breaking news. live pictures from scottsdale, arizona, where a flood rescue is getting underway right now. we're told that our affiliate, ktvk, by them that at least one person is stuck in this minivan. as we have been watching this for the last 30 minutes or so, we've seen the water rising there. heavy rains has been the problem. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello picks up the story for us this morning and much more. good morning. >> thank you, soledad. happening right now in the newsroom, convention threat. cnn has obtained a bulletin warning anarchists could use homemade bombs at the political conventions. new concerns about extremists as tens of thousands gather in tampa. zero, 0%. according to a new poll, that's the number of black voters who support mitt romney. how is that possible? inside the raid, but outside approval. a new book by a navy s.e.a.l. about the assault that killed osama bin laden. it comes out on september 11. but this morning, the pentagon

wants to know why it wasn't kept in the loop on this project. plus this. >> a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the nation's capital a year ago today, damaging some of the national monuments. find out about reconstruction efforts coming up. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. and good morning. only one more day until friday. thank you for joining us this morning. i'm carol costello. right now, we're going to take a look at the double trouble looming over the republican national convention. just a few days before its kickoff, will a storm named isaac crash the grand old party? or is the greater threat manmade? this morning, florida is scrambling, and bracing for the unknown. >> isaac is a unique storm in this regard. it has the potential to threaten a major convention, designated a special national security event. and that's why i have convened

local, state, federal, and convention officials for a twice daily briefing. the goal is to make sure everyone has the best information available. a complete picture of the situation. everything needed to make a good decision. these officials have been working together to plan the convention for the past 18 months. the possibility for a hurricane has been part of that planning process. all that's required for those plans to be activated is there to be a hurricane, and hopefully that will not happen. >> because if it does, as you know, the republican national convention will be postponed. meteorologist rob marciano is tracking the approaching storm and our martin savidge is going to look at security preps. but let's begin with rob in the weather center. so what are the chances? >> well, you know, if you look at climatology, carol, we have talked about this about a week ago. chances are less than 1%. but now given the position, we're talking about chances that

are more like 4%. but if you factor in the weather pattern that, number goes up even more. let's talk about first of all what would happen if a category 1 storm were to come into tampa. this is a map showing the evacuation zones for tampa. the convention center is right here, in a red and on the border of an orange zone. meaning if a category 1 storm were to make a direct hit, they are going to evacuate the convention center and many of the hotels around there, and maybe a category 2 storm probe the rest of the area there. hillsboro river. the last time they had a direct hit was 2006. we have evacuated a couple of times since then, including when hurricane charlie made a nose dive just south of there everybody thout that hurricane charlie was going into tampa in 2004, but it headed south. so that's a good lesson for us. right now the winds are 40 miles an hour.

it is not really gaining strength rapidly, but peppers places like san juan with rainfall here. they have tropical storm warnings posted for san juan and the u.s. virgin islands. there have been hurricane warnings posted now for parts of the dominican republic. and also haiti, which will get a ton of rain from this unfortunately. and possibly category i force winds as we go through tomorrow, into saturday. and then also this getting into the florida keys potentially as we go sunday and monday. and here is the forecast track. this hasn't changed a whole lot. very close to tampa but also the northern gulf coast and even new orleans may very well be in play. >> very good. i know you'll keep an eye on things for us. thank you, rob. the other potential threat looming just as large. and both man and machine are in place to guard against potential terrorists. cnn has obtained an intelligence warnings from the feds that says anarchist extremists could be plotting bomb attacks across the region. martin savidge has details on this rather unsettling development.

>> good morning, carol. let me preface this report by saying that loumpt is using terms like could, might, and the possibility. it is based on an intelligence bulletin put out by the fbi and the department of homeland security. it is aimed at local law enforcement, essentially giving them a heads up. and it's not just for tampa. it's also for charlotte, where the democrats are going to be gathering in a couple of weeks as well. and this is the thick. there is information that the fbi says it obtained that in march it got wind that some anarchists were planning to head on down to tampa bay and try to shut down traffic on the bay area bridges. of course that would have a huge disruption not only for the convention traffic, but traffic in general and emergency responders trying to get to and from parts of the city. and then on top of that, a more troubling aspect. talk of the possible use of ieds. we are all familiar with those from places like iraq and afghanistan. an ied is essentially a homemade bomb. could they be used? yes, they could be used. will they be used? the intel doesn't go that far. it just says that law enforcement needs to be aware. so we want to keep this in the

right perspective here. we also know how these anarchist groups have worked at, say, the international monetary fund meetings, things like that. also the republican convention in min. so lessons from the past, intel from the spring, law enforcement says be aware. >> they are going to have a huge security force in place for the republican national convention. >> they will. this is basically what you should be aware of, local law enforcement, is to watch out for things like maybe groups you've heard of that are increasing weapons training in some way, shape, or form. or somebody has been going out and buying up large quantities of materials that could be used for explosive devices. local law enforcement would already be aware, but it never hurts to be told and reinforced again. >> understand. martin savidge, thanks. >> you're welcome. weather permitting, cnn's live coverage from the national convention begins monday night at 7:00. also with chief national correspondent john king.

of course he'll be at the magic wall. that's beginning monday night right here on cnn. turning our attention now to afghanistan, we're hearing from the u.s. commander in charge of coalition forces there. general john allen is discussing the recent spike of so-called green on blue attacks. that is afghan forces turning on nato troops, and that includes americans. in fact, just over the past two weeks, there have been three such attacks on americans. that makes 32 times this year that afghan security personnel have turned on allies. at least 40 coalition forces have been killed just this year. most of them americans. 23 in all. that compares to 15 such deaths in all of last year. osama bin laden's death is apparently a money maker. that's the cynical view, anyway. first a movie. "zero dark 30." >> no birth certificate, no cell phone. you guys are ghosts. >> he's right in the inner circle.

>> the whole world is going to want in on this. i want targets. >> when was the last time you saw bin laden? >> that movie will be released in december. it's being made by the same people who created "the hurt locker." some republicans claim film makers were given classified documents from the mission. well, get ready for a book. on bin laden's death, called "no easy day." written by a navy s.e.a.l. who supposedly participated in the raid. it will hit bookstores on september 11. pentagon correspondent barbara starr is with me now. this navy s.e.a.l. who apparently wrote the book will remain anonymous. but is he allowed to write such a book? >> well, there is freedom of speech in this country. that's where it all starts. so, sure, you are allowed to write any book you want. but you are not allowed to disclose classified information. and this was a completely classified mission.

so the question will be when this book finally appears in public, what does it really say? mark owen is the pen name of the navy s.e.a.l. due to what he is apparently saying or security reasons he is not using his own name. he is changing the names of all of the other s.e.a.l.s on the mission that night, trying to preserve confidentiality. but will there be perhaps even inadvertent disclosures of classified information? the military says that they did not get an advance copy of this book to review, to look for any of that. in fact, they only really found out about it in the last few days. and you're right, carol. there has been so much out of there. one of the concerns now is if you look at everything, could a bad guy begin to piece together bits and pieces of information and develop a sense of what happened and how it was carried out that the u.s. military would much rather keep private. >> if i'm a special ops guy, even if this guy changed my name in the book, i might be a little

upset that i'm being used in this way. >> well, you know, i think there's going to be a wide range of views. and i think what you just said is certainly going to be one of them. for top commanders like admiral william mccraven, the head of special operations, by all accounts this is a growing concern. you have movies. you have books. you have this group of former seals and operatives that just came out. very political in opposition to president obama and his administration. talking about the raid. now a navy s.e.a.l. talking about the raid. the commanders are beginning we are told to become extremely concerned that there is just too much talk out there about it. there's always been war movies, hasn't there? we have seen this since world war ii. so there's plenty of that going on all the time. but is it finally going just a bit too far? carol. >> barbara starr reporting live for us from the pentagon. the death toll from the west nile virus continues to rise. it's up to 42 now. the latest death in arkansas.

this is now the largest west nile virus outbreak the united states has ever seen. the centers for disease control and prevention says epidemics normally peak in mid august, but it takes time for cases to be reported. so the numbers will likely rise. the cdc has already recorded more than 1,100 infections across 38 states. nearly half of those cases in texas. to pennsylvania now, where the former penn state university president is speaking out for the first time on the jerry sandusky scandal. and he's blasting the internal report accusing him of covering up child sex abuse in order to protect the university's image. when you think of the scandal, you probably think of the former assistant football coach jerry sandusky. as you know, he was convicted on 45 counts of child sex abuse. and you probably think of the former head coach, joe paterno, who was accused of covering up sandusky's abuse. you might not recognize graham spanier's name, but he did lose his job as university president when the scandal broke.

he is also implicated in a cover-up. but as of yet, he faces no charges. cnn's senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin is in new york. jeffrey, you were the first to interview spanier. it appears he wants his reputation back. >> he sure does, carol. and i spoke to him for the new yorker magazine. it's at newyorker.com. i was surprised at how indignant he was and his argument that he was wrongly accused. >> the freeh report is wrong, it's unfair, it's deeply flawed. it has many errors and omissions. i know they had a lot of very good people on that team, working on this. they interviewed, they say, over 430 people. many of those folks have spoken to me about their interviews.

many of them describe those interviews to me as a witch hunt. >> his main point is not that jerry sandusky was anything other than the horrible, evil man we now know that he was. but spanier's point is that he did not know that sandusky was a child molester, and he had no way of knowing. that's of course a very controversial assertion. >> i know. he's mentioned that dreaded word horse play. i thought it was just horse play. but in the freeh report when it was released it contained emails that were -- that were damning against -- how does he explain those emails? >> well, there are two incidents. 1998, he was apparently copied. he didn't write any emails. in 1998, he was copied about an investigation of sandusky that went on at that point. and remember, that was an investigation that was in fact conducted by the police, not by penn state, and they decided not

to prosecute him. 2001 is obviously the point of most vulnerability for spanier. that was the incident where mike mcqueary, the former football assistant, saw sandusky and a young boy in a shower engaged in what seemed like sexual acts. what sandusky says is that he was never told that mcqueary or who the source was of the allegation, and most importantly he was told only that it was horse play, not that there was anything sexual going on. so because sandusky no longer worked at the university at that point, and because horse play is not a crime, that's why he didn't report it or order it reported to the authorities. >> interesting. jeffrey toobin, thanks so much. >> ok. todd akin's comments about boergds and legitimate rape angered many fellow republicans.

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we did want to update you on the man stuck in this medical

transport van. all of this according to our local affiliates there. ktvk. as you can see, there's been some torrential rain in scottsdale, arizona. two inches of rain fell in a very short period of time. and you know what that means. flash flooding. apparently this -- the driver of this van drove into some flowing water on the roadway. something you should never, ever do. got stuck. and as you can see, emergency workers had to be called in. they used that giant cherry picker to get him out of that van. is it a he or a she? it's a he. he just walked out of the frame. so the driver is ok. there was no one in the back of the medical transport van. everybody is ok. but as you can see, a lesson learned for that driver. never, ever, ever drive into a deep pool of water anywhere. it is the controversial remark that ignited heated debate across the country. missouri congressman and republican senate candidate todd akin saying that victims of, quote, legitimate rape can

somehow block an unwanted pregnancy. we've heard from top republican, including mitt romney, calling for akin to drop out of the u.s. senate race. even the president has weighed in, saying rape is rape. but akin's opponent in missouri, the democratic senator claire mccaskill, has said that akin should be forgiven, for obvious reasons, something echoed by voters but for very different reasons. >> i cringed because basically i agree with his stance on abortion, but the way he said it, it could have been worded different. >> i think people are looking for something to accuse todd or drag him down. >> we wanted to know more about what missouri thinks about its congressman and his dubious place in the national spotlight nowadays. for that part of the story, i'm joined by kevin horrigan. welcome, kevin. >> good morning, carol.

>> i enjoyed your headline, the world discovers the weirdness of todd akin, darn it. >> he has been a local treasure for us for almost a quarter of a century. you know, i guess we have to share him with the rest of the world now. he's been a font of, let's say, sometimes screwball ideas. >> the media has a tendency to overstate the importance of gaffs, although in many people's minds this was the gaff of all gaffs. still, is it a body blow for congressman akin in missouri? >> well, we argue about that at the office. i'm not sure it is. i think it's survivable because missouri in the past 10 years has headed further south, by which i mean geographically, but missouri was always sort of a bellwether state, neither northern nor southern or western

or eastern. and now i think we have pretty much joined the old confederacy. the voters are considerably more conservative than they used to be. and mr. akin's base, which is the fundamentalist churches and the home school groups, has now been joined by what used to be fairly mainstream normal republicans. i guess he'll hold the base. it kind of depends on what the old school republicans do. i wouldn't -- i wouldn't -- i guess i'd say it's two to one against him. but, you know, if i got enough points, i might take him. >> depending on which poll you look at, the race between the democrat claire mccaskill and akin, i guess it's still a toss-up. so it's obvious that voters don't much like mccaskill. can you explain that for us? why don't they like her? is it just because the state has become more conservative? >> yes. and she's been tied very

effectively by the republican bosses and media strategists to president obama. she did vote for the affordable care act. and although claire is really nobody's idea of a liberal, she's sort of an old school scoop jackson moderate democrat, she has supported the president on most of the president's initiatives. and in this race, you know, it's just as long as you're painted as part of the great obama machine, then you're going to have trouble in missouri. >> kevin horrigan, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> you bet. remember the chaos when a rare earthquake hit the nation's capital? a year later, several of our nation's monuments still need repairs, and they need money to do it. 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

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those of you out west might not understand, but those on the east coast are still shaken by the events of one year ago today. it is the anniversary of an earthquake that shook a lot of people up and caused some serious damage to our national monuments. this video captured the moment.

this is inside the washington monument when the earth started to shake at washington, d.c. the monument remains closed to this day. it will be closed indefinitely because of cracks in the upper portion of the monument, and it will take millions of dollars to repair the monument and washington's national cathedral. but help is on the way. sandra endo is at the washington monument to tell us all about it. good morning, sandra. >> reporter: well, good morning, carol. the reconstruction effort will take some time. but let's go back a year ago. the epicenter of this rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake was about 85 miles from the capital, and the tremor was felt from new england all the way down to the carolinas. and last year, the white house, parts of the pentagon, all the museums around the national mall were evacuated. and as you mentioned, carol, there was some damage. and right now, the reconstruction efforts are underway. there's a $15 million project being started here at the

washington monument to repair those cracks. and as you mentioned it is closed to the public. it won't likely be reopened until 2014. at the national cathedral, there was damage there as well. four of the spires in that cathedral were damaged and destroyed. they are trying to raise money for that. that project is going to cost $20 million. and today, officials at the cathedral are going to announce a $5 million donation from the lily endowment of indianapolis. and officials there are going to also hopefully ask the public and other donors for some more money to finish the project. and they are going to mark this anniversary with a special memorial at the time the earthquake struck. a little later on this afternoon. carol? >> all right. sandra endo reporting live from the washington monument this morning. thank you so much. mitt romney has been endorsed by herman cain, but a new poll says the republican ticket has zero, zero african-american support. is that possible? our political panel weighs in.

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it is 30 minutes past the hour. good morning. thank you for joining us. i'm carol costello. stories we're watching right now in the newsroom, the opening bell at the new york stock exchange rang just seconds ago, ringing the bell, christie manny

ramirez -- christie ram opponent. good for her and the rest. experts say that stocks are expected to drop today, that's because investors are reacting to a manufacturing slowdown in china and europe. florida governor rick scott wants the state's emergency operation center to open later today. isaac isn't a hurricane yet, but the tropical storm is battering areas from the caribbean to florida. it isn't known yet what threat isaac could pose to next week's republican national convention in tampa. the mars rover curiosity is roving. and that is certainly good news for nasa. in its latest exercise, curiosity was able to move forward, turn in place, and back up. now that nasa is confident the rover can maneuver, curiosity will move 1,300 feet to a potential drilling site. this is a big goal. america's energy independence by 2020. total independence by 2020.

that's the new plan governor mitt romney has released. he released it early this morning, around midnight eastern time. allison kosik is at the new york stock exchange to tell us more. that's a big ambition. >> i was just going to say it sounds very ambitious, doesn't it? but we'll get more details later today, carol. governor romney will be speaking later today on this issue. but he did tell reporters yesterday that his plan pledges fewer regulations and more drilling. look at some of the changes he's calling for. he wants to give the states control over drilling on federal land within their borders. he wantses also to make it easier and faster for companies that have established safety records to get permits to drill. he also doesn't think the government should regulate carbon monoxide emissions. now, the campaign says the goal here is to get america off foreign oil in eight years. yes, it does sound ambitious. and it says that will create 3 million more jobs and bring in $1 trillion in new government revenue. but the congressional budget office is disputing the numbers,

saying that 70% of federal lands suspected to have undiscovered oil and gas reserves are already available for leasing. and opening the rest would bring in at most another $50 billion over the next 10 years. carol? >> ok. so what is the obama administration saying about this? >> ok. as expected, the president is also calling for energy independence, but it doesn't put a date on when that would happen. the president has talked about his all of the above approach, about expanding production and use of alternative energy like wind, solar, natural gas, and biofuels, clean coal and nuclear. the obama campaign website points out that oil imports have gone down, and domestic production has gone up since president obama took office. the president's plan also focuses on the consumption side of the equation by putting aggressive fuel economy standards in place. automakers have agreed to improve fuel efficiency standards, reaching 54.5 miles to the gallon by 2025. but you know this, carol. it's been forever that these

politicians have talked about energy independence. talked about it year after year. but there are so many controversial ways to get there, i think it's part of the reason we're just not there yet, carol. >> alison kosik at the new york stock exchange, thank you. it's got to be a political polling first. 0% support. zero. according to an nbc news swsh "wall street journal" poll, mitt romney has 0% support among african-americans. really? what about herman cain? also former congressman jc watts. colin powell. secretary of state condoleezza rice and congressman allen west of florida. the twitterverse, well, it was equally incredulous. this tweet from kara davis, quote. if a black conservative shouts in the nbc forest, does anybody hear? and this tweet from one black republican, i am the 0%, according to the liberal media. and obama.

i simply don't exist. we want to talk more about that because it was so jarring to see that. joining me now are cnn contributor and democratic strategist and will cain. come on, will cain. 0%. is that possible? >> no. it's highly improbable at the very least, right? and you just pointed out a few that do exist. so, yes, let's go with impossible more than improbable. the poll conducted i think a survey of 1,000 people. if you looked into the poll, it said 12% of their respondents were african-american. that means 120 people they polled. that fit the profile there. and if zero of 120 said they would not support mitt romney, i don't know. can you project that out and make a generalization? i know we do this with all polling. but obviously what we learned here is the definition of margin of error. >> that's right. the margin of error on this poll was 3.1%. i talked to cnn's polling people

and they said african-americans are probably underrepresented in this poll. so, maria, i did look at the gallup poll, the latest, and it says that mitt romney has 4% support from african-american voters. >> well, if you look at that, you know, if you want to talk about margin of error, that's close to the margin of error of this poll. so let's understand that 0% doesn't actually mean zero people. so that's why you can talk about herman cain and condoleezza rice and all of these others. i don't think anybody believes that he has zero support among the african-american community. but it does underscore the fact that he's got very little support, especially compared to president obama. and you can look at a whole slew of policies as to why that is. and clearly, given that this is the first african-american president, this shouldn't be all that surprising. >> no. but, will, does it call into question -- doesn't mitt romney have to win a certain percentage of african-american voters to win the election?

>> well, you know, maria points out something interesting there. it is true, regardless of what the nbc poll says, that mitt romney's support among african-americans is at historical lows. john mccain and sarah palin got something like 4%, whereas as high in the 90s it was up to 12% with bob dole. he got 12% of the african-american vote. so it asks the question why. why is the african-american support for mitt romney low? lower than historically comparisons. and the answer i think is twofold. one, it's because he is running against an african-american president. we can't overlook that fact. and second, the republican party has always had a tenuous relationship with african-americans. they have a different relationship with the federal government as other americans. as someone like me looks to government as a threat to civil liberties at a local level that, is not how it worked out in the african-american experience. it was the federal government that protected the african-american community from

the more local and state intrusions into liberty. that's why we have this relationship. >> but didn't mitt romney appear before the naacp? wasn't that supposed to give him a little tiny bump? i mean did, that make any difference at all, maria? >> well, and i it you willy gave him kudos for doing that. i thought it was brave. but what did he do not a few minutes or a few hours after he appeared at the naacp? he went to a fundraiser of obvious romney supporters and bragged that he went to the naacp and he was booed because he talked about how he wanted to repeal obama care. and he told this group, look, if this group of people, talking about african-americans, want more free stuff from the government, they should be voting for the other guy. so that's clearly disrespectful to the african-american community. and not really a way to reach out to them. and i think to your point, the romney campaign has made a cold political calculation that they don't need any african-american support. and i would add to that, i think they have made a cold political calculation that they don't need any latino support.

because he's kind of in the gutter on latino support as well. and that's very dangerous if he really wants to win the white house in november. >> will cain, will it be white guys who elect mitt romney for president? >> you know, i don't know. and i even find the nature of this conversation disturbing, carol, because the truth is when maria talks about when mitt romney went to the naacp and gave his message regarding obama care, would the idea would be that you present your principles and you don't tailor it to the audience in front of you, you don't pander to them and tell them what you want them to hear. you tell them your principles, what you stand for, and you're judged on those merits. and that should be applauded. regardless of the party, principles should be applauded, not pandering. will white guys elect him? i hope it's his principles. >> and i agree. but very quickly, i agree with that, will, but then don't go and brag about how you didn't tailor it, how you were booed. and i think that is the point that really rubs a lot of not just african-americans but

americans the wrong way. >> all right. we'll have to leave it there. sorry about that, will. will cain and maria cardona, thank you so much for the interesting discussion this morning. cnn's live coverage of the republican national convention from tampa starts monday night, 7:00 eastern. anderson cooper, erin burnett, and candy crowley will join wolf blitzer and john king at the magic wall, monday night right here on cnn. taylor swift attended a wedding reception in boston. but was she a party crasher? was she invited? oh, the controversy. our showbiz headlines are next. 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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some incredible, just incredible pictures. this is from a multivehicle crash near baton rouge, louisiana, right on i-10. this tanker was leaking a chemical similar to propane, and

the quickest way to clear it was apparently to just set it on fire because it was too dangerous to do otherwise. so rescue workers and fire crews, they set the thing on fire. and it caused that enormous blast. but as far as we know -- isn't that something else? as far as we know, no one was hurt. and everything is cleared this morning. >> wow. >> the fight continues over arizona's tough immigration crackdown. a federal judge is weighing arguments over the so-called show me your papers provision. opponents say they have new evidence that it is infected with racial discrimination. american express is still america's favorite credit card for the sixth straight year. american express ranked highest in customer satisfaction. discover card came in second, beating out chase. in today's health for her, while women are still more likely to become caregivers, there's a stark contrast when it comes to alzheimer's or dementia. over the past 15 years, the

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say it ain't so. did taylor swift crash a kennedy wedding reception on saturday? victoria gifford kennedy, the bride's mother, told the "boston herald" she asked taylor swift not to attend the reception. when taylor swift showed up, she told her to leave, but taylor didn't. joinering me now is aj hammer, who knows everything about show biz. >> yeah. >> this is ugly. >> imagine, taylor swift in a scandal. yeah. >> she's so sweet. >> she is so sweet. and i'm not putting this on her at all. but apparently, this caused

enough of a problem for the bride's mother as you said to go on record about with the "boston herald." the wedding took place on saturday. it was for kyle kennedy, the daughter of victoria gifford kennedy and the late michael kennedy. taylor of course is dating conor kennedy, and he wanted to go to his cousin's wedding. according to the story, conor was invited but didn't rsvp. it's quoted that victoria kennedy asked if he and taylor could come to the wedding. she told him no, and she says when they arrived, they asked the pair to leave but they ignored her. cnn has reached out to taylor's reps to respond to the story. we haven't heard back yet. i would bet we may get another take on the story soon. because if you didn't catch the name of the bride, gifford, her father is frank gifford and kathie lee gifford her stepmother. kathie lee did mention yesterday that taylor was at the wedding,

but i'm guessing she may have more to say. >> i think you're probably right. aj, thank you. he'll be back with us next hour for more show biz headlines and fill us in on why it's best not to mess with the man known as ll kool j.

okay. this just in to cnn. this was some emergency landing. this was a roadway in tampa, florida. the small plane had to make an emergency landing. the plane appears, the wing looks damaged, but it is largely in tact. the pilot probably survived this thing. you can imagine drivers seeing a plane landing over their heads. that would be the ultimate nightmare. as far as we know, no cars damaged either. checking sports now. it was quite a night for the texas rangers for adrian beltre. he had three home runs in the

12-3 pummeling of the baltimore orioles. the rangers' nine-run fourth inng. he had two other at-bats to try to tie the record of four home runs in a game, but grounded out. it is easy to remember the baseball steroid era because it is still around. bartolo colon is the second major league player in a week to fail a drug test following melky cabrera. colon was the most consistent starter with the e.r.a. of 3.23. he misses the rest of the season. and robert sacre was the last pick in the nba draft for the lakers. he is still unsigned and doesn't even have a number. he is facing precious playing

time behind dwight howard. he is the only one without a number in the photo shoot. jeremy lin, you never know. that's the look at sports. bad dogs are going viral. here is jeanie moos. >> reporter: humans aren't so appealing, but when a dog confesses i hid meat in the couch. there is no hiding the cute factor. here at the blog dog shaming, dog sins from sex. i hump every stuffed toy i find to gluttony are celebrated. i ate baby poop. owners post their pets behind shaming signs often with evidence in the photo. sometimes they send a tag team. i puked in our crate and i ate it. i pooped by the elliptical machine. i ate a novel.

there are murder confessions. we killed a mockingbird. some say poor dogs. dogsploitation. >> you take it with a grain of salt. >> reporter: dog owners had their share of worthy stories. take this guy. he has a habit of jumping in dirty fountains. >> he started swimming to jersey. >> reporter: she has to drag him out. barking is a popular topic. i bark at door bells on tv. we never had a door bell. i had beautiful eyes. i bark at any stranger who looks into them. ruff. one of the most common misbe misbehaving is eating underwear. it is not eating, but drinking that gets daphne in trouble with

the toilet. >> she pries the seat up and they start drinking from the toilet bowl. >> reporter: as it humans, sex leaves many dogs to stray. i like to hump this cat. romeo here has a different source of shame. some dogs are scared of thunder. >> he's scared of his own [ bleep ]. >> reporter: romeo is a two-sign dog. he doesn't just like to watch his owner in the bedroom. >> he was licking my feet that were hanging off the bed as i was -- >> reporter: who is giving who a tongue-lashing? jeanie moos, cnn, new york. the next hour of cnn newsroom starts after a short break.

stories we're watching right now in the newsroom, isaac isn't the only threat to the republican national convention. anarchists. now how can you tell which ads are true? there is an app for that. we'll put it to the the test. and nine months after being raped, she gave birth to a baby girl. now shawna will join us live to respond to the comments of todd akin and why she is still battling her attacker eight years later. newsroom begins right now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. right now, we're going to take a look at the double trouble looming over the republican national convention. one is an approaching storm and the other is a potential terror

plot to bomb bridges and other infrastructure in tampa. cnn has obtained a warning from the feds. anarchists extremists could be planning bomb attacks across the region. cnn's martin savidge has the latest on the unsettling development. >> it is a bulletin put out by the department of home security and it is aiming at law enforcement and it gives them a head's up for tampa and charlotte where the democratic national convention is going to number a couple of weeks. the fbi said it obtained information that in march it got wind that anarchists were heading to tampa bay and try to shutdown the traffic on the bay area bridges. that would be a huge disruption for the traffic in general and emergency responders trying to get to and from the city. and on top of that, talk of the possible use of ieds. we are familiar with those from iraq and afghanistan.

an ied is essentially a homemade bomb. could they be used? yes, they could be. will they be used? the intel doesn't go that far. law enforcement needs to be aware. we want to keep this in the right perspective here. we know how the anarchist groups work with the international monetary fund meetings and republican convention in minnesota. lessons in the past and intel from the spring. law enforcement says be aware. >> they are talking about a huge security force in place for the republican national convention. >> they will. this is basically -- what you should be aware of local law enforcement is watch out for things like groups you heard of that are increasing weapons training in some way, shape or form. some groups have been going out and buying large items to be used for devices. it never hurts to be told and reinforced again.

>> martin savidge there. the coverage of the republican national convention from tampa begins monday night at 7:00 eastern. anderson cooper and erin burnett will be there. along with john king. that is monday night on cnn. let's turn to the threat of weather over the republican national convention. a few days before it is kicked off, will isaac break through the grand ole party? >> isaac is a unique storm in this regard. it has the potential to threaten a major convention designated a national security event. that is why i have convened local, state and convention officials for a twice daily briefing. the goal is to make sure everyone has the best information available and a complete picture of the situation. everything needed to make a good decision. these officials have been working together to plan the

convention for the past 18 months. >> meteorologist rob marciano is tracking the approaching storm. what are the chances, rob? >> given out far out the storm is, carol, the chances of a direct hit are low. that said, it is in the cone of uncertainty. let's go through isaac. it is a tropical storm of 40-mile-an-hour winds. it decreased in intensity. it has a lot of circulation and a lot of water to tap into. we think it will intensify. the island of hispaniola will be hit hard with hurricane force winds. the question of shelter will be an issue. here is the forecast track from the national hurricane center. it intensifies it over hispaniola and haiti. then knocking a bit of its punch

over the mountainous areas. what will it be like in the florida straits? that is unknown as well sunday into monday. when it gets into the eastern gulf of mexico, how much will it strengthen? the forecast track brings it close to tampa. if this makes a dive to the right, it is a direct hit with category one status. this is the look at the evacuation map in tampa. this is where the convention is. the red, which includes the convention on the border, that is evacuation mandatory for a category one storm or higher. that is what they are planning for, carol. for the stars to come in at the right angle and right speed is still pretty far off for that to happen. keep your fingers crossed. there is hope to get this away. unfortunately, it looks like there will be a major impact somewhere in the u.s. carol.

>> we'll keep our fingers crossed. rob marciano, thank you. republicans lashed by another storm. this is by the ill chosen words of todd akin. he will not budge from the missouri senate race. the republican's gaffe, is it the democrats gain? president obama last night cashed in at a new york fund-raiser saying, quote, recently you have been paying attention to the commentary by the republican from missouri. this is the man who sits on the house committee of science and technology, but somehow missed science class and the desire to go backwards instead of forward in fighting fights that we thought were settled 30 years ago. this is no laughing matter. we have dana bash who has been talking to republican women.

what have they been saying? >> reporter: republicans, men and women, are worried. especially in the key swing states and suburban women in those states. i talked to anne stone. she heads the abortion rights organization. she said women tend to be late deciders. >> the republicans don't know even what women want. they are gender blind and i would say gender stupid when it comes with women and women's policies. >> reporter: now it is not just socially liberal women impacted by the comments of todd akin. anti-abortion women are, too. i talked with marsha blackburn. she was the co-chair. she told me republicans need to

do better with women. >> we have some very articulate accomplished women who are elected officials at the local, state and federal level. they have all shown the ability to lead and i think what people are wanting to do is to see women step forward and take a more prominent role in our party. >> reporter: carol, people i have talked to in the past several days were frustrated that they were not successful to get akin out of the race. they hope they were successful in separating the republicans to make him look like a liar and clear to the women voters that they don't believe in what he said. >> that is hard to do. didn't republicans back him in his run for the u.s. senate? they are not backing him now, but they gave him money to run. >> reporter: interestingly, he was the last choice for republican leaders.

they had hoped that other republicans who were running in the primary -- they preferred those two over him. that is one of the reasons, i'm told, why he has his heels dug in. they never backed him in the first place. why should he listen to them now? >> dana bash reporting from washington. thanks so much. the economy is the top issue among voters. today's middle class is poorer and gloomier than a decade ago. alison kosik is at the stock exchange with latest. >> reporter: this feeds off the question is are you better or worse off ten years ago? if you are middle class, the answer is you are likely worse off because of the recession. there is evidence of how hard the middle class families in the country are getting hit.

research claims that household wealth or net worth fell by more than 45%. you look at median wealth for the upper income group, that stayed about the same. 85% of middle class people said it is more difficult for them to maintain the standard of living compared to ten years ago. this is considered the lost decade of the middle class. carol. >> who do people blame for this, alison? >> reporter: congress is number one on the list. it doesn't matter if you are republican or democrat. you blame congress for screwing with your net worth. coming in at a close second, financial institutions and large corporations. 44% blame the bush administration and 34% blame the obama administration. respondents put the blame for the reduced wealth in the past

and they feel optimistic of the futures. there is more on the study. watch "your bottom line" this saturday morning. they will talk about what it means for the president election. >> alison kosik reporting live from the new york stock exchange. are there really no african-americans backing mitt romney? that is what a new nbc/wall street journal report says. is that really accurate? black conservatives are not so happy about this poll. we'll talk to one next. [ male announcer ] the perfect photo... [ man ] nice! [ male announcer ] isn't always the one you plan to take. whoa, check it out.

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♪ now discover new caramel apple filled werther's original. this just in to cnn. moments ago, we learned the new york parole board denied freedom to the man convicted of killing john lennon that happened 32 years ago. it is the seventh parole hearing for mark david chapman. the attorneys for lennon's widow

yoko ono asked to deny his release. they did. former penn state president graham spanier is speaking out about the jerry sandusky. he is blasting the internal report accusing him to cover up the sex abuse to protect his image. >> the freeh report is wrong and unfair and deeply flawed. it is as many errors and omissions. i know they had a lot of very good people on the teamworking on this. they interviewed over 400 people. many of them described the interviews to me as a witch hunt. at midnight tonight, casey anthony will be a free woman as the one--year sentence for check fraud ends. she was acquitted of killing her

2-year-old daughter caylee. the editors of "forbes" magazine are telling us the most powerful women in the world. angela merkel. hillary clinton comes in second and the brazil's first female president rounds out the top three. the mars rover curiosity is roving. that is good news for nasa. curiosity was able to move forward, turn and back up and that is good news for nasa. nasa is confident of the maneuver ability. it will have curiosity move 1,300 feet to a drilling site. it is the poll and probably not accurate. according to the nbc/wall street journal report, mitt romney has zero support, 0% from black voters. 1,000 voters were polled.

the margin of error was plus or minus 3%. still, that 0% thing has miffed black conservatives. after all, black conservatives exist. herman cain and condoleezza rice and crystal is with us. we knew you would be miffed. why? >> i laughed. it is really offensive to black americans like me who are conservative and who will vote for mitt romney. you forgot to mention, carol, of the 1,000 americans polled, only 100 were black. i don't know how that is significant at all. i gasped when i saw it. we all know that president obama is losing support among black americans. last month, an ap poll came out and said 80% of blacks are going

to support him. that's a significant drop from 95%. it's really offensive to black people, carol. it is wildly inaccurate. nobody is reporting only 100 black americans were sampled for the poll. >> i do want to ask you this. there is a gallup poll out. only 4% of african-americans support mitt romney. that is still a concern, isn't it? >> you know, i think what we have seen with polls is that depending on who is conducting the polls and sampling that they can be wildly off. i think what you are having with black americans and the gallup poll we should look at, but many americans are hesitant when they are on a telephone call and talking to somebody to reveal if they voted for barack obama in 2008, that they will not necessarily do it this go around. there is that going on. you have black conservatives

like me. they are not talking to us, i don't think. >> there is a lot of tweets in the twitterverse. they were funny. there seems to be a new poll out every day. they all say different things. why should we pay attention to them at all? >> i do think we should pay attention to them. for example, the poll that you and i were just talking about, the wall street journal/nbc poll found mitt romney is narrowing the lead with the president. the lead is within a margin of error. we know reagan when he went up against carter, he was down 8% in october when he ran -- when the last debate occurred. then he won by ten percentage points. polls can be misleading. we should look at them. i don't know how anybody with two grains of sense can say 0% of black americans will support

mitt romney. that's racial stereotypes, carol. i think you alluded to that. >> i just remember, you know, during the very hot race of 2008, some of the polling was just flat out wrong. the results would come in and you would say, why did i even pay attention to the poll? i do think that people should look at all poll was a grain of salt. >> i agree. you hit the nail on the head, carol. polls are sometimes designed to keep people at home and keep them not voting. many black americans have already said that because of the president's position on same-sex marriage and other things and his performance with unemployment that they might stay at home. that is never an option. we always need to vote. i think you are right. people need to take these poll was a grain of salt and realize every vote matters. if you don't do anything political, but vote in 2012, that's good. >> crystal wright, i think you

are right about that one. thank you for being on with us this morning. >> thanks, carol. our nation's classrooms could play a pivotal role in the campaign. attacking the romney ad on education. mostly fact or mostly fiction? ct about strght talk? sure. with straight talk at walmart you get unlimited talk, text and data for only $45 a month. but do i get the same coverage? oh yeah. it's on america's best networks. sounds great to me. well we saved you a lot of money, and your girls like their new smart phones. i sent you a friend request. [ both ] we know. [ earl ] save money with straight talk wireless. unlimited talk, text and data for only $45 a month. only at walmart. [ 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

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we still have 75 days to go before the presidential election and every day, mitt romney and president obama go back and forth. we fact check their ads. now something that may not be entirely accurate. >> reporter: class size and what it means to how kids learn is a long and hotly contested issue. president obama and many educators clearly believe smaller classes with fewer students per teacher are the way to go. so his latest ad tries to school mitt romney on that subject. >> some of our children's greatest experience have been in the smaller classrooms. >> mitt romney says it doesn't matter. he supports paul ryan's budget which could cut education by

20%. >> reporter: did romney really say class sizes don't matter? no. >> if you had a class of five, that would be terrific. if you had a class of 50, that would be impossible. >> reporter: romney cited a study showing that sometimes schools with small classes fail. sometimes schools with big classes succeed. therefore, it should not be given excessive weight when we consider the schools. the president's education advisers would not agree or would they? in a 2010 speech to the american institute, arne duncan said class size may matter up to third grade. >> districts may be able to save money without hurts students while allowing targeted increases in class size. teachers in asia sometimes request larger class sizes.

they think a broad distribution of skill levels can accelerate student learning across the board. >> reporter: as for the plan to cut education funding for ryan, the truth is education may be harmed in a budget, but the grade in the ad is "f" for false, but we will go with "m" for misleading. tom reman, cnn, washington. tampa is cashing in on all of the attractions, especially the night life for the upcoming convention. we will show you how. there are a lot of warning lights

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30 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. time to check the top stories.

it would be a one-two punch for the republicans in the upcoming convention in tampa. the federal government says anarchists could attack the area and then tropical storm isaac is moving across the caribbean. and a interstate is reopened and a tanker truck accident on i-10 in baton rouge. the tanker burned nearly 24 hours sending flames high into the air. first lady michelle obama will meet with the sikh temple shooting family members. six sikh temple members were killed inoak creek, wisconsin. take a look at the washington monument. it is the one-year anniversary of the earthquake that caused damage to the monument. fema is holding a press

conference right now to update us on the repairs to the monument. no matter who wins the presidential election, the cities hosting the conventions will be the big winners. those conventions bring in millions of tourist dollars. the mayor of tampa expects nothing less when the gop comes to town next week. >> there will be 90,000 room nights booked as a result of this. the magnitude of this given the dynamic of where the country is and the economy is and our politics, it is significantly larger and complex and has way more moving parts than the super bowls. >> and the night life plays a huge part in the economic boom. cnn's john jirella shows us the latest. >> reporter: here at the doll house in tampa, they spruced up and put in a 225 inch video

wall. they are bringing in a sarah palin look alike, too. no kidding. what did you put into it? >> $1.5 million. inside and outside. >> reporter: tampa strip clubs ares dressing up. there is something in the air like going to the polls, but going to the "poles" has a different meaning. >> i have never been so excited. >> reporter: warren colazzo had the t-shirts made up. "the dollhouse." a must have for any conventioneer. an adult industry trade associatiosays the republicans spend the money. and an informal survey by club executives found that during the conventions in minnesota and new york, republicans spent $150 per

person an adult clubs, the democrats, $50 in boston and denver. the rnc told us it is focused on having a great convention and nominating mitt romney. club dancers are counting on the supposed big-dollar republicans to make it rain dollars. go-go, she's the one in the middle, thinks this will be bigger than the super bowls she's worked. >> $1,000 an hour. i'm really optimistic. >> reporter: $1,000 an hour? >> yes. >> reporter: for how many hours? >> i'll work as long as my body can take. >> reporter: the city tolerates the clubs, but won't let them cross the line. the city has charged 16 women with prostitution. the mayor says the clubs are the least of his worries. >> will we be running around checking i.d.s? probably not. >> we added the vip section. >> reporter: don imans owns the club here. it is shaped like a flying

saucer. the way up is known as the stairway to heaven. he says there is so many much to be made, dancers are calling from everywhere to work the convention. >> we had five different calls from girls from las vegas, new orleans, chicago and new york. >> reporter: word has spread when the elephant's in the room, money is good. john zarella, cnn, tampa. >> cnn's live coverage from tampa, florida begins monday night at 7:00 eastern. it's time to live wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system... from beautyrest.

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we have been hearing a lot about congress member todd akin's comments. one side we have not heard much from is the victims. according to the american academy of obstetrics has been released. we have a victim with us live. good morning, shawna. >> good morning, carol. >> why did you think this was so important to make your feelings known? >> when i read representative akin's comments on sunday, i was deeply offended. i felt that, first of all, they

were bred in ignorance and i wanted that part to be known. i also wanted to touch upon the idea of legitimate versus illegitimate rape and strike down the notion that we need to get away from talking about rape in these terms. it is so harmful to us as a society and especially to the way rape is prosecuted and dealt within our country. >> when you were attacked, you came forward and reported it to the police. in some cases, that is not what happened. tell us about that. >> well, you know, my experience was like, i think most women's experience, which is that the second you say that you're raped, a raped woman is immediately the won that is put on a trial. it becomes about things that i think are a little bit ridiculous to focus on. what you were wearing. exactly what you said.

where you were. i just think no means no. if a woman has said no, that ought to be respected. >> you were raped and you found out you were pregnant. i can't imagine how that must have felt. >> yeah, you know, it was a mixture of emotions. there is not any one single defining emotion. moreover, the day i found out changed a week later and month later. i think overwhelmingly i was shared and i was shocked, but then i was also feeling a lot of shame because i was really struggling with this emotion of feeling a bond toward this life growing inside of me and thinking i shouldn't be feeling that way, but yet feeling that way. so it is important to me to write this letter so women can understand. your feelings are legitimate.

>> whether you want to continue with your pregnancy or not? >> yes. >> and i was just curious to know, do you think women should have that choice? >> you know, i think that rape is such a multidimensional experience and women respond to it differently. i can't pretend that the choice i made for me would be right for the woman standing next to me. so, you know, in that regard, i would hate to say something that would harm her feelings or undermine her experience. at the same time, you know, i have this beautiful child whose amazing and wonderful. i would hate to think that her life could have been extinguished. it is a delicate issue. it is one that i really shy away from. i'm not an advocate for abortion

rights or pro-life movement either. my focus is on the rape experience and parental rights issue. >> before we get into the parental rights, because i know that is a big issue with you as it should be because it is part of your story. your daughter, what do you tell her? >> well, my daughter's almost eight. she is, of course, at this age where notions of sex and rape. she doesn't understand those notions whatsoever. what we focused on is this idea that families come in all different shapes and sizes. some families have a mom. some have a dad. some have grandparents. some have siblings. in our family, it's her and me. that's fantastic. she's loved. she's beloved. i want her to know she's great. >> and i do want to get into the cause you are fighting for

because you're rapist actually fought for custody of the child. >> that's right. i had no idea when this happened that there would be a court on planet earth that would entertain his ability to have access to my daughter. i was very lucky. i was able to get his parental rights terminated. he was never a part of her life and never will be a part of her life. but i know there are a lot of women that aren't so lucky. i've spent the past two years advocating for those women and trying to approach legislators on a state-by-state basis. >> shauna prewitt, you are one courageous woman. thank you so much. >> i appreciate it. thank you. >> you can read more about "raped, pregnant and ordeal not

over" on our cnn.com opinion page. go to cnn.com/opinion.

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ever watch a political ad and ask if that is true? i bet you have. it will be easier to find out because a free iphone app will be released today on how paid for the ad. it is called super pac app. joining me is mario armstrong. we wondered if this works. >> it does actually work. last night i downloaded the app. it is a free installation on the apple devices. iphone or ipad or itouch. once you download the free app, you tap the button on here that says i want to listen to the tv or i want to listen to a youtube ad and point it at the computer. it uses audio fingerprinting and

you can listen to the ad. it shows you the claims made in the ad and the money spent. you get a lot of transparency from the ad right inside the app. >> who's behind this? >> students. students at m.i.t. we had other apps that can sense aud audio like shazam. you don't know the artist and title of the song, it is doing that. it is more getting the information about politics and whether or not these claims are factual or not right in the palm of your hand. >> do you think that this will make politicians more accountable? >> that's a really good question. i think politicians are still not with it on the text spectrum to some degree. i think they may misunderstand

or maybe just assume this is not as big as it is going to be. i believe this will have a level of transparency we have not had before and technology is making that possible. i think right away, no. they are paying attention to it. they will pay attention to their ads. most of them are unlimited dollar amounts. they are spending a lot of money on negative ads and not worry about the technology. >> good for those m.i.t. students. mario armstrong, thank you for joining us. >> you're so welcome. talk about picking the wrong house to break into. ll cool j, oh, what he did to a burglar. at usaa, we believe honor is not exclusive to the military,

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mom says knock you out and ll cool j did. here's a.j. hammer. hi, a.j. >> if i was a burglar, i would not want to break into this guy's house. the burglar did not know whose on house he broke into. he did not remember the song "mama said knock you out." the l.a. police department said the burglar alarm was tripped at 1:00 a.m. ll caught the man and physically detained him until officers arrived. the man needed medical attention, but he was being held in jail is all we were told. here is what ll's rep is telling us. he is committed to keeping his family safe and cooperating with authorities. carol, i remember first meeting ll cool j some 22 years ago

probably. nicest guy on the planet, but a daunting figure with a handshake that tells you don't mess with me. >> he gave me a hug when i interviewed him. that man is all muscle. >> you feel the strength. >> yes, you do. he used it well since that guy broke into his house. a.j. hammer. you will talk about taylor swift, too? >> i will. it pains me to call swift a wedding crasher. we heard more about the story from kathie lee gifford. the wedding was on saturday for connor kennedy's cousin. the bride was frank gifford's granddaughter. he and kathie lee, connor and taylor did not rsvp.

they showed up and much to the dismay of the mother of the bride. according to kathie lee, it included a sit-down dinner and there was not a place for them. the bride's mother asked connor and taylor to leave twice. we can agree miss manners would not approve of connor and taylor showing up if they did not rsvp. cnn reached out to taylor's reps and we have not heard back on it. it is hard to believe. >> she is such a sweetie. thanks, a.j. join a.j. hammer tonight at 11:00 p.m. eastern for "showbiz tonight." tropical storm isaac strengthens and heads to florida. we have the update next on cnn newsroom. ♪

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