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Forty Detroit School Facing Closing; Ground Zero Emergency Worker Settlement on Horizon; President Delays Trip to Asia to Gain Votes for Health Care Reform; Hillary Clinton: Speaking for the Women of the World
Aired March 12, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A look at our top stories right now. A coordinated suicide attack in Pakistan has killed at least 39 people. Two suicide bombers set off explosives just seconds apart in the crowded streets around market. They were targeting military convoys in the area. At least 95 people were injured.
And the wife of senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in serious condition this morning following a traffic accident. Sixty-nine-year- old Landra Reid broke her neck back and nose when her car was rear- ended by a tractor trailer outside Washington. Reid's daughter was also injured in the accident, but was released from the hospital last night. The truck driver has been charged with reckless driving.
And lots of speculation about Tiger Woods' return to golf. ESPN reports that he will stay away until at least the Masters Tournament next month, but Woods' agent told CNN yesterday the troubled golfer had not decided when he will pick up the clubs again. And this week Kansas City's school board voted to shut down nearly half the schools in the city's district. A radical, painful way to combat a budget crunch. Well, next week we might be telling you a similar story about Detroit; 40 schools are on the chopping block there.
How is this going to end? We're talking with CNN's Samantha Hayes about saving education. She's joining us right now from Washington. Samantha?
SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. You know this was really a startling and surprising announcement but other school districts across the country are saying the same thing, that they need to cut the budget and this is the best that they can do.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAYES (voice-over): A startling announcement from the Kansas City, Missouri, school district. Nearly half of the district's 61 schools are closing, a move to save money, according to the new superintendent.
JOHN COVINGTON, SUPERINTENDENT, KANSAS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: We are spreading ourselves far too thin, facing a $50 million deficit.
HAYES: The result, 700 jobs eliminated and hundreds of students moved to other schools.
DENEICIA WILLIAMS, PARENT: I have an eight-year-old and a six- year-old that will be going to school with a 12th grader and I find that to be very inappropriate.
HAYES: But officials defend the move, saying it will allow the school system to focus its resources. Across the country budget deficits are also prompting cuts. Students and parents in Des Moines, Iowa, gathered inside the state capitol building to protest a plan to cut hundreds of teaching jobs, many of them in the music and arts departments.
California's budget crisis may result in a cut to a state bussing program that provides transportation for minority students in the Los Angeles area. The National Education Association, a union representing educators, says the cuts will have long-term negative effects.
DENNIS VAN ROEKEL, NATL. EDUCATION ASSN., PRESIDENT: Even though you layoff tens, thousands, hundreds of thousands of adults, there's not one less child that needs a ride to school, there's not one less child that needs a healthy breakfast or lunch and there's not one less child that needs caring adults in that classroom with them. So the work doesn't go away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAYES: There are more drastic cuts coming out of Detroit. That city school district is scheduled to announce next week that they will be closing 40 schools.
In Washington, I'm Samantha Hayes. Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Samantha, thanks so much. Appreciate that.
All right. Well, finally a settlement could be approved today for those emergency workers who became sick working at New York's ground zero. Anthony Johnson of affiliate WABC has details on the proposed $657 million settlement plus the turmoil over rebuilding on the site.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANTHONY JOHNSON, WABC REPORTER (voice-over): The settlement covers 10,000 men and women who say their health was ruined by working at ground zero in a toxic environment. The plaintiffs would share up to $657 million. The money will come from a billion dollar insurance fund established by Congress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 52 years old and they told me I've got lungs of a 90-year-old man.
JOHNSON: In addition to gain approval from the judge, the settlement must be agreed to by 95 percent of the plaintiffs. One- third of the settlement money will go to the lawyers for the plaintiffs, legal fees for defending the city and its contractors already have topped $200 million.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want? When do we want them?
JOHNSON: It's the lack of money for new construction that haunts the second set of negotiations. Eight years of delays and false starts put an angry edge on Tuesday's protests by construction workers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want the red tape stopped. We need the economy to get going.
JOHNSON: The Port Authority and developer Larry Silverstein have been bargaining through the night to meet today's deadline for an agreement on what to build. They also disagree on how to pay for anything.
CHRIS WARD, EXEC. DIR., PORT AUTHORITY OF N.Y. AND N.J.: What we're not willing to do is do a complete public bailout of private infrastructure.
JOHNSON: City leaders say it's time to deal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lock yourself in a room, put a couple of NYPD guys or gals outside of the door, have you guys waiting down here and tell them not to come out until they have got some good news.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. That hearing this afternoon over the $657 million settlement is at 2:00 Eastern time. And as soon as we have a decision, we'll bring that to you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The time for talk is over. It's time to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. That was President Obama earlier this week, throwing down the gauntlet. Now he's apparently putting his money where his mouth is. The president is delaying his Asia trip, as congressional Democrats struggle to get enough support to pass the landmark legislation.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now from Washington. So Suzanne, why exactly is he pushing back his departure date?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, obviously the president wants to show lawmakers and the rest of the country that he's serious about passing this health care reform legislation, the top domestic priority of his presidency. And so he is announcing that he's delaying it by three days. He was supposed to leave on Thursday, that's March 18th for Indonesia as well as Australia. He is now pushing it back by three days. He is leaving on Sunday. We found this out this morning through the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' tweet that he put out. It said that the president will delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia, will now leave Sunday. The first lady and the girls will not be on the trip.
Now, a senior administration official explained to me this morning, Fred, that the president expressed his willingness to do this to the Democratic leadership yesterday after meeting with them saying, look, if it takes more work here to push this across the finish line, I am willing to do this.
Something else that's notable here is that the first lady and the girls are no longer going to be on this trip. It was part of their spring break and there was some concern that perhaps people would see the president body surfing in Sydney and say "wait a minute, you know, we're trying to get this thing passed here, this is very important, what are you up to doing, Mr. President, are you serious about this." That was a minor, minor consideration I'm being told.
The main gist of this was that Democrats were saying if you are serious about this, we want you to be on the phone, we want you to have those meetings in person next week to push this over, to push this over the top. Now, we had heard yesterday, Fred, from the press secretary, Robert Gibbs, who was giving a bit of a hint that there was some flexibility in working with these Democrats and the president's schedule to make this happen.
I want you to take a close listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Our hope is to get this done as soon as possible. If it takes a couple extra days after a year, it takes a couple of extra days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're backing off the 18th then?
GIBBS: No. I'm saying that the president wants as does everybody here wants to get this done as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So the bottom line here, Fred, is that senior administration officials are saying the Democrats asked for presidential intervention. They want him to be very, very active next week in pushing this forward and helping them do that. Also the bottom line here, Fred, is that they are acknowledging that they do not have the votes as of yet for March 18th to meet that deadline the president had hoped for in leaving on that day. So they're going to need more time to get those House Democrats on board.
WHITFIELD: Suzanne at the White House, thank you.
Making friends online. Awaiting execution on death row. We'll tell you about a convicted cop killer who has his own page on Facebook.
And then -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You printed something totally, totally untrue.
BARBARA WALTERS, HOST, "THE VIEW": You never called me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody called to ask me, Jack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, they were heated. Inquiring minds want to know. But the "National Enquirer's" top editor, he just wants to hide. We'll show you the buzz saw that he walked right into.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: That spell checker on the computer sure is convenient but is it turning us into an alphabetically-challenged society?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know this word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So that's one possible downside of the computer age, our ability to spell on our own might be dying. All right, so you tell me. Can you still hold your own at the spelling bee or has the spell checker turned you into a lousy speller? Leave your comments at CNN.com/Fredricka. We'll read some of your comments later on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Looking for a new friend on Facebook? Well, how about Nicholas Johnson? He's friendly, upbeat and, oh yes, he's a convicted cop killer who is sitting on death row in Nashville. We get the store you now from reporter Nick Morabito of CNN affiliate, WJHL.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK MORABITO, WJHL REPORTER (voice-over): Although Nicholas Johnson last stepped foot in the tri-cities in November, his friends and family can see him online just about every day. It appears Johnson first signed up for Facebook in August, 2009. Since then he's added pictures of himself and his kids for all 232 of his friends to see.
(on camera): But death row inmates in Tennessee are not allowed to use the internet. That means someone on the outside is controlling Johnson's page on his behalf.
DORINDA CARTER, (ON THE PHONE): He's likely talking to someone on the phone or by mail and they are posting the messages for him on Facebook.
MORABITO (voice-over): The messages still have a personal feel to them. One posted last month reads "love you all." Another, "just want to let you all know in my Facebook family all your e-mails and comments are keeping me strong. Thank you."
CARTER: We are seeing a number of inmates who have either attorneys or friends in the free world who are accessing social media on their behalf. Although they can't do it, they are still getting messages out there.
MORABITO: Although we could not find out the person behind the messages, Johnson's mother chimed in on her son's Facebook account. Over the phone, Kathy Bunche said, "A lot of people love him. You can see that. They understand that the story that he is a monster can't be right. Everybody knows that's not the case."
Still, the state urges people who friend inmates online to be cautious.
CARTER: We are talking about some people who are incarcerated who may take advantage of an innocent person in the free world.
MORABITO: That said, although what sent Johnson to prison in the first place was illegal, his actions online are not breaking any rules.
In Johnson City, Nick Morabito.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. A health alert for students at one Oklahoma elementary school. They're dealing with a deadly disease outbreak. Two kids have died, others hospitalized.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: You probably remember her as Chastity, Cher and Sonny Bono's daughter. Now she is a he named Chaz and he is speaking out about his highly publicized gender transformation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAZ BONO: Try to imagine if you woke up tomorrow feeling exactly like you do but your body was female. How would that feel to you? And that's, you know, basically how I felt, you know, from the time of puberty on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: We'll hear more about Chaz's gender transformation and the emotional challenges that he faced before that transition.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Severe Weather Center. We're watching more severe weather break out across the southeast today and it's going to track up towards the northeast over the weekend. Flooding rains likely. I'll run down the forecast when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Creeks and rivers are swollen from days of heavy rain in Georgia. Flood warnings are in effect in the Atlanta area. In Florida, a tornado damaged or destroyed more than two dozen homes at a golf resort in Haines (ph) City. The roof of one building was blown 50 yards away onto the fairway. Fortunately no one was hurt.
And more stormy weather is on the way for the south as well as for the northeast. Get ready. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is tracking the storms from the CNN Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. We are getting more early results from the election in Iraq. A party with ties to Iran is now leading in one southern province. Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki's party leads in another. Yesterday, we heard he also leads in two others, but only a small percentage of the votes have been counted so far.
And star power and coffee at the White House. Actor-producer Tom Hanks and producer Steven Spielberg were there for a screening of their new HBO series "The Pacific." Hanks even checked on the espresso coffeemaker that he actually bought for the media briefing room a few years back. He joked that the news folks, they're not cleaning the pot and promised a new one.
Apple's next big thing is finally for sale. We're talking about the iPad, of course. Apple started taking pre orders about two hours ago. Their web site was actually down for a while this morning as they presumably were gearing up for the sale. The iPad hits stores April 3rd.
A health scare in Oklahoma. An elementary school there is closed today after two children died of bacterial meningitis. Four other children at the school are being blamed - or examined, rather, for possible symptoms of the disease. Health officials are also offering antibiotics to students and staff members who were in close contact with the sick children. Parents are very worried.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA BENNETT, PARENT: Yes, I am concerned. Meningitis is - it's scary, it's scary. And the possibility of the exposure of all these children, not to mention who has brothers and sisters in the other school building.
LESLEA BENNETT-WEBB, OHIO STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT: This is very, very unusual. The state health department had not seen anything like this happen before. Especially the rapid onset, the hospitalizations and the subsequent death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: People stricken with bacterial meningitis will have fever, intense headache, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck.
Hillary Clinton, well, she travels the world as the nation's top diplomat but her greatest passion may know no boundaries. We'll look at her battle for women's rights.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Tell me about the tape or else. That's the order to John Edwards' former aide. A judge thinks he's not really telling all about a sex tape supposedly starring the former senator.
Back in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hillary Clinton ended her presidential run by saying that support for her as a woman puts millions of cracks into the proverbial glass ceiling. Well, now as secretary of state is she furthering her fight for human rights? A closer look with CNN foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Indonesia, Hillary Clinton sees how women with almost no money survive. In South Korea, a lighter moment. She tells young women students the meaning of love.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: How does anybody describe love? I mean poets have spent millennia writing about love.
DOUGHERTY: There are events like this on almost every trip abroad. But do they make a difference? Ann Njogu attended one such an event in her native Kenya last August. This week her work was honored by the secretary of state at an awards ceremony for women.
(on camera): A cynic might say OK, Secretary Clinton shows up in Kenya, she says some good words, she's inspirational, but what does it really mean on the ground, what does it mean to you?
ANN NJOGU, KENYAN ACTIVIST: For us on the ground, the ordinary woman on the ground, they know that they have a big friend somewhere who will not let the country perish.
DOUGHERTY (voice-over): As first lady, Clinton put women's rights front and center, traveling to 80 countries to make her point, including this now-famous speech at the U.N. World Conference on women in Beijing.
CLINTON: If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights once and for all.
DOUGHERTY: But as secretary of state, Clinton can do more than talk. In a Democratic Republic of Congo, she pledged more than $17 million in new funds to help stop rape as a weapon of war. In Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, she's pressed to make women a key part of the U.S. stabilization strategy.
A former undersecretary of state during the Bush administration says Clinton is incorporating women's issues at every turn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's been in the position to put the resources behind it and most significantly as secretary of state, she's not only an activist but she also is a symbol. She is looked up to by many women across the globe for what she's doing. They are inspired by her actions.
DOUGHERTY: And Clinton is inspired by what she has witnessed.
(on camera): Let me into her mind a little bit if you could. Why did she want to focus on women's rights? What motivates her?
Through all of those years as first lady, seeing firsthand not only the terrible situation that women are in in so many places but the tools that are at hand to make a difference, she knows deep down it's important for the women themselves, but critically important for the kind of societies we want to build.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: That was Jill Dougherty reporting.
From Chastity to Chaz. The child of Cher and Sonny Bono speaks out about switching genders. Back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Television audiences knew her as Chastity Bono of the scene stealing star of her parents' hit TV show, "Sonny and Cher." But Chastity is now known as Chaz, a name change that also marked a major change in her gender. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, his name is Chaz Bono, but back then she was Chastity Bono -- not just her parent's sweetheart, but an American sweetheart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SONNY AND CHER SHOW")
SONNY BONO AND CHER, ENTERTAINERS (singing): Babe, I got you babe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: "The Sonny and Cher Show" was a hit for years. Their daughter's appearances weren't just cute. They were often funny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SONNY AND CHER SHOW")
S. BONO: Now, you can be a good little angel...
(LAUGHTER) S. BONO: ... or you can be a naughty little devil. Now, don't...
C. BONO: I want to be a naughty...
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE FLEEMAN, WEST COAST EDITOR, PEOPLE.COM: When you saw little Chastity on "The Sonny and Cher Show," she was the model of cuteness. Here's this towheaded little blonde, chubby-cheeked girl brought on stage. Mom and dad are singing, the model of sort of the happy showbiz family.
TUCHMAN: But, as the years went by, Chastity Bono went through personal turmoil. At the age of 18, she told her parents was a lesbian.
Her mom, who has always been very popular with gay audiences, surprisingly to many, took the news very poorly. But Cher ultimately appeared on the cover of a gay and lesbian magazine called "The Advocate," declaring she was the proud mother of a lesbian daughter.
The situation with Sonny Bono was complicated. He became a Republican congressman from California, and, in 1998, died in a skiing accident. His daughter was at his funeral.
FLEEMAN: At the time that Sonny died in the ski accident, Chaz, then Chastity, was estranged from him. Their differences were political, not personal. It was because of Sonny's stance on certain gay issues.
But, ironically, Sonny seemed to be much more comfortable with Chastity when she came out, seemed to, on a personal level, be able to be much more accepting of it than Cher was.
TUCHMAN: Over the years she sang and wrote music for a rock band called Ceremony. She has also written two books. And then, in 2009, she began the process of gender transition.
FLEEMAN: Chaz has given very little specific information about the actual procedure. We know that he's had a mastectomy. We know that he's been taking the proper hormones, know that he had a hysterectomy for unrelated reasons in the past, know that he's living completely as a man, know that he started shaving for the first time.
TUCHMAN: Chaz Bono says he now feels happiness and a sense of peace, his life evolving over the years far more dramatically than most.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: So it's been just over a year since Chaz Bono began his gender transformation. Last night on CNN's "AC 360," he reflected on this major change in his life and the struggles he experienced before the transformation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAZ BONO, UNDERWENT GENDER TRANSFORMATION: Try to imagine if you woke up tomorrow feeling exactly like you do, but your body was female. How would that feel to you? And that's, you know, basically how I felt, you know, from the time of puberty on.
I lived a lot of my life in my head. I wasn't very connected to my body. I didn't take great care of my body. And I was never happy when I looked in the mirror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So, Bono says his family has been supportive of his decision to change genders.
Another emotional story about switching genders airs this weekend on CNN. "HER NAME WAS STEVEN" tells the story of a successful public official in Florida who struggled with a private secret about his identity. Catch it Saturday and Sunday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
What a difference a year makes. In two minutes, we'll tell you how much better off Americans were last year than the year before. It could be a key sign for economic recovery.
Plus, talk about the sex tape today or go to jail. Time is ticking for John Edwards' former aide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: If you want a sure sign the recovery is on track, listen to this. Americans have more money now than we did during the depths of the recession. Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on this.
Or maybe you're not at the Exchange, maybe you're just in New York.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I am in New York, that part is true, Fred. And you're right, we've made quite a turnaround in just one year. In 2009, the total net worth of Americans jumped by nearly $3 trillion, and that compares to 2008 when our net worth declined by $11 trillion. The Federal Reserve report counts the value of assets like your home, checking accounts and investments minus debts like mortgage and credit cards.
And here's all the things that were going on in the fourth quarter last year. Home values held steady. Our stock portfolios jumped, and that was the biggest bulk of it. Remember we had that big run-up on Wall Street last year, so that helped. We also cut our debt. But one caveat here, our debt fell largely because so many people defaulted on their mortgages and other loans, not because folks were paying down credit card bills. For a lot of people, it was a really impossible situation, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Oh, I see. So is our net worth back to where it was before the recession began?
ELAM: Yes, Like I like to say, dreams are free. No, we're not there yet but we are moving in the right direction.
We're not nearly back to those levels. Before the recession, net worth totaled $65 trillion. Then we hit rock bottom at less than $50 trillion, but we ended 2009 at $54 trillion net worth. One analyst says we could regain all our losses by 2012 if the recovery stays on track, but that's a bet not a lot of people are willing to make.
On Wall Street, however, stocks are holding steady today. Pretty much like they have been doing all week long. We saw such a big run- up last year, but this week, it's been about the flat-line dance. The Dow up 9 points, 10,621 there. NASDAQ off 4 points at 2,363. So, again, not a lot of movement this week. It's been pretty blase down on Wall Street.
WHITFIELD: OK. We'll just be happy with that.
ELAM: All right.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Stephanie.
A look at our Top Stories right now.
A judge could approve a $657 million settlement today for 9/11 rescue and recovery workers. The money would go to more than 10,000 first responders who got sick from dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.
And the wife of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in serious condition this morning following a traffic accident. The 69-year-old, Landra Reid, broke her neck, back and nose when her car was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer outside Washington. Reid's daughter was also injured in the accident, but was released from the hospital last night. The truck driver was charged with reckless driving.
And breaking the gridiron ceiling. Twenty-nine-year-old Natalie Randolph will be named head football coach at Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C., today. It's believed that she'll be the only woman coaching boys varsity high school football in the U.S. Randolph is a former wide receiver for a women's pro football team, and she was an assistant football coach at another D.C. high school. Congrats to her.
A former aide to John Edwards could be handed -- headed, rather, to jail today. A judge has given Andrew Young until 2:00 today to tell the whole truth about a sex tape supposedly showing Edwards and his mistress, Rielle Hunter. She's suing Hunter for invasion of privacy.
Joining me now to talk more about this case is our friend and civil rights attorney, Avery Freeman. Good to see you.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: I should say that she is actually doing the suing because she says that's her property, she wants that tape back. Meantime, Andy Young apparently had already returned the tape or a tape or something to court.
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: How is it there are more versions now?
FRIEDMAN: Yes. It's a very bizarre story, Fredricka, because Andy Young has already represented that he held the tape in a safety deposit box in Atlanta. Well, the fact is that there were more tapes, there were more photographs and there were more people who saw the tape. And --
WHITFIELD: How do we know this? The judge apparently got wind of this?
FRIEDMAN: More than he got wind of it. You know what he got? He got sworn affidavits from individuals who saw the tape, who saw various copies of the tape.
I must tell you that the judge, Abraham Jones (ph) has been very patient. About 72 hours ago, he told the Youngs, look it, you're going to jail. All I want is the truth. Tell me where the tapes are, tell me who saw the tapes, and tell me when the tapes were shown, and you don't have to go to jail. So, the countdown is in about three- and-a-half hours before Judge Jones. Let's see what the Youngs are going to do here.
WHITFIELD: So, if the Youngs bring a tape today, how does the judge know whether that's it or whether there are more?
FRIEDMAN: Well, he doesn't. And what the judge is going to be looking to is Rielle Hunter's lawyers, who will be cross examining both Andrew Young and his wife, Sherrie, on what -- where the tapes are, who saw them.
And I think what you're going to see this afternoon is additional evidence by the Hunter lawyers that the Youngs have not been honest. So it's really up to the young Youngs, if you will, to be straight with Judge Jones on where the tapes are, who saw them and when they saw them.
WHITFIELD: Meantime, this has nothing to do with the argument that Young was trying to make that we actually found this tape so, therefore, it's our property versus Rielle Hunter who says, you know, I'm the owner of that tape, I left it behind, so it's my property.
FRIEDMAN: yes, yes. That argument was made a long time ago and judge jones rejected it. The fact is that the sex tape between John Edwards and Rielle Hunter was in the trash. Andy young went scourging thorough the trash, got the tape, reproduced it. So, those issues are over. The only thing left in this invasion of privacy case is will the Youngs be honest. We'll know the answer to that this afternoon.
WHITFIELD: A-ha. Avery Friedman, thanks so much. Again, we'll see you tomorrow -
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: -- and I'm sure there's a part two on this case we'll be discussing. All right, Avery. Thanks so much.
FRIEDMAN: We'll see you soon.
WHITFIELD: A fat paycheck can motivate anyone, right? But one musher in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race says they don't do it for the money at all. In fact, he actually gave back 50 G's. We'll tell you why in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Can you imagine giving away a $50,000 paycheck? That's what one Iditarod musher did. The sled dog race is underway in Alaska, but the race took a major hit from sponsors this year. And that motivated one veteran musher to give back his first winner's check. Here's CNN's Tracy Sabo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Scott White is on his way.
KRISTY BERINGTON, IDITAROD ROOKIE MUSHER: This is so much fun. You get that adrenaline pumping when you're going down crazy parts of the trail, and you look back and think I can't believe I just did that.
SEBASTIAN SCHNUELLE, IDITAROD MUSHER: I'm really looking forward to getting out with the dogs. Ten days. Nothing but eat, sleep and feed dogs.
JEFF KING, IDITAROD MUSHER: Until you've ridden a dog team that you've trained and (INAUDIBLE) feel their energy and hear the panting of their tongues, the jingle of their collars, you feel the surge of power that comes through the handlebar, I don't think you can fully appreciate what it's really like.
TRACY SABO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Here in the state of Alaska, dog mushing is the official state sport and there is no bigger race than the Iditarod. It takes mushers 1,049 miles across some of the most extreme terrain and conditions on the planet. From here in Anchorage to Nome, Alaska on the Bering Sea coast.
But due to a tough economy this year, organizers were left $1 million short, and that put veteran musher Jeff King in an unusual position to help. KING: After 31 years of mushing sled dogs and winning races, I chose this year to pay back the $50,000. That was the first winner's check that I received from the Iditarod in 1993 as a token thank you of providing this event for me to excel in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow, a big heart for a race that he loves.
Our Rob Marciano is in the Weather Center. Would you do that, would you give back a big ol' winner's sum?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Fifty grand, God bless him. Did you listen to him wax poetically about mushing?
WHITFIELD: I love it.
MARCIANO: I mean, the guy has a passion for it.
WHITFIEDL: You have to be to do a thousand miles.
MARCIANO: You better believe it. You better like dogs for sure. Treat them right because they're not going to treat you right if you don't, for sure.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Yuck. All right. Thanks for the warning.
MARCIANO: Mush. See you.
WHITFIELD: OK, Rob, before you go, take a look at this. It's an explosion of blooms, yes, from Bakersfield, California. Isn't that lovely? What a nice contrast from the rain. The northeast will be getting extra amounts of rain, by the way out there. It actually caused the early appearance of wildflowers in the Wind Wolves Preserve. The area is a popular stop for tourists and educational groups who now can get an early start to their photo albums.
So, there you go. So, just think about what the rain showers will bring, those beautiful flowers. And oh, by the way, you know what? Remember to set your clock forward this weekend, right? Spring forward.
MARCIANO: I think I was supposed to mention that. That's Saturday night into Sunday, you lose an hour.
WHITFIELD: You and I. Now you know. I'm thinking what you're thinking.
MARCIANO: Check the batteries in your fire alarms and all that kind of stuff. Don't be late for church, Fred.
WHITFIELD: I will not be late. Thank you, Rob.
Here's a question for the executive editor of "The National Enquirer." How's the view?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": You printed something totally, totally untrue. You never called me.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Nobody called me to ask me Jack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. Go ahead, ladies. Tell us what you really think about the tabloid. Inquiring minds want to know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: So, how do you live to be 100? Preston Koger of Seattle says eat two good steak a day, for breakfast and dinner. And oh yes, there's this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (singing)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, yeah. Well, it helps to appreciate good belly dancing as well. They helped him celebrate Koger the big 100. He ought to be a good judge of their skills. He used to be a stage performer. He was born the same year Mark Twain died and Mother Teresa was born. Happy birthday.
Taking the tabloids to task. Well, one tabloid that is, "The National Enquirer." The executive editor maybe should have stayed home instead of walking into "The View." CNN's Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barbara Walters was dishing it out, and the main course was --
BARBARA WALTERS, HOST, "THE VIEW": This is just baloney.
MOOS: With the side helping of.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: They're crap.
MOOS: It comes just when the National Enquirer is finally getting respect accepted into the Pulitzer Prize competition for its coverage of the John Edwards' affair. Edwards had to eat his words of denial.
JOHN EDWARDS, FORMER SENATOR, NORTH CAROLINA: Tabloid trash is full of lies.
I made a very serious mistake. MOOS: But it wasn't the John Edwards copy Barbara was reading to the Enquirer's editor.
WALTERS: After 3 months of dating, Barbara has moved to Frank Langella who is an actor who is a friend of mine, a friend of Whoopi's into her New York apartment, and friends say a summer wedding is in the works. I looked all over my house. I can't find him.
MOOS (on-camera): He may be the executive editor of the National Enquirer, but Barbara Walters was the one doing all the inquiring.
WALTERS: Barbara and Frank moved in together in January, and he popped the question soon after. Barbara has secured Whoopi's blessing.
MOOS: The Enquirer reported Whoopi used to Langella, see here playing Count Dracula.
The blood being spilled here was the editor sparing the bean (ph).
(CROSSTALK)
WALTERS: You never called me.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, ENTERTAINER: Nobody called me to ask me jack.
UNKNOWN MALE: All I can say, Barbara, is that we trust our sources. There are people around you --
(CROSSTALK)
UNKNOWN MALE: Or did you go out on dates with Frank?
WALTERS: I have lots of friends whom I go out with, and so does Whoopi, but doesn't mean that somebody is living in my apartment.
UNKNOWN MALE: We will look into the story again. I promise you.
WALTERS: Oh, baloney!
MOOS: No words of Count Dracula or do the tabloids blood end.
WALTERS: Baloney.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.
WALTERS: Baloney.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So, there!
So, sure it's convenient, especially for typos, but is spell check on your computer killing your own spelling skills? Reading your comments in a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: New meaning to the phrase fear of flying. We're taking a look at the air you breathe in flight. Just how bad is it? A CNN investigation coming up next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Okay. Time for our blog question and some of your answers. We asked you about whether spell check has made you a lazy speller. Here's what some of you had to say.
"I do not think that using spell check makes people lazy spellers. In fact, I've found from a personal standpoint that spell check is sometimes wrong, so I often find myself correcting the things that spell check claims are correct."
And from Henry. "Spelling has indeed become very bad among us Americans. The computer is certainly one but not the only cause. The lapse of teaching Latin in American schools has resulted in a void in understanding in understanding the etymology of English."
Jeff says, "I do see a trend occurring with what I have deemed the point-and-click generation. The spell check generation fits, but I prefer the point-and-click generation because Internet browsers will correct your spelling as you type and fill in the blanks for you. All you have to do is click."
So remember, we want to hear from you. Log on to CNN.com/newsroom. Share your comments. We'll get some of them on the air just as we have done.
All right. Tony Harris is up next of the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Have a great weekend. Tony.
