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Government Mere Days Away From Implementing Painful Spending Cuts; Jimmy Johnson Daytona 500 Winner

Aired February 24, 2013 - 16:59   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. A look at our top story right now, it is all about Daytona. Nascar driver Jimmie Johnson takes the win there. Johnson won his second race in the Daytona 500, becoming the tenth driver to win America's greatest race multiple times. We will go live to the winner's circle in a moment.

The Pope led the people in prayer for the last time today at the Vatican. An emotional crowd gathered to hear him speak but his resignation comes at a time when the Vatican and the Catholic Church are in the middle of other controversies. More on that straight ahead.

Just five days until forced spending cut go into effect. In this country, $85 billion in cuts will impact defense and social programs if Congress and the president don't reach a budget deal.

And Oscars fever hits Hollywood, the biggest and best awards show in Tinsel town kicks off just two hours from now. And we will have a red carpet preview straight ahead.

But first, let's talk about those spending cuts, $85 billion worth.

Athena Jones is joining us from the north lawn of the White House.

So, the deadline is Friday. These cut could have affect all of us in one way or another, actually, we are back inside now. Tell us how.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we are hearing about all kinds of bad effects if these cut goes into effect. You know, 75,000 kids could lose access to head start program. Low-income senior citizens could lose food aid. Talking about airport security, there could be longer lines at airport security, delays with air traffic controllers, you see cuts there. And also, another example is food inspections there will be less money available to make sure our products like meat are safe to eat.

And you know, everyone agrees that these cuts, these across-the- board cuts are a bad idea. People believe that they should, both sides should be able to come together and agree on targeted cuts, really look what actually needs to be cut.

Let's listen to what Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill said about this, this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: Why is it that we can't come to the table and agree what cuts need to happen? That's what we should be doing. We shouldn't be passing the blame to the executive branch or saying this is Obama's sequester. The Republicans supported this. I supported it. We need to come together and make the right cut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there you heard senator McCaskill asking, why can't the two sides come together? That's probably what the American people are asking as well, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right, and since both, I guess the White House and Congress came one this, who stand stands, I guess lose the most, be hurt the most if a deal isn't reached in time?

JONES: That's a good question. It is kind of a big gamble if you really think about this on both sides if these affects - if cut go into effect. Both sides are trying to show that the other party should bear the responsibility for all these bad things that are going to happen. And if you believe the recent poll by the pew and "USA Today," they make it look as though the White House may be winning this argument, asked who they would blame if the cut ghouls into affect, 31 percent said President Obama, 49 percent said Republicans in congress. And only 11 percent said both. That may be why we're seeing the president hit the road again this week, Frederica, head down to new port news, Virginia, to talk about how these cuts would affect the middle class. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Athena Jones. Thanks so much from Washington, the White House.

Meantime you overseas, the Pope delivered his last public prayer today before stepping down but his resignation comes at a time went Vatican and the catholic church are in the middle of controversies. Our Becky Anderson has details.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Frederica, it was a very frail and tired looking Pope Benedict XVI who addressed tens of thousands of pilgrim house are gathered in the square at St. Peter's behind me to hear what was the Pope's last public blessing.

He had said sensationally only a week and a half ago that he was resigning because he was of ailing health and that he was too old for the job. But now, questions around who knew what when storm clouds gathering over the Roman Catholic church.

The Italian media is abuzz with allegations that a network of gay clerics have made themselves vulnerable to blackmail from male prostitutes. The Vatican has responded to those allegations by saying, and I quote, "it's deplorable that as the time for the Roman Catholic church to elect a new Pope approaches," talking, of course, to the conclave, "a rash often invented, unverifiable or completely false news stories has appeared," end quote.

To add to this, British media public stories about the top Scottish cleric and only eligible British cardinal for conclave reporting that four priests, three current priests and one former priest, are alleging inappropriate behavior by cardinal Keith O'Brien. Now, he should have been at mass at St. Mary's cathedral in Scotland earlier on Sunday. He wasn't there. The bishop, who took, that mass said that he is aware of those reports and that he is seeking legal advice. We are told by the Vatican that the Pope is aware of O'Brien's case -- Frederica?

WHITFIELD: All right Becky, thanks so much.

In South Africa, the older brother of Oscar Pistorius is charged in a woman's death. Carl Pistorius is charged with culpable homicide after an accident involving a motorcycle go back in 2010. The charges were initially dropped, but he now faces a trial at the end of March. Prosecutors say Carl Pistorius had been driving recklessly at the time of the accident.

Coming up in a few minutes, we will talk about how this could impact Oscar Pistorius' murder case.

And a suspect has been identified in that fatal shooting and crash on the Las Vegas strip that left three people dead. Police are now looking for 26-year-old Amar Harris (ph). They believed he opened fire from a range rover Thursday morning, killing rapper Kenneth Cherry, who was driving a macerate. Cherry's macerate smashed into a taxi, which caught fire. The taxi driver and a passenger died. Cherry's father tells our affiliate KVVU his son was a good guy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN CHERRY SENIOR, FATHER: There was no guns in my son's car. He was a victim, just like any other victim, that is being attempted to be carjacked or did something wrong, driving a car and the person got mad at them or they just was jealous of my son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police have impounded the range rover they say Amar Harris (ph) was driving.

All right, the far-reaching winter storm has made life in Denver quite a mess. The storm has dumped several inches there and across the central plains. And the forecast calls for even more snow before it's all over.

And gas prices have gone up again, making miserable for everybody, but this time, there just might be some good news in the Lundberg survey. A gallon of regular unleaded cost $3.83 on average nationwide, that is up 20 cents the past two weeks, but the speed of that spike has slowed down. The survey's publisher says gas price does even begin to drop soon. A little hope.

All right, in a recent poll, most people want the forced budget cuts to be delayed but polls might not be enough to stop the axe that's about to fall on that budget.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Only one topic dominated the Sunday talk shows this week, and you guessed it, the showdown over forced spending cuts. Here is the sound of Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Congress goes on recess and the president goes golfing. Why isn't somebody in a room somewhere, in a shirt they have had on for three days, ordering takeout pizza with a bunch of people trying to figure it out if this it is that bad?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: That is exactly what we should be doing. And I won't put all the blame on the president of the United States. But the president leads. The president should be calling us from somewhere, Camp David, the White House, somewhere, ad us sitting down in trying to work these kinds of cuts.

RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We are going to try and cut as much as we possibly can out of contracts and other things that we do. But in the end, there has to be some kind of furlough of air traffic control -- air traffic controllers. And that then that then will also begin to curtail or eliminate the opportunity for them to guide planes in and out of airports.

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Let's give them the ability to shift the dollars, make priorities or spending cut. Don't do it with an axe or the scalpel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: So, shouldn't the White House except this call from Republic since Congress have more flexibility over where to hit with the cuts and when?

REP. ELIOT ENGEL (D), NEW YORK: I think that Congress should debt sit down and avoid the sequester and if the sequester kicks in for a week or two we should then fix it so it doesn't become a permanent thing.

ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY: Education is not just March 2nd, it is what happens in March and April and May and June and going back to school this fall. If we have 70,000 less children in head start, if we have tens of thousands of poor children and children with disabilities not getting the services they need, children of military families get disproportionately impacted, all of a sudden, those children get a worse education, that's not right, major, that's not fair. That doesn't make sense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And so, we know forced spending cut are this week's big topic, but gun control and the nomination of Chuck Hagel for defense secretary also on the front burner.

CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser has his take on this week's hot issues.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Fred.

It's the biggest story here in Washington. Those forced spending cuts, which will kick in starting Friday if there's no deal between the White House and Congress to avert them. So, what do you think about those cut? A majority in two new polls say they should be delayed, including 54 percent questioning a new Bloomberg survey. Four in ten say let the cutting begin. The president's pointing fingers at Republicans in Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is not a smart way for us to reduce the deficit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: They are faulting Mr. Obama. So, who do you think is more to blame? Nearly half questioned in a "USA Today"/pew poll say congressional Republicans who get more blame if no deals reached said three in ten say Mr. Obama would be more at fault.

There is a crucial Senate hearing this week on gun violence, as gun control proposals start making their way through Congress in the wake of last year's mass shooting at a Connecticut Elementary school.

According that-to-that same "USA Today"/Pew surveys, have half stay is more important to control gun ownership, with 46 percent say protecting the rights of gun owners should-the top concern.

Also this, week the Senate may finally vote on Chuck Hagel's nomination as defense secretary. You know, I have got some polls on hailing, let's be honest, the only numbers that really matter will be how the 100 senators vote on the controversial nominee -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Paul Steinhauser.

All right, the case against Oscar Pistorius. Coming up, we will put it under the microscope with a forensic psychiatrist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Perhaps you saw it, a spectacular finish at the Daytona 500. The 500-mile NASCAR race ended minutes ago with Jimmie Johnson taking the big win.

CNN's John Zarrella is also taking it all in at the winner's circle there.

Danica Patrick coming in, what, eighth place.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Frederica.

You know, what a terrific day today, Jimmie Johnson down there in victory lane talking to members of the media, winning his second Daytona 500. As you mentioned, a great day for Danica Patrick, she was the first woman to win the pole position for the 500. She became the first woman today in 500 history to lead at least one lap and she had the highest finish of any woman in the history of the Daytona 500, coming in, in the top ten, finishing eighth.

Now, you know, what a contrast today. Fredricka, to what we saw here yesterday on the nationwide race. Just across the field, the track of where I am now and that final lap, one far being clipped goes airborne got sheered in two, parts of its engine ends up and failed in the fence of tire going over the top of that fence. Some -- more than 28 people injured in all. Seven still at area hospitals today as the race here started. And we did have an opportunity earlier in the day to talk to people who witnessed what happened yesterday.

So - and what they were telling us it happened instantaneously. They had no idea until parts were actually flying at them. But, interestingly enough, most of those people came back today and they said they had no qualms about coming back today, and racing is what they love. And they will continue to come to auto racing despite the accident goes with the territory, they said. One man telling us, you can go to a baseball game and get hit with a ball or a bat.

But now, today, Frederica, when you walked over to that area are you couldn't tell an accident, a crash had taken place yesterday. That fence had been completely replaced, repaired and there was a stairway that led down to the track, that had been removed and behind the stands.

So no signs at all today of what was really a very horrific incident yesterday. And again, seven people were still in the hospital today a big victory here today and Danica Patrick certainly making history once again.

WHITFIELD: Right. So fantastic on that finish. You know, though, you know, Jimmy Johnson, I know he is a good sport and you know, this is the second time winning Daytona, but he still has to kind of share the spotlight with Danica, given that she is a top ten finisher and still, you know, is being peppered weird the questions about the history that she has made.

ZARRELLA: You know our folks went over to talk to her today and I know they have had an opportunity to speak with Danica so a I'm looking forward to hearing what she had to say. I'm sure she has to be absolutely -- certainly would have loved to win. Coming into the last lap, she was sitting in third. And, you know, everybody here was going, wow, this is going to be terrific, then there was an accident on the second turn, I believe, in that last lap, and all of a sudden, there was a bunch of shuffling of some cars, before you know it she had fallen took about eighth place where she finished. But still, one terrific effort.

WHITFIELD: Incredible! We have sounds like still an incredible finish.

All right, John Zarrella, thanks so much, from Daytona.

ZARRELLA: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Meantime, people all over the world are following every detail in the Pistorius murder case. The Olympic hero is accused of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp in South Africa. He says he mistook her for an intruder but the state says it was premeditated murder. So, which version of the story could be right?

Forensic psychiatrist and chairman of the forensic panel, Dr. Michael Welner, joining me now.

Good to see you, Dr. Welner.

DOCTOR MICHAEL WELNER, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Good afternoon.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, from what you have seen or heard, it does this have the hallmarks of premeditated murder?

WELNER: I don't think we know what happened and we have to be patient to allow the evidence to resolve itself. What we are look at is a death investigation. Let's talk death investigation. It is resolving the difference between accident and murder. And in this case, I'm encouraged, at least at this point, that the evidence is going to give us an answer of what happened and who is right.

In my professional opinion, the most telling dilemma is to resolve, one, there was a cricket bat that was in some way involved in this homicide? Two, what are the results of toxicology going to show about any kind of performance-enhancing drugs, particularly steroids or any other kind of stimulant or alcohol and its metabolic pathway, when it would have been taken? And three, a reconstruction of the scene in order to get a better sense of whether there was a struggle that was ongoing or whether the damage, the destructiveness was limited to one particular area and also recreating, to whatever degree possible, the shooting and other aspects of the violence. We will get a lot of answers from that.

Now, we can draw some clues, it is striking, it's remarkable, Pistorius' presentation in court. It doesn't tell if you he is telling the truth. It doesn't tell if you that he is not. But I will share my professional experience of people overwrought in court.

You see that when -- in a situation of an accident or you see it in a situation where something very quickly got out of hand. So, if people were contemplating that this was some long, calculated plot, I think that what we've seen so far would suggest that this was either a confrontation that got out of hand, in which he was not managing his emotion and made some very poor decision, or this was, indeed, an accident which he made decisions of another variety.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. You talk about those pieces of evidence that you would want to hear more about, but something else that you believe would help you in a conclusion about whether this was premeditated or not to know about the dynamics of their relationship. How would one go about learning the dynamics of the relationship and whether anything would be revealed to show motive, intent or whether it was, indeed, just an accident?

WELNER: Yes, you have to learn what you can. And one of the important rulings of the judge centered around how Pistorius gave a very detailed account from his vantage point as opposed to being coy and cagey and just denying responsibility and the prosecution was not able -- was not able to disprove any element of what he put forward. So, I'm not saying that this was an accident, but what I am saying is that if it was not an accident, we have to understand what the motive is.

From a forensic, psychiatric standpoint and experience, the two most common explanations in a financially successful environment, where one person is not trying to get out of the relationship -- I should say the aggressor is not trying to get out of the relationship because you there is an affair or because he has a double life in one case that I worked on, he had a double life, he was a homosexual. When that's off the table, the two most common explanations are morbid jealousy or a proprietary crime. You can't leave me. You're my property. I can destroy you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Michael Welner, we are not done. We are going to talk some more. We are going to take a short break. And when we come back, we know that reportedly there was testosterone that was found at the scene, at the home of Oscar Pistorius. I can't wait to find out from you, your point of view, why that is relevant in this case.

Also, we are going to talk some more about NASCAR around history being made at Daytona 500. All, that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We have been talking about the Oscar Pistorius murder case there. Just so many questions about this case and so much that we still don't know about exactly what happened that night.

Forensic psychiatrist and chairman of the forensic panel, Dr. Michael Welner, is back with me again.

So earlier, Dr. Welner, you talked about you would want to know whether drugs or alcohol played a role anyway that evening in which the shooting took place. We did hear reportedly that testorone (ph) was found --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: We believe tonight at the Oscars -- and she may never do it again, so it could be the only time you ever hear her sing this incredible song live. There's also going to be a huge tribute to the Bond movies in general. Shirley Bassey will be performing. She has never performed at the Oscars, either. So I would imagine we are going to be hearing "Goldfinger" -- just a guess; could be one of the others but that is where my money would go. You're also going to see, I think, all the surviving James Bonds -- I think there are six of them -- and they are the rarest boys' club in the world, other than ex-American presidents. So, it's going to be quite a gathering if they all turn up.

PATRICIA WU, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. Get me a photo if you can, Piers. Thanks so much for that. A lot to look forward to.

Now we also got a reminder that starting -- oh, go ahead. What was Piers saying? Oh, OK; we missed that.

But starting in less than 30 minutes, Piers Morgan will host a live CNN special, "The Road to Gold." And then after the ceremony, be sure to tune back into CNN for "And the Winner Is..." with Piers.

Now we're going to get a check of our weather and Tom Sater has our wakeup weather forecast across Asia.

So Tom, I hear it might be hard to breathe again for some people in China.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Just for a few more hours, Patricia. A cold front is going to come through, and I think the smog levels will drop.