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Hooker Scandal Hits Secret Service; Women Told To Think Like A Man
Aired April 14, 2012 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Hookergate: the president's protectors caught up in a prostitution scandal, is being called one of the worst crises ever for the secret service.
Brace yourselves for a possible historic tornado outbreak. Things are going to get much worse before it gets better. Our storm chasers are all over it for you.
And "Think Like a Man:" It's more than just a title of a new how-to movie for women. Why some ladies say it's the dumbest thing they have ever heard.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us. We're going to begin with this. A new twist in the prostitution scandal that is rocking the secret service. Now, we're learning that five U.S. military service members are in trouble, too, for a separate incident in the very same hotel. About a dozen secret service agents are accused of taking girls back to a hotel in Colombia as well where they were doing safety prep for a visit by President Barack Obama. Secret service spokesman says, it happened on Wednesday. The agents were relieved of their duty and sent packing on Thursday before the President arrived on Friday. Mr. Obama is in Colombia this weekend for the summit of the Americas. Within the last hour, as soon as he's learned that the five military service members who were backing up these agents in Colombia are in trouble, too, and the United States southern command says, they violated curfew and may have been involved in inappropriate conduct in the same hotel. White House is trying to keep the scandal from overshadowing the President's trip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a matter that is being looked into in an appropriate manner by the secret service itself. It would not be appropriate for the President to characterize something that is being looked into by the secret service at this time. All I can tell you is that it was -- he was made aware of it. But beyond that, I'm not going to characterize his reaction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So, it's a little bit confusing. It's two separate incidents. Our very own Juan Carlos Lopez is there, too. Juan Carlos, he joins us now, standing by where this investigation is going on this hour. Juan Carlos, these are two separate incidents. What the heck is going on there? JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two separate incidents in the same hotel. This hotel, the Caribe Hotel, it is one of the hotels that was part of the security detail for the President. He is not staying in this hotel. President Obama and his entourage are saying at the Hilton Hotel. This where a lot of security and a lot of military are and also international media. This is where we're staying and we're working. And the incident with the five U.S. military members, we don't know where it happened, we don't know if it involved prostitution, as has been alleged with the secret service members. We know what you said that they violated curfew and they might have been involved in inappropriate conduct. The commander of Southcom, General Fraser has said to have been disappointed by this, announcing that there would be an investigation and punishment if appropriate.
Now, that's one incident those five service members are still in Colombia. They have been ordered not to speak to anyone and will return with the rest of the security detail to the United States. In the other case, with the U.S. secret service members, we know that at least 12 secret service members, some of them undercover agents, other uniformed police, were involved in an incident in this same hotel, apparently with prostitutes or a prostitute. There seems to be an incident where one of the prostitutes went and complained to police about not being paid. That report was sent to the embassy, the embassy then notified State Department and this occurred on Wednesday. They were sent back to the states on Thursday and replaced with other members. We're told these members of the secret service were not involved directly with President Obama's security. They were support and they have been replaced and that President Obama's security has not been compromised. But I just see the scandal grows now that five service members are in trouble.
LEMON: We're certain to follow up on this one. Carlos Lopez, thank you very much for that. This could be very damaging for the secret service. A group that is renowned for its buttoned down professionalism. The Washington Post broke the story after being alerted by Ronald Kessler. He's a former Post reporter and author of the book, On the Secret Service. Kessler says, this is a huge embarrassment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD KESSLER, JOURNALIST/AUTHOR: It's clearly the biggest scandal in secret service history. The only thing that comes close is the penetration of the state dinner by the Salahis and the story which I also broke, and it goes back to a culture of laxness in the secret service.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Makes one wonder. Two separate incidents here, what is going on in Colombia? Soliciting prostitution is legal in Colombia, but this is considered a serious breach of the agency's conduct code. More on this later. Stay tuned to CNN.
It's going to be a long night for people all across the nation's midsection. In the next several hours, we could see dangerous and potentially deadly storms erupting across a wide swath of the plain states.
Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras tracking the story. Jacqui, it looks like it started yesterday, and more than 24 hours notice, this is unusual and very dangerous.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is, yes, in fact that you mentioned it yesterday saying that a high risk was issued for today. And that's only the second time in history that the storm prediction center has done that. We had our tornado in Norman, Oklahoma, yesterday. Today, so far 11 reports. Now, why haven't you seen any video of it? Well, for the most part, it's been very rural. So, that's the good news, so far very little one in terms of damage or any populated areas getting hit and the big focus has been in the central parts of Kansas and stretching just over the state line in the Southern parts of Nebraska. Today, is what we call a high risk day. This is really a serious situation. When we talk about a PDS watch for a tornado watch, which is what is happening in Nebraska and Kansas right now, it's called a particularly dangerous situation where a large violent tornadoes stay on the ground and cause a lot of destruction for a long period of time. How bad will it get? Well, we could have 100 tornadoes out there in the next 24 hours. But if they don't hit anything. That it's not so much of a problem, right? But we are very concerned that that could happen as these storms pull off to the east.
They're going to be moving into populated areas like Oklahoma City, like Wichita, Kansas, on up into Omaha, and possibly even sneaking into Des Moines, Iowa. So, those are all areas that we're looking at. And we're talking about this potentially impacting as many as five million people in the zone at greatest risk. For now, we have a lot of storm chasers out there which are tracking on these storms. This is from IMAP. We're looking at the storm in Central Kansas. If you take a look right down there, that little low hanging thing, that looks like what I would call a wall cloud. And there are multiple tornado reports that have been kind of hitting on and off in Central Kansas outside of Dodge City the last few hours. Now, we're also watching this line starts to extend on down to the South and West. I want to show you where our Rob Marciano is. Because this is going to be our next area of concern, if we could go back in Magic 4 and put Rob up there. He's in Tennessee, Oklahoma, which is just outside of Oklahoma City. There we can see rob, and there you can see the thunderstorms firing along the dry lines just start to the west of him. So, we've got Rob now joining us live from there. And Rob, what are you seeing and what are you expecting out there later on tonight?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the clouds broke up just a bit, Jacqui, you know what that means. Temperatures are starting to climb towards the 80 degree mark. So, just one more ingredient into what has become a multi-component monster storm for a lack of a better word. And right now, we have been watching that dry line. It's forming and moving towards a little boundary that is left over from the storms from last night and this morning. And so we have left Tennessee (INAUDIBLE) and we're heading northwest now to intercept, hopefully, the storm that was tornado warned in Woodward, Oklahoma, and is heading towards the north and east.
That one should pass to the south of Dodge City. So, we're driving now northwest towards Helena, and we'll be crossing the border shortly. Off to my left or west as I drive, the clouds certainly are much denser and darker now. Even though we're in some sunshine. So as far as storm development goes, that's a pretty good recipe to get to the heating out ahead of the line where the storms are firing and the storms, the clouds and stuff certainly look to be deepening and getting higher as far as the moisture content is concerned. So whatever you can tell me, Jacqui, as far as what it's doing right now, would be good. Because I'm driving, and trying to keep it to the speed limit without breaking any rules here.
JERAS: Yes. They're really pretty fast, Rob, about 40 miles an hour. And I'm not sure you're going to be able to catch up with the Woodward cell, but you're probably a couple hours away from where you are at in terms of seeing those severe storms in your area. So, we'll continue to check in with you as you get in your video or you get stuff. Of course, make sure you give us call back here at the station.
We also have a live picture I want to show you out of Wichita, I believe. Do we have that Ken? There it is. Yes, KSNW, our affiliate there. And there you can see the dark clouds, that ominous conditions around the Wichita area. So, that's one of the areas and one of the cities that could get hit hard with tornadoes later on tonight. No warning right now for Wichita, but we're watch those storms moving in from parts of the west. So, a big night ahead of us, Don. We'll continue to monitor this. But it's a rare situation, what is happening tonight. And we think this is going to continue as it gets dark. And that's one of the greatest concerns and why this is so dangerous. It's because people aren't going to be able to see the storms and people could be sleeping when they arrive.
LEMON: Well, stay tuned to CNN. We'll keep you posted. Thank you Jacqui. Thanks Rob, as well.
For the first time in over a year, the U.N. Security Council is speaking with one voice against the violence in Syria. We'll tell you what they voted on.
Plus a viral video depicting children acting out violent crimes in am Mexico. Why? Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The United Nations Security Council has approved a resolution that would send international observers into Syria to monitor a shaky cease fire. Today's vote comes more than a year after the outbreak of violence between government forces and anti-government activists, and it's not clear if it will do any good. Syrian activists today reported that at least 20 people were killed by government forces. Once again, targeted opposition neighborhoods even though the cease fire has been in place since Thursday morning.
The recent standout between the West and Iran over its nuclear program may be easing up just a little. In Istanbul, Turkey, representatives from the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany are hoping to convince Iran to rein in its nuclear program. Many of the West believe a program is for military purposes. Iran says that it is not. And E.U. spokesman says, today's talks at a positive atmosphere. They'll meet again, next month.
Young children act out violent scenes in a YouTube video that has exploded online. It is supposed to highlight real life problems in Mexico, but our senior Latin-American Affairs editor Rafael Romo has the story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN-AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): A businessman is mugged at knifepoint by two thugs on a city street. A scary scenario and one that is all too common in Mexico, made ever more frightening when you see it played out by children. This short video is from the group, Our Mexico of the Future, which is supported by a number of companies, unions, and other organizations. It's gone viral with nearly two million views in less than four days. In it, child actors play adult roles, reeling from many of the problems that plague modern day Mexico.
ROSENDA MARTINEZ, OUR MEXICO OF THE FUTURE (through a translator): In reality, the video doesn't show anything that people haven't seen before. Because people say, we don't want shootouts or kidnappings happening in our Mexico of the future.
ROMO: From pollution to protests and poverty, even the high profile arrest of a drug lord, the point is to present the challenges that Mexico's leaders will face. At the end, a young girl makes the plea to the country's presidential candidates.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: If this is the future awaiting us, I don't want it. Stop working for your party, and not for us. Stop trying to superficially fix the country, Mexico touch the bottom. Are you only after the presidential chair or do you want to really change the future our country?
ROMO (on camera): Some Mexican legislators say, the video should be banned for violating the human rights of children who play the roles of thugs and criminals, but the producer say, it's precisely because they're worried about the future that they cast child actors adding that it post portrayals that really drives the message home. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Rafael, a new movie tells women to think like a man. What some women are saying about that idea, we can't say on the air here. Probably it would be a little worth. We're going to talk with the clinical psychologist who says maybe women should think like men. I don't know. That's next, but first --
Colleges no longer place to find yourself where any degree will do. How soon can you pay? That doesn't make sense. Anyway, how soon can you pay off your student loans, buy a house, start a family, increasingly depends on choosing the right major. Christine Romans has it, in this week's "Smart is the New Rich."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Laura Buffolino isn't worried about finding a job after graduation.
LAURA BUFFOLINO, STUDENT, FARMINGDALE STATE COLLEGE, SUNY: I've always been into Science. Never knew exactly what, but now I'm pretty sure I want to work in genetics.
ROMANS: A bioscience major at Farmingdale State College, Buffolino is in the fast growing and high paying stem category. Science technology engineering and Math.
Her class mate Michael Kelly, a history buff, doesn't share her love for Science.
MICHAEL KELLY, STUDENT, FARMINGDALE STATE COLLEGE, SUNY: I was just dead set on history. Didn't want to major in anything else.
ROMANS: He loves history but will minor in it instead. His degree will be in technology studies so he can pursue a job in information technology.
KELLY: I didn't want to finish school with no debt and then immediately jump into a situation where I have a lot of debt for paying off the masters degree which I totally would have to take out loans for.
ROMANS: Kelly well knows that starting salaries for general studies lag stem. And by midcareer, the difference between say, engineering and psychology is huge.
ANTHONY CARNEVALE, DIR. GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY CENTER ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE: If you're studying to be a petroleum engineer and you get a bachelors degree, you'll make $80,000 a year. If you're studying psychology and you're going to become a counselor in a social work agency, you'll make 30,000 a year. So, what you make depends very much how much you take.
ROMANS: But dollar signs aren't everything. Find the intersection of what you're good at, like to do, and what someone will pay you to do. Nancy Zimpher is chancellor of the State University of New York.
NANCY ZIMPHER, CHANCELLOR, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK: What we know is that businesses and industry are saying repeatedly, we want creative people. We want problem solvers, we want people who can work in teams. The trick, I think, is sort of a dual degree or a major/minor where you cover your bases.
Students Laura Buffolino and Mike Kelly thinks they have done just that. And that their degree will help them land a secure job in a less than secure job market. Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK, we are going to tread lightly into some very dangerous territory here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Act like a lady but think like a man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The movie "Think Like a Man" based on a book by comedian Steve Harvey. And even though, it comes out next week, it's already got people talking and it's got people arguing. So, let's bring in a voice of reason here. I don't know, maybe. Maybe he's a voice of reason. Jeff Gardere, clinical psychologist.
JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Maybe.
LEMON: If you're telling women they should think like a man, I'm going to be really mad at you. There was some real fire in the Newsroom seriously Jeff when we were talking about this idea.
GARDERE: Yes.
LEMON: This one makes women, a lot of women kind of mad. So they're like, why do I have to think like a man? What are you saying? That's sexist and insulting. What do you think?
GARDERE: Well, I think if you look at the pure phrase, think like a man, perhaps it is, but let's define that certainly thinking like a man is not like acting like a man. And that's not -- we don't want women to do that because two wrongs don't make a right, and we know women are close to perfect. I think both you and I agree on that.
LEMON: OK, you're trying to get yourself out of trouble. Jeff, who is to say --
GARDERE: No, no.
LEMON: Who is to say that men have the right way of thinking? Maybe men should think like women, maybe women are better thinkers than men. Why would someone tell a woman to think like a man and that's better for her. I find that insulting and I'm a man.
GARDERE: Don, no. And I understand exactly where you're coming from, where the critics are coming from. But I'm siding with Steve Harvey on this one, OK? Even though he's not a shrink and I am. I'm siding with him. Because basically what he is saying, Don, is really, act like a lady because you are the superior sex, but think like a man. Thinking like a man means getting into the head of a man, understanding how men think, understanding that we are much more simplistic in our thinking, that we're much more into thinking perhaps in skewed ways, in ways that are not very productive. So, therefore, if you know how we think like men, it will make you much more smarter in the relationship. That's all it is, getting that inside information, what's in the mind of a man, knowing that.
LEMON: Why should women even would care?
GARDERE: Well, because men do think different than women. And John Gray had it right, women are from Venus and men are from Mars. We are created equally, absolutely, but we are created different. And therefore, if you treat a man the way that you think most people think most women think, you're not going to have a productive relationship. No, that you're dealing with an inferior species, know how they think and you will do much better as a woman in a relationship. That's all he's saying and I agree with it.
LEMON: All right. You know, I'm just sort of playing devil's advocate here, you know that. It's not really that serious stuff.
GARDERE: I think you see the light now.
LEMON: Well, no, no. I don't see the light because I grew up in a family of all women, the only boy. And I mean, I think the world would be better off if more men thought like women than the other way around just because we shouldn't be...
GARDERE: Well, I agree with you.
LEMON: ...lowering women's intelligence by telling them to think like us. Maybe we should be trying to do, think like them. That's all insane.
GARDERE: No, I think we're upping their intelligence and that they know, that they know about it.
LEMON: How many times have you heard think like a woman? Hey, man, hey, Jeff, think like a woman. How many times that someone said that to you?
GARDERE: But you know, what? Let me tell you, that's going to be my new book. It's called think like a woman and act like a gentleman. That's going to be the next book. That's right, Steve Harvey. I can do it, too.
LEMON: You're a good sport. Thank you, Jeff. Good to see you.
GARDERE: All right, Don. Good to see you, buddy.
LEMON: Hey, we'll going to dig a little deeper into this topic tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Should women think like men? Comedian Dino Begala (ph) returns along with the authors of the manual and the rules. So, set your DVR, tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern expect some fireworks as well. I'm not sure I agree with that women should think like men.
Cell phone images that went viral on the internet capture a man being punched in the face, robbed, and stripped. The St. Patrick's Day event in Baltimore. There's new information to tell you about in the story. So, stay tuned. And a very serious threat of severe weather, tornadoes, lots of them in the next few hours. We're tracking the storms from the CNN's severe weather center and our storm chasers are out on the ground. Live for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's check your headlines now. The secret service is caught in the middle of a prostitution scandal. About a dozen agents relieved of duty and sent home from Colombia after they allegedly brought hookers back to a hotel in Colombia. They were doing security prep ahead of the President's arrival yesterday. Five U.S. military service members who were backing up the agents are in trouble for a separate incident involving possible inappropriate conduct at the same hotel.
People in the plains states are on alert for potentially dangerous storms. Forecasters say, there's a high risk for unusually powerful supercell thunderstorms to form through the overnight hours. And it could spawn large, even life threatening tornadoes. Jacqui Jeras tracking these storms. She'll have a live update for you just minutes. So, stay tuned.
One of three men who accuses Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of sexually molesting him as a child now says his story is all a lie. Zach Tomaselli says, he made the entire thing up. He claims one of the other accusers Bobby Davis told him what to tell detectives. Davis told ESPN, he never told Tomaselli to lie.
Baltimore police have made an arrest in a violent beating. Look at that, that became an internet sensation. And you can certainly see why. On St. Patrick Day, a man is knocked to the sidewalk, robbed, and stripped after leaving a club. Cell phone cameras recorded it all, nobody helped him, some even laughed. Police are charging the suspect with robbery, death and reckless endangerment, we're also looking for others involved in this incident.
Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has fallen into a coma at a London hospital. Gibb also has pneumonia and was recently diagnosed with colon and liver cancer. According to a representative, doctors believe the singer has developed a secondary tumor. His family is keeping vigil at his bedside.
Millions of people living in the plain states are preparing for the worst tonight. Forecasters are predicting life threatening storms over the next several hours. Jacqui Jeras, our meteorologist tracking the story for you. Jacqui, what do people need to know?
JERAS: Well, they need to know that these storms are dangerous and they can be deadly and very destructive. So, you need to take them very seriously and seek shelter. In fact, take a look at this right now. We're live streaming here from IMAP, on a storm that has a history of producing a tornado. This is near Woodward, Oklahoma. Trained spotters have been on this thing for the last half an hour or so. And we have seen brief touchdowns with this storm. So, look at this low hanging area in here. This is the area we're going to be watching for potential of the tornado to drop out. In fact, it's kind of hard to tell, but I almost see potentially a little rope tornado trying to drop out of there right now.
So, this is an example of what is going on all across the plain states. And this is such a widespread area here. David, if you could take that live stream down for a second, I want to show you how extensive the spotter network is that is out there, all these little green cars that you can see, those are live storm chasers that are streaming right now on all of the storms in the plains, so as things touchdown and as things have developed, you're going to know about it right away. So we'll continue to track and monitor that situation. Now, let's talk about where some of these warnings are. This is at Woodward, Oklahoma storm I was telling you about. And here you can see two other storms west of Wichita. Both have produced tornadoes at times, but for the most part, this has all been very rural, so we have been fortunate.
So when we're talking about 17 tornado reports but very little damage, no injuries, no major destruction, we're doing great at this point. But unfortunately, we have long way to go. Let's take a look at the entire risk area.
This is where we have watches in effect. A watch means that tornado conditions are ripe. It means that tornadoes will be possible in the next several hours in these locations.
Now, PDS watches, which are the two that you're looking at here in Kansas and Nebraska, means a particularly dangerous situation, which means this isn't your ordinary tornado watch where you get a couple, maybe EF-1, EF-2 tornadoes, we're talking EF-2, 3, 4, maybe even 5 that happen today that stay on the ground for a long period time and continue to track.
Now the big risk area overall as a whole, I want you to look at the purple area. You are the ones that have the greatest potential. Oklahoma City up towards Wichita, just west of Kansas City, on up towards to Lincoln, Nebraska, and even into Omaha, you have the greatest chance. But you still have a good chance of getting severe thunderstorms in this dark red area.
So we're talking about down into the Red River Valley, stretching all the way out towards the Missouri River into northwestern Iowa around Sioux City. This is going to continue through the overnight hours tonight. The sun is going to be going down in a couple of hours, you're not going to be able see these tornadoes.
Even some of them are out there right now, Don, as we have been checking in with our storm-chasers, reporting rain-wrapped tornadoes. So there's this big shield of rain that comes down and you can't actually see the funnel that's behind it. So a dangerous night ahead. We'll continue to track these storms.
Our Rob Marciano is out live in the fields into Oklahoma. We'll be checking in with him throughout the night and hopefully he'll keep you safe during these storms. Lowest level of your home, away from doors and windows. Underground is best. LEMON: And if you can get to whatever store it is, Target, Walmart, wherever, and get a NOAA weather radio, if you can now, get it to listen to those warnings. I have one, it goes off and annoys me sometimes, but seriously I know if something is coming and I need to hunker down.
JERAS: Well, you have to get the one with SAME technology. And that's an acronym, SAME, and that will allow you to program it for your specific county and will only warn you for tornadoes if that's what you want it to do. Otherwise, it's going to go off for every tornado that's like within a hundred miles of you.
LEMON: I know people are watching and they're saying, in some places, some things have happened, but nothing has happened, there are no pictures, why are you doing it? Because we want you to be safe. And that's we're spending so much time on this.
Thank you, Jacqui. And we'll keep you updated as well, Jacqui standing by as long as our -- as well as our other team of meteorologists.
Right now George Zimmerman waits in his jail cell charged with second degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin. My next guest says Zimmerman's fate may rest with the issue of credibility. We're going to break that down next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It has been 100 years, that's right, 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic. This weekend marks the anniversary. CNN's Chris Welch is aboard a ship that is retracing the fateful voyage, getting to the bottom of an obsession shared by some fellow passengers.
And, Chris, I understand this ship is trying to time its arrival to the minute of when the disaster hit 100 years ago.
CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. Actually, it's very interesting. As you mentioned, we're out here in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. I'm aboard the Azmara Journey, and I want to say this first and foremost. Just about five minutes before we went on the air, I was told by the captain that we have just crossed over the point in the North Atlantic where the RMS Titanic sent out its distress signals after it hit the iceberg.
So we have essentially reached the point where Titanic sits now just about two miles below us, below the surface here. And what they're planning tonight throughout the rest of the evening is a series of memorials, essentially.
It will begin with a tribute, a moment of silence in one of the cabaret lounges here in the ship. They will play and read the names of all 1,500 passengers aboard that ship who perished that evening. It will culminate tonight with a wreath that is planned to be thrown overboard and thrown into the water as a dedication to those passengers -- Don. LEMON: I have to ask you what a lot of people are thinking is, why? Why would people even want to do this, Chris?
WELCH: Well, you know, for some, they just have a really big obsession with Titanic, and they're history buffs, a lot of them say this is a big, big thing for them. But others, they are related to passengers. There's a handful, maybe about six or seven people on here who have relatives who were on the Titanic.
So this is very special, this is like a special memorial for them to be able to go to the site, say hello and good-bye to their relatives at the same time.
But I spoke to a few people yesterday about why they wanted to do this. Here's what one woman had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was really surprised at the number of people that we talked to and told that we were going to go on this trip and said, that's creepy, I wouldn't do that. I thought, I don't find it creepy at all. I love history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WELCH: Now, this ship left from New York and will end up over the wreck site, but there's another ship that left from Southampton, where Titanic left from, and both ships will meet up at this point tonight for the very special memorial service -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Chris, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
Sad reality, did you know that more than 100,000 foster children are waiting to be adopted right here in the U.S.? This week's "CNN Hero" is working to find every child a family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was adopted and I felt that I wanted to adopt a kid who needed a home. My son was in foster care for four years, that was his 12th home. But from the minute Michael and I met, I knew right away that we were going to be a family.
I thought everything was going great, but after a month, Michael was removed from my house. I was instantly cut off from him.
DAVID WING-KOVARIK, "COMMUNITY CRUSADER": Finding that family for that child, it's nothing short of a miracle.
Let's go. You need to get ready for the horses.
And sometimes families are faced with barriers because of a myth or a misunderstanding causing the kids to stay in the foster care system longer. Being a gay or lesbian individual or couple makes it much harder. My name is David Wing-Kovarik. I adopted from the foster system. Now I help other gay and lesbian individuals realize their dreams of becoming parents.
We're working together with you on that. I want to make sure that you've got that family-to-family kind of support.
I've worked hundreds of cases side by side social workers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We covered a lot of information last week.
WING-KOVARIK: I've trained thousands of foster parents. It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight and we do it for free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He figured out how to get us over that finish line. Our family wouldn't have adopted each other if it hadn't been for David.
WING-KOVARIK: I'm fighting for the right of that child to have that family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daddy, is tonight movie night?
WING-KOVARIK: It's why I keep doing it every single day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: George Zimmerman now just waits, charged with second degree murder in the Trayvon Martin case. He can read the Bible, magazines, but has no access to his TV in his 67-square foot jail cell. Holly Hughes is here, she's a criminal defense attorney.
Holly, the attorney for George Zimmerman is pushing to get his client out on bond. Likely to happen?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They'll probably set a bond. It's a second degree murder, not a first degree murder. But it's going to be very high. What I would expect is that they will get that high bond. There may be a follow-up motions hearing to reduce it if his family and his supporters are unable to raise the money necessary to get him out.
LEMON: OK. The second degree murder charge, is there some lawyer strategy with this charge? What is it?
HUGHES: As far as defending it?
LEMON: Yes, defending it.
HUGHES: Well, basically second degree murder in the state of Florida doesn't require premeditation, interestingly enough. I know when we hear the word murder in those states, we think, oh, you have to have intended this killing. It just says, no, you're pretty much disregarding that your act may take a human life.
So I think what we're going to see the defense do here is raise that self defense, first of all, in a motion to try and get the judge to say, I'm going to dismiss it on a motion for self defense or under "Stand Your Ground."
If that's unsuccessful and goes to a petit jury, I think we're going to see a very strong defense mounted for self defense, which is what we've been hearing so far anyway.
LEMON: All right. You said it's credibility, it's going to come down to credibility. What do you mean by that?
HUGHES: It is. We heard a lot of different 911 calls, and we've heard snippets of them. I know some of them are just ear witnesses. Some of them claim to be eyewitnesses. What is going to be important is what we lawyers call "prior consistent statements."
When you call 911 the night of the incident, you reported something, is that consistent with what you maybe told a reporter three weeks later, once the story had gone viral for lack of a better term, once all of the nation's attention was turned on this incident, and it got to be so high profile, because some people will start to embellish.
The night of the incident, it's just, I heard creams. Two, three weeks later, when talking to a reporter, it might be, oh, I heard the screams of a young man, clearly not an adult. So what they're going to do is they're going to look at everything that has been said, the lawyers are going to listen to all of the media reports these witnesses did. Line them up with original 911 reports and see if there are inconsistencies.
That's going to go directly to witness credibility.
LEMON: Here is the interesting thing that people are talking about, this motion to dismiss, and if it is granted to dismiss this, because I guess the self defense or "Stand Your Ground" or...
HUGHES: Correct, right.
LEMON: ... whatever, that means it doesn't go to trial at all. Is that...
HUGHES: Oh, it's a done deal. If a judge were to dismiss based on that, now, the state would appeal that, but for all intents and purposes, Don, it's going to be over at that point in time, yes.
LEMON: So you think it will be a done deal by then. Can we go to this Baltimore case that we have been talking about? I wanted to talk to you about this. And if we have the video of the Baltimore case, it was caught on video. This happened on St. Patrick's Day, this young man was a tourist, beaten, all black kids beat him, young people, one of them is in custody now. And this is a white kid.
And is this going to be a hate crime, because all of the suspects appear to be African-American and the victim is black (sic)?
HUGHES: Just on its face, that's not enough, but what we're going to look into is, can you hear racial slurs on the video? Are they calling names out? Are they saying this is why we're doing it? Are they saying, we're beating you up, honky, or calling other names like that?
The thing about a hate crime is, where typically you don't have to prove motive, when charged with a hate crime, the prosecution has to give the jury enough evidence to believe that the race was a motivating factor in the attack itself and not just a robbery or a rioting or a wilding gone bad.
LEMON: When I first saw this, and most people -- everyone thought it was a spoof. And then when you look at it you realize it's real. It is disgusting to see people doing this.
HUGHES: Right. Treating...
LEMON: Why would someone want to do this to anybody?
HUGHES: Well, and that -- therein lies the question. Why does anybody victimize another? Because here what we see is just a viciousness, this attack. And then we're going to strip him naked to make sure that he's also humiliated. So we're not just messing with your body. We're not just beating on you and causing physical wounds, but we're also going to mess with you, and this, too, gets into the mind frame.
We're going to strip you naked, we're going to humiliate you, and we're going to give you psychological scars on top of everything else.
LEMON: This is one of those stories like the Trayvon Martin story that took a minute to get to the national media once the video did come out. There was no video in the Trayvon Martin story. But once on social media, it's starting to come out and people are upset by it. As well they should be.
Our LZ Granderson, who's with us, wrote an amazing piece...
HUGHES: Wonderful...
LEMON: ... for cnn.com.
HUGHES: ... article on it. That's exactly right.
LEMON: He's going to be on tomorrow here to talk to us about it on CNN.
HUGHES: You should not miss that. That is going to be a fantastic interview.
LEMON: Thank you, Holly.
HUGHES: Absolutely.
LEMON: Appreciate it.
Up next, how a woman survived a seven-story fall and went on to be a big part of a production involving horses and ballet. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fairland Ferguson's high-flying career came very close to not happening after a freak accident almost left her unable to walk. She and her friends were diving 70 feet off a cliff in Virginia.
FAIRLAND FERGUSON, SURVIVED FALL FROM CLIFF: I fell down the rocks and just fell and fell and hit and hit and hit and hit all the way down until I fell into the water.
GUPTA: She lost consciousness and began to drown. Her friends rescued her from the water but her bones were broken in 46 places and she had to undergo eight operations over six months.
FERGUSON: The doctors told me that because of the severity of how bad my left leg was, they were like, you probably will not walk again, and if you do walk, you're going to walk such a severe limp. I respected their judgment but I didn't believe it.
This one is super hard on my ankle.
GUPTA: Ferguson says she knew to overcome her injuries, she had to work hard at a rehab, to be patient, and to stay positive.
FERGUSON: There's mornings I wake up and I limp to the bathroom and my leg hurts. When it rains it's terrible, you know, stuff like that. But it's almost like a reminder. Just like, hey, remember where you were, and so get up, get going, and live this life that you had a second chance at.
GUPTA: Despite the pain, she didn't give up and she got back on her feet. Working toward her dream of performing, she turned her love of horses into a career, landing her at Cavalia, performing tricks like this one.
FERGUSON: Put your feet right here in these straps, horses running full speed, you really thrust right up, legs are straight, ankles are really holding you in, and you smile.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Wow. Good luck with that one. If you live in the nation's midsection, across the Plains states, you'll want to pay close attention to the weather forecast throughout this evening. There are potentially deadly storms erupting in your area. A forecast update coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Jacqui, go for it. Some severe weather happening. JERAS: Yes. Tornadoes on the ground right now outside of Wichita, Kansas, just to the west. These are the storms that we're talking about. And check this out on our live-streaming. This is Michael Wurzberger (ph), and he's outside of Dodge City there. And you can see a big rain shaft. But we don't know what's behind that rain shaft, potentially a tornado.
And that's one of the concerns tonight, Don, is that we may not be able to see those tornadoes because they are wrapped in rain and because the sun is going to be going down soon. So unfortunately it's going to be dark and people aren't going to be able to see them. And people are going to be going to bed.
This is the watch area across parts of Nebraska, down into Kansas. It's a very dangerous day. These are PDS watches, "particularly dangerous situations," meaning these super cell thunderstorms that are developing, the ones that stand out there all by themselves and suck in all of the energy are going to be large, they're going to be destructive, and they're going to stay on the ground for a long period of time.
We've had over a dozen tornado reports so far today. The good news is for the most part they've been in rural areas which means nobody has been injured yet, nobody has been killed. And let's hope that that's what happens throughout the rest of the night.
There are the reports that we're talking about. Take the warnings seriously. And remember, the lowest level of your home, away from doors and windows, are the place to be for your safety spot. And don't be afraid to put on a helmet either.
LEMON: Take the warning seriously. Thank you, Jacqui. We'll be standing by for that and update you as needed.
Another big story this hour to tell you about, the Secret Service is caught in the middle of a prostitution scandal. About a dozen agents were relieved of duty and sent home from Colombia after they allegedly brought hookers back to a hotel. They were doing a security prep ahead of President Barack Obama's arrival yesterday.
Five U.S. military service members who were backing up these agents are in trouble for a separate incident involving possible inappropriate conduct at the same hotel.
Now to a heart-warming baseball moment in Colorado. The new star pitcher for the Rockies tweeted out a random request for someone to play catch with him. The person who answered had never set foot in Coors Field. But more than that, he is a young man who is battling cancer.
Vick Lombardi of CNN affiliate KCNC has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOODY ROSELAND, PLAYED CATCH WITH JEREMY GUTHRIE: I live downtown, I have my glove, and so I said, let's do this. VICK LOMBARDI, KCNC REPORTER (voice-over): Woody Roseland's quick reply paid off. Next thing you know, he was at Coors Field hanging out with the newly acquired ace of the Rockies's staff.
ROSELAND: And I was like, well, how do you like pitching at Coors? He was like, this is the first day I've even been at Coors. So he was as new to the facility as I was pretty much. So then just walked out to the field, each had our gloves and ball, and found a good spot in the outfield, played catch.
LOMBARDI: Woody and Jeremy tossed the ball around and talked for about half an hour. But it wasn't all about baseball. As you can see, Woody is an amputee, the 21-year-old lost his leg to cancer, a fight he has been waging the last five years.
ROSELAND: You just like expect it to be like the worst thing in the world. But when you actually just have to deal with it, you know, on like a daily basis, and use a prosthetic, it hasn't been as bad as I expected.
LOMBARDI: That positive attitude is exactly why Woody took a chance answering a tweet. He got a day and a souvenir he'll never forget. Oh, but playing catch with Jeremy Guthrie was actually just the second best part of a very good day.
ROSELAND: This morning I went to my doctors. They checked my counts and they're back up, which means I'm like officially done with cancer and chemotherapy once and for all. So I found that out this morning and then got at that hang out with Jeremy this afternoon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Very nice. Vick Lombardi reporting from our affiliate KCNC. And by the way, later Jeremy Guthrie tweeted that in an attempt to make someone's day, that someone made his day. He said Woody "touched my heart." Fantastic.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. We'll see you back here one hour from now. "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Mr. Wolf Blitzer begins right now.
