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Serial Killer in New York?; Big Budget Battle Ahead; Japan is Hit by an Aftershock Earthquake; New Weight Loss Drug Shows Promise of FDA Approval; Female Reporter Not Allowed into Locker Room to Interview Players at the Masters Golf Tournament; New Studies Show Difficulty with Multi-Tasking Increases with Age

Aired April 11, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: We start, though, with a developing story.

It's out on Long Island in New York . Police have announced they have discovered even more bones now in their search for clues in what is now a potential serial killer case.

CNN producer Adam Reiss on the phone there now.

Adam, so far, we have eight sets of human remains found there since October. You were at a news conference just a few minutes ago. What are the police telling you now?

ADAM REISS, CNN PRODUCER: Well, those bones, Drew, that were found this morning are at the medical examiner's office here in Nassau County.

They are being examined to see if police here on Long Island have found a ninth victim of this serial killer. You may remember four female bodies were found here in December, one in March, and three more in April. The search began when police were looking for a missing prostitute, Shannon Gilbert, who had reportedly made a john through Craigslist.

Now, today, there are about 100 law enforcement officers here along the stretch of highway. This is a well-known beach for many who come here in the summer. They are using dogs, horseback. And they're also using cherry-pickers to get above the thick brush. The brush here is very thick, thorns. And a lot of the officers are having a lot of difficulty getting through it.

Harsh conditions this morning and then rain is expected tomorrow, which prevents cadaver dogs from working, so we will have to see, awaiting word from the medical examiner to see if in fact the bones that were found are human.

GRIFFIN: This has been described as an area as the serial killer's graveyard more or less. Was there something specific about the area they were searching, Adam, when they found these what are just now bones, whether human or animal?

REISS: Drew, this area at Jones Beach goes on for miles. It is a wide-open highway, very desolate. There is a nature preserve that they are searching here, barren land, thick brush.

I can see why they would say that you could potentially leave a body here and it would not be found for a very long time.

GRIFFIN: All right, Adam, bring us back any information you may get later on this afternoon as this developing news continues to break out there on Long Island.

Adam Reiss, thank you.

Now onto Washington, D.C. We are past the ugly fight over this year's federal budget. Brace yourself, though. The real budget is coming over the federal debt ceiling. Think of it as Uncle Sam's credit limit. And just like so many of us, Uncle Sam is about to hit it. Look at this. The difference between the debt ceiling and the balance due is $86 billion.

Would be a huge amount of money to me and you, but it is only enough to carry the federal government another 35 days.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON (R), TEXAS: really the debt ceiling is going to be Armageddon. I mean, that is the one where we have got to see reforms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Armageddon? Really? Republicans seem ready to go bold after the budget cuts they won Friday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The president says, I want you to send me a clean bill. Well, guess what, Mr. President? Not a chance you are going to get a clean bill. There will not be an increase in the debt limit without something really, really big attached to it.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: And Democrats already painting disaster scenarios.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: If the markets believe we are not going to pay our debts, it could be a formula for recession or worse. So, this is playing with fire. And I would urge both sides to take the threat of not renewing the debt ceiling off the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GRIFFIN: Well, it all sounds like Armageddon to anyone hoping to retire with an already battered 401(k), but will it really get that bad?

Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash and CNN Money's Jeanne Sahadi here to help us sort out what is practical and what is political in all this.

Dana, let's start with you, because the politicians are gearing up for a major fight both behind the scenes and right out in front of us.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

Well, I know this is not going to shock you, Drew, but it is all political. And it is all definitely going to continue on the heels of the big fight that we saw and we're still seeing over how to cut spending for the budget for the rest of this year.

But the bottom line is that Republicans especially in the House who were swept in on promise to do something about the debt and the deficit say that there is just no way that they will a vote to allow this country to borrow even more money without having some reforms attached to it. You heard the House speaker, John Boehner, refer to that just now.

So, what they're talking about, they have not settled on what their demands are yet, to be honest with you. I have talked to Republican sources on both sides of the Capitol today, but the general ideas are either just demanding a chunk of spending cuts or demanding a cap on spending, or maybe even demanding a balance, a vote on a balanced budget amendment, something along any of those lines to at least prove to the country, prove to the world and maybe most importantly prove to voters that they are not just going to allow this country to borrow even more money without doing some serious reforms to try to deal with the issues that got us in the problem to begin with that we have a $14.3 trillion cap that we still might, as you pointed out, are bumping up again.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

Jeanne, let me bring you in because this is kind of a fictitious figure, the debt ceiling. What exactly is it? And why would it tear our country apart if it does get not raised?

JEANNE SAHADI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is an artificial limit that lawmakers set presumably to keep control of spending, but it does not ever really work that way, because what happens is people who say they will not vote against it, they think that if we raise it, it is a license to spend more, when in fact it is nothing of the kind.

What it is, is an ability to pay the bills that lawmakers have already had us incur by passing expensive legislation in past. So it is a symbolic debate that is had almost every time the debt comes up, but it is something that is going to have to be raised over and over again. The Congressional Research Service says that even if we never pass another spending bill or another tax cut, we will have to continue to raise the ceiling.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

Dana, it seems like a foregone conclusion that it will be raised, but the bargaining chips are what we are talking about. You said the Republicans are not really clear yet what exactly they are going to be after if it gets down to that nitty-gritty late-night deal.

BASH: That is right.

At least right now, it does not seem as though they have settled on a strategy among themselves on exactly what their demands will be. They seem to think -- and Jeanne should weigh in on this -- that they have more time than the treasury secretary is suggesting.

He has said that they have to, the Congress has to do something about this by about May 16. I have talked to some Republican sources here who say, well, they could move some money around and maybe we have until about July to deal with this. The timing of that is unclear, but you bet that there is going to be some kind of demand for leverage. It is just that they haven't decided exactly what that leverage is going to be on the Republican side, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Dana, I know that I'm just preaching to the choir, but it is just one crisis after another. Last week it was the crisis over the shutdown. Now it's the crisis over the debt ceiling. We never seem to be getting in Congress and up in Washington that long-term solution that's going to take forethought, thinking and planning.

BASH: It is a great question.

Look, we are actually going to see this week a vote on the Republican, House Republican plan to do what they say is an answer to your question, to have some long-term planning.

And that, of course, is the budget that the House budget chairman, Paul Ryan, put out last week, which calls for over $6 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. That is, of course, the Republican blueprint. It is something that Democrats call absolutely the wrong way to go because it changes the way the key entitlement reforms -- entitlement programs are done, namely Medicare Medicaid, and it also really lowers taxes, which Democrats say is absolutely the wrong way to go.

The president, of course, is going to give a big speech on Wednesday where he is supposedly going to give at least some broad themes of how he wants to go in deficit reduction. But I will tell you, the one thing that we are watching here in the Senate, Drew, is a group of six senators. They are called the gang of six, three Democrats, three Republicans, who have been working for months, months behind the scenes.

They meet two or three times a week and they are trying to come up with that long-term plan that perhaps that Democrats and Republicans can rally around, at least a moderate plan. And they say that their goal is to cut $4 trillion in spending over 10 years. GRIFFIN: Well, let's see if they can do it. Jeanne, I just want to ask you real quick about the stock market, because I know it can go up or down on a headline. It seems like this could be a side industry, betting on debt ceilings and government shutdowns. Does this have a lot of effect on the stock market?

SAHADI: It is a side industry. It's really more essentially the bond market.

What we hear from bond investors, they think that tying all this long- term debt reduction to the debt ceiling is an artificial way to do it. They are not so concerned. They would like to see the country get back on a more fiscally sustainable track, but they really don't much care that it happens around the debt ceiling.

GRIFFIN: All right, Jeanne, thank you. Dana Bash, thank you up on Capitol Hill. And we will continue to watch both the lawmakers and the stock market as we work through this, yet another crisis.

Well, did you watch the Masters? Some controversy erupted after that final round when a female reporter shut out of the locker room. Take a look at Tara Sullivan's tweet. "Bad enough that no women members at Augusta, but not allowing me to join writers in the locker room is just wrong."

Boy, that tweet got things started. Coming up live, she joins me in her first TV interview since the incident. Plus, the tournament now responding.

There is also word of a cease-fire in Libya, but one side is not ceasing anything. That is next.

And how much other stuff are you doing while you watch this newscast? An hour from now, will you be able to recall anything I'm showing you telling you right now? We will see about that. Over the course of the hour, I will show you a few celebrity photos. If you can remember them by the time we talk to a multitasking expert, you have nothing to worry about. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Just into CNN, new video of the chaotic moments after an explosion rocked a subway station. This happened in Belarus. At least seven people dead, dozens more hurt. Rescue crews taking out people on stretchers and in some cases in their arms.

The government is holding an emergency meeting to address security measures. Not clear yet what caused that blast.

Other stories unfolding right now.

In Libya, the words cease-fire, well, they don't mean much if one side refuses to cease. We learned a couple of hours ago rebels determined to topple Moammar Gadhafi from power do not accept the terms of a proposed cease-fire. That was hammered out this weekend between Gadhafi and a delegation from the African Union. Now, U.S. State Department officials say they still have not got a full readout, their words, from those leaders who met with Moammar Gadhafi in Tripoli yesterday. Their cease-fire proposal, though, does not address whether Gadhafi would step down. That is a demand being made by the rebel forces and the United States government. We are watching for any further statements from either side on this one.

To the Ivory Coast. The man who single-handedly kept a civil war alive in West Africa is now under arrest. This is Laurent Gbagbo today, shortly after forces loyal to rival for the presidency stormed his compound. We are told Gbagbo is safe, well and with his family. He was elected president in 2000. He lost his reelection in November, and yet refused to leave office.

Fighting broke out and hundreds of people have been killed ever since people. Authorities in Ivory Coast say they intend to bring him to trial.

And France begins the controversial ban of burqas. That started today. Burqas are those Islamic veils. They cover the entire body. Those are the ones that are banned. Women who choose to cover will have to pay a fine of about $190. France is the first European country to do this. And it's sparking a big debate about religious freedom. So far, two women have been arrested for participating in an unauthorized demonstration against the law.

And happening right now, several large sections of the country on the lookout for possible tornadoes, threats of severe storms all over the place. Coming up, we have some incredible video. We're going to showing you where the storms are heading.

Plus, for weeks, lawmakers fought over the nation's debt and budget problems. And there are even bigger fights ahead, but which sides took round one? Joe Johns standing. He's got the list of political winners and losers next.

Stand by, Joe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER UPDATE)

GRIFFIN: Well, Congress begins voting Wednesday on that last-minute deal that headed off a shutdown of the federal government. The agreement includes more than $38 billion in spending cuts.

So what is getting cut? What doesn't? What is still up in the air?

Joe Johns looking into the always -- the tally in Washington. Who is the winner, who is the loser, who is getting cut, who's not?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey.

Well, as far as the winners and losers go, we have at least got a starting point, Drew. And what we are talking about here is not necessarily the politicians. Sure, you can say the president won or the speaker of the House won or they both won, but the policy is the big thing. That is what actually affects people's lives.

And that's at least what we have started trying to look into. So, here we go. The apparent winners obviously include federal workers. They did not get furloughed as a result of government shutdown. And you can also add to that the customers who get federal services, Planned Parenthood. A lot was said about defunding Planned Parenthood or its affiliates. Apparently, Planned Parenthood survived this challenge, according to Democratic Hill sources.

Another one is NPR, National Public Radio, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting. We do know that NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have been a target of Republican budget-cutting proposals.

And we expect the issue to come up again. However, at least for now, NPR and CPB appear to have survived any immediate challenge. EPA is another one of those, likely winner because by my count, well over a dozen proposed policy initiatives in the budget debate, probably more, were targeted at the EPA.

We haven't gotten any specificity on that. But Hill aides telling CNN that some or all of the EPA riders were ditched.

GRIFFIN: Well, you know, Joe, that is surprising to me because the Republicans, they wanted $60 billion cut. They wanted EPA cuts. They wanted Planned Parenthood cuts. They wanted NPR cuts. They didn't get any of that, so are the Republicans the big losers?

JOHNS: No, no, I don't think you can say that, because number one, they changed the whole national conversation and focused it on the idea of budget cutting. They have even got the president of the United States on board talking about this.

And before this period, you really didn't have that conversation going. So they are not -- you know, they are not losers. Some of the apparent losers were the District of Columbia government. They are upset because there is a policy provision that revokes the city's ability to pay for abortions and it didn't get dropped. And this is a larger argument about whether the city has the powers of a state, also about the right to choose and so on.

Liberal congressional Democrats may also find themselves on the losers list, many saying they are having heartburn about the amount of money being cut, because some of their pet causes and constituencies certainly could be affected. We will know more when the whole list comes out perhaps tonight.

GRIFFIN: Are they still working on the list? Is this a work in progress? Are they Still dealing?

JOHNS: Well, yes, we don't know the extent to which they are still dealing, but they are certainly still writing up this list. And it could come out as late as 11:00 tonight. And who knows. Time slips on Capitol Hill, but there are a lot of things up in the air, money cuts to social programs, what is the going to be cut, what is not going to be cut. Still waiting to find out where the axe is going to fall. There is also this issue of rescinding unused money from the economic stimulus package. That has been around for a long time. It is being considered a Republican win, something Republicans have been talking about.

And we are also waiting for details of a GAO study on health care waivers given to companies and unions as a result of the Obama health care bill. It being described as an audit, also being described as a win for Republicans, but we haven't seen the details yet.

So a lot of stuff we are waiting to hear about, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Wow. All this battle over a measly $38 billion. Wait until they get to the trillions they're talking about, Joe.

JOHNS: You are so right about that, Drew, a much bigger number.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: We will see you later this afternoon.

Police try to Taser a guy at a baseball game, but he does not go down. See what happens when the officers go to plan B. Whew. It's an old plan. Whip out the batons. The video next.

Plus, some airlines looking to make flying a bit more luxurious. Wait until you see what is being proposed to help make your ride more comfortable.

And the test of your multitasking capacity continues. Will you remember this picture in addition to whatever you're doing right now while watching this newscast? We will see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Today, another story about another unruly sports fan acting out at a game, but this time it was caught on camera posted to YouTube. Check it out. Pittsburgh police say they were forced to Taser and then club a drunk Pirates fan Saturday after the man allegedly struck a stadium worker.

Reports say it all happened when the man appearing intoxicated began disrupting other fans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"ERIC," FAN: I looked up the stairway and I saw a man was not complying with the PNC Park security. He was sitting down. They had asked him to leave. At that point, a police officer came and tried to get the man out of his seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Here is what happened. Security led him out. Then the guy tried to give another fan a high five. You can see it there. And the stadium an employee stepped in and tried to stop it. Oh. The man allegedly struck the employee with his elbow.

That's when the police tried to arrest him, but he put up a fight, so police pulled out their Tasers and then the clubs. Pittsburgh's police chief responded, saying, "The actions of the suspect in this incident, which necessitated the use of force and the reasons why the officers used force are documented and reviewed. As a matter of policy, this incident and all incidents where force is utilized are reviewed." That's the statement from police.

The man is facing several charges, including harassment and resisting arrest.

No free snacks on United Airlines or Continental. Checked bags, exit rows, even early boarding can cost you. Those extras accounted for $2 billion in profit during the third quarter of 2010. Some carriers are taking those profits to win customers back.

Brooke Baldwin got an exclusive first look at one of Delta Airline's planes designs to upgrade your flight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your beef medium, your hot dogs medium. Watch the jokes.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was a time when the customer was king, like in this 1982 United Airlines ad.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Champagne!

ANNOUNCER: Number three, all aboard, please. This will be the final call.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Today, passengers are getting used to be nickeled and dimed for services that used to be included in the ticket price.

CHRIS BABB, SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER, DELTA: And so, the touch of a button, transforms into a fully flat bed.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Chris Babb is a Delta product manager whose group is investing $2 billion in restoring some of that lost glamour to flying.

BABB: And that's throughout across flat bed seats, sky clubs, our lounges, Economy Comfort, which is our new section in economy, improved dining experience. Improved airport facilities at JFK and here in Atlanta. So it's really spread out across and entire customer experience.

BALDWIN (voice-over): This month, both Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific and Dutch carrier KLM are introducing their own revamped business class cabins, complete with convertible sleeper seats. United Airlines, the first major US carrier to offer flat beds, is planning to upgrade the rest of its international fleet as well. Ryan McKelvey is president of Ballard Designs, a home catalog company whose employees travel extensively to manufacturers in Europe, Asia, and South America. When business turned sour just a couple of years ago because of the recession --

RYAN MCKELVEY, PRESIDENT, BALLARD DESIGNS: One of the first things we did was pull back and eliminate business class travel.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Similar to United's Economy Plus, this summer, Delta's rolling out a new fare class called Economy Comfort, offering four inches of extra legroom and 50 percent more recline. Ranging from $80 to $160 per segment, it's designed to appeal to cost- conscious companies like Ballard.

MCKELVEY: The difference between $320 between the coach and that class of travel would be a huge fraction of what the difference is between a current business class and coach ticket, a tenth of the difference.

BALDWIN (voice-over): And while it may be that customer service may once again be on the rise, it appears that price still reigns supreme.

MCKELVEY: It sounds wonderful, but again, it always comes down to what is the cost associated with it.

BALDWIN: Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is known as the ring of fire, and a danger zone where earthquakes are a constant threat, and Japan is a big part of it. Today, a series of aftershocks rocked the region again. And the epicenter was very close to the troubled nuclear plant. You will see the video, and we'll ask what is behind all of these new quakes next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Across Japan today, people stopped what they were doing and just remembered. At a quarter to 3:00 in the afternoon local time exactly one month ago that is when the massive earthquake knocked down buildings and buckled roads.

But as we all know now, something much more worse and more destructive than the shaking would follow a few minutes after that moment. Today, the Japanese authorities revised the official death toll to upwards of 13,100 people. The ground has still not shaking there in the quake zone. People feel aftershocks in the region, including today. Here is CNN's Kyung Lah in Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Japan is rocked by more aftershocks and what is disturbing is that they were in the vicinity of the Fukushima nuclear plant. The strongest was a 6.6 magnitude earthquake according to the USGS, and that caused the evacuation of the crippled nuclear facility. The plant also lost power, external power to reactors one through three. The reason that is so critical is without that power TEPCO, the owner of the plant, is not able to pour water on the reactors attempting to keep them cool. After 15 minutes the power did come back online and they were able to pump water again, and TEPCO saying at this point, there doesn't appear to be any long-lasting damage to the reactors, but certainly a bit of a scare today especially when you couple the crippled nuclear facility with the strong aftershocks.

This comes at the one-month mark of the tsunami and earthquake. Across Japan, people paused, bent their heads, and prayed. From the evacuation centers in the tsunami zone to the temples here in Tokyo, people are taking time to reflect on all of the people who died. Japan trying to mourn and remember the victims and defining again and again that it has to deal with the aftershocks and the ongoing nuclear emergency.

Kyung Lah, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Jacqui Jeras is joining us to clear some things up. It seems that the aftershocks are happening more and more frequently, and some of them are very, very strong. Any indication of what is happening here?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, this is a typical thing that happens after you get a main quake. When we are talking about a 9.0, that is huge, Drew. And the larger the quake, the more frequent the aftershocks are and the stronger the aftershocks are.

There you can see the one that happened early, early this morning, and that was about a 7.0 magnitude. That is has been revised by the USGS and saying it was a strong six or weak seven, but that caused quite a bit of damage.

Now, let's talk about what we can expect in the days and the months and the weeks ahead. Yes, we are could see aftershocks literally for years from now, and possibly over a decade. When you get a 9.0 on average, and not everything happens on average, but we would expect one aftershock of 8.0, and about ten 7.0 magnitude, and 100, 6.0, and 500, 5.0 and 10,000 of the 4.0s. So you can see that what we have already seen is half a dozen 7.0 or more since that March 11th. So maybe we can expect to see another five of those in the days and weeks and months ahead, and that is certainly a scary thought.

Now, what is really an aftershock? There is a lot of question and confusion about what is the difference of an aftershock and earthquake. Well, all aftershocks are earthquakes, but they happen after the main jolt. So they are all weaker than the main shock that happens, and they are within a certain proximity.

So you can see that this is the one that happened here on March 11th, and we have seen here, two of the big 7.0-ish ones that happened recently and all of the dots around them are cluster aftershock earthquakes. And what defines an aftershock? Well, it happens after the event. We look at the fault lines, for example, if the aftershock is within the distance of the length of that fault line, it is considered an aftershock. If it is farther away than that, they would consider that certainly a separate event.

So you can see that there is a lot of activity here, and we still have a very long way to go unfortunately, drew. They can expect more of in. And when you talking about 7.0 or more, you are also start worrying about potentially another tsunami that could happen as 7.0 is the threshold that we look at for potential waves as well.

GRIFFIN: And 7.0 is huge in its own right.

JERAS: Yes, they are.

GRIFFIN: Thank you, Jacqui, for that.

Boy, if only this were true, a pill to help you lose weight. Many of the drugs out there are risky, but there is one pill, one pill that could end up getting the OK from the government ahead. Plus, scientists revealing why people have trouble multitasking as they get older. Up next the reasons.

And find out whether you passed the test we have been giving you all hour, and will you remember the celebrity photos that we have shown you. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: You here it all of the time, right, an experimental new weight loss drug to melt the fat right off of you. Well, most drugs get a swift ax from the FDA. But there is a promising new study on one particular drug giving those battling the bulge a high hope. It is called Qnexa.

The FDA denied approval for the drug in October, citing risks of health problems and birth defect. But there is a new study out there that could reverse it.

First, about the pill. Qnexa is a combination of phentermine and taupe max, which a common weight loss treatment, and taupe max is used to treat epilepsy and migraines. In a study founded by the drug maker, obese patients taking a high dose of Qnexa lost an average of 22 pounds per year.

And the also lowered their cholesterol and blood pressure levels. The results suggest that Qnexa combined with lifestyle counseling could be a valuable treatment for obesity. Three of the study's seven authors are employed by Qnexa's market approval. That company is expected to resubmit on FDA approval based on the new findings.

OK. Three separate times this hour, we have shown you pictures of three different celebrities. If you are wondering why, it is because we are testing your short-term memory to be precise. Do you remember who they were? George Clooney, Britney Spears, and then Kirk Douglas. The chances are the younger you are, the more likely you remembered all three. Like it or not, in today's cluttered overload, the task of multitasking is crucial to keeping up, but a brand new story says that all of the texting and the typing and the blackberrys and the iPhones and iPads and the everyday noise is taking a toll on the memories and especially if you are older.

Now scientists believe they know why. Here to explain that is Dr. Adam Gazzaley, neurologist at the University of San Francisco and co- author of the study. Doctor, is something happening to us physically that is clicking off the memory, because we have too much coming in?

DR. ADAM GAZZALEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UCSF: Well, in this study we were looking at the acute effects of the you have to remember one thing and how it differs of the younger, 20s and 30s and when you are older in the 60s and 70s. And we see that if you even have a simple memory test of holding one thing in mind, that one task decreases the memory, and it is worse as you are older.

GRIFFIN: It is worse because we are constantly interrupted all of the time whether it is the e-mail or the texting bell goes off on the phone?

GAZZALEY: Well, this would be an extrapolation of the finding. What, you know, in the lab you study, well, we study more one simple example of it, which is just a picture of a face that pops up, and you have to make a decision about the face while you are holding something else in mind.

But this type of interruption occurs more and more frequently, especially as the diversity and the accessibility of electronic media increases and even demands of the multitasking in the workplace seems to be increasing and happening. So it is probably going on more and more in our lives.

For a long time we have known and appreciated that in at least it is clearer that the act of doing more than one thing at a time decreases the quality of that one thing if you only did it by itself.

GRIFFIN: That seems like common sense from my grandma and I can remember her telling me, do one thing, do it right and then move on. It is a small study, but you did find a gap between younger and older folks, and have you been able to determine why the older we are the more affected we may be to this?

GAZZALEY: Well, we were looking at what was happening in the brain during this event by recording brain activity with a functional MRI machine. And one of the original hypothesis is that older adults were engaging in more interruptions, and that is why it is more disruptive.

But what the study shows is that younger and older adults engage in interruption to the same degree, but younger adults are returning to the memory network while older adults are not as effectively disengaging or blocking off what interrupted them and returning to the task beforehand. So in essence, a switching of the networks in the brain seems to be less effective in older adults. GRIFFIN: And this all involves short-term memory, correct?

GAZZALEY: Yes. This is the information that you are holding over 15 seconds in this experiment, and it relates to a common experience in our lives that we might leave the couch with a clear idea of what we want to get out of the refrigerator only to arrive there and find out we have no idea what we are doing there. And a lot of people have probably experienced this.

It is not that we don't have the ability to remember one single item. It is not a memory problem in isolation, but rather interference that occurs when you are holding something in mind for a brief or short period of time. And what we are focusing on here is one type of interference which is interruption for instance if you answered a text or phone call on the way to the refrigerator and what does that do? So we are looking at it in the experimental scenario and holding one thing in mind and how it is interrupted by another task.

GRIFFIN: In your study, was there anything that could be done to prevent the disruption, not to prevent the disruption, but prevent the memory loss because of the disruption? Are they any skills you can acquire?

GAZZALEY: Yes, well, in this study, it was looking at the basic mechanisms of that disruption, and we use that to guide research in the lab and other labs that are looking at this, too, to see how we can improve the abilities. I see that there are really two paths here. One, you can use the information and use it to guide your behavior.

We know and we are becoming increasingly aware that multitasking decreases the quality of performance versus one task at a time because you switching between the tasks and there is a cost associated to that. So there is a high quality of one operation at time.

But we are looking at through training we can improve the abilities. So we designed a video game in the lab to challenge older person's abilities to multitask and see if the ability improves and if it transmits to better memory in the interference, and that study was inspired by these findings.

GRIFFIN: Well, we will have you back when that one is wrapped up. Thank you, doctor.

And well, Augusta golf club does not allow women as members, but that is no secret. But last night, a female reporter was not allowed into the clubhouse to interview the players because she was shut out of the locker room. That is something that the club has allowed for decades. The reporter at the center of it is going to join me live. Tara Sullivan and her side of the story is next.

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GRIFFIN: Masters weekend at Augusta national and it's always the big, iconic moment of every Masters' final, the winner sliding into that green jacket. This year's winner was 26 year old South African Charl Schwartzel.

Tara Sullivan was there all weekend and writes for Jersey's "The Record." Tara, you made a little news at Augusta with a tweet linked to an issue that comes up every spring over there in Augusta. Tell us what happened to you.

TARA SULLIVAN, COLUMNIST, "THE RECORD": I sure did. It's an odd thing to be on the other side of the interview process. But yes I decided late in that round to write my column about Rory McIlroy and his stunning collapse going into the final round. He led and he just fell apart. He's only 21 and I thought it was one of the most compelling pictures of the day.

And in the course of doing the interviews after he completed his round, when the interview setting moved from the 18th green through the area in front of the clubhouse, then into the clubhouse and then into the locker room where he finally stopped to answer a few more questions, I was stopped by a security guard who told me that women were not allowed in the locker room.

GRIFFIN: Have you been in that locker room before? Have you covered the Masters before?

SULLIVAN: This is my fourth Masters, so I have covered it before. I don't even honestly. There are so many ways and places at the Masters to talk to the golfers that that wasn't the place that I normally went to. But I know that women reporters this week had gone in there.

GRIFFIN: So it certainly was your -- within your rights as a credentialed reporter to go in there. This is what the Masters said. They said that it's a huge mistake. "I apologize. It was a complete misunderstanding by tournament week security and you should have been given access for the standard practices of major sporting events." Did you accept the apology?

SULLIVAN: I did accept the apology. Clearly there was a mistake made at that moment. The issue I would have with Augusta is that it's their responsibility that the security and personnel they hire are informed of what the policies are.

It was a very small window of time that I was dealing with and I didn't get into any sort of shouting matches or start quoting the federal law that mandates equal access once the locker room is opened. It kind of happened quickly and it just -- it almost stunned me at the time but I was so focused on trying to finish my job and do my reporting that it wasn't until later when I tweeted that everything took off in a news cycle.

GRIFFIN: And the security guard, I guess, who blocked you was a woman?

SULLIVAN: That is true. They seem to find that part particularly fascinating. I mean, she was very apologetic. I'm sorry, I know it's their policy and not mine. If you try to go through the door, the next security guard will stop you. I said to her, what is -- you realize that it's supposed to be by law that I'm supposed to be allowed in there. She said it's this open bathroom area. And I said, yes, like every professional locker room that I go into.

It was just a complete lack of awareness, which is inexcusable on the part of the people that run the tournament and clearly of any upshot of this, is that they better have that staff better prepared for next year and every year from now on.

GRIFFIN: We're getting a lot of feedback online, and one person in particular wants me to ask you a question. That is the issue anchor that sits in this chair, Brooke Baldwin, who is home today. But here is what she says I would ask Tara, "Are we as women, especially you as a female sports reporter, all too sensitive when it comes to these stories? To be fair, should men be allowed in female locker rooms after Wimbledon? Where should we draw the line?"

SULLIVAN: Well, that has been a common question that I've found myself answering. And I find it difficult to compare that with the female premise and there are hundreds of writers lining up to get access to men's locker rooms. It's a whole separate argument.

And to be quite honest, in the WNBA, NCAA, male reporters do in fact go into the women's locker rooms. So this is not an issue of sensitivity. This is just an issue of doing my job. I mean, it's as simple as that. The locker room is an open area. Reporters were allowed in. I should have been allowed in.

GRIFFIN: All right, Tara, are you going to the masters next year?

SULLIVAN: I sure will.

GRIFFIN: All right.

SULLIVAN: It's a great tournament. It's compelling drama. Yes, now more than ever I'll be back next year.

GRIFFIN: I'm sure you're going to get into that locker room. I can almost guarantee it.

SULLIVAN: Absolutely.

(LAUGHTER)

Thank you.

GRIFFIN: Appreciate that.

Well, it is a pretty shocking suggestion. Investigators now saying a former police officer could be the possible serial killer in New York. Really? The search for more bodies escalates and man hunt intensifies. Wait until you hear the new developments that has investigators thinking the suspect could have ties to law enforcement. That's coming up.

Plus, breaking news from the world of politics, and it involves Mitt Romney. Wolf Blitzer is next.

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