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Deciding the Fate of Health Care; Answers Few in Trayvon Martin Case; Gingrich's "Financial Realities"; Health Care Political Fallout; Grow Your Own Food; Celebrity Tribute To Trayvon Marin; Record Jackpot
Aired March 28, 2012 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Live from the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta where it is 12:00 noon, 9:00 a.m. out West. I'm Don Lemon. We're going to get you up to speed for this Wednesday, March 28th.
You heard it, high drama at the Supreme Court today. Can the health care reform law survive? If a key part of it is thrown out, can it survive?
You just heard our Jeffrey Toobin. He doesn't think so.
The U.S. Supreme Court just finished hearing an hour and a half of arguments on that issue. The central focus is whether the whole law has to be scrapped if the individual mandate to have insurance is found to be unconstitutional.
Next hour, all this hour, the court hears arguments on expanding Medicaid. Details coming up in a live report for you hear on CNN.
The parents of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin say they have faith in the agencies investigating their son's death and are patiently awaiting justice. ABC News reports the lead investigator in the case recommended that George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter right after the shooting. But the state attorneys office determined there was not enough evidence. Zimmerman told police he killed the unarmed teen in self-defense.
The boy's parents spoke this morning to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FATHER: A crime has been committed here. Everyone is trying to turn the focus off of George Zimmerman and trying to make George Zimmerman become the victim when, in fact, Trayvon is the victim, Trayvon's family is the victim. We have a dead 17-year-old son that life will never be replaced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Trayvon Martin was wearing a hoodie when he was killed. It's become a symbol of this case.
This morning, Illinois Representative Bobby Rush was reprimanded for wearing one on the House floor. The video is going viral. We're going to show it, a part of it. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BOBBY RUSH (D), ILLINOIS: Racial profiling has to stop, Mr. Speaker. Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum. The Bible teaches us -- Mr. Speaker, in the Book of Micah 6:8.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The member will suspend. The member will suspend.
RUSH: These words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The member will suspend.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The chair just reminded members of the clause 5 of rule 17. The member is out of order.
RUSH: -- but you do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. You don't want to miss this because I'm telling you, Representative Bobby Rush is going to explain that when he joins me next hour to talk about this speech, coming up.
In the meantime, some JetBlue passengers expecting a routine flight from New York to Las Vegas, got this instead.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
LEMON: Can you imagine being on this plane? This amateur video shows a midair meltdown by the flight's captain who was locked out of the cockpit by his co-pilot after that captain displayed what was described as erratic behavior. The captain ran back banging on the door and sending the crew and passengers into action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGE KAPCHITS, JETBLUE PASSENGER: I saw about two or three guys right next to him jump up and another like four guys rush right past me toward the front of the plane.
DAVID GONZALEZ, JETBLUE PASSENGER: He started to curse at me and try to tell me, 'Hey, you better pray, Iraq and Iran." And so I say, "You know what, I'm going to show you what Iraq and Iran is," and I took him if a chokehold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: JetBlue CEO says a, quote, "medical condition" triggered the incident. The captain is now getting medical care under FBI custody. Stay tuned.
The Supreme Court is wrapping up its third and final day of hearings on the fate of the sweeping health care reform law. Part of the focus is whether the fate of the law hinges on the individual mandate, the requirement that almost everyone have health insurance. They just finished their morning segment on severability. Should the entire law fail a key provision is unconstitutional?
Senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin and congressional correspondent Kate Bolduan were just inside the courtroom. They just came out.
So, Jeff, listen, I just heard you -- you had been referring to it as a train wreck, possibly now a plane wreck saying the whole law is in jeopardy. What is going on?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the issue today, as you pointed out, was if you find the individual mandate unconstitutional, how much of the law do you have to get rid of? Because, you know, it's a 2,700-page law.
And the leader of the questioning today was Anthony Kennedy, who every question was based on the assumption that the individual mandate was unconstitutional. Now, it may be he just has intellectual curiosity about that, but it certainly seemed likely that he had made up his mind that the individual mandate was, in fact, unconstitutional.
Now, the question is does the whole law go? And there are clearly people on that court, Antonin Scalia and Justice Alito, who think the whole law should go. Chief Justice Roberts and certainly all the liberals were at least trying to keep alive the possibility that some of this 2,700-page law would stand.
But there is considerable sentiment on this court that it's just all one big package, and it needs to be gotten rid of altogether, which is a stunning turn of events -- bad turn of events for the Obama administration.
LEMON: I'm going to bring you in, Kate. But just real quickly, Jeffrey, you -- the book called "The Nine." You've written that book. Is this any indication from your years of observing and writing about the court, the way they have been questioning and their responses to this, is it an indication on how this, you believe, is going to go?
TOOBIN: Yes. That's how I think it's going to go. I think the individual mandate is gone based on the questioning.
Now, it is true that questions are not entirely predictive of how justices vote, but, you know, this is what I do. I watch these questions.
And they don't play devil's advocate very much. They are talking about what they believe, and it sure looks like there are at least five votes to get rid of this law.
LEMON: Kate, you're in there as well --
TOOBIN: The individual mandate.
LEMON: Kate, you're in there as well. I imagine, what do you think about what -- you're observing and what Jeffrey has said?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One of my observations was what a difference a day makes in terms of the attorney arguing on the part of the state. Today, Paul clement. Yesterday he was arguing the individual mandate is unconstitutional, of course. Today, he was arguing because of that, the entire law should be thrown out.
Yesterday, he had a banner day. He made his argument very well. Today, he faced some very tough questions from the justices. They really came out of the gate really hammering him with questions and it seemed pretty clear -- I should say there were also tough questions on the part of when they were talking to the attorney representing the government here.
It seemed pretty clear to me that the justices were very careful, wanted to be very cautious, and had some concerns about being the decider of who's the winner and who is the loser, what should stay, what should go in this law. But one observation, additional observation I made is that all of the justices seemed very engaged.
If you want to read into the tea leaves and I'm sure many court watches would think that the fact they're very engaged in this issue, the severability issue, that is working under the assumption that the individual mandate will fall, it seems to keep the possibility alive that they're working under that real assumption. Otherwise, if the justices were leaning towards, on the flip side, that the individual mandate is constitutional and can stay, this whole argue am, this whole past 90 minutes is a total exercise in a rhetorical discussion.
So, they were very engaged, asking very tough questions to both sides. But it just seemed the justices were at least concerned and careful about stepping too far in their judicial power of picking winners and losers, what should stay, what should go in the bill. What that means in the end for the final opinion, we'll have to see.
LEMON: As I said before, I got you guys, it is high drama and we can hear part of it playing out on the courts of -- on the steps of the court. Listen, I want to talk about the hearings. They're going to resume next hour.
Kate, tell us -- or Jeffrey, whoever wants to jump in here, tell us the issue before the court then in the next hour when it resumes.
BOLDUAN: This is a really important issue. This has to do with the expansion of the Medicaid program under the law. It's a real states' rights versus federal authority issue that is equally important. We've been talking a lot about individual mandate, but this is a very important issue as well.
The question here is, is the expansion the Medicaid program under the law, does it unfairly step on state power? Of course, the states believe that it is unfairly coercing them in their word to take a bigger share of the cost of this increased eligibility in the Medicaid program. The government does not think so. It's a very important question that could have big policy implications down the road on all sorts of national policy initiative, education, the environment, many other things.
So, this issue individually -- apart from the rest of the discussion we're having is very important.
LEMON: OK. Jeffrey, stand by. Kate, stand by.
Man, what a ruckus going on in Washington today. We're going to continue to follow this.
In the meantime, the fight over health care reform is not just a legal battle. It's a political one, of course. President Obama championed the law and he used a lot of political capital to get it passed. So what happens if the court throws out all or part of this law? And what would that mean for the Republican race for the White House?
Our chief political correspondent Candy Crowley joins me now from Washington.
Candy, let's start with the president. This is his signature issue so far. Would this be a major blow if the court throws it out?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be a major blow to someone.
Look, it's not going to help the Obama administration for a couple reasons. First, this is the president's signature accomplishment of his first term. The underpinning of it -- remember, President Obama when he was campaigning was against the individual mandate. It was insurance companies who said to him, if we must insure everyone regardless of their medical condition, we need everyone in the pool, and that's how the president came to believe that the individual mandate was necessary in order to bring in really sick people and make sure that they get coverage. So that goes out the window.
So the more popular parts go with this unpopular part, and it brings -- it tears apart his signature issue. If it stays and the court says, look, the law is fine, I think what you'll see is a Republican Party re-galvanized because they would then say, the only way we can get rid of this law is for us to elect a Republican president. So, I think it's galvanizing to Republicans if the law stays in place.
And, by and large, I mean, I know that we've heard from James Carville, who is quite a political analyst, who has said, listen, I think this is great. If they throw it out, all we have to do is say, listen, you want health care coverage? Go talk to the Supreme Court. Go talk to the Republicans who took this case to the Supreme Court.
So, you will see it being spun on both sides and we'll know who win that is argument come November.
LEMON: So you said that if it is left intact, you talked about the Democratic strategist who said it's actually good for the Democrats. You're talking about James Carville.
Let's talk about the Republicans a bit more because this is a major issue for them. If it, in fact, remains intact, or if it's thrown out, does it take the pinned out of their sails in the campaign saying I want to be in office because I want to throw or does it -- because we want to throw this law out -- or does it actually help their chances here?
CROWLEY: Well, listen, I think then what you hear on the campaign trail -- what do we know? We know we have four candidates still out there in the Republican presidential primary who have all said I'm getting rid of this law completely.
LEMON: Right.
CROWLEY: We're going to start with the way Republicans want to attack this. So, some of that law at the moment at least what I glean from both Jeffrey and Kate is that some of this law will stand. So I think they will change their rhetoric around it, and you will hear even the Supreme Court thought he was wrong.
But there's still some of this law that's left and we want to get at that, too, because there's a better way to build this, et cetera, et cetera. So I think it says as an issue, but the whole -- health care for Republicans has become the symbol of government overreach. So that argument, the government overreach I think stays in, in many different forms, and they will adjust to that.
LEMON: OK. Let's talk about really Mitt Romney here because that has been -- that was sort of the cornerstone of what he's been saying is that this is OK on the state level as I did it, talking about Romneycare, as it was put into place in Massachusetts. It is not OK on the federal level.
So, I'm wondering does this bolster his argument and take the wind of the sails out of someone like Rick Santorum who is saying it's the same thing as Romneycare, Obamacare, they're both equal.
CROWLEY: I think probably that Rick Santorum will say to you but Mitt Romney did the exact same thing and the Supreme Court just threw it out and said it was wrong. I think that argument continues.
LEMON: You can spin it however they want. Yes.
CROWLEY: Exactly. I mean, you know -- and I can't get into whether states rights and the federal rights, that's a whole court thing. But I think on the campaign trail, I will tell you, that Rick Santorum can continue that on going, look, the highest court in the land said it was unconstitutional to force people to do this and look what Mitt Romney did.
I think for Mitt Romney, health care is just a difficult subject for him. He has said he is going to throw out Obamacare. He has said, I think it's wrong on the federal level, so he can stay on that course, but it's just a more difficult argument for him than it has been for the others.
LEMON: Yes. All right. States' rights versus federal rights.
CROWLEY: Yes.
LEMON: Like you said, it's a whole other show. It's a whole other show next hour, because that's what they're going to delve into.
Thank you, Candy. We appreciate it.
CROWLEY: I got a rundown for you of some of the stories we're covering now.
First, we're learning more and more about the death of Trayvon Martin and about the man who pulled the trigger.
Then, chaos at 35,000 feet. A pilot's meltdown forces passengers to spring into action.
What's the strategy behind Newt Gingrich's latest campaign layoff? We'll ask our political round table.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. This just in. We're following some developing news.
You see the flames right there behind me. We'll pull it for you. This is an apartment building in Lower Manhattan.
As a matter of fact, it's on the lower east side, if you know Manhattan. A 21-story building, flames shooting out of the 16th floor. It all started this morning just before 11:30. It's on Columbia Street, again if you're familiar of the area.
No injuries so far, but again an apartment building, 21-story apartment building, 16th floor. Flames shooting out, the fire department says no injuries so far that they have found, don't know a cause, they're working on it. Courtesy of our affiliate WABC, these pictures.
We will you updated as we get more information.
Meantime, we're getting new information learning more about the killing of Trayvon Martin. The more complicated the case becomes as we get more information here. Several reports now say police considered homicide and manslaughter charges against the shooter George Zimmerman on the night he killed the unarmed teenager, but the state attorney office said no.
Our Martin Savidge is in Sanford, Florida. That's where Trayvon Martin was killed.
And before we get to that, we want to play a little bit of the coach here. The coach's name is Jerome Horton. He is Trayvon Martin's high school coach. Here is what he said about Trayvon and then you and I will talk, Martin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME HORTON, FORMER COACH OF TRAYVON MARTIN: I said, what do you do in aviation school? And he was like, oh, I want to fly planes. I said, no black people want to fly planes, and he goes, I'll be the first one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was his high school coach saying, hey, listen, that's what Trayvon -- just talking about Trayvon Martin. We should let you know, the full interview will be tonight on "A.C. 360" beginning at 8:00 p.m. here on CNN.
So, listen, what are you hearing about the investigation as we start to get more information about Trayvon Martin, about George Zimmerman, his side of the story. What are you hearing about the investigation and the reaction there in the community?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is another day and another leak really of information. This time though not so the beneficial if you are on the side of George Zimmerman, because what it seems to indicate is that the lead investigator on the night of February 26th when 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed, wanted to file charges.
In fact, we have obtained the initial police report and here under the area of offense section, they had put negligent homicide and manslaughter/unnecessary killing to prevent an unlawful act. That's how it's listed on the police report.
Now, that is overruled but the state attorney who was Norman Wolfinger. He said the reason was they had this problem, that George Zimmerman has declared that this was self-defense. And under the "Stand Your Ground" law here in the state of Florida, once you make that declarative statement, the rules of investigation begin to change. The burden changes for investigators because you're essentially saying my life was in jeopardy, I had to take a life to save my own.
And that's why you had Chief Lee, who was head of the Sanford department until just recently, he was saying we couldn't file charges because of that very clear state law.
So, that's why you seem to have this conflict. You have the lead investigator saying one thing but he gets overruled. He was overruled because the state of Florida law says you can't charge someone, you can investigate but you can't charge them until you get more proof. And that's what they're trying to do.
LEMON: Is that -- so is the confusion here between the law and what the state attorney says and what-have-you, the recommendation by the lead investigator, is that -- is that what's at issue here? Because if there was not -- if not for the "Stand Your Ground" law, would we be discussing this particular situation now?
SAVIDGE: I think it's fairly clear when you talk to law enforcement, if there were no Florida "Stand Your Ground" law, that George Zimmerman would be charged by now. However, Florida has "Stand Your Ground" law and he has not been charged.
That is not to say that the investigation is over, that the ruling has been made. No, it just is going to take more time. Now you have state investigators working the case. So, it started from scratch again. They urged calm, they urged patience. Wait and see.
In the meantime, the leaks keep coming and that's what adds and fuels the emotion.
LEMON: Yes, and it's certainly getting more interesting as we learn more. Thank you, Martin Savidge.
He was screaming, "They're going to take us down" and ranting about the Middle East and a bomb. A JetBlue pilot breaks down in the middle of a flight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. The news just keeps coming in. Another new development when it involves that JetBlue emergency landing yesterday.
The CEO is speaking out and just told our producer that the pilot, Clayton Osbon, has been suspended pending further investigation of Tuesday's incident in which the flight had to make an emergency landing again. That is from the JetBlue spokesperson saying this pilot has been suspended. He's being checked for medical reasons now, and the FBI is there watching as well.
We're talking about that emergency landing that ended with a JetBlue captain being physically removed from his plane after he tried to force his way into a locked cockpit. And according to one passenger, he mentioned a bomb.
Now, the airline's CEO is also speaking out telling NBC that the incident was out of character for that captain while admitting just how serious the situation became.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BARGER, CEO, JETBLUE AIRWAYS: I have known the captain personally for a long period of time and there's been no indication of this at all in the past. Really what happened at altitude and the call and the FAA is that we had a medical situation. That's how we responded.
Clearly, especially in today's media is real time, so we know it also became a security situation. So I think as we know, less than 24 hours later, it started medical but clearly more than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. Aviation and regulation correspondent Lizzie O'Leary joins me now from Washington.
Lizzie, you heard the news I just reported. He has been suspended. So -- and let's hope so, right? So what happens next?
LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a whole list of investigations that's going on here and the airline said, you know, suspended pending further investigation. We know that the FAA, the FBI, local law enforcement is all looking into this, and that he's being treated at a local hospital.
I think there's something very important that you heard from Dave Barger, the CEO there, and this is something that JetBlue representatives have told me, they're now considering this both a medical and security situation.
Initially, certainly when you listen to the air-traffic control tapes, we know that the co-pilot, who essentially got the captain out of the cockpit and then locked him out, when he talked to air-traffic control, he said they had a medical situation. JetBlue was clearly characterizing it as something more now.
I want to play you a piece of video and audio that CNN obtained from a passenger and in it you can hear the captain talking about a number of things, saying he's distraught, referring to Iraq and to Israel. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PILOT: Oh, my God. I am so distraught. We've got Israel. We've got Iraq. We've got Israel. We've got Iraq. We've got to get down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'LEARY: Now, we know that pilot had worked for JetBlue for about 12 years. Certainly this investigation is continuing, and it seems like, Don, there seems to be updates almost every few minutes.
LEMON: Yes, and they said he had no issues, was an exemplary pilot before that, and maybe he just lost it, Lizzie.
Luckily though, nobody was hurt in that because of those quick- thinking passengers. Thank you very much.
O'LEARY: Thanks.
LEMON: Newt Gingrich scaling back, cutting campaign appearances and laying off staff. Is the end near? We have some new polling on who Republicans say should get out of the race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, here is a rundown of some of the stories we're working on for you.
Next, Newt Gingrich just streamlined his campaign letting a third of his staff go. We're going to ask our political panel what it means for his White House bid.
Then celebrities speaking out about Trayvon Martin and it also gets a congressman wearing a hoodie pulled from the House floor.
Later CNN's Green Thumb challenge, can you grow just one item of your own food this year, just one? We'll show you how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Time to talk politics. Newt Gingrich lays off a third of his staff and replaces his campaign manager, but Gingrich says that's not a sign he's dropping out of the presidential race.
The campaign says it's just a response to financial realities. The Gingrich shapeup tops our political round table today. Joining me now from Washington, Republican strategist, Lenny McAllister and New York Democratic strategist, Robert Zimmerman. We all have been there before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely, every day.
LEMON: What about it, Lenny? Is this the last gasp of the Gingrich campaign or is it a leaner, meaner Gingrich who is staying all the way to the convention?
LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: This is a last gasp, but he may stay on until the convention. He has to hope that Romney doesn't get to 1144 and he can somehow work his linguistic magic in order to get these delegates who are not going to be committed to somebody to go for him.
The problem is nobody has confidence in him anymore. You see him canceling campaign appearances. You see people trimming off the payrolls obviously and that means that the confidence is going down.
You can't swing a convention if people don't have confidence in you. So all of these signs with the campaign appearances trimming down and the like indicate this is a ramp down.
And hopefully, hopefully, he will leave the race with grace and be inspiring for the nominee versus doing what he's been threatening to do, which is stay in this the whole time and cause some problems.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Lenny --
LEMON: Hang on, Robert, did you just outright laugh at Lenny?
ZIMMERMAN: I would like to stand up and cheer. I've never heard a more inspired talk about a defeated candidate, a historian who claims that the president can overrule the Supreme Court and a strategist who couldn't get on half of the states. I mean, at the end of the day, nothing is more dangerous than a scorned trophy candidate and that's because his sugar daddy, Sheldon Adelson pulled the plug on the funding.
LEMON: OK. Let's move on. Lenny is quiet about that. So a new poll shows most Republicans want Gingrich and Ron Paul to drop out. In a CNN/ORC International poll 61 percent say Paul should quit and 60 percent want Gingrich to throw in the towel.
We learned just a short time ago that former President George H.W. Bush is scheduled to formally endorse Mitt Romney tomorrow. Is all this a sign that Republicans are tired of the drawn out race and that they are coalescing, I guess, around Mitt Romney -- Lenny?
MCALLISTER: No. This means that they want to see the one-on-one match-up that everybody is dying for, the Romney versus the anti- Romney and as long as Gingrich is in the race and is taking some of the media attention and Ron Paul's folks are going to follow Ron Paul.
They're not necessarily going to go behind any one candidate if they get out of the race. So even if he sticks around, that's not that big of a deal, but they would like to see some debates with Romney versus Santorum one-on-one, direct contrast.
And see what the voters decide going into April and the only way to really have that happen is if Newt Gingrich sunsets out of this presidential campaign.
LEMON: OK, let's move now because I want to talk about health care and the case wrapping up right now before the Supreme Court today. Democratic strategist James Carville says that the Supreme Court loss could be the best thing to ever happen to the Democratic Party. I want you to listen to what he told a panel on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Just as a professional Democrat, there's nothing better for me than overturning this thing 5-4 and then the Republican Party will own the health care system for the foreseeable future. I really believe that. That is not spin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right, so what do you think, Robert? Could this actually be good for Democrats and what would a loss mean for President Obama?
ZIMMERMAN: I'm a James Carville devotee, Don. I'm a great admirer of him, but I have -- I have different perspective and have to differ with him. Because at the end of the day, when the Supreme Court makes their ruling and if they do rule against the Obama health care recovery act, obviously it's going to be a setback for Democrats. When you do the political analysis, you can't just look at the polling numbers and see the country split 50/50. You have to look where the energy is behind the numbers and the energy consistently has been with those who oppose the Obama health care reform act.
Many Republicans got elected on it. Not too many Democrats, if any, won by embracing it. However, where James Carville could be on target is if the Republicans champion taking health insurance away from people with pre-existing conditions, take away health insurance from people who are older or have illnesses.
On top of their plan to really end Medicare as we know it according to "The Wall Street Journal," they could be overplaying their hand. And they could be a party that could find themselves on the extreme fringe of this issue. We have not seen that yet in the polling.
LEMON: We're going to have to end that particular topic because I want to talk about this. Both of you are passionate about this, but, Lenny, you tweeted out something on the Trayvon Martin case that many people found interesting.
You said when GOP race and Democrats start -- when GOP talks race and Dems talk unity, situations like Trayvon will finally cease in USA. Some Republicans slammed President Obama when he spoke out calling his remarks divisive on this. What possessed you to tweet this and what do you mike of the divisive remarks by the Republicans?
MCALLISTER: Well, nothing possessed me. I would say if anything possessed me it was the truth. We have a Republican Party, particularly two candidates, Santorum and Gingrich, that made it a point to bring up race in Iowa, not Ohio, Iowa.
They brought up race in January there, but then slammed President Obama for talking about something and saying he racialized something that has already been racialized. Republicans run from the issue of diversity in a way they should not.
We have to embrace it. We have to understand in order to be conservatives, to lead in the 21st Century. We have to have a good handle and a good understanding and partnership with diversity and diverse communities in America.
When the GOP can do that and the Democrats will stop demonizing and making it seem as though the RNC, they walk around with a bunch of hoods and robes on, will finally get to a point in time to have some honest conversations about race, diversity, and diversity when it comes to the disparities in the 21st Century America and then we can heal from that moving forward.
LEMON: That's coming from a Republican. Go ahead, Robert.
ZIMMERMAN: Lenny, I give you a lot of credit for speaking up and taking your party to task on the issue. Where I must respectfully disagree with you is it's not an issue of anyone demonizing the Republicans. Their approach to the issue of race has been one that's been very divisive in this country, and I think they have an obligation to put the politics aside and focus on unity, and I give very frankly yourself credit for making that point as I give president Obama great credit for his remarks last week.
This is a time for our country to pull together. Come together around this issue and I think the Trayvon Martin tragedy should be a powerful wake-up call.
LEMON: Robert, Lenny, thank you.
MCALLISTER: Thank you.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you, Don. God bless.
LEMON: We're going to have more on the shake up in the Gingrich's campaign next hour. Gingrich's chief of staff, Patrick Milsap, is going to join me live.
There are also plenty of reasons to grow your own food. You've also got plenty of excuses as well, no space no, money, or you're horrible at gardening. Well, no excuses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We have all heard the reports, pink slime in your hamburgers, E. Coli on your vegetables. What is person especially a foodie like me to do? Here's an idea. You can grow your own food. It's safer, cheaper, and it's satisfying.
Kat Kinsman has her own vegetable garden at her New York apartment. She joins us now live. Kat, you know I love you to pieces. We have done the secret supper together, but how can you do this? Some people are so busy. How can you make time to grow your own food now?
KAT KINSMAN, CNN EATOCRACY EDITOR: No excuses. This is the year that you garden. As I was saying, if I can grow corn on my rooftop in Brooklyn and sweet potatoes on my front doorstep with a bus going by, you can do this, too.
I started doing this when I was a broke grad student. I was stressed out. I had absolutely no money. I had no idea how I was going to feed myself, and it occurred to me I was looking down at a tomato, there are seeds in there.
I bet I could stick those in the ground and they would grow and they did and I felt so incredibly empowered that it's my mission to ask people to grow just one item of food this year, just one.
LEMON: You're not asking them to provide sustenance for them and their family in its entirety from gardening. You're saying start small.
KINSMAN: Exactly. LEMON: And then move on.
KINSMAN: Exactly. I think people get so intimidated. They think they have to be Martha Stewart. You can put dirt in an old pair of tights and grow something in there. That's all you have to do. It keeps you from -- just start out with say the herb you're tired of spending money for at the store. Or something that makes a dish taste the way it tasted when you were growing up. Just that one little thing. If you empower yourself and put seeds in the ground, the ground wants to grow things. It's on your side. It doesn't matter if you don't have enough light. Nature will figure that out. There are ways around it. This is your year.
LEMON: What's the ultimate goal here, Kat?
KINSMAN: I think to really to decrease people's reliance on the current food system. It's broken and there's really no denying it. We're getting our vegetables trucked from 1,500 miles away. Things are being bred to go across country rather than come right from your backyard. There's a taste difference. There is a huge toll on the environment when trucks are going across country bringing our vegetables to us when it's really the easiest thing in our power. It's a really tremendous thing to teach your children that they can feed themselves and it doesn't cost much money and things are free right in front of you, you're just not seeing it right now.
LEMON: OK. Can we put that graphic back up, because this is some advice that you have and that other people have when you're doing it. You say stay local, right? Beware of frost. Consider the container. Not too deep. And sun and water are essential here. Talk to me about those.
KINSMAN: OK. These things are all going to vary wildly depending on where your garden is. The best thing you can possibly do is find all the wonderful gardens freaks who are already growing thing around you. They're easy to find. They're happy to help you. They will practically throw seeds at your head once they find out that you want to get involved. There is no doubt a community garden right around the corner from you. You just have to go to local harvest.org and type in your zip code and those wonderful, fabulous people will help you.
LEMON: Better still to have a neighbor like Kat Kinsman where you can just go over and say, can I borrow some -- oh, how about some tomatoes? How about whatever?
KINSMAN: I'll share my okra with you any day.
LEMON: All right. I love the okra. Thank you, Kat. Appreciate it.
KINSMAN: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: All right.
Chaka Khan leads celebs in a musical tribute to Trayvon Martin. We'll show it to you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The shooting death of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has sparked a national cry for justice. Celebrities are adding their voices. Singer Chaka Khan gathered a group of stars to tape a musical tribute to the teen. Let's watch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am Wendy.
KEVIN FRAZIER, CO-HOST, "THE INSIDER": I am Kevin Frazier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Kaduce.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am Eva.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am Burdeta Jackson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Kevin Frazier, co-host of "The Insider," is one of those featured in that PSA. You saw him there just a second ago. He joins me now live from Los Angeles.
Kevin, thanks for joining us. What was it like getting that call from Chaka Khan? And did you immediately say, yes, I'll do it?
KEVIN FRAZIER, CO-HOST, "THE INSIDER": Well, there's no question. Boris, Kojo, and Chaka got together and in 48 hours they put the entire group together. And Boris actually was the one who reached out to me and he said, Kev, can you come through? Can you take a few minutes? This is something we feel that's important. And it was a great day because, Don, it was really a family atmosphere. Everybody brought their kids. Courtney Vance and Angela Bassett actually did their PSA with their kids. Boris had his kids there. And so it was fun. A family atmosphere. And everybody talking about a very serious subject, but also trying to keep in mind that, you know, we want to do something to help this situation and not hinder it.
You know, don't want to stir up the flames. Actually just want to make people think about it and realize, we need to kind of reach out to each other and find a way to stop things like this from happening in the future.
LEMON: And as we are looking at it, we can see the family atmosphere there. It's kind of like the -- you remember the "We Are The World" thing when we saw all the celebrities in one room together --
FRAZIER: Yes.
LEMON: You know, in commune.
FRAZIER: Yes, it was actually the same studio as "We Are The World." And that was part of the significance of that day. And it was also just that everyone that showed up, there was no egos. Folks waited in line to, you know, get a hoodie or to take their turn and hung out and just really exchanged stories and talked about how they wanted to help kind of ease the tensions in this world right now because everyone is really getting so worked up and we're not looking for solutions coming out of this case.
LEMON: I've got to ask you this though. More questions are being raised about the night Trayvon Martin was killed. Are celebrities -- are they less sure now about lending their voices to this cause or does it matter because this is a natural progression of an investigation?
FRAZIER: No. People are going to lend their voices and want to lend their voices. Earlier this week I was at the "Think Like A Man" junket. A new movie that's coming out April 20th. And, you know, Gabrielle Union talked about how proud she was that Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat wore the hoodies and took that picture and sent it out. And everybody wants to do something because the bigger concern here, Don, is not what went on between the two men, it was that Trayvon Martin was followed because he was a young man wearing a hoodie in a neighborhood. It had nothing to do with what happened before. And George Zimmerman had no idea of Trayvon Martin's past, what had been going on with him at school, or where -- who he was or where he had been. He just looked at him and fell threatened by the look of this young man. And that's what everybody is more concerned about, is changing the perception of how people look at each other.
LEMON: Kevin Frazier from "The Insider." Thank you very much. And, Kevin, I have to say this. Our former colleague, Brooke Anderson, is there as well. Say hello to her and you guys keep up the great work. Thank you so much.
FRAZIER: Yes, she is. Thanks for giving us Brooke. We appreciate it.
LEMON: All right. Kevin Frazier from "The Insider."
All right, well, you still have a chance to become a millionaire. Friday's Mega Millions will be the biggest jackpot in history. A half -- is that right, a half billion dollars? Yes? Yes? I would not be coming to work. I don't know about you. Are you buying a ticket? I am. We've got some tips to help you pick the best numbers. Yes, there is an app for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This way. The largest jackpot in history -- in the history of the Mega Millions lottery game is up for grabs. Got me all flustered here. Imagine winning that. It's now a whopping $500 million. The pot is so huge because no one has been able to pick the right six numbers for weeks now. Alison Kosik joins me from the New York Stock Exchange where all bets are taken all the time -- where bets are taken all the time.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ah, yes.
LEMON: So, Alison, you found out there is an app to help you pick the numbers. Before you tell me how it works, would you come to work if you won? KOSIK: I still would come to work.
LEMON: All right.
KOSIK: What would I do? You know, you get tired of traveling all around the world, right? That gets boring, too.
LEMON: No.
KOSIK: I would miss the -- I would miss fun with you, Don.
LEMON: No, you wouldn't.
KOSIK: OK, if you say so.
LEMON: How does that app work?
KOSIK: Let's talk about this app. Yes, there's an app for that. Yes, winning the lottery. So there's something called Lotto Pro app. And this is a free app that you can download. It picks numbers by looking for trends. It looks for numbers that are frequently chosen. Also numbers that haven't been used in a while or are ripe for winning. So that's one app.
Another app is called Mega Millions app. This will cost you $1. And it gives you some historical data to help you pick some numbers. But, come on, let's be real here. The lottery is random. You know, if it was this easy, don't you think that a lot of people would have won this already? But you know what, Don, a half a billion dollar jackpot, it makes people try just about anything.
Don.
LEMON: What are the -- what are the odds?
KOSIK: Yes, what are the odds? The odds are always the same, one in 175 million. And just so you know, I don't think these apps are going to be boosting your odds anytime soon. I think they're kind of BS to be honest with you.
You know what, the odds are actually much higher for you to cash in on several much less desirable things, like, you know what, you're more likely to die of cancer. There's a one in seven chance of that. In fact, you're more likely to die in a car accident. Guess what? There's a one in 88 chance of that. Think of that when you're driving to buy your lotto ticket. In fact, you're more likely to die in a fireworks accident.
But, you know, someone has to win. Maybe it could be you, Don?
LEMON: Alison, you're killing me, so to speak. Oh, my gosh. You could die in a fire, you're going to get cancer, you'll going to get run over by an 18-wheeler. Oh my gosh.
KOSIK: Yes, good luck with those apps.
LEMON: Maybe we should just talk about the markets now. How are they doing?
KOSIK: So let me ask you, what do you think the odds are that the market's going to end in the red today? Don, what do you think?
LEMON: I think that is 50/50.
KOSIK: Safe. Very safe. Well, you know what, the odds are pretty good that you're going to see the market end in the red today. It's in the red right now. The Dow down 88 point. Durable goods orders. Those are orders for big ticket items like refrigerators and airplanes. They missed expectations. Also, the market's had a nice run-up. You're seeing everybody kind of take a pause after a real solid quarter.
Don.
LEMON: Alison Kosik, thank you very much. We surely appreciate it.
KOSIK: Sure.
LEMON: All right, getting close to the top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon. Suzanne Malveaux is on special assignment. We want to get you up to speed right now.
The parents of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin say they have faith in the agencies investigating their son's death and are patiently awaiting justice. The initial police report says homicide and manslaughter charges were considered against the shooter, George Zimmerman, on the night he killed the unarmed teenager, but the state attorneys' office determined there was not enough evidence. Zimmerman told police he killed the unarmed teen in self-defense. The boy's parents spoke this morning to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FATHER: A crime has been committed here. Everyone is trying to turn the focus off of George Zimmerman and trying to make George Zimmerman become the victim when, in fact, Trayvon is the victim. Trayvon's family is the victim. We have a dead 17-year-old son. That life will never be replaced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
