now the mayor, rahm emanuel in chicago is taking it to the courts. it's monday, september 17th, and "starting point" begins right now. morning, welcome everybody, our starting point this morning, chaos overseas. protests have become angry and violent outside u.s. and nato bases in kabul and afghan police official said at least 15 officers were injured in protests against an offensive anti-islam film that was made by a relatively unknown movie producer. demonstrators firing their guns in iraq setting at least two police cars on fire near the u.s. embassy. it comes a day after four american soldiers were killed on an american base in afghanistan by insurgents who were dressed as american military members. kabul, karachi, pakistan the two main hot spots this morning. more from pakistan just ahead. first to anna coren live in

cable for us. what's happening? >> soledad, there were protests on the street, as you say, not far from the u.s. embassy here in kabul. about 300 protesters attacked police and 15 officers were injured, including the commander. they burnt two police cars, along with a bunch of tires, and we approached the scene. however there were reports that guns were being fired and that they were attacking westerners. we had to keep at bay. certainly that violence that we've seen across the muslim world has finally spread to afghanistan. the government has really tried to keep a lid on it by banning youtube so that people couldn't view that inflammatory video. but as we saw today, that violence has finally hit the streets here. >> anna coren with an update from kabul. rage building in other parts of the muslim world.

a suicide bomber blowing up his vehicle at a checkpoint leading to the heavily protected green zone in baghdad where the u.s. embassy and several other western embassies are located. seven iraqis were killed by that blast this morning. anti-u.s. sentiment also flaring in pakistan. police spent the weekend pushing back protesters who were trying to storm the u.s. consulate in karachi. one person was killed. we have more from islamabad in pakistan this morning. >> reporter: washington bracing itself for another wave of anti-american anger on monday. this time the call for protest coming from lebanon and hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah. the whole world needs to see your anger, on your faces, in your fists, and your shouts, nasrallah said in a televised speech. on sunday, anti-american demonstrations continued in karachi, pakistan, as police beat back scores of protesters in front of the u.s. consulate.

that angry rally followed a flurry of protests over the past few days in places like yemen, egypt, tunisia, iran, where demonstrators railed against a low-budget film that insults islam's prophet muhammad. the protests sometimes turn violent. u.s. ambassador christopher stevens, and three other americans, died when armed protesters attacked the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. u.s. officials say lost amid the tragedy and dramatic headlines was the fact that most were not massive protests. but crowds numbering in the hundreds, sometimes in the thousands. >> the mobs we've seen on the outside of these embassies are a small minority. they're the ones who have largely lost in these emerging democratic processes. >> reporter: susan rice, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., said the attacks on u.s. targets began as spontaneous protests, rejecting earlier claims they were part of a plot to coincide

with last week's anniversary of 9/11. the anti-american protests have fast become the obama administration's most pressing foreign policy crisis. but the white house faces other urgent challenges in the region. on sunday, four u.s. soldiers were killed in afghanistan. the latest in a breakout of insider attacks where afghan forces target nato troops. and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu continued to ratchet pressure on washington to set a red line for iran, claiming iran is months away from being able to build a nuclear bomb. >> i think that there's a common interest of all americans, of all political persuasions, to stop iran. this is a regime that is giving vent to the worst impulses that you see right now in the middle east. >> reporter: washington is putting a lot of pressure on governments in the region to crack down on violent protests and those governments have responded with tighter security

and the protests seem to be tailing off. in the meantime, libyan officials say they've arrested a number of suspects in the attack that killed u.s. ambassador stevens. it's not clear who these suspects are at this time, but libyan officials saying contrary to earlier claims, there is no evidence al qaeda was involved. reza sayah, cnn, islamabad. >> let's get to john berman now with a look at some of the other stories making news. >> good morning. great to have you back. chicago mayor rahm emanuel expected to seek a court order today in an effort to force striking teachers to go back to work. the teachers are starting their second week on the picket line. a tentative contract agreement was reached over the weekend, but teachers and union leaders say the members need more time to review it. and they delayed any vote until tomorrow. one year ago a movement was born. today is occupy's one-year anniversary and protesters are planning rallies in more than 30 cities around the world, including a march on the new york stock exchange. that's expected to begin in about 30 minutes.

everyone watching to see if the 99% make a comeback now. occupy wall street started in lower manhattan one year ago with protesters setting up camp, and that spawned similar protests in cities around the world. the movements happened because of widespread resentment over nagging unemployment and people just plain fed up with the banks. prince william and the duchess catherine are in the solomon islands today celebrating the queen's diamond jubilee. meanwhile 9,000 miles away their lawyers are preparing to file a criminal complaint with french prosecutors against the photographer who snapped those topless pictures of kate. britain's royal family also plans to go to court today to stop the publication of more of those topless photos, and to seek some damages. the 49ers living up to the hype so far they beat the detroit lions 27-19 on sunday night football and improved to 2-0 on the season. tight end vernon davis was huge. he caught two touchdown passes. and this was the big story line. look at that friendly handshake between coaches jim harbaugh and

jim schwartz. they met before the game with a friendly hello. a lot different than last season when the two almost came to blows after a game. so a little friendlier this time. how about some politics snl style. "saturday night live" opened its 38th season with a new president obama. jay farrell was sworn in taking over the presidential impression. >> so america i know you're not in love with me anymore but i want you to know that my heart still beats for you, and i can prove it. ♪ i am so in love with you that was fun, right? so, do you want that or this? ♪ e-i-e-i-o >> all right. that is a take on mitt romney again. brace yourselves on the campaign

trial. >> he did such a good job. if you look at what he really looks like. they did a masterful job on his makeup. we can tell you about the uprising overseas and the violence, that new violence comes with some criticism for prime minister. let's get right to jen psaki, she's the obama campaign traveling press secretary also the former obama white house deputy communications director. jen, nice to have you with us. >> good morning. >> let's talk about what's been happening overseas. you just heard a report, several reports sort of detailing some of that violence. six american military killed in a weekend of violence. so what is the -- what is the u.s. plan to deal with these protests and deal with what seems to be escalating violence? >> well, first soledad, any president of any party is going to be dealing with crisis. that's part of the job. and the president, i spent some time with him on the campaign trail last week when he was dealing with this and he was on conference calls and receiving briefings constantly while we were out traveling.

and his primary focus right now is in ensuring the security of the people who are serving abroad. whether that's the military or diplomats serving in the embassies. and that's what he's working very closely with his team on right now. >> right. but that doesn't really answer my question, which is so what is the specifics of a plan to deal with this? this is the first time in a couple of years that we've seen insurgents wearing u.s. military uniforms, in order to be able to pull off some kind of an attack. it's something we haven't seen in two years. you're looking at an end to, you know, the complete drawdown in 20tw 2013 and you see a rise in these insider attacks. so what's the plan? >> well, look, i don't spend every day in the national security council. i leave that to people like ambassador rice, who spoke to this yesterday. and my former colleagues who still work at the white house. obviously this type of thing has happened before. they're focused day in and day out in doing everything they can to ensure the security of people who are serving overseas. people who are serving in the

embassies. that's what eir focus is. and they're working every day toward that. you know, i can point to what ambassador rice said yesterday. we've seen this before. unfortunately, this is a response to a video that we had nothing to do with. that is disgusting and we have repudiated strongly. now we're working every day to make sure that we can address this, and make sure we can ensure the security of our people serving abroad. >> here's a little bit more of what she said specifically about libya. let's play that. >> our current assessment is that what happened in benghazi was, in fact, initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in cairo. what we think then transpired in benghazi is that opportunistic extremist elements came to the consulate, as this was unfolding. they came with heavy weapons, which unfortunately are readily available in post-revolutionary libya, and they escalated into a much more violent episode.

>> so her theory is that there are people who saw the video, there was a protest over that anti-islam video, extremists then saw opportunity there, and they brought heavy weaponry, and that turned in to what was an attack. as you know there are others who say, no, this was actually well coordinated among those, senator john mccain. let me play you what he said. >> most people don't bring rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons to a demonstration. that was an act of terror. and for anyone to disagree with that fundamental fact, i think, is, really knowing the facts. >> does he not have a point? that if you're bringing a rocket-propelled grenade -- >> well, i don't think we can -- what can't be lost here is this is a political campaign season, as well. senator mccain is a strong supporter of mitt romney's. mitt romney came out when we knew, when the world knew, that there had been american deaths, he came out and attacked,

criticized the president for empath identifying with the attackers. you know, he's been known to, as the president said last week, to shoot first and aim later. >> all true -- >> but soledad i don't have access to the intelligence, either. neither do you. i don't know what senator mccain has access to -- >> but you can't claim a question about whether or not it was premeditated is solely political, right? i mean that is outside of politics. that is a valid question. was people angry about a movie and then it sort of spurred into an attack or was it a coordinated attack that leveraged the movie? that's a relevant question outside of politics. >> ambassador rice was very clear yesterday about what the u.s. government has found to be the cause here. you know, i refer you to what she said. she has access to the intelligence that you and i don't have. and most of the american people don't have. so you know, i can't speak to what senator mccain has seen or hasn't seen, but i'll point you to what ambassador rice said yesterday, and of course this is the focus of what she and her team and the national security council at the white house are

working on every single day now. >> ambassador richard williamson, who as you know, is a policy adviser for mitt romney, said this in the wake of the latest -- what happened last week and then the weekend, there's a pretty compelling story that if you had a president romney, he's a policy adviser obviously, you'd be in a different situation. for the first time since jimmy carter we've had an american ambassador assassinated. the respect for america has gone down, there's not a sense of american resolve and we can't even protect sovereign american property. do you think that that is true? that there is a drop in the level of respect for america overseas, especially in the middle east? >> i have to say that's an absolutely outrageous statement. many republicans have come out and said it's an outrageous statement. you know, the president is someone who said i'm going to go after osama bin laden. and he did. and he's dead. he said i'm going to go after al qaeda. and he's decimated them. he's restaored our place in the world. this is a crisis we're dealing with, the president is focused on every single day. but when advisers are making

statements like that i think it really brings into question whether mitt romney and his team are ready for prime-time and ready to face a crisis like inevitably he would if he were elected president. >> jen psaki, the obama campaign traveling press secretary. thank you for talking to us. >> thank you, soledad. >> have a great day. still ahead this morning on "starting point," a shocking investigation claims that for two decades the boy scouts covered up accused child molesters in their ranks. one of the reporters who broke that story is going to join us up next. and it is not your usual security training. military personnel, law enforcement officers, government workers, all getting ready for how to deal with a zombie apocalypse. easy for me to say. we're going to tell you why we think get real to that this morning. the ones who inspire us, the ones who make us laugh, the ones with the strong shoulder to lean on, the ones we're named after, and the ones named

after us. it takes all kinds of good to make a family. at new york life, everything we do is to help you keep good going. you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank.

nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. no. come on. how about... a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service.

welcome back to "starting point" i'm christine romans. minding your business this morning u.s. stock futures are lower after a big run-up last week to nearly five-year highs. news of more federal reserve stimulus pushed stocks to the highest since late 2007. this week's focus turns now to new manufacturing and housing data. apple stock hit an all-time high of $695 a share on friday. ultimately closing at $691 a share. this morning it's up again in premarket trading. stock is up nearly 70% year-to-date. of course iphone is a big moneymaker for apple and the new one isn't even out yet. president obama is launching another trade complaint against china with the world trade organization. the white house claims beijing is violating trade laws by

imposing more than $3 billion in duties on u.s. auto exports creating an unfair advantage for china's automakers and parts manufacturers. the president will make an announcement today while campaigning in ohio, soledad. coincidentally a state that has been hit hard by manufacturing job loss. >> a state everybody is watching very closely in the next 50 days to the election? >> 50 days. >> not a coincidence. >> i say coincidentally. >> the biggest noncoincidence ever. >> thank you, appreciate that christine. boy scouts of america, this story is so insane. now accused of covering up sexual abuse going back decades. the "los angeles times" has gotten a hold of hundreds of documents that detail allegations against boy scout personnel and volunteers. and the files appear to show a pattern of protecting the accused, and even sweeping it under the rug. let's bring in one of the reporters on this story for the "l.a. times," jason felch is with us this morning. nice to talk to you. this is so shocking.

1600 confidential files is what you had a chance to look at between 1970 and 1991. explain to me where they were kept, and how they were found and how you got access to them. >> for the last 100 years the boy scouts have kept these files confidentially in national headquarters, which now is in irving, texas. they've never been released publicly. but they have started to come out through civil litigation. so the files that we looked at came out in a 1992 civil case in california. and there are thousands more that have never been released. >> of those 1600 cases, 500 of them were allegations that came from tips from people within the boy scouts. for example some boy scouts themselves, sometimes the parents, sometimes people who are working for the boy scouts. sometimes an anonymous tip. of those 500 how many times did the boy scouts say let's call the police and investigate this alleged sex abuse on children?

>> not as often as you'd hope. we found that in 80% of the cases where they were the first to learn about the abuse, there was no indication in the file that they actually called the police. in 100 of those cases, we actually found clear indications that there were efforts to cover up the abuse, keep it from parents, keep it from the public. keep it out of the press. >> how did they do that? give me some details on that? so, someone was suspected of -- >> there are a lot of ways. >> if they were suspected of child abuse or serial child abuse, how would they cover it up? >> well, one of the most common ways was that they would catch the alleged perpetrator, one of the scoutmasters having sexual relations with one of the boys, and instead of turning him in to police they would ask him to resign and they would actually help him write a letter to parents explaining his departure in some other way. so we saw excuses ranging from chronic brain disease to duties

at a shakespeare festival explaining why these alleged molesters were actually leaving the boy scouts. the truth was they were leaving because they had been caught. >> you tell the story of a guy named art humphries who was working with the boy scouts in the late 1970s through the 1980s. and he -- even though he was accused by a 12-year-old boy of sexual assault, basically, they went on, not only to keep him on, but also write a letter of recommendation. i'm going to read a little bit of that letter because i want you to tell me what happened to mr. 4u78 fries. i'm attaching a jamboree application for mr. art humphries. i believe the attached letter is a recomndation and the newspaper write-up will give you a well-rounded picture of art. if selected i'm sure he will add much to the handicap awareness trail at the 1981 jamboree. this was written by a council executive for a guy who they knew had accusations against him by a young boy. what happened to him? >> that's right. mr. humphries continued to work in the scouts, despite their knowledge of his pattern of sexual abuse.

until he was arrested in 1984, on that -- when he was arrested he eventually pled guilty to sodomizing 20 boys. and what never came to light in the trial was the fact that the boy scouts had known. in fact when the boy scout official in charge of art humphries' troop was asked by the press, you know, did the boy scouts have any knowledge of mr. humphries' behavior, he said no. what the boy scout confidential files reveal is that, in fact, they had known since 1978 that mr. humphries was molesting children. >> so the scouts today have released a statement and it says this. in the more than 100 years that the bsa, boy scouts of america, serve youth, society has learned about this important issue. the bsa continuously enhanced its multifehred policies and procedures which now include background checks, comprehensive training programs, and safety policies. that's from the spokesperson from the boy scouts of america. they released that on sunday. so, does that mean that the problems that existed -- i mean

sounds like they're saying those are problems back then. those problems don't exist today. >> these files are, for the most part, 30 or 40 years old. and since that time the boy scouts have changed a lot of their policies about how toy protect children in the organization. the question is, and the question we don't know the answer to, is are those policies working? the boy scouts continue to keep a confidential perversion file. they continue to keep records of sexual abuse in the organization. but those are -- have never been reviewed by an outside entity, by an independent auditor, and, in fact, they've never been reviewed by the boy scouts of america to see what's working and what's not. >> and they've also been aggressively in court keeping these old files from being released, correct? >> that's right. there's ongoing litigation today in several different places with victims of sexual abuse suing the boy scouts and demanding that these files be released in an effort to establish that there was a pattern of neglect here.

and the boy scouts have filed in court to prevent those files from being released. >> clearly there's going to be much more about that. jason felch, reporter with the "l.a. times." mass fating article. thank you for talking with us. >> thanks, soledad. >> still ahead on "starting point," government and military personnel are about to learn training that involves preparing for a zombie apocalypse. are they serious? it's our get real and it's up next. our "starting point" team heading in to talk about that. ron brown is with us, bridgele siegel and will kane. a crash management system and the world's only tridion safety cell which can withstand over three and a half tons. small in size. big on safety.

wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. i i had pain in my abdomen...g. it just wouldn't go away. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge. [ male announcer ] the exceedingly nimble, ridiculously agile, tight turning, fun to drive 2013 smart. ♪

welcome back to "starting point." i'm john berman with a quick

look at some of the 207 stories today. warren buffett has finished treatment for stage one prostate cancer. the billionaire investor completed his radiation friday. buffett is 82 years old. after 125 days in space, two russian cosmonauts and american astronaut joe acaba touched down last night in a soyuz capsule in kazakhstan. the soyuz spacecraft is the only way to travel to the international space station, not because of its stylish comfort, but because the u.s. shuttle fleet was decommissioned last year. nicki minaj and keith urban are the new judges and join mariah carey and randy jackson for a four-person panel. >> who sticks out in that picture. everyone is wearing sort of muted colors and then there's nicki minaj. that's going to be a good show. >> our team this morning, welcome everybody, ron brownstein. last time i saw you was at the dnc. >> yes. >> nice to have you back with

us. editorial director of the national journal. bridget siegel, former finance director for john kerry's financial campaign. will cain. i missed you, will. i don't think we've gone this long without hanging out. >> take a moment. >> and john berman is with us as well. our get real, the centers for disease control advises americans to be ready for anything from national disasters and pandemics and a major security firm thinks that means an outbreak of the undead. a firm is offering training to fight off a zombie attack as part of its counterterrorism summit next month. it is no joke. more than 1,000 government personnel will attend that summit. the cdc has warned of scenarios where diseases could turn the population against each other. earlier this year they were forced to say there were no zombies but this is going to be paurt of their actual training.

part of bringing a little bit of levity, intended to add levity to dire scenarios the summit goers will encounter. >> some of it sounds fun. >> fun? >> they take over the 44 acres of paradise point in san diego, where they will have a middle eastern village, a pirate's haven, cyber attacks, your phones can be hacked while you're at this conference, and of course the zombies. >> apocalypse disneyland. >> the walking dead is coming back in two weeks, we all need to be ready for season three. this is kind of global training. >> i'm thinking, you know, probably pretty broad-based. >> you know why? people talk about it, and part of the whole idea of preparing for disaster is having people have actual conversations. i think it's not necessarily a bad idea. >> i think the cdc has had tongue in cheek very directed and smartly about the zombie thing for some time. they get a lot of attention -- >> don't jump the shark. the zombies, vampires, walking dead is no madness. be clear about that.

>> we've got brad pitt all the fire power coming. >> it's not done yet. >> i'm going to say no. i think there's about ten more versions and then it will have lived its life. still ahead -- >> undead. >> ahead on "starting point" this morning, president obama and mitt romney agree on two major national security issues that deal with iran and syria. but it's how they disagree on those issues that could have a big effect on foreign policy. barbara starr takes an in-depth look this morning at where they stand on two crucial red lines. and then kate caught on camera topless. the royal family is fighting back. live report is coming up. up. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know.

we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ less expensive option than a traditional lawyer? at legalzoom you get personalized services for your family and your business that's 100% guaranteed. so go to legalzoom.com today

for personalized, affordable legal protection.

welcome back to "starting point." back on the picket line and 350,000 kids are out of school. today is the second week for the chicago teachers' strike. the two sides did reach a contract agreement over the

weekend but the union said their members need more time to view it. chicago's mayor rahm emanuel is going to court to try to force the teachers back to work. cnn's kyung lah is live with us from chicago with the latest. >> good morning, soledad. what that has meant is that there won't be school today, there won't be school tomorrow, the union delegation going out to their membership to go over this long and complicated contract, and meanwhile, as you did say, the mayor is trying to go to the courts to get some relief to try to force these teachers back into the classroom. and what that has meant for this city, for 350,000 students, is that they are trying to find a place to stay. now this elementary school is one of 400 drop-in centers around the city. and joining me now is the principal tyra shelton. you are running this drop-in center. you're also the principal of this elementary school. what kind of a burden is this strike now putting on people who are trying to scramble for, for getting kids a place to stay? >> well, some of the parents are ready for kids to get back to

shool school. they need someone to take care of their children, education is very important to them. so, we are a dropping-off center and right now at this time it is not an inconvenience for us. we're serving kids that we're normally used to. this is our routine to provide quality activities for kids for the morning hours. so right now it's not a burden for the schools. but i'm sure the parents are feeling overwhelmed by the process. >> and overwhelmed, thank you principal shelton. overwhelmed is certainly something we've seen parents expressing trying to figure out if they're not going to go to the drop-in centers where they're going to put their children. they're going to face that same burden tomorrow. >> thanks for that update. john berman has a look at some of the other stories. >> good morning. we're keeping our eye on new anti-american rage flaring overseas. the latest hot spot is kabul. hundreds there burning cars and firing their guns, rallying against that low-budget film that mocks the muslim prophet muhammad. afghan police say at least 15

officers were hurt there. the reno air races are back. one year after the tragic crash that killed ten spectators and a pilot the planes were back in the skies yesterday over reno. officials holding an emotional ceremony before the event got under way, releasing a single white balloon into the air for teach victim. the final space flight of "endeavour" set for sunrise tomorrow. bad weather forced nasa to postpone today's flight. "endeavour" will take off from florida flying piggyback on a 747 first to houston and then to its new home, the california science center in los angeles. now get this, chock up another nascar fan for life. this adorable baby is shawna -- no the baby is katie. shawna is the mother. shawna went into labor friday and was on the way to the hospital with her boyfriend when she realized she wasn't going to make it. so the couple pulls into the parking lot of the new hampshire motor speedway. >> i'm like i'm not going to make it. i'm not going to make it.

and i had a contraction and i stood up in the back seat and i said i'm not going to make it, my water just broke! >> so she wasn't going to make it obviously at that point. shawna and her boyfriend managed to self-deliver the baby in the back seat of their saturn sedan. everyone is doing great. that's the good news. the great news is, the speedway says baby katie will get two free passes to the races every year for the rest of her life. >> why just two? >> good point. >> how about three? >> have the baby in the parking lot. >> you know what? i think the choice between that and drugs in a hospital -- go to the hospital. tickets maybe not worth it. they should give her three tickets. mom, dad, baby. let's talk election. cnn is going in-depth to take a look at the issues that matter the most to voters. we tackle the economy. all this week we're going to take a look at another big issue in the election which is foreign policy. as pentagon correspondent barbara starr tells us, the two candidates can be defined by

where they draw those red lines, in syria and in iran. >> president barack obama and governor mitt romney agree on two crucial national security issues. iran will not be allowed to go nuclear. and syria will not use its chemical weapons. but if it looks like either might happen, they differ on what could trigger sending u.s. troops into action. on syria -- >> we have been very clear to the assad regime, but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculus. that would change mie indication. >> reporter: the white house won't say what it will do if the red line is crossed. seizing dozens of chemical weapons sites would be tough, requiring tens of thousands of troops on the ground. romney has openly called for

covert action. >> i would, instead of watching what's happening in syria, from a dispassionate distance, i would be leading in syria by encouraging our friends there like the turks and the saudis to provide weapons to the insurgents in syria. >> reporter: but he, too, hasn't said how or when he would use u.s. troops. the bottom line on syria, president obama's red line, moving or using chemical weapons. governor romney, advocates greater u.s. involvement now. on iran, the candidates agree. iran cannot be allowed a nuclear weapon. >> we are determined to prevent iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: romney has a different take. >> clearly we all hope that diplomatic and economic pressures put on iran will dissuade them from becoming a nuclear capability nation. >> reporter: the bottom line on iran? president obama says the regime would have to take direct steps

to acquire a nuclear weapon. for governor romney, the red line, merely having a nuclear capability without actually moving ahead to produce a weapon. but in the case of iran, many believe the red line already has slipped. >> we said that any was unacceptable in the case of iran, yet here they are with hundreds of kilograms, if not thousands, of material. >> neither candidate is advocating war with syria or iran. both of them, in fact, have expressed hope that the sanctions will work. but if the red lines get crossed, both of those countries pose serious national security challenges to the united states. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> still ahead this morning on "starting point," kate middleton isn't taking the topless photo scandal sitting down. she's on tour. we'll tell you how the royal family is trying to stop those photos from spreading. and no deal in sight between the nhl and players.

are we headed for another season-ending lockout? "starting point" is back right after this. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events, more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with the citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ]

so how much do we owe you?

that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] whenou refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive. because the last thing you want is to spend too much on your mortgage. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪ one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make meone happy.♪.♪it's so e ♪make just one heart to heart you - you sing to♪ ♪one smile that cheers you ♪one face that lights when it nears you.♪ ♪and you will be happy too.

welcome back to "starting point." the duke and duchess of cambridge are in the solomon islands this morning continuing a year-long celebration of the queen's diamond jubilee. 9,000 miles away in paris lawyers for will and kate are in court. they're filing a criminal complaint against the photographer who snapped those topless photos of the duchess while she was on vacation in the south of france. we're told not everyone in the royal family wanted the case to go to court. max foster is traveling with the duke and duchess. he joins us from the solomon islands this morning. so what happens in court today, max? >> well, there's several proceedings taking place.

basically the palace is doing whatever it can at this case in france. there are civil proceedings against the magazine. the editor could potentially end up in prison if they win this case and they think they will because the privacy laws are very tough in france. they also immediately will have an injunction against the magazine from publishing or republishing the pictures and taking the existing ones offline. and they're also -- they've also filed criminal -- well complaints which would have sought criminal charges against the photographer who actually took these pictures. they don't know who the photographer is. the magazine isn't revealing it. but they're pressing ahead with criminal charges, as well. if they can. meanwhile, other magazines and publications in other countries are publishing these magazines. but the palace is very much focusing on france. i had a chance, soledad, to speak to the duke and duchess today, and clear that she feels completely humiliated by this. and william is angry about it. he sees the association to his mother. he sees what's happening to his

wife, could potentially turn into what happened to his mother. she was pursued until her death by paparazzi. he doesn't want that to happen and he's drawing a line under it and that's what all this is about. they're putting on all smiles during the tour. >> i know we have a long delay so everyone will bear with it. but as they do the tour, and you've been traveling with them, do they seem unhappy and upset and angry? in the pictures we're seeing she looks quite relaxed and they look very happy. >> they made a determined effort to put that look on, i mean, basically this all came at a very unfortunate time. they wanted to do this tour but do it on behalf of william's grandmother. he's here on her behalf. they're carrying on regardless. but i have spoken to them, and they are upset and they are angry and they're pursuing this. it is their legal action so behind the scenes it's a different scene from what you're seeing on tv. they're doing it for the people

at the solomon islands. >> max foster, thank you very much. still ahead this morning on "starting point," the replacement nfl refs causing big problem in the new season already. tell you why some people say it has the game resembling professional wrestling more than the nfl. should they get off the field? we'll talk about that. of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice.

boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events, more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with the citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ]

welcome back to "starting point." time for some monday morning quarterbacking from me. the talk of the replacement refs in the nfl nearing a breaking point. some harsh words for some of the fill-ins after yesterday's game. nfl is not the only league dealing with a labor dispute. the nhl is under yet another lockout. right now there are no plans for any negotiations.

a reporter for sports illustrated covers the nhl. let's starthere. back in 2004-2005, same thing. and it was devastating, wasn't it? i mean, it just -- have they even gotten past that hit that the league took? >> i think some people that it took about five years to really get over it and that they're basically at a point where, you know, they're both seeing record revenues. everything is great. now they're right back to where they were eit years ago. >> what's this hockey fight about this time? >> this time it's about revenue sharing. it's about money. let's be honest here. it's always about money. >> it's always about money, right. >> it's always about money. right now as it stands, the players and the owners split hockey-related revenue 57% going to the players, 43% going to the owners. the owners think that's way too much to be giving to their players. they want it to come down to under 50%. >> that's a big cut.

>> a huge cut, yeah. >> can i say, sarah, i'm the casual fan you're talking about. i didn't come back. i didn't come back after 2004-2005. you lose people like me. has hockey always been under this problem where the player salaries try to mimic those in the nba and nfl and they just don't have the same revenues? >> it's a lot lower. >> it is. >> if you're talking percentages, right, it doesn't matter what the number is. if you're talking percentages. >> the absolute numbers of the players. >> the absolute numbers are much lower. at the same time, it's about percentages. it's about what the owners feel like they deserve versus what the players deserve. >> can i ask you about some calculations? it is a great sport. it's very exciting in person. it doesn't have the tv revenue. they're a foothold in the american conscience has always been more tenuous than the other major sports. don't the owners fear the cost could be enormous? >> back to 2004-2005 where

everyone -- >> why are the owners taking the hard line? why do they believe they can survive this? >> gary bettman did say at one point our fans are the greatest fans in the world. they'll come back. >> send them to will cain. he did not come back. here's a little bit from the washington times about the refs. 60 out of control minutes of football that at times resembled professional wrestling more than the nfl. in the first half authority slipped from the referees and toward on field anarchy. >> the washington times? a sufficient government authority? the washington times? >> i believe we have a moment. >> yes. i'm just saying. >> do you think that was true? was it anarchy? anarchy is kind of a big statement. anarchy? really? >> it might be anarchy within the confines of what a football game is supposed to be. you're supposed to have ar by tors or policeman on the game that say this is allowable and this is not.

when they're not able to -- if the players are not going to respect the authority of these people who are supposed to be there for their safety and for just the general enjoyment of the game, then i think that's when the nfl is really going to have an issue. >> like a substitute teacher in school. >> an extremely good point. i look at this and i say have they actually affected the outcome of a game yet? i haven't seen that yet. the point of the players respecting them, that's a really good point. >> substitute teacher. >> why listen to them? >> actually losing the casual fans on this as well if the games aren't -- >> that's different. >> come on, will cain. hockey wants you back. still ahead this morning on "starting point," more anti-american violence to tell you about. it's breaking out in afghanistan, in iraq, in pakistan. can the united states do anything to counter the outrage? we're going to talk to congressman peter king right at the top of the hour. the boy scouts hit with an explosive expose. a new report on the perversion

files. claims they covered up suspected child molesters for decades. details on that on "starting point." back in a moment. ♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ] a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up.

everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again. i i had pain in my abdomen...g. it just wouldn't go away. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be noing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge.

[ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. morning. welcome, everybody. "starting point" this morning. overnight violence raged in pakistan, iraq and outside the u.s. embassy in afghanistan. hundreds of protests in the streets after a deadly week for

u.s. troops. killed by insurgents dressed as american military members. the perversion files. that's what it was called. a new report claims hundreds of cases of sex abuse in the boy scouts were covered up for more than 20 years. plus, no class for 350,000 students. chicago teachers are back on those picket lines this morning. now mayor rahm emanuel is taking it to the courts. it's monday, september 17th. "starting point" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com welcome. our team this morning, ron brownsteen is the editorial director of the national journal. bridget siegel. will cain is a columnist for theblaze.com. john berman is the anchor of "early start" helping us out with the news this morning. our starting point chaos overseas in the latest hot spots. an afghan police official says

at least 15 officers have been injured in the protests against an offensive anti-islam film. anti-u.s. sentiment also flaring in pakistan. police spent the weekend pushing back protesters who were trying to storm the u.s. consulate in karachi. one person was killed. in iraq a suicide bomber drove his car into a check point in one of the green zones in baghdad. he killed he's seven people. let's go right to anna kaurin live in kabul. what's the latest where you are? >> reporter: soledad, we've seen this violence spread across the muslim world. it's been some days before it's hit afghanistan. but early this morning there were protests. some 300 people trying to make their way to the u.s. embassy. but they were stopped by police and there were violent clashes that ensued. some 15 police officers were injured including the commander. protesters attacked police cars. they turned them on fire and

were burning at tires. we got within a couple hundred meters of those protests. we got reports people were firing shots and targeting westerners so we could only get so close to what was going on. certainly people are angry about this film. this inflammatory film. and despite the best efforts of the president and his government to suppress or try and stop people viewing that video, they've put a ban on it on youtube, obviously that has not worked. and people have got word of what has been going on and they have taken it to the streets here in kabul. >> anna coren with an update from kabul. appreciate it. let's bring in congressman peter king, a republican representing new york. also the chairman of the homeland security committee. nice to see you, sir. thanks for talking with us. >> thank you, soledad. >> you heard an nan's report there. we also know over the weekend from friday to sunday you had attackers who were dressed as afghan police forces who pulled off attacks. and also attackers who were dressed in u.s. military outfits who pulled off attacks.

this is strategy with the u.s. military outfits we haven't seen in two years. how concerned are you as you see this strategy resurface? >> we have to be concerned. because this is one way they've been able to penetrate our defenses. we have to find a way to stop it. i don't believe that this should force us to leave afghanistan any earlier. we can't allow tactics like this to change our ultimate mission. but the fact is that american lives are being lost and i've actually called on the dni, director of national intelligence, working with all the intelligence agencies, to find out why this is happening. i know we had a meeting with general petraeus on friday. i know the cia is giving it a lot of attention. but we have to stop -- we have to stop this now. because we can't allow -- it's still a handful of people to drive a policy in afghanistan or to stop our policy in afghanistan. but, again, i lost a constituent of mine several weeks ago in one of these attacks.

it's bad enough when you're killed in battle. but to have it by people sneaking in or actually people supposedly on our side turning against us, this can't be tolerated. we have to find out a way to stop it. >> do we know at this point, do we know the attackers are actually u.s. trained or is it sort of sneaking in and just getting access to military uniforms? we're told, my cnn colleagues have seen those u.s. militaries for sale in open bazaars. >> yeah. in this particular case, it could have been people just buying uniforms. again, i don't want to go into all the details. general petraeus gave us a pretty good breakdown. an aritmatic breakdown as to what's inside, what's outside, who have been trained by us, who haven't. the fact is it is somewhat of a complex situation but it is one we have to be able to address. we shouldn't allow american troops to be killed in any fashion, but certainly not like this. >> are you saying that, yes, in fact that troops that we have trained, afghan troops that we

have trained are responsible for then turning and attacking american soldiers, or are you saying that these are some insurgents who've just gotten access to the uniforms? which is it? or both? >> it's a combination. obviously there have been troops, there have been police in particular who have been trained by us, working with us who have turned against our troops. there have been others who have come in camouflaged as our allies and others somewhere in between. others are taliban who have infiltrated into it. but there definitely have been certainly with police, police, afghan police, who have been trained by americans who have turned their guns on americans, yes. >> let's talk about libya for a moment. we know that there have been some arrests. i guess there's a number of people brought in for questioning. are we closer to tracking down the people who killed an american ambassador to libya and three others? >> yeah. it's difficult to say because the fbi is over there. but it's hard to carry out an investigation on the ground right now. that is such a -- libya itself

is confusing. that benghazi area is one of the most confusing of all. it's an al qaeda stronghold out there. there's also al sharia which is basically a conglomeration of jihadist paramilitaries. i can't tell you with any real certainty how accurate these investigations are. a lot of people have been picked up by the libyan authorities. how guilty they really are, i don't know. we're still in the fog of war. we're in an area where we don't have that many assets on the ground. we have a libyan government which i think actually to give them credit, i think the libyan government itself is trying to work with us. unlike president morsi in egypt, libyans are trying. but it's a very new government. it's ineffective government. out in benghazi there's virtually no security. we're talking about a consulate which had, again, virtually no security. there were no military back-ups for our ambassador out there. that's almost a no man's land

out there. so i'm, again, the libyan authorities working with american authorities, but it's still difficult for the fbi, i think, to get a real take on who's responsible and who's not. >> let me play a little bit of what you said on friday. you talked about the president going on an apology tour. i want to play a little chunk of that. >> right. >> president obama's policies in summer of 2009, he took his apology, i believe have not helped the united states. they have weakened our position in the middle east. they have provided -- sent a very mixed message. a confusing message. combine that with the way he treats netanyahu and israel and the pulling troops out of iraq without getting establishing forces agreement, the apologies, you put it all together and i think what we saw this week is in many ways a logical result of all that. >> let's talk about that last line. what we saw this week is in many ways a logical result of all that. are you saying that the

president is responsible and his policies responsible for the death of american ambassador to libya? >> i'm saying the president's policies have sent a confused message. for instance, take egypt. here is a country getting $1.6 billion in aid, annual aid, from the united states. you have president morsi for the first day, the entire day of our embassy being underattack, did virtually nothing to protect us and was actually putting o inti statements in arabic sympathi sympathizing with the demonstrators and those attacking the american embassy. it's created a climate, an attitude in the middle east where our allies don't trust us. those who are undecided are starting to hedge their bets and turn against us. for instance in iraq the president talks about how he pulled out troops out of iraq. the fact is he was given a glide path in iraq. he pulled the truth out without get establish of forces agreement, leaving any troops behipd. now iran is emerging as a major power in that region where if we had our troops there that would not happen. >> you've been talking about an apology tour.

as you know that matches the framing of other people. donald rumsfeld says he's made a practice of trying to apologize for america. talking about the president. mitt romney has said i will not and never apologize for america. tim pawlenty back in february was saying, mr. president, stop apologizing. where do you see an apology? you called it an apology tour. you said the apologies. what apologies are you specifically talking about? >> i would say when he was in cairo in 2009, when he was basically apologizing for american policies. saying american policies sometimes have gone too far -- >> never once in that speech, as you know, which i have the speech right here. that was -- he never once used the word apology. he never once said i'm sorry. >> didn't have to. the logical -- any logical reading of that speech or the speech he gave in france where he basically said that the united states can be too aggressive -- >> that was on april 3rd in 2009. right. but that's not apology. people -- >> i do consider it -- we're

apologizing for -- we have nothing to apologize to the muslim world at all. we have not sacrificed our ideals. he was overseas criticizing american officials and the cia and others when he says that we lost our ideals. these are the people who kept us safe for eight, nine years against islamic terrorists. >> everybody keeps talking about this apology tour and apologies from the president. i'm trying to find the words i'm sorry, i apologize in any of those speeches. which i have the text of all those speeches in front of me. none of those speeches at all, if you go to factcheck.org which we check in a lot, they all say the same thing. they fact check this. >> i don't care what fact check says. >> there are fact checks. you may not care, but they're a fact checker. >> no. soledad, what i'm saying is any common sense interpretation of those speeches, the president's apologizing for the american position. that's the apology tour. that's the way it's interpreted in the middle east. if i go over and say that the u.s. has violated its principles, that the united states has not shown respect for islam, that's an apology. how else can it be interpreted?

>> i think plenty of people are interpreting it as a nuanced approach to diplomacy is how some people are interpreting it. so i don't think that everybody agrees it's apology. >> i don't interpret it that way. >> clearly. >> more important our enemies don't interpret it that way. >> i don't know that that's necessarily the case. i think that's what we're trying to figure out. >> i think it is. that's where we have an honest difference of opinion. >> can i ask you one quick question? if there was a republican administration today, a president romney, what would they be doing differently in response to this wave of protests that's emerged? >> first of all, we knew before the september 11th demonstrations in cairo that they were going to occur. i hope that president morsi was told that he had to have his security forces out on the street. don't dare let anyone near the american embassy. don't let them tear down the american flag. don't let them put up an al qaeda flag. i had to play monday morning quarterback on security issue.

i hope we would have had more security on the ambassador in benghazi. an al qaeda stronghold in libya, to me, appears to have been irresponsible. i'm holding back on that only a little because i hate to be a monday morning quarterback on security issues. as far as president morsi in egypt, we had 24 to 48 hours' notice there would be demonstrations in egypt. we should have made sure president morsi moved and acted and did not allow that time to go by as he did putting american lives at risk. >> peter king, part of the reason we have you on is so you can do a little monday morning quarterbacking for us. we appreciate your time this morning. the rest of the top stories. john berman has that. >> striking teachers in chicago may be forced to go back to work if mayor rahm emanuel has his way. emanuel is expected to seek a court order today to force them back into the classroom. this is the second week of the strike now. 350,000 students are out of class. the two sides did reach an agreement this weekend, but the teachers union says it needs time to explain the details to

members. they've delayed any vote until tomorrow. president obama is filing an unfair trade complaint against china with the world trade organization. the white house claims beijing is trampling on trade laws by imposing more than $3 billion in duty on u.s. auto exports creating an unfair advantage for china's automakers and parts manufacturers. the president will make that announcement today while campaigning in ohio, a state that relies heavily on the auto parts industry for job. also a swing state. mitt romney for his part campaigns in southern california today taking his message directly to hispanic business owners. romney will address the u.s. hispanic chamber of commerce annual conference in los angeles. it may not be the friendliest of audiences. president obama is outpolling romney 2-1 among hispanic voters. 50 days now until the election. and "saturday night live" has a new president obama. snl kicked off its new season with cast member jay pharaoh taking over the reins from fred armisen. >> so, america, i know you're

not in love with me anymore. but i want you to know that my heart still beats for you. and i can prove it. ♪ i, so in love with you that was fun, right? so do you want that or this? ♪ e-i-e-i-o ♪ >> man is he good at president obama. >> he's great. black guy playing the black guy. that's an interesting thing. he looks really good. apparently they had to do his ears. i got little secrets from "snl." gave him bigger ears. if you look at his before and after, the makeover pictures, pretty good work they did. we've got to take a break. still ahead this morning, probably not a good idea to post your favorite sports team on facebook if you're supposed to be a ref in the game. when one of the teams is

playing. we'll tell you how one official got himself tossed before the game even started. it's our tough call this morning. plus, a damning new report claims the boy scouts covered up child molesters for tech kads we'll talk to one of the reporters who broke that story, coming up next. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment.

dad vo: ok, time for bed, kiddo. lights out. ♪ (sirens) (train horn) ♪ vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life.

norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

boy scouts of america refer to them as the perversion files. records that scouting officials used to blacklist alleged molesters to keep them out of the boy scouts. and the los angeles times has gotten a look at thousands, volumes of these files. hundreds of documents that

detail allegations against boy scout personnel and volunteers. the paper found a shocking pattern of protecting and covering up for the accused. let's bring in one of the reporters for the story. jason felch, nice to see you. 1,600 confidential files over 20 years. 1970 to 1991. how were they kept? how did you get access? >> the boy scouts of america have been keeping this confidential file for the last 100 years. we were able to obtain about 1,600 of the remaining files because they were entered as evidence into a civil trial in california in 1992. so our analysis of these files covers 1970 through 1991. >> what did you find when you analyzed the files? >> well, in many of the cases, the boy scouts first learned about the abuse from police or from news accounts. in the 500 cases we found where the boy scouts had firsthand knowledge of abuse, in about 80% of those cases, there's no

indication that the authorities were contacted. in about 100 of those cases, there are clear indications that the boy scouts were trying to keep the information from parents, from the news media or from others. >> when you say clear indications, what do you mean by clear indications that they were trying to do a cover-up? >> well, sometimes it's explicit as exactly that. in one case, after a boy was molested at a scout camp, a father counseled the boy, a priest, and advised him not to tell his parents about what had happened. that priest was later convicted of sexual abuse himself and was the subject of a large legal settlement. >> you had an opportunity to talk to some of these abused boy scouts. what did they tell you? >> well, it's -- it's a difficult conversation to have. for many of these, these are now men who were abused when they were 9, 10 or 11. it's many years later for most of them. but this event in their lives,

which sometimes happened in a single day, has stayed with them. and oftentimes has kind of changed the course of their lives. one man i spoke with told me that this -- this thing that had happened to him one night in the 1970s was the pandora's box of his life. something he didn't want to revisit. >> you know what i find so interesting. you quote a guy, a doctor in your article. he's a chairman of health and safety for the milwaukee county council. prominent physician in the state. author of the wisconsin laws on child abuse. so he was a guy who actually had allegations of child sex abuse against him. what happened to this this doctor? >> the doctor admitted in my conversation with him that he had molested two boys, two teenagers, at a scout camp in the '80s. the parents tdsed not to press charges because they didn't want media exposure for their

children. and so the scouts in this case pulled some strings to make sure it never reached the press. it turns out that a publisher of one of the milwaukee papers was on the board of the scouts and agreed not to tell his editors about this abuse. because of that, the doctor was able to continue working as a pediatrician with young children for the next 14 years in milwaukee. he said when i spoke to him that it had never come up since the day that it had happened, since the charges weren't pressed. >> let me read the quote from the article. this is how your piece ends. this was one of the most horrible things, i think, at the end of this piece. you interview him. he's 75, living in milwaukee. said he'd gotten psychiatric counseling and never reoffended. had that been publicized i would have been out of business. reputation destroyed. i don't know how i would have faced people at church. that's just stunning. that says it all. the lack of caring at all about the victims in this case. it's just shocking to me. what happens next in these cases?

i mean, really for the boy scouts, i guess. >> well, this issue is not going away for the boy scouts of america. in the coming weeks about 1,200 of these cases are going to be made public by the oregon supreme court because of a civil trial there that happened in 2010. those cases will be available for everyone in the country to look at and see what we've been looking at over the last several months. there's litigation going on all across the country against the boy scouts of america in an effort to make these files public or at least to share them with attorneys and others who can review them and see what happened. >> jason felch is a reporter with the l.a. times. the story is an excellent story in terms of just fantastically researched and written. but that just breaks your heart, i got to tell you. jason, thank you for talking with us. >> thank you, soledad. got to take a short break. we're back right after this. man 1: i want facts. straight talk. tell me your plan... and what it means for me. woman 2: i'm tired of the negative ads and political spin.

that won't help me decide. man 2: i earned my medicare and social security. and i deserve some answers. anncr: where do the candidates stand on issues that... affect seniors today and in the future? find out with the aarp voters' guide at earnedasay.org capella university understands back from rough economic times. employees are being forced to do more with less. and the need for capable leaders is greater than ever. when you see these problems do you take a step back, or do you want to dive right in? with a degree in business from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to go further in your career than you ever thought possible. let's get started at capella.edu

how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco.

since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ welcome back to "starting point." i'm christine romans with

today's smart is the new rich. the federal reserve is pumping money into the economy and holding interest rates very low. it means rates could stay low for some time and mortgage rates already rock bottom. at last look, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 3.55%. the 15-year is a popular refinancing tool. it's 2.85%. that's a half a point lower than a year ago, folks. it means you pay $62 less a month on a $200,000 mortgage. the bigger the loan the more the savings. here's what a $400,000 loan looks like. $123 less a month at current rates compared with last year. of course, the fed hopes that money will flow through the economy and create some jobs. home prices are pulling out of their dreaded double dip. this won't help everyone. but it's getting better. still hard to get a loan. savers are hammered, of course. retirees who 20 years ago thought they'd be getting a return on their cash, they're getting nothing. that's a downside. the housing market is bottoming. low rates and low home prices mean the best home affordability in a generation. soledad? >> kind of a mixed bag today.

those mortgage rates, holy cow. >> there are fewer people under water on their loan as well. fewer people are sinking under the weight of their mortgage. slight signs of improvement. a lot of housing data this week. >> that'll be interesting. time for today's tough call. so did you hear about the replacement who needed to be replaced? a ref brian stropolo ousted before the saints/panthers game because he was outed as a rapid saints fans. he was all over his facebook page. made it clear he loved the saints. of course, he was going to ref the game. >> wearing saints gear. >> this is why it's a tough call. bear with me for a moment. >> please explain. >> i just think that every single ref has a team they support. they probably don't put it on their facebook page, right? they probably don't wear all the gear out and have photos taken. not so smart, brian. but i think -- don't you think? like, every one of those guys and women off duty, they're cheering for somebody, right? >> ihink we can all agree that

everyone has a team they root for. however, however, he might want to at least put it out there to the people that matter. i.e., his bosses. i happen to be a super fan of one of the teams that you happened to assign me to, to referee this game. not a tough call. bye-bye, brian. >> as you're looking for -- even if you don't have a high profile job like this maybe it's time to google yourself and see what you say about yourself on your facebook page. >> i have that conversation with my kids all the time. seriously? be careful. they don't have facebook page. they're not on twitter obviously. i got to tell you, people are crazy. >> 21st century, tmi. >> tmi. it's a guy wearing a saints outfit. >> i recently interviewed a guy who told me he didn't hire somebody for a $200,000 a year job because they googled him and didn't like what they saw for a management type job. he wasn't wearing a saints jersey. but who knows. >> someone drinking and half dressed. no one wants to hire that. moving on.

still ahead this morning on "starting point," you're looking live in downtown new york where occupy wall street is making -- marking its first anniversary with protests and marches. going to take you there live for an update on how today is going to go as they mark this first anniversary. plus, will and kate fight back against topless photos of the duchess. taking the case straight to court. the royal biographer will join us live to talk about that. ♪ [ male announcer ] every car we build must make adrenaline pump and pulses quicken. ♪ to help you not just to stay alive... but feel alive. the new c class is no exception. it's a mercedes-benz through and through. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. ♪ through mercedes-benz ♪

♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ]

welcome back to "starting point." today marks the one-year anniversary of the occupy wall street movement. protesters are planning rallies in more than 30 cities around the world including here in lower manhattan where the movement was born.

cnn's poppy harlow is live on wall street for us kind of in the middle of those preparations. good morning to you, poppy. how's it looking? >> reporter: good morning, soledad. over the past half an hour protesters have gathered at zucatti park. we were in the midst of it. there were altercations with police. we saw a number of arrests. they're not being allowed to get on wall street. why they want to get there on this first anniversary of the movement is they want to try to form a human chain around the new york stock exchange. now, i've been told by protesters last week they were going to try to do this. they said it's an act of civil disobedience. we want to make our message heard. they knew that there would be arrests. that was part of the plan. we did call the police. they're telling us they're not going to give any number of of arrests until the end of the day when they have a final tally. >> poppy harlow.

one has to imagine they're not going to allow a human chain around the stock exchange. thanks, poppy. we'll check back with you. another big story we're following is week two of the chicago teachers strike. a tentative deal is on the table. 350,000 kids, though, are still out of class. cnn's kyung lah is live from chicago. >> reporter: the teachers have just now started to gather around the city. this is one picket line forming outside an elementary school. also a drop-off center. this is week two. union delegates yesterday expected to vote on this agreement decided they needed a couple of days to talk to their members. so no school today. no school tomorrow. that set off a fiery response from the mayor of the city, rahm emanuel. he thinks this is all illegal now and he wants to take the teachers to court. here's part of a statement that he released last night. he said, quote, i will not stand by while the children of chicago are played as pawns in an internal dispute within a union. this was a strike of choice and

is now a delay of choice that is wrong for our children. so what set him off? it was this response, this statement from the president of the union, karen lewis. here's what she said. >> they're not happy with the agreement. they would like it to be actually a lot better for us than it is. i mean, clearly, a contract is always a set of negotiations. no sides are ever completely happy. but our members are not happy. and they want to have the opportunity to talk to their members to see -- they still want to know, is there anything more they can get. >> reporter: so the union delegates meet again tomorrow night. possibly to vote, possibly to continue the strike. we have to wait and see, soledad. >> we'll continue to watch it. thank you, kyung. royals for the criminal family -- the palace has already filed a civil lawsuit against

the french magazine "closer." lawyers today are going to try to stop those photos from being published anywhere else. bringstous christopher anderson, awe that are of "william and kate: a royal love story." nice to have you. >> great to be here. >> their attitude as they do this tour seems very nonchalant. they don't seem to be angry, upset. although we know from max foster who's traveling with them, he says kate especially is absolutely livid. how are they responding to this? >> i think they're very embarrassed. as we see today they're a little calmer. they want some action taken. william has traditionally felt he's had to put up with the press. you got to remember he still blames his mother's death on the press as does harry. over the years since the gentlemen's agreement expired after he left the university and it's been pretty much a free for all in europe, especially with the paparazzi going -- >> is this less about topless photos and more about privacy in general? and we're going to use this

example? >> precisely. this is a deterrent. they're drawing a line in the sand. it has an awful lot to do with the expectation there will soon be a royal child. if anybody remembers the birth of william -- >> she's not pregnant, is she? >> by royal standards she's way overdue. you got to remember that diana had william when she was 20. same thing with the queen. i mean, she will be expected to produce an heir pretty soon. >> in this world we're living in, we're talking about refs losing assignments because of what's on their facebook page, are their expectations unrealistic of what kind of level of privacy they can have in the 21st century? >> i believe so. let's face it. you can't put this genie back in the bottle once it's out there on the internet. again, they've been able to get the cooperation of the british press. there's something called the british press complaints commission. the royal law firm of harbottle and lewis. >> sounds like you made that up. >> those guys are skon

substantia -- constantly filing complaints and threatening to sue people. >> the irish daily star editor said this to the bbc about your point. let's play that. >> kate middleton knows she's married into the royal family. she's one of the most photographed people in the world. and she decides to, whatever, partially disrobe on a balcony where it can be seen from a public road. and she's stunned now or the palace are annoyed that people are interested in this. obviously people are going to be interested in this. >> okay. i should have mentioned going up a tree. but he obviously was phoning in to bbc and they covered it. okay. warning on that. but the point was, listen. as you say, you know what? you're going to be partially disrobed. you can see it from the street. >> of course. it's as by disingenuous. they should keep their clothes on unless they're behind a high wall or indoors.

the press is going to be out there. with satellite and -- >> will they win the suit? >> in france they might. it'll take them two years. france has the toughest privacy laws. the problem is they don't do much about it. it takes forever for the cases to go on. the fines are tiny. technically you could spend a year in jail. >> the same people own this french magazine, an italian magazine. they apparently published 26 pages of these images. fascinating and incredible in itself. >> one person topless. >> look at the finances here. they've already made millions. sold millions of cop pus. they're willing to take the risk of paying -- >> for something else. some other purpose. >> the reverse is true, too. to some extent their entire position is based on being a global celebrity. they are beneficiaries of the system they are now turning against. >> on the other hand, can you not just go topless and when you're on vacation in the south of france on a private property that -- >> i don't know how to answer

that question. >> we'll leave it there. christopher anderson, always nice to have you. thanks for being with us. still ahead this morning on "starting point" does social media like twitter matter? why our next guest says it's overhyped, overrated. and we were chatting about it on twitter yesterday. back in just a moment. capella university understands rough economic times have led to an increase in clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief don't have access to the professional help they need. when you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up?

with a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. let's get started at capella.edu when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule. something this delicious could only come from nature. now from the maker of splenda sweeteners, discover nectresse. the only 100% natural, no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit.

the rich, sweet taste of sugar. nothing artificial. ♪ it's all that sweet ever needs to be. new nectresse. sweetness naturally.

and welcome back to "starting point," everyone. big news to tell you about this morning. big news. the national zoo's giant panda is a new mom. she gave birth last night to her second cup after five false alarms in a row. zoo staff say they can here the cub but haven't seen it yet. a career highlight for all of

us. the panda here this morning. remember this scene from "anchorman"? >> the mood is tense. i have been on serious, serious reports. nothing quite like this. ching king is inside trying to get an interview with him. they said, nope, you can't do that. he's a live bear. he will literally rip your face off. hey, you're making me look stupid! get out here, panda jerk. >> great story. te compelling and rich. >> compelling and rich. >> every time you see that, you're like, oh, my god. we have so done versions of that in our past lives as reporters. i did a live shot with a dead fish once. a giant mackerelish -- >> this has not to do with ron and the dead fish he mailed. this was not part of that. which may be happening today in chicago. >> my husband said it was not my finest work. yes, that could be happening. let's talk about social media. people obviously texting and tweeting and facebooking,

e-mailing all day long. my next guest made a living at an internet marketer. has nearly 800,000 twitter followers. he says social networking sites like twitter are overrated and overhyped. author of "social media is bull --" i got to cover up this part. my children watch the show. nice to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> you and i discussed this very thing over twitter where you were marking your book and i was, i guess, marketing my show. how is it possible it's bs? >> we have to separate the tools from the people. >> okay. explain. >> because the tools are totally fine. i write jokes for a living on twitter to amuse myself. that's totally fine. my mom uses facebook because she wants to stalk her cousins from 20 years ago. totally fine. the myth is what the problem is. >> what's the myth? >> the myth is you have to be on these platforms. that this is the thing that's going to make you rich. this is the thing that works. this is the all consuming, all powerful social media. >> let's talk about successes. old spice.

the old spice guy. that thing went viral. he was doing talk shows. this handsome -- see? let's talk more about old spice, shall we? handsome man. how was that a ailure? i would think anybody who saw that would say i wanthe equivalent of that for my product. >> you know what the big thing about old spice, i talked to them in the book. he was already a media omnipresence. he was everywhere. olympic coverage for nbc, old spice man, everywhere. every talk show. he wasn't during the super bowl. but he was included in super bowl wrap up coverage. >> nobody knew him until he started going viral. >> he already had an established media celebrity before it hit the internet. >> what about politics? obviously there's a question about whether the conversation and twitter, are people talking to each other. on the other hand, campaigns now have the capacity to have mass communication without the mass media. they have millions, tens of millions of e-mails, facebook,

the ability to talk to people directly. is there a difference between the media conversation and what campaigns are able to do. >> oh, sure. a great example. the twitter ceo was at a conference not too long ago. he said the candidate for the republican nomination who uses twitter the most will win that nomination. that's what he said. mitt romney did absolutely nothing. got the nomination. governor buddy roamer who was on twitter not stop taking over people's accounts. >> you're saying that this popularity you can achieve in social media does not translate outside of social media. if you don't turn the celebrity into money, in career, into votes. >> because they're not leveraging it the right way? >> there's two things we have to separate out. if you're a large corporation or a celebrity or some kind of famous person in a different context, these tools are wonderful. but if you're a regular guy like me, or a small business or entrepreneur, you're sol. >> all this cursing. oh, my gosh. >> who uses twitter? do we know the demography of

twitter and whether it's as broad a phenomenons a facebook? >> it's not as big. when you look at american percentages, 40% of them log in once a day. of that fewer americans. of those americans 25% are the power users who do the majority of the tweeting. of those power users there's celebrities, comedians, journalists. >> are they mostly talking to each other in your view? >> that's right. it really is -- >> i'm sorry. i'm tweeting. nice to have you with us. the book is called "social media is bs," for lack of saying curse word b.j. mendleson. thanks for talking with us. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. we've got to take a short break. back in just a moment.

energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous praices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas.

welcome back to "starts point." go to any runs race and you're likely to see at least one disabled competitor. it wasn't this way. pioneers like dick trom broke the barriers and made it happen. take a look. >> working out in central park is the best time of the day for me. it's an opportunity to test myself. you feel like you can do anything. back in 1965 i got hit by a car and i ended up losing my leg. i didn't see it as holding me back. it just wasn't a big issue. in 1976, i became the first amputee to run the new york city marathon. it was probably the best day of my life. and i just felt this joy can be shared with others. i'm dick traum. i help people with disabilities achieve their potential through

sports. how many people here are doing the new york city marathon? virtually everybody who was a member of achilles has a vulnerability. people come to achilles and we match them with guides. >> he just did 16 miles! >> 16 miles. >> the atmosphere is social. there's jokes and there's laughter. it truly is a family. >> i had a stroke in 1980. when i started with achilles i could only walk from one lamp post to another lamp post. now i do 20 new york city marathon. dick helped me realize i can do anything in my life. >> we change the way people perceive themselves. you see the glow. there's nothing in the world that i have more fun doing. >> this thursday at noon anderson cooper is is going to

reveal our top ten heroes of 2012. leading to the big vote, who will be the cnn hero of the year. got to take a short break. "end point" is up next. stay with us. are you okay, babe? i'm fine. ♪ ♪ ♪ with a subaru you can always find a way. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. [ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean. with tide pods. just one removes more stains than the 6 next leading pacs combined

pop in. stand out. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!! [ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

♪ without freshly-made pasta. you could also cut corners by making it without 100% real cheddar cheese. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's. starts with ground beef, unions, and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. what makes stouffer's meatloaf best of all? that moment you enjoy it at home.

stouffer's. let's fix dinner.