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Aftermath of Deadly Storms; Six Americans Killed in Afghanistan; Blogger Andrew Breitbart Dies at 43
Aired March 01, 2012 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour here. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Deadly tornadoes claim another victim. Also, new acts of revenge over the burning of Korans in Afghanistan and the showdown over birth control health coverage in the Senate. Time to play reporter roulette.
We begin with Don Lemon in tornado ravaged Harrisburg, Illinois. Don, we just got word now that a Kansas man as died from injuries he received during a tornado there bringing the death toll from all these different states now to 13. Tell me a little bit about where you are, what you see and how many homes were destroyed in Harrisburg?
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, a lot. And that's an understatement, 200 to 300 homes, destruction everywhere, and everyone you speaking to pretty much when you hear that whole thing where it says it sounded like a freight train, well, it indeed sounded like a freight train to a lot of people.
And also they say it sounded like a truck was heading straight for their homes, as I said, destruction everywhere. You look on that ridge up there in that neighborhood, that's where the six people died here in Harrisburg, Illinois.
And if you -- as we come around here, we can show you the destruction, starting with the mall. There's a big Wal-Mart over there. Here is a strip mall here. You can see this was a cell phone store and if you just walk in here, you can see there they are, cell phones, cell phones, all the inventory still here. People still coming back to pick it up.
It is well guarded with police help. But, Brooke, I have to tell you, instead of looking at the damage and destruction like this here's what people are looking forward to. They're looking forward to the cleanup, as you can see the workers over there cleaning this town up.
They're putting on new roofs. They're securing what they have. And all the things that are not in the good enough condition to withstand a little bit of wind, they're going to bulldoze it and tear it down.
And here's the interesting thing, though, that we're hearing, Brooke. And you can talk to Chad Myers about this. Another storm system is brewing, and they're preparing for that one as well.
BALDWIN: Yes, we're hearing Friday, Don Lemon, Friday. Don, thank you so much.
Want to move along here next on "Reporter Roulette." CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Afghanistan for us. Two more American deaths there today possibly carried by America's supposed Afghanistan allies.
Nick, what do you know?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, we now have six Americans killed in about the last week by men in Afghan army uniform turning their weapons on them.
The psychological impact of this on American soldiers who have to work hand in hand with Afghans every day is bound to be significant. The details from today are still sketchy. ISAF confirmed two NATO personnel killed, one by one of the gunman being an Afghan soldier, the other apparently a language instructor working at this base in the south of Afghanistan.
An Afghan official gave a few more details, saying that this language instructor was there to teach the Afghans English, had apparently been there for a year, and they found documentation upon him to suggest links to the Taliban, suggesting perhaps this was a long-planned operation.
They also confirmed that both of the dead were, in fact, Americans. Now, I should point out this goes right to the heart of the key point of America's exit strategy here. They have to be able to trust the Afghan soldiers they're working alongside.
They're training to take over security across the country. Without that, NATO can't withdraw. And with these instances, three now in just over a week, one of which two Americans were shot dead in the heart of the securest part of Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, are really beginning to erode that trust. And if that happens, that could really put the exit strategy in trouble here -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," CNN Radio's Lisa Desjardins on Capitol Hill for us, where the Senate stopped this controversial birth control health insurance measure.
Lisa, I know the vote is very close. Just what happened?
LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO: That's right. You know, this is a very private matter, contraception, health care, but a very public battle today.
By a vote of 51-49, the Senate tabled a Republican measure that basically was trying to block President Obama's contraception idea. What's all that mean? Let's get specific. This was the bill today. It was a measure by Missouri's Roy Blunt that would allow employers to opt out of any health care coverage that they found morally objectionable.
That could be anything, but, of course, that, includes contraception. That idea was blocked. It was tabled again 51-49. So that bill right now, Brooke, that's dead. But the fiery words we heard today on the floor, those are still ringing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The issue here is protecting the conscience clause and the religious beliefs of the American people.
SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: Every step of the way, it seems as if there is an assault on women's reproductive choice.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: This is tyranny. It is the political bullying of a religious group.
SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D), COLORADO: It would allow any employer to deny any health service to any American for virtually any reason.
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Having a conscience clause exemption used to be something that Democrats and Republicans all agreed to. Now it's not.
SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D), WASHINGTON: We defeated an amendment that would have historically taken away something that women in this country have counted on for decades. And that's the ability to make their own health care choices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DESJARDINS: You know, Brooke, I'm a very proud CNN Radio reporter. So whenever I hear sound like that of a passionate debate, it always perks my ear up. And I want to tell you about one other sound bite I heard while listening for radio today.
Susan Collins, senator of Maine, got on the floor and she seemed to blame everyone. She said this has become nothing but an election year political football. She said there clearly should have been a compromise, could have been, but simply wasn't -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Lisa D., thank you so much live for us on Capitol Hill.
And that's your "Reporter Roulette" on this Thursday.
And in a culture of heated politics and fire-breathing pundits, he was one of the loudest voices. And now we have learned Andrew Breitbart has died. There is still a lot here in the story that we don't know the yet. But Piers Morgan interviewed him less than 48 hours ago. Piers is going to join me live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If you didn't believe it before, you definitely should now. Google is watching you. In fact, starting today, the Internet giant has a new privacy policy that many would say it's actually anti- privacy.
Dan Simon explains how this works and how it could change everything about your life online.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A senior attorney at Google, Keith Enright helped draft the company's controversial new privacy policy.
KEITH ENRIGHT, GOOGLE SENIOR PRIVACY COUNSEL: That's about proving relevance, about information that you've shared with Google to make Google products and services more useful for you.
SIMON: It does that by keeping track of all of your activity across all of Google's sites, like YouTube, Gmail and maps. It takes that information and builds a profile of you to display more relevant ads and search results.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll treat you as a single user across all of our products, combining information you provided from one service with information from the others.
SIMON: And that's what frightens privacy watchdogs. Simply put, they worry that one company will know too much about us.
Attorneys general from 36 states wrote a blistering letter to the company, calling the company's new policy an invasion of privacy. And others sounding the alarm that there's no way to opt out.
PETER ECKERSLEY, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: If there are things that you want to keep private about your life, those records are all in there.
SIMON: But Google calls that untrue and says the criticism is unfounded. Now, it's going on the offensive trying to erase a perception that it's violating users' rights.
ENRIGHT: It really is about delivering the best service that we can to users. Based on our experience with users, we know that a consistent, seamless experience across all of our products and services s going to deliver the most value for them.
SIMON: Enright points out that users will still have a wide set of privacy controls. Search results can be deleted or edited, users can decline targeted ads, and log out of their accounts and use Google services anonymously.
(on camera): So what's all the fuss about?
ENRIGHT: I think it's largely based on misperception. I think people think that something is happening that is not in fact happening.
SIMON (voice-over): Google may only have themselves to blame for some of the skepticism. Last year, it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission over charges that the company used deceptive tactics and violated user policy with its now shattered social network called Buzz. And more recently, Google was found to have circumvented privacy controls on Apple Safari browser, missteps that only provided more scrutiny.
ENRIGHT: What we want to do is we want to deliver products that delight users and that they find extremely useful. To the extent that we deviate from that mission, we're going to lose users. If we're not delivering our services in a manner that's consistent with their expectations and what they're looking for, our competition is only one click away.
SIMON (on camera): Google knows it still has convincing to do, but thinks when people actually take the time to read the policy, they'll appreciate what the company is trying to do. At a time when so many of us are sharing our lives online, Google readily concedes that it's important we know what we're doing with our private information.
Dan Simon, CNN, Mountain View, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: If you want to get around Google's new privacy settings, here's how.
First, you have to sign into your Google account. For many of you, this is your Gmail log-in. And then you type Google.com/history. Type it into your Web browser. Then a page will come up with a button on it that says "remove all Web history." That's what you need to click on. After you do that, you have to click OK. You clear the Web history Google has collected for you. Your history will stay cleared and disabled unless you decide to turn it on again.
Coming up, a young college student is killed in a hit and run. What is this story, an apology, have to do with NASCAR? That's coming up in "On the Case."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: An alleged confession just totally comes out of the blue and brings the cold case killing of a young college student back in the headlines.
Melissa Lech was killed by a hit and run driver in Illinois nearly four years ago. And her family never gave up the quest to find the driver. And so, last fall, they teamed up with NASCAR driver Kevin Conway, who put Lech's photograph on his race car. And so just this past Sunday, the doorbell rang and a young man was there and allegedly confessed.
Sunny Hostin is "On the Case."
Do we know more about who this young man is, and did he come forward because of this NASCAR?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is remarkable. Apparently, yes, he did come forward because of the NASCAR picture and information on the trunk of that car. His name is David McCarthy of Naperville, Illinois. He's 27 years old.
And he told Melissa Lech's sister Michelle Lech that he saw the NASCAR thing. And I want to say that was driver Kevin Conway who helped that family. And he told her sister that he did see the NASCAR thing and that he wanted to clear his conscience.
Now, he didn't apologize for it, though, Brooke, and he didn't say that he was going to turn himself in to police. And he left her home, but the savvy family got the driver's license plate number of David McCarthy, reported it to police, and he was arrested shortly thereafter.
So, really, just bravo, I think, to NASCAR driver Kevin Conway, because, as you mentioned, this was a cold case. Four years, no one had come toward. And because of him, I think that's why we have an answer for this grieving family.
BALDWIN: So, though, if he's not apologizing, doesn't appear to be turning himself into police, does police have any other evidence against him whatsoever?
HOSTIN: They do not appear to have any other evidence against him at this point.
I mean, he did also tell her sister, Michelle Lech, that he stopped after he hit her and that she was still alive on the ground, on the road, and then he got scared and drove away, leaving her still alive, but obviously gravely injured.
So, at this point, he's been charged with leaving the scene of an accident, clearly, and also with charges related to her death, so really just a tragedy I think for this family, but at least they have a bit of closure.
BALDWIN: Since, though, we're talking four years ago, would the legal system be tougher on him, potentially?
HOSTIN: You know, I think so. I think so. I think that's indicated by the fact that he left the scene of the crime.
Some would think, well, it's such a great thing that he came forward, but this is four years later that this family has had no answers. And so I suspect that they're not going to be easier on him. I think they're going to be tougher on him, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Let's move on to this one.
We talked about those gruesome warning labels that the FDA, Food and Drug Administration, wants to make tobacco companies put on all their cigarette packs. Right? So the federal judge has now said, nope, can't do it. That's unconstitutional.
He says the FDA requirement violates the cigarette-makers' First Amendment rights. So here are some of the pictures I guess they would have put on these labels. What's the judge's rationale here?
HOSTIN: You know, the judge's rationale is that this is unconstitutional because of the First Amendment, and also that the images sort of go beyond I think informing the public about the perils of smoking cigarettes and sort of places the onus now on the company to push forth the anti-smoking government campaign.
And the judge found that that was just too far. And, of course, the cigarette companies -- or rather the government is appealing that decision. So it's going to be many, many years before we see these labels, these types of labels on any cigarette packs, if we ever are to see them.
But it's interesting, Brooke. You know, I travel quite frequently and I have seen these types of labels all around the world. So the United States is not unique in wanting to have these kinds of labels on cigarettes.
BALDWIN: Yes, we have done the segment before. I know they show them in Brazil, I know Canada for sure. Obviously, the cigarette companies, they didn't want those photographs.
HOSTIN: That's right.
BALDWIN: What about just the warning labels themselves or even the images the government does want? How do they feel about that?
HOSTIN: It strikes me that it's really -- they have the problem with the images because they are so very graphic, because we know on cigarette packaging, there are some warning labels, cigarettes can cause cancer or may cause cancer, is hazardous to your health.
So that sort of warning is already on many cigarette packages. I think their issue is really with the very graphic images, but again, we see these all over the world. The United States is really one of the only countries that doesn't have this sort of graphic labeling on cigarette packages.
BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin "On the Case," Sunny, thank you so much.
Coming up in 60 seconds, Piers Morgan joining me live on the sudden death of Andrew Breitbart, who love him or hate him, no doubt absolutely impacted today's political climate. Piers just interview the him 48 hours ago, less than that. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We mentioned this before, but it bears repeating, that Andrew Breitbart certainly never shrank from a fight. And as we have been reporting, the conservative blogger died overnight in Los Angeles of what his lawyer is calling natural causes.
He was only 43 years old. And no two ways about it, this guy relished verbal combat. I want us all to look at something. This was vintage Breitbart and this was shot last month in Washington when he was confronting the Occupy movement. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BREITBART, PUBLISHER, BREITBART.COM: Behave yourself! Behave yourself! You are freaks and animals. You're freaks and animals. Behave yourself! Behave yourself!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: This isn't some isolated incident. Wherever Breitbart went, the volume seemed to go up.
And one of Andrew Breitbart's final public appearances happened just two days ago right here on CNN. Piers Morgan had Breitbart on his show, sat right across from him in the studio to analyze Tuesday's Republican primaries for both Arizona and Michigan.
And Piers is now on the phone with me.
And, Piers, when he was sitting right across from you, did he show any signs of being sick when you talked to him?
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": Not at all, in fact, quite the opposite. We made a joke of the fact that he looked really good. And we said that on air.
And I'm just as shocked as anybody about what's happened. I mean, he was a fascinating character, complex, you know, very divisive. He was always great television. And that's why he was part of our regular panel after all the primaries. And he was part of four people, all of whom gave great contributions.
But you always knew with Andrew he had a ferocious brain, incredible energy. I didn't agree with a lot of what he said, but I loved the passion with which he said it. And I think that he would have been, I suspect, quite taken aback by the incredible reaction to his death.
But I think that is a testimony to his drive, his hard work and the fact that he put himself right at the center of the new kind of Internet coverage of politics, which has become very important.
BALDWIN: Part of his legacy, though, I mean, some of his biggest, most influential muckraking appeared to cut journalistic corners. We had Howard Kurtz on a couple hours ago saying Breitbart really leaves behind a mixed legacy. Mixed. What do you think of that?
MORGAN: Yes, I don't think he would quibble with that.
BALDWIN: Yes.
MORGAN: He made some high-profile mistakes, the Shirley Sherrod thing obviously being the most glaring.
I think, when you live on the edge like he was doing, it's not conventional journalism and is something that would wind people up. I think "The Washington Post" did a line today which I quite liked saying that Breitbart's lesson was, if you're not making the left mad, you're not making a difference.
I think that he felt that there was a kind of progressiveness through the kind of attack journalism that he did online. You know, it wasn't everyone's cup of tea. He made a lot of enemies. I read a quote from him himself which I thought kind of summed him up really. He said: "I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories the complex refuses to report. I love fighting back. I love finding allies, and," famously, "I enjoy making enemies."
There's been a big fury today with some people reminding those paying tribute to him that when Teddy Kennedy died, he was the first to go public, Andrew, berating him. I don't think he would himself expect to be received like a saint today.
But the fact that he had died at 43, he's a father of four, a very loving family guy away from his political work, I think is a real tragedy and he will be a huge loss I think to a lot of media outlets who enjoyed his contributions.
BALDWIN: Just want to reiterate the line you said in "The Washington Post." If he was not making the left mad, he was not making a difference.
You had him on, what, Tuesday night, as part of your primary coverage. What did you find just, I don't know, absolutely most compelling about him, about his analysis?
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: The thing I liked about him was the passion. You know, I like anyone in politics who has a genuine passion. I think he believed in what he said.
You know, I think he did cut some corners. He wasn't a conventional journalist. I think he wound up a lot of people with the way he went about what he did and he took a great glory and pride in exposing people and bringing them down. And that isn't everybody's cup of tea.
But I loved his passion. I think he was lot more intelligent than people gave him credit for. Certainly his contributions to my post-primary shows, the midnight shows we did after all the primaries were always very compelling, very articulate. I think he had a very good understanding of the Republican Party and all the issues that it was facing.
And I think you see by the tributes that come in today from Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney the effect that he had to the conservative party and to the movement. I think that a lot of people today will realize that actually life will be a little bit duller without Andrew Breitbart and politics I think will be a loser.
BALDWIN: And just 48 hours ago, you say he looked good, that there was absolutely nothing about him that signaled that he might have been sick?
MORGAN: Yes, I don't know what has caused this to happen. I don't think we know the official reason.
BALDWIN: Natural causes is what his lawyer says.
MORGAN: Right.
And I assume it was a heart attack or something like that. It's just desperately sad for him and his family. It's a terribly young age for someone to go. I think he worked at a ferocious pace. People told me he didn't sleep much and he was always on the go.
And as you saw from the clip that you played earlier, he could be very angry and passionate a lot of the time. That was what fired him up. And that I guess takes its toll on a body over a few years.
But this is no age to die. And I think that I personally have really enjoyed working with him since the start of the year. He's always been fantastically good value as a guest, even though, as I said, I disagree with a lot of what he said.
BALDWIN: Sure.
MORGAN: And I think that was the reason that he was very good at what he did.
He inspired a reaction, but he did it from an informed point of view. And he certainly -- whatever you say about him, you couldn't deny that Andrew Breitbart knew his stuff.
BALDWIN: Piers Morgan, appreciate it.
Don't forget to watch Piers, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" every night 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Coming up next, CNN's Kyra Phillips gets very candid and reveals how she got pregnant with twins after the age of 40. Don't miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If you follow celebrity moms, many of them are very open about the problems with infertility. Stars like Nicole Kidman and Brooke Shields and Celine Dion have all gone public about their trouble getting pregnant. And for many women, by the time you turn 45, the chance of getting pregnant is one percent.
And Kyra Phillips talks with a doctor who's trying to beat those odds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOCTOR JAMIE GRIFO, DIRECTOR, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY FERTILITY CENTER: If you don't hear, just freeze the eggs. The IVF day starts with ultrasound monitoring, checking ovaries for development of eggs, blood tests and then going upstairs and retrieving eggs, using surgery, getting those eggs into the lab.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dr. Jamie Grifo may sound like an ordinary fertility doc.
GRIFO: Freeze the eggs.
PHILLIPS: But he's not. He's one of the world's leading scientists with the knowledge to stop a woman's reproductive clock.
When you first discovered you could do this, what was your reaction?
GRIFO: Well, when we had our first baby from it, it was very exciting. Because we knew that this would help a lot of people.
PHILLIPS: Grifo uses a technique developed within the last decade called vitrification which freezes eggs about 100,000 times faster than the old method. It's still considered experimental by the American society for reproductive medicine.
GRIFO: We weren't very good at freezing eggs. The ice crystal damage to the cell was the problem and using the vitrification technique where you dehydrate the cell and then flash freeze it without ice crystals allowed it to survive the freezing and thawing process so it could be as viable as if it had never been frozen. These are our storage tanks.
PHILLIPS: He is the director of NYU's fertility center. Since using this fair little new egg freezing technique, he has seen a surge in new patients.
There are now more than 900 frozen egg cycles safely secured in these liquid nitrogen thanks. He's made it his life's work to tell women when it comes to having children, you've got options.
Would deserve fair to say you're actually stopping that biological clock from ticking for a moment?
GRIFO: Well, we're freezing that reproductive potential in time. So you know, if a 30-year-old freezes her eggs, she freezes her 30- year-old potential.
PHILLIPS: That's important because as a woman gets older, the quality of her eggs diminishes, making it harder to get pregnant. And many experts would suggest if you're a woman who wants to wait to have kids, you should freeze your eggs in your late 20s or early 30s.
So how did I meet Dr. Grifo? I was 42 years old and wanted to get pregnant. And it was under his watchful eyes I was blessed to have these beautiful twins through traditional IVF. It was during my pregnancy, Dr. Grifo told me about vitrification.
GRIFO: It's hope, not a promise. It's an option, not a requirement. It allows women to be more thoughtful about how they conduct their lives and how they will think about their fertility.
KATHERINE COOPER, 37-YEAR-OLD, EGG FREEZING PATIENT: Does it tie in at all to that?
PHILLIPS: Women like 37-year-old Katherine Cooper.
COOPER: The information that I'm looking for is a project.
PHILLIPS: Who has a high-powered job in New York's frenetic banking industry? With two sisters and a really tight family, Katherine knew she wanted a family. She also wanted a career. Babies would have to wait.
How do you balance your want for a baby but also your want to have a really successful career?
COOPER: The balance part is tricky. So obviously, I really want to have a baby. I just don't want to have one right now.
PHILLIPS: So her gynecologist sent her to Dr. Grifo, the leading specialist in the New York area.
COOPER: She brought up the fact that my fertility was going to decline rapidly over the next several years and that I should consider freezing my eggs.
PHILLIPS: She decided to take the leap. But it took three months to get an appointment. Then Katherine started the process to harvest the most eggs she could, a daunting series of hormone shots.
COOPER: Once I had everything all mixed up I'm looking at this needle thinking I know that's the wrong need. It's so big. So I decided to insert it halfway and hope for the best.
PHILLIPS: Bottom line it, wasn't easy.
COOPER: No. No, it wasn't easy.
PHILLIPS: After two weeks of ramping up egg production, Katherine's lucky number was 13. That's 13 chances at having a baby.
COOPER: Sure, yes. I think the odds are pretty good if I choose to use them, plus, it's not as if I'm doing this because I'm infertile. I don't know that I have fertility problems. I'm doing it to create options in my life.
PHILLIPS: Thirteen options, frozen in time until Katherine says go. So considering the cost, the shots, what it felt like, it was not an easy process. Was it worth it?
COOPER: Completely worth it. No doubt in my mind, worth it.
PHILLIPS: I was thinking about this, you're like the ultimate you the ladies man. You have gotten so many women pregnant.
GRIFO: Well, you know.
PHILLIPS: Have you ever thought of it that way?
GRIFO: No, other people have.
PHILLIPS: But actually, Dr. Grifo is very old fashioned. He hopes his patients like Katherine can conceive naturally, but if they can't, he's at least been able to freeze a little bit of hope.
Kyra Phillips, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Ultimate lady's man. Kyra Phillips is going to be hosting a special on infertility and the quest to have a baby. You can watch Saturday afternoon 2:30 in the afternoon Eastern time right here on CNN.
Coming up next, a priest denies a woman communion during her own mother's funeral. Why, because she's gay.
She is Barbara Johnson and she is standing by for me. She's going to tell me what she wants to happen and find out what the church told her.
But first, some important advice about your bank account and life insurance.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions.
Joining me this hour, John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education with smartcredit.com. Lynnette Khalfani- Cox is a personal finance author and founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com.
Guys, thank you for being here.
John, first question for you comes from Beth in Michigan. Beth said she and her husband disagree over what to do with an extra $500 a month. They got an emergency fund that will sustain them for about two and a half years. They contribute 20 percent to retirement accounts and $5,000 a year to their kid's 529 plans for college. So, they want to know if they should pay down their mortgage with that money or invest in the market.
JOHN ULZHEIMER, PRESIDENT, CONSUMER EDUCATION, SMARTCREDIT.COM: I think they should split the difference because there's really no perfect way to place that 500 bucks so split that up. Put 250 a month in the market, 250 a month towards the principal of the mortgage. And you're really winning in both situations. You're paying down probably pretty inexpensive debt and you are also putting money at risk but could grow at a much faster pace to whatever you are paying at an installment mortgage.
HARLOW: Maybe a little more on the 529 plan too, possibly $5,000 a year. College is expensive.
ULZHEIMER: Yes. If there's any left that they can contribute, I totally agree, max that out. HARLOW: All right. Lynnette, your question comes from Sandra in California. Sandra is married. She's a say stay at home mom with the 4-year-old son. She said her husband is disabled and works full-time. What kind of life insurance should they get?
LYNNETTE KHALFANI- COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONETCOACH.COM: They probably should buy a term life insurance policy. They have to get separate policies for each of them. And frankly, a lot of stays at home moms don't even think that they need life insurance. So she's smart to be thinking about this.
The fact is if something should happen to her though, her husband who is working would have to pay a whole bunch of services and for daycare, a nanny, that kind of thing. So, she really should look into life insurance for herself and for him. He might need a supplemental life insurance policy because he likely has one on the job. Insure.com is a place where they can go to comparison shop and find insurance options that meet their needs.
HARLOW: All right. Thank you guys very much. And if you've got a question you want to answer, just send us an e-mail anytime to CNNhepdesk@CNN.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: May Catholics know when you are going through some sort of personal crisis you should be able to turn to a priest for help. But a Maryland woman says at the darkest time of her life, the death of her own mother, a priest made her feel worse.
She is Barbara Johnson and she says during her mother's funeral mass on Saturday, father Marcel Guarnito (ph) denied her communion because she is a lesbian. And the archdiocese is saying of Washington is already responded to the controversy. Here's what they are saying in part, quote, "Any issues regarding the suitability of an individual to receive communion should be addressed by the priest with that person in a private pastoral setting. The archdiocese is looking into the incident and will handle this as a personnel issue."
And joining me now Barbara herself. And Barbara, I just want to welcome you and offer my condolences for your mother.
I just want to begin with Saturday. It's obviously one of the worst days of your life, the passing of your mother, her funeral mass. And just take me back there. You're first in line to receive communion and what does the priest do?
BARBARA JOHNSON, LESBIAN, DENIED COMMUNION AT MOM'S FUNERAL: I approached father Marcel to receive communion. And at that moment, he placed his hand over the bowl containing the Eucharist and looked into my eyes and said I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman. And in the eyes of the church, that is a sin. At that moment, I was stunned. And I think I must have stood there for it seems like forever. I think I was like expecting him to change his mind. It just felt unreal, and then I walked away and was met by my partner, my brother who tried to console me at that point. BALDWIN: So as you're seated and ultimately deliver the eulogy in your mother's memory, the priest did something else. Can you describe that?
JOHNSON: I was facing the congregation. And so I wasn't aware at the time until I returned to my seat but as I was delivering the eulogy for my mother in celebration of her wonderful life, everyone told me that father Marcel left the altar and did not return until just as I was finishing my eulogy.
BALDWIN: Did you have any conversation with him ahead of time about the situation, about his personal feelings toward you? Did you have any conversation whatsoever?
JOHNSON: No, we had a conversation, but it was not about his feelings or about the church's teachings or about my state of grace. The conversation that we had in advance, I was accompanied with by my partner and at another time by my brother. That conversation was strictly about the fact that father Guarnito did not want us to do two eulogies as had been planned with the music director at a meeting two days prior. We had informed him prior to the mass that there would be able two eulogists. And he said there should only be one and that they do it all the time at which points my brother said well, we don't do this all the time.
BALDWIN: I want to point out that you got this letter from a high ranking member within the archdiocese. He had heard about what happened. I just want to read part of it. Part of this letter says, quote, "I am sorry that what should have been a celebration of your mother's life and life of her faith of Jesus Christ was overshadowed by a lack of pastoral sensitivity."
Barbara, is the letter enough to now sort of walk away, leave this alone or do you still want the ministry to take some kind of action?
JOHNSON: My family and I are very appreciative of everything all of the outreach that we've received from the archdiocese and from father LaHood of St. John Norman's. However, we believe that the only reason to be talking about this still is because we would not want any other family to go through what was the worst experience on the very worst day of all of our lives. . So we believe it's important that father Marcel is removed from parish life.
BALDWIN: Have you had any conversation with him since all of this has happened, since this has been written about? And just how are you feeling?
JOHNSON: I extended myself to father Marcel through an e-mail over the weekend. And I have -- I've had no response from him. My immediate response to this whole incident was anger and upset. And my first thought was that I would never return to the church. In the days that have followed through a lot of prayer and an outpouring of support and love from many devout Catholics and the clergy themselves, in the person of Monsignor Michael fisher and bishop Nastaut (ph), it's actually strengthened my faith in the church itself. And the last thing that anyone in my family would ever want would be to turn away Catholics at this time because my mother loved that church with all of her heart.
BALDWIN: So in the end, this has strengthened your faith, yet you still would like for him to be removed. Barbara Johnson, we will follow it and we'll see what happens. Thank you so much for coming on.
JOHNSON: Thank you very much, Brooke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, we don't want you to talk to anyone till after the convention because no one knows anything about you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: This is the movie that Sarah Palin and John McCain will not watch, a behind the scenes portrayal of how she became his running mate. You're about to find out who the filmmakers spoke with before making it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: In the last couple days we have seen the storms, the tornadoes, come through multiple states in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee et cetera. I want to move to Chad Myers, though, because as we talk about the past, we also have to talk about where they're going next.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, even though it's not spring on the calendar, it's spring in weather. In weather terms we're already into the cold mixing with the warm, the cold trying to stay and hang on, I don't want winter to be over. And when you get the cold air coming in here and warm air coming up here, you get severe weather. And that will happen again tomorrow.
Tomorrow afternoon, there will be thunderstorms all the way up and down this line. There will be severe whether all the way from Pittsburgh, to St. Louis, down into Louisiana, as far east as the Carolinas. And there will be tornadoes again tomorrow. There will be many in this deep red area here. And if you look, Brooke, that's exactly where that weather was the other day.
There may be storms in southern Illinois. There will be storms in southern Indiana, parts of Kentucky, into Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. And this weather could be just as strong we saw the other day.
BALDWIN: Just as strong?
MYERS: And probably, there certainly will be at threes, and maybe more tornadoes tomorrow than there were a couple days ago.
BALDWIN: Let's hope not. Chad Myers, thank you so much.
MYERS: You're welcome.
BALDWIN: And now to more news after the break. We'll be right back.
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BALDWIN: It goes without saying being the president is a pretty stressful job in dealing with the politics of Washington, I see you laughing. Dealing with the politics of Washington, pulling the country out of a deep recession, but then there is the pressure that comes with tossing out the first pitch in the baseball game. In this new ESPN interview, the president reveals what that is experience is like. Joe Johns?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can't imagine.
BALDWIN: Hi.
JOHNS: How are you doing? I miss you.
BALDWIN: I know. I miss you, too. You're doing an incredible job on political beep. Thanks for taking a moment to pause talk about the (INAUDIBLE) interview.
JOHNS: They are really important news.
All right, we're talking about Bill Simmons here, and I've actually thought about it, what it must be like to be president of the United States, the guy who is not a professional athlete, right?
BALDWIN: Throwing down pitch.
JOHNS: They put a ball in your hand. You have to stand on the mount, how many thousands are watching. And what if you, you know, throw it, you know, the wrong way or something? You look stupid. Here's the president talking about by the way, he talks about wearing a --
BALDWIN: Bulletproof vest.
JOHNS: To protect himself.
BALDWIN: I have no idea. It makes sense.
JOHNS: I don't know. Who knew? Let's check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is it the most stressful thing you do?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is about the most stressful thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Because if you ground it it's on you tube the next ten years.
OBAMA: Absolutely, and you have to wear this bulky vest, and what happens is they just hand you the ball. They say here, and you walk out. If you had three tries, you would be fine, right? You would throw a fast strike somewhere in there, but if it's the first ball, each time I go up there, my thinks is I'm going to blaze this thing in. And then, I'm thinking, man if I throw a grounder, that's going to be a problem, so I end up kind a lofting it up a little bit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: A change-up.
OBAMA: Yes, it clears the plate, but it's not what you would like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: It clears the plate.
JOHNS: Yes.
BALDWIN: And also he got the ball, all right?
JOHNS: Republicans, no problem. Baseball, tough.
BALDWIN: Thank you, Joe Johns. See you on "the SITUATION ROOM" talking politics.
Meantime I do want to get to Syrian. This is where we leave here at some news out in Syria to share with you first though here at Homs, the crisis in Syria becoming an issue in the presidential campaign. We heard Mitt Romney sounding off about this just this morning.
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MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With regards though Syria, what do you say about Syria - is the administration says about Syria's aside. Assad was a reformer. Assad, a reformer? Really? As he's murdering his own people.
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BALDWIN: Quick fact check. The Obama administration says Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad fits the definition of a war criminal and not a reformer. Be that as it may, it is becoming an issue and no one should hold that thought.
With that we want to go to CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson for us in Syria, of course southern neighbor of Lebanon.
And Nic, I understand there are several major developments today in besiege Syrian city of Homs and the neighborhood there known as Baba Amr. Tell me what's happening.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, least significant thing is that the free Syrian Army have done what they call a tactical withdrawal. They pulled out of the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs. They say they are running out ammunition, running of weapons and they didn't want to put the civilians in any more harm's way.
They pulled out leaving about 5,000 civilians, but 2 doesn't matter which way you put the language, they were beaten out by Assad forces, bigger, better organized, more military equipment, helicopter gunshot yesterday, tanks on the streets yesterday. It has been going for a month. And now, the free Syrian army finally defeated, beaten out of the Baba Amr.
And now, the concern is what happens to the rest of the people. There are activists already saying government forces going in there house to house, taking anyone men over 12-years-old. We're talking about young boys as well, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Concerns about the civilians, also concerns about potentially arming the rebels. Should we arm then or not, is one of the questions. I want to you listen to some sound. This is secretary of state Hillary Clinton. She was testifying just yesterday.
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HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: When Zawahiri of al Qaeda comes and supports the opposition, you have to ask, if we arm, who are we arming? And how would we get the arms in there? And what good would automatic weapons against artillery and tanks do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: It was a similar question I know we asked when it came to the opposition in Libya. I mean, to her earlier point, are we getting any better picture now of which these rebels are?
ROBERTSON: We were getting a slightly better picture, getting a picture of this varied. In Homs, for example, people described as being a sort of if you like a better educated, more sophisticated, more secular type of free Syrian army fighter. In other parts of the country, more rural areas, a lot are more conservative. There have even been videos released in the last week by groups that look very much like al Qaeda in Iraq, operating under a different name. U.S. officials say small numbers of al Qaeda in Iraq are making their way to the fight in Syria.
We have seen suicide bombings. They have believed there had been behind. So, they now switch this latest video, show a suicide bombings. So, many there are elements of Al Qaeda in Iraq now, but they are the minority. The vast majority is young men often well educated young men, rural farmers, on the not well educated, but they don't have the expertise to use big weapons. That's the big problem.
BALDWIN: Nic Robertson in Beirut. Thank you so much, sir.
And now, I want to take you to Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Your "the SITUATION ROOM" begins right now.
