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Court Goes Into Unexpected Recess During Casey Anthony Trial; New York Legalizes Gay Marriage; CNN Sports Icon Dies; CNN Hero Attempts To Rescue Young Girls From Sexual Slavery In Nepal; Flooding Devastates Town In North Dakota; Past Week in Politics

Aired June 25, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Just into us here on this CNN Saturday morning, a shocker in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Testimony was set to resume about an hour ago, but the judge walked in just a short time ago, moments ago, and made the announcement that they are in recess for the day.

Take a listen to the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE BELVIN PERRY, ORANGE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: As both sides concur that a legal issue has arisen unrelated to the issue that we talked about first thing this morning dealing with Dr. Ferden that would necessitate recessing for today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, this was a quick end to what was expected to be a full day of testimony. The past two days we have seen some of the most dramatic testimony that we have seen in this trial, with Casey Anthony's mother and brother both tearfully testifying. The judge, when they came in this morning, they were set to reconvene at 9:00 a.m.

As soon as they came in, they had to go into the judge's chambers to try to resolve one issue. But the judge came out, as you heard there, and said that there is another issue that will cause them to have to recess for the day.

Our David Mattingly is at the courthouse for us. Also, attorney, Holly Hughes is here with me in Atlanta. I'm going to turn to holly here in just a moment. But, David, what in the world just happened?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We really don't know, T.J. It was an unusual move that both sides went into the judge's chambers. Usually they just go to a side bar and have their discussions amongst themselves there in court. This time they were completely away from view, behind closed doors, with the court reporter as they were going through their discussions.

Then the judge emerges and says that this is a legal issue that requires them to not have court today. He doesn't elaborate, leaving everyone to speculate what could this legal issue be? And it could be something as simple as them requiring the services or information from someone who's not available today to something possibly a problem with a juror.

So, again, it opens up a wide range of speculation of what sort of roadblock they ran into today that required them to step back and say, we can't do anything today. We're going to have to come back and try again on Monday. So, again, quite an unexpected turn of events here today in Orlando.

HOLMES: And David, you stay here with me, as I bring in attorney Holly Hughes. Holly, he came out and said there was an unrelated issue to the issue they initially went into chambers for. Let's go back now to the original issue. And that was the defense attorney trying to bring up some evidence or testimony that the prosecution wasn't aware of and didn't appreciate.

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. This is yet another alleged discovery violation, T.J. And as our viewers know, this is not the first time. Jose Baez, lead counsel for Casey Anthony, has been told by the judge on the record these violations are intentional. "I find them to be intentional, Mr. Baez. You need to bring forth all the information, paycheck sure your experts put what they're going to testify to in their report. Give their opinion ahead of time so the other side can properly prepare."

And that's not just to Jose. The state has to provide the defense the same type of information. This has repeatedly gone on, where the defense attorney has shown up, says his expert's going to testify to something that is not in the judge's pretrial order.

And what I'm referring to there, T.J., back in February, they had -- you know, this case has been going on for three years, behind the scenes, pretrial hearings, over and over, and this continually arose. The judge has said in the past, hey, both sides are playing games.

So to avoid this, to stop this from happening in trial, because we'll have jurors that are sequestered, because we have jurors sequestered and we don't want to hold them hostage any longer than we have to. So to make sure trial slows smoothly, I'm putting an order in place and I'm saying, if it's not in your expert's report that's provided to either side, they can't testify about it. And yet again this morning, Jose Baez shows up and wants to do the same thing.

HOLMES: David Mattingly, let me bring you back in. You've been watching this trial and you mentioned a moment ago about how those -- it seems like there's been a ton of stoppages during this trial, because the lawyers have to go to the side and have a little chat with the judge and then they go back to testimony. I guess, remind our viewers why we are seeing Saturday court in this trial in the first place. And also, what do we miss -- what do they miss if they have to skip a day of testimony in this trial?

MATTINGLY: Well, we're seeing sessions on Saturdays, because this jury has been sequestered. They're staying in a hotel. Their lives have been interrupted. They're on hold until this trial is over. And the judge yesterday was making it very clear that he wants this thing wrapped up by the end of next week. They were actually plotting out day by day, what they think is going to happen, and the judge was indicating that he hopes that the jury would be able to start deliberating possibly a week from today.

Well, now that schedule is out the window. The jury's going back to their hotel, sequestered. Again, their lives are on hold and the judge very cognizant of this, because he knows that as time goes by, it's going to put more and more pressure on these jurors and it might somehow have an effect on the decision-making progress.

HOLMES: Holly Hughes, back to you, there was something you said to me a short time ago, and I know this is not necessarily a legal opinion, but you said, you can tell this judge is upset. Even the way he walked out of the courtroom looked like he was pretty peeved with the attorneys.

HUGHES: Yes. He is madder than a wet hen right now, OK? Did you see him come off that stand and stride out of there? His arms were pumping. He looked like he was fixing to break into a jog, OK? Judge Perry has had it.

And he's even told the defense, after this trial wraps, we're going to have a hearing on whether or not I should hold you in contempt. And the Florida bar is going to be looking into this as well, Mr. Baez. And yet we see him show up with another alleged violation. So, yes, Judge Perry is -- he's hit it, tilt, you know, stick a fork in him, he's done, T.J.

HOLMES: But Holly, help us understand. You know more so about this than we do, but attorneys are -- even this violation today that he was talking about, even if you watch "Law & Order" for two weeks you know that you can't do that. Is he making honest mistakes? Is this a combination of inexperience and rushing through his job, not doing good work? But is he intentionally trying to make some kind of a point here?

HUGHES: I'm going to look at the evidence, because I've never met the man. I know when he caught this case three years ago, he only had three years ago of experience. Now, having been in the law for over 20 years myself, you know, and tried over 100 felony jury trials, death penalties, rapes, you've got to do it over and over before you get really good at it.

But what I will say is, at this point, I agree with the judge, because the judge has gone on record, T.J., as saying, I find this to be intentionally, I absolutely do. And that's why he's going to hold a contempt hearing. And I've got to tell you, the chances that he's not going to be held in contempt are about as good as the chances of a roach in a raid factory, OK?

HOLMES: Holly, good to have you here with us. Holly Hughes has been with us here this morning on this trial. Certainly appreciate you. David Mattingly, as always, thank you. We'll certainly keep an eye on what's happening in Orlando. That's seven minutes past the hour now. We need to bring you some sad news about a CNN family member, really someone who was credited with helping to put CNN on the map. Nick Charles, longtime host of "CNN Sports Tonight," has died. He had been battling bladder cancer for the past couple of years.

A lot of you certainly may remember the name, remember the face, remember the reporting, but maybe if you don't, you'll certainly remember just recently our Sanjay Gupta did a special that really, really resonated with our audience. We got so much unsolicited feedback from people who were touched by his story of trying to prepare his family for his passing over the past several months, preparing himself as well.

Nick Charles, 64 years old.

But I want to bring in Sanjay Gupta is on the line with me now. Sanjay, we appreciate you hopping on, and Nick Charles knew this was coming and he knew it was coming fairly soon, did he not?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, he knew for sure. It was not even two years ago that he was diagnosed, and he went through chemotherapy for some time. He was getting treatment, but it was in January, T.J., where the chemotherapy was just making him so sick, they decided to, you know, stop his treatments at that point and he knew this was coming.

But, you know, T.J., it's one of those things. I think everyone expected one day to get this news, but it still comes as a shock when it actually happens. It certainly did for me this morning, and I think for a lot of other people as well. And it's, you know, it's tough, but he really taught people a lot of lessons over the last two years about how to live life when you know your time is limited.

HOLMES: And remind our viewers, and I know a lot of people -- and they did. I want you to know, I wasn't able to talk to you about until here now, so we'll have the conversation on live TV, but I got so much feedback, Sanjay, from friends and family members of mine, were just so taken by that special you did with Nick Charles. Remind our viewers, if they did not see it, how he was kind of preparing himself and his family for this moment.

GUPTA: Well, it was quite touching. And I think for anybody out there who is suddenly confronted with the mortality, how they decide to approach the rest of their life is a question, I think, maybe we ask ourselves sometimes, we ask of our family members, our friends.

Nick, you know, he very much wanted to live his remaining time with a real purpose, with real passion. He has a five-year-old daughter, Giovanna, and he wanted to be as much a part of her life and create things for her that he knew he might not be able to see but that he could envision.

I think one of the things he really taught me and I think that a lot of people saw was that just because you are now forced to live in the present because of this cancer diagnosis that he had and his imminent time, doesn't mean that he could not dream and imagine the future. That was one of the things Nick really wanted to get across.

And he dreamt. Let me tell you, T.J., a big dreamer. They built their dream house after Nick was diagnosed, after he was told he had less than two years to live. They said, you know what, let's build a dream house. Let's imagine where a piano would go, let's figure out exactly where Giovanna, their daughter, would hang her clothes, and they did all of this, because that's the kind of guy he was. That's a really important and touching lesson.

And also, T.J., listen to the way people talk about him today. All of our time will come one day, how will they talk about you, how will they talk about me? We know how they're talking about nick today.

HOLMES: One last thing about this video, this is a guy we should all credit with putting this network we're on right now on the map.

GUPTA: No question. I mean, I don't know, I've always been a big sports fan and it was Nick Charles and Fred Hickman with were the longest sports anchor duo in history, 17 years they were on the air together. Hick and Nick is what they were referred to, there, colloquially, and just iconic images of Nick in all these places all over the world. You know, doing what he did best. He loved all kinds of sports. Boxing, T.J., you may know, was his real passion. He covered a lot of fights and ended up calling fights as well. So he did a lot for CNN and a lot for the sports world.

HOLMES: Sanjay Gupta for us. Sanjay, we appreciate you hopping on the line. Sad day. It was one he knew was coming, a lot of people knew was coming, but when you hear it, it's a shock. Appreciate you, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HOLMES: Here now the reaction from Charles death from Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, saying, quote, "As a journalist and sports personality, Nick Charles helped put CNN on the map in its early days. He brought intelligence, style, and heart to his work, qualities that translated to our company and inspired those of us who were fortunate to work alongside him.

His passing is a loss to CNN, to the sports world, and to the fans and friends everywhere who were with him to the end of his extraordinary life. Like them, our thoughts today of are nick and with his family." Nick Charles dead at the age of 64 today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: About a quarter past the hour on this CNN Saturday morning.

It is being called the worst flooding to hit Minot, North Dakota, in more than a century. Take a look here, folks. Yes, these are streets here. But about 4,000 homes, the estimate so far, that have already been underwater, water all the way up to the rooftops. The Cirrus River is the one that hasn't even crested yet. Not going to happen until maybe tonight or early tomorrow at six feet above record flood stage.

Reynolds Wolf has been helping me here with perspective. Go ahead.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What you see in the upper right-hand corners is the Department of Defense. When the department of defense has to take pictures of your neighborhood, usually a bad scene.

HOLMES: The only ones who can get in there.

WOLF: Exactly. When you see a lot of these homes, a lot of people might think, wait until the water recedes and you can move right back in, you can't. It's a huge mess. Floods are nasty, dirty things, and many of those houses will be just totaled because of the heavy mold damage you'll have in those kind of situations. Just a heartbreaking thing to see, the worst they've experienced, T.J., since 1881. Old record. Hard to believe.

Over a quarter of the population of that town is gone. The water will rise 10 to 15 feet. It could be weeks before it recedes. What they need right now is a spell of dry weather. They had some rain this morning, they may see reoccurring showers later this afternoon.

(WEATHER BREAK)

HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you, as always, buddy.

New York is now the sixth state to allow same-sex marriages. State Senate passed the law last night and Governor Andrew Cuomo wasted little time in signing it. It will take effect in the next 30 days. CNN's David Ariosto joins me now from New York. This was a Republican-led Senate that actually gave the deciding votes last night. The first time we've seen that in this country. But Democrats had to do some deal-making.

DAVID ARIOSTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was likely some horse trading, you're right, T.J., that was happening behind the scenes. The legislative session ended on Monday and we extended it all the way out to Friday without a deal. It was only until late Friday night when Governor Cuomo signed this Bill almost at the stroke of midnight that the same-sex marriage bill actually became law. It will take effect in about 30 days. Cuomo may have had some political capital to burn. It was with the Republicans.

Cuomo enacted some belt-tightening measures earlier this year without raising taxes, but he also enacted a sort of widespread state campaign that many people who have been studying this have said that it just simply wasn't the same case two years ago when the bill failed in New York state senate.

Here in New York, there are celebrations, and those in opposition were posted on both sides. Down at the Stonewall Inn, where in many accounts, the gay rights movement started both in New York and nationally, was a scene of revelry. Let's look in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just incredible. I used to be in raids for six years before Stonewall. But it's really amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just really great to know that finally, here, that everyone else can have the same rights and be able to get married and, you know, show the love that they have. It's amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since I was a little girl, I didn't think that marriage was possible for me at all. Just now, hearing, like, you can get married.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Let me put this in a little bit of context, T.J. While New York is the most popular state to enact these laws and certainly is the sixth state, the amount of people are now doubled. Just think about that. The amount of people who are operating under same-sex marriage laws has now doubled in the United States when these laws go into effect in about 30 days.

Still, opposition leaders are voiceful in their own right. They warn against the unintended consequences of potential lawsuits against religious institutions, namely Catholic adoption agencies, that lawmakers try to allay with some of those fears, an amendment that was sort of a last-minute deal on Friday.

HOLMES: David, last thing. Help us understand, as well, the significance of this residency requirement or the lack of residency requirement in New York.

ARIOSTO: Sure. Sure, sure. New York does not require a residency requirement for this same-sex marriage law. It's not the only state. Massachusetts also does not. That was changed by a court decision years past, when a court decision effectively made same-sex marriage legal in 2004 in Massachusetts.

The idea that people will be flocking to the state, it's not necessarily an idea that lawmakers have been discussing, although opposition groups have thrown this out. Effectively, New York is one of those states that even prior to this law, people were able to come here, having their marriages recognized in other states, and have those same rights enjoyed here. Not a lot changes here in New York. T.J.?

HOLMES: David, we appreciate you this morning. Thanks so much.

And we saw some reaction there from David, was not everybody, as you know, cheering this decision. A lot of people put a lot of money into defeating this legislation. Here's a statement, though, from the New York catholic bishops led by Archbishop Timothy Dolan, saying "We worry that both marriage and the family will be undermined by this tragic presumption of government in passing this legislation that attempts to redefine these cornerstones of civilization." We'll continue to have much more on this new law and the criticism right here on CNN. Well, young girls stolen from their homes and sold into slavery -- human trafficking. Meet a woman who has made it her mission to stop it. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it's 25 minutes past the hour now on this CNN Saturday morning. Rescuing children from sex slavery, that is one woman's mission. And so far, she's saved more than 12,000 women who were being forced to work in brothels. That's why she is a CNN hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANURADHA KOIRALA, CNN HERO: In the rest, America, Europe, if someone comes and says, I want to make your child a prostitute, they would give them one slap or shoot them. But here, families, they are tricked all the time.

Girls are brought from the villages by people who can lure them and tell them this they are getting a nice job. The border between India and Nepal is the conduit point of trafficking. Once they are here, there is no way to escape.

I'm Anuradha Koirala, it's my strong goal to stop every girl from being trafficked. When we go to the border, the exit points, we are intercepting four girls to five girls per day. After the rescue, the girl is taken to my place in Nepal. We started this to help survivors, trafficking survivors. We take everybody.

The girls who come back from brothels, they are totally, psychologically broken. We give them whatever work they want to do, whatever training they want to do. One day we will really stop it. The trafficking will end. These are all convicted. There is always a small scar that, yes, one day I was trafficked, but today I am something new in my life. They are my strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And actress and activist Demi Moore recently went to Nepal to work with one of our CNN heroes, who you just saw profiled there. Our CNN cameras were there as well. You can tune in Sunday night, 8:00 p.m. eastern to see "Nepal's Stolen Children -- a CNN Freedom Project documentary."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Bottom of the hour on this CNN Saturday morning. Good to have you here with us. I'm T.J. Holmes. Let's give you a look at some of the stories making headlines, a shocker a few minutes ago in the Casey Anthony trial that was resuming, or set to resume here on this Saturday morning.

The judge came in not too long after the trial was set to resume and said there was an unexpected issue that came up that would cause them to be in recess for the rest of the day. Testimony in the trial will not resume again until Monday. He did not go further in explaining, at least in open court, what this issue may have been.

Also, in 30 days, gay and lesbian couples will be able to legally get married in New York. Celebrations broke out after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the historic legislation last night. New York becomes now the sixth state to approve same-sex unions. Not everybody, of course, cheering the decision. Here's a statement from the New York Catholic bishops, led by Archbishop Timothy Dolan, saying "We worry that both marriage and the family will be undermined by this tragic presumption of government in passing this legislation that attempts to redefine these cornerstones of civilization."

And two men who were planning a terrorist attack in New York were hoping to start a Muslim uprising in the U.S. Their apparent target, a military recruiting station that also housed a daycare center. The pair arrested when a third man they were trying to recruit told police.

Also, thousands of mourners packed the streets of Damascus today for the funerals of two children and a man who were killed during protests yesterday. CNN not able to confirm the authenticity of the video you're seeing here. Activists say 20 people were killed during Friday protests.

President Obama announced this week U.S. troops will start pulling out of Afghanistan this summer, 10,000 will leave by the end of this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the beginning, but not the end of our effort to wind down this war. We'll have to do the hard work of keeping the gains that we've made while we draw down our forces and transition responsibility for security to the Afghan government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, all of the Republicans running for president rejected president Obama's plan, but they were divided on whether he was drawing down troops too fast or too slow. Here to talk about the president's plan and al the world of power politics, look at who we've got here, Maria Cardona decided to come back, Democratic strategist. We were so hurt she was gone. So forgive us for picking on you, but we're glad you're back.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm glad to be back, thank you.

HOLMES: And Republican strategist Lenny McAllister, who we can't get to take a week off.

(LAUGHTER)

He's in Chicago this weekend. Good to see you back, as always. Maria, what was your political headline of the week? CARDONA: It was, clearly, Afghanistan. So my headline would be "President Obama highlights key successes in Afghanistan, charters centered course for troop withdrawal."

HOLMES: Lenny?

LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

HOLMES: OK, you're usually pretty good with yours, but this one warrants a little explanation. Tell me, what does that mean?

MCALLISTER: Well, basically, he showed on Wednesday night that he out-cowboyed the cowboy President George W. Bush. If you listen to some of that speech from president Obama on Wednesday night and you were a conservative that's big on protecting the homeland and you didn't like when he told Pakistan, I don't care where terrorists are hiding, you cannot hide from the United States of America if you're trying to harm our homeland, if you did not like that, you'll never like president Obama. That was Reagan-esque in defending the United States homeland. The worst of times, the economy's not changing. So although he out-cowboyed George W. Bush, he's going to probably fall to the fate of George H. W. Bush in 2012 if this continues.

HOLMES: How is he going to convince people, well, he doesn't have to, but the talk will be out there that politics was driving his decision on Afghanistan? You know, September, they'll all be gone, just a couple of months to make sure all these troops are out a couple of months before the election? A lot of people say that just doesn't look good.

CARDONA: Well, I think what he does is he points back to what he has said from the very beginning when he started campaigning. He's always said that Afghanistan needs to be where we put our focus and where he actually -- when he announced the troop mobilization in December of 2009, he chartered three objectives, which he was able to say that we have done.

One of those was to be able to diminish Al Qaeda's power. We've killed 20 or 30 of their leaders, including Osama bin Laden. We've reduced the impetus of the Taliban. And they've been able to train 100,000 Afghan security forces so that they can start taking responsibility for their own country.

He has said -- he has said that this is what he was going to do. This was part of his commitment, and he laid out those objectives. And he's done that. So he will be able to say, this is what I've always said I was going to do. He's keeping that commitment.

HOLMES: Lenny, as we go back to the Republican side, the Republicans, those that are running, at least, kind of split on criticizing the president.

You tell me Lenny, who this week -- you had Huntsman announcing earlier this week, but which Republican is really starting to gain some steam? Romney is out front with the money, and I guess he's been called a front-runner. But who do you feel there's a buzz around, who is really finding a stride right now?

MCALLISTER: Michele Bachmann. But she's not going to win the nomination. She's creating a whole lot of buzz around her, but she'll end up being the number two at this point in time.

HOLMES: You don't want to give her a chance, Lenny? Don't want to give her a chance?

MCALLISTER: No, I just don't think that the part's ready to nominate somebody that far right to go against president Obama. Because she's going to have a hard time getting the middle of America in a general election. However, you take somebody like a Romney or somebody else at the top of the ticket, a Rick Perry and pair him with her, that's a strong ticket for 2012.

HOLMES: All right, do you agree there, Maria, but quickly, because I want to ask you about gay marriage in New York and president to wrap it up, but is she the start right now, if you will?

CARDONA: Well, if she has, I think the GOP has more problems than they know how to deal with, because Lenny's absolutely right. And here I'm going to offer a second headline, T.J., which is "The GOP is putting out a help wanted ad," who can make it through the GOP primary and be competitive with President Obama? They don't have anything who can do both of those things at the same time. Michele Bachmann with absolutely make it through the GOP primary. There's no way she'll be competitive during a general election.

HOLMES: Lenny, who is that person who can do both?

MCALLISTER: Rick Perry, Chris Christie. Those are two names --

HOLMES: The two guys who aren't in it!

CARDONA: They aren't in the race right now!

MCALLISTER: That's very true. And as I said, they're not in the race, however, Romney is out there in front, and nobody's really eating into his lead right now. And he's going to play it safe, as long as he continues to play it safe and have good answers on the Romneycare, he'll be OK, at least for the time being.

CARDONA: There is no good answer for the conservatives, though, on Romney care.

HOLMES: Now New York becoming the sixth state to approve same- sex marriage. The president was there in front of gay donors on Thursday night. He didn't use the word "marriage." some people in the crowd heckled him a bit. A few people yelling out saying, hey, take a stand on what we're doing here in New York.

Lenny, let we start with you on this one. Can the president, will the president come out for gay marriage. And can he do it, will he do it before Election Day next year?

MCALLISTER: I don't think he's going to do it, and I don't understand all this criticism of the president. Honestly, it's not like he has a history of saying things such as, you know, I'm against the tax cuts before I'm for the tax cuts, or I'm against Iraq and for Libya in the same situation. It's not like he has a history of going back and forth politically for political expediency. I don't know what I they're being so critical of him.

HOLMES: And Maria, as you wrap this up, he keeps saying he's evolving on this issue. Some say, come on.

CARDONA: I think Lenny's right. He's been very clear from the beginning that his thoughts are evolving and the country's thoughts are evolving, and now for the first time, the majority of Americans are for gay marriage.

This president has done a lot for the gay/lesbian community. And I think if he looks at where we are from a standpoint of society, I think it is time for him to be able to come out for gay marriage. Sometimes you have to put politics aside and do the right thing. The time has come --

HOLMES: Oh, Maria, when does that happen? Putting politics aside?

MCALLISTER: T.J., I have to apologize. I was being sarcastic. He has a tendency to flip-flop on stuff like this.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: We'll pick up right there next week.

MCALLISTER: He's trying to find the political sweet spot and he can't find it.

HOLMES: Lenny, Maria, good to see you. Good to have you back. Maria, you said sometimes they do the right thing and put politics aside. Maria has lost it. Quick break. We're right back.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: About a quarter from the top of the hour. Now joined by our friend, Joe Carter, from HLN Sports. It's about to get a little quieter at tennis matches. They'll quiet you down before the players serve. The crowd has to be quiet. But the players have been loud, in particular, the women over the past several years.

JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: Wimbledon is known as the most stuffy of all tennis tournaments, but I don't think that the chief executive is out of bounds here by saying that he would like to see the players stop grunting. He's saying it's really spoiling the game at Wimbledon. That it's not only disruptive for the audience, it's not only disruptive for the spectators, it's disruptive for other players.

Now, Maria Sharapova was playing yesterday and she's known as a grunter. Take a listen and you decide for yourself. Is it too loud or not?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: She sounds like she's in pain. Every shot, she does that.

CARTER: Maria Sharapova has the loudest grunt on record. In 2009, she was recorded at 105 decibels.

HOLMES: They measure this stuff?

CARTER: Yes, they measure this sort of thing. And 105 decibels is about as loud as a car horn from three feet away.

HOLMES: Wow.

CARTER: Now, here's the thing. He's saying, basically, the chief executive of Wimbledon, he'd like to see this stop because, see, the younger players see the older players do it, so they think it's the right thing to do. And that, right now, if you can start to slow it down, will see it start to get phased out of the tennis tournament.

HOLMES: Is this just what some of them do? Is it natural? Or players think they help it in some ways?

CARTER: Here's the difference, it doesn't happen during practice. So when it doesn't happen during practice, why is it happening during an actual match? There's no evidence that proves that by grunting you actually get a physical advantage towards a hot.

HOLMES: We'll see what happens there. You brought me some of the greatest video you've ever brought me when you showed John Wall throw out the first pitch last week. Another one?

CARTER: Yes, done by Dirk Nowitzki, MVP, throws out the first pitch, but uses a basketball, then throws the high heater. But, he had a great time. He actually got it to the plate, which is all that counts. That's all we ever say, just get it there. But I like the smile on his face, he's having a good time.

The guy had so much criticism over the last few years, you know, he was overrated, he was never going to be a champion, too much of a scorer, never much of a team guy. But for him to be able to win the championship, get the monkey off his back, you can see he's relieved and enjoying himself.

HOLMES: And of course he throws a little high, he's seven feet tall. Good to see you, Joe Carter. Quick break. We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: We're about seven minutes to the top of the hour on this CNN Saturday morning. And on this Saturday morning, we here at CNN have gotten some sad news about one of our own, one of our originals here. Nick Charles has died. Nick was a CNN staple for years on sports tonight. He lost a two-year battle with bladder cancer. He was 64 years old. Dr. Sanjay Gupta now looks back at the career of Nick Charles.

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NICK CHARLES, FORMER CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: We're here at the rose bowl, at the Superdome. We got the feel of the place. Hello again from Pontiac, Michigan. I'm Nick Charles.

GUPTA: The voice, the smile, the hair. Nick Charles was CNN's original sports anchor and part of the longest running anchor team in television sports history, teaming up with Fred Hickman on "Sports Tonight" for almost 17 years. Nick did it all, from the Olympics --

CHARLES: The Olympics have finally arrived.

GUPTA: -- to the Kentucky derby.

CHARLES: But for now the one to beat is a girl.

GUPTA: But the one thing he never missed was a good fight.

CHARLES: In the back parking lot of the stadium here at Caesar's palace, we'll find out more about what former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is made of.

GUPTA: But in August of 2009, the fight became his own. This time Nick was in the ring and the opponent was stage IV bladder cancer. Nick chose to do what he's done all his life - fight, enduring rounds of chemo and radiation. He refused to let miss diagnosis define him. He kept a positive attitude and focused on living with purpose and passion.

I had a chance to sit down with nick weeks before he died.

GUPTA (on camera): It's a beautiful place. How have you been feeling?

CHARLES: I'm feeling great, really feeling fine. I'm a forward- looking person, but also a living in the moment person. So I wake up every day expecting to have a good day. It may sound trite, Sanjay, but life, as you get older is about 20 percent what happens to you and about 80 percent how you react to it.

GUPTA: When you have this change in attitude where you say, it's 80 percent how you react to it, you developed that because you're now confronting your mortality? CHARLES: I think about my mortality and I'll think about just look at the sky and say, this is beautiful this morning. Look at this dawn. And I'll only go that far.

You really need, and I've told my older children this, Sanjay. In life you need short-term, medium-term, and long-range goals. I'm at the short-term goals. It's almost day-to-day, moment-to-moment. And it's really quite sustaining for me and actually quite invigorating.

GUPTA (voice-over): Nick lived longer than his doctors expected. His inspiration, his five-year-old daughter, Giovanna, and his wife, Cory. He didn't hide from his youngest child that he was dying. Instead, he focused on his faith.

CHARLES: Spiritually win tell her that, you know, I'm going to prepare a better place for you and we're going to be there eternally. The eternal picture is a difficult concept for a five-year-old, but we talk about heaven a lot.

GUPTA: Nick found meaning all around him. He died surrounded by the people he loved, at peace, knowing he'd fought the good fight.

GUPTA (on camera): And you've named some of these mountains?

CHARLES: Well, yes, I have three peaks, and I always tell -- that's mommy, Giovanna in the middle, and daddy, and they're always going to be there, and you're always going to look at them and know that we're always going to be together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Here now a statement we want to give you from Jim Walton, the president of CNN worldwide. It says, quote, "As a journalist and sports personality, Nick Charles helped put CNN on the map in its early days. He brought intelligence, style, and heart to his work, qualities that translated to our company and inspired those of us who were fortunate to work alongside him. His passing is a loss to CNN, to the sports world, and to the fans and friends everywhere who were with him to the end of his extraordinary life. Like them, our thoughts today are of Nick and with his family."

Nick Charles dead today at the age of 64.

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