now, this year, we're averaging around 150,000, so, believe it or not, it is doable, but the truth is both campaigns are going to spin it the way they want it.

If we get a great number tomorrow, if we get a bad number, they're going to spin it in whatever favor they want, but, yeah, it is possible for us to sort of break even when it comes to jobs.

BALDWIN: Yep. That is the number, 316,000 upon which -- once President Obama will be able to say, no job losses during my four years, but as you mentioned ... KOSIK: That's break-even.

BALDWIN: Right. With the spin, of course, Republicans, they can say something else after that.

So, tomorrow's a big day. We'll be talking about this tomorrow.

Alison Kosik, my thanks to you there at the New York Stock exchange. Again, we are just a little bit away from the closing bell on the Dow, a huge jump, 243 points up.

I'm Brooke Baldwin here in Atlanta. I want to take you now to Charlotte, North Carolina. "The Situation Room" begins right now.