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Tea Party Marine May Be Discharged; France Standoff Over; "No Confidence" in Sanford Police Chief; NFL Punishes Saints for Bounty Program; Aspirin May Cut Cancer Risk; Removing Boulder Slow Going; Tim Tebow is a Jets; Putting Out a Fire in a Dress
Aired March 22, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Soledad. Good morning and thank you.
And good morning to all of you. I'm Carol Costello. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM.
A Tea Party marine gets political on Facebook and now he reportedly might be getting the boot. He's facing demotion after saying he would not follow presidential orders he thinks are unlawful. We're going to talk with him live in one minute.
Rare and amazing video of an Apache helicopter crash in Afghanistan. The army now looking into whether the pilot was performing stunts. Amazingly the crew survived.
A gun battle and tense 32-hour standoff with an al Qaeda terrorist finally over. The suspect killed in a police raid just hours ago. This morning we're learning more about the man wanted in the killings of three French paratroopers and three students at a Jewish school.
And outrage and anger at the mayor of Sanford, Florida. A tense town hall and new calls this morning for the police chief, Bill Lee, to step down. Accusations that he mishandled the case by not charging the man who killed an unarmed Florida teenager.
And "I'm very sorry about Tyler." That's a quote. The former Rutgers student, Dharun Ravi, opens up for the first time since his conviction in a web cam spying case. He tells a New Jersey newspaper he was not biased and was not uncomfortable with his roommate being gay.
And the NFL coming down on the Saints for acting like sinners. New Orleans this morning stunned after a bounty program sidelines their head coach for a full season. Now who-dat nation wants to know who the snitch is.
But we begin this morning in depth with Tea Party Sergeant Gary stein. This morning at least two California newspapers are reporting that the Marine Corps is taking steps to boot him out of the service because his Armed Forces Tea Party Facebook page violates Defense Department rules. I interviewed Sergeant Stein in the NEWSROOM last week. He was highly critical of President Obama and even said he would disobey a military order if the U.S. president decided to send U.S. troops to Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY STEIN, FOUNDER, ARMED FORCES TEA PARTY: If the president of the United States ordered military action in Syria without first getting the approval and authorization from Congress, that in fact would be an unlawful order. That's unconstitutional under Article I of the Constitution.
COSTELLO: Could the military kick you out for not following orders?
STEIN: They can kick me out for not following lawful orders, yes, they could. But I have -- I have never refused to follow a lawful order.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Sergeant Gary Stein is on the phone right now.
Good morning, Sergeant.
STEIN (via phone): Good morning.
COSTELLO: What have you heard from the Marines?
STEIN: Yesterday I was basically pulled into a senior officer's office where I was read an order -- not an order. I was read a preliminary finding from my commanding officer stating that he's going to move to have me administratively discharged from the Marine Corps for violating Article 134 of the UCMJ which I made comments that were (INAUDIBLE) about the president of the United States and then violating DOD Directive 1344.1 which they state -- which (INAUDIBLE) military member and that I have been running the Armed Forces Tea Party page for the last two years.
COSTELLO: Were you surprised?
STEIN: Yes, I was surprised. I didn't -- I looked at these allegations and I see them but I'm not seeing in the law where it states these things. In Article 134 of the UCMJ under the court- martial manual it doesn't even -- it doesn't even say anything about the president. It didn't even state the president, the word, in Article 134 of the UCMJ court martial manual.
So I was surprised by that. And, you know, two years ago I went through the same investigation and the Marine Corps found that I was doing nothing wrong by running the Armed Forces Tea Party page and as long as I had a disclaimer on the page, there was no problem. But now two years later they are telling me that I've violated a directive and even to go further than that, my unit has known about this since I've been here. I've been in my unit for eight -- for eight months now. And they've known since the day that I checked in, I let it be known, this is who I am, and this is what I do on my spare time. And so if this was an actual -- if I had actually violated a directive why charge me a month later, two years later really? Why wait?
COSTELLO: Well, let's go back to Article 34.
STEIN: So I see this as a fruitless --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Sergeant, let's go back to Article --
STEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Sergeant, one second. Let's go back to Article 34. It says that you're accused of making statements about the president that are prejudicial to good order and discipline. You said on this show a week ago that if the president ordered U.S. troops to Syria and you determined yourself that that was an unlawful act against the Constitution, you would not go. That means you're disobeying the commander in chief.
STEIN: Disobeying an unlawful order. We found in case law after case law we've seen people be tried for following orders that were unlawful. Look at the (INAUDIBLE) after.
COSTELLO: That may be the case. That may be the case, Sergeant. But when you join the military, you have to obey orders for obvious reasons, don't you?
STEIN: That is very true but they have to be lawful orders. You cannot tell a military member to follow -- so are you telling me that my officer in charge of me can say, hey, Sergeant Stein, go down to QE store and break in and steal all the money. So do I follow that order? No. Because what's going to happen? I'm going to get caught and I'm going to get tried for burglary, larceny and I'm going to -- I'm going to be thrown in jail.
So don't tell me you have to follow every order. If an order is unlawful or illegal or unconstitutional, it is my right as an American, it is my duty as a service member to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. So don't just stand there and -and say that -
COSTELLO: But you can understand -- but you can understand , Sergeant, why individual marines can't make their own determination on what's constitutional and what's not when you're fighting on the battlefield.
STEIN: No, I can't understand that. So let me -- so you're telling me that I swore an oath to defend the Constitution but I don't have the right to interpret -- interpret it? What? I mean, I am an American. That Constitution is part of the founding documents of my country. Just because I signed a document saying, I'm going to join the military doesn't wave my right to interpret the Constitution.
COSTELLO: Don't you think that's why the marines are reviewing your case? Because of your --
STEIN: You know, no. That's not why the marines are reviewing my case. I personally feel and I would think -- I think that all people that are in my corner think that they are reviewing this case as a PR thing. They have to make -- they have to make some kind of stand with this. They can't just let it go off. They can't just let it fizzle into the airwaves. You know they have to make some kind of stand and they have to make some kind of statement. That's what they're trying to do.
And the Marine Corps has every right to do what they want to do and bring charges and allegations, whatever they want to do. It's going to be their job to prove that I did that and it's going to be my job to prove that I did not do that so.
COSTELLO: Sergeant Gary Stein, we'll keep following your case. And thank you for being live with us this morning. We appreciate it.
STEIN: No problem. Thank you.
COSTELLO: We don't often see video like this. Military spinning out of control at a remote mountainous outpost in Afghanistan. This is insane video. You can see the Apache helicopter flying low before it crash-lands in the snow. We'll see it here in a second. It's taking off. Flying low and then you'll see it shortly hit the ground. And it spins out of control. Listen.
It was actually spinning and slipping toward a group of people but missed them. Remarkably no one on the ground or in the chopper was seriously hurt but we don't know how this happened or what the pilot was actually doing.
Coming up, our Pentagon reporter Chris Lawrence will join us with more. He's been talking to the military.
On to France now. The standoff in Toulouse is finally over. The suspect in a shooting rampage that left seven people dead including three Jewish schoolchildren is dead. Police storming the apartment of Mohammad Merah just after 30 hours. French officials saying he jumped out the window with guns blazing.
Zain Verjee is in London with more.
So this must be a relief. You know this crisis of him being holed up in this house is finally over but the story certainly is not over for the French people.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It isn't. And you know, what's been the most fascinating just a few hours ago was that the Interior Minister shortly after we heard these massive bursts of gunfire and then it was reported and confirmed that the gunman was dead, the minister basically gave us all this detail about the two minutes that the gunfire was going on and what had happened. And basically French special forces, the elite force had gone in. They ripped open the door. They also went in through the windows. They had blown out of the shutters the night before.
And they had this very sophisticated video technology and so they used some stun grenades and some gas. We're hearing also to try and paralyze the suspected shooter. And then they managed to locate him using technology inside the bathroom and at that point he just came out guns blazing.
The chief of the special forces had said he had never seen anything that violent before and what we heard was that the shooter jumped out of the window, still firing his gun and hit the ground and he was pronounced dead -- Carol.
COSTELLO: The shooter supposedly said he wanted to bring France to its knees. What do we know about him?
VERJEE: He said he wanted to bring France to its knees. He said he regretted the only thing that he didn't kill more people. He also said that if he was going to die, he was going to do it with weapons in his hand, which is exactly what happened. We know that he's 23 years old. He's of Algerian dissent. And he said that he -- had worked in conjunction with al Qaeda. He had been trained by al Qaeda.
One of the things that's going to be focused on now, Carol, is people are going to go through his cell phones. They're going to do forensic analysis on his computer and look around his apartment and see if he had any accomplices. This is critical. Because right now police are thinking that this guy operated alone. He was a lone wolf which raises a lot of different questions and concerns for France, for Europe and even here in London with the Olympics coming up because it's much harder to thwart one guy who is conducting these terrible attacks than a cell of people who communicating with each other and information can be leaked. So that is what they're going to focus on now -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Zain Verjee live in London for us.
And just a note for you, that video we just saw of the suspect French, too, has identified him as this terror suspect, Mohammad Merah. We just want to make that clear.
It looks like the soldier accused of going on a rampage in Afghanistan will be charged tomorrow. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is in prison at Fort Leavenworth. He and his lawyer have been meeting this week talking about his defense. The military is expected to file homicide charges on Friday. Bales allegedly shot and killed 16 Afghan civilians, many of them children.
The NFL smacks down the Saints for their bounty program. And Saints fans outraged. We'll talk about the suspensions after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The killing of Trayvon Martin has sparked a civil rights movement in the streets and online. Protesters wore hoodies as they marched in New York demanding justice for the unarmed Florida teenagers. 900,000 people have -- have now signed an online petition calling for the arrest of Martin's shooter, the block watch captain George Zimmerman. Of course Zimmerman is claiming self-defense under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.
The Reverend Al Sharpton is heading to Florida today. He'll hold a rally 10 hours from now at a church in Stanford, Florida, where Martin was killed.
Right now, the focus of outrage, though, is Sanford's police chief. There are now calls for his resignation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three-to-two.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The Sanford City commission voted 3-2 that it has no confidence in the police chief, Bill Lee. That vote came after the head of the NAACP demanded Lee's resignation.
CNN's George Howell joins us from Sanford, Florida, with more on that.
Good morning, George.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.
We reached out to the police department to get some sort of reaction to that vote of no confidence and we're told that at this point, the police chief has no comment.
But that decision carries a great deal of weight in this community. First of all, it is welcome news for many in this community who feel that there is a long history of tension between the black community and the police department. Secondly, it's very important to the man who has the power to fire the police chief.
In fact, there was a very interesting exchange between the city manager and the head of the NAACP this morning on "STARTING POINT".
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORTON BONAPARTE, SANFORD, FLORIDA, CITY MANAGER: My comments consistently have been that I would like an independent review by law enforcement agency that will tell me did the city of -- Sanford police do something they shouldn't have done or did they not do something they should have done? Based upon that information I would make a determination as to the future of Chief Lee.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Mr. Jealous, would you like to see the police chief fired?
BEN JEALOUS, NAACP PRESIDENT: Yes. You know, he needs to go right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So, certainly, we're going to have a lot of people here later today with this rally, a lot of focus on the police department and certainly a lot of focus on George Zimmerman. In fact, we got a new picture of George Zimmerman back in 2005 when he worked as a security guard at a house party.
Zimmerman has not been seen since the shooting. He's essentially gone into hiding.
But, again, Zimmerman says on that particular day he acted in self-defense. Many in this community believe that it was murder, Carol.
COSTELLO: George Howell, reporting live from Sanford, Florida, this morning.
For the first time, the former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi is speaking out about his webcam spying trial and his conviction. Ravi faces 10 years in prison for spying on roommate Tyler Clementi having a sexual encounter with another man.
Ravi tells the "New Jersey Star Ledger" why he didn't take the plea deal saying, quote, "If I took the plea, I would have had to testify that I did what I did to intimidate Tyler and that would be a lie. I won't ever get up and tell the world I hated Tyler because he was gay, or tell the world I was trying to hurt or intimidate him because it's not true."
Ravi also says he's sorry about Clementi's suicide.
Who Dat nation wants to find a snitch. Stunned after a bounty program sidelines their head coach for a full season, fans want to know who told.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: I'm sure you've been talking about this a lot. The NFL is bringing the hammer down on the New Orleans Saints. Major suspensions, fines, draft picks lost, all punishment for the bounty programmed that rewarded players for knocking opponents out of the games for injuring them.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has been working with our special investigative unit on this story. He joins us from New Orleans.
What have you found out, Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're working on the special for this weekend Sunday at 8:00. It's called "Bounty Hunters." It's going to be taking a deeper and closer look into the culture of the NFL. But all of this is kind of coming in a week where the news of yesterday is still reverberating across the city. You know, the head coach of the football team.
Let's go over the punishment that has been levied against the New Orleans Saints real quick.
Half million dollars, plus lost a couple of round picks over the next couple of years. But the main hit that everyone here is so angered about is that their head coach, Sean Payton, a beloved figure in this town is suspended for the entire season. The general manager of the team, suspended for half the season, Mickey Loomis, suspended for half the season. An assistant head coach as well, suspended for six games.
The man at the center of all this, the former defensive coordinator here with the Saints, a man by the name of Gregg Williams has been suspended indefinitely. That doesn't necessarily hurt the Saints because Gregg Williams now coaches for the St. Louis Rams. So, it hurts that team. The commissioner says he'll figure out at the end of the season what to do with him.
But, you know, all of this is coming at a time where the city of New Orleans had visions of watching their Saints play in the Super Bowl, which will be hosted here next year. So, many people in this city had this dream being able to watch the Saints win the Super Bowl in their hometown game. That is now very much in question. Question about whether or not the Saints will be able to rally from this punishment.
But we talked to many people, former players who played for Gregg Williams and the overwhelming question that everybody gets and everybody who is close to the NFL seems to be getting is they don't understand why this is such a big deal in a sport that is so violent and based on hard hits.
We talked to "Sports Illustrated's" Peter King about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER KING, SENIOR WRITER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Because the NFL players pride themselves on being such a fraternity and when we get together on Sunday, boy, we go at each other's throats but we're all brothers. I don't know any other fraternity where somebody tries to knock out and break the leg of one of his brothers or do whatever to one of his brothers. It's just over the top. It's wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: You know, Carol, some of the former players we spoke to who actually had played for Gregg Williams on other teams say this is not the kind of pay for performance programs that they were accustomed to. Many players say what has gone on in the league for many, many years is this idea of players exchanging money and paying each other for fumbles, interceptions, big hits, tackles and that sort of thing.
The consensus seems to be whatever happened in New Orleans went to an all new level. And the commissioner of the NFL says that they haven't been able to find any other evidence that other teams across the league were guilty of a similar type of bounty program with their teams -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And you know what's going on now, don't you? New Orleans, they want to know who the snitch, who told on these guys for their bounty program. In fact, Warren Sapp, you know, who played for Tampa, he sent out a tweet accusing Jeremy Shockey of being the snitch. He tweeted that he would be willing to take a lie detector test.
So, the fraternity continues to be not so friendly.
LAVANDERA: Well, exactly. You know, we had one former player who actually was a former quarterback of the Saints. I asked about that. What's going to happen with these guys if we ever find out who kind of got the ball rolling on this NFL investigation? And unapologetically, they said, they better watch their backs.
So, this is a situation that has angered and what has always gone on in the locker room has stayed in the locker room to borrow a cliche there. But this is something that is going to have deep repercussions for the team.
And interestingly enough, Carol, there are still players who will be punished for their role in this bounty-gate, if you will. And the commissioner says he's going to speak with players union to kind of figure out what will be the best punishment. But there is still likelihood of the Saints losing a few players for perhaps a good chunk of the season if not all of the season is still very much up in the air.
COSTELLO: Ed Lavandera, thanks so much.
In just about half hour, we're going talk to Bobby Hebert, former Saints quarterback. He has a lot to say about this and the mood in New Orleans and it ain't pretty.
The NAACP demands arrest of the man who killed unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. But shooter George Zimmerman does have his defenders and you'll hear from one just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: OK. The opening bell just about to ring on Wall Street. They're getting ready there.
Patricio Wu is at the New York Stock Exchange.
Hi, Patricia.
PATRICIA WU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol. We're getting ready for that opening bell but before we get to that, I think we're going to talk about student loans. Is that what you want to talk about first?
COSTELLO: Sure. Let's do that.
WU: All right. Student loans, believe it or not, we have a sobering number for you, $1 trillion. That's the number that we have hit. You might want to know, how do we get to this $1 trillion milestone? Well, in a word, the economy. As you know, a lot of people having trouble finding work so they are taking out loans to go to college, hoping that they're going to have a better shot at finding that job when they graduate.
Two, you've got tuition going up. That's opening bell there. Tuition going up because state budgets have been crunched for cash. You'll see cuts in higher education.
And, finally, you know, many people can't make the payments on those loans so their debt load is growing. When you think about it, Carol, if you don't have a job, you're probably more worried about keeping your house, putting food on the table than putting off those student loans.
So, as a result, student debt has hit the $1 trillion mark. And this, of course, comes from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Just unbelievable. Let's talk about stocks. They fall in the past two days. Any hope for a rebound today?
WU: Well, you know, our futures were lower but since we just saw the bell, let's take a look. Actually, the live numbers that I'm seeing right now, the Dow is down about a half percent. The NASDAQ down a little over half a percent. And the S&P also down about half a percent.
Of course, this is all because of investors' fears that global economy is slowing down, specifically China and Europe, because we had data showing that manufacturing in both places contracted this month. Of course, that is the widening effects of Europe's debt crisis -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Patricia Wu, live at the New York Stock Exchange, thank you.
Good morning to you again. I'm Carol Costello.
Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM:
A Tea Party marine gets political on Facebook and now he reportedly might be getting the boot. He's facing demotion after saying he would not follow presidential orders he thinks are unlawful.
I talked with Sergeant Gary Stein a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEIN (via telephone): I look at these allegations and I see them but I'm not seeing in the law where it states these things. In Article 134 of the UCMJ, under court-martial manual, it doesn't say anything about the president. It doesn't even state the president that word in Article 134 of the UCMJ court-martial manual. So, I was surprised by that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Rare and amazing video of an Apache helicopter crash in Afghanistan. The Army looking into whether or not the pilot was performing stunts. Amazingly, the crew survived.
A gun battle in intense 32-hour standoff with al Qaeda terrorist over. The suspect killed in a police raid just hours ago, and this morning, we're learning more about the man wanted in the killings of three French paratroopers and three students at a Jewish school.
Growing anger over the killing of an unarmed Florida teenager. Protesters wore hoodies for a march in New York. Trayvon Martin was wearing one when he was shot.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton is headed to Sanford, Florida, for a rally tonight at a church.
The shooter George Zimmerman does have his defenders, despite the anger over martin's killing. This exclusive picture shows Zimmerman working security at a party. His family denies race played a part in the shooting.
And speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper, a neighbor said Zimmerman did keep their community safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": You say he stopped a potential burglary at your house a couple weeks ago before the shooting?
FRANK TAAFFE, FRIEND OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: That is correct.
COOPER: And were you surprised that he was carrying a gun? Were you aware he carried a gun?
TAAFE: I was extremely shocked to the fact that he was carrying a gun, yes.
COOPER: What shocked you? How did it shock you?
TAAFE: The lethal weapon. It wasn't George. As I said, he was a very congenial, amiable man. The use of a lethal weapon, a deadly lethal weapon as .9 millimeter that he used was very shocking to me. It just didn't fit -- it didn't fit the person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Zimmerman's defense has centered on Florida's so- called "Stand Your Ground" law. That law says a person who is doing nothing wrong has the right to defend themselves to prevent being seriously injured or killed. In other words, if you think someone is going to hurt you, if you even think it, you can defend yourself with a gun.
Groups like the National Rifle Association want to see these laws passed in all 50 states.
CNN Roland Martin is here with more.
Roland, the state lawmaker who passed Florida's law say Zimmerman shouldn't be able to use their law as a defense. They say the law is being perverted in some way because of this case.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is being perverted. I mean, first and foremost, how was Trayvon Martin coming after George Zimmerman? Zimmerman is in an SUV. He gets out of his vehicle. He goes up to Trayvon Martin. This makes no sense whatsoever.
And the NRA should be shameful for what they are trying to do. You have seen justifiable homicide shoot up dramatically in Florida.
Here's what I also want to know. Where are law and order people, or prosecutors across the country do not like these laws because they say it makes it even more harder for them to prosecute cases where someone guns someone else down.
COSTELLO: Wait a minute, you said you agree that the law is being misused, yet you are complaining about the NRA wanting to pass it in all 50 states?
MARTIN: Absolutely. First and foremost, we should not be sitting here saying, hey, if you think somebody is going to hurt you, then you should shoot them? How do you know what somebody else is thinking? And so, what, you're walking around paranoid and suspicious?
And I can tell you right now, as an African-American man, if I'm wearing a sweat suit, do I want someone saying, uh-uh, I don't know what that guy might do to him so let me go ahead and pull my weapon out. It just makes no sense.
We have a vigilante society and that's last thing we need. More folks walking around, thinking somebody is going to hurt them so therefore whip my gun out and let me take them out.
COSTELLO: Well, it is interesting we haven't heard much from NRA over this issue. Have you heard anyone go on camera from the NRA standing up for this law?
MARTIN: Well, actually, the NRA -- again, they want this pushed in 50 states. If you want this pushed in 50 states, so you're not going to jump in this conversation right now and say, hey, George Zimmerman, way to go. They are going to use their lobby to effectively push these laws.
What I think needs to happen, we saw this with Jena 6, a lot of people protested that and went away -- a lot of people are upset right now, 500,000 signing these petitions. People should be able to mobilize themselves who are angry with this Trayvon Martin case and get involved in public policy to combat these kind of laws because that's the last thing we need.
You don't want to handcuff prosecutors to sit here and say, man, we think this person was wrong for shooting someone, but they're going to use this law as justification. We don't need these laws on the books.
Protect your home. Protect your property. Protect your family.
But to be able to walk out in public anywhere else and shoot someone because you think they might harm you -- that's problematic, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. We'll be discussing this issue much more over the days to come. Roland Martin, thanks so much.
MARTIN: Thanks a lot.
COSTELLO: Coming up next in the NEWSROOM: reaction to the NFL's punishment of the Saints. Former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert joins us to talk about the scandal and the snitches surrounding the current team.
And movie goers working up a big appetite for "The Hunger Games." The ticket selling frenzy, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The movie hasn't even opened yet and the "Hunger Games" already a huge hit.
CNN's Kareen Wynter live in Los Angeles. Are these the biggest advance ticket sales ever?
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Carol, try historically big. They are huge according to "Hollywood Reporter", "The Hunger Games" has already presold more than $15 million in tickets, making it one of the top five presold movies ever.
Rounding out the list of the top five presold movies are the "Harry Potter" and the "Twilight" film franchises.
Now, these numbers, they are jumping out to Hollywood experts, Carol, frankly because this is seen as an ordinary weekend in March. It's not a holiday weekend. The thousands of people who are heading to the theater overnight for the first shows probably still have to be at work or school tomorrow.
But forget about tomorrow. It's all about those screenings tonight. Industry experts anticipate "Hunger Games" will sell more than $20 million in overnight sales. Huge numbers. And it's really impressive how much Hollywood films can actually, you know, rake in once they are successful -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Hey, good for Suzanne Collins, the author who wrote the trilogy. You know what movies are based on. It's just -- man, I admire her.
Let's talk about --
WYNTER: Mind-blowing.
COSTELLO: I know, really. And she's very reclusive and, apparently, doesn't really talk to the media. We don't even know much about her. We're going to get into that tomorrow.
WYNTER: It's about her books and reeling in fans. And then when you see it on the big screen, you are really taken in by all of that, the whole story line.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. Let's talk about Jeff Foxworthy, because he's going to be hosting a very different kind of game show. Tell us.
WYNTER: This is so unique. The origins of this new show was series -- we all know this show, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" which I did lousy at. But now, Jeff Foxworthy is trying to bring some light to the Bible. That's right. He's praying.
His new game show is called "The American Bible Challenge" will be a huge hit. Now, contestants, Carol, though, compete on their knowledge of the Bible, of course. So, if you're up to speed, on your thumbs, a few letters to the Corinthians, well, this may be the game show for you. Competitors, they won't be getting rich, for their appearances, which is a good thing. All the winnings from this show will go to a faith-based charity organization.
The new series, it will air on the Game Show Network. And Foxworthy says he's excited to host a show about the bestselling book of all time. We'll see how that one does.
COSTELLO: Yes. I mean, I know the Ten Commandments. I think I would probably lose the game.
WYNTER: Yes, a lot of people would have to brush up on the Bible. But we'll have to see how this does, you know? His other game show was a hit. So --
COSTELLO: We'll see.
WYNTER: He may be onto something here.
COSTELLO: Kareen Wynter, thank you.
Carney Wilson gets weight loss surgery again. Kareen has that and other showbiz headlines in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.
Some very lucky people live here. One person woke up to find police and a giant boulder at his door. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: In today's "Health for Her", maybe aspirin really is a wonder drug. It just got another boost. Two new studies published in the medical journal "The Lancet" add to the mounting evidence a daily dose of aspirin could cut cancer risk by 25 percent after just three years.
A daily dose of aspirin is also used by many people as a heart drug. Experts caution though the results haven't been fully confirmed and taking aspirin still runs the risk of causing stomach bleeding. So as always, see your doctor first.
Checking stories cross-country now; take a look at these pictures from Caddo Parish, Louisiana. That's a car underneath that enormous tree. It suddenly collapsed on top of Robert Salts' Honda. Incredibly he not only survived, he's fine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT SALTS, DRIVER: The road was kind of like down on top of me. And you know -- as we entered (inaudible) -- well actually when I first seen the tree come down, I kind of thought it might be one of those smaller trees but the tree kept coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: By the way, he says he will be in church on Sunday.
In Athens, Ohio another near disaster, we know it's going to take time to break up and remove this huge boulder you're about to see. It slid off a hill on Tuesday crushing two cars and rolling into a house and damaging it. Again in spite of what you see, nobody was hurt.
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MICHAEL WEISER, TENANT: I sensed the pop and a flash of light, which I think was the transformer going and thought oh well, we had some lightning. And I'll -- I'll wake up in the morning and figure out you know whether I've got power or not. So I just went to bed. And then about 45 minutes later, the fire department was pounding on my door and the guy said, hey, do you realize that part of your hillside let go?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And there's a big boulder on the side of your house? That boulder measures 25 feet in diameter.
In Clintonville, Wisconsin, a theory but no solid answer to the booming noises and shaking that have plagued the town since Sunday. They are likely caused by shifting layers of granite rock underground. The city has ruled out everything else. We'll keep you posted.
President Obama heading for Oklahoma City, actually for the state of Oklahoma and the town of Cushing, Oklahoma. During a visit to a pipe yard -- during a visit to the Keystone Pipeline, he'll announce he's fast tracking part of that controversial pipeline.
We'll take his speech live, that should come your way at 10:55 Eastern.
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COSTELLO: We're following a lot of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Brianna Keilar.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORESPONDENT: Good morning to you Carol from Cushing, Oklahoma, where President Obama will be, a very solidly red state as he touts his energy policies. But can he convince American voters who are really feeling the pinch at the pump? I'll see you at the top of the hour.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon. And you're just minutes away from seeing some frankly incredible video of a helicopter going down. You may not even believe how the two military folks on board walked away from this crash.
O'BRIEN: Or what exactly they were doing. Thanks to both of you.
Also the head of the NCAA will join us to talk about students athletes. Should they get paid legally and should there be a football playoff? We'll talk basketball with them, too. We'll be back.
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COSTELLO: I know. We've been talking a lot about the Saints punishment for their bounty program. But there's something else going on tonight. What could it be?
Hi Jeff Fischel.
JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: Yes. Another big NFL story. If you were going to say where should Tim Tebow end up? What's a good place. What's the place where he will fit right in, things will go smoothly?
COSTELLO: Jacksonville.
FISCHEL: That might have been it but instead it's going to be a circus because Tim Tebow is going to New York. The Denver Broncos completed a deal last night sending last season's starting QB to the Jets. Tebow became expendable after the Broncos signed Peyton Manning.
Now, check out today's headline in the "New York Post". "God Him."
COSTELLO: Geez.
FISCHEL: And another tabloid had the Statue of Liberty doing the Tebow thing. So, you know, the Jets didn't have to give up much, just a couple of low draft picks they sent to Denver. You have to listen to the fans though talking about now the Jets having Tim Tebow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am so excited. I love Tebow and I love the Jets so this is awesome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's dumb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are bringing a lot to the locker room by getting Tebow and we have the power of Jesus Christ on our side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FISCHEL: You're going to get some interesting responses. As long as he's in New York, you're going to get fans taking very hard stands about how --
COSTELLO: Hey, if he's in a game and he's winning, they will love him. And if he's not --
FISCHEL: Then you can hear people say, "I think it's dumb."
COSTELLO: Yes.
FISCHEL: You know what, really, again, one of the things no one talks about really when you talk about Tim Tebow on your team and wins and losses, there's also the money factor. They are already printing Tim Tebow jerseys like crazy because he's so popular across the country.
We'll see how the Jets fit Tebow into their offensive scheme and how fast the fans say, you know what, I don't think we want Mark Sanchez to start anymore. Let's see what Tebow can do.
That team was already nuts. It was already a three-ring circus. Now Tim Tebow is there.
All right. NBA hoops. Mavs and Lakers last night. Watch this one. Pau Gasol throws the ball up top. Kobe Bryant somehow catches and hits the reverse layup.
COSTELLO: Wow.
FISCHEL: It's incredible. Kobe gets the free throw as well for the three-point play. He finished with 30. Gasol had 27 points, 9 boards. The Lakers win 109-93. The Mavs four-game winning streak over.
March Madness resumes tonight. We're down to the sweet 16. In the East Regional, Syracuse plays Wisconsin, that's a one versus a four-seed. Ohio state, my pick to the go to the championship game, not win at all but championship game. Look at that battle -- in-state battle against Cincinnati. Michigan State and Louisville in the Western Bracket. Also Marquette and Florida. After tonight two teams will be -- four teams will be in regional finals battling for two of the final four spots.
Speaking of the sweet 16, you can watch every game live on TBS and CBS. And if you're away from TV, no worries. Catch the action online at ncaa.com/marchmadness.
More than 13,000 fans competing in the brackets right here on cnn.com. I know you're doing oh, so well. I gave her some bad advice. I did. I said go with Missouri. I know you like the Tigers.
COSTELLO: I'm last. I don't think I'm going to win. Although I did choose Ohio state to win it all. If they win it all, at least I have that to crow about. I'm sad about it, Jeff. Why did you mention it?
FISCHEL: Always here to make you feel better.
COSTELLO: Thanks so much.
Finally this hour, bad timing for two firefighters in Minnesota. Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you think fighting a car fire could be a drag, imagine fighting a car fire in drag. Two burly firefighters in gowns, Ted Aubart is in the pink.
(on camera): Did you realize you were fighting a fire in a dress?
TED AUBART, FIREFIGHTER: It kind of dawned on me when we were in the middle of fighting it.
MOOS (voice-over): And when did it dawn on Ben Terhaar, wearing the green gown?
BEN TERHAAR, FIREFIGHTER: I remember looking over to my right and seeing people with cell phones up to their face. And I thought oh, my gosh.
MOOS: But the firefighters didn't have much choice. The Sedan, Minnesota voluntary fire department had a fluke in the St. Patrick's Day parade in a nearby town. The firefighters dressed up to promote a beauty pageant they hold every year as a fund-raiser. When a pickup truck caught fire they leaped into action. Even if it meant fighting not just the fire but falling straps on Ted's gown. As for Ben --
You didn't seem to have any trouble with your straps.
TERHAAR: That's because I didn't have any.
MOOS: He wore a strapless accessorized with a hose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did a great job handling the hose when he was in his pretty green dress.
MOOS: Fire chief Barry Baumann has a name for his men.
BARRY BAUMANN, FIRE CHIEF: I call them my "girls" now.
MOOS (on camera): They may look like the Rupauls of firefighters but they managed to put out the blaze in just a couple of minutes.
(voice-over): And the chief points out that though they lack normal protective gear the firefighters played it safe and stayed focus.
BAUMANN: These guys could stand out there in underwear and wouldn't care. They are that way.
MOOS: Though some angles were less than flattering, still, you looked very pretty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
MOOS (on camera): You're the prettiest fireman I ever saw.
(voice-over): One burning question remains. Gentlemen, who were you wearing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm pretty sure they got them from JC Penney's.
MOOS: Now, that's hot. Jeanne Moos CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
