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Chardon Students Return to School; Rogue Jeep Drives onto Runway; Survivors Search for What's Left; Romney Closes Gap in Ohio; Penn State Probe May Include Cover-Up; Oil, Gas Prices Threaten Recovery; Housing Troubles Grow; "Imagine A Day Without a Mexican"; Senate Kills Controversial Health Amendment; A Tiger Ready to Pounce

Aired March 02, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good to see you. In fact, we're going to talk a little bit more about that coach that you speak of.

Hello to you, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Happening right now. At Chardon High School students are arriving for class four days after a teenager from another school opened fire killing three. Still grieving, some children were accompanied by their parents. And on-site counselors are ready to help in anyway.

Ted Rowlands is in Chardon for us.

So Ted, how hard has it been this morning for kids and teachers to arrive at school?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can imagine, Fred, it's been a very tough day here. It was a tough day yesterday, too. Students came with their parents yesterday to school. They had about an hour and a half in the school cafeteria, in the school classrooms where they could go. There were counselors on hand for them to talk to.

They had changed the school cafeteria. Of course that's where the shooting took place. They changed it in a way that they've painted it. And then they changed the way the school tables, the cafeteria tables are arranged in the room. Four students, of course, were shot at one of those tables -- sitting at one of those tables.

They are really encouraging the community to be involved in this healing process. Take a listen to the superintendent yesterday at a press conference at the school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUPT. JOE BERGANT, CHARDON SCHOOL DISTRICT: Parents, be a model for your children. They watch and will embrace everything you do. Send them off to school each day with a hug and a kiss and the message to do their best. My mom did that for me and my two sisters, and I also did that for my daughter. And if you as parents need help, we'll be there for you as well. Our community, you're never alone, not here in Chardon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: And Fred, of course security will be a little bit higher at this school. Police officers will be there for basically the rest of the year, they have decided, just in case. Bottom line is they're not expecting the students to get back into it very quickly, but they are very cognizant of the fact that they do want them to be together and to work through this process together.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much in Chardon.

So in a show of school spirit hundreds of students and parents wore the school colors of red and black when they walked arm in arm, in some cases, to the school yesterday. That's when they also heard from the assistant football coach, Frank Hall, being credited with saving lives. Well, Hall chased the alleged gunman out of the school, but Hall himself said he was anything but a hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK HALL, CHARDON HIGH SCHOOL ASSISTANT FOOTBALL COACH: To the families of Danny, Demetrius, and Russell, I want you to know I was with them. I prayed with them. I wiped their tears, and I know God was with them. I don't know why this happened, I only wish I could have done more. I'm not a hero. Just a football coach and study hall teacher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A funeral mass is set tomorrow for Daniel Parmertor. He was the first student to die from Monday's school shooting.

All right. Let's talk some nasty weather. Dangerous weather. No rest for the weary. Just days after tornadoes left a deadly trail across several states, a new danger looms. In a matter of hours a line of storms will bring the threat of more tornadoes and severe weather. It's a horrifying thought for thousands of people already reeling from terrible losses. The death toll rises to 13, and damage, well, that's still being tallied.

Ashleigh Banfield is in Harrisburg, Illinois, the hardest hit town. And meteorologist Rob Marciano is in the weather center. Let's begin with the dangerous weather pattern that's setting up right now.

Rob, this must be pretty terrifying for people who have already been hard hit.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. And not -- we're not going to get one round of convection or storms today, we're going to get two. We're getting the first one right now in through Louisville which got hit hard with the --with the first round of storms. Also down across parts of Tennessee. And those are the spots that are going to get the second round later on this afternoon and tonight. The Storms Prediction Center out of Norman, Oklahoma, has upgraded the risk from moderate to high. And if memory serves me, they haven't done that since April of last year, the end of April, during the Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, tornadoes. That's the end of April. This is the beginning of March. This is incredibly, incredibly rare.

What does that mean? It means that we look for the possibility long -- a long track, strong tornadoes in this entire red area here, but the entire yellow area where there's a slight risk of storms, that's about 75 million people that are -- that could be affected by these storms. In this pink area there's a 30 percent chance of seeing a tornado touch down within 25 miles of any one point. That's a huge probability.

In that red area there's four million people that could be affected by these storms. So incredibly dangerous situation that's setting up on top of the fact that it's coming in an area that's already been hit. In some cases there's lots of debris on the ground. So we could see just straight line winds from some of these thunderstorms doing some further damage there.

Round one happening right now. We've got a severe thunderstorm watch that's in effect for parts of Missouri into Illinois, in through St. Louis. Some of these storms have kicked up some hail the size of baseballs through Missouri. So this is a hail and wind producer but as the next round sets up when we get the winds and the cold front coming through, winds coming from the south, strong. Winds coming from the west, strong, at different levels of the atmosphere. That gets your twist, that gets your rotation.

And we are charging up the atmosphere, as well, with a tremendous amount of humidity. And on the north side of this thing, we've got cold air in the form of snow and wind. So incredibly potent situation developing for the rest of today and tonight -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Very frightening situation. Thanks so much, Rob. Appreciate that.

So, of course, they're going to be keeping a close eye on the sky. In Harrisburg, Illinois, in particular, where cleanup is still underway.

The sound of chainsaws and portable generators fill the air there. Residents are searching for keepsakes and valuables buried in the rubble of their homes. Even those who lost everything still revel in their own stories of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY KAY WALLS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: And it just seemed like it just -- the house just lifted up and then just dropped. Only it was awful. Just like a train. And it just lasted about three minutes. Then the roof fell in. And the glass was every place. And -- but while I was on the table I said, Lord, make this pass, and it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Boy, lots of stories like that many times over. Ashleigh Banfield is in Harrisburg, joining us with more there.

Boy, behind you it looks very much the same as it did yesterday, but what is the objective today for a lot of people?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what, I've got to tell you, Fred, I did not like hearing what Rob Marciano was reporting just before you came to me because there is debris all over this community.

I've been showing you these pictures because this is just a remarkable mountain of mess. This is what happens when a strip mall ends up in a mass of blender. You just get debris everywhere and then you hear a story of a second round coming.

Here's what's really distressing. To hear that we're not out of the woodwork for tornadoes yet. Maybe not an EF-4 like the one that did all this, but tornadoes and 40-mile-an-hour winds at least, nothing like 180-an-hour-wind that did this, but 40-mile-an-hour winds can pick all of this stuff up. All of these sharp things, nails, broken glass, and cause a very big problem for people who are out and about the community.

People trying to salvage their goods out of their wrecked homes and then all of a sudden people are trying to come out to help out. So this community has shut down the volunteer efforts. They don't want any volunteers to be coming out here because the swath of mess that's been left behind.

Come and take a look across the lake. This is the path. It went right down this strip mall, dumped most of its shards of garbage into this lake, and then carried right on across the way. That's the Garden Heights Apartments where I was broadcasting from live yesterday where the bulk of the people who died in this community lived. Five of them died over there.

But you know something, there are still great stories, Fredricka. Not everybody died who was hit. There is a lot of damage and a lot of homes that are very, very badly damaged. But then there is the story of the Lyon family. And the Lyon family found their grandparents cowering, 70-year-old grandparents cowering in an internal bathroom in their house because the way they found out a tornado was hitting their house, the ceiling in their bedroom fell on them as they were in bed.

The grandmother with a broken leg and the grandfather with kidney problems somehow making it out of that brass post bed and getting to safety as their home was literally shred apart. Walls, roofs, everything. Those granddaughters, Lydia and Chloe Lion, described for me how they made it to safety and how they survived this disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: She rolled? CHLOE LYON, STORM SURVIVOR: She rolled out on the floor. She braced herself on this. Just pulled herself up. That's all she could do. And so my grandfather, she said she was just screaming for him to get out of bed. He finally got out of the debris, comes around, grabs her. Walks like this. Really like -- more of like a dragging like step, step, pull. Then once they grabbed a sheet, he had a sheet because he saw all the glass on the floor.

BANFIELD: And they're barefoot?

LYON: Oh, totally barefoot. Yes. And then they ran into here. Went into the bathroom. That's all they could do.

BANFIELD: This is where they rode the storm out.

LYON: This is where they rode -- and the storm last two or three minutes before someone in the family came.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: But for the grace of God go those grandparents. They are alive and OK today. And I just want to let you know, Fred. I also bumped into six men across the street who were going to get a cup of coffee. And they were in a spontaneous prayer session around the table at the McDonald's, praying for what lies ahead, praying for those in their community.

We should also say that the president has called the governors of six states to offer his thoughts and prayers to what they have gone through. And lord, let's hope he doesn't have to call anymore governors after what we may be expecting today -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ashleigh Banfield, thanks so much, in Harrisburg, Illinois.

And of course you can help those affected by the tornadoes. Go to CNN.com/impact. There you'll find all the organizations and ways that you can help those who are in need. That's at CNN.com/impact.

And now to a frightening incident at Philadelphia International Airport. A passenger jet was just seconds away from landing, and you can see on this video right here, authorities quickly chasing the car across three runways out of harm's way.

Joining us live now from Washington with more on this, CNN aviation and regulation correspondent, Lizzie O'Leary.

So, Lizzie, how did the jeep get on that runway and in the end what happened?

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, this jeep crashed through barriers, a chain link fence, if you will, on to the runway. You mentioned it got on three of four runways at the Philadelphia airport. And he was spotted, we should note, by a sharp-eyed air traffic controller using ground radar. There are a couple of different types of radar. It was foggy. And they saw something on the ground. That allowed the police to chase this guy, a pretty high speed chase, up and down the runways.

I want to play you some audio of the tower controllers realizing that they have got what they refer to as a rogue on the runway. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody on 9-er left, it's going to be a delay. You guys can shut down if you need to. We've got a rogue vehicle driving around on the airport. We're not talking to him. We're not moving anybody until we find this guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'LEARY: They closed the runways while the cops chased him up and down, and that flight that was coming in was a U.S. Airways express flight operated by Republic Airways. It had 29 passengers. The controllers essentially said you've got to go up, do a go-around. And they went right back up averting what could have been a disaster. The plane was probably some 10 to 15 seconds from landing -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And so, Lizzie, did the vehicle just crash through a fence there. What more do we know about the driver of that jeep?

O'LEARY: Well, we know that he has a lot of charges that have been levied against him, including several counts of aggravated assault. He's 24 years old. He's from Near, Philadelphia. You see him there. His name is Kenneth Mazic. He'll be charged with driving under the influence. The Philly Police chief told CNN that he was -- appeared to be high on something when this happened and he could also be charged with federal charges.

This investigation is ongoing. But the list of charges was piling up in between the times we talked to the Philadelphia police a couple of different times yesterday afternoon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lizzie O'Leary, thanks so much, out of Washington.

All right. Let's talk politics now. There's a new GOP poll just out on Ohio. Perhaps the most critical of the Super Tuesday states.

Our political editor Paul Steinhauser joining us now from Washington.

So, Paul, it looks like Rick Santorum has lost that narrow lead that he had?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: That's what this new poll indicates. Just four days away now from Super Tuesday in those 10 states.

Let's take a look at it, Fred. This is from Quinnipiac University out in Ohio. Well, take a look at the numbers on the left. That's the brand new numbers. Santorum at 35 percent, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, 31 percent. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul lower down.

That four-point advantage for Santorum is within the poll sampling or basically it's all not enough. Look at the number son the right. That was a larger lead for Santorum back on Monday. That was before Romney won Arizona and edged out Santorum in Michigan on Tuesday.

Go to the next number. This is national numbers, Fred. This is from the Gallup Tracking Poll. And look at this. Romney with an 11- point lead over Santorum among Republicans nationwide. A week ago it was a very different story.

One other thing I want to talk about, big bucks in advertising. Campaign ads. You know what, Super Tuesday states, 80 percent of all the ads running now in the Super Tuesday states come either from the Romney campaign or a super PAC that is supporting Romney. Here's a little taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barack Obama and his liberal allies attack Mitt Romney. Why? Obama knows he'll beat Rick Santorum. Santorum says he's the principle conservative, but that's not how he voted. Here are Santorum's --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: I tell you, Fred, you know what, ads really do matter. We've seen that all cycle long. And right now, at least as of today it's the Romney campaign and its super PAC that are flooding the airways a lot more than Santorum, Gingrich and Ron Paul in those Super Tuesday states. Four days away from that so stay tuned.

WHITFIELD: All right. Right around the corner. Thanks so much. Paul Steinhauser. And of course we'll see you later on today as well.

All right. Super Tuesday just days away. We've got that covered for you. Starting with a special edition of "JOHN KING, USA" at 6:00 Eastern. On Tuesday, complete coverage of all the primary results beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern with Wolf Blitzer.

All right. Across seas now, the people in Homs, Syria, have endured weeks of shelling. Now, finally, they might be getting some humanitarian aid. Trucks full of food, medicine, and other supplies have arrived. We'll have details on that coming up.

And new details are surfacing about a federal investigation into the Jerry Sandusky case of alleged child molestation, and it may include a possible cover up at Penn State. That story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Checking stories cross-country now.

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended an active search for the last crew man missing from a helicopter crash. The Coast Guard chopper was on a training mission when it went down off the coast of Mobile, Alabama, Tuesday night. Three bodies have been recovered.

In Maryland, the governor has signed a same-sex marriage bill into law. Maryland becomes the eighth U.S. state to allow same sex marriages. Five other states allow civil unions with rights similar to marriage.

And celebrating the roots of the greatest. The Kentucky Historical Society is putting up a marker in front of the boyhood home of boxing legend Mohammed Ali. It's the first time someone has erected a marker for someone who is still living.

And federal prosecutors may be investigating a possible cover up at Penn State University. The probe is linked to the case against Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant football coach charged with more than 50 counts of child sex abuse.

CNN contributor and "Patriot News" reporter Sara Ganim has been reporting on this story. She's joining us live now from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Good to see you, Sara.

So, what more do we know about this federal investigation and which direction it's going?

SARA GANIM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, what seems to be clear -- you know, this is the beginning stages of this investigation. But what really does seem to be clear is that they're not duplicating what state prosecutors have already investigated and brought charges. And that's against Jerry Sandusky and child sex abuse related charges.

This seems to be almost going where state prosecutors haven't yet gone. Places like Penn State University and possibly Jerry Sandusky's children's charity, the Second Mile, where state prosecutors say that he did find most of his alleged victims.

But this seems to be really a probe into things like transfer of money, if there was any misuse of federal money. A state university like Penn State gets money from several federal agencies, you know, on an annual basis. Did they use it for the things that they're supposed to use it for? Did they mislead any agencies when they were asked questions about things such as, you know, hypothetical example -- do you have any unauthorized people using your facilities?

That's been something that's been a hot topic in this case because Jerry Sandusky kept a key to the Penn State locker room after he retired. And that came up again yesterday when prosecutors released kind of a very routine, detailed list of some of the times and places and locations of the alleged incidents, and it turns out that eight of the 10 victims say that they were assaulted on Penn State's campus.

WHITFIELD: So one thing particularly you just mentioned that really stands out is transfer of money, possibly federal money that goes to Penn State. Federal prosecutors are looking into how that money may have been used in what capacity?

GANIM: Well, I think -- you know, the subpoena is pretty broad. And what experts tell me is that probably they have a theory. They want to make sure that money was used for the correct things.

But, you know, there is a possibility that they're looking into was it hush money. Was money used, were checks written to keep people quiet, to keep witnesses -- to keep witnesses saying the correct things? Were there bribes involved?

You know, that's all hypothetical. This is a subpoena and it was issued February 2nd, just a few weeks ago -- beginning stages of the investigation.

We have no indication they've started doing interviews. This is a subpoena and Penn State says they're complying. They won't speculate on what the subpoena, you know, is going after and federal prosecutors aren't talking about that. That's what experts are telling us.

WHITFIELD: OK. CNN contributor and "Patriot News" reporter Sara Ganim -- thanks so much for that update.

All right. At long last, the nation's economic recovery seems to be taking hold, but will climbing gas prices derail it? Christine Romans of the CNN Money team joining us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Civilians in Syria who have endured weeks of attack from government troops finally might be getting food, medicine, and other supplies. Trucks full of humanitarian aid are now in the battered city of Homs.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

WHITFIELD: Homs has endured weeks of shelling and death. An opposition group claims 14 people were executed there today.

CNN's Nic Robertson is covering the story from Lebanon.

So, Nic, those trucks were supposed to go into the hardest hit parts of Homs. How do we know whether they have arrived?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They've arrived in Homs, but they seem to have been stuck there now for almost four hours, which is odd because they're dulling --

WHITFIELD: All right. Sorry about that. We're going to try to reconnect with Nic Robertson there when we can.

All right. Meantime, at long last the nation's economy seems to be recovering in this country. Will rising gas and oil prices knock it off course? Coming up we'll get answers from Christine Romans of the CNN Money team.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories now.

A few hours from now, parts of the Midwest and South will be at risk for another round of severe weather today. Forecasters say there's a threat of powerful tornadoes across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, a region that was hard hit earlier in the week.

And federal prosecutors may be investigating a possible cover up at Penn State University. The probe is linked to the molestation case against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Former prosecutors with knowledge of the investigation say the potential cover-up could involve bribes, fraud, and misuse of federal money given to Penn State.

And American, European, and Palestinian pro-democracy activists accused of citing unrest in Egypt are now out of the country. Egyptian authorities allowed the group to leave after they posted bail.

All right. Now, let's turn to your money and why you have less of it. We're double-teaming a couple of developing stories.

Christine Romans looks at the rising cost of oil, an ugly new milestone. It's the latest threat to the recovering economy. And Alison Kosik has the latest blow to the housing market.

So, Christine, let's begin with you. Oil is now at its highest price since 2008. And that's threatening some good news on the economy -- how?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, because oil prices mean higher gas prices. And when you pay higher gas prices, Fredricka, every dollar extra you're paying at the pump you're not paying at a restaurant for tennis shoes at the mall, to go to a movie, right?

So, this is why it has a direct and immediate impact on the economy. Quite frankly, we've figured it out. Compared with last year, if you've got a 20-gallon tank in your car, you're paying $6.50 more to fill up today than you were a year ago at this time.

So, let's take a look at what makes up gas prices. It's taxes. That's one of the reasons why it's different wherever you live in the country. New Jersey has some of the lowest taxes. So does Alaska, some of the highest taxes in California distribution and marketing 6 percent of the cost of the gallon of gas, refining at 6 percent.

But then the raw crude oil price is the bulk of what you're paying. I wanted to show you a historical chart, Fredricka, because you know I love charts. I wanted to show you how far we've come here. Back in 1998, we were talking about crude oil at $12 a barrel.

Today, it's at $108 a barrel. That's why gas prices are higher, because crude oil prices have had this amazing run over the past 15 years for a lot of different reasons. That is something that we feel so profoundly at the pump when we fill up -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. And that compounded by this, in the housing market, a big step backward. The number of borrowers underwater on their mortgages is growing.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with more on that.

What does this mean and how did that happen?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, talk about timing, Fredricka. You know, just when we thought the housing market was looking better because sales were actually picking up. Now this -- the number of people who are underwater or have negative equity in their homes is growing. It means these are people who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

Now, the big issue that's really weighing on those homeowners is that home prices, they continue to fall at these levels that we haven't seen in 10 years. So, it means that if someone bought during the housing boom, where they didn't put much money down on their house, chances are they're stuck with a big loan right as their home is losing value.

And this is affecting a lot of people, Fredricka -- 11 million people. That's about equal to the entire population of Ohio. And nationwide, it's almost a quarter of all homeowners with a mortgage. Guess what? These numbers, they're rising -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. Is there any good news you can share with us from Wall Street today?

KOSIK: Right now, no. Right now, stocks are in the red. The Dow is down just a bit. You know, we've had some great news here on Wall Street lately, some good economic news. And two strong weeks as well.

You look at how the major averages are doing. The Dow and S&P are at four-year high, the NASDAQ, 11 year high. But it looks today on this Friday before the weekend, investors are taking profits off the table after that run-up for the major averages -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Alison and Christine as well.

All right. Coming up, a CNN opinion writer asks us today, imagine a day without a Mexican. It's actually the title of his column. He says if that happened, the U.S. economy would pay a huge price. Charles P. Garcia joins us in a few minutes.

And 13 lucky finalists have a shot at becoming the next "American Idol." We'll have the names coming up in entertainment headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The suspense is over. The top 13 finalists for this year's "American Idol" have been revealed.

A.J. Hammer, host of "Showbiz Tonight," has the names. A.J., we got a chance to see just a little bit of it. And it seems as though the judges were very happy about the outcome.

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes. Super talented crowd again this year.

Fans whittled this crowd down to 10 contestants, Fred. The judges saved three more as wild cards this year. The final 13 names on the list have your usual mix of styles and experience. We got a few teenagers in there.

Let me run them down because you need to know these names. One of them will be super, super famous. We have Hollie Cavanagh, DeAndre Brackensick, Jessica Sanchez, Phillip Phillips, Shannon Magrane, Joshua Ledet, Heejun Han, Skylar Laine, Elise Testone, Colton Dixon, Jermaine Jones, Jeremy Rosado and Erika Van Pelt.

And fans seem to be genuinely excited about this group of contestants. The judges, as you mentioned, Fred, seem to be very pleased with their decisions as well. So, obviously, we'll wait and see who comes out as the next "American Idol."

WHITFIELD: OK. The stars are, you know, in the making there.

OK. Now, let's talk about the -- a former star of a very popular show, "Desperate Housewives" who instead found herself in court because she didn't like the idea of being written out of her show. She's also alleging assault, right?

HAMMER: Yes. I think it more had to do with what led up to her being written out of the show. But this has been a wild story for me all along. We're talking about former "Desperate Housewives" actress Nicollette Sheridan. She spent yesterday testifying in her wrongful termination suit against ABC. We all know Sheridan played sultry housewife Edie Britt. She said her character was killed off when she went to human resources after she claims Cherry slapped her in the head.

Now, ABC says he was demonstrating physical humor that he wanted used in the show and called it a light tap to the head. But during the testimony yesterday, Sheridan demonstrated. She smacked her lawyer in court to reenact the incident. She hit him hard enough. You could hear the smack clear across the courtroom.

Well, Cherry's lawyers say that he had planned to write her out of the show anyway months before the incident as a plot twist because he wanted to shock viewers, get some ratings as a result. The rest of the housewives are on the witness list to testify in behalf of Cherry. In the end, obviously, juries will decide if Sheridan's employment was -- termination of her employment was illegal workplace retaliation or, in fact, was it a creative decision unconnected to the alleged battery incident.

It's wild to me though, I guess they had to demonstrate it somehow, that she smacked her lawyer in the head. Does her lawyer get to sue her how?

WHITFIELD: Well, hopefully they had made an agreement. Drama unfolding in the court as well as outside. I know you'll keep us posted on how it unfolds.

All right. A.J., thanks so much. You're going to be back with us next hour with more showbiz headlines.

You'll be talking about an open casket picture allegedly of Whitney Houston that turned up in "The National Enquirer." How did it get there? And who's being held accountable?

And a CNN opinion writer says undocumented immigrants are more like economic refugees and that the U.S. would be foolish to force them to leave. His new column is called "Imagine a Day Without a Mexican". We'll have that discussion, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Checking stories cross-country now.

Bizarre car accident outside Sacramento, California. Police say a speeding driver smashed through a fence, crashed through a house, and then into the side of a second home. Amazingly, no one was hurt.

And a Connecticut man will not evict his 98-year-old mother from her home. Peter Kantorowski owned the house but wanted his mother out, claiming he was concerned about her living alone. But on the eve of the trial, he had a change of heart and then dropped the case.

And a surprise visitor at North Carolina high school. A deer jumping through a window reportedly landing on a student's back this time. A surveillance camera captures a chaotic scene as the animal and the students run in the hallways.

The animal was corralled and taken out of the building slightly injured. And a few students, well, they, too, had some minor injuries.

All right, imagine a day without a Mexican. A filmmaker imagined just that for us already.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I heard on the news that all the Mexicans were gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sombrero missing.

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband is a Mexican.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are looking for a Latino reporter. Usted habla espanol?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people have real trouble. I mean, the border patrol, for example, they're out of a job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All activity has definitely diminished.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no clean clothes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. That was a clip from "A Day Without a Mexican" from 2004. It's a satire, but it also makes a point about undocumented immigrants and their impact on the U.S. economy. Charles P. Garcia's is CEO of Garcia and Trujillo. His firm helps companies connect with Hispanic consumers. And he also writes about Hispanic issues on CNN.com.

Ok. Good to see you.

CHARLES GARCIA, CNN.COM: Ok good morning Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Ok so that is, you know, a satire. There are some real fun made there. But you say it's a very serious issue actually starting with the whole notion of illegal immigrants. You say for starters people need to change the language.

GARCIA: Yes, they definitely do. And the language of illegal, you see I think on our shoulder we have the proverbial angel and we have the devil over here who's dressed up as Wyatt Earp. And Wyatt Earp is the lawman and he uses the term illegal. They're just a bunch of illegal aliens. And they're taking away our jobs. And they don't pay taxes. And they're freeloaders. And Martha, we should just build a 1,000 foot wall and --

WHITFIELD: And you're saying it's not that.

GARCIA: It's not that. And the angel on the other side is saying, you know what, no. It's the Good Samaritan. These folks, can't -- you know they're in Mexico and other countries. They can't feed their families. And if it were my 9-year-old daughter looking at red hair, big blue eyes and looking at me and say daddy, I can't -- I'm hungry, I wouldn't wait in line for ten years. I'd be the first one looking for the jobs that are available. Get the documents that I need and feed my family. And that's kind of the --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So -- so you write that the real justification here is that these illegal immigrants are really economic refugees. Explain what you mean by that.

GARCIA: What I mean by economic refugees is first of all they don't have a choice. They're here because they're taking care of our family, their family is just like our forefathers then. (CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And people will argue they do have a choice. They crossed the border. You choose to cross the border illegally or not.

GARCIA: When -- when you have bullets flying at you and you can't feed your family, the only thing that a man can do is take care of their family. So they come here and what's lost in the debate, the dirty little secret, is that anywhere you live in America you pay sales taxes. You pay property taxes. The State of Texas did the only study out there which said that the economic refugees brought in $18 billion in buying, which generated $1.8 billion in taxes for the state and $1.4 went to pay for services. So it a net gain of $500 million.

WHITFIELD: So is that the justification for changing the status?

GARCIA: Well, well that's --

WHITFIELS: That there is money being made on the backs of you are calling -- what you're calling economic refugees?

GARCIA: Right. Right and the final dirty little secret is something called income tax. When -- in 1986 when they passed the immigration reform bill, the employers get heavily fined if they don't collect. So of every dollar, here's the proverbial dollar, 15 cents goes out to Uncle Sam. And 15 cents in 2007 was $13 billion in that --

WHITFIELD: But then the opposition view would be billions are spent on indigent care, billions are spent in income taxes that are not collected.

GARCIA: But what they're not telling you and the head of the Social Security was testifying this week before Congress that if it weren't for this $13 billion a year or so that's coming in from income taxes that are going into Medicare and going into Social Security that they'll never see because they're economic refugees, Social Security would be bankrupt.

WHITFIELD: All right. Charles Garcia good to see you. More can be read about your article at CNN.com.

GARCIA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you. Thanks so much.

All right, golfer Tiger Woods once thought about becoming a Navy SEAL? At least that's the claim in a new book. We've got Tiger Woods' reaction straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The U.S. Senate has voted to kill a controversial Republican health care proposal. It would have allowed employers to opt out of providing health care coverage on moral grounds. Kate Bolduan has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Depending on who you talk to on Capitol Hill, the latest battle was about two very different issues. For Democrats it's about women's access to contraception; for Republicans, religious freedom.

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: Every step of the way it seems as if there is an assault on women's reproductive choice and having access to health care.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: This is tyranny. It is the political bullying of a religious group in the views of the President's allies, unpopular religious beliefs. And so for the -- for political reasons, the religious groups who differ with this are being pushed around.

BOLDUAN: In the spotlight, a GOP measure aimed at overturning President Obama's controversial contraception rule. Sponsored by Republican Senator Roy Blunt, the move would allow employers to opt out of some health coverage requirements if they object because of religious beliefs or moral convictions.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: The government's moving in a direction that would force some Americans to violate their religious beliefs. This is wrong. We want to stop it.

BOLDUAN: And especially in an election year, the debate is as much about political messaging as it is about policy.

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D), COLORADO: That it would allow any employer to deny any health service to any American for virtually any reason, not just for religious objections.

BOLDUAN: Democrats view a fight over contraception and women's rights as a political win, hoping to galvanize women voters. At the same times, Republicans know fighting for religious liberty and against government overreach is popular among their conservative base. And this is not only a political fight in Congress. It's become a defining issue in the presidential race.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My gut reaction would be always, my gut reaction would be, you stand for the First Amendment. You stand for Freedom of Religion. You stand for the First Amendment rights.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think we've seen in the history of this country the kind of attack on religious conscience, religious freedom, religious tolerance that we've seen under Barack Obama.

BOLDUAN (on camera): The President's deputy campaign manager says they think they're in a good position on this one. That Republicans in the campaign's view have overplayed their hand and this could hurt them with women voters.

On Capitol Hill, though, Republicans insist they'll continue pushing this issue. House Speaker John Boehner would not say, however, how or when the House would move on a similar measure as the one defeated in the Senate.

Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, we're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Ted Rowlands.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm in Chardon, Ohio. Today, students return for the first time to Chardon High School after Monday's deadly shooting. We'll have that coming up next hour.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Just two days after the devastating tornadoes rolled across the U.S., the atmosphere is recharged for round two today. Nashville, Tennessee, one of the many highly populated cities that will be in the target zone. Forecast in the next hour.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Max Foster in the jungles of Belize where Prince Harry is due to arrive for a ride for a weekend of adventure. Details in the next hour -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, gentlemen.

UCLA is one of the nation's most legendary basketball programs. But a new story in "Sports Illustrated" says UCLA has gone off the rails. Players allegedly are getting high before practice and a coach who is not accountable. We talk to the author of that "SI" story in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A new book claims Tiger Woods, even at the height of his success as a golfer, wanted to become a Navy SEAL. A reporter just wanted to set the record straight. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOOS: When Tiger Woods eyes you with the same intensity he normally reserves for a golf ball, maybe you ought to duck.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Have a good day.

MOOS: A look as steely as a Navy SEAL with a target in his sights. Which we mention only because Tiger got testy when asked if he really considered giving up golf at the height of his career to become a Navy SEAL based on excerpts from a soon-to-be published book by Tiger's former swing coach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Specifically in regards to being a Navy SEAL, was that something you were considering?

WOODS: I've already talked about everything. In the book, yes, I've already commented on everything, Alex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I must have missed you answering that question.

WOODS: If I were to comment on the book, is that in the book?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I haven't seen it.

WOODS: Is it in the book?

Ok. Let's move on, Brian. You're a beauty, you know that?

MOOS: But there's beauty in imaging Tiger Woods wielding a gun rather than a golf club. Submerging himself rather than his ball in a water trap. This is as close as we'll ever come to putting Tiger in a tank. He visited army bases and the Navy SEALs. A SEAL spokesman told CNN, "I can confirm in 2006 he fired weapons at one of our ranges."

Tiger's coach wrote, as incredible as it seemed, Tiger was seriously considering becoming a Navy SEAL. After finding out that the Navy SEAL Age limit is 28, I asked Tiger about his being too old to join. "It's not a problem", he said, "they're making a essential age exemption for me."

So did he really consider giving up golf for the SEALs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to find out if that's true or not.

WOODS: I don't know.

MOOS: Then came a four-second silent stare.

WOODS: Have a good day.

MOOS: Translation, according to one online poster, I am going to get my putter and shove it up your --

Anyway, we haven't seen Tiger stare this long since that weird Nike commercial he did right after the sex scandal. We learned from a Navy SEAL spokesman that Tiger's visits were informational. "We never construed his visits a desire to become a SEAL.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine that he actually did become a Navy SEAL. And that he was the guy who went and put a bullet in Osama bin Laden's head.

MOOS: That would have been a hole in one even Tiger never contemplated. Instead of dodging divots, he might have been dodging explosions, a Tiger eyeing his prey.

WOODS: Have a good day. MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)