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Once More on the Retreat; Four-Year-Old Girl Back in the U.S.

Aired March 30, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Like our show's morning editorial meeting. Hmm, imagine that. Take a listen.

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KAYE: So funny. They seem to be talking about a missing sock or something, but we're sure they've gotten it squared away once this conversation ends.

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KAYE: Attack, retreat, repeat -- maybe not an ideal strategy, but for nuclear experts in Japan and self-styled freedom fighters in Libya, it is the only strategy they have.

We begin this hour with what the Libyan rebels are calling a tactical withdrawal. Their back-and-forth sweep along the eastern Libyan coastline is once more moving back, under fire from territory held by the only Libyan ruler most have ever known, Moammar Gadhafi.

Here's the map we showed you just 48 hours ago, a rapid push from the unofficial rebel capital of Benghazi. You can see it there on the map to the outskirts of Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. Well, now, take a look at this -- here's the landscape today. Regime forces once more on the offensive, driving the rebels back near or even past the town of al Brega.

In a news conference a short time ago in Benghazi, an opposition spokesman said his side needs more than airstrikes from the U.S. and its partners. He asked for tanks, artillery, communications equipment, and, yes, training. None of which is forthcoming, at least for now.

I want to get straight to CNN's Nic Robertson who's part of the foreign news in the Libyan capital.

Nic, I wonder if you can gauge the momentum from where you are of the fighting by what officials say and do there in Tripoli.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's very hard to gauge, but what we can tell is that Gadhafi seems to be on the offensive. I mean, number one, we see it in the east -- the rebels forced into what they call a tactical retreat. This is after they had sweeping gains last week, earlier in the week. And Misrata, we see the government is attacking there. Misrata, reports them attacking in Zentan as well, southwest of Tripoli. So, that's perhaps the best way to gauge it from here.

Despite the fact that there are coalition strikes on Gadhafi's forces, it doesn't seem to be denting his desire to fight back at this time -- Randi.

KAYE: We know that the government minders have been running you around town a bit to try to show you the casualties and some of the damage. Have you been on any of these tours recently?

ROBERTSON: We have. Government officials took us to a hospital here in Tripoli, actually not far from where we are right now, to see a civilian casualty. This was a woman they said was injured yesterday -- injured the day before yesterday in a strike in a town about two to three hours drive from here. We know because other reporters went to this town yesterday that a weapons and ammunitions store there was targeted by the coalition airstrike.

The ammunition dump then exploded and that's what this woman described to us. She said there was an initial explosion. She ran outside her house to se what had happened. Somebody told her to go back in. It was in the middle of the night. And then when the other weapons started exploding in the ammunitions store, and then a missile hit her house and that's how she was injured.

In all of this time, the government has told us there's been many, many, many civilian casualties. What we've seen now so far appears to be just one person. This lady is 44 years old. She was pregnant -- is pregnant, and it broke her leg, which has been reset by the hospital.

So, a nasty injury for this lady, apparently as a result of collateral damage from living closely to ammunition dump after a coalition strike, Randi.

KAYE: And, Nic, I really want to ask you about this. Human Rights Watch now says Gadhafi forces have buried landmines around Ajdabiya. Have government officials responded to that report? Are they saying anything about it?

ROBERTSON: You know, the interesting thing, in the past few days, particularly as the rebels sort of made their advances in the east, we've had very few press conferences with government officials and very few official comments. And we haven't heard anything about the land mines yet. The government really hasn't talked a lot and doesn't say very much on state television about how the battlefield is changing, the losses, the rebels, the gains against the rebels again.

So, we don't -- the press conferences they hold tend to be on sort of extraneous subjects and not on this core issue that everyone would like to know about, the battlefield and the tactics apparently now land mines that they may be using -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes. And even if they did talk about it, Nic, I know you have your doubts whether you'd really be getting the real story anyway. So, but we did have to ask.

All right. Nic Robertson for us in Libya -- thank you, Nic.

In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad is blaming conspirators for the uprising in his country and is refusing to give in to protestors. Al Assad addressed the nation from Damascus today. He never mentioned lifting a state of emergency as many hoped he would. Instead, he acknowledged his government failed to meet the needs of Syrians but made no concrete promises of reform. His defiant speech comes a day after his cabinet resigned.

Moments after the speech, violent clashes between government security forces and protesters erupted in cities across Syria, including in Daraa. At least one person was killed in the violence. Protestors say they are angry and call al Assad a, quote, "liar."

Now to Japan where the radiation levels in the seawater outside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have hit a new high, more than 3,000 times over the legal limit. It appears some of the water being pumped and sprayed on the damaged reactors to try to keep them cool may be running into the ocean.

Back on land, the International Atomic Energy Agency reports high radiation levels 25 miles from the plant outside Japan's evacuation zone. The U.S. and other countries set a much wider zone for their people.

And while it may be obvious, today, it is actually official. Four of the six Daiichi reactors are beyond repair. There they are right there, never to be used again. That's the word from Tokyo Electric Power Company whose president is now said to be hospitalized with stress and fatigue.

He's far from the only TEPCO worker, though, who is suffering. This week we've gotten our glimpse into the day-to-day existence of plant employees and others who are risking their lives to save their countrymen. An inspector told of sleeping on lead-lined mats on hallways, conference rooms, even stairwells, and eating two meals a day -- crackers for breakfast, canned food for dinner, and no showers.

One worker sent this e-mail, and I quote, "Crying is useless. If we're in hell now, all we can do is crawl up toward heaven."

Health officials in Alabama are still investigating whether I.V.s tainted with bacteria are to blame for killing a number of patients, nine hospital patients died after receiving those contaminated I.V.s. Ten other patients got the I.V. and are reportedly not doing well. A Birmingham company sold the bad I.V. bags to six hospitals. The I.V.s have now been recalled.

Remember the killer whale involved in the death of its trainer at SeaWorld Orlando? Well, that whale is now back in the park's big show. Last year, the 12,000-pound killer whale, Tilikum is the name, he pulled senior trainer Dawn Brancheau under the water by her pony tail. The autopsy shows that she died of drowning and traumatic injuries to her body.

This is actually new video now from today of the killer whale in the show. SeaWorld was fined $75,000 for three safety violations when this all happened. According to our affiliate WESH, SeaWorld has made safety upgrades since incident.

Park officials say they feel it's important for the killer whale's physical, social and even his mental enrichment for him to participate in the show and get some activity with the trainers.

Well, we want to know what you think about this. Should the killer whale be back in the show at SeaWorld? Join the conversation on our blog, CNN.com/Ali. I'm sure you have plenty to say about this. You can also post on Ali's Facebook and Twitter pages. And my Facebook and Twitter page as well.

So, share your thoughts, share your comments, and we will read them later in the show.

Back in the arms of her parents. A little girl caught in the middle of an immigration dispute returns home. I'll talk with the family's attorney who was there for today's reunion. That story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: So, we've been talking about the story about the killer whale at SeaWorld. And we asked you for your comments and we definitely got an earful and an e-mail inbox full.

Christine says, "They need to release these animals to their natural habitat, end of story."

RaDonna says, "Obviously, these wonderful creatures would die if put back into the wild. What about better habitats or sanctuaries?"

Yusuf says, "The whale has killed someone. It already had behavior issues, it should be retired by law. Any other animal would have been removed from public service."

And this from Duane, "Personally, I don't really have an opinion. If you want to go to the show, go. If you don't like the situation, don't go."

All right. Thank you, Duane.

Join the conversation on our blog, CNN.com/Ali. The conversation continues. You can also post on Ali's Facebook and Twitter pages. And on mine as well, Facebook and Twitter. There it is for you right there. We'll share your comments, of course, as we continue to get them.

A 4-year-old girl caught up in the middle of an immigration dispute is back in the U.S. Emily Ruiz was reunited with her family this morning after arriving from Guatemala. She was deported there a few weeks ago even though she's an American citizen because customs officials won't allow her grandfather to enter the U.S. The family's attorney, David Sperling, captured these emotional reunion pictures.

He joins me now by phone from New York.

David, you tweeted, mission accomplished, after Emily's arrival. Tell us briefly how that reunion was with her family.

DAVID SPERLING, DIAZ FAMILY ATTORNEY (via telephone): It was very moving and very emotional. Mr. Ruiz, Emily's father, had tears in his eyes and they were hugging together, both the father, the mother, Emily and her little brother. It was very, very emotional. And I'm thrilled that I played even just a small part in helping to bring that about.

This was a terrible injustice what happened and we're really happy that it's rectified. And we hope that nothing like this ever happens again.

KAYE: Tell me how she was treated, I'm curious, by the immigration officials during her trip back.

SPERLING: Oh, they treated her like royalty. In fact, one of the CBP, Customs and Border Patrol officers called her the princess of Miami, and then later another CBP official in Atlanta said it was the least that we could do. It was a remarkable turnabout. It was like night and day.

On March 11th, Emily was sleeping under a bench. She was cold and hungry. And nobody cared about her. And yesterday, she was greeted at Miami International Airport by the port director, the CBP --

KAYE: Wait, David, we just have about a minute -- we just have about a minute left. So, I just want to -- I know that this all started because there was some question about her grandfather's paperwork when they tried to come back from Guatemala. She had been there nursing some asthma for some time.

SPERLING: Yes.

KAYE: But were her parents -- I'm curious -- were they given the option to pick her up at the airport or were they told that she had to go back to Guatemala? Or was there any option in the U.S. at all for her?

SPERLING: She was never given an option. And this is the crucial point. Had she been given an option, she -- the father most certainly would have gone to pick her up at the airport. He had notarization to have someone else pick Emily up at JFK Airport. He had people waiting in Washington to pick her up. CBP could have certainly contacted the friends or they could have put her in the custody of child protective services for a day or so to transfer her over if they wanted to wash their hands of it.

But there were many options available for them to give Emily back to her father. And CBP had no jurisdiction over U.S. citizens. This is an outrage.

KAYE: So, do you think she was made an example of? I mean, we hear so much in the political arena about the so-called anchor babies, children who are born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrants who then become U.S. citizens automatically.

How much do you think politics played a role here?

SPERLING: Well, I think there is a hostile environment in the United States towards undocumented immigrants. No question about that. But I think that Emily's case really puts a huge face on it.

She is a U.S. citizen, has all the rights of a U.S. citizen, so does her little brother. Her parents are undocumented. There's 11 million undocumented people in the United States, but most of those people are part of mixed families. Some of the members are legal, others are illegal.

It just points out the need that we need immigration reform, some common sense immigration reform. And that's crucial. We're calling on the immigration to do something about it right now.

KAYE: All right. David Sperling, we're so glad that we got you on the phone to share Emily's homecoming and her story. Thos pictures of her sleeping in her own bed last night certainly are adorable. David, thank you.

New stadium, new entertainment center, new NBA team. One mayor believes that if you attract the people, the jobs will follow. That's ahead in our "Building Up America" segment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: There's a popular movie quote that says "If you build it, they will come." Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett says they are doing just that.

Tom Foreman has today's "Building Up America."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every time the Thunder takes the floor, the home crowd cheers, not just for the team but also for the remarkable transformation it represents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love what I seen. It's been great. It's been great.

FOREMAN: For almost two decades, through targeted use of a voter-approved 1 cent sales tax, Oklahoma City has been rebuilding itself with a new ballpark, new attractions, refurbished entertainment centers, museums, schools and more.

MAYOR MICK CORNETT, OKLAHOMA CITY: We're creating a city before your kid and grandkid is going to want to live.

FOREMAN: Mayor Mick Cornett --

CORNETT: The past paradigm has been that people went to where the jobs are. And what I believe is that in the future, the people are going to go to the cities where they want to live and the jobs are going to follow the people.

FOREMAN: The acquisition of the Thunder three years ago was a milestone in the process of making this a prime place to live. And a coup for this town that is one of the is smallest to host an NBA team. It was made possible in large part because that same tax money was used to build an arena with no loans to hang over the profit-making potential of the new franchise.

GARY DESJARDINS, REGIONAL GENERAL MANAGER, SMG: There's no debt on the building. It's paid for.

FOREMAN (on camera): That's pretty unusual.

DESJARDINS: Extremely unusual.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Thunder coach Scott Brooks calls it team work.

COACH SCOTT BROOKS, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: It's important to get behind each other's endeavors.

FOREMAN: So, today, Oklahoma City enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates of any city in the country, sales tax revenues have soared, and this town is charging back from the recession.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Oklahoma City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: It's our second week documenting Philippe Cousteau's Arctic expedition. He has now landed at an Arctic ice base and he gives us an update on his exciting journey, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Meteorologist Chad Myers is joining us now to talk about your very colorful map. We got a lot going on there.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't like it when it's colorful. That's a bad thing.

KAYE: No. Although it keeps you busy.

MYERS: Keeps me jumping, absolutely. This entire month has kept us jumping at the weather office.

That big red box right there, that's a tornado watch box. But in Taylor County, right there kind on the big bend part of Florida, we do have a tornado warning for Taylor County for the next few minutes. One of the cells coming of the ocean has been rotating for much of its lifetime, so something could be coming out of that.

Not a lot of population in that area. You got to move further inland to get to the population there in Florida. So, we'll watch that for you for today.

KAYE: You're also watching the Arctic Sea ice because of our friend Philippe Cousteau. He's there.

MYERS: I know. And this is all about the sea ice and where it's going, where it's coming from, or is it disappearing?

Here's the animation. This is from September. We're moving it all ahead, and how much ice has grown over the winter. That's important to see what the extent of the ice is and where it's going to be in the summertime when it melts. The problem is, you see it growing here, October and then into November. And it's getting bigger and bigger.

You can't tell how thick it is. You can't tell if it's an inch thick or a foot thick or eight feet thick. We want eight feet thick. We don't want just one little thin spot of ice that's going to melt rather quickly.

KAYE: Thicker is better when it comes to ice.

MYERS: Right. We are in a very bad situation here when it comes to where we should be on sea ice and where we are right now. We are almost, if you look at this, about 1.2 million kilometers squared, or about 400,000 square miles, less ice than we should have at this point.

KAYE: Oh, no.

MYERS: And that's concerning because now it's going to melt because it's going to get warmer. Where does it end up? At the bottom. Where does it end up in the summer when we have to start back up?

You know, seeing these pictures of the polar bears with just nowhere to walk --

KAYE: Yes, them (ph) floating on that little piece of ice, that breaks my heart.

MYERS: Yes, this hasn't been a good winter for up north. We'll keep watching, though. Maybe it's not going to be a bad spring.

KAYE: All right. Maybe you'll have some good news tomorrow. What do you think?

MYERS: I don't know.

KAYE: I hope so. I'm counting on you.

CNN special correspondent Philippe Cousteau is on the ground in the Arctic right now studying climate change and global warming. After days of setbacks and some bad weather, well, he's finally landed at the Catlin Ice Base.

Here's Philippe with an update on his journey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT/ENVIRONMENTALIST: It's good news. The weather has cleared up enough, there's enough contrast up at the Catlin Ice Base. We are out of here.

Well, it's not much visibility out there, but thank goodness there's enough for us to take off and land. So, we're only about an hour and a half away from Deer Bay and the Catlin Ice Base.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we're looking for is for a landing site, basically not too many -- just make the landing (INAUDIBLE).

COUSTEAU: Bumpy landing but we made it.

Simon, how are you doing? Nice to meet you. Philippe.

We're offloading the airplane here, and it's quite a scene. Everybody is helping out, pitching in.

There's about seven or eight people going back to resolute, so there's good-byes and hellos all happening at the same time. Everyone is very excited, and this is -- this is quite a wonderful next step to this adventure. And we're all pretty happy to finally be up here and get going.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: To read Philippe Cousteau's daily expedition blogs, head to our blog at CNN.com/Ali. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Half past the hour now.

Here's the latest head lines and some stories you may have missed:

In an intense day of fighting in Libya, Gadhafi's forces are driving rebels back and regaining control of key cities. Rebels say the front line is proving to be fluid. Government fighters are intensifying their strikes in Misrata and now pushing east from Bin Jawad to Ras Lanuf.

You can see rebels retreating from Ras Lanuf, which is a key oil port. But the opposition is not confirming they have lost the city to Gadhafi. Gadhafi's forces are escalating their attacks as NATO prepares to take command of the U.N.-backed military mission in Libya.

The Japanese government implementing new safety upgrades at nuclear plants throughout the country. This comes as tests indicate the ocean water near the Fukushima Daiichi plant is extremely radiatioactive. Japan's nuclear agency found radioactive iodine more than 3,000 times normal. These levels the highest seen since the tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling system more than two weeks ago.

In the meantime, Tokyo Electric says its president was hospitalized for fatigue and stress and will need treatment for several days.

Health investigators are looking into the deaths of nine hospital patients in Alabama. All given I.Vs contaminated with bacteria. Ten other patients got the I.V. and are reportedly not doing very well. A Birmingham company sold the bad I.V. bags to six hospitals. The I.Vs have now all been recalled.

Refusing to give an inch to those demanding an end to Syria's police state. We'll hear from a Syrian in the thick of the bold opposition to president Bashar al Assad, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: For the first time since bloody antigovernment protests rocked Syria several weeks ago, the country's hard-line president addressed the nation today. Bashar al Assad, defiant as usual, offered no concessions to the opposition and ignored the demand that he lift nearly 50 years of emergency laws. Instead, he blamed the unrest on unnamed conspirators. Human Rights Watch says security forces have killed 73 antigovernment demonstrators.

Earlier, I spoke to a Syrian human rights activist about Assad's speech and asked him how this crisis might play out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WISSAM TARIF, SYRIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST (via phone): The president is trying - to secure (INAUDIBLE). I think that the president's message is clear. He gave permission to the security forces to oppress the people and demonstrators. The fact that he said that he has not ordered the security forces to shoot his people, I would ask him (INAUDIBLE) mistake. And troops were mobilizing the army (INAUDIBLE) the army was linked to Daraa. That wasn't a mistake. He is the commander in chief, chief of the army. (INAUDIBLE). This is absurd. This is not believable. I'm sorry. This guy (ph) wasn't saying the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And we want to break this down a bit more with Michael Holmes, who's here to talk about the speech, among many other things. Were you at all surprised by his defiance?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think a lot of people were surprised. Because everyone thought that he had made these concessions earlier. And now, they thought he would make more concessions, given that the violence had continued. And in fact, he didn't. I mean, the big one was whether he would announce the lifting of the emergency laws which have been in place since 1963. By not doing that, everyone was surprised.

But in a way, I wasn't surprised about that because that's the law that basically keeps the regime in power. What I'm wondering is whether he's backed himself into a corner by being so defiant, by not offering any concessions. Because now, if he's forced into offering concessions later, it's going to make him look weak. And then that emboldens the hard-liners within the regime.

Remember, we said there's divergent views within this regime. There are the hard-liners you want to crack down and there are those like Assad who would prefer to go the reform route.

KAYE: And what about this scene after the speech? I mean, there were protests throughout Syria, but after the speech, there was this one woman who approached his car. Tell us a little bit more about that.

HOLMES: I would love to know where she is now. Yes. She came running up to the car, obviously trying to get some sort of message to him. You can see people swarming around. This was going out live on state television, too. They cut away pretty quickly when they realized there was a fair bit of jostling going on.

KAYE: We don't know if she was armed or her intentions.

HOLMES: We don't know anything about her, no. We do know, however - and you can see that was Libyan state TV (INAUDIBLE), but we do know that there are already demonstrations around the country in the wake of that speech. Friday, a big day, of course. A traditional day of demonstrations after Friday prayers.

KAYE: So, for the opposition, do they have any options here?

HOLMES: Well, at the moment they're going to keep doing what they're doing. The comments coming from various people inside the country after the speech was enormous disappointment. Almost a feeling of betrayal. They expected something and got nothing.

KAYE: I want to ask you quickly about Libya. The Obama administration still sort of deciding whether or not to arm the rebels. It's not just about arming the opposition. I mean, they've said they need help from the coalition forces. But this would also mean training them at some point, right?

HOLMES: Absolutely. I mean, when you talk about arms there, if there wasn't just an arms embargo right now, what you're locking in the existing disparity between the two sides, the inequality.

But yes, if you're going to bring arms in, how do you get them in? What are you going to give them? Who's going to train them? Because what they need heavy weaponry. They need artillery. They need shoulder fire launchers. That requires training.

Well, who's going to do that? Is special forces going to go in and train these guys on the ground? Then you've got boots on the ground, haven't you? It's a very, very slippery slope when you start slipping weapons in there. Then you're a part of it, really.

KAYE: And when you talk about weapons, what exactly are those weapons?

HOLMES: At the moment, they've got what they took from Gadhafi's forces or from ammunition depots that they themselves raided. And it's very light weapons. You see a lot of AK-47s, couple of RPGs every now and then, some rocket launchers as well. 50 cal bullets there. That's antiaircraft ammunition there. You can see an antiaircraft gun as well. Not enough to take on tanks.

KAYE: Right. OK, I can't let you go without this one.

HOLMES: You love the royals!

KAYE: I love the royals!

HOLMES: I think you're English.

KAYE: Maybe a piece of me. Well, speaking of that, maybe I should check my ancestry. Because Kate Middleton, it turns out, has some interesting ancestry.

HOLMES: I have to actually look at notes here. Because this completely loses me here. Now, this came from -- she is apparently distantly related to George Washington. That's right, she has some U.S. links. And not only him. Related to Meriweather Lewis, who together with William Clark mapped the West, you know. Lewis and Clark and all of that.

KAYE: It gets even better.

HOLMES: Yes. Related to General George Patten.

KAYE: Oh, come on! You're holding out here, Michael!

HOLMES: No, I know. This is the best one. You see the happy couple there? Yes, they are related --

KAYE: Wait. She's related to her husband-to-be?

HOLMES: She's related to the hubby, that's right. But not in a bizarre way. I mean, she's apparently a 15th cousin. So, I think that's a respectable distance.

KAYE: Is that allowed in the royal family?

HOLMES: Oh, lots is allowed in the royal family -

KAYE: Oh, we know!

HOLMES: -- as we well know. This was done by the New England Historical Genealogical Society. Yes, eighth cousin eight times removed from George Washington. So, there you go, if you're into genealogy.

KAYE: I am now!

HOLMES: I swear you're English. You just love the royals.

KAYE: Maybe we're related. Let's check. News on that tomorrow.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: All right.

KAYE: All right. Thank you.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

KAYE: Fun as always.

Forty years ago today an attempt was made on the life of a president. We take a look back at the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It's one of those defining moments many of us will never forget. Thirty years to the day, March 30, 1981, the assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan had just left a labor meeting and walked into the crosshairs of a gunman. Drew Griffin takes us through those first dramatic minutes in his documentary "STALKER: THE REAGAN SHOOTING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I heard a noise and we came out of the hotel and headed to the limousine and I heard some noise and I thought it was firecrackers. One of the Secret Service agents behind me just seized me here by the waist and plunged me headfirst into the limo.

JERRY PARR, SECRET SERVICE AGENT: And as we go in, I go in on top of him. I'm sure I hit my radio or my gun or something, hit him on -- in the back.

REAGAN: And then I said, Jerry, get off. I think you've broken a rib. And he got off very quickly.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Inside the limo, Parr checked whether Reagan was all right.

REAGAN: I didn't know I was shot.

PARR: So I ran my hands up under his coat. I felt all around his belt with my hands.

GRIFFIN (on camera): You're feeling for blood?

PARR: Looking for blood. I took my hands out, no blood. I ran my hands up under his arm. No blood.

REAGAN: And just then I coughed and I had a handful of bright red frothy blood.

PARR: Well, he took out a napkin out of his pocket. He took it out and he spit up on it. And there was a lot of blood that got on my London fog raincoat. And he said, I think I've cut the inside of my mouth. And I said, let me look. And it was pretty profuse, bubbly, bright red.

REAGAN: So I said, and I guess that the (ph) broken rib has pierced a lung. Well, he simply turned and said, George Washington Hospital, and we were on our way.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): When the president's limo pulled up to the nearest hospital that day, Reagan wanted to walk inside.

PARR: He hitched his pants up and walked out.

GRIFFIN: This is a magazine artist's sketch of what happened next.

PARR: He walked in about 18 to 20 feet and collapsed.

REAGAN: And a nurse met me and I told her I was having a little trouble breathing and what I thought it was. And the next thing I knew, then were my knees began to turn to rubber and I wound up on a gurney and --

PARR: And I thought when he was lying there on the gurney, I did think we had lost him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And Drew Griffin joins me now to talk about this. That is an incredibly moving documentary from what we saw. He actually thought they were firecrackers, right? He didn't even realize he had been shot.

GRIFFIN: Right. Thought they were firecrackers. Thought he had bruised a rib getting pushed into the limo. Even Jerry Parr, the secret service agent, he's literally on his hands and knees, the president facing him in the backseat. And he's - how else would you say it? He's feeling up Ronald Reagan -- the training to try to find any blood, any wet spots, any marks, any holes. They couldn't find it. But the decision to go to George Washington hospital saved the president's life.

KAYE: Oh, yes. He was pretty close to dying clearly.

What about Hinckley? I know you uncovered interesting information about the shooter.

GRIFFIN: Yes. This wasn't just an anniversary piece, you know, Reagan the shooting. This is called stalker for a reason. The research we did and Jim Polk did, our investigative producer, we determined that Hinckley was stalking President Carter first, then President Reagan, and had multiple chances of killing either one before that fateful day 30 years ago today. So, this is as much about Hinckley's journey, trying to kill any president, as it is about this president's journey after the shooting.

KAYE: Well, knowing that, that is aptly named 'Stalker." All right, Drew. We'll be sure to watch it

GRIFFIN: Thanks.

KAYE: Thank you. And you should also be sure to watch "STALKER: THE REAGAN SHOOTING," this Sunday night right here on CNN 11:00 p.m. Eastern and pacific. Looks like a pretty amazing documentary.

Thousands of people die in drunk driving crashes every year. So are smartphone applications that warn users of DUI checkpoints a detriment to public safety? Should they be sold by companies like Apple and Google? we debate it next in Stream Team.

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KAYE: So if you want to check weather, there's an app for that, right? Want to download the hottest new song, there's an app for that, too. Want to avoid DUI checkpoints? Well, there's also an app for that. Smartphone applications like Buzzed, which is sold in the Apple app store, warn users about DUI checkpoints. That's right, anyone can download one of these apps to avoid those check points.

Senator Tom Udall is calling for smartphone manufacturers, including Apple and Google to remove these apps. Senator, nice to talk with you about this. I know it's important to you. You've actually written a letter to the companies trying to get these apps removed. Do you think that they're illegal?

SEN. TOM UDALL (D), NEW MEXICO : I don't think they're illegal at this point, but the real issue is, what are they out there for? I think basically what they're out there for is for drunk drivers to try to figure a way around checkpoints. That's bad for the public. It's not good public policy.

So, we're asking the three companies, Google and Apple and Motion in Research, to take these out of their online stores and not sell them.

KAYE: And the apps have already been removed, actually, from the BlackBerry app world, so is that why mainly that you think manufacturers should take them down? Because really this is pretty advanced. They can communicate -- drivers can communicate, in real- time and warn others about these DUI checkpoints.

UDALL: Well, and it seems to me the real individual who will be using this is somebody who's drunk who shouldn't be on the highways in the first place, and probably should be caught by a checkpoint rather than evading a checkpoint.

KAYE: And just quickly, is there anything that would change your mind about this, possibly limiting the age of who might be able to get it or checking someone's driving records? Would that help?

UDALL: I think a drunk driver is a drunk driver. And I don't know how you determine that with some kind of check like that.

KAYE: All right. Well, that is your take, Senator. And we appreciate you talking with us about that.

UDALL: Thank you.

KAYE: But we do have another perspective we want to share with you. So, we want to bring in Gary Shapiro. He's president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, representing roughly 2,000 electronic companies, including Apple and Google. Gary, do you think Apple and Google should continue selling these apps?

GARY SHAPIRO, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION: Well, first of all, drunk driving is not something that any of us like, and the apps do concern me.

But what concerns me much more is the government, through senators like the powerful senators on this letter, are telling companies what and what not citizens should communicate to each other.

I just came from a lunch with an Arabian countries -- one of the ambassador representatives here. They say, you know what's changed in the Arab world? The ability for citizens to connect with each other. We have a rich history with our First Amendment of allowing our citizens to talk to each other without the government telling them what to do. This concerns me greatly.

KAYE: So, you think there's a free speech issue here, people not being able to share and say what they want?

SHAPIRO: Look, there's a huge free speech issue here. Korea bans - North Korea bans all technology. China restricts how people communicate.

This is a step toward censorship. There's other ways of approaching this. First of all, actually, the law enforcement actually likes these apps because it makes consumers aware of drunk driving restrictions setup. In fact, they're encouraging this. That's why they publicize they're setting up these checkpoints.

And second of all, it's not the role of government to tell consumers what they should or should not communicate with each other, especially about government. We are set up uniquely from every other country in the world that we protect our citizens against the government taking away our liberties. When we have powerful government officials with control over the destiny of these technology companies saying, you can't use that specific content on your Web site or app, that concerns me.

KAYE: Well do you think -- because a lot of the critics, certainly, like the senator and others, believe that these apps actually encourage and allow and enable people to drive drunk.

SHAPIRO: Well, no one wants anyone to drive drunk. And there's all sorts of technology which are in their power to require be put in cars either as after-market or part of the car itself, which can detect drunken driving or erratic driving. That I don't have a problem with as much as I do for the government to say this type of speech is not acceptable, and we are telling you to get rid of it, big companies. Or with the implicit threat you just heard, we might regulate you otherwise.

KAYE: So, is this information - I'm curious. Does law enforcement publish this information elsewhere? I mean, if it wasn't on the app, could people still get this?

SHAPIRO: Some do and some don't. It's a matter of what happens. There's also an application which I have actually used called Trapster, which other people reporting where there are speeding traps. I don't know if these are DWI things or not, but the point is, that slows me down when I use that application. And that's considered a good thing. Some law enforcement people actually like that.

The other thing to do if you care about this, private citizens could call in fake locations of where these things are set up. This is a group community thing, and if you don't like it, you have certain legal ways of making a system not work in the favor of people who use it. And people who are really drunk are not going to be able to think of going to an app and things like that.

So, this is --

KAYE: They're not going to be able to work it is what you're saying.

SHAPIRO: Yes. If we don't like drunk driving, no one does - the application sounds bad to me. But as I looked into it more and more, I realized that law enforcement groups like this. It's not really drunk people are using it. And it has huge First Amendment problems with it.

KAYE: All right. Well, there you have it. Both sides from Gary Shapiro and also Senator Udall as well. Gary, thank you.

SHAPIRO:

KAYE: Time now for a CNN Political Update. CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser joins me from Washington. Paul, if you want to raise big money, you have to bring in a big name, isn't that true?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Oh, it is true, Randi, in politics. Republicans have a big name tonight, and that big name is New Jersey governor Chris Christie. He's considered a rock star in some Republican circles. In fact, some are urging him to run for the White House. But he says forget about it.

But here's the deal. He's going to be right here in Washington tonight, Randi. He is going to be headlining a fundraiser dinner, the annual fundraising dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee. They announced this morning they're going to raise $10 million at that dinner. That's a lot more than they raised the last two years. Maybe Chris Christie is making a difference. Let's talk about Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota. He's a probable White House candidate. Probably going to run for the Republican presidential nomination. We learned today, Randi, he's not going to one but two tax rallies, Tea Party rallies on April 15th, which is the traditional tax day. You know, Pawlenty has been making some inroads with the Tea Party movement. If you're going to run for the White House on the Republican side, probably not a bad idea, Randi.

KAYE: Absolutely. But I'm glad you brought up the Tea Party because I'm curious about poll numbers related to the Tea Party.

STEINHASUER: Yes. We put these out this morning. Check this out, a national poll from CNN/The Opinion Research Corporation. We asked about favorable and unfavorable views of the Tea Party movement. And they are on the rise. If you look at these numbers, you can see, 40 - look at that right there -- on the Tea Party movement on the favorables are definitely on the decline. Look at that, 37 percent down to 32 percent, unfavorable up to 47 percent.

And those who are unsure about the Tea Party movement, Randi, they're declining. You know what? That 47 percent unfavorable rating puts them in the same company as the Democratic and Republican parties.

KAYE: Which is exactly what the Tea Party did not want.

STEINHASUER: Oh, yes. But you know it's become more of a political movement, Randi. They've really become players in the Republican party politics.

KAYE: Certainly have. All right, Paul, thank you.

Your next update from The Best Political Team on Television is just about an hour away.

Feeling lucky today? No? Then you better listen up to what I have to say in my "XYZ." it just might change everything for you. That's next.

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KAYE: Time now for my "XYZ."

Sometimes luck is on your side, and, well, sometimes it's not. Take the Mega Million Jackpot winners in Albany, New York. Seven lucky winners will be splitting $319 million. They're a group of coworkers who play the lottery together regularly.

But here's the rub. One of their coworkers, who usually plays with them, this time took a pass and opted out. He apparently told them, quote, "He wasn't feeling lucky." Yes, well, how do you think he's feeling right now? He missed out on millions. His share would have been about $16 million after taxes. He's not being identified, which is probably a good thing. Would you want anyone to know your name after that? The odds of winning this jackpot were 1 in 176 million. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose.

The winners reportedly have no plans to return to work at their jobs, except to pass of some unfinished work to their colleagues, which will probably include the guy who didn't buy the lottery with them.

So, I leave you today with this bit of advice. Even if you're not feeling real lucky, buy a ticket. You never know.

Now time for me to hand it off to CNN's Brooke Baldwin who's going to convince me next time to please buy a lottery ticket.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: No, I tweeted this 10 minutes ago: "note to self, always play the office lottery pool. Learn from that guy. Always play."

KAYE: There you go. Never say no.

BALDWIN: Randi Kaye, thank you so much.