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Knocked Down While Taking Knee; Anti-American Protests In Pakistan; Exposing The Filmmaker's Shadowy Past; Romney Defines The Middle Class; Royal Photo Scandal; Dueling Red Lines Over Iran; "American Idol" Adds Two More Judges; Amanda Bynes' Car Impounded; Fifty Days until Election Day; Hezbollah Protests in Beirut; Chicago Teachers' Strike Enters Second Week

Aired September 17, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

TIKI BARBER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, that is a debate that's raging here in New York about whether Greg Schiano, the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should have told his defensive linemen to go all out, try to force a fumble on a kneel-down play with zero time left on the clock. Tom Coughlin was obviously and visibly disturbed after the game, yelling at Coach Schiano.

He may be right. This is protocol in the National Football League. At a certain point in the game it is over. It is not worth fighting for. A purist will say you fight until every single snap, every last snap you have to fight.

And Giants fans remember the miracle in the meadowlands where they ran a play on the last play and fumbled. Herman Edwards picked it up and won. But that doesn't really happen anymore.

At a certain point the game is over and the kneel down ends it and they do it at the half and the end of the game and I think he should have respected that.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Point taken. Tiki Barber, always fun. Thanks so much. Next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM. He is the man behind a very controversial film, one many Muslims are calling offensive. Now we're getting a new look at the maker of innocence of Muslims and it is all thanks to an actress featured in the movie.

T-minus 50-days until the presidential election and the Romney camp may not be running like a well-oiled machine. Mike Allen from "Politico" joins us with new information about why Mitt Romney's RNC speech didn't go as well as many would have hoped.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am Kyung Lah in Chicago, week two of the teacher strike. How the city is coping and now the mayor is threatening to take the teachers to court, all of this coming up.

COSTELLO: And it has been several weeks of bad press for the royal family. First Prince Harry and now images of his brother's wife Kate Middletown sunbathing topless. We'll talk with Jonathan Co. He used to work for the royals and find out why this could be the start of something much worse for the royal family. NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning. Thank you for being with us this Monday morning. I am Carol Costello. We begin this hour with new efforts to tamp down the anti-American violence in the Muslim world.

India now the latest government to block internet access to the low budget movie that has ignited the fury. But other groups are seizing on the outrage and stoking the anger. Right now, the extremist group Hezbollah is calling for protest in Lebanon.

In Afghanistan today, crowds turned on police when they try to stop their march to the U.S. Embassy. At least 15 officers were hurt and their vehicles set on fire.

In Indonesia protesters bombarded police outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. They pelted them with rocks and used sling shots to whip marbles at them. Only a volley of teargas managed to chase away the crowd.

In Pakistan, weekend protests turned deadly. CNN Reza Sayah is live in Islamabad. Good morning.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. We are still seeing some small and sporadic protests in Pakistan today, several hours ago, a protest in front of the U.S. Consulate in Lahore. Earlier today, protesters killed in Northwest Pakistan when police fired shots to disperse the crowd.

But it's so important to stress that these protests are small in number and they seem to be tailing off. But it doesn't mean they're over because some of the most horrid line leaders are pushing for these demonstrations to continue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAYAH (voice-over): Washington bracing itself for another wave of anti-American anger, this time the call for protests coming from Lebanon and Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The whole world needs to see the anger on your faces, in your fists and shouts Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

On Sunday, anti-American demonstrations continued in Karachi, Pakistan as police beat back scores of protesters in front of the U.S. Consulate. That angry rally followed a flurry of protests over the past few days in places like Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, where demonstrators railed against a low budget film that insults Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The protests sometimes turned violent. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died when armed protesters attacked the consulate in Benghazi, Libya. U.S. officials say lost amid the tragedy in dramatic headlines was the fact that most were not massive protests, but crowds numbering in the hundreds, sometimes in the thousands.

SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: The mobs we have seen on the outside of the embassies are a small minority. They're the ones that largely lost in these emerging democratic processes.

SAYAH: Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said the attacks on U.S. targets began as spontaneous protests, rejecting earlier claims they were part of a plot to coincide with last week's anniversary of 9/11.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAYAH: Washington is putting a lot of pressure in governments in the region to crack down on the protests and the governments are responding with tighter security and arrests.

In the meantime, the Libyan government has announced a number of arrests in connection with the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

It is not clear who the individuals are under arrest but Libyan officials say contrary to earlier claims there is no evidence the attack was linked to al Qaeda -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Reza Sayah, thanks so much. A few hours from now in Los Angeles, Muslim leaders will denounce the violent reaction to the film and they'll be joined by leaders of the Coptic Christian Church, the faith embraced by the film's creator.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything to say at all? Do you have any regrets? Do you have any regrets about producing the film?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In the meantime, we're learning more about the film maker. Here he is under police escort hiding his face and doing that because of death threats.

CNN's Miguel Marquez has been digging up more about the filmmaker's past. He joins us live from the Los Angeles Bureau. Good morning, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Carol. We are learning a lot more about how Sam Bacile a.k.a. Nikoula Basseley Nikoula actually made this film.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Do you like Hollywood?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.

MARQUEZ: Lily Dionne had been in Hollywood a week when she answered an ad on Craigslist for an action adventure film called "Desert Warrior."

LILY DIONNE, ACTRESS: First job, first week in L.A., just moved out here.

MARQUEZ: She met this man, Sam Bacile, seen here for the first time on U.S. television. She says he was in charge of everything.

(on camera): Was it your sense he was the writer and producer?

DIONNE: Yes. I really believe he was the writer. He definitely was the producer. He was the one writing the checks, handing out the money. He was running the show.

MARQUEZ: Under the name Sam Bacile.

DIONNE: Yes.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The shoot a little weird, but never heard any talk of politics or religion. The actors thought they were making a low budget, cheesy film with little plot.

DIONNE: We didn't wonder what it was about. They kept saying George. This is the Middle East 2,000 years ago. Who is George? But, you know, we don't normally ask questions.

MARQUEZ (on camera): George turned out to be the Muhammad character.

DIONNE: He did.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The script handed out piecemeal, sometimes late at night, the day before a shoot. Lily had no lines, but was asked to come in after the shooting was done to dub her voice over that of another actress. Other actors she says went to the same sound studio also after the shooting was done to record the word that is sparked a fire storm.

DIONNE: They brought the actors in, in posts and had them say specific words like Muhammad, for example. Then they took -- it was isolated. It wasn't in context. They said say Muhammad. Say Muhammad, why?

MARQUEZ: She says Bacile. We now know his real name is Nikoula Basseley Nikoula was engaging in cheerful on set. There was no indication of the film's real intent or story.

DIONNE: I was shaking when I found out.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Really?

DIONNE: Yes. I mean, I had no idea. This is a movie that I thought was nobody was ever going to see.

MARQUEZ: You were shaking when you heard about the ambassador's death?

DIONNE: Yes. MARQUEZ (voice-over): Dionne feels betrayed by a man that pretended to be a filmmaker and a friend. Sam Bacile, Nikoula Basseley Nikoula, a convicted fraudster and identity thief who put all of his skills together to pull off the role of a lifetime.

DIONNE: He had a vision. Him and the director would get in arguments and he wanted things a certain way. He knew what he was doing. He was playing us all along.

MARQUEZ: It may sound a common experience, but the making of this film, the deception. It's dark motivation would be Oscar worthy if hateful were a category.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, we do know that Mr. Bacile, or Mr. Nakoula as is his real name, is under a probation and for five years and that he may face -- he was picked up this weekend because the probation officers wanted to speak to him.

One concern they have is that he may have accessed the internet, which he is not allowed to do. But perhaps a bigger concern laid out in his probation.

An order that he is not supposed to take on any other name other than his true legal time without express permission, written permission from a probation officer. That may get him in more trouble than anything -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Miguel Marquez reporting live from Los Angeles today.

Defining the middle class, both President Obama and Mitt Romney have their definition. But Governor Romney is now taking heat for what he told ABC News. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A $100,000 middle income?

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, middle income is $200,000, $250,000 and less.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange. Alison, is Romney's definition different from Obama's and if so how?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Carol? The thing with this is there is no textbook definition of the middle class. You know what it is, it is more of a feeling and that's why there is so much debate over this question. Come on, it is tough to make the case that $200,000 or $250,000 is a middle class income, especially when you point out the median household income is about $50,000.

Look how this breaks down. Just 4 percent of the households here in the U.S. make more than 200,000. That means 96 percent of us make less than $200,000. So it is kind of hard to argue you're middle income if you're in the top 4 percent of earners.

Now of course, critics are am coming out of the wood work. They are using this to paint Mitt Romney as a rich guy out of touch with the average American family. But look, Romney isn't that far off from what President Obama has been saying himself.

President Obama says he wants to keep tax cuts for the middle class and he has been using this same cut off, individuals making $200,000 and families making $250,000.

So the difference, though, is that President Obama hasn't actually labeled people just below that line as middle income, so that, Carol, may be why we're seeing Romney take more heat on this issue.

COSTELLO: But Obama is not saying that people are middle income if they make 250,000 a year, right?

KOSIK: He is not -- that's the thing. He is not pointing out specifically that that is. He is not saying that is middle income. He is sort of insinuating that so there is kind of that fine line there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. It is a royal scandal that won't go away. While the royal couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton, continue their visit to Asia and the South Pacific, their lawyers are heading to court all in an effort to stop dozens of images of the duchess sunbathing topless from being published.

Another magazine in Italy is now publishing a 26-page spread featuring the photos. Jonathan Coad is a British lawyer who has worked for the royals in the past. Welcome, Jonathan.

JONATHAN COAD, PARTNER, MEDIA, BRANDS AND TECHNOLOGY, LEWIS SILKEN: Welcome. Hi.

COSTELLO: How many pictures do you think there are out there because the Italian magazine says they will publish a 38-page spread or something like that.

COAD: Well, my experience in dealing with paparazzi is once they find something to photograph they press the button and it keeps on clicking. If you have got the wife of the third in line to the throne in your camera lens you will likely keep that down and fill up a few chips. I imagine he has a fair handful.

COSTELLO: There are rumors that there are pictures even more intimate pictures were taken. Have you heard those rumors?

COAD: Yes. We have heard them in the U.K. It is common enough. There will be a photographic agency out there trying to drum up business and they will be hoping that they will be able to sell a whole series and that they can keep grading up what they can sell. I also think they will be testing the water and seeing what the public reaction is to these pictures. So if it is not too serious they maybe do something riskier if the pictures are available.

COSTELLO: I think one of the French magazines told Reuters that the pictures were joyful and not degrading.

COAD: Well, the French take a different view perhaps to nudity than the British, but I think the key thing here is that this is a member of the royal family, and one thing for what is appropriate, at least in a culture, which has a structure to it.

I mean, I would imagine that you would be reasonably uncomfortable as a nation if topless pictures were published of the wife of President Obama. I think Michelle Obama would take a different view about pictures of her topless than she might about someone on a beach in Miami. I think that's the key difference.

COSTELLO: Well, some might argue and probably very few, but some might argue that even if you're in a private home, is it ever wise to go outside of that home and take your top off?

COAD: I don't think anyone would disagree with that. I have worked for celebrity clients for over 20 years. If any celebrity client came to me and asked me whether it was ever wise to take their top off in a public place anywhere, I would say absolutely not.

So I think Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge was unwise to do that. I think, however, that the punishment is inappropriate. It does not seem to me that that justifies a worldwide set of pictures on the basis of and moments in discretion where she thought she was safe and where she thought she was private.

COSTELLO: Well, it just comes on the heels of the Prince Harry scandal and the nude pictures taken of him in a private hotel room.

COAD: Well, I think this is absolutely the key point. Prince Harry's pictures were the ones that crossed the line. The huge irony is that the mother of both Prince William and Prince Harry was driven to her death by the paparazzi.

So this is a particularly acute point for them. In a decision which I don't readily understand, the palace decided that they were going to take no action about these pictures and what is worse. They said that it is an editorial decision.

Well, if it is an editorial decision for the Prince Harry pictures, then surely it is an editorial decision for the Duchess of Cambridge pictures.

And I fear that the waving or at least perceiving of the waving of a white flag over the pictures has contributed to the sense on the part of European press that they're free to publish the Duchess of Cambridge pictures.

COSTELLO: Jonathan Coad, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts this morning. We appreciate it.

COAD: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: When it comes to Iran and nuclear weapons, where is that red line? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran could be 90 percent capable of building a nuclear bomb in just six months. So has Iran already crossed that line?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Lots the talk this morning about that red line on Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit the Sunday talk shows to ramp up pressure on the Obama administration to set a clear line on Iran's nuclear development.

The president says there already is a red line, but he is being criticized by the Romney-Ryan ticket for, quote, "leading from behind." Joining me now is Rick Grenell, former Romney foreign policy advisor and former U.S. spokesperson to the United Nations. Welcome, Rick.

RICHARD GRENELL, FORMER ROMNEY FOREIGN POLICY SPOKESPERSON: Carol, thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being with us today. The big question we're dealing with today is where exactly is the red line when it comes to the United States and Iran?

GRENELL: Well, that red line was established in 2006. I find it shocking that anybody in the media is questioning where that red line was. In 2006, the Bush administration passed five U.N. resolutions on Iran and then the Obama administration passed one resolution on Iran.

By the way, they haven't passed anything in two-and-a-half years. So the international community is on the record six times, U.N. resolutions, six of them saying that Iran must not enrich any uranium, zero, none, until they can prove that it is for peaceful purposes. We already know that they have been enriching uranium almost to weapons grade 20 percent. Some think they have already surpassed the 20 percent.

So Iran has admitted they have crossed this red line numerous times. Why are we even debating what that red line is? The better question is will we enforce U.N. resolutions? If we're not going to enforce U.N. resolutions let's save a billion dollars and not have the U.N.

COSTELLO: I think some voters are concerned about the difference between Governor Romney's red line and President Obama's red line and that's because of this interview with ABC News that Governor Romney did. Let's listen to that.

GRENELL: That's not why.

COSTELLO: Let's listen to this and then we'll discuss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROMNEY: My red line is Iran may not have a nuclear weapon. Iran as a nuclear nation is unacceptable to the United States of America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Obama says exactly the same thing. He said it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. So your red line is the same as his?

ROMNEY: I laid out what I would do to keep them from reaching that red lightning. I said the sanctions needed to be put in place immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, you heard Governor Romney, he said yes. It is the same.

GRENELL: He said yes to what?

COSTELLO: To the red line being the same.

GRENELL: I am not disagreeing. We all know what the red line is. It was established in 2006. That's not the question. The question is what do we do now that Iran has passed the red line? The question is are we going to be a weak country and allow a country like Iran, a crazy man --

COSTELLO: What would Governor Romney do?

GRENELL: Let's talk about what the president of the United States should do because the president is the president. I think we have had a lot of discussions about what Romney should do or what he didn't do.

You know, there has been criticism that Romney spoke out too early in the Middle East after 15 hours of a developing violence. How come we're not asking where was the president, why didn't he speak out before 15 hours? There is a lot of looking --

COSTELLO: Let's go back to Israel because that's what we're talking about today, the red line. What would Governor Romney do? What new sanctions would he impose on Iran to stop them from developing a nuclear weapon?

GRENELL: First of all, we had six rounds of sanctions already. Again, the Obama administration hasn't put in sanctions in two-and-a- half years at the U.N. So sanctions clearly are not working. They can maybe slow the process down, but sanctions are never going to break a country.

They're never going to say we give up here is our nuclear weapons. They're not going to do that. So the question becomes now that they have crossed the red line, what are we going to do about it? Are we going to sit back and keep moving the red line or say when we pass international resolutions at the U.N. we actually mean it?

I am not suggesting that we immediately go to war either, Carol because I think a lot of liberals will immediately try to push conservatives into saying there you go with more war talk. It is not what we're saying. But we are saying you need a credible threat, and President Obama has not given a credible threat.

COSTELLO: Let me add there are sanctions being imposed on Iran, right? In fact, the president said --

GRENELL: Since 2006.

COSTELLO: He has told Iran's trading partners if you do business with Iran as far as oil goes, you're not going to be involved with our financial institutions.

GRENELL: Do you know when those started, Carol?

COSTELLO: Since that sanction --

GRENELL: Do you know when those started?

COSTELLO: I want to finish my thought here.

GRENELL: July 1st.

COSTELLO: Since that sanction --

GRENELL: Three and a half years of nothing.

COSTELLO: Since that sanction went into place, Iran's currency dropped 50 percent in the last year and it's been virtually cut off from the international banking system so the Obama administration --

GRENELL: No, that's not true.

COSTELLO: They would say let's give them more time to work and see what happens.

GRENELL: More time, Carol, they haven't put a U.N. sanction in, in two and a half years. They've passed one in four years. The Bush administration for all the cowboy diplomacy that the Obama team likes to say that they were had five resolutions.

We have had sanctions since 2006. President Obama and his team only decided to put oil sanctions in July 1st. Guess what they did after that? They gave the 20 top oil producer buyers of Iranian oil waivers.

India is still buying Iranian oil and yet the Obama administration promised the Indians a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. support for that. So I just don't see that it is credible to say that the Obama administration is trying to ratchet up the sanctions.

When after two-and-a-half years they are done nothing but decide to do last minute oil sanctions with waivers starting July 1st. The media needs to start looking at policies not just lip service from the president.

COSTELLO: Well, I think they want Mitt Romney's policy. Like What new sanction would Mitt Romney put into place?

GRENELL: No sanctions. We have enough sanctions.

COSTELLO: Short of military action what would he do to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon?

GRENELL: Again, again, what you have to do is you have to have a credible threat. The other thing you have to do is you have to have a powerful presence in the Middle East. You can't go back and have a weak presence.

Let me give you an example, Syria is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iran. This administration, President Obama, sent our U.S. ambassador back to Syria when violence was starting for the first time in five years we had a U.S. ambassador in Damascus.

Then he pulled the U.S. ambassador back about four months later. He sent the U.S. ambassador back to Damascus only to pull him back six weeks later. This start and stop policy sends mixed signals to everybody in the Middle East.

We don't have a credible threat. We don't have a policy of strength. We are showing the world weakness. That's why we're seeing on 9/11 our embassies being attacked and Americans are less safe.

The media, they still want to talk about whether or not Mitt Romney spoke too soon when President Obama waited 15 hours before he started talking about the violence.

COSTELLO: Unfortunately I have to wrap it up. Rick Grenell, thank you so much for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.

GRENELL: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Just 50-days until the presidential election and new reports of big problems inside the Romney campaign. Is it really in chaos, though? We'll talk to Mike Allen of politico.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just about 30 minutes past the hour. I am Carol Costello. Thank you for joining me today. Checking our top stories, more violent protests in the Middle East over the anti-Muslim film made in the United States.

Outside Beirut, Lebanon thousands of demonstrators gathered today chanting death to America. The leader of the militant group, Hezbollah, was behind the mostly peaceful protests.

The City of Chicago will ask the court to end the teachers' strike that's now entering its second week. Sunday the Chicago Teacher's Union made the decision not to end the walkout after they failed to reach a deal with the school district. They want more time to go over the latest proposal. More than 350,000 students are affected by this strike. And the Obama administration is going after China, the U.S. government filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization that says China violated rules by subsidizing automobile and auto part exports. The President is expected to talk more about it at a campaign rally in Ohio today.

Now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, "What do you make of the attacks on the U.S. embassies?" What's really behind the attacks in the Middle East and beyond? Is it that cheaply made anti-Islam movie that few people have seen or is it long-simmering resentment of U.S. policies and was the attack on the consulate in Libya pre-planned? Well, that depends on who you ask.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: What happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of -- of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo which were prompted, of course, by the video.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Most people don't bring rocket propelled grenades and heavy weapons to a demonstration. That was an act of terror. And for anyone to disagree with that fundamental fact, I think is really ignoring the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Libya's president says foreign extremists planned the attack but in Egypt officials say some protesters actually got paid to participate. Of course, events overseas have already changed the dialogue when it comes to the election here at home.

Until now Mitt Romney's message was centered on the economy but with Obama leading in the polls, Republicans have seized on the embassy crisis to attack the President's leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: All of us are watching events closely. But we know who America is dealing with in these attacks. They are extremists who operate by violence and intimidation and the least equivocation or mixed signal only makes them bolder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Conservative pundit Bill Crystal has gone so far as to predict, quote, "Whoever wins the national security debate over the next few weeks will win the election." Really? What happened to "It's the economy, stupid?"

So the "Talk Back" question for you today, "What do you make of the attacks on U.S. embassies?" Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Your comments later this hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban complete an all-star judge panel on "American Idol". And they're already working those auditions. Showbiz correspondent Nischelle Turner is in Los Angeles.

So any idea how much money they're making because I like to dream?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: More than us, right? We do like to. You know Carol there haven't been those official figures that have been released but I'll just say this. I would take the paychecks no matter which one it was. Because reports have the show's salaries all over the place ranging from the low end, which I can't believe I am saying, low end of $3 million to a high end of $18 million for Ryan Seacrest, judges Nicki Minaj, Urban, Mariah Carey and Randi Jackson. So, there's a lot of money that's tied up in the on air talent.

And to put that all in perspective, "Forbes" has called "American Idol" the most profitable show on television fame that it earns more than $6 million per half hour of show time and it's just interesting to think about how the focus of this show has turned from the competitors and the singers to the judges in recent years. And everyone now is curious to see how these new judges handle the good, the bad, and that very ugly audition.

And you know because we've heard new judges like Ellen DeGeneres and Jennifer Lopez say that critiquing people was actually really tougher than they thought it would be, but you know they got to get with it. Because the competition is fierce out there these days.

There are celebrity judges on a lot of shows, the "X Factor", "The Voice" and "America's Got Talent". And I just want to see the dynamics between Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey, that will make me tune in a lot.

COSTELLO: I just want to see what Nicki Minaj wears every night.

TURNER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

And Amanda Bynes, let's talk about her. What a sad story, her car was impounded?

TURNER: You know, let me just give a little bit of warning here. If you're on the road in southern California and you see Amanda Bynes driving next to you, it may be a good idea to leave an extra car's length. Because local police reports say that, you know, she didn't let a little thing like getting a suspended license stop her from getting behind the wheel.

On Sunday morning Pasadena Airport Police pulled her over at the entrance to the airport and she was cited for driving on a suspended license, so her car was impounded. Now she lost her license after being charged with two misdemeanor counts of hit and run. That came after an arrest for a suspected DUI.

And you know Carol, you know, I don't know what's going on with her here. But all I'll say is I hope she gets it together because this stuff doesn't look good.

COSTELLO: She is going down the Lindsay Lohan road.

TURNER: It looks pretty bad.

COSTELLO: Oh. Nischelle Turner thanks as always. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" airs at 11 p.m. Eastern on HLN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right, we want to take you to Beirut, Lebanon. There's a massive protest going on there. I see thousands and thousands of people in Beirut marching in protest of that anti-Islam film made here in the United States.

This protest is largely peaceful. The interesting part about this, it was organized by Hezbollah. Hezbollah is accusing the U.S. government of being behind that film and, of course, that's just not true.

There was this -- this Egyptian film maker living in the United States. He was living under an assumed name. He has been in jail because of bank fraud. He is the man responsible for this film.

The crowd is now chanting "Death to America, Death to America", but as I said, it's not violent. It's peaceful. But as you can see, it's quite sizable. Protesters in other parts of the Middle East have -- they've been smaller, a few hundred people maybe and sometimes 1,000 but they've been diminishing in size but not this in Beirut, Lebanon.

We're trying to get Mohammed Jamjoom on the phone. He is in Beirut. When we get our correspondent on the phone he'll tell us more about this protest.

It is now just 50 days until the presidential election and there are gloomy reports from inside the Romney camp. According to a fascinating account on politico.com staffers are grumbling about bad decisions and botched opportunities.

Mike Allen is co-author of the article and Politico's chief White House correspondent. Welcome, Mike.

MIKE ALLEN, POLITICO, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So how would you characterize the Romney campaign?

ALLEN: Well, Carol, what Republicans are telling us is that before Governor Romney can fix the country, he needs to fix his campaign and they're starting that today. Ever since Governor Romney started thinking about running again this time, his message was going to be economy, economy, economy. That's been their mantra. That was their -- their ticket, they thought, against President Obama. Now suddenly today they're changing that. They're scrapping economy, economy, economy, and now they're going to be running as status quo versus change. So the new frame that Governor Romney is going to try and put around this campaign is do you like what's happening in the economy? Do you like what's happening overseas? Do you like the tone in Washington? If not, I am change.

So, Carol, I know your viewers will appreciate the irony of the Republican nominee this time writing as the candidate of change.

COSTELLO: Yes politics is so strange, Mike.

Another interesting facet of your article was about Mitt Romney's speech at the Republican National Convention. It turns out, you say, that he delivered a far different speech than originally planned.

ALLEN: Yes Carol, this speech was really done at the last minute for something that was so high-stakes, one of three chances along with the vice presidential selection and the debates to really introduce himself to meet people who are not following the campaign.

We learned that eight days before the convention the campaign tore up the speech script that had been given to them. They rushed out to some former Bush speech-writers who were busy writing Paul Ryan's convention acceptance speech and said, help, we need a new draft. Start from scratch, write a new convention acceptance speech for us.

That came together and one of the things that got lost in that original speech that was thrown out was a very important word that we have seen on your air just this morning -- Afghanistan.

It turned out to be a colossal oversight for Mitt Romney to not include a salute to the troops, a little discussion of Afghanistan policy in his speech. There was more of that in the original draft in the haste that got lost.

COSTELLO: So the man responsible now for Mitt Romney's campaign, the guy who is running it, is he -- is the rest of the team at odds with him?

ALLEN: Internally they're not. Stuart Stevens is in charge of -- he wears a lot of hats as my mother would say. He is in charge of speech writing. He's in charge of ad making. And he is in charge of strategy. And he has the confidence of Governor Romney and people inside worry that he might be wearing too many hats; that in the Bush campaigns, you had three people doing these three jobs. In the Obama campaign you had pretty big supporting cast to David Axelrod in these roles.

Today Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the republican national committee, someone who is well known and trusted in Washington is taking a more visible role. He just coming up in a few minutes now is going to brief the press on the state of the race and the message for this week.

So he is going to try and put a little bit of a new frame around what everyone in the campaign agrees was a very rough week last week for Governor Romney.

COSTELLO: All right. We'll be listening for that. Mike Allen, thank you so much for sharing. We appreciate it.

ALLEN: Carol, thank you for your coverage.

COSTELLO: We're going to go back to Beirut, Lebanon -- that breaking news I was telling you about. You can see thousands of protesters are protesting against that anti-Islam film that was made here in the United States.

We have Mohammed Jamjoom our CNN correspondent in Beirut. Tell us about this protest, Mohammed.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Carol, it is thousands of supporters of Hezbollah that are marching through the southern suburbs of Beirut right now.

They're chanting everything from "Death to America" to "No to insulting the Prophet" to "The Prophet Muhammad is our commander." They turned out because Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah yesterday announced that there would be a week of protests denouncing this anti-Islamic film.

This was a speech that he gave last night. He was saying that thousands needed to come out so that the world could see the anger on their faces, in your fists and your shouts as he said. He said the whole world should know that the Prophet Muhammad has followers who will not be silent in the face of humiliation.

Now many people wondered why it took Hezbollah this long to start having protest marches against this film. The reason is because Pope Benedict XVI was in Lebanon over the weekend -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday for a three-day visit. Hezbollah had even welcomed the Pope here.

It was supposed to be a time showcasing peace in Lebanon, so Hezbollah decided to wait until after the Pope left town to start having the demonstrations. These are supposed to be peaceful and orderly demonstrations by Hezbollah standards. You're not supposed to turn violent according to Hassan Nasrallah. But when you see thousands upon thousands of people in the streets chanting "Death to America", and also anti-Israeli phrases, it does seem to give a worrying tinge to what's going on -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Mohammed Jamjoom reporting live for us from Beirut, Lebanon. We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: From the classroom to the courtroom, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will turn to the courts to try to end a teacher strike that's going into a second week.

Union members and the Chicago school district were working all weekend on a proposal but late Sunday the union said it needed more time because many teachers are unhappy with the deal.

Kyung Lah joins us live from Chicago. So Kyung, are both sides taking the day off today?

LAH: No one is taking the day off, at least when it comes to the picket line. What they are trying to do here on the picket and what we have seen this morning is that they have actually been handing out this tentative deal.

This is what the house of delegates was telling us that they wanted to do, make sure that the members were on board and then after everyone has looked at the tentative deal, then they will come back and vote tomorrow. What that means for the 350,000 Chicago school children as well as their parents is that it has been a scramble.

Here is what one parent told us.

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LEO POST, PARENT: It's been somewhat of a strain, I mean. You know, we're fortunate. We have a fair number of options, so we have been able to make it work. It is just kind of the inconsistency of it has been the biggest strain. So, you know, really just looking forward to hopefully getting back to regular schedule.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And a late update that we got from the mayor's office is that they are now in the process of filing that court injunction -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Kyung Lah reporting live from Chicago this morning.

We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: Working out is great for your body but it may also be damaging to your skin. Dermatologist Nicholas Perricone offers his skin-friendly workout tips from this "Daily Dose".

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DR. NICHOLAS PERRICONE, DERMATOLOGIST: When you work out for over 45 minutes we actually overwhelm our body's protective systems and actually accelerates the aging process. If you really want beautiful skin, probably the best thing you can do for our skin is some cardiovascular type exercise with moderation because it then carries nutrients into our skin cells and carries waste away.

Remember moderation is the key to beautiful skin, especially when we're talking about exercise. I really prefer walking vigorously, jogging, in addition to that even something as simple as swimming can make a difference to our skin because it increases our circulation.

Don't forget there are other benefits, too, from non-cardio vascular exercise, certainly weight training also improves the (inaudible) skin, and even doing something like yoga makes a difference in the way we look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Thanks, Doc. I am Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me today.

"CNN NEWSROOM" with Ashley Banfield after a break.

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