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Obama Speaks on Economy; Shooting at a University; Sharper Video May Back Zimmerman; Republican Response to Obama Speech; Tornado Watch in Dallas; Guns on Campus; What's the Queen Really Like; Notre Dame Women's Hoops

Aired April 03, 2012 - 13:05   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: You're looking at pictures there. Right now, live in Washington, President Obama essentially game on here, against his Republican rivals, taking on his critics as well. Also, a fiery pitch for his economic policy, I want you to listen to one of the things he just highlighted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: In this country, broad-based prosperity has never trickled down from the success of a wealthy few. It has always come from the success of a strong and growing middle class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: CNN Political Director Mark Preston, he is joining us. Mark, you and I talked about this while this was happening here that this really is a game on kind of campaign speech. What I found really stunning here is he not only took on Newt Gingrich but he also by name mentioned Mitt Romney.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, absolutely. Look, game on. I mean, this speech comes at a time when his campaign just releases an ad which attacks Mitt Romney, accuses Mitt Romney of being tied to big oil, which is not good of course given the fact that fuel prices are rising, rising, rising. It also comes at a time when Mitt Romney happens to be with Paul Ryan who is the architect of this budget as we speak right now in Wisconsin. So, as we saw in that comment that the president just said, this is a big appeal to the middle class.

MALVEAUX: And a couple things he mentioned here. He talked about Medicare, concerns about Medicare changing. That's very important, too, because you're talking about older voters, that's a critical group that's going to come out there and vote. He also talked about this $150,000 tax break for every millionaire and what that would mean for ordinary folks, right, like firefighters, educators, that type of thing. What is he trying to do here?

PRESTON: You know, we see this, every campaign where it comes down to class war fair, and I know some of our viewers will get mad at me but that's the fact of the matter. It's a class warfare speech by the president trying to appeal to independent voters who might be on the edge who are concerned whether his economic policies trump the Republican policies, but at the same time, we're going to hear the same thing from Mitt Romney when he finally becomes the nominee, he himself is going to deliver a similar speech and it's going to be a class warfare speech.

The fact of the matter this election is not going to be won by the die-hard Republicans or the die-hard Democrats. It's really those independent voters in the middle.

MALVEAUX: Well, let's talk about the timing of this. Is this a little late here? Because you still have the Republican field. They're still trying to figure out who their nominee is. He's jumping in how to criticize who he believes is going to be the nominee, very likely, Mitt Romney. Kind of late in the game, though, yes?

PRESTON: Yes, well, late in the game but you know something, they have been doing this all along, quietly. The Obama campaign has been very tactful in strategic about how they are going to attack Mitt Romney. They were a little derailed because of the fact of the matter was this Republican race got a little bit of a shake-up. We saw Newt Gingrich come on in December, we saw Rick Santorum come on in January, and in many ways, it was probably smart by the Obama campaign and President Obama to stand back and let Republicans attack one another. But there is something to be said, right now, about trying to disable your opponent before he gets on the field.

MALVEAUX: All right. Mark, we're going to be watching very closely. The primaries happen all day and throughout the evening. So, I want our viewers to do the same. Thanks, Mark.

PRESTON: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: You can watch CNN's coverage special coverage as voters in Wisconsin, Maryland, Washington, D.C. make their choice through Republican presidential nominee. Our coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern tonight with "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT," followed by "ANDERSON COOPER 360" at 8:00, and "PIERS MORGAN" at 9:00 Eastern.

I want to go back to another top story here, getting back to the school shooting in Oakland. Forensic investigators, they are on the scene right now. Police are searching for the gun. They say that 43- year-old One Goh used to kill seven people yesterday. That was execution style. Thelma Gutierrez, she is there at the scene. I understand that you have new information.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. First of all, Suzanne, I'll tell you that we just spoke with the hospital spokesperson, there were three people wounded in this rampage, all three people have now been treated and released from the hospital, so that is some good news to report.

For the last hour, we have seen forensic investigators processing the scene. They've been coming in and out of the university. And they've been looking for evidence, and the key piece of evidence that they are searching for now, Suzanne, is the murder weapon. Possibly a 45 caliber handgun. They are also traveling all of the possible routes between the university and the Safeway store which is five miles away, and that is where that suspect was apprehended yesterday. So again, looking for that gun and wondering where it might be between the university and that store.

MALVEAUX: And tell me, what are we learning about the suspect's motives?

GUTIERREZ: Well, the police chief told us today that he believes the motive is that One Goh was upset at a school administrator, a very specific administrator. He was mad because she had dismissed him from this university earlier in the year. The police chief says that Mr. Goh came to this school yesterday, he was very much centered on his target. He knew who he was looking for, didn't find her, and then went after the receptionist, took her to look for the administrator. Didn't find her and then goes into the classroom and lines up the students and this receptionist against the wall, Suzanne, and then shoots them one by one execution style.

MALVEAUX: All right. We'll be getting more information about the investigation. Thank you so much, Thelma.

Here is a rundown of some of the stories we're covering. First, the surveillance video of the man who shot 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, it has now been enhanced. It may tell a different story than you first thought.

And a tractor trailer tumbles off the road, takes a tow truck with it. Whoa, check that out, you've got to see this.

Then, Queen Elizabeth, she is celebrating six decades on the throne. It's turning out to be a very big year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A new look offers a different perspective in the killing of Trayvon Martin. We enhanced the surveillance video of the shooter, George Zimmerman, arriving at a police station after he shot the unarmed teenager. Well, one of these new images say, do they help support Zimmerman's claim he was being brutally beaten, fired only to save his life. CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE):

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, I'm here with Jason Vassa (ph), one of our great editors here at CNN, and we're going to show you a surveillance tape, but in a very different way. And this is the night of the shooting. So, let's look at this now. Let's play it down. And you can see George Zimmerman, he's sort of talking to police. The police officer right there looks at the back of his head to see if he can see anything. So, take a look at this, because this is something you actually do see what appears to be some sort of a bump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there's a few thing that I can do to enhance it. I want to put a contrast on it now.

FEYERICK: OK. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To see if we can bring this out a little bit more. Going to throw another color correction tool on it. I'm going -- what I'm going to do is I'm going to over saturate it, too, so you can see the reds.

FEYERICK: Oh, and that's interesting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, and that will bring out the reds, as I said.

FEYERICK: There it definitely looks like something's popping out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. So we'll raise it. You can see his jacket getting redder and that area getting redder.

FEYERICK: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm going to lighten it up a little bit. Raise the whites. And there you go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: That is fascinating. I want to bring in Martin Savidge. He's in Sanford, Florida.

So, what do we suspect this higher resolution surveillance video show us? What does it say? Does it help Zimmerman's claim of self defense?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly does. Those who support George Zimmerman and those who have been behind him have said that here is clear evidence that what George Zimmerman told the authorities, that it was self defense, that his head was being beaten against the sidewalk by Trayvon Martin, that he had to shoot in order to save his life. They would say that verifies, that backs up his story.

There are others, those who support Trayvon Martin and who are outraged that there has not been an arrest in this case, would say, well, all right, but if you had to go to that length to enhance, to look to find any indication of injury, that does not really say that he was severely injured in the way that he told authorities, or at least the danger that he basically said he was in. So it hasn't really changed much of anything on either side in this particular case.

MALVEAUX: Martin, I found it interesting, too, that he was just kind of walking calmly. It wasn't like he was hunched over or anything like that. Like, you know, his blood gushing or anything. But it is interesting to see what is actually on that tape.

There's another development in this story as well. We're hearing from the state attorney, who initially handled the case, now lashing out at the Martin family attorney saying that there are outright lies in this letter they sent to the Justice Department. Can you tell us about it?

SAVIDGE: Right. And, you know, in the absence of any real news coming from the investigation, it is sort of what's going on in the periphery. And there's a heated battle now that's broken out verbally between the attorney that represents Trayvon Martin's family, that is Benjamin Crump. He has basically put a request in to the Department of Justice to look into the actions of Norm Wolfinger. He is the state attorney that oversees this particular area.

The accusation you could say that has been made by the Trump -- or by the Trayvon Martin family attorney is that Wolfinger supposedly met with the chief of police here in Sanford on the night that the young man was shot and they're sort of saying, what was that all about. And, of course, they're pointing out the fact that George Zimmerman was never arrested. So their implication, perhaps, some wrong doing there or impropriety.

Well, meanwhile, Norm Wolfinger immediately fired back after he heard that. And normally you don't hear from him. But he said, quote, "I am outraged by the outright lies contained in the letter by Benjamin Crump. I encourage the Justice Department to investigate and document that no such meeting or communication occurred. I have been encouraging those spreading the irresponsible rhetoric to stop."

As we say, normally you don't hear from the state attorney and not in that kind of heated language. So it just shows you that people are on edge as this investigation continues to move forward.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Very strong language there, obviously. And a lot of still unanswered questions. Thank you, Martin.

A truck slips off an icy mountain. Take a look at this. Unbelievable video. We're going to show you what happened next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: I want to go back to Washington, D.C. President Obama taking questions from news editors. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But because there is a sense that unlike most super powers in the past, we try to set out a set of universal rules, a set of principles by which everybody can benefit. And that's true on the economic front as well. We continue to be the world's largest market, an important engine for economic growth. We can't return to a time when by simply borrowing and consuming we end up driving global economic growth. I said this a few months after I was elected, at the first G-20 summit. I said the days when Americans using their credit cards and home equity loans finance the rest of the world's growth by taking in imports from every place else, those days are over. On the other hand, we continue to be an extraordinarily important market and foundation for global economic growth.

We do have to take care of our deficits. I think Christine has spoken before and I think most economists would argue as well that the challenge when it comes to our deficits is not short-term discretionary spending, which is manageable. As I said before, and I want to repeat, as a percentage of our GDP our discretionary spending, all the things that the Republicans are proposing cutting, is actually lower than it's been since Dwight Eisenhower.

There has not been some massive expansion of social programs, programs that help the poor, environmental programs, education programs, that's not our problem. Our problem is that our revenue has dropped down to between 15 and 16 percent, far lower than it has been historically, certainly far lower than it was under Ronald Reagan, at the same time as our health care costs have surged and our demographics mean that there's more and more pressure being placed on financing our Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs.

So, at a time when the recovery is still gaining steam, and unemployment is still very high, the solution should be pretty apparent. And that is, even as we continue to make investments in growth today, for example putting some of our construction workers back to work rebuilding schools and roads and bridges or helping states to rehire teachers at a time when schools are having a huge difficulty retaining quality teachers in the classroom, all of which would benefit our economy, we focus on a long term plan to stabilize our revenues at a responsible level and to deal with our health care programs in a responsible way. And that's exactly what I'm proposing.

I mean what we've proposed is, let's go back for folks who are making more than $250,000 a year, to levels that were in place during the Clinton era, when wealthy people were doing just fine and the economy was growing a lot stronger than it did after they were cut. And let's take on Medicare and Medicaid in a serious way, which is not just a matter of taking those costs off the books, off the federal books and pushing them onto individual seniors, but let's actually reduce health care costs, because we spend more on health care with not as good outcomes as any other advanced developed nation on earth. And that would seem to be a sensible proposal.

The problem right now is not the technical means to solve it. The problem is our politics. And that's part of what this election and what this debate will need to be about is, are we, as a country, willing to get back to common sense, balanced, fair solutions that encourage our long term economic growth and stabilize our budget. And it can be done.

One last point I want to make, Dean (ph), that I think is important, because it goes to the growth issue. If state and local government hiring were basically on par to what our current recovery -- on par to past recoveries, the unemployment rate would probably be about a point lower than it is right now. If the construction industry were going through what we'd normally go through, that would be another point lower. The challenge we have right now -- part of the challenge we have in terms of growth, has to do with the very specific issues of huge cuts in state and local government, and the housing market still recovering from this massive bubble. And that are huge -- those two things are huge headwinds in terms of growth.

I say this because if we, for example, put some of those construction workers back to work, or we put some of those teachers back in the classroom, that could actually help create the kind of virtuous cycle that would bring in more revenues just because of the economic growth, would benefit the private sector in significant ways and that could help contribute to deficit reduction in the short-term, even as we still have to do these important changes to our health care programs over the long term.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, you said yesterday that it would be unprecedented for a Supreme Court to overturn laws passed by an elected Congress. But that is exactly what the court has done during its entire existence. If the court were to overturn individual mandate, what would you do or propose to do for the 30 million people who wouldn't have health care after that ruling?

OBAMA: Well, first of all, let me be very specific. We have not seen a court overturn a law that was passed by Congress on a economic issue like health care, that I think most people would clearly consider commerce, a law like that has not been overturned at least since Lochner, all right. So we're going back to the 30s, pre-New Deal. And the point I was making is that the Supreme Court is the final say on our Constitution and our laws and all of us have to respect it. But it's precisely because of that extraordinary power that the court has traditionally exercised significant restraint and deference to our duly elected legislature, our Congress. And so the burden is on those who would overturn a law like this.

Now, as I said, I expect Congress -- I expect the Supreme Court, actually, to recognize that and to abide by well-established precedence out there. I have enormous confidence that in looking at this law, not only is it constitutional but that the court is going to exercise its jurisprudence carefully because of the profound power that our Supreme Court has. As a consequence, we're not spending a whole bunch of time planning for contingencies.

What I did emphasize yesterday is there is a human element to this that everybody has to remember. It's not an abstract exercise. I get letters every day from people who are affected by the health care law right now, even though it's not fully implemented. Young people who are 24, 25, say, 'I just got diagnosed with a tumor.' First of all, I would not have gone to get a checkup if I had not had health insurance. Second of all, I wouldn't have been able to afford to get it treated had I not been on my parents' plan. Thank you and thank Congress for getting this done.

I get letters from folks who have just lost their job. COBRA is running out. They are in the middle of treatment for colon cancer or breast cancer. And they are worried when their COBRA runs out, if they are still sick, what are they going to do? Because they aren't going to be able to get health insurance. And the point I think that was made very ably before the Supreme Court but I think what most health care economists, who looked at that, have acknowledged, is there are basically two ways to cover people with pre-existing conditions, and assure that people can always get coverage even when they have bad illnesses.

One way is a single-payer plan. Everybody is under a single system, like Medicare. The other way is to set up a system in which you don't have people who are healthy but don't bother to get health insurance, and then we all have to pay for them in the emergency room. That doesn't work. So as a consequence, we've got to make sure those folks are taking their responsibility seriously, which is what the individual mandate does. So, I don't anticipate the court striking this down. I think they take their responsibilities very seriously.

But I think what's more important is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to recognize that in a country like ours, the wealthiest, most powerful country on earth, we shouldn't have a system in which millions of people are at risk of bankruptcy because they get sick, or end up waiting until they do get sick and then go to the emergency room, which involves all of us paying for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, you've been very, very generous with your time. We appreciate very much.

OBAMA: Thank you so much everybody.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

MALVEAUX: President Obama speaking before the news editors in Washington. Already, the Republican response, this coming from the House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. The president criticizing the House budget mentioning the cuts and with the president believes will be the cost to the American people.

Paul Ryan responding here saying, "Like his reckless budgets, today's speech by President Obama is as revealing as it is disappointing. While others lead by offering real solutions, he has chose tune distort the truth and divide Americans in order to distract from his failed record. His empty promises are quickly becoming broken promises. And the American people will hold him accountable for his violation of their trust."

We should also note as well that Mitt Romney is going to be addressing this same organization, the same group, tomorrow. We'll also bring that for you live.

We'll take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: There's a tornado watch in Dallas. I want to get to Chad Myers.

Chad, what do we know about this?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There has been very big hail today already. Two, three-inch hail west of Dallas, and now the potential for some of these storms to rotate. When that happens, you can get a tornado on the ground. That's why they upgraded, really, the severe thunderstorm watch that we had to a tornado watch. We had this yellow box for a while which means that storms could produce hail and wind. The upgrade with the red box, storms could produce tornadoes and there are big ones, if you are in or near Weatherford, Texas, a storm is spinning, has been for a while.

Another notch there making me believe that's very close to I-20. It's about mile marker 392 or so there. Then a storm here putting down big hail west of Jacksboro and there is more to come. More storms will top up across north Texas, Oklahoma, possibly moving into parts of Arkansas as well and Louisiana.

I want to take you to video, though, because we found it remarkable, of how bad the weather has been across parts of Europe. This is a semi truck falling over a cliff. And then the tow truck that was trying to move it also goes with it. Here's how the story was written. That lorry plunged over the cliff. As the tow truck was trying to move it on its hook, went over the cliff. The driver of the first truck, the tow truck, jumped out. The driver of the lorry did not get out. He went down 160 feet to the bottom and is in hospital, as they say, with broken bones. But everyone survived this, unbelievable. They tried to -- this truck was going up the hill. Didn't make it -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: That looks bad there. Good that both survived and the tow truck guy jumped out.

MYERS: If you look at it again, you can see him jump out. He says, no, I'm not going down there.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: It's happened. Another deadly school shooting. Seven people are dead. Some people are saying it is time to let students carry guns on campus to protect themselves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A kind of tragedy we heard before, deadly shooting on a college campus. This time, it happened at a small religious college in Oakland, California. Now seven people are dead. Police say the shooter is a former student who carried out a cold-blooded execution. He is now under arrest. And, again, a lot of people asking, what can be done to stop these acts of violence? Even a trickier (ph) question here. Should students be allowed to have guns on campus to protect themselves?

Law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, is here. He's also a former D.C. police detective.

Mike, you've got this "Guns on Campus" movement. It's out of the Virginia Tech massacre. The judge rules that, hey, they did not do their jobs, took too long to actually tell students there was a gunman on campus. Is this a good idea?

MIKE BROOKS, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST & FORMER WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, they corrected that, too. I want to point that out. We've had -- there was another incident where they thought they had a gunman but the notice system worked. This is different. This isn't your traditional college campus. This is one building. So I look at this more as, yes, it occurred in a Christian school like this, but more of a workplace violence shooting, if you will.

But the question is, should students be allowed to carry guns on campus? I carry a gun all the time. I'm former law enforcement. I carry a gun here in the city of Atlanta. I have a permit to carry. And I believe in people's rights to carry weapons. But, do you need to take one to school with you? Should the law enforcement agency that's protecting you there on campus, is that enough? This particular campus, it's not a traditional college campus. I think they had minimal security. It's out toward east Oakland by the airport. This was, basically, a disgruntled former student that came back and showed no remorse, and they call him a cold-blooded killer.

MALVEAUX: Would it made a difference if any of the students had a gun and were able to defend the others? This was lining these guys up and shooting them and killing them.

BROOKS: Right. He came in, took a hostage off the bat, and came in to force his way in, and they didn't have much time to react. Would it have helped in this case? Probably not, but because it happened so quickly. But when you get back to your traditional college campuses like, let's say, University of Georgia or Virginia Tech, would somebody having a weapon on campus, it may have saved lives. It's hard to say exactly whether or not a weapon, having students armed, would save lives or would someone -- if a shooting happens, someone loses their temper and they use a gun, could that happen, yes. It's speculation, pure speculation. But, yes, it could save lives. Then again, it might not.

MALVEAUX: I want to show our viewers, 22 states ban guns on college campuses. Mississippi is different because they allow with it a special permit, though the law is being challenged. Then you have 25 states where it's left up to the schools to decide. Then you've got, last year, 18 states introducing legislation to allow guns on campus. Two of those bills passed, in Mississippi and Wisconsin. Is it a good idea for states to get involved here and make these kinds of decisions for college campuses?

BROOKS: Basically, the law, the carry laws are up to each state. So they have to work with the college campuses. If you look at a lot of the campuses, most aren't circled by a fence or a wall. They are out in an urban setting. So everybody else, who is in an urban setting, is allowed with the proper clearances and background checks and permits to carry a gun. So should students who are put in the same environment, should they be allowed to have the same rights as everyone else? That's another question that remains that's up for debate.

MALVEAUX: Murky situation.

BROOKS: Really is.

MALVEAUX: Mike, thank you. British queen, she's celebrating 60 years on the throne. We've got a royal expert with the scoop, including, what is she really like, whether she is a techie. And we've got video of a certain president winking at her.

(LAUGHTER)

We're going to show you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: I want to go to Chad Myers because there's a tornado warning.

Chad, what do we know?

MYERS: Spotters have seen a funnel near Joshua. This isn't far from Dallas-Ft. Worth. Because Dallas-Ft. Worth is such a popular area, I want to get on with it. Up towards Ft. Worth and Dallas, that would be the next stop for the storm. That's the little red cell right there. It's going to be moving on right into and south of the Ft. Worth area. It's been brewing over the past couple of minutes.

I'm going to open this up. Sean's going to get this in here for me. This is actually our iMap. We can take a look at these spotters. This is Texasstormchasers.com. They are seeing a low ring in the sky right here. Not a cloud to the ground yet. Because that's the first, the precursor, the wall cloud of what this storm could do, and it's getting stronger minute after minute. If you're in the Burleson area, or around there within five miles, take cover with this storm. Because now a tornado warning has been issued -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Queen Elizabeth is celebrating 60 years on the throne this year. That makes her the longest reigning monarch since Queen Victoria. The celebration is called the Diamond Jubilee.

Robert Hardman is joining us. He's an expert on all things royal.

Good to see you. You are the author of the book out, "Her Majesty." This is a big year for the queen, yes? Royal wedding, the rise of Will and Kate, and we've also got the Olympics coming up in London. Is the monarchy back?

ROBERT HARDMAN, AUTHOR: The monarchy is back, Suzanne. You're absolutely right. It's been on a role really in the last few years. But over the last year, we had the royal wedding, an amazing historic state visit to Ireland. The first time a monarch went to the Republic of Ireland since its creation. The Obamas came to stay. We had all the razzmatazz of that, the state banquet. It's all turning into, building up to this great anniversary. As you say, no monarch has done 60 years since Queen Victoria. But when Victoria turned 60 on the throne, she was a very old lady. It was -- she was barely seen. There were very few events. What we're seeing this year, the queen is going up and down the country. She's meeting people. There are all sorts of amazing events planned. It will be a precursor to the Olympics. It will be a festival of royalty. At the heart of it is the Queen, but they'll all be there. William and Kate will be very much to the fore. The whole family is rallying around. We're seeing the House of Windsor back in its strongest position than it's been for very many years.

MALVEAUX: Do we know if the queen is tech savvy? When the president gave her an iPod and we found out she already had one. Is there tweeting going on in Buckingham palace?

(LAUGHTER)

HARDMAN: I think younger members are very savvy. William and Harry, certainly, well into their Facebook and that sort of thing. The queen is certainly up to speed on this. Not so long ago, the visited the London headquarters of Google. She realized what an important role I.T. has to play in national and international life. So she often says to Prince Philip, when they're out on the road, if they meet someone interesting, she says, we ought to Google that.

(LAUGHTER)

She knows what it's all about. I don't think we'll expect a text from her anytime soon.

MALVEAUX: OK. Tell us a little bit about her personally. I know you talked to folks who know the other royals very well.

HARDMAN: I was lucky enough to spend over two years behind the scenes at the palace, meet everybody who works with her from her prime ministers to her cooks, even to her footmen and footwomen. There's been a lot of change at the palace. Behind the scenes, it's a different institution than the one she inherited.

On the surface, we still see the carriages and people in the frock coats and all the pageantry that we love. But actually it's a very modern, very efficient institution. All that leadership, all that change has come from the top. She's really a hands-on boss. Every thing you see, every tiny little detail of this jubilee, even the pop concert at the palace, she will know who is performing and what the running order is. She checks every engagement before she goes. She wants to know, when I walk in, who am I going to see, how many photographers will there be? It's a sleek operation?

MALVEAUX: Robert, tell us about -- you have some insight on why she wears those colors.

HARDMAN: I'm sorry, I'm losing her.

MALVEAUX: Those bright colors? Can you hear me, Robert?

I think we're losing him. Robert, are you still there?

All right, we lost Robert.

HARDMAN: I'm not hearing anything. I'm sorry.

MALVEAUX: That's OK. We're going to let you go there.

All things royal that Robert actually is going to be following. And he has a new book as well.

And we're going to take a quick break. Get back to another story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Notre Dame takes on Baylor for the women's NCAA final.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: When Notre Dame takes on Baylor in tonight's women's March Madness final, it's half the season for one of the most popular basketball programs in the country.

Ted Rowlands explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

(SHOUTING)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the Notre Dame women's basketball team takes the floor at home, the arena is usually packed. In fact, the women draw more fans than the Notre Dame men's team. Not bad for a school that's only had women enrolled as students since 1972.

DEVEREAUX PETERS, NOTRE DAME PLAYER: It's nice to have the fans here every night and know how loyal they are to us.

(SHOUTING)

ROWLANDS (voice-over): According to the men's basketball, outdraws women by more than a 3:1 margin. Many fans say they simply don't like watching equipping women's basketball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not as much fun to watch, man. They can't dunk. It's that simple.

ROWLANDS: It may be that simple for some fans, especially younger ones. But women's basketball at Notre Dame draws a different audience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our fans tend to come from a different segment of the population. They come from families, senior citizens, the community at large, as opposed to more of the student body.

ROWLANDS: Notre Dame's success filling seats is from winning. This year the team had the best record in the big east and a 30 and 3 overall record heading into the NCAA tournament. But the team actively recruits fans off campus.

MUFFET MCGRAW, NOTRE DAME CAPTAIN: We're out talking at the schools, helping at the food bank, we're really trying to get involved. This is our community, too.

ROWLANDS: Hall-of-Fame coach, Muffet McGraw said if they can get someone to come to one game, her girls can hook them. She thinks the women's game now is where the NBA game was 25 years ago.

MCGRAW: You had Larry Bird, Magic Johnson. You have a game played in a fun way, with a lot of great passing, a lot of great scoring but not a lot of dunking. And that's the way of the women's games.

PETERS: I think we're becoming more like the guy's game in the sense that you never know who can win a game. Everybody is getting better, the teams are involving. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night.

(SHOUTING)

ROWLANDS: More superstars are also emerging in the women's game, including Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins, the Big East player of the year. She believes it's only a matter of time before the ladies starting getting the respect she things they deserve.

SKYLAR DIGGINS, NOTRE DAME PLAYER: I think we're capable of playing at a faster level and we've shown this. The three-point arc is the same, so our ability to shoot the ball is not different.

ROWLANDS: At Notre Dame, of course, football is number one, but these women are not jealous. Women's basketball was number two, behind football, at the school last year, in average fans. The team made it to the NCAA championship game, but lost. This year, the goal is to win it all, and bring in even more fans.

Ted Rowands, CNN, South Bend, Indiana.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin. Hey, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much.