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"Jihad Jane" Indicted; Health Care in the Heartland; Former Lawyer Revealed Safety Docs; Cadillac Driving Away From GM; No More Overdraft Fees; There Are Jobs Out There; Unforgettable Heroes; Major Injuries in Little League

Aired March 10, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is now 9:00 a.m. in the East Coast, time to make some coffee out West. Do you have a job interview today? Take you're A-game. There apparently is a lot more work out there but there's still a lot of competition.

The WACS of World War II get their do and it's long overdue for the women of war, about 65 years. It's the war story that just doesn't get told enough.

And the pink slip option for improving education, just fire all the teachers and start all over. Some students say that reform plan doesn't work for them at all.

All that is straight ahead, plus Jeanne Meserve digs deeper into the "Jihad Jane" story, the American woman accused of trying to wage international terror from her home in the Pennsylvania suburb.

And health care crunch time. Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House. She'll tell us what we may hear from the president about reform today.

And Deb Feyerick is on the Toyota beat. Did the company know its cars had serious problems, but sweep in -- sweep that info, rather, under the rug?

Terrorism takes root in the suburbs. A woman is suburban Philadelphia is accused of recruiting jihadist fighters. The federal indictment says Colleen LaRose used the online name "Jihad Jane."

LaRose, who is 46, is accused of trying to recruit women for terrorist attacks overseas. She in turn reportedly agreed to kill a Swedish cartoonist. You may remember that story. The cartoonist outraged Muslims with his drawings of the Prophet Mohammed.

Well, in fact, LaRose had allegedly moved to Europe to carry out the plot. LaRose is a Muslim convert. In her online chats, she said her blonde hair and blue eyes would allow her to avoid suspicion.

So was this work of merely one person? Or does it expose a much larger threat?

Here with a closer look, CNN homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve. JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the government alleges that there other people involved. The indictment mentions five un-indicted co-conspirators and quotes electronic communications with some of them about the murder plot, but also about recruitment to jihad and fundraising.

We've been told by law enforcement sources that her arrest last October was kept under wraps to protect an investigation, and yesterday seven people were arrested in Ireland, reportedly for targeting the same individual, the Swedish artist Lars Vilks, whose cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on the body of a dog led al Qaeda to put a price on his head.

Now a government source familiar with the case says LaRose was in contact with committed jihadists in South Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, but the indictment does not mention, Fredricka, any association with a specific terror group.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeanne Meserve, thanks so much from Washington. Appreciate that.

So Colleen LaRose may have been known as Jihad Jane on the Internet, but how was she known among those who actually lived closest to her? We spoke to some of her neighbors in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLIE JO SGRO, COLLEEN LAROSE'S NEIGHBOR: It was two years ago that my kids were at their Halloween party. She was kind of weird. I mean, she looked nice, but then there was a strange vibe that you got from her. It was something about her that just irritated me that I got my kids -- I didn't want my kids to be there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we're staying on top of this developing story. And CNN crews are out working their sources. As soon as we uncover more details, we'll bring them to you.

On to Haiti now, one relief mission winds down. Today the hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, will leave the earthquake-ravaged country. The Navy ship's last patients were discharged more than a week ago as medical facilities and field hospitals in Haiti take the lead.

But at the height of the recovery effort, its role was monumental. It received one patient every nine minutes or so. Over the course of seven weeks, the ship's military and civilian medical personnel treated nearly 900 people.

Meanwhile, Haiti's president Rene Preval will visit the White House later on this morning. He'll meet with President Barack Obama to discuss relief, recovery and reconstruction in Haiti.

Both men are set to talk to reporters afterward just before noon, Eastern Time, and we'll bring that to you live right here on CNN.

And later on today, President Obama takes his health care reform pep talk back on the road. His destination -- metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri.

CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now.

So, Suzanne, what should we expect to hear from the president this time?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, when he's in St. Louis, Missouri later today, expect to see a very familiar scene. What we saw on Monday out of Philadelphia.

I want you to take a look at these pictures. It very much expected to feel like a campaign, feel, sound -- essentially sound like this ready, fired-up, ready to go type of mantra that he is going to be delivering as he did in Philadelphia.

It's a two-pronged strategy coming from the White House. First and foremost, to really try to adopt this populist message here, a sense of urgency that health care reform has to get done, put pressure on members of Congress to push forward this legislation in the next couple of weeks.

And then also take on insurance companies. He has been going after them, vilifying them, if you will, because of those premium hikes.

We also expect to hear something new from the president, talking about an initiative to provide assistance for private auditors to go after when it comes to waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.

All of these things, Fred, meant to demonstrate that the White House is serious about health care reform and essentially trying to give a sense to urgency to this, putting pressure on members of Congress to get this thing done.

Fred, it really is seeing the next couple of weeks as the last chance to really move this forward.

WHITFIELD: And Suzanne, yesterday we saw lots of protesters. What was that all about?

MALVEAUX: There were about 1,000 protesters. It was downtown Washington, D.C. here outside of a hotel. They were taking on insurance lobbyists, a group, a conference that was being held. America's Health Insurance Plans, they're called AHIP.

This protest was led by the former Vermont governor Howard Dean who of course is pushing for health care reform, particularly when it comes to those insurance companies, the premium hikes, denying people coverage for preexisting conditions.

These are the kinds of things that they are talking about and it's exactly the kind of thing, Fred, that the White House wants to see, is this populist uprising against these insurance companies. They believe it will help their cause in arguing, making the case that health care reform -- big health care reform is necessary.

I should note as well the secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, is going to be speaking to that group of insurance lobbyists at their convention, at their conference, later this week, going into the belly of the beast, if you will, to make that case. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, at the White House, thanks so much for that.

And of course you can see the president's health care reform pep talk today in the St. Louis area, live as it happens right here on CNN. It's expected to begin just after 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

And just in, within the last hour, CNN has learned that actor Cory Haim had died. Los Angeles police say Haim died earlier this morning of a possible drug overdose. We're hoping to get more information as the day goes on.

Haim was just 38 years old. He got famous as a child actor in movies like "Lucas" and "The Lost Boys." He and Cory Feldman co- starred in several movies and a reality show together.

Revealing the secrets of Toyota. Did the company know its cars had problems? A company whistleblower tells all in about three minutes.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Heavy rains across the southeast and raining in Chicago, and a batch of severe weather may pop up later this afternoon. We'll tell you where when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: On the heels of the latest report about a runaway Toyota Prius in San Diego, a former lawyer for the auto giant says Toyota conspired to conceal evidence of safety problems with its vehicles. And he says he has the documents to prove it.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick is following the story for us from New York. Deb?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Fredricka, these aren't just any documents and he's not just any lawyer. This man was the man who represented Toyota, defended Toyota during liability and negligence cases, people suing the company saying that Toyota had made a defective product.

The documents that he has with him -- 6,000 of them -- were on his flash drive when he left the company back in 2007. He says they are very damaging. They're memos, e-mails, reports, and something called "the books of knowledge." What makes these books of knowledge interesting is first of all the data is highly secretive. It includes test results, it includes product evolution, how the cars were made, the problems the cars had during the process of development.

Again, engineers work, they find a problem, they fix it, they tweak, they tinker, you know, more serious than tinkering.

Biller says -- Dimitrios Biller, the lawyer -- says that these documents were never handed over in court cases as they should have been. He is accusing Toyota of a criminal conspiracy, withholding this information from major cases, including that of a 17-year-old girl who was rendered a paraplegic when the car she was driving rolled over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIMITRIOS BILLER, FORMER TOYOTA LAWYER: There was a regular pattern of practice of not producing memos, minutes, reports, e-mails. That material was never produced, and there is a ton of that type of information when a vehicle is being designed.

Well, actually, in the Green case, I was actually in the physical process of producing all of the e-mails that a court ordered for production when my boss came in to my office and asked me what I was doing. And I said, I'm preparing the production of e-mails to Pennie Green, and he said I can't do that.

And he stopped me. I said, why not? He said, haven't you heard of the golden rule? I said, no, what is it? Don't screw your client. Why? I said how am I screwing my client? And he said, well, you're not screwing the client, but you have to protect the client at all costs.

I said, even if that means committing criminal acts or violating the law? And he said, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Now Toyota denies all of this. Toyota says, quote, "That they're confident that we've acted appropriately with respect to all product liability litigation." They are also saying that, "Mr. Biller continues to make inaccurate and misleading allegations about Toyota conduct that we strongly dispute and will continue to fight against vigorously."

However, these documents -- there is a great interest in these documents as I'm sure you can imagine. Congress, the committee looking into Toyota, they've requested these documents to be produced including the book of knowledge by Friday.

NHTSA, the transportation agency that's looking into what kind of information they did or did not have in terms of determining car safety, they want these documents. So everybody wants to get his hands -- their hands on this material, because what's in it could show exactly what was going on within Toyota, and more importantly the safety of Toyota vehicles.

And that's really what everybody wants to know. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Deb, I'm wondering, you know, what is the relationship between this attorney and Toyota? Was there any kind of confidentiality agreement? You know any ax to grind? Payments owed?

You do have to wonder about the motivation and how someone who once represented the company is now turning their back and revealing everything allegedly that this person learned while working on the case -- or working with the company.

FEYERICK: Absolutely. Absolutely. Mr. Biller says that -- well, and documents do show -- we were able to take a look at some of the documents. The documents do show that Mr. Biller was trying to get Toyota to do the right thing, to get Toyota to produce documents that were supposed to legally be turned over to plaintiffs' attorneys.

You see this sort of duel (INAUDIBLE) going. While he's asking Toyota, give us the documents, he's also in court saying we're not settling. There's no case here. So there was sort of a duality going on there.

He believed he could change Toyota. He said he was naive. He did leave the company in 2007. He suffered a nervous breakdown, he says, a result of stress. He was paid $3.7 million. It was $4 million when he walked away and he was supposed to turn over all of these documents.

However, he says he was fearful that Toyota would indeed destroy the documents. That Toyota has a very aggressive policy of document retention. How long you keep things for. Engineers aren't even supposed to keep their own product work because again Toyota -- that's Toyota policy.

So there is something going on here. Toyota is now saying these documents are ours, they're proprietary, they're trade secrets, they should never have been out there, and they want it quashed.

WHITFIELD: All right, Deb Feyerick, thanks so much. Something tells me this is just the beginning of this now case involving the attorney and Toyota.

All right, for an in-depth look into the Toyota recall, go to CNN.com/Toyota. There you can find out if your car -- car rather -- has been recalled, as well as what to do.

All right. Severe thunderstorms across the south today. Rob Marciano in the weather center, and this after a couple of glorious days, people were so excited about the spring, and now we've got to think of spring showers.

MARCIANO: We do, and we're getting a few of those not only in Atlanta but across Chicago. A pretty diffused and large, complicated system, but it's beginning to focus its intensity in some spots. And we'll go over that as we go through all this stuff. (WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: Fredricka, it seems like March 1 kicked in, and we're already starting to get into severe weather mode. As we transition or tried to transition in the summer, it seems like we were just in winter a week ago.

WHITFIELD: No. It was very abrupt, but at least we have to look forward to these May flowers (INAUDIBLE) right, and take it through all the showers.

MARCIANO: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: OK. See you in a bit.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, if your head is spinning from ex- Congressman Eric Massa's stories about his conduct, take a seat. The ride continues in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.

We know Democrat Eric Massa is resigning from Congress, but exactly why he's quitting and what he believes was behind an ethics probe against him? Well, that's still pretty murky.

Over the last few days he has changed his story. He said he was leaving the House because he had cancer. He later blamed an ethics probe on his using salty language, and then said fellow Democrats were forcing him out because of his stand on health care.

Well, yesterday in an interview with FOX's Glenn Beck, he said he was not forced out, he forced himself out. Massa also told Beck he groped a male staffer at a birthday party, but he seemed to step back from that description on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: You said, quote, "Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn't breathe and then four guys jumped on top of me." So you did grope someone, right?

ERIC MASSA (D), FMR. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Larry, when you grab someone and you're wrestling, I don't know how to describe that word. So if that's -- if that's the word that you want to have an entire debate about, then I can't stop you.

KING: No, I'm just asking the -- you said you groped the --

MASSA: Yes, I --

KING: A lot of people associate groping with sexual.

MASSA: Well, it wasn't sexual, period.

KING: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And on CNN's "AC 360" last night, our senior political analyst David Gergen put the Massa mess in perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: People say that Washington politics is a freak show, and to Eric Massa is writing a whole new chapter.

I don't think we really know exactly what happened here. What's really important is that he made an explosive charge that he was forced out of Congress by an orchestrated effort by Democrats.

Today on Glenn Beck, when he was pushed and pushed on that, he didn't deliver the goods. He finally said, I wasn't forced out, I forced myself out. That's the big story here right now, I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And "The Washington Post" reports that despite Massa's resignation, the ethics investigation could continue. According to "The Post," the reason would be to address the circumstances of any hostile work environment.

And there may be new hope for the three U.S. hikers facing espionage charges in Iran. Their families say for the first time since the arrest seven months ago, they have been able to speak to the hikers.

In a statement, the hikers' families say the phone conversations offer positive signal their detention may soon be over.

The three had been jailed since July for allegedly crossing an unmarked border between Iran and Kurdistan.

A delay in Iraq's vote count. We expected to have the first result from Sunday's elections today, but now we're told it probably won't be until at least tomorrow. Around 12 million people cast ballots in the parliamentary election.

An early exit for U.S. troops in Afghanistan? Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it could happen. We'll hear from him in about 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The goal of Vice President Joe Biden's current trip to the Middle East is to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians. But that all seemingly grows more difficult by the way. Today Vice President Biden slammed Israel for coinciding his arrival in Jerusalem yesterday with the government's announcement that it intends to build more settlement homes in Palestinian claimed East Jerusalem.

Biden says the latest Israeli move undermines trust. Well, today Israel apologized for, quote, unquote, "embarrassing" Vice President Biden.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says some U.S. troops could leave Afghanistan early and he is offering words of praise and gratitude for those who are serving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: You all have had a very tough tour here, and particularly the first several months. Twenty-one of your comrades, fallen heroes, by my last count 46 wounded.

You came into an area that was totally controlled by the Taliban. You fought for critical battle space, you bled for it, and now you own it. And you demonstrated extraordinary courage and determination in making that happen.

My job is to give you the tools you need to do the job and come home safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Gates is in Afghanistan touring a camp where U.S. and British soldiers are training Afghan troops. He said if conditions are right, the U.S. pullout could begin before an announced July 2011 date.

Reconstruction and reconciliation are on the agenda for Afghan president Hamid Karzai today. He welcomed Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Kabul this morning. The pair talked about Iran's role in reconstruction as a so-called brother nation.

Then it's on to Pakistan for Karzai. He is talking with leaders there about possible reconciliation plans with the Taliban.

And are you looking for work? Well, there are now more jobs apparently out there, but on the flip side, that also means more people battling for each one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the start of the bull market, but investors seem to be taking a breather after the big run-up.

Carter Evans is at the New York Stock Exchanges with details on this.

Hello to you, Carter. CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. You know we have come so far and we saw gains yesterday. That was good news. The S&P 500 -- as the opening bell rings here at the New York Stock Exchange -- up nearly 70 percent over the past year.

There are a lot of analysts, though, that think the market is going to deconsolidate those gains before attempting to move any higher.

We're light on economic news today, so we're expecting another flat open this morning. Investors could get some direction a bit later this week when the weekly unemployment claims come out. We'll also get some retail sales numbers.

Now, interesting news today, Cadillac appears to be trying to distance itself from its owner General Motors. The luxury brand is erasing the GM name from its marketing and dealerships. It is also changing its e-mail addresses and will even run its own promotions that are entirely separate from GM. This move has come in less than a year after GM entered and exited bankruptcy.

So, we're going to be keeping an eye on apple shares today as well. Apple shares actually opening higher about a $1 higher trading at about $224 of share. The company's stock price hit record highs the past three trading days, and it looks like another record high today. Apple shares have been on a tear the past year. The latest boost came when they announced on Friday that the Apple iPod will go on sale next month.

All right. Let's take a look at the early numbers right now. The Dow Jones Industrial average up just a fraction of a point, same with the S&P 500. S&P 500 is also up a little bit higher, and the Nasdaq is also up a little bit higher today, so things are looking pretty good. The Dow kind of slipping back and forth between positive and negative there today. Fredricka, it is going to be another choppy day of trading until we get a few more economic details in tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: All right. We look forward to that. Thanks so much, Carter Evans. Appreciate that.

All right. Bank of America, no longer going to let you spend money that you don't have, at least with your debit card. They are ending overdraft fees on debit card purchases and ATM transactions. Instead, you will simply be denied. A new federal law set to go into effect says consumers have to get permission for banks to charge those fees. This made around $20 billion last year on debit card overdraft.

And we have good news and bad news on the jobs front. There are more openings out there, but also, there's a lot more competition for each one of those jobs. CNN's Christine Romans joins us live now from New York with more on this -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: What we're seeing, Fredricka, is in the month of January, there were employers who are starting to cautiously hire again. The job market is hiring and firing and something called the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey shows the job openings grew 193,000 to 2.7 million in the month, but we still have an awful long way to go to get back to pre-recession levels. Really, I mean, the competition is stiff out there. So, in January there were 2.7 million available jobs. In December 2007, there were 4.4 million available jobs. Today, there are 5.5 candidates for every job opening. Back before the recession, there were 1.7.

In a healthy economy, you shouldn't have to be fighting against so many other people to get a job, and Fredricka, when I report this number, that there are five or six people waiting for every job opening. I get also lot of e-mail from people saying it doesn't feel that way. It feels more like 30 or 40, so it's still tough out there for job seekers.

But where are the gains? Where are you starting to see employers at least inching in and carefully hiring? Education and health care, also hotels and restaurants. Both of these groups saw the number of hirings up about 13 percent, the number of jobs opening rather up about 13 percent in the month of January. How about the job losses? Arts, entertainment and government. No surprise there in government really, Fredricka, because so many government jobs have been added over the past couple of years. It's no surprise to see a little bit of a pull back there -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Christine Romans, thanks so much. Kind off for a little hope there for people who are looking for a job. It's pretty depressing that the five people are fighting for that one, but I think I have to agree with you and a lot of your e-mailers. I hear from a lot of people who say it seems like ten times more than that.

ROMANS: I can tell you it's moving in the right direction, but it's moving slowly, slowly in the right direction. That's what it is.

WHITFIELD: Okay. We got to be patient. Thanks so much, Christine.

All right. Danger on the diamonds. The windup, the pitch, and the problems. We'll look at some startling numbers in little league injuries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Spain, a freak snowstorm stopped much of Barcelona in its track. Take a look right there. Right now, utility companies are trying to restore power to as many as a quarter of a million customers, and driving was no picnic either at the French/Spanish border yesterday. The snow created chaos in traffic backups nearly 30 miles long.

Snow isn't the big problem in the U.S. southeast. Instead, it's a lot of rain. Is that a problem, yet?

MARCIANO: We've had our share of snow, haven't we? Across the eastern third of the country. It's a record-breaking amounts in Europe as well as seeing a tremendous winter, so both sides, the hemisphere seeing some action this winter, and it doesn't seem to went on. By the way, while we're on that note, pattern setting up to still be pretty chilly next week, second half -- or eastern half of the country. Just stuck that in your head while you enjoy some of this spring-like temperatures, but with spring and the transition into summer comes a battle in the atmosphere that makes things a little bit interesting this time of year.

And today, we are seeing some severe weather across the Mississippi river valleys all the way down into Louisiana, and then right now also, as things begin to ramp up, we're seeing the threat for severe weather right across the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. This low is just ejecting out of the Southwest moving pretty quickly. It got some storm, jet string winds with it, so the thunderstorms are beginning to pop all ready just west of Ft. Worth and motoring down I- 20. This watch box for severe thunderstorms with winds, possibly gust some 60-70 miles an hour and of course maybe some hail as well. This is in effect until 3:00 this afternoon local time.

And then, once we get rid of the heavy rain that's falling, and it's separate from that low, once we get rid of this heavy rain, it doesn't look like it's going anywhere for a good couple of hours. We'll start to see the atmosphere prime up again for thunderstorms that may become severe for Arkansas, Louisiana, parts of Missouri as well, and maybe even up to Memphis. This, by the way, is a severe -- a favorite spot for seeing severe weather this time of year, March, April, and then back it up toward the west, and go in through May and June, but where we're going to see the threat for severe weather today is where we would expect to see at this time of the year.

Ground stop in Atlanta. You saw the heavy rain on the radar, so ground stop until 10:15. I think you'll see delays if you're traveling through or from Atlanta, easily over an hour through at least early afternoon. Chicago seeing an hour delay, Houston Intercontinental seeing 30-minute delays, and Newark seeing 30-minute delays as well. That's the latest on this severe weather that may get a little bit rough as we go through the afternoon, Fredricka -

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MARCIANO: So, we will keep an eye for you.

WHITFIELD: Keep that umbrella handy.

MARCIANO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

Here's a look at the top stories right now. A Pennsylvania woman is accused of recruiting terrorists overseas under the online name Jihad Jane. The federal indictment says 46-year-old Colleen Larose (ph) also agreed to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had outraged Muslims. Larose in a Muslim converge who reportedly set her blond hair and blue eyes would help her avoid suspicion. And there's now a third arrest in a church shooting in Richmond, California. You may remember these pictures from last month. Two teenage brothers were shot. Police say an 18-year-old is now in custody. A 15 and 16-year-old were arrested in the days right after the shooting. The victims are still recovering.

And last night, current and former students of Central Falls High School in Rhode Island showed their support for the teachers. Nearly 100 teachers, administrators, and staff will be fired at the end of the school year because of poor student performance and graduation rates. More on the education crisis next hour as schools across the country, in fact, could be shut down because of budget cuts. We'll talk about some alternatives at the top of the hour.

Firing teachers in Rhode Island, a plan to close 29 out of 61 schools in Kansas City. Radical steps to improve student performance. We're talking about these controversial moves on the blog this morning. What do you think? Good idea or bad idea? Go to cnn.com/Fredricka and post your comments. I'll read some of your comments on the air next hour.

Honoring heroes of World War II. They nerve served in combat, but their contributions were invaluable to U.S. success. Today, they get their just rewards.

An army anniversary tops our look at today in history, actually, the Salvation Army. It officially started work in the U.S. back in 1880, but it really began in London a few years before that. Now, the Salvation Army serves in 106 countries. Mr. Watson came here, and this was on this date in 1876, the first successful test of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell. We haven't stopped talking ever since.

And in 1862, the U.S. government started issuing paper currency. We haven't stopped spending since. The money came in 5s, 10s and 20s and so called back greenback and placed demand notes issued a year earlier.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Finally getting their due. Some of the forgotten heroes of World War II are being honored today in Washington. We're talking about the wasps. CNN's Jessica Yellin explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): From the time she was eight, Jane Tedeschi wanted to be a pilot.

JANE TEDESCHI, FORMER PILOT: That was Lindberg flying across the Atlantic and a lot of other people were flying air races.

YELLIN: As a young woman in her 20s, Tedeschi sought out flight lessons and got her pilot's license, a rarity for a woman in those days. With World War II gripping the nation, male pilots were desperately needed overseas for battle. Female aviator, Jacqueline Cochran, came up with a radical idea, let female pilots take over domestic missions. The military approved, and WASP, Women Air Service Pilots program was born.

TEDESCHI: I thought this was something I could do and love to do and will contribute to the war effort.

YELLIN: Another of the 11,002 members was Deanie Parrish. One of her jobs was to help train gunners for combat.

DEANIE PARRISH, FORMER PILOT: It was not that I was going to do any more than anybody else, because there were other females who were driving ambulances or fire trucks, working on airplanes, and I was doing the one thing that I felt I could do best.

YELLIN: The WASP were civilians, but they were the first women to fly in U.S. military planes, in all logging over 60 million miles in all types of aircraft, from heavy bombers to attack planes. TEDESCHI: Night flying occasionally was an interesting thing, because we didn't have an awful lot of training in that and you've got to be sure you never lose your horizon.

YELLIN: Although the work was confined to the home front, Air Force Major Nicole Malikowski (ph), the first female Thunderbird pilot says these women developed key tactics and training for the war.

MAJ. NICOLE MALIKOWSKI, AIR FORCE: These women did that by training the men to fly these planes so they could fly in combat. They did that by being instructor pilots, they were test pilots, they also did aerial gunnery.

TEDESCHI: It shows how happy we were to be flying.

YELLIN: Now with fewer than 300 of the pilots still alive, today the nation is recognizing their legacy.

TEDESCHI: It is an historical fact and should be recognized.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow, are they not extraordinary? In about an hour, those heroes will receive the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal. Among them, Dawn Seymour is a proud WASP veteran and one of the very few who flew the massive B-17 Bomber. She's joining us from Washington today just a few minutes ahead of that ceremony.

Good to see you, Ms. Seymour.

DAWN SEYMOUR, FORMER WOMEN AIR FORCE SERVICE PILOT: thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Well, congratulations. What's it feel like to be receiving this honor so many years after the fact?

SEYMOUR: Well, it is absolutely wonderful and I'm very appreciative and looking forward to the event in a few minutes.

WHITFIELD: How exciting. There will be about 300 of you who will be in attendance to receive this Congressional Gold Medal. What does this medal, in your view, symbolize, or what will it mean to you personally?

SEYMOUR: I think it means closure for me. I was so pleased that yesterday we recognized the 38 women who were killed in service and I was a memorial chair years ago for the WASP and I have a lightening of my heart, I must say.

WHITFIELD: Oh that's incredible. You were a B-17 Pilot.

SEYMOUR: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Give me an idea perhaps of your fondest or the most indelible memory for you at that time?

SEYMOUR: Well, I guess my best memory of my time is my best landing. I was at Roswell, New Mexico. And it rained and the field, the runway was still damp. And I came in and leveled off and pulled back and I made a -- there was no squeak, no noise and the wheels just glided onto the runway and I thought, aha, that was it.

WHITFIELD: Was there ever a moment at the time where you felt like you or any of the other women wanted to be in combat? Did you like the idea that you were, for the most part, training a lot of other male pilots ready for combat and not getting a chance to be in combat yourself?

SEYMOUR: Well, we were flying the B-17 for the gunners who were training at Ft. Myers, Florida at Buckingham. And I remembered the first graduation and I thought to myself, was it possible for me to go into combat and fly? And I said, yes, if it was necessary and I could do it. So we never had to do it, of course, but --

WHITFIELD: What was the lure, I guess, about becoming a B-17 -- excuse me -- pilot? Did you -- did you feel pretty eager about learning how to be this pilot in the first place? How did you find yourself in this position?

SEYMOUR: Well, it was all by chance and I was asked to be a member of the CPT Organization in Cornell University. There was a program for new pilots and this particular person Dr. Richard Carmeder (ph) was asked to be director of Flight Research. He thought there might be some way that you could figure out how to avoid pilot training in an airplane in a cheaper method.

And so I was one of his guinea pigs. And then that led to Jackie Cochran's program and I was selected for B-17 combat pilot training and I loved it. I just absolutely loved it.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, fantastic. Congratulations on the Congressional Gold Medal, well deserved. I know it's going to be a great reunion, too, meeting up with the other 300 or so other women, Women of the Air Service Pilots, WASP. All right, Dawn Seymour --

SEYMOUR: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. And congratulations again and have a great time this morning.

SEYMOUR: Thank you for calling me. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, for millions of American kids it's a rite of passage, but Little League Baseball now faces an alarming number of arm injuries. We'll take a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's what we're working on for the next hour. Let's start with homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.

MESERVE: Fredricka, an American woman allegedly known as "Jihad Jane" accused of using the Internet to raise money and recruit men and women for jihad and also accused of conspiring to murder a controversial Swedish artist. The story at the top of the hour.

MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. The storm prediction center has put out a severe weather watch box for the Dallas area and that maybe shifting, should be shifting east throughout the day. Severe weather on the menu at the top of the hour.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks to both of you.

And Little Leaguers with Major League injuries and how to keep your favorite ball player in the game and off the disabled list.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Little League players, Major League injuries. New studies warn that a growing number of kids are developing serious arm injuries. Some could be seeing their baseball careers end before they actually begin.

So how serious is the problem? CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with a closer look on this. What type of injuries are we talking about in the arm?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we're talking about injuries to a ligament in the shoulder. This is a ligament that gives your shoulder flexibility.

What they found in the study that was presented at the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons is that some of these boys are now having flexibility problems and pain because of so much playing in the Little Leagues.

So what these doctors did -- it was interesting -- they took boys who played different positions and they compared the arm they use to the arm that they don't use, their throwing arm versus their not throwing arm to see what's going on.

What they found was really interesting. Some of these kids are having problems not so much that it will affect them now, but that could affect them later in life. It could be setting them up for having tears in this ligament or even having the arm dislocate from the shoulder.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So what are the baseball positions that we're talking about that are seeing most of these injuries?

COHEN: What's interesting is that people had more injuries based on what position they were playing. Let's take a look at the pitchers. The pitchers were the most vulnerable. 32 percent of starting pitchers had some kind of pain or some kind of ligament flexibility problems. The catchers came in second with 25 percent of them had some kind of a shoulder ligament or pain problem. The outfielders, it was much lower; it was 21 percent.

WHITFIELD: So if you have a child in the Little Leagues playing baseball, what can you do to protect them?

COHEN: There are some definite steps that you can take. Let's take a look at that. What you can try to do is, first of all, you can tell -- the parents need to keep track of how many pitches they're doing if they're pitchers because there's a limit.

And the coaches might not be keeping track but the parents need to keep track. You need to know the pitching limits.

You also need to tell your child don't pitch if you're in pain. If your child asks you for like a Tylenol or an Advil for pain, that's a sign they need to come out of the game.

Also don't play on more than one team. Some people play on the Spring Team, then a Summer Team. Not a great idea.

And then also take off about three months to rest. Don't play year round.

WHITFIELD: Oh wow. All right. Great advice. Getting pretty sophisticated for these little guys playing baseball, huh?

COHEN: It is. And you know what's interesting too, Fredricka, is that the kids who are the best are the ones that end up in the worst shape because if they're good, they're --

WHITFIELD: They work the hardest --

COHEN: Right.

WHITFIELD: The coach wants them to play?

COHEN: Yes.

All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. Appreciate that.