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Video Of TSA Screening Sparks Outrage; Trayvon Martin Case Going To Grand Jury; Accused Doesn't Recall Massacre In Afghanistan; Primary Day Underway In Illinois; Interview with "The Richer Sex" Writer Liz Mundy; In Search of Amelia Earhart; Income Tax Refund Fraud on the Increase

Aired March 20, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, it is the top of the hour. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, time to get you up to speed. Several big developments to tell you about in the investigation into the Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. That case is going to a grand jury in Seminole County, Florida. And the Department of Justice and the FBI have opened up their own investigation into this case. Last hour, the Martin family attorney said the teenager was on the phone with his girlfriend just before he was shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY: The dots have all been connected. Arrest George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin in cold blood today. Arrest this killer. He killed this child in cold blood. Right now, he is free as a jay bird. He's allowed to go and come as he please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Martin was unarmed, he was carrying candy and iced tea when he was shot by a neighborhood watch captain, you heard him referred to as Zimmerman. His name is George Zimmerman. Police say that he had acted in self defense and he was not charged and he was not arrested, at least not yet. Also, a solder accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians is meeting with his defense team for a second straight day. His lead defense attorney, and this is for staff sergeant Robert Bales told CBS News that his client wasn't drunk, that he doesn't remember the massacre. No recollection.

The suspect's wife has also released a statement calling the rampage terrible and heart breaking and a tragedy and also asking for some privacy for her and also their children. General John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is testifying today about the case against Bales.

He's also testifying about those deadly riots that were sparked by the burning of Qurans at a U.S. airbase in Afghanistan, and also the death of 60 troops from six different nations, all of them killed in that war just this year. Allen is voicing optimism, believe it or not, despite the recent tough times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEN. JOHN ALLEN, COMMANDER, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE: Now, each of these events is heart wrenching and my thoughts and my prayers go out to all of those affected by this violence, coalition, and Afghan alike. But I assure you, the relationship between the coalition and our Afghan security forces remains strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And back here at home, if it is Tuesday, must be primary day somewhere, right? That somewhere is Illinois where Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are duking it out. The latest poll shows that Romney has a pretty comfortable lead, about 14 points. A win would certainly strengthen his front-runner status. But an upset could give Santorum's campaign that momentum that he so wants to chase. Romney still holds as huge lead in the race. Look at the delegate count, 519, Santorum coming in way behind at 239. Fifty-four delegates, by the way, are up for grabs tonight in Illinois.

House Republicans today unveiling their $3.5 trillion budget plan for 2013. Hooray! It includes proposals for income tax reform and sets a cap of just over $1 trillion on discretionary spending. It also calls for significant changes to Medicare. The budget chairman, Paul Ryan, said it would provide seniors with more choices. The White House says the budget fails the test of balance, fairness and shared responsibility. Oh, and it's election year, did I mention?

Also, President Obama will spend time with Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny, today. This morning, the two leaders met in the Oval Office. And later, they're going to attend house speaker John Boehner's annual friends of Ireland luncheon. That was awful, wasn't it? Bruce is laughing anyway.

This evening Mr. Kenny will be the guest at the president and first lady's St. Patrick's Day reception in the East Room at the White House. Hey, you're a couple days late. And President Obama is of Irish decent on his mother's side of the family, if you didn't know it. I'm going to give up right now.

All right. Let's move on to the other big story that we've been talking about throughout this program. The attorney for Trayvon Martin's family was speaking out in the last hour. He wants the police to arrest the man on your screen, George Zimmerman. He's the neighborhood hot -- neighborhood -- neighborhood watch captain who shot that Florida teenager. And our John Zarrella joins me live now from Fort Lauderdale where the family attorney, Benjamin Crump, was speaking at the last hour.

So, Benjamin Crump had nothing too kind to say about the local police forces in that community, John. But did he have anything to say about the new federal case that's opening up and what he hopes will happen?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know what? He actually said that he is planning to turn over what he believes is pretty convincing evidence of what happened on that night. And what I'm talking about is the release, today, that he says, an interview he did with a 16-year-old girlfriend of Trayvon's who was apparently, according to crump, the attorney, on the phone with Trayvon right up until the last seconds before he was shot.

And in fact, according to Crump, was on the phone with Trayvon during the course of the day for some 400 minutes, according to phone logs. And the -- and Crump believes that the conversation with the girl, which indicates that Trayvon was telling her on the phone that he was being pursued and he was going to run and she tells him not to run, and then, of course, there's a thud and he goes down on the ground. According to the girl -- now, he released audiotape of that today, and he says that this absolutely disproves any self-defense account by Zimmerman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUMP: Well, what George Zimmerman said to the police about him being suspicious and up to no good is completely contradicted by this phone log showing all day he was just talking to his friends. And in fact, he was talking to this young lady when he went to the 7-11, and when he came back from the 7-11. And I'm going to get into that in detail because her testimony -- her testimony that is shown on these phone logs, connects the dots -- completely connects the dots of this whole thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Now, Crump says, again, that he is going to turn those phone logs and turn the transcript of that conversation, the audio, that he had with the 16-year-old girl, over the to the Department of Justice, to the FBI, because he does not trust the Sanford Police Department. And Ashleigh, also today, the police report comes out, an additional information from the police report, from the night of February 26, and it indicates in there that Zimmerman had a cut on his nose, bleeding from the back of his head and had dirt and was -- grass stains on the back of his shirt and his shirt was wet. Of course, Zimmerman claims in his 911 call to the police that he was the one who was being basically attacked.

BANFIELD: Listen, John have the local police made any -- have they reacted at all to what this lawyer is saying? Have they come out since they tamped this whole thing down and said, we just don't have probable cause here, folks. And you've got to have probable cause to make an arrest. Have they upped the ante at all? Have they responded to the feds? Are they saying anything?

ZARRELLA: No, they have not. The local Sanford Police Department has not and, of course, CNN has been trying as much as they can and at every turn to try to get response from the Sanford police. Of course, we know that Norm Wolfinger, the state attorney in Seminole County, has said now that he is going to use the resources of the Grand Jury that will be impaneled on April 10th, to help out, to continue with this investigation, going to use them.

Of course -- of course, the governor, as well, also said that he has asked the FDLE, that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, whenever necessary. And here's a little snippet of that 911 call that Zimmerman made that night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMERMAN: Something's wrong with him. He's coming to check me out. He's got something in his hand. I don't know what his deal is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you following him?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we don't need you to do that.

ZIMMERMAN: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: So, you have -- you have two different stories coming out here. The family and the attorney saying that it was Trayvon who was the one who you can hear on some of these calls, asking for help pleading for help. But Zimmerman claims it was him who was asking for help. So, still a long way to go in all of this -- Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Oh, I -- you know, more questions could be actually brought than answered with all of this new evidence. John, great job, thank you very much.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

BANFIELD: Now, 10 past the hour and here's a rundown of some of the stories that we're covering over the next hour. First, an attorney for the soldier accused of a mass killing in Afghanistan says his client doesn't remember a thing. What's that going to mean for the case? We'll look into it.

And all this warm weather is causing a lot of misery for allergy suffers. We're going to tell you what to expect and if there's relief in store for you.

And then women set to earn more than men. I said it. I'm standing by it. Well, at least the woman who wrote the book, who is going to be with us to stand by it, will explain in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A lawyer for the U.S. soldier who's accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians says his client doesn't remember a thing, doesn't remember the killing spree at all. Sergeant Robert Bales allegedly shot and stabbed his victims and then set many of them on fire. Witness accounts have told of this, but he has yet to be formally charged with any of it.

He has spent hours meeting with his lawyers at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and CNN Legal Contributor Paul Callan joins us live now to talk a little about this. Oh, Paul, to be a fly on the wall in these conversations. And they're the first of many, many conversations. First, let's talk about what the lead attorney in this case, John Henry Browne, told CBS News that he's not going to go after the insanity defense, my jaw dropped. But that he's going to pursue the old story that we often hear, diminished capacity, essence of a defense. For those who don't know what that is, what is it?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, what he's talking about here, I think, is post traumatic stress disorder. He's saying, basically, that the sergeant, as a result of three or four tours of duty -- I think it's four tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and that that caused him to engage in this bizarre and horrific act.

You know, there were nine children killed, three women and four men and the bodies were set on fire, at least some of them, were after. It's such a horrific act. I'm a little stunned that the attorney would already say no insanity defense, when he also says that his client has no recollection whatsoever. I kind of want to wait until a psychiatrist gets in the mix before I staked out that position.

BANFIELD: Well, I wondered -- and listen, we're always trying to move the chess pieces before the board is even out of the box. But in this particular case, it looked as though he'd been setting up a tracking for an insanity defense. He talked about the head injury, which often has to come in to an insanity defense. He talked about the stresses because of all of the tours of duty. He talked about that horrible incident of witnessing his friend lose a leg, which could've been that incident that set you over the edge. This is like the map of insanity case.

CALLAN: Oh, it is. And this attorney, this very colorful Seattle attorney, John Henry Browne, 6'5" tall with a beard, quite commanding in a courtroom, he defended Ted Bundy. So he's no stranger to the insanity defense or defending people who have allegedly committed horrific crimes.

But I think what he understands ultimately is, the big thing he has to do is avoid the death penalty for his client. And for whatever reason, he's made a determination, I'm not going to win on an insanity defense. But this concept of diminished capacity, which, getting back to your first question, a lot of people misunderstand. They think it's like the insanity defense and you can be found not guilty. That's not the way it works. It's usually worked to reduce a murder to a manslaughter charge, or to avoid the death penalty. And I think that's what John Henry Browne is positioning to do eventually in the court- martial trial to follow.

BANFIELD: And do you think it's because -- listen, I hear all the time that it's no band of brothers in the courtroom when you're dealing with the UCMJ and you've got a trial of your peers who are all officers or at least service members. They're not going to think too lightly about something like this involving these children and the horrifying allegations that are against this guy and that it might very well not go his way for an insanity defense.

CALLAN: No. BANFIELD: It's hard enough in a civilian court.

CALLAN: Well, very, very hard in a civilian court. Almost impossible in a military court. And, frankly, this post traumatic stress disorder defense isn't very warmly received either. Because, remember, all of these guys and women on the jury --

BANFIELD: They're all going through it.

CALLAN: They're vets. They've all gone through it. And once everybody's been through this kind of stress in a war zone, you're supposed to keep it together. So they're a tough sell. People think, well, he's being tried by fellow soldiers, it's going to be an easy sell. It's a hard sell, a harder sell to them, as you said.

BANFIELD: But I'm going to play devil's advocate, just for a last point, and that is, they've all been through it, so they've all been feeling a part of it and they've all been watching their buddies go through it too. So maybe it actually could work in his favor. Lots to talk about, though, as we move forward in this.

CALLAN: OK (ph).

BANFIELD: Paul Callan, thank you.

CALLAN: Nice being with us.

BANFIELD: Nice to see you.

The southeast is paying for some of this gorgeous weather that we've been experiencing. Have you noticed the pollen chart levels? Help. Look what he's writing on his car in pollen. How long can you handle this misery? And when will some relief be in store for you? We'll outline it in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: I drew the longer straw, so I'm in New York today. The rest of the staff I'm working with on this program, hard at work in Atlanta, where they tell me they woke up to a thin covering of yellow on everything. And all I can hear in this thing called an IFB (ph) is coughing, sputtering, sneezing and sniffling. That's after yesterday showed the highest recorded pollen count in the city's history. And today is supposed to be even worse. From behind a tissue, I'm sure, Chad Myers.

I'm sorry, I hate to hear that you're having this kind of distress with my peeps.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's a little bit funny because everybody's car is the same color. Everybody's car has turned yellow.

BANFIELD: That's right, a nice shade of yellow.

MYERS: Exactly. Kind of like chartreuse. You put it on the fishing line and you might be able to fish with that color. BANFIELD: So what's the deal?

MYERS: It is the pine pollen that's coming out of the trees right now. It happens every year, obviously. But now, what we haven't had is any rain. The rain has simply just not been here, and so things don't get washed away. Don't get -- it, literally, when the first car that drives down my street, it looks like they're driving down a dirt road. There's dust from behind the car like there would be if you were driving down literally a dirt road in --

BANFIELD: And did you get that guy with the blower? Did you see him?

MYERS: Yes.

BANFIELD: Making it worse for the rest of us. Help.

MYERS: That's exactly -- now the big news is, this pine pollen is very large. It is not ragweed pollen, which is very -- more prickly, and that really gets in your nose. Now this stuff, there's just a lot of it. So, yes, it gets in your sinuses, but there's not the reaction or the overreaction that we will get later on to, let's say, ragweed.

An awful lot of pollen in the East. Quite a bit of pollen in the West. But the big bull's eye here across the southeast where the pine, birch and all the other things are right now. Is the warm weather responsible? Yes, a little bit. Certainly more responsible because things have bloomed a little bit earlier. But what else is more responsible is that this rain here, and even some severe weather across parts of Louisiana and east Texas today, that is not getting to the east or the southeast or even into Florida. And so that wash away effect is not coming.

There will be a couple of showers coming to -- this is the next five days. Just some light rain across the southeast. But, literally, we need like two inches of rain to wash all this stuff back down and into the gutters and finally back out --

BANFIELD: So, wait. Chad, that huge system that was coming sort of eastward from Texas --

MYERS: Yes.

BANFIELD: Everybody was flipping out. I mean we had really dangerous system that were dumping torrential rains.

MYERS: Yes. Yes.

BANFIELD: It's not reaching the -- your state?

MYERS: No, it is not. It's what's called cutoff. The low now is not in the jet stream anymore and it's just sitting there and spinning. And it's raining in the same places. Parts of Texas picked up between five and 10 inches of rain last night. That will be Louisiana and Arkansas today. There will be more flash flooding because the storms are just raining in the same places.

BANFIELD: Oh, rats. All right. Well, I wish you well.

MYERS: All right. Thanks. Thanks, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Good luck. I hate to say I wish you rain, but I wish you rain.

MYERS: Right.

BANFIELD: All right, if you're planning a trip to the mountains, you might want to pack some ibuprofen. Not because your muscles are going to hurt, but because a new study says it can prevent altitude sickness. Researchers are saying that over-the-counter painkiller, if you take it before traveling to higher elevations, it can prevent the symptoms of altitude sickness.

And if you've never had it, it is no fun, folks. Nausea, light headedness, sluggishness, shortness of breath and headache. And it can get really serious too. It can affect skiers, hiker, mountain climbers, people with their heads in the clouds and anybody who goes 8,000 feet over sea level. So, how about that, ibuprofen, folks.

All that hard work is finally paying off, it turns out. We do work hard for the money. I didn't know that music was coming, so I had a little -- women are set to overtake men as the big earners by the year 2030 anyway. I'm going to talk to the author of a new book who says that is great news for the office, home life and dating.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: So more women are becoming the main breadwinners, it turns out, in American families. According to the Labor Department, almost four in 10 working wives are out earning their husbands now. And that's a pretty big jump compared to 20 years ago when that number was fewer than two in 10. My next guest, Liza Mundy, wrote the cover story for this week's issue of "Time" magazine. It's titled "The Richer Sex." I take issue with that. I'm not sure we're richer yet. She also wrote the book about it too, "The Richer Sex: How The New Majority Of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Sex, Love and the Family."

Thanks so much for joining us, Liza.

So, at this point in the game, men are still the primary breadwinners, but you have a crystal ball and you see it completely transforming. Give me the lowdown.

LIZA MUNDY, AUTHOR, "THE RICHER SEX": Well, just as you say, the percentage of working wives who out earn their husbands is nearly 40 percent. That percentage has been going up steadily for the past two decades. So if you just track that rise and project into the future, then if it continues going at the same pace, by 2030, a majority of working wives would out earn their husbands. Given the fact that women are 60 percent of students on college and university campuses, it does seem to me pretty plausible.

BANFIELD: So what are the main reasons that the men are losing ground? MUNDY: Well, in some cases it's women gaining ground. Because women do outnumber men in college, and have been increasing their presence on university campuses and in graduate schools for the past 20 years, I mean that's a good trend. And also, there is still, as you say, a gender wage gap. Women do still earn less than men on average. But that, too, has been narrowing.

Also, changes in the economy. We certainly saw in the recession that industrial jobs, high paying jobs for college graduates, for men, are disappearing. Our economy is changing. Moving toward what's called a knowledge economy. And that, in some sense, favors women as well. Areas like health care and education are expanding.

BANFIELD: So you sort of touched upon it. You said we're still -- there is still this wage gap. And I think it's, what, women are making just 81 cents on the dollar that every man makes. And yet you write about these women who, when they go out on dates, they downplay what they do for a living, they don't show the guy they drive a BMW and they try to hide their business cards at the same time. So while it might be a factual thing, what's going on with sociology?

MUNDY: Well, the studies show actually that men increasingly are looking for high earning partners. And when men rank the traits that are desirable in a potential mate, earnings has risen over the past 40 years and domestic skills have plummeted. But women haven't gotten that message yet. So it's true that women still think that in order to appear feminine and pleasing when they go out, they have to adapt these little strategies.

I interviewed a woman who carries around a lot of small change. A lot of ones and fives and tens so that she can pay for all sorts of things, like drinks and tips and parking, without having it seem quite so explicit that she's paying for things. And women tend to even lie about what they do.

BANFIELD: OK, that's just crazy. That's just plain nuts. Are you serious?

MUNDY: I am quite serious, yes. Women would buy movie tickets in advance and say they were given away at work so the boyfriend wouldn't feel bad.

BANFIELD: At the same time, we're hearing men are getting into this idea there is an equality of value to housework and domestic work. And it's not seen that you're losing your manhood in any way if you cook and do the dishes and tell stories and let your wife work overtime.

MUNDY: That's right. Believe it or not, men have been increasing their housework contributions. They began doing this when women entered the workplace. Earnings have clearly given women more bargaining power in their household and marriages.

As you say, men increasingly are understanding that there are great pleasures to being home with the kids and having more time. And studies show that fathers want much more time with their children and are spending more time with their children than they were able to 20 or 30 years a go, so this is a good thing for men.

BANFIELD: You know, Liza Mundy, I'm not going to let them in on a secret that it's way easier at work and harder at home.

(LAUGHTER)

We'll let them figure it out.

It's nice to see you. Thanks for the work. And the "Peace and Time" is great. I encourage people to read it.

Thanks, Liza.

MUNDY: Thanks for having me.

BANFIELD: So this is a kind of hype that we have not seen since perhaps Harry Potter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Each year, the 12 district shall contribute one young man and woman between the ages of 12 and 18 to be trained in the art of survival and to be prepared to fight to the death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: If you don't know what this is, you got to listen up. It's the "Hunger Games." It's set to storm the box office. We'll tell you why fans are freaking out in our "Showbiz" update coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: So one of history's greatest mysteries, what happened to Amelia Earhart. The legendary aviator vanished from the South Pacific 75 years ago while flying around the world. Today, in honor of Women's History Month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood vowed a new chapter in the search. The government will use about $500,000 of private money, and team up with historical groups.

Ric Gillespie is the executive director of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. That's a mouthful. He is going to be part of the expedition in July.

Ric, so first, you maybe found a photo that made this happen. What's the photo about and how did this thing -- what was the genesis of it all?

RIC GILLESPIE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL GROUP FOR HISTORICAL AIRCRAFT RECOVERY: Let me correct one thing quickly. There is no government money at all being spent in this. This is all private funding. We have encouragement from the government, but this is in the private sector.

The photograph is a photograph taken of what was called Gardener Island in those days -- Nikumaroio (ph) today -- taken in 1937, just three months after Earhart disappeared. And it's of the western shoreline and there's something sticking up out of the water on the edge of the reef that the forensic imaging specialists tell us is consistent with the wreckage of the landing gear of an Electra. That's an important clue for us.

BANFIELD: Ric I guess I don't understand why we wouldn't have already known about this. I thought a lot had been dedicated to trying to track her down, not just after the incident but in the 75 years since. No?

GILLESPIE: I can tell you that, in the 24 years since, our organization, TIGER -- we're a nonprofit aviation historical foundation -- has been researching this. We've made 10 expeditions to those islands. We found a ton of evidence that this is the right place where her flight ended but we never had anything conclusive. And the photo isn't conclusive yet. It's the next big clue we've found. The difference is that it got the attention of the U.S. State Department and we got a very dramatic stage to announce this new piece of evidence, this new clue in the Earhart puzzle. But you know, investigation is a process, not an event, and we have built this case, the dots have connected over the years. And this is just the latest piece of evidence that points to the same conclusion the other evidence has been pointing to for a while.

BANFIELD: A lot of people say it's like a needle in a hay stack to try to find that Lockheed Martin. But the plane -- what's the plane called that she had?

GILLESPIE: Lockheed Electra.

BANFIELD: Lockheed Electra.

(CROSSTALK)

GILLESPIE: And Lockheed Martin is one of our sponsors.

BANFIELD: Oh, well, how about that. They say it's going to be really tricky to find just that. Do you think -- if you do, and God with you, if you do find that, do you think there is hope of finding maybe skeletal remains?

GILLESPIE: Well, it turns out that the skeletal remains of Amelia Earhart were probably found in 1940 on this same island. The evidence --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: How so?

GILLESPIE: Well, this was a rumor that nobody believed for years. But now we know for sure, and we've known since 1997 when we found the original British paperwork, that, in 1940, three years after Earhart disappeared, the bones of a female castaway were found on this island, like a castaway's camp sight. And they thought it might be Amelia Earhart at the time. But the bones were sent to Fiji where the British headquarters were, identified by a British doctor as being male. And based on that, the British didn't say anything to American authorities. And the whole thing -- they closed the file. It was sort of forgotten. But the rumor persisted. We found all of the paperwork in an obscure archive in 1977 and we found the measurements the doctor took. We gave them to modern forensic anthropologists.

What comes out today is white female, northern European decent, stood about Earhart's height. There's nobody else missing like that right there. So we've been convinced ourselves for a long time that we've got the right place. We've found a place on the island that fits the description of where the bones were found. We have done archeological investigations out there three times now. And we're finding artifacts that speak of an American woman of the 1930s. Nothing with Amelia's name on it, but everything is pointing to this being the place. Now this photograph shows us where the airplane might be in the deep water off the end of the island.

BANFIELD: Well, I wish you luck. And I implore you to come back with your findings and talk with me live about that. How does that sound?

GILLESPIE: Trust me.

(LAUGHTER)

We'll do that.

BANFIELD: Ric Gillespie, I hope to see you soon. And good luck with everything that you do there.

GILLESPIE: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Tax time. It's tough. It's awful. There's nothing worse, is there? Yes, there is. Imagine filing for your refund, and finding out that a hacker's just been there before you and beat you to your money. Identity theft like you never heard before. What can you do to make sure you don't end up a victim? Coming up in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Get ready to tear down those Justin Bieber and Robert Pattinson posters. If you have tweens, you have "Hunger Games." You have "Hunger Games" mania because that's going to take over your home this week big time. Liongate's new big-budget flick that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where teens are forced to fight to the death. It's not the plot of "The Breakfast Club."

Joining me now from Los Angeles, our entertainment correspondent, Kareen Wynter.

I'm so glad you're hear to walk me through this because I am --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: I am like 29 years old, so I'm way too old to get this phenomenon.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Of course.

BANFIELD: So what is it about "Hunger Games"?

(LAUGHTER)

Lay it out for me.

WYNTER: The "of course" was because you were 29 and not because you're too old to get it. Throw clear that out first of all.

(LAUGHTER)

So let's set the record straight. It's a pretty violent movie based on a best-selling trilogy. It's in the future where a group of 24 children -- they range in age from 12 to 18 years old. They are placed in an arena to fight until only one survives. That's gotten your attention, right? Now in the story, the games are treated as a reality TV show and broadcast by a central government. Those two themes about reality TV and rebelling from authority resonate strongly right now. You've got children killing children on screen. Now some of my colleagues who have seen this movie, said they were so surprised how violent the movie was considering it is a PG-13 rating. But it's compelling. It's the compelling central character of story, who made this franchise so popular. She's a teenage girl, Jennifer Laurens, who is an action hero, not a damsel in distress, fighting to protect her family in a world where everything is stacked against her. That's what fans are relating to. And that's the hype behind this. Everyone wants to see this flick.

BANFIELD: I was starting to catch up on what "Twilight" was about. Is this as big a deal as "Twilight"? Is it going to overtake "Twilight"? Is it more violent than "Twilight"?

WYNTER: A lot of people are saying that, you know what, there is definitely a lot of action, a lot of violence and a lot of uncomfortable scenes. But it's expected to be much bigger than "Twilight" because of all of the buzz behind this. For example, it's expected to pull in roughly $140 million in its opening weekend. That would be a record really for a March debut. And what's also interesting here is a crossover appeal. When you compare to "Twilight," a lot of people are saying it's so much bigger because with "Twilight," you didn't see young girls and boys lining up. You didn't see this anticipation as you see for the "Hunger Games."

It's not just the fans here. The stars, they are really blown away by all of this excitement. I covered the premier last Monday, Jennifer Laurens was there, Lianne Helmsworth (ph). And they could not believe all of the reception. So it's the biggest film in quite a long time -- Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Well, if they are surprised by it now they better get an unlisted number real quick.

Good to see you. Thanks. Life is about to change. Also folks, don't forget to catch "Showbiz Tonight" on our sister network at 11:00 p.m. eastern -- A.J. Hammer.

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BANFIELD: So imagine filing your income taxes only to be told that somebody else beat you to the punch, did the same thing and got your refund. Every taxpayer apparently is at risk for this. Our investigation here at CNN reveals that the criminals have been pretty brazen in spite of an IRS crackdown on refund fraud. You're going to see the fraud as it unfolds in Florida where, in some neighborhoods, it's becoming a way of life.

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UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: This is a known gang member.

(CROSSTALK)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We've just rolled up on what police say is evidence of one of the biggest and easiest frauds in America to pull America to pull off, a crime hidden on a piece of plastic, a debit card.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: He's got the cards. He just purchased them, it looks like.

KAYE: Those debit cards, police say, are used to take advantage of fast tax refunds from the IRS.

Here's how it works. The thieves are stealing those refunds by stealing people's Social Security numbers from insiders at hospitals, doctor's offices, even car dealerships, any where you have to give your personal information. They then use the stolen information to go online and file a tax return, making up the income the person earned for the year. The IRS then puts the refund money on a debit card purchased by the thieves.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: This is what they're buying -- Green Dot money cards, Target. He went to target and spent $600 and he paid with a debit card.

What did you get? $1,000 for Christmas in gift cards?

KAYE: Police say the man they pull over, who is already facing identity theft charges in another case, is a known member of the infamous Money Avenue Gang, which specializes in this kind of fraud. Not surprisingly, he's in no mood to talk.

(on camera): I'm just curious what you do for work that you have such a fancy car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know nothing about that.

KAYE: You don't know nothing about that? Can you tell me it you know anything about identity theft happening around here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know nothing about that.

KAYE: Are you involved in the tax fraud?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know nothing about nothing.

KAYE (voice-over): Detectives, Craig Catlin and Rocky Festa (ph), of the North Miami Beach, Florida, Police Department, will later charge him with buying these gift cards with stolen tax return money. Police say here's the same guy on video at Target using a debit card in someone else's name with the money from a fraudulent tax refund on it. And police say he uses those for tax fraud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man.

KAYE: He's arrested for marijuana possession but police later charged him with grand theft and tax refund fraud.

(on camera): How easy is it to do this?

CRAIG CATLIN, NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, POLICE: The fraudulent refunds are so easy, it's like the federal government putting crack cocaine in gum ball machines. It's that easy.

KAYE (voice-over): The criminals cash in the debit cards as quickly as possible, showing off their riches with expensive luxury cars. They flaunt fancy watches, diamond pendants worth $55,000 and other jewelry. This one inscribed with the words "Money Hungry."

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Just a few hundred miles north up in Tampa, police estimate the fraud approaches a staggering $500 million in the last two years.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: That's over 2,000 in cash.

KAYE: Just one example of what is happening nationwide.

Police Chief Jane Castor says the IRS efforts to curtail it aren't working.

JANE CASTOR, CHIEF OF POLICE, TAMPA POLICE DEPARTMENT: I don't think I've ever seen this magnitude of fraud that is just wide open. It's wide open. And they just don't seem to be doing much about it.

KAYE: For its part, the IRS identified $6.5 billion in tax refund fraud related to identity theft last year.

CASTOR: I'd like to hear the other side of the equation, too, in an estimation of how much got through.

KAYE: That's what we wanted to know, too, just how much fraud has gone undetected? After weeks of asking, the IRS's deputy commissioner, Beth Tucker, couldn't give us an answer. (on camera): So just to be clear, you can tell us how much has been caught but the IRS can't say how much of this fraudulent money has ended up in criminals' hands?

BETH TUCKER, IRS DEPUTY COMMISSIONER: We process $140 million tax returns at IRS on a given year. We are doing a balancing act because one thing we want to do is get refunds out to the hands of legitimate taxpayers as quickly as possible and with as little intrusion. But for the actual six of the problem, we probably need to get back to you.

KAYE (voice-over): We're still waiting on that number.

Typical, says Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who is furious with the IRS.

(on camera): Has the IRS disappointed you and your city?

BOB BUCKHORN, MAYOR OF TAMPA: I don't know. I haven't seen them. As far as I'm concerned, they're missing in action. They have not been helpful. They have not been a player. They have not taken responsibility for their side of the enforcement.

KAYE: Is the IRS missing in Tampa? What's your response?

TUCKER: No, it's not. In fact, we have significantly increased the amount of resources we've devoted to identity theft, which is a heinous crime.

KAYE (voice-over): Just one week after our interview, the IRS sent a team to meet with Tampa and North Miami Beach police officials.

Law enforcement tells us there's a simple solution to curbing much of the fraud -- don't allow the refunds to be put on debit cards.

(on camera): Why hasn't the IRS stopped that?

TUCKER: Not every taxpayer has a bank account. And so the debit cards that are issued by a third-party provider are a legitimate way for taxpayers to get their refund.

KAYE (voice-over): And the fraudsters, they know time is on their side. The faster the IRS sends out the returns, the sooner they get some hard-working taxpayers' cash.

BUCKHORN: It's an underground epidemic. It has taken the place of street-level drug dealing.

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Are these your cards?

BUCKHORN: It's a very, very scary proposition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: The man you saw being arrested in that piece has not entered a plea for either the marijuana or the grand theft charges. Police say, the victim in the case had her purse stolen. And that's how all this started, how her personal information was obtained.

Let's talk about what you can do to protect yourself from criminals who have that in mind.

Alison Kosik joining us live.

So, Alison, what's a girl to do? How do we avoid it?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bottom line with this is protect that Social Security number like it's your first born. That is how the crooks got the tax refunds because they stole Social Security numbers. So know that you don't always have to give out your number.

Just because a business asks for your Social Security number, it doesn't mean they really need it. Ask them why, why do you need this Social Security number? Also don't give out your information unless you initiated the contact, because it could be a big scam.

And if you're storing any personal at home on a home computer, make sure that it's put on an external drive that's encrypted, not on your hard drive. And finally, if you hire somebody to do your taxes, be careful about who you choose. Check to make sure, check with the IRS. Make sure they're legit. Ask the accountant how to keep your information safe -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Randi talked about places you do give your numbers out, like hospitals and car dealerships. How do we know when we don't have to give it to them and when we do?

KOSIK: There's really not much you can do. Let's say at a car dealership, you have to hand it over. One credit expert puts it this way -- when you file your tax return, you just have to beat the crooks to the punch. File your taxes early. In most cases the victims don't realize what's happening until they try to file and realize their alter ego has already filed. The trick there is just to file early. You can also do credit checks as well.

BANFIELD: If only those criminals were lazier than we are. Just another example of why we need to get to it.

All right, good to see you. Thank you.

A reminder, folks. Tune into CNN on Sunday night as well to learn more about tax refund fraud. How it affects every taxpayer in the United States. It's "CNN Presents." And it airs Sunday night at 8:00 eastern.

That is it for me. Thanks so much for being with us.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right after this break with my colleague, Deb Feyerick.

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