that would be missouri congressman todd akin, now calls on him to end his senate bid after those controversial comments. we're learning he has a new ad. does that mean he's staying in the fight. >> enemy fire, the airport belonging to one of the top generals hit by rocket shrapnel in afghanistan. augusta national golf club adds its first two female members. why they have been chosen to break new ground? we have a packed show this morning. the former lgpa star hollis stacy is our guest and lolo jones will join us, former candidate, steve forbes and actor and director curt cameron joins us. it's tuesday, august 21st. and "starting point" begins right now. >> welcome, everybody, our starting point, todd akin says

he will no go down without a fight. he is facing tremendous pressure from republican leaders to quit his senate race against democratic incumbent claire mccaskill. he says he's staying in. akin'support has all but disappeared as a result of these comments about rape and abortion. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try that shut that whole thing down. let's assume that maybe that didn't work or somebody. i think there should be some punishment but it ought to be in the rapist and not attacking the child. >> congressman akin is fighting to salvage his senate campaign. the website politico obtains this new ad this morning from the republicans. >> the fact is rape could lead from pregnancy. the truth is, rape has many victims. the mistake i made was in the words i said, not in the heart i hold. >> well, congressman akin has under 11 hours to get his name off the ballot if he decides to

change his mind. dana bash has more with this. lots of republicans have come out strongly saying get out of the race. >> reporter: it's true, if you listen closely you can hear republicans having panic attacks because he is not getting out of the race and because that ad that you just ran. republicans looked at the map and looked at the math and believe that akin at this point will not only cost the republicans the senate seat in missouri but likely rob them the ability to take the majority back in the senate. that is why i'm told by gop sources that republican leaders have all but begged him to step aside and telling him for his own political future and publicly it's been a coalition of republicans, tea party leaders, conservative radio hosts and columnists. akin g the biggest shove on cnn from the rnc chair. >> if it was me, and i wouldn't say anything that dumb, as he

has, but if it was me, and i had an opportunity to let someone else run to actually give ourselves a better chance of winning, i would step aside. >> he actually said don't come to the convention next week when soledad republican sources tell me to expect more pressure like that, perhaps from republicans closer to home. >> because the deadline is 5:00 p.m., the whole point to get him off to put somebody else's name on the ballot. not do it so late. he is pretty well funded by himself, right? he has a $2.2 million war chest. is it possible he could say i got money, don't need your money or invitation to the rnc? >> absolutely it's possible. that's what republicans are so worried about. you're right, he does have a war chest, but in a state like missouri, where especially if he stays in the race, democrats will pour ungodly amounts of money in there. he's already been told by the republican party they are not going to spend $5 million they were planning.

he's already been told by one of the biggest advocacy groups, karl rove's group, they are not going to spend their $5 million. republican sources i talked to say they knew full well that akin would be a potential problem and preferred less divisive candidates. they went to him and warned him, your words will be scrutinized like never before and learned from two years ago when they lost seats in nevada, in colorado, in delaware, remember christine o'donnell, i'm not a witch. remember? >> how can we forget. >> they knew that they probably lost those because of lightning rod comments. >> the democrats knew that too. they put a ton of money into the race very specifically to have akin as the person who would be challenging claire mccaskill. even though he's been leading in the polling we've seen over the last few months? >> that's exactly right. they played -- you would argue good politics and claire

mccaskill ran an ad during the republican primary that akin is the best conservative. people watching it didn't necessarily know it was a democrat putting it up because she was the one who wanted to run against akin. but the question is whether or not this is all going to end today. you mentioned that there is a 5:00 deadline for akin to voluntarily withdraw from the race to allow republicans to get another name on the ballot. i'm told that republicans believe that even if he doesn't do that, they have until september 25th to actually remove his name from the ballot. it would be a lot tougher. they are going to have to go through legal hoops, procedural hoops to do that. they are crossing their fingers, maybe kicking as hard as they can to get him out by 5:00. >> kicking on tv out loud, rescinding invitations for example. dana, thanks. we'll talk with amy kremer, chair woman of the tea party express. she pushed for one of those less divisive candidates. we'll talk to her straight

ahead. first john has a look at the top stories for us. >> we'll begin with developments in afghanistan, rockets fired at the main nato air field there damaging the c-17 used by the joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey. the shrapnel hitting the plane at a time when the general was not on board. we're hearing two other people were hurt. the rockets also damaged a nato chopper. dempsey later left on another aircraft. president obama speaking to the white house press corps yesterday issuing a stern warning to ssyria, if bashar al asaad uses chemical weapons or moves them, it may revoke a response from the u.s. >> a red line for us, we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons being moved around or utilized. that would change my equation. >> military experts say the syrian regime probably has the

most advanced chemical warfare program in the arab world. stalling traffic along the mississippi river, an 11-mile stretch has been shut down for most vessels. commerce there considered eed to the economy. it left 97 ships and barges stranded on monday. another storm is slowing down 62-year-old endurance swimmer diana nyad, trying to become the first to swim from cuba to florida without a shark cage. she has completed 48 miles of her 103 mile journey. according to her team's blog, all hell broke lose when a storm closed in forcing her to change course to escape 14 knot winds. at 8:15 eastern, we'll get a live update from a boat alongside of hers. mark solinger will join us then. hopefully that storm passes soon. >> i had a chance to talk to her before she went on her first

effort to try to swim from cuba to florida and you know, she really said she wanted to show that people at any age can do anything they set their mind to. it is all about for her inspiring people. >> getting stung by jellyfish in the face but it's okay. >> thank you. todd akin has until 6:00 eastern tonight to make his withdrawal bid from the senate after the comments about rape and abortion asana bash was telling us a few moments ago. if he waits until after 6:00 tonight, it becomes more complicated legally and with republican convention just around the corner, the pressure to get him to withdraw has been intense. joining us this morning is amy kremer. thanks for talking with us. >> good to see you, soledad. >> i got your e-mail from your organization last night which was clearly pushing him to drop out. why do you think he needs to go? >> because i think what he said is completely indefensible and changes the narrative of what's

going on here. the fact claire mccaskill wants him to stay in the race speaks volumes. we need a good strong candidate. if he looks at the bigger picture, he will do what's best and step aside. >> it's unclear what he's doing because we've seen an ad he just put out a few moments ago -- he is certainly not saying, i'm out, i'm quitting. he's also apologized and he has said in reviewing my off the cuff remarks, it's clear i misspoke in the interview, doesn't reflect the deep empathy i hold for thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. he said this on governor mike huckabee's radio program yesterday. listen. >> i care deeply, you know for the victims of people who have been raped. and they're equally vulnerable and a rape is equally tragic. i made that statement in error. let me be clear, rape is never

legitimate. it's an evil act. it is committed by violent predators. i used the wrong words in the wrong way. what i said was ill-conceived and it was wrong. for that i apologize. >> clearly what it does to the missouri race leaves it in some kind of chaos/limbo. what does it do for the presidential race do you think? >> i think that every -- on a state level as far as presidential politics, the whole thing is, this is a distraction, we don't want to talk about this. we want to talk about the $16 trillion debt and how to get rid of it. quite frankly, had he said this three weeks ago we wouldn't be sitting here discussing this because he would have lost in a landslide. we need to get back to what every american is concerned about right now and that is the economy and jobs. and focusing on this, the longer he stays in the race, this is going to be the narrative that everybody is going to focus on and get us off message. we can't afford that.

i hope that congressman akin will do what's best for the party and for the people across this country and step aside. >> here's what president obama said yesterday, let's play that. >> the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about, doesn't make sense to the american people. and certainly doesn't make sense to me. >> what the president is talking about there, that sort of slicing and dicing of forceable rape versus statutory rape versus rape when you've been drugged, maybe it doesn't considered to be forceable rape. that brings us right to the republican platform or at least the draft that we have gotten here at cnn so far with the official platteform will look like. as you read it, it doesn't make

explicit exemptions for rape for abortion under rape or incest. how much of this is a problem much bigger than congressman todd akin, that it has repercussions for republicans when you look at the polling on abortion and rape, it doesn't necessarily support that platform. >> well, soledad, quite honestly, i am -- i represent the tea party movement and we're not focused on party politics. we're focused on the issues. and one of the reasons we have been so strong and changed the political landscape in washington, d.c. is because we're focused onlily on the fiscal issues on the economy. we're never going to agree on the social issues and that's why we don't go there. we don't focus on that. that's why i want more than anything to turn this back around and let's focus on what is important to all americans right now. i disagree with what congressman akin said. it was totally wrong. and we have to be -- we have to call out our own as we would call out the left. it was wrong.

let's step aside and do what's best for the party and for the american people so that we can move forward and focus on issues that are important to all of us. >> amy kremer, the chairwoman of the tea party express. nice to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> you bet. >> coming up in 20 minutes. we're going to talk to former alabama congressman artur davis, he seconded president obama's nomination four years ago. this year he's speaking at the republican convention. he's changed sides. we'll get his thoughts on this straight ahead. coming up next, the most valuable company ever, no surprise, it's apple, reaching new heights and that's before the iphone 5 comes out. sean green jackets this time for the ladies, hollis stacy, former lgpa player reacts to the augusta's first female members. >> have i heard from this espn analyst. >> unbelievable. >> he says no shock the white people should support the white

athletes. really? you're watching qu"starting po " point." ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. in your car. now count the number of buttons on yr tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. ntgomery and abigail higgins had...

...a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit. which provided for their every financial need. and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you.

so, what's the problem? these are hot. we're shipping 'em everywhere. but we can't predict our shipping costs. dallas. detroit. different rates. well with us, it's the same flat rate. same flat rate. boston. boise? same flat rate. alabama. alaska? with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service.

if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. dude's good. dude's real good. dudes. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service. minding your business this morning, u.s. stock futures are higher, european markets are up too on hopes for greece as the prime minister meets with eurozone officials it's. and apple the most valuable company ever in terms of market cap. worth $623 billion as of yesterday's market close. new iphone expected in about three weeks. one tech stock having trouble though, facebook.

one of the first big investors sold off a huge chunk of his shares worth about a billion dollars in cash. facebook stock is down almost 50% since ipo. stock sale was preplanned announce the day of the ipo according to filings with the sec, this is why individual investors should be careful with ipos. >> sold for a billion dollars in cash means he spent a lot of money on it. a billion in cash spends so good unless you start with $2 billion. >> he walked away with a very big profit. >> appreciate it. today is a new day at augusta national, two women are members of the storied golf club after 80 years of become excluded. former secretary of state condoleezza rice and car la moore. these accomplished women share our passion for the game of golf

and both are well known and respected. it will be a proud moment when we present them the green jackets when the club opens this fall. why now? hollis stacy, justin ducted in the world golf hall of fame. he said in that statement, a proud day. what do you think is the significance of two women now being members? >> well, it's a great day. and they are two wonderful women that you now members. it's taken a long time coming but finally it's happened. >> last time, he think -- last time you and i spoke we were discussing this same issue. it was when ibm was sponsoring the masters if you remember and the question was a ceo is a woman and will she be given a membership. darla moore, used to be the chair and condoleezza rice obviously. what do you think of them as

firsts, as the two first female picks? >> well, i always thought that condi will be the first and nobody wants to go in by themselves so it's a wonderful -- it's wonderful for women. darla moore, it's a small world but my nephew is supervising the building with her name on it at the university of south carolina. supervising the construction of it. she's very generous and it's great to have two women of their stat tour tore the first members. >> why did you say con leeza rice first as your pick. we always talk about football and nfl commissioner, you can't not talk about those two things. i didn't realize she was a golfer. >> well, i'd known she was a golfer. she is a member of the golf club and became a member of cypress,

she loves the game. she's always at -- i hear she's at pga events a lot. and she's from stanford where tiger played so it's a national. it's a good fit. >> martha burke who protested for years to get women in. this is not about golf, the club is not about the game of golf, it's about the game of networking and having women rise to an equal level as men. do you think she's right? >> i do. you know, i am very happy, but i'm not at the top of the mountain. there's a lot of work to be done. women comprise 51% of the population, yeah, we are represented by 6% in congress. so there's still a lot of work to do. and i'm really happy that the day has finally happened but there still is a lot of heavy lifting of boxes we have to do.

>> we appreciate your time this morning. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> still ahead on "starting point," espn analyst getting in trouble talking about the washington redskins quarterback competition and he says this, it's quote, human nature for white fans to root for white players. we'll start with our "starting point" team, margaret hoover and ron brownsteen and celeste hedli. someone happy.♪ good morning ♪it's so y. ♪make just one heart to heart you - you sing to♪ ♪one smile that cheers you ♪one face that lights when it nears you.♪ ♪and you will be happy too.

. welcome back, everybody, our team this morning, margaret hoover is back. she's a former white house appointee under the bush administration. ron brownstein is back.

nice to see you both, celeste headlee is back. our get real yesterday was congressman akin and that has become -- >> everybody is watching how that will work out. we have moved up and that cannot be a good thing. the washington redskins are hoping rg3 can turn the fort tunes of the franchise around. only one espn analyst is suggesting that white red skin fans will like to vote for the white backup. the redskins picked another quarterback later on, fellow rookie, curt cousins. bayless said this. >> also have the black/white dynamic and majority of the red skin fans are white and it's hum

nan nature to vote for the white guy. i'm for the black guy but i'm saying i don't like the dynamic for rg3 it could stunt his growth in the nfl. >> so rarely is there so much to go through in one sound bite. let's start from the beginning, you have the black/white dynamic, the majority of redskins fan base is white. >> larger point as my friend likes to say, as sports fans, we right for laundry. we cheered for johnny dameon in boston until the day he put on pinstripes and hated a-rod until they put on pinstripes and they'll hate him again when he goes. >> human nature if you're white to root for the white guy. >> every chinese american in new york city loves engineerny lin and nobody else did? >> for people like us who are by

racial, mixed -- >> i'm so confused. and latina. mark sanchez, what should i do? >> a lot of fans are white people by the way and all in d.c. never seen them so excited universally. >> it's a comment that was designed to offend pretty much all of the races which i'm a member. >> my daughter, who is 12 would say, that's just stupid. stupid. >> she's right. >> still ahead on "starting point,"ny developments to tell you about in the tropics. tropical storm warnings going up. we'll get the latest from cnn hurricane headquarters up next. go ahead, it's 7:28 in the morning, go ahead, wait until after dinner. but we're told it could help your mobility later on in life. might affect your mobility right now but could help you later in life. we're going to explain that straight ahead.

mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. [ "human" by the human league playing ] humans. we mean well, but we're imperfect creatures living in a beautifully imperfect world. it's amazing we've made it this far. maybe it's because when one of us messes up, someone else comes along to help out. that's the thing about humans. when things are at their worst, we'r our best. see how at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do.

you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter.

welcome back to "starting point." in just a few moments, we'll be talking to olympic hurdler lolo jones. she missed out on a medal in london and got caught up in i thought an attack by the media on her personally. she'll talk about her critics and the cheers she went when she went to des moines. also we're going to talk with former congressman artur davis,

one time democrat is now a republican. he'll weigh in on the akin controversy. first let's get to john berman. good morning again. >> we have tropical storm warnings after new depression forms in the atlantic overnight, a lot of republicans watching this wondering if it will affect the convention. let's get to rob marciano for the latest. >> that is a possibility but it's a long way off. first orld of business is tropical depression number 9. we have a system off the coast of africa that will develop into a depression or tropical storm. tropical depression number 9, if it does tren sthen, isaac will be its name. tropical storm warnings have been posted for parts of the leeward islands, in anticipation of arriving sometime on wednesday and strengthening in category 1 or 2 storm. brings it towards puerto rico and hispaniola or jamaica or cuba or even the east coast in play as we get towards next

week. this system in the gulf of mexico, it is not moving very much, near the mexican coast. mostly heavy rain. rain across parts of this southeast with this front. everywhere north of there looks to be a nice day with comfortable temperatures from chicago to detroit to pittsburgh to new york city. back to you. rob, thank you very much. a state representative from minnesota is facing calls to step down after he admits to a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old boy at a rest stop. democrat kerry gauj er won't face charges because no money was changed and the boy was older to consent. he responded to an ad on craigslist seeking sex with no strings attached. still more questions about the apparent suicide of chavez carter in arkansas. the autopsy found he shot himself in the head while handcuffed in the back of a police car.

marijuana and meth and depressants were also found in his system. carter's family believes their son was shot by police. the case is still being reviewed by prosecutors and the police. doctors more likelyo get burnt out by their jobs than the rest of us. a survey found 7,000 doctors they said 4 out of 10 were emotionally exhausted by their work. that feeling could lead to depersonalization where physicians treat the patients like objects than human kz. the burnout rate was even higher among emergency room physicians and family practice tigsers. a so-called miracle monthly cure found in red wine and blue berries and nuts may improve mobility as we age. scientists recommend the fruit over the booze. it takes a whole bottle of the wine to get the same amount of reserve trol from a handful of

cranberries. along that same subject matter. what's the ultimate party school? the princeton review is out with a list and we have the top five. at five, university of georgia. in fourth, the university of illinois. in third, the ohio state university. iowa is runner up and number one party school in america, west virginia, ladies and gentlemen. >> just to get the reserve trol. see? >> thinking about their future health. >> just healthy, west virginia, they care about this stuff. >> they are confused. >> thanks, john, appreciate it. today there is a critical deadline to see whether candidate todd akin will step down from the race. he's the man who used the word legitimate rape in an interview and set to defend himself on piers morgan and canceled last minute. people in his campaign said that he was working on a new ad. congressman akin has until 6:00 eastern tonight to drop out of the race before it gets

complicated. and in fact we've heard many republicans calls suggesting he does that, including priebus, the chairman of the party. they pulled $5 million in ad funding from the congressman. mitt romney told akin to take time to see what's best for him and the party. as of yesterday he is saying he is not a quitter, by the grace of god he is going to win this race. that is the $64,000 question, isn't it? artur davis will speak at the republican convention after he left the democrat ingic party earlier this year. >> good to see you and your panel as well. >> thank you very much for being with us. let's talk with congressman akin, a colleague of yours in the congress. he says he's not a quitter, lots of pressure to drop out and very blunt pressure from the gop leadership. do you think he should drop out? do you think he will drop out? >> well, what a remarkably thoughtful offensive set of comments, first of all. he's wrong on the substance.

he was incredibly wrong and foolish in the way he talked about the issue. and look, i'm a former politician, doesn't have the standing to tell anybody to drop out of anything. but he's not going to win this race and it's very possible that he could cost mitt romney the state. all of us feel sympathy for someone who said something dumb, we've all done that. these comments are beyond the pale and incredible offensive to women all over the country. >> two things. a lot of people who are not ee lengted officials have been saying drop out. i don't think your calls are out of any range of the spectrum. >> but you just said you think that what him staying in the race could cost mitt romney the state. explain that to me. >> such an incredible distraction at this point. that republicans have a wonderful chance to win missouri. president obama won missouri narrowly four years ago. the missouri economy is not in good shape.

senator mccaskill has voted in lock step with president obama and that will hurt her. if the next four months are spent talking about the remarkably dumb comments that akin made a few days ago, that certainly is going to hurt the prospects for republicans. >> hold on one second while i check in with john berman and ron brownsteen. berm an thinks missouri is not in a position -- >> john mccain won it narrowly. >> see, people make mistakes. >> is it a question of misspeaking, or do you think the substance -- >> i think the substance is wrong and the misspeaking, very clear about this. i don't think there is any state capital in america or any set of politicians in america smart enough to tell a young woman what to do if she's been brutalized and raped. now that's my opinion. some people may disagree with that. i think there are many pro-life americans like the guest you had on earlier -- >> miss kremer. >> many prolife americans who

firmly disagree with what todd akin said. his position is not reflective of the pro-life community. >> what he explained yesterday, when he said legitimate, he was reaching for the word forceable, the word forceable is relevant because it was in legislation co-sponsored by a majority of the house, including paul ryan who sought to distinguish between force able rapes and something else in terms of funding for medicaid. is that not the party doing exactly what you said americans should not do? >> i think it's todd akin doing what his spin doctors told him to do to find a pathway. if you're in a situation like this, your crisis management doctors will try to talk you out of it. i give romney a lot of credit for the statement he made yesterday disowning akin's comments. and i don't know of a prominent republican official in this country who has come to the defense of akin on the substance or on the way he talked about it. >> i'm sorry, forgive me for

interrupting there. later as you pointed out, he did say when i said legitimate, i meant forceable. right, that brings that conversation to a conversation around legislation. when i first heard him say legitimate, i was like what does that even mean? we talked about this yesterday morning. >> incredibly dumb comment. >> what i meant was forceable rape, which is then distinguishing forceae rape from statutory rape or rape where may have been drugged. do you see delineations between those -- >> i don't see any delineations at all. this is what congressman akin appeared to be doing to a lot of listeners. he appeared to be saying that there is some scenario in which women can somehow stop this process as he put it -- >> the medical part. >> seemed to be blaming women, that what made it so offensive. >> that was the second half of the statement. >> i don't think he speaks for any class of people here. i go back to what the romney/ryan campaign has said

and what every single republican senator, or leader who has weighed into this has said. his comments don't reflect the pro-life movement and republican party and they don't reflect the romney/ryan ticket. you can argue some comments do. and you can correct me if you think i'm wrong. the back end of the comment about the medical and women's body almost spontaneously abort if they are raped -- >> it's a dumb comment. we'll move on from that. >> the part where he talked about legitimate. he said by legitimate i meant forceable. that brings us into a conversation about the new ans between forceable rape and statutory rape and some kind of rape where maybe the woman is drugged so it's not considered to be an attack. my question would be when you look at the platform of the gop now, doesn't make a distinguishment between -- i can read you in fact i think we have it up there. victims of statutory -- the federal law prevents medicaid

funds from paying for abortions and contains an exception for women who are raped. for force able rape. that is part of that conversation. >> let me let him answer. >> i think the rape incest exception in the platform for a simple set of reasons. if you're a conservative you can't want government intruding into a decision that a young girl makes when she's been raped. that is a decision for her, her god, her con shens and her doctor and her parents -- parental consent. absolutely. and given that. if you're a conservative who believes in limited government, i don't think -- even if you're the most ardent pro-life conservative you ought to want to see government extend its footprint in that way. i don't think that akin speaks for the pro-life community and i don't think he speaks for the republican party.

>> is the party platform which cnn obtained a copy of -- >> the draft. >> should have an exception -- you are in disagreement with the draft for the party platform that cnn has seen which does not have any exceptions -- >> john berman, 67% of republicans are in disagreement with the republican party platform on this issue. >> that's a very important point. >> you're going to be speaking, you're the guy who really the introduction of president obama four years ago. >> i think more people have seen that speech in the last week or so -- >> we have all been looking at it. >> and now you're going to be speaking at the republican national convention. what are you going to say? what's your message? >> i'm still working on the speech -- >> everyone always tells me that, come on. >> that's accurate for most of us, but it's going to be two points. president obama is a wonderful admirable american and even if you're the most ardent obama supporter i don't think you can

make the case he has given us what he promised, promised to bring renewal to the country and that was the big selling point. >> hope and change. >> and promised to turn an economy around. we just finished our 43rd consecutive month of 8% unemployment. you're reporting the jobless claims continued to go up. we're almost certainly going to see month 44. likely to hit above 8% unemployment. 25 million americans are out of work or have stopped looking for work. gdp growth was 1.2% in the last quarter. we used to know how to create a million jobs a month in this economy, what the reagan recovery did. now we have the an aneemic recovery and for three consecutive years, washington policies have mismanaged the recovery. now, some people say you can't blame the president for that. and that's an argument that i

get but when you run on one thing, you're going to be able to turn the country around. you're hold yourself to a high standard. >> it will be interesting to hear the speech. we're out of time. >> never created a million joshz jobs a month -- ser the we'll be able to tell everybody on the next commercial break. artur davis, thanks for coming, we appreciate it. we have got lots to get to this morning. new developments on diana nyad, we're rooting for her, her effort to swim from cuba to florida is now over. we're just getting word that she is out of the water. we have planned to check in with her team. but it looks like she has ended her -- what she had called her final bid. fourth try. we'll talk about that and what happened and what went wrong right after the short break. stay with us, with this breaking news, diana nyad.

because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant

or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news.

breaking news this morning on the cuba to florida swim attempt by diana nyad, she's been pulled out of the water. the swim is over. we've been following the but she's faced jelly fish stings, and this morning the big problem was storms overnight. she ran into two in the last 24 hours, and they put her way off course. she hoped to be finished by last night. we'll talk to her team at 8:15 a.m. eastern time to see how they are doing in the wake of this sad news that she is out of the water. she had said this was going to be her final attempt. so it sounds like this will be her last try. ahead this morning on "starting point," rough go for olympic hurdler lolo jones, criticized in the media, criticized by some of her teammates. but she is moving on. she is with us next. you're watching "starting point." back in a moment. sure, you can. this malibu eco features e-assist.

it offers an epa estimated 37 miles per gallon highway. this cannot be a brand-new car. what are you doing? i was looking for a cassette deck. [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. now get a 2013 malibu eco for around $219 per month. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life.

norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different.

it was an emotional homecoming in des moines, iowa, for olympic athlete lolo jones, who finished fourth in the 100 meter hurdle, a 10th of a second short of a medal. >> thank you, thank you. this is honestly what i needed right now. it's been really quite difficult, so just to have this, honestly, i just feel the warmth and i definitely needed this. because after the olympics, i was feeling my heart get kind of cold and bitter. >> yeah. it was a tough few weeks for jones. she faced a lot of scrutiny from the media, her teammates. she is with us this morning to talk about that and her plans, which includes starting a charity for kids. nice to have you with us this morning. it's been a tough road. the olympics. so close, and you miss. that must have been heartbreaking. >> i think it was just because i experienced in '08, and i was like really, i'm doing this again? this is tough. >> it's got to be really hard. i don't know how athletes bounce -- you train for four years, and how long is the race? like 12 seconds or something? >> 12 seconds. yeah.

>> you know, one thing as a fan, one thing that's incredible about olympic athletes is success and failure is measured in like hundredths of a seconds in increments. how do you deal with that kind of increment? >> i think this year i learned a lot of people measured my success based on if i have a medal or not. and i know tons of athletes who end their olympic careers and don't have one. so -- >> you hold some records. >> i do hold some records. i try to look at my success of where i started from. so coming from iowa, then getting a scholarship, and just working my way through the ranks. and obviously being a two-time olympian. >> how tough was it when "the new york times" wrote, i'm going to read a little bit it, i don't know if you read the whole article, don't read it. it's very harsh. women have struggled for decades to be appreciated as athletes. for the first time at these games, every competing nation has sent a female participant.

but jones is not assured enough with her hurdling or compelling story of persevere anchs so she has played into the persistence, demanying notion that women are worthy as athletes only if they have sex appeal. did you see the article? did you read it? >> i didn't read the whole article. people were telling me there was this crazy piece about me, and little lines of it. >> it had to be hurtful. >> it was. i read it afterwards. and i don't know. you know, it's my job to focus the negative and positive energy and just use it as momentum down the track. and i guess it's his job to just write articles to stir the pot. i mean, it's freedom of speech. he can do what he likes. but my freedom was to say i didn't appreciate it. >> you have the freedom to think he was a jerk. i thought it was a really harsh article. and i thought partly because it focused specifically on female athletes and their looks and sort of the -- he was blaming you for leveraging, you know, your incredible sex appeal and

sort of blaming the people for not covering the other athletes that he mentioned. he mentioned dawn harper, kelly wells as well. and he sort of says no one is focused on them because she's so beautiful. >> well, i mean, i think they are good looking. i guess he is saying that they are ugly. but i like kelly and dawn. but i don't know. i think that the main thing that hurt the most is he said i made the olympic team off of my looks. and if he knew the fight i had to go through to get that last spot for the u.s. team, i mean, i made it by less than a tenth. every round, i was fighting frustrations and fear. and one moment i actually got just breaking down with my coach. i don't know if i'll make it. to make it looks alone, then i could have just handed them a photograph. >> a lot less training that way. we're going to write about your charity on our blog, and i'd

love to have you back when you really launch it and bring some of the kids. it's to focus on kids whose parents are incarcerated. mrs. america was telling us about that as well. you should get together with her to really leverage that. that's a wonderful mission. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. still ahead this morning, we'll talk about diana nyad, 62 years old. she has called it quits in her fourth attempt to swim from cuba to florida. she's out. and todd akin says he is staying in the race. do his financial backers want him out following his controversial remarks about rape? we'll talk to erick erickson, the editor of redstate.com. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel.

and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who ha or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month

for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news.

our "starting point" this morning, is he going to quit? >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> well, congressman todd akin's shocking comments about pregnancy and rape cost republicans a senate race in missouri? and enemy fire. an airplane hit by shrapnel from two rockets in afghanistan. and it's over. hit by storms and then jelly fish and hypothermia, long distance swimmer diana nyad is calling it quits right now. a packed show for you this morning. former republican candidate for president steve sfoshs will join us. and mark solinger will be our guest.

and actor and director kirk cameron joining us. it's tuesday, august 24. "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody. margaret hoover is back. she is a former white house appointee in the bush administration. nice to have you. ron brownstein is with us. and celeste hedley the anchor of "your vote 2012." >> we have news out of afghanistan this morning, soledad. before that, we'll talk about missouri senate candidate todd akin. >> all right. let's get to what he is saying, which is i'm not going anywhere, t. that's what he's been saying so far. at least not without a fight. his tremendous pressure of course coming from republican leaders to quit the senate race against democratic incumbent claire mccaskill. he says he is staying in the race. akin's support from g leadership has really all but

disappeared. as a result of what he said about rape and abortion. listen. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. but let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. you know, i think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be in the rapist and not attacking the child. >> congressman akin is now fighting to salvage that senate campaign. he's got a new ad out this morning, and it looks like this. >> the fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. the truth is rape has many victims. the mistake i made was in the words i said, not in the heart i hold. >> akin's got about 11 hours to get his name off the ballot if he changes his mind. dana barb sh is with us this morning. erick erickson as well. he says he's not a quitter. he's got until 6:00 p.m. eastern

time. you predicted he was going to drop out. are you still that confident? you sounded confident yesterday >> a lot of his consultants were saying yesterday he was going to drop out. the nrcc was sending signals, the congressional side and the senate side sent those signals. a lot of people were very surprised by the evening where it he was walking it back. when you have a congressman from missouri on the radio with sean hannity, and sean hannity is suggesting congressman, you need to drop out, you've gotten of gotten to the point where you're not getting any traction from conservatives or republicans. the problem is, i mean, as dana can point out, his campaign is very insular around him. there's no guarantee that the consultant advice is penetrating the campaign. >> dana, is that a problem? some people would say, no, that's a strength. he's got money, a team of people around him. many family members who work with him. he doesn't need that stamp of approval from the gop. or does he? >> well, that is a strength when you have, you know, sort of general support and your head is not on the chopping block, which

it is now. but it's basically a negative when you are somebody who relies on as erierick was saying apparently his son is a campaign manager, his wife is very close, and i was told yesterday he was hunkered down with his family trying to make a decision. when your family are also your top political advisers, the insulation might be a little bit too much. but when it comes to the republican party, soledad, i think the point that erick made should be underscored. it's not just that establishment trying to get him out because they want to win the senate seat and they want to win the majority back. it is conservative talk radio hosts, it is tea party leaders. across the board. and i'm told the one thing that we should look for today perhaps are religious leaders. what are they going to do? because he is a very religious man. if they come to him, maybe that will be the thing that finally gets him out of the race. >> it was interesting. i was reading comments from the frc yesterday, and they were actually blaming the democrats sort of saying it was gotcha

politics i think was the quote they used. and there was some conservative radio hosts that were actually over the weekend not really pushing him to go until really i think the gop leadership made that hard core push. and then he got -- but the bigger issue, right, the reason we're talking about this, is because of the implications for the presidential politics, right, erick? >> right. >> what's the big problem here? >> if you've got the money pulled out -- there's an old rule from haley barbour, republican from mississippi, if you want to win the presidency you win senate races and also governors races. to build on those campaign structures, to be able to win the presidency. when you have a u.s. senate race and that senate candidate is now flailing about, embarrassing, you have the national publican senatorial committee not putting money in. karl rove saying his group won't put money in. that's more money that the party and the presidential campaign had to spend in a state they could spend elsewhere. it drags down the presidential

ticket and others on the ballot as well. >> and more than that too. >> let me suggest a different problem here. missouri seems pretty safe with or without akin on the ballot for mitt romney. certainly the issue of senate control is at risk if he stays on the ballot, because obviously claire mccaskill is more competitive. but one thing that has held strong for obama is his support among college educated white women. he won 52% last time. he is polling at least that well this time at 60% or more in some key states, and that is in part after the big fights earlier this year about contraception. comments from outside of the campaign from rush limbaugh and rick santorum had a big effect. is there a risk that the akin comments and the controversy around it seeps into the presidential ticket, especially with a link back to paul ryan and this question of defining forceable rape in legislation? >> well, yes and no. first of all, keep perspective. a majority of americans, including a majority of women, consider themselves pro-life. but at the same time, you have

todd akin in that seat as the boogie man on this issue using him as a proxy for paul ryan or republicans or using his statement over and over, yeah, then it becomes a problem for the republican party. frankly, a lot of the pro-life leaders i talked to last night are concerned this could do damage to a pro-life cause when a majority of americans are pro-life. but you have this play over and over again, people get more skewed. >> i want to bring in margaret for a second. is that correct? the polling that i have seen seems split depending on the questions asked. >> there's a big difference of opinion. if you ask that group of people if they are for overturning roe versus wade, they are not necessarily for that. what we do know is that the culture wars of the '70s or '80s don't define the younger generation as much as they used to. people generally encourage people not to get an abortion, but they are not for making it

illegal. they want restrictions but they want it to still be permissible. >> we now know, or at least we have a version, of the draft of what's going to be the republican platform on abortion. and that i think also kind of loops in this conversation, right? what kind of a -- the draft obviously could change, because it's a draft. is it problematic as these conversations are happening and that's part of the reason to get akin out of the race from a gop perspective as quickly as possible? >> absolutely. because as you mentioned, peter hamby got a copy of the draft, which does talk about effectively forceable rape, which was the terminology that was created a firestorm a few months ago and republicans were forced to pull it out of a piece of legislation on capitol hill. but what republicans who i have talked to about this particular controversy have said is that they made it strategic decision to completely bombard akin with calls to get out from the highest levels. for several raines, but one of th reasons is because they

wanted to separate the republican party as much as possible from him, make him an outlier, so that he doesn't get pulled in with mitt romney and other important republicans in key races on the issues that really affect women. because that is clearly problematic. but whether or not that is enough to try to really throw him under the bus and separate them out, you know, democrats know full well that's why you saw the president come out yesterday and try to get in on this game. he and other democrats think that this is an absolute winner. and historically they have polling to back that up. >> any day, i think both parties can agree, any day they are talking about social issues is a good day for president obama. but whether they talk about them or not, culture shapes voter preferences as much as class. and we will see a deep cultural divide in the vote in september. >> i really hope joe biden gave todd akin a great present this week. >> you're the first person to

mention joe biden this morning, and i'm sure like the vice president is yay, they have moved off of me and are talking about abortion. erick erickson and dana bash, i appreciate it. john berman has the day's top stories for us. afghanistan this morning, rockets fired at the main nato airfield damaging the c-17 used by martin dempsey. the shrapnel hitting the plane when the general was not onboard, but two other people were hurt. it also damaged a nato chopper. dempsey was in afghanistan for talks with nato and afghan commanders. president obama issues a stern warning to syria. don't even consider a chemical or biological attack, even moving the weapons, or you may provoke a military response from the u.s. >> a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculus, that would change my equation.

>> the syrian regime probablying had the largest and most advanced chemical warfare program in the arab world. literally, bogging down the economy. low water levels are stalling traffic on a portion of the mississippi river. an 11-mile stretch near greenville, mississippi, has been shut down for most vessels. the closure left 97 ships and barges stranded on monday. in the missouri, we are seeing ships more than 100 years old for the first time because the water is so low. >> john, thank you. still ahead this morning, breaking news. 62-year-old diana nyad is out. she is calling it quits in her attempt to swim from cuba to florida this morning. we are trying to get a live update from her team. dr. sanjay gupta as well. he did a documentary on her. and the rocket, roger clemens, returning to baseball. not as a yankee, not as a red sock, but as a sugarland skeeter. what?

50 years old is. it time for him to up? that's our tough call this morning. you're watching "starting point." [ female announcer ] the coffee house.

the lines, the cost, the hassle. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? with over 25 delicious flavors for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house. add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. questions. when you're caring for a loved one with alzheimer's, not a day goes by that you don't have them. questions about treatment

where to go for extra help, how to live better with the disease. so many questions, where do you start? alzheimers.gov. the answers start here. exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different.

some breaking news on the daring journey by world famous long distance swimmer diana nyad. she is now out of the water. her record swimp attempt is now over. she was trying to become the first person to swim from cuba to key west without a shark cage. she was halfway there after 60 hours in the water with she gave up. we have been following the 62-year-old's fourth attempt for a couple of days now. she faced jelly fish stings, and then the big storms that took them off course. when we last heard from her team, they had put the effort on pause because the weather was so

bad. mark solinger is the operational director for team nyad. he is in a boat traveling alongside nyad and joining us by satellite phone. dr. sanjay gupta is joining us as well. mark, are you there? can you hear me? tell me how diana is doing. >> yeah, i'm here. >> go ahead. >> diana is doing as well as someone who just spent 63 hours attempting someone monumental and extremely dangerous, you know, that someone that is trying to do that would feel. she is -- her lips are very swollen. her face is swollen. she is, you know, going through exhaustion. we have our med team checking on her. you know, regularly and monitoring her vitals. >> you had some rough times. i was just mentioning a moment ago the weather, the jelly fish. what was the final thing, the thing that said we've got to yank it now, it's time to get her out of the water?

>> well, we had a lot going on last night. we had diana getting stung by jelly fish. we had our shark team on full alert. usually we have two guys at a time. we had all four people in the water at the time assessing threats that we felt were there. we had an extremely difficult gulf stream, which was really throwing us offcourse. and we were fighting to stay on and get back to. plus, we had a huge squall, came through very quickly. a lot of lightning right on top of us. and it made it unsafe for not only diana but any other member of the team to be in the water. so at 12:55 p.m., we pulled her from the water because it was i life threatening situation. and this morning, after about three or four hours, the storm went through, we realized that to complete it, it was going to be anywhere from 20 to 40 hours. >> wow.

>> and with all the threats continuing, diana decided that it was not a risk that we wanted to take. >> all right. mark, i'm losing you a little bit on the satellite phone. but it sounds like you said you were crunching the numbers being taken off course, the lightning and jelly fish stings, and realized you were looking at another 28 to 40 hours and that did not look good. let's bring in dr. sanjay gupta. i know you have followed diana nyad. one, the jelly fish stings, it's not just annoying and painful. it is very, very dangerous, right? and number two, she is 62 years old. just the fact that she's been swimming for 60-plus hours is i think stunning. even from a woman who has done this for her career. >> yeah. she turns 63 tomorrow in fact as well, soledad. you know, she was hoping to get up on that florida shore for her

birthday. it's a remarkable thing. and you'll remember she tried this many years ago when she was still in her late 20s and then didn't swim for 30 years. and took it up again in her 60s. it's remarkable from a medical standpoint. you're burning about 700 calories an hour. she burned about 42,000 calories. she is losing about half a litre of water every half hour. so that's 120 litres of fluid that needed to be are you placed. so it's challenging for anybody, certainly for her as well. but i have talked to her many times over the last couple of years. and she trained hard. she did 24-hour swims as part of the training. but to the jelly fish sting point, soledad, this is sort of what derailed her last time as well. and she covers much of her body now with this protective suit. but still the jelly fish can sting her lips and even cause her tongue to swell. so it can cause some significant problems. you're trying to obviously, you know, do a very endurance athletic event, and having a hard time breathing through your

mouth can be very challenging. >> brutal. mark solinger was joining us by satellite until we lost that connection there. thank you. i appreciate your insight. that's such sad news. we were really rooting for her and i know she wanted to send a message that anything is possible at the age of 62, 63. she really wanted to inspire. she calls it the aarp folks, is what she said. we still love her and root for her. still ahead on "starting point," roger clemens returning to baseball five years after he retired. 50 years old. and his career, of course, was tainted by allegations of strayed use. so what's he thinking? what do you think? is it a good call, a bad call? it's our "tough call" coming up next. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

[ male announcer ] you work hard. stretch every penny. but chances are you pay a higher tax rate than him... mitt romney made twenty million dollars in two thousand ten but paid only fourteen percent in taxes... probably less than you now he has a plan that would give millionaires another tax break... and raises taxes on middle class families by up to two thousand dollars a year. mitt romney's middle class tax increase. he pays less. you pay more. mitt romney's middle class tax increase. chase scene netflix coming soon extra butter tickets swoon penguin journey junior mints movie phone evil prince

bollywood 3d shark attack ned the head 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback on movies through september. it pays to discover.

welcome back to "starting point." our "tough call" today, it turns out roger clemens isn't quite done with baseball quite yet. the rocket making a comeback at the age of 50. he just signed with the sugarland skeeters. he is expected to start for the texas minor league team on saturday. clemens last pitched five years ago when he was with the yankees. he is coming off of course a major legal victory. he was acquitted of lying to congress about using performance enhancing drugs. so could we see him back on a major league mound later on? motivation is the question today. one, clearly loves the game. or -- >> and he is competitive. >> or -- >> and the conspiracy theory is that perhaps he really wants to get back into the majority leagues. get at least one more game under his belt to reset the clock. it takes five years from your last major league game before your up for the hall of fame. >> this year, he's on the ballot

with barry bonds and sammy sosa. everyone is looking at this as the performance enhancing drugs ballot. none of them will probably get in. >> five years, that erases people's memories. >> presumably a team that's looking more for attendance. >> the astros are in dead last place nearby. >> the astros are almost in the independent league at this point. >> so realistically, he could be asked to come and just pitch a game forhe astros, and that would reset the clock? >> one game. >> or he just loves the game. as i said. >> yeah. >> still ahead on "starting point," todd akin apologizes again in a new tv ad. stopping by our studios to weigh in on that is steve forbes, publishing executive, two-time presidential candidate. you're watching "starting point." we're back with him in just a moment. ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪

and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go.

welcome back, everybody.

you're watching "starting point." in just a few moments, we'll talk to kirk cameron. we mak he makes movies and dabbles in politics. we'll talk to him about both of them. steve forbes has a new book out and we'll talk with him about that, also straight ahead. but first, john berman has a look at the day's top stories. all eyes on the caribbean. tropical storm warnings after a new depression forms in the atlantic overnight. want to get right to rob marciano for the latest. >> isaac forming. here it is, 200 miles west of the leeward islands. we have tropical storm warnings that were posted for the northernliward aisles. the next couple of days, it will be affecting those folks into the caribbean. and then likely become a hurricane. maybe a category one or two

status. getting closer to the gulf of mexico in the u.s. so have to watch that. but it looks like the northern caribbean islands will definitely be affected by this storm. behind that, just another system off the african coastline. the question is will it make it all the way over. and across the southwestern gulf of mexico, this little ditty. not moving a whole lot. so not too worried about it at the moment. this stationary front not moving everywhere. everywhere from the front south kind of rainy, including florida. soggy day except up north. looks to be a decent day there. republicans watching the storm tracks closely with the convention starting in tampa next week. moving on now, representative kerry gauther pleaded guilty to a sexual encounter with a boy, but he was older than the legal consent and no money was exchanged. police say the teenager responded to an ad on craigslist

seeking sex with no strings attached. on the campaign trail today, president obama hitting two battleground states with events in ohio and nevada. vice president biden campaigning in minnesota meantime. mitt romney spent a day fundraising in texas, and paul ryan will be stumping in pennsylvania. some good news, bad news for the obama re-election campaign last month. really bad news bad news. team obama raised $49.2 million in july, but spent $59 plnl. million. meantime, the romney campaign is on a winning streak when it comes to fundraiser. romney and his supporters collected $101 million in july, $25 million more than obama, and his democratic fundraisers. that's three straight months for romney outpacing obama in fundraising. and now the romney team has $65 million more in the bank than obama. pressure now building on missouri candidate todd akin to quit the race. he said he is not going down without a fight.

he released a new ad this morning. >> the fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. the truth is rape has many victims. the mistake i made was in the words i said, not in the heart i hold. >> steve forbes is a publishing executive, two-time presidential candidate. he has written a new book called "the freedom manifesto: why free markets are moral and big government isn't." nice to see i. >> good to see you. >> he said the mistake i made was in my words. do you think it's correct, he just misspoke? >> well, quite a way to misspeak. and i don't think he'll get out today, despite that 5:00 p.m. deadline. but i think what he'll have to do in the next couple of weeks is see for himself that this campaign is not retrievable. the republicans are putting pressure on him and doing the good cop, bad cop routine. romney was the good cop. the others are the bad cop. i think in two or three weeks he'll call it quits. >> do you? is it clear that he would lose in the wake of these comments? >> it's not guaranteed in

missouri. but obviously, it becomes a lot more difficult after this to say the least than it would have been. you want the party to focus primarily on economic issues. but you have a core of the republican voting bloc that are social conservatives, particularly evangelical christians, who want these issues front and center. how do you manage that tension? how do you see that tension being managed by mitt romney and paul ryan? and how does the party manage that going forward? >> well, often, events determine that. in 1980, ronald reagan had social conservative support. very strong pro-life as today in the republican party. but the economy was the issue. that's what he ran on. that's what he won on. and i think you're going to see the same thing here, particularly after labor day. people are going to focus as we do in this book, which i call it a list of names, is what kind of country do we want, one that is dominated by big government or free markets? which direction? what is the best for the public good? which best serves the public good? and that's the ultimate question i think that will be in the forefront, especially in october. >> you often see, at least i see in some of the polling where

people will see, entitlements bad, big government bad, except i want to keep my entitlement. so depending on how you ask that question, they are very much against entitlements. but when you ask about their entitlement, they want to keep it. >> don't change medicare, but get the government out of my life. >> right. >> and when you look at the number of americans who get some kind of entitlement, the number is huge. at least 50%. one in every other american has government in their life in some capacity. do you think there's been a change? >> no. i think you can have very effective safety nets. the question is, can you have an economy that can thrive and be open to entrepreneurs, whether fedex versus the post office. take something like a social security. if you make changes now for younger people, where they have their own individual accounts with proper rules on diversification and the like, the system works. but you own it. not the big politicians. same thing with medicare. how do you get control where you're in charge and not an unaccountable bureaucracy? and health care today, we don't have real free markets.

the proof of it is when you go to a doctor or hospital and you ask in advance what it costs, you get a strange look. it means you're either uninsured or a lunatic. so the system goes haywire. we argue get more free markets. you can have effective safety nets as we demonstrated with food stamps and the like but have the abundance of free enterprise. >> can i ask you a company about crony capitalism? you talk about it a lot in your book. republicans are talking about it. but i feel like republicans are falling short of explaining what it means in the american system. we know that berlusconi is risk because of his ties to media relations. but in the united states, it looks different. examples of crony capitalism in the u.s. economy that we can fix. >> well, the opposite. apple. the poster child for crony capitalism, government cronyism, is obviously solyndra.

but there are other things as well. the banks system, too big to fail. this dodd frank will crush the big banks. that is not free markets at work. that is government at work. and the whole point of free markets is the you only succeed if you meet the needs and wants of other people. with government cronyism, big government cronyism, you have to appe to bureaucrats and politicians who make the decisions, not people in the marketplace. it's about freedom. >> is the economy getting better right now? is it muddling along? the markets are telling us that the economy is getting better. and they are seeing through the worst of europe, and the worst of what looked like a summer slowdown in the u.s. is it getting better? >> similar to a car on a highway. you should be going 70, 75 right now. you're puttering along at 25, 30. you're moving but not at the speed you should. this is the worst recovery from a sharp downturn, even when the bottom was reached initially we had a sharp upturn. we never got the sharp upturn.

>> is 25 miles an hour enough for the president to win re-election? >> i think the economy will be the issue, and i think especially with paul ryan on the ticket who understands free markets, i think those issues will be at the fore. and i think you'll get the same kind of mandate that ronald reagan got in 1980 when he ran on massive tax cuts and deregulation, rebuilding america's military. i think you'll see the same thing here. >> 70%. ronald reagan got it down to 28%. and since then, big government has creeped it back up to 35%, effectively 40% when you include all of the complexities of the code in there. >> right. >> that's the marginal rate. and that's what determines prosperity, what you pay on the next dollar you earn. you can pay zero on your first x thousands of dollars, but if you pay kwirp above that, you have a stagnant economy. >> the book is "freedom

manifesto." nice to have you with us this morning. >> good to be with you, soledad. thank you. cnn gearing up for special coverage of the republican national convention next week in tampa. don't forget to join us on monday. both "early start" and "starting point" will be broadcasting our shows live from the convention center in tampa as we continue to check in on that tropical storm warning. cnn is of course the place to be for the best political team on tv. our live coverage of the rnc will kick off from tampa at 7:00 p.m. eastern. ahead on "starting point" this morning from teen heartthrob to outspoken christian, kirk cameron with is with us this morning to talk about his new movie, the 2012 race. and congressman akin as well. you're watching "starting point." hi, kirk. nice to see you. >> hi. you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy.

and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. tweet it be surprised be productive. make a sale make some lunch make it movie night.

play a game or an old favorite. do it all more beautifully, with the retina display, on ipad. take the steps to reach yours, everyowith usgoals. with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. since 1863 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow, preserve, and pass along their wealth. so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own path. all of us serving you. us bank

well, back in the 1980s, kirk cameron was a teenaged heart throb as mike seaver on the hit show "growing pains." today he is best known for his support of conservative christian values. he has produced a number of christian theme projects including the left behind series and "monumental," which advocates that god was unukely involved in the founding of the united states. it's out now in dvd. nice to have you with us. >> thank you. good to be here. >> i know last time we talked politics, and there's a lot to talk about. let's start with acongressman akin. what do you think, in the race? out of the race? >> i'm not a political strategist. >> and yet everybody still weighs in even when they're not. >> sure, sure. you know, i would encourage people to sit down and watch the video. and i watched through the whole thing last night. and, you know, he clearly is a pro-life advocate, and for that i respect him.

he said that he misspoke and misphrased something and he apologized. i'm the kind of person that believes i would like to be evaluated by my entire career and my entire life, not two words that i would misspeak and then later apologize for. so he's in a tough spot. >> yeah. i think everybody who -- certainly the gop leadership would agree, and they would like him out. and others as well. but i guess some of the -- what we were talking about earlier with steve forbes is he was doing all the nuance between the forceable rape, and i'm sure since you have heard the tape, forceable rape, legitimate rape, and differentiating that from statutory rape and then sort of another clause. do you see it that way? like there are nuanced differences between kinds of rape or not? >> boy, rape is rape. you know, nobody is going to agree with any kind of ok rape. and, again, by watching the entire video, i get the sense there that this is a guy who is

defending life and he wants to go to all lengths he can to protect the life of the unborn. and i think that's the message that comes through. when i watch his video. >> steve forbes sat in that chair a moment ago and was arguing that the essence of conservatism should be to minimize the impact of the state on individuals, to reduce the role of government in individual lives. as a social conservative, are you comfortable with that definition of conservatism? >> i'd have to go back and listen to exactly what he said. but, you know, i have actually learned a lot because i didn't grow up in a politically active home. so this wasn't something i grew up with. however, as a father, just as a family man with six children, i have become very concerned about where is our country headed. is it headed in the right direction? do we need to turn things around? and that's why i spent a couple of years actually studying the very founding and the forefathers and even the founding father of the forefathers, john robinson, and made this documentary called "monumental" because i am in

search of america's national treasure. i want to know the secret sauce, because most people seem to be pointing fingers and blaming each other. >> so it the essence of that, giving people more freedom to do whatever they want, which is an argument -- there's a strain of modern conservatism that says that the essence the way that society prospers is giving people more freedom across the board. hands off. are you comfortable with that? >> well, what i have -- again, i'm trying to be a student. and the people i want to listen to are the men and women who built our country primarily. i think they did something unique. and what they taught me is that, yes, we ought to have freedom. we should all have freedom. but individual freedom doesn't work without self government. without a real personal responsibility to do what's right over the long haul. and if you do that, in the long run, things will go well. >> you talk about core ideals. part of that philosophy of these core ideals, one of which is religion, which you explore in

the movie, which is now a dvd, "monumental." >> yes. >> and i think it's interesting because you point to these monuments and sort of the evidence of sort of god's role in these great monuments across the country. at the same time, when these founding forefathers very aggressively were trying to keep separation of church and state, right? they came from roots of persecution. did you see that as a contradiction in what our forefathers, founding fathers, both believed and then very aggressively advocated against? >> no. there was no contradiction there, because it comes down to a understanding of what jefferson meant when he said separation of church and state. and understanding the forefathers, they came out of this very tyrranical system where you had a topdown government system that imposed religion on people. they didn't want that. they wanted personal freedom to worship god as they knew was right. and so they left us the reset button to properly understand

the role of faith and religion in all of culture, including government. and it's encapsulated in the largest granite monument in the united states of america. it's sitting on a hill in massachusetts. and it's hidden behind a forest of trees in a residential area. and it spells out their recipe for building and sustaining a free and just society. >> i'm embarrassed. what monument is that? >> the national monument to the forefathers. you have to go see it for yourself. your jaw will drop. tears came to my eyes. and i thought why have i never seen this, why have i never heard it? >> my parents drug me across the nation to look at monuments. >> and that's the biggest one. >> the dvd is called "monumental" in search of america's national treasure. thank you for being here. >> nice to meet all of you. thank you very having me. you're watching "starting point." back in a minute.

[ thud ] really? [ male announcer ] revive your eyes with visine®. ahh. [ male announcer ] only visine® has hydroblend, a unique blend of 3 moisturizers that soothe, restore and protect eyes for up to 10 hours of comfort. which means all day comfort... for my non-stop day! [ male announcer ] visine® with hydroblend, find it in these visine® products. the lines, the cost, the hassle. ♪ express yourself [ female announcer ] why not try coffee-mate? with over 25 delicious flavors for a fraction of the cost of the coffee house. add your flavor, with coffee-mate, from nestle. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪ apply online or at a bank of america near you. you know what's exciting? graduation. when i look up into my students faces, i see pride. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, that pride, that was on my face. i am jocelyn taylor. i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives,

and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control.

our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. welcome back to "starting point." in this week's "human factor," a man who built a $200 billion empire. ralph braun may need a wheelchair, but he certainly is not confined by it. >> each day, you'll find ralph braun at the headquarters of the company he founded in the 1970s. the braun corporation. he's been in business for 40 years. and he has clients around the globe. but such a successful future

seemed unlikely when he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 1946. >> well, my parents were told that probably i would not live past my teens. >> braun grew up in rural indiana. he says back then, there were no sidewalks. people like braun were not welcome. >> disabled people were looked at in the '40s and early '50s as most the time they should just be sitting in a closet somewhere. >> reporter: his way of becoming successful was born out of necessity. by that way, braun was unable to walk, but he needed to be able to go to and from work. so he tapped together his love of engineering and created a scooter to get on the road. the year was 1963. >> the three-wheel scooters that you see today in the supermarkets and wherever were not -- there wasn't any such thing. and so i built the first one, a four wheeler, which, you know, i

call frankenstein. and then i built the second one, which was a three wheeler, which was the bride of. >> reporter: today his company manufactures several thousand wheelchair accessible vehicles and lifts every year, and has improved the lives of many people just like him all over the world. >> got to take a break. "end point" is up next. stay with us. ♪ the one and only, cheerios you know what's exciting? graduation. when i look up into my students faces, i see pride. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, that pride, that was on my face.

i am jocelyn taylor. i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different.

it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter.

this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome back, everybody. we're getting some breaking news

information in to cnn. live pictures here in maryland. right outside of baltimore. a csx train which was hauling coal has trailed and it's fallen from a bridge. apparently, we are told that two people have been killed, vehicles crushed in the parking lot where they have fallen in. it's unclear exactly the identity of those two, although we're being told that the people who were killed on the rail bridge were not railroad employees. their identities, though, have not been released as of yet. the csx spokesman is saying to our affiliate in washington the train was making its way from west virginia to baltimore. unclear what caused the crash. they are investigating. they have to clean up the coal. they'll be bringing in a crane as well to try and upright that train that has derailed. and diana nyad has called off her swim. she is now out of the water. you can see the pictures there. the jelly fish stings, the storms that they were dealing with o