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Suicide Bomber Kills 2 in Somalia; Mitt Romney Flipping the Script on President Obama; Could Augusta National Admit Women?; No Plans to Quit for Santorum; Ferocious Storms Batter Texas

Aired April 04, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, and good morning. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West. We have a busy hour, so let's get straight to the news.

The Deep South has a close eye on the skies today, hoping not to see the ferocious storms that battered the Dallas-Ft. Worth-area yesterday. There, rescuers are taking a second look through the ruins of more than 400 homes and other buildings hit by several tornadoes.

So far, it still appears no one was killed, which Dallas mayor, Mike Rawlings, calls a miracle.

Here's the mayor of Forney, Texas, just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARREN ROZELL, MAYOR, FORNEY, TEXAS: It is difficult to look at the damage to the homes and look around the town and call this a situation where we're blessed.

But if you really think about it, the fact that everybody that woke up in Forney yesterday morning is still alive today in Forney, that's a real blessing. Zero fatalities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: As tornadoes go, these were relatively small, but look at what a small tornado can do.

These are semi-trailers being tossed around like toys. An empty one weighs 14,000 pounds.

We'll get a live report from Arlington in just a minute.

Several passengers injured on a United Airlines flight this morning after that plane encountered severe turbulence over Lake Charles, Louisiana. That plane which took off from Tampa landed safely in Houston.

Medical crews attended to the 12 people who suffered the minor injuries. many of whom are in local hospitals right now. There were 12 passengers onboard.

And the man accused of lining students up, one-by-one, and shooting them execution style will be arraigned today. Forty-three- year-old One Goh was a former student at Oikos University in Oakland, California.

Police say Goh was angry after being expelled and was targeting a specific administrator. After he couldn't find that person, Goh allegedly went on a rampage, killing seven people with a semiautomatic.

Goh now faces murder and kidnapping charges. His arraignment comes less than 24 hours after that community gathered for a memorial service to remember the victims.

And Mitt Romney sweeps primary night, Wisconsin, Maryland and D.C., all in the kitty. The scoreboard now looks really favorable for him with 654 delegates. He's even sounding like the presidential race has begun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you to Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C. We won them all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Next set of primaries, April 24th.

Some good and bad news on the job front. Private companies continued to add jobs last month. 209,000 to be exact.

This is definitely a move in the right direction, though, despite being a little shy of 230,000 jobs anticipated for March.

Apparently warm weather helped construction groups get more work over winter.

On the downside, Yahoo says it will lay off 2,000 employees now and it may be the first of several rounds of job cuts.

Yahoo's CEO says it's part of the company's next step toward a nimbler, more profitable company. The restructuring is expected to save that company $375 million a year.

An investigation has been launched into a salmonella outbreak that may be linked to sushi. At least 90 people in 19 states and the District of Columbia have gotten sick with salmonella food poisoning.

An e-mail sent out by the FDA reportedly identified spicy tuna rolls as highly suspect. The FDA and CDC are still working to determine the scope of the outbreak.

The federal law that defines marriage as one man and one woman faces another battle in court today. That law doesn't recognize same- sex marriage and denies gay married couples federal privileges such as filing joint income tax returns and collecting Social Security survivor benefits. At issue, whether or not that law violates the Constitution. Two years ago, a Massachusetts court declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

TV host, Keith Olbermann, admits he messed up when he left MSNBC and moved over to Current TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Do they, the Current TV people, know what they're doing? Former vice president, Al Gore, does he know what he's doing on TV?

KEITH OLBERMANN, FORMER CURRENT TV HOST: I screwed up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

He also took the blame saying it was his fault that things didn't work out.

Olbermann has worked for numerous networks including CNN and Fox.

Letterman, of course, had fun with that, poking at Olbermann's frequent job-hopping, making him this adjustable business card that could switch out his various, former employers.

Back now to our top story and the widespread damage from North Texas tornadoes and a new threat of violent storms in parts of the Southeast. More than 200 flights are cancelled today at DFW airport where hail damaged more than 100 planes.

Some 1,400 passengers from flights cancelled yesterday had to spend the night there.

Elsewhere, folks in Dallas, Lancaster, Arlington, all stunned at the devastation, but amazed that no one apparently was killed.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Arlington for us.

So, Miguel, are crews still looking for people right now who may be trapped?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the moment, they are. They're going through houses not only like this in Arlington, but across the area in Dallas, Arlington, Forney, Heath, and Lancaster.

Anywhere where they had big damage, they're going through those structures right now, making sure that there's no one trapped, no one injured, no one in need of help.

As you said, the airport is still struggling to get back to normal. If you're flying out of here today, you better make sure that your plane is actually going.

If -- it's going to have ripple effects across the entire system, so it'll be a problem. The other things going on right now is the National Weather Service is sending out teams across Texas as well to determine exactly how many tornadoes actually touched down.

It was a massive system across hundreds of square miles with a dozen or more tornadoes, it looks like.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: OK, now, does it look like right now, Miguel, that folks feel they had adequate warnings at this point?

MARQUEZ: At the moment, it does, especially in places like Forney and other places. They're crediting their early warning system with getting out word and getting people aware that these storms were coming.

Of course, it happened over such a long period of time. There was that one part that took place where you saw those containers flying around in circles and then there was a second round of storms, so people were on alert, people were paying attention and it was -- a lot of this just came down to plain luck.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Well, plain luck and -- Miguel, I have to ask you about these folks who were out shooting video to cover this. Not real smart.

MARQUEZ: You know, it is incredible. You know, we are in this neighborhood. Ed Lavandera was here last night. He came across a guy who shot some video here.

If you have never been in a tornado, if you have never been in the middle of it, had one come right over your head, this is what it looks like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: It is incredible. That video went from absolute calm to absolute hell on earth within seconds.

The guy who shot it is with me now, Mike Chambers.

What were you thinking standing out on your patio shooting that?

MIKE CHAMBERS, SHOT TORNADO VIDEO: Well, I had just opened the garage and I was photographing the size of the hail that had just fallen. And it went from very calm to we saw the tornado come up over the neighborhood in seconds. It was very fast.

MARQUEZ: You hit the deck. When you got up, this house was in tatters. What did you do then?

CHAMBERS: Well, I climbed up over the brick wall and went in to see if there were any survivors.

These were bedrooms. When I saw the bedrooms and there was cars parked in the driveway, I thought I needed to help.

So I went in and found three people. They had done the right thing and went to the restroom. I found them in the master bath.

MARQUEZ: Absolutely extraordinary. Did you think that anyone would survive this?

CHAMBERS: I didn't know. You know, you don't have time to think. I just reacted and didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done, but I found them in the bathroom, so everything turned out fine.

But looking at it, I was afraid that somebody would be buried under the rubble.

MARQUEZ: All right and that's the story we hear across Texas today, Kyra, people coming together and helping each other.

The Lawrence family who lives here showed up here a little while ago. They are doing OK. They're staying with a mother-in-law. One of the sons is staying down the street with friends because he goes to school in the area.

And the insurance man came around a little while ago and says that they'll be taken care of. They were fully insured as well as most people in this neighborhood that we're talking to.

So, at least in this one little bit of Texas, things seem to be playing out OK. I mean, the people are sad that they lost their homes here, but they are so glad to be alive.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Miguel Marquez in Arlington. Miguel, thanks.

And up next, we'll check in with the Dallas command center about the latest rescue efforts going on right now on the ground.

But first, an Army staff sergeant turns real-life action hero. A bank robber hits this bank in Sarasota, Florida, but inside is Eddie Peoples who just happens to be a battle-tested, Army staff sergeant, home on leave.

You can see him in the back there. He was actually putting his sons underneath some chairs.

Meanwhile, this bad guy clearly picks the wrong guy to mess with because Peoples goes into combat mode and within seconds this Army vet twists the robber's arm, strips his gun and slams him to the ground.

By the time the police arrived, Peoples had the robber's gun in one hand, the bag of money in the other.

So now the Army has awarded Peoples a soldier's medal for what he did. That makes you, Staff Sergeant Peoples, a true rock star.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And we are following the story for potential victims of that sudden outbreak of tornadoes around Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Here's what they looked like on the radar. Now, take a look at some of them on the ground.

Hundreds of homes damaged or obliterated and several people hurt, but no deaths have been reported so far and authorities certainly hope it stays that way.

We've got Maria Arita on the phone, a public information officer at the Dallas County command center.

Maria, tell us what's happening right now in the worst-hit areas.

MARIA ARITA, DALLAS COUNTY COMMAND CENTER: Well, you have been reporting and, obviously, know that two of our cities -- actually, I'm in Dallas County, so one of the cities was declared a disaster area and that was the city of Lancaster where that big boy hit.

It just goes to show the nature of these storm systems and particularly tornadoes that kind of have a mind of their own. They're very unpredictable.

This particular tornado hit Hutchins yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. It only touched ground there, thankfully, in a wooded area and then immediately turned its ire on Lancaster.

The poor city of Lancaster then, you know, it just took it on like a blender going through some of the structures and it's just been devastating in that city.

So they activated their emergency operations command center as did Dallas County where I am right now at about 1:15 yesterday and, subsequently, declared a local disaster.

Three hundred structures in total have been damaged in the city of Lancaster and 160 of those structures were severely damaged.

Thankfully, though, no fatalities were reported.

PHILLIPS: OK. So no fatalities reported. What about any reports of people found trapped, injured?

ARITA: You know, a lot of those reports, we'll get later. They're having another briefing here very, very shortly and we'll get the assessments.

I don't have accurate information on anything. No, I have no reports. I have reports of a few injuries and people were sent to area hospitals and taken care of, but nothing serious that we know of.

PHILLIPS: What time is that briefing, Maria?

ARITA: And we've been very surprised about that.

That briefing, we're going to talk about damage assessments.

PHILLIPS: What time will that be, Maria?

ARITA: Oh, I'm sorry. They're having one as we speak, I believe.

PHILLIPS: Oh, OK. All right, so I'll make sure that we're monitoring that then.

Meanwhile, we have reported more than 200 people left homeless. Have they been able to find shelter? What have you been able to do for those folks?

ARITA: Well, and we're basically again talking about the city of Lancaster and, yes, they have actually set up a shelter in the city of Lancaster and at the library staging area for volunteer coordination for those folks as well.

Our number is about 250 people who have been reported to have come in and out of that shelter right now.

And as soon as we get better numbers on assessing what their needs are, then we'll know better how to help those people, but obviously this has been a multijurisdictional effort and coordination effort between counties here.

With all the EOCs in place and that -- what you just said -- that's the number one priority right now, to try to figure out where the danger zones are and what's left.

And it's just real -- it's bad. We know that once we get those numbers, those assessment numbers for those damaged areas and we have about five different hot zones in Lancaster, the numbers will not be good.

PHILLIPS: And -- yes. And I think that's what folks are fearing the most right now.

I have got to ask you because so far you have said no fatalities. Did the warning systems work as expected?

ARITA: Absolutely, they did. They worked as expected, but, you know, there is the crux right there where you say as expected because you don't really know what the expectation is in that sense.

What you hope for is that everybody will take a very strong approach to hearing a siren, hearing the warnings.

You live in this region, you know that when you see a wall-cloud that you really need to hunker down into an interior room away from windows. You know the drill, right?

But a lot of people don't do that. You see them outside taking pictures and kind of checking it out.'

We just -- every single time that this happens, Kyra, every single time we have to go on the air again and say, please, please don't do that. Please take shelter.

And we see so many of them now talking about how, you know, you hear this stuff, you hear it, you see it written and spoken about, but until it hits you, you don't really know how devastating these -- you know, sometimes people say it sounds like freight train coming through. Some people say it sounds like a bomb has hit.

You know, this happens very, very quickly and the only safe place you can go is into an interior, you know, inside area of a structure or building of your home.

PHILLIPS: Maria Arita of the Dallas County command center. Maria, thanks so much for calling in.

Chad Myers now in the weather center. So, where's the danger zone today?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, there really isn't a big danger. I know now our awareness is high because it happened yesterday, but the chance of a tornado anywhere today is probably less than 2 percent.

So given that said, there's still a chance for severe weather all the way from Richmond and the Outer Banks, all the way to Wichita and then down south into New Orleans.

Most of the weather today will be wind or hail damage. There won't be tornadoes today. Not like yesterday.

And I think we're going to find that some of those tornadoes yesterday were probably what we call EF 2 tornadoes, about 130 to 135 miles per hour. That probably will be the max.

Even yesterday wasn't a big tornado day. What yesterday was, was that a city got in the way of these small tornadoes and the cities got in the way.

If this was out 50 miles further to the west, we wouldn't be having this conversation. This would have torn up a couple of cattle ranches. It would have knocked down a couple of feed mills and that would have been it. And this whole day wouldn't exist.

The problem with yesterday is that Dallas and Ft. Worth got in the way.

So here we go. Here's what we have. Large hail, damaging winds possible for today, mainly in an area across the Deep South where it's very moist. It's this juice. This humidity is everywhere here. Here's what happened in Dallas yesterday. Storms formed and every time you see that little dot, that's where the tornado went on the ground. About 13 separate reports of tornadoes.

They're out there now assessing how big the storms were. I think we're going to find that down around Mansfield and Kennedale just south of Arlington that that might be the widest and strongest part of any tornado that hit the ground yesterday.

And there are still many more tornadoes to come. Look, we are just at the beginning of April. May and June are peak, 276, 243. We're only at the very beginning.

It's like being June 1st in hurricane season. We have a long way to go, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we do. Chad, thanks.

MYERS: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's sentencing day for the New Orleans cops convicted in the killing of two unarmed civilians just days after Hurricane Katrina.

We're taking you live to NOLA next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, for decades the New Orleans police department has been known for corruption and in 2005, right after Hurricane Katrina, the Danziger Bridge shooting puts those cops back in the national spotlight, launching a massive civil rights probe.

Right now, these four former officers, along with a former detective are being sentenced in federal court. They were convicted last August of killing two unarmed civilians, injuring four others, and then covering the whole thing up.

The feds uncovered that they had planted evidence, fabricated witnesses and faked reports.

Jeffrey Toobin has been following this case closely. He joins us via Skype.

So Jeffrey, give us some perspective on this. This has taken years to resolve. Why?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Well, this is just an unbelievably difficult investigation.

For starters, you had Katrina, so you had the city nearly demolished. Law enforcement was not about investigations. It was about just trying to keep the city functioning.

Then, of course, the people who usually conduct investigations are the police and here they were the targets of the police. So you had to bring in the FBI, federal investigators.

You had a cover-up which takes a long time to resolve. Here we are seven years later at sentencing. It is really not surprising that it took this long.

PHILLIPS: And the jury never said murder, but rather civil rights violation. Explain that and how that's going to factor in today.

TOOBIN: Well, what it really has to do with is the difference between federal court and state court. Homicide, murders, the traditional just murder cases are almost always prosecuted in state courts.

This was a federal investigation and federal crimes are somewhat different. They don't prosecute murder alone as in and of itself. They prosecute violations of civil rights.

That's what the charge is here. That's what the charge was in the Rodney King case when those cops were prosecuted in federal court after they were acquitted in state court.

Here in New Orleans, they went directly to federal court and that's what the charge that they're being sentenced on today.

PHILLIPS: And when you look at the federal guidelines for the crimes they have been found guilty of, I mean, we're talking decades in prison, right?

TOOBIN: Thirty years probably, minimum. Possibly 60 years for the cop who was actually one of the shooters.

I mean, when you think about it, this is about the worst kind of police misconduct you could even imagine.

Here you have people killed in cold blood and then the police using their authority to create this elaborate cover-up, including putting other people in prison for a time.

I mean, if there's ever a case that calls for a harsh sentence, this is certainly it.

PHILLIPS: Well, interesting that you made that point because the word out there and why so many people are paying attention to this is because the sentencing could no doubt send a very powerful message, yes?

TOOBIN: Yes, but, you know, the New Orleans police department has been sent a lot of messages over the years, including by the United States Supreme Court and there are still deep, deep problems.

I mean, this goes back seven years, so presumably there has been some improvement, but I think we're all entitled to be skeptical about improvements in this department until we see it in real life.

PHILLIPS: Well, Jeffrey, it's a shame. I mean, I used to live and work there and one of the stories that I got involved with was an investigative piece on how cops were guarding drugs in the housing developments and this has been a big issue for the police department for so long, these issues of corruption.

But we should point out, too, there's also a lot of cops that have been there for a really long time that do a pretty darn good job in a city that is filled with corruption.

TOOBIN: And they are tainted by their colleagues who are on the take and worse. And, you know, until the department really cleans up its act, the good cops will be tarred with the behavior of the bad.

PHILLIPS: Jeffrey Toobin, we'll be watching that sentencing today. Thanks so much.

TOOBIN: Good to talk to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

Well, at first glance you might think it's movie poster, but take a look again and look closer. It's actually a threat to New Yorkers that al Qaeda is coming back.

So is it credible? We're talking about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, al Qaeda is vowing to return to New York. It's actually posted on a website and definitely has the attention of the NYPD and the FBI.

Who exactly is behind it? Mary Snow reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At first glance, it could be mistaken for a movie ad. Al Qaeda coming soon again to New York.

The message is on a website known to the New York City police department who say it's used by terrorists and jihadists. Officials say they have no evidence that it's tied to any specific threat to New York.

But the website is being analyzed by the FBI and the NYPD.

Is this significant at all?

RAY KELLY, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, this is a major forum. It's been in existence for a while. We believe it's used for inspiration. But also can be used for operational messages. It exists in several different languages. And, you know, it's been a concern of ours for a while.

SNOW (voice-over): New York City police commissioner, Ray Kelly, says analysts believe it's connected to an Egyptian national based on the language that's used. Kelly says he was struck by the level of sophistication of the graphic and the expensive software used to create it. But whether it's a threat, CNN terrorism analyst, Peter bergen, is skeptical.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Where it's associated with a plot that's not clear at all. My guess is that's nothing really to this. You know, if there was a real attack about to happen on New York my guess is al Qaeda wouldn't advertise it on the website.

SNOW: This isn't the first time threatening messages have appeared on jihad did sites. The federal authorities and the police department say any threat must be taken seriously.

KELLY: And, you know, sort of in your face and we have seen that before. But, you know, it is -- it is sort of direct confrontation. You know, trying to get our attention. Believe me, they have our attention.

SNOW: But the posting didn't seem to faze New Yorkers who have become accustomed to terrorism threats.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's propaganda. They want people to get uptight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is what it is. You have to live your life. Go about your every day business.

SNOW: The police commissioner describes the Internet is the new Afghanistan, that it's used for radicalization and training and that's why he says the sites are so closely monitored.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, despite the fact that some people don't seem to be too rattled by the latest threats, security officials say they take every threat seriously.

We just got video in here to CNN. I'm just getting the details. A suicide bomber went off -- killing two Somali sports officials. Let's roll the video and I'll give you more details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXPLOSION)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. This is what I can tell you. That apparently, it was a female suicide bomber who blended into the crowd here that was gathered for this occasion. It was the opening of the National Theater in the capital city and we're getting reports now that two top sports officials were killed when the suicide bomber detonated herself. Apparently the head of the Somali Football Federation, also the Somali Olympic committee chief. We're following more details out of Somalia there. Up next, who's out of touch now? Mitt Romney flipping the script on President Obama. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama thinks he's doing a good job. I'm not kidding. He actually thinks he's doing a great job. He thinks he's doing a historically great job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So is this new political tactic one that will stick?

Plus, Sarah Palin wants Romney to go rogue. Wait till you hear her pick for V.P. That's all next in "Fair Game."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, a huge sweep for Mitt Romney, Wisconsin, Maryland and D.C. in the bag. So can he throw in the GOP nomination as well? That question is "Fair Game."

Democratic strategist, Jamal Simmons, and Georgetown associate dean, Chris Metzler are joining me now.

Is it over for the GOP candidates?

CHRIS METZLER, ASSOCIATE DEAN, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Yes, it is. The fat lady has sung. The other candidates are putting their hands over their ears because they don't want to hear the fat lady singing. Look, at this point, the remaining candidates can do the best thing for the party and withdraw. Because the more time that Governor Romney has to spend with these other candidates, the worse off it is guys, great run, step aside.

PHILLIPS: Jamal, are you hearing the tune?

JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Oh, yes. I think this is over. You know, it's almost like we're on a treadmill now. Everybody is going to keep running but we're not going anywhere. We know that Mitt Romney is going on the nominee and we think the president kind of acknowledged that yesterday when he got busy trying to take after him a little bit.

PHILLIPS: As you heard, both Romney and the president targeting each other by name right now. And how about this, Romney saying the president is quote, out of touch. Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: President Obama thinks he's doing a good job. It's enough to make you think that years of flying around in air force one surrounded by an adoring staff of true believer telling you you're great and doing a great job, it's enough to make you think you'll get out of touch with that and that's what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, Jamal, you'll want to weigh in on this I know first. That will get Chris going.

SIMMONS: Well, if you take out the air force one reference, it sounds like Mitt Romney is pretty familiar with the scenario. A lot of people telling you how great and wonderful you are. He clearly is somebody who is not the best messenger on this. I think when it comes to having teleprompters up and reading teleprompters, covering the health care bill and who's out of touch? Mitt Romney is not the best messenger in these attacks on the president.

PHILLIPS: And Chris, Mitt Romney has gotten blasted for being out of touch and now he's saying it?

METZLER: Yes, but here's the thing. You can't take out the air force one reference. The fact of the matter is the distinction here is that the president is flying around on taxpayers' dollars doing speeches and fund-raisers, so the out of touch message certainly can resonate. And so in terms of the administration, I mean, you know, far be it for me to give any advice to a Democratic administration. However, the central problem with this administration has in fact been a lack of diversity of thinking in the cabinet and I think that Romney can actually pound that message home and do it extremely well. So, you know, out of touch I think Romney can really make this work.

PHILLIPS: All right.

SIMMONS: Chris, Mitt Romney spends time with NASCAR team owners and he has elevators for his cars because they have so many of them.

METZLER: Yes. Talking about --

(CROSSTALK)

SIMMONS: We're talking about being -- at one of his vacation home.

METZLER: At his open expense.

PHILLIPS: Jamal, come on. It's OK if it's a vacation home for goodness sake. You have to put them up and put them away. Come on, guys.

Sarah Palin as you know always making news. And now she says, OK, I want to see Florida Republican Allen West for V.P. Romney's got to go rogue.

Chris, interesting. What do you think? Allen West.

METZLER: Yes. Interesting, but no. I think that in this particular case, what Mitt Romney cannot afford to do is have a conversation over and over again about this vice presidential nominee. Number two, I don't think he needs to go rogue at all. I think he needs to stick with conventional choices. I would say Suzanna Martinez, Carlos Sandoval (ph). I would say Paul Ryan. I think those are three good choices, because the focus has to be on Obama, not on who the vice presidential pick is. That would be a mistake.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know, Jamal, you're saying Paul Ryan. I want to get your reaction, Jamal, to Allen West.

SIMMONS: Oh, yes. You know, that's ridiculous. Allen West -- that's -- you do not want Allen West in front of a TV camera and a microphone every day for two months. It's not a good way to try to win the presidency.

PHILLIPS: So both of you guys are agreeing on this. You're both saying Allen West, no way. You're kidding me?

SIMMONS: Yes. But Kyra, a lot of Republicans who probably should be on the V.P. list but they won't do it because Mitt Romney is in such bad shape. If you look at somebody like Mitch Daniels the governor of Indiana or Chris Christie, they have an actual chance to be the nominee in 2016, but why jump on the band wagon with Mitt Romney who is getting less popular the more the American public sees him?

METZLER: Oh, wait a minute.

SIMMONS: Is that not true?

METZLER: It's not.

SIMMONS: Have you seen the polls?

METZLER: Yes, I have seen the polls and what I've seen last night is that Mitt Romney won in a number of significant demographics in which he had not before. In addition to which, I think if you really talk about unpopular, look, the president not exactly in a strong position. He's not exactly a strong candidate. And by the way --

SIMMONS: He's beating Mitt Romney with double digit s the women.

METZLER: It's very, very early, Jamal. You know that. It's very early at this point. So you guys are going to continue with this -- it's just kind of like the spin that you all had about the war on women. All of these kinds of things that you'll try to make stick. Narrative is not going to work come November. We've got plenty of time to do that. And I'm not going to sing about time is on our side again.

PHILLIPS: OK. We'll leave it there. Promise to bring you both back.

Thank you, guys.

It's always been an all boys club but that could change. Up next, the big decision in Augusta on this woman. Could she be the first to break a near 80-year barrier? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, 80-61 the lady Bears win the NCAA title, taking down Notre Dame. And our girl Brittany Griner ruled the court. When it comes to slamming it home, she is a monster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Baylor are the national champs in 2012.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: By the way, Baylor becomes first NCAA basketball team, women or men, to finish a perfect season with 40 wins and no defeats.

Well, speaking of women, fabulous, powerful women, since this is 2012 there are not a lot of places that still revel in the fact that being archaic in your thinking is a virtue, but the Augusta National golf club in Georgia still does. It's a men's only club that historically offers membership to the sponsor' CEOs, but one of the biggest sponsors this year, IBM, is led by this woman, Virginia Rometty.

Just moments ago the Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne addressed the media.

Patrick Snell was there.

So, Patrick, will we see history being made?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the answer is no. The Masters chairman wrapping u up, we had a packed press conference a few yards in front of me, getting inside there. We await it with bated breath if he would even address the issue during the annual remarks ahead of the season's first major. It wasn't to be. He outlined a number of things, but on the agenda was not the issue of female membership, Kyra. I can tell you that. There were a not -- a number of attempts the get him to talk, including one from my good self, but all attempts with met with, look, this is a private matter, we're a private club, we don't go there. Let's listen to what Chairman Payne had to say within the last few minutes.

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BILLY PAYNE, CHAIRMAN, AUGUSTA NATIONAL: Whenever that question is asked, all issues of membership are now and have been historically subject to the private deliberations of the members and that statement remains accurate and remains my statement.

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SNELL: There you have it in a nutshell. I counted five separate attempts to get Billy Payne to address this further. One attempt from one media member who said, look, you're a grandfather too. What would you say to your granddaughter, but again, it was that same answer. It's a private membership issue, and we will not comment about it -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: OK, so he didn't say no. He didn't say it won't happen. He didn't say there will not be a female wearing a green jacket. He just said, issues of membership are private, right?

SNELL: Well, let me elaborate a little further because one of my attempted questions was I specifically asked him, I specifically asked him about Mrs. Rometty and he said to me in response to that the very fact that you mentioned her name, you're personalizing this. I can't comment because it falls under the private deliberation of the membership. But I will say this. It's possible that this club does have female members. How would we know? Unless we hear from the female members themselves, we're not going to know. The club says we don't talk about female membership. It's possible that Mrs. Rometty has been offered membership. We just don't know at this point. And really, the onus is on IBM and Mrs. Rometty herself to come out and sort of dampen the fuels of speculation and tell us what has been the situation in her particular case -- Kyra?

All right, Patrick, the fact that you say there could be female members makes me want to giggle.

Patrick Snell, you know, if there was a female member, someone would have leaked it. Obviously, we'll stay on this story. IBM has a female CEO. We know the rest of the story. We'll keep our eyes on it.

You keep asking those questions, Patrick. We're depending on you, all right?

SNELL: OK.

PHILLIPS: Patrick Snell, thanks.

Well, it was 44 years ago today that Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and today in Tennessee, a very special honor. Up next, the dedication that has many people saying, it's about darn time.

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PHILLIPS: We got some action at the White House. Apparently a rogue intruder. No, it's not somebody, but rather something. Can we take a look -- there we go. Now I can see it. Apparently a water main break at the White House. Construction workers out front there working on the system there and broke a water main. It's on the north lawn of the White House.

It was 44 years ago today when Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis. City officials say that renaming Linden Avenue seemed best. In 1968, Dr. King marched down Linden Avenue in support of sanitation workers that were on strike there.

So Santa Monica, California, where college students protesting tuition heights were pepper sprayed by campus police. Two people were hospitalized. Others suffered minor injuries. Police are looking into what happened and according to local reports, students say about 100 were protesting outside a board of trustees meeting yesterday when they were pepper sprayed. Police were reportedly trying to keep the protesters from disrupting the meeting.

Now to Hopewell Township, New Jersey, where firefighters risked their lives to save a massive litter of puppies. Crews were called to the House fire. Two people inside were able to get out safely. According to the "Times of Trenton" firefighters found the puppies in the basement of the home. They were able to rescue 15, but one puppy died of smoke inhalation.

Rick Santorum says the GOP race is now at halftime after Mitt Romney's clean sweep last night, but is it more like the end zone for the former Senator. That's next.

But first, you haven't heard the last of Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, or Ron Paul. But it's time we heard less. Mitt Romney now has more than half of the Republican delegates that he needs to claim the nomination, and by our count, if he manages to win just 44 percent of the delegates still up for grabs, he's home free. So Santorum, on the other hand, has to win almost 80 percent of them. Ron Paul, 96 percent. Now, mathematically possible and, yes, some delegates technically can change their minds, but come on, Santorum, Gingrich, Paul, any Republican hopeful not named Romney, your hope is 3r0b8 probably misplaced and your 15 minutes are up.

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PHILLIPS: With Mitt Romney scoring big in last night's primaries, Rick Santorum has been left out in the cold, but Santorum looks like he has no plans to get out of the race.

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RICK SANTORUM, (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This isn't halftime, no marching bands. We're hitting the field. The clock starts tonight. We've got three weeks to go out here in Pennsylvania and win this state, and after winning this state, the field looks a little different in May.

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PHILLIPS: Mark Preston, what's next for Santorum? Does the field really look that different?

MARK PRESTON, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, Kyra, he has three events in Pennsylvania, his home state today. He is putting it all on Pennsylvania. There are four other states though holding contests that day. That's why he's not talking about them because he's not expected to do well. Those states include New York and Rhode Island as well as Delaware, Connecticut. These are all states that Mitt Romney is going to do well. Rick Santorum wants to get into may because he thinks he'll do better in states such as Kentucky and Texas and states that tend to be a little more conservative.

PHILLIPS: We made this point just a few minutes ago. You have got to look at the delegate math. Can Santorum realistically, mark, catch up to Romney?

PRESTON: This is my favorite saying rye now. It's possible but it's highly improbable. You said it yourself. He needs to win 80 percent of the delegates over the next couple months, but his goal right now, Kyra, is to try to get this fight taken all the way into the convention in august. He wants to try to deny Mitt Romney of getting the 1,144 delegates that Romney needs to win the Republican nomination. The question is, can he do that? The fact of the matter is the Republican establishment really has lined up behind Romney and it's going to be really difficult for Rick Santorum to stay in the race much beyond April 24th.

PHILLIPS: Mark Preston, thanks so much, and thanks for watching, everyone. You can continue the conversation on twitter @KyraCNN or on Facebook.

CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Suzanne Malveaux.