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Trayvon Martin's Parents Go to Feds; Osama bin Laden's Family Sentenced; Down To The Wire In Wisconsin; Report: Airline Performance Up; Screaming On 911 Call Analyzed; Autism's Costs Hurt Families; Soldier Died Saving Afghan Child
Aired April 02, 2012 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, where it's 12 noon, I am -- 9:00 a.m. on the West Coast. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.
I want to get you up to speed for this Monday, April 2nd.
A passenger plane crashed today in the region of Siberia. Now, Russian authorities say that 31 people were killed, including all four crew members. A dozen survivors are hospitalized in intensive care. The twin-engine plane burst into flames, broke into pieces just after takeoff. Britain, France, and Canada are helping investigate.
The Republican presidential candidates -- they are back on the trail today, ahead of the primaries that happen tomorrow. People in Wisconsin, Maryland, and D.C. are voting on Tuesday. Polls show Mitt Romney is favored to win all three of those contests. But both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich -- they say they're staying in the race until Romney gets that magic number of delegates. We're talking 1,144.
And the leaders of Canada and Mexico are meeting at the White House right now. President Obama is with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon. They are among our country's strongest allies, our neighbors to the north and south. This meeting is extremely critical as they discuss the economy, jobs, trade, energy, as well as our security.
In about an hour, the three are going to come out. They're going to discuss how this meeting went. We'll bring it to you live when it happens.
And keeping a close eye on your credit and debit statements from March. One and a half million card numbers were stolen. That's right. Processing company Global Payment says it is trying to find out the hackers who pulled this off. But tell us, cardholder names, addresses, Social Security numbers are not affected.
New developments now in the fatal shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. Today, the boy's parents will formally ask the Justice Department to review what the state prosecutor did. They want to know why he didn't bring charges against George Zimmerman. That's the man who shot their unarmed 17-year-old son.
George Howell -- he's joining us from Sanford, Florida.
And, George, you got a different state attorney who's now handling this case. Plus, you got the Justice Department that's already investigating it.
Why are the parents seeking another investigation?
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, they're looking into the possibility that Norm Wolfinger, the previous state prosecutor, who is handling this case, into whether he somehow interfered with the lead investigator with the Sanford Police Department, with Chris Serino.
Again, at this point, they are not sure whether the Department of Justice will actually take this on, whether they will, when, or how. But this is something that they are requesting today formally, written and requested formally today. And at this point, they're waiting to see what happens next, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: George, tell us about these tapes here. You've got audio experts who are weighing in now on these screams that you hear on the 911 tapes. What are they saying about those screams are coming from?
HOWELL: Well, the information coming from these audio experts certainly is compelling information. You hear the screams on that 911 audio, screams for help. And there's always this question, the lingering question, was this George Zimmerman or was this Trayvon Martin.
And according to these audio experts, it's not very likely that the scream is coming from George Zimmerman. That's what they're saying, and perhaps 48 percent chance I believe is what one of the audio experts said. So, they're giving their explanation as to what they think they hear from that audio.
But it's important to point out that the audio experts, the analysis there is not 100 percent accurate, cannot be determined with certainty. And keep in mind that in the police report, the investigator did believe that that scream came from George Zimmerman. And we've also heard from his brother and from his father, both believe that the scream came from Zimmerman -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: George, finally, you have a lot of people who came out in the protests here. Do they worry that this is case that is going to be diminished as time goes on, that people will move on and go on to something else? Or do they feel emboldened here that people are still paying attention and believe this is important?
HOWELL: You know, and a great question. As each new detail comes out, for instance, the audio experts -- people are paying very close attention to these details, trying to piece this puzzle together. It seems from people that I spoke with, they want to no exactly what happened that night and they're staying on top of the story, following all of the details.
So, it doesn't seem like the people that we've seen -- the thousands of people who come out to these rallies and marches, it doesn't seem sound like they are giving up on this story, for lack of better word. They are following every detail and want to see what happens as far as an arrest.
MALVEAUX: All right. George, thank you.
Overseas now, Osama bin Laden's three widows and two daughters have been sentenced in Pakistan for being in the country illegally.
Nick Paton Walsh, she's joining us from Afghanistan.
So, Nick, I understand that -- at least according to the law there -- that this is pretty much a slap on the risk. The lawyer even called the sentences lenient.
How did this happen?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have been held in a (INAUDIBLE) house we understand in Islamabad since their arrest earlier this year. And today, they were expected to face charges. But it appears that the entire process is over in a matter of hours, simply this lenient sentence put through, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And we know that a deposition was taken from one of the wives that pretty much gives us a clear picture of bin Laden's life in hiding, some of his last days. What does she say?
WALSH: Well, it appears they moved around quite a lot. She appears to have gone to Afghanistan in 2000 to marry bin Laden. They moved back towards Pakistan. What they understand, they scattered, moving around a lot.
At one point, she was reunited in bin Laden in the north of Afghanistan again in the town called Haripur. And over a period this time, actually it appears bin Laden had two children in 2003 and 2004. They then move to Abbottabad in 2005, the house where the Navy SEALs eventually caught up to him there were another two children were born to bin Laden.
But, really, this idea of him being on the move inside Pakistan for nearly a decade, evading U.S. attempts to capture them simply going to raise further questions really about what level of complicity there have may have been amongst Pakistani authorities, about who knew where he was, when, how he managed to evade that decade-long manhunt for him by every resource the U.S. had available to them. And even now, they've demolished that house. In these women are due to be deported imminently.
People are still asking questions about how much Pakistan authorities knew in Pakistan, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And, Nick, when these wives, these widows talk, do we get a sense he lived a good life? That he was actually a happy man before he was killed?
WALSH: I think as you can imagine, evading capture really dominating his every move. Clearly, they were anxious to move around. Many years not spent together with his ever expanding family as he clearly spent time in the tribal areas near Afghanistan, apparently reunited with his wife near Peshawar, U.S. officials says they have reason to doubt much of the veracity of this account. But, really, this is something I think a story of a man desperately trying to evade capture throughout all of his years -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Nick, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Let's go right now to some of the stories that we are covering.
First, Sarah Palin versus -- yes, Katie Couric. The last time these two women went toe to toe, it made headlines and some changed the course of an election. So, what's going to happen now in the battle of the morning show guest anchors? We'll see.
And you got a Visa or MasterCard in your wallet, stick around. Latest hacking scandal of how it affects you.
And then, from checking a bag to just getting more leg room, right? We are rating the best and the worst airlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: All right. So, there's this big fight that's happening on TV. We're not talking about wrestling or boxing. This one is happening early in the morning. Morning TV as a matter of fact, over at "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts, he started this by going on vacation. So, ABC replaces her with the legendary "Today" show star Katie Couric.
Folks at "Today" on NBC, well, they announced they got their own star power, Sarah Palin. She's hosting tomorrow. And they say they've got this big announcement coming from Ryan Seacrest.
Meanwhile, over at CBS, Gayle King, she has her BFF on for an interview. We're talking Oprah Winfrey. That's right.
So, we know TV, it's a competitive. This is a whole another level.
I want to bring in Eric Deggans. He is a TV and media critic for "The Tampa Bay Times."
Wow, Eric, I was glued. I was fascinated. I was watching this morning, seeing all this go back and forth.
What is this about? Is it simply they are they trying to bump the "Today" show, breaking 16 years of rating dominance?
ERIC DEGGANS, MEDIA CRITIC, TAMPA BY TIMES: I think that's what's going on here. The "Today" show has an amazing track record in terms of viewership. It's won in the ratings every week for something like 16 years. But the distance between the two shows has narrowed very much, pretty much -- particularly in recent years.
And I think what ABC saw was an opportunity to surprise the "Today" show, bring on somebody who used to be on their air, maybe steal some of their viewers and actually get a great headline next week that says "GMA breaks today show viewing record."
MALVEAUX: I mean, not only do they have her on, but they had promos saying, oh, guess who is going to be on? Guess who's going to be suggesting here?
DEGGANS: Oh, yes.
MALVEAUX: What do we think is behind this, for Katie Couric at least?
DEGGANS: Well, this is kind of interesting. Katie Couric has a syndicated show that's going to debut September 10th, you know, in the fall. So, obviously, she wants to keep her profile up. But the one thing she wants to do also is not look like she's pushing Robin Roberts off the stage. So, they were very overt and very upfront about Robin's going on vacation. They had promos where Robin Roberts and Katie Couric were in the same promo to show, you know, that everybody agrees with this.
I think they don't want "Good Morning America's" fans to get upset with Katie Couric for taking over Robin Roberts' spot. So, they're just taking a shot at the "Today" show and they're also promoting Katie Couric's new show, which is also done through ABC.
MALVEAUX: OK. And then we got, of course, nobody really comes close to Oprah. She's struggling with her own network, OWN. And she talked about it this morning with her BFF Gayle King, as well as Charlie Rose. And she also made a little bit news. I want to play this sound for our viewers.
(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: I'm not going to be out there. I am 100 percent behind our president. I actually love our president and have the utmost respect for him and that office and what it takes to be there. I will not be out, because I'm trying to fix a network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: What do you think? How is she doing? I mean, how is she managing she's struggling so much with her own network.
DEGGANS: Right. Well, this is a tough time for Oprah Winfrey. And I don't know if she's used to being on the wrong side of events the way she has been over the last year or so. OWN debuted and it got tremendous numbers when it first debuted. But then it struggled in the ratings ever since.
They just canceled the Rosie O'Donnell show and they had to lay off 30 people from the company.
And so, I think Oprah scheduled this sit down on CBS this morning to try and rehabilitate her image a little bit, admit and say, hey, you know, I tried to too much at once. You know, we're regrouping and rebranding.
And, unfortunately, her bad luck continues. She picks a day that the morning show wars break out and we hear about Sarah Palin and we see Katie Couric on ABC. And all of a sudden, all of this thunder, I think she hoped to own the news cycle for at least the day.
MALVEAUX: It didn't happen.
DEGGANS: But, you know, nothing doing -- nothing doing.
MALVEAUX: It did not happen at all. And I've got to ask you about this, Eric, because you've got Sarah Palin, right, who's hosting. And you know, it made a lot of us think and wonder, what does it say about the state of journalism? You've got Sarah Palin who says, you know, she can see Russia from her backyard. And you got Katie Couric, the woman who basically called her out, you know, what newspapers are you reading? And they are toe to toe here.
What does t say about the state of journalism? Are these shows morning shows saying that they are, morning shows, entertainment shows?
DEGGANS: Well, I mean, we do have to remember that when the "Today" show started in the 1950s, it was hosted by talk show host David Garroway and a chimp, J. Fred Muggs. So, you know, the "Today" show has a history of having folks on as host who are not necessarily a journalist.
You know, to be a little more serious, you know, Kathie Lee Gifford, host of fourth hour of the "Today" show, co-host -- she's not a journalist. Florence Henderson has been on the show as a host, she's not a journalist.
You know, I wouldn't make a whole lot of this. This on the "Today" show feels to me like a last-minute attempt to really try and bring some glitz and glamour to the "Today" show, to try and blunt and pull back some viewers who might have consider watching Kathie Couric on GMA. I think NBC was caught a little flat-footed by Katie Couric co-hosting.
MALVEAUX: Yes.
DEGGANS: And they're doing the best they can to load up that show, to try and make people watch.
MALVEAUX: Yes. And just to be clear, Eric, you're not calling Sara Palin a chimp now, are you?
DEGGANS: I am not, no. Tea Party fans, please. I am not.
(CROSSTALK)
DEGGANS: I am not comparing Sara Palin to a chimp. What I am saying is that the "Today" show as a history of having light-hearted hosts who are not journalists, including Florence Henderson and Kathie Lee Gifford, and unfortunately --
(CROSSTALK)
MALVEAUX: And what about -- and Ryan Seacrest is supposed to come out with a big announcement as well. Do we know what that is actually about? Do we have any idea?
DEGGANS: We don't know for sure. Indications are that it has something to do with Olympics coverage. He is signing a new deal with NBC. And you know, he does a lot of unscripted shows. He produces a lot of unscripted shows with NBC's cable channels and he's very involved with them.
For a time, there was talk he might take Matt Lauer's place on the "Today" show. But I think we have found out that Matt Lauer is probably going to re-up. So, he won't be doing that. But he will be announcing some new ventures with NBC inline with his new contract and we can't wait to hear what they are.
MALVEAUX: All right. Well, my recommendation, watch Soledad O'Brien and Carol Costello, watch our morning people. I think that they are fun and fascinating and smart --
DEGGANS: I was wondering why we were spending so much time talk about NBC.
MALVEAUX: I know.
DEGGANS: I was kind of wondering we're spending so much time --
MALVEAUX: CNN. Come to CNN tomorrow.
We'll have to see how this all plays out. Thank you, Eric. Great to see you.
Well, the two biggest credit card companies in the world, hacked. If you got a Visa or MasterCard in your wallet, you're going to want to hear the next story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: More information is coming out on the 1.5 million credit card and debit numbers that were stolen from Global Payments. It's a major processing payment firm.
Alison Kosik, she's joining us from the New York Stock Exchange.
And, Alison, just to be clear, what do we know about the kind of information that was compromised here?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. So, first of all, what the hackers, Suzanne, did not get are people's names, their addresses, their Social Security numbers. Now, what they did get are account numbers. So, what that means is that they can wind up making a fake credit card , you know, so they can buy stuff using your account number.
But here's the good news in all this -- they don't have enough information for a full-on identity theft. So, they can't take out a mortgage in your name. They can't open up credit cards in your name. So, that's really the good news of it, it doesn't have that staying power there.
Wall Street is reacting, though. Global Payment shares right now are down 3 percent. That's in addition to the 9 percent that those shares fell on Friday when this news came out -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: So, we think any credit cards are safe at this point, or anybody who has a credit card is at risk?
KOSIK: That's really a good question. What Global Payments really -- they are not coming forth with many details. We're not saying which credit companies are affected.
Now, Visa said it's all the big boys. It's all the big players. Visa actually came out and said that they're affected.
MasterCard alerted card issuers on which accounts could potentially be at risk. Discover and MasterCard -- they are on the lookout for any suspicious activity. But the issue here, you know, we're not sure how far this is really going to go, even though that only account numbers were taken.
Now, Global Payment says the problem is contained and they are still processing payments -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: So, Alison, what do we do? How do we make sure that the credit cards were using are actually safe to use?
KOSIK: OK. So, you can expect the credit card issuer that -- the credit card issuer will contact you if you're affected. You know, they're going to give you a new card. They'll issue a new account number. In the past, they've given out free credit monitoring as well.
But, you know, you got to take responsibility, that if you're worried about it, the first line of defense is really you. You know, go ahead and watch your account statements when they come in. Of course, report anything that's out of the ordinary. And just note that this is kind of a drop in the bucket because, you know, 1.5 million credit cards, yes, that's a lot. But it's small compared to the 1 billion credit and debit cards that are being used currently in the U.S. -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Alison, thank you. Good to see you.
Mitt Romney having trouble with women. Women voters, that is. A new poll showing President Obama is trouncing the former Massachusetts governor in this key demographic. So, how does Romney win over the women? We're going to talk about it in our political panel.
And college, pretty pricy. Costs keep going up. So, how are you going to pay for all of this. We got a few tips. Our Christine Romans with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: More than $22,000 is what you'll need to attend an average public college this year. At private colleges, the average asking price is twice that. Where do you come up with that money?
The April issue of "Money Magazine" uncovers 25 secrets to paying for college.
Kim Clark is the senior writer at "Money" who co-wrote this story.
Kim, you said that kids cannot cut leaving expenses, they can take cheaper course. These are two important ways to cut cost.
KIM CLARK, SENIOR WRITER, MONEY MAGAZINE: Right. Well, when you look at that $22,000 number, people don't realize that about $9,000 or $10,000 of that, that's living costs. That's a great way to cut your expenses. And one way to do that, for example, is to ask for less fancy dorms. The standard dorm is shared with one other person. If you ask to triple up, quadruple up, you can save $1,000.
The other way is to do some chores. There are coops in scholarship houses where you work five hours a week. You can save huge amounts of money. The scholarship houses around the university of Florida, they save -- cost only $2,000 a year in room and board, and that's $6,000 a year --
ROMANS: And you take cheaper courses. How do you do that?
CLARK: Right. A lot of schools are offering discounted tuition on summer school. And, of course, you can get your prereqs out of the pay by taking E.P. classes or community college course.
ROMANS: That's really good advice since we know that 40 percent of kids who get to school, get to college still some need remedial help.
CLARK: Community college.
ROMANS: So, do that first and you're not wasting the money in the more expensive. Kim Clark, thank you so much.
CLARK: You bet.
ROMANS: For "Smart is the New Rich," I'm Christine Romans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Here's a run down of some of the stories that we are working on next.
If Mitt Romney wants to be competitive with President Obama, he still has a lot of work to do with women.
Then, how do the airlines stack up on quality. We're going to tell you about new rankings to help book the next trip.
And alter, racism in America far from. Just ask you kids. We got a startling new CNN report.
So, could it finally be the beginning of the end? Mitt Romney, well, he sure hopes so. Wisconsin's primary is tomorrow. A healthy lead in the polls, the former Massachusetts governor set to make another strong argument for his nomination.
But his challengers are saying, hey, not so fast. They're not going anywhere, no matter who comes out on top tomorrow.
Joining us so talk about it: Lenny McAllister, Republican strategist and conservative radio host, and Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons.
Good to see you, guys.
JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to see you.
MALVEAUX: Lenny, let me start off with you. Bruising primary so far, and you know -- top Republicans, if they don't get behind somebody soon, they're only helping the president here. What does Romney have to do to wrap it up before the convention?
LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Romney has to do two things. Number one, a sweep tomorrow would be fantastic. And I think he's in position to do that.
But the other thing he needs to do is win a vast majority of Yankee primary on April 24th. The past meeting with Gingrich and Romney is pretty significant. There's a growing possibility that Newt Gingrich will get out of the race after tomorrow, setting up the one- on-one contest that everybody has been looking for -- Mitt Romney versus non-Romney.
And if Mitt Romney can beat non-Romney, going into April 24th, on win on April 24th, I think by the time we leave April, we'll finally have the coalescing of the Republican Party and the conservative movement behind Mitt Romney moving forward, throughout the race of 2012.
MALVEAUX: And, Lenny, did you actually say Yankee?
MCALLISTER: Yankee primary day on April 24th.
MALVEAUX: OK, Yankee.
Jamal, let's talk about the Yankees here. There's an enthusiasm gap. Romney, he is currently up 7 percent in the polls, according to this NBC News/Marist poll.
Now, that's the kind of lead however that could evaporate if voters don't come out, if they're not charged enough to get out there and vote for him.
How does Romney fire up the social conservatives in a state like Wisconsin?
SIMMONS: You know, they had. I've heard a couple of interviews even here on CNN of people saying, well, I'm probably more conservative than Mitt Romney, but I think he can win. I think he can beat the president. I think Santorum is just too far out there.
I think Santorum, over the recent weeks, he's proven he doesn't have the temperament to be the president. And that's a tough hurdle to get back over.
Now, you got Romney out campaigning. He's not even mentioning Santorum's name while he's out there anymore. They're going to starve this guy of any, they're going to starve Santorum of any attention which really hurts him.
Now, after Wisconsin, you've got about three weeks without primaries. It's going to be very hard for somebody like Santorum who doesn't have a lot of money to air ads, doesn't have any debates to make a lot of news in the three weeks between the primary tomorrow and three weeks from now.
MALVEAUX: Well, let's listen to Rick Santorum because he says this thing is far from over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What a North Dakota radio station the other day, Governor Sununu, one of Romney's chief spokes trying to spin this race is over, this race is over.
Then why is he spending $4 million in Wisconsin if the race is over? If it's over, there's no chance, then why is he bothering even campaigning anymore if it's over?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Lenny, I want to throw this one at you, here because he seems like he's hardly ready to step out of the race. Newt Gingrich hanging on, too, despite falling behind with winning only two states. How far is this going to go?
MCALLISTER: Again, I think, April 24th is a big date because if Rick Santorum all of a sudden starts losing in the Midwest, where he got a lot of his strength earlier in the year, then has a hard time hanging on to Pennsylvania and doesn't do much good the rest of the way on April 24th. There's not much reason to stay in. Yes, he'll win Texas. He won other states such as Arkansas, but for the most part, he won't be able to stop Romney from getting to the magical 1,144. And the best he can do right now is throw those bombs out there about the relevant people in the Republican Party.
Everybody that matters versus the voters, he can make that argument, but if he can't win primaries and he doesn't have a debate, put him up against Mitt Romney one on one. Finally, he's going have a very hard time turning the tide away from Romney and it's going to be a march until 1,144 at this point.
SIMMONS: Suzanne, I would love to find way to argue for Rick Santorum because it's good for us, as Democrats, to have this go on as long as possible. But it's just too reminiscent of 2008.
Where I sat here day after day telling people that this was probably going to be ending and Barack Obama would be the nominee. It's very clear that Mitt Romney is going to be the nominee of the Republican Party. All Rick Santorum can do is sort of get in the way and try to make a big mess at the convention. He can do that. It's perfectly his will, but I doubt that many other Republicans have the stomach to see that happen.
MALVEAUX: Yes, Jamal, I remember that 2008, the epic battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Nobody thought it would go as far as it did. And one of the things, obviously, that he was fighting against Hillary Clinton was the vote over the women, whether or not he has the support of female voters.
Now we're taking a look at "USA Today," a head to head matchup. And 12 key swing states, President Obama is way up on Romney and this is when it comes to female voters.
So what do you think it is, Jamal? Do you think he's resonating a particular -- a message that he's -- that's resonating with women that is important here or do you think Romney is doing so poorly with women in connecting with them?
SIMMONS: We see this a lot in polling. For a long time, it was Barack Obama versus your perfect idea of their candidate could be, your perfect Republican. What Mitt Romney has done over the last few weeks is he's kind of started to find himself.
Now people learn it's not Barack Obama versus Ronald Reagan or some perfect Republican. It's Barack Obama versus the very flawed candidate, Mitt Romney who we've heard from the president's spokespeople and other, you know, time after time, this Planned Parenthood issue.
Contraception, of all these issues around women's health and reproductive choices really are taking a toll on Mitt Romney. I think that's hurting Mitt Romney more than it is really helping the president.
MALVEAUX: All right, Lenny, I want to bring you in here because this is kind of a fun matchup if you will. Let's say Romney does pull it out. He has the nomination. This is "The Washington Post" has a list of potential running mates for him.
They got a rundown of a couple possibly here. You've got the New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie. He's been his campaign wingman. You have got also Marco Rubio. He's got star power as we know.
And I want to skip ahead here. We have a lot of names here, but I want to skip ahead to this one because I just like her name, Suzanna Martinez, governor of New Mexico here. Lenny, what do you think? Who do you think he would choose?
MCALLISTER: I think from a Romney standpoint, and he's been doing things pretty logically and methodically. I think the methodical, logical choice goes to Marco Rubio, Florida, young, Latino-American. I think it all fit there is. But I wouldn't be surprised if he went with Governor Martinez, not just because she's also Latina, but because she's out in New Mexico.
And interesting state out there, she's a governor versus a senator. There's something to be said about more executive experience although she's only been in office for a couple of years and it goes back to the women's vote.
The bottom line is, you look at President Obama. He's not really officially on this ticket yet. Yes, it's going to be a referendum of the Obama administration over the last four years.
But until we get to the fall, there's no way to put them both head on head. This is an opportunity to get some of that women's vote back for Governor Romney.
MALVEAUX: Jamal, who is the one person that Obama would not want to see there on the ticket as a VP?
SIMMONS: I'm not really afraid of any of these folks. They're all very flawed candidates. I'm sure the president's team would agree. The person though that I -- if I was Romney, I would think seriously about is Ryan.
I think about Ryan because Ryan's young. He's energetic. Romney's already endorsed Paul Ryan's economic plan. So if he's endorsed his plan, he's going to have to run on that.
Ryan's probably the best articulator of that plan who can maybe make that case. Martinez, maybe interesting candidate, but I think the bar is pretty high now for people we have never heard of before.
MALVEAUX: All right, Jamal, Lenny, good to see you both. We'll have you back, soon.
From baggage fees to in-flight meals, which airline gives you the biggest bang for your bucks? We're going to tell you how things are stacking up in the battle for the sky.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: All right, remember this bizarre moment from last week?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God, I'm so distraught! My God, we've got Israel, we've got Iraq. We've got Israel, we've got Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: JetBlue pilot, Clayton Osbon, in apparent mid-air meltdown screaming about Israel and Iraq. Much different looking and composed Osbon was transferred to a federal courthouse in Texas.
That happened this morning. He's charged with interfering with a flight crew. He's been receiving treatment in a hospital since Tuesday. Stay with us for more in today's hearing throughout the day.
Well, we have our travel horror stories. Believe it or not, airline performance is actually been improving for four straight years, according to a new report.
Aviation and regulation correspondent, Lizzie O'Leary, she's joining us from Washington. So, Lizzie, I don't know. I just flew this past week, international flight. My bags didn't make it with me. It's hard to understand how is this improving? Tell us what you know.
LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: It is maybe hard to understand for flyers and what this is, is basically a measure of how airlines are doing, not on the safety front, but this is a group looks at the performance of airlines over about 20 years.
They looked at things like being on time, your bags, where they went, airline and customer complaints. What you see the top three airlines were AirTran, Hawaiian, and believe it or not even though they had a bumpy week, JetBlue.
They actually came in the top ratings of all of the 15 major airlines that they surveyed. Down at the bottom were a lot of regional carriers that work with bigger airlines so that's Atlantic, South East, Mesa and American Eagle.
So they're counting both customer feedback and on time things. Actually one of the reasons that you see some of the discount airlines do better there.
Folks around the survey say people are not expecting in some ways what they would expect if they were flying on one of the legacy carriers. So they buy a cheaper ticket, they expect service in correlation to that.
MALVEAUX: Yes, I'm always surprised. You know, you don't really get much of -- the blankets are gone. The pillows are gone. You just get the peanuts. You have to ask for them. I mean, how was it back, I don't know, 20, 10 years ago? O'LEARY: Well, overall, performance on these measures are improving and one of the things that you see, you have to think about it a little bit.
When people fly less, so after 9/11 for example, people flew less and overall, people had better --- reported better ratings because fewer flyers and the ones who were flying tend to get better service. That's the same thing also after the recession. You saw a dip because fewer people were flying. You see people saying, we like the service better, because there are fewer of them in the air.
MALVEAUX: All right, Lizzie, it's sometimes still a struggle there. It's good there are some airlines that are doing a little bit better. Thank you, Lizzie.
So what really happened the night Trayvon Martin was shot and killed? We're going to take a closer listen to a crucial piece of the evidence. It's the screams caught on the 911 call to police.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Who screamed for help the night Trayvon Martin was killed? Two audio experts now say that the voice crying out on the 911 calls was not the shooter, George Zimmerman's. I want you to listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911: Does he look hurt to you?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: I can't see him. I don't know what's going on. I don't want to go out there. I don't know what's going on. They're sending --
911: Do you think he's yelling help?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Yes.
911: All right, what is your --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now we want you to listen to one of the audio expects explaining how that tape was analyzed, how he reached the conclusion that it was not George Zimmerman's voice screaming for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM OWEN, VIDEO/AUDIO EXPERT: It's done in a matter in which there's a comparison made between a known and an unknown voice. In this instance, George Zimmerman is a known voice. He identified himself on the 911 call. So we know who that is. And then we have the voice of the person who is screaming. Now we consider that the unknown because we really don't know who that is at this point.
The difference between the old comparisons where you had to have verbatim speech, or the people saying the same thing, and to today is the biometric -- the biometric software is able to define three different things -- spectrographic information, pitch information, and what we refer to as galsium (ph) information -- are intra (ph) speaker variability, how much space is between words when people speak and so forth. And the software of today, which is in use at NSA and CIA and the FBI, is able to do that and do it very efficiently with no subjectivity whatsoever being thrown into the mix. And that's what this particular software does.
We have the tape of Zimmerman. We have the tape of the screams. And then we can start to comparison. And basically it's going to do this comparison, if you can see the screen now. And it's going to give me some false rejection rates, some false acceptance rates and a likelihood ratio, OK. And this gray dot over here designates the lower -- very lower end of the scale, which, in essence, it's translated as, it's not him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: That was Tom Owen, the expert there. He admit this is not an exact science.
The killing of Trayvon Martin, as you can imagine, has sparked a racial debate across this country. All this week, CNN is going in- depth on race relations. Our Anderson Cooper, he is reporting a yearlong investigative studying of how race impacts children. Special report. It is called "Kids On Race: The Hidden Picture."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: With this study, we wanted to do research and look at how early it is that kids form attitudes about race or form their opinions about race and also why they form those opinions. How those opinions are shaped. And we wanted to make sure that we went to different locations, different geographic locations in the United States to get kind of a cross-section of the population. Also we wanted to make sure we went to different kinds of schools. Some schools that were majority white, some schools that were majority African-American, some schools that were very mixed.
One of the interesting things they did in the study is, we had researchers showing kids of different ages pictures, ambiguous pictures, in which the child who was viewing the pictures could make up their own mind about what was happening in the pictures.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think happened in this picture?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The girl pushed him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that Randy's doing something that's OK, not OK, or kind of in the middle?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not OK.
COOPER: Also we would ask questions about whether the kids who were looking at the pictures thought that the children portrayed in the pictures would be friends. And would their parents want them to be friends. And the answer were, frankly to me, really surprising.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think it would be easy for a kid to convince his parents that it would be OK to have other types of people over?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mmm-mm (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not?
COOPER: This isn't about criticizing a child or this isn't about, you know, pointing to a child and say, this child has a -- has a bias. This is about sort of educating all of us about subconscious biases that most of us probably have and trying to understand where those biases come from. How they're formed. And, importantly, what can be done about them.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.
COOPER: One of the things early on when I heard about the shooting of Trayvon Martin, was I actually thought about this study that we had just done, because so much of the controversy over Trayvon Martin's shooting is centered around what George Zimmerman was thinking.
TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FATHER: A black kid with a hoodie on, jeans, tennis shoes. Thousands of people wear that outfit every day.
COOPER: What did he perceive when he saw Trayvon Martin walking in that gated community? And, you know, what was his perception of Trayvon Martin? Those are very much the questions we were trying to get answered in this study. The topic of race in America is an important topic and it's one that's not easy to discuss sometimes and it's uncomfortable to discuss, but we wanted to try to do it in a very scientific way. And as scientifically as possible to do research and to study kids and their perceptions about race. And that's what we've done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Be sure to check out Anderson's special series, "Kids On Race: The Hidden Picture." That is tonight all week long on "Anderson Cooper 360" at 8:00 Eastern here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: It's Autism Awareness Day. So we asked you the share some of your experiences. This is a 10-year-old boy explaining his life with autism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROY WATERS: Hi. My name's Troy Waters and I have autism. One of the good things about it, that like you think in a different way than other people. And being different is OK. One of the negative things is, like, you can't understand people. Can't understand what they are saying to you. What they are saying to you. It's like you can't really understand it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: There are some difficulties. And besides the emotion toll, people living with severe autism, they can spend millions of dollars on care in their lifetime. Families are struggling just to get proper medical care for their kids. Poppy Harlow talks to two families trying to get by.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What letter is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: B.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Three year old Colton is working on his letters.
HARLOW (on camera): If you could describe Colton in one word, what would it be?
KIM PICCIANO, COLTON'S MOTHER: Happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, happy.
HARLOW (voice-over): He was also diagnosed with autism eight months ago. First came the emotional shock. Then the financial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's approximately $1,000 out of pocket a month. Between everything. Between all of the therapies.
HARLOW: And even though 29 states require insurance to cover autism treatment, families still bear a large burden.
PICCIANO: We still have co-pays. Right now I've been fighting with the insurance since like August to get him occupational therapy. We want to give him everything -- every fighting chance that we can give him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every fighting chance.
PICCIANO: He's going to be something special. We just know it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
HARLOW: Autism's cost to society, from treatment to lost productivity, can be staggering. $137 billion a year in the U.S. according to research funded by Autism Speaks. Lifetime costs for someone severely affected can reach $2.3 million.
HARLOW (on camera): Do you thing about what it's going to be like having Colton at age 20 or so?
PICCIANO: I don't. You worry about so many things that thinking about him at 20, I -- right now I can't go there.
HARLOW: But that day will come. And it can mean a whole new set of financial challenges for families, because many people with autism will need lifelong support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, all right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I think of Clinton, I think of love. Just unconditional love.
HARLOW (voice-over): In the 19 years since Clinton was diagnosed, his parents have spent tens of thousands of dollars on therapy. But there were also unexpected costs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adolescence hit in a big way. And he suddenly started breaking windows, overturning furniture. We spent around $4,000 replacing windows.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our savings are almost gone. At some point we're -- we'll have to sell the house.
HARLOW (on camera): Clinton graduates from high school in June at 21 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
HARLOW: How are you feeling about that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sick to my stomach, because we don't know where he's going to go afterwards. There are very few programs for adults with autism.
HARLOW (voice-over): $80,000 a year from the state will cover services. More than most families get, reflecting the severity of Clinton's disability. But a group home is years away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He'll be on a priority waiting list. And we're like number 3,018.
HARLOW (on camera): Three thousand?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three thousand.
HARLOW: Do you think about what will happen to Clinton in the long term?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really worry about him being in the right hands, having people that love him. Someone that's going to care and advocate for him.
HARLOW (voice-over): Although they are at different points on their journey, both families are focusing on the future, no matter what the cost. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never give up hope, because there's always positive things that happen.
PICCIANO: Don't ever give up hope.
HARLOW: In New Jersey, Poppy Harlow, CNN Money.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So just how do you get help if your family is dealing with Autism? You're going to hear advice in the next hour, including signs you should watch for in your child.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: A family in Providence, Rhode Island, buries their son today. Their son who was also a soldier. Dennis Weichel, a sergeant in the National Guard, died in Afghanistan, not in combat, but while saving the life of a little girl. The people who knew him were not surprised at all that he made such a sacrifice. Here's Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy!
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three months ago, Specialist Dennis Weichel made a surprise visit home from his tour in Afghanistan. Now the flag flies at half staff over the Rhode Island State Capitol until the 29-year-old father of three is laid to rest.
Weichel was killed in eastern Afghanistan saving the life of an Afghan child. According to the Army, when Weichel's armored convoy came across Afghan children in the road, he and others got out to move the children out of the way. But at the last minute, a little girl ran back to pick up some shell casings. Weichel saw her in front of the trucks and pulled her to safety at the last minute. But he was hit accidentally by the truck and died a short time later.
Captain Christopher John Ahlemeyer, Weighel's platoon leader during a previous tour duty in Iraq has been hit hard by his death.
CAPT. CHRISTOPHER AHLEMEYER, PLATOON LEADER: First, I was just, you know, overcome with emotion. You know, I deployed with him, he was one of my guys. But then, you know, I took a step back and I realized that he would have done that -- he would have really done that for anyone. That's the type of guy he was.
STARR: Dennis, he said, always responded to children.
ASHLEMEYER: Now, we would roll into local communities and villages and set up security, and you'd see children, you know, peeking out the windows and it was Sergeant Weichel's calm demeanor and the way he handled children that, you know, these kids, he welcomed them, and these kids would come out and he would ensure that every child received something, whether it be the smallest thing as a pencil or a -- or a booklet to write in.
STARR: During those days back home, everyone could see Dennis Weichel's own children meant everything to him.
SEARGEANT DENNIS WEICHEL: Just excited because these are the most important things to me, my kids. So, I'm just glad to see them on the holidays.
STARR (on camera): Dennis Weichel was promoted posthumously to sergeant. He is survived by his fiance and his three children who were so thrilled to see him just a few short months ago. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
