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Zimmerman Video Raises Questions; Obama: End Oil Industry Tax Breaks; New Jobless Claims Hit Four-Year Low; One In 88 Kids Has Autism; JetBlue Pilot Faces Federal Charges; Fleeing Wildfire With Family; The Advantage of Invisibility; New iPad Burns Through Data Plans; New Endorsements for Romney; Lindsay Lohan Back in Court
Aired March 29, 2012 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Suzanne Malveaux is on special assignment. Thank you for joining us. Let's get you up to speed right now.
Surveillance video raising new questions about the killing of Trayvon Martin. The tape shows a handcuffed George Zimmerman at a police station just hours after he shot the unarmed teenager. Zimmerman does not appear to have any injuries consistent with a life and death struggle that his lawyer claims he had with the 17-year-old. A police report says Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and the back of his head and was given first aid at the scene before this video was recorded. Zimmerman's father says his son pulled the trigger after Trayvon Martin severely beat and threatened to kill him.
President Barack Obama tries to tap into the anger over rising gas prices. In a speech just a short time ago, the president called on Congress to end tax breaks for the oil industry. The Senate Republicans have just blocked a vote on legislation to repeal the tax breaks. Republicans argue that would lead to even higher gas prices, but the president says big oil doesn't need subsidies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not as if these companies can't stand on their own. Last year, the three biggest U.S. oil companies took home more than $80 billion in profits. Exxon pocketed nearly $4.7 million every hour. And when the price of oil goes up, prices at the pump go up, and so do these company's profits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Another sign of continuing improvement in the job market. The number of people filing first time claims for unemployment benefits fell to another four-year low last week. The labor department reports 359,000 new claims for jobless benefits down from the previous week.
A new report just released by the CDC shows one in 88 children in America has autism. That's a big increase. Want you to check out this full screen right here. Back in 2000, studies showed one in 150 had the developmental disorder. The number rose to one in 125 a few years later. Then in 2008, it reached one in 88.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CDC: How much of that increase is a result of better tracking and how much of it is a result of an actual increase? We still don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Autism groups say it's an epidemic in the U.S., and they believe something beyond just genetics is likely causing the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY GOLDSTEIN, PRESIDENT, KENNEDY KRIEGER INSTITUTE: Infections, we're talking about social conditions, and we're talking about exposures to toxicants, things in the environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I'll talk to one of the advocates about the possible cause of autism coming up in 20 minutes -- about 20 minutes here on CNN.
The JetBlue captain at the center of this chaotic scene is now facing federal charges. The criminal complaint filed by a U.S. attorney in Texas says Clayton Osbon interfered with the flight crew. Osbon, who was removed from the plane after an emergency landing, has been suspended by JetBlue. No court date has been set.
A cell phone video shows a terrifying scene for one family as they outrun the deadly Colorado wildfire. In an interview with CNN, the mother, who was driving the car just ahead of this one, talked about what was going through her mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Female: What is she stopping for?
KIM OLSON: My dad and brother are both firefighters, and I know that one of the dangers is if the road becomes blocked with trees that are downed, and I was concerned we would just get trapped inside. So, the neighbor that passed us, we didn't know that that neighbor knew the way out, but he was flying and so we just -- we went for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Investigators in Colorado say the fire started as a controlled burn. It is now in its fourth day.
Let's get back to the new developments in the Trayvon Martin case. There's new surveillance video showing a handcuffed George Zimmerman in custody just after that shooting. Plus, his father is speaking out for first time.
I want to head out to Martin Savidge in Sanford, Florida. Martin, first, let's focus on the video. Many people are saying Zimmerman doesn't look like someone who's been in a fight for his life.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, he doesn't and that's the first thing that strikes you as you look at it. And this video, keep in mind, according to the time stamp, is about a half hour or so since the time at which police were called to the initial scene. So, it's very fresh, right after the incident. You would think there might be traces of blood, might be indications of injury, that he might walk in a way that appears that George Zimmerman had been involved in the fight of his life as he had told police officers. There's none of that. And there's a lot of video. So, it's going to be very tough as far as his side of the story to explain this away.
LEMON: So, this -- and the last time we spoke, just about an hour ago, you know, I said what's the discrepancy? Because it had been reported, Martin, that it was hours after and now you're saying it's about 30 minutes after the initial call. I mean, that makes a big difference, right?
SAVIDGE: Yes, it sure does. I mean, the first time we saw this video, which, of course, was on ABC, there was no time stamp. And so, the various people who had spoke out about this video, one of them was Joe Oliver, a good friend of George Zimmerman, he said that he believed it was taken hours after the event. Well in fact, again, the time stamp that we now see put in by the police department and the city of Sanford shows it's less than an hour actually since the original incident.
LEMON: Very interesting, very interesting. OK, Martin, now that -- to Zimmerman's father. What is he saying about what happened? Because didn't he say, too, I'm not sure if he did, that this video was taken after -- long after the shooting? But what has happened? What is he saying?
SAVIDGE: Well, I don't think that he's responded directly to this video, because when he was interviewed on the local Fox affiliate television, I'm not sure when that interview was conducted this video was out. But one of the things he talks about is what his son went through. Robert Zimmerman, of course the dad here, but it's a very detailed and very graphic account. He says his son told him of what happened with the showdown between Trayvon Martin and his son. And he says that Trayvon was the aggressor. We, of course, know there was a punch and that George Zimmerman went down, but this is Robert Zimmerman picking up the description right after that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN: After nearly a minute of being beaten, George was trying to get his head off of the concrete, trying to move, with Trayvon on him, into the grass. In doing so, his firearm was shown. Trayvon Martin said something to the effect of, you're going to die now or you're going to die tonight, something to that effect. He continued to beat George, and at some point, George pulled his pistol and did what he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Now, again, Don, just important to point out that this is Robert Zimmerman's account, supposedly what he heard from his son. Robert Zimmerman was not there. He was not an eye witness. So, it's a very one-sided tell.
LEMON: The father expressing surprise at the country's reaction to this killing. And I think, in full transparency, Martin, it's also important to point out not where you are, not in Florida, but the dad is a former judge as well.
SAVIDGE: Right, And he is angry. I mean, he's really surprised by the amount of hatred he says that his family has received coming from very surprising places. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN: I never foresaw so much hate coming from the president, the Congressional black caucus, the NAACP, every organization imaginable is trying to get notoriety or profit from this in some way, but there's so much hate that -- I have never been involved in hate, and George hasn't, and it's really unbelievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Now, taking it back to where we sort of started, this new video, probably not going to defuse or ease the emotions. If anything, it may stoke them more.
LEMON: Yes, and I think it's interesting, Martin, that he said another comment that he was getting hate mail or hate inquiries, I'm not exactly sure how he phrased it, from the NAACP which is -- I mean, really? Is that really happening?
SAVIDGE: Well, I haven't heard that. You know, it's clear that the Zimmerman family has received death threats. There have been -- people have said some really awful things, that at least we've heard from Joe Oliver, a close family friend. They are caught up in an emotional state --
LEMON: Right.
SAVIDGE: -- just as Trayvon Martin's family is caught up in an emotional state.
LEMON: Yes.
SAVIDGE: I'll leave it there.
LEMON: Yes, thank you, Martin. And that was from -- you know, in all fairness, it was outside of -- what you played there was a longer part of the interview that we played last hour here, I think you made that comment. Thank you, Martin. Great reporting there in Sanford, Florida.
I want to tell our viewers, tomorrow night, CNN's Soledad O'Brien leads a special town hall event about how this neighborhood tragedy became a nationwide story and what it says about racial tension in our country. Don't miss "Beyond Trayvon, Race and Justice in America." That's tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.
I want to give you a rundown of some of the stories we're covering over the next hour. First, the Trayvon Martin case. We'll hear from George Zimmerman's father about why his son decided to pull the trigger in his deadly confrontation with the 17-year-old. And will Trayvon Martin be dead if he was white? We'll talk about race, the law, and what it means to be a young black man in America.
And then we're going to talk autism as well. It's affecting more kids and more families than we ever thought before. If you're a parent, you're going to want to stick around for this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. We keep getting information in bits and pieces from the night unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, was killed. The latest is a surveillance video showing George Zimmerman at a police station handcuffed after the shooting. Now, a police report says Zimmerman was bleeding from his nose and from the back of his head and was given first aid at the scene before the video was recorded. There's no apparent injury or blood in the video, but, again, it's a surveillance video, it's not exactly the clearest thing you've ever seen.
Lou Palumbo is a former police and security officer. He joins us from New York. Lou, good to see you, I wish it was under better circumstances that you and I could have a conversation. You've looked at the tape, you've read the police report, and you think what? What does this make of the evidence in the case?
LOU PALUMBO, DIRECTOR, ELITE GROUP LIMITED: Well, I think there's, unfortunately for Mr. Zimmerman, there's a time line that exists that indicates he probably precipitated this problem, number one. The fact that he got his nose bloodied and got put on his ground is only consistent with this young man having more physical prowess. The problem is very simple. He had no legal right to confront this young man under any circumstances. He's not a trained law enforcement agent. He's not an experienced law enforcement agent. He wasn't licensed to carry a gun in this capacity. And in fact, to the contrary, these neighborhood watch groups frown upon it, and they have a policy discouraging, if not dramatically impressing upon these people they don't want weapons carried.
You have to ask yourself what was the whole need or what was this exercise about? You know, reference has been made to this young man being suspicious. What is it in Mr. Zimmerman's background that qualified him to identify Trayvon as being suspicious? There's a lot of questions here. This tape that we see -- you know, the tape to me is borderline academic except from the standpoint it supports the fact that he did not sustain these injuries that he would like everybody to think he sustained, bottom line.
And the question we have to ask each other is how, after he was warned -- or how we would say told to stand down by the 911 operator, or, by the way, are trained by law enforcement agents and supervised by law enforcement agents, that he managed to come in proximity of Trayvon Martin to the point where it gave him opportunity to be beaten up pretty much.
LEMON: So Lou, listen, we don't know what happened at the scene. We've see -- you've read the police report. I have read the police report. We have heard everybody sort of trying this case and people are saying he's being tried in the media. And so let's give information here. It really boils down to what the family wants at this point. Sure, they would love to have their son back. They know that's not going to happen obviously. But what it boils down to is they want an arrest, right?
PALUMBO: Correct.
LEMON: And if you look at this, the circumstances, the police report, the videotape, it boils down to probable cause. Do you see probable cause?
PALUMBO: Absolutely. And I have to tell you something else. I'm listening to Zimmerman's father where basically he pretty much outlines what happened here. Zimmerman got into a physical confrontation with Trayvon Martin, I guess through divine intervention. And in the course of losing the battle, he saw fit to use deadly physical force in a fistfight, which doesn't -- that's not legal either.
I mean this whole case, this whole set of circumstances, from beginning to end, is problematic for Mr. Zimmerman. I think that there should be an arrest made. I think they need to go back and revisit a number of issues and incidents of that evening. I think there should be questions as to if he sustained such heinous injuries, why wouldn't the police have taken photographs, like we normally would do in the course of the performance of our duties? Why didn't he seek emergency medical treatment? There's a lot of questions here.
The bottom line is, I think Zimmerman's in damage control right now because he got involved in something he really wasn't equipped to handle and he encountered a young man who comes from a pretty rough neighborhood from what I can gather, this Miami Gardens, who, you know, I think part of his survival tool is learning how to take care of himself. He's got this unknown male following him around without any legal justification, not possessing any type of law enforcement identification that he could provide to Trayvon, justifying any type of interaction with him. You have to empathize with what was going on in this kid's mind at that point. We have him in a phone conversation with his girlfriend clearly stating that he's being followed. We have a 911 tape clearly stating he's following this young man. We have, in that same tape, the fact that he was told to stand down.
I think you have more than sufficient amount of probable cause to come to the conclusion that he instigated this engagement with him. And as Marcia Clark pointed out last evening on "Anderson Cooper," if you initiate or you instigate a confrontation with someone, you know, this Stand Your Ground or use of deadly physical force or self-defense is not your affirmative defense. You can't be part of the problem. LEMON: So why isn't -- why isn't he arrested then if you believe it's probable cause, as someone in law enforcement?
PALUMBO: I think they dropped the ball in the state attorney's office because what we now know is that the detective or the investigator in Sanford wanted to charge him with, I believe it was manslaughter.
LEMON: Manslaughter, yes.
PALUMBO: Right. Correct. And for whatever reason, they weren't quite sure of the landscape here. I don't think really anybody conducted an investigation sufficient enough to determine what exactly did go on here.
LEMON: Right.
PALUMBO: I don't know what the fruition was of the crime scene. Were there photos taken? The police are being -- you know, listen, this man was -- this young man, Trayvon, was lying dead on the street. At that point they needed to chalk that body, cordon off the area, and go in and conduct a very thorough forensic investigation. We don't even know if that was done at this point.
LEMON: OK.
PALUMBO: We do know that one investigator had the wherewithal to put his foot forward to try to have this guy charged. And for whatever reason, they deferred to the state attorney, which I don't fully understand, and at that point it got kicked.
LEMON: A lot of questions to be answered here. Lou Palumbo, thank you. We appreciate you joining us.
PALUMBO: My pleasure.
LEMON: Tonight at 9:00 Eastern, George Zimmerman's brother, Robert Zimmerman, joins Piers Morgan. He speaks out on the Trayvon Martin case, the treatment his brother is receiving, and how he feels the case should be handled going forward. Piers Morgan interview CNN tonight 9:00 Eastern.
It's one of the questions at the heart of the Trayvon Martin tragedy, what if he had been white? The case has touched off emotional debates about racial profiling of black people. But what about the other side of the coin, white privilege? Joining us now from New York is Michael Skolnik, the editor-in-chief of globalgrind.com.
Michael, thank you.
Do you agree that there is such a thing -- and we've been hearing a lot about it now, as white privilege? Is that real?
MICHAEL SKOLNIK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GLOBALGRIND.COM: Of course it's real. And I'm white and I have it. I can walk in the street in New York City and put my hand out and no taxi will pass me by. I can walk in the street and no woman is going to grab their purse in fear of me. I can walk into a restaurant. No one is going to ask me to pay before I eat. I can walk through my neighborhood and no one's going to call 911 and say I look suspicious. I wore a hoodie, I wore a pair of jeans and a pair of white tennis shoes this weekend, as I do every weekend, and no one's ever going to stop and say, hey, that guy looks suspicious. It's for one reason and one reason only, because I'm white.
LEMON: Where does that --
SKOLNIK: And, Don -- and let me say one last thing, Don. Furthermore, you know, I have the privilege to never look suspicious. That's an incredible privilege to have. I will never look suspicious to anyone regardless of what I'm wearing because of my skin color.
LEMON: What is then -- where did this concept of white privilege come from?
SKOLNIK: Well, I think the idea of white privilege come from is white people have been in power for hundreds and hundreds of years. And because white people, we've been in power for hundreds and hundreds of years, we think that we have the right to do whatever we want. I look at a young man like Trayvon walking through his neighborhood, his father's neighborhood, with a bag of Skittles and a can of ice tea and another man looks at him, regardless of his skin color, that young black men look suspicious because of the color of their skin is wrong.
LEMON: Is it something that's innate? You know, people say, well you don't know. I've had many women say, you don't know what it's like to be a woman, Don, because you're not a woman. You don't know what it's like to be black because you're not black, or white because you're not white. Is it something that's so innate and so pervasive that people just don't even understand that there is something as the concept of white privilege and that they're in it?
SKOLNIK: Yes. Well, I wrote a piece on globalgrind.com called "white person, you never look suspicious, like Trayvon Martin." The reason why I wrote it is because, as a white person, we have to begin to understand, I'm not -- I don't feel guilty for being white. I'm not ashamed of being white. It was the hand that I was dealt. It was the card that came out of the deck. It's what I got. But when I got that, when I was lucky enough to be a man, to be white, to be an American, I got choices to make. And the choices that I'm going to make is, I'm not going to be quiet. I'm not going to watch a kid get shot in the chest and just be quiet.
Three weeks ago when Joseph Kony, when that movement started, all of my white friends were loud and screaming and tweeting and FaceBooking and e-mailing, did you hear about Joseph Kony. When a 17-year-old black kid was killed in our country, white people were just quite. And, Don, it was you -- it was you, it was Charles Blow (ph), it was Melissa Harris Perry (ph) on MSNBC, it was black commentators were talking about it. And I said, why do they have to talk about it? Why can't white people stand up and say, this is just as wrong?
LEMON: Yes. Well, and I'll answer that. I think it's a matter of -- in all honesty (ph), some did, I mean, because actually CBS News was the first one to do the story. But I think it is because it's diversity. There are things -- if you work in -- let's say you work with the economy, you work on Wall Street, things that are in reference to the economy or economics are going to stand out to you and you're going to follow that. If you're an African-American in this country and you see a story like that, it is, by nature, something that you're going to a pay attention to. It has nothing to do with that -- that is where your interest lies in some respect. If you're a woman and there is a woman issue, then you are going to be drawn to that story. It's just a diversity issue. So, you know, I agree with you on the comment.
But here's the -- here's what I'd like to know. I heard a Republican commentator on another channel -- I'll just be honest, it was Joe Scarborough this morning on MSNBC saying -- and for the first time it really clicked with me. If you took the pictures of Trayvon Martin and you transpose them into a 17-year-old white kid and then you transposed George Zimmerman into a 28-year-old black man that's twice the size, how would you feel about this particular story and how would it be portrayed? And are you looking for, how would you look for guilt or innocence on the part of each side?
SKOLNIK: You know, I hear this conversation a lot. Let's be honest, we're not going to be back here in three weeks talking about white kids being killed at record numbers. We're not going to be talking about white kids being stopped and frisked in New York City at record number. We're not going to be -- come back to CNN, talk about white people being put in prison at record numbers. We know -- if we're going to be honest with each other, if we're going to be honest about this country, we're going to walk that elephant out of the room, which is race in this country.
Let's be honest and let's at least agree that young black men, young brown men, young Latino men are being targeted in every neighborhood in this country and every community in this country. I am not going to walk through my neighborhood in Brooklyn tonight, have to worry about the police following me because I look suspicious. It's just not going to happen.
LEMON: Yes.
SKOLNIK: So, yes, if a black man killed a white kid, is it just as wrong? Of course it is. If he racially profiled that white kid? Of course it is. But that's not going to happen at the numbers it's happening with young black men.
LEMON: And, Michael, I have to go, but just from this conversation, people should not draw the conclusion that there is -- we're speaking of the guilt or innocence of George Zimmerman. That is a different conversation when we're weighing evidence, right?
SKOLNIK: Absolutely different conversation.
LEMON: Yes.
SKOLNIK: Absolutely different conversation.
LEMON: We can have these conversations. SKOLNIK: He's innocent until proven guilty in my book and we should have due process and he should be arrested and we should let it go before his peers.
LEMON: And t here are many white people who think the same way that you do. And I've heard from them a lot. Thank you. Thank you, Michael Skolnik.
SKOLNIK: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: Chief editor -- editor-in-chief of globalgrind.com. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So are you enjoying your new iPad? Well, if you watched just one of those March Madness basketball games on it, you probably have used up an entire month's worth of data plan usage and that could cost you and it could cost you a lot. Dan Simon live now in San Francisco to explain.
Dan, how can this be?
DAN SIMON, CNN SILICON VALLEY CORRESPONDENT: You know, Don, I can understand why people are frustrated about this. You know, you take the new iPad. It's got the super high resolution screen. The retina screen. And then you combine that with the 4G connection, if you happened to have gotten that upgraded model. And then you have the recipe for consuming a whole bunch of data. So people are complaining, saying that they've exhausted their whole month's data plan in a matter of hours.
But we wanted to test this out for ourselves. So we teamed up with a publication called "Tab Times." This is a publication devoted to tablets. And, sure enough, if you're watching a high-definition movie for three hours, you can burn three gigabytes of data. I'm sorry to get technical for a second, but I have to do this.
So the way it works is, you can purchase a plan from AT&T or Verizon. The plans usually are two gigabytes or three gigabytes a month for $30. And you do the math. One high-definition movie equals about three hours. That's three gigabytes of data. This is definitely a story of buyer beware. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: What do you think this means for the consumer?
GEORGE JONES, EDITOR, "TAB TIMES": This is interesting for the consumer. I think in the short term it probably means a lot of people will be scared and nervous about using these kinds of connections to stream video. I think in the long term, hopefully this -- these kinds of findings are going to help the AT&Ts and Verizon Wirelesses of the world to kind of figure out kind of what consumers need and then meet that need.
SIMON: So if you watch an entire game using this connection, it's going to cost you $30, right?
JONES: Yes, $30 for a three-hour baseball game, unless you really need to watch that game, is outrageous. And think about this. You could, you know, buy a ticket for this much money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: The bottom line here, Don, is these wireless companies don't want these new networks to be constrained, so they have to keep the prices just high enough so lots of people aren't going on there. It's the same reason why they got rid of these all you can eat plans when it comes to, you know, the phones. And so we're seeing the same, you know, principles applied here to tablets. So you've got to be careful.
LEMON: What do you do then?
SIMON: Well, it's an easy answer. Use wi-fi. And if you happen to be on one of these super high fast mobile connections, be cautious about watching video. That's where you're really going to soak up a bunch of data. There are also some resources you can go on, you know, to your tablet, for example, see how much data you consumed. But you've got to be careful or else you're going to incur some extra fees.
LEMON: Mr. Dan Simon in San Francisco. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
A new report shows more kids and more families are living with autism than we ever thought. And we'll have the latest on the troubling numbers and what they mean for your family.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A rundown of some of the stories we're working on.
Next, more kids and more families are dealing with autism. We'll break it down and tell you about a new report.
Then, a rising star in the Republican Party gets behind Mitt Romney. Will it give him the bump that he needs?
We going to talk about that new government study that finds in one in every 88 children in America has autism. Check out what's on your screen right now. Back in 2000, one in 150 children had the developmental disorder. And you can see the rate steadily increasing over the years.
Joining me now is Mark Roithmayr, the president of the advocacy group Autism Speaks.
Mark, thank you for joining us.
This is near and dear to your heart. Are you surprised at this one-in-88 number?
MARK ROITHMAYR, PRESIDENT, AUTISM SPEAKS: First of all, it's a pleasure to be here. This one-in-88 number, I think it's time to declare autism is an epidemic in United States. Autism speaks is the leading autism organization in the world. It was started in 2005 by Susan and Bob Bright. At that time, the rate was one in 166. It has nearly doubled in that time. We see also the cost to families, it's almost tripled over the last six years. I'll tell you we're undercounting on both numbers.
LEMON: Really?
ROITHMYR: Yes.
LEMON: Why do you think that?
ROITHMAYR: They pull from health and education records. We did a gold study in South Korea where everybody single child got looked at. The rate was one in 38. Folks at the CDC will tell you jerry undercounting.
LEMON: Why do you think this number is growing? What's causing it? Is it environmental? You know it's a developmental disorder.
ROITHMAYR: The NIH pays a scientist at Columbia University just on that question, the answer is four fold. Better diagnosis, more awareness, but 50 percent is do not know. What we think there is that there are environmental triggers going on and we need more science dollars to go into environmental research.
LEMON: Like what? Because I spoke to Dr. Sanjay Gupta last hour. I said, is there a test? He said, I'm used to ordering a test saying get this and what have you. It's not quite that cut and dried when it comes to autism.
ROITHMAYR: The things we're starting to look at range from everything from internal infection, vitamin D deficiency, maternal age. If women and moms and dads are older having babies, they've been exposed to more toxins over the course of a lifetime. We're looking at things like air pollution. We're looking at things like pesticides.
LEMON: You definitely think it is environmental.
ROITHMAYR: So genetic predisposition, environmental trigger. Going forward there's a real clear plan here. You know, we're looking for the coalition of the willing.
LEMON: That's what I was going to ask you. What can -- especially parents do, but is it government, is it schools, but most of all what can all of us do and especially parents?
ROITHMAYR: First of all, with parents or anybody that's out there in America, for parents, if you have young infants and toddlers, look for the early warning signs. Go to autismspeaks.org. You can see it 3, 6, 9, 12 months. We have a video glossary that compares a typically developing child with a child on the spectrum. We have resources where you can go locally.
LEMON: If you look on the screen, these are some of the possible signs of autism, delayed and infrequent babbling, doesn't gesture to communicate, poor eye contact, seeks your attention infrequently, doesn't reach out when you approach. That's what you should look for.
ROITHMAYR: Correct. But I want to come back to this concept of a coalition of the willing, what is it going to take? One in 88, one in 54 boys, we have an epidemic going on in the United States. It's the federal, state, and local governments. It's local schools. It's local care providers. And it's three things. We need more science around that environmental side. We can diagnose of all children of all backgrounds by 18 months of age.
LEMON: So 18 to 24, you recommend children get screened for autism at ages 18 months and 24 months.
ROITHMAYR: I'll tell you, we can diagnose definitely by 18 months. That's the standard that we want to get to. There's two things in our way of doing that. We need more providers that are out there, almost a national training corps. What we have is such a demand for autism that we're not meeting with the supply of providers. And also insurance. In this country, 21 states that don't cover any autism insurance coverage. We need to change that.
LEMON: We're so happy you came, Mark. Thanks for coming on.
Mark Roithmayr.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Did I say it right, Roithmayr.
ROITHMAYR: And just one last piece. We have the first CDC study that was ever done in 1992. Those kids are now turning 20 year olds. Adults with autism are becoming a bigger and bigger issue. We have to get behind that also.
LEMON: Yes, thank you. Pleasure. Appreciate you joining us.
ROITHMAYR: Thank you.
LEMON: All right, Mark.
Let's talk some politics. He's a rising star in the Republican Party but will Marco Rubio's endorsement be enough to put Latino voters in Mitt Romney's corner? We'll talk about it in our political update.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Florida Senator Marco Rubio says it is time for Republicans to unite behind Mitt Romney as their presidential nominee. Rubio is a Tea Party favorite and now he's endorsing Romney.
Jim Acosta had a one-on-one interview with the Senator, and Jim joins us now live from Washington.
Good work there, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Don. LEMON: What is Senator Rubio saying about his endorsement of Romney?
ACOSTA: Well, this is a good endorsement for Mitt Romney, Don. This is probably one of the biggest endorsements for Mitt Romney to date. You will remember that Marco Rubio won down there in the state of Florida with the backing of a lot of Tea Party supporters, a lot of conservative voters. So that's helpful to Mitt Romney.
And I asked Marco Rubio -- caught him for just a few minutes on Capitol Hill. Why exactly is now the time to get behind Mitt Romney? He didn't do it before the Florida primary. He's doing it now. Here is what he had to say.
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ACOSTA: Give us a little of the back story on why you decided to endorse Governor Romney now?
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R), FLORIDA: There's no back story. They said the only way they can win is by a floor fight in Tampa. A floor fight in Tampa would be the worse possible thing in terms of winning in November. So I think Mitt Romney, by the admission of his opponents, has won the primary. And it's time for us to get behind our nominee.
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ACOSTA: So there you heard the words there. "It's now time to get behind our nominee." He's not quite the nominee yet, but a lot of Republicans here in Washington are starting to feel like it's looking that way. And so Marco Rubio getting in line behind Mitt Romney is a good step in the right direction in that department -- Don?
LEMON: Important because it's not just coming from the establishment, an establishment Republican. This is coming from someone who is a favorite, as I said, in your introduction, among Tea Partiers.
ACOSTA: Yes. That's right. And we had a chance to talk to Senator Rubio about all of this speculation about whether or not he would appear on a ticket with Mitt Romney as his vice presidential running mate. And it was very interesting, Don, what Marco Rubio had to say about that. He said, "Well, I'm not going to be the vice president and my answer hasn't changed right now." That raises the question, well, could your answer change tomorrow, three months from now? He had said on "Meet the Press" last year that under no circumstances would he appear on the Republican ticket in 2012. The answer he gave us today was just slightly different. But this is a sign that Republicans are starting to close ranks to get behind Mitt Romney.
LEMON: Former President George H.W. Bush later today --
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LEMON: -- what you just said.
ACOSTA: Yes, and that right -- I mean, and the Romney campaign is making a big deal about that. They are going down to Houston. In fact, they're in Houston right now, where Mitt Romney will be meeting with the former president. And the former president will be coming out later on this afternoon, we expect, to give some sort of official announcement in front of the cameras. This is a big moment for Mitt Romney. He is well ahead of his rivals right now in the race to get that magic number of 1,144 delegates. And as he inches closer, we will see more of these establishment Republican figures sort of falling in line. They're starting to see the writing on the wall, even though Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich say, hey, wait a minute, this thing isn't over yet, there's still time for us to overtake Mitt Romney, and if not overtake him in the number of delegates perhaps at a contested convention. So we're going to see this argument play out. But in the meantime Romney is continuing to line up people behind him. It's only going to help him along the way -- Don?
LEMON: Good. It looks like they're coalescing getting behind Mitt Romney. More of that interview on "The Situation Room." Right?
ACOSTA: That's right. You bet. You bet.
LEMON: Thank you, Jim Acosta. Good stuff. Appreciate it.
ACOSTA: You got it.
LEMON: You see her more in court these days than in the movies. We're going to have the latest on the Lindsay Lohan saga, coming up.
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LEMON: Lindsay Lohan, the troubled actress, back in court today but, for a change, it was actually a good thing this time. So don't be all judgmental, Don Lemon.
Nischelle Turner tells us why. She's in Los Angeles.
You know, we always get in trouble when we're together.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Can I say something? That whole conversation we had yesterday about Spike Lee -- and clearly I was exasperated like, God, let's move on because what he did was idiotic. Someone took it the other way and wrote about it, saying that Don Lemon approves of what Spike Lee did. Is that just the most ridiculous thing you have heard? How idiotic.
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: You know, it is ridiculous. And I think most people with logical minds don't approve of that.
LEMON: Exactly.
TURNER: I got what you were saying. I got what you were saying. You were just like --
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LEMON: Move on, this is so ridiculous.
TURNER: I got it.
LEMON: Not even worth talking about the stupidity that he did.
Thank you, Nischelle.
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LEMON: Let's talk about Lindsay now.
TURNER: OK.
LEMON: Yes, go ahead.
TURNER: Court today, and like you said, she spent a lot of time there, but after five years of probation, Lindsay, Don, is finally off the hook. A judge just ended her formal probation at a court hearing in Los Angeles. This brings an end to the courtroom saga, which started after her May 2007 DUI arrest. She could have finished her probation two years ago, but four probation violations have kept her under court supervision until today. Over the past five years, she spent 250 days in rehab, 35 days in home confinement, 67 days on community service, 19 days in court, and made six trips to jail. By the way, she's only 25. Now, Lindsay will remain on informal probation for two more years due to a misdemeanor shoplifting conviction. Remember that whole necklace incident? She's trying to get her career back on track.
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LEMON: You glossed right over that.
TURNER: I know.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
TURNER: This is where the good stuff comes in.
LEMON: You glossed right over that. You said, by the way, she's only 25. That's very important.
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TURNER: She's lived a life. Let's just put it like that. But she's trying to get back on track, Don. She's got this upcoming role in an episode of "Glee." And we have also just confirmed that she does have a work permit now which will allow her to work in Vancouver, because she's going to be filming this movie called "Liz and Dick." According to her representative, that starts in May. Hopefully, maybe she can just go to Canada, spend some time filming her movie, and get everything back together. Because she's lived a pretty hard life for a 25-year-old. She's done a lot.
LEMON: Yes. I don't know what to ask you because the prompter went blank. Bring back the words.
(LAUGHTER)
It says, I'm saying that because I'm so excited about this next story. Let's watch a video, and then you and I talk about it, all right?
TURNER: Yes.
WILL FERRELL, COMEDIAN & ACTOR: As of 0900 mountain time, Paramount Pictures and myself, Ronald Joseph and Aaron Burgundy, have come to terms of a sequel to "Anchorman."
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(END VIDEO CLIP)
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LEMON: Yay.
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TURNER: You know, Don Lemon, you just had a Ron Burgundy moment there. The prompter went down and you couldn't go on.
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LEMON: Bring back the words. I am Don Lemon? Who put a question mark in the prompter?
TURNER: Ron Burgundy is this huge deal. People know him and not just for his skill on the jazz flute which he played for Conan last night. The original "Anchorman" movie took in $85 million. Of course, we shouldn't be surprised they green-lit the sequel. Here is what I will say, stay classy, Don Lemon, and get ready for the return of "Anchorman."
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LEMON: Stay classy, Nischelle Turner, San Diego.
(LAUGHTER)
You know what comes after that? Don't say it on TV.
TURNER: No way, sir. No way. I like this job.
(LAUGHER)
LEMON: Yes. You're a big deal. People know me. People know you. Pretty big deal.
(LAUGHTER)
Thank you. I have gone way off the rails. Thank you, Nischelle. Hope to he so you soon in person.
TURNER: Bye, Don.
LEMON: To stay up to date on news from the entertainment world, don't miss "Showbiz tonight," 11 p.m. eastern on HLN.
Earl Scruggs was the most important banjo player that ever lived. Just ask actor and bluegrass expert, Steve Martin. We'll take a look back on this legend and his music coming up.
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LEMON: Earl Scruggs, a banjo player on the theme song for the 1960s television sitcom, "The Beverly Hillbillies," is dead.
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LEMON: "The Ballad Jed Clampett" was Scruggs' only number-one hit, but his musical association with his partner, Lester Flatt, helped bring bluegrass music into popular culture. Scruggs died yesterday of natural causes. He was 88. That was part of the vernacular for a long time. That song still famous and classic. Rest in peace, sir.
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LEMON: Two days and counting until the final four. A month ago, there were 68 teams in the hunt and now it is down to Kansas, Ohio State, Louisville and Kentucky. And one Kansas player is battling for more than a championship.
Rob Marciano has his story.
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ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: College basketball can be gut wrenching --
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MARCIANO: -- heartbreaking --
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MARCIANO: -- and exhilarating.
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MARCIANO: The life of a college basketball player can be all of those things and one other, exhausting.
THOMAS ROBINSON, KANSAS JUNIOR FORWARD: We have early morning workouts and then classes and then straight to practice after that and practice normally could go from 2 to 4 depending on how the coach feels and then tutoring at night and back in your room and back up the next morning doing the same thing again.
MARCIANO: It is a full day every day, one that can sometimes be eased by a comforting call home.
TYSHAWN TAYLOR, KANSAS SENIOR GUARD: When things get tough for me, my mom is one of the first people I call and I am sure it is the same for a lot of people.
MARCIANO: Over a year ago, Kansas forward Thomas Robinson received a late night call from home that changed everything for him. He was told his mother, Lisa, had just died of a heart attack at age 37. This, only weeks after the deaths of Robinson's grandparents, who helped his single mother raise him. He and his seven-year-old half sister, Jayla, were left alone.
BILL SELF, KANSAS HEAD COACH: When I said, Thomas, anybody back home you want me to contact? He said, coach, they're all gone, and that just broke my heart.
ROBINSON: My teammates, you know, immediately became my brothers and strong support I have.
MARCIANO: Robinson's teammates followed him home to Washington, D.C., for the funeral. And the school started an education fund for his sister. But even as the fans filled the seat at legendary Fog Allen Field House donated to a cause more worthy than another national championship, Robinson realized his daily responsibilities are grown immensely.
ROBINSON: I have something big to her take care of. I had a little sister at home.
TAYLOR: Some people would go the opposite way and they don't have anything to work for now, you know. He kind of had a different approach like I am going to go even harder.
SELF: There was a whole different level of want, of try in him that I hadn't seen before.
MARCIANO: The 6'10" junior wears that responsibility to Jayla like a chain around his neck honoring his mother. His performance in the NCAA tournament shined like those medallions, taking the Jay Hawks to the final four on the strength of averaging nearly 16 points and 13 rebounds in their four wins. The goal is a national championship, all with the hope it will lead him to millions in the NBA and his sister to a future without worry.
ROBINSON: For me to feel comfortable, the best way to do that, be able to realize my life-time dream and doing that, would be able to take care of her. MARCIANO: Gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and exhilarating. Thomas Robinson's life is all of those things, and one other. Inspiring.
Rob Marciano, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Very nice. Thanks for watching. Brooke Baldwin takes over right now, -- Brooke.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Mr. Lemon. Thank you very much.
