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Georgia Authorities Release More Info on Baby's Death; Severe Weather Slams Much of the Country; New Theories and Search Zone for MH-370; Fighting Rages in Iraq; Lois Lerner's Missing E-Mails; Olympic Athlete Runs 800M While Pregnant; Rick Springfield's New Book

Aired June 29, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that politicians don't know that, the fact that many journalists haven't really explored that to me speaks again to the level of misperception that people has coming to this issue. Right? So we need immigration reform because there's no line. There's no way for somebody like me to make myself legal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And be sure to tune in to CNN tonight. The film "DOCUMENTED" tells Jose Antonio Vargas' story. That's tonight on CNN at 9:00 eastern.

All right, we have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts right now.

Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. These are the stories topping the news this hour.

A shocking revelation in the case of a child who died in a hot car. Police say that parents researched on the internet the temperature of how long it would take for a child to die.

And severe weather threatening tens of millions of Americans and the Midwest is bearing the brunt of it. Entire communities are underwater. One governor calls the devastation in his state unprecedented.

Plus, new theories and a new search zone in the hunt for Malaysia airlines flight 370. Where are search crews looking now and how sure are they that they're in the right area?

We begin with another shocking twist in the case of a Georgia toddler that died after his dad left him locked in a hot car. Police say both of the boy's parents researched child deaths in hot vehicles online. The child's father is already charged with the murder of his son. But could his mother face charges, as well?

I want to bring in CNN's Nick Valencia.

So Nick, startling new details from this police affidavit. What more is being revealed?

A day after Leanna Harris defended his actions, she may have to defend her own actions. He research child deaths in hot cares, now revealed a new warrant release just couple of hours ago, she did the same thing.

Yesterday at a funeral for the 22-year-old Cooper Harris, tiny red casket, it is placed in front of hundreds of people that came to pay their respects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): Under a light summer rain in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 22-month-old Cooper Harris was laid to rest at a funeral service attended by hundreds. Not present, his father, Justin Ross Harris who is accused of killing the toddler. But he did call in from jail to thank funeral guests for supporting his son and apologized for not being there.

While he was on the phone, his wife Leanna said that she is absolutely not angry at her husband. She called him a wonderful father and said that the truth would come out. Harris could be heard sobbing over the phone as the crowd inside gave him a standing ovation.

Earlier Saturday, new starling details emerged about the 33-year-old. According to search warrants obtained by CNN, Harris told police, quote, "that he recently researched through the internet child deaths inside vehicles and what temperature it needs to be for that to occur." The police officer went on to say, quote, "Justin stated that he was fearful that this could happen." What remains unclear is exactly whether that search was done. Friends and family say the man police paint as a murderer is not the man they know.

CAROL BROWN, FAMILY FRIEND: I want that he would be able to forgive himself.

VALENCIA: Family friend, Carol Brown.

BROWN: It's just seems out of character for Ross and I know people change. It's been 15 years or so since we've had contact in the church. So, you know, people change. But -- it's just hard for me to imagine that that is the Ross, the sweet Ross Harris, sweet little funny boy that we knew.

VALENCIA: A lawyer has instructed Harris's family not to speak to the media. Those who have spoken off camera say a man with the moral fiber of Harris would not be capable of killing his son. Left for seven hours in his father's car under the blistering Atlanta sun, Cooper Harris died. What is still unknown is what could have motivated Harris as police say to kill his only child.

Outside the university church of Christ, friends and family grieve as they wait to find out if baby Cooper's death was a terrible accident or something more sinister.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VALENCIA: Now, you heard from Carol Brown in that piece. She went on to say she has the same questions as everyone else. How could Justin Ross Harris have gone to the car and not seen the child when he went there in the middle of the afternoon. She says even despite those questions that we shouldn't rush to judgment, that the facts will come out.

Leanna Harris spoken from the crowd yesterday at that funeral. She also said that the truth will come out, defending her husband unwavering support for the man now in jail charged with murdering his son, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, incredible story. Thank you much, Nic Valencia. Appreciate that.

All right, now to severe weather that is hitting hard across much of the country. More rain could fall today, in fact, in Prior Lake, Minnesota, just south of the twin cities. Not good news with water still rising on the lake. Dozens of homes have already flooded. Residents are piling sandbags, five feet high, to try to save their homes.

And torrential downpours led to flooding and flash flood warnings in the Memphis area. Those warnings have now extended in several counties. Heavy rains could hit the area again this afternoon.

Tracking all of the severe weather for us is meteorologist Karen Maginnis in the CNN weather center.

So Karen, your eyes are on the Midwest and I'm also guessing the tropical system that is in the Atlantic, too.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We have many fronts looking at various things across the United States, but in particular, right around Memphis. Let's show you that picture, the tower cam. Looking to the left side of your screen, that is Arkansas. To the right, that is Tennessee. The river's running pretty high because some areas saw as much as ten inches of rainfall in the past 24 hours. And right now at 73 degrees, being reported in Memphis and that's the warmest temperature of the day.

Right now, we're just seeing mostly cloudy skies, maybe a few light showers, most of that precipitation moved to the east. But because those thunderstorms that opened up this morning, they didn't move very much and that's why we saw this heavy downpour precipitation.

Now, you can see from Memphis extending just to the north of Little Rock, a lot of these areas. Five, six inches of rainfall. Those were some of the common amounts that we did see. In particular, Little Dixie, Arkansas. In excess of 10 inches of rainfall. More than five inches in Memphis. It looks like you really start to warm up, Memphis, coming up for tomorrow with temperatures in the 90s. But then as we go into the next three days, three to five inches of rainfall right across the Tennessee valley extending into northern sections of Georgia. And yes, across the upper Mississippi river valley, two to four inches on already saturated ground. They can't take anymore. We have seen the pictures out of Minneapolis where numbers of neighborhoods around lakes and different other regions, where they have had to sandbag. Neighbor relying on neighbor. Still that moderate risk from Nebraska and Kansas into Iowa and Missouri. And then, there is a disturbance off the coast of Florida and has a 60 percent likelihood of becoming our next tropical system. This could produce heavy rainfall in coastal sections of Florida. Computer models are saying all kinds of things. But, Fred, we have to take it day by day. But looks like this could Arthur.

WHITFIELD: Oh my. Oh, first named one again. All right. Thank you so much, Karen Maginnis. Appreciate it.

All right. Next we head to Iraq where troops are getting help in their fight to defeat Islamic militants, their brand new resource and a defiant message from the enemy.

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WHITFIELD: An apparent message of defiance today from Islamic militants trying to take over Iraq. Official spokesman for ISIS has purportedly released a statement, in audio message, declaring the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq and renaming the ISIS group simply the Islamic state. So far, CNN has not been able to verify the authenticity of the message.

Today, five Russian fighter jets arrived in Iraq to help troops gain ground against the militants. They are the first of 25 war planes that will be delivered under a deal between the Iraqi and Russian governments.

The Pentagon is rejecting complaints by Iraq's prime minister that ISIS militants have been helped by the slow delivery of two U.S. fighter jets. A spokesman said the f-16 couldn't have stopped the ISIS advance.

Meanwhile, fighting rages on in several Iraqi towns. Iraq says its air force carried out a strike against ISIS fighters who were trying to build a dam to block the Euphrates river in Anbar. And Iraq's military is calling up thousands of Shi'a men for immediate training.

Our Nima Elbagir is live for us now in Baghdad.

So Nima, do these recruits have any previous military training?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some of them will have been part of Saddam Hussein's army. They will have gotten training there and that seems quite an unlikely situation for the Iraqi government to find itself in to be calling back some very old ghosts into uniform. But they're also those who have very little training, even the head of the training camp himself, Fredricka, admits to us at times the recruits given a week, maybe ten days.

Some of the families of the recruits we spoke to said sometimes the training abbreviated to three days and then the men are shipped out to the front but there is not a lack of willing. When we were at a training camp, one man well into the 70s told us he had been coming every single day for the last two weeks, Fredricka, hoping to be part of the force defending as he put it the sanctity and the dignity of Iraq. But there is a reality that ISIS propaganda machine is not without some semblance of truth of what they're announcing, Fredricka. They say that the caliphate stretches from north of Syria from Aleppo and then will just stay all the way to Diala, in the east of Iraq.

So reality is, these are the lands they have forces in. They do have presence. So, as much as this is a statement of defiance, this is also a statement both of ambition and somewhat reflective of the reality on the ground, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then, Nima, what about the city of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown? We understand that these militants might be controlling it. Is that true?

ELBAGIR: Well, they say they do. The Iraqi government says they don't. We have seen some footage that shows a lack of Iraqi government presence in Tikrit in spite of some other videos that have been distributed by the Iraqi government.

Tikrit is so crucial and so strategic. And most importantly, if they take Tikrit, it brings them ewer closer to Baghdad. So, we are going to continue to see claim and counter claim over this. But the reality is that it's not just for ISIS saying whether or not they have it. The reality is that there are clashes on the ground and that's what the Iraqi government is having to deal with right now, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nima Elbagir, thank you so much from Baghdad.

Coming up, a new search area for missing flight 370. It is bigger than ever. But will it help crews find a plane any faster? Our experts weigh in.

Plus, she is an amazing woman. Most pregnant women tell you that when they are eight months pregnant, they can barely walk let alone run. Still to come, we will talk to the Olympian who ran an 800-meter race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here's the top stories crossing the CNN news desk right now.

The U.S. Supreme Court takes center stage tomorrow when it rules on a case involving Obamacare. Hobby Lobby objected to a requirement that insurance plans must cover contraception. The company's owners argued that would force them to violate their religious beliefs. In a sense, the court must decide if a corporation can be treated as a person.

And tomorrow General Motors will make a compensation offer to victims and families who suffer as a result of a defect in GM's vehicles. Faulty ignition switches were tied to at least 13 deaths. Some GM employees knew of the problem in 2004 and the automaker did not issue a recall until this year.

In Toronto, embattled mayor Rob Ford is set to return to work Monday. He's been away for almost two months now since being forced to seek help for allegations of drinking and drug use. He has less than four months left on his term and plans to seek reelection in October.

And take a look of this incredible video, a lightning as this is video taken by an astronaut on the international space station, a little of dots right there. That storm that you're seeing right there is mostly over Houston, Texas, at the time.

OK. A woman just weeks away from scheduled delivery of a baby manages to run not just a little run but a big run, 800 meters in this race. There she is. She is amazing! And she's run to a studio near us. We get to talk to her live.

But first, you may remember a viral video last year of a man playing guitar under going deep brain stimulation. Well, a lot happened since then including a second brain surgery.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his story in this week's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brad Carter's an actor. He has been on shows like "Two Detective," "CSI." But one of his latest role might surprise you. Carter starred in this video. He played guitar while undergoing deep brain stimulation.

BRAD CARTER, ACTOR: I said who is ever going to see this?

GUPTA: It went viral. What led Carter to the operating room, a condition called the central tremor.

CARTER: The slower I try to play, the harder it becomes.

GUPTA: But for years before that diagnosis, he was told nothing could be done.

CARTER: You have a tremor you can't do anything about. Well, I had made it 30-something years with no tremor so didn't make sense it comes out of nowhere.

GUPTA: As this tremor worsened, Carter spent years being misdiagnosed, Lyme's Disease, Parkinson's. Meanwhile, tremors began affecting his ability to act.

CARTER: How will I be on sets and how am I going to hide this?

GUPTA: And playing music. Carter refused to give up, especially with so much on the line. Deep brain stimulation was his best chance. An electrical current courses through the brain, in attempt to control the tremor. Although, it is hard to see watching him there, Carter was frightened.

CARTER: As scary as that is, I'm going to take that chance rather than keep living my life in misery in a secret hell. People see Brad Carter, actor, comedian, you know, the funny guy, fun to be around but when I'm home I'm dealing with this thing eating me up inside.

GUPTA: And get this. Weeks after the viral video, Carter's tremor came back. He had to prepare for yet another brain surgery. And the prospect that once again, the operation would not work.

CARTER: It's not perfect. You know? It's still tremors. But you got to admit it's a lot better.

GUPTA: Second surgery did work. Perseverance, fighting to be well. Overcoming. Led to this. An al bum due out this fall.

CARTER: I think I've got something to be really proud of.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Most members of Congress are home this week for the 4th of July holiday. But one issue following them is the IRS claiming it has lost tens of thousands of e-mails. Many of them from the computer of former IRS manager Lois Lerner.

GOP house members say she targeted conservatives and tea parties seeking non-profit filing status.

Candy Crowley is our chief political correspondent and anchor of "STATE OF THE UNION."

So Candy, you interviewed Lois Lerner's attorney and the chairman of the committee investigating this. Lois Lerner has taken the fifth with the committee. What did her attorney tell you about why she won't testify?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, she called the fifth twice and won't answer testify in a congressional probe into whether her unit, targeted conservative groups, when they applied for tax exempt status.

And so, that's been ongoing for more than a year. But she's refused to testify. I did talk to her attorney, Bill Taylor, today. And said, you know, people, even though it's a constitutional right, people look at someone pleaded the fifth because, of course, you say so, I don't in any way implicate myself, and they think, that person's guilty. And he said that's not the case at all. She is innocent. She just didn't want to be a part of this zoo. Take a listen.

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WILLIAM TAYLOR III, LOIS LERNER'S ATTORNEY: There was no pretense that this would be a fair process. From the beginning, the Republican majority has screamed without any evidence about things that she did and made it clear that --

CROWLEY: Even if it's not fair --

TAYLOR: The only purpose of having her there would be to vilify her. CROWLEY: If she's done nothing wrong, why incriminate herself? Go up

there and do it.

TAYLOR: If she has done nothing wrong, she doesn't need to be subjected to the kind of bullying that goes on in that committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, so that's Lerner's side. What did the chairman who was in your show tell you?

CROWLEY: Chairman Issa, Republican, says this is not a circus. This is not an attempt to get her. This is an attempt to find out exactly what happened. I think part of the problem for this committee is they do believe that Lois Lerner has the answers and they are not getting them from her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: The attorney said things and not been correct or disingenuous or outright lie a number of times which have been shown by e-mails. Look. Attorney trying to get the client off the hook after flubbing the taking of the fifth --

CROWLEY: Any of this connected directly to the White House?

ISSA: We have never looked for the White House other than the White House is not cooperating and continues to not cooperate.

CROWLEY: But no evidence linking any of this to the White House?

ISSA: I don't -- but, Candy, I don't play the game of no evidence. That's what the commissioner played. I know of no violation. What we do is we follow the facts. As we get to the facts, we then follow additional facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: So, you know, Fred, as you can see, this is an ongoing process. This is nothing that this committee or the ways and means committee is going to drop any time soon. What's happened is that added on top of this now are all the missing e-mails. Some of which sort of were written during the time that Congress was looking at. So ongoing and I don't think we'll hear the end of this any time soon.

WHITFIELD: So, what might be next?

CROWLEY: Well, there could be more hearings. Congress has asked for more documentation. And in fact, Lois Lerner used to work at the FCC and now chairman Issa has subpoenaed or asked for all documents dealing with Lerner to or from Lerner, since the late '80s. So, that's a lot of documents.

WHITFIELD: Wow! CROWLEY: So, you know, so they're still taking incoming. And

obviously, you know, the Democrats said it is a circus. They are just trying to drum up trouble so that it looks -- you know, reflects badly on the administration. And of course, the Republicans say, this is just more evidence that this agency is out of control. And the White House has done nothing to rein it in.

WHITFIELD: Interesting.

All right, Candy Crowley in Washington, as always, thank you.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: The search for Malaysia airlines flight 370 is shifting once more. This time shifting further south in an unchartered region of the Indian Ocean. Australian officials unveiled a new zone based on new data analysis. It makes some critical new assumptions about why the Boeing 777 vanished more than three months ago with 239 people on board.

Joining me now is David Soucie. He is a CNN safety analyst and former safety inspector for the FAA.

Good to see you again, David.

So, one of the big assumptions now reflects a belief that it is likely the pilots suffered oxygen loss. What combination of factors has to occur before something like that would happen?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, I think there's two different possibilities here, Fredricka. One would be that they lost pressurization in the cabin and that at the point were not able to reduce the air flight speed of the aircraft and to lower the aircraft and get it down to an area where they could breathe. So that is a possibility number one. It is just that there was something that incapacitated them such as an explosion, some kind of (INAUDIBLE) decompression that would have cause a problem with the aircraft.

Secondly, it could have been with the oxygen bottle itself was simply empty during this event and they assumed that they had oxygen and they continued to fly. It only takes about 12 minutes to lose consciousness when you don't have the right amount of oxygen going to your head. So, it could happen very, very quickly.

WHITFIELD: And this theory also implies that this plane was likely an autopilot. Does that make sense to you that there is this combination of things happening and it would likely be while in autopilot?

SOUCIE: Yes, it does. There's several modes of autopilot. We need to clarify that just a little bit in that in an efficiency mode which is what was confusing them originally in their analysis is that the aircraft speed kept changing. They couldn't figure out why that was. But in efficiency mode, as the aircraft burns off fuel, it changes its flight attitude. And as that flight altitude changes, that needs to make up for that by changing the speed of the aircraft. So, in this efficiency mode it does that. The other thing that

confused them is the fact that if it was in autopilot, standard autopilot, without efficiency mode, then the aircraft would have spiraled in, in other words, would have tried to maintain its attitude and then it would suddenly stalled and spiraled in causing a lot of debris.

Now, they have looked at this area before. They had aircraft flying over just looking for debris. They found nothing. But under this efficiency mode, you could assume that the aircraft would maintain its attitude, flight attitude, thereby, could easily have lost its power and slowly drifted down and landed in one piece on the ocean and then subsequently then sunk and in that case it would have left, of course, no debris on the surface.

WHITFIELD: Well, but then, over time, even if that were the scenario and sinking over time wouldn't there be some sort of breakup of the fuselage? Some kind of materials? You know, coming from the plane and floating to the surface thereby creating a debris field?

SOUCIE: That could very well be and there should be some kind of breakup, only if it is an impulsion. Now, if the aircraft is filing up of water on the inside equally and pressure equal to the outside, that it wouldn't necessarily cause a structural failure because it would have imploded if there's a difference in pressure from the outside to the inside.

But in this case, if the aircraft landed and it was unattended then the outflow valves which are the big four foot by four foot openings in the aircraft would have simply flooded and the aircraft would have been flooded completely with water. It is possible that it could have continued all the way down to the bottom and only imploding the small things and not have caused a massive structural failure resulting in large things floating to the top.

Now, small things certainly could have floated to the top and gone unrecognized. Because if you recall, during that search, the oceans were not very smooth and we are trying to take a look at it from the aircraft and it is just impossible to see anything of that size from that altitude and they did their best they could. But now they're going back looking at bottom of the ocean and not necessarily the top for debris.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Incredible.

All right, David Soucie, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

SOUCIE: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. And, hey, entering the home stretch right there. Oh my God. She's amazing! She is eight months pregnant and she is hauling 800 meters like it's no big deal. We're going to get a chance to talk to Alysia Monotano. There she is. She is called the flying flower. Well, from on, I'm calling the very pregnant flying flower. I can't wait to talk to you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: I love this! An Olympic athlete recently ran the usual 800-meter race but this time she did it while eight months pregnant. Alysia Montano may have come in last place but not exactly there to win. She was there to cross the finish line and she did. She's joining me now from Los Angeles.

Alysia, good to see you.

ALYSIA MONTANO, OLYMPIAN: Nice to see you, as well. Thank you for having me on the show.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Well, I know the track world knows you as the flying flower. You are very much the pregnant flying flower. You know, explain why this race was so important for you to run even though you're eight months pregnant.

MONTANO: For me, this race was really important to take part in, one, because I'd been at the USA national championships since 2006. I hadn't missed one. And I wanted to start my family. But I thought that it was very -- a different experience to be on the outside, the pregnant woman and then recognizing how unlikely it was for me to see a pregnant woman running in general and, you know, I wanted people to recognize that fitness and pregnancy is actually a really good thing. And this is what it looks like being a professional woman in general, whether my profession happens to be a professional athlete or if I were, you know, business woman that had to go in the office and work a 9:00 to 5:00.

So, this is what it looks like for me and I wanted people to see that. You know, I talked to my husband about potentially writing a blog and this just seemed like a much better way to show, you know, the world kind of what it looks like for me as a professional woman.

WHITFIELD: I see your point. You're saying, you know, when women are pregnant, they got to incorporate it into the work. Your work is, you know, being a runner and this is your event. And you were saying, you know, I'm not going to put the brakes on it because I'm pregnant. But then, of course, the first thing that a lot of people think when they see a pregnant woman running, you know, with this kind of speed is, oh my God, is it safe? And you actually checked in with your doctor and the doctor says since this is a part of who you are, yes, it is. But your doctor did worry about you falling. How much of that was in your mind running?

MONTANO: Yes, absolutely. So one of the biggest concerns is even if you're walking down the street as a pregnant woman, the center of gravity is going to be a little bit off. You want to make sure that you are focusing on keeping your posture upright. And so, I did think about keep my posture upright and you know, obviously, keeping my pace very comfortable. I mean, for me, my PR in the 800 meters is 1:57. That's a whole 35 seconds faster than I ran out there on Thursday.

WHITFIELD: Oh my God.

MONTANO: So -- WHITFIELD: You're putting us all to shame. That's amazing. That you

were just, just under 40 seconds slower than your usual -- I mean, that is just extraordinary.

MONTANO: Thank you so much. And of course, another thing about falling, you know, I didn't wear your standard spikes. You know? You usually competitors wear these things with spikes in the bottom of the shoe. Am like, OK, I'm not taking -- I just wore regular training shoes that had no spikes in the bottom to be sure I didn't catch or anything like that.

But, you know, another thing I want to say is, you know, again, this isn't for everybody. Everybody -- every pregnant woman, you know, isn't able to run a 2:32 800 meters, you know. You have to look at it relative to where you're at. We as professional athletes train our bodies to keep the heart rate at a lower level, obviously, so that we could, you know, make it to the line before everybody else without, you know, slowing down. So, for me, that was significantly easier than I normally take it.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So, Alysia, you know, usually, you know, you get to that starting, you know, area, you get to your lane, and you know, fellow competitors, you are looking at each other, sizing each other up.

But this time, give me an idea what kind of expressions you are getting from, you know, the other competitors. Were they thinking you're off your rocker or did they already know that you were, you know, they had seen you running and they kind of expecting you to do this or what was the reaction from them?

MONTANO: Well, I'm pretty sure they were sizing me up. They had a whole lot more to size up than normally. But you know, I saw a couple of people. I didn't warm up the same way you normally do. Usually people warmed up about 45 minutes before their race. I just walked a couple of laps around. You know? Stretched. Made sure I stretched really well. Got into the pin which is where they keep the athletes and before they start racing. Hydrated myself. Make sure -- I'm the only person that's eating. Eating before the 800. So I'm sure, you know, these ladies were kind of thinking like, all right --

WHITFIELD: What is she doing?

MONTANO: Never eats beforehand. Yes, what is she doing? But at the same time, they're focused on their own thing. I didn't want to be a distraction to them but at the same time, I'm doing my thing, as well.

So I feel like, you know, mentally it was the same as any other day. I had a couple athletes come to me be like, you know, this is awesome. This is such a good example for us to see and, you know, I just thanked them for saying those words to me and then we went out and did our thing. After that, you know, obviously, they ignored me and I ignored them. And we just went at it. Not really. They went at it and I watched them.

WHITFIELD: And it's great because, I mean, while you came in last, I don't think anybody remembers who came in first, second and third because you are the one who is getting all the attention. You're the one who, did, you know, something extraordinary that has caught so many people.

MONTANO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And caught the attention of so many people. And then, you end that win and, you know, you move on and you have a baby shower. Your baby shower was yesterday. And I guess if it hadn't sunk in yet, it has in a really big way, you could have a baby at any moment now.

Yes. Definitely. My baby shower was so phenomenal. And then you were in that race, and you know, you move on and you have a baby shower. Your baby shower was yesterday. And I guess if hadn't son, Ken, now, it really has in a big way that, you know, you can have a baby at any moment now.

MONTANO: Yes, definitely. My baby shower was so phenomenal. I had such a good time. So nice to see old friends. That's my, actually, my high school coach and his wife that got to come and see and everybody was just so proud of me and it is nice that it came right after, you know, running at this amazing event. And kind of being an inspiration to not only women, to people and having them see what it looks like being a professional woman and fit in pregnancy. And I was just so, so grateful to have this support and these people surrounding me.

WHITFIELD: I guess, but you know, your message, too, certainly, your message and that of your doctor, not everyone can do that just because they're pregnant. You know, you have to, if you're going to make a commitment to exercise, you know, it has to be really prescribed for your personal fitness. Not everyone can go out and run an 800 meter at, you know, eight months pregnant.

MONTANO: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: You are a special case.

MONTANO: Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Congratulations and all the best to you and baby on the way. And hey, great things on the horizon, right?

MONTANO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Even greater things.

Alysia Montano, thanks so much. All the best to you. Appreciate it.

MONTANO: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, she is rocking the track and this guy is a rocker that you know. In the music world. Rick Springfield says he was meant to be an author. Not just of writing music but books. Hear what he told me about his newest creation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Rick Springfield, the rocker behind hits like "Jesse's Girl" is also an author. And critics say writing in this form may have been his true calling all along. I talked with him face to face about his passion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: First novel, "Magnificent Vibration" is getting rave reviews, as well. "Variety" magazine in fact says, quote, "this is not the prose of a rock star who decided to try his hand at novel writing, but of a novelist who just happens to be a rock star."

Wow. That is quite the compliment. Rick Springfield right now joining us in the studio.

So what does it feel like to get that kind of review even though you told me, you know, before we went on that it was writer that you actually wanted to be before you became the songwriter?

RICK SPRINGFIELD, SINGER: Yes. I wanted to be a writer and like I said before, I noticed that girls were looking at the spotty band down street, not the writer sitting in his studies. So I said, I'm going in the music route. That's how I channel in this whole writing. But it's great. I mean, I'm very proud of -- I've gotten better reviews for writing than any of my records.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that incredible. So, you know, it all comes full circle, it really was your destiny to be this writer, you know, despite what you were saying about the music world.

So, let's talk about this. You know, your book, the main character in "magnificent vibration" finds a phone number for God and begins a relationship with him over the smartphone. Where did this idea come from?

SPRINGFIELD: It's just modern technology, but it's a thing I've always wanted to -- I don't -- I haven't met anyone who has spiritual beliefs that wouldn't love to have a conversation with God and I sought what path would that take if it actually happened.

And so, I started writing down. I started out with the original conversation with God and he doesn't believe it because you think some guys is like, you know, got his gut, this info, he's told something that no one else knows and he does, my God, which he says, and it just goes from there. It's really just a setup of the story, I mean. But they -- three people hook up through the book called "magnificent vibration" and go on a search for carnal salvation and maybe save the world.

WHITFIELD: Wow! When you were penning this, were you thinking, you know, this really is going to take off, I can imagine people identifying with it, or was it just something that was in you that you said, you know, I just got put it down on paper because it's been, you know, running through my head. SPRINGFIELD: You know, there is a lot of my beliefs about, I think

we're at a tipping point in the world. And it is not a preach -- first of all, it's dark humor. It's funny. It is not meant to be preachy book, but there is my concern in it about there were poisoning the world, killing each other and that there is getting to a tipping point, there's not a road back. And so, that's kind of the underlying theme of the book about you know, respecting your mother, Mother Earth.

So, and that's, you know, basically underlying theme of it anyway. But it's a lot of dark humor. Its someone reviewer said it reminded them of a mix between port noise complaint and hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. So, it covers a lot of ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Rick Springfield is on tour. He has not left music. He is just incorporating it all now.

Straight ahead, Mexico just a few minutes away from moving on to the final eight in the world cup, what ended the dream.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The tennis world isn't spinning as usual these days. We're only heading into the second week at Wimbledon, both Williams sisters have been ousted in a shocker Saturday. Serena Williams fell in three sets, she dominated the first set over Alize Cornet, 6-1, but then dropped the next two sets.

And on the men's side, second ranked Rafael Nadal dropped the first set for the third straight match but he stormed back, dropping only three game over the next three sets. No tennis today. Play at Wimbledon resumes tomorrow.

All right, let's talk soccer. Mexico was just a couple of minutes away today from moving to the final eight at the world cup. But the Netherlands tied it with a goal in the 88th minute. Then Mexico was called for a penalty inside the box. And that penalty kick in extra time sends the Netherlands on to the third round. The Dutch team will play Costa Rica or Greece. A match between those two teams scheduled for later today. Team USA facing Belgium on Tuesday.

OK. And this year's world cup is on track for breaking a 1998 world cup record of 171 goals scored. Is it because the players of the players or the ball? In today's science behind segment, we look at the why behind the what in this case, the Brazuca ball. As Dan Simon reports it's even gotten the attention of NASA scientists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every world cup fan likes to see gold, and this year it's happening at a record pace. But are players scoring more because of the ball with funny name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brazuca. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brazuca.

SIMON: Adidas the maker would say there is nothing amusing about this year's world cup soccer ball. It's invested a great deal in researching, manufacturing, and advertising the Brazuca. And experts will tell you, the effort seems to have paid off.

RABI MEHTA, NASA AERODYNAMICS ENGINEER: It's good because I think it's more stable, it flies.

SIMON: Dr. Robbie Mehta is an aerodynamics engineer at NASA. He has studied just about every ball on the planet.

MEHTA: Golf balls, baseball, soccer balls, volleyballs, I think I got them all.

SIMON: Using wind tunnel equipped with lasers and smoke, scientists can measure how the ball moves through the air. And Mehta says the Brazuca travels better than previous balls which may account for why there have been more goals scored in Brazil than any other world cup since 1970.

Explain what makes this a good soccer ball.

MEHTA: Well, this is a good soccer ball, for one thing, I haven't heard complaints from the players. So, that's a good sign. I believe you can impart more spin to this ball which is the bend it like Beckham syndrome. It is a lot easier to achieve with this ball, I think.

SIMON: The reason, the Brazuca has longer, deeper seams and a pimple- like surface that makes the ball rougher. Mehta says a smoother ball is harder to control. And the Brazuca has just six polyurethane panels. Those old black and whites have 32. If you think a ball is, well, just a ball, then you'd have to go back four years.

This is the ball from the 2010 world cup, goalies hated it because the ball knuckled, the path was unpredictable. Well, Adidas apparently took that criticism to heart and this is the result.

In 2010, the South Africa world cup had 77 goals in the first 36 games. In Brazil, and with the Brazuca, there had been 108.

MEHTA: I would say the ball definitely had something to do with it.

SIMON: Mehta says part of it maybe psychological. Players just maybe more comfortable striking it.

Whatever the reason, the Brazuca is a testament to sports engineering, the spirit of competition and clever marketing.

The ball has its own page on Twitter with more than two million followers.

Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)