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Syrian President Blames Enemies; Contaminated IVs Suspected in Nine Hospital Deaths; Rebels Lose Ground in Libya; New Concerns About Spread of Radiation in Japan; Bullet Hole Found on Boeing 737; Tea Party Losing Support; Possible Criminal Charges in BP Spill; Victim's Parents Sue Facebook

Aired March 30, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is 9:00 on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. in the West. I'm Carol Costello in for Kyra Phillips.

Nine hospital patients are dead after the nutrition meant to keep them alive is found to be contaminated. More on IV breakout -- outbreak, I should say, in seven minutes.

A big spike in radiation in the waters off the Fukushima nuclear plant. More than 3,000 times the normal level. In the meantime, mystery smoke pours from another new plant just down the road.

And the first photo from the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury. It's part of the planet nobody has ever seen. NASA releases a bunch more later today.

But we do begin this hour in Syria. The latest Arab nation to convulse with protests and violence. The government has resigned and new concerns hang over a country that the United States has long accused of terrorism.

This morning Syria's embattled president said his country is being targeted by foreign enemies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIA (Through Translator): We always wanted to protect ourselves such as -- and to protect ourself from conspiracies coming from outside and I -- you know that we are now a target of the conspiracy -- worldwide conspiracy and this is the events on what is happening in the Arab world.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sounds just like Hosni Mubarak, doesn't he?

Zain Verjee live in London with a closer look.

So, Zain, President Assad did mention reform and how the government needs to do more, but when he threw in that worldwide conspiracy thing, that was disturbing.

Is this what the United States was hoping he'd say? ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: No. It's not what the U.S. was hoping he'd say. It's not what the Syrian people were hoping he'd say, or the rest of the Middle East that was looking toward the speech as really a significant benchmark to which direction Syria would go.

Carol, this is a defiance speech. There were no major concessions, no agreement to do any kind of significant restructuring. The message here was loud and clear. This is about survival of the regime of Bashar al-Assad and it was clear, too, that he wanted to stay and fight the emergency law that everyone fought.

Well, maybe he's actually going to lift it. Did not happen. So that means the regime is able to use a very serious and dangerous tool where they can just detain people at their own whims and keep people in check that way.

I spoke to one analyst who said if you're anyone who's in Damascus today and you heard that speech you'd probably think twice before getting out on the streets to demonstrate because the security services have a history, a brutal one, of cracking down really hard. The Syrians know the reality on the ground and that there can be really dire consequences.

COSTELLO: It sounds so much like what happened in Egypt. It's eerie. Just how worried should the United States be about Syria, though?

VERJEE: You know, for the U.S., this is really important. Syria is in the middle of the Middle East so that means anything that happens in Syria is going to have a significant and important impact on the rest of the region.

The U.S. cares about that because it has very crucial security interests, as well as energy, oil interests. Syria is also a big buddy of Iran and if the Syrian regime were to go down, it would affect their best friend Iran. So the U.S. would probably be OK with that.

The other important thing to note is that Syria sponsors Hezbollah and the United States has designated Hezbollah a terrorist group and Syria a state-sponsor of terrorism. So these are really important developments happening right now and what happens in Syria is really going to affect things.

Bashar al-Assad in this speech that we were watching made it pretty clear without saying it that he is no Ben Ali of Tunisia, he's no Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. He's going to stay and fight. Many analysts say that Syria isn't even Libya. It's even tougher, even harder to crack.

COSTELLO: Fascinating and scary. And of course, you'll be keeping a close eye on -- you'll be keeping a close eye on it for us.

Zain Verjee, live in London, many thanks.

Nine patients dead and 10 others infected with a -- with bacteria at several Alabama hospitals. Health officials think their IVs might be to blame.

Elizabeth Cohen is here to sort of tell us what happened.

This is really frightening that this could happen in a hospital.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is really frightening and I'm glad to say this hardly ever happens but when it does happen it is devastating, because what happened was is that they checked these bags after people died. They said what's going on here. And they all were given IVs with bags from the same company and they found that there was a bacteria inside called Serratia marcescens.

And, Carol, you know how in your bathroom between the grout, you think it can get kind of grimy and gross? That's the bacteria.

COSTELLO: So how would that bacteria get into these IV bags?

COHEN: That is the million dollar question. How does that happen? It's supposed to be sterile. And they don't know. Was a worker not washing his hands? Were the raw ingredients for this liquid contaminated? Was the equipment it was processed on contaminated in some way?

Nobody knows and that's what they need to find out.

COSTELLO: So this contaminated liquid was being pumped into the veins of nine patients or more.

COHEN: Nineteen.

COSTELLO: Nineteen patients.

COHEN: Right.

COSTELLO: So at what point did hospital officials realize that something was wrong, that these patients were failing?

COHEN: Well, they usually see, we're told by the state of Alabama, like -- let's say, maybe one case of this happening with this particular bacteria. So when they started to see more than one, they say, wait a minute, something is going on.

And that it took them a little while but they did figure it out. It's not going to happen anymore. I mean they figured out what's causing it, they put a stop to it --

COSTELLO: But nine people are already dead.

COHEN: But nine people already dead. I mean --

COSTELLO: And some -- some are in critical condition.

COHEN: Right. Those 10 are not doing terribly well, we're told.

COSTELLO: It's just awful. So I guess I should ask this. Like, I mean, there's no way you can really prevent such a thing from happening.

COHEN: You and I talk about all the time the ways you think you can be an empowered patient. And I am here to say that you can't in this situation. If someone puts an IV into your arm and bacteria is coursing through your veins, there is nothing you can do.

COSTELLO: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Turning to the crisis in Libya and what could be the hint of a dramatic shift in strategy. For the first time the White House is saying it could provide weapons to the rebel fighters.

Here is what President Obama had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not ruling it out but I'm also not ruling it in. We're still making an assessment, partly about what Gadhafi's forces are going to be doing.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Talk of arming the rebels comes as Gadhafi's troops are pushing back the opposition and wrestling towns from their control.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Tripoli with the latest.

But, Nic, I really want to get into this disarming the rebels thing. What weapons do the rebels have now and what weapons would they want?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've seen them with Katyusha rockets which are fairly long-range weapon that can fire multiple rockets, perhaps 15 miles or so, which will explode and damage -- bring down the wall of a house, that sort of thing.

That's perhaps the heaviest weapon. We have seen them with some tanks as well which will do a similar job but perhaps be slightly more destructive.

But what the -- what the rebels seem to lack, their principal sort of military asset that is missing beyond the numbers and beyond not having enough of these sort of heavier weapons is their ability to use them while in the field in numbers. Numbers of rebels who they can sort of put into the fight in a coordinated way.

So what they would need is more heavier weapons, more advanced weapons technology so that they could essentially see where they are firing, perhaps they could get that information from coalition forces to know what they were targeting, you know, 15 miles further up the road where they were firing these weapon systems. But -- in real-time.

But the analysis that most people seem to accept on the ground here is that even if you arm the rebels, it's going to take a long time to train them into an efficient fighting force. The sort of time you're talking about here could be several years to be on a level-playing field with Gadhafi's forces.

And obviously we know from the coalition meeting in London yesterday that the desire to remove Gadhafi from power is probably on a much shorter timeframe than several years. So -- the military steps to help the rebels can only be a part of the solution it would seem here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So in essence it wouldn't really matter if the coalition armed the rebels or not?

ROBERTSON: It would matter in the long term and this begs perhaps more deeper and more significant questions. Are you -- is the international community prepared to accept and see a divided Libya over an extended period of time with the problems that that may bring. Wider conflict throughout the country. Tribes fighting tribes. Perhaps a space for al Qaeda elements to grow and get stronger or be it much a smaller at the moment but they would take advantage of that kind of situation.

There are no guarantees when you get into -- when you get into war on the ground. Who is going to win, who is going to lose, what are some of the outfolds, the repercussions that you don't know about. People call it the fog of war.

So if you arm the rebels you might be able to hold that front line at the moment for a while before they would be ready to push Gadhafi's forces back which would take -- but what happens in that intervening period and these are the questions that are very likely going through the minds of President Obama and other leading politicians around the world.

What are you setting the stage for? Because even if you arm the rebels it's not going to give you that immediate victory that you're looking for.

COSTELLO: Plus the fact that we don't exactly know who the rebels are.

Nic Robertson reporting live from Tripoli, thank you very much.

Also this morning we're keeping a close eye on Capitol Hill. Top administration officials will go behind closed doors to give lawmakers a classified briefing on the crisis in Libya.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sure to face tough questions along with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Libya is also providing the backdrop for President Obama and a speech he's due to give later this morning. That speech will focus on the issue of America's energy security and it comes amid two major stories that could shape energy policy.

The first, the instability in the Arab world and the concerns that are pushing up oil and gas prices. The other, the deepening crisis in Japan and renewed concerns about nuclear power as an alternative energy source.

We'll have live coverage of President Obama's speech at Georgetown University. That's scheduled in a couple of hours at 11:20 Eastern, 8:20 Pacific.

Also next hour, we'll you -- we'll bring on Bill Nye, the science guy. We'll ask him what the president needs to tell the nation. We'll also talk about how the White House has a cursed hand when it comes to energy policy from offshore oil drilling to nuclear power to greenhouse gases.

And the workers trying to stave off a full nuclear meltdown at that Japanese plant may not be getting everything they need. Coming up, concerns on how they are sleeping and what they're eating.

And a traffic stop years ago comes back to haunt Ohio's embattled governor who is now locked at the grips of a tough budget battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police officers are used to being called names. I don't think they're used to being called names by the governor of the state within their work.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: This idiot pulled me over.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Yes, he called him an idiot. Ohio's labor unions are using this video to push back against deep budget cuts. That's just ahead, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: While workers struggle to prevent a full meltdown at Japan's nuclear plant, the company's president is out of the picture for now.

Here's what's new on the crisis this morning.

The president of the Tokyo Electric Power Company is in the hospital. An official says the president is being treated for fatigue and stress and he is expected to stay in the hospital for several more days.

There are new concerns about the spread of radiation. Greenpeace says it has detected high radiation in a town 25 miles from the Fukushima plant. A town official says radiation levels are decreasing but Greenpeace says the evacuation zone needs to be expanded.

And another alarming figure. Tests show that radioactive iodine in ocean water near the plant is more than 3,000 times the normal level. That is a new high.

Workers are, of course, trying to keep radioactive water that's in a tunnel from leaking into the ocean, so we want to bring in meteorologist Rob Marciano to talk about these tunnels. Where exactly are they?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, they're not tunnels that are supposed to carry water. That's the main thing. They're pretty much tunnels that you'd have as an infrastructure or substructure, kind of like tunnels that -- under New York City or any other city that have piping, the utilities, electrical wiring, that sort of thing.

So, these are the tunnels that we're speaking about, and they're -- most of them are underneath the turbine building. Now, so these are filled with water, because they've been dumping water in to try to cool out the reactor core, and then you have the radioactive water that's already in there.

So, some of that water, if they can't transport it all out of there, they have a hard time doing that. Some of that, assumingly, has been drifting and pooling into these tunnels.

Now, like all of these kind of substructure type of tunnels, they've got to have some sort of draining in the event that water gets in there, and some of those drainage tubes, you would assume, eventually get out into the ocean.

There's no confirmation of that, but one thing's for sure. When you're talking about 3,000 times, now, the radioactive iodine that's in the ocean, it's not just from stuff that's going out into the atmosphere and then precipitating down or settling down in the ocean. There seemingly has to be some sort of leak with this.

And this is the radioactive iodine that we've talked about, it's I 131, Carol. It has half life of eight days, but it seemingly keeps replenishing it.

In low doses, it can cause cancer. In high doses, it can kill cells so, obviously, this is not something not to be messing with and we have to assume that it's getting into the seafood that's directly around that plant, as well.

COSTELLO: Well, I think we also assume that it's difficult to plug a leak in a tunnel full of radioactive water.

MARCIANO: That's sad for sure.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MARCIANO: Yes.

COSTELLO: Rob Marciano, thanks.

MARCIANO: All right, you bet.

COSTELLO: There's no time for fatigue and no relief from the stress for hundreds of workers inside the Fukushima plant. They're sleeping on lead mats in corridors and in stairwells and getting two rationed meals a day. Crackers and juice for breakfast, canned foods for dinner. There are no showers. Moistened wipes are used for bathing. Japan's chief cabinet secretary says they're working to improve the conditions, which he calls "regrettable." But an American expert says they're inexcusable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FRIEDLANDER, FORMER NUCLEAR PLANT OPERATOR: We are almost three weeks into this, now. They're -- in my view, there's absolutely no excuse. And people need to realize that these workers are the life blood of this recovery effort, and it's a global issue, it's not just an issue for the Japanese people. And in my estimation, the global community needs to stand up and support these guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, you can you see where Mr. Friedlander is coming from, because listen to these e-mails from two of the workers. One writes, "My parents were washed away by the tsunami, and I still don't know where they are." And from another plant employee, "Crying is useless. If we're in Hell now, all we can do is crawl up towards Heaven."

From rust belt to bust belt. A comment by Ohio's governor fueling a war with union workers there. What he called a police officer years ago, and what's being made of it today. That's coming up just ahead.

Plus, we have newly released video of a man on a lawnmower trying to outrun police. Come on, we've got to show you. We'll tell you how this wild chase ended after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Stories making news Cross Country. We start in Florida. Take a look at this, from St. Petersburg, Albert Whitted Airport. A T-28 aircraft is short of the runway. And then, as you can see, it crashes into the water. Both pilot and passenger are A-OK, and mechanical trouble is suspected.

Two weeks after the tsunami that hit the US west coast, the cleanup job in Crescent City, California, picks up with the arrival of this long-awaited crane to help with the piles of debris.

In West Lafayette, Indiana, police released this dashcam video of a man who led them on a short chase while on a lawnmower. Police say they opened fire on him after he made an aggressive move on them with a weapon. Turns out the man on the lawnmower had a pellet gun. A review board cleared both officer' actions.

And an update to a story we told you about yesterday. In Charlotte, North Carolina, FBI agents are investigating a nickel-sized hole that turned up on the fuselage of this Boeing 737. It appears, now, to be a bullet hole. Officials believe it was a random event.

There's a new poll that shows support for the Tea Party slipping away. Maybe it's because of how a couple of Tea Pac -- Tea Party-backed governors are trying to balance their budgets, and the kind of language they are using. Like Ohio's John Kasich, who infamously called a cop an idiot. CNN's Jim Acosta sat down with the governor, who remains defiant in the face of critics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three years ago, before he became governor, John Kasich was stopped by a Columbus police officer for a routine traffic violation.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: I have this idiot pull me over on 315.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Flash-forward to 2011. Just days after being sworn in, Governor Kasich told a group of state employees the officer was an example of how not to deal with taxpayers.

KASICH: He's an idiot!

ACOSTA (voice-over): Even though Kasich later apologized, it was a rocky start for a bold agenda. Balance an $8 billion deficit and a controversial bill to limit the collective bargaining rights for the state's public workers.

ACOSTA (on camera): Do you regret referring to that police officer as an idiot?

KASICH: Oh, yes, of course. I've already said that I do, yes. It's -- it was just -- it was a mistake, period.

ROBERT BARRETT, COLUMBUS POLICE OFFICER: This is exactly what I'm seeing out the hood of my cruiser.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Robert Barrett, the officer who pulled over Kasich, still has the cruiser camera video to prove he was just doing his job.

BARRETT: What bothers me about this he was treated professionally.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But Mike Taylor with Ohio's Fraternal Order of Police wonders whether the governor respects public workers.

MIKE TAYLOR, OHIO FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE: Police officers are used to being called names. I don't think they're used to being called names by the governor of the state within they work.

ACOSTA (on camera): It's gotten personal.

KASICH: Well, but not with me. Not with me. Because first of all, I understand people who are concerned and upset, and I respect them.

ACOSTA (voice-over): A recent poll shows only 30 percent of Ohioans approve of the job he's doing, but this lifelong physical hawk takes comfort in knowing he's in the company of other new Midwestern GOP governors, who are risking their own political skin to balance their budgets.

KASICH: I'm aware of the polls, but my job is to lift Ohio.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Kasich is still fighting for collective bargaining limits, arguing they're crucial to bringing public worker benefits in line with the private sector. KASICH: These are people that don't want any change. I mean, they have a good situation, and they don't want it to change.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The unions accuse the governors of turning the rust belt into the bust belt.

TAYLOR: A lot of lifelong Republican police officers who said that they will never vote for a Republican again, and that's over this issue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Fascinating. Jim Acosta joins us now. And Jim, I know it's likely Ohio's anti-collective bargaining bill will pass. But I sort of wanted to get into this poll and what it means.

ACOSTA: Sure.

COSTELLO: Let's take a look at the poll. Forty-seven percent of all Americans have an unfavorable view of the Tea Party movement, and they don't much like Republicans or Democrats, either. But as far as the Tea Party is concerned --

ACOSTA: Right.

COSTELLO: Why do you think that its unfavorable numbers are rising?

ACOSTA: It's an important question, Carol. And it is interesting to note here that the Tea Party, as you mentioned earlier, did back Governor Kasich in Ohio, did back Scott Walker in Wisconsin. And you have to wonder whether or not there is just a little bit of a Tea Party hangover going on, here.

Independents thought that perhaps President Obama overreached with health care reform in the early months and years of his administration. And now, there may be some feelings among independent voters that perhaps these Republican governors in the Midwest are overreaching. In the name of budget balancing, they're going after collective bargaining rights, and it's not sitting well with voters.

COSTELLO: And just to put this more into perspective. What might this mean, this slippage, for the Tea Party movement and the Republican party, frankly? What might it mean for the federal budget battle that's going to really heat up next week and, of course, the 2012 presidential campaign?

ACOSTA: Carol, I think it depends on what happens in all of these different battles. In Ohio, as you mentioned, it looks like this thing is going to pass. So, Governor Kasich is going to get a victory, and if he can show he can get results in that state, then the voters may change their minds about him.

As for what's happening in Washington, it is almost impossible to predict what's going to happen. Basically, we have a situation where totally gridlock is in effect right now. There is almost no chance that the budget cuts that the Republicans are talking about right now, with the Tea Party right at their backs saying you've got to do this, there's almost no chance of any of that getting past President Obama's desk.

So, we're on the dark side of the moon at this point, Carol, when it comes to all of this stuff. And how these battles play out, I think, will affect the public mood toward the Tea Party as we head into the presidential race next year, and they're going to be a crucial voting block to determine what happens to President Obama.

COSTELLO: I think that our politicians have forgotten what the word "compromise" means --

ACOSTA: I think you're right.

COSTELLO: But you're right, I think we're on the dark side of the moon, and it'll be interesting to see what heats up in Congress next week. Jim Acosta, many thanks, live in Washington.

With his country in crisis mode, Syria's president tries to rally support. Kind of the same playbook some other leaders have used with mixed results. So, what's his deal? Will he survive? Some international insights, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COSTELLO: It is half past the hour, checking our top stories now.

In Alabama, health officials investigating nine hospital patients who died after bacteria got into their blood. Bacteria was found in intravenous bags used to feed them. The exact cause of death, still being investigating.

There are new concerns about the radiation leaking from that crippled nuclear power plant in Japan. Testing of ocean water near the plant shows that radioactive levels of iodine are more than 3,000 times above normal.

In Libya Moammar Gadhafi's troops are pushing rebels out of towns they once held. In the meantime, President Obama says providing arms to the rebels could be an option. He says it has not been ruled out.

In today's speech to his divided country, Syrian President Bashar al Assad promised reform just like other leaders around the region have. Some of those have survived popular uprisings so far and some have not. As for Assad, he vowed his government would not be toppled in a some kind of revolutionary domino effect. He left the speech to cheering crowds. Oh, but then he ran into some trouble. We're hearing that his car was attacked. That happened just a while ago.

CNN's international -- CNNi anchor Hala Gorani is here for some insight into Syria's political unrest and how President Assad is -- it's not a good sign when they attack your car when you come out from a presidential speech. HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It's unclear who that woman was. Some people were saying she was one of the protesters who was able to get near his car. But yes, there is very much heavy and strong opposition inside of Syria to President Assad.

We saw it in those protests over the last two weeks, Carol, in the southern part of the country in Daraa, in the coastal city of Latakia, as well. Today, however, from opposition groups, today, huge disappointment.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, because he said none of the things that people were hoping for. He didn't offer any reforms. He said there was a worldwide conspiracy against his government.

Tell us about his mindset. Tell us President Assad is, what kind of man he is.

GORANI: There was hope when he came into power. He succeeded his father in 2000. His father came into power in 1970. So this family has been ruling Syria for 41 years. Because he is of a different generation, he's 45 years old-and, he was trained as an eye doctor in London, so hope when he came into power things would change, that there would be a new era of reform.

But, there's been a lot of disappointment over the years, because there have been very few economic reforms and politically, dissidents are still in jail, public criticism of the government is not tolerated and we saw how the security forces reacted to some of those protests.

COSTELLO: And I did hear President Assad said, hey, I'm not no Hosni Mubarak. I'm stronger than those leaders who have been pushed from office. This doesn't bode well, does it?

GORANI: But he used some of the same rhetoric. He blamed satellite news channels for inciting some of the unrest. He blamed foreign conspirators for stoking, sort of, the unrest and angering people inside of Syria. And he also said that there was a network of text message -- sort of a network of people sending text messages to incite sectarian strife.

So all of these are things we have heard before from the autocratic leaders who've fallen under the weight of public protests. Whether it will happen with him is, of course, an open question. Syria is a very different country than Egypt.

COSTELLO: Yes, they have a stronger military.

GORANI: Yes. And the government in power, the regime, is (INAUDIBLE) ,they're religious minority. They have a lot more to lose if they fall.

COSTELLO: Hala Gorani, many thanks.

What happened to the Gulf Coast environment and economy was criminal. Now the government is considering criminal charges in the deaths of the Deepwater Horizon crew. Just ahead, we'll look at all the legal angles with Sunny Hostin.

And how would you react if an enormous ray jumped out of the water? We're talking about a 300-pound ray. It jumped out of the water and hit a mother in the chest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was freaked out. Like, how would that happen without something really, really, really bad happening?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I'd freak out, too. Thankfully, nothing did bad happen and that little girl's mother has a great fish story. She will share it with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Jenny Hausch and her family took a boat ride in the Florida Keys, hoping for a relaxing trip on the water, see some dolphins, soak up some rays. This wasn't the kind of ray Jenny expected to hit her body, though. A 300 pound eagle ray jumped into their boat and hit jenny smack in the chest. Both jenny and the ray survived.

Jenny is here with her family.

Thank you for joining us Jenny, and family.

JENNY HAUSCH, HIT BY EAGLE RAY: Thank you for having us.

COSTELLO: Oh, we're excited to hear this story.

So Jenny, you're sitting on the boat and then what happens?

HAUSCH: We're sitting on a boat and we noticed a spotted eagle rays pass, looking around the boat. I decided to get my camera out and snap a few pictures. As I was snapping a picture of the eagle ray in the water, it jumped out and I was able to get the picture of it flying in the air. And then the next jump, the eagle ray jumped straight into our boat, straight at my chest, 300 pounds, knocked me backwards and was flapping around on top of me.

COSTELLO: You're kidding. So it was on top of you and you were underneath this 300-pound sea creature.

Who got it off you?

COSTELLO: You know what? I just basically pushed it off, pushed it off on me and tried to scoot backwards as fast as I could. I think all of us were in survival mode at that point and just doing whatever we could to get away from the ray.

COSTELLO: I don't blame you. I'd be in survival mode, too.

So did you throw the thing overboard? HAUSCH: Well what happened was we had just passed the Florida Fish and Wildlife and waved to them and done a few friendly greetings and it happened probably about a minute after they passed us and they heard the screams coming from the boat and they looked over and I believe they saw it flapping around in the boat and were able to come and take control of the eagle ray for us.

COSTELLO: I know we can laugh about this now, but this actually could have been much more serious.

What did the environmental people tell you about this eagle ray?

HAUSCH: Well, we knew it could be much more serious. We had heard about the lady that had passed away last year from the same incident and that incident, I believe the eagle ray hit her a little bit higher in the neck. So we were very fortunate. If it had been a few inches higher, it could have been a much worse outcome.

And luckily, you know, the barbs did not hit anyone. My one son Jake was hit with the wing and my other son, Ben, slid on the wing and fell to the ground. But they were all very, very brave and eagle ray flew over my daughter. But everybody was able to keep their wits about them and was very brave. And, you know, my husband picked up my daughter right away and made sure she was safe. And we were all able to get to the back of the boat and into -- another nice gentleman who stopped to help us and we were able to climb into his fishing boat and that's when we got the pictures of the Florida fish and wildlife recovery.

COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness. Well, we're that you're all OK and it's great that you had your family around you and you all reacted in a positive way. And, thank you so much for joining us Jenny Hausch and family.

And I'm glad you got a picture of it jumping out of the water. I can't wait to see that. Post it on Facebook.

Thank you very much.

Possible presidential candidate Rick Santorum makes a link between Social Security, the shortfall, and abortion. We'll explain his connection in our political ticker. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Looking at stories making news later today. In just a few minutes the Senate Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing on 10 years after 9/11, a report from the 9/11 commission.

A little after 11:00 Eastern Time this morning, the president speaks at Georgetown University on the nation's future energy needs.

And today, on the 30th anniversary of John Hinckley's attempted assassination of President Reagan, Reagan's former press secretary Jim Brady, who was critically wounded in that attack, lobbies atop Capitol Hill for tougher gun laws. At 7:00 Eastern at the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama hosts a special dinner celebrating Women's History Month.

Something to ponder or not, possible presidential candidate, Rick Santorum says Social Security is in trouble and the root cause is abortion. It's a convoluted argument but CNN senior political editor Mark Preston is here to help us understand, or not -- Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: We'll try to untangle it. Well, you know Carol, Rick Santorum is a one of these politicians who is known for saying what's on his mind and what he believes.

And in fact, yesterday that's exactly what he said during an interview up in New Hampshire. He said this to WEZS Radio. He was asked about Social Security and this is what he had to say.

He said the abortion culture in America is to blame for the failing Social Security system. He also said that Social Security has its flaws but to go back to the idea that abortion is at the root of the problem, he said a third of all young people in America are not in America today because of abortion. He went on to say, "I want children to be living in America and contributing. America's greatest resource is our people and we're denying America what it needs which is more Americans." He went on to say that he has seven children and they are doing their part to fund the Social Security system -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ok, so -- so because -- if we had more people paying into Social Security that might make Social Security more viable? Is that the idea?

(CROSS TALK)

PRESTON: Yes, well, I -- well, the idea is with all of these abortions, he is saying that we don't have workers that can pay into the system that will help keep it propped up. That was the argument he was making yesterday.

COSTELLO: Ok let's move on.

There are many unscripted moments in Washington and Senator Chuck Schumer had one yesterday that he probably wishes never happened so tell us about it.

PRESTON: Sure, he did, Carol.

You know, look. The bottom line is whatever is said here in Washington is always scripted, it's always thought out. And this is a perfect window into Washington for all of our viewers to know how things are done.

Yesterday, Chuck Schumer is leading a telephone call and several Democratic senators were joining him. And what they were going to do is to tell the media about how bad the Republican budget cuts were going to be.

Here is the rub. He started giving the talking points to his fellow Democratic colleagues at the same time the reporters were on the telephone call. Some of the things he suggested Democratic say and really reiterate is that the budget cuts were extreme. He also said that they should emphasize that the Tea Party is really having too much influence over the Republican Party when it comes to the budget cuts.

Well, our CNN colleagues who cover Capitol Hill caught up with Chuck Schumer afterwards and they said, Senator, what do you think, why did you say those things and are you worried about it and he just shrugged it off. And guess what he did, Carol?

COSTELLO: What?

PRESTON: He said the Republican budget cuts are extreme. He went right back to it.

COSTELLO: The Tea Party is to blame.

PRESTON: And the Tea Party is to blame.

COSTELLO: Right. Mark Preston, many thanks. Live in Washington.

We'll have your next political update in an hour. And a reminder: for all the latest political news go to our Web site, CNN/politics.com.

Beaten, strangled and murdered; this is how her family wants to remember her. But a crime scene photo posted on Facebook just will not let them. So they are taking Facebook to court. We're talking about the case with a legal expert next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: For months and months last year, the BP oil disaster was in the headlines and on our minds. Far less time unfortunately was devoted to the 11 men who died when the Deep Water Horizon rig blew up.

Well now, the Justice Department is considering manslaughter charges in those deaths. To help us break this down we're joined by Sunny Hostin from "In Session" on our sister station, TruTV. Welcome.

SUNNY HOSTIN, "IN SESSION": Good morning.

COSTELLO: So -- so, what -- what does the Justice Department have to work out before it decides to file manslaughter charges against some people who worked for BP in the deaths of these workers?

HOSTIN: Well, the investigation certainly, Carol, is ongoing. And they have to look at individual responsibility. You know, you can't really put an organization in jail, right? You -- you can't put the actual organization in jail. But you can put individuals in jail.

And I think there is precedent for this. Because remember 20 years ago with the Exxon Valdez spill, certainly the government brought criminal charges. And our President has indicated that this is the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. And so I don't think that it's going to be any surprise to most legal experts that the government will be looking at individual responsibility and they will be looking for federal manslaughter charges.

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: So just to get -- just to make this clear, some supervisors that maybe told the workers to do certain things that put them in danger might be charged with manslaughter? Could this also extend all the way up to Tony Hayward, who we all remember as the face of this disaster?

HOSTIN: I think, absolutely. Again, the investigation is ongoing. But they will be looking for people that made these decisions, people that made these decisions negligently. We've got to remember 11 people lost their lives. And the government is going to be looking at that.

We did hear Tony Hayward testify in front of Congress. And so they're going to be looking I'm sure very closely at his testimony. Not only for those manslaughter charges to determine whether or not he made the negligent decisions but also whether or not he perjured himself. Remember, lying to Congress or federal authority could put you in jail for five years. Just for the perjury charge alone.

So I'm sure they're going to be looking at that. But absolutely, they are not going want to hold the low-level employees responsible. They're going to want to hold the people that made the majority of the decisions all the way up the corporate ladder.

No question about it Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. I want to switch gears now and quickly talk about this. A family is suing Facebook over photos of their murdered daughter's body. Those photos were posted on Facebook and they're still there. So -- so what action can they take against Facebook?

HOSTIN: Well, you know, they have sued Facebook. Not for money, not for civil liability, but for injunctive relief. They want Facebook to give them the picture of their daughter back. But they also want Facebook, Carol, to give them the information for all those people that were on the social network looking at the photo.

I think that's pretty far-reaching. Should Facebook give them the sort of the master photo? Absolutely, I think they will do. Will a judge force them to give up all those browsers? I don't really think so.

COSTELLO: Sunny Hostin, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

HOSTIN: Thanks.

COSTELLO: We're following a lot of developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Nine dead in Alabama after being given contaminated IV bags in the hospital. I'll have more of that -- about that at the top of the hour.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry at the White House. The President still trying to calibrate his message on Libya. Now, he's leaving the door open to the U.S. helping to arm the rebels. I'll have details at the top of the hour.

ROM MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. We're going to talk about space and Mercury. That planet closest to the sun, we've got an orbiter around it with new pictures. We'll show them to you in the next hour -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh they're fantastic. Thanks everyone.

President Obama is speaking about energy later this morning. Next hour at 10:35 Eastern, we will bring on Bill Nye the Science Guy. We're going to ask him whether the White House has a cursed hand when it comes to energy policies.

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COSTELLO: That music always makes me want to dance.

Revenge is feeling very sweet right now for some bitter sports fans. Jeff Fischel from HLN sports is here. The city of Cleveland savoring its win against him.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: Him -- the name not to be uttered.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

FISCHEL: LeBron -- of course, he skipped town after last season. The free agent decided I'm going to Miami. I've a better shot at a world championship. The Heat have not been as great as you might think. But man, when he returned to Cleveland last night, the fans let him have it.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At forward, 6'8" from St. Vincent St. Mary High School, number 6, LeBron James.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISCHEL: Where is LeBron? He skipped the intro, a total no show.

(CROSSTALK)

FISCHEL: He said afterwards, he was in the bathroom.

COSTELLO: Oh, come on. FISCHEL: Yes. Right.

The fans are so bitter. The hometown kid has left town. They booed him constantly. You know the famous quote, hell hath no fury like a basketball fan scorned. It was true in the 17th century, it's still true today.

The fans had plenty to cheer though because the Cavs, the worst team in the league, beat LeBron's Heat 102-90. So yes, they are brimming with happiness in Cleveland this morning.

A great win for a team that's been struggling.

To the NHL, Kings and Oilers. Kings' Alex Martinez, the shot; Oilers' goalie Nikolai Khabibulin covers up. Where is the puck? He is not sure. Nothing up my sleeve. Somewhere? Anywhere? Somebody help me. Finally, the puck drops to the ice. Khabibulin and the Oilers ran out of magic. The Kings did win 2-0.

Baseball's opening day is tomorrow but you wouldn't know it by the looks of this white wedding at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Two Cardinals fans thought it would be a great idea to get married at the stadium.

One problem a big snowstorm this past weekend. I have to say I'm very impressed with the bridesmaids -- look at them toughing it out. Hopefully that was a the fastest wedding ceremony ever.

Costello: I know.

FISCHEL: Ok. The contest: dribble as long as you can. Just two guys were left. They'd been doing it for almost two days. Watch the guy on the right, he's grabbing for a banana. You need your sustenance. Oh, and the ball drops. The winner after 44 hours of bouncing, he gets the grand prize -- a road trip for two with the Phoenix Suns. He's taking his son.

Believe it or not, though, 44 hours did not set the world record. He was going to have to go for another 12 hours to set the world record. He didn't have it in him.

COSTELLO: Well, I was going to say, that's all he gets for 44 hours of dribbling?

FISCHEL: Again, don't question fan's fanaticism.

COSTELLO: OK.

FISCHEL: It's where the word fan comes from, right? Fanatic.

COSTELLO: Wise words, Jeff.

FISCHEL: I'm here for you.

COSTELLO: Thank you.