as the democratic faithful descend upon charlotte, their welcoming committee? angry protesters filling the streets. the death of the reverend moon 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 are saying, oh, our child was conceived --

>> lynyrd skynyrd talks candidly to cnn. their nerd flag proudly waving. >> just a feeling like nowhere else in the world. >> the fun and phantom of dragoncon, 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 will 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. in afghanistan, u.s. special operations forces have suspended the training of afghan police recruits effective immediately. the move follows reports that 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 revent all current members for reinstating

the training. the reverend sun myung moon is dead, the controversial leader of the unification church, best known for conducting mass weddings, sometimes with thousands of church-arranged couples, all saying "i do" at once. moon died today at a hospital in seoul, south korea. he was 92 years old. a church spokesman says moon's funeral will be held on thursday. an outbreak of legionnaires' disease has hit quebec city. it's killed 10 people, sickened 165 more, and health officials don't know how people are getting it. the government has ordered some buildings to clean their cooling systems, a common source of the disease. legionnaires is a severe form of pneumonia that spreads when people breathe in droplets or mist with legionella bacteria. it didn't take long for drivers to run into trouble at the belgian grand prix. >> wow! >> oh! that's hamilton who got

sideways! >> that is some crash. four drivers had to leave the race after an accident caused by roman rojan. formula one is punishing him for the accident. he will miss next weekend's italian grand prix and he 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. shannon, 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 that we're just getting word of, gary.

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 -- "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 inside the truck, so we're unclear about that, but the secret service representative is saying this shouldn't interfere with biden's event tomorrow in downtown detroit. >> that's an unusual development. we don't hear that very much. let's talk, 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 the top. his case, his charge is to make the case for re-election. you can expect for a lot of the

speakers to come out and talk about all of the things that the administration has done for the economy. they've readily acknowledged that the economy is not moving as fast, not as many jobs, not as much jobs growth as they would like, but talk about their economic success, talk about the auto bailout and how the auto industry is doing fine. you can expect for them to play up the benefits of the nation's health care law, obama care, that a lot of critics call it, as well to talk about his national security success, especially the killing of osama bin laden. take a listen at what one, though, basically sum all of that up in one nice, tidy, little sound bite. take a listen. >> want to know about the first term? very simple. general motors is alive and well and osama bin laden is not, and 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 bite, i'd say. shannon, let's name some names. what political stars are we

going to hear from during 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 tried 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 into 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. gary. >> shannon, that's what's 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 campaign. shannon travis, thank you. we look forward to hearing from you during the democratic national convention. thank you, shannon. protesters are already in charlotte getting a jump on this week's convention.

[ chanting ] >> the protest was called march on wall street south. cnn's joe johns spent time talking to protesters. >> reporter: here in charlotte in the run-up on the democratic national convention, wall street south has been off to hype but came off without a hitch, only two arrests and no reported violence. >> hey, hey, ho, ho, wall street has got to go! >> reporter: 10,000 people were predicted for the march. only a few hundred showed up, but they were loud. >> our children get sicker, yet pockets get bigger! >> reporter: about what you would expect for a march against the bank that makes 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 kind of down 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 barack obama. >> reporter: for police in the city, of course, the numbers made the march more manageable. protests in the past have exploded into ugly confrontations, but not 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've got to anticipate, you've got to have the willingness to meet with people and talk to people, understand what they're

going to do, and then, you know, you try to negotiate through it in order to make sure at the end that everybody's 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 through the people who know him best, personal confidantes, his closest advisers and even mr. obama himself. watch tomorrow night, 8:00 eastern time and pacific on cnn. all eyes will be on the president this week as he delivers his acceptance speech. what will the president say? what should he say? some answers, next.

so, what can we expect to hear from president obama at this week's democratic convention? earlier, i posed that question and more to elsie grammarson and will cain, both cnn contributors. i asked since the president can't specifically ask delegates if they were better off than four years ago, what he thought the president would say. >> about nine months ago, i would say, he gave a speech in kansas where he talked about the middle class and he posited the status of the middle class against those of the very wealthy. i think those are themes we'll probably hear from him again. now, i said nine months ago, so that's not a new message.

i'll say quickly what he should do is say something along the lines of something you said he shouldn't, are you better off than four years ago. he should say, look, i inherited a very, very bad situation, it's on the right track, i've turned that around slightly. i think you can make that difficult message. >> kelsey, what do you think the president should say this week? >> well, it was funny to listen the way will characterized the way president obama and the dnc platform is going to be. i don't see it as a division, i see it as a pointing out of different ideas about what's good for the american people. there is no division when you point out the numbers. the numbers on the left for years have said one thing explicitly, and that is the fact that income has left the middle class and the lower class at a number that's disproportionate to the growth of rich people, has all gone to richer americans, and 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. so, again, that's not division.

that's pointing out the trends. and once he does that, then he's able to talk about why he made the decisions that he did, why he instituted obama care, for instance. >> let's talk about for a second the last democratic president. wednesday, the second night of the convention will be bill clinton time, and he's remembered for a lot of things, but one of them is a good economy, a surplus, last surplus this country's had. 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, and president obama is not insecure. in fact, i think it says a lot about him as well as democrats for the fact that they're not even going to bring out president clinton, but also president carter. i think you noticed that w. was absent during the rnc, and i think it's because they're embarrassed by them. democrats are proud of what they've done while in office and most importantly, after office,

giving more insight into the characters of the men. so, no, i don't believe clinton will upstage him. i think it illustrates how they're trying to help the country. >> in all fairness, what i've seen after many years in this business, after a president loses, like jimmy carter, he didn't come to the convention, either, and eventually they become elder statesmen and everybody loves them. so we've seen this before. will, do you think clinton is the president's secret weapon or could his presence highlight problems with the economy right now? >> i think clinton is a wonderful speaker for political ideology in the democratic party, so i think it's only a plus for him taking the stage. do i think they'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, gary, 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 roundtable. this tuesday, join wolf blitzer and our political team for a live virtual chat. go to cnn.com/roundtable and submit your questions, and we will give you the answers in realtime. the "cnn election roundtable" is at 12:00 noon eastern on tuesday. as 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.

newsmakers have to be vigilant nowadays 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 m aaher is a tracker for

revealingpolitics.com. she'll be at the democratic national convention. she's a republican. and 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 in this upcoming election. >> now, we remember 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. >> who are you? >> 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 bite 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 smartphone 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 smartphone and wait for somebody to say 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 am 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 stop gap 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.

the nfl season kicks off this wednesday, and 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. as mark mckay explains, for a second straight season, labor issues are distracting from the game. >> reporter: as another nfl season gets ready to kick off, disaster could be right behind. >> referee: infraction on the reporting of the foul. both teams will -- both op -- 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, the results have been mixed, with some embarrassing moments that could put the krencredibility 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. and 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 pension 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 is 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. and in this case, if players sense that they can get away with something, helmet-to-helmet hits, if they sense order is not being upheld, they will take advantage of that. and really, it's a public relations thing, it's the 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, but wait until you see what one activist has pledged his life to. ordinary rubs don't always work on my arthritis.

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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 today in boulder to a large crowd at the university of colorado. the convention gets started stw

days from now on tuesday. protesters are already hitting the streets of charlotte. [ chanting ] >> hundreds of people marched by charlotte's banks, the big banks of charlotte, north carolina. some of them were chanting "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 on twitter -- "1 million active followers. thanks, everyone, for your support. help us keep the momentum going." and he also added a link to his donation website for his campaign. 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. this is glendora, california. 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 sources say government forces massacred 35 people in a village in hamma today and a bomb went off near government buildings in damascus, wounding several bystanders. nearly 5,000 people died in syria in the month of august in street fighting, air strikes, shelling, and we at cnn 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 would not be possible without the videos that we see posted online. what these activists see in their villages and towns goes beyond horror -- dead men, women, children and their neighbors, and in some cases, their own siblings. cnn's arwa damon takes us to a town not far from the border with lebanon. the video you'll see was obtained by a freelance journe t journalist, and we warn you, some images may be disturbing and not 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 routine 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 this 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. >> this was my brother, but i didn't know my brother the first one. also, i take some photo of the other one. suddenly, i remember, this one my brother. the start i thought, 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 town lies in ruins, similar to most of what we see 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. trod's younger brother is now a younger fighter. he was a mechanic who wanted to be a deejay. he plays music as trod recalled

the fate of one of their media activist friends. detained by 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 basha rr. i throw bashar by this one. >> too much dangerous here in syria the camera. 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 arwa damon reporting. we'll be right back.

this week, president obama heads to the democratic convention, wall street eyes the

economy, and a reality tv show pledges to be kinder and gentler, really. our correspondents have it all. we begin with the president. >> reporter: i'm athena jones in ft. bliss, 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. >> reporter: i'm poppy harlow in new york. it will be a shortened trading week with the markets closed for labor day, but on tuesday morning, 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 from "showbiz tonight." here's what we're watching tonight, "basketball wives 2.0." is the show really going to cut out all the violent drama this season? i'll talk with jackie christi, one of the stars of the l.a. franchise. all i have to do is mention "sweet home alabama" and "free bird" and you know who i'm talking about, lynyrd skynyrd, defining southern rock since the 1970s. even after a tragic plane crash in 1977 killed 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 a dying breed" is giving them the highest debut in the last 40 years. fredricka whitfield talked with johnny van zandt and gary rossington and gary medlock 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 had a story, and that's what we write about. and you know, being able to last so long, i guess people can understand the stories we tell and the songs, and we just try to play for the people, you know, and do our thing for that. >> and people love the ones i just mentioned and so many others. but even when you come in 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, you know. 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 so it keeps 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, tuesday's gone or free bird, you can see women or

people crying sometimes. they think about their sons being overseas or something, in the service, and 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 think what's cool is the stories that you hear from, you know, people all over the years, you know, and the stories they have about certain songs, how certain songs of the bands touched them in a certain way, you know, and it's just, it's amazing to me to listen to all the different ones from graduation to, you know, even parents saying, oh, our child was conceived during "free bird," you know? >> whoa! okay, little tmi on that one! ♪ 'cause i'm as free as a bird now ♪ >> how about you? ♪ and this bird you cannot change ♪ >> i hear "free bird" and i

think about my high school and junior high dances. >> yeah. >> and you know, it was just the build-up and everyone, you know, gets excited about the song and takes, you know, to the floor. >> good to dance to, yeah. >> yeah, it's very nostalgic, but for you, johnny, is it nostalgic when you, you know, kind of play, you know, the older tunes, the signature tunes, but then you've got to introduce the new stuff, too, and it becomes a different tone on stage, doesn't it? >> yeah, well, right now, you know what i mean, we got the new record out "last of a dying breed," and i love it, because we kind of start the show off, and i'm giving it away, but gary comes out playing slide and we've got this whoop thing happening and it's just a lot of fun for us. and you know, i've been here in the band for 25 years, and my brother, ronny, started the band with gary and allen collins, and you know, it's been my pleasure to be out here and see how it's grown, and you know, see all the young fans come into this and they love 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 and it was a mocking tribute to them because they demanded they cut their hair in high school, so they named the band after him and changed it to lynyrd skynyrd. they also talked about the use of the confederate flag at concerts and on album covers and we'll have that next weekend. a little girl with autism was not able to speak and doctors didn't give her good odds of ever saying a single word, but she beat those odds with help from an ipad.

a little girl with autism finally learned to speak with the help of an ipad. for years, little sharia siddiqui 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, mimo. >> reporter: we see a piece, 5-year-old sharia siddiqui sees the whole puzzle. >> we try and put the picture together. she'd be doing it from memory. >> reporter: she's happy, playful and with remarkable memory. >> yay! >> reporter: has autism. >> she had all the classic

symptoms and everything. she was doing the behavior, the communication delay, everything. and when they did tell me, it was a really difficult time, you know, because all the research tells you that there's just, there's 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: sharia 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. >> if she wakes up in the morning and she wants to watch a cartoon and a movie, she had no way of telling you which cartoon she wants to watch and from which parts she wanted to watch it. so, the only way she would communicate with me is pointing towards the television and crying. >> reporter: but about that time in 2010, her father, farwad siddiqui, heard about something new, the first ipad, which was just hitting the market. >> i was like, i want and a

drink, something to eat and a food, drink, and then you can do chocolate milk. >> reporter: the electronic tablet and new apps like the prolo quo to go changed everything for the siddiqui family. did it take her to speaking, to becoming verbal? >> absolutely. that's how it started. before that, we tried everything and nothing was clicking. she is a very, very real person. for her, everything is real, and the ipad gave her that option, being able to do that. >> reporter: and for the first time, sharia gained a sense of control. >> compared to, like, people with children, you know, who are regular children, they probably, like, put in an effort and they see the reaction straight away. you teach them something and they react very quickly. for us, sometimes it's 200% effort and maybe 5% of return. 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 -- >> so, doe want six or eight? >> eight.

or seven! >> it's just amazing hearing "mommy" and "daddy," or even for herself when she needs something, she will say, you know, i want goldfish. >> reporter: the electronic tablets don't work for all children with autism. sharia has a mild to moderate case and there is a potential downside that it becomes a crutch. >> we do sometimes worry that she becomes a little too fixated on it, especially what happens when she's on school with a structured day, i feel like she doesn't do it as much, but it can be a problem sometimes when she gets too fixated and we want her to interact with us or do something different. >> reporter: and all she wants to do -- >> -- is play on the ipad, so it can be a bit of a problem, a challenge, but it's more helpful than not. >> reporter: more than a toy, it helps sharia find her own little voice. >> ipad. >> that will brighten up your sunday night. thanks to lisa sill vestylveste that report. hurricane isaac is gone, but many cnn reporters are still

wringing out their clothes.

the entertainment turned quick at a monster truck show in oregon. very scary. three people at monster air 2010 -- that's the name of the show -- were hurt when the 48-inch tires of this out-of-control ford landed on them. our our affiliate kbal reports. a sheriff says the victims will

survive their injuries. 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. [ ringing ] >> tropical storm isaac -- >> with us this afternoon significantly improved. they are much more protected now than they were evan 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 knew it went up in a hurry, but it looked like everything was fresh out of the box, fresh concrete, the seal casings of everything looked to be fairly new and not really weathered. we got a really great ride from the coast guard, really wouldn't mind going up on the chopper, right, john? >> right. >> it's going to be a swirl. >> but charlie said he thinks

it's going to come in this way. >> right. >> so definitely don't want to be here. we might want to just tuck right over here. >> yes, i do. do you hear me? >> if you wanted to move a little bit, i don't know how much tether you have. >> yeah, i'm good. >> this is a pg family -- >> trying to tuck in here. >> this is what we do to remember all the work that we do. we take these ridiculous things and we send them to our significant others, and like 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 -- like, you didn't know you could get this wet. and every time you dry off -- there's no point in trying to dry off after a while. you're just wet.