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GOP Cuts Ties with Consulting Firm; Kids Missing More than a Week; Has Technology Made Us Dumber?; Ryder Cup Goes Down to the Wire; Inside the Debate Preps; Tapes Hold in Ireland Secrets; The Lighter Side of Politics; Bobblehead on a Missions

Aired September 30, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: And the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Deb Feyerick in for Don Lemon. Let's get you up to speed on the day's headline.

Well the number of Americans, military and civilian killed in Afghanistan now is more than 2,000. The latest deadly incident happened today at a check point west of Kabul. NATO officials tell us one U.S. soldier and a U.S. civilian died. They're not sure if they were fighting insurgents or inside attackers from the Afghan army.

And checking the race for the White House, three days before the first debate, President Obama he's out west. He landed in Las Vegas a little while ago where he's going to hold a rally later this evening.

Mitt Romney is keeping a low profile this weekend. He went to church this morning just outside Boston but he heads to Colorado tomorrow where he will hold a rally and of course, continue his preparations for Wednesday's debate.

Key decision makers from across Washington attended today's annual Red Mass. They include six of the nine Supreme Court justices. What is the Red Mass? Well it's an annual event that aims to bring people together to pray for the members of the judiciary before the court begins hearing cases.

It's called the Red Mass because, well, you can see, the clergy there are wearing red garments. Some people criticize the service they see it too much of a mix of religion and government.

Well, police in Tennessee, have a real mystery on their hands. They are urgently searching for two kids: a nine-year-old girl and her seven-year-old half brother. They were thought to have died in a house fire that killed their grandparents. Bu investigators have found no sign of the children. And here is the urgent part, this house fire happened a week ago. Those kids have simply vanished.

It's not something you see every day in Texas. Rescue crews helped stranded drivers there after flooding covered parts of the state yesterday. And get this -- the past three days brought more rain than Texas received all of last year when it suffered through one of its worst droughts in history. Today's storms moved east into parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. They're expected to continue on that path for the next 48 hours.

Well, a powerful typhoon is headed for Tokyo after smacking the island of Okinawa this weekend. Typhoon Jelawat is expected to hit Tokyo tonight. Officials are warning people in Tokyo to stay inside. At least 145 people were injured in Okinawa and other parts of Japan. Tens of thousands are without power.

And to politics now and word that a national Republican Party official have cut ties with the consulting firm that Florida election officials say turned in suspicious voter application forms.

Our CNN's Dave Mattingly has been investigating this story, and David, what have you learned? We've heard this happening sometimes with the Democrats. It's a little bit interesting that now the Republicans are having some questionable issues about registration.

DAVID MATTINGLY, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes we don't know how big or how small this is going to be, but it's in of all places Florida, which is where every voting problem seem to come from at one time or another. And what we're seeing is that a company, Strategic Allied Consulting, was hired by the Republican Party to register people to vote. That's something they do in every election -- both parties do it.

But this time, this particular company, one employee was fired after providing false signatures on some of these documents. So now officials in multiple counties in Florida are looking into this. It's -- the ground zero for it seems to be in Palm Beach County and the election supervisor there has a stack of 106 ballots that she's going to have to go through that the company provided for her associated with this one particular employee.

Again, the actions of one employee have precipitated all of this. So beyond that, this election supervisor has decided as a safety net to look at all of the applications that have had changes on them recently and that's going to be 60,000 of them. Now, she says she doesn't believe this is a crisis, but this extra work that they're going to have to do they believe is necessary to make sure that they can say directly to the public, this was an isolated event, it's not widespread, but they're looking into it.

FEYERICK: And what's fascinating and I don't know whether some of your reporting has uncovered this but -- but one employee sort of putting these false signatures, does that suggest that these voters simply don't exist or does it suggest that they are -- they are trying to -- what is behind all of this really?

MATTINGGLY: Well, the one thing that they're worried about most is that some -- someone may have thought that they signed up to vote in this election, they go to the polls and find out they're really not registered because that wasn't their signature on there.

So that's why the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections, that's Susan Butcher, she's calling on a similar action like what she's doing there, she's calling on a similar action statewide to make sure that all the stops are put out to make sure that this did not go any further than they suspect it did.

FEYERICK: Yes we're hearing so much about voter integrity in the lead up to this particular election. Did this firm, this sort of Republican-hired firm, were they doing work in other states?

MATTINGLY: Oh yes this firm is getting paid millions of dollars by the Republican Party before it was fired by the -- by the Republican National Committee. Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia. Florida, we know that they have been fired there. Colorado, we've seen reports that similar action was taken to sever ties with them there. We've got calls in this weekend but not hearing back from North Carolina or Virginia about what sort of activities are going on there.

FEYERICK: Right -- which is amazing because obviously registration is such a huge issue it doesn't mean you're ever going to cast a ballot for those who do think that they can vote. Has this firm ever been in trouble before?

MATTINGLY: Well this firm -- actually the firm but not -- not the firm but the owner of it. He was called into question for his activities by a couple of Democratic congressmen and senators. This was back in 2004, but the attorney for the company says that he was wrongly accused and no charges were ever filed.

So obviously he was a trusted vendor for these types of services for the Republican Party to pick him up again.

FEYERICK: Right. All right well, Dave Mattingly, I have a feeling you and I are going to be passing each other in various airports the day after the election trying to track down whatever is going on. Thanks so much, Dave Mattingly.

MATTINGLY: You bet.

FEYERICK: As always OK.

Well, a Tennessee house fire leaves two grandparents dead and there's no sign of two kids who were staying at the home. It has been a week, investigators are getting desperate. We go live to Tennessee next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Mystery and tragedy in middle Tennessee tonight surrounding two little kids -- a nine-year-old girl, seven-year-old boy. They're missing. Police thought for sure they'd find their remains in the rubble of the family home that burned to the ground, but no. There is no sign of them and it has been several torturous days for the children's parents.

Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti is closely following the case and Susan what are you learning?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Deborah, authorities in Tennessee spent yet another day looking for any sign of nine-year-old Chloe Leverette and her seven-year-old half brother, Gage Daniel. On Sunday they used a team of dogs to work with investigators to go into the woods behind the house where the children live with their grandparents and also up and down the road in that area looking for any clues.

Remember, investigators are working with --- on a number of theories. For example, did the children wander into the woods after that house went ablaze? Or did someone kidnap them? They found no physical evidence of the remains of the children in the house even though they did find the remains of the grandparents there.

Now, authorities have been talking with friends and family. They say everyone is cooperating, but so far without any sign and any luck of finding those children. Police have a number of leads but they're not discussing them. Of course, there are a lot of questions. For example, could the children have run into the woods when the fire started or did someone kidnap them? The search continues on Monday -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: All right. National correspondent Susan Candiotti thanks so much.

Well a 72-year-old man jumps from the window of his burning apartment. His neighbors catch him. Watch this video. Ronnie Poe fell three stories, his only injury, a bruised heel. He says flames were blocking all other exit routes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONNIE POE, JUMPED FROM APARTMENT WINDOW TO ESCAPE FIRE: I've been at the window, I held my arm right here and waited and waited. I couldn't hold on no more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told him, you know, I told him like are you all right? Are you OK? He's like, yes, I'm good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, the fire destroyed his kitchen. Poe says he's not afraid of heights because he was trained as an army paratrooper.

Well, an Illinois woman faces charges tonight accused of abandoning her three-week-old child in an empty field. Kendra Meeker told Stark County deputies someone snatched her infant from her car when she stopped at a post office to mail a package Thursday, but investigators say that was a lie. Police say Meeker later confessed to abandoning her infant daughter. The baby was found in a ditch alive about 12 hours after she was initially reported missing. Meeker faces charges of obstruction of justice and endangering the life of a child.

A troubled lottery winner convicted of welfare fraud has died of a possible drug overdose. Friends found 25-year-old Amanda Clayton's body in bed yesterday, her arms holding her toddler daughter. Clayton was convicted this summer of using food stamps and welfare benefits after she won Michigan's million dollar lottery last year. Friends say Clayton had problems that money clearly could not solve.

Now, don't cheat. Look at your phone. Could you rattle of your best friend's number? Many people can't. Some people even get -- can even get the sweats if they -- or even get the sweats if they have to drive without a GPS. Well, I'm in that category. So is technology making us dumber? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: So if I were to ask you, and be honest, what's your brother's phone number? What about your girlfriend, your boyfriend? Odds are you probably can't tell me. That's because cell phones, smartphones, and iPads and tablets are remembering all these things for us. I mean why waste all that important brain space on memorizing a phone number or, God forbid, an address, but is that convenience also the conflict? Is technology actually making us a little dumber?

CNN contributor and senior writer for ESPN L.Z. Granderson joins us tonight. And L.Z., you recently wrote about this topic. You suggest that technology has made us automated idiot savants. So for the sake of argument, OK, who needs to remember a phone number or even street directions? You know, we've got -- we can figure out how to get it. It's not about knowing, it's about knowing how to find it.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, this is true to a certain extent, but what happens if you happen to go underneath a tunnel and your GPS loses signal? What has happened to me many a time? Or what happens if you lose your contacts for whatever reason? Or what if your phone just goes dead and you need to make the phone call and you don't actually know the number of the person you need to call.

I mean these are every day moments that happens that we're dependent upon technology but because we forget to have the backup, which is our brains, we can be left looking pretty stupid, I think.

FEYERICK: You know, you're absolutely right; I can just see one day when basically there's some technological blackout and all of us are standing there with our gadgets and kind of we don't know where to go. Would you say that technology has made us more social in the sense that we're connecting in a more intimate way, OK, with people who are on the other end of our devices but less social with the person maybe sitting right next to us?

GRANDERSON: I think technology has made it easier to reach out to people who are far away and puts distance to people who are near us. I think that's the real kind of ironic twist about it. But you're absolutely correct. I've seen, and I'll admit, it even happens in our household. We can be having dinner and all four of us would be looking at our phones while having dinner talking to or interacting with people who may be hundreds of miles away.

So while it may be more convenient to talk to someone on the other side of the country, it for some reason, the technologies have us so latched on that we don't even talk to the people in front of us.

You know, my favorite example though about technology driving us crazy or taking things over is the cashier that can't count. I mean years ago you would have never thought a cashier wouldn't be able to add. How many times have you gone through a drive through, get a total of like $1.87 and tell the person, I have two cents and they look at you as if you just yelled at them or something. I mean they can't figure out how to give you the change once you throw in the two cents.

If the register doesn't tell them what to give them, they have no idea how to count. That's what technology has done to us.

FEYERICK: What's fascinating, I think this is -- I'll be in the subway or on a bus and I'll see people who obviously will -- are experiencing some sort of conversation on their devices and they'll smile and that kind of makes me smile because I know even though I'm not in the joke, I'm watching the joke that obviously two people are experiencing.

Technology though arguably has made us a little more productive, but are we -- while we're sort of pushing out sort of the intimacy with those next to us -- are we also failing to set a boundary that we need as well? Because I know people who they will stop in the middle of a sentence if that Blackberry buzzes.

GRANDERSON: You know, I used to be one of those individuals, and I slowly had to realize that it was taking my life over. And it was my son actually put me in check once who said I went to his track meet and every time he looked up, my face was in the Blackberry. And I was so embarrassed, and I realized that I might have been there in spirit to support him but because I was constantly looking at work, I wasn't -- I really wasn't present. And so that's the danger when you have that kind of immediacy that you can have with technology.

I love technology. I'm not saying we should go back to, you know, cave men using smoke signals to have a conversation with each other, but what I do think is that we do need to set these boundaries.

You know, there was a poll that I included in the column that I wrote in which 33 percent of the adults who responded thought it was OK to pick up your cell phone during sex. Now, if you can't cut off the phone during sex, first of all, I feel bad for your person who you're having sex with, but on the other hand, what is going on with you that you can't make it through sex without picking up your freaking cell phone? That's when you know it's gone a little too far.

FEYERICK: Yes, yes, yes. You know, yes.

GRANDERSON: Yes.

FEYERICK: I'm just going to leave it there.

GRANDERSON: I don't know if there's much more to say about that.

FEYERICK: All I can say is yes.

GRANDERSON: If you can't make it through sex --

FEYERICK: But you're right. We need to -- you know what; we need to create boundaries. We need to learn the rules of how we engage so that, frankly, we're not cutting ourselves off from people who are close to us, who we should be having one-on-one moments with because actually they're in the same room as opposed to the people who may -- we may be thinking about but are someplace else.

All right, L.Z. Granderson, yes, thanks. We appreciate it.

GRANDERSON: Just, you know -- just leave the phone down if you're having sex. That's all I ask.

FEYERICK: Just, yes. It's like George --

GRANDERSON: Use technology wherever else you want.

(CROSSTALK)

FEYERICK: -- Anyway, OK, whatever. All right. L.Z. Granderson, always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

All right. Well, from education to health, personal relationships, and business, mobile technology is changing our world. CNN's Our Mobile Society Initiative is taking an in-depth look at these changes. For more go to CNN.com/ourmobilesociety or visit the Our Mobile Society section of the CNN mobile app.

Well, the U.S. took a big lead into the final day of the Ryder Cup. Did we hold on? We'll go live to Illinois next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, it's already being called a historic win over the Americans. Just last hour the European team rallied from a major deficit to retain golf's prestigious Ryder Cup. CNN's Shane O'Donoghue is live in Medinah, Illinois. And Shane, the U.S. Team had a big lead going into the final day. What was the turning point for the Europeans?

SHANE O'DONOGHUE, CNN SPORTS: I think that, Deb, to be honest with you, they were instilled with a faith, a belief, and a hope by their captain, Jose Maria Olazabal. He was, of course, a long-term partner of the legendary, the late great Severiano Ballesteros in Ryder Cup competition.

And you know, he impressed upon them, Seve's do or die or his, should I say, never-say-die attitude when it came to this sort of competition because he truly was a talismanic figure in so many Ryder Cups down through the years. And despite the fact that there was this large gap of a lead 10-6, the Americans led and the Europeans had never staged a comeback like this before in the history of the competition.

There was a belief that they could do it. And they went out and they won the first five matches. And that whole belief then filtered through to the rest of the team. It was a stunning success. The winning putt effectively coming on the 18th green by the German Martin Kaymer; he holed out for this crucial pair against Steve Stricker. And that meant that the Europeans retained the cup. They had won 14 points achieved. They had won 8 points out of a possible 12 on the final day.

And into the final match Tiger Woods was up against the Italian, Francesco Molinari. They managed to eke out a half. It was all square, even in the match between the two of them, but that was a crucial half point added to that 14 for Europe which gave them overall victory -- 14.5 to 13.5.

(CROSSTALK)

O'DONOGHUE: They said it couldn't be done but team Europe did it; so, a very disappointing day for the Americans.

FEYERICK: You know, it really was just a dramatic comeback and that was incredible to watch.

What's this about Rory McIlroy almost missing his tee time due to confusion over a time zone?

O'DONOGHUE: Yes. Rory was watching television this morning and, you know, there was a lot of talk about the golf, and it sort of got into his head because the announcers were talking about it being Eastern Time. So they were giving his tee time as an Eastern Time zone time. So it was 12:25 p.m.

And that's what he got into his head was his tee off time. But in actual fact they are an hour behind here in Chicago, so it was 11:25 that he needed to be here to tee off and with about a half hour to go, he got a call from the manager of the team, Jose Maria Olazabal, where are you, and he was still in the hotel.

So they managed to get a police escort. In actual fact, Rory road shotgun with a police officer in his car; they had a few outriders and managed to get here with seven minutes to spare. But he managed to win as well, so without hitting a shot before playing, he went out and won and brought a crucial point to his team.

The funny thing about it though was afterwards when the team won, the captain, Olazabal, presented Rory with a huge alarm clock, so I don't think he will ever forget this day.

FEYERICK: That's exactly right. He's going to be checking what time zone he's in for the rest of his life.

All right. CNN's Shane O'Donoghue, thank you so much, live for us in Medinah, Illinois. We appreciate it.

Well, we are just three days away from the first debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and now there are new reports about the tactics both campaigns plan to use. We're going to be going live to Washington next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Half past the hour now. Let's take a look at the headlines.

The number of Americans, military and civilian, killed in Afghanistan is now at more than 2,000. The latest deadly incident happened today at a checkpoint west of Kabul. NATO officials tell us one U.S. soldier and a U.S. civilian died. They're not sure if they were fighting insurgents or inside attackers from the Afghan army.

Here in the U.S. there are just three days before the first presidential debate. President Obama is out west tonight. He's going to be holding a rally in Las Vegas later this evening. Mitt Romney is keeping a low profile. He went to church this morning just outside Boston. He'll be heading to Colorado tomorrow and once there he's going to be holding a rally and continue his debate preparations. That debate, of course, Wednesday.

Police in middle Tennessee have a real mystery on their hands. They're urgently searching for two kids, a 9-year-old girl and her 7- year-old half brother. The children were thought to have died in a house fire that killed their grandparents, but investigators have found no sign of the kids.

Here is the urgent part. The house fire happened last week, and the kids seemed to have simply vanished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Europe has pulled off the improbable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Yes, it was pretty exciting. Martin Kaymer held his nerve to make the most dramatic of puts causing a huge upset at the Ryder Cup. The Europeans rallied from behind to regain control of the trophy and stun the American team. The U.S. dominated the first two days of the competition, but had no answer to a European team which just came roaring back. Today, the final day of play.

And the pressure is mounting ahead of Wednesday' first debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney. CNN's political report Shannon Travis is here with some new information about the behind-the-scenes preparations going on with both candidates.

And, Shannon, what are you hearing? Any surprises in the works?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, probably likely, Deb. I mean you can rest assured that both supporters of both Mitt Romney and President Obama will be looking for body blows to be landed. We're hearing the reports that the Romney campaign -- that Romney is working on some neat little attack lines, working on some zingers. Today the Obama campaign, the press secretary for the Obama campaign, said that the president, don't expect for him to be landing any zingers.

He's going to be looking straight into the camera speaking to the American public, not -- trying to avoid zingers. Basically trying to talk about his vision for moving the country ahead, so basically a little bit of different strategy that we're hearing on both sides.

You mentioned just a moment ago where both candidates will be hunkered down. Obama in Nevada and Mitt Romney in Denver come Tuesday. In terms of their post debate plans, we're hearing that Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney will reunite essentially and campaign in Virginia. President Obama will be in Denver and Madison, Wisconsin, and that Joe Biden will be in Iowa.

So obviously a lot going on in the final -- and the final preparations for the debate and just right after.

FEYERICK: Yes, and, you know, you talk about the zingers which is so interesting. Clearly, each candidate wants to at least make his mark and obviously say something memorable for all the voters there.

TRAVIS: Right.

FEYERICK: Romney running mate Paul Ryan, he was on the Sunday talk shows today. We haven't heard much lately, though, out of Vice President Biden. And we know you've been traveling with him. When he's on the record he says a lot of interesting things. I guess he says a lot of things when he's off the record, too, with you guys, no?

TRAVIS: Yes, a lot of things that we won't talk about right now.

(LAUGHTER)

As you just said, I mean have been traveling extensively with the vice president, but publicly he's out with these new attack lines against his Republican opponent basically saying one of the most memorable of late is that the Romney plan will basically increase the taxes on Social Security benefits for seniors. The Romney campaign obviously saying that that's flat-out false. They're pointing reporters to this 1993 vote that Biden, then Senator Biden, made which basically increased the taxes on the benefits of Social Security for seniors.

So that's a huge issue because obviously a lot of this plays to seniors in Florida, Florida, Florida, Florida, a battleground state there, which is why you hear the Romney campaign pushing back against it so hard -- Deb.

FEYERICK: So much at stake. Shannon Travis for us there. Boy, you know, the countdown, it's going to be very interesting day come Election Day. Thanks so much, Shannon.

TRAVIS: That's right.

FEYERICK: Well, President Obama and Mitt Romney, as you know, face to face as American voters weigh their choice. The first of three presidential debates will be on Wednesday night. We will be here for you. Watch it live, 7:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN and on CNN.com.

Well, extremists use violence to keep girls from getting an education, but at least one woman is braving the risks as she makes sure young girls in that country get into school.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAZIA JAN, CNN HERO: In Afghanistan most of the girls have no voice. They are used as property of a family. The picture is very grim.

My name is Razia Jan and I'm the founder of a girls' school in Afghanistan. When we opened the school in 2008, 90 percent of them could not write their name. Today 100 percent of them are educated. They can read, they can write.

I lived in the U.S. for over 38 years, but I was really affected by 9/11. I really wanted to prove that Muslims are not terrorists.

I came back here in 2002. Girls had been the most oppressed, and I thought I have to do something. It was a struggle in the beginning. I would sit with these men, and I would tell them don't marry them when they're 14 years old. They want to learn.

How do you write your father's name?

After five years now, the men, they are proud of their girls. When they themselves can't write their name. Still, we have to take precautions. Some people are so much against girls getting educated.

We provide free education to over 350 girls. I think it's like a fire. It will grow. Every year my hope becomes more. I think I can see the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And Razia is just one of our top 10 honorees eligible to become CNN Hero of the Year. Go to CNNheroes.com to vote for your most inspirational hero. All 10 will be honored at "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" on Sunday, December 2nd. Only one will be named CNN Hero of the Year.

Well, you've heard from both President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. You've seen the spin from both sides, and since we know you sometimes need the lighter side of politics -- who doesn't -- we have Ben Gleib, the comedian, actor, and host of the podcast "Last Week on Earth."

Ben Gleib joins us from Los Angeles.

And, Ben, let's get right to it. Camps on both sides seeming to manage expectations. Is that like trying to make sure that each side doesn't step on a landmine kind of thing? Good idea?

BEN GLEIB, COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: Yes. They're -- yes, exactly. They're trying to put out fires before they happen, which is not even how fire departments operate. But it's pretty amazing how every year they expect us to believe this person can take our nation and in a lot of ways the planet into a new day, can lead us through the most difficult times we're experiencing in modern history.

Yet also we should believe they're not great in front of a camera. Don't expect too much, though. They're also a little nervous in front of people.

FEYERICK: Everybody keeps talking --

(CROSSTALK)

GLEIB: Only when explaining their policies.

FEYERICK: Yes. Exactly. Each side keeps talking about missteps. You know, that there are missteps that have been made. They've got to manage their -- how they come off. But let's talk about the leading ladies because both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney, both out in the past week showing some of the more, you know, human side to their husbands.

Just take a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT ROMNEY: I have all the confidence in the world in his ability, in his decisiveness, in his leadership skills, in his understanding of the economy, in his understanding of what's missing right now in the -- in the economy, what -- you know, the pieces that are missing to get this jump-started, so for me I think it would just be the emotional part of it.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I can make him mad. I'm probably one of the few people who can really make him mad.

(LAUGHTER)

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": How do you get him -- how do you make him mad?

OBAMA: Any number of ways.

BEHAR: Yes?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: OK. So interesting. I mean are these -- are these wives helping or, you know, hurting their husbands in this buildup to the election?

GLEIB: Well, they're definitely helping with their public image because they're the most likable parts of each ticket really, but I feel as though they could be helping a lot more because that Ann Romney clip continued to her saying that the only thing she's concerned about is if Romney wins, she's concerned about his mental well-being. So you might not want to question the mental health of your husband who you're asking everybody to elect as leader of the free world.

And Michelle Obama I feel like she can probably privately -- I think the biggest thing they can do to help their husbands is privately encourage them to be more of who they are at their best. She needs to tell Barack four years ago you were very inspiring. Do you remember those days? Bring back the hits. Don't do it like -- it's kind of like Elton John rolls to town and doesn't play "Rocket Man" or "Yellow Brick Road."

(LAUGHTER)

FEYERICK: That's true.

GLEIB: People will be disappointed. They need the inspiring speeches. She can tell him that. And obviously Ann Romney -- biggest tip I can give her is to encourage Mitt privately to be a little bit of the man she keeps telling us he is privately. Privately she always says, oh, he's such a joker and he's like my sixth child and he's hilarious and loves to goof around and he's so human.

Yes, all we see publicly is robot Mitt Romney who does what people tell him to do from all sides adjusting constantly to become president. All of his most interesting things happen in private somehow. He's hilarious. That's when he says what he really feels about the country. That's where he puts his investments in interesting offshore exotic places like the Cayman Islands.

Bring a little bit of this guy with actual life and personality in front of the camera. Maybe you will have a chance on Wednesday.

FEYERICK: Yes, the goofy guy. And just to play -- so, you know, in all fairness, you know, President Obama, who always tends to come off as very smiling and in control of things, it's also kind of nice to know that -- you know, there is somebody right next to him who can totally get on his nerves and annoy him. So, anyway, you know, I think they call it --

GLEIB: This is true.

FEYERICK: -- marriage. Yes, OK. All right. Ben Gleib, thank you so much.

GLEIB: Actually she's more inspiring this time around.

FEYERICK: Well, we really appreciate your insights on this. Thanks so much. All right. We'll see you soon.

GLEIB: Thank you for having me.

FEYERICK: Well, how is this for a Sunday night dinner table talker?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD DAWKINS, EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST: I don't think that religion has anything useful to teach us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: OK. Atheist author Richard Dawkins, what he would say to god if, in fact, he is wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: It's been a few years since deadly violence in Northern Ireland made the headlines. The peace there is fragile but it is holding. Officials hope it will continue to hold even if some new evidence rips open an old wound.

You're about to see a fascinating story and stick around for how you can see even more tonight. Here's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Violence and anger were tearing Northern Ireland apart.

BRENDAN HUGHES, FORMER IRA COMMANDER: We were robbing banks, robbing post offices, robbing trains.

ROBERTSON: And men like former IRA commander Brendan Hughes were to blame.

HUGHES: Planting bombs, shooting Brits, trying to stay alive ourselves, trying to stay from getting arrested.

ROBERTSON: Explosive revelations on audio tape. Hughes' memories and those of more than 50 other former combatants in Northern Ireland's Troubles are held here at Boston College. These tapes contain sensitive and secret information about the Troubles and what happened and who was involved and why.

Helen McKendry believes the tapes contain incriminating clues that could point to her mother's murderers.

(on camera): Have you asked the police to pursue the tapes?

SEAMUS MCKENDRY, HELEN'S HUSBAND: Yes, we have. Of course. Yes.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): After almost a lifetime of disappointment, the McKendrys are beginning to believe truth and justice may be within reach.

MCKENDRY: We didn't really care for the foot soldiers that were tasked with killing her mother perhaps, disposed of her body. It was the generals that told them to do it. And those generals are masquerading as politicians in suits and ties. And, yes, of course, it's only natural we'd wish to bring them down. Yes.

ROBERTSON: Northern Ireland's police, agents of the British government, have subpoenaed the tapes believing they contain critical information about Jean McConville's murder, but Ed Moloney, the archives' former director, believes exposing the secret tapes could lead to more violence. ED MOLONEY, FORMER DIRECTOR, BELFAST PROJECT ARCHIVE: It is a crime in their eyes, in the leadership of the IRA's eyes, punishable by death to betray secrets to anyone outside the organization.

ROBERTSON: Do you think in your heart that these tapes will be handed over?

HELEN MCKENDRY, MOTHER MURDERED BY IRA: I'm hoping that they will be. Yes, I'm hoping. Of the -- all I can do is hope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: That report from Nic Robertson is just a taste of an amazing hour-long documentary that you'll see right here on CNN. It's coming up next at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. We'll run it again at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. "SECRETS OF THE BELFAST PROJECT." watch it or DVR it. It's coming up.

Well, Richard Dawkins is a best-seller author, former Oxford professor, and it seems a perennial lightning rod for controversy.

CNN's red chair team sat down with Dawkins to get his thoughts on creationism and what he would say as an atheist if he actually met god.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAWKINS: I think we should look at the history of religion. Be fascinated by it just to look at the history of arts and so on. But I don't think that religion has anything useful to teach us.

One of the main reasons why people are religious is because they are persuaded by the apparent design of living things. And that's completely destroyed by Darwin. If you actually read any book by a biologist about the evolution, it's hard to see how you could fail to be persuaded of it. The evidence is just absolutely -- there's no -- there's no doubt about it. It's not a controversial issue. It's completely certain. It's as certain as the fact that the earth and the other planets orbit the sun.

More than 40 percent of the American population, its opinion (INAUDIBLE) that we believe think that the world is less than 10,000 years old. And that's a shocking figure. It shows deep, profound ignorance. It sounds very laudable to teach the controversy, to teach both theories. But there aren't two theories. There's only one theory around. There's only game in town as far as the other stands is concerned.

Of course, you've got negative reactions from creationists. But who cares about creationists? They don't know anything.

I think it was my father who first introduced me to Darwin and the evolution. I was immensely move by it and it did start a roller coaster in a way, and then I started to become really quite anti- religious after that. I went through a sort of middle ground of what you might call deism. I think I gave up Christianity before I finally gave up the idea of a sort of designer of some kind. Darwin made it easy to be a fulfilled atheist. Before that, you could be an atheist. He was for example. But it was quite difficult but you had no good explanation for why living things looked so well designed. Darwin provided that.

There are other reasons for being religious like moral reasons or people sometimes feel they have a personal relationship with God or with Jesus or or Mohammed, or whatever it is. And that kind of reason for being religious would not in itself be undermined by Darwinism perhaps. It's quite wrong to believe that science reduces humanity, that science somehow gives you a bleak, cold, empty, barren view of the universe and of life.

Quite the contrary. Science is enriching and fulfilling.

What's going to happen when I die? If I met God, the unlikely event after I died, I think the first thing I'd say is, well, which one are you? Are you Zeus, are you Thor? Are you Bia? Are Mithras? Are you Yahweh? Which god are you? And why did you take such great pains to conceal yourself and to hide away from us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And you can see more fascinating interviews like this one online at our Web site, just go to CNN.com/video and search "Red Chair."

Well, up next, a story involving yard sales, a space launch and a bobblehead of President Obama. Can you figure it out?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: NASA believes it has found evidence of once fast flowing rivers on Mars. That's right. You heard it right. Scientists already knew of the existence of water there. But these rocks something all together new. We'll have my interview with a planetary expert at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. And he explains what this means to our rivers here on earth.

Well, a space launch, yard sales and a presidential bobblehead doll. What do they have in common?

Here's CNN's Jeanne Moss.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOSS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one thing to send your 4-year-old son's favorite toy train into the stratosphere attached to a weather balloon and a camera. The balloon eventually pops, the train falls back to earth. But what will they think of next?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift off.

MOSS: To launch into space.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president's gear.

MOSS: It's bobblehead astronaut Obama in a wild decent 20 miles above California.

(on camera): You added a little extra glue to make sure his head didn't fly off?

SEAN DABEL, OBAMA TO SPACE ORGANIZER: That's right. It's not presidential to lose your head in space.

MOSS: Actually he did lose it once upon impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama lost his head.

MOSS: They found it there on the mud flaps.

DABEL: Yes. We got down into the boxer shorts.

MOSS: But Sean Dabel isn't a mudslinger against Obama. A group of around eight supporters launched the presidential bobblehead to raise money for him, putting the flight to them music from "E.T.." The idea was to promote yard sales for Obama. Note the bobblehead's picket fence. The yard sales were supporters sold their stuff, raised only a few thousand dollars, but bobblehead Obama was raised 100,000 feet.

A helium balloon lifted a platform which held the cameras and the bobblehead. Up they went above the golden gate bridge through the clouds and with then the earth's curvature behind him, the helium balloon burst as expected at that altitude. A parachute deployed and the bobblehead floated to earth, landing 30 miles from the launch site.

(on camera): Five Times they launched bobblehead Obama. Several missions were flops. One landed in the Pacific Ocean. Naturally, they made modifications to add buoyancy.

DABEL: These are just pool noodles that we got.

MOSS (voice-over): Presidential pool noodles. The final video is the best footage from the five flights.

(on camera): Bobblehead Obama returned to earth with one visible nick on his neck. The result of excessive Bob Link.

DABEL: Right there, you can kind of see that his head is banged into it.

MOSS (voice-over): The president got dinged. The candidates tend to become experts at nodding and spinning.

Jeanne Moss, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FEYERICK: Jeanne Moss there. Well, I'm Deborah Feyerick at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I will see you back right here at 10:00 Eastern. CNN presents "SECRETS OF THE BELFAST PROJECT." That begins right now.