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Zimmerman Seeks Bond Today; Storm Leaves Mounds of Hail; Looking into "Stand Your Ground" Law; Government Sues Apple for Price- Fixing; Martin, Zimmerman and the Race Issue; Rosen's Romney Comment Stirs Up Twitter; Zimmerman to Ask for Bond; Axl Rose: "No Thanks" to Hall of Fame
Aired April 12, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
O'BRIEN: That's all the time we have today. I'm so happy to say that. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello begins right now. I'll see everybody back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I was going to say who's --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Thank you --
O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. Please.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Soledad. I will come to your rescue.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Carol Costello.
Happening right now, standing strong. Trayvon Martin's parents this morning thanking God and remaining optimistic as George Zimmerman sits in police custody just hours from a court hearing. Sanford, Florida, urging calm and healing today.
Firestorm. Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen and her attack on Mitt Romney's wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILARY ROSEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Has Rosen gone too far? We will ask her live.
Extreme flooding. Cars buried by water. Texas getting hammered by hail the size of golf balls. We're tracking where the storm is heading next.
Were we taken for a ride? The Department of Justice throwing the e-book at Apple accusing the computer giant of pumping up prices they charge us for e-books. The government says the winners are publishers are Apple, the losers would be you.
Calls, pics and texts. Thousands of them. New information this morning about former Arkansas coach, Bobby Petrino, and his motorcycle mistress.
And 6,000 ways to say no. Axl Rose in a lengthy 16-paragraph letter to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame says thanks but no thanks requesting he not be inducted in absentia.
NEWSROOM begins right now.
And this morning we begin in a Florida courtroom and the new epicenter of the Trayvon Martin case. Just a few hours from now, George Zimmerman will appear before a judge.
This is his new mug shot. The first time we've seen him since the night he killed the unarmed teenager. Zimmerman's attorney says he'll ask for his client's release on bond.
This is Zimmerman's arrival at the Seminole County Jail where he spent the night. It was just hours after being charged with second- degree murder.
For the parents of Trayvon Martin, it has been an agonizing 46 days time from the night of the killing to the announcement that Zimmerman would indeed be prosecuted. All along they have been demanding his arrest and each day the public debate over race has grown more heated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: Just want to speak from my heart to your heart because a heart has no color. It's not black. It's not white. It's red.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Martin Savidge is in Sanford this morning.
So, Martin, will we see Zimmerman in court today?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We tried -- no. What I mean by that is that of course you will be able to see him but we believe it's going to be an electronic linkup. In other words a video link. So it isn't that George Zimmerman is going to be in the courtroom physically. We do of course anticipate that his attorney is going to be there, Mark O'Mara and that he is going to enter a plea of not guilty.
This is going to be what they referred to as the first appearance for an arraignment at that time, is when the judge is going to read the charge against him. Second-degree murder with a firearm. As you know that's got a minimum of 25 years. Possibly up to life in prison if George Zimmerman were to be found guilty.
There's also going to be a pool television camera inside the courtroom that will be able to give us some of the atmosphere of what's happening there.
The real question here, Carol, is if there's going to be a bond hearing. And that could be a separate issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK O'MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S ATTORNEY: He's stressed. He's tired. He's been through a lot with the way this case has been handled to date. I'm just hoping that his mental health stays well and that we can move forward with getting the face figured out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: And that of course was his attorney talking about the mental state that he says George Zimmerman is in. He had a chance to meet with his client for an hour last night. He wants him out on bond because they need to start planning a defense -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Martin Savidge reporting live for us from Sanford, Florida.
There is still a firestorm brewing this morning over a Democratic consultant's controversial comments about Ann Romney. Hilary Rosen's comments have also stirred up the debate over working moms versus stay-at-home moms.
First, listen to what Rosen said on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEN: What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying, well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues. And when I listen to my wife, that's what I'm hearing.
Guess what, his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She has never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school and how do we worry -- and why we worry about their future?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ann Romney went on Twitter for the first time ever to respond to that. She said via tweet, "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work." Others jumped on Twitter to attack Rosen's comment. Even Democrats distancing themselves from it.
Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod tweeted, "Also disappointed in Hilary Rosen's comments about Ann Romney. They were inappropriate and offensive."
Coming up in just about 35 minutes from now, Hilary Rosen will join us and she will answer her critics. Lawmakers in Connecticut have voted to repeal the state's death penalty. And with the governor promising to sign it, there's already talk of unintended consequences for one of the most heinous crimes in memory. Two men on death row now for a home invasion that left a woman and her two daughters dead.
Under the new law, their death sentences would not be affected but the sole survivor of the crime, Dr. William Petit, warns the law will force appeals that could eventually spare their lives.
Today jury selection begins for John Edwards, the former Democratic presidential candidate. He faces a half dozen charges over the way money was handled in his 2008 campaign and specifically payments made to his former mistress. Jurors will decide if money coming from campaign supporters should have faced the same federal regulation as political donations. Edwards denies any wrongdoing.
And more fallout from Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino's firing. Phone records have been released showing an incredible number of text messages and calls between the married father of four and 25- year-old Jessica Dorrell. KATV reports Petrino calls Dorrell 283 times over the last seven months. The exchanged more than 4450 text message, more than half were from Dorrell including 62 pictures and video messages, 1,775 were from Petrino including 10 picture messages.
Arkansasnews.com reports Petrino and Dorrell spoke for 22 minutes the day after the motorcycle accident.
Raging waters paralyzed parts of the Texas Panhandle after a hailstorm near Amarillo, Texas. And it was caught on camera by a storm chaser. The floodwaters washed out roads and everything else in its path including some cars.
In some places the hail and water washed together forming mounds of hail estimated to be four feet high.
I've never even heard of that.
Rob Marciano is here to explain.
Really? I mean I saw a picture of a firefighter standing beside this mound of hail.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: If you think of it like a drift, like a snow drift. You know, sometimes when you point, you get six inches of snow, you can get a six-foot snowdrift.
Well, with hail when you get, you know, three or four, five or six inches of accumulation, which is about what they have which is still remarkable.
COSTELLO: Yes.
MARCIANO: And you get water that takes all that hail and then kind of funnels it into a ditch and piles it up. So that's where you get three and four feet of accumulation. But -- COSTELLO: That was crazy.
MARCIANO: I mean we -- pictures of cars that are stuck in, you know, side road ditches, drainage ditches with hail up and over there at the side rails. So amazing stuff. This is the second day that this sort of thing has happened across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle and because of that not only did we get the hail but we got tremendous amount of rainfall there and when I say tremendous, you know, this is an erid climate so if they get an inch of rain in a day that's a lot.
And they got about two inches in two days. But both of those shots of rain came in about an hour to two-hour time period. So that's why you had the flash flooding there and the raging rivers, and today, if you look at the map, this is where going to see the threat for super cell thunderstorms and potentially tornadoes today.
Certainly damaging winds and torrential downpours and large hail a good probability today and tomorrow and then as we move towards the weekend, there's a strong system that's coming in to California.
Looked to be particularly dangerous at this point, so we're going to have to keep aware of that.
COSTELLO: I'm sure you will. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right. You bet.
COSTELLO: Stand Your Ground, the controversial Florida law could be on trial right along with George Zimmerman. Hear how that could play out in the courtroom next.
And a real life drama unfolding on a Los Angeles freeway. A police chase ends in a shootout and it's all caught on camera. We'll show you more.
Plus Apple facing serious allegations of price fixing. How the case could end up saving you money.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Opinions on the Trayvon Martin case are varied, strong and coming from all corners. This one from the Brady Campaign for the Prevention of Gun Violence. I'm going to quote you here, this is a quote. "George Zimmerman is the NRA. And Florida shoot first, ask questions later law and the paranoid mentality it promotes are products of the NRA's vision for America where just about anybody can get and use a gun just about anywhere.
So let's talk more about that with CNN legal contributor and attorney Paul Callan.
Welcome, Paul.
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Nice being with you. COSTELLO: Good to have you here. Because a lot of people think George Zimmerman is going to be on trial but so is Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. How will that come into play during this trial, you think?
CALLAN: Well, not only Florida's law but more than 20 other American states have similar "Stand Your Ground" law. So a lot of states are going to be on trial in terms of this law. The way the law will that come into play, Carol, is that after the arraignment in the case and the working out of whether he gets bail or no bail. The next thing that usually happens in Florida is a "Stand Your Hearing."
At that hearing a Florida judge will hear evidence as to whether or not George Zimmerman was acting in self-defense when he fired the fatal shot that killed Trayvon Martin. And if the judge thinks that there's substantial evidence supporting Zimmerman's self-defense claim, the entire case gets dismissed and is never submitted to a jury.
Now this is pretty much unprecedented, it doesn't happen in other states but it's a special Florida procedure with respect to this law.
COSTELLO: So you're saying that George Zimmerman may never appear in criminal court if his lawyers can prove that he was just acting under the pretense of this law, the "Stand Your Ground" law.
CALLAN: Well, he will appear in criminal court but he'll never appear in front of a jury. A judge -- this is -- this is a judge's decision, it's a special hearing, Florida lawyers called it an immunity hearing. And his lawyers will stand up in front of a judge and say, under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law he felt that his life was endanger and he used deadly physical force to protect himself and we want the charges dismissed.
If the judge agrees with that, he could throw the case out. I'm not saying that he will but I will tell you, Carol, many, many Florida prosecutions have ended this way with the immunity hearing and that doesn't happen in other states. In other states a jury decides this, and not a judge.
COSTELLO: Wow. OK, so you have -- you have examined this law. I know you have, Paul. And the one thing that sticks out, I mean you can -- you can defend yourself if you're afraid that your life is in danger. If you're just afraid. The other person doesn't have to attack you. But you can't, like, follow a person, right? You can't stalk a person and then defend yourself.
And as we all know by now, George Zimmerman followed Trayvon Martin against the advice of Florida police. So how will -- how will George Zimmerman's defense attorney spin that?
CALLAN: Well, Carol, you say that we all know that he did -- that George Zimmerman followed him against the advice of the 911 operator. I'm not so sure that the defense is going to agree with that. I think the defense is going to say that George Zimmerman stood down and maybe started to return to his vehicle and was jumped from behind. Now I don't know what the defense is going to be. But I'm suggesting that that's a possibility.
That would then give him the right to say that he acted in self- defense. He was in fear of serious bodily injury when he fired the shot. If you are correct that in fact he continued to follow Trayvon Martin and he started the fight, he initiated the fight, he becomes what we call the initial aggressor and he really -- the law won't allow him to use a self-defense claim. So, George Zimmerman's case would be very, very difficult if he was stalking, following and provoking the encounter with Trayvon Martin.
But the facts are still very much out there, Carol. We haven't really seen what the prosecutor has and what the defense attorneys have.
COSTELLO: Paul Callan, fascinating. Thank you so much for your insight. We appreciate it.
CALLAN: Nice being with you.
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you today: Is the Martin case more about race or justice? This is a case that's once again ripped the country apart along racial lines. The prosecutor, the Florida prosecutor, was careful to say she is committed to justice for every race, every gender, every person.
Even Martin family advocate Al Sharpton pivoted and calmly talked about unity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST : I want us to be very clear, this is not anti-anybody. There are whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians that have marched with us, that stand with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That is a far cry from those fiery speeches where Sharpton demanded that George Zimmerman be arrested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: Don't talk to us like we're ignorant. We love our children like you love yours. Lock him up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Critics like conservatives firebrand Rush Limbaugh accused them of race-baiting, saying Zimmerman was branded a criminal before anyone knew the facts came out. Well, those facts will eventually come out, but will we ever come together on race?
Yesterday, it took the victim's mother to peel away the racial politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: I just want to speak from my heart to your heart because a heart has no color. It's not black. It's not white. It's red. And I want to say thank you from my heart to your heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So the talkback question for you. Is the Martin case more about race or justice?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, I'll read your comments later this hour.
A frightening ride for children and two adults. Their school bus crashes into a house. Just ahead, we'll tell you what led to this rather bizarre accident.
And a government lawsuit against Apple could drive down the price of your favorite e-books. We'll tell you why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Checking stories cross country now.
A high-speed car chase last night on a Los Angeles freeway ends in gunfire. As you can see from these pictures, the driver who is cornered by police gets out of his car, runs, and then begins an apparent shootout with authorities. He then tries to hide, you can see it there, he then tries to behind another motorist's car. Police, of course, fired back. The gunman was killed.
One of the biggest and most stubborn brush fires along the New Jersey turnpike is finally out. The meadowlands fire which raged for more than seven hours was less than a mile from MetLife Stadium and consumed nearly 100 acres. Parts of the New Jersey turnpike were shut down due to smoke and low visibility.
In Miami, a school bus crashes into the front of a house after being hit by an SUV. The two children and two adults on board the bus suffered minor injuries. An 87-year-old man and his adult granddaughter were inside the home. They are OK, too.
The Justice Department is accusing Apple of taking part in a price-fixing scheme. It's suing the technology giant and several publishing companies for allegedly conspiring to raise prices on digital books.
Joining us live via Skype, HLN's digital lifestyle analyst, Mario Armstrong.
Good morning, Mario.
MARIA ARMSTRONG, HLN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE ANALYST: Hey, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. Some pretty serious claims here. Lay them out for us.
ARMSTRONG: Yes, they are very serious claims. And, look, the bottom line is, about 20 percent of Americans or adults out there have read an e-book and about 24 on average e-books are downloaded by these folks each year by the average e-book reader. So, there's a lot of money to be made and there's a lot of money being spent on e-books.
The problem is the U.S. government is alleging that publishers conspired with Apple to come together to do price fixing on electronic books. And to really challenge the Amazon pricing by raising the prices a bit higher than Amazon's normal price point.
COSTELLO: So you can only get Apple's e-books on Apple products, right? You can get Amazon e-books on the Nook and stuff like that.
ARMSTRONG: You can get e-books across platform. You can download e-books -- excuse me -- you can download e-books onto different devices. But the problem was that Amazon's prices were very, very low.
And so what they were saying is Amazon publishers, we're not going to give you these e-books unless you let us help to really raise the prices. We're going to use Apple as someone that has a tablet, excuse me, a very popular iPad and the iPhone as a way that many people read these e-books. We'll bring them into the picture to really say you have to stop lowering the prices. We're not making enough profit on these books or you won't receive them.
COSTELLO: Got you. So, if the Justice Department is successful in its suit, what will that mean to consumers?
ARMSTRONG: Well, if they are successful, that should mean that the prices will begin to drop down. I mean, people are used to paying around $9.99 or a little bit over that, maybe around $12, $13 for these e-books.
So, consumers are hopeful that that will mean that prices will drop. I mean, the bottom line is many consumers are frustrated.
They say, look, with an electronic book, there's no shipping. There's no restocking fee. There's no printing cost. There's really hardly any cost to creating an electronic book, so why should it get the same amount of profit margin from a hard back or paperback book?
COSTELLO: Mario Armstrong, thanks for making it clear. We appreciate it.
ARMSTRONG: Thank you, Carol. Appreciate it.
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: In "Health for Her," an alert to all of you who are sleep deprived this morning. A new study says disrupted sleep could lead to obesity and even diabetes. The study in the current issue of science translational medicine studied 29 adults for six weeks. Their sleep cycles were interrupted, having less than six hours of sleep per night. As a results, participants had elevated blood sugar levels and burned calories more slowly than those who slept for eight hours a night.
The good news, doctors say exercise and adjusting sleep schedules could help build metabolism.
If you are thinking about cool new smartphone, you better make a decision fast. One wireless carrier is planning to stick a fat fee to customers who upgrade. That story is coming your way next.
Plus, we'll talk more about the Trayvon Martin case and George Zimmerman's arrest. How has this all affected the dialogue about race in this country?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The opening bell is set to ring on Wall Street momentarily, actually in about two minutes. U.S. stocks are expected to open higher today, thanks to some decent corporate earnings reports late yesterday.
And if you plan to get a new smartphone, better hurry up if you're a Verizon customer. The company will start charging a $30 upgrade fee later this month. Everyone else is doing it. The Verizon is the last major carrier to add that fee.
The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman story isn't just about Florida justice. It's become a national debate about race. The special prosecutor who announced second-degree murder charges against George Zimmerman basically had to assure the public that the law is color blind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA COREY, FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY: Those of us in law enforcement are committed to justice for every race, every gender, every person of any persuasion whatsoever. They are our victims.
We only know one category as prosecutors and that's a V. It's not a B. It's not a W. It's not an H. It's V for victim.
(EN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's contributors Roland Martin and Will Cain are here to talk about that.
Welcome.
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Glad to be here.
COSTELLO: Glad you're here.
So, George Zimmerman's brother went on Piers Morgan and said that -- well, actually he contradicted what the prosecutor had to say. He said that the prosecutor did cave to pressure and it was all about race. What do you say to that, Will?
CAIN: Well, I have no idea of knowing if that prosecutor caved to pressure. I don't think so. I doubt it. I don't have evidence in front of me and facts in front of me that she has in front of her.
There are several surprises as evidence come forward and we see it will be interesting to answer. You know, what did she see what original investigator in the case didn't see? He suggested manslaughter charge? What did she see that the original prosecutor didn't see because that original prosecutor chose not to press any charges?
So, I think as we get to facts, as we get the evidence, that will be very interesting. Also, she went for the second-degree murder charge. What does she have evidentiary-wise, facts-wise to go for such a heavy charge?
It will be interesting to see when the facts come out.
COSTELLO: OK. So, Roland, you respond.
MARTIN: Yes, bottom line is simple. Trayvon Martin's family has made it perfectly clear, along with 2.2 million people that signed a petition, that justice needs to be served. What they want is for this to go before a judge and a jury.
And so, Trayvon Martin, he's dead. George Zimmerman, he's still living. He has a shot to do whatever he wants to do. And so, this is why we have the criminal justice system.
And I'll say, without the public pressure, without the protest, without all of those different things, I don't think for a second we'll be sitting here today having this conversation and he will not be sitting in jail right now if people did not stand up, speak up and make their voices heard.
COSTELLO: Yes. By the same token, there are people who say that because of that pressure, that was the only reason the prosecutor acted the way she did because she had to. If this were a normal case and I'm just saying what they say, that George Zimmerman wouldn't be charged with second-degree murder.
MARTIN: First of all, who is they? Sure. Those people can sit and say that. But when we talk about justice, the bottom line is justice is supposed to be blind.
As I said many times before, for African-Americans historically, the question has always been is it justice or is it just us? And so we have seen for all to long the need to have the protest and make our voices heard because frankly some folks don't step up and do the right thing. That's part of it.
African-Americans and all of the other people who are white, who are Hispanic, who are Asian and who march had the same right as anybody else according to our Constitution to be able to protest and make their voices heard to say, look, at this much closer than the first prosecutor did. That's what it was all about.
COSTELLO: Will, why do you think -- I mean, race did enter into this case. There's no question about that. But why do you think it split the country so passionately along racial lines?
CAIN: That's a deep question, Carol. I think it has a lot to do with basically how each and every one of us -- and we can use Roland and Will Cain here as our proxies, grew up in different surroundings, had different experiences growing up.
You know, I have struggled throughout the entire case to see the other side, to see Roland's side in this to say, you know, yes, Will, race definitely has something to do with this, when I'm saying -- when I look at the facts of this case, I see nothing but inconclusions but questions, not conclusions.
And, you know, actually, Roland and Carol, my wife explained this very well to me as I try to put myself in your shoes. When you go on TV, they check like 10 boxes for you, among them, by the way, that you are a racist usually. They check 10 boxes, I'm opposed to gay marriage, yada, yada, and yada. And it's my job for some reason to disprove those boxes which unfortunately for some I don't check all of the boxes for conservative.
So I guess that's the best I can do to try to identify with what racial profiling might have had to do with this and how race might have been a part of this story. I still don't know with the facts of this case how much they are.
I understand the issue is a big deal in the country and why it divided us. I still don't know how much it had to do with this particular case.
COSTELLO: So, Roland --
MARTIN: Carol, this is not new. This is not new. 1968, Kerner Commission came out with a report after the rise in '68 and the report said simply there are two Americas. There's one black. There's one white.
You look at the television shows that we watch, you will see a total totally different deal. When you look at music, when you think about different things, we have seen multiple polling, whether it's on this case or others where white Americans have a different view than black Americans. That's the history of America.
And so it's not new because of the Trayvon Martin case. That's been the case for quite some time. It is simply the reality. We do live in different worlds and see things in a different way.
COSTELLO: I know, that kind of makes me sad, Roland, because shouldn't we be further along than that?
MARTIN: No, first of all, we are farther along but it's simply a reality. And so, Will and I talked about it before. When Selena died people said who is that? She was a huge star. And so, I guarantee you that if Garth Brooks had been shot and killed by his fan club, it would have been a different reaction.
The point is we don't know about somebody else's culture, somebody's experiences. We don't necessarily even really understand that. And so, this is just simply who we are as a nation. We live in silos. Black silos, white silos, Hispanic and Asian. We do.
CAIN: I don't think this has to be a sad thing. I think we simply recognize that we have different cultures and we are very different in so many ways. That doesn't mean we're completely different. We do our best to identify with each other and understand each other.
When we deal with cases like this, we ultimately pursue the truth -- the truth. We also have to take all of those differences aside but pursue the truth. That's honestly what I tried to focus on when it comes to the Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case.
COSTELLO: Will Cain, Roland Martin --
MARTIN: Will and I are Texans. We're Texans, so we might differ than someone else who isn't a Texan. It's a different in culture.
CAIN: That's a fact.
COSTELLO: Thanks to both of you for an interesting conversation.
MARTIN: You're a Longhorn, I'm an Aggies. So, that's it.
COSTELLO: Oh my gosh. Let's not even go there.
CAIN: So many differences, so many.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Will and Roland.
Stay at home moms, Republicans and even some Democrats push back against a Democrat's stinging comment about Ann Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILARY ROSEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Coming up next, Hilary Rosen explains her comments and answers her critics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It was a comment that sent shockwaves from the political world to the world of stay-at-home moms and stirred up debate especially on Twitter. Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen told our Anderson Cooper last night that Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's wife, had never worked a day in her life.
Ann Romney fired back on Twitter for the first time ever. She said, "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."
CNN contributor Hilary Rosen is here with us to respond.
You know what you've done, Hilary, right? You stirred up the war between working moms and stay-at-home moms. Now that's what we're talking about.
ROSEN: Well, but this really isn't about stay-at-home moms versus working moms. It's about women in general.
You know, I love stay at home moms. I have nothing against them. I support them all the time. Go to CNN.com to see everything I have said about working moms.
What the good conversation here is: does Mitt Romney have a record about women and a plan for women that helps working women and women struggling economically to find a better future? That's the challenge that I have for Mitt Romney.
COSTELLO: I know. But that's not how people took your comments. They said it was offensive and that you were attacking stay-at-home moms. I mean, you said Ann Romney has never worked a day in her life.
This is a woman that suffered breast cancer, has M.S. She raised five boys. That's hard work.
ROSEN: Look, I have kids. Being a mom is the hardest job in the world. That's the truth of it.
I have said consistently that the -- look, Mitt Romney has brought his wife into this conversation. This is not about Ann Romney. This is about the waitress in a diner in some place in Nevada who has two kids whose day care funding is being cut off because of the Romney/Ryan budget and she doesn't know what to do.
This isn't about whether Ann Romney or I or other women of some means can afford to make a choice to stay home and raise kids. Most women in America, let's face it, don't have that choice. They have to be working moms and home moms.
And that's the piece that I am not hearing from the Romney camp. Instead everybody is attacking me. That's fine. Attack me. But it does not erase his woeful record on this issue.
COSTELLO: Yes, I talked to a lot of conservative women who say these kind of comments prove once again that liberal women really have no clue how conservative women choose to live their lives. And by your comment, I think that's just opened up that wound and widened the chasm once again.
ROSEN: You know, Carol, I don't think that women across this country who have to work to support their families and raise their children look at the divide here between liberal women and conservative women. That's not how most Americans see themselves. They see themselves as having a tough time, as wanting leaders to speak to their issues. Barack Obama has done that. And Mitt Romney has not.
And the Republicans are making a very effective strategic decision today to attack me instead of talking about the issues that have been raised over the last few days. The fact that Mitt Romney didn't know what the Lilly Ledbetter Act was, his staff wasn't sure whether he supported pay equity for women, the fact that he doesn't have -- that he is lying about whether or not Barack Obama has created 23 straight months of job creation. The fact that he is taking off over women's health care.
You know, those are the issues that are fair game in this campaign. Those are the ones he is trying to distract with a conversation about his wife and using his wife's video to that.
COSTELLO: I will say -- I will say, even the Obama administration is distancing themselves from your comment. This is from David Axelrod. He tweeted, "Also disappointed in the comments about An Romney. They were inappropriate and offensive."
So, they are sort of saying, you know, you said this. And that sort of like takes the focus off of everything that you just said about the Lilly Ledbetter Act.
ROSEN: Well, I don't think it does. I think that what's taking the focus off is Republican's desire to change the subject.
And, you know, whatever David Axelrod says is fine with me. But I think the issue that I'm focusing on is: does Mitt Romney have a vision for bringing women up economically and can he himself stop referring to his wife as his economic surrogate. That's an important thing. He's the one that keeps doing this. Not me.
COSTELLO: Hilary Rosen, thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
ROSEN: OK. Thanks.
COSTELLO: We're back in a minute. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The man at the center of the Trayvon Martin shooting is expected to make his first appearance about four hours from now. George Zimmerman turned himself into authorities on Wednesday night. He's charged with second-degree murder. His new attorney plans to ask a judge to post a reasonable bond.
In the meantime, Zimmerman's family says they're glad he's safe in custody and they continue to defend him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBERT ZIMMERMAN JR., GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S BROTHER: There was no winner in this. You know us as a family viewed it as our brother could have been dead. Our brother literally had to save his life by taking a life. And that's no situation that anybody wants to ever be in, ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The parents of Trayvon Martin say they're satisfied Zimmerman has been charged and is in custody but realize there's a long way to go with this case.
More fallout from the Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino's firing. Phone records have been released showing an incredible number of text messages and calls between the married father of four and 25- year-old Jessica Dorrell.
KATV reports Petrino called Dorrell 283 times over the last seven months. The two exchanged more than 4,450 text messages. More than half are from Dorrell including 62 picture and video messages; 1,775 were from Petrino including 10 picture messages. ArkansasNews.com reports Petrino and Dorrell spoke for 22 minutes the day after that motorcycle accident.
It turns out Betty White has the last laugh. The 90-year-old actress had the Twitter world in a frenzy after a story was reported that her account, which was supposedly verified by the social network, wasn't really hers.
TV co-star Valerie Bertinelli even posted her own tweet saying White was upset over the matter. It turns out the actress was pranking people ahead of her upcoming NBC series, "Off their Rockers."
Legendary Rocker Axl Rose is saying "thanks but no thanks" to the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. The organization planned to induct Guns and Roses this weekend but Axl Rose he wants nothing to do with them. In fact he sent them this two-page letter.
But I'll let "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT'S" A.J. Hammer or sit down for you.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Oh goodness. Yes Carol, you know the members of Guns and Roses have been feuding for years. This is shaping up to be yet another battle. Axl released that extraordinarily long statement to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" about the Rock Hall and exactly why he doesn't want the group that he co-founded to be given the honor.
Axl says he's respectfully declining the invitation to appear at this weekend's induction ceremony. He's asking to not even be inducted in absentia.
Now in a very small part and I must emphasize a very small part of this enormous statement, here is what Axl Rose writes. "I'm sure there will be those who take offense. God knows how long I'll have to contend with the fall out I certainly don't intend to disappoint anyone especially the fans with this decision. Since the announcement of the nomination, we've actively sought out a solution to what with all things considered appears to be a no win. So let sleeping dogs lie or lying dogs sleep or whatever. Time to move on. People get divorced. Life doesn't owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another's or in this case several other's expense."
And what I love here is that after this 1,000 plus word letter, the Rock Hall simply responded by passing along to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" the following 14 words. Allow me to read them to you. "We're sorry Axl will not be able to accept his induction in person." And that was it -- perfect.
Now a rep for G&R guitarist Slash tells CNN that Slash will be attending, bassist Duff McKagan has indicated on his Twitter feed that he intends to be in Cleveland this weekend Carol to accept the honor. Green Day still scheduled to induct the band on Saturday. So you know what? Whether Axl Rose likes it or not, his band will be honored.
COSTELLO: It's just so bizarre. He's really bizarre now. That's all I have to say.
Let's talk about Alec Baldwin because he's threatening to leave "30 Rock" and NBC altogether.
HAMMER: Yes, this is stemming from his recent encounter with an alleged stalker who was arrested after showing up at Alec's home. Now after that happened, the media just descended on Alec's apartment building to sort of get some coverage and get a shot of Alec there. One of the camera crews that showed up was from the "Today" show, which is of course on NBC, and Alec appears to think that as a star of NBC's "30 Rock," well he should get some kind of preferential treatment from their morning show and they should have stayed away.
So he went on the Twitter tirade and among the things he tweeted was "I am leaving NBC, just in time". But it doesn't appear that that departure is imminent Carol. He is still reportedly under contract with "30 Rock" for the next season. According to his Twitter feed he's currently on vacation in Rome, so maybe he just meant it's a good thing that he was going on vacation.
Now keep in mind NBC's "Today" show is part of their news division, so for them not to send a news crew would actually have been a little strange, if it was a newsworthy type of event and as -- I love Alec Baldwin. I don't know that he necessarily deserved preferential treatment in this case and that seems to be what a lot of people are saying.
COSTELLO: Interesting. A.J. thank you as usual.
Not just busting tackles on the football field, but also busting moves. The Navy midshipmen take their practice to a whole new level. We've got sports in less than ten minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, "Is the Martin case more about race or justice?
This from Steven. "Without the intense racial spotlight and pressure, the case would not have been reopened. Now, will Zimmerman really get a fair trial?"
This from Marcia. "The political left has made this case about race but ultimately it's about justice and finding the truth even if it vindicates Zimmerman."
This from Brian. "It's about guns."
From Mark. "A little bit of both. If the victim was white and the cop was black, there would have been an arrest earlier."
And this from Scott. "Sadly the question of race will always remain. It will never truly be about one human being taking the life of another human being."
Please continue the conversation on Facebook.com/CarolCNN and thanks as always for your comments.
Archaeologists in Jerusalem claim they have made an incredible discovery, one that will cast new light on the origin of Christianity. In the next hour, we'll tell you what they found and why it's sparking controversy and why scholars are rejecting the claims.
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COSTELLO: The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs began with a battle for Pennsylvania. Sydney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Philadelphia Flyers in game one of their opening round serious. These two teams hate each other.
First period, Penns draw first blood -- you saw it there. Crosby knocks on the rebound backhander. Pittsburgh would go up 3-0. The Flyers come all the way back and send the game into overtime. Jake Voracek scores the winning goal -- it's amazing -- the final 4-3, Flyers.
Stephen Strasburg, the young pitching ace for the Washington Nationals missed almost all of last season with an injury. Well, he's making up for lost time. He struck out nine New York Mets. Rung up Jason Bay twice. Threw more than 100 pitches for the first time in his career. The Nats win the game 4-0.
Clippers star Blake Griffin keeps raising the bar on dunking. Watch this. Yes. It was a monster jam. Why don't we take another look because it was so darn good. Griffin will get the baseline pass from Chris Paul, and then he puts the hammer down. The Clippers go on to beat Oklahoma City 100-98 to stay in fourth place in the West.
And finally, college football spring practice can be tough, but even at the naval academy, the coaches give the players a little break now and again. Check out this warm up on the last day of practice. Sure beats stretches and wind sprints.
And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello.
Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, George Zimmerman is hours away from his first court hearing. We are live outside the Sanford courtroom. Plus, we're taking a closer look at the charge Zimmerman is facing and how both the prosecution and defense may argue the complicated case.
Controversial comments about Mitt Romney's wife trigger a Twitter fire storm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILARY ROSEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: This morning, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen defends her statements and responds to the criticism.
Calls, pics and texts, thousands of them. New information about former Arkansas coach, Bobby Petrino and his motorcycle mistress.
Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they've made a startling discovery that date back 2,000 years. And they hope this burial tomb will reveal the beginnings of Christianity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right over here, you have the earliest icon of Christian belief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We'll take a closer look at the discovery and why some critics say it's being overblown.
