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World's Oldest Marathoner Retires; Nike Suspends Pistorius Contract; Laura Bush Wants Out Of Same-Sex Ad; Tebow Cancels Controversial Appearance; Gun Fight, Crash Kills Three In Vegas; Former Senator Domenici Admits To Affair; Sandusky Appeals Conviction; Class Action Law Suit Filed Against Carnival; Automatic Cuts Set For Next Week; Severe Storm Racing Cross Country

Aired February 21, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Oscar Pistorius sitting another day in jail waiting for the judge to decide whether or not he gets bail. Meanwhile, the Olympian is losing supporters. Nike bales on the blade runner. And former first lady Laura Bush is featured in this ad supporting same sex marriage. But if she has her way, you're not going to see her in the ad much longer. Then Tim Tebow bowing out of a scheduled appearance at a Dallas mega church. Tebow says its controversial pastor hit a nerve. We're going to hear from that pastor in a just a few minutes.

This is CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Suzanne Malveaux. A Gunfight, a car crash on the Vegas strip killing now three people. I want you to check out the pictures, very dramatic. Police say someone in an SUV fired at people inside a Maserati not far from Caesar's Palace. That caused the Maserati to blow through an intersection causing a multiple car crash. Well, a taxicab caught fire, killing the driver and a passenger. The Maserati's driver also died. Three other people involved in the crash were injured. No word yet on what actually led to the original shooting.

And now, it is a rather scandalous revelation involving a sexual affair involving two very powerful, political families. Former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici now admitting having an extramarital more than 30 years ago with the daughter of a friend and former Senate colleague Paul Laxalt. That affair with Michelle Laxalt produced a child.

Brian Todd is joining us from Washington to talk about how this was a secret that was kept between them for more than three decades. Why are they coming out with this now?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, the indications from the statements that both of them have issued really do indicate that someone or some entity was about to go public and publish this information. We're going to get to their statements in just second and some of those indications, but it's worth noting that Senator Domenici in late 1990s voted to impeach President Clinton over the Lewinsky affair and spoke on the Senate floor at that time. He did say, at the time, that the impeachment was more about the fact that President Clinton lied under oath, but he also called the president's behavior, quote, "tawdry and cited the value of truthfulness." Well, we now know that at that very time Senator Domenici was hiding the fact that he had an adult son who he'd fathered out of wedlock. Senator Domenici and the woman involved, Michelle Laxalt, the daughter of former Republican Senator Paul Laxalt, have now admitted that they had at least a one night relationship. A statement issued by Senator Domenici says, quote, "my past action has caused hurt and disappointment to my wife, children, family and others. For that I am solely responsible. I deeply regret this and am very sorry for my behavior."

Now, both Domenici and Michelle Laxalt, we talked about this earlier, in issuing their statements have alluded to their belief that someone was about to go public with a story on all of this and that's what's prompted them to speak out now. Here is Michelle Laxalt's statement which alludes to all of this. Quote, "Recently information has come to me that this sacred situation might be twisted, rewritten out of whole cloth and shopped to press outlets large and small in a vicious attempt to smear, hurt and diminish Pete Domenici, an honorable man, his extraordinary wife, Nancy, and other innocents."

Now, the statements were originally sent, Suzanne, to the "Albuquerque Journal" newspaper, but it is not clear if the "Journal" is the entity that was going to reveal this initially. We have tried to interview the person who wrote the article on this for that paper, a man named John Robertson. He's decline an interview and declined to tell us any more about the details of this.

Now, the son of Pete Domenici and Michelle Laxalt is Adam Laxalt. He is in his 30s and is an attorney in Las Vegas. Just moments ago, he sent me an e-mail saying, quote, "I have lived my entire life as a private citizen and intend to remain one. I plan to address personal issues privately and will not be commenting or joining any public discussion. I respectfully ask that my wish for privacy be respected." Through a representative, Senator Domenici declined an interview with us and we have not been able to reach Michelle Laxalt for further comment -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Brian, this is not the first time that there has been at least a cloud over Domenici. He was scrutinized for a scandal involving eight U.S. attorneys. I believe that Michelle came to his defense. What was that about?

TODD: A very interesting moment in time and a moment in CNN's television history which we can kind of all look back on. This is back in 2007, Senator Domenici was under scrutiny for his involving in the scandal in which the Bush administration fired eight U.S. attorneys. He was later reprimanded by the Senate Ethics Committee. On March 29, 2007, Michelle Laxalt appeared on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" to defend Senator Domenici. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE LAXALT: When you're attacking the integrity of someone who has been in public service for his entire lifetime at great sacrifice, supporting no fewer than eight children and with the many sacrifices and the many contributions Senator Domenici has made, not only to the country --

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Right.

LAXALT: -- but to the state of New Mexico, I don't think one political appointee who has a chip on his shoulder because he was asked to leave a position that he wasn't offered permanency in to begin with should ever --

KING: Right.

LAXALT: -- take a crack at the integrity of Pete Domenici.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So, of course, at the time, we have no knowledge that she and Senator Domenici had had a child together or anything like that. She came and defended him. We've, again, not been able to reach Michelle Laxalt for further comment on this -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Ryan, thank you. A former Penn State assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, you might remember, trying to appeal his conviction one more time. Sandusky, he is serving a 30 to 60-year sentence for sexually abusing boys during a 15-year period. Sandusky is appealing to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. And last month, a judge in a lower court rejected a motion for a new trial. The sex abuse scandal led to the firing of Penn State's long time football head coach, the late Joe Paterno, and resulted in fines and sanctions for the college.

And, of course, it didn't take long, only a week after passengers got off the crippled cruise ship, Triumph, a class action lawsuit being filed on their behalf. A February -- on February 10th, a fire broke out on that ship bringing the trip, of course, to a screeching halt. Thousands of people were stranded for days. The toilets started to overflow. The sewage leaked into the hallways. Well, the lawsuit alleges that Carnival knew the ship was likely to experience engine issues because of prior problems.

And in just a few days, we are talking about $85 billion going to be chopped from the federal budget if Congress doesn't do something. It is going to happen automatically across the board and almost no federal agency is going to be able to dodge the cuts. Christine Romans, she is, of course, reporting from New York. So, if this happens next Friday that a lot of people are anticipating here, a lot of people are going to be impacted. And so, what are we talking about specifically?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, when you talk about people who are getting unemployment checks, people who are on those federal emergency long-term unemployment checks, those will be cut by about 9.4 percent. So, from March to September, people on those extended benefits are going to lose all together about $400 in benefits. So that's first and foremost. You also look at prices for things that we use. Think about USDA inspectors who are in slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants across the country, right? If you have furloughs from USDA, Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of Agriculture, says you're going to see beef prices and pork prices and chicken prices rising because you're going to have delays getting product out of the -- out of those plants.

Also, national parks, a lot of folks have been saying that you can see as a place where you have budget cuts. It could be closure of roads. It could be shorter hours. It could be higher maybe fees to use some of the services. So definitely watch for that. And more closures are the most likely thing for national parks because they are, of course, free -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And do we know just how deep these cuts are going to go?

ROMANS: They go really deep. I mean, look at Meals on Wheels and some of the services for the elderly, government agencies are preparing to cut those. Four million seniors could lose their Meals on Wheels. You look at the other end of the spectrum, Head Start, 70,000 different spots in Head Start could go. So, that's that pre- kindergarten program for -- in many cases, for needy Americans to get their kids in school early, to get them up to speed by kindergarten, 70,000 spots there according to the Education Department.

And you could also get, like, roofs that were blown off by Sandy may have to be delayed. You could see small businesses and homes' supplemental bills for repair and recovery for some of the post-Sandy work, that could be delayed, put off or not happen all together. So, all the way up and down the line, you got government agencies touching all different parts of American life trying to figure out how to pull that nine percent or 13 percent of their budgets, at this point.

MALVEAUX: And, of course, Christine, a lot of people hoping there's going to be a deal but a lot of people bracing for the very real possibility that there is not going to be one. Thank you, Christine. We appreciate it.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: We are looking at a brutal winter storm piling across the country bringing blizzard conditions in many places. Twenty states are going to be affected by this. Some are going to see as much as a foot and a half of snow. Missouri, of course, in the bull's eye. The governor has declared now a state of emergency. The snow will turn into heavy rain and south and east could actually spawn tornadoes. Pretty wild stuff. Ted Rowlands, he is in the middle of all of it in his car in Kansas City, joining us on the phone. Ted, can you hear me? Can you tell us what it's like?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Suzanne, the freeways here are a mess, an absolute mess. I was stuck on I-29 for about an hour and a half just dead still. But on 35, I-70, all of them a mess. And the biggest part is not only visibility, but the snow accumulation is just -- it's piling up and people are getting stuck, spinning out. There's trucks all over the road. There have been a couple of medical emergencies which, of course, have made it very difficult -- the snow makes it very difficult for First Responders to get to those people. And, you know, bottom line is they warned people, do not drive in these conditions and there is a reason why. This storm is a whopper and it is really hammering the Kansas City area and the surrounding areas, especially the freeways. The airports are also closed. But just stay off the roads if you're anywhere near this area.

MALVEAUX: All right. Ted, please be safe.

Here's what we've got going on for the hour. Tim Tebow, he was supposed to talk at a Dallas mega church. Well, instead, he's back out of his appearance. Why? Its controversial pastor. We're going to hear from the pastor up next.

And then, is same sex marriage good for the economy? Financial expert, Suzy Orman, says it is. She's going to explain up straight ahead.

And the mission was to get all six James Bond actors reunited at the Oscars but that mission reportedly a dud. So, instead, can you get your bond fix here? Well, yes, you can. We're taking a look at 007.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: New York's jet quarterback Tim Tebow had a change of heart now. He is now cancelling his appearance at a controversial Dallas mega church that he was set to speak at in late April. Well, the pastor at First Baptist Dallas, Robert Jeffress, has come under criticism now for some very publicly held views on Catholics, gays and Islam. Our CNN Belief Blog Editor Eric Marrapodi, he has been following the story. And, Eric, first of all, give us a sense of what this pastor has said.

ERIC MARRAPODI, CNN BELIEF BLOG EDITOR: Sure. Pastor Jeffress there at First Baptist in Dallas, an 11,000 member congregation, has said Christianity is right and lots of other religions as a result are wrong. He's called Mormonism a theological cult. He's called Catholicism a counterfeit religion. He's had unkind things to say about Islam. And he's come under an awful lot of fire about how he's talked about gays and lesbians.

This is part of the reason why this controversy erupted by Tim Tebow accepting to speak at the church saying he was there to endorse the pastor. And it's important to point out that Jeffress and Tim Tebow are both members of the Southern Baptist Convention. They're both members of those churches.

How they express those beliefs are much different and obviously Tebow is a much softer in how he talks about his faith. Pastor Jeffress has been more critical about other faiths when he talks about his own. Pastor Jeffress has been kind enough to join us on the telephone from Dallas. Good afternoon. Thank you for being with us.

PASTOR ROBERT JEFFRESS, SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR: Eric, I appreciate you having me. Let me just say one thing about your report. You know, when it comes to Catholicism I've said publicly there will be millions of Catholics who will be in heaven because they trusted in Christ the savior. I was talking about theological distortions there. But I think there are many fine Catholics that are Christians.

(CROSSTALK)

JEFFRESS: We have been outspoken in our beliefs. It's funny to me that a church like ours that simply says Christ is the only way to heaven and sex should be between a man and a woman in marriage is somehow now considered to be a hate church.

MARRAPODI: Well pastor there are some things you said particularly about gays and lesbians that have upset many of them. In particular when it gets to homosexual sex. I want to give you a chance to explain your position on sexuality when it comes to what you think is appropriate and what you believe the Bible says is appropriate.

JEFFRESS: Actually the AP did a story several weeks ago talking about my compassionate attitude towards homosexuality and pointing out the fact that I believe that homosexuality is a sin just like adultery or pre-marital sex. Because the fact is, God has a standard for sex and that is a man and a woman in marriage and any deviation from that whether it's homosexuality, adultery, pre-marital sex is wrong. We don't hate homosexuals at all. I have homosexual friends gays and lesbians. They are in our church. But we have to uphold the truth of God's word. God created sex. He knows how it operates best. And we're not saying this in a hateful way, but --

MARRAPODI: Pastor let me ask you this last question here. Your criticism has been how you've spoken. Do you think this controversy will to change the way you approach these issues and how you talk about them even if what you believe doesn't change?

JEFFRESS: No. Because people who know me and listen to my messages rather than listening to people characterizing my message know that here at First Baptist Dallas we are filled with hope. We present things in a compassionate way. I've had letters there gays and lesbians that have attend our service and we were surprised how compassionately you dealt with the subject. We are always going to be a love hope based church and that's not going change.

MARRAPODI: Pastor thank you so much for joining us. Suzanne, back to you.

MALVEAUX: All right, Eric thank you, appreciate it. Former First Lady Laura Bush featured in this ad supporting same sex marriage but she would like to take her participation out of that ad and not be in it. Then Suze Orman tells us why same sex marriage is good for the economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Big bird, back in politics after Mitt Romney threatened the PBS star. The White House announcing First Lady Michelle Obama teaming up with "Sesame Street's" Big Bird for two public announcements. The PSAs are encouraging kids to get active and eat healthy. Michelle Obama, she is launching the videos for the third anniversary of her "Let's Move" campaign.

Former First Lady Laura Bush featured in the ad supporting same sex marriage. But, if she has her way, you're not going to see her in the ad much longer. The Respect for Marriage Coalition ad also features other Republicans like Colin Powell and Dick Cheney in their own words, supporting same sex marriage, as does Laura Bush. A spokesperson for the former first lady said Mrs. Bush did not approve of her inclusion or associated with the group that made the ad. She's asked the group to remove her name from that particular ad.

Same group behind the ad invited financial expert Suze Orman to host an event in New York today. She talked about how banning same sex marriage actually hurts the economy and now Orman's comments come at a time when the supreme court is considering constitutionality of this law known as DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act. It is actually a federal law that was passed back in 1996. It defines as marriage exclusively between a man and a woman. It allows states not to recognize same sex marriage licenses that are issued in other states.

So, Suze, good to see you. You're not a member of the group. We want to make that clear. You're not in this ad. But you were invited to speak before the group. You're making the case now allowing gay couples to get married makes financial sense. Tell us how?

SUZE ORMAN, FINANCIAL EXPERT: It makes financial sense because many people may not know that just because nine states and the District of Columbia have passed same sex marriage that doesn't mean that the federal government has passed it. So the federal government does not on any level recognize same sex marriage.

Here you are in your work and this is just one example. You want your spouse, same sex couple on your health insurance policy. To cover him or her. You will have to pay income taxes on that imputed benefit. Many of the couples we talked to this morning when we were giving our talk at NYU, it costs them anywhere between $5,000 and $9,000 more per year in taxes because of those benefits. Or added income to themselves. Now that is money that doesn't go into the economy. Now while it's true that they pay more in taxes, the taxes are not in the United States of America what holds up the economy, the earnings and job growth and everything like that holds it up. That is millions and millions of dollars not going into the economy because of things like that. That's just one example.

MALVEAUX: Give us an example, I you know have our own personal example, you have been married to your partner for quite sometime. You were married in South Africa several years ago. How does it impact you personally?

ORMAN: It impacts me personally because, it's no secret or you would hope somebody in my position would be a very wealthy woman and when I die if K.T. were still alive or vice versa, K.T. or myself we'll lose over 50 percent or approximately 50 percent of our estate to estate taxes. If we were married and recognized on the federal level we would not owe one penny of tax. How would all the heterosexuals feel who are married if all of a sudden the wife or the husband knew that upon the death of one of them if they have a certain size of estate they will lose up to half of that estate. They wouldn't stand for it.

It affects me on that level. It affects me for the fact that the truth is I've been gay my entire life. This is something I've been fighting for my entire life. I want to be recognized. I pay a lot of money in income tax. I do everything I can to help America with their money problems. I really feel I should be recognized every single gay person in the United States of America should be recognized for who they love and not penalized for it financially speaking.

MALVEAUX: You make a financial argument. You make a social justice argument. You know a lot of people turn, we just heard from the pastor five minutes ago making a moral argument. How would you respond to him who doesn't seem to acknowledge it at al even saying it's not legitimate.

ORMAN: He can say what he wants and obviously people are going to follow him with that. But the majority of people in the United States of America especially the young ones today I do not believe that they believe in what the pastor said. They believe in human equality. They believe in civil rights. They believe in economic rights. They just don't believe what our interpretation, of what God would want is how it should be. They look at people their sons and daughters and parents and best friends they are employer, employees, it's everybody today. So everyone, we belong to the United States of America, we need to be united for everybody not just for the elite heterosexual few but for everybody who wants to join forces in marriage.

MALVEAUX: Suze Orman, thank you very much, it's good to see you as always, appreciate it.

A bizarre twist in the Oscar Pistorius case. The Olympic runner faces premeditated murder charges the investigator is face several counts of attempted murder. A live report from south Africa up next.

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