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Obama's Keystone XL Announcement; Protests Mount In Florida Teen Killing; "No Confidence" In Sanford Police Chief; Was The Pilot Performing Stunts?; U.S. Chopper Crash In Afghanistan; Tea Party Marine May Be Discharged; NFL Punishes Saints For Bounty Program; What Did Zimmerman Say In Call?; Ravi: I Didn't Act Out of Hate; NCAA Honors Military Families; Aspirin May Cut Cancer Risk
Aired March 22, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, the president will give a speech later this hour saying he's going to speed up the permit for the controversial Keystone pipeline project.
He's on a fast four-city energy tour. Critics say rising gas prices are forcing the president to support a project he first lobbied against.
A rare and amazing video of an Apache helicopter crash in Afghanistan. The army now looking into whether the pilot was performing stunts. Amazingly enough the crew survived.
Speaking out for the first time since he's trial, Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student convicted of spying on his roommate with a web cam. He apologizes for what happened, but says he does not regret turning down a plea deal. We'll tell you why just ahead.
But we begin in Oklahoma. President Obama now in Cushing, Oklahoma, home to part of the Keystone pipeline. The president is using that controversial project to push his energy policy and to show he really does care about the rising price of gas.
Brianna Keilar is our White House correspondent. She is in Cushing. So Brianna, is Oklahoma happy to see the president?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Carol and I know you do know this, but of all the places that President Obama is visiting on this energy tour, Oklahoma is by far the least friendly politically. This is a solidly red state.
Republican lawmakers from Oklahoma have criticized President Obama's energy policies, which he is coming here to tout and trying to describe as an all of the above approach, a combination of renewable energy and oil and gas.
And the "Oklahoman," the largest paper in Oklahoma has called this trip of his disingenuous. But frankly, the president isn't here to win over voters in Oklahoma. He's here for the visual. This is Cushing.
It's a major oil repository in the U.S. and there's a greater supply here than there is an ability to transport a lot of the oil down to the gulf. That's why you have a lot of companies trying to build pipelines from this area.
And he will be announcing today that his administration is doing everything it can to expedite that southern part of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would go from Cushing down to the Gulf. But Republicans are just slamming him on this, Carol, because of the fact that really the federal government has very little involvement in this part of the pipeline compared to the northern part that his administration rejected the initial proposal for -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So he's fast tracking permits for southern portion of the pipeline, a part of the pipeline he's always supported. Exactly what does he want that to say to voters?
KEILAR: You know, I spoke with one energy analyst who said one of the ways you can read it is that when he's talking about expediting this part of the pipeline, it almost translates to I'm not standing in the way of it.
That's really the message that can be taken away because he's facing so much republican criticism over the northern part of the pipeline that would have brought oil down from the oil sands of Canada, something that environmentalists were very much opposed to because of the carbon footprint.
So really it's just sort of his message to rebut Republican criticism that he's actively standing in the way of oil and gas production. But the truth is when it comes to what the federal government can do in terms of expediting a project like this, it's pretty negligible.
COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar live in Cushin, Oklahoma. You'll have much more for us later on the day on CNN. Just keep it right here on CNN NEWSROOM.
The president's speech is scheduled for 10:55 a.m. Eastern. Of course, it will come from Cushing and CNN will cover that live for you.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton is on his way to Sanford, Florida. That's where an unarmed teenager was killed by a block watch captain. Sharpton will lead a rally tonight calling for justice.
Anger over Trayvon Martin's killing has spread far from Florida though. In New York, protesters took part in a million hoodie march. Martin was wearing a hoodie at the time he was killed by George Zimmerman.
He remains free, Zimmerman, I'm talking about, not charged, claiming self-defense. That doesn't wash with many people in Sanford. Last night, the city commission voted that they had no confidence in Bill Lee, who was Sanford's police chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three-two.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: You heard that three-two no confidence votes. CNN's George Howell was at that contentious meeting. He joins me now from Sanford. George, it seems the community meeting -- well, doesn't seem the community meeting was pretty darn rowdy.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there were a lot of people at that meeting. Many people sharing their own personal stories about tensions that they say exist between the police department and the black community here in Sanford.
So that vote of no confidence was welcome news to them, but the vote does another thing. It's very important for the city manager here, the person who has the power to fire the police chief.
In fact, you get a sense of the pressure the city manager is under in this interview. This exchange between the NAACP president and -- you hear it here. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORTON BONAPARTE, SANFORD, FLORIDA CITY MANAGER: My comments consistently have been that I'd like an independent review by law enforcement agency that will tell me 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, HOST, CNN'S "STARTING POINT": Mr. Jealous, would you like to see the police chief fired?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you know, he needs to go right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So there is a great deal of pressure on the police department, certainly the city manager and obviously, George Zimmerman who has not been seen since the shooting.
We did find a picture of Zimmerman taken back in 2005. This is when he worked as a security guard at a house party. Again, Zimmerman has not been seen, but says he acted in self-defense. But many in this community believe that it was murder -- Carol.
COSTELLO: George Howell reporting live for us from Sanford, Florida. As George said, we haven't heard a lot about the shooter in the Martin case, George Zimmerman. The block watch captain was dedicated to protecting his neighborhood.
He does have his defenders. We've only seen a mug shut photo of Zimmerman, but this morning, we do have that picture of Zimmerman working security at a party. You can see him there. That's him in a white shirt.
Frank Taafe lives in the neighborhood where the shooting went down. He says Zimmerman kept him safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": You say he actually stopped a potential burglary at your house a couple of weeks ago before the shooting?
FRANK TAAFE, FRIEND OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: That is correct.
COOPER: Were you surprised that he was carrying a gun? Were you aware he would carry a gun?
TAAFE: I was extremely shocked to the fact that he was caring 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, 0.9 millimeter that he used was very shocking to me. It just didn't fit the person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Zimmerman's family says race had nothing to do with the shooting and Zimmerman shot Martin in self-defense.
We don't often see video like this, a military helicopter out of control at a remote mountainous outpost in Afghanistan. This video is in insane.
You can see the Apache helicopter flying low before it crash lands in the snow. Shortly you can see it spinning out of control. There it goes. It was spinning toward a group of people. Amazingly enough it didn't hit them.
No one was hurt. How did it happen? What was the pilot doing? Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence has been studying these pictures. What can you tell us, Chris?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I just spoke with a defense official who gave me a little background on what they were doing. The big question, that's still out there.
He says basically what happened was this is a pretty remote area. It's in the south eastern part of Afghanistan. They had air dropped some supplies down to some of the troops on the ground.
So a patrol went out there to pick up some of the air dropped supplies. There were two of these Apache helicopters out sort of doing an over flight, in other words, keeping a lookout for any insurgent activity while the patrol was on the ground picking up their supplies.
This one helicopter, as you just saw, almost clips that building before sort of pulling up, hits the snow. The rotors and momentum sent it skidding across the snow. You can see people running after it hits.
Then it pops up in the air, spins wildly and back down. The investigation going on I'm told is looking at whether there was any error by the pilot, whether they were doing something they weren't supposed to or if something went wrong with the actual Apache itself -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I was going to ask you because there are reports out there that the pilot was hot dogging it.
LAWRENCE: Yes. In other words, flying too low, you know, dangerous, risky, low altitude maneuvers there. You can see it's a very icy area. You know, this was back in early February, a lot of snow on the ground.
That is one of the things that the investigation is looking at, what the pilots were doing? Were they following protocol? But they are looking at everything as it pertains to this particular crash.
COSTELLO: Chris Lawrence live at the Pentagon. Thanks.
Tea Party Sergeant Gary Stein, he's now responding to the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps are now taking steps to boot him out of the service.
Military officials taking the action because Stein's Armed Forces Tea Party Facebook page violates Pentagon rules. Stein's accused of making statements about the president prejudicial to good order and discipline.
I asked Sergeant Stein about the controversy in the last hour of NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: When you join the military, you have to obey orders for obvious reasons, don't you?
SERGEANT GARY STEIN (via telephone): That is very true. You cannot tell a military member -- are you telling me that my officer in charge of me can say, Sergeant Stein, go down to the convenience store and break in and steal all the money. 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 and larceny and I'm going to be thrown in jail.
So don't tell me I have to follow every order. If an order is unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional, it is my right as an American and it is my duty as a serviceman to uphold and defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. COSTELLO: But you can understand, Sergeant -- 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 you're telling me I swore an oath to defend, but I don't have the right to interpret it? I mean, I'm an American.
That constitution is part of the founding documents of my country. Just because I signed a document saying that I'm going to join the military doesn't wave my right to interpret the constitution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: As I said, the military is thinking about booting Sergeant Stein out of the military. We'll keep you posted.
The standoff in Toulouse, France is finally over. The suspect in a shooting rampage that left seven people dead including three Jewish school children is dead. Police stormed the apartment of Mohammed Merah after 30 hours.
He opened fire on police. French officials say he jumped out of the window with a gun still in his hand. Here are some pictures from near the apartment as that raid took place.
France, too, has identified the man in this video. You'll see it. There he is, as the suspect, Mohammed Merah. Our Diana Magnay is in Toulouse. Diana, the standoff is over, but so many questions remain.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So many questions, yes, but we're building up a sort of psychological profile of this man, a ruthless killer. You know, those gunshots that you heard, they sound as if they are coming from some kind of automatic weapon.
But in fact, that was just the speed of which he was firing. The guy who led this raid said he's a specialist on this kind of thing, he's never seen anything so violent as the way that Mohammed Merah was when he came out of the bathroom shooting at policeman and jump off of the balcony.
Apparently, he was shot by a shot to the head by police in the end. We had a lot of detail really because he spent a lot of time discussing with negotiators, you know, many, many hours, basically not asking them for anything. Sorry about the noise.
This the way it's been for the last 30 hours. Not really asking them for much, but just using his opportunity to talk about his convictions, tell them the kind of weapons he'd amassed, about his time, training in al Qaeda, Wazirstan, Pakistan, why he did what he did to avenge the death of Palestinian children, for example.
Then he pointed them in the direction of a camera where investigators found he actually filmed every one of the three crimes he did, running up, gunning down paratroopers, calling out, some really sick videos that they've been having to pull through.
COSTELLO: Diana Magnay reporting live in Toulouse, France.
The former Rutgers student convicted of spying on his roommate apologizes. Dharun ravi tells his side of the story in a revealing interview. We'll more on that just ahead. We'll actually talk to the reporter who interviewed Ravi.
The NFL says Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was just one of the high-profile targets in the Saints bounty program. We'll talk about the severe punishment the league has now handed down. That's coming your way next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The NFL is coming down hard on the New Orleans Saints for their bounty program. Head coach Sean Payton has the stiffest punishment. He has been suspended for the entire season. One year without pay, that's a hit of $7.5 million.
Saints' quarterback Drew Brees reacted on Twitter. This is his tweet. He said, I am speechless. Sean Payton is a great man, coach and mentor. The best there is. I need to hear an explanation for this punishment. Commissioner Roger Goodell provided one to the NFL network.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: I don't think you can be too hard on people that put at risk our players' health and safety. That is a critical issue for us going forward and has been in our past. We will always protect that. We will always make the decisions best for the game long-term and our players.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Bobby Hebert played quarterback with the Saints from 1985 to 1992. He now co-hosts a sports talk show on WWL radio in New Orleans. Bobby, welcome.
BOBBY HEBERT, WWL SPORTS TALK HOST: Thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: We appreciate your being here. So do you think the punishments were too severe?
HEBERT: Well, I think it's so severe because it all goes back to not addressing it from the get go when the commissioner to the sports organization. Really, if you look at the NFL and the way it's structured with Commissioner Goodell, if you are confronted with a problem you have to deal with it.
You can't sweep it under the rug. You can't lie to the commissioner. I think it's similar why the NFL came down so harsh on the Saints, what happened with Michael Vick. It's almost like you growing up, you have that father figure, dad in my life, you might do something I don't like or I'm wrong.
But if I confront you, you better tell me the truth. I think that was the problem with the Saints organization. I think from the get go, if they would have addressed it, this probably would have been taken care of behind the scenes.
The ongoing process going back to 2009 when the Saints won the Super Bowl, that's why it had to come forth in the public to nip it in the bud. The commissioner to say as far as always being concerned with players' safety, that's as of late in the potential lawsuits and what's going to come about kind of looking into the future.
The commissioner taking the approach it's about player safety. He has to take that approach because of the potential lawsuits and liability of that. That's where all that comes from.
COSTELLO: So you're really saying that it was more the cover-up that angered the NFL, not so much the bounty program?
HEBERT: That's what I think as far as the stiff penalty with Sean Payton. We all thought realistically he was going to be probably four games, maybe eight games a season of that's a real fine.
Sean Payton has basically paid I want to say between $7 million, $8 million. You look at players with big hits get fined $50,000. You're making millions, how significant is that?
When you're talking about taking away a man's living for a year, $7 million, $8 million that speaks volumes, where does that place the fans? Who that nation the Saint's fan base, what about us?
It's like when you are growing up, you're a fan of the "Rolling Stones," you don't mind to pay $100 to go see Mik Jagger perform on stage for the "Rolling Stones." All of a sudden he's not available. I want a refund.
What about the Saints fans going forward next year? We're hosting the Super Bowl. Everyone thinks we're as good as it gets to go to the Super Bowl, now one hand tied behind their back.
COSTELLO: Let me ask you something else. I know the people of New Orleans are really upset, but some NFL players are really upset too for whoever snitched. In fact, former NFL star, Warren Sapp responded to a Twitter follower who asked who was the snitch?
Sapp tweeted just heard who the snitch was Jeremy Shockey. As you know Jeremy Shockey played with the Saints. He's now free agent. He tweeted back and said how about I take a lie detector test on ESPN.
So there's all this ugliness going on within the world of football, too. So how much damage has this done?
HEBERT: Well, you know, a lot of people might take the approach the troops out, is there any wrong exposing something that's not right. All I know in a locker room, you hear the commercial what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Basically, as far as players are speaking, what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. All I know is whoever that snitch is, you do not want to be a snitch. The players will look upon that like you got to be kidding me.
They would view that person as sellout. Like I say, I don't know Warren Sapp's sources, but a lot of players do trust an individual like Warren Sapp. They both went to the University of Miami. I don't know if he has a beef to pick with Shockey.
But for him to say that, he said he trusts his sources. I mean, at times Shockey has not always been the most upstanding citizen as far as how he's been in the locker room.
He was outstanding in the Saints locker room. I don't know if he was bitter when they got rid of him. I know the players look upon that --
COSTELLO: We can only speculate. Bobby Herbert, thank you so much for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.
HEBERT: Thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: Still to come on NEWSROOM, the Trayvon Martin story and 1.6 seconds of the 911 case that has some saying race has everything to do with the shooting.
Also ahead, coping a plea. Dharun Ravi refuses to do it and now he faces prison time for spying on his roommate via web cam. He explains this decision in his first interview since the trial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Protests are growing and the Justice Department is looking into the killing of an unarmed Florida teenaged. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a neighbor watch captain named George Zimmerman.
No charges have been filed and Zimmerman has claimed self defense. Federal charges could depend on whether investigators believe this is a hate crime.
Zimmerman's family denies race played any part in the shooting, but those mourning Martin are not buying that. They point to one 1.6 seconds on the 911 call where Zimmerman has heard muttering a phrase.
Gary Tuchman studied the tape with a CNN sound engineer and we much warn you the phrase in question is played several times and maybe offensive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Edit Room 31 at CNN Center in Atlanta. This is one of the most sophisticated audio edit suites in the broadcast news business. And right here is Rick Ciara, he's our audio design specialist. He's one of the best audio experts in the business. Rick, if you can, I haven't listened to this portion of the 911 tape at all. I want to hear it raw, if you can play 10 seconds before and listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which entrance is that he's heading towards?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The back entrance.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): You may not have heard the moment in question because it was so quick.
(on camera): How long does that portion last that everyone is talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A second, 18 frames.
TUCHMAN: That's about 1.6 seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.
TUCHMAN: So let's listen to it ten times in a row if we can.
(voice-over): What we're listening for is racial slur followed by the "f" word. Some say they hear it, others say they don't.
(on camera): It's certainly a lot clearer when we listen to it this way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.
TUCHMAN: Is there anything else we can do to the audio to make it clearer?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did boosting at 2.2 kilohertz and 4.6 kilohertz.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): What Rick has done is lower the base.
(on camera): So why is it that you want to get rid of the low end of the audio, the base of the audio?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, to minimize the noise.
TUCHMAN: That takes away the noise and allows us to hear the voice more clearly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct. I'll boost it up a little more there. We'll give it a shot here.
TUCHMAN: That does sound a little clearer to me. Sounds like this allegation would be accurate, but I wouldn't swear to it in court. That's what it sounds like to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very difficult to really pinpoint what he's saying.
TUCHMAN: Rick, can we just play that second word, what we think the second word is and see if it sounds any different.
It certainly sounds like that word to me, but you can't be sure. Sounds more like the word using it with the "F" word before that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Only George Zimmerman knows if he used the slur, but he's not talking. So the phone call, like so much of his case, remains a mystery. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: How do you go through 3,000 sweater vests in a month? Rick Santorum's campaign did. We'll talk about why with our "Political Buzz" panel next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: "Political Buzz" is your rapid-fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today: Democratic strategist, Robert Zimmerman; Patricia Murphy, editor of Citizen Jane Politics and a contributor to the "Daily Beast"; and CNN contributor, Will Cain. Welcome to all of you.
PATRICIA MURPHY, EDITOR, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Hey Carol.
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
Ok first question, the President goes on a four-state tour to promote his energy policy and how it will create jobs. And Newt Gingrich goes on the attack. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He went to Nevada to a site in which five people -- five have fulltime employment for an average cost of $10,800,000 a job. It's a solar power site, it's an absurdity economically, it has nothing to do with the price of gasoline, which is the number one concern of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ok. So is Newt Gingrich right? Is green technology really creating jobs? Robert.
ZIMMERMAN: Newt Gingrich is not only wrong on the facts he's wrong on the principles and wrong on the policy. First of all this particular site he's making reference to has produced several hundred jobs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in addition to which it's power -- it's and providing power for 17,000 homes.
It's so successful they're actually developing another one in the region. I only wish Newt Gingrich could show that same passion and focus when it goes to taking on the subsidies given to the oil companies and the gas companies that are making record profits at our expense.
COSTELLO: Will.
CAIN: It's not the right question, is green energy good at creating jobs. You could theoretically put people to work doing anything, digging ditches and then they have jobs. The question is whether or not you have real sustainable, economically viable jobs. And the jury is out on green energy investment for that question. In issues like Solyndra, cases like Solyndra only add to that -- to that -- that analysis.
So what we worry is that we could be at worst funding the modern day equivalent of the jet pack or at worst really, really insufficient unsustainable jobs.
COSTELLO: Patricia.
MURPHY: Well, Newt Gingrich is not right. And Nevada has more geothermal plants than any state in the country. I think more than five people work at those plants. I certainly hope that they do. But I do actually agree with -- well there is -- I don't think there's any conclusive evidence that the green jobs are sustainable but has a lot more to do with the American consumers.
Until that energy, until wind, solar, geothermal, all of that is plentiful and less expensive, Americans just aren't going to use it. So until there's a major change at every level -- federal, state, local, people aren't going to use it. Until they do, it's not a sustainable place to put jobs.
COSTELLO: Ok.
Second question, an anti-abortion advocate uses space in the Idaho State legislature to give an ultrasound demonstration on a living, breathing pregnant woman to show ultrasounds are not intrusive and should be required before women get an abortion. Ultrasounds at the state house, what's next? Patricia?
MURPHY: Well, I think it's a really bad showing for Republicans in November unless there are also ultrasounds on men's reproductive parts in the Idaho legislature. This is totally mind boggling, this is what women are so concerned about. Independent moderate women, this is -- this is nothing that belongs in politics. It doesn't belong in the state house. It belongs in your doctor's office.
And guess what, an ultrasound is invasive. Anybody who has had one knows it. This is just -- there's no place for this in politics. Republicans I think are digging their own grave if they were talking about the economy not talking about this they would have a much better chance in November.
COSTELLO: Will.
CAIN: Well, as to the state house aspect of this question, you know the showmanship of politics here, let's not forget that a year ago the people of Wisconsin filled up the State House there to put forward a political message. This lady is using the State House to put her own political message forward.
I don't know if it's that odd. Her particular message, the substance of her message, I've said this on your show before, Carol. I am pro-life but I don't think the response to ending abortions in the United States is to put other mandates on free citizens.
So I don't particularly like her remedy, her message, but you know I mean, other people have used this as their forum.
COSTELLO: Robert.
ZIMMERMAN: You know this story really speaks to the hypocrisy and deceit of the right-wing in America today. They're all against -- you know they are -- they are all for big government when it comes to coming into our bedrooms or on the battlefield. The only time they're against big government is when it gets in a way of big business.
That's why Senator -- State Senator Linda Turner of Ohio is my choice for State Legislator of the Year because she's put legislation forward that's going to put men up and hold men up to a higher standard to receive Viagra.
They're going to have answer public questions about whether they are qualified for it, go through psychological examinations and in fact have to fill out public disclosure information about whether they are really qualified and eligible to receive it.
COSTELLO: Enough said. Your "Buzzer Beater" now 20 seconds each. Third question, here is Rick Santorum in his signature sweater vest. His campaign apparently ordered 3,000 sweater vests last month for campaign contributors. What would you like to see other candidates give out as swag? Will?
CAIN: Just a consistent principled message -- is that good enough? Is that sanctimonious enough for you?
COSTELLO: That's all you've got?
CAIN: I've chosen the path of sanctimony this morning Carol if you'll please give me that lee way I'm going to rest on it.
MURPHY: You never have to do that.
COSTELLO: That's so boring, I know. Patricia.
MURPHY: Oh let's see. Obviously everybody wants an etch-a- sketch now that's absolutely one for Newt Gingrich, we love his favorite animal, a plush toy, everybody loves that. I think everybody thought would have settle for a much better economy.
COSTELLO: Robert.
ZIMMERMAN: You know in fairness to the Republican right-wing, in fact Newt Gingrich is working with Rick Santorum on the sweater vest he's providing the child laborers.
COSTELLO: Oh man.
ZIMMERMAN: But -- but I think --
(CROSSTALK)
CAIN: What was the fairness? What was that fairness part?
ZIMMERMAN: They are working together. But the point simply here is that ultimately Mitt Romney should be giving out pink slips now in addition to flip flops. And Ron Paul's crowd seems so cranky they probably should be giving out Metamucil, maybe put them in a better mood, to make them feel better.
COSTELLO: Ok, Will I'm glad you remained sanctimonious on this one.
(CROSSTALK)
CAIN: And fair by Robert's definition. It's really fair you got there Robert.
COSTELLO: Robert, Will and Patricia thanks for playing today.
MURPHY: Thanks Carol.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Copping a plea Dharun Ravi refused to do it and now he faces prison time for spying on his roommate via web cam. He explains his decision in the first interview since his trial. We'll talk about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: For the first time, former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi is speaking out about his web cam spying trial and 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 a plea deal saying, quote, "If I took the plea, I would have had to testify that what I did was to intimidate Tyler and that would be a lie. I won't ever get up there 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."
Joining us by phone "Star Ledger" columnist, Mark Di Ionno. Mark, you did the interview with Ravi, thank you for being with us this morning.
MARK DI IONNO, COLUMNIST, "NEW JERSEY STAR LEDGER" (via telephone): Good morning, Carol. Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: What was your impression of Ravi while you were interviewing him?
DI IONNO: I thought that he was a very thoughtful and intelligent young man. I think he has been worn down obviously by this ordeal. He struck me as sincere. He answered some questions with blunt honesty.
At one point I asked him about the second night where he was setting up the web cam, "What were you thinking?" And he said, "I wasn't". He said my ego basically -- he said my ego got the better of me. And I thought it was funny. And, you know, he admitted to wanting to be the center of attention with his friends. So I do think that he was sincere.
COSTELLO: What struck me reading your article he doesn't regret not taking the plea deal. That plea deal wouldn't involve any jail time. Now he could go to jail for 10 years.
DI IONNO: I think -- his father first told me last week about the family decision to not accept the bias intimidation plea under any circumstances. They would have pled guilty. According to his attorney he would have pled guilty to invasion of privacy. He might have pled guilty to invasion of privacy. But the Middlesex County prosecutor's office is firm in that he accepts the bias intimidation charge as part of the plea. The family was just vehemently opposed to that.
And in the conversation I had with Dharun yesterday, he basically said it would have been a lie to go up and admit that I did what I did out of bias or against Tyler. I didn't feel that way. I didn't do it because I was biased. I did it because I was -- it was a prank. I was being an idiot.
COSTELLO: We're seeing pictures --
DI IONNO: "Idiot" was my word, by the way, not his.
COSTELLO: Right. I understand. We're seeing pictures from your newspaper. I assume that's Ravi's father sitting beside him on the couch, right?
DI IONNO: Yes.
COSTELLO: Who was that?
DI IONNO: The family was there for the interview as was his attorney Steve Altman. But honestly, Dharun did all of the talking and Steve Altman only interrupted about once or twice. I don't remember exactly at what point they were on. It was very minor.
COSTELLO: Got you. I just wanted to talk about Clementi's suicide and what Ravi had to say about that, if he felt that he had any part in causing the suicide.
DI IONNO: You know, he was very careful to say that he was very sorry for the suicide and that he regretted Tyler committed suicide. But I don't believe that he thinks that what he did led to it directly in any way, in any way, shape, or form. He doesn't believe that -- he doesn't believe that Tyler was that fragile. This was part of the interview that didn't make the paper basically for space reasons. He thought that Tyler was being unfairly portrayed in the media as being very fragile and committing suicide over this -- at the time that Tyler committed suicide, he was very well aware of what had happened. It had -- the image had gone from one computer to another computer for just a short amount of time and only a handful of people had seen it.
The idea that this was broadcast over the Internet and went viral and the shame of it drove this kid to jump off the bridge was not true. And I think -- I know that Dharun is pretty firm in his belief that he did not drive Tyler Clementi to suicide.
COSTELLO: "Star Ledger" columnist Mark Di Ionno, thank you so much for joining us. And I'm sure people can read the article online. Thanks so much.
The head of the NCAA is getting ready to join us. We'll ask Mark Emmert if the men's basketball tournament should be expanded.
Hi there. And of course we'll talk about March Madness, too. I'm good. We'll get to you in a second. Thanks for being here.
We'll be back.
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COSTELLO: While college basketball fans are excited about March Madness, the NCAA wants us to remember who the real heroes are. The NCAA is honoring service members and their families at championship games. Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA joins us now from Indianapolis. Welcome.
MARK EMMERT, PRESIDENT, NCAA: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Well, tell us about this special program and how the NCAA is honoring military families?
EMMERT: Well, we've joined forces with White House and U.S. Military more broadly around a program called Joining Forces, a program that's intended to bring honor and dignity to our Armed Forces but also recognize the sacrifices that their families make while all of the men and women in service are abroad.
The program has been extremely well received. Our audiences love it. It's off to a great start by combining those two things with the NCAA.
COSTELLO: So what do you do? Broadcast the games to the battle fields? Do you give free tickets to military families? EMMERT: Well, we do, do those things. We also make sure for all of the audiences that each of our venues in the men's and women's tournaments that we tell them about the services that are going on and being made available to these families of our servicemen.
We have special recognition of all the Armed Forces that are in the arena. We have all the veterans stand up and be recognized. And let everybody at each of the venues thank all of our veterans and our men and women in uniform. And it's been extremely well received. Everybody loves having a chance to just thank you and to thank and support the families that are there.
We use military veterans and people in uniform for our National Anthem salutes. And we're generally using the power of sport just to recognize all the people that are out there serving us and give everybody a chance to applaud them.
COSTELLO: I've been at some of those games where that's happened. And it's a great feature.
EMMERT: Great moment.
COSTELLO: It is a great moment.
Let's talk about a not so great moment for just a second. The NCAA tournament, it's such a popular event. But I wanted to ask you about a blemish at one game last week where a derogatory chant by members of the Southern Miss pep band. Some of the members had their scholarships revoked. Is that punishment enough?
EMMERT: Well, I'm very pleased at how the university responded. I thought they were quick and decisive. And when the tournament is all over, we'll go back and look at the incident and see whether or not any further action needs to be taken.
But right now I was quite pleased at the university. I thought they handled it quite well. We all hate those kinds of things in the middle of what is one of the iconic athletic events. So it was very unfortunate.
COSTELLO: Yes. And it was on national television which made it maybe 10,000 times worse.
EMMERT: Well, that's right. That's just completely inappropriate behavior and there's no place for that kind of activity in college sports.
COSTELLO: Mr. Emmert, thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
EMMERT: My pleasure.
COSTELLO: The NCAA sweet 16 gets under way today. Watch every game live on TBS and CBS. And if you're away from the television no worries. Catch the action online at ncaa.com/marchmadness. More than 13,000 fans are competing in the CNN March Madness Bracket Challenge. Check out this link to see where you are on the leader board, cnn.com/brackets.
We're minutes away from the president's speech in Cushing, Oklahoma; that's where the southern portion of the Keystone Pipeline begins. Stay with CNN for -- actually we have live pictures of that now. See those big pipes? The President will soon be near them.
We'll bring you his remarks live. They're scheduled for 10:55 Eastern.
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COSTELLO: And as I told you before the break, we are waiting for the President to speak in Cushing, Oklahoma. You see all the people gathered waiting to listen to him. He's going to be speaking by the southern portion of the Keystone Pipeline Project. He's going to be pushing his energy policies and talking about how many jobs that green technology has created.
As I said, he was supposed to speak at 10:55 Eastern. He's a little late. When the president appears we'll bring him to you live along with his remarks on CNN.
In today's "Daily Dose", the perception of aspirin as a wonder drug just got another boost. Two new studies published in the medical journal "The Lancet" add to the mounting evidence that daily dose aspirin could cut cancer risk by 25 percent after three years. A daily dose of Aspirin is also used by many people as a heart drug. But experts caution the results have not been fully confirmed. And taking aspirin still runs the risk of causing stomach bleeding so check with your doctor.
Coming up, we'll update you on those mysterious booming sounds in a Wisconsin town. An interesting theory floating around out there. We'll have details next.
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COSTELLO: Quick update for you now on a mystery that's keeping a Wisconsin town up at night. We told you about Clintonville, you know, they are hearing those weird booms.
Well, here is a theory. Not a solid answer. But the booming noises and the shaking that have plagued the town are likely caused by shifting layers of granite rock underground. The city has ruled out everything else.
The President should be speaking shortly but I'm going to throw it over to Kyra Phillips to introduce the commander-in-chief.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": You don't want to talk about Oklahoma and oil and energy and lower gas prices?
COSTELLO: He's going to be doing that. PHILLIPS: OK, that's a good point. We just won't drive our cars anymore. That's the easy way to handle it.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Carol.
