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BP Files $40 Million Suit Against TransOcean; Trouble for Owner for the L.A. Dodgers; Secret File Buried in iPhones; FAA Fires Two Controllers; Employment Numbers Decline; Manhunt in Colorado for Homemade Bomb Maker
Aired April 21, 2011 - 10:00 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 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. out West. I'm Carol Costello sitting in for Kyra Phillips.
BP has filed a $40 billion lawsuit against Transocean, the owner of the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year. BP is claiming negligence help caused the disaster that killed 11 workers and caused a massive environmental disaster.
They aren't smiling anymore. Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt is involved in a nasty divorce battle with his wife and they're fighting for control of the team. So major league baseball has made the remarkable move to take the reins. It made the move amid reports that McCourt had to borrow money to make payroll.
New numbers on the nation's job list. Last week the number of unemployed Americans filing for the first time fell to 403,000. That's a decline of 13,000.
Let's talk about the manhunt right now in Littleton, Colorado. The FBI wants to know who this man is and what he knows about a homemade pipe bomb and two propane tanks found yesterday at a shopping mall. A security camera shows him in the mall minutes before a security guard noticed a fire. Investigators think that fire might have been used to set off the bomb. There was no explosion, but the mall was evacuated.
And in the end, no one was hurt, but there is a sense of urgency here. The mall isn't even two miles from Columbine High School, and the bombs were planted on the 12th anniversary of the school shootings. The significance of the date is hard to ignore in Littleton. Jacki Kelley is the spokesperson for the Jefferson County sheriff's office, joining me by phone. Jacki, the timing is quite suspect. What do you think?
JACKI KELLEY, JEFFERSON CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE (via telephone): Well, I'll tell you, it's nothing short of disturbing for us and really quite disgusting that it happened yesterday.
COSTELLO: Does the mall have any significance as it applies to the high school, or is it just the nearness of the location?
KELLEY: Well, honestly, you know, we have more questions than we do answers right now. But quite honestly, the mall is very close to Columbine High School. This occurred on the anniversary of the shootings at Columbine. And there are some ties that could be drawn to the kinds of devices that were found on site and the time that this all occurred was significant to the time frame that the shootings occurred 12 years ago.
COSTELLO: What can you tell us about the devices?
KELLEY: As much the detail as they're going to let me share at this point besides the fact that we found two propane tanks that were literally at the origin of where the fire started behind the food court yesterday, obviously, the entire mall was evacuated. And during our sweep to make sure that the mall was safe, additional devices that found have been described as a pipe bomb.
COSTELLO: We saw some security camera pictures of this suspect. We can't see him very clearly. Is there anything else you can tell us about his description that might help people - might help people help you?
KELLEY: Well, honestly, I can absolutely give you his physical description. We have no shots of his face. It's very hard to determine an age, but he does have a silver mustache and gray hair. He's wearing a distinct gray and white horizontally striped shirt with blue jeans, a dark jacket and a dark baseball cap. And we have a couple of good photos of at least the clothing, and that's about as much as we know about this person so far.
COSTELLO: Well, we wish you good luck in catching this guy. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
KELLEY: Thanks.
COSTELLO: The FAA has fired two more air traffic controllers for sleeping on the job. This time they worked in Knoxville, Tennessee, and in Miami, Florida. And those were just two control tower sleep stories. They've been popping up all over the place recently from Reagan National in Washington to Lubbock, Texas, to Seattle and to Reno, Nevada. They all reportedly happened on the overnight shift.
The FAA now says controllers need an extra hour off between shifts. And the problems aren't limited to sleeping. The FAA suspended a controller in Cleveland for watching a movie on the job. And an Air Force plane carrying Michelle Obama was allowed to get too close to a cargo plane in Maryland, another air traffic controller mistake. The FAA now wants a supervisor standing behind the controller handling all flights involving the first lady or the vice president.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve has more on how the FAA is addressing the problems.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Countless times a day, air traffic controllers and pilots converse. But do they really understand what one another is saying?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the way.
DEREK BITTMAN, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Sometimes, you know, we have been told that "Hey, I can't do that." And you know, we may or may not understand why they can't.
MESERVE: In hopes of cultivating better understanding, starting in the coming weeks, air traffic controllers will be able to fly in a cockpit to see exactly how their communications impact a working flight crew, particularly during takeoffs and landings.
PAUL RINALDI, NATL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSN.: It really is so valuable for air traffic controllers to see at that critical point of flight that team work that's happening and why we really shouldn't give them a different instruction that they're not expecting.
MESERVE: Rinaldi did the cockpit familiarization training before 9/11. After the terror attacks the program was suspended because cockpit security became a paramount concern. As a result, about one- third of the nation's 15,000 controllers have never had the cockpit experience. The Transportation Security Administration has now given the green light to its revival. And the head of the Federal Aviation Administration is embracing it.
RANDY BABBIT, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: I was a professional airline pilot myself and had controllers on board. It gave a great understanding, it's a two-way dialogue, and it helps both parties understand some of the work environment that the other is operating in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The fighting in Libya and the terrible cost of war. Today two western journalists are being remembered for their own role in combat. Acclaimed photojournalist Chris Hondros, on the right, and Oscar nominee Tim Hetherington were armed with only their cameras. They were killed in Misrata, a rebel city under siege from Moammar Gadhafi's forces. Battle-hardened colleagues are praising the men for their courage and determination to always remind the public that war is cruel and indiscriminate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG CAMPBELL, FRIEND OF CHRIS HONDROS: I was in Libya with Chris and Tim just a little over a week ago. And Chris and I have maintained e- mail contact every day since then. In fact, yesterday morning he sent me an e-mail from Misrata. Basically saying that everything was fine and stable, and he was enjoying his assignment and getting some good photographs and certainly giving no indication of any danger or threat to his safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Witnesses say the men were struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Hondros was born in the United States. Hetherington lived here.
Also from Libya, we're following what could be a major development. Rebel forces have seized a key border crossing into Tunisia. This as the United States and Europeans step up their efforts to help the rebels.
CNN's Zain Verjee is in London. She has a closer look. Zain, take it away. What's in the papers this morning overseas?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, let me give you a flavor, Carol. Let's look first at the "International Herald Tribune." This is the headline. It says "The will, but not the means, to fight a war." It goes on to say "to watch Libyan rebels head to battle is to watch young men calling for freedom step toward a bloody mismatch and often their deaths. To arm them, though, is to assume other risks, many of which may emerge only in future years."
And check out what the United Arab Emirates' paper "The National" is saying, "Rebel plea may re-ignite debate on U.N. mandate." It says "For the U.N., the dilemma pits one of the world's bodies core principles, respect for national sovereignty, against its mandate to protect the lives of innocents caught up in the wheels of war."
And then in the UK, there's an opinion piece in "The Independent," and this is the headline here "This intervention needs to be guided by discretion." The article goes on to say, "This is in danger of being regarded not as a struggle for self-determination by an Arab nation, but a western-backed coup." Carol?
COSTELLO: And Zain, we know that there are western military advisers on the ground in Libya now. But what challenges do they face when they give advice to these rebels?
VERJEE: There are so many they face right now. One of the main ones that's really going to be an issue as soon as they get there and they're engaging with these guys according to analysts I've spoken to, they say that it's the infighting that's the problem. Who is the boss? What's happening is there are a couple of generals that are duking it out for the number one spot. There's one guy who was in exile for about 20 years in the U.S., and now he's back. And then there's this other general who was Moammar Gadhafi's former interior minister, and he's saying he's the boss.
And that's really causing a lot of problems on the battlefield. So that's going to be the first thing that they need to figure out when they get there.
COSTELLO: Zain Verjee, live from London, many thanks.
Back when Barack Obama was running for president, many of Hollywood's top stars clamored to support him. Today some A-listers are grumbling. But others are still lining up for one of his sold-out rallies in Los Angeles.
Actor Jamie Foxx is on the guest list along with Rashida Jones from the NBC sitcom "The Office," singer/songwriter Jason Mraz will also be on hand and so are Jeffrey Katzenberg. He's a big-time producer and CEO of Dreamworks Animation. And he has lots of money potentially to donate to the Obama campaign. Berry Gordy has also RSVP'd. Ed Henry is at the White House with a preview of the big shindig. And there are some notable absences tonight.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, no doubt about it. Carol, you're right. When you talk about Jamie Foxx or Jason Mraz, they're going to be performing at one of these fund raising events. They've already sold thousands of tickets to this. So the president is going to be raking in millions of dollars in Los Angeles after raising millions last night and yesterday afternoon in San Francisco.
But you're right, Matt Damon was on "Piers Morgan" last night in his show, and basically ripping the president, talking about some of the compromises he's made, how he's deeply disappointed. And the president himself, by the way, at this Facebook town hall meeting acknowledged that there's some disillusionment among some of his fans, including some of those out in Tinsel town. But he tried to turn that around into a motivator for young voters. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT DAMON, ACTOR: I really think he misinterpreted his - his mandate. I think - a friend of mine said to me the other day, I thought it was a great line, "I no longer hope for audacity."
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So rather than be discouraged, I hope everybody is willing to double down and work even harder. Regardless of your political affiliation, you've got to be involved, especially the young people here. Your generation. If you don't give us a shove, if you don't give the system a push, it's just not going to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: So you heard the pitch from the president right there. He realizes, obviously, that the youth vote was a key fuel for him in 2008. He's going to need them again in 2012. His former campaign manager, David Plouffe, now a senior White House official, was at one of these fund-raisers with the president, was saying this is going to be an extremely tight race no matter who the Republicans end up picking as their nominee. And that's one of the reasons why he was at the Facebook headquarters.
It's not just about talking about deficit reduction, policy, substance. He knows he's going to need those young people, although the fact is that with a half billion users of Facebook, not all the users are "young people." I'm on Facebook. I know you are. I don't want to insult you. I know you're still very young, Carol. But neither one of us would be considered part of Generation X or anything or Generation Y, I guess.
COSTELLO: I think the difficult part for the president is, you know, I guess a recent poll showed that 55 percent still kind of supported him, but you need to generate a lot of enthusiasm to get young people to the polls. And with unemployment - the unemployment rate so high among young people, that's a difficult task for the president.
HENRY: That's big as well as the fact that on some of the other - whether it's social issues, whether it's the Bush tax rates going back to the compromise, the president crafted with the Republicans back in December. A lot of the young people had high hopes that this president was going to really change business as usual in Washington. The president is the first to acknowledge that it isn't so easy, Carol.
COSTELLO: Ed Henry live at the White House, thank you.
HENRY: Thank you.
COSTELLO: First we hear about Catherine Zeta-Jones. Now another actress says she is bipolar. It's Disney star Demi Lovato's confession.
And a Texas-sized tinderbox. Ahead, the latest on the battle against those deadly wildfires that have charred more than one million acres in Texas already. And while the fires may intensify today, despite rain in the forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Seven months after a Rutgers student committed suicide, his roommate is indicted by a grand jury. Dharun Ravi is accused of invading Tyler Clementi's privacy by streaming a live web feed of him hooking up with another guy. Clementi killed himself a few days later. Now a grand jury slapped Ravi with hate crimes charges and an alleged cover up.
Jean Casarez joins us now from "In Session" on our sister network, TruTV. Welcome, Jean.
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION," TRUTV: Thank you, Carol. This has become a very, very serious legal case because of this 15-count indictment. You know, he previous had been charged, we're talking about the defendant in this case, the young man that put a secret camera inside the room of his roommate, Tyler Clementi and then hooked it up to a computer in a nearby room and videotaped Tyler Clementi and his partner having intimate relations.
Well, now not only is the 15-count indictment focusing on invasion of privacy and attempted invasion of privacy, but there are enhancements, Carol. In New Jersey they're called bias intimidation charges. And what it does, it's not a separate charge, but in essence, it enhances the invasion of privacy so that it is now a second and third-degree class felony. And he can serve much more time in prison.
COSTELLO: Like how much time could he serve in prison?
CASAREZ: Well, maximum we're hearing on some of these charges is 10 years. And many people are saying so he faces 10 years in prison. No, he faces more than that because there is an attempted invasion of privacy in September. There is invasion of privacy on another date in September, two different time periods. Two different acts. So a judge can actually mount those sentences one after the other to serve more than the 10 years.
COSTELLO: Well, it brings up an intriguing question. So I know this young man's actions allegedly drove Mr. Clementi to suicide. I mean, could this case apply to every other case of someone saying "Oh, somebody was cruel to me, cruel to my family member and they drove my family member to suicide, and I want similar charges brought against them"?
CASAREZ: It's very interesting because this does set a very interesting precedent. And the defense is going to say, "Wait a minute. This young man took his life. He made the intentional decision to take his life. And now you are in essence trying to charge my client with his death."
But you know, Carol, when you look at all of these charges, and many of them are cover-up charges. Count 10 and onward are cover-up charges that the defendant tried to cover up what he did. It doesn't matter that Tyler Clementi took his own life. A living person could be the victim that would then have a defendant receive all these charges through an indictment.
COSTELLO: Yes, through hate crimes and then trying to cover up the crimes and lie essentially to the authorities.
Jean Casarez, thanks so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
CASAREZ: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Checking news across country, sweet treats for wounded troops. The Miami Krispy Kreme is sending 6,000 doughnuts to U.S. troops being treated at a military hospital in Germany. The shop's owner says it's his way of giving back.
Today could be the last day for a beer-only diet for an Iowa newspaper editor after more than 40 days. Jay Wilson gave up solid food for Lent. The Christian tradition of sacrifice ends at sundown tonight. So indeed, his fast will end.
Storm cleanup is under way in Morgan Country, Alabama. High winds moved through the area yesterday snapping trees and utility poles and knocking out power.
And more severe weather potentially for parts of the southeastern United States today. It was a convoluted way of getting to you, Jacqui Jeras. There's storms expected in the southeast. Tell us about them.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They've been going on throughout the morning. Our other big weather story are the fires and that danger that continues. We've got some incredible pictures and we want to show you here from - this is the PK fire that we've been talking about, the Possum Kingdom. Just amazing photos.
Take a look at that. The smoke. You know, I don't know if you've ever been to a wildfire, Carol, but it is - it just envelops everything. The smell of it, the smoke in the air, the heat from it impacts your environment. We're talking about more than a million acres now have burned across the lone star state. Several new large fires developed yesterday.
Now let's talk about the weather conditions a little bit because they've improved. We've heard all this "Yea, things are better in Texas." Well, it's just part of Texas, not all of Texas. And literally every county is being touched by these fires. Humid conditions ahead of the system here, but very dry on the back side.
So west Texas is still as extreme as it's ever been. East Texas is doing better. But when we put rain in the forecast, the thing we've got to worry about, Carol, is that thunderstorms. That's what's bringing the rain, and they produce lightning. And even like two inches of rain or more, it's going to suck up in that dry ground because it's so, so dry. It's really not going to help all that much.
COSTELLO: OK. Thanks, Jacqui, I think. We appreciate it.
A secret file buried inside iPhones and iPads is tracking you everywhere you go, if you have one of these things. Why did Apple put that inside iPads and iPhones anyway, and what can you do about it? We'll get some answers coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: One minute she's in, the next, she's out. But it looks like Lindsay Lohan will be in the Gotti movie after all. "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer joins us. So how did she swing that?
A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" HOST: Well, what's going on behind the scenes in this movie, Carol, I got to tell you, could wind up being as interesting as the film itself. This really was less a job offer than Lindsay apparently really fighting for a role that she wanted. But yes, after a lot of speculation, Lindsay Lohan is officially on board for the new film about John Gotti Sr..
Now the executive producer for "Gotti: Three Generations" said in a statement that they brought her on board because, "she has been very enthusiastic about the Gotti project. And after resuming discussions with her, we were impressed by her commitment to the film." Now enthusiastic is right.
"Showbiz Tonight" was right there as you can see when Lindsay Lohan showed up at this press conference in New York City last week with Travolta, the whole Gotti family was there. She was posing for pictures with everyone. And when it seemed like when she wasn't getting an offer, she reportedly worked very hard to convince everyone that she was the right woman for the job.
Now, everyone expected her to play Victoria Gotti. That's what was being tossed around at the press conference. She'll actually be playing John Gotti Jr.'s wife, Kim. The project now looking for a new director as well. Nick Casaveti is originally slated. He was at that press conference. Well, he has since dropped out due to reported scheduling conflict.
Some people thought that Lohan was unhirable, Carol. Apparently she is not, but boy, does she have a lot riding on her success, not only in how she performs in this film, but showing up for work and doing her job every day.
COSTELLO: Yes. And sober, too. I just find that this story about Demi Lovato so sad. More troubles for her.
HAMMER: Yes. The 18-year-old star is telling the world now about her battles with mental illness. For the very first time she has revealed that she struggles with bipolar disorder. Now we've heard in the past about her struggles with eating disorders and depression. But this is a new revelation. She just left a treatment center three months ago.
And she told "People" magazine she is doing better and, "I feel like I am in control now where my whole life I wasn't in control." So Carol, really sad that she has to deal with all this stuff, but obviously good to hear she is now in a good place with things and getting the help she needs.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. And Ricki Lake is back?
HAMMER: Yes, this brings a smile to my face. Ricki Lake is looking to come back to daytime. She's another hopeful, of course, in the race to replace Oprah. Now, according to reports, Lake is officially developing an hour-long talk show. It's going to cover the usual topics, family, marriage, parenting, divorce, weight loss, health and nutrition. Sounds like a lot of talk shows. Lake, of course, had a talk show from 1993 all the way to 2004. She tells CNN that she's very excited to return to her roots.
The show would begin airing in the fall of 2012 if everything goes as scheduled. I got to tell you I've always liked Ricki Lake, and it's been great to see her evolve and grow up over the years. I think it would be great to have her back on a daily basis on television.
COSTELLO: It would. She has a great back story. A.J., thank you so much.
You want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world? A.J.'s got it tonight on "Showbiz Tonight" at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and 11:00 p.m. on HLN.
Well, here's something you probably never expect to see in a divorce settlement. How about ownership of a professional baseball team. Coming up, the league plays referee in the battle over who really owns the Dodgers.
And it turns out some Smartphones are actually pretty sneaky. We'll tell you more about the iPhone's secret location logs, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Sounds very shady. Secret location logs in iPhones and iPads tracking you everywhere you go. A couple of researchers stumbled upon these files. We want to get more on this from Stephanie Elam. Kind of creepy. STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Your phone, the thing is I don't want to think about it. I have an iPhone, and I already realize that in here is a lot more stuff than I realize on the day to day. And this is just one more of those things.
COSTELLO: It means your husband knows wherever you are and wherever you have gone.
ELAM: All he has to do is listen to the sound of a baby laughing and crying, anything like that, he'll find me. It's not really that hard. But the truth of the matter is for some people this could be a big, major invasion of privacy as far as they're concerned because the phone will keep track of your latitude and longitude along with the time stamp.
So it's not just saying oh, at some point in time you've been there, it's saying exactly when you've been there. This data is on your phone. When you sync your phone, it puts it on your computer. The information is there.
These programmers came up with a little program. You can download it easily. Then you get a map and you can see all the places that your iPhone has been. So obviously for some people that's upsetting because most people didn't know this was on their phone in the first place, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, but the only way that people can really access that information is if they know the password into your computer, right?
ELAM: Yes, or into your phone. I mean, you could go and encrypt the data that's there. I'm sure most people don't think about that. But, you know, a lot of other things on our phone already are asking for access to say, can we find out where you are?
And if you use the map on your iPhone, it's going to also know where you are. There's a lot of things on there. It's just something to be aware of and a lot of people wonder why Apple has put it there in the first place because if you transfer from -- let's say there's an iPhone 5 and you transfer to that one, the new device will also have all the places that you have been.
So obviously, it's doing this for a reason. We have not heard yet from Apple on why that is the case. You can't turn it off necessarily either.
COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you that. So forget about -- that's really creepy.
ELAM: Yes.
COSTELLO: Stephanie, I want you to stick around for this. When you think about what makes someone physically attractive, you usually start with their face, right?
A new study actually points to hands specifically it focuses on the length of a man's ring finger as compared to his index finger. And the longer the ring finger, the more likely a guy is to attract lots and lots of ladies.
ELAM: From now on, if you're out at the bar and you meet a guy and you think he's attractive, to make sure, you hold up his hand. You don't look for a ring, you just look at the ring finger.
COSTELLO: Exactly. So size does matter, but only as it applies to your --
ELAM: Size does matter with your digits.
COSTELLO: With your digits. I could go on with this story and tell you about previous research and what it found. It found that longer ring fingers mean more exposure to testosterone in the womb.
ELAM: Wait. So if a woman has that same thing that would be interesting.
COSTELLO: That would be interesting. I'm just thinking how long my husband's ring finger is.
ELAM: I have no idea. I'll have to go and examine it later.
COSTELLO: Yes, let's do that. I'll call you then.
ELAM: Get the measuring stick. We'll e-mail.
COSTELLO: OK, cool. Thank you, Stephanie.
ELAM: We'll tweet about it.
COSTELLO: Tweet about it, perfect. Checking our top stories now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): BP has filed a $40 billion lawsuit against TransOcean, the owner of that oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year. BP is claiming negligence caused the disaster that killed 11 workers and caused a massive environmental disaster.
Police in Canada have arrested a man in connection with a so-called webcam murder case. A 23-year-old exchange student from Beijing was attacked in her Toronto apartment while a friend in China watched via webcam. The suspect due in court today.
Queen Elizabeth turns 85 today, but there's no big celebration planned. The official public activities actually takes place on the second Saturday of June.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It certainly is not your usual divorce battle. This one's over who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): The divorce between co-owners Frank and Jamie McCourt forced Major League Baseball to step in and actually take over the day-to-day operation of the team. This after Frank McCourt reportedly took out a $30 million loan so he could make payroll. Team members vow to conduct business as usual.
NED COLLETTI, GEN. MANAGER, LOS ANGELES DODGERS: We're still in a learning process, and we don't really have a lot of information as to where we go from here. I'm sure in the next couple days we'll get more information from Major League Baseball.
ANDRE ETHIER, RIGHT FIELDER, LOS ANGELES DODGERS: It's obviously another situation, and the decision is out of our hands, the players' hands. We're just going out here and playing and hopefully representing the city and this organization as best we can and still give our fans something to cheer about and be happy and proud about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And hope they get paid. For more baseball's biggest soap opera, let's bring in "Sports Illustrated" senior writer Jon Heyman who joins us on the phone from Miami.
Jon, first of all tell us how unusual this is for Major League Baseball to step in and take over a team?
JON HEYMAN, SR. WRITER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (via telephone): Well, it's pretty unusual in baseball. They took over the expos a while back. This is a different kind of a case, though. There are a couple factors here.
One is the embarrassing divorce where lots of revelations have come out about the way the team has been operated. None of them good and also now the new revelation that they were unable to make payroll without a loan from Fox.
So it doesn't appear that the guy who's running the team right now, Frank McCourt, at the moment has the money to run the team. So he really --
COSTELLO: But he's not --
HEYMAN: There is no recourse.
COSTELLO: -- going quietly away. He's fighting, isn't he?
HEYMAN: I think he will fight. That's what I'm hearing. He's going to fight. He's wanting to operate the team, but he's lost the first court battle with his wife. So she technically owns 50 percent of the team and now he needs to pay her off.
And my understanding is it's $200 million or thereabouts he's going to have to pay her to sell this divorce case and this is money that he does not have. So he really does not have enough money to operate that team. Together they probably don't have enough money.
But separately, he certainly does not. Now that he owes $20 million to her. He owes another $30 million to Fox and $25 million to somebody else, I understand. He took out a $25 million loan in September. That may have been Fox, I'm not sure, but he's in debt quite a bit at this point
COSTELLO: And not only that, but, you know, what happened with the Giants and Dodgers stadium, his initial reaction wasn't such a great PR move for him.
HEYMAN: No. He's not too good at PR. He's actually had a rotation of PR people throughout the years hiring and firing them at will. He's done that with other members of the front office, too, where he's hired and fired. That was not a good move.
You know, obviously, the Giants fan who came there and is now in a coma beaten up by some thugs at Dodgers stadium. I mean, that was the overriding concern. He acted like it was just kind of a blip on the day, which was to him a mostly positive day.
He really needs to have better PR person handling that kind of stuff or at least telling him not to talk.
COSTELLO: Right. So what will the end result be? I mean, should fans just sit back and say oh, it's going to be OK? And what about the players? I mean, they're trying to play good baseball.
HEYMAN: Well, I think the players will be fine. It's really not their concern because the payroll will be met one way or the other. If he can't make it, the MLB will figure out a way. There's never been a situation where the players go unpaid. So they will be OK.
But in terms of the fans, it's certainly a concern because he's going to try to fight to keep the team now. They've done OK on the field, averaging 85 wins in a seven-year tenure, but things aren't looking great right now. And they look like they may be going downhill, and he has no money.
So this is probably a positive development for the fans, but we're not sure how long this is going to take. He's a litigious fellow. He likes to fight. It may drag on for many months or maybe more than a year like this.
COSTELLO: Jon Heyman, thanks for filling us in. We appreciate it.
HEYMAN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: The search for a possible serial killer and the science behind identifying human remains. We're live in New York where the investigation continues into the deaths of eight women.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: On Long Island, police divers will head back into the water this week looking for more clues in the search for a suspected serial killer.
Eight bodies have been found so far along the island's beaches. That's since December. In the meantime, CNN's Jason Carroll tells us the science behind identifying such remains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The analysis under way on remains of victims of a possible serial killer in Long Island. Four bodies still remain unidentified.
RICHARD DORMER, SUFFOLK COUNTY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Please keep in mind that this is not an episode of "CSI."
CARROLL: Cases in shows like "CSI" or "Bones" far from reality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you see on television is obviously entertainment.
CARROLL: Dr. Kobilinsky, professor of Forensic Science and Dr. Richard Li, associate professor, both at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. They don't need much to do their job.
DR. LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, JOHN JAY CRIMINAL JUSTICE COLLEGE: I would say about the size of an inch, an inch and a half.
CARROLL: All that's need for them to extract DNA, enough to possibly identify a victim.
KOBILINSKY: We certainly can extract DNA from a bone like this.
CARROLL: They took us through the process. Clean bones brought to their lab will be made into a powder.
(on camera): So we start with this device right here?
DR. RICHARD LI, JOHN JAY CRIMINAL COLLEGE: Right. You can use either the commercial blender.
CARROLL: So this is just a commercial blender? Because honestly, this looks very similar to what I think a lot of people may have at home.
(voice-over): Another device here works even better.
LI: It's called a freezer mill.
CARROLL (on camera): The freezer mill.
(voice-over): Liquid nitrogen is poured into the mill. A bone fragment encased in a tube dipped inside for deep freezing.
KOBILINSKY: I'm sure kids have seen different things put into liquid nitrogen and it freezes instantly.
CARROLL: The sample, brittle enough to blend into a fine powder. The machine uses chemicals to break down the powder even more.
(on camera): Usually this part of the process happens overnight, correct? For the sake of television, we'll move on. (voice-over): Dr. Li extracts a small amount of the mixture. Then on to another lab for the final process where the DNA is refined for the result.
(on camera): Do you in some ways feel like you're detectives, too, because in a way you're trying to find out who a person is from just a small fragment?
KOBILINSKY: I feel very much like a detective. Loved ones are lost and so the analyses of the skeletal remains are critical and very important to the families.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, we went through that entire process in just a few hours for our story, but the reality is, it really, Carol, takes several days or more to come up with a profile.
So in the case in Long Island, the medical examiner will take their DNA profiles that they come up with from the victims and try to match them to the unidentified people they already have in their system. Carol.
COSTELLO: That's amazing. I mean, did you say they could do that in several days?
CARROLL: Yes. Several days so theoretically, you know, we speak to scientists given when the remains were found out there in Long Island, it's reasonable to assume that the medical examiner already may, in fact, have a DNA profile for some of the remains that they've recovered.
COSTELLO: I hope so. That would be to the relief of many families just to know. Jason Carroll, many thanks. Live in New York.
We're still waiting to hear whether Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords could attend next week's launch of the shuttle, which will be captained by her husband. But now we know another political name who will be there. "Political Ticker" coming your way next.
But first, if you're happy and you know it, then you likely live in one of these countries. Finland comes in at number five. Followed by Australia, Canada and Sweden. After the break, we'll tell you where the world's happiest people live.
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COSTELLO: We just showed you four of the happiest countries in the entire world. That's according to a new Gallup survey, but coming in at number one, no, it's not the United States. Yes, it's Denmark. Sadly, the United States did not even make the top 10 list. It came in 12th, though. That's not bad.
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COSTELLO (voice-over): Time to check sports now. In the NBA playoffs, Manu Ginobili is back in the lineup for San Antonio after an injury. Spurs hosting the Memphis Grizzlies. Ginobili stole the ball four times. He also scored 17 points. Spurs win, 93-87. Series tied at 1-1.
This Philly bot took to the mound before Philadelphia's game with Milwaukee. The robot was built at a college lab. Didn't do too well, did it? It was designed to throw out the first pitch, but as you saw, it bounced it.
The Angels' Jered Weaver had no such problems. He struck out eight Texas Rangers last night and had a complete game in the angels' 4-1 win. Amazing. Weaver is the first pitcher in the majors this season to get five wins. Weaver got some help from center fielder Peter Borgess, there you see him, just about to make that leaping catch at the wall. Love that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Donald Trump is providing a lot of material for late-night comics. Here's Conan O'Brien's latest shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN: I'm happy Donald Trump keeps saying interesting things. It's coming out now that Donald Trump once called Ronald Reagan a con man who couldn't deliver the goods. Yes, Trump also called Abraham Lincoln a bearded moron who couldn't even sit through an hour of theater. I'm as shocked as you. Trump. That is my Trump. That's all I got.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Man, I'm not even sure that was funny. Sorry, Conan.
The first family -- let's talk about them -- they're making plans to see next week's shuttle launch. CNN's Ed Henry, he has the story from the White House. Hi, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Carol. Space shuttle "Endeavour" is going to be the next-to-last shuttle mission. President Obama, first lady, their daughters will be going to Cape Canaveral next week in order to see this shuttle launch.
What's significant, of course, as well that Mark Kelly is going to be commanding it. And his wife, Gabby Giffords, the congresswoman who was shot so tragically in Tucson, but has been on the road to recovery is expected to be there at Cape Canaveral.
So obviously all of us will be waiting to see whether, you know, she is actually with some of the crowd of dignitaries or in a special area, whether or not the president and first lady and their family get a chance to talk to Gabby Giffords face to face. Remember, the president visited her hospital room back in Tucson when he was there for that memorial service.
Meanwhile, we spoke earlier about the president's travels in California, some big fund-raisers. Let me give you a little more detail we didn't get into earlier. We mentioned Jamie Foxx, for example, will be performing at a rally. Tickets went for about $2,500 a pop. We're told several thousand tickets were sold.
And then there's going to be dinner at the Sony pictures lot. That's over $35,000 for a ticket there. The money will be split between the Obama re-elect committee, Democratic National Committee, et cetera. There were 60 tickets that were sold for that. They sold out so quickly, they added a second dinner.
So you get a sense of commander in chief can sometimes be fund-raiser in chief. He's raking in millions right now to get ready. He may be spending up to $1 billion in that re-elect campaign in 2012, Carol.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the 2012 presidential field or potential presidential field. Another hopeful, I hear, is beefing up his staff.
HENRY: That's right, Rick Santorum has just added two more staffers to his Iowa operation. It's very interesting. The first one Cody Brown, somebody who head managed the successful Republican campaign there last time around and also Lucas Draisy, former chair of College Republicans in Iowa.
This is a sense of how much these Republican candidates realize that the Iowa caucuses, we talk about it every four years, how critical they are and the key piece there is organization. Getting key players who know the state, who can organize voters, get them out to those caucuses.
It work for Barack Obama in 2008 with some of his early hires, Rick Santorum, some of the other Republicans now trying to replicate that as well, Carol.
COSTELLO: Ed Henry, we love having you. Thank you.
HENRY: Good seeing you.
COSTELLO: We'll have your next political update in one hour and a reminder for all the latest political news, go to our website, cnnpolitics.com.
A homeless woman has been charged with a crime because of where she sent her 6-year-old son to school. That story's next.
And did you know a law actually protects airplane peanuts from the government? So a big peanut ban in the skies looks pretty darn done likely. We'll talk about that, too, in our "Daily Dose" coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A Connecticut woman has been charged with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny because of where she sent her 6-year-old son to school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO (voice-over): Tonya McDowell did not actually have a residence in the school district. She's homeless. So prosecutors say her child should not have been enrolled in Brookside Elementary at taxpayers' expense.
And that she essentially stole more than $15,000 from the Norwalk, Connecticut, schools. Family advocate Gwynn Samuel sees things differently.
GWEN SAMUEL, FAMILY ADVOCATE: As a parent, this lady actually did a great thing. When I research the elementary school, she might not have known it, but she gave her son a good start.
We give these districts hundreds of millions of dollars and if we can't teach a child to read, then we have more important problems than just locking this parent up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: McDowell has since been released after posting bond. She had actually used a baby-sitter's address on the enrolment form and now the baby-sitter has been evicted from her public housing apartment.
Now our "Daily Dose" of health news. Let's talk peanuts. You can still get a pack of them on most planes. You know those little packets of peanuts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Last year the Department of Transportation offered all kinds of ideas to protect people with peanut allergies.
One option was a total peanut ban, but the government says there is actually a 12-year-old law that blocks them from tampering with the peanut policy. Some airlines have their own rules. Some no longer serve peanuts.
And others say they might set up peanut-free zones, but the government cannot force the airlines to stop handing out those little teeny tiny bags of peanuts with about ten peanuts inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's eerie and it's dangerous, the radiation dangers around the Fukushima nuclear plant. We get an exclusive look at the homes left behind in the wake of that disaster. That's in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Here's a quick look ahead at the stories making news later today. In the next hour in Los Angeles, a pre-trial hearing is set for Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician accused of fatally drugging pop star Michael Jackson. At 1:00 p.m. Eastern in Spring Valley, New York, a funeral service is set for the mother accused of drowning herself and three of her children in the Hudson River.
And later today, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, President Obama holds another town hall-style meeting at a renewable energy company in Reno, Nevada.
Now it's time for Suzanne Malveaux, the NEWSROOM to continue and I'll be over to talk about conspiracy theories.
