Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Feds File First Criminal Charge in Gulf Oil Spill Case; First Day of John Edwards' Trial; Christie Says "Good Riddance" to the New Jersey Nets; Obama Speaks on Education in North Carolina; Reduced Bond for Alleged DUI Killer; "My Little Sister Is Gone"; Cop Testifies In Hudson Family Murder Trial; Saints Accused Of Wiretapping Other Teams; Boomers Retire, But Don't Relax; Border Security By Horse And By Drone; Deion Sanders' Bizarre Tweets
Aired April 24, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN. And hello. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
A busy couple of hours for you as always. We begin with rapid-fire. Roll it.
Just new into here at CNN. The feds have now filed the very first criminal charge here in the Gulf oil spill. A former BP engineer arrested, accused of destroying evidence, including dozens of text messages to a supervisor about efforts to stop that leak. The spill is the worst environmental disaster in American history.
Also just in, we are now hearing what exactly happened today in the trial of John Edwards. And the details, let me tell you, they are pretty explosive. In fact, one of the developments includes what the former senator's mistress did when she found out she was pregnant. Joe Johns just stepped out of court. We'll take you there live in just a couple of minutes. So certainly stay tuned for that.
Also, breaking today: the manhunt is over for a guy wanted in connection to a deadly armored car heist. Police say -- in Pittsburgh -- this man here, keep in mind, he's an employee -- was, I should say, probably. Stole more than $2 million from his armored truck then shot his fellow guard in the head. According to local reports, the feds apparently arrested him at a crack house in South Florida.
President Obama would like to help students afford to pay their loans back. And he's pushing Congress to act to keep student loan interest rates from doubling. That could happen by the deadline of July 1. The president also using the issue to stump for re-election votes. Here's what he said just a short time ago in (INAUDIBLE) arena there in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want this to be a country where a shrinking number of Americans are doing really, really well, but a growing number of people are just struggling to get by. That's not my idea of America.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I don't want that future for you, I don't want that future for daughters. I want this forever to be a country where everybody gets a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share and everybody is playing by the same set of rules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Now, that was the president just a few minutes ago. We also need to point out, GOP rival Mitt Romney says he, too, thinks Congress needs to act on this particular issue.
Bradley Manning wants the charges against him dropped. The Army private is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents that ended up on Wikileaks. At issue here, defense and prosecutors are arguing over just exactly how much evidence should be revealed publicly and in the courtroom.
And just revealed today, al Qaeda's plan to attack more targets inside the United States. According to these federal documents, terrorists wanted to bomb the Long Island railroad and Wal-Mart back in 2008. How? Someone would leave a bomb inside a suitcase on the train and in the Wal-Mart store. They buy a television, put explosives inside and then return it to the store.
It is the biggest day of Republican primary voting ever since Super Tuesday. And Mitt Romney is simply looking to further cement his lead here. So keep in mind, we're talking primaries in five different states today. You have Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Also Newt Gingrich, he does say he's going to reassess hiss campaign depending on today's primaries' outcome.
The relocating New Jersey Nets say so long to Newark and hello to Brooklyn. As for New Jersey governor Chris Christie, he came right out and said it: good riddance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: You don't want to say, we don't want you. I mean, seriously. I'm not going to be in the business of begging people to stay here. That's one of the most beautiful arenas in America that they've had the chance to play in. It's in one of the country's most vibrant cities. And they want to leave here and go to Brooklyn? Good riddance. See you later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The New Jersey Nets played their final home game last night, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers. The move to Brooklyn happens next season.
Take a look at this surveillance video. This is South Carolina. See the truck come crashing through this window? The store is a gun store. Two people ransacked the place. You see them running around. I know it's kind of dark to see. But they ransacked the place, taking more than 20 assault weapons and pistols. Our affiliate WIS reports thinks deputies found the stolen truck involved but no weapons and still no suspects.
And just because this is cool. Take a look. Amazing light show. Spectacular Northern Lights all across the skies over Minnesota this morning. This was shot by some storm chases. Look at the purples there and the yellows. We're guessing that was a nice change of pace for the storm chasers here. Pretty pictures.
And we have a lot more for you in the next two hours, including this.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BALDWIN: An alleged drunk driver T-bones a minivan. Inside, a young girl who ultimately dies in the arms of a Good Samaritan on the scene. Now that girl's teenage sister gives this emotional plea to keep this suspect behind bars.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the border between the United States and Mexico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A behind-the-scenes look at the race to protect the border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the future. This is a predator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches going 100 miles an hour down a crowded highway. Allegedly leading the way here? Police cars. We'll take you inside the so-called death race.
Plus tragedy on stage. An actor accidentally hangs himself in a production of "Passion of the Christ."
Wall Street is on the edge of its seat today. In less than two hours, Apple makes a big announcement that could send ripples through the market.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Boy oh boy. Some ears are stinging today in a courtroom in North Carolina. This is where John Edwards now is on trial for allegedly using campaign donations to hide his admitted affair and his mistress' pregnancy. All the while, he was running for president of the United States. Now, the mistress in question: this woman. This is Rielle Hunter. And on the witness stand, just a short time ago, a former Edwards aide was recounting the moment when he broke the news to Edwards that Rielle Hunter was pregnant. According to this aide, Edwards said, quote, "She's a crazy person." Only he didn't say person, he used a four- letter word that starts with S-L. Quote, "She is a crazy person," and there was a one in three chance the child belonged to Edwards. End quotes. Wow.
Joe Johns, live outside that courthouse. Joe Johns, racy testimony in there today. Tell me what else did you hear from this former Edwards aide, Andrew Young.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: There's just a lot of stuff here, a lot of detail that I personally didn't know. Though I have to tell you, a bunch of this is in Andrew Young's book when he sort of recounted his relationship with both Senator Edward's and Rielle Hunter. He said that on the day, she called to sort of disclose to him that she was pregnant with Edwards' child. She called again and again, she was very frantic. And when he finally got her on the phone, he answered it by saying, "It's so important, somebody's either got to be pregnant or dead." And she said, "Nobody's dead." So, it was apparently a day for a lot of big quotes.
But one of the most stunning things, I think, Brooke, is just the money. This is really a story about money, politics and sex in a lot of ways. And campaign finance, of course.
So, there's Bunny Melon. This is a very rich woman from northern Virginia, who agrees, sort of no questions asked to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to John Edwards for what's described as a noncampaign focus.
And so, the checks start small and they gradually grow bigger. Because she says she believes in John Edwards and she thinks he can rescue America. Of course, it didn't turn out that way. The money actually was used, as was recounted in testimony by Andrew Young to pay for, among other things, a house for Rielle Hunter to move into very close to Andrew Young's house in North Carolina. Also a $5,000 allowance that sometimes went up to $12,000 a month. Other things including a car, a BMW. All of this because she was threatening to go public with the story that certainly would have ended John Edwards' political career, which it pretty much did, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Ultimately, it was trials about money, politics and sex. Really the crux of it here as we listen to these different vignettes, the crux of it is whether or not they broke these campaign finance laws, correct? And the fact that you mentioned Bunny Melon. There was also - is it Fred Baron, the other wealthy donor who passed a couple of years ago. Ultimately, didn't the money come to something like a million bucks?
JOHNS: Absolutely. It's up to about $900,000 or so according to our own count. And you're right. That's the key question, whether any law was broken. And I thought it was important in the testimony today that it was made pretty clear that Bunny Melon believed she was giving this cash for a noncampaign purpose. Now, the question, of course, whether that was also John Edwards' understanding because it's very much an issue of his own intent to break the campaign finance laws.
So, we have a long way to go here. And remember, this is just the story that Andrew Young tells. He still has to be cross-examined by the defense. They're going to bring up all sorts of things, including probably his reaching out to three other defense witnesses to find out what they were going to say. The judge has already said the attorneys cannot use words like witness tampering in talking to the jury about that.
Long way to go here. This is going to last weeks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Well, we know we can't have cameras in that courtroom because it's federal. But Joe Johns, we're going to rely on you and your reporting in these details. Thank you sir. We appreciate that. We'll check back in with you.
Meantime, I want you to listen to this. Mitt Romney and President Obama, they agree on something. But that doesn't mean Congress will. The president targeting the youth vote by talking college loans. But the clock keeps ticking to keep rates down. Jessica Yellin, she's going to join me live from Chapel Hill to explain.
Plus, I'm going to speak with a special guest from my alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The president is out logging some serious miles today, and not just for nothing, really, but in very large part to try to energize part of his, talking right now about young people in America.
First stop, North Carolina. The president touched down very late this morning in Raleigh-Durham, before the day is over, though, he is hopping from North Carolina to Colorado, and then tomorrow it is on to Iowa.
Coincidence? Probably not, as in, he did carry all three states in 2008, yet all three are in play here in 2012
Another non-coincidence I just want to point out, he is talking all day about student loans. Hopes to make this an issue to him or his opponents, such as unnamed Republican Congresswoman he quoted during his speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITES STATES: She said, she had very little tolerance for people who tell me they graduate with debt, because there's no reason for that. I'm just quoting here. I'm just quoting. She said students who wrack up student loan debt are just sitting on their butts having opportunity dumped in your lap.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Want to go to chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin, live at my alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill. Jessica, if they're not treating you well, let me know.
I do want to begin quickly here. We're hearing from the president, at issue specifically is the Stafford loans. What's the issue?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The issue, Brooke, is that come July first, these federally subsidized loans will double. The interest rates on them will double from current rate of 3.4 percent, 7 million Americans paying about that rate right now.
And it will jump to 6.8 percent on July first unless Congress decides to freeze the current rate. So, why would anybody resist doing that? Well, there's a lot of concern about the cost to the federal government. The congressional budget office estimates it will cost the federal government $6 billion for one year to extend that rate at the current rate at the low rate.
So on the one hand, a lot of people want to keep the interest rate low, on the other hand, a lot of other people are asking how are you going to pay for it? What is the offset? That's the fight that is being set tup now and that Congress says it's going to take on in the coming weeks and months. Brooke?
BALDWIN: As we mentioned, North Carolina, Colorado, talking student loans. We talked so much about the importance of women who vote. But what about voters under the age of 30? I know it was an important base for him in 2008. How important will they be for him this November?
YELLIN: Crucial. I'll tell you why.
The youth vote was 66 percent, that's what president Obama won in 2008, 66 percent. It was about a fifth of the electorate. Sounds like important, but maybe not crucial. Here's where it's crucial. In this state, North Carolina, the president won just by one percent. He eked out a victory.
How did he do that? He won young voters, for example by 74 percent. He just swept young voters. And he won just by one percent. It's hard to imagine he would have been able to get that 1 percent victory had he not swept among young voters. So this is the kind of victory he's going to have to look for in states like this if he's going to be successful again in 2012. He wants to drum up enthusiasm among young voters. And Brooke, before we go, I'm told you'll know what to do. Tar --
BALDWIN: Heel.
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: They said you wouldn't keep me hanging.
BALDWIN: I've got you, I've got your back, Jessica Yellin. I know that chant. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. And off to Colorado the president goes. Speaking of students, one more thing from the speech that the president made. Actually not the speech itself, but the student who introduced him. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If interest rates were to double, that would mean that many students who would love to and deserve to take part in extracurricular activities and be a part of the university would have to work or live at home instead of having that college experience because they would be more focused on just being able to pay for their college education.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: There's the president come into your picture. Wait for it. There it is. A nice hug to Caroline, a senior. Dominique Garland, and she is also live in Chapel Hill. Dominque, so nice to meet you. Talking to a fellow Tar Heel. I'm so proud of you, congrats on almost graduating. And here you are introducing the President of the United States. Were you nervous? How did it go?
DOMINIQUE GARLAND, UNC STUDENT: Yes. You know, before I actually got into the corridor, I was really nervous. I was standing with the person who sung the national anthem. And once we actually got in there and the president came out, he was so warm and welcoming that all of my jitters went away and I was able to perform the speech.
BALDWIN: And so you spoke, and then we saw the quick hug. What did he whisper in your ear? Good job?
GARLAND: Yes, exactly. He said good job. You did wonderful, we can tell you'll be a great teacher. And he went on to announce that. Wonderful.
BALDWIN: That's a day you're going to remember forever. Let's talk about one of the reasons why, you know, you were probably chosen to be introducing the president as your story is sort of germane to what he's talking about today.
So you have congress, ultimately they're the ones to decide whether they'll pass the extension of the 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act, or else the interest rates will double. Your personal story, if they don't do that and the rates double, how does that affect you and also your little sister?
GARLAND: Yes. It will affect me drastically. I've had college loans here at UNC Chapel Hill. And although they have definitely accumulated, I feel the effect, coming from Chapel Hill, will not be as bad.
However, when I get to Columbia for grad school, I definitely still have student loans. Paying off those will be a task, especially on a teacher's salary. My parents are not able to support me and my finances. As far as my sister is concerned, I also help sometimes with her finances. For her to come in as a first-year, the fist thing on her mind being, will she be able to pay off her debts is sad to me personally because I had such a wonderful experience here, which I'm sure you did. And it would be sad to see her have to work instead.
BALDWIN: And we should point out, look, Republicans are also saying, GOP rival Mitt Romney saying yes, we agree, you know, these interest rates shouldn't double. Is there anything through that speech, I was listening through the whole thing out of the corner of my eye, and there were a couple of massive applauses.
Was there any one particular thing that president Obama said that really struck a chord with you?
GARLAND: Well, you know, I've always seen how my parents and my grandparents have fought to make sure that I was able to get the education that I'm getting right now and to have the opportunities that I'm having right now.
When he pointed out the struggle and the fact that our parents did struggle and their sole purpose of struggling was to get us here and now we're having trouble being able to maintain this, that's something that definitely stuck to me. So yes.
BALDWIN: Good luck on May 13. That's the big day, right? The Carolina blue cap and gown. Mine is still hanging up in my house. And best to you. Best to you at Columbia and, of course, to your young sister. Go heels.
GARLAND: Thank you, same to you.
BALDWIN: And joining me next hour, we're going to be speaking with education secretary Arnie Duncan. I'm going to ask him about the potential fight in Congress over this issue this summer. Secretary of Education there next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: An absolutely horrific crash in Miami takes the life of a 13-year-old girl. Kaely Camacho died moments after she was pulled from the wreckage. Police say the man who caused the crash was drunk. He has been charged with killing her, but just hours ago, a judge lowered his bond. Kaely's family is heartbroken. They want him to stay in jail. In fact, her older sister posted this emotional video to Facebook just a couple of days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREE ANN MARIE CAMACHO, VICTIM'S SISTER: My parents told me she had passed away. My little sister. She was 13.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: It's tough to listen to.
Police say a Land Rover, going at speeds more than 100 miles an hour slammed into the minivan.
Look at the aftermath. This thing was just torn in half. Police say Sander Guillen (ph) the driver, who has been charged, got out of his vehicle and ran from the scene.
Let's go to CNN's John Zarrella. He's following the story for us from Miami. Obviously, John, this is an emotional situation all the way around. Talk to me about what happened in court just this morning.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That Facebook video ran about 4 1/2 minutes and posted by Bree Ann Camacho, the 16-year-old sister of Kaely Camacho, who died in the crash.
The reason she posted that was to try to gain support from friends, from family, from people out there, because she knew they were going to court today to try to get a reduced bond, the defendant and the defendant's attorney.
In court today, family and friends of the victim packed that courtroom in Miami, and of course, Sander Guillen there as well, in the jump suit, sitting in court with members of his family, his defense team as well.
Now if you listen to some of the charges that Sander faces, vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury, driving without a license resulting in death and injury.
But in court, his attorney argued today that the standard bond for that is $42,500. In the end, the judge reduced the $1 million bond that the family wanted the judge to keep in place. The judge reduced that bond on the defendant to $205 thousand dollars. Here's what the judge said about why he reduced it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want the collateral on this case. I want the houses at risk for this family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: The judge also made sure he had the U.S. passport, the Nicaraguan passport, of the defendant, and he's under house arrest. Brooke?
BALDWIN: Now that this bond is much, much lower, do we know, A, if he might post it? Because I know the sister, in taking to Facebook, wanted to have all these supporters. Her little sister's funeral, apparently 2,000 people came. She wanted these people to come and support, I guess a show of solidarity to this judge. Look, don't lower this guy's bond any further.
ZARRELLA: And the judge said, listen, he said in court, I understand, I've heard what you people say, but at the end of the day, the way he put it was, this is not a beauty contest. I mean, the law is the law, and this is the way it had to be.
It had to go down today, that bond being reduced to that $205,000. But now the family, of course, their reaction was, listen, we still have to trust in the justice system. Friends, though, were not so kind. They were very upset.
They were very angry and you know why when you look at that video. They were saying he's going to get out of jail. We don't know if he has the financial resources to get out of jail.
Because apparently some of the property he owns is in foreclosure or bankruptcy, but they are not happy. They are saying look, he is going to get out and he's going to flee. That's what their concern is even though the passports were taken.
You know, if you listen to another little clip from that Facebook video, you understand what Bree Ann's message was she was trying to get across.
BALDWIN: Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREE ANN MARIE CAMACHO, VICTIM'S SISTER: Even if you don't know me or my family or my sister. We need to stop this from happening. We need to stop drunk driving and we can start here. This guy needs to get what he deserves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Now, one other point, we did talk with Sander Guillen's attorney. We asked him, was your client driving drunk and his response was this, quote, "I cannot even tell you whether or not my client was driving. The evidence will be disclosed by the state and then we will address it." -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: John Zarrella, we're going to stay on this one. Appreciate it there in Miami for us.
Meantime, the New Orleans Saints, they're in the spotlight yet again. We're talking about allegations of the team's general manager was eavesdropping on opponents and just into CNN. We learn who is joining the investigation so those details.
Plus NFL hall-of-famer Deion Sanders calls the cops on his estranged wife then he tweets about it. Just what happened in the bedroom. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, we got two stories just into us here at CNN. We're going to take you to New Orleans to talk Saints in a moment. But first, Chicago, Ted Rowlands, he's just stepped outside of that courtroom where the trial is underway regarding William Balfour.
He is the man accused of killing Jennifer Hudson's family. So Ted Rowlands, you and I talked yesterday. You heard from Jennifer Hudson, the star witness, witness number one. Who's been testifying today?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, today we have had four witnesses, Brooke, and the state is going through the long process of building their circumstantial case against William Balfour.
We heard from the two first police officers that arrived on scene, the one that found Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother, dead in the house. Then we heard from a police officer who is basically in charge of organizing an amber alert for the then missing 7-year-old Julian King.
Jennifer Hudson is in court along with her sister and her fiance, David Otunga. They are sitting together with a very large group of supporters.
During the testimony when this officer was talking about finding Jennifer and Julia Hudson's mother dead, they both looked down. Jennifer Hudson was staring down at the ground.
It was the most emotional part of this morning. The other two witnesses that we've heard from today were associates of Balfour, basically just setting him in the day before or day of the murders. But minor witnesses in the grand scheme of things.
BALDWIN: Bottom line though, how did they make him out to be?
ROWLANDS: Well, they're his buddies so they're careful what they say or former buddies. They're just basically answering questions of where they were the day before in a vehicle and then the day of saying that they saw him in the morning.
But couldn't get a hold of him after they saw him in the news about the murders and the prosecution has alleged that this is a guy that was on his phone 24/7. But from the time of the murders for a period of about six hours, his phone went completely dead.
And they're using this information, that even his buddies couldn't get a hold of him as proof to the jury that he was busy doing other things.
BALDWIN: OK, Ted Rowlands in Chicago. Ted, thank you.
Also just in, the state police have joined the investigation into the New Orleans Saints eavesdropping allegations against this particular team.
Let me bring in Ed Lavandera. He's been working the story. He joins me from Dallas. Ed, what do we now know? What is confirmed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me give you a little bit of the back story first, Brooke. ESPN, the sports network, is reporting that they have several sources saying that during the 2002 to the 2004 football seasons in the NFL.
That the general manager of the New Orleans Saints, a man by the name of Mickey Loomis, had concocted this contraption to be able to listen through ear pieces to the coaches of the opposing team when they would play in the Superdome.
That's the basis of the story. ESPN does not name its sources, but we do know these allegations have made their way into law enforcement hands now in the state of Louisiana.
According to the Louisiana State Police, it is joining an investigation with the FBI to look into see if any eavesdropping or wiretapping laws have been violated in all of this. So this story just starting to develop down there.
As you well no know, Brooke, the New Orleans Saints have been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the last few months at the center of the bounty gate investigation.
Ironically enough, the general manager that is now in question, Mickey Loomis, has already been suspended eight games by the commissioner of the NFL for his role in that bounty gate in this upcoming season.
As far as this story is concerned, the Saints are saying, this is 1,000 percent false and that they are looking to see what kind of legal actions they can take for themselves not only the team, but Mickey Loomis as well -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: OK, Ed Lavandera, thank you. As soon as you learn any more, let us know. A lot of interest I know in that story at New Orleans.
The U.S. Border Patrol says there's no way the border can be 100 percent monitored, but they are showing CNN this new equipment they're using in this fight against immigration. You're only going to see it here so stick around for that.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is just a full circle moment for both of us because we both were working and didn't have as much time for the volunteer work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Baby boomers, some of them may be retiring, but they're not exactly relaxing. A CNN in depth special is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: When you think of retirement do you imagine traveling perhaps? Gardening? Kicking your feet? For many baby boomers, this is the time in their lives when they can do something meaningful. Mary Snow has this in depth look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet 55-year-old Brian Schieferstein and his wife 56-year-old, Lily, married for close to 30 years. They met as teenagers volunteering at a camp for handicapped children. Many months later, they are retired and still volunteering.
LILIAN SCHIEFERSTEIN, VOLUNTEER: This is just a full circle moment for both of us because we both were working and didn't have as much time for the volunteer work. Now we're trying to get back to it. That's where our roots came from.
SNOW: Lillian was a special education teacher for 30 years. Brian, a carpenter by trade, worked seven days a week, often 15 hours a day. They never travelled much.
SCHIEFERSTEIN: We didn't do a lot of vacationing because we did a lot of dog rescue and cat rescue.
BALDWIN: Now they build houses for those less fortunate, volunteering your time at the Christian-based organization, "Habitat for Humanity" on Long Island, New York.
They're part of a generation of 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 -- the baby boomers. The site supervisor has seen an increase in boomer volunteers.
TRISHA HECKERS, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: They're a role model for the younger generation. I know a lot of them have kids that they want to bring out and show them, this is what you can do. This is a path that you can volunteer, you know? And roll that into your life.
SNOW: According to volunteeringinamerica.gov, the national volunteer rate between 2008 and 2010 was 26.5 percent. The national rate for baby boomers was 29.7 percent, a difference of 3.2 percent.
Boomers volunteered a total of 2.9 billion hours of service in 2010 alone. They don't have children and say they lived a simple life. Not getting weighed down by material items enable them to entire early.
SCHIEFERSTEIN: We don't live large. So therefore we've always been able to manage.
SNOW: A quick lunch break to play with their dog and hammering nails and lugging lumber, not your typical retirement plan, but for Brian --
BRIAN SCHIEFERSTEIN, VOLUNTEER: It's actually relaxing that I don't have to worry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll make it work.
SNOW: The Schieferstein volunteer several times a month, both for habitat and at their church. Like their baby boomer partners, they show no signs of slowing down.
SCHIEFERSTEIN: There are other interests we both have, but this is a big piece of it, big piece of our hearts.
SNOW: Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Mary Snow, thank you. Millions of dollars are spent trying to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border, an impossible task.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is very difficult to seal any part of the border 100 percent guarantees. We don't offer any guarantees in the border patrol.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Look at that. CNN gets an exclusive look at this new technology that may help. You're going to see that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Border security by horseback, by ATV, by Black Hawk helicopter and now by drone. By land and by air, agents on the U.S.- Mexico border, they've have a huge task, curbing illegal immigration and the drug trade and preventing terror attacks.
On the immigration front, the work has been effective. In fact here, the few Hispanic center is now reporting this historic reversal, more Mexicans going back to Mexico than coming into the United States as for the reasons why with a few reports, stricter laws, stricter border enforcement and fewer U.S. draws because of the housing bust.
Now the Supreme Court is poised to take up this particular issue tomorrow. It's going to hear oral arguments on Arizona's controversial immigration law.
Federal courts blocked four key parts of that law saying the court interference is making matters worse. Arizona says the issue is a financial strain and a safety concern and that the federal government isn't doing enough.
CNN's Suzanne Kelly traveled to the border near Nogales, Arizona. She got an exclusive tour of border patrol operations and found out how they keep us safe and that border secure. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE KELLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the border between the United States and Mexico. We're very close to Nogales, where there's a lot of traffic from Mexico coming into the United States mostly at night.
But if you want to know how quickly the landscape is changing here. The road we're on wasn't even here three months ago. Why the push for building all these roads?
AGENT LESLIE LAWSON, PATROL AGENT IN CHARGE, NOGALES STATION: This area right here, we had a difficult time getting east-west lateral access in order to patrol the actual border.
You can see the end of the fence over there. So in order to even get here with a vehicle was needed to build roads. Previously, it was only on horseback. KELLY: The terrain here is really pretty unforgiving. I mean, we just came down about a 200-foot drop a few minutes ago. This tells you what they're up against.
Now post 9/11, CBP has taken a sort of all threats environment stance. That means it doesn't matter whether these groups are trying to come here illegally, drug runners or potential terrorists. The environment in which they have to chase them down is just the same.
These guys patrol this area day and night. And they are looking for signs that this ancient art of sign cutting they call it.
AGENT CHRIS DUBIOS, BORDER PATROL AGENT: We're looking for is footprints, any impressions, anything in the dirt that would indicate, signs of anyone walking through here. We want to look at the impressions in the ground and that's going to help us find.
KELLY: So I'm seeing. -- I'm not trained to do this. I'm seeing footprints here.
DUBIOS: Yes, ma'am.
KELLY: This is the nerve center for CVP of everything they have eyes on. They're watching the ports of entry. They have eyes in the air. And then over here, the guys who watch it 24 hours a day gather all of this information together and figure out what to do next.
RON BELLAVIA, DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE, JOINT FIELD COMMAND: The terrorism threat is the most important the CVP focuses on. It's the greatest threat to the nation. All agencies and all departments need to be focused on their portion of how to stop that threat.
KELLY: All right, we're going to get a very close look at the aerial assets the border protection uses. What do you need the Blackhawk for along the border?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are some places that think that would take probably 24 hours to get to. Sometimes we have to hover on one wheel. Kind of jump out and hover --
KELLY: If patrolling on horseback is the mar traditional approach to keeping a border secure, this is the future. This is the predator. Weighs just a touch over 8,000 pounds.
But here's the payoff. It has a $2.5 million camera. It's can take pictures day or night. It's also equipped with an infrared sensor. That's a big deal. It can direct people on the ground exactly to the location of a target.
The cockpit of this predator, and on side, we have a pilot actually flying the vehicle. And on the other, a sensor operator gathering information based on intelligence from different centres, which is what we've seen.
CHIEF MIKE FISHER, U.S. BORDER PATROL: It's difficult to seal the border 100 percent guarantees. We don't offer any guarantees in the border patrol.
KELLY: It's on your shoulders. The responsibility of making sure there's not another 9/11 in this country.
FISHER: That's true.
KELLY: Is that a look at your job?
FISHER: Every day when I put on this uniform.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Wow, Suzanne Kelly. Thanks for the report. Thanks for joining me in Washington. And the picture right there, you standing next to that predator drone. Is that taking some of the difficulty off the ground patrols? I know they have so much ground to income.
You know, they don't really see it taking the difficulty away as much as they do just having one extra tool in the tool box. They're taking this layers approach, eyes on, see what a target might be.
Maybe targets just trying when you're talking about all the different threats at the border, but they also need to have that protection from above. Because remember you have the drug issues going on. You've got the immigration issues going on.
You've got weapons come into the country. And then as we heard in that report, the number one thing they worry about is terrorists coming in themselves to launch an attack or bring in material with them.
So kind of using those different layers are really a necessity and still even then, we're not 100 percent safe. There's no way.
BALDWIN: So they got the horses, drones, and it looks like a lot in between. Suzanne Kelly, I just want to push everyone, you can read a lot more of Suzanne's trip to the border and get more information on the blog. Just go to cnn.com/securityclearance.
To New Jersey we go, two New Jersey State troopers are suspended after allegations they led high speed luxury cars down three different interstates.
An NFL star is linked to this so-called death race 2010. We've got all the details for you with the reporter that broke this story at the top of the hour.
But first, NFL hall-of-famer Deion Sanders sends out tweets during a struggle at home. Our next guest says it's just another one in a long line of celebrity breakups. Trending is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Trending today, he is in the midst of a very public and bitter divorce. Now former football star, Deion Sanders, is airing it all out on, of all places, Twitter.
He posted a bizarre series of tweets saying that his wife insulted him and that he is indeed pressing charges. One of his tweets, quote, "Pray for me and my kids now. They just witnessed their mother and a friend jumped me in my room," end quote.
His wife, Pilar Sanders released a statement saying, quote, I can tell you there are two sides to every story and the truth will come out in court.
Jawn Murray is an entertain journalist. He's joining me once again in Washington. Jawn, good to see you. First, back up. What happened here?
JAWN MURRAY, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST AND POP CULTURE EXPERT: Well, I mean, this is a couple, Brooke, that once had a reality show called "Primetime Love." Now they join a long list of celebrities. You showcase your love on TV. Your marriage falls apart. It's a bad thing to do. Hollywood couples have to stop.
BALDWIN: So they're in his house, with his kids. According to his allegations, she walks in with a friend and insults him and not only that he takes -- Twitter, I think we have this picture. Sends this twit pick and filling out what appears to be, here you go, police paperwork. Why involve the kids?
MURRAY: Well, I think because it happened in front of the kids. Her alleged actions are reprehensible. If the roles were versed and the reports were Deion Sanders attacked Pilar, we would be outraged by the domestic violence.
So the fact that the mother's three boys attacked their father in front of them, that was really, really awful. I think the only way you can beat (inaudible) to these breaking crime stories is to take the social media, which is probably why Deion Sanders did that.
BALDWIN: All right, well, as you point out, I guess if you're in love, the last thing you want to do is take it into a reality TV show. It seems to have bad karma for so many different couples.
We'll follow it. As she said there are two sides to every story. Second story I wanted to talk about, Susan Sarandon is sitting with Michael Moore being interviewed.
And along the course of the interviews, she says yes, my phone was tapped at some point in time. I was denied a security clearance to the White House. What more do you know about that this?
MURRAY: She said she read her FBI file several times because there are laws in America that allow you to do that. Here's the deal, Susan Sarandon is one of those really vocal politically opinionated celebrities.
Celebrity 101 teaches you even I consult celebrities on this from time to time. The things you don't talk about, not to alienate your fan base is politics and religion. When you do, you not only risk our chance of alienating your fan base, but if you're really radical, you can government red flag.
So in the case of Susan Sarandon, the government probably be keeping an eye on her allegedly so she says, and look, she's a liberal and very much an open Democrat, I wouldn't want her hanging out at the White House, too, if I was President Barack Obama.
BALDWIN: Well, look, celebrities are allowed to opine. I guess we won't ultimately know if they were tapping her phones. Jawn Murray, thank you. That's what trending today. Appreciate you, thank you.