as the democratic faithful descend upon charlotte, they're welcoming committee, angry

protesters filling the streets. the death of the reverend moon. he started a religious movement. >> thank you. >> that became a multimillion dollar enterprise. nearly 50 years in the making, and they've still got hard core fans. >> even parents saying, oh, our child was conceived during "free bird." >> lynyrd skynyrd talks to cnn. their nerd flag proudly waving, the fun of dragon con up close. hello, i'm gary tuchman sitting in tonight for don lemon. let's get you up to speed on some of the day's headlines. president obama on the road and making his case for re-election. he spoke today in boulder. lighting up a crowd at the university of colorado. >> we have come too far to turn back now. we've got more good jobs to create. we've got more home grown energy to generate.

we've got more young people to send to college. we've got more good teachers to hire. we've got more good schools to build. we've got one more war to end. we've got more troops we've got to bring home. we've got more veterans we've got to take care of. we've got more doors of opportunity that we have to open for every single person who's willing to work hard and walk through them. that's why i'm asking you for a second term. >> we'll take you live to charlotte, north carolina, to preview this week's democratic convention in a moment. mr. obama's republican rival mitt romney attended church today in new hampshire. his wife ann was by his side. new hampshire is one of those all-important swing states that could decide this race. romney has crossed the 1 million mark in twitter followers. he sent a tweet that reads, 1 million active followers, thanks everyone for your support. help us keep the momentum going. he also added a link to a donation website for his campaign.

an afghanistan u.s. special operations forces have suspended the training of afghan police recruits efblgttive immediately. more than 40 nato members have been killed this year by insurgents dressed as police or afghan soldiers. 14 were killed in august alone. u.s. forces will revet all current members before reinstating the training. the reverend sun myung moon is dead. he's the founder and leader of the controversial unification church. best known outside of church circles for conducting mass weddings, sometimes with thousands of church-arranged couples all saying "i do" at once. moon died today in a hospital in seoul, south korea. he was 92 years old. his funeral will be held on thursday. an outbreak of legionnaires disease has hit quebec city. it's killed ten people, sickened 165 more. health officials don't know how people are getting it. the government has ordered some buildings to clean their cooling

systems, which is a common source of the disease. it's a severe form of pneumonia that spreads when people breathe in droplets or mist with the bacteria. it didn't take long for drivers to run into trouble at the belgian grand prix. >> wow! >> hamilton goes sideways. >> that is some crash. four drivers had to leave the race after an accident caused by roman rojan. formula one is pun ining him for the accident. he will miss next weekend's italian grand prix and has to pay a $63,000 fine. for his part, the french driver says he doesn't know who caused the accident. democrats are gearing up for the big show in charlotte, north carolina. a show with much different aims than republicans had in tampa, florida. some pundits say mitt romney's task for the republican convention was to introduce himself to the american people. president obama does not really have that task. his introduction came before he entered the white house.

so what's at the top of obama's to-do list for the democratic convention? shannon travis joins us live from charlotte. first of all, really weird news. we're hearing about a theft on the campaign trail today. what do you know about this? >> reporter: yeah, this is a pretty bizarre incident we're just getting word of. apparently a u-haul truck containing equipment for an event featuring joe biden tomorrow in detroit, this u-haul truck was stolen. that's coming from the u.s. secret service. i'm going to read just a quote from a spokesman. quote, a u-haul that we were utilizing was stolen at the weston hotel overnight. that's from ed donovan with the secret service. they are not saying what was actually in the truck, so we're unclear about that. but the secret service representative is saying that this should not interfere with biden's event tomorrow in downtown detroit. gary. >> that's an unusual development. we don't hear that kind of story too much. let's talk about, shannon, about what expectations barack obama needs to meet at the democratic

convention. >> reporter: yeah, in a lot of ways his charge is different from mitt romney's last week in tampa. mitt romney had to introduce himself to a lot of people who don't know him, but the president obviously is well known, as you mentioned right off top. his case is his charge -- his case to make the case for re-election. we can expect the speakers to come out and talk about the things the administration has done for the economy. they've readily acknowledged that the economy is not moving as fast as they want. and there's not as much job growth as they would like. talk about their economic success, the auto bailout and how the auto industry is doing fine. you can expect them to play up the benefits of the nation's health care law, as well to talk about his national security success, especially the killing of osama bin laden. take a listen at one person to basically sum all that up in a night, tidy sound byte. take a listen. >> people want to know about the

first term. very simple. general motors is alive and well and osama bin laden is not. that's what got done. >> reporter: a nice little bumper sticker slogan there from rahm emanuel, the mayor of chicago, who was president obama's former chief of staff. gary? >> indeed, that is a tidy sound byte. shannon, let's name only names. what political stars are we going to hear from at the convention? how can these specific democrats help the president make his case? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, basically the democratic stars, as you just mentioned, are all going to be trotted out. john kerry, the 2004 democratic nominee. nancy pelosi, harry reid, they'll be up on stage as well. probably the biggest draw on wednesday night, former president bill clinton. he will be putting president obama's name in to nomination and making the case, more importantly, the case for re-electing the president and against electing the republican challengers. he will be a big draw on wednesday. also, we expect to hear from the first lady, michelle obama.

>> shannon, that's so fascinating about politics. four years ago bill clinton was saying nasty things about barack obama when his wife was running for president. now he's a valued asset for the obama campaign. shannon travis, thank you. we look forward to hearing from you during the democratic national convention. protesters are already in charlotte getting a jump on this week's convention. the protest was called march on wall street south. cnn's joe johns spent some time talking to demonstrators today in charlotte about their motives and plans. >> reporter: here in charlotte, and the run up to the democratic national convention, the march on wall street south had been subject to a lot of hype but came off without a hitch with only two arrests and no reported violceviolence. >> hey, hey, ho, ho, wall street south has got to go. >> reporter: between two and 10,000 people were predicted for this march. only a few hundred showed up, but they were loud.

>> our children get sicker. your pockets get bigger. >> reporter: about what you would expect for a march against the banks that make charlotte one of the leading financial centers. honestly, it was the police who led the way, but not far behind pushing a bicycle was an organizer from occupy wall street in new york, who had come over from tampa where he had been protesting at the republican national convention. he said he'd lost some people after the event in florida. >> we ultimately ended up coming down with a couple of buses and some other people found their own transportation. now, as for numbers here, they're a lot less. half the people ended up going back to new york. >> reporter: why did they do that? >> a lot of our people have jobs. a lot of people aren't interested in protesting obama. >> reporter: for the police in the city, of course, the smaller numbers made the march more manageable. political conventions of the past have often exploded in ugly confrontation, but not so far this year.

what is the recipe for success with these marches? we've seen a peaceful march in tampa and apparently a peaceful march here. very different from what we saw in denver and minneapolis four years ago. >> i think it's anticipation and communication. you got to anticipate and have the willingness to meet with people and talk to people, understand what they want to do, and then you try to negotiate yourself through it in order to make sure in the ends that everybody is safe. >> reporter: protests are expected to continue here on the holiday, including one demonstration featuring members of organized labor. gary. >> joe, thank you very much. coming up on cnn tomorrow night, obama revealed. my colleague jessica yellin reveals the man for the people who know him best, personal confidants, his closest advisers, and even president obama himself. watch "obama revealed" tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern time and pacific on cnn. all eyes will be on the president this week as he

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see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. so what can we expect to hear from president obama at this week's democratic convention? earlier i posed that question and more to lz granderson and will cain. they're both cnn contributors. since we can assume that the president won't specifically ask delegates if they're better off now than they were four years ago, what he thought the

president might say. >> about nine months ago, i'd say, he gave a speech in kansas where he talked about the middle class. he pos itted the status of the middle class against those that are wealthy. i think those are themes we'll hear from again. i said nine months ago, so that's not going to be a new message. what he should do would be to say something along the lines of what you suggest he shouldn't, gary. are you better than you were four years ago? look, i inherited a difficult situation. it's on the right track. i've turned it around slightly. i think you can try to make that difficult message. >> lz, what do you think the president should say this week? >> it was funny listening to the way will characterized the president and the way the dnc platform is going to be. i don't see it as a division. i see it as pointing out what's good for the american people. there's no division when you point out the numbers.

the numbers of the last 40 years have said one thing. that's the fact that income has left the middle class and the lower class and at a number that's disproportionate to the growth of rich people, has all gone to the rich americans. we've seen that gap for the last 40 years. not the last 3 1/2 of the obama administration. not even during w's administration, but the last 40 years. that's not division. that's pointing out the trends. once he does that, then he's able to talk about why he made the decisions that he did. why he instituted obamacare, for instance. >> lz, let's talk about the last democratic president. wednesday, the second night at the convention, will be bill clinton time. he's remembered for a lot of things. one of them is a good economy, a surplus. any risks that bill clinton could upstage the president? >> you know, when i saw that question, i just sort of laughed because in order to be afraid of that, the person who follows bill clinton would have to be insecure. president obama is not insecure. in fact, i think it says a lot about him as well as democrats

that they're not even going to bring out president clinton, but president carter. w. was absent during the rnc and the reason why is because they're embarrassed by him. the democrats are not embarrassed by their previous presidents because they're quite proud of a lot of good things they've done when they were in office, but more importantly after office. which gives you more insight into the character of the men. i think what it does is just further illustrate how unified they are in trying to help the country. >> in all fairness, after a president loses, for example jimmy carter back in 1984, he didn't come to the convention either. eventually, they become elder statesmen. they shop up and seven very proud of them. we've seen this story before. either way, will, what do you think about that? is bill clinton the democrats' secret weapon? could his presence highlight problems we're having with the economy right now? >> i think bill clinton is a wonderful speaker for liberal ideology in a democratic party. i think he's nothing but a plus for them taking the stage.

do i think he'll remind people of a time when they had a democratic president and the economy was better? i don't know. what's going to be more impactful than that is the fact that during this week while the democratic national convention is taking place, the united states' total debt is going to eclipse $16 trillion. that speaks louder than any kind of reminiscing to when bill clinton was president. >> cnn contributors will cain and lz granderson. many thanks to you. and you can take part in the dnc and cnn's election round table. this tuesday join wolf blitzer and our political team for a live virtual chat. go to cnn.com/roundtable and submit your questions. we will give you the answers in realtime. the cnn election round table is at 12:00 noon eastern on tuesday. charlotte preps for the democratic national convention. some who will arrive there won't necessarily receive a terribly warm welcome. they've been called the paparazzi of politics. you'll hear from one next. seems they haven't been moving much lately.

but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. 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 ] when you 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. ♪

newsmakers have to be vigilant now days as the paparazzi close in filming their every move. but we're not talking about hollywood elite. we're talking politicians whose own words can be used as ammunition against them. kelly maher is a political video tracker for the website revealingpolitics.com. she's a republican. earlier i asked her what she hoped to accomplish. >> finding delegates and also finding people who are rallying and figuring out what it is that they're interested in this upcoming election. >> we remembered the case of representative bob etheridge being ambushed by two college students in 2010. watch. >> do you fully support the obama agenda? >> who are you? who are you? >> whoa. >> well, etheridge later apologized and said there is no excuse for his behavior. so what's the difference between

this, basically hunting and tracking someone down, kelly, and the everyday press guy looking for the sound byte of the day? >> well, i think that interestingly enough in this marketplace of ideas, the barrier to entry to becoming a citizen journalist is almost nothing because everyone is walking around with a smart phone that records video. so all you have to do in order to get the important clip that can change the election is show up at an event with your smart phone and wait for somebody to say the what they actually think. >> some people, kelly, would call you a "gotcha" machine. what do you say to that? >> yeah, i'm pretty sure you called me a one-woman torpedo effort two years ago, which i'm not even making this up. one of my girlfriends had that printed on a t-shirt for me after you aired that piece. it was hysterical. and probably one of the best compliments i've ever gotten. but, you know, ultimately what we're seeing is we're seeing

that the mainstream media, whether it's print or television, is changing. and they rely more and more on bloggers and citizen journalists to come in with their cameras and their smartphones and provide a lot of that content for them. and that's largely what i do, is take video at town halls and rallies and all kinds of different events waiting for people to really reveal themselves. >> and we'll see what kelly comes up with. she is a political video tracker for the website revealingpolitics.com. well, is it a stopgap or a ticking time bomb? the nfl and referees haven't come to an agreement. the season begins next week. so the replacements are here to stay, for now. ow much do we owe? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans,

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(train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. for fastidious librarian emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality.

...which meant she continued to have the means to live on... ...even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. the nfl season kicks off this wednesday. if you're watching at home, the game will mostly look the same as last year, but on the field this $9 billion business, the

national football league has a big problem. mark mckay explains. for a second straight season, labor issues have distracted from the game. >> reporter: as another nfl season gets ready to kick off, disaster could be right behind. >> a correction on the reporting of the foul. both teams will on -- both -- both fouls were on the kicking team. five-yard penalty. >> reporter: the nfl and its referees have been in a labor dispute ever since the last collective bargaining agreement expired three months ago. the nfl locked out the referees and hired replacements called from the lower levels of college football as well as the high school ranks, though the nfl continues to provide on the job training for these officials, results have been mixed with some embarrassing moments that could put the credibility of the league at stake. >> we just hope that these officials know the rules, know how to enforce them, and can keep the game under control and keep order.

>> reporter: there are 121 nfl referees. they're considered part-time employees who have other careers outside the nfl. last year officials were paid an average of $149,000 plus benefits. >> the nfl referees want a raise in that salary. make no mistake, they're requesting a significant raise. they want more than double that over the course of five years. the nfl is countering with annual raises over the next seven years of 5% to 11%. there's quite a distance between those. there's also some issues about pensions and a few other things, but at the end of the day, the problem is financial. >> reporter: the nfl players association has criticized commissioner roger goodell and the league saying they're jeopardizing player safety by using inferior referees. >> i think on the whole, it's just, you know, in the back of our minds as a bit of a concern because like we've said before, these referees have never refereed in an nfl season game. so that's, you know, a bit of a concern.

>> laws are only as good as their enforcement, really. in this case, if players sense they can get away with something, helmet-to-helmet hits, if they sense order is not being uphe would, they will take advantage of that. really, it's a public relations thing. it's a perception that the nfl is not doing everything it can to protect players playing a very dangerous game. >> reporter: the first week of games could determine which side gets the upper hand in negotiations. if the games come and go without incident, the nfl will continue using replacements and the locked out referees will continue to lose paychecks. if not, the outrage from fans, coaches, and players will put pressure on the league to get a deal done. >> and that's mark mckay reporting. a gruesome task for one man in syria, documenting the dead. victims of a brutal and bloody civil war. a terrifying thought. wait until you see what one activist has pledged his life to. that's information. rformance li.

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let's take a look at the headlines at the bottom of the hour. president obama on the road and making his case for re-election as he makes his way to this week's democratic convention. he spoke to a large crowd in

boulder. the convention gets started two days from now. protesters are already hitting the streets of charlotte. hundreds of people marched by charlotte's banks. it's a big bank city, charlotte, north carolina. some of them were chants "we got sold out." today's protest was called march on wall street south. the number of demonstrators at the republican convention fell short of expectations, in part because of a guy named isaac who showed up. republican presidential candidate mitt romney and his wife ann attended church today in new hampshire. new hampshire is one of those all-important swing states that could make or break this election. we also learned today that romney has crossed the 1 million mark in his twitter followers. this is what he said. 1 million active followers, thanks everyone for your support. help us keep the momentum going. he also added a link to make donations.

about 1,500 people wisely got out of the area today where a wildfire is chewing up the san gabriel mountains about 30 miles east of los angeles. a couple hundred firefighters are hitting the fire on the ground and from the air. about 1,000 acres of forest have so far burned. across syria, more than 140 people were killed just today. about half of them in the capital of damascus and its suburbs. now, add that number to the staggering 1,600 people killed over the past few days, and you've got the single deadliest week in syria since the civil war began. opposition forces say government forces massacred 35 people in a village today and a bomb went off next to government buildings in damascus, wounding several bystanders. nearly 5,000 people died in syria in the month of august in street fighting, air strikes,

and shelling. we have to rely on opposition reports of these casualties because cnn cameras and reporters are not allowed in the country right now. for journalists describing the war in syria, it would not be possible without the videos we see posted online. we see posted online. what these activists see in their villages and towns goes beyond horror. dead men, women, children and their neighbors. in some cases, their own siblings. cnn's arwa damon takes us there. the video was obtained by a freelance journalist. many images are disturbing and may not be appropriate for all viewers. >> reporter: every night he scrolls through the videos he shot that day, reviewing scenes he wishes he'd never witnessed. it's a macabre routine, but one that he's addicted to.

he simply can't stop, can't let go, can't give up. for the past 18 months, he's documented nearly every single death in a town of some 50,000 before the violence started. name, date, location. more than 400 victims and counting. often they are his neighbors, friends, relatives, people he would see around town, and once he pointed the camera at his brother's corpse. >> i didn't know my brother was the first one. after i came, i also i take some photo of another one. suddenly i remember this one my brother. the start i shout, my brother, my brother, my brother. doctor, my brother. but after normal, i am sad also,

the first, and angry. but after normal. >> reporter: the 37-year-old once owned a furniture shop. now he's part of a small team of media activists. filming and posting online the horrific videos that have come to symbolize the syrian uprising. most of the residents have fled, but the indiscriminate shelling still takes its toll on the few who remain. those who have nowhere else to go. in the last few weeks, this 8-year-old girl was killed by a mortar round that hit her home. there was nothing the medical team could do but try to hide the wound to spare her mother the anguish. she collapses when she hears the news.

at times, he tries to console families, reassuring this woman that her son is going to be okay, that he will survive the wounds to his leg. occasionally, he hands over the camera so he can help, but too often there is nothing he can do but film. much of the city lies in ruins, similar to most of what we see from across syria. its people resigned to their fate, knowing that they are on their own. the hospital regularly targeted is trying to build up its defenses. this man, who works in construction, is building a bunker for his family. his children take a quick peek into the darkness below. perhaps this will save them. perhaps it will be their grave. his younger brother is now a rebel fighter. he was a mechanic who wanted to

be a deejay. he plays music as he recalls the fate of one of their media activist friends. detained by syrian security forces and returned to them with his eyes gouged out. >> and they take the eyes. the same, my job. why? i can go down bashar. too much dangerous here in syria. but when i finish with revolution, i catch the camera like this and i throw it. >> we can't afford to let up on this story because every day civilians and children are getting brutally killed. that was cnn's arwan damon reporting. we'll be right back.

for fastidious librarian emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor,

she had planned for every eventuality. ...which meant she continued to have the means to live on... ...even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. this week president obama heads to the democratic convention. wall street eyes the economy. and a reality tv show pledges to to be kinder and gentler. really? our correspondents have it all. we begin with the president. >> reporter: i'm athena jones in texas. president obama speaks at a labor day event in toledo, ohio, on monday before heading down to louisiana to meet with people affected by hurricane isaac. on tuesday, he travels to norfolk, virginia, and on

wednesday he goes to charlotte, north carolina, for the democratic national convention. he officially accepts his party's nomination for president on thursday night. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york. it will be a shortened trading week with markets closed for labor day. when trades kicks off tuesday, wall street will be all eyes on the august jobs report. that is set to be released on friday morning, and it will be critical for consumer confidence and also in the race for the white house. also on tap this week, the august car and truck sales data that comes out as well as a look at how much folks are spending on construction, a pretty good sign of how they're feeling about the economy. we'll track all of that on "cnn money." >> i'm a.j. hammer. here's what we're watching this week. "basketball wives 2.0," is the show really going to cut out all the violent drama this season? i'll speak with one of the stars of the l.a. franchise. all i need to do is mention "sweet home alabama" and "free bird," and you know who i'm talking about. lynyrd skynyrd.

defining the sound of southern rock since the 1970s. after a tragic plane crash in '77 killing three of the band members, skynyrd played on cranking out hit after hit. album after album over the years. now on tour with a new album, "last of the dying breed," giving the band its highest ll board chart since the '70s. fredricka whitfield talked with the band members and asked them to share stories about their music. >> oh, yeah. but we can't discuss them on this program. yeah, but, you know, everything throughout our career has been a story. that's what we write about and be able to last so long. people can't understand the stories we tell and the songs. we just try to play for the people. >> and people, you know, love the ones that i just mentioned and so many others. even when you come out and

you're launching your new tour, your new album, new songs, people in the audience are chanting, you know, "free bird." when are we going to hear that? >> what song is it you want to hear today? >> free bird! >> you got it, baby. >> we always do the old favorites and stuff. we love to do those for the people. but it's fun every once in a while to do a new tune here and there, keep it fresh. >> what happens when you look in the audience and you see those who have been growing with you and then they're bringing their kids. >> oh, yeah. >> some of the songs, "simple man" and "tuesday's gone," you can see people crying. sometimes they think about their sons being overseas or something, in the service. there's memories that come up. it's kind of like a lifetime of memories through our music. ♪ tuesday's gone with the wind >> i'll tell you what's cool is the stories you hear from, you know, people all over the years.

the stories that they have about certain songs, how certain songs have touched them in a certain way. it's amazing to me to listen to all the different ones from graduation to, you know, even parents saying, our child was conceived during "free bird." >> you're like, whoa, too much information. ♪ because i'm as free as a bird now ♪ ♪ and this bird you cannot change ♪ >> i hear "free bird" and i think about my high school and junior high dances. it was just the build up and everyone gets excited about the song and takes you to the floor. it's very nostalgic. for you, johnny, is it nostalgic when you play the older tunes, the signature tunes, but then you have to introduce the new stuff too and it becomes a different tone on stage, doesn't

it? >> right now we've got the new record out, "last of the dying breed." i love it because we start our show off -- i'm kind of giving it away, but gary comes out playing the slide. we have this thing happening. it's just a lot of fun for us. you know, i've been hearing the band for 25 years. my brother ronnie started the band with gary and allen collins. it's been my pleasure to be out here and see how it's grown and, you know, see all the young fans come in to this. the old with the new. >> a lot of you rock and roll fans may already know this, but the story of how lynyrd skynyrd got its name is an amazing story. they had a gym teacher named leonard skinner. it was a mocking tribute to them because he demanded they cut their hair. we'll have another segment next weekend. a little girl with autism

was unable to speak, and doctors did not give her very good odds of ever saying a single word. but she beat those odds with a little help from an ipad. her incredible story next. mom: ready to go to work? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ every mom needs a little helper. that's why i got a subaru. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. the wheels of progress haven't been very active lately. but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward.

so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. 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 ] when you 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. homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief, i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. if you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i am committed to making a difference,

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a little girl with autism finally learned to speak with the help of an ipad. for years she never said a word. she just cried and cried. cnn's lisa sylvester sat down with the little girl's parents and got this emotional story. >> it's okay. >> reporter: we see a piece. this 5-year-old sees the whole puzzle. >> she would be trying to put the picture together. she would do it from memory. that's how it works for her. >> reporter: she's happy, playful, and with remarkable memory has autism. >> she had all the classic symptoms and everything. she was doing the repeated behavior, the communication delay.

everything. when they did tell me, it was a really difficult time, you know, because all the research tells you there's just no cure and that's just the way she is and you kind of grieve a little because you wanted her life and your life to be different. >> reporter: she was still not talking at 3. her parents were told her odds of ever speaking, at best, 50/50. so she did the only thing she could do. >> she'd wake up in the morning and wants to watch a cartoon. she had no way of telling me which cartoon she wants to watch and from which part she wanted to watch it. the only way she would communicate with me is pointing towards the television and crying. >> polar bear. >> you're right. >> reporter: but about that time in 2010, her father heard about something new, the first ipad, which was just hitting the market. >> she was doing drink. you can do chocolate milk.

>> reporter: the electronic tablet and new apps changed everything for this family. did it lead to her speaking? >> yes, definitely. that's how it all started because before that we tried everything. but nothing was clicking for her because she's a very, very visual person. for her, everything is visual. and ipad gave her that option, being able to do that. >> reporter: and for the first time, she gained a sense of control. >> compared to, like, people with children, you know, who are regular children, they probably put in an effort and see the reactions right away. you teach them something, and they react quickly. for us, sometimes it's like 200% effort and maybe 5% of result. and, you know, we have come to live with that. we have understood that this is going to be the way. >> reporter: she went from the child who was not able to say a word to this. >> do you want six or eight? >> eight. or seven. >> it's amazing hearing mommy and daddy or, you know, even for herself when she needs something and she can say, you know, i

want goldfish. >> reporter: the electronic tablets don't work for all children with autism. she has a mild to moderate case. and there is a potential downside, that it becomes a crutch. >> we worry she becomes a little too fixated on it. especially when she's not in school with a structured day. i feel like she doesn't do it as much. it can be a problem sometimes when she gets a little too fixated and we want her to interact with us and do something different. it can be a bit of a problem. it can be a challenge. it's more helpful than not. >> reporter: more than a toy, it helps her find her own little voice. >> an ipad. >> that'll brighten up your sunday night. thanks to lisa sylvester for that report. hurricane isaac is gone, but many cnn reporters are still wringing out their clothes. a behind the scenes look is next. there've been some good . and some difficult ones.

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the entertainment turned frightening at a monster truck show in harrisburg, oregon. very scary. three people at monster air 2010, that's the name of the show, were hurt. one of the 48-inch tires of this out of control ford landed on them. our affiliate kval reports. a sheriff's sergeant says the victims will survive. that's good news. an eyewitness says the driver lost control after he hit a mud pit.

now, here's an inside peek at how our cnn correspondents got the emotional stories during hurricane isaac. a lot of it involves trying to stay dry. >> they are much more protected now than they were seven years ago. >> we see that barrier that is essentially a souped up sea wall that goes two miles across. i was surprised by how new everything looked. i mean, i knew it went up in a hurry, but it looked like everything was fresh out of the box. fresh concrete, the steal casings, everything looked to be fairly new and not really weathered. we had a really great ride from the coast guard. who doesn't like going up in a chopper? right, john? >> right. >> it's just going to be swirling. >> i think charlie said he thinks it's going to come in this way. we definitely don't want to be here.

we might want to just tuck right over here. >> yes, i do. do you hear me? >> do you want to move a little bit? i don't know how much tether you have. >> you all right, brian? >> yeah, i am. >> trying to tuck in here. >> this is what we do to remember all the work that we do. we take these ridiculous things and send them to our significant others and our kids. i look rough. this is what 36 hours on the clock will do to you. >> you get wet -- so wet. you get more wet than you ever remember. you didn't even know you could get this wet. every time you try to dry off, there's no point in even trying to dry off after a while. it's just -- just wet. >> the worst part is the waiting. get out there and get ready. and wait.