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New Zimmerman Tapes Released; Middle Schoolers Bully Bus Monitor; House Preps for Historic Contempt Vote; Sandusky Closing Arguments Begin; Obama, Romney Court Latino Vote; Interview with Congresswoman Jackie Speier; Possible Supreme Court Decisions Today; Holder Faces Contempt of Congress; Three Charges against Sandusky Dismissed; Finding the Right Terrain to Run On

Aired June 21, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Soledad. Good morning.

Happening right now in the NEWSROOM, the night of the murder. Brand-new audio and videotapes released overnight. George Zimmerman in his own words re-enacting what he says happened to Trayvon Martin. We've got breaking news coverage straight ahead.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN KLEIN, BUS MONITOR: And I tried to ignore them. That's why I didn't hear some of the stuff because I'm just kind of -- tried to shut them out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, shock and awe, though. Middle school kids brutally harassing and bullying not each other but their 68-year-old bus monitor. This morning, hear why she never said anything about it until now.

Plus, why rapists in the military are getting away with it. A Bay area congresswoman taking the Air Force on front and center. Jackie Spear calling for new hearings on what she calls abuse of power. This morning, she's in the NEWSROOM.

And hot, hot, hot. The summer sizzler in full effect this morning. Dangerously high heat and humidity making it feel as hot as 110 degrees from Virginia all the way to southern Maine. So sit back, get out the fan, stay cool.

NEWSROOM starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: And we do start with this breaking news. For the first time, we're seeing video of George Zimmerman describing the play-by-play of what happened the night he shot Trayvon Martin. Overnight, his defense attorneys released several police interrogation tapes. In one of them, Zimmerman is re-enacting the fight for investigators just a day after the shooting in February showing how he says Trayvon Martin repeatedly slammed his head into the sidewalk. In one tape, you can see the back of Zimmerman's head is bandaged.

These new tapes are shedding a lot of new light in this case. And they are fascinating to listen to. And horrible at the same time.

Martin Savidge has been listening to these tapes, and it's -- they're incredible.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Let me take you back -- where this all happened and how it came to be. First of all, these are tapes in the first interview that you hear, the audio, is coming from the night of the actual shooting. In fact, it's probably an hour or two after Trayvon Martin has been killed by George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman admits he did the shooting.

What is significant is that it's in his own words, and it's so fresh and so right after the event that, you know, you put a lot of credibility into this as the investigators begin to question him.

We're going to play for you a sound bite here. And what has transpired is that George Zimmerman has described how he said the confrontation, initial contact with Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin has surprised him by jumping out of the bushes, he says. And let's pick it up with what George Zimmerman says next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, TRAYVON MARTIN SHOOTER: I was walking back through to where my car was, and he jumped out from the bushes. And he said, what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is your problem, homey? And I got my cell phone out to call 911 this time. And I said, hey, man, I don't have a problem. And he goes, no, now you have a problem.

And he punched me in the nose. As I -- I fell down. I tried to defend myself. He just started punching me in the face. And I started screaming for help. I couldn't see. I couldn't breathe. And then he started taking --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you still standing at this point?

ZIMMERMAN: No, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

ZIMMERMAN: I fell to the ground when he punched me the first time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

ZIMMERMAN: It was dark. I didn't even see him getting ready to punch me. As soon as he punched me, I fell backwards into the grass. And then he grabbed me -- he was wailing on my head. And then I started yelling help. When I started yelling for help, he grabbed my head and he started hitting my head into the -- I tried to sit up and yell for help. And then he grabbed my head and started hitting it into the sidewalk.

When he started doing that, I slid into the grass to try and get out from under him and so that he would stop hitting my head into the sidewalk. And I'm still yelling for help. And I could see people looking and some guy yells out, I'm calling 911. And I said help me, help me, he's killing me.

And he puts his hand on my nose and on my mouth. And he says, you're going to die tonight. And I don't remember much after that. I just remember -- I couldn't breathe. And then he still kept trying to hit my head against the pavement or -- I don't know if there was a sign or what it was. So I just -- when I slid, my jacket and my shirt came up. And when he said you're going to die tonight, I felt his hand go down on my side. And I thought he was going for my firearm.

So I grabbed it immediately, and as he banged my head again, I just pulled out my firearm and shot him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: And as we know, Carol, that was a single shot that was fired. It was extremely close range. And it actually pierced the heart of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, killing him.

We should point out here, of course, Trayvon Martin didn't survive to be able to tell his account. So this is again, as compelling as it may be, as recent as it may be after the shooting event, is one person's side of the story.

COSTELLO: And this person's side of the story, he's telling it to police right after he shot someone to death. So you should keep that in mind, too.

SAVIDGE: Right.

COSTELLO: The other thing, it's interesting that the defense released these tapes at this particular time, when George Zimmerman's bond has been revoked. George Zimmerman's wife has been charged with perjury.

SAVIDGE: And there have been questions that have been raised about, you know, how truthful has George Zimmerman been, how accurate can we believe his story telling.

And you're right. You know, is it coincidence or is it part of a chess game here? We can't say for sure. Only his defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, can say. This evidence, though, is evidence that was gathered by the state and has to, by law, be shared with the defense team by law. The defense team gets some time to look at it themselves before making it public.

So, in other words, the defense team can choose when to make it public. Why did they decide to do so today so shortly before this important hearing? We don't know. But we also could say, look, they just had to release it on their own time schedule.

COSTELLO: Well, we must ask those questions. There's more tape.

SAVIDGE: A lot.

COSTELLO: George Zimmerman on the scene re-enacting this. I know you're just going through it because CNN is just getting this tape in. So you're going to go do that, you're going to be back at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, about an hour from now, to show us more.

SAVIDGE: Right. And, you know, this video is really -- we expect it to be fairly dramatic because what it is, it's George Zimmerman at the site, where the shooting took place, walking authorities through. So we will see George Zimmerman saying, I was here. Trayvon Martin was there. And given all that's been said about this case, it should be pretty remarkable.

COSTELLO: OK. We'll let you get busy.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

COSTELLO: Martin Savidge, thank you so much.

Also in the news this morning, at upstate New York, a YouTube video goes viral and stirs an outpouring of sympathy for a bus monitor viciously bullied by middle school students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. You're so fat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You're fat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're so fat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It went on and on. The profanity-laced jeers drove the woman to tears. But the most cruel remark came from one student who said her family was so ashamed of her they probably killed themselves. Well, it turns out the woman's son really did commit suicide 10 years ago.

Karen Klein says she's still in disbelief of just how heartless and unprovoked these taunts were.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: For some reason, they just started in with this garbage. I still don't know why. And I sat there and took it until they got off the bus. I don't know if I want to see them face-to-face again. I doubt it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And now here is something to restore your faith in humanity. The viral video inspired an international fundraiser for Klein. More than $100,000 has been raised so far. In the meantime, police are investigating to see if charges should be filed against these 12 and 13-year-old kids. The school district also considering action.

Now let's turn to a remarkable showdown taking shape and making history in Washington. Right now, Attorney General Eric Holder is in Denmark, but his future rests on Capitol Hill. As early as next week, lawmakers in the House could hold him in contempt of Congress. It's an action never before taken against the nation's top law enforcement official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: I think it's going to go to a vote. But I would very much hope that it would be negotiated out. And really all we're asking for is documents. And these documents have all been inside of the Justice Department. We know of no presidential involvement in this. I have never accused the president of anything until just now, when he puts executive privilege in. And that raises a whole bunch of questions. Has he been involved?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So many questions attached to the story.

Joe Johns is in Washington to help us sort them out.

So, let's first talk about the contempt charge. The House is controlled by Republicans. This vote on the committee was split along party lines. It's likely that the full House will vote to file a contempt of Congress charge against Eric Holder. So let's say they do. What does that mean?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, what it means is it goes to the full House. And presumably they have the votes. If they take a vote. If the speaker of the House puts it on the floor. But the question of course is if there's going to be something that intervenes, perhaps negotiation.

Eric Holder suggesting he is still holding out hope that there could be a negotiation of some kind to get this off the table so it doesn't appear on the floor of the House of Representatives, which would be pretty unprecedented for a United States attorney general -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So the president inserted himself into this mess. Explain that to us. Does it really make any difference as far as what could happen to Eric Holder?

JOHNS: Well, it makes some difference because in some ways it can immunize the attorney general because the president of the United States says these are communications that he needs to keep secret that are not -- the Congress is not entitled to. Of course, it's the kind of thing that still ends up in a court of law, if they don't figure it out.

And the president, of course, is very close to Eric Holder. And I'm sure he doesn't like this. But all Democrats, if you talk to them on Capitol Hill, will tell you they believe this is politically motivated. They say that Republicans are doing this during an election year for a reason. And if you look at it very closely, it is true that on the surface it looks like it's advantage to the Republicans because it keeps the administration on defense. It's something of a distraction from talking about all the other issues we could be talking about during an election year.

And it might very well help rally the base of Republicans. So there's certainly a political element to this -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Joe Johns reporting live for us from Washington. Thank you.

Court spectators began lining up more than six hours ago to get a seat at the closing arguments in the Jerry Sandusky trial. Those arguments are just about to begin after days of agonizing testimony, and no surprise, no testimony from Jerry Sandusky.

More now from CNN's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The prosecution launched right in on day one, calling the first of eight Sandusky accusers to the stand. Alleged victim number one says he was assaulted in the basement of Sandusky's home. The 18-year-old brought to tears. Quote, "After rubbing and cracking my back and the blowing of the stomach, he put his mouth on my privates."

Another alleged victim, number five, says Sandusky assaulted him in a Penn State shower. "I kept lurching forward, but I didn't have anywhere to go. I felt his arm move forward, and he touched my genitalia."

TOM KLINE, ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGED VICTIM 5: Here he was with this relationship with these boy after boy after boy, which by any conventional evaluation of any normal adult would say, this is just so terribly odd and wrong.

CARROLL: On the second day in court, the prosecution turned to another of its key witnesses, former grad assistant Mike McQueary, who says in 2001, he saw Sandusky sexual assault a young boy in a Penn State shower. Quote, "Coach Sandusky's arms wrapped around the boy's midsection, just as close as I think you could be."

The prosecution went on, showing several letters Sandusky had written to young boys, including one reading, "Love never ends. It bears all things."

The defense countered, questioning why so many accusers hired civil attorneys, suggesting financial motives. Then calling 18 character witnesses on Sandusky's behalf. Many former members of Second Mile, a charity founded by Sandusky.

Chad Rexrode told jurors, "I have never had a father in my life, and he was a father figure."

The most anticipated character witness, Sandusky's wife Dottie, testified she never saw inappropriate contact with her husband and young boys. She told the court three of the accusers had actually visited the Sandusky home as adults.

One of the oddest moments came from defense attorney Joe Amendola, comparing the trial to a soap opera.

JOE AMENDOLA, JERRY SANDUSKY'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Actually, "All My Children." All our children?

CARROLL: That comment went viral, critics calling him insensitive. Amendola challenged that notion saying he has shown sensitivity throughout the trial by not revealing the accusers' identities.

As for those letters, a defense psychologist testified Sandusky has histrionic personality disorder, which causes people to act inappropriately when not the center of attention. Then the defense lays out what one source says is their strongest move, presenting jurors with a recording which they say shows investigators leading an accuser.

The final witness testifying, "I felt like they kept asking me to say something that wasn't true."

Jason Carroll, CNN, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's talk about what will be going on inside that jury room with Wendy Murphy. She's a former child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor who teaches at New England Law Boston.

Good morning.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. So closing arguments are about to begin. Let's start there actually. What do you suppose -- let's skip over the prosecution because we pretty much know what they are going to say. As for the defense, what might he say in his closing arguments? Since there is so much evidence presented against Jerry Sandusky.

MURPHY: Well -- yes. You know, it's a tough case. I have said many times that it's in my opinion not defensible. The defense can't make the claim that this is all a big conspiracy and they are all a bunch of liars and, you know, all of these young men are willing to commit perjury for money because it doesn't make sense. It's irrational. The jury won't believe it. And I think he'll alienate the jury if he tries to make that kind of grand claim during his closing.

So I think what we'll hear from the defense is an over- exaggeration of some of the points that were made that are valid, that are legitimate. You know, you heard, for example, ladies and gentlemen, one of the witnesses testified that a victim and his mom both said, boy, we can't wait to buy a new house with the money we're going to get from suing in this case.

Juries don't like to hear that victims are looking for cash. It's a very strong defense point. It may well persuade the jury to find him not guilty on that one case. I think we're going to hear the defense exaggerate all sorts of things from the character witnesses that were put up there. I mean, they put up a lot of people to say this was a good guy who did a lot of nice things and was decent and kind and generous.

And so, you know, in some ways, I think he's going to play on the feeling in the room. There are a lot of people connected to Penn Sate on the jury who will want to believe in the goodness of humanity and that this is a decent man. It's hard for jurors to look at a guy who seems so decent and nice, and has done so much for so many and think, you're a monster? I mean, it's so hard for them to get their head around that that I think the defense is going to try to exploit that to some extent -- the desire to disbelieve in the jury.

But, you know, at the end of the day -- at the end of the day, no way are they going to win on every count. No way.

COSTELLO: Fifty-one counts. We'll see. Wendy Murphy, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

MURPHY: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Still ahead, our Jim Acosta on the campaign trail at a special event that both Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama will be speaking at -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, that's right. In a few hours from now, Mitt Romney will be speaking to a national Hispanic leadership conference here in Orlando, Florida. What will he say? And will it help the GOP contender with Latino voters?

We'll talk about that in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Turning now to presidential politics and a reminder of just how important the Latino vote will be in November. Both President Obama and his Republican challenger, Governor Mitt Romney, are getting ready to speak to a major gathering of Hispanic leaders and activists near Orlando.

Florida just one of several battleground states that could be decided by Latino voters.

National political correspondent Jim Acosta is at the conference. He joins us live.

Do we expect Governor Romney to change his position on immigration today?

ACOSTA: Carol, that is the million dollar question at this conference. That is what everybody is going to be watching later on today when Mitt Romney talks to this crowd of Latino leaders at around noon. And it is sort of dueling speeches. Mitt Romney will talk today. President Obama will talk tomorrow.

But obviously, there's a lot of pressure on Mitt Romney here for a variety of factors, Carol. First of all, just take a look at the positions that he carved out during the Republican primaries. They were pretty hard lined when it came to the issue of immigration.

He vowed to veto the DREAM Act. He said that undocumented immigrants in this country should self deport themselves.

He supported the Arizona immigration law. That is before the Supreme Court. By the way, we may get a decision on that sometime in the next week or so.

So all of this is creating some pressure for Mitt Romney to come in here and spell out exactly where he stands on these issues. A conference call that the Romney campaign had with reporters yesterday indicated that there may be some news in what Mitt Romney has to say today that, he may talk about some new aspects of his immigration positions.

But he's also, Carol, expected to turn back to the economy. And we have talked about this before. Every group he goes in front of, he feels like that is the issue that works with voters, whether they'd be Latino, African-American, or people in the Midwest, you know, predominantly white audience. He feels like that's the way to wage this campaign. And he's going to be talking about the economy as well.

The Obama campaign has tried to go after Mitt Romney in the last day or so, saying, hey, wait a minute. When are you, Mitt Romney, going to take a position on what President Obama announced late last Friday when he said he was going to show some leniency towards undocumented young immigrants in this country, Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Acosta. I know you'll be watching for us. We appreciate it.

ACOSTA: OK, you bet.

COSTELLO: Depending who you ask, the U.S. military is facing an epidemic of rape and sexual assaults. Take a look at these stats.

In 2010, the armed forces logged roughly 19,000 incidents of sexual assault. Of those, only about 14 percent were reported. And according to our next guest, those who rape or sexually assault a fellow service member are not likely to be punished. She says they have an 87 percent chance of keeping the crime a secret, and a 92 percent chance of avoiding a court-martial.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier has introduced legislation to put a stop to the way sexual assault cases are handled by the military. She joins us now from Capitol Hill.

Welcome.

REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you. Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: It's great.

I must say -- these stats are shocking.

SPEIER: Aren't they? It's more than shocking. I mean, it really is a huge stain on the military and on the U.S. Congress for not having addressed this issue sooner.

COSTELLO: So you're trying to address this. You're going to introduce a bill to try to change the culture or atmosphere in the military. How are you -- how will your bill do that?

SPEIER: My bill provides that rather than report it to your commander, as you are required to do now, you report it to a separate office within the military that will objectively look at the case and determine whether or not to prosecute.

Right now, by reporting to your commander, what happens if your commander is the assailant or the best friend of your assailant? I mean, there is a fear that if you do report, you're not going to be treated fairly. And that if you do report, you will more than likely be discharged from the military, labeled with a personality disorder, and your career is ruined.

So that's why the actual reporting is so low. They don't have faith in the system.

COSTELLO: I'd actually like to think that commanders in the military could handle charges of sexual abuse from their subordinates. Why can't -- I mean, I listened to the reasons you cited. But you would think that most of them would be able to help these victims out.

SPEIER: You know, within the military, it's still unfortunately an old boys network. Oh, she consented. Oh, she wanted it. Oh, she was dressed provocatively. I mean, all of those old lines that were used in the '60s to somehow dismiss rape are still being used in the military.

Lackland Air Force Base -- you have instructors there who after their trainees had completed their work and had been promoted, they were called on the intercom and asked to come and meet with their instructors. Now, they're told when they first enlist that you do anything your instructor tells you to do, even if it doesn't make sense. And then they go ahead and rape these new recruits.

I mean, it is now turning into a scandal in the military, in the Air Force, when we've been told, oh, all these other cases are old. They are happening right now.

And using the chain of command to deal with this problem isn't good enough.

COSTELLO: So why isn't every congressman taking up this cause and trying to put a stop to this?

SPEIER: Well, we do have 120 co-sponsors on the legislation. It is a bipartisan bill. We have organizations like Protect Our Defenders who are trying to gain additional support for this measure. But the truth of the matter is, we've known about this in Congress for 25 years. And nothing has been done about it yet.

Now, to Secretary Panetta's credit, he is saying zero tolerance, we're going to fix this. I think you can't fix it within the chain of command. Unless we increase prosecutions and convictions, we are not going to see the kind of change that needs to take place. The culture will remain the same.

COSTELLO: Congresswoman Speier, thanks so much for joining us. I know you wrote an op-ed for CNN.com.

And you can read Congresswoman Speier's complete op-ed on CNN.com. In fact, it's posted on that site right now.

The latest incident of bullying on a school bus has stunned people around the world and makes us wonder -- is there any way to effectively discipline abusive kids? That's our talk back question today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. The question for you this morning, what should happen to the students who bullied that bus monitor? An outpouring of love and support from all over the world for a school bus monitor in Upstate New York after video went public of one of the most horrific bullying incidents you've ever seen. Not kid on kid, but a bunch of 12-year- old and 13-year-olds verbally abusing a grandmother. It's tough to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Karen, you're fat. You're so fat -- you take up like the whole entire seat.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Oh, my God. Your glasses are foggy from your freakin' sweat, you fat (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED KID: She probably (EXPLETIVE DELETED) eats deodorant because she can't afford real food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are we doing?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Your mom, oh, wait, she's dead. Kind of like you in a few years you old (EXPLETIVE DELETED). If I stab you in the stomach, and (EXPLETIVE DELETED) my knife would go through you like butter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The taunting was so bad, the bus monitor, Karen Klein, started crying. Klein said she'd been abused before but never reported it because she thought she'd get blamed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN KLEIN, SCHOOL BUS MONITOR: If you yank the phone out of his hand, then you get in trouble, you know? I thought I'd just let them go. And I just tried to ignore them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It brings up a lot of questions. She's the adult. She's supposed to handle these kids. But evidently, she felt she could not.

The story clearly struck a nerve. An online fundraiser has brought in more than $125,000 to help give Karen the vacation of a lifetime. Karen told NBC she'd like to see the students punished, but she didn't know how.

The school and the police say after investigating they'll deal with those involved. They'll have to, because the world is watching.

So the talk back question of the day, what should happen to these students who bullied the bus monitor? Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

Good morning to you. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I'm Carol Costello.

Stories we're watching right now in THE NEWSROOM.

Opening bell on Wall Street. It looks to be a flat open with investors still concerned about the global economic slowdown hitting both China and Europe.

For the first time this morning, we are seeing George Zimmerman's police interrogation tapes. His defense team revealed several video and audio tapes overnight on their Web site. One tape shows him the day after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin, re-enacting the fight for police.

Remember, Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second degree murder charges.

Thirty minutes from now, the Supreme Court could hand down some of its most important decisions in years. Among them, President Obama's health care law, and several issues under the microscope. But the one getting the most attention is the so-called individual mandate, specifically whether it's constitutional to require health care for most of us.

The justices could also announce a decision on Arizona's tough immigration law. The question there, whether states have the authority to write their own immigration laws or if only the feds have that power.

Relief in sight for millions of people on the East Coast sweltering in the summer's first heat wave. Almost the entire Northeast is facing temperatures -- that are feeling temperatures I should say -- in the 90s. Some people are going to the beach to cool off. But for those working outside, it's been kind of like hell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like 100 degrees on the platforms. At least the subway cars have air conditioning. So it's not as bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really feels like you're in an oven out here. It's crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it's really hot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so hot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't even take it.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

COSTELLO: So we look to Rob Marciano, the weather guy.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, these are two places, you know, D.C. and New York, you have lived in both places. It's a place where you actually wear it.

COSTELLO: It's not the heat. It's the humidity.

MARCIANO: Yes, and the pollution. So have you that too.

But we had record-breaking heat yesterday and we're going to see more of it today. Relief in sight but not for another day, maybe two.

Here is a look at some of the numbers that we posted yesterday for record highs, near 100 in spots. Newark, LaGuardia, all hitting 98 degrees. But look at that -- as far north as Burlington, Vermont, seeing 95. And there's a lot of folks up there just don't have any A.C. in northern New England. So they are dealing with some serious discomfort to say the least.

Boston, New York, Philly, D.C., these are the numbers from yesterday. In the center, to the right, what we expect today so a couple of degrees warmer today than it was yesterday. And we are off to a red-hot start. Temperatures already at the 9:00 hour 87 in Baltimore and D.C., and Boston, 84 degrees.

In New York, and remember these are numbers that are measured in the shade without the humidity. You include the humidity, and you talk about the heat index. And the heat indices expected to get to 110. In some cases, more than that. Ten states now under heat advisories and heat warnings for today, meaning it's going to be dangerous for the kids, for the elderly, and for the folks who may not be doing well health-wise. So keep an eye on them.

Ninety-nine degrees potentially in New York City. But there's your blue line. The cold front moving towards the I-95 corridor. Maybe erupting some heat bursting thunderstorms today across the Allegheny and western New York.

But tomorrow afternoon, and actually if you're traveling in this area tomorrow and Friday afternoon, might be some thunderstorms that will slow you down. But there's the relief on Saturday. Temperatures in the mid 80s.

So, just do what you have to do to stay cool. It's the first real -- today is the first day of full summer. Mother Nature obviously cooperating across the Northeast.

It's also the first heat wave that is the biggest shock to your system.

COSTELLO: And after that, it's smooth sailing.

MARCIANO: Oh, yes.

COSTELLO: Yes. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. See you.

COSTELLO: That's -- we are keeping an eye at the Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court that is.

Awaiting a health care decision. We'll be back in 20 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In about 20 minutes, we are waiting to find out if the Supreme Court will make a ruling on health care. It is the most important decision in years.

Several issues under the microscope, but the one getting the most attention is so-called individual mandate, specifically, whether it's constitutional to require you to get health insurance for almost all of us.

Justices could also announce a decision on Arizona's tough immigration law. The big question there is whether states have the authority to write their own immigration laws or if only the feds have the power to do that.

So, it's states rights versus federal authority. It's an election year fight that turned into a huge constitutional battle left for the U.S. Supreme Court.

CNN congressional correspondent Kate Bolduan explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two men on the front lines, both fighting illegal immunization, but they couldn't be farther apart.

David Salgado is a 20-year Phoenix police veteran. He's supposed to enforce Arizona's immigration law. Instead, he's trying to stop it, and his lawsuit helped trigger a Supreme Court battle.

DAVID SALGADO, PHOENIX POLICE: I think it's a racist law, because that law was basically -- picks and chooses certain people. When I took an oath or, you know, 20 years ago, that said I'm going to enforce all laws and treat everyone equal, I can't treat the Hispanics equally because I'm going to profile them.

BOLDUAN: Glenn Spencer heads a private group that patrols the border along his 104-acre ranch with high-tech equipment, planes, cameras, even testing a sonic barrier.

GLENN SPENCER, RANCHER: And so this flashing here would indicate -- OK, here we go.

BOLDUAN: Spencer says he and the state are stepping in where Washington has failed.

SPENCER: This is a wholesale invasion of Arizona, and our federal government is not protecting the state. We're going to make sure that they get all the help and the federal government gets all the help that it needs to do the job.

BOLDUAN (on camera): It's an old fight, but a new battleground, and it all comes down to this: the U.S.-Mexico border and the Arizona law known as SB-1070, meant to crack down on illegal border crossings. But the question dividing this state is who should be enforcing illegal immigration laws.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): SB-1070 requires local police, like Officer Salgado, to check people's immigration status while enforcing other laws, if the police have, quote, "reasonable suspicion" they're in the country illegally -- all in an effort, the state's governor says, to help federal authorities deal with illegal immunization.

GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZ.: They're coming across our borders in huge numbers, that the drug cartels have taken control of the immigration, illegal trespassing.

BOLDUAN: But the Obama administration and the law's opponents argue the federal government alone has power over immigration enforcement.

For Officer Salgado, it's personal.

(on camera): You think it's going to hurt your job?

SALGADO: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: Make it harder to do your job?

SALGADO: Absolutely. It brought division.

The rapport that we build with the Hispanic community, it took us years. One day, destroyed it. One day.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): But Glenn Spencer says if nothing's done, lives and livelihoods are at risk.

SPENCER: I have nothing against Mexico or Mexicans. But when you import poverty on a massive scale, you can only expect that your tax base is going to erode, and you're going to run into serious problems.

BOLDUAN (on camera): What happens here is being closely watched by states across the country. A wild card, though, Justice Elena Kagan, has pulled herself out of hearing this case, which raises the possibility of a 4-4 split, meaning this election year fight could be pushed to another day.

Kate Bolduan, CNN, at the U.S.-Mexico border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Oh, but we could find out in 20 minutes if the United States Supreme Court has made a decision on Arizona's immigration law. We'll of course keep you posted because we're watching.

And we also asked to you talk back on one of the stories of the day. The question for you this morning what, should happen students who bullied that bus monitor? Your response is coming up. Facebook.com/CarolCNN.

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COSTELLO: As I told you before the break, we are awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision on two very important cases. One deals with Arizona's tough immigration law. It's sort of a states rights versus the federal government case.

The U.S. Supreme Court also expected to make a decision on Obamacare, as the Republicans call it. They are going to decide whether parts of it are constitutional, all of it is constitutional, or none of it is constitutional.

But we expect the U.S. Supreme Court to make some sort of decision on these two very important cases by the end of June. This would be one of the days that they release information about whether they have decided. That should come our way at about 10:00 Eastern time, that's 15 minutes from now, when the U.S. Supreme Court makes its decision on -- if it will decide today. We'll pass that information along to you, of course.

As early as next week, lawmakers in the full house to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It's an action never before taken against a sitting Attorney General. At issue, "Fast and Furious" and Holder's reluctance to turn over documents that presumably show whose idea it was to allow thousands of illegal weapons to get into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

The ATF insists the operation was an effort to track the guns to other traffickers, but was it? Some Republicans say it was much more than that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN MICA (R), FLORIDA: People forget how all this started. This administration is a gun control administration. They tried to put the violence in Mexico on the blame of the United States so they concocted this scheme in actually sending our federal agents, sending guns down there and trying to cook some little deal to say that we've got to get more guns under control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The NRA, the National Rifle Association, agrees. In a letter supporting the contempt resolutions, the NRA's Chris Cox writes, quote, "We first called for Attorney General Holder's resignation more than a year ago. The department's obstruction of congressional oversight of a program that cost lives in support of an anti-gun agenda." Cox adds, "The NRA will consider this vote in our future candidate evaluations."

CNN political contributor Roland Martin is here to help us parse this out. We invited Will Cain too, who leans right, but he must have had some sort of emergency he couldn't make it.

So we are left with you, Roland and we're happy about that. We're happy you're here.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Likewise.

COSTELLO: Ok. So you heard what I just said. I mean, what is really behind the actions being taken against Eric Holder and "Fast and Furious"? Is it real concern about this border agent who was killed? And I'm sure there's real concern there. But is it also about the gun control issue?

MARTIN: Of course. It is about shameful politics. It is not about this border patrol's death. Because here is the deal. If you look at the documents that Congressman Issa is requesting, or Issa -- whatever the last name --

COSTELLO: Issa.

MARTIN: He wants the documents after the agent -- after the agent's death. Now if you truly want to get to the heart of the issue, you would be -- you would be investigation -- investigating this whole issue from the beginning.

Have we had any public testimony of the former head of the ATF in Phoenix? Have we had any public testimony of the agents in that Phoenix office? No. Issa wants to go after the Attorney General.

And so this is a sham. It's an absolute joke. And I know the right wingers out there, I have dealt with them on Twitter yesterday and they are running off at the mouth trying to blame the agent's death on Holder. But it's ridiculous. And now this whole deal is concocting this whole plan to somehow circumvent the Second Amendment. I mean, this is absolute crazy talk. Pure and simple.

COSTELLO: Well, I will say that Eric Holder made things more difficult for himself, because he kind of told one story to Congress and then he came back another time and said, oh, I misspoke. I might kind of wonder about that if I'm a congressperson.

MARTIN: Of course. I mean -- I mean obviously you want to get to the bottom of the issue. But again, exactly what is -- what is the motivation here? And so when you all of a sudden hear the NRA making their threats by saying how you vote on this we're going to factor in, in terms of how we support future candidates we see what the game here is.

They have been after this President and Holder from day one, somehow believing they want to outlaw all guns. That is constantly being their whole motive.

And so Republicans -- for Republicans to say this is what we think is going on, here's the problem, Carol. How do you disprove something that's a fallacy? And so they are saying we think it -- we think they concocted this, so you need to disprove a delusional thought. That's utter nonsense.

COSTELLO: All right.

Well, we have breaking news so we have to break away. Roland, thanks so for being here. We appreciate it.

MARTIN: Thanks a bunch.

COSTELLO: So ok --

All right. Here is the breaking news. Three counts -- three counts have been dropped this morning against ex-Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. All three counts pertain to the alleged victim four. The judge dismissed defense request to have all counts related to victim eight dismissed.

Now this brings the total number of counts against Sandusky to 48. Susan Candiotti is at the courthouse she'll join us live at the top of the hour. She's trying to kind of parse this out to see what it means. And she'll bring us the latest news from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania at the top of the hour.

Don't forget if you're heading out the door that you can take us with you. Watch us any time on your mobile or computer. Head to CNN.com/TV.

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COSTELLO: Ok seven minutes to go. We'll know if the U.S. Supreme Court has made its final decision on two important cases. One on Arizona's tough new immigration law and the other of course on President Obama's health care law. Justices are to determine whether that law is constitutional or parts of it are unconstitutional or the whole thing is unconstitutional. We'll know as I said in about seven minutes.

We're going to take a break we'll be right back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This probably would be the worst surface of all to run on.

APRIL GELLATLY, PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETE: This is not great for you. This is not a great feeling. Asphalt or concrete is going to be the least forgiving. Something like this track here, the soft surface is going to be awesome to run on for your legs. And if that's not an option, at a park near you if you don't have that awesome half-mile track running around, running on the grass, you know, running around the soccer field.

Another good place to look to is, you know, most of the schools have a cross-country track or trail. One of the worst is actually city blocks. Running city blocks -- horrendous on the legs.

COSTELLO: A lot of people say when you run on grass, it is better for your legs and feet because it makes your ankles move and it strengthens you. Is that true?

GELLATLY: You want to be careful. You can also twist those ankles from that. That's not a risk you take. But it is more forgiving on the legs, you can recover faster from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Check out my tips with April every Thursday morning. All part of the 2012 FitNation triathlon challenge with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Airs right here 9:00 Eastern every Thursday.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break.

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