campaign adviser to john mccain has written an article in the daily beast today, and martin frost the former chair of the democratic congressional campaign committee joining me. wednesday, august 22nd, and "starting point" begins right now. welcome everybody, our starting point this morning is concern, moving from the state to the national stage, as republican todd akin now vows to stay in his senate race. the missouri representative says party leaders were wrong to abandon him after those controversial rape remarks. he's pressing on with his campaign to try to unseat democrat claire mccaskill, even if he has to go it all alone. reporter from cnn affiliate ksdk tried to get reaction from congressman akin at the st. louis airport. here's how it went. >> were you upset with how the republican party did not back you during all this? does it bother you that they

kind of bailed on you? >> it's been exciting days. we're doing the best that we can. >> and do you still think you can win the race? >> i believe so. >> going to talk all about that this morning. cnn's dana bash will be joining us in just a few moments. also mark mckinnon. he was a presidential campaign adviser to john mccain back in 2008. now he's a contributor for the daily beast. he'll be joining us to talk about that as well. first want to get right to john berman. he's got a look at the day's top stories. >> talking about weather, soledad. tropical storm isaac threatening this morning in the atlantic and it could pose a threat to florida right smack in the middle of the republican convention next week. let's get the latest from meteorologist rob marciano in the cnn hurricane headquarters. >> good rning, john. this thing is gaining a little bit of strength. there's another one right behind it but all eyes on isaac, east of the leeward islands. there have been tropical storm

warnings posted for the northern irelands and hurricane watches posted for puerto rico and the u.s. virgin island. 45-mile-per-hour winds. forecast track from our several computer models bring them over the northern caribbean island and help keep the intensity down a little bit. not good news for the islands of hispaniola and cuba. the official forecast track of the national hurricane center takes pretty much these computer models, and averages them with a little bit of human guidance, as well, of course. category 1 storm, getting towards sunday and monday towards the southern tip of the florida peninsula. getting into the gulf of mexico. that's a potential. missing everything and going east, that's also a potential. we're watching those scenarios closely. hitting tampa, that's a remote possibility as well. >> still a possibility. we are watching it very closely. in our next hour with tropical storm isaac posing a threat to florida during next week's republican national convention, we will talk to tampa mayor bob buckhorn about how his city is preparing for the storm. what are the contingency plans.

meanwhile the west nile virus scare in dallas, an 11th victim a woman in her 80s died from the virus, which is spread by mosquitoes. the mayor also said aerial spraying of pesticides seems to be working. officials are focused on spraying on the ground and removing standing water. there have been about 700 cases of west nile reported nationwide. about a quarter of them so far in dallas. a controlled blast at the site of a new york subway demolition project goes wrong. this jolted nerves, shattered windows, sent smoke and debris up into the street. no injuries were reported from it. city officials are now inspecting surrounding buildings for structural issues. a source told a local station a protective covering which was meant to trap debris wasn't positioned properly. prince harry from the buff. buckingham palace official confirming to cnn this morning that photos posted on tmz of a naked prince harry are, in fact, really a naked prince harry. tmz says he's playing a game of

drunk strip pool with an unidentified woman in a vegas hotel suite. we will have a live report from buckingham palace straight ahead. not affecting apparently republican politics, just days before the republican convention a new poll has president obama and mitt romney running neck and neck. the nbc/"wall street journal" poll has president obama and vice president biden at 48%, mitt romney and congressman ryan at 44%. that is within the margin of error so in polling we pretty much call that a dead heat. >> yep, it is. however all of that could change, and we keep talking about it, right back to cnn's dana bash from washington, d.c. you have been talking with your sources already this morning. what are they telling you, the polling that we just heard john talk about is really what's at stake here clearly. >> oh, it definitely is at stake. and the key question is will he or won't he? will he ultimately get out of the race? i just got off the phone with a senior republican source who said that frustrated party officials do not expect him to get out of the race in the next few days. they don't know if he will at all. this source said that

republicans are quote, preparing to grind it out for now. at least do that for awhile. republican leaders, according to this and other sources i'm talking to, say they're waiting to watch a few dynamics to see how they unfold. one is how akin feels when he's back home. you see pictures of him right there. he's at the airport. he hasn't been in his home state of missouri. he's been in ohio, holed up in his political consultants office for the past two days. the question is now how does he feel that he's back in st. louis? does he feel isolated? that's an open question. the other one is an important one for any campaign, that is money. how much money can he raise? how much will he have? the party has already made clear they're not giving him any. outside groups like karl rove's won't give him any. can he raise enough from angry activists to stay in his campaign? that's another thing party officials are watching. >> the big question is does what's happening in the state of missouri have bigger implications and repercussions for the national election? right, i mean, more of the reasons this is so interesting because the question is what does this do to mitt romney and paul ryan?

>> exactly. and one of the key, key questions within that is women. what does it mean for the female vote. you mentioned "the wall street journal"/nbc poll that shows effectively neck and neck between president obama and mitt romney. that is not true among women. it's not even close. i want you to look at this poll. there's a gender gap that is ten points. president obama, i believe, we have the graphic, is beating mitt romney by ten points, 51 to 10 and that certainly has not been helped at all. >> i think you mean 51% -- >> to 41%. thank you. 51% to 41%, ten-point lead. it doesn't help at all with the fact that down in tampa yesterday, the party adopted a platform that they had several years before, but it does not have an exemption for abortion when a woman is raped. it puts a spotlight on that issue and it certainly does not help the romney campaign. and i've talked to several senior officials who say that obviously they want to be

talking about the economy. and they don't want to be talking about this. and democrats are already calling that a plank that was adopted by the party yesterday, the akin amendment. >> all right, dana bash for us this morning. thanks. next guest calls representative todd akin's statement on pregnancy and rape the quote, political equivalent of the gop riding over an ied, improvised explosive device. and the shrapnel that continues is shredding everyone. mark mckinnon, who was a presidential campaign adviser to john mccain back in 2008, now he's contributor for the daily beast and the global vice chair for hiller milton. nice to have you with us. akin is portraying this as i misspoke, i said one word wrong, i think that's the quote that he's been saying, and yet you're calling it shrapnel. why do you think it's so much more relevant and important than one word? >> the issue is "a," the problem, but "b" the timing of the words. this is a time when republicans were trying to ramp up for the convention, wanted to have a message of tolerance, diversity,

big tent, and wanted to have a focus on economic issues. suddenly now we're having the focus drawn back in to issues that republicans really don't want to be talking about. except for somebody like todd akin, who has, you know, fairly prehistoric notions about some of these social issues, which are -- which are anathema for women across the board. i mean, republicans -- >> we just had a poll. >> that gender gap is only going to widen now. this was a time when republicans hoped to be improving it with messages that are much more women-friendly. so, this is a very bad distraction at a terrible time. >> so the big, i guess, goal of democrats right now is take advantage of the timing. >> sure. >> take advantage of the conversation that they're happy is not about the economy, and also, do whatever they can to connect mitt romney and paul ryan to todd akin. >> sure. and that's the other part of the problem with timing, is that focusing on this issue brings focus to paul ryan's record and

mitt romney's record on the issues. which isn't good. you know, john mccain, when he was running for president tried to get this language out of the platform. i made the point in my column in the daily beast today, i talked to a reporter recently who said i couldn't remember a convention where platform became an issue, a platform issue became a big issue that had an impact on the election. my mind may be changed by this convention and this issue, because of the timing. it's bringing -- attracting focus to the platform itself, the abortion plank on the platform, which is more conservative than it's ever been in the language, the human life amendment. so for all of the independent and gop-leaning women watching this convention right now, all they're hearing about are -- is about this issue that akin has now brought front and center. >> and reading the draft of the plank. >> which otherwise we never probably would have heard about. >> right. before we even get into the convention. we're going to keep you around with us this morning. we appreciate your time. we're going to take a short break. still ahead, we're going to talk

to diana nyad. talk about the jellyfish stings, the storms, and really what it was that finally forced her to give up her dream to swim from cuba to florida. then we'll tell you how the postal service has wasted a million dollars. doesn't have on simon stamps, homer simpson stamps. our get real this morning. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. [ male announcer ] when a major hospital

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welcome back i'm christine romans, minding your business this morning. the jury hearing apple's patent suit against samsung begins deliberations in california today. this is one of the biggest tech patent lawsuits in history. apple claims samsung copied the look and function of its smartphone and tablet products. apple is seeking $2.5 billion in damages, asking that samsung be banned from selling products in the u.s. after reports of deplorable

conditions, and workersuicide, the apple products plant in china run by foxconn is getting higher marks from the fair labor association. this new report says the plant has reduced long hours and improved safety measures. other improvements making sure the people who make apple products take breaks. and there are some design changes to equipment to help avoid injuries. and soledad, futures are looking a little slower overall. >> all right, christine, thank you. well she faced the threat of sharks and storms and horrific jellyfish stings all for a dream that she's had since she was 8 years old. so at the age of 62 diana nyad made her fourth attempt to swim the 100 plus miles from cuba to florida. but after more than 60 hours in the water, and halfway to her goal, she had to give up. i had a chance to speak with diana just a few moments ago from key west, florida. tell me how you're feeling this morning. >> you know, there's a physical and there's no doubt this water beats you up, and i feel a little like i've been in a

boxing ring for a few rounds. but it's much more the emotional. you know, soledad, it's sort of like i believe in living life large. just have all my life. it's what helps me get through to the end of each day and each month and hopefully to the end of my whole experience in life. with no regrets. that i just throw everything, all my passion, all my heart, all my brain, at every day. and i tell you i can look at this, these last three years, i have absolutely no regrets. it was a thrill to be this immersed in this difficult a task. the thing that's hard for me to let go of is the history. i had history in the palm of my hand. and it was epic. no one's ever done this passage. and for good reason. and i truly wanted to be the one. it's been in my imagination.

you know, since i've been very young. not just in my 20s as a marathon swimmer. when i was 8 and 9 years old, in fort lauderdale florida right as the revolution happened in cuba, and a flood of cubans came to america and i had many cuban friends, like millions of people, i was filled with a mystique of those people, that land over there. >> so then why -- >> and their music and their athletes. >> so then why are you saying this is your last attempt? i would have thought maybe number five? >> you know what, i'm not a quitter. and there's nothing that could keep me from going over there again. it doesn't matter about big summer storms that come through, and gulf streams that are tricky to navigate. none of all that stuff matters. but, soledad, the damn jellyfish are frightening. i was stung across the lips. it's not just pain. i can tolerate pain. but these animals take you down.

they take your heart and your lungs, and slow your weight. they can be fatal. many people die from the box jellyfish. and they're now prolific out here. so, i'm out there swimming. i got the world's expert in box jellyfish, dr. angel from hawaii, i created with a company a suit that they cannot sting through but i can swim in. i made a hood, swam with little booties. i mean it's not easy to swim with all this stuff. but at night just the lips were exposed because my god, i have to breathe. you can't cover the mouth, too. a tiny, i'm telling you, no thinner than the strand of this hair, one hair, that jellyfish came wisping across my lips, took me into searing pain. started to take my heartbeat down, and i couldn't breathe. and i mean chills all over. and i'm debilitated all night by nine of those stings. and i went through three nights,

stings each night. you know what, soledad? that's not, to me, what sport is all about. i'm out there to show my will, and to show that this 62-year-old body is pretty darn strong and fit. to show that i have a team that's expert in all their dimensions. we were like a fine oiled machine moving across. it was fantastic. the jellyfish, they're too big for me. >> those pictures. >> what do i do? >> those pictures of your lips, and they've come down a little bit on your lips now, but your lips were so, i mean, looked really terrible and terribly painful. so when you look back and assess it all, and aren't you 63 today? isn't today your birthday? >> you know, it is. you know, i keep forgetting that because i have so many other things washing around in my mind. but, in fact, i am 63 today. >> was it worth it? when you look back, all that and i don't just mean the last four attempts, i mean sort of a dream from the time you were 8 years old, has it all been worth it? >> sure. because, you know, then really,

let's extrapolate and you'd say, has your life been worth it? so i've decided to live life passionately. you know, what's that mary oliver quote, sort of to paraphrase it, so what are you going to do with this one, wild and precious life of yours? do you really want to get to the end? not to criticize people, but do you really want to get to the end and saw, wow, if i really added it up i spent about 45 of my 90 years lying around the couch eating cheetos. is that wild and precious? does that define a wild and precious life? i go for it. and everybody around me came to me yesterday with tears streaming down their faces and said that these last three years have been the most intense, valuable times of their lives. they felt awake and alert and very much alive. and that's how i feel every day. make it to the other shore or not. so yes, very much worthwhile. >> diana nyad. always nice to see you.

and nice to talk to you. happy birthday. congratulations to you. it was fun for us, too, to watch and root for you every step of the way. we appreciate it. we appreciate your team who talked to us along the way, as well. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> i love watching her. still ahead this morning, on "starting point," today's get real. a sticky problem for the post office under fire for a special simpson's stamp. we'll tell you why. "starting point" team is heading in to talk about that margaret hoover, mark mckinnon is going to stick around with us. we're back in just a moment.

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welcome, everybody. our team this morning, jay

fielden is joining us. he's the editor in chief of town and country. margaret hoover is with us, a former white house appointee in the bush administration. and hank sheinkopf. should i keep you guys together there? >> yeah, we like it. >> stop, stop. stop it. moving on, mark mckinnon is with us, a former mccain adviser, contributor to the daily best. of course john berman has just joined cnn, our news anchor. we start with the u.s. postal service. it's just completely wrong when they thought that homer simpson and the simpsons would outsell elvis in the commemorative stamp department. produced a billion simpson stamps. really? a billion? well just a million, which would have been fine, a billion in honor of the show's 20th season. they only sold 318 million, which honestly sounds high to me. officials say the postal service, which, of course, wasted $1.2 million in printing costs, already expected to lose $15 million in this fiscal year.

you know, i don't get the whole commemorative stamp thing anyway. because they seem like they're -- >> i love commemorative stamps. >> i'm going to buy low. i'm going to go buy -- >> really? >> why not? when you had a trillion, sell. >> but the cost is so much higher. if there was no cost to it. if it doesn't cost any more than your regular stamp, right? >> shows a basic lack of understanding and demography. people who are older use postage so they're going to buy elvis. that's part of their life. >> and anyone who is going to buy bart simpson is just going to send an e-mail. >> i'm with you, commemorative stamps, margaret, i love commemorative stamps. >> -- that's correct. >> but the truth i wouldn't put a simpson stamp on a letter that you wanted somebody to take serious. >> yeah. >> it seems odd. seems odd. anyway they lost a lot of money. >> and they're about to come due

with $5.5 billion of payments to the treasury. >> it's all credit cards. we have no sense -- >> which brings a topic to we don't have time for. we want to know what you think about this story. send us a video, 20 seconds in total would be good, about a point you want to make about the show today. we're calling it my end point. meaning your end point, not my end point. we're going to pick one, include it at the end of the show. going to our blog at cnn.com/startingpoint if you want us to pick your video. got to take a short break. still ahead this morning, a new challenger stepping up in the late night wars. jimmy kimmel is now going to pose a direct challenge to leno and letterman. swapping time slots. also a piece of history lost is found in someone's attic. martin luther king jr. in his own words. straight ahead. and our top story, standing his ground, the man who used the words "legitimate rape" now refusing to quit the senate race. how much damage could this do to mitt romney? former congressman tom davis is going to join us. capella university understands businesses are trying to come

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welcome back to "starting point." in just a few moments we're going to be talking to former devil defensive tackle warren sapp. he's big, he's outspoken now, he's written a book, he's an author. he's the author of "sapp attack." this book is so funny, it is so entertaining, read it yesterday, he's going to join us live in the studio straight ahead. first want to get right to john berman with an update on the day's top stories. >> we're going to start overseas right now. afghan officials stepping up efforts to spy on their own police and army recites. this comes after a series of so-called insider attacks that have left nine u.s. troops dead over the last two weeks. the u.s. military is in critical of afghan forces to not do enough to weed out insurgents within their own ranks. an update on syria today. last week she provided a dire account. more than 1 million people

uprooted, a million more in urgent need of aid. syria's deputy minister says any discussion of president bashar al assad's resignation will only happen after a dialogue with syrian rebels. that's what he told russian state tv yesterday during a visit to moscow. an activist says 230 people were killed across the country just yesterday. federal investigators trying to determine the cause of a freight train derailment in maryland that killed two young women who were tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time. and they sent tweets right before they died. 19-year-old elizabeth nass and rose mayr were sitting on the edge of the railroad bridge in ellicott city when a passing train jumped the tracks. moments before the women had tweeted these photos of themselves. one showed feet dangling over the bridge with a caption, leff stating. the other said tringing on top of the ellicott sign with rose. washington state man arrested for allegedly making threats against president obama will appear in court today. investigators say 31-year-old anton caluori sent alarming

e-mails to the fbi. according to the secret service, caluori came to the door with a shotgun when investigators arrived at his suburbaneattle apartment. agents found two weapons. investigators say he also made comments about explosives so they did a sweep. no explosives were found. investigators would not specify what was said in those e-mails. dr. martin luther king jr. in his own words. an audiotape containing an unheard 1960 interview with dr. king turned up in someone's attic in chattanooga, tennessee, about three years before his "i have a dream" speech. in it king talks about the progress of the civil rights movement. >> what effect are the citizens having on the progress of the southern negro in his struggle for equality? >> i think a tremendous effect. i am convinced that when the history books are written in future years, historians will have to record this movement as one of the greatest epics of our heritage. >> that audio just crystal

clear. the man who uncovered the interview said his father had interviewed dr. king for a book on racism, but it was a book he never finished. so beginning in january jimmy kimmel will go head-to-head with jay leno and david letterman in late night. abc announced plans to move jimmy kimmel live to 11:35, bumping nightline later. kimmel says he's been quietly hoping for this. his show celebrates its tenth anniversary next year. kimmel will host the emmy awards next month. regis philbins replacement has reportedly been decided. michael strahan will take over as co-host of live with kelly ripa. the former nfl star is expected to keep his other job with fox nfl on sundays, this long-running morning show will make it official, we're told, in early september. soledad? >> i think he is such an interesting choice. >> thinking outside the box. >> which is great. he's been great on the show. women love him. their audience is women.

he'll do anything. he's really fun. i support that. he does. >> he'll do anything. >> he'll do anything. >> like it should have been me. i was robbed! let's talk politics, shall we? this morning congressman ted akin is speaking out about defying requests from his party to step aside. he told abc news this morning that the people of missouri should have the final say. i don't think it's right for party bosses to override those voters so i think really we should allow things to stand and let the election process unfold. his party bosses had hoped that it would unfold without him. akin is now using those comments about legitimate rape to try to raise money for his campaign for senate writing on a new web page i made a mistake, i'm sorry. liberals and pundits want to write me off and hand the senate seat back to claire. about 4,000 people have currently signed on his petition. he's also asking for $3 donations on that page. he ignores mitt romney and many others who said this, mitt romney, today, fellow

missourians urged him to step aside and i think he should accept their counsel and exit the senate race. brings us all right to tom davis. he is a former republican congressman from the state of virginia. chairman of the -- former chairman of the national republican campaign committee. he is the president and ceo of republican main street partnership. nice to see you, tom. usually we get to have you in person. but not today. you say you think his decision makes a lot of sense. that puts you kind of over here whenever the other republicans i talked to, or many of them at least, are over here. why do you think it makes sense? >> it make sense, the only part he's got to play on this is his candidacy and i have dealt with getting candidacies out after they've done stupid things, been exposed on scandals and the like, and the first question is, you know, what happens to me afterwards if i bow out of the race, am i employable anywhere? my reputation intact? so these discussions, i think, will continue. you missed one deadline. you have another deadline coming up in september. it's going to cost him a little

money to get out at this point. i think he wants to play it out. you know, ordinarily this race could still be a winnable race for him. but because it's got a national context now, i think it becomes less likely and the voters of missouri probably weigh against him. but he's got to play this out. that's why it makes sense, if you know todd and how candidates react to this kind of thing. so look, there's still a month to see if he gets out or not. but his comments are now in a national context. >> let's talk about that national context with our panelists for a moment. i mean really, that's the reason why we're talking about this. if it was a race in missouri, it would have no context actually. >> i think it is a national context now and it's overtaking, what are we talking about ramping up to the republican convention? we're talking about abortion, an issue the republicans want to put in the back seat, want to be talking about the economy. so we're talking about social issues when we should be talking about economic issues. >> because the polling, of course, when you're talking about abortion, especially if

you're talking about exceptions to the law, republicans support those exceptions, right? >> 67% of republicans actually agree with mitt romney that rape should be allowed in the cases of -- i'm sorry -- oh, my gosh! abortions should be allowed in cases of rape and incest. and 67% of republicans agree with that. in fact, serious convention fights, platform convention fights in 1996, 2000 and in 2004 to have broad language that states language in the convention platform. the convention platform doesn't represent the majority of republicans. >> let's talk about the convention platform. faithful to the self-evident truths enshrined in the declaration of independence we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot infringed. we support a human life amendment to the constitution, and endorse legislation to make clear that the four teenth amendment's protections apply to unborn children. there are no exceptions in that

platform. and this, i should say, is a draft, obviously -- go ahead, tom. >> this is consistent with what they've said before. usually you have fewer people read the platform than read the affordable health care act. i mean, generally these are put out there for the activists. the average person doesn't read it. it's still referred to many times candidates have differing views from the platform. but because the convention is made of up of activists, you get both sides try to get these views that are sometimes out of the mainstream across. >> does it matter the platform? i heard you earlier margaret saying the platform, isn't that the philosophy of a party? is their platform? >> one would hope, right? but the problem, you know, their approach is republicans in the republican party don't feel their views are adequately reflected in the platform. i liken this to the budgeting process. it's a road map for how we want to spend our government funds. do the appropriators stick to it? no. that's why we have a $16 trillion debt. >> go ahead, tom.

>> let me argue, the democrats have a platform on aportion, too. they wouldn't let governor casey speak, who was pro-life. there are pro-life democrats. platforms don't represent everybody. but as i said, this is kind of the activists write these at the convention and candidates generally ignore them. just remember this, after the republican convention, you've got the democratic convention, and september 8th we get the new job statistics. i think that will bring this back to the economy. >> and every single republican is certainly hoping that. we're going to keep talking about this issue. i've got to take a commercial break. still ahead this morning, unfortunately for prince harry, we're talking about this. naked pictures of the prince online, because what happens in vegas does not stay in vegas. obviously. especially if you're a member of the royals. the palace now confirming they are the real thing, genuine pictures. we're going to talk about that straight ahead. and warren sapp will join us. never afraid on the football field. with my son. hey! his new book is called "sapp

attack." he's coming out and joining us next. [ 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. ♪

oh, to be a fly on the royal wall in the royal palace this morning. i'm still doing the british accents. confirming this morning, the royal palace that is, that the photos that are posted on tmz are actually, yes, the real, nude prince harry, partying up with some real, nude woman in vegas. matthew chance is live from buckingham palace with the very latest on the scandal, i think it's fair to say, matthew. >> it is a scandal, isn't it? another one to affect prince

harry. salacious photographs. these you can see, prince harry, obviously naked in what appears to be a private suite in a hotel in las vegas where he's been pictured, of course, over the course of the past week or so vacationing, as you said, from his duties at the olympic games here in london. i think what's interesting, though, about these pictures, they raise two very important issues. the one is the issue of privacy. i mean, prince harry is a 27-year-old man. he's single he's not doing anything illegal. and obviously somebody in his entourage, inside this private suite, chose to photograph this act, and to make those photographs available to the media. and so there's concerns about the security of his entourage, or so. and also, the appropriateness, as well, of showing photographs like this. something we've agonized with at cnn, obviously. but it also raises the issue of

his judgment. prince harry has been involved in all sorts of controversies similar to this in the past. this is just another example of that. >> well, you could focus less on security around the entourage, and just do a don't pick up women and then get naked with them with people with cameras around theory of how to stay off of tmz. might be a good strategy. what does the palace say? they've had to deal with these scandals, in all seriousness, in the past. do they -- is there an expectation that they're going to come down hard on prince harry? is there an expectation that they'll just ignore it? what's supposed to happen next? >> i can imagine that nothing is really going to happen publicly. i mean, officially clarence house, which is the official home of prince harry and his father, prince charles, here in london, have confirmed to us here at cnn that these photos are genuine. privately, they're saying that, you know, the prince messed up on this occasion. i expect he'll get a

dressing-down by his press advisers and no doubt by his father, prince charles, as well. but, i think it's unlikely we're going to see any kind of tightening of security around him beyond those sort of words. i think it's really interesting to note that none of the british media, none of the tabloid newspapers in this country, that have a reputation for being, you know, notorious in grabbing images like this, none of them have picked this up. they've all decided that this would be an invasion of the prince's privacy, it seems. >> that's so interesting. that's so interesting. although i think dressing down is kind of an interesting word to use, matthew. here in the united states we have a little different take on it. matthew chance for us. thanks for the update. don't get naked and have a party. i mean, really. and peop with cameras. >> goodness. >> the strict rule -- >> -- what he knows how to do best which is do nothing and have other people pay for it. that's how he got in trouble in vegas. >> having your friends with

cameras -- when you're naked. >> with cameras -- >> -- job though -- >> i think he does have a job. the tradition of being a prince in england, brood thirstyness, accrng gambling debts, promiscuity. this is something you have to live up to. >> it's a way of life, yeah. >> he's taking a break from the olympics just finished, but the paralympics are about to start next week and so he's here on a break. he'll be back, hopefully his first time in front of the cameras will be for the paralympics. they sold 2 million tickets to the paralympics which is extraordinary for olympic history. he could appear, generate publicity for the paralympics in london. >> still ahead this morning on "starting point" we're talking to nfl great warren sapp. he dominated the gridiron for 13 years and dominated the dance floor, "dancing with the stars." does he still have the moves? we're going to find out. get ready for a sapp attack as nfl superstar warren sapp joins us live in the studio. you're watching "starting point." good morning.

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warren sapp is a former tough defensive tackle for the tampa bay bucks known for his rough plays on the football field, his slick moves on the dance floor. stop acting like i'm not saying things that aren't true. he's now an author, he's got a new book called "sapp attack," 13 seasons an as nfl star, yes, even his performance on "dancing with the stars." joins us this morning. this book, i know about this much about football, but this book is so entertaining and hilarious. it could be called why i love tony dungy. you saved some of your nicest

inspirational words for tony dungy. he liked to say he didn't want the 53 best players. he wanted 53 players who worked together to give us the best chance to win. he taught the game in the simplest form. why did you love him so much? >> for that reason right there, but more than that, he was a rock. every day he walked into a place that 12 years before he got there, 11 of them were double-digit loss seasons. we had a whole turn around to do. he did it every day. he walked in there with a stern and steadfast attitude about how we were going to get it done. and what he was asking, that's your job. in each position we had on the football field. and whenever you have a coach like that, it's easy for you to go to work. . go through a 1-7 start. our first game, we were 1-7. and i was quoted as saying it's the happiest 1-7 team i'd ever been on. we enjoyed going to work because he taught us what it was going to be to be a champion. he played with the '70 steelers.

so we looking at him, whatever you got for us, we'll run through that wall if you point that way. i love the man because he came to work every day and he instilled in us the work ethic and the things that we needed to do to be great professionals about our job. >> you described the moment that was a turning point for the team. i think it was chris on espn said the tampa bay yucks. >> i mean, brooks is sitting there watching and we're laying in the bed, we in california at the time. we get to watch "game day," countdown, so we watching "countdown" and he preceded to cut us -- the yucks. bounce the next three off your head, hit him in the face and still have a higher quarterback rate than -- and i went are you kidding me? so at that point, we went down to breakfast, i said, they called us the yucks, fellas. we walk on the field and we're down 14-0 before we break a sweat but end up winning the game 25-14, and had a 30 for 40

day. and the rest is history. >> you read a lot about the high school career, the university of miami, and you clearly love the game of football. but all the people that brought you along too. >> i had to. it was almost like obama said, you have some people that help you along the way. and i just wanted to acknowledge them because when you take off and you leave a little small town like plymouth and go down to the university of miami and you're on the world stage doing this, you have to look back and say there were some beautiful people that helped me get out of that little town and get me on this stage and i wanted to say thank you. >> this is what you write about "dancing with the stars." i didn't know you were a good dancer. i never would've guessed it. >> you've got to be able to move your feet. and i had a beautiful partner. >> it never looked like this. >> i never had a beautiful woman dancing with me. >> people were surprised. >> there's 250-pound men wanting to take my head off. i loved that.

>> this is why i think the book is so funny. here's what you write about it. "dancing with the stars" didn't seem like a good fit for me. maybe if they wanted me for tackling the stars i would have said yes instantly. was it fun to do that? >> listen -- >> you've been retired five years now. >> yes, i never had a choice. when i got the call that asked me to do "dancing with the stars" and i walked into my living room and asked my wife at the time i said "dancing with the stars," i didn't look over and see my little girl on the couch. she jumped up and said, oh, you doing it and called both grandmas. so i had no choice to give it all i got. >> any regrets about your career? >> no. >> not one thing? >> you hit some people very hard, sometimes, and even in clean tackles. >> i know the checklist. and i look at it back now ten years after the fact and, might have been a little unnecessary, but it was fun at the time. i've got to be honest with you. it was between the lines and it was going down. >> oh, my goodness. >> you want to stand around and

talk about todd akin this morning? >> i want to give him one thing, a rocket booster to get up out of here. >> nice to have you with us this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> we appreciate having you. still ahead this morning, we are talking about congressman todd akin facing big challenges in forgiveness and fund raising. plus we're talking about tropical storm isaac could become a hurricane in florida around tampa, around the republican national convention. we'll discuss the chances of that straight ahead. you're watching "starting point" back in a moment. 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.

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our starting point this morning, speaking out, congressman todd akin going on tv to explain himself once again. on the move, tropical storm isaac is turning toward the caribbean right now threatening to swamp florida. and vegas hangover. this morning, the palace is confirming that, yes, indeed, those naked pictures are of prince harry at a wild las vegas party. they're genuine. got a packed show for you ahead this morning. tampa mayor bob buckhorn will be our guest, martin frost will be joining us, as well. it's wednesday, august 22nd, and "starting point" begins right now. our team this morning, the

editor in chief of "town and country," and the democratic strategist mark mackinnon, contributor to the "daily beast," and the anchor of "early start," our starting point is what is now the starting republican, todd akin. he's in the race to stay, he says despite calls by party leaders to quit. on "good morning america" this morning, he said he's staying in and left it a little ambiguous. >> i'm never going to say everything that can possibly happen. i don't know the future. but i do know this. i knew that the party voters understood who we were, had a chance to meet us in many, many different ways and made a decision. and it makes me uncomfortable to think that the party bosses are going to dictate who runs as opposed to the election process. >> still, republican leaders are concerned about the national impact that brings us right to

cnn's dana bash in washington, d.c. give me the top couple of reasons why he's digging in. >> well, this -- i mean this with no disrespect. this is what republican sources are emphasizing to me. they are emphasizing that todd akin is a devout evangelical christian who believes god called him to run. another is, throughout his career, soledad, he's never had the support of the party establishment, and he didn't need it because he had the support of the core christian conservatives in his district in the state of missouri. in fact, listen to the way that the congressman describes the conversation he had with the vice presidential candidate paul ryan. >> he felt i had to make a decision. he advised me it would be good for me to step down. >> and what did you say to him? >> well, i told him i was going to be looking at this very seriously, trying to weigh all the different points on this. and that i would make the

decision. because it's not about me, it's about trying to do the right thing and standing on principle. >> so that was todd akin on nbc this morning. the fact it's not just the establishment, it's also talk radio hosts like rush limbaugh, tea party leaders calling him to get out. it doesn't faze him like it does others because he didn't rely them to get there in the first place. the top advisers, it was emphasized throughout the day yesterday, as well, by republican leaders that his top advisers are his son and his wife, so he's in a very insular environment. >> they're telling him stay, apparently. dana bash, thank you. in a couple of minutes we'll talk to martin frost. they are yanking their funding from him. and about 20 minutes, we'll talk to martin frost, the former chair of the democratic national campaign committee, former texas congressman, he'll be our guest.

for all that, we want to get back to john berman. politics and weather intersecting. tropical storm isaac strengthening this morning in the atlantic. it could pose a threat to florida during the republican national convention next week. the latest from rob marciano in the cnn hurricane headquarters. >> well, it is within the realm of possibility. every day we get closer, this thing gets closer toward florida will obviously increase those chances. westerly movement at 20 miles an hour, winds of 40 miles an hour, it's a couple hundred miles east of the leeward islands. there's tropical storm warnings out for those islands and hurricane watches for the northern islands. the computer models we follow, some of them, at least, and gives you an idea of how some veer to the right, some veer to the left. right now the center of that path looks to be south florida as we get toward sunday and monday. good news is, bad news for folks in cuba, they'll get a lot of

rain from this it'll go over these islands typically. that'll knock down the intensity of the thing. but there's your official forecast path from the national hurricane center. and that means that florida's going to be under the gun. they've been under the gun the last couple of days and as far as heavy rain. heavy rain expected to continue today in tampa and more rain's expected tomorrow, as well north of that front looks to be pretty nice from the great lakes. >> coming up in a few minutes, tropical storm isaac posing a threat to florida duri next week's republican national convention. we'll talk to tampa mayor about how his city is preparing and what are the contingencies for this storm. the death toll is rising in the west nile virus here in dallas. an 11th victim, a woman in her 80s died from the virus, spread, of course, from mosquitos. the mayor also said that the aerial spraying has been working. there have been about 700 cases of west nile reported

nationwide. we are, of course, just days away from the republican convention which may be rain-soaked. but nevertheless, a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows president obama at 48%, mitt romney 44%. that is within the margin of error. so that is pretty much a dead heat. soledad? >> and we're going to continue to talk to those political consultants starting back to our conversation this morning about congressman todd akin. he's one that used words legitimate rape, not putting the race for the senate. i want to follow where the money is going. both sides going to try to fund raise off that. mccaskill's campaign says they're saying an uptick in funding. groups like emily's choice. republican akin is trying to fund raise on his apology. he tweeted out a link to a petition that supporters could sign, asked for at least $3 in donatio donations. carl rove the founder of the super pac american cross roads, pulling his money, though, from akin. here's what he said on fox news yesterday. >> if he remains the nominee,

there's no reason to throw good money after bad by trying to win this seat. this is one of those unfortunate things that is so bad, so deplorable, so out of touch there's no way to recover in my opinion from it. >> american cross roads says it's going to pull attack ads. they've already aired several. you know, it's interesting, if he's going to stay in the race and he's saying he will, al leaving it open for that september 25th date. and you certainly don't want claire mccaskill to win, would you reconsider your funding of him? >> well, there were great issues to talk about, we were talking about obama care and taxes and debt and the economy. but this fire storm that todd akin has created for himself has engulfed not only him, but we think any chance whatsoever to be able to salvage. claire mccaskill is defending todd akin's right to be in the

race because her worst nightmare is him staying in because she can win under those circumstances. >> he says so far he's staying in and, you know, there are no polls major polls that are contradicting him at this point. and he's led in the polling up to this comment that he made the other day. so i think there are people who say maybe he's got a reasonable chance of winning this without gop support. >> yeah, i think it'd be very, very hard for him. not only did he issue an unbelievable jaw dropping and over the line comment about rape and connection with abortion, but he said a number of other things about student loans, child nutrition programs, civil rights laws. he's just had a large number of things that can be used very, very effectively against him. and my hope is, he said it's not about me. am i going to be the tool by which harry reid and claire mccaskill prevent republicans from ever having the chance of

undoing obama care. and i hope he comes to the conclusion that's not what he wants. >> now you're talking about child nutrition programs and these other things which are certainly not things he was talking about when he was making that comment which started all this fire storm. those are things he had said on the record and you were supporting him before yesterday, i guess. right? >> some of the things he said over the weekend. it was all just completely -- i think that's the one that makes people take a look at him. and you know, i think everyone understands we have different positions on abortion. but it's important we talk about these issues. in a sensitive and careful way and he's unfortunately just undone his own candidacy. he, unfortunately, doesn't recognize yet but he's dealt a mortal blow to his candidacy. claire mccaskill sees he has, harry reid sees he has, that's why they spent $1.5 million to get him nominated and eager to make sure he stays in the race.

>> do you think that's true there's a mortal blow to his candidacy? steven sounds very convinced. and a lot of other people seem far less convinced it's a mortal blow. >> i think it's a mortal blow. he wants to see what's going on to happen at the grass roots level. going to dry up, and he'll realize over time. taken from the middle of this deal. i guarantee you in a week or so they'll have collapsed completely. she may have been far too successful in her strategy. to help him be the nominee, now it turns out she may have been too successful too early beca e because -- >> the national problem, whether akin stays in or akin goes, akin will be remembered if not by name, then by comment, and republicans need to break open those numbers from 48 to 44.

and start moving to vote for the president, and that's the danger they face whether akin comes or akin goes. >> and we'll bring this back to steven that the efforts to connect akin strongly to romney/ryan. the only way that works is if there's this connection. how worried are you about that, steven? >> i think problems are his alone and i think you can see the swift reaction from mitt romney, paul ryan, to other leaders, and i think we took responsibility. i think that stands an interesting contrast to the reaction to the obama campaign, to the obama super pac ads that made outrageous claims. they said, oh, we don't have any responsibility to that. but the truth of the matter is, we all have responsibility to the tone of discourse of this country and i think americans stood up, the republicans stood up and took responsibility and the president didn't. >> well, mitt romney has been -- anti-abortion or pro-life except

in the case of rape or incest. he has exception. i think, isn't there a bigger problem with that argument, steve, when you're really talking about paul ryan who now is supporting it because he's part of the romney/ryan ticket. but if you look at his voting record and what he's actually supported in the past, he has supported provisions that don't allow for an exception when it comes to rape. isn't that problematic? that is the connection, right? >> well, certainly, that's the effort the democrats will want to make. >> it's also true, radio igt? >> well -- no, i think in the end, you know, people understand that we have different views on abortion, but the most important thing is to speak about these things sensitively and carefully, which is really the leading issue that i think most people are very, very concerned about with respect to congressman akin's comments. but again, i think that's another issue where i hope that todd akin will wake up and say it's not about me, it's about doing the right thing. and the right thing is to stop this -- the democrats from being able to take advantage of unfortunate comments.

>> the republicans are going to spend a lot of time getting past akin. when the discussion ought to be about the economy on a constant basis, they're losing time and time in politics is just as important as money. that election's coming up, akin's going to linger there. those comments will be remindful to suburban women to places they need to do better in. that's their long-term problem. >> akin's talking about the right thing, but the right thing in his head is to stay in the race. i'm sorry, we're out of time, but we'd love to continue to talk to you as we go. we have a lot of time before this race is decided. we'd love to chat with you again. he's the president and ceo of american cross roads. got to take a short break. still ahead the gop is on storm watch, tropical storm isaac getting stronger, threatening the big night at the rnc. also, what's missing in these mashed potatoes? taking a staple away. we're back in a moment. great shot.

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you still have it. i'll always have it. so this is it? we'll see where the waves take me. sayonara, brah! as we were talking about a few moments ago, tropical storm isaac could turn into a hurricane, could threaten florida, which is where the rnc, the republican national convention is going to be held. and if preparations are underway in tampa for that convention. 90 years since a hurricane made a direct hit on that city. nice to talk to you, sir. you've got 50,000 people coming to your city. you have said that you think this could be a turning point for the city, now you're on this world stage. how worried are you when you look at those ugly maps that show tropical storm isaac kind of heading your way? >> well, soledad, i'm the mayor, it's my job to worry.

i'm not really worried about this one yet. we're accustomed to this. this is our reality every storm season. so we've trained for this inevitably it will happen at some point. but, you know, we're monitoring it, we're watching it, we're tracking it. i think we're going to be okay, but we'll be prepared in the event it heads this way. >> so for the people who are not from florida coming in, they're not prepared for it, they're not used to it. so they've got to be a little bit freaked out. and i also would imagine, you know, in the best-case scenario you have terrible weather, which would mean lots of delays and a big hot mess, right? >> well, potentially. i mean obviously rain affects traffic and traffic affects timing. but our folks who live here who will be driving the buses and cabs, we're used to this. we get heavy rains almost every afternoon. if you'll recall the first night of the convention until minneapolis, st. paul had been canceled because of a storm. we're going to deal with it, we're prepared for it. we hope it moves further away from us, but if it doesn't, it's

still going to be a great convention and i think the republican national committee will be happy. >> have you been talking to them? you have a little time, right? we're really looking at monday start. so there is some time. >> yeah, we do have some time. and that's the good thing about hurricanes, there is such a thing you have plenty of time to prepare. listen, soledad, you've got professionals down here that have done 10 or 12 of these conventions. they're ice cold, nothing bothers them, you know, they know we're going to deal with our side of it. obviously public safety is going to trump politics. if we had to make that decision to cancel or to postpone or move the convention, we'll do that knowing full well that my obligation and the city's obligation is to move people out of harm's way. >> bob buckhorn joining us, sir, appreciate it. you guys, if we calculated how many conventions people around this table had been to, it's a lot, let's leave it at

that. do those maps worry you? >> one thing i'll say to echo the mayor, the people running the convention on the republican side and democratic, they've been doing it forever. it's just like this convention mafia group that are so good at what they do -- >> weather doesn't scare them. >> no, that's the least of their concerns. they're more worried about the speeches than the weather. >> it's a hurricane, but i'm really focused on the speeches. yeah, that'll be interesting to see. hopefully it won't mess things up and i certainly don't want to be down there covering the rnc and covering a hurricane or something. cover the speeches, much easier to do. still ahead on "starting point" this morning, so long to salt, taking salt shakers away from the table. tough love or today's tough call? ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-nadc xts.

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welcome back, i'm christine romans. attention steak lovers, because the drought and the spike in corn prices, you'll see more expensive meat next year. the average price of sirloin expected to rise to $6.47 a pound. farmers are slaughtering their cattle before maturity to cut down on the feed costs. the feed costs have been pushed up from higher corn prices. farmers feed and fatten up the cattle for a couple extra months, that extra feed time is declining because of the drought. u.s. stocks futures are trading lower this morning. the s&p 500 in case you didn't notice is near a four-year high. s&p 500 stocks are up about 7% in the past three months. much of those gains fueled by speculation the world's central banks will act to boost the largest economies. and generation "y" workers, they're more likely to be in low-paying jobs even if they have a college degree.

and these jobs necessarily don't require a degree they're working in. the most common, merchandise displayer, clothing sales representative and cell phone sales representative. this is according to a survey by pay scale. >> brings us to today's "tough call." announcing plans to remove salt shakers from tables at all but 476 locations nationwide reducing sodium levels by 20% in three of their signature menu items, rotisserie chicken, which i love, but it is very salty, mac & cheese and mashed potatoes. the company plans to have 15% less salt in all of the dishes in the future. tough call or not? >> no. >> a lot of them have been testing how much salt and fat they can take out before their customers start screaming about it. because they like the salt and fat. >> you don't think that's enough salt? >> no, thank god, i don't know when the last time you ate chicken at boston market, that's

salty chicken. i think this is a good idea. >> to be fair, you can still get salt. you can go to the side table and get packets. >> the question about how bad salt really is for you. we're going to see headlines ten years from now that say gram, the silent killer. >> if salt's not bad for you, salt's fine, but if you're someone with high blood pressure or diabetes, then salt's terrible. if you're susceptible, or not, go ahead and pour salt on. but i think it's an interesting idea that people naturally salt your food. before you do anything, you salt your food. you've been at a place -- >> >> maybe the answer is, listen, if they're going to salt anyway, let it be a little less salty. >> how about americans paying for each other's health care costs, high blood pressure, diabetes, national epidemics, how about this company can say, well, we're trying to do the

right thing and help americans. that'd be a good thing too. >> our patriotic duty. >> they're not doing it on their own, that's fine. >> yep. >> our kids want to eat there and we have to eat it too. it's too salty. >> i agree. too salty, i think they should do it across the board. >> hands swollen like the jolly green giant. >> yes, it's also very delicious. still ahead on "starting point," from touchdown to talk show, kelly ripa's got a new co-host. never before heard audiotapes from martin luther king jr. and congressman todd akin making the rounds on the morning talk shows confirming he's been urged by a gop vice presidential contender paul ryan to stand aside. what happens now? he says he's not going. martin frost will weigh in with us. you're watching "starting point," back in a moment.

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what happens in vegas, stays in vegas, unless you're royal, then it absolutely, positively will not. here's nude photos of the prince in vegas. >> yeah, i don't know how i follow that. a nude picture of the prince. thank you very much, soledad. good morning, everyone. we have serious news overseas. stepping up efforts to spy on their own army recruits. insider attacks have left nine u.s. troops dead over the last two weeks. u.s. military has been critical of afghan security forces for not doing enough to weed out insurgents within their own ranks. a controlled blast to the site of a new york city demolition project went wrong sending smoke and debris into the streets. city officials are now inspecting surrounding buildings for structural issues. and a source of a local station that there was a protective

covering meant to trap debris that was not positioned properly. a 70-year-old line umpire arrested and charged with killing her 80-year-old husband back in april. this is the victim alan goodman. prosecutors say his wife lois beat him with a coffee mug back in april and then stabbed him with the broken shard. she is now awaiting extradition to los angeles. strange story. dr. martin luther king jr. in his own words, an audiotape containing an unheard 1960 interview with dr. king. this turned up in someone's attic in chattanooga, tennessee. it was three years before his "i have a dream" speech. and in it he talks about the progress of the civil rights movement. >> well, doctor, what effects are the sit-ins having on the progress and struggle for equality. >> i think a tremendous effect. i am convinced that when the history books are written in

future years, historians will have to record this movement as one of the greatest epics of our heritage. >> the man who uncovered the interview said his father had interviewed dr. king for a book on racism. it was a book he never finished. and regis philbin's replacement has been decided. reporting that michael strahan will take over as co-host of "live" with kelly ripa, the former nfl star is expected to keep his other job on fox nfl sunday. he'll be the morning anchor who leads the league in sacks, shall we say. >> like what warren sapp said, tackling the stars. it'd be a good strategy. i think it's a great choice. out of the box, interesting, good guy, fun guy. >> you like it. >> i do. i like him, i like her, i like the idea. yeah. let's talk politics. new this morning, missouri congressman todd akin saying he's in the senate race. on nbc, he explained he's not going to quit because the voters

chose him in the primary. republican leaders are pressuring him to step aside over that legitimate rape comment fire storm, including the vice presidential candidate paul ryan. >> paul ryan did give me a call and he felt that i had to make a decision that he advised me that it would be good for me to step down. >> and what did you say to him? >> well, i told him i would make the decision because it's not about me, it's about trying to do the right thing and standing on principle. >> earlier this morning, he used the controversy to raise money for his campaign. he sent out a tweet that read like this, i apologize, but the liberal media is trying to make me drop out. stand with me tonight by signing my petition at akin.org/standing-still. he's also asking for a $3 donation.

martin frost is joining us. i've got to imagine the democrats are like stay in, please. doesn't it help the democrats to have him stay in this race as long as possible on two fronts? the conversation is all about abortion and abortion rights and rape? and pregnancy and all those issues that target, i think, specifically women. and number two, for claire mccaskill, i would think this is the guy she wants to run against. she p wants him in the race still, correct? >> absolutely, if he stays in the race, she wins. when i was chair of the dcccc we tried to encourage people to run and also to try and support one candidate over the other in a primary. once they won the primary, that was it, we never tried to force anybody off. mitch mcconnell tried to endorse and support a candidate for the senate in his home state and that candidate lost over rand

paul. this is a tricky business. even parties don't get their way, but this is kind of unprecedented. it'd be very hard to get him off the ballot. >> key issue is the woman's vote which is what we've been talking about. how much is at risk there for both mitt romney and what's at stake to win for obama? >> well, it's clear the obama campaign already was running ads in suburban virginia where i now live and other swing areas talking about romney's records against planned parenthood, talking about the republican record on abortion, and this just gives them more material to run on. this is very harmful to romney and to the republican party generally because women, suburban women are the key swing voters in this race. and i'm not sure what the republican party does about this, quite frankly. >> let's show the suburban woman vote first. suburban woman vote shows president obama leading. it is the "wall street journal"

nbc poll, president at 50%, mitt romney at 45%. if you look at females overall, obama/biden, 51%, romney/ryan at 41%. he posed the question who wants to tackle it, which is so what do you do at this point? >> well, republicans, i think, would be very smart to use linda lingle, she's running for senate, they need her to win the senate seat. she'll likely win, she's universally loved in hawaii. but 70% approval rating as republican and she's pro-choice. there is a possibility here, at least the republicans being able to telegraph the lelectorate there's a diversity of views on the abortion issue. if republicans are smart, i think they'll use linda lingle. >> the problem is the platform. if we're going to do that, if you put it up on the screen, the platform is clear, there are no exceptions laid out for abortion on the platform. >> yeah, and normally it's

ignored and not a big factor in the election. and often the nominee has a different position which in this case romney does. the problem is that akin is drawing attention to that platform. the good news i would say is there has been an absolute circling of the wagon among the republican establishment saying they want akin to get out. there's no in between on this. so i think it is a clear message from the republican party and establishment they want him out and they don't get out. >> soledad, let me interject one thing. sometimes and i'm not saying these conversations are going on. sometimes people in a party will promise a person a job if they do certain actions. >> what? in politics? what? i'm stunned. >> the problem with that. the problem with that is that assumes that there's a republican administration. that assumes romney is elected. if romney isn't elected and they promise akin a job if he gets off the ballot, i'm not sure he gets anything out of it. >> well, you know, and he's also not, you know, a 30-year-old candidate, right?

he's a 60-something-year-old candidate. >> he's 65 years old, but still wants to be involved in public policy. i'm sure he'd like a job in the new administration. i have a feeling those conversations may be taking place and if romney isn't elected, they won't be able to deliver. >> martin frost, nice to see you, sir, thanks for talking with us this morning, certainly appreciate it. short break. still ahead, talking about prince harry in vegas, in the buff. an embarrassing situation for the royal family. we're going to take you to a live report right outside of buckingham palace this morning. and take a look at this. who's the man standing near president obama? he's the first ever official white house camera man. what was it like documenting the president's first steps on the job? you're watching "starting point." [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of.

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prince harry was caught with his pants down, no, with his pants off, actually. buckingham palace officials are confirming, in fact, these photos posted on tmz are photos of nude prince harry partying it up with nude other people. there's a woman in that shot. live at buckingham palace with the latest. these photos that can be found pretty easily online are not in all the papers in england. why not? >> i think we're dealing with a tabloid media here in britain which is notoriously aggressive when it comes to these kind of pictures with the royal family, of the royal family. but it also comes after a very big scandalous national inquiry in this country into the actions

of the press. the phone-tapping scandal you may remember, the invasions of privacy. have had in the lives of the royals and other public figures. and i think these photographs of this 27-year-old prince naked as they are, salacious as they are and having been judged, it seems, by the british media as being a step too far over the line into an invasion of privacy, particularly in that environment that which has been brewing against the tabloid media in this country. and so you're right, we haven't seen those images printed in the tabloids in this country and that's something very notable. >> yeah, that is a little bit of shock. thanks for the update. live at buckingham palace. one has to imagine the conversations with the queen and her grandson will be very, very tough. although, i do find that privacy as matthew likes to say, that's

odd. those are the papers that are often -- >> remarkable restraint. >> unusual restraint. >> paradoxical restraint. >> yeah. it's a backlash, major backlash. but it is interesting. somebody in his entourage has a lot of trust issues around the prince, as well. >> there was drinking, nudity, a bunch of people, apparently in the aftermath of a party. are you surprised that one of them -- >> what if there is a guest, you know? how well is the guest screened? >> a lot of high-profile people have a lot of parties and try to manage the output that comes from that. >> this was not going on in a nursing home, these are 27-year-old people having a good time doing what they do. come on, now. >> come on, now. ahead on "starting point," behind the scenes in the west wing. the first official white house vid vidographer. the ultimate fly on the wall. what it's like to be a film maker of the president, up next. stay with us. this is the plan that revolves around you.

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welcome back to "starting point." looking at your top stories this morning. boats in barges still backed up on a low-water section of the mississippi river. the 11-mile stretch near greenville, mississippi, has been reopened on a limited basis. it was closed monday because of low water levels to prevent vessels from running aground. one small step for the nasa rover "curiosity," about to take the first test drive on mars. driving forward, turn, and back up. in these pictures you can see a little bit of a test wiggle in a series of still photos. in all, it should go about 10

feet the entire two-year mission hinges on the success of this short trip. no pressure. the jetsons meet the flinstones. a dinosaur tracker believe he found a footprint at the flight center. the plant eater roamed suburban washington, d.c. about 110 million years ago. inside the beltway dinosaur, soledad. >> he had no idea what was to come. this is a man who had unprecedented access to the most powerful man in the world. the ultimate fly on the wall is the first ever videographer for the white house. he pioneered president obama's new media team, helped change the way we saw and heard our lawmakers. take a look. >> no matter what happens tonight, our children still love us. >> that's the key. it is. >> i know. >> just don't trip. that'll be really embarrassing. >> don't trip whatever you do. >> don't talk trash around me, man.

>> oh, come on, man! >> he's got a new book out called "first camera man," documenting the obama presidency realtime. >> what a great gig. to be able to follow what's happening in realtime when the rest of the nation is watching it from a distance or watching through our television screen. how did you get the job? >> well, one of those situations being in the prigt place at the right time. i was a fiction film maker, i didn't have a history in documentary. but a good friend who works at cnn had been brought on the campaign as a video director and thought, i think he might be good at this and gave me a call. >> did they sit down and say here's a list of things you cannot shoot, you cannot do and don't capture this, this, and this. >> on the campaign it developed organically. we started shooting more and more things. at the white house, there was no real rule of something you couldn't shoot. except, you know, i did leave the family alone when they were in their private situations. >> so i want to run some of the

clips, some of the things you worked on. we saw a little bit, the osama bin laden raid mind the scenes, we've all seen the photo, but it's interesting to hear the conversation behind it. let's play that first. >> hey, how you doing? >> was this your home, sir? >> yes, sir. >> this is -- tell me a little bit about the circumstances behind the shoot. >> well, i think what's so great about being able to show the context of a different week. in this case you have the bin laden raid but so many other things happened that week. teacher of the year, saw the space shuttle launch, and also in tuscaloosa, this hurricane -- tornado that caused a disaster. and so i think being able to put things in perspective of the whole week is something i was free to do as the white house videographer that the press can't do because they're there to cover news. >> there was also the 3:00 a.m. ad that you worked on. let's play a little bit of that too. >> that was a very effective ad

that came out in the pennsylvania primaries. and the response from the obama campaign was, i think a very good example of new media and old media working together. >> talk about the response. >> the old media team put together basically the same ad, except they substituted obama for hillary clinton which was a very, very clever thing to do. and turns out the young lady who starred in this ad was an obama supporter. in fact, so much so she volunteered as a precinct captain in seattle. and so we went to her and made a response from her, which we're able to do so quickly because, you know, using little cameras and little computers, an entire ad cut before we got back on the plane. >> we were talking about negative ads a little while ago. they work, though. everyone will tell you they hate a negative ad, but they're so effective. how do you explain that? >> they're entertaining. >> is that the key for you? you try to make it entertaining? >> i don't think it's about things being entertaining. i think at the heart of them, there has to be something authentic for people to latch on

to. if there's not, it won't stick. i think if you take an example of two ads that came out recently, the one that features mitt romney singing in all the different locations and the one -- they made one that features president obama singing, but the kind of subtext of the two things are different. and at one of them lies the unease with the candidate the other one is sort of the likability, highlighting what people like about a candidate. >> authenticity is what is key for voters. so documentary moments are really powerful. and i'd like to see your bloopers reel. >> and another question, you worked on the obama campaign in 2008 and then you were able to be with him behind the scenes for these last two years, three years, now you're working, helping democratic efforts in this election cycle. you actually have a very personal view of the president whereas many of the kids in our generation really bought into the hope and change and feel a bit disappointed by the president. do you feel from what you've seen behind the scenes that there's a disparity in who he is

versus how he's understood by youth four years later? >> definitely. i think there's a disparity with young people understanding their government in general. not just this particular presidency. and i think that's why it's important not just things -- all branches of government should be more transparent open, i think explaining and releasing data is one thing, but letting people in to see the machinery of government is another. and on western week, we highlight the clunkiness of the government, not just the glamour and glitz of the state dinner. >> all right. nice to have you with us this morning. great to have you talk about the book. and we're back in a moment. tweet it be surprised be productive. make a sale make some lunch make it movie night. play a game or an old favorite.

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see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. going to give mark our end point this morning. in 30 seconds or less, what happens with todd akin, do you think? wins, loses, gets out before september 25? >> i think he'll get out of the race eventually, but it's caused a tremendous distraction for the party. the party has circled the wag s wagons, told him to get out. it's putting an issue at the forefront when republicans hoped to talk about economic issues, broadening the tent. and the sound you hear right now is the result of todd akin, gop, the sound of the tent collapsing. >> name still on the ballot as of now, meaning september 25th. >> as of now, but before the 25th, i think he'll get out of it. he'll be forced out of the race. >> great to have you with us this morning. certainly appreciate it. coming