Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Minnesotans Holiday Plans Affected By State Shutdown; Mislabeled Graves at Arlington National Cemetery; Financial Consultant Provides Advice About Retirement; Hugo Chavez Battling Cancer; NASCAR Drivers Talk About The Future of Racecar Driving; Iraq Vet Discusses Veterans Benefits For Wounded Soldiers

Aired July 02, 2011 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live this Saturday July 2nd. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

On this Fourth of July weekend, a lot of folks in Minnesota are in no mood to celebrate. Minnesota's government is now shut down except for essential services. All state parks and rest areas are closed, forcing a lot of people to change their holiday plans. The Democratic governor and Republican lawmakers are fighting oh how to resolve a $3.5 billion shortfall. We'll hear from one of the lawmakers later on in this hour live.

And some relief this weekend for fatigued air traffic controllers. The FAA is out with new recommendations that should help them stop falling asleep on the job. There will be at least nine hours between shifts, and during overnight hours controllers can read or listen to the radio but only when there isn't any traffic, air traffic.

A 71-year-old Seattle grandfather has been arrested for a child murder more than five decades ago. Police say Jack Daniel McCullough was living under an assumed name in a retirement community. He is accused of kidnapping and killing a seven-year-old girl in 1957 outside Chicago. Take a look. This is the photo, the cover of today's "Chicago Sun Times" now, he was a suspect early in the investigation, but police say the case went cold after he changed his name and joined the military.

Attorneys for Arizona shooting suspect Jared Loughner will keep fighting his forced medication. They have appealed a federal judge's decision Wednesday. In that ruling the judge deferred to prison doctors medical judgment that Loughner needs to be medicated to control his schizophrenia. Loughner's attorneys say forcing him to take drugs violates his rights.

And three U.S. marines in California are accused of a marriage scheme that bilked the government out of $75,000. The female marine at the center of this case admits that she married a straight marine at Camp Pendleton. Her civilian girlfriend did the same thing and received a $1,200 monthly stipend. That is financial assistance offered by the military to heterosexual married couples. And new developments in the scandal surrounding Arlington National Cemetery. The FBI is helping investigators determine if any laws were broken after a string of embarrassing revelations at the country's most hallowed burial ground. Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is looking into the findings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: -- country, and were later cremated. But they didn't even merit their own gravesite. Last fall eight sets of human remains were discovered stashed in a single grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

Now the army is admitting the FBI has been called in to join its investigation into massive mismanagement at America's most hallowed ground. But even if someone is held responsible, the U.S. attorney said they won't face criminal charges.

CHRISTOPHER GREY, U.S. ARMY INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: The burial of multiple cremated remains in one gravesite does not constitute a criminal violation.

LAWRENCE: That stings.

JOSEPH DAVIS, SPOKESMAN, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS: As a military veteran, I was let down. I was tremendously hurt.

LAWRENCE: Joe Davis' mom and dad are both buried at Arlington. And even though most of the 300,000 graves are fine, some people may have been mourning at the wrong place for years.

DAVIS: You have potentially millions of family members that are out there that now have a question mark in the back of their mind saying, is my father, my husband, my mother, my daughter buried where she is supposed to be?

LAWRENCE: Investigators discovered hundreds of discrepancies between burial maps and gravesites. Some graves had to be reopened. Of the eight urns in that one grave, only some could be matched to actual veterans.

GREY: Through extensive efforts, CID has determined the other three sets of remains unfortunately cannot be identified.

LAWRENCE: The army has appointed all new administrators for Arlington, but Davis wonders why it took so long.

DAVIS: What it really reflects is a lack of leadership from the top down, a lack of accountability from the top down, a lack of management at the top down. And at the worker bee level, they don't care.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Some remains have been identified and reinterred. Others are being examined but some will never be matched. Just last week we found out that nearly 70 boxes of personal information from Arlington were discovered in a private storage facility. And Fred, it contained informing like some of the deceased's Social Security numbers and other personal information.

WHITFIELD: OK. So Chris, the FBI has been brought into this. If there is no crime that has been committed, or that's the charge that many are saying, no crime committed, why would the FBI be involved?

LAWRENCE: A good question. What the U.S. attorney said was that the act, just the act alone of putting multiple remains in one grave does not constitute a crime. But this is a much bigger investigation. This is a much bigger problem than just these eight remains. There was widespread problems at Arlington for a long time. And they're looking into whether there was even possible fraud going on. That's where some of the criminal charges could come in down the road.

WHITFIELD: Chris Lawrence in Washington. Thanks so much.

LAWRENCE: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Sometime tomorrow the jury in the Casey Anthony murder trial is expected to get the case. Closing arguments are set to begin at 9:00 a.m. Sean Lavin joins us now from Orlando, Florida. Walk us through what we expect will happen.

SEAN LAVIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. First up will be the prosecution. They're going to try to convince this jury that they should find Casey Anthony guilty of first-degree murder for killing her little daughter Casey based on all the evidence they've seen throughout this trial.

After the state go, the defense will go and give their closing arguments. They're going to try to convince, of course, the jury to find her not guilty. The defense will argue that the state has not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony killed her daughter Casey.

In Florida we have the prosecution get the last word in cases like this. The state will go ahead and rebut what the defense said and try to plug any hole the defense may have poked into the state's case. After that happens, Fredricka the judge will read instructions to this jury. The jury will begin to deliberate and it will be a high stakes decision for them because, of course, Casey Anthony is fighting for her life in this case.

WHITFIELD: So Sean, attorneys on either side, have they revealed how much time it will take for their closing statements?

LAVIN: It sounds like it will take all day, maybe four hours for the state, four for the defense. We don't know for sure. We expect it to take all day tomorrow. Then the jury will get to go deliberate. They'll get dinner brought to them and they'll have all night to try to come up with a verdict, although a lot of legal experts don't think they'll reach one by tomorrow night and they'll have to go and continue until they can get the verdict down the road. WHITFIELD: So no court today. Jurors, everyone involved got a break today. Then say deliberations go well into Sunday night after closing, or at least even begin after closing on Sunday, might they all be in court on Monday? Would they still be deliberating through the holiday, of Monday?

LAVIN: We did check with the court and the court said the judge plans to work through the Fourth of July. Theoretically we could have a verdict on the Fourth of July or they could keep deliberating on the Fourth and come back the fifth, come back the sixth. We don't know what is in these jurors' minds.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Sean Lavin. We appreciate it.

During the closing statements the attorneys will try to paint a complete picture for the juror. So we'll try our hand at giving you an idea of the timeline that attorney on either side will be going through.

So two-year-old Caylee Anthony died in 2008. The grandfather, George an, who you also know took the stand, said he saw Casey alive on June 16th. That's the last time anyone claims to have seen Caylee alive. Lawyers for Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, claimed that Caylee drowned in her grandparents' pool on June 16th and that George Anthony helped cover up the death. George Anthony denies that and did again on the stand.

On June 18th, Casey Anthony allegedly borrowed a shovel from a neighbor. Nearly one month later, on July 15th, grandmother Cindy Anthony called police to report that Caylee was missing. Police arrested Casey Anthony the next day, July 16, charging her with child neglect, lying to investigators and interfering with the criminal investigation. She, Casey Anthony, was later charged with murder.

On December 11th, a utility worker found human remains in the woods about a quarter of a mile from the Anthony home. And then on December 19th the medical examiner confirmed the remains were that of Caylee Anthony, the two-year-old.

On to some international news, the president of Venezuela out of public view for nearly a month while rumors swirled about his health. Now he says those rumors are actually true. Details straight ahead.

Then later -- a fierce competitive spirit is a job requirement in any professional sport, and NASCAR racing is no exception. But top driver Joey Logano said winning should not be the focus when the racers are just kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEY LOGANO, NASCAR DRIVER: I've raced against kids that were pushed by their parents to race. And I remember running quarters and I would win all the time. I would beat this kid and his father would yell and scream at him. And I started to feel bad I beat him. This is supposed to be fun. We have plenty of time to make this serious when we get to this level. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And it is definitely serious business when he, Joey Logano and fellow NASCAR driver Jason Leffler take to the track. I talk to them face to face about the future of racing and their careers, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Greek government is out of the fire but for now, not out of trouble. Lawmakers this week pushed through a very unpopular bailout measure, one that keeps the country running for the short term. The law raised taxes, raised the retirement age, and cut pay for public workers. Crowds of furious Greek people swarmed government buildings during the debate and the vote and clashed with riot police.

On to Canada and the royal visit. Britain's Prince William and Catherine, the duchess of Cambridge, are in Montreal today, day three of the first official trip abroad as man and wife. They are coming to the United States afterwards.

And as long as we're talking about royal couples, Prince Albert of Monaco is now a married man. He and South African born Charlene Wittstock were legally married yesterday during a civil ceremony but held a religious service today in Monte Carlo.

The president of Venezuela will stay out of his country for a bit longer. Hugo Chavez made a shocking announcement this week publicly acknowledging a grim rumor that had been swirling about his health. CNN's Luis Carlos Velez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIS CARLOS VELEZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is how President Chavez looks today. It is a different Chavez from the one first elected president 13 years ago. Then he was the youngest head of state in his country's history. Today, he is battling cancer.

This video was released on Friday and shows him working. But he is not in Caracas. He is far away from his palace in Havana where he is receiving cancer treatment. This is a powerful video clearly intended to show Venezuelans that's their president is still in power.

ELIAS JAUA, VENEZUELAN VICE PRESIDENT (via translator): We are going to demonstrate to President Hugo Chavez, our commander, our leader, our support. We're going to the streets to celebrate our national holiday.

VELEZ: Hugo Chavez has repeatedly said that he will govern Venezuela until the last breath of his existence. But late Thursday, a sign of his mortality.

HUGO CHAVEZ, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (via translator): The great Fidel Castro himself came to announce the painful news of the cancer and I pray to lord Jesus Christ. VELEZ: Chavez appeared steady but subdued as he spoke. He talked only for 15 minutes, a far cry from the long, combative speeches which Venezuelans have been accustomed to. His signoff was also different. He avoided his "socialism, country, or death" for something else.

CHAVEZ (via translator): For now and forever, we'll live long and win. Thank you very much and until I return.

VELEZ: Immediately his followers took the streets to back him up. The focus is now on Tuesday, July 5, a regional economic summit he was to host has been postponed.

VELEZ (on camera): But a military parade marking 200 years of independence from Spain is still planned for that same day. One question is, will President Chavez attend? The most important is, if it is not Chavez, who will replace him?

Luis Carlos Velez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: If you're a business owner or an employee, you need listen up. CNBC has its annual list of America's top states for business. It looked at a variety of factors, including quality of life, economy, and business friendliness. Here are the top three states. Take a look. Coming in at number three, North Carolina, number two, Texas, and number one, Virginia. When we come back after the break, we'll tell you which state made the bottom of the list.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So before the break we mentioned the top three states for business according to CNBC's annual ranking. Now, here's a look at the bottom three on that list. Coming in at number 48, of all places, Hawaii. Number 49 is Alaska. And at number 50, Rhode Island. This is the second year that they came in the bottom three.

Perhaps closing shop, riding off into the golden years is what you want to do. If you could, would you retire in five years? It might be as easy as getting your finances in order. Eric Amado is president and CEO at Amado Consulting, and he is joining us live from Dallas. Good to see you, Eric.

ERIC AMADO, CEO, AMADO CONSULTING: Good to see you. How are you doing?

WHITFIELD: I'm doing pretty good. Folks say maybe in five years or so I want to retire. First you say you've really have to envision what you want retirement to look like before you figure out whether you're financially able to do so?

AMADO: Absolutely. You want to start thinking about how you and your spouse want to retire, if you want to take vacations, if you want to build a business, if you want to travel around the world, that's what you need to do. You need to think about income, taxes, and health care costs. Right now most retirees will spend about one-fifth of their income on health care costs. And they're going through the roof. These are the thing to think about right now.

WHITFIELD: A lot of people forget, once leave that job, there goes some of the benefits. So when you had your health insurance is different when you retire. Can you afford to take care of yourself? You have to fold that into the equation.

AMADO: Absolutely, you have to do that. You have to do that.

WHITFIELD: So a lot of folk were thinking, maybe I'll be able to count on my Social Security. Say you will be retiring in five years, maybe even four. Is Social Security going to be your friend?

AMADO: Absolutely. Social security will be your friend. We all know that you can start taking Social Security between the ages of 62 and 70. But something you want to do is think about probably prolonging taking your Social Security, maybe take it at 65 or even taking it at 70. If you do that, you will get more money down the line. Of course you need to think about your spouse. You need to think about your health and your overall age longevity. If you can do that, it will be a great thing for you and your family.

WHITFIELD: Then you need to review benefits. We talked about this with health insurance. What other benefits do you need to keep in mind and familiarize yourself with?

AMADO: Great question. You need to sit down with your employer and look at anything you have. You might have a pension plan. You might have a 401(k) plan. You might have other types of post- retirement benefits. This is the time to sit down and look and see what you have. Look and see what the company will pay you.

And also something you need to do is look at creating a post retirement budget. What this is, usually you don't spend as much money in retirement as do you when you're working. So, for example, two or three years out you want to start living on your post retirement budget so when you retire, it won't be such a big shock to you.

WHITFIELD: And then folks think golden years. They don't want to work. They want to make time for all the things that are fun or they've been longing to do but you say you need to work into the equation, will you be working?

AMADO: Absolutely, a great point. We have to be realistic about what's going on right now. A lot of seniors have lost a lot of money due to the recession we came out of. Many Americans will have to work during their retirement years.

Basically the best thing to do before you retire, is to sit down with your company and say I don't want to retire. I want to work two or three or five more years. I continue to add value to this company. If they say no, maybe you can try part time or a consultant basis. You don't want to outlive your money. That's the wrong thing to do. If you need to work, it's OK. There's nothing wrong with continuing to work.

WHITFIELD: Maybe you need a little consultation on how to manage your money.

AMADO: Absolutely. If you can find yourself a CPA or a financial adviser sometime within the five years before you retire, that's a great thing. They're going to help you to map out a road plan on what you need to do, how to spend your money and what you can actually do as far as being realistic. You don't want to go throughout and start retiring and then you feel like you don't have a game plan.

WHITFIELD: All right, Eric, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Folks love the idea of getting free advice. They got some from you today but maybe they want more. Folks can go to your Web site at AmadoConsultingLLC.com. Have a good holiday weekend.

AMADO: You too.

WHITFIELD: Not much holiday to celebrate if you're in Minnesota this weekend. The government is shut down, which means a number of agencies and buildings closed up. I'll be asking a Republican lawmaker if social issues are partly to blame, not just economics.

And later, face to face with two top NASCAR drivers after I see what it feels like to go 170 miles an hour around a race track.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A check of our top stories. Americans planning to travel to the Mexican border of Nuevo Laredo are being urged to cancel their plans. Texas authorities warn they have information that a Mexican drug cartel plans to target U.S. citizens in Nuevo Laredo for robbery, extortion or car-jacking.

And former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is out of house arrest. His attorneys said prosecutors did the right thing by acknowledging his sexual assault accuser told, quote, "substantial lies about her own background and the details of the case." Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said "Bottom line, something in her history is so sphere the prosecution thinks no jury would actually believe her."

And there is a new women's champ at Wimbledon. Petra Kvitova sealed the deal with an ace, upsetting Maria Sharapova in straight sets. She is only the third Czech woman to ever take Wimbledon singles crown.

All right, scaled down Fourth of July celebrations in Minnesota this weekend. State parks, the state zoo, even race tracks are all closed. A budget state mate shuts down almost all Minnesota state business. Closed signs went up early after budget talks broken down between Republican lawmakers and Minnesota's Democratic governor. The sticking point -- taxes or, as some call them now, new revenue sources. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAROLD WIEGNER, MINNESOTA STATE EMPLOYEE: A sad commentary on politics. It has turned into a sport rather than working to solve a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So take a look right here. When the government is up and running he actually helps give the driving tests so that folks can get their drivers permits and licenses. Right now he is camped out on the Capitol lawn. It is his way, he says, of protesting the shutdown. And he said he'll stay there until he can go back to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people back here are acting like a bunch of kids. I couldn't work with my coworkers like this and walk out of the room and say I don't want to talk to them or not give any room on anything, never make any compromises with anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The deficit that shut down Minnesota for the second time in six years is just over $3.5 billion. Minnesota State Representative Kurt Zellers is on the phone with me. He is the GOP House speaker and one of the lawmakers at the center of the shutdown.

So first off, Representative Zellers, any signs of a compromise or an agreement in the work so that people can get to work, maybe in a matter of hours if not days?

STATE REP. KURT ZELLERS (R), MINNESOTA (via telephone): Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon.

We were very, very close on the budget agreement. And I would say there was an opportunity for us to avoid all of this, actually. It was passing a temporary funding Bill. A lot of folks call it lights on. To keep the lights on, making sure there is temporary funding.

WHITFIELD: What was the hang-up on that? Why didn't that go through?

ZELLERS: The governor had said, and it is his prerogative under the constitution. The governor is the only one to call us back. It was his prerogative. He said he wouldn't call us back until he had a full budget agreement for a temporary budget agreement. We thought it would be better to at least do that and keep parks open and some of these basic functions going.

But that was his prerogative. We understand that. We also were very close on a number of these bills. We were within $1 million on one bill, a couple hundred thousand on another bill. We were very close on a lot of the spending bills but didn't quite get past the last two which would be taxes, the government finance and then the HHS budget.

WHITFIELD: So that taxes was a really big obstacle, was it not? The governor wants to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1.9 percent of Minnesotans. What is the alternative to not imposing greater taxes on though who can afford it?

ZELLERS: Well, that was what it was for the governor. For us in the hour, and we have a brand new legislature, it's Republican controlled for the first time in decades. But for us it was about the spending. And what we're spending in this year's budget, the one that we passed through the legislature is the largest budget in our state's history, over 34 $billion in state funding, increase in education and health and human services spending. And then yes, some prioritization, some cuts in some other parts of the budget.

But overall it was a higher budget than we've ever spent in the state's history. We thought that was enough. We could go back to our small businessmen and women and ask them for another tax increase for more government spending. We have to prioritize, because as I learned as a kid, if everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.

WHITFIELD: So representative, let's listen to what the Governor Mark Dayton had to say after the talks broke down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: But this one basic difference remains. They don't want to raise revenues on anybody. And I believe the wealthiest Minnesotans can afford to pay more on tax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So that sentiment is echoed by the Chairman Ken Martin. His statement reads the following, quote, "Republicans put millionaires over Minnesotans and drove our state government to shut down in order to protect a handful of our state's richest residents." So your response to that? Is it that simple?

ZELLERS: Absolutely not. These are our small business women and men of our great state. They're sole proprietors, meaning they file their business and their personal income together.

So if you ask them for another chunk of their income, it is not coming out of their pocket. It is coming out of their business. Then they have a choice. Do they decide to lay of an employee or take their business and move to North Carolina or Virginia, one of those states you spoke about earlier.

That's for us what it has always been about, keeping Minnesota competitive. Governor Dayton's tax increase would make us the second highest tax state in the country. And during tough economic times, we can't afford to be uncompetitive.

WHITFIELD: You mention that had the major sticking point, particularly for the Republicans, including yourself is that correct it is about spending. There was a significant proposal on behalf of the Republicans who say Planned Parenthood, abortion services, that should be among those things cut. Is it really about finances? Is it about the economy, or is it more about certain social issues that you and others are fighting for?

ZELLERS: Well, you know, there were some bills the governor had vetoed. As long as there has been politics and state houses in Washington, D.C., bills that have been vetoed are asked if we could reconsider them.

Some of the other bills that the governor vetoed was a photo identification bill, a spending cap for property taxes, a cap on tuition for our college kids, a redefinition of the prevailing wage here in the state, the construction rate that we pay when we build roads and build buildings.

So it was about jobs, about the economy, it was about redesigning the way government works. But if you want to take the focus off the second highest tax ray in the state and you're the Democratic Party chairman, you'll bring up thing like. That it has always been about spending for us.

WHITFIELD: Representative Kurt Zellers, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And people who are public servants, public state employees want to get back to work soon so hopefully there will be some sort of resolution for their sake.

A U.S. Marine is shot in the head in Iraq. He is alive but his appearance has changed a bit. I'll talk to him in a minute about his new focus in life.

First we're celebrating America this weekend with the troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, everybody. This is Lieutenant Colonel Ingrid Mortell (ph) at joint base Ballad (ph) in Iraq, right close to Baghdad. I want to say hi to everybody back at home in the United States and happy Fourth of July. Seth, happy birthday, everybody, take care. Bye-bye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're celebrating America this Fourth of July weekend and we're celebrating the men and women who fight for America. This next segment is about a marine corps office here survived being shot through the head in Iraq. He could spend the rest of his life as a medically retired wounded warrior. He chooses not to. He wants to take it beyond that.

A little backstory now. Justin Constantine was a single man, a lawyer in the marine reserves. He volunteered to go to Iraq and not even two months there a sniper shot him through the back of the head. Hospital surgeries, rehabilitation, and the person he calls the perfect woman by his side, Justin was still recovering physically. But he has dedicated his professional life to helping wounded troops who return from war.

And he is with us right now. Good to see you, Justin Constantine joining us from Boston.

JUSTIN CONSTANTINE, MARINE OFFICER WOUNDED IN IRAQ: Thank you. Great to be here.

WHITFIELD: So you work on Capitol Hill lobbying for veterans rights. You've made that your full time mission. What is the message you focus on?

CONSTANTINE: Well, I did work on Capitol Hill for a year and a half now I work for the Department of Justice. Over the last five years, as I've come back as a wounded warrior, this country needs to do a lot regarding two issues for our returning service members. We need to discuss PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder and we need to find better ways to get our young veterans back to work.

WHITFIELD: Where are the gaps? What isn't being done? Particularly for those who are suffering PTSD?

CONSTANTINE: Sure. Our fellow government in this administration has taken a lot of great strides to try to answer the call here with a number of legislative fixes but I believe it is up to the small communities and the state and local governments to fix some of these issues.

For instance, if someone breaks their leg, they go to the doctor. That's not an issue. They come back with PTSD and it is kind of taboo to talk about it. It is important for the nation to discuss that issue and make it OK.

I can talk very frankly about the embarrassment that comes along with PTSD and the night tremors and the nightmares and just all sorts of things that are difficult to talk about. We don't have really open discourse around the country about that. We need to work in our small communities who can open our arms to the returning warriors and bring them out and make them feel comfortable and talk about these issues.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like everything was in place? Whether it be the physical injuries that you endured or even kind of the psychological battles that you've been contending with?

CONSTANTINE: I was injured in 2006. Certainly a lot of thing are in place now, were not in place then. So I would say, as a whole, no. We really didn't have things refined to the level we have today. It is still not perfect but things have moved along a lot better as far as the VA providing resources for the mental health issues I talked about. And there are a lot of programs out there trying to get young veterans jobs. So thing were worse than they are now, but we still have a ways to go.

WHITFIELD: OK, "Iraq and back," the message on your t-shirt and many that you are helping to distribute. Explain to me what that is all about, and how is this helping your cause? CONSTANTINE: Sure. I'm happy to. "Iraq and back" is, a website, Iraqandback.com. It's a small company that my wife and I started a few years ago. As you said, I was shot behind the ear by a sniper. My head, I had probably 25 or 30 surgeries since then. My head was a disaster for a couple years. And when we would go out, people clearly look and wonder what the heck happened.

So we were at the beach and we web to a t-shirt shop and made a shirt like this one that says "Iraq and back" so people would know this is what can happen. And I thought it would just answer some of the unanswered questions.

People come out and say thank you and welcome home and all sorts of great things. And my wife and I thought wow, why can't we make a shirt that all service members can make with pride and let everyone know who they are and they can say thank you many times over.

So that's how it started. It was a commercial enterprise. We've moved on to, now it is more of a nonprofit where people buy shirts through our t-shirts campaign on our website. But they are sent down to wounded warriors and more importantly, their families at the medical center in San Antonio. People across the country, business there's buy them from us as a donation for the wounded warriors to show across the country that we're rooting for all our heroes.

WHITFIELD: And it sounds like it also invites people to talk, to have a conversation, to hear your personal story, to hear other soldiers who are, armed service people who are wearing that t-shirt, to have a clear understanding. I can ask these questions right now with this person them just lived it and have a better understanding of what they've just endured.

CONSTANTINE: That's exactly right. And when I wear these t- shirts, people come up and say thank you. It means so much. We have 1 percent of this country fighting these wars. We've been there ten years and there are so many people coming back with different issues. To hear someone, a stranger say "thank you," it means the world to us.

WHITFIELD: We are very grateful for all that you have done as well as your fellow soldiers. Thanks so much. Justin Constantine. Appreciate your time. All the best.

CONSTANTINE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So imagine if there was someone trying to take your job, 24/7. Race car driver Jason Leffler said that reality is very much there in NASCAR. But he tells me face to face, he has no intention of giving up his position any time soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON LEFFLER, NASCAR DRIVER: It might be a day when I move back to Indiana and go dirt track racing full time and call it my retirement. But I'm going to drive for a long, long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Next Leffler and fellow NASCAR driver Joey Logano talk about their careers face to face. And what would happen if Logano had a child in his life? We know Leffler is a dad. What would they tell their kids about following in their footsteps?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, tonight in Daytona, Florida, the 400 sprint series NASCAR race, among those the drivers' fans will be watching Joey Logano and Jason Leffler. Logano scored a huge win already this week finishing first at last night's nationwide series race at Daytona. And right behind Jason Leffler, who came in second.

Recently face to face, I was in the passenger seat and Leffler was behind the wheel on the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Oh, my gosh! I got bugs in my teeth I was smiling so much. I loved that. So I got a little taste of 170 miles per hour. Then we slowed it down, talking face to face with Logano and Leffler about how long they'll be in the race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: You've got a three-year-old son Charlie. We talked a little on the race track about what would happen if he says, you know, I want to do this. Or do you expect your three-year-old is naturally going to want to be a race car driver like dad?

LEFFLER: You know, I don't expect it. If he wants it, like I said, we'll give him that opportunity. But I want him to want to do it.

LOGANO: That's a hard question to answer. I'm not there yet. It is like Jason said -- I've raced against kids that were pushed by their parents to race. And I remember running quarter midgets. And I would win all the time and I would beat this kid and his father would yell and scream at him. And I started to feel bad I beat him. You know? I still beat him anyway.

WHITFIELD: You feel bad for a little bit.

LOGANO: I feel bad. The poor kid is crying. He was six, seven years old. He made a mistake on the track. This is supposed to be fun. We have plenty of time to make this serious when we get to this level, you know? When you're young, you just want to have fun with it. You're a kid and you want to be a kid.

WHITFIELD: How long do you see yourself driving? Is this something that you say I'm going to do this until I'm in my 50s or 60s? Or is it something that has kind of like a stopping point because of the toll it takes on your body.

LEFFLER: I mean, I see myself driving for a long time. I don't know in what series or what class. If the opportunities still come and the rides are competitive, I'll keep going. There might be a day when I move back to Indiana and go dirt track racing full time and call it my retirement. I'm going to drive for a long, long time. LOGANO: I think something really cool, I look at red farmer. He's been racing forever. I think '79, '80. I'm not sure. He is still racing. He runs dirt races.

There are only 43 of us every weekend that are able to do it. And it's hard. It's probably tougher now than it has ever been because of the economy. It's hard to get sponsors. When you get a good sponsor like Home Depot or Game Stop, you want to do everything you can to please them and keep them happy as you can.

WHITFIELD: What is this feeling now that we're in the NASCAR hall of fame in charlotte and you look around and you see these cars, you see the drivers who are honored. What are your hopes of one day being inducted into the hall of fame, Jason?

LEFFLER: I would like to be. First you have to do something special. This place is -- this is the elite here. You have to make yourself part of that elite group, win a lot of races, win championships. And you never in know. Never know in this business. You know? You're always looking for that next big thing.

WHITFIELD: Do you have aspirations of one day being in the hall of fame?

LOGANO: Doesn't everyone want to be in a hall of fame of some sort? There are only ten drivers -- not just drivers, there are other people in here, that are in the racing sport, that are in the hall of fame. So I say we race against the best of the best. This is the best of the best of the best of the best. It is really, really impressive just to be sitting here and looking at the cars they used to race. It is so cool.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: They are so cool. Today more face to face with Leffler and Logano. They tell me face to face what their early days were like.

All right, a baby hippo shows us just how artistic he is underwater. The viral video is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We've got something fun we want to talk about. Some interesting stuff with our viral videos coming our way. We especially like the ones that involve cute cuddly animals. Maybe a hippo isn't really cuddly but it is cute and it is kind of small, relatively speaking. Here's the little baby hippo that also has an artistic streak to it, too.

This is five-month-old Adhama, a Swahili name, and it means "honor." And he actually lives in the San Diego Zoo, born in January of this year. And we call it artistic because we're going to call that ballet. And starting at two million hits on YouTube. So it's a huge hit. That's why we're calling it viral. And the San Diego Zoo, they have these great baby videos on their Web site. I think they have a new panda.

So let's step back a few years, shall we? I bet you don't know the answer to this one. I didn't. I cheated and looked at the answer ahead of time. So "You press the button. We do the rest." Do you remember that slogan? You are a photographer too. I just remembered that. We have a trivia question for all you photographers out there. When did the Kodak camera hit the market? I know. That's a tough one. The answer is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)