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Job Growth Less Than Expected; GSA Video Spoof Mocks Excess; Presidential Power of Women Voters; NFL Bounty Hunting; Comeback for American Manufacturing; Religious Ceremonies in Jerusalem; Facebook Picks NASDAQ for IPO; Romney, Obama Agree in Augusta; Round Two at the Masters

Aired April 06, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, Soledad. And good morning to all of you. I'm Carol Costello. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM.

It is quite possibly the most fun way to waste taxpayer dollars. A videotape rap song by federal employees complete with shades and a ukulele bragging about how they'll never be caught wasting your tax dollars.

Minutes ago a surprising jobs report, hiring flows, but unemployment falls. Our expert on everything economic. Christine Romans will break down the numbers for us.

These fashion police are more like death squads. Why spiky hair cuts, skinny jeans or a T-shirt that's too tight can mean prison or worse.

We know the NFL is violent but kill the head, take out that ACL? Pretty damning words right from the mouth of the Saints' defensive coordinator, and it's all caught on tape.

Round two at the Masters and it's round 12 for the political controversy over whether women should be able to join the club. Now it's hit the campaign trail and the White House.

And on this Good Friday a pilgrimage in Jerusalem as Christians honor Jesus for his sacrifice.

But we begin this morning with those that -- that kind of disappointing news on the economy. Just minutes ago we learned U.S. payrolls rose by 120,000 jobs last month. That's far less than expected. The new unemployment rate, though, slides a bit to 8.2 percent.

Christine Romans is in New York.

Christine, help us understand.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, 8.2 percent unemployment moving in the right direction. Some would say that's because people dropped out of the labor market in the month. And when you look overall at how many jobs were created, the expectation was for 200,000, Carol. It came in at 120. So not what they were hoping for overall.

It shows you a slowdown here of what had been steady gains, you know, 200,000 jobs created a month. When you look over the past three months the average job creation is like 246,000 a month. So 120, that's a disappointment. It shows you that hiring slowed in the month.

I want to broaden it out just a little bit to show you a little bit more, Carol. This is that horrible, horrible route. This is where we lost 8.8 million jobs overall from the peak of the labor market to the very worse. And this is where we're worried, we weren't going to get any momentum. And then finally things were looking up but this is not as good as we thought you want to see that trend going a little bit better.

I'm going to go within the numbers and tell you a little bit, 8.8 million jobs lost overall. We've added back 3.6 million of those now. One of the problems is we had 34,000 jobs lost in retail and that's a pretty good harbinger for how the consumer is feeling, how the economy is doing when you got retailers laying off that many people, that's something that's a little bit of a danger sign.

But we have seen a slowdown, Carol, of the government job losses. That's important to note, too. It looks as though those mass layoffs for government jobs might be -- might be tapering off now and so that's good overall for the economy. Health care jobs still adding and manufacturing jobs, Carol, again a good month for manufacturing jobs. A little more evidence that after all of those millions of jobs lost in manufacturing some of them are starting to come back -- Carol.

COSTELLO: At least that part of it is good. Christine Romans, live in New York for us.

The economy, by the way, will be the president's focus in the next hour. He will deliver remarks at the White House. He's hosting a forum on women and the economy. His speech is supposed to start at 10:15 Eastern. We'll bring to it you live when it does.

Have you seen it? It's the homemade video heard around Capitol Hill and beyond. First we found out the General Services Administration spent $800,000 in Vegas for team building. Now a GSA made video poking fun at wasting your tax dollars.

Dana Bash shows us.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The week started with news that GSA administrator Martha Johnson resigned after a scathing report detailed excess spending at a training seminar at a lavish Las Vegas resort back in 2010. Now this is something you really have to see to believe. It turns out at that conference, which by the way cost taxpayers $822,000, it was kind of a talent show.

The GSA picked the winner of a video contest, and an employee from the regional office in Hawaii won. Take a look at his video and listen for him making fun of excess spending and saying he would never be under investigation. Now the other thing you heard him say is that every GS-5 would get a Top Hat Award. A GS-5 is an entry-level government employee and a Top Hat Award, we now know, is something that the GSA gave out. It was a program worth $200,000. And what they did was give out taxpayer funded iPods, electronics and gift cards.

Meanwhile the GSA held an awards ceremony for that winning video at that excessive Las Vegas conference. What you're about to see is the deputy commissioner of the Public Building Service giving out the award. And listen to the way he appears to mock oversight of the GSA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now there's just a couple of small matters. The hotel would like to talk to you about paying for the party that was held in the commissioner's suite last night. Need to take care of that. And Eleanor Holmes Norton, our chairwoman on the oversight committee, called, she has a couple of questions about the proposed pay increases for executives you mentioned now. Going against the Obama administration's discussion about executive pay and incentives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: We got this video from Capitol Hill today. And I'm told that House Oversight chairman Darrell Issa's office got it on a disk from the GSA inspector general. Just part of their investigation of all of this excess spending. But his office is now accusing the administration of knowing about this since May of last year for 11 months and just sitting on it.

Now the GSA is responding to all this. They are saying that it is just another example of lack of judgment exhibited during that Las Vegas conference two years ago and it says that the agency is appalled by this, quote, "indefensible behavior."

But there really could be more out there. Our Deidre Walsh is learning from a congressional source familiar with the investigation that the GSA actually had an internal Web site that had video clips like this and may be others about the conference in Las Vegas. And the House Transportation Committee which is doing the investigating on Capitol Hill, they're demanding more information about it.

Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.

COSTELLO: Yes, they are. The House Subcommittee on Public Buildings will begin hearings on the GSA this month. Republican congressman, Jeff Denham, is chair of that committee, he has been a very vocal critic of the GSA, and what he calls the arrogance of its overspending. He will join us live at 10:04 Eastern to talk about those hearings.

As I mentioned before, as I mentioned to you before, the president will talk about women and the economy in his remarks later this morning. Of course, there is a reason for that. Women will play a critical role in the upcoming election and at the moment Democrats have them. In the past few months women voters have ditched Republicans and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer talked about that with South Carolina's Republican governor, Nikki Haley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I think women are more thoughtful than that. I think they actually look at all -- those issues as well as other issues, and I think they need the ability to ask him those questions. And I think he needs to look them in the eyes and give them the answers because that's what this is about.

You don't go and talk to the people that you already have support. You go and talk to the people that have questions and if there are women that are questioning him they should ask him those questions. That is the power of the people's voice to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: If you're wondering what those questions are, those questions would be about the birth control issue and more.

Brianna Keilar is at the White House.

What will the president say today, Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president's message today, Carol, is very much tailored to this summit. An event that is going -- a forum that's going on all day here at the White House. And it's about women and the economy. So it's the president's economic pitch, but it will be tailored to women.

And of course women are a hugely important voter bloc. When you look at them traditionally they then to go for the Democratic presidential candidate but really not with the margin that we're seeing in polling. Just to give you a sense in 2008 women made up more than half of the electorate, 53 to 47 percent. So you can see that they're very important.

Well, President Obama, according to exit polls, won women by 13 points. But when you look at one of the latest polls on this issue, a "USA Today"/Gallup poll right now the spread between President Obama and Mitt Romney is even more than that. It's at 18 points and certainly this is something that the White House and the Obama campaign, Carol, while they're really challenged when it comes to say white men who don't have a college education, a very tough sell for President Obama, this advantage is something they're trying to exploit.

It's no coincidence that when the president -- president begins fundraisers he makes the pitch on the first bill that he signed into law as president which was an equal pay for women law -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. So his remarks supposed to begin at 10:15 Eastern. When it does, we'll get back to you.

Brianna Keilar, live at the White House for us.

A pro-Tea Party Marine is one step closer to losing his job. A Marine Corps board is recommending that Sergeant Gary Stein be booted from the military and given a less than honorable discharge. Stein, an Iraq war veteran, had posted anti-Obama comments on four Web sites including his own Facebook page. Marine lawyers say Stein's comments are prejudicial to good order and discipline. His attorneys say he's protect by freedom of speech. They will appeal.

Also this morning Moscow is criticizing the prison sentence handed down to a Russian arms dealer. A federal judge in New York slapped Victor Bout with a 25-year term for providing arms to terrorists and a conspiracy to kill Americans. Bout who was dubbed the merchant of death was arrested during a 2008 sting operation in Thailand. Bout denies trying to sell arms to Colombian guerillas and Russia calls his prosecution baseless -- baseless, rather, and biased.

Christians and Jews are celebrating major holidays today. It is good Friday when Christians honor the day they believe Jesus was crucified. Pope Benedict XVI leads services at the Vatican later today. Sunday, of course, is Easter. The end of the season of lent.

The Jewish celebration of Passover begins at sundown tonight. Passover celebrates the exodus of the ancient Israeli -- Israelites from slavery in Egypt. As part of preparation Jews empty their houses of leaven bread and burn it in bonfires.

The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal has gotten a lot more controversial. A filmmaker says he was rolling tape when the team's defensive coordinator talked to his players before a big game. You can hear the coach say, "We've got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill Frank Gore's head. We want him running sideways. We want his head sideways."

And that was one of the nicer comments. We'll have more details for you next.

And young trendy men are targets of a deadly hunt by vigilantes taking a stand against style. Coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The University of Arkansas has put its head football coach on paid leave. Bobby Petrino broke four ribs and hurt his neck on Sunday in a motorcycle crash -- you know about -- you know that part. Turns out there was a 25-year-old female member of his staff riding along with him. Petrino didn't say anything about that until a police report came out later. The female employee was not hurt. Petrino says he hopes to keep his job and his family. He is married with four children.

The New Orleans Saint cash for his bounty scandal just got more controversial thanks to a newly released audiotape. The edited clip comes from a filmmaker who says he was doing a documentary with the team in January before a playoff game. The person you're about to hear is reportedly Greg Williams. He was the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator at the time.

And as you know the league has suspended him indefinitely. He's telling his -- he's telling his players in this clip how to handle the 49ers wide receiver Kyle Williams.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GREGG WILLIAMS, FORMER SAINTS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: We need to find out in the first two series of the game, the little wide receiver number 10, about his concussion. We need to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) put a lick on him right now. He needs to decide. He needs to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) decide.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Kyle Williams' father did not take kindle to that. He's Kenny Williams. He's the general manager of the Chicago White Sox. And this is what he said about Gregg Williams.

Quote, "It's probably best I'm never in a room with Gregg Williams and wonder if such an order crosses the line of aggressive, competitive spirit we all know and love about the sport and links closer to a criminal act and therefore a litigious matter."

Concussions, of course, are a sensitive topic in the league, right now. Former Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien and dozens for former players have filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL. They want money and medical care for their head injuries. They say the NFL knew about the dangers about repeated concussions but did nothing about it.

The league says new rules and a crackdown on hits to head are helping. NFL data show 190 reported concussions last season in 320 games, fewer than one reported per-game. In 2010 that number was 218.

Jamal Anderson played running back for the Atlanta Falcons. He knows about concussions and about how the game is played. And he joins us now for some perspective.

OK. So, you listened to the Gregg Williams tape.

JAMAL ANDERSON, FORMER NFL RUNNING BACK: Yes.

COSTELLO: Not unusual in your mind.

ANDERSON: Well, there are aspects of the tape -- I mean, when I first heard it. The first reaction I had yesterday was it was all kinds of terrible, terrible timing. When you talk to the NFL and they warn you about the bounties and certain things that you should not be doing, and then a week later you deliver a speech where you direct your players to strike a player in the head and take out another player in the ACL, that's the kind of stuff that's uncalled in football. That's the kind of stuff that we don't want in football.

But make no mistake about it, you want your defense to be as physical and intimidating as possible. That aspect of football, I don't want to change that. I don't want to change the tough guys coming in. I don't want to change the guys who hit hard, who intimidate other players. I want those guys on my defense. But --

COSTELLO: He's talked about -- I mean, I've heard football player after football player say, oh, this is normal stuff. It's an aggressive game. It's violent. People love this about the game and they do.

But come on, he wasn't just talking about a competitive edge. He was talking about taking people out.

ANDERSON: There's no question about it.

COSTELLO: Hurting them permanently.

ANDERSON: I played football since I was 7 years old. I never had a coach direct me to injure a player on an opposing team in my life.

Be as physical as possible. Hit them in the mouth. You hear those types of things. But strike them in the head over and over, take his ACL out.

Now when you talk about a guy in Kyle Williams' case who was injured, when you take the football field after being injured, concussion once they clear you, you are fair game again. Now, if you're a key player that they think they can physically try to get to the cause some additional damage to you, it's fair game.

Now, I'm not saying they are trying to hurt you and advocate hurting another player, but when a star comes back on the field or a player of impact like me, I'm a target every time I play football. Quarterbacks target every time they play football. The star offensive players are targets every time we take the football field.

COSTELLO: OK. So, let me run this by you because -- OK. So you're targeting a player's injured spot knowing --

ANDERSON: No.

COSTELLO: No, no, I'm just saying sometimes knowing that you could hurt this person and take them out of the game permanently.

ANDERSON: I'm not --

COSTELLO: OK, so player gets hurt.

ANDERSON: Right.

COSTELLO: Lying on the field, writhing in agony. All the players go around and pray over him.

ANDERSON: No, but the thing is --

COSTELLO: No, it seems hypocritical to me, to sit in there and listen to a speech like that and say that's totally normal and then go out onto the field. And that's sort of things happen, then you say, we're really sorry.

ANDERSON: I don't think that speech is normal, number one. That's speech is not totally normally. It's totally normal to direct your team to be as physical as possible to try to get to the other guys and knock them around and all those, especially on defense.

You want defense to intimidate. You want defensive players to intimidate. Some of the best players in the history of football have been some of the scariest guys -- great guys off the football field, but to be physical, to be tough, to be leaders. These are all things you want.

To direct your guys to injure other players, you don't want those things.

Now, what I'm talking about is if a guy is coming off of -- you know, Kyle Williams, he was out the week before. He comes back. Hey, hit him a little bit harder today. Not directing him to hurt him but hit him -- I'm not saying, I'm talking about me.

COSTELLO: I know, I know.

ANDERSON: Not Gregg Williams, because Gregg Williams was -- I mean, I was -- as I said there was all kinds of terrible. Really? Strike him in the head? Take his ACL out. This guy, you know, Brett Favre said it when this scandal first broke.

I know that I'm going to be a target for guys, and I understand that. But for the most part, Carol, guys in the NFL don't want to see other players hurt. This is their livelihood.

COSTELLO: I'm just going to throw out a name. James Harrison. I'm going to throw out a name, like Ndamukong Suh.

ANDERSON: Right. Right.

COSTELLO: Another name that people say these guys really do want to hurt other players and take them out of the game. They would not say that but --

ANDERSON: Right. These are two of the more physical and intimidating players in football who I would both take on my defense not tomorrow, not today, right after we got off set. They are tough guys. They hit hard.

I would try -- obviously, you want them to play the game on the up and up, to not be cheap shot artists, to not intentionally hurt people but to intimidate and continue to attack people on Sundays in the form and fashion we've grown and love in the NLF, I want that all day long.

But I don't want you purposely hurting guys. I don't want your coaches to directly -- I mean, this is not what this is about. This is guy's livelihood.

We want to se the best players run. We want to see guys make catches. We want to see quarterback whose are great players do what they need to do.

COSTELLO: OK.

So, this is a yes or no answer. Gregg Williams -- should he be out of the NFL definitely, I mean, forever?

ANDERSON: When this first broke, I said there's no way I would want to see him suspended indefinitely. But this is -- when you -- when you direct your team in the way he did after being warned it's very, very tough for me.

Gregg Williams is a great defensive coordinator. For a number of years has led a bunch of men on a bunch of different teams. I never -- I never had an opportunity to be coached by him. But I've been coached --

COSTELLO: So, the answer would be yes. He should be out of football forever like forever.

ANDERSON: No, I don't think forever. I think this is -- this is something we need to review in a couple of years to see what's going on, to see if he's improved. But it's tough. There's a lot of people who say he should never be in football again. I'm not one of those people. But --

COSTELLO: OK. You're honest. I like that.

Jamal, thank you so much.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Fun conversation.

ANDERSON: Yes.

COSTELLO: The economy may be getting a bit better, but that's cold comfort for millions of Americans still unemployed. Ahead, a recent plant opening, though, shows the competition for a job is cutthroat these days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking stories across the country, the U.S. Coast Guard sinks an unmanned Japanese fishing boat off of Alaska. The so- called "Ghost Ship" had been drifting since last year's tsunami. The Coast Guard said the rusty, unlit boat posed a hazard to mariners and Alaska's marine environment.

Hundreds of troops return home to a stand ovation. The 45th combat team just got back from Afghanistan and Kuwait. Others are returning tomorrow. One soldier said the love in the room does not really compare to anything else in the world.

And in Wyoming, the smallest town in America with only one resident, a gas station and three-bedroom house -- it's has been sold, 900,000 bucks sealed the deal. It even attracted bid from people in several other countries.

Now it's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you today: can Mitt Romney win women back? Suddenly, women are hot and not just in that way.

Every politician who would be president is now trying to get to convince them we care. We really do. And they are doing it without calling them soccer moms or hockey moms or mama grizzlies. No, they just want us, all of us.

Even if we show up and knock on the manly doors of Augusta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I were a member and if I could run Augusta, which isn't likely to happen, of course, I would have women in Augusta. Sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But that will only take Mr. Romney so far. The ladies have ditched Mitt.

According to a 'USA Today"/Gallup poll Obama out paces Romney with women voters almost 54 percent to 36 percent. It wasn't always that day.

As "Daily Beast" columnist and independent Patricia Murphy points out, up until to three months ago, Romney led Obama among independent women by 5 percentage points in a head to head contest. But that was before talk of birth control and transvaginal ultrasound.

Democrats are doing their best to keep the love. President Obama will deliver remarks at the White House today, the topic: women, and the economy.

So, the talk back question today: can Mitt Romney win women back?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

The odds are not good for unemployed factory workers but they're getting better in some places. We'll show you one company investing in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello.

Here are some of the stories we're watching right now in THE NEWSROOM.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

COSTELLO: This video, the latest embarrassment for the General Services Administration, the government agency that's supposed to be safeguarding taxpayer money. Just days after a report exposed a GSA lavish Las Vegas junket, this video spoof emerges, in it, GSA employee mocks overspending at the agency.

We have some new numbers on the economy to show you and they are surprising even the experts. Just last hour, we learned that 120,000 jobs were created in March. That's far below the 203,000 new jobs expected. The nation's jobless rate however dips to 8.2 percent.

The economy will be the focus next hour at the White House. President Obama will be discussing how his administration has helped create jobs and economic opportunities for women. Female voters are expected to play a critical role in the upcoming presidential election.

Jobs also will be a factor in the November elections, of course. The White House has said it's gone out of its way to boost manufacturing jobs. Millions were lost in the recession but some are coming back to place like Louisville, Kentucky.

Poppy Harlow saw that firsthand fierce competition for good paying jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: For years, this G.E. plant in Kentucky was shuttered, completely closed down. Not anymore, they're making water heaters and refrigerators.

And just recently, G.E. posted 230 job openings here, 10,000 people applied in just six hours.

BILL NAPER, NEW GE EMPLOYEE: I feel that I have at least 10 years to offer, and I will be able to retire with dignity, you know, as a blue collar worker.

DEBBIE PATTON, TEAM LEADER, GE: When the people see this product we're making here, this refrigerator and how good it is and the quality that's in it, we're going to skyrocket.

HARLOW (voice-over): Just a few years ago, G.E.'s appliance business was on the table to be sold or spun off. Today, G.E. is investing $800 million in it, here in Kentucky.

Why? Rising labor costs in China and elsewhere abroad, along with union agreement to cut starting wages.

(on camera): Your union made concessions. You agreed to lower paid to get a job like this. Is this the right thing to do? Is it worth it?

NAPER: Oh, absolutely, because that's what's great in having a union, is that once you start to manufacture and produce and make a quality product, then when the time comes around and G.E. receives the profits from our labors, then Jerry can go back to the table.

PHIL MYERS, TEAM LEADER, GE: We had to do what we had to do to get jobs in here.

HARLOW: Or the jobs would go away?

MYERS: Would have went away, yes, I feel pretty confident in that.

HARLOW (voice-over): G.E.'s CEO Jeff Immelt heads President Obama's jobs council and had come under pressure to hire more workers in America.

RICHARD CALVARUSO, TEAM LEADER, GE: They wouldn't do it if it didn't make business sense.

HARLOW (on camera): Some would say, look, it's an image play.

CALVARUSO: I've worked for G.E. for 23 years, and G.E. is going to perform and we're not just going to make products for the sake of making products. We're going to make money.

HARLOW: This is an example of creating manufacturing jobs in America. But keep in mind, the United States has lost more than 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000.

DIRK BOWMAN, MANUFACTURING LEADER, GE: Well, we haven't hired a lot in the last decade. Our strategy was to go to design source itself. Now, we're saying we want to be manufacturers again.

HARLOW (voice-over): What does it take to get a job here.

JULIE GRUNDUSKI, HR LEADER, GE: We can teach a lot of the best work and how to do your job. We're really looking for people who want to engage in the change we're making in manufacturing, which is embracing the mine of every operator and getting them involved and how to solve problems on the work floor, and how to keep us here with continuous improvement.

HARLOW (on camera): Are these jobs here to stay?

BOWMAN: I mean, we're investing over a billion dollars in our factories and products here in this country. That's a huge commitment.

NAPER: That's part of the excitement here we can produce in America. We used to be the leading producer in the world of everything. So I would like to see us get back to that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: A lot of people would.

Poppy Harlow joins us live from New York.

Doesn't G.E. employ more people outside of the United States than here, though?

HARLOW: They do. Absolutely. Look at the latest numbers. They employ about 170,000 people outside the U.S., about 131,000 here.

And CEO Jeff Immelt, the head of the president's jobs council, has come under criticism for that because of that position under the president.

That said, I sat down with Jeff Immelt a few months ago, Carol, and he told me, look, we're a business, 65 percent of our revenue comes from outside of the United States. We are going to continue to globalize.

At the same time, any job in the U.S. is good to see and as you said these are jobs that a lot of people want.

I will say they are making these big items like refrigerators, water heaters here in the U.S. because it doesn't make sense to transport them thousands of miles with high oil and gas prices.

G.E. did tell me when I was down there it doesn't make economic sense for us to bring back jobs make being microwaves or air conditioners or smaller appliance. So you're not going se all those jobs come back here but this is progress.

COSTELLO: OK. Every little bit helps.

Poppy Harlow, live in New York for us.

Keith Olbermann and Current TV -- it's so ugly. They are taking their fight to the courtroom. It is turning into one nasty war of words. We'll tell you who said what after a break.

And Christians flock to Jerusalem to take part in a tradition that's centuries-old and forms part of the foundation of their faith.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The fight is getting nasty between Keith Olbermann and his former employer Current TV. Former host is now suing for $50 million to $70 million, citing a breach of contract. Olbermann's lawsuit calls the Current TV co-founders and management "no more than dilettantes portraying entertainment industry executives."

The network fired back, accusing Olbermann of sabotaging his own show and failing to show up for work.

The "Hollywood Reporter" says "The Hunger Games" sequel might be delayed.

A.J. Hammer, the host of "Showbiz Tonight," has the scoop from New York. They are already talking about part two?

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Oh, yes. You know, huge success this film. We'll see what happens here, Carol. The cast has signed on ready to go for the sequel but the director of "The Hunger Games" is still negotiating the contract with the studio. And according to "The Hollywood Reporter" that's not going too well.

Director Gary Ross came to this trilogy as an established film director. You know some of the films he directed, "Pleasantville," "Sea Biscuit" among them. But he took a relatively low salary to work on "The Hunger Games". He reportedly got 3 million bucks to direct and partially write the film.

But it appears he was betting he could produce a hit because he also reportedly negotiated pay out of 5 percent of the profits. Obviously, that could be a huge chunk of change after the massive success of the movie. It's taken in over $260 million domestically since it was released just two weeks ago.

So, now, he's looking for what's being called a substantial raise. We have seen in the past where other directors, Carol, have been replaced on successful sequels. Different people directed the "Harry Potter" films, "The Twilight" series.

But Ross's people, Carol, are arguing none of those films was as well reviewed as "The Hunger Games". He is the right person to complete the trilogy. But in the meantime, yes, this could slow down production where the second film catching fire. It was supposed to start shooting in the fall.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, something tells me that he'll probably get what he wants. But what do I know?

Let's talk about "Jersey Shore," because I guess we must and might the situation, see the guy with the stomach. Yes?

HAMMER: Yes, well, the abs anyway. I know as a huge fan of "Jersey Shore," you're be relieved to know, Carol, that The Situation is out of rehab.

He tweeted to his fans writing about himself in the third person. "The Situation is home. I just want to thank everyone for their support and words of encouragement. I'm back stronger and better than ever."

Now we learned that Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino was in rehab just last month. So, this does seem a little quick to some people. When he went into rehab, he told his fans he was dealing with a prescription drug problem due to exhaustion. So, we're going to have to see what kind of behavior he has next season -- hard to imagine The Situation not drinking because he was in rehab. Snooki not drinking because she's pregnant.

What kind of a show will that be? I won't recognize it.

COSTELLO: Maybe it will be better. No, I don't think so.

A.J., thank you so much.

In the next hour, Kim Kardashian may be hooking up with Kanye West. A.J. is back with more showbiz headlines in the 10:00 hour of NEWSROOM.

Just ahead, a religious pilgrimage marks a holy week for Christians. Faithful walk the way of the suffering carrying crosses and honoring sacred events that unfolded 2000 years ago.

Plus, we'll take you to go Augusta and that famous pursuit of the green blazer. Round two of the Masters in progress this morning.

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COSTELLO: Jerusalem is flooded with the faithful for today's religious holiday. Christians are taking to the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering that Jesus is said to have walked on his way to crucifixion.

Jews in the meantime, are preparing for Passover.

Our CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem.

Set the scene for us, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, obviously, it's a big day in Jerusalem, for that reason you just mentioned. It's the start of the Easter festivities here with thousands, tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims descending on the old city of Jerusalem to make the walk that is traditionally believed that Jesus Christ made, carrying the cross after he was condemned to death by the authorities here.

The Villa Doloroso, of course, in Latin "The Road of Suffering", there are various stations along that -- that path that runs through the winding streets of the old city where people, pilgrims often carrying wooden crosses themselves march, trying to sort of get in touch with their religious beliefs.

Many of thousands of people there at the moment. The Israeli authorities, the Israeli police have put checkpoints up at various places around the old city. They say to try and limit the numbers of people going into the area because of the high turnout, the high numbers of pilgrims that have come to the Holy Land at this very important time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It's also a holy day for -- for -- for the Jewish, in the Jewish religion. Tell us about that and how it's being celebrated there.

CHANCE: Yes, of course, Easter is linked to Passover which is the Jewish festival here. It starts at sunset this evening. What will happen there is that people, Jews will gather at the western wall, one of the remaining walls of the -- of the temple in the center of Jerusalem to pray as they begin their Passover festivities. Passover of course marks the exodus of Jews from Jesus -- from Egypt rather in the -- in the Bible and so it's of course much celebration and the festivities will last for a week.

And so you got these two huge great religions in this -- in this city marking these, very important, the most important religious festivities of their respective faiths.

COSTELLO: And you can certainly understand why Jerusalem is, you know, so important when we talk about it in political terms and in Christian and Jewish terms as well. Matthew Chance thanks for the great pictures. We appreciate it.

Many golf fans are making their annual pilgrimage to Augusta. Round two of the Masters under way. We'll take you there in a few minutes.

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COSTELLO: Just in to CNN, a possible big get for the Nasdaq -- Facebook. Alison Kosik is here to tell us all about it. Hi Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When I was at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, we sort of began hearing these rumbles of where Facebook would actually list its stock. And word got out that Facebook was going to go ahead and list its stock on the other exchange, on the Nasdaq.

And here's what's interesting. You know the New York Stock Exchange is, loves its tradition and usually before a three day weekend they go ahead and they have this cheer before the "Closing Bell" to cheer that there's a three day weekend. Well one of the old guard walked -- walked around the floor yesterday and said stand down on that cheer because it looks like they lost that Facebook listing and so they stood down on making that cheer.

You know, who could blame them, though? This Facebook IPO you know is being billed as the IPO of all IPOs. There are reports that this Facebook listing is going to have the ticker FB on the NASDAQ. And as you can imagine, this is a huge win Carol for the NASDAQ.

And you know it's one of the most coveted deals among these Internet companies, you know, giving prestige, giving the NASDAQ bragging rights not to mention all the listing fees and annual fees that will go to the NASDAQ as well.

Oftentimes you see the NASDAQ and the NYSE compete over these listings. You really saw that competitive spirit pick up when a bunch of social media IPOs listed on the NYSE including Pandora and LinkedIn. But NASDAQ did get GroupOn.

Now analysts say when Facebook does go public, it could raise up wards of $10 billion. It could be the biggest U.S. Internet IPO since Google went public in 2004, Carol. Reports are that Facebook is going to go public in May -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So how much for a share, you think?

KOSIK: Oh you know what, that's anyone's guess. And you know what the reality is it's not likely that you or I could even get in on this IPO. But -- but Facebook employees they're going to be the ones to benefit, not to mention the banks that are going to underwrite this IPO. They offer shares to their best customers, of course. These are these big institutional investors.

And demand among them, oh yes it's going to be pretty darn high. The IPO is expected to value Facebook anywhere from $100 billion -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow. That took my breath away.

KOSIK: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Alison Kosik, live in New York.

Checking stories across country now the head of Indiana's Department of Revenue is quitting after a second multimillion-dollar mistake. His department mistakenly withheld $205 million from county governments. Last December Indiana learned that it had $320 million it did not know it had.

A Colorado college student is frustrated he could not pay a $160 speeding ticket all in coins. Ft. Collins refused to accept a bucket full of change in payment saying it would just take too long to count. The 25-year-old later learned the city has a coin-counting machine that could have added up all those coins.

And a Michigan lottery winner says they never even meant to buy the ticket. The anonymous winner says they accidentally bought two $10 Cash for Life tickets instead of one. The minimum prize, $4 million.

We're following a lot of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Drew Griffin.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Carol they were champions last year, but don't expect the UConn Huskies anywhere near the final four in next year's March Madness. The NCAA basically says the Huskies have flunked out. Details next hour.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brianna Keilar at the White House where today is all about what women want. The battle for a hugely important voting bloc underway as President Obama makes remarks at a day-long forum about women. I'll see you next hour.

COSTELLO: And thanks to both of you.

Also, many people are talking about the new 3D "Titanic" movie, but others are about to go on a Titanic memorial cruise 100 years after the famous cruise liner sank.

Coming up at 10:40 Eastern, two sisters will tell us why they're going. You don't want to miss this. They're really great. We'll be back.

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COSTELLO: We asked you to "Talk Back" this morning and you are. And I have some of your responses. The question this morning, "Can Mitt Romney win women back?" So far most of you are saying no, not a chance.

This from Paul. "After some of his comments, he will never get most of the women's vote. Women are a lot smarter than he gives them credit for. I think he and Santorum have a very low respect for women.

And this one. "No, he has shown his true colors and American women will not be duped again."

Here's one more. "I don't think he can because he makes too many mistakes and women are looking for a more conservative president."

Please keep commenting. Keep the conversation going. Facebook.com/carolcnn, facebook.com/carolcnn.

We've learned something that the White House and the man who wants to be in the White House agree on. Both the Obama and Romney camps think it's time Augusta National admit women members. The club is home to the Masters, of course, and right now it's strictly a boys' club.

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JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President's answer to this question is yes. He believes -- his personal opinion is that women should be admitted. I happened to have a discussion with him about this, so I know that that's his answer.

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MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I were a member and if I could run Augusta, which isn't likely to happen, but of course I'd have women in Augusta. Sure.

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COSTELLO: Augusta's men-only policy has gotten fresh criticism because IBM's new CEO is a woman, and IBM is a big sponsor of the tournament. Augusta has traditionally offered club membership to IBM's chief and its sponsors.

Patrick Snell is in Augusta for the Masters. So Patrick, are people talking about this at all? Because I know the game has started, so people have probably paid more attention to that.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol, yes. Here at Augusta, the focus very much on play day two here of the season's first major. Perhaps earlier in the week it was certainly when the chairman, Billy Payne, took to the podium to say we're not discussing membership policies in public. We did speak to some people just to further canvas opinion and some reaction, some interesting reaction. First of all, we met a couple who told us that women do support -- there are thousands of women out here on the course. They do support this event, and therefore they should be given the opportunity to become a member if they so choose.

But we did -- and the first two people we spoke to this morning were both women, both from Augusta, and they both said, look, this is a private club. It's been this way for 80 years, and we certainly do not take offense if women do not get the option to become members here. Women play on the course all the time here. They're treated well, they said. And the whole issue of fraternities and sororities is not really highlighted at a younger age when people are at college in this country, Carol.

So interesting perspective there from the first two women we spoke to. And I stress, yes, they were both women -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Got you.

Ok, I know round two is under way so tell us about the game. Who's on the course now and who's topping the leader board?

SNELL: Well, the overnight leader, Lee Westwood, England's former world number one, is out on the court. He's just gone past us at Hole number 1. He's approaching the first green as I speak. I show you the leader board now, you're going to see that Lee Westwood is at 5 under par for the tournament. So he's looking good. He'll be looking to expand on that lead.

But he does have company near atop the leader board. Just let me run through it very quickly. We've got Peter Hanson, the Swede, at 4 under par. The American player, Ben Crane moving to 4 under as well. And then Jason Dufner at 3 under and big-hitting left- hander Bubba Watson.

Now, what about Tiger Woods? He's teeing off at around 1:40 p.m. this afternoon in Eastern standard time. A lot of attention on the four-time winner, Woods. He had a pretty decent round, solid stuff from Tiger. He was at level par after a 72 for Tiger Woods.

And Rory McIlroy, the reigning U.S. open champion, he finished very impressively with two straight birdies. He's at 1 under par. He is teeing off in the next hour -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Patrick Snell reporting live from Augusta, thanks.